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Thank you all for being here. This is our fourth class in our week by week. Elo Rosh Hashanah, Abkamim Yom Tovim. It's been a very busy month and Elo Baruch Hashem, a lot to do, a lot to focus on. We have another class on September 16th with Rabbi Nissel. I hope you all can join there. Thank you all for being here. This class and all of our learning is always Leilun Nishmas Ruchamachayim from Abbas to Penchas. Shen dalbas Moshe harav Yisrael Noach ben Yitzchak matas yahu, ravitzindina bas elchanan, Rav zecharya shimon ben Yitzchak hakohen, chana mendel bas Yisrael and masha Sarah bas Yisrael ruvin And rofucheli metzu zecharya dov ben perel shira, Rav yechayah meir ben simachasha, liba ohuva bas chana riva, Pesach bital ben chaya bat shava Ariel achava bas chana malka, tzvi hirsch ben yehudes And Shlomo Asher Ben Adina You should all have a very quick Quick refuel, refuel.
Welcome, Rabbi Berg. Welcome, everyone. Thank you all for being here. Thank you so much, Aviva. I just want to take a second to highlight how amazing the Chizuk Mission is. Aviva did not ask me to do this, nor did Barry. I'm doing this only because I genuinely believe it. Just think about how special it is that they're asking, how can we help make Elul meaningful? And to have all these speakers to comment, to share words of chizuk, and to really prepare. My wife was telling me that my own daughters were saying now they're back in seminary. They're like, 'Ema, did you know it's Elul?' It's because you know they just got back to school. And when we have structure, when we have the infrastructure that reminds us of what's going on in our calendar year, then things will be conscious of them.
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And when we don't have that infrastructure, we're naturally going to be less conscious. So I just want to express my own gratitude, and I'm sure it's on behalf of everyone here to Barry and Aviva for all the exceptional work that they do putting these things together. I know you're all on Zoom and you're all muted, but I'm assuming you're all clapping and you're all going crazy for Barry and Aviva. Thank you, Rebbetzin Spera, for always following and leading us in the charge. And beez Hashem, it will be a meaningful elul for all of us, but a special s'chus for Barry and Aviva for once again making the Chizuk Mission so awesome for all of us. That was by way of introduction. When Aviva reached out to me to ask me to speak this elul, she said, Reburg, you might want to speak about the fact that Tkiyah Shofar this year will be missed at least in part because of Shabbos.
And that this is going to be something that a lot of people are talking about. And I'll be honest with you, it didn't really occur to me. I said okay, I'm going to try to incorporate it. And in fact, when I started to put together this shir, it became so obvious to me that this was the topic that we needed to discuss. I'm sure it's on a lot of people's minds because the last time that we missed tkiyah shofar because of Shabbos was the year of October seventh. And I think people find themselves once again in this space, and people are rightfully recognizing that there's some sort of pattern. It was in 2020 before that we didn't have tchiashovr, and that wasn't the best year in a revealed way. So I think rightfully people are saying where are we holding? And so let's do a little bit of a deep dive into the sugya and to see how we can approach this Rosh Hashanah in a meaningful way. So we'll begin at the very beginning by discussing what are the sources for Rosh Hashanah in the Torah.
