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A-Muse is unscripted Torah musings by Rabbi Ari Bensoussan
Hey, everybody. Welcome. Welcome. It's Ari Ben Shushan, and this is a new podcast. What am I doing?
Reb Ari Bensoussan:Why why are we doing this? Hey. Don't you have another podcast? And the answer is, yeah, Baruch Hashem. Yassie and I have a wonderful podcast together.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:But also Baruch Hashem, both our schedules are quite busy, and trying to find time for both his life and mine to actually come together and make more. Tyra, make more material, Make more joy, I guess, for people in their listening pleasures. We have so much fun with that. I mean, you see how much fun we have with that. But I figured, you know, there are times where I sit in my class and you get a moment.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:You just get a feeling. It's unplanned. It's unscripted. It's all heart. And, you come at it.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:You just you just have your way at that, you know. He's just and it's really enjoyable. And the boys really, I believe, respond with like, wow. You know, rabbi, you should really let the world know that or I I'm so happy. I wish we had that recorded.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:You know, just different ideas along those lines. And I think to myself, man, the classroom is really such a great place. It's such a great environment where Hashem sends thoughts. Hashem sends originality. You see, originality, I believe, comes not because somebody is more original or has better ideas or more insights than anybody else, really.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:I believe originality comes because those who are listening. I believe originality comes because Hashem gives you a talent, let's say, to be able to speak or even to express any kind of art or something along those lines. And and if you don't test it, if you don't go out there and speak it, if you don't go out there and try to teach it, so then those moments of originality that could have come to you, Shamayim, you know, heaven, they don't send it to you. When I'm sitting there in the classroom, I'm telling you, I am not as smart as the things that I say sometimes. But I believe that Shamayim goes and sends me some kind of a thought process, not because I know it and not because I'm smart enough, Rip, but because those listening have to hear it.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:And so I got to thinking and I said, you know, the classroom, Baruch Hashem, has my 20 kids inside there and that's great and there's a lot of obviously coming through over there, but what about what about if you speak to the world? What if you sat down and decided unscripted without really much in front of you except your heart, your mind, and a little prayer on your lips saying, Hashem, please give me some kind of clarity over here to be able to speak to Yeden and Klayasro. The amount of emails that I get all the time from different people, and please keep on sending those emails. If I haven't responded to you, I apologize. But it's either because what you sent to me was something so incredibly earth shattering, and I mean that, that an email just could not do a response like that.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:What do you want, man? It's just too big. It's just too much to be able to type up and give you a response. It would it would take me hours and hours. A lot of you send me emails and and they're so emotionally binding.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:Like, they bind themselves to my heart and I don't have words. You know? So I wanna let you know that you've been listened to. A lot of times I believe people send emails because they need a shoulder to cry on and I wanna let you know, yeah, we cried together. You know, that actually happened.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:So if I didn't respond to you, a lot of times that's the reason. Of those who I did respond to, I'm not saying that your emails are any less dynamite, but at least I felt that at that moment, Shamaim sent me some kind of a thought process to be able to respond with. So there's so many hidden out there that actually wanna listen and actually wanna grow. What a what an incredible merit that is for me, certainly, for my family, for those who have taught me as well, for the Torah that we give over from the Tzadikim that we teach from, what a massive slush it is. And altogether, what a kid of Hashem it is that all of Klyas'rall really, they tune in to listen to so many Ra Bunim across so many different platforms.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:It's just amazing. But I'm telling you, I'm doing this out of selfish reasons. I'm doing this because I really believe Shamayim sends clarity, thoughts, ideas, originality when you go and put yourself on the line to try to teach others. So this is me saying thank you to you if you're listening to this right now. Because whatever Tyra may come across or ideas that we may hit over here, it may be because you have schlos albus.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:It may be because you have merit from somewhere. And and don't kid yourself on schos avos. It's a very, very big thing. Like Gemara and Bracchas and Chov Zaynab are Beis over there right after, right after they ousted, I mean, there's no better word for it, you know, Rebekah Lemliel, who was considered the one in charge. He was the nasi.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:He was the one in charge. This happened to the Yidin after the 2nd base of Migdash was destroyed. And all the Jews went off to Yavneh, the Chachamim at least went off to Yavneh, and the one in charge was Rav Magam Leel. The second in charge, the Av Beth Din, was Reb Yoshua. And very famously, Ramon Gamaliel had what he felt was a need to be a leader.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:This need to be a leader was a need not because he wanted it, but because Claius' role was falling apart without it. And you needed to have Tyra to be given in a way without Mauthaikas. You needed to have Tyra to be given away in a clear in a crystal clear, given just perfectly so that society can run flawlessly. That's really what Rebekah was going for. Rabbi Yehoshua would disagree with him, in certain halakhas.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:The one that the Gomorrah over there in Bracchos is talking about is whether or not Dovneying Arvit, whether or not Dovneying Marv, whether that's a rishut or a chovah. Rabbi Gamliel said it's a chovah, Rabbi Yeshua felt it was a rishut. And when it came time inside the Bet Midrash, Rabbi Gamaliel had heard that Rabbi Yehoshua said that it was a rishuut. There are those who bring that. He heard it from a student of theirs, which was Asher Reb Shimon Bar Yochai.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:And there are those who say actually that when Rabbi Yehoshua told Rabbi Shimon Beyochai that it was a reshoots, he meant it specifically for him, for Rabbi Shimon Beyochai, but not for everybody else. But, ultimately, it came to that moment that Rebbe Gamliel said, alright. Go ahead. Ask your question. And he said, well, is is our is it or?
