How to Increase Joy in Difficult Times | The Secret of Adar - Rabbi Zamir Cohen (AI)

Shalom and blessings. The sages said, "When adar enters, joy increases." What does that mean? What is the meaning of the word increases? It means that while we are meant to be joyful all year, during the month of Adar, we must increase. In other words, intensify, the feeling of joy within our [snorts] hearts. So before we begin our regular lesson in the book of proverbs, it's worthwhile to pause and ask how can a person truly draw joy from the month of Adar and increase their happiness especially during such a difficult time for the Jewish people collectively and as individuals dealing with various struggles. How can one increase in joy? When we reflect on the story of the megilla, the scroll of Esther, we find tools for increasing our joy. In the McGill, it is told, everyone knows the story, how Hmon convinced King Aasweras to destroy, kill, and annihilate all the Jews. He received the royal signate ring, giving him power to seal any decree he wanted. Even today, if some nation were to issue such a decree, it would be terrifying. Even if escape was theoretically possible and even if one could rally world powers to intervene back then aasweras ruled over all known nations from India to Ethiopia meaning no one could say I'll just flee to another country cross the border and be safe wherever one went the decree to destroy kill and annihilate applied a terrible fear and there was even a set date when it would all be carried out. So what happened in the end? Vashi angered Aasweras during a feast. When the king<unk>s heart was merry with wine drunk, he gave the order to have her executed. Vashi was killed and Esther rose to greatness, becoming queen in her place. Mordeai informed Esther of the decree. Aaseras still did not know that Esther was Jewish. She had kept it hidden just as Mordei had instructed. Esther replied, entering the king<unk>s presence uninvited was dangerous, but she was ready to risk her life to take the chance. Still, she said, "Gather all the Jews, as it says, go gather all the Jews in Shushan and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for 3 days, night and day. I and my maidens will fast likewise." The Jewish people awoke. When trouble comes, it brings spiritual awakening, introspection, and return to God through genuine repentance, through fasting and prayer. On the third day, dressed in royal garments, Esther entered the king's inner court. It was dangerous. According to the law, anyone who entered without permission was killed on the spot by the gods. Ancient kings feared assassinations, even from those closest to them, including their wives. So, there was a standing law. Anyone who entered uninvited was stabbed immediately. And yet she risked her life and entered. What is your request? She said, "Let the king and Hmon come to a feast." At the feast, he asked again, "What is your request? Why the risk?" She said, "Come tomorrow to another feast." At the second feast, he asked, "What happened?" She said, "We have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, killed, and annihilated." "Who is this? Where is he?" asked a huseras. She replied, "A wicked enemy, this evil Hmon." The story then unfolded. Hmon ended up on the gallows. Which gallows? The very tree he had prepared the night before for Morai. How tall was the tree? Let a gallows be made 50 cubits high. How much is 50 cubits? If each cubit is about half a meter, that's 25 m tall. What a height. Where did he even get such a tree? It's rare to find a beam that tall, 25 m high. He had a magnificent palace, the central upper floor, whose entire roof was made of tiles 50 cubits long. He dismantled the roof tiles just to hang Mordeai on a tree so that everyone in the city could see him. Why did he want it to be 50 cubits tall, so that the hanged body would be visible from every house in the city. That's why during the feast, Harvona said to the king, "Also, behold, the gallows that Hmon prepared for Mordeai, who spoke good on behalf of the king, is standing at Hmon's house, 50 cubits high. What does behold mean?" There's a rule in Torah. Every word is precise. When someone says, "Behold," it implies something visible. But the tree was in Hmon's private estate. What was Havona pointing to? He was showing it from the window. Look, that tall tree over there with the rope already tied. That's what he prepared for Morai, the one who saved your life from Big Tan and Tesh. And so the king's rage continued to grow. And the king said, "Hang him on it." This is the story of the migilla that everyone knows. But what do we really see there? That even in moments when a person feels hopeless, when there seems to be no chance, God can bring about a completely unexpected reversal. is anything too wondrous for God? Who among the Jewish people could have imagined that Hmon, who sought to destroy, kill, and annihilate all Jews? The decree already sent, the tree prepared to hang Mordeai, the king's most beloved, would end up being the one hung on that very same tree, and the Jewish people would be saved. And not only that, a new decree went out that the Jews may strike down their enemies, not that Jews are to kill non-Jews indiscriminately. Judaism has no interest in killing. Rather, only those from a known