Lech Lecha: Trusting Hashem’s Promise of Good Through Every Nisayon

Transcript

This Torah class is brought to you by TorahAnytime.com. Parshas Lech Lecha. We do the parsha, I like to say, talks to the journey of life, trials and tribulations of the tug teglicha leben, life. Avraham Avinu is sent, Lech Lecha, on a journey: me'artzecha, mi'moladtecha, mi'beis avicha. Avodah here in the Torah for us to take lessons. We're supposed to learn up the parsha, what's nogea to us l'maaseh, in light, of course, of what Rav Chaim Volozhin explains, that all the nisyonos that the avos went through, his maaseh avos siman l'banim, they ingrained in us the koiches to withstand these nisyonos. Rav Naphtali on the parsha, Lech Lecha, to us. What does Lech Lecha speak to us? Once gave a shiur about this. Someone was in the audience and he said, I, me, was niskayem k'pshutoi from Russia, came from Russland. I understand the whole Lech Lecha. I don't need your shiur. L'maaseh, let's delve into the nisayon. It's the second nisayon of the ten nisyonos. Seven nisyonos the Mishnah tells us, nisnaseh Avraham Avinu. And according to the Cheshbon, the Rav's cheshbon al kol panim, this is the second of the nisyonos. Now, l'choira the shayla is right in the get-go, so to speak, from the beginning. Avraham Avinu, when he's told about this nisayon of Lech Lecha, there's a hakdamah. The Ribono Shel Olam gives him a hakdamah: Lech lecha l'hanascha, l'tovascha. So right from the beginning he's told that it's the best thing for him. Here, terrible. So sham ken leben. He had to zoychen l'klum. You take this journey, it will be l'hanascha, l'tovascha, v'eescha l'goy gadol, va'avarchecha, va'agadlah shmecha, v'heyei bracha. So what's the nisayon? What's the big nisayon? If someone is told that the options are here nothing and there everything, it doesn't take a scientist, as they say in English, a rocket scientist, to figure out what the mahalach, right? He doesn't need to go to be she'eilah eitzah by a rav, What should I do? What's the question? The question is even stronger when the Eibishter tells it to you. The Ribono Shel Olam is telling you, Lech lecha. Go. So he has to be promised reward on the travel, on the trip, l'hanascha, l'tovascha, or on the havtachah, without being guaranteed. All the toiv that comes from this trip, he wouldn't take it? Chapel, mamash, ... would have done it. Why does the Eibishter have to code it? You should know it's l'hanoscha, l'tovoscha, and to build it up with all the great things that would come from this trip, from this journey. Tell me, the other nisyonos, did the Ribono Shel Olam guarantee him things? No. Here, the Ribono Shel Olam comes and tells him, Take this, take this journey, this nisayon, and if you go with this nisayon, you will get and get and get unbelievable schar, unbelievable things in life. A peleh, a peisah, a peleh. What is the nisayon, and why was this nisayon coded with havtachas toiv? Why was it coded with havtachas toiv? Maybe even a bigger peleh, a peisah. The Medrash brings that Chazal question. We find two lech lecha's. We find a lech lecha in the beginning of this week's parsha, to go, Mi'moladtecha, me'artzecha, ... and we also find lech lecha ... Lech lecha, lech lecha.

