Shalom Alaikum and welcome to Star Tank.
My name is Yaakov Wolf. The mission of Star Tank is to
address the challenges and opportunities of being a mentor
in the workforce to content community and other initiatives.
The following is a recording of a Sicha given by Usher Weiss
Shlita to members of the Star Tank community.
This was our very first in person event but Bezrat Hashem
it will not be our last. We are already planning our next
memorable event as well as other opportunities exclusively for
community members. If you don't want to miss out,
make sure to join our quiet WhatsApp group.
The link is in the show notes This episode is sponsored in
honour of the Balabatim who learn in Kolo Boker or Shmuel in
remote bet or Shmuel is a warm place and for all ages and
backgrounds to start their day with Torah learning.
They have Harusa matching Kaburas and more.
May all of the loan them have success in their learning and
all other endeavours. For more information see the
link in the show notes. As I mentioned before, what you
were about to hear is a Sikha given by Rev Usher Weiss.
He based his Sikha on a list of questions that were submitted by
Stark Tank community members and he even read some of the
questions out loud as he addressed them.
The questions were mainly about balancing, learning, working and
raising a family. He then opened the floor to
questions from the audience. Here is Rev Usher Weiss.
So I will just give a brief overview and a shkofa and then
we'll have some time to be more specific.
How do we balance out being a professional, doing your job,
providing for your family, learning Toyota and fulfilling
your duties as a husband and as a father to children?
And this seems to be a very daunting task, juggling all
these important endeavors and trying to figure out how much
resources, time and energy we dedicate to each of these.
So the very first question on my list is, I really want to learn
to it in a in a way that's fulfilling and meaningful.
But between work and being present for my wife and kids, I
have very little time available. Could they love give me some
music for navigating this challenge?
First yard sight of my late wife.
We had a big Kennis under the title Vachayit and Ellie Boy.
Maybe some of you might have participated and I spoke about
Asmodeva Toyota, Kriyasitamla Toyota and it was moved a few
days later when an individual came to me with a sheet and he
said this is my essay that I am from 6:30 in the morning when I
get up to 1115 when I go to sleep and I wrote down exactly
what I do throughout the day. Could they rough find some more
time because after what they rough said I want to learn
somewhat more and I go over that list and I come home from say
the basin coil 7:00 till 7:30. I spent some time with my wife
and and then I go back to learning and I said this item I
don't touch. This is sacrosanct.
This is holy. I want to take off from that
half hour. When you come home and you ask
your wife, how was her day? Maybe we could snatch off a few
minutes from breakfast, from dinner, from lunch from.
But we'll look for some minutes that we can add on.
But I'm not going to touch this one.
So we all face this challenge. If you are a professional, you
want to do your job properly with integrity and you want to
do the best for your family and provide for your family and that
means being successful in your career.
You want to be and you want to be a father So there's a Mccloy
kiss to be small in. And if you remember how Islam
is, hey, how does one balance out?
Bogey Savoyama valido. Very first pedic in dividend of
EM Yeshua Pedakalaf. What does that mean?
Does it mean all day and all night?
Or does it mean some of the day and some of the night says it
means all day and all night? Ravi Shmuel asks.
What about bossafto de gonerho? You need to harvest, you need to
plough, you need to sow, you need, you know, what about the
sow? De Gonerho says there is no
bossafto de Gonerho URA U Son Khan.
Others would come and they'll take care of your fields and
they be small. Says no, we are people and we
need to act like people, act and provide for your families and
your communities. And I wrote in Mini Kha Sasha.
This is not a Mahalikis Inhilka style material.
It's a Mahlajas and Hills Derek Eretz.
I assume the Bishmor was number less masmid than Rashbi.
Not that I knew them both, but a Menorca static test.
There's an atom Mahlajas there Bishmor and Rashbi and the Arab
Shimabi Hui says a fellow like Kora ELO Kriya Shamasha, Arvis,
Kiem. That seems to be a very drastic
contradiction. And brochus, he says, all day or
night you don't go into your fields, others will come.
And the menocracy says Christmas shackles viavis rebbish more and
brochus, says hanigbeh, menig de la Heritz and Menocus.
