Take Advantage of Every Minute

1:12And then he does the first three with them like everybody else, but again. Unbelievable. Doesn't waste a second. And this is the way of the Gedolim. This is the way of the Gedolim. One time, I believe it was Rav Moshe Feinstein. Rav Moshe Feinstein said that every day he would take an elevator, and one day, he was in the elevator and he says, oh guys, I wanted you to come with me to do a Siyum with me. Oh, wow, this is, I mean, the Rabbi has done many. So, you mean you completed the Shas many times because...? No, no, this is a special Shas. What's so special about this Shas? This is the Shas that I completed on my elevator rides every day. I know I'm going to be in the elevator... for 20 seconds, two minutes, however long it is, every day. So instead of wasting time, I started learning the Shas just specifically on my elevator ride. And over a period of time, I completed the Shas this way too. And there's also another Shas that I completed while I was folding my sfarim.

2:21It's also just that they completed regularly many times, and that's how you become a gadol; that's how you become a kadosh. Why? Because you don't waste time. So, again, more direct answer to your question I answered. But I think the bigger lesson is to make sure that, again, if we are in a makom, we're in a community, we have to have a minhag. But if you're really precise with your time, you can do both. You can do both. If you pray a little faster than the kehillah, perhaps, but still have kavannah, you could have a window of three, five, six, or seven minutes, even within prayer, to study an extra page, two, paragraph, whatever it is. If you're a, you know, if people have certain things, for example, Sephardim have this tradition where during the holidays, they sell the aliyot to the Torah. This in some places can take an hour, an hour and a half. We see the auction going on. Don't be one of those people who can't wait to hear what everybody else donated. Grab a sefer and learn. Grab a sefer and learn. That's an hour, that's a half hour, that's an hour and a half that you can learn. My boy, go do it. That's the whole point of the day. Don't just be one of those people who just can't, okay, yeah, it's going to be an hour and an hour and I'll go outside and smoke cigarettes.

3:39Take advantage of that time. If you take advantage of the big windows of time, you'll also eventually learn how to take advantage of the small windows of time, and you'll be able to become something very, very special. But again, always remember that you have to be conscious of the time and not end up missing the tefillot. So, it's admirable to learn at every moment, but make sure that you're also learning at times that you're supposed to be learning. Like, don't only want to learn during those small five minutes of time, but then when you have five hours, all of a sudden you're busy. Thank you. So, you have to be precise with your time on the big windows as well as the small windows. But in general, as long as you accept Shabbat exactly when it begins, you have no problem whatsoever doing whatever you want to do before everyone else. Even if everyone else accepts Shabbat earlier, it's not a problem as long as, again, you don't make it obvious. You don't make it obvious. If the community has a tradition where everyone accepts, let's say, Shabbat an hour early,

4:42you know, you don't have to keep Shabbat an hour early. You don't have to, but don't you know it's not nice to violate it right in front of them? Why? Because it's not that it's a sin on your end; you're allowed to do what you want. But unfortunately, what ends up happening is that people who take on an extra stringency eventually become acclimated to it and start looking at everybody that's not taking on the stringency as a sinner. So he's accepting Shabbat early, an hour in advance, and But it's an hour early. It's not really Shabbat yet, but they're accepting it an extra hour because they like Shabbat, right? They see some people are driving to the shul at a time when it's not Shabbat yet. It's only Shabbat for you because you've accepted Shabbat early, but then some start looking at everybody else as if they're doing something wrong. "Ah, look at this guy, look at this guy, he's driving. Look at this guy." But it's not Shabbat yet. Listen, over here it's Shabbat. For them it's Shabbat. This guy's still driving. bad thing, it's better off that you never take on that chumrah. So again, if you're not going to take on the stringency of your local shul or whatever it is, don't go against it publicly. But again, a person needs to use their common sense and to know how to also be conscious of your surroundings. But in general, trying to learn a little bit extra before Shabbat is very admirable. Continue to do it and make sure you study as much as possible after Shabbat.

6:07We're very excited to offer you the new B’ezrat Hashem app 3.0. It's a newer, faster app, full of Torah, lots of kedusha through the shiurim that we do. Myself, Rabbi Refael, Rabbi Chaim, where you'll have newer features, allowing you to use the app while using other applications on your phone. You'll be able to share the shiurim directly from the app. You'll be able to donate online and support our kehilla and the Torah work that we're doing. And the most exciting feature is that you'll be able to actually ask questions directly on the app and get answers from the rabbis directly through the app. This is something unprecedented, and Baruch Hashem, we will be able to offer it. Thank you again for all of your support. Check it out. Make sure you have the kosher Torah that will re-energize your neshama each and every single day. Call to b'hatzlacha.