The subject tonight is, using the Hebrew terms, the concept of אתה בחרתנו מכל העמים, which means, \"You chose us from all the nations.\" This is an expression that we use in the tefillot of Yom Tov. In the Shemoneh Esrei, the tefillah of the Amidah, in the prayer of Amidah on Yom Tov, we start off, after we give the introduction in the Shemoneh Esrei, we start off by saying אתה בחרתנו מכל העמים, \"You chose us from all the nations.\" We don't only say it on Yom Tov, but every day in davenen, in the morning, before Shema, in the paragraph that starts with the words אהבת עולם, there we say ובנו בחרת מכל עם ולשון, which means, \"and us You chose from all nations,\" from all nations, from all tongues, which means from all people. We Jews are the chosen people. The truth is that some people don't like to hear this, and they say, \"How can you claim that you are the chosen people, that means that we are Jew, special, when this doesn't fit to the principle that all people, all men were created equal?\" That's one of the philosophies that's here, concept of democracy: everyone was created equal and there's nobody special over others. And here we claim we are special, we were chosen, we are special people. This seems to be the greatest or worst level of גאוה. Imagine, we're claiming we're special. It's the greatest level of arrogance, of of of of, you know, of גאוה, there's no other word I could use. How can we say that we are the chosen people? Plus, some people claim that if you would, by saying that you are the chosen people, you are the special people, and we are special, then, God forbid, this could lead for us to think that others are not important and therefore we can get rid of them or we could do whatever we want to them, as I hate to use this example, but I don't think the, but I think this example will bring out the point: ימח שמו וזכרו Hitler, that was his idea. He claimed that we are the special nation, we are the special people, and therefore what did it bring them to do? It brought him to destroy all other other people, and especially to destroy the Jews, because he claimed, \"We, our race, is the special race.\" And, chas v'shalom, I'm not trying to compare, but I'm just asking the question, what are we saying? We are also saying that we are the special people, our the Jewish race is the special race, and we are chosen, etc., etc., etc. How can we say that? Now, the truth is that we cannot say that all people were created equal. It's not true. As much as the saying goes all men were created equal, it's not true. Everyone is different. There are some people who are better and more special than others. It's truth. There're not There The Gemara says that there are no two people that their mind works the same, there are people people are different, and there are people who are, so to speak, chosen over others. It is true. The difference is only what is the result of feeling that you are special and you are chosen. And that is the difference, as I will explain soon, between the way we understand the fact that we are chosen compared to the others who claim that they're chosen and they're special and what they did because of that, compared to what we do and what's expected of us to do because of the fact that we are chosen. But before I get to that, I just want to mention that it's interesting that those people who claim that they are chosen in a false way are the ones that really hate the Jews for claiming because we claim that we are the real chosen people. Not only because we claim, because we are. In other words, what I want to say is there are two types of feeling that you are chosen: the real one and the false one. And the ones that have that feeling in a false way, what really bothers them, what, with which people do they feel threatened? With those people who are really the chosen people. And that's why these people, the greatest enemies they felt, and the ones that they wanted to destroy were the Jews, because they claimed, so to speak, that they are the chosen in a false way, and therefore the ones that are really chosen, that's the threat, because those are the ones who really fall to that category of being special. We find that before yet in history, and we find it in Tanach, in Megillah, with this with Haman, the story of Haman, that Haman was the one that felt that he's the most important person, he's special. Says when the king asked him, \"What do you think think we should do to a person who deserves to be honored by the king? So the Megillah says, what did he think? Who does the king mean? Only me. למי יחפץ המלך, who would the king want to give honor more than me, because he's most important person. Who bothered him the most? Who did he feel was his greatest threat? Were the Jews. In simple peshat it would seem that he hated Mordechai because Mordechai did not bow down to him. But the Megillah doesn't say that. The Megillah says that he wanted to get rid of Mordechai, but ויבז בעיניו לשלוח יד במרדכי לבדו, he was embarrassed, or didn't want to just פארטשעפן זיך, just fight up with Mordechai, why? כי הגידו לו את עם מרדכי, because they told him that there is a whole nation of Mordechais. Which means that there's a whole nation that these people are the real chosen people, and because of that, he who felt that he was the chosen one, they were his greatest threat, because this is we would call the לעומת זה. There is a pasuk that says, זה לעומת זה עשה אלקים, there's a balance of power. And in everything, everything that you have in kedushah, in the holy side, you have in the קליפה, in the evil side. You have the holy side of bechirah, those that are really chosen, so you have the others on the other side who is the false feeling of being chosen, and they are the ones that hate the ones that are chosen, really chosen. This is why it's interesting when it comes to Haman and Achashverosh. We know the Megillah tells us that Haman came to Achashverosh and says, \"I will give you a lot of money if you give me the permission to kill the Jews.\" So it says that the king took off his ring, gave it to Haman, and he said, \"I don't need your money. Keep the money, and you can do with the Jews what you want.\" And the Gemara says that Achashverosh was a greater anti-Semite, hated the Jews even more than Haman. And the Gemara gives a mashal, is a parable to explain the discussion between Haman and Mordechai. And it says like this, a mashal of two people who were neighbors. They both had fields. One person had a big hole in his field, and the other person had a big pile of sand in his field. And the one from the hole saw the other one have that pile of sand, he came over to him and he says, \"You know, I have to fill my hole. I see you have a lot of extra sand, would you like to sell it to me?