So there's two sources for Rosh Hashanah in the Torah. There's Bamidbar chapter 29 verse one. The pasuk says Uva Chodesh Hashvi, and in the seventh month, beechad leChodesh on the first day, Mikra Chodesh Yelachem. It shall be a holy convocation for you. Kol Melechus Avoda Lo Sasu. You're not allowed to perform any avoda, no mundane work. Yom Terua Yelachem. It should be a day of the shofar sounding for you. That's one pasuk. Then there is VaYikra chapter twenty-three, verse twenty-four. The pasuk says, 'Uva Chodesh Ashvi be'echad laChodesh.' In the seventh month, on the first day, Yilachem Shabbason. It should be for you a day of rest. Zichron Trua Mikra Chodesh. It should be a remembrance of the shofar blast, a holy convocation. So those are the two psukim that reference Rosh Hashanah in the Torah. The Gemara in Rosh Hashanah says, according to Rava, that according to the Torah, one is permitted to sound the shofar on Rosh Hashanah even on Shabbos. And the only reason that we don't blow the shofar on Shabbos is because the chamim decreed that you're not allowed to. Why? Because everyone is obligated to sound the shofar on Rosh Hashanah, but not everyone is an expert in blowing the shofar. And the chamim were concerned that let's say you have somebody who's not an expert
And so what's he going to do on Rosh Hashanah? He's going to take the shofar in his hand and go to an expert to learn how to blow the shofar. But because he's so preoccupied, maybe he's going to carry the shofar in Rosh Hashanah Dalat Amos, and he'll desecrate Shabbos. That's what the Gemara says. So really, we should blow shofar on Shabbos, but the Chachamim made a gzeira: don't blow shofar on Shabbos. Maybe somebody's going to come to carry the shofar in Rosh Hashanah. On Shabbos. Now that might seem a little bit much because first of all, in our kehilos and our congregations, how many congregations do you know where they don't have someone who knows how to blow the shofar? And as I imagine, all of us live in a community where there's somebody who knows how to blow the shofar. And if there wasn't, I imagine that the rav of the shul would probably already be working just like he's working on his yamim noraim drushes and sermons. I imagine that he would be ahead of the game to say And we have to have a bal tokeah, just like we have to have a bal korei. Certainly, a bal tokeah. It's the mitzvah sayomus to blow shofar.
And not only that. Let's say that such a situation did arise. How many of us live in a community without an eruv? Let's think about what chazal are doing here. Maybe somebody is not going to have an expert bal tokeah beforehand. And he's gonna go out and carry it in the Rishon Hasharon on Shabbos in a situation where there's no erev, and because of that, nobody blows shofar on Shabbos. It seems like a bit much. The Sam Shofar says that this is what's called a low plug. A low plug means even if you live in a town that does have an erev on Shabbos, you're not allowed to blow the shofar because the Chachamim made a xera, and they made a xera across the board. So it's a it seems like. It's a little far-fetched, but. This is what Chazal said. The question is, does it come at a price, and if so, what price does it come at?
So it comes, perhaps, at a price. The Gemara in Rosh Hashanah says, Amr of Yitzchak Kol Shana she'Ein Token La Betchilasa, Mariin La Besofa. Any year that the shofar is not blown at the beginning, it will end in bitterness. Meaning, the year will end in a bitter way. Why, my timea, the low air above satan? Because we know that the point of blowing the shofar, the Gemara here says, is to confuse the satan, and therefore a year in which we don't blow the shofar, the satan will not be confused. And because the Satan will not be confused, chas v'shalom, the year might not go so well. Does this apply to a case in which we don't blow the shofar on Rosh Hashanah because of Shabbos? So there is a b'ahag that Tosus brings, and the b'ahag says the Gemara is not speaking about Rosh Hashanah falling on Shabbos. It's speaking about a situation in which the shofar was not blown because of an unexpected mishap. But in general, obviously
To not blow shofar because of Shabbos, that is not what the Gemara is talking about. All those people who say October seventh happened because we didn't get to blow the shofar on Shabbos that year, according to the Bihag Chas v'Shalom, that's not what it's talking about. It's only talking about that if we don't blow the shofar because of an unexpected mishap, then that is a year that will end in bitterness. But certainly not because of not blowing the shofar. The Ritva says explicitly that when the shofar is not blown because of Shabbos Minyazul Hashem Shamayim. The omission. The reason why we're not blowing the shofar is because we're following the lacha, and that's l'Shem Shamayim. And therefore, there is no way that somebody would be punished for not blowing the shofar on Shabbos. The Aruch HaNeir did some research. The Aruch HaNer decided, and this is where a lot of people today are paying attention. The Aruch HaNer did some research, and the Aruch HaNer said, let's go through history and see if there are patterns.
