Get Out of Your Brain - Maamer V'Al Hanisim 5729 #3

Mhm. Sorry for the delay here. I don't know there was something technical here. Give me a thumbs up you could see me and hear me. Clear? Gevaldic. Welcome everybody. Thank you for joining us. Going to continue the Mymer. Want to wish a big mazel tov to the Brazilian angle on the business of his grandson yesterday. Yosef Chaim. Shout out to all much luck us. Wishing him and his wife and the home and shpucha a lot of nachas. But they have a chava sadash manuchas hanefesh manuchas haguf. And simcha v'tov levav and hatzlacha to him and to his daughter, son-in-law, and the new baby, and the home and shpucha, and to all of us. The klal Yisrael. And welcome to everybody else who's here with us. Thank you for joining us. So, we began learning the Mimer for Al Hanisim V'al Hapurkan Tof Shin Kuf Tes. We're up to If Daled, the fourth paragraph, the fourth section. If you haven't downloaded the source sheets and you want to follow inside, please go to the yeshiva.net and you'll see today's Shiur Chassidus Thursday. And on top of it, I used to speak about the blue icon and the red icon, but those are gone. On top of it is a green icon. It says download and over there you can download the source sheets. Or, on the right side of the screen, I think it says source sheets and you can just open them up in lieu of the video. The summation of yesterday's Shiur in a few sentences, mamash a few sentences, was that the Medrash tells us that the Greeks commanded the Jewish people and they said, "Kiss my ass, you." We want you to write on the horn of an ox that you have no part in the God of Israel. Why the corn of an I'm say the corn, the horn of an ox. Why the horn of an ox? You could write it on other things. So, explained that generally every person's soul originates above. Everything Everything has a soul originates what's called from the Merkava, the chariot. But, the chariot is divine. The chariot is divine. So, how can it be that somebody is disconnected? So, he says that those who receive energy from the face of the ox, the Yevanim, they wanted the horn of the ox, the keren ha shor, because the horn represents that which is external to the ox itself. It's not part of the the meat, the substance, the essence as we see it reflected in the offices of to must I come of impurity of food as this discussed in yesterday's sheet. So, this is a metaphor that they wanted from the they wanted the Jewish people to kiss for the hammer current harsh Your relationship should be with the horn of the ox. In other words, you should receive your energy from the carne iron from the fire from the horns and the hooves from the external energy. Not from the not from the intimate. Not from the core of insight on a sham is by but up of Monday for me to take enough of on a sham is the essence of insight. Don't they did they they were perturbed by that relationship. It made them feel empty. The contrast made them feel empty. There's a sense of of jealousy and of a void that existed. We once spoke about Haman having the ditch the ditch in his home that made him crazy and he wanted to fill that ditch. It represents the void in his heart that came from the Jew. The Magilla about the ditch of of of Haman the ditch in the mound. The Yevanim don't want to see the Jew the Jew some reminds them of a deeper reality in life of a deeper relationship. It's like somebody who has a very difficult marriage and they see a beautiful marriage it drives them makes them jealous. Because it makes me jealous is so I could either elevate myself or I could put you down and make fun of you. A lot of times when people make fun of other people why they making fun of them? Why they dismissing them? Why they mocking them? Because the person triggers something something in me that's that that bothers me. I'm discontent. If I knock you down and okay, so it's nothing. So, I don't have anything to look up to. You understand what I'm saying? When there's something to look up to then there's aspirations then maybe I should I could become better. But if you're at this and you're at that, then you're a fake and you're a hypocrite. Okay, wonderful. There's people that they're they're they're they're obsessed in putting down other people cuz it makes them feel better. If everybody If everybody is uh is is you know is a fool, so I might as well I may even be a fool. But uh so the Yevonim are bothered that they feel the pnimius of the relationship. A Jew doesn't just doesn't uh What's the expression? Don't ask what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. The Jew doesn't only ask what God can do for me. He also asks what I can do for God. Doesn't only ask how Torah and mitzvahs supports my ego. He also has the courage to transcend his ego and touch infinity. So Why don't you have a relationship with the horn of the ox? Again, pnei shor me hasmal, the left side is the shor. That's the source of all the nefesh habahamis and all the animal souls comes from the pnei shor. But the pnei shor on the smol, which is gvurah, is divine. It's not It's divine. But what they're mekabel is from the keren hashor, from the horn of the ox, from the chitzonius, from the psolos, from the left over that which grows out of the ox, not even the ox itself, which is a metaphor of tuning in only to the externals of reality. I'm not in touch with my own core, I'm not in touch with the core of the universe, I'm not in touch with the core of existence, I'm not in touch with the core of the other person. And we said that's why they love to live in the world of logic, cuz over there you can control everything, everything is structured, everything has a place. But the core is not seichel, the core is ratzon. This was the main point. Therefore, the Yevonim said that even the chukim should be al pi seichel. Even hukim you have to obey only because of seichel. So, what did the Jews say? The Jews said even mishpatim should be like hukim. The Yevanim went to one extreme and said even hukim should be like mishpatim. So, the Jews said even mishpatim should be done with the kabbalas ol and the mesirus nefesh of huk. Siv dalet. V'yesh l'kashos im inyan ha keren. This whole concept we can also connect in a deeper way with the horn, with the concept of the horn. D'hinei noyi s'vol inyan ha keren k'mashel b'chinus chitzoniyus ha psoles sh'b'zeh nichlalim karnayim u't l'fayin b'yachad. Yesh nagam inyan ha keren k'mashel um chul umali We spoke before kishful ha chelem karnashur that the horn represents that which is external to the animal. It's the psoles. Psoles means you can cut off all you can cut it off and there's no blood. At least part of the horn like the the the the the chazal tell us in chulin and the meforshim. Daf kuf yud zayin. You can cut it off and there's no blood. Why? It's like when you cut off hair or you cut off a nail. Right? It's like the extras. There's no there's no nerves in it. It's not uh it it's not painful. And therefore there's no blood. So, it's considered more external, more of the psoles. And that includes horns and that includes hooves as well. At least a part of the hooves. And it's expressed in the halachas of tumah. So, that's one nekudah. So, they wanted on the keren nashur. Ein l'chem chelek b'lokei Yisrael. You don't have a chelek. You're not chelek Hashem amah. As discussed in the previous year. But there's something else about horns. There's the horn in the most positive sense. But I ain't no opinion is the cannon. And this is the internal aspect of the horn. Come a word by that title, it's explained in the of the in his mind my mind on Hanukkah. The fetus mind as I'll explain you what the Gamara says in Megillah. So fascinating Gamara. The Gamara says in Megillah we learned it I think in one of the year. That Hannah after she gives birth she mothers her son Shmuel who later becomes a prophet she says in her Shira, Shira's Hannah, the song of Hannah in the beginning of Shmuel Aleph she says Allah's libi basham. My heart rejoices and dances with God. And then she uses expression Rama Karni. My Karen, my horn is exalted, it's uplifted. And the Gamara uses this pasuk as a proof that Hannah was a prophet. A prophetess. One of the great female prophets of Jewish history which the Gamara lists in mesechta Megillah the end of close to the end of the first chapter closer to the end of the first chapter. You remember Hannah was one of those prophets. What's the connection to her words Rama Karni? He