Behar - Times of Judgment, Times of Balance

this week's partial podcast was sponsored anonymously may be a great Merit for the sponsor and their family you're listening to the weekly paral podcast with Ari goldwag recorded with hashem's never running assistance in R Bish Israel 5784 2024 this week's Paras pares Bahar and in our par the very beginning of the par speaks about the concept of shita which is all about our trust in Hashem speaks about yel the Jubilee year and then immediately after that in chapter let's see chapter 25 chap verse 14 it says like this if let's say you will sell an object you will have a business deal with your friend or you'll buy something from somebody else the verse tells us that we need to be careful not to cause pain to our friends now in the pushup shot in the simple context it means when I'm selling something to you when I'm buying something from you I need to make sure that I don't rip you off I can't take money that I don't deserve for this item and I can't I can't pay less than the proper value for the item it causes pain to somebody else as we'll see in the measure shortly it's not only in regards to a sale but it's also in regards to the general way that we interact with with others the Torah is telling us a very important lesson a very deep lesson and that lesson is that when I speak to you when you speak to me we need to be careful not to cause each other pain with our words there's a moment and there's there is causing pain to other people through our money there's causing pain to other people through our words we need to be so careful the P the t is teaching us as we'll see in the Mish that it's so important to be careful about our words our relationships with others our relationships with our kids with our spouse there's there's a way to say let's say we have something that we want to say some kind of criticism so it can be said in a constructive way in a positive way that's very important it's a very deep idea and I'd like to read to you from the M which speaks about it but before I do I need to give you an introduction an introduction because the med brings from theim andamos in chapter 7 and in theim so there's a very deep message of theim I'm going to read to you theim first and we'll see the mish how the Mish understands theim it says like this this is in chapter 7:7 so had a vision and often when Hashem would show the navi the prophet of vision so he would show him some kind of interesting thing an interesting Mar that begged the question of what is the the message what what are you trying to show me with this and then Hashem would explain to the prophet what is the message what is the idea what is the analogy which is contained within the vision that he showed him so Hashem shows him like this Hashem says Hashem shows him a wall a wall which is properly built perfectly balanced a wall which is was clearly made by a very professional builder and then Hashem appeared toi and he was holding an anak now what is the word anak so the word anak is used here we see the me is going to DAR in this word a number of different ways but the word anak means it's some kind of balancing measure that's used for making sure that a wall is straight so first of all this was a wall that was made straight and second of all Hashem held within his hand the very item the very uh Builder's tool which helps the Builder make the wall straight and actually it's kind of ironic that this week in the Bas mes where I study in the morning so they were using a laser uh Contraption which makes it gives you a straight line to make sure that's the things are set straight okay so what's the significance of this item of this object soem says to the prophet says to what do you see and so the thing that was outstanding wasn't so much the wall that was straight but it was the fact that the wall was already made and hasem was still holding in his hand this Builder's tool so the way that the explains the verses Hashem is showing him a vision is showing him a wall which represents creation and the creation of Hashem is built with perfect balance everything is done the ecosystem and the animals and and the interaction between all levels the bees help out the flowers Etc the flowers help out the bees this incredible ecosystem this Incredible Universe is made with perfect balance Hashem created the world initially with d with d this balance represents the concept of D of judgment everything is in perfect balance and perfect judgment and therefore when the human being steps into the world we have to be careful not to bring things out of balance okay the purpose of the human being is to fulfill the will of God maintain the balance maintain the balance of creation continue to bring about God's manifestation which which is then hasem is the the one who brings about Perfect Balance but he still has it in his hand right he still has the balance tool in his hand what does that represent so Hashem says that besides for the general concept of of balance which I created at the very beginning of time when I created the world there's also a continuing check to make sure that things are in Balance the Jewish people are checked there's there's Divine Providence looking at us and saying are we in in congruence with God's will are we in congruence with are we keeping things in balance and Hashem says I am I have this balance I'm checking everybody all the time making sure that they're in balance and sometimes very interestingly says that at some point in the future and we'll see in the exactly what it means but it sounds like it means that at a certain point in history Hashem will be able to stop judging us because we won't be doing anything wrong anymore mhia will come the Messiah will arrive the G the Redemption will arrive and we'll be in our will everything will be in Balance all right so that's the basic P that's the basic verse and now let's see together what the measure says and and let's remember we're talking about the concept that we started out with which has to do with not causing it's the word which means not causing pain to our fellow not with our money and not with our words so the word the same the very twetter root of is Al and the word an which means a balance which means this tool which is used to balance it's the same has the same root of Al so the implication here as the m is going to expand upon the implication is that when I deal with others I need to make sure I'm doing it in a balanced way in a fair way when I sell an item to somebody else I need to give them a fair price when I talk to another person I need to be fair I need to take into account their feelings let's see how the measur says it excuse me says that when you sell an item you have to make sure not to do not to overcharge this is referen in that we just read in stands on the wall of balance on a balanced wall now the word un as we said the balance wall is the same word as which means that Hashem is looking at us and