We've discussed many times that the Torah commentaries write, that the ultimate way for us to gain our place in the next world is by making our maximum effort to grow in our emunah. We've also mentioned how one of the highest expressions of emunah, belief in Hashem, is to place high focus in our dedication to talking to Hashem in our own words. We've mentioned previously how the Chofetz Chaim writes that the reason tragedies were befalling the people of his time was because although people were accustomed to praying the three prescribed prayers, Shacharis, Mincha and Maariv, nevertheless he was calling on people to also talk to Hashem in their own words multiple times a day, because, as he says, the prescribed prayers are said daily and therefore for many people sometimes become monotonous and lack the real meaning and intention of what a prayer should look like. We've also mentioned what the Sefer Chareidim and the Shelah Hakadosh write, that the effect of this deep connection in the form of secluding oneself away from other people and communing with Hashem alone, talking to Hashem in one's personal words, the effect that this has on one's soul is seven times greater than the effect that Torah study has on one's soul. Anyone who is somewhat familiar with Torah literature will have read many passages about the great value of Torah study. The one that we recite every morning that many are familiar with is that Talmud Torah, the learning of Torah, is equated to all of the mitzvahs put together. Yet we are taught here that the effect of personal prayer, talking to Hashem with sincerity in one's own words, is seven times greater than even that. And there are many other Torah passages throughout Torah literature and Torah commentaries that Bezrat Hashem over time we will have the opportunity to explore together, highlighting the importance of personal prayer with Hashem.  For many people, talking to Hashem in one's own words, especially for longer periods, can be difficult. Of course, the more one grows in one's emunah, the easier that becomes, because one doesn't anymore feel like one is talking to a wall. It can be very difficult to talk to Hashem when one doesn't really believe and feel that He is listening. And our sincerity, dedication, and motivation to talk to Hashem will very much depend on the degree of our belief; not only that He exists and is running the show, but that He is actually listening to every word that I utter, even though I do not hear any response. As we grow in our emunah journey and we try to internalize the belief that Hashem is present and listening to every single thing that I utter, if we stop for a moment and internalize that thought, it will quickly become apparently obvious that we should, ideally, be dedicating a lot of time to talking to Hashem, because why would we go to an alternative address? Nevertheless, after all is said and done, talking to Hashem can be a difficult endeavor, because even though we might be trying to believe that He is listening to us, we nevertheless don't hear a response, and much of the time, perhaps, don't see nor experience any fruits to the prayers we might have made, and therefore it can be very difficult to be motivated to talk to Hashem in our own words.  "Hashem, I know that You are listening to me, but it's also so difficult to be motivated to talk to You in a serious and sincere manner, for longer periods especially, because I don't hear Your responses, and You are not like another human being where I can see You and hear You. I do believe, and I want to believe more, that You are listening to me, but it is also difficult to internalize that belief. Hashem, I'm asking You to guide me to the things that will motivate me to not only grow in my emunah and belief in You, but also take it to the next level, to apply that belief in a practical way, and be sincerely dedicated in talking to You in a serious and sincere way."

Hashem runs the world exclusively, He does not need my help. Nevertheless, I have a commandment to perform the mitzvah of Hishtadlus, to make my own personal effort, although this might seem like an apparent contradiction. As discussed many times, if this is what Hashem commanded us, this is what we do. And the best advice of how to find out what our personal requirement should be, in terms of how much Hishtadlus we ought to make, is to talk to Hashem in our own personal words and ask Him for clarity and guidance. There is a well-known story told about Rav Chaim Volazhinne, the main student of the Vilna Gaon. In times of old, it was a form of medicine and healing to place leeches over one's body. Rav Chaim Volazhinne was once seen with leeches placed over his body, and whilst wearing the leeches, he attended a Torah class by the Vilna Gaon, where one of the concepts that was discussed was how Hashem exclusively runs the world and if one internalizes this emunah, that Hashem exclusively runs every single detail in the world and doesn't need our help and Hishtadlus, then sometimes, if we have truly internalized this belief, we might be absolved from our obligation to perform Hishtadlus. And Rav Chaim Volazhinne was so inspired by hearing these words, that although he actually needed these leeches on his body for his health, he then and there decided to remove the leeches from his body, because he now felt no need to show a display of what might seem to be helping Hashem, because he had internalized with absolute clarity that Hashem exclusively is the one controlling every single detail about our health and He doesn't actually need our Hishtadlus. And at that point, because his emunah was so strong, he was now absolved of his obligation to make efforts about his health in this way. And later on, during the same day, Rav Chaim Volazhinne was seen wearing the leeches again and when asked, "didn't you mention earlier that you don't need those leeches anymore, because it was so clear and vivid to you that Hashem runs the world exclusively after we heard those words from the Vilna Gaon? So why are you wearing the leeches again?" And Rav Chaim replied, "earlier on, I was feeling so inspired by the words of the Vilna Gaon that Hashem exclusively runs every single detail in the world, it actually felt like a super absurdity for me to try and make any effort in an endeavor and pursuit of my health. However, now, a few hours later, I do not feel that same inspiration and clarity and although, of course, I know that Hashem runs the world exclusively, I nevertheless do not have that same level of absolute clarity of Ein Od Milvado that I achieved earlier today. And right now, I feel that I am not absolved of the mitzvah of Hishtadlus."  To find the exact line in all the areas of our lives is so difficult. We are so privileged to be able to reach out to the One who created us. "Hashem, You are my personal Father, and You can give me my correct perspective. Please Hashem, show me the exact path that would be the ideal course for me to follow in my life."

We've been discussing that truly internalizing emunah, that Hashem exclusively runs the world, can and perhaps should lead to us sometimes being uncomfortable about having to make our own efforts in our endeavors, otherwise known as hishtadlus. There is no black and white law in Torah literature which outlines subjectively how much hishtadlus each and every one of us is required to make and therefore, as discussed previously, what we ought to do is of course learn any Torah literature that might be available, as well as consult Torah leaders - otherwise known as da'as Torah, and ultimately, after everything is said and done, we ought to talk to Hashem with sincerity and ask him to guide us to get it right.  The verse in Tehillim teaches us, Hashem Tzilcha - Hashem is your shadow, and as the commentaries explain, just like the shadow one sees reflects the actual item being portrayed, so if one puts out five fingers, the shadow that reflects will be of five fingers, whereas if one puts out only one finger, the reflecting shadow will be of only one finger. And in the same way, the more emunah and bitachon we opt to live with, the more Hashem comes through for us. So in a sense, the more I grow in my emunah and bitachon endeavor, the less hishtadlus I might be required to make. I saw a nice analogy that helps illustrate this concept. There was once a beggar who did not have enough provisions even for his basic necessities and he would go from door to door asking people for donations. Usually people would donate relatively small amounts. He once approached a well-known wealthy individual and nevertheless received only a small sum. Then there was a second beggar who decided that he was not going to go from door to door asking for money, but rather he went straight to the wealthy individual's house. And upon arrival, he begged him, saying, "I'd really appreciate it and be grateful to you. And if you don't, I may starve and who knows what will become of me. Please help me." And the wealthy individual felt a tremendous responsibility to help the poor man and in the end gave a substantial sum to help him out. The reason the first poor man did not receive the substantial sum like the second poor man is because the wealthy individual realized that this poor man was going to many addresses and in the end, after much effort, although he was receiving small sums from everybody, he might make ends meet after collecting all of his small donations. Whereas the second poor individual made it very clear that he is not going anywhere else and therefore the wealthy individual felt responsible to help out significantly.  And in the same way, Hashem Tzilchah - Hashem is your shadow. When we approach Hashem for help, but in a sense have many backup plans and alternative addresses should Hashem not come through for us, we might be comparable to that first poor individual. And as taught, the way Hashem comes through for us is like a shadow; because we have not relied upon Him exclusively, He might not come through for us in a way where we are able to witness clearly the hand of divine providence. Whereas when we approach HaShem with sincerity, as if He is our only address, then HaShem, so to speak, responds like the wealthy individual who feels completely responsible, because this is the only address. "Hashem, Hishtadlus, is not an easy area to find the right balance. And I ask you to help me out to fulfill this mitzvah in the right way. At the same time, I ask you to help me in my endeavor to grow with sincere emunah and believe in you and live my life in a way that you are my only go-to address."

We've been discussing the seemingly absurd mitzvah of Hishtadlus, because again, if Hashem runs every detail of the world exclusively as Emunah teaches us, my job is actually seemingly to do the opposite, to internalize that I don't need to help Hashem. So why then, Hashem, did You command me to make my own effort to perform Hishtadlus, to try to succeed in my endeavors? We've discussed that the basic reason we perform Hishtadlus is not because of our understanding of the mitzvah, but rather just because He said so. We believe in Hashem, and although it might seem like an apparent contradiction that on the one hand we are called on to believe Hashem exclusively runs every detail and internalize that belief, and on the other hand we are called on to make our maximum effort to do what seemingly seems like we are helping Hashem, which sometimes could appear to be the antithesis of Emunah. We've mentioned previously that some Torah commentaries nevertheless do offer some reason as to why Hashem would have commanded us in this seemingly absurd mitzvah, and they explain that by Hashem commanding us to perform the mitzvah of Hishtadlus, He is actually providing us with an opportunity to grow more in our Emunah. Because by us performing an act which seems to contradict everything we know about Emunah - it seems to be like I am making it happen now and it's not HaShem - I nevertheless now have a chance to overcome what seemingly meets the eye. Although it might appear like Hashem is not orchestrating the details to my life, nevertheless the truth of the matter is that yes, we might have a mitzvah to perform the Hishtadlus, but we also have a mitzvah to internalize that our Hishtadlus is completely disconnected from the results we might think we are achieving, because only Hashem sends us our results. The money I make, the recovery from illness, finding one's soulmate, resolving a relationship issue or whatever other area one might be dealing with, only Hashem exclusively pulls every single string. The difficult question becomes how much Hishtadlus should I contribute to the situation, and as discussed previously, if I make too little Hishtadlus, that is just being lazy, forgoing my obligation and mitzvah to perform Hishtadlus, which is certainly wrong, and if I do too much Hishtadlus, that can borderline idol worship many a time, as discussed. So how much Hishtadlus am I required to make? Some Torah commentaries explain that the litmus test to help us determine how much Hishtadlus we might be required to make depends on what makes us feel comfortable in the situation that we are not relying on an outright open miracle. So for example, if I am looking for a marriage partner, and I decide I'm not going to make any personal effort whatsoever, I'm just going to continue with my own endeavors without making any active effort in finding a spouse, and let's say one day somehow my destined spouse would arrive at the door of my house without me having made any effort, and after witnessing that situation, I would get the shock of my life and talk about this open miracle for the rest of my life, that would be an indication that I have not done enough Hishtadlus in this particular situation. Whereas let's say that I have made only one phone call in my endeavor to find my respective spouse, and although others might suggest that I ought to make more phone calls because having made just one phone call is not enough of a Hishtadlus - of an effort, for some people that Hishtadlus could be enough, because if one would see success in finding their spouse from that situation, it won't now be considered in their eyes as an absolute open miracle.  Ultimately of course, seeing as Emunah is our life's work, and getting the right balance of Hishtadlus is perhaps one of the most difficult mitzvahs. As discussed, the wisest thing to do is to ask Hashem for clarity. "Hashem, please guide me in the right direction of how much Hishtadlus to make, not too much, not too little, but just exactly what you require of me."

Seeing as our life's work is to internalize the meaning of the words Ein Od Milvado - there is nothing else in the world except for Hashem - not just to know Emunah in our heads, but to truly grow in internalizing the Emunah in our hearts and in the very core of our beings, it is worth revisiting a question we've discussed previously.  If Hashem runs the world exclusively, why do I need to try make any effort in what looks like I am trying to help Him, otherwise known as Hishtadlus? Whether trying to contribute and help Hashem in order to make money, or perhaps for a sick person who is trying to get better, where one might make an effort to go to a doctor or take medication, or whatever other area one might be dealing with, if Hashem runs the world exclusively, why am I called on to make any effort whatsoever?  It is important to ask this question and perhaps even be slightly disturbed by this question, because again, the more that we internalize the Emunah that we learn, the more we sincerely try to live by its values. It's not just a theoretical subject of something interesting that we learn about and then move on with our lives the way we might be used to living them. Growth in Emunah is about taking the concepts that we have learned and making our own efforts to grow in our personal lives in a practical way. So if Hashem runs the world exclusively, why do I need to do Hishtadlus? Why do I need to try make an effort to help Hashem out? I am trying to grow in my belief that Hashem exclusively is running the show, so it is difficult for me to understand why I should be needed to do anything.  As mentioned previously, the simple answer to this question is just because Hashem told us to do the mitzvah of Hishtadlus. Whether we understand it or not does not change our commitment to Hashem's mitzvahs. Although Hashem has commanded us to believe in Him and grow in our Emunah and Bitachon and treat our pursuit of sincere Emunah with highest priority, nevertheless He has also commanded us to perform the mitzvah of Hishtadlus. And therefore, if I am sick and I take medication, I am not going against Hashem's will by doing so. Rather, I am fulfilling the mitzvah that He has commanded me to make an effort, whilst of course at the same time remembering what the Torah commentaries teach us about Hishtadlus, that the Hishtadlus that we make is completely disconnected from the final result that we achieve, meaning to say, the medicine that I am taking is not the conduit to making me better. The only thing that can make me better is Hashem, and at the same time, I have a mitzvah to live with a contradiction that I am nevertheless required to make an effort. So the simple and most core reason for us fulfilling the mitzvah of Hishtadlus is just because Hashem told us to.  The more we explore what the Torah sources and great sages have said about and how they related to Hishtadlus, the more we will be able to bridge the gap of being able to live a life of absolute emunah, whilst at the same time being able to fulfill the seeming contradiction of the mitzvah to perform Hishtadlus. "Hashem, I am asking You to please guide us to have clarity in how to reconcile these concepts. I have made it a priority in my life to try my best to internalize the concepts of emunah, and I know that if I relate to Hishtadlus in the wrong way, it can certainly be detrimental to my emunah, because I might be led to think that You are not exclusively running the show, God forbid. Please Hashem, help us to gain insight and Your true perspective."

We've discussed previously with regards to the famous verse that states ein od milvado - there is nothing else in the world except for Hashem exclusively - and we've discussed that there are many levels to what it means to truly understand and internalize this verse. Simply speaking, if someone were to ask me, "do you believe that Hashem runs the world?" and I am to answer in the affirmative, that certainly is a milestone in having understood to some degree what the verse ein od milvado means. However, as discussed many times, Torah commentaries point out that the distance between knowing Emunah in our heads, meaning knowing the information, that yes, Hashem does run the world, as opposed to truly internalizing it in our hearts, which will translate into the way we live our lives with real life Emunah, that distance is greater than the distance between heaven and earth, meaning that there are many levels to what it means to have Emunah. Our life's work is of course initially to grow in our knowledge about Emunah, because without knowing what we are trying to internalize, we can't really move forward. But after one has already understood in one's head that our main purpose in this world is in order to grow in our Emunah, the next step is to try internalize that Emunah more and more into the core of our beings, to the point that Emunah does not just remain an abstract concept or subject, but rather translates into the very core of our beings and the way we live our lives. There is much information available to us about many Torah concepts, from the study of the Chumash itself, Tanach, the Talmud, Halacha, Kabbalistic material, inspiration for character development, and much more. They are all important, and we are certainly encouraged to strive to explore as many areas of Torah as possible. Different people are attracted to different areas of Torah, and although we are all called on to learn all areas of Torah to our best ability, and we should certainly strive to do so, it is nevertheless motivating to remind ourselves about what many Torah commentaries write, that ultimately all the branches of Torah are super important, and again, we should make our maximum effort to explore all the branches of Torah. However, as pointed out by many Torah commentaries, Emunah is not one of the branches, Emunah is the trunk of the tree itself, because when one has Emunah, it automatically leads to all of the branches of the Torah. So whilst it is so vital to explore all the branches of Torah, it is also important to highlight and remind ourselves that the trunk of the tree itself should never be forgotten about, and our highest focus should be placed in not only knowing the concepts of Emunah, but also making our maximum effort in trying to internalize the Emunah in our bones, in a way that it translates to the way that we live our lives.  "Thank you, Hashem, for the incredible privilege to be able to know about Emunah, and to be able to learn about Emunah, and to have the ability to try make an effort to truly internalize the concepts of Emunah. Hashem, please help me from this moment on to grow more and more in not only knowing the concepts of Emunah, but also truly internalizing and changing the way that I live, to living a life of sincere Emunah."

