Shmini - Addicted to Torah

you're listening to the weekly partial podcast with Ari goldwag recorded with hashem's never-ending assistance in Roma Beach Israel 5783 2023 this week's virtuous parts of shmini and in our partial we have the Eighth Day La Mala manateva above the natural the supernatural and how do we get into the Supernatural Supernatural it's through the mishkan the Tabernacle seven days is putting up the mishkan bringing it down putting it up bringing it down he's involved in the avoida he's involved in bringing the carbonus on the Eighth Day Aaron and his sons finally the Michigan goes up properly it's up once and for all Aaron and his sons come in and they do the avoida and it's a happy day it's a joyous day the temple is built the place where the Jewish people will connect to God here it is the moment we've all been waiting for and yet at the same time there was a terrible tragedy which occurred as the two sons of Arrow not even a view exactly what they did it's not clear but Hashem says the verses chapter 6 verse 2. fire came out from heaven and it consumed them and terrible tragedy about iron possibly tells us that iron was silent in the face of the tragedy of the loss of his two sons in the shakadash on the holy of holies what greater tragedy could there be and yet immediately afterwards the Torah commands iron a coin and says do not drink wine do not drink any intoxicating beverage it's forbidden for a coin to drink any intoxicating beverage before performing his service in the mishkan and the Tabernacle and although it's not clear exactly why they died there's many explanations the message tells us like this is the message we don't know why they died and the fact that immediately afterwards iron is commanded do not drink any wine we can deduce that the reason that they died was because they had come in intoxicated into the Michigan into the holy space you can't come into the holy space of Hashem with intoxication is so iron gives him a very special Hashem gives iron a very special command a unique command a dedicated command specifically to him not to drink wine now I'd like to share with you Manchester it's a beautiful majors and it speaks at length about the concept of the negative effects of wine and I'd like to understand what the message is trying to teach us because obviously there's there's a there's a request from the majors so to speak or a teaching to steer clear of addiction to steer clear of intoxicating substances but what is the message for us what is that the message for the average person of course we all have our addictions we all have things that can take over our lives but let's see what the measure says and I'd like to bring out a very deep and Powerful idea and something that we can all relate to Adam [Music] posting initially says in in Proverbs chapter 23 verse 30. don't don't look at wine when it gets red what does it mean don't look at wine when it gets red monkey Assad so the Torah commands us that there are certain times when it's permitted to have relations with one spouse there are certain times when it's forbidden when a woman is bleeding there's different types of blood a person who allows himself to become addicted to Wine to become intoxicated so wine has the ability to cause a person to desire something which is forbidden to him to lose sense of boundaries That's The Power of wine wine causes a person to lose their boundaries as I'll tell us when the wine goes in so the secrets come out we lose our sense of boundaries foreign he will put his eyes upon the cup right the cup of wine so it's teaching us that a person has to watch out for that so each day America is a person might might have his wife tell him that she saw something that causes her to be forbidden she had she had some kind of blood some kind of emission and because of his intoxication he doesn't separate himself [Music] if this person I was speaking about who is becoming addicted to wine is somebody who is he's a tourist scholar what happens when a person excuse me what happens when a person is addicted to something what happens is the person permits himself to do certain things and he knows I'm wrong but then it becomes a shita the alternative speaks about this idea that a person needs to be careful that if I do something wrong it shouldn't become my new sheeta my new this is how we do things now not only will it have a negative impact on himself it will have a negative impact on those that he's teaching if he's a Taurus scholar those are these people come to him he's going to change the sack for them as well he's going to be with Tommy the tour he's going to say something which is pure is impure and he's going to say that which is impure is pure okay more warnings Adam I clay said the magic the the the the possum the verse and Proverbs refers to the wine as something which is red so what does it mean it's red it's going to cause him it's going to cause him to become red it's going to embarrass him right a person when a person is embarrassed his face turns red foreign because he is interested in drinking and the the bartender is interested in the money in his pocket he's going to end up spending all of his money and this is what happens in intense addictions the person is so desperate for the thing that he's addicted to he loses all sense of proportion loses all ability to prevent himself from going on this path and he'll spend all of his money he'll clear out his home the guy will say look why do I need such a fancy dish why do I need a bronze dish I can use a earthenware dish it's much cheaper does the same job and then he sells his more expensive dishware and he clears out his home in order to buy to have the money to to spend on his addiction that in the end he's going to sell everything in his home his home will be cleared out in order to drink wine foreign story and a story which has a difficult message like what is the magic exactly coming to teach us and let's focus in on this story because I think that this story holds a very powerful lesson for each and every one of us besides the obvious lesson that the destruction that can come upon a person when he's addicted to a substance but on a deeper level there's something else here I believe let's see this together tells us there was a story with a particular individual micro clay basically he was selling all of his all of his household items and he was using it to buy wine rather than clone the son said of their father look he's spending all the money he's not gonna leave us anything for our inheritance he's just gonna clear out everything and he's just wasting it on on drinking wine so they had a plan as often do the people who surround the addict foreign they got him drunk they took him out and they put him in a cemetery they hoped that he would