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.

00:08 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Hashem, hashem, nasa v'nasliach, hashem should bless us. You know, it's an incredible gift for me to have such incredible, beautiful people here in the TORCH Center that give me the motivation to work hard to prepare these classes so that I can learn. So thank you for being the inspiration for me to grow and to learn and to hopefully become a better Jew. We are in the third session discussing the 15 blessings of the morning blessings, birch HaShachar. Now, in total, there are 18 morning blessings. We have three for Birch HaShachar, according to one opinion, according to different opinions, actually, the three blessings of Al Natil HaSiedayim, asher Yatzar and Elokei Neshama. According to a different opinion, it's the Birch HaShachar and the 15 blessings here that add up to the 18 morning blessings. Now, there's more than that, because we have the blessings on the tzitzis and the talis, we have the blessing on the tefillin and there are the other three blessings, whichever opinion you follow. So there's a whole bunch of blessings that we say every single morning. Then, what do we have? Then? What do we have we? Then? What do we have Then? What do we have? We're going to have the korbanot, which is the offerings that were brought in the temple. Our prayer is a replacement of the offerings and, god willing, next week or the following week we will begin the conversation about the offerings, about those prayers, but for now we have the last three blessings of the 15 morning blessings. It really is a special, a very, very, very special three blessings. Why? Because, if you'll remember, none of the previous blessings had any mention of the Jewish people. There were a Shanasan, lasech Ve'vinu, who gives wisdom to the heart to differentiate between day and night. Thank you for giving us vision. Thank you for giving us clothes. Thank you for releasing us, making us our joints be possible to movement. Thank you for making us, giving us the ability to stand upright. Thank you for making our earth float on the water. Thank you for giving me my every need. Thank you for preparing my footsteps. And now we finally get to the blessing of Baruch Atah Hashem Elokeinu Melech HaOlam Ozer Yisrael B'Gvura, who girds Israel with strength? Who girds Israel with strength? Our sages tell us that these following blessings are specific to the Jewish people.

02:52
Till now, we included the nations of the world, and the blessing that we're giving thanks for our vision is a thanks for the entire humanity. We're saying we are giving thanks for all of humanity. Everybody really wants to say this, but we're going to say it. By the way, we know that the holiday of Sukkot, we didn't just bring offerings. We brought 70 offerings in the temple, 70. Why 70? One for each nation. Because if the nations of the world sin, we consider it our fault, our fault. So we're bringing an offering in our temple to the 70 nations of the world for their sins. So too, every morning we declare our thanks to Hashem, that the nations of the world shouldn't overlook the gift that Hashem is giving us, the gift of vision. The nations of the world shouldn't take for granted the gift of time. So we give a thanks. That's our responsibility as being the leaders of the world. That's our responsibility. So, the leaders of the world, that's our responsibility.

04:08
So now, what is this blessing? Who girds Israel with strength? Sages tell us that this is when we tie our belt. When we close our belt, what do we do? We recite this blessing. Why? What does a belt represent? Sages tell us a belt represents a separation between the heart and the lower sensual organs. The idea of modesty is what we're thanking Hashem for. Ozer Yisrael Begvura, to separate between our heart and our lower organs. Our sages tell us. What we're saying here is, hashem. Thank you for giving us the ability to control our urges. Thank you, hashem. This is symbolic, by the way, not only in a physical way we're separating between our heart and our lower organs, but it's also symbolic of spiritual barrier between our actions and our temptations Our actions and our temptations. You know, if you look at the pictures of great holy sages, you'll see that they kept their hand above their waistline, symbolically showing. There's a video that was found maybe 10 years ago of the Chafetz Chaim. Chafetz Chaim passed away in 1934. They found a video in some archive in some university in Virginia.

05:50
They found some archive footage of the Chafetz Chaim walking into the Knesset Yagadola, which is the congressional meeting of rabbis in Europe. The Chafetz Chaim was there, the famous meeting, because in that meeting they started also the Dafyomi. The Dafyomi started at that meeting. What happened?

06:13
The very young Rabbi Meir Shapiro, who was a young Rabbi who was in his early 20s, sat with the Chavetz Chaim and he told the Chavetz Chaim his idea. His idea was that throughout the world there should be people who study Talmud one folio a day, one page a day of the Talmud, and that way, wherever a Jew is. He can always jump into a Daf Yomi in his local community, where he's visiting, where he's on a business trip, and he can be learning with the people there. And everyone is on the same page, literally. The Chavetz Chaim loved the idea, is on the same page, literally. The Chavetz Chaim loved the idea.

06:45
So Rabbi Meir Shapiro asked the Chavetz Chaim, can you present this idea in front of the sages, in front of the rabbis here at this incredible meeting? The Chavetz Chaim said no, you're going to present it. He says me, I'm a young little rabbi. No one's going to respect me. He says I want you to do me a favor. Lech HaVetz Chaim says this to Meir Shapiro I want you to do me a favor. I want you to walk in a few minutes late to the meeting. The whole meeting is going to start, everyone's going to be seated. I want you to walk in a few minutes late. And so it happened Big meeting Talking about the greatest sages.

07:29
It wasn't, like you know, simple rabbis. These were the leaders of the Jewish world are all together there in the early 1900s and they start the meeting. And who walks in late to the meeting? Rabbi Meir Shapiro. There was no question that the most respected person in that entire room was the Chavetz Chaim. The Chavetz Chaim stands up for this young budding rabbi, rabbi Meir Shapiro. He stands up. Everyone looks. The Chavetz Chaim is standing up for this young budding rabbi, rabbi Meir Shapiro. He stands up, everyone looks. The Chavetz Chaim is standing up for this young rabbi. And the Chavetz Chaim said this is the leader of the Jewish people. This man here has something to share with us.

