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.

00:08 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
This is the parsha review podcast all right, welcome back everybody to the parsha review podcast. This week's parsha is parsha's akev. Akev is the third portion in the book of deuteronomy and it is again like a chock full of gems, pearls of wisdom, of revelation, of the Almighty talking to us and giving us everything we need, all the tools we need to enter into the land of Israel and to properly function throughout our existence as Hashem's chosen people. The parasha begins and it will be because you listened to the ordinances, these ordinances, and observe them, and you will perform them. So it's not only that you will listen, but you will observe them. You will perform them. So it's not only that you will listen, but you will observe them. You will perform them, and Hashem will safeguard you the covenant that was promised and all of the kindness that Hashem promised to our forefathers. Hashem says this is the key.

01:24
What's Eikev? Rashi says Eikev means a heel, but it also means as a result of Okay. Eikev means a heel. Rashi says Eikev. Every mitzvah, no matter what you think the value, is meaning, even mitzvahs that you trample on, even mitzvahs that you don't think are valuable. Be very, very cautious, even about those mitzvahs. Again, the Torah doesn't use random words. The Torah uses specifically this word, eikev, to tell us even the mitzvahs that you step on, that are meaningless in your value system. Because we have no idea the value of Hashem's mitzvahs, we have no idea how precious God's mitzvahs are. The commandments and the praise of the land of israel continues the incredible, incredible, incredible blessings. So there's a big question that needs to be asked.

02:39
Abraham Isaac, jacob, the children of Jacob, moshe, aaron, are all promised something. You're going to enter into the land of Israel. The Jewish people are going to enter the land of Israel. You're going to inherit the land of Israel. You're going to inherit the land. There's a constant emphasis the children of Israel. You're going to get the land of Israel, the land of Israel, the land of Israel, from the river to the sea. They're going to get the land of Israel.

03:13
Why isn't there a mention of the Torah? Shouldn't Hashem be telling Abraham Isaac and Jacob I'm going to give you the Torah? Nope, not a single word about it. There's only a promise I'm going to give you the land of Israel. In all of the promises that are given to Abraham Isaac and Jacob, not one is the promise that we're going to get a Torah. Seems like it's an odd omission, and we know there's no random. There's no randomness in the Torah. Seems like it's an odd omission, and we know there's no randomness in the Torah. There is a reason why. But let's look a little further.

03:54
In this week's parasha, we go to chapter 8, verse number 10. Very, very famous verse, because we say it every time in our Birkat Hamazon, in our Grace After Meals. We say this verse Because we say it every time in our Birkat Hamazon, in our Grace After Meals. We say this verse Ve'achalta Ve'savata U'veirachta Et Hashem Elokecha ala aretz atovah eshonatan lach, and you shall eat and you will be satisfied, and you will bless Hashem, your God, for the land that is good that he gave to you, and you will be satisfied and you will bless Hashem, your God, for the land that is good that he gave to you. So let me ask you another question. Okay, so one second. So what is this referring to? You eat, you're satiated, you're satisfied, and then you thank Hashem, and this is why we have a biblical this is where it comes from the biblical commandment to thank Hashem after we eat food, not only before but after.

04:55
I once heard a rabbi told me he was going to teach a class in Manhattan and he was going waiting for the board to to become vacated from their meeting, the business meeting and it was like he has another 15 minutes. He's gonna open up his sandwich. He opens up his sandwich and he washes his hands on his before eating a sandwich, says the proper blessing after washing hands, and then he picks up his sandwich and he recites the blessing for his bread. So the lady at the front desk notices she's from India and you know. She says you know, you guys think you're very special, you Jewish people. I understand, but we also recite blessings before we eat. So he says very interesting. He says do you also recite a blessing after you eat? So she says no.

