Purim - The Anxiety and Faith of Tomorrow

2:04 This one is a famous question. We know that Esther Amalke finally gets the courage to go to Achashveros. She asks Achashveros to join her for a suda. Listen, what the conversation is. VaYomer Hamalech LeEsther. Achashverosh, the king, said to Esther, 'b'mish the hayayin at the wine banquet that they were having' Mashe elasech. What is your request? What is your petition? Vayinasein lach, it will be granted to you. Uma bakashasech, what is your request? Ad chatsi hamalchus, even up to half the kingdom, it shall be fulfilled. This is the conversation Achashverosh says to Esther Hamalka: ask for anything you want. Ad chatsi hamalchus. What does Esther say? Esther, chapter five, verse eight. She says, "Im matsasichein be'enei amelach" If I have found favor in the eyes of the king Ve'im ala melech tov lasay says sheelasi velasos es bakashasi And if it pleases the king to grant my petition and to fulfill my request Yavo ha melech v'haman elam mishta asher esla hem machar esek kedvar amelach. Then please let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I will make for them. And tomorrow I will do the king's bidding.

3:28 Very, very strange. Very strange. Esther Hamalka has the opportunity to save Klal Yisrael. Achashverosh just said, 'Ad chatsia Hamalkus.' Ask for anything you want. What would we have expected Esther would have said in that moment? We would have expected that Esther would have said, "Great" I'm a Jew. Haman wants to kill the Jewish people. Please save us. Instead, she does something that appears to be irrational, something that to us does not make any sense. It's a famous question. She says, "Let's do it again." Let's make another sudda. Come back at that sudda, and then I'll talk to you about what I want. Why does the time? If you have a bird in hand. You have a bird in hand; you don't squander it. You have something right there for you. She has an opportunity. What in the world is Esther Amalke doing? This is a very famous question. So just to repeat the three questions so that we have them all The three questions are as follows: Number one, Purim is celebrated even after the arrival of Mashiach. Right? In that regard, it is unique from all the other Yom Tovim.

4:30 Question number two is: We fight Amalek not just in one generation. But midar ledar in every single generation. Why do we have to fight Hamalik in every single generation? And question number three is why does Esther Hamalik say, "Let's come back and do it again tomorrow"? Those are the three questions. In order to answer these questions, we need to get a very fundamental idea down. This idea is so fundamental, especially in today's generation. It seems there are three different people. Three different people, three different nations. There's the nation of Mitzrayim. The nation of Klal Yisrael, and the nation of Amalek. What does Klal Yisrael do? First, we go down into Mitzrayim and we fight with Egypt. We fight with Mitzrayim with their hashkafa And then, when we leave Mitzrayim, as we've leveled up. Then we have another fight. This is the fight of Amalek. What's the difference between the fight of Mitzrayim and what's the next level fight that comes after that? I don't imagine any of you girls played video games, but you know they have when you're playing a video game, so you get to a level where you have to fight the boss.

5:53 And then you get up another couple levels, and then you have to fight a bigger boss. A similar concept. First, we fought Mitzrayim. That's number one boss. Then we fight Amalek. That's a higher level boss. What's the difference? The difference is as follows: Klal Yisrael and Mitzrayim, we have something in common. What we have in common is that we think the world is on purpose. We think there's a design to the world. That's what Klal Yisrael and Mitzrayim have in common. The difference is Mitzrayim believes that there's not one designer. There's many designers. Mitzrayim they believe in idols. They believe in multiple gods. They say the world is by design. This god created fire. This god created water. This god created lightning. This god created thunder. They believe the world has a design. Thunder was made by this god. Lightning was made by that god.

6:55 But if you believe in multiple designers and not one designer That's very different. Because if you believe in one designer, then you believe that there's one particular destiny for all things and for all people. If you believe in multiple designs, it means you don't believe in any destiny. For example, back in the day, what would they say? The reason this is happening is because this God is fighting with this God. So that means what's going to be? It depends on the fight of the gods. Klal Yisrael, we have a belief. It's a radical belief, and it's a belief that's shyach to every single person in this room. There is only one God. And there is only one design. For this entire world, everything is headed in a particular direction. So first, Klal Yisrael goes down to Mitzrayim, and Paro says, 'You're crazy. There's not one God. There's multiple gods.' We're there for 210 years, and then Hakadosh Baruch Hu takes us out, and He shows there's all these machos. There is only one God, and that God is the God of all things. And Klal Yisrael defeats Mitzrayim. Fine, that's the Pesach story.