08:18
Chavetz Chaim gives such an introduction. Who's not going to listen? And then he presents the idea of the Dafyomi. And you know who learns Dafyomi? Every single community around the world Hasidic, lithuanian, modern, orthodox you name the congregation, the community. Everybody across the globe recognizes. Dafyomi is so important. You know why? Because they were all there and they all heard it and they all accepted what Rav Meir Shapiro presented. The same Chafetz Chaim was walking into this meeting and you see the video that was released. It's the most remarkable video and you see him walking with his hands like this His hands are above his waist with the intention this is what Halacha says that someone who's God-fearing should not put their hands below their waist.

09:17
You shouldn't connect yourself with the immodesty aspect of your body. Keep your hands in a place of holiness, just to understand Ozer Yisrael Begivura that Hashem girds Israel with strength. The only force that can help us overcome our spiritual challenges is our heart Okay, our heart. We have to create a barrier between our temptations and our actions. Now, what's begevura with strength? Hashem girds Israel with strength. Gevura with strength. Hashem girds Israel with strength. Whenever it says gevura, ha-gibor ve-hanorah, we refer to Hashem in the Amidah Ha-gibor with strength. That's referring to Hashem. We're asking for Hashem's help with our gevura. Hashem, give us a little bit of your strength so that we can master our self-control, so that we can master our self-control so that we can master our impulses.

10:28
This idea of Ozer Yisrael Begevurah that Hashem girds Israel with strength is referring to tzinias. This is a Jewish value. Modesty is a Jewish value. Both our belt and our hat which is the next blessing, a head covering help us with tzinias. These help us with our modesty, with our dignity. There's a way for us to sleep. There's a way for us to arise. There's a way for us to eat. There's a way for us to walk and there's a way for us to sleep. There's a way for us to arise. There's a way for us to eat. There's a way for us to walk and there's a way for us to talk with modesty.

11:13
The halacha describes each and every one of these, but we need to have strength for this, and that's what we thank Hashem. You have unbelievable strength, hashem. We're asking for some of that strength so that we can be guided in the right way. The source of all power is recognized in a belt. People used to put their sword in their belt. They wouldn't tie it to their leg, they would put it on their belt, the source of our strength. The same thing, by the way. Today people carry guns. It's on their belt. The belt is showing dominance, is showing strength, which is what we ask for in this blessing Ozer Yisroel Begivura. Hashem, you give us this self-control. Protect us. Now, my dear friends, we continue. We continue here with O Ter Yisroel Begevurah.

12:14
So there are those who, in the previous blessing O Zer Yisroel Begevurah, which is referring to our belt, that some will kiss their tefillin shaliyad, their hand tefillin. They'll kiss at this point, and then, when they get to Oter Yisrael B'Sephara, which is when we cover our head, that they kiss the head tefillin at this time. And this is referring to when we say Oter Yisrael B'Sephara, who crowns Israel with splendor. So we put on our head covering. Head covering whether it's covering our hair, as a woman does, or if we cover our head with a yarmulke, with a kippah, it's referring to fear of heaven. It says that one of the great sages would recite all the morning blessings till this blessing of Oter Yisrael B'Sipharah, that Hashem crowns Israel with splendor, and they would put on their tefillin at this point and then they would continue the blessing from here forward.

13:18
Tefillin are splendor. Tefillin are called Pe'er Magnificence, majesty. The tefillin are called pe'er magnificence, majesty. Tefillin are our crown. In fact, one of the verses relating to tefillin, to tefillin, says that the nations of the world will see us because the name of Hashem is resting upon you, the tefillin. They say that when a non-Jew would look at the Gaon of Vilna when he was wearing tefillin, they would faint the absolute awe of that moment. I see godliness on this person, which is why we know. The halacha tells us that when a person weirs tefillin, they're not allowed to talk anything. That is not prayer, which is not holiness. There used to be a time where people can have clear minds, clear thoughts, and they would wear their tefillin the entire day. Today we don't have that ability, as we used to, so we only wear it during the morning service. And if someone can't do that, for whatever reason, someone's a beginner. Wear tefillin. Just for the Shema, just for the Shema. Put on're tefillin. Just for the Shema, just for the Shema. Put on your tefillin. It takes about three minutes. Recite the Shema and take it off. That's it. No requirement, more than that.

14:58
O Ter Yisroel B'Sifaro, who crowns Israel with splendor. It's a crown. Hashem puts that crown on us to honor us. It's a badge of honor. When we wear our kippah, don't take it off when you go out. It's a badge of honor. Hashem crowns us.

15:22
You know the word yarmulke comes from the word yare malke fear of heaven, fear of the king. That's what the yarmulke represents Yarmulke, yare malke. We have displayed on ourselves that what we do, we have to recognize Hashem is above us. Who wears a crown? Royalty wears a crown. We are royalty. That's why we have this blessing to remind us every single day. We are royalty. That obligates us to act like royalty, and that's the blessing of Oter Yishab Esifar.

16:03
Then we conclude with a blessing that is not mentioned in the Talmud Ha'no sein la'yo'ef ko'ech, who gives strength to the weary. So we know this on a very practical level. That what are we saying? We just woke up from sleep. When we go to sleep, we usually go to sleep when we're tired. When we get up, what happens? We have renewed vigor, renewed energy. We're excited. So much strength. Ah, I'm going to get a new day.

16:38
Our sages added this blessing as an encouragement for the Jewish people. Not only in the morning, when you wake up, did you feel invigorated, but also you should feel encouraged, because this blessing was instituted when the Jews were undergoing terrible, terrible persecution. They were weak, weak from being Jewish. Oh, how much troubles can we take? You think of October 7th. We all live October 7th every day.

17:12
This is not just a pin. This is a reminder every day that there are hostages who are suffering for over 490 days. Right now, many of them are in tunnels. They haven't seen daylight. 90 days. Right now, many of them are in tunnels, they haven't seen daylight, but that means 400 days not seeing daylight Persecution. By the way, this is not the worst persecution we've felt as a people. Think of the pogroms, the massacres, the killings of millions of Jews. This is terrible because it's our pain, it's our Holocaust of our generation.

