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Eretz Chefetz: The Path of the Chofetz Chaim, Chabad, & Rebbe Nachman by Rabbi Aaron Goldscheider
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Eretz Chefetz 10:1-2 - Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook on the Land of Israel Delivered April 1, 2024 / 22 Adar II 5784 www.ouisrael.org facebook.com/ouisrael #OUisrael #torah #judaism #torahlectures #kook #israel #zionism
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Transcript
Auto-generated transcript. Not time-synced to the video.
all right wonderful I think we're going
to uh we are going to
begin uh I welcome uh welcome everyone
great to see everyone this morning
wonderful to uh to be together to learn
together and uh let me just begin with
our sponsor we have a sponsor for the
Academic
Year okay we have Theus to uh to study
the words and the teachings of
ruk and uh what we're going to see today
the teaching that ruk is going to share
with
us is uh is a teaching that is
um significant today as significant
today as it was when he wrote it a 100
years ago in terms of uh in terms of
what we're facing here in Israel and
just catching the last few minutes of
rebbi Manning Shear as I was walking in
in terms of the whole issue and the
debate and some of the tension around um
the religious community the k Community
and the uh the secular community on
issue of Army and other issues so this
is something that Ru cook even though we
do not have the state of Israel yet in
the day of rook in the time of Rook but
this is something that he is already
sensitive to and something that he
speaks a lot about in terms of how to
create a uh a sense of unity and uh love
and um and friendship and covod for one
another so this is going to be our topic
today and um and we're going to see
actual actually something very
interesting in terms of the influences
of Ru cook and where where his ideas
stem from where he is inspired to bring
his uh his unique teaching to
Amell so we are on page one and um I I
put on the left side of the page at the
very top the title page of actually the
safer that we've been studying this book
that we've been studying which is a
collection of teachings of ruk it's
called eret which means a land of uh of
Yearning of love it's compiled by rabish
Shaya Shapiro you see that towards the
bottom of uh that section the the left
hand side and he is the brother of the a
kodes of the PBI he comes toell in 1920
he meets R cook and he begins to um to
compile teachings of of cook in the
safer called so that's the title page
and now on the right side of the page is
and you if you look at the very top it
says peric yud it's the 10th chapter of
the safer that we're studying those that
have been with us for the last uh year
and a half we've been studying the safer
from the very beginning and uh proud to
say that we're already we've made it to
the uh the 10th chapter of the safer
it's 12 chapters so I'm hoping that by
the end of the year by the end of the
summer that we'll complete complete this
safer so here we are in chapter 10 perig
the name of the chapter is aim that's
the name that rabai Shapiro gives to
this chapter which means fathers and
children or I think what he's referring
to is the older generation and the new
generation right those that were the
traditionalists that were living in the
land of Israel and those that were those
that were coming to the land of Israel
that were not necessarily part of the
religious community many of them that
we're not on board in terms of uh in
terms of religious practice and and
Jewish life in a traditional sense so
let's now see the words of R cook two
short pieces and they're essentially
just a uh just a sentence or two
sentence number one piece number
one so means the
revitalization coming back to life of
hasat leot
that the father's Hearts will return to
the children the children to the fathers
that's a PK that's found in Mali we're
actually going to be reading that PK
very shortly as part of
shabas and uh the vision the prophecy of
Mali is that a time is going to come
that the parents and children even
though they're on different pages that
there's the generation gap between them
that there's going to be a a love again
there's going to be a
reunification of uh of fathers and
children children's and children
children and
fathers so he says this revitalization
that this is coming to
life it's not
possible that this is going to come come
about it's going to come to fruition
only in the land of Israel and in
particular it's going to happen with a
to ER
Israel as I was walking here today
walking to the to the OU the the
beautiful Aira the a of Isel but here
he's not just talking about the
beautiful temperature and the outdoors
but he's talking about a spiritual AA
that there's something about the the
spiritual nature of just the heir of
Israel of living in the land of Israel
and we know that he's referring to the
uh
aim but here he talks about that somehow
the land of Israel has within its
spiritual content in the the makeup of
the spiritual air that it brings about a
Unity it brings about a Oneness in amra
okay we can all ask the question well
where where is that exactly is that
happening but that's the uh that's the
argument that riff cook is making that
only in the land of Israel that this is
going to happen it's going to come to
fruition that is statement number one
and we'll analyze that statement what is
it about Israel that uh that brings
about that Unity that Brotherhood that
Oneness and now the second piece from R
cook the second piece from rook in per
bet
Kess
Isel the Jewish people as a
whole has been awakened to a to a
revitalization to a to a renewal
like and here he says something which is
really fascinating and he puts it out
there he makes the statement how did it
happen how did we how did it come to
life again this this love for the land
of Israel and the return to the land of
Israel
it came through the will of
the it's come through the Young
Generation it's not the older generation
and not the and again really referring
to his day the religious community those
