Parsha Review Podcast · Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe

00:01 - 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 to the Parsha Review Podcast. This week's Parsha is Parsha Sveyelech. It is not a very long Parsha only 70 verses. And this is already in the last day of Moshe's life, as we mentioned in last week's Torah portion, moshe Rabbeinu, moshe, our leader, is telling us this is the last day. I'm about to die, I'm about to go. Now what transpires on this last day? What transpires is an amazing thing. What transpires an amazing thing is that Moshe writes 13 copies of the Torah, one for each of the 12 tribes and one that goes into the ark and that's going to travel with the Jewish people.

00:53
It's interesting we mentioned this previously that we only see the mention to Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob, the promise you're going to go into the land of Israel. You're going to go into the land of Israel. You're going to the land of Israel, but there's no promise you're going to get the Torah. It seems odd If you wonder for a moment why isn't there a promise? I'm going to give you a Torah. I'm going to give you a Torah. I'm going to give you a Torah. No, no, no, no. There's a promise to Abraham, isaac and Jacob I'm going to bring you to the promised land.

01:27
What happened to the Torah? And then, when the Jewish people actually get the final draft of the Torah not that there were multiple drafts, but it was written in pieces. It started at Mount Sinai and then it continues, even though the Jewish people already commanded things. Before being at Mount Sinai, in Marah, they already received part of the mitzvahs. Then at Mount Sinai, they got the majority of them. And then on their travels and they traveled 42 different locations in their camping and settling and traveling, and camping and settling and traveling. Each time they stopped, they set up the whole camp Everything is there throughout the desert and they opened up their Ohel Moed, the place of the meeting place, where the sages would communicate with the Almighty, where Moshe would have his meetings with God, and it was reverberated. People were able to hear it from outside.

02:23
So, by the way, there's no such thing in the Torah. Where, trust me, I got this? That concept doesn't exist. In Judaism, everything was a public revelation, which is contrary to every other religion. There's no other religion that says that they had a public revelation. It's very important if you want to understand the authenticity, the veracity of the Torah, you need to have this fundamental principle understood that the Jewish people received the Torah in front of everyone. The sages tell us it wasn't only the Jewish people, it was every nation in the world witnessed that the Jewish people received the Torah at Mount Sinai. Which is very interesting as well is that the Christians and the Muslims, and even the Buddhists, they all agree that the Torah was given to the Jewish people at Mount Sinai. There's no dispute about it. Everyone agrees about that. Now, if you ask a Christian or a Jew or a Buddhist about Islam and the Quran, they'll all tell you well, we don't really know where it comes from.

03:29
Before Muhammad died, there were already 400 different versions of it. 400 different versions. There's only one version of the Torah December 2025, and you go to Mexico and you go to Argentina and you go to South Africa and you go to Russia and you go to Australia and you go to France. You go any place around the world and you look at the Torah. Go to any synagogue and look at the Torah. They will be exactly the same. There's no different versions. Exactly the same. Not one with a letter more and not one with a letter less. Exactly the same. Not one with a letter more and not one with a letter less you go and look in other religions. They have different types of you have this, this one, that one.

04:13
I don't want to get into the specifics of it, but what's the idea of the Torah? The Torah is given as a godly document that God dictatedated. Moshe wrote it, and when did the Jewish people? I don't want to get off track here, but when did the Jewish people actually receive that Torah? Right before entering into the land of Israel? Why? Because this manual is not just a manual for life, it's a manual for how to conduct yourself inside the land of Israel, which is why, according to some of our sages, the mitzvahs of the Torah are not obligated outside of the land of Israel. It was given to the Jewish people, right upon entry to the land of Israel, to tell you that it's applicable in the land of Israel. Outside of the land of Israel, it's not applicable. The land of Israel, outside of the land of Israel, it's not applicable.

05:04
So why do we observe the Torah outside of Israel? Because we are commanded rabbinically, where the rabbis say if you're not going to practice the Torah, you're not going to know what to do when you do end up back in the land of Israel. So that's why we observe the Shabbos, we observe the laws of kosher. We observe the laws of kosher. We observe the laws of tefillin and mezuzah and every other mitzvah that is commanded to us in the Torah. So why was the promise to Abraham, isaac and Jacob specifically that you're going to go into the land of Israel? So there's a number of things. Firstly, we can just cue into what's going on right now in the UN. You have the General Assembly and you have people there declaring that our land that was promised to us by God in the Torah, oh, that doesn't belong to you. We're going to give it a Palestinian state.

