Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Join Rav Shlomo Katz in uncovering מעלת תפילת נשים—the unique spiritual power of a Jewish woman’s tefillah.
Drawing from Chazal, halacha, and pnimiyut, and learning deeply from the Biala Rebbe’s "Zechut Nashim Tzidkaniyot", we explore why women’s hearts, rooted in רגש טהור (innate emotional purity) and holy bitul, move heaven and earth.
Together we’ll clarify classic questions (time-bound mitzvot, obligation vs. essence), learn the siddur through the eyes of our sages, and translate inspiration into avodah that nourishes real life, especially as we enter Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.
This series is both a celebration and a strengthening of the women who daven with fire, carry Am Yisrael with love, and teach us how to speak to Hashem with truth.
Boker tov everyone, thanks for coming today, this morning. In the month of Kislev we're learning sponsored by the Gantavniks in honor of Eliana's Bat Mitzvah, by the Aaron family, le'iluy nishmas Levy ben Yosef, for the l'refuah shleimah of שושנה יונה בת איידל, by the Silvers in le'iluy nishmas בתיה פייגא בת ישראל, and by the Hershkowitzes, le'iluy nishmas שלמה לייב בן רפאל גדליה, by the Fints for the hatzlacha and shmira of all of our tzaddikim, l'chayalim hakdoshim, and for the refuah shleimah of Na'ama, דוד נתנאל בן אילה האהובה, צבי דוד בן תמר מליה, רועי חיים בן מירב, אחיה בן יעל חיה, טוב שמואל בן אביבה נבון, אברהם יעקב בן דבורה פייגא. Alright. Let's pass these pages out.
What we're going to be doing today in our series about the davening of women is a very obvious, obvious topic that comes up quite often. And it's something that I'm sure, I'm sure you thought of. I've gotten asked the following question a number of times, and that is what's the deal with that bracha in Birkas Hashachar that women say that men don't say? Huh? You know, very easy question to address, right?
ברוך אתה ה' אלוקינו מלך העולם שעשני כרצונו. Not, I'm not talking about shelo asani isha, I'm talking about she'asani, she'asani kirtzono, right? And today is not going to be so much about why do the, why do the men say shelo asani isha, it's more, let's focus on the pnimiyus of this bracha, she'asani, she'asani kirtzono.
Now it happens to be, baruch Hashem, that in the context of this week it really, really fits in, and I'll try to explain why. This week as you all know was Yud Tes Kislev. And it seems that this Yom Tov of Yud Tes Kislev is getting bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger. Sorry? It doesn't end.
No, it doesn't end. It doesn't end. It's non, it's non-stop. You just take a look at what happened in Binyanei Ha'umah this last week and a half, it's not to be believed.
And it's not just there. It's all over the place. And the question that comes, that comes up is really, what is it really, what is it really all about? Harei, how many percentage of the people that celebrate Yud Tes Kislev are Chabad, which is really the ones that made Yud Tes Kislev, Yud Tes Kislev? Because I don't know, I saw tens of thousands of people celebrating Yud Tes Kislev that didn't look to me Lubavitch. So what is going on? I saw people that don't even look that they have anything to do with Chassidus per se.
Ma hakesher? What's, what is this? What's in the air? What is going on over here? Obviously, we're very much plugged into that here, in our kehillah, to the light of what Yud Tes Kislev comes to represent, which is disseminate the teachings, ufaratzta. Just a plug in for our campaign that's still going strong, that we need everyone's help with today. Today is the day that we really have to, it's a 36 hour campaign and we have to go strong today. And I'm so proud of all the chevra that have been involved until now, and today we really need everyone's help to take it to the next level.
Ufaratzta, it's the inyan of spreading this teaching, spreading this light. What teaching? What light? What are we speaking about when we say ufaratzta? And bichlal, if I'd ask you, what is the chiddush of Chassidus? What is the chiddush of the Baal Shem Tov? So you're going to tell me, well, you have to be b'simcha. The Baal Shem Tov didn't come down to the, you didn't have to come down to the world to tell us you have to be b'simcha. Or you'd say, the chiddush of the Baal Shem Tov is that you have to sing more niggunim or that davening has to be better.
I don't think that's why the, the neshama of the Baal Shem Tov had to come down to the world in order to give us over that Torah. There's something deeper, deeper. A word that's being used all over the place right now, Pnimiyus haTorah, the inner realm of Torah. Through today's teaching from the Bialo Rebbe, we will see just that in the context of our learning about the maalah of tefillas nashim, about women's davening.
And we're going to see something beautiful. A little bit of this may seem like it's a chazara, that we're repeat, we're not repeating, but we're reviewing and going over key elements of this sefer, of this series. And I think we're going to be able to answer that question, what does that bracha really mean, ברוך אתה ה' אלוקינו מלך העולם שעשני כרצונו, and why men don't say that bracha? Okay? And but we're only going to see that at the end. Let's go inside.
עשיית רצון השם יתברך. Doing the will of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Nisba'er, we've learned, It's become clear כי תכלית עבודתינו הוא עשיית נחת רוח לבורא יתברך. The purpose of us being of Avdei Hashem, having a life that's committed to Torah and mitzvos is to bring nachas ruach to Hashem, is to bring nachas to Hashem.
Did your parents ever tell you, ah, you bring me so much nachas, or, ah, your brother brings me so much nachas, your sister brings me so much nachas? We hear that word nachas, and if we think that we're giving Hashem, or we're giving our parents nachas, our rebbe nachas, that's one of the most beautiful statements, like, you bring me nachas, you bring me nachas ruach. The point of everything we're doing is to bring Hashem nachas ruach.