And so the Aruch HaNer says, we see both ways. On the one hand, the first Beis Hamikdash and the second Beis Hamikdash were both destroyed in years in which the shayfer was not blown because of Shabbos. Which would indicate that in a year in which we don't blow shofar because of Shabbos Seems like those are negative years. After all, the Beis Hamikdash was destroyed both times in years in which we didn't blow shofar because of Shabbos. However, the Aruch HaNer also says that Klal Yisrael entered Eretz Yisrael in a year where we didn't blow shofar on Shabbos, the first Yom Kippur ever. Which remember, was our forgiveness for the Chet Egal occurred in a year in which Rosh Hashanah fell out on Shabbos? The year of the Hakamas Hamishgun happened in a year in which we didn't blow Shofar on Rosh Hashanah because it was on Shabbos.
So therefore, we see according to the Aruch Laner that there were certainly negative years that happened in years where we didn't blow Shofar, but there were also positive years. The question is, if in fact there is a toll to be taken Why were Chazal so insistent that we shouldn't blow shofar on Rosh Hashanah because of Shabbos? In other words, according to the Bihag and according to the Ritva, nothing is going to go wrong because of that. It's fine. It's a Menil Hashem Shamayim. Don't even worry about it. But if the Aruch HaNer is highlighting that in fact some of our worst years in history occurred in years in which we didn't blow shofar on Rosh Hashanah because of Shabbos, so it's like. Because maybe somebody is going to not be an expert. And they're going to go first to an expert on Rosh Hashanah in a town where there's no eruv, and they're going to carry the shofar on Shabbos. So therefore, we're going I'm saying we're going to bring this whole thing into reality. It's a very strange thing to do. Let's take a look and see what we can do.
There's Yerushalmi here. The Yerushalmi actually highlights that if you were listening carefully to the pesukim that I said when I first started giving the Shir, you'll notice there's a difference between the two pesukim. I'm going to highlight the difference for you now. The first pasuk that I quoted, Bamidbar 29, chapter 29, verse one, says, "UvaChaydes Hashvi beEchad Lachodesh Miker Kodesh Yalachem Kol Maleches Avodah Lo Sasu Yom Teruah Yalachem." So it's called a Yom Terua. It should be a day of the shofar sounding. If you look in the second pasuk in VaYikra 23: 24, it says Uva Echad Uva Chodesh Ashvi BeEchad Lachodesh Yelachem Shabbason Zichron Terua Mikra Chodesh Zichron Terua. It's not Yom Terua. It's not a day of the shofar. Rather, it's a remembrance of the shofar. So the Yerushalmi notes that there's a difference between a Yom Terevuah and a Zichron Terevuah, and the Yerushalmi asks that question. It says, "Kasav Echad Omer Yom Terevuah, a Kasav Echad Omer Zichron Terevuah." So what's the difference? Why in one pasuk does it say Zichron Terevuah and the other pasuk says Yom Terevuah? And the Yerushalmi answers as follows: "Ha'keitzad b'shashu chal bechol Yom Terevuah, b'shashu chal b'shabbes Zichron Terevuah" Mazkirin. Have a low token. So the Yerushalmi says as follows: In a year where Rosh Hashanah falls during the week, that's called Yom Terua, a day of the shofar.
But in a year where it falls out on Shabbos, that's called Zecharim Trua. It's only a remembrance of the shofar. So on such a situation, mazkirin will remember the shofar, but of a low token. We will not actually blow the shofar. The Bavli gave us a practical halachic reason why we don't blow shofar on Shabbos Rosh Hashanah. The Yerushalmi is telling us something different. Yerushalmi is already telling us there's an inner vocabulary that we have to develop here. For what the day becomes, it's no longer Yom Teruah; it's called Zecharon Shua. So the question is, what exactly does the Yerushalmi mean? That in a year where we don't blow shofar on Shabbos, Rosh Hashanah, the nature of that Rosh Hashanah is not called Yom Teruah. Now it's called Zecharon Shua. What does that mean? That it's only a day where there's a remembrance and not actually a day of the sound.