Elders it's not through them they have
not inspired the return to the land of
Israel how has it happened through young
people a Young Generation those are the
facts right the facts is that they are
the ones that have that that that have
come back to the land of Israel This
research this
revitalization this renewal of the love
for the land of Israel it's happened
through the
dur next
line and it has happened in a this
Awakening has happened in a in an
awesome
way means it's a wonder almost
miraculously how this has happened how
the young people the younger generation
have brought about this
renewal we are not to try to uh to
overcome or to kind of suppress those
feelings right and that that yearning
for the land of Israel that they have
awakened the entire nation to and there
are those in the Jewish community at
that time that were saying let's
distance ourselves from them and and and
that we're not to be inspired by them RI
cook says no we are to be inspired by an
Awakening that's coming from that
generation this younger generation but
what what are we to
do but we are to lift them
up we are to take that generation and
those individuals in that community and
to uplift them to show them and to share
with them to say to them how beautiful
it is what you're doing and also to
share with them and to show them that
what you're doing is is our Dream right
we're sharing that dream together
returning to the land of Israel that's a
dream of of ab Y and yob that's the
promise of of God to the Jewish people
it's the story of Moshe taking the
Jewish people out of Egypt and and with
the dream of coming to the land of
Israel so it's a movement it's a
movement of secular Jews but it's a
movement in which we are to have the
greatest respect for and again our part
they're the ones that are leading the
way but our part is now to share with
them how great it is what they are
accomplishing and the to show them also
the spiritual the religious aspect of
that the last line
of and we are to show them the light in
what they are doing
har this awesome the awesome light and
the elevated light that is that that's
contained in their actions in what
they're doing in terms of of bringing
the Jewish people back to the land of
Israel so this is really classic you
know this is classic Rook classic I
would say rev cook 101 in terms of the
great respect that he has the awesome
respect that he has for the Young
Generation even though they're not a
generation that are religious people
necessarily but he sees in them he sees
in them the goodness and it's our role
it's our role to show them and to share
with them the greatness of their actions
and and in that way to bring them to
bring them closer to a a religious life
to a traditional
life and one of the things that Rook is
trying to do throughout his lifetime is
to is to bridge that Gap is to take the
community that is the quote unquote the
the community the
yesu right those that have settled here
those that are living here inim and
throughout the country the religious
Jews that have been here and keeping a
religious way of life for for for such a
long time and to to to kind of create a
a a bond and and a Brotherhood and and a
respect for one another and again that's
what I preface the uh the she earlier
this is something that we're that we're
struggling with today as well where we
may have differences but how do we bring
about that that respect for one another
and to see the goodness in one another
so this idea of Riv cook the importance
of of kind of creating this harmony and
this Oneness I would ask the question
where does Riv cook and where does Riv
cook get this from where does he learn
where does he learn this idea and it's
interesting you would we would think
that this is just it's sort of obvious
is is this not the the way of the Torah
doesn't doesn't everyone believe in this
like this isn't this every
Rabbi but as we all know it's it's not
every Rabbi and it's not every Community
that's that's emphasizing this point
emphasizing this idea so what I want to
look at for a few minutes is is to think
about where does Riv cook see this idea
where is he inspired by this idea and uh
there are two rabbis that I um that I
want to highlight in terms of the the
life of ruk where I believe that ruk is
inspired by their teachings in in
particular one is theim
the and not everyone is aware of this
but Rook studies with the with theim
that he's ausa with the again we think
about the in like one world and ruk is
in another world they're close friends
with one another not only are they close
friends they're both kohanim and they
share they share that common ity and
they're very proud that they're both
kohanim and they begin to study together
the laws of of being a cooh not only you
know technically what the laws are but
but practically that they're both
anticipating the possibility of the
betam mikdash and they believe that
we're getting closer and closer the
writes about it as well that we're
moving into not only R the writes that
as well that he believes that we're
moving into a period that we're getting
closer to the time of mashiah and begin
to study together the laws of what it
means to be a Cohen we're reading those
parod right now and not just theoretical
but you know but how to do it that there
that tomorrow morning if there's a basa
mdash we're going to you know we're
going to have to function as the coim
there's actually a beautiful saer
[Music]
called the two and it's about the and R
and about their relationship with one
another the learning that they do with
one another it's interesting that the
told rev cook that I do not want you to
continue learning they're learning
together meaning learning in a coal and
he says I see that you have the you have
the uh the cohos that you have the
ability to be a great leader in Amel and
ruk doesn't want to stop learning he
wants to like many you know people want
to just sit and continue his his
mystical learning his writings and says
you have to stop you have to become a
Pulpit Rabbi and that's what he does he
becomes a Pulpit Rabbi and eventually