18:02
But forever, throughout our history, we've had challenges, our sages embedded into our prayer and encouragement Hanos sen layo evkoach. You know what we're weak, we're tired. We're tired of all of these terrible persecutions. Hashem is going to give us strength. Shem is going to give us strength and we get up again and we start anew and we start our businesses over. We start buying houses again for our families. What do you mean?

18:41
My grandparents owned a home in Berlin. It's not our home anymore. Someone else took it. They didn't buy it, they stole it. My grandmother had a home, a beautiful home in Lithuania, right across the bridge, right across the river from Vilna, Vilnius, majestic home, not our home. They didn't sell it, it was stolen. My grandparents had a home in Czechoslovakia, right on the border with Hungary. Today it's Ukraine, already Gone. They didn't sell it, it was stolen from them.

19:24
You know what they did when they came to Israel, my grandparents, my paternal grandparents and my maternal grandparents when they came to the United States. You know what they did. They didn't kvetch and complain. Look at the terrible things they did to us. You know what they did. They got a renewed strength. Hashem gives us strength. Yeah, you know what.

19:47
You're downtrodden. You're going to get up again and we're not going to be complaining, we're not going to be fetching about what was. We're going to have a whole new beginning, a whole fresh start. We're going to start it all over again, and it's okay. It's okay. It's something to appreciate. Every morning, you know, you faced the challenge yesterday You're like, ah, how am I going to overcome this challenge? This is so. It's IRS is coming after me. I have my friend is upset at me. I have, you know, an issue with this, an issue with that. The insurance doesn't want to cover the leak. Whatever the problem is and no sin lay off Hashem will give us renewed energy. We'll be able to start over again.

20:38
You know what else? How many times do we feel like we're at the bottom of the world? And then we look a few weeks later and we see that we're at the top of the world again, and then we're at the bottom of the world. We all have ups and downs. Don't get dissuaded, don't get discouraged by times that are not great. It's okay, it's part of the beauty of our lives.

21:07
Living people have challenges. Dead people don't. They flatline and they're dead. It's all over. Living people goes up and down, up and down and up and down. That's the way our EKG you look at it and it's like why is it going up and down, up and down and up and down? That's the way our EKG you look at it and it's like why is it going up and down? Can't it just be steady? No, if it's steady, we're dead. Living people have challenges. That's the encouragement of this blessing. Be encouraged. You have a difficult day. Don't give up. Tomorrow's going to be a beautiful day, not tomorrow. Next week will be a beautiful day.

21:50
You know that it's an amazing thing that we have every morning a new beginning, but we also have every week a new week, an opportunity to start all over again. And every month we have a new month, an opportunity to start the whole month over again. And then we have different seasons and we have different again. And then we have different seasons and we have different holidays and then a new year, and then we have a sabbatical, and then we have a jubilee Always an opportunity for a new beginning. Eh, this 50 years wasn't so great. Maybe next 50 years will be better.

22:22
The new beginning we have to look at the encouragement that our Torah provides for us and that our sages instilled in our prayers Hashem gives strength to the weary. That's us, not only on a day-to-day basis we go to sleep when we're tired and we wake up renewed, reinvigorated but on our spiritual level, when we're weary, when we're tired, hashem renews our strength. Now, my dear friends, we're going to talk about the final blessing here of the morning blessings, and that is blessing here of the morning blessings, and that is that who removes sleep from my eyes and slumber from my eyelids. The sages tell us that this prayer, we should say this blessing, when we wash our eyes. The morning you wake up, you wash your eyes. Allah says to be very careful to dry it. Don't let the water dry on your face because that can cause wrinkles, it can damage our skin. Wash your eyes, wash your face and then dry it. Dry it well. This is the last part of waking up. We can be up, but we're still like a little sleepy. Our eyes are still. We wash our face with water, ah. But we're still like a little sleepy. Our eyes are still. We wash our face with water Ah. Now we're up, our sleep is can also be active service of Hashem.

23:59
You know, sometimes we think sleep is devoid of doing anything For most of the world. That's true, but if you prepare yourself, I'm going to sleep so that I have energy to serve Hashem, so that I have energy to follow His Torah, so that I have energy to learn, so that I have energy to do mitem, so that I have energy to follow His Torah, so that I have energy to learn, so that I have energy to do mitzvahs. So the sleep now becomes holy, active, active duty. It becomes an essential part of our service of Hashem. We're re-engineering our service of Hashem. We're re-energizing our service of Hashem. We're re-energizing our service of Hashem. That's what we're trying to do with our sleep.

24:43
Sleep shouldn't be like okay, I slept it off. No, sleep is an opportunity. I'll just tell you an amazing thing that our sages tell us that if, when you go to sleep, you ask Hashem to wake you at a specific time, you'll see that you'll arise at that time. Prepare yourself the night before, not just oh, I fell asleep, I was just so tired, I just fell asleep. There's a going to sleep aspect. Now I will tell you that there are many, many sages that the Goan of Vilna almost never washed his hands from waking up because he always slept less than a half hour. The amount of time you need to sleep to wash your hands is a half hour or more. He slept for less. He knew how to calculate the REM sleep exactly, to get the powerful sleep and continue learning Torah. We see that also with King David. King David, as soon as he heard the harp playing, he would immediately arise.

25:56
Sleep is not our enemy, but sleep could overtake us and become something that we lose our sight, our vision of our priorities. It's something we need to be careful of. We ask Hashem, hamavir Shein Ami Einoi Pass, remove the sleep from my eyes and the slumber from my eyelids. Give me the strength that I can conquer, that I can accomplish today. And now we say a very, very special Yehi Ratzon.