When we approach prayer, tefillah, we know that there are different forms. As discussed previously, one of the highest forms of tefillah is when we offer our thanks and praises to Hashem. Hashem knows exactly what we need, and when we thank Him for what He is already giving us, that gives Him reason to shower more blessings upon us, seeing our appreciation for what He is already giving us. We of course also have the prayer in the form of requests, asking Hashem for the things that we need. It is also important to remember the mitzvah that we have to daven for other people.  The Gemara says that if we know another individual is experiencing suffering, and we neglect to pray for their salvation, we are considered a sinner. And as the commentaries explain, one never knows whose prayer will be accepted in order to alleviate an individual's suffering. And therefore it is of paramount importance to daven to Hashem for other people's needs, as well as all of our own needs, which as taught by the midrash, although Hashem knows exactly what we need, we have a mitzvah to articulate in our own words as if Hashem doesn't understand exactly what we are seeking. And we should also never forget to pray to Hashem for our spiritual needs. Sometimes we might be thriving in our spiritual endeavors. We might be running to perform mitzvos with enthusiasm, loving our learning of Torah, seeking more opportunities to perform chesed and the like. And at other times we might feel no enthusiasm to run after Torah, mitzvos, chesed and the like. And we should always use the opportunity to beg Hashem, “Hashem please help me to love my Torah learning. Hashem please help me to run after more chesed opportunities. Hashem please help me to perform the mitzvahs that you have commanded me with enthusiasm and joy.” And the more we believe, the more we will pray to Hashem in our own words to help us, both in our physical endeavors as well as in our spiritual endeavors. And perhaps the main prayer, over and above everything else, should be, not what do I need -physically or spiritually; it's not about me anymore. “Hashem, what do you need? What can I do for you? Hashem has created us as beings that have a lot of needs in many ways.” And it is a mitzvah to pray for all of our needs. However, it is important to remember that it's not all about us and to bring Hashem into the picture. And Daven, “Hashem, I want to make a difference in this world, not for me, but for you. When it comes to me, I have many dreams and aspirations. And yes, I know I have a mitzvah to Daven for those things, so Hashem, I will do so. And even in a sense, when I'm thanking you, Hashem, for the things that you've given me, what you've taught me in your Torah sources, is such a high form of prayer, in a sense, the spotlight is still on me. Where did you come through for me?  Hashem, I want to shift the spotlight and put it on you. Please, can you help me to make a difference for you in this world? You created me for a reason. And if you created me, it means, as the Gemara says, that every single thing encompassed within all the worlds was created just for me, which means that I am important and I can make a difference to you within your master plan that you designed for this world. Please Hashem, help me to be able to fulfill my purpose for your sake. Please help me, Hashem, to live my life with you at the forefront of my mind. Help me, Hashem, to be the best mother that I can be. Not because I want to be the best mother, but because that will be sanctifying your name and serving you in the best way. And if I'm not feeling well, Hashem, please can you heal me so that I can serve you and perform my service to you, not for my sake, not because of my need to alleviate my pain, but rather because, Hashem, I want to serve you in the highest possible way. Thank you, Hashem, for the gift of tefillah at every single moment.”

As discussed many times, our main job in this world is to grow in our emunah, our belief in Hashem. And one of the branches of emunah is to believe in the potency of the words of the prescribed prayers. If we were to see the spiritual impact of the words that we say, we would not have the free choice anymore whether to say these prayers and how to say them, whether we have devotion, intention and meaning. because the potency of the prescribed prayers would be obvious to all of us and none of us would choose to forgo that opportunity.  Imagine when I am about to say the bracha over a glass of water, that there is a score card out of ten, one being the lowest and ten the highest. Whatever I score for that bracha is the reward I receive in the millions. So, if I had only a little bit of intention and let's say I got a three, I'll get three million dollars for that blessing. If I had full intention, I'll get ten million dollars. If that would actually be the result we experience in this world, most of us would get ten quite often because we want that ten million dollars. But again, our job in this world is not to see, it's to believe. We are taught that the reward that we will receive for each bracha is much greater than one million dollars, much greater than ten million dollars, much greater than all the money in the world. But we don't see that. We have to build that belief and that is our job in this world.  And in the same vein, when I arrive at shul and see that the leader is praying at a very fast pace. Sometimes I might feel, that's great, today I'm going to be able to get an earlier start and that makes sense based on one's logic. But again, our logic can be mistaken if it's not on par with Hashem's perspective. The Emunah approach teaches us that we believe that the potency the prescribed prayers will have in bringing us success is much stronger than any of the practical efforts we might be rushing to. Let's say that after davening today, I plan to go to a business meeting. It very well could happen that I go to this business meeting and it could be a long process of many phone calls, emails, discussions and negotiations before we're able to move forward. And it's also possible that I'll wake up to a situation where I go have a meeting and can close the deal almost instantly without having to go through the hassle of phone calls, emails and many other things. When we build our belief that Hashem is the one running the show, absolutely “ein od mil vado”” - there is nothing else in the world, and Hashem is the one who pulls every string - He can make it that I will approach a situation that could have taken me 10 hours of effort and instead will take me 30 minutes. Because if I am able to build that belief and also internalize the belief that the same words and letters that created the world, the letters of the alphabet, were prescribed by the great sages using certain formulas and combinations of these holy letters to bring out tremendously potent results that lead to blessing, salvation and all of our success, although we might be enticed, based on our logic, when in the middle of the final prayers of the prayer services, such as in the prayer of Aleinu Leshabeach, to finish up the prayer while walking out shul rushing to my business meeting, it would be much wiser to spend a few extra moments saying those words with real meaning and intention and by doing so, reaping much more benefits than any of our personal efforts could reach.  “Thank you Hashem for the gift of personal prayer with you and the opportunity to do so at any given opportunity. And thank you Hashem for the opportunity to pray your prescribed prayers, to say your blessings throughout the day, every single day and tap into these holy, powerful letters and words which I believe and want to believe are much more potent and powerful than anything else I could imagine doing on my own accord. Thank you Hashem for the gift of tefillah.”

As discussed many times, our job in this world is to believe, to have emunah, even when we don't see, when we don't understand. When it comes to the prescribed prayers that have been outlined to us by the sages, the brachos over food and drink, and the many other prescribed blessings that have been outlined to us, we need to believe and internalize that the words that have been outlined in these prescribed prayers are imbued with a special holiness beyond anything we can imagine. Of course, the basic meaning of the words is something we should strive to understand and mean what they say, because there are many levels to the meaning of the prescribed prayers, including their simple interpretation. However, it is important for us to internalize the belief that the prescribed prayers outlined to us by the great sages are not limited to their simple meaning and interpretation. They are much deeper beyond anything we can imagine. And therefore, when we tap into the power of a tefillah prescribed by the sages, we are tapping into the special holiness that they imbued in those words. To help us digest this idea a little bit, we are taught that the world was ultimately created by Hashem with the letters of the alef-bet, and somebody who is able to look through a spiritual lens will just see different combinations of the alef-bet letters in everything that is expressed in this world. There are many anecdotes recounted in Torah literature about people over the ages who were able to perform what is called Kabbalah Maasit, which means that they were able to use the secrets of the Torah to manipulate the way the world runs. If a holy individual who was connected to Hashem in the right way and knowledgeable in this field was able to use the letters of the alef-bet in different combinations and by doing so, literally change nature. It would be crazy for us to imagine that somebody could teleport to the other side of the world within a matter of seconds by saying a few letters or names. And in today's day and age, this is certainly not practiced by and large, but this is something very real that was done over the ages. And it is not difficult to understand when we are taught that the world in essence is the letters of the alef-bet. When you know the combinations and how everything works in the spiritual realm by the combinations of the letters of the alef-bet, if one knows how to manipulate those combinations, then it is easy to understand how nature can be altered for that individual. Although we do not know how to manipulate those letters and we are not aiming to do so, it is motivating and encouraging to internalize the fact that everything in the world is ultimately the letters of the alef-bet - the same letters that we say in our prescribed prayers bring about the potent results that they do, but the sages of times of old who prescribed the prayers were on such a level where they were able to see things on the spiritual realm. Let us take to heart when we say the prescribed prayers, be it Shachris, Mincha, Maariv, Birkas Hamazon, Asher Yatzar - the blessing after the bathroom, or whatever else it may be, that we are now tapping into holy combinations of the same letters that created the world.

The Gemara teaches us that tefillah, prayer, is one of the highest things in the world, and nevertheless, the usual tendency of people is to undermine the power and potency of tefillah. As with many areas, when a certain action is spiritually potent, the evil forces make their maximum efforts to try to deter us from tapping into these holy endeavors. Specifically, because tefillah is one of the highest spiritual endeavors within our reach, as the Gemara outlines, the evil forces in the spiritual realms cause our natural tendency to undermine the potency and power of tefillah. In times of old, before any of the prescribed prayers existed, it was common practice for a Jew to talk to Hashem in their own words, as clearly seen throughout the Torah and Tanach. And even after the prescribed prayers were enacted, it was common practice throughout the generations for people to converse with Hashem in their own words, as outlined by many Torah commentaries. We are so privileged to have both forms of prayer available to us on a daily basis, both the prescribed prayers, as well as the opportunity at any given moment to talk to Hashem in our own words. When it comes to the prescribed prayers, we are encouraged to articulate the words that have been formulated in the correct way, as well as do our best to mean what we are saying. And we are permitted, at certain parts of the Shemona Esrei, to add in our own words to make the tefillos more personal. And as taught by Halacha, in particular by the final paragraph, Elokai Netzor, there is a green card to talk completely in our own words to Hashem about anything and everything. A motivating teaching in Torah literature is that when it comes to our prescribed prayers, in a sense, the evil forces are expecting the prayers to be said because we are prescribed to pray three times a day, and therefore they have the jurisdiction on a spiritual level to prevent our prayers from going up, if perhaps we didn't have the right intention or for many other reasons. Of course, much of the time, our prayers do make it up, but they are on guard expecting our prayers, and therefore if there is an opportunity for them to prevent them from making their way up, they do so; whereas when it comes to our personal prayers, they are unexpected by the evil forces in the spiritual realms. Because we do not have a specific law outlining exactly when we are supposed to talk to Hashem in our own words, and therefore because it is our personal relationship with Hashem and varies from individual to individual, the evil forces in the spiritual realms are not expecting our personal prayers in order to try and make efforts to prevent them from reaching Hashem.  “Thank you, Hashem, for the opportunity to talk to you at any given moment without even requiring me to prepare myself in any particular way. I never feel alone, Hashem, because wherever I go, I always can talk to you, and I believe that you are listening to me. Thank you, my Father, for always being my companion and walking together with me, no matter what I am experiencing, both through the sweet times in my life as well as through the difficult and challenging times.”

We've discussed many times that our job in this world is to believe specifically when we don't see or when we don't understand. We are also called on to have emunah, to believe that with regards to every single one of us, the amount of pleasure that we are destined to experience in this world has been preordained Not only that, as we've learned previously, the Torah commentaries teach that we ourselves, before we came down into this world, prescribed the exact happenings of what will be best for us throughout our lives. And therefore, the amount of pleasure that we are due to experience, we have already prescribed and preordained before we came into this world. When we indulge in some form of forbidden pleasure, we ought to remember Hashem has already preordained the exact amount of pleasure that we are due to receive. And therefore, if we opt to receive some of that pleasure in a forbidden way, we are now detracting from some of the pleasure that Hashem had destined to give to us in a permissible way. The amount of pleasure that Hashem decreed that we will experience will for sure make its way to our lives, because if Hashem decreed so, we believe that that will for sure happen. We are called on to choose to experience that pleasure in a permissible way. When we choose to experience pleasure in a forbidden way, committing a sin, then not only are we using up the pleasure that Hashem has already predestined for us, but also we are committing a sin which has consequences waiting for us in the next world. Whereas when we opt to follow Hashem's commandments and stay away from any form of pleasure which could be related to sin, we will then receive our full measure of pleasure in this world, but in a permissible way. Thereby, we will not have any trace of sin related to that pleasure on our record when we come to the next world. And not only that, it will actually be a mitzvah because it is a mitzvah to enjoy the pleasures that Hashem gives us in this world in a permissible way.  What is important to remember is that we cannot make more pleasure for ourselves than Hashem has already preordained. Sometimes the evil inclination entices us to believe that if we perform a certain forbidden act, we thereby will gain by the pleasure that we will experience. But the truth of the matter, if one is looking out of the eyes of an emunah perspective, is that one cannot add even one iota more of pleasure than has already been preordained by Hashem. And all that pleasure can be experienced and received in a permissible way. We do not need to look to areas that are not permissible, areas of sin, because regardless, we will receive the pleasure that has already been preordained for us.  There is a story told in the Gemara of a man whose evil inclination took over him, and there was a certain very beautiful woman of ill repute. And this man made his way over to experience pleasure in a forbidden way. And at the last moment, when the man had the opportunity to sin, something stopped him, and he decided to make his way back, and he did not commit the sin that he had come for. And this woman of ill repute was so inspired by this episode that in the end, she made her way to the town of this man looking for him, and she asked his rabbi to convert her, and eventually, the man who had initially seeked this pleasure in a forbidden way became married to this woman.  One very powerful point we learn from this Gemara is that we believe that all pleasure was already preordained from Hashem. We have the choice of how we will experience that. We could, God forbid, opt to use up the amount of pleasure that has been preordained to us by indulging in forbidden areas. That would be a real shame, because that pleasure now will have serious consequences, more than we can imagine, whereas an individual who is able to take to heart that that same form of pleasure is already predestined to them, and one can experience that same pleasure in a permissible way, not having any taint of sin, but rather having a mitzvah of enjoying Hashem's world to their record. “Thank you, Hashem, for all the pleasure that you have given me and are due to give me, and thank you, Hashem, for teaching me that all the pleasure in my world can be obtained in a permissible way.”

If we are to ask ourselves, what is the greatest gift that we could give to another individual? We might come up with different answers based on our perspectives and preferences. The Gemara tells that Hashem approached Moshe Rabbeinu and told him, “I have a great gift and this great gift that is full of goodness is called Shabbos.” Although we might have some understanding about the great gift and opportunity that we have each week as Shabbos approaches, it is motivating and inspiring to highlight that of all the things in the world, Hashem specifically chose Shabbos to be termed the great gift. There are many ideas behind the holiness and greatness of the tremendous gift of Shabbos that we have the opportunity to embrace every week. As always, with every mitzvah, our approach should not be based on our understanding and agreement to Hashem's command, but rather we should perform Hashem's mitzvos based on the belief that we trust Him, that if He said, this is what is good for us, this is the greatest gift in the world, whether we understand or we don't, we treat the mitzvah in the way that Hashem has presented it. And in this case, Shabbos, we believe, is the greatest gift. Just to highlight with one example what the Kabbalists teach about the potency of Shabbos - the effect of Torah learning during a regular weekday, we know, is equal to the potency of all the mitzvos put together. And we are taught that on Shabbos, the potency of every single moment of Torah is multiplied by a thousand. There are many reasons and explanations for the incredible gift of Shabbos and the holiness that comes with it. The Gemara states that a person who takes large steps loses one five hundredth of their eyesight by taking those large steps. And the Gemara thereafter says, well, what if one already took those large steps, how do they rectify their eyesight? And the Gemara says that the way to rectify one's eyesight is on Shabbos at the time of Kiddush. There are many explanations to what the exact meaning behind this Gemara is. I once saw a beautiful explanation that when the Gemara says that a person who takes large steps loses their eyesight. This means to say that during the week when we are busy, distracted by our many commitments and endeavors, in a sense we lose our eyesight and vision about what is important. But as Shabbos comes and now, I am unable to be involved with those distractions, I now have the space to focus on the true important things in life. Why do I exist? What is my purpose in this world? If I were to leave this world, am I happy where I am holding? Many of these questions are not things we usually think about whilst busy with our day-to-day activities. But as Shabbos comes and we turn off the distractions, we have the opportunity to focus on the real important matters that will make a difference for us eternally.  We are all so privileged to have the opportunity and gift of Shabbos every single week, and everything that Shabbos and its holiness comes with. May we all merit to use the gift of Shabbos to further our spiritual endeavors, our Torah learning, our mitzvah performance, and our personal relationship with Hashem. “Hashem, thank You so much for this incredible gift of Shabbos. Thank You for this sacred time that You have given me to be able to turn off the distractions and focus on the real things that truly matter for my eternal life. Thank You Hashem for the incredible gift of Shabbos.”