wake up in the cemetery and that he would have a rude awakening oh my God where am I going maybe he would stop okay that's not how it works with addiction but that's what they thought avaran Shafi Mr based on but listen what happened okay so here there there's the guy he fell asleep they they they they they put him there and they left him in the cemetery and at that very moment passing by was a group of wine salesman they had on their wagons they had on the wagons a whole a whole bunch of barrels of wine they heard a great noise coming from the city nearby sounded like there was some kind of battles going on cries screams gunshots Parkinson they stopped there I figured a safe place to put their barrels of wine is in a cemetery they put it down inside of the cemetery not noticing that this guy the original protagonist of our story was in the cemetery they went to go see what was going on what was what was the action ate the guy wakes up from his sleep foreign he sees right in front of his nose there's a there's a spout from the barrel right in front of his face right above his head he took the spout and he put it in his mouth so he started drinking he was like Wow amazing perfect exactly what I need is right here after three days passed I remember they thought they felt bad and they had left their father for three days in the cemetery they didn't know what happened to him maybe we should check on him they went to the to the cemetery and they found that the spout was in his mouth what a sad story what a sad story they said look Hashem obviously took care of you you needed wine Hashem gave you wine oil since even when we try to remove you from it now some gave it to you Hashem gave you the wine we don't know what to do for you we can't help you we can't save you from your addiction so henceforth the sun's they made a takana for themselves that they would provide each one at a different day that they would provide wine for their father [Music] that's the story so you see a few interesting things here the main thing that you see here is of course the the utter destruction of the person who's addicted to wine the destruction that it causes losing all of his money wasting it all on emptiness being so pathetic so sad stuck in the cemetery and then he's just but the other thing that you see here that the story is clearly telling us is that I say the way that a person wants to go he is brought the way that person wants to go he is brought this person wanted one he needed one he was addicted to wine and the sun's so clearly akure sent him the wine sent him the wine and they couldn't fight it but that's the power of a of an addiction it's the power of better the rutsal of a person the true wanting of a person a person can want something so badly it just arrives there's a story which we learned together in the be talking podcast the alto novarti brings the story of rava Rahul was a great Amora Great Sage in the times of the Gomorrah he had a poor man visiting him and he said the department what is it that you like to eat what are you dying upon and you said I eat fat and chickens and old wine and rubba says you know you're a poor man the money that you use to buy these things is from the tsibor it's from sedakas from charity don't you feel like you're putting placing an undue burden on on your brethren who are paying for your lavish lifestyle fancy foods fancy drinks just then there was a knock on the door on rub his door and another sister was there at the door who we hadn't seen in 13 years and what does she have in her hands as a gift for her brother rava she had a fattened chicken and old wine exactly what the man had just said a moment ago that that's what he wants to eat and rub his saw what happened he gave it to the man he said it's obviously yours I'm sorry I take back what I said I apologize for having hurt your feelings and the alter nobody teaches us with this story and I think we see that as well in this in in the story that we just read about the wine that a person's rot Zone a person's will a person's be talking the strength of a person's desire can can produce results which we would say are not really so good for him and yet as we said the way that a person wants to go about takes him Sam helps the person accomplish or receive that which she desires we need to be careful about what our desires are you need to be careful about what is it that we want and to bring this home I'd like to read to the hamstruct the continuation of the magic says like this again giving us the powerful impact of wine the power of wine in a negative sense but also comparing it to another powerful incredible power we use chapter 23 verse 34 and you will be like someone who is sleeping in the heart of the sea someone who's sleeping the word pashas means the the ravage we'll see the moment the guy who leads the ship someone who is the captain of a ship it's called the rava so someone who's on a ship is being tossed around in the in the stormy seas that's how it is for a person who's addicted to Wine because like a ship which is being thrown around in the Seas that's how this person is up and down and up and down a person who's addicted to wine so it can mean and the word Hebel excuse me has something to do with the concept of which means a rope because said the message it's like somebody it's like a a rooster who is attached to a to a rope and the Rope is not attached anymore to the post that was trying to hold down the rooster The Roosters running around and the and the Rope is running around with it the Rope is flipping this way in that way so too the person who's addicted to wine he's pulled around by his addiction or like a the captain of a ship who's trying to control the ship he's trying to get control but he can't the ship is being tossed around in the stormy sea That's The Power of an addiction he says he could he'll be struck he can be hit and he won't even he won't even notice people will embarrass him and he won't even realize he doesn't have a sense of embarrassment he's lost all boundaries he'll drink five dollars worth of wine and they'll tell him that he owes the the bartender ten dollars he'll be tricked Ness and if you say that maybe he'll wake up from his from his Slumber and wake up from his drunken stupor and he'll realize the the mess that he made that's not the case the person who is addicted never wakes up says the post second here's what we come to the point how it applies to us I believe to whom is the sadness to who is the woe to whom are all of these negative situations to whom do they come let me see so in the passage of the public I would say it means who had the word means speech when a person is drunk they just ramble they ramble if you've seen people on Purim Hashem the rambling often is about how we love Hashem