Reb Ari Bensoussan:And Rebbe Gamali said, it is. Does anybody here disagree? And Shur said, no. We all agree. He said, oh, really Rebbe Shur?
Reb Ari Bensoussan:I heard that you don't agree. I heard that you disagree. And he said, well, yeah. You know, I gotta give in. It's true.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:You know, I can't deny you. The one who said it is standing right here. Now this is a few times that what we're about to say happened. Rabbi Gamaliel told Rebbe Yehoshua, you're gonna be standing the rest of share. That was really an embarrassment for Rebbe Yehoshua.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:Now, this isn't the first time Nikkimara tells us. There were 2 other times where they had a disagreement about, the time of Yom Kippur, a disagreement about, Behar by Reb Tzadok. Okay. I mean, you know, those are side things. The people felt enough is enough.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:The people felt it's enough of Reb Yoshua being embarrassed by Rebbe Yehoshua. And so they stood and they said, that's it. We're we're taking Rebbe Gamliel off of his throne. No longer is he in charge. Alright?
Reb Ari Bensoussan:No, king. No, king. No, there will be a king. I will be your king. So now they had to make a new king.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:They had to decide who's gonna be in charge. So they turned to Reb Yehoshua, but they said, no. I can't be Reb Yehoshua because he's the one that this whole thing happened with. It would hurt Reb Gamliel too much. Rebbeg on Leo was not doing that, the Mafarsham explained.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:He wasn't making Rebbeg on having to stand those other times and what would seem to be public embarrassment. He wasn't doing it, Hasb e Shalom, for his own honor. No. The Meparsham explained was actually a very, very sweet, sweet man. There was a lady in the neighborhood they bring from a different Gemara who she lost a child and she cried.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:And where heard her crying, he he cried until his eyelashes fell out. I mean, you know, he really, really felt the people. It's just that he also felt that when it came to halacha, for the people themselves, that it has to be something so exact without So they didn't wanna hurt Rabbi Gum Leo. So they said, no. It can't be Rabbi Yeshua.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:Okay. Should it be Reb Akiva? They said, no. It can't be Reb Akiva. Why not?
Reb Ari Bensoussan:He doesn't have zechut avot. He doesn't have merit of his fathers. And in turn, they went to Reblas ben Azaria. And we know the rest of the story which Reblaz Ben Azaria, who was a chakam, and he had Chotavod, he was 10 generations from Ezra, and he had money so he can deal with the king, And Reb Lusman is Aria, etcetera. You know, how the story goes is really a beautiful story.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:Give a look over there. Barakut 27 b going on to 28 a on top. Really beautiful. But they bring, what is this zechutavot over there? And they explain that Ram Gamaliel would have felt bad.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:And if Reb Akiva didn't have zechutavot we know from a different Gemara, Reb Akiva was the descendant of converts, they say, from Sisera, that it says that the great great grandkids of Sisera are sitting and learning Risholayim, and they tell him that Rebekiva came from over there. If that's the case, so then they were very afraid. In Shamayim, the moment that whoever else takes that throne, whoever else takes on the mantle being the nasi, Rabbi Gamaliel's gonna feel bad and there's gonna be a din on that person. And that din on that person, you're gonna need merit in heaven because up in Shamayim, they're gonna come at you, man. Up in Shamayim, they're gonna say, hooray.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:And give a look at this. He thinks he could just sit on the throne and be the dussie. Well, let's open up the books and see exactly who this person is, and when they get involved in such things, to be able to stand up in din in judgment, you need zukhut in Shamayim. And we're talking not just your zukhut, we're talking about the zukhut avot. That's what the Gemara says, you need merit from your fathers.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:And so I believe that and how'd we get here? It's amazing. You know, this is this is what I like to do. Just get lost in the world of Torah. Just allow the thoughts to bubble up wherever they are and just be blown by the wind of chazal, whichever way it goes.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:We brought this up because we said that if you're listening to this right now and you have zechut avot and so maybe Shamayim will give us a new idea or a new piece of Torah to give over because in Shamayim they're saying, well, Ari Ben Shushan thinks he just can go and teach? Really? I don't know, but one second. Who's gonna be listening? And they could be great grandparents standing up there in Shamayim and saying, that's my grandchild, that's my granddaughter.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:If that's the case, you have plenty of merit to be able to guide us. So your listening literally puts a wind in the sails of chazal to be able to blow closer to your heart and soul because we have this to be able to say this over. So let's say a good piece, shall we? Let's say a piece for this week's parsha, parsha is Truma. Let's say over a piece from the Heiligas Vos MS.