Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach teaching on Pesach Sheni, Sunday evening, 14 Iyar, 5754/April 24, 1994, in Newton, Massachusetts, at the home of Michael and Brenda Edwards.  Shlomo is speaking.

Ah, okay.  [Continuing a previous thought] He has a big skhus, you know--he saved Israel, during the Six-Day War.  I don't know how much he did wrong, but one time he did something right.

[Tests the mic, at someone's request] You didn't miss much anyway.  But I'm waiting for Josh to bring me the guitar. You have the guitar? [Sings a jaunty melody, then the words come in] "v'nomar l'fanav shira chadashah" ["We will sing a new song before you" (from the Pesach Hagadah) during the last few repetitions]

I just learned last week an unbelievable story by Reb Shalom Shachna, the father of the Holy Rizhiner.  And it would be too long to tell you all those names, like-but it's just a privilege to know that they existed in this world.  He had hundreds of followers, but there were two:  one of them had the most obnoxious wife ever--she was, like, really on his case--it was just--mamesh he couldn't live! And each time he comes to the Rebbe, he says, "Mamash, I have to divorce my wife.  I can't bear it anymore."  He says, "Not yet, not yet, not yet."

The other one was a rich man.  He had a lot of real estate, but he also owed a lot of money.  But if he would sell the real estate, [with] whatever he has, he could pay off the bills.  And they were mamash also on his tail.  [Greeting a newcomer] Hey [inaudible name]! Good Yontif.  So he says, "I want to sell all I have, to pay off."  And he also tells him, "Not yet, not yet, wait, wait, wait, wait."  Finally one day, the person who owes so much money couldn't bear it any more, he says, "You know, I love my Rebbe, but I can't do it."  He sold everything, paid off, and without saying anything bad--same night, he got (g'ferlach) ill, he's just about taking off.  He says to his best friend, the one who has this terrible wife, "Run to the Rebbe fast, and tell him I'm dying."

So Reb Shalom Shachna says--you know, basically, you know, especially in Rizhin, you don't say what you know.  You know, it's clear to you and me, all the people who brag so much, tell you every thing they know, they really know very little.  'Cause if you really know, you keep it inside.  He says, "Basically, it's not my way of telling things, but I have to tell you."

You know, according to some other religions, you come back 2,000 times.  According to us, you come back three times, maybe four times.  Whenever it doesn't work, that's it.  He says, "Both of you have been here already four times.  You haven't fixed it yet.  So the Heavenly Court had compassion [on] you.  So they decided to send you back one more time.  But it has to be in such a way that you're not really alive in this world.  So your wife, mamash, makes you so miserable, that you're only half a life.  And the other person, he owes so much money, he can't breathe.  It was good for you.  I wanted to keep you alive till you fix what you have to fix.  Now, what can I do with him now?"

I'm telling you this story because everybody knows, today and tomorrow afternoon it's Pesach Sheni...actually, it's a holiday of the second chance.  And, um, I mean, just the words, "second chance," is already like--unbelievable words, right? That means it's never too late.  You can always fix it.  You can always fix it.

And before we go into details, I want to share with you something important.  Today is also the Yahrzeit of Reb Meir, the Heilige Reb Meir.  Everybody knows, Reb Meir--like, there were two giants in the Talmud, which are unsurpassed, Reb Meir and Rabbi Akiba.  And basically the whole Torah sh'baal peh--you know, there's Torah sh'b'ksav--the written Torah.  And the written Torah is so many words, so many letters, and that's it.  Torah sh'baal peh is first of all the oral tradition, what God told Moshe--not to write down, but to give over, and also, that everybody can add!

You know, take--let's say the last parashah, right? Acharei Mos-Kedoshim.  We're reading the parashah already since Mt. Sinai, 3,700 years.  Every year hundreds of new books are coming out, commentaries on the Bible.  And good ones, gevalt ones, right? And not everything is printed, you know, gevalt what's not printed, right? And the masters of adding to the Torah [are] Rebbe Meir and Rabbi Akiba.

