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20 years ago, in March 2004, a 
new blog appeared on the 

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Internet for the very first 
time. 

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It was called Hirhuram and has 
since been rebranded as Torah 

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musings, and it has grown to be 
a major hub for Torah on the 

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Internet. 
It strikes a balance between 

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sophisticated and popular, 
intellectually open and 

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helically conservative. 
The man behind this movement is 

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a rabbi who has written hundreds
of articles, published 5 books, 

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and has been involved in 
numerous communal initiatives. 

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Oh, and he's an actuary who 
learns, writes and teaches in 

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his spare time. 
His name is RAF Gil Student, and

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in our conversation he shares 
his unique take on working, 

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learning, and more. 
If he sounds like an intense 

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person, well, you're sort of 
right. 

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In our interview he talks about 
laid back intensity, his own 

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version of the rat race, and why
his corner of the office is 

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always the loudest. 
My name is Jacob Wolf and this 

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is starting 
Shamala, Tim Gil, student. 

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It's a great honor to have you 
here. 

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I think you're the first person 
to be a guest both on my podcast

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and at my bris. 
So welcome to the show and thank

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you for joining us. 
Yeah, it was such an I literally

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haven't seen you since you're 
bris. 

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So it's it's for the listeners 
who don't know. 

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I was very close with Jacqua's 
father, Josh. 

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His grandparents opened at home 
to me. 

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I spent a lot of time there. 
His great grandmother. 

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I used to eat Shabbos snills by 
her. 

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I don't what's coming next. 
In the next half hour or so, 

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it's going to be me talking 
about myself. 

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And I really, really don't feel 
boring. 

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I probably wouldn't have done it
for anyone else. 

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But for for your family, I I 
can't say no. 

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Thank you. 
Thank you. 

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So I, as you mentioned, I've 
been hearing about you a lot 

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since I was a very little kid 
and I always heard about you in 

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the context of being a scholar 
and Atomic Hakam. 

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So I was actually very surprised
to hear that you take a Parnassa

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as a not as a Rev, not as a clay
kodish full time. 

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So maybe just to frame the 
conversation about your learning

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and teaching you tell us a 
little bit about what you do 

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professionally and how you chose
that path. 

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OK, OK, so the first thing you 
have to understand is that 

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nothing in my life makes sense. 
I've never had a plan for 

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anything and everything just 
falls into place because of some

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of the stuff I'm going to tell 
you are like Parmesan duloing 

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that happened in my life. 
So to move back, OK, so I'll say

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I was in high school. 
I became from in high school. 

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I'd gone to somewhere. 
Chester. 

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I was at Fresh, which is a 
mountain Orthodox high school. 

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And after 10th grade, going into
11th grade, I became from and 

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from Shambas. 
It's tricked on everything, 

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strangely tricked on everything.
So, you know, my parents wanted 

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to go to whatever secular 
college and I had no interest 

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whatsoever if I could tell you a
story that be able to relate to 

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Yaakov. 
I went to a bar mitzvah, a 

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family bar mitzvah in Brookline 
when I was in 12th grade. 

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And it was at the time when my 
parents wanted me to go to. 

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So my parents reached out and to
get a lot of Kyle's 

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applications. 
But I got home before they got 

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home, so I threw them all in the
garbage because I only wanted to

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apply to Yu. 
But I missed one Columbia 

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Engineering application came in,
my parents got it. 

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I don't know how it slipped 
through and I applied and I 

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tried to get rejected. 
I actually somehow got accepted 

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to army engineering and I had no
interest in going and that was 

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an ongoing argument to me and my
parents. 

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And we're at Brooklyn for 
Shabbos and my father went with 

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me to show the the my father's a
wonderful wonderful wonderful 

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person. 
Great Kyle let's do what with me

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to mincha And in between Mincha 
and Lara there was a scholar 

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residence at the young Israel 
Copeland. 

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A young comma Falcon from the 
YUS Kolo Elion name the rabbi 

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bar sign Now many many people 
know us and he gave a knockout 

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sheer between Minsa Nay and 
after Shabbos. 

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I told my father if I want to be
anything like him, I can't go to

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Columbia. 
I have to go to Yu. 

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And my my recollection is that 
was the end of the story and I 

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went to Yu. 
And so I was in Yu and I really 

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had. 
I was just in college. 

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I started off in the same 
program that your father was in,

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in a joint engineering program 
between Yu and Columbia. 

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But the physics classes in Yu 
were three hours long. 

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Brutal. 
I couldn't sit still for that 

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long. 
I needed to find another major 

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and I was good at math. 
So one of my friends, David 

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Comet, a Rebbe, a high school 
rebbe. 

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So he said why don't you, why 
don't you major in math? 

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It's it's easy for you and 
attendance is not required in 

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class and that was the Yu 
policy. 

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If you're in math classes, 
attendance was required. 

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At that point, I had almost an 
out of body experience that was,

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you know, that was the jackpot. 
You could get a college degree 

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and not have to go to class. 
You just have to take tests. 

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No, I majored in math and and I 
had no idea what I was going to 

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do with it. 
But I asked around what do you 

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do with a major math and someone
said you could be an actuary. 

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OK, I'll be an actuary. 
That was it. 

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And. 
Can you tell us about your 

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transition from college to the 
workforce? 

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So we got married, Like, right 
after college. 

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I was 22, and it's the day 
before my 22nd birthday. 

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I got married. 
She was still in college. 

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My parents had no interest of me
learning in cola. 

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My in laws had no interest of me
learning in cola. 

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So we skated along for a year 
and then at some point, no, I 

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said what he shouldn't you be 
interviewing for a job? 

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OK, I'll let a few for a job. 
Sent out a bunch of resumes, 

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interviewed. 
I got the worst job in the 

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actuarial industry but I got my 
foot on the door. 

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And so I started as in a as a 
property casualty. 

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Actuary hated the job 
immediately. 

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Terrible terrible job. 
Great people love the people 

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hated the job. 
That lasted maybe nine months. 

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But the way I got out of it is a
very important lesson. 

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I don't A few few months ago I 
was working in Brooklyn and I 

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bumped into a an average thing 
Nicole in St. 

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Berlin. 
And he just said what you're 

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learning. 
And and you know, he asked me, 

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how do you remember, What's your
strategy to remember the 

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Gomorrah that you learned and it
keeps you in your head. 

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And I told him why My strategy 
is brute force. 

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Just keep learning, learning, 
learning. 

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Fazzer, fazzer, fazzer. 
And. 

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And that's my strategy in life. 
So when it came to finding 

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another job, this was before the
Internet. 

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We're talking 1996. 
Maybe there wasn't it, but I I 

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wasn't online. 
But in my company, it had a big 

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book with a list of every 
insurance company in the 

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country. 
So I took that big book. 

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I went through every insurance 
company that looked like they 

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had a headquarters in New York. 
And I sent through a resume of a

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letter and I called them up and 
through brute force I got a few 

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interviews and I got two really,
really good job off. 

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And and they told me after I 
started my next job, which was a

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great place to work. 
They said the reason they hired 

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me was because they were 
impressed by my effort that I 

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put in. 
So I got a job as an actuary and

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it's been an actuary. 
You know, you don't need any 

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Graduate School. 
I had no graduate degree 

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whatsoever. 
I don't even have some years off

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from Yu or any institution, but 
you have to take actuarial 

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exams. 
So I had a great job working as 

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an actually pricing business, 
reserving, doing all. 

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It was really fancy stuff. 
It was in mid 90s when finance 

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and insurance was was 
overlapping and I'm still also 

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some really cool stuff but I had
three kids by that couldn't take

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exams and learn and you know I, 
I, I, I the way I have it with 

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my wife originally we had for 
the past 30 years. 

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She's the one at all. 
She takes care of the kids. 

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My job is to earn a living. 
My work always comes first and 

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then after that comes my family 
and my learning. 

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So I was never there. 
I missed lots of things for my 

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kids because I when I had to 
work, I had to work. 

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But for me, I needed time to 
learn. 

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I needed time to be with my 
family. 

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I couldn't just be stunned for 
these exams. 

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And you're competing. 
It's graded on a curve. 

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So you're competing with other 
people who are young, who have 

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no families, who don't have 
shabbats, don't have youngsters.

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It's very hard to compete. 
As I said, you know who needs 

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this? 
Why don't you take exams? 

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I could, I could be working in 
finance, making more money, 

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working fewer hours. 
So I I got out of there and I 

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called the head out there and I 
got a job in credit cards. 

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I was working at Citibank credit
cards, which at that time I 

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think was the biggest credit 
card company in the country from

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out of the world. 
And it was a cash cow. 

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They were earning money, tons of
money, no matter what they did. 

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But it's huge company. 
I felt like Dilbert there. 

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It's terrible. 
And I I I really hated my job. 

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I hated going to work every day.
And you know, I never really 

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have career aspirations. 
I don't enjoy the work. 

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But you got to get some sleep 
behind that fish. 

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I know, I know. 
I'm not sending lives here, but 

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I just can't be bored all day. 
You go out of your mind. 

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Only thing that I had was e-mail
lists. 

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So I was on these e-mail lists, 
Torah e-mail lists, sending 

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emails. 
You know, it was horrible. 

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So I called the recruiter and 
said, you know, get me, get me, 

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called an actuarial recruiter 
following Rhymer. 

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She's from, she's from. 
I said can you can you get me 

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something? 
And she looked. 

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And then after a while she said 
she found an industry, a company

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that was looking for someone 
with an actuarial background and

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a credit background. 
I said, oh, I used to be an 

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actuar. 
I work in credit perfect. 

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And I stumbled into this niche 
industry in finance and that 

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merges finance and insurance. 
And I I started working there 

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and it was it was it was great 
stuff that basically I'm 

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crunching numbers. 
I'm back all this. 

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I'm not doing any sales. 
I'm not meeting with any 

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customers. 
I I really have. 

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They know me. 
They realize I don't have the 

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kind of personality to deal with
outside parties. 

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Too much. 
A little bit not too much. 

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I'm not a schmoozer. 
I'm a quiet guy and but I I had 

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a career there. 
And then came the financial 

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crisis which hit specifically my
industry destroyed my career. 

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The 2008 started 2007, 2008. 
I watched. 

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I was in the center of all that 
crisis. 

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I'm part of it. 
I watched it happen. 

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Destroyed every company in my 
industry except for one and 

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everybody got laid off. 
I was literally in. 

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I was called into the cafeteria 
where the CEO addressed 1/3 of 

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the company and said you're all 
fired, all laid off. 

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And I was kept on as an, I mean,
I can tell you stories, There's 

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a lot of practice in here. 
How I was saved from from all 

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that and it went on the kids. 
Eventually it laid me off, but 

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they hired me back as a 
consultant and they kept 

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renewing it and renewing it. 
That probably didn't last 

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forever. 
So what was the next step? 

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Finally, the day before my last 
day on that job, I got a call 

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from Robin Gannack from Gannack 
of the OU and left me a 

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voicemail. 
I'm like, I I don't have time to

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do it. 
I'm I'm about to be unemployed. 

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You know I've got 4 kids at that
point. 

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My wife is a stay at home mom. 
I have no source event 

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whatsoever. 
I can't he he called me again, 

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left me another voicemail. 
So I I called him back. 

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He said it's starting a 
publishing. 

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They started publishing it to OU
and they want to talk to me 

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about it and basically it was 
offered me a job. 

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00:11:02,640 --> 00:11:06,680
I went into the OU the next week
and they over made a job to be 

225
00:11:06,840 --> 00:11:10,600
an editor editing forum. 
This is my dream job. 

226
00:11:10,600 --> 00:11:13,800
This is what I've always wanted 
to do at the OU is mamash 

227
00:11:13,800 --> 00:11:17,160
grenade. 
But you know, they didn't pay 

228
00:11:17,160 --> 00:11:19,040
the salary that I needed to 
support a family. 

229
00:11:19,840 --> 00:11:22,160
So I've worked for there for two
years with a I had a sevens 

230
00:11:22,160 --> 00:11:24,200
package. 
And then at the end of two 

231
00:11:24,200 --> 00:11:27,840
years, mom is literally two 
years later, I come back, come 

232
00:11:27,840 --> 00:11:29,080
to the office. 
Today is the day. 

233
00:11:29,080 --> 00:11:33,240
I have to look for a new job. 
I Google something, reach out to

234
00:11:33,240 --> 00:11:36,200
a recruiter who I know said I 
want this job at my level. 

235
00:11:36,600 --> 00:11:39,680
And he said Gil, the hiring 
manager of that job you used to 

236
00:11:39,680 --> 00:11:43,720
work with, just call him up. 
I called him up, wanted to call 

237
00:11:43,720 --> 00:11:46,400
me that day. 
By the end of the day he said, 

238
00:11:46,400 --> 00:11:49,960
Gil, you have a job and I got 
hired at AIG, which at the time 

239
00:11:49,960 --> 00:11:51,840
was one of the biggest insurance
companies in the world. 

240
00:11:52,680 --> 00:11:56,920
And I was doing basically my 
step doing financial. 

241
00:11:56,920 --> 00:11:59,920
I do financial projections. 
I did capital modeling and 

242
00:11:59,920 --> 00:12:03,600
capital projections and 
insurance and I ended up being 

243
00:12:03,600 --> 00:12:06,720
there for eight years. 
I learned an incredible amount 

244
00:12:06,720 --> 00:12:10,040
from that company as it is a 
jungle. 

