Parsha Perspectives - Devarim

Good morning, Boker. Welcome back to Para Perspectives for today. So glad and grateful to be together again for this week. Just a reminder of our schedule. We're together this week. Then we're off again for a few weeks and then at the end of August, we will resume Mr. Hashem going forward. Want to thank as always our very generous series sponsors, our dear friends Becky Avi Katz and family who've dedicated our para perspective shurum in memory of David Gman, Becky's father. Our learning should be ben. This morning we have the privilege of beginning the fifth and final book of the Torah. That is the book of page 938 in the earth scroll stone. [Music] These are the words. These are the words that Moshe began to speak. and we've looked in the past. We won't get into it again today. You could always, of course, find our previous sherm online, particularly while I'm away. Feel free to review pre previous years or listen to many other far superior, incredible teachers of Torah. But we've discussed in the past, how ironic that Mosher Aenu, our quintessential leader, Moshe, the great Moshe, who bursts onto the scene, whom when Hashem tries to recruit him to be the leader, his response, he hesitates, he demurses by saying, I'm not a man of words. That same word, I'm not a man of words. And that same Moshe our para begins by these are the many many words indeed we know that this para represents the last weeks of Mosha's life this is his monologue this is his saliloquy this is his final charge as the people are on the cusp of entering the land really the story of the sojourn through the desert came to a conclusion last week m and now dvaram these are the words a whole book oneif of the Torah These are the words of Moshe. So that same man the all of a sudden he discovers his words and maybe we will reference it by starting with Rabbi Saxs. Rabbi Saxs again there's a coming out. I don't know if it's out yet. I have a advanced copy. It's a collection of Rabbi Rabbi Sax's insights all organized on the Kesh and according to the para and Rabbi Sax says this in introdu in introducing this safer the Hebrew name of the Mosaic books convey important insights into the nature of the safer. The fifth book of the Torah is named in Hebrew words taken from the opening. The whole of Torah is words. What then is the connection between the title of this particular book and its contents? What is Torah if not a collection of words? So really all five books the totality of Torah deserve to be called Dvarim words. Why specifically this fifth book? What is it about this fifth safer that's called? So Rab Saxs says the following. The first connection is Moshe himself. He is a man transformed. Recall his words to Hashem at the burning bush the very outset of his mission. Hashem said please God. And Moshe said please God. I am not a man of words. I am I am slow of speech and tongue of Moshe alone, more humble than any other man on earth. Could it be said that his words were the words of God? It was precisely because he said, "I'm not a man of words," that he became the man of Dvarim, the one whose words were not his own, but those of the divine presence, the schina, speaking through his lips, the most eloquent spokesman of God in all of history. It's not despite or ironic or contradictory that Moshe introduces himself as and now he has all these words. It's specifically says Rabbi Sachs the man who's the man who will not distort or pervert or manipulate or compromise or editorialize God's words because he's not a man of words himself. He is the perfect ambassador. He is the perfect vehicle to communicate the word of God because he's he is reliable, dependable, and faithful that what he will transmit is unadulterated. It comes directly from Hashem. So often today in life in general, maybe all of history, people insert and they inject their own editorial comment, their own commentary, their own bias, their own ideas. How do you know if what you're accessing is true, is authentic? Because Moshe positioned himself as the low. He is the perfect platform, the perfect person, the perfect vehicle to transmit the word of Hashem. He is the most eloquent spokesman of God in all of history. And he still is today. We call him until this time he's Moshe Rabenu. His title in perpetuity is Moshe Rabenu. Moshe our teacher. He hasn't lived in thousands of years and he's still our teacher. He is alive and well. There is not a day that a Jewish child, a Jewish adult, that in every home and in every shul his name is not invoked, his teachings aren't taught. He continues to be our teacher, the most eloquent spokesman of God in all of history. That's number one. Then Saxs continues, the second significance of Dvar words is that it is the supreme expression of the politics of the word. a society founded on the basis of a covenant, a text, a set of mutual promises by which Hashem and his people pledge themselves in loyalty to one another. So the first use of is about Moshe. He's reliable. He's dependable. He's faithful because he's not distorting or perverting. He is not inserting any bias. Number two is the significance of words is it captures our covenant with Hashem. We have a relationship not because Hashem is filled with power and not because we recoil with fear but because we have a contract, a covenant, a commitment, a set of mutual promises, a text, a Torah. We have words that bind us together. The third significance is that Israel's existence as a nation is not based on power or a land, but on words. The word of Hashem to Israel and the acceptance of those whose words by Israel. So long as the world exists, Israel exists. And because Hashem is eternal and never evokes his word, the Jewish people always exist. Because Israel's very being as a nation is constituted by the words of God, there is always the possibility and promise of return. Israel alone among the nations of the world survives the loss of power land because there is something we'll never lose. God's word given and received in love. Wherever we were exiled and dispersed across the diaspora, we never we lost our land so to say, we lost power and sovereignty, autonomy, but we never lost being the people of the book, the people of word, being those who are responsible for the word of God. God's word given and received in love. Take