26:26
May it be your will, hashem, very, very special prayer. There's two of them. One of them is commonplace and everyone says it. The Talmud brings this. But then there's another one, which is the prayer that's also it. The Talmud brings this. But then there's another one, which is the prayer that's also brought in the Talmud, but it was the private prayer of Rebbe Yehuda Hanassi, rebbe Yehuda the prince. This was his prayer and it's shared with us because it's so powerful. So we're going to go through all of the different parts.

26:54
So we say first and it may be your will, hashem, our God and God of our fathers, to make us study Torah regularly and hold fast to your commandments. Do not bring us into the grasp of sin, nor into the grasp of transgression or iniquity. Do Let us not be ruled over by the evil inclination. Keep us far from an evil person and from an evil companion. Make us hold fast to the good inclination and to good deeds and compel our evil inclination to be subservient to you. Grant us this day an everyday favor, kindness and compassion in your eyes and in the eyes of all who see us, and bestow bountiful kindness upon us. Bestow bountiful kindness upon us. And how do we conclude this blessing? Blessed are you, hashem, who bestows bountiful kindness upon his people, israel. Now let's go through it. What is it that we should study your Torah regularly? And what do we say?

28:10
We say it in a plural, a plural term, asking for the entire Jewish people. Our sages tell us that when we ask things just for ourselves, selfishly, hashem, I want this for me very difficult for it to be accepted. You're thinking only about yourself. In our prayers, we learn what it means to think about others. We say all of our prayers in a plural V'dabek libeinu, our hearts, v'mitzvot secha. In your mitzvot, we ask for everything in a plural.

28:49
The Talmud says when you ask for others, it's accepted. You know, there's a Talmud that says If you pray for your friend, you will benefit first. You will benefit first. So imagine if you needed something and you know a friend who also needs it. You know how you can get what you need. Don't be busy praying for yourself.

29:23
Pray for your friend, and there's an entire organization that was founded for precisely this purpose. They match people up to pray for what the other one needs. I need that too, particularly people who need a shidduch, people who are looking to settle down. They want to find their mate, their soulmate. So they're praying Hashem, please guide me to the right person to my barshart, to my betrothed, to my designated mate. No, that's not the prayer. They pray for someone else. Hashem helped them find their mate and in so doing, they benefit first at Talmud I'm not kidding the entire organization that matches people up to pray for the other. You need healing for a certain illness. We'll match you up with someone who has that same illness. You pray for them. They'll pray for you, not to pray just for ourselves.

30:32
That's why we see over here, we're asking for Hashem. Make our Torah study something which is regular, not something which, every once in a while, I'm in a mood I'll learn some Torah. It should be, we should learn on a regular basis. Why do we pray for this? Because our sages tell us in the Talmud the path that a person wants to go on. God assists us to succeed in that way.

31:04
What we're doing here is we're declaring our will. Hashem. This is our will. This is what we desire. We desire to connect to you. It's the beginning of our day. We're asking Hashem. We're starting our day. You know what we desire. We desire to connect to you. It's the beginning of our day. We're asking Hashem. We're starting our day. You know what we want Hargilei Nibusora Secha. Make it regular for us to learn Torah. Give us the opportunity to come daily to learn Torah. This is what we're declaring. This is our will. We're beginning our day with this declaration. What's the next thing we ask for? V'dabkeinu b'mitzvos echa and hold fast to your commandments. Not only we should learn Torah, but we should be close. We should cleave to your commandments, v'dabkeinu, we should be glued to your commandments. We should be glued to your commandments. Keep us close to you through your mitzvot.

32:01
What is a mitzvah? We talked about this so many times. What is a mitzvah? A mitzvah is a vehicle of connection with Hashem. It's not a chore, it's not a task. A mitzvah is an opportunity to connect to God, elevate yourself and connect to God on a higher level. Every mitzvah is an opportunity of connection. I mentioned in one of our recent classes.

32:35
We were asked about perfection. Rabbi, what do I do if I am not able to attain perfection? Welcome to the club is the answer. I met with a very, very prominent rabbi. He said his goal in life is to put on tefillin one time in his life, in perfection, with absolute perfection. What do you mean? You put on tefillin every day? Yeah, but do I understand what type of closeness it could bring between me and Hashem if I did it correctly, if I didn't do it out of habit, if I didn't rush, if I was able to connect with every single aspect of this great mitzvah? Every mitzvah we have has the potential and the ability to bring us close to Hashem. If we didn't rush.

33:25
Imagine lighting Shabbos, candles and taking it all in and being able to connect to the moment, to connect to Hashem, and realize how this fire, why we started with fire, because fire elevates it's the only thing that defies gravity is fire to Hashem and realize how this fire, why we started with fire, because fire elevates it's the only thing that defies gravity is fire Defies gravity Because we're saying the entire materialistic world was during the week. Now what are we doing? We're lighting a fire. This is the Shabbos. We're taking the entire physical week and elevating it and just like this fire gets elevated and goes up, we're saying this is representative of what we want this Shabbos. This Shabbos we want it to be that we take the material and elevate everything for God. We elevate ourselves. We go so beyond and we're not just eating food to be materialistic, to indulge. It's also for that, so that we can connect to Hashem. How lonely is it for us to eat food alone. So what do we like to do? We invite a friend, we go out with our spouse, because food is a connector. It's an opportunity to be with someone, to elevate the relationship. There's a special mitzvah on Shabbos to eat delicious foods. Invite friends, you elevate your relationships and, most of all, the relationship with Hashem, which is why we have more special food on Shabbos than we typically do during the week Foods.

35:02
The Talmud says that the great Tanayik sage would go to the marketplace on Sunday and he would look for a fine cut of meat for Shabbos, and he'd go back on Monday. He found a finer cut of meat. He says, oh, this one's for Shabbos. And then, tuesday, he'd go back to the market. Oh, I found a better piece of meat. All for Shabbos. Because that's when I celebrate with Hashem on the highest level. So incredible.

