Not Your Average Joe Schmo (A Shavuos Message)
There's a legendary story with the Ramban and Ahmadides and one of his students who went off, Avner. At a certain point, the Rebbe, the Ramban, decided to go visit his student. And he said, What happened? Why did you go off? And Avner looked at his Rebbe and he said, It was something that you said. Something that I said. Tell me what was it? You taught us, Rebbe. You taught us that in the song of Hazinu, Shira's Hazinu, which only consists of about 52 Psukim, you said that all of history, past, present, future, every single nuance and detail is alluded to somehow, some way, within those few verses. And I couldn't grasp that. I couldn't take that, it didn't make any sense to me, and I just left Yiddishkite behind. And here I am today. And he said, you know, Rabbi, if it's really true, then show me where my name is. He went to the corner and he prayed to Akharush Baruhu, he prayed to Gahik. And he went back to his student Abdar and he said, if you look in one of the Pasugim, it says, Amarthi, Afayim, Ashbisa, Meyanush Zihram, talking about the Jewish people being scattered. And if you look at the third letter from the beginning of each word of that pasag, in order it spells Amart, which is a reish. Afayim, an aleph, ashbisa, a base, meenosh, a nun, zihra, reish. In order, it spells Avner. But then just spell Avner in order, and Lil Bob Jraba points out it says Reb Avner. And Avner was so taken aback, he's jaw-dropped, and the way the story goes is that he took a boat and went off to sea, and Noah never saw him again. It's wild to think about. The student Avner went way, way, way, way off. His name, though, in the Tyra is alluded to not just as Avner, but as Reb Avner. And like the Obama Java points, this Nakuda out is that the Torah records his true essence. It's true he made a lot of bad choices and bad decisions. And Avner went off this wayside and did his own thing. And at the end of the day, he was Reb Avner. There was a part of him that was still a rav. There was a part of him that was still great. There was an akudataiva in him that was that was taka good. And there's no such thing as a yid that goes off so much that he's considered no longer good. It doesn't make any sense. If a person's a yid, that means they have a spark, they have an ashamah, they have that goodness. And the story teaches us something fascinating that the tyr doesn't record his name just as Avner, but as Reb Avner. He was a Rav on a certain level. He was really reb all along. You know, when people get called up to the Tyra, at least in America, the general custom is if somebody's a Rav, they get called up as Reb, right? But if somebody's not, then they don't. In Eritral, it's a little bit different. It's more like free. Many, many Gabim call up many, many iddin as reb, pliny bin reb, they use that term reb. What's Psha? What's going on? So if you look in the back of Halichos Shlim from Rashlemazam Urbach, he has in the Mamarim, he says something unbelievable. It's known that the heretics, those who go against the Tara Shabbal Pep, they were called the Qur'im. It was a group of yiddin called the Qur'im, and they were heretics. Ukunegdom, and who were they against? Who is the good side, right? Who was on the flip side of the Qur'im? You had the rabbonim, right? The rabbonim. And this is my opinion, says Rushtamazalman, Shalachanogul Torah. The custom is to call somebody who's coming to read the taira, but you can call them up as Reb Ploini bin Reb Ploini. You're not checking their credentials if they have smicha, where they got smicha from. You call them up as Reb. Why? That this person getting called up about to read the tire Shah Sab, the tire that was passed down from generation to the generation, the tire that was that was Mashikibel Tire, Mesina, and Busurieshua, that tire that was passed down from generation, that's the authentic tire. That's the group of the Rabbonim that we want to be on, that's where that we're part of. And this yid who's getting called up, whether he's a rev or a not, he can be called up as rev because we're teaching and ingraining that this is the part, this is the people that we're a part of. We're part of the people who are growing, we're part of the people or shlomi das, we're part of the people that are the group of their abundant. Al Adr Babishashik, Sab, at the time that he's called up