Parsha Review Podcast · Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe

00:01 - Intro (Announcement)
You are listening to Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe of TORCH in Houston, Texas. This is the Parsha Review Podcast.

00:10 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Good morning everybody. Good morning and welcome back to the Parsha Review Podcast. It is so awesome to be here with everyone this morning and to share a little insight. Hopefully that will inspire us and enlighten our day, enlighten our week, our Shabbos, and hopefully we'll be able to grow from this.

00:32
This week's Parsha talks about the final assembly of the Tabernacle. Now there's something very unique that we see in chapter 39, verse number 33, and that is Mishkon el Moshe, es Ha'ol ve es Kolkhelev, koroshov, berechov, vamudov and Adonov. And they brought the Tabernacle to Moses, the tent and all its utensils, its hooks, its beams, its bars, its pillars and its sockets. So right now it's at a point where they made all of these different parts of the Tabernacle, but now they don't have the ability to assemble it. So they bring it to Moses and say, moshe, we have all the parts but we can't put it together. It's like, imagine you open up that Ikea box, you know like, okay, I got all the parts here, but I don't know how to put this thing together. I know that I'm supposed to have the screws and I'm supposed to have the bolts and the nuts and the this and that. Oh, I have all the pieces, but I can't put it together. So Moshe goes to Hashem. Listen to what Rashi tells us here. Shalom hayu yuholim lehakimo, they could not lift up these pieces, these planks, these pillars that would make the border of the Tabernacle, they couldn't put the cloths on top of it, which was the beautiful tapestry that they had around it.

02:07
Lefi shalom osam Moshe shum melach abamishkan. Because Moshe didn't do any of the actual preparation of any of the tools, any of the utensils of the Tabernacle. So Hashem put aside for him that Moshe will put it together. Nobody else has the ability to put it together, but Moshe, moshe is going to actually assemble it. Now they put together the pieces. Remember, we had all those who were wise-hearted you remember wise-hearted People who were inside as they were outside, people who were complete in their service of Hashem. They made all those pieces, but now they can't assemble it. So Hashem left the assembly part of the Tabernacle for Moses. Shalom hayu yuholakimo shum odim mach mas koved. Hakaroshim she'en kach ba'odim lezakvan.

03:03
The beams were so heavy that nobody could lift them up. Nobody could lift them up. So let me ask you a question If nobody could lift them up, could Moshe lift them up? Well, let's find out. Omar Moshe, lefnakorosh b'ochum.

03:21
Moshe says to Hashem. He says God Almighty, eich e'eshe a'akamosaide adim, how can a man, a human being, put these beams up? They're too heavy. They didn't have cranes. How in the world am I supposed to do this? So listen to what Hashem says Asok atabi yodhah venire kimekimo vuhunes ka'fe kame'elof says you make believe that you're putting it up, but really I'm going to put it up and it's going to look like you're doing it.

03:56
It's going to look as if you are picking it up and you're placing it in its right place. And that's what the verse says. Further on, it says asher hukam hamishkon. What is asher hukam hamishkon? And you look at the verse further on, it says and it was on the first day this is verse number 17 in chapter 40, further down, it was on the first day of the second year, on the first of the month that erected was the tabernacle Doesn't say who did it.

04:32
You know why it doesn't say who did it Because Hashem did it. It looked like Moshe did it. It looked like Moshe did it. My dear friends, this is so incredibly beautiful.

04:48
How many times in our lives do we face a challenge and we think how am I going to figure this out? How am I going to find a solution? Me, it's all about me. I need to find a solution to this problem. What does Moshe do?

05:11
Moshe realizes something that most of humanity doesn't understand, and that is humility. Moshe understands I'm limited, I have limitations. I have qualities great qualities but I also have great limitations. Moshe understood that everything the qualities and the limitations are all gifts from Hashem. And who does Moshe turn to? He doesn't say oh, you guys are bringing it to me.

