Yisro - Opening Yourself Up To The Truth

2:02 Thank you so much. It's good to be here in Chicago. I'm getting used to it. It takes a couple of minutes to adjust to the weather. Today was a little bit better than yesterday. So it's cold outside, but it's warm in here. There's a lot of warmth in Chicago. It's a very beautiful place. I think. That's why you all keep marrying each other. There's a lot. I said it to Mrs. Amster when I walked in. There's a lot of inbreeding in Chicago. You know that boy that's two blocks away from you. That's your husband. Just promise yourself, no, I'll never. That's your guy. I want to share with you a small tarot tonight. It's a brand new tarot, and I actually can't take any credit for even one iota of this, except for the fact that I heard it from a very close friend of mine.

2:52 We've been friends since we were 14 years old. And this Torah that I mamish, I think Rabbi Block sent me this Torah yesterday. He sends me from time to time beautiful ideas that he has, and every one of them is so stunning and so gorgeous. I really had something else completely prepared, and I saw this and I said no, I'm throwing it away. I had a whole thing that I prepared, but this is much sweeter, much nicer, much better. So I'd like to share it with you because I think it's deeply relevant for everybody in the room. And thank you very much to the Amsters for hosting. Avery Amster was we were in Sheer together in NCSY Kollel a million years ago, and to be in this beautiful, wonderful home. Thank you to everyone from 4G who organized this in NCSY. So deep, deep hakarshatov.

3:41 The pasuk in this week's parasha says, and listen, listen carefully to every word here, because as you're going to see, every word is critical. Vayishma Yisro, Yisro heard. Kohen Midyan, who was Yisro. Yisro was the priest of Midyan. He was the kohen. He was a big Balavai Dazar. Chosen Moshe. He was Moshe Abinu's father-in-law. What did he hear? He heard everything that Hashem had done for Moshe and for Klal Yisrael, his people, for Hakadosh Baruch Hu took Klal Yisrael out of Mitzrayim. So what did Yisro hear? Listen to the words of the Zayin Hakadosh. Did Yisro hear and the rest of the world did not hear? The Hakshiv it says in the pasuk, that the nations heard and they trembled. The nations of the world heard and they were deeply frightened. In other words, what's the Zayin Hakadosh's question? The Zayin Hakadosh is asking the following question.

4:51 The pasuk seems to be putting an emphasis on vayishma Yisro that Yisro heard, and almost like nobody else in the world heard. But we know that everybody heard. We know that everybody heard because we already said that the entire world heard, and they trembled when they heard that Klal Yisro was leaving Mitzrayim. Ella, rather, the Zayah Kadosh answers its own question and says as follows: Kol al m'shamo Everybody in the world heard about this. However Velo yisbaru But they were not broken by it. They were not broken by the news, meaning Klal Yisro left Mitzrayim. And they were afraid, but they were not broken by it. Yisro was broken by it. Veihu shama veisbar. Yisro heard that Klal Yisro left Mitzrayim and he was broken by this. Which is again, we're going to see in a moment. It's a very strange thing. What would you have expected the Zarah Kodesh to say? Obviously, the Zarah Kodesh was going to say that there's a difference between the way that Yisro heard the news and everybody else heard the news. That's obvious. The Zarah Kodesh had the kasha. Everybody heard, so we knew that everybody was going to hear. The way in which they heard was different. So the entire world trembled, but Yisro was broken. It's a very strange thing that Yisro was broken by this news.

6:14 And what did he do when he was broken by this news? He bowed down to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, and he drew near to Hakadosh Baruch Hu's reverence. So everybody in the world heard. Everybody heard that Klal Yisrael left Mitzrayim. This was late breaking news. Their response was terror. Their response was fear. Yisro's response was brokenness. But what does it mean that Yisro was broken? It means, and again, we're going to have to understand this deeply. It means that he bowed down and he drew close to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Which means And I'm sure you've heard this before. This is not what we're going to discuss tonight. That it's possible to hear about life-changing news and not be changed at all. It's possible to hear something, but not to listen to it. Does that make sense? It's possible to hear and not to listen. I'll share with you.