In any idea, eize chaviv bein HaKadosh Baruch Hu? Which one was more dear to the Eibishter? This one? Lech lecha me'artzecha el ha'aretz asher ar'eka? Or was it more dear, was it greater, was it more chaviv bein HaKadosh Baruch Hu, the Lech lecha to the Akeidah? Chapela. Avadeh Chazal come out, yes, it's mashma from the pesukim, yes, the Akeidah was more. Okay, the Lech lecha, it's the tenth nisayon, ad yadati ki yerei Elokim atah. Good. But what was the havamina? There was a discussion? The Akeidah, mesiras nefesh, hara'ayon nefiyah. Chapela. Un nit dementsh alein, der zun, nemen dem zun. It's one thing for a person to give up his life for his son, but to give up his son's life... the nisayon she'ein kamoihu was the Ribbono Shel Olam is made, ad yadati ki yerei Elokim atah. And yet there was a question: which is more chaviv, the Eini HaKadosh Baruch Hu? And Chazal have to come to a conclusion: yes, the Akeidah, the Lech lecha was a greater nisayon. Chapela. And like in lieu of what we just spoke, this Lech lecha is mitaleg gutes achin, hanoscha, teivoscha. And still you have a shaylah? And still Chazal didn't know eize chaviv bein HaKadosh Baruch Hu? Chapela. Chazal tell us that the Ribbono Shel Olam didn't tell him where he's going. You go. גיין? גיין? תפוס. ליתן לו שכר על כל פסיעה ופסיעה. Whatever step he takes, going, going, going. ... עזבתם ... ניתוקין ... Tell me, if you know where the beis medrash is, you don't have schar פסיעות. You know where—you have to not know where the beis medrash. Ich gei. Imagine a guy wakes up in the morning, I'm taking my walk, and wherever I end up in beis medrash, ah, that's ... schar על כל פסיעה ופסיעה. It's schar על כל פסיעה ופסיעה anyway. It's a difference. ... אז ... So then the mitzvah is to go to where he told him to go, and the p'siya is ... not a hechsher mitzvah. I'm every step until I get to the kiyum mitzvah. If I tell you to go, that itself is the mitzvah. On every step I get a mitzvah ... ... You have to ... Yeah. ... If I tell you where to go, the mitzvah is to go. The getting there is hechsher mitzvah. But if I tell you to go and I don't tell you where, so every step is a mitzvah ... ... ... Beis Hashem yisbarach. You know, there's a ... kasha from the Mizrachi. ... Rishon Mizrachi ... ... The Ribono Shel Olam tells him, Kani ata zocheh lebanim. And the Ribono Shel Olam says, If you go, what I'll give you is children, right? Mayei bracha. Why? Because the derech is mekatzer the yomov; the derech makes that you shouldn't have children. So therefore you need a special bracha that you should have children. Fragt the Mizrachi, es doch chsaisa zach minei ubei. On one hand, you tell me here I won't have children. So my only option really is to go. But if you go, you won't have children, because the derech is mamait banim. I give you a haftachah on the banim. If you would have children here, so I have to promise you that if you go, you... If the pshat is that here you would have, and you're afraid to go because when you travel you won't have, dafka bizogn, listen, don't worry. But az du zogst nisht hoben, and I tell you to go, you'll have. Dafka mitzukumin, tzulegen... if you go on the derech, I'll give you a bracha, v'yehyu lachem banim. Ad kedei kach, the Mizrachi will zog nefesh yitzvei anderer Chazal. Ad kedei kach. קוק דאריין אין די מפרשים, you get a kasha. Here you won't have.

I tell you to go, you have a chance that you'll have. Yeah, but when you go, you won't have. So which one is it? If I stay, I won't have. If I go, I won't have. So I don't have to come and tell you that a special bracha is part of the bracha of here you won't have, and if you go, you'll have. Oh, and ela mai, the derech is mema'et, mema'et, mema'et means if I would have, it's mema'et, but I won't have anyway, so... Here's the kasha. I'll tell you what I think the pshat, habeis says in the ... There's one mahalach, ... If you take a look, Vayehi rav ba'aretz, as soon as he comes to Eretz asher rekah, in the parsha we have, Lech mitamol, hunger, hunger, Vayered Mitzrayim. He goes down to Mitzrayim. The Ramban zogt, ... Are you tochen? Did I tell you to go to Mitzrayim? Should have been ma'amin. This is what the Ramban. Rashi machkfun dem as that's the nisayon that he passed. According to Rashi, it's the third nisayon that he passed. The yeridah l'Mitzrayim is the third nisayon, pshat, shelo hirhir achar HaKadosh Baruch Hu. I come, I do, I ... Boom. As soon as I do what you tell me, Vayehi rav ba'aretz, and again it's a... As they