ועתה נבוא לבאר. But now let's explain, כי בענין עשיית רצון השם יתברך יש כמה דרגות.
When it comes to doing the will of Hashem there are a few levels.
יש מה שאדם חייב על פי דין, ויש מה שאדם מוסיף לפנים משורת הדין. There are things a person is obligated to do in accordance to the letter of the law, and then there are those things that a person adds that are above and beyond the letter of the law.
כי גם דברים שמצד הדין מותר לעשותם, also when it because when it comes to certain things that maybe you're allowed to do, לפעמים רצון השם הוא שאדם יבין מעצמו שלא לעשותם.
Sometimes it's the will of Hashem that a person should come to the understanding on their own that they shouldn't do it. Can anyone give any examples of that? That maybe according to the law, you're allowed to do it, but you'll, Hashem wants you to realize, yeah, but you really shouldn't. Like what?
הוכח תוכיח את עמיתך. To rebuke.
Okay. Interesting. Like if you wake up in the morning and you say, Ribbono Shel Olam, I'm burning for Torah and mitzvos, I'm burning for Torah and mitzvos. You know, the mitzva that I want to bring you so much nachas ruach today is find me that sinner and let me just rip into them, right?
הוכח תוכיח את עמיתך.
That can't be. Mazal tov. Mazal tov, mazal tov, mazal tov. Elchanan Yitzchak.
Mazal tov. Mazal tov. Is this his first shiur? This is his first shiur. Ah.
Danielleh. Remember? You see, he beat me. Okay, so that's a good one, Tochecha. I wake up in the morning and I say, Ribbono Shel Olam, I want to do your will.
There's a mitzva in the Torah called rebuke. Okay, so obviously Hashem wants us to understand, maybe you got to check in with your desires and what really gets you excited, because if rebuke is what gets you excited, something's off. What else could be an example of this? I have a very strong one. Okay.
I I see when I'm driving on those roads and you have the people who cut in and stuff like that, even though they're allowed because the line is broken and all that, but sometimes you need to be a mensch and you gotta wait in line. Like I feel like they shouldn't. Hatzlacha with that. It's not.
Yeah. I have another one, I took what you're referring to, but rushing into hadlakat neirot as opposed to doing it like being ready before and doing it b'nachat. So that's interesting. These are, yeah, these are things that can be done better.
Nachon, those are things that could be done better. I'm still looking for an example where it's something that al pi din you're allowed, I guess it does fit in here, meaning you're allowed to do it, you're allowed to rush into hadlakat neirot because you're getting, you're going to end up doing it at the right, you know, the right moment. But the thing is is that, you know, is that really what Hashem wants? Obviously the answer is no. You know, obviously the answer is no.
Okay, what else could be a thing that al pi din you're allowed to do and Hashem doesn't want you to do it? Scrolling on your phone recently, I heard a piece. What's that? Scrolling on your phone. Scrolling on your phone? You're allowed to? Right? Okay. That's very good.
I recently heard a piece about that, but that that is all in the category of lashon hara, that we're inadvertently participating in lashon hara by being on our phone and social media and all that comes with it. Right, but then you'd say that Hashem says you're not allowed to. I'm talking about things that al pi din you would be allowed to. Well, you're allowed to be on your phone.
Uh-huh. Okay, so I guess there's a lot of different examples over here. What about, I see this when I am in the States, not mainly sometimes when I'm in the States like, did you ever go to a shmorgasbord at a wedding in the States recently? No. I mean shmorgasbord, I did.
A shmorgan in Eretz Yisrael is like you get some pickles and crackers and hummus, right? I did, I went to one the other night. Yeah. So, al pi din, are you allowed to are you allowed to fress, like go go all out at a shmorgasbord? Why not? What's the halacha? gluttony. I don't know if there's.
What's the halacha of gluttony? I don't know. If you find me the halacha of gluttony, I would be very appreciative. So the Alter Rebbe in the Tanya does speak about all these things that it's a very deep sugya in the Tanya that speaks about the things that bring Hakadosh Baruch Hu tremendous nachas, we think it's when we refrain from doing things that are assur. That would be a little bit too easy.
That's like a nice checklist thing. The nachas counter, the nachas, whatever, the nachas calculation has much more to do, what time? The not, thank you, thank you. nachas meter has much more to do with things that maybe you're allowed to, but you know that you shouldn't and you understand it toch you understand it from yourself. I mean, the greatest the greatest realization would be, al pi din, are you allowed to live in chutz la'aretz? Yes.
Can someone tell you that it's assur to live in chutz la'aretz? The halacha even says three reasons why you can live there, so. Of course. No, I'm talking about not moving to chutz la'aretz. You're born.
How many people were born in Eretz Yisrael in this room? You were? No, none of us. Yeah, not not none of us were. I'm talking, was there any din that there's a chiyuv that we had to come here? So that we see that it's coming from a place of where I understand though that the ratzon Hashem is that that I should. These are the things that bring such such tremendous נחת רוח להקדוש ברוך הוא.
I mean the easy one is like, I have to go to shul and I have to daven, right? So I can go to a shul and I can daven and I can be yotzei and the davening is whatever, it doesn't really matter, but I davened, for a man, right? Or I could say, but Hashem Yisbarach, I want I want to give you nachas, I don't just want to fulfill a commandment, I want to give you nachas. Or I can go to shul and think about right now what kind of davening you would want. What would it look like to bring you nachas? These are very important things. Now, let's let's we're in the basically in the fourth line over here, the end of the fourth line.
