We continue going through the Korbanot prayer of our morning Shaharit . It starts with the title L’Olam. Yesterday, we spoke about how we say, What are we? What's our life? What's our kindness? And that section, it continues, הֲלֹא כָּל הַגִּבּוֹרִים כְּאַֽיִן לְפָנֶֽיךָ וְאַנְשֵׁי הַשֵּׁם כְּלֹא הָיוּ וַחֲכָמִים כִּבְלִי מַדָּע All strong man are like nothing. The strongest of men, God just blows over. Men of fame and wealth, men of power, they're like they didn't exist. The wise men, like they know nothing. After the seven What, what, whats that we discussed yesterday, we now discuss these three categories. Our siddur is based on Navi, and the rabbis tell us that this portion is based on a pasuk in Yirmiyah that says: A wise men should not pride himself in his wisdom, the strong man should not pride himself in his strength, and the wealthy man should not pride himself in his wealth. Rather, what someone should pride themselves in is knowing Me. That means pride yourself in your religious progress, (which is really the next words of the paragraph… “ except for the neshama” ) What we do that's praiseworthy and pride-worthy , is our religious accomplishments, because we make choices in that area. This is our humility pill every morning. הַגִּבּוֹרִים כְּאַֽיִן לְפָנֶֽיךָ Strong men are like nothing before You. There was a great Gibbor/Strong man. His name was Christopher Reeves. He played the part of Superman, he was muscular… and yet, as he was riding on a horse one day, he fell off the horse, cracked his neck and, lo Alenu, became a paraplegic for the rest of his life. He became a depressed man. He didn't go out into public for a year. When he finally came out, still a paraplegic, with difficulty talking, all made up for the short interview he gave, they asked him, “ What pulled you out of your depression?” And he said, “ When I realized I am not my body. I attributed myself to my body and my strength. And that's not me.” He realized Levad Haneshama . Even a goy has a soul. And he realized his strength was nothing. Anshei Hashem, men of great names, it’s like they don’t exist. Many years ago, there was a Centennial celebration of the creation of the Deal charter in New Jersey, and they had a book for sale in one of the local stores. As I flipped through it, I saw that there was a great man, whose name was Mr . Hathaway . There is a street named after him, called Hathaway Avenue . Nobody knows who Mr. Hathaway is today. There was a Mr. Darlington too, and another street was named after him. But nobody knows who he is either. All these great people, who built huge mansions, nobody knows who they are. No one even knows Mr. Hathaway's first name. These were Anshei Hashem, men of name, and we don't even know their names. They were so powerful and famous. Wise men , like Dr. Fauci, a very wise man, he has no knowledge … And that is the morning humility pill. As we said yesterday, the goal of the 40 days of the high holiday season is to get to the statement of What am I ? Our goal is to realize that we really don't do anything. We have no power. We have no wisdom. We have no wealth. It's all in the hands of God. What do we have? We have our Neshama Tehora, that pure soul that eventually is going to go up to God. And that soul ( in this prayer) is contrasted with the soul of the rest of the world) אֲבָל אֲנַֽחְנוּ עַמְּ֒ךָ בְּנֵי בְרִיתֶֽךָ, בְּנֵי אַבְרָהָם אֹהַבְךָ שֶׁנִּשְׁבַּֽעְתָּ לּוֹ בְּהַר הַמֹּרִיָּה, זֶֽרַע יִצְחָק יְחִידוֹ שֶׁנֶּעֱקַד עַל גַּבֵּי הַמִּזְבֵּֽחַ, עֲדַת יַעֲקֹב בִּנְךָ בְּכוֹרֶֽךָ שֶׁמֵּאַהֲבָתְ֒ךָ שֶׁאָהַֽבְתָּ אוֹתוֹ וּמִשִּׂמְחָתְ֒ךָ שֶׁשָּׂמַֽחְתָּ בּוֹ קָרָֽאתָ אֶת שְׁמוֹ יִשְׂרָאֵל וִישֻׁרוּן: We, the Jewish people, we are Your nation, the sons of your covenant. The sons of Abraham that You love, that You promised at Har HaMoria, a son, that seed Yitzhak, that was bound in front of You on the Mizbe’ach, the Eidah/congregation of Yaakov, Your firstborn son, who You loved so much and enjoyed so much and gave him the name Yisrael, and Yeshurun. So who ar e we ? We're nobody on our own merits and our own acts. But do You know who my father is? That's an important line. Do You know who my father is ? That's what you're supposed to be thinking all the time. Wealthy kids sometimes say that when they get pulled over. I heard a story like that once. But the cop said, “I really don't care who your father is,” In our case, however, it makes a big difference. We start off every prayers with Elohei Avraham, Elohei Yitzhak, Elohei Yaakov. Do you know who my Father is? Avraham, Yitzhak and Yaakov. That's something. These are the important principles that we start our prayers with. And, as we said, they’re important every day, but especially during the month of Elul, as we get ready for the high holidays. We have to appreciate these important principles that our rabbis put into the siddur for us. Have a wonderful day.