Jewish Inspiration Podcast · Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe

00:01 - Intro (Announcement)
From the Torch Studio in Houston, texas, featuring leaders and personalities from Jewish communities around the globe. This is the Sunday Special Edition of the Jewish Inspiration Podcast with Ravi Aria-Wooli.

00:22 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Alright, welcome back everybody to the Jewish Inspiration Podcast. This is another special Sunday edition of our podcast and our guest this week is a dear friend of mine, rabbi Tzvi Blachman from Jerusalem, and our hope is that through this podcast we'll get to know Rabbi Blachman and learn from his incredible wisdom. We had the privilege in our community here in Houston, texas, to have Rabbi Blachman with us and he spoke multiple times over Yom Taf and he was absolutely soul-stirring, he was emotional, he was enriching of our chag, of our Yom Taf, and enlightening and definitely, for me personally, gave me a huge, huge, a huge elevation to my whole holiday. I want to thank you. Thank you so much for coming and thank you so much for agreeing to be on our podcast here, thank you. So, rabbi Blachman, tell us a little bit about yourself. Where did you grow up and where do you currently live?

01:24 - Rabbi Tzvi Blachman (Guest)
I was born in Jerusalem, the only city in the Holy Land. My father was born in a deeper camp in Hamburg right after the Holocaust. He was prepared to Holocaust survivors. My grandfather lost his entire family. He was the youngest of 12 brothers, siblings. He was already married. He had children my uncles they all that murdered. He remarried to my grandmother right after the war and after two years they immigrated to America. My mother was also and she grew up also for her and her parents that were Holocaust survivors and she grew up in Paris. They both came to Jerusalem and they got married there.

02:19
And here I am. I live in a Shalime. I teach students Israeli students and American students and I'm trying to. My life goal is to try to connect the teenagers to their roots, to strengthen their relationship with who they are, with their Jewish identity, and a part of that mission, I also find myself once a while in Houston, texas, to try to strengthen every single person who needs it to feel pride about his identity as a Jew, to connect everyone to his sources and to develop Jewish pride in our nation, which I feel that in our generation. It's something really important because once we live in a global world, in such an environment, we can sometimes lose our significance and our importance and our pride as Jews.

03:30 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Amazing. So I don't know if you noticed, but I was also born in Jerusalem, in the holy city of Jerusalem, but I didn't grow up in Jerusalem. At three years old, my parents moved to New York and I grew up in Brooklyn, new York, and then later in Muncie, new York, but you grew up in Jerusalem. So what can you tell us, our listeners, about what it was growing up in Jerusalem in the early 80s? You were born in the late 78. I think I'm a little bit older than you, so 78,. You're born in June. I'm born in April. So what was it like growing up in Yerushalayim, yerakai, the holy city of Jerusalem, back in the 80s, the 90s?

04:12 - Rabbi Tzvi Blachman (Guest)
I will tell you, jerusalem of today is an incredible among us, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful city.

04:21 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
I mean this construction going on everywhere.

04:23 - Rabbi Tzvi Blachman (Guest)
Yeah, very beautiful and very modern city. A lot of tourists and people get inspired from the beauty of Jerusalem. Jerusalem today is a modern city. When I grew up in Jerusalem, there were still neighbors. Once you entered those neighbors, you felt that history stopped eight years ago and you were going between houses and people. Holy people who lived like our ancestors 90 years ago as far as connection to God, as far as the way they perceived life, without zero expectation from materialistic life. They didn't have anything in their mind besides serving on Kurshbalkhu. They needed some food, they needed some money to support their family, but they didn't have any physical inspirations, no concept of luxury, nothing. I mean, they were making fun of it. They didn't need it. They thought it's stupid, even because it was hidden that I can give an example. It was a neighbor called Sharia Chesed, right near Rakhavi. Rakhavi is like a more modern neighborhood. If you would cross the Chavosh Tishkin into Sharia Chesed, you would go back eight years ago in history. Just crossing the street, you would see the Groschal, the Vomdive, rosenthal, you would see Shalom Shvodzhon.

06:18
Holy people, people that didn't have anything in life but think about Kurshbalkhu and trying to live a continent's values and to try to give over the knowledge of Hashem to the future generation and to help other people to live real Jewish life, which is again Judaism perceived. Materialism as a tool, not as a goal. It's a tool to live our life in order to serve our Kurshbalkhu. The goal is to serve our Kurshbalkhu. Materialism money it's just a tool. Use a tool exactly as a tool. What do you need in order to live your life and to serve God and to learn His Torah and to govern and to educate your children with Jewish values? That's the purpose of animalisticism that we have. That's chazar say legit. Chazar say pad b'melach tochal and mayim b'mesurat ishte.