V'chein Daniella, do you mind closing the door, please? Just shut the light. Oh, that one's it's clogged, it's it's stuck? Thank you. Yasher koach. Yasher koach.
End of the fourth line.
וכן מצוות שאדם פטור מעשייתם, there are mitzvos that you are exempt from. This is something that's come up very often in this shiur. That sometimes לפעמים רצון השם שיעשם.
But it could be that it's the ratzon Hashem that you should do it even though you're patur, right? Eliza does not have to be in a shiur right now after giving birth a few minutes ago, right? There's no inyan here that you're fulfilling an obligation, right? But there's a ratzon. So, look what he says here, this is very important.
אך סיבת הדבר שלא נפסק הדבר להלכה, but the reason that the things that you're exempt from wasn't paskened as a halacha, כי היה רצון השם יתברך שיעשה האדם מרצון ומאהבה למען שמו יתברך, because the inner desire of Hashem is that you end up doing what you're doing from ratzon, from will and from love for Hashem's name, ולא רק מפני שהוא מחויב בדבר, and not only because you're obligated to do it. Let's go back to Eretz Yisrael for a second because it's always, you know, it's always the most sensitive thing over here.
When it comes to Eretz Yisrael, is there a is there a chiyuv to move to Eretz Yisrael? No. Is there a mitzva of dwelling in the land? Yes. It's a machlokes with the Ramban and Rambam, but we we hold that it's a mitzva, mitzvas yishuv ha'aretz. Why what would be the disadvantage, what would be the weak point if there was a chiyuv halachically that you have to move to Eretz Yisrael? Think about it.
What would be lacking from the potency of something like that? Huh? Ratzon. So when it comes to like the deepest. things in life. It's almost it would be like shallow for Hashem to say, and this thing that gives me the most nachas in the world and that changes the world and that this is this is the thing that you got, you must do.
Yes. Efshar b'ivrit? Betach. בדיוק ביום ראשון היה שיעור לבנים לפני בר מצווה, יש כזה תוכנית באור פניך.
אז בדיוק דיברנו מה ההבדל בין ילד לפני בר מצווה, שכאילו שהוא עושה דברים, בין אחרי.
אז כאילו, זה ממש זה ממש קשור.
אז הוא אמר מתי שאתם ממש מחויבים, זה יותר משובח מאשר שאתם לפני גיל שלוש עשרה.
נכון. זה בדיוק השאלה, כאילו שם.
נכון, נכון.
וה וה והמבחן הכי גדול זה איך אנחנו מעבירים לילדים שלנו שנהיים בני בר מצווה לשמור על הרצון הזה גם כשהם חייבים לעשות משהו.
לפני בר מצווה אין חיוב, אבל אנחנו רוצים לחנך אותם שהם ירצו.
נכון? כל הסוד של יהדות זה איך אנחנו נותנים לילדים שלנו את הרצון גם כן כשהם כבר חייבים לעשות משהו.
אז הוא בדיוק נתן דוגמא שהוא הגיע לאיזה שהוא כפר שהיו שם אנשים שפתאום החליטו שהם עושים דברים מיהדות, הלבישו תפילין ועשה כזה רצון וזה, ואז פתאום פתאום לא, פתאום לא בא להם יום אחד לא לעשות.
כאילו הם עושים את זה בשבילם, בשביל כיף.
ואנחנו עושים את זה בשביל בעיקרון להשם.
כאילו השם לא צריך את זה אבל בשביל, בשביל רצון, בשביל נחת, בשביל נחת רוח להשם.
זה בדיוק, זה בדיוק זה.
נכון, אנחנו צריכים, אנחנו נמשיך להבין את העניין. So now he brings the Ramchal in Mesilas Yesharim to help us understand this better.
כמו שכתב בספר הקדוש מסילת ישרים פרק יח, the 18th chapter of Mesilas Yesharim, כללו של דבר בין כל מי שהאהבה ביניהם עזה באמת. How does it work when people, when when there's mamish passionate love?
שלא יאמר לא נצטויתי יותר, די לי במה שנצטויתי בפירוש.
Listen, I wasn't commanded to do more than what I was, the ketubah is, let's just say like for that, right, what the ketubah says. The ketubah says I have to make sure that you're dressed, right, דאפילו מגלימא דעל כתפאי. I have to make sure that I provide you malbush. It doesn't say anywhere in the ksuba that I have to let you sleep in when you're exhausted.
Doesn't say that anywhere in the ksuba. I'm I'm an honest Jewish husband. I fulfill my obligations, right? Understand? The klal is that when it comes to love, no one's trying to be yotzei yedei chova, and in that kind of relationship, it'll never work. Just trying to be yotzei yedei chova, it doesn't work.
And with Hashem Yisbarach, it's the same exact thing.
די לי במה שנצטויתי בפירוש. I could say it's enough what I was explicitly commanded to do, אלא ממה שנצטווה, but rather look at the things that you were commanded to do, ידון על דעת המצווה, think deeply on the knowledge that's behind the mitzvah, וישתדל לעשות לו מה שיוכל לדון שיהיה לו לנחת. And then start thinking in nachas terminology.
What really would bring nachas in the story? What would what would take it to a place of nachas ruach? Vehineh, and now and again, this is all answering the question, I think what is the chiddush of the Baal Shem Tov? The Baal Shem Tov put an emphasis on something. His emphasis wasn't we have to be better halachic Jews. Everyone was halachic Jews, kimat, back then. That wasn't the emphasis.
