The Journey of Teshuva - One Small Step ; Yeshiva Shaarei Torah South Africa

this tour class is brought to you by torahanytime.com [Music] is the world famous Rob muradastra even though he is in a smallish kahila that is terrorists spreads all over the world [Music] our different program because of the circumstances can you be around the world in the same match of joining us from from his home from his hometown able to give us the shizuk and we don't want to also take this opportunity to thank to thank I'm a scared of my way in the form of his efforts and helping to make sure that this year that we can carry on having our extra limiting access to make sure that not just not just the mandatory but much more than that and to thank also David blumener for his all of his health and he's helped in the beginning of our studio which is coming towards you're coming towards the end of the river so successfully and without any further Ado I'll ask you about left team to please Jesus okay thank you so much of a saucer for um wow hi could you hear me yeah okay thank you so much uh remember solzer for the warm introduction it's good to see uh yoshiva again the manal again and um it was really quite an honor to be able to uh be together with the boys a few years ago and look forward to perhaps again one day being able to join you personally but when the Republic may be part of that is you could stay in your dalaramas and yet to uh to those who are interested so we know we're holding in the most important days of the year now um and in all probability you would imagine that uh Satan and the yitzahara is exerting as much energy and effort as possible to make sure that we don't take advantage of these days because as we know even the mission Brewer brings down that each one of these days one could rectify the corresponding day of the previous year and some even say of one's entire life in other words today for me it's uh it's Monday I think yeah today it's right now for me it's Monday for you guys out there in South Africa it's already but wherever you're holding I wonder if I by giving this year could help out my Tuesdays and You by listening to Something in America correctify retroactively Mondays I'll leave that to to the bigger lambd on him but anyway these these days are invested with great energy and great power and they're the most important days of the year and therefore what a wonderful program this is to be able to share Torah together at this momentous time the month of tishway we're now in the month of tishui we know that every Hebrew letter has a numerical value it's called gematrio we know aleph is the equivalent of one bases two giml is three and so on and so forth Yoda's 10 Huff is 20 laminate is 30 cuff is a hundred let's take the word tishray for a moment the tough is 400 the shin is 300. the ratio is 200 and the unit is 10 910 but then there's another aspect of Gematria and that is amazingly we know everything in Tyra is significant there is no detail of Torah that we could say I don't know it's just one of those things maybe it's not really that important we know every small detail of Torah is Laden with great meaning including the kudais including the vocalizations the dots so there's actually an idea that every nakuda has a gamatria so for example a um hirak which is one dot is a yud equals 10. and it's Sayre which is two dots or a schwa which is two dots is two years is 20. and a segol is 30. and a Patak is a horizontal VAV is six and uh comets when I was a kid before art scroll took over all the sudurim they used to have sudurem with the Comets with a horizontal line and then under the line was a circle nowadays you know they homogenize everything so you have a horizontal line and a vertical line but that's not really what a comats looks like it come out says a horizontal line with a DOT so a comats equals 16. there's a horizontal line and a DOT and a yard above and a yard okay so if we were to take the total tally the total Gematria of the word tishre tough Shin ratio so the letters equal 9 10 and then you have a Herrick under the tough is 10. and you have a Shiva under the shin two dots is twenty and you have it say Ray under the race is another 20 a total of 960. now what is the significance of 960 . it's very interesting if let's say I was in South Africa two and a half years ago I know not everybody eats children but there are people who do eat challant in South African America you have to eat children if you don't eat cholent it's like sacrilegious it's like they're going to ask you I don't know you know are you Jewish or not but not every country in the world but let's take the example of children so the the story goes in the big yeshivas they have this huge pot of cholant it's a tremendous path now I'm not recommending doing this but what would happen if a mouse falls in the challenge that's right a mouse can you eat the challenge so usually there's a rule in kashras that if the kosher item is 60 times bigger than the trade item it's bottle bashishim however there's another rule that if it's a berry-off it's an entity if it's an entire being a barrier is not bottle according to tamad babli afilu be LF Loy battle even in a thousand if you have an entire entity it's not bottle even if a small insect