7:22 Living in Eretz Yisrael the last two and a half years I can't describe to you what it was like. I can't describe to you what it was like. A person who lived in Eretz Yisrael, I can't imagine that there's anybody in Eretz Yisrael who did not change. The last two and a half years, it changed us dramatically. Baruch Hashem, right before I left The last hostage was rescued from Gaza. Of course, it was only Rachman Olitzan. It was only a body. But that they went on this very daring mission And it was a daring mission. They went on a very daring mission to take this body because we leave nobody behind. To take this body back, and I want you to know when they announced that they got the last body back The entire country, like it took one last breath, finally. A talmud of mine, one very close with, he was literally in the army for two straight years.

8:25 I don't know if you understand what that means to be in the army for two straight years. He's married with children. When in the beginning of the war, he was up near Lebanon. When the rockets fall, imagine if a rocket would fall. Don't worry, I'm not going to make a big mess. Imagine if the rocket would fall into this jar of candy. How would that happen to the jar of candy? The jar of candy would explode upwards. So when a rocket falls, everything explodes upwards. So what do you do if a rocket is coming? Every Israeli kid knows this. You get down on the ground and you cover your head. You do that because the shrapnel flies upwards. So they told the soldiers in December in Lebanon. You can imagine how cold the ground is. Think about what it would be like to go to your backyards here in Chicago, Illinois, and to try to dig in December. The ground is freezing cold. They gave them shovels and they said, 'Dig ditches for yourself so you could sleep in the ditches, because this way, if a rocket explodes, the shrapnel will go upwards and you won't be hurt.'

9:28 So this Talmud, he dug a ditch with his friend and they slept next to each other in the ditch. The next morning they woke up. He rolled over to his friend and said, "Did we literally just dig in and sleep in our own graves?" Can you imagine what that's like to say those words? None of us have any idea what it's like to say those words. And that's how he lived. And then he went to Gaza. He was in and out of Gaza. You don't understand that he's in so much pain. What this person went through. He told me when this last hostage was brought out, he was at his desk in his office. He just burst out crying. He said, "Mission complete. I gave two years of my life, living under life-threatening conditions, to bring home every single person that was taken into Gaza."

10:18 "Bring home every single person that was taken into Gaza." He said, "That changes you. Changes you as a person. It has to change all of us." And especially if you're living outside of Eretz Israel, because you have to know that the sensitivity that we have in Eretz Israel is organic for us. Every one of us knows somebody who was impacted by the war. Everybody knows somebody. Everybody lost somebody in this war. My family lost two close soldiers. Both were killed in this war. They were very close friends of our family. We'll never be the same. But it's possible. Rachmanol Islan—not for any of us, but it's possible. To wake up in the morning and to hear the news and to keep eating your cereal. It's possible. Vayishma Yisro, it's possible that you could hear these things and it won't change you at all. I was in Los Angeles on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday of this past week.

11:12 And in Los Angeles, for whatever reason, a whole complicated story doesn't matter how I had the opportunity to speak to the most powerful agent in the NBA. His name is Rich Paul. He's the CEO of Clutch Sports. Every great basketball player is signed by Rich Paul. He's their guy. So I was talking to him, and also Bob Myers, who was the GM of the Golden State Warriors. He was in the heyday of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Kevin Durant, the whole Chaver Kedisha. So he was. He was the GM, and I happened to be talking to both of them. I was telling them what it was like to live in Israel. I was telling them what it was like for an Iranian missile to fall 500 meters from my brother's house. 500 meters is five football fields. That's way too close. I don't know what it's like in Chicago.

12:08 But I can't imagine there are missiles falling on Chicago. And if there were, we might leave Chicago. If missiles were falling on Chicago, despite everybody owning nursing homes here, I imagine that some of us would say we have to leave. And I just saw we didn't do that. That was our lives. We lived like that. My nephew's wedding night. His wedding had to be changed. The wedding date was the same. But the venue where the wedding was, they didn't have a mamad, they didn't have miklatot, they didn't have safe rooms. It was in the middle of the Iran war. It was the last night of the Iran war, so they had to change the venue so that he could have his wedding where there were miklatot, so that kids could run. Imagine. Anyone in Chicago have to do that? You know what it's like being at a wedding and being nervous. What if a missile is heading to the town where I'm having my wedding?

13:01 That's a crazy type of wedding. So I was explaining to them what it was like And Rich Paul said to me, he said, "So, what do you do in a situation like that? Are you afraid?" So I said to him, the light doesn't have to be afraid of the darkness. The darkness has to be afraid of the light. We're not afraid of them. We have the Rebbeinu Shlom. They're the darkness. We're the light. We're not afraid of them. But it has to change us. If you live through something like this and you're the same as you were two and a half years ago, I don't know what world you were living in. I don't know what world you were living in. Yidden were under attack. Thousands of animals came across the border and they murdered our people and stole people. And they took them back to live under horrific conditions. I don't know if you read it. I'm not recommending that you do. I personally can't get through it. There's a book by this hostage, Sharabi. You read this book called I think it's called Hostage.

