Parsha Review Podcast · Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe

00:03 - Intro (Announcement)
You're listening to Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe of Torch in Houston, Texas. This is the Parsha Review Podcast.

00:13 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
All right, welcome back. Good evening everybody to the Parsha Review Podcast. This week's parsha what is parsha's re'eh? Re'eh talks for hashem tells us. I just want you to before we begin, just so that you understand. I mean, every single torah portion is is gold, is gold, and but these portions in devorum, in deuteronomy, are absolutely. It's just, they're so beautiful and they're so perfect. I mean, every verse in the Torah, every word in the Torah, every letter in the Torah is perfect. But you just like it's so inspiring when you read every single word. So you would go to chapter 13, verse number 5.

01:02
Acharei Hashem, eloheichem Teileichu. Follow Hashem, your God, shall you go? Follow in His ways Ve'oso tiru and Him. You shall fear Ve'es mitzvos av. Tishmuru and His commandments. You shall observe Ve'oso tishmuru and His voice. You shall listen to Ve'oso tavodu and Him. You shall serve Ve'oso sidbokun and to him shall you cling. So most of this seems very self-understood, self-explanatory. Follow Hashem's ways, fear Him, follow His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him and cling to Hashem. But what does Rashi say? You know, we always like to look at Rashi. What does Rashi say? Rashi says something so incredible. Rashi says Uvo sidbakun, cling to Hashem. Hidabeik bidrachav. Follow Hashem's ways.

02:03
We talk about this a lot in our classes. We talk about the importance of emulating God. What does it mean to be a servant of God? I want to be God-like, which, by the way, every human being wants to be God-like. We all want to be God-like. We ask to be God godlike. We all want to be godlike. We ask to be godlike. God is perfect. We are not, but notwithstanding that, we want to be as close to God as possible. We all want to do good, and even those who do bad. It's a perverted way for them to feel like they're doing good, like the guy who holds up somebody and says I've got to feed my family, I'm a hero. He ain't doing it the wrong way. But what's their answer to it is of doing good, even though even the people who are doing the worst things are thinking that it might be good.

03:03
But what does it say over here? Serve Hashem, act like Hashem. And what is the examples that Rashi brings from the Talmud? He says follow Hashem's ways, Serve your fellow man, do acts of loving kindness, just like God does.

03:26
Bury thee Deceased, just like God does K'vor mesim. Bury thee deceased, just like God does G'mo chasadim. God did acts of kindness, whether it was to Abraham, right To whoever it was. Wherever creation is, god is doing acts of kindness. K'vor mesim, bury thee deceased. Just like God buried Moses, so so too we should bury the deceased.

03:51
We have something called the Hever Kaddisha. The Hever Kaddisha is a group it's called the Hever Hever is a group Kaddisha of people who do righteous, dignified work, of Of who, of the Almighty. Just like Moses was prepared for burial and buried by the Almighty, so too those who prepare in the ritual society, the burial society, who prepare the deceased for burial and do the burial, they are doing the service of God. And then b'gur holim visit, are doing the service of God. And then Begur Cholim visit the sick. Visit the sick. Just like God visited Abraham, so too you should visit the sick.

04:39
Kimo sha'as ha'kadosh baruch hu. Just as Rashi says, rashi brings this from the Talmud in Sotah. Just like the Almighty performs these deeds, so too shall you. So I want to just ask a little question here. God, in the beginning of this verse, what it says Achrei Hashem, ulokeichem Teileichu, follow in the ways of Hashem. What does it say at the end? Aren't they the same? You're following Hashem's ways, you're clinging to Him. That's what it is Right. So what is it? We know those who are in our class already. For years we were very well educated in the following principle there isn't an extra word in the Torah. It seems to be like this verse might have an extra word, or two, or three or four. It has to be that there's something that we need to learn from this, because there isn't an extra letter in the Torah, there isn't an extra word. So what is the lesson that needs to be learned here? Our sages tell us? I'll tell you a quick story. I heard this story this week. Magnificent story.

