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Rabbi Moshe Haber -The Synergy of Tradition and Modernity 9.14.25 · Rabbi Moshe Haber - Daily Mussar/Weekly Perasha

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  So I found an idea, a concept that I think we can all easily
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  debate in our minds, and it can relate obviously to the Torah,
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  built on the Torah ideas, and very much relate to the season
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  that we're in when it comes to preparing for a Chanel.
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  A little bit was mentioned in the rabbi's speech last night.
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  So here's the thing, according to our tarah, are we busy with
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  old things? As a Jew, are we into ancient
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  items? Are we into history, or are we
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  not? The simple answer, of course,
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  is, is that everything's built on history.
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  Everything's built on misura tradition.
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  It's right itself. All our beliefs that whatever we
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  have came from a certain time, we always go back to certain
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  times. Whether we go back to the
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  creation of the world, go back to the Itziamit sign, we go back
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  to Matan Tara. We're always going back and
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  drawing everything back from the beginning.
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  Back from the beginning. Our anima means I believe.
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  I believe that the Tara was given by us tonight.
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  I believe in the creation of the world.
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  Everything is there at the time, always joining us back.
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  So you would think that the mindset of our Tara would be 1.
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  It's very ancient and very much focused on comparing to the old.
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  That's how you would stop the problem is here's the problem as
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  follows. We have many indications and
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  we're busy with the new. For example, we said the
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  creation of the world and we say into to Fila as Shem renews the
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  world every day recreates the world every day.
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  We have another hinted on yesterday's Brian Shaw.
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  We remember Sherman says the words Hayom on this day you've
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  accepted the Torah. Hayom says she every day needs
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  to be like it's brand new with there's a concept of new, of
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  modern. So the question and challenge I
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  want to figure out is this, Which one are we busy with?
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  Are we busy with ancient, busy with history, busy with
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  tradition, which means everything has to be like the
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  past? Or are we focused on new,
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  modern, developed, new ideas, things about the future?
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  That's the question is an answer, which I'm sure we all
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  have the kind of the answer. I'll give you the answer from
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  the rabbi, but I first want to pose the question to think about
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  it. Busy with the new or busy with
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  the old, And we can use this in any area, whether it be Torah
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  character, any area. It's Schwartz.
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  That's the question. What's the simple answer?
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  Old or no, Saying new but old, you have to learn from history.
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  So how do you apply that exactly?
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  You learn from our four father, right?
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  The answer is both, correct. That's very much a vehicle,
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  which is very much the old. That's the old angle.
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  How do you explain the combination?
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  And we'll explain it. We'll take the combination once
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  we get it clear. And we used every area, let's
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  say, let's say learning Torah. For example, someone told me
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  recently he was learning a topic and he was delving into the
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  topic very much, and he came up with an idea.
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  He had one problem. His problem was the idea and
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  this topic of Torah was a brand new idea it seemed, and he could
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  not find anyone who said this idea.
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  And he said until he really heard or read anyone saying the
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  same idea unto it all, he felt very uncomfortable what he was
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  saying. And he has a class and he said
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  he had a hard time teaching his class this to our point because
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  he felt that he made it up until he found a rabbi that's a
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  reputable rabbi who said that idea.
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  What's the concept? Here's how it works.
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  It's based on the old. Everything is based on the old.
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  Absolutely. We build our talent, entire
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  foundation based on what's wearing in our Tara, based on
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  what's ancient, based on our parents and grandparents did.
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  But at the very same time, equally as a point is figuring
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  out a new angle, applying it with a new perspective is a
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  requirement. When you learn to A, a
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  requirement you learn to a is. You have to be thinking and
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  analyzing and getting it clear and developing hidu shetori to
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  work on hidu shetori. What does the word hidu shetori
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  mean? New Torah.
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  How could a person have new Torah?
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  It's almost. If you translate that the wrong
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  way, it's borderline heresy. New Torah.
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  Torah is old Torah is ancient. Torah is a foundation and it can
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  never change. How do you have this idea?
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  You're learning and you're going to come up with an idea and no
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  one else ever wrote or no one else ever thought, and that's
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  actually a good thing. Has it possible new Torah?
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  The answer is the concept is very clear.
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  Everything that we have is a foundation.
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  We're supposed to take that and apply it in a new angle, in a
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  new way to a new situation, to a new situation in life.
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  We take what we have. We apply at different.
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  Even though Torah learning, even the word that Hashem wrote are
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  meant to be learnt and with your brain, your mind, your modern
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  perspective, utilize a new way. So it's built on the old and
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  applied to the new. 1000% correct.
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  That's the way to go. You have foundation and you have
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  an application. You have the ancient.
