Daily Bitachon: The Roots and Foundations of the World Welcome to Daily Bitachon. We are currently in Chovot HaLevavot , the fourth chapter of Sha'ar HaBechina , where Rabbeinu Bachya analyzes seven areas where Hashem's wisdom is revealed. The first area he explores is what he calls the "roots and foundations" of the world. Deep down, there are fundamental structures that hold our world together. The Generator at the Core As we know, the Earth has a core with many layers. Let's look at the depths of the Earth, where there is a liquid outer core of flowing iron and nickel surrounding a solid inner core. The movement of this liquid metal acts like a massive spinning electric generator, creating a strong magnetic field around our planet. Why is this important? This field deflects harmful radiation and charged particles from the sun, preventing them from stripping away our atmosphere or harming living things on the surface. Right aroundour world, Hashem placed a powerful shield. The Moving Crust Furthermore, the Earth's outermost layer—the crust where we live—is broken into large pieces called tectonic plates . These pieces float on a softer, putty-like mantle below. It is interesting how often we assume things are one solid piece when they are actually not. We've spoken before about the human skull; it looks solid, but it's actually made of many pieces that slowly solder together after birth. In the same way, God made the world with separate plates. The intense heat from the core causes slow-moving currents, which keep these plates drifting. Now, why is this movement necessary? Pressure Valves: Earthquakes and Volcanoes We often think of earthquakes and volcanoes as simple disasters, but they serve a vital purpose. Earthquakes are the way the planet releases the immense stress built up from the movement of the plates, preventing the Earth's crust from tearing apart uncontrollably. Volcanoes act like a pressure valve, releasing internal heat, gas, and magma. Think of a pressure cooker with that little valve on the lid—you see the steam escaping to relieve the pressure so the pot doesn't explode. That is our core: a solid center, a bubbling outer core, a putty-like mantle, and the crust on top. The Balance of the Elements Next, the Chovot HaLevavot tells us to pay attention to the perfect arrangement: the Earth is in the middle, the water is above it, the air is above that, and the heat is above that. Everything exists in exact measurement and balance. Each element stays in its assigned place and follows its boundaries. As it says in Iyov , Hashem told the elements: "Until here you shall come, and no further" ( ואמר עד פה תבוא ולא תסיף ). The Force of Gravity Where does this stability come from? It comes from good old gravity , which holds everything down and creates the necessary pressure and density in our air and water. We know that when you go higher up—to the mountains in Vail, for example—there is less oxygen. You can compare this to a stack of acrobats: the person at the very bottom feels the most weight. Because gravity pulls the air down, the air near the surface is denser and contains the oxygen we need to breathe. The key force driving all of this is gravity, and B'ezrat Hashem , we will return to the wonders of gravity in our next segment.

Daily Bitachon: The Wonder of White Snow Welcome back to Daily Bitachon. Today, we are exploring the wonders of the seasons—specifically, the winter season and the magnificent beauty of snow. Snow is white, and it is stunning. But before we look at how Hashem made it white, we must first understand the incredible benefits of that whiteness. The Purpose of the "Giant Mirror" If snow were a dark color, it would absorb an immense amount of heat. Instead, white snow acts like a giant mirror, preventing the ground from soaking up the sun's energy. We see this in our daily lives: if you touch a black car in the sun, it's much hotter than a white one because white reflects the heat away. If snow absorbed heat instead of reflecting it, the ground would warm up rapidly, melting the snow instantly and creating a "feedback loop" where the Earth would get hotter and hotter every year. The Protective Blanket White snow also acts as a protective blanket. By reflecting the sun's rays, it prevents the top layer from melting and refreezing into solid ice. This keeps the snow fluffy and full of air. Just like a down comforter, that trapped air provides insulation, keeping the ground temperature steady. This protects plant roots and hibernating animals from freezing to death. Preventing the "Flash Melt" Because snow is white, it melts slowly and intentionally. If snow were dark, it would absorb solar energy and "flash melt" the moment the sun came out, causing massive flooding every spring. Because it is white, the melting process is gradual. This allows the water to soak deeply into the soil and refill underground rivers, providing a steady supply of water for months to