\" So he said, \"Sell it to you? I'm looking myself to get rid of it. Take it for free! Keep your money and take the sand.\" The same here. Haman came to Achashverosh and said, \"I want to pay you to get rid of the Jews.\" So he said, \"You have to pay me for that? I myself want to get rid of them.\" And yet the Rebbe once asked, whenever the Gemara gives us a mashal, a parable to some idea, it's because it explains it more. What does this mashal add? What don't we understand from the mere fact that he told him, \"I want to pay you to kill the Jews,\" and he said, \"Keep your money, and kill them anyway\"? What do we gain by understanding having this mashal? So the Rebbe said this mashal explains the reason why they felt that way. Because in truth, a Jew, the Jews are the chosen people, and therefore they are, if you would use a physical example, they are the pile which stands out, which sticks out higher than the ground. The other people feel themselves because of that that they are missing something, they have a hole. So the reason was why they wanted is because they couldn't stand the fact that there was this pile, this fact that there are people who are greater. Now usually, when you have another person who you feel is greater than you and you feel inferior, there are two ways to go about it. One way is, you know what, he's much better than you, why, he has this, he has that, try to copy him, do the same as he does and you'll also reach that level. Then there is an easier way: get rid of him, there's nothing to worry about! And that's what Haman wanted to do. He wanted to get rid of that pile. But the reason why he wanted to get rid of the pile, which is the Yidden, is because he felt, he realized that they are special. And that's why it bothered him. Because he claimed that he was special in a false way, and therefore the real being special is what bothered him. But this is just to show that there are two levels, two types of bechirah, two types of groups of people feeling that they are special, that they are chosen, and the one that is the false one is hates the one that's the real one. But we still didn't get into the idea, what is the difference? Why, when we feel chosen, why is that okay, when we claim that, when they said that they felt chosen, it was wrong of them, and we claim that we are chosen and it doesn't matter?

Now the difference is very simple. By Matan Torah, when Hashem gave us the Torah, and Hashem chose us then as His nation, because truth is, when we say every morning, as I mentioned before, ובנו בחרת מכל עם ולשון, \"You chose us,\" it says in Shulchan Aruch that at that moment when we say those words, we have to think of Matan Torah, when the Torah was given. Why? Because at that time, when the Torah was given, that's when we were chosen. When Hashem chose us at Matan Torah, it says like this: והייתם לי סגולה מכל העמים, You shall be to Me a chosen nation amongst all nations, of all nations. And later on in other pesukim we find, just I'm using an example of a pasuk, השם האמירך מכל העמים, Hashem chose you, picked you up from all the nations. And Rashi explains it means like this: Don't think that there are no other nations. There are the other nations, but Hashem chose you from amongst the other nations. Which means to tell us that not that there are no one there is no one else, there are no other nations. There are! But we are the chosen ones of the nations. Meaning, like as follows: when Hashem created the world and Hashem created all nations, He created them with a purpose. They're here for a purpose. And if they're here for a purpose, obviously they have a job to do. And Hashem needs them, Hashem wants them. If Hashem wouldn't want the people in the world, Hashem wouldn't want the other nations, He wouldn't have created them. So they have a purpose. What Hashem said was that there is a certain group of people which He chose that they should be the ones to guide the other people. And that is the basic difference between the way we look at the fact that we're chosen and lehavdil, lehavdil, lehavdil what they said. They said, \"Because we are the chosen people, we are the chosen race, and therefore we have to get rid of everybody. Nobody is important, we're the only ones, everyone is nothing.\" And we're saying the opposite: Everyone is very important. Every human being is important because every human being was created by Hashem and he has a mission in this world and he's very important. What Hashem wants is that we should be the ones to guide them and show them, by teaching them, by a living example of what is the purpose of their being here in this world. So it comes out like this: The way they look at being chosen is throwing off responsibility. That because we're chosen, we're free, we could do what we want, we could kill who we want, we could do what we want, after all, we're special! And what we say is the opposite: Because we are chosen, we have an extra responsibility. There are more things that we have to do. We have extra restrictions, because we are responsible for the whole world. As the pasuk says: והלכו גוים לאורך, the goyim, the nations, should go in your light. We are the lamplighters, we are the ones that have the light, and we show the world the light. So we have to be better than everybody else. We have to have more restrictions than everybody else has, because we were given an extra responsibility. That's a different approach to feeling chosen. Not feeling chosen and looking at others as nothing, but feeling chosen and having a having the responsibility of being eidel, being finer, because if we're the ones that everyone is supposed to look up to, if we are the ones who are supposed to guide everybody, then we are supposed to be better than everybody. But not because we are better, because we have a responsibility. And because we have responsibility, it's not to get rid of them, it's the opposite: to teach them, to help them. Just there there's an example given in some sefarim, I don't remember exactly which sefer, that those that say that everyone is equal, it's not true. It's similar to a body. A body has many parts. You have the hands and the feet, and you have the inside organs, you have the head, you have the brain. The brain is the one that controls the whole body. Now the truth is that no one could say that all