says this was a prophecy of Hannah. If you go through the Tanakh, you'll see that there were kings who were anointed with a Karen, with a horn. There were other kings who were anointed with a jug of oil. Generally you would anoint a king with shamen, with shamen a mishka. The anointing oil that was made by Moshe Rabbeinu back in the desert was used to place on the head the face, the forehead of the king and this represented that he was anointed. Mashiach. But, there were different ways in to do it. David and the Tanakh shows, the Tanakh says, they were anointed beqeren, with a horn. Shmuel Hanavi came to David, Hashem said, "Go take your horn." Take qeren, take a horn. I mentioned, I think yesterday, when horns were used, even not so long ago, as bottles. They were used as containers. They were actually hollow, or hollowed out, and they were used just to to to put things there. And one of the things they could put in the horn was an oi- oil. And they kept the oil in the horn, and they anointed the melachim, these kings, David and with a horn. Says the Gemara, David and were anointed with a qeren, and their royalty continued for generations. David remained a king till he died, and then he was succeeded by his son and it continues, and it continued in Malchus Beis David. Shaul Hamelech was also anointed by Shmuel Hanavi, Chana's son. But he was anointed with a pach. So Shmuel took a jug of oil, pach shel shemen, and he anointed him with a jug, an earthen ware pach, an earthen ware jug. He says, Shaul was anointed that way, Yehu was anointed that way, leinam shecha malchus. Their malchus did not continue. And that's what Chana meant when she said, when Shmuel was born, "Rama qarni." The qeren is exalted, the horn is exalted. This was an intimation, a prophecy, that those kings who will be anointed with a horn, their malchus would enjoy continuity and longevity. Indeed, Shaul Hamelech was dethroned, as was Yehu. David and their malchus continued, not only for their life, but also generational. What's the connection between a qeren and a pach? What's the connection? On the most basic level, the meforshim say, a jug is easily breakable. It's an earthenware vessel, which means it's made of earth mixed with water and straw, and then it's baked in an oven in a furnace or in the sun. Some cultures baked it in the sun. But if it falls, it disintegrates. It shatters. It breaks. It's an earthenware vessel. In fact, we know that in tuma, if an earthenware vessel becomes tummy, you can't put it in the mikvah. It's too porous. What you have to do is you have to break it, and then the tuma dissolves because it's shattered, and then you can put the pieces together. If you want to put the pieces together, it's pretty cheap vessel. But there's some labor involved for those of you who know about earthenware pottery. But a keren, a horn is powerful. It's a powerful substance. So, this is the representation. If they're anointed with a horn, the malchus is going to be stable. If they're anointed with a jug, the malchus is easily the aristocracy, the monarchy can easily be destroyed and obliterated and shattered. There's another interpretation. Some commentators say a keren represents continuity. The horn represents how something continues in length. The malchus continues. A pach doesn't have that symbol. That's another explanation. And Chana alluded to this when she said Rama kindly from this the Gemara proves she was a prophet. She knew that her son Shmuel is going to anoint two different kings, David and Shaul. First Shaul, then David. One with a jug, one with a keren, and the consequences will be very different. Now, at some level it seems like technical What's the difference? I mean, because the oil comes from a jug or the oil comes from a horn, what's the difference? What's the difference if you're drinking Kool-Aid from a horn or you're drinking Kool-Aid from a cup? It's the same oil. You put it in a horn, you put it in a jug. So, something It's just symbolic. You use a jug, you use a horn. But it seems to be a depth there. And this is the proof that Hannah was a prophet. That means this is a it's a big statement. So the Sadiq in has an explanation. Indian explanation is The horn is outside of the head. It's not part of the head. It's outside of the head. But it's above the head. The horn horns adorn an animal and sometimes you know it's really what's what's what he's going to discuss here resonates. Sometimes go out to the porch and we see the the male gazelles or the male deers with with big elaborate beautiful horns that are above the head and it gives them a seer. You know what I mean? You have a huh? Something special about it. Now the point of those horns from a from a more pragmatic point of view is sometimes it helps them in the jungle protect themselves against predators. Make it they they can go with the horn and you stay away. And another element is some of them it's part of the males who combat for territory and for females and they you know that I don't know if you're familiar but if you if you know these if you ever watch these documentaries they they fight the males fight with each other and this is the weapons they use to establish dominance authority power. I'm the boss. This is my territory. This is my tribe and whoever wins remains and the other one goes so the horns you know represent different functions fascinating functions within nature. But he says what what is the horn? The horn is above the the Outside of it but it's mind of man. It's like a crown above that. It's like a castle. The inner above wider who Indian emissaries nefresh shall shamelessly say hello my love message. In our wider, what does the horn represent? It represents the ability to transcend my structured logic. And that is what Masada sniffles represents. Why no shinier carrot type is bought it's carrot represents something that grasps, that touches the essence of a person, which is beyond the head. This goes back to our discussion both in yesterday's year and in the first year on this my man. This past Monday and this past Wednesday. That even though say hello is a very blessed and exceptional tool of life that the Rebbe shall allow him gave us. Every animal has say hello, but it has a limited degree and the human being was blessed with this blessing of our cognitive and intellectual faculties that allow us to be the humans we're capable of being and allow us to fulfill our purpose in the world. Our brains ability, even though an ant has a brain and a bee has a brain and every insect has a brain and every mammal has a brain, but there's something unique about the cognitive ability of a person, which is called the highest of say hello. And it's a blessed instrument. Nonetheless, one should not make the mistake that that is the essence of life and it's the essence of the national man. It's the core of everything. We discussed the Maharal discussed this in the women's class. The Maharal says about the Rambam, he says we don't call Hashem has say hello we call him Hakadosh Baruchu. The Rambam says who am I the way you do a doer. Hashem is the knowledge. Hashem is the knower. Hashem is the known. So the Maharal says call him how you say hello Baruchu. He's the intellect. We don't call him the intellect. Hakadosh, which means transcendent, infinitely aloof. So the Alter Rebbe, the Baal Hatanya in Tanya Perek Beis and Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah reconciles the Maharal and the Rambam. He says the Rambam is talking post tzimtzum, the Maharal is talking pre-tzimtzum. It's not for today's discussion. But the Alter Rebbe reconciles these two views. But the Maharal's point is you don't call Hashem HaSechel Baruch Hu. Sechel is not the beginning and the essence of reality. It's not infinite. It's a tremendous tool. It's It structures reality, but it's not the essence of reality. And that's why in Kabbalah, Kesser is higher than Chochmah. That's the Keren. The Keren is the horn above the head. It's higher than the head. On one level we said what's Keren earlier, we said Keren chitzoniyus. It's not the meat. That's why by Mekabel Mekabel Tumah doesn't It doesn't connect to the meat. It's not mitztaref to the meat to make the shiur that you need, the Mishnah in Chullin Kof Yud Zayin and the Rambam in Tomer Devorah Perek Daled. On the other hand, we're now talking about the a deeper element of the Keren. It's higher than the head means I go higher than what my brain can contain