05:58
He says well, we do, and this is our biblical commandment Before you eat makes a lot of sense, right? Because imagine a child. A child says please, please, please, can I have the lollipop? Please, I want to have it, can I have it? Please, can I have it. And then you give it to them. What do they do? They turn around and run away. What do you? Run away, say thank you. People have a hard time saying thank you. The command is not, it's a rabbinic commandment to recite a blessing before we eat. It's a biblical commandment to recite a blessing after we eat, say thank you. I want to share with you something amazing. It's not part of my notes, not part of my preparation.

06:39
Someone once came to the Ger Rebbe, one of the great leaders of one of the great Hasidic dynasties, and he says, rebbe, I need a blessing. I need a blessing. He says I have several daughters who are looking for their match, for their partner, and you know, nothing's coming through the pipeline. You know I need a blessing. So the Rebbe says do you pray? He says, of course I pray. I pray every day, three times a day. He says do you pour out your heart to God? Yes, I do. He says do you ask God for healing in Rafa'enu? In the blessing of Rafa'enu? He says, of course I pour out my heart for all the sick people in the world. He says, how about for the blessing? Asking for livelihood? He says, oh, I ask God so much to give me livelihood and to give me success and to give me ideas of good investments and things. Of course he says, you know, at the end of the Amidah we say a special blessing of Modim, thank you. He says what's about Modim. He, yeah, I say it. Yeah, he says let me tell you something the rabbi says that's the most important part of the prayer is the saying, the thank you.

07:56
He says, and I'll give you proof for it in the beautiful halal prayer that we recite on Rosh Chodesh, on holidays and festivals, in the prayer of Hallel, we say Thank you, hashem, forever, is your kindness. We say that thank you six times. Honor Hashem, which is Hashem, please. We call to Hashem, hashem, hashem, please, save us. We say that four times. We say thank you six times. We ask four times. He says 60 percent of our prayer needs to be saying thank you. 40 percent is asking our personal requests. When you say proper thank you, the requests are much easier to fulfill.

08:51
When we eat a delicious meal, it's the saying, the thank you after we didn't even get to what we're talking about. So now, what are we saying thank you for? For the food that we ate, right? No, that's not what the verse says. It's the most incredible thing. The verse does not say that. Listen again to what the verse says and you will eat and you will be satisfied, and you will bless Hashem, your God, for the land that is good that he gave to you. What's going on here? Shouldn't I be thanking for the meal I just had? Why am I giving thank you for the land? And okay, so, maybe it's the bread that I got from the land of Israel. But what's if I eat bread from Texas? I eat bread from Houston, oh, hill Country, wherever or from New Mexico we have some New Mexicans right. So what's the story with that bread? Do I say thank you for that? Maybe it's just from the land of Israel, says the Zohar, something so magnificent. All of the blessing that comes to the entire world comes from the land of Israel. All of the blessing of the entire world comes from the land of Israel. And not only that, by the way. All the blessings to all the nations of the world comes from the land of Israel, not only the food of the world, the nations of the world. It was just recently.

10:49
I saw an article where someone said why don't we just cut out Israel and stop funding Israel and stop giving anything to Israel? And one of the senators replied. He says if we let go of Israel, we're letting go of ourselves. If we forsake Israel, we're letting go of ourselves. If we forsake Israel, we forsake ourselves. It's a promise in the Torah. By the way, those who bless you will be blessed. Those who curse you will be cursed. Those who will help Israel will be helped. Those who protect Israel will be protected. Why? Because the source of all comes from the land of Israel. You know, it says at the end of the Shema. It says our sages tell us you should put the words, all of these teachings, on your heart. You should all of these our sages tell us that the primary place on your heart, you should all of these Our sages tell us that the primary place where the Torah should be observed is in the land of Israel. That's where it should be.

12:00
But we have to understand that Eretz Yisrael, the land of Israel, is the palace. The land of Israel is the palace. The Torah is the proper conduct that you act inside that palace. We all know there's a proper etiquette. There's a way in which you act. When you're in the White House, when you're in the Kremlin, when you're in Alaska now, or wherever one would be, you're in 10 Downing Street. There's a proper decorum. There's a proper way in which you act.