parts of the body are equal. It's not true. Some parts are more vital, some are not not that important. In halacha, we find the expression of אבר שהנשמה תלויה בו, אבר שאין הנשמה תלויה בו. You have a an organ, a limb, that life depends on, certain things it doesn't depend on. Some are more important than others. On the other hand, does that mean that those that are not important we have to get rid of? Or do we say they don't have a function? A person is not complete if he doesn't have every part of his body. If he's missing something, he's called a baal mum. He's missing something. They're not equal. On the other hand, they all have to be. And the there is a brain, that this brain controls the whole body. And this brain is more important than every other part of the body, true. But does that mean that the brain is going to say, \"Well, since I'm more important than every part of the body, I'll get rid of the rest of the body. I don't need it. We'll cut them off\"? He's not going to harm them, he'll harm himself! Because he is the head, he is the top, and he has a job to control the body and to give the body its proper guidance and whatever it's supposed to be, and they all are very important, but being that it's the brain that controls, it's more important, and therefore it has it's more sensitive, and it's eidel, and it's finer, and it's much much more delicate because it controls. And the same thing is with us, Yidden. We are chosen, true. Not everyone is equal, Hashem created a lot of human beings in the world, He created them different, and some He gave a mission, whatever their missions. Everyone has a mission, everyone is important to Hashem. That's why some places it even says that all human beings are considered children of Hashem. Yidden are called בני בכרי ישראל. When Hashem sent Moshe Rabbeinu to tell him to tell Pharaoh to let Yidden out, He said, \"Send out my firstborn son.\" From there we see that the Yidden are compared to firstborn, to the firstborn. Everyone, there's another pasuk that says בנים אתם לה' אלקיכם, that we are children to Hashem, but here we see a pasuk, and the pasuk doesn't refer to as children, but as to the firstborn child. In other words, all nations are also children of Hashem, and it's true, all people in the world have a mission and that's why Hashem brought them here. But we are like the brain, who's supposed to control them, and supposed to guide them, and not control them to be over them, the baal habayit, that's not what we're looking for. It says even when Mashiach will come, when the truth will be they will all be under us, we will be the superpower, it says clearly that it's the reason the chachamim were waiting for Mashiach, not to control the goyim, we don't care, we're not in that business, we don't care that we davka have to control others. Everyone could do their thing and we don't have to control anybody. We don't have to be their boss. But we have to guide them. We have a responsibility of showing them the proper way. So this is a different kind of feeling that we are chosen, and that choice gives us extra responsibility.

When did this take place that Hashem chose us? So let's start a little bit from the beginning of history and then we'll see, we'll go how it happened. In the beginning, when Hashem created the world, it was such a way that the world recognized the truth, recognized Hashem, felt what Hashem wanted of them, and therefore, all the people did what was right and refrained from doing what was wrong. They all felt it. All the people in the world had that feeling. But as time passed, it says in Chumash, people turned away, they started forgetting, and people did not do what was right and wrong from what Hashem wants. There were always individuals who did, like Metushelach, Chanoch, Noach. There were always individuals in every generation, that they are the ones that followed, had this feeling, recognized Hashem, and were able to do what Hashem wants. But most of the people did not do it, and there was no movement of wanting to get closer to Hashem to do what Hashem wants, till finally it came to Avraham Avinu. And Avraham Avinu started, not only did he himself recognize the truth, but Avraham Avinu started a movement, a movement. He went out to proclaim the truth of Hashem and he had a movement. And a movement that says in the Rambam that thousands and tens of thousands of people gathered around Avraham Avinu and they became, so to speak, the people of Avraham Avinu. Actually Rashi in Chumash says that Avraham was מגייר the men, converted the men, Sarah converted the women, and converted Rashi says means at that time there were no real Jews, so converted means he brought them under the wings of the Shechinah, which means he taught them to recognize Hashem, and he taught them to live a moral life as Hashem wants them to live. But the truth is, even these people did not absorb it. The best proof is what happened to them? There were thousands and tens of thousands of people who were around Avraham. What happened to their children? What happened to them later on? It says they didn't absorb it, it didn't penetrate. That means they recognized it, they felt it, but it didn't become part of them. It was really not the way it should be. The only one that really had it like that was Avraham, and he had a son Yitzchak, and Yitzchak had a son Yaakov, and Yaakov had 12 children, 12 שבטים, 12 tribes. They were the people that this really was their life and they really had it. And their children, and their grandchildren, even though they went to Mitzrayim, to Egypt, they were a group of people, and later it turned on into a big nation, as actually we learned in this week's parashah. They multiplied so fast that they turned into a large, large nation of actually millions of people, millions of people, that they all were in this category, that they were able to feel and recognize the truth and live up to what Hashem wants, the way Hashem wanted in the beginning of creation. When Hashem saw that here I have a whole group of people, a whole nation, that this nation are the ones that really absorbed this truth in them, so Hashem said, \"I have a whole world, but they dropped it all. I think, not I think, Hashem said, \"These are the people that are deserving that I should give them this this mission that they should be the ones to guide the whole world. And that's what we say Hashem chose them, that means Hashem took them out of Mitzrayim, and Hashem put upon them a responsibility, an extra responsibility. He said, \"I see that you people are the ones that are able to be the ones to guide the whole world and teach the whole world.