say, ... Again. So according to Ramban, it's a ta'ina. What do you do with the Chazal in this? This problem is Chazal that are mashma like Rashi. It's not for today, not for this twenty—should I be careful to say twenty minutes? How come everyone's laughing when I say 20 minutes, but you don't believe me? Starting when? You don't believe me. Starting when? Starting when I say. Okay, al kapanim, hirhurei say. The shaila is, so what's did he say? According to Rashi, deteretz shelo hirhir. Mir darft zach, to go. And I'm not even telling you where to go. Just go. The reason why I tell you la'anoscho l'tovoscho, that's part of the nisayon. That you should feel and believe and see constantly that it's la'anoscho l'tovoscho. You know the derech that Avraham took. You know the yissurim that he had. You know the kushyim, the difficulties. Kushyim in Hebrew is shverkeit in Yiddish, shverkeit, every step of the way. Forget. The Ribono Shel Olam tells him la'anoscho l'tovoscho because that's what the Ribono Shel Olam wanted him to believe. And chelek of the lech lecha, the nisayon is to go thinking and believing every step, it's la'anoscho l'tovoscho. Azoi darft zich. Be'ezras Hashem yisbarach, ... It's not only lech lecha. Do meinst the la'anoscho l'tovoscho was a ... actually valid tzedakah shelo hirhir. We find later the Ribono Shel Olam says it's a tremendous tzedakah in Avraham Avinu, v'hafrekt nisht. The la'anoscho l'tovoscho is a chelek from the nisayon, from the lech lecha gei. Underfaren ter peinshen dem haftachah geven. The kashya was, by making a havtachah, you undermine your minimum. No, forget! It's making the nisayon even greater, because the trip is going to speak one way, and the havtachas HaKadosh Baruch Hu is going to be speaking in a whole different—it's going to be a contradiction to what he sees, top teglach, and what the Ribbono Shel Olam was mavtiach him. Und dos iz efsher pshat in the Mizrachi. The Mizrachi zogt, Dovid niszecher zayn is gay. Avraham Avinu nis nisht hoben, zog ich dir tzu. The Chassidim, that's exactly the point. It's exactly the point. In yeder nisayon, even by that akeidah you'll find this. The Ribbono Shel Olam is ... himself. Kach na bincha, yechidcha, asher ahavta, v'lech lecha ... There's a bris kerovah about it. Shtei ksuvim haba'im kechad, you can't ask about it till hayom v'hakasuv hashlishi yachria beinayim. There's not enough time. Go ask your local rav or your local talmid chacham, and he'll tell you there's bris kerovah at the end of the parshah. Avraham Avinu is confronted by contradictory tzivuyim: on one hand, Lech lecha, la'anoscha u'letovascha, and every step is the opposite.

Why did you promise them a child? Am I missing something? For a hundred years it didn't happen. That's the l'hanoscha l'tovoscha. U'meimeila, ayfres fregn do az a stirah. Davis nisht hoben, mizrach. Miz gein, vet echid nefesh nisht hoben, vayl der derech darf ich nit tsuzogn. What are you going to choose? Are you going to be ma'amin in what I tell you that here you won't have? When you start to go and you don't have children, what are you going to think? Shtamts mi ta derech. Tostas nisht. Ich hob di tzugezogt az dortn vest nisht hoben. You know what it is to live a hundred years with all this going back in the back of your mind? Vos technish gefolt, vos volt geven. With all this yissurim, with all these difficulties, would I have all this? You're right, there's stiras. That's the point. Der Ribono Shel Olam vil zen, tsu er gleikt in dem mechlechah, un er geit l'hanoscha l'tovoscha, vayl der Ribono Shel Olam zogt zich far mir gut, un er vil di shlav un er vil di trit geiten mit dem. I think that's the pshat. Plitin leischara kol psia u'psia. You know when you see the end of the road, so you say, Ali, yissurim, it's going to end. I see the end. I don't even show you the end. Now I want to see the lechlecha l'hanoscha l'tovoscha. Gei shtarker l'hanoscha l'tovoscha. All difficulties in life, if you knew that it ends somewhere, it's okay. Because it's easy. It's never easy. At least, as they say, the light at the end of the tunnel. Ah, that's nisht dem light in the end of the tunnel. Good, good, spring. ... Un Avraham Avinu tracht. ... Ech tracht, ... d'Rabbeinu Shalom, datat gezogt, ... That's why they don't show him. And I think maybe Radei say that's the pshat, Ela eretz asher areka. The meforshim say, Ela eretz asher omar eilecha. ... What's Ela eretz asher areka? I will show you. So bishloima Ela makom, by Har Moriah, hitaksor, ... gezen un