07:30
It's interesting that there's a Mishnahi per kevot. The Mishnahi per kevot says imen kemach en Torah, imen Torah en kemach. It means without food you will not be able to learn Torah. Without Torah there is no food and the question is obvious. I understand that without money you cannot learn Torah. You cannot say to learn if you don't have a way to feed yourself. But what is the Peshad without Torah and kemach without Torah? You don't have money. I know many people who don't have a drop of Torah and they have a lot of money. I know so many people.

08:18
I heard from an old Jew in Jerusalem. He heard it from one of the greatest Rashi's shivot in the 20-year Rabashiman Shkop, and he said the following Peshad imen kemach en Torah. Without money, you will not be able to learn. You need to have the basics. You need to work a bit to have some money to feed your family, to support your family, in order to be able to learn Torah. You cannot learn Torah and be hungry. But how much money do you need? How much money do you need? How big are your needs?

08:57
He meant Torah and Kema, the last Torah you have. That's why you're more missing the Kema, because a person who feeds himself with Torah and he lives his life with such a meaningful life, a connection to Takar Shbahu his needs in the physical area, in the materialistic area, are basics. He doesn't need it. He understands that all those things are just a tomb. I know so many people that the holy people. They never had any inspiration to have a nice car or a beautiful pool in their backyard. They never needed it Because they are so full and they're so satiated and they're so happy with their life. It's not one of their wishes. They never thought about it. It doesn't mean anything to them.

09:59 - Rabbi Tzvi Blachman (Guest)
What this rule does to offer them is only to support their family. They have the ability to pay the bills, but all this only for one purpose that they will be able to serve their God Shbahu, to educate his children and to give over the torch of Judaism to the future generation. That's their meaning for life. That's what I experienced in Jerusalem 35-40 years ago. There were many, many, many people. That's the way they lived their life.

10:36 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
I don't know if you know, but when I was 15 years old I was learning in Yeshiva in Brooklyn, new York. I decided, after speaking to my two older brothers who were already learning in Yeshiva in Israel, that I was going to possibly miss out on building a connection with my grandfather. So I told my father, I said that's it. This is after 9th grade. I'm going to Israel. He says if you have Yeshiva in Israel, good luck. So I called my grandfather, zechatzadik Lurach and Rabbi Wolby, my grandfather, and I said I need a Yeshiva to go to next year. He says call me back in a couple of weeks and we'll see if I can find something for you. I called him back and he had down the block from him in Givat Shol Yeshivat or Lachanan Yeshivik Tanen or Chobel Kabetz, and I learned there Borch Hashem for two years.

11:25
It was an amazing show, based show Gimel. And then I went to a veralizing stain and the truth is, is that the remarkable connection I was able to make, not only with him but with not only with my grandfather, but with people who were living their life just to serve Hashem, that's it. You look at my grandfather, who would sit and learn with her Mordred Sokoman and you see two pillars of Torah. It's just unreal. There's nothing in the world greater than just sitting and learning Torah. Amazing, the humility, the kindness, the love that they had. It was just amazing.

12:04 - Rabbi Tzvi Blachman (Guest)
I must tell you that I knew your grandfather. I used to hear him to go to listen to him about seven years, every Shabbat.

12:14 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
In Kulterra.

12:15 - Rabbi Tzvi Blachman (Guest)
To hear his speech in Kol Torah.

12:17 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
I used to walk with him there, really From Givat Shaul.

12:20 - Rabbi Tzvi Blachman (Guest)
I want to tell you one thing that he was always focusing on consistently. Today we don't understand it because we all have phones, but back then people didn't have smartphones and it was very common to find people young boys that they want to go somewhere. They used to look for any friend. If there's any friend that can come with them. And he was complaining about the fact that a guy feels bored to be with himself. We're flowing in the current. We don't have a second to be with ourselves, to think about ourselves. If a person would learn to know himself, he's the wealthiest person that can join, to be with himself, to think about his life to build up his thoughts and his connection, first of all to himself.

13:24
We do that to connect to the Kodash Baruch. We just had the Halideh of Hagash of Wot at the beginning of the Torah. The Torah means to accept the Torah. But I always felt that in order to accept anything, first of all you have to accept yourself. And we live in a generation that many people they live other people's life. People just care about the image. They would laugh when they're expected to laugh. They would be upset when they would be accepted to be upset. They would act exactly like society expected them to act. And many people just passing near life. They're living other people's life they don't live their own life.

