Emor - Hashem Saves the Humans and Beasts

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 partial podcast with Ari goldwag recorded with hm's never ending assistance in R Israel 2024 this week's para is para's Amore and in our paraa in chapter 22 verse 27 the Torah says o says to Moshe as follows that if let's say you have an ox or a sheep or a goat that shall give birth okay so we have a baby goat a baby Ox a baby sheep a lamb so for the first seven days of that of that baby's existence so that that animal needs to stay with its mother and by by the seventh I'm sorry after the seventh day by The Eighth Day so then you can bring that animal as a corbon but before that it's not permitted okay we're going to see together a beautiful medish a few different ideas important ideas but the basis of all of these ideas is that when it comes to a carbon you need to wait 8 days and as we'll see the what is the idea of waiting eight days why can't you use an animal right away so the idea of eight days is connected the mes points out to the concept of waiting until the eth day to give a bris a circumcision to a baby boy now what is the idea here so before before we get to that I'd like to show you the bat in which Echo is what we're going to see in the Mish when when we bring a sacrifice when we offer something to God in the Holy Temple in the BD in the mishon so there are implications based on what we're doing that that can that can be unintentionally implied if we bring the animal on the first day of its existence says the bat so it could look like or could be misconstrued that when we bring the animal on the first day it's because we are dedicated the animal to that which was created on the first day which is Heaven and Earth and that's not okay right the Ancients they used to they used to uh serve one of the idolatries the classic idolatry was the the the Sun the stars and the heavens the moon Etc the Earth they would they would worship the Earth and there are some till this day who do so so the B says we can't bring it on its first their existence because it would look like that's who it's being brought for what was created on the second day of creation the heaven it would look like we're bringing it on behalf of the heaven the third day of creation what was created on that day was the the the Sea and the and the dry land it would look like if it was the third day of the existence of the animal that it's being dedicated to those items if it would be brought on any day before the eth day so it would seem like we're dedicating this animal to that which was created on that day which is interesting because still there is a recognition that God created all of these things now aara Idol didn't have to be something that denied God's existence there's something called Shu which means that you believe in a higher you know an all-encompassing power which is God but you believe a person who believes in Shu believes that uh God is too high and mighty to be concerned with us so let's talk to the his Creations his princes his says the balat and we need to wait until the seventh day has passed seven days of the life of this Animal by doing so once we've passed by seven days once we've gotten through the seven days of creation so to speak as they parallel the first seven days of the life of this animal so there's a recognition there's an implicit recognition that God created all of these things when you get to the number seven and you pass seven you get to eight you recognize that God created all these things God rested on the seventh day and there's a recognition of God being the supernatural force that created all of the natural forces that we see and therefore by waiting this amount of time if it it shows that the corbon that's being brought the sacrifice that were brought bringing is not being brought for any other Force that's created by God but only to God himself the one who encompasses and creates all of these forces that's how the bat brings it down and I thought it was kind of cool because it's it's very much similar to what the M says let's see the Mish inside so it says the animal is to be seven days with its mother meaning you don't take it away you don't bring it to the to the temple as a sacrifice only on the eth day is it permitted it's a mush it's an analogy to a King that he comes into his country he says look any visitors that are here who would like to have an audience with the king with me if they want to have any audience with me they first need to to pass by and be seen by the Queen the queen has to review and and you want to get to me you have to first get past my wife the queen she has a I'm I'm adding this it doesn't say this in the Mages but she has an amazing sense for who is safe to to be seen by me who has a genuine request something that's worth my time so this is what God says shab what's the queen of God as it were what's we talk about shabas say shabas it's the day of of it's a day which is a queen so Hashem says do not bring an animal to be sacrificed before me until it has passed by shabas the animal has to has to have cleared the test of chabas which is the queen as it were shabas that is true for for an animal that has to go through seven days it's it's not going to be possible for it to to not pass by chabas and a human being