245
00:12:10,280 --> 00:12:12,960
It's they consider themselves 
are these instead of themselves 

246
00:12:12,960 --> 00:12:15,760
sort of like an investment bank 
everybody that for themselves 

247
00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:19,760
survival of the fittest stab 
everybody in the back whenever 

248
00:12:19,760 --> 00:12:22,400
you can. 
I've my back is wounded I have 

249
00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:27,000
so many knives in the back and 
my back but it's tell me to tell

250
00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:30,200
me to think strategically as you
want to position yourself so you

251
00:12:30,200 --> 00:12:34,040
can't get stabbed in the back 
and you got to think 3-4 steps 

252
00:12:34,040 --> 00:12:38,920
ahead so that you know you'll 
come out without being destroyed

253
00:12:39,440 --> 00:12:42,720
and and and that taught me an 
important lesson but my general 

254
00:12:42,720 --> 00:12:45,560
strategy in the office is I 
don't really care I'm just there

255
00:12:45,560 --> 00:12:47,480
to do a job. 
I tend to be an attempts person 

256
00:12:47,960 --> 00:12:51,360
I I do what I need to do I tend 
to do it pretty quickly and then

257
00:12:51,640 --> 00:12:53,920
hopefully pretty well. 
But I don't. 

258
00:12:53,920 --> 00:12:55,920
I don't enjoy it. 
I'm not competing with anybody. 

259
00:12:55,920 --> 00:12:58,280
I have no career aspirations. 
I just want to make enough money

260
00:12:58,280 --> 00:13:02,120
so I can pay my bills. 
AB shoe tuition and and that's 

261
00:13:02,120 --> 00:13:04,040
it. 
But somehow Laura Flashem my my 

262
00:13:04,320 --> 00:13:07,440
youngest is in 12th grade and 
made it just about made it 

263
00:13:07,440 --> 00:13:09,800
through. 
Yeah, yeshiva system. 

264
00:13:10,240 --> 00:13:14,000
It's been brutal. 
But my my philosophy in the 

265
00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:18,640
office is do your job do it well
and just try to make friends. 

266
00:13:18,760 --> 00:13:20,760
I'm not a friendly person. 
I'm I'm a quiet person. 

267
00:13:20,800 --> 00:13:23,920
But I try to help other people. 
Someone needs another job needs 

268
00:13:23,920 --> 00:13:26,520
a reference or if they they need
something quickly tender and 

269
00:13:26,520 --> 00:13:28,440
I'll turn around for them 
quickly I'll do them a savior. 

270
00:13:28,720 --> 00:13:29,880
I just want to do people stay 
here. 

271
00:13:29,880 --> 00:13:35,200
So one thing that's just I'm not
good at the underhanded way of 

272
00:13:35,200 --> 00:13:36,880
survival. 
So I'd rather survive because 

273
00:13:36,880 --> 00:13:40,560
people like me and you know if 
if they have to choose who to 

274
00:13:40,560 --> 00:13:43,360
lay off, they'll hopefully 
they'll they'll choose. 

275
00:13:43,600 --> 00:13:45,560
They won't choose the guy who 
helps them out. 

276
00:13:46,160 --> 00:13:49,040
So then I survived 8 years in in
AIG that way. 

277
00:13:49,920 --> 00:13:53,440
And then also doing festive for 
people. 

278
00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:57,360
Jewish gentile doesn't matter. 
You help people out, they'll 

279
00:13:57,360 --> 00:14:00,200
help you back. 
When you need a job, when you 

280
00:14:00,200 --> 00:14:03,040
need a switch to transfer or 
anything like that, you help 

281
00:14:03,040 --> 00:14:05,160
them, they'll help you out. 
People remember people are good.

282
00:14:05,160 --> 00:14:06,840
And even if you didn't help them
out, you helped out their 

283
00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:08,120
friend. 
It's good. 

284
00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:10,240
There's a, you know, they call 
the Hasid boomerang. 

285
00:14:10,560 --> 00:14:14,760
It's absolutely true. 
And that's basically how I 

286
00:14:14,760 --> 00:14:17,800
survived in my career. 
And then after eight years at 

287
00:14:17,800 --> 00:14:21,720
that and I was and and let me 
tell you at AIG, at some points 

288
00:14:21,720 --> 00:14:25,920
in in my career, my, the average
time I I left work was nine, 

289
00:14:26,080 --> 00:14:29,720
9:00 PM and I was working 12 
hours on a boring day. 

290
00:14:30,320 --> 00:14:32,880
And when it got intense, I was 
there till 1:00 in the morning, 

291
00:14:32,880 --> 00:14:36,080
2:00 in the morning, and and 
through all that, I was, people 

292
00:14:36,080 --> 00:14:38,080
don't know this. 
I was blogging the whole time I 

293
00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:39,720
was writing. 
I was publishing in newspapers 

294
00:14:39,720 --> 00:14:41,720
and magazines the whole time. 
We can talk about how I did 

295
00:14:41,720 --> 00:14:44,200
that, the smokes and nerves 
around my my life. 

296
00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:49,600
But after eight years, I got a 
an e-mail from that one company 

297
00:14:49,680 --> 00:14:52,840
in that industry that I was in 
before the financial crisis. 

298
00:14:53,320 --> 00:14:56,160
The guy who had my equivalent of
the job said I just got 

299
00:14:56,160 --> 00:14:57,360
promoted. 
Do you know anyone who wants my 

300
00:14:57,360 --> 00:14:59,240
whole job? 
I said I'll take it, I'll take 

301
00:14:59,240 --> 00:15:01,400
it. 
Told them what I wanted in terms

302
00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:04,360
of salary. 
And I mean it's just Bart 

303
00:15:04,360 --> 00:15:05,760
Hashem. 
I just unbelieve a lot of that 

304
00:15:05,760 --> 00:15:07,280
happened. 
Unless I've been there all five 

305
00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:11,840
years working for one of my old 
friends, old comrades, working 

306
00:15:11,840 --> 00:15:13,920
in this old industry where 
everybody knows each other, 

307
00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:15,880
people I've known for 20 plus 
years. 

308
00:15:15,880 --> 00:15:17,520
I've suddenly got reacquainted 
in them. 

309
00:15:18,080 --> 00:15:22,680
Nice quiet company or Hashem is 
somehow it all worked out. 

310
00:15:22,960 --> 00:15:25,680
But but to to to my point, I 
never had any career 

311
00:15:25,680 --> 00:15:27,360
aspirations. 
They didn't want to be AC 

312
00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:30,000
anything. 
CEOI wanted to manage as few 

313
00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:33,280
people as possible as some coin.
I reach one of my career where I

314
00:15:33,280 --> 00:15:35,720
was managing people well because
they forced me to do it. 

315
00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:38,360
I'm actually pretty good at it, 
but it's exhausting to manage 

316
00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:42,680
people, especially millennials. 
I mean, no offense, but like 50%

317
00:15:42,680 --> 00:15:45,440
of my time was spent counseling 
people with new problems, 

318
00:15:45,440 --> 00:15:48,360
wanting this and that. 
And you know, you know, 

319
00:15:48,520 --> 00:15:49,640
wonderful people. 
I like them. 

320
00:15:49,640 --> 00:15:51,320
I love them. 
They're good people. 

321
00:15:51,320 --> 00:15:53,520
I try to help them out as much 
as I can, but it's exhausting. 

322
00:15:53,520 --> 00:15:55,680
I just want to be an individual 
contributor. 

323
00:15:55,920 --> 00:15:57,120
Hold me in front of a 
spreadsheet. 

324
00:15:57,120 --> 00:16:00,240
I can do wonderful things for 
you and I don't want to be 

325
00:16:00,280 --> 00:16:01,520
thinking about it on the 
weekends. 

326
00:16:01,520 --> 00:16:05,000
You know, sometimes I had, I had
to work on the weekends and work

327
00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:09,600
through Shabbos and you know, I 
never compromised on what I owe 

328
00:16:09,600 --> 00:16:12,880
of Halafa and they respect that 
and they know that one. 

329
00:16:12,880 --> 00:16:15,680
What if I put that forward at 
the beginning and you're 

330
00:16:15,680 --> 00:16:17,400
consistent? 
They respect that and they work 

331
00:16:17,400 --> 00:16:19,200
around you. 
At least in my experience, 

332
00:16:19,200 --> 00:16:20,880
that's what I've done. 
I've always worn the Yamaha. 

333
00:16:21,680 --> 00:16:23,120
I know lots of people that go to
Minnesota. 

334
00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:25,480
They they put on the Yamaha and 
I don't, and I don't judge them 

335
00:16:25,480 --> 00:16:28,000
for that. 
But I don't want to spend how 

336
00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:30,760
many have 12 hours a day 
uncomfortable. 

337
00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:32,880
That's just not how I want to 
live my life. 

338
00:16:33,360 --> 00:16:36,080
So I just I'd be consuming. 
I have a beard support my beard 

339
00:16:36,080 --> 00:16:39,760
was a bigger nobody cares. 
I've published forums usually 

340
00:16:39,760 --> 00:16:41,720
don't tell people about it but 
they tend to figure it out if 

341
00:16:41,720 --> 00:16:43,960
there's a Wikipedia page for me.
So people go over me they find 

342
00:16:43,960 --> 00:16:47,120
that and they they realize I'm 
the I'm the rabbi and and 

343
00:16:47,600 --> 00:16:49,080
actually people come to me for 
counseling. 

344
00:16:49,960 --> 00:16:53,080
And in the office I have I have 
Catholics. 

345
00:16:53,080 --> 00:16:56,440
Protestants who come to me with 
with with their own spiritual 

346
00:16:56,440 --> 00:16:59,520
questions. 
No, I try to try to help them in

347
00:16:59,520 --> 00:17:01,160
any way that I can. 
That's why incredible. 

348
00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:04,760
Wow. 
So I have a whole bunch of 

349
00:17:04,760 --> 00:17:06,119
follow up questions, but I'll 
start with this. 

350
00:17:06,119 --> 00:17:08,920
When I reached out to you for 
this interview, you responded 

351
00:17:08,920 --> 00:17:11,359
and I'll quote here. 
I'm happy to participate, 

352
00:17:11,359 --> 00:17:13,720
although I'm not particularly 
successful in my career. 

353
00:17:13,839 --> 00:17:16,280
So if I understand you 
correctly, you're saying that 

354
00:17:16,280 --> 00:17:18,800
the fact that you'd ought to see
anything and the fact that you 

355
00:17:18,800 --> 00:17:20,560
might not be the wealthiest guy 
in the world, is that what you 

356
00:17:20,560 --> 00:17:23,079
meant by I'm not particularly 
successful in my career? 

357
00:17:23,240 --> 00:17:27,480
Yeah, no, I I I I make enough my
goal. 

358
00:17:28,040 --> 00:17:31,360
So first of all I've exceeded 
anyone's expectations including 

359
00:17:31,360 --> 00:17:35,120
my parents, including my own. 
I thought I would not be able to

360
00:17:35,120 --> 00:17:39,320
make ends meet and especially 
given my attitude and given my I

361
00:17:39,320 --> 00:17:41,200
killed everyone. 
Just about everyone I know I 

362
00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:43,280
have no career aspiration. 
Please don't promote me. 

363
00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:48,000
Somehow they keep promoting me 
and I I make enough to pay all 

364
00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:49,640
my bills. 
I've always paid full tuition 

365
00:17:50,280 --> 00:17:53,880
which makes me a sucker. 
I've always paid full tuition 

366
00:17:54,240 --> 00:17:58,040
and I have enough to pay my 
bills and to like I have a 

367
00:17:58,040 --> 00:17:59,280
cushion. 
You always do cushion for a 

368
00:17:59,280 --> 00:18:00,520
rainy day. 
So Barack Hashem I have a 

369
00:18:00,520 --> 00:18:03,600
cushion and I I can't complain. 
I live a simple life. 

370
00:18:03,600 --> 00:18:05,760
I don't do vacations. 
Fancy vacations. 

371
00:18:06,200 --> 00:18:09,760
We've never done anything fancy.
Only one of my children went to 

372
00:18:09,760 --> 00:18:11,160
everything for the year. 
It's very expensive. 

373
00:18:11,880 --> 00:18:13,400
My boys never wanted to go. 
Barack Hashem. 

374
00:18:13,400 --> 00:18:17,440
I didn't have to pay for that 
And there's and really my only 

375
00:18:17,440 --> 00:18:21,080
goal of parenting and I think I 
said before and I I and I'll go 

376
00:18:21,080 --> 00:18:22,960
into this more when we talk 
about learning there's an error 

377
00:18:22,960 --> 00:18:26,560
in that says so who who do your 
seats are with someone who's 

378
00:18:26,760 --> 00:18:28,600
cruel to their children like a 
Raven. 

379
00:18:29,120 --> 00:18:31,000
Now you take it literally you're
going to be a horrible person. 

380
00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:32,200
You can't be full to your 
children. 

381
00:18:32,840 --> 00:18:35,680
But I wasn't there. 
I was there for a lot of their 

382
00:18:35,680 --> 00:18:38,360
lives. 
I was usually in the office and 

383
00:18:38,680 --> 00:18:40,960
you know if I can rewrite my 
learning schedule to be with 

384
00:18:40,960 --> 00:18:44,040
them but even learning you know 
I I go to the basement tonight 

385
00:18:44,040 --> 00:18:47,040
or I do this or that and I'm I'm
constantly busy with things. 

