Parshas Vayeitze: Tenacity, Chutzpah in Prayer, and Lessons from Jewish Giants

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When Revan Cutler came to America, there was absolutely nothing here Definitely no vibrant Jewish life, no burgeoning bastions of Torah, no synagogues that were absolutely packed with gentlemen that were fluent in many tractates of the Talmud.

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He was well to everyone else, an odd man out, a crazy man, someone that had a dream to build up European-style yeshivos in America in the golden Medina.

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But it's impossible here on these American shores.

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But slowly but surely, from just 16 Bachrim did everything begin.

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Surely from just 16 Bachrim did everything begin that Rab'Aaron Kutter, kuttler, zechranel Avracha built the most incredible Beth Medrash Gevoa.

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Its peros, the manifesting of its Hatzlacha, is known worldwide.

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The stories in the storybooks, they all tell about the frequent setbacks that Reba Aaron had to face, the challenges and trials and how he passed them with tact and finesse.

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How did he do it?

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How did he pull off the incredible?

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How did Rachel Imenu manage to pull off the incredible feat of having a child and spawning Shiftei Ka if she wasn't given the physical faculties, capabilities to spawn offspring?

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How did she accomplish that extraordinary want of hers?

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How is it that the holy Chazoin Ish, the lion ascending from Bavel, was able to build Bnei Brak, which was just a tiny little desert village about an hour from Yerushalayim that no one had ever heard of.

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How is it that he built that tiny ear into a burgeoning metropolis of electric Torah atmosphere?

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Torah atmosphere.

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The answer is found in our Parsha.

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It's a mindset that they had, and I know that they all had it, and all of those extraordinary individuals who have accomplished extraordinary things, because if they didn't internalize and live by this Pesach in our Parsha, then what they accomplished would have never been realized.

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Rachelim Enu says that she waged with her sister a war and she has prevailed, that she waged with her sister a war and she has prevailed.

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She has won this fateful contest and she named her child Naphtali.

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Onkelis explains that Naphtali is a way that she prayed.

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It's a lotion of pleading and prayer.

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This dream of hers to spawn offspring was somewhat of a sore topic that Leah was having children, spawning the Shiftei Ka.

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But Rachel found no success in this area.

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But after scheming, plotting and trying, praying over and over, to bring about a child, eventually, by handing her maidservant over at the beginning, bilhah, she held this little baby named Naphtali and she named it after her pleading in prayer.

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Naphtali that's what the name means according to Unkles and according to Menachem ben Saruk, an incredible linguist, and Rishon the expert in diktuk.

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Rishon the expert in diktuk.

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The word naftali actually comes from a sort of closely bound upon it, a covering that is very tight with something else.

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Naftali is from psil, like in psil techeles, or psil in bamidbar and yotes tesvav, not exactly sure how it fits into the Pesach, but according to Rashi he speaks for himself.

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He doesn't just quote a chazal, as Rashi normally does.

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He says I'll tell you what the word naftali means Zok the holy.

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Rashi says, the great teacher of Israel, rabban shal kol b'nei Yisrael, that naftali comes from the words that I have been perverse and crooked.

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I have been persistent and I have made many opportunities, incessant prayers, prayers that opportunities.

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The literal definition of that is doing something obsessively until it actually annoys someone.

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And I have wrestled many wrestlings with God so that I may be like my sister to spawn offspring.

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Any wrestlings with God, so that I may be like my sister to spawn offspring.

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The name Naphtali is the name of ceaselessly and persistently pursuing a dream and stopping at nothing until it is brought into fruition, and stopping at nothing until it is brought into fruition.

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Naphtali was a reference to how she had merited to bring a child into existence.

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Naphtali is the mindset that she lived with that Hashem says no, but I want it so bad, so I will continue to go about my business praying to God until it will be brought into fruition and Hashem will say yes, that's what Naftali means and that's what she referenced when she gave her child the name.

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People are blown away when they hear the following Gemara Masech to Sanhedrin.

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But you need to know it because it's in the Talmud.

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You'll find it in Kuf Hei Omer, aleph, omer, av Nachman Chutzpah However you translate that, there isn't a very good translation Afilu Kalpe Shomaya.

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Chutzpah, even in the face of Hashem, in the face of heaven.

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Brazenness, perhaps we'll say even disrespect, when it comes to your relationship and showing chutzpah to the heavens, to the almighty mahani.