words, the words of the covenant with you and return. Israel survived because it never lost the words that bound it to Hashem and Hashem to it. That was the basis of its survival in exile. Those words were never rescended. Hence, Israel never lost the promise of return because we basically took our compass wherever we went. And what's our compass? What is the compass of the Jewish people? The Torah Hakadosha, the sacred Torah, a Torah. It's a Torah that is the guide to life, the blueprint of creation, the formula, the prescription for meaning, for purpose, for life. It's our compass and it came with us wherever we went. So you're never lost if you have a compass. You're never lost if you have ways, Google maps, whatever you prefer, the age-old debate. But you're never lost if you have a navigation tool and you'll be able to find your way home. So what is our navigation tool? The word of Hashem, his Torah. So therefore, wherever we were dispersed or exiled, we were never lost because we always had a compass to come home. The decision to call the fifth and final book of the Torah Devor brought together in a single word the three main themes of the book. The uniqueness of Moshe as a prophet, the uniqueness of Israel as a nation, and the uniqueness of Jewish history as a narrative of exile and return. The book of Dvaram words is the supreme expression of the power of the word to link heaven and earth, God and a people and an unbreakable bond of mutual loyalty. Beautiful insight of why this book therefore is called that one word words captures the essence and the theme of this final safer. That is number one. That is number one of Rabbi Sachs. Um, okay. Number two, we'll continue with Sachs. These are the words Mosha that Mosha spoke to whom to whom did Moshe direct these words? Sometimes we see it's the zakanim. It's the elders, the spokespeople. Sometimes it's all of Ben Israel. But here we find an unusual formulation. Moshe speaks to whom. It's not a trick question. It's open book test. You got it right in front of you. whole Israel to all of Israel, all the Jewish people. All the Jewish people. A simple understanding is not only was Moshe speaking to this conference, this assembly, this convention of all of his contemporaries, but I'll call you Israel. As we said, Moshe is Rabenu forever in perpetuity. He is our teacher forever. He's speaking to us. When he said those words, then he was speaking to us. It's always Israel. But the kakar the great reversets who lived in the 16th century he noted that the phrase kra which appears 11 times invarim exists nowhere else in kakar notes k is we have ben is adasah we have all kinds of formulations but those words all the Jewish people only appear in the fifth book invar and do so 11 times until now the Jews have been described as ben Israel the children of Israel. Now, for the first time, they are no longer the children of Israel. They are simply Israel. Until now, they have been linked by biological descent. They have a common ancestor, Yakov, who was given the name Israel. They're part of the same family tree. But now, Moshe is preparing the Israelites for a new mode of existence. They're no longer just children, rights, but are about to become moral adults. Their unity is no longer simply a matter of common past. They are to create a shared future. They're no longer to exist in a state of dependency relying on Moshe and through him Hashem to provide their needs, welfare, and safety. Henceforth, they will have to take a they'll take responsibility for one another. Through this subtle linguistic shift, Moshe indicates that once the Jewish people cross the Jordan, they will become a nation, not just a family. They'll have to fight wars, defend themselves, institute systems of justice and welfare and learn the necessity for as well as the limits of politics. So in other words, Ben Israel, Ben means children. So what binds you, what links you, what unites you, your descendants, your genealogy. Go on ancestry.com. Go on some other gen genealogy website and trace distant cousins and figure out and find where you come from. I'm going to share more about but and I took an extraordinary trip to Hungary and to Ukraine specifically to go visit the graves of her great greatgrandparents who were buried in Busha which today is Ukraine used to be Hungary and she spent a lot of time researching ancestry.com and tracing history and finding it was extraordinary incredible stories we'll find the right opportunity to share in the right time Ben is means you know who I am I am the bottom rung of all who came before For me, I'm bound by this shared DNA, this ancestry. That's the only thing that binds me. I'm the child of the progeny of the the inheritors of what comes before. Now is the subtle linguistic shift, says Rabbi Sak so brilliantly from Ben Israel. You're graduating kinder children. You're graduating. You're not just bound because you have parents. There comes a time some of you most of you know too well when parents pass away and the children have to decide do they come together only because they had the same parents is the only thing that unites them is they have the same ancestors or are they also shaping a future they have a charge and a mission and a purpose. Are they building a future? So we go from ben Israel just children just beneficiaries to becoming co Israel just the Jewish people. It's not just that we have the same altered named Yakov, but it's that we're building a same destiny, a same future. Through the subtle linguistic shift Moshe indicates once they cross the Jordan, they'll become not just a family ben. We're bound not only because we have the same DNA, but we become Israel. We become a nation. We become a people. None of that necessary in the wilderness. Hashem provided their needs, fought their battle, sent them food and water, gave them shelter. In the land of Israel, Hashem will still be with them, but only rarely in the form of miracles. No longer will it be Hashem serving the people, giving them all they need. It will be the people serving Hashem. The nation will be defined by the covenant their parents made at Hari. It will be their constitution, their mission, their task, their destiny. They're about to change from a group of individuals with a common ancestry to a nation bound by collective responsibility. God