05:44
Imagine this, imagine the following Imagine you're the CEO of the company and everyone comes to you with their problem, saying oh, we got into a big problem, we don't know how to figure this out. So what does the CEO feel like? Oh, they're coming to me because I'm the pro. What does Moshe say? No, no, no, I'm not the pro. Hashem is the pro. I'm not going to take credit like, I know what I'm doing. I'm going to talk to Hashem and say Hashem, I have no idea what to do. I need your guidance, I need your assistance, I need your help. So Moshe seeks the assistance from above.

06:22
The biggest challenge we have in accomplishing anything in our lives is our own arrogance. It's all me. How can I ask for someone else's assistance? How can I? If I ask for someone else's help? It's a sign of weakness, isn't it? It's a sign of weakness If I don't know something. Oh, that's terrible. That means people might start thinking maybe they really don't know something. But the truth is that the greatest force, the greatest power in our lives is the power of humility. When someone recognizes their limitations, they recognize I am not the be all and end all. I'm not the everything. Hashem is. Hashem gives us the strength. Hashem gives us the livelihood.

07:18
By the way, if I were to honestly sit with someone very, very honest conversation and say, okay, you were very successful in your livelihood, you had a great business, tell me what are the secrets of your business? Most honest people will say there are no secrets. I had a guy tell me just last week. He's telling me my business has not been doing well. He said yesterday morning I woke up and I started praying to God. I need help. I got these credit card bills. I have my wife on my back. I have my children. I need to. I don't know what to do. I started praying to God, he said. Suddenly the phone started ringing. The phone started ringing. I said where'd these clients come from? He said they came. I have no idea. I had a thin ear. I had a thin ear.

08:15
Hashem wants us to realize the biggest challenge we have is that we feel too inflated. What you wear soon coming to the holiday of Pesach. What is the holiday of Pesach? The holiday of Pesach is really recognizing that all we need to be is matzah. What is matzah? Uninflated bread? That's what it is. Matzah is uninflated bread. What happens to bread? If you let it rise, it becomes inflated. It has a lot of ear inside it. What's the matzah? We don't give it the opportunity to inflate or say just tell us, you know what that inflation is.

09:02
That's the Yetzahara. The Yetzahara waits for us and says oh, why don't you take some credit? Why don't you show the world how great you are? Why don't you make belief like it's all? You Inflate it. Make it into bread. Really, what is it? It's just a little matzah. That's what we really are. To reminder all eight days of Pesach is a reminder Don't inflate yourself more than what you are. That's the Yetzahara is doing.

09:36
The Yetzahara wants us to feel like we are, oh, I'm capable of doing anything and everything. It's important for a person to have self-worth and to have a good self-esteem, but with it, or maybe even greater than it, is recognizing that everything is from Hashem. And if we realize that everything is from Hashem, hashem says go to your office and make belief like you know what you're doing, I'm doing everything for you, I'm sending you those clients, I'm making the phones ring off the hook. If everybody else thinks that, oh, brilliant marketing, oh, we have to go in for advice and how to run our company, because, brilliant, look, look, the phone is ringing off the hook, that's what Hashem tells Moshe. He says go make belief like you're putting up these big pillars and everyone's going to be like, wow, but really it's all Hashem. My dear friends, this is such a critically important lesson for each and every one of us to recognize that Hashem wants our relationship.

10:55
We talked about this in our prayer podcast. What can we provide to Hashem? There's nothing that Hashem needs from us. Hashem doesn't need a chocolate bar. Hashem doesn't need money. Hashem doesn't need compliments. Hashem wants our heart. There's nothing more powerful in the world. There's nothing more whole in the world than a broken heart. There's nothing more whole. Why? Because a broken heart says Hashem, I recognize who you are and I recognize my limitations. That doesn't mean we have to be sad. That doesn't mean we have to be depressed. It means we recognize Hashem. You are complete Hashem. You're able to do anything and everything. When we get stressed out, when we have anxiety and this is we're talking about a generation that is bereft with anxiety. Everybody's dealing with anxiety. You know why? I'll tell you why Because of these devices.

