What Is Emunah Really?

gentleman welcome to practical spirituality here in Asia Torah in the Old City of Jerusalem overlooking the Temple Mount please go on and join our club the yom tov media club calm and let's get the word out to as many people as possible today we're discussing a word that is in hebrew has no english translation which is really strange because there's only I mean how many words have no English translation translation English has a lot of words many more than most languages and so it's really good at explaining things and it's even better than Hebrew and explaining things but there are a couple of Hebrew words that have no translation and one of those words in Hebrew that has no translation is the word and we're not but it does have a description in English in the description English is is when you know something really well such that such that you're you're you it's become fully integrated that would be a nut and that's why for example a a craftsman is called an Mong because he really knows how to had a make last sir I thought it back because it my name is Glaser which means I'm a great-grandson of some Glazer some meaning glass maker and someone who makes pottery like they can do with their eyes closed their hands just move in the direction of what they knows so well and so the reason why it doesn't have an English one at all is because they often will use in the English the word believe' excellent the word believe and belief is leaf is basically our hopeful thinking what is belief like someone who believes in something is basically it's wishful thinking like why would you ever use the word believe unless it's something that is just can't be many proven can't prove it true and so it's it's been relegated to a realm called belief and then the other word used for a moon a is the word known that trust faith faith but faith in the english language means that that it's it's used in a Jew's interchangeably with word for like I would hope this to be true so like for example let's say I let's say I trust you and so I would have faith that you would come through and meet me at two o'clock when we said we'd meet so I have faith in that and and lo and behold there he is two o'clock he's there and so I was I was rectified in having faith that you would show up at 2:00 you got that no you guys have to go yeah you can go thanks for coming I hope you enjoyed the few minutes ago normally we have seats in the back but they took them away shut up so the fact that you showed up at two men you were you're someone who works in good faith now do you always show up at 2:00 when you have an appointment in two he doesn't but I'm kind of hopeful and will do my best to show up it to in good faith because I said too as well so faith seems to be uh there's more it's more of a hopeful thing the word faith it also generally lends towards blind faith where I don't know this is fact medians it really has a lot do with belief where it's kind of relegated to to some I wish would take place or which wishful thinking about there being a God for example is see now and faith would probably be better translated baton by the way maybe that would be a better one I think that I think that'd be better now back to him yeah Munna ammonia means that I know it is so and I mean it's an integrated reality such that I move accordingly I move accordingly like just like my hands like everybody now does anyone have a sitter hairs or sitting I think I think there's a sitter in the back of this thing just didn't come with a sitter I think the little ones to him alone here I going oh I should go okay thank you nice lady is this yours thank you so in the evening prayer in the evening prayer we use the word in Munna right after we said Schmeisser when we get to the last the third paragraph of Shema and then we say we say let me find the evening prayer Aarav eat okay here it is so we say at the end we say Vinton we're now calls on that M will not close out all of that is our emunah what is all of that it does it's a pronoun and so we got to figure out what is all of that then we're not goes over what is it what is all of that that for us as a munna and now it here it's where it gets interesting cuz this is the definition of a Munna so it turns out to : BAM knuckles out : what what's it emunah and then it goes back I am Elena it's established for us something that's established for us doesn't sound like the Gentile definition of a Munna the a Gentile definition moon of a moon was belief yeah but here it's saying it's established something that's established he's like these are the facts man so this is this is our emunah doc I am the Vic Vic I am Elena and upon us this is the facts what's the facts key Hashem who will okay no veins Lassa that God is God in this whole worlds in assimilate this whole world is a digital simulation now you're saying what do you mean it's a digital simulation in the prayer book yes it does and it does it over and over again and no one ever notices it what are the words who can tell me what this means not the first by the first place kiya Hashem key who Hashem located he is this infinite being and Hashem which is like a tortilla surrounding space and time L okay no is filling as best in time that's the name of God how it fills space in time and then what's the with you guys tell me what does it mean veins ooo la Cite yeah well there is nothing other than his there is nothing else well then what's all this world then what is all this stuff so he said him right but I don't see him in other words God's creating this world as a digital simulation coming off infinite light and that's being that light's being filtered through an area called of the euler mote element the worlds which are these parallel realms which filter the light down until we ultimately everything kind of coagulates into our world like everything like jell-o's into this physical world but really that's all God cuz God if all there was was God so all there is is God because right you know the four second proof of God before there was before there was something there was nothing and since nothing makes nothing and now that there's something it must be the nothing was God you know that one you've heard that one before there was something there was nothing and since nothing makes nothing you know that there's something it must be nothing was gone it's the four second proof of God I'm gonna try that No okay you got it oh yeah anyway this place