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The Yanuka’s own words in this shiur, translated into English by Lehallel · 3,470 words · 17:17. Press a time to hear it said.
0:00 We always tend to think that Hashem, blessed be He, is all-powerful, and the tzaddikim are all-powerful, and everything is all-powerful - so why is it not good for me, why is it bad for me, why is it bitter for me? It doesn't exactly work that way. We also need to know, also to combine, and to look at our lives with understanding, and to look for the good, and not all the time look and see only the negative things and connect them, as if everything is 'Hashem is doing me bad' and things like that, and get into thoughts. That is not a wise thing.
0:27 One must serve Hashem simply, with innocence, with simple, complete emunah; to pray with intention, to learn, and to ask Hashem with supplications, calmly: if He gives me, He gives; if He doesn't give, He doesn't give. There is no need to come with pressure and expectations, and to count on the prayer being answered, and to be embittered and go around with bitterness and anger at the Holy One, blessed be He. People end up in heresy, I'm telling you.
0:53 People who don't know how to understand the Torah correctly, and they suddenly come to Torah, or return in teshuvah, and they see that Hashem is all-powerful, they come to Him with complaints and requests, as if He is now someone who has to fulfill all their wishes; and if He doesn't do it, then maybe He doesn't exist, so maybe He is not true, so He is not... You understand? And that is heresy. I have already explained several times that Hashem, blessed be He - we are His servants; He is not our servant.
1:19 There are many people who tend to take it as though He owes us, and Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai owes us, and everyone owes us - 'Here, I was at his place, I prayed at his gravesite several times, and he didn't save me; I've been with him ten times already, every year I travel [unclear] for a salvation; I'm done with Rabbi Shimon, I don't want to travel.' That is how some people talk; I hear it, not once and not twice. So I'm telling you, these are words of heresy, and it is forbidden to think that way; and also whoever behaves that way at all and thinks that way - he will never in his life see a salvation, I'm telling you, never in his life.
1:50 The greatest hiding of the Face is upon him, because he is called an ingrate. When the Holy One, blessed be He, is so good to him, and helps him so much, and does endless kindnesses, and he chooses only to come with complaints toward Heaven. So I'm telling you, the right way is that a person should always come calmly, with supplications, respectfully, to ask of Hashem, and to know that everything is Hashem's kindnesses, and if there were strict judgment, we would not survive for one moment, and all that you see is a great deal of good, and there are things we cannot understand, and there are many bad things that happen in the world.
2:23 So much strife, and hatred, and sorrow, and bad things there are in the world. These things - There is no need to stop. Pray a million, a trillion times, but nicely and with supplications - not with heartache and sorrow and pressure for 'right now', and 'if I don't have it, then I'm bitter, I don't want to pray today.'
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2:50 There are people who come with real complaints toward Heaven, and that is very, very dangerous. Dangerous; it is forbidden to do that. To pray to the Holy One, blessed be He, respectfully, like a servant before his master, to submit to Hashem, to pray: 'Master of the world, Merciful and Gracious, be good to me and give me, [unclear], help me.' To pray, [unclear] calmly. Not to come with demands and such. And there are those, also all kinds of rabbis, who say: 'Say: I deserve it, Hashem owes you; tell Him that, pray like that.'
3:20 These are words of heresy; it is forbidden to say that, and forbidden to listen to it; only 'the poor man speaks with supplications.' Like a servant before his master we pray, and 'as a father has mercy on his children.' And we pray; we are in prayer; that is how one must pray to the Holy One, blessed be He, and not come with pressure and in such ways. What tzaddikim do, we cannot learn from them. It is not for practice. To learn, you open the Shulchan Aruch and see the ways of halachah. That's it.
3:46 Stories of tzaddikim, Midrashim, stories in the Talmud - one does not learn any practical halachah from them. For practical halachah, open the Shulchan Aruch, look, learn; that is what must be done, not beyond that. If a person has a few minutes to learn, exactly a few minutes, then this is how - it should be done like this. I'll tell you exactly: a person has a few minutes to learn; the best, I suggest, is to learn the main thing. That is to say, let's say I have five minutes.
