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.

00:09 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Welcome back everybody to the weekly Parsha Review Podcast. This week's Parsha is Parshas Nitzavim Vayelech. It is a combined portion, two portions together, and really remarkable that this is the last day of Moshe's life. The last day of Moshe's life before he passes on. The leader of the Jewish people, the most consequential leader in the history of the world, who takes the Jewish people out of Egypt, deals with all of their issues in the desert, the 40 years that they're in the desert, and is a loyal and committed servant of Hashem. Moshe gathers everyone together and Moshe says you are standing today, all of you, before Hashem, your God. Roshaychem your heads, shevteichem of your tribes, zikneichem your elders, v'shotreichem your officers, kol Ish Yisrael, all the men of Israel, meaning all the Jewish people. Tapchem, your small children, nisheichem your women, v'gercho and your converts. Asher beker of ma'achanecho, who is in the midst of your camp, micho teveitzecho, from the chopper of your wood. Ad sho'ev, meimecho Till, including the water drawer. Lo'ovracha b'vris Hashem, alokecha till including the water drawer. For what? Why did I gather you all, moshe? Why did Moshe gather everyone? To bring upon you a covenant between you and Hashem and into his oath that Hashem, your God, establishes with you today. This is in chapter 29, verse 9, 10, and 11. What's going on over here? What is Moshe talking about? The last day of his life, he gathers everyone together, everyone.

02:31
We need to understand something In Judaism there is nothing in any other religion that comes close to the equality that we have in Judaism. Other religion that comes close to the equality that we have in Judaism, the equality that we have in Judaism, where every single person counts exactly the same. There's true, there are those who are mentioned first, the dignitaries, those who took responsibility for others, but everybody's included in this. There's no special privileges, there's no two-tier law. There's no laws for you but not laws for me, or laws for me and not laws for you. Everything applies to everyone. There's no such thing as you find. The rabbi says you know you should observe this, but it's not for me, I don't need to do it, or I should observe this, it's not for you. No, no, no. We all are commanded by all 613 commandments equally, and there's no exception. There's no exception. Now. There are some laws that are applicable only to a Kohen, there are some laws that are only applicable to a Levi, a Levite, and there are some laws that are only applicable to an Israelite, but we're all commanded equally to serve Hashem and there are no special privileges, there are no special exceptions Equality. So now we're all standing there together.

04:16
Moshe is telling us we're going to enter into a treaty with Hashem, but the Jewish people are terrified. The Jewish people are terrified. The Jewish people are terrified why? Because what happened just last chapter, in the last Torah portion, the end of Kisavo? We have 98 curses that befall a person if they don't fulfill the commandments of the Torah. 98 curses. And this is where it's important for us to understand why Moshe calls everyone in together and Moshe says listen here. You think you're afraid of the 98 curses? You think Hashem is going to destroy you? You think Hashem is going to annihilate you? You think Hashem is going to destroy you. You think Hashem is going to annihilate you. You think Hashem is going to forget about you, because you're not one of the holy people, you're not one of the rich people, you're not one of the. You know the. What do they call those guys in Washington? The?

05:20 - Intro (Announcement)
swamp.

05:21 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Well, of course, the swamp. But I'm saying all of the special interests and all of the people who pay the politicians to pay to play type stuff. Guess what. It doesn't work in Judaism. Everyone is equally responsible and equally obligated to the commandments of the Torah. Now, with this, we've said this numerous times. Well, rabbi, I didn't grow up religious. I didn't grow up with Shabbos. I didn't grow up with kosher. I didn't grow up with wearing tefillin daily. I didn't grow up with wearing tzitzit. I didn't grow up with all of these things.

06:06
That may be true. That doesn't mean we're not commanded to it. It doesn't change the law that Hashem requires us to fulfill. That means we have to set our sights on the complete fulfillment of Hashem's will. I'm not there yet, but that doesn't mean I erase myself from it. It doesn't mean that if I'm not there yet, that I can just say it's just not relevant to me. You know, I can tell you a command in the Torah, mentioned 17 times in the Torah, that perhaps I myself am not very good at. It says not to speak negatively about another person, lashon Hara. So does that mean I should say you know what? Just like write it off? 612 commandments? No, hashem commanded us with 613. That means, even if someone is not there yet, it doesn't mean you erase it. It doesn't mean that because I'm not there yet that I write it off. On the contrary, what a person needs to do is to always have an aspiration. Why? Because the verse ends with kol ish Yisroel, the entire Jewish nation. You may have different titles, but you're an entire Jewish nation. You may have different titles, but you're an entire Jewish nation. You're a unit Together. Don't count yourself out, don't remove yourself just because I'm not there yet.

