¶ Going All In
Go all . In this idiom , three short words , go all in . It means that you should take that leap of faith , bet the farm and try to achieve something . That takes great determination , especially even if it requires taking a large risk . Go all in , take that risk , and I'm here to tell you why .
I should warn you that not everybody agrees with this following idea , following piece of Torah . It's quite controversial . It was said by two great individuals . If you reach out , I'll tell you exactly where you can find them .
But I'll leave it to you , if you accept this idea and will choose to implement it in your life , whether or not it's just too much to swallow . And you can wait for the next podcast . It's Parshas Toldos . It's the beginning of the twins narrative , yaakov and Esav , jacob and Esau narrative Yaakov and Esav , jacob and Esau .
But before there are twins , there's a mother who's got some stomach pains . The Eilat told us Yitzchak ben Avram , avram hoiled as Yitzchak , but he Yitzchak ben Arboyim . Shona bekachtu as Rivka . Bas besuha la'arami mi padan aram achos lovan arami lo la'isha . Yitzchak and Rivka are married , but she's barren . Rivka cannot have kids , she's infertile .
So they daven and Hashem responds to the plea with graciousness and behold , rebecca conceives . But this pregnancy is not like all other pregnancies . We are told a very , very tough word to translate , but loosely it means that these children were running , were struggling , and Rivko is in such pain that she exclaims why Does this exist ? Why do I exist ?
Why is it worth it for me to have such labor pains or expectant pains ? So she chooses to go inquire about what's going on inside of her belly and after she went to the Gadol Adar , she walks down the block to the yeshiva to go get the eitza from the rabbi .
The answer that she gets that quells her fears are that Shnei goyim bevitnich , there are two children in your belly . You misunderstood the pains . There are two children . One is going to be mightier than the other and the older one shall serve the younger . And Rivka finds peace , she's ready to go home and the rest of the parasha continues .
But when you dig deeper , get to the subterranean text , what's really going on ? What was really bothering Rivka that she finally found peace with is that while she was walking around , the Midrashic interpretation is that .
What is it that made her exclaim that what happened was when she would walk past the yeshiva , walk past the study hall , walk past the synagogue , walk past the places of ruchnias , especially that of Shem and Eivor Presburg , and Rabbi Nelson Stein's yeshiva . And Rabbi Nelson Stein's yeshiva , yaakov rots .
The baby inside began to tussle , spin around , make moves to try to exit the womb and try to escape and go learn . But then something weird would happen . As she's walking down JKI and 27th street , as she turns the corner and she begins to then hit the avodahs , the bars , the clubs , the stadiums , the places of idolatrous worship , then the baby also .
But she doesn't know it's 2 yet is wanting to get out quickly , moving , running , two yet is Mepharges Lotse's wanting to get out Quickly , moving , running . And Rivka is confused .
Does this child want out to go study and be a part of holy endeavors and follow the Abrahamic faith , or does he want to hang out at the pagan temples and enjoy his five o'clock somewhere , mentality wasting his life away in frivolity and self-serving ? Is this child good or evil ? And she's confused .
So , ladies and gentlemen , I ask you if she's so confused and doesn't know what to do about it , to the point that she exclaims why is all this happening ? It's not even worth it . Loma ze anokhi . Why is this happening to me , that it's not even worth it . Why are all of her fears , anxious , nervous feelings about the future quelled ?
Why do they subside when she hears oh , that's just one of your children . One of your children is going to be a terrible Russia . One of them is going to be a pagan idolatrous temple hanger outer . One of them will be spiritually dead and suffer from the atrophy that you pray so hard to remove from every one of your children . Yeah , don't worry about it .
One's going to be spiritually dead . One's going to be miserable . One's going to be an avid and diehard club goer , sports team rooter and social media scroller . But it's all okay because that's just that one kid . The other kid's actually going to be the best Talmudic scholar known to the world . The other one will be a spiritually healthy , robust child .
The other one will be healthy and happy . He'll be a striver , he'll be a doer . So yeah , a striver , he'll be a doer . So , yeah , you have nothing to worry about because it's twins . Why did that give her peace ?
Would any mother , any parent , ever find peace in the fact that one of their children is now on the path and has the new legacy of spiritual atrophy and death ? The answer , the powerful answer that I hope ruffles your feathers is that she was really nervous , like the Bezal Levi , I'll say it and Zuck the great Rav , shalom Shadron .
He said this when he was speaking in the Zichron Moshe area show Friday night . I heard it Beshem , my rabbi , you heard it secondhand . They both asked the same question and gave the same answer , because you know what was bothering Rivka . Why did she exclaim ? Why is all this worth it ? Because she thought she had one child who was half in .