4:16 The great five minutes. Once, in the time of Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin, there was someone - a talmid chacham - that once Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin was about to get onto a wagon. He saw some farmer, a simple man, so he said to him, 'Give me some path, something.' So he said to him, 'Learn.' So he said to him, 'I have no time to engage in it, I have no free time for learning.' So he said to him, 'At least a few moments.' A few moments, [unclear].
4:40 He met him after some time, and he saw a very great talmid chacham. So he said to him, 'This is from the few moments.' A few moments. That is to say, if a person takes even a few moments, a little, and values them, he can reach a great deal of good. Just to use - even a few moments is time very well worth using, even a few moments. So what? So what? Nice. So I would suggest learning, in these five minutes, three minutes of halachah, which is the most important, and another two minutes of mussar and hope, or things like that, which give a person strength. I'll explain to you why.
5:19 Mussar must be learned every day. Without emunah, without chapters of chizuk, without chapters of emunah, without strengthening in mussar, in coming close to the Creator, a person may be weakened by the raging waters that sweep over us. Therefore a person must have some path of mussar, to learn in some sefer that will strengthen him. A few moments a day - what can one choose? There are lots of sefarim. Lots of sefarim of outlook, of mussar, something that will give him strength.
5:44 Two minutes; but the main part of the time, a bit more, is the halachah: that he should know the laws of berachos, that he should know the laws of Shabbos, that he should know the laws of tefillin, so that he does not, Heaven forbid, stumble in a matter of halachah. If a person wants so much to come close to Hashem, and learns only mussar in five minutes, or learns only Gemara in five minutes - in the end, when he gets up from the sefer, he will not be able to get up with practical halachah. And the Meiri in Tractate Niddah writes [unclear] according to the halachah - that everything a person learns, at the siyum of the Shas, after we have learned everything, in the end it is in order to go back over the Talmud,
6:17 in order to draw practical halachah from it. For if a person finished the whole Shas but in practice did not finish the Shulchan Aruch, in practice did not finish the halachah, it will not help him. He did not actually learn, for practice, the essence of the halachic ruling. So I always recommend that a person have even a little, a few moments; the main thing is to learn. And the Mechilta, Parshas Beshalach, siman 20, it is expounded in Midrash Tanchuma, Parshas Beshalach, siman 2, it is written in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi that whoever learns and reads and repeats halachah morning and evening, Scripture credits him as if he fulfilled the entire Torah.
6:52 Did you hear? If a person learns just a little, a little, and in the morning - it is as if he fulfilled the whole Torah. All right, rely on it. As if he fulfilled the entire Torah. That is to say, if a person learns at the morning prayer, afterwards a little, a few halachos, and at the evening prayer he reads and repeats halachos, Scripture credits him as if he fulfilled the entire Torah. And I think that is enough. If you have more things, more ideas, do them - blessed from Heaven.
7:21 [unclear]. I have no problem. You can - look, however much time you have, learn; it's all good. But the main thing, the most important, is that a person have - 'Hold fast to mussar, do not let go.' Do not abandon the words of the Sages - some mussar, some Pirkei Avos, which is very important to read; it was the custom to read Pirkei Avos all year - to learn it. So I very, very much recommend it to you.
7:51 Yes, [unclear]. Sefer HaMiddos is excellent. Excellent. It is a sefer that contains a great deal of wonderful advice and practices whose sources are from all of the Talmud, from all the Rishonim; everything is in it. Everything he [unclear] there is a wonderful thing. Rabbi Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin made a commentary and glosses on this sefer, on Sefer HaMiddos. And these are simply great and awesome things; almost everything he noted has a source in the Shas, in the Prophets, in the Writings, everything, everything, everything.
