Alei Shur: What is the Potential of a Human Being? - Rabbi Guy Matalon

[Music] we talked about what is the definition of the term Adam we roughly translated into English as humanoid or a human being but the question is what is a human being what is the Torah's perspective with regard to human being and what we brought to we brought two statements from house out from the Gemara in bava kamma the first said that the essence of a human being is the word mouth which means prayer it is a being that prays and we had a little bit of a discussion are we the only beings that can speak the next idea that we shared was that the Mishnah in bava kamma first Mishnah defines mother as a Mazak as a being that damages that is his he's not doing it accidentally he is doing it essentially by his essence by who he is and therefore we are a being that damages what does that mean it means that in as much as we have to be careful that other people don't damage us we have to be careful not to damage others even more we have the moral responsibility to make sure that we don't harm others because our basic nature is to harm but we have an ability to control it so what we've noticed where we ended yesterday was on the third definition so we had one that stated that we are a being that prays we have a being that causes damage then we looked at rebuking on the Bo hoddan says that Adam stands for remember Ash's FL damn blood and Mara which is viable Rashi says why is he called that because a person has to remember to stay humble don't become arrogant but the idea there's a sense of arrogance that the human being has to fight against Andrew Buchanan wants to remind you to listen ultimately what are you you're a clump of earth where as we said earlier a piece of dirt don't let things go to your head well somebody stepped on my toe so what but did you see how he was looking at me did he see what your piece of clay with some blood and bile so we recognize we recognize that in as much as we have the ability to go very very high spiritually very very high using our intelligence discover very very deep and important things but we have also very base aspect Andrew Buchanan says that is essentially who you are keep that in mind okay what does it mean also bio as you know it's not something that's stable it changes correct that is we are if you eat this then you have this type of bile if you eat that then your bio right you have all these changes we are a being that is dynamic we're always changing our thoughts change our actions are speech or emotions all those aspects of the human condition you have to remember that we are a being that is in constant state of flux and you have to control that you have to be aware of it in order to control it okay now we also talked about selim image that we are creating the image of God and DeMuth likeness okay so if we are created in the image of God then what do we have standing in front of God we have a being that prays a big that causes damage that is made up of ashes blood and bile put those three things together and you're trying to figure out well what is this being so there's another gamar that we're gonna talk about this gamers from schwas cough five if you want to look it up I'm Alice says Tamra Bannon damn be shrewd honest that is when a person is taking a schwa taking an oath right there could be situations that the oath is invalidated because he is under the rest almost compelled so what does that mean Rashi says Adam before a man before in the act of taking a schwa taking an oath she here I'd um be shot schwa that he has to be an atom at the time or at the state of taking a schwa he has to be an atom what does that mean it's what Rashi explains a dumb war that is she a Haley boy I love that his mind should be on him Platanos with the exception of a person who's under duress now listen to what this means so the Gemara says in what case are we talking about one says that well that a person is taking a schwa that is false he believes that it's true he believes that it's true let's say I wake you up in the morning very early and I tell you what's today and you say today is Wednesday but today really is Thursday but you don't know but you really believe that today is Wednesday and I said you are will you take it off but today is Wednesday then today's Thursday in here gets absolutely Thursday I'm sure of it is it Thursday no but did you take a short or no yes is the old true to the extent that you believe it is true because you think it really is Thursday but in reality so what do you do in this case that's the case that we're talking about here so we say explains the a leash or that a person who takes a schwa because he truly believes he is under the assumption that what he is saying is true but his heart his mind compelled him to believe something that is wrong his mind compelled him to believe something that is contrary to reality that is means that he wasn't an atom at the time of schwöre you are not an atom when you take a schwa when you take a swore an oath believing that is true when it's not true so then what does that mean Adam before he says that Adam means that it's a being that is in a state of clarity and none no confusion he's not confused about what reality is he knows what the truth is that is in Adam think of our Murray shown he lived in the world according to the random right in the morning to volume of truth and falsehood you know what what was true and he knew it was false and it was clear to him very clear to him so what did we learn that an atom is a being that knows what the truth is in reality not that he thinks so he knows us so and it's possible that a person were taking an oath believing that a certain situation is the reality and he thinks that it is but it's not and therefore we would say he's not at the level of an atom but if he takes