His nephew asked him could I learn Greek philosophy?
And he responds because your day and night need to be dedicated
Bogey Sabayama Laila. So this seems to be a very
drastic contradiction both of and of.
So I say both agree person needs to learn Toyota as much as he
can. The Macaulaycas is same from
Ella Nais or Ensem. It's a Macaulaycas and argues if
the entire nation, not individuals, if the entire
nation would dedicate all is time and resources and energies
to Tila, then miraculously we will need to do nothing else.
And Abhishmal says no is a dream, it's a utopian dream.
It's not a program, as a program, both SAFTA.
So as individuals, how do we balance this out?
There is no clear formula. No one could tell you exactly
how many hours you need to spend on any of these three endeavors.
It is about what is important to you.
It's more about attitude than receiving Ipsa.
What is extremely important is Kavya's.
I'll just share with you, I guess, schmuck A vort.
I don't even know whether it's a Vort or a vertical, because a
vort and a vertical are not exactly the same.
They're two different definitions.
The Pelayez who was one of the great Balayeemusa, the Beloza
Papo the Pelayez, is a very well known seifer.
He has another seifer called Khassad Lavrom and he writes
this idea both on Pelayez and Khassad Lavrom.
How important there is khabiya setem la Tyra.
First of all, he says if you're khaveh ET Amla Tyra, call khawa
ka Maha khazza. So Kavu is like 50% and the
among conditions says Rav has said mati Klapi, if a person has
50% screw us 50% ravis, Kurdish Boku just gives him a pushover,
the tipping point and that is has the shaman.
So if you create the military that's Max on Max.
If it's Max on Max you have Rave Robic Kulai.
So if you create the military, it is as you learn all day.
It is a combination of trima, Mora, khazal.
Is that a word? Vertical.
It definitely is not shot, but it is.
It's about attitude. So what is extremely important
is curious, preferably with or participating in this year.
If you learn on your own just wouldn't work out.
You'll always have very important things to do,
especially balancing out family and pronouncing.
So what is extremely important is either participating in a
Shia Barabin or what to learn, and how to learn is another
item. So the gold standard we learned
in yeshiva is even. So let me share with you just a
few words about the Yeshiva system.
It is clear to any time echo mitzvah stammeter lerman amanas
lassis. We are supposed to learn tere
lodas a Derek nayla bove ETA ma SE a Sherry yasun Ike mitzras to
learn halakha. Because when we use the post
soccer phrase, it is not only halakha.
There's also avoid this. OK, but Derek Nelekbar means how
to come closer to a Kurdish Borhu, how to have feelings for
a Kurdish Borhu, how to live with a Kurdish borhu even is not
the right thing. Yeshiva system is geared to
teach us how to learn. But of all life, we will be
trying to figure out how to learn.
When will you finally learn? And learning means knowing,
knowing Aloha, knowing Musa. So I think it's a huge mistake
for married people, working people to spend most of their
time on Eon. Most of the time needs to be
dedicated to learn Haloha, to learn Musa.
And why is it so important to learn Gomorrah?
Because Gomorrah is the basis for everything.
Musa comes from Gomorrah, Hasidis comes from Gomorrah,
Halohe comes from Gomorrah. When we talk about Teri Shabal
Peh, essentially we mean mission and Gamora.
Everything else is included. But Teri Shabal Peh is Khazal.
Hasima SA Talmud is a milestone. It was a very significant
transformation. And that is why this huge
industry of Dafa yaimi is important because Gamora is the
fundament. It's the basis, but I think it's
very important for working by the bathroom to learn how long
to learn either Mr. and Khasid is just to rekindle your spirit
and bring you closer to a condition bar.
But what is extremely important is Cavias.
Ethan Lataya is working at a Khatila or a Bidi event.
And this is also a very important question.
My mother passed away two years ago.
She was 93. She was an amazing woman in many
ways, extremely intelligent, great machineras.
She all has a very keen sense of humor.
And she used to say, I know why you guys write the Ksuba in
Aramaic because you don't want us to know what's in there.