05:58
Someone once came to his rabbi and his rabbi was sick. So he reached out. He says I want to know if I can come visit you to do Bikur Cholim to visit the sick. So the rabbi said no. He said why not? There's a mitzvah in the Torah to visit the sick. See, he said very clever response. He says I'm not your esrog, I'm not your Esrog, I'm not your Citron. Meaning you want to fulfill a mitzvah, so you're using me as your victim. Right, he says. But you have no interest in how I'm doing, you have no interest in inquiring. What is the idea of Bikur Cholim Visiting the sick. What is the idea of it? The idea of Bikur Cholim is that it's not just that you're not well and I'm visiting you. I'm inquiring in what it is that I can do for you. Lift your legs, I can help you here. You want to eat something, you need a ride, you need this. It's inquiring in the whole being of the person. What are they dealing with and I want to share with you. I have a special surprise for you today at our class. Okay, I'll tell you a story first. I said this story in the past. I'm going to share the story again.

07:15
I get a phone call from my brother. I think it was back in 2008, 2009. I get a phone call from my brother one day. He says did you hear what's going on with Abba, with our father? I said, no, what's going on? He says well, he's having emergency open heart surgery right now in Good Samaritan Hospital in Rockland in New York. I said, oh my goodness. I quickly run inside the house. I tell my wife I got to book a ticket and go immediately. I got on the earliest flight, I can get on and I get to the hospital.

07:51
My brother was in Israel. He came later on that night he had arrived later. Actually, the next morning he had arrived. I get to the hospital and I was still waiting for my dad to get out of this very, very long operation, this long surgery, and the surgeon comes out and he says you know, this was a successful surgery, and he gives me some guidelines. You should just look out for this and look out for that. He's going to have difficulty with this, difficulty with that. He goes through the whole thing. Okay, okay, that was a Thursday evening.

08:27
Friday morning, as I mentioned, my brother comes to visit from Israel, right, he comes in special to be there with my father and my brother and I. What are our plans for Shabbos? It's Friday morning. What are our plans for Shabbos? Our plans are to sit in a hotel room, in a hospital room, not a hotel right To sit in the hospital room and to just be there with my father. Doctors, nurses, nurses everyone checking in. How's he doing recovery post-op. You know the whole thing.

08:59
Someone walks in, a nice beautiful jew walks in and he says to me what are you doing for shabbos? I said we're, we're going to figure out right here. We'll probably go to my mother, will probably go run around to a few supermarkets, pick up some kugel, pick up some chicken, pick up some fish and we'll have a meal right here in the hospital room with my father. So this fine, beautiful Jew tells me no, no, no, that's not the way you're going to, no. He Jew tells me no, no, no, that's not the way you're going to no. He says, right across the street we have a biker holim, we have a house that they bought, biker holim, and you go in there. He says you have room number two, there are two beds there. You and your brother can sleep there. There's hot food, there's challah, there's everything you need for Shabbos. And he told us they had installed a special door on the side of the entrance. That's a manual door, not an automated door, so that when Shomer Shabbos, jews are there for Shabbos, they don't need to walk through the electronic doors. He says come with me downstairs, I'm going to show you exactly where that door is so you can go in through that special door.

10:10
On Shabbos, every detail. And what do I know? Right here, sitting in the classroom right now, is the representative of the Satmar B'Kolam. That's their mitzvah, that they are so beautiful in observing. Is this beautiful mitzvah of B'Kolam. You think it's just that hospital.

10:30
No, I'll tell you another story. Two years ago in the summer, my wife wasn't feeling so well, so we went to Hackensack Hospital Right, you guys do Hackensack too, all right. So Hackensack Hospital, and it was. I don't remember what the circumstances were, but it was like I hadn't eaten in like 45 hours and it was like it was one of those days. It's like an endless day. It's so long you have no idea what in the world is going on. And my wife needed to get this imaging and that imaging and it was like she was in a lot of pain.

