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)
Welcome back and good morning everybody to the Parsha Review Podcast. We are going to do an in-focus on the Parsha of Yistro, this week's Parsha. Yistro is a very, very dynamic Parsha because it's a portion that is named for someone who at the time, was not Jewish. Yet we don't see a portion named for Moshe, we don't see a portion named for Aaron, we don't see a portion named for Abraham, isaac or Jacob, but we do see a portion named for Yistro. And the hint our sages tell us is right in the first word of the Parsha, chapter 18, verse number one Vayishma, yistro and Yistro heard. Yistro heard, he got the message. The Torah is given in the portion of Yistro and this week's Torah portion is when the Revelation at Mount Sinai happens. Why, to tell you, the number one function of someone who wants to receive the Torah is you've got to hear the messages, You've got to listen and incorporate them. But what I want to focus on today is what happens later. What did he hear? He heard about all the miracles and he says you know what I got to leave Midyon, join my son-in-law, moses, and see what's going on here. And, as my grandfather would say, you know he was reading the newspaper, like everybody else, read the newspaper and he sees wow, all these miracles that happen to the Jews. And everyone just keeps turning the pages. Okay, let's go to the sports section. But that part my grandfather didn't say. What happens? Yistro says one second all of these miracles happen to the Jewish people. That's unbelievable, that's incredible. Well, I'm just going to sit here. I want to go join those people. And Yistro packs his bags and goes to join the Jewish people. And then what happens? When he comes to join the Jewish people? Don't forget, the Jewish people were surrounded by the Anani Hakovid, by the clouds of glory that were protecting the Jewish people when they were attacked in last week's Torah portion by the Amalekites. What happens? Those missiles go from Gaza no, from the people of Amalek into the Jewish people, but it doesn't hit the Jewish people. It goes into the cloud and the cloud rebounds it right back, like David's sling, and it goes right back and hits the people who shot it. So there was this cloud protecting the Jewish people. You couldn't just walk in.

02:40
But when they heard that Yistro, the father-in-law of Moshe, was coming to visit the Jewish people, moshe himself stopped everything he was doing and went to go greet his father-in-law and Moshe brings him into the tent and Moshe starts telling him everything that happens. He went likkras chosno and he bowed to him, he kissed him and he asked him how are you doing? They inquired about each other's well-being but he sapped Moshe l'chosno and Moshe told his father-in-law A Skolash Shr'os, hashem Le'Farro Limitraim, everything that Hashem has done to Pharaoh and to Egypt. I'll odos Yisro, on behalf of Israel, a Skolat al-Law, hashem HaZasim Bed'erech, bayatsileim HaShem and all of the hardships that befell the Jewish people and all the ways in which Hashem saved them. Bayi'i-i-khadh Paro and Yisro rejoiced. He rejoiced Al-Kolatobah Hashem HaZasim Le'Israel on all of the great things that Hashem did for the Jewish people. Hashereh-i-tzil-omiyad Mitraim that Hashem has saved them from the Egyptians.

03:48
Now listen to what happens here. Yisro says Baruch HaShem, blessed is HaShem. Hashereh-i-tzil-ezch-hamiyad Mitraim that he saved each of you, all of you, from the hands of Mitraim Umiyad Paro and from the hand of Pharaoh. Hashereh-i-tzil-ezch-hamiyad Mitraim that he saved the entire people from the hand of the Egyptians At-Yedatin. Now I know, says Yisro ki Godol HaShem iqalur Elohim HaShem is greater than all the other gods.

04:28
Ki Baddavar HaSherezadu Elohim for it's, for in the matter itself in which the Egyptians had conspired, they fell Means the exact same way. We see the same theme, by the way, with Mordechai and Haman. What a Haman built the gallows to hang Mordechai and Instead Haman and his ten sons got hung on that same gallows. Pharaoh Conspired against the Jewish people. In the exact way in which they conspired, they got punished. I take a he's for close emotion.