8:15 But when we leave Mitzrayim, we encounter a completely different problem And that's the problem of atheism. And as we'll see in a moment, it's the problem of anxiety. And that's why I said it's shyach to every single person in this room. We tend to think of atheism as just a belief in nothing. That's what atheism is. It's a belief in nothing. How's the world here? Is there any master designer? Is there anybody that had a great plan for this thing? There is not. Everything that happens in the world is by chance. That's the nature of Amalek. That's why Amalek is Asher Karcha b'Derekh. What does Karcha mean? They chanced upon us while we were on the road. The reason that it says Karcha, that they chanced upon us, is because that was the whole nature of Amalek. The nature of Amalek is every single thing that happens; it's random, it's a coincidence, it's chance. That's all it is. There's nothing in this world that's happening by design.

9:27 Klal Yisrael believes in the exact opposite. Klal Yisrael, listen to the words of the pasuk. Asher karcha, they chanced upon us when we were what? Ba derech. What does badarach mean? Badarach means we are headed to a destiny. We are headed to a place called tomorrow. In the world of atheism, tomorrow is impossible. All there is today, and there is no tomorrow. There is no destiny. Tomorrow is just another random set of things that will occur. Tomorrow is death. For a Jew, tomorrow. Tomorrow is Mashiach. Tomorrow is Tchias Ameisim. Tomorrow is life. Tomorrow is Olam Haba. What do you mean? Tomorrow is death. Even after the body dies, what do we say? The soul lives on. That's why there'll be a Tchias Ameisim. For a Jew, tomorrow is a part of our plan. To be baderach means that right now I'm here, but I'm not here for the sake of being here.

10:35 I'm here for the sake of where I'm going. Imagine someone got into a car and then they just drove off. Imagine somebody got in a car and they started driving, and you said, "Where are you driving?" And this very zen-like person said to you "Right now, man Just here. You're a fool. You're a fool. What do you mean? You got in a car and you're driving to nowhere? It doesn't make any sense. Now you might say, 'I'm driving to a destination that I have not yet discovered. That's meaningful.' But to say I'm driving And that's it That's ridiculous. Nobody gets in a car to go somewhere and then says all I am is here. But that's what Amalek does. Amalek doesn't believe in the notion of being in process. Amalek doesn't believe in the notion of going somewhere. Their life is just now for the moment. Esav is, of course, the grandfather of Amalek. What does Esav say on the day that Avram Avinu died? When it comes to selling the birthright to Yaakov Avinu, he says, 'Hine anochi holech.' Lamos, I'm going to die. What is the value of anything?

11:42 This is my way of getting your attention. What is the value of anything if eventually everything is going to die? You understand? This is the difference between Amalek and Klal Yisrael. In Amalek, nothing has any meaning. It's all just chance. In Klal Yisrael, in Yiddishkeit, everything has meaning. Because it's all part of a process that gets us to a particular destination. Does that make sense? Here's the nafgamina. The nafgamina is as follows. What do you do when life is in doubt? This is a major psychological question that I imagine every single person in this room is dealing with, either in a general sense or in a very specific sense. I'll give an example of this. First, we'll do it in a specific sense. Then we'll do it in a national sense. You have a girl. She's thinking about her plans for next year. She doesn't know what she wants to do.

12:53 She has a myriad of options to choose from. She could choose to come back for a second year. She could choose to go back and start working. She could choose to go back and go to college. She could choose to live at home. She could choose to live elsewhere. Maybe she'll be in a dorm. Maybe she'll be in an apartment. She starts talking to her friends. I don't know. Should I start dating right away? Should I not start dating right away? Some people told me it's good to get settled first. Some people told me it's good to jump in right away. I feel like I need a place, but on the other hand, I have a place. All of the conversations that happen around next year. What is next year fundamentally? Next year is fundamentally I don't know. I don't know what next year is going to bring. There are two ways of viewing the tomorrow of next year. One way is the way of Amalek.