a baby boy in order to get a meatless circumcision has to go through it has to wait till the eighth day also because this way it will for sure have passed through the day shabas now so the first thing that we see is it's a slightly different uh approach to the same concept that we read in the balat B said each and every day before that it could represent a different aspect of creation we want to make sure that you've cleared all those aspects and you're giving it to God himself the the all-encompassing aspect but here's another aspect which is that the animal or the the baby boy in order to to have his bris they have to have passed through a shabs they have to experienced the Holiness of shabas that's concept number two points out that we have a parallel between the law in regards to an animal and the law in regards to a human being to a baby boy we see that there's a there's a comparison of sorts and we're going to examine this further as we continue reading in the earlier Mish this one is in section 27 uh subsection 10 and we're going to go back to the beginning of section 27 and we're going to see that in the first subsection there's another aspect of this and we'll see how much it's a very long piece we'll see how much of it we actually get to but the idea here is that somehow and this is important to understand the concept of a corbon right we're waiting for every single Shamus every single every single we mention we talk about we're asking hem to bring us back to our land which means bring us back to the land of Israel bring us back to Jerusalem and and let the bdash be rebuilt so we can bring carbonis again bring sacrifices again what are these sacrifices the sacrifices somehow bring us close to Hashem they're called a corbon corbon means to bring close but what is the concept of the sacrifice there's some parallel that we see when it comes to an animal which is being brought as a sacrifice just like the human being has to wait 8 Days the sacrifice has to wait 8 Days somehow the corbon the animal serves to protect the human being right a sacrifice can be brought because represents our connection to God this is a holiday a car a car PES there different special sacrifices that are brought and eaten by the by the one who brings them the K the priests who bring them and then so there's a connection that's forged between man and God and there's another aspect of it which of course is more people are more commonly aware of which is the fact that it's a carbon that the sacrific is brought to atone right but not all sacrifices are brought to atone but some of them are we've done a sin we've done something wrong we need to have an atonement sometimes a woman brings a corbon in order to attest to the fact and and appreciate the fact that she's had a baby sometimes we bring carbonis carbon Tida it's a thanks sacrifice which is brought because we were saved from a dangerous situation but the sacrifices serve to somehow through this animal through it being brought on the Altar and through our eating of it somehow it serves to connect us back to Hashem if we've done wrong or connect us to Hashem where we're expressing gratitude or where we're expressing a connection to God through the through the hog through the holiday that we're experiencing but there's a parallel between the animal and the human being classically they talk about it as a person supposed to think that that animal could have been me that animal could have been me I did something wrong I deserve to die the animal vicariously is serving it as an atonement for me but that's true about atonement but that's not true in regards to a sacrifice which is brought in order to express our thanks to God let's say but somehow the animal parallels us the animal parallels us let's see on a deeper level another aspect of this Mages in in section 27 subsection one says like this sometimes we don't deserve to be saved sometimes hopefully we'll see a little bit more sometimes we're righteous and we deserve to be saved because of our righteousness sometimes the righteousness of someone else El can help me even though I'm not righteous and sometimes there's nobody to save me not myself and not anybody else sometimes God Saves the human being in a merit of an animal right think about it in in our context the sacrifice that we bring the animal that we bring can save us from our sin but on another level even without that just the fact that there are animals right the PK says that when it came to the destruction of Noah in the times of Noah the mble the the huge flood that destroyed the world it says that the animals were also destroyed along with them there were animals that were saved by Noah right God doesn't want to completely destroy all of the ecosystem that he created he wants the animals too there's some aspect of the animals that actually sometimes they can be brought down with the human being their lives will will be lost along with the human being and sometimes the animals will save the human being the M says the human being can sometimes be saved because of the animals around him what does this mean the Jewish people says like this the people of Israel says Master the world we are like humans we are humans we have free will we make choices and sometimes we make the wrong choices but save us like