list, those identified as murderers and Jew haters. Those were the targets. The story of the migilla teaches us how to increase in joy during the month of Adar. When you reflect on it, what is the essence of this month? What is the essence of this holiday? That situations which seemed utterly hopeless completely turned around. So too a person must say to themselves even if I see the Jewish people suffering or I see myself in a situation where I say I see no way out. The doctors said this the money is gone. When a person feels total despair but the moment they say to themselves I learned from the mill. Is anything too wondrous for God? Everything can change in an instant. That's what the verse says. He who sits in heaven will laugh. The Lord will mock them. What does it mean that God laughs? After all, he has no body, no physical form. Concepts like laughter don't apply to him. So what is this laughter? It's not a mouth smiling. He who sits in heaven will laugh means he brings about a reversal in the world. And that is called laughter. Because for us, when do we laugh? When someone tells a joke, we don't laugh right away, do we? We listen. And at the punchline, suddenly we burst out laughing. We're used to it. But if we think logically, what is laughter? Why does it happen? You're listening. Listening. Suddenly, your lips curl upward and you feel this urge to let out these sounds? What is this strange phenomenon of laughter? Why don't animals laugh? Have you ever seen a cat crack up or a cow laughing because it saw something funny in the field? Animals don't laugh. What is this whole concept of laughter that exists only in humans? There are two unique traits that human beings possess and they are interconnected. Traits that animals do not have. The first trait is the power of speech. Animals may produce pleasant sounds, vocalizations, wag their tails, and use body language, but they don't have words. They don't form sentences. They don't express ideas or speak. Animals don't have that. This is a divine trait. God gave human beings the gift of speech. And from speech comes another related outcome, laughter. This exists in humans and doesn't exist in animals. What is the whole concept of laughter? A person laughs when a story takes an unexpected turn. The element of surprise causes the person to laugh. Oh, I didn't think it would go in that direction. It went there. That's funny. And so the person laughs. This trait was embedded in human beings by God. So that in times when someone sees a situation of distress that seems unsolvable, they'll remember. In every joke you've ever heard, what made you laugh was that the story took a turn you didn't expect. In the same way, every event in life can suddenly take a positive turn, even if right now it looks bad. That's the meaning of the verse. He who sits in heaven laughs. That God creates a turnaround in the world that people don't anticipate. This happened with Hmon. And similarly, though not to compare directly, the same thing happened with Pharaoh. In the story of Moses, Pharaoh decreed, "Every male child born shall be thrown into the river." What was his goal with this? Our sages say that the astrologers of those days told him, "According to what we see in the stars, today the savior of the Jewish people has been born. You have a nation of slaves. He won't easily release them. Be aware that someone has been born today who will take this people out of Egypt. He became frightened. How can I give them up? Don't you see any solution? They said to him, we see in the stars that he is destined to fall through water. There is a planet Mars which symbolizes blood. There are various calculations. Today there are no experts like there were back then who were so proficient and precise in these details. And even then, they weren't entirely accurate. The stars are only symbols and signs. They do not show what God has decided. It's not like prophecy where the prophet says, "So says the Lord." In this case, they saw that the Savior of the Jews would be born that day. And they were right. Moses was born that very day. They also said, "He would fall through water." And they were also right. How did Moses die? And why didn't he enter the land of Israel? Instead of speaking to the rock to bring forth water, he struck the rock and water came out. That was his mistake. So they were correct. But Pharaoh heard that he would fall through water without receiving clear instructions. The stars are only symbols and signs. So Pharaoh said, "If that's the case, every baby boy born shall be thrown into the river." This explains why Pharaoh specifically commanded that all the baby boys be thrown into the Nile. Why carry infants for kilometers? What's the idea? If he wanted to kill them, he could have done it at home. Why take them to the Nile? But it was because of what the stargazers and astrologers told him that the one who would save the Israelites was destined to be struck by water. As a result, the mother of Moses, who was indeed born that very day, tried to hide him at home. But when she saw that the house searches were intensifying, she placed him in a basket at the edge of the Nile. Papyrus reads grow at the edge of the Nile where the water is shallow. She placed Moses there in the basket, and his sister Miriam stood at a distance to see what