\" So by Matan Torah he gave us the Torah, and part of the Torah, when he gave us the Torah, he said that we have an obligation to see that the goyim should keep their seven mitzvot. The goyim have seven mitzvot to do, but the Rambam says clearly they should not do it because they think it's right to do. The goyim have to do the seven mitzvot because Hashem commanded the Jews by Matan Torah that the goyim have to keep the seven mitzvot. Because it all goes together. Hashem gave us this mission at Matan Torah, he says that you are now the special people because I saw that you are the ones that all along starting from Avraham Avinu, this was the family that lived with me and did with what I want, and therefore he chose these people to be the ones to guide the whole world. And that took place at Matan Torah. So by Matan Torah Hashem gave us that extra responsibility over the whole world. Now the question is, so far as we're trying to explain it, that it's because the Jews behaved properly and they did everything right, so that's why Hashem decided to give them this responsibility. But if it depended on that, then this responsibility could only be on that generation. That generation Hashem saw these are the people who are the best people to be chosen to give this responsibility to, so he gave it to them. But what about, but what's going to happen later? Maybe 10 years later or 100 years later, in another generation, the next generation, maybe they won't behave the way they're supposed to. And why should they then be the ones that to have this special mission to be the one, the special people of the world? And we do know that from when Hashem chose the Jewish people at Matan Torah, we say that at that point the Jews and whoever is a Jew no matter what has that special quality of being chosen by Hashem. But if it's all based on the fact that the Yidden behave the way they're supposed to, and therefore Hashem looked down and said, \"Ah, these are the people that deserve because I see they're okay,\" but that's only for them. How do we know that this is the same going to be in later generations? So obviously we must say that it's not only Hashem chose them because of the, based on their behavior, but because of that Hashem put into the Jews something that is beyond the limitation of how the person behaves. In other words, he gave the Jews at that time by Matan Torah that special koach, that special power, that they are always able to be the special people to show the world how you're supposed to live, but something that doesn't depend on the, on the way they behave. Because if it would depend on the way they behave, then whenever they behave fine they're chosen, if they don't behave fine they're not chosen. But that's not so. Hashem put something into the Jews. And what the, what is it? That's what we call the neshama. Hashem put into every single Jew who stood by Har Sinai, he put in a special neshama, and we know that that neshama is a חלק אלוקה ממעל ממש, that neshama is part of Hashem himself. And since Hashem is unlimited, and Hashem is es- essential, so he put that neshama in every single Jew, and that neshama makes every single Jew special regardless of how the person behaves. The fact that he is a Jew, he already has that neshama, and that is something that is not limited to the behavior. And therefore even if a Jew doesn't behave the way he's supposed to, has that special neshama that was given to him by Matan Torah. We know that by Matan Torah it says every single Jew stood, every single Jew that was alive then, every single Jew that will ever ever be till the end of times, which includes born Jews, converts, which are Jews just the same as anybody else, they stood at Matan Torah, and Hashem put into every single person that stood at Matan Torah this special neshama. In other words, Hashem said that, \"I chose you,\" which means there is something special and he put something in that nobody else in the world has, and therefore we have that ability of being the light to the whole world. And that is a spiritual thing which we have, which the Jews have, which is called the neshama or we call it the נפש האלוקית. And that is not limited to what to behave. The Gemara says ישראל אף על פי שחטא ישראל הוא. A Yid, even if he sins is a Yid. And the question is why? Because if you are in that category of a Yid, then another automatically you have that neshama, which is that the expression of Hashem choosing us is by giving us that neshama, then that is not limited to what the person does. Because if it would be limited to what the person does, then it's not essential. Essential means, just to use an example, just like when you say this person is a child of this person, is a son of this father. Now, a son should behave in a certain way, true. But if he doesn't behave that way, it doesn't mean he's not his son anymore. Why? Because the concept of being a child, a son of this person or a daughter, that's essential. That's not something that depended on the behavior of the person. See, to be a student, for instance, that depends. As long as you're a good student, this teacher will keep you. If you don't behave, I'll throw you out of class and you're not my student anymore, and you're not a student anymore. But a child you can't change. And that's what happened by Matan Torah. Hashem put into us something that is so essential that is beyond the limitations of how a person behaves, and therefore a Yid is a Yid no matter what. There's an expression that the Alter Rebbe writes in Iggeret HaTeshuvah, in the מהדורא קמא what we call, in the first version of Iggeret HaTeshuvah, he says look at the difference the way the Chachamim, our rabbis, describe people. When we talk about the worst Jew, the term that the Gemara uses is פושעי ישראל. פושעי ישראל means a terrible Jew. The best goy is called חסיד אומות העולם. He's called a chassid. Nu, what nicer title to be had than a Chassid? But he says, look at the difference. He is a chassid, but he is still called אומות העולם, of the nations. He's a poshea, he's the worst, but he's a פושעי ישראל, still Yisrael. The word Yisrael represents our connection to Hashem, and that's something that cannot be changed. Why? Because when Hashem put that into us, He put it in a way He put something in which became part of us that can't change. And we have that special power. Yes, we are special, we are chosen, and we have that special power which is not limited to anything else.