and love our fellow Jews and it's rambling about Tyra to say the truth of the Jew comes out sister of Uno um who is it that ends up in an addiction of this type says rapuna and someone who's not lemisiac if you don't have the proper speech if you don't have the proper thing to talk about then that person can be lost in the addiction of wine and so on the point on the push-up shot on a simple level so what it's saying is that a person who is focused on spiritual matters a person who is involved in entire learning so they're not going to be drawn after or as easily drawn after the addictions of this world the things that pull a person in but of course we all know that that's uh not necessarily true person can be atomically and they can be drawn into addiction there's no question but I would say based on what opuna is saying that the magic is teaching us another aspect another deeper idea and that is that it's possible for a person just like it's possible for a person to be drawn in to addiction to be drawn in that that the wine takes over his life takes over his money takes over everything he's giving everything up for the wine that's on the side of Tuma on the side of tahara on the side of kadusha on the side of Holiness there's always an opposite and a greater parallel what is the parallel on the side of condition if telling us that it's possible for a person to be addicted as it were to Tyra to be to be drawn after Terror just like you have a person who loves drinking he's so addicted to drinking he's in a cemetery and the drink comes to him let's take that and turn it around and talk about Tyra let me see if you have Torah then if you have an addiction to Tyra as it were if a person loves the tires so much feels the benefit of Torah every time you hear a word of Torah it's just like I want more I need more it's so powerful it's so beautiful it's so inspiring the fix that a person gets when they drink wine the feeling it's very interesting because there's a lack of boundaries right there's a sense of love when a person drinks right there's a sense of wow a person can be a person can let go person can let go of of the Judgment of himself of others if when Tyra has learned properly when we connect to our College book when we connect to God properly first of all it gives us better boundaries it gives us the opposite of what the wine does in a certain sense and it also gives us what the wine does the the tire gives us the boundaries and says this is who you're allowed right like we saw before the wine takes away the boundaries of when a person is permitted to be with his wife the tire gives us those boundaries a healthy boundary the human being without boundaries is in real trouble the human being without boundaries is lost in in a mire of of licentiousness and destruction depravity as as things are in the Western world today the Torah gives us the opposite and the terror also gives us love the entire also commences the terror gives us a sense of the correct way of being Terror commands this at the onset of the shokhana don't be afraid to do what's right forget about what everyone else thinks the tire has the ability to be something through the siach through our speech through talking talking what WhatsApp groups are we part of what what are we listening to on the way to work what are we watching what are we looking at we could be looking at the retire we could be listening to music that inspires us in our relationship with Hashem what is the topic of our conversation what are we drawn after what are we thinking about the message she's teaching us that it's possible to be drawn after all kinds of negative and destructive types of speech and and destructive types of behavior but the magician is also giving us on the other side that it's possible to be drawn after and to be focused on and to be constantly involved in Tyra and you know a person says look I'm not I'm not so smart I'm not so brilliant I'm not so good I'm not so good at at studying Torah I'm not so good at understanding but what you see over here is that when a person really wants something a person really wants that wine he gets the wine when a person really wants the Torah when a person really wants a relationship with Hashem that relationship is going to find him production rate is safe because I'll tell us the way that a person wants to go Hashem Hashem guides him but it says that a person who wants to do wrong they let him they let him go but a person wants to do right Messiah they don't just let him let him do whatever he wants they help him out who helps him out the muscle that the measures gives is that when a person is a sells foul smelling objects foul smelling uh liquids for whatever reason like nafed which is which is a type of oil so the person who still was named when a customer comes in he says go get it yourself he doesn't want to get more smelly already smells bad but when a person's smell sells perfumes a customer comes in the salesman says come let me do it with you because uh this way you'll touch it you'll smell good and I'll also smell good and some major shoes Marshall you see we see what happens it's possible for person to be helped and guided in a negative sense and it's also possible for a person to be helped and guided on a deeper level wants to help us with whatever we desire he's going to let us he's going to let us go in the direction we want to go which is the way that we choose that we choose the path of destruction and sadness or do we choose the path of Torah and the way that we choose the path of Torah is by through the siach let me see the talking what is our speech about what are we discussing what are we talking about in our homes like I said what are we talking about the Shabbos table what are we talking about with our children what are the stories that we tell them at bedtime the things that we talk about the things that we're constantly talking about the things that are on our mind those that's where we are that's where our feelings are that's what our rutson is that's where our desire is and wherever our desire is it's exactly where Hashem is going to help us get to bless us I ask you to bless me and I bless you Hashem should help us that we should be able to have the right so they have the desire for Tyra the desire the proper boundaries to to come into the Michigan to come into the Tabernacle without the lack of boundaries but with the proper boundaries with a sense of respect with a sense of love with a sense of rotten of desire for Torah for God's word for relationship with Hashem thank you so much for listening have a wonderful Shamus this podcast was made possible through the gracious donations of listeners like you for more podcasts like this please visit www.regoldwag.com or search on iTunes Ari goldwag foreign