She thought this kid is half religious . This kid is half dedicated to his spiritual pursuits . This kid is not willing to be all in on God and chase down his spiritual destiny . He's half in , he's half out . He wants to scroll through Twitter and TikTok while also learning in yeshiva .
He wants to follow the rules and pray with Talos and Tfilin , but then he also wants to leave davening early , see things he shouldn't see , go places he shouldn't do and not even follow the rules of business . He's half in , he's half out . So it ate her alive , but the tariffs that she got is that . Don't worry about it , you have nothing to be afraid of .
You have one child who is all in , one child that is all in . And even though I'm now informing you that the other one is a total Russia , but at least you don't have a half-dedicated servant , a half-dedicated son , and it's worth it . And it's Kedai . And she found peace , she found harmony , she found a pitoy , an answering , a relaxing in her mind .
She was mevarer , this suffix . When she was told that don't worry , because one child is all in , and even at the cost we see of another one being totally out , it still was better for her .
That gave her peace , because she had someone that was willing to bet everything on the card of the deck that he's been served , willing to go all in , bet all of his chips . For that she found peace . Ladies and gentlemen , it's not something that sits well with us , bisman hazeh .
We like to keep our options open , we like to be involved in things , but never to just really take that large risk of spending my entire life on it , dreaming about it , obsessing over it , being cutthroat about it , taking it personal . You have to be cordial , kind , you can't overdo it , overextend yourself .
You have to be normal , balanced , yes , yes , but then great things never happen , extraordinary things never happen If you're just half in on the most important goals that you have in life . This is not something that needs spiritual or halachic proofs . You've probably figured this reality out in your life .
The more that you go all in on something , the more that you put your time , money , effort , energy , blood , sweat and tears into something , the more results you get back , we are told . The Torah tells us that you are to serve Hashem . You're to be all in on your God . You're to be all in on doing what God says .
Surely you're aware that there is no middle ground in this game of life . There is life or there is death . There was breath in the lungs , the ability to do something . There's winning or there is death . When you do not get the chance to continue to perform mitzvahs and amass zechosim , there's no way around it . Everybody eventually dies .
Everybody eventually will lose . It's only a certain amount of time that we have here . So to go about the biggest points of your life haphazardly , uncoordinatedly , half in instead of going all in , there's an even larger risk than betting the farm , jumping all in , taking the leap of faith .
We are told that just last week , when the angels came it was two weeks ago the three angels came to visit Avram when he's sitting outside on a hot day . Why three ? We need separate angels for separate missions One to give the good tidings , one to take out the wicked people , one to heal Avram .
Rabbi Urachim wants to know the great spiritual dean of Yeshiva Asmir during the Roaring Twenties . He wants to figure out . Why do we need special individual angels for separate , individual missions ? Why can't one angel carry out two commissioned objectives by God ?
And the answer is because to really get something done properly , to do it a maisa , maisa echa , it's something done A to Z , perfectly in all of its mindsets , needed in all of its outlooks , in all of its jot and tittles , every single klaluprat of that mitzvah it takes . Being all in One angel can only do one thing .
Because to do a maisa echad , one thing done properly , one thing done right , it takes going all in . It takes going all in . It's the same reason he says that you're oisik bar mitzvah
¶ Living Fully in Spiritual Endeavors
. When you're doing something that is a spiritual endeavor , trying to fulfill Hashem's commandments , like going to visit your Rebbe on the holiday . You are exempt from all other mitzvot . You are potterman on mitzvah . When you're oisik in a mitzvah , not just because it's some sort of cliched line that you're doing what you're supposed to be so .
God doesn't ask you to do something else , but rather there should not be anything else .
When you're doing something , to be fully in on the actual Misa mitzvah that you have in front of you , of course you're putter from everything else Because to do it properly you have to be all in oh sake , bar mitzvah , to the point that the pator , the exemption from all other mitzvos , is self-explanatory and obvious .
People have goals , people know what they want in life , but those that are afraid to jump into the shark tank , jump into the desert , jump into the abyss of unknown , because they're afraid to take the leap of faith and go all in . They want to keep themselves , oh sake , in many different mitzvos , keeping their options open .
They're forever left to wonder what could have been , what would have been if I would have done that , or could have done that , or did I do that ? What's your job in this world In explaining this obligation that we have to our world ? Mestilas Yisharim depicts how we should live our lives , the very foundation of piety .
Mesilas Yisharim depicts how we should live our lives .