And actually, in Chassidut it says like this, and this is already a very deep concept in Chassidut, the expression that's used of Hashem taking us, wanting us, is choice. He chose us. So it says, look, what is the idea of choice? And the expression is used, free choice. So it says like this, what it means is, just like when someone chooses something in a real form of free choice, there is nothing specific that pushes the person to choose it. Now we have to think into this. If a person picks something because of a specific reason, because it looks nicer, tastes better, or whatever it is, that's not free choice. Just as an example, a person has an apple and an orange, and he happens to like the apple, and he picks the apple, not the orange. That's not free choice. Even though no one pushed him, he could have chosen the orange just as well, that's not free choice. There is something that pushed him: his taste buds. Since he likes the apple, so that liking pushed him to choose the apple. Now sometimes you choose you pick something because you see this is nicer, you like this color better, so your feeling of liking this color pushed you to choose this. That's not choice. That's not free choice, there's something that pushed you. What's the difference if you pick something because someone held your hand and forced you to take it? Everyone will agree, if you're forced to take one of the two, that's not called free choice. That's not free, you're forced to it. So what difference does it make if someone holds your hand and forces, or there is something in you that forces you to take? When would it be real choice? If you have two apples, and they both look the same, and they taste the same, and they're exactly the same, and you take one. That's free choice. Why did you take it? It's not that your mind pushed you, because there's nothing in your mind that tells you this is better. There's nothing in your heart that pushed, there's no feeling. There's nothing in your taste, it's all the same. That's called free choice. When we say Hashem had free choice, He chose us, what it really means is that that connection that He has with us, and that neshama that He put into us, is not limited just like when you choose something, it's not limited to your understanding, because if it's limited to your understanding it's not free choice, it's not limited to your feeling, it's not limited to any concept of seichel. When Hashem chose us, it's not because of any concept of seichel, not because of any concept of feeling, Hashem's's feeling. Hashem's's feeling is pretty great, Hashem's understanding is great, but when we use the term in Hashem's understanding, it's already a limitation, because understanding is something specific. So if Hashem would take us and connect himself to us, and put into us a neshama because of his understanding, then it's limited to a certain limitation. If it's because of his feeling, it's limited to a certain limitation. By using the word free choice, that Hashem chose us, אתה בחרתנו, the word bechira which means free choice, it comes to say that his connection to us is beyond any limitations, even the limitations the way it is k'vayachol in Hashem's's mind, or in Hashem's's heart, which he doesn't have physically, but even any level. But what is it? It's something beyond that. Just like when someone chooses something, free choice means that there's nothing that pushed him, there's nothing that limits this, but why is it? It's because of this connection Hashem wanted to have with us. Now, it came about at the time of מתן תורה, because the Yidden were the ones that throughout, from Avraham Avinu on, was the family that was close to Hashem, the family that absorbed closeness to Hashem. So Hashem gave it to us, but it's not limited to what we do. See, it's not be- dependent on how we behave, because if it would be, then it would be limited to our behavior. That is, then a great tzadik who behaves much better is chosen more, and a person who's a simple Jew, doesn't, is not so great, is chosen less. That's not true. We don't find anything like that. The contrary, we know that there are a lot of differences between people: one's a tzadik, one is not, one is, chas v'shalom, a rasha. But it says clearly concerning this fact that Jews were chosen by Hashem, everyone is equal. The worst Jew with Moshe Rabbeinu himself were all chosen equally. The behavior is different, therefore Moshe Rabbeinu reached higher levels, Moshe Rabbeinu will have Gan Eden, a higher level, all kinds of things. But the fact that they're chosen as a Jew, they're all the same. Why is it? Because that is not be- dependent on the behavior of a person. That is something that is beyond that, is essential. It could be it came begiluy, it was revealed because we'd behave properly, so Hashem said, \"Well, you're the ones that I want to give this.\" But when he gave it to us, he didn't give it to us limited to the behavior, and therefore this is something that's forever. The moment he gave it to the Yidden by matan Torah, all the Yidden whoever will ever be have this idea of being close to Hashem. This is the idea of the free choice of Hashem. And what do we do with this free choice? With this free choice, first of all we're closely connected to Hashem because we have that neshamah, but even compared to other people of the world, we, because we have that special neshamah, we have this obligation of guiding them. In truth, even though we're saying that this choice started by matan Torah, but we know that really it started earlier. We know that before the Torah was given, there was no such thing as a Jew. On the other hand, everyone knows the expression that Avraham Avinu was the first Jew. There's a pasuk that says, אחד היה אברהם, אברהם was one, he was the first Jew, Avraham was the first Jew. What is the פשט אברהם was the first Jew, this was before the Torah was given? But we do find that the concept of giving of the Torah started with Avraham Avinu. Even though Avraham Avinu lived many, many years before the Torah was