becomes a Pulpit Rabbi he comes to
Israel and in Kaa I'm sorry in yafo he
becomes the rabbi until he eventually
makes it to to
Y so they study together and ruk is very
much influenced by by the I want to
share with you the following from the K
by the way one of the things that's
probably most welln about the K is the
idea of lush andar right that's his he
becomes known by that name the based on
the safer that he writes and that
sensitivity that he has in terms of in
terms of not speaking negative about one
another and here the with all the
knowledge that he has and he's the great
one of the greatest you know gdm of stly
of the last hundreds of years that he
devotes a lot of his writing to that
topic and think about that for a moment
that he's devoting writing and his
teaching to the idea
of in terms of how we are to respect one
another the sensitivity that we are to
have for one another and he senses that
there isn't that kind of sensitivity
that's needed and he writes just about
that topic about and about lashar one of
those books is called so he is the he
has another saer called which is
guarding guarding one's
tongue and he writes the following and
this is the bottom of page
one
Shalom so he writes the following and
again this I believe is you could kind
of you know capture the the life of ruk
to some degree in this one line of the
and I'm sure they they shared this idea
together and they studied this idea and
they not only were they coing but they
also were they also believed in in this
idea of what it means to be a Coen to be
a person who loves peace
soes they to put in all of your
effort with all of your strength Shalom
you have to be a peacemaker a person is
to be a peacemaker how to bring peace
between
individuals you shouldn't be lazy about
this even if you're an important figure
this is something that you need to be
involved with as well right somebody in
the community that's not getting along
family members not getting along right
you're not supposed to uh ignore that
that you're supposed to do everything
that you can to be a part of that to
make peace k
interesting if I were to ask you who is
The Peacemaker of the Torah who is the
model of being a peacemaker so everyone
says Aon and you're probably right it is
Aon but the gamarra doesn't bring Aon as
the example the example that the gamar
brings we'll see it inside in a moment
is that Moshe is The Peacemaker he
represents a person of peace and who and
how do we see that the story of Paras
korak and he goes to
even though they're making trouble he
goes to their door he knocks on their
door and says let's try to let's try to
work things out I know we're you know I
know we're having a hard time and you're
having a hard time with me but let's see
if there's a way we can work things
out and our rabbis teach us this
theas that you should not hold on to
mlas and that's always a problem with
right holding on to M right all the
stories in shs where people aren't
talking and they ask why and they they
no longer remember right Rabbi it's like
years later I don't remember why I don't
talk to this guy any longer but I but I
know that I don't talk to him that's
what's that and generations that's right
we some it passes down unfortunately so
that's what the gamar that's what the
gamar says
aik now by the way I'll just show you
the gamar that he's quoting this's the
gamar
it's Al above and right in the middle
right in the middle of that paragraph it
the right in the middle of the paragraph
the middle of the line it
says
says and remember that name for a moment
we'll come back to
that this is the source in the Torah
that you're not allowed to hold on
to over it's it's one of the lav it's
one of the
613 Commandments of the Torah not
everyone knows that it's one of the 613
is not to hold on not to be involved
in so that you are not to and that's a
that's understood in the gamar as a as a
Mitzvah or as a transgression one of the
613 when the LA and the Torah so that is
um so that is the the the
let's read a few more words in
the
writes and again this tradition where
does ruk where does where is he inspired
by this idea and this and this der I
would say certainly one of the
influences is is the on the life of
R we'll read a few more lines it says
the following in the
M says the matter because he went to the
door he knocked on the door
of he saved four people from the door of
gim now what does that
mean that there are four people says the
medish that were saved now how were how
were they saved from the PES of geham
because they saw mosu and they saw his
kindness they saw his sensitivity and
they backed out they backed out we know
that pel that he's involved right that's
the opening suim of korak and somehow he
disappears and we don't know what
happens to him there are different
different
interpretations that's right very good
so one interpretation is that his wife
convinces him to get out of that MZ
you're absolutely right but according to
this medish the medish says it was when
on pelas saw or heard about that mosenu
took the first step to try to make peace
and what do we know about Ben korak so
they were involved also B korak become
important individuals anybody know
anything about the Ben
korak what they become that's right they
become Bala that's what it says and we
have M that are
K beautiful the the the the theim that
we say right before teur that we say
seven times are the children of korak
that write that to hm so amazing so
according to the medish how were they
saved they were saved because they saw a
role model because they saw mosu they
saw a peacemaker and with that they were
inspired to do chuva that's what the uh
the Met what the
brings we'll read just a few more lines
just
beautiful say based on
this so the PK says actually I skipped
the see Shalom so the P says into that
one should B that one should always be
asking for or searching for
shalom ro and one should always be
pursuing very good pursuing running
after so that you have those two words
so the Met says
the so you should ask for the one who
you
love in other words it sounds like even
