Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: With us this morning who will share all of the information with us. Rabbi Kaplan, how are you? And thank you for joining us.
[00:00:08] Speaker B: Good morning, Zelda. I'm fine, Baruch Hashem. How are you today?
[00:00:12] Speaker A: I'm good, Baruch Hashem. Thank you for asking.
[00:00:14] Speaker B: Fantastic.
[00:00:15] Speaker A: Let's talk about the holiday.
[00:00:18] Speaker B: Let's talk about the holiday. Well, I suppose, elder, we should begin by reminding all of the jewish women and girls who are listening and those who have influence on jewish women and girls who are listening, that this evening we have the opportunity to welcome the amazing holiday which is called Shavuot. And the first line of welcome is jewish women and girls. Candlelighting time this evening in the GTA is at 08:28 p.m. and you know, Zelda, unlike other Shabbatot or holidays, when one is permitted to kindle the Shabbata Yomtov candles early on today's day, we must all wait until the proper time. And that's because the Torah clearly states you have to wait seven full weeks. Only after the 49th day is complete are we able to welcome Chag Hashavuot. So candle lighting has to be on time at 08:28 p.m. and evening services can't take place before 921. And if you aren't going to make it the evening services, you can't recite Kiddush before 939 21 this evening in the GTA. I know we have an international audience that listens as well, so I would say wherever in the world you are, please go to chabad.org for halachic times and find out when nightfall is in your part of the world. And be sure to usher in Shavuot when the days of Svirata Omer have come to a close.
This is an amazing opportunity to connect to Hashem. This is the holiday in which almighty God gave us his Torah, selected us as his people, and empowered us to change the whole wide world. We don't want to miss its celebration.
[00:02:10] Speaker A: That sounds wonderful, and hopefully we'll be up to it and we'll celebrate all over the world the holiday.
Okay, tell us about the holiday. What is it and why is it celebrated?
[00:02:27] Speaker B: Well, Zelda, the in the words of the scripture, Hayamim hoyelu niz karim venassim, these days are not only mentioned, but in fact acted upon by us, but more importantly, by God. That is to say, when a particular anniversary comes on the jewish calendar, then the very same spiritual forces that were at play the first time are at play once again.
And what this means is that for all of us. Just as God gave us the Torah at the time of Matan Torah 3335 years ago this year on Shavuot. God is going to be giving us the Torah all over again. And I know you're like scratching your head and probably saying what in heaven does that mean? But let me ask you a question. What in heaven does it mean when we say God gave us the Torah at Mount Sinai? When we are told explicitly that me Olam, Leiposca, yeshiva me Avoteno. That our ancestors never stopped studying Torah. And that means that the patriarchs have Ram, Yitzhak and Yaakov study Torah. In fact they studied Torah together for 15 hours a day for 15 years. So the Madras states and we know that the avot and imaot were very very insightful, learned and inspired people. So they must have been learning Torah. And we know that when the jewish people were in the land of Egypt. First coming in as refugees from the land at the time called Canaan. They came because they couldn't sustain themselves. And this was all by divine design. They were ordained to descend into Mitzrayim. So that the family might, if you will, dissolve. And in its stead a people emerge. And that's what happens on Pesach. We are born as a nation. But subsequent to our birth as a nation we are going to receive the Torah.
But didn't the jewish people study Torah in Mitzrayim? Does it not say that the tribe of Levi continued to study Torah. Inasmuch as the rest of their brethren were enslaved? The answer to all of these questions really Zelda is one and the same. It was possible to study Torah. But we were not empowered to enact the Torah.
A simple metaphor. When you and I perform a mitzvah with material reality. We modify that reality. We hallow and sanctify it. And make it something that reflects the presence of the creator. A sefer Torah isn't simply a role of hide.
A mezuzah isn't just a piece of animal parchment.
