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Last week's parsha says, 'Va'yitah Eishel b'Be'er Sheva.' Avram built an Eishel, which many mafarshim explain is an inn. Va'yikra Hashem b'shem Hashem kel ola And he said The name of this place is Kel Ola. So the maran said. Says veyikra sham b'shem Hashem kel Olam amar eishlakish al tikri veyikra ela vayakri. Don't say that it should be called VeYikra, and Avram called this place Kel Olam. Rather, Vayakri means he caused other people to proclaim the name of Hashem. The Gemara explains how he did this after the guests ate. So they would come to bless Avram Avinu, and Avram Avinu would say to them, 'Did you eat my food? You didn't eat my food.' You ate Hashem's food. So you should thank Hashem. You should bless Hashem. You should make a brach. That's what the Gemara says. But what happens if they do not make a brach? What happens if they refuse to recognize Lakadosh Baruch?
So the Medrash and Bereishis Rabbah describes as follows. If they would come at the end of the meal, and Avraham Avinu would say to them, "Make a bracha," and they would say, "No, we don't believe in Hashem." So then Avraham Avinu would give them a bill And the bill would be for an exorbitant sum of money. Why? Because he would say, "You ate wine, you had meat, you had bread" In the middle of a desert. Where is a person going to find these things? " So it's like. I don't know if you guys know this bit, but there's a bit from Jerry Seinfeld that he says I don't know if people in an airport know what food costs outside of an airport. But a tuna sandwich in the airport is fifteen dollars. Tuna is very rare in airports. That was Jerry Seinfeld's bit. So you come to Avraham Avinu, and Avraham Avinu would say, 'Look' Meat is very rare in the middle of the desert, so it costs a fortune.
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And what's interesting is the Medrash uses a very specific lashon. The Medrash says when they would see that Avram Avinu was distressing them, that Avram Avinu was like going after them. So then they would make a bracha And that's how Avram Avinu was makar of the world. The Medrash in Bereishis Rabba says that our Kadosh Baruch Hu told Avram Avinu, 'You're a partner in creation because you caused others to proclaim my name. You caused others to believe in me.' So there's two obvious questions here. Number one, this sounds terrible. If you actually stop and think about it, it doesn't sound like a particularly nice thing to do. It doesn't sound like a Jewish thing to do. That if a person is stuck in the middle of the desert and you have them, you charge them a fortune of money. That's not a nice thing to do.
That's the first question. But the second question I think is even more powerful. The second question is. Is this effective? Let's say you have a guy And the guy says, "No, I don't want to make a bracha." So Avram Avinu says, "Okay, well then the bill is a thousand dollars." The guy goes, "Fine, I'll make a bracha." Is that valuable? Is that like a is that a kiruv approach? If I'm that guy, I'll say, "Fine, I'll make the bracha. I'll save myself a thousand bucks. I'll make a bracha." You guys know how you make a bracha. Bracha. That's the whole bracha. How long does it take to make a bracha? You pay me a thousand dollars, I'll mumble something. Many years ago, there was a rebbe in this yeshiva whose name was Rav Zucker. It's a big tzaddik. There was a guy here that made a bracha when Rav Zucker was walking by. He made like a quick bracha and he mumbled it. So Rav Zucker just looks at him and he goes What are you doing? He's walking.
I do for a thousand dollars. Save money. The fact that the medrash says. That Avraham Avinu was considered a partner in creation because he was so effective in the world of kiryuv. How is this an effective method Bishleima? If you want to tell me that we're talking about Jews and a Jew has a nefeshalokis, like the Rambam says that, let's say by divorce you can coerce a person into doing a mitzvah because that's really what he wants to do. That's one thing. But we're not talking about people with a nefeshalokis. We're talking about regular people. Talking about people that are in the times of Avraham Avinu, so what does it help that they did something that's not natural to them anyway? So there is an amazing Gemara in Tainus. I am going to share with you the Gemara, and I am going to tell you the Pshat of the Gemara, and then I am going to tell you the Labavitcher Rebbe's Pshat on this Gemara.
