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.

00:12 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
All right, welcome back everybody. Welcome back to the Parsha Review Podcast. It's so wonderful to be here together. This week's Parsha is Parsha's Matos and Parsha's Mas'e. This week's Torah portion is two Torah portions combined, which will conclude the book of Numbers. As soon as we're done, at the end of this week's Torah reading, shabbos morning, respectively in our own synagogues, each one around the world, we will have completed the fourth book of the Torah, the book of Numbers, and next week, god willing, we begin the book of Deuteronomy. So it's important for us to understand just a little bit of what's going on in this week's Parsha and before we do that, I just want to just give a disclaimer not a disclaimer, but just an understanding that we're finishing now really the fourth book of the Torah, but the book that deals with the most crisis the Jewish people have dealt with in our history, because we had so many issues that befell the Jewish people. We had the spies, we had the complainers, we had the death of Miriam, the death of Aaron. We had Moshe hitting the rock instead of speaking to the rock. We had Korach. We had the Baal Peor serving the idols. We had the relationships with the Midianite women. It was a mess. It was a mess and really these two portions end the book of Numbers, but really, according to many of the commentaries, the next book of the Torah, which is Deuteronomy, is a review of the entire Torah. What does it mean, a review? It means everything that the Jewish people learned in the last 40 years, from Exodus, from all the way till they're about to enter into the land of Israel, is going to be reviewed. They learned a lot. We're going to have a lot of new commandments that are going to be introduced as well, but by and large, what we're going to see in the book of Deuteronomy is going to be a review of all the commandments that were spoken about previously. Also, the book of Deuteronomy is going to be the last 36 days of Moshe's life. So, moses, this is the last 36 days. That's it. The whole book of Deuteronomy is 36 days, which is really phenomenal because we see that from the beginning of Moshe's life, which is the first portion in the book of Exodus, throughout the entire book of Exodus, the book of Leviticus, the book of Numbers and the book of Deuteronomy is a total of 120 years, while the book of Genesis forget the book. The first portion of the book of Genesis is almost 2,000 years, it's 1,100 years and then the next portion, the portion of Noah, is another 1,000 years and then it's from Abraham till the end of Jacob's life, which is the grandfather of Jacob, Abraham, isaac and Jacob, and that's it. That's the next ten portions. So we have to understand that the book of the Torah is not a book of stories. The book of the Torah is not just a book of laws, it's a book of life. It's called a book of life, torah's Chaim, so it's a book which tells us how to live life. So we have to look at every Torah portion with the lens, with the understanding. This is God instructing us how to live life, how to maximize life.

04:01
Just this afternoon I met with a friend who's been struggling somewhat with his own path, understanding what his life is, what his mission is, and he said to me what's the difference between religion and spirituality? You see there are many. I'm allergic to the word religion when it comes to Judaism, because Judaism is not a religion. Judaism is a relationship. Judaism is all about our relationship with God. Now, what is spirituality? And the world is very into spirituality today. You see, people are doing mindfulness, people who are dealing with all these other religions as well, but dealing with spirituality.

04:41
How do we define spirituality? It was a great opportunity for me to crystallize my thoughts on what does spirituality mean? You see, we live a very physical life. We know that. We eat, we drink, we sleep, we deal with a lot of physical things in our lives, but there's something which is beyond the physical life, which is the spirit, the spiritual aspect of life, and that is our connection with God, our connection with God. We can be very physical and have it linked very closely with our relationship with God. For example, we put a mezuzah on our door to remind us that every time we walk through the doorway God is with us. It means we're bringing a spiritual consciousness into our existence.

05:34
Spirituality is taking what's beyond the physical and bringing it into the physical. So putting on tefillin should never be an act. Lighting shabbos candles should never be an act of just something physical that I'm doing. There should be a spiritual, something which is beyond the physical act that I'm connecting with. So prayer is a very spiritual thing because I'm saying words, but those words can become habitual, they could become regular, they could become just ordinary words that I just repeat again and again, and again, and again and again, where they have no more meaning. That's why we have to stop and we have to connect with that, with those words, with that act, with that physical act of speaking to God, and make it something which has meaning. Okay, so it's very important for us to recognize that spirituality. What it really means is infusing our actions with meaning. Infusing our actions with meaning. The greatest way to do that is through the guidance of the Almighty, which leads us into our idea.