13:55 I can't. I read it three pages at a time. My wife keeps telling me she's like, why are you reading this book? I read three pages. I have to push myself through every page. In the end, I stop. I'm terrified. I can't imagine what it was like to live like this. VaYishma Yisro, you can't read these things and be the same. If you're able to read that book like it's Harry Potter Like Harry Potter, you could read. You'll read, but Voldemort killed somebody. Say that it didn't happen, so it doesn't change you. But when you're reading and you're reading these things happen to your people, there are some people. Lo Aleinu VaYishma Yisro, some people change and some people don't. The nations of the world Yergazon, they were terrified. Did they change? Not at all. Not at all. Yisro changed. So now we have to ask ourselves two questions: What's the pshat that Yisro was able to change when other people weren't?

14:52 As Einuchanami, the Zohar is making a very important point. What's the point the Zohar is making? It's possible to hear and not to change. The entire world heard; they were just terrified. Yisro actually came and said, "I want to be a part of Klal Yisro." So the Zara Kodesh is making an important distinction. The question is, why was Yisro zayche to be someone who not just heard but also listened? And other people weren't. So that's our first question. The second question is What does it mean that Yisro was broken? As I understand, the reactions that you could have, it says that he was broken. And what does broken mean? It means he was broken. What did he do? He bowed down. To Hakadosh Baruch Hu, and he drew close to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. I wouldn't describe that as broken. What does that mean? Broken. You have what I'm saying. You hear the question? Why is it? I would have said he was inspired.

15:43 That Yisro heard, and he was inspired, and he drew close to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. It doesn't mean he was broken by it. So I want to share with you the answer of my dear friend Rabbi Block. I was so nispal from this answer. I threw out my own notes. I said I'm giving this one instead. He said this. Who was Yisro? Remember, I told you to pay attention to every word in the pasuk. The Yishma Yisro, it should have said Yisro heard. And if I was writing the Torah, I would have heard, I would have read, I would have written the Yishma Yisro as Kol Asher Asa Elokim LeMoshe. And Yisro heard everything that Hakadosh Baruch Hu did for Moshe Rabbeinu and for Klal Yisro His nation. But that's not what it says. It introduces us again to Yisro. What does it say? Vayishma Yisro, Kohain Midyan, Chosein Moshe.

16:35 Yisro was two people. He was Kohain Midyan And he was also Chosein Moshe. He was also the father-in-law of Moshe. Which means as follows. Why didn't all the other spiritual seekers in the world? I understand why your average Joe Shmo. I understand why he wasn't inspired to leave his nation and join Klal Yisrael. But what about the Chachamim? What about the other priests? He wasn't the only Kohain in the world. There was Kohain Midyan. I'm sure there were other Kohanim in the world. What was the pshat that Yisro was Kohain Midyan and he heard? The answer is: What does it mean to be a Kohain? To be a Kohain means, and specifically about Yisro, to be a Kohain means to be a spiritual person. That's what it means, regardless of what religion you are. If you're an Imam, if you're a priest, if you're a Rabbi, you're a person who's seeking meaning in your life.

17:29 We may not agree with them, but there's such a thing as a spiritual person—a person who seeks Hakadosh Baruch Hu in this world. Yisro, we know Yisro; he not only was at the end. He said, "It's the God of Avram, Yitzchak, and Yaakov—that's the true Hakadosh Baruch Hu. It's your God that's real." But we know that Yisro tried out every single Avaydazara in the world. Did you know that? Yisro went around; he tried out every single possible religion. He said, "I need to know which one is deeply true." To be a kohen means to be a spiritual seeker. However Just because you're a spiritual seeker doesn't mean you'll be inspired by the truth. There are people in this world that are deeply spiritual, but when you show them the truth, they just can't hear it. There are two factors that you need if you really want to change your life.

