How Impressed Are We (Ep. 339)

Hi, this is Evan Alaski and welcome to the Real Alaski show. [music] And whether you're watching with our friends and producers [music] at Torah anytime or wherever you watch or listen to your podcast because sometimes people call up and you can call up Torah anytime and listen or we have [music] our own uh hotline where you can also leave messages which then producer Ari sends to me and I listen to. But I don't get your number, so there's no way I can possibly answer you. But I do listen to your messages. Uh sometimes I listen to your a message followed by another message followed by another message followed by another message because there's apparently only a 30-cond limit. People have a lot that they want to say. Yeah. Um so that number is 6053134799. Um you can uh go and we need sponsors. So if you want to sponsor an episode, if you want to sponsor a question and answer, sponsor a paran uh or just, you know, if you want to just sponsor the show, then you can buy me a cup of coffee at buy me a cup of coffee.com/rabiolski. Uh you can go to our merch store. We uh currently um we added a new item and that is the uh bumper stickers and we're having a special uh promotion that if you uh go and take a picture of your Rebelski uh bumper sticker on your car uh and send it in to the website. We're going to have a drawing at the end and there's going to be all kinds of exciting things for you. or what they are. I have no idea because I'm just a product and I am manufactured by people who are much more important than I am. And eventually I'm going to go public and uh they'll Rabi Alowski show will sell stock in it and eventually they'll make a big move and squeeze me out. [laughter] This might be your big chance that you can be Rabbi Alowski. Anyway, so uh all of that is there. You go to the website and uh take care of all those different things. I think that's all of the business for now. Okay. And we have a sponsor, Manakim Jacobs. It's really getting worse. I mean, there were times that I could read with a little effort, but now without my glasses, I just can't see anything. So, it's getting terrible. But with my glasses, I can see. So, that's a good I know people can't see with their glasses, you know. And uh Dave Barry, who was a humorist out of the Miami Herald, he was talking about how there's money to be made in giving services to older people. Like for example, people are always losing their lead reading glasses. So you could have a service where they call you up and you tell them where their reading glasses are. And he says, "I know you're thinking, how do I know where their reading glasses are?" You don't have to know because they'll lose your number. [laughter] Okay. Sponsored in honor of Ezra Yoseph Benmul Gian and Scholam Osha Benmul Gian. My nephews and probably my favorite people. Unless my current shik works out. [laughter] I am required to change that answer. [laughter] M you should be forced to change that answer. That doesn't mean that your nephew still can't be among your favorite people. You have to have favorite people. Can't be like one favorite person. Yeah. To that effect are greatly appreciated. Okay. Let's all say a little that he should find his zebug build an emiss. I have two divorced daughters. So, we always give the brah. I hope it takes. Anyway, I think my neighbors will get a kick out of hearing their names on a podcast. Well, I hope they recognize their Hebrew names. Ezra, Yoseph, and Scholamosa. Um, just as soon as they learn how to talk. [laughter] You should know that's basically my target audience are kids who don't know how to talk yet. Anyway, [laughter] people have sent me pictures over the years of where they're they're like watching the Rabiolski show and there's like a little toddler going, you know, laughing along with the jokes. So, um I also wanted to be move and say a tremendous thank you to Rabiolski. I recently left Yeshiva in started working full-time. Um, I don't know if Rabiolowski knows he's told this story, but that's your old stomping grounds. Well, it is my old stomping grounds. And then you should know that you never leave. You're always part of I had a couple of girls at my house. That means of course that their parents went to Kavitkim and they're part of Kavk and uh and one of the other girls who did not come from family she goes I don't know I feel like is a cult and I said yeah it is right girls oh yeah 100%. >> [laughter] >> In fact, they all intermar with each other. You know, in another generation, you'll know who you know who's a katan family because the kids are going to have like, you know, uh 15 toes, you know what I mean? And three eyes and stuff, you know, from all the inbreeding. [laughter] [gasps] The transition was difficult for me and the show Nashir was very convenient, a great comfort while my schedule swirled chaotically. It's very interesting, you know, there is an English-speaking minion in Harov called Minion of So when I started my someone said to me, "It's also English speaking." Well, how is your sh different? I said, "It's minion balabatim." You know, we have we have regular people who who work and uh I want to talk about that. At one point someone asked me to talk about the idea of people who are stark balabatim and they don't get enough credit. Um I am well on my way to becoming a full-blown crazy. Okay, then get the magnet and take a picture. [laughter] Please use my real name so that maybe someone will tell my brother I sponsor this in the name [laughter] of his kids and he'll offer to split the cost with me. Absolutely. And uh brother, can you spare a dime? [laughter] That's another one of those lines that I know nobody is going to understand. It was a song during the depression. So that was like back in the early 1930s. So ah I remember it well. That was from Gigi. Okay. Uh very nice. All right. So, uh, I wanted to share with you a story that someone told me in the name of Joey Habber. And, uh, I have a little, uh, I have a little, uh, mixed emotions telling this story because, um, you know, I got my plaque from Tory Time that said that I had