06:02
Now, I'm not getting into the politics of it. I'm just talking about the insanity and the ignorance of people that don't look at the greatest bestseller in Jewish history Not Jewish history, world history is the Bible, the Torah. How does the Torah begin? The world was created by God and we go through the six days of creation and God rested came. The world was created by God and we go through those six days of creation and God rested on the seventh. And what is the opening, the opening commentary on that first verse?

06:36
If the Torah was given to us as a manual for living, then why in the world do we need to know the backstory of creation? Who cares? Just tell me what to do. Rule one, rule two, rule three, rule four you don't open up the code of American law, of US law, and tell your whole story. Well, there were two individuals who were walking down the street and they're like give me the rules, tell me what to do, and that's it. What's the whole story? Why do we need to know about Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel and Noah and the ark and the generation of the flood? Who cares about those stories? Because God says to the Jewish people I am the one who created the world. I decide who gets the land. I decide who gets the treasured land, the land of Israel. I created it, I decided who to give it to, and God.

07:33
At one point, at the early stages of the Torah, the Jewish people weren't worthy yet. They needed to go through slavery in Egypt and then they received the land of Israel Because they needed to know what it meant to be at the bottom of the barrel, so that now you can have pity, you can have mercy, you can have social justice for the rest of the world, you can know what it means to be downtrodden. Ah, now you're ready to accept the land of Israel. So the Jewish people come into the land of Israel. They're receiving the Torah. Now, this was actually these words in this week's Torah portion.

08:12
Parashas v'yelech was written by Moshe through the word of Hashem, where every word Hashem says is written. There's a question about the last few verses of the Torah because it says that Moshe died before the end of the Torah. So did Moshe write the rest in prophecy, meaning God tells him what to write and then he dies retroactively, or does Joshua finish off the last few verses? And there's sides in the commentaries to say either one of those opinions is fine, either one is fine. But in this week's parasha we see something really incredible.

08:57
We see a certain here, ben me'e ve'es yim shon ha'no chayim, where Moshe tells the Jewish people Vayelach, moshe ve'daber esadvhe goes and he speaks to the people of Israel as follows. And he says to them I am now 120 years old. If you want to know why people say you lived to 120, it's because you don't live. The student doesn't live longer than the master. Moshe lived to 120 and that's it. Okay. So that's, the span of a human life is to 120. Yeah, are the people who have lived more? Allegedly, they say that there are some who lived longer than 120. Yes, yes, no, no, it's inconsequential. But either way, he says I cannot any longer go out and come in.

09:52
And we know, hashem told me already that I will not cross the Jordan. Just know, he tells the Jewish people, hashem, your God, he will cross before Jordan. Hashem, just know, he tells the Jewish people, hashem, your God, he will cross before you. He will destroy these enemies, these nations before you, and you shall possess, you will take over the land which is your promised land. Joshua is going to lead you across the Jordan and you're going to go and take the land.

10:31
So Moshe is doing a very responsible job of giving over the mantle of responsibility, the leadership, to his successor, joshua. It's very important. It's not a good thing for a leader to be a good leader only when he's in charge, if the company falls apart. After you leave as CEO of the company, that's not good leadership. You didn't leave it in a stable condition. Part of a good leadership is making sure that your trainee, that your, your uh, your apprentice, and your predecessor, your, your successor, that they will be able to fill in your shoes appropriately.

11:16
So that motion is doing here, doing the handoff, making sure that the jewish people know. There shouldn't be any questions here of who's in charge. Joshua takes over and that's it. He's taking you in, why? Because God said so. Because God said so, and that's what we do, and Hashem will do to them, to the people who are right now in the land of Israel. There were seven nations. So those seven nations, they will all be handed to you, just as God did to Sihon, to Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land that Hashem destroyed the Amorites and to their land that Hashem destroyed. And Hashem will deliver them before you and you will do to them according to the entire commandment that I commanded you.

12:18
Moshe already gave the instructions. He told them exactly what they need to do. For example, one of the things we don't touch their spoils. We burn everything. Why? Because there was idolatry. There's idolatry, oh, but there's a nice car I can get out of this. No, no, no, no. It was used for idolatry. You don't want anything. You want to start fresh. You want to start clean.

