The Yanuka Rav Shlomo Yehuda-＂איך ממתיקים דינים？ הגאון הינוקא בשיעור מיוחד בחוה＂מ פסח מול חומות ירושלים תשפ＂ה

3:09 to try to ask for mercy, in one's thoughts, for this person, to try, surely, that the Holy One, blessed be He, will find in him some point of merit, something good, and then the judgment upon this person is sweetened. Of course, this can sometimes be brought down by a person for himself, if he asks for himself; a person calls out to arouse mercy upon himself, whatever he needs before Hashem. But Hashem's mercy - the more we think about Hashem's mercy, so this mercy will keep on flowing until it is aroused below, below, below and comes down upon the person. That is why the Sfas Emes of Gur, who would receive a kvittel, was careful that there be no lines or writing on the page.

3:51 He wanted it to be written on blank paper, and he insisted that they bring him a page of blank paper, and if they didn't bring blank paper, then the person would write it again. Why? Because the page itself - so to speak, one writes black fire upon white fire, as in a Sefer Torah, where the letter lamed rises up out of all the letters; it is the tallest of all the letters, spreading out into the Infinite Light, into the parchment.

4:16 In fact, the revelation of the parchment, which is the Infinite Light, the shedding of physicality, a revelation of G-dliness, complete kindness. And the letters themselves are contraction, they are the severities themselves. And one must actually bring it about that the severities - what the person wrote - are nullified and included in the Infinite Light, in the complete kindness, when they [unclear] all the judgments.

4:43 And then, when he looks at the note, all the judgments upon the person are sweetened. That is how a kvittel is done. But the Divrei David, the Divrei David, Rebbe David Moshe, who was born on the festival of Shavuos, with the holy Rav of Lidichov, when he was at his bris, the sandak said, maybe this is David, maybe this is Moshe. Let's call him David Moshe - and so they called him Rebbe David Moshe. The father of the author of Ginzei Yisrael, the author of Yismach Yisrael, the author of [unclear], He was one of the greats; he was the Rebbe of the Maharam Shapiro of Lublin, of the Daf Yomi. He composed works on the Shas, the author of Ginzei Yisrael; he was one of the tremendous geonim.

5:24 They remember this kvittel, here, where they wrote a blessing, a healing, or whatever they need, [unclear], and then they look, and sweeten everything. And then he wrote that whoever does not pray for one who brought him a kvittel and a pidyon, for a whole year, is a robber. Every Rebbe who receives a note with a pidyon must pray for a whole year for the one who brought him this pidyon.

5:49 If he does not do this, he is called a robber. Whoever... Well, [unclear]. Whoever receives already knows how to help. Those who don't really know say, how is it possible? That's today... That's our generation today. But when one truly knows the work, thank G-d, As Rebbe [unclear] said, [unclear], the second of the Rebbe of Ruzhin, that is, whoever does not know what the Jew at home writes to him in the kvittel - what he writes to him before he brings him the note - if he doesn't know what is written before they hand him the note, he should not take it at all.

6:35 If you don't know what they write to you before they bring you the note, don't take the letter. You know what they write to you even before they come to you. If you don't know, don't touch the note; keep it in front of you. So he would say. These are the ways of holy ones and tzaddikim, holy and pure ones, who reached holy levels and supreme heights through their holiness and their purity and their blessings, and [unclear] - these are things that raise up with elevation and holiness, and such bounty that they lift and raise a person higher and higher.

7:10 What we can do, at least through reflection, now, in these holy times, in these holy days, each of which is such an immense light, is to try to seize all these times for prayer, for a time of prayer before Hashem, to pray to Hashem for more salvations, more miracles, more wonders, a good life, every bounty, everything we want before Hashem. This is the greatest mercy we can ask of Hashem [unclear], who led us on the right path. He already took us out of Egypt, who took us out of terrible darkness, who brought us out to the complete geulah.

7:44 These are the best things we can ask of Hashem. There are those who still remain in Egypt. They remain in Egypt: 'Let the work be heavy... and let them not heed words of falsehood.' We serve Hashem, blessed be He; we do not serve the idol and [unclear]. That's for the whole world - it's hard labor, that's the world. Look, in the whole world they have no one to pray to, they have no one [unclear]. We, thank G-d, have 'He Who spoke and the world came to be', the King of the kings of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He, may His Name be exalted. Every day we need to ask for the Shechinah to come out of exile, every day to feel the pain of the Shechinah, already wanting to come out, to be redeemed speedily.

8:21 These requests and this bond to Hashem - this is the purpose: that the created being exalts the Creator and cleaves to Hashem, blessed be He, this is the greatest and most exalted thing. When you see a Jew standing before Hashem and raising his eyes to Heaven and beginning to pray, this is the purpose of our creation. This is the purpose; it was worth bringing about the whole world - the trees, the stones, the sky, and the rocks, and these grasses, so that a Jew would stand on this rock and begin to praise the great Name of the Holy One, blessed be He.

8:56 That is the greatest reward, that is the purpose, to raise one's eyes to Heaven and merit to pray. What is the purpose of all the life of this world, what is the purpose? In the end, time passes, a person will be led to a place that is cramped and dark, and they will tell him: nu, give a reckoning and an account of all your deeds, of everything you did. Time passes like that, in a flash, how the years pass, how many years pass.

9:24 And easily, a person suddenly - five, ten, twenty, thirty, forty, seventy, a hundred years - finds himself already at such an age, old age and gray hair. And the most painful and the hardest: at the end of Tractate Kinnim, Rabbi Shimon ben Akashya says that the elders of the unlearned: the older they grow, the more their minds become unsettled, but the elders of Torah are not like that. The older they grow, the more settled their minds become, as it says, 'With the aged is wisdom' 'and length of days, understanding.'

9:52 You see that with the unlearned man, the older he is, the desires grow, and so the will and the things of this world's life drive him mad. But the elders of Torah are not so, because they know that as time passes, they scorn all that; it is no test at all. All the testing in this world is vanity and emptiness. How much we must seize ourselves for the true purpose.

10:18 And then they turn to Hashem, speak, and raise their eyes to Heaven, and then a person goes along and sees that every day that passes, he advances toward the purpose. For what is the purpose of all the life of this world? Everyone runs after money, after honor, after falsehood, all kinds of things that have nothing in them. After all, money truly cannot save, cannot help a person. As we see plainly, give a person all the wealth in the world, if Hashem, blessed be He, does not want it, nothing will help him.

10:42 Why do we always ask Hashem to give us bread and livelihood, asking every time? Why so - what is the difference: food and healing, yes, but not wealth or money? No - there is nothing where one asks for money. If we ask Hashem: give us livelihood, give us sustenance, meaning: [unclear], bring forth fruits and vegetables, give us food and wheat and barley to eat.

11:09 If we ask for money - there is no such prayer about money. Have you ever seen one? Even so - exactly. Asking Hashem to give lots of coins - there is no such prayer. Right? We ask Hashem for food, money, livelihood, sustenance. that He feeds and sustains everything; but we don't want gold coins from Him. There's no prayer for gold coins, right? Have you ever seen some prayer, 'Master of the world, give us lots of gold coins'?

11:34 True or not? 'Bread to eat and clothing to wear,' 'and I return in peace' 'to my father's house.' How does one return in peace to Heaven? When a person is happy with what he has, with what the Holy One, blessed be He, gave him, with what He graced him. This is what's mine, this is what Hashem gave me, both in spirituality and in material things.