a half a million views this past year. So, I said, "Wow, uh, that's unbelievable." You know, uh, am I number one? And the guy laughed. No, not even close. Joey Haber is. I said, "Why? Why does he have more views than I?" He goes, "I don't know. Uh, you know, he appeals more to the young people." I said, "I don't appeal to the young people." He goes, "No, you're old." [laughter] Anyway, I found that slightly heartbreaking because uh I get these letters from kids in elementary school asking for a shout out. I meet these little kids and they say, "Oh, we like listening to you." I said, "You mean Rabbi Sitter?" "No, we listen to the podcast." [laughter] I don't know why, but be that as it may, it's not like I'm bitter, you know. So what? Go listen to him instead. See if I care. doesn't make a difference. I think I'm paid per view. So, I'll go make my own plaque [laughter] and I'll sayowski number one on any time. Do something to me. [laughter] I don't know how it works. I have no idea. You know, I remember I spoke years ago at the Pro Inspire Convention. And I was talking about how like everybody in the Jewish world is here, you know, and I said, uh, um, I just have to, you know, make one observation. Charlie Harrari, you're a lawyer. You have a real job. Why are you taking work away from the rest of us who can't do anything? [laughter] I don't know how I'm losing out gigs to a lawyer. How is that fair? [laughter] I don't think that's a level playing field. I could have gone to school. I just didn't. So, this is all I could do, you know. So, I remember when I was a magician, so they have these books of, you know, magician jokes. One of them says, you know, imagine doing this for a living. Keep on imagining because I've never made a living doing it till now. So [laughter] anyway, he tells this story that I'd like to share [snorts] and that is I'm filming this in my daughter's house in uh Faracaway and there's a girl school here in Farakawway called the Torah Academy for girls and I've spoken there a number of times. I've had students from there a little familiar with it. Anyway, apparently there was a story that he told. Uh I guess this was making the rounds in the Jewish uh circles. I don't usually find things out until later. I'm uh I'm usually among the last to know. Um I just heard recently that in the yeshivas they came out with a ban against music CDs because they don't want the kids listening to it. Uh, but apparently that was like nine takonas ago. [laughter] We keep going. I still have the list of the of the wedding takonas that they made where, you know, you can only have one hot appetizer. But anyway, um, but uh yeah, I don't always keep up with uh with the important things that are happening in the news, you know, and uh I find out later. I don't know if you heard this, by the way. Um, uh, they tried to impeach Trump twice. You hear that? It's unbelievable. Anyway, I'm sorry. You know, I don't care if you like Trump or you hate Trump. I don't care if you're a Republican, a Democrat, a socialist, but you have to admit that the fact that the president of the United States called up the head of FIFA and said, "Change a call in a soccer game, that puts him in a different level than any president." Abraham Lincoln never did that. Thomas Jefferson never got involved. You know, the closest we come to [laughter] that [gasps] was Harry Truman. His daughter uh had a, you know, piano recital a show and some critic uh you know um uh you know panned the show and Harry Truman wrote him a letter as the president said, "I'm going to come down and punch you in the nose." [laughter] Well, that's as close as you get to that, you know. But Trump does that all the time. That's not impressive anyway. But but to get involved with an actual call and change a call in the World Cup, by the way, for the benefit of Americans, World Cup is something that the rest of the world does because they play soccer. We don't really play soccer. We pretend we play soccer, but we don't really care about soccer, you know. We have games like baseball, which is a great American pastime because most of the time nothing happens and you sit and eat, you know. I I remember when I was a kid, we'd go to a baseball game and uh they'd be like talking, you know. I goes, "Yeah, so um uh so uh Mickey Mandle's getting up to bat. Uh he's so far uh three for four in this game." Yeah, he's doing well, you know. Uh, so, uh, uh, I heard you went out to dinner with your wife the other night. Yeah, that's right. We went to a Chinese restaurant. Tell me about it. How was it? Was it good? Oh, one second. There, it was a hit. Yeah, it was a hit. Anyway, so [laughter] they just said, "And she moves about everything." And there was like, you know, it's just real slow moving. So, I thought that's like, okay, but why is it so exciting? So, someone explained to me it's it's American because in American it's like the Old West where there's a gunfight between, you know, the two gunslingers, you know, in the middle of the town, you know, and so baseball is a battle between the pitcher and the hitter and, you know, everybody else is playing a supportive role to it. I don't know. And then there's football where they spend 10 minutes setting up the play and then they all crash into each other and they blow a whistle and then they wait for another 10 minutes and they line everybody up and they do it again. You know, basketball people just keep running back and forth the whole time. You can't even figure out what's going on. You know, but none of that is exciting as hockey. Yeah. where you get to watch a bunch of French Canadians with sticks and sharp blades on their feet attacking another team of French Canadians with sticks hitting each other and that's just a lot of fun. You just go for the absolute violence. That's the only reason to go. You know, someone told me I was at a fight once and a hockey game broke out. So, you know, but soccer is not like, you know, we don't bounce balls off of our head on purpose. You know, you can knock somebody in in baseball, but but you get, you know, he gets to go to the base, assuming he