14:16 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
I have a khilish when we say we have to appreciate ourselves. Many times we say why do we have to start the day? Because you have to appreciate the self, get to know yourself, appreciate the self and thank Hashem. Hashem is giving you a unique day that you can shine to make something special of yourself. I think it's right on path.

14:40 - Rabbi Tzvi Blachman (Guest)
Beautiful I was. Once I came back from Yishiva at night it was 12, 30 at night and I met Rabbi Shmuel, Brazil, and he asked me Rabbi, what do you spoke to the night? What do you talk to the night? Nishiva, as I told him about the sentence it was the beginning of Chodashelul, about the concept of Anil-e-Doddi and Doddi-li, as he asked me. Anil-e-doddi meant me, to my beloved, to Hashem, and Hashem to me. As he asked me, what do you explain? What do you send? I said the first letter in the statement is Anil.

15:19
A person first of all has to build a connection to himself. Once he finds the connection to himself, he knows he respects himself, he knows his attributes, he knows he search about his value, he search about the meaning for his life. Then he's able to build a connection with others, including Akodesh-Balch. When a person learns to appreciate himself, then he's able to connect to Akodesh-Balch. Then he's also able to connect to others. Then he is also able to give others. I think that the most miserable people are people who always need feedback from others to feel that they have any value. They are the most poor people.

16:11
Because, in it charity, to feel its existence, to feel that it's worth anything. And I always feel that a full cup the poor can give others, an empty cup, always with other people to fill them up. And that's something very important To know our value as human beings, as Jews, and each one of us individually is special, is uniqueness, and that's the way we can, with that pride, by understanding your significance, you're able to connect yourself to Hashem, to your nation, to your people and to any human being.

16:55 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Amazing. So I know that you're a Rabbin, a Yeshiva. You're teaching their day and night. You're teaching terrorist to many, many students. So in my life becoming a Rabbi, there was a certain turning point where I felt like I have a responsibility. I need to share Hashem's Torah with his children. I don't care where it is, if it being used in, if it being in Antarctica, I have to go out and teach Judaism to Jews. That's my job. What was the turning point in your life where you decided you know you can go work in the diamond industry in Tel Aviv. You can go and you can sell on Amazon. There are many options out there. You're a very capable man. Why would you dedicate your life to teaching Torah? What was the turning point where you said, ah, this is my Chayz, this is my responsibility in my life to dedicate myself to teaching Hashem's Torah.

17:52 - Rabbi Tzvi Blachman (Guest)
To be honest, way before I decided to dedicate my life to teach other people Torah, I already decided to dedicate myself to learn Torah and to spend most of my time learning Torah.

18:06 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
And at what point was that? How old were you when that decision came upon you? Very young Very young.

18:12 - Rabbi Tzvi Blachman (Guest)
First of all, I liked it and I learned very fast to appreciate that and to understand and that's the most important thing that we can have.

18:20 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
That's unique. I remember when I was in Işif there were many guys who learned and learned and learned, but they didn't enjoy it as much as I enjoyed it.

18:27 - Rabbi Tzvi Blachman (Guest)
Right, but I had role models. I had role models. I had great role models, people I admired, people I looked up to and, since I'm a young boy, every great person that I have any kind of opportunity to get close to him. I used to take that opportunity. First, a small example I learned in Işif Akhtanayn in Kul-Teyra. There were maybe two Bachs from two guys in my age who used to go every week to speak to Abishlema Zamanayah Bach. He used to come to Işifah. He used to come to Işifah for the older guys.

19:06
But me and a friend of mine were the only two that we took advantage of that. There were people that I really looked up to them and they inspired me what Torah, how Torah can elevate a person to become something so great and they inspired me since I'm a child, a young child- Amazing.

19:30
But the idea of teaching other people Torah and, to be correct, to teach other people Judaism.

19:40
I think the changing point was when I was discovered to Judaism in America, when I needed to feed my family and I wanted to learn Torah. I took a job at night to teach American boys who come to Israel students 19 years after 12th grade. They come to Israel for a year or two. I started teaching them and my motive in the beginning was just to feed my bills and then I would be able to continue to learn the rest of the day. I took a job at night, I was working between 8 o'clock to 10.30 or 11. And they paid me well. My purpose of it was that now my rest of the day I would be able to learn Torah. But once I discovered the American, the American Jewish life and the American boys, it was a game-changer because I felt and I'm not saying that in Israel we don't, we not, we not discussing, we not, we're not struggling with the similar issues. But when I got exposed to what's going on in America, I felt that Judaism in America in a certain way is in risk and right away, immediately, I Felt tremendous responsibility to do as much as I can to to help young ages in America started in America to strengthen their connection to Judaism. I Think that was a game-changer the first year when I start learning more and get to know the American boys.