So in order to answer this, let's go back to a very fundamental thing. Why do we blow the shofar? Because it's not actually so obvious why we blow the shofar. So the Rambam in Hilchas Shuva says, even though we blow the shofar on Rosh Hashanah because the Torah tells us to, there is a hint in the Tzitzias Shofar. Kolmar, the Rambam says, it's as if to say, "Uru yeshenim mishin aschem" Wake up, you sleepy people. From your sleep. Uru yeshenim mishin aschem. Venerdamim hakitzu mitardemis mitardem aschem. Vechapsu b'masechem. Vechizru b'tshuva. Vezichru barachem. So the Rambam says, 'Wake up, you sleepy ones, from your sleep.' And you who are slumbering, you should arise, inspect your actions. Do tshuva, remember your Creator. So the Rambam is telling us that the reason why a person blows the shofar to begin with is because it's a call to tshuva. That's what the Rambam says. It's a way of waking us up from our slumber. Shaila, what does the Rambam mean when he says we're slumbering? What exactly do we mean over here?
We all know that there's a famous Gemara. The Gemara tells us that before a child is born, a malach teaches the child the entire Torah. And immediately before birth A malach causes the child to forget the Torah. The question is, a famous question, why teach Torah that will immediately be forgotten? What's the point of the child sitting in the mother's stomach for nine months, learning all this Torah that eventually is going to be forgotten? So there's a bnei yisaschar. The Bnei Yischazar in Mamarecho, the Shiva and Meir Aluf says as follows. He says it's not really forgotten. The Torah that you learn in the womb is not really forgotten. Listen to what he says. He says, "Sheis Yasher bo Chakika beKol Chazikarom." He says the Torah that you learned It's engraved in your memory, so you forget it consciously. But the Torah that you learn in your mother's stomach is engraved upon your memory, and that's why sometimes when we're learning something, we almost have the sense that we're remembering it. Because when we learn Torah in this world, we're not encountering something that's completely foreign. We're recognizing something that the neshama already knows.
Which means that it's possible for somebody. To lose something consciously, but the soul knows what it once learned. And the same thing is true not only about our limudat yira, but it's also true about our spiritual longings—that the soul can long for something that the conscious mind has forgotten. And so it's possible for a person consciously to live their life without their banishal. But the chakika, the imprint of what we learned on our mother's stomach, the imprint of that Torah experience of connecting to Al Kiddush Baruch Hu, the soul is always in a state of spiritual longing, even though consciously we've forgotten. But on a soul level, we are still engaged. That imprint is still there. Normally, Rosh Hashanah is what we call Yom Teruah. There's a sound entering us from the outside, and that sound will awaken something on the inside. That's the role of the shofar. That's what the Rambam is saying. The Rambam is saying that when Hakadosh Baruch Hu tells us to blow the shofar, yes, it's a zayras hakasov, but there's a remez, there's a hint. It's awakening something that was slumbering within us. That's what the Rambam means by slumber. The Rambam is telling us you're not dead.
A yid shows up. To Yomim Noraim, and maybe they have a feeling. I know I do. I have a feeling like I've been so distant from Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Like I can't say that I'm living in conscious contact with Hashem. I have been distant in a certain way. Like Hashem has not been part of my life as much as I, in theory, would want Him to be. And so there's a danger that a person experiences where they say, "Oh yes, this isn't meaningful to me." The famous story of the Labav Chacham Rebbe, where a guy came to him and he said "I'm not going to Shul on Yom Kippur this year." And the Rebbe said, "Why?" He said, "Because I'm tired of being a faker. I don't go to Shul 364 days a year. Why should I go to Shul on Yom Kippur? It's a fake." So the Rebbe said, "I agree. You shouldn't fake it. On Yom Kippur, that's when you're your real self. 364 days a year, you're a faker. So you should go to Shul on 364 days a year if you really want to be authentic." But who you are is a neshama that longs to connect to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Maybe you are in a state of slumber.