The emphasis was we want to be nachas, nachas-giver Jews. Wow, what does that mean? And then and then you start learning the Torah of the Baal Shem Tov, and you really you really realize that's actually what I'd rather be than just making sure that I'm checking boxes all the time. So the Bialer Rebbe continues here and he says, והנה הרבה עושים את ציווי השם יתברך במה שהם חייבים ותו לא. Many people are doing what Hashem commanded, what they're obligated to do and not more.
V'zeh nikra, what's this called, בבחינת עושה מצוות בוראו, I'm doing the commandment of Hashem, v'eino oseh retzono. But I may not be doing what Hashem wants. I'm doing the mitzvos, but I may not be doing what Hashem wants. How could you say such a statement? Aren't the mitzvos what Hashem wants? You know what Hashem wants? Rachmana liba ba'i.
Hashem wants your heart to be there. Rachmana liba ba'i. I'll share with you a beautiful, beautiful moment that happened last week in Yerushalayim. I was privileged.
I brought Hanan Ben Ari to Rav Weinberger for a private meeting. And I brought a guitar with me to make sure that if there was a chance there that something could happen, it would be shayach. Hanan has the most gorgeous songs in the world, but he also has a bunch of nigunim that he hasn't shared. It's not really where he's at right now in his in the in what what's being published and and vechulai.
And I know these nigunim, many of them, and they're gevalt. And I asked him he has one song with three words: Rachmana liba ba'ei. Rachmana liba ba'ei. It's a repetition, it's a gorgeous, gorgeous song.
And if you really want it, I'll send it to you on on video because I definitely took out my my pocket computer for that one. Yes. Rachmana liba ba'ei. You could say, no, Rachmana mitzvos ba'ei.
And you think about, you know, Rachmana mitzvos ba'ei. Hashem wants mitzvos. And you do mitzvos 'cause that's the ratzon of Hashem. And that's what we were told for so many years.
Something got lost in the translation of Ma'amad Har Sinai. And then we have teachers like like the greats that you have on on this on this wall over here that are coming down to show you like what your neshama really wants to do in this world, what you what you what it knows, it needs to it wants to put inside of you an arousal of will to bring Hashem nachat. To bring nachat. And nachat is so much more than just doing mitzvos.
Then people get confused. Then they say, you know what? Maybe I shouldn't do mitzvos because it's too like robotic for me, and I should just do acts of kindness, which by the way is a mitzva, but doesn't sound so frum so it's easier for me to connect to, right? But there's no two ways about it. It all goes hand in hand. The question is, are you trying to just go through this life fulfilling obligations of the body, which would be mitzva checklist? Or like we always say, do you want to do you want to be יוצא ידי חובת הנשמה? Do you also want to would you want to say like my neshama, my soul is also fulfilling its obligation in this world by coming into expression with what I do.
And it's clear that we want to be both. Not one or the other. We want the whole we want to be able to do the whole package. So after this crazy statement, עושה מצוות בוראו ואינו עושה רצונו, you could do the mitzvas of Hashem and not do his will.
כלשון החסיד היעבץ, כי לא כל דבר שמותר מצד הדין באמת רצון השם שיעשהו. It's because truthfully not everything that's permissible according to the letter of the law is really the ratzon of Hashem that you should do.
ולא כל דבר שאדם פטור מצד הדין באמת רצון השם שלא יעשהו. And so too, it can't be that everything that a person is exempt from doing halachically, ba'emet, it's the ratzon of Hashem that you shouldn't do it.
Meaning... Like with having children? Sorry? You see with having children? We gave that example, 100%. 100%. This is like what I said.
This is very much a it's a concrete review of a lot of the things we discussed in detail, right? But to think about it outside of the box, to open our minds and our hearts together, when there's love, when it's a relationship of love, then it's not about making sure that I could say at the end of the day, today I did that, I did that, I did that. I could go to sleep. The question is how did I do that? And how did I do that? And should have I done that? That's the way that we're supposed to be opening our heart. That's the way of the blossoming of the soul.
And the soul, the neshama, you know, if you if you walk into a a shul and say to them, you know the chevra, it could be that Hashem wants you right now, all of you, to actually maybe, maybe... I'm scared to say what I'm going to say right now, like I'm very but I'll say it. Instead right now of coming you were at shul late, or whatever, you came on time, there's a rush, vechulai, maybe he wants you to sit in silence for for like two minutes or three minutes and just really with dveikus say say the words Ribbono Shel Olam over and over again. Just say the words Ribbono Shel Olam.
But but I mean, but what about the... Shniya. Could it be? Just to say it over and over again. like Reb Dovid used to sing, right? From Reb Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev.
Just over and over and over again. Ribono Shel Olam, Ribono Shel Olam. Over and over again, to say it, could it be? Oi, you're you're one of those. You're you you drank the Kool-Aid.
Next thing you know, you're gonna tell us mechalel Shabbos. That's this fear that people have. Right. No, next thing, next thing is gonna be your wife's gonna take off her hair covering.
Oh, next thing you know, tzitzis are coming off. It's such outside stuff. It's such an outside way of approaching these things. We're trying to come to a place that I do the mitzvos of Hashem in a manner that it's also the ratzon of Hashem.
Now, let's continue. Now why are we learning this in this shiur on a Thursday morning women's davening shiur? Because, next paragraph, aval hanashim, but women, שהן עושות את ציווי השם יתברך בפשיטות ובתמימות their way of fulfilling the commandments, the mitzvos that they're supposed to do with pshitus and tmimus, לא די להן לקיים את ציווי השם. It's not enough for them to just say I'm fulfilling the commandments of Hashem.
