Shavuot: Our Relationship with the Torah - Rebbetzin Avigial Gersht

[Music] one more T about dairy is white always represent I said do you represent silver I'm sure she's spoken to you about this right white always represents asset and kindness and giving and red always represents din judgment have you seen men Friday night or Shabbos day when they fill up their wine glass with red wine they take sometimes water and they put three drops of water in it right so the reason for that is because red represents the dinner judgment harshness and white represents acid and giving so they are diluting the drugged in with a set so to speak okay so I said white we're eating dairy on shavoo representing that God worship God was showing his cost attached by giving us a Torah what does that mean showing us his class set by giving us the Torah the Torah actually seems like a whole book of rules and instructions and to be honest if you want to have Crescent on me guy maybe give me like let me just keep the seven Noahide laws and I'll be fine right do you sometimes feel like that like this Torah is a whole book of rules right that if you really love desert like what's with all the rules and we are the only nation in the world that celebrates by Dancing with the book do experience and castara I went to two shows on some Western or my patronage I always when I was younger I'd like to like first of simplest Hara in here and in America is very different I don't know if you've noticed that or if you've celebrated simplest Torah my experience if some Qatar was always guys getting drunk it's not like that here at all it's like just dancing I didn't see any alcohol actually at all so when I was younger I liked though I love the like wild and the guy getting drunk and the woman singing and dancing and tarz right but and I got older the second show I went to was like Jesse's it was like a small shul with old men and they're all just like holding these Torrez and just like dancing like books so like this right and you think it's it's so boring right like you want the action there's something so sincere about it Torah is meant to be a gift we dance with these books we have two holidays where we celebrate the Torah do you know it is uh sir it is forbidden when someone is in mourning we should never know when you are mourning a child was in the morning a parent you are not allowed to learn Torah you are not allowed to enter rava vada Yosef with his wife margaritas at Tom Halawa Shalom when she passed away he couldn't not learn Torah because he was so Torre's Mayan claim it is literally water it is literally what sustains us or we're supposed to be sustaining as right what is this time I'm telling you the ideal so if we don't feel this way I don't feel this way the question is so what are you guys talking about when I'm mourning I can't be learning Torah why because Torah makes you happy the same reason they say you're not suppose I learned this when I brought my daughter to a house of mourning one time and the I was visiting my professor from college and she said oh you're not really supposed to bring a baby she cuz cuz they're just too cute right like I brought my daughter to visit her she was sitting Shiva for her mother and she's like she was just smiling she's like and this is why you're not supposed to bring a baby right you're not supposed to be happy which is why you can't lint or boomer ovadia yosef that's how his wife passed away he needed to learn it right so he learned the the only thing he was allowed to learn which is they tracked tape the section on the laws of mourning so he can know what to do so to speak right so taurah is this ideal book that's supposed to bring one to happiness that what during times that have a during times of sadness were not allowed to learn it and let me ask you a question do we feel this let's be honest here what is our relationship to the Torah how what connects us to God how [Music] through the mitts up meaning through the metal we connect to God that's what all of us say okay what else Shana which is okay nice and a fish him what else any ideas what is torment s in the most real way a way to guide our life's we can be happy that is so nice to hear that is so nice to hear Wow [Music] it is and that's really powerful thank you for sharing that and it's really powerful it is a it's it's the it's like the mother tongue in the home the torah's like that family album so this week that like we all share which is why you have people who aren't even connected so to speak in the sense that the that they're doing the Mitzvah but to Judaism to the Torah they're connected to it a girl in another class she said this funny funny story and there are so many like this especially in Israel where like you think this guy is like doesn't even know the word God is like climbing in his lexicon and they like ask you these like complicated questions on like tar like how did you know that actually have a funny story I'm going a little off-topic when I was riding the train ones here and here in Jerusalem never told you the story time I faded I was riding a train here in Jerusalem and there was this woman like very I looked like this and she looked like like tall beautiful blonde hair big sunglasses like stiletto she's like very very like fancy like jean pants she looked beautiful she was standing right across men it's like packed train and and this man was going around asking for sadaqa and like zakat so that guy so I went into my wallet and I pulled out like some some coins to give him an anti-gay Ben when he came to ask her she like it's not like that like very obviously like no but she saw me give so she said to me she said hurry up Shelly go on my alright my rabbi told me was like a raid like that's Israel right like who are like so nah they look like they're not connected right but there's a shake so my Roth told me one time that when I was in his shear that when you when someone comes gift you don't know where your sadaqa money is going to you shouldn't give it she was trying to like rock justified to me which Scott shouldn't have to justify but why she didn't give sadaqa so I said to her I said you're right but I would rather give to someone and I hope he doesn't need them right that would be great like if he's not actually four then god forbid not give to someone and he needs the money and she took off her sunglass and she goes Takeda payment I'm ami not cosa told me like she took off or something I can't see now she's like do you really believe in all this stuff like Torah do you believe it got like do you really believe it all this stuff so I was like in watch she's like bashing the clothes like really believe in Hashem Elvis and I was like okay I'm on a train I'm getting off and like one stop I'm getting like two stops she's probably getting off on one stop so how do I do this okay so then I we had a really quick conversation of you see are you on a train you know did someone build this train do you see that house do please someone built this house so I said well what makes this world any different right like who made this world you know one would would believe me if I walked into