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:It is a beautiful piece over here with Berkowitz, my rebbe, your rebbe. Just don't know it yet. The halig ravietz, Berkowitz, Rosh Hashiv Av'esh HaTorah, the head of Jerusalem colo where Ibar Hashem had years to be able to spend over there. Best years of my life. I'm gonna be honest with you.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:Best years. If if you're young and you're listening to this and you're on the ropes, should I go have my year in Israel or should I go join a call or something? I am telling you. I am telling you, please listening to me. Please listen.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:Those are the best years of your life. If you're a yid, those are the best years of connection. You can't let them slip through your fingers. Have at it. Just go.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:Stop making all your hegemon notes. Start thinking, well, I gotta start college early because I have to be a doctor by the age of 23 so I can It's all noise. It's all just noise. Go go have your soul bask in some light of the infinite. Go give it some arhaganas.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:Go get your arhaganas. You just go get your hidden light. Light. It's yours. The ritva brings that 600,000 souls were up by Harsinai, and we all heard the Torah a different way.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:And so, therefore, when we on and we say give us our in your Torah, it's a reference to your It's not mine. It's not your other rebbe in high school or your Rosh Koloh that you may be with or the rub of your shul. It's not his. You know, they may tell you pieces of Torah that are amazing, that ignite your neshama, that bring you to higher places. That's true.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:But all of that, they're stepping stones to get to an incredible light. And the light that you're meant to get to is your piece of Torah, the one that you heard by Harsinai, the one that you're gonna bring into this world, a tikkun that you're going to share with eternity, and that's actually gonna be the place that you build for yourself for eternity. That is what you're going for. And to be able to speak that language, to be able to have the tools inside your tool belt to build that tikon, that only comes if you spit blood for it. That only comes if you actually sacrifice for it.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:So yeah. I mean, if you have other things that are going on in your life and you think you can't go to Israel or you can't spend the year of learning in kolos, so then that's awesome that you have to sacrifice. It'll just means so much more to you. When you actually get out there, you'll be asking yourself why am I here if I could have had something else? And that will be the impetus.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:I mean, that will push you so much more to want to have at the infinite language that is God's and that must be yours to be able to figure out your purpose. It's incredible. It's incredible that you have that. So these were my years. So this is why I wanna give off to you in the years that I was able to have over there learning by Ruf Berquist.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:And he would say this a few times. It's on the Pawlik word, Make yourself a menorah, a golden menorah. And Rashi tells us that the Lushan of the Pasek is That the menorah is gonna be made by itself. It was very difficult for him to make it. He didn't know how.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:I'm like, oh, this baro Hashem said, Just throw it into the fire. Take that big chunk of gold that you've been working on, throw it into a fire, and magically, it'll be made by itself. Now, that's pretty incredible. That magically, it's gonna be made by itself. Yeah.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:Myshir Abenu didn't know how to do it. He had to bang all the gold into a shape of the menorah. It kept on falling over. It it just didn't go for him. So Maestro Benu tries.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:Frank the helig es vase MS, a very famous question, but a very necessary one. If the menorah is gonna be made by itself, Why in the world would Hashem ever even show Moshe what it looks like or how to make it? I mean, if either way the menorah is gonna be made by itself, so then it's gonna be made by itself. If that's the case, then honestly, why why even show it to me? No.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:That Hashem came and said to him, Moshe, give a look at this fire. In this fire, you will see a vessel. That is a menorah, Moshe Rabenu. And I want you to make it out of gold. Somebody said, oh, okay.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:I can just yeah. I see what I can do. I can just roll up this piece. No. You shall not roll up pieces.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:Mixtures of. It's gotta be made out of 1 big piece of gold. And Moisha said, okay. I gotta try to figure that out. Moisha tries and he doesn't.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:And Moisha comes back and Hashem, I tried and it doesn't go. Gee gosh. I don't know how to do it. And Hashem says back, Moshe, throw that gold into the fire. And he goes he throws it into the fire.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:And when he throws it into the fire, he says, oh, no. I didn't know how to when I threw it in, and I just said, oh, no. The reason why is because I just realized I have to go pick up my kids. I have to go pick up my kids now from Carpool. So, let me think.