רק מבקשות הן לקיים גם את רצון השם יתברך.
I want to fulfill your will. Meaning I want to fulfill, I don't want to just keep mitzvos, I want to do your will. That's more important to me. They this is what you have inside.
This is an again, one of these things that are it's inherit. It's in the way that Hashem created zachar u'nekeivah. This is something that is there. Where does this come from?
כי יש בהן הכנעה אמיתית ורצונן לקיים את רצון השם.
Because what you inside what's going on is this very real and authentic hachna'ah. Hachna'ah is an interesting, again, whenever we come to this word hachna'ah, let's face it, the English way of saying it is surrendering, but obviously that doesn't sound, unfortunately, doesn't sound so Jewish, but it really is the most Jewish thing in the world. Hachna'ah, to to to say I'm I'm I'm not holding on to anything anymore. Not I give up, I'm letting, I'm letting it all go and it's really only You, Hashem.
And a woman has this much more naturally than a man does, if a man has it at all even.
ולכן גם את אותם הדברים שהן פטורות מהן או שהם מותרים על פי דין. And therefore those things that they are exempt from or they are permissible according to din.
כמו מצוות עשה שהזמן גרמא, like time-bound mitzvos.
ועשיית גדרים וסייגים לדברי התורה הקדושה, נוהגות הן להדר בהם, לעשותם לפנים משורת הדין, כיוון שהן יודעות שכך הוא רצון בוראן. You know there's so many halachos, there's so many things. I don't even know if you're aware of that you've taken on, that mitzad hadin, like mitzad just the raw basic halacha, you don't have to. Now when you're listening to what I said with outside ears, you'd be like, really? Tell me what! Please.
Life's hectic. Life's very, life's intense. Please let me know what I took on that I don't really have to. I still want to be very much a religious Jew, but let me know what I don't have to do.
So that's that's not going to be anyone's, at least in this room, that's not going to be anyone's request, but rather, well, well let's learn a deeper understanding of why I'm doing all the things that I'm doing. Let me let me be exposed to this piece of me that naturally shines because it cares about one thing and one thing only, bringing nachas to Hashem. And there's nothing more beautiful than that. Being connected to the ratzon.
Like he ends off in this paragraph, כיוון שהן יודעות שכך הוא רצון בוראן. I do what I do, I go the extra mile in so many different things because I know that that's really, really what Hashem wants. So someone again would say, well if that's really what Hashem wanted, why didn't He write that in the Torah? Because can you imagine if a wife tells her husband on Sunday morning, listen, I need you this week to tell me I love you at 5:00 p.m. on Sundays. On Monday mornings it's, I'm okay.
I could go to like 7:00 p.m. Imagine if that's what a relationship was like. It it would, it'd be, it'd be, it'd be horrible. Now, of many times, you have relationships where basically it's like the famous joke, you know I love you, you don't need me to tell you, right? That's all outside stuff. Inside stuff is a deep, deep desire, a ratzon, to be connected to the nachas came, which is so much more kedai and so much more beautiful.
Bottom paragraph.
וגם בעושה רצון השם יש דרגות. And also when it comes to doing the will of Hashem, there are all types of levels.
כמו שכתבו התוספות.
Like it says in the Tosfos in Gemara Brachos, שעושין רצונו אבל אין עושין רצונו כל כך שאינן צדיקים גמורים. There are people that do Hashem's will, but they don't really do the will so much because people aren't complete tzadikim.
שבעל מדרגה נעלה עוד יותר, a higher level, a person with a higher consciousness, הוא מי שיש לו את תכונת הביטול וההכנעה, is someone that embodies bittul and hachna'a, כי הוא עושה את רצון רבו אף כשהוא נגד רצונו העצמי. Sometimes, like in Chassidus, we see this quite often.
A Rebbe will tell you you have to do this, this is a shlichus I need you to do, and it's not at all what you want to do, but because your ratzon is mevutal to your rav's ratzon, you do it. I asked Rav Weinberger before, I asked him like ten years ago. I said, Rebbe, how do you get people to just follow through with things that are important for you to do, even if it's not their inyan? But but it's important for the for you as the rav. How do you do it? And he said, he said, Shlomo, that is an inyan of, you can't give it over.
That's a trust-based relationship that takes time, and only that can only happen after a lot of time is spent together and you realize you you trust each other. And then when you trust someone, and and the love is there and you say something, you ask of something, you need of something, that really is not really what the person feels like they want to do, there's enough trust and love in the relationship that they say, you know, I'm I'm I'm going to do it. Why? Because it's the ratzon of the person that I love, and I trust the person that I love, the person that's at the head, right? He said that that that's that's an it doesn't happen overnight, and you can't give a shiur about it. Meaning you can come out, you can start giving shiurim, what does it mean to have kvod harav? Hatzlacha Rabba as people, it's not going to happen.
That won't be the way that anyone then feels like, wow, I can't wait to give my rav nachas. And with the real relationships of in life, this is what we're aiming towards, that even if it's not my ratzon initially, it becomes my ratzon because it's my companion's ratzon. That's the highest thing. I saw this, you know, there was, sometimes we have examples of couples like this, you know.
Anyone that knew Michal Golem alav hashalom. The way Michal and Leah were. It was like, who's which tzadik was it? They came to the doctor, his wife's leg was hurting? Rav Aryeh Levine, right? Our leg is hurting. You know what I mean? Like that that's like, and and he and he wasn't trying to be cute.
