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0:00 All right. Good morning everyone. 0:14 Good morning. Good morning. 0:16 It is to be able to restart. 0:18 Hope everyone had a good summer. 0:19 It's hard to believe that we are just a few weeks away from Yam. 0:23 So, we've used this slot for different things over the over the summer and met over the years. 0:29 What I'd like to try to do tonight tonight this morning feels like feels like tonight already uh to try to do this morning is focus a little bit on the capital of which of course is the capital the chapter of 0:44 that we recite from the beginning of all the way through and to try to tap in a little bit into the power profoundity of this particular cap and obviously it's a multifaceted cap. 0:56 Now the fact and hopefully everyone has sheets. 0:58 There are sheets. If anyone needs our more sheets, you know, you know, Hindel, maybe do me a favor. 1:02 Just take in the back if anyone needs. 1:04 Thank you so much. 1:05 Thank you. The fact that we recite this cap from the beginning of Elis clearly indicates to us that it has a multifaceted meaning. 1:17 Right? There's there's there are messages in here that are somehow meant to kind of hold us and carry us and guide us through the differentiated experiences because remember is one experience. 1:30 Rashashana different experience a third experience yum kipper a fourth experience the days between yum kiper and sukis a okay you get the point fifth experience first day and all differentiated experiences and yet with all of those differentiated experiences we're reciting 1:55 this entire time so there must be in this cap obviously differentiated ated messages that speak to us in different ways at different intervals but at the same time certain overarching messages that are necessary for every step along this journey. 2:10 So let's take a quick look first at the capital itself. 2:19 So first of all interestingly enough we know this cap is unique. 2:23 How do you know already out of the gate the capital is unique? 2:26 How do you know what's missing? 2:31 Mismar, right? A lot of talem usually is msour leav mismar. 2:36 Every once in a while you come across a capital that is just leav which is very interesting because usually whenever there's mismar remember again wrote or most of not all was written by David certain were authored by others but why 2:53 did write say for tim for what purpose what purpose what did want more than anything in the world he asked one thing you want to do what would he have said build the base mikdash that's what wants wanted to do. 3:07 For a variety of reasons, he was unable to build the basikdash. 3:11 Variety of different reasons. 3:13 So, he did everything else but build it. 3:15 He purchased the real estate, right? 3:17 The threshing floor from Arai. 3:20 He went ahead and he composed all of the music that the Levitic choir would sing. 3:25 That's the is the music. 3:29 You know, today, you know, it's interesting. 3:31 Some people like a baktav that don't like a kalaktav you know in the ba mikdash music was a part of the avod in fact that if you did the avod if you did the sac sacrificial service in the bdash without 3:45 shira without levitic song the sacrificial service is invalid song music was an indispensable part of ban mikdash life so David composed the music is the music for the Levitic choir. 4:03 That's what it is. 4:04 So, what's interesting is mismar mismar literally what does mismar mean literally to the conductor. 4:13 So, who's the conductor? 4:15 It's the conductor of the levitic choir. 4:17 David is often giving instructions what instruments to use, what type of music to be used. 4:23 On a deeper level, Ms. 4:25 also represents the idea that David Malik often inspired himself through music that sometimes in order to elevate his soul in order to elevate himself to get into the right mindset he would use music. 4:36 Many of us could relate to this. 4:37 It's the power of music. 4:39 Music sometimes music unlocks something within us that a sheer can't right that a can't that learning can't. 4:48 Music just speaks to a different part of the soul. 4:51 So interestingly enough, mismar David means David inspired himself with music. 4:56 Leavid mismar usually means that David first inspired himself then brought in music and leav represents a complete state of self inspiration. 5:10 The David is David understanding that in life we spoke about this I spoke about this in a different context but one of the things that we often forget about inspiration right everyone it's incredible everyone's looking for inspiration everyone's looking for 5:25 it right so whether it's from YouTube shorts right or whether it's from a sh whether it's from this or that we're all looking but we forget one very important thing real inspiration never comes from anything external real inspiration comes from 5:39 within. If you want to be an inspired Jew in life, you have to self inspire for the simple reason that if you leave your inspiration to others, you're you're outsourcing. 5:52 You're giving up control over your anytime you outsource things to others. 5:56 You're giving up the reigns of control. 5:59 And giving up the reigns of control often is well, it's we're going to talk about that, but it's one of the worst things you could do in life. 6:04 Sometimes it's one of the best things you could do in life. 6:06 When it comes to inspiration, it's your job. 6:09 No one's going to inspire you about you. 6:11 Other people could help. 6:12 But the choice to be an inspired Jew, the choice to live an inspired life, that's your choice. 6:17 That's levit represents a moment where David Amel self inspires. 6:24 I understand that my religious, my spiritual, my Judeaic outlook on life is up to me and me alone. 6:31 There could be other things that help, other factors that help, but at the end of the day, it's in my hands. 