8:22 There is nothing there that is like, a thing that... Right. - Sefer HaMiddos of [unclear] - it was written that he said it is forbidden to lie with the mouth, but in writing it is permitted to lie. I said to him, [unclear]. - No, like, the matter of a lie is about the mouth, what is said with the mouth. That too, but it's like a change; the whole matter of lying is in the mouth, what a person knows.
8:54 Maybe it is less, you are saying. So that there will not be [unclear] strife - it is as if it is permitted to change things for the sake of peace. That is enough. An am ha'aretz does not lie on Shabbos. - Listen, he is asking - they are trying, Rav - there are many single men and single women, and what can be done so that this won't be, and so that it moves forward?
9:22 And like, what is the difficulty in this - it is all about single men and women who suffer a lot from this sorrow of the delay? - In Tractate Moed Katan, on page 18, the Gemara speaks about the whole matter of matches, [unclear] 'From Hashem, a woman to a man.' I want to explain to you a very simple thing that you will understand. In the sefer Avodas HaLevi'im, which is by Rabbi Shmuel of Kaminka, one of the greatest of the sages, he wrote there about the system of shidduchim and prayers and matches, all the practices that people are accustomed to do.
9:54 So he said that he received it thus in the name of the holy Baal Shem Tov - so he said - that even the Serafim and the Ofanim do not know the secret of matches. That is what he said. He said: for if they knew, I too would know. Only that it is written, 'From Hashem, a woman to a man' - only Hashem knows it. So that is one thing. That is to say, if someone tells you, 'Look, if you do such and such - I see that your match is here, and she is here, and she is here,' be a little suspicious, because these things are not so accurate, because only Hashem knows where your match is, and it is not something that can be told to you one way or another; so if they try to tell you, 'Do this or that' - that is one thing.
10:31 What happened? It is not exactly - It is not exactly so. I'll explain to you why. Because things depend very much on a person's prayer; prayer is the only thing that can bring it closest. Prayer, and of course the holiness of the bris, the holiness of the eyes - these are the loftiest and most important things for a male; and for a female, also guarding her thoughts, in that she should not despair, in sanctifying herself and not speaking lashon hara, and [unclear], modesty, holiness, that she be more modest, and also of course in that she should read chapter 31 and chapter 71, for women; I say to read chapter 31 and chapter 71 for a woman who wants to make a match.
11:17 And for a male, I say to read all the offerings of the Nesi'im every day: Bamidbar, chapter seven, Parshas Nasso. All the offerings of the Nesi'im - if you want it more organized for you, it appears in the siddur, for the days of Nissan, when each day that day's offering is read - 'This is the dedication of the altar' - to the end. You can read it from the beginning to the end. It will take you five minutes, no more. It doesn't seem [unclear] to me - how?
11:43 Every day after the Shacharis prayer, in the morning, yes, specifically after Shacharis, in the morning, not at Minchah, not at Maariv; right after the Shacharis prayer; it is auspicious; and the main thing is that a person be happy and trust in the Creator that He will bring about his salvation. That is the most important thing. That's it. And to pray and to cry, to hope to Hashem, and Hashem will save, Going by names is also not right - to reject shidduchim, to decide.
12:13 I'll tell you: many times people check by name, they work out names, they say, 'this name and this name and this name - it fits, it doesn't fit,' they drop names by - shidduchim by names - and that is a most serious mistake. It is also forbidden to do that. If there is compatibility, and there is fear of Heaven, and there are good middos, and they find favor in each other's eyes and are happy to talk with each other, one can make the match and marry, and everything is fine; no harm done.
12:38 There is no need, because of names, to drop shidduchim and cancel them. One can also change a name, add, change, if there is some problem, but one never needs to worry about matters of names, rather about matters of middos. Much more important - whoever wants a salvation should change his middos before he wants to change his name. So I say again: all the single men and women, be strengthened, open up, look forward and hope, and be in joy, and rejoice, and think only good, and with Hashem's help everything will be the very best.