But rather all of these artifacts become sacred and holy. And they reflect the presence of Hashem. In fact, we are told that a sefer Torah is an edut. A testimony to all of humanity. And we believe that by honoring Torah in the end we will be honored. People think that by compromising heaven for fent or going against the Torah. We might curry favor with the nations. But precisely the opposite is true. When we respect the sacred mission that God gave us. The world respects us. So the Torah was an act of empowerment. The Torah was God, enabling us to change the physical, material, everyday, pedestrian world, infusing it with holiness and spirituality. In the words of the medrash, before the Torah was given, there was a heavenly kingdom and an earthly kingdom, and there was no negotiating between the two. They were two separate realms, and one could not pass from one to the other. The spiritual was the spiritual, the physical was the physical, and the twain could never meet. And yet, at the time of Matantor, when God proverbially brings the heavens down upon the mountain, and Moshe Rabbeinu, a mortal, ascends the mountain, what in effect happens is a fusing of heaven and earth, a kissing of the material reality and the spiritual truth. And this enabled and empowered us to transform our world. Zelda, this is a work in motion, as they say. In the end, Mashiach is going to come, and the world is going to reflect the presence of the creator in the most wonderful way. That process began at Harsinai. It began at Matan Torah. And every year on ShAvuot, when we gather in Shul and listen to Aserata Dibro, God is infusing us with a fresh element of force and power, and we are enabled all over again to make a positive difference. You know, the medrash tells us that when the jewish people gather together in Shul Anshavot, that God promises to give the Torah all over again. As they listen to Asrat ha dibrot, to the words of the Torah being read, you and I may not feel it. We may not sense it in a normative way, but there is a paranormal element of our souls that will surely sense and be aware. And ultimately, we are not the barometers of truth. Whether we feel or don't feel a change, Torah says that a change will happen. But you have to be there. You need to show up. You need to be in shul on Shavuot. And so walk, run, crawl or jump. But please come to a shol near you. Listen to Asera Tadibro, to Torah being read and be me. Except Hashem's Torah all over again, as we are freshly infused with newfound wherewithal and ability to transform, uplift and modify our world so that it might become the godly and goodly place it has always been destined to be.
[00:08:30] Speaker A: Talk to us about the meaning of the holiday. And you said we need to go to synagogue.
What other things do we need to think about during this holiday?
[00:08:45] Speaker B: You know, the truth is, Zelda, that that is the most important thing. Everything else is just filigree. It's just like framing it, you know, whether it's the dairy delights that people enjoy or it's the flowers that people bring into their home, all of this simply frames the essence, the primary thrust of the holiday of Shavuot, which is one of accepting the Torah upon ourselves. And to accept the Torah does not mean to study it academically. It means to put those lessons, ideas and ideals into action, so that it doesn't remain in the abstract, but rather becomes engraved into the concrete. And when we concretize our convictions, our faith, and the lessons of Torah that we learn, we are necessarily making a difference. Zelda that's what Shavuot is all about. It isn't about a particular mitzvah, as I mentioned on the airwaves a couple of days ago, because there is no particular mitzvah that can reflect the entirety of the Torah. Shavuot is not particular. Shavuot is comprehensive. Shavuot. Shavuot is not a bad detail. Shavuot is about the essence of our relationship with God, and that relationship is governed by God and his Torah. We cannot decide on our own how to have a relationship with God. God sets the rules, so to speak, and we follow in fashion. I'll tell you something that's really interesting. When the rebbe would wish people his blessings for the holiday of Shavuot, he would always make an emphasis on saying that it should be, we should receive the Torah.
We should receive the Torah with a sense of joy and sincere inwardness, a sense of to really be there, not in a superficial way.
And you know that joy plays a tremendous role in receiving the Torah. In the commentary of the he states that Aserata Dibrot, that the ten statements that we heard from Hashem came to us benigun ubuni im at Kol. In a melodious way. The Roquer says that Father Jacob knew that melody even before the Torah was given. And the Khizkuni writes in his preface that once, in a dreamlike state, he heard the melodious tune of a serotad dibrot. We may not know what that tune is, but our sages tell us in Masechet Megillah that if we read the Torah in a non melodious fashion, if we aren't finding song and joy in our study and observance of Torah, something's missing. The Gemara says that we have to study Torah as it was given Vikol Nigun visimr with a sound that is melodious, songful and joyous. And this undergirds. I think the essence of our involvement in Yiddishkeit, it isn't a burden, it's a privilege. It isn't something we should fetch and complain about. It's something we should rejoice with. You know, our sages tell us that when people sing, it's a sign of happiness.
People don't sing out of melancholy or depression. They sing out of joy.