The Torah records how Moshe Rabbeinu was prohibited from entering the Land of Eretz Yisrael, and having such a burning desire to have the privilege to enter the Holy Land, he poured out his heart in prayer to Hashem, begging Him to override the decree prohibiting him from entering the Holy Land. We are taught that when Moshe Rabbeinu prayed to Hashem to have this privilege, he chose to verbalize and direct his prayer in a particular manner. Although Moshe Rabbeinu is considered to have been the most righteous man of all time, and perhaps he could have said to Hashem, “Hashem, look at all my righteous deeds, look how I've always led the Jewish people in such an incredible way”, and whatever else he might have thought of to try convince Hashem to give him the privilege to enter the Land of Eretz Yisrael, nevertheless, the Gemara teaches us that when Moshe Rabbeinu prayed, he did not make mention whatsoever at any of his accomplishments that might have brought him merit in order to make his prayer and request successful.  We are taught that when Moshe Rabbeinu prayed, he prayed asking for a matnat chinam, a free gift from Hashem, saying, Hashem, not because of my actions am I requesting to go into the Land, but rather just because You are my loving Father, and I'm asking You, please, Hashem, give me this free gift, I have a burning desire to be able to go into the Land. And in the same vein, we are taught by Torah sources that based on one's request of what they are praying for, one's prayer is directed to different chambers in the heavenly worlds. And there are many considerations and factors which make a prayer successful or at times prevent a prayer from making its way into the chamber which will bring about one's desired request. Sometimes a person might not be worthy for their prayer to be answered because they might be performing sins in other areas of their lives. It could be also that this prayer was not said with enough concentration and intention and meaning to be answered, and there could be many factors beyond our comprehension why a prayer might not be answered in the way we would like it to be. And in the same way, what if I don't have any merits, or at least related to this prayer, the area that I'm asking for, what if I have sinned and messed up in this particular area many times, and in a sense, how could I have the audacity to ask Hashem to help me in this particular area? Or let's take an individual who might not have any merits. Do they then not have a right to pray? And if they do, how do we expect their prayer to make it through the many barriers at the entrance of the heavenly chambers? And we are taught that there is one chamber called the otzar matnas chinam, the heavenly chamber of free gifts, that even though I am not worthy to have my prayer answered based on my acts and my merits, nevertheless, the way the prayer is verbalized and directed is by saying: “Hashem my Father, I have a burning desire to become a mother of a child. For whatever reason, in your calculations, Hashem, you have made it difficult for me to be able to have children. And Hashem, I know that anything and everything that you do can only be for the best, because ultimately, you created me only because you wanted to give to me. And whatever you do in my existence for sure will be for my best. However, at the same time, you, Hashem, have taught us that we have the opportunity and ability to be able to talk to you about anything and everything that we desire. And Hashem, I am begging you with all my heart, I really would love to become a mother and be able to parent a child. Even if the doctors have said it is something with very low possibility, I know that you are completely beyond any of the doctor's predictions and calculations. Hashem, I am not asking you because of my merits or the good deeds that I have done. I am asking you, please bless me with a child just because you are you and you love me. Please, Hashem, grant me the gift from your Otzar Matnas Chinam, your heavenly chamber of free gifts. Thank you, Hashem, for all the gifts that you give us on a constant basis. And thank you, Hashem, for your heavenly chamber of free gifts.”

We've discussed many times that emunah ultimately is about what we believe, not about what we see nor about what we understand. In fact, as learnt numerous times, the Torah commentaries teach that this world is referred to as the world of untruth, where things that appear to be a certain way are in actuality very often the opposite. People and situations which are often defined as success stories in this world, many times in the world of truth, are defined as exactly the opposite. So how do we find the true perspective if everything in this world seems to go against the truth? In Hashem's books there is a beautiful teaching that helps us to internalize and digest this concept. The word for truth in the Torah is emes and the word for falsehood in the Torah is sheker. Both of these words are comprised of three letters each. If one takes a look at the word sheker which stands for falsehood, we will notice two things. Firstly, the letters that sheker are made up of are three letters of the Hebrew alphabet that follow one immediately after another. And Torah commentaries teach that this is because sheker, falsehood, is very easy to find. Just like to get from one letter of the alphabet to the next one immediately following it is an easy exercise. So too, to find falsehood and sheker in the world is very easy. In fact, if we do not work hard, we will find sheker. And in the same vein, if one looks at these three letters sheker, the way they are written in the Torah, they all stand on just one point. Some of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet in the way they are written in the Torah, the base and bottom of the letters are comprised of a line or numerous points. However, these three letters of the word sheker, all three letters stand and are supported by just one point. And the reason for this is because although sheker, falsehood, is very easy to find, nevertheless, falsehood is not something that stands solidly. And if one makes an effort to try to find the truth, the falsehood, the sheker can be knocked over relatively easily. And we find by the word emes, truth, exactly the opposite. The word emes is comprised of three letters of the Hebrew alphabet, the first letter of the alphabet, the middle letter of the alphabet, and the final letter of the alphabet, to teach us that, yes, it's going to be difficult to find real truth in this world because the attractions and entertainment that this world is always advertising to us is always ringing with falsehood the easy way out. However, if we make an effort, we can find the truth. It is going to be more difficult to find the truth than to find falsehood. But nevertheless, if we search hard, we will find the truth. And in the same vein, these three letters of the word emes, their bases are not just standing on one point in the Hebrew alphabet, they stand solidly. And that is to teach us that when one has found the truth, that truth will be difficult to topple over. When something is false, if one makes an effort, one will be able to topple it over and see eventually that that is not the true way. Whereas with truth, if one works hard to find it, one will eventually know that this is the truth, because that will be very difficult to topple over and move back towards a life of falsehood. Let us remember, everything in this world is about our belief, our belief in Hashem, our belief that ultimately what we see and experience for the most part is Sheker, is falsehood. And we have to believe the guidance of Hashem, the guidance of the Torah, for without that, just using our common sense logic, the things that we see and experience, we will be led to a life of Sheker. However, if we choose to live a life of Emunah, a life of belief, and choose to make our maximum effort to follow the guidance of the Torah, we can find the truth. The truth is difficult to find, but can be found. “Thank you Hashem for the opportunity to be able to have your perspective of Emunah and be able to find the truth in my life.”

Emunah means belief, specifically, when I don't understand, I don't see, I nevertheless believe. Emunah is a personal relationship with Hashem that is just between me and Hashem. No one else can truly know the real level of another individual's emunah. In fact, you could have two people that, from our perspective, if we were to be painting the scorecard, we would give both of them the same score, because they both seem to be succeeding in the same areas in the same way. However, it is so important for us to remember that we do not see anything in this world in its true manner. Let us remember what the Torah commentaries teach us, that this world is called Alma d’Shikra, the world of falsehood. So many things in this world are upside down from its true expression of what they actually are, which we will only see and understand in the next world. Let us use an example to illustrate this concept. Take two individuals who experience a challenging situation, such as having an acquaintance steal a large amount of money from them. Now, we have learned many times that a perspective of emunah and bitachon would teach us that we are not to get angry. Of course, we would be permitted, and perhaps even obligated, to act in a practical way to try to recover our money. But nevertheless, we are completely forbidden from getting angry, because as the Gemara teaches, getting angry is a form of idle worship, because when I get angry, in a sense I am saying Hashem does not exist, God forbid, and therefore I have a license to get angry at this individual who brought this suffering upon me. Somebody who is living with an emunah and bitachon perspective, and always has Hashem in the picture, understands that every individual is ultimately a puppet of Hashem, and therefore just like it would be insane if somebody hits me with a broomstick, to start punching and shouting at the broomstick, because we all understand there is something behind the broomstick, the individual who is hitting me; in the same way if I am living a life of emunah and bitachon, it would be absolutely insane to get angry at that individual. So let us take two individuals that respond successfully, in our eyes, to this situation. Both individual A and individual B, in their separate circumstances, who had an experience of somebody stealing a large amount of money from them, respond with calm without getting angry. In our books, both of these individuals have been successful in their emunah endeavor. It could, however, very well be that individual A has been created by Hashem with a natural tendency of being calm to all situations. Even without belief in Hashem, this individual might be calm through any and every situation, and not necessarily is their expression of remaining calm and not getting angry an expression that results from their emunah endeavor. And in the same way, it could very well be that individual B has a super strong tendency to get angry with every small disturbance. And that is the way Hashem created them. And nevertheless, in this situation, they somehow managed to respond with complete calm, not getting angry. And the way they got here is because of their tremendous work in their emunah and bitachon. Although initially, feeling inside themselves an almost natural reaction and response to get super angry at this individual, because that is their nature, however, through their growth and success in emunah and bitachon, they managed to respond in a completely calm way without getting angry. Both individual A and individual B have responded in a calm way without getting angry. However, in Hashem's books, these two individuals will have completely different looking scorecards. Let us remember, emunah and everything that is under the emunah and bitachon umbrella is not about anything we see nor what we understand. Emunah is about what we believe.

We've been discussing how the usual way of the world we live in very often directs us towards becoming spectators and passengers. Yes, many would agree that one needs to first work in order to achieve their success, but the goal, according to many with the mistaken perspective, is that eventually we finish our work so that we can sit back and relax to the pleasure and entertainment that the world has to offer. We are so privileged to be able to not need to be bound by any perspective that could exist, but rather have the true and only perspective, Hashem's perspective, the guidance of the Torah teaching us with an explicit verse that man was created in order to toil. In this world, every human being is meant to work hard, and as the Midrash puts it, if we invest our energies into the normal usual way of the world, then that's where we will exercise our obligation to work hard. Whereas when someone chooses to invest their energies towards their spiritual endeavors and service to Hashem, then as the Midrash says, their obligation to work in this world can be fulfilled in their effort towards their service of Hashem. And in addition to that, we've learned the Gemara, which states that in all areas of our lives, although we might have an obligation to work to fulfill the mitzvah of hishtadlus, to make an effort, nevertheless, according to all opinions, we are absolutely obligated to believe that our efforts have absolutely zero impact in the actual outcome of what we are trying to achieve. However, the Gemara points out that there is one exception, and that is that everything is preordained and exclusively orchestrated by Hashem, except for the areas of our spiritual growth, where there we have a particular power to impact our own destiny, unlike other areas. As discussed many times, the Torah commentaries mention that our ultimate purpose in this world is to grow in our emunah, belief in Hashem. It is certainly advisable and recommended to seek constant daily inspiration, to try to be able to live with the mindset of emunah on a constant basis. Everything in the world seems to go against a life of emunah, and therefore, even for those who are involved in spiritual endeavors through their regular routine, it would be very advisable to seek constant inspiration about living a life of emunah and bitachon on a constant basis. For some people, it might be most beneficial to listen to recordings about emunah and bitachon. For others, it might be beneficial to read books about emunah and bitachon. There is no question that this endeavor to seek inspiration on a daily basis about emunah and bitachon is a very worthwhile endeavor. However, it is so important that the process and journey does not end there. We should not fall into the trap of becoming a spectator and passenger in our spiritual endeavors, and in particular, in our journey and effort to grow and become successful in our emunah, in our faith in Hashem. Of course, the importance of the daily inspiration, listening, reading, or whatever it may be, is of paramount importance, but it is super important to not stop there and internalize and realize that the only way to ultimately and truly grow in our emunah endeavor is by investing our own effort, time, and energy into our emunah growth endeavor. Talking to Hashem is available to each of us at every opportunity, and the more we talk to Hashem, the more we develop our relationship, the more we will grow in our emunah.

We live in a world where for many people the ultimate goal is to become a spectator and passenger and enjoy the pleasures that the world has to offer you. Very often the message that we hear and are exposed to in this world is that the ideal is to reach a place where I can just sit back, relax and enjoy and have everything done for me, where I can just be passive and enjoy pleasure. We are so privileged to have Hashem's perspective teaching us the true way we are supposed to live our lives. The verse states, man was made to toil - we were created in order to work and the Midrash states on that verse that if we do not merit, we will have to busy ourselves with the normal usual ways of the world, whereas if we choose to rather toil and work in the areas of service to Hashem, then Hashem will minimize our need to work and make effort in the usual areas of the world and we will have the privilege to spend more time in our effort and endeavor to grow in our service to Hashem. Everybody understands that in order to become a world-class piano player, it will not suffice for one to watch many videos and movies of people playing the piano. One might learn a few things by doing so, but of course ultimately in order to become proficient oneself, one has to spend many hours practicing on the piano and not just watching others do so. We live in a world where sometimes working and making efforts into one's own endeavors is seen as the first step which one kind of just needs to get through and the ultimate goal is to be able to just sit back and relax when one is finished one's work. The Torah's perspective, the only true perspective, is that just like we can understand that for the aspiring piano player, the only way that they could reach their goal is by their personal investment of their own effort and time and energy. In the same way, the Torah guides us as to how we can become proficient in our endeavor to serve Hashem. The Gemara states that everything is in the hands of Hashem except for areas of fear of Hashem. That means to say, we who are striving to live by the values of Emunah understand that ein od milvado means there is nothing else except for Hashem in the world and only what Hashem says goes. How much money I will have, how much serenity I will have, how much happiness I might have, and all the areas in one's life, they are all exclusively orchestrated by Hashem. And if one were to feel that they could add or subtract from Hashem's preordained plan, that could be tantamount to idle worship. However, the Gemara is teaching us that when it comes to our spiritual endeavors, there Hashem is telling us that we do have a say, to the point that the Gemara says that it is in our hands the level of success that we will achieve. It is so important to remind ourselves not to sit back and be spectators and passengers in this journey through life. Of course, we have to have it at the forefront of our minds that only Hashem preordains and orchestrates every single happening in our life, whilst at the same time we are taught that when it comes to spiritual endeavors, Hashem tells us that we are to view the situation then as if it is in our hands and make maximum effort to grow in our spiritual endeavors. We are so privileged to be able to live with the correct and true perspective, the only true perspective, the perspective of Hashem.

We learned in the Mishnah in Pirkei Avos that the world stands on three things, Torah, Avoda and Gemillus Chassadim. Gemillus Chassadim refers to acts of kindness. So important is it to perform acts of kindness that that is considered one of the pillars that keeps the world going. We all have many opportunities on a daily basis to fulfill this tremendous mitzvah of Gemillus Chassadim, acts of kindness that upholds the entire world. Just giving another individual a smile or sending somebody a message that brings positivity into their lives is a fulfillment of this tremendous mitzvah. Of course, giving charity is one branch of the mitzvah of Gemillus Chassadim. If Hashem in His Torah is teaching us that the mitzvah of Tzedakah, one of the highest ways to perform the mitzvah of Gemillus Chassadim, is considered to be one of the pillars of the world, there is no question that that is the truth. We believe it even if we don't see or experience that truth. It is interesting to point out that when somebody gives charity to a poor individual, an observer would usually credit the donor as the righteous individual in the situation, because they are helping out the poor individual, and the poor individual is just receiving a gift. If we were to follow our own line of thinking, that would perhaps be the way we would view the situation. However, we are so privileged to not have to be misled to view situations by perspectives that can be mistaken and wrong. The Zohar HaKadosh, one of the holy books of the Torah, teaches us that in actual fact when a poor individual receives money from someone who is donating to them, in actual fact the poor individual is giving much more to the rich individual than the other way around. Although counterintuitive, again, we don't see the true impact of our actions in this world. We have to believe it. In fact, we will only see what actually truly took place through the absolute lens of truth in the next world, although I might have helped this individual tremendously in a financial way. Nevertheless, the spiritual blessing which I am now to receive is much greater than anything financial can buy. And in the same way, the Zohar states elsewhere that when Hashem loves an individual, He sends them a poor person their way. Because again, in our perspective, one might think, I don't really want to be bothered by somebody to have to give them charity, whereas in Hashem's perspective, He understands that the greatest gift in the world, much greater than any money can buy, is the opportunity to perform the mitzvah of giving tzedakah to the point that the Zohar says that if Hashem loves you, He will send you a poor person an opportunity to perform the mitzvah of tzedakah. “Thank you, Hashem, for the opportunity to perform this incredible mitzvah that upholds the entire world of Gemilus Chasadim. Sometimes it might be so easy, as easy as giving somebody a smile or sending a message, and at other times, giving charity or other forms of kindness. Hashem, please help me to internalize the truth, your true perspective, that when I give charity to somebody, I am gaining much more than they are gaining from my financial benefit. I don't see that with my eyes, Hashem, as you know, because you created me to exist in this world where my eyes do not see through the lens of truth. However, Hashem, I beg you, please help me to be able to believe in what you tell me. Thank you Hashem for the incredible pillar of Gemilus Chasadim.”