logically. What does this mean in life? In life there are some things in life that are understandable. In other words, they're contained in my rational brain. I could structure them. Sometimes there's experiences in life that the only way to connect to them is not by using your analytical brain and trying to assimilate it and integrate it into your understanding. You have to be able to say "Svas Lo Yadati Eshma." Am I ready to surrender my soul to the mysterious infinity of divine love? Reb Aaron, you heard that? Am I ready? The moment I have to put everything in my structural logic, I'm detaching myself from the reality of life. Seichel is geweldig. I'll say it again and again. Seichel is geweldig. We don't We're not a people who believe that intellect is is ridiculous, and we love cults, and we love blindness, and we love things that are not rational, and we love superstition. That doesn't have to do with Judaism. Ki mi am chacham v'navon hagoy hagadol hazeh would describe am chacham v'navon. There was a Jewish leader. He once said, "Ah, am chacham v'navon if they're am chacham v'navon with nega hata b'tzel let's say chacham." If this am chacham v'navon would only have a little seichel, it wouldn't help. It It would help. The The pasuk says in verse chanan, "Ki hi chachmaschem uvinaschem l'einei kol hagoyim." The Torah is your chachma and bina. Before all the nations. It's It's It It shows the nations your intelligence, your wisdom. Rashi says over there that if you If you keep the Torah, everybody will see you as wise people, and if not, "Teichashvu k'shoteh." You'll be like a fool. You'll be considered fools. Seichel Seichel is is one of the one of the greatest gifts of life. But it's not the essence. It's not the infinite essence. It's a levush. It's an accessory. It's a channel. It's a channel. It's an instrument. The deeper infinity of the soul, the chelek Eloka mimaal is deeper than seichel. And I spoke about this in the first class about therapy, when you know you hit the spot in people, in marriage, in your relationship with yourself, your relationship with Hashem. The etzem is represented by the keren, the horn. And you know the difference between the brain and the horn? The brain is protected by many, many layers, including by the main layer, the skull, because it's very mushy, it's like Jell-O. 2 or 3 lb of Jell-O. It's very, very, very mushy. It's very vulnerable. And halila, we know if there's brain damage, how how serious it can be. The keren, the horn, is on the open. It protrudes, and it's tough. It It's tough. It itself is a protection. As I said, it fights off predators. How does it fight off predators? Because it has a toykaf. This is represented by the spiritual element of keren. Real inner perseverance and strength doesn't come from seichel. It comes from the etzem. It comes from your core. Because over there, there's an infinite connection to things that is not breakable. When my processing of life is only through logic, I understand things, so then I'm also in a very vulnerable place. Because I'm not in touch with my core dreams, with my core aspirations, with my core wills. The deepest aspirations, desires, and needs of a person are not logical. It's just who you are. It's what your soul yearns for. They may be dressed up in logic, but that's not their essence. And if you access them only through seichel, you do not get in touch with them, and you limit your ability to touch them and access them. And therefore, you limit your ability of healing. Because healing must come from going deeper than your facades and understanding what is hurting you on a level of ratzon. All healing comes from going deeper than seichel. I have to know what ratzon is. Now, it's not comfortable for men to deal with this. It's not comfortable. Because and all the therapists will tell this to you. A good boy is in Yeshiva for 20 years or 15 years or 10 years. What do they teach him in Yeshiva all day? To think, right? And everything is a pilpul. And you analyze and you dissect and it's amazing. It's beautiful. Hakmos a Torah. So, you're trained to be analytical and you're trained that all reality can be dissected by your mind, yeah. And suddenly you're 30 years old, you're miserable. You're sitting in the therapist's office, right? He starts asking you questions. You're like, "Oh, we didn't learn this in Tosfos. What is this a question of Tosfos?" He started asking, "Who are you? What What are you? What do you feel? What's happening inside of you? Vos zukst du? Vos vilst du? What is your essence?" And you start making pilpulim. It's not easy. It's very, very vulnerable. I have to really go go away from all this, you know? And And And And that's one of the purposes of marriage, cuz your wife If you're going to have a good marriage, you're going to have to open yourself up to the parts of you that are deeper than seichel, cuz it's the only way you could connect to your spouse. If you're going to sit down with your wife and say, "Listen, only talk to me about things that are logical." Good luck. We'll see you in the office. Only You can only relate to things that are logical. And I'm the one who has to decide if it's logical, too. For sure, right? You didn't begin a relationship. You didn't begin a relationship with yourself. You didn't begin a relationship with others. Again, seichel is a levush. Lashkicha m'toiras seichel. I I learn and learn and learn and learn, but I'm still trapped in the facade of the Yevanim of the Yevanim. Why? I'm not tiferes the Torah sechel. So, therefore, you have the keter. The keter is above the head. It's the concept of surrendering my soul, of trusting the love. The Greek said, "Everything is logic." And the Jew said, "Everything is infinite love." Can I surrender my soul to the infinity of God's love? Can I trust it? Can I trust it? When I have to obsess with my sechels because I don't trust, I want to control. I want everything in a box. I like things in a box. If it's in a box, I'm good. The problem is reality is not in a box. And as long as reality is in a box, I'm living in a delusion. And when it starts coming out of the box, I fall apart. But I don't fall apart. My sechel falls apart. That's fine. Your sechel could fall apart. You're You're not falling apart. But the problem is we feel when our sechel falls apart, we're falling apart. You're not falling apart. God is right here. God is not se- It's fine. Embrace the mystery, the infinity of love that I don't I don't have to understand. People think I have to understand. Comes to pain. Right? Explain it to me. Explain it to me. Explain it to me. Could I come to a place where I don't I don't have to understand? I really don't. I could just be here without understanding. And you know what? In that in in in in a sense, you'll understand much more. What do I mean? You won't understand much more in terms of of of intellectual logic, but you'll be much more connected to the reality of it. That's the keter. That's the ability to surrender the soul to a place that's deeper than what I have to control and assimilate in my logic because it limits my access to the infinity of reality. Logic sculptures and reduces reality to one dimension. Or many dimensions. And again, it's beautiful for what it is, but for what it is, not for what it's not. And to use seichel in a place that you have to go the mile and a seichel, it's like using your ears in order to appreciate art or using your eyes in order to appreciate music. For music, you need your ears. And for art, you need your eyes. And for Elokus, you need mesirus nefesh. The bazillion the hest. For music, you need your ears. For art, you need your eyes. And for Elokus, you need mesirus nefesh. You need to go out of yourself. You need to transcend yourself. You can't go with seichel. You're not going to be toifes. It's God is not a mathematics. When you're learning mathematics, that's you use seichel. You're learning a analytical subject, you use seichel. Kol chush toifes me chusha. But you're dealing with Elokus, with infinity, with the core of reality, seichel is not going to get you there. It's It's It's a joke. You stay stuck. You remain cold. You can't celebrate life. Taka, a lot of intellectuals are very cold. They're very cold. They're very metzumtzem. They're very scared. They're good in arguments, but they're not good in life. They don't know how to dance. You have to know how to dance. How do you You don't dance. I once heard from the