13:39 Amalek, tomorrow Tomorrow is random. Who knows what will happen tomorrow? Anything could happen tomorrow. Maybe tomorrow you'll be dead. Maybe tomorrow a million things will go wrong. Maybe tomorrow COVID will break out again, and the entire world will shut down. Good, relax. It's gonna be okay. You don't say. You don't. I hear your trauma, and you're welcome to it. What was the question? What do you do when you're in doubt? What do you do when you're in doubt? Amalek says, get anxious Because tomorrow It's just random. You know what could happen? Anything could happen. That's where anxiety comes from. Anxiety is a belief system. I don't know if you girls realize that. Anxiety is a belief. I don't know what's going to happen. So I need to be prepared for the possibility of anything. You ever do that? You ever have anxious thoughts and you're like, okay, now I'm prepared. Here's the following five scenarios and this is what I would do in each and every one of them. That's anxious thinking.

14:40 Are you actually doing anything when you're anxiously thinking? It's the counterfeit of doing something. It just makes you feel like something is happening, but really, anxiety is based on a flawed belief system. Anxiety is rooted in Amalek. A malek, we all know, is the gematria of suffic. It's the gematria of doubt. A malek tells you life is in doubt. Yiddishkeit says exactly the opposite. Tomorrow is another step in a process. Whatever that step is, it's headed somewhere. There's a beautiful line. I love this line. I'll share it with you. I hope you share it with everybody else. In the end, it will be good. If it's not good It's not the end. In the end, it will be good. Ani mamim be emuna shleima beviyas haMashiach. Va'af al pische yisma mea im kolze achakelo. What is this ani mamim saying? What is this principle of faith saying?

15:40 In the end, Mashiach will come. Even though it's delayed now, I wait. Why are you waiting? What's the answer? I know that we are ba'derech. It's like imagine if you knew the end of the story. You just don't know how you will get there. You're reading a book. Let's say this was a terrible story. Years and years ago, there was a book I don't know if you've ever read called Harry Potter. So Harry Potter, when they came out, people would go crazy to buy them. I was alive when they were still coming out. They people would go crazy to buy them because they needed to get them right away, and people would binge read them. So if you got your Harry Potter on a Motzei Shabbos, people stayed up all night long. Into Sunday morning, and they read the entire thing because they had to finish it before somebody would spoil it.

16:37 So somebody I know was reading the book and they were in the middle of a binge, and this guy goes over and he goes Harry Potter dies And the guy went ballistic. He said, "You're lying to me." I said, "No, I'm not." Now, spoiler alert for those who have read the book: you know that Harry Potter dies. He has a tchiyasa meson, but for a minute he dies. So here's this guy, and he's so thrown off because this lunatic goes over him and says, 'Harry Potter dies,' and then he gets to the section where Harry Potter dies, and he's furious. You ruined the book for me. Just wait. In a minute, he gets up. It's a nasty thing to read the story knowing that you already know the end. But that's what Yiddishkeit is. Yiddishkeit is we know Mashiach is coming. This is what Mordechai says to Esther. He says the salvation of Klal Yisrael is going to come from somewhere. The only question is what role you choose to play in this story.

17:43 Isn't that true? In other words, tomorrow to a Jew is already assured. Tomorrow to a Jew might be in a certain state of doubt But that's only because I don't know what's going to happen Not because what's going to happen hasn't already been determined. You hear the difference? When we say that Hakadosh Baruch Hu is haya hove v'yia. When we say that God was, is, and always will be, and that God knows everything that's going to happen for all time, what does that mean? It means that whatever is going to happen is exactly what's supposed to happen, and wherever I am is exactly where I'm meant to be. And tomorrow, you know where I'm going to be. Exactly where I'm supposed to be. I just don't know where that is yet. But tomorrow is only in doubt to me. It's actually already assured. You girls know that famous story with Rabbi Jonathan Sacks and the Lubavitcher Rebbe. It's a beautiful story. I'll say it quickly. It's a beautiful story when Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, Rabbi Chief Rabbi Dr. Jonathan Sacks Olam Shalom, who passed away Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. Before he was Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, he was just Jonathan Sacks studying in university.