In the words of Rashi Ayn Adham shar Shira Elamit simcha, a person doesn't burst spontaneously into song unless he or she is happy and well disposed. Well, our Yiddishkeit should be a happy thing. And it's so important for us to work on finding joy in the privilege of being Hashem's special children, to find satisfaction and fulfillment in living a life that is filled with mission, meaning, and purpose. That is all about building a relationship, nurturing the innate connection we have with goddess, and thereby transforming our world and making it a Dirulayas baruch, a dwelling for God, as Hashem has tasked and empowered us to do.
[00:12:52] Speaker A: Rabbi Kaplan, share with us some event that takes place on Shavuot that brings people together, because the holidays for the jewish people are usually very quickly done one after the other. What is the significance of some of these holidays, especially of Shavuot, to all of us?
[00:13:19] Speaker B: Well, you know, in the fall, they come one after another, and that's a discussion for the month of Tishrei and what we call Rosh Hashanah, yom Kippur, days of awe. And then Sukkota Shmini Hazara, days of joy. Here we have Pesach, which is the celebration of our exodus from the land of Mitzrayim. But seven weeks later, it's not that close by, but seven weeks, precisely seven weeks later, we celebrate Shavuot and Zelda. I cannot emphasize this enough. To be free, to be liberated from slavery, but not to live a life of Yiddishkeid and Torah is actually meaningless. When G. D. Revealed himself to Moshe Rabbeinu the very first time, he said that the purpose of the exodus is that you will come to this mountain to serve me.
When God gives us freedom, the freedom is an opportunity. It's an opportunity for us to utilize the gift of life. And it is a crying shame when people have the privilege of freedom as we do, and don't exercise their rights, their rights to be able to live a life that is uplifted and inspired and transformative for ourselves, our families, our communities, and really the whole wide world. Zelda, this is the basic message of Yiddishkeit. It isn't simply about freedom. It's about a meaningful life. Our sages tell us that the Luchot were engraved al Tikrut, al Khayrut. Don't call it engraved, call it freedom, because true freedom is when we are able to harness our wherewithal and ability and let our soul soar, set it free.
It's like Zelda, people say, how could Yiddishkite be freedom? It's so restrictive, it stops me from doing all kinds of things that I'd like to do. But in fact, in fact, forgetting some echo here, Zelda, in fact, the freedom that Torah affords us is to be able to set our essence free.
You know, maybe it's like when Olympian wants to compete in the Olympics, and he or she tries really, really hard and toils with tremendous discipline and devotion to be able to actualize their natural athletic ability and talent and to set it free. And when they are actually there, they feel that they have expressed their deepest ability and capability because of all that training, because of all that toil, whereas a person who's done nothing, with 20 years of life, has nothing to show for it, who really is more fulfilled, who, who really is happier?
Empty. Freedom of being a couch potato is not ultimately satisfying, and it doesn't make people happy.
[00:16:20] Speaker A: All right, but we're asked, we're asked to do a lot. As a jew, that doesn't mean many jews do anything, if at all. But those of us who respect and love our religion do as much as we can.
[00:16:40] Speaker B: I'm not sure we do as much as we can. I think we have to. I think we have to toil on continuing to up the ante, as they say, and to do more.
You know, parenthood is something that's taxing. And I've never yet met the new mother or new father who's having an easy time with this infant that wails endlessly and makes demands continuously. And yet I've never yet met, and I don't say there aren't such people, but I've never yet met new parents who said, please take this baby. I can stand him. He's cutting into every aspect of my life, and I can't wait to get rid of him.
In the micro, there's frustration in the macro, tremendous nachas inner joy and happiness. Yiddishkat is no different.
[00:17:31] Speaker A: Let me ask you this question. I have a lot of friends who raised children that were very knowledgeable in their yiddish kite, in their jewishness, and yet now in their adulthood, they have gone away from, from Judaism. They say they can't cope with it. They're marrying out of the religion. What do you say to that?
