Bo- The Secret of the Jewish Soul

[Music] when I was young I would often play basketball on Sunday afternoons at the local Rochester JCC and for those of you who don't know what a JCC is it is a Jewish Community Center and one week I was shoting around and a group of around five or six non-jewish teenagers walked into the gym to play and I had no problem with it we were very welcoming at The JCC there was room for both of us so I played on my side of the Gordon they played on theirs and after about 5 minutes one of them yelled out yo Drew boy so I thought I must have Mish her so I just ignored him and then he said it again this time a little louder he said Yo Chew boy so I remember thinking to myself you're calling me a Jew boy this is the Jewish Community Center I am as welcome here as you are if not more so so again I just ignored it but a few minutes later he not only called out yo Jew boy but he ran right in front of my face and he said J boy you better get out of this gym or I'll make you get out of it so being that I was a 4 fo9 12year old and he was a 6'3 19yearold I made a quick calculation that according to the laws of physics I should probably leave so I did but I remember thinking to myself as I was walking out of that gym dejected and rejected what is wrong wrong with him why does he care what is the big deal cuz I'm wearing a yamaka I mean what what is wrong with the guy I knew I did nothing wrong to bother him so what did he see in me that bothered him what did he see in me that I didn't see in myself let's ask a fundamental question why in the world did parro not let the Jews go did he truly need them as slaves Egypt was arguably the largest and fiercest and strongest Empire in world history go raid some nearby country and get other slaves why was he so murderously obsessed with holding on to the Jewish people and the question becomes even stronger as the Macos began raining down on him what was wrong with parro just let them go I mean the plagues are destroying your country it almost seems like he would rather let his country fall apart than let the Jews go why is that what was it about the Jews that bothered him so much what did he see in us that drove him to the brink of insanity true Hashem hardened his heart but what about the 16 times that Hashem didn't Harden Pyro's heart what did pyro see in us that we may not even see in ourselves and then after we finally break free from mitzraim we were wandering in the desert completely minding our own business when out of nowhere amolik attacks us what is wrong with you for what purpose we didn't even have a land to steal we were a helpless Nation limping in the desert what did amalik see in us that drove them crazy what did netar see in us that drove him mad what did hmon see in us that filled him with rage what did antia see in us that made his blood boil what did toada and the inquisitions and hel maniki and the cacs and the Crusaders and the Zars and the bolik and Hitler see in us that drove them absolutely insane what that we eat filter fish and blow schaer is that what bothers them so much because we make good cardiologists we eat chellin I mean what is it that makes them want to kill every last Jewish man woman and child why do our enemies hate us with such vitrio how does one explain the Jewish people's unbel unbelievably unparalleled ability to invoke the passionate hatred of virtually every significant country in world history what is it about the Jew so I heard the following idea from a speech Rabbi Jonathan Sachs gave at a convention in London when the body arrives in this world it enters with a body and a soul and the body comes out of the mother's womb and it looks around and it sees a barbecue going outside and it sees a liquor store down the street and it sees the OBGYNs Alexus parked in the hospital parking lot and instantly it thinks to itself I can get used to this this looks pretty good and the Soul on the other hand it emerges into this new foreign world and it looks around and is instantly confused it's much like if you were to go to the 100th floor of the Empire State Building for a meeting with a bunch of Executives and CEOs and upon walking in you find them all sitting on the floor crisscross eat slurping applesauce and playing with toy trucks you would be utterly confused you would think to yourself um so don't you guys have something a little better to do with your time than sitting on the floor and playing with toy trucks the soul comes through the mother's stomach and it looks around and it thinks there has got to be something more this cannot be all there is there is no way I left that world to come to this there must be more to life there must be a way to live more meaningfully but but it doesn't know how and so it begins to get depressed and it begins to get sad and it begins to ache and this ache is what leads people to do all sorts of interesting things this ache is what leads people to travel to far-flung countries searching for meaning it's what leads people to read books about Plato and Greek mythology it's what leads people to take upon themselves meditation or join Cults like Scientology man becomes possessed with a search for a way to stop the ache in the soul it's much like the internet before Google came along the internet was a mess searching for something online was a painful laborious chore Along Came Google and it created an algorithm enabling people to search for something online in a simple fashion or before Amazon came along buying something online was a disaster you ordered a pair of boots you got a blowtorch it was a desert it was a Jurassic Park and Along Came Amazon and created in algorithm enabling people to buy something online in a simplistic way so was the world before the Tyra before the Torah came along the world was a mess it was a complete and utter moral jungle Nations battled to the death Justice was a foreign concept honesty peace Integrity were shunned immorality brutality physicality were idolized some Nations felt that serving cows was how they were going to feel fulfilled other Nations felt that thievery was a moral good the better the thief the better the man other nations felt that child sacrifice would be their method of choice in attaining spiritual enlightenment in short the world was a mess came along the Tyra and created an algorithm it created the algorithm the method and the system to live a meaningful spiritual purposeful holy life a life with Harmony and peace a life with integrity and Justice a life with morality and and ethics the Tyra introduced to the world the ultimate treasure map guaranteeing all its followers with the most filled life possible on the planet the Toyah gives the soul its nourishment Toyah is what gives the soul something real T is what can finally remove that ache so in parro and amik andar and hmon and antias and tkam and the inquisitions and koniki and the kasaks and Crusaders and the zar and the bullshits and Hitler see a Jew they don't just see yet another citizen of the world searching desperately like everyone else for a way to satisfy the soul they see someone who has figured out a way to satisfy it they see someone who lives for something meaningful they see someone who radiates Purity and Holiness who has beautiful sweet children and a beautiful marriage they see someone who is living life the way life is meant to be lived with a soul that is well-nourished and happy they see this and receive the ultimate dagger blow to their souls nothing aches the soul more than seeing a healthy Jew nothing bothers a starving Soul more than seeing a happy Jew nothing reminds the soul of its emptiness more than the sight of the soul of a Jew par was well aware that there was something different about these Jews something in them made his soul ache something about them made him feel empty never would he allow them to go out and develop their souls more never would he allow this dagger in his soul grow to rip it out entirely no they must stay they must be worked into Oblivion they must be worked whipped and terrorized until their souls crumbled amalik was well aware that the Jews were days away from receiving the Torah amalik knew that the Jews with their Torah would be reminders for eternity that their souls are unfulfilled and starving they knew this and tried to stop it before it was too late every great villain in history stared at the Jews and saw what a soul should look like and was filled with rage that is why they schemed to kill expel annihilate and terrorize the Jews into submission listen to this quote from Adolf Hitler in the book Hitler's apocalypse quote if one little Jewish boy survives even without any Jewish Education even without any synagogue and no Hebrew school Judaism will still be there for it is in his soul the Jewish Spirit has been around from the moment these people were formed and there is no Jew not a single one who does not personify it the Jewish soul is a blemish like circumcision and I will eradicate it from the conscience of humanity every villain took one look at the Jews and saw what their souls were lacking they saw what their souls were missing they looked at the Jews and were reminded what their souls were desperate for and so they set out to eradicate the Jews from the face of the Earth yet the Jews stood strong the Jews stood their ground year in year out decade in decade out Century in Century out for the Jew knows that his soul is his life the Jew will never give it up I walked down to that JCC gym dejected and rejected for I thought I was inferior little did I know that we represent a soul that is alive we represent a soul that is well nurtured and nourished we exude Holiness and Harmony we emit Sparks of the Divine we must walk with our heads held high with our souls shining bright for the Jewish soul is the crown jewel of humanity and no nobody will ever convince us otherwise [Music]