The Gemara in Tainus tells us about Reb Lazar, the son of Reb Shimon Bar Yochai. And he was coming back from learning tayr with his rebbe, and the gemara tells us he was coming from Migdal Gadar. And he was riding on top of a donkey and he was strolling next to the banks of the river. And he was very happy. The gemara says that his head was swollen in some level, meaning that the pashup shot is that he had a little bit of gaiva from learning so much Torah with his rebbe. And he's going along the banks of the river And he sees an exceptionally ugly person. Not just an ugly person, the Gemara says, but an exceptionally ugly person, mechur b'yaser. The Gemara says And this person greets Reuven Lazer and says shalom leichem to him. And Reuven Lazer doesn't return his greeting. Reuven Lazer says to him, Reika You worthless, empty person How ugly are you?
Are the people of your city as ugly as you are? That's how he greeted him. And the man responds to him And he says I don't know, but maybe go to the craftsman who made me and ask him how ugly the vessel you made is. So that's quite a sharp response. You're saying I'm ugly. But after all, who made me? Hashem made me. So go ask Him how ugly I am. So Rav Elazar realized he had insulted this person. So he got down from his donkey. The Gemara says that he prostrated himself on the ground. He had a full bowing down to this person. And he said, "Please forgive me." And the man said back to him, 'He said, "I'm not going to forgive you until you go to the craftsman that made me' And say to him how ugly is the vessel that you made. And Rav Elazar walks behind him, and he's trying to appease him, and he's trying to ask him forgiveness. The guy won't forgive him.
And finally they get to the city that this man was traveling to. And the people of the city came out to greet Rav Elazar. And they said, "Rav Elazar, our Rabbi, our Master." And this man, this ugly man, said to the people of the city, 'Who are you calling your Master? Who are you calling the Rabbi?' He said, 'If this man is a great Rabbi, I hope there are very few people like him in the Jewish people.' And they say, 'Why do you say this? Why are you saying this about Rav Elazar? Such a great man!' So he said, 'What do you mean? He called me ugly. He said that I was mechur biyaser. So they said, 'Forgive him because he's a great Torah scholar.' And the man replies. He says, "No" I'll forgive him for your sake, not for his sake. But only on condition that he doesn't become accustomed to behaving like this. He shouldn't speak to people this way.
And Rav Lazar went into the beis medrash and he said, 'A person should be soft like a reed and not tough like a cedar tree.' And that's why a sefer Torah and tefillin and mezuzas are written with a reed. To remind us that we should always be soft. That's the Gemara. The Gemara, at first glance, seems to be a very beautiful Gemara about a great tzaddik that made a terrible mistake and spoke inappropriately to somebody. But that only makes sense if you don't know who Rav Elazar was. The Gemara in Babbam Tzidka tells us that because Rav Elazar had certain enemies They weren't able to bury him. Instead, his wife kept him up in the attic. And his body, for twenty years up in the attic, didn't decay. And not only that, but he was such a state. The Gemara tells us such a state of godless that people would go to the attic and they would ask Rav Elazar. They would ask Rav Elazar Shilus, and the dead body of Rav Elazar would answer their halachic Shilus, whatever that means. Luber, I see you have a face.
Don't worry. It's not a mishachist Gemara. You don't have to be Lubavitch for this Gemara. It's a strange Gemara, but obviously it's indicative that Rav Elazar was on a very great level. So to think that somebody who was on such a great level would walk over to a Jew and say, 'Look at you, you're mechur byoser.' It's a terrible thing to say about Rav Elazar. How could it possibly be? Not only that Obviously we know it's user to speak this way, but also who cares if somebody's ugly? If there's no inyan to be pretty. What's Rav Elazar even saying to him? How ugly are you? What's the point of saying you're ugly? And obviously, Rav Elazar knew that this man was made from Hashem. So the fact that the man responds to him and tells him, 'You're yeah, go to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, go to the craftsman that made me.' Rav Elazar knew that there was a God. So what are we talking about over here?