12:01 That's it, this is my joy, this is my level. This is my service of Hashem. What, now we are in the Counting of the Omer? Every day we go up a level, [unclear]. You cannot climb this mountain at such speed. Calmly, slowly, slowly, slowly, slowly - 'you shall serve G-d on this mountain.' Going out to Mount Sinai has levels; you can't leave Egypt and right away, the next day, receive the Torah; right away - slowly, we receive, we are uplifted, level by level, rising and uplifted.

12:33 But when they look and see how the Holy One, blessed be He, feeds and sustains everything - look, now let's say, for example, a person who would have endless wealth, endless airplanes and endless abundance, and he flies in his plane, and in one moment he has to stop on some island because his plane gets stuck, and he is on some deserted island and isn't going to get out of there. He has lots of gold, silver and possessions, but he has nothing to eat.

13:01 There - that's a possibility for a person. He has everything in the world, and he has nothing to eat. Who is it - there's someone they tell about, who [unclear] in the money? Rodstein, right? [unclear], [unclear]. Rodstein - they [unclear] him, his servant [unclear] him inside. He engraved [unclear]. Many rich men in the end. Many rich men, in the end, in their wealth - this is what [unclear] explains in chapter 5 of Mishlei.

13:36 [unclear] explains that if a person wants to know what he will die from, his desire is what will kill him. A person's desire, in the end, is what will kill him. Everyone wants to know what he passed away from? The desire - his desire is what will bring him down. Also - to sleep, - What, he would [unclear] from sleep, like? - About the desire for sleep, yes, but look, it doesn't mean that a person simply loves to sleep; rather it means a bad trait, like, for example, a person who gets angry, a person who doesn't know about his work and his [unclear], an angry person, a [unclear] person, a robber, also a 'scoundrel with the Torah's permission', who [unclear] all kinds of permissions in order to commit certain sins, or some permissions for himself; he builds himself permissions.

14:31 That is called a scoundrel with the Torah's permission. Things that are the gray line - he crosses them. That is called a scoundrel with the Torah's permission. They have a special Gehinnom just for this type. But everything has its level: if we come from Hashem, and serve Hashem, and rejoice in Hashem, and fear and tremble at Hashem's words, then suddenly it comes, and you discover that Hashem, blessed be He, opens up for a person, lights up the way for him.

15:02 But the moment a person trusts in his own strength, look today at how trust is in people today. Today a person has a little money, he doesn't really cast himself upon Hashem, he doesn't really trust Hashem to save him. He trusts in the money he has under his hand. He has money, he relies on that; he doesn't rely on - he doesn't rely on Hashem to save him.

15:26 He says, this saves me, [unclear]. If he truly clung to Hashem, blessed be He, always attached to Hashem, always thinking about Hashem, blessed be He, then he would know that he has nothing. King David, with his honor and his greatness and his kingship, and his crown and all his wealth and all that he had, took no credit for himself, and never touched even the smallest thing of it.

15:53 He wanted no honor, no crown, no greatness. Only to praise and laud Hashem, blessed be He. And in the end, what did we receive as a gift? The Book of Tehillim; we received King Shlomo, he built us the Beis HaMikdash, the Holy Temple. But if King David had gone, running after the desires of his heart, and lived like one of the kings, then in the end there would be no kingship, no David, no Beis HaMikdash would have been built, they would not have received anything.

16:17 That is to say, the greatest level and virtue - Yes? That's already a dispute. It really was from Adam HaRishon - that it's Yosef, Avraham, and [unclear] the years. Like, this one [unclear] and this one a little, [unclear]. [unclear]. Right. - From the moment that the king [unclear] came out of him. [unclear] Tehillim, they said, it was worth giving him [unclear].

16:46 Look, Look, the holy Rebbe, Rabbi Nachman, once said something very, very deep. He passed away at a very young age, 38. And before he departed, the students beside him were in great sorrow. So he told them: to live a little - a little, but well.

17:15 There is a lot of depth in this: to live a little, but well, not to live a lot for nothing. He lived a little but well - look what he is! What depth there is, there are such depths in this. The question is not about a person, how long he lives. There are those who boast that he does not sleep: this tzaddik is awake all the time, he doesn't sleep.

17:42 What is so impressive about that? The main thing is what you do when you are awake. When you are awake, what do you do? Now, Pesach is the festival of emunah, emunah in Hashem. 'And they believed in Hashem and in Moshe His servant' - and the going out of Egypt. Now we see all the Midrashim - it is all only to lift up Heaven for us. As if giving us one slap after another - do you understand who created the world? Understand who did all this, who formed and made all the works.

18:06 So suddenly a person looks and sees - what, what is this? What is this whole world worth? Look, I am going to You, Hashem, blessed be He. He split the sea, He gave us the Torah - so what is all the... worth to me? What is there here in this world? What? What could make me turn away from the path of Hashem? What will confuse me? And then suddenly a person hears this and says to himself, right?

18:31 Why follow the evil inclination? What? Where does it want to lead me? It makes a person imagine all kinds of fantasies and all kinds of thoughts - nothing. 'My son, my son, do not walk in the way with them; hold back your foot from their path.' Do not walk in the way of the wicked, do not walk in a bad way and in a corrupt way. Guard the kedushah, the foundations, the purity, the right path. Have pity on yourselves, on the true and eternal purpose, on kedushah, on purity. The more we lift our eyes to Heaven, to Hashem, blessed be He, we will merit to cleave to Him, to think about Him all the time, not to take our mind off Him, all the time cleaving to Hashem, all the time, to think, only to think about Hashem, blessed be He, until we merit

19:16 the soul's utter yearning, really like this - that you feel the soul wanting to cleave to Hashem, blessed be He, like this; it wants to return to its root, to cleave to kedushah, with kavanah. This is the highest level. When a person feels this, to cleave to this, he does not look at this world at all, and then one really begins to learn the Torah. Then one begins to understand the Torah. What do people do? They come with a mind that is crooked, they come with a corrupted mind, they come with desires, they come with bad character traits, they come with bad wants, with corrupted thoughts, and they begin to learn the book, the Torah of life of the King of kings, which He gave us with love.

19:56 They begin to read and read and read, already they have new insights, already they have things to say, already they have outlooks, all kinds of philosophy, what is right, what is not right, what is true, what is not true, what is false. They know what Hashem's will is and what is not Hashem's will. They serve Hashem; this is true, that is false, that is not true, and there are levels.

20:22 But when a person first of all purifies his heart, first of all truly has pity on himself, on his true purpose, he understands how he will go, and where he will go, and what he will go through. All the time he keeps the purpose and the fear of Hashem before him, fear of Heaven, not to do any sin. You know, in the one moment that you anger the Creator, a person's judgment can be decreed [unclear], Heaven forbid. A person can do one sin, something not good before Hashem, and who knows - that's it, afterwards nothing can be done.

20:52 A person does another sin - don't they say every time: do teshuvah, do teshuvah, do teshuvah, regret, do teshuvah for all the sins, for all the transgressions, all the willful sins, the bad things a person did. Do teshuvah, do teshuvah. Every day the Sages instituted Nefilas Apayim for us - teshuvah, teshuvah, teshuvah, teshuvah. Every day to do teshuvah, teshuvah, teshuvah. Why? What is so important about doing teshuvah? So that if, Heaven forbid, a person goes, at least he will depart from this world in teshuvah, in kedushah.