a a building and all of a sudden this tall big building I found seven coins all piled very on top of each other and I said how to get me babe would you believe it fell out of my pocket and they all landed like that right you wouldn't believe that so I said so what's the difference who put this world together and she goes Manion and she walked off the train I'm like only in Israel right so stories like that happen is it all the time but like I'm not gonna go to a student here had this funny story about that's like this soldier who also looked like so not connected but he was sitting in Mecca at the central bus station and there was this guy sitting next to him and she's watching from afar this like interaction and they start there's like this guy not the soldier okay we'll call me AK initiates a conversation and the guys the soldiers like yeah okay I like not so interested and then the guy started speaking to him you know I'm reading this book and the guy's like okay he's like keep trying to initiate conversation and he's done reading this book and you know what's really good folk are you interested in and the guys like well what's this book he's like Sean home the park and the guy is what jack says well yeah no I was reading in and really help me and and I got saved from it I sort of trust him goes dude are you Christian it's a gays like they try to convert me does it well listen I'm not can bring Jesus really save me like that he stood up he goes are you crazy I'm a Jew I warned Israel I'm a Jew your question are you great he was like stormed off he was so furious I was like that's his joy so but you said it's true it's this language that connects us even if we're not doing them it's low right there's the tour connects us okay so and there so if we had I could like tell you all we look great is those stories like that like cab drivers right like cab drivers here know like more tar than I can ever know so anyway so so we said it's something that connects us it's our relationships our my connect system we said it is the our language right and Hannah what was it that you said again right that was beautiful ice it's a guy child life to make us happy the Torah is for us when Moshe Rabbeinu went up to get the Torah there's a Gomorrah and Shabbos that says Moses went up to get the Torah and the angel said God what's that guy doing here and what did God tell them he's here to get the Torah and the angel said God he's here to get the Torah why would you give it to men they're gonna mess it up right they're gonna mess up the Torah don't give it to man right keep it here in heaven with us angels who are perfect right angles don't leave footprints human beings leave footprints and it says God the Gemara says God turned to Moses and said Moshe defend yourself I'll read it directly Moshe said he turned to the angels this Torah that is being given to man well tell me what's written in it they said they read from the first commandment it says I knew his channel kappa shared city come here and they shine like a fresh air to see Simon air it's me Ryan I am God the God who took you out of Egypt he said to the Angels were you ever enslaved in Egypt right did you have a power that you had to answer to and the angel said said no okay and he says I'll just say instead of reading it's pretty long they insist then well what else what else is written in this tour of yours that you're given to man and the angel said you should have no other power should we no other guy and he said do you live amongst other nations that you are tempted to worship their gods I said no right do you live in America where we're saying the word God is more inappropriate than saying the f-word no no I did we don't what else is written this story I said to the angels they said do not commit adultery he said are you tempted by your neighbor's wife do you live down here what else is written in the Torah don't steal are you re are you tempted to steal your neighbor's car or go into a store and didn't have enough money so you just want to take it and and he kept going through the questions and at the end at the end it says the Angels gave him blessings and presents and even the Angel of Death sent him with presents right why is the month of the Torah why is that given to human being why is the sign twins why is it given to human beings and why does it say that that that the Angels say you're right it's for you we are going to mess it up so why are you giving it to us God we're gonna mess it up Shabbos is hard Chavez's heart six days a week I'm using my smartphone none of my friends are doing the sharpest thing and I know there's all these fun snapchats and what's up with that and Facebook who doesn't really matter if I just swipe like really that's gonna bring my connection with you right it is hard dressings new I know it's pretty hot outside and I'm the weird one not my friends right no one's dressing like this but so why you giving you tasks God and what does God say cuz it's meant for man to mess up it's meant every single one of you said it's meant to make us happy which is why you can't learn it in the house of mourning so if it's not making us happy and if I feel like Torre's a burden and if I feel like man what'd I get myself into then there's something wrong here when you see people who are moping and depressed but they look religious there's something wrong there tours meant to bring us to happiness Yaakov Avenue Jacob did not have rural ha'qodesh divine inspiration for 22 years do you know why his son Yosef was missing for 22 years his son Joseph was right Yosef when his brother Zoltan he was missing for 22 years this Trina cannot rest God rule hakodesh cannot rest someone who's depressed I'm sad right Rebbe Nachman from Breslau says the greatest tool that the y8 sir hara uses is sadness why because you cannot feel happy you cannot tell you sorry you cannot feel connected to God when you're sad it's meant to bring us to happiness it cement to - to create this relationship with God yes if I feel like it's actually hindering it then let's talk about it let's work it out the Torah was given to men so we will live by it 8 a.m. heat it is the tree of life right so we're going to live like it live by it but we're going to mess it up and then we're gonna we're gonna fall then we're gonna get back up again it says ain't havoc by our - I US otavalo yack down there is no subject there's no righteous person in this world who's done good but hasn't sinned why if you're a righteous human being if you are living on this world that means that you messed up because that's what makes us man but we have the option Adam wise Adam called Adam because he's from the Adama from the ground he's after Adama I done is I done man I will be similar we have the potential to be like ground dust earth we are Dharma we have the potential to be I done that I will be similar I will be liking to God I'll express my mind my soul I'll Express that godliness within me so I've got a really nice class which is next week well I want to finish up with Shiva and speak about McGillis ruse which is the Megillah that we read on Lois have a wonderful day you [Music]