21:41
We live American culture and they struggle with things that I would never fathom as a buckle. As a guy who grew up in Israel in my generation and you know what I felt so much love to them and so much mercy for them. I Will tell the truth it was a period of time that I was even a bit upset than God and I used to tell them God, what are you giving your children? Such as hard struggles. They struggle so much to be hidden and why it's my job to clean your mess. What do you want from your children? They living well, the Western culture, life 2020, 2023.

22:35
And it's so hard because everything outside is against Jewish values, wherever they go, whatever mean, even that. Even many of them they lived Well Western culture, what Western life culture? And they also need to be Jewish and it's a conflict. Everything outside screams, everything outside is against which values? Materialism, desires, following desires, money, everything. It's so far from our original culture and to keep into being, be a filiator in this, in this and this conditions of life. It's so hard. I don't blame them, and I was. It was a painful question for me. I Was asking God what's am why? Why do I need to clean your mess?

23:34 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
No, what did I show man to you?

23:36 - Rabbi Tzvi Blachman (Guest)
and one day I got, I got, I got the inspiration and I, I think. I understand what the sham wants. You Know, when it really hit me was the first time I met in measure bush and nephew of the Huffett's time and we were sitting together and Friday night now major, major bushes, with the Bolsheviks buried.

24:03 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
It's. He wasn't a part of Ukraine.

24:05 - Rabbi Tzvi Blachman (Guest)
He wasn't a part of my group. He came, he lived in you, were there for Shabbos with their foreshadows, and he was random and he joined our group, him and his friend and he looked to me like a religious boy. In the middle of the meal, someone comes to me Rabbi, you have to speak to. That's a name, is more emotion. He's dating a gentle and I knew statistics. But then, as an Israeli who grew up in the shalime and it was I heard that there's such a thing in America. I never saw it in life. I never, I, never. I could never believe that that Religious boy comes to the ball shant of a Shabbat and he went to you, shiva, you will. He struggling with us, is struggling with that, and I felt pain in my heart. I can just say that that Friday night I Was talking about our nation and about our responsibility To our heritage, to our ancestors. Who was willing to jump to the fire, not to destroy a God, and they were hoping that that child that is hidden somewhere in the forest, he will keep holding the torch of Judaism and each one of us has thousands of these type of ancestors Would jump to the fire and not to be sure God, and here teenagers don't even understand the significant of A non-Jewish girl. Their children will not be Jewish and I can say that we were sitting together, 40 people crying the heart about the struggle of our nation, and then God gave me the answer. Obviously, I'm not a prophet, but it hit me the idea and I think that's that. That is the truth.

25:59
Rashi says in Parshat Lek Lacha that he brings source from the Torah, that we say a look at Ram and okay, it's hug and okay yaakov. But the end of the first brachan shona is we begin with the look at Ram. It's a very active, but we end. The sealed of the brachan is just McGenna from dimension, just of Ram and the words of Russia are. You call hot mean the cool am. Maybe we will seal the brachan with everyone, with all the three fathers, talmud, loma and the a bracha. We seal the brachat. The end. The hatima is just with you, as right away I heard from the word sealed Bekha. Hot mean doesn't for just the hatima. The bracha is the hatima of history. We have three fathers but the last generation Will be a generation across who wants people.

27:03
That has to do with Avram of you know and everyone think when you think about Avram of you know, you think about the hazard. But there's another quality to Avram of you know. The gamma says and haggiga and soka, my, a foop, a, my Iqban, a lean bat. Native Avram of you know is called a noble guy, a volunteer, but our nation Called the door of that volunteer. But be told she'll have Ram, a venus and a devil, libo la akiget borough. Avram of you know didn't get Jewish education, he volunteered. He volunteered to make his research, to find the meaning of life and to share that with the world. And he, once he found it, shared it with it, with the world. But I feel that God once, when the end of history we part means we approaching the end of history.

28:07
God is coming easy. We are is about to achieve his goal. From this old create, from creation, what God wants is a generation of volunteers. It's a. It was why it was a. I think there's a movie about Pearl Harbor and there's a statement there.

28:27
There's nothing stronger than the heart of a volunteer. Avram of you know, did not get Jewish education. He bought himself to the table what God wants in our generation. He shakes the world and he create a generation that education, community, tradition, society, what kept Judaism together, all those things almost don't exist and anyone Will kept in truck with a good as well, who you will be, one that we will decide Bring himself to the table. No one will put on to fill in in our generation just because his grandfather put on to fill in. That's to me. It has to mean something to him.