come. How Hashem Makes Snow White Now that we understand the benefits, let's look at the science. What is snow actually made of? It is made of clear ice crystals. Under a microscope, a single snowflake looks like a tiny piece of glass. If you melt it, it turns into clear water. So why does a pile of clear crystals look white? It all comes down to how light bounces: The Pinball Effect: When light hits a flat surface like a window, it passes straight through. But snow is a jumbled pile of hundreds of tiny, jagged crystals pointing in every direction. Scattering: Sunlight hits the first crystal, bounces to the next, then the next. The light gets tossed around like a ball in a pinball machine until it finally bounces back out toward our eyes. The Rainbow Mix: Sunlight contains all the colors of the rainbow mixed together, which our brains perceive as "white." Objects usually look colored because they absorb some colors and reflect others (a red apple absorbs everything except red). The Reflection: Snow is a "fair" reflector—it doesn't prefer any specific color. It bounces all colors of the rainbow back to us equally and simultaneously. When your eyes receive all those colors at once, you see white. Think of a clear sheet of glass: it's transparent. But if you smash that glass into a pile of tiny shards and dust, the pile looks white. The material hasn't changed; you've just created thousands of new surfaces for the light to bounce off of. The Message This is a wonder of wonders—how Hashem uses the physics of light to create such a beneficial and beautiful reality. All of this is made possible through the cycle of the seasons, the tilt of the Earth's axis, and the power of the sun. It is a constant reminder of the precise design embedded in our world.

The Wonders of Brown Fat and the Seasons Welcome to our daily Bitachon as we continue in our Shaar Habechina series. We are discussing the seasons right now, and today we explore a very interesting advantage of the changing weather: how seasons affect our brown fat. What is Brown Fat? Most of the fat in our body is referred to as white fat. That is what stores extra energy and calories—the stuff we usually don't like. While it is good to have reserves for the future, most of us aren't living in times of starvation, so we just keep those reserves for long periods. Brown fat, however, has a different job: it burns that extra energy from the white fat as fuel to produce heat. The Furnace vs. The Warehouse Think of it this way: White Fat: Your storage warehouse (usually found in the stomach or thighs). Brown Fat: Your furnace. It pulls fatty acids out of storage and into your bloodstream to burn them. Brown fat is highly sensitive to the change in seasons—specifically the drop in temperature and the change in daylight. When the weather turns cold, your body receives signals to recruit more brown fat. In fact, brown fat activity can be four times higher in January than in July. Individuals with active brown fat burn about 15% more calories compared to those with very little of it. The Problem with "Thermal Monotony" The problem is that modern humans live in a state of thermal monotony . We keep our houses at a steady 70°F year-round, which makes our brown fat lazy. To counter this, it is good to embrace the cold: Spend a few hours a day in the 62°F to 66°F range. Sleep in a cool room at night. End your shower with a 60-second cold blast. The shock of cold water on your upper back and neck—where most brown fat is stored—tells the brain to ignite the furnace. The Big Chiddush: Cold vs. Heat Here is the big chiddush (innovation): Exercise already helps convert white fat, but if you go for a run or a walk, try doing it when it's cold outside. If you exercise in a hot gym, your body focuses on cooling you down through sweating. But if you exercise in the cool air, your body gets a double hit: it burns energy from the workout and burns energy to maintain your core temperature. Despite the old wives' tales, wearing a sweatsuit to lose weight is a mistake. Sweating itself doesn't make you lose weight, burning calories for energy or heat does. Next time you go out, wait a few minutes before putting on your heavy jacket. Let yourself feel that brisk air to tell your body to recruit more brown fat. A Wonder of Creation Newborn babies are born with a lot of brown fat (5% of their body weight) because they aren't strong enough to shiver to stay warm. As we get older, we lose much of it because we gain the ability to shiver, but seasonal cold exposure helps keep what we have active. The Benefits of Brown Fat: Metabolic Boost: It burns blood sugar and fat molecules to create heat. Insulin Health: It "eats" sugar to fuel heat production, stabilizing blood sugar levels. Heart Health: It can help lower blood pressure. It is truly a "wonder of wonders" what God has going on inside of us. And the hero behind it all? That "one-two punch" of the sun and the axis tilt of the Earth.