Reb Nachman from Breslov, he says, "Me tanzt zich mit de kop. Me tanzt mit de feist." You don't dance with your head, you dance with your feet. But if you're in your head, if you're in your head a whole day, how do you dance? Unless you make a headstand, then you could dance. You make a headstand, that's the Keren, that's what you need horns for. I once heard from the Rebbe on Simchas Torah, he said, "What's Simchas Torah? Listen to a vart." He said, "What's Simchas Torah?" He said, "A Sefer Torah vil tanzen. The Sefer Torah wants to dance. The problem is a Sefer Torah doesn't have feet." So how can a Sefer Torah dance? So he said, "A Yid vert a fiss fun der Sefer Torah, so der Sefer Torah ken tanzen." The Hashem Shalom. A Yid mit Sefer Torah vil tanzen. The Torah says, "I want to dance, but I can't. I don't have feet. Ich ken nisht tanzen mit dem kop." So a Jew says, "You know what I'm going to do? I'm going to become your feet." So he says, "You go under the Sefer Torah, you're the feet of the Sefer Torah. The Sefer Torah tanzt, then you're the feet." This is what the Keren represents. The Keren represents that which is deeper than the head. Now we'll understand the secret of David and versus Shaul. What was the problem of Shaul? What was Shaul missing? This was the issue of Shaul. David and were anointed with a horn. The horn represents strength. It represents endurance. physically. The horn is very powerful. It doesn't break easily. It's a very, very strong and solid substance. So, this represents that the malchus is not so vulnerable to destruction. Why? Because the difference of Shaul and Dovid was this difference. But Shaul, it says in Parshas Vayishlach, Shaul comes from Rechovos and Ar. So, Kabbalah says that it's a remez to Shaul HaMelech that he came from the broad river. You remember the Mayamar Torah Ohr tells us Vayachburu about the river. This Gan Eden, there's the Gan, and then there's the rivers, the four rivers. The river represents Binah. The Mayan, the wellspring, represents Chochmah. And Binah is that which expands the idea. You remember the mother and the mother, we spoke many is Chochmah and is Binah. Shaul is Binah. Even though the my level of a person is a baal seichel, we're learning in the Mayamar everything higher than seichel says, let's remember, what's the my level of a person? He has seichel. And it says in Tanya based on Zohar, the moyach, a healthy moyach, rules the heart. Tanya Perek Yud Beis, a whole discussion over there. Mazel tov to all those who started to learn Tanya Yud Tes Kislev, and you'll soon get to Perek Yud Beis. And you'll see that's a person. In other words, the brain rules the heart. So, what does that sound like? It sounds like the ultimate person is the brain that rules the heart. When do we rule the heart? We have impulse control. Even when I have a temptation to something, I could put it in perspective. I'm a controlled person. I'm a disciplined person. Especially by Shaul who perfected and personified the perfection of Shaul. But with Shaul itself, you cannot get far. His malchus did not endure. Because the Shaul cannot get to the place where there's no changes. Shaul ultimately is pliable. It doesn't touch the core. It doesn't touch the horn. It doesn't give you that toichef, that inner resilience and strength that allows you to transcend the vicissitudes of life and endure through them. And therefore, Shaul's malchus is ultimately temporary. In Shaul, there are changes. Yesterday, I thought this way. Today, I think this way. Yesterday, I had that philosophy. Today, I have that philosophy. Yesterday, I was a Democrat. Today, I'm a Republican. Today, yesterday, I was a Republican. Today, I'm a Democrat. Yesterday, I was right wing. Today, I'm left wing. I'm center. I have these ideas, these ideas. Shaul by definition is always growing and changing based on so many different realities in life. There's the Shaul of a child. There's the Shaul of an adult. There's the Shaul of a mature person. There's the Shaul of an elderly person. It's a tremendous tool, but by definition, intellect is trying to understand reality, but that understanding is always shifting and always adjusting. The ain Shaul of a person, the infinity of a person, which doesn't change, ain ba shinuiim, it's your deepest deepest core, it's your deepest reality. That's the keren biyon sechel. Shaul's life was a life of sechel, shomer acharei Shabbat. And you see it by Amalek. What happened by Amalek? Shmuel Hanavi told him that Hashem wants him to wipe out Amalek, but what did Shaul say? Let me take the animals of Amalek to offer it as a carbon. He said it's a gevaldige thing. Take Amalek and bring him to Hashem. What does Shmuel tell What does Shmuel Hanavi tell Shaul when he meets him, you remember? You remember what he says after you have parshas Zachor? Tov shmaya mizevach tov. L'hakshiv mikhel velim. In simple English, the best is to follow him than to bring a good carbon. Better to listen than to bring a good carbon. Tov shmaya mizevach tov. Shaul had this whole elaborate mahaloch, what you have to do with Amalek. What was the problem? The problem is it was limited based to his own perspective and his own sechel. And this what is this is what his malchus was missing. His leadership was missing this quality. Dovid and Dovid and also went through their struggles. But there was a big difference. When Shmuel Hanavi asked Shaul, "Why didn't you do what Hashem's What happened?" Shaul told Shmuel, "Haki maysi es d'var Hashem. I did everything that God wanted." And then he said, "Well, what about this? What about this?" He said, "They pressured me." Ultimately, I gave in to the pressure of the people. When Nosson Hanavi came to Dovid and said He told him the story with the sheep that was robbed away by the rich man who took away from the poor man. And he says, "You're the man. You took away Batsheva." And what did What was Dovid's response? Two words. Chatasi Lashem. I sinned. Very different. Complete vulnerability. Complete humility. Complete complete bitter and you see it in Tehillim. The way David Hamel speaks about himself. This is what Shmuel says and Nitzach Yisrael is Shaker and Nachem. He says to Shaul, the eternity of the Jewish people Lo Yishaker. Hashem who's called Nitzach Yisrael will not lie. Lo Yinachem. He will not change his mind. He won't shift. When you say something is eternal, they represent eternity doesn't only mean it's going to last for eternity. Even in the beginning you can see it's eternal. Just like death. When does death begin? When you're born. The Rabbeinu Bachya says, when does a when does a person begin to die? When he's born. When does a car begin to break down? The moment you buy it and start driving it. When does a computer begin to break down? The moment you open it the first time. The child when he's born he already begins to dry up. Why? Because energy is limited. It could be limited. And therefore, the moment I start using it, I start depleting the energy. It may take many years. But already it's being used up. Because you're dealing with a finite energy. There's a longevity of the copy machine. How long does a copy machine last? Let's say 5 years. The moment I open it and start using it, that's the moment it starts dying. Because you start depleting its its its power, so to speak. It's staying power. That's true. Call over Nifsad. Everything that was created by definition, they call it the entropy the entropy principle, it begins to decompose, it begins to disintegrate. When? Not at the end, in the beginning. You don't see it in the beginning, but that's when it begins. It begins to decompose. Those things, those created beings that don't decompose, they don't die, they don't perish. In other words, they were given the gift of eternity. You don't only see it at the end, you see it in the beginning. In the beginning, it's already a different type of Malchus. The Balatanya speaks in Torah told us about the Gemara says the day that will be completely long, the day that will never end. In the beginning, it's already a long day. A long day doesn't mean at the end it's a long day. In the beginning, it's a long day. Eternity doesn't mean that you're going to live longer than others. Already in the beginning, it's of a different quality, it's of a different nature. Because it's not something that gets depleted, your whole attitude is one of Nitzchiyus. What is this in a person's life? Dovid and their Malchus was a