18:20 You need two things. Number one, you need to be a spiritual seeker. But there's a second element here, which is called Chosen Moshe, and once you have both, then you can make an actual change. Before we get to Chosen Moshe, though, let's take a moment to unpack what it means to be Kohen Midyum. What does it mean to be a spiritual seeker? I want to share with you. I don't like to say negative things, but I want to say one thing. It's a little negative, but I hope you'll hear it for the positive thing and the way that I really mean it. It might come off sounding negative. I'm not Chassidish. I'm trying to say a positive thing. But we have to speak a little bit in a negative way to sensitize ourselves to something. Today Very different than seventy, eighty years ago, ninety years ago, a hundred years ago. Today, people do not go off the derech for hashkafic reasons.

19:09 Very, very rare that a person has an authentic question that we can't really answer. We have wonderful answers to all of the questions that girls have to ask. Today, kids go off the derech for tayva. So I'm just not interested. I'm in pain. I don't want to be a part of the community anymore. It doesn't feel safe. Used to be that people went off the derech and they became communists. They became Bolsheviks. They became socialists. There was a very big advantage that we had back then. If you were a thinker, if you were a curious person, we could work with you. You have a kasha. We have a teretz. If you have a question, we've got answers. But what if we're dealing with a generation that doesn't have kashas? They're not curious people. If you're not curious, it's very hard for us to reach you.

20:01 Because if you have a question, good. It's like you ever see these kids that they're fighters. I'm talking about there's a boy. I'll use a boy this way—you're all comfortable. I'm sure there are girls like this also. You know that boy who's a fighter, like everything his Rebbe says, he says that's ridiculous, and then he says exactly, like it has to be the opposite. That boy, you should know. It's very easy to educate that boy, because he's talking, he's thinking, he's curious. So he has questions. So we're going to open up, we're going to open up deep svarim, we're going to teach him Rambam and Maral and Rambam and Ramban and Rabbi Nuno. It's easy to reach those kids because they're curious, they have legitimate questions. What do you do? What do you do if a kid is just doom scrolling on TikTok all day? How are you supposed to reach him? You try to engage him in a deep conversation.

20:49 He has brain rot. I don't just mean in the way he speaks. It's hard to understand what these kids mean. You know what I'm talking about? Like Rabbah, you're aura farming. I don't know what you're talking about, man. I know what farming is. I don't know what aura farming is. You know what I'm saying? Like you know these words. I see some of you know these words. You don't want some of you don't want to admit it, and so that's. But say there, If you do know these words, then you know what I'm talking about. You're my people. How do you educate a generation of kids that are pushy? They've had the curiosity beaten out of them. That's a big challenge. How do we reach those kids? The first step in making legitimate change in your life is you need to be again not to say that Chassidus you should worship Avi Dizara, but there's something to being a curious person.

21:44 There's something to being a curious person. Technology is a little bit of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, you have all of the information in the entire world at your fingertips. It used to be, again, I don't want to speak in a not nice way. It used to be in the 80s when a person went to the bathroom, there was a magazine rack. Remember magazine racks? You had a couple of Reader's Digests, Time magazines that were in the. Imagine you told us back in the '80s that you're going to have a device with all the information in the world, and who goes to the bathroom without bringing their phone? So on the one hand, you have access to all the information in the world. That's an incredible thing to have. On the other hand, we lose our curiosity to the nonsense that's in today's world.

22:31 And when we knock out the curiosity from people, what we turn them into is apathetic people. If you really want to be Vayishma Yisro, if you want to be a person that hears something and it changes the way you see the world Then you can't be apathetic. You have to stay curious. I understand that it's not only technology; it's also information overload. I can't be curious about anything if I'm being barraged by everything. Does that make sense? Do you know back in the day, if you heard that there was a tornado, you actually reacted. Reacted. Oh my God! There was a tornado. That's crazy. But today, every because you didn't hear of a natural disaster that often. A natural disaster was a big deal. But what sells? What's going to make you click, right? Negativity sells. You're constantly being barraged not just by information, but by information about all the terrible things that happen in the world. Most of you, I imagine, think that the world is a terrible place. Every single time you open up Instagram or Twitter or whatever or TikTok, remember that your feed is curated for negativity.

23:42 It wants you to see all the negative things. How am I supposed to care about anything if every day I hear another terrible thing happened? When I was a kid, I was in Hurricane Bob. Hurricane Bob in the early '90s. Hurricane Bob was in Massachusetts. And it happens to be my family went on vacation to Cape Cod, Massachusetts. We showed up and as soon as we showed up and unpacked, we were staying in a beach house and they evacuated the town. It was the craziest hurricane ever. It was unbelievable. We came out of the hurricane. Literally, there were boats on people's homes. It was amazing. And you're growing up and you're like, oh my god, I lived through a hurricane. Today, I don't know a hurricane. It feels like a hurricane is every single day. They're cycling through all the different names of the hurricanes every two days because there's so many hurricanes. There's not more hurricanes now than there were when I was a kid. It's just you didn't hear about it all the time because it wasn't on your local news. How can I care that a hostage came out of Gaza if it constantly feels like there's a war in Ukraine and the Uyghurs in China? We're desensitized to the things that are happening in this world.