The Mishnah in Pirkei Avos teaches us that the world stands on three things, Torah, Avoda and Gemillus Chassadim. We've learned many times the tremendous potency of Torah learning and how we are taught that the value of Torah learning is on par with all 613 mitzvahs put together and many other powerful fruits that we bear from Torah learning. The second pillar that the Mishnah says upholds the entire world is Avoda. The commentaries explain that in today's times Avoda refers to prayer to Hashem. It is so important to tap into this incredible opportunity and responsibility that each one of us has to pray to Hashem. This is one of the pillars that keeps the world going. In addition to talking to Hashem and praying for our own personal needs, it is a mitzvah to daven for other people's needs. The Gemara states that if I know somebody else is going through some form of suffering and I neglect my responsibility and ability to pray for them, I am classified as a sinner. Let us digest these words from the Gemara. It's not just an added act of kindness to daven and pray for somebody else who is suffering. It is our responsibility and obligation to the point that if we know somebody else is suffering and we do not daven for them, we are considered a sinner. In the same way, one of the leading Torah sages of the previous generation, Rav Moshe Feinstein, writes that even if we do not believe ourselves to be righteous people necessarily, nevertheless, if we know somebody else is enduring some form of suffering, we are absolutely obligated to pray on their behalf. And he explains the reason for this is because we do not understand the workings of heaven. It could be that for whatever reason, my prayer is the one that will be answered. Even though I might not be the righteous individual, in the heavenly calculations which are obviously beyond our understanding, the other righteous individuals may not have the power and license to help out with their prayers in this situation, whereas me, even though I might be committing many sins in other areas, nevertheless, if I pray, it could be that my prayer has the power to help out this individual. Let us also remember that the Gemara states elsewhere that when I pray for somebody else, I actually receive my salvation first. Of course, our main intention in praying for somebody else should not be because we are only selfishly thinking about receiving our own salvation in return. However, as a fringe benefit to give us inspiration, it is important to remember that the Gemara tells us as a fact that when we pray for somebody else, we will be answered first. Besides for the three prescribed prayers that we have the opportunity to pray every single day, every single one of us has the constant opportunity to pray to Hashem in our own words. Of course, it is important to pray about our own needs too but let us not neglect our responsibility to care about one another and pray for each other's needs.

We know that the Sefer Torah is comprised of 600,000 letters, and the law is that if even one letter is either missing or damaged, the entire Sefer Torah is considered to be invalid and unusable. In the same vein, we are taught by Torah commentaries that there are 600,000 Jewish souls that exist. Now of course, there are many more than 600,000 Jews in the world, however we are taught that different parts of the same soul may be embodied by numerous different people. But in essence, in its source, there are 600,000 neshamos - souls. And Torah commentaries explain the connection between these two ideas, that just like by a Sefer Torah, if just one letter is damaged, that renders the entire Sefer Torah to be invalid in the same way when it comes to the Jewish people as a whole, if just one of those souls is damaged, in a sense, the entire Jewish nation is considered to be invalid. This idea can inspire us on two fronts; one, when we relate to other people, to realize that it doesn't matter how great the rest of the Jewish nation might be doing or succeeding, if one particular soul is missing or damaged, that affects the entire nation in an atomic way. The respect and the love that we ought to have for every single soul and person is much easier to appreciate when we realize that we are all so necessary. And in the same vein, for every single one of us to remember as an individual that not only have we been given an opportunity to live a life of Hashem's perspective with the Torah as a Jew, but we also have tremendous responsibility to play our part, because if we do not play our part, the entire nation is affected in an atomic way. Let us remember the important words from the Talmud that teach every single individual is obligated to believe that the entire world was created just for me. To digest that, all the millions of people that were created in the world, they're there just for my story. All the billions of dollars invested into all the different ventures in the world, it's all there just for me. The sun, moon, stars, planets, everything. One may say, but how can that make sense? We don't understand Hashem's workings of anything of how it can make sense. But if the Gemara tells us that everybody is obligated to believe that the entire world was created just for me, of course, if we are living a life of Emunah, we believe that. “Thank you, Hashem, for the incredible opportunity that you've given me to be a Jew. Every single moment of my life has the potential to be meaningful, to connect to you, to perform your mitzvahs, to do acts of kindness. Thank you, Hashem, for teaching me that the level of pleasure that we experience in this world of your true kindness is so small in comparison to what is waiting for us in the next world. What an incredible opportunity. Thank you Hashem for making me part of this nation. And Hashem, at the same time, I ask you to help me internalize the responsibility that I have. If you have put me in this world, and I am still alive today, it must be that there is some important role that only I can play. Please Hashem, help me to find my potential and fulfill it to its highest. Thank you, Hashem, for the incredible opportunity and responsibility of being a Jew.”

The Gemara recounts an episode where one of the rabbis had a near-death experience. He was considered to be clinically dead, and thereafter his soul returned back to his body, coming back to life. The Gemara recounts that when this sage was asked what he experienced during this episode, the sage responded that he saw the next world, the world where everything is upside down from this world. He explained further that many of the people which are considered to be success stories in this were considered to be the paupers in the next world, and many of those that seemed to be unsuccessful in this world were the true success stories in the world of truth. We need to remind ourselves that in Torah literature, this world is called a world of untruth, because we are not able to see via the lens of truth in this world. If I were to escort a blind man down a few roads, having to cross the street when the robot turns green, having to be careful not to stumble over the items and people that might be obstructing our way, the blind man cannot see where he is going; the only reason he knows where to go is because he believes that I am taking him to his desired destination. We need to remember that in this world, we are all considered to be like the blind man. We do not see where we are going, we can only believe that we are being taken to our desired destination. One day in the next world, our eyes will be open and we will see through the perspective of absolute truth. “Hashem, my Father, I know that You created me with Your main objective for me to have emunah, belief in You. I have been taught that this world is a world of lies, very often upside down to the true perspective of what we will experience in the next world. But I know, Hashem, that I am unable to experience or see the truth of that in this world. Hashem, it is so hard to hang on to this belief when everything else in this world seems to go against so many of the values of emunah. Please, Hashem, can You help me grow in my emunah and bring me to a place that I truly believe that everything that happens in the world is only for the best and can only be for the best, because if You are sending it to me, there is no question that You would only do good for me, even though I have no understanding and I cannot see why that is best for me. And at the same time, Hashem, please help me not to be misled by what is termed success in this upside-down world. Everything in this world that we live in, Hashem, in a sense is giving fuel to that mode of thought, to the successes of what people of this world consider to be successes. However, Hashem, I know the truth. I know that the Torah teaches us that many of the happenings in this world are actually upside down in the next world, and in the next world are not success stories. Hashem, please help me to find the real success story that will be an eternal success story.”

The Torah records a verse which states that the humblest person in all time was Moshe Rabbeinu. We know that the Torah was written by Moshe Rabbeinu at Hashem's command. So, in a sense what is happening here is Moshe Rabbeinu is writing about himself, “I am the humblest man of all time.” Some Torah commentaries explain that true humility means that a person is able to write about themselves, “I am the humblest man of all time.” And of course this being counterintuitive begs explanation. And the commentaries explain - what is true humility? To deny the fact that one is talented in certain areas is not humility; that is just speaking untruth. True humility means to recognize that every single one of my talents and abilities stem 100% exclusively from Hashem. Moshe Rabbeinu knew the truth. He knew that he was excelling tremendously in the character trait of humility to the point that he could write the truth in his book the Torah and tell us, “I am the humblest man that exists.” However, the reason that that did not lead him to feel arrogant is because Moshe Rabbeinu was so clear that anything and everything that we are ever able to achieve is a direct result of Hashem's blessing. And therefore, there is no reason to feel arrogant or proud about the talents that Hashem has blessed us with. When one is living a life without emunah, mistakenly believing that they are the engine that drives their successes, sometimes they might be successful because that's what Hashem decrees, and sometimes they might not be successful because that's the way Hashem wants it. However, if they are successful, in a sense they are worse off than if they wouldn't have been successful. Because if we remember that the reason we exist, as the Torah commentaries many times explain, the only reason that Hashem created us and put us in this world is to have emunah and thereby earn our place in the world to come, and if Hashem has sent success our way, but we fail to recognize that that success was sent from Hashem, and we mistakenly attribute our success to our own efforts, that would be the greatest tragedy. Because although in our eyes this person appears to be successful, in the true lens of Hashem that we will only witness once we leave this world, when we see absolute truth, there is no success taking place here. Because this individual is attributing their success to their own efforts, which is tantamount to idle worship. The approach of one who is living with an emunah perspective would be to recognize that I cannot do anything without Hashem sending me that blessing in the first place. And therefore, if I am super talented in whatever area that may be, I don't feel proud to share that information with other people that I am excelling and succeeding in this area because I know that the only reason I can do so is because Hashem is giving me a gift. Of course, we are all supposed to make our maximum effort in a practical way to succeed in our endeavors in this world. However, what is the most vital point is to remember that without Hashem, we cannot even lift a finger. But with Hashem, we are unstoppable. A life of emunah leads to a life of humility, and true humility means to recognize that anything and everything I am able to accomplish is only as a result of a gift from Hashem.

Imagine for a second that we were given the following offer. If we give $100 to charity today, we will prevent a certain country from dropping an atomic bomb. Even if it's difficult to get those $100 together, most of us would make a plan, because stopping an atomic bomb from falling is a very worthwhile investment to make.In a different scenario, if we were offered the following: If you are to sit down and say to Tehillem for one hour today, you will then cause a dying individual to be saved. Most of us would commit to that hour, even if it would be difficult, because we're saving somebody's life. Let us not forget, the reason we were created, as mentioned countless times by the Torah commentaries, is to have emunah in Hashem. Emunah means belief. Belief means I don't know, I don't see the results, I can't understand why what I am doing is important and exactly how it makes an impact. However, I believe that if that is what Hashem's perspective tells me, that is for sure the truth. That is what I believe. When we say a word of Tehillim, when we do a mitzvah, when we learn a word of Torah, when we talk to Hashem in our own words, our job is to believe. The Torah commentaries teach us that when we perform a mitzvah, learn a word of Torah, say a word of Tehillim, talk to Hashem in our own words, perform an act of kindness, or do anything towards our service to Hashem, even if in a sense we don't see any inspiration as a result of our deed, the Torah commentaries teach us that we are impacting spiritual worlds that are much bigger than we can even begin to imagine. If we were to know that just doing a certain good deed would make an impact in the world, like saving a dying soul or preventing an atomic bomb, in the same vein, if we were to know that performing a certain sin would bring about an atomic bomb on the world, most of us would think twice before performing that sin. Our job is to build our belief - to believe what the Torah commentaries teach us. When we perform a sin, we are destroying spiritual worlds that have an impact much greater than an atomic bomb on our entire physical world. And in the same way, when we perform an act of kindness, we perform a mitzvah, we talk to Hashem in our own words, we learn Torah, we are impacting and creating spiritual worlds in a way that is much more impactful than we could ever have on this world. We are not just saving an entire nation. We are not just saving the entire world. We are doing something much bigger than that. Our job is to believe that because we do not see those things happening. Remember, the only reason for Hashem creating us and placing us in this world is specifically to believe. How do I bridge this gap? The answer to all questions. “Hashem, I want to believe the truth. I am learning the information and trying to be inspired about the truth that my good deeds really make a bigger impact than anything I could imagine of this world. And also, conversely, when I perform a sin that is negatively impacting the higher worlds in a much deeper way than anything I could imagine could be affected in this world. Please Hashem, help me to internalize the truth that what I do is truly meaningful and help me therefore to really believe in You and really believe in the results of what I am doing. Hashem, please help me to believe more and more in You every single day.”

We've been discussing that one of the highest expressions of Emunah is the performance of Hashem's mitzvos and specifically to perform them just because He commanded me to and not because I understand or agree with His understanding. It is so vital to perform the mitzvos based on our belief in Hashem rather than based on our agreeing with His logic because when we perform the mitzvos based exclusively on our Emunah in Hashem, our belief in Hashem, we will treat every mitzvah with highest priority and do our best to fulfill them with all their intricacies. The Mishnah in Pirkei Avos says that we ought not to treat one mitzvah as less important than another because truthfully, we don't know which are the more important mitzvos. One mitzvah may seem to us like something very potent and big and another mitzvah might seem to us as something very insignificant whereas in truth it might actually be the other way around. How are we supposed to find out? In this world we don't find out. In the next world we will see but in this world, we are just to believe. If Hashem commanded us to do something even if in our eyes it seems to be insignificant, we nevertheless ought to treat it as if it was the most important mitzvah in the world. And in the same way if the guidelines within a certain mitzvah are very intricate and detailed, at first glance we may think - why are these intricacies so important? Let me just use a bit of my own discretion in the way I perform this mitzvah? Again, if it's based on one's own logic, one might mistakenly be misled down that path. However, if we perform the mitzvos exclusively because we believe in Hashem, whether the intricacies and the logic make sense to us or not is a detail, we perform all the mitzvos as if they are the most important thing in the world as well as treat the intricacies with great seriousness. One of the classic halachic commentators, the Chayei Adam, records a fascinating episode that sheds light on this issue. He writes that there was a certain tzaddik who passed on from the world and now moved on to the next world where he had to give an accounting for all his actions and he was delighted to see so many what he calls white angels which represent the result of his good deeds, of so many blessings that he made, of so many acts of tzedakah, of so many words of Torah that he learned, of so many acts of kindness and many mitzvos that he performed. And then suddenly he saw some black angels which represent sin and he was quite surprised because he was a tzaddik and he really had a good record from his excursion in this world. So where did these black angels come from? And he was informed that these angels were created as a result of the blessings that he made without concentration. Now we may say, “look at least he made the blessings, that's a mitzvah.” However, on this man's level to say a blessing without concentration had tremendous serious consequences. If we view the mitzvah of saying blessings just based on our own logic because we have to thank Hashem for the food, so one may argue perhaps that it's not so bad sometimes to not have concentration on our blessings. If we however base our performance of our mitzvos exclusively on how the Torah guides us to do them both in terms of their details as well as the reasoning for the performance of the mitzvah, our approach to the mitzvos would be very different. As mentioned previously, the Chayei Adam also writes that if one says a blessing without concentration it is comparable to a body without a soul. A body without a soul is dead. We all have the opportunity multiple times a day to say blessings. Let us internalize how important it is both to say the blessing as well as to do our best to concentrate on saying the words to mean what we say and of course the more we learn about what the blessings mean the more we'll be able to concentrate and sincerely mean our words that we are saying to Hashem.