would happen to her little brother. It pained her deeply, but there was no choice. Had they left him at home, he would have certainly died. Pharaoh's daughter came down to bathe in the Nile. She saw the basket, opened it, and said, "This must be one of the Hebrew children." She saw the baby crying and decided she wanted to adopt him. She called for a wet nurse, an Egyptian one. But the baby wouldn't nurse. He kept spitting out the milk. Then Moses's sister, who had been watching, came over and said to Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and call a Hebrew woman to nurse the baby for you?" Pharaoh's daughter agreed, "Try. It could be that he prefers the taste of Hebrew milk. He didn't want to nurse from a gentile woman." He refused. And who did Miriam call? Moses's own mother. Pharaoh's daughter had no idea this was the baby's mother. She said to her, "Are you willing to nurse this child for me? I'll pay you." She answered, "Sure, I'm looking for a job." And now she had royal permission to raise Moses and nurse him. Plus, she received a salary. What kind of mother gets paid to nurse her own child? When he grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh's palace. He was raised at Pharaoh's expense in his house. And from there, Moses would one day go on to redeem the Jewish people. That's the meaning of he who sits in heaven laughs. Pharaoh makes his plans. But if God decides otherwise, he will turn everything around. Pharaoh will end up paying the mother of the savior of Israel to nurse her own son. She will raise him under Pharaoh's own roof as a direct result of Pharaoh's own decree. The very decree meant to stop God's plan is what enabled it to unfold. Had Pharaoh not decreed every baby boy must be thrown into the river, this whole chain of events wouldn't have happened. This is a great source of encouragement to every person in every situation. Always remember, God can bring about a turnaround. And a person has the power to influence their own situation through prayer, through repentance, and through good deeds. As it's written, repentance, prayer, and charity remove the severity of the decree. A person can change their fate. They must not, God forbid, fall into sadness, despair, or depression. Someone might say, "I got this diagnosis from the doctor. It means there's no hope." But how many people have testified that doctors gave them just a few months to live and they've lived for decades? And when they return to the doctor, what can he say? He shrugs and says, "It's a medical miracle. I don't know what to tell you." So you see, not everything they say turns out to be true. Or there are couples who were told they had no chance of having children. And thank God they had children. The doctor is not the creator. He has permission to heal, not to give up hope. Yes, they are doing their job. They are giving their opinion based on medical expertise. But a person must never fall into despair. That's what it means when we say when the month of Adar enters, we increase in joy. Now let's return to our regular learning in the book of Proverbs. Today we will focus on a topic that relates to many people. As is well known, the human soul is very complex and varies greatly from one person to another. And a person himself throughout life can also change habits. There are traits a person is born with, traits that are embedded in the soul at birth, and there are acquired traits that a person adopts throughout life. And the consequences of these traits can bring a person into situations he was not meant to be in. There are situations of dependency where a person feels he is dependent on others. There is a person who is dependent on people that's how he feels that he constantly needs to receive approval that he is okay. There are even those who feel they need confirmation that they exist. They feel that without validation from others they are nothing. And there is a person who is dependent on negative habits. He got used to them. He knows it's not good but he continues with it. Why? because he is captive. Maybe he can't break free. He becomes dependent. There are situations defined as addiction, which is an even more severe and extreme case. He simply cannot be without it. For example, a child who grows up in extreme social rejection, his friends pushed him away, boycotted him, ostracized him, or in his family, his parents. How there is a child who grows up as an abused child. He grows up, he looks like a normal person like everyone else. But he carries in his heart residues and scars that can manifest in a kind of dependency on others. Because when he was young, he felt everyone was pushing him away. So he got used to needing constant validation that he exists, that he is worth something or he becomes extreme in the opposite direction. They behave toward him with violence and he himself becomes violent toward those around him. He wasn't born that way. He was born with a good soul, an excellent child. But life events led him to such places. And there is a person who is not. It's not related to childhood suffering. He just got himself used to alcohol, to smoking, to anger because he felt he saw an example that people who get angry others do what they want. So he says this is a good idea. He adopted it for himself and doesn't realize how destructive this anger