21:21 Think what this is. I say: how the Holy One, blessed be He, set it in this world, that people see this world and see what is happening in the world and see how people go, and no one pays attention to the purpose: to truly return in teshuvah to Hashem, to stop doing iniquities and bad things and sins and willful sins, and does not truly care about kedushah, about purity, about the true purpose. Everyone shouts this, that - but when one focuses on the true purpose, suddenly one returns in teshuvah to Heaven.

21:52 I'll tell you something beautiful. As you know, in Rabbi Nachman's town - he lived in the town of Breslov - there were some businessmen who, wherever they would go, would take a pidyon, go to Berditchev, giving tzedakah to the Rebbe, giving tzedakah wherever they would go, giving tzedakah to the Rebbe of the town, and then they would do business in that town, and they had success.

22:23 That is what they would do. One day they came to Breslov. They understood afterwards that everything they did was a mistake, and there was no need for any of it. Well, they thought they knew, so to speak, how to run Heaven. Look what happened. One day they came, they came to the town of Breslov. Now they look for the Rebbe there; they say to them, 'Who is the Rebbe?' As soon as they arrive, he began to talk, talk, talk, talk, talk there - six, seven hours he spoke Torah.

22:53 Well, he spoke about the Holy One, blessed be He, and the Holy One, blessed be He, and the Holy One, blessed be He, and Hashem, blessed be He, and Hashem, blessed be He, and Hashem, blessed be He, and Hashem, blessed be He - he went on talking for hours. They saw that he was not dealing with them and it was impossible to communicate with him. They took the money and put it on the table for him, and surely he will stop, he will look at them - he didn't look. So they did it like this, from hand to hand - he didn't look.

23:19 They lifted his hand, put the money under it, and did this with his hand - he didn't look at them. He went on talking: Hashem, blessed be He, Hashem, blessed be He, Hashem, blessed be He. They left there, they looked at each other. People met them in the market and said to them, 'What did you see? What was there?' They don't know anything: 'There's a Rebbe here who talks - what? Hashem, blessed be He! He kept saying Hashem, blessed be He, and Hashem, blessed be He.' Everyone laughed at them, like, [unclear] - as if he does what you want. To come to receive a blessing for livelihood? One looks for a way to Hashem, looks to return in teshuvah, to Hashem; already looking for a way to come close to the Holy One, blessed be He.

23:57 There is a way, it can be learned. In the paths of the Torah it can be learned, but one has to look for a way. Pesach is a way. Now we are heading toward receiving the Torah; on Shavuos we receive the Torah. Now the whole matter of character traits begins; we learn Pirkei Avos, we begin to examine our deeds, to prepare ourselves to receive the Torah. How will we receive the Torah with flawed traits and bad traits and bad habits and things that are not right according to the view of our Rabbis?

24:24 Now is the time to do teshuvah. Pesach is the ways; it is emunah in Hashem, it is bitachon, [unclear]. This is in Parshas Tetzaveh, on page 153: Rabbi Shimon says about the matzah, the matzah itself - everyone looks at the matzah, they see: well, it's a matzah, something, it's a matzah - what do people see in it? It is a supernal light of all the healings and all the emunah and the holy Shechinah, and the Name of Hashem shines in the matzah.

24:57 When you eat the matzah, it is a revelation of G-dliness. You bring a tremendous kedushah into the body. Kedushah altogether - every taste he takes, the glory of Hashem shines in it, such a tremendous G-dly revelation from this matzah. And suddenly you see that this whole time of Pesach is only a revelation of G-dliness, it is only emunah. They give us a way, and afterwards, notice: the Jewish people go out of Egypt - what starts happening to them?

25:26 What do they meet? The Red Sea? And they can't get through, they have nowhere to go. And what does Hashem, blessed be He, do? He splits the sea for them. And afterwards He splits the sea for them. They begin to travel on the roads, they need to know where they are going, what they will do, where they will go. They go through journeys, the Jewish people go through hardship, they go through the toil of the road.

25:52 You know, when they come to the Land of Israel, and afterwards they go through wars here to conquer the Land of Israel - all the time they are on the way, searching, seeking, in order to reach the rest and the inheritance, until there was built for them the Beis HaMikdash, and afterwards it was destroyed, and afterwards it came and was built. But look how many situations the Jewish people went through, searching for ways, in order to go and arrive in the end at this House that was made here, the Beis HaMikdash.

26:24 Afterwards the Beis HaMikdash was destroyed, and to this day we are without a House, without the Beis HaMikdash, without Hashem, blessed be He, having redeemed us yet. This is because we, instead of truly caring about the holy Shechinah and about the holy Torah, and about the true and eternal purpose - instead of the head thinking about money and about desires and about the vanities of this world and about this and that - rather, let us think, and all of us stop and think about the true, true purpose, and say: Hashem, blessed be He, how we want to do something good in the world, we want to follow a path, we don't want to leave this world here for nothing, we want a path.

27:06 Give us a path, pave a path for us, something to do that is true, here in this world, that we not err, that we not be lost, that we not go, Heaven forbid, to ruin. One can go here in this world to loss in an instant; it is worse than the biggest maze there is. And it seems to us there are roads here, on the sidewalk, so people think it's fine, but everything here is a mess. A person doesn't know whether to get up - whether to get up or to sit with it; a person doesn't know.

27:31 As the mind is confused, and people don't know what Hashem's will is. That is why the Sages taught us and gave us advice. You truly want to reach the purity of the truth? Always work on your character traits and your purity from within. When you know that you keep the Torah, and you keep what Hashem, blessed be He, commanded, and you work on your inner self and on your traits, and on paving the way to kedushah, and you clean out the bad and let the light shine, you can be sure that you will understand the Torah, and you will walk in the Torah, and you will remember the Torah, and you will succeed through the Torah.

28:10 Then you will come close to Hashem. You know, today, as you know, there are several ways of learning Torah. One can learn Torah: let's learn, and then a person comes out of a shiur and says, okay, that is what he knows, but that is not what I know. But the goal is to learn both what I know and what he knows, so that everyone will know. You know, to come and say now some new insight or something that no one will understand, and where will we go and where will we act - everything has its time and season.

28:46 But the time has come that already we begin to come to Hashem; one must already start to wake up. What are people waiting for? What are they waiting for? Does the Holy One, blessed be He, need to shake the heavens and begin to make the worlds tremble, so they start opening their eyes and return in teshuvah to Hashem, and wake up and return in teshuvah to Hashem, and come, to examine all the things that are not good, to do teshuvah? What is this Pesach? Look, pay attention: on Sukkos we are in goodness all the time.

29:17 Pesach - there is the attribute of judgment; there is a restraint on it that holds us back. All the time there is fear - not to stumble. There is a prohibition - that we not stumble, Heaven forbid - a prohibition of kares: eating chametz on Pesach, and '[unclear] be seen by you', [unclear]. Fear, dread, judgment - that is chametz. A person found chametz on Pesach - he covers it, he will not lift it, he will not intend to acquire it, and he lifts it like this with a stick.

29:44 Disgusting, shunned - what fear, everyone. Everyone thinks and says: what is this thing? How is it, a thing that a week ago we ate, we made a blessing on it, we put it in two bags, we must throw it away and treat it with contempt - it is not disgracing food - and in an instant I see it, and suddenly he lifts it with a stick and doesn't intend to acquire it or not to lift it. What is this? What happened here? How does it suddenly look like such an extreme thing?