does not choose nor does he make a covenant with individuals as individuals. He makes a covenant with an entire people righteous and not yet righteous alike. This is the cos being addressed for the first time here. So until now first four books ben Israel children a family for now on 11 times call is no longer a family a nation no longer children adults who are forging a future and a destiny so brilliant so incredible so grateful for Rabbi Saxs says the gate to achel he points us to rashi Rashi tells us, "Why didn't Moshe just call some, you know what a big deal it is? We're talking about two to three million people in desert. It's got this big saliloquy, this big monologue, this big speech to give. No teleprompter off the cuff. Mosher Rabenu, it's a long, long speech. Shabas Shabashua put together times 10 and many more. This is a long speech, the last few weeks of his life. And he doesn't just deliver it to leadership. He delivers it to whom? To everyone. And Rashi says why everyone? Because if you only add some of them there because the people at the local kosher supermarket, the people outside the Starbucks Dunkin Donuts, they're going to be smooing and saying, "I heard you attended that speech of the rabbi. You know, you're pathetic. If I was there, I would have told the rabbi. I would have pushed back. I would have told them off. That rabbi got up and he gave muslim. The guy rabbi got up and he gave rebuke. The rabbi gave up and got up and he gave a message. Nobody talked back. Nobody pushed back. Nobody told them the truth. If I was there, I would have spoken up. So in anticipation of that to what we'd say bourne to preclude that, Moshe says, "I'll tell you what I want to meet with everyone. Everyone to the conference room. I've got something to say and I want everyone there so no one later could say or claim if they were there they would have spoken up. You have something to say. You have an objection. You want to speak up. Now is your chance. You're all here. Everyone in attendance. Anyone have anything to say? Speak now or forever hold your peace. Don't be a big talker and claim later. If you were there, you would have had something to say. This is everyone to the conference room. Big meeting for all. So far, that was if Moshe had something to say that was relevant that resonated for someone, they would accept it. even if they weren't there. And if the thing that Moshe said wasn't relevant, didn't resonate. So why everybody? How did this answer it? So says the when a person hears rebuke or a message when they hear something said they can in fantasy a person can live in a world of imagination and fantasy. You know, the rap I can tell you, I've been doing this now for a few years, and I can't tell you how often someone comes up to me and said, "Rabbi, that speech was so important. It needed to be said. I'm so glad you said it. I hope my neighbor heard it." My neighbor, my friend, this person who's just next to me in sh, the guy in the other minion, I hope they really take it to heart. I'm so happy you said it. It was so important because our Yates Sahara has this incredible ability to make us believe it's relevant for my neighbor. It's speaking to my me. What does that to do with me? I'm perfect. I do my best. I give myself the benefit of the doubt. I'm good enough. The speaker can't be talking to me. This isn't relevant for me. I'm happy I'm here to hear it because someone else it's relevant for but not me. We just go on in our way. But you know if you're sitting there and the speaker you know it's a many speakers many orators will will they teach this like in inical school you know lesson 202 that you should say I'm speaking to myself I'm just letting you listen I'm really talking to myself an audience knows is the speaker speaking to himself herself or are they directing muser to others and they think they're perfect. You know if someone's genuine, you know if they're real or you know if they're fraud, you know if they're counterfeit. So when an audience hears somebody who's genuine and real, who's working in themselves, who's trying to grow, who's just sharing what they're going through themselves, if a person is in an audience and looks around and sees others and says, "Wow, look at that person is better than me, greater than me, more righteous than I, older, more life experienced, and they're here and they're listening and they're trying to improve. You know what? I can too. I can't have you hear this secondhand. It won't land. It won't have the impact. It won't transform change. If you hear it secondhand or third hand, it's not the same as if you're here. as if you are here to hear the passion, to hear how earnest, how genuine, how authentic, where it comes from. To look around a room and see people who are a community that's striving, that's growing, that's working. When you see a dogma, when you see a personal example, when you see an image of someone that you can strive to be and without calculations and without excuses and justifications, then you say to yourself, I can and I want to be bigger. I want to be better. I have an image. I have an icon. I have an idea of who and what I can be. And that can't be read in a book. That's why Torah requires personal transmission. We don't we don't you know order a set of arts shas disappear to a deserted island want to be left alone and not have to deal with any fellow Jews. Torah is b originally it was meant to be transmitted only and exclusively orally. It was a tremendous concession that we wrote down our oral Torah and we only did it for its survival. A very controversial decision of the great rebui in the second century. But until then and in many ways still since then writes Talmud is called Talmud Bavi. It's all mvul. It's all mixed up. It's all disorganized. The Talmud you have no idea where to look for what. And that's by design because it means even though it preserved the content you still need a teacher a teacher student interpersonal to be there an you can't compare just trying to read on your own or being able to hear and see and exchange the energy of and be connected with and to see before you the image of someone and say I can do better. I want to be bigger. I want to be better. I can change. I can grow. I want to ride the wave of this energy. And that's what Mosha was trying to