Prayer Podcast · Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe

00:00 - Intro (Announcement)
You're listening to Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe from TORCH, the Torah Outreach Resource Center of Houston. This is the Prayer Podcast.

00:10 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
All right, welcome back. Welcome back, everybody, to the Prayer Podcast. It is time for us to start with one of my most favorite prayers, and that is La'olam yehe'odim yireh shemaim. Now, just to give a little background to this prayer where does this prayer even come from? So this prayer is a very powerful prayer, and in a number of books that I was studying to prepare for today's class, they brought that during the Babylonian exile Some say it was not even Babylon, it was Persia but there was a king who was very, very hateful to the Jewish people something we've never heard of in our history and one of the things that he did not allow.

01:06
He did not allow the jewish people to observe shabbos and he did not allow the jewish people to recite the shema. And he put guards in all of the synagogues, and for the first three, four hours of the day, because the halacha says, as they were well aware that you're supposed to recite the Shema in the first three to four hours of the day. So after that, the Jewish people won't recite the Shema anymore. So the guards would leave. But what are the Jews who came to pray in the synagogue? What would they say? So they created these seven paragraphs as a prayer. Actually, six of them were the prayer to remind a person to recite the Shema.

02:02
Now, some say that you're not even supposed to say the first part, which is, which is that a person should always be in fear of God, where that was really the instruction in small letters, like telling you what to do, telling you instructions. This is what should always be God-fearing, and that was really hint hint. Recite the Shema, because what is the Shema? The Shema is the prayer of being God-fearing, and that was really hint hint. Recite the Shema, because what is the Shema? The Shema is the prayer of being God-fearing, and that was really for a person to remember before you leave the home. Le'olam yehe'odam. A person should always be in fear of God, privately as well as openly, because it doesn't make sense for a person to only be God-fearing privately. We should also be God-fearing openly, out in the open, in public, and he should admit the truth and speak only the truth, speak the truth in his heart, and he should arise early and proclaim. And we're going to go through the second part of this. But some people call this Shema that we're going to recite as the secret or the hidden Shema, and that is because the people were encouraged when they were hidden, when they were hiding in their homes. They were reciting the Shema before they even left their homes. So it was hidden, it was private.

03:33
Now we talk in this prayer about the basic Jewish faith and loyalty to Hashem. We talk about our pride in our Judaism. And it's also an encouragement to overcome all of the challenges Because, remember, this was composed in a time where the Jewish people were facing a lot of difficulty. So, okay, today we don't have that hatred of a king who disallows us of reciting the Shema. So why do we still have it? A, as a sign of encouragement for all future generations. You're going to face times of challenge, persevere, fight through it, be committed and remember your relationship with God. But number two, as a thanks to the Almighty for taking us out of that terrible challenge. Because what happened? It was a young king and this young king died just rant, random death, uncalled for. It wasn't sick, wasn't nothing, just dropped dead one day, young guy.

04:40
The jewish people saw it as a miracle the. The Jewish people saw it as a miracle because God loved their commitment and their dedication to the recitation of Shema, even though they would be persecuted for it. In hiding they did Ba'asehzer. Now there are some who don't add ba'golui. Right, because it was only in the hidden that they recited the Shema. But it makes sense for someone not only to be God-fearing in private, to also be God-fearing in public. So not only basese but also bagolui. And that's why in many of the sudurim that we use there will be various different versions of what should or should not be added to it, what is or what is not added to it.

05:31
So some people don't even say this line at all. The hola olam yehei adam. They don't say this first introductory paragraph again because they see it as it was the instruction. It's just like. It says you should hold your tzitzis when you recite the Shema. It's part of the instruction. You don't say that. You don't read the instructions out loud, the instruction of la'olam yehe'adam.