somebody that you love if you had a
falling out with that you should uh you
should try to make peace and even you're
so somebody that you hate that you have
to pursue
it you do it locally you do it even
people that are at a
distance you do it in terms of the
physical in terms of
M you do it for yourself you should do
it for others as
well this is really the last uh this
last part that I want to highlight so
what is this double of and so it says
you should try
today and you should search or pursue it
what does that mean says
the what does it mean you should pursue
it
tomorrow you shouldn't think that you
can't accomplish it that you're not
going to be able to attain achieve real
peacei so you keep doing it again and
again and again you never give up and um
and I think R cook R cook believed that
as well R cook believed that um even if
we don't see it right away even if it's
not immediate that doesn't mean that
it's not going to happen it doesn't mean
that it's not going to happen in the
next Generation if it doesn't happen now
it can happen it can happen in the Next
Generation as well okay so I said before
that I wanted you to remember the um the
name rakish so rakes is the one that
makes the statement in the gamar the and
he makes that statement that based on
the uh the episode of of
mos that we learn from here and moshu
becomes a model of not holding on to a m
arguments so go to page two and I'm not
going to read through the gamar this is
actually it's it's really worthwhile to
read through I would say that this
gamarra may be one of the most
um upsetting garas in the entire Shas I
would argue I I don't know if I've seen
a gamarra that's more upsetting than uh
than this
gamarra almost difficult to to share it
on some
level but it's a story of R Lish and
it's a story of R Lish with
rean they areas with one another for
those that remember the story this is in
B the gamarra begins to talk about the
uh the earlier part of the story where
rakish is not a religious man according
to toos he is religious and then he
leaves religion and the two of them are
are in the uh are in a river that
they're swimming
together and ranan sees
Rish and he and he says actually Rish
comes to the back of raban and he thinks
raban is a woman and he's uh about to
approach what he thinks is a woman and
and he turns around and it's it's reab
yanan it's a rabbi again rakish is not a
not a religious man at this point and he
says to him that uh I see that you're a
man of great strength and I think you
should put your strength you should put
your powers into the study of Torah and
he convinces him to return to a Jewish
life and he begins to study with him and
they become with one another he says at
that time you can marry my sister I have
a sister that's more beautiful than I am
and you can marry my sister and they
become lifelong kusas with one another
and all the arguments in the gamar the
beautiful arguments on so many pages of
the gamar of reab yanan and rakes so you
have their family with one another
brother-in-law and they become the
closest of
friends the gamar then tells the
following story there's one day that
they're in the Bas medish and they're
discussing
a uh an issue of again technicalities of
around Tuma and in terms of weapons and
at what point does a weapon does a knife
does a sword become tummy when does it
become a a a utensil so to
speak and at that point raban says Rish
this is something that you probably know
a lot about because you were a thief you
were a bandit and you probably know more
about this than I do and rakish is a
offended by that by that line which by
the way is very problematic because we
actually have Al that you're not
supposed to remind about chuva of
something that they were involved in in
the past but he says that for for
whatever reason ranan says that and at
that point RL says toan he says I'm not
sure why you brought me back to the Bas
Mish he says I was a RAV he says I was a
leader amongst the bandits in my in Myra
and here I'm a leader also but but I see
that there's really no difference
between between the
two and it seems that both offend one
another what they say to one another is
offensive and at that point they they no
longer speak to one another they no
longer are kusas not only are they not
kusas says the gamar but they no longer
are talking to one another and the gamar
then says again you can you can look at
it you can read it
inside um later but rakes at that point
the gamar says he passes away that he
dies and he dies knowing or maybe Out Of
Heartache that he that he lost this
relationship with RAB yanan and then the
gamar says RAB yanan also that he passes
away and without ever making up and also
with a great pain that they that there
was a a fracture in that relationship
this is the gamara and that's how the
gamarra ends I was actually looking over
the last couple of weeks for for some
MAF farim and ways to kind of you know
to kind of look at a more positive side
like to see like a little bit more I
haven't found anything I haven't you can
you can do research yourself if anybody
finds anything but they kind of see more
of a positive light I didn't find
anywhere that kind of interpret this in
a more in a positive light it seems that
there is this this happened and uh in a
very very unfortunate story in the
gamarra and when I read that line of
Rish in saned and I thought I thought
about this gamar Rish is the one who
says how careful we have to be not to
be how dangerous that is how terrible
that is to hold on to M and that's raes
I don't know when he made that statement
you never know in the gamar when that
statement was made was it made possibly
after this incident where he himself
that he experienced M and what what it
did to him what it did in terms of
family and his relationship so this uh
again this is an influence an important
influence in terms of where R cook
and ideas from the gar itself and from
the what it means for the Jewish people
not to hold on to so we have to find a
way and this R cook comes along and says
I see this generation the Young
Generation and they're coming back let's