30:09 What is this? Heaven forbid, is this some impure, defiled thing? And really, we don't behave like this? How is it suddenly? A prohibition from Hashem, blessed be He, applies to it. This is what Hashem, blessed be He, reveals to us on Pesach: what Hashem, blessed be He, says is forbidden, what Hashem, blessed be He, tells us no - this is how one must conduct oneself all year. When you see a sin, it is like chametz on Pesach.

30:34 You don't touch it, you don't lift it, you don't take an interest in it, you don't bargain over it. You cover it and push it away from you, and it has nothing to do with me. That is on Pesach; that is why this Pesach is the matter of emunah. All year we have something to learn from this Pesach, because Pesach is the Exodus from Egypt. All year we need to learn the Exodus from Egypt. Listen: how much Torah we have learned over the years, how much Torah we have learned over our lives - what does the Holy One, blessed be He, want to teach us in the Torah?

31:04 What is learning the Torah for? To change, to be clean, to come to receive the Torah, to prepare ourselves for the great moment, for the kedushah, for the cleanliness, that everything here be clean, that everything here be pure, that we be faithful to Hashem, blessed be He, Hashem, blessed be He; that we be faithful to the holy Torah, that we be able to be worthy of receiving the Torah. The moment a person is not clean, not...

31:30 everything - it gets in the way. You know, yesterday a personal student of one of the great ones of the previous generation was here. A tremendous Torah scholar. And I said to him that as great as that tzaddik was, that sage, that is also why I don't say the names, but I also say that he had the merit of having a student like him.

32:03 Because when there is a worthy student, the geulah can come. The geulah will come only in the merit of worthy students who learn the Torah, who know how to treasure the Torah; they are the ones who bring the Torah out of their Rebbe. Rabbi Yisrael of Ruzhin once said that when Rabbi Bertzi comes to me, I receive perceptions and mochin and Torah that I cannot receive when another student comes to me.

32:27 Whenever he comes to him, abundance flows to him, he reveals other new insights and depths. The opposite: when some other one would come to him, Rabbi Bertzi did not want to talk. Rabbi Yisrael of Ruzhin - he doesn't want to say anything. That is how it was every time with the holy ones of the generations, with the tzaddikim. You see how much devotion, how much merit, how much Torah, how much thought. Think about all the holy ones you have heard of. If they had not had students, would we have discovered it?

32:52 What would happen if there were no Rabbi Chaim Vital? We had our master, the Arizal - [unclear] the 'lion cubs' of the Arizal, of blessed memory. Perhaps we can receive these tremendous lights. Rabbi Nosson - how he said that if not for Rabbi Nosson, we would be left with a page of shemos for the genizah; that is what would have remained of him. Look how important it is: they see that in the end, what can truly pass the true way down to us is the students.

33:17 That is how we find it in all the history of the Jewish people, with Moshe and Yehoshua: 'The face of Moshe was like the face of the sun, and the face of Yehoshua like the face of the moon.' Moshe and Yehoshua - that was a great bond, it was a very tremendous light, in Bava Basra, on page [unclear]. There it also says about Moshe and Yehoshua, see the bond between Moshe and Yehoshua: Moshe Rabbeinu was the sun, he was a tremendous light, In Yehoshua — he receives from him, but the way to receive the light, the way is self-nullification.

33:55 It is not that a person puts forward his own mind and says, 'Both my mind and the mind of my master and teacher.' No, there is no 'my mind'. There is none, it no longer exists. We have a new mind. He nullifies himself, and that is a whole, complete mind. And then a person can here merit and acquire wisdom. That is to say, acquiring understanding and wisdom comes only through complete self-nullification, you understand.

34:19 How many times do we see people who use their own mind, who follow their own mind, and in the end they feel — the Adversary makes it seem to them that it is right and that it is straight. He will bring a person, from the holy books, all kinds of supports for his outlook and his opinion; he will encourage him in it. But the one who stands behind it himself is an angel called the angel 'Guardian of Pages', the angel 'Shin-Dalet'.

34:52 When he hides and makes things seem so to a person, in the end the person builds himself some distorted view, and then he casts him down, so that he will be pushed away and despised in both worlds. You know — it is known — 'And Hashem said to Moshe: Write this as a remembrance in the book, and place it in the ears of Yehoshua.' What is 'a remembrance in the ears of Yehoshua'? Why must one [unclear] and receive Torah? What is 'place it in the ears of Yehoshua'?

35:18 Did he put Torah inside his ears? What is placing in the ears? 'An ear that hears the rebuke of life' 'dwells among the wise.' This is what Moshe Rabbeinu said to Yehoshua: 'The words of the Torah we will write down, but the things of how to pave the way — [unclear] in your ears, and placing in your ears my wisdom and my way — you will never know how to walk.' And so look: who brought us into the Land of Israel?

35:43 Moshe Rabbeinu? Yehoshua, our father. Yehoshua our father brought us into the Land. The great Moshe Rabbeinu, who gave us the Torah — we received the Torah in his merit — he did not bring us into the Land of Israel. The one who brought us into the Land of Israel was Yehoshua. The redemption comes from the students. A student — when there is a student, when one merits, even just, merits something so great and true — see what power there is.

36:09 In earlier generations there were great figures, but also [unclear] great souls who had students, [unclear]. Today we are in generations — the decline of the generations; that is called descent, downward. We must pray very, very much to the Holy One, blessed be He, that He grant us good vessels, so that we can draw down more and more and more Torah, and still more contemplation, and still more revelation of G-dliness in the world. Because the level is very great. The more holiness there is, and desires that are spiritual, lofty and truly immense, the more the Torah flows down.

36:41 And one does not come to receive Torah as 'a commandment of men learned by rote'. One does not come because one wants to hear something, because it is pleasant for me to come to something. One comes because one wants to receive a complete path in the service of Hashem. One comes to hear about the One who spoke and the world came to be. One wants the revelation of G-dliness, one wants closeness to the King, one wants the glory of the King, one wants to be true, wise, keen, sharp, to see reason, logic, decisiveness.

37:05 That is what wanting redemption means — and not sleeping a sleep in this world. There are those who sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep. One must wake from the sleep, wake up and flourish in the service of Hashem. May He grant us the complete redemption. May we merit to be redeemed with an upraised hand. Salvations, good tidings. A good life. - The Rav is here too — no, we'll pass. There is nothing to add after words like these.

37:31 - I mean, at the shiur — they take a note, notes, put it inside a book, yes? It can become the person's request. We see that people place them at the graves of tzaddikim, we see that they put them in the Kosel, and also in books. How can this thing work? After all, in the end, we are talking about paper with letters.

37:57 How — I write a request, I come to a tzaddik, I understand, he has me in mind. I come to a grave, there is a soul here, there is... When I come to a book, I put the note [unclear]. - The question goes even further than what you asked. And I want to explain it so that it becomes sharp — people's faith, and Hashem, blessed be He — what is faith in [unclear]?

38:27 It was a received custom from Rabbi Yechezkel of Shinova and [unclear] of Sanz, and Rabbi Mordechai of Chernobyl, the She'eris Yisrael of Vilednik, the Chassidim, to put them here, in the sefer Me'or Einayim, of the holy author, in Parshas Naso. Parshas Naso. They put a note there — [unclear] — simply, Parshas Naso. And they were accustomed at one time to do it in the Me'or Einayim.