12:36
There's an important thing about this is we? Rosh Hashanah is just behind us. It's not behind us, it's in us right now. We're right now in the 10 days of repentance. 10 days of repentance are very powerful days. Very powerful days because we're demonstrating why our argument in front of God should be accepted.

12:57
What was our argument in front of God? Rosh Hashanah? God, give me another year. Give me another year. What does God say? Well, what did you do for me this year? I gave you so much skill, I gave you so much talent. I gave you so much ability. I gave you so much health. What did you produce for me? Let me explain. All right, so we go into an explanation on Rosh Hashanah. We say God, please, next year we're going to be different. Next year is going to be better. God says why should I believe you this year? Well, you told me the same thing last year. You said it's going to be different.

13:26
So, today and tomorrow and the next six days, seven days through, yom Kippur is the time, is the opportunity for us to demonstrate in action how we are changing, to demonstrate we're different, how we are changing, to demonstrate we're different. It's a phenomenal thing that we have this time to affect change. To affect change. So we see over here, hashem will deliver them before you. And now you will do according to the commandment that I commanded you. We are going to have an opportunity, the commandment that was given to Moshe, commanded to the Jewish people. You're going to enter into the land of Israel. You need to start fresh Now. It's a very interesting thing.

14:31
During these 10 days, we do something very unique that we don't do the entire year we take on a stringency. The Halacha says you should take on a stringency. For example, halacha says that a person should be careful to only eat bread made by a Jew. Now, during the year, you don't have to necessarily be stringent about this, but during the 10 days, the halacha says be stringent about this. Let me ask you a question who are we fooling? For 10 days, we're going to be stringent about something, but then it doesn't make a difference. Who are we fooling? For 10 days, we're going to be stringent about something, but then it doesn't make a difference. Who are we fooling? Who are we kidding?

15:11
As soon as Yom Kippur is over, let's go back to the party, eat whatever bread you want, eat the different. Whatever you want is fine, everything goes. What's going on here? So we have to know that the beginnings of things are critical. Critical.

15:34
For example, the Talmud says that I think it was Rav Huna who said or one of the great Tanayic sages said if every scholar died and nobody, nobody, nobody was survived. Nobody survived. It's only me, I'll bring back the Torah to its greatness. They asked him how are you going to do it? It was a Talmud that we studied actually. How are you going to do it? It was a Talmud that we studied actually. How are you going to do it? He said well, I'm going to find five individuals and I'm going to. He said first I'm going to catch a deer, I'm going to slaughter the deer properly, I'm going to first. He says first I'm going to cut flax, I'm going to make a net, then I'm going to cut flax, I'm going to make a net. Then I'm going to catch a deer. Then I'm going to slaughter the deer, I'm going to take its hide and write a Torah. Teach each one of these five students one of the books of the Torah and each one will teach the other everything he's learned, and then you'll have a whole discussion, and then we'll have the Mishnah, we'll have the Talmud. Everything will come out from it. Can't you go to Bass Pro Shop and buy yourself a net. You got to plant the flax, you got to cut the flax, you got to make the net, then you got to catch a deer. I mean, cut out the part of the process here that's unnecessary.

17:06
Sages, tell us the reason. Why is because when you are at the beginning, at the foundation of something, it needs to be with absolute purity, because you're laying down the foundations. You're laying down the foundations for the entire future comes from now. We talked about this when we talked about when people go. When a woman goes to the mikvah and she's going to be with her husband, they need to have pure thoughts, because the thoughts during the relations that they're having is really what they're implanting into this child. You talk, doctors here, doctors in the house, folks, doctor, that they're having is really what they're implanting into this child. You talk it's like doctors here, doctors in the house, folks, doctor.

17:50
The deep psychology of a child starts already from pregnancy right the safety that they feel with their mother. If there's chaos, it has an impact on the child, but the child isn't born yet. Nine months later, it already has an impact on the child, but the child isn't born yet. Nine months later it already has an impact, deep psychological roots into the way we act has already back from. Oh so doctor's saying an amazing thing. I'm just repeating it to our audience. Doctor said that in the case of pregnancy where the mother is clinically depressed, seriously depressed, typically you would wait till after the pregnancy. But because it has such a severe impact on the fetus, on the baby, we already give medication during the pregnancy. Fetus on the baby. We do, we already give medication during the pregnancy because it has such a strong impact on that baby and definitely the early years of a baby's life where it needs to have that love and it needs to feel cherished so that it can feel worthy of being loved later in life.