13:07 And we, baruch Hashem - try to be filled with joy that we merited to turn to Hashem, blessed be He. How fortunate we are that the Creator, blessed be He, is all-powerful and He is infinite, and praying to Him is the greatest mercy and the greatest gift, that we merited to pray to Him, blessed be He. As the Ramban says, that the mitzvah of [unclear] prayer, from the Torah - that a person should pray to the Holy One, blessed be He - it is about the very privilege that the Holy One, blessed be He, gave us the possibility at all to turn to Him.
13:34 See what a gift prayer is. That is how the Ramban explains it, Rabbeinu Moshe ben Nachman. See what a gift it is that a person merits at all to pray to Hashem. What a privilege we have, that we can turn before this great G-d, to ask of Him. Can you ask of the king? Say we were now learning Torah, and there was no prayer. There is no such thing as prayer. We learn, we learn. We finished learning the shiur, [unclear], we go. There is no prayer.
14:02 You cannot turn to ask for anything. Whatever He decides will happen. But He decides anyway, that's it. But Hashem gave us a kindness: come, pray, this will change, this we will change. 'Come, let us lengthen a person's days and years' - those who come early and stay late in the synagogues; this will be annulled from him, this will be annulled from him, this you will give him, this you will bring close to him, this you will accomplish for him, this you will add. Prayer does not reduce a person's merits, but what a person receives without prayer can, Heaven forbid, reduce his merits, and therefore one must always pray a great deal, as I mentioned to you, from the Yerushalmi, Berachos, chapter nine, halachah 1: that when a person has trouble, 'he should not cry out to Michael,
14:44 nor to Gavriel, nor to Rafael' - he should not call to angels - 'but to Me he should cry out, and I answer him immediately,' says the Holy One, blessed be He. So therefore always remember, and be careful about one more thing: whenever you come to the synagogue, put your right hand on the mezuzah, and say: 'And I, through Your abundant kindness, will come into Your house; I will bow toward Your holy sanctuary in awe of You.' There are great kavanos in this from the Rebbe of Rimanov, even from the Maharash of Ostropoli, and there is also in the name of Rav Huna, that in it are all the kavanos that can save a person from [unclear] and remove many evils from him; you should know this.
15:17 You come to the synagogue - put your right hand on the entrance: 'And I, through Your abundant kindness' - at Shacharis, at Minchah, at Maariv, every time you merit to enter the house of Hashem, right hand, and say: 'And I, through Your abundant kindness, will come into Your house; I will bow toward Your holy sanctuary in awe of You.' There are many, many wonders of wonders in this, and much good that comes out of this verse and this thing. And right when you leave the synagogue, at Shacharis, at Minchah, at Maariv, whenever you leave the synagogue, say: 'Hashem of Hosts is with us; the G-d of Yaakov is a stronghold for us, Selah.'
15:49 'Hashem of Hosts, fortunate is the man who trusts in You.' 'Hashem, save! May the King answer us on the day we call.' And this is auspicious for much good and for protection from all harm and from every bad thing. Always remember: every time you enter, this is the first verse you should say; and every time you leave - whether from Shacharis, whether from Minchah, whether from Maariv, or from any time you were there - say it like this. And also when a person goes to the Kosel, also when he leaves the Kosel; and also of course to remember the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash, the Holy Temple, etc.
16:13 So may it be. No problem. Look, with Hashem's help I would very, very much want to stay with you, but we will meet again; we'll continue there. We'll do the [unclear] together. Go, arrange, with Hashem's help, everything you need, and with Hashem's help we will merit. With Hashem's help we still need to continue. Tractate Avos - we are in chapter 3, we have not managed yet, and also Patach Eliyahu - we are only at [unclear]. How?
16:39 Yes, 'Hidden of all the hidden.' It's possible, it's possible. The joy of Rabbi Shimon, the joy of the Rashbi. And his day of joy - it was with Rabbi Avraham HaLevi Beruchim. The Rav, in the merit of this [unclear] of ours - in Pri Etz Chaim, Shaar Sefiras HaOmer, gate seven. Gate seven.
17:06 How he said 'Nachem' - he mourned over Jerusalem. But he mourned over Jerusalem.
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