39:01 It is a great thing that they used to do. Some were accustomed to put them in the Tanya, their sefer Tanya, of the Baal HaTanya — they did so. and some were accustomed to do it in the holy Ohr HaChaim — they did so. In Breslov they were accustomed to put kvitlach in the Likutei Moharan. Today there are those who are accustomed to put them here, here, here. I have kvitlach, and all the books — I put them in all the books. The Likutei Moharan, the Tanya, the Ohr HaChaim, the Nefesh HaChaim — where people here would never, ever put one.

39:30 I put them in all of them. I put them with the Chassidim, with the Kabbalists, and with the Litvaks. I even put them in the Tzafnas Pa'neach of the Rogatchover. With all the [unclear]. Fine, but I'll explain to you what this means. 'I Myself wrote and gave' — that is 'Anochi'. When you write a note, there is, in your writing — in the writing, in the language, in what you write — there is a part of your soul.

40:00 On the page, written. You make an effort, you write, there is a whole story in the writing. At the moment a person writes to you, you know, I keep all the writings that people bring me. People bring me writings, all the letters, all these little ones that you see, of course, as much as we try — and what I get to is not what [unclear], yes? but I keep all of them, always — I mean, all of them — afterwards [unclear], some of the writings are with several students who keep them in bags, all these little notes.

40:36 I explained that there are also some important things in this — that afterwards I act and pray, but I also think that a person who wrote — he stopped for a moment in his life and he devoted it to me, that he wrote something. So I always look at and check every note, and it even seems that I pay attention to every note. Every note — I look at it. There is no note I do not look at, no matter what.

41:01 Note this: even after receiving the public, I stop, I check the notes every time, checking, looking also [unclear] — matters of danger to life, things where a person writes that he is threatening to take his own life. Many times I have come across notes in cases where people threaten suicide. Many times, things where people write very hard things, threats that they will do something to a relative or something, if it turns out like this — and I recognize many things that they...

41:34 And I always go through them, because it is a responsibility. Anyway, a person sent [unclear]. I try — of course the amounts are very large, not easy to go through, but it is a responsibility. You look at it — I say, a person gave of his time to write. He stopped a moment in life and wrote. You look and you say, there is a very, very great depth in this — as if a person put his whole self into the few moments that he wrote the...

41:59 There is truly a part, truly, of this person here. It became writing; he revealed his will in it, he revealed his essence; he simply compressed a whole life into one note. He writes his name, 'son of' his mother, he writes his age, or what he needs, his salvation, and the moment he has that, he is happy. That is, he puts his very life and vitality into the moment that it is before me.

42:29 I have a kind of responsibility, I say: how much I have sinned against Hashem, blessed be He, that all day I need to fill these lacks. So many lacks — I look at it, I say. It is my fault — as the Rebbe, Reb Elimelech, said: 'Elimelech, Elimelech, look how many troubles came to the world because of you. This one has not yet given birth because of you, this one is sick because of you, this one has no children because of you, this one has no salvation because of you.' As was said, for the good — so I learned this about myself too.

42:55 Let us look at it this way too: to see how many things truly — let us look at how much more lack there is, to repair the lack of the world. And then I look and I say, once you see that the person is here, his life — you take it and put it into a holy book, for this book is holy — it is no longer an ordinary book. True, it is paper?

43:20 It is simple paper. But the moment you engraved in it the wisdom and will of Hashem, blessed be He, the level of this book has already become holy. There is a revelation of G-dliness here. This book can bring a person to the life of the World to Come, it can bring him to closeness and to the revelation of G-dliness. Engraved here are the will and wisdom of Hashem, blessed be He. Here is a revelation of Hashem's will.

43:44 So upon this book hovers the spirit of Hashem, blessed be He, the light of the Shechinah, in every holy book — every holy book — [unclear] every holy book that speaks of His existence and the revelation of His G-dliness, blessed be He. Of course — a book that is full of G-dliness, not a book of idle matters and stories, and things that are [unclear] holiness, things where they start writing philosophy or things like that.

44:13 It is only a book that is on the side of holiness. You take this book — a student — and then, at the moment a person puts it in, it turns out that he took, inside the book — he took the 'I Myself wrote and gave', like the Sfas Emes of Gur: he stands — we put it on white paper, we put it inside, and then it received the light of its holiness. Everything flows down onto the holiness, and it truly flows down and becomes a radiance for the person.

44:42 There is a responsum of the Divrei Yechezkel of Shinova, and there he discusses whether it is permitted to send to a Torah scholar whose fame has spread as a wonder-worker — with a horse and wagon — [unclear] on Shabbos. 'Permitted,' he says there — if his fame has spread and he is a wonder-worker and can heal, The Minchas Elazar, however, said that 'sit and do not act' is preferable, because you do not know about one whose fame has spread that it is permitted to desecrate Shabbos for him.

45:06 Putting a note [unclear], where there are also [unclear] [unclear] and all the... — there is no problem with this at all. The holy Ohr HaChaim was the first to practice this. No, he [unclear] it — the holy Ohr HaChaim, he — no, no. The holy Ohr HaChaim is the first to practice this. I explained to you that one takes the kvitel, takes the note, so a person puts his whole life and vitality here, inside this note.

45:31 One places it inside the holy book. Of course, if the book is an edition of holiness — say, for example, there is the Slavita printing. The Slavita printing is considered one of the holy and awesome printings, the Zhitomir printing of the Jerusalem Talmud. these holy printings, which were made in holiness by Torah scholars, and not — you know, today there are all kinds of people who print books, and it's not...

45:57 like, they don't do it all. That is why there are old printings — holy, pure. One should be careful about this too. And if it is a printing that was made [unclear] the book, then its level is holier still, with a level of holiness even higher above it. So if you use this, and you take your note, and you put it inside the book — you'll see. The Rebbe of Chernobyl learns from this — the Rebbe of Chernobyl — [unclear], that this is like the resting place of a tzaddik.

46:26 There too there is a tombstone; here there is the name of the tzaddik — a tombstone. Inside, he is buried in the grave; here too are his mind, his face and his soul. He is here — it is truly as if it were the holy resting place of that sage. Instead of dragging yourself through the hardships of the road, traveling for hours on the roads, sit and learn the Torah of the sage for hours, learn for hours without getting up, and you will truly be [unclear] Rabbi [unclear], Rabbi Yochanan, Every Torah scholar whose words are said — Zohar [unclear] — you will see [unclear], page 97b, it says there. You say his sayings, you receive all the light of [unclear] of Ostropoli. Now one could ask [unclear] — you would drag yourself through the hardships of the road. So now learn the Torah of the sage, you will receive from his mind, his face and his soul, [unclear] the knowledge of Torah. This, with Hashem's help,

47:19 this is the greatest benefit there can be, and therefore there is great virtue in this. Anything that became sanctified through the flow of [unclear] the Shechinah, [unclear] more [unclear] holy. That is, a newspaper, for example, is something that [unclear] does not do anything — [unclear] — it helps a person where there is added holiness. So why not put it in a Sefer Torah? It is the holiest and most ancient writing there is.

47:49 There is Rabbi Avraham Hamui, in the sefer [unclear]. It is written that there is a segulah to write 'Of David: Hashem is my light and my salvation' on parchment and put it inside the Sefer Torah. But can a person also put in his personal requests? That is what he wrote. He wrote that you can put them — say, he wrote it — you can also [unclear]. He wrote to do it in a certain way for one who needs a certain time or a certain thing.