18:55
These are all things that are built in the beginning is so fundamental. It says an amazing thing that at the time of the temple, when, god willing, the third temple will be rebuilt today, get ready, pack your bags, we're heading to Israel and we pray for this every day. Moshiach blows the shofar and we're ready to go. It says that everybody, the rabbis, the students, the craftsmen, everybody goes and starts laying bricks and building the temple, everybody, except for the school children learning Torah. You don't interrupt them. You don't disturb them. Why not? You don't disturb them why not? Because they're at the beginning stages of laying the foundations. The foundation is the most important in any construction. We all know if the foundation isn't good, you can build the most magnificent house. You'll have cracks in the walls, you have cracks in the ceilings, you're going to have cracks in the floor. It's not going to be a good thing. The foundation is the most important part, you know.

20:03
Another example of this is Noah in the ark. You know he came out limping. Why did he come out limping? Everybody knows the story Because the lion bit him. Why did the lion bite him? Why, mr Lion, can you not be so impatient? Okay, do you realize how Noach is so busy? Do you realize how Noach was spending every waking moment feeding every single animal? And everyone has a different schedule and everyone has a different menu. Oh, tiger, I got to get you your food and you know what's the pandas, and everyone has a different menu. Oh, tiger, I got to get you your food and you know what's the pandas. I got to get you your food. I got to get you. You know what was that. They eat the. No, no, they eat the palm, the bamboo. They eat the bamboo. Right, I have to get them the bamboo, every animal. I had to get them exactly what they needed.

20:57
He's a minute late to the lion. The lion bites him. Our sages tell us, when I'm the only lion left on planet Earth, you don't be late, okay, because all future lions come from me. You understand, it's a lesson our sages tell us. This is a lesson that we're learning about the importance of. You're about to establish the future of all lions, the king of all animals, the lion king, the king of all the end, the king of the wild. You don't be late to me, not because he's a king, because I'm the only thing that's left. I'm about to establish the rest of the Lion Empire. This is it that's left.

21:51
It's so important that the beginning of our year be in the greatest perfection we can perform, the greatest way in which we could act, which is why, when the Jewish people are about to enter into the land of Israel, it's not like they weren't observant then. It wasn't like they weren't studying Torah then, when they were in the desert and all of those encampments, the 42 encampments. But now you're going into the land of Israel, now you need to have the Torah right there so that when you going into the land of Israel Now, you need to have the Torah right there so that when you go into the land, you're able to establish yourself with the Torah that you're studying. You're going in, you're at the beginning. Don't waste the opportunity, don't let, don't let habit creep in. Start on the right foot. You're going in, going with a bang, going with all the tools you need to succeed.

22:47
So now, what does Moshe tell the Jewish people? Amazing, amazing words be strong and be courageous and don't be afraid. Be strong and be courageous and don't be afraid and don't be broken spirited Before your enemies, because Hashem, your God, it is he who goes with you. He will not loosen His hold on you, nor will he forsake you. My dear friends, you hear these words. This is not some rabbi saying this. This is God communicating to us through His Torah. He's telling you I will not loosen my grip on you. I am there when we see in the United Nations that 14 to 1 nations say they want to recognize a state of Palestine and only the United States stands up which, by the way, the reward that the United States gets for this, for standing up for the Jewish people. This is a promise that the Torah says that those who bless you will be blessed, that those who bless you will be blessed and those who curse you will be cursed.

24:01
Go look at France. Go look at France. You want to see a cursed land? Go look at France. A friend of mine told me he was there this summer. He says you can't recognize the place. There are areas that they Literally. There are apps that tell you Danger zones. Do not walk there. Do not walk there. Do not go there. We're talking about the fine people of Europe, germany, the same.

24:29
What's going on? If you don't bless the Jews, you curse the Jews. You'll be cursed. It's your choice and America, for some reason, has always been on the side of blessing the Jewish people. It's an unbelievable. You should know. I think, and I believe this wholeheartedly that this is the reason America still stands today. It's a blessing that they bring upon themselves us as an American people, united States citizens, by voting representatives who are supportive of Israel. Yeah, we have to worry about the United States too, that's true, but if you want blessing in your land, those who bless you will be blessed. Those who curse you will be cursed. We choose our own destiny. But we're worried. We're looking like what's going on. Why do they hate us? The Torah already tells you that this is going to happen. The Torah already tells you they're going to hate you. The Torah tells you they're going to be jealous. You have the manual for living. You have the manual to how to raise a good family.