see the good in them let's build them up
let's have a relationship of love and
that's what we need for Amy do you want
to make a comment please as tragic as
that is
yes
Som it's a good qu yeah I don't know
it's a good point it's a good point even
though if you look at the gamar they try
to convince ran to forgive him and he's
and he's unwilling to do so so I don't I
so there's it's it's it's very very very
difficult um it's difficult it's
difficult difficult story it's not a
story that has anybody heard that story
before it's not like the usual like d
Torah that we give a chalasis you know
with the the rlu is of yanan falling out
I it's not uh it's not pleasant of the
the two GD Ador imagine art scroll you
know reading about GD Ador that you know
they ended their life not speaking to
one another we you know we don't know of
it amazing that yeah will the bar comes
yes okay um what's amazing by the way
I'll take one positive and that is the
gamarra is sharing it the gamar is
honest about sharing does the gamar have
to include the story does Rashi and Rina
who are editing the gamar need to
include
this definitely not definitely not what
a lesson exactly they want it's a lesson
it's a lesson as hard as it is to hear
it and how unfor as unfortunate as it is
and to talk about gulum that have this
kind of falling out we're going to it's
going to be on the page of the gamar
it's going to be open to everyone to
read
yes they were both grieved that's
yes exactly right exactly right okay
so we have the uh so this is I RI cook
is coming from from this world he's
coming from this this sensitivity in
terms of how dangerous that it's a love
that's an is in the Torah that the
speaks about how terrible it is for
there to be yes we are disagreeing with
one another there's a religious
community there's a secular Community
but but how do we do it how do we do it
appropriately another influence yes
please yeah there is yeah I don't know
if they did it publicly but there is yes
you're right you're right yes
yes
yeah you're absolutely right I as I said
I I was like searching for some
commentary that kind of like you know
sheds some positivity on it I I haven't
come across anything it's a very very
difficult it's an extreme as I as I said
it's almost like to share it I I it's
like it's hard to even share this Gara
it's hard to share it but it's uh it's
here and um you can read it but this is
R Lish and this is R Lish who teaches
he's the one that then teaches that that
lesson so let's come back now to R cook
in terms of his his influences so he's
impacted by the again beautiful to think
about the rook and the just think about
them sitting in a in Aus together their
friendship there's another personality
very important in the life of R cook he
doesn't ever meet rman ABV but
is also a very very important person in
the life of ruk we know that he um that
he studied the works of L we know that
he had what's called Theos which are the
prayers of Ros it was on Hiser that he
would use those on a regular basis on a
weekly basis and he once said he once
said that I feel that I am a Nish that I
have the Nish of of nak that's what Rook
Rook said so one of the very beautiful
parts of the teachings of rman of breev
is um the love that we are to have for
one another and to see the best in one
another this is like classicus but RV is
one one of the great personalities who's
teaching this idea I wanted to share
with you one one source and it's
actually a I would say it's one of the
most famous teachings of Rin AB of it's
known as a zamra it's from his
lean and you see it on the bottom of
page re I'm sorry the bottom of page two
it's r b and these are the words of
rabv so let's just we'll read a few uh
yeah let's read a few lines together so
it begins with the word da
da so he says you have to know and when
he says D doesn't just mean what does D
mean no
no what does it mean it means really no
it this is something you got to this is
something you got to really know right
we talk about Das by the way and Das
where's the first time that we have Das
in the Torah what what's the first time
of D in the
Torah
what and they knew one another intimacy
you got to know this intimately you have
to know this has to be has to be at your
core has to be at your heart and
soul you have to judge everybody
favorably
even somebody who's an
absolute find that little bit of good in
every
person because that little good of that
person so he's no longer a
rash finding that little good in every
person and if you're then judge that
person
favorably then you actually do lift him
up up to be that to be to be a sadic to
be a good person the way that you view
that person once you view him that way
once you treat him that way so that
person's going to be inspired by that
that person may even change if you if
you show a love to that person if that's
how you relate to that person you see
him as a tadic right you see him as a
holy brother as schlomo carach would say
to everyone that he would meet holy
brother how you doing all of a sudden
he's saying holy brother to me so I
already I feel like a little bit holy he
believes that I'm holy okay maybe I am
Holy so this is what R breev teaches he
teaches to see that Ma and once you do
and once you begin to internalize that
and you treat the person that way so
then you're going to make uh it's going
to make an impact and this is where RI
cook is also he's taking this very
beautiful kic idea the emphasis on on
seeing the best in others even the
Russia to find to find within the Russia
by the way that's not so simple to say
because many sources say once it's a
Russia it's a Russia right we're going
to read the Seder in a few weeks Russia
how do we respond to the Russia doesn't
sound like we're looking for his his pin
PID where where so the the AG actually
doesn't take that approach to Russia the
Russia said the AG says you gotta gota
you know got to respond in appropriately
to the Russia but that's not what rman
says not what R cook says if Cook says
find the love right find the goodness in
the other right create that find a way
to create Harmony and uh bring out the