seeing are we balanced in our speech do we care about the way that we say things and the way that we impact those around us this is something which God really cares about this is an important thing this a very deep idea this is a very important concept especially we're in the days between p it's a time of working on between man and his fellow the says first that you have this wall of the balanced wall Hashem was standing there with the balanced tool so what does that teach us was standing there with the two the tool of balance and he was saying look you owe me something it's like a guy who comes and comes to collect the money that's owed to him and he has AAR he has the document in his hand that says Ruan comes and it says on the document that Shimon owes ruin money and so ruin comes to Shimon and says here's the here's the document pay up the loan in a similar way Hashem comes with the tool of balance and says my dear people you owe me something I put you in this world it's not a free ride you have to have balance do you have balance in your life do you have balance in the way you speak to others this is what Hashem this is how Hashem comes to us hasem appears to us and asks us this [Music] question says the med we find another place where there's somebody standing and and creating decrees right in Egypt the Jewish people had been there for a certain amount of time a new king came and he but he stood up so understands that when he stands up so it represents somebody coming with a document that says hey you owe me pay up there were xerus God as thefor explain here God uses the enemies of the Jewish people often sometimes depending on how we're doing how balanced we are uses the enemies of the Jewish people in order to bring Justice Upon Us in order to bring us to a recognition that hey we're off balance hey we're too negative about each other hey think about what was going on on October 6th and heaven forbid we should never have to experience a terrible experience like that again of October 7th but we were out of balance and when we get out of balance with our relationships with others the way that we speak about others the way that we interact with others the result is that our enemies are given [Music] power and another aspect of this is that it says first Hashem is standing there he's standing there's a wall That's balanced and there's he's holding in his hand the balance the balance tool and then the third thing is that Hashem says to Amos what do you see and he says I see the Balan tool that was the outstanding point so what is the Balan tool for Amel besides for our enemies there's a better balanced tool that if we use this tool we don't need the tool of the enemies beautiful if you look at the Gat of the word it's Al Al is one n is 50 is 20 that's 71 what's the number 71 represent it represents the Sanhedrin the great Sanhedrin which was a huge Gathering of the greatest Torah Scholars of the Jewish people where did they sit they sat in lishkas on harab on the Temple Mount that's where the came forth when we are following the dictates of of our rulers of our leaders of the of the Tyra those who guide us to keep the Torah properly so we are in Balance when we are in Balance we don't need enemies to to to tell us to to bring us back into balance we don't need judgments to come upon us you know understand what we're missing when we don't have a basik it's not just about the temple it's not just about the carbonis it's not just about the spiritual experience of course all of those things are true but it's about a place where the Torah comes forth at the center of the bdes was the Kim was the Ark of the Covenant which contained within it the the original tablets that MOS brought down from Mount Si from the the center of the bdash the center of the Jewish people is the Tyra that's the our that's the balance that's how we get balance and it's interesting I'm just thinking as I'm speaking the The pukan Amos amavi was a was a prophet for the northern kingdom of the Jewish people the northern kingdom did not allow its people to go down to the Bas of M to the temple and they became Idol worshippers and they they were eventually sent out into gullis into Exile but the problem was that they didn't have the centering power of the Sanhedrin of the Tyra of who's will of God's will for us they didn't have the balance because they didn't have that balance they need needed to be brought into balance in a different way which was much harsher so the fourth time that the PK says the word an which again means the Balan tool so the fourth one represents the fact that the way that a the way that things are developed the way let's say that you have something which is going through a process it refers over here to to to Tin if you want to have tin if you want to take a tin and you want to shape it so you have to put it through a very hot uh situation has to get very soft and pliable and then you push on it and you bring it into its shape into its form so hasem says as well the difficulties that you that you undergo in life the difficulties that the Jewish people experienced throughout our 3,300 years whether it was when we lived in Israel and we had enemies there whether it was when we went on to Gus into Exile we had enemies wherever we were whether it's now that we're back in Israel part of us are here part of us are still in in in HS in Exile so but every everywhere we go there are difficulties and challenges that shape us that bring us into balance but the end of it is very important and here's where I where I want to come come to a a related topic and uh it says that as as follows at the end of the M the P says as we mentioned that in the future Hashem will no longer have to have to pass by us and deal with our sins the word a it's very interesting the mahu explains that the word meansem will no longer need to be angry at us right all of these descriptions of balance of coming back into balance they represent the fact that we are out of balance and Hashem brings us back into balance and the way that we experience that is anger it's toughness Hashem is tough with us we didn't we didn't get to the place we're supposed to get to we didn't come into balance hasm has to bring us into balance and our experience of that is like a parent who is it was like a child who's getting getting spanked by the parent and they ran in the street and it was very dangerous they need to be patched they need to have some kind of anger needs to be expressed in order that the child never do that again and the child experiences that as my parent is so angry at me why am I getting struck why am I getting yelled at why what have I done that so bad but it brings the child into balance the child learns that you can't do that and it and it saves the child from a future from a future danger say will no longer be angry at us will not express anger at us what does this mean so the Maru [Music] explains and this is important okay because