25:41
We just mentioned earlier that Charlie Kirk would keep Shabbos, in that he wouldn't use technology on Shabbos During the Jewish Shabbos. The Jewish Sabbath is what he called it, the Jewish Sabbath. And, by the way, when Jewish students came over to him and asked him, what do you say for the Jewish students? He said keep the Shabbos. God tells you in the Torah, exodus 20. God tells you work six days, rest on the seventh, and I can tell you many students that started keeping Shabbos because of him Jewish students. It's an inspiration. We should be the ones inspiring them. We should be the ones inspiring them. That's our job To tell the Jewish people what an amazing delight Shabbos is. By the way, this is what the Torah says. The Torah says it.

26:33
The Midrash uses a term. The Midrash uses a term. It says that God said I have a treasure in my safe V'shabas Shema. Its name is Shabbos. Go give it, let the Jewish people know. It doesn't say give it to the Jewish people. It says let them know, because the Jewish people don't necessarily understand. It says leich ve'hodiyem. It means Jews have to understand. Jews have to be informed of what an incredible treasure it is, because there are many people I've heard over the years.

27:09
Now I'm in my 21st year here in Houston, 20 full years in Houston, and it's been a remarkable journey. I've met so many incredible Jewish people here. I love every. I'm telling you I feel like I'm the luckiest man on earth because I feel like I have the greatest gift that I can learn Torah with so many incredible people. Each and every one of you who come here today, those of you who are learning online. Thank you so much for joining us. But do you know what a gift that is to study Hashem's word and to share it with the world?

27:40
I've had people tell me, rabbi, shabbos is the biggest problem. It's not a gift. What are you talking about? It's a treasure. What are you talking about? It's a treasure. You're telling me I can't go to the mall on Shabbos. I enjoy going to the mall. You're telling me I can't go to the mall on Shabbos, I enjoy going to the mall. You're telling me I can't go to the movies on Shabbos, I enjoy going to the movies. You're telling me I can't go to the beach on Shabbos, I enjoy going to the beach.

28:03
That's my day off. It doesn't say it's a day off. It doesn't say it's a day of rest. It's a day of not working in creative labor, of not working in creative labor. It's a day of not doing things. It's a day of being. You have six days. Do things, do things. Do things creatively, meaning creative labor.

28:31
Turn the light on and off all Tuesday, all All Wednesday. Turn it on and off. Shabbos, let it be. Shabbos exists in a godly realm. Shabbos be close with Hashem. All the food is cooked, you don't have to worry about it. All the lights are set, you don't have to worry about it. The air conditioner, the temperature, all taken care of. You know what you have to do. Just be. Spend time with your family, spend time with your friends and neighbors, spend time with God, spend time alone. The whole week we're busy checking our phone, checking our messages, checking the news, checking this, checking that, checking the stocks, checking it. Don't check anything. Shabbos, just be Bask in the relationship with Hashem. Hashem and, by the way, all expenses paid. It's an all expenses paid endeavor, it's a promise. Every dollar you spend for Shabbos will be reimbursed to you. You know what promise is that?

29:43
The Torah? I like steak. I want to buy steak for Shabbos. Buy it. But how am I going to afford it? Hashem says it's on me, it's on me. You know how much of it is on Hashem. 100% of it, 100% your expenses. For Shabbos, I can get two pieces of fish the nicer fish or the.

30:05
You know there's a story in the Talmud. The Talmud says that one of the great Tanayic sages went to the marketplace on Sunday. He's like, ooh, what a great piece of meat for Shabbos. He buys it. He goes back to the marketplace on Monday. He's like, whoa, this one is even better. I'm going to use this one for Shabbos. See, he bought the next one for Shabbos. What happened to the first one? He ate the first one on Monday. He kept the one from Monday for Shabbos. Tuesday he goes back to the marketplace. He says this is amazing, this is even a better cut of meat. And he buys it for Shabbos.