best in one another and uh here we have
one other very important influence in
life of uh of rook and we turn to page
three now and so we have the we
have and we also have kabad we have the
teachings of
kabad ruk comes from a family of uh of
kabad actually his father is not a kabik
he studied in thean Yesa and they say
about the parents of uh Rook that they
it was a mixed marriage a mixed marriage
in the sense that his mother came from
kabad a very close student of uh of
theed the third rebi of kabad so he
comes from and it's interesting that
that's actually who he becomes in his
life that he becomes this synthesis of
great learning of Alin and the learning
of of kidus that's what he that's what
he synthesizes incorporates in his
personality and those were her his
parents so that's also not coincidental
in terms of the impact um his mother
when he was a little baby she knitted a
yamaka a
uh we all know what a yamaka is I think
kids today would know what a yamaka do I
have to translate what a yamaka is aipa
aipa and it was a kipa that was made
from the threads and a button of the
kapata of
theed of the third rebi of of kabad so
we see in terms of in terms of the
family and the closeness to kabad and
the kabad teachings come through in
terms of the life of ruk so here on the
top of Page Three I want to share with
you the following which is really
interesting this is what RAB Merson we
all know the laab rebi the very first
time that he becomes the as he speaks
the first message that he gives as the
rebi of kabad at 770 in Crown Heights
has anybody been there 770 Crown
Heights you you got a dollar beautiful
hold on to that or you can make a lot of
money you could put it on eBay if You'
like um so this is
1951 January 17th
1951 this is the first time that RAB
nakim menel schneerson speaks as the
rebi of kabad as the new rebi of kabad
and it says the following this is a I
guess a description and a little bit of
what he said second paragraph upon his
arrival in America the rebi quoted the
midrash when you come to a city do as
it's custom that's what the midrash says
you have to follow the custom of the
place that you're in here in America
people like to hear things expressed in
a form of a statement preferably a
provocative and shocking statement I
don't know he said that's the way of
America you got to put out maybe it's
true today also like a one line you know
a oneliner something that's going to be
going to be
memorable I don't know if this is how it
should be done but when you come to a
city do as it's custom that's what the
rebi said so I'm going to
just kind of kind to I'm going to give
one line a oneliner to kind of uh to
capture what it is what this is all
about a statement then the three loves
love of God love of Torah and love of
one's fellow are one one cannot
differentiate between them for they are
all one of a single Essence and then he
quoted the Balto the Balto quotes the
early sages when you grasp the part of
an essence you grasp it all since the
three loves are of a single Essence each
one embodies all three okay there's a
lot to say about this but what I want to
highlight from this statement is
something very simple and that is what
isus what isus according to the bmov
there are three principles
ofus loving God loving God a lot by the
way a lot the vacus that you feel the
presence of God you really love God
loving God loving Torah you got to love
the Torah and loving your fellow man
loving your fellow Jew so that that's
that's that's that's that's what the B
said is unique is unique to theic way of
life so um actually they talk about they
talk about the r cook that he believed
in those three those three loves and he
added one more love he said that a Jew
must have those three loves and one more
love a Jew must have according to R cook
what's
that love of erel Love of erel that was
missing he said up to this point that
it's time for me to bring that love back
to the Jewish people we've lost that in
the galut we're talking about love of
Torah but how about the love of er Isel
but what I want to highlight is the
third aspect that the BTO speaks about
of what it means to define a a Jew or
Aid it means to love your fellow person
and this is what Ru cook again R cook is
devoted to this idea he's dedicated to
this idea of how do we love each other
more and he said the following this is I
have a translation here from this is
from igos R I just thought it was a
beautiful line my beloved isra cook
writing in one of his letters my beloved
Brothers if only I had arms the size of
the world so I could hug all of you with
love yeah it's a beautiful like to put
that on a t-shirt like it's a beautiful
line you know if only my arms I I never
heard another Rabbi say it like this
only my arms were large enough I could
hug everyone I just want to hug I I walk
the streets and I want to hug everyone
that's Riv cook Riv cook he learned it
but it was it was who he it was who he
was it was it was his heart and
soul uh Ru cook has notebooks that were
that were discovered actually I just I
just saw that they're translating them
for the first time it's coming out in
the next few weeks um called Aon vatsin
which are notebooks where he just wrote
he wasn't really writing for publication
he was just writing writing ideas he did
a lot of writing he would just he would
just write write for hours whatever kind
of was coming to mind his heart and he
would write um this is from the Shon
vsim and I have it in Hebrew but for the
sake of time I just want to let's just
read it read it in uh in
English and I think we can again I think
we can think about this today in terms
of our in terms of how things have not
changed dramatically from a 100 years
ago when he wrote this three forces
struggle today in the Jewish people
three forces struggle this is a
translation of the Hebrew above from
schim the holy National and humanistic
interesting let's talk about that for a
moment we have a group that's the holy
right those that are you can call them
the religious community you have the
national right those that are
nationalistic those like for the country