But we do happen to know what's in there.
And you promised. I know.
And you don't live up to your creed.
You have no intention of fulfilling what you promised.
She said that with a touch of humor.
But working was never considered.
It was what everyone did for 2000 years.
It was what everyone did. There was one Simon in
Shokanorak which actually should be taken out of the Shokanorak,
and that is Simon Kufnun Zayn after Ashkuma, Sodom Babaikir
and Kriya Shemant fellow. And then there's a Simon you
learn after davening. And then there's a Simon you go
to work. Who goes to work?
Who goes to work after breakfast?
Nobody in this country goes to work, so why is that in the
should be taken out? In our days, working was never
considered. If you didn't work, you died.
If you didn't work, you starved. Everybody went to work.
So there was a huge controversy in the days of their ambam,
their ambam rights. It is a prohibition to make
money from Toyota and nowhere in the mission of toilets says that
Ambam use such harsh language as in Dara local in Hilukhstanma
toilet and Barikas Gadolo. So there's a there might be some
on the table that is the most recent Saif.
And there's a very interesting discussion about the Rambam.
The Rambam writes Kilalis Hashem Mevas is a toilet.
My last name is Arbrias. Very harsh language.
It was never considered a bidyevid.
On the other hand, this generation brought such a
blessing of Talma Toyota. And I think you know, contrary
to what many people think, nobody planned it, nobody
planned it, neither the Kazanish nor anyone else.
Nobody planned and nobody decided that everybody's going
to go to coil. The one that bears
responsibility for this phenomena is David Ben Gurion
Nishimosa Aiden. And I think you got a lot of
item haba for bringing about the age of Koala.
No goodwill planet. And I don't say this in a in a
derogatory fashion. It just happened because in this
country you couldn't go work. You needed to go to the army and
we didn't go to the army. And that is how the kernel world
developed. And it's a huge blessing.
Never before did we have so many young people.
True Talmidah Hakamim, you know, I'll share with you an
interesting phenomena. When you look at the vast world
of Charlotte Sichuvas, 50% is Arakheim, 30% is your idea.
The other 20% is divided between Evan Azam, Kharsha Mishpat,
Kharsha Mishpat having the smallest segment people weren't
familiar, and Kharsha Mishpat. Besides the greatest ghidalam,
nobody learned Kharsha Mishpat. How many people learned how
syllabus? One in a generation?
And today you have hundreds and hundreds of Talmidah Hakama
Mephlogam learning any MIT soya betaara.
So the coiler world is amazing and it's a blessing to our
generation. But we need to find the right
balance. Working is not a biddy of it.
Learning in coiler is amazing. It's a great schuss.
Ashley Misha Bolakkamvetan. Would there be other?
But those that work and provide for their families do not in any
way need to feel inferior. You're doing what your
forefathers did in every generation since math and title.
How do we infuse avoid this Hashem into your workplace?
How could we bring about a feeling in which a person
doesn't feel? 8 hours of my day is spent on
nothing and an hour and a half in the evening is dedicated to
Akandesh Borahu. So the Ramba Meshesdais speaks
about one little Posuk. The Ramban doesn't call the
Gomorrah, but the Gomorrah the Endo broker says ASA micro
cotton, a Posu cotton she called Goofy toilet.
And maybe I'll see this. I would stress Goofy Toilet.
Not nish masah toilet, but goofy toilet.
And then Rambam says what's the interpretation of Bahadur Hai?
You call Masaho once again a mission and novice.
And then Rambam's interpretation called Maserho means Maseri.
Shoot doesn't mean davening and learning doesn't mean citizen
felon. It means whatever you do should
be. When a person eats and drinks,
fundamentally you need to feel. It doesn't need to be a
conscious thought, but you need to feel.
I want to be healthy so I have a balanced diet.
I don't, and I'm ashamed to say I don't, but I should.
I want to be healthy because I want to serve a Kurdish Bora.
I want to have a long life, a healthy life, and I want to
dedicate my life. So when you work that same
fundamental feeling, I want to be honest in my job.