a schwa with Q clear understanding and logic and everything that and that ends up to be the reality the truth that is at the level of an atom so what do we end up with we call that dot knowledge we have the definition as a human being as a being with knowledge with being knowing truth and false the fact that we know what good and bad is it's very nice the fact that we know we have the ability to know what is beautiful and what is ugly also very nice but that's not what we're here for we are beings created by God to know what is true and what is false because beauty and ugliness are culturally determined and morality outside of the Torah as you could see is all relative without the Torah there is no absolute sense of morality it is only if you are based on truth and falsehood that you reach a level of certainty with regard to good and evil and also to some level what is beautiful and what is ugly because we say certain behaviors are good are beautiful okay so what did we learn that Adam who is at the level that he has complete control of his mind he is has clarity of who he is and he understands his role in reality it is clear to the human being what sort of abilities he has what sort of things he can accomplish what sort of things he can destroy and he can see how high he can go and how low he can one of the things that when I taught at the University the Holocaust course it was very interesting to teach to mostly student body that was not Jewish and trying to get them to understand that not everybody but most people can become the perpetrators it's not that is to get them to realize that the potentials that human beings have to do this to other human beings is there it's not only Germans it's not only Turks is not only you know in Rwanda or in Darfur we have the potential to do this what we realized is that we are a creature that whose ultimate definition is that we can know the truth and when we know it we need to keep in mind how volatile we are of the potential to do good that we have the potential to do evil we have to recognize that that essentially is what we're talking about what you didn't know about yourself did you this very very powerful beam with tremendous tremendous abilities to build the world's to destroy a world and we sometimes think we're so weak but no we're very very powerful cut us bar hole God made us very very powerful beings the question is what do we do with this when you are living with an assumption that you know what reality is and you thinking you're building you're actually destroyed because your world is crooked because you think the reality is X but it's not try to build with Legos something in the dark and then somebody switches the lights like oh no wonder it didn't fit all right because you didn't see it this is how a lot of people live their life they're trying to build something a life in the dark but they think they could see but once you they'll use you realize that you're wrong and no it's like this how come I didn't see this well because your mind to play tricks on you you weren't an atom at the time you just hope that you find out that somebody switches the lights before it's too late sometimes people when the lights are turned on it's already too late and they're too deep into whatever they're doing this is their life this is their family this is this I can't and they don't have enough internal power and strength to change you all made a decision to come to you uprooted yourself from wherever you came from and you came here you made the change so there's other you should have the car the strength to continue okay now here's the bad news boys the Gemara says in your mama's Misha and Letitia and autumn you hear that orange whoever doesn't have a wife is not in a dam so the Adam means that when there's a man and a woman together they are in a dam they are in a Dom so the Gemara says and we say the blessings in in wedding Shelly at Sarat a damn bit Salma but tell him in the mood daphne talk Vicki no me Meno banana they odd that is he created man in His image in his likeness and gave him the ability to build a structure that it will exist forever so me Meno from himself he can build this structure right and that is your wife so Rashi says that that's the idea that a man and a woman are called to build together a structure that shall exist forever and if you live by yourself just learning Torah doing mitzvahs right even if you learn Torah and mitzvot sand everything you are living for yourself and you are not in Adam which means that Adam is also a being that doesn't therefore himself we are not supposed to live for ourselves we're supposed to live for others and the only way you can do that consistently because we all do it part part part of the time David that we do something nice for this person we do something that okay so but that's not really consistent but when you're married it's always when you have children it's always this is what you're doing you don't have a choice because well I guess you do average you can walk away across Michelle god forbid but the idea is that a human being complete human being and a damn he's a being that has what he's not living for himself you're living for the structure that you are creating this structure the show there's a vision God willing each human being was not created for his own sake and this idea is a bit what I'm gonna say next is a bit complicated so before you just jump out of your seats just think about it and then jump out cuz if you don't jump out you see you missed what I'm saying what the other shirt says is that every human being is a bead a bead and a long chain of beads that goes from Adam Irish on all the way to the Messiah we're series of beads on a necklace from Adam Murray shown which is the first bead till a messiah but those beads are coming for the last five thousand