given, you can make a cheshbon how long before, Avraham Avinu was born in the year 1948, I don't know, from the creation of the world, the year, oh, no, let's see. Avraham Avraham Avinu, yeah, he was born in nine, nothing left, Avraham Avinu was born in the year 1948. Yes, yes, 1948 he was born, and the Torah was given in the year 2,448. This is 500 years. Nevertheless, the Gemara says that the whole 6,000 years that the world exists is divided into three parts: 2,000, 2,000, 2,000. The first 2,000 years are called שני אלפים תוהו, 2,000 years of chaos. Then comes שני אלפים תורה, 2,000 years of Torah. Then comes the years שני אלפים ימות המשיח, 2,000 years connected to Mashiach. When do the year When does the year 2,000 start? When we say the second 2,000 was 2,000 of Torah. If Avraham was born in the year 1948, then it was when Avraham Avinu was 52 years old, that's when the year 2,000 was. And that's when we start counting the 2,000 years of Torah, when the Torah was not given until close to 500 years later. Obviously that shows that the beginning, preparation, or whatever we'll call it, the beginning of what Matan Torah accomplished basically started already in the time of Avraham Avinu. It didn't come to its climax till the time when the Torah was given by Har Sinai, when Hashem came down and said the ten commandments. That's when the Torah was given, though, to its fullest. But it started already, the idea of Torah, which we call Shnei Alpayim Torah, started with Avraham Avinu. And that's why we call Avraham Avinu the first Jew, because by Matan Torah that's when the Jews became as a nation, that's when we were chosen. So really, that choice started now from Avraham Avinu on.

Now concerning Avraham Avinu, we find an interesting thing. In Chumash, it says by the whole parashah of Noach goes through all the generations from Noach to Avraham, and then it says who Avraham was, it gives his yichus, Avraham was the son of Terach. And all of a sudden, in parashat לך לך, it starts Hashem spoke to Avraham, and he said to him, לך לך מארצך, go out of your land, etc., etc. Now, if we wouldn't have the background of a school or a yeshivah, learning about Avraham, we just start from Chumash, we wouldn't understand what was going on. We have so many names here, this person, that person. Why did, all of a sudden, Hashem speak to Avraham? Who's Avraham? Why did he choose Why did he decide to speak to Avraham? Let's look back a parashah before. It says in the beginning of Noach, Hashem spoke to Noach. But before it says Hashem spoke to Noach, it gives an introduction. It says at the end of parashat בראשית, it says all the generations of from Adam till Noach, and then it came to Noach and it says ונח מצא חן בעיני השם, נח found grace in the eyes of Hashem. Then the pasuk starts off again and says נח צדיק תמים היה בדורותיו, נח was a tzadik, Noach behaved properly. Then it says Hashem spoke to Noach. So now there is no question. We know why Hashem spoke to Noach. All the other people were bad, Noach was a good guy, Noach behaved the way he was supposed to, he was a tzadik, so Hashem decided to speak to him and tell him to make a teivah, whatever it is. Then when we come to Avraham, it doesn't say. When it comes to Avraham, all it says is that these were the generations, finally it came to Terach, Terach had three children, one of them was Avraham, fine. And Hashem spoke to Avraham and said לך לך. Well, who's Avraham? Why why did he speak to Avraham? You know what it should have said, the Ramban asks this question, it should have said at the end of Noach, or the beginning of Lech Lecha, that Avraham was a big tzadik, Avraham listened to Hashem, Avraham broke the idols of his father. The pasuk doesn't mention it at all. The Gemara tells us, the midrashim, we learn in תורה שבעל פה, in the oral Torah, but in Chumash it doesn't say that. Why? Why doesn't the Chumash give an introduction that Avraham served Hashem properly, and therefore, we'll understand why Hashem spoke to Avraham? So the Rebbe explains that the reason is because the Torah wants to show us the difference between the connection of a goy to Hashem and of a Yid. Noach, with all due respect to him, was a goy. Avraham was the first Jew. There are goyim that could reach high madregot. There are goyim who they behave properly and they think, meditate, and there were goyim who meditated a lot about the greatness of Hashem, and they didn't convert, they didn't become yidn, but they reached high madregot. They got closer to Hashem, there were such goyim. Noach was one of them, he got close to Hashem. But the difference between the closeness to Hashem that a goy has and a Yid, that a goy, his closeness to Hashem is limited to his avodah, so depends how much he does. He does more, he's closer, he does less, he's not so close. But it all comes as a result of what he does. Because he did so and so, so he becomes closer, so he deserves to be close, and he becomes closer to Hashem. Because of that, the closeness is limited to how much he did. If for some reason he'll stop, because it's possible that even a great person could fall. Even by Jews we find that there were great tzadikim, very few in history, but there were few great people who fell. So if the goy would fall, he'll lose his connection to Hashem, because his whole connection to Hashem is limited on what he does. On the other hand, the connection of the a Yid to Hashem is not limited to his avodah, what he does. It's not because he worked and close to Hashem, that's why his closeness is there. There, it's something that Hashem put into the person. Maybe what brought it about for Hashem to do it was his avodah, but the connection is not limited to what he does. And that's the difference. Noach, when Hashem spoke to Noach, and says why did He speak to him, because he was good. In other words, his whole connection to Hashem started with נח מצא חן בעיני השם. Noach behaved, so Hashem spoke to him. So his whole connection is based on his behavior. So it's limited, and it could only be as much as