Malchus of Keren. They were anointed with the horn, which represents that which is beyond the head, which represents Mesirus Nefesh, which represents the Etzem that is deeper than Sechel. Shaul's Malchus came from the Pach, from the jug of oil, which is much more vulnerable. What's the difference in a person's life when my relationship with something is only a intellectual relationship, it's extremely vulnerable. Somebody asks a question and it gets destroyed. Somebody answers it and it gets solidified. Somebody asks another question and it gets destroyed. My relationships with life has to come from a place that's deeper than that. It's a tool. It's a cover. It acts as a tremendous tool but it's the that's deeper than this is what we call this is what we call the carriage and the cycle. Leadership as well this could be a leadership that is type of leadership and a leadership of leadership. The difference is a leadership that's only intellectual leadership you're a vulnerable leader and people pressure you and you change. Their leadership came from a very deep place of inner wholesome confidence and invincibility. And then the pressures of the crowd don't change you. Because you know who you are and you know who you are in a very very deep place and that's that's the only type of leadership that can really really last. So was a tremendous mind. He was a great soul but ultimately his didn't have that power of this. Their came from their deepest from their deepest core. And that's a place of invincibility and confidence because it's aligned with divine attributes. And that that that continues. That doesn't that doesn't die. It's it's you're living completely from within. And the feedback of the audience doesn't make or break the leader. It's not like you're changing because of this one you're changing the peer pressure, the social conformity. You don't operate from that place. You operate from a place of alignment with with with the divine and then it's a whole different story. And that's the Keren. So, when the Gevonim told the Jews kiss my Keren we now go to the deeper level. Get rid of kiss my Keren. I share. As we said before, only go to the you don't need the of a sham. What is what the Jews respond? The Jews response is we're going to take the Keren to connect. Precisely the Keren, that's what we need. It's the Keren. It's the Keren. It's the Keren. It's the It's the that's higher than that's the power of and that lasts. That doesn't that will not get interrupted by various vicissitudes in life. He says we you can add even more by the Torah. In the he explains there that it says in Kabbalah that Keren is associated with Bena. With understanding. The Keren on they would blow with a shofar just like every in Kippur they would blow with a shofar. And it's on is explained Jubilee the time of liberation is Bena. But David unlike Saul is Malchus. So, it's a little strange. Sometimes we say Keren is Bena, but David got the Keren and his Malchus. The reason explains as he says in 36. That pnimius of malchus is a reflection of bina. What does this mean? David and Solomon who were anointed with the horns. David and Solomon represent malchus. Saul represents bina. It's when the malchus is infused with the first hey of shame havaya this yud hey vav hey. Yud is chachma, hey is bina, vav are the middos, the last hey is malchus. When the first hey infuses the second hey, that's the keren. So it's not just bina cuz Saul is bina. It's when bina infuses malchus. Like he says, the pnimius of malchus is from bina. It's cabalistic terms. What does it mean? Bina infuses malchus. And that reason is because bina on its own, Saul on its own is missing something. Even though it's understanding, it's wisdom, but if it doesn't help a person get to a place of malchus. Malchus means royalty, leadership, confidence, which is based on the absolute humility of the leader who is open to infinity beyond sechel. Cuz that's the real leader. The real leader is the most humble selfless person. Because what's a leader? A leader is I'm not here for me. I'm here to serve the people. And that means the leader transcends his own personal agendas and he becomes a conduit for Hashem. That's the real malchus. That's what malchus really is. And that malchus is forever because it's not about you and therefore it doesn't get stuck. What's What would you say is the greatest gift and qualities that a leader needs? And And And I I think one of the biggest things is is that he doesn't take himself seriously. It doesn't become about me. You insulted me, you disappointed me, you're frustrating me, you like me, you don't like me. It's an important discussion, but that's I'm stuck in myself. The real leader is somebody who can take criticism, who can be humble, who can learn from mistakes, and who can realize that it's not about me, it's about my mission. I am a conduit. And that's Malchus. And that means the ability to go higher than my seichel and become a conduit for God. That's the role of a leader. And that's what David and had. David and had this nicuda of Malchus. This is David and After he a love of Nema. Who he is The high in Yona who closes sweetest of Malchus. it says, was an exceptional person. Hashem says he's going to be a man of serenity. He's called from the word peace, perfection. There's going to be serenity during his time, shalom, peace. sits comfortably on the throne of God, very successful king. It says in his days the moon was wholesome like the 15th day of the month. Nonetheless, it was David who created the preparation and created the foundation. For example, the Beis Hamikdash, it was all David. It says David is the one who set out the whole planning of the Beis Hamikdash. implemented it. Cuz David represents Malchus itself. That's David. represents Chochma in Malchus. We know that the Sefirah is like by Sefiras Haomer, 7 * 7, each one is made up of the other one. So, it's really a hundred cuz you have 10 Sefiros and each one is made up of the other one. So, represents Chochma of Malchus. David represents Malchus itself. So, David represents Malchus itself. represents the Chochma aspect of Malchus. Not Chochma on its own, the Chochma aspect of Malchus. The ultimate of Chochma is Teshuvah Maasim Tovim. Cuz Chochma the Chochma is even above Binah. Chochma represents Bittul. Like we spoke many times about Chochma as the humility, Koach Ma Bittul. But, Chochma itself is made up of all the other Sefiros. It has a whole structure. So, therefore, Chochma has other aspects of it as well. But, Chochma is ultimately Bittul. So, Tachlis Chochma Teshuvah Maasim Tovim. And HaMelech was the Chochma aspect of Malchus. David HaMelech is Malchus itself. But, we said it's Binah that infuses Malchus, and that's what the horn represents. In other words, you have Malchus, you have kabbalah cell, you have bittle that's devoid of understanding. And then you have malchus that's infused with wisdom, but the wisdom is part of the bittle. You have a person, there's a certain simplicity and innocence, a purity of faith that's like malchus itself. Malchus that's infused with chachma and with bina is a malchus that's infused with with brilliance and wisdom, but the wisdom is a conduit for the bittle. And that's the uniqueness of the malchus of David and And that's the horn, the keren, the keren asher that the allows you to connect to a place that's higher than your brain. So when the Yevanim and the Greeks came to the Jews and they said, "Write down on the horn of the acts that you don't have a chelek in Elokei Yisrael." How do you respond to that? They can't say, "Okay, let's fight you with paper." You got to fight fire with fire. They had to bring out their own horns. The Yevanim offered them their horns and they said, "No, we're going to bring out our own horns." They had to bring out the horn of holiness, the mesirus nefesh that goes higher than seichel. The only way to combat the keren asher that the Yevanim said, "Ein lachem chelek b'Elokei Yisrael." was they needed keren versus keren. You remember when I started to say, "What do horns do?" The animals, the males compete with each other and the horns allow them to establish who's the boss. So they had to bring out the keren. Spiritually, what is this? They had to bring out the keren of kedusha. What's the keren of kedusha? The keren of kedusha is the strength of the commitment that comes from a place that's deeper than my limited reasoning. Not because I'm dumb, not