this is where we are right now right we mentioned October 6th and 7th but I'd like to talk about it in another dimension another aspect that there's something called a which means a place or a time of anger a place of time where we pass through very interesting language of the of the madish really it's the gar it's a gar it's a mish in the mishna says that sometimes a person finds himself in a place of danger in a place of anger so what should he do he should say a special prayer a person who's going in a place of danger should say the following short prayer save your nation save the people of Israel at any time there's a their needs should be in front of you what is the what is this this uh the place of passing it sounds literally like the word I as we said it means anger when when when who Haven forbid we're passing through a place of danger we experience hashem's anger we experience hashem's din his judgment that an that tool of balance comes into play and we experience God's anger in the future won't be anymore as we said but now it is we do experience it that way but I want understand it's such an interesting language um God gets angry at us like a pregnant woman okay I don't know bar my wife when she's been pregnant she has good medas she has good character traits she doesn't I don't remember her getting you know angry because she was pregnant maybe she was uncomfortable maybe she was in pain but I don't remember her getting angry so I saw brought down that the idea of the the woman who is pregnant is that when she's pregnant so her belly sticks out and when her belly sticks out out she can't lean over it's hard for her to lean over when Hashem gets angry as it were like a woman who is pregnant it means that just like a woman who's pregnant cannot lean over can't bow can't give in Hashem doesn't give in right when we do something wrong and Hashem doesn't you know bring out his wrath upon his heaven forbid when Hashem doesn't get angry so he's leaning over in a certain sense he's he's holding back from getting angry when he stands straight with the with that tool of balance that represents the fact that he's I'm not going to stand for this interesting language I'm not going to stand for this he stands tall and he says I'm not going to stand for this that's his anger that's his den Rus the mercy that hasem expresses that we pray for that's where Hashem bows down as it were when Hashem gets angry he's like a pregnant woman who who can't lean over he stands straight he St stands heaven forbid with this uh tool of balance there's so much more to say about this I don't have so much time but I would like to share with you what is the concept we're in a year which is called an Iber year which I spoke about in mashiah podcast number 17 right after October 7th I gave a whole description and understanding of what it means the ibra year that the year where we have an extra month the year where we have an Iber means a pregnancy so there's an extra month so the year is pregnant we're still in this year until until rashash we're still in this year of the ior but what comes out of here is something very interesting and that is that the I and this is talked about extensively from that gamar in BR and I saw it mentioned also in regards to mosenu the I the I the secret of the I means that it's a time of judgment it's a time of anger but it's not exactly you know we think of hashem's anger as we've done wrong and God is angry and he comes out with fire and but it's also a a a bringing back into balance when Hashem as it were expresses anger when Hashem as it were it's a it's a i it's a time of den it's a time where the Jewish people are in danger throughout the world wherever we are college campuses in Europe Streets of London heaven forbid in in Israel wherever we are the Jewish people is experiencing a which means that Hashem is calling us to come into balance that's the message that we need to hear that we need to experience when we when we think about all that's gone on over the last seven eight months this is AAS I and it's a special I as I mentioned in the mashia podcast number 17 if you haven't heard it it's still what I said then applied through the end of ADB and on through until sh so it's still it still has a very important message and that's the center of this message but what is the takh home or what is what do I get out of it what do I what do I learn from [Music] it and the the fact that the medish brings this concept the concept of coming into balance in the context of our relationships with those around us what it says to me what the message that it says to me is that what I need to take out what I need to learn what I need to incorporate into myself as we've gone through this challenging year and as the year continues and as it seems that these issues are not going to let up so easily and we may be in for a few like it was with Corona we didn't know how long it would take it seems like that's what it's going to be with this as well but what is the take-home for me what what can I learn from it what can I gain from it what can I work on in this time and I think that the me is very clear the place that we need to come into balance or I would say the place that if we work on this it will affect everything in our life is the way that we speak to others the way that we have our business dealings with others means an imbalance AA represents when I when I take advantage of somebody else with my words when I take advantage of somebody else with my business with my money I have to be extra careful in these times Hashem is standing right now this year I the the Le year it's a year of judgment Hashem is standing with his judgment tool with his balance tool and saying are we balanced he's looking at us and asking are we balanced and sometimes they'll need to pick us up and put us into balance but it's much better if we figure it out for ourselves if we use the tools of the Sanhedrin which is the reattachment of ourselves to toyra to the messages to the will of hasem but most specifically we need to be careful about how we interact with those around us the way we speak the way we do our business dealings I want to bless you and I ask you to bless me hashm should help us that we should be able indeed to gain more sensitivity speak to others the way we should we would like to be spoken to Hashem should help us to be able to say the things that need to be said with balance should help us to be able to see and recognize and and learn from the situation that we're in right now such that we become greater people that we become people who have greater balance are more aligned with the will of Hashem with the way that Hashem intended the world to be a place of in incredible balance thank you so much for listening our wonderful shamas this podcast was made possible through the gracious donations of listeners like you for more podcasts like this please visit www.wag.com or search on iTunes Ari goldwag [Music]