an animal an animal doesn't have choices why why should we be saved like an animal says the menish because an animal follows after its Master because it's pulled after its Master there's a prayer here we're asking God save us like a like an animal what does it mean it sounds very negative but it's not a negative thing it can be expressed in a positive way an animal is pulled by its master we're asking hem pull us towards you the pz says in song of song chapter 1 ver4 pull us after you and we will run after you so mes is saying an incredible thing that we can be judged like animals or perhaps the the the deeper depth of what it means to bring a carbon is we're saying we want to be in a certain way like an animal an animal is drawn after its Master we want to be drawn after you Hashem we're expressing our desire we've made a mistake we've done wrong but we want you to pull us after you Hashem we want to in a certain way give up our free will we don't want to choose what's wrong because that's just what happens we're just like instinctually choosing whatever is in front of us that's not necessarily good Hashem draw us after you where will we be drawn will be drawn after you and we'll enter into the Garden of Eden the the PK says inim that year VI and they will they will enjoy they will relish They will receive sustenance from that which is the the beautiful things of your house and there will be they will be sustained they'll be given drink to drink from the the the river of your enjoyments of your aen draw us after you bring us after you when we're doing what's wrong that's that's a similar idea that's connected to the animal that we bring as a corbon but now I'd like to read to you from the beginning of the Mish and I did it in reverse order because the be the beginning of the Mish speaks of AAS and compares the human being to a mountain and Compares Theus when a person does what's right to a mountain until now we've spoken about we've done wrong we've sinned perhaps or somehow this animal is going to help us reconnect to you God somehow the animal is going to is going to bring us into a connection to God but before that before that there's a different way there's a different way of connecting to God sometimes we need that because we've done wrong but sometimes it's possible to connect to God through our through our righteousness and this is a more powerful [Music] way the PK says in that your righteousness your Sedaka your charity God which we want to emulate it's like a mighty Mountain what does it mean so M says some beautiful things a mountain what what does it mean that righteousness is like a mountain M or God's charity is like a mountain so if you go out to the mountains over here near bees if you look at the podcast you can see the mountains are full of grass there's grass there's foliage it's alive it's [Music] growing aad a person who's righteous who emulates the way of God who's searching to do God's will they have they have good actions they have deeds and those good deeds when we do a good deed when I study a word of Torah when I teach a word of Torah when I do a of kindness for somebody else when I when I smile for somebody when I'm nice to my my the people around me my spouse my children it's a it's a good deed and it's like planting a seed it's like planting grass I mentioned I think last week that we've been developing our garden we've lived here for a long time 17 years in this uh in ra ches and our backyard was a little bit had the grass had died a few years back but we are we planted the grass and we're watching the grass grow we are watering the grass we are waiting for the rain in the in the winter we're watering the grass in the summer the that we do the Good Deeds that we do we're planting seeds we're planting these beautiful seeds now in this point of the Mish so he said that sadik the sikim are like mountains that are full of grass they're growing but that's something that's just pretty right grass is it's a nice thing but it's not the same as the the grape vine that we have or the lemon tree that we have or the Olive Tree that we have it's just something that's pretty and sometimes that sadik do good deeds and they're planting grass and they're planting that spiritual Beauty and the result is only something that looks nice if you look at it side when you look at the person you see this is a a developed human being it's a person who has worked on himself he's become a greater person he's become more spiritual he's become more refined but there's another thing that happens there's another type of mountain you can go on to a m mountain and you can find a mountain that has olive trees and it has grape Vines growing and it has you know all kinds of things can grow on a mountain that are not just to make the mountain look pretty but also represent something that is giving out to those around them the righteous individual is not just there for himself the righteous individual on a higher level is like Karel is like the mighty Mountain who produces fruits that others can benefit from very interesting analogy the M says it's like a golden Bell and inside of the Bell the the the thing that hangs down in order to make the noise of the Bell it's it's made out of a precious stone it's made out of a diamond right there is something that