Daily Chidush: What Happens When We Forget Our Past? JEWS CELEBRATING XTIAN NEW YEAR EVE

0:37a whole for our nation or independently connected to our weekly parasha. Now, our weekly parasha, Parashat Miketz, is the second half of the story of Yosef and his brothers after they sold him. This week's parasha begins with Yosef's salvation. Hashem decides that he has spent enough time in jail—12 years in jail—and now he... He's taken him from the absolute bottom of the barrel to becoming the viceroy of Egypt in a matter of moments. Literally a matter of moments. It even says in the beginning of the parasha that they hurried him, meaning they ran him all the way from the jail to Pharaoh in order to interpret the dream. And then after Pharaoh sees... Joseph's divine wisdom that Hashem gave him is addressed in chapter 41, verse 44. Pharaoh says to Joseph, "I am Pharaoh, and without you, no man may lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt." Here, Pharaoh makes a...

1:44Joseph, the viceroy, is made second-in-command. In essence, Pharaoh is telling him, "Hey, listen, now that you are here and you're going to be the viceroy, you have the complete job. In essence, you do everything, you run everything. You have the wisdom, you have everything. You run the show, and essentially, you become king. The only one who can override you is me, but I'm not really interested in doing anything anymore." So, this is something extraordinary. This is something that we sometimes see in ourselves, where people today feel like little mini Yosefs. They experience tremendous success in life — their businesses are growing, their reputations are flourishing, their popularity is increasing — and it can often lead us to developing a sense of arrogance. and we start developing partnerships with some people who are not necessarily the type of partners we would have chosen at the beginning of our journey. We start befriending individuals who may not be the kind of friends we would have selected initially. Unfortunately, in today's world, there is a significant amount of confusion about what's happening.

2:48is that sometimes you see things that are completely confusing, which, on one hand, are actually part of the prophecies of what's going to happen at the end of times. As it says in the Gemara, Masechet Sotah, page 49, there's going to be a lot of confusion, and literally, things are going to be the opposite of what they're supposed to be, where our leaders are going to work against us. Sometimes you see in the news these strange articles about so-called Orthodox rabbis making partnerships with the Christian world. Aside from the fact that many of the articles are fake, nonetheless even the ones that are real are not necessarily what they seem to be. But regardless of that, whether people believe them or whether it's happening or not happening, this is something we all have to understand. And what's connecting all of this to this week specifically is... In the next short while, we're going to go to the book of Exodus. The book of Exodus begins with Parashat Shemot. Parashat Shemot marks the beginning of our slavery. We see in the beginning of Parashat Shemot, chapter 1, verse 8, and it says, "A new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph."

4:01And Chazal says, what do you mean he didn't know Yosef? This is the same Yosef that built the country. When Yosef came there before he was viceroy, okay, Egypt was like, you know, it's a nice place. It was like Florida. It was like maybe a part of New York. After Joseph came and built it, the United States, you know, became rich and prosperous. The whole world was bound to it, giving it taxes. It was the rule of the world. How could you not remember Joseph? As a matter of fact, the Egyptians started idolizing Joseph and wouldn’t let him be buried outside of Egypt. They actually put his tomb inside the Nile River, and they would pray to the Nile River. with Yosef being inside the river. So how could this be that he forgot Yosef? And Chazal says he didn't really forget Yosef in reality. He forgot him conveniently. It wasn't convenient for him anymore. To have a relationship with this Yosef, with the history of Yosef, whether it was the same Pharaoh or a different Pharaoh, it doesn't really make a difference because the reality is that neither one could have forgotten the same person that built the country. It's like an American, you know, at least in previous generations, you tell them you know who George Washington was, you know who Abraham Lincoln was, you know who Thomas Jefferson was, you know even who Bill Gates was, not that he necessarily built America, but just to give people understanding, I mean, these are people that you can't just forget. Even the most ignorant person would know who these people are. How could you forget the guy that built the country? Put you on the map. Ah, it's not convenient to remember this relationship with the Jews anymore.

5:27... "illegal state," an occupied state. Just like the machinations at the United Nations did this past week to the nation of Israel, to Eretz Yisrael, by wrongly declaring our country as illegal. So now it's not convenient for them to acknowledge the historical and spiritual connection of the Jewish people to their land. What does all of this have to do with everything, you may ask? You see, my dear brothers and sisters, our story starts thousands of years ago. The Jewish nation has always faced challenges and adversarial forces, yet we remain resilient and bound by our Torah and our heritage. Our existence itself is a miracle, a testament to Hashem's promise and providence. We learn from our history and our sages, like the Rambam and the Chofetz Chaim, to stay strong and faithful despite the trials. Illegal state, an occupied state like the mockery in the United Nations did this past week to the Nation of Israel, to Eretz Yisrael, saying that our country is illegal. So now it's not convenient for them. So what does this have to do with everything? You see, my dear brothers and sisters, our story starts thousands of years ago. Allah that Hashem himself said it starts already with Asav and Yaakov. Let's not be fooled into thinking they are separate. They are brothers, born of the same mother, born at the same time. Everything was wonderful, but in the end, Asav is a subservient to Yaakov, and so Asav hates Yaakov.

