Part III. Preparing with Practice
Practical Applications
Now, in order to make this more realistic, it would be worthwhile to consider some practical applications of this principle of identifying with our people, the am Yisroel. In this place we mean business and therefore a general outline of this attitude of being together with the Klal Yisroel as one unit when we appear before Hashem on Yom Hadin is not enough – we have to think about some individual practices that will make it easier for us to acquire this attitude.
And although they might be very small steps, relatively speaking, they’re a very valuable achievement for this time of the year. Ellul is the time for small things, for getting started with small things – it’s a way of showing Hashem that you mean business.
Blessing Jews
Number one. In order that we should identify with the Klal Yisroel one of the eitzos is to practice blessing our fellow Jews. You want to practice being one with your people? Bless them! As much as you can give them brachos.
Let’s say you’re walking by the Satmarer Yeshivah or the Bobover Yeshivah or the Mirrer Yeshivah or Chaim Berlin; as you walk by you say like this: “Hakadosh Baruch Hu should give long life and parnassah b’revach and nachas and happiness to the rosh yeshivah” – mention his name – say, “Rav Aharon Shechter and his rebbetzin and his sons and daughters, and his eidems and his shneeren and his grandchildren, they all should live long and all should be perfectly well.”
You can add, “And also to all the maggidei shiur and all the kollel people and their wives and children; they all should live long and all should be perfectly well and they should all get along with each other.”
As you pass a Bais Yaakov school, a Bais Rochel, a Bais Rivkah school, say, “Hakadosh Baruch Hu should bless all the girls there they should make the best shidduchim. They all should be healthy and live long and have the best children.” Say it! Say it! Don’t be stingy.
Blessings from Afar
Now suppose you don’t walk by; you can say it anyhow. You say “Harav Pam and his rebbetzin and his children, his sons and daughters, all should live long. All of his kollel leit and his ramim, Hakadosh Baruch Hu should bless all of them with arichus yomim, parnassah b’revach and nachas from children, and hatzlachah in Torah. All the boys in the cheder and their sisters and parents and bubbies and zeidehs should have a good upcoming year tuf shin lamed vuv.”
Practice that. And not merely in general. Mention names. Specify names. Your frum neighbors, your friends, the mispallelim in your beis knesses. Specify brachos. This one should marry off his daughter. This one should have shalom bayis. If you see a Jew on the other side of the street, you don’t even know who he is but you see he’s a frum Jew, so you say “Ribbono shel Olam, guard that Jew. Make him successful. Keep him well and healthy.” Say these words. How much does it cost you to say it? Is it a big expense to say it?
Here you have a woman pushing a baby carriage. Her hair is covered. She has seven children; two holding onto the carriage, children running alongside. And you’re watching them from the window. Give them a big brachah. “Hashem, please keep them healthy. And they should all do well in cheder, in Bais Yaakov, and get good shiduchim.”
Now all this is practical. It’s not merely a theoretical idea. Not that you’re merely listening to me talk about it. Imagine you’re doing that now. You’re going to do it lemaaseh. Think, “In the month of Ellul, I’m going to demonstrate my achdus with the Klal Yisroel by giving brachos to my fellow Jews.” Put it down in your book and begin practicing it – right away. As you walk out of here tonight make the first installment. Otherwise you’ll forget and before Rosh Hashanah you might even not remind yourself at all and you missed a glorious opportunity.
The Two Minute Prep
So as soon as you leave tonight you’ll pass a frum house; give brachos to the ones who live there. You see a mezuzah by the door? “Everybody in those homes, the frum people there, all should be well for long and happy years.” Say that with your mouth. “They should all have parnassah b’revach, nachas from the children, the best shidduchim for their children, only simchos in those houses and the children should have brissim and bar mitzvahs and chasunos, always nothing but joy on those houses.”
Now you can’t do it all the time, all day long. But once a day, from now until Rosh Hashanah, make it your business to spend about two minutes saying these words. Practice it every day from now until Rosh Hashanah. Two full minutes. If you want, do one minute in the morning and one minute in the evening but whatever it is, two minutes every day. Starting now!
You should know that you’re blessing yourself, because you become now bound up with a certain attitude of affection for the Am Yisroel. And then on the Yom Hadin as you appear before Hakadosh Baruch Hu, He’s going to look at you in a different way entirely. I guarantee it. It will make a tremendous difference because now you’re appearing before Him besoch amo Yisroel – you’re coming to the Yom Hadin among the nation that He loves most.
Praise the Nation
A second application. It’s number two on the list but it’s no less than the first one. What is it? To praise the Am Yisroel. Not only to bless them but to find ways and means, opportunities, to speak up on behalf of your fellow Jews. Get into the habit of saying good things about your people.