to the Torah, Machrizimallah, we announce upon him Shahu Maimin Batarah, Shibalpeh. You believe in Tarah Shib, Uva Khachmeh so you believe in the sages, Musa Tarmi, Dar, Dar. And therefore, any single yid can be called up to the Torah as Reb because there's a Nakud inside. Even Avner can be called up as Reb Avner. The Torah records Avner's name as Reb Avner. There's a part of every single one of us that's Reb. Rav means more. Rav means in charge. Rav means that the eternal doesn't control me, but I control it. Rav means that I have more wisdom to learn. I have more room to grow, that I'm not, that I'm a flame that progresses, that produces, that that sparks and that that ignites, that illuminates. Rav means not just stuck and fixed and set. Rav means more. The Mishnah Pirky Abas tells us, right? The more you increase, the more you increase Marbe in Tyra, the more you increase in life. The Tyra is a reboy. Tyra makes you a Rav. Tara makes you in charge. Tyra makes you authentic. Tara makes you real, makes you genuine. Tyra makes you amazing. And in a few days, in a few short days, we're going to receive the Tara. And we're all going to be called upon to the Tarah. We're all going to be called upon to the Torah to be referred to as a Reb, to be in charge, that I am a yid. You know what happens? The Gumar tells us that Yosef, he said, he said that if not for this day, if Shavuis, Kama Yosef Ikab Bushukah, how many random Jo Shmoz would there be? And remember, it's Yosef, Rav Yosef telling us this story. And I think that this becomes a model for the Khag of Shavuis. It's Rav Yosef who taught this lesson. If not for this day, how many Yosefs would there be? What this day did, what Matantira did, it was it made mean not Yosef, but Rav Yosef. It gave me that title that I'm in charge. This FasMS points out that Aseil Kharab is not just talking about you going out and getting a Rav for yourself, which is 100% and so completely important, but it's also talking about At'ma, making yourself into a Rav, because at the end of the day, like we saw from Ishlazamin, every person has within him that aspect of Rav. Even Avner, someone who went so, so off, he had an aspect of Rav. You know, there's a story by with Rivkuk that they it was on Shabbos and they somebody announced Nishul, everybody stop learning, stop davening, let's go to Shmuel the cobbler. He had a store that was open and it was publicly desecrating the Shabbos. A yid, Shmuel the cobbler, a store open on Shabbos, let's go and berade him, let's go and attack, let's go. And Rivkuk said, No, no, no, no, don't do that. Just follow my lead. And they said, okay, they're gonna listen to their Reb. So Rivkuk went and he went to this yid Shmuel, and he said, he smiled, and he said, Good Shabbos, Reb Shmuel. Good Shabbos Rebshmuel. And one by one, every single congregant did the exact same thing. They said, Good Shabbos Reb Shmuel, Good Shabbos Reb Shmuel. And guess what? It worked. Slowly but surely, he came back. Isn't that amazing? They didn't berate him, they didn't yell at him, but Rav Cook's geniosity was to look at him, smile, and say, Good Shabbos Reb Shmuel, to tap into that aspect of Reb, that the person could be Avner, he could have gone way off, but he's still Reb Avnir. That it doesn't matter where a person's at, he can be called up to the tire as Reb Pliny. Because what the tire does, it tells us that you can be a Rav. Rav Yosef is the one who taught that this day of Shavuas turned him not into Yosef, but it made him into Rav Yosef. Rav again means that I have a reboy, that I could increase in life, that I can increase in more, increase in tire meanings, increase in opportunities, that I'm in charge. Rav means I'm a Rav, that I'm in charge. The Atar is not in charge of me, but I'm in charge of him. And when we come to Shavuis in just a few short days, let's be reminded and let's remember what this day did. It turns us in not into the Klumb, into the Rabonim. It puts us in this group, in this group of people who are growing, in this group of people who are in charge. That we're not just a random Joe Schmo, we're not just a Yoisef, but we're Rav Yousaf. We're not just an Avner, but we're Rabner. We're not just a Pliny, we're Reb Pliny. Connect to that, embrace that, and be the best Rav that you can possibly be. Wishing you Khaxemech and a happy Shavuis. Have a fantastic rest of your week.