I want to make money. I want to provide for my family,
which is a mitzvah. I want to provide for my
community, which is a mitzvah. And sometimes, if you're
blessed, your worker also be working in supporting Tata.
Because the Taylor Wood is so big today, many people are in
marketing and finance and administration directly
associated with the Vydish Sham. But even if you're not, your job
has nothing to do with the Vydish Sham.
It depends on your attitude, it depends on your feeling and if
you feel every moment. The reason I am in this job is
because yes, I want to make money and that's legitimate, but
why do I need money? You know I want to be my kind of
my children and tell me Toyota, I want to support the I want to
support the local yeshiva. Then you work as part of your
avoidance Hashem and that I'm writes Nimso ha hailah bedera
hazah Ovid as Hashem called Yamav.
So all your day and all night becomes avoidance Hashem.
So as I spoke originally with Lebiakov, I will give a short
presentation. I will have some time for more
practical questions and answers. So I just wanted to share with
you some fundamentals about this sheet that was presented to me.
I do want to relate to the last question.
When interacting with non Jews for networking business
development, particularly during conferences, what are good
ghidorah to set for oneself? Should one strive to develop
personal relations with non Jews, secular Jews?
In order to create the Kiddush Hashem or stay away, keep it
professional. And once again, it's all about
balance and it's all about the individual.
No two people are the same. So in the bottle, you know some
of the instructions the girls get are just utterly ridiculous.
So when you work in a place and never use your first name,
what's your name? Give edit Hoffman, which is
somewhat awkward, and if anybody offers you a cracker or or or a
snack or a drink, you don't take because and this crazy feeling
that everybody is after you and everybody who wants you is sick.
It's not realistic, but you do need, you know, be nice to
people. You're allowed to smile, which
is a finish. You're allowed to smile, be nice
to people. You have a name.
And when people ask you what's your name, Only in the yeshiva
world do they use family names. You know, the yeshiva world, the
literacy world. You're not.
You don't have a Jewish name, which is crazy.
Mahmoud, Stein, Hoffmann. They don't use Jewish names.
But in the normal world your name is your first name, not
your family name. When you work with with non Jews
or secular Jews you have huge opportunities for Khilesh
Hashem. And for Khilesh Hashem means two
different things. Mysterious Nephesh giving away
your life and that is only by just sanctifying.
Sanctifying God's name Akhilesh Boko's name with the way you act
and interact is even between going we see that Nehru Seshava
saveda Nehru Zeila and so many see from in shilhana that even
dealing with non Jews you have a midst of kiddusheshem.
I have a daughter, my oldest daughter for the 25 years is
working with the police force. She's not a cop, she doesn't
wear uniform, she is a civilian. But she develops top secret
computer systems for the intelligence community in Israel
and just this week she received an award which was a huge
Kiddusheshem. When she took this job, she was
the only Heridi. Today, 70% of those under her
are Heridim and she's nice. People admire her in in the unit
and it's a huge kiddush Hashem. And in this country, it is so
important with with all that's going on and all the strife and
friction between the Heridic community and the secular
community, this is so important. So this question is very
individual. Don't become intimate ever, but
be nice, be polite and have a positive interaction with
secular Jews or even goyim, whether you're a man or a woman.
It's more sensitive with women that were men, but it's also
sensitive between men and the other gender that's on the other
side. So in all these shyless, we're
not dealing with Hilhas Natalie Sadayim or Sheer Matsu or the
Shia murder or exactly how what is the definition of Benesh
Moshe's? So on these questions it's
impossible to give a definitive sack, but it's more about
attitudes, which I I think I try to convey a very clear message.
Specifics. You have a seat in the morning
and then you have to make a decision how often that gets
cancelled. For OK, so monacamous
complicated things. Because I said there are three
aspects that we need to balance out.
Talmud, trailer, family, profession.
What about resed? And that is #4.
Resed is important. So there's a Medichtan home and
Parsis masa and amazing Medici. Revasi was crying before his
demise. The Tan Meeden was standing
around his deathbed and they ask Rebbe, you of all people, why
are you crying? What do you have to be worried
about? You are the greatest math man in
the generation. Is there any 30 you didn't
learn? Is there any 30 you didn't
teach? You weren't even involved in
community affairs because you were learning all the time.