Now you can’t do it all the time - you have to eat too; you have to sleep and daven and learn; you have to bless Jews too – but once a day say something in favor of the frummeh.
Praise the Boys and Girls
You know a yeshivah man is a beautiful thing. You don’t realize what an exception he is. Among all the nations of the world, they don’t have anything like it. A bachur is kadosh; he spends his day learning Hashem’s Torah. He’s not wasting his time, not fooling around with narishkeiten or wicked things, immoral things. A yeshivah boy has nothing to do with girls; frum girls have nothing to do with boys. They don’t even talk to each other. An am kadosh. You have to appreciate that, speak about that. This month you’ll get into the habit of praising yeshivah men.
Now, our frum girls are just as precious. The frum girls are unusual in the world today. They were always unusual but today especially. Each girl, the future mothers, are diamonds. A diamond is nothing compared to them. And so make it your business this month to speak well of the girls’ schools; praise them. Bais Yaakov, Bais Rivkah, Yeshiva of Brooklyn, all the other places, Bais Rochel. Speak highly of them.
Try it out at home. Say to your wife, “I was thinking; there are so many frum girls in all the frum girls schools, thousands of frum girls, and all of them are ambitious to raise Torah families. They want to get married and have beautiful children, shomrei mitzvos, boys and girls. We’re such a special nation!” So your wife will look at you funny. But you did it. You can put it down in your notebook that you did it.
Jewish Nationalism
You could speak once a day in favor of the practices of the Jewish nation in general. “What a frum nation we are! Hakadosh Baruch Hu has given us ways, darkei kedushah. The Am Yisroel is so different from all the umos haolam.” It’s very important to speak about that. Praise the darkei haTorah, the special ways of our people.
If you’re a mechanech, a melamed, speak in praise of the tzaddikim, talmidei chachamim and bnei yeshivah. Your talmidim will never forget it. They might not remember the Gemara or the Chumash you taught them but this I guarantee you they’ll remember.
Sometimes it takes a little planning. Rabbeinu Yonah says when you get together with a group of people, prepare yourself for the opportunity; prepare your mind to say at least one statement in praise of the righteous people. It will sink in the minds of the listeners. Could be they’ll think you’re eccentric but it’ll sink in.
Table Talk
Now, when you’re sitting together with your family, it’s an opportunity. Whenever you’re sitting at the table, even with your wife alone or your wife and children, you should know here is an opportunity. Before you come to the table, take out a minute and think, “What am I going to do at the table? How can I utilize this opportunity?”
So let’s say you decide that today I’m going to talk about the roshei yeshivas. You sit down at the table with your children and you wait for an opportunity. “Children, you know the roshei yeshivas are our leaders.” The children are busy eating – they’re hardly listening to you. Say it anyhow. “They’re our leaders. They’re the head of our nation. They’re the ones who are the teachers of our people.”
Not only roshei yeshivas. That’s good for one day. The next day, something else. Plan beforehand, today I’ll speak about the tzedakah that the Am Yisroel gives, the chessed organizations we have. Now the children don’t know that it’s planned. They think agav urcha you happen to mention it. No. You’re planning it beforehand with a scheme; a special scheme to prepare your family for Rosh Hashanah.
That’s a practical application. Will you do that tomorrow, bli neder? And you should know how much of a reward you’re going to get for saying these words; the tremendous reward of becoming one with the Am Yisroel. It makes you tied up together with your people. By speaking well of them, we’re together with them.
Reviewing the Plan
So now we have two suggestions lema’aseh for how we’re going to become attached to the Am Yisroel. I’m going to repeat these things now so that you shouldn’t forget them – I mean business here when I’m telling you these things.
We’re going to, number one, bless them. Even one minute a day is a tremendous achievement if you’ll do it. And number two, we’re going to praise them. It’s very important to practice that. And you should learn to practice them. Don’t forget these details.
Now these little points you should know although they’re easy but they’re like diamonds. Each time you do it, you have found a precious diamond. Because what happens now? Hakadosh Baruch Hu says, “Oh, it’s a different story now. Not only did you spend a month thanking Me for what I gave you this past year, but you’re also not coming on your own. You’re echad with your fellow Jews; you’re echad with My people, with the nation I delight in. And even though you yourself, maybe you have some faults but you’re identified with My beautiful nation. You honored them and blessed them and praised them and therefore, I’m going to judge you together with them.”
And when you appear on the Yom Hadin, Hakadosh Baruch Hu says “You know how to live. You showed Me by your example of how you lived during Ellul that you know how to live. You thanked Me every day! And every day you made sure to practice identifying with the Am Yisroel! So you made a good preparation for the next year and therefore I trust if I give you another year of life – many more years! – you’ll practice the same thing over and over again. And for that you deserve to be written l’alter l’chaim tovim ul’shalom.”
Have A Wonderful Shabbos