is just coagulated god this is just you know this is the it's it's gelled into our world and this is considered known now I don't know if our rabbi is like new physics and knew that this world actually was coming out digitally like you even watching me right now is happening digitally everything you're hearing is vibrational it goes up to your brain if your brain takes all the math and your brain only has neurons which are either fire don't fire they're binary ones or zeros the whole things ones and zeros everything you're experiencing right now is digital and they've now digitized taste which is amazing and they've digitized the site everything's digitized now and which means that they ultimately were able to understand this and to us this is established as fact and is what we call him you know but it keeps going about nothing to Illinois it's a fact to us that we are that his nation Israel that were brought out of Egypt etc haha Danny I'm alone who has redeemed us from kings ha go away no mark a new the king he's the king who redeemed us nuka-cola elites him all over all our enemies that tried to hurt us he took us out of Egypt etc etc etc all of this stuff is a Munna and when a means that these are the facts these are the facts so it's very different than for example religions that pivot off belief alone you understand religions pivot off belief everything's motivated by I believe in this and you want to hear something amazing Frank Frank honey or something is that the more this belief in a system like you know just regular belief in things but you'll find force is generally more force involved meaning of machetes or or whatever like coercion in Judaism here you have all these extremely faithful people and there's absolutely zero coercion this is why for example um in order to trust the testimony of a Jew people he has to be a person of exemplary character to be trust into it even a testified that he saw a fender-bender in the on the street you know a guy hit a parked car kept driving it and you saw it to be trusted with your testimony you have to be of of a high caliber in character well what's a high caliber of character and you know they say I caliber of characters someone who's shomer Shabbat so I'm gonna keep Shabbat can testify why should I think what's the big deal with survive the answer is is that someone is show me shabbat is show more shabbat meaning someone who keeps the sabbath keeps the Sabbath when he or she is alone no one's watching cuz you know there are people who are like what I call Froome friendly or shabbat friendly who like there you see them at Chavez tables the Upper West Side you know but you know you know when they get at home you know out comes the social media and stuff and it's not hard to notice that when you live in Israel because they sometimes forget and wind up what's happing me you know and I it's not hard to notice that you know it's mostly Shabbos here I just did over dollar and I'm getting I noticed that my I've got about five whatsapp's from people who you know were ostensibly people I know from Shabbos tables overseas who are texting on Shabbat by accident texting me you know thinking I'm not in Shabbat anymore and I'm like yeah but you are so or he'll see this after Shabbat yeah I see that you're texting me on Shabbat so anyway the keeping Shabbat is is the is the is the sign of trusted testimony it's a sign of trusted testimony because anyone you can trust when he's alone he mid trust when he's not alone cuz we're all of us are much more better behaved in public than we are in private you know like I this morning I got my coffee in the kitchen in my underwear okay now I happen to be a Hasidic and wear an undershirt and a long white breeches kind of you know it's acidic underwear you're basically knickers you know and I did have my tapas it's a sauna I don't like walking around my house without my senses so I had my senses as well but that's how I enjoyed my coffee this morning and and you're not gonna see me doing that anywhere but my home you know in private in general the second we have one guests over that morning I'm not gonna be coming out like that so so someone who keeps Chabon is the person you can trust because they're the person who when they're alone they keeps you back and and therefore they can testify so that's the faithfulness of the Jewish people yeah because because just because Shabbat Shabbat pushes you harder when you're alone like for example there's people who eat kosher in the house and not kosher out of the house but in the house they eat kosher but there are people who it's the opposite with Shabbat there are people are showing Shabbat outside the house but not in the house there's something much about when you're alone that's harder to keep inside the house I've heard the funny stories often from people raised either Sephardic or Hasidic whose parents told them that if they broke Shabbat they would die it's not funny about Bruce I tell them so what happens kids in the bathroom by himself accidentally hits the light switch light goes out pitch-black they think they're dead the kids like oh my gosh I died Oh cuz they can't see anything it's just a little kid and then the kid after a while realizes you know like he's been studying Descartes all of a sudden he's like wait maybe I exist all right did until they took the light back on because they see that like what their parents told them isn't true you know it's like Santa you know there's no Santa coming down chimneys and and so they turn the light back on and and they see they're still alive even turning a light on Angemon and then they go like this then they're just like like what else did they tell me that wasn't true now Emunah is juxtaposed to another word that's called that's called a bit tough one very different word so we have Emunah Emunah means living with the facts and then there's a bit tough one sorry it went it means there are facts using the fact and beat up in it the tough one is living with in other words in other words you become fully integrated with the facts okay so Munna is the facts the tough ones living with the facts so so for example a woman can know she's married that's a Munna but to be able to trust her husband such that she can you know be totally relaxed around his let's say he's going to his high school reunion by himself to America you know he's thirty year high school reunion where all the lonely drunk divorces are that's what 30-year