falls into a challenge if it falls in whole a barrier is not bottle it is not nullified however the opinion of the euro xiaomi is that a barrier an entity is bottled in tatkas in 960. if you have 960 more of the volume of something which is permitted than the item which is forbidden so then the Forbidden item becomes button a barrier is 960. well putting aside the analogy of the cholant and the mouse let's think about ourselves for a moment we are abaria we are an entire entity and at least according to the usami there would be a way for us to purify ourself and that is in a Mikvah we know there's a concept that um if somebody immerses in amikvah the Mikvah could render somebody pure from certain impurities and in fact the beneath writes interestingly does anybody know how many look are in a Mikvah well they're 40 good they're 40 saw in a Mikvah they're 40 sa in amikvah now how many look are in Assa there are four log in aikov and six kav in Assa so how many look in a mukva 40 times 24. which means 900 and something exactly no I don't know who's talking but you're on the ball 960. they're 960 lug in a Mikvah what's the significance of 960 look in the mix but the answer is we are a barrier we are an entire complete entity we are by the way let me just go back when I was in seventh grade I know you guys seventh grade is already high school I don't know am I getting that right but when I by in America seventh grade you're still in elementary school you're still basically you're a baby in America it takes a very long time to mature because we have you know all these uh Fruity Pebbles and Frosted Flakes and all this stuff it takes us longer to mature in America so you guys already mature in seventh grade but we're little kids in seventh grade but I do remember when I was about 11 12 years old we had a review he taught us the following it's called the blacksa 6463 no what am I talking about black so 6463 it's a formula to remember shirim the base is Baya the lamid is lug the cut the cuff is AFA blacksa 6463 there's six Baya in a log for lug in a Cav in a saw three saw in an apha blacksa 6463 and I tell you I remember this until this day but that's how I figured out that they're 24 look in a saw because they're four Logan a cob and six cavana so okay putting that aside let's keep things clear they're 960 look in a Mikvah what's the significance of that is that if little old me goes into amikvah I can render myself pure I could purify myself in 960 look after all the you xiaomi tells us that a barrier is bottle and 960 an entire entity could become nullified in 960. so even if let's say I've done things that I'm not proud of this year going into a Mikvah it accomplishes some degree of Purity now you still don't think you could jump into a mixed line you're good to go all of a sudden you're clean you still have to do chuva but it sort of inspires the heart to be motivated to do chuva be it as it may a barrier is bottle in 960. someone who immerses in amikvah is tahar in 960. so friends I ask you you know the month of tishre is equal to 960 it's gamachia 960 how many hours are there from the beginning of shallow until yimaki Purim 40 days of chuva how many hours in these 40 days so we have 40 days 40 times 24 amazingly is 960. that teaches us says that this time of the year these 40 days are like a Mikvah they're like a ritual bath where as we travel through these days whether you're prepared or not whether you're ready or not it's like if somebody throws someone into a Mikvah they become pure whether they like it or not so as you travel through these 40 days whether you're focused or you're not focused whether you're ready or you're not ready nobody comes out and emerges from these 40 days the same way as when they came in so that's an important idea to understand that the ribonisham is so to speak our Mikvah mikvay Israel Hashem Hashem is with these 40 days 24 hours a day 960 hours is purifying US during this time of the year so once we're on the analogy once we're speaking about the subject of a Mikvah the great Tanner of the Akiva in the end of Yuma he he said the famous words fortunate are the Jewish people he says before whom are you purifying yourselves and who purifies you may it's your father in Heaven foreign I will sprinkle you with the purifying Waters and you will become pure and it says it's very interesting that raviakiva cites tupsakim I'm going to sprinkle you with the purifying Waters and plastic number two is mikfei Israel Hashem why does why does he say the nipsakim just say the Revenge films are Mikvah why is rabi Akiva bringing up these tubesakim so rafam was the legendary rashishiva of yesiva tarvadas and actually rapam was a talmud I learned in Yeshiva Cafe and I learned by the great rashiva Ravena whose father was the founder of the Yeshiva of David Leibowitz and Wes was also the rabbi over of palm you know in Europe that a hundred years ago if you would go today if you go to most homes you know in America they have a picture of a Maisha um some people have a picture of rabaran Cutler some people have a picture of face of ribiakov kamonesky some people have rebevadi Yosef some people have uh I have both by the way I keep this picture behind me Ramos this way nobody knows who I am am I ashkenaziardi