Daily Bitachon: Shaar HaBechina Welcome to Daily Bitachon in our Shaar HaBechina series. We are now exploring the benefits of the seasons. The Blessing of the Cold Let's start with the cold. Who likes being cold? Well, there are actually incredible benefits to it. Cold acts as a natural form of pest control. Sustained freezing temperatures kill off large numbers of insects, like mosquitoes and ticks, and bacteria that would otherwise multiply out of control and spread disease. Winter also prevents overgrowth; it stops the spread of invasive plants, giving native ecosystems a chance to maintain their balance. In many wonderful warm places, you have malaria and all kinds of diseases from mosquitoes because the forests are simply overgrown. We need a break—a time to "turn everything off"—and that is the beauty of the winter. Nature's "Slow-Release" Battery Another aspect is the "freshwater battery." Seasons are vital for the world's water supplies. In the wintertime, the mountains act like giant batteries, storing water in the form of snow. Then, there is a slow release. You know those slow-release pills you take? Well, God created the original slow-release system. If it rained all year instead of snowing, the water would wash away immediately in floods, as happens in many places that don't have seasons like ours. Because of the seasons, the snow melts slowly in the spring and summer, providing a steady, reliable stream of fresh water to rivers and lakes during the hottest months. It is beautiful how Hashem is literally storing it for later. It is one of the wonders of how Hashem worked it out: it rains and snows in the winter so that we have our luscious summer fruit—the plums, pears, and juicy watermelons. When it's hot outside and you need that hydration, we are using water from the winter that Hashem "put into" the plum of your summer. It's the snow of the winter creating fresh water in the rivers exactly when you need it most. Unbelievable. Atmospheric Churning The change of seasons also cleans up the atmosphere. How so? Seasonal changes drive global wind patterns. As the temperature shifts between summer and winter, it creates large-scale atmospheric churning. This movement helps disperse pollutants and circulates fresh air across the globe, preventing any one area from becoming a stagnant pocket of smog. Think of it like having a little smoke in the kitchen, you open the windows and turn on the fan to let the air blow through. That is what God does naturally, and it's the seasons that create that "churn" of air. Global Circulation This creates massive movements of air and water as different parts of the earth heat up and cool down. As we mentioned, temperature differences create pressure changes that drive global winds. These winds carry moisture to inland areas that would otherwise be dry. We know the water in the ocean is heated by the sun, turns into clouds, and goes into the atmosphere. That's great if you live near the ocean, but we need to get that moist air to the interior of the continents. The wind patterns created by the seasons drives those global winds. That's how weather reports work—by tracking those patterns to predict where the moisture will end up. It also helps the ocean currents. Seasonal changes power the "global conveyor belt" of ocean currents, which move nutrients and heat around the world, supporting massive marine ecosystems. The Great Design This is a phenomenal concept that God put into the world. And where is this all coming from? Let's pause to remember our "good old friend," the sun. But the sun couldn't do it alone; it requires the global tilt. God designed the sun and the earth's tilt to work together, which is why in the Beracha (blessing) of the sun, we speak about Meshane Itim (He who changes the seasons). It is the sun, the global tilt, and the moon keeping everything in balance. This is the magical teamwork of Creation.

