Shlach - Facing Our Fear of Greatness

you're listening to the weekly partial podcast with Ari goldwag recorded with hm's NeverEnding assistance in R Israel 2024 this we para is parl and in our para we have the story of mosh who sending the spies to Earth Israel to seek out the land to see its beauty to see the weaknesses of our enemies and they return and they report a negative report and they say that we can't do it Hashem can't do it maybe Hashem was able to defeat the Egyptians but there's just too many people to to defeat in the land of Israel we can't do it the Jewish people cried became known as the day of tshav which before the onset of what we're going to speak about it's important to to notice and point out that both Shas which was the day when the Jewish people served the golden and the nth of a which is the day it was decreed upon us that we would be in the wilderness for 40 years had the potential to be amazing days really you know we're we're soon you be heading in in just a few weeks to the three weeks to the time that represents destruction of the Bish the temple which goes back really to those original sins of the golden calf and the sin of the spies but those were days came down on with the with the lus supposed to be a day of receiving the Torah of of strengthening our commitment to God and to our relationship with him TSH was supposed to be a day when it was announced that we're heading into Israel and God is going to help us to defeat them but those days will be turned into days of joy in the future where those days do indeed accomplish what they're meant to accomplish but in the present these days are sad days so it's important to understand that it's important to understand going in what is the concept here what happened so I want to read to First there there's really three parts of this medish I want to read to you first the last part of the medish which has to do with our par which has to do with the story of the spies and it's a well-known concept and I don't want to dwell so much on the concept as it expresses itself because it's so well known but I want to understand the comparison of the med to two other circumstances where we made a similar mistake as we did with the sin of the spies I want to understand what is the depth of that and how we can work on this idea and try to reverse the mistake that was made the me say like this this is in par it says God laments the fact that in the very thing that I did the Jewish people a favor I did something good to them and as we'll see it doesn't just mean that hasm did something good for us but it means that Hashem brought us to a different spiritual level a completely different place a different way of interacting with us in regards to his in regards to his Divine Providence but in the very gift that he gave us with this new relationship the Jewish people took that gift and threw it away as it were spit in hashem's face threw it back inm's face sh we find this idea exists in a in in Isaiah 5 vers four what else God says can I do for my Vineyard the Jewish people as we've mentioned here in my garden the Jewish people is referred to as a Vineyard and as a result of that the Jewish people are attended to by the great Vineyard keeper which is Hashem and but at a certain point when Hashem sees that the vineyard is not developing the way he'd like so he expresses a certain remorse and a certain exasperation with us I'm do you know it's like hasem is Hashem is watering the vineyard he's tending to us and we're we're saying we're not interested in drinking the water so says what else can I do for my Vineyard what happened in our context the the spies went and they saw the land they came into the land of Israel says in Isaiah that wherever the Jewish people go we're MIT excuse me we're we're we stick out we're very noticeable whether it's people even if it's people who are not from secular Jews in the land of in in America America in Europe we win a lot of Nobel prizes we accomplish a lot we're we're motivated we're the heads of our political parties where the interviewers in the uh in the uh presidential debates the Jews stick out we're noticeable even though we're such a small percentage of the population so God says look as the Jews walk into the land these Morag they're going to be noticeable the they stick out like a they're dressed differently maybe they had Egyptian clothes whatever it is Jews are noticed wherever we go so Hashem says if the if the people of the land will notice that the Jews are there so then they'll they'll realize it's Jews and they'll they'll kill them so Shem created a situation where the people of the land would be distracted said as the spies came through interesting I don't want to call hearing this part of it exactly every single place that the spies would go so a king interesting a a mayor the mayor of the town or a queen that says the leader of that particular location of that particular state that particular locality would would die and and the people of each of these places would be involved in dealing with their dead they will be distracted and not notice the Jewish spies coming through so Hashem created a diversion unbelievable through hashem's divine intervention not just you know you know God is watching over but hasem came down killed these people killed the great it reminds me a bit of you know the the of the firstborn of Egypt dying sh took the leaders the Queens the Kings took them out so that there would be a distraction and the spies wouldn't be noticed but the thing is like this the favor Hashem says the favor that I did to the Jewish people the favor that I did to the for the spies to create a distraction they used that to anger me they looked at it in a negative way when they came in front