24:54 So when crazy things happen in the world, rather than going, "Oh my God, that's crazy," I want to draw close to the Rebbeinu Shalom in my life. We go. Even though the things that we lived through in the last two and a half years were pashat miracles Pashat miracles. You saw that viral video from Rabbi Uri Pulichowski. Did any of you see this video? A must-watch video. Rabbi Uri Pulichowski. I think it's like 14 minutes long. He went through all of the nisim. You saw this video? Amazing video. Give me get you know like play along. It was an amazing video. Amazing video. 14 minutes of just going through every single case that happened over the last two and a half years. Type it in afterwards. After the share, go type in Rabbi Uri Plichtowski. You must watch this video. Unbelievable video, life changing.

25:45 How come it didn't change us? Again, it changed us, but how come it didn't change us? How come we're still struggling to daven? How come we're still struggling? The answer is because it's hard. It's very hard to change when constantly being barraged by all this information. I've lost my curiosity. I lost my curiosity. So the first thing is you have to be kohen medyan. You have to be an unbelievable spiritual seeker. Look for truth in this world. Go out. Ask good questions. Ask your teachers. Be alive. That's step one. But really, and this is the chiddush of Rabbi Block. And I love it. You also have to be chosen, Moshe. What does it mean to be chosen Moshe? Let's think about what Yisro's experience must have been. Moshe Rabbeinu is in Mitzrayim. That's his son-in-law. So imagine how he was waiting for the news. Imagine how Yisro was waiting for the news.

26:45 What's going on in Mitzrayim? It's not like today. I imagine there were people that were walking near Midyan, and when Yisro was coming from Eretz Yisrael. Tell me what's going on. Tell me what's going on. Why was he so concerned? Why was he so concerned? Because it was his son-in-law. Because his grandchildren. Nobody knew the way it was going to go. Yisro, we do have midrashim that indicated that Yisro understood. That there was King Arthur's sword in the stone. You know that story that there was a sword in the stone and nobody could pull it out until Arthur pulled it out. Do you know that that's based on a Meimor Chazal that Moshe Abinu's staff was planted in Yisro's backyard. Yisro stole it from Paro. When Yisro ran away from Paro, he took the staff that Yosef HaTzaddik had brought down to Mitzrayim, and that after Yosef HaTzaddik and who gave Yosef that stick, that staff

27:43 Yaakov Avinu gave it to him. That staff goes back all the way to Adam Rishon. That was the original staff that Hakadosh Baruch Hu gave to Adam Rishon. That was created bein hashmashos. It was after Yosef died. Paro took it and he put it in the vault. Yisro was one of Paro's advisors. What did Yisro do when he was running away from Paro because Paro was very upset at him because he said not to enslave Klal Yisrael? Yisro took this staff of Yosef Hadik when he got back to Midyan. He planted it. He said, anybody who wants to marry my daughter has to be able to pull out the staff from the ground. Nobody could pull it out. Moshe Rabenu comes many years later. Moshe Rabenu, of course, saved Yisro's daughters right by the well. He saves Yisro's daughters. Yisro tells his daughters to go bring him home. He comes. He pulls the staff out of the ground, and Yisro says you can marry my daughters, and I see that you're also going to be the redeemer of Klal Yisrael.

28:33 But still, even though Yisro felt that Moshe Rabenu was going to be the redeemer of Klal Yisrael, it wasn't for sure. Because we know, today we think of the story of obviously Klal Yisrael is going to get out, because we know the ending of the story. But Paro was the most powerful person in the entire world, and Mitzrayim was the most powerful nation in the entire world, and Mitzrayim was also the wealthiest nation in the entire world. So imagine poor Moshe Rabbeinu going up against Paro with absolutely nothing. He's going out there. Who knows what's going to be with my son-in-law? Yisro has hope. But he's also who knows? Is he going to orphan my grandchildren? Is he going to orphan my daughter? So Yisro is waiting with bated breath. What will be the fate of Moshe Rabenu? Vayishma Yisro, Kohin Midyan Chosei Moshe. What's the second ingredient? It's not enough to be a spiritual seeker.