I'm not telling you you'll have to figure on your own now I'm asking Nazi but I happen to enjoy robavady's Farm very much so I saw a picture of emotion rubber vadya I didn't even know they met so I had to get in I put it behind me this way everybody everybody likes it okay but back in the day in Europe in every Jewish home there was a picture of review inspector the governor of and he had a son with three harsh Specter and he says a magnificent shot in this mishnah why Ravi Kiva brings tupsukum he says there are two kinds of purification one kind of purification is the purification of amikvah and the purification of the Mikvah let's say you're you know you're when I I used to be very claustrophobic I didn't like to stick my head under the water so let's say you want to say you know what I don't like sticking my head under the water I'm gonna go into the Mikvah 90 and I'll be 90 to her what percent Taha are you if you keep your head above the water zero It's All or Nothing and what if you stick your hand up your Webbie has a question and you want to answer it while you're in the Mikvah and your hand is out of the water you're zero percentile what if your little finger is sticking up a little bit you're zero percent now what if one here on your head is out of the water it accomplishes nothing going to the Mikvah is All or nothing either you're in or you're out but then there's another kind of purification and that is the purification of the hazard the Waters of the paraduma and when the Cayenne sprinkles on you the Waters of the paraduma if that water touches the tip of your finger even one drop you become tahar so there are two kinds of purification there's and then there's number two there's going to the Mikvah going to the mix all or nothing either you're totally in or you're totally out but then there's the purifying Waters if you merely come into contact with the purifying Waters you're pure says the sun reviews inspector there are two kinds of chuvais one kind of chuva is you completely change your life forever last year I wasted so much time last year when I came home from Yeshiva I had three hours at four hours I just wasted my time I ate and then I uh played games and then ah I was movato Tyra and you know what sometimes I even fought with my brothers and sisters and you know what sometimes when my parents asked me to do something I didn't listen and you know what sometimes instead of coming five minutes early to every davening sometimes I came two minutes late to davening and I know I'm not supposed to do that because once you come late to davening then you're you know you're behind the eight ball and you're catching up and you might not start from an essay with the seabor and for sure according to the mission Brewer you have to start schman Essay with it certainly and I had a lot of things that last year that I'm not so proud of and maybe other things this year I'm a changed person I'm gonna do a complete shuva this year when I come home from Yeshiva I'm going to spend every moment learning and I'm never gonna fight with my brothers and sisters again and I'm going to come on time to every single davening and everything my parents asked me I'm going to cooperate with great tarakharats I'm a different person this year you can't recognize me that is certainly the goal and that kind of chuva is a chuva shalima a complete shuva that kind of chuva is comparable to dunking in the Mikvah either you're completely in or you're completely out but the thing is I think we all know that even though that's a very Noble goal it's not always so realistic it might work for Rosh Hashanah it might work for some gedalia maybe even I could keep up until Yom Kippur but the likelihood of me making use of every moment in my spare time and coming on time to every Dominique and not finding my brothers and listening to everything my parents ask you know you know the eight Sahara is uh he's he's also a formidable opponent and the likelihood of me beating him in every area in life that I have challenges I might have an easier time during the associated but the likelihood of me going the whole year that way look between me and you it ain't happening right it's not really that likely so so then what if chuv is like going to the mick fund it's all or nothing so uh I guess it's nothing because I'm not going to completely change myself I'm not going to spend every minute that I'm home from Yeshiva learning and and come it's too much it's too hard so the mishnah and Ravi Akiva tells you and tells me and tells all of kalistram that if chuva that is comparable to a Mikvah is not really that likely there is another kind of chuva and that is the chuva that is comparable to the purifying Waters and if you merely come into contact with this kind of chuva and you just do a little bit that is also chuva so you know what maybe this year when I come home from Yeshiva I won't be able to use every moment properly but I'm going to accept upon myself this year that on Sundays I'm going to learn an extra 20 minutes am I a different person I'm not a totally different person I'm still not using every single night maybe the way of Maisha Feinstein would I'm not even using Sunday night that way but I'm making a significant change in Sunday night I'm gonna