6:36 So goes on is my light. 6:39 He's my salvation. Who should I be afraid of? 6:47 Just just take a quick look at it. 6:48 We're not going to read the whole thing. 6:49 Just take a look at it. 6:52 So again, the wording over here is so strong. 6:54 When evildoers come close to me to devour my flesh, enemies surround me, they fall down, they fail. 7:09 and says ultimately even if my enemies camp against me I have complete trust in one request from let me dwell in the house of all the days of my life and you could go on you could go on in the 7:31 what's if I were to ask you and you've seen all of us have seen this chapter of what's the theme overing ing theme. 7:41 This is the interactive part of the year, right? 7:43 Right. What's right? What's the over what's the overarching theme? 7:45 By the way, the English is here. 7:46 It's not like a trick question. 7:47 What's the overarching theme to be with Hashem? 7:51 That is a theme. 7:51 Is it the overarching theme? 7:55 The overarching theme of this, which is the same overarching theme of most of is I am in trouble. 8:04 I am in trouble. 8:05 Look at the vivid imagery there begins this my enemies are all around me to devour my flesh. 8:19 He doesn't say I'm in trouble. 8:20 He's that that's a lion of like being consumed. 8:23 Not existential existential trouble. 8:27 And if you look at the rest of the cap, it's pretty much all the same theme. 8:31 I'm in trouble. I'm desperate. 8:33 But of course then there's always a feeling of hope of optimism is going to come through for me. 8:40 Now what's interesting is and and gets gets quite quite graphic in in these in these whatever you do please do not turn away from me. 8:52 Do not make me feel forsaken. 8:56 says one of the most dramatic statements in all of my mother and my father they have forsaken me and Hashem collects me. 9:11 That statement by itself is so powerful. 9:14 What does that mean? 9:14 My mother and my father have forsaken me. 9:16 So the mafarim themselves are somewhat split on this. 9:19 They say human relationships human relationships are finite. 9:23 At some point in time, no matter how much parents love a child, the parents die and the children are here in this world alone. 9:29 That that's that's the that's the normal d that the world takes. 9:34 Parents, no matter how much they love their child, no parent could stay here forever to protect their child. 9:39 It's just the way that it works. 9:40 So says, "My mother and my father, they left me." 9:42 On a deeper level, what is saying? 9:44 You know, and this might sound like a little bit a little bit jaded, but it's not. 9:49 It's just real. If there's one thing that you could count on in your human relationships, it is one thing you could count on in every single human relationship. 9:59 I mean, even like the most love relationships, it's that what someone is going to disappoint you. 10:06 And I know like you're thinking to yourself, whatever you do, don't give relationship advice. 10:10 But it's actually the best relationship advice. 10:14 At some point in life, the people who you love will disappoint you and let you down. 10:20 It's true in marriage. 10:22 It's true in friendship. 10:23 It's true with parents. 10:24 It's true with children. 10:26 You are going to be disappointed and probably profoundly disappointed, disillusioned, hurt, feelings maybe even of betrayal by people who you love. 10:36 And here's but here's the point to remember. 10:38 Not because they want to, but because we're people. 10:42 We're human beings. And no one's perfect. 10:45 And no one ever lives up to expectations. 10:47 especially if those expectations may be a little bit unrealistic. 10:51 And whether we recognize it or not, we often harbor unrealistic expectations of our loved ones. 10:58 We expect them to be perfect. 10:59 We expect them to be attentive. 11:01 We expect them to know what we want and what we need even though we've never articulated it. 11:07 Right? Somehow, who could live up who could live up to that? 11:10 Who who could possibly do that? 11:13 So David says, you know, I've been disappointed and disillusioned in every relationship in life, but you're still here for me. 11:21 Now, it doesn't mean wasn't disappointed in Hashem. 11:24 We'll talk about that in greater depth. 11:26 But the point over here is the theme of this, it's interesting. 11:29 The theme of this is not, right? 11:33 It's not, it's not, it's not judgment. 11:38 It's not even return to Hashem. 11:40 And there's a little bit of return to Hashem, but it's an overarching theme that you find in most of safer talem, which is I'm in serious trouble sham serious trouble, overwhelming existential trouble. 11:55 And I don't know how I'm going to get out of it, but I believe some way somehow you're going to steer me out of it. 12:03 And it's fascinating that this is the cap that we read for close to two months every single year. 12:12 This cap this theme by the way there are other cap that speak about there are other capital that speak about just striving for closeness to but this speaks about again almost like the existential angst of the human condition. 12:28 I'm in trouble. I'm surrounded by enemies. 12:30 I feel like I'm going to be swallowed up. 12:32 literally my enemies are devouring my flesh. 12:34 If everything looks hopeless, but I feel like somehow you're going to pull me through. 12:40 So why why is this the central theme of so to appreciate this and we've spoken about this over the course of many years of learning to one of the things that is often overlooked in is that is a little bit 12:55 of a biography of David Malik's life. 12:57 What do I mean by that? 12:58 Different capitl were authored at different stages in different points of David Malik's life. 13:04 And sometimes when you skim a little bit beneath the surface, you could see what was happening in David Malik's life. 13:09 And then the capitol takes on a totally different a totally different meaning. 