achieve by bringing everyone together says. It wasn't so much only as Rashi to remove the excuse of I was there I would have spoken up. I would have told them off. I would have no it was if somebody hears it secondhand thirdand if they read the transcript of it later that's not the same as hearing it. It's not the same as hearing it. when you hear the the voice when you hear the the inonations when you hear everything it's able to transform you this is he elaborates I don't want to spend all the time when Yseph is prepared to sin Yseph is all alone abandoned isolated in mit he's in Egypt he's working hard and bringing tremendous success to the house of Potifar his employer only problem is Potifar's wife relentlessly pursues and propositions Yseph and one day he comes lassos one is of the opinion it means Yseph ready was that ready that day to indulge his Yates this beautiful woman the woman of the house his boss's wife nobody else is home and she's been relentlessly propositionally pursuing him for an enormous amount of time and he can't take it anymore and he has nothing to lose and no one's around and no one will know and no one will And he's about to indulge and give in when what he sees. He sees the image of his father. That might mean he saw a mirror for the first time in a long time. And we know Yseph was the spitting image of his father. When he saw his reflection, it reminded him of his father. And how could he do this to his father? It could mean to mustuk know. As we've shared many times, the pronoun to yuk know he saw his image. Whose image? His image? the image of his father or his father's image of him. His father has painted an image of Yoseph. Do you know who you are and who you could be? Constantly building him up and lifting him up, constantly giving him a vision of who he can be. And when he was reminded of that image, that vision, that potential, that ambition of who he could be, he couldn't he couldn't do it. He couldn't lower himself. But the simple understanding is he saw in his mind's eye his father. And in that moment, that is what protected him. That's what helped him. He couldn't violate his boss's trust. He couldn't compromise or corrupt himself morally because he saw this image. You see the power of the image of another. You see the power. We should expose ourselves to see great people and to carry their image in our mind's eye. The impact that can elevate and rescue and help us through difficult times. It was the image of Yakov that saved Yoseph. And Moshe understood in that moment that it was his image and the image of Yahushua the zakanim that required co Israel everyone get together and see how authentic how earnest how genuine see a people who are growthoriented and striving and struggling because the impact of that versus hearing secondhand thirdand it's so different to listen not everyone I know watching or listening lives in Bokeh it's not easy to come in person and certainly Having the gift of technology to tap into our Torah's teachings, it's wonderful. But Ana Doma, you can't you can't compare coming in person, the energy in a room, hearing a voice, seeing an image, learning together, being a community where striving and grow. You can't compare to while you're cooking or shopping or on the treadmill or driving, you have it playing on the podcast in the background. You can't compare. You can't compare that experience. Was older. He wanted to make aliyah. I wanted to move to Israel. And came on behalf of the Gdul of his time and begged the you have to remain in Raden. You can't go. The said, "What good am I? I'm I'm over a bottle. I'm old. I have no strength. I can't teach. I I What good am I here? Let me live my final years there." Said, When the zeda is sitting at the table, the family acts different. When the za when the grandfather's sitting at the table, the family acts different. We need you still sitting here at the table. You can't speak. You don't have so much to say. You're not running the table. Just your presence, your mere presence sitting at the table. Everyone acts different. So, you can't go. That's what Moshe understood. Israel bring and gather get everyone together because the impact of bringing everyone is critical one more on this opening and I promise that we're going to get past the opening rash continues we then list all these places what do we say all these places what are we what is this like the AAA book making our way through the 40 years in the why what why do I need this map quest so Rashi tells us this was a an illusion Moshe was giving them muser says look you're going into the land of Israel it's filled with promise and possibility and opportunity you're going from a family to a nation you're going to create an agriculture and agrarian society an army a police force a judicial system maybe one day you'll write a constitution even you're going in Moshe tells them, "You're going to become from a family to a nation. But in order to succeed in where you're going, you have to remember the missteps and where you came from." So, I want to remind you, you're not perfect. You're vulnerable. You're fragile. This world is filled with temptation and and opportunity for mistakes and missteps. But Moshe doesn't want to outright I mean, these are his last days. This is going to be his final message. You stunk here. You messed up over there. You were a disaster over there. What kind of message is that? So he embeds messages through code. Says, "Oh yeah, remember when we were over there?" And sometimes the parent can remind the child, "You remember when we were over there?" The child says, "Yeah, over there is where I got into the fender bender and you had to come rescue me because I was texting and shouldn't have been on my phone." And but you don't have to remind them, do you remember you weren't careful when you were driving? Just say, "You remember the corner of here and there and when I came to get you?" And yeah, okay. Yeah, I remember. So Moshe is embedding this message and we'll get to in a moment why why through the place. But anyway, Dahab through gold. What was the message of Dahab? What's Dahab is a place is a place. Dahab. So Rashi says dah was a reference to they had a lot of gold. When they left Egypt they left with the spoils, the riches fulfilling the promise that Hashem had told them. you'll leave