Finding God in the Seasons: The Divine Tilt In our Sha'ar HaBechina series, we are exploring how to find God within creation. The Chovot HaLevavot teaches us to look for signs of wisdom in the world, specifically pointing to the seasons . He notes that the seasons require additional thought to fully appreciate their benefits, and then he leaves us to ponder it. Where is the Blessing for Seasons? Rabbi Yeruchom Levovitz once asked: "If the sun is so important, why don't we make a beracha (blessing) on it?" His answer was that we do—every day in the prayers of Yotzer Or and Yotzer HaMeorot . We can ask the same of the seasons. If they are so vital, where is their blessing? We find it in the evening prayers of Arvit , in the blessings surrounding the Shema : "... משנה עתים ומחליף את הזמנים " "...Who changes the seasons and alternates the times." The Sefer Iyun HaTefillah explains the nuance: Meshaneh (changes) is used for Eitim (seasons) because they transition progressively (1 to 2 to 3 to 4). Machalif (switches/alternates) is used for Zemanim (times) because day and night simply swap back and forth. The Origin of Seasons: Two Approaches The source for seasons appears in God's promise to Noach after the flood: "As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall not cease" (Bereishit 8:22). Rashi's View: The seasons always existed, but the sun and moon ceased to function during the Mabul (Flood). After the flood, they simply returned to their normal cycle. The Sforno's View: Before the Mabul , there were no seasons. The earth stood straight, creating a perfect, eternal spring. This perfect climate led to long lives, but also overindulgence and sin. After the flood, God tilted the earth's axis to create seasons, making life harder to curb man's impulse to sin. The "Perfect" 23.5-Degree Tilt As we know, the globe is tilted at 23.5 degrees. This tilt is the engine of our seasons: Summer: The hemisphere is tilted towards the sun, creating a high density of solar rays. Winter: The hemisphere is tilted away , resulting in a lower density of rays. Crucial Fact: Summer and winter are not caused by our distance from the sun, but by the angle of the tilt. If the Earth stood perfectly upright (0° tilt), the equator would bake into an uninhabitable desert, and the poles would be permanently frozen. Our 23.5-degree tilt acts as a giant heat distribution system, sharing the sun's energy across the planet. The "Big Whack" vs. Divine Design Science calls the origin of this tilt a "colossal cosmic accident" occurring 4.5 billion years ago. The "Giant Impact Hypothesis" (or the Big Whack) suggests a Mars-sized planet named Theia struck Earth with a glancing blow, knocking us off-center to exactly 23.5 degrees. Furthermore, they say that to keep the Earth from wobbling or flipping over, we need a stabilizer. That stabilizer is the Moon, whose gravity keeps the tilt steady. And where did the moon come from? The theory claims the "Big Whack" knocked a chunk off the Earth, which just happened to settle in the exact right spot to provide the necessary gravitational balance. To believe this happened by chance is like saying a man with a hunchback and no teeth got hit by a car, and the impact perfectly straightened his spine while the flying debris became his new teeth. It's far more logical to see the hand of Hakadosh Baruch Hu (The Holy One, Blessed be He) designing a perfect system for life.

Welcome to Daily ביטחון. We continue in our שער הבחינה talking about the benefits of the sun. We've also been talking about till now the vitamin D that's in your skin in a early stage that needs the sun to trigger it to be released. There's another important chemical that's in our skin naturally, but it's only a earlier stage, and that's called nitric oxide. Nitric oxide helps relax blood vessels, increasing blood flow and therefore lowering blood pressure. So sun is good to lower your blood pressure. That's another important fact about sun. Now, how does that work? So again, similar to the vitamin D, we have nitric oxide that's in our skin in what's called photolabile stores. That means these are early stages that's found naturally in human skin. It's stable under normal conditions but is broken down by light and this releases the nitric oxide into the skin, which then enters the bloodstream and acts as a vasodilator, which it means it causes dilation of the veins and relaxes the blood vessel. And this is something besides the vitamin D synthesis, which helps cardiovascular health, which we discussed yesterday. Now, this is again, as we said, God's gift of this nitric oxide that we need. Now, I'm sure if you've heard a little bit about pharmacology, when people have chest pain, they give them something called nitroglycerin. And what really does, this medicine rapidly is converted into nitric oxide in the body to relax the coronary arteries. So for those people that don't get enough sunlight, and that's why people that get older and sedentary and stay in the house and they don't get the sunlight, that's going to be a reason for heart attacks לא עלינו and strokes, which is caused from the high blood pressure, and that's why we have to take the artificial nitroglycerin. Another important aspect of sunlight is that the morning sunlight tells your body to stop producing melatonin. Melatonin is the sleep hormone, and we don't want to have melatonin during the day, and we want to have it at night so you'll fall asleep better and faster at night because your melatonin is working at night and not during the day. And