13:15 You know, in general, whenever we learn whenever we learn, you know, we often learn a lot of commentaries. 13:20 I've often found like the one thing, you know, from my own education that I think is often lacking is we don't know who the commentaries were, where they lived, or what the life experiences were. 13:30 Well, if you don't know when someone lived or what the life experience, you can't fully appreciate the profoundity of their commentary, you know, just to give you a simple example of this in paras, the Torah speaks about the big day 13:42 kahuna, the clothing of the kahuna of the of the coin. 13:44 And one of the things that the coin wore was what's called an aphod. 13:47 So we normally translate a for as like an apron. 13:49 So the mafar struggle to understand this. 13:51 So Rashi Rashi says something so sweet. 13:53 Rashi says, "Oh, this is just like the apron that the French women wear." 13:58 So Rashi says, "So again, it's helpful to know when Rashi lived. 14:03 It's also helpful to know that Rashi lived in France. 14:05 I I don't know that it helps us understand anymore what the aphod what the aphod look like. 14:08 But it's fascinating and you begin to see a lot of things. 14:11 Commentaries who lived under times of persecution may view things in a certain way. 14:16 commentaries who live during times of barashem incredible may view things in a certain way. 14:21 So David is his autobiography. 14:26 This is David's autobiography and in each you can unlock a story of David's life. 14:31 So what's the backstory? 14:32 This is incredible. What's the backstory to take a look at number two the medish the rabb writes the following writes is incredible. 14:49 When says, "My enemies, my enemies approached me." 14:52 Ultimately, again, who is he referring to? 14:55 He's referring to the Amalachites. 15:11 So the medish tells us the exact biographical window we needed to know. 15:16 David Hamel authored this capito after the tragedy of sicklug. 15:24 What happened in sichlug? 15:25 Funny you should ask. 15:26 Take a look at source number three. 15:28 This is an incredible and riveting story. 15:30 Just give a little bit of backdrop to this. 15:32 David, remember again, right? 15:33 You think you have problems with your in-laws. 15:36 Remember, no one had as big problems as David. 15:39 Maybe your in-laws don't like you, but most probably they don't want to kill you. 15:42 Well, David, again, his father-in-law was Shaw, and Shaw wanted to kill David because Sha thought that David was trying to steal the throne. 15:50 David, of course, was not trying to steal anything. 15:52 David had no interest in the monarchy. 15:55 David had no interest in being king. 15:57 What did David Amalik want to do with his life? 15:58 What did he want to do? 16:00 He wanted to be a shepherd. 16:01 That's all he wanted. 16:02 David wanted to be left alone with his sheep. 16:07 He was happy with the solitude. 16:09 He didn't need to be around people because his interactions with people weren't good. 16:14 He had a difficult family life growing up. 16:17 His brothers mistreated him. 16:18 His father mistreated him at the end of the day. 16:21 Or I shouldn't say, he had difficult family dynamics. 16:24 Difficult family. Dal was happy to just kind of be alone in the field. 16:30 That's all he wanted. 16:31 That's all he needed. 16:32 By the way, much like Aram, much like much like Jacob, all of our greatest leaders really only wanted one thing in life, which was to be left alone. 16:42 That's all a life of solitude of service. 16:45 So David therefore chooses not to fight Shaw, right? 16:49 Sho's actively trying to kill him. 16:51 There are people who supported David, but David chose to flee instead of to fight. 16:56 He did not want to fight his father-in-law. 16:57 So he sought refuge in different places. 16:59 Now obviously seeking refuge within the kingdom of Cladis was going to be problematic because if you harbored David you were essentially participating in what would be perceived as a rebellion against the king. 17:10 See he finally escapes to the kingdom of Gat. 17:14 Got giml got the king of Gat was a man by the name of Akish. 17:19 David Aalik helped him out a little bit. 17:21 So Akish said fine I'll give you refuge. 17:23 I'll give you refuge. 17:25 And he allowed David and his men. 17:26 David had 600 men, 600 followers and together again it was them and their families and they all settled in the city of Sikllo. 17:36 That's where they lived got involved in a battle. 17:40 David was his ally. 17:42 So David goes with his army of 600 men to aid the king of Gat to aid to aid Aish. 17:50 So what happens when David and his men left the city of Tiklag? 17:56 Am Malik took advantage of the fact that there were no men in the city. 18:02 What did they do? 18:03 They raided the city of Tiklag. 18:05 They took everyone. They took the women and children captive, killed any men who were left behind and totally plundered the city. 18:13 If you take a look at source number four, what happens? 18:17 this. So now David comes back from war. 18:21 He comes back from war. 18:22 He comes back after the battle and what happens. 18:28 So David and his men come back to they burnt the city down to the ground. 18:40 Burnt the city down to the ground. 18:47 They took all the women and children. 18:49 So there there was no one left in sicklo. 18:51 No one left in sicklo, right? 18:52 Because the men were out doing battle. 18:54 They burnt down the city, took all of the possessions and took the women and children captive. 