The Haftorah Series: Bechukosai - The Tranquil and Blessed Existence of One Who Trusts in Hashem

this tour class is brought to you by torahanytime.com okay good morning Rabbi Sai welcome everyone to um this year here in the Young Israel of Cuban Hills New York do you have teleport the navi Jeremiah who speaks about the rebuke for the Jewish people because they went on a road that was not good similar obviously to the Parsha that speaks about the tokika and the 49 colors in the Italian begins and it's a rather a short half Tyra it's only 17 succumb even though technically I have tire needs to have a minimum of 21 sukum three can I get the seven Alia three sukim for each of the seven alias but this is a must be a self-contained subject and when the subject is self-contained then we are permitted to uh to end early so the number begins like this yeremia is practicing about the end of days and he says Hashem God is my strength and my Fortress umenusi and my refuge Beyond Saran on the day of distress I could always run away and escape to God so to speak on my day of distress the to you the Nations will come from the ends of the world they will recognize Hashem and they will in the end of days say no falsehood our fathers gave us as an inheritance all the religions of the world will recognize that the religion is fabricated is false How could a woman give birth without without a a male counterpart obviously there was obviously the kid was a momzer how could some somebody who the ramam calls the mashugana be the true prophet of God so in the end of days the nations of the world will will acknowledge and recognize that their inheritance is one of false that it doesn't help that their practices that their beliefs are fruitless even the nations of the world will recognize that with the Zara is something so counter-intuitive how could it be that a human being could create a god if the human being himself is not a god meaning How could a human being invest Divinity into something if the person who's making the investment himself is not divine foreign therefore I make it known to those Jews who remain in their stubbornness and have not done Shiva this time I will make known my power and my might be Hashem and I will make it known that my name is God now going back to the first pasok Hashem Uzi um foreign um he brings the the words of hazal hazal tell us all travails and all troubles that come on the Jewish people are because of bitotira as the xiaomi says that God says he's willing to forgo avoid the Zara he's willing to overlook a radius he's willing to overlook even murder but God is not willing to overlook and we know is can refer to the study of Torah like we say at the end of Aseem Hashem so this is what it means Hashem Uzi Hashem is my strength meaning when I am involved in learning Torah which is my strength meaning my Torah that Hashem gave me US Hashem then God protects me meaning Hashem Uzi when I am oh when I involve myself in the Torah that God gave me then Mosley God is my protection says say what does it say in the Torah so God said don't commit adultery so Ishmael said then what are we supposed to do all day no no thanks then Hashem turned to Asam and they said no we can't refrain from murder so the question is how could Ishmael and ASAP have responded this way even if they don't accept the Torah murder and Arias are one of the Shabba Mrs so they were commanded to keep these missiles anyway so when they said we can't keep it it's it's check out because they were Hive anyway so this is what it means they thought the goyam thought you know if you ask a gentile why don't why don't you want the Torah I don't know my father told God that he doesn't want the turtle because he wants to be able to murder he wants to be able to commit adultery but that's Shakira because anyway they're not allowed to anyway they're they have to abide by the time so now they should have taken the Torah they're going to be kicking themselves that the whole reason they didn't keep the terrorists for uh empty reason okay now we go to perak You're Zion now this parac has a number of interesting expressions so this is going on the previous plastic and it's saying that the nations of the world will recognize God's greatness however it sort of points out a hypocrisy which is something we always see how the nations of the world could sometimes recognize God but there are Jews who are are not are not receptive enough to recognize um sometimes you'll have changed right nothing said The more things say you'll have who could be righteous Gentiles and you could have Jews who still take out cell phones by the davening it's amazing right so so um that's what the Navy's pointing at you could have Gentiles who know the truth and Jews who still are are fumbling so this is written byzel with an iron pen Shamir what's a siparian Shamir the middle refers to what the Shamir worm um which is which is a type of iron um so basically their sin is is eternally inscribed is plowed engraved on the board of their heart and on the horns of their altar Rashi says this is a muscle meaning it is so deeply engraved that it's not easily erasable they were so immersed in their sin they were so they repeated it so many times that it was very hard to erase Rashi says so meaning the sins of the Jewish people had been recorded by Jeremiah and Ezekiel do you know that so since this isn't the time of