12:41
What is the palace of Hashem? The palace of Hashem is the land of Israel. What's the proper decorum, what's the proper way that we act in that palace? That is the Torah. The Torah tells us exactly how to conduct ourselves in that palace, which is why now we answer the first question why did Hashem only promise Abraham, isaac and Jacob the land of Israel? He didn't promise them the Torah? Because it's obvious that there will be a manual of how to conduct ourselves inside that palace. The first promise is you're going to be in that palace. The second part of it is how we conduct ourselves in that palace. How we conduct ourselves. What are how we conduct ourselves, what are the protocols, what are the rules of conduct? Yes, there's a mitzvah to observe the torah everywhere in the world, not only in the land of israel. But our soul stems from israel. It's an amazing thing.

13:45
I've taken many groups to Israel and the most magnificent part of the trip we have to do another one we have to do a trip to Israel. One of the most magnificent parts of the trip to Israel is the ride in the bus leading into Jerusalem. It's the most magnificent thing. So we land in Ben-Gurion Airport and we travel a little up north and we go here and we go there and we go to the Golan Heights and we overlook Syria and we see Lebanon and we see this and we see that. And we go to the Kinera, to the Sea of Galilee, and we go to the Dead Sea and we do all these things. And we say to the Dead Sea, and we go, we do all these things and we say, okay, now it's time to go to Jerusalem. And we go to Jerusalem and everyone's having a great time, everyone's having just a fabulous time.

14:38
As we start getting to the hills of Jerusalem, everyone starts getting emotional. Not a dry eye on the bus. What's going? What's going on over here? Why is everyone getting all emotional? Why is everyone getting emotional? And then we go to the western wall and it's not a dry eye. What in the world is going on? It's like, yeah, you ever see someone go to the wall of china and so like, oh, it's so emotional and they start crying. Oh, it's a nice place, great, very incredible. You can call it maybe one of the wonders of the world, really magnificent. It's incredible, emotional? I don't think so, but you don't see a dry eye at the western wall. What in the world is going on here? I remember, I remember going, just like the hills leading up to jer. Everyone's already all emotional. I'm like what's happening? I'll tell you what's happening.

15:34
We're getting closer to our source of our soul. The sages tell us all the souls descend to the world through Jerusalem, and then they get to wherever they need to be. When we're coming to Jerusalem, we're coming towards the perfection of that soul. We're getting closer to our source. We have to understand that's our palace, that's our home. Our rights to the land of Israel, though, are through the rule book that God says this is the way you dignify yourself in my land, this is the way you carry yourself in my land, in my palace. By the way, it's a very interesting thing when we pray wherever we are in the world. If we're in the world, if we're in the West, we pray towards Jerusalem, towards East, and if you're in the East, far East you pray westward, towards Jerusalem. If you're in the South, you're in South Africa, you pray north, towards Jerusalem. Why? Our sages say that's the gateway to heaven, that's where our souls descend to this world, but that's where our prayers ascend to the heavens. It says that the we know that when the Jewish people entered the land of Israel, what was the first article. To enter into the land of Israel when the Jewish people were conquering Israel. The Aron the Ark, the Holy Ark. To enter into the land of Israel when the Jewish people were conquering Israel the Aron the Ark, the Holy Ark. What was the last thing the Jewish people did before they entered the land of Israel? You know, moshe was around for quite a while. What was the last thing he did before he died? He finalized the Torah. Why? Because that was right before the Jewish people entering the land of Israel.

17:28
Now you need to have the rule book. Now you need to have. You're entering into the land of Israel. You need to have that manual for living. You're about to get in there. Why didn't you do it 40 years earlier? Because you need the rule book when you're getting into the palace. When you're sitting in the desert, you don't need it as much. Yes, you need to observe the mitzvahs, but it's not critical to have that conduct unless you're in the palace.