386
00:18:47,440 --> 00:18:51,680
I'm constantly, you know, 
writing and and you know and and

387
00:18:51,680 --> 00:18:54,120
when we go places, sometimes 
people recognize me and want to 

388
00:18:54,120 --> 00:18:56,760
talk to me and make them 
embarrass my kids, embarrass me.

389
00:18:57,280 --> 00:18:59,280
I just want to be left alone. 
That's my goal in life. 

390
00:19:00,560 --> 00:19:04,280
So you know, I've always been 
such a good parent and my only 

391
00:19:04,280 --> 00:19:07,280
goal though was the minute my 
wife becomes pregnant. 

392
00:19:07,280 --> 00:19:09,520
If you wait till you till your 
wife gives birth, you're late. 

393
00:19:09,560 --> 00:19:11,600
The minute your wife you find 
out your wife is pregnant you 

394
00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:14,920
need to start doubting that your
kids will be firm and be live it

395
00:19:14,920 --> 00:19:18,000
to our life. 
And then you know you cry you 

396
00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:20,040
dive in. 
That's to me that's the most 

397
00:19:20,040 --> 00:19:23,640
important thing to my kids. 
Every every decision we've made 

398
00:19:23,640 --> 00:19:26,760
in life has to deal with how 
will it affect our kids so that 

399
00:19:26,760 --> 00:19:29,720
they will end up being from they
don't have to be like me could 

400
00:19:29,720 --> 00:19:32,360
be the right to the left. 
I don't care and and they all 

401
00:19:32,360 --> 00:19:34,400
tend to be to the right of me 
which is fine. 

402
00:19:34,400 --> 00:19:38,080
That's been my main concern 
throughout is if I'm a bad 

403
00:19:38,080 --> 00:19:41,720
father, Oh my still my kids 
still come out from and 

404
00:19:41,960 --> 00:19:43,560
Varakasham my wife is a good 
mother. 

405
00:19:43,560 --> 00:19:46,320
So it it worked out. 
Well, you spoke you you made 

406
00:19:46,320 --> 00:19:49,440
reference to these smoke and 
mirrors around your achievements

407
00:19:49,440 --> 00:19:50,840
in Torah. 
So I want to start getting into 

408
00:19:50,840 --> 00:19:52,440
that a little more. 
So I think just a good way to 

409
00:19:52,440 --> 00:19:54,720
start would be maybe. 
I'm sure things have changed 

410
00:19:54,720 --> 00:19:57,880
over the years, but as things go
now, what's your daily or weekly

411
00:19:57,880 --> 00:20:00,080
learning regimen looking like? 
OK, I'll. 

412
00:20:00,080 --> 00:20:04,520
I'll tell you what it is, but 
just keep in mind I'm older than

413
00:20:04,520 --> 00:20:06,440
you. 
My kids are all gone. 

414
00:20:06,520 --> 00:20:08,400
My grandchildren don't live 
anywhere near me. 

415
00:20:10,880 --> 00:20:13,720
I my goal is to learn 25 blot a 
week. 

416
00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:18,560
I always never reach that goal. 
One of my strategies in life is 

417
00:20:18,920 --> 00:20:22,200
have goals that push you. 
I need to be pushed. 

418
00:20:22,680 --> 00:20:25,560
And my work is not that hard. 
It's I'm, I'm not hard. 

419
00:20:25,560 --> 00:20:27,360
The Myron senator says. 
I'm all at Tara. 

420
00:20:27,640 --> 00:20:30,680
It's it's a learning and you 
need to struggle. 

421
00:20:30,680 --> 00:20:33,720
You need to push yourself. 
And I'm not. 

422
00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:36,520
I'm not the smartest. 
I've never been the smartest guy

423
00:20:36,520 --> 00:20:39,520
in the room. 
I know that smart probably above

424
00:20:39,520 --> 00:20:41,400
average. 
Everybody thinks they're above 

425
00:20:41,400 --> 00:20:42,840
average. 
So hopefully I'm above average. 

426
00:20:42,840 --> 00:20:44,400
But I'm I'm certainly not 
brilliant. 

427
00:20:44,520 --> 00:20:47,200
I wouldn't really always wish I 
could have been brilliant but 

428
00:20:47,200 --> 00:20:49,760
I'm not. 
But you got to push yourself. 

429
00:20:49,920 --> 00:20:54,240
You got to push yourself because
none of us is an amazing amazing

430
00:20:54,240 --> 00:20:56,800
the Hagdamma. 
So that my Bibbs, Bibbs, L 

431
00:20:56,800 --> 00:20:59,120
Kingdom. 
My Bibbs lived in the 1500s and 

432
00:20:59,120 --> 00:21:03,720
SAS where I was called for safer
based L Kingdom introduction, he

433
00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:05,160
points out. 
And this is something that 

434
00:21:05,520 --> 00:21:07,080
counts a lot. 
You hear all the time that 

435
00:21:07,080 --> 00:21:10,200
anyone can be a guddle if they 
they just work hard enough. 

436
00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:12,720
Anyone can be a guddle bitura 
and it's clearly not true 

437
00:21:12,720 --> 00:21:15,200
because some people are below 
average intelligence, some 

438
00:21:15,200 --> 00:21:16,600
people are above every 
intelligence. 

439
00:21:17,360 --> 00:21:19,320
To be a guddle bitura you have 
to be brilliant. 

440
00:21:19,760 --> 00:21:22,520
You know, we we might make joke 
about people not in our 

441
00:21:22,520 --> 00:21:24,960
community, but whatever. 
A guddle bitura is by definition

442
00:21:24,960 --> 00:21:27,160
brilliant. 
Some people just are not that 

443
00:21:27,160 --> 00:21:29,480
smart. 
So the Mobid says, and the Mobid

444
00:21:29,480 --> 00:21:32,560
says this, he says everybody has
and it's a Gomorrah said. 

445
00:21:32,560 --> 00:21:35,280
We're in need of that. 
Everyone in the Tipa, when 

446
00:21:35,280 --> 00:21:37,400
everyone is conceived or when 
they're born, Hashem already 

447
00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:39,480
determines who's going to be 
Khausam and who's not going to 

448
00:21:39,480 --> 00:21:41,160
be Khausam. 
But it's really just to be a 

449
00:21:41,160 --> 00:21:42,720
Sadiq or Russia. 
That's up to us. 

450
00:21:42,720 --> 00:21:44,000
Everything else is 
predetermined. 

451
00:21:44,240 --> 00:21:47,040
We're not all going to be a 
Khausam, but it says in my bit, 

452
00:21:47,040 --> 00:21:49,280
but how do you know? 
How do you know what you are 

453
00:21:49,280 --> 00:21:50,480
going to be? 
How do you know what your 

454
00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:52,080
potential is? 
Everyone has different 

455
00:21:52,080 --> 00:21:53,840
potential. 
One person, if he fulfills his 

456
00:21:53,840 --> 00:21:58,720
potential, he has a higher place
in Shramim. 

457
00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:00,600
But it doesn't fulfill his 
potential. 

458
00:22:00,600 --> 00:22:03,120
He says that's what it means. 
And the Gomorrah says, you know,

459
00:22:03,160 --> 00:22:07,080
in Shamayim elioning Taftonim 
and Taftonim elioning, The 

460
00:22:07,080 --> 00:22:08,440
people in this world are up on 
the top. 

461
00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:11,080
In Shamayim in the bottom, 
people in this world at the 

462
00:22:11,080 --> 00:22:12,600
bottom and Shamayim are in the 
top. 

463
00:22:13,120 --> 00:22:15,360
He's talking about people who 
accomplish in learning, someone 

464
00:22:15,360 --> 00:22:17,520
who seems like they accomplish 
so much in learning. 

465
00:22:17,520 --> 00:22:19,760
When they go to Shaman, you 
realize he didn't even fulfill 

466
00:22:19,760 --> 00:22:21,440
his potential. 
He was supposed to be a Hartham,

467
00:22:21,800 --> 00:22:24,640
and he was but it wasn't as big 
a harm as it should have been 

468
00:22:25,040 --> 00:22:27,760
and and the but says him a big 
How do you know what your 

469
00:22:27,760 --> 00:22:28,760
potential is? 
You don't. 

470
00:22:29,280 --> 00:22:32,040
The only thing you could do is 
push yourself as hard as 

471
00:22:32,040 --> 00:22:34,360
possible and then push yourself 
more. 

472
00:22:34,680 --> 00:22:37,040
And that's the only way you'll 
know that you've at least come 

473
00:22:37,040 --> 00:22:38,440
close to fulfilling your 
potential. 

474
00:22:39,600 --> 00:22:42,280
So that's what I do. 
I push myself as hard as I can 

475
00:22:42,760 --> 00:22:44,240
and then I push myself a little 
more. 

476
00:22:44,800 --> 00:22:48,000
So I try to learn and because 25
blot a week, which I almost 

477
00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:52,720
never do, but I usually get to 
21 and see the the reason I pick

478
00:22:52,720 --> 00:22:55,560
25 is if you learn 25 blot a 
week, you finish shots says in 

479
00:22:55,560 --> 00:22:59,960
two years if you do 21 blot a 
week, so then you're going three

480
00:22:59,960 --> 00:23:03,240
times as fast as Dafyung me. 
So you'll finish, you'll finish 

481
00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:05,120
S three times in every Dafyung 
cycle. 

482
00:23:05,920 --> 00:23:08,320
And that's just Bakias. 
I mean all you do is you learn 

483
00:23:08,320 --> 00:23:10,720
Bakias, you'll have a 
superficial understanding of 

484
00:23:10,720 --> 00:23:12,560
everything and it'll be a 
superficial person. 

485
00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:16,120
So I also choose Soggius and I 
write, I have to write an 

486
00:23:16,120 --> 00:23:18,920
article, I have to write at 
least 1000 words every week on a

487
00:23:18,920 --> 00:23:21,240
Sogya. 
Usually I'll also stuff time 

488
00:23:21,240 --> 00:23:27,840
Flashkova and so every week I'm 
also, you know, researching some

489
00:23:27,840 --> 00:23:31,560
sort of topic going from the 
beginning to the end from Sazal 

490
00:23:31,560 --> 00:23:34,760
all the way to the Afronym. 
And you know, I have my own 

491
00:23:34,760 --> 00:23:36,080
message. 
Some people like to go 

492
00:23:36,200 --> 00:23:38,960
backwards, they look at a Sicily
ezzer or a labial or and they go

493
00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:40,840
backwards. 
Some people start from the 

494
00:23:40,840 --> 00:23:42,040
beginning. 
I usually start in the middle. 

495
00:23:42,360 --> 00:23:44,920
I go to a leg re shield, an 
early iPhone, and then when I 

496
00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:46,880
find that topic that I'm 
interested in and then I go 

497
00:23:47,200 --> 00:23:50,360
bottom, go go their bottom and 
their top and I just research it

498
00:23:50,360 --> 00:23:54,080
from the beginning and then that
way I have a little EN as well. 

499
00:23:54,680 --> 00:23:57,240
They try to make it a little 
lumbish as well. 

500
00:23:57,280 --> 00:24:01,000
And you just do that every week.
And plus I always get random 

501
00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:04,120
questions that people come to me
on the streets or emails of. 

502
00:24:04,120 --> 00:24:07,280
People just ask me weird 
questions and I love it because 

503
00:24:07,280 --> 00:24:09,480
it forces me to learn something 
else. 

504
00:24:09,640 --> 00:24:11,440
You know, why do Rabbani know 
Halafa so well? 

505
00:24:12,040 --> 00:24:14,400
It's not because they learned in
yeshiva or they learned a smooth

506
00:24:14,440 --> 00:24:15,800
program. 
It's because they keep getting 

507
00:24:15,920 --> 00:24:18,520
asked those questions time and 
again and that's what they 

508
00:24:18,520 --> 00:24:20,240
remember. 
So people ask me questions, They

509
00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:23,000
help me hazard or learn 
something new and then I'll 

510
00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:25,080
remember it from that 
occurrence, that time. 

511
00:24:26,240 --> 00:24:29,880
So what I'm trying to say is my 
life is crazy. 

512
00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:34,200
I'm like one of those rats 
running on those treadmills, you

513
00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:35,600
know, trying to keep up with my 
learning. 

514
00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:39,200
And I also try to learn shots on
earth, you know, at least once a

515
00:24:39,200 --> 00:24:43,480
year or twice a year. 
And then that's also a constant,

516
00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:46,280
constant risk. 
Plus, I I have a deadline. 

517
00:24:46,280 --> 00:24:49,120
I have to write an article every
week and I also have to write an

518
00:24:49,120 --> 00:24:53,080
extra 1 every month and an extra
1 every quarter because I I I 

519
00:24:53,080 --> 00:24:56,360
write in AI, have a monthly 
column, a weekly column, monthly

520
00:24:56,360 --> 00:25:00,320
column and quarterly column and 
that keeps me constantly. 