48:15 One can come now — say — to ask for livelihood and put it into the Sefer Torah. And then that Sefer Torah starts to be full inside of things that all day long [unclear] the books — and that is not good. - Rav, what is the greater virtue? To come to a tzaddik when he is alive — say, Rav Chaim Kanievsky in his time, or Rav Wosner, when they were alive — or to take — to put it in a book, and move on? - A book of a living person, or a book of a person who passed away?

48:42 Berachos, page 18a: 'The righteous, in their death, are called living.' What is the question? - No, but if you had a living tzaddik, then [unclear] to come to you? - There is no difference between the living and the dead; [unclear]. A book of Rav [unclear] is also a book of the living. Yes? Of the living, of one who passed away — what difference does it make? - No, the gravesite, the gravesite. - To get advice, to speak. - Ah, but there is the matter of advice, yes. - Rebbe, lighting candles... - [unclear] - Shalom aleichem.

49:09 I was walking here by chance, and suddenly I heard your voice. I came in — I knew it. - Lighting candles — they told me, when the year for my mother passed, they told me there is no point in lighting candles. Someone told me, [unclear], is there a point in lighting candles not at the set time, not on the yahrzeit? They told me this in the name of sages.

49:35 There were sages who told me not to say, and they also said not to say the Hashkavah — that's it. - Our master the Arizal, in Sha'ar HaKavanos, page 15a. Our master the Arizal there writes there that a person's Kaddish can bring about not only taking the soul of the departed out of a bad place, but also raising it to higher and higher levels, to lofty levels.

50:02 Rabbeinu Yosef Chaim, in the Ben Ish Chai, Parshas Vayechi, also copied the Arizal, brought what the Arizal says; it is implied from his words that even a person who has finished the year for his parents can continue, if he says Kaddish — that it is something beneficial. It does not matter. It raises their soul higher and higher, up, up. The responsa Torah Lishmah, siman 520 — there he writes that there is virtue in lighting the candle for the elevation of the soul of the departed. If you want to light a candle for the elevation of the soul of someone close, or anyone — a grandfather, a grandmother — you want to act through a candle — there Rabbeinu Yosef Chaim writes explicitly that there is virtue in lighting the candle, and so too Rabbeinu Bachya, Parshas Terumah.

50:45 I think there is a very great virtue in lighting the candle. - Is that the source for it? - Yes, it is implied that it is a great virtue, yes? Always. It is a great virtue if a person wants to light. There is [unclear] in the name of Rabbi Mordechai of Lechovitch, that when a person wants to light a candle for the elevation of the soul of that tzaddik, he says that the image of his likeness is formed in Heaven, and he sees the one who lit the candle before him. So we see here that there is indeed great virtue in lighting the candle, and it is not as people belittle lighting the candle — that is not correct.

51:16 It is said explicitly — there is a lengthy responsum of Rabbeinu Yosef Chaim, and it is implied from his wording that there is indeed importance in lighting the candle. See the responsa Torah Lishmah, siman [unclear], of Rabbeinu Yosef Chaim. - He has another question — but a moment, [unclear], just tell me what you mean. What do you mean? - When you do a favor for a tzaddik, you need to say a chapter of Tehillim for the elevation of his soul, give tzedakah, and then he repays you with good, with Hashem's help; but just lighting a candle, for nothing — [unclear] when a candle is lit, the soul of the tzaddik comes down, [unclear], and then you give him something — a chapter of Tehillim, tzedakah — and then he repays you with good according to his request.

52:00 But just lighting a candle, for nothing... He says that lighting a candle helps only on condition that one does some act of mitzvah, like tzedakah. To do a favor: to say a chapter of Tehillim for him, for the elevation of his soul, to give tzedakah, and then to ask; but lighting a candle — then his soul comes down. That is, it is no favor at all, for him to repay you with good.

52:29 Rabbeinu Bachya on Parashas Terumah, where he writes about the candle, for the elevation of the soul of the departed. The departed. He doesn't write there something one must do; he compares a certain matter to 'The soul of man is the candle of Hashem', as if there is something in the candle, when you light the candle. After all, what is the meaning of the candle? In practice, I explained it this way: that it is more correct to learn by the light of the candle. What to do? Learn by the light of the candle. Just as you can learn by the light of the candle, you can also turn on this electricity for the elevation of the soul of Rabbi Meir Baal HaNes.

52:59 When you donate to the synagogue, have the electricity in mind when you pay for the lighting. You can use it — you have light at home, you came home today. You want to learn today, at night, until twelve o'clock, to learn Daf Yomi. You want to learn, you want to read Mishnayos with the Bartenura like this, you want to enjoy Tractate Avos like this, with all [unclear].

53:24 So what do I do? I light the lamp. This is for the elevation of the soul of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. The whole time this lamp is burning, it elevates the soul of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, who can repay you with kindnesses and good things for it, more than if you light some small candle. That is greater. But of course, if you light a candle now and you do — say, for example, on a weekday — light a candle — sorry, on Yom Tov — you want to light such a candle just like that, it is a candle lit for nothing; it is forbidden to light it.

53:52 But if you light it in the synagogue, it is permitted, because of 'In the lights, honor Hashem.' 'I want to light these candles in the synagogue' — I am permitted. It is an addition of Torah in the synagogue, an addition of Torah in the House of Hashem. 'In the lights, honor Hashem.' There is a mitzvah in this, and a great merit. This is what Rabbeinu the Rambam learned, so Rabbeinu [unclear], so Rabbeinu the Rokeach, Rabbi Elazar of Germaiza. So too in the Midrash Rabbah on Parashas Beha'aloscha — it is implied, and explicit from the wording of the Midrash, that they used to light candles and give [unclear].

54:22 There is merit in this, in the view of [unclear], the Maharal of Prague — all the great ones and the wise men who practiced it in the past did practice to use it, and to light for an addition of Torah in the synagogue. You see that there is a very, very great merit in lighting a candle in the synagogue. If you want to light a candle in the synagogue, it is even more of a merit, because it serves as light for something. It's as if it has a certain purpose. When you use this candle for a certain purpose, then the merit is great.

54:49 Of course, if a person just lights it like that — but it is implied from the words of the Sages, from the Responsa Torah Lishmah and all of them, that it also helps, even though the person did not exactly do some specific act just now; they don't [unclear] there, or some... Fine, just like that. There is a book by Rabbi Shalom [unclear], the author of [unclear], may his merit protect us, who writes on Parashas Vayechi that if a person goes to the cemetery, to a person who has passed away — [unclear] — he should take tzedakah and say: this shall be for the elevation of the soul of the first soul that will go and come to the grave of so-and-so, at whose grave I came to pray, and this shall be for the elevation of the soul of such and such,

55:41 and then that first soul will immediately go and announce it, from the grave of that sage and that tzaddik, it will come and tell him, and then in fact there will be a great elevation for this great soul at whose grave you came to pray, and then it will be even greater. It's as if there will be a higher elevation. Because in the process of tzedakah there is the... there is the elevation of the soul through the tzedakah, which as it were gives an addition of strength, of power.