what tells your body to turn on and turn off melatonin? The sunlight again. Now, again, although this might sound like a science class, we're trying to keep it as simple as possible. And again, a lot of my basic knowledge come from the fact that my father is dermatologist, and as remember as a kid one of the things that he installed in the office was a light box. People could go and get suntans in the office but that wasn't the reason why he had the light box. The light box was people with severe psoriasis which is a very difficult skin disease. People that have psoriasis know it's flaky, it's red, it's inflamed. And these light boxes are really doing what the sun does for psoriasis. And again, it's the sunlight that can help with psoriasis. And again, it's very complex how it works exactly, but interesting enough, it has to do with triggering the release of nitric oxide and this activates some other cells which causes the slowing down of these overactive inflammatory responses. So again, we can go on and on and on with what the sun does for us. And this is all besides what we're talking about for the physical body. Forget about what it does for plants and for the world and for heating the world and keeping us, the atmosphere going. We're not, that hasn't been our discussion at all. We've been sticking to how sunlight helps your body. Hopefully, after this short dose of science classes, we will appreciate the sun more. And there's a very important rule which we cannot overstress, which is that we believe in our religion that when you appreciate things, they work better for you. For example, דוד המלך did not respect his... his clothing, his clothing didn't work for him. Rabbi Miller says the same is true with everything. So look at all the great things the sun does for us, strengthens our immune systems, strengthens our bones, gets rid of bacteria, helps with our blood pressure, helps with our moods, helps with our sleep. But you have to appreciate the sun. So next time the sun comes up in the morning, look at that and say, Sun, I appreciate you. But not I appreciate you, I appreciate HaKadosh Baruch Hu that created you and your shemesh is the same word as shamash , the servant. It's God's great servant that he's using to bring all these wonderful benefits upon us. So print out these sheets and read it all the time and refresh your memory on the wonderful benefits that God gave us through his trusted servant.

Welcome to Daily Bitachon as we continue to explore the benefits of the sun. We're continuing with our theme that the sun releases vitamin D that's already existing in our skin. What else does vitamin D, our hero, do besides helping with our serotonin, helping with our immune system? It also helps the bones. It strengthens our bones by boosting calcium absorption in your gut. That means you can have all the calcium in the world that's necessary for bone building, as we all know calcium is good for bones, but what causes the calcium to end up in your bones? It needs to have certain other minerals that help it be absorbed. Without enough vitamin D, you will not absorb the necessary calcium. And vitamin D is this key that unlocks your intestines to absorb the calcium more effectively and increases the absorption from 10 to 15 percent to 30 to 40 percent. More than double the absorption of calcium happens because of vitamin D. That's absorbed. After it absorbs, the vitamin D helps transport the calcium to your bones, integrating them into your bone structure to make them hard and strong. Now besides helping your bones, this vitamin D, you're really going to appreciate vitamin D and again, it's all part of the sun. Vitamin D also helps maintain muscle strength, which improves balance and reduces the risk of falls and prevents fractures. The vitamin D interacts with receptors in your muscle tissue to aid contraction and growth, producing thorosynthesis, sorry, protein synthesis, reducing inflammation and supporting muscle repair and regeneration. Now what's very interesting about our vitamin D, people after a workout they'll take protein or carbohydrates post-exercise because there is a certain window of when it's going to help. But vitamin D builds up in your system over time and therefore there's really no need to take it right after a workout, which is also very beneficial. So a little bit more on our vitamin D, who's our hero. It helps with heart function by keeping your arteries flexible and can even possibly regulate your blood pressure. It supports insulin sensitivity, which is important for not developing diabetes. So vitamin D, as we said, is really our hero and that's why, as I said a few days ago, the USDA changed their requirements of vitamin D so that when you go to the doctor, they will tell you you're low on vitamin D. It's a very expensive blood test for this to see your vitamin D. That's why not all insurance plans even okay it every year. So once they realize you don't have enough, they just tell you take your vitamin D. And some signs for low vitamin D is frequent colds and flu, like we said, it lowers your immune system, persistent fatigue or bone pain because your bones are not going to be great, slow healing wounds, low mood or irritability because we said your SSRIs are not going to be right, muscle weakness or cramps. So if I were you, I would say I got to start taking more vitamin D. And of course, this all started from the natural source of vitamin D is our sunlight. So Hakadosh Baruch Hu gives us everything that we need in the sun and as we said, due to our lifestyle changes, we might need to take supplements. Now for those people that say well is there anything natural besides sunlight and I don't want to take supplements, so certain types of fatty fish, salmon, tuna, mackerel are good for that. Egg yolks are good for it and if you look at the side of your different types of food, milk, cereals and things like that, they say fortified with vitamin D and that's the beautiful government trying to help us and putting vitamin D into our food so without realizing it, we're taking vitamin D and that is going to be the end of our vitamin D discussion for this series currently. Tomorrow we'll continue with some other