patriotic and then we have the
humanistic what do we have today I think
we have those three groups today you
have the what we call the k Community
you have the daui the nationalists and
then you have the humanists right then
you have the whatever you're right we
don't want to use these word right but
that group as well so though he I
identifies these three groups which
essentially we could talk about those
three groups in Israel today it would be
tragic if these three camps that need to
help each other and unite would entrench
themselves in
extremism they must ultimately work
together for there to be hope for the
future the separating of these drives
results from their focusing on the
shortcomings of the other two forces
right everybody likes to point fingers
with all the problems that the other
group has the other faults and not
seeing the flaws in their own group the
three camps are known as the Orthodox
who zealously and bitterly defend the
Torah mitzvot and all that is Holy in
Israel the new nationalists who fight
for Statehood the liberals who speak for
Universal issues it is obvious that in a
healthy situation there is a need for
all three of these forces we must
continually Aspire for this state that
the three forces harmoniously and
beneficially function together none of
them taking up too much or too little
space clinging to each other which
Sublime love that's again that's the
that's the bov that's that's the right
that's love loving each other a deep
love for one another even where we
disagree the holy the national the
universal each recognizing the important
role of the other beautiful
okay coming to a close we turn to page
four now there was a line that we open
with there was a line that we open with
yes please
said this this is Rev cook this
isim yes the writing of rev
cook okay
great two more
sources so the opening line for those
that remember going all the way back to
the beginning of our uh of our Shear the
opening line ruk made a statement which
actually was is a radical a radical
statement I'm not even sure exactly how
to interpret it but R cook said this
harmony and this unity and this
Brotherhood Ood can only happen says R
cook only in AA of erel only in the land
of Israel that that Unity is going to is
going to come about now why why is that
in other words Unity of am Israel
Brotherhood why why do you necessarily
need ER Israel for that that's something
that can we accomplish that achieve that
outside the land of Israel as well
shouldn't that be the goal outside of
Israel as well and yet that's the
statement that he made right that was
the opening that the the first piece
that we
saw he says it's
impossible and actually it sounds like
he doesn't just say it'll happen in the
land of Israel what does he say it's
going to happen with the a ver ER Israel
there's something about the spiritual
quality of the land of Israel that that
happens now what does that mean so I'll
share with you the following one
interpretation and this is one of going
back to the influences of those that
influence ruk is the writing of the
maral of Prague another influence on ruk
who is a Mystic and uh also in terms of
the way he speaks about the land of
Israel this is from a book calleda T
where he speaks about Tor study and
Torah study the land of
Israel and here this is a translation
word for word translation from the
Hebrew of uh of the marala prag who
speaks about learning of Torah in the
land of Israel and we're just going to
look at the that opening that opening
paragraph let's just let me read it to
you or let's read it together is
important to realize that these two
characteristics of difference and
sharpness now difference means that we
defer to one another that there's a
certain respect that we have for one
another that's something he's going to
claim is unique to Eric Israel and
sharpness that we're kind of sharp with
one another a little bit critical that's
the quality outside the land of Israel
are the indigenous characteristics
respectively of aric Israel and
Babylonia of Babel the Torah of the
Sacred aric Israel does not stray from
the proper equilibrium and symmetry as
is true of men themselves and AR Israel
as we explained earlier there's a
certain symmetry there's an equilibrium
there's a kind of a Oneness that happens
in the land of Israel says the marala
prag which one does not find Outside The
Land of Israel why is that since this
sacred land lies in the center of the
world and therefore tends to line
everything within it into the proper
equilibrium and
symmetry I wish right so the marela prag
makes the following claim being in the
center of the world physically now what
does that mean when we're on a globe
that we're the center of the world so
that's a little bit of a that's a
challenging idea but he says that this
is the place of creation that God began
Creation in in this place this is the
Cent we're right now sitting in the
center we're in the center of the world
of the Globe we the center point that
Center Point brings about again
spiritually it brings about a certain
balance that balance and again that he
says that's going to that affects
relationships as well that that's
something that there's a balance there's
a a respect what he calls a difference
for one another that exists here in
Israel that does not exist in the same
way outside the land of Israel and just
reading to the end Babylonia on the
other hand is named because there is
there because there sorry because there
did sorry is so named because there did
Hashem confuse language of all the Earth
Babel represents a kind
of
confusion bilbul which implies jumble
and a lack of unity dialectic is thus
more common there meaning like the the
way that one studies gamarra that
there's more more of uh more arguments
and complexities and difference of
opinions since dialect this consist of
one party attempting to refute the other
a relationship of
opposition so the morala prag says the
following and he adds to this and I'll
add one other one other piece the moral
says he says number one the placement of
the land of Israel actually has an
