Rabbi Paysach Krohn (1)

Everybody say he's not worth it. You're faster than this. I don't really >> deeply grateful to Zebie Hamburger for having invited me to come to speak to all of you in the Bishim. I know it's hosted in what's called Shula for making this a that's known throughout the world in our cycle of laning there are certain partas that everybody knows that very often they go together but then there's also and and this year somebody asked me a question. I never heard this question before and I I thought it was fascinating and I would like to begin and this will be our theme. All these other parad they seem to have a connection but means one thing means just the opposite means you stay at one place and means you go. So how could the two paras be together that it's two different ideas? So I saw a very great point. In other words, a person only if he knows what he stands for then can it go forward. And all of us we come here today because we had great rebim or because we had great ancestors. So if we stand solid then we can move forward. So if we are then we can be and right now right as we come to the and after we've gone through such a difficult time in this past year you know in I don't have to tell you and all over the world so many people are going through such innov and so many different things. So now we have to know so how do we go forward you know in these days as we approach the and these days when we come from a difficult year of so I think that if we take two values with us and if we can learn tonight about these two HA values that we can go forward that we can be from we can become and what are these two values these two values are amuna and I just want to make something very very clear. Amuna does not mean that you have all the answers. Amuna means that you know that there is an answer but not that you have all the answers. And I just want to tell you a story that shocked me when it happened but it gave me an insight into what life is all about. My father was neb was suffering from yamla and he was taken by a doctor to go to a hospital in Washington heights. Now my father was as a young man learned in Israel and in those days Rab Shimwab was a rebro him and Rafam and Randy yeshiva. So my father was very close to Rab Schwab and being that he was going to be in a hospital in Washington Heights, he called Raf Schwab and he asked if my brother Kman and me would be able to be in his house for Shabas. Rav Schwab said of course. So I ded in Kahila Shabas morning, you know, with the choir and all. It was beautiful. And then Rav Schwab said to me, you go to the hospital, you visit your father and my wife and I will wait for you for the suda tour when you come back. So listen to this. I come back from the hospital and you know we sit down at the table and Rafu says to me, so how's your father? So I said to him, I have that he'll be well. That's what I said. So he looks me straight in the eye and he says does not mean that your father's going to get well. I thought I would kish. Here I'm I'm kishing because I was only 21 and I was terrified that if my father never passes away I'm gonna have to leave the yeshiva I have to support my mother my brothers and sisters and and here this is telling me doesn't mean that your father's going to be well and he saw how scared I was when he said that so he said let me tell you what means doesn't mean that everything that happens is going to be good it means that everything that happens hashemv has a plan and hopefully one day you'll be able to understand the plan and that's really what amuna is. Amuna is not knowing all the answers but knowing that there is an answer and that's what he taught me. That's what pan is. You have that hashem has a master plan and he knows everything what's going to happen and why it has to happen. And I want to tell you one of the greatest that I ever heard. Now we all remember the terrible terrible tragedy in a couple years ago like 45 people 45 young people never passed away and everybody was trying to define the moment. How could such a thing happen in we know one of the greatest speakers, one of the greatest mashim so he said now I don't know if it was hishat or he heard it from somebody he said it over but it's genius and it gives us a tremendous we all know the voice you should know what's above Everybody knows what that means. But listen to how he touched it. Again, I don't know if it's his own or heard it from somebody else. He said, "Da remember ma 45 those 45 who passed away. It's beyond you. You'll never be able to understand it until Mashiach comes." So you see how he remember those 45 and that's what am is not knowing the answers but knowing that there is an answer now until Msiah comes we'll never understand why did those 45 have to pass away and there's so many things that are going on even today when you see the mudslides in Nepal and thousands of people are dying so why why does that happen why are there floods in in the west coast and fires in Los Angeles and so much damage. So we have to so we have to have that hashem knows what he's doing. And so the question is how can we learn um and so I had a brother Rabman who was a great sadic and I'll tell you what he used to do and if you want to do this it'll mamish make a tremendous impression on your children as you'll see and you could do exactly what he did or something like it but what he used to do was he told every one of his children that before they go to sleep they should write down something that happened that day And before they went to sleep, if it was something good, he would give them a pickle. Now, I'm not So, everybody knew that my brother's house, you had pickle. But the point is all the children today, all