06:47
On this week's Torah portion. Matos and Masai is dealing with the final travels of the Jewish people right before they're about to enter into the land of Israel. And if you know the journey of how the Jewish people traveled, they basically traveled Egypt. They were in the Sinai Peninsula, going around and around. Then they get to southern Israel, which isn't really biblically part of the land of Israel, and then they go to the land of Jordan, avar Yarden, to what we call Transjordan, right opposite the land of Israel, and that's where they are now going to prepare to enter into the land of Israel, through the Jordan side. By the way, there was also a splitting of the Jordan River when the Jewish people entered theirs into the land of Israel. But that's for a different episode, that's for a different discussion, for a different class.

07:38
We also see in this week's Torah portion that the tribe of Reuven and the tribe of God decided that they did not want to enter into the land of Israel with the Jewish people and get their inheritance in the land. They asked Moshe for permission, and half of the tribe of Menashe. They wanted to get their portion of the land on the Jordan side. And what happens there? On the Jordan side? They're going to get their portion. Moshe makes a condition and signs a legal, binding contract with them stating that they can settle their families there, their children, their cattle, but they have to go into the land of Israel. The men need to go into the land of Israel with the Jewish people, they have to conquer the land and they have to fight the battle with the rest of the Jewish people. And then, when they're all settled in the land of Israel, then the tribe of Gad and the tribe of Reuven and half the tribe of Menashe can then go to their homes on the Transjordan side. Okay, that's the end of this week's further on in this week's Torah portion.

08:47
But the beginning of Parshas Matos begins with teaching us the laws of oaths. What's an oath? Let's just understand. The Jewish people are standing in the desert, they're traveling from place to place and they're getting constant instruction from the Almighty of how to conduct their lives. Here's something which is very, very intriguing. I think, to me at least, of the power of speech.

09:13
V'yidaber Moshe el Rosh Hamatos levnei Yisroel. Moshe spoke. V'yidaber Moshe el Rosh, hamatos levnei Yisroel leimor zeh adovar shezivar Hashem. Moshe spoke to the heads of the tribes, of the children of Israel, saying as follows this is the matter that Hashem has commanded. So Moshe, we know, was not allowed to add anything to the Torah. He was not allowed to add anything to the Torah. He was not allowed to remove anything from the Torah. The Torah, exactly as it was prescribed by the Almighty, is how it's written in the Torah. Here Moshe has commanded. These are the words that Hashem told me to tell you Ish ki yidor neder, a man, if he will make a vow, l'hashem to Hashem, o hish avash vu'alesor isor alnafshor. It's a very, very interesting thing. According to whatever comes out of his mouth, shall he do? It's a very, very interesting thing.

10:35
God is telling us in this week's Torah portion that we must keep our word. You say something, you say something, you've got to fulfill something, exactly what you say you need to fulfill. And this is the beginning of Parshas. Matos talks about the whole journey of words, where if someone says something, someone makes a commitment, and then it goes into different types of people a child, an adult, a husband, a wife, a daughter, a son, etc. Etc. The Torah goes on to explaining the responsibilities Lo yachel devoro.

11:17
A person is not allowed to desecrate their own word. Me, who am I? I'm a nobody. Who cares about what I say? Who cares what I say? My words don't carry that much weight. That's not true In the Almighty's world. In God's world, your word is everything. Your word is everything. And if your word is everything, god expects you to fulfill your word. I didn't make an oath, I didn't make a promise. Well, you said something. So it says lo yachel devaro, any word that you say. You say something, you got to fulfill it. You got to fulfill it. Ein lo it person is not allowed to desecrate his own words, but a person has to fulfill whatever he says, even if it's not in a term of I promise. I swear this is an oath. Person says something. They have to deliver.