wealthy from Egypt. So they left with all the gold. So says so Moshe says, "Hey, remember when we went to the place called gold? Remember when we went to the Golden Arches?" No, that's bad. It's not kosher. The Golden The Golden Gate Bridge. You remember the Golden Gate Bridge? Golden gate bridge and that's a reminder to theel but Rashi seems to imply that where was the failure of theel that they misused the gold that they were gifted that they were given on their way out of Egypt that wasn't the problem with theel the issue wasn't what they misused gold the issue is they built an idol they cheated on God they were unfaithful. The issue is they built an agel. Not that they, oh, you had gold and you used it on the wrong thing. Isn't that the emphasis in the wrong place? The golden golden gate bridge. You had gold and you didn't use it the right. That wasn't a problem. Should have said, remember when we went to the zoo and we saw the calf and that would have reminded the people, oh yeah, the calf. Oh, the calf. We shouldn't have built the calf. It's the wrong embedded message, the wrong code. It's focusing and emphasizing the wrong thing. Says you see that this was not the wrong focus. This was not the wrong emphasis. This is exactly the point. Moshe says, "Look, you had a moment of panic. I didn't come to mount down the mountain in time. You panicked. You didn't know what to do. And you were genuinely craving a closeness to Hashem. I was your leader. You didn't have me. You built an ael. Forgivable, excusable." But you know what's not? When you take the gift and the blessing that God gave you and you squander it and misuse it and you abuse it. God fulfilled his promise. You left Egypt with great wealth. And what could you have done with it? What difference could you have made with it? And instead, you wasted it and you squandered it. And you squandered it. You see what a powerful message that the is not about the mistake of the because that was forgivable. That was a moment of panic and fear. What's unforgivable is we have resources. Hashem gives us health, wealth, prosperity, energy, talent, skills, and we squander them and we waste them and we're indifferent and lazy about them and we misapply them. That's not forgivable. That's a huge lacking. And that's true in every area. If a person has money, if a person has health and energy, if a person has talents and skills, how we apply it and how we use it and how we use it. And he has again a long essay If you sleep well, many don't. If you can fall asleep, stay asleep and sleep well, and you wake up with energy, what do you do with that energy to take the very gift that God granted you and use it and turn it against him? It's unacceptable. It's inexcusable. It's unforgivable. That's what they did. Hashem gave them gold. And what did they do with that gold? That they didn't use it for a proper purpose. They turned it and they used it against him. They used it against him and that is that is what went wrong and that's why it was the focus not not the ael that was the moment of panic and fear but it's the misuse and abuse of the gold the famously we've said it many times what's the difference between us tells us before whom we will have to give din is judgment what's >> an accounting a reckoning they say in England We'll have to give an accounting, a judgment, and a reckoning. What's the difference between judgment and a reckoning? So the grass says din is what you did wrong. The accounting is what you could have done right. So you use the power of speech to criticize. You're guilty for the criticism that you shouldn't have given, but you're also guilty because those same words, that energy could have been used to compliment. You used money to buy to pursue the wrong thing. So this din you're going to have to give judgment for that mistake. But there's also what could you have done? What impact could you have had positively with the same money, energy, time, every commodity, every resource we have, there's the den, the judgment for the mistake. But then there's also the the accounting or the reckoning for we could have done right with it at the same time. I mentioned why does Moshe embed or code? Why does Moshe embed or code leave embed or code his muser through places? Why through places? Why not Morris code? Why not by winking? Why not through song, through melody? Why not through so many other possibilities? This is why does the Torah why all the places? So Rashi tells us the places he's embedding his mus his rebuke you can still ask the question wonders the great wonders the great that why places you can answer based on a teaching of it that appears in there writes you can't judge anybody don't judge your fellow men why Tell us a mission on the second paric of Aosia. Don't judge your friend until you arrive at his or her place. Says, "Can you ever walk in the shoes of another? Do you ever have their history, their DNA, their child, their upbringing, their background? Who can ever claim? Who can ever say they've been in the place of another? The only one who can judge is Hashem because Hashem is one of the names for God is the place. He's everywhere. He's been in our place. He knows our place. He created our place. And you can't hide from him in your place. And you can't hide behind your place from him. So can decide what and when and how and where to hold us accountable. He can decide. But no man can judge a fellow man because you arrive in their place and no one can ever be in someone else's place. Everybody has their place. Not only physically, not only geographically. We have a spiritual and emotional. We use this in our vernacular. Someone describes, "I'm in a really good place. I'm in a bad place right now." They're not talking about their GPS coordinates. They're talking about their emotional, their mental, their spiritual well-being. In a great place, I'm in a terrible place. But a person always has free will. Even within whatever place we're in, we have what's called the we have that moment, that ability to choose. Hashem can decide where our free will was. There's so much that actually limits or eliminates our free will. What's our IQ, our artistic ability, our athleticism, our socioeconomic status, our DNA? Where do we come from? When are we born? Where do we live? What are the challenges we face? What