a human being is able to accomplish. A human being, as great as he is, could only accomplish to a certain degree. So if his connection to Hashem is limited to his accomplishment, so the connection is limited to what a human being, more than, we call it a נברא, More than the creature could reach, he can't reach. By Avraham, the Torah specifically did not mention first that he was a tzadik, because then we would think, ah, he was a tzadik. Because he was a tzadik, Hashem spoke to him, so his connection is based on his צדקות. The pasuk doesn't mention. The pasuk starts off: Hashem spoke to him, as if it came out of the blue. Hashem decided to speak to him. If it came out of the blue because Hashem decided, then we don't care if he's good or bad, it has nothing to do with it. Hashem wants him and Hashem chose him. But the truth is Avraham was a tzadik. Before Hashem spoke to him, at that time Hashem spoke to him he was 75, or 50, whatever, he became a tzadik when he was three years old already, it says. But the Torah doesn't mention it, for this reason, to tell us that the connection of Avraham, who was the first Jew, is a unlimited connection, an essential connection, which has nothing to do with the behavior of a person. And this is the concept of Hashem choosing us. Hashem choosing us, just in short to put it into a capsule, Hashem chose us means that we have a neshama, Hashem put into us a neshama, and the neshama that we have, and He put into every single Jew, the neshama that we have is part of Him. And because of that, we are special, yes. And the specialty is not limited to what we do. On the contrary, because we are special, that's why we have to do. It's not because we do good things, that's why we're special. We are special because Hashem put a neshama in. And because we are special, we have to do more and more good things, because a special person has to behave better. And not only that, not only he has to behave better himself, Hashem wants us to be the light for the whole world. And this took place on Matan Torah, started a little bit from Avraham Avinu already. And because of that, when we feel ourselves special, it's not to put other people down. Contrary, we say other people are great, and we have a special responsibility to them. This is the idea of us being chosen, and this is something that's not limited to any limitation. Which is like a child to a father, we said before the goyim to a certain degree are sometimes called children also, but the real concept of children are Yidden, and בני בחירי, but the truth is even more. We are not only called children to Hashem, we are also called avadim. We are בני בחירי, that a special child, but we are also avadim, we are servants of Hashem. And when you say a servant, that shows that you are completely batal. In other words, there is, an eved, in halacha an eved, a true eved doesn't have a metziut for himself, doesn't have his own, he has no self-identity. The halacha is כל מה שקנה עבד קנה רבו, whatever an eved, a servant, a slave acquires, belongs to his master, because he's not an entity of himself. Hashem, by putting that neshama into us, made us into avadim. That's why it says by Matan Torah, we got a new title. Till then, we had the title of children, firstborn child. By Matan Torah, Hashem said a new thing: כי לי בני ישראל עבדים. A new thing, we are now avadim, we become His slaves. And that's supposed to be an additional thing to what we were before, because yes, the concept of an eved means that you lose your metziut, you're completely part of your master. And that's what Hashem did. He made us special, spiritual, that we have within ourselves part of Him, so ממילא our whole metziut is part of Him. And therefore, we have that special responsibility that the world should look upon us and see it. And as I said in the beginning, this is why they hate us. The truth is they recognize this. Some people recognize it you know, consciously, some people recognize subconsciously, but they all recognize this that we are special, and we have this special neshama that we have, and therefore and that bothers them, because the moment there is somebody that's special, this and that stands out, it shows that you're missing something. But you have a choice. We don't go around trying to convert people, because that's not our job, because they have a mission the way they do it. But if someone does feel that there is somebody special has a special neshama, get that neshama too. Hashem gave the opportunity to a non-Jew to have the neshama too. And there are some, not so many, but there are some, who were smart enough to take that opportunity, and take advantage of it and takeh do it. And the sachar, the reward that a person like that gets is greater, I must tell you, greater than any reward that any Jew could get for anything. Why? Because whatever a Jew does for Hashem, after all, he has to do it. A goy does not have to convert. And I remember the Rebbe once explained in Pirkei Avot it says, בן בג בג אומר לפום צערא אגרא. Ben Bag Bag says according to the tzaar, according to how much effort you put in, that's how much reward you get. You know, so it says, who's this Ben Bag Bag? It says, some mefarshim say Ben Bag Bag was a ger, or a child of a ger. The word בג is abbreviation: בג, his name was Ben Bag Bag. בג בג. בג, בית גימל is an abbreviation. בן גר and בן גיורת. His father and mother were both gerim and he was a ger. And some mefarshim say that there's another tanna in the Mishnah called Ben Heh Heh, it's the same person. Because בית גימל makes הא, בית is two, גימל is three, together it's five. הא is five, so it's the same person. But what did Ben Bag Bag say? לפום צערא אגרא, according to the, as much as effort you put in, that's how much reward you get. Why did he say it? Because a ger puts in the most effort more than anybody else. Because any effort that a Jew puts in and as hard that as is for a Jew to do his service of Hashem, but the fact that he have to do it, there is that push that's always helping you. So as much effort as