Something else happened Pesach Sheni, which is awesome.  Everybody knows, after we crossed the Red Sea, Amalek came and attacked us.  You know what day Amalek came? Pesach Sheni.  Unbelievable.  Because the most anti-Pesach Sheni is Amalek.  Amalek, everybody knows, is the nation who are the greatest enemies of Israel, but also, spiritually, Amalek is the arch-enemy of God, the anti-God.

Let's put it this way:  you know, I shouldn't eat a hamburger on Yom Kippur.  But imagine, I was very hungry, nobody was looking, going into a Doggy Diner, make sure nobody is there, especially the rabbi isn't there--hopefully.  On Yom Kippur--and I knock in a little hamburger.  So I'm not, let's say I'm not a very--very pious Jew, but I cannot say I'm against God, right?

Amalek is anti-God.  What's Amalek saying? Amalek comes and tells you, "It's too late.  You can't fix it any more.  It's too late, forget it.  It's not for you."  And, you see, Amalek is the one who says to you--imagine I decide I want to do something absolutely beautiful.  Amalek says, "I know you for so long.  For you, it's like a little holiness attack.  You'll do it for three days, and then you go right back where you came from.  Forget it.  It's too late to change."  Everything is too late.

You know why there's no peace in the world:  'Cause Amalek is sittin' there, right? And [he says,] "Listen, they're killing each other for so long, and suddenly they'll change? Forget it! Right? I always tell my friends, there's so many divorces in the world, and I could swear to it that Brother Amalek was standing under the chuppah and telling some--"I'd love to see how long this marriage lasts," you know? And the vibrations are--[out-breath expletive, like throat clearing].  I mean, you can see him when anybody starts doing something good.  Right away, Amalek says, "Ahh.  It won't last."  Amalek.

So Amalek came to attack us on Pesach Sheni.  And what's the most anti-Amalek? Anti-Amalek is, it's never too late because even if I fail, I have another chance.  I always have another chance.  I can always fix it.  

And you know, this is really mind-blowing.  Why is Reb Meir's Yahrzeit on Pesach Sheni? You know who Reb Meir was? You know, I hope you don't really take world history too serious[ly]-because they change it always [to make it] the way they like it.  You know, I don't want to say anything bad, but us Jewish people, our history doesn't change.  Let me tell you, that year was Mt. Sinai--it was Mt. Sinai.  We don't have professors every year and try to change it a little bit.

You know, my zeide told my father--my father had a doctorate in Philosophy and in History--and my grandfather, he studied also History--he had a Ph.D. in History, but first in Germany and then in France.  He says, "In France, why do they teach you a different history, right? What's good for France.  And in Germany they teach you what's good for [Germany]."  So what is the real truth? You'll never know, right?

According to World History, Nero, after he burned Rome, he got crazy, and he killed himself.  According to our history, which is more reliable, he saw Rome burning, and he realized--can't live like this.  He went to Yerushalayim, converted--became a Jew--and his grandson is Reb Meir [Gittin 56a].  Unbelievable, right? You know what that means? That even the lowest human being, like Nero, also has a second chance.  The world has a second chance.  Whatever the world destroys--remember what Reb Nachman says, if you believe that you can destroy, why don't you also believe you can rebuild? And it's even deeper than that.  God does not let you destroy more than you can rebuild.  Suddenly the destruction stops because if you would go further, you couldn't fix it anymore.