Our goal in this world is to train ourselves to truly and sincerely believe and trust in Hashem's prescription. Hashem commanded us to perform many mitzvos. Some of them are easier to understand with our limited understanding, whereas other mitzvos are more difficult to understand. For example, Hashem commanded us to visit a sick person. That is very logical, even in our minds, that's a nice thing to do. Honouring one's father and mother is also a logical mitzvah. However, many mitzvos are counterintuitive. If we lived at a time where we were able to absolutely ascertain who belonged to the nation of Amalek, picture this situation, a cute little two-year-old child, the cutest child you've ever seen. Hashem gives you a mitzvah now, you need to go and kill that child. One second, I don't want to be the one to do that, that's not nice, that's dangerous, people are going to view me as a murderer. Again, the reason we perform mitzvos should not be based on our own agreement to Hashem's will, as if He needs our stamp of agreement. Rather, we fulfill the mitzvos just because Hashem said so. In fact, one of the great halachic commentators, the Aruch HaShulchan, writes that the reason we honour our father and mother is not because we appreciate them. We honour them because Hashem said so. Any mitzvah we perform, we do so just because Hashem said so. The Vilna Gaon writes that when it comes to the mitzvos that the rabbis enacted, many times, even when the reason that the rabbis have given us for performing this mitzvah is no longer applicable, we nevertheless still perform the mitzvah. And the reason for this is because there may be a thousand reasons for the performance of this mitzvah where the rabbis decided to disclose only one of the reasons. Again, our belief in Hashem and our belief in the great sages who were given the license to enact certain mitzvos, we perform those mitzvahs just because we believe that that is what we're supposed to do, even if we don't understand. This line of thinking will help us to take all of the mitzvos and all their intricacies much more seriously. For example, we may say some lashon hara - bad words to another individual in privacy about someone else. And let's say these words never get out, no one ever discovers this private conversation of mine. How serious can what I did be? We know that the whole main purpose behind the prohibition of not speaking lashon hara about another is so that you shouldn't cause them detriment. But in this case, it was kept private and nothing actually happened. So how bad could it be? If we apply our own line of reasoning for the performance of the mitzvos, we could be led to making grave mistakes. But if we treat the mitzvos as an expression of our emunah in Hashem - I believe in Hashem, and if He instructed me to do something, I believe in that. And if He told me that Lashon Hara, whether the negative information I related privately to someone was ever discovered, or even if it wasn't, if Hashem said that that is one of the most serious sins sometimes comparable to the three cardinal sins, idol worship, immorality and murder. Really? Is it that bad? If it's based on my belief in Hashem, I have no questions, because I believe Him. When we do mitzvos, let us internalize that the reason we are doing so is not because we understand, but because we believe.

Our job in this world is to grow in our belief in Emunah and everything that that entails. As we've discussed, one of the potent areas Hashem has given us the privilege to be able to tap into is the words of Tehillim, the holy words of David HaMelech. And again, our job is to believe that our recitation of the words of Tehillim are making an impact. Even though we may not be able to experience and see the result of our actions, our job is to grow in our Emunah, in our belief that just like if a soldier is fighting in a war, when that soldier makes an effort and shoots a terrorist with his gun and sees the direct result of his actions, because the terrorist is now dead. In the same way, when we say Tehillim, we are protecting the people around us, we are making a tremendous impact in ways that we cannot imagine. The following story that Rebetzin Tehillah Abramov recounts helps us to internalize a little bit of how the words of Tehillim are actually making a difference. There was a woman driving on the highway in Israel and suddenly there was a tremendous traffic jam, a complete standstill. This woman's custom was that whenever she'd be in a situation such as this, she would begin to say the words of Tehillim. Eventually, the traffic cleared up and she went home. About three months later, this woman attended a parents-teachers meeting at her child's school, and while she was there, another woman came over to her and said, “Hi, I know you don't know me, but I just want to thank you with all my heart for saving my life.” So, the woman says, “those are very kind words, but I have no idea what you're talking about.” And the woman who approached her says, “do you remember about three months ago, you were stuck on the highway in a standstill traffic jam? And whilst you were stuck in the traffic, you began to recite Tehillim?” Now this woman is completely taken aback because she didn't tell anybody in the world about the traffic jam, nor about the fact that she recited Tehillim in the car. So, she's in complete wonder how this other woman knows that she was saying Tehillim in that traffic jam. So, the woman who approached now says, do you know the reason for that traffic jam on that day was because there was a car accident on the highway. I was the individual in that accident. And the accident was so severe that I actually died, what's called a near death experience. And she reported to the lady, I was floating above my car higher and higher because I was leaving this world. And suddenly there were some alef-beis letters that emerged from your car and pushed me back down into my car, which is when I came back to life, went to hospital, got the treatment I needed, and here I am. There are many, many stories recounted in a similar manner. But the bottom line is that there is no question that our words of Tehillim are making a tremendous impact. We all have the opportunity to say the holy words of Tehillim.

In Hashem's great kindness, He has given us many opportunities of how to impact our lives in this world, as well as impact our future lives in the next world. One of the potent gifts Hashem has given us is the power of tehillim. Tehillim are comprised of 150 chapters that David HaMelech authored. If one studies tehillim, one will quickly realize that these are King David's personal conversations with Hashem, both through times of joy and happiness, as well as through times of sorrow and challenge, David HaMelech was in constant communication with Hashem. In addition to these words of tehillim being David HaMelech's personal and meaningful words of conversation with Hashem, these words are also imbued with a special holiness based on divine inspiration, ruach hakodesh, that David HaMelech had. Each one of us has the constant opportunity to recite the holy and potent words of tehillim. If we were to see the results of what happens when we recite the words of tehillim, we would not be able to stop because it would be so obvious how impactful we are being on the whole world. But again, our job in this world is to internalize the belief, the emunah, specifically when we don't know and we don't see the results. Imagine for a second that there was going to be an atomic bomb on a certain country and you knew if you were to recite tehillim now for 20 minutes, you will prevent that atomic bomb from landing. Most people would go ahead with those 20 minutes, even if they're very tired, because again, you're stopping an atomic bomb from wiping out an entire country. In the same way, imagine for a moment that the spiritual impact and result of my recitation of tehillim is going to bring about such blessing to win the war that we're going through, that no more soldiers will be killed or even injured, that anybody who's been taken into captivity will be returned home safely, and that those who have already been injured will have a complete recovery and that we will have complete victory over the enemy. The army that is fighting this war is comprised of many different segments. There are the soldiers on the front lines, then you have the cook in the kitchen who has to cook food for the soldiers, and in a sense, the soldier on the front lines who is risking his life on a constant basis can feel a much greater sense of accomplishment and purpose and doing something meaningful, being right on the front lines, fighting for his country, whereas the cook in the kitchen might feel of less purpose. Of course, we all understand that the army is a team and every segment is needed. If the cook would not be there, there would be no food for the soldiers and they would not be able to fight, and therefore, every component of the army is needed. We might not be able to be on the front lines fighting in the army. However, if we internalize the Emunah, that the spiritual impact and power of Tehillim is what will send success to our soldiers, we will recite our Tehillim with the same dedication as those soldiers fighting on the front lines. Now again, our job in this world is specifically to believe when we don't see nor understand the results of our actions. We are taught from the Torah sources that the power of Tehillim is so great that it affects our world in ways we cannot even imagine. We all have the constant opportunity to say the words of Tehillim.

Torah commentaries teach that the distance between knowing Emunah in our heads as opposed to truly and sincerely internalizing that Emunah in our hearts is greater than the distance between heaven and earth. Most believing Jews understand that prayer to Hashem makes an impact and is certainly a worthwhile investment on our part. However, internalizing the true extent of just how powerful each word of prayer we utter creates is our life's work. Imagine for a moment that every time we would pray, we would automatically receive a million dollars. If that were the case, we would probably be praying all day because we are experiencing the results to our action of prayer. Our job and purpose in this world is specifically to believe when we don't experience and we don't see the impact of our efforts. Making efforts to internalize just how powerful every single prayer we make is will inspire us to pray with more concentration, to mean what we say, to be more sincere in our personal conversations with Hashem, and to devote more time to such a holy and potent and powerful endeavor. There is a well-known story that took place many years ago of a man whose wife gave birth. Two weeks later, she became very seriously ill. When they visited the doctor, after he assessed the situation, he called for immediate surgery due to the urgency of the situation. The man, who lived in Bnei Brak, the hometown of the great rabbi, the Chazon Ish, decided that although the diagnosis seemed clear, he nevertheless would like to consult his rabbi, the Chazon Ish, and receive his blessing to move forward with the surgery. When the man arrived at the shul of the Chazon Ish, it was just before the time of the mincha prayers. The man went over to the rabbi, the Chazon Ish, and reported his case. He said, Rabbi, my wife gave birth two weeks ago. Now she has become ill, and after visiting the doctor, he's advised us that we need to go ahead and perform surgery immediately. However, the doctor also told us that as a result of the surgery, my wife will never be able to have any more children. So, the rabbi, the Chazon Ish, looks at the man and says, “I'm sorry about the situation, that the prognosis is that you will not be able to have more children. However, the halacha is clear. When someone's life is in danger, you certainly are obligated to go ahead and perform the surgery, even though you will not be able to have children in the future.” And then suddenly the Chazon Ish turns around to the man and says, it's time for mincha now, and they begin to daven mincha together. After mincha, the Chazon Ish turns around to the man and says, please can you repeat your situation to me? And the man does so. The Chazon Ish says, “do not go ahead with the surgery.” The man obviously is very perplexed. The Chazon Ish was very clear before mincha that this is the law, you've got to go ahead with the surgery. It's pikuach nefesh; someone's life is at stake. However, just after mincha, the Chazon Ish had a 180 degree turn and said, you should not go ahead with the surgery. The Chazon Ish explained himself. He said, “that's what we said before we davened mincha. But after we davened mincha and I used the opportunity to ask Hashem that your wife should not have to undergo the surgery and thereby not be able to have children in the future, everything's changed.” In the end, they did not go ahead with the surgery and against all statistics, this woman had nine children after that episode. Of course, we all have to be responsible in the way we deal with situations. And perhaps only people as great as the Chazon Ish would be able to make such a decision as in this story. However, what is certainly applicable to every one of us is the power of tefillah. Tefillah can change situations. Every single one of us has the constant opportunity of tefillah.

The famous words in the Torah, “ein od milvado” - there is nothing else in the world except for Hashem, mean that everything in the world is completely under Hashem's control and guidance. That being the case, it's sometimes difficult to understand why we need to do anything. Because if Hashem runs the show 100% and my efforts do not make any difference, as taught by the Torah commentaries, why do I need to do anything? And the simple answer is that Hashem has commanded us that even though He does everything, we still have an obligation to do what is called hishtadlus, to make our own effort. What is super vital to remember is, as the Mesillas Yesharim writes clearly that although we have a mitzvah, an obligation to make our own effort in whatever area that may be, we are to remember that our efforts have no effect on the final result. We do not and cannot help Hashem. Hashem runs the show exclusively. The Rambam in his 13 principles of faith writes, “He alone did everything, does everything and will do everything.” It is not a partnership together with Hashem where we are helping Him. He exclusively runs the show. When it comes to the mitzvah of hishtadlus, if one needs to make a living, of course, one's parnassah comes exclusively from Hashem, but I have a mitzvah, an obligation to make my own effort, even though that effort does not affect the final result and does not help provide for my parnassah one iota. In the same way, if somebody is sick, the first thing to do is only turn to Hashem because again, that's all that really counts. Only He can make me better and a visit to any doctor actually, in its true essence, does absolutely nothing. However, again, I have an obligation because Hashem said so, to do hishtadlus, to go visit the doctor or take medication. However, even under the wing of hishtadlus, the Chazon Ish writes something fascinating about hishtadlus itself. He says that 50% of our obligation towards our hishtadlus is accomplished through tefillah, davening, because Hashem can send our salvation, be it parnassah, recovery from illness, the spouse one is looking for, children or whatever other area it may be. Hashem can send that salvation even without us needing to pray. In a sense, our prayers are a form of hishtadlus, of our own efforts to try to accomplish something. So says the Chazon Ish that 50% of our efforts even within hishtadlus should be directed towards tefillah. What a tremendous opportunity we have every single day to talk to Hashem. Anything and everything that we may be going through, we can talk to Hashem about. And remember, we have an obligation to fulfill our mitzvah of hishtadlus. So, we have to do what we think will help. Visit the doctor, make an effort in business and whatever other area may be relevant. But never to forget that 50% of our efforts should be directed towards our davening, our personal conversations with Hashem.

The Torah teaches us in a verse about Moshe Rabbeinu, “Vayehi yadav emunah”, and his hands were emunah. And the famous commentary on the Torah, the Targum Unklus, translates the words as, “and his hands were spread out in prayer.” What the Torah calls emunah, the translation that follows is prayer. One of the most potent expressions of our belief in Hashem is praying and talking to Him. If I sincerely believe that Hashem exists, an obvious go-to is talking to Him. We need to internalize the tremendous gift that Hashem has given us, the opportunity to daven to Him in numerous ways. We have the tremendous opportunity to daven the prescribed prayers with all their holy words every single day. And doing so is a very potent expression of our emunah in Hashem. The words of the prescribed prayers were authored by very holy sages who were able to imbue these words with tremendous holiness. So, besides for their basic meaning, which is really a personal conversation with Hashem, these particular words and format and order of prayer that has been prescribed by the early great sages are particularly potent and powerful. And we should certainly capitalize on the opportunity to daven the prescribed prayers every single day. What is important to remember whilst we are praying is to do our best to mean what we are saying. One of the great halachic authorities throughout halachic literature, the Chayei Adam, says that to pray without kavana, concentration and meaning and intention is comparable to a body without a soul. Although the words of the prayers themselves are very holy, a very important component of the prayers is to mean what we are saying. For some people, understanding the words may be easier. For others, more preparation might be necessary, such as finding time to learn the meaning of the prayers and the words of the prayers so that when we do pray, they are more meaningful and we understand more what we are saying. Besides for the prescribed prayers, however, we have the constant opportunity every moment of the day to talk to Hashem in our own words, which is also very much considered prayer. The Chofetz Chaim, in fact, writes that the reason so much suffering was befalling the people of his time was because they only prayed the three prescribed prayers every day. But because these prayers are something that we repeatedly do day by day, he writes, we become habituated to the prayers and sometimes they become monotonous, to the point that we don't sincerely mean the prayers anymore. And therefore, says the Chofetz Chaim, multiple times a day a person should talk to Hashem in their own words because the nature of our own personal prayer is to be much more sincere and real. What a privilege! We have the opportunity every single day both to pray the prescribed prayers as well as to talk to Hashem in our own words.

We know that the Torah sources refer to Hashem and the Torah as one. One of the most potent things that we can do in our endeavor to connect to Hashem is to learn Torah. The Gemara, as outlined by the Shulchan Aruch, the Code of Jewish Law, also teaches us that even if one does not have this high motive of just connecting to Hashem and learning the Torah just because He commanded us to, even if one is learning for some personal motive to some degree, for example, one feels that they will receive more honor from other people if they know more Torah, or for whatever other similar personal agenda, nevertheless, we are still encouraged to learn the Torah even for the wrong reason, because eventually we will come to learning the Torah for the right reason. Of course, ideally, we aim to learn the Torah for the absolute right reason, just to connect to Hashem. I once came across a great analogy that helps digest this concept. There was an individual who bought a microwave oven from an electronic store. Before leaving the store, the individual asked the store owner to please give him a good overview of how to work this microwave with all its details. After his crash course, the microwave was packed away in the box and the individual went home. When he pulled out the microwave, he started doing exactly what the shop owner had showed him, but nevertheless, he could not get the microwave to work. Because of that, he returned to the store and said to the store owner, I don't understand. I am doing everything you told me, but I can't get this microwave to work. There must be a fault in the machine. And the store owner says to him, “please show me what you're doing, and let's try work it out”. So, the man touches all the buttons to make the microwave work, and he does everything right, but it still doesn't work. And the store owner says, you've done everything right, but you've just forgotten one thing: You forgot to plug in the machine. When we learn Torah, even if we are not plugged in in that connection with Hashem, we are still advised to learn the Torah because the potency of Torah is so strong that eventually it will lead us to be able to be plugged in and connect to Hashem in the right way. However, even today, we can all make our effort to bridge that gap of Torah learning and connection with Hashem, and again, the answer to all questions and the solution to all problems. We all have the opportunity to talk to Hashem. In fact, there is a prescribed prayer that the Halacha outlines for us to say before we learn Torah and after we learn Torah. And in that prayer, we pray to Hashem for success in our Torah learning beforehand, and we thank Hashem thereafter for the Torah learning and success that He gave us in our Torah endeavor. In addition to those prescribed prayers, we all have the opportunity on a constant basis to say, “Master of the universe, Hashem, my Father, I am currently about to learn Torah. I am going to try my best to understand the wisdom in Your true perspective, in the only true perspective that exists. But Hashem, I ask You, sometimes I get involved in the technical details, which I am supposed to, because that is the mitzvah of Torah learning. But Hashem, sometimes it's difficult to bridge the gap and feel a strong connection to You, as if we're bonding together as a result of my Torah learning. Please, Hashem, help me to be plugged in. Help me to really and truly connect to You and feel that connection to You whilst I am learning Your Torah.“ What a privilege we each have on a constant basis to learn Hashem's Torah and to connect with Hashem.