of Moses and in front of the people of Israel they said they said this land it's it's it's unbelievable everywhere we went people were just dying there were levias there was ules and and uh and they were bringing people outow to be buried everywhere we went they looked at it they saw of it I could we could say you know this is my own approach on it they saw the they said wow hasem is showing us I'm adding this Hashem is showing us but they saw that wherever they went people were dying and instead of recognizing that it was hashem's to show them this in order that they be safe they saw it as everyone's dying they saw that it's a place it's a land that people who go there people who live there were constantly getting killed I thought that you would be like the forefathers I thought that you would be like AB is and yov I thought that you would have the sense to recognize my my Divine Providence working for you in a positive way this is is so essential and important to understand you're my like we saw before you're in my Vineyard I thought you're going to be like the grapes the the original grapes who I planted Abraham is and yov who recognized that the things that happen in their lives which you could you could go either way you could look at it in a negative way or in a positive way you could but but they saw it the others saw everything that happened to them and positive way and as a result I chose them I thought you would be like that but instead you chose to be like sadom who is sadom sidom was a nation s was a was a a group of people a city s Andor that they had every blessing but they wouldn't share they wouldn't recognize that the blessing is from God and that the blessing is meant to be shared that's why says this is really the first p in the beginning of the M which I didn't read complains as it were or or he expresses his exasperation by saying how long will they be menites how long will they uh say things that are destructive and negative you find this word L by uh by the Ping says that a person who steals and makes a blessing it's called a it's not called that he blessed let's say you steal something and you steal a fruit and you eat the fruit but before you eat the fruit you make a blessing on it so you're taking the positive thing which is a blessing recognition that this belongs to God but you've stolen something so you're not you're not blessing God you're you're saying something negative you're you're using the thing that could have been used positively and a negative way and that's a terrible terrible sin gives us a a beautiful country it's Israel people speak negatively about the land people focus in on the negative and say all kinds of things about how difficult Perhaps it is it's all it's all falsehoods Jewish people belong in AR is the land of Israel the mistake is when we speak negatively about it think it's not for us think that who can't be doesn't have the ability to give us no matter what in order to succeed in life and our parnos and our livelihood we need God's help in order to succeed in in you know the wars against our enemies Etc whether it's the proas people in America or whether it's the actual Kamas people here in Israel we need God's help there's no success without God's help so that's the mistake of the morum and it's unfortunately that I don't want to dwell on it but it's also a mistake that's made today very much now but I want to understand the depth of this mistake and how we can reverse it you know in in the most simple understanding we're saying here that K gives us an amazing positive situation a an amazing Asus in causing these people to die and instead of recognizing the ash of it in a positive way they just say everyone's dying this is a place where they where they die but I want to understand this in a deeper way and in order to do so I want to read to you the beginning of the Mish the Mish speaks about two different circumstances where the Jewish people had a positive situation that they reversed and looked at in a negative way and as a result caused tremendous just tremendous loss of connection to God a tremendous loss in their relationship with Hashem and a tremendous loss in their spiritual level as the Jewish people would have entered into the land of Israel at that point instead of waiting 40 years they would have led them into the land of Israel we would have been here forever we would never have gone into Exile it was a moment that was pivotal in Jewish history we wouldn't have gone into Exile in Babylonia for 70 years we would have been in this Exile which we've been in for almost 2,000 years so it's it's like it makes such a big difference and it made a big difference in the first situation which I'd like to read to you here as well is it says in the the starts off by quoting the how long will the Jewish people continue to to take the good thing and reverse it into negative where it says in the first chapter in verse 25 they threw off all of my advice says you didn't listen to my words of rebuke and understand that rebuke is a positive thing we think of it negatively but it's just the statement of Truth they flipped around all of my rebuke it's very interesting because we're going to see that it's not just a rebuke but it's a it's an amazing positive situation creates for us that we think we can't handle you think we can't handle is saying all the good that I advised you that I wanted to give you you destroyed it you threw it off you removed it from yourselves originally I came down to save you from the hands of Egypt came you didn't do this right I came to save you from Egypt there I was ready to save you says when the Jewish people got to the Sea of reeds they looked in front of them there was the the sea they looked behind them and they saw the