12:23
There's a great story that's told about one of the great rabbis, rabbi Siegel, from Manchester, of blessed memory. He once came to the United States for a wedding and his host that was hosting him also was heading to the same wedding that he was going to. He came specially for this wedding to the United States I guess it was a family or a close student and it was very special, a great, beautiful wedding. And before the end of the wedding, well before the end of the wedding, rabbi Segal says to his host he says, if you don't mind, I need to go home now. I need to go home now. So the man's like he says but you stay, you stay by the wedding. It looks like you still want to be here for longer. I'm going to go. I'm going to take a cab home. I'll take a cab home. It's not a big deal, okay, and the rabbi did that. The rabbi went. So the next morning the host asks the rabbi did that? The rabbi went.

13:26
So the next morning the host asks the rabbi. He says I don't, I don't understand. You came specially from manchester for this wedding. Why did you stay till the end? Why didn't you stay till the end you should have, like what was your rush to leave? So he says I'll be honest with you. He says, if you remember, before we left the house, your son said that he didn't want to be home alone without anybody.

14:00
And you told him don't worry, we'll be home before midnight. Don't worry, we'll be home before midnight. Don't worry, we'll be home before midnight, meaning by then he'll be sleeping. I don't know what the father meant, what the host meant by then. It's not going to be a problem. He says. I looked at my watch and I realized it was soon going to be midnight. There was still a lot of the wedding to celebrate, so I didn't want your words to not be heated, so I decided you enjoy the wedding and I'll be with your son I'll. So that way, your word is a word, and I think this is such a remarkable story because it's something that that in parenting, the world of parenting.

14:44
If you go to educational classes for parents, one of the things that they'll tell you is that or I hope they do, they should at least is that when you tell children something, you must follow through, and the quicker the better, because you can't say you know what, I'm going to do this or that for your child and I meant that it'll be in six months from now or a year from now you tell them you're going to buy them a treat. It should be the quicker the better, so that children learn the value of the words. Words are very, you know, sometimes you can wonder how is it possible that someone can say something which is just patently false? How can they say that? Most likely in their education they were told things and it wasn't followed through. And it wasn't followed through. It is so crucial. It is so crucial that when we speak words, those words carry weight. Those words carry weight and we need to fulfill those words.

15:55
The Torah is telling us yeah, oaths and vows, there's a way to nullify them. There's a way to get them. You know, I made a promise. I can't fulfill it, I'm going to remove that, I'm going to nullify that. That you can do. But, generally speaking, the words we say you make a commitment, you got to follow through on it, and if a person can't, there's a special process to nullify it. But a person has to be careful not to make a promise if they're not going to fulfill it on any level.

16:28
You know, there's a story that's told about Rabbi Nassim Svi Finkl, who was the leader of the Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem, had the great privilege of learning in his yeshiva. Rabbi Nassim Svi Finkl was a very, very, very holy man. Just so that you understand how great he is. I've said this story before. It's one of my favorite stories in the world, one of my favorite stories. And then I'll get to the story that refers to the topic of truth that we're talking about. But while we're talking about Nussens v Finkel, I have to share this other story.

17:08
A group of Fortune 500 Jewish executives took a travel to Israel. I've said this story recently in one of the classes, so forgive me if you're hearing it again. They came to Israel and they traveled around. They made partnerships with Israeli startup companies. It was really an amazing thing. One of the participants in that trip was Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks, nice Jewish man, and what was incredible about this trip is that they went all 20 executives, all Fortune 500 CEOs. They went to Abnas Zvi Finkel's house. Abnas Zvi Finkel is the head of the largest yeshiva in the world and his house is very unimpressive. I was in his house. I was in his dining room when I was wanting to get into his yeshiva. So I had to come with a letter written by my grandfather as like a sort of a letter of recommendation, saying that I wasn't going to tear apart and burn down his building, right? So my grandfather wrote me a letter of recommendation and I came to meet Rav Nosson Svi. He was like a holy, holy man like you can't imagine and just being in his presence and he read the letter and he said welcome to the yeshiva, and that was, it was very special. In any event, these 20 CEOs are in his house Now.

