Daily Chidush: How Does a Jewish Person Say Thank You?

1:28And in the old days, they found in a factory someone who had died, and they blamed the only Jew that worked there. For whatever reason or another, the goyim always think it's the Jews. Of course, this is the satan at work, and they accused the Jewish person of killing. All the Jews found out from the community and gathered together and went to the court, and Rabbi Meir Shapiro from Lublin, he's the one who came up with the idea of Daf Yomi, presented himself in court to answer the accusation that the goyim had against the Jew. He's the one who came up with the idea of Daf Yomi. He presented himself in court to address the accusation the non-Jews had against the Jew. They asked, "Why would you think it's him? There is no evidence against him. Why would you think it's him?" And they said, "No, look, even in your Gemara, even in your Oral Torah, you say that only the Jews are considered 'adam,' only the Jews are considered a person, but not the rest of the world." So, of course, you don't consider us people; you consider us animals. That's why it's probably you that killed him, like an animal—the Jewish person. No, Rabbi Meir said, no, that's not what we're saying. Hashem is telling us here that the Jewish people are one nation. And when one of us is in trouble, we have to unite. Because whether we like it or not, we're all judged together. Whether we care for each other or not, we all suffer the consequences. This is the reason why even though the entire nation of Israel did not sin with the golden calf, there was only a few thousand people from the Erev Rav that sinned, but still, the entire nation was completely at risk of nearly being destroyed. And until this day, we're still suffering every major pogrom.

2:57care for each other or not, we all suffer the consequences. This is the reason why even though the entire nation of Israel did not sin with the golden calf, there were only a few thousand people from the Erev Rav that sinned, but still the entire nation was completely at risk of nearly being destroyed. And until this day, we're still suffering every major pogrom, Even a stabbing or the Holocaust—every one of these things that have happened throughout history to the Jewish people—part of the reason, not the entire reason, but part of the reason, has been because of the sin of the golden calf that we committed over three thousand three hundred years ago. Why, if only a few thousand people sinned, is the entire nation suffering even until this day? That's because they did not say anything. They did not rebuke the Erev Rav. those people that were committing the sin didn't say anything. They said, no, no, we're already religious, so let those sinners be. You know, they want to violate Shabbat, we're not going to say anything. They wanted to go do Avodah Zarah, they wanted to go do idol worship, okay, you go do it. That's your business. No, my friends. The Jewish people are one nation. And Rabbi

4:10Meir Shapiro over here is saying that when we're in trouble, whether we like it or not, if you judge him as a murderer, you're going to say that all Jewish people are murderers. If a guy wearing a kippah steals, you're going to say all Jewish people steal. If a guy with a kippah hasn't taken a shower in the last week, you're going to say all Jewish people smell. That's why until this day, you can find little statues, little statues that have the name Moses on them, meaning they're supposed to represent Moshe Rabbeinu. But they actually have horns on them. Because these imbeciles that don't know how to read the Torah, when the Torah in a couple of parshiyot, when Moshe Rabbeinu came down from Har Sinai, it says he had "keren ohr al panav." He had a keren. Keren means there was a light. But keren also means horns. Like a horn. So these imbeciles that don't know the Torah thought that... Moses had horns and that's why, until this day, there are places around the world, like, for example, in Kazakhstan, that actually believe Jewish people have horns. Rabbi Meir Shapiro said whether we like it or not, we're all going to be judged, so we have to protect each other. Okay, so what about us? You don't think we're humans? He goes, no. He said you guys are not together. You guys are not judged together.

5:34If a Russian guy steals, they don't say, listen, the French are also thieves. If a Spanish guy lies to somebody, they don't say that all the Arabs are liars. You're not connected to each other like us. You're not connected to each other. That's what that verse means in Masechet Yevamot. And this gives us an idea of what Adam is. You want to be an adam, you have to have good middot. You want to be adam. You have to remember what a Jew is, because Hashem says that Avraham is a true Jew. And a true Jew is going to follow what the essence of being Jewish is. And what is it? It's connecting to Hashem. One of the roots of the word Yehudi, which means Jewish or Jew, is Hoda'ah, which means giving thanks to Hashem. It also means to admit, but primarily it means giving thanks to Hashem. However, remember that the essence is not only in admitting or thanking but also in maintaining a constant connection with Hashem through our actions and prayers. And one of the main things that we learned in this parashah is to give Hashem our prayers. But most of the time when we pray to Hashem, we're complaining to Him.