the first place so the gemara says the sins of the Jewish people were avidazara so the big three The Big Three foreign they are so attached to their idolatry that they think about it all the time kiskar beneham is because I'm like they remember their children were their altars the same way a person always thinks about their beloved children that's how the Jews not only committed sins you know sometimes a person is overcome by yitzahara and it gets the better of him but sometimes a person is so immersed in sin that he can't get it off his head he can't get out of his mind the Jews remembered their these altars like they remember their children the navi now counts the places that they frequently set up their Avail and they had the asharayam the Ashera trees um on every leafy Tree on them on the vet on the hills on the tall Hills so these are all locations where the Jewish people uh set up their altars but as she says as you remember your children so too was the the remembrance of their Walters like a person who has a Nostalgia for his kids foreign now the the prophet turns to the Jewish people and he calls them a disparaging language he calls them my mountain why does he call them that because they serve the idols on Every Mountain you shall I am Rashi says that's situated on the mountain the Bahar hamisha the mountain of the plain around you is a field okay so this is a reference to you shall I am that has been transformed into a place of idolatry your money all your money the the enemy took out to the field to divide the spoils there in the eye of everyone and all your all your possessions will be um plundered Harare Harare he's labeling them my Mountain meaning you who have become so associated with idolatry in the field all your Treasures will be strewn about give it to be plundered and the punishment will come because of the sin of isaka your altars the sin of your high places that you created on all of your borders okay so the pasok says as follows what does it means Rashi says your land will cease because you did not observe the shemitah against your will your land will cease because you did not rest and the shemitah now this is interesting this is the haftirah of the now it's interesting that we put together usually this year bahara speaks about what the shemit a year talks about what now what's the reason for the so the parish Begins for not being Torah so it seems a little bit like a contradiction likewise here the haftura is saying that the land will cease because we didn't observe the shemitah so how do you reconcile the uh the beginning of the parish which indicates that comes for failure to immerse oneself and Tyra and the fact that in the itself it says the punishment comes for Failure to observe the shemitah so Bianca has a very beautiful explanation that from here and from other sources we see that the objective of the the objective of shemitah was for a person to take off and spend the year immersed in Torah so really when it says they failed to observe the shemitah it means they fail to observe the shemitah and therefore I take advantage of the opportunity to learn in fact kamonesky says that we've learned to be mentioned in it says on Earth Israel there was a three-year cycle of Chris Satora right instead of what we have today that we finished altara yearly annually in Israel they would finish the Tyra what once every three years and questions what do they do in the seventh year so they finished every three years they finished again from year four to six says no year seven was dedicated to a review and a one year review meaning in Israel even in this they they would read the Torah in one year and the seventh year you see while they were working for three years they didn't have time to learn the whole Parish every week and so year one to year three they learned a third of the parashat which makes being maver Seadra much easier and then from year four to year six they would have a three or seven but year seven they were off they finished the whole Torah that's why in sukh is following the shemit a year what would the uh read on sukkas he would read divarim why because now that we spent the whole year learning the whole Torah the king would review davari missionary as a final review and then the cycle will Begin Again well we all will have two years off no so khazar never heard anyone right okay you the land will cease from your inheritance that I gave you I will take revenge in you through the inheritance that I gave you meaning I will Exile you from the land meaning around she learns I will take revenge against you because of the inheritance that I gave you that you didn't do my will foreign because a fire burns in my nostril it will burn forever basically you brought this on yourself you ignited my anger Hashem so says the Lord Adam cursed is the man that trusts in a human being who trusts in his prowess in his Ingenuity in his plowing and harvesting say meaning he says I don't need God I'm going to plow on the seventh year I'm going to plant in the seventh year the sun Busters and places azraia could be rearranged ezrai Rashi says it's interesting the words that means the word zeroya and azer are really the same root that's very interesting and same etymology right they could flip it around because a person's strength comes from his arm and a person's help comes from his arm and vice versa so and places his help in his