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:You know, I'll just pause this and, we'll get back to this soon. Okay. I didn't even have to say that. I could've just hit pause. But I want this to be as raw as possible.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:So life does get in the way. Life is not perfect. And, no. Life is perfect. Barakos, I'm gonna pick up my kids.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:Let me take that back. I should scratch that out. Life is perfect, but, recordings, yeah, they have to be, you know, pausing sometimes. We'll see you soon. So we were in the middle.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:I had to go run out. Now I'm somewhere back in the magical world of technology. A few hours have passed, and see in Los Angeles, they don't have bussing. Why they don't have bussing? Beyond me.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:I can't possibly understand that. But every single day, many of the mothers and fathers over here have to go running around and Baruch Hashem not complaining but it definitely does take out time and energy. We're back now and we're dealing with this piece the question of the Sfas Emas. And the question was, why is it that Hashem would have Moshe Rabbeinu stand there and bang away using his hammer, hitting her at this gold piece that at the end of the day is not going anywhere. He can't do it either way.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:So Avraham, if he can't do it, if Mysh Rabeinu wouldn't be able to do it either way, then why go through this entire charades? Why show him what the Minera looks like, have Maestro Rabenu see it, have him then say, and figure out maybe how to do it, bang away at it only to fail and then throw the hunk of gold into the fire and Hashem does it either way. If that's the case, asks the Smas MS, Hashem, you just go and make it happen regardless. Says the We're gonna learn from this an incredible thing. If somebody strengthens himself, and he does everything he can to do a Even the part that he wouldn't be able to do.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:He'll merit having it being done by itself. Move is guaranteed. Heaven will follow through and make it happen. Throw it into the fire and it'll get done all by itself. Cain who?
Reb Ari Bensoussan:Everybody who tries. If you're going in the right path and you're doing the thing that is. It would be impossible for us to be able to accomplish all these in their entirety. Hashem doesn't expect that from Do what you can. But if you go out and you do it according to everything that you got, then you will have that incredible help from heaven.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:Because like the Gomorrah and Shabbos, he brings This is telling us this wonderful idea, but it's something that we have to take as a reality into our lives. We have to understand and appreciate how far this goes. My Rebbe Rav Berkowitz would really use this to explain to us that if you ever wanna get anything done in life and you wanna sit back and say Hashem, please have this or that happen for me, it's not gonna go. In order for it to have a reality inside this world, in order for this reality to find its place, it needs human endeavor to begin or else it won't be. Maestro Rabenu had to bang away at it.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:That's the point of this. If Maestro Rabenu didn't bang away at it, if there wasn't human endeavor to start, so then there wouldn't be a minora. Goofa, it has to start with that. Don't you understand? There are things in life that, yeah, they have to happen but they have to begin with you.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:They have to start with your involvement. You have to be the one to go out and do it and you gotta spit blood for it too. You gotta push yourself in order to make it happen. If it's beyond? If you look at that task lying ahead and you say to yourself, man, I just can't.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:You know, I'll tell you personally. Man, you know, being unscripted over here, it's funny. A lot of times you know, there are a lot of shirom I've never put up online. Let's just say I don't say names of websites, but you know which websites you find me on. And a lot of times I hold back from putting up on those because let's face it.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:I get very personal, and I'll drop my guard in a few different things, and I don't want the world, to have to hear it. But when I'm sitting in that classroom again and I'm just talking to my boys, to my students, I feel like I can only drop my guard and be honest with them. I can only go and tell them what's happening in my life, what I'm learning from, what are the challenges that I'm facing right now. So just today, I've been pushing this off. You see, I do a fundraiser once a year.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:And what's the fundraiser for? It's for Chazak. It's what I do over here in Los Angeles. And what Chazak is, what it's morphed into is Baruch Hashem, a lot of Torah learning up here in the city, trying to do everything that I can, giving a different share every single night, trying to connect with as many, families I have, and I hate the fundraiser. It's it's not something I can do.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:You know, from my times in Israel and on, I I just I couldn't stand it. Still can't. Just the idea of going and and asking people, can you help out, to go and to do I would much rather much rather just sit and learn and have a job. And that's it. You know?