is both to himself and to his surroundings. It can lead to divorce. The children distance themselves from him. Life falls apart. He is not favored in the eyes of God. Unlike a person who knows how to give in, who is calm and serene. And here King Solomon gave an example in the verse before us of two extreme cases on the positive side and the negative side. He begins with the negative side and transitions to the positive. A wicked man desires the net of evil men, but the root of the righteous yields fruit. A net means a fortress, a stronghold. He says there is a person. This refers to the absolute extreme of a person who is defined as a rasha, wicked. The word rasha is composed of two words. What is rash? It means noise and rasha means evil. In other words, a person who is rash can be rich. But in his soul he is a poor person, an empty person. He has nothing inside him. Therefore he is attracted to bad things, negative things. This happens precisely because he is empty. He becomes dependent on who? He seeks a refuge, a shelter with bad people to protect himself there. He feels that there he needs food. He needs protection. He needs guarding from bad people. On the other hand, the extreme opposite side is the root of the righteous will give. The root is something that grows. A person who follows righteousness is defined as righteous. Not only is he not dependent on others, he is independent, but he also gives to others. And the root of the righteous gives. This is similar to a root that grows producing a wealth of fruits and sharing them with others. In other words, a person who feels he is dependent. Dependent on people, dependent on what? What will others say about me? Dependent on certain brands to impress, dependent on his habits that he has grown used to, should immediately check himself. Whether this comes from a lack of self-esteem, a lack of self-confidence, where I feel that I am not enough. If people don't tell me I am, I feel worthless. Sometimes there is a girl who walks immodestly and she doesn't realize that this is related to this issue. She wants people to pay attention to her. She wants to hear something. She wants to attract attention. But this is not coming from a good place. It comes from an inner emptiness where she is seeking attention, wanting someone to say something. This comes from an unhealthy not good place. The foundation of everything is first of all self-esteem. A person needs to value themselves. Secondly, to believe in the abilities that God has given them. There is a Mishna in the tractate Sanhedrin page 30 which says the way of the world is that a person molds several coins with one stamp and they all look alike. Today there are machines that produce coins but in the past they would create a metal ingot, heat it until it softens and then stamp it with a seal. As it cools it takes the form of the seal. When there is one stamp and many coins are stamped with it, there is a difference between coin and coin. All the coins are identical. Today machines produce coins and all the coins are identical. The Mishna continues and says, "But the Holy One, blessed be he, is not like that. God created all human beings in the image of Adam and there are no two people who are exactly the same. No two individuals are identical. We have become so accustomed to this that it feels natural. But when you stop to think about it, it's truly amazing. It's as if there's some kind of super intelligent system ensuring that no two people are alike. Billions of people are born, all coming from Adam, yet no two are the same. Not even identical twins who are often mistaken for each other. A mother can distinguish between them because there's always a difference. Take fingerprints for example. No two people have the same fingerprint. That's an undeniable fact. Some countries still use fingerprints to carry out executions based on the assumption that they are absolutely unique. But who can say for sure that it's the same person? Perhaps someone else shares that same fingerprint. But that's impossible. Even with billions of people, no two are identical. Clearly, there is a higher plan behind this. Despite the fact that we all come from Adam and Eve, we are not identical. But why did God create the world this way? For God, it's no problem. He can do anything. It may seem complex to us, but to him it's simple. The real question is why did he design the world? So that no two people are the same. The sages offer several explanations, but the central reason is to teach every person to recognize their own value. Each person is unique and they should appreciate that. The Mishna states, "For this reason, every person must say the world was created for me." But what does this mean? It doesn't imply arrogance as if the world revolves around us and that everyone should serve us. Just as the world was created for you, it was created for others too and it wasn't made solely for one individual. What the sages mean is that a person should acknowledge that even if they were the only person on earth, God would still have created the world just for them. This is something that each person should internalize. The profound value of their existence in the grand divine plan. The role they play in the world's creation is significant. The sages also provide other reasons for the differences