29:18 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
I could watch your to your question.

29:20 - Rabbi Tzvi Blachman (Guest)
That's exactly what I understand. The cross ball who creates? He created platform to build Judaism of Avram, of any type of Jews, people who brought themselves to the table. And it's interesting that the last Russia in the, in the Navy, and again the last bussook in a V, also the last bussook, talks about the days of a Leo. On a V it says very she've lived. But Avat al-Banim, the left by name of a thumb, rashi says the left by name of a time. Rashi says that their children they will bring back their parents. If they're history, judaism went through father to son, the last generation To be son to father. The children they will bring back. The father could be, the father will be religious, but it's gonna be empty. You will do you sound check out to you diamond three times a day, but his heart is not gonna be there. The children, the volunteers, they will connect. They will bring the parents to connect amazing I.

30:27
Think that was a game changer in my life and since then I, whenever I meet any type of young Jews, I think that's the biggest. That's my life mission To try to strengthen their connection to Judaism, to give them some pride.

30:46
They should learn some history, some Jewish history, to understand that their history did not begin when they were born and not gonna end when they will die. We are part of a tremendous another chain, a tremendous another linking a tremendous, tremendous chain. We'll begin with Avram, its ugly, a cove. So much on Torah and exodus. It's at mid slime. It's such a great history of great people and each one of us has Thousands of thousands of ancestors, was willing to jump to the fire Not to be strayed out, and they put on our shoulders the load responsibility. The man and and and and the in the scouts privilege, the privilege to give over the thought, the torch of Judaism further, amazing.

31:38 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Wow, if there was one thing that you can bring back from your childhood, what would it be? I Know it's an interesting question. You're probably not thinking like what? Let me tell you I had. I had back. Yeah, what would you want to bring back from your childhood? I'll give you an example. So one of the guests we had on this Sunday special Rabbi Feldheim. So he said that he wants to bring back the balconies of the shuls, that it to bring back the balconies, the balconies brought a certain seriousness that people knew that someone's looking at them down to, someone is looking at them pray and they don't want more sincerely, they don't want with more, with more passion, and. But they couldn't see them. And in a way, it's replicating our relationship with Hashem, where Hashem sees everything we do. But it's not so easy. We can see Hashem, but not in the same way Hashem can see us. That was his, his kid, she spoke beautifully about it. I, what do you say, robert Blachman?

32:40 - Rabbi Tzvi Blachman (Guest)
I experience simple Jews with simple immonah. I remember I used to dive in in Braslov, in the shoal, in Katamon, when, in the night of Tisha'be'av, people were sitting on the floor was completely dark with candles, crying their hearts because they felt connected. Today we are so, I would say, numb or so finicky non-relief, since in the dark room, yeah, they shot off some lights, but I saw people that in Hoshishana they were afraid from the judgment of Hashem. I saw people that in Tisha'be'av they were so upset as a personal tragedy happened to them. I saw people that they were simply connected to Hashem and they didn't have any expectations from life besides that. To go back to those, to the simple years not in Ushalayim there were so many people that they would just try to live a simple life, pure life, without caring about the image, without trying to live luxury life, just to live simple life. When you live simple life, you can give spirituality much more focus, because anything physical, anything materialistic, is interrupting our soul to shine and to take leadership in our life.

34:28 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Amazing, thank you. So you started mentioning a little bit on our history, our link in the chain. They were ready to jump into the fire. It leads me to the next question about the Holocaust. So a month ago we commemorated Yomashowa, which is an arbitrary day, because every day is Yomashowa. Every day, millions of Jews were murdered, whether it be in the Holocaust or in pogroms or expulsions or you name it. We've gone through a lot as a people, but being that that's the most recent event in our history of that magnitude, what, in your opinion, is the most important lessons from the Holocaust?

35:20 - Rabbi Tzvi Blachman (Guest)
Okay, that's a very important question. But before I go into answer this question, let me put a footnote, because you say that the Holocaust is the most recent tragedy of our nation Of such magnitude. Okay, I still think that there is something even closer and more recent.

35:48
Me as a Jew. I feel that we're experiencing a Holocaust right now. I think that there are more than 6 million Jews who drifted away completely from any Jewish identity since the Holocaust until now. I feel that we're losing every day limbs of limbs, of limbs of our nation. We're losing them. We're losing a huge amount of our nation. I'm not coming to compare, I'm not coming to talk about the evilness of the Germans that's not my point but us as a nation. Then we lost 6 million holy Jews, but since then we lost much more than 6 million holy Jews. Their children lost completely their identity as Jews. That's for me. We should make Yomashar just for that. It's a painful, painful tragedy that happens and still going on. Again, us as a nation physically they're alive. Spiritually they're detached from their roots and from their nation. If someone has a job of national pride, you should care about that. We lost, I think, a larger amount of numbers than 6 million Thanks to Holocaust. Who are over Now?