18:58 And he didn't know what he wanted to do with his life. He had certain questions, including philosophical ones, so he went to America to meet several great rabbis and get the questions answered. He showed up among the rabbis that he wanted to meet was the Lubavitcher Rebbe. He showed up to the Labavitcher Rebbe And he said, "I'm here for an audience with the Labavitcher Rebbe." They laughed him out of 770. They say you don't just show up to 770. People make appointments months in advance. So he said, "Ahavale, came all this way." So he said, "All right, I guess I'm not going to get it." So he said, "Listen, I'm going to Los Angeles, so I'm going to leave you a number where I can be reached in Los Angeles in case anything changes." He got on a Greyhound bus, went across America, arrived in Los Angeles. There was a message telling him that the Rebbe will see you. So he got back on the Greyhound bus, went all the way back across America, and met with the Lubavitcher Rebbe. For those of you that know, the Lubavitcher Rebbe would only meet with people very late at night.

19:51 So he learned basically all day, and then starting at 11 o'clock at night, he would meet with people till three or four o'clock in the morning. So Jonathan Sachs comes in. He sits down in front of the Lubavitcher Rebbe and he starts posing all of these philosophical questions that he has. The Rebbe, who was absolutely brilliant, knocked them off one by one. The Rebbe studied, aside from his brilliance in Torah, in some of the greatest universities in the world. He studied at the University of Berlin. He studied in the Sorbonne in France. He was an absolute genius. So for him, these philosophical questions that Jonathan Sachs had, especially as somebody who was well versed in Chassidus and Torah, were nothing. He just knocked them off one by one. Jonathan Sachs was brilliant. Was blown away by the Rebbe's genius. And after all was said and done, he had all his questions answered. Jonathan Sachs got up. This is the way he reports it. He got up to leave.

20:41 And the Rebbe looked at him and said, "Where are you going?" So he goes, 'I thought we were done. You answered all my questions.' So the Rebbe smiled at him and said You got to ask me questions now. I get to ask you questions. So he sat back down. The Rebbe looked at him with his piercing blue eyes. And he said to him What are you doing for Klal Yisrael in Cambridge? Jonathan Sachs was stunned by the question. Nobody had ever asked him that question. He was never in a position of leadership. So he said, when Rabbi Sachs told over the story, he said, "I responded, 'Who hears from England?'" 'Okay, so I'm about to offend you.' He said This is the way, but this is the way that he said it, not me. Rabbi Sachs can offend you. He's one of yours, so he's allowed to offend. Some of my best friends are English people. I like the Australians.

21:32 So listen what Rabbi Sacks said. He said I answered like a typical Englishman. That is to say, I evaded the question. So he looked at the rebbe and he said He looked at the rebbe and he said In the position in which I currently find myself, and the rebbe cut him off And he said there's no such thing as a Jew finding himself somewhere. Wherever you are, you were placed. Wherever you are is exactly where you were meant to be. So I repeat the question to you: What are you doing for Klal Yisrael in Cambridge? This shift in thinking, Rabbi Sachs said, is what took him from this path of philosophy and economics to becoming Rabbi, Doctor, Chief, Lord Jonathan Sachs. Because all of a sudden he realized, if I'm here, wherever I am is part of Hakadosh Baruch Hu's divine plan. For me to do something for Hakadosh Baruch Hu in this moment, every single moment is what we call pregnant with possibility.

22:30 It's not in doubt. It's only in doubt to us how we will respond to that moment. But the moment itself is by design. The moment itself is already assured. Think about how this changes your life. Because now you're sitting here and it's right before Purim. And you're sitting there saying to yourself, 'What's going to be after Pesach? What's going to be next year? What am I going to do with my life?' And you have all these questions. Who are these questions to? They're only questions to you. But really, the answer is already known. It's just a question of how you will respond to it. So now I don't need to be anxious. I can choose. These are the critical words: faith and hope in the place of doubt. That's what every single Jew has the opportunity to do. I know there's a moment And I know that ultimately, even if the next moment is not great, I know that tomorrow is good.