in human faces. Some are more practical if everyone looked the same. How would a wife know that it's her husband? Or how would a husband recognize his wife? People's voices are different, too. When you answer the phone and someone says, "Hello." You can immediately tell who's on the other end. Hello, Motty. Someone might say, "But how do they know it's Motty? Maybe it's the sounds of our voices vary. And this too is part of the divine plan so that spouses can always recognize each other. And why does this work even in the dark? Why are people's opinions different? Why did God create us with such diverse perspectives? Every person has a different way of thinking. There is a reason for this which relates to the uniqueness of each person, ensuring that everyone remembers they are unique. But there is also a simple reason so that no one knows the secrets of others. If everyone thought the same way, imagine someone who won a lottery and came home with a suitcase filled with $50 million in cash. He thinks to himself, "Where should I hide this so it won't be stolen?" He might hide it in the closet under the blankets. If everyone thought the same, what would his neighbor think? That guy won $50 million. Where would he hide it? Probably in the closet under the blankets because everyone thinks the same way. So each person needs to think differently, ensuring that everyone has their own unique life path. These are the simple explanations. But the deeper explanation according to the sages is that every person should know that they are one of a kind. There is no one like you in the world. There never was and there never will be. The role of a person in the world is to serve as part of the divine plan. There are people who feel useless in this world. Even going so far as to harm themselves, not realizing that the world would not continue without them. The world would not be the same without you. You are not unnecessary. You have a purpose, a unique role. Every good deed you do, every action you take contributes to the broader plan for the world's correction. When a person learns to appreciate their own value, they no longer rely on others for validation. They understand that they are valuable on their own. Even if their spouse doesn't know how to give a compliment or their child grows up in an environment where they are criticized and belittled, this is of course a serious mistake of the parents. Parents who want their child to grow up emotionally healthy and happy must give them lots of positive reinforcement and affirm their self-worth. They should tell them how great they are, acknowledge their accomplishments, and praise them for what they do. When there's constructive criticism, it should be delivered in a way that helps them improve without belittling or degrading them. They should be uplifted. A child who at a young age, three, four, five or seven, receives applause, praise and encouragement for doing something good, will carry that positive reinforcement into adulthood. Later in life, when they are 30 or 40 and there's no one to offer them a kind word, they will still hear deep in their subconscious the applause of their mother from when they were young. This inner confidence and joy in life come from those early experiences. Childhood especially early childhood has a profound impact and we as parents bear the responsibility to ensure that our children grow up emotionally healthy. This also needs to give a lot of strength to parents to be careful about peace in the home. Even if they feel right now I am angry at my wife, my wife is angry at me and there is tension they must say at least for the children's sake be quiet, hold back. This applies to many things. How much reward does a person get when they forgive? It is written that when a person forgives, all their sins are forgiven. A person who has sins that need to be punished and someone angers him. Yet he says, "I will hold back now to avoid conflict." I know the creator does not like conflict, so I will hold back. I will let it go. His sins are forgiven and his transgressions are erased. But does a person really wait for someone to anger him just so he can stay silent and have his sins erased afterward? Beyond these virtues, even for the children's sake, peace in the home is so important. A child growing up in an atmosphere where there is respect between the parents, where the father compliments the mother and the mother compliments the father and they sit at the Shabbat table with a pleasant atmosphere, this child grows up emotionally healthy. But a child who grows up hearing yelling, swearing, threats, and even witnessing physical violence, what harm is done to this child over time? This child grows up without seeing a healthy relationship. If he grows up in such an environment, he learns that this is how a relationship works. He sees his parents fighting, the mother yelling at the father, the father yelling at the mother. So when I get married, what is my role? to yell at her. And what is her role? To yell at me. This is the picture that forms in his mind. Wise parents must think about the well-being of their children and invest in this. When a child has self-confidence, it is something that will stay with them for life. But what does a person do when they say, "All this is nice, but I didn't grow up in such an