Yisoyd ha-chassidus v'shayish ha-avoyda hatamimah , the very foundation of piety and the roots that burrow deep into the ground to hold up your spiritual structure , hatamimah , the perfect foundation is what Shiasbaraviyas ametz etzel ha'adam achuvaso ba'olamah , to clarify and verify with crystal clear clarity 4K Sky K , 1080p , hd Blu-ray clarity what it is that you are supposed
to be doing in this life , what is your job in this world , what is the goal , what are your aspirations and how do you go about carrying it out ? And to what you should put your aspirations and your outlook , what you want and your goals are in life , in all that you toil , in all of the days of your life . Kol asher hu omal kol yimei chayev .
Asher hu omal kol yimei chayev . There is supposed to be a goal , an objective , something that you chase down with your toiling , your incessant , obsessive toiling to bring this matter into fruition . And you're supposed to do it .
Kol yimei chayev , even when you're a shechiv meirah 120 , lying on your deathbed ready to go greet the king of all kings , at that moment you're still omal , trying to push yourself closer to your life objectives , your aspirations and goals . It's a challenge to you today . I call upon you .
Can you go all in on what you know that you should do , can do or have to do ? You know that you should do , can do or have to do ? Can you clarify your mission in life based on how much money you have , how tall you are , who your family is ? Are what you feel a nature in yourself ? What do you pull to ? How much can you give to others ?
Do you have that nagging feeling that you always pull to learn that safer ? At that time , do you have a certain feeling in your gut that you're just supposed to launch this initiative ?
Then go all in , don't be left wondering what if Don't serve Hashem just with Bechol Meodecha , with your money , you write the check and then forget to have your heart always thinking , pondering and even obsessing about the nature of our obligation to the King of all kings .
¶ Choosing to Go All In
Can you concretize what it is that this goal is ?
That you can look at it and put it on a piece of paper and then chase it down with a hunger , with the type of hunger that you find really takes you over , on matzah yom kippur , long after you've finished ni'ilah and you're still driving home in your kitzel and you can't wait to eat something because you're so khalished .
You're finished ni'ilah and you're still driving home in your kittel and you can't wait to eat something because you're so khalished . You're so , so famished . Can you keep that type of passion and drive and push yourself to go all in Rivka Imenu ? To her , the whole thing wasn't even worth it , loma Ze Anochi , to have a half-in child .
The calming reality , the calming truth that she got . Just don't worry that one is ultimately wicked , because you have one that's totally all in on his spiritual goals . Ladies and gentlemen , don't be left wondering what if ?
Choose to be Osek Bar Mitzvah , choose to book that chavrusa , choose to book that deal that you believe will enable more future success to be able to amass great things , to do great things , to advance God's goals , god's wants in the world . Go for the gold .
Many people are cynical about this idea because sometimes you figure out that they're just afraid to go all in , afraid of failure , afraid to bet the farm , and they want to keep their cards close to their chest and just call someone else's bet and wait for the next opportunity . But nemeh , those people never get to give 100% , they never get to grind toil .
Obsess go ham and dream about something great , something that's a life goal , something that you love chasing down . Bekol , kocho , bechol , kocho , bechol . Asher , huoma kol yimei chayov . Take a moment , what is it that you think God wants you to do for him ? What is it that you think the Jewish world could really use right now ?
What is it that you can do for someone that you can think of that life ain't exactly working out for them at the current moment ? Can you launch an initiative ? Can you call a meeting to get people together to see if your initiative also lands on them ?
In a similar way , can you find that peace that Rivka got , which was you , got a kid who's all in and so now all is well ? Nobody else can make you go all in . Nobody else can decide your fate . Nobody else can make you go all in . Nobody else can decide your fate .
Nobody else can put in your belly the type of determination and grit that you're going to need to accomplish this great spiritual mission of yours . Only you can and only you know what truly it is . But when you do go all in , wacky , magical things begin to happen . Read about all the great ones , how it took them a lifetime to become an overnight sensation .
Read about how Rev Destler was told that hair would grow on his palm before he amassed and accomplished what he had set out to do in England so long ago . And just look at him now , because he went all in . People doubt the great ones . People doubt even the not so great ones .
Sometimes we even doubt ourselves , but more often than not it's because we're afraid to take that leap of faith .
Make the call , do the thing , push yourself to go all in , because when you do and when you live with an om al kol , yimei chayov , and you have this deep , passionate obsession and craving about bringing this dream to fruition , when you go all in , that's you deciding your fate , you praying your guts out , learning your head off , pushing yourself to the nth
degree , that type of going all in to endeavor to accomplish incredible things . That's when the magical and absolutely extraordinary things begin to happen and great things are accomplished . You'll find your peace , probably like Rivka did as well , and all these great things begin to happen and life takes on a whole .
Nother meaning and success is really had when you choose to go all in .