521
00:25:01,520 --> 00:25:04,800
Hearing you talk about your 
goals, you sound like a shonalif

522
00:25:04,800 --> 00:25:08,320
guy, which is not a bad thing, 
but it's not normative of 

523
00:25:08,320 --> 00:25:10,440
someone at your stage. 
So if you talk a little about 

524
00:25:10,440 --> 00:25:13,240
your motivation and your drive 
and is that saying what you 

525
00:25:13,240 --> 00:25:16,600
naturally always have or say 
what you actively open it? 

526
00:25:16,960 --> 00:25:19,200
So let's go back to my earlier 
story. 

527
00:25:19,440 --> 00:25:24,320
So I'm about you though I got 
out of I I was in Yu for four 

528
00:25:24,320 --> 00:25:28,600
years and then Kolo for for for 
fifth year and then at the age 

529
00:25:28,600 --> 00:25:33,280
of still 22 I went out into the 
workforce and all my friends 

530
00:25:33,280 --> 00:25:34,760
stayed in the Shiva staying in 
Kolo. 

531
00:25:35,800 --> 00:25:38,880
And I just suffer from an 
incredible insecurity that I 

532
00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:40,880
don't have that background. 
I have no graduate degrees. 

533
00:25:41,520 --> 00:25:44,960
I've no advanced smikha. 
I mean I I eventually got 

534
00:25:44,960 --> 00:25:48,320
personal smika that the 
spectacle later in life. 

535
00:25:48,320 --> 00:25:51,320
But I mean I I just don't have 
the background and I'm and and 

536
00:25:51,680 --> 00:25:53,440
and then and then once I got out
of work. 

537
00:25:53,440 --> 00:25:56,120
Once I got out of the Shiva and 
I was able to look at the holes 

538
00:25:56,120 --> 00:25:59,480
in my education and I realized I
had never learned to knife over 

539
00:25:59,480 --> 00:26:01,800
the cover. 
I had never learned Meshnais 

540
00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:03,720
over the cover. 
I never learned Shas. 

541
00:26:03,720 --> 00:26:05,400
I never learned more in the book
him. 

542
00:26:05,400 --> 00:26:07,600
I never learned one of the Deus.
I never learned Kazari. 

543
00:26:07,600 --> 00:26:10,600
I felt like a complete moron 
complete ignoramus. 

544
00:26:11,280 --> 00:26:13,960
And so I just had to catch up. 
I all these things, all these 

545
00:26:13,960 --> 00:26:17,080
basic fundamental knowledge that
I was lacking. 

546
00:26:17,480 --> 00:26:19,600
I just felt that I needed to to 
learn it all. 

547
00:26:19,920 --> 00:26:21,040
I know my friends were learning 
yardea. 

548
00:26:21,040 --> 00:26:22,520
I'm like, I don't even know how 
to skashers. 

549
00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:26,880
So I learned yardea and then you
know, I there was a Shearer in 

550
00:26:26,880 --> 00:26:30,760
in my the rub of my scholl game.
Shearer and I generally tend to 

551
00:26:30,760 --> 00:26:33,240
associate just when I was 
younger, not so much now. 

552
00:26:33,240 --> 00:26:37,000
When I was younger I used to 
hang out in coal circles. 

553
00:26:37,520 --> 00:26:41,800
So I was learning a Flatbush and
I was Darwin and Scholes where 

554
00:26:41,800 --> 00:26:44,200
most of the people there were 
learning cold. 

555
00:26:44,200 --> 00:26:48,280
We're young young coal guys and 
so I just constantly felt 

556
00:26:48,680 --> 00:26:52,640
insecure and that's been driving
me my whole life and hopefully 

557
00:26:52,640 --> 00:26:54,880
someday I'll feel like I 
actually know something but 

558
00:26:55,200 --> 00:26:58,680
right now I just feel like I'm 
I'm playing catch up playing 

559
00:26:59,160 --> 00:27:00,240
catch up for the rest of my 
life. 

560
00:27:00,360 --> 00:27:03,040
And so that's that's what's 
driving me to constantly learn. 

561
00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:05,760
And I I, I I don't always 
remember the stuff that I've 

562
00:27:05,760 --> 00:27:09,920
learned and and I have a bad 
memory and so my strategy is 

563
00:27:09,920 --> 00:27:11,480
brute force. 
Just keep fazzering and 

564
00:27:11,480 --> 00:27:13,680
fazzering and fazzering and 
eventually someday I'll remember

565
00:27:13,680 --> 00:27:15,520
it and. 
How do these goals play 

566
00:27:15,520 --> 00:27:17,040
themselves out on a day-to-day 
level? 

567
00:27:17,040 --> 00:27:19,080
How do you manage your time to 
get all that done? 

568
00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:21,720
I want to say I really don't 
believe in time management. 

569
00:27:21,880 --> 00:27:23,520
You know what? 
We'll all go to Shaman and we'll

570
00:27:23,520 --> 00:27:26,240
have to ask the question. 
Kavata eating Latera. 

571
00:27:26,680 --> 00:27:28,240
But, you know, that's the 
minimum. 

572
00:27:28,720 --> 00:27:30,760
Yeah, that's that's. 
So I'll. 

573
00:27:31,240 --> 00:27:34,600
OK. 
So I'm hesitant to maybe it'll 

574
00:27:34,600 --> 00:27:36,400
help someone. 
So I'll tell you my the details 

575
00:27:36,400 --> 00:27:40,960
of my personal schedule. 
So I wake up early in the 

576
00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:42,120
morning. 
I'm an early riser. 

577
00:27:42,120 --> 00:27:43,400
I used to wake up when my kids 
were little. 

578
00:27:43,400 --> 00:27:44,920
I'd wake up before them so I 
could learn. 

579
00:27:45,400 --> 00:27:48,080
And I continue just to wake up 
early every day of the week, 

580
00:27:48,080 --> 00:27:52,360
including Shabbos. 
Sunday I learned a a blot before

581
00:27:52,360 --> 00:27:55,960
work. 
I learned a blot after work, and

582
00:27:55,960 --> 00:27:58,680
then in the night time I learned
2 blot, usually one before 

583
00:27:58,680 --> 00:28:02,080
Mirev, 1 Ectomyrev, depending on
the time of the year. 

584
00:28:02,240 --> 00:28:05,080
So that's four blot a day, five 
days a week, that's 20 blot 

585
00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:07,440
Fridays for partial, for 
catching up. 

586
00:28:07,440 --> 00:28:10,880
Shabbos is for you know Ian and 
also catching up and I try to do

587
00:28:10,880 --> 00:28:15,240
one more blot or Shabbos so 
that's 21 and you know it's yet 

588
00:28:15,240 --> 00:28:19,280
if you learn 25 blade a week so 
two years you finish shots. 

589
00:28:19,280 --> 00:28:21,720
If you learn 21 blade a week so 
you at least going three times 

590
00:28:21,720 --> 00:28:24,040
just you know now feel me you'll
cover a lot of ground and 

591
00:28:24,040 --> 00:28:27,640
continually hazard. 
And in addition to that I I try 

592
00:28:27,640 --> 00:28:33,000
or I hope to it someday learn 35
to money of shuffling or a week 

593
00:28:33,080 --> 00:28:36,160
obviously very quickly like I'm 
way way behind. 

594
00:28:36,160 --> 00:28:38,200
I can't do that. 
I need to reevaluate them and 

595
00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:40,480
tweak my actual goals whether 
out. 

596
00:28:40,480 --> 00:28:43,680
But if you if you do 35A week, 
you'll finish all shuffled out 

597
00:28:43,680 --> 00:28:46,080
in one year. 
You do have that within shuffle 

598
00:28:46,080 --> 00:28:47,920
there for two years. 
So I'm trying to figure that 

599
00:28:47,920 --> 00:28:50,600
out. 
I had to do that schedule carry 

600
00:28:50,600 --> 00:28:53,120
around with me at Gamora almost 
everywhere I go. 

601
00:28:53,760 --> 00:28:57,080
And of course I have a 
smartphone and she mentioned a 

602
00:28:57,080 --> 00:29:00,800
new app that I'm involved with 
called Torah app, One word with 

603
00:29:00,800 --> 00:29:05,640
No space and that gives you a 
whole library of sworn Hebrew, 

604
00:29:05,680 --> 00:29:08,760
English, shiorim, audio and 
video shiorim. 

605
00:29:08,760 --> 00:29:10,840
So it's like a holy Shiva you 
carry around with you so you can

606
00:29:10,840 --> 00:29:14,520
learn anywhere you want. 
Yeah, I don't want to. 

607
00:29:14,600 --> 00:29:18,160
I don't want to be that guy who 
carries A safer with me to a 

608
00:29:18,200 --> 00:29:20,640
fastener. 
But you take out your phone, 

609
00:29:21,240 --> 00:29:24,400
find minutes in the day, small 
moments add up to a lot. 

610
00:29:24,400 --> 00:29:27,320
Large moments you can accomplish
my davening. 

611
00:29:27,320 --> 00:29:29,280
So if I finish, so that is 
Zimbra before the show at 

612
00:29:29,280 --> 00:29:30,320
Seabury. 
I have it tomorrow there. 

613
00:29:30,320 --> 00:29:32,400
So I open up the tomorrow in 
between. 

614
00:29:32,400 --> 00:29:36,560
Elias, you know there's always 
little moments add up to a lot. 

615
00:29:38,680 --> 00:29:43,280
But you know the the the idea 
that you'll only learn during 

616
00:29:43,280 --> 00:29:47,080
specific times without eating 
Latera or time management is 

617
00:29:47,080 --> 00:29:48,280
it's it's not the way I think of
it. 

618
00:29:48,280 --> 00:29:51,400
I I said goals and I just pile 
on as much as possible. 

619
00:29:51,440 --> 00:29:55,680
And I I do and I I try to 
accomplish as much as possible. 

620
00:29:55,680 --> 00:29:59,520
And when it becomes too much, 
then I reevaluate and change my 

621
00:29:59,520 --> 00:30:03,600
goals. 
No, I to me as eating Latera to 

622
00:30:03,600 --> 00:30:06,200
me is like a bare minimum. 
And you know, we don't say bare 

623
00:30:06,200 --> 00:30:09,080
cuss to Torah every time. 
We learn during the day when I 

624
00:30:09,080 --> 00:30:11,760
said Tulsa tells us that ties 
last of the different Torah is 

625
00:30:12,040 --> 00:30:16,240
is is is all day and there's 
there's no have sake there's no 

626
00:30:16,240 --> 00:30:19,080
break in between all day. 
You're looking for time to learn

627
00:30:19,320 --> 00:30:21,440
and your things that you're 
doing and the way you're 

628
00:30:21,440 --> 00:30:27,320
thinking is is also learning. 
Learning is 24 hour or 2018 hour

629
00:30:27,560 --> 00:30:29,320
whatever. 
However much sleep whenever 

630
00:30:29,320 --> 00:30:32,120
you're awake there, there are 
moments where there's A at least

631
00:30:32,120 --> 00:30:36,880
a potential for you to learn. 
So and then same same with the 

632
00:30:37,200 --> 00:30:38,920
Circa Sibor. 
If I'm involved with this 

633
00:30:38,920 --> 00:30:41,480
project or that project, I don't
really plan out how much time 

634
00:30:41,480 --> 00:30:42,880
it'll take, how much time to 
have a week. 

635
00:30:43,240 --> 00:30:46,360
I just say yes and I accept more
and more and eventually either I

636
00:30:46,560 --> 00:30:50,520
I collapse or I sail and I have 
to, you know, go go back down a 

637
00:30:50,520 --> 00:30:53,400
little and say no and or figure 
something out. 

638
00:30:54,040 --> 00:30:56,520
But I don't really actively 
manage my time. 

639
00:30:56,800 --> 00:30:59,560
I just take on as much as 
possible and see what I can do. 

640
00:31:01,600 --> 00:31:05,120
But but all the sounds and 
again, it sounds too intense and

641
00:31:05,400 --> 00:31:08,240
you know, everybody wastes time.
I'm certainly not perfect. 

642
00:31:08,240 --> 00:31:10,960
I waste plenty of time, you 
know, and I'm not spending it. 

643
00:31:10,960 --> 00:31:12,400
I'm not real climbing Kanievsky 
at all. 

644
00:31:12,640 --> 00:31:15,200
Try to be like him. 
That would drive me crazy. 

645
00:31:15,480 --> 00:31:18,160
You need some breathing room in 
the day. 

646
00:31:18,160 --> 00:31:21,280
You need to relax. 
You need to blow off some steam.

647
00:31:21,280 --> 00:31:23,320
You need to joke around, you 
need to smile. 

648
00:31:23,640 --> 00:31:26,320
But when you have concrete goals
and you have projects that you 

649
00:31:26,320 --> 00:31:28,600
have to do the end of waiting, 
less time. 

650
00:31:28,600 --> 00:31:31,280
And that's really all we could 
we could try to do is to aspire 

651
00:31:31,280 --> 00:31:35,280
to waste less time. 
In that way we use our time, you

652
00:31:35,280 --> 00:31:40,080
know, better, more, more wisely.
But, you know, everybody had to 

653
00:31:40,080 --> 00:31:42,160
have different interests. 
You have to be curious about the

654
00:31:42,160 --> 00:31:44,320
world. 
No, but within reason you have 

655
00:31:44,320 --> 00:31:46,000
to have a hobby or something 
like that. 

656
00:31:46,000 --> 00:31:48,520
You know, Victoria, your hobby, 
Victoria is really my hobby. 