atmosphere. When I grew up, I experienced unpleasant experiences." And today, he truly feels a kind of internal lack of confidence. He doesn't feel good with himself. He doesn't believe in himself or his abilities. So, first and foremost, as we mentioned, he should remember the words of the sages. Look in the mirror and say to himself, "This person in the mirror is one of a kind in the world. There was no one like me and there never will be." And a person must say, "The world was created for me." So, if in the eyes of the creator, I am so important, surely I must value myself. A person who is carrying a sack with thousands of shekels in small coins while walking loses one coin. He might say, "Forget it. I'll leave the coin. I'm not going to bend down to pick it up." But if he's carrying a sack of coins, and every single coin in this sack is valuable and rare, like collectible stamps or rare coins in the world, then the more rare the item, the more valuable it becomes. A common stamp is cheap, but a rare stamp is worth a lot. There were stamps from the founding of the state called Hebrew Post stamps. Those who have a complete set of them are worth a lot of money. A few years ago, it was reported that there were two rare stamps in the world. Not from Israel, but stamps from one of the countries abroad. In the entire world, there were only two such stamps. One with a collector in one country and the other with a collector in a different country. and each stamp was worth a fortune. One of the collectors reached out to the other and said, "I want to purchase your stamp. I have a stamp like yours and I want to buy yours. How much are you asking for it?" The seller asked for an exorbitant price. The buyer agreed to pay. But when he received the second stamp, he took it and set it on fire. People thought he was crazy. He had paid a lot of money for it and yet he destroyed it. But then his stamp became the only one in the world and its price multiplied many times over. In other words, he had doubled and tripled his investment. A rare item becomes more valuable just like a person walking with a sack of coins where every coin is unique in the world. If one coin falls, they immediately stop, bend down, and pick it up because they understand its value. This is how a person should value themselves. The sages say that the person is one of a kind in the world. When they realize this, they stop being dependent on what others think about them. What matters to them is what God thinks of them, not what others think. If in the eyes of God, I am acting properly, then I don't care if others think differently. If I am not acting properly, then even if others praise me, I know I need to change because the measure for my life's path is what God thinks, how he sees me. There are people who are financially struggling, but they invest a lot of money just to appear wealthy. Buying brandame items, getting expensive haircuts, and acquiring things they don't really need. All just to impress others. But the question is, why do you need this? Live for yourself. Live with self-confidence. Ask yourself, how do I appear in the eyes of God? There is a verse in the Bible about Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah. He was the son of Assa, a king who did not follow the ways of the Lord and is heavily criticized in the Bible. But Jehoshaphat when he became king is praised in the chronicles where it is written that he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and that God was with him granting him great wealth and prosperity. Then the following words are written and his heart was lifted up in the ways of the Lord. The prophet praises him saying that his heart was lifted up in the ways of the Lord. But pride is generally seen as negative. Why is he praised for his pride? The answer is that his pride was in the ways of the Lord. Meaning his pride was in his righteousness, a sense of personal honor. I belong to the ways of the Lord. The measure for my life is what God wants. If I'm aware that I am speaking to my wife in a way that is not pleasing to God, then I will change my way of speaking. If I am aware that my watching of certain movies is wrong in the eyes of God, then I will change my viewing habits. When I align my actions with God's will, it becomes much easier to change negative habits. If I simply tell myself, "This is not good. It harms me. My intellect understands this, but my heart may want something else and the heart can overpower the mind. However, when I tell myself path in life is to follow God's will and I train myself to act this way, it starts with small things. I override my desires based on God's will and gradually I get used to it like training. A person who enters a gym and is just starting out cannot be given a heavy weight. They are given a few kilos to begin training. As the muscles develop, they are capable of lifting more 20, 50, or even 100 kilograms. Similarly, in the muscles of the soul, when I want to change habits and build my character, I begin with small things and step by step I progress until I reach a state of self-control. In essence, there are two paths of dependency that I should examine in myself to see if I belong to one of these paths and need to correct myself. One path is dependence on others, what they think about me, and how I should