And what does it mean that he says, 'I'm only going to forgive you on the sake of the Tzibor'? He can't become accustomed to speaking this way. What's the depth of this Gemara? Listen to what the Lebavitcher Rebbe says. Because it's an unbelievable vort Something that's very nageya to all of us. The Rebbe said as follows: It doesn't mean that Reb Elazar was coming back from his Rebbe and that he was in an arrogant place. If you're learning Torah and it creates arrogance, then you're not learning Torah. It's a good mussar for guys in yeshiva that think they're too frum. If you're learning Torah and after you leave the beis medrash, you go to the dorms and you look down on somebody else. That's not called learning Torah. That's a failure in learning Torah. So Rav Lazar comes back from his rebbe. It doesn't Chas v'Shalom mean that he was in an arrogant place. It means that he was in a very high level because he had just connected very deeply to his rebbe.
And that's why he's riding on a donkey. Riding on a donkey means a symbolism of He's above the physicality of the world. He's no longer limited by the physicality. He had such a deep, penetrating session with his rebbe that he was in an elevated place above the physicality of the world. And he's walking along and he sees a man who's in a very low spiritual place. And in that place, where he sees this guy who's in such a low spiritual place. He realizes that the only way to reach this guy is not going to be through soft, kind words. He's going to have to make him realize that he's at rock bottom. And I want to share with you guys something. If a person falls to rock bottom It's not obvious that they know they're at rock bottom. There are people even in this room right now.
There are people they could be doing. Terribly in their lives But they're not aware of it. Guys walking through the dorms, he doesn't realize how other people are relating to him. It's hard to be aware of your reality. So here is this guy walking along the banks of a river, and he thinks he's a frum guy. He sees Rav Elazar Shalom Aleichem, Rabbi. But Rav Elazar realizes this guy is not being honest with himself. He doesn't know where he's holding. So Rav Elazar makes a chinuch move. And it's a very dangerous chinuch move that he makes. He's not going to be nice. He's not going to be kind. He's going to give it to him straight. He's going to say to him, "Not you're ugly physically" But you're in an ugly place. You're in an ugly state. It's it. It doesn't behoove you to behave this way.
It's an ugly way to be. The person is taken aback. And in that moment, think about what the man says. He says Ask the craftsman who made me. The Rebbe is Medayik. What does it mean? Ask the craftsman who made me. Ask Hakadosh Baruch Hu who made me. A craftsman makes everything with a plan and a purpose. If you see a door, that door was crafted by somebody. Because that door has a plan and a purpose, it has a very specific design. So here is this man and he's saying Rav Elazar just gave it to him over the head, and he said, 'You're in an ugly place.' And the man realized about himself There's a plan and a purpose, and he's upset with Reuvel Azzer for saying it. But there is a plan and a purpose, even to being in that low place. But Reuvel Azzer is not done with him. Reuvel Azzer could have continued on his way, but he follows him.
And he makes him say over and over again, "Do you forgive me?" He goes, "No, not until you ask the Uman who made me, not until you ask the craftsman who made me." And he makes the guy say it again and again to build into this guy's head. You, every one of you, even those that are in a very low place doing very low things Every one of you has a plan and a purpose. And then they get to the city. And here's a man who's in a very low spiritual place. A person who's in a high spiritual place is very forgiving. They don't take things personally. A person who's in a low spiritual place doesn't have the capacity to say I'm sorry. And everyone comes out and they greet Rivlazer. This is the guy. Look how he spoke to me. He gave me that mussar. You don't always like a rebbe that gives it to you straight.
A rebbe could call you out. He could give it to you straight. You don't like that rebbe. He said, "This is the guy. He speaks not nicely." He said, "But he's a great Torah scholar." What were they telling him? He was telling you something. He wasn't just telling you off. He was telling you something. And then you see another change in this guy. And he says, "I'll forgive him because of you." And now, what do you see? Here's a person who's connected to his community. Even if he's not yet connected to Rabbi Lazer, he's connected to his community, and he says to Rabbi Lazer, "I'll forgive you, but on condition—not that what you said was wrong, but don't do it all the time. Don't become accustomed to speaking like this." What's the pshat in this chinuch move? The pshat in this chinuch move is a very simple pshat.