Welcome to Daily Bitachon as we continue to discuss Shaar Habechina in the benefits of the sun. There are a lot of misunderstandings on how the sun is beneficial to us. People always think that you catch a cold in the winter and even the term catch a cold means well it's cold outside so I caught the cold. Cold is not the problem, the enemy is not the cold. Why do we get sick in the winter and not in the summer? It definitely has to do with sunlight more than cold and we'll explain. And we go back to our hero vitamin D. That again as we explained yesterday, sunlight causes vitamin D to be released by your skin. Vitamin D strengthens your immune system helping fight infections. It activates immune cells and produces antiviral peptides to fight germs. It modulates inflammation to prevent overreaction and creates a defense system against the germs. So it's not that in the cold there's some kind of poison in cold, it's the lack of vitamin D that does not give your immune system the ability to fight. That's one reason why we catch a cold in the winter and not in the summer, but there's another important reason. And that is, and again, this is all wonder of wonders, we have to just be so excited by what Hashem has done for us from millions of miles away from the sun all the way up there, somehow gets all the way down here. So big powerful God is able from all the way up there, not the sun, that's God, who's sending down rays to create vitamin D in your body. Now what does sunlight also do? It kills bacteria. Ultraviolet rays have radiation. We know radiation, we'll see, we know in a moment that radiation's not a great thing. Radiation causes mutations. It damages your DNA, RNA. Too much time in the sun, chas v'shalom , can cause cancer. That's true. But sunlight also kills out germs because germs are alive, they're real. They also have DNA and RNA and they also would replicate. But the sun reduces the germ population over time and it makes surfaces cleaner and reduces infection risks indoors as well. So wonder of wonders we have a one-two punch in the summertime. The sun raises our immune system and the sun gets rid of germs. So therefore people don't get as sick in the summertime and get sicker in the wintertime. Nothing to do with the cold. Now the way this works again, everything is on, this is another one of the things the Chovot Halevavot tells us to always be conscious of, everything's happening on a very small microscopic level that this, these lights create energy that's absorbed by the DNA and RNA in the bacteria and it causes certain lesions in this, microscopic lesions in the bacteria and that damages the genetic code which stops them from reproducing. Now this type of mutation and damaging is also dangerous as we said for skin cancer and cells have repair mechanisms to fix them. And that's why there is always a constant balance. My father is a dermatologist and as we said, the USDA raised their need for vitamin D, but we always have this tug of war which is on one hand too much sunlight can cause cancer, but too little sunlight you don't have enough vitamin D. That's why many doctors are believe in vitamin D supplements versus the sun due to the cancer risk. Now I want to make this clear that Hashem created a perfect world and if we would spend the right amount of time in the sun we'd have the perfect balance. Now we don't really do that. We don't work outdoors in the fields and stay outdoors. We stay indoors and then we go and sit on the beach. And the truth is, this is interesting, that once you reach the amount of vitamin D you're supposed to have in your skin, extra time in the sun doesn't give you more vitamin D. We don't have a vitamin D thermometer to tell us when and that's why, like I said, my father is a dermatologist suggested vitamin D supplements because that's measurable, you know the exact dose that you can take every single day and Hashem gave us that advantage now. Now that he knows how our lifestyles have changed, he gave us vitamin D supplements. I have a theory that is if you dressed more modest, you probably get the right amount of sun that you're supposed to get, but that's just my theory. Anyway, getting back to our story, in our appreciation of sun, that's this week's theme, we further appreciate our sunlight for protecting us from germs with the one-two punch of helping our immune system and getting rid of germs. And also an important thing to know is that even sunlight through the windows will get rid of germs. That's why, open up the shades in the summer, in the wintertime, to let the sun in is a very smart idea. And we're not going to get into getting ready for bris milah when the kid has too much bilirubin, leaving them in the sunlight helps the skin because sunlight causes chemical reactions and so on. So this is the wonder of wonders of all these triggers that are happening due.