We've learned many times the incredible, potent value of Torah learning. There is no question that the more involved we are in Torah learning, the more we come closer to HaShem, because we are taught in Torah literature that HaShem and the Torah are in essence one and the same. In a sense, the closest that we can get to HaShem is when we take the Torah and delve into it and learn it to the best of our abilities. Of course, each one of us in our own right ought to make our maximum effort in our personal Torah study. However, the Shulchan Aruch, the code of Jewish law, codifies what one is to do if one is limited in their time that they are able to dedicate to Torah study. The Shulchan Aruch codifies the well-known concept known as Yisaschar Zevulun. The Torah records that of the twelve tribes, the tribe of Yisaschar was completely devoted to the mitzvah of Torah learning, but of course, in order to do so, they also needed to have some sort of plan where they would be able to receive their sustenance to be able to provide for their families. An arrangement was made where the tribe of Zevulun committed to financially supporting the tribe of Yisachar and an official agreement was made that while the two tribes would share the financial benefits of Zevulun's work, in the same way the two tribes would share the spiritual benefits and reward that will be due because of the Torah learning of Yisaschar. Of course, even if we have partnered with somebody else, we are all obligated on our own part to commit to our maximum degree to delve into the Torah with whatever time Hashem has given us available. Whilst at the same time, it is worthwhile to remember this investment that Hashem has given us - the opportunity to reap the benefits and rewards of Torah study, even if we ourselves are unable to devote ourselves completely to Torah study. Just to appreciate how valuable Torah study really is, in the same passage that the Shulchan Aruch records this arrangement that can be made between two people, where one says, I will be the supporter and the other says, I will be the one who will devote myself to Torah study - we will share the financial benefits as well as the spiritual benefits. In the same passage, the Shulchan Aruch records that this can only be done for a future project. One can make an arrangement that for the future, we will share the rewards for the Torah in exchange for sharing financial benefit together. However, if one has already learnt some Torah and another individual comes over and says, “I am prepared to pay you $10 million just for the reward of one word that you ever said in your Torah learning, we are absolutely prohibited from selling our reward even for all the money in the world. And that is because the value of Torah learning is so great that all the money in the world cannot buy even one word. As discussed many times, our job in this world is to believe specifically when we don't see, when we don't understand. When two people come together and make an agreement, the one will contribute the spiritual benefits that the Torah gives and the other will contribute the financial benefits to be split between the two, oftentimes, it will be a lot easier for us to relate to the amazing kindness that the financial provider in this partnership is doing for both of them. Whereas the individual who's learning Torah, in a sense, sometimes it feels like he's reaping financial benefits and not necessarily contributing as much as the other individual. Let us remember that our job in this world is to believe specifically when we don't see, to follow Hashem's perspective. We cannot see Hashem's perspective with our own eyes. We are obligated to believe Hashem's perspective. What a privilege each one of us has to constantly make an effort to grow in our personal Torah learning. And at the same time, Hashem has also given us another way in addition to our personal learning, that we are able to partner with others and also reap the benefits together.

The information that is found in the Torah is so much that sometimes it can be overwhelming. How am I supposed to learn all of the information in the Torah? Even if somebody is completely dedicated to Torah, it is almost an impossibility to get to know all of the different diverse areas of the Torah. Certainly, for most of us who are limited, it can be overwhelming. Again, here we have Hashem's perspective guiding us as to how we are to lead our lives. Although we are taught the incredible value and importance of Torah learning, at the same time Hashem teaches us in a Mishna, in Pirkei Avos, that we are not obligated to completely finish our study of Torah learning. That is an impossibility. However, the same Mishna tells us that although we are not obligated to complete every area of Torah, we are nevertheless to make our maximum effort to do the most that we can. When we meet our Creator at the end of 120 years, the question that we will be asked will not be, did you finish the Torah from cover to cover, including all of the Rabbinic literature and everything that it covers. The question will be, did you make your maximum effort?   One might argue that one of the biggest challenges in Torah learning is the language barrier. For many people, Torah terminology can be difficult, especially if one is not Hebrew speaking and especially if one has not had a significant background in Torah education. We are so privileged in today's day and age that almost everything is available in English. If one is interested in a particular topic, there are thousands of books, thousands of online resources that offer guidance at all levels, even for one who has had no Torah background. In times of old, it was only the absolute elite that had the privilege to have access to all the areas of the Torah. Because of the difficult language barrier, most people were unable to delve into many areas of Torah. In today's day and age, in a sense, there is no excuse. When we reach our Maker one day, we cannot say, “look, there was a language barrier and it was difficult for me to learn”, because almost everything is available to us in English.   Something else worth discussing is, because of our limited time, of course we have to choose which areas of Torah we are to focus on. There is a whole section in the Shulchan Aruch, in the Code of Jewish Law, which is devoted to the laws of Torah learning, which outlines many of these details. Some points worth mentioning are that one of the highest priorities in Torah learning of every individual is to learn the practical laws, because again, if we have not learned the practical laws, we will not be able to fulfill the mitzvos in the correct way. We are also obligated to make efforts in the study of character development, with the many books to choose from in today's day and age. And of course, one of the highest, as we've mentioned many times, is constant inspiration about emunah, our belief in Hashem.   The Gemara also tells us that one of the main areas a person should focus their Torah learning on is in an area that they enjoy, because when we enjoy something, we will be motivated to continue that venture, as opposed to if we constantly are involved in something boring, it would be very difficult to keep that practice up. How do I know which is going to be the area that is going to speak to me the most, that will excite me? And even if I do already know which area of Torah I should focus on, how do I find the right platform, online, in a book, or wherever it may be, to guide me in my learning? Although there is so much Torah literature available today, I may connect to one particular Torah educator more than another. How am I to go about finding exactly what will be best for me? Again, the answer to all questions: Talk to Hashem.

Human nature is to appreciate things that we understand to have value and be important, much more than things we are just told to believe are important, but are sometimes difficult to relate to and difficult to see their true value and importance. After one performs the tremendous mitzvah of visiting a sick person, and the sick person thereafter tells you, “you just made my day, I didn't feel like living on anymore, but since you came, you put such a deep smile on my face, that you've given me a new drive for life.” After performing such a mitzvah, one usually feels quite accomplished and good about themselves because we've done something truly meaningful. Whereas, when one listens to a shiur, or one sits down to learn a piece of Torah, many times one does not feel that same sense of accomplishment. And again, the reason for that is because we don't see the value of our Torah learning. We are supposed to believe, to have emunah, that our Torah learning is so vitally important, to the point that the Mishnah tells us the value of Torah learning equals the value of all 613 mitzvahs put together. One of the things that helps us to build our emunah is when we see different Torah sources that outline to us what exactly Hashem's perspective is. The Gemara tells us that when a person is undergoing some form of suffering, the first mode of response should be to introspect and think about if there has been something perhaps that we have done wrong, that maybe because of that, Hashem is sending us a reminder to correct our ways. The Gemara then continues and says, if a person did introspect and didn't find anything in particular that they feel Hashem might be communicating to them about, to try to mend their ways in that particular area, the next step is to attribute the reason for Hashem sending us this suffering because of the sin of bittul Torah, of wasting time and not learning Torah when we could have. The sin of bittul Torah is clearly placed very high on the scale of Hashem's perspective of what is important to the point that the Gemara is teaching us: if you don't see any other particular area for Hashem talking to you, it is probably because we have not been as careful as we could with the mitzvah of learning Torah. The Gemara elsewhere also tells us that one of the first questions we will be asked when we meet our Creator after 120 years is, did you set aside time for Torah learning? This passage reveals to us a fundamental concept of how Hashem's perspective works. When we meet our Creator one day, He will not ask us, why weren't you the greatest sage of the generation? However, He will ask us, did you set aside time to learn Torah to your maximum capacity? Both in quantity and quality, we will be asked if we made our maximum effort. So, if somebody has not had the privilege to have many years of Torah background to be able to learn Torah independently, of course one is not then expected to learn passages in Torah which one needs to be an independent learner for. And when one meets Hashem after 120 years, that will not be part of the equation. And in the same way, someone whose path to life is that Hashem has given them numerous hours a day available to learn Torah, when they meet their Creator one day, their question will be based on how many hours were available to them. But someone who had a very minimal amount of time available and really made their maximum effort to learn Torah every day, even if it's one passage and that's all they were able to achieve, but that was their maximum, they will receive a hundred percent on their score on this question. Torah learning is one of the cornerstones of Judaism. It is not about how much we learn or how successful we are being in what other people might define as success. Hashem's true question is going to be, did you do your best?

The Code of Jewish Law outlines that all people, men, women and children, are obligated in the pursuit of Torah learning. Women have a mitzvah to learn and master all the areas of Torah that are related to the practical fulfilment of the mitzvos, as well as areas that focus on the development and improvement of our character traits, as well as the areas of Torah that talk about how to bring us closer to Hashem, how to derive inspiration, to fear and love Hashem more, how to live with more emunah, faith, on a constant basis. Men, of course, are obligated in the same way as women to learn about the performance of the practical mitzvos and make efforts in character development to seek inspiration, our fear of Hashem, our love of Hashem, and of course growth in our emunah and our personal relationship with Hashem, whilst at the same time there is an additional mitzvah, commandment, for men to constantly be involved in Torah, meaning to say, at any given opportunity where there is an extra moment, there is a commandment for a man to delve into Torah, even if in theory he knows the entire Torah already. We've discussed many times that the Torah commentaries teach us that the purpose of our existence is to have emunah, to believe, specifically to believe when we don't see, we don't know, we don't understand. We read a mishnah every morning as part of the morning prayers that says that the value of Torah learning is equal to all 613 mitzvahs put together. When one sits down and learns Torah to the best of their abilities, it doesn't always feel as inspiring as if one has given a huge sum of money to charity or performed some other act of kindness. However, the Torah is teaching us the true perspective. Torah learning is so powerful, even when we don't feel inspired from it, that it is equal to all 613 mitzvahs put together. Our job is to internalize that belief. One might ask, seeing as Torah learning is so great, perhaps one should not spend their time on any other mitzvos and just learn Torah the entire day. In theory, that would make sense. As mentioned, we have a mitzvah to learn Torah at any available opportunity, and seeing as the value of Torah learning is equal to all 613 mitzvahs put together, it would make sense that the most ideal course would be for me to be involved in Torah learning as much as possible, even at the expense of missing out on doing other mitzvahs. Again, there are always different ways to look at anything, it all depends on perspective, but when we want the truth, the only place to look is the Torah. The code of Jewish law, the Shulchan Aruch, outlines exactly what to do. When there is a mitzvah that can be taken care of by someone else, then the law is that it would be better for me to continue my Torah learning and not interrupt in order to go fulfill that mitzvah. So, let's say I'm currently learning Torah and I notice from the corner of my eye that there's somebody who is feeling very upset. We know one of the greatest mitzvos is to cheer somebody up. Now let's say I see that next to this person who is feeling down, a very good friend of his is sitting there, and if I continue to learn Torah, that very good friend will go and cheer up the individual who's feeling sad. If that would be the case, I would be exempt from that mitzvah, and the right thing to do would be to continue to learn Torah and not interrupt to perform that mitzvah. However, let's say that that individual that is feeling down has a special close bond with me, and I know that I am the only one who is in a position to cheer him up, then the Torah commands us that we are obligated to stop learning Torah and go perform that mitzvah, because this is now a mitzvah that cannot be performed by anyone else. Again, whether we understand the perspective or not, if we are following the guidance of the Torah, we are for sure on the right track. We are so privileged to have been given Hashem's perspective, the Torah.

We are so privileged to have received the Torah from Hashem, the only perspective that can be absolute truth. We know from many Torah sources that the Torah itself is considered the sweetest item in the world. But what am I supposed to do if I just don't feel the sweetness of Torah? I might believe the fact that if the Torah and Hashem's perspective tells me that the Torah is greater than anything else in the world, and sweeter than anything else in the world, that that is of course true. However, what if I don't experience Torah that way? When I open up a book, I fall asleep, I'm not so interested in hearing a lecture. So, what does one do? As we've discussed many times, the solution to all problems, always, step number one. If I believe that Hashem exists in the world, and I believe that He can hear my voice, and He is interested in what I have to say and, in my life, the most basic expression of our belief in Hashem and His existence is to talk to Him. “Master of the universe, Hashem my Father, I know that you have taught us that Torah is the sweetest possible item in the world. Hashem, I want to believe that with my full heart. But the truth of the matter is that when I learn Torah, I don't feel that excitement. In fact, a lot of the time, I find many areas of the Torah to be quite boring, and when I have to make a choice between learning Torah or spending some extra time doing something on my phone or something else, much of the time, I choose to do the other option rather than learn Torah because it's hard for me to learn Torah. Hashem my Father, I know that the truth of the matter is that if you teach me in so many Torah sources that Torah is the sweetest item in the world, and this is the most important area where we should be investing our time and energy. Please Hashem, I'm asking you with all my heart, please, can you make the Torah sweet in my heart. Please Hashem, can you help me that I should find the Torah exciting and not boring? Hashem, I know you can help me in a second. I know that sometimes I've experienced certain areas of Torah which have excited me and I have been very interested in and I have found to be sweet, whereas other areas of Torah I have found to be boring. How do I know, Hashem, to find the right areas which will speak to me and excite me the most? Please Hashem, guide me to those areas of Torah. Guide me to hear lectures or to find the right books of those particular areas that I will find to be sweet and meaningful for me. And Master of the Universe, you know that a lot of the time learning Torah is not easy for me. I might not have had a background in Torah education, or even if I have, many areas of Torah might be difficult. Please, Master of the Universe, you are the one, Hashem, who created the Torah. Please, Hashem, can you help me to feel that sweetness and to be so successful in my Torah learning? Thank you, Hashem, for the gift of the Torah.”

One of the traditions of the festival of Shavuos is that we eat honey. The Torah commentaries explain that the reason for this custom is because the verse compares the sweetness of Torah to honey, which is so sweet. The Torah, the mitzvos, and everything that is encompassed within the Torah is the sweetest thing in the world. I once heard a beautiful idea based on a famous verse which states that Torah is so great that it is better to me than thousands of pieces of gold and silver. The verse specifically mentions the items in this order. Torah is so great that it is greater to me than gold, first and thereafter, than silver second. Now, we all know what is worth more, gold or silver? Of course, gold. So, if the verse already compared the value of Torah and told us that it is greater than gold, why thereafter does it also say, and it is also greater than silver? If the verse has already stated that Torah is greater than gold, of course it is greater than silver, because gold is greater than silver and it seems superfluous for the verse to go out its way to thereafter tell us that Torah is also greater than silver. And the following most beautiful explanation sheds some light on what our perspective should be in the way we relate to Torah in our appreciation to this amazing gift that Hashem has given us. Torah is such a great gift, so much greater than any money in the world, than any gold in the world, than any silver in the world, that when we compare Torah to gold and silver, it is so far removed from them that gold and silver kind of look like the same thing. Everybody knows that $2 is more than $1. So, if I say $10 is more than $2, which is more than $1, that would make sense. However, if we're comparing $10 billion to $2 and to $1, we wouldn't anymore find it necessary to say $10 billion is the greater of the three, then comes $2 and then comes $1. We would rather register that $10 million is so much greater than both $2 as well as $1, that they can't be compared to one another and we would just say $10 million is in a different league to those smaller amounts. In the same way, when we compare Torah to gold or to silver or to any amount of money in the world, Torah is so much greater than any amount of money, be it $1, $10, a million dollars or $10 billion. It is so insignificant in comparison to the value of our true gift, the gift of Torah, that we just group the items together; gold, silver, it doesn't matter. It's so insignificant in comparison to the Torah. And that's why the verse lists the items seemingly out of order, first saying Torah is greater than gold and thereafter saying Torah is greater than silver, even though it seems superfluous to say so, because gold and silver are so insignificant in comparison to the Torah that one doesn't accord any more value to any one of the two when comparing to Torah. Torah is the sweetest item in the world. With Torah, we remain with the true perspective of what Hashem wants from us in the world of how to live a meaningful life. We are so privileged to have been given the Torah directly from Hashem.