56:09 Tzedakah — because when a person loses out through tzedakah — tzedakah is money. And you give from your money, you are as if offering up this money for the sake of the sage. You as if want: 'that I should have the merit to [unclear] him, that sage.' So the merit of tzedakah will be much greater. So it is in the Yerushalmi, Pe'ah, chapter 1, halachah 1. Learn this Yerushalmi: 'The name of the man with whom I did today is Boaz.' What is written? 'With whom I did' — 'I did with him' — that's what is written.

56:37 He did with you! What is 'I did with him'? How do you come claiming 'I did with him'? Rather, the meaning is that precisely you — there is a merit to enrich — he has the privilege of giving you a gold coin at all; that he gets to give to you is a privilege. You do much more for him than what people do. The poor man does more for the householder than the householder does for the poor man. That is to say, this is exactly the idea of tzedakah. When you come and give for the elevation of the soul of so-and-so son of so-and-so, then the soul now rises and is elevated by this power of the person who gave the tzedakah.

57:12 and because of this the merit is much greater than what a person does. Therefore, in practice, there is the approach that after a person gives the ma'aser, the tenth, he gives the tzedakah — he doesn't give the tzedakah from the ma'aser money. The ma'aser he sets aside anyway, and then the tzedakah is fulfilled right after the ma'aser. Even though by strict law it is a custom, they are stringent like the opinion of the Maharam of Rothenburg, who said to give tzedakah to the poor, to Torah scholars, so that there will be benefit in it.

57:40 You see that, as it were, when you give the tzedakah to a Torah scholar — he was particular to give it to a Torah scholar, to poor Torah scholars — when you give the tzedakah for poor Torah scholars, there is an addition of toil, of effort, of [unclear] — as if you gave money and it went to Torah scholars. You didn't give money that — I don't know — they used for some air conditioner.

58:06 You wanted it for Torah scholars, so there is a greater merit in that — that's, as it were, his stringency. But do you understand why the stringency? The stringency is because of the act, because you make an effort and you want it to go to the thing you said, so its benefit will be much greater. In such a case the benefit is much, much greater. To the degree that a person gives in such a way, so the reward is that much greater too. The more one gives, the greater the reward. If a person does not give, then one can ask of the Holy One, blessed be He — sometimes, you know, we ask great things of Hashem: salvations, things above nature.

58:43 We need to show the Holy One, blessed be He, that we too make an effort and want what is above nature. But if a person believes in what he does, and has faith [unclear], then the Holy One, blessed be He, enriches him and answers him. But if a person doesn't believe — he is foolish, a fool, he has no faith, he thinks 'My strength and the might of my hand made me this wealth' — then in the end, Heaven forbid, he can fall into poverty, things like that, Heaven forbid — not on anyone of the Jewish people.

59:10 And that is why one needs to learn this matter, so that a person will always [unclear]. And if a person keeps everything in holiness, in purity, in faith, and gives tzedakah for the elevation of a soul, lights a candle, does these things — then they could bring about an action on high, in Heaven. Also in [unclear] of Rabbeinu, Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, in the Tikkun HaKlali, in the introduction to the Tikkun HaKlali — he set witnesses, and said that whoever comes to his grave and gives a perutah to tzedakah, he will exert himself the length and breadth, and so on. But of course, he also wrote there in the booklet that it is on condition that he does not return to his folly.

59:49 That is to say, he set it with a condition, and today people, as it were, jump on it as if there is no condition — when he wrote explicitly: on condition that he does not return to his folly. Which says, from here, that if a person returns in teshuvah to Hashem and stops doing what is evil in the eyes of Hashem, he brings this as a condition for it to help. But if you don't mean it — it is an explicit condition, he said: on condition that he does not return to his folly. That is to say, this should not make a person feel that there are no conditions here, and 'I'll do whatever comes to mind and I'll [unclear].' That is, that's not right. But there are those who said that this way or that way, it doesn't matter.

1:00:24 When a person does teshuvah, let him go to a holy place. But in any case, 'on condition that he does not return to his folly' means that a person should do teshuvah, and then the perutah to tzedakah and saying the ten psalms will help him. And you see that he asked for a perutah to tzedakah for the elevation of his soul. There is also another sage who wrote this. So did the holy Gaon — what is his name?

1:00:50 Rabbi Moshe [unclear]. He has a book called 'Tzava'as Ohel Moshe'; in the introduction he writes to give tzedakah for the elevation of his soul. He says: whoever gives tzedakah for the elevation of my soul, Moshe [unclear], will do a great kindness for the elevation of his soul. There is Rav Shach, who asked that they learn Mishnayos for the elevation of his soul. For example, Rav Shach asked for Mishnayos for the elevation of his soul. - A thought of mussar. Even a thought.

1:01:14 - Yes, even a small thought of mussar, yes. But fine, but notice — he first asked for something of Torah. He asked for something of tzedakah. He tried, as it were, to put at the top — where, as it were — there are those who were more particular about tzedakah, were more particular about Torah. You see here that in tzedakah there is something that, as it were, tips straight to the scale of merit. It causes a much greater elevation. You see tzedakah more.

1:01:38 So if you ask now: to light a candle, or to give tzedakah? What you asked — you understand, here tzedakah is higher than lighting a candle. It is much more complete, because there is a benefit here that, as we learned, causes actual physical strength that I gave. How? [unclear], but I actually gave money to holiness — I gave; I did good things with money, rather than a person who [unclear].

1:02:07 But what does it mean — the Rav of Ponevezh asked [unclear] — it's not... it's just that now we were being exact here; it's not that now there's some matter of being exacting and some... you know, now the Sages wanted — this one wanted it this way, that one wanted it that way. But I say that if you now come and look and contemplate these matters, you will see that there is indeed merit in lighting a candle, as we saw that the halachic authorities and great ones did write about it, before us, who wrote long responsa and invested in it. Rabbeinu Yosef Chaim wrote a long responsum there, in siman 520 — and his honor should read it, you'll see.

1:02:45 you see that there are there are things in it. Not as if — there are those who say, 'It's not written anywhere,' 'we haven't seen it, nothing, it's a custom of mysticism.' That's not true; it is written explicitly, many wrote about it. So if you come and you see — these are things one must give importance to, give faith to. If you don't believe, or you doubt these things, Heaven forbid, it [unclear].

1:03:09 One must believe in these things with complete faith, and may we merit to go out with an upraised hand. So let's watch over everyone, He will give you a good life, good tidings. - What is the matter of testing, [unclear] — that with ma'aser it is permitted, it is permitted to test the Holy One, blessed be He? In everything it is forbidden. Why with tzedakah is it permitted? The Rema brought that it is permitted to test the Holy One, blessed be He, yes? - The matter of testing here — it's as if the Holy One, blessed be He, Himself said, as it says, chapter 9: 'And test Me now with this.'

1:03:40 That is to say, the Holy One, blessed be He, Himself permits us. On the basis of this you can test the Holy One, blessed be He. You say: here, the Holy One, blessed be He, said it — here, it is permitted for me — because the Holy One, blessed be He, is the source of abundance. And the moment you give the tzedakah and you believe that you are not lessening your money but are enriching your money, this is permitted for you. But if you are among those who close their hand and don't give money because they think 'My strength and the might of my hand made me this wealth' — then anyway they [unclear]; anyway a test does not apply to them.