11:07
And I meet somebody. He says to me what are you doing here? I said, oh. First they thought they said, oh, mazel Tov, you're having a baby for sure, because they think any religious Jew in a hospital for sure they're having a baby. I said no, no, no, no, it's not a baby. My wife is just now feeling worse.

11:21
He says oh, did you go to the Bikur Cholim room? In the hospital itself? They have a dedicated B'ikor Cholim room. You know what's in the room? I'll tell you what's in the room. You walk in. There's a refrigerator, refrigerator has shelves packed with food, packed with food, the freezer. You open up they have ice creams and they have ices and they have this and they have that. You open up the cabinets. It looks like a kitchen. You open up, the pantry is filled with any type of food you can possibly imagine. They also have books, right, judaica books. So if you want to learn the Parsha, you can read the Parsha. You want to read books about the righteous sages, you can read the books about. It's unbelievable. They have water bottles and they have this tea and coffee. And you name it right. So you think it's only Hackensack and that hospital. I'll tell you another story. As many of you might know, I tried to donate a kidney this January. I was in New York. You may not have known. Okay, you didn't notice, that's a surprise to you. Okay, I'll tell you. I went to New York to go donate a kidney. Not yet to donate, I was going to do all the full battery of tests. So I go in. They send me to Montefiore Hospital, which is also Bikirchel. Okay, so I'm there from 8 o'clock in the morning. I am not allowed to have eaten, obviously. I'm going to be doing all these tests and they start from 8 o'clock in the morning all the way until 4.30, 5 o'clock in the afternoon. I'm talking about CT scan, echocardiogram. You name the test blood test, this test, that test, psychiatry test, every test. Why would you this test, that test? Psychiatry test, every test? Why would you want to donate a kidney, like they're doing a whole? They call it the million dollar workup. Right, they do every test you can possibly do. Do that blood panel, another? I almost thought I had no more blood left in me. It was like endless, unbelievable and I can't eat the whole day Either way. By the time the day is over over the organization that I was doing this through, which was renewal. They do unbelievable kidney, kidney donations. It's unbelievable, unbelievable organization. So they brought me a whole bag of food, but I was like I'm not in the mood of opening up a whole thing. I said you know, just tell me where's the? Do they have a biker hall room? Said you know what? You can go to the biker hall room right down the hallway. I go to the biker hall room. Oh, my goodness, it's unbelievable. I thought it was only the other two hospitals, turns out, you can go to the Bikur Cholim room Right down the hallway. I go to the Bikur Cholim room. Oh, my goodness, it's unbelievable. I thought it was only the other two hospitals. Turns out it's not only. And I was a beneficiary myself.

13:57
I witnessed, I remember, because I had to wait for someone to come and bring me my paperwork or something like that for me to be able to leave the hospital. I was just waiting. They said, okay that for me to be able to leave the hospital, I was just waiting. They said, okay, wait, not wait in the big home room and we'll bring you the papers there. And it was. It was just, it was unbelievable.

14:13
They have, you know, they have everything you need if, god forbid, you're stuck in a hospital. You know what? Unfortunately, there are people who need a hospital and they need their family comes to visit and they need a place to rest and refresh and to be there for the people who are. You know who's there, every single day of the year, 365 days a year it's Biko Holam from Satmar, satmar, biko Holam. They're there to take care of those who are in need and the family that's there to help them. I have, today, a treat for you, my dear friends. Come please. We're on camera. We're on camera. You can come talk to everyone, family that's there to help them. I have today a treat for you, my dear friends, come please. We're on camera. We're on camera. You can come talk to everyone Tell everybody what here?

14:56 - Mr. Schwartz (Guest)
come, sit down, sit down, sit, sit, sit, sit. Thank you so much. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I'm back. I'm happy to be back in the city of Houston. You might remember me, two years ago, august of 2023, was my last visit in the Old Torch location and wasn't able to make it last year. But here I am. I think Rabbi Wolbe said it all. I do not have what to add to this wonderful, wonderful introduction. Thank you so much, rabbi Wolbe. Wow, wow.