05:03
This is the verse that I want to focus on now. Yisro took Ola was walking a burnt offering and other offerings. They lo him To God by Yavo. Aaron will hold the knesra. Oh, let him in close and motion if nail him immediately. He made a big feast and Moses was there, and Aaron was there, and all the elders of Israel were there, and they break bread with Moshe's father-in-law before God and they give thanks to Hasha.

05:37
So the question that I want to focus on this week is what's the rush? What is the rush? What is the great rush? You heard all these stories. You're impressed by God's hand, by God's might, by God's power, and now the first thing you do is you start a meal, you have a feast. What's going on here? We, you know. We know the famous term that we say about Jewish people every time the nations of the world tried to beat us, to Try to fight us, try to destroy us. We fought, we won. Now let's eat. So what's going on here with yes, sir, what is yes you're telling us here?

06:21
So the holy sage from Bardichev blavy it's like from Bardichev used to say that inspiration Needs to be captured immediately. You cannot let inspiration expire. You know, medicine has an expiration date, food has an expiration date. Inspiration, says Reblaviy, it's rock. Inspiration has an expiration date and the expiration date is sometimes only a few minutes away.

06:57
How many times have we been inspired by something? It's like wow, this is life-changing, this is incredible. And then the next day we don't even remember what we were inspired about. Our say just tell us that when you are inspired, you need to immediately lock it in with an action. Don't let that inspiration expire. A person can live their entire lives being inspired, one time after another time, after another time, but it never, it never influences them Because they never locked it in. You hear a great story about Because they never locked it in. You hear a great lecture. You're like wow, life-changing, unbelievable. You talk to your friends like, yeah, he's a good speaker, that's pretty solid, right? Or we're in synagogue on Russia, shana, and we hear the show for blowing and we're like, wow, that, that in my soul, like I have to change. But we go turn to the people next to us and like, wow, you blew the show for really nicely. Like it's like that that breaks up, that expires the inspiration. Or say, just tell us that when someone is inspired, they need to immediately lock it in, put it into action, don't let that inspiration Fall to the wayside.

08:17
We see many times when the, where this is instituted well, for example, we have at the Pesach Seder. At the Pesach Seder, what do we talk about? We talk about the redemption of the Jewish people. We talk about all of the miracles that God performed. We talk, we demonstrate all of the ten plagues that were ten plagues, that were really 50 plagues, a hundred plagues, 250 plagues, because of all of the Extra impact that each plague Be fell. The Egyptians Right, it wasn't just frogs, it was the fighting of the father of the house with his wife and the children, the, you know. And then the kids go out in the street and they fight. So there were many after effects, ripple effects of Each plague. You and we talk about that in our God as well. And then we talk about one day Mashiach will come and we're going to have a rebuild temple and we say Lishanahababir shalayim habnu yaa.

09:21
But we don't just say it, we're all inspired. It's incredible the change that we're going to see and we're hoping for and we're praying for, and it's going to be so incredible. You know what we also do. We fill up the cup of Elijah. We demonstrate that it's not just words that we're saying. We fill up the cup of Elijah and we immediately open the door. Put it into action. Don't just say things. I think it's such a fundamental principle for us to instill into our daily lives. You have inspiration. Make it real. You say you're going to do something. Do it immediately. How many times do you say yeah, when I get around to it? When I get around to it means not now, that means never. We get into procrastination mode, but with inspiration, it's very difficult to relive inspiration after it's soured.

10:25
There's a story told about a student in the Vellajan Yeshiva that during dinner time someone asked him a question about the Talmud they were learning and it was in the Tosvot, one of the commentaries, and the student didn't remember it accurately. He got so upset with himself, the student. He immediately got up, went to a neighboring synagogue and sat and learned and learned, and learned, so that he should never forget Yet a word of the Talmud again or the commentaries of the Talmud. He was so inspired by that moment of how can I have forgotten something? He immediately went and sat down and started learning again. But we know there's a problem. You're in the middle of eating. You didn't finish. The Halacha says you're not allowed to leave in middle of a meal. He didn't properly bench, he didn't say the grace after meals. So one of the great luminaries, or Abkhayim Shmulevitz, said. He says you know, from the standpoint of Halacha, he didn't do the right thing. He should have properly benched, he should have properly given thanks. But had he done that, the inspiration would have expired. He would never have finished the Talmud the way he did, had he let the inspiration cool off.