Sometimes. Though we can't do it all the time, you should know there are rebbeim that play this game. It's a dangerous game. There are some rebbeim who are always very direct. They say the truth very directly. It might work for a minute, you should know, but after a while the talmidim get sick of it. In the beginning, it's all hype. In the beginning, it's like oh wow, that guy gives it to you straight. He gives it to you real. But eventually, you dull out the noise. Eventually, it doesn't become that real anymore. But if you do it in the right time. When a person really needs Right to the jugular It's a very effective chinuch move. Because when a person hits rock bottom They have tremendous capacity to grow. Tremendous capacity to grow. So sometimes it forces us when our backs are up against the wall, when we realize that we've destroyed so many things in our life.
You see exponential growth. There's always that stage in the year where you have a guy. Depends on the guy. Some guys do it after Sukkot. Some guys do it Hanukkah. Some guys do it January, February. There's always that stage where a guy goes, "It's time to get real with myself." And you should know, in a short couple of weeks From the moment you decide to get real with yourself, because you hit your rock bottom You could see in three or four weeks, a guy is a totally different person. What's the pshat? The pshat is because if you're at rock bottom, it's a solid foundation to actually build. Sheker is quicksand. Sheker is quicksand. You're walking around. You think, what do you mean? I'm a good guy. And you are a good guy. But you're not being honest with yourself. You're not being. What do you mean? I show up to davening Just because you check the box doesn't mean you davened.
You showed up. Good for you. It's not a small thing to show up. But there's a difference between showing up and showing up with passion. This is not something that we want to check the box in. You guys are young. When you get older and you see what it means to be a part of a marriage, to be a part of a relationship, nobody wants to check the boxes in their relationship. I'm not saying there's not value in checking the boxes in your relationship. A husband who doesn't show up to be a husband is not a man. A man shows up to work. A man plugs in every single day and he does what he needs to do in order In order to be able to get it done for his family. But if you show up to your marriage and you check the box and you're just there physically, but you're not there mentally, you're not there emotionally. You're not a husband.
You're not a husband. You understand what I'm saying to you? That's not called a husband. A husband is someone who shows up for real. And there are people in this world who are not being honest with themselves. They're not being honest. I check the boxes. What do you mean, Rabbi? I came to morning seder. I was at a night seder. I saw plenty of people at the night seder tonight. How many were learning? How many were growing? How many were working on themselves? How many check the box? How many people are in this room right now who are checking the box? Then there are people that show up when your back is up against the wall Because somebody got honest with them and said, "Get honest with yourself. Stop lying to yourself." All of a sudden, things change because you're forced to look inside and you're forced to ask yourself, 'Am I being real with myself?'
Am I just faking it? We have with us people here today from America. Or a person, I should say, from America. I have in the room my roommate from Shana Aleph Aaron Schoenfeld Who's the sponsor of tonight's event? And I'm going to embarrass Aaron And I'm going to make him commit not to embarrass me back. I know that there's something called mutually assured destruction. I don't tell stories about you. You don't tell stories about me. But too many guys have come back from ODN and told stories about me. So tonight I get to tell a story about you. It's the nuke going off in the other direction. A couple years ago, Aaron came to Israel to visit. We sat in my parents' house. Was living in Florida. Nothing wrong with living in Florida. But we had a conversation. I'm sure you remember it. I know I do.
Because Aaron and I left Mivaseret together. We grew up together, went to elementary school together, high school together, and were roommates in Mivaseret together. We both had a dream of living in this country. I was privileged to move here. Aaron wasn't privileged to move right away. But I'll tell you something about Aaron. Just like us, just like every guy in this room, we were Shana Olive guys, Shana Bet guys. Once upon a time. The godless of Aaron Schoenfeld is that even though he had been living in Florida and built a career in America and had a family there It's not what I wanted. I made a commitment to myself that I was going to live in Israel. He picked up and he moved. And now In the middle of all this, Aaron is not working. He's running around every single day, sending pictures, delivering food to different bases, providing people with what they need and running this non-profit.