15:22
I will only say this it's 18 hospitals, 75 years, on a daily basis, rain, shine, heat and sleet, snow and blow. On 9-11, when everybody ran out of Manhattan, sadpa Pekihoylen, via ambulance, delivered food into Manhattan, because we can't say today is 9-11, no food given. And every single day we go out to many hospitals, to bedsides, to the particular bedsides with the room, the pavilion. We take the information a day before and we should know where to go. And we also have those kosher kitchens that the rabbi spoke about, that stocked up breakfast, lunch, dinner 24-7, five course dinners, anything and everything from snacks to full meals for Shabbos, for Yom Tov, and all week, all week of the year. So this is an organization and the recipients and beneficiaries are anyone and everyone, all stripes across the board. We never ask where you're from, how religious you are. People come to New York for medical treatment, among other things, and we try to bend over backwards, to say the least, to ease their pain in so many different ways Food, comfort, support, anything and everything.

16:37
I was in Baltimore the other day and the guy said, nebuchadnezzar, a family had a child for a longer term in the hospitals we do have to look over there A longer child and the mother unfortunately didn't look her best. So one day, when the Sadd Pekhoylem came every day with food and everything, they also had a wig, a sheitel in the hands and give it to the mother of the child saying you have to look good too. So it's not only food, it's all around, anything and everything. And the one thing the rabbi didn't speak about but I will is the annual budget, what this all involves. This is not a thousand meals a day, a day, not a week or a month. It's not pocket change. We're talking about three and a half million dollars, the annual budget, and it's all from donations. This is not sponsored by any government program. The deficits are out of hand. We have no choice, I'm embarrassed to say.

17:35
Before I came to Houston, my superior took me into her office. She showed me the computer Balance in the bank of a $3.5 million operation. I'm embarrassed to say, but I'll say it anyway less than $600 because the requests are so overwhelming. We do not operate under a school like the capacity enrollment closed once the capacity full. We never say no. We take out loans to cover the costs and Schmiel Schwartz, that's my name being sent around the country to make up for it. So I included the city of Houston in the Elul campaign, which is quality time of the year. We are preparing Tzidoka and you know I was in Detroit, I am in Detroit, city of Detroit, and they bring down Rabbi Pesach Kron.

18:24
You heard of Rabbi Pesach Kron. Yeah, he comes there every, not every year, but once in a few years. And one night before Yom Kippur I was the one going around to knock on doors. Instead I was told no, no, no, everyone is going to be in the kolel for Rabbi Pesach Kron's chizuk before Yom Kippur. So what will I do in such a night? I go join them. I could use chizuk myself. So I went there. He did not know that I'm in the audience. No, he did not know. I have a sign that it says it's right there. Satper Bikicholam enough said A big sign. That's what I go around and Rabbi Pesach Kron talks about. This is my thank you so much, rabbi Wolbe. This is my sign that I'm holding up high in people could see that.

19:19
Holding up high in the shoes when I go around. So I was in that big kolel. Ladies on the gallery men downstairs and he talks about tshiv et filet tzedakah. This is the topic of the day before Yom Kippur. Guess who you think he talked about tzedakah in our day and age, none other than the world-class Satmar Bikicholam. People said, wow, this was arranged. It was arranged by the one above, by God. It was arranged, not by me.

19:49
So when people came out of that gathering, I held that sign up high enough for everyone to see. I said, ladies and gentlemen, you just heard what Satpah B'Kecholam is all about. Here I am giving you the opportunity. Hashem connected the dots. So here I am in this time, the month of Elul, it's Rosh Chodesh. We have four weeks to go to the Rosh Hashanah, yom Kippur, giving you opportunity to take part in such a phenomenal schutz Huh Online. Okay, okay, a ZEL if you want to take down the edges. Okay, a Zelle. If you want to take down the edges. The Zelle is bikurholam. At verizonnet, bikur is spelled B-I-K-U-R-C-H-O-L-I-M, like as in mother Bikurholam at Verizon, v-e-r-i-z-o-n dot net N-E-T. This is the Zelle. Otherwise, I'm in town for the whole week, maybe for the Shabbos too, and I will be more than happy to swing by with my car outside to your house, to your business, wherever it's convenient for you and to your time, and pick up personally your donation and include you in this very special schuss before Rosh Hashanah. Thank you so much. All the best.

