Are Jews Different? Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein

why must we be [Music] different when God said the one word in Hebrew Vin linu that you are to be distinguished distinguished from all the nations of the world it doesn't mean that you're going to be better than the other people in the world it's just you're going to be distinguished you're going to be different and this is what God chose at Mount Si when he gave us the Ten Commandments to the Jewish people the Jewish people who spent 200 plus years in Egypt in slavery bitter slavery and then went through the splitting of the sea arrived at Mount Si and at that moment there was a marriage between God and the Jewish people there were about 3 million people gathered there at this Revelation there was never ever a revelation like that ever again there was no other time that God ever revealed himself like he did at Mount Si but it is this one word vino venino means that yes you need to be distinguished you need to be different than the rest of the world just because the rest of the world conducts themselves in a certain way you must maintain what we have taught you in the Bible what God has taught you what we have learned for 3,300 years how to conduct ourselves as a Jew one of the blessings that Isaac was giving to his children was I want you to be like the fish why like the fish well when we take fish and the words are fish the nature of the salmon is that it goes Upstream it is different than all the other fishes that are going Downstream the salmon at Great risk fights does whatever it can to go against the current because the salmon has a mission to accomplish has a destination he knows where he needs to be and he knows who he is is he knows that he does not flow with the current but he has a unique he's distinguished than the rest of the fish that he goes Upstream so he can reach his destination and that is the same with the Jewish Nation the Jewish nation's uniqueness is that we do not get swallowed up we do not get assimilated and lose our identity and lose our connection to God and to the Torah but yet we maintain ourselves in spite of our cultures that we live in in spite of the torturous persecutions that we have been through in spite the horrendous displacement from country to country as over thousands of years we have been thrown out of almost every country that we can we've been through the worst type of displacements and torture is that a Jew can endure that any person can Ure but yet nonetheless we maintained our distinguish yes we are not like the rest of the world now many people believe that anti-Semitism has arisen because of that because we maintained this distinguished and we haven't assimilated amongst the cultures but we always maintained our laws we have always dressed modest we have always prayed three times a day we have always kept the Sabbath we keep the dietary laws we are very strict with our marital relations with our interpersonal relationships we are very upstanding in our morals and our ethics these are all fundamental laws of Judaism that is very different than the rest of the world and that is why God said yes to be different and it's okay to be different as long as being different gives you your identity who you are that eventually that identity helps you help the world to become a better place you become a light unto the Nations you become a Beacon of Hope and you are there for the rest of the world I remember early on 1986 when I first got married my wife and I embarked on a mission which almost was like Mission Impossible um we went from New York I grew up in Brooklyn New York and we traveled to the West Coast to North County San Diego to a city called Rancho Bernardo and then later we acquired the property in the city of Powe right next door and we established this beautiful Community Center where hundreds thousands of students young and old have educated found Comfort was an oasis to come and pray and celebrate your life cycle events with 40 years we have done this but before I disembarked to the city my wife and I was very concerned we grew up in Jewish neighborhoods when we're going to a totally assimilated neighborhood how are we going to bring up our children with a the same convictions with the same commitment to the religion as we had when we grew up if our children are growing up in in a total assimilated neighborhood we are worried that they're going to become like them and our hopes and prayers for our children to follow in our footsteps may not be realized so I am one of 10 children one of my older brothers who's a master Ed educator told me these words and I remember it till today and I've repeated it many times he quoted that one word that God said to Moses that told the Jewish people be different be distinguished and he went on to explain said your home needs to be a home that is a sacred place where your children feel safe Where Your Children Are going to find all of its needs its spiritual needs its physical needs its shelter its love but remember this home is like a sanctuary if you make your home to be distinguished to be different than what's out there in the street then your children are going to grow up in a safe environment but if you introduce into your home the influences from this Street then your children are not going to know the difference and they'll think that what they see in the street is their life as well but when they walk into your home and your home is a bubble your home is a sanctuary your home your home is an oasis that they know that they are distinguished that they are different than everyone else I look back now after living 38 years with our children in our marriage and all of our children have grown up so beautifully and have remained loyal to their faith and have truly emulated my wife and I to this very day and we are blessed thank God to 22 grandchildren who are also following those steps that all happened because of one word I remembered be distinguished don't be like everyone else you don't need to be like everyone else but you need to be who God needs you to be and if God tells you to be distinguished to be different then it's okay to be different but as long as that difference is to benefit yourself and the world and the people around you to make this world a better place and a greater place and to really be the one to be light unto the Nations to lift up the spirits of others to bring positivity to disseminate any darkness that that's out there any opportunity you have to lift a person's spirits up any opportunity you have to do acts of goodness and kindness that is what makes you different and through us being different we are able to teach others that they too can be different you don't have to be swept up in the culture that's out there whether it's to deal with the way you dress the way you talk your language the way you conduct yourself in private or in public we need to all remember that we are on this world temporarily we are on a journey we are in a mission and let's take it seriously and we could enjoy this Mission if we only were to follow the instructions given to us by God Almighty in heaven as prescribed in the Bible that will truly make our journey a more meaningful Journey even if you are different than everyone else on your block but different is okay okay as long as the difference is to benefit the world and to benefit your family and to bring God great pleasure and Delight in heaven May the differences not be different May the differences show how beautiful we all are and indeed there's so much more that we have in common that separates us but when we need to separate ourselves separate yourself Standing Tall in the spirit of God and in the spirit of all of his teachings God bless you God loves you