05:55
Therefore, many people do not recite that, but some of these commentaries on these verses say la'olam yehe'adam, a person should always be a mensch. Be a mensch, be a mensch. That's the first thing. Be a mensch every day you start your day. This is all recited in the morning be a mensch, that's number one. Then, and then, after you're a mensch, be God fearing as well, and that is there's no hiding from Hashem. Whether you're hidden, whether it's in private, whether you're out in the open, there's no hiding from Hashem. Hashem sees everything, hashem knows everything and Hashem is everywhere. And why does it say out in the open as well? Because that, as we mentioned previously that was added later A person should be truthful. What is Hashem's name? Hashem Elokeichem Emet? Hashem's name is truth. The essence of Hashem is truth. What we are aspiring to be God-like requires for us to be committed to the truth.

07:15
We mentioned the story recently, but the story about Repsahfra. Repsahfra was once in the middle of praying and he had previously listed something for sale, an item. He was saying imagine he was selling a pen. So he says anybody who wants to buy the pen, it's only 50 cents, 50 cents for the pen.

07:31
Someone comes by and you know Ripsapra's in the middle of praying and he says to Ripsapra I want to buy the pen for 50 cents. But he doesn't realize that Rapsapra is in the middle of praying and you can't interrupt in the middle of praying. You're talking to God, you can't stop to talk to man. So he continues to pray and this person is like he's not taking my offer. Seriously, how about a dollar for the pen? And he keeps on going up and up and up for the pen especially. It's Rapsapra, it's a special, probably a special pen anyway. I want to buy this at all costs.

08:04
He gets to an exorbitant price and by the time Rapsaphora finishes praying, this guy is up to $5, $6. He was ready to pay for the pen that he was ready to sell originally for 50 cents. So Rapsaphora says I'm sorry I was in the middle of praying, but are you interested in buying it for 50 cents? I was ready to offer $6. I was ready to. Multiple of you know. He said yeah, but that's. We have to be honest, we have to be truthful. And imagine if you had a piece of property like that. Someone is offering you millions more than you were originally asking for. Imagine who would say well, I'm taking the original amount Rav Safra did.

08:54
Why? Because he was committed to one thing being God-like, and that requires us to have truth. Truth is the essence of being God-fearing. And therefore, by the way, this king that didn't like the Jewish people reciting this. Why didn't he want the Jewish people to recite this? Because what do we say in the Shema? Shema Yisrael, hashem Elokeinu, hashem Echad, hear O Israel, hashem is our God, hashem is one. Well, they believed in two gods the God of the night, the God of the day. This was a contradiction to their philosophy. Jewish people believing in a monotheistic God was against their whole creed, so they wanted to restrict the Jews. Now, why do we say Hashem Echad? Because Hashem is one truth and one. There's only one truth, and therefore we start the Shema Hashem Echad, we end the Shema with Emes. Very important, I know this. It's a very uh, a very uh common modern things like everyone has their own truth. Right, that can be. That's that you have to be very careful with that, that's that is true.

10:22
But it's very dangerous because yes everyone has a different perspective of how they see something. If there wasn't such a such a concept, you wouldn't have have any lawsuit ever in the world, because everyone saw it the same way. But that's not the reality. People see it a different way because everyone has their own set of eyes and they see things from their perspective. That doesn't mean the other person's wrong, it doesn't mean you're right. You just saw only your perspective, which is why we need courts. They give us. What the Torah tells us is the proper way to divide or to resolve matters. So truth is Hashem. We have to be ready to lower ourselves before Hashem. Realize that Hashem is all truth. I aspire to be that, but am I Not yet? So I have to lower myself a little before Hashem. It's a form of what we call bitl, to sort of make ourselves insignificant compared to God. And we'll see a lot of this in the coming paragraphs, because we're going to start the next paragraph. The next paragraph. It says we don't account, not on the account of our righteousness that we offer our supplications before you, but an account of your abundant mercy, meaning we're not worthy. The only reason we're asking for anything is because you're so merciful, you're so kind, you're so giving, but we, we're nothing. Uh, now we're putting ourselves down, right, we're putting ourselves down where we're not worthy. When we're nothing, we're nobody. But then we have the next, the next paragraph, which is going to be but we are the people of your covenant, the children of abraham, who you loved. We're the children of isaac. We're the people of your covenant, bnei Avraham, o'havcha, the children of Abraham, who you loved. Bnei Yitzchak, we're the children of Isaac, we're the children of Jacob. You called us Yisrael, you called us the Jewish people. You understand, there's a balance here. Number one is we have to lower ourselves. Number two, we have to remember who we are. We're great. So there has to be a balance of, of our relationship with hashem, of, yes, being humble, yes, being what we said bittle, nullifying ourselves, so to, so to speak, I'm nobody, but hashem, I'm. I'm great because I'm the son of Abraham, isaac and Jacob. I have a treaty with you, everybody here in this room, at a bris, eight days old. Oh, we have a treaty with Hashem. It's eternal. So we're great. We can't look at ourselves in the depressed I'm nothing, I'm unworthy. No, on the contrary, we're great. We have unbelievable abilities and unbelievable capabilities.