the because he becomes better because he does good deeds he himself changes he has that hidden um Diamond inside of the Bell but it also affects those around him right think about it when a bell rings so everyone around hears the Bell it's a reminder you see a sonic you see a righteous individual it reminds you this is what a human being can look like this is what we can strive for say to the righteous individual that it's good what they're doing is an amazing thing a person who's a sadic who's righteous who emulates God who tries to serve God properly who does Good Deeds who doesn't just care about themselves also cares about others keep everyone around him will benefit from the fruits this reminds me of the it's at the end of Suka the very lastar of Suka that quotes this P this verse and says there's an advantage of living around a righteous individual when you have it sadic and you live near them you're affected by them in a positive way now the magish is going to go on and we're nearing the end of our time here but the magish is going to go on and I'm not going to read it inside but it speaks about the r the wicked people who they have nothing to show for themselves their whole lives are just their lives are just like a a a deep gash a deep a deep depth in the ground that leads to Nowhere their lives are empty cuz they're not developing their character they're not developing Good Deeds they're not growing anything they're just an empty space an empty space the sikim are like the the mountains filled with grass and with fruit trees and the r the wicked are just this empty space that brings about judgment into the world and as a result of that judgment great destruction can happen and great difficulties come into the world but says the Mish says the me with this we're going to finish reading from the medish the the mountain what does a mountain do the mountains if you're on a mountain and there's a flood you can run up to the top of the mountain the mountain helps you overcome the flooding that's coming up from the toim that's coming up from the deaths the wickedness of the world causes rising Waters floods to come understand this spiritually but it's also could be true physically the great mountains are the righteousness the sadik the right individuals we have somewhere to run to we can run up the mountain and it saves us from the wickedness and the the co the results of what wickedness causes in the world we can be saved from that by running to the mountains of the righteous so the righteous serve right we spoke until now about how the animal serves to to represent us if we do it correctly if we have the right thoughts the animal serves to represent us and atone for us but there's another way the M says that we can atone for ourselves without a carbon right today we don't have carbonous unfortunately not yet hopefully very soon we don't have sacrifices yet but we do have sikim we do have righteous individuals we do have people that we can learn from I mentioned sadly my myash passed away recently and I spoke about last week in the podcast and I continue to listen I have 30 years of sh 30 years of his lectures on my iPod and I continue to listen to him and I continue to learn and I continue to to get the fruits of Theus the righteousness that he developed in his life and each and every one of us has a chance has an opportunity throughout our lives to attach ourselves to the sadik to try to find people that we want to learn from that we see are the Harel the mighty Mountains they're individuals who when we look at them we see the grass growing and we see the fruit that they're that they're giving out and we want to eat from that we hear the Bell that's ringing from The Amazing Diamond that they have inside we need to attach ourselves to those people we need to find those people and attach ourselves to those people because we will be raised up will be able to get to the top of the mountain we have to escape from the deepest depths that the wickedness of the world is trying to drag us down to the only way to get up there for us now is to attach ourselves to the righteous and to learn what they did and learn what they do and listen to their words and try our best to be like them when we hear that bell ringing to try to pay attention to what that Bell is saying so that's what I would like to leave you with today so whether it's the corbon itself which we go through we wait eight days and we count through the days and we say no it's not the sun and the moon it's not the heavens and the Earth that we're we're sacrificing to it's only t hasem or whether it's the sadic whose life is the same the human being also can represent and parallel that that very same concept that their whole life is for Hashem every aspect of their being is for hasem however we get to that place Hashem should bless us that we should be able indeed to learn from those around us who are righteous hasm should help us that we should indeed be able to get to that day when we are able to bring those Coronas those sacrifices and wait those eight days and prove to Hashem and to ourselves that God is all there is and Hashem should help us to be able to attach ourselves to him thank you so much for listening have a wonderful shabas 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]