anderע ... nisht gezen. So it had to do with a visual. But here it's not so much about a visual. Eretz asher ... I'll tell you here, this is where it is. Eretz Canaan, ... Eretz asher areka. Meforshim, ... it's a famous shaylah. ... there's an עומק in Ela eretz asher areka. Go. ... Ela eretz asher areka ... lanos l'tovascha ... d'soif davar, you'll understand at the end. Part of the re'iyah is you'll be zoche to see. You'll be zoche to see the cheshbon, the master plan, as they say, from the Lech Lecha. ... Chofetz Chaim ... as the Rabbeinu Shalom macht yeder mensch zen why. He brings the raya from ... In the morning he saw the listim, right? He didn't know at night why the listim stole everything, and then in the morning he realized—I'm sorry, why the wind blew everything out—and then in the morning he realized they were ganavim there, they were going to kill him. Zogt der Chofetz Chaim, ... זאָגט דער הייליגער חפץ חיים, חזל וויל זאגן אז יעדער מענטש וועט דאס האבן. ער האט עס געהאט די next time. ... ער איז א מיינונג, גייט עס די next day. We, we don't get it the next day, but we'll get it, zogt. ... אבל זאָגט דער חפץ חיים, we don't have patience. ... א מענטש האט נישט קיין geduld. ... יעדער מענטש ... Let me tell you, דער חפץ חיים, זיין הבנה was Yadus. קוקט דער הייליגער חפץ חיים, ... Yadus. ... but I don't mean by raw, I mean fresh, okay? It's pure, pure Yadus. ... ... פארשטיין און זען. ... אבל האט נישט קיין geduld. People don't have geduld. They want instant results.

People complain, they're unhappy. With this, Rabbei said, ... Brisker Rav's a andere kasha. And I touched on it in the beginning, the Brisker Rav zagt, a farshteit nisht the nisayon. Vos iz der nisayon? Der Ribono Shel Olam gezagt, un der Ribono Shel Olam hat gezugt, gezugt un zugezagt. Let's use Brisker terminology: gezugt un zugezagt. On both ends, from Avinu, what's the nisayon? So Brisker Rav said it during the Holocaust: ... mit ale tzuzam. ... You know, they didn't want to leave the homes in Europe. Because of Nazis, they should have right away made the decision, and those that decided to leave right away, Baruch Hashem, they survived. Those that didn't, it was because it was difficult to leave the home. It was difficult to leave behind the shtub. We spoke about this many a time. Rather mention it last week, not to you but to a different oylam. That's why Noach came with b'chol hateva, ato, because the Ribono Shel Olam zogt im, u'bei secho. What's the bei secho? So pashut means the wife. Should have said, ato u'nish... and your wife and your children, because the other pasuk always says your wife and your children. Some pshat means his avadim. Who would help? Azoy zogt the... who would help him? Who would help him? After hadalter hid, he took his avadim with him. The Malbim learns, ato v'secha, take your belongings. Nem dem bett aleh, vilst dem bett, nem dem bett, vilst dein furniture, nem dein furniture. Azoy zogt the Malbim, ato... U'meisach fregt Chavos. ... avek lozn dem shtub mit pashut. The Ribono Shel Olam wanted that Noach should go with his house, his whole kumen in shtub. Otherwise it's difficult. ... Avek lozn shtub, yeah? Avek lozn dem shtub. Even Noach, yeah, you're saving yourself, it's... but you lost avek dem shtub. Azoi emfert Brisker Rav der kashya. Azoi emfert, yeah. ... מוז ענאך אַ נעם even la'anoscha l'tovascha befat, all this is golus. Efsher קען מען זאגן, rabosai, ... Eretz an andere. Avade, avade, he was told la'anoscha l'tovascha. So where's the nisayon? ... Azoi vi mir redn. Azoi vi mir redn, the pshat is gein un gein, un ma'amin zayn, un trachten un feelen, and to feel that it was constantly la'anoscha ul'tovascha. B'dema rabosai, milsa d'kasya. You notice Avraham Avinu, avuer geit, vil im a matanos. Avuer geit, avuer shteit... Yitel li matanos. Ale fregen the kashya: Avraham Avinu's zayne matanos? Yechi, vos tutst achavta? ... You look at Avraham, it sounds like us. Wherever we go, and we're not gonna say it, but wherever we go, we would love if someone would give us a... a hand-me-out. He doesn't think about how they'll save him. No. ... He wanted to see with his eyes their kiyum, from the l'hanoscha l'tovascha. ... He was excited to see, oh, you see? You see? ... It wasn't ... It was then was the Ribono Shel Olam ... He keeps his word. ... You hear, it's coming right away. ... There's ... ... We don't know which lech lecha is bigger. Is the lech lecha of the Akeidah bigger, or is the lech lecha of this bigger? What's the havamina? ... The nisayon ... yeda minut.