19:09 So imagine the scene comes back to sicklo after waging a successful battle helping out ashish the king of goat and what does he see his home is burnt down to the ground his own wives had two wives his own wives 19:23 and his children and everyone else's wives and children were taken captive really a very profound PK. 19:35 So chap this is again source number four P four David and the men who were with him raised their voice and they cried and cried and cried until they had no more strength to cry. 19:48 Now understand what does that sound like? 19:50 Crying and crying until they have no more strength to cry. 19:52 What emotional state is that? 19:55 Despair like it's yay. 19:56 It's yes. Remember again these are warriors. 19:58 These are soldiers are these these are hardened men. 20:02 You know often say you know whenever you see like a painting of David Aamelik right what is he always drawn holding what is he always holding a harp of like I think David spent like 3 minutes with a harp right 20:13 maybe three minutes his life was spent with the sword he was a warrior he was a warrior was a warrior for from the time that ultimately he dawned you know the the armor of Sha and he killed Golas which happened 20:24 as a young man until the day of his death he was a warrior. 20:28 So for warriors like this to come back and to cry until they have no more strength to cry. 20:32 That's like a you know there are different types of cries that exist. 20:36 This is a cry of like broken kite ju just being totally totally broken. 20:41 So what happens own two wives were taken captives. 20:52 Now things got worse. 20:53 How did they get worse? 20:57 The people that are followers wanted to kill David. 21:01 Why? So now everybody was ready to kill David. 21:12 Why were they ready to kill David? 21:13 Because they thought this is your fault. 21:16 This is your fault. 21:16 You're our leader. Right? 21:17 At the end of the day, the way leadership works is right, there aren't a lot of for the successes, but there's absolute widespread condemnation for every single failure, right? 21:29 Because the buck stops with the leader. 21:30 So, David, this happened on your watch. 21:32 You're the leader. You're the leader. 21:34 And so, they turn on him. 21:35 So, now to make everything worse. 21:37 So, now the city's burnt down. 21:38 The women and children have been taken captive. 21:40 No one's in the city. 21:41 The possessions are gone. 21:42 And now with all of that, they're ready to turn on David. 21:46 So here's what's amazing. 21:47 So now the medish in number two says, "What was David Hamel's response to the episode at leash or David or this capito was written literally again in the smoldering ashes of sicklo." 22:09 Now again the good news is I want I don't want to leave in a cliffhanger right this the story ends well they go to war against they get back the women and children right so so it ends but that's we're 22:19 not focusing on that in that moment when they come to the smoldering heap that was their home that was sicklo that's when David writes 27 now by the way once you understand this now the imagery in the makes a lot 22:35 more sense My enemies came to devour my flesh. 22:41 You understand that phraseiology now? 22:43 Why? They took their wives and their children. 22:47 It's not just like a battle. 22:48 It's not just that they came for possessions. 22:50 They took everyone and everything. 22:53 So the intensity of the capet, right? 22:56 The feeling of being encircled by enemies of the cap now makes so much more sense. 23:01 And the desperation of the capital begins to make sense as well because if you notice if you notice over and over in this particular chapter of tale David puts forward a voice of I feel like I don't know what to 23:16 do. I feel like I have no options. 23:19 I don't know what I'm supposed to do or where I am supposed to go in life. 23:26 And you understand it now. 23:27 I mean who who could who could imagine the feeling of those men when they came back after being successful in battle the feelings of guilt leaving their wives and their children unprotected their city unprotected and now wondering what's what's going 23:42 to happen where where are they right they had no idea what Malik had or hadn't done with these women and children they were they alive not alive held captive they had no idea that's that feeling of profound sound and complete 23:59 utter helplessness in the face of adversity. 24:03 If you take a look at source number five, I want to share with you something amazing. 24:09 So this is from this is from the see as follows. 24:13 Again, it's a part of a much a much bigger piece. 24:16 Let's take a look at just a few pieces out of this. 24:22 Furthermore, again, David's plight was amplified over the plight of the rest of the people. 24:27 Why? Because remember again, everybody was suffering. 24:36 Had it even worse. 24:37 Why? Because everyone was putting the fault and the blame for him on this or on it was on him. 24:43 It was all on him. 24:44 So all the pain that they were all feeling was fundamentally compounded. 24:48 Skip down a little bit. 24:49 Let's skip down to the second paragraph. 24:51 I'm sorry I forgot to number the paragraphs. 25:00 Now I think I mentioned this line every single faced every problem you could imagine in life. 25:10 Right? He had problems with Shalomias. 25:12 He had problems with his family. 25:14 He lost a child. 25:16 He had struggles with health. 25:18 He had enemies internal, external, right? 25:21 The only problem that David didn't have was money. 25:26 He came from a wealthy family and one of the perks of being king, you're going to be wealthy, right? 25:30 He married came from a wealthy family, he married wealthy and some money. 25:34 That was the only thing he didn't struggle with. 25:36 But besides money, besides parasa, every other challenge that you could come up with in the human condition, and by the way, how long did problems last for? 25:45 How long they last for? 25:48 Do you remember at the at the end of at the end of at the end of of I guess it's alf at the end of Mal. 25:58 So you remember again is dying. 