he's not carried off in a stretcher, you know, so uh uh but it's uh you know, it's not that important. Yeah. But the whole world plays it. I I live in itself and when the World Cup mandial comes around, forget it. Everybody stops. The whole country comes to a stop. It's a It's a major deal. You know, in America, an American baseball team plays another American baseball team and we call it the World Series cuz we don't really care about anybody else. [laughter] Who cares if if 300 countries are watching soccer? We're watching a baseball game. [laughter] That's the way we do it, you know. Anyway, so he tells this story that uh apparently there was a girl in Tag who was sick and they said, "You can't go out in public because your immune system is very weak." She says, "But my graduation, my high school graduation is coming up." For some people, this is a very big deal. Not everybody cares that much, you know, but for some people, a high school graduation is a major deal. You get to put on a gown and you wear a little square thing on your head and you get to walk in unison which is not always easy. I remember when I went to camp and we had color war sing they used to practice with us not how to sing how to all everybody stand up at the same time without scraping your chairs. This is what we basically accomplished. We didn't they didn't care if we sang if we could stand up and nobody made any noise around woo. [laughter] So everybody walks, right? So uh anyway, so this girl wants to go to a high school graduation. So they said, "Okay, but you have to wear a mask." Okay. Have to wear a mask. Yeah. Uh I know there are some kids that might be worthwhile for them to wear a mask. Not because of disease, but apparently this girl was a nice girl. You know, [laughter] she didn't want to wear a mask. Girls spend an enormous amount of time uh doing stuff to their face. Guys will very often put on pimple cream, but but girls, they there's there's eyeliner and they sometimes they put on things on their uh on their eyelashes and they there's blush and there's makeup and there I have I have eight daughters, you know what I mean? You know, I always say when there's a sima, for me it's a tragedy cuz I have eight daughters, a wife and a daughter-in-law, and they is not one continent where they could all find clothes, you know what I mean? They have to search the world to be able to find outfits, you know? So, um, uh, so to, um, uh, you know, put on their makeup, I'm going to wear a mask, you know. So, uh, I I don't get the whole eyebrow thing. I'm just going to put it right out there. You know, girls spend an enormous amount of time. I understand if you have big bushy eyebrows, you know, but the girls always cutting their eyebrows off and making them in strange, you know, shapes and doing all kinds of things for us. Is it that important your eyebrows? I don't think so. Mine are natural. I've kept them this way for years. Anyway, [laughter] actually that's not completely true. I had an eye job. I don't know if we ever talked about this. Yeah. Apparently, I couldn't see. I would have to go like this when I taught. And it was freaking out. Particularly the girls in seminary. Guys didn't care because they're all sleeping. But the girls when you're going like this in class, it was like freaking them out. But I genetically have this thing where I get very puffy underneath. And my eyelids were hanging into my eyes. So I went to see an eye surgeon and he said, "Your brows your eyebrows fell off of your brow. Your whole thing is hanging in your face. This is dangerous." So it was it was so it was so serious that the the koopa the health actually paid for it and he had to lift up my eyebrows and reattach them and cut away some of the skin. Cut away over here just so I could see, you know. I remember he showed me the before and after pictures. He says, "Now you don't look so tired and angry." I said, "Did it ever occur to you that I'm just tired and angry? [laughter] That's why I look that way. I do my eyes." But I digress. Anyway, so um um so the uh uh there's more words here. Hold on. So uh my eyes Yeah. So, uh, so then I had to work on my eyebrows because they had fallen off of my brows and then they're not eyebrows anymore. They're just brow they're just I don't know what you call them. What do you call eyebrows when they're not attached to your brows? Yeah. Hair [laughter] call it my upper beard, I guess. I don't know. [laughter] >> So, uh, so yeah, it's a problem there. Anyway, so uh uh so go and wear a mask to your graduation. Yeah. Okay. So she goes to the graduation. What she going to do? She has no choice. And every girl in the graduating class wore a mask to be able to uh make sure that the girl didn't feel bad. Okay. So apparently uh Joey Habber, who has many more listeners than I do, made a big deal about this. You know, isn't this wonderful is that they all, you know, uh were willing to go into their graduation wearing masks so that this girl wouldn't feel bad, etc. So, uh so it's a beautiful story, don't get me wrong. It's a beautiful story. and and I think it's a wonderful thing. Now, I want to tell you a story that's a very interesting story, not quite as heartwarming. [laughter] [gasps] Um Shinberg grew up in New York in between the wars and uh he was um apparently a very good ball player. My father-in-law over Scholam was in Tovas and uh I know I mentioned Shinberg he says to me Pin Shinberg ah great ball player [laughter] that's how he remembered him when he was a great ball player um I don't know if it's true uh but I really should ask Abbe Rottenberg this question but uh apparently he said that um um that The song Joe Deaggio Card was actually uh based on Ray Shinberg. I don't know if it's true or not, but uh he was known as Lefty Shinberg and he was offered a position in the miners for the Yankees. Now, lest you think that's a small thing to be offered a position of the Yankees, the Yankees are historically probably the greatest ball team in history. I can't imagine anyone else who has the amount of championships that the Yankees do. Yeah. Um, they made a Broadway play