of his kids are very why? Because they learned about every single day. And if you write down every day, that's how you become that's how you become a mman. Now yeah, but you have to look for it. Now I I'll just tell you, you know, some stories that happened with me as far as protest. Now when I first became a may after my father passed away, thank you. I was only 21. And in those days in the 1960s, many many mothers stayed in the hospital a full eight days. They didn't go home to like they do today because of insurance after two or three days. I'm sorry. So what happened was that in those days there was when you belonged to a hospital if you were a mile and you were on the staff of a hospital you would have bron there many many hospitals Long Island Jewish Mount Sinai and there was one hospital that I wanted to get onto Northshore today it's part of Northwell with Long Island Jewish that if you were on the staff so when they had a bris you were the one who would have the bris and in 60s and 70s there were many many kids that were born in the hospitals and ma if you were the mile on that hospital staff so then you were able to get to Bristen they had a separate room and uh it was a family room where the family would gather there was a glass partition and then on the other side that's where they did the Britain they had a microphone so you could hear the broas you could hear the name and you could hear the baby one of the most adorable things that ever happened once I was in Long Island Jewish and I was doing a bris in private room and the family was in the other room and I came in to the other room by the family you know to say Mazv afterwards and they said Rabbi Cro you're such a fabulous smile the baby didn't cry and then I realized they didn't turn on the microphone so you know they didn't hear anything so they thought it was me then I realized that's a great idea every time I do a bris to just shut the mic till after the brisk but anyway what happened was I wanted to get onto a staff called Northshore Hospital because there were many, many babies that were born there. And if I could have the concession, so to speak, to be the mother of the hospital, it would be wonderful. And I was trying, you know, with all kinds of pressure, all kinds of people that I knew that I thought could help me. And nobody could help me. One day I get a call from a family. It was not a from family. I didn't know them, but they got my name from somebody. And I come there. Nobody's from the grandfather was a wonderful, wonderful person. very very well-dressed and very respectful and you know I spoke about the Brits and he was very interesting he was the sandic and then afterwards we got to talking and then among the things that he said to me he said you know I'm on the board of Northshore hospital I said are you serious he said yeah I've been on the board for a long time so then I stayed there longer and I kept up with him and then eventually he got me on the hospital so that was only Basgo brothers that his family called me and I was always grateful to him for many many years because because of that protest. Now tonight when I came driving here, I drove on the cross on the Bronx River Parkway or the Cross Bronx Expressway. I will never forget every single time I drive on that highway. I remember one time I was in an ice storm and I was driving off the 287 and came up the hill and all of a sudden, you know, if you step on the brake when you're driving on ice, all of a sudden the car can start spinning and you lose control. And now I thought that I didn't slam on the brake. I thought I was doing it softly, but obviously not. And the car started spinning like a circle. And I started saying to him, I thought it was over. And I thought it was over. Mom's going to crash into the walls. you know, cars coming on all sides on my right and on my left and it's an ice storm and I have no control and all of a sudden it just stopped. I can't understand how did the how did the car stop? But of course it's not and so therefore every time I go there you know I say because you never know you know what and the more you look for that's how you're going to have a there's another thing also one of the things that you have to learn is the more you have the more a person will have amuno. Now, for example, now I can't see out of my left eye. I never told this to anybody and I certainly didn't tell it to people when I was a model. That's for sure. Okay. But um but the doctor assured me that because I have a a weak eye that I could see out of one eye just as good as two. And so therefore, I was able to continue my practice of brisma. But the point is that when you make the bra and you thank Hashem that you can walk and that you could talk and that you could sing and that you could you know that you don't have any illnesses. That's a way of having when you have a Now I want to tell you something. It's a little embarrassing to talk about this but I still want to tell it to you because I think it's so important. I have a niece that had a baby in Israel. She doesn't want I should say her name. And the baby, she told me a few hours after the baby was born, doctors and nurses came into the room and she looked at their eyes and we know that women have a beer. So she knew there was something wrong with the child and they told her that the baby doesn't swallow and they and no, they didn't see in they never saw anything like that. What does that mean? Was there a blockage in the throat or was it mentally that the child didn't know how to swallow? And what happened was that they found out that there was something that they had to get rid of in the throat and that the baby would be able to swallow. But the point is they couldn't