1:04:08 But in this matter you are permitted to test the Holy One, blessed be He, because you know that this money is not mine; the money belongs to the Holy One, blessed be He. So because of that you know that the ma'aser does not belong to the person. If the ten percent does not belong to the person, then no test applies here at all, because it is all Hashem's. But whoever does not keep the Torah and does not keep the mitzvos, does not guard holiness and does not keep — you know, that's... But that is why there are also sometimes poor people who are not [unclear], and the like, who don't always merit to give.

1:04:41 The Yerushalmi in Pe'ah, chapter 1, halachah 1, goes on at length there. Look at what he writes: 'Sow for yourselves with tzedakah.' What is this matter of sowing? What is it that tzedakah is mentioned in the language of sowing? What is meant? A person now puts seedlings in the ground, plants them; after a month or a year it grows something barren. Another one comes, plants in the same ground, and suddenly trees grew for him — [unclear] — trees, apples, watermelons. You say: why did this one turn out like this?

1:05:13 This one invested there watermelons, but they are [unclear]. This one [unclear] — what is it? Barren, [unclear]. Do you understand? 'And Yitzchak sowed.' What is 'And Yitzchak sowed... [unclear]'? It yielded in those years more than in the others there. What is 'And Yitzchak sowed'? What is the language of sowing? What is meant by 'and sowed'? 'And sowed' is the perutah that you give. When you do good deeds, and you do tzedakah, and you do kindness with your body and with your money, these are good things that you plant in the world; in the end it grows something good for you, it sprouts for you, if you do good and good. If a person grows it in places that are not good — there are those who boast that they give tzedakah, and boast and are proud —

1:05:56 Heaven forbid, then it is not necessarily that they will have salvation from it, you understand? Each one — it's his own deed. But if a person gives tzedakah and does it with a whole heart, he gives it out with love, he gives it out with faith, with trust in the Holy One, blessed be He. He knows that Hashem, blessed be He, does everything, and everything is from His great hand. He is not attached to anything, and he is careful; he keeps mitzvos and he prays. The Sefer HaChinuch, in mitzvah 430, writes: 'So I have received from my fathers, may G-d protect them, that whoever is careful with Birkas HaMazon, his sustenance is available to him with honor all his days.'

1:06:27 If one is careful with Birkas HaMazon, he has prayed for his livelihood, and he will have abundance, and wealth too. And you have a promise from the Chinuch. You want a guarantee? This is also a segulah for a guarantee. So come — there are lots of segulos that are a segulah for a guarantee. You have the Me'or VaShemesh on Parashas Mishpatim. And whoever prays with a minyan — a segulah that he will have livelihood and not lack his sustenance — let him be careful to pray with a minyan, and this is a great segulah for livelihood. So now you can come and look into all kinds of segulos for livelihood, but if you want to test the Holy One, blessed be He, to see the abundance that will be in you — it is the matter of giving.

1:06:55 It's not necessarily that you come to test Him exactly with ma'aser. It is the giving; it is your thought of caring for the other. That is what brings about the abundance. Not just to give like 'a commandment of men, learned by rote.' You come to give, and give, and give. It is to give with the thought: I want — in order to give to the other. To enrich the other — that's the segulah, that's the thought there is. When a person gets used to understanding that it is not his.

1:07:20 Not his. The ten percent does not belong to you. After ten percent, let's talk about what you do. That is why, regarding a fifth, there are those who explained that 'Aser te'aser' means the fifth. When a person gives a fifth, then that is, as it were, the ma'aser with which it is permitted to test. Because ten percent I give anyway. I'm not obligated — it's not mine. Not mine. Ten percent, not mine. Another ten percent I now give. Now it's already — you begin to fulfill the mitzvah of tzedakah. Rav Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg was very stringent about this.

1:07:49 He, by the way, was particular to give from gifts; he says that people received gifts, he says to give ma'aser from them, also from the gifts. Now, how much did your gifts cost? You received — you bought electrical appliances and so on, it cost you 20,000 shekels; you received a gift, the value of the products — take 2,000 shekels, give it. This is a very great stringency; one does not need to follow his stringency. I know that the halachic authorities — it is not necessary — but you see that he was, as it were, very, very stringent about this, to take from the products and such, to obligate the person in ma'aser, even though he did not receive a profit himself — 'I received a gift.'

1:08:21 'If I received a gift, I am not obligated to give ma'aser' — so he was stringent to give. So according to his view, this too — the segulah of the blessing is specifically with a fifth, not necessarily with ma'aser. Because this is 'Aser te'aser'. As if: this is ten percent, I give it anyway, it does not belong to me. Now, after you have given ten percent, let's start to discuss what mitzvah of tzedakah you are fulfilling. You already give ten percent — so what are you boasting about in tzedakah? It's the opposite. And if a person is also wealthy, and he really has an abundance of all good, from all good, then he can give much more than a fifth like that.

1:08:50 He can even give half. 'Half to Hashem, half to you.' If you have great wealth and, thank G-d, you have abundance — and the end of the Yerushalmi in Pe'ah there, they learn: who is called poor? One who does not have a livelihood for a year, who cannot support himself for a year. For a year he cannot support himself. How much do his livelihood and the support of his household cost him? Work out the calculation: this is seven, here five, this, this, this, this. It comes to seven thousand shekels, ten thousand shekels. After that, work out the calculation: for a year it's a hundred and twenty thousand shekels.

1:09:24 A hundred and twenty thousand shekels — he doesn't have it. He doesn't have enough; he can't earn it by working. He is permitted to hold out his hand. His law is like a poor man, that he is permitted to hold out his hand. But if he has a livelihood for a year, according to the household budget's expenses, he has more, then his law is not like a poor man. He is not allowed to hold out his hand. So everything — it goes and changes from person to person. You can't come and judge everyone by one law. Things change from one to another, from person to person. One asks a sage — [unclear] — some matter, something.

1:09:56 Every matter is judged according to its specific case. So you want to come and say: why give tzedakah? It's as if from the level of the test and the faith in the Holy One, blessed be He. But things change from person to person. There's one for whom it's some ma'aser, another for whom it's some fifth, and if a person has trillions — there are those who have the wealth of countries — so what will you tell him, give ma'aser? Give a fifth?

1:10:23 Tell him: give 90 percent, and with 10 percent take care of yourself. 90 percent support Torah, 10 percent take care of yourself. Why do you need to give 10 percent and keep 90 percent for yourself? Give 90 percent to tzedakah, keep 10 percent. You have 100 billion — a billion — how much is a billion? Is it a thousand million? A thousand million. How much is ma'aser of a thousand million? How much is ma'aser? A hundred million.

1:10:47 He's left with 900 million. The opposite! Take the 100 million. 100 million. What will you do with 100 million? He gives 900 million. That is to say, it's all relative. Now, if he had the opposite — if he had 10 million, then he gives 9 million. Then he won't have it. So the proportion changes from person to person. Not for nothing did Rothenburg say — that is, to be stringent and give ma'aser to Torah scholars. You give to Torah scholars — then you know that what he said is very wise, because through this the Torah will increase, the Torah will increase, and then surely you will always increase the deed of tzedakah.

1:11:22 Now, a person took upon himself five kollel men, then he will support six kollel men; he won't want to reduce, he will want to give more. As if the thought will bring about increasing Torah — it's a wise thought. With the help of Hashem, as we merit this more and more, Rabbi Chananya ben Akashya says: The Holy One, blessed be He, wished to give merit to Israel; therefore He gave them much Torah and mitzvos, as it says: 'Hashem desired, for the sake of his righteousness, to make the Torah great and glorious.'