about the fact that people hate the Yankees. You know, they were always the most hated team around. And uh, we as New Yorkers reveled in that hatred. We appreciated it. We wanted people to hate us. [laughter] Now, I was born in 1959, so everyone knew that there was the New York Giants. They were in Manhattan. There was the Dodgers. They were in Brooklyn. And there was uh the Yankees in the Bronx, the Bronx Bombers. Yeah. And by the time I came on the scene, the Dodgers had moved to Los Angeles and the Giants had moved to San Francisco. And the only major league baseball team left in New York were the Yankees. And that's true to this day. Yeah. Some people think there's a team in Queens, but it's not a major league baseball team. I don't know what they are, you know. That's why I always say it's not fair for the Mets because they have to play against real baseball teams. It's not fair to them, you know, cuz they're just not, you know, some people say, "Oh, what do you mean they won the championship in 1969?" I said, "I know. No, the Miracle Mets. No one ever called the Yankees the Miracle Yankees. They had other names for them, but it wasn't a miracle." Yeah. So imagine you're being chosen to to play for the Yankees with legends, you know, Babe Ruth, Lou Garrick, you know, this this was this was unbelievable to have that and the lady when I was growing up, Mickey Mantel, Roger Maris, you know, Whitey Ford, this is this is this is the the age of of heroes, you know. So um so it's an amazing thing, right? So um uh so he turned it down to go and learn of the mirror. Now so that you appreciate what that means, right? Um the mirror had outhouses. For those of you who are not familiar with that, that means that instead of going to a bathroom that has a flush toilet, you're going outside to a little wooden hut with a hole cut through the wood and that's where you go, you know, and uh you may be sharing this with rats and other kinds of things, you know, it was very difficult life. And whether you and if you think that like all these art school biographies, it wasn't a big deal. They had to give it up in the 1980s. I remember this because I was running NC in the 1980s. And the American League pennant uh race was uh between the Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. And uh there had always been a rivalry between these two teams ever since the Red Sox traded Babe Ruth to the Yankees. And then there was they say there was the Babe Ruth curse that was put on the Boston Red Sox. So they they were having these um series going on for seven games and everything went into extra innings and I I know I couldn't get anyone on the phone when this was going on. So someone told me that they were listening to the game in somebody on the street there in Puname years and Rish is walking by and he hears a bunch of guys cheering. So says, "What's going on?" He says, "The Yankees just won the pennant." Now he was a young man then in his 80s maybe, you know, and he says, "Every time I hear the Yankees won, I feel good." So that you appreciate that he turned down the Yankees and went to Israel to learn and instead of living in, you know, normal first world country in America, he's there and using an outhouse out there in the mere you know and the freezing cold of Eastern Europe, you know, very tremendous sacrifice. I just tell the end of that story and that is that at one point um he said he made a kdish. So what's the kdish for? He goes I heard the Yankees won and I didn't care. [laughter] But you understand it took him to the age of 90 to reach that level. You know what I mean? So here's the story. Someone went and told the did you hear there's this Americana came by boat left America to sit and learn in the mirror said so that's what he's supposed to do. [laughter] What an amazing line. So anyway the story got back to Ray Shinberg. He loved this story. He would tell it over all the time. You here? That's what you're supposed to do. Why? Why? Uh he understand why anybody would give him praise for doing what he was supposed to do. Now, I'm not here to judge anybody. All right. The the question is how much do we feel like we need to do things where Z and how much of it is you know if we do anything we want a round of applause a participation award have to have a contest you know have to have a ma take everybody out for pizza take them on a trip do something with them if everybody shows up to Davening and learns. Yeah. What why is that the attitude that prevails today? That's the question. And I'm sure I've told this over Rabbi uh Le said today there are boys who are willing to be Moer Neph to learn Tyra. If you buy them an apartment and you buy them a car and uh you support them and and and you give them a vacation, then they're willing to be moish. What's the miserious nefish? They're willing to get up every morning and come to Yeshiva. So I've told this over to more than one group of and almost all of them say the same thing. Not every morning, but certainly many mornings. [laughter] But to him it was like you know like that went without saying but you also want everything. He said I had who used to learn at night by candle light because they couldn't afford the electricity. I had friends who only ate pasta because that's all that they could afford. And I'm not talking about I'm talking about in Cleveland when I was learning in Telss. um uh Usher Rubenstein. They tell the story. I don't know if he told the story. I don't know how they knew it, but that uh now this is a nice normal kid who went to Hili. Yeah. Came from Long Island. And he went to I don't know what the whole journey was. He ended up in Ponovich. Well, he says there were times when me and my life wife I'd come home. What we'd had for lunch is because we didn't have any food. And that was that was in yeshiva, you know that you have no choice. No choice. There's there's no money. There's no food. So now a person says, you expect me to learn or not, you know? And so a buck will go over to Rebi. Rebby, did you see I came to Davin this morning? So, oh yeah, it's very good. Very good. You know, he goes, "That's