37:15
Regarding your question, I would try not. If I would say it 30 years ago, probably I would get a slap from Holocaust survivors and I'm humble enough to say that I'm not saying anything about my opinion. I'm just trying to say the way I understand, through the eyes of the Torah, how we should perceive the Holocaust. I was once with my children, yad Vashem, and a German lady came to me and she asked me do I teach my children to forgive? I told her, first of all, what's my right to forgive? What happened to my grandfather? What happened to my entire nation? Where am I? But I told her it's much deeper, because it's not what I give, what I'm teaching my children.

38:29
But Holocaust is not that the Germans were bad people and we have to take revenge. That's God's business. Anyways, it's not our business. What I teach my children is what we need to learn from it in our perspective, that the Germans, they, were the stick that God used them to hit us because we deserve it and that's the focus, because us, as Jews, we're not there.

39:00
We're not taking revenge. No one can take revenge. If you can kill another 20 Nazis, that will be revenge. You can take revenge of 6 million people, of a million and a half children. Only God can take revenge, and it's not my hope God will take revenge. He knows God takes revenge. But as far as my concern, I need to focus on what I need to learn from the Holocaust and I think that the Torah is teaching us that we need to understand that there were tools. God used them to punish us. It's not between me and the Germans, it's between me and Hashem. A couple years ago, I was going back from Ischiva one o'clock at night and there was a student hitching near the highway.

39:57 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Hitchhiker yeah.

39:59 - Rabbi Tzvi Blachman (Guest)
It's common in.

40:00 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Israel.

40:02 - Rabbi Tzvi Blachman (Guest)
And I stopped my car, asked him what he needed, said Jerusalem, beautiful come. And he did not sound religious, not in any sense. And it took a few minutes until the environment was more relaxed and he realized that I don't have horns. And then he asked me Rabbi, I can ask you a philosophical question? I told him, for sure you can ask. I'm not sure I will be able to answer your questions, but why not? Let's discuss it, let's hear. Then he asked me, like he threw a bomb on me, how Judaism fits with all Holocausts. I mean, his assumption was that Judaism under a threat, because if God exists and God is good, how it fits the Holocaust? I told him, my friend, the biggest proof to Judaism is the Holocaust. The biggest proof to Judaism is the Holocaust. He says how come?

41:21
I told him, you noticed that until 20 years ago did not exist at all a new version of Judaism. Judaism without commitment to be an affiliate did not exist. The word Jews who went away and they converted to Christianity, but did not exist. Such a thing as Jews that doesn't keep Shabbat did not exist. Everyone learned history. It's a fact. In the last 200 years our nation fell apart because of certain movements, our nation as a nation and again I'm not blaming any one individual, I'm including myself we're part of the same nation. Our nation as a nation fell apart and a big percentage stopped following the will of Hashem, stopped living their life according to Hashem's will. I told him you ever read the Bible? He said. He told me no.

42:32 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
I told him listen, look in the Pasha Bechukotai At the end of Leviticus, the last portion of Leviticus in the middle of Deuteronomy.

42:41 - Rabbi Tzvi Blachman (Guest)
Look what God wrote 3,000 years ago what's going to happen to our nation if we are not going to follow His rules and describe exactly what's going to happen to us, why we have the right to complain? God told us that exactly that's what's going to happen to us, but it happened. He was pretty impressed. He asked me no, he asked me exactly to give him exactly where exactly is located those parts of the yacht. And then he asked me a smart question. He asked me, if so, why we found that many, many righteous people and people were religious and said the people of Chachamim.

43:22
The author got murdered, and it's obvious. I told him that's a very good question, but the answer is also very good Again we are one identity. We are the army's ladder. It's like one body. It's exactly like if you have an infection in your finger, it can risk the entire body. Because we are one identity, we are committed to each other, we are guaranteed to each other. Whatever happens in any area in our nation, it's my business, exactly like it's my business if there's a Jew somewhere in LA who struggle with Judaism, because I care about him, because we are one. We are one nation, exactly like in the good pair of times of our nation, when we had the King Solomon and we had the Holy Temple built. Obviously there were people that did not earn such a luxury life, such a good life, but they were part of a nation and the nation deserved it. Those people get it so in the opposite.