13:26
Okay, next is Vayashkem V'yomer. What do we do? We wake up early to serve Hashem. We wake up early, at the crack of dawn, and what do we do we start off? How did we start off this whole paragraph?

13:48
The first one Always, always, conduct oneself with Yerushalayim, not only in public, privately too, with fear of heaven, if you want. You know, it's very important for a person to have a constant. What's a constant? Something that never changes. There's a consistency to it. You know what our constant is? Hashem. Hashem is our constant. Hashem is our was, is and will be. Hashem always was, hashem always is and Hashem always will be. And that's what we need. That's the greatest way for us to connect with the Almighty Is to recognize Hashem always will be there. He'll always be there for us, no matter where we are, no matter what challenge we're facing. Le'olam Always.

14:48
By the way, the same word, olam comes from the word he'elem. He'elem means olam comes from the word he'elem. He'elem means say, probably not missing, but hidden. Ne'elem means disappeared Hashem you don't see Hashem in the way you look at the world. You're like where's Hashem? I don't see Hashem. If Hashem brought a lightning bolt right here in the table in front of me, then I'd know where's Hashem. I don't see Hashem. If Hashem brought a lightning bolt right here in the table in front of me, then I'd know that there's Hashem.

15:17
So we try to put Hashem into physical form. That's not the way it is. It's He'lem, but it's Le'olam, it's forever. Hashem is dear. We just have to look, not in a physical, materialistic way, the way we're accustomed to. We have to look through the actions. Hashem shows us, not through words, hashem shows us through action. Okay, so let's read the first paragraph Lo'olom yehe'odom yirei, shamayim b'seisor bagoloi u'moyda'la, emes v'dover, emes bilvavoi, v'yashkin v'yomar riboyin kol. We're in the second paragraph.

15:52
Now, lord of all the worlds, lord of all the worlds, not on account of our righteousness do we offer our supplications before you, but on account of your abundant mercy. What are we? What is our life? What are our acts of kindness? What is our righteousness? What is our deliverance? What is our strength? What is our might?

16:50
What can we say before you Hashem, our God, god of our fathers, are not all the mighty. Can we say before you Hashem, our God, god of our fathers, are not all the mighty men, as nothing before you, famous men, as though they had never been. The wise, as if they were without knowledge, the men of understanding, as if they were devoid of intelligence, for most of their actions are a waste and the days of their life are trivial. In your presence, the superiority of man over the beast is nil, for all is futile. Okay, so here we're saying we're nothing, and the only thing we have to come before you, hashem, is your kindness, your abundant mercy. That's the only thing that can help us, that we not don't pay me because I did something valuable. How much of my day did I do valuable? How much was it scrolling on X or on any other social media app, or searching up the news, or how much was it serving you, hashem? I'm kind of in debt. It's not because I'm so great. So what kindness are you giving me? It's your abundant mercy. I'm not worthy of it. We recognize that every single morning, hashem most. Even if I was that wise, intelligent, brilliant person, most of my day is futile anyway. So it's not like I'm worthy of something. So the first thing we're doing is we're putting ourselves a little bit into perspective. I'm not exactly as high as I might think I am. Have a little humility Now.

18:40
It's interesting that these three words, ribbon Kol Ha'olamim, have an amazing, amazing power. Our sages tell us Ribbon Kol Ha'olamim. Ribbon is the four lettered name of Hashem and the four worlds of Atzilus, bria, yetzir and Asiya. All of this is hidden in Ribbon Kol HaOlamim. We're shooting up to the highest levels, say the Talmud says that this prayer was composed by Rabbi Yochanan.