Egyptians coming in soping into bring them back to Egypt or to kill them so they rebelled against God right there PK says it they rebelled against God Hashem said I with you here I am I did these amazing miracles to get you out of Egypt I bring you to a point where it seems like there's no return and that's really important to understand this is really what it looks like whenever wants to bring us to a new level in our relationship with him he brings us to a point of no return where it looks like there's no way we can survive think about Abu he's 100 years old s is 90 years old they didn't have any children how are they going to survive how is the Jewish people going to begin but at the moment of of where it seems there's no survival hasem comes in and brings us to the to the higher level to the to the exalted spiritual level Aram and S have a child at the age of 9 and 100 respectively so the Jewish people should have recognized they'd already seen Yeshua they already seen that God had saved them and helped them and protected them but still at yamu they doubted it they doubt doubted their worthiness or maybe they doubted the ability of God but they doubted that they could get through them impossible situation that Hashem himself had placed them in and that's really it's so important to understand this such a fundamental idea it's so deep sorry we got some bugs over here now we shift from what happened by yam which which was the the moment of Salvation that it didn't seem was possible and the Jewish people almost messed it up but Hashem came in and saved us but the next point in time was just 47 42 days later approximately right 43 days later and our C melt the Jewish people said and as a result of them saying we will do and we will listen they received two crowns one foras one forish not only did they reive two crowns but they received two angels came down from heaven and first of all there's different understanding of exactly what's going on here according to this understanding they they each got a belt or or a weapon a a a belt that holds a weapon holds a sword and they got a crown on their head and understand we find also by the T that when the nations of the world see the T which is the crown of the Jew on his head they're afraid of us and we're going to see that there was a fear that was placed not just on the nations of the world in relationship with the Jewish people but on the malim themselves the the Angels themselves the males the angel of death could no longer touch the Jewish people we gained eternal life in that moment we had gone back to the first man before the sin we had reverted although the entire world did not revert the nations of the world did not the Jewish people did go back to that higher spiritual state which we were originally created with where we would never die so they each had understand exactly what it was it was a was a belt it was a a kingly garment a PIRA is like a a royal garment but it had on it and this is important this is essentially important it had on it the name of Hashem God's Divine name his explicit name was engraved onto either the weapon or onto the crown or onto the belt or onto to the kingly garments so what as long as they wore this garment or as long as they had the sword in their hand the the the angel of death couldn't get them so as we mentioned in the beginning 40 Days Later the Jewish people sinned and they worshiped the golden C and MH says take off your crowd take off that Royal garment take off that sword with hashem's name on it you have removed Hashem from you you had the mo for the moment you had an opportunity for eternal life one thefor explain it more explicitly as as to what was the like like in the story of the Morag it's very clear because the morim looked at the situation where Hashem was helping them directly and said oh that's not what it is they threw it away they said oh the land eats up its people people are dying here they didn't see the they chose to deny the of it the fact that God was intervening to protect them here too there's a direct act on the part of the Jewish people because as explained the Jewish people when hasem said which is the sh right God says I am hasem your God they all experienced that one and a half million people all at the same time heard God's voice God said I am Hashem your God so that was the moment where they were now ready to experience eternal life they died they came back to life and that's what the the M says they died and they came back to life which is what happens which will happen by so we need to get a new goof we need to get a new body it's whole deep idea we have to get a new body that lives forever the Jewish people died they came back to life but they were afraid to hear it again and then hasm said don't don't have any idols and they died again and they died twice and hasm brought them back to life twice so they were afraid that it wouldn't happen again that they wouldn't be brought back to life that they didn't have eternal life they were afraid that having the name of Hashem which is what gives them eternal life they could lose that they were afraid that they couldn't withstand it this is the depth of it this is the depth of it m and think about it mosh what why they worship the golden calf they worship the golden calf as K say because the Yahara the Mal appeared to the Jewish people and said look Moshe went up to and he died that's what he showed him right that's what he showed them they showed it they the Mal the itahara showed the Jewish people the beer of Loa the casket and all the Angels were around him made it appear as as if he would die that he died so it reinforced the mistake that they previously made they said we're afraid at having a relationship with God mosha has been