6:48Esav could only tolerate Yaakov up to a certain point. As soon as that point is reached, as soon as there is no more need, then Esav no longer needs Yaakov and Esav can become very, very mean, very vicious. And the reason why we mention it is because this week we are about to end the secular year, 2016, and enter 2017, and many Jews have no idea what they're about to celebrate. As a matter of fact, in many places around the world, New Year's Eve is not called New Year's Eve, but rather Sylvester. And if anyone spends even two minutes on the internet finding out who this Sylvester character is, they would see that if you travel back a couple thousand years and you see the history, back in those days, Sylvester was, in essence, one of the founders of Christianity in a sense that he put it on the next level by combining Christianity with the Romans. Romans were pagans, they were idol worshippers, but they had the strength, they had the power.

7:56Sylvester the First convinced the Roman Caesar Constantinus to, in essence, become a Christian and follow the New Testament, but that relationship also included completely wiping out the Torah, completely wiping out the Jews, and celebrating this day on a yearly basis. What do they do? Which day do they choose to celebrate? They chose to celebrate the day that Sylvester died, in essence, his birthday, his death day, and... Christian beliefs adhere to the New Testament, but part of that relationship also included intentions to completely eradicate the Torah and eliminate the Jews. They celebrate this day on a yearly basis. And what do they do? Which day do they choose to commemorate? They chose to celebrate the day that Sylvester died, in essence, his death day. They celebrate this day each year called December 31st as the day marking the new year. However, over the last couple of thousand years, you can see that the celebration of the new year has changed multiple times because the Christian calendar is not really a precise calendar. It has changed multiple times. It used to be celebrated in March and then at other times, in different parts of the year. Eventually, about 500 years ago, it returned to being celebrated on January 1st. Nonetheless, this whole celebration of New Year's has a foundation that's not only from a pagan root but also from an anti-Semitic root. Precise calendar. It's changed multiple times. It used to be celebrated in March and then at other times during different parts of the year. Eventually, about 500 years ago, it came back to being celebrated, and New Year's Day became January 1st once again. Nonetheless, this whole celebration of New Year's has a foundation that's not only from a pagan root but also from an anti-Semitic root, and

9:14The very day that Jews are celebrating, you know, by going to Times Square, getting drunk like fools, going to parties, and celebrating, is the very same day that Sylvester used as a special holiday for him to give his people full permission to do whatever they wanted, including murdering tens of thousands of Jews on a regular basis each and every single year. To such an extent that during their journeys, they would literally look for Jews to harm. Synagogues and different Jewish communities, so they can put them all into the synagogues and burn them alive. Why are we getting so graphic with this? Because it's the only way we get the point. It's the only way we understand what we're about to do. You're gonna drink l'chaim like it's a good day, but in reality, if you look at your great-grandparents, they would be rolling in their graves in tears if they knew that we're celebrating this today. So now, my friends, the question is this: How do we tell everyone? Some people today think that you're not allowed to be a mochiach, to be someone that rebukes people or tells them the truth. As a matter of fact, if you tell every Jew, even if they're the most secular person on earth, "Are you allowed to eat pig?" Every single Jew, even the one that's eating it, will tell you, "I'm not allowed to eat pig." Some choose to eat it anyway, but everyone knows according to the Torah, you're not allowed to eat it. We're just like not eating pig.

10:41A mitzvah in the Torah. It's one of the 613 mitzvot. It's also another mitzvah that's in the book of Leviticus, Parashat Kedoshim, Chapter 19 Verse 17, which says you shall not hate your brother in your heart; you shall reprove your fellow and do not bear a sin because of him. The text says, first and foremost, don't hate your brother in your heart. Keeping the truth away from him is hating him in your heart because sometimes, you might think, maybe he doesn't deserve to know the truth, or maybe he can't handle the truth. You are not allowed to do that. Aside from that... There's obviously other types of hatred in your heart—jealousy and so on. But aside from that, it says you must reprove your fellow. You must reprove your brother. If you see your brother violating Shabbat, you have to tell him. If you see your brother stealing, you have to tell him. If you see your brother cheating, you have to tell him.