12:14
These devices give us a full sense of control. These smart devices give us the ability to feel like we're controlling everything, like here, like you mentioned, someone rings the doorbell. I see it on my watch, I see it on my phone right away. I'm in control. I can talk to them, I can control the lights here, I can control the lights in my house, I can talk to people and we feel like we have the power. We have the power, I have the power. It's me. Suddenly, we realize that we don't have the power everywhere. And these little devices, although they have great, great, great capabilities, they're giving us a full sense of control. We don't control this world. We don't have the ability to accomplish all of that, we can set out great goals.

13:19
Hashem is the only one that has the ability to succeed our way. The moment we realize that, the moment we are recognizing our limitations and we say Hashem is all in your hands, it's all in your hands. That's what true service of Hashem is, because that's when you're ready to say Hashem, I'm all. In this relationship it's just me and you. I have full reliance on you. I have full trust in you. I realize how limited I am. I don't know what I was thinking to convince myself, as if I can do anything. I can't. I know I can't. It's all in your hands.

14:04
This is the biggest challenge of our generation. You see, this Torah was written 3,300 years ago. We got it at Mount Sinai, but it relates to us today like it did that day back then, because the reality in our relationship and, by the way, marriage, marriage, the challenge of marriage, the beauty of marriage Everyone goes into marriage with starry-eyed, bushy-tailed, excited. This is going to be the greatest relationship ever, only to realize that traits they never knew existed suddenly show up. I never knew, I never got angry in my life. Now I'm married and suddenly I feel a sense of anger.

14:59
Nobody ever told me I was arrogant until I got married. I told you this before. We went to my grandfather and we talked to him about different traits we were working on as students. We would get guidance. When we got to the trait of arrogance, my grandfather laughed and he's like arrogance, you single guys, you don't need to work on arrogance. He says, when you get married, your wife will take care of it right away.

15:24
Marriage is a workshop in character development. Marriage is a workshop and the more a person realizes that every single thing that comes up in our lives one person, it's being a doctor. One person, it's being a lawyer. One person, it's being an electrician. One person, it's being a writer. One person, it's being a composer. One person, it's being a contractor Every person is given their own path in life and with that path, their own set of perfectly tailored challenges that a Shem custom makes for them.

16:05
You know why Shem gave you that interest? Because there's a certain trait you need to work on that you wouldn't get to if you were in a different profession. Shem gave you this desire to be in this profession so that you have to work on your time management, you have to work on your humility. You have to work on your kindness, on your compassion. People think like oh, if only I went into the stock market and I was a trader, then my life would be so much easier. If I only married that person, then my life would have been so much easier. No, no, no, no, no. You are exactly where you need to be to bring out the best person within yourself. You are exactly where God puts you so that you can maximize yourself, maximize your character, maximize your opportunities. And for someone to think, oh, if I could have done that, then if I could have gone there and if I could have married that person and if I could have taken that course and taken that career, then all my problems would have been solved. Hashem would have accustomed to a new set of problems. To bring out your greatness. We have to let go of this mindset. In our world.

17:34
There is something called in Hebrew it's a better name it's called chadpami. It's one time use. We call it disposable. We call it disposable. You know, you use these plates, the disposable plates. You throw them out. Use them one time. Goodbye, chadpami, one time. The problem is we're getting accustomed to as soon as things get dirty, just throw it out. You have a problem, you know. Don't wash it. Don't wash it, reuse it, throw it out. You got a problem. Throw it out, marry someone else. Another problem Throw it out, marry someone else. It's chadpami. It's one use, one use.

18:16
That's not what life is. That's not what life is. Life is about facing the challenges and working through them. That's what Hashem wants us to do. And how am I going to have the strength to overcome it, hashem? How am I going to have the strength to overcome my anger? How am I going to have the strength to overcome my jealousy? How am I going to have strength to overcome all of my negative traits? Hashem, I have no idea what to do. Talk to God. God wants you. God wants to assist you in accomplishing, in succeeding. God wants you to do it. He's going to help you, give you the tools. Please knock open the door. This is our mission in life.