Reb Ari Bensoussan:Rebeim, I think, in the 19 eighties were able to do that. I think they were able to be just be like a rebbe somewhere and that just paid the bills. I'm not saying that they were, like, high society, but, you know, they're able to afford the down payment for the house, and, they had a beat up car. And that was it. And their house, I guess, became what would be their investment for the future and Zehu.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:Times have changed, you know, for someone to be in. Nowadays, you need 3 jobs. A friend of mine working in a high school on the East Coast told me that, when he went in to interview for his job about 10 years ago, there were 80 applicants, 80 applicants for the job. Now that same job has just opened up because he got a promotion. He moved up in the school.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:And for that same job, being like a rebbe in 10th grade, that same job, I think there were 3 applicants. People are afraid. People are afraid to, jump into it, and it's because life has become really expensive. And so to be able to live in any kind of a community, certainly Los Angeles, I mean, I was talking to somebody from Brooklyn the other day, and I said to him, you know, Los Angeles is really expensive. And he's like, oh, really?
Reb Ari Bensoussan:Brooklyn is so much more expensive. I just told him what I'm paying and rent and all these different things and he was blown away. He was shocked by the craziness of it all. So in order to be able to exist over here so I have to go to people and say to them, hey, could you help out so that there could be learning for your kids? There could be learning for you.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:There could be learning, for your community. You know, if you've been taking a part of it, if if you've been appreciating it, then please just, you know, help us out a little bit. And I can't do that. Like and it's here. Here, I can do it.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:You know, I'm just literally talking to just 4 walls. So here, I can do that, but, in the so I've been pushing this off. I should have been doing this fundraiser already probably a few weeks ago, and I've been pushing it off. And today today was the day. Today, my wife said to me, Ari, let's go.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:You gotta figure out. So I tried to figure out a date and try to figure out, like, what are the steps to get up to it. And I'm still holding off on sending out all the messages and calling people and asking them. And I know they all wanna help. There are really good people out here.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:That's not it. But I look at it, and this is Moishrabaynu with his hammer and just a big mound of gold. You know, I'm standing here and I'm looking at it and I'm saying to myself, I don't know how to make this thing. I don't know how to do this. So Moshe Binni starts to whack away at it because I don't know what I'm doing.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:But Hashem said I got to, so I got to. And I look at my fundraiser and I'm like, I don't know what I'm doing. But Hashem said I got to, so I got to. So that's what I'll do. You know?
Reb Ari Bensoussan:I'll make the calls. I'll push forth with what it is. Now it doesn't mean that every endeavor is successful. No. But if Loi Shirebenu couldn't make the menorah and then he went to Hashem, and Hashem said, well, if you can't make it, it's not gonna happen.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:So then so then it was never supposed to happen because I put everything I could. You know, a lot of times we'll put a lot of our coag into an endeavor. And if it doesn't work, but you put everything you got, Then Shivanba decided that that's the story of you. The story of you is is that it wasn't gonna happen. And that's okay too.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:It it's okay that it didn't. Because you know you put everything into it, and then you looked up to Shamai and said, please, I banged this piece of gold with my hammer enough times, and I don't know how to do this. It keeps on falling over on me. Says this Fossa MS. Moisture Benno had to see what it looked like.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:So you wanna do something that you feel is impossible? Step 1 is you gotta have a good clean picture in your mind. Gotta have a clear picture of what it is that you want. It can't be fuzzy. Am I sure you know had to see the minare beforehand to know what he was going after.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:And then number 2, although it was physically impossible, he had to bang away at it. And number 3, when somebody does that, says a svasam, as we see from over here, that you put everything you got into it, you throw into the fire. And if it's meant to be, so then Shamaim will follow through right for you. Alright, everybody. I think it's enough of me today.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:I don't think you need to listen to this voice anymore right now. So, We're gonna keep on, uploading. Hope to do that when we get a chance when it's not carpool. And it's always gonna be unscripted. You know, if you wanna start to send me emails, please, by all means, send send me some emails.
Reb Ari Bensoussan:You know, maybe we'll even make an email address, specifically for this podcast. And looking forward to hearing from you and looking forward to schmoozing. Looking forward to growing together. Amen. Amen.