17:58
The words of Birkat Hamazon, the grace after meal. You know our sages tell us the chinuch, the sefer hachinuch, says that one. Anybody here looking for a good livelihood, for success, wealth. Okay, I'm not a wealth management advisor, but I can tell you something the Chinuch is. The Chinuch says that anybody who has concentration in the grace after meals, in the Birkat Hamazon, in the prayers that we recite, the four blessings that we recite after we eat bread, if you concentrate, it's guaranteed success in your livelihood. It's the recipe for success. The Chafetz Chaim says people go and they try to make a deal and oh, make a few bucks here, make a few bucks there. He says if you just focus on your prayer of the grace after the meal, it's the recipe for success, it's the most magnificent gift.

18:57
By the way, the first of the four blessings in the Birkat Hamazon, in the grace after meals, was composed by Moshe when the Jewish people received the manna. The second was composed byhe when the Jewish people received the manna. The second was composed by Joshua when the Jewish people entered the land of Israel. The third was composed by King David and added on by his son, king Solomon David when they conquered Jerusalem, and King Solomon when they completed the temple. And the fourth blessing of HaTovah HaMeitiv was composed by the court of Rabbi Gamaliel. Why? Because there was the preservation of the bodies after the massacre of Beit Har, that now those bodies were still preserved so they can be buried properly. Keshem she mevorchim aval tov that now those bodies were still preserved so they can be buried properly.

19:54
Just like you praise God for the good, for the blessing, we praise God for the not so good, for the unfortunate. We praise Hashem for that too. So there's a blessing, the fourth blessing, god who does everything good. And then we have ten Harachamons, ten things which we say Hashem, please, Hashem, please, you're compassionate, give us this, give us that. I'll read you just one or two of them.

20:23
Okay, harachamon, compassionate one, please sustain us in honor. Okay, harachman, compassionate one, please sustain us in honor. We should be a dignified livelihood. Compassionate one, break the yoke of oppression from our necks and guide us upward, erect, to the land of Israel. Compassionate one, send us abundant blessing to this house and upon this table upon which we have eaten. Compassionate one, send us Elijah the prophet. And Elijah the prophet who will proclaim good tidings, salvation and consolations? The Jewish people right now. That's something we need in this generation. Elijah the prophet who will proclaim good tidings, salvation and consolations, the Jewish people right now. That's something we need in this generation. We could use some good tidings, we could use some consolation we can use.

21:18
Look at the world, look at the chaos that we're facing in our society, on college campuses, wherever you go, it's not safe anymore to be Jewish. Everybody knows that. In our society, on college campuses, wherever you go, it's not safe anymore to be Jewish. Everybody knows that. That doesn't mean we hide it. That means we embrace it and that means we say to Hashem, because Hashem doesn't do anything for no reason. We say Hashem, we're showing our commitment, we're showing our dedication. We're showing our dedication, we're showing that we're not going to be pushed aside, we're not going to hide.

21:54
I'll tell you a very interesting thing the four blessings of the grace after meals. The first one is biblical, it's from Moshe. The second is from Joshua, the third from King David and added on by King Solomon, which he adds about the house of glory, which is the temple, thanking Hashem for that. And then we have the fourth one, which is HaTovah Metiv. But then you have all these harachmans, all these requests, all of these requests. So by my son's pidyon haben, who was a rabbi, the Kohen who was there, his name was Rav Moshe Kopschitz and of blessed memory and he spoke and he actually mentioned this, this idea. It should be an elevation for his soul, rav Moshe Kopschitz, the special Kohen that lived right down the block from where we lived and we asked him to be. He was also a very big, big Torah scholar. So he said you know many people.