do something small where now I say we banished I recognize the value of time and one day I'm gonna use all my time properly every night properly every Sunday night properly but right now I'm working toward doing a complete shuva so for this year for tough shin payalif I am going to make sure that on Sundays I'm going to learn an extra 20 minutes I may not be completely transforming myself I may not be revolutionizing my year but achuva some level of chuva I'm doing something I'm doing I may not be chuva com be doing chuva comparable to a Mikvah but I will be doing chuva comparable to the Mayim you know last year I really wasn't so careful with every word I said sometimes I said things about my friends maybe even a little bit derogatory it might have been lashinhara and come to think of it I may have been doing that every single day by recess so certainly the goal is not to speak badly about other people ever but to stand on rosh hashan or on some get down in the beginning you're going to say okay this year I'm never gonna say a word of LA shanhara we should try to do that but realistically maybe instead of trying to do the All or Nothing chuvo where when a few days pass by and we realized you know we succumbed or maybe we fell short and we just throw in the towel oh so I guess chuva is not for me let's try to do a chuva like the Miami a small chuva this year on Shabbos by Shabbos lunch I'm going to say over one and I'm going to be careful that at the lunch table on Shabbos I'm not going to speak Russian am I transforming myself am I transforming the way I speak not yet we still have a long way to go but just because we have a long way to go that doesn't mean we can't start doesn't mean we can't do something significant substantial and do a chuva that's analogous that's similar to coming in contact with the Mayim I want to share with you another amazing Camacho we know we all know the famous chuva is great it reaches all the way up to the throne of Glory you ever hear that chuva I mean you should know a few weeks ago I don't know about two weeks ago I was walking matsoy Shabbos and I looked up at the Moon and I saw something very strange there was a red star right next to the Moon so that's my wife what's going on here is that a plane is that uh what is that is that fireworks so we didn't know so we looked it up it was Mars for a few nights in America Mars and the moon were right next to each other now I want to ask you a question how long would it take you to get to the moon you know how long would it take you to get tomorrow it would take a very very long time it would take years it could to get to Mars it could take years to get to the case that is a journey if you look in the words of Ghazal there are 500 years before each of the seven levels of the heavens it takes thousands of years to get to the kise and yet chuva is great it gets you you know what scientists have not been able to reach and Achieve through rocket ships chuva could get to the kise the numerical value of chuva is 713. don't make him a stone say oh the rabbi said 630 no I know there's 613 mid slice chuva is 713. was one of the great mikubalum of the 17th century he was nifter in 1648 he uncovers an amazing type of gamachia you know it says that moisha explained the Torah by our hitav very well and Rashi says what does it mean very well into 70 languages how does Rashi know where does Rashi see in the Posse that moisture translated the Torah into 70 languages so one of the mafar Shima on Rashi the the Rebellion he says if you take the word hate Dave hey is five and you add hey yud that's another 15. and then you add hey you had Tess that's 24. and then you add hey you attest vase that's 26 5 15 24 26 is 70. Rashi knew that Maisha translated the Torah into 70 languages because there's a system of gamatria where you take the first letter and then the first two letters and then the first three letters and then the first four letters that's a system of gamachu foreign take the word cough is 20. is 80. is 81. is 86 is 106. is 108.14.18 add up 20 plus 80 plus 81 plus 86 plus 106 plus 108 plus 114 plus 118 is gamatria chuva 713. okay I guess you have to be a big macabo to figure that out but that's what he says chuva is the numerical value of kise plus plus and so on and so forth so I ask you why would chuva if you only through this formula of kise why do we have to use this formula of kise to have the numerical value of chuva so and so on a safe it's teaching us this lesson don't think you're getting to the case overnight don't think I'm already in Massif right that's the name of ITA and the whole Africa and the whole continent and they're ready tomorrow next year I'm going to be the god of Hadar emergency don't think you're gonna change completely overnight to get to the kisakovide you only get there step by step by step this year you're going to work on Sunday night next year you're gonna work on Monday night the following year maybe you'll add two nights and then while you're doing that this year you'll be careful about what you speak about Shabbos afternoon and maybe next month you'll start listening carefully to the way your parents speak to you and being compliant with our hearts the only way to reach the kise is small steps baby steps little by