It's called being honest with yourself. If you're honest with yourself, you get up and you do. It's not something you check the box. It's a passionate life. There are people in this world. There's so much I want to say, but I'm being recorded, so I'm holding myself back because I'm not on the level of Rav Elazar ben Roshim. But there's so many people that are checking the boxes. What do you mean, Rabbi? I marched in the parade. I marched in the parade. You guys are doing much more than marching in a parade. The guys who stayed You're here. You're walking it. You're living it because your backs are up against the wall, and you're looking at a country whose backs are up against the wall. We got honest with ourselves. Pokei achivrim. We had to open our eyes. A wall is not going to provide security for us.
Hakadosh Baruch Hu is going to provide security for us. You guys are on the front lines of this war. You're on the front lines in our beis medrash. But you're on the front lines in this war. It's real. It's not a game; it smacked you in the face. Every single person in this country got a patch in the face on Simchas Torah. Generally, Hakadosh Baruch Hu is very nice to us, but every once in a while, when we just can't see the emet. Hakadosh Baruch Hu gives us a patch, and boy, did we get a patch! Hakadosh Baruch Hu said, "Nu, are you being honest with yourself?" And now we're being honest with ourselves. That's why everything's changed in the last three weeks. Three and a half weeks ago, you're driving on the highway. You see signs dividing Eretz Israel. Now you're driving on the highway. You see signs uniting Eretz Israel.
Everything changed. Everything changed when we saw people go off to war. It was real. It wasn't academic. It's a real thing. We got a patch. We hit rock bottom. We've grown tremendously as a country since then. It's a beautiful madras. The madrasa says that there's a farmer and his two sons chasing a fox because the fox is eating all their crops. And the fox is caught in a corner. And there's a wall, and the fox can't jump the wall. So the madrasa says that the fox said, "I'll have to play dead" To avoid To avoid being killed by the farmer and his sons. So seeing that the fox was dead on the floor, the farmer's son says, "I know, I'm going to pull out the tooth of the fox." Because the tooth of the fox is a good luck charm. So the fox hears this and the fox says, "I can live without a tooth."
So even though he's in tremendous pain, the farmer yanks out the tooth. And the fox stays playing dead. And the next farmer's son says, "I'm going to chop off the tail of the fox" And the fox hears this and goes, 'Oh my God, that's going to hurt so much! I'm going to lose my tail, but you could live without a tail.' So even though he's in tremendous agony when his tail is cut off He survives and stays playing dead. But then the farmer says, "I want the skin of the fox to hang on the wall," and the fox realizes that he's going to die as he's going to be flayed alive. So the fox hears this and he jumps over the wall. Everyone asks the question: If the fox could jump over the wall, why doesn't the fox jump over the wall to begin with? The answer is because as long as you can live. You don't have the koyach to jump over the wall. A person, when their back is up against the wall, gets a tremendous koyach. When they hit rock bottom, they get a tremendous koyach.
The fox couldn't jump over the wall until it realized there was no other choice. This is what Avram Avinu did. Avram Avinu said like this: You came to the aishel, you came to the inn. If you're willing to recognize that there's a God, this is free of charge. But what if a person is so foolish in this world not to see the obviousness of God? What if they can't see God in this world? What if they think somehow this world just magically appeared? Even though everything in this world screams plan and purpose. So Avraham Avinu had a chinuch move. He said to those people, 'He said, You don't believe in God. That's fine. But then you're going to pay. Now you're stuck. And when you're stuck, you're forced to turn inside. And when you turn inside, you discover things that are true. Avraham Avinu wasn't involved in extortion; he was involved in emes. He said, "You're stuck."
Now let's see what you believe when you're in a foxhole. Let's see what you believe. " Rabosei I have a strong feeling. And it's a scary feeling, and I'm going to share it with you—not to scare you. I'm going to share it with you because I think every one of us in the world is feeling this way. I think the world is burning. For the first time in my life, I think I could say the world is burning. When Aaron and I were in high school Our high school would make rallies. We would go to Nazi war criminals who were living in America, and we would picket outside their houses or outside embassies. And if I'm being honest with you I looked forward very much to those rallies because they were awesome ways of getting out of school. And if you got involved in the leadership of the rally, you had to skip a lot of class.