Maybe your conscious mind has forgotten. But that doesn't mean that the soul is not engaged. There's a chakika, there's an engraving, just like there's an engraving of Torah on our soul that we can almost remember the Torah that we learned in our mother's womb. There's also a spiritual longing that is engraved in our soul, and even though we might not be consciously aware of it, when we blow the shofar, that longing that we have inside of us That's what comes up. And the truth is, this is a very beautiful idea that is inside of the DNA of Klal Yisrael since our very inception, since the times of Avram Avinu. The Me'Shiloch says as follows: Unbelievable Me'Shiloch, stunning Me'Shiloch. The truth is, I would read it to you every line inside, but I think it's going to lose a little bit of its flavor if I do. But it's an amazing Me'Shiloch. Maybe I'll send it to Aviva with a translation, so you could send it out to the chat afterwards. Because it's really a phenomenal ma'as hiloch. The ma'as hiloch is as follows: We know that Avram Avinu encountered God. The Medrash says that he saw a palace on fire
And he called out and he said, 'Who is the Bal Habira? Who is the master of this palace?' And so the Medrash says, 'Hates its, a love, hates its, I love, hates its, I love Bal Habira.' And then the master of the palace revealed Himself to Avram Avinu. So the Ma'aseh Lo'ach asked the question. At first glance, it should have said that Hashem revealed Elov to Avram Avinu. Here it says Alav Not Elov, Alav. I'm sorry, I think I read it wrong. Not Elov, Alav. It says He revealed Himself upon Him, not that Avram that Hashem revealed Himself to Avram Avinu. Hashem revealed Himself upon Avram Avinu. And the Meishiloch is asking, 'What's with this interesting language?' And the Meishiloch answers as follows. He says, 'When Avram Avinu saw what was taking place in the Dar Haflaga, He said, 'This is a palace in flames.'
It bothered him very much. The generation of the dispersion. He saw what was going on in the world, and he said, 'This world is totally chaotic.' And he wanted to know who's in charge of this world. Everything here is so crazy. It was in his mind the lashon of the ma'asilach kiha'y be'en of lepela ma'od. He saw everything that's happening. It was very troubling to him. And listen to the words of the ma'asilach. Baray menavsho mi bara elah. A question thundered in the soul of Avram Avinu, and he said, 'Who created all of this?' It wasn't just that Avram Avinu was wondering. Avram Avinu had a thundering question inside of him. He said, 'Who created all of this?' And that's when Hashem revealed Himself upon Avram Avinu. What does that mean? It means that Hashem said to him, 'Don't you see from yourself?' The rest of the world was not bothered by this question.
Everyone in the world was watching this chaotic world of the Dorah Laga. Only one person in the entire world was bothered by the question: Who created all of this? Only Avraham Avinu was bothered by this. Only Avraham Avinu, in his eyes, saw it as an absolute puzzle what was going on. And the Me'Shiloh says, from the very fact that your heart was thundering with this question, you can understand that there certainly exists a creator in this world who bears all worlds. Who sustains all worlds, who fills all worlds. And it was He who awakened your heart and your soul to ask this question. And that's why the Medrash uses the word "alov" that Hashem revealed Himself upon Avram Avinu, meaning Hashem revealed Himself upon Avram Avinu's very question Because the question itself was already a sufficient answer for Him. Which means that Avram Avinu was very restless. He was a restless person. He's like, I have to make sense of this world. There has to be somebody that created all of this. But that restlessness is the evidence of Hashem.
Because the world around him could look at the very same reality and they just could continue living. Nothing bothered them. Avram Avinu couldn't live like that. Something inside of him was demanding that there be more. And the Ma'asih Loach is telling us the most unbelievable, stunning word. Hashem's answer to Avram was in effect. Where do you think that thundering demand comes from? To think to yourself that there must be something that's creating this world—the fact that your soul cannot accept a world without a source—is in and of itself my revelation to you. In other words, the very first discovery of Hakadosh Baruch Hu in this world from Avraham Avinu came not from the outside but from the inside. Not because Avram Avinu had some scientific understanding of the world and he said therefore there must be a Creator. Avram Avinu, the fact that he was bothered, the fact that something inside of him was awakened to ask the question, that the soul's subconscious longing for Hashem came out into his conscious mind, that it bothered him. That's where the discovery of Hashem is.
This is what the pasuk in Shir Hashirim says: Ani yishena v'li bi'er. I am sleeping, but my heart is awake. Kol dodi dafek, my beloved is knocking. Pischili achosi raiasi yonasi tamasi sheroshi nimla tal kvutzosai resise laila. My beloved is knocking open for me. My sister, my beloved, my dove, my perfect one. For my head is full of dew, my locks with the drops of the night. And the Medrash in Shmos Rabba says, "What does it mean a nishen of alibi er? I might be asleep in terms of my observance" But my heart still burns to connect to Hakadosh Baruch Hu And that's a very deep tirah because so many of us are in a state where perhaps our observance is not what we want it to be. Consciously, we're not living the God-oriented life that we want to. But chas v'shalom, for one minute, for a yid ever to think that because his observance is not where it should be means that in any way his heart doesn't long for this. I want to share with you, and this is being recorded, and it might be listened to by this bacher.