because I'm blind, not because I don't believe in thinking. I think and I want to use my wisdom and I want to analyze and dissect, but I realize that my seichel is going to bring me to a certain place in life and if I want to cross that threshold, my seichel will not be able to do the job anymore. I have to be able to surrender my soul to infinity and allow myself to become a reflection of infinity. So, seichel as again, and you can say this again, is absolutely stupendous, but it can bring you to a certain place. It can bring you to the doorway, but you can't cross the threshold. Sorry. You don't have the tools to be able to go to a deeper place. You come to a beautiful place, but you can't go deeper. Now you need the care. Now you have to go higher than your head. You got to get out of your head. Have it. You got to get out of your head. You know how to do that? You have to get out of your head. You have to get out of the brains. You have to get out of the horns. You have to get out of the complexities. You have to open yourself up. It's very vulnerable. It's very vulnerable. We don't like being there. Especially in people who have good heads, they don't like being there. But it's very vulnerable. You have to surrender the brain. What does David say? I am a bar. I'm ignorant. I know nothing. I'm a behema with you. David the same to him. I didn't make it up. To him I am gibberish I am dollars somewhere in that zip code. So you see more. You know what the measure says? It says pesi yamin l'chol davar. A fool believes everything. V'chochom yovin davar l'ashuro. A wise man understands things well. You know what it says in Midrash Rabbah? Listen to this. Pesi yamin l'chol davar, who does it refer to? Zeh? You know who it refers to? Moshe Rabbeinu. Moshe? Moshe? Moshe, the Rambam says is mivchar mineni ushi. He's the perfection of a human being. Talk about the seichel of Moshe. Pesi yamin l'chol davar. The p'shat is this is the vart. Moshe's brain was beyond what we can ever imagine. Like kam navi k'Moshe. The one who Moshe kibbel Torah miSinai, the whole Torah comes through Moshe Rabbeinu. The first mekabel from the Ribono shel Olam is Moshe. You're not going to get a brain better than Moshe's. And the seichel, the seichel of Torah. B'davni var v'lo yeidei b'heima seisimach. When you want to be toifes ein sof, when you want to cross the threshold of finiteness and touch infinity, your seichel is going to keep you stuck. I live in my brain and I analyze with my brain and I can't touch ein sof. Pesi yamin l'chol davar is on Moshe Rabbeinu, who Moshe understood that when you want to touch the texture of real infinite reality, v'ani var v'lo yeidei b'heima seisimach. I get out of my brain. That was the koach of David. David says in Tehillim, I am a worm. V'anochi sei last v'lo ish. Cherpas adam u'zuyam. He says in Tehillim, im lo ish v'isi v'im amti, nafshi k'gamula aleiha imi. My soul is like an infant nursing from its mother. The infant in the bosom of its mother doesn't live in its brain. It lives in a world of trust. Trust. Can we live in a world of trust? Could we? As a learned Hasidus, you could live in a world of trust. If not, it's very hard. Too many sharks out there. If you learn Hasidus, then you will have the caring. You will acquire the horns. The ruchnius, the Kohorns from the Baal Shem Tov from the Alter Rebbe, from Rebben. You have the horns, the Karnayim. Then you could Then you could trust. Then you could trust. You don't have to be cynical. You don't have to be defensive. You don't have to be afraid. So, the Jews had to take out the cannon of Kedusha to fight the cannon of the Yevonim. Shai DeAzav u'Vatlu Machshavtam u'Ratzonam l'Hashkichem Torah u'Mitzvosai u'l'Ha'avirchem al Chukei R'tzonacha. Then they transcended, they nullified the ambition of the Yevonim to make us forget your Torah. And Chukei R'tzonacha. V'Aidei Avoda b'Eis u'V'Eis u'V'Chol Mesirus Nefesh Halalu Gam L'Tzochen u'L'Chochen u'V'Eis u'V'Eis u'V'Chol Mesirah d'Gevura b'Yad Chalashim u'V'Rabim b'Yad M'atim. And this allowed them the victory that wasn't al pi seichel because they went to a place of caring. So, the victory was not rational. The weak triumphed over the strong and the few triumphed over the many. V'Ad Lo Yadah Shimon u'Levi l'Ha'alel l'Hashem Gadol. And that's why we finish V'Al HaNisim. Masarta Giborim b'Yad Chalashim, u'Rabim b'Yad M'atim, u'Tmei'im b'Yad T'horim. In other words, it was beyond seichel. Because it comes from l'Hashkichem Torah u'Mitzvosai u'l'Ha'avirchem al Chukei R'tzonacha. That the Jews went to a place of Torah Sechel. Chochma R'tzonacha Ratzon So, what happens at then? So, LaHaLaL L'shimcha HaGadol. That's how we finish Al HaNissim. The Maim is tied with Al HaNissim. What's L'shimcha HaGadol? Shimcha HaGadol like doesn't say LaHaLaL L'shimcha. Shimcha HaGadol, your great name. V'nikra Sh'meiha Gadol. What's Shimcha HaGadol? It says in Perek d'Rabbi Eliezer, the way the Shalah reads the text in his Svadim. Before the world was created, there was only Hashem and his name. Who Ushmo B'lvad. Atah Echad U'shimcha Echad. Before creation, pre-creation, there's Hashem and there's the name of Hashem. The name of Hashem is the light of Ein Sof cuz a name represents the way you're perceived by others and that's what light is. He said that's called Sh'maya Gadol Sh'ezo Inyana Atzmi. This is his own shame, the Giluy of the Etzem, the Ohr of the Etzem. That's what he LaHaLaL L'shimcha HaGadol. There's the name. The name is the way Hashem's energy is restricted. That's Sechel. That's Sechel. What's Shimcha HaGadol? They went beyond. They went to the Ohr HaEtzem. The Atzloynivra Olam, pre-creation, pre-Sechel, Hayo Hu Ushmo B'lvad. They got to the Sh'mei. That's the Nekudah L'shimcha HaGadol. Ohr K'fishnei B'Giluy, but it came it's always there, but it came out in a revealed way on Chanukah. K'mo Shekassuv, this is what the Passuk says about the future. When Mashiach comes in Yeshayahu Perek Mem, V'nigla K'vod The glory of Hashem will be revealed and all flesh will see together that the mouth of Hashem speaks. Meaning, the way Chassidus Tatzu it that in every single thing in the world, you will see the Ohr d'Ein Sof. You will see the infinity that's being manifested there. That's when the world is going to become one. on Hanukkah they had a foretaste the shame to be able to touch the Godel the essence of creation the essence of the world which is beyond the shame it's the concept of shame Godel. This concludes the my mirror of Alan Easton of Tess. At least one level of the my mirror. Now I'm going to take some questions. So we finished the shear but I'm going to take some questions just to announce that Monday morning 7:30 we will also have a shear and let me go to the questions. So let's see the chat. Chat. Okay. I'm going to go to the and then a lot a lot of questions. Okay, let me start. Going to try to do this fast. I know the hour is late. Okay, one person writes, "The way I understand the message is honor the brain, honor the intellectual, but don't worship it. Perhaps to connect to what we learned earlier, Parshas told us, we learned that the mitzvah doesn't need kavana because it itself is Elokus. So too, we don't need the reason for the mitzvah for Elokus. The person's ta'am is good just like kavana, it's beneficial, but the mitzvah itself is Elokus. Yes, it's very well connect very good connection with this ma'amar, the ma'amar Vayakhelu in Torah Or told us. We always say that you that the mitzvahs are rational. Should we do them rational mitzvahs because they make sense or because God said to do it? What about the seven Noahide laws? The Gentiles are obligated to keep them. A lot of non-Jews by nature are kind people. They keep the laws because they're nature. After all, not everybody, most people are not murderers by nature. But they're doing it because of their nature, not because God said to do it. Yes, good point, and that's why the Rambam writes in Hilchos Melachim that the way to observe the Shabbos mitzvah of menucha is not just because I think it's the right thing or it's my nature or my mind says it, but because Hashem commanded me to do it. And there's also a practical reason for this, by the way, because whenever something is done only because I feel like doing it, there will be times that I won't feel like doing it. There'll be times that I'm stressed, there'll be times that I'm confused, there'll be times that I'm overwhelmed. We all know