44:34
I'm not here to blame. It's my problem that our nation is not stopped living, in a certain way, the way it was expected to live, and our problem it's not us against others, it's us against us, and God told us that that can happen to us. And, yes, we have public responsibility, we have a national responsibility to each other. I think we can see it in our life also in a very positive way. I think that our nation is very unique about people feeling responsibility to each other in many, many areas in life. If some Jew got in trouble somewhere in Colombia, the entire Jewish world would try to help him Because we're brothers.

45:34
Exactly that's our identity we are brothers.

45:39 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
I want to ask a question on this same vein. So many of our listeners are dealing with Shabbos. Shabbos is a goal for every Jew to observe Shabbos. We see in the Torah there's so much emphasis on Shabbos' kihimikor abrohitz, the source of all blessing. Our relationship with Hashem is based on how our Shabbos with Hashem is. What would you tell someone If they ask you Rabbi, give me a reason, why should I keep Shabbos? What's so special about Shabbos? What do you have to say?

46:11 - Rabbi Tzvi Blachman (Guest)
I will tell you Today because of a stupid reason, I wasn't allowed to go on a flight. They told me I need a visa to Israel. I'm Israeli citizens. I flew with my French passport and they told me I cannot go on a flight because I need a visa to Israel. I told them guys, you guys have been retarded for months. Even French don't need a visa to Israel. But I'm also an Israeli. Because I missed my flight and I came back and I didn't know.

46:40 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
So just so that you can be on this podcast.

46:42 - Rabbi Tzvi Blachman (Guest)
That's the second reason. But I really got the first reason Because beforehand, once the cab dropped me back in the neighborhood, I met a young boy from LA that you, rabbi, will be knowing that I just met him a day ago in the haqq and we felt connected right away and told me Rabbi, let's learn something, let's learn some Torah. I know that a day ago I didn't know him. Tomorrow he's going back to LA, I'm going back to Israel. I don't know if I can ever meet him in my life, but I came back to Houston and I learned with him for an hour and we learned about Shabbat and we learned a very interesting gmarah. The gmarah says that Rabbi Shimon Baruchai, after 13 years in the cave, he was escaping the Roman decree. They wanted to kill him and he was sitting and learning with his son 13 years, doing nothing but think about the gods and learning his knowledge.

47:54
When they came out, they saw people planting their fields and spontaneous. What they said. How come people can be busy with a temporal life and ignoring the infinite life, the role to come, and they were very, very upset. And it's interesting that what made them to come down? It took a year, but what made them to come down. They saw a Jew running with two bundles of hadasim, of flowers, murals, and Friday afternoon they asked him why do you need them? He said it's to honor the Shabbat. They asked him why do you need two? One is enough. This question is very familiar with the question why do we need to learn two hours a day? One is enough. Why do we need to learn three times a day? One is enough. But if you're passionate about something, there's not enough. They said one corresponding shamo, one corresponding zachal. And that's how Rabbi Shimon Baruchai calmed down. How does it answer the question how people can plow their fields and planting the field and ignoring the role to come, not learning Torah, not spending most of the day in spirituality? Because that Jew respects Shabbat. How does it answer this question? But the answer is very simple.

49:33
There are two types of Shabbat. If you look at Shabbat as a social day, it means that I'm working hard during the week and I need one day a break to rest and to cherish myself for the next week. Let's think what's the tool, what's the goal? Shabbat is the tool. The goal is the week. I'm using Shabbat in a certain way to charge myself to be ready to go to the next week. That's one way of practicing Shabbat. But what Rabbi Shimon Baruchai saw? That that guy has passion to Shabbat and it's cannot be, because if Shabbat is only a tool for the week, they should be very passionate about the week, not about Shabbat. He saw that this guy understands the meaning of life.

50:33
Shabbat represent men or am about Shabbat represent the spiritual life. You're working hard six days you're getting involved in creation. You start pretending that maybe it's yours, you. You making progress, it's your success and that's what life is about. I could as well tells you one day, leave you all the way, as you should acknowledge first of all that success doesn't come from you, you taking actions. Success come from a good as well, but more so, the purpose of life you have is a spiritual life. You have one day that you don't really work. You have time to dive in. You have time to learn the Torah. You have time to spend with your family, to give them Jewish education, to give over you knowledge to them, to sit together with the family, to live a spiritual day.

51:37
As a dog calls Shabbat, your mother ish matah. They are the soul. If six days we busy with our body, one day a week we busy with our soul. That's exactly what I learned with this boy. That's why I came back to Texas, because if someone Doing the week look is looking forward to Shabbat, it's defining his week, because this guy and understands that it's the opposite.