Welcome to our daily dose of Bitachon . We continue in Chovot HaLevavot Sha'ar HaBechina where he tells us to think about the sun, the benefits of the sun, as we said every day, we make a beracha on the sun יוצר אור ובורא חושך. We say Yotzer HaMeorot and whenever you make a beracha on something, you want to benefit from it and appreciate the benefit. So one of the main benefits of sun, I'm sure many people have heard of this before, is vitamin D. Now, I like most people, go for a physical once a year and as of late, I'm sure you've been told by your doctor that you have vitamin D deficiency. And I always wondered like what happened over here? Why suddenly they get vitamin D deficiency? And the answer is I didn't change, but the USDA requirement for vitamin D changed. They decided you need more vitamin D. Vitamin D is extremely essential for many, many different body benefits and vitamin D comes from sunlight. Now, how in the world does that work? How does vitamin D come from sunlight? It's like you just is vitamin D coming in through the air? That doesn't sound right. How does vitamin D get to you from the sun? And here for the big chiddush . The vitamin D is already inside of you. This is a tremendous yesod in everything Rav Wolbe once said. Everything you need is inside of you. We just need outside things to bring them out. You learned all the Torah in your mother's womb before you came to this world and what happens when you learn is it brings it out. It's inside of you. And God works like that in everything. The vitamin D is inside of you. The only problem is that the vitamin D that's in your skin has not yet all put together. It's got the building blocks but it's not put together. So what happens is your skin's epidermis absorbs the ultraviolet rays from the sun and then this causes a certain ring of chemicals, not important what they're called, breaks down and causes different rings to be connected and disconnected and it forms the vitamin D in your skin. So the vitamin D was potentially there. It's like I'll give you a simple example. When you take an egg and put it in a frying pan with heat under it and it goes from an egg white and an egg yolk to a scrambled egg, the heat did not put a scrambled egg into the pan. The scrambled egg potential is already there in the egg yolk and the egg white. We just needed the heat to cause the chemical reactions to turn it from egg yolks and egg whites into a scrambled egg. That's what's going on here. All the building blocks for the vitamin D are already there. I need the heat to induce the change to form the vitamin D. Wonder of wonders. So no, there is not vitamin D pouring down on your skin from the heavens. It's not the man landing from the heavens. It's the heat of the sun and the ultraviolet rays that are causing the vitamin D to be released into your skin and eventually going into your bloodstream. Now what does vitamin D do for you? Well, it does a lot of things for you. We're just going to give you one now. Everybody knows that sunlight is a mood booster. You're in a better mood when you go on vacation. You know why that is? Because sunlight increases serotonin in your bloodstream. We'll get to what serotonin is in a minute. How this works I don't know exactly, but the vitamin D is not just a vitamin; it functions like a hormone that influences the genes responsible for serotonin levels in your brain and gut. Now this is fascinating because you don't have to admit if you've ever heard of the word serotonin or tell it to your spouse, but if you did, you probably heard it because it's part of the acronym called an SSRI. And SSRI stands for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, which is a common drug used for depression or anxiety, they're more well known as Prozac, Zoloft, or Lexapro. And they help increase serotonin and therefore help with depression, anxiety, OCD and the other conditions. But get this, your sunlight itself boosts serotonin. Wonder of wonders. So again the serotonin's inside of you. Now people, if they're depressed, they might not be having enough serotonin or but this is the The sunlight by stimulating the retina tells you to produce more serotonin and it also prompts the skin to produce the vitamin D which is needed for the serotonin. So you want to know why you feel good when you're on vacation? It's not just the vacation, it's the sunlight. Wonder of wonders, our sunlight, and tomorrow we'll continue about the great benefits that are linked to vitamin D which is all unleashed by the sun. So tomorrow morning when you say יוצר אור ובורא חושך yotzer hame'orot appreciate the sunlight. What has it done for you so far? Well today's discussion is vitamin D and serotonin.