effect a spiritual effect on those that
live in the land of Israel and he also
says the fact
that that the eyes of Hashem are on the
land of Israel and that Oneness of God
affects the Oneness in the land of
Israel the Oneness in terms of creating
Harmony in the land of Israel I believe
that this is what R cook is referring to
that only with a Isel only once we're in
that atmosphere that place of Israel is
the true Unity going to be able to uh to
unfold in Israel again we can ask the
question we don't see it yet but we
believe that it's there RI cook believes
that it's there moral believes that it's
there that that potential is there maybe
we're seeing it maybe we're seeing it
we're seeing it right now okay I want to
end with a following and and again the
idea and this has really been the idea
of the entire sheer is the idea of R
Cook's the love that he has and the idea
of creating peace and creating Harmony
within am Isel and the importance of
that on the on the priorities of a Jew
and what and what we believe to be most
important as uh as a
people we have rashi rashi on the Torah
says the f
rashi rashi is our we we all is the
great the great commentary of the
Torah and I don't know if this is
something that you ever took note of I
actually just saw this for the very
first time recently that rashi's comment
the very first comment on every book of
the Torah the way that he opens every
book of the Torah that there's one theme
throughout now that's interesting
because you would think well it's a PK
in the Torah there's something you know
you have to address that
PK there are other commentaries that
have a introduction where they let's say
the ramban the ramban before he begins
say sa for braid so he has an
introduction before schot he has an
introduction Rashid doesn't have an
introduction he has just he begins his
as we all know he just begins his
commentary so Rashi on the Torah and
we'll see it right now Rashi on the
Torah every time he begins a new book of
the Torah there's one theme that he
shares as the as you're about to begin
the study of that book and that is the
love of Hashem for the people of Israel
so braid the very first Rashi and braid
says what does it begin with
because the love that God has for the
Jewish people he wants to give ER Israel
to the Jewish people and therefore he
makes he he begins with a statement that
the entire world belongs to God and I
choose says God I choose who I'm going
to give this land to so the very first
Rashi and bra talks about the love that
God has for the Jewish people then Schmo
the very first Rashi and schot speaks
about what the names and the question is
why does God repeat the names again and
Rashi answers because the because the
love that God has for the Jewish people
so he repeats the names of theim a
second time even though we just had the
names just uh the previous para VRA VRA
the very first Rashi in vayikra asked
the question what is the word VRA and it
says it's l it's a Lon of love the way
that God addresses mosu the god the way
that God addresses his Nim is with love
the love that he has for the Jewish
people in contrast to others we now go
to the book of bamidbar and and bar
midbar also asked the question in terms
of enumerating why do we make a count
again of the Jewish people where we
already have the count Rashi says the
first Rashi in B midbar because God
loves the Jewish people he wants to
count them again and again again the
word actually in in inra andbar the word
is used in all three of those rashis and
then inim the first Rashi asked the
question asked the question question in
terms of the um addresses the issue or
the question of the the way that the the
uh the way that MRA moshu gives rebuke
to the Jewish people and Rashi says he
gives rebuke in a way that he doesn't
say it outright that he doesn't say it
expressly because the love that he had
for the Jewish people interesting to
note that Rashi the way that he begins
every book of the Torah is all about
love for am Israel and Rashi didn't
necessarily have to do that I believe
that Rashi was was was presenting that
as his opening statement as we're
studying the Torah again Rashi has in
front of him you know the thousands of
kazal and that he chose to that that he
chose that idea to begin every book of
the Torah about theba the love that
Hashem has for the Jewish people there's
a statement there that Rashi is that
that that Rashi is teaching Us in terms
of the importance of love and this just
to end this this brings me me to a a a
final episode or or
story with um with lvin who was thead of
he was a uh a very very close a close uh
close friend and to ruk a talet of ruk
so one point in his life so Rari lvin
says to rev cuk how is it that you have
so much love for Amel I I I've never met
a person that has the kind of love that
you have for am isrel and Rook said the
following it says in the Torah it says
that Hashem has love the p
is God when he speaks about the Jewish
people he says that they are my children
and Hashem speaks about am Isel as if
they're you know they're they're the
most beloved of his children and ruk
says if that's true of Hashem that
Hashem treats every Jew as his child so
I also treat everyone as a as a child as
a love it as a relative as a family
member and that I walk in the way of hem
that just as Hashem expresses his love
the that Hashem has for for all of am
Israel that I have that as well so this
is the uh this is the lesson from ruk
today uh this morning as we're studying
together uh the importance of uh the
priority of of love and I I believe that
this is It's a world that Ru cook is is
inspired by of the
of of this world that puts a great
emphasis on that and this is a teaching
that that ruk wants us to be inspired
with today as
well I think we're seeing more and more
of this with uh as we all uh that we're
all aware of in terms of the the
difficulty and the challenges and the
tragedy around the war but but a unity
and a love and a respect that we're
seeing amongst our people today is
something that BM we should continue to
uh
um to grow with and continue to
strengthen Isel
with