up on Mount Si for 40 days they were afraid that having a relationship with with Hashem at that level meant death that's why they chose to create this is perhaps an understanding of why they chose to create the golden Captain he said we can't access God directly we need some kind of in between if it's not going to be mha going to be a golden calf that's the idea of idolatry that's the idolatry of the Christian world we can't access God he's too high we need to have some kind of human being having forbid to be to to help us access that's called that's a very big problem that's s it's called idolatry we don't believe that we believe that we can access God directly but the problem is the Jewish people took the direct access which they had which was represented by the fact that they would live forever that means only Hashem is forever right if if you're in a real relationship with God if God's name is k God's name is engraved upon you so then you'll live forever you have it forever can't get into it completely because we're running out of time but that's the power of the ti the M says the the is a sword one of the reasons why it's called har the three names of the the the mountain of of Hari one is SII one is harim the Mountain of God one of them is in English is a l of Sword the to is a sword a sword which is etched upon it God's name which protects us from the Mal from the angel of death and it's that very sword when we have the Tyra as we spoke about previously when we have the Tyra we're protected from our enemies our enemies are fearful of us that's why it's so important that the LI in the land of Israel the ones who were studying Torah continue to study Torah and not be phased by those the Jewish people need the tah it's more of protection than the physical swords and guns the ti itself is our protection but when we l what's the mistake what's the mistake and we made this mistake also in regards to the man I can't again I can't get into him running out of time but the man also can't get into at a depth the M was something which a person would eat and they wouldn't have to use the bathroom afterwards it had no there was no Silas there was no waste it was completely consumed by the body it was a very spiritual thing but the the Jewish people got afraid they became afraid when they ate it they're like why is my body not functioning properly perhaps this is going to kill me it's a it's a unfortunately normal human reaction when we experience a spiritual situation which is beyond what we're used to let's say we have and it works certain things going to happen we're going to get parosa don't know exactly how but it works out and have our livelihood it works out we uh we're in a situation where someone's not well and they become better but it it's scary like when you experience a miracle you think it's a and it's a natural human reaction to a miracle when you experience it you think that can never happen to me again I can never be Z to that again the Jewish people come to yamu they're afraid uh yeah they just saw that amazing thing that happened before but it's not going to happen to me again they're eating the m and they're afraid they're they're the how could it be it's it's not natural maybe something's wrong they come to Mount Si and they and they hear God's voice and they come back to life but but who says that will happen again they're afraid they're afraid to be in a real relationship with God and in is the same thing the the spies come and they're afraid to believe that God is directly intervening it's it's too much it's too much for us to accept that Hashem in is there's a different Divine Providence that's why the number one like I said before the number one excuse why people don't come to Israel is because of they're worried about livelihood and and what's the end of it really and and they don't believe that Hashem can help them here they're afraid their kids and they don't believe Hashem can help you here that's the the ultimate mistake is when we Hashem is in is calling us he's taken away all of the blocks coming to Earth Isel he's created a situation of challenge in the land of Israel yes with the yes with our enemies around us but that is to bring us to a new place it's Mish like we're standing in front of yamu we're Mish standing there right in front of yamu has bring brought us this far and we're saying well hashem's not going to bring me all the way and so people are scared are scared to live in there Israel they scared to move to Earth Israel they're scared to even think about it but I want you to know I live here and 7 million Jews and Counting constantly growing more and more from people we live here Americans live here and we succeed here and we see Asus in an unusual way all the time God's eyes are on the land of Israel every single moment from the beginning of the year till the end of the year it's not like any place else in the world and that's scary it's a scary scary thing it's a scary thing to live in a place where we're in a real relationship with God and maybe I'm not worthy but Hashem wants us to know and that's the lesson of this medish and that's what I want to take out of this and I want to bless you and I ask you to bless me hasm should help us that we should recognize that we are standing on the threshold of gula of redemption help us to recognize that it's the time to jump into the water it's a time to come here toel it's a time to not be afraid it's a time to strengthen our TI learning it's a time to move on to the next level not listen to the lies of the spies Hashem should help us to recognize the truth that he's here he's ready to help us and ready to bring us the Final Redemption may be speedily and in our days 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]