18:34
You have to understand that there was something unique about Rav Nassim Svifinko is that he had advanced stage Parkinson's and he was shaking very, very. His tremors were very, very severe and it sometimes made people a little uncomfortable being around him because it was, and it sometimes made people a little uncomfortable being around him because it was visible that he wasn't in control of his movements. But his brain was sharp. It was clear like a whistle. It was amazing. He gave lectures in Torah. His Torah lectures were like brilliant, brilliant. He spoke clearly, but his movements were a little bit uncomfortable for those sitting around him.

19:16
These 20 CEOs are sitting around his dining room table and he walks into the room. They all stand up for him and they see how challenged his movements are. He sits down and nobody wants to look at him. Nobody wants to look. All these 20 CEOs there, it's uncomfortable. See, he bangs on the table and he says look at him. Nobody wants to look. All these 20 ceos there, it's uncomfortable. See, he bangs on the table. He says look at me. They all turn to him. He says I want you to answer me.

19:43
Why were so many jews saved from the holocaust? It doesn't make any sense why even one was saved. We didn't have a militia, we didn't have weapons. How is it? I have three grandparents who are survivors. Three of my grandparents are survivors. How did they make it out? Two of them were in Auschwitz. Not many people made it out of Auschwitz. He asked how is it that so many were saved from the Holocaust? And they went around the table and each one of these CEOs shared their idea, their thoughts, as to why so many did make it out. So he said let me share with you my thought. So he said let me share with you my thought.

20:36
He said when there were five people in a barracks and I was in one of those barracks, by the way. I went in I said I want to be laying where my grandmother was laying. It's not very pleasant, it's not very comfortable, it's like think of the most uncomfortable plank of wood you've ever been on and it's like only about two feet above the next barracks, that's right on top of it. It's like a bunk bed, but without a mattress and without a blanket. You'd have five people, you'd have one blanket, maybe Six people on one bunk bed and one blanket. If you got one. And it was cold. I was there at the end of March and it was so bitter cold. It was so bitter cold the end of March, it wasn't December time, it wasn't in the middle of winter, it was. I mean, there's no insulation, there was no heating there. You're talking about unbelievable, he said.

21:39
Rav Nosson Svifinko said when there were five people and there was only one blanket, instead of people saying I want the blanket to cover me, everyone was fighting to push it onto the other person you cover yourself with the blanket to cover me. Everyone was fighting to push it onto the other person you cover yourself with the blanket. And the other one's saying no, no, no, you cover yourself with the blanket. He says you know what happened? The blanket fit for everyone. Everybody wanted to share the blanket. See, he turned to the ce CEOs and he says to them you all have a blanket, go back to America and share your blanket. You have a blanket, go share your blanket. They were blown away, absolutely blown away. They were blown away, absolutely blown away, blown away so much so that Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks, before he left Israel, said I want to go back to that rabbi.

22:49
And he came back to Rav Nassif's house and he said Rabbi Finkel, I'm a multi-multi-billionaire. He took out a checkbook and he signed it and left it blank. A check. He said Rabbi, fill it out for any amount you want, it won't bounce. Fill it out for any amount. Reb Noson Tzvi took a pen and he put a one, a four, a zero and a zero One thousand four hundred dollars. And he gave it back to him and he said across the street there is a scribe, the scribe. I want you to go to the scribe and I want you to buy yourself a pier of tefillin. He says that is the greatest gift you can give the Jewish people, the greatest gift. Put on tefillin every day.

23:49
I don't know about you, but I know that when Rav Nassim Svi Finkl passed away a few years ago, there was, I think, $50 million of debt in the yeshiva. Thank God, people got together and paid up all that debt and the yeshiva is even bigger and even greater. His legacy lives on. Can you imagine You're living with? You're talking about anywhere between 10,000 and 11,000 students in yeshiva. Do you know what that means? Do you know what the cost of operations? A day, a day? It's just like. It's unbelievable. And someone comes to you and gives you a blank check. The only thing you can think of is what's the greatest merit for the person? Not for me, such a selfless person. So back to our story. I think it was worth it. No, lauren, it was a good story. It's an amazing story.