657
00:31:48,840 --> 00:31:51,000
But, you know, you know, you got
to be human. 

658
00:31:51,080 --> 00:31:53,440
And we're all human. 
There's nothing wrong with 

659
00:31:53,440 --> 00:31:56,360
listening to a podcast or 
reading A blog or a newspaper 

660
00:31:56,360 --> 00:31:59,000
here and there, you know, and 
hopefully when you you read it 

661
00:31:59,240 --> 00:32:01,200
generously, but you know 
critically and you ask 

662
00:32:01,200 --> 00:32:04,000
questions, you're a cautious 
consumer, like we said, but you 

663
00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:05,120
know everything will do within 
reason. 

664
00:32:05,120 --> 00:32:07,680
Tell her I'm not to hail Leslie.
You know in the end you have 

665
00:32:07,680 --> 00:32:10,360
goals and deadlines that you 
need to meet and that helps you 

666
00:32:10,360 --> 00:32:12,560
manage your time. 
However you figure out to do 

667
00:32:12,560 --> 00:32:15,560
that. 
I just want to take a step back 

668
00:32:15,560 --> 00:32:17,120
also and say you know there's 
nothing wrong with being a 

669
00:32:17,120 --> 00:32:19,120
Balabas, nothing wrong with 
being Balabatis. 

670
00:32:19,120 --> 00:32:21,520
You know everyone has different 
aspirations and different 

671
00:32:21,520 --> 00:32:24,520
abilities and I respect the 
Balabas who sets inside outside 

672
00:32:24,520 --> 00:32:26,840
time every day to go to a 
Daphil. 

673
00:32:26,840 --> 00:32:27,240
Me. 
Sure. 

674
00:32:27,240 --> 00:32:29,120
Whatever sure it is. 
You know he's done what he's 

675
00:32:29,120 --> 00:32:30,960
supposed to do. 
You should come up to him. 

676
00:32:31,120 --> 00:32:33,120
That's that's it's just not who 
I am. 

677
00:32:33,120 --> 00:32:34,800
That's not my aspirations in my 
life. 

678
00:32:35,160 --> 00:32:38,480
So I I don't. 
I don't structure my day in my 

679
00:32:38,480 --> 00:32:40,400
life that way. 
You know, good for him and good 

680
00:32:40,400 --> 00:32:42,720
for me. 
There's plenty of room for many 

681
00:32:42,720 --> 00:32:43,960
different people in Kalali's 
role. 

682
00:32:45,320 --> 00:32:47,960
Please, can I just tell you the 
best piece of advice I ever got.

683
00:32:48,640 --> 00:32:50,520
Please. 
There's a rebbe and why you And 

684
00:32:50,560 --> 00:32:54,240
then Rebus of Cohen. 
He's the ball most are there. 

685
00:32:55,160 --> 00:32:58,240
So when I got engaged, I was 
about to get married. 

686
00:32:58,240 --> 00:33:01,280
I told him I was going to live 
in Brooklyn and commute to Yu 

687
00:33:01,280 --> 00:33:04,200
Uptown, which is an hour and a 
half by train, or, or you could 

688
00:33:04,200 --> 00:33:07,280
get a ride, which is only an 
hour, he told me, Always take 

689
00:33:07,280 --> 00:33:09,160
the subway, Always take the 
subway. 

690
00:33:09,720 --> 00:33:11,400
Because if you're driving, you 
have to pay attention to the 

691
00:33:11,400 --> 00:33:13,440
road. 
If you're getting a ride, you 

692
00:33:13,440 --> 00:33:16,480
have to talk to the driver. 
If you're on a subway, you can 

693
00:33:16,480 --> 00:33:19,320
learn. 
I finished so many mastectas on 

694
00:33:19,320 --> 00:33:21,880
a subway because of him. 
Some people go on the subway, 

695
00:33:21,880 --> 00:33:25,680
they they sleep, they talk, they
check on the phone, but because 

696
00:33:25,680 --> 00:33:31,400
of him I've for almost 30 years 
I'm learning on the subway so 

697
00:33:31,400 --> 00:33:33,320
much. 
All all thanks to that advice. 

698
00:33:33,600 --> 00:33:36,760
Let's transition to Term Usings,
which is your website, which 

699
00:33:36,760 --> 00:33:39,320
we're actually coming up on a 
big milestone, 20 years of term 

700
00:33:39,320 --> 00:33:40,880
using. 
So let's start with the story of

701
00:33:40,880 --> 00:33:42,720
how that started, and then we'll
talk a little bit about what 

702
00:33:42,720 --> 00:33:45,160
it's become. 
Term usings, like everything 

703
00:33:45,160 --> 00:33:47,200
else in my life, was a complete 
accident. 

704
00:33:48,240 --> 00:33:50,840
There was this 2000, early 
2000s. 

705
00:33:50,840 --> 00:33:53,800
There was this new thing called 
the Blog and I was just checking

706
00:33:53,800 --> 00:33:57,680
ad out at some point and I saw 
there was this Halakha blog that

707
00:33:57,680 --> 00:34:01,200
was arguing on some point in 
Halakha, which I thought was 

708
00:34:01,200 --> 00:34:03,400
completely wrong. 
It was someone from the 

709
00:34:03,400 --> 00:34:07,600
conservative movement who had a 
revisionist view of and I'm have

710
00:34:07,600 --> 00:34:09,920
strong opinions on various 
topics and I was just saying 

711
00:34:09,920 --> 00:34:13,480
controversial stuff that really 
annoyed people or really got 

712
00:34:13,480 --> 00:34:18,239
people riled up and I just 
realized this is working. 

713
00:34:18,239 --> 00:34:20,719
I might as well continue. 
And so I just kept writing and 

714
00:34:20,719 --> 00:34:23,719
writing and all of the thoughts 
that were in my head, I just 

715
00:34:23,719 --> 00:34:25,360
kept putting out paper. 
And then I started. 

716
00:34:25,719 --> 00:34:27,719
I ran out of thoughts. 
So I just started writing 

717
00:34:27,719 --> 00:34:33,719
Dvoritora and writing up Sogius 
in Halacha and in in Lombas and 

718
00:34:33,719 --> 00:34:37,000
in Jewish history in Hashikawa, 
whatever it was. 

719
00:34:37,000 --> 00:34:41,480
And it just somehow I was at the
right place at the right time, 

720
00:34:42,239 --> 00:34:45,520
and people like what I had to 
say, and it just snowballed. 

721
00:34:45,880 --> 00:34:48,000
It just kept getting bigger and 
bigger and bigger. 

722
00:34:48,000 --> 00:34:50,440
And at some point I was invited 
to write in a newspaper. 

723
00:34:50,920 --> 00:34:53,400
I said, oh cool, one of those 
guys who read in the newspaper, 

724
00:34:53,400 --> 00:34:55,040
I'll get my name in. 
My mother-in-law will be very 

725
00:34:55,040 --> 00:34:57,400
proud. 
So I wrote in the newspaper and 

726
00:34:57,840 --> 00:35:00,320
I got very good feedback. 
So I just, I just kept doing it.

727
00:35:00,520 --> 00:35:03,480
I mean, really, I've been doing 
it for 20 years only because I 

728
00:35:03,480 --> 00:35:05,960
stumbled into it and it just 
turned out it worked out well. 

729
00:35:06,680 --> 00:35:10,200
But that was really the platform
that got me noticed. 

730
00:35:10,200 --> 00:35:12,920
I was never expected. 
I I never expected to be 

731
00:35:12,920 --> 00:35:15,040
anything to be for anybody to 
know my name. 

732
00:35:15,040 --> 00:35:16,280
It's a strange name, I know 
that. 

733
00:35:16,480 --> 00:35:20,000
But I didn't expect anyone to 
know my name, and somehow I just

734
00:35:20,000 --> 00:35:23,200
became, at least in a small 
community, a minor celebrity. 

735
00:35:23,880 --> 00:35:26,400
And I don't even know how that 
happens, especially since I'm 

736
00:35:26,560 --> 00:35:30,160
mostly just me sitting behind a 
keyboard, really, on my phone. 

737
00:35:30,160 --> 00:35:34,840
I do all my blogging on my 
phone, and suddenly I became a 

738
00:35:34,880 --> 00:35:37,040
bit of a minor celebrity. 
I just kept doing it. 

739
00:35:37,360 --> 00:35:39,960
And if I really, if someone 
asked me to do something, I I I 

740
00:35:39,960 --> 00:35:41,560
don't say no. 
If they asked me to speak 

741
00:35:41,560 --> 00:35:43,800
somewhere, I said OK. 
If they asked me to do this, I 

742
00:35:43,800 --> 00:35:45,880
usually say yes. 
It's just very hard for me to 

743
00:35:45,880 --> 00:35:48,560
say no because they they went 
out of the way. 

744
00:35:48,560 --> 00:35:51,440
If they if they think I could do
something and for them and all 

745
00:35:51,440 --> 00:35:55,600
of them, then I should do it. 
So it's it's rare that I say no.

746
00:35:55,600 --> 00:35:58,240
So it just kind of took on a 
life of its own and I just could

747
00:35:58,240 --> 00:36:01,120
bind with it. 
And then at some point I I 

748
00:36:01,120 --> 00:36:03,760
decided that I needed to upgrade
my Smicha. 

749
00:36:05,000 --> 00:36:08,320
You know I had already learned 
the other day and I got Smich. 

750
00:36:08,320 --> 00:36:11,600
I had a friend you know when I 
published with a strange name 

751
00:36:11,600 --> 00:36:14,360
like Gil Student people will 
think I'm Jewish. 

752
00:36:14,480 --> 00:36:16,280
I felt I need it. 
If I'm publishing in the 

753
00:36:16,280 --> 00:36:18,240
newspapers I need to have the 
title rabbi. 

754
00:36:19,000 --> 00:36:23,120
So I asked a friend who was the 
chief Rabbi of Basel Switzerland

755
00:36:23,120 --> 00:36:26,080
at the time and he knew well we 
had spoken in the other day when

756
00:36:26,080 --> 00:36:28,240
he was when he was getting his 
own sniffer we had spoken and 

757
00:36:28,240 --> 00:36:31,360
learning so I said can you give 
me sniffer. 

758
00:36:31,640 --> 00:36:36,400
And he said OK that was really 
the extent of obviously gave me 

759
00:36:36,400 --> 00:36:39,520
a sniffer certificate but I know
it wasn't it wasn't going to be 

760
00:36:39,520 --> 00:36:43,320
accepted widely it just me 
permission to use the title So 

761
00:36:43,320 --> 00:36:47,040
at some point when you reach a 
level of communal responsibility

762
00:36:47,040 --> 00:36:51,360
you have to change your behavior
and I felt I needed to upgrade 

763
00:36:51,360 --> 00:36:54,880
my smeka for that reason and I 
wanted to join the RCA and they 

764
00:36:54,880 --> 00:36:57,320
had their rules of smeka which 
is a whole other story. 

765
00:36:58,440 --> 00:37:01,560
I literally broke the RC as 
rules I mean I I broke their 

766
00:37:01,560 --> 00:37:07,560
system broke this based alright 
so all the time so I I asked 

767
00:37:07,600 --> 00:37:11,400
Rabbi Ginnack and Rabbi Herschel
shatter and rabbi laws it tice 

768
00:37:12,200 --> 00:37:14,560
and they tested me Robert again 
I came in the same test to give 

769
00:37:14,560 --> 00:37:16,840
to just while you use me for 
students and Robert Scheffler 

770
00:37:16,840 --> 00:37:22,160
just at me all over shots it was
really really hard really really

771
00:37:22,160 --> 00:37:24,120
hard. 
The artist tested my life. 

772
00:37:24,120 --> 00:37:27,520
It was all oral but so I came 
out with us me. 

773
00:37:27,520 --> 00:37:29,760
So I said now I'm kissing 
legitimately call myself a 

774
00:37:29,760 --> 00:37:33,920
rabbi. 
I don't remember where I was 

775
00:37:33,920 --> 00:37:38,240
going with this but so I, you 
know, I somehow I I just people 

776
00:37:38,240 --> 00:37:40,800
like what I have to say. 
And I also like I said before I 

777
00:37:40,800 --> 00:37:44,680
have this business training to 
think strategically and I also 

778
00:37:44,680 --> 00:37:47,920
have some experience with 
marketing and and publicity and 

779
00:37:47,920 --> 00:37:51,400
in the rabbinic world those are 
skills that are are hard to 

780
00:37:51,400 --> 00:37:55,520
find. 
So people appreciate that And so

781
00:37:55,520 --> 00:37:58,360
I I get calls. 
I get calls, you know, to people

782
00:37:58,360 --> 00:38:01,960
asking for advice, organizations
asking for advice on different 

783
00:38:01,960 --> 00:38:03,360
things. 
I'm on various committees and 

784
00:38:03,360 --> 00:38:06,000
organizations now just to help 
with some of the strategic 

785
00:38:06,000 --> 00:38:07,320
thinking. 
And so is publicity and 

786
00:38:07,320 --> 00:38:12,320
marketing all of it. 
I I just stumbled into all of 

787
00:38:12,320 --> 00:38:13,160
it. 
I don't really know how it 

788
00:38:13,160 --> 00:38:15,560
happened, and I can't even 
advise anyone else how to get to

789
00:38:15,560 --> 00:38:17,760
that. 
Just do your thing and if it 

790
00:38:17,760 --> 00:38:20,320
works, if it works, if it takes 
off, good. 