19:14
It's brought down in Yoma 87b as part of the vidu confession that is recited on Yom Kippur to prepare us for reciting the Shema. We're soon going to be coming to the Shema. The first thing we need to do before we recite the Shema is put things into perspective. We're not so great riding up on top of the mountain like I've accomplished so much. I've done so much and that's why Hashem, give me so much blessing. No, I'm not worthy of anything. Put it into perspective. I'm not worthy of anything, hashem. The only reason I should get anything is because of your mercy. That's the only thing I bring to the table is your mercy.

20:01
Now we see that we said ma'anu me'chayenu, me'chazdenu. Ma'atzit kaseinu, ma'ayishu'aseinu. We said ma'a eight times Again ma'anu me'chayenu, me'chazdenu Again. So our sages tell us that ma is controlling eight different aspects of our body, each one saying that we need to gain more control of them. That's, the eyes, the ears, the nose, the mouth, the hands, the feet, the throat and the heart. We need to gain control over them. And we ask Hashem, hashem, all of these eight, we're subjugating to you. We're unworthy of asking based on our own merits. We're asking for matnas chinam, we're asking for a freebie. Give us a freebie.

21:00
You know why Moses asked for a freebie. He didn't say Hashem. Look, I sinned. I know I sinned, but forgive me because I did so many great things. Look at all the I did so many great things. Look at all the list of all the great things. Moses is the greatest of all men who ever lived, the greatest prophet to ever exist.

21:21
Moses doesn't say Hashem. You know why? Forgive me. Forgive me because look at my list of great things. I did no, moshe said Hashem, forgive me because you're merciful, don't eat up my credits, please. No, moshe said Hashem forgive me because you're merciful. Don't eat up my credits, please. Don't forgive me because of my good things. Don't eat up my credits. Give me mat naschinim, give me a freebie because you love me, because you're abundant in mercy. And we ask Hashem, hashem, don't exact with us judgment, because what are we going to be left with nothing. We'll be in a deficit. Clean up my account as a freebie, as a free gift, king David. The same thing he asked for matnas chinim.

22:11
Okay, the third paragraph aval anachnu amcha bnei b'rasecho. So now we're picking ourselves back up, we've knocked ourselves down. We said we have no control, we have no power, we're nothing, we're nothing burger. But you know what we are, aval. However, אנחנו עמך, בני בריסך, בני אברה מאהבך שנשפטו לבהר מריה זר יצחק יחידה שנקד עגה מהמזבח עדס יעקב בנחו בחורך שמאהבוסך שאהבתו איסו ומסמכוסו שש.

22:46
However, we are your people, children of your covenant, children of Abraham, your beloved, to whom you swore at Mount Moriah, the seed of Yitzchak, of Isaac, his only son, who was bound on top of the altar. The community of Yaakov, your firstborn, whom, because of your love for him and your joy, has delighted him. You named him Yisroel and Yishurun. By the way, yisroel and Yishurun are very similar that they both have Yashar in it. Yashar means straight. Straight means that we don't cheat.

23:29
We mentioned earlier Dover, emes Bilvavo, that we should be Emes Umod ala, emes for Dover, emes Bilvavo. You know who is Emes, the pinnacle of Emes, yaakov. Yaakov is the pinnacle of Emes in mankind. What was the name that was gifted to him? Yisrael, which is Yashar El, straight direct to Hashem Yishurun, which has the same root of Yud Shin Rej of Yashar.

24:04
So now we lifted ourselves up and therefore we're saying now, paragraph number four, now that we realize that we are standing on the shoulder of giants, of Abraham, isaac and Jacob. We're part of Israel, we're part of the Jewish people. Therefore, what do we have to do? We are obligated to thank you, to praise you and to glorify you, to bless you, to sanctify you and to offer praise and thanks to your name. Want to really lift yourself up.

24:50
Ashreinu, how fortunate we are. Ma tov chalkenu, how good is our portion. Uma noyim goralenu, and how pleasant is our destiny. Uma yof yur shasenein, and how beautiful is our heritage.