Mit ale nisyonos, to think and believe, lahanoscha l'tovascha, is a lot greater than one minute to jump al Kiddush Hashem for the Ribono Shel Olam. Much greater. Vade, chove bein HaKadosh Baruch Hu. You wonder where I got this from. You're looking at me, a michteise. S'iz nisht mein a teise. It's a beis Yosef. It's a maaseh from the Beis Yosef. The Beis Yosef, a talmid chacham gedol, as er shtarben al Kiddush Hashem. Said it gezogt, az der Chofetz Chaim fligt azoy daven. I heard this from my zeide. My zeide told me, Chofetz Chaim used to daven, Tateh, ven vel ich zoyche zayn... kein al Kiddush Hashem. I heard it from my zeide, okay? Ich vil der schus, you hear? The Maggid used to come and learn with the Beis Yosef, the malach, the Maggid, fregt dem Beis Yosef: Ich daven, and daven, shtarben al Kiddush Hashem. Hakumt der Ribono Shel Olam wasn't mekabel my tefillos? Am I not right? Is it possible the Eibershter will nisht zayn der koved? Hot dem Beis Yosef, the Maggid geענטפערט: Nein, what's awaiting you is a lot greater than shtarben al Kiddush Hashem. Der Ribono Shel Olam will fun dir leben al Kiddush Hashem. Leben al Kiddush Hashem. You know, even in the Akeidah, the Beis Yosef, Yitzchok didn't die. Aye, es gedavent zayn a korban. A korban mechayim, because it's a rav. Es elent es mit din, because rav lernt es a din, korban mechayim. S'anaye cheftza fun a korban. Ober musar hashkafos ligt in dem eich, dem korban mechayim is the Akeidah. Leben vi a korban. Der Ribono Shel Olam is ba'aym mecheshev, v'nishtarben al kiddush Hashem. Delbais Yosef. I once went into Reb Chaim Kanievsky and I asked him the following she'eilah: In medrash steit that the Ribono Shel Olam nistakel b'maaseh tzaddikim uv'maaseh resha'im, and he wasn't sure which one he likes better, the maaseh tzaddikim or the maaseh resha'im. Klal Yisroel is a famous medrash. In English they call it a perplexing medrash. Shey! Yehafach maaseh... Tzaddikim, maaseh resha'im, l'maalah up there, ... maaseh tzaddikim. So I went into Reb Chaim and I asked, vos meint es? He told me, ... Der Ribono Shel Olam is magdil zayn nomen, ... yiskadal v'yiskadash shmei rabba. Der Ribono Shel Olam's nomen velt greys af tzvei אופנים in der velt, two ways: oder maaseh tzaddikim, the way they behave; oder maaseh resha'im when He punishes them, ki goy goah, by Mitzrayim, ki goy goah, yeah, der Ribono Shel Olam velt ... when He does mishpat v'resha'im. So, the Ribono Shel Olam, which one is more? In which one do I become more exalted, more yiskadal v'yiskadash shmei rabba? Teretz is maaseh tzaddikim. The tzaddikim, they live their life, the daily behavior, accepting all the nisyonos, which is korbanos, which is mesiras nefesh. This, this is yiskadal v'yiskadash shmei rabba. Mit dem velt der Ribono Shel Olam greys, yeah? Oder dos is der greyskeit fun der Ribono Shel Olam. With this, efsher kemezogin, a meiredike he'arah beisai, yeah. The Mesillas Yesharim says, how is a person mekabel yisurim b'ahavah? How does it work? It's too vague. So what's the answer? Zogt the Mesillas Yesharim, perek yud tes: k'dei shelo tehei haatzaras hatachlukim keshiyumeni alav. In order that it shouldn't be that the nisyones will push you away from loving the Eibishter, a person should think of two things. One, zogt the Mesillas Yesharim, is for the simple person, and one already is for the hecher, chashuve, the besere mensh. What's the simple thing? Kol ma d'avid Min Shmaya l'tav. V'zeh, ki afilu hatzarah hu v'hadoichek hanir'eh b'einav ra, einenu be'emes ela toivas... It's really all tov. U'kemoshal harofeh hachotech es habasar, right? The doctor, he's hurting you. He's not hurting you. If anything, he's helping you. ... he has to cut, he has to give you a shot, yeah. When he's not hurting you, das is der pashuter mahalach. That's for the simple person. And that's what we're saying at Beisai is the ladnoschil...