are the skills and talents and what are the liabilities and shortcomings? All that was predetermined from above from Hashem. So, where's our where is the free will we have within a world of so much determinism? I've had this conversation with some of you about how do you understand if someone's acted in a psychotic way? If someone has what the world has told us, if someone has um the illness of addiction, is that a chemical illness? Is that predetermined psychological profile? is that they're muck in life and therefore they're never accountable because they have no free will or within it there still is free will. The only one who can determine and decide where is the free will of that person even with everything else that's been predetermined is Hashem the Hashem is the m he knows every place and he can see within your place good or bad or where you're holding or where you come from or what you're contending with he knows where is your free will but fellow man can never do it can never do it so Moshe mentions their mistakes in the context of place to remind them two things. Don't judge each other because you've never been in the place of another. But you know who can judge you and hold you accountable? Hashem because he knows every place. So it's not a coincidence that when Moshe wants to use an embedded code to communicate his rebuke, he does it by engaging makum place to transmit both those messages. number one, no one can judge a fellow man because we've never been in their place. We've never walked in their shoes. We don't know what they're going through. But number two, that the one who can is the shalom, which is the Almighty himself. One more on the opening and then we'll move on. Wow, this might be a record. The amaros, what I love about our am I allowed to say that? I don't know if there's another par in the world where you'll have Rabbi Saxs and the Gare of the Mir and Rabbi but they all on one p. We could spend the rest of our lives on one PK. That's how rich Torah is. Every word, every vowel, we could spend the rest of our lives on one PK and not scratch the surface. And look at the diversity of who we've quoted, of the insights that we've gleaned. So he calls the when a person does a mitzvah, a positive thing, the word of Hashem, that person plants holiness, a spark in their soul and also in whatever limbs they use to do that mitzvah. But the opposite's also true. If you use your body, your limbs to do an to make a mistake, that limb is now lacking, is missing, is compromised by how you used or misused it in the pursuit of a of a mistake. And it's hard to repair. It's hard to make up if you've damaged or compromised that that limb. Even if you do a mitzvah later, it's hard to bring it back. So, so what do we do? How can we become whole if we've become spiritually um to cap spiritually what's it called when you have to cut off a limb? >> Spiritually amputated. Thank you, Lee. Thank you. So, how do I'm out of practice. Spiritually amputated. How do we recover? How do we become spiritually whole? The answer is when we identify with and immerse ourselves in and connect with and live with service to the Jewish people. We spoke about Israel rabbi saxs brilliantly quoted the kakar the first four books ben Israel the fifth book Israel from a family to a nation from children to parents from recipients to givers so the is coming from another perspective means is not just one plus one plus one plus one the Jewish people are not just you take a census and then you have our final number we broke the barrier There's now more than 10 million in Israel. You know that 80 years after the Holocaust, we've still not recovered the number we were before the Holocaust, which is a reflection of the atrocity of how damaging the Holocaust was. But if you really do an analysis, it's also revealing of how much we've become accompllices to Hitler eliminating ourselves that intermarriage is destroying the Jewish people. That statistic is because intermarriage we've not recouped those numbers. We've not surpassed them as we should have demographically because statistically because of what we've done to ourselves. So if you take a census of the Jewish people, we are not just a sum total of our numbers that you count. There is an entity that exists called kol. The Jewish people are not just one plus one plus one plus one. Bokeh plus Bush plus it's now zero plus Tel Aiv. No, there's something called an entity called the Jewish people. What Rabbi Salvich called covenantal Israel. Individually we could be lacking. Individually we've made mistakes. Individually we have spiritual we're spiritual amputees. Individually we can be compromised. Individually we're imperfect. But collectively the total the whole of who we are that identity that entity called is perfect. Because when you add all of us up when we complement and supplement one another we present something which is perfect. When you take is and when we identify and connect and are united with who we are as a whole, we complement and supplement in such a way that we're perfect. And that's why the saidim how are we how do we become alladikim said the word comes from the word. When are you a nation? When you are together. So when we are together, when we are united, when we live and breathe, when we feel the pain and the empathy, and when we care and we concern, when we are connected, when we see ourselves as part of that entity that is transcendent, that is beyond, then we achieve perfection, we become part of we are all the righteous. How when then when the individual says I'm not an individual, there's no me. There's no ego, there's no I, there's we, there's the people, there's a nation and there's no me separate than that than them. So you transform yourself that you're not an amputee spiritually anymore. And that's why says before they do every mitzvah, what do they say? They say, "I'm about to do this mitzvah not just for myself. Not so I earn the merit. I earn the reward. It's all about me. I'm not only doing it for my ledger, my spreadsheet. I did the right thing. I'm doing it leash shame is I'm doing this on behalf of this is my contribution to my part of the covenantal community the whole Jewish people and there's another way to observe this he says which is shabas and that's what he gets into is a lash shabas is the second reme how can we achieve perfection what was Moshe saying, "See yourself part of co Israel." You're never alone. You're never apart from you're never away. You're always part of the collective Jewish people. I told you we turn the page page 940. On the other side of the Jordan in Moab, Moshe began explaining the Torah by saying the following. He began to explain the Torah by saying the following. We've mentioned in the past this Rashi, I can't help but say it again. Rashi says, "How did Moshe tell it to them?" In pretty impressive. Moshe spoke how many languages? 