25:04
Imagine the Jewish people were saying this when they were under terrible oppression, appreciating, notwithstanding the oppression. Look how special we are, look how fortunate we are that we have this great opportunity to serve Hashem, notwithstanding all of the trials, notwithstanding all the tribulations, notwithstanding all of the sufferings that we experience as a people. Guess what? How fortunate are we. How amazing that we have the ability to connect with you. How good is our portion. How pleasant is our destiny and how beautiful is our heritage.

25:58
We are fortunate that we rise early and stay late, morning and evening, twice daily and say and then we recite the Shema, which is going to be the fifth paragraph. But it's very interesting that what did we say previously? That they had two gods and they didn't appreciate that the Jewish people were monotheistic. So what do we say here? We slip in a little hint of we're not like them. We're going to recite the Shema morning, where they believed they had a God of day, and evening, where they believed they had a God of evening, of night. And what do we recite in both of those Shema? Yisrael, hashem, l'kenu, hashem Yachad. We have one Hashem Both morning and evening. Now again, the Shema was added later. The Shema was added later. They did not have this part in their back when this was instituted. It was only added later.

26:59
Now I want to tell you something else. Something I learned just this morning is that in the Musaf prayer that we recite on Shabbos so what's the day that most people are in synagogue? Shabbos morning. Shabbos morning is the highest volume of participation in synagogue.

27:20
The Jewish community back then wanted to still have the privilege of reciting the Shema in unison, together, one community. And, if you notice, in the Musaf Kedushah. And when is Musaf recited? Not in the first three, four hours of the day, it's usually a little bit later in the day. So the guards were gone already. The Jewish people read, they prayed the Shachras, the morning prayer, they read from the Torah and then they had the musaf. By the time musaf came around, it was already past three, four hours of the day.

27:58
So in the kedushah that we have in our responsive part of the repetition of the Amidah, we have the Shema Yisrael Hashem Elokeinu, hashem Rechad. We have these six magical words of our mission statement inserted so that the entire community can recite it in unison, that we can all recite it together as a community, not only me in my home, in private, before I leave the synagogue. I'm reminded what does it mean Be God-fearing, recite the Shema when you're home and, by the way, be God-fearing in public. Also, to add the Shema in our Musaf prayer on Shabbos afternoon, so the entire community can still say the Shema as one. And then we have this hint of the morning and evening twice daily. Now we know we recite it more than twice. We recite it in Shacharis. That's biblical. Biblical commandment to say the Shema in the morning and biblical commandment to say Shema in the evening. Now the rabbis instituted two more Shemas this one that we recite here and one that we recite at that time Shema. That would be a total of four.

29:23
But the obligation is only to recite by the Torah is only twice daily Shema Yisrael, adonai Lehenu, adonai Achad, here, israel, hashem is our God, hashem is one. And then we recite silently Baruch Shein K'vod Malchusol, olam Va'ed, blessed is his name, whose glorious kingdom is forever and ever. Now there are three different reasons given to why we recite the baruch shem. So weird is what's the source for it? We'll get into it more when we talk about the shema, when we get to that, to that part of the shema.

30:05
But then we read from the Torah Baruch Hashem Kavod Malchus is not written in the five books of the Torah. This is what Moshe brought down from the angels when he received the Torah. Up, when he was there for 40 days and he received the Torah, he heard the angels singing Baruch Hashem Kavod Ma'akusei, blessed is his name, whose glorious kingdom is forever and ever. And he stole that praise of Hashem and he said we're going to bring it to mankind. We're going to bring it to the Jewish people, but because it's a stolen object, we don't declare it out in the public, we say it silently. It's the praises of the angels.