791
00:38:20,320 --> 00:38:23,680
If not, well, who cares? 
The ickers that you should be 

792
00:38:23,680 --> 00:38:25,240
learning, you should have a 
family, and you should be 

793
00:38:25,240 --> 00:38:27,800
blessed with the brothels of 
having children who are shown in

794
00:38:27,800 --> 00:38:29,960
Torah. 
So on on that note, it's very 

795
00:38:29,960 --> 00:38:32,720
interesting how you talked about
your Smicha and you wanted it to

796
00:38:32,720 --> 00:38:34,760
be more legitimate. 
Nowadays, as we know, it's 

797
00:38:34,760 --> 00:38:37,160
really not hard to get some sort
of certificate. 

798
00:38:37,320 --> 00:38:40,720
It's also even easier to have a 
platform, whether it's a 

799
00:38:40,720 --> 00:38:43,280
website, a YouTube channel, a 
podcast like we're doing right 

800
00:38:43,280 --> 00:38:46,440
here. 
And that was a challenge for 

801
00:38:46,440 --> 00:38:50,120
people who believe that there is
certain standards of quality 

802
00:38:50,120 --> 00:38:52,200
that should be upheld within our
Torah discourse. 

803
00:38:52,880 --> 00:38:54,800
And look, aura, I'm thinking out
loud here. 

804
00:38:54,800 --> 00:38:58,600
The only way to combat that 
within our community, to to to 

805
00:38:58,600 --> 00:39:01,520
maintain those high levels, is 
to really cultivate a sense of 

806
00:39:01,520 --> 00:39:03,040
critical thinking among the 
audience. 

807
00:39:03,200 --> 00:39:05,280
Because if the audience is 
shallow thinkers, then anyone 

808
00:39:05,280 --> 00:39:07,600
can get up and have some sort of
speech, thought, have some sort 

809
00:39:07,600 --> 00:39:12,760
of platform, and then the entire
standards of what constitutes 

810
00:39:12,760 --> 00:39:14,920
quality to our content goes 
completely out the window. 

811
00:39:14,920 --> 00:39:20,000
What are your thoughts on that? 
I agree on many level, first of 

812
00:39:20,000 --> 00:39:22,080
all in the community in which I 
live. 

813
00:39:23,160 --> 00:39:24,680
So let me tell you one thing. 
I don't know if you know the 

814
00:39:24,680 --> 00:39:27,160
name, but so people, why you 
might know the name Rabbi Avi 

815
00:39:27,160 --> 00:39:30,000
Sarfati. 
He and I work for ruses and good

816
00:39:30,000 --> 00:39:33,800
friends back in the day and he 
once told me he lived in Mossy 

817
00:39:34,200 --> 00:39:37,920
and he said, you know he only go
to a shear when the speaker 

818
00:39:37,920 --> 00:39:41,280
knows more than he does. 
Which you know, I don't think he

819
00:39:41,280 --> 00:39:43,040
meant that literally. 
I don't take it literally, but I

820
00:39:43,040 --> 00:39:46,600
I do take it seriously. 
That's got it. 

821
00:39:47,560 --> 00:39:49,120
There are limited hours of the 
day. 

822
00:39:49,120 --> 00:39:53,240
When are you going to learn? 
If you go to shear him, oh, 

823
00:39:53,240 --> 00:39:56,040
Shurum is learning it. 
Shurum is passive learning only 

824
00:39:56,040 --> 00:39:59,640
going to a shur. 
There's some Guttal Bittora or 

825
00:39:59,640 --> 00:40:02,040
someone who's coming from a 
completely different perspective

826
00:40:02,040 --> 00:40:05,400
that I think will change how I 
think in one way or another. 

827
00:40:05,400 --> 00:40:07,520
Some like Robert Jonathan Sacks 
all of the Shalom. 

828
00:40:07,880 --> 00:40:10,720
You know I I I'm going to hear 
him because he's coming from a 

829
00:40:10,720 --> 00:40:13,120
completely different direction. 
But even that not too often 

830
00:40:13,120 --> 00:40:16,080
because you got to cover grounds
because he there are limited 

831
00:40:16,080 --> 00:40:18,440
hours in the day. 
When are you going to learn? 

832
00:40:18,480 --> 00:40:20,960
You know it's like the American 
says American brother says. 

833
00:40:20,960 --> 00:40:22,480
You know you got to be as you 
be. 

834
00:40:23,000 --> 00:40:24,600
You're going to sow and you're 
going to reap and you're going 

835
00:40:24,600 --> 00:40:26,640
to harvest what? 
Pour them at the hail whistle. 

836
00:40:27,040 --> 00:40:29,280
Go to this year and that year 
tell them at the hail whistle. 

837
00:40:29,480 --> 00:40:32,360
You know listen to this podcast 
and that podcast and and read 

838
00:40:32,360 --> 00:40:34,000
this newspaper and that 
newspaper. 

839
00:40:34,560 --> 00:40:38,400
We get 5 from newspapers at 
every Shabbos in my house. 

840
00:40:39,000 --> 00:40:41,320
I don't touch them until it's my
wife says you should read this 

841
00:40:41,320 --> 00:40:43,920
article because what am I 
supposed to do on Shabbos? 

842
00:40:43,920 --> 00:40:45,040
How am I? 
When am I supposed to learn. 

843
00:40:45,040 --> 00:40:47,400
I work all week. 
If I'm reading the newspapers on

844
00:40:47,400 --> 00:40:48,720
Shabbos when am I going to 
learn? 

845
00:40:49,320 --> 00:40:51,440
And the same goes to the quality
control you know if. 

846
00:40:51,480 --> 00:40:54,800
Every safer published was 
quality. 

847
00:40:55,240 --> 00:40:58,240
It would be much easier to learn
from a saver because you know, 

848
00:40:58,240 --> 00:41:00,840
whatever saver you buy is 
quality. 

849
00:41:01,040 --> 00:41:04,240
There's no quality control in 
the book publication, no quality

850
00:41:04,240 --> 00:41:07,880
controlling and like you said in
the in the in the podcast and 

851
00:41:07,880 --> 00:41:12,360
anyone can get online Smeka. 
And some people might might 

852
00:41:12,840 --> 00:41:16,000
deserve it and online Smeka 
might be the only way to get it 

853
00:41:16,000 --> 00:41:21,160
because of their life story. 
Everybody's got a story, but how

854
00:41:21,160 --> 00:41:23,160
do how do you know? 
So the anger is everybody. 

855
00:41:23,160 --> 00:41:26,680
People need to learn to be 
cautious consumers. 

856
00:41:26,680 --> 00:41:29,960
And the most precious, precious 
asset is not the money. 

857
00:41:29,960 --> 00:41:32,040
It's not the four O 1K. 
It's your time. 

858
00:41:32,520 --> 00:41:33,760
You might not. 
Who knows if you're going to 

859
00:41:33,760 --> 00:41:36,200
live long enough to touch your 
you know, you, your of course, 

860
00:41:36,200 --> 00:41:38,440
your family, your children, your
grandchildren, Nothing more 

861
00:41:38,440 --> 00:41:39,720
precious than me than my 
grandchildren. 

862
00:41:40,320 --> 00:41:42,800
But you know time is time is 
time is. 

863
00:41:42,920 --> 00:41:44,520
Time is more than money. 
They see time is money. 

864
00:41:44,520 --> 00:41:46,240
That's not true. 
Time is more than money. 

865
00:41:47,360 --> 00:41:50,760
So you know, people need to be, 
I see. 

866
00:41:50,840 --> 00:41:54,000
And even people with the 
greatest mikas around go around 

867
00:41:54,120 --> 00:41:58,240
saying fluffs. 
In old days they used to call it

868
00:41:58,240 --> 00:42:02,600
Baba Shatara, which is 
offensive, I know, but it's it's

869
00:42:02,600 --> 00:42:04,520
so much inspiration. 
Inspiration is. 

870
00:42:04,520 --> 00:42:07,440
And sometimes you need 
inspiration good every day. 

871
00:42:08,080 --> 00:42:08,880
What's wrong? 
You know. 

872
00:42:09,360 --> 00:42:12,000
Well why can't you hold down 
that inspiration for for two 

873
00:42:12,000 --> 00:42:15,400
days 3 days and learn some some 
meat and potatoes. 

874
00:42:16,200 --> 00:42:17,800
So you know but I'm I'm a 
cynical. 

875
00:42:17,800 --> 00:42:19,560
I'm whole fashioned and I'm out 
of touch. 

876
00:42:19,560 --> 00:42:21,320
I know that my kids tell me that
all the time. 

877
00:42:22,960 --> 00:42:26,320
But I I just, I just don't. 
I think there's quality control 

878
00:42:26,320 --> 00:42:30,240
everywhere and the way I saw 
that is by being cynical and 

879
00:42:30,360 --> 00:42:34,840
possibly limiting myself And 
then I'd rather have a, a, a, oh

880
00:42:34,840 --> 00:42:36,720
forget, which is type 1 error, 
Type 2 error. 

881
00:42:36,720 --> 00:42:41,480
I think type 1 error is you 
reject a false positive, you you

882
00:42:41,480 --> 00:42:45,240
accept a false positive and type
2 is you reject a false 

883
00:42:45,240 --> 00:42:47,360
negative. 
I'd rather have a type 2 error 

884
00:42:47,360 --> 00:42:52,640
and reject the Tara then the 
other and just waste my time on 

885
00:42:52,640 --> 00:42:54,680
that Tara. 
If you want to know what the 

886
00:42:54,680 --> 00:42:58,960
answer is, Jakov, I don't know. 
OK, it's a challenge. 

887
00:42:58,960 --> 00:43:00,720
It's all a challenge. 
And I I appreciate you saying 

888
00:43:00,720 --> 00:43:02,880
something controversial because 
everyone says that the best way 

889
00:43:02,880 --> 00:43:04,760
to get the podcast out there is 
for someone to say something, 

890
00:43:04,760 --> 00:43:06,840
get me in trouble. 
So maybe now the ratings will go

891
00:43:06,840 --> 00:43:11,600
up a little bit. 
Can I can I just take a pause 

892
00:43:11,760 --> 00:43:14,800
for one minute and and I I just 
realized everything I've said so

893
00:43:14,800 --> 00:43:17,200
far makes me seem incredibly 
intense. 

894
00:43:17,680 --> 00:43:21,080
I happened to be a super laid 
back guy. 

895
00:43:21,240 --> 00:43:24,480
Now if I can tell you a story 
one time at AIG my department 

896
00:43:24,480 --> 00:43:27,520
would lay off all the time. 
My department got destroyed and 

897
00:43:27,520 --> 00:43:30,800
the remnant of my department was
moved to another floor and I 

898
00:43:30,800 --> 00:43:34,480
happened to be seated right near
the chief reserving actuary of 

899
00:43:34,480 --> 00:43:38,640
all of AIG. 
And a few months later his 

900
00:43:38,720 --> 00:43:41,800
secretary's admin and admin came
over to me at just at the water 

901
00:43:41,800 --> 00:43:45,120
cooler and said something which 
I I choose to take as in as a 

902
00:43:45,120 --> 00:43:47,440
compliment and not an 
anti-Semitic insult. 

903
00:43:48,320 --> 00:43:51,200
She said to me when I first 
moved to the floor she was so 

904
00:43:51,200 --> 00:43:53,280
worried because I look so 
serious. 

905
00:43:53,760 --> 00:43:56,480
Everything about me is just 
serious and she was worried that

906
00:43:56,480 --> 00:43:59,280
I drag everything down. 
But then after a few months she 

907
00:43:59,280 --> 00:44:02,840
realizes all she hears from my 
area of the floor is people 

908
00:44:02,840 --> 00:44:05,160
laughing. 
All I do all day is laugh and 

909
00:44:05,160 --> 00:44:07,560
the people around me laugh and 
that's true. 

910
00:44:07,680 --> 00:44:11,760
I I, I, I I'm not. 
I I sound intense, but I do all 

911
00:44:11,760 --> 00:44:14,440
these intense things in a really
laid back way. 

912
00:44:14,800 --> 00:44:17,440
I I just. 
One of the ways you can be that 

913
00:44:17,440 --> 00:44:19,080
intense is if you don't really 
care about stuff. 

914
00:44:19,080 --> 00:44:20,880
Like I I think I made it clear I
don't really care about like 

915
00:44:20,880 --> 00:44:22,920
Trimir. 
I don't really care about money.

916
00:44:23,280 --> 00:44:26,960
You know, to me, money. 
The only reason more money would

917
00:44:26,960 --> 00:44:29,000
help is if I could retire and 
learn older. 

918
00:44:29,440 --> 00:44:31,960
If it's if I don't have that 
enough to retire, then what do I

919
00:44:31,960 --> 00:44:33,480
need it for? 
More money, more problems. 

920
00:44:34,040 --> 00:44:37,280
And practically, how do you make
time for running a website in 

921
00:44:37,280 --> 00:44:38,880
addition to all the other things
that you mentioned? 

922
00:44:39,560 --> 00:44:42,320
So we mentioned before you asked
about the smoke and mirrors of. 