23:26 I can choose to live with faith and with hope that tomorrow will be godly and that I will respond in a godly way. That's an enormous difference between Amalek and between Klal Yisrael. By the way, it's no accident. That as we see atheism spiking in America, and more people don't believe in God, we also see more and more anxiety spiking in America. If you believe in a designer, that gives you the freedom to be able to breathe and say, whatever happens, is exactly what's supposed to happen. I can't and don't control whatever comes next, but I'm not supposed to. I'm only supposed to control how I respond to whatever comes. Or to make whatever choices I can within my circle of influence, which is very, very small. But if I believe in nothing, then I need to control everything, and that comes with a massive amount of anxiety.

24:25 It's an epidemic of anxiety. That's what we're living with today. This is a malach. A malach attacks the concept of machar. Listen to a pasuk. I want to read to you a pasuk. Vayomer Moshe al Yosua. Listen carefully to the words. I'm not going to translate them. See if you can pick it up. It's a Gemara that discusses this pasuk rather. Vayomer Moshe El Yehoshua bechar lanu anoshim v'tsei hilachim ba'amalek machar anochi nitzav al rosh agiva umate alokim bi'adi. I'll translate it, showing you that you read this pasuk in two ways. Listen what the Gemara in Yoma says. Isi ben Yehuda says, 'Chamish mekraos b'Torah ein lamehchr.' There are five pesukim in the Torah that you could read them in one of two ways, and one of them is this pesuk, the pesuk of fighting with Amalek. Listen how you could read it. You could read it.

25:22 "VaYomer Moshe El Yosua." Moshe says to Yosua, "Bechar lanu anashim v'tzei hilachim baAmalek. Choose men and go out and fight Amalek. Machar, tomorrow, Anochi Nitzav Alrosh Agiva. I will stand on top of the hill with my godly staff in hand. That's one way of reading it. But you could also read it like this: Vayomer Moshe Ya'ushua, B'char Lo Anashim Vesei Behilachim Amalek Machar. Go gather together people, and we'll fight with Amalek. Tomorrow. Isn't it fascinating that Amalek, who attacks the very notion of machar? Who says that everything about tomorrow is in doubt? Even the Torah itself is in doubt about how to read the word machar. Do you hear how brilliant Amalek is? Amalek is so successful in its doubt that it creates doubt even where, even in the Torah itself. About how to read the word machar. Maybe it means go fight with them today. Tomorrow I'll stand on top of the har. Or maybe it means go fight with them tomorrow. We'll stand on top of the har. You hear a malkin infects itself in the nature of macher.

26:41 What's the gematria of macher? Two hundred and forty-eight. What's the gematria of malchus? That'd be cool if it was, but it's not. It's four hundred and ninety-six. That's what I was thinking. Did you just come up with that or say it right after either? Very good. What does Achashverosh say to Esther? Ad chatzihamalchus. I'll give you half of Malchus. What's half of malchus? What's half of four hundred ninety-six? Two hundred forty-eight. We know in the Megillah. That every time it says the word Hamelach What's it referring to? Referring to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. So what does Achashverosh say to Esther Amalca? He says Esther, come. I'll fulfill any wish that you have. I'll give you half of Malchus. Meaning, what is Hashem offering Esther Amalca in the middle of the Megillah story? What's he saying? I'll give you the gift of tomorrow.

27:57 What's the gift of tomorrow? The gift of tomorrow is knowing that whatever happens tomorrow is by design. You don't need to be anxious about it. How important is this for Esther Hamalka, whose entire life is in doubt in this moment, and not only is her life in doubt in this moment, but the life of every single Jew is in her hands. Girls, think about the amount of anxiety. That we would imagine Esther Amalchus happens. In fact, the whole story with Mordechai and Esther, she says, I don't want to go. What if Achashverosh kills me in that moment? What if he doesn't stick out a scepter? I'm gonna die. What does Mordechai say? The end is assured. You're the only one who's in doubt. Now she gets the courage to go to Achashverosh. They're at the suda. What does he say to her? I'll give you chatzia malchus. I'll give you tomorrow.