26:01 He's dying. He's on his deathbed. 26:03 He's literally drawing his last breath. 26:05 You remember how's last moments on this earth were spent? 26:08 His son Abdon Benis essentially launches a revolt. 26:13 It wasn't a violent revolt. 26:15 It was he proclaimed himself as king and Bva comes in her husband is dying comes in like David who's going to be the next king. 26:24 So literally he's dying he's breathing he's taking his last breaths and even he couldn't die peacefully. 26:32 He just could not there was no peace for David Hamelik in this world. 26:37 It was s after sah after s after sba the loss everything everything. 26:44 So he writes over here had a really difficult life and every challenge that you can imagine he had it. 27:01 So this is incredible. 27:03 So the the this the author over here posits if you want to know what was drain's greatest challenge sick lug this was the greatest challenge this event was the most catastrophic event of David Malik's life and it makes a lot 27:20 of sense why because first of all again remember sometimes you know when we know how the story ends like oh it's not so bad but remember before you know how the story ends understand the enormity of what happened dak was 27:30 responsible for leading the army out responsible for leaving the city unprotected which means he was responsible for the abduction of his own family and everyone else's family. 27:41 So that so again this is perhaps the g greatest catastrophic event of David Amaz the fact that it has a happy ending remember don't don't think about the ending you got to think about what it is right now at this 27:56 moment most catastrophic event of life and then compounded that everyone turns on David right and everyone is ready now to literally lynch David because of what he did he says so skip down a little bit skip down now The third 28:11 paragraph, he goes on, he sees, and by the way, as a leader, as a leader, to see the suffering of your constituents, right? 28:20 To see all of those men mourning the families that they lost and to know that at least in some part you are responsible. 28:29 If you think about this, all of David's other suffering, it was localized to him. 28:34 It was his suffering. 28:35 This suffering ultimately applied to everyone and he was responsible for it. 28:39 Skip down to the third paragraph. 28:51 And this is profound. 28:53 Not only did not have something to comfort him, but he had no one to comfort him. 29:04 His family was gone. 29:07 His family was gone, right? 29:14 There's no one here. 29:15 There's no one here. 29:16 I can't go to my other friends around because they hate me now cuz they think I'm responsible. 29:22 So what's happening in life is this moment of profound existential loneliness. 29:30 So on one hand, there's catastrophic circumstances. 29:33 The city is burned to the ground. 29:35 The women and children are missing. 29:36 No one knows what has happened to them and there is no one no one for me to lean on. 29:43 There's no one for me to talk with. 29:45 There's no one for me to cry to. 29:47 There's no one for me to get from. 29:49 There's no one there's no one nothing. 29:52 I am all alone by myself in this moment. 29:55 He goes on, this is such a profound idea. 29:58 I'm in the second to last paragraph. 30:04 in general when you're having a difficult time in life. 30:06 So what do you do? 30:17 It's interesting. People seek comfort in different ways. 30:21 Some people find comfort from their family. 30:24 Some people find comfort from their friends. 30:27 And interesting enough, some people find comfort from their stuff, from their possessions. 30:32 What do I mean by that? 30:33 If I have possessions, at least again, financially, I'm solid. 30:37 I I I have what I need. 30:38 So, at least I know again that that hopefully I have the financial building blocks to go ahead and rebuild. 30:43 In this moment, in this moment, when comes back to sicklo, what does he have? 30:53 There's no family. bush. 30:56 There's no possessions and there are no friends. 31:06 There's nothing. There's nothing in this world. 31:10 And therefore, what happens? 31:12 So just understand what so what happened? 31:14 Last paragraph. So what does David do? 31:24 Having absolutely nothing in this world and not knowing how he's going to survive this particular predicament, what does he say? 31:34 Leavid, you have one thing and one thing only in this world. 31:40 Hashem, you have one thing and one thing only in this world. 31:47 You have nothing and no one else to depend on. 31:52 Now the good thing is that can be enough. 32:00 He could light my way ahead of me and show me kind of direct me where to go and ultimately provide me with salvation. 32:06 But this is the theme of this capitol. 32:10 A feeling of absolute there's no one. 32:13 There's no one. There's nothing. 32:15 I have no one I could depend on. 32:17 I have no one I could turn to. 32:20 There is no rock. 32:21 There is no source of stability in my life. 32:24 It is just me and my overwhelming circumstances. 32:29 So you have two choices in those moments. 32:31 Malik says either either crumble or surrender. 32:37 What do I mean by surrender? 32:39 Not surrender wave the white flag but almost as if surrender yourself to shalom. 32:46 You are the only entity in this world that has me. 32:51 No one else and nothing else has my back. 32:54 Because relationships come and go, possessions come and go, friends come and go. 33:01 The only true source of stability in this world is you. 33:06 And it's interesting when did Malik learn this incredible lesson? 33:11 When did he learn it? 33:12 In sichlug. Because out of all of his suffering, there was only one time in life where he had absolutely nothing. 33:20 And that was the moment that he came back to the smoldering ashes of sicklo. 