24:50
So someone called up Rabbi Nassim Svifinko and he said to him Rabbi Finko, I want you to be the sandek, I want you to be the godfather, the person who holds the baby for my baby's bris. Okay, so typically people don't decline that honor. It's interesting. My grandfather always did, for family was very interesting. My grandfather was a very humble man. But when when a family member like myself came to my grandfather and asked him when I had my first son. I said, sabah, can you please be the sanda, can you be the, the godfather, the one who holds the baby during the bris? So it's the highest honor that you can give for the baby, of course, but also at the bris, this is the highest honor that can be given.

25:42
So my grandfather immediately asked me and I knew that this was what he did. He never did it for the grandchildren's children till both the father and the father-in-law of the person. Both were sandic already. That means that till my father and my father-in-law were the sandic, my grandfather wouldn't do it. So I knew that this was going to happen. So I told my grandmother beforehand. I said I think I'm going to need some of your help.

26:18
So I asked my grandfather and my grandfather said did your father do the sandik? Did your father-in-law do the sandik? I said no, this is my oldest child, it's my first, my first born. I would like you to be the sandik. He says no, no, no, I can't do it till your father and meaning his son and your father-in-law are going to be the Sondik. I said but, saba, you know, first is I don't know if I'm going to have another son. I want to have more children, but I don't know if I'm going to have another son.

26:47
Number two is that he was already 91 years old. He was of age. I don't know how many more opportunities I'm going to have for him to be at a bris. So I said you know? My father said I already asked my father. And he said no, not if my grandfather's there, you give him. And my father-in-law said the same thing no, my grandfather was a big rabbi. So my grandfather said in that case, maybe I don't come to the bris, that way one of them will have the honor.

27:21
My grandmother heard that and she went crazy. She says I don't understand. She said every person comes here to the house and asks you to be assigned like you don't even know their name and you accept that honor. Here your grandson is begging you, begging you and you don't want to. You're giving him such a hard time. She says no. No, that means like okay. So my grandmother says you see, he said yes, he's going to be the Sandek. She knew how to interpret his little news.

28:00
Either way, he was the Sandek and it was an unbelievable honor. And unfortunately he was not around by the time my second son was born, but he had already passed away. So it was a fear gamble and later on my father and my father-in-law were both Sandik for different children, different sons that I had, and it was very, very special. But either way, it's a very, very big privilege and a big honor. Of course, for my son it's a huge honor that my grandfather was his Sondik.

28:36
So either way, someone approached Rav Nossens Vifinko and asked him if he would be Sondik. He said yes, but I have one request, since he was very ill with advanced stage Parkinson's, he said I can't really travel far. If you can do it at a hall that's nearby, I'll be able to attend. So they did it. They did it at a hall right down the block from the yeshiva, from where the rabbi lived, and the morning of the bris the rabbi wasn't feeling well. So the rabbi called the family and said I apologize, but I'm not feeling well. I cannot be the sandek, I cannot be the one who holds the baby, okay, a few minutes before the bris the rabbi calls up the father Father's, shocked. He says what is the rabbi calling me again? He says I'm waiting for you downstairs outside my house. She says you told me you weren't feeling well. He says, yeah, I'm not feeling well to hold the baby for the Sondik, but I promised you I was going to be by the bris. I can't not be by the bris, right? He made all the arrangements to right. I told you that I would come, right, I'm not feeling well enough to hold the baby, but I do have to fulfill my word, because a word is a word.

30:07
We see that our sages were so careful, our sages were so careful. Our sages were so careful that every word that we speak be fulfilled. I can tell you hundreds of stories. There's so many stories that the accuracy of their words were so important to them. They said something. They fulfilled that something.

30:33
Because what is God? What's God's name? God's name is Emet truth, hashem, elokeichem. Emet Hashem, your God is truth. That's the essence of God.

30:50
If we want to have a relationship with God, the number one ingredient we need is truth, the number one ingredient, and if we forego on that truth, we forego God forbid on our relationship with God. The most important characteristic, the most important trait that we need to invest in in order to be in a world in a relationship with God, is the trait of truth, the trait of truth. It's such an important. Yeah, we all know truth is a good thing. Truth is the right thing. It's such an important. Yeah, we all know truth is a good thing. Truth is the right thing. It's important. No, no, no, it's the essence of who we are. It's the essence.