30:51
The only one time of the year that we recite it out loud is on Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur, when we're at the level of the angels, then we don't need to hide it, because we're like the angels, because we're not eating, we're not drinking. So Yom Kippur evening, yom Kippur morning, we recite the Shema and recite the Baruch Hashem aloud, and then we say you shall love Hashem, your God, with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your soul, with all of your possessions. And these words which I command you today shall be upon your heart and you shall teach them to your children and you shall discuss them when you sit in your house and when you travel on the road and when you lie down and when you arise, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand. This is our tefillin, and they shall be for totofos between your eyes Uchsavtom al mezuzos, besecho, b'shorecho. And you shall write them upon the doorposts of your house and upon your gateways. These are the mezuzos that we have the mitzvot mezuzo. This is part of our mission. Statement to never forget, wherever we go every single day of our lives. Statement to never forget wherever we go, every single day of our lives, aside for Shabbos and Yom Tov, we wrap ourselves with tefillin to remind us that our heart, our actions, our mind, our thoughts should be devoted to Hashem. And then, every time we walk in and out of our house, every time we walk into each of our rooms in our home, what do we do? Remember, hashem is here with you. Hashem is wherever we go. And now we're up to paragraph number six.

32:56
Ato hu achalon nivra olam ato mishin nivra olam ato bolam azev ato ulo olam abo. You existed before the world was created. You existed in the same way. Now you exist in the same way now that the world has been created. You exist in this world and you will exist in the world to come.

33:19
Atul olamabo kadesh. Yeshimcho magdish. Yeshimecho vikadesh. Yeshimcho bolomecho vishuoscho torim.

33:26
Visagbiya karninu baruch ato adonai mekadesh eshimcho borabim. Your name upon those who hallow your name. Sanctify your name upon those who hallow your name and sanctify your name in the world, and through your deliverance, you will be exalted and you will uplift our power. So this is a blessing that, according to the disagreement here, the Ashkenaz inspired, whether or not we say it with Hashem's name, baruch atah Hashem or it's just Baruch Mikadesh Eshim Chaber. Rabim Ashkenaz recites it with Baruch Atah Hashem as an actual blessing. The Sefar does not. Am Nusach Ashkenaz and the Art Scroll Sitter brings it with Hashem's name here on page 28 and 29. So we bring it as Baruch AtTashem, as an actual blessing.

34:29
But what are we saying here? We're saying that we don't only live a world of now. We're reminding ourselves that we live a world of eternity. The actions we do now will have eternal, eternal effects. When we invest in a mitzvah, we're investing not only now in doing a mitzvah and performing a mitzvah, we're investing in eternity. The reward for that mitzvah and what we're doing is atahu acholoni avarolam, you were in existence before the world was created. Atu Mishini Yivro Olam, and now you exist in the same way, now that the world has been created. Atu Bo'olam Azev. Atu Ulo'olam Abo. Hashem's creation of was, is and will be didn't change. Hashem will be in the world to come as well. Kadesh eshimcha magdish eshamecha.

35:27 - Intro (Announcement)
What is?

35:27 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
our goal? Our goal is to glorify God's name and to bring God's name into this world. Kadesh eshimcha, magdish eshamecha, sanctify your name upon those who hallow your name and sanctify your name in your world, meaning make it so that the entire world says and sees that you are Hashem. And what will happen as a result? And through your deliverance, you will be exalted and you will uplift our power, not because we're power hungry, but because our responsibility is to bring Hashem's name into this world. We need your help, hashem. Help us reveal your name in this world so that all of the nations will see that Hashem is God, creator of heaven and earth. That's what we're asking for. So we see an incredible power here of balance. We started off a person should always be God-fearing. That's the instructions. We say it out loud. Then we say we're really nobodies. The only thing we have is your mercy. But, hashem, don't forget, we are really great Because we're the sons of Abraham, isaac and Jacob. You called us Yisroel, you called us Yishurun. This is the name that you bestowed upon us. And then what do we say? We say that we are obligated to praise Hashem, to glorify Hashem, to give Him, to sanctify Hashem's name, to praise Him and to thank Him. Look how fortunate we are that we have, notwithstanding our challenges, we have so much opportunity, so much privilege to serve Hashem. What do we do? We declare Hashem's name Shema Yisrael, hashem L'Kinu, hashem Achad. And then what do we do? We go to the sixth paragraph, and that is Hashem. Let's put things into perspective. You were, you are and you will be, and our job here is to bring your name into this world, hashem. Help us do that. Help us bring your name into this world. And then, finally, we have the last paragraph, the seventh paragraph.