33:24 No possessions, no friends, and no family. 33:28 And in that moment says, I need to give myself over to you. 33:36 And that's why there's no there's nothing. 33:39 There's nothing. All there is in that moment is just so what is David going to do? 33:44 David is going to surrender and give himself over to now again when I say give yourself over to Hashem that does not mean that there's no remember again after gives himself over to Hashem now what does he do what's the 33:58 next step again I didn't put the next chapter of what's the next step what's the next step he gets himself together and he goes to war with Malik so giving yourself over toes does not mean surrendering dynamic activity on your 34:10 own part but it's an it's it's it's a mindset and And it's a mindset that often we only come to when we come to one of those sicklo moments in life. 34:20 And I I I think that all of us have those sicklo moments. 34:24 We all have those sick lug moments, right? 34:26 We all undergo adversity and difficulty in life. 34:29 But we have those sicklo moments where perhaps for whatever the reason there's no family to lean on and not because not because I don't have family, but sometimes they're just not there for me in the in the way that I 34:41 need it. there's no friends because friends sometimes could be there when they're convenient but they're not there when you really need them and sometimes there's no possessions because of a variety of different life circumstances. 34:51 We all have those sicklo moments in life and in those moments which are the most acutely painful moments in life teaches us embed yourself with will hold you through it. 35:05 He'll steer you through it, but you have to give yourself over to him. 35:09 If you're willing to do a moment of Hashem, he'll be your riishi. 35:16 Perhaps perhaps this is why we read this cap during know it's interesting. 35:22 We're preparing ourselves for a whole variety of different things, right? 35:26 What what right what are we doing during L? 35:28 What are we doing during L? 35:32 I mean, come on, people. 35:32 We're two weeks in, right? 35:34 What? What what are we doing during right we're doing all different kinds of things working our relationship with perhaps again a little bit of introspection self-evaluation personalistic inventory thinking I'm not doing cha we're not up to cha just yet but 35:47 I'm kind of thinking about the year that I live the year I want to live I want to get my life become the best version of me is is the most beautiful and joyous month of the entire year because there 35:57 are untold possibilities about what I could do and what I can make of my life and I think as we go into into the year. 36:04 As we go into the year, there is there has to be a reality that as much as we prepare ourselves, there are going to be things that happen in life that we are fundamentally unprepared for. 36:22 We don't like to think this way because most of us, if there's one thing we want more than anything in life, it is control. 36:30 Control. I want to be in control. 36:34 And so I don't like to think about moments where I'm not in control. 36:37 But if you want to be really in control of life, you have to acknowledge the fact that you are probably going to be hit upside the head this coming year by circumstances you never saw coming and by things that you 36:55 could have never anticipated and realities that I'm totally fundamentally unprepared for. 37:03 Just think about this for just a moment. 37:06 Just yesterday, just yesterday at a bus stop in Ramote, there were six precious nishas that were getting ready for the day ahead. 37:20 You know, each of them, I guarantee you, each of them had plans and had dreams and had goals and had aspirations and they were part of family units. 37:32 And they were husbands, they were sons, they were fathers, they were grandmothers, they had whole worlds, whole whole worlds they had planned for themselves and whole worlds revolved around them. 37:44 And literally again in a matter of seconds, in a matter of seconds, it's not just six families, right? 37:52 Because each of those six families are tethered to so many other family units. 37:57 Hundreds if not thousands of lives were instantaneously changed in an irreversible way. 38:06 Four holy soldiers killed at an attack on an army base in Gaza City. 38:10 In Gaza City again, kids, children, literally children. 38:15 Children, families irreversibly, irreversibly changed. 38:20 Lives irreversibly changed in moments. 38:24 Life is filled with this. 38:26 Just if you're following the news, Israel, Israel just a little while ago did a missile strike in Da in Qatar, taking out Kamas leadership. 38:35 They took out Kamas leadership. 38:38 I don't know. Good, bad, helpful, not helpful, end the war. 38:44 No idea. No idea. 38:46 One thing is clear, which is the ripple effects will certainly be felt in a dramatic way. 38:52 Life is filled with these kind of circumstances. 38:55 Now, we don't like to think about it. 38:57 We We don't like to think about it because we don't we like to be in control. 39:02 And I don't want to think about the unknown cuz I can't I can't wrap my head around cuz I can't control the You're right. 39:08 You can't control the unknown. 39:10 But you have to be ready for it. 39:13 You know, so often in life, circumstances come about. 39:16 And like I said, it's those circumstances, you know, those life events that literally hit us upside the head. 39:21 It's like the punch in the gut that takes the wind out of me. 39:25 and we're so immobilized and we're so paralyzed because I wasn't prepared for life to go off the rails. 39:33 If there's one thing you should always be prepared for is that life is going to go off the rails. 39:40 It's only a question of how significant the derailment is. 39:46 Is it a little bit off or like major derailment? 