11:43But most importantly, if you see your brothers about to go do l'chaim on New Year's Eve, celebrating, in essence, the ancient Hitler from 2,000 years ago, you have to tell them, "Hey, my friend. Hey, my brother. Hey, my fellow Jew. Hey, even my fellow Christian who doesn't believe in the previous horror show that your ancestors perpetuated. You know you're about to celebrate..." the worst type of anti-Semitism the world has ever known, the one perpetrated by the Romans and then by the Christians combined, the ones that destroyed the Beit HaMikdash, The ones that have put us in exile for the last 2,000 years. The ones that have burned tens of thousands of Jews on a yearly basis as a holiday, as a celebration. Do you know, do you know that that's what you're about to celebrate? No. No, I'm not connected to that. I'm just going to have some fun with my friends. Okay, so why don't you do it on Tuesday? Why don't you do it on Wednesday? Why don't you do it any other day? Why don't you do it on December 28th? Why don't you do it on January 15th? Why don't you do it on Rosh Hashanah? Why don't you do it any other day? Why does it have to be that day?

12:53And this is where reality comes in. This is what we have to understand. You must rebuke your friends. You have to tell them the truth because, unfortunately, most of them don't know. And if you just send them this, they'll understand that, you know what, even if they want to hang out, they can always do it on a different day. They don't have to do it on a day that their ancestors were murdered. And for those of us that are saying, hey, listen, maybe we're not supposed to, you know, it is important to remember that rebuking is a mitzvah, just like avoiding non-kosher food is a mitzvah. It's something that we are obligated to do, even if it's uncomfortable. Rebuke people—here you go. This is a mitzvah just like not eating pig is a mitzvah that you're not allowed to do. Now, rebuking is also a mitzvah. You must rebuke. It's one of the 613 mitzvot. There's no other way. This is not my creation. Hashem didn't ask me for permission whether to write this or not. This is a mitzvah in the Torah. And just to give you an idea of what happens when you don't do it, you just go to Parashat Balak, the book of Numbers, Bamidbar. And you go to Parashat Balak, which is the time when Am Yisrael unfortunately sinned with immodesty. Immodest women, they went with the immodest goyot, and they let them into the camp. We all know the story of what happens there. And Hashem tells Moshe in chapter 25, verse 4, "Vayomer Hashem el Moshe, kach et kol rashei ha'am ve'hoka otam."

14:18Hashem says to Moshe, take all the leaders of the people and hang them before Hashem against the sun. Why is it that He is focusing on the leaders when all the people sinned? Did anybody ever ask this question? Why is Hashem telling Moshe, "Go hang the leaders?" He's not here. The people are sinning. Thousands of people are sinning. Why don't you tell them, "Go kill the people, go punish the people, go do something to the people." No, no, no, no, no. Hashem says, "Go first, go take the leaders. Hang them first. Then we'll deal with the people." Why? Because the leaders knew the truth. And they didn't rebuke. They didn't fulfill the mitzvah. And as it says in Gemara Masechet Shabbat page 54, a person who does not rebuke his brother or sister, his fellow, is held accountable for their sin. This can create a situation where one inadvertently becomes complicit in the transgression themselves, especially in the context of Shabbat observance. It further emphasizes the communal responsibility and importance of upholding Torah values through appropriate rebuke and guidance. When he knows the truth and takes the sin upon himself, it means if you see someone violating Shabbat and you don't tell them, you become complicit in the violation of Shabbat. Even if you're observing Shabbat l'mehadrin, you see a woman who's not dressed modestly, you don't say anything, you don't tell your friend—this is obviously something for women to address among themselves, not for men. Men should not approach women to tell them they're not modest unless their wives are with them and it can be addressed in a modest manner.

15:33But most importantly, a woman to another woman. See, he's a friend. You're not modest. You don't do it, and you and Shamayim will be judged as an immodest woman by Hashem. And here we know that our brothers and sisters are about to make a giant sin of Chilul Hashem, a giant sin of Chilul Hashem, by celebrating Hitler. Celebrating Hitler's birthday. Hitler with just a different name. His name is Sylvester. Celebrating his birthday with Lechaim and going out with all this and that and all this stupidity. Because we don't know. So be a good leader. You don't have to be a leader of hundreds, thousands, or millions. You can be a leader of two people: you and your wife, you and your friend, or you and your child. We don't all have to be Moshe Rabbeinu. But if you know a little bit of information, if you know a little bit of truth, please share it. Our nation, our history, and our future depends on it. May Hashem continue to bless all of you to see the truth, to fulfill the truth, and to spread it. Kol Tuv.