As we approach this holy day of Shavuos, it is worth delving into what we are celebrating. We celebrate Shavuos to commemorate Hashem giving us the Torah. Now one may say, What is so great about the Torah? Is it not possible to have a close relationship with Hashem even without the Torah? I acknowledge that Hashem exists; I acknowledge that He runs the world; I acknowledge that He is personally involved in every detail of my life. I have emunah. So, why do I need the Torah and all its details? Let us recall an important principle that we previously discussed viz. that everything in life is based on perspective. The classic example to portray this concept is this: if I draw a 6 in front of me, a person sitting opposite me does not see a 6; he sees a 9. Who is right? Neither of us is wrong, because we are just experiencing and reporting what we are seeing from our perspective. Often enough, one’s perspective could lead one to incorrect conclusions. Since 7th October 2023, millions of people around the world have supported Hamas against Israel. And millions of people, many of whom were not stupid, sided with Hitler. They did so and do so because of their perspective. Once that perspective is forged, many thought processes and decisions follow. How does one know if one has the right perspective? If I have the wrong perspective, any decisions which follow will be wrong, even though they will make perfect sense to me. Any person, regardless of his or her wisdom, is limited by the human condition. The only being without human constraints is Hashem. Hashem's perspective is the only true perspective. In His infinite wisdom, Hashem decided not to reveal Himself to us constantly. We do not hear His words or see visions. Instead, He gave us His book, a book which contains clear guidelines to human life – what we should be doing, where we should be aiming. We are so privileged to have received the Torah from Hashem.

As we approach this holy day of Shavuos, it is worth delving into what exactly we are celebrating. We know that the main celebration of the festival of Shavuos is because that is the time that Hashem gave us the Torah. Now one may say, what is so great about the Torah? Is it not possible to have a close relationship with Hashem even without Torah? I acknowledge Hashem exists. I acknowledge that He runs the world. I acknowledge that He is personally involved in every detail of my life. I have Emunah. So, in a sense, why do I need the nitty-gritty of the Torah and all its details? And let us remind ourselves of one of the most important principles that we've previously discussed. And that is, everything in life is based on perspective. The classic example that is offered to portray this concept is: if I draw a 6 in front of me, the person sitting opposite me does not see a 6, he sees a 9. Who is right? Neither of us are actually wrong, because we are just experiencing and reporting what we are seeing from our perspective. However, many times the perspective one is looking from could be incorrect. Similarly, many people are currently opting to follow and vote for Hamas over Israel. And what about all those many people that chose to side with Hitler, many of those who were not “silly” people. It's not just that because they were so silly, they opted to take the side of Hitler or Hamas. It's just because that was their perspective. And once they're living with a certain perspective, many thought processes, results, and decisions are made based on their perspective that they're following. How does one know if one is following the right perspective? Because again, if I'm following the wrong perspective, any decisions that follow from that perspective will be wrong, even though it will make 100% sense to me, and perhaps any other way of looking at it will appear to be wrong, but again, according to my perspective, this is the correct way of looking at things. So how does one know if they've found the true right perspective? The truth of the matter is that anybody, however wise they may be, is always limited in that they can always make a mistake due to our human limitations. The only one beyond human limitations that cannot make a mistake is Hashem. The only absolute true perspective is Hashem's perspective on the world, on our lives, on what we should be doing on a moment-to-moment basis. For whatever reason, Hashem in His great wisdom decided not to reveal Himself to us in an open revealed way on a constant ongoing basis. Hashem usually does not come and appear to us and tell us in His voice that we can actually hear - what His perspective is. However, instead of that, He decided to give us His book, a book that has clear guidelines to all the details of our lives, what we should be doing, where we should be aiming, how exactly we are to live our lives. We are so privileged to have received the Torah from Hashem.

We've been discussing one of the six constant mitzvos is to love Hashem. And as the Rambam teaches, the way of coming to love Hashem is by taking note of His amazing creations with admiration and that will bring us more and more to be able to love Hashem. There is a Mishnah in Pirkei Avos which teaches that if somebody is on the road and whilst traveling they are thinking Torah thoughts or discussing a Torah topic with another individual, that is very commendable. Firstly, because they are fulfilling a great mitzvah - the mitzvah of Torah learning and additionally, because Torah learning provides a person a special protection and when a person is on the road traveling, sometimes through dangerous places, they might need a special protection. And the Mishnah goes on to say that if whilst one is traveling and involved in Torah, one stops and looks at the tree and says, "what a beautiful tree", then if something happens to this individual, they are responsible for causing themselves damage, because beforehand they were protected by the special protection of the Torah, and now because they stopped their learning of Torah in order to view this beautiful tree, that is considered a sin and thereby makes the person lose their special protection. And the question after learning this Mishnah is, didn't the Rambam teach us that the way to coming to love Hashem is by viewing His beautiful creations? So if one is to stop and say, "wow, what a beautiful tree that is", didn't the Rambam teach us that that is a commendable thing to do, a mitzvah, and in fact, the path to be able to come to fulfilling the great mitzvah of loving Hashem? And if that is the case, why does the Mishnah say that it is a sin to stop one's learning of Torah in order to view the tree, Hashem's wonderful creation?  And there's a beautiful teaching said in the name of the Kotzker Rebbe and others that gives us some guidance about how we ought to live our lives. They explain that what the Mishnah means to say is if a person is on the road and learning Torah, which is providing them a special protection, and then stops their learning of Torah, meaning to say, they now disconnect from Hashem - when they were learning Torah, they were connected; now they're disconnected. And when they say, "oh wow, what a beautiful tree", they don't mean it in a way of, "wow, Hashem, what a beautiful tree You've created", but rather just, "that's a beautiful tree that I just feel like enjoying, taking a break from the Torah". That would be a sin, where one loses their special protection, because beforehand they were deeply connected with Hashem through the potency of the Torah learning, and now by taking a break, especially being on the road in a dangerous situation, the special protection is gone. Whereas if a person is learning Torah and connected to Hashem, but stops in the middle of the learning in order to view a tree and continues the connection with Hashem, saying, "wow, Hashem, that's an incredible creation of Yours, thank You for such incredible trees and creations that You've given us in Your world, I love You so much, Hashem", then certainly one is not committing a sin, because one is continuing the connection with Hashem.  We ought to take this advice to heart, that throughout our lives, whatever we're doing, whether we're in the holiest of places, whether we're learning a Torah passage, and also when we might find ourselves on the road and in other places which are not particularly holy in our minds, nevertheless, we are able to continue that connection with Hashem wherever we go. We're able to notice Hashem's creations and appreciate them and admire them. And in the same vein, we have the constant opportunity to talk to Hashem wherever we go, whatever we're doing. "Thank you, Hashem, for the constant opportunity to be connected with You."

We've been discussing how every moment of our lives is really an opportunity and throughout the many extra moments that we might find for ourselves, instead of wasting the time idly just because maybe we can't center ourselves to a full-out task, because we're currently busy with something else and we only have a few spare moments at hand, it would nevertheless be so wise and recommended to use that time as an opportunity to gain eternal Olam Haba, using these moments that will never come again in a tremendously constructive way.  We discussed the six constant mitzvahs. For quick reference, if one is not yet familiar with the six constant mitzvahs, they can be found at the back of some Siddurim, or alternatively, it is very easy to find them via online or other resources, in order to be able to have them outlined in front of us, because remember, the way that these six constant mitzvahs are fulfilled is just by thinking about them. So having them listed in front of us would be something wise and advisable until we are familiar with them and able to think about them at all times, whenever we choose to.  There is something else also which is worth mentioning on this point. The Code of Jewish Law outlines, right at the beginning in the first chapter, that there is a mitzvah of shivisi Hashem l'negdi tamid, which means to place Hashem before me constantly. Simply speaking, what that means to say, as explained by the commentaries, is to remember that I am in Hashem's presence at all times, and to behave with the appropriate conduct as if I was standing before not only a great king, but the greatest of all kings, Hashem Himself.  And similarly, the commentaries explain that the meaning of this is to concentrate on Hashem's four-letter name in one's mind, and as the Arizal writes, by doing so, that is tremendously conducive to growing in one's yirat shamayim - one's fear of heaven. It has been pointed out that although we should do our utmost to avoid situations and settings where there might be inappropriate things for our eyes to see, nevertheless sometimes we are required to be in certain places that are not ideal, and we are taught that by concentrating in one's mind on this four-letter name of Hashem, the yud and the heh and the vav and the heh, that is conducive to protecting ourselves from unholy thoughts. I saw a motivating teaching that helps illustrate this concept. When we reach the heavenly court one day and have to give an accounting for our actions in this world, every detail will be accounted for, for all of our actions that were performed in this world. And when they go through all the halachic requirements, we might be stumped in certain areas and say, "you know what, I didn't do this right." But imagine the trial starts with question number one, the first paragraph of the Shulchan Aruch, which outlines shivisi Hashem l'negdi tamid - I will place Hashem before me at all times, both remembering that Hashem is in our presence at every moment, and also to think in one's mind of the four-letter name of Hashem, it is something worthwhile to try our best to succeed in. Especially seeing as this is the first paragraph of the entire code of Jewish law, when our trial begins in the heavenly court one day, we would like to respond affirmatively that we succeeded in this law.  "Hashem my father, please help me not to use any time idly, but rather any free moment that I might have, help me to use my time wisely and think of the six constant mitzvahs as well as of shivisi Hashem l'negdi tamid."

Every single moment of life is an opportunity. There is always a mitzvah to perform in every situation, and sometimes just being mindful of something can change a situation from being a waste of time, or even perhaps a sin, to a great mitzvah.  The halachic authorities teach that there are six constant mitzvahs that can be performed at any and every single moment. Just by thinking of them, we fulfill the mitzvah. It is worth having these mitzvahs at the forefront of our mind, and by doing so, we can gain countless opportunities to perform mitzvahs whenever we have an extra moment. If we find ourselves waiting in line to collect food from the restaurant, or at the doctor's waiting room, waiting at a bus stop, and the like, many a time one might be tired and may sit idly, doing nothing necessarily productive. We are so privileged to have the opportunity to make an active effort to be consciously mindful of certain thoughts, and just thinking these thoughts provide us with a great mitzvah to our eternal bank account.  Furthermore, the Gemara teaches that when a person is idle, that leads to sin, because when one is not focused on anything specific, one's heart, eyes, and imagination start to wonder, sometimes looking at inappropriate things, sometimes speaking or listening to inappropriate talk, and sometimes just simply wasting time by pulling out one's phone again and again just because I have an extra moment here and there. Instead of letting these moments, which will never come back, go to waste, it is so worthwhile to be mindful of the six constant mitzvahs. Let's discuss them.  The first one is the mitzvah to have a emunah.  The second one is the mitzvah not to serve idols. The third one is the mitzvah to know that Hashem is one.  The fourth one is the mitzvah to love Hashem.  The fifth one is the mitzvah to fear Hashem. And the sixth one is the mitzvah not to stray after our hearts and eyes.  There is much Torah literature available for one interested in studying more about these six constant mitzvahs, but being mindful of even the simple understanding of these mitzvahs will go a long way beyond anything we can even begin to imagine.  "Thank you, Hashem, for giving me the constant opportunity to fulfill your mitzvahs and gain eternal Olam Haba at any given moment. Hashem, I ask you, please will you help me not to waste time anymore. When I have an extra moment, of course, if I need to do something on my phone, then I should do so. But I know that much of the time I pull out my phone again and again and again just because I have a few extra seconds here and there. Please will you help me, Hashem. As a start, just for today, that as many times as I can, instead of re-pulling out my phone, let me think of these six mitzvahs again and again. And instead of wasting my time and perhaps sometimes even doing something that might be inappropriate, let me turn this moment into something great eternally."  Let us remind ourselves of the steps that are discussed by many Torah commentaries that we've mentioned numerous times as to the reason of why Hashem decided to create the world. Step number one, the only reason Hashem decided to create the world is in order to give pleasure to every single one of us. Step number two, the ultimate pleasure that we receive does not take place in this world in the least, but rather in the next world, in Olam Haba. And step number three, the reason that we are obligated to make an excursion through our lives in this world is in order to earn our eternal reward in the next world. Every single moment in this life is an opportunity for eternity.

We've been discussing one of the most important and fundamental mitzvahs, the mitzvah to love Hashem. That although it is such a fundamental and basic prerequisite to the Torah, nevertheless, at face value, it is quite a difficult mitzvah to fulfill, seeing as Hashem is an abstract being that is difficult for us to connect with due to our human limitations. We've discussed that when one views life through the lens of everything that I experience is a gift from Hashem, that is one of the greatest conduits to bringing me to sincerely loving Hashem, because if I internalize the values of Emunah, that Hashem is the only one providing me with everything I have in my life, and that He owes me nothing and anything that He gives me is not because it is due payment to me, but rather because He is just sending me a gift, by internalizing this mode of thought, one certainly will come to loving Hashem.  And as always, the solution to all challenges and problems, I have the opportunity constantly to talk to Hashem about anything and everything, and if I have a mitzvah to love Hashem and it's difficult for me, the first thing to do should be to talk to Hashem and say, "Hashem, I want to love You and fulfill this mitzvah in the right way, but I'm actually finding that it's quite difficult to love a being that I don't see, I don't hear. Please can You help me, I really want to fulfill this mitzvah in the best way possible, and I'm asking You to guide me to know how to do so. If there is some inspiration and perhaps Torah literature available, to teach me how to love You, please Hashem, guide me to find that course that will be best for me to follow. And I've learned that the Rambam teaches the way to come to love You, Hashem, is by seeing and taking note of Your creations. Please Hashem, grant me the opportunities to be able to see and experience and take note and admire Your incredible creations. When there is a beautiful sunset, let me not just take out a camera in order to share the picture with someone else, but rather let me stop for a moment and appreciate the beautiful sunset. And at the same time, Hashem, please help me to be so grateful for everything that You give me.  Please Hashem, help me to sincerely internalize that You owe me nothing, and that really, I am the poorest person in the world, because without You, I have absolutely nothing. No money, no food, no clothes, no health, and You don't owe me anything. But nevertheless, You have blessed me with countless gifts every moment of my day, every moment of my life. Please Hashem, help me to make a commitment to You, to talk to You every day, and as part of our personal conversation, let me dedicate a certain amount of time to thank You for all the gifts."  We all get busy with many endeavors, and without making a commitment of a certain amount of time that we dedicate and commit to talking to Hashem, our personal relationship can very easily fall through the cracks. It would be very advisable, in addition to committing to talking to Hashem about anything that we might want, to commit to a certain period of time every day where we just thank Hashem and try take note of all the tremendous miracles, all the tremendous gifts that He blesses us with all the time. "Thank you so much Hashem for all the incredible gifts that You have blessed me with."

We've been discussing one of the six constant mitzvahs, the mitzvah to love Hashem, which on the one hand is such an important fundamental mitzvah, whilst at the same time can be so difficult, because Hashem is not something tangible, not something we can see nor hear, and therefore how does one bring oneself to this place of being able to truly love Hashem?  We mentioned the Rambam who says that by noticing Hashem's creations and admiring them, that is one conduit that brings feelings of love towards Hashem. We also mentioned that when one views life through the correct perspective, that everything that I receive is actually a gift from Hashem, nothing that He owes me, then when I take note of all the tremendous gifts that He is constantly blessing me with, that will automatically bring me to a tremendous love of Hashem. The verse states that at a certain point in history of the Jewish people, they became well-to-do and thereafter kicked back at Hashem. The natural tendency of a poor person is to appreciate everything they receive because they have nothing, and what you give them is so appreciated because they're in so much in need of it, whereas sometimes someone who is very well-off and doesn't necessarily need anything may have a harder time to appreciate the gift that is given to them because they don't really need that gift. And as this verse points out, when the Jewish people became overly well-to-do and spoiled, they kicked back at Hashem and did not take Him as seriously. The Zohar states that if we were to realize just how much Hashem loves us, we would run so fast with the passion of a lion towards Hashem because of the strong burning love we would have back. Hashem just wants to shower all the blessings in the world upon us. Hashem loves us more than we can even begin to imagine. But at the same time, much of the time when Hashem gives us too much, that can lead us, God forbid, to becoming spoiled and kicking back at Hashem, which would be so bad for us in the bigger picture, because now instead of being able to reciprocate our love back and build a close relationship with Hashem, one gets accustomed to not needing anything and therefore not appreciating anything, finding it much harder to love Hashem.  Hashem wants to give to us, and as the verse states, when we experience pain, He experiences that pain together with us. And in fact the commentaries explain that when we experience pain, the Shechina experiences much more pain from the fact that we're experiencing pain, than the pain that we ourselves are experiencing. Hashem just wants to give us unlimited gifts, but if He sees that it will be bad for us because we will begin to kick back and stop appreciating and ruin our relationship, then He sees that in the bigger picture it is better not to give to us. It would be wise to make every effort that we can to try to appreciate everything that Hashem gives us, from the smallest to the biggest things, thereby building our love with Hashem, whatever we are experiencing, whilst at the same time giving Hashem reason to give us more, because ultimately Hashem just wants to give us. But if it will be detrimental to us, then it is better that He doesn't give us. "Thank you Hashem for loving me so much and for giving me so many gifts. I love you. Hashem, I want you to know that even though I am limited by my human limitations and sometimes it's hard for me to express this with absolute sincerity, but just know that the true feeling inside me is, Hashem, I love you."

