Rav Galinsky--Always Prepared For Big Test

0:14What's the benefit of wanting to get close to Hashem? I'll give you this story and then you can ask as many questions as you want. Rav Galinsky, alav ha-shalom, overcame some of the tests that none of us could pass. But during his day, the Communist Russians, the Soviets,

1:36Government controls all money. So the way they force people to abandon Judaism is by simply saying, "If you practice Judaism, you're not going to get the food stamps. If you don't get the food stamps, you can't eat, because no one accepts money. You can't go to the store and say there's $150 and ask for some steak. No, no, habibi. The only form of payment is the food stamps from the government." Now, during this time... Rav Galinsky decided to open a yeshiva. Where? In the Soviet Union. In exactly the place where they're going to kill you for being religious. Why? He says there's no Torah, all the schools closed, I've got to open something. Why? Talmud Torah keneged kulam. Learning Torah is more valuable than anything else. Yeah, but they're going to kill you. Who said? Now, no one wanted to come to his yeshiva. Why? He said, listen, if we send our kids to your yeshiva... The Soviets are simply going to take our food stamps away. We're gonna starve to death. Rav Galinski says, don't worry, I'll get you food. I'll get you the food stamps. How are you gonna get the food stamps for all these kids, all these kids' families? He says, don't worry, HaKadosh Baruch Hu runs the world. Such emunah, that to have that emunah in yourself takes work.

2:59But it's not the same level of emunah as when you're taking charge of other people's lives. Now, you know yourself, worst-case scenario, you could go and maybe eat at your friend's house if you're by yourself. You could fast for a couple of days. You'll figure it out by yourself. But to feed 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, or even 100 families, where are you going to get that food? You can't joke around with this. It cannot be fake emunah. Whoever signed up, Rav Galinsky got them the food stamps. How? He went to the gray market, found somebody, and said, "Listen, here are food stamps, here's money, let's exchange for a bartering system." He got everybody the food stamps. The problem with this is that it is illegal. It's a violation of the law in Soviet Russia. And before you know it, they caught Rav Galinsky.

4:01They put him in jail. They said, "Trial concluded." What's that? What's the conclusion of the trial? Death penalty. For what? For violating the law. For thinking you can learn Torah when we said no. Death penalty. Now he's in this cell with everybody else. It's like central bookings. You know, the police have, not that any of you should ever know, but there are two places. There's central bookings, which is pretty much where a person ends up after getting arrested, and you're in a cell with a bunch of degenerates, low-lifes, drug dealers, all types of filthy, disgusting people. And everyone is in one cell, like a zoo. Where the lion and the zebra are in the same cell, it doesn't matter what your crime was. You stole candy; you're in the same place as someone who just committed a far more severe crime, like taking a life. In those cells, people often end up in the hospital, not because of their crime, but because of the harshness of the punishment. That's how the system operates. After the trial is completed and the person is sentenced, by Hashem's will, they enter the actual prison phase. Here, you are typically in a cell with one or two other inmates.

5:23Not with 40 or 50 people here in Russia. There were so many people getting sentenced to death; every cell was like central bookings, with 40, 50, or even a hundred people in one little cell. Since everybody got the death penalty, people were losing their minds. Rav Galinsky himself told the story. He says people were losing their minds inside their cell because everybody knew that tomorrow each person was going to die and... He said in the cell there was also a priest who got arrested at the same time as Rabbi Galinsky. Now the Russians, these people were very harsh in those days. The Soviets figured that since they were going to kill everybody, they might as well feed them. So, they would bring a bunch of food into the cell, like a last supper. So they brought some food. Rabbi Galinsky looked at what's allowed, and what's not allowed. He saw that the bread is allowed, saw that there's jam, jelly, that's allowed, did netilat yadayim, and started eating. The priest in there looks at him. He's the only guy eating. Everybody else is losing their mind. They're all crying. They're all hysterical, yelling, going crazy, beating each other up. And you see this little guy, he was mamash, this little, tiny, tiny little rabbi.