6:40I don't have enough money. Hashem, I don't have my zivug. Hashem, I don't have this, I don't have that. I don't have a vacation. I only went on one vacation this year, not three like my friends. Hashem, I only have the S-series model of Ferrari or, I don't know, Mercedes, not the F-series. We complain to Him about nonsense. Sometimes we complain about good things, that, you know, we need health, we need... You know, sustenance and so on, but in reality, we just complain to Hashem like He sent a clause or something like that, like He owes us something. But Hashem owes nothing to no one. Maybe, just maybe, we should use the idea that Chazal gave us. They say if you want something from Hashem, of course you have to pray. But instead of focusing so much on what you need from Hashem, why don't you think about... giving Him thanks like a Jew is supposed to, giving Him thanks for what He already gave you. You have food in the fridge; give Him thanks. You're able to walk; give Him thanks. You're able to see; give Him thanks. You're able to hear; give Him thanks. Or, if you don't think those things are a big deal, ask any blind person who has a hundred million dollars how much they would pay to see. They will tell you, "I'd pay 200 million."

8:07200. I borrow another hundred million just to be able to see for a day. So already you know, you have 200 million dollars. Ask any deaf person, "How much would you pay to hear the sound of the voice of the love of your life?" Ask any person who has been crippled, "How much would you pay to be able to walk like everyone else?" If he's been crippled, ask Stephen Hawking, the famous scientist that everyone knows, ask him, "How much would you pay?" Would you give all of your honor and all of your fame and money to be able to walk like a normal person? They'll give everything for it, and you already have it. There's a very amazing story about Rabbi Elimelech and Rabbi Zusha. Rabbi Elimelech and Rabbi Zusha were brothers, and they continued the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov. Rabbi Elimelech was, you know, doing okay in life. Rabbi Zusha, on the other hand, was very, very poor. One day, a businessman goes to Rabbi Elimelech and he says, "It says in the Torah, and it says in the Gemara that you teach, that you're supposed to give thanks to Hashem for the bad, just as you give thanks for the good." Meaning that when something bad happens to you, you have to thank Hashem as if it's something good.

9:35And I can't even figure it out. I just lost all my money. How could I even give Hashem thanks at all? Forget about getting to the level of saying thank you just as good as when I got the money in the first place. To even say thank you at all for something bad. How could I do it? So the Rabbi said to him, "You know what? This is a tough question. You should go to my brother, Rabbi Zusha. Tell him I sent you and he'll give you the answer." So he goes, he goes into the woods and finds this little house that looks like it's about to break and collapse. Poor, poor little house. He's scared to knock on the door, scared it's going to fall. He opens the door. He sees Rabbi Zusha praying. He sees all the kids playing, and the house is completely broken. The kids are wearing little rags as clothes; they're all ripped. The Rabbi Zusha is wearing a rag himself. The wife is gathering the free crumbs to eat. But every single person in the house is as happy as can be. And he sees Rabbi Zusha praying to Hashem and laughing and thanking Him with excitement like this guy has never seen before. He waits for him to finish praying, and he says, Kevod HaRav.

11:05Your brother, Rabbi Elimelech, sent me to you to ask you, how do you get to a point of saying thank you to Hashem for all the bad that you have? So Rabbi Zusha says, I'm sorry. My brother made a mistake. I don't know the answer to something like that because I never had anything bad happen to me. You see? So the businessman was telling me, what do you mean? Living in a small home that seems ready to collapse, he says, "I have a house." He considers, "Your children are wearing rags for clothes," and replies, "They have the rags; they could have nothing." When told, "You're in poverty," he says, "What do you mean? I have everything I need; I never had anything bad happen to me." He was already at such a high level of thanking Hashem that he existed in a different world, where he didn’t even recognize what was considered bad. Now, of course, not all of us can get to a point of being like Rabbi Zusha and thanking Hashem for poverty. But why don't we start with this today? Why don't we start by putting an alarm on our phone and every day at 12:30 in the afternoon, reminding ourselves to thank Hashem for what we already have, the good we have?

12:25Whether it's a few dollars we have in our pocket, or the wife who loves us, or the children who love us, or the job we have, or even the eyes through which we can see. Just thank Him for the good we have. Maybe one day we'll reach the point of thanking Him for the challenges we face. Chazakim u'beruchim. Thank you for learning with me. And b'ezrat Hashem, we'll speak again soon, hopefully before Shabbat. Kol Tov.