three times this week." Oh, that's terrific. You know, maybe eventually you'll you'll get up to five times a week. He's like, "Don't push it, Rabbi." No, of course not. No, [laughter] when I went to school, they had not yet discovered self-esteem. So, if you, you know, weren't living up to your potential, you remember, you would say, you know, stop being a bum. pull your life together and do something with yourself. Can't say that today because you ruin someone's self-esteem. So, you have to, you know, give them uh, you know, yeah, it's very good. Whatever you do, it's very nice. It's very good. You know, there's a braha that men make every morning. Women don't make that braha. They make a braha. No. I was created according to your will. And I was one time doing a question and answer and that was one of the first questions. Someone said, "How come men make and women only make a" and it suddenly hit me. I said, "If women make a that says I was created according to your will, what does that say about men? We weren't created according to your will. So I understand why men would be upset. It's only in this kind of a climate that women would get upset about a question like that. Of course, the person asking the question was a man. It wasn't even a woman, you know. You know, but uh uh what the reason for it is is uh is interesting. But uh one of the explanations they give is it's only braha on mitzvah. It's numerical mitzvah because there's a value to how many mitzvah you do. It doesn't necessarily make you a better person, you know, cuz if I speak lash and har about somebody. So then I get saras and I get a whole bunch of special mitzvah. I have to live outside of the machn I have to wear a veil. I have to walk around saying tame. A regular person doesn't get all that opportunities that I get. [laughter] Doesn't mean I'm a better person. But there is a value to numerical mitzvah in absolute terms. So we say, "Thank you for not making me a non-Jew because a non-Jew only has seven mitzvah. Thank you for not making me a slave because a slave doesn't have as many mitzvah. And thank you for not making me a woman because uh I have more mitzvah to do than a woman." Has nothing to do with superiority. It's a it's a mitzvah game. So, uh, so someone said to me, "Okay, then why don't you at least put it in the positive? Thank you for making me a man." I said, "What's more impressive?" Think for a second. What's more impressive? Your school is going on a trip to the Colorado Rockies. The school does this for the graduating class. Every group that's gone comes back and talks about it. It was unbelievable. The hiking, the sights. We went uh canoeing on the Colorado River, went to the rapids, you know, I mean, unbelievable stuff, you know. Wow. Four years I'm waiting for this. And your mother says, "Did you hear? Your aunt Bertha is coming from South America. This is the only time she's ever come to America and she's going to be by us for Shabas. I say, "Oh, which Shabas?" This Shabas. Oh, well, send her my regards because I'm going to be in Colorado. Says, "You don't understand. She's one of the most fascinating people who've ever lived. You might never have a chance to talk to her again." Yeah. Send them my regards because I'm going to Colorado. I really think you should stay. Yeah. Uh, not a chance. I'm gonna insist. Mother, don't do this. I already called into the school and cancelled it. No, you're going to stay here with their brother. No. You scream, you yell, you make a suicide attempt. It doesn't help. Your mom is not giving in. They used to make moms like that in the old days. It's an old story. Anyway, you spend that chabas with Aunt Bertha. There's two things you could say at the end. Yeah. When your mom says, "So, how was it?" You could say, "I had a really good time with Aunt Bertha." Or you could say, "It was worth missing the the trip to Colorado for this." Which is more dramatic. So, you could say, "Thank you for making me a man." Or you could say, "Thank you for not making me a woman." and exempting me from all of those mitzvah. I'm so glad that I have all these obligations, which is something to think about. I remember I was answering this question once in a group and one woman said, "Okay, well, tell me the truth. What do men really think when they make that bra? I hear all your explanations, Rabbi, but what do men really think?" I said, "Really? Nothing." Same thing we think when we say everything else. I know you think my my wife is still sleeping and I have to get up and go to shore and I'm going to Yeah. No, not really. You're mumbling at half asleep. We have no idea what we're saying. That's why there's a if you say and you don't remember whether you did the first the second and you start over again, you know, because nobody's paying attention. I know it warms your heart to think that we're really so thrilled about this. Trust me, we're not. Not everybody wants to be obligated. So they asked the question, why doesn't a woman make? because we don't make a bra on the fact that we have been exempted. I don't want to be putterine. I don't say, "Oh, wow. I got away with that. I don't have to do anything. I uh I love Pesak. I love Pesak. I finally had a chance to make a PES program. I don't know if I'll be able to this year. That that hotel is not going to work with me. I have to find another hotel and I'm trying to find one. But I love Pesak and I I think it's contagious. I think my kids love Pesak. I think everyone who came to the Pesak program had a great time. You know, Pesak is I I love Pesak. I like Shv. I'm not a big fan of staying up all night. But, you know, if you make it through, it's a tremendous sense of accomplishment. You know, I like Yim Kipper. I have to say that after my heart surgery and the doctor makes me drink shurim, I like it even more, you know, cuz I know people think a little, you know, uh, little tiny cup of water once every 10 minutes does make a difference. And the answer is, yeah, it really does. [laughter] It adds up. [clears throat] You'd be surprised. Anyway, so uh I make myself a cup of coffee in the morning, but you know, you