Okay, now let's go down to--again--to the basics.  Pesach Sheni is--you know, we have to bring a Paschal lamb on the 14th day of Nisan, and the people who carried the coffin of Yosef--if you remember, Yosef HaTzaddik told the Jews, "Take me with you when you come out of Egypt.  I want to be buried in the Holy Land."  So they were carrying the coffin of Yosef.  But when you carry a dead person, then you cannot go to the Holy Temple.  So they couldn't bring the Paschal lamb.  So they came to Moshe, and they were very sad.  "Lama neegara?" Why weren't we privileged also to bring the Pesach? [Numbers 9:7]  So Moshe Rabbeinu says, "Wait"--eemdu actually means, mamash, "Pray hard"--"and I will ask God what to do."  So God says, "I'll give them a second chance--four weeks later, on the 14th day of Iyar."  

You know, tonight is exactly four weeks after Pesach.  And, again, we have more time later.  I just want to tell you fast.  The second chance--you're not given a second chance just like this.  You have to ask for it.  If you don't ask, you don't get it.  I don't have to ask God every Pesach, "Please let me make a Seder."  I mean, I'm asking God, "Let me make a good Seder."  But it's Pesach anyway.  Pesach Sheni? I have to ask.

You know, I meet my wife, I marry her, and it's all beautiful.  I hurt her feelings? Ah, I have to ask.  Give me another chance.  Certain things you have to ask.  And certain things are given to you.  So Pesach Sheni is the holiday of the second chance, but it's so deep--you know what Torah sh'baal peh is? It's my doing.  Doesn't come down from Heaven unless I ask.  So this is Reb Meir, right? Torah sh'baal peh--mamash asking for it. 

And according to all the rabbis in the Talmud, the people who asked for it were those people who carried the coffin of Nadav and Avihu.  If you remember, on Rosh Chodesh Nisan, when we initiated the Mishkan--the Holy Temple--Nadav and Avihu walked into the Holy of Holiest, and they didn't come out.  You know, the High Priest walks into the Holy of Holiest once a year on Yom Kippur.  Basically, you cannot just walk into the Holy of Holiest.  And Nadav and Avihu were not told to go in.  They walked in, and they left their soul there.

And again, I wish we would have all night.  But let me tell you something--anybody here who studies the Bible--sadly enough the English translation makes it like they did something terrible, and they were punished.  God forbid, God forbid.  But why did they go into the Holy of Holiest? And basically, because of them we have Yom Kippur.

And also--I'll start from the other side.  You know, Moshe Rabbeinu came down from Heaven because we made the Golden Calf.  And he asked for forgiveness, and on Yom Kippur God gave him the two tablets again.  Why do I have to go into the Holy of Holiest? And if you remember, the High Priest walked into the Holy of Holiest--didn't ask for forgiveness--he just walked in there, didn't say a word, and he came out.

I'm sure Nehemiah [Polen] was learning it in a million ways--and Brother Hershele--but let me tell you.  There's two ways of asking for forgiveness.  Imagine I'm yelling at my wife, and I mamesh hurt her feelings; then I say, "Listen, you know, I just learned that it is forbidden to hurt somebody's feelings, and also I read in another book it's very, very bad--so I want you to forgive me."  How does it sound to you? "And I want you to know, I have a Ph.D. in Judaism, and also, really, mamesh, like, you know, it's really, it's against the Torah to yell at your wife."  So my wife just melts away.  Unless she is a shmendrick like me, right?

Let me ask you something--how would it sound to you? Let me ask you--why doesn't the Torah ever say you have to love your children? Would be beautiful.  Imagine I walk up to my daughters and say, "Listen to me, I love you because it says in the Torah, 'You have to love your children.'"  'Cause the Bible says you have to love your children.  How does it sound to you?

If I do something because I have to [someone sneezes]--God bless you--it's outside stuff.  And you know what it is? And this is not to say I'm not doing it because--It's clear to me God wants me to love my children, right? But it's not on the level "you have to."  It's deeper than "you have to," not less deep.  It's so much deeper.

You know, I was talking to someone who had a little radio show in New York.  Sometimes they talk about--sadly enough, there's still people who hit their children--it's disgusting.  So someone called me up on the radio and says, "Where does it say in the Torah that you're not permitted to hit your children?" I said to him, "Let me ask you something--" [someone sneezes] God bless you--"You mean to say you can lift your hand and hit a little baby? Then you're not a human being, right? You're definitely not God's image, right?" You know it's deeper.  "D'you mean you could?"