But I didn't really care very much about the rally, and I think if we're being honest, I don't think anyone really cared very much about the rally because what were we talking about? Convicted Nazi war criminals from the '40s? It was the '90s. It was over. You want to go after a bunch of octogenarian Nazis? Fine. It's a great way to get out of school. I don't think it really mattered to us. What was anti-Semitism growing up in the Five Towns in the '90s? It was nothing. In the '80s, maybe you got your bike stolen if you lived in Far Rockaway, but it wasn't anti-Semitism. It was somebody who didn't have a bike, so they stole your bike. I remember when my elementary school hired a security guard. They didn't hire a security guard because of anti-Semitism. They hired a security guard because we were in the hood. Our school is getting broken into every other day.
Did we have a security guard in Ramam? We have a security guard. What were we afraid was going to happen? Some mother from the five towns was going to come with her purse and beat us up. No anti-Semitism. Today on college campuses, Rabbi Sa'ad What's happening in college campuses? I saw a video today of a kid, a Jewish kid, who's walking through Harvard. The elite university of America, the intelligentsia of American society And this kid is surrounded by people with Palestinian flags. They surround them and won't let him walk, screaming, "Shame! Shame!" It's anti-Semitism. What that kid's wearing a yarmulke? What's he got to do with Eretz Yisrael? What's going on in Cooper Union? What's going on in Cornell? What's going on in Berkeley? What's going on in UCLA? What's going on in Montauk? That a random store had a Nazi symbol, Nazi swastika, painted on the store, and it said Die Juden.
Are we in the 1930s in Germany? I'll be honest with you. I feel a lot more safe right here in Mevaseret than I think I'd feel in America watching what's going on. And I've been asked the question: Are we going? Are we going to America? Am I going to go? I don't know who I'm about to insult. Am I going to go to Detroit? Am I going to walk around in Detroit with my yarmulke on? And if I can't walk around with my yarmulke on in Detroit, am I going to go? If I can't walk around proud to be a Jew, is that a place that I want to go? For the first time in my life, I'm asking myself the question: Is it safe for me to walk around with my yarmulke? You think it's anti-Zionism? Has nothing to do with anti-Zionism. Don't fall for the trip. Anti-Zionism, in the words of Rabbi Jonathan Sachs, is just the latest mutation of anti-Semitism.
So what do we do when the Rebbeinu Shalom is distressing us? What we do is turn inwards. We turn inwards and we discover who we really are. I want to say to you this: If you walk away from the v'aserah this year and you don't know who your brothers and sisters are, I don't care if you know how to read a Rashi or a Tafsus. If you don't know who your brothers and your sisters are, then we failed you. There could be a guy in this yeshiva that could be the top guy, and he could know all the Rambams and he could have known all the Radvayim's. But if he sits there and he picks apart, this one is my brother and this one is my sister because they think like me, but this one doesn't think like me, so they're not my brother and my sister. A failure. A failure. We are getting a patch in the face. The patch in the face is making us think.
If your back is up against the wall, that means you have the kaiach to climb the wall. Some people aren't even listening to the message right now as it's happening. Some people are sitting there right now, clarifying this, that, maybe yes, maybe no. Baruch Hashem, mostly not. I'm scared. I'm scared to see. Again, I shouldn't say this out loud. I know I shouldn't say it out loud. It means I'm for sure going to say it out loud. I'm scared to say it. Is there going to be Yeshiva week this year? Is there going to be Yeshiva week? Are there going to be people flying to Mexico? Is that what's going to happen? As if it's not happening here in Eretz Yisrael. Somebody told me today that he's sharing pictures of what's going on here in Eretz Yisrael in a WhatsApp group, and some people like, okay, but I need to find a suit. Who can help me find a suit? Is that what it is? Is it academic? Is it just a thing that's happening? If it's a thing that's happening, then you are not understanding the pasch.