07:56
Oh, shabbos, it's too hard for me. I didn't grow up with it. I can tell you the most incredible excuses I've heard. I invited people for Shabbos. Now, almost 20 years here in Houston, I've heard the most remarkable excuses. Now, I'm not telling people to keep a whole Shabbos, don't we just participate in a good, delicious meal? That's it. Am I going to have to read? Am I going to have to do? I'm not really good with my Hebrew reading. I didn't go to the Torch Hebrew reading crash course, so I'm not proficient. I like reading. I don't know what reading has to do with eating. You got to come with a good appetite, that's it. But I've heard things like I'm babysitting my neighbor's dog, dog sitting my neighbor, my neighbor's dog, I'm, I'm, you know, I have to do this and I have to do that. All of these excuses, which is really amazing. It's amazing, it really is amazing.

08:54
We cannot allow ourselves to count ourselves out. You know, if someone is aspiring to be a doctor and they face struggles, do they just give up? Hopefully, not, hopefully. They keep on working at it. Keep on working at it. One day you'll be a doctor. You want to be a pilot. You go to school and you fail once. So what? So you go to try it again. You try it again, but you don't say listen, this is my dream, my goal, my aspiration, and I'm just going to throw it out.

09:37
But on the other hand, someone say you know what I bruised myself when I was jogging the other day, so maybe I should just give up on life. No, nobody says that. Nobody says that. Why? Because we all want life. Okay, but right now it's not so great, so we'll get over it At so we'll get over it. At some time we'll get past it.

10:04
Ki hem chayenu the Torah is our life, it's our life's blood, it's our oxygen. We don't want to turn off the oxygen. Here the Torah is telling us. Here the Torah is telling us. Here the Torah is telling us that as long as you keep yourself as part of kol ishi sro, I'm part of the Jewish people. You know what? I may not be at that level yet. I may not be at that level yet, but I'm counting myself in, I'm including myself. I don't feel that just because I was raised a certain way, but I'm counting myself in, I'm including myself. I don't feel that just because I was raised a certain way, I'm exempt from certain things. Rather, I'm counting myself in. It's my aspiration, my goal. How, I don't know, but I would like to be there one day.

10:56
Hashem, helped me that one day I should be in a Jewish community day. Hashem, help me that one day I should be in a Jewish community. Hashem, help me that one day I should be part of a minion, be the first 10 of the minion. Hashem, help me that one day I should be able to keep kosher and only buy kosher food and only cook kosher food. Hashem, help me. These are things that we should talk to Hashem and ask Him. You know why? Because this is the treaty that Hashem is making with us.

11:23
He's saying listen, you're all my children. The fact that you grew up here and you grew up there and you had this type of lifestyle and that type of lifestyle, and your parents did this and your parents did that. If we consider ourselves part of the Jewish people and we recognize that there is equity throughout it all, ask someone perhaps who is at a stage perhaps beyond what I'm comfortable with. Tell me, how is it, what is it like, what are the challenges going to be? What are the ups, what are the downs? Talk about it, investigate it, don't take it off your docket.

12:11
Moshe's encouraging the Jewish people here the last day of his life. He's saying listen, I know some of you are carrying the water, some of you are chopping the wood, meaning you have different industries that you're in, but you're still part of Kolesh Yisrael, you're part of the Jewish people and you're just as important as anybody else. Don't count yourself out. We need to internalize this for ourselves. Me who am I? I'm not a rabbi. Who am I? I'm not some scholar. What do I know? You're kol ishi sral. You're a precious gem. You're part of Hashem's chosen people. Hashem loves you. Hashem loves you. Hashem wants you. He wants that relationship with you. This is our job in life and this is what we learn from this week's parasha Nitzavim. You're standing right here in front of Hashem. Hashem is right there with you. Hashem wants that relationship with you. My dear friends, have an amazing Shabbos, and don't forget how much Hashem loves every step of the process, every little bit that we do.