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It helps, it's efficacious, it's productive.

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To the heavens, to the Almighty Mahani, it helps, it's efficacious, it's productive.

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Hashem, I want something and I want to bring it about and even though you said no, I'm going to daven again.

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God wants us to be chutzpahdik in our relationship, with our pursuing spiritual endeavors.

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Chutzpah in the way that Hashem tells our foremothers and forefathers no, because he wants them to pray harder, pursue more ferociously, study more tenaciously, show some ruggedness, and even we see in this Rashi that if it is by schemes the amount that Rachel went to to try to amass more tzchosim and more tefillos and bring about the impossible it shows to us that that is allowed in our avodah to Hashem.

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I don't want someone to run away with this idea of naftali and start to commit sins and go against God.

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That's the farthest thing from what is implied here.

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But what is implied in the words is that sometimes, when you get the door closed on you and when Hashem says no to your shidduch, no to your business, no to your Torah study, it isn't an eternal no, it isn't a denial, that is immortal.

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God just wants your persistence to be eternal and immortal.

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God wants you never to give up hope, never to be meyayish and to kaveh el Hashem chazak v'yamitz li'becha v'kaveh el Hashem.

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God wants you to return back to the sitter with more persistence and show more drive and put out more Until eventually, who knows, maybe somebody that doesn't have a womb could give birth.

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Surely you're aware to put this into very, very plain English and depict some clear imagery that the inside of every page of Talmud you'll find Rashi holding your hand, teaching you how to learn.

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And on the outside of every page of Gemara is Tosmos, rashi's grandchildren and their chaveirim, those that attended Rashi's yeshiva and understood their grandfather's writings and then compared and contrast his writings with other places in the Gemara to try to ascertain the exact scenarios and to therefore deduce halacha.

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That's Tosmos, the commentary.

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And it's famously known that the Menchaselazar of Munkach, who's the grandson of the Bnei Yisrashar, it's written in Devaray Torah, the 8th edition, in chapter Lamed Aleph, that the tradition from the B'nai Yisoschar is that there's a tosvos, a mesecht, above a kama and parak meruba, a long one, that the Balei tosvos who were living lives being persecuted brutally, these gentlemen who were laying it all on the line to study Torah and to bring about the greatest super commentary on Rashi that's ever been created, greatest super commentary, really, on the Talmud, that they would go about this and they would be knocked down, killed.

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They would hide in caves to write Tosmos and there's a Tosmos in Meruba that's documented.

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They had to actually write them in blood, prick their finger because that's what they had as ink and write out vimtomar.

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How can this be if there's another Gemara that doesn't seem to mesh nicely with it?

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There must be something deeper that we're missing In blood.

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Because when one accepts upon himself to do something, great often something gets in the way, and then more things get in the way and the Eitzahara gets involved and you get a big fat no in certain areas, and the Gentiles could get involved.

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Anything to push you back to really see how badly you want this thing.

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But the Naftali mindset that the great sages of yore in antiquity accepted and lived by was that I made up my mind.

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I'm going to have a child, I'm going to have Shiftei Ka, I'm going to build the Nabrak.

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I'm going to make Shifteiqa.

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I'm going to build B'nai Brak.

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I'm going to make sure that Tyra is learned in the purity, with the intense vigor that it deserves on the American shores.

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I've made up my mind.

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So be what it will be, no matter the setbacks.

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It's already decided it will be.

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No matter the setbacks, it's already decided, it will be done.

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That's what Naftali means.

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We just see here that Naftali could even be, when you're doing it with a chutzpah, against what Hashem has already told you.

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That's the new novel concept that Rachel brought into fruition.

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There are four already told you.

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That's the new novel concept that Rachel brought into fruition.

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There are four things that constantly need chizuk.

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You should constantly bolster your Torah study, your good deeds, prayer, your occupation.

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It needs chizuk, says Rashi.

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She is chazik, adam bohem, tomit bekol kocho, that you should chase down these goals constantly with all of your effort.

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And normally we understand the pshat to be well.

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You should continue to motivate yourself.

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But there's something deeper here.

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It's that m'schazik b'kol kocho, because in these areas they're so large, they're so important, so critical, that of course setbacks will come.

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But strich and chizuk means never to give up, not just to strengthen yourself, but to go about it in a way with akshanos, to be persistent and stubborn in these areas.