30:38
For Shabbos, the Gemara says at the end what did it turn out? That the whole week he had the gift of Shabbos, because he bought it for the intention of Shabbos. Every day he saw he found a better peace. He found a better peace for Shabbos. That's the gift, the gift that we have, that every day we can be living in a Shabbos mode, every day, in a Shabbos mode, every day. In a Shabbos mode when every day we feel that closeness, we feel that love, we feel that overwhelming kindness from Hashem. Hashem says now, just be, you're going to work too hard, you're going to burn out. It's an amazing thing.

31:18
In our prayer on Shabbos, we say something really unique. We say Yismach Moshe b'matnas chalko. This is Shabbos morning. Moshe was overjoyed by his portion. Moshe rejoiced in the gift of his portion. What is this talking about? That you called him a faithful servant. Or say just tell us, you know what this is about.

31:56
Moshe negotiated with Pharaoh. The Jewish people were all slaves in Egypt and Moshe goes over to Pharaoh. He says Pharaoh, you're a wise man, you have great intelligence, you're such an accomplished person. I can't believe you overlooked this one. He says me, I overlooked something. What did I overlook? He says your slaves, those Jews. They're going to burn out. They're going to burn out. You're working them from morning to night, every single day. They're going to burn out. He says you know something? You're right, I did overlook that. He says what do you recommend? I recommend you give them a sabbatical Every seven days. Give them a day off. That way they come back to work Sunday morning all re-energized. He says thank you, moses, that's a brilliant idea. What day should I give off? He says this day.

32:44
Our sages tell us that Moshe selected the day which happened to have been Shabbos, and Moshe was overjoyed. You're right. Moses rejoiced in the gift of his portion, meaning the day that he selected to be the day off for the Jewish people was exactly the day of Shabbos. And that was the gift that Moshe felt like he was able to align the needs of the Jewish people with the actual day of Shabbos. That it wasn't a Sunday, it wasn't a Monday and it wasn't a Tuesday, wednesday, thursday or Friday. It was Shabbos. It was specifically the day of Shabbos that the Jewish people had, that day of Yismach Moshe. He was so overjoyed that he picked the right day, the day that was actually Shabbos, and Pharaoh went for it, and the Jewish people were off on Shabbos.

33:37
You see what an amazing thing. We see this in the nature of creation, where God says you need, if you go to Dr Rosenstock and you say, doctor, I'm so overwhelmed, so much work and house responsibilities and this, and that you start telling him he's like you sound very overwhelmed, maybe you should take a little break. You should take a little break, right? That's what Shabbos is. Shabbos is the day off. Shabbos is the day for us to just be close to ourselves, disconnect from the world, disconnect from the newsfeed, disconnect from everything, from work, from everything. Just be you. It's time to spend time with your wife and children. It's time to spend time with your community. It's time to just to have free time. Everyone's always running, we're always running. My dear friends, it's getting late already. We need to remember the gift that God gave us.

34:36
He says you're about to enter into the land of Israel. Here's the document 13 copies of the Torah were written. Moshe gives one to each tribe so that everybody has a copy. The exact same Torah, no difference. There's the 13th one, which is put into the ark. The first thing to enter into the land of Israel is the ark. Oh, that means what precedes the Jewish people walking in is the ark. Oh, that means what precedes the Jewish people walking in is the Torah. The first thing we're already there. We're entering into the land of Israel. There's already the Torah there waiting for us saying, ah, now we've met. There's the perfection of the Jewish people coming into the land and the Torah that's already in the land because it was their first. And you're in your land. It's a unification of the Jewish people, the Holy Land and the Torah. This is the bond, the everlasting bond of the Jewish people is having the Torah to guide us, having the Torah to mentor us. And I beg, I beg and I implore for each and every one of us to just sit and enjoy reading the Torah. Just take it for a second. You know, it's like I always wonder what would happen and maybe I should start. I'm happy to start the movement to do this.

35:54
You walk into every single hotel room almost in the country and there's some Bible, there's the Book of Mormon. Sometimes you'll find, depending on what they sold them at the front desk, which one should be placed in which room. Imagine if there was a Torah, a Tanakh. Maybe we should make that recommendation A Tanakh, just the Torah, that someone can open it up and read and feel that closeness to Hashem, creator of heaven and earth, the one who took us out of Egypt. Yes, anokhi, hashem Elokecha, asheretz, haseech HaMeretz Mitzrayim, the OG, what we call the original gangster Right, not the one who came back later. They say he came as an image of a man or someone who had a prophecy.