have the bris right away and of that they shouldn't name the baby yet. They'll name him, you know, sooner than later that he'll be able to have the bris. And when it came to the pion um the father did the pion and then he said I want to say a braha and everybody was wondering what are you going to make on a child that you know that can't swallow and he said something that was so amazing he said and everybody started crying because they began to realize that when you say your mom is thanking Hashem for every single part of the body. The colon, the heart, the um kidneys, every single part of the body. And I'm telling you, I I've said this many many times. I believe and I try to do this. I would never tell you to do it if I don't do it myself. Stand in one place when you say a and think about it. Think about all the parts, your eyes, your the there's a fabulous safer called Schwab. on prayer and you see what he talks about ashy the circulatory system the the digestive system we take all these things for granted but if you would stop and stand in one place and somebody called me after I said this in a say that's what we say so even in was saying and then the in the co told me that the vago didn't write that sid but he wrote other things and people put it together in a sid so that's why it's called the but he didn't pen it but in there he writes that it's the only you ever think about it that we say is the plots of kadush we don't say it by matzah we don't say it by suka by khan nothing only by by when a person uses the facilities like I say it's most embarrassing to talk about. So the coin writes because wanted that you should know that even the mundane things on the body of using the facilities that's disha takes care of that even from from over there. So how many times does it happen that we use the facilities during the day stop for a second and I saw myself Ravel said ashota from a card and and he read it very slowly. Now, I'm not telling that you always have to read it on the inside, but there are cards that people hang up on the walls, you know, in schools or in the kitchen or outside the bathroom in a mo and with the door closed. And if you say a slowly, you're going to begin to realize how much how grateful you have to be. And that's how a person can train himself to have a and gratitude that everything works perfectly. Now for example I want to tell you something that you should do that will give you a sense of and a sense of feeling so grateful to this is one of the greatest things that I do in my life and um and that is on Thursday night I have what's called a zi conference call there are many many people here have children and grandchildren and great grandchildren bash already. So, Thursday night at 10:30 or 9:30, we all get on the phone and and I talk to them. They want to hear what story I heard lately or what Saka heard from Abdon or something like that. And I'm telling you, when your grandchildren call you, that's something to have a that you're able to continue the legacy from one family to the other family to the other family. And then when the kids call you, that's something to thank Hashem and to write down. You know, if you have a notebook, you could write down Hakaras. I'll tell you every day one thing that happened that was very special. Whether you heard of a sale or you have from the kids or like I say the grandchildren called, I'll tell you what I do every single night. And I think I again I wouldn't ask you to do anything that I don't do myself. When I'm in bed and it's quiet, I try to think of 10 things 10 things during the day that happened that um that that I'm grateful for and I say the and you're allowed to say it with because you're saying so that tonight before I came here so one of my grandchildren brought me somebody that they're thinking of getting engaged to. I can't say it out loud to who it is cuz it's secret, but you know, call me in a week. I'll tell you. But anyway, but the point is, so of course tonight before I go to sleep, I'm going to say that I we drove on that cross Bronx Parkway, you know, where I skiitted and brom everything was fine cuz my wife was driving, not me. But anyway, that that's one of the things that I feel that that helps with that's by having and by also and and considering and if you do those things that's going to make a tremendous difference and I once saw a beautiful expression about sativar is not only when you get more but when When you understand more, when you think more, if you think of everything that's going on in your life, the fact that you could drive here, the fact that you have a spouse at home, the fact that you have children and grandchildren, you have to think about these things. Only if you're thinking about these things is it going to make a difference in your life. And especially especially you know I'm not telling you to to to use technology to see what's going on in the news but you know there's such service in the vilt as we said before in Nepal you know I mean why doesn't it happen in masela masel they also have mountains right and you think about that right we take it for granted you drive up and down route 17 you don't see rocks coming down but that's the same thing over there all of a sudden there was some mudslide Dave should decided it should be over there and why are all these terrible floods in the west or the fires in Los Angeles that could happen any place could happen in Riverdale could happen in Monroe could happen any place but we take it for granted and we take all these things for we don't think about it and if you don't think about it unfortunately you know then we lack that ama because we're not having and we're not thinking about the but I want to tell you a