39:50 But be prepared for it. 39:52 Don't be scared of it. 39:55 Embrace it. Okay, I'm not going to look forward to it. 39:58 But just be ready that it is part of the human condition. 40:02 Be ready for it because if you're not, you'll be paralyzed and immobilized when it happens. 40:07 But what should I do? 40:08 How do I prepare? 40:09 How do I prepare for the unknown? 40:11 And the answer is you can't prepare for the unknown except to know that when that unknown derailment occurs which it will there's only one place to go and that's to when David suffered life derailment and this is what we do 40:33 and this is what we do it's fascinating it's not about there's a reference to saying this is reference it's not about it has no it actually has nothing to do with cha. 40:43 This entire capitol is all about the unanticipated overwhelming circumstances of life. 40:51 It's about the sick lug moments of the human condition. 40:55 And as we prepare for the new year, day after day, we remind ourselves stuff is going to happen that I never foresaw, that I could have never planned for, that I could have never been prepared for. 41:08 And the true metal of my spiritual success in life, you know, success in life is not about how you deal with the choreographed parts of life, right? 41:20 Think about this in just a moment, right? 41:22 No one no one gets a driving carpool, right? 41:27 I should get a guard driving carp, right? 41:29 Why don't get a guard driving carpool? 41:31 Cuz carpool is choreographed, right? 41:33 There's a dismissal time. 41:35 There's a spot that's yours. 41:37 So, just follow the rules. 41:38 What you're supposed to do, show up on time, don't block traffic, don't triple park, right? 41:42 And go ahead, right? 41:43 Pull into your spot, get your kid, and go home. 41:45 Right? That that that that's it. 41:47 Right? So, a lot of life is like carpool. 41:49 It's like carpool. They're choreographed. 41:52 It's done. But the real moments that define who and what we are are the chaotic moments, are the sicklo moments. 42:00 And so often we lose it in those moments. 42:04 We lose control of ourselves. 42:05 We lose direction. We feel hopeless. 42:08 We feel cast into the pit of despair without realizing that those are the moments that really define us. 42:16 And they're going to happen. 42:17 And don't pretend like they're not going to happen. 42:19 And no matter how successful you are, no matter how happy you are, no matter how many things you have going for you in life, you are going to have your moments. 42:30 You know the says so beautifully. 42:32 I've mentioned this many times. 42:34 says that why do we cry or just in general about like happy events? 42:40 Crying is more often the emotional reaction to sadness. 42:45 So why do we cry during happy events? 42:47 You know something so profound says because deep down the nama knows it's not going to last. 42:52 It's not going to last. 42:53 Not not that the marriage is not going to last. 42:55 I I I mean ju just like just like deep down we know that this incredible feeling of happiness, this joy, something's gonna happen, right? 43:04 Something's gonna happen because that's what life is. 43:06 That's what life, you know, we go through life with totally unrealistic and flawed expectations of what life is supposed to be somewhere somehow. 43:18 I think this is a result of western culture. 43:20 We think that life is all good and life is all beautiful and life is all fantastic and everything is always supposed to go your way and fall into place exactly what it is and I'm supposed to find my shik at 43:32 this age and if I don't find it at and and everything and then I'm supposed to have children like this and my my supposed to be like this and my this and all these things and then when it doesn't go 43:40 that way we're like oh my gosh like it's a crisis of faith crisis of faith I can't believe it well take a step back dial it back a little bit where'd you get those expectations from who Who who ever said 43:51 to us that life is easy? 43:54 Who ever said to us that just because I have a plan that somehow that's plan for me. 44:01 So much of life is a sense of humility of recognizing. 44:06 Yeah. Life is filled with challenges. 44:08 That's it. That's it. 44:08 It's full is filled with so much beauty, so much so much good. 44:13 But challenge is part of the human condition day in and day out. 44:18 The only variable is how acute your challenges are. 44:23 And we need to prepare ourselves for that. 44:25 And we need to bolster ourselves for that. 44:27 And we need to ready ourselves for that. 44:29 Jews are tough. You know, we we forgot that Jews are tough. 44:34 We forgot about that because for 2,000 years 2,000 years we are we were cowering and for 2,000 years we were running. 44:42 I often say, you know, one of the most incredible things to me, I get to go to Israel. 44:47 I get to go to Israel very often. 44:50 And one of the things that I still cannot stop marveling at is that there are Jewish soldiers. 44:57 There are Jewish soldiers. 44:59 And by the way, like they're they're tough. 45:02 They're tough. And we're an army. 45:04 We're a force to be reckoned with. 45:06 We're a spiritual force to be reckoned with. 45:08 and barakash and tough pay 5785 2025 we are a military force to be reckoned with Jews are strong we're probably stronger than anyone and we've forgotten that a little bit especially excuse me for saying it we diaspora jewelry have forgotten 45:26 about that a little bit there's a lot we can learn from our brothers and sisters in our because they're much tougher they're much more weathered and their amuna runs so much deeper sometimes than ours and the craziest stuff that happens 45:38 and yet still stay on the straight and narrow. 