kind of cold by the time you [laughter] finish it with your little tiny tiny shot, sit up for 10 minutes. But um uh but I've never been a big fan of purim, you know, uh because uh people getting drunk and acting stupid is not it's not appealing to me. When I used to have the to go to Misha Shapiro to go to his pur his pur tish that to me was something very very special that was memorable but the way most people celebrate Pesak is purim as a drunken realry holds no appreciation for me you know so I live in you know there's a loophole there's a loophole for us in Jerusalem because it's the only place where we celebrate pur on the 15th Everyone else celebrates it on the 14th. So, you know, I could stay in Jushaim for regular PUM and then just before the end of Purim, before Shush Pur kicks in, go to Bamesh and then I could miss PUM alto together. I got away with a loophole. No PM. Yeah, but that can't be ratin. Why would I want to be exempted from something you want to be? It's always greater. It's always greater if you have to do something than if you choose not to do something. So with with that in mind, right, um the fact that uh I have an opportunity to do something is tremendous. Do I need a round of applause? So the answer is we find these stories inspiring because we are a very weak generation. my parents' generation. Let's be clear, my parents were born in the 1920s. You never heard my mother say, "I can't handle this." Never. When my father went bankrupt, he had about a week where he sat at home and felt sorry for himself. And then my mother says, "Listen, you have five kids. You have to go to work. You have to, you know," he goes, "I can't I can't I can't face the creditors. I can't face everything." She said, "I'll go with you." So, this was just after I was born. So, I I don't ever remember my mother being home. You know, my mother and father worked day and night to rebuild the business and to take care of everything. Never heard them complain. My mother suffered from terrible migraines. She used to give us all supper and then go into her room to eat. You know, she she couldn't handle the noise. Never heard a complaint. Yeah. She didn't understand that attitude. You make peso because you have to make peso. You make choppers because you have to make choppies. You do what you have to do. My father used to say we had an incentive program. Get up and go to work or starve to death. There was no there was no awards. There was no you know I was in a store once. I saw the had a plaque. It says new incentive program. Work and don't get fired. [laughter] You did what you were supposed to do. It was it was given. And today we are very weak. We are a broken generation. My parents' generation they they you know you have Gen X, Gen Z, Gen Y, uh millennials. Yeah. They were called the greatest generation. I'm at the tail end of the baby boomers. I I don't know exactly. I'm 1959. So the end over there. Um we had the MI generation, you know, but uh but my parents' generation was called the greatest generation. They survived the depression. They survived World War II. They survived, you know, all these things. And they built they built people who survived the Holocaust came to America and they built Torah institutions and built the foundations and set everything up. They had to build Frank Greenblad. He said that he was learning by Mosha Feinstein and I guess he came from a Torah Masara meeting. So he comes into Shir and he says there's no Shir tomorrow. Everybody pick a town and go out and open a day school. That's it. No sh tomorrow. So I went over to him and I said, "Reme, I don't speak English." Says, "I don't speak English either. I did fine. You'll do fine." So he went to Memphis and started a day school. Went from door to door, found Jewish people who spoke Yiddish, convinced them to send their kids, and they built the school. Yeah, that's what it was like back then. You you went in and you built you did what you had to do. I had this when I was back in NZSY of having a casher with one of these builders of Torah in America, Mendy Gopen. And uh apparently I mentioned him once in the show in passing. I I'm not even aware of it because you know he used to call me all the time and I always talk to him and you know he was he was something else. He was such a personality, such a kayak. There were people like that back then who built Torah in America, you know. Uh Rey Stafsky, Emanuel Feldman, Revy Fendel. I mean, I've talked about these people. Um and and these people built Toyra. They went and they started something and it's just unbelievable. They built they built a city. they built a whole, you know, thing that went with it, you know, and um and he would he would watch the podcast, he'd call me up, you know, he'd make comments, sometimes he'd agree with me, sometimes he'd argue with me, [laughter] and uh he was just nifa. I went to pay a shivik and I told the family, I said he was bigger than life. There were people like this who looked at the situation and nobody felt sorry for themselves. They picked themselves up and they built tora in America. They did what had to be done. These people were legends and we don't uh we don't know what that means today. We live in a world where the work was done for us. You know, I've made reference to this novel in the past which I have tremendous respect for called Watership Down. It's about rabbits, you know. But when they make the new Warren and they have to dig holes, they say nobody in their lifetime had ever dug a hole. All these holes had been dug by rabbits generations before, like, you know, years and years before. No one even knew what it was. It was there for them already. And people come to America with an infrastructure that's been built for them already. There were people who who dug in the dirt and dug uh the foundations of these things that exist today. It's unbelievable. We take it for granted. We don't understand what it means. So to uh to live in a world where all of these things were done for us, it's a tremendous thing. And if we get up in the morning, we want a round of applause. You see, I got up today. You