So if this bachelor is listening to this recording, I just want to share with you that yesterday I had a conversation with a talmud who I love very much And there was a podcast that Rasha Shiva and I did on the first week of yeshiva in Mevaseret And in the podcast we discussed Jews who perhaps are not where they should be in terms of observance, but they're still connected. And so this Talmud, who is very distant in terms of observance, reached out to me And I said to him, "I want you to know that I listened to the podcast and I loved it." And I said to him, 'And he said, he goes, I think his exact lashon—I don't want to check right now—but I'm pretty sure his exact lashon was, 'I am totally not observant, and I have zero intention of ever being observant again.'
"And I responded to him, I said, 'You may not be observant.' But don't think for one second that you're not religious. You could be observant. There are people that are observant and they're not tapped into their religiousness. There are people that are religious. They're not yet observant. He's a Jew who's not observant, but he's deeply religious. Religious comes from the Latin word religare, which means to be connected. Ani yishena, the Medrash says, you are sleeping in your actions. Libi er. But the Medrash is giving us a havtacha. The Medrash is giving us the most unbelievably important understanding of what it means to be a yid. There is no reality where a Jew's heart is asleep. A Jew's heart is thundering with the roar of Avram Avinu. Who is the Bal Habira? Some of us have an Avram Avinu moment where we're able to take that thundering nature of our soul and bring it into reality. Others haven't yet reached that voice. Avraham Avinu discovers Hashem when he allows his soul to come into conscious reality. But just because you're in a state of slumber does not chas v'shalom mean that you're not deeply connected. In fact, in my experience Sometimes yidden that are so deeply connected have a hard time being observant for whatever reasons. But the danger
Is that because we sometimes, and rightfully so, because we talk so much about halachic observance? Someone who's less observant might chas v'shalom come to a belief where they think I must not be connected. I must not care to be connected. It's not true. Every one of us, from time to time, have herhure tshuva. Only a rushaviralo, the Tanya says. Only someone who's totally gone doesn't have heru rechuvah, and even the rush of veralo still has them. The altar rebbe says, but it's more like an or makif, it's a surrounding light. It's not an or panimi. It's not coming from an inner light. But every one of us has heru rechuvah from time to time. There's no such thing as a Jew that doesn't have a thought or a feeling that comes up inside of him that says, I know I want to be more connected. Of course, we all want to be connected. It's the nature of the Jewish soul to be connected. I niyashena v'li bi er. What's our avodah? Continues the Medrash. Remember, what was the end of the pasuk? The end of the pasuk was The end of the pasuk was. Pischili says the Medrash. Pischili, Rav Yosef Omar Amar Hakadosh Baruch Hu Yisrael, Hashem says to Klal Yisrael, Beni, my children, my son, Pischili Pesach Echad Shal Tshuva Open me up
An opening of Tshuva, Kehudas Shal Machat, a small one. Just the size of the point of a needle. I will open entrances wide enough for wagons and carriages to pass through. Hashem says, 'What is our avoda?' Pischuli. Just tap into that libi'er. Tap into the reality that my heart is always awake, even though my actions might not be aligned with my heart. Our heart is always awake. I want to share with you a story. Many years ago in yeshiva I gave a drasha on the Yishen of Eliezer, and for whatever reason, the boys in yeshiva were making fun of me. I didn't know, but the boys in yeshiva were making fun of me for this drasha, and I only heard about it years later, and I'll tell you why I heard about it in a moment. But the boys were saying something to the effect of, Rav Berg is always telling us, don't worry, as far gone as you are, your heart is always awake, whatever. However, they were making fun of me. I'm not exactly sure of the details.