70. The nations of the world. 70 languages. The punishment for the tower above. But Moshe spoke Why do you have to say it in 70 languages? They only spoke one language. Everyone there was born in the desert. Remember all those who left mim died. All were born since then. They spoke one language together as one camp, one people, one journey. So why did he have to say in 70 languages? If they only spoke one, they all spoke the same. So we mentioned in previous years the insight because if Moshe was in perpetuity our teacher, Moshe was teaching Torah not only for his time. What Moshe was telling us was Torah is relevant for every generation in every place in every time. Torah has something to say. Torah can be transmitted in every language. It means to every generation and in every time. But is our second the grandson of the says beer. The word beer can mean to explain to explain give a b or an explanation. But the word beer also means something else. What else does it mean? A well. Why do we have the same word for well and explanation elucidation says the inos tells us the Bryson paric tells us anyone who learns Torah genuinely and faithfully turns into a overflowing wellspring. anyone who's teaching Torah becomes this wellspring Moshe he's no longer but he began this flow this wellspring and it continues to flow his teaching his commentary his elucidation it continues to flow but it means more than that it means beer when you understand when you get excited by you become this mayams bear when you have or you hear an amazing var you can't wait to share it with others you're so excited you become a mayan bear you have an overflowing wellspring my dear friend Ben in the 11559 he hears or he remembers a great vartora it's on his status he's telling everyone in the street tells everyone he could find tells everyone he knows when you're excited when you're moved when you're shaken by a varra when you have a be a beer you become a beer a maygab A well, a wellspring of Torah. And that's why it is the same word. That's why it is the same word. Hashem spoke to us in saying enough of your dwelling at this mountain. It's time to move on. Stop clinging toi. It's time to move on. There's a beautiful teaching of the but I want to keep going. So I'm not going to read it to you inside even though I really want to but I'm not. But he repunctuates not but when when Hashem speaks to us why do we always read this P in the week before Shabas in our case it'll be onish because is a mountain it's where Hashem gave the Torah but also comes from the word means the destruction God spoke to us from the destruction telling Shabas that even when you don't have a mdonus you know where you can find me shabas you still have shabas wherever you go in the world you'll always have shabas that's why it's says I've given you a great gift in my storehouse called shabas the bdash was only in your shalim and when it was destroyed we can no longer bring corbanos but wherever you go and wherever you are and I was in some wild places this past couple weeks including shabas And it's amazing because the moment you decide you're keeping and observing Shabas wherever you are, you light those candles, you lift that cup and you make that kdish, you sing that, you transform. You're in the mikdash. Mikdash is in time and mikdash is in space. And when you observe and you keep shabas, you're not bound or limited by this world. Wherever you are and wherever you go and wherever you find yourself, hostages and may the rest of them be freed immediately. But hostages who've come out talked about keeping Shabas in the tunnels when they knew when it was they were determined. You can be oppressed. Victor Frankle and man's search for meaning. Even if you're captive, even if you're held hostage, even if you find yourself isolated, the trip, the flight was canceled, the business trip, you find yourself having to keep Shabas somewhere far off. The moment you decide when Hashem speaks to us, the tunnels under Gaza are that's a place of but Hashem speaks to us even from the place of how he says that to not shabas the power and the capacity to keep to observe to find Hashem in Shabas even when we can't find Hashem anymore in Mikdash. That's the power of this shabas that's coming and we'll see it's a wild chabas this shall you can eat fleshik normally the suda the last meal right before tishab bread ash water it's the it's the meal right before we're commemorating the destruction the calamity the tragedy everything that's gone wrong but this week shabas right before tishab so powerful seconds before the fast will begin you could be drinking wine and eating meat because that's the power of Shabas even the transformational impact of Shabas. have a lot more to say about this particularly shall but I'm going to spare you but now we move to the para moves on so we're sadly running out of time but it moves on to the issue of Mosha's beginning his siloquy and he's walking then through Jewish history until that point and not every way that he invokes and remembers Jewish history till that point is consistent with the way we were told it in the first four books of the Torah and case and point is he begins he talks about the appointment of judges But he quickly pivots to the case of the spies. Perrick page 942 chapter 1 verse 18. He has called I told you everything and we made our way and sorry what happened? Go backwards. I turn the page too quickly. See what happens when you turn the page too quickly. Where is it? They ask for spies. Sorry, page 944. You approached me and you said, "Let's send an advanced people and they'll investigate the land. They'll bring back what's the right way for us to ascend. am give us a little information about the cities that we're going to confront and