[00:17:59] Speaker B: I say that the words very knowledgeable is a very broad and undefined term. And it's hard for me to believe that people who are very knowledgeable are falling away from Yiddishkeit. Perhaps they have some knowledge, and if it's academic, not something that was experienced, not something that was lived with, perhaps that's why it hasn't carried on. Yiddishkeit, as mentioned, is something that has to be done with a sense of passion, fervor and joy. And my experience is very different from what you've just said. I'm very privileged to have wonderful children and to see them grow up in a house that pulsates with a love and a passion for Yiddishkeit. And I'm seeing, I've, I'm seeing that translated, and I see that within my friends and my colleagues, I see the same happening. I think that when we serve as a dug m'chaya, when we model the Yiddishkeit, that we try to teach, instead of just telling our children to live a life of Yiddishkeit, when we live it, and when we do it with a joy and a passion, it's infectious, and it is naturally embraced by the next generation, I would say that who am I to judge anybody? And people may have done their best and failed, but by and large, if we make the proper efforts and we invest ourselves fully, and I mean fully, like a sum zero game, because that's what our relationship with Yiddishkaya is supposed to be like, you will see it continue on from generation to generation, as our sages said. Hattaire Machazedale, a home and a generation that has served as a host for Torah, the Torah will continue to visit that family. The Torah will continue to remain as a guest, as an honored guest within that family.
[00:19:49] Speaker A: What do you think that you did differently than other jewish families? And your children grew up to love Judaism and to continue it on in their lives, and others couldn't run fast enough away from it.
[00:20:06] Speaker B: Look, Zelda, I don't want to talk about myself.
It's not a personal thing. We can talk about things objectively, and we should, objectively speaking. When G d gave us the Torah, he said, you should be for me, as a treasured people. And the mechilta, which is the Medved halacha that accompanies the first two books of the Torah, Bereshet and Shemata Mechilta, says, Tihyu Panuyam Lee, you should be available for me, for me. And you should engage yourself in Torah and don't be involved in other things. When Yiddishkeit is li, when we are to God. And that means, as the Mikhilta darash b says, miyushadim Lee, like a marriage, a marriage is something which is absolute. The commitment of marriage is 100%. You cannot love your spouse on occasion and sometimes love other members of the opposite gender. It doesn't work that way. That's not what a marriage is. A marriage is a representative of singular devotion, or at least a successful marriage has to function that way. We're in a marriage with God, and it's interesting that the word li, the says has a lamed, and the top of the lamed reaches up high, and the yud is called the tiniest of letters. And that God's message to us is Lee God? Who is God? Al Adine, the great master, is prepared to enter into a personal relationship with us, the smallest of nations. We may be small and God may be great. Not maybe, but is. But it is possible for us to have that special relationship. And when it's framed in those terms and lived in that way, it is natural for the next generation to follow in the footsteps of their fathers and mothers. Such has been the experience for hundreds of thousands, if not millions, around the world. Such has been the experience of generation after generation after generation of inspired Torah Jewry. If we love our children with all our hearts and convey to them a yiddish kite that is filled with passion, fervor and joy, there's a very significant chance that you will have the yiddish anachas you want and crave.
[00:22:18] Speaker A: Well, I find it interesting that some people have a connection automatically, which stays forever, and other people, with all the knowledge in the world, cannot get themselves together to keep the commandments.
[00:22:37] Speaker B: Zelda, there is nothing automatic about Yiddishkayt. Yiddishkayt, by its very definition, is something we have to work and strive for. Mitzvot take a great deal of effort. You know, there was a fellow in his shul this morning, and I asked him if he would like to put on Tefillin. And he said no. And I asked him later on, again, I said, how about doing a little mitzvah before Shavuot? He said, it doesn't make me feel good. And I said to him, consider this. Mitzvot aren't about us, but rather about following what God asks us to do. So he told me, well, I do such and such a mitzvah because I like it. I said, well, inherently, then you're doing it as an act of self appreciation rather than to develop a nurture relationship with God. When you do something for somebody else, they appreciate it. If you come to someone and say, I want to do a, B and c for you, and they say, I'm not interested in a, B and c, we say, well, I am, and I want to do it for you, your response would be, you're not doing it for me, you're doing it for yourself. And they'd be right about that. Mitzvah would have to be done, for God's sake. But the beneficiary of the mitzvah is you and I. God doesn't need our mitzvahs. He makes himself needy, as it were. He allows us the privilege of being able to give him something, and that's the greatest gift any of us could ask for. And if you live Yiddishkayt that way, Zelda, we are predisposed to it. It's not automatic, but there is a predisposition. Every one of us inherently craves and wants this, but you have to work hard in getting it. It's like coming to a family of trapeze artists and saying, oh, well, it came to you naturally. Not really. They had to train. Every artist has to train and work really hard. But somebody whose father and mother were master violinists and their grandparents were master violinists, and they've been playing in philharmonics ever since. When will have, if you will, a head start, a greater predisposition? Because we know that epigenetics is real, and the things that you spend your life on actually are passed on to the next generation. It doesn't mean that you're going to do it without hard work. It means that you're more naturally disposed. We are all naturally disposed to Yiddishkeit. We all have it in us if we make the effort to nurture and to develop it. And that, Zelda, nobody can do for you, that you and I have to do for ourselves. And we can try to inspire others, but ultimately others, too, will have to make the decision to do it for themselves, because freedom of choice, the freedom to choose to follow Hashem or hasf Hashalam, to rebel against him, is the greatest gift that G d has given us. It is the single most important ingredient in developing that relationship and making our world the place it is destined to be.
