A Torah shiur on the importance of spiritual influence and leadership.
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What’s said in this shiur
The opening of this shiur, in Rabbi Fischel Schachter’s own words — taken from the captions, so names and Hebrew terms may be approximate.
How many generations do you think we are from the Rambam? Guess what. At about 30 years per generation, we're only 25 generations from the Rambam. But do you know how many grandparents there are, how many ancestors there are in these generations? Every person has two parents, four grandparents, eight great grandparents. It keeps doubling and doubling. You know the famous story, you put a piece of wheat on a chessboard and double it and double and double it and by the time you're halfway through, there's no more wheat left in the world. You know how mind-boggling numbers are when you keep doubling them? So if you're going to go back 100 generations, you know how many ancestors you have? Here, try this. One octillion, 267 septillion, 600 quintillion, 228 quadrillion, and a mere 220 trillion. Wait a second. There aren’t that many people in the world. And the answer is, At one point, they're cousins, they’re the same grandparents. But either way, there are millions. Now, think about this for a moment. When תחיית המתים comes around, millions of grandparents. Whoa. You know how many stamps you’ll need for family invitations? Good luck with the Brachos under the Chuppah. You know, you have 1.5 million grandparents over here.
Jump to a moment
- 0:05How many generations do you think we are from the Rambam? Guess what. At about 30…
- 0:36you know how many ancestors you have? Here, try this. One octillion, 267 septillion, 600 quintillion,…
- 1:08Your mother says: Make sure you call all your bubbies and zaydes and tell them L’shana…
- 1:40It makes us act differently, think differently, say different things. Says the Avodas Yisroel, R’ Pinchas’l…
- 2:10And there is such a thing, says the Or Hachaim. You’re faced with a struggle. I…
- 2:40What am I gaining over here by closing my eyes? Just by the virtue of our…
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