this, right? Even the best of people, the best of people sometimes if I'm offered a position I'm offered a uh uh I'm offered something that I can't refuse. It's just too hard to refuse. I'll break my principles. Who who was it? This was a great line somebody once said, "These are my principles in life. These are my principles and ethics in work. And if you don't like them, don't worry. I have other principles, right?" So So the fact is any young some Jewish comedian. So the fact is that's why the Rambam says you have to do it because Hashem said. Hashem said, no difference. You have the flu, you don't have the flu. You're tired, you're not tired. You're in a bad mood, you're not in a bad mood. Yeah? Somebody drops a credit card. You see a millionaire, he drops a credit card in the store, drops $100 cash. You could say, "I don't have money now. Let me pick it up. He's not going to get hurt anyway. He's He's a multi-millionaire." So there's always loopholes and also loopholes that come from personal bribes, meaning from my subjective my subjectivity. I always can justify things and rationalize things. You want to reach a place where there's no changes and that's the concept of Kabbalah, so Modern science is today developing new theories based on quantum mechanics. That is not logical at all. Quantum mechanics is full of paradoxes. And uh some people say that quantum physicists would say that this is logical for them. But it doesn't seem logical at all. I think that's exactly the point. The point is that the deeper we go into the reality of matter, we see paradoxes. We don't see clear logical structures. That exactly is the point. In other words, seichel is a certain dimension of reality, but it's not the raw essence of reality. That's exactly the point and quantum mechanics is revealing that at the core of reality there's much more paradox than logic. In fact, paradox makes makes much more sense over there. Particles moving clockwise and counterclockwise simultaneously. Schrodinger's cat, the cat is dead and alive simultaneously. Light being both a particle and a wave and functioning as both simultaneously even though when our eye observes it, it collapses into one state because yes, we are used to the world of differentiations. But in the world of modern physics, paradoxes abound and you have to become comfortable with paradoxes and that's exactly the point. That when we say it is a structure, it structures reality in a certain way and from a certain perspective. And we must and we and that and that it it it serves an exceptional exceptional function in our world. Without laws and structures, we could have not created anything that we created in terms of technology and in the development and progress of human beings to the place that we are today in the year 5781. But when you go even deeper, you see that say it is just a certain way in which reality is accessed based on the human brain. It's really fascinating stuff. And the correlation between all this and the ideas of are astounding. Next. The way I understand it is this true? There's a difference between all of creation and a human being. All of creation was created yesh me'ayin, something from nothing. Man was created from dust that was already created before, yesh me'yesh, something from something. Basically, what we humans do all the time and can only do is make stuff from other stuff which are already made. In addition to that, all of creation was made through God's words. He spoke. This this is true for the body and everything in creation, even the soul of creation. But the human being, the animating force was made through Hashem's breath, not through his words. So, man's body came from a lower source, pre-existing dust, but his soul comes from a higher source, Hashem's inner breath. We have a We are a few a fusion of more extremes than the rest of creation. This is discussed in Tanya by the Baal HaTanya, Parshas Bereishis, where he has a ma'amar to understand how Adam was created in a way that's different than all of creation. You explained that the Greeks were bothered by your chukim and by your Torah that our God is one and one only. The Greeks had many gods battling with each other, each with its own department. Surely, their gods each had their own chukim, often at odds with the competition. If so, they should have not have been bothered by chukim that are super rational. The only difference between their chukim and ours is the number of deities issuing issuing chukim. That's true, but ultimately, all their chukim, at least for the philosophers, had to go into the realm of philosophy. When you speak about the ratzon being the essence, is it your ratzon or God's ratzon? I was talking about the human being's ratzon. At the deepest core, the human's ratzon is aligned with the divine ratzon. But there's also the ratzon of the There's also ratzon of the nefesh habehamis, which also has ratzon. The New York Times article you mentioned about Hanukkah, was it written by a Jew? I think so. I think it was. You said in your class in your first class that a therapist told you, how does he know when he hit the spot? When the patient stops giving reasons, rationalizations, justifications, explanations. The layers of intellectual and logical structures that are wrapping that are wrapped around his life have been stripped and pure Ratzon is exposed. Presumably then, once true Ratzon, the true hidden driving force is revealed, healing can begin. It can't begin with defensive logic, reasons, justifications, true Ratzon. And the way I understood it is because you're not really you don't even know what what's inside of you. You don't know what's bothering you. You don't know where your pain is coming from. Your anger or disappointment is covering up what's really happening. You must get into your own deeper realities. This I understand mirrors Hashem because Hashem also has Ratzon that is beyond Sechel. His hidden Ratzon is behind both all of the Mitzvahs. And the core of his Ratzon we cannot grasp with our Sechel. I get that. He allows us to understand the surface part of the Mitzvahs, but ultimately all Mitzvahs, even the rational ones, come from his Ratzon, even those that are understandable by our logic and by our Sechel. I do see a problem though when you're comparing Hashem's Ratzon to the therapist's patient's Ratzon. Hashem is all good. Even what appears to us is bad will be shown to be good. Shows that sometimes the good is covered by what appears to be bad, right? But let's say you have a person whose saying this are evil. And the therapist digs and digs and digs and the patient digs on his own. The rationalizations are removed and stripped away and the core comes out. And when the core comes out, all you see is evil. I hate I hate I want to murder. What does the therapist then do? His core human desire is evil and not innocent. And once the core roots and is revealed, what do you do? Excellent question. Excellent excellent question. So There's an expression in Kabbalah and this. It says in Tanya Parikla Madalif with the title Parshas Chukas. Ain Gvuras Nimkokes Al Basharsha. Gvura becomes sweetened when you go back to the source. Meaning if you have the courage to strip away all the layers and you go deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper what's really really bothering you, over there you will find that in the deepest places you won't find evil. In the Shairesh the negativity will be sweetened because you'll see that it's really responding to your own pain and loneliness and insecurity. People who live in orbits of self-destructiveness and why they destroy others never ever took the time, the energy, the patience, the willpower, the courage to ask themselves who I who I who am I. I once heard from or read from Rabbi Jonathan Sacks Alav Bracha the former Chief Rabbi of Britain. He said that one of the greatest mistakes of anti-Semites is they're living a miserable life. And when they see problems in their society, instead of becoming introspective and asking, "How can I grow? What can I learn from this? Where did we go wrong?" They project the problem onto somebody else and exonerate themselves. That's what tyrants do, despots do, dictators do. Yeah. This is what these types of regimes do. There's never an element of really introspection. What's bothering you? What are your real ambitions? Even if I could just and say, "My real ambition is just I want to control the whole world." I want everybody