Concerning Shabbat we say Lakodesh Hashem Michubad to the holy one of Hashem there should be honor. The Wolbe says a rule whenever you have kedusha with it comes kavod holiness needs respect. We say every day in our prayers קדוש קדוש קדוש השם Hashem is holy מלא כל הארץ כבודו the world is full of his honor wherever there is holiness there is honor. Why is that? Why must we honor the holiness? The commentaries explain based on a famous story with David Hamelech . David Hamelech was being chased by Shaul and he chanced upon Shaul sleeping alone in a cave and now it was David's chance if Shaul was truly his enemy to kill him. But David was not his enemy. So to show that Shaul was in his hands and yet David didn't do anything, he cut off a corner of his garment and later showed it to Shaul , say see I could have killed you if I wanted to, if I hated you I would have killed you then. Obviously he wasn't in front of him, he was waving it from afar. And the Gemara says because David Hamelech did not respect clothing, in his older years his clothing his clothing did not warm him because if we don't respect your clothing, it won't warm you. So when we have kedusha and want to tap into the kedusha , we must respect the kedusha and that way we'll benefit it. Shabbat is called mekor haberacha , Shabbat is a source of all blessing. If you want to get that blessing, you must respect the Shabbat which is a source of the blessing because if you don't respect it, it doesn't work. Another example they prove is from the following Gemara . The Gemara in Bava Metzia tells us a person should be careful with the respect of his wife because his wife brings the blessing into the home. Where do we see that from? Avraham Avinu was given gifts because of Sarah . So we see that Avraham got gifts because of Sarah . The woman brings blessing to the home and therefore Rava told his people respect your wives so that you'll become wealthy. And the questions asked if the lady is some type of amulet for success, Avraham got blessed because of Sarah , what do I have to respect her? Just have the amulet in my home and it'll bring blessing. And the answer as we just said: If you don't respect something, it doesn't work for you. And if you don't respect your wife, she won't bring you blessing. That is the principle. Respect something and it brings you blessing. Shabbat happens to be called a kallah , it's the bride. Respect the bride, she will bring you beracha . Respect the Shabbat , she will bring you beracha . And we'll give you one more example, this one's a little bit more complex. The Gemara in Sanhedrin says that somebody who says what do the rabbis do for me, he loses his portion in the olam haba . And the question is why is that such a terrible sin? He did everything right, one line like that he loses everything? Yisrael Salanter answers as follows. There's a Gemara in Masechet Berachot that says the whole world is given its sustenance in the merit of רב חנינא בן דוסא, a great tzadik of the time. He himself survived on very little. The rabbis tell us every generation has their people that in their merit the world is being sustained. Now a person lives their life, they do a lot of mitzvot , so you think okay I get to olam haba I have a lot of reward, but it's not so simple because your stay in this world costs. As Yisrael Salanter once said, this world is an expensive hotel. You had a great breakfast, you have a nice house, you have a nice family, it costs and maybe all of your mitzvot are being used to cover your costs and you'll come there empty handed. So what did God do? God gave us great tzadikim that in their merit the world is sustained. So therefore when I go to the grocery store, I take out my rabbi card and I swipe the rabbi card and I can save my money in my bank account for me later when I need in the next world. But now what happens if you get to the grocery store, you try to swipe the rabbi card and it doesn't work? Okay, I'll take out my own personal card. Why isn't the rabbi card working? Because you didn't respect the rabbi. If you don't respect it, it doesn't work for you. And therefore Yisrael Salanter says someone says what do rabbis do for me, means he doesn't respect them. You don't respect them, you can't benefit from them. You can't benefit from them, you gotta use your own savings account. Use your own savings account, it's gonna be on empty by the time you get to the world to come. So that's our principle, whether it's your clothing. Whether it's Shabbat , whether it's your wife, whether it's your rabbi. Respect it and it works. Don't respect it and it doesn't work. Let us all respect the Shabbat and our clothing and our wives and our rabbis and receive all the bracha that comes with it.