reunions are all about is lonely drunk divorces so and of course all of them want to explain how they had a crush on him you know when he gets to the reunion at the 2:00 in the morning after party so anyway the so for her to sleep well is the tougher and is then she knows she's married he knows he's married everyone's there's a mood in there that's known that's like craftsman stuff they've been married whatever 20 years but living with the fact that she sleeps well when he said the reunion is but tough me and we're always this is a much harder part there are people who don't have a muna meaning like I was raised without a motive I had to come to a shitara and learn about God understand Frankie imagined having to learn about God as an adult crazy thanks that's the one gift parents can give their kid it's just like lock-in the god thing for the kid before their mind gets so developed as atheists and then later have to kind of work backwards you know that's rough it's and I'm not even sure it works it's part of the reason why I'm Hasidic and and do ecstatic prayer in may assure him every week is that I'm thinking if I pray loud enough it might go in from the you know the atheist upbringing so it's so for Papa so far I haven't gotten anywhere with that yeah so I have not succeeded so I guess I'm not really about to be yet if I'm not sure it'll ever go in is it ever gonna go ahead you know and and the crazy thing is I'm like considered an expert cuz everyone's to hear me talk about it about God like everyone's ones hear me talk about God would mean well the people I'm talking to have much more money than I do because they have that built in thing Minds knowledge I've got like you know it's like it's not the stuff in the bones you know by the way this we're talking which is also called this does have an English translation it's called trust and you guys know the famous German guy flies off the cliff he's yelling is anyone up there is anyone know if there's anyone out there and finally God says I'm up here and in there and the guy is like okay save me and God says let go of the branch show me you trust me and the and the guys like is anyone else up there so I was visiting ever on the city of have Ronan outside of Rome where the Cave of the patriarchs is there's a city called kirochka mo Korea Arve yeah the the Kirin arm of the the city of the four were the four the four couples Adam and Eve are buried there averman SAR buried there Yitzhak and RIF guard buried there and Yaakov and they are buried there and buy a rachel's buried in bait left them on the way to saffron and so that she'll cry for the jewish people when they get ripped out of into exile by the various the roman and babylonian exile she would cry for us and maybe her dear children would be brought back to their borders if you know the Holy Land and the I just thought of an amazing question I've never thought of before where are dill punt Bilhah and Zilpah B and Z where are they we're bill Huns ova berry you ever thought about that that's a little weird while we're on it where's slow-mo slow-mo built the city like of anyone who ever should have had a nice - man should have been where's slow-mo buried this is city like should have been like way beyond like there was never a king as rich as he was and he ruled over Jerusalem you know a thousand father-in-law's mm-hmm or keep the kings of the world like if anyone should had a tomb that we should have been him but no one seems know where he's buried even King David you know King day it was a heavy hitter and his tomb is you know even though we all know where they say is to miss but you see it's not treated as if it really is it it it's treated as if it may be it that's why it's treated so these are mysterious questions I don't know where Bilhah and Zilpah buried and they're not even mentioned their deaths weren't even mentioned in the Torah which is also just that I mean we have many other deaths that are mentioned that we're not as important as the mothers of the of the tribes like patient but we would think those deaths would be like important to know about and where they were buried nothing nothing in there first time I ever thought about that you ever thought about that little what do you call it admonition and what's calling you but to call me when you're missing something yeah Bilhah and Zilpah Zilpah that's cool okay Adam it Jacob married okay Rachel and Leah not that order and they came with their hand mades and he married The Handmaid's as well yes so I owed some visiting carried on our bond and I'm thinking like cuz you know this is like heavy duty a heavy duty radical Islam like terrorism area the all the surrounding area there is like that's where like there's more radical elements the Palestinians are over there so I mean would you which one do you need the most of here in our whole narrative of Judaism would you ever live there no so therefore you never have to go to be chuckling because you've never lived there you get that just win him so here I am I get into carry an arm and I'm thinking wow these people are like really like they got it all you know they got they mood and they got the baton and we pulled in our car I park and a guy comes pulling right next to me after work it was the evening I pulled him right after work gets out of his car it's a it's a bald keep a free Russian so I go up to him and I'm like hi my first time here you know how you doing he's like great and I said you you live here he's like yeah but you don't have a keeper he's like well I'm I'm not a believer really and I'm like what do mean you're not a believer ebuddy I believe but I'm not like him I'm not observed I don't keep Tiger I don't live the life of Judaism and I'm like okay I mean are you a little scared to live here he's like are you kidding there's a whole community of us living here of secular people from Russian descent live down here I like where do you work you said we all worked in Jerusalem you just throw it I mean I just came in an armored bus you just drove this car straight down to here and he's like every day twice a day you know up and back and say well aren't you free Jesus God's watching you know he wants something to happen you it's gonna happen II in your kitchen and he doesn't want something that it's not gonna happen you all know highway 2 head of run okay so that Shabbos I was in Marone by rebbi shimon bar yohai with michael see them from Meryton we go once a year to us to his