Teivascha, that the Rabbeinu Shalom wanted to mekabel the lech lecha l'hanoscha ul'tovascha. That it's all l'tovah, on every step of the way. Now, ... kemitzulegen doch tzvei ... What's the second part of the thought that should enter the person's mind, that he should be mekabel yisurim b'ahavah? Zogt er, v'chol mah sheyisgabru, ach baal yadei ha'emes, einam tzrichim afilu taam zeh. Baal yedei hachoshev, a person don't need, eh, kol ma d'Rachmana l'tav avid. I don't need it. ... Ela kol tefilosav l'hagdil k'vod Hashem yisbarach. Sounds familiar? It's all about exalting the name of the Rabbeinu Shlolem, ... v'chol mah sheyisgabru, ... ad sheyitztarchu ein yoser koach l'aviram, hinei ometz libam v'yismachu l'haros toikef emunasam. That itself brings the menuchah. Ready for the teretz? Ready for the l'hanascha l'tovascha, for the second part of the l'hanascha l'tovascha? The first is to believe l'hanascha l'tovascha, kol ma d'Rachmana l'tav avid. From Avraham Avinu there was another request, az dos gufa zol vern der l'hanascha l'tovascha not to go for the children, for the ... gadol. It's to test Avraham what the lech, the lecha. Avraham v'du geyst. Du geyst l’tovah. Du geyst, va’Hashem tells you, I’ll promise you l’hanoscha l’tovascha. L’hanoscha l’tovascha, don’t say the chelek, the second part of the mesiras nefesh. I want to just read you the lashon in the Tur, rabosai. The Tur, Reish Chaf-Beis: when you make a bracha, daino emes. We all know, chayav adam levarech al hara, k’shem shemevarech al hatovah. How does the Tur explain this halacha? Ki hara la’ovdei Hashem hi tov osam, that it’s always good for them. רבונו שלם, גיסט מיר א פאטשקע, וואלדיג, אה, מעגעדיק. אי. Yeah. Everyone’s looking — afadeh, we’re not there, Avraham Avinu. אבל דאס ליגט אין דעם Avraham Avinu, כי אברהם לעובדי ה’ היא טובה ושמחתם, כי מי שמקבל מאהבה מה שגזר עליו השם. Now I understand l’cha. Again, he had no brera to go. Das iz a ender kasha. Again, the Ribbono Shel Olam sagt ihm, again, kein breirah hot men nisht. The nisayon is given, the l’cha, and the l’hanoscha l’tovascha. What is going to be? Reishes kol — will you see the l’tovah of it? Will you live with the l’hanoscha l’tovascha? Or even when you don’t get it, will that turn into l’hanoscha l’tovascha? V’ta’zel tachsidushim, the Maggid. Someone once came to ask him, what’s called mekabel yisurim b’ahavah? So he sent him to Reb Zisha. Gei freg Reb Zisha, he’ll answer you. He went to Reb Zisha, and now, I don't know if the oilam knows the story of Zisha, flegt always klap. You know the maiseh, Reb Zisha mit Reb Melech, right? Reb Melech was the lucky one in life, and Reb Zisha was the one that was the lo yutzlach, the one that always had bad mazel. Mitatzelt az me geyt, kumt ain mal, goyim and ongenklapt Reb Zisha. He was on the bottom bed, and they were ongenklapt. So he turns to Reb Elimelech, yeah, and he tells Reb Elimelech, or Reb Elimelech tells him, Listen, they're gonna come back, they're gonna beat up the guy on the top bed, right? Because they have to take turns. So let's switch, right? He came back and they said—I'm sorry, the story is they'll come back, they'll beat up—so he said, more or less, is the maiseh. So what happened was when he came back, the goyim said, Oh, we beat up this guy, let's beat up now this guy. So they beat up Reb Zisha tsveytn. What's yedua, Reb Zisha flegt always klap. That was the story of Zisha's, as they call it in English, a shlemazel, right? An mazel. Shlemazel, by the way, comes from shloy mazel, by the way. That's all it means, all right? Un mazel. Yat a maiseh. So they went to Reb Zisha and said, The Rebbe, the Maggid of Kozhok, I should ask you, what does it mean to mekabel yisurim b'ahavah? He says, I don't know. I never had yisurim in my life. What's frekstu mir? I don't know. I don't understand why.