29:32 If you really want to change, if you want the truth to impact you, because remember, many people hear the truth. They hear something that's true. You ever hear an inspiring shiur and it's mamish like you know it's true. The teacher just showed it to you, black on white, clear as day, and it just doesn't go in. You know why it doesn't go in? Because there's a second ingredient to real change. The second ingredient is that you have to be deeply human. You have to be emotionally invested in the truth. There were lots of kohanim, there were lots of spiritual seekers in the gentile world when they heard the news. They heard it and they said, "Whoa" "God is real." Did it move them to change? Not even a little bit. You know why? Because they weren't emotionally invested in the story. Yisro was a person who cared deeply about people. People who care deeply about people. Ironically, you have to be a real ben adam lachaveru person if you want to be a ben adam lamakom person. You have to deeply care about relationships if you want the truth to be able to penetrate.

30:37 If people come and I again I don't want to say anything negative Shiurim that prove God. You ever go to these shiurim that prove God? You know what I'm saying? You read it and it doesn't work. You ever notice that? You ever notice that it doesn't help you daven the next day? You walk away from those shiurim and you go, I absolutely know there's a God. It's still hard to get up for shacharis. Why is that? Yesterday somebody mamash proved to you that there's a God and that God is the God of the Jews and Moshe. Receive the Torah at Sinai and passed it on to Joshua and passed it on to the elders until you today. But it's so cold outside. And my bed is so warm. I just don't want to daven shacharis. How could it be? The teretz is because you didn't have a soft heart. It requires a soft heart for the truth to go into your mind. Now you might say, what does my mind and my heart have to do with each other? If something is true, then it's true intellectually. What's the difference of I'm a feeling person? The chiddush.

31:32 The chiddush of Rabbi Blach is an unbelievable chiddush. Think about who Yisro was. Yisro was a person who cared deeply about people. Moshe Rabbeinu saves his daughters at the well. What's his response? Rather than just saying Thank God you're safe. He said, "What's with this stranger?" What's with the guy who saved you? Go bring him home. So he brings Moshe Rabbeinu home. Of course, Yisro. Who cares about the stranger who's alone in a strange land? Who did a chesed for his daughters? Somebody like that, who's deeply feeling. Of course, he could also come to feel for the Rebbeinu Shlom. The Rebbeinu Shlom is also alone in our world, yearning to be deeply connected to his people. We read the words wrong. We read, 'Anoichi Hashem alokecha, sh'arot se'zicha me'ir sinshayim.' I am the Lord your God who took you out of the land of Egypt. You read it wrong. 'Anoichi Hashem alokecha' means I am your God.

32:26 I'm yours. That's the most beautiful thing in the entire world. I am yours. We read it like I am your God who took you out of the land of Egypt, and now you belong to me. It's I am yours. Hakadosh Baruch Hu is giving Himself over to us. That's why Chazal say Anochi stands for Ananafshik Sabis YHWH. I wrote my essence into the Torah. Hakadosh Baruch Hu is giving Himself to you because Hakadosh Baruch Hu and I mean this. In a certain way, obviously, Hakadosh Baruch Hu is not human and he has no imperfections. But what is the one thing that Hakadosh Baruch Hu desires? He desires to have a relationship with us. In a certain way, Hakadosh Baruch Hu is lonely without us. So Yisro, who's sensitive to a lonely Moshe Rabbeinu, who's a wanderer through Midyan, who's been expelled from the house of Paro, running from his life. The Midrash says that Paro actually did try to kill Moshe Rabbeinu.

33:20 When we're growing up, we think. Moshe Rabenu Paro wanted to kill him, so he ran away to Midyan. In fact, the Medrash says Paro actually caught Moshe Rabenu and tried to kill him, and miraculously Moshe Rabenu was saved, and then he ran away. Could you imagine what that was like for Moshe Rabenu? Let's think about this. Let's be sensitive to Moshe Rabenu for a second. Where does he grow up? He grows up in the house of Paro. Does he know that he's Jewish? Absolutely. He knows that he's Jewish. Who nursed him? His mother Yochaveh nursed him. He grew up knowing that he was a Jew living in the house of Paro. So what is he? Is he an Egyptian or is he a Jew? The answer is he's neither. He's neither here nor there. He didn't grow up in a Jewish house. He grew up in an evil house, but he doesn't belong to them either because he knows he's different.