28:45 So what does she respond? Esther Amalchus says, "You'll give me tomorrow." Let's have the suda tomorrow. Tomorrow I'll tell you about Haman's plan to kill me. Tomorrow I'll reveal to you that every single thing that's been going on is part of a plan. Now you know what Haman was thinking in that moment. Haman is all of a sudden he's at the pinnacle, right? Haman was invited to a suda with Achashverosh and Esther Amalca, the beloved queen. In that moment, Haman is at the top of the world, and you know what Esther says. Let's have another one tomorrow. You know what Achashverosh? You know what Haman starts to do? Because he's an Hamilchite He starts to go, "What's going on here?" All of a sudden, it dawns on him. Something is happening. Why am I being invited back? Whatever she wanted, she could have said right now.

29:37 You ever have that? You ever get a WhatsApp from somebody and said, "Hey, could we talk?" He goes, "Sure. What about?" "I'll tell you tomorrow. " The worst. It's nasty move, right? Amen. That's what Esther was doing. Now that Esther had the confidence, the faith, the hope that comes with being the owner of tomorrow, she starts to bring out Haman's Amalekite side, and she says, "We'll do it tomorrow." He says, "Tomorrow there is no tomorrow. Hine anochi hol echlamus. Tomorrow you could be dead. Tomorrow is unsure. Tomorrow is uncertain." And Esther Amalek is in there, and all of a sudden she's in a very different place. Adchatzi Amalechus—that's code word. Hashem is saying, "You own tomorrow." And now Haman's in a tizzy. Now Haman's going to make mistakes. So what happens when they have the suda? What happens when they have the suda is he's totally thrown because he's entering into it with all of his anxiety, with all of his doubt, with all of his uncertainty. That's the downfall of Amalek—the uncertainty.

30:39 With this in mind, we can now start to understand the first two questions that we asked. Moshe Rabenu is told by our Kadosh Baruch Hu we're going to fight Amalek when, not just now But in every single generation. You know what that means? That we fight Amalek not just now But we fight him tomorrow, and we fight Amalek the day after that, and the day after that, and in the generation after that, and the generation after that. If somebody came to you and said to you, 'You're going to be fighting Amalek forever,' what would our natural response be? Be terribly anxious. How am I going to fight forever? That's like what we feel right now with Hamas. We feel like we have to kill this thing off right now because if we don't How could we do this forever? How could we keep suffering like this? How many of us? I'm sure the answer is everybody has a level of anxiety.

31:32 What's going to be next? We all know it's the worst kept secret in Israel. We all know, the fighting in Gaza, Baruch Hashem, has gone very well for us, even though there have been terrible tragedies. And blessed Hashem, soon we're going to clean up that fight. But we all know that people are being called up to the front in the north. And we all know what's coming next. It's a poorly kept secret, but we know Lebanon is next because we can't have these borders. Maybe you're asking yourself with some level of anxiety What happens if war breaks out with Lebanon? There's a lack of confidence. There's a lack of a surety. What's going to be next? How are we going to keep fighting? What happens now? Biden isn't behind us as much, and even we have Jews. I didn't want to say their names. Even there are Jews in certain places of power in the American government that are trying to take down the Israeli government, and it's hard for us to watch. Those are our brothers that are doing that. It's crazy to see.

32:26 So maybe there's a certain anxiety. Am I going to be able to fight this after the fight? Hakadosh Baruch Hu is saying to Moshe Rabbeinu that we fight Amalek in every generation. That means we don't have to be concerned about the outcome of this. We know already what the outcome is. The outcome is in the end of days, Amalek will be defeated. And when Amalek is defeated Hashem will be won, and His name will be won, and everyone in the world will recognize Amalek. But the fight for Amalek is not today. Now we do what we can. Tomorrow we fight our malach again, and we fight our malach again. We fight our malach again, over and over again. We fight our malach again, and we're not scared because we already know we won the war. We're like the guy who read Harry Potter. We just don't know what it's going to look like.