How would it sound to you? I will tell you if the Torah wouldn't forbid us to kill, I would walk around with a knife killing everyone.  But then I read the Bible--the Ten Commandments [chuckles]--and I decided not to kill.  Okay, you know, for some people maybe it's an emergency.  You mean you COULD kill? I want you to know something awesome, awesome, awesome.  The Ishbitzer says, when G-d spoke to us on Mt. Sinai--God says, "Don't kill"--what was engraved on our hearts is not the words, "Don't kill."  What was engraved inside of us:   how precious life is.  [Whispering] Life is so precious.  It's not I SHOULDN'T kill--that's forbidden--I CAN'T kill, right?

You know, when God said to us, "Don't steal," it's not all--I saw, I saw mamash there written on the sky, "Don't steal."  [A person evidently brings him something to drink.]  What are you bringing me there, darling? You are cute! L'chaim. [People respond in kind] L'chaim. [Drinks] Thank you.  What do I need my guitar for? [Puts it down]

You hear, friends? Imagine if my little child says to me, "Can you give me some apple juice?" Am I giving her the apple juice because I have to? It's the deepest "I want to," right? Deepest, deepest, deepest.

You know the difference between serving God and serving idols? It's very simple. Serving the living God is "I want to."  Serving a dead idol--by a lot of people, gevalt, God has become a dead idol.  "I have to."  Anybody's doing things because he has to--it's pagan worship.  [Whispering] I have to! Everything is forced.  [Normal voice] Sure, when I serve God, I really have to--gevalt, it's the deepest, deepest, like I wanna, I wanna give my children apple juice.  Sure, I have to.  But I want to.

The Talmud says, "How did our father Abraham serve God before He gave us the Torah on Mt. Sinai? How did he know?" And the Gemora says, "It's inside."  Inside.  The deepest inside.  The deepest, deepest inside.  So I want you to know, until we made the Golden Calf, the Torah was so deep in our hearts.  When we made the Golden Calf, something, God forbid, happened to us.  [Whispers] I have to.  [Normal voice] You see, when you serve the idol, even serving God becomes idol worship.  I want you to know something.  You know what idol worship is? It means God is dead.  Doesn't move.  

I'll tell you something I just shared with somebody.  The first--you know, when they made Sha'arei Tzedek, so to speak, a Jewish hospital in Yerushalayim, they took a German-Jewish doctor, very religious, and he was like an idol-worshipper.  When he was praying, he wouldn't move, even it's an emergency.  'Cause he'd say, "No, when I'm davening, I'm davening."  What do you mean? Someone is dying! You'd better get your act together and come out--you're the doctor, right? What's his problem? Serving a dead God.  Can't move, right? He doesn't know when yes and when no, right?

You know what's so special about the Torah? There is nothing, nothing, more alive than the Torah.  Even when the Torah says no, maybe tomorrow it's yes.  You know what it means to be a living person? To be in touch, to know exactly what does God want of me right now.  Remember the children of the Heilige Strelisker came to the Heilige Rizhiner and [he] asked [them], "What was the most important thing by your father? And they said, "For him, the most important is to know what God wants of him right now."  What do you have to do right now, right?

You know, all those people--they have plans, and they know now already what they'll do ten years from now on Shabbos morning 9:20.  They'll be in the synagogue and they'll be on page 35.  It's idol worship.  How do I know, right? I hope I'll be there, but what do I know, right?