And Avasi says that is why I am worried, because I was not
involved in community affairs and that's why I'm crying.
I should have been more involved.
I should have been nice about. So yes, I spend a lot of time
with people, as some of you might know, and too much time.
I have Kabbalah Khan in the morning.
I thought it's going to take half hours.
Sometimes I sit from 8:00 to 11:00 and people just come in
and out and it's too much for me and I don't know how to stop it,
but I do feel. But when a person comes into my
room troubled and he leaves my room with a smile on his face, I
think that I did something important and I accomplished
something. So yes, you need to be involved.
And he said so it's a evolution published the nefesh of crime.
The Nefesh Ram did not come out during the lifetime of the
Prime, and he writes in his introduction that my father used
to give him Musa. I think too much about myself
and too little about others. That's what he writes.
This is a testament to the itself's greatness.
Because let me make this very clear.
If anybody would say that about me, I would not write it in the
Agdema to myself. I would keep it to myself.
We assume that it's all like any other.
God will be a soul cared about people, but obviously not enough
to his father's expectations. And he writes my father used to
say none of us is here for himself, neither in Ashmis, not
even in Ruhius. We are all here for each other.
So Khesed is part of our obligation and it just makes the
balance more difficult. And nobody is perfect.
There is no magic formula how to balance this all out.
Maybe somebody is going to come up someday with an algorithm to
work this out. I don't think so because it has
so much to do with with the individual.
Not all our children were destined to be scholars.
We are realistic people. We're fathers of children.
Not all our children were destined to be scholars.
And that is one of the flaws in the in our present day system,
because we expect all our kids to come out exactly in the same
mold and it's an unrealistic expectation.
So some of our kids should be far more involved in Khasid and
others should be more into learning.
But everybody needs to be conveyed to material on one end
and engaged in Khasid than the other.
The ROV framed these issues as being in an area beyond black
and white Sakhalaha. So what is the role of Asaila
Khorav in these issues and Das Torah when it comes to career
and business decisions? So once again, I think Asaila
Khorav is important. It is not as important today as
it was in the days of yore when so once the entire transmission
of trader from one generation for the other was just the
relationship between Arab and Atalmid.
Today most of our learning is for him and when you ask a
person who's your Rebbe, he could just point you know these
are my Rebbe. But it still is important not
only for Myra Heroa because to understand the nuances of
Sakhiya need we need to have a Rebbe.
I think even in day-to-day life it's important to have a Rebbe.
But I think the concept of the asteroid has been taken to an
extreme and people just feel more comfortable if they don't
need to make decisions. But you do need to make
decisions in life, and many decisions could be made only by
you and your family. And the two words maybe I use
more than any others when people come to me would be, I don't
know because so many decisions in life are so personal and
depends on you and your wife and your children.
But we do believe, and we are to believe that a person that spent
all his life learning Taylor does achieve a certain level of
wisdom and insight and if he's basically intelligent.
So I think it's important to have a Rebbe, a Taylor mentor,
but it is also important to choose.
And nobody can impose on you who is your goddle.
And your goddle doesn't necessarily need to be the one
that has a newspaper behind him or political party behind him.
But it is important to have a personal relationship with the
great. He's not going to make all the
decisions for you. And if he claims to make all the
decisions for you, look for another rebbe.
He's not supposed to make all the decisions for you.
That Ambram has such a powerful line in one of his letters.
LA oylam al Yaslak odamda TOI Akhorov Ki hai Nayeim hamle
fanim. What a powerful line, he writes.
Never neglect your your mind because your eyes on the front
of your face, not on the back of your head.
If we would have eyes just to see where we have been taken,
then our eyes should have been in the back of our heads to see
where we have been taken. If your eyes are in the front of
your face, your eyes were given to you to choose where to go.
I think it is important to have a personal relationship with a
Rebbe. Choose your Obey them carefully,
just like you choose your business partners carefully.
And understand. Your rabbi is here for Toyota,
for Musa, for an additional level of understanding.