12:03
That's how important it is for us to utilize the opportunity of inspiration. When you're inspired by something, do it immediately, make it part of your life, instill it in your daily schedule. Do something to concretize that message, that inspiration, so that it doesn't just fall aside. You have an inspiration of whatever it is. You go to a lecture, you go to a sermon, you hear something. You hear a story about some wise person and the hard work they put into a project. You say you know what, I'm not going to give up on a certain project. I'm not going to. I'm going to do it, not in three days. Now, how many times do we get inspired about? Oh, I'm gonna start a new diet. I'm gonna start eating healthy.

12:54
I remember one time in the summertime I used to come. My family and and I go to the some for the summers. We go to New York, new Jersey. We're with family. I'm in laws by my parents. Children go to day camps in New York, new Jersey, but I would travel back and forth every other week. I'll go be there for Shabbos with the family and then come back and get work done here, continue the classes.

13:18
So on many of these summers I set a mission I'm gonna be home, mostly alone. I'm gonna eat a healthy diet. So I'll tell you about two different experiences ahead. One time I sight decided as I'm landing in Houston that's it. I'm gonna be on a diet. I'm gonna eat carefully. I'm gonna eat healthy and Straight. From the airport I went straight to the supermarket and bought myself lettuce and bought myself vegetables. I was gonna make salads and that was that was a very successful diet. But I'll tell you, there were other times where I made the same resolution. I'm gonna make this change, but I'm gonna start tomorrow, when I get a chance, when I get around to it, when I get around to it, that's when I will do it, and those were never successful In any area of life.

14:13
If you want it to have an impact, you've got to start now. Now is the time, and this is what we learned from Yisra. Yisra didn't say oh, I'm so inspired. The Jewish people are so nice. You know, I'll come back next month and I'll do my conversion in next month. I'll celebrate with you because I got some business deals to close first, and then I'll no, no, no, you're not gonna have that inspiration later. What did he do? He immediately sat down. He heard all of these things. This is wow. Now I know the next verse by Yikach Yisra Chosnomer Sholos Vachim. Immediately, he brought those offerings to say I'm in Hashem, thank you, I want to be part of these people now, not later.

14:59
We have the opportunity to be inspired every day of our lives if we use this methodology, if we use this method of taking inspiration and Instilling it in our daily lives immediately, not letting it sour, not letting it expire. I'm inspired by something. You know what you can. You can listen to a TED talks and Be inspired. You can watch a little video about our soldiers who are fighting a mitzvah war for the protection of the Jewish people a Milchemis mitzvah and you say you know something, I want to do something for them. Don't just say it, do it, put it into action. You know what I'm gonna say a chapter of Psalms in their honor. When? When are you gonna do that? When it fits into your schedule? No, right now. Stop what I'm doing right now and do it now, because when you're inspired, the only way to make it live on forever is if you instill it and Concretize it now.

16:15
Hashem should bless us all that we should merit to take every single one of our inspirations. We have so many privileges, so many opportunities To be inspired. It's such an unbelievable plethora of avenues for us to be inspired. You can listen to Classes on podcast and on video and you can watch them on Torah anytime comm, and you can watch them you. There's so much content out there. Let it not just be content, let it be a vehicle for our inspiration. Hashem should bless us all. We should grow, we should connect and always live an inspired life. I mean.

16:57 - Intro (Announcement)
You've been listening to, Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe on a podcast produced by TORCH, the Torah Outreach Resource Center of Houston. We need you, we need partners. Please help sponsor an episode so we can continue to produce more quality Jewish content for our listeners around the globe. Please visit torchweb.org to donate and partner with us on this incredible endeavor.