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To be persistent and stubborn in these areas Because otherwise Hatzlacha will never be created.

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Constant bolstering and motivating with all of your energy.

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That's how BMG is built, that's how children are had miraculously and that's how B'nai Brak was built.

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And all great accomplishments, the setback chapters and the way that they were overcome with an Aftali mindset, that's the gold mine.

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That's where everything happened.

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Moshe Rabbeinu wanted to go into Eretz Yisrael.

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That was his ultimate life dream, on his bucket list, the only thing he hadn't done, had not been able to accomplish in his life.

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And God said no.

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That tells us that I pleaded with Hashem 515 times until God said enough is enough.

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No more praying, or I'm going to have to answer you, and I'd prefer not to.

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So please stop praying, ladies and gentlemen.

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515 asks Put yourself in Moshe's shoes and imagine that you are dreaming of this great accomplishment of finishing, are dreaming of this great accomplishment of finishing Bava Kama, building an organization that solves a problem in the world that you see needs to be solved.

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Build a Fortune 500 company that will be nothing but run Al-Pihosh and Mishpat, al-liba Dehokhessa, al-libah de-hilchissa, that will write Meister checks, that has many zeros after it.

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There will be incredible setbacks, it will take incredible amounts of tefillos and we cry and we want it and we ask Hashem over and over, but eventually the same tefillah, the same ask.

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It's burnt out and withers away.

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Moshe Rabbeinu davened, 515 straight.

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Shemona Esre's, below Guzma, below Dugma, below Emshal.

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Rabbeinu davent, 515 straight.

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Shemona Esre's, below guzma, below dugma, below emshel Hashem sefosay tivtach v'yaget hilosecha Hashem.

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Let me in to Eretz Yisrael, please.

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No, hashem.

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Let me in to Eretz Yisrael, please, no.

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The chule, the goimer, over and over with akshanos, with a stubborn, unbreakable, tenacious will.

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That's the midah that somehow never made it to America, or maybe died with Rabban Cutler.

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When the Yates-Sahara gets involved, to stop your latest and greatest dreams and aspirations?

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Do not engage with a maybe you're right Yates-Sahara.

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Do not engage the Yates-Sahara with a hmm, maybe I should second guess it but instead do what Avraham and Yitzchak did, as the Mejish Rabbah Nun Vav Dalet tells us that when Avraham and Yitzchak were going to do the Akedah, the evil Yitzchak came to Avram Avinu and said you lost your mind, the child, the miraculous child that God gave you when you were a hundred years old.

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You're now going to kill him, omar Lo.

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Avram says back yes, even though what you are saying may be true, it's what I have to do.

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Al-minas Cain is the response.

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It'll be what it'll be, but I've made up my mind that this is Ratzan Hashem.

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I've made up my mind this business will be created.

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I've made up my mind that this Masechda will be learned.

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I've made up my mind that I will be spawning offspring even though I get no after no after no, with an akshonos that lasts a hundred years and 515 tefilos of shmona esrei, of mosher abenu's level, with an akshonos and almenoskein mentality.

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That's how it is done.

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The Yitzharah saw that Avram wouldn't listen.

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So he decided he would go mess with Yitzhak to stop this Akedah from happening.

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The Yitzharah says to Yitzhak You're really going to go through with this?

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And what if he does something more?

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Are you going to be able to fight that challenge?

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That's going to come after that.

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What happens in the future?

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When you come back, you know everyone's going to say to your dad that hey, where's the boy?

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You're not going to be here anymore.

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And everyone's going to say, whoa, it's a huge hill to Hashem because Avram killed his son.

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What did Yitzchak respond?

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Let's say it together Al-Minas-Kane yeah, it will be what it will be, because I've already made up my mind.

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That's what Naftali means.

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It sounds rotten and sounds crazy and sounds perverse.

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It sounds that someone's gone mad.

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But no, it's just the way things go.

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When you make up in your mind to set out and accomplish something great, that you must be firm, your resolve must be that you must be firm.

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Your resolve must be rock solid, concrete, cast iron and it's nature.

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Chapter 7, mesilas Yisharim.

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In case you don't see what we're trying to do here, we're talking about trying to pursue mitzvot with Zerizos and the Pesach says Ramchalas.

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He's trying to prove his point about how things get in the way of trying to accomplish mitzvot once you've already decided to accomplish them.

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Bereshit Rabba, chapter 76.