21:17 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
All right, that was a special treat. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for the privilege. All right, we're all in this together, my dear friends. We're all in this together.

21:27
So let me share with you now the continuation of what we spoke about before, and that is that the mitzvah is not only to emulate God. It's not only to emulate God in the action, it's also to emulate God in the way you do the mitzvah. Okay, because sometimes, sometimes, I want to do the mitzvah my way. No, no, no, no. How does Hashem do the mitzvah With a full heart, with all thought of exactly the right way it needs to be? If you look throughout the words of our sages in the Talmud, if you look throughout the books of the prophets and the writings, it is amazing, amazing to see how God is so gentle and delicate and thoughtful with His creations, that the way in which it's done is in the most beautiful way. The acts of kindness, the thought that goes behind it is not random. What are we saying here? What are we saying here? We're saying here that follow the ways of Hashem in His actions. Fear God, meaning, don't do it for your own honor. It should be out of fear of God. I'm doing this for you, hashem, not for me and you shall observe His commandments and we listen to the voice of Hashem. We serve Hashem, not for our own good. And how do we do it? Cling to Hashem? Do it exactly the way God does it, the way God visited Abraham. Imagine this God is sitting there with Abraham and Abraham in the middle gets distracted.

23:29
Now, mind you, who's God? God is not some. You know my next door neighbor. God is the creator of heaven and earth. The Torah tells us that God himself visited Abraham, so to speak. You know, god is not in a physical form. Abraham says God, excuse me, I have some passersby. I need to, just, you know, serve them something to eat. And God waits. Why does God wait? Because is it for me or is it for you? If it's for me, you don't respect my time. I took time out of my day. Why don't you respect my time? God didn't do it for himself. God did it for Abraham. And we see, an amazing lesson our sages teach us from that incident Is that that's what God exactly wanted. Because God waited for Abraham. He showed him.

24:23
This is exactly the way I want you to conduct your life, and that is take care of your fellow man first, then I'll be waiting here for you. Ben Adam l'chavero, serve your fellow man properly, do acts of kindness for your fellow man properly. And then, ben adam l'makom, do acts of kindness for your fellow man properly and then then serve God properly. God is waiting for us. When we interact with one another properly, god says I'm waiting because this is what I love to see it's like.

25:01
Imagine parents. I know for myself, definitely, when I see my children are taking care of each other. That's the most joyful thing in the world. The greatest pride, the greatest joy is when our children do what we want them to do. What does the Almighty want us to do? Take care of one another, take care of your fellow man. I'll wait, ben adam, serving your fellow man, and then serve the almighty. The almighty waits for us. The almighty says I'm watching the show. This is beautiful, this is what it's all about. This is beautiful, this is what it's all about.

25:46
What we learn from this verse is nothing extra here. It's not only saying do as I say, do as I do. The Almighty does it with all of the affection, with all of the love, with all of the honor, with all of the dignity, to ensure that every single one of his creations is elevated, is uplifted, and this again, we saw this with Abraham, we saw this with Isaac, we saw this with Jacob, we see this throughout the Torah, we see this with Moses. It's above and beyond what we think is standard, all right. So, my dear friends, I hope that we've all been inspired a little bit. Thank you, rabbi Schwartz, for coming here and for giving us the opportunity to be part of this. Everything that we do should not only be the actions that God wants, but the way in which God wants, the way it's done, with sensitivity, with thought. All right, so we're going to conclude this. Thank you very much for joining us. We are deeply grateful you're with us tonight.

27:04 - Intro (Announcement)
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