13:37
I'll share with you one quick story. There was a king. The king tells his friend, who was not a very wealthy man, very close advisor. He tells him listen, I want to come eat by your house In 30 days I'm going to come eat by your house. So he goes home and tells his wife you know the king, my friend told me he wants to come eat by our house. His wife's like oh my goodness, look at our little shack. The king is going to come here.

14:09
He says, yeah, we're kind of going to have to paint the walls, we're going to have to fix the floors, we're going to have to, you know, fix the chairs. They're all rickety and they're. You know they're not, they're not even balanced. What would? She says now, 30 years I've been telling you to do this and now, because your friend, the king, is coming now you're going to do it. Plus, how are you going to pay for this? You've been saying for 30 years you can't afford it. Now, the next 30 years, you're gonna have to pay off the paint for the walls and the floors and the chairs that you're going to have to fix. He says you know what? You're right, we'll just put some drapes up. We'll put some drapes up, we will put some carpet on the floor. Okay, and I don't know what happened here. And what will we do next? We will have to fix the chairs so that the king will, that we'll have to do just the fixing of the chairs so the king won't fall off the chair. He says we know how to sit on these chairs, these broken chairs, but the king won't. He'll fall off. That'll be.

15:24
And then what do they feed the king? They're going to prepare a menu. They're simple people. They don't really know what the king eats. Comes the day, they're all prepared. And the king? They hear a whole parade coming. They hear the trumpets, they hear the horses, they hear all of the commotion. The king is coming to visit him.

15:47
The king stops right in front of the house and the king walks out, comes into the house. He walks into the house. He says where is everything? He says listen, I'll be honest with you. We prepared a little, but when we saw the honor that you're getting out there and we saw the little rickety chair and the table that we have, we're like this is insignificant, this is nothing, this is so. The food that we prepared is too simple. We can't do this. We can't. This is not an honor for you. You're used to something so much greater. King says no, no, no, this is what I want. I want to be with you. I want this simple life. I want to sit on your rickety chair. Bring it back out. I want to have your simple food, to be just like you.

16:34
Hashem, the entire year king of the universe running everything. Hashem, the entire year king of the universe running everything. Hashem says Rosh Hashanah. I'm going to come visit with you. I'm going to come sit with you. We're like Hashem, yeah, we're going to prepare a little bit. 30 days of Elul of the month before preceding Rosh Hashanah Comes Rosh Hashanah. We're like oh, my goodness, the kingship, the beautiful shofar that we're going to be blowing, the master of the universe, is coming to visit us. This is insignificant. Shem says no, no, no. That's what I want. I want to see the struggle, I want to see the simplicity, I want to see the challenge. I want to be there with you.

17:15
There's someone after one of the great sages passed away, a very wealthy man went to the widow of the great sages passed away. A very wealthy man went to the widow of the great sage who passed away and he said I want to buy his yarmulke. She's want to buy his yarmulke. It's like he says yeah, I want to buy his yarmulke. How much do you want for it? She thinks how much does she need to support herself? She throws out a crazy number. He says no problem, he's a wealthy guy. He says I'm going to my house, I'm going to pick up the money. I'm going to come, I'm going to buy his yarmulke. She says you know what? He's coming. He's going to come back right away. Meanwhile, let me wash it.

17:55
When he comes, she gives him the yarmulke. He says what's this? She says this is the yarmulke. He says it's not what you showed me before. She says yeah, I figured, if you're going home, I'm just going to clean it quickly so you don't get his dirty, smelly, sweaty yarmulke. He says no, that's what I wanted. I wanted the sweat, I wanted the hard work that he put in with this yarmulke on his head. That's what I wanted. That's the value. Imagine lahavdil elif alfavdol is not to compare between holy and unholy, but imagine a football player takes off his jersey, throws it to you. You're going to ever wash that. No, you're never going to wash it. They're going to wear it exactly with his sweat on it. Why? Because that's the value. The value is the hard work. Hashem wants our hard work, hashem wants our hard work.

18:49
He wants the sweat, he wants the tears, he wants the failures, he wants the effort. My dear friends, hashem should bless us all with an amazing Shabbos. Always remember we're part of Kol Ishii Sroll. We're part of a major major people, the chosen people. This is with whom Hashem makes His treaty. Have an amazing Shabbos.

19:12 - Intro (Announcement)
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