45:42 We need to remind ourselves that we are so much stronger than we can even imagine and we cannot allow ourselves to buckle at the first appearance of adversity. 45:55 And we cannot allow ourselves to crumble when life goes off the rails. 46:01 Whatever it is that comes our way, we got it. 46:05 and acknowledge and accept and say, "I am ready for my sicklug moments of life. 46:11 I'm not looking forward to it. 46:12 I want everything to be perfect. 46:13 I want everything to be beautiful, but it's not going to be that way. 46:16 But I'm ready for my sick lug moments." 46:19 Teaches us how to be ready. 46:21 How are you ready? 46:23 Create and cultivate a strong relationship with Hashem. 46:27 That will be your anchor in your moment. 46:30 Now, I want to be very careful. 46:32 A strong relationship with Hashem. 46:33 This is I think sometimes where we do a little bit of a theological disservice. 46:37 A strong relationship with Hashem is not going to give you everything you want in life. 46:44 This is very important because sometimes people don't understand and I give suck and why don't I have everything that I want. 46:52 Why? Because you have the ideology and the theology of a three-year-old. 46:57 That's why. That's why. 46:58 That's not how works. 47:00 What do you think? 47:00 Right. Oh, good mama. 47:02 Good Okay, good. Oh, thank you. 47:04 You dive in here. 47:05 Here you go. Here you go. 47:06 Here. Here's bags of money, right? 47:07 Or or here's your best share. 47:08 Here's It's not how it works. 47:10 It's not how it works. 47:11 Kushbar has a plan. 47:12 Has a plan. Our job is to work. 47:14 Our job is to figure out our place. 47:15 Our job is to perfect ourselves to push not perfect, push ourselves to be better without knowing necessarily how all those pieces of the plan work. 47:22 But one thing is absolutely unequivocally true which is if we have relationship with a strong relationship not a quid proquo relationship not I've given you so now what are you giving me back not a relationship with expectations but a relationship 47:34 because it's good to have that relationship that relationship stables me it stabilizes me it's my anchor it's my rock and no matter what life throws my way I got it I might emerge from those derailment moments those cycllo moments bruised, 47:52 battered, and changed forever. 47:55 But I'll be standing. 47:56 I'll make it through. 47:58 I'll make it through and I'll rebuild. 47:59 And somehow someway it's going to be beautiful, incredible, and great. 48:03 And that's the entire essence of to prepare us to bolster ourselves. 48:08 You know, only the Jew could speak out of his or her mouth on both side. 48:11 Meaning what I mean by that on one hand, we believe with complete certainty that the coming year is going to be fantastic and beautiful and great. 48:17 Why what do we do onash night? 48:20 We have all of these sim but do you ever wonder to yourself like if somebody who never saw this came and sat at your table and they saw this stuff right I'm gonna dip an apple into honey it should be 48:32 toa take a fish head right to ro right if you're very ambitious the head of a cat head of a sheep right there all this other stuff that we have right dates and this and that and we're having like a 48:44 whole group of foods that have no business being eaten together right and suddenly now we're eating them all together why good almonds What are you talking about? 48:52 Good omens for we don't believe in almonds, right? 48:55 So good omens. What that means is I believe that things are going to be good. 49:00 I believe it's going to be sweet. 49:01 I believe that the default setting in life is and yet at the same time I also recognize I'm going to deal with adversity. 49:10 To the world that sounds like a contradiction to us that's called life. 49:15 I believe in absolute braha but I also know that there's going to be challenge difficulty and adversity and I'm ready for everything. 49:26 Every morning and every night well depending on your every morning and every night when we recite we're taken back when stood in the smoldering ashes of sicklo with no family no friends no possessions nothing in this world wondering how he 49:44 was going to get through this and he embedded himself with and by the way this was at the beginning of David's life this was I mean not the beginning of his life but he wasn't king over he was anointed but 49:55 He says before I became David Malik. 49:58 Can you imagine had David crumbled down into the ashes of sicklo you know what would have happened would have never had David Malashika and the messianic line would have never started. 50:12 Sometimes the willingness to stand straight and stand strong in your siglug moments of life doesn't just have an impact on you but has an impact in future generations as well. 50:22 So we recite this every day from through the end of the season. 50:27 Why? I'm ready for the coming year to bring me the most incredible imaginable. 50:32 But when the sicklo moments of life occur, which they will, I'm going to work on now what life is good establishing a strong relation with so that when those sicklo moments of life occur, I have my anchor. 50:46 I have my rock. 50:48 I have my stability. 50:50 Not just to say this capital but to ingest and to internalize its lesson. 50:55 We should truly be genched with a year filled with mas with a year in which doesn't have hostages doesn't have war only which for a year ahead a beautiful all types of braha and most of all again the greatest of 51:10 all the brah of the of next week there's no morning shar no Tuesday morning but there is Tuesday night is the sh 8:00 we'll put put on WhatsApp. 51:26 Also, if you're not part of the WhatsApp group, this QR code on top, if you scan it, that'll put you on the WhatsApp group. 51:31 All the updates go out on there. 51:33 Have a wonderful day, everyone.
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