Lighting Up the Night - Part 3: Never Stop Growing - Rabbi Paysach Krohn

so I want to share with you something very interesting we all know that the first Gemara is Miss Esther but a hot it teaches us about various blessings it teaches us about prayer tefillah it starts out with Korea Chama and one of the greatest commentaries on all the gamma wrote was in the Erie and the Erie writes a very interesting introduction to all of the gamma wrote and he says like this he says every experience that a person has he has to learn something from it I once heard a beautiful expression don't just go through it grow through it don't just go through an experience grow through the experience and he writes if God forbid somebody has a tragedy he has to ask himself why did God make me go through this what am I supposed to learn from this and he says if somebody has a simcha he's able to marry off a child he makes a bar mitzvah whatever he has to ask himself why did God allow me to do this what do I learn from this and he says every holiday is the same thing he says if a Jew just sits in the sukkah on Sukkot and eats matzah on plaza and blows shofar unless Hashanah and he doesn't change you know what he says frightening he said that a person is like a donkey because the donkey carries week in the wheat season oats and oat season barley in the Bali season and he's the same donkey he says if you go through a holiday you have to change we all have 24 hours to change and I'm going to show you how to change because we have to now think what lesson from Chanukah can we take in this year tough shinai in Zion in 2016 57 77 in the Hebrew year what are we going to take from this holiday and I'll show you we all know that there was an argument in the Gemara between bicha my and betty lil em i says you know what the first night of Hanukkah you got a light eight candles second night seven six five four three two one here well and that's what we do here oh says no you start one two three four five six seven eight but to me the most important words that the Gemara says about Hillel is why he does it you know why most Seif Volare he adds and he goes on in other words the lesson of Chanukah as we live tonight the eighth candle is that we always go higher we gotta improve so you're gonna ask me and which way should I improve and you know what I tell you you know I don't have to tell you everybody here knows what they have to improve in think about it for a second some of us have to improve it to feel ah we have to Dobbin more often or we have to dive in a little slower some of us have to improve in the amount of Torah that we learn some of us have to improve the way we talk to our spouse some of us have to improve the way we talk to our workers some of us have to improve the way we respect our rabbis I don't have to tell you what you have to do you know what you have to do don't tell me keep it secret keep it between you and I Shem but tonight is the night before you go to sleep you got to think how am I gonna improve what am I gonna do better in my life that this Hanukkah I'm gonna be like Hillel I'm gonna learn from those candles that we go higher and higher and higher more sift vorlick to go higher now I'll tell you an amazing thing the Torah tells us why he cachet your daughter Raquel and yourself when Raquel gave birth to yourself Yakko the father of yourself goes over to Levon and he says you know what Shawn Raney now you can send me the alcohol Elmo correct me laughing I could face the world so the shame is spoil the sofa children Rebbe asks a question why just because he had yourself now Yaakov was feeling confident that he could go face the world he had a lot of holy children before that you who da all the Jewish kings came from you who don dava develop him from you who da so why wasn't he confident with the son like you who da he had a son levy oh the kahani Mandela VM who served in the base at McDowell a B why wasn't he confident with lay me all the time he give they came from Yusuf are all the reveries came from Shimon what's so special about yourself and you know what the so much of a Rebbe says something amazing he says the answer is in the name what is your self mean more higher and that's what Yaakov was saying once I have a son that will never be satisfied with the status quo he'll always want to grow higher that's the kid I can face the world with that's the child that I need to face the world with and that's the lesson that we have to learn tonight we have to become people of your safe interesting your Abba Father you're safe gave us that thing about mushiya your safe means more no matter what level any of us are here tonight we can still be higher Kazak has built so many of us to achieve certain levels in Torah in mitzvoth in others a Sherman ours Israel but we could grow that's why we come here tonight we come in tonight and the last night of Hanukkah because we've reached that merciful air we came up to the number of eight and we have to improve again I don't have to tell you how you have to improve you know everybody knows think about it seriously take a walk with yourself tonight sit at a table sit at a corner in your home and think I got it be better Shem allowed me to go through Hanukkah borough Hashem I see that the candles increase every night yourself is that person who added and that's why Yaakov felt confident that's that's how we got improve