52:07
Shabbat is the goal. Spiritual life is the goal. Six day of working that's only a tool that I need to do in order to pay my bills, in order to support my family, but my goal in life is spirituality. I am working in the field but I'm looking forward to Shabbat. But I will be able to be with my soul, I'm able to pray Longer, I will be able to learn more, I will be able to sit with my family to give them Jewish education, as, yes, I'm working in the temporary world, but I'm not ignoring the real world. Shabbat defining you as a Jew in the six days of working, because you're working in the field, but you're looking forward to the two hours a night that you will go to Davin, memcha and alviets and you can learn Torah. You're looking forward to the Shabbat that you'll be able to spend time with your children and to live spiritual life, those moments defining you in the field.

53:09 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Amazing. That's what you just learned amazing, beautiful. So I have now just a couple of quick questions about Right now, where there are some really, really amazing things going on in the Jewish world the chesed, the kindness that's going on, the Torah study that's going on. I was in Israel, I went north, I went south. Wherever you go, there's a shul, there's a Talmud Torah, there's a this, a, a base Yaakov. Wherever you go, it's unbelievable. What is your favorite thing when you look at the Jewish people today? What is the greatness of the Jewish people that you see?

53:46 - Rabbi Tzvi Blachman (Guest)
The desire to be connected to their roots. I want to tell I was very, very excited a couple weeks ago, a couple month, maybe two months ago, in Israel I don't know if you know, but there's a whole politics about certain reform.

54:04
What I don't, I don't know about, I know, before reform and the court. I don't really care about that, but I do care and really touched my heart that there were 600,000 Jews Huge part of them are not affiliators and they came together and they were all saying together, shema Israel, hashem Elokein and Hashem Echad, wow. And one of the speakers she was a model. I didn't know. I didn't know about her because it's not a I'm not, I'm not a part of this society, but the just heard she was a model. Yeah, she's not dressing the way I'm expecting my, my daughter to dress, she. But she said first of all, before she spoke, she took she, she took a cup and she said and 600,000 people said a man, wow. And afterwards she said a statement and she said you don't have to keep Shabbat to be a Jew. She didn't say that, she said it not. That doesn't excuse not to keep Shabbat. What she wants to say, that I can feel connected. Even though I'm not keeping Shabbat, judaism is still important for me, even though I'm not holding yet by keeping Shabbat, beautiful.

55:21
What I heard then it was the heart pounding of our nation that it's keep that. That, yes, we have a future. We have to do the best, but God is beyond and God told us that our missile is high and even sometimes we feel that and we losing people. Maybe Good thoughts, but the end of the day we need to do our best. Nicaragic will take, will do his parts, but our nation will keep going. Jews want to connect to who they are. They, if many. Sometimes we have layers of dirt to covering our soul, but deep down the Jewish heart is pounding and so many, so many, so many Jews, even though they they, they not, they're not fully affiliators, but they want to connect it, they want the connection and they appreciate themselves as Jews. And that gave me a lot of hope, it gave me a lot of excitement and I know that. I know that our nation will stay the most special nation forever and without a shem. With Mashiach, the entire world will come along to identify God as the one and only.

56:41 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Amazing, thank you. Thank you, rabbi Blachman, I appreciate it so much. Do you have an email, an email, a yeshiva that people can come see you at?

56:50 - Rabbi Tzvi Blachman (Guest)
For sure. I have a yeshiva in the old city of Jerusalem, right near the David tomb. Kevin the Vids and You're there every day.

57:00 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
I'm there usually every day and email address If you want, if anyone has a question they want to reach out to you.

57:09 - Rabbi Tzvi Blachman (Guest)
Okay, my email address is TABlach@gmail.com.

57:15 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
All right if anybody is interested in reaching out to my dear friends, my dear listeners. Thank you so much. There's a tremendous privilege. Rabbi Blachman, thank you. Thank you so much for enlightening me and, I'm sure, our audience as well, tremendously, with your Incredible words, your holy words. Thank you, and have a safe trip back. I hope that they allow you, even without a visa, to go back to israel. I think it's just to give us a Maybe, a desire to. It's not so easy to go to israel today. It's become easy just buy a ticket and you get on a plane. But the truth is, moshe fought with Hashem, he prayed hundreds and hundreds of times by a Hanan. He plead, plead, hashem. Let me go into the land of Israel.

57:59 - Rabbi Tzvi Blachman (Guest)
It's a time to tell us it's Israel. Make that be history.

58:02 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
You have to. It's not easy, you have to go through a lot of afflictions to get to israel. Okay, yeah, all right, thank you. Thank you so much.

58:12 - Intro (Announcement)
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