see, I did. I went to work today. I came I came on time to say to like we need incentives and we do. I'm I don't mean to minimize it because it's the reality. I was the Long Island director of NCSY. I was living at the time of Farakwe. I had a two family house. I rented out one half and uh that paid all of my rent and all of my expenses. I go my mortgage and all my expenses and I made money off the rent and I had a job and I had respect. I had everything and I gave it up because I wanted to go back into learning and I left everything and I went to and I started because I wanted to learn. I was hoping to train for the next stage of my life which never happened but I was going to go into Raonus. Yeah. So uh so it never happened but I was going to go and focus on and that was uh that was why I was going. Was I motivated? I was highly motivated. I was in a cola that paid $300 a month. I'll be perfectly clear. $300 a month would not have made or ma broken me at that stage in my life. It wasn't enough for me to live on. It wasn't really enough to make a difference. You know, $300 a month, but it wasn't really $300 a month. It was $250 a month and you got $50 for Shmirim. That means that cola started at 9:00 and as long as you got there before 910, you could check off your little time sheet. It was an honest system. And as long as you came, I forgot how many days, you got the extra $50. I need this that extra $50 a month. Can I tell you there were days I was running down the street so I wouldn't have to write myself late on my little time card so I could get my $50 at the end [laughter] of the I came on time. Now if I came like and I'm an adult I was running an organization. I was running the island region of NCSY. You know a lot of people working for me tremendous budget. I considered myself responsible. I needed a motivation to make my way down the road with all of that because we're a weak generation. Everything is hard for us. We want that's why when these said to me they've chosen to sit and learn but uh not every day many days there was an Adam American Adam and there and he said I have to get a good hashkah for restaurants because if these couples don't go out to eat. It'll mess up their shalom bias. You have to go out to eat. I have to go out to eat. Can I How can I go out to eat? My marriage will collapse. There's a POS on the radio, an Israeli po. And this husband calls up and says, "Can I let my wife do the dishes Friday night? We don't need it for the next day, but she gets upset if there are dirty dishes in the sink. So, can I m it for shias?" And and he was stunned. What does shias got to do with this? Eitherly, you're allowed to wash the dishes or you're not. What does that mean? Shalom bias. Your wife's going to be angry at you cuz she wasn't able to do the dishes. Well, I He just couldn't even wrap his head around it. And here somebody else is saying if these young couples don't go out to eat, there's going to be a problem with scholars. Amazing. But okay, you know, she says in Kahalis, you know, you know what's he what's what's a waste of time? Complaining that our generation isn't like the last generation. It's not. It's not and it's not going to be. And the and the more people look at it and complain, all that does is weaken our resolve. So yeah, the fact that a group of teenage girls who were graduating all chose to go to their graduation wearing masks. Yeah. Although the might have said, "So that's what you're supposed to do. It's not that door anymore. It's not that generation. We need constant reassurance. We need and I've said this many times. One of the reasons I do this podcast is because Mosha Shapiro said to me, "Anyone who can do anything today that gives people I'm a to do it because we're a door that needs we need strength. It's hard for us. Everything is hard for us. We get overwhelmed. Robert Caro's written four um volumes of his biography of Lyndon Johnson. The first one um he describes how Lyndon Johnson was able to bring electrification to his county in rural Texas. And he says, "What does that mean?" And he goes on for three pages describing what it was to do laundry without electricity. What was involved in doing laundry and and making the fire to heat up to get the wood to make the fire to heat up the buckets of water that you had to take from the pump to be able to boil it up to be able to fill it up and days to do laundry. You know what an enormous thing that was. And today I got to move the laundry into the dryer. I'm ex When I first came to Israel, we almost nobody had dryers. You you had clothes pins and you hung them out on your lines. And now it's like, "Oh, I got to take the laundry out of the washing machine and put it into the dryer. I don't know if I'm up to this." [laughter] You know, shoppers are going to have to go out to the takeout store and buy food. I don't know. Oh, it's such a sh to bring everything inside. There going to be a big line, you know? Okay, we're not sifting flour and kneading the dough, you know. I mean, let's let's get real, you know, to to be we're not we're not uh uh you know, having to to to grind the wheat. All life is so much easier for us and yet we're constantly overwhelmed. So, yeah. cavode to these young ladies and uh call cavode to everybody who puts one foot in front of the other gets out of the morning. Yeah. Gets dressed, goes out, does what they have to do because there are a lot of people don't. They just sit at home on their computers or their devices, don't go anywhere, don't do anything. And the fact that we can go on and accomplish Okay. So, so what do you get covered? fine was known throughout his sh he kept telling jokes kept telling jokes so someone said to me once it says you tell a joke at the beginning you don't keep telling jokes so he said it's a different door and I wanted to say what does it mean it's a different door says that now you know because of everybody's low attention span you're restarting the shear all the time. You know, it's a different generation. You got to you got to you got to it's he to complain about how our generation is not the last