tomb in the north and we're at the tomb and it was after Shabbos afternoon long afternoon it's coming up actually another three weeks precious been with us we're going to we're at the tomb and we have a long afternoon so I decide I'm going hiking and I ask some of these little Hasidic teenagers if they'd like to come hiking with me you know just up into the forest and and they were they were excited about that so they came with me and we're all talking and we're walking and talking and walking time hard we get down from the tomb on the left side of the tomb has a steep hill with a little switchbacks gets you to a can't like the bottom of the canyon and then you go into the forest so we get to the park we crossed the dirt road into the forest and walking out I'm talking walking talking up and talk until I finally realize there's no one with me where'd they go where are those guys go so I look back there they're all waiting at the edge of the forest like 20 feet back on the road this dirt road at the bottom so I go back to them and I find them on the dirt road they said what happened you guys you know what they said to me they said to me we're scared what like what we've never really hiked into the forest before these are real urban Hasidic boys from yeshiva I'm like you never hiked in the forest okay so we got a first hike into the forest great honor to be the one to take you to do that and what do we exactly expect it might be in the forest and they're like we don't know that's the problem we don't know what might be in there and I'm like and so here only a few days earlier I was in her own with a guy who like is he's not like a big ball of Moon in here he's a he's got a lot of bit tough on not a lot of emunah he doesn't live his life at all based on the facts there yet he trusts totally now I've got these kids these four city kids who their mood is so intense I mean part of the reason I love the community it's like praying next to these boys they'll cry while they pray and they're and their belief in God is so complete and total there is nothing else I know there and we will do like ecstatic prayer for like three hours straight with the teens there and there cos root level is like the highest level of custard meaning kosher and there and their their Torah study is like I mean I'm vacation they still learn for hours straight every morning without lifting their head there it's a whole competition who can keep their head down yeah my son actually won I raised my son of a he had six hours straight day after day he was doing six hours straight never lifting his head yeah you should see what he looks like no he's just kidding being my son he is like and it's amazing how they turn such a dysfunctional thing into tourists you know what they tell the boys they tell them because what happens I sent my son to school with a tender ass tender is like English ace it just stands your book up so you can keep your head where it belongs which is the center of your shoulders it's like you simply sent a sheet into the Rebbe gave it to him for bringing it he says bring this home and in the Rebbe says to him we bring ourselves to torah not toward two of us sounds like okay he's like no more standard and so the standard came back to my house I use this fender and the the but it's like it's almost like we're gonna create a worldview that somehow makes it holier to be in horrible posture for hours on end but then again look at our secular world today I just saw a guy today like completely like it was that the mikveh they I mean needed he doesn't realize that we take off her clothes and we go in the water this guy was sitting there for at least 45 minutes it's fully dressed on in the changing room texting and there's what bodies like crumpled over he never moved his body posture for 45 minutes taking you know I haven't I meant that people just be like this really really long periods of time anyway so here are these kids who have like tons of ammo no Vltava and here is this Russian guy in running that tons of them which really sets the goal in front of us what's the goal in front of us is to get these facts into your bones and then trust in the facts and live it get the facts in the bones trust in those facts live it what's that what's better they're our friends you don't choose one or the other I was just if you had to choose one is better and one is better for various reason but one of the main reasons is that you only get in the next world whatever it is you believed in so you're busted for not acting on it but at least you believe someone who doesn't believe in God at all it's pretty scary thought like they could actually wind up with nothing because they missed the main point now some say that that that old ones mitzvahs are erased if they don't believe in God me when I say believe I'm not to a Gentile version of belief meaning someone who's like real with the facts that there's a God that's what we mean by emunah so someone who has never got real with it because they're raised like me and then never even studied the subject and you just never bothered cuz they just figured maybe my maybe my alcoholic workaholic father is right about there not being a god which like this like why how is it possible a man who's never ever really invested any time into Judaism should have any influence over your thoughts about God yet every father has huge influence over your thoughts back ever thought about like why do you have why would you allow your father any influence over your thoughts about God unless of course your father spent a lot of time like you can look at his resume and there's like a year or two dedicated to this extremely complex subject and here we have almost no one's father's doing that yet deeply influenced by a man whose cannot be considered any more no offense to anyone's fathers but any more than in ignore is on this particular topic yeah that's what parents are parents are just like God parents are God you know and and the okay so anyway but here's the scary thought he's I've met people who do the commandments but never got to the god thing so do the commandments mean anything if you weren't doing them in a relationship with God whatever that's an interesting question um you're gonna ask that question in private when I walk out because it's 10 after four I'm Way over time I did everyone a beautiful day Shalom and rabbinic Myers next he does a little concert too and he's one of our really fabulous rabbis