little by little you gotta fool the Satan because what the Satan wants you to do is the Satan wants you to say this year I'm gonna be a perfect Sadiq and then tomorrow the first time you make a mistake the Satan said you see you're not a perfect Sadiq so uh you might as well don't even try don't don't even try to become a time don't even try to become a Sadiq the great limit says is the way that we get to the kise is little by little by little by little and ultimately if we take step after step after step we will have the Seattle to reach the kise you know the story goes that when the Sawa heard about a new invention he was very excited because the time was very excited when he learned about the invention of the elevator and that is because that the elevator was the perfect martial to avoid the sashem because we know there's a great principle that the revolution he just asks of Us open up for me a little hole a little opening like the point of a needle and if we open up our hearts and we make a small Improvement and a small changes the emotion promises us he's going to open up that hole big enough for big trucks to go through for big wagons to go through saw in the elevator A Perfect Analogy of Avida sashem all you need to do is a little bit just press the button just step aboard and if you step aboard the Revenge someone will carry you the rest of the way up you know sometimes you you look at chass it looks so big it looks so vast you look at big Sadiq him it looks like it's such a difficult thing to serve Hashem properly it is it requires a lot Shas is very vast but the thing is you don't really have to do all the effort you just have to start you just have to open up a little bit you just have to make small changes think of it like an elevator just press the button step aboard and the rebunch them will carry us the rest of the way there so I like to think that this is one of the the messages of the shifar the chauffeur it has this little hole on the bottom and the baltukaya blows this little hole and that's what we have to do on our end we just have to open up a little bit we just have to maybe if we're not having as much success in learning as we hoped for we just have to try a little bit more maybe put in a little extra time maybe come a little bit earlier maybe try a little bit harder don't think well you know you have to sweat like uh like some stories that they said of godolam in Europe that they stayed up all night they put their feet in ice to yeah maybe one day but right now all the Revenge some asks of us is just a little little bit that's represented by the small opening of the shifar that's minha made Sarah karasika but if we're able to open up just a little bit then the top of the chauffeur is open wide that represents is awaiting to open up new Vistas for us new opportunities for us if I could just uh conclude mayor Shapiro the leblina rub the great the founder of the daphayomi who was once invited to speak in a shul so he turns to one of his uh javerim there he said what should I speak about he said what do you mean we know a Jew when a Jew goes into shul he says so speak about the passage great idea we know Rashi says on those words the modesty of the Jewish homes he saw the doorways of the Jews were not right opposite each other this way one one house cannot Peak and pair into what's doing in the other house and everybody had their modesty and privacy but mayor Shapiro said Al Pedro she said homiletically that he's so jealous of the Jewish people he saw that our doorways are not aligned you know which doorways he was talking about the doorway of a Jew and the doorway because I'm ready to open up the world to you I'm ready to open up big big doorways for you even if your doorway is open on is opened up only ever so slightly billum said that's not fair why does Revolution give a yid so much so much Heavenly assistance that if we open up our hearts just a little little bit going to open up the world for us the love Hashem has for us that even if we just do a little bit is going to bench us with tremendous and open up the world for us so certainly it's the beginning of the year and we definitely have big hopes and Big Dreams of making major changes this year and we have big aspirations and we all should but on the other hand we also have to have a degree of realism and practicality that although we may be dreaming big and as the Sim will get there at the same time we should have in mind small concrete caballos and commitments that we make in the beginning of the year and everybody knows what would be appropriate for them what they need to work on what they're able to work on whether in the area of limaratura of course whether in Fila benadam whether aim and in the Merit of us making small commitments and small cabalos we are confidently will grant us all great Seattle and I want to thank again Ravi solza for giving me the opportunity and Rabbi Blumenthal for uh for making the contact and inviting me to join you this evening in South Africa and I hope to be able to see all of you again soon everyone should be benched simulator good health and uh okay thank you everyone yeah thank you everyone thank you thank you thank you you've just experienced another Torah class brought to you by toraanytime.com