36:47
We don't bow down to Moshe. We don't see any mention of Moshe as being right. By the way, it's very interesting there's an entire portion where there's no mention of Moshe at all, no mention of Moshe. His name is not mentioned, so that we don't think that Moshe becomes our idol, so that we don't get to start saying, plus, we don't know his place of burial. For this reason as well, we don't idolize Moshe. We don't see it being like a figurehead for the Jewish people, because we go directly to the source.

37:30
We go directly to the almighty God, creator of heaven and earth, who took us out of Egypt, who brought all of the plagues on Egypt, who split the sea, who passed us through on dry land, who protected us when we were in the desert in all of our stops. Snakes and scorpions didn't affect us. Hashem protected us from the burning sand of the desert. Hashem protected us from the heat of the desert. Hashem protected us from the heat of the desert. Hashem protected us from the winds of the desert. And soon we will all be leaving our homes and going into the Sukkah.

38:09
In a week, in a week and a few days, we're going to be moving out of our homes into the Sukkah, representing that miracle that we experienced, leaving our comfort and saying you know what jewish people survived in the desert? They were protected from the wind, they were protected from the hail, they were protected from the sun, they were protected from the snakes and scorpions. We're demonstrating that we're devoting ourselves to hashem the same way in which they did in the desert. We're not afraid. We realize we're in the hand of Hashem.

38:45
Ve'al tartsu, do not be broken-spirited. Mipnei hem, because all of the nations they hate us. There's so much danger out there, why Lo yarpech hovela yazveka? Hashem will not let go of you. Hashem is there to protect you. This is the promise in the Torah and we need to feel it in our bones every single day of our lives. Hashem should bless us all to adapt this into our daily consciousness and to live with a comfort of knowing that we have Hashem's protection at all times. Hashem will not let go of us ever. Look at the Jewish people. Look at what we've gone through. There's no nation on planet Earth that's gone through what the Jewish people went through, and there's no nation that has contributed more to society in every generation, not only in the 21st century. There's no nation on planet Earth that has contributed more than the Jewish people None.

39:49
Because just because we were hit like a whack-a-mole, every time we picked up our head, we were hit again, hit again, hit again. Hit by the Germans, hit by the Spanish, hit by the British, hit by you name it. We still never complained. Moved to the Spanish, hit by the British, hit by you name it we still never complained. Moved to the next land and started all over again. They took away our homes, started all over again. They took away our money, started all over again. They took away our families. We started all over again, because we're not here to be complainers. We're here to accomplish, we're here to do a job, we're here to show the world the Yedakol Pa'ul, kiata Fi Alto.

40:30
We say this in our Rosh Hashanah, yom Kippur, prayers that every person should know. Every human being, every creature should know that Hashem is the one who gives us the ability to function in this world. And as soon as we have that clarity in the world, we'll hopefully merit to the restoration of our temple in Jerusalem speedily. In our days, my dear friends, have an amazing Shabbos. Well, it didn't need editing because it's a God-given document, but everything was added into it correct, yeah, 100%. So it's very important what you're saying, what you're bringing out. I'll leave this on the podcast part.

41:06
Indeed, the Torah that was given to us. We say the Torah was given to us at Sinai. What was really given to us at Sinai was the revelation, the relationship, the way our sages explain it is that the Torah is like the souvenir. You go to France. You don't go for the keychain that you leave with or the coffee mug that you leave with. You go to be at the Eiffel Tower and to see it, but how are you going to encapsulate that and bring it back so when you're at 1000 Uptown Boulevard, park Boulevard, so that when you're there, that you now remember the experience that you had back then?

41:45
Now we're 3,300, some odd years ago, since the revelation at Mount Sinai, how in the world will we be able to bring back that revelation that we had back at Mount Sinai? That's the Torah. Every mitzvah, 613 souvenirs that we have, every mitzvah, 613 souvenirs that we have, every mitzvah is an opportunity to bring back that revelation, that clarity that we had, just like we had at Mount Sinai. So Mount Sinai was the place where the Torah was given, in the sense that the revelation was given there, the precepts were given there, the Ten Commandments, everything else branches out from that and that was elaborated on all the way till the Jewish people had it finalized in the Torah that was written All right, my dear friends, have a great Shabbos. Thank you so much!

42:29 - Intro (Announcement)
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