[00:25:28] Speaker A: Well, I think if someone has already come to synagogue, they're halfway home. I mean, the gentleman that you were talking about that had all kinds of issues, but yet he was in synagogue.
[00:25:44] Speaker B: It'S true, but he was invited by a friend, and he only came because his friend asked him to come because they had a little bit of a. A celebratory event. So, yeah, I didn't. Well, I didn't want to go into details.
[00:25:55] Speaker A: Did he have a change of heart?
[00:25:57] Speaker B: Not overtly, but I'm hoping that seeds were planted and that something will grow, because I believe in the undying potential of every single jewish man, woman and child. I believe each and every one of us has an incredible nishama, and it's our privilege to try to stimulate that soul and try to uplift and inspire each and every individual we meet. I really and truly believe, Zelda, that every yid, deep down under the surface, is yearning and craving for a deeper relationship with God and a life that is filled with greater meaning. And it's our privilege to be able to provide it and hope that people will be inspired and begin to respond to the overtures and to engage on their own, because ultimately, everybody has to make that decision by themselves. Somebody else can encourage, can urge, can cajole, can uplift, but you have to make that decision. So I challenge all of our listeners. This is what Shavuot is about. Make the decision that this year, beginning now, is going to be different, that you will receive and accept the Torah tomorrow, and that you will choose to begin to study it in a more assiduous and devoted way, that you will make the commitment to try and concretize and actualize an ideal, if not all, an ideal of Torah in a very real and practical manner. And that's what it's all about, Zelda. It's not all or nothing. I think that if everybody leaves Shavuot, enter Shavuot with the right frame of mind, and that is that I want to change for the better. And we leave Shavuot with a resolution to implement something positive. Insofar as our Yiddishkeit, the relationship with G D is concerned, I think then that will be a very successful shavuot. And hopefully this will catalyze the arrival of a new dimension of Torah, what's called Torah Chadasha, the new Torah. And that'll come to us, Ezra Hashem, through mashiach, which we hope, yearn and pray for. We hope it will be very speedily and in our days. Amin amain.
[00:28:09] Speaker A: Thank you very much, Rabbi Kaplan. Happy holiday to you. There's an app that can generate 64,000 kosher cheesecake recipes, pitches, day one to orthodox Jews. We have a little bit of music before.
[00:28:24] Speaker B: All right, Zelda, I'm just going to say to everybody, enjoy the cheesecake. And if you're going to learn, stay up learning late tonight. That's great. But remember, the most important thing of all is coming to shul tomorrow and listening to the Torah being read. And of course, in Shabbat we have Yizkor. Those of us who have parents who have passed on will have the opportunity to memorialize the Neshama and bring the Neshama nachas by resolving to give tzedakah and do something good. Candlelighting again is at 08:28 p.m. this evening. God bless you, Zelda. God bless all our listeners. May we merit to receive Hashem's Torah Besimcha with joy, ub Epnimius with a meaningful, sincere, and inward way. And may we merit be'ezrat hashem to greet moshiach in our time. Amen.
[00:29:09] Speaker A: Thank you very much. We have a little bit of music right now.
[00:29:13] Speaker B: Thanks for joining.
Chag sameach. The surativot cultivation.