He wasn't trying to be cute when he said that. Our leg is hurting, no. Because at a certain point, this is, it's more than just it's more than, he could have said I did the right thing, I escorted my wife to the doctor, it's the right thing. Al pi din you have to do, we'll find a halacha that says you have to do that when your wife is sick.
You could find a halacha that says it. Anachnu me'unyanim b'yoser. The Baal Shem Tov wanted to make sure that you have a ratzon to go way deeper than that, way deeper than that. One time I had a mother come to me and say, I have no idea what happened with my three kids.
They're all, none of them are keep keep Shabbos anymore. None of them are interested in anything that we raised, that that that, she didn't say we raised them on, but anything Torah. I said, well what was it like growing up? She said, do you know how hard my husband works so that they could go to Jewish schools? I said, yeah, but what, so I understand, but what was the vibe in the house? The vibe was the house was that we always told our kids how hard the father is working so they can go to Jewish schools. Like that that's what they heard, right? I said, and I I was, I had so much to say at that moment, but I really was just sitting with that and davening, Shemayisborach, how do we, how do we take chinuch to the next level? How do we explain to parents, how do we explain to ourselves that it takes so much more? more than that.
Because al pi din was he doing the right thing? Were those parents doing the right thing? 100%. And of course we could go into a very sensitive subject here in our town where many, many dedicated, amazing, holy people had the koach to come and make aliyah back in the day. And that was their whole Yiddishkeit was just the mitzva of Yishuv Eretz. But all that may have been enough for them to feel like their souls are on fire.
But the kids never had their own inyan of, you know, the fire. And the parents wondering, how could it be? I don't understand. I gave up my whole life to just to make sure my kids live in Eretz Yisroel and now none of my kids keep Shabbos. It's because it's so much more than that.
Right? It's so much more than that. And and we're still discovering what it's going to take. But it it's dependent on ratzon. Not ratzon to fulfill a mitzva, ratzon to give you nachas.
And that's the difference between two, yeah. I'm just wondering because I feel like the more tangible it is the harder it is because you want to give over the beauty to your children but you're still trying to do it the ahava. There are mitzvos that like everyone has their own thing that like they fully embrace and they love doing and it shows. And there are mitzvos that we are supposed to do but it's harder for us.
I would love for my kids to grow up on Erev Shabbos that the house is not insane and screaming I'm trying to cook. Because that's how we grew up. At least I know that's what I grew up on. And to shift it so my kids see Shabbos being in love but how? Really nice.
No, but that's a that you should know, that's like a like quite often the conversation goes into tell me something, what did you, what did you look, what did your face look like getting ready for Yom Tov? What did your children see? What what what was what what was the experience for them? And I I'm telling you that and this is not to make, especially people in chutz l'aretz feel bad with the hundreds of thousands of dollars that they're paying for Jewish education, you could give over to your children infinitely more by choosing before Yom Tov, a few days before, saying no matter what my facial expression on Friday or Erev Yom Tov is going to be one that I'm going to be proud of at the end of the day because that's what my kids are going to see, and you'll give over to them infinitely more Yiddishkeit now. How? It's it comes with it starts with one thing. It's a bechira. It's a choice.
Now how to actually get your house ready? You and Yoni and I can talk. I I have no idea like you know I mean I have no idea. There's a lot of things and a lot of mitzvos that are like that. Like there's some things that like kids cannot wait to light Chanukah candles because they know there's such joy in our faces, in what we do in that first half hour.
And then there's mitzvos that are harder. It because it's not as as thrilling and it's not as and it's more like a kavua meaning it happens, it happens more Friday happens every week, right? Nachon. But it but it starts with the bechira of saying I believe b'emunah shleima that to give Hashem nachas will be by my children just seeing my by the choice that I'm making about my facial expression on Friday, mamash. Anyway, at the end of the day, even if not everything's done, you're not going to mechallel Shabbos the first two hours till everything's done, right? It's not going to happen.
The question is how lechatchila, how are you approaching it? And it's a good example what you brought up. I I have to think about this all the time. Always. Pesach.
Pesach. I'm shocked that that that we don't have a whole generation that despises Pesach. Mamash. Or do we? I don't know.
Maybe we do, I don't know. The parents starts from the day after Purim. That's that's even late in some places. Chanukah.
But but you know what? No no but listen, you could start the day after Chanukah for Pesach. Like it would actually be even higher. Meaning even like this. It would.
The the question is what what is important to you? What is important to you? To make sure that your list of what needs to get done is done or that your children's exposure to your engagement in tradition is lichtig, is filled with light? And it it's a bechira. Yeah. I think from this class, I'm just inspired to maybe at least a half hour before Shabbos to just be playing Shabbos music in the house that it, you know, all the time. Some women may punch you in the face right now.
I'm just saying. No, no, no. I think it's it's it's it's unbelievable. If you're able to.
to do that? That's unbelievable. And ein erech l'kesef, there's no value even to what you're saying. It's the highest. Halevai.
Halevai I think what some women would hear that and say, I can't ever imagine that being the story in my house, but why not? Why not? Listen, Shabbos comes in summertime 7, 7:30. You're shvitzing till 7:30. If Shabbos comes in winter 4:30, you're shvitzing till 4:30, right? 3:59. 3:59.