One of the six constant mitzvahs is the mitzvah to love HaShem. It is difficult sometimes to fulfill this mitzvah of loving HaShem because I don't see HaShem, I don't hear HaShem and in many ways it's hard for me to relate to HaShem - this abstract figure. How do I come to loving HaShem?  The Rambam writes that the way we come to loving HaShem is by taking note of the things that He has created and admiring them and doing so will bring us to loving the Creator, the One who created all those things. As we've previously discussed, when one's approach towards HaShem is one of "You owe me", then of course we do not particularly feel grateful for the blessings that He sends us and why should we feel reason to love Him. Whereas when one lives the emunah approach and one internalizes, HaShem doesn't owe me anything and if I take note at the countless blessings in my life and internalize that each one of them is actually a gift from HaShem. When someone gives you a gift, you appreciate it and when they give you enough gifts just for no reason at all, just because they love you, that certainly is an incentive to love them back.  "Thank you HaShem for all the tremendous gifts that You've given me. Let's start with my eyes, because we've just learned that one of the ways that I can come to love You is by taking note, appreciating and admiring Your creations. By having given me eyes, HaShem, You have now enabled me to be able to see and take note and appreciate and admire Your incredible creations. Be it a beautiful sunset, the countless stars in the sky, the many animals that You've created with such great wisdom, all the many miracles that exist in a human being, which I see so many of. Thank you HaShem for these incredible eyes to be able to see Your incredible creations and thereby come to love You. HaShem, thank You so much for all the incredible gifts that You've given me. The fact that I can hear is not something You owe me. What a gift to be able to hear with these ears that You've given me and thereby be able to have a conversation and a relationship with another human being. You know HaShem, I would like to imagine for myself for a moment that I cannot hear, and I experienced many years being deaf, and suddenly You come and offer me a gift where I will be able to hear. In that situation, if I was able to, I would come and hug and kiss You for such a tremendous gift. The truth of the matter is that You've given me a greater gift than that, because You created me that right from the time I was born I didn't even have to suffer one day without hearing. HaShem, You have taught us Your perspective in many Torah sources that one of the most severe transgressions is to talk loshan hara and gossip about other people. And just as severe as it is to talk lashon hara is the transgression of listening to somebody else talk lashon hara. Now if You wanted to, You could have created a world where loshan hara didn't exist. But in Your great kindness, You gave me the opportunity to earn my place in the next world to enjoy Your goodness eternally. Thank You HaShem for giving me ears where I do have the ability to potentially listen to lashon hara, and I now have the choice to opt not to listen to the lashon hara that is being spoken, whereby I would be performing one of the greatest mitzvahs that can exist. And if I didn't have ears and the ability to hear, I would not be able to perform this mitzvah. Please HaShem help me not to be ungrateful, but rather to notice all the tremendous gifts that You give me, and thereby sincerely be able to say to You, I love You HaShem."

This holy day, Lag B'Omer, is another one of the incredible gifts Hashem has shared with us. We know that the festival of Shavuos is the time we celebrate the giving of the Torah. The commentaries explain that Shavuos refers to the time the revealed parts of the Torah were given to us. However, the revelation of the hidden secrets to the Torah took place on Lag B'Omer. One of the greatest classics in Torah literature, which contains most of the secrets and more hidden material to the Torah - the holy book of the Zohar given to us by Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, was revealed on Lag B'Omer. We are also taught that each of the 49 days of the Omer correspond to a specific sephira or spiritual level that applies to that day of the Omer.  Out of all 49 levels, the sephira and spiritual level which corresponds to the day of Lag B'Omer, Hod Sheb’hod, is actually the lowest of all 49 spiritual levels. And the question becomes, “if there was such a great revelation that took place specifically on the day of Lag B'Omer, one would have expected this revelation to take place on the day of the Omer that corresponds to the holiest spiritual level. Why is it that Hashem decided to make this tremendous revelation specifically on the absolute lowest spiritual level out of all the 49 days?” And the commentaries explain, if I were to take a candle under the broad sunlight, the light from my candle is going to be unnoticeable. If I move to a darker room, the light from the candle suddenly becomes much more noticeable. And the darker the place, the more light we are able to experience from the candle. Specifically, because on some level the spiritual dimension of Lag B'Omer is the lowest of the 49 days of the Omer, there is now room for so much light to be noticed and experienced. And that's why specifically this day with the lowest spiritual level was chosen for the highest spiritual revelation, the revelation of the hidden Torah.  And one of the incredible messages we can internalize is that specifically when we have fallen and transgressed, falling into a place of darkness, that is now specifically the opportunity we have if we are now in a place of absolute darkness. We now have an incredible opportunity to truly light up that place. We have the constant opportunity every single day to do teshuva, to try to rectify anything we may have done wrong. And again, the process can be simple. One acknowledges to Hashem in their own words what they've done. One tries their best to repair any repercussions from their transgression. And one commits to Hashem to try their best in future. And again, even if one cannot make that commitment, one can nevertheless ask Hashem to help them and that would also be classified as teshuva. Of course, we can capitalize on the incredible opportunity of teshuva at any given moment, even when we are being spiritually successful. However, it can be tremendously comforting to realize that specifically when we have transgressed, perhaps severely, and we're now in a place of tremendous darkness, that is sometimes the time that Hashem's arms are the most wide open, waiting for us to come back. Sometimes, the darker the situation, the more opportunity there is to bring in the light.

We've been discussing one of the most fundamental principles of the Torah – Teshuvah - the opportunity to rectify our mistakes, transgressions, and anything we may have done to distance ourselves from Hashem. Without Teshuvah, life can be very scary because there are many instructions Hashem has given us and due to our human limitations, we are bound to mess up. Sometimes, unintentionally, we may not have learnt the laws of a certain mitzvah sufficiently and we might therefore not perform the mitzvah correctly. And in the same vein, sometimes, our evil inclination might take over us and cause us to perform a transgression willingly, which of course has tremendous ramifications and can potentially cause a tremendous distance between us and Hashem.  Without internalizing the opportunity to rectify our wrongdoings after performing a transgression, we can fall even deeper into the more serious transgression of feeling guilt and bad about ourselves, feeling unworthy of doing good things and being close to Hashem, which will therefore lead us, God forbid, to perform more transgressions. Therefore, it is absolutely vital for us to internalize the opportunity of Teshuvah. It doesn't matter what has been done. It is never too late to return to Hashem. What exactly does it mean to do Teshuvah? One might feel in order to gain forgiveness in Hashem's eyes. For that, surely I need years of repentance in order to be forgiven. Torah authorities explain that whilst there might be many levels to Teshuvah, simply speaking, Teshuvah is very easy. Teshuvah refers to the following. I did something wrong. I find the time now to be alone with Hashem. I acknowledge Hashem in my own words and tell Him what I did wrong. I assure Him that I'm going to do my best to not perform this transgression again. And if there is something practical to rectify, such as if somebody stole money, then of course one is required to return that money and rectify their transgression in a practical way.  Once one has done that basic Teshuvah, which sometimes can take less than one minute, even when being done with sincerity, and one means what they're saying, one is finished the process and one is forgiven for their sin to the point that the Gemara says that when one repents and does Teshuvah out of their love for Hashem, one's transgression thereafter actually changes to a mitzvah. Now let us just digest that. It's not that Hashem clears away the transgression and now we're back to zero, but rather the transgression itself turns into a mitzvah and we actually get points for what previously was a minus. Now one might say, “when it comes to a transgression that I really didn't mean to do, or I just really messed up, but I know that I really will try my best not to do it again, then I can do Teshuvah because I can apologize to Hashem for transgressing and I can commit to Him that I will really sincerely do my best in future not to do so again. However, what about when it comes to a transgression which I am currently struggling with and performing constantly on a repeated basis?”  Now again, of course, we need to make our maximum effort to not repeat the transgression. However, we are limited by our human limitations and therefore if we are currently struggling with a certain sin that we know we will repeat again, we nevertheless can and should do Teshuvah for what we did wrong. We can say, “Hashem, I am so sorry for speaking Lashon Hora today and Hashem, I really don't want to ever perform this sin ever again, but You and I know that I am really struggling with this sin at the moment. Please Hashem, can You help me that I shouldn't have to transgress again.” Once one has done that, let us not forget, as the Gemara says, one's Aveira actually turns to a mitzvah and that being the case, certainly there would be no place anymore for feeling guilt, for feeling unworthy. We are so privileged to have the constant opportunity to return to Hashem.

We discussed the most incredible message that we learn from the day of Pesach Sheni, where people who missed out on the official opportunity to perform the mitzvah of Korban Pesach nevertheless did not give up trying find another way to make up that lost opportunity. And because of their desire to do so, an entire new holy day called Pesach Sheni was created. This message - that we always have a second chance, is one of the most important messages for us to internalize. Hashem created us as human beings, and part of our nature and makeup is that we make mistakes and mess up. One of the greatest gifts that Hashem has given us is the power of teshuva - to be able to rectify what we have done wrong. Sometimes we might make a mistake, unintentionally doing something against what Hashem has commanded us, and at other times, because of our human nature and limitations, we might have even performed a sin against Hashem's will on purpose. Of course, initially, if we believe in Hashem, we need to make our maximum effort to do what He says to do, and to stay away from what He tells us to stay away from. However, when we have already messed up or performed a sin against Hashem's will, both willingly or by mistake, we need to remember that Hashem Himself designed the world in the way that we always have the opportunity to do teshuva - to return to Hashem and rectify what we did wrong. This most incredible gift of teshuva that Hashem has given us is one of the most fundamental ideas in our service to Hashem for us to internalize. What is the greatest sin that exists? The Torah commentaries explain that although there are many severe transgressions, and of course, we need to make our maximum effort to not transgress anything Hashem has commanded us to stay away from, however, the biggest transgression of all is the feeling of guilt that we sometimes feel after having messed up, intentionally or unintentionally. Of course, it's not a good thing to transgress, but often what happens is after one has already fallen and transgressed, one falls into a sort of depression, feeling I am not worthy. “How can I, who transgresses, be considered someone worthy to be able to have a personal relationship with Hashem?” Although yesterday maybe I felt like I could talk to Hashem personally, learn Torah, perform mitzvahs and be happy, after transgressing sometimes we could be led to believe that we are not worthy anymore to perform mitzvos, learn Torah or have a personal relationship with Hashem.  The Torah commentaries point out that feeling this form of guilt after transgressing is actually a more serious transgression than the transgression itself. Because when one feels worthy of having a personal relationship with Hashem, one can always find it within themselves to return to Hashem and say, “Hashem, I'm sorry for what I did. I'm going to try better.” Because when one feels worthy, one is able to get up and try again and rectify the situation and move forward in a happy and positive way. Remember, one of the most fundamental principles from the Torah is that there is always a second chance.

Another one of the incredible gifts Hashem has given us is Pesach Sheini - the second Pesach. We know that during the festival of Pesach itself, one of the highlights was the opportunity to bring the Korban Pesach - the sacrificial offering that we brought to Hashem. The law is that in order to be permitted to bring the Korban Pesach, one has to be pure according to Halacha. The Torah records that there was a group of people that were ritually impure when Pesach arrived, and because of that, they were unable to bring the Korban Pesach. They therefore came and asked, “seeing as we are currently impure and therefore not permitted to perform the mitzvah of Korban Pesach on Pesach itself, could we perhaps be given a second chance to be able to perform the mitzvah of Korban Pesach and not lose out on this tremendous mitzvah and opportunity?” The Torah records that this group was given permission to perform this mitzvah exactly one month later. This day is known as Pesach Seini.  The incredible lesson comes out from this episode - it's never too late; one is never too far to have to give up. These people could have easily turned around and said, “we've lost the opportunity this year to perform the Korban Pesach, and God willing, we'll get another opportunity next year. However, for this year, it's too late, we've already missed the boat.” Although they could have viewed the situation through that lens, they nevertheless opted to rather try find a solution to be given a second chance to perform the mitzvah. And because of their desire to do so, an entire new holy day called Pesach Sheini was created. The incredible message that we can take from this day is that - it is never too late. One is never in a situation that they are forced to give up. Just because I missed out on the first opportunity, or perhaps just because I didn't do it right the first time, in no way does that mean that now it's too late and nothing can be done.  So, let's say, for example, I had an opportunity today to do a mitzvah. Somebody approached me for charity, and because I was so busy and caught up with my own things, I just dismissed the opportunity. Thereafter, one might consider that they acted inappropriately just because they were caught up with their own things. One might therefore say, “I didn't act in the right way in this situation, and I missed out on the tremendous opportunity of the mitzvah of charity that Hashem presented me. Although I didn't perform it this time, hopefully next time I will do it right.” That would be the approach of, “it's too late, I'm giving up, there's nothing more to do.” Whereas Pesach Sheni teaches us that, no, one can say, “I may have done it wrong, and I didn't do the mitzvah that I was presented the opportunity to perform, however, it's not too late, I can do it now; let me go out actively now and find that mitzvah opportunity to perform.” What an incredible message to internalize. It is never too late to come back to Hashem.

We have been discussing how the greatest gift, greater than any and all miracles in the world, is the gift of life itself. And as we learned from the Sfas Emes, greater than the miracle of the creation of the world itself is the Mishkan, and even greater than that is the mitzvah of Shabbos, and even greater than Shabbos is the gift of life, because as we know, all the laws of Shabbos fall aside when the life of a Jew is in question. Just to view this from a different angle, to appreciate exactly how blessed we are to have another day of life, and Bezrat Hashem turn those feelings of appreciation into expressing our gratitude to Hashem. We know that when it comes to the three cardinal sins, idol worship, immorality, and murder, we are obligated to stop at nothing to prevent ourselves from committing those most severe transgressions, even if it means losing our lives by doing so. Besides for the three cardinal sins, when it comes to other sins that Hashem has commanded us not to commit, the Halacha in Shulchan Aruch states that a person is obligated to give up all of their money if that can prevent one from committing a sin. So imagine for a moment a situation where the only way I can prevent myself from not needing to desecrate the Shabbos is by giving away every single cent in my bank account. And imagine I might be a wealthy philanthropist where I have hundreds of millions of dollars in my bank account, and many, many organizations are dependent on my funding. And here I have a situation where I need to desecrate Shabbos in the slightest way, one little desecration. But hypothetically in this situation, if I give away every single cent that I own and become a pauper, and of course am now unable to help any organization or individual, the Halacha is that I am obligated to give away every cent that I own in order to prevent myself from breaking the law.  Now just to digest that, all the money in the world that I might own is not as great as not desecrating one of the laws of Shabbos. Yet we are taught that when it comes to the life of a Jew, the life of a Jew is so holy that if we might be able to add even one second to a Jew's life, we break every law in order to do so. So imagine a 110 year old man who is sick in hospital on every machine. It is absolutely clear that this man will not live longer than one more hour. But if I desecrate Shabbos, I might, not even for sure, I might be able to add one second more to this man's life. The law is that in such a case, I am absolutely obligated to desecrate any law of Shabbos in order that there might be a possibility to add one second to this man's life.  "Thank you Hashem for the gift of just being alive. I know that I can't fully internalize to appreciate what it means, the value of being alive, but I believe Hashem in what you are teaching me in your Torah, that although you have given us the opportunity to perform your mitzvahs, which their value is immeasurably great beyond anything we can imagine, with incredible reward in store for us for the future, however as we learn in your Torah, nothing in the world whatsoever can be greater than the gift of life itself. Thank you Hashem for the incredible gift of life that you've given me."