I'll tell you something very deep--not only in doing good.  The Heilige Rizhiner says to the chasidim, "Please, I would like to show you what is a real human being.  Call me somebody in from the street."  They call in somebody, and he says, "Listen, brother. Imagine you're walking behind me, and a thousand rubles are falling out of my pocket.  What are you gonna do?" He says, "The truth? I'll keep it."  "Thank you so much."  He says, "What a thief! Call in somebody else."  The next person comes in, and he asks him, "What would you do?" He says, "Rebbe, I'd give it right back to you."  "Oy," he says, "What an idiot!" [Crowd cracks up--even Shlomo laughs] He says, "Call in somebody else."  [They] call in the third person.  He says, "Rebbe, I don't know.  It depends what mood I am in."  "Ah, that's the real one!" Right?

You know what it means, "the living God?" Not only that God is alive--I'm also alive! I don't know what I'll think tomorrow.  I'll just hope.  I hope I won't steal.  But what do I know, right? You know, if someone says to you, "Are you keeping next Shabbos?" All I can say, "I hope."  I hope.  What do I know, right?

So in a nutshell, Nadav and Avihu were so afraid.  So here we build a mishkan, and again the mishkan, God told us "Build a mishkan"--again we did it because we have to (as much as we did it because we want to).  They wanted to do one thing--nobody told me--nobody told me--"shelo y'tsivu HaShem" [paraphrase of Lev. 10:1]. I want to do it because I love God so much.  I want to be so close to Him.  I want to run into the Holy of Holiest.  Oh, this is so deep.  

You know, if my whole Yiddishkeit--my whole connection to God is because "I have to," it's a bad--it's a bad connection.  But then I want you to know something deeper.  When do I ever have the privilege to do something with my whole heart--with my whole heart.  You know what holy is? I'm doing it.  Sure, I'm doing it good.  Even if one corner of my heart is not so much with it, it's still holy.  You know what the Holy of Holiest is? "V'chol adam lo y'hiyeh b'ol mo-ed" [Lev. 16:17].  There's nothing left in my heart which doesn't want to do it.  There is not one billionth'l, zillionth'l ounce in my heart left which doesn't want to serve God.  But this is not so simple.

You know, what's "establishment"? What's bugging us about the so-called religious establishment? They know now that in fifty years from now, Kol Nidre Night, it starts 6:50.  They know exactly ten minutes after eight the rabbi will make the Kol Nidre appeal.  And about--approximately ten minutes after nine they'll announce how much everybody gave.  And approximately nine minutes before ten--will be the closing prayer.  It's all beautiful.  No.  [Whispering] It can't be.  It can't be.

You know, imagine I get married, and I get myself a paperback book on marriage, and then I see exactly in the morning--ah ha, page 35, I know what to do.  Then, after breakfast, I see my way in the reading, I need to turn the page, page 37, let's see what I have to do.  It's all cute and sweet.  

I have to tell you something.  There are two stories which are actually the same.  Reb Hanoch of Alexander--one of the biggest rebbes--there are two famous stories of him.  But I'll tell you this one.  He told the story:  There was this idiot.  And every morning when he--you know, when he undressed, he did not remember where he put his socks, where he put his shirt, where he put his pants.  So he decided, mamash, one night he'll write down everything.  So he wrote down, "My pants are under the bed.  My socks are next to the bed.  And I am in my bed."  Next morning he wakes up.  "Ah, my pants--under the bed.  My socks are here."  And then he sees, "And I am in my bed."  He looks in the bed, and he's not there.  He begins to cry.  So he says, "Master of the world, where am I?" Gevalt, is that deep, right? Gevalt, is that deep.  But where are you? Where are you? Right.

You know, friends, it is possible to do everything, but you never found yourself--completely disconnected from yourself.  What do you really want? What do you really want?

You know what Aharon HaKohen, when he walked into the Holy of Holiest? You know what he brought back to us? Just the inside of us.  Remember, we were learning it a lot of times--maybe not every person is holy.  But every person is the Holy of Holiest.  We have something so holy inside, so awesomely holy inside, right? But we're so disconnected from it.