And until we understand the pasch doesn't stop. The Rebbeinu Shlom is not doing this because he's doing it for fun. He's doing it because it's a chinuch lesson for us. Your back is up against the wall. What are you learning? What are you learning about yourself? What are you learning about your emuna? What are you learning about Am Yisrael? What are you learning about Eretz Yisrael? I am going to say it. I shouldn't say it. I'm going to say it. Is this Disney to you guys? Is the Kotel Cinderella's Castle? Is Kever Rachel the teacups? Is Chevron? It's a small world after all. Is that what it is? It's a tourist destination, or is this your home? It's a nice place to visit. My son will get bar mitzvah at the Kotel. It's a nice thing. We'll have an apartment in Eretz Yisrael so that when we come, we'll only keep one day.
Of course, when the going gets tough Maybe we're not exactly a Ben Eretz Yisroel. What are you learning? What are you learning about this land? What are you learning about your people? What are you learning about yourself? It's not the way of Rav Elazar ben Rav Shimon to speak in a harsh way to people. But sometimes it has to happen. And it's not the way of the Rebbeinu Sholom to make sure that we're put into our lane. In general, the Rebbeinu Sholom is very nice to us. But sometimes we needed a patch And unfortunately, we needed a patch. But our question is not to sit there and think, 'Why did our Kadosh Baruch Hu do this?' Our question is to think, 'What are we going to take away from this? What's the action?' I'm exceptionally proud of you guys. You guys stayed. You guys stayed under difficult circumstances. It's not easy. I'm already getting the chirping from guys, and I understand it. Getting the chirping, Rebbe. When's the policy going to change? I want to be able to go. I understand. I understand all of it.
It's not easy to be here right now. The reason why tonight's event is happening is because the sponsors of tonight's event understand that you guys are doing a great thing by being here. It's not a small thing. But just to be here because you're in yeshiva Guys, shouldn't say it. Just to be here because you're in yeshiva—that's not the hashkafa. The hashkafa is if you're here, you're here for a reason. The question is, what are you taking away from it? It won't stop until we learn our lesson. We are a stubborn nation. We don't learn our lessons too well. We're not always very honest with ourselves. But I have tremendous confidence in you guys. Because I've seen tremendous growth in the last three weeks. I've seen guys be kind. I've seen guys be generous. I've seen guys be giving. I've seen guys be growth oriented.
I'm hopeful. I'm hopeful for the next generation because it could be that our generation already messed it up. But your generation—you are younger and you can change. You could do it better than we do. Be'ez Hashem, If we focus, if we do what needs to be done—not just showing up for shachris, but actually asking ourselves what tefillah means—not just showing up to seder, but actually asking ourselves what does it mean to be a maspid? What does it mean to connect to Hakadosh Baruch Hu in the black gemara? If we're asking ourselves what we can do for chesed? As opposed to Rebbe, I got to get out of Bav Sarah. I just need a break from this place. But if you are just asking yourself, 'I am just feeling trapped here,' then you are missing an amazing opportunity. And I know that we're going to grab the opportunity because I see it happening every single day.
My bracha to all of us is: Let's learn our lesson as fast as possible. The sooner we learn our lesson internally, the sooner the changes happen externally. Please, Rabbi Yisai It's very real. I want to share with you this last thing. Should have started with this. There's a talmud in this yeshiva many years ago. Very close talmud. His name was Jason Chrysler. Jason Chrysler was called up to fight. Baruch Hashem, Jason is okay. But his unit was hit with an RPG and a sniper rifle today. He had to go to the hospital. Baruch Hashem, he's okay. Jason Chrysler was one of ours. He sat in this chadar ochal. He sat in that bais medrash. He sat in the same shirum with the same rebbeim that you have. He's a real person. He's not a number. You hear these numbers: two hundred thousand soldiers up north, a hundred thousand soldiers down south.
This is real. This is real. These are real people. They are real. That means we have to be real. Their backs are against the wall. That means our backs are against the wall. In the schuz of doing real things. As Hashem, the real people that are out there fighting will be zayche to be safe. For those that are injured, to have a refuah shleima. For those that have already sacrificed their life Their families should have a tremendous nechama, knowing that the entire nation is behind them.
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