It was 3:59? It's all a matter of making a choice like you did, Alex. It must have been a conscious choice to say, this is how it's going to be, right? And we have to do whatever it needs to. Why? Because it's more important for me that my children go into this thing that we're supposed to לכה דודי לקראת כלה פני שבת נקבלה. Right? For some kids, pnei Shabbos, the face of Shabbos is this most sour, depressing anxiety, you know, anxiety-ridden look.
That's the face of Shabbos. Shabbos. It's Shabbos in two minutes. It's Shabbos in two minutes.
But it's the difference between, it's the difference between יציא ידי חובה של הגוף versus I want to bring you nachas, Hashem. It's heavy stuff. Betach. 100%.
Betach. Okay, let's continue. We're on the bottom over here.
והיא המדרגה הגבוהה של עשיית רצון השם יתברך.
The highest level of doing the ratzon of Hashem Yisborach is when even if it's not your what you want to do right now, you know this is what Hashem wants and you do it anyway. The world tells you, no, it has to become your ratzon. It's not my ratzon to fast. That's not an inner will that I have.
But there are fast days that this is how we understand when it needs to be done, and therefore I do it.
שאדם מבטל את רצונו האנוכי לגמרי. Now this is the highest level. I'm not saying I or anyone in this room is here at this level of I've completely nullified my own will, and I only do what I do because that's what Hashem wants.
Halevai. There are a few, I had the privilege of being on on, what day is today? Thursday? So on Tuesday night, in the presence of someone that I feel has as is just completely removed, there's nothing about him. That's Reb Yitzchak Ginsburgh. It's just this constant conscious flow and subconscious flow of the ratzon of Hashem because there's nothing in, no ani.
It's just that's when you have when you clear out all of your stuff, then the flow, there's room for just the divrei Elokim chaim to start flowing. I was with him in Kfar Chabad for Farbrengen on every year Yud Tes Kislev for many years already. This is an 81-year-old rav who went through, as you know, a kidney transplant last year, began farbrenging at about 9, quarter to 9, and out of I think rachmanus on us, he stopped at 2:30. I'm not kidding, I got home at 4.
And I drove home in that crazy storm from the Tel Aviv area, and I'm telling you I was seeing thunder and I was seeing lightning and thunder the whole the whole drive home, and I felt like I just came from ma'amad Har Sinai, which also it says there kolos u'vrakim. What a flow. It was surreal. It was unbelievable.
V'zos madregas hanashim. And he says, really, this is where women are you have this.
מנשרים קלו ומאריות גברו לעשות רצון קונם וחפץ צורם כי כנועות הן אל השם יתברך. All these mitzvos you do that you have no obligation to do, you're not doing it because of women's rights.
You're not doing it to show that men and women are equal and they're the same. Thank God they're not the same. Children wouldn't exist if they were the same. Meshuggin the world.
It's because you have there's a there's this he says here, ועל כן הן מבטלות את עצמן לעשות את רצונו בהתמסרות אמיתית, they mevattel themselves to do the ratzon of Hashem with real hitmasrut, complete giving, giving of themselves. she'rotzon adonam, the rotzon of their master, Hashem, doesn't mean here their husbands. rotzon adonam, their king, melech malchei hamelachim, חשוב להם יותר מרצונן. It's more important to them than their own rotzon.
לכן משתדלות הן למלא את רצונו. That's why they try so hard to fulfill God's will, אף כשזה נגד רצונן העצמי, even when that may be against what they're feeling and what they want. The example given before about childbirth is a very, very good one. It's a very, very good one, it's a very important one.
Inyas, even though we say that a woman curses and swears while she's giving birth that she'll never do it again, therefore she has to bring a korban, right, before when the time of the Mikdash. b'pnimiyut retzonan, they want to keep on bringing nachat ruach to Hashem and they know they're bringing more Yiddishe neshamos down into the world in body, brings so much, so much nachat ruach to Hashem. But that's one example. The mitzvos of Talmud Torah, the mitzvos of davening, the mitzvos of so many different things.
This is where it comes from. So when a person like that is standing before Hashem and davening, that it's coming from a place of I just want to bring you nachas. What could stand in face of that? What could block those tefillos? A man is standing there and he's working really hard on not feeling too good about himself that he fulfilled an obligation. And davening to Hashem to open his heart to go deeper with the ratzon.
But he can't wake up the next morning and say, you know, I don't really have to do this and Hashem will be okay if I don't. No, because you have to. Now, now we're getting now now we're gonna get back to the beginning of his shiur. U'be'emet.
כי לא זו בלבד שהנשים קנועות הן לציית לבקשת אדונם. It's not just that they are submissive, they are completely have hachna'ah to obey the orders of Hashem.
אלא כי אף עושות הן את רצונו באין אומר ודברים. But they do things even when nothing is told or expected of them.
she'maskilot hen, they have the wisdom, b'chol matzav, in any given situation, l'havin et retzono, to understand God's will. Not God's will that's written black and white in the Torah. God's will which is the inner pnimius of the Torah, which is the pnimius of the Torah. The things that aren't written down black and white because it'd be too shallow to write them down.
Because they're the deepest expressions of love. Do you understand? Is it not is it not clear? It's not clear? It is. It's clear, yeah? If it's not, stop me. Be'emet, we're here to learn, not just to fulfill an obligation of coming to a shiur, right? We're here to learn.
כי כך נבראו בתכונת נפשם. The way a woman was created, had they had you have this in your nefesh. And therefore, valchein hen mevarhot, she'asani kirtzono. And that's why you say the bracha she'asani kirtzono.