way that we can all have tremendous this confidence that next year is going to be a great year. And I I I want to ask you again, I would never ask you to do anything that I don't do myself. But I want to tell you something that I've done that makes such a difference and it'll make a difference in every man and woman that's here tonight and every child that's here tonight. As far as the dn in the there's one word that we keep on saying over and over and over and that word is and asked this question what does the word mean and in this manner. So let's say it didn't say so you would say to the listen to this ingenious answer from the Abu and he says like this now because of this answer which I'm going to give you in a second I have in my every single underlined and circled because I want to remember this the says that migilla in per B it says like this Mori asked Esther to go into the king of right and she said I can't go in because I don't have permission and if I go in without permission I could get killed so what did she say so she said she said to say gather all them together and fast for that we say so many times that's what does she say we're coming to the mel right we know that we were not perfect in the past year everybody here me included have done things that we're not proud of so we're afraid to go to the king so what did she say so that's when we say so many times it's just like she was afraid to go to the but listen to this genius thing what did what did what happened when she went to the king the next person the next peric tells us that when he saw her he gave her the sh right he gave her the sh in other words the king gave her everything that she wanted and that's why when we Say we're asking and listen to this next year is pay right what is the word pay Zion mean pause it's refined gold and he gave us the sh and we are asking give us the sh give us pay zion give us gold golden opportunities golden nakas golden panosa golden health and so therefore that's exactly what we want and that's my braha that I give to everybody here and everybody who will be listening to the video or to however it's being recorded that we all have to d for each other and this is something that I always say that think about it did it ever occur to you that the entire everything that we have ask for is heal us forgive us see our problems Why is it you know why? Because life is not about you. Life is what what can you do for somebody else? There are many people even in this in Chinese we know there's so many people here in this room that have so much whether it's with children or with health or with parosa. Do you ever think about them? That's what organized. Think about of course you have to for yourself but it's don't only think only about yourself and that's why you should underline and all these things. I'm a big believer having your own s and underlining all these different things. Now I want to tell you one more thing and I think that this is so important. There are so many people and including me, you know, that will always ask the question, why me? You know, why why did it happen to me? Are you allowed to ask such a question? You know, I had a stroke a year and a half ago and many many times I wonder why did you do it to me? I'm so incapacitated. you know, I can't walk unless I have a walker and there's so many other things that are are result of the stroke and different things that happen. So, is a person allowed to ask why me? So, I want to tell you a gamorrah that out of my mouth I would never be able to say such a thing. But if kazal said it, obviously there's a reason we have to learn something from it. Look it up in you won't believe it. said to the day, we know he had so much service. What happened? A whirlwind got over you. And you forgot how to spell my name. My name is not O. What? You got mixed up between the How could somebody say something like that to But the Gmorra is telling us that he said it. So why is the Gmorra telling us? Because you know why? because you're allowed to ask Hashem why and that's what and it doesn't say that he was punished for saying that and that's what say that's the same idea as but listen to what the aisha told him and this is something that we have to know and the said to him Where were you when I founded the earth? Tell me if you're so smart. In other words, the aisha has a master plan. The aisha set a plan at the time when he created the world. And we're not old enough, you know, we don't live long enough, what 70, 80, 90. But we we don't know what the aisha had a plan. And that's what amuna is all about. Again as we said before and is not having the answers and knowing and believing that there is an answer and that's what the said to where were you when I found I founded the earth you tell me and so therefore we have to know we have to believe that everything that happens happens because of a reason and that's what keeps on telling us is We have to have confidence that every time you say think of Esther, she went into the king and she was terrified to go in and we're also terrified to go and but we have to know that the loves us and that just like she was able to get the shab that we will also be able to get the shab. And I just want to say to all of you once again I thank Zebie for for inviting me to speak to all of you. Try to be madish these things and the Indian of Amuno and the Indian of Asha and the Indian of Akur. And if we do these things, I am sure that next year will be a much better year than this year in Panosa, in Gazunt and in in Masel and in Bro with children in Tin. Again, I just Zebie, I want to thank you so much for inviting me. I thank all of you for listening. Not one person here fell asleep. I appreciate it so