So the High Priest, when he walked into the Holy of Holiest--and here, I want to share with you something I was learning yesterday, and that actually, it's the same thing.  You know, my beautiful friends, let's again take a husband and wife.  I hurt my wife's feelings.  And then I ask her for forgiveness.  So she says, "Okay, I forgive you." But you know what it is? Yeah, she forgives me, but sadly enough, those scars.  Scars.  Aye gevalt.  You know how many people hurt our feelings and we forgive them? [Someone sneezes] God bless you. Yeah, we forgave them.  [Whispering] But the scar.  It's heartbreaking, right?

I want you to know--I was learning it yesterday--the scar you cannot fix from outside; on the skin there's a scar. You can only fix it from [whispering] inside, behind the skin.  [Normal voice] You know, from the holy to the Holy of Holiest was a perochos, right? Okay, so God forgave us for making the Golden Calf.  But humanly speaking, there was a big scar, humanly speaking, even on God's heart.  How do you--how do you get rid of the scar? Ah--the Holy of Holiest.  Deepest.  From behind the curtain.

You know, when I hurt somebody's feelings, and I ask them for forgiveness, we're still far from each other, still long distance.  How many people make up, then forgive each other?--But oy gevalt, there's still long distance.  Do you know, you can stand next to a person and be billions of miles away.  Listen, God is everywhere, and how far are we from God, right? All those long distance calls.  Holy of Holiest is--so close.  It's just so deep, it's so deep.  Suddenly, there are no more scars.  Because it's this deepest revelation.  Gevalt, am I one with you.  I mean, if I did something wrong it was only my outside; it was never my inside.  Deepest, deepest inside, right?

I want you to know something--everybody's asking.  Basically, if I cannot do something good--it was not in my hand--it is considered in Heaven like I did it.  Ma aleh alav hakasuv k'ilu asah-oh [Berachot 6a].  So everybody's asking, why are they krechtsing about Pesach Sheni? They couldn't do it, right? Because they were tamei ha-mes.  If you touch a coffin you cannot go into the Holy of Holies.  It was not their fault, right? But the answer is very simple.  If all you're interested in [is] doing it because the Torah says you have to do it, so I did it, right? I REALLY wanna do it.

Imagine Neshama says to me, "Can you give me apple juice?" And then I would say, "You know, I'll just--I'm so sorry--I'm just--I have a long distance call to Israel."  So I really, I can't give her the apple juice, right? But then I say, "Neshama, you know something--" She says, "Yeah, I forgive you.  I understand. You couldn't."  "I'm so broken that I didn't give you the apple juice."  I didn't do it, right? Nobody blames you.  But I still didn't do it.  

And here I want you to know something very deep.  This is mamash very important to know, friends.  Anybody who knows a little about Shabbos--you know, in Belz, the way they made Kiddush--ah, gevalt.  Gevalt Kiddush, right? Bobover Rebbe--makes a different Kiddush; Satmar Rebbe--another Kiddush.  So you would say, "Everybody makes Kiddush, everybody says the same blessing."  Yeah, but the way they're saying it--everybody has their own individual way of saying it, right? Maybe on the outside it's all the same.   

You know, take Yom Kippur, right? You know, sadly enough, there are some synagogues, the same service at 2000 synagogues, it's all the same because there's nothing inside in it, because the moment you put your inside--it cannot be that--two people don't do it the same way, right? It comes from inside.  So they say, "Okay, so we won't be blamed for not doing it; we did it.  But what we did, it's like all of Israel did it, right? But it was not my doing, my Korban Pesach, right? Ah, you know, the way I bring Korban Pesach? The way I sing and dance when I bring the Paschal lamb, gevalt!" Ssss.