What's the outside of, like the way just like to tie it all together. What what what was your what what you can tell me, what did you know, like what what did you learn or what did you think, what were you told the kavana of the bracha she'asani kirtzono is? That we don't have to do what all the men have to do. Straight up. They say shelo asani isha, they don't want to have to deal with what we have to do.
Childbirth and all that. And we don't want to have to do the mitzvos three times a day. Isn't that amazing? Or I thought it was just the alternative, like, oh, boys say this, so you just say this one. Like, if you're not a boy, you say that one.
And it's in parentheses underneath. What do you think? I, I grew up in an Atelus and Makifos, you know, so I was told that that bracha was the reason that we don't have a mechitza and have, you know, women as the bulwark, the reason why Judaism exists. Oh. I mean, in truth, that's Of listen.
That was it had to, of course it's going to exist because if the other if the alternative is all the all the only the outside stuff without ever explaining any of the pnimius, then of course, you see what's going on in the world, of course, something like that will emanate. Of course. ma hashe'elah b'chlal? People are shocked, this conservative Judaism, Reform Judaism. What's your Shabbos? What does your Shabbos look like? What are the brachos you're saying looking like? And you're shocked that other people are saying maybe it doesn't have to be like this? You're shocked? Be'emet? Please.
I've met the most sincere, sincere, I mean, people think I'm going, you know have the chevra I'm talking about. The most sincere chevra that the way the fulfilling mitzvos was given over to them was so choking that they could not stay there and had to find a different path in Yiddishkeit that still has to do with Yiddishkeit, that wasn't halachic because no one ever showed them that there's a whole world called nachas. No one ever explained it to them. And that's that's the deepest thing in the world.
So so that just to be very clear, cause I I can get into a lot of trouble right now, I'm not chas v'shalom for a second saying, and then that's the path that we should take. But I want us all to open our hearts and understand that these worlds that left what we call halachic Yiddishkeit, they they were no one ever told them about nachas, no one ever told them about ratzon. No one ever gave over to them the pnimius behind why we do what we do. None of it.
There's no way. And now it's our job from within the world of Torah, from within Yerushalayim, from within the the the Torah and mitzvos and halacha, to bring this out. And this to me is one of the most clearest examples that if a woman was told a man's saying shelo asani isha, and she and you're saying she'asani kirtzono and you give over these these these outdated pak tokeif answers. Pak tokeif means a expired expired like, but they're not even expired, they never even were an answer, meaning, right? Who are you kidding? Who's gonna who's gonna hold on to Yiddishkeit? So that's why he says over here, this is why the bracha is she'asani kirtzono.
Because he's saying להותם כרצונו יתברך בכח העליון that you are one with you are one with the ratzon of Hashem, which is which isn't just fulfilling the mitzvos, but it's caring about Hashem, what do you want? She'asani kirtzono, I'm with the ratzon of Hashem. Which is so much more beautiful. So my question is, he keeps on saying, he keeps on teaching how this is part of us, this is who we are as women, but if we weren't raised with it, we weren't taught it in schools, how do we tune into it in ourselves? How do we, you know, if we don't feel connected to this? Right. So this is where it gets weird that I'm teaching you this stuff.
Bring in Bina. That's her name. It's bina. It takes, you know, it's inner wisdom, 100%, but I cannot and I will not tell a woman how to activate womanhood.
I'm just letting you know that it's there and to empower you. And baruch Hashem we're blessed with many, many incredible female teachers that are plugged into this in a very deep way. But first it's I'll just tell you one thing, it just it starts off with your ratzon. How badly do you want this? How badly do you want this? And then it becomes part of your davening before you figure out techniques and methods and everything.
How bad do you want this? And I know you do. I know all of you do. But I can't tell you how to activate womanhood. It wouldn't be right.
Even if I had shitos, it wouldn't be right. You know what I mean? But just to bring it the awareness of it is what I feel is my was my job over here. I'm not copping out. But I'm being just, you know, dugri.
Dugri.
וכוון שכל מהותן הוא הביטול אל הרצון השם יתברך. Since your whole essence is bittul before Hashem, to the ratzon of Hashem, Hashem yisbarach mesayea b'adam, and Hashem helps you, שידעו את רצונו האמיתי. Hashem helps you, he lets you know what I really want.
When you want to know what Hashem really wants, Hashem says, ah, I'll let you know what I really want behind all the mitzvos and everything.
ויזכו לקיימו בשלימות. And you merit to mekayem it fully. And then he he goes on here just I hope he's please we have to end, but there's a whole piece over here where he explains that this is exactly what the Baal Shem Tov brought down to the world, that the ikkar of the Torah Hakdosha is not just to keep Torah and mitzvos again, it's to keep them not because of reward and punishment.
It's because I want to bring nachas to Hashem. You see, when I'm a person that views themselves as someone that wants to be a nachas giver to Hashem, you know what happens to my image, to my self-image, to my to to the way that also I I start talking to my children about Hashem? And the way I start talking to anybody about Hashem, it's a different ball game. It's it's a completely different world. So you should all be zochot to continue to be yourselves, to take on that bracha even deeper, she'asani kirtzono.
It's a it's a proclamation. It's more like Baruch, it's not just a blessing, it's basically it's like a it's like a statement reminder of like, wait a second. That's right, within me there's this thing called a true desire to give Hashem nachas. That's why I do half the stuff that I do and to keep that's where it starts and to move forward from there.
There won't be shiur next week because of Sunday morning we're gonna have a special Chanukah shiur, but next Thursday morning there won't be shiur. We'll continue bezrat Hashem after Chanukah.