seven hundred and seventy eight years leatherby that another beads and beads and beads and meetha meetha meetha long long chain so that when the colors bar who called Adam that's what he's talking about all the beads that's Adam and you are on this chain you're part of the Divine Plan for Adam now God established that Adam is both a recipient of blessings from God but he also gives so not only do we receive but we also give we receive from others from God from our environment from our friends from our rabbis but we were supposed to also give so we are being that both receives but it's not to receive in order to keep it we have to pass it on we have to keep giving it's not you know whatever blessings God gives us you have to share it you have to give it to others right and that happens when you get married you give and you receive and you receive and you give okay there's a rough Destler in mr. melio describing this process in in detail it's worth studying before you get married to really understand is that we are supposed to the best the worst-case scenario that we should reach is equal in the amount of that we're giving that we're getting that's the worst case well we should shoot for is to give more than we're getting but we have to understand that sometimes by taking we are giving sometimes by taking you're giving for example let's say you get married yourself not today okay don't get nervous fight tomorrow you get married and your wife calls you she says I made a wonderful lunch for you okay and you leave work to go home to eat lunch but before you get that your mother colleges could you please come by I need you to help and you stop buying your mother puts a goulash Hungarian Goulash in front of you and says you know I made this just for you eat so you sit down and you eat the soup right it was very with bread and with me - yeah you know and then you come home and your wife made you goulash soup with bread and everything and you already ate you don't want to eat anymore well what are you gonna do you're gonna take the soup because by taking you're giving you're making your wife happy sometimes by taking you're giving sometimes by giving you're taking okay so the whole point is just to understand that we are alive against our will Curtis Barca wants us to be alive we're here so you're not in control no matter what I heard an interview of a person who tried to commit suicide three times it's not funny serious correct you can't get out of here unless God wants you to get out you're in the air for as long as you want and you have to know that the neshamah wants this is the real crime of illusion right sin and the Mishnah of others it says Kennish a mind I would salivate lagoon and the shaman doesn't want to come into your body into this world of shaken from the world this world is shaking lies it's false nothing here is real and it doesn't want to come from the holy world to down here but we say we understand that God did according to his will correct but a woman makes that brother shanlee killed so no we don't say that but a woman recognizes she's high she says I understand that the only reason I'm down here is because of his will we said she lost sunnysean yeah but really sure Sonny kids are no but God that he did with me whatever he wanted that he wanted to send me down here and he sent me down here so that is a recognition that this structure that we need to build with a woman is what God really wants okay amory bilasa call adoption la carga in Adam it's your vamos submit Camila mood Olive it says in the Gemara that a person without land is not called in Adam kharka land we are trying to understand what is we're bringing the different statement in huzzah right the the rabbi's comments with regard to Adam so that we have clarity and better understanding of what is this being that we are I mean they don't have this in doggie camp they don't bring the dogs together and they say what does it mean to be a dog no you know bunch of hamsters don't get together and say no you're out get out but we have the capability and maybe the responsibility to understand who are what are we so we sit around and try to figure out cutters bar who says the man is at the center of the universe okay fine what is an atom what is it the center I'm it okay but what in what sense and we're looking at six different ideas that cuz I'll talk about we're gonna integrate all of them this is what this class is gonna be about but it's gonna take us a few weeks to unpack everything and to fully understand okay the first idea that we are we are being appraised the second idea that we are causing damages the third idea that we are made up of ashes blood and Maura right the bio the fourth idea is that we have we are an atom is being that sees the truth of reality okay and number five is that atom is something that it cannot it has to be married and now we see another one that says you have to have land they have be building but we're all looking at remember that there's a parable of the elephant and the blind people that are all touching the elephant and this one says I think it's like this and this one I think it's like this but they're all looking at the from one small portion so we are taking all these bits because each of this Hazael is teaching us an idea right and then we put them all together and then we're then we're gonna see okay practically what do we do with this now because the Torah is not only about theories not only about ideas it's about how do you implement these ideas in my daily routine of my daily life because if you truly understand who you are and the power that you have you have to use it if to use it to make this world a better place or at least don't cause any more damage some people can't improve the world okay I get it but at least don't make it worse just [Music] [Applause]