35:28
V'al teviyenu, lo li deichet, v'lo li dei, aveiro v'yavon. We say Hashem, do not bring us into the grasp of sin, or into the grasp of transgression or iniquity. Al teviyenu, don't let us be led astray. Don't let us be led astray, loli deichet, save us from sin, whether it be intentional or accidental. Hashem, protect me.

35:57
I'm at the beginning of my day. I don't know what's going to be today. Do we know what's going to be today? What is it? It's almost 12 o'clock in the afternoon. I don't know what today is going to bring. Hashem, don't bring me to sin. Don't let me fall into temptation, knowingly or unknowingly, intentional or accidental. Don't let me fall into temptation, velolide averaviovon, knowingly or unknowingly, intentional or accidental, don't let me fall into that trap.

36:29
Now listen to this Velolide nisayon, and not into the hand of temptation, of challenge. You know what a nisayun is. A nisayun is a test, our sages tell us. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov says when you're tested and you fail, you know what's left? Humiliation, that's the next thing. L'ol yedei b'zayon, don't let us fall into humiliation. Where we fail the test, help us succeed.

37:03
So let's talk about nisayon for a second. What is a challenge? It says harimu neis aleharem, raise the flag on the mountains. The same word for challenge or test is the same word for flag or miracle. What is it? Miracle is a test too. By the way, it's a test whether you'll use it to elevate yourself.

37:31
A test is an opportunity to be uplifted. A test is something that we embrace because that's the way we grow. We grow through the tests, through the challenges. That's how we grow, but sometimes tests can pull us down. It's how are we going to overcome? How are we going to overcome that challenge? Hashem, don't bring us to a test that we can't overcome. We may not succeed in every challenge. But when we do overcome a challenge, when we do overcome a nisayon, we grow. We live Living. People have challenges. We mentioned we live Living. People have challenges. We mentioned we're alive when we have challenges.

38:25
One of the commentaries I was learning about this specific word of nisayon. He says make sure that you have the challenges before Mashiach comes, because after Mashiach comes, everyone is going to see the true colors of the Yetzirah. Everyone's going to know that Hashem is there. It's going to be so real, it's going to be so apparent, but then it's not going to be so difficult, because it's going to be. It's like how difficult is it to tell between blue and green? Not so difficult when you have clear light, but when it's not so light it's very difficult. Like I don't know which one is the blue, which one is the green.

39:07
The Yetzir Hara places us with challenges. When it's not so clear, I don't know what the right thing to do, is Not so sure or I'm conflicted because I have my personal desires. We need to be armed with mitzvahs. We need to be armed with our relationship with Hashem to overcome those challenges. The greater the man, the greater the challenge.

39:41
Our children have a lot simpler challenges than we have you ever wonder? A child playing on the playground? Someone grabs their toy, they start crying, screaming. They're upset. Two minutes later they're playing again. Why? Because it's more important for them to be happy than to be right. Adults, you insulted me. I don't want to talk to you ever again. I'm not inviting you to my family, simchas, I'm not why? Because it's more important for us to be right than to be happy. How silly we need to just overcome Adults.

40:26
The greater we are, not as an age, it's not an age alone, not a maturity alone, it's spiritual maturity. The greater we are spiritually, the a maturity alone. It's spiritual maturity. The greater we are spiritually, the greater the challenges. The lowly do not bring us to a point of humiliation. When we fail, we can suffer great humiliation. We're asking Hashem protect us from this pain. We don't want to be embarrassed. Hashem, please help me.

40:56
I remember an individual of great prominence in our community. He came over to me and he says Rabbi, I need to learn with you. I said what's going on? What do you want to learn? He says I was just in Israel and it's the first time I walked into the great synagogue, which is an Orthodox synagogue in Jerusalem. He said I had no idea what was going on. I don't like feeling like I don't know what's going on. I need you to teach me what they were wearing the tallit, when they stood up, when they sat, how they prayed when they prayed. I need you to teach me. I think it's such an important thing.

41:38
If someone does have that humiliation, someone does have that embarrassment they don't know, don't stay with it. Change it. Use it as a springboard to learn, be intrigued with asking more questions, investigate. Don't just say, well, that's just the way it is, it's not my type. I'm out, say I'm going to learn, I'm going to grow.

42:07
Valtashleit banu yetzaharo. Do not let the evil inclination to take over me, to be ruled over me. We shouldn't develop negative desires and temptations. It's interesting that we see over here altashlit banu yetzahara. And then later on we're going to say further vidabkenu b'yetzah tov uvema'asim tovim v'chof es yitzrinu. And again we say compel our evil inclination. Why do we say this twice?

42:43
Our sages tell us that we have two Yetzaharas. We say we have a Yetzahara, but we also have within each of them we have two. We have something which is external and we have something which is internal. We have something which is external and we have something which is internal. We have Yetzirah which we create and we have Yetzirah that Hashem creates. One is God made. That's the external Yetzirah. But then we bring it into our lives, we make the challenge real. We make it even worse for ourselves where we make a man made Yetzirah, and that's why we say we shouldn't let the external one worse for ourselves where we make a man-made Yetzahara. And that's why we say we shouldn't let the external one control us, the internal one, it shouldn't overcome us. We have a prayer asking Hashem we shouldn't fall to the temptation of our evil inclination.

43:38
Distance us physically, distance us physically, distance us spiritually from negative people. We see this by Ishmael. We see that Sarah sent him away why he was going to be a negative influence to Isaac. We see that Abraham left Lot why he says he's a bad influence, you take your sheep. To Isaac. We see that Abraham left gloat why, says he's a bad influence. You take your sheep, you go pasture there. I'm going to go here. I don't want to be next to him. He saw he was a cheater, he was a liar. He didn't want to be influenced by that.

44:12
We see that Abraham didn't allow the angels to walk into his house. He told him stay out here under the tree, wash your feet. What's that? Why did he have them give them to wash their feet? They're in the desert. Let their feet stay. There's idolatry. We have to wash away the idolatry.