appear. This can burden my soul in a frightening way. I feel exhausted when I'm always trying to please others. The other path is dependency on bad habits that I know are harmful. It could be a habit of anger, smoking, drinking, or any other habit I know isn't right. The good news is that the human soul can change. It can be shaped. I should never give up on myself. This doesn't mean I should accept the situation as it is and say this is me and I will always be like this. I have the ability to change. King Solomon ends his teachings on a positive note saying the root of the righteous will flourish. A righteous person not only is he not dependent on others but certainly he is not dependent on bad people as mentioned in the first part he doesn't seek to be with bad people to be protected by them. A righteous person doesn't need that because his connection is only to God. God says about the Jewish people they are my servants not servants of servants. We are commanded to be servants of God but not servants of men. If I am a servant of my friend, then I am a servant of a servant because he is a servant of God and I am his servant. I should only be a servant of God. This is how I should speak to myself. And it is a divine command for the children of Israel are my servants. The Talmud says they are my servants meaning God's servants and not servants of servants. To be a servant of God is a great privilege, not a humiliation. On the contrary, this is greatness. The king, the king of the world, draws you close to him, telling you, "Connect with me." And when you are with me, your reward is immense. The closer you are to the creator, the greater your reward is with him. God lacks nothing and can grant a person abundance both in this world and in the next. But here in the verse, he uses the word root. A root is something that belongs to the plant world to trees. The Torah says that a person is like a tree of the field. Whenever something spiritual is hard for us to comprehend, there is a general principle in life. When something spiritual is difficult for us to understand intellectually, how exactly does it work? Check in the Torah of the creator who is the manufacturer and wrote the Torah. What example did he give in the physical world that we can see with our eyes from which we can learn the spiritual lesson. There are many examples. But I will take the example that is before us. A person is a tree of the field. When you don't know how the soul of a person works, look at a tree of the field. And from this you can learn about your own life. In the plant world, as we know, there are trees that are deciduous. They shed their leaves in the winter. And there are trees that are evergreen. They stay green all the time. In both winter and summer, we've mentioned this before. What causes a tree to shed its leaves in the winter? How does it know? Did it hear the news that winter has started? How would it know that it is now winter? The answer is simple. There are two differences between summer and winter. In the summer, the days are long. The sun rises early and sets late. There are many hours of light, 14 hours even more, while the hours of darkness are short and the night is brief. In winter, it's the opposite. The night is long and the day is short. The second difference between summer and winter is that summer is hot while winter is cold. So these are the two differences between summer and winter, light and heat. When the tree begins to feel that it is receiving light because there are more hours of darkness, it feels that it is getting cold. The cooling begins and it stops nourishing the leaves. The leaves wither, dry up and fall off. At the end of winter around Tubishvat and onwards, the tree begins to feel that there are more hours of daylight and the day begins to lengthen. The almond tree is the quickest to bloom and then the other trees start to bud. Why? Because there are more hours of light and gradually the heat begins to increase as well. This is the way it works in the world of trees. A person is like a tree in the field. If you see someone sinking into sadness, they are shedding their leaves and withdrawing into themselves. When you see a tree in the winter with no leaves, you might think it's dead, completely dry. You no longer recognize the tree that was blooming in the summer. Similarly, sometimes you see someone who was full of life and joy, but now they are sad, struggling and overwhelmed by depression. What does this person lack? Learn from the trees. They lack light and warmth. Give them light and warmth and you will see them bloom again. What is warmth? Warm words, words that warm the heart, compliments, praises. You are important. And if no one is telling you this, then say it to yourself. As we saw earlier, remember how valuable and important you are and recognize the strength that God has given you. When a person receives warmth, their heart begins to awaken again. The second thing is light. What is light? There's a verse that says, "The commandment is a lamp and the Torah is light. Give them Torah. Connect them to Torah lessons. Link them to lectures and you will see the change." People who have shared that they felt emptiness in their lives often say, "I have everything, but I have nothing." But when they began connecting to Torah lessons, they suddenly