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  You haven't miss what all you have with your parents and
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  grandparents told you can't change from that and you have
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  how you apply to this very day. Every single person, especially
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  when it comes to to our learning has to think that way.
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  When I'm about to learn, it's going to be brand new what I'm
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  about to say. Maybe no one ever said it
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  before, but it doesn't matter. It's built on the old and
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  supplied to the new. That's when it comes to to our
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  learning. Now let's apply it to ourselves.
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  Our lives, to our learning is a concept.
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  Our lives is more of a reality. And it's as follows.
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  When you think about developing or working on your character,
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  becoming a better person, your mindset should be the exact same
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  mindset #1 I want to be like they were.
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  I want to go what they told me to do.
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  I want to be like I was without a display that a person should
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  become. But at the very same time, I
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  want to have my own angle. I want to have my own
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  perspective on character. I want to have my own stamp on
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  things. Every person is different, every
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  person has a different character.
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  And by when time was on, every person has a new angle on
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  character. And the goal is clear.
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  You want to be Yashan and Hadash at the same time.
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  Old built on the foundations and the valley.
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  You want to be built on the foundation, Italians on building
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  the foundation. So you want to be going with
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  what we have based on our old Torah, based on our rules of
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  character. But at the same time, you need
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  and want, in order to become a better person, to be applying it
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  to a new way. You can't just look into the
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  blueprint and the playbook of the old and say I'm going to be
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  like them. That will not guarantee a
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  perfect character, a developed character.
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  A developed character is a person who builds on what he was
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  told and taught and learned and reads and has seen and also
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  builds on his own perspective, his own sight to the future, his
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  own modern situation in life. Right.
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  Today's character is perfect. Today's perfect character would
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  not be the same as character from 20 years ago.
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  It's a different thing. It's different requirements.
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  I'll give you a word that people use today that they never use
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  you for. People use a word a lot more
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  often. It's a word of love.
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  I love this, love that. I love you, right?
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  Normally you, you save the word. I love you to your children and
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  your wife, right? I don't know if you told it to
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  your parents. OK, Now people say love this,
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  love that, love the other thing all the time.
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  Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
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  It's a modern thing. It's not a bad thing.
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  It's not specifically the greatest thing.
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  You see. It's that word like it's like,
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  it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, oh, that's that's a
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  different word. It's not like it sounds like a
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  shoe. It's a way of talking, true.
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  My point is with the word love is that today for certain people
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  to display your affection, to show your appreciation, you
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  going a little further, you go a little more of the word love.
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  It's an example. It's a modern example.
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  There are many examples of how we go a little bit differently.
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  We take these a little differently and we understand
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  that. If I were just the same as my
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  father or grandfather's generation, I might be, in the
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  current modern world, a little cold, right?
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  If my warmth was my grandfather's generation of
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  warmth would be nice, but it may not be the kind of nicer the
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  world requires today if a parent is to his children the way his
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  parents were to him, right? I give you a perfect example.
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  My father to me was the most warm, loving father was but at
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  the same time very not involved. He wasn't very busy with
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  involved in my life in every detail.
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  I don't think he knew him with my teachers names.
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  I don't think he knew what I was learning at the time when I was
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  a kid. I don't think he knew many
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  things going on. He wasn't really involved like
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  that. It didn't take away at all.
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  Most many people's parents and those generation were not
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  involved. If I tried that today and I
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  didn't try that in the beginning, I did, it would be
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  literally a derelict of duty. Absolutely.
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  I doubt the father does not know whose parents teachers are their
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  names today. That's literally not that's
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  considered not being involved and not being a on top of a
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  father. And in fact, you and I would
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  tell that dad, I recommend you get involved because your
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  children need you. You know, I've noticed because,
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  you know, we were doing something for my family over
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  this past Shabbat and like a little get together, celebrate
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  the baby. So I noticed that my children
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  were lacking proper attention over the course of this past
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  week. Why were you lacking attention?
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  Because we were focused on having a big Shabbat get
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  together. So the the little slight lack of
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  attention was showing. I cannot.
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  When I was a kid, I didn't get attention for six months at a
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  time, and you couldn't notice. Literally, you couldn't notice
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  what happened. Today, the modern Hadash world
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  requires a whole different angle of parenting.
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  How did you know? How can I tell my children they
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  were acting my. Well, I'll give you a cut.
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  I'll cut One kid was acting very wild Friday night.
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  Extra wild. That's all the wild.
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  Yeah. He seemed very fun.
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  There. We here, Here, we here.
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  You probably didn't even see them.
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  They're probably running on the roof.
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  OK, there's ones Really. Didn't see that and that extra
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  wild. And I got a report like for a
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  while that Shabbat there as well.