You know what Amalek does? You know what the greatest evil in the world is? When someone says to you, "Your own addition doesn't count.  Whatever you do special is unimportant. Just do it!" I want you to know something.  I watch sometimes--you know, in my neighborhood, a lot of homeless people--and Baruch HaShem, one of my greatest privileges is really, I'm very close to--I would say, to 98% of them.  Okay, our chevra, mamash, you know, they know how to give a dollar to a poor man, right? You don't just take out the dollar, look to the other side, here, you know.  Sometimes I watch my chevra, you know? Everybody's doing it in a sweeter way, right? In a special way, right? [Whispers] This is so special.

And here, I want to add something awesome.  It was the people who carried the coffin of Yosef, who came to Moshe, and they said, "We need a second chance."  How did they know? I was learning it yesterday, and it really blew my mind--myself.  Everybody knows the story of Rachel and Leah, right? Rachel is engaged to Yaakov, and Yaakav and Rochel have a secret sign because they knew that Lavan--Laban--will put Lee-ah under it--under--under the wedding canopy.  So in the last moment Rachel saw--"Oh, my sister will be put to shame."  She gave her over the secret sign.

So Yaakov didn't know it's Lee-ah; he thought it's Rachel, right? You know what that means? Rachel gave up her husband.  Rachel gave up this world and the coming world because it was clear to her, "If I don't marry Yaakov, I have to marry Esau."  Because everybody was saying, "Yaakov and Esau--and Lavan has two daughters--one is for Yaakov, one is for Esau," right? Do you know what it means to be the wife of Esau? Don't have to tell you.  Not this world, not the coming world.  Give everything up, for what?

Lemme ask you something:  imagine this young lady stands under the Chuppah, and then suddenly the groom says, "I don't want you," and she'll be put to shame.  She'll get over it! A few years later she'll meet somebody else, she'll get married, right? But you know what? [Whispering] The scar.  The scar.  You know what Rachel did? She gave up her life for the scar of Leah.  Ah, that is awesome.  "I don't want any scars on my sister's heart."  So here they come to--Yosef, the son of Rochel--they come to Moshe, and say, "You know something? Unless we do Pesach Sheni, there'll always be a scar on my heart--why I didn't have this Pesach.  Why didn't I have the privilege to do this?"

[Normal voice] So someone says to me, "You know, it's okay.  You'll still go to Paradise."  I'm not asking you about Paradise or Hell--[whispers] I want so much to do it! [Normal voice] You know, friends, when you want to do something for your best friend, for God, and you don't do it--there's this deep scar on your heart.  And if it was the coffin of Nadav and Avihu, obviously it's even easier.  You know what's Nadav and Avihu? Kodesh Kedoshim.  And Kodesh Kedoshim is only when I mamash do it, with all my heart, with all my soul.

So you hear, my beautiful friends, today is a holiday when it's clear to us--it is never too late.  Not only it's never too late; it's never too late even to fix even the scars.

Do you know something? I can be angry at someone for a thousand year-- [End of tape]


Transcribed by Reuven Goldfarb in Zefat, the first week of Iyar, 5761.  Completed 8 Iyar, 5761/May 1, 2001.

I owe special thanks to my wife Yehudit for her expert editorial advice and to Yankel Shames, Meir Glaser, David Friedman, and Yitzchak of Sanz, my neighbors in the Holy City of Tsfat, for their invaluable assistance in deciphering Shlomo's rapidly spoken Hebrew phrases and identifying their respective sources--and Matt Hirschhorn and Osher for asking about and Gavriel Bellino, Michael Bernet, and Michael ben Aryeh, all from the Shlomo list, for identifying, the source of the Nero story.  Any remaining inaccuracies or errors of judgment are mine alone.

Most of all, of course, I have Betsalel Edwards to thank for sending me the tape--the first such recording I've ever transcribed without having been present at the original event.


Note:  Needless to say, this work-in-progress has the legal status of a privately circulated manuscript, conferring no publication rights on any recipient.  It is my hope that at some not-too-distant time, the Shlomo Carlebach Foundation will begin to publish collections of Shlomo's teachings and stories, and that such work as this will find a place there.--RG
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