felt alive again, like a fish returning to the water. They began to feel joy and an inner fulfillment. When you see a sad person, give them light and warmth. Learn this from the trees. When they receive light and warmth, you will see them like the trees beginning to bloom again as spring approaches. But there are trees that are evergreen all year round. They remain green no matter the season. What is their secret? A person who says, "I don't want to be a deciduous tree. I want to be an evergreen tree, always full of life and joy," can do this, too. Regardless of what happens around them, they can be like those trees. The verse in Jeremiah says, "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord. And the Lord will be his trust. He will be like a tree planted by the waters." When a person leans on the creator, they become like a tree planted by water, always nourished, always full of life because they rely on the one who holds everything. There are times when people search for solutions and they need to make an effort. A person looking for work goes out to search for a job. Someone with a health issue goes to the doctor. But it's important not to forget the central factor that can change everything. The person themselves through trusting in God and heartfelt prayer has the power to transform their circumstances. Prayer has power. Many people have testified that when they pray the Amida the 18 blessings is crucial not to skip it. Every word matters. As Rabi Himovin writes in his book, someone who understands Kabala knows that it is impossible for humans to have crafted the wording of the Amida prayer unless the spirit of holiness rested upon them. It contains combinations of sacred names, abbreviations, and hidden secrets. It's as though keys are given in the Amida prayer. When you say you grant wisdom to man, you are opening the gates of wisdom. When you say Raphael is the name and he will heal, you are opening the gates of healing. Don't skip this prayer. A person can also pray in their own words, but they should not overlook the Amida which was established according to all the higher secrets found in the words of the prayers. Many people ask when I pray my thoughts wander to other places. In the middle of the prayer, I suddenly realize I'm standing because I was thinking about work, food, or sometimes I only remember I'm praying when I bow during modim, thanksgiving. I ask myself, what happened when I bowed? Oh, I remember I'm in the middle of the Amida. What's the solution to this? How can I pay attention to the words? It is written that even a prayer without concentration still has an effect. It's not as if it's for nothing. But when I focus and pay attention to the words I say, I breathe life into those words. This creates a different weight. It has a much stronger impact. Prayer with intention. But what do I do when I say I'm starting to pray but my thoughts keep wandering elsewhere. The solution before starting the prayer is to ask myself what is bothering me? After all, I have many things on my mind. Why am I thinking about one thing and not another? The answer is that my mind chooses what seems the most important right now and that's where I focus. If breakfast is important, I think about what I will eat because I am hungry and that pushes other thoughts aside. If I stop before beginning the prayer and tell myself what I'm about to do can solve all my problems in the most important areas, then why should I think about anything else? I'll focus on this and all my problems will be solved. God can arrange everything. I'm about to pray for health, healing, livelihood, redemption. Everything I need is here. So, I focus on this instead of other thoughts. And then I say each word with the same attention as if I were speaking to a friend. I pay attention to each word I say, just as I would in the Amida. This is an incredible power that I can use to change my reality. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and the Lord will be his trust. He will be like a tree planted by the waters. Later it says, "And its leaves will not wither." What does it mean that its leaves will not wither? It means the tree is always green. I will always see this tree green. Its leaves do not wither. Why? Because it is full of confidence connected to the creator. The more I bring God into my life through Torah study, through the commandments I keep, the more alive I feel, the more joy I have in life. That is why King Solomon says, "And the root of the righteous will give." The root of the righteous also bears fruit. There is a tree and I can benefit from it. There is sunlight and I can stand under it. But if I'm far away, I can't benefit. But if I am close, I can enjoy the fruit. A person who is connected to the creator, whose root is righteousness, is not dependent on anyone. Not on other people, not on brands, not on habits because they feel I am walking the path of the creator. This is the right path and the best one according to the laws and rules he has given me. A person like this reaches constant joy in life. Let me end with a blessing for all those here with me, for all the viewers, and for the people of Israel and the soldiers of Israel. May God protect them everywhere they are. And may we merit the complete redemption with kindness, mercy, and compassion. Amen.