31:46
It's an amazing thing that the Torah doesn't. There's no place in the Torah that it says I forbid you to lie. It doesn't say that. It doesn't say that. It says distance yourself from falsehood. Midvar, sheker, tirchak. Why doesn't it just say lo, tishaker, do not lie? It doesn't say that. It says distance yourself from anything that is false, from all falsehood.

32:17
It's sort of, perhaps, like a kalvachomer. A kalvachomer is, I tell you, the lenient and you learn the more stringent. You know, if you is very, very difficult and don't even take a, don't take a teaspoon of sugar, all right, don't take a teaspoon of sugar, I'll fulfill that. So then you go on your way out. You go buy yourself a big, big, big sugary Slurpee right, a big Slurpee from 7-Eleven, from one of the.

32:55
Your spouse tells you didn't the doctor just say not to take a teaspoon? He said a teaspoon. He didn't say a half a cup of sugar. We all know that. It's obvious. If he said a teaspoon, it means even a tablespoon, it means even a half a cup of sugar. It means that for sure, if God tells us, distance yourself from falsehood, it for sure means don't lie outright Meaning, don't even get close to something that has a little tinge of falsehood. We need to stay away and be so cautious not to even give an impression that won't be fulfilled, and our sages were concerned about that. Our sages were concerned that nobody should get the wrong impression. They were clear about every word that they said, to the point that nobody, nobody, should get the wrong idea.

33:53
Okay, I'll tell you an amazing story about Reb Yaakov Kamenetsky. Reb Yaakov Kamenetsky was interviewing for a job back in Europe in a synagogue, and before he had his interview at the synagogue, he met with the outgoing rabbi, the other rabbi who's either retiring or moving. See, he met with him and he talked about the congregation and he also sheared with the rabbi the outgoing rabbi his sermon that he was going to speak on Shabbos. The rabbi told him after hearing it, he says if you say this sermon, you've got the job, it's yours, it's yours, not even a question. Sure enough comes Shabbos morning and Rebbe Yaakov Kamenetzky says a different sermon and he doesn't get the job. And the rabbi goes over to him and says what did you do? What did you do? He says you had the most perfect sermon. I told you it was a slam dunk, may not have used those actual words, but he said it was yours. Why did you change the sermon?

35:21
Ryab Yaakov Kamenetsky of Blessed Memory, he said because it wasn't honest. He says when I'm coming for an interview and give a sermon, they want to see what lecture, what sermon they would get every week. He says the sermon that I told you in your house before that's a sermon. I've prepared for weeks and months on that sermon. He said but when I'm the rabbi of the congregation I'm not going to have weeks and months to prepare for every sermon, I'm only going to have an hour or two. So I gave them a sermon with a preparation of only an hour or two and if that's not sufficient for them, then I can't be their rabbi anyway.

36:06
It means he didn't want to cheat. He didn't want to be dishonest by presenting, because we all know we'll come in to our interview dressed our finest and we had just slept a good night's sleep, hopefully, and we made sure that we had our polished resume and we made sure that we had every question worked out and we had every detail. Is that honest? Is that what you can produce every day? It's something of great sensitivity to realize that I need to be very, very careful not to give off the wrong impression. And that was the greatness of Rabbi Yaakov Yaakov Avinu, our patriarch Jacob. His trait was truth. His trait was truth, absolute truth, without any wiggle room, no misinterpretation, any wiggle room, no misinterpretation. And we see that Yaakov Kamenetzky, the great Rebbe Yaakov Kamenetzky, was not much different in his accuracy to the truth. He wasn't willing, he was not willing to give off an impression that wasn't authentic.