44:38
Who are we allowing into our homes? Who are we allowing to be part of our circle of friends? That could be a negative influence. We've talked about this many times. We cannot allow outside influences from another person, from another culture, creep into our lives. It's a reminder every morning to protect our children from negative influences, whether it be the phones that are poisoning our children, whether it be games that are poisoning our children, friends that are poisoning our children, friends that are poisoning our children or simple internet that could be poisoning our children.

45:26
I guarantee you that the uptick of confusion of our young people today, that they don't know what gender they are, didn't happen before. The internet was this prevalent, was this common. People are being exposed to terrible things, but now they have confusion. They don't know right from wrong. They don't know what gender they are. It's tragic. We have to protect ourselves from this.

45:56
You know, one of my pet peeves are the ratings they have on movies, they say, oh, it's inappropriate for children, you're too young for this. If it's too inappropriate for a child's soul, for a child's neshama, I bet you it's too inappropriate for an adult's neshama. The fact that seeing violence or immodesty, we're able to control somewhat, that we're not going to go out and murder people now, how do we know? Maybe we will. I think it has a terrible influence on us and that's something we need to protect ourselves. It's not a rating for the children, it's a rating for adults too. If it's not good for my kids, it's not good for me.

46:52
And then we move on to something, something that makes believe it's our friend. How many times do we have negative influences Like that? That's not a problem. I grew up with this, right, this is okay. Maybe it is. Maybe we need to reevaluate and we'll recognize that what I thought was my friend is really not Mechavira. It's a friend. Perhaps it's not a good friend. We're always being influenced. You know what they call those people on TikTok today. They call them influencers. That's right, Because you know what they call those people on TikTok today. They call them influencers. That's right, because you know what they influence. They have a power to influence us in the most tragic, terrible ways. You know what we are. We're influenced Humanity, we. We're influenced Humanity. We're all influenced.

48:11
It's a prayer we ask every day Don't let the things that we think are innocuous, that are clean, that are friendly. This is my friend be very cautious Not to learn bad habits from friends. Abraham left his house. He left his house, his land, his culture, his family. You're going to have to go If you want to be great, abraham, you're going to have to leave what you familiarize yourself as being your friends, and even they're my family. Yeah, they're idolaters. You can't stay in the house of idolatry and serve Hashem. You're going to have to leave. This is the fundamental, most important part of our growth. You can't stay in the sewage and be clean. It's impossible. Got to get out of there and then you can get clean. Got to get out of there and then you can get clean.

49:34
V'edapkenu b'yetzar atov, bring us close to our good inclination. Hold us close, v'yetzar atov, u'v'masim tovim, in our good deeds. It says that a good thought is considered as if it's done. Imagine this If you had a desire I have a desire to give a million dollars to charity. Imagine that I have a desire to give a million dollars to charity, so that I have a desire to give a million dollars to charity. So what does everyone say? Yeah, I don't have such a desire because I don't have a million dollars to give. What's wrong with desiring it, hashem? I want to give charity. Please help me. I desire it. You know what happens. It's as if you've done it. I desire it, hashem. What happens? It's as if you've done it. I desire it, hashem. I want to Don't start getting all practical.

50:33
Well, I can't. So why should I want something I can't? I desire it. People desire to go on certain vacations, even though they can't afford it, and they figure out a way. How about if I desire to do something good? Hashem, I desire to keep Shabbos. I want it, hashem. I desire to behave in the way that you want us to behave. This is our declaration every morning. Make us want the good things, and good things and good actions. We should want good, even things that we cannot do. I'm not there yet. I'm not a millionaire. I don't have a million dollars to give. I should desire it. Desire to be able to be a person who can give charity. Desire to be the person who can do acts of kindness, who doesn't have to calculate? Can I? I want to Hashem Dabkeinu b'yetzar, tov V'chof esitzrenu l'shtabed lach and bend, compel our evil inclination to be subservient to you, that we be subservient to you.

51:46
Pull our yetzirah towards Hashem. We have an evil inclination. Trick Him to serve Hashem, just like he tricks us to go away from Hashem. He tricks us. He's like eh, what's that going to? It's not a big deal, it's just like. You know it's innocent, it's not a you know he, the Yetzirah we mentioned this earlier the Yetzirah to do negative is always now To do good. He pushes it off to later To trick him. Say you know what, I'm just going to do this now and later I'll listen to you, yetzirah, it's a ploy. We have to ploy. We have to think up tricks against our Yetzirah to get the Yetzirah to do the will of Hashem.

52:32
There's a story I recently heard that Herb Aron Leib Steinman passed away a few years ago. He was very old and his family was concerned about leaving him home alone. His wife had already passed. So he said you have nothing to worry about. My best friend is here with me. I said what are you talking about? Maybe he's delusional, he's hallucinating. He said no, no, no, no. He said my best friend is my Yetzirah. We've been friends, we've been at it. We've been fighting with each other for years, for decades We've been fighting with one another. We're really good friends. We keep each other company. I argue with him all the time. I fight with him and I pull him to come do good things with me, right, don't worry, you don't have to be afraid about leaving me home alone. I'm not alone, my Yetzahara. We're best friends. We've been getting along for many, many years. He's been doing what I tell him.

53:35
Imagine if we can say such a thing about our Yetzahara. V'chof es yitzreinu l'yishtah b'dloch, compel my Yzahara to do the will of Hashem, to do your will, and grant us this day, today and every day, favor, kindness, compassion in your eyes and in the eyes of all who see us. You know, in our, in our race after meals, we have an unbelievable phrase right at the beginning in the first blessing of the grace after meals. And if you're with me with a sitter in the Wasserman edition of the Arts Girl Sitter, it will be on page number 184. We thank Hashem for nourishing the entire world in His goodness. And what do we say With grace, with compassion and with mercy, the same words Bechein bechesed uverachamim. We say over here the same thing V'sitneinu ayom uv'chol yom. Give us today and every day, lechein uv'chesed uverachamim. Say, just tell us, you know that Hashem doesn't need to give us our food with favor. Our food doesn't need to give us our food with favor. Our food doesn't need to be that beautiful. Our food does not need to taste that delicious. Our food could just be food.