6:49You see him; there are videos about him on the internet. You see him when he spoke to people; he was like a lion, but he stood on top of the table. See this lion. A complete sefer Torah, but a little guy with a huge neshama. He's eating comfortably in the cell while everybody's losing their mind and killing each other. The priest goes to Rav Galinsky and says, "How could you eat? Tomorrow they're gonna kill you." Rav Galinsky says, "Who said? What do you mean, who said? The judge said. And he responds, 'Who's the judge? The judge is flesh and blood. Until tomorrow? There's plenty of time for HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Let me eat. Leave me alone.'" Tomorrow, who said they're gonna kill me? What, because a flesh and blood said I'm gonna die? Who even considers him? For what? Hashem is gonna kill me for learning Torah? For teaching His children Torah? He's gonna kill me? Who said? As it would be, HaKadosh Baruch Hu, when He sees His children sacrificing their lives for Torah, He simply changes the nature for them. The head attorney in charge of sentencing...

8:08Soviet Russia got sick to the point where the doctor said you're going to die. It’s only a matter of days. She said, "Listen, I am a very important person. Is there a cure?" "Yes," the doctor replied, "there is a cure, but we don't have it. Maybe you can get it on the black market." Her husband, she's bedridden; she cannot move; she's literally dying piece by piece. Her husband goes to the black market, finds the medicine and... The guy says, "Okay, yeah, what do you want?" The other responds, "Okay, I want this medicine for my wife." The first guy says, "Okay, no problem. It's a hundred thousand dollars." Shocked, the man replies, "What? Who can get you that kind of money? I don't have that kind of money." The first guy retorts, "Okay, so let her die. I don't care. This is how I make a living. I care about your wife? I care about money." Feeling helpless, the man doesn't know what to do. HaKadosh Baruch Hu orchestrates events, placing a wealthy Jewish benefactor in the right place at the right time, who then says to the man, "How much do you need? $100,000? I can come up with $100,000 for you if you want. Okay, help me. You can help me."

9:08How much do you need? $100,000? I can come up with $100,000 for you if you want. Okay, help me. You can help me. Oh, it's a condition, business. There is someone important to me inside your jail cell. He's about to receive a death penalty. Since your wife is the head attorney in charge of death penalties, I want your wife to sign off on freeing someone by the name of Rav Yaakov Galinsky. He says, "No problem. Okay, deal." The guy gets him the medicine, brings it to the wife, and she's cured. All of a sudden, her color comes back, she's starting to breathe, everything is good. A few days pass, a week passes, Rav Galitzin is not freed. What's going on? No, no, no, listen. My wife said it's, um, it's not gonna happen. What do you mean, it's not gonna happen? I paid, and the medicine said no. I can't do it. I'm only an attorney. That's not exactly what was the deal. What do you mean you want me to free him? Why would you want me to free a criminal? Maybe you're a criminal. You're gonna free criminals? She didn't want to free him; she reneged on a deal. Why? Because she's healthy now. I...

10:33Just like it says in the parashah, two weeks from now, what does it say? It says that after Yaakov, and then at the beginning of Shemot, three weeks from now, there's a new Pharaoh who forgot who Yosef was. Chazal says, what do you mean the Pharaoh forgot who Yosef was? No, no, it's the same exact Pharaoh. He didn't want to remember Yosef. Why? Because it didn't fit his interest anymore. It didn't fit his interest. Anyway, rabotai yekarim, it didn't fit our interest. When she needed the money, she needed the medicine. She'll say yes to anything. When we need something, we say yes to anything. Hashem says that's why HaKadosh Baruch Hu puts us in situations where we need Him. You have problems? That's because HaKadosh Baruch Hu needs your attention. But, HaKadosh Baruch Hu doesn't like when people play with His children's lives. She didn't want to free Rav Galinsky. She got sick again. A week later, she got sick. Dying again. He's back in the black market. The Jew over there says this time, "I want it in writing ahead of time. I want Rav Galinsky freed; then I'll pay for the medicine." Suddenly she has the power, suddenly she is the right attorney, suddenly she can do it, and she does. Now, throughout all of that time, do you think Rav Galinsky thought for a second he's gonna die?

12:01Not even for one second. Why? Because he was already glued to Hashem for many, many years before that. He was prepared for this day. These shiurim are to prepare you for any type of difficulty you may have in the future. Whether it's marriage, health issues, the Mashiach, or anything else, that's the point of these shiurim - to get you glued to Hashem. So when the time comes and you need Him, you won't lose hope for a second. You won't forget about Hashgacha Pratit, because you'll have it the whole way there.