34:02 And then he finally makes the decision. Vayetzei alachem. I'm going out to my brothers. I'm not going to be a Mitzri. I'm not going to live in the house of Paro. And what happens the very next day? A Yid turns to him and says, again, not a Russia, but a Yid turns to him and says, 'What are you going to do? You're going to kill me like you killed the Mitzri?' And he goes and he informs on him and he tells Paro. So not only do I not belong to the house of Paro anymore, Klal Yisrael sold me out. In fact, Rashi says that Meir Shabenu said, 'Now I understand why Klal Yisrael is not being redeemed, because they have no loyalty, they have no allegiance to their own family.' So Yimamish feels like nothing, and now he comes to Midyan and he sees these girls being attacked and he saves them. What is Yisrael's sensitivity? Yisrael's sensitivity is that there's somebody out there in the world who has nobody for him. That's a person I invite into my house.

34:50 And then the entire time that Moshe Rabbeinu was away, because originally Moshe Rabbeinu brought his children back with him, and then he sent them back to Midyan because he said it's not good for you to be here. When Yisro came with Siporeh with Moshe Rabbeinu's children with Gershom and Eliezer, he brought them back because Moshe Rabbeinu had sent them away the entire time that Yisro was listening to the story. He listened with the heart of this is my son-in-law who I took care of. Who, when he had nobody, I brought him into my home. He loved him dearly. So when he finally saw that Abanu Shalom is real Why did it impact him? Because his heart was open. Why was his heart open? Because he was human. So it's not we don't speak to people's brains. We don't change people by speaking to their brains. And if you try to do that, I promise you it won't work. A yid can only have a mind to hear when he has an open heart.

35:42 Maybe that's why some people changed so dramatically over the last two and a half years. Some people woke up every day and they said, "What will be with my neighbors? What will be with my mishpacha?" If you have family who's living in Eretz Yisrael and you were living in Chicago, then you were listening to the news a little bit differently than everybody else. If you have a brother who's living in Yerushalayim or a family member who's living in Beit Shemesh, maybe Modi'in, but probably Beit Shemesh. So when the news is going on, what do you do? You send a WhatsApp. I just want to check and see how you're doing. And when the tragedy in Bondi Beach in Australia happened Another murderous terrorist. When that happened, I reached out to all my Australian friends. Just want to check in to see how you're doing. I reached out to my Australian friends who are living in England.

36:34 I just want to check in to see how you're doing. And we have boys in yeshiva that are from Australia. I reached out to their parents. I just want to check in and see how you're doing. Because we hear the news differently when it's personal. Cohen Midyan, yes, he was a curious person. But curiosity doesn't help if you have a closed heart. That's why the lashon of the zahar is so beautiful. It broke him. When he heard the news, it broke him. What does it mean? It broke him. It broke him, and he bowed down to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, and he said, "I'm drawing close to Hakadosh Baruch Hu." That was what happened after he was broken. What does it mean he was broken? His heart just simply broke because he had been holding on. You ever hold on with bated breath, and you're waiting to hear the news, and then finally the news comes back, and it's good, and you're just like melt because you've been holding so much emotion and for so long.

37:28 When it's finally over, like this Talmud. Who broke down crying at his desk when the last hostage was finally brought home and he's like, I lived for two years on this mission. He was holding on to a tear he didn't even know he had. He was holding on to so many tears just living inside of him. It finally broke him. To be a yid means to live with the sensitivity that what's happening to every other yid is happening to me. This cannot be. I heard another Rockefeller, and then you keep eating your cereal. That's your brother. That's your sister. That's your brother. That's your sister. It has to change you. How does it change you? Not just because you read the news and you were curious to hear what was going on. And by the way, that's why it's criminal. It's criminal for a person to shut themselves off in times like this and to say I'm not going to read the news.

38:28 Who says you're allowed to do that? Imo anochi b'tzaru. We have to be living with every single other Jew. I'll share with you. I had the opportunity to drive Rav Asher Weiss. Girls know who Rav Asher Weiss is. Rav Asher Weiss today is one of the biggest paiskim in the world. Massive tamochachem. He's a ravan of Yerushalayim. So every year, once a year, I have the opportunity to drive him in the car. This usually I get to drive him in the car alone. This time I drove with somebody else, but it was still amazing. And I was talking to Rav Asher about certain challenges. I don't think it's my place to say the things that he said that he wouldn't want me to repeat. But this I know for sure he wants me to repeat because I asked. He said, "If you didn't have access to the news, it's possible for a person to be callous about what's going on. Some people pasha didn't know people that were fighting. They pasha didn't know. He said there was a level of callousness there because they weren't curious. He told me a story. He said a guy in his neighborhood."