55:18
Imagine you walked into the supermarket and it was just one thing to buy. It was everything you need to eat in one white capsule. Imagine, that's it. You need. All the nutrients are there. Did you take your capsule for the day? That's it. Imagine how boring would life be.

55:38
Instead, you walk into a supermarket and you see the glory of Hashem. You see the grace, you see the glory of Hashem. You see the grace, you see the kindness, the beautiful apples with the oranges, with all the beautiful shades of all of these fruits and vegetables. You see a banana and you see a grapefruit and you see the colors, the scent, the smell, the aroma. Smell a delicious strawberry, ah, blueberry. The beautiful magnificence, the coloring book that Hashem places in front of us. You look at an apple and look at the beautiful shades of colors Yellow on top sometimes, and it goes all the way to a dark red on the bottom. And it's so perfect.

56:41
Hashem doesn't just give us food. Take the capsule and you'll be fed for the day. No, hashem wants us to enjoy it, that you can have a blend of so many beautiful, delicious foods. That's Hashem saying to us every day. I love you.

56:58
And what we're asking for in this prayer l'cheinu l'chesedu l'rachamim. We see this also by Esther. It says. It says when she came out to Ahasuerus, she found favor, she found kindness and therefore that led to mercy. She found favor in the eyes of Ahasuerus and Ahasuerus bestowed chesed upon her. And that's what we're trying to find chayin in the eyes of Hashem, so that Hashem will bestow the chesed upon us.

57:44
Beinecho binecho reinu. Not only in your eyes, hashem, but in the eyes of all who see us when we walk around. We're asking Hashem the people who look at us should look at us with kindness. They should look at us with favor. They shouldn't judge us as filthy Jews, god forbid. We ask every day Beinecho b'necho re'enu Ve'sigmeleinu chasodim tovim. Everything is always good. Why are we saying and bestow bountiful kindness upon us, ve'sigmeleinu chasodim tovim.

58:24
It's not accurate. Good kindness, bountiful Good kindness, bountiful good kindness upon us. Why good kindness? What kindness is not good?

58:35
Well, sometimes things happen to us that are challenging and it's hard for us to see the good. It's only months later, sometimes years later, sometimes decades later, that we're able to identify the good that we thought was terrible, that difficulty that I had. Sometimes we don't see how sweet it is, because right now I'm in the pain, I'm caught up in it. I'm caught up in it that the acts of kindness that you're doing to me, I should see its goodness right away. I shouldn't have to wait till later, but to also know and to reaffirm within myself that everything Hashem does is for the best and that I should be able to see that good. It says that the righteous. What do they say? Gam zu l'tovar, this is also good. What do you mean? This is good. I just stubbed my toe. What's good about it? I just hurt myself. What's good about it? You may not see it now. You may not see it now.

59:41
We're asking V'sigmelenu chasodim tovim. And then how do we conclude the blessing? הַגֹמֵל חַשָׁדִּּם תֹּוֹבִּם לַעַמֹו�. That's the difference. We have different kinds of chesed. There are types of chesed that you want more of. Oh, I got a raise. Oh, I want more of that. But there's a kind of chesed that you don't want more of.

01:00:19
Someone is in prison and they get released by the stroke of a pen. The president pardons them. You want him to pardon you again? No, you don't want to get into that point where you need to be pardoned again. You don't want to have that type of kindness again. There are different types of kindness.

01:00:36
We're saying Hashem, bestow the greatest kindness upon us. It shouldn't be only good in concept, in an idea, but we should feel its goodness. It should be something that is felt, that we feel that goodness right now, today. I should be able to see that. So that concludes the first yihiratzon, and that is standard, but some Sidurim don't have the following Yihiratzon. It's a much shorter one, and that is May it be your will, hashem, my God and God of my forefathers, to save me today and every day from arrogant men and from arrogance, from evil men and from an evil companion, from an evil neighbor and from evil mishap and from the destructive Satan, from a difficult judgment and a difficult opponent, whether he is a fellow Jew or not a fellow Jew, and then we say Amen.

01:01:44
If we hear someone else recite this blessing, this prayer, what is it doesn't only mean an arrogant man. Why is someone arrogant? The whole world is coming to me, everything is me. Such a person also gets angry. Such a person also has chutzpah. They think that everything is coming to them, so they have disregard for others. Hashem, protect me. Such a person also has chutzpah. They think that everything is coming to them, so they have disregard for others. Hashem, protect me from those negative influences. B'chol yom every day, not only today. Hayom uv'chol yom, today and every day.

01:02:26
Why do we need to say that we say this every day? Why do we need to say that we say this every day? This is a prayer we say every day. So why are we saying today and every day? Just say today. Because when do we say this prayer? About 20 minutes after we wake up? Those first 20 minutes of our day shouldn't have any of this influence either. Plus what's, if God forbid, we're in a situation where we're not able to pray, we're praying for that day as well.

01:02:55
I shouldn't witness chutzpah. Chutzpah is audacity. You know what's crazy In our world? We see and this is the next we're going to see Azos Ponim says that in the time of Mashiach, there's going to be a total disregard, a total disrespect of the elders, where the young people will feel like it's my world, you're an occupant in my world, and we see that chutzpah, that brazenness in our generation more than ever, which is why it's an indication that we're living in an unbelievable time. An unbelievable time Not to display chutzpah, disregard for others or other values.

01:03:44
Why does it say panim, azus panim? Because the face is the most important part of the body. The mind is the most important part of the soul. Okay, we have to understand this. Me'odam ra, u'me'chavir ra, u'me'shachin ra, u'm friend.