you put in, there is really, it's not so strong. A person who doesn't have to do it at all and puts in that effort, that's completely on your own! Hashem did not push you because you don't have to, and you chose, that's something very special, that's the real reward you get. But that's the person who recognizes that there is specialty of a neshama that he has and Yidden are chosen, the Jews are chosen, and therefore they take opportunity of it. Other people who don't, what does it do? They don't want to become like that, first of all it's too hard or whatever it is, then the result is that they hate Jews because like the mashal that the Gemara says, it's the tail. But it doesn't take away from us our responsibility, because we have to know, whatever they hate, they hate, but we have to know we have responsibility for the whole world and we have to number one teach them, but the main thing is we have to behave in a way that it should make a kiddush Hashem for the world, and that's our main job, a kiddush Hashem, that when a goy will look at a Yid, how a Yid behaves, the goy will say oh, this is a Yid, this is a person who represents Hashem, this is the way he's supposed to behave. But if chas veshalom someone doesn't, then what we're taking is we're taking that specialty that we have and we're lowering it because then they also point a finger at us and they say, this is the Jew and look how he behaves, in the opposite direction. So that puts a great responsibility on us. On the other hand, together with the responsibility, we have the reward. And when will the rewards come? The reward will come when Mashiach will come, then we'll actually see the fruit of our labor, and then the world will taka recognize Hashem because of our efforts, and then we will get our reward, Hashem will give us everything that we need, bagashmiyut uvruchniyut, when Mashiach will come, bimheirah veyameinu. Yes. Avadim were like slaves. Over there by the, by the, avadim were like my servants, more than a slave. We are, we are servants. No, we, what we have to, we are servants, but we use the term eved, see, because a servant in Hebrew is a mesharet. The word eved, if you're going to translate the word eved, it means a slave. But why do we use the word slave? Because to show how much we are close to Hashem that our whole מציאות is בטל to Hashem, and the only word that we use, a mesharet, wouldn't express that. A son, even the word ben would not express. A ben, a son, is an entity for himself, and he's not בטל completely. He loves his father, the Zohar says a child loves his father and his mother, but that ביטול, an eved has the ביטול. An eved, you see a child in one way is happy to do what his parents want, so he does it out of his own will. A slave does not want. A slave, the Gemara says עבדא בהפקירא ניחא ליה, he'd rather be free, but he has no choice. So he is a really, really בטל. And that's why we use the term eved to show how much we are בטל to Hashem. Yes. You said earlier on that when, as much, whole givens, givens, that That נשמה, which is the choice of Hashem. converts, gerim, does that apply to the future gerim, the real gerim? Only the real gerim, see. I don't mean the one who wants to get married. No, no, no, a ger that's not converted כהלכה, whatever the reason is, he's not a ger. See, it's not, there's no such thing as a half a Jew. So therefore, the gerim, any ger which על פי הלכה is considered a ger, stood by Matan Torah, stood by Matan Torah, and he gets the neshamah the time when, as, as no, then that neshamah was there and that neshamah is put into the body of the ger at the time when the ger converts. And by a ger, it says that when a ger converts, it's כקטן שנולד דמי, a child that's born. The moment that he converts, the past doesn't count. The truth is by every baal teshuvah we say the past is wiped out, but it's not the same, because after all it's the same person cleansed himself. But this is, this is, this is a different person, this is a completely, the relations, that the brothers are not brothers, the sisters are not sisters, because it's like a new person. And therefore, the moment the ger converts, this ger is the greatest tzadik. And I have, I made myself a custom, whenever I'm involved in a geirut, whenever whenever I'm involved in conversion, which I seldom, seldom, whenever I'm involved, I make it my business that the moment a person walks out of the mikveh, I say, please give me a berachah, because you are now a person that has no aveirot. Like a child that is born, imagine a baby, how clean pure a baby is, but a baby can't talk, a baby can't give you the berachah. Here you have a big, in that respect, a big baby, a person who is completely pure, newborn, but can talk and can speak to you. So I always ask a berachah. Let's hope the berachah comes through. Not the same, not the same, not the same. No, I said a baal teshuvah is forgiven, it's not the same. There's nothing like a convert. Yes. What is Lot's merit that he wanted to be also involved with Mashiach? That his great-great-grand the descendant will be Mashiach? Because he, Rashi says because he helped Avraham. And that would be enough to make him Yes, but it's only in which way? It's Ruth, who became a convert. Which means she cut herself off there. But some connection is there because strictly physically it was, it's because of his helping Avraham Avinu. Yes. Okay, one more question. You were saying something about about the free will, and you were talking about apples and oranges, then then I I didn't grab, and you said I I if I could get that again. The saying is free choice means that there is, when you say you have free choice on something, no, it means that there is nothing pushing, and when, so we use that term when Hashem chose us, to show that His connection to us is not limited to any reason. Just like when you choose the, out of the two apples, there is no reason, but he, it's not limited to a reason. Limited to a reason is a limitation. It's beyond that. Didn't He choose us from the other people? Right.