22:50
The Halacha says that the real part of the grace after meal is the four blessings, now the ten requests that we have after. That's optional, so some people stop there. Okay, it's a long blessing, as is it's a long grace after meals. But he says I don't understand. People run around to rabbis all the time asking for blessings, asking for blessings. They ask here and they ask there and they go pray by the wailing wall and they pray by by by, by rachel the matriarch and by the tomb of the patriarchs. And he's like people are asking for blessings all the time. He says we have the blessings right here in our prayer and you're omitting it, you're skipping it because you're in a rush someplace. It's a free gift. It's a free gift where Hashem hopefully will fulfill those prayers.

23:46
But if we can just take a minute to recognize the blessings that we have and thank Hashem, you ate well, you're satiated. Now the job is to realize how blessed you are. Praise Hashem, but look at it. Perhaps you see how Hashem blessed me. Hashem, I'm thankful. I recognize all the goodness that you've bestowed upon me. I want to say thank you in return. I'm so blessed.

24:25
We have unbelievable potential. We have unbelievable abilities to form our closeness, our relationship with God in such a solid way To really elevate ourselves, to really become so much closer, to take it to the next level, that it not just be Ekev, my heel, I just step on it, I pray, I don't even think about it, I just it's. I want to do my next thing already and I have this prayer in my way. Let me get it out of the way. Versus. It should be the highlight of our meal. I get a chance to thank Hashem. I get a chance to thank Hashem for this delicious food that doesn't only taste good in my taste buds, but it nourishes my body, it gives me the ability for my soul to function.

25:27
Hashem takes care of the entire universe, gives us everything that we need. And what's our job? Thank you, that's it. Thank you, what's our job? Thank you, that's it. Thank you, that's our job. Say thank you, hashem should bless us all. We should all merit to have the blessings of the benching, enrich our lives, the blessings of our benching, the grace after meals, where it says that God will give us livelihood with revach, with plenty, and we shouldn't need favors from other people. We shouldn't need loans, we shouldn't need to come on to other people. We shouldn't need loans, we shouldn't need to come on to other people, because everything comes from your hand, it's open.

26:25
Hashem says here, I'm giving it to you. He gives it through messengers something called an employer. He gives it through messengers something called our clients. He gives it through messengers something called an employer. He gives it through messengers something called our clients. He gives it through messengers, otherwise known as donations. Hashem gives us in a way that is not only Hashem Bechein b'chesed u'varachamim.

26:49
I look forward, by the way, we're going to get to it in our prayer series, in our prayer podcast. Hopefully, one day we'll get to the benching. I look forward to going through every word of the benching together so we can learn and understand and appreciate. Each word is a gem. But what are we doing?

27:08
We're saying thank you, hashem, thank you for the food, thank you for the sustenance, thank you for the delicious food, the delicacies, thank you for the food, thank you for the sustenance, thank you for the delicious food, the delicacies. Thank you for taste buds. Imagine if everything just tasted like paper, right? If everything just looked white, if everything was just. You know, a box, a square.

27:30
You go to the store, you get your square and goodbye, you got your manna. You go to the store, you get your square and goodbye, you got your mana. Instead, you go to the supermarket and you have the most magnificent coloring book. You just look at a fruit and look how beautiful An apple, the royalty of an apple Much smarter, by the way, than an Apple computer or an Apple phone Just that little apple, that little seed, is much more brilliant than anything you will ever find in an Apple device. It's amazing. The brilliance, the beauty. That's what we say thank you for.

28:11
My dear friends, let's not miss an opportunity to say thank you to Hashem. We eat food, stop, open up the prayer book and thank Hashem. Thank Hashem the grace after meals, and when we do so, we're acknowledging, we're recognizing the gifts that Hashem bestows upon us, recognizing the gifts that Hashem bestows upon us. Hashem should bless us to have a magnificent Shabbos, a Shabbos that's filled with Shefa, filled with goodness, filled with an abundance of unbelievable blessing in our lives every single day. Amen, have a great Shabbos.

28:53 - Intro (Announcement)
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