under my control. Even that honest, vulnerable explo- uh the um declaration, "I love to control everybody. I want to see everybody as subservient to me." Which for some people was a big vision. The moment you can identify that and articulate it, and then start asking questions, "What is it that you're looking for?" You are ready open yourself up to see what you're really searching for. And when you go deeper and deeper and deeper, a person is created but tzelem Elokim. It's created in the image of God. So, therefore, in the deepest depths of a person's layers, our ratzons, our ratzonus are not evil. Even the nefesh habehamis, its survival skills can become destructive. But, if you go deeper and deeper, you're going to find alignment with wholesomeness. Are there exceptions? There are exceptions, perhaps. There's the concept of Amalek. You know, you mentioned Hitler in one of the comments. But, generally, this is I think a pretty uh authentic principle when it comes to human growth. You mentioned different approaches in your mind matter of how to do mitzvahs. Can I clarify something? Perhaps we see here three hierarchical approaches. Number one, we follow those mitzvahs that are susceptible to logic, and we only do those. Anything beyond seichel, I don't believe, I don't do it. I can climb the ladder so far, I will not go further. Another approach is, no, I understand that my intellect is limited. I believe and I do those mitzvahs even if they're not entertained and explained by my logic. Yes, I like logic, but I also realize that honest people understand that there are things that I will don't understand and there are things beyond me, and therefore I'm ready to accept them on pure faith and set aside my need for logical understanding and do them as well. That's a second-level, a higher level. And then there's a third level, we realize that all mitzvahs and indeed everything comes from Rotzon, and it could be subdivided into two categories. Those things that come later into seichel, and those things that don't. But everything ultimately comes from Rotzon, and therefore your not understanding of it is as authentic as your understanding of it. In fact, if you do it without understanding, you may be reaching a deeper truth. Like the child who understands that he has to obey his parents because it's the parent's will, whether or not the order is understandable to the child. Notice, some understand more, some understand less, but the point is that it's not about understanding, it's about his will. And maybe the Jew who does the mitzvah does because it's Rotzon Hashem in a way is touching the more authentic part of the mitzvah than the Jew who understands all of it because he's not stuck in the garbs that cover it up. Couldn't I add also a fourth approach below number one? Those will only do the logical mitzvahs they agree with and not the mitzvahs, even though logical, they don't agree with. Even more, they will do sins like the Jews who reversed their bris to participate in Greek sports. This category doesn't even make it into the mymar, and certainly did not bother the Greeks. In other words, even logical mitzvahs I won't do because it has to be my mood and my logic at the time. I think you said it very well. I agree with this. What's the difference between a parent saying to a child, "I'm the parent and I said so" in response to the child asking why? And super rational mitzvahs, both are the unexplained and perhaps unexplainable ratzon of the parent and Hashem. Well, I think the difference is very obvious. The parent, hopefully, has a good reason of doing it. It's just the child may not understand why it's not good to cross when a car is coming or why you shouldn't play with a knife. So, we have to introduce those components, and that the Greeks can relate to. That those chukim the Greeks can relate to cuz they have a reason. It's just you don't understand the reason. So, I have to take away the knife. You're going to cry. Okay, you'll get older, you'll understand. That the Greeks have no problem with. They have a problem with that something is at some higher than seichel. We Jews should not be limited to the seichel de kapa of mitzvahs, but ironically, let's face it. It was the logical proofs of the veracity of Torah, the Kuzari and other proofs that led us to Yiddishkeit. That's why we became baalei teshuvah. So, the idea here is, I think, that after accepting the veracity, the authenticity of Torah by logical proofs, eventually you come to realize that logic is insufficient and incomplete. Chassidus especially shows this. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems that Chassidus is not just about seichel. I think you're 100% right. This is a classic example where seichel is a tool to get you into the room. But it is a certain door that it can take you towards, but if you want to pass that threshold, pass seichel on the whole Dover is my share of Avenu. I once asked Reb Berish Horowitz, the oldest son of the Spinka Rebbe, Reb Hershela, a philosophical question one time about why there's so much war in the world or something along those lines. He chuckled and he said, "Aaron, I have told you before and I'll tell you again. Go back to the foundation that all the great Sadiq and go to. It says in Ashre, like the loss of ain't shaker. To Hashem's greatness, there's no investigation. We can't understand anything cuz we're finite and Hashem is infinite. Remember what the great Sadiq and rely on, that we were given a Torah, we have mitzvahs to do, and when you get that down really good, then you will have free time to think about these other things." The vart has been very good, reassuring, and supportive for me. I like it very much. It seems like a real, simple answer, yet so powerful. How does this fit in with what we are learning in this memoir? I think that what he was saying is, there are questions in life, there are things we don't understand. The finite brain will not grasp infinity. And that's why we have to be able to open ourselves up to infinity, to the mystery of infinity, to which is love. And God says, "This is what I want from you. I want you to learn Torah and observe mitzvahs." And this is basically, I think, what he was sharing with you. It could be appreciated, I think, on many, many different levels, you know? There's the moon shooter of the simple Jew who's just connected to the etzem. There's the moon that comes even after seichel, you know, it could be the most brilliant person in the world like Moshe Rabbeinu, but he goes to the place of a moon beyond that. But they both connect in a very real way. The Greeks could tolerate super rational mitzvahs, but not chukim shina chukim. That it's God God's will. But they had their own they had their gods. So it's basically quantity of deities. No, but their deities were carved in their own image. And we say that we are in the image of God. Are you saying at the end of the day logic doesn't matter regardless of the fact that logic and analysis is so much stressed and appreciated in Judaism? I think logic does matter. I think logic is vital. I think logic is essential. In fact, when I'm learning Torah Shebalpeh, I have to understand it with my logic. If not, I don't fulfill the mitzvah of learning Torah. But I think we also have to understand the limits of logic. I'm not discounting logic, but I think that the Rebbe might be saying that the true connection to God relies less on seichel and logical proof than it does on the internal awareness that resides deep within the person. There are many Jews today who are just like the Greeks. They also dismiss any part of Judaism that they don't understand. And they are probably a a majority of Jews. Torah Jews are a very small minority. By pure demographics, the Torah Jews will become the majority. There was a Jewish professor at Brown University who wrote about 50 books on Judaism, a real scholar whose scholarship was accurate. Though he was not a shomer Shabbos, he was disappointed when he was shunned by the religious world. Listen, every single Jew has a core of a moon inside of him. But yes, the point of this mind is that I could be a Jew and I could be a victim of the Greeks conception of life. Not only that, I could be a Jew who learns Torah and observes mitzvahs and I'm still a victim of the concept of the Yevanim. And that's why their objective was not to take away Torah and mitzvahs. It was lashkecha Torah shecha. ulavina michu kidesha b'acha