we're going to have to we're going to have to face. So Moshe reminds them all about the story of the spies. I thought it was a good idea. So I took 12 men. They went you see here Moshe began by invoking which word? What was the verb? Peru. And now he turns to what's the word. They came back with all this wonderful fruit. Wow. Look at the size. Have you seen the breakfast at the Israeli hotels? Have you eaten the fresh vegetables, the fresh fruit? It's nothing like it. Wow. but we didn't go up and you went and you cried and it all went downhill from there. Let me ask you a simple question. They said the land is good. Why didn't the people hear the land is good? In the report was the land is good. The fruit, the vegetables, the breakfast is unbelievable. The schwarma, the hikes, it's unbelievable. Oh, also there's giants and I'm concerned. And here are the military installations. And here are the rockets and the missiles. Here's you're going to have to have a bomb shelter in every house. But the land is good. Why didn't they hear the tovah part? So the main I got a beautiful text yesterday from Natan while who listens and learns. We learn together online our sharim. And he sent me he's in Miluim for who knows how many times. And he said he prepares a duvar tora to learn with his fellow soldiers in Miluim. and he came across this teaching of and he thought I'd enjoy it so he sent it to me. So I want to share it with you. The nature of a person that that which you are predisposed, that which you're predetermined, that which you've already decided in your heart, nothing anyone will say, no convincing, no persuasion, no one will get you to abandon. When you come in with a preconceived notion, when you've already decided, when you're already predetermined, when you've already made up your mind, nothing anyone will say will get you to change. And not only that, you'll read into what they're saying to actually support your position, even if it's the opposite. because they were predecided and predetermined. We're afraid we don't want to go, they even though the report included, they didn't hear it. They didn't hear it. So, we all have an antenna. We all have a filter. We all have a filter. I'm not talking about the kosher time kind. We all have a filter on what we see and what we hear and it only lets through what's going to support our preconceived notions. In the world of social media or online, you call that an echo chamber. You know, the algorithm only plays for you what you already know and what you already believe and what you already have and it's filtering for you to support your preconceived notions and you're not getting exposed to other ideas on another side. And that's what went wrong. And that's what happened over here was that even though the report included tovah, they didn't hear it because they already predetermined, predecided they didn't want to go up. They didn't think they could go up. So forget about it. So they didn't hear the tovah. And then Moshe quickly turns on them. We're going to have to get to this next year. But Moshe and Perk Alf on the next page shockingly he says, "We had this whole disaster called the spies. You asked me. I thought it was a good idea. We sent 12. They came back. You cried for nothing. Shem said, "I'll give you a reason to cry." And then God got angry at me also because of you. Moshe turns to the people and he says, "God told me I can't go in." And you know why that happened? Because of you. Whoa. Is that accurate? Is that fair? Why was Moshe not allowed in? Was it because of them? >> No. Because he hit the rock instead of speaking to it or because he yelled and gave into anger or because he took credit for the water even though it wasn't him. Whatever the hundred reasons are about about me, it wasn't because of Moraglin. Did nothing to do with the spies. So what Moshe just god forbid to even say, but Moshe conveniently found a reason to peg his problem on the people. You messed up. You weren't allowed in. You and because of you, I also couldn't go in. Yeah, that's it. That's why. Because of you, I also couldn't go in. That's not very fair. Doesn't seem intellectually honest. It's not accurate. This is not my question and the beautiful insight we'll share from Rabbi Salvich and Rabbi Saxs. And I have my own kadesh, one of the few I ever had on this, but we're out of time. If you give me another hour, I'd love to tell it to you. But alas, we're out of time. But I will call your attention again, and this isn't Rabbi Saksh again. He points out discrepancies between the way the story of the spies is told here and the way it was told back in Parl. And there are several of those discrepancies. I won't give you the answer, but at least I'll I'll wet your appetite with his question. And he says the following story the spies he tells is very different than version, which describes the events as they happened almost 39 years earlier. The discrepancies are glaring and numerous. He focuses on only two. First, who proposed sending the spies in parl. It was Hashem who told Moshe. Hashem spoke to Moshe. In our para, Moshe presents it as who instigated the sending of the spies. The people. The English does not convey the sense of menace in the original. Here they came says Rashi in a crowd without respect, protocol, or order. They were a mob. This mirrors the people's behavior at the beginning of the story of the golden calf but not the inid we noted a second discrepancy in our para the people said let us send menu the 12 men went up in other words our para uses the two Hebrew words but the accountant conspicuously does not mention spying 13 times it uses the word lassur it means to tour to explore to travel to inspect. So two discrepancies between the way it appears here and parli point Rabbi Sax points out both gives a beautiful explanation but alas we are out of time so thank you for coming will spend the enjoying and eating from the carbonas with the build mikdash we the hostages are home today the soldiers are safe with their families we're taking off a few more weeks we look forward to resuming at the end of the summer and continuing each and every week from there for bonus material material for extra detra for the write up and to follow the schedule please join the WhatsApp group.orgap /sapp you could join all of our WhatsApp groups.