923
00:44:42,480 --> 00:44:45,160
So you know, I'll point to you a
little bit about how tour 

924
00:44:45,160 --> 00:44:47,120
museums works. 
You know, things are usually 

925
00:44:47,120 --> 00:44:50,880
prepared days in advance and it 
takes me only two minutes to set

926
00:44:50,880 --> 00:44:53,960
everything up, you know, Then 
the anchor of my work is 

927
00:44:53,960 --> 00:44:56,400
preparing articles, which I do 
mainly in Shabbos by learning. 

928
00:44:56,960 --> 00:45:00,320
And then, you know, I write the 
articles either on Sunday or 

929
00:45:00,320 --> 00:45:01,960
during during my commute to 
work. 

930
00:45:02,080 --> 00:45:04,840
You know, I take the subway, so 
I have a smartphone. 

931
00:45:04,840 --> 00:45:06,000
I used to have a BlackBerry. 
And. 

932
00:45:06,000 --> 00:45:08,360
And almost everything I write is
on my, my, my phone. 

933
00:45:09,720 --> 00:45:10,920
Yeah. 
And there are other contributors

934
00:45:10,920 --> 00:45:12,400
to tour musings. 
There's a Revere, Gido 

935
00:45:12,400 --> 00:45:13,800
Rothstein. 
There's Joel Rich. 

936
00:45:14,160 --> 00:45:16,640
There's Robert the Neon Man. 
You know, we have an editorial 

937
00:45:16,640 --> 00:45:19,520
board, Robin Moshe Shapiro and 
Rabbi Basil Herring, you know, 

938
00:45:19,520 --> 00:45:21,040
and they all contributed in 
their own way. 

939
00:45:21,040 --> 00:45:25,040
And then so for me, it's really 
can all be done in a few minutes

940
00:45:25,040 --> 00:45:27,600
here and a few minutes there, 
little snips and bits and 

941
00:45:27,600 --> 00:45:29,320
pieces. 
So then I don't have to spend a 

942
00:45:29,320 --> 00:45:31,320
lot of time that, you know, on 
the website. 

943
00:45:31,320 --> 00:45:33,320
It's just a little here, a 
little there, and it doesn't 

944
00:45:33,320 --> 00:45:35,800
really take up that much time. 
You know as long as I have 

945
00:45:35,800 --> 00:45:38,680
Shabbos on which I can learn and
prepare for an article. 

946
00:45:38,960 --> 00:45:41,680
So if I had to I have a SIM plan
Shabbos, I have to go away 

947
00:45:41,680 --> 00:45:43,400
somewhere and I and I don't have
time to learn. 

948
00:45:43,680 --> 00:45:47,000
So that that which their, the 
website will suffer. 

949
00:45:47,000 --> 00:45:49,720
I might have to do a rerun or I 
might have to figure something 

950
00:45:49,720 --> 00:45:53,920
else out. 
But in general, you know that to

951
00:45:54,080 --> 00:45:58,600
emphasize my point is what we've
been discussing is you can you 

952
00:45:58,600 --> 00:46:03,720
can have a job and then you can 
learn incredibly well. 

953
00:46:03,880 --> 00:46:07,560
And I know people who who became
who do better than I do and who 

954
00:46:07,560 --> 00:46:12,200
can really became in shots and 
post Kim and they're really very

955
00:46:12,200 --> 00:46:14,920
impressive people. 
And you know I aspire to be a 

956
00:46:14,920 --> 00:46:17,720
little bit of what they've 
accomplished in in in my short 

957
00:46:17,720 --> 00:46:20,080
time, you know, like I said, I'm
still trying to catch up to 

958
00:46:20,080 --> 00:46:22,040
them. 
But in Musicium, someday I'll be

959
00:46:22,040 --> 00:46:24,160
something and you know until 
then, you know I'm running on 

960
00:46:24,160 --> 00:46:26,640
the treadmill just doing 
everything and taking in more 

961
00:46:26,640 --> 00:46:29,200
projects and and learning more. 
And you always have to take a 

962
00:46:29,200 --> 00:46:32,760
step back and reassess what you 
are doing and how you're doing 

963
00:46:32,760 --> 00:46:34,880
it and and change your goals if 
he did too. 

964
00:46:35,480 --> 00:46:38,520
But you can accomplish a lot, 
and that's what I I hope to do. 

965
00:46:39,680 --> 00:46:41,360
I don't want to pop in for the 
question for a second. 

966
00:46:41,840 --> 00:46:43,200
I learn. 
I love learning. 

967
00:46:43,200 --> 00:46:44,960
I have certain ambitions for 
learning. 

968
00:46:45,120 --> 00:46:47,160
But when you have those 
ambitions, even with learning 

969
00:46:47,160 --> 00:46:49,880
what you do care about, so how 
do you prevent that from 

970
00:46:49,880 --> 00:46:52,920
becoming intense and keeping it 
a source of SIM card? 

971
00:46:53,000 --> 00:46:56,720
In the SIM card, Which should we
hope that the Torah contributes 

972
00:46:56,720 --> 00:46:59,400
to good life and having a life 
where everyone appreciates Torah

973
00:46:59,400 --> 00:47:01,600
as Hazel talked about in 
different circumstances. 

974
00:47:01,680 --> 00:47:03,760
So putting aside the 
professional with regards to 

975
00:47:03,760 --> 00:47:06,040
Torah, how do you balance 
intensity and? 

976
00:47:06,040 --> 00:47:07,720
Joy. 
So that that's a very personal 

977
00:47:07,720 --> 00:47:09,600
thing. 
So you're probably at the age 

978
00:47:09,600 --> 00:47:11,440
where you might relate to what 
I'm about to say. 

979
00:47:11,440 --> 00:47:14,600
But if you're not, unfortunately
you will eventually get there. 

980
00:47:14,600 --> 00:47:17,640
Life is full of ups and downs, 
really difficult situation. 

981
00:47:17,640 --> 00:47:20,080
Nobody's life is is just a 
whipped cream. 

982
00:47:20,520 --> 00:47:23,760
Everybody's got really 
depressing parts of life. 

983
00:47:24,400 --> 00:47:27,080
Sometimes you just get depressed
and you go through really bad, 

984
00:47:27,120 --> 00:47:29,680
really bad things happen to you.
There's a war going on right 

985
00:47:29,680 --> 00:47:30,760
now. 
You know what I'm talking about?

986
00:47:30,760 --> 00:47:32,240
You know more than I do because 
you're an artist. 

987
00:47:32,240 --> 00:47:34,320
For all I'm just sitting here in
the comfort of Brooklyn, life 

988
00:47:34,320 --> 00:47:37,120
could be tough. 
And my solace has always been a 

989
00:47:37,120 --> 00:47:37,840
block. 
Gamora. 

990
00:47:37,840 --> 00:47:40,680
Whenever I'm depressed, whenever
something looks really terrible,

991
00:47:41,120 --> 00:47:43,920
Gamora is my way out. 
That's not the solution to my 

992
00:47:43,920 --> 00:47:46,240
anxiety. 
Solution to my depression. 

993
00:47:46,560 --> 00:47:48,440
Always been Gamora. 
It's just a joy in my life. 

994
00:47:48,520 --> 00:47:51,040
That and of course my wife and 
my kids and my grandchildren. 

995
00:47:51,040 --> 00:47:53,000
I have to emphasize that they 
don't get in trouble. 

996
00:47:53,400 --> 00:47:57,560
But a black Gemara is where I 
find the join lights and you 

997
00:47:57,560 --> 00:47:59,960
know, so how do I keep it from 
getting intense? 

998
00:48:00,360 --> 00:48:03,920
I I like, I love it too much and
and part of it though and this 

999
00:48:03,920 --> 00:48:05,160
is important for everyone to 
know. 

1000
00:48:05,160 --> 00:48:09,440
Gemara is really hard. 
Really, really hard at first. 

1001
00:48:09,840 --> 00:48:12,000
You need to learn the textual 
skills. 

1002
00:48:12,000 --> 00:48:16,120
You need to learn anime grammar 
so that you can read it like you

1003
00:48:16,120 --> 00:48:18,240
can read a novel. 
Once you can read it Black 

1004
00:48:18,240 --> 00:48:19,480
Gemara like you can read a 
novel. 

1005
00:48:20,120 --> 00:48:22,880
It's so much easier. 
You focus on the ideas. 

1006
00:48:22,880 --> 00:48:25,600
The fun part, the hard part is 
where you crack your teeth. 

1007
00:48:25,680 --> 00:48:28,160
Hopefully you did that in 
elementary school or high school

1008
00:48:28,760 --> 00:48:31,680
and then but I didn't. 
I remember at one point when I 

1009
00:48:31,680 --> 00:48:34,120
was in my mid 20s, I hit an 
inflection point where like 

1010
00:48:34,120 --> 00:48:37,520
Gomorrah was really hard and 
then at some point I just took 

1011
00:48:37,520 --> 00:48:39,160
off. 
Part in the mathematical term 

1012
00:48:39,160 --> 00:48:41,520
and inflection point is where 
things suddenly go up really 

1013
00:48:41,520 --> 00:48:44,800
quickly and it just became so 
easy for me. 

1014
00:48:44,920 --> 00:48:49,120
I had mastered the skills and 
and at after that it's just a 

1015
00:48:49,120 --> 00:48:51,800
joy. 
It's just where I find the joy 

1016
00:48:51,800 --> 00:48:56,280
in life and and if that's and 
again also that that helps with 

1017
00:48:56,280 --> 00:48:59,320
the learning because if it's you
enjoy it so much, then you're 

1018
00:48:59,320 --> 00:49:02,440
going to find the time. 
If you like Gamara more than 

1019
00:49:02,440 --> 00:49:05,400
Netflix, you're going to make 
Gamara the priority. 

1020
00:49:05,400 --> 00:49:07,280
Everybody needs downtime. 
I'm not saying Netflix is 

1021
00:49:07,280 --> 00:49:09,800
downtime is the way to spend 
your downtime, but everybody 

1022
00:49:09,800 --> 00:49:12,520
needs downtime. 
You know you need to rest your 

1023
00:49:12,520 --> 00:49:14,280
brain, you need to rest your 
eyes. 

1024
00:49:14,280 --> 00:49:17,160
You need to walk around and then
get your your limbs moving. 

1025
00:49:17,960 --> 00:49:20,320
But another thing I learned from
Ruby is the Cohen. 

1026
00:49:20,840 --> 00:49:23,440
When you're walking from 
building to building, why aren't

1027
00:49:23,440 --> 00:49:25,360
you doing a Feshman and nefesh? 
Why are you just looking around 

1028
00:49:25,360 --> 00:49:29,240
and thinking you should be doing
meaningful thinking, whether 

1029
00:49:29,240 --> 00:49:31,120
it's a Feshman and Nefesh or 
it's Kazora. 

1030
00:49:31,800 --> 00:49:35,320
You could kazer, kazer, Gamora 
You could you could if you do 

1031
00:49:35,320 --> 00:49:38,240
the Zefrom method, which I'm not
such a big fan of, but I've 

1032
00:49:38,240 --> 00:49:40,320
tried it. 
If you did the Zefrom method of 

1033
00:49:40,440 --> 00:49:44,760
learning Gamora, you can father 
a homosecta in maybe 20 minute 

1034
00:49:44,760 --> 00:49:51,560
walk, so you know you two time 
joyfully enjoy it but use it 

1035
00:49:51,560 --> 00:49:52,240
meaningfully. 
Cool. 

1036
00:49:52,240 --> 00:49:55,640
We we sit away a little bit from
from tar musings but we are I do

1037
00:49:55,640 --> 00:49:58,000
want to recognize all of its 
accomplishments and it's it's 

1038
00:49:58,000 --> 00:50:00,560
really made a big impact a lot 
of people and it's a big 

1039
00:50:00,560 --> 00:50:02,720
milestone 20 years. 
So can you talk a little bit 

1040
00:50:02,720 --> 00:50:07,840
about where it's at today as far
as how do you view the niche 

1041
00:50:07,880 --> 00:50:10,880
that you are filling in the 
world of Torah 2024? 

1042
00:50:11,040 --> 00:50:14,480
So my my goal in life. 
I mean, I've already told you 

1043
00:50:14,480 --> 00:50:17,880
what my goal in life is. 
My other goal, my next layer 

1044
00:50:17,880 --> 00:50:23,440
goal and I come from, I was 
trained in the what you might 

1045
00:50:23,440 --> 00:50:25,320
call the right wing Modern 
Orthodox. 

1046
00:50:26,160 --> 00:50:28,560
It's an American term, right 
wing modern Orthodox world. 

1047
00:50:28,560 --> 00:50:31,480
That's where I come from, you 
know, let's say Scheffler of 

1048
00:50:31,480 --> 00:50:34,160
Woolley, Talmud to some degree, 
although I'm really remember 

1049
00:50:34,160 --> 00:50:37,480
Twerkie Talmud, but certainly 
with Schefton of Woolley, that 

1050
00:50:37,480 --> 00:50:38,840
world of right wing Modern 
Orthodoxy. 

1051
00:50:38,840 --> 00:50:42,880
But I've made my life, I've 
built my family in the more 

1052
00:50:42,880 --> 00:50:46,440
moderate haredi community. 
My boy go to Hafasayim. 