19:13
For us to feel like we're in control is antithetical to everything godly. We need to recognize that Hashem gives us opportunity and we need to utilize it, because Hashem is sending it our way. Hashem loves us and he cares about us. This can't be understated. We love to put our own success as if it's my smarts. That's why people ask me for advice, because I'm just a very smart, wise guy. I was like, look what I've done for my business, look how good I am. But in their hearts of hearts, everybody knows that we did nothing for that success. We were at the right place at the right time and Hashem sent us that success. So to our listeners. I just want to take a minute to do a brief promo while we're in middle of this podcast, in middle of this presentation.

20:16
Torch does not consider itself a fundraising organization. We consider ourselves a teaching Torah organization. But what can you do? We need to pay our rabbis. We need to keep the lights on. We need to continue to produce. By the way, we made over a million people watch and listen to our classes last year. Over a million people imagine I'm not talking about people coming into classes physically, live that they listen while they're driving, while they're walking on the bayou, right, bobby, wherever people go.

20:56
A guy told me he says it's funny listening to your voice in live because I listen to you all the time in my ears. This is to see you and to talk to you. He's getting into a trance of like. Imagine that, that we have the opportunity to teach Torah together, as partners. So it's one time a year that we ask for people's assistance. You can go to givetorchnet, givetorchnet. People can contribute online, givetorchnet, and hopefully, together, this is a partnership. I'm not kidding you. This is nothing short of a partnership. Now here's the funny thing is that I'm not asking any specific individual to give us anything. You know why? Because Hashem is going to succeed our way anyway. Well, what did we just say today? Hashem is going to succeed our way. How? That's not my business, that's not my worry, it's not my worry. Hashem is going to succeed our way. It's only whoever wants has the opportunity to be part of it. I hope to be the first organization since Moses at the Tabernacle that says enough, enough donations, enough, we have enough. Stop the donations. So, my dear friends, my dear friends, let's go forward.

22:15
From this parasha, it's also chazak. Chazak is the end of the book of Exodus. That's it. Next week we're ready in the book of Leviticus. It's unbelievable how time flies. Not only that in less than two weeks we're going to be celebrating Purim, and that means in six weeks we're going to be sitting at our Pesach Seder's and enjoying Matzah. Let's take this lesson.

22:44
I want to share with you one other thing we know we talked about last week, last Shabbos. We read parashash Shkolim. Shkolim is about the shekels, the half shekels that were collected. They were collected from the beginning of Adar, through the month of Adar till Nisan. They collect. Everyone would give a half a shekel. Let me ask you a question. Let me ask you a question why a half shekel? Why not a whole shekel? It's not like it was a lot of money. No, it has to be a half shekel, a half shekel, not a whole shekel.

23:19
They just tell us a great, great secret because you're nothing if you're alone. You're nothing if you're alone. Your half shekel and another person's half shekel, that makes you whole Meaning. We need to connect with others, we need to connect with the Almighty Us alone, we're incapable. This is the secret of life. You always need to connect. It's an amazing thing.

23:54
You know, we say lachayim, Lachayim. Whenever you have a shot of alcohol, a shot of something, a happy time, a simcha, a celebration, a wedding, an engagement, you raise a glass, you say lachayim. Why do we say lachayim? Why do we say lachayim Of all things? Why do we say lachayim? It means to life. But if you look at how it's spelled it doesn't make sense.

24:21
There are two yuds. There are two yuds. There should be one yud, our sages tell us, because one yud means one Jew, a yid. One yid can't drink alone. You need two yids to drink. You have to drink with someone else.

24:40
Bring joy to another person. Don't keep it all by yourself. It takes two yuds, because what happens when you have two yuds? That's the name of Hashem. Hashem says the name of Hashem is two yuds. Hashem says two Jews are happy together. They have love, they have joy, they have friendship. You know what Hashem says count me in it, I want to be part of it. Hashem's name is also the two yuds. Hashem says you have two yuds, two yiddin, two Jews coming together. I want to be part of it. Hashem should bless us all to have an amazing, amazing month of Adar. The happiest month of the year should be filled with celebration, filled with joy. We should have an amazing Shabbos, and let's always remember that everything is from Hashem. And the more we rely and depend on Hashem, the more we will see his outstretched arm every single day of our lives. Have an amazing Shabbos.