Sentiment. Yatan aise, d'l'hanoskel u'tovoscha v'tzadikim is whole guf of the yisurim, al durch dem iz men oived Hashem un mevakesh. What's for us, chaveirim? The second dargah. All right, we'll leave that for the tzaddikim. Aber d'l'tav oved, miz en doch maminim bnei maminim, abeis. Af al pi kein, yeah, the shnitte trit. Der Ribono Shel Olam tut, es far uns gut, l'hanoskel u'tovoscha, and that's the journey of life. The nisayon of Lech Lecha is our nisayon through life. We also have these trials and tribulations, these galusin that we go through. Sometimes it's physical, sometimes emotional. But dafke, it's always l'hanoskel u'tovoscha, and I'll end with the following. I say they had a vocabulary which I don't find today. It got lost somewhere. The Europe, the European vocabulary, it's lost. It's a world that went with it. There was a whole world behind it. Thank the zechus livracha. Every time something was difficult, and every time a bad shmua, he would krechts. And what would he say? Tata zisse, oy yoy, tata zisse, tata zisse. I don't think I ever heard that if something difficult, he shouldn't express himself. Now the oilem looks at me, they don't even know what I'm talking about. But there's some Alter Yidden over here. You remember the tata zisse, oy oy, tata zisse, tata zisse. You know what that was talking? That was a simple expression of this mesirus nefesh. For Yidden haben gelebt, afilu az es tut vei, and afilu mekrigt a patch. Veisos has come from Tata, וואס זייס ער cares about. It's always... As a child, I grew up, I always heard this: ‘Oy, oy, Tata zis, Tata zis, Tata zis.’ That's how he used to express himself. And if he did it, I can tell you that the Chofetz Chaim used to do it. I say, he used to copy every... at the Shabbos table, he used to copy every tnuah. When he had the Chofetz Chaim would say this, even my bubby... used to copy the famous maise with this... the famous thing that the Chofetz Chaim... later on in his life, he didn't hear. So they wanted to give him a hearing aid. My bubby was standing by the bayit, and she would copy exactly how the Chofetz Chaim would say it over. He turned to my bubby and he said, ‘Tzivingen.’ My bubby was... ‘Tzivingen.’ ‘Mein gantzen leben hob ich gearbet af nisht hebn, un der Ribono Shel Olam hot mir gegebn az ich zol nisht hebn. Yetzt vil men tzu nehmen az ich zol yehren? Mein Ribono Shel Olam...’ And the bubby used to say it over by the table hundreds of times. We used to hear it hundreds every Shabbos. It was the same package of stories, and we never got tired of it. We never got tired of these stories. You know why? It was Yiddus. It was Yiddus. It was Yiddus. Der Yid lebt mit dem lechlechen Avraham Avinu. Tata zis, Tata zis. As difficult as it gets, sometimes we go through difficult stuff in life, אבל we know, we believe, we are mekabel the lehanoscha, both, not just lehanoscha. U'v'teivascha. There's two leshonos. Each one is a separate. Men as der Ribono Shel Olam zogt, l'chal hanoscha u'teivascha. It's ligt in the lashon from the Eibishter, so every word counts. La'anoscha — we need to stop la'anoscha. Es iz gevaldike zechus l'teivascha. Halavai we should be makir it. Halavai we have to work on it. Avraham Avinu hat tzugegebn di koyach in zayn eigene klach, az me ken zogn leben. ... hoben nor hanoscha v'teivascha. Zen dem arechah, the goods from dem sefer, yeder problem, ... hanoscha v'teivascha. You've just experienced another Torah class brought to you by TorahAnytime.com.