A boy who, Baruch Hashem, I consider a very, very fine bentira, like a very legitimate bentira, reached out to me a couple of years ago and he said, Rebbe, I have to apologize to you. I said, I'll always accept an apology. As I said, why do you need to apologize? He said, Do you remember you gave this drasha of Ani Yishen VeLiBi'er? I said, of course I remember it. He goes, I want to tell you that we were all making fun of you after that drasha. I was like, This is an amazing apology. So far, you're telling me that you're making fun of me behind my back. Beseder. But then he continued and he said, 'You should know, Rebbe. This week, I really needed. I felt very, very distant from Hashem. I don't know what he had done, but it sounded like he had done something that made him feel exceptionally distant from Hashem to the degree that he felt like maybe this whole thing is a fake.'
Now we're talking about a person who's not just a regular, average Ben Torah. We're talking about someone that I would consider a very fine Ben Torah. I don't know what he did. I didn't ask. It wasn't my business. But it sounded like he did something that really was outside of the purview of what he ordinarily does. And it seems that he had developed some sort of perspective of maybe my whole life is a fake. Maybe everything I'm doing is a fake. If I was able to do this, or I'm still doing this, whatever it was, is maybe my whole life is a fake. He goes, and then I remembered making fun of you. A ni yishen of libi er. That drasha that I heard all those years ago. I remember that drasha. It's true, Rabbi. Sometimes in our lowest moments, we need to remember that all we need to do is tap into that libi er, tap into the fact that our heart is awake.
We open up a tiny little hole of tshuva. We become conscious of the fact that there's a longing inside of us. Hashem says, 'That's all you need to do. You don't need to do anything more than that. I will open up the rest. If you are just conscious and aware that what you yearn for is to be in a relationship with Me, things will absolutely work out.' And that's where Kook writes in Oras Chovah 15: 10. He says, 'Chovah is not something foreign. Chovah is returning to yourself.' And this is what these are the words. I'm going to read them inside. It's a quick line, but it's a beautiful line. He says, 'Va'Chovah Hareshes Hishayosha V'Adam Al Atzmo.' Tshuva is returning to yourself, el shorish nesmach nesmachlo, to the root of your soul. Umiyad yashav el alokem. Once you are deeply connected to yourself, you will be deeply connected to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Tshuva is not about bringing something foreign into yourself. It's not about now I'm going to be from. I'm going to adopt this external fromkay chas v'shalom.
Tshuva is about looking inside, tapping into the longing of your soul, tapping into who you really are, and then memelo you're in a relationship with Hashem. Tshuva is organic. Tshuva is coming in contact with the essential nature of your soul that demands to be connected. That's the nature of tshuva. What does the Rambam mean? We said when it says uru yishen u'mishin ashem, the Rambam means you are not dead; you are just asleep. What does all of this have to do with a year in which Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbos? I believe that we have perhaps, and again, a lot of drushes are given on this, but I believe that our avoda this year is very different than in previous years. We said earlier that when we blow shofar on Rosh Hashanah and it doesn't fall on Shabbos, what is that doing? That's Yom Trua. A sound enters from the outside and awakens something within us.
When Shabbos is the same day as Rosh Hashanah, it's Zecharon Trua. What does it mean, Zecharon Trua? There is no external sound on the first day of Rosh Hashanah this year. We are being asked to remember a sound. The soul has never forgotten. The silence of the shofar will force us to discover the cry that was already there. That's the avoda. The avoda of this Rosh Hashanah is yes. On the second day of Rosh Hashanah, we'll hear the sound from the outside. On the first day, there's no shofar outside of us. It's a zikron shrua. We're going to be quiet this year. What will happen in that silence? We are going to be quiet enough to notice what our soul has never forgotten. On the second day, we'll have shofar, but on the second day, we're going to hear the shofar differently. But because by then we will know what it has come to awaken. In other words, on the first day of Rosh Hashanah this year, we have an unbelievable opportunity. In the absence of the shofar, we're going to discover the cry of the shofar that's inside of ourselves. We're going to discover the longing that we have for Hashem. And if we don't discover the longing for Hashem, says the El Aruch Laner, it's possible that these will be years that will be chas v'shalom, like October seventh, like the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash.