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Chapter 76.

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David told Bnei Yehu to go, bring Shlomo down and anoint him as the king.

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And the sages of blessed memory they asked why is it that the Torah makes a whole deal of David saying, yes, go, anoint him.

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And then it's going to work out a whole speech back and forth, if the Pesach already tells us that we already know that Shlomo HaMelech is fitting and it's going to be brought into fruition.

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So if Hashem has already guaranteed that he is to be the future Melech and he is ripe and fitting to be the Melech, so why is it that there is this great conversation back and forth about making it to Gihon, anointing Him, smearing the oil and knighting Him into the Melech, if it's already have been ordained, determine that that's what it will be.

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Elo, it must be, says the mendrash 76.2 of Bereshish Rabbah.

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Harbe k'te goyren, ya'amdu mikhan va'ad gichon.

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Harbe k'te goyren, ya'amdu mikhan va'ad gichon.

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There are many setbacks, mishaps and prosecutors that will arise from here until the Gihon, the area where you anoint the king.

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There will be many challenges, but on your way to Gihon, on your way to anoint it, even though it's already been predetermined that Shlomo will be the melech that will have the intestinal fortitude to accomplish what needs to be accomplished.

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Do not let it leaven.

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Not even 18 minutes can you wait to grab your mitzvos.

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You declare this is getting done and whatever else comes after that is welcomed.

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We can't even discuss the amount of challenges and the horror that came into the Chafetz Chaim's life when he decided to accomplish the writing of the Mishnah Baruch Ha'a.

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It would change the world forever and it's too graphic, too tough to talk to you about what happened to the Chafetz Chaim at that point.

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What was sent his way to impede this accomplishment that would change the world forever.

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And Moedah Rabbah, the Chafetz Chaim Reb Yisrael, meir Ahko and Kagan, made a Moedah, made a proclamation and declaration that death of children, death of son-in-laws, pain, misery, terror, all of it Yiyah Masha, Yiyah Alam and Nas Cain.

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I have committed that the Mishnah Bura will be authored and research that even more tragedies happened and more accomplishments were attempted to be stopped when the Chafetz Chaim wanted to move to the Holy Land.

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Yeh Mashi, yeh Al Menas K'in Moidah Rabbah.

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That it's going to happen.

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We find even sometimes our great Jewish leaders went to dangerous territory to seclude themselves behind closed doors like an Isha Sota to receive the bracha so that they'd be able to spawn offspring like Chana and Shmuel.

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Dangerous territory and that's not what we're advocating here.

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But what we are advocating for is that Naphtali Ikesh Upsaltol is the way that the impossible happened Chutzpah in your dreams, chutzpah even upwards towards heaven.

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When you're told no about this spiritual accomplishment, that you don't take no for an answer, that when the doors of brisk are closed on your face by the great Rav Avram Yeshua Soloveitchik, you kick the door open and say I'm coming to brisk are closed on your face by the great Rav Avram Yeshua Saloveitchik, you kick the door open and say I'm coming to brisk, yeh mashayeh.

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If it takes 515 prayers, if it takes raising the money, taking a loan, trying to pay my way in, yeh mashayeh al minas kein, once you've decided to accomplish it, ye Masha, ye Al Menas Cain, once you've decided to accomplish it.

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In America we love everyone and everything and it's a nice way to live.

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Because of that mindset, sometimes people give up on their dreams and what they set out to do and fold quicker than a cheap Walmart lawn chair.

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We need to learn from our barren the chazanish Rakhili meinu Naftuli elekim niftalti Vatuchal.

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And it works and success is had.

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Whatever it is that's in your belly that you know is the right thing to do, you know that it is your long-lost dreams.

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To accomplish it, then put on your Naftali cap, be rigid about it, be stern about it.

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It's very nice when everything will come out of this and could be and will be, and if this and if that.

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That's what.

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Everything will come out of this and could be and will be, and if this and if that.

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That's how accomplishing great things is done, with an unbreakable will.

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There will be many prosecutors, mishaps and setbacks Between here and Gihon, between here and Gihon, but Amen, keni Hirotson, with a stubborn will, with an Aftali type of mindset and outlook, amen, keni Hirotson, that will be successful and get to anoint Shlomo in the areas of Gihon.

Parshas Vayeitze: Tenacity, Chutzpah in Prayer, and Lessons from Jewish Giants

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