37:16
That's what this week's Torah portion, the beginning of Matos, teaches us. It teaches us the importance of every word we speak. Every word we speak, your words shouldn't be desecrated. Every word that comes out of your mouth, you should fulfill. This is the teaching of the Torah that God is telling us. On a physical level, we speak words. On a spiritual level, we need to fulfill them If we want to be in a relationship with God. Now it makes sense why the Torah tells us not to steal, because these are all things of falsehood, these are all things that are introducing foreign spirits into our life, foreign objects. If we want to live a God-connected, a God-centric life, we need to ensure that we fulfill the words that we promise, even if they're not outright promises, even if it's not an oath, even if it's not a you know. I hereby declare and I promise that you know, I just said the words. I'll be there at five. A person should be very, very careful to ensure that they fulfill their words, that they promise, that they say. Every word, something comes out of your mouth should be fulfilled. My dear friends, have a magnificent Shabbos and thank you so much.

39:05
A hundred percent meaning God is telling us. We see this many times in the Torah Ma hu chanun, hafata chanun. Ma hu rachum, hafata rachum. Our objective, our job, our task in this world is to emulate God. Our job in this world is to emulate God, meaning the way in which God acts is the way we are supposed to act. So if God is the God of truth, we should be fully invested in truth.

39:37
Even though it might be convenient, I may be able to trick them, I mean I won't share all of the details. I'll keep you know, I'll be elusive. God doesn't do that. God is 100% truth and a person needs to be uncompromising on the truth. Uncompromising on the truth, this is, yeah, because we want to be God-like. Our objective in this world is to be God-like. So it's 100% what you're saying. Yes, we need to find every trait of God. If it's right for God, it's a 100% what you're saying. Yes, we need to find every trait of God. If it's right for God, it's right for us, right it? Just by the way, it's. It's very interesting.

40:28
I always think about this when, when things come up in the news, because it's not random that we see things in the news. We've learned this many times in our classes that everything that goes on in the world is for us to learn something about it. And to me it's astonishing to see there's been news reports from the DNI and CIA and FBI and this and that and that and this, they did this, they did that. Whatever people do, to me it's always amazing how it could be years and years later and something comes out about a person. It means that sometimes we think it's okay.

41:03
It's like statute of limitation has passed, so I'm not going to get sued for it. You may not get sued for it, but was it truthful? And a decade later, 25, 30 years later, am I willing to live with myself? If I did something dishonestly and I think that this is not it doesn't make a difference to us. I think it's inconsequential if the people did or didn't do whatever is claimed to have been done. I think what it needs to instill within us is a self-evaluation. Can we be held accountable if we were put under the microscope? That means, if you had the whole team of the DNI open up the David Block file, what skeletons will they find in my closet? And I think that that needs to be our perspective of if I am not living a 101% truthful life, what do I need to do to make it that? What do I need to do? You know they say, find me the person, I'll find you the crime.

42:15
Well, I have a dear friend of mine who met with the rabbi and the rabbi was very tough in interrogating and asking very, very pointed questions. This person was in the process of conversion and he called me the next day. He's like I don't ever talk to that rabbi again. I can't believe that he would interrogate me like this, like you know, I'm just like, I'm just trying to do the right thing, like you know. And then he called me back the next day and he said I was just thinking I was wrong I want to meet that rabbi every month Because if that's the way a human being can interrogate me in this world, imagine the interrogation when I get in the world to come where God's going to ask me oh really, you did that, what was your intention? And I can't lie there. Maybe my intention. I can fake it to everybody else, but I can't fake it to God. I definitely can't fake it to myself.

43:15
He said, maybe I should meet with that rabbi every week so that he interrogate me and prepare me for the ultimate interrogation, which is in front of the heavenly tribunal, where that is like all the truth, all the cards are laid out and there's no, it's a world of absolute truth. So it's that perspective of realizing that there is a truth and there is a falsehood, an absolute truth and an absolute falsehood, and there is a falsehood, an absolute truth and an absolute falsehood. You know what they say a 99% truth is still a 100% lie. You understand, we have to be so careful and I think that this is a perfect opportunity. Putting current events into our Torah here, putting current events into our Torah here. It's a perfect opportunity to self-evaluate our commitment to absolute truth. Absolute truth yeah, it's a nice thing when I get around to it. No, no, no, absolute truth. I'm committing my life to figuring out how I become absolutely truthful, all right, so that's a great question, david.

44:23 - Intro (Announcement)
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