It's not going to happen because we're going to do it differently this year. But it also has an opportunity. In the absence of the shofar, it has the opportunity to be a year where we enter Eretz Yisrael. It has the opportunity to be a year of the first Yom Kippur ever. It has to be. It has the opportunity to be a year of hashkamas hamishkan. What determines what type of year it will be? Just because it's not a Yom Tzrua doesn't mean that there won't be a Zichron Tzrua. We are living in a world right now where the Jewish soul is crying out to Hashem so loudly. We look around. Since October seventh, the Tshuva movement has been unbelievable. I want to share with you this summer. I met my new Rebbe. I met my new Rebbe, a young woman on Mechlelet this summer.
I go around and talk to fifteen and sixteen year old girls in the shir. I go around the desk, ask them, 'What's your name? Where are you from?' And then you start to play Jewish geography. Now we all know. The point of Jewish geography only has one goal. The goal of Jewish geography is to say, 'Oh, do you know so and so?' And then they say, 'Yes.' And then you go, 'Send my regards.' That's the whole point of Jewish geography. Just to send regards to people that you clearly don't care that much about. Because if you cared about them, you would just send a message to them yourself. But for the people that you haven't been so in touch with. You get to say send, send regards. Fine.
I go around. This one, I knew her dad in high school. This one, I knew her dad in Mevaser. I'm just going around the room. It's unbelievable. I can play Jewish geography with every single girl. One girl, I asked her, 'Where are you from?' She goes, 'Don't even bother trying to play Jewish geography. You're not going to play Jewish geography with me.' When I said, give me a shot. Like I'm good at Jewish geography. I'm from the Five Towns. I know a lot of people. She's like, it's not going to work. I said, why? Where are you from? She said, Michigan. I said, do you know Rav Tzali Friedman? She goes, no. I said, really? He's the NCSY in Detroit. She goes in my town, which was some random town in Michigan. There's only three Jews: my mother, my father, and me. She can't play Jewish geography. She doesn't yet know any Jews. So I said, "How did you end up on Mechellet?"
How did you get here? She looks at me and says, "October seventh." Everything changed for us on October seventh. We were asleep at the wheel. October seventh happened, and we woke up. She said, 'Everybody in my public school knows, and if you know Michigan, you know that Michigan is not exactly a place that's devoid of anti-Semitism.' She said, 'Everybody in my school knows after October seventh.' Don't mess with me. This is her lashon. Don't mess with me. Fifteen-year-old girl. Don't mess with me. I'm a Jew and I'm proud. Where does she spend her summer? On mechalalot. And then she came to me at the end of the summer. She said, Rebberg I don't know. Do you think it's going to be hard for me to get into seminary because I don't really have a yeshiva education? Listen to me. When it comes time to get into seminary, I'm going to be your reference and I'm going to call the seminary myself. I don't know what seminaries she could apply to. BJJ and I myself will walk down and kick open the doors. To get this girl to BJJ, I don't care how exclusive they are. This is a girl whose heart is on fire. She's an Avraham Avinu level. She's awoken. She's awoken that passion. She's ignited that flame that the Jewish soul always has.
Sometimes we're coal. You just need to blow a little bit to get the fire going again. And sometimes we're flint. And that piece of flint that looks like it has no fire in it, but when you strike it, it explodes into flame. Because that's the nature of a Jewish soul. We long for Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Sometimes the sound happens from the outside. The shofar of October 7th happens from the outside, or the shofar that's regularly blown in shul. This year we're going to miss a day of shofar, but it's not going to be a year of the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash. It's going to be a year of entering Eretz Yisrael. Mrs. Fast, we have to have complete confidence. A yid is not just hopeful. We're optimistic. We believe that Hakadosh Baruch Hu wants to bring the manifest and revealed good into our lives. This is a year of coming into Eretz Yisrael. It's a year of Hakadosh Baruch Hu forgiving us for all of the aviras that we've done, from the smallest one all the way to the chayta egal. And beez Hashem, just like many years ago, it was a year of the building of the Mishkan. This year, beez Hashem, if we will allow that cry, that longing that the soul has to connect to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. This will be the year where beezrat Hashem we will not only build the Mishkan, we will be zayecha to build the third beis hamikdash.
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