generation. You got to play the hand you're dealt. All right. In the 1970s, there was a backing craze. I always try to jump on any craze just so I keep up with things, you know. So I got a bunch of books out on back from the library and they all had the same sight. A real backammer player doesn't complain about the dice. Sometimes they'll go with you, sometimes they'll go against you. Doesn't make a difference. You play the spin that you have. That's how it works. Yeah, that's the best you can do. The best you can do is make sure that I deal with the situation I have. So ka cavode to everybody who goes out of their way to care about somebody else to make an effort. Yeah. To to share the blanket to to be more concerned for the other person to let somebody in when they're trying to cut into traffic. Can't tell you how many times from people speed up and don't let me pull into a lane. [laughter] I just I just look at them. I'm just so surprised. like why would you do that? You're a from guy. You see, I'm trying to merge into the lane, not you. I'm not going to be a fryer and let you in, you know. So, yeah. Yeah, we have to we have to have that kind of concern and appreciation. And so, cavode to everybody today who's still in the fight and doing what they need to do. Okay. And uh, of course, producer Ari always sends me some uh, appreciation comments cuz he knows that I'm, you know, I'm so weak and I just quit doing this uh, because I don't want to get up in the morning and I don't want to record any podcast and I don't want to do anything. [laughter] I don't even want to do this podcast. Hi Rebby. I just wanted to thank Rebby for the Torah values and entertainment and everything else. There's nothing like a Revolvski show to brighten my day or week. Thank you so much. Every time a new show, she podcast comes out, the first thing I do is see how long it is. And if it's shorter than an hour, I'm disappointed. I'm so sorry. Sometimes I just run out of things to say. But what I'm going to do from now on is if I see it's going to be short, I'm just going to keep repeating the same thing over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. >> [laughter] >> cuz it goes on and on and on and on and on and on [laughter] the rabbi did a video like that where I was talking about you know I said this is your great great great great great great great great great great great grandfather anyway >> um the kdish club question answer was amazing I keep going back and listening to it again not because it's applicable to me though poor hashem Anyway, may Rebi continue the show in many more years of good health and humor and keep bringing claims up to a higher level of kervas hashem. It's hashem. Dear rebelski, I absolutely love your podcast. I think an exclamation mark would have been appropriate over here. I used to listen to music while doing my nightly cleanup in the house and since I discovered your podcast over a year ago, I now listen to your podcast instead. I have to tell you what Pesron and Re Sharen said to me. There should be warning labels because Rea said he was jogging once listening and he laughed so hard he fell down and hurt himself. You know, and Pesron said he was listening while he was driving and almost got into an accident. So, don't hurt yourself when you're listening. I find it so easy to listen to you and still get something meaningful every time. I absolutely love the way you use pop culture references. My favorite is when you compared Amraino and Elazar to Superman [laughter] and Green Lantern. I don't remember that, but there is this sort of strange connection with Superman and Green Lantern. Just [clears throat] it's really true. What's interesting is when you talk about the Green Lantern, there the there are Earth Green Lanterns, but there are also alien Green Lanterns. So, Alien Green Lanterns and Superman have a lot in common because they're both aliens. Yeah. Uh, also, uh, a lot of the people that Biden let in. Anyway, um, absolutely brilliant. I was laughing so hard when you made that comparison. It just makes so much sense. Or when you used the force from Star Wars as a mush for Panemas. It cracks me up. I love it so much. Please continue your amazing show. Benji with Brahasa's health and good things. Thank you so much and and especially thank you for listening to everybody. The fact that people listen to this show uh is unbelievable. I there are people more talented and smarter than I am and they can't get an audience, you know, and there are people less talented than me and not as funny as me like Joey uh Haber and he gets many more people than me. I can't understand it. It's just I just killing me. [laughter] I'm kidding by the way. I don't really know you, but I wish you only only the best. You know, I'm just joking. Okay. I don't know. He doesn't seem to tell jokes, but but uh but this is just jokes. I'm just joking. Okay. I don't want to get an angry uh Joey Haber uh fan club coming after me. [laughter] I'm joking. It's a joke. Okay. Anyway, that's [laughter] that's it for this show. If you want to find out more about the show, you go to my website, revolowski.com. You can sponsor an episode. We need sponsors. I'm sure Joey Haber doesn't. He must have plenty. But I need sponsors and part five, a question and answer. You can buy me a cup of coffee. You can buy me a new car. I'll be okay with that, too. [laughter] Your name will appear on the screen with me driving. [laughter] Um, you can uh sign up for one of our online shorim and uh you can go to my merch store. And that's it for this episode. Until next week, I am David Olowski and as always, this has been the Rabbi Olowski Show. >> It's the Rabbi Orlovski Show. Torah and Sima, ready to go. The Rabbi Olowski show. Knowledge and wisdom will help you grow. Lots of fun in every episode. And we don't have to rhyme, [music] don't we? It's the Rabbi orski show on rabbi orski.com to any YouTube and more. It's the Rabbi orski show. Torah and ready to go. It's the Rabbi Orvski show. Till next time, till we meet again, it's the Rabbi Olowski show. It's the Rabbi Olowski show. It's the Rabbi orski show.