38:00
Ato hu adayno yalehinu bashamayimu va'oretz u v'shmeh ashamayimu aliyonim Emes. Atohu rishon va'atohu acharon, you are in the heavens, you are on the earth, you are all the way up, in the highest of heavens and you are all over. It is true, you are first and you are last, and aside from you, there's no other God, there's no other power, there's no other God, there's no other power, there's no other force. Kabetz kavecho, me'arba kamvis oretz, gather the ones who hope in you from all four corners of the earth. This is, I think, a hint to our tzitzis, which are on the four corners of our garments. We bring them together when we recite the Shema to symbolize Hashemem, bring your children from all four corners of the world, bring them together.

38:59
Let all mankind recognize and know that you alone are the God of all the kingdoms of the earth, all the nations, all the the kingdoms of the earth, all the nations, all the kingdoms, all of the quote. Gods Hashem, you're above everything. You control it all. Let that be known. Ata asisa sashamayim, you are the one who created the heavens, v'es haaretz and the earth. V'es hayam and the waters created the heavens, v'es haaretz and the earth, v'es hayam and the waters and the sea. V'es kol ha'shabam and everything that is in them, meaning all of creations, every single flower. Hashem created Every single animal, every single discovery that has ever been discovered in our world. There has never been an invention. Hashem invented the world. We discovered things in the world that Hashem gifted us with.

40:17
Who is, who is there among all your handiwork, among the heavenly and earthly creatures that can say to you what are you doing? Our Father in heaven, avinu Shabbat Shemaim Asei imonu chesed ba'avu shimcha ha'godol shenikra oleinu vekaim lonu adenu eleinu mashakosuv. Be'eis hayi avi eschem u be'eis kaptsi eschem ki et Our Father in heaven, deal graciously and kindly with us for the sake of your great name, which is called upon us and fulfilled for us, hashem, our God, that which is written At the time. What is that time? At that time, the time of the revelation of Mashiach, mashiach is going to show the world. I will bring you in and at that time I will gather you, for I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth when I bring back your captivity before your eyes, said Hashem.

41:33
Hashem is going to free us from all of the shackles, from all of the hatred in Columbia and Harvard and all of these nations who are going to take us to the Hague and put us in criminal courts for defending ourselves, like they did to the prime minister of Israel. You can't travel to certain countries in Europe because they have this international criminal court. The world is out for us. You know what the antidote is, you know what our protection is Clinging to Hashem, and that's what we pray for every single morning. We say Hashem, we want to be close to you. Hashem, draw us near Hashem, draw us near Hashem. Give us that closeness and that's what we pray for every single morning. Yeah, we're low down, but yes, we're high up, hashem.

42:33
At the end of the day, we have it all in perspective here. You are the master of the universe. You control everything the heavens, the earth, everything that's in all of those. Hashem controls everything. We saw this just now when we talked about the 10 plagues at our Pesach Seders respectively. What did we talk about? How, from the lowest the waters, the dam, the blood, all the way to what's almost not known to anybody but to the individual themselves, what's inside them? Are they the firstborn? I don't know. How am I supposed to know who's the firstborn? Well, hashem knows. He knows everything, and that's what we ask for in our prayer here. We ask and we pray to have clarity. This is what this prayer is about and that's why, every morning, if we have the ability, if we're so blessed to be able to open up our eyes in the morning and to stand upright and to say Hashem.

43:48
A person should always be God-fearing, Whether we're hidden in our darkest cellars, someplace deep underneath Gaza in some bunker where, by the way, hostages came out and said that the one thing they did every single day was recite the Shema. And the interviewer says did you recite Shema your entire life growing up? Never in my life. But that deep connection that every Jew needs to feel. We need to feel that every single day of our lives, there's only one Hashem. Only Hashem can protect us, only Hashem can defend us and only Hashem has the power to bring this all to an end. Hashem should bless us all. We should have an amazing day every single day of our lives. We should feel that closeness to Hashem, we should feel His revelation and we should be elevated to the place where we are, where we are the ones who are glorifying your name in this world. Amen.

45:06 - Intro (Announcement)
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