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  I was warned by a little baby who's who's, you know, right
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  above the new baby was like clinging to my my wife's leg on
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  my leg the whole time with like a certain sense of like almost
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  sadness. And you can tell that she was
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  not herself. And these are the 2 signs my
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  wife took. They showed that the baby was a
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  little more attention seeking. I said, come on, honey.
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  You can't really tell if from one week it's overdoing it.
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  But the truth is, she's right. That's one example.
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  Parenting is a classic example. You know, you have to be
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  involved to be on top of your children.
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  They have a phone. You have to be watching with
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  this thing on the phone. They have friends.
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  You have to be. I can tell when there's an issue
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  with friends, when there are click problems and all these
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  things. And in the old days, the
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  children figured them out themselves.
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  Yeah, Sean was one thing. But at the same time, who is my
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  blueprint for parenting? My parents.
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  So my parents are my blueprint for parenting.
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  But if they wrote a book on parenting and and it went down
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  to the details, it wouldn't fit for the modern day.
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  How do you explain that? That is the essence of our Torah
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  in every area. It's built on Yashan and built
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  on Hadash. The same thing is true with all
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  areas of character. If you simply tell a person be
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  humble like they always were, it's true, be humble.
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  But at the same time you need to have a sense sense of a modern
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  day approach to confidence and security and the feeling who you
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  are. You can't just say be like the
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  old rabbis. I give you a classic example.
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  I try to model my rabbis ISM based on my father for sure, and
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  also based on the old rabbis, because old rabbis had a certain
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  sense of low key and they were, there was no sense of anything.
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  He didn't, you know, they weren't at all out there.
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  But today Aman the rabbi is a well known person.
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  He's a borderline superstar. Aman, the rabbi, he's very well
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  liked. He walks to the table room and
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  everyone comes over there. He's very much more involved to
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  people. Absolutely all this.
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  So this structure for me is also a bit of a challenge that we
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  work on. Be like the old, but adapt to
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  the new a little bit and figure out your way forward.
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  Every Jew in every area is built on Yashan and Kadosh.
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  And when Rosh Hashanah comes, which is a brand new year and
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  you're thinking about renewing yourself and creating a new
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  sense of self, anything about I want to be that kind of
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  character and that kind of father and that kind of husband
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  and that kind of learner and that kind of member of the
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  community and that kind of individual who has said, don't
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  just say I'm going to go by the old blueprint.
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  It won't work. People who do, actually, they
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  don't get so far in life. You need an area of newness of
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  Hadash. You learn how to develop, you
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  learn from experience, build on the foundations of experience,
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  just but adjust to the new world.
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  Take an old coach, right? You and I both know and we
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  analyze football, any sport we cannot stand.
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  I personally cannot stand. I know I'm in my 30s.
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  I don't like that 30 year old coach.
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  I'm not a fan of a 34 year old coach who thinks he knows
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  better. He didn't play college football.
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  If I don't want an old coach, if they always talk about, you
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  know, the guy who just got let's go a couple last year or a
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  couple years ago, who probably one of the best coaches of all
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  time. We all know what happened or
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  what happened to him during his first college game, right?
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  He got blown out. It's a shock.
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  It's not a shock. He was a coach who developed
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  along those lines of old archaic worlds.
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  He's his way is gone pretty much.
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  He needs to adopt to college players.
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  It's a whole new world, young people.
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  But at the same time, the young guy who thinks he knows it all,
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  who's in his 30s, who's hip and who basically lets his players
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  do what they want, but he's shocked and he's, you know, and
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  all that nonsense. At the end of the day, you give
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  him a couple of years, his team will run right over him and
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  they'll back up 'cause he's got no shot.
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  That's how it works. You need to have the combination
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  of the foundations of the old and the application of the new.
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  That is what I was, what I was built on, and in fact, every
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  area of life isn't built on. So I sham created the world then
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  and I recreates it everyday. Foundation and Nunes, the Torah
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  can never change, doesn't budget, and at the same time we
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  developed Hindu share Torah. That's a contradiction.
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  No, it's not because the Hindu share the new Torah is built on
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  the foundations of the old. If you have a new idea that goes
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  against our Torah, throw it out. If you have a new idea, it's
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  built in our Torah. Beautiful Hindu, share Torah,
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  write a book. And the same thing is true with
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  character. If you have character that's
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  built on the foundations of the old, it's built on humility,
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  it's built on hard work, it's built on honesty, it's built on
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  integrity, built on a person who's developing a Quentin, a
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  model of Hashem. Beautiful, but apply it to the
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  modern day, apply it to the modern world.
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  And with that combination you become what a Jew is trying to
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  become. So there's coming roshanah
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  kadosh. You want to be new, but you want
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  to build it on the character and the ways of our old.
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  We'll stop with this, right? That's the idea.
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  The behind, yeah.