33:18 And now we can understand, and we'll finish with this. And then we'll take a break for those that want to stay for the Tynes Esther Shir. Now we can understand why Purim. Lasts even after Yomos HaMashiach When none of the other Yomim Tovim do Because all the other Yomim Tovim they live within the world of today. They live within the world of Olam Hazeh, but in Olam Habah. They fall away. But Purim is the Yantiv of fighting Amalek, which means Purim is the Yantiv of tomorrow, which means that even in Olam Habah Purim doesn't go away. Because Purim's fight is always about tomorrow. It lives in the perennial future, meaning it never goes away. That's the nature of Purim. Even here in Yerushalayim, we have Purim. Everywhere else in the world, we have Purim on Yom Daled. Except in Yerushalayim, what do we have? Tomorrow. Purim is tomorrow. Purim is always on the next day. Because the closer you get to the fight with Amalek, the more there's always going to be a vision of tomorrow.

34:21 This is no small thing. And I'll share with you why. Everything gets clarified before Mashiach comes. The fights of every generation are different. It used to be. Did you know that there were people that would go off the derech because they said, "I'm going to be a communist." Why do I need to be a Jew? I could be a communist. I'm going to bring the world to its ultimate tikkun, its ultimate perfection through communism. Girls, I have a question. When's the last time you met someone who went off the derech because of communism? You never met anyone like that. It used to be a real thing. As we get closer to the coming of Mashiach, we need to deal with things that are more inner, more essential. So it used to be we had fights over philosophies. Then we had fights over governments. Now in this generation, which is the final generation before Mashiach comes, and we're mamish—not even in the last minutes anymore. We're in the last seconds before Mashiach comes.

35:22 It's amazing. What are we fighting now? We're fighting depression. We're fighting anxiety. We're fighting loneliness. We're fighting unworthiness. These are very different types of fights. Ask a kid today who goes off the derech. Why did you go off the derech? They don't say because of communism. They say because I felt worthless. I felt disconnected. I didn't feel like I was in harmony with Judaism. I didn't feel like it was speaking to me. I didn't feel connected to it. I was depressed. My Yiddish guy was making me anxious. I was kicked out by that rebbe and by this yeshiva. We're fighting very core battles now. These are the final battles with Amalek. The choice of anxiety is an Amalekite choice. Again, not the choice to be anxious. It's okay to be anxious, but how we respond to our anxiety. You could respond to your anxiety. Ever have an anxious thought and then you hold on to it? You know what I'm talking about?

36:12 Imagine the thought is just drifting down the river. And at any point you have the right to go. That's interesting. And then you could just let it drift down the river. Did you ever grab that thought with two hands and hold on to it and repeat it to yourself over and over again until it makes you absolutely crazy? That is a choice. The fact that the thought came in front of us happens. Thoughts come up. Sometimes we could be anxious, but we have a choice as to how we want to meet our anxiety. We could meet our anxiety like a malach, and we could say everything in my life is in doubt, and I have no idea what's going to be, and maybe my entire life is going to fall apart. You can narrate your life with that choice. It's an amalekite choice. Or alternatively, you could say it's okay that things are in doubt because doubt is the place where faith is born.

37:03 Faith doesn't eliminate doubt. Faith confronts doubt. I can be hopeful even when things seem hopeless. Because I already know the end to this story. These fights These fights are the ones that are happening right before Mashiach comes. Because they are the most incredible opportunities to clarify our core beliefs. Do we believe in no God, everything is by chance, and there is no path? Or do we believe in one God? Every single one of us is here exactly by design. Every single moment is exactly on purpose. To take us on the path that we're meant to walk to arrive at the ultimate destination. It's a very different way of thinking. And it's not stupid to fight this battle. If there's any of you in this room that struggle with anxiety, and I'm open about it, I struggle with anxiety. If there's anybody in this room that struggles with anxiety, I want you to know this is the antidote.

38:02 The antidote to the anxiety is not just stum. I'm just going to try to let that thought float away. The antidote to anxiety is understanding. I do not need to control this life. I only need to influence that which is influencible, and the rest of it is in the hands of Hashem. Yiratam ne'avinu shabashamayim. That as we head to this purim, which is the yomtiv of Mashiach, it's the yomtiv that lasts beyond Mashiach. It's the yomtiv of Machar that we should be zeicha to have the ultimate Machar and greet Mashiach Tzidkenu very, very, very speedily in our days.