01:04:12
A bad neighbor, a bad influence all of these things. We want them to be away from us. Most problems are due to actions among people we interact with on a daily basis. Most of our bad habits are from people that we've spent time with. We have a prayer here and we don't want to be influenced by those negative things, not by bad friends who have a stronger influence on us.

01:04:40
A bad neighbor, you want to hear something really shocking? I learned this this morning. I saw that, literally, I jumped out of my seat. I ran to my wife. I said you have to hear something really shocking. I learned this this morning. I saw it. I literally I jumped out of my seat. I ran to my wife. I said you have to hear this. The Talmud says call me she, yeshlo, beis, hakneses, beiro.

01:04:58
The Chavetz Chaim says that anybody who has a synagogue in their community ve'eino, nichnes, l'sham, le'izpal and he doesn't go there to pray, he's considered a bad neighbor. Why? The Chavetz Chaim explains Because you're not going to have friends. I said to my wife you know what that means.

01:05:24
The importance of going to shul, to going to synagogue, is not only to pray. The importance of going to shul is so that you can see your neighbors, to see your friends, to socialize, to build relationships. If you have a synagogue in your community, you don't go. You're considered a bad neighbor because you're going to become isolated. Bad neighbor is bad for yourself. You're not going to allow the good friendships to develop because you're going to be isolated. I have seen this with my own eyes so many times.

01:06:05
People who are in a community and decided, for whatever reason, they're not going to go to shul anymore on a regular basis, very slowly you suddenly see them drift away from the community. They isolate themselves. Then they move to a community that's not within walking distance to a shul. They isolate themselves. Then they move to a community that's not within walking distance to a shul. They isolate themselves. It's not that people isolated them, they isolated themselves. They became a shach in Ra. They didn't allow themselves to have a good influence around them.

01:06:44
It's an unbelievable thing that Chavetz Chaim is telling us here. He brings this Talmud. He says that. It's an unbelievable statement from the Talmud Mipegara. Where we may desire something, all the good things I can do, we don't realize all the terrible challenges that face a person when we desire things. You have no idea, don't, hashem? Don't put me into a place of challenge.

01:07:34
I was standing with someone this morning. This morning, who's extremely successful. As we're talking, we're rolling up our tefillin. As we're talking, someone walked over to collect charity for a cause, not even from, not from the state. Came to Houston to collect from charity and the person almost said like with a little snicker I come to Houston to be. You know, this person was traveling, is traveling in Houston also the person I was talking to. I come to Houston to be solicited for someone in a different city. This is the irony.

01:08:17
I said whoa, whoa, whoa, be very careful. I said in the. I'm going to read this to you. There's an introduction. I apologize to those of you online. I stepped away for a moment. In the introduction to Parshas Ki Sovo. I've read this before here in our class. You're not going to find it there. It's page 611. It's brought over here in the art scroll edition of the Mikros Kadolos.

01:08:46
He says an amazing thing. He says when someone comes to ask you for charity, you have to know it's not that person who's asking you for charity. It's Hashem who is masquerading as that person to see how you will treat that person asking you for charity. It's right here I can To test you whether or not you're going to treat this poor person appropriately. I said to this person that I was standing with that. Don't roll your eyes.

01:09:30
When someone asks you for charity, it's Hashem testing you. Now this person can have a very good argument. You say listen, very successful in business. People ask me for money and I give to everybody I give to. So many great institutions Need to give more. I money and I give to everybody I give to. So many great institutions Need to give more. I already have.

01:09:49
What I give to Shem is giving you a challenge. He's giving you a test when it's inconvenient for you. When you're sitting and standing outside of synagogue rolling up your tefillin, schmoozing with a friend, you're catching up. Shem's going to test you at that moment, when you're not ready for it, when you're not excited for it. It's not about the amount, it's about the attitude you have towards it, how lovingly, how graciously you're giving. And that's what we're asking over here. We ask for so many things. Do we know if it's even good for us? You ask you're begging Hashem for that job. Is that job going to be good for you? You're begging Hashem.

01:10:34
I know someone who's telling me that they were praying. They wanted to marry a specific person. You got to be very careful of that. It could be a terrible thing for you. You don't know what tragedy can come from that relationship. Very careful, ask that the right person be sent my way, not that person, the right person.

01:11:01
We know there's the Satan, but there's different types of Satan. You remember Bilaam? When he went to go curse the Jewish people, there was an angel standing in front of him and that angel stopped him and his donkey smashed his leg against the wall trying to pass. The donkey saw the angel. He didn't. What does Rashi say? Rashi say? Rashi says Malach shalurachamim, it was an angel of mercy that was there to protect him from going to do something terrible.

01:11:42
We have to know that sometimes we're going to be stopped from doing something that's not going to be the way we think, the way we. We're going to be stopped from doing something that's not going to be the way we think, the way we imagine that it should be. Sometimes it's protecting you. You have to know. Sometimes the Satan is like going to be pushing you. Sure, go right ahead, do it, do it, do it. No, you've got to be careful. We should not be in a difficult judgment, a difficult opponent, whether he is a fellow Jew or not a fellow Jew. We're asking Hashem every morning guide us, put us in the right path. We're about to start our day. Our day should be blessed. Every day we're asking for this Put us in the right path. We want to be close to you, we want to be good, we want to do the right thing. Hashem should bless each and every one of us to have the most magnificent days.

01:12:51
Every day is the greatest day we live, because it's today. It's now the greatest moment. And yes, you hear this, mark. If someone tells you I don't think it's possible to be any better than it is, they're not lying, because that's now and there'll never be a better moment than now. My dear friends, have a magnificent day. Every day, we should be blessed with unbelievable kindness from Hashem. Thank you and have a terrific, beautiful week.

01:13:39 - Intro (Announcement)
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