39:28 Had a son who was fighting in Gaza. If you have a son who's fighting in Gaza, we'll finish with this. If you have a son who's fighting in Gaza, you should know the thing that you dread is a knock on your door. Because a knock on your door means what? They don't like to call you to give you the news that your child was killed. They come to your door. When my parents live in Eretz Yisrael, Baruch Hashem And. A very close friend of our family lived two doors down. And my mother was this young boy's teacher for twelve years. Twelve years he came to the house to learn with my mother three times a week. They were very close. His name was Eli Moshe Zembalet. Hashem Yikom Dama. Eli Mo was a great kid. A really great kid One of the best, sweetheart of a kid.

40:23 My father was davening my rav. They have in my parents' neighborhood on the block. They have one of those outdoor minyanim. So my father was davening Maariv And who walks by him? Maariv Matzei Shabbos The Rav of the town With two men in uniform. So my father knew right away. He said, "That's somebody was killed." And they waited till after Shabbos to say. And my father sees him walk right by the house, and my father just knew. He's like, "They're going to the Zimbalist home" And he waited. And he saw them walk into the Zimbalist home and walk downstairs to the Zimbalist home. And he walked into the house. He didn't know what to tell my mother. Because he knew. So he waited for my mother to get the news. Obviously, it was devastating. My father called me up on Shabbos to tell me that Eli Moshe had been killed.

41:16 And devastating Devastating. Everyone. Everyone lives with the dread of that knock at the door. This family had a son who was fighting in Gaza. Ravusha told me it was eleven thirty at night. Somebody knocked on their door. Mother and father are in their bedroom. They hear the knock on the door. We're not answering the door. Maybe they're davening. Let it just go away. Because if you open the door, that means your life changes forever. There's a moment that you can never get back. That moment where you open the door, your life changes forever. They said we're not opening the door. The person kept knocking So we're not opening the door. Finally, after a couple of minutes, the person won't stop knocking. Eleven thirty at night. Finally, the father says, "I'm going to go get the door." The wife's in bed crying. The father goes to the door. You can imagine how his heart is beating.

42:11 He opens the door, and it's a tzedakah collector. He told the Ravasher. My first instinct was to punch him in the face. How dare you knock on my door at 11:30 at night? Not because it's always inappropriate to knock on anyone's door at 11:30 at night. But if you have a child in the army, how insensitive could you possibly be to knock on my door at 11:30 at night? And then he gave the guy a bigger check than he's ever given to anyone who walked door to door, who came to his house door to door, because he was so deeply thankful to Akal D'Sh Baruch Hu. But Rav Asher was telling me in the car. He said, "How insensitive could you be to knock on somebody's door at 11:30 at night when they have a child in the army?" Now, maybe you'll say, "How did he know that he had a child in the army?" If you're living in Eretz Yisrael, you have to assume 11:30 at night. What if they have a child in the army? This is what Rav Asher said. He goes, "Probably he wasn't reading the news because probably he wasn't like kielu. The war was happening, but he wasn't a part of it."

43:15 A yid can't live that way. We have to live well educated about what's going on. But deeply open hearted, caring about every single other yid. You care about other yidden. The truth can go into your brain. The portal to the truth does not begin in your mind. It begins in your heart. Every one of us should be exceptionally blessed to have an open heart to all yidden. And that when the news finally comes that Baruch Hashem it's over. By Yishma Yisro, that it was over. Klal Yisro made it out. Kriyas Yamsuf That those tears that he was holding in, with that bated breath of what's going to be with my son-in-law that I care so much about, it broke him. When it broke him, what happened? He bowed down to Hakadosh Baruch Hu and he drew close to Hakadosh Baruch Hu and he came and he said, 'I want to be a part of Matan Torah.'

44:05 And we know what happened. We know the final end of the story is that what does Yisro do? My Shabenu greets. He greets Yisro. They have a little conversation about what the judicial system is going to be like, and then Yisro goes back home to do what? To convert the rest of the family. Because it's not enough for Yisro to hear; he has to carry the message to others. Girls, have a beautiful Shabbos.