He's not supposed to make your personal decisions.
When to take a vacation with your family?
Where to go? Where to invest?
Never ask a time to home where to invest.
If you would know my track record, you wouldn't come close
to my room. I could say like Ebenezer,
Ebenezer wrote. If I would sell Tahrir and
people would live forever. That's the line that the
Ebenezer wrote. And I would sell candles.
The sun would never go down. That's the Ebenezer.
I could almost say the same. Your Rebbe is not here to decide
for you where to invest, but if you do have a certain doubt, you
could discuss with him and see whether he responds sensibly.
And if his response is not sensible, don't.
Don't listen to his advice. It's not like asking a Shailan
Elko Shabbis or an Elko's Yehud or in any other area of
Thailand. I remember when I was in yeshiva
a bunch of years ago, often feeling a sense of anxiety
before. I do approach already.
Sometimes it prevents me from actually, whether it be, you
know, oh, he's busy or I don't really have such a big problem.
How? I wish people would feel more
exactly before they approach me. They don't seem to.
I think that's wrong. And if you feel anxiety
approaching your rabbi, your rabbi's not doing this job
properly. I think Rabbi should be
available and and accessible, and they should be there for
their time either. Could thereof talk a little bit
about the role of Shabbos? On the one hand, we get to
Shabbos very exhausted, and on the other hand it is meant to be
an Oasis of roughness and spirituality in our week.
So how do we approach that? So Shabbos is a yoi Menujo UK
Ducho. And on one hand Shabbos is a yoi
Menujo and that means Shabbos was given to us also to rest.
So I've been asked from an American community lately about
schoolers. So a person lives somewhere in
the Midwest and he says almost the entire community comes to
shoon Shabbos and scooters. His rabbi said you can't use
that on Shabbos. And the question he came to ask
me if a person that uses a scooter and shabbos, if he's
Manasseh khayain, if he could get an aliyah and shoon.
So he said he's not Manasseh khayain, you can give him an
aliyah. How do we define Uddin the hoil?
So one of my egg doras. Any means of transportation
would be considered other than the coil.
So 100 years ago there was a controversy in Europe about
bikes. Could you ride a bike?
Some could delamor matio, others answered.
So the pussy, says Shivu Ish Takhtov Al Yezhi, Ishmem
Koimmik. So one of the fundamentals it's
not a mitzvah but one of the fundamentals of Shabbos is
Shabbos is supposed to be home, transportation is over than the
coil. So the show animation of 150
years ago deals with the tram. In many European cities it was a
tram rakeve takala and in many cities you didn't need to pay.
It was a service that the municipality gave to you.
Could you use that in Shabbos? You don't need to pay.
You don't need premetaltyl and the shonomation of acid
transportation is OVD in the coil and that is why these
little tricycles, the three Wheelers that kids use, that's
not another problem at all. Recreation is a motor.
Transportation is also. Once Upon a time these scooters
were more about recreation, but in the modern world it has
become a means of transportation.
So I would say it's OVD in the coil.
You could still give an Aaliyah to a person that his Rove says
he could use a scooter on Shabbos.
So Shabbos in one hand is a Joaiman ruther and it's
legitimate to rest on Shabbos. It is fundamentally, but Shabbos
is also a young of Kedusha and it is so important to infuse
your Shabbos with with Kedusha and spirituality.
And at middle of the week, you don't get to see your kids
enough. Your kids are in school.
By the time they come home, they're tired.
By the time you come home, you're tired.
Shabbos is a wonderful opportunity of learning with
your children, spending more time with your children.
So once again, everything we discussed today is all about
balance. Balancing up manuka and kedusha,
it's all about balance. Thank you so much, Rabi, for
taking the time to speak to us today.
Coulter was a pleasure to see you Walnut, and you should all
have a beautiful Shabbos. Thanks so much for listening.
If you enjoyed the SIQA, please take a moment to leave a five
star review. A quick reminder that on
Thursdays we will be having episodes about Star Tank topics
in Para Keevos and on Mondays we will be continuing our regular
interview series. Until next time, keep on
shtagging Kevra.