1053
00:50:46,840 --> 00:50:52,840
My daughter went to BJJ, and so 
I see those communities as 

1054
00:50:52,840 --> 00:50:56,400
overlapping tremendously. 
And I've tried to bring those 

1055
00:50:56,400 --> 00:51:00,480
communities closer together by 
publishing in both communities 

1056
00:51:01,000 --> 00:51:04,480
and talking about issues that 
are mutual concern and mutual 

1057
00:51:04,480 --> 00:51:07,400
agreement. 
And when I write, generally when

1058
00:51:07,400 --> 00:51:12,480
I publish in the newspaper, in 
the haredi community, when I 

1059
00:51:12,480 --> 00:51:15,160
write online, it's more in the 
Modern Orthodox community and I 

1060
00:51:15,160 --> 00:51:20,720
write the same exact thing. 
So it is I try to find issues 

1061
00:51:20,720 --> 00:51:25,040
that are of interest to both and
bring quote Tami de Khajamim 

1062
00:51:25,040 --> 00:51:27,360
from one community, the other 
bring them across. 

1063
00:51:27,840 --> 00:51:30,680
And I also quote some Arabs 
Israel Tami de Khajamim that 

1064
00:51:30,680 --> 00:51:33,840
people don't know about Dolan 
like Rev Yaakov Ariel who in 

1065
00:51:33,840 --> 00:51:36,360
Israel everybody knows him. 
In America people haven't heard 

1066
00:51:36,360 --> 00:51:44,240
of him Ruslan, Maviner, Ravelli,
Adam alignment to some degree or

1067
00:51:44,240 --> 00:51:53,480
if dole you in sort of examining
the issues of morality and 

1068
00:51:53,480 --> 00:51:59,080
halasa that are fully consistent
with Faridi values but are 

1069
00:51:59,320 --> 00:52:02,560
voiced within the questions that
are talked about in modern 

1070
00:52:02,560 --> 00:52:05,040
Orthodox. 
So to some degree it's Hashkopfa

1071
00:52:05,040 --> 00:52:08,480
and Halasa mixed together what 
is completely traditional based 

1072
00:52:08,480 --> 00:52:12,840
on know to be who does and and 
and the fasim sulfers and all 

1073
00:52:12,840 --> 00:52:17,560
the classical Rashonim and 
Afronym and so I think what what

1074
00:52:17,560 --> 00:52:21,640
what how I'd phrase it this way.
I'm talking about the important 

1075
00:52:21,640 --> 00:52:25,520
issues of today using the 
sources, the classical sources 

1076
00:52:25,520 --> 00:52:28,840
of Halakh and Hashkova and 
showing how they are extremely 

1077
00:52:28,840 --> 00:52:31,960
relevant today and when people 
have questions and they wonder 

1078
00:52:31,960 --> 00:52:34,680
you know what does Halakh have 
to what does what does Judaism 

1079
00:52:35,040 --> 00:52:38,480
have to say about the problems 
we're facing today right now my 

1080
00:52:38,480 --> 00:52:40,560
answer is just look they they 
talk about it. 

1081
00:52:40,560 --> 00:52:42,960
It's all relevant. 
It's all the more invoking is 

1082
00:52:42,960 --> 00:52:45,720
relevant today. 
Might be medieval philosophy, 

1083
00:52:45,720 --> 00:52:47,280
but it's completely relevant 
today. 

1084
00:52:48,000 --> 00:52:50,520
I think this is a great segue to
what I think might be our last 

1085
00:52:50,520 --> 00:52:52,760
question. 
How do you take that approach 

1086
00:52:52,760 --> 00:52:55,200
and apply it to the issue that 
this podcast is trying to 

1087
00:52:55,200 --> 00:52:57,800
address? 
The I love the framing of the 

1088
00:52:57,800 --> 00:53:00,240
overlap of the right wing. 
Why you community and the 

1089
00:53:00,240 --> 00:53:03,200
community and we are all 
together in this boat of a 

1090
00:53:03,560 --> 00:53:06,520
society which has some 
tremendous advantages and some 

1091
00:53:06,520 --> 00:53:09,680
tremendous dangers. 
Torah learning in quantity that 

1092
00:53:09,680 --> 00:53:12,120
we've never seen before, a 
wealth that we've never seen 

1093
00:53:12,120 --> 00:53:14,440
before. 
Putting that all together, in 

1094
00:53:14,600 --> 00:53:18,560
the world of Abalabas, trying to
live a life which is financially

1095
00:53:18,560 --> 00:53:21,400
independent and fulfilling 
religiously with Palma Torah at 

1096
00:53:21,400 --> 00:53:24,200
a very high level, so could you 
try to take that lens that you 

1097
00:53:24,200 --> 00:53:28,680
use to write and build your 
website and apply it to the 

1098
00:53:28,680 --> 00:53:31,520
issue of Vinay Torah working 
bismana? 

1099
00:53:31,520 --> 00:53:32,760
Sure. 
So I'll I'll say it with two 

1100
00:53:32,760 --> 00:53:35,920
things. 
First of all, there's a great 

1101
00:53:35,920 --> 00:53:39,880
fiddish of remote high willing 
writing in one of the early 

1102
00:53:39,880 --> 00:53:42,680
issues of, of all places, the 
Torah Romana journal. 

1103
00:53:43,360 --> 00:53:44,960
I think it was in the first or 
second volume. 

1104
00:53:46,440 --> 00:53:51,800
He said OK, same terasa keva 
Umalastasa arai should make your

1105
00:53:51,800 --> 00:53:55,920
Torah study the most important 
and your malaa your work should 

1106
00:53:55,920 --> 00:53:58,880
be secondary. 
And he said you're going to 

1107
00:53:58,880 --> 00:54:01,120
spend most of your day working, 
not learning. 

1108
00:54:01,840 --> 00:54:05,440
But the way to fulfill this 
mimer of khazal is in terms of 

1109
00:54:05,440 --> 00:54:09,440
the importance in your own eyes 
that the Torah should be keva as

1110
00:54:09,440 --> 00:54:14,360
the most important part of your 
day and the malaa should be less

1111
00:54:14,440 --> 00:54:16,840
of of less importance in your 
day. 

1112
00:54:17,160 --> 00:54:19,000
Now if you have career 
aspirations are like me, you 

1113
00:54:19,000 --> 00:54:21,880
might take your job more 
seriously, but that doesn't mean

1114
00:54:22,280 --> 00:54:25,200
that the Torah shouldn't be the 
most important part of your day.

1115
00:54:26,320 --> 00:54:30,800
So that's number one. 
Number two, And you you could be

1116
00:54:30,800 --> 00:54:34,520
a Bala boss, a Bala boss without
being Bala botish. 

1117
00:54:35,800 --> 00:54:39,560
Being a Bala boss means you got 
to work, but being Bala botish 

1118
00:54:39,560 --> 00:54:41,960
means you're very passive in 
your learning. 

1119
00:54:41,960 --> 00:54:44,880
Even if you are learning, you go
to a share, you go to definitely

1120
00:54:44,880 --> 00:54:46,240
share. 
That's passive. 

1121
00:54:46,840 --> 00:54:51,200
You can in order to be non 
ballabatish you have to take 

1122
00:54:51,680 --> 00:54:57,000
ownership of your learning and 
you have to take control and be 

1123
00:54:57,000 --> 00:55:01,880
active, teacher, teacher, 
dafyon, me or learn the Ian and 

1124
00:55:01,880 --> 00:55:06,760
and create deadlines. 
The reason, one of the reasons I

1125
00:55:06,760 --> 00:55:11,120
have succeeded to some degree 
that I have is because I have a 

1126
00:55:11,120 --> 00:55:13,520
weekly deadline. 
Force yourself. 

1127
00:55:13,520 --> 00:55:15,520
Push yourself. 
Like the mob bid says, push 

1128
00:55:15,520 --> 00:55:20,240
yourself with deadlines, with 
goals, with tests, even even 

1129
00:55:20,240 --> 00:55:21,560
take tests. 
Take The Dirty test. 

1130
00:55:21,560 --> 00:55:23,600
But it's it's only by being 
accountable. 

1131
00:55:23,600 --> 00:55:26,280
Just like it works, You're 
accountable for the work 

1132
00:55:26,280 --> 00:55:28,480
product. 
Be accountable for your learning

1133
00:55:28,480 --> 00:55:31,400
as well. 
And that way you'll learn much, 

1134
00:55:31,400 --> 00:55:33,920
much better and you'll have seen
much, much more. 

1135
00:55:33,920 --> 00:55:35,160
Hustla. 
I think the only reason I've 

1136
00:55:35,160 --> 00:55:37,320
seen any success and I think 
that's all the reason anyone 

1137
00:55:37,320 --> 00:55:39,880
sees any success if they take 
ownership of it, that's what I 

1138
00:55:39,880 --> 00:55:42,960
would say. 
Do you have any parting 

1139
00:55:42,960 --> 00:55:45,080
thoughts, things that we didn't 
get to that you want to mention 

1140
00:55:45,080 --> 00:55:47,920
before we close up for today? 
You know, I've every morning I 

1141
00:55:47,920 --> 00:55:51,160
wake up and I have two regrets 
that I think of immediately. 

1142
00:55:51,280 --> 00:55:52,560
Number one, I'm living in 
courts. 

1143
00:55:52,560 --> 00:55:55,360
Lawrence #2, I'm going to a 
corporate job. 

1144
00:55:55,360 --> 00:55:57,440
I'm not working for Chloe. 
I'm not working for a coach 

1145
00:55:57,440 --> 00:55:59,240
Barack. 
I'm going to a corporate job. 

1146
00:55:59,800 --> 00:56:02,440
Now that's just the way my life 
turned out and I don't know how 

1147
00:56:02,440 --> 00:56:06,360
to change that. 
But the one thing that I have 

1148
00:56:06,360 --> 00:56:08,840
that I know is that the only 
thing Coach Barack has in this 

1149
00:56:08,840 --> 00:56:11,960
world is Dalidano, Shila Loca. 
And so that's where I try to 

1150
00:56:11,960 --> 00:56:14,880
make my home and wherever I I 
am, wherever I happen to be, I'm

1151
00:56:14,880 --> 00:56:20,000
in gulls, both physically and 
also also career wise. 

1152
00:56:20,320 --> 00:56:23,880
When I try to bring Adalah down,
I'm a show with me and that's 

1153
00:56:23,880 --> 00:56:27,000
really all I can do, you know, 
And I see myself living a bit 

1154
00:56:27,000 --> 00:56:30,720
yet in life. 
But you know, all you can do is 

1155
00:56:30,720 --> 00:56:33,400
what our, what our ancestors did
in throughout Europe, 

1156
00:56:33,400 --> 00:56:34,800
throughout, throughout all the 
gulls. 

1157
00:56:34,800 --> 00:56:38,560
It's just, you know, cling to 
tradition, cruelty with Tara, to

1158
00:56:38,640 --> 00:56:41,720
shots and post scheme. 
And that's where how I try to 

1159
00:56:41,720 --> 00:56:44,880
live my lives and I trust and I 
hope that my kids see that and 

1160
00:56:44,880 --> 00:56:49,160
they and they model their lives 
likewise they try to live their 

1161
00:56:49,160 --> 00:56:53,640
lives less a Torah dedicated to 
the Dalamashala and raising 

1162
00:56:53,640 --> 00:56:56,760
their own children in the same 
tradition that we've inherited 

1163
00:56:56,760 --> 00:56:58,840
and we've adopted for 2000 
years. 

1164
00:56:59,320 --> 00:57:01,720
And I mean Shamma. 
It'll continue for generations 

1165
00:57:01,720 --> 00:57:04,600
and generations after. 
Gil, thank you so much for 

1166
00:57:04,600 --> 00:57:06,960
joining us today. 
I think in my mind, you are a 

1167
00:57:06,960 --> 00:57:09,640
very successful professional. 
Successful in the sense of you 

1168
00:57:09,640 --> 00:57:11,200
have your values, you suck to 
them. 

1169
00:57:11,200 --> 00:57:13,640
And with a lot of hard work 
inside the Shamaya, you've been 

1170
00:57:13,640 --> 00:57:16,800
able to really accomplish a lot 
of things consistent with those 

1171
00:57:16,800 --> 00:57:19,000
values over the years. 
So thank you for joining us 

1172
00:57:19,000 --> 00:57:20,280
today and thank you for all your
insights. 

1173
00:57:20,280 --> 00:57:22,080
Thank you, Yakov. 
I wish you would like your 

1174
00:57:22,080 --> 00:57:25,080
family itself and all your 
listeners tremendous itself and 

1175
00:57:25,080 --> 00:57:35,600
everything they do. 
I mean, I mean, thank you so 

1176
00:57:35,600 --> 00:57:37,040
much for tuning in to start 
Tank. 

1177
00:57:37,280 --> 00:57:39,160
If you're still listening at 
this point, that means that 

1178
00:57:39,160 --> 00:57:41,240
you've enjoyed. 
Please take a moment to give us 

1179
00:57:41,240 --> 00:57:44,640
a five star review, make sure 
that you're subscribed and share

1180
00:57:44,640 --> 00:57:47,440
this episode with a few friends.
I want to thank our production 

1181
00:57:47,440 --> 00:57:50,400
team, Yoni, Schwartz, Yitzhak 
Ribbon and Yossi Book. 

1182
00:57:51,080 --> 00:57:53,040
Until next week, keep on 
stagging Kevra.