flesh um he removes God from his heart you know be of such a person who removes God from his hearts he's like a lonely tree in the desert lots of luck you know if you have a little Oasis you have a bunch of trees maybe they have a chance if one tree in the desert in the desert there's no moisture he will not seek he will never see the rain foreign he dwells in a hot place in the desert desert all of his leaves are parched and burnt eretz he sits in a land that's salted it cannot produce it cannot be fertile blessed is the man that trusts in God Hashem and makes God his source of strength meaning someone so it's a little bit repetitive here because we say Fortune is the man that trust in God and Hashem will be his trust that means Hashem will respond in kind that if we place our faith in God God will respond to us and and act based on that trust we know there's a concept that the more we trust in God um the more God comes through for us there's sort of a principle articulates a very beautiful thought and Passions so you have all the the whole city of Sudan has surrounded Lloyd's house and they're begging down the letter how dare you invite guests huh let them out Veneto is some we're gonna we're gonna do bad stuff to them so life says no you can't take them take my two daughters violate my two daughters why because these angels that is why they came under the shelter of my roof what was the argument that light was asserting light was saying that I can't give up these men to you because they came under my roof placing their trust in me that means they have placed themselves under my protection once someone comes to you and places themselves under your protection I am morally obligated to protect them therefore better you violate my own flesh and blood than for me to violate the trust that they put on me recognize the moral obligation to protect those who come under your trust in your shelter Allah a Jew is able to say to God maybe I'm not deserving maybe I don't warrant your bracha but I place my faith in you I come under your shelter become a goddess so to speak morally obligated to protect us that's the middle of then maybe it's the more you have be talking in year six that he will take care of you then you'll get couple to take care of the fact that in year seven in a life fallow and even into your aid until the crops grow right right very good suffered you through him at the end of his life for 13 years because there was a cow that was about to be shakhter and the cow came running under rebbies cat cloak and Rabbi said Zill a and it's time to go that's who you're created for so they asked with nothing he asks what would we do wrong because what did Rabbi say that was wrong what should the cow be doing you know so he explains there's a Mitzvah there's nothing wrong with shafting a cow but when the cow came under rebbe's cloak seeking protection he is seeking his Refuge his his shmirah revi was morally obligated to offer al-smith okay I'm someone who places their faith in God will be a tree planted on water if you're a tree that's exactly where you want to be planted you want to be planted on water and it's Roots spread to the many Waters even when he comes this tree will not be harmed its leaves will be fresh does not have to worry in times of distress even when the rain doesn't fall it doesn't the tree does not have to worry because even um because even one time it will not cease from making fruits in other words the same way a tree that's planted on the water will always be fresh regardless of the weather regardless of whether it's a bountiful year or you're a famine or a year of distress the tree is firmly rooted on the source of water likewise someone who has trust in God doesn't matter what's happening in the world Good Times bad times times of Peace times of War times of distress if you're like that tree planted by the water that's what a person that's the imagery a person should have when a person thinks about having faith in Hashem you're like a tree planted on the water with an ever an um ever fresh source of life then your Mia says one of the very poetic sukim in the Tanakh and we have to try to understand what it's doing here the heart is more crooked than anything and it's acutely sick who could know it but here they say yes Yes Fragile is a pretty good translation weak fragile what okay he translated says deceitful am I allowed to say what Rashi says Rashi says it means right so what's the point over here even though we just said that if somebody places their faith in God then they are like the tree firmly rooted on the waters but nevertheless sometimes the heart is so crooked and so um Chrome and so that even though in his mouth you say yeah God willing um I place my faith in God yeah so why does the guy leave before Shabbos he has such good faith in that color that everything is in God's hand but he has to leave halfway through maramato has to go to work because he's going to be successful and why does the guy work till 10 minutes before Shabbos and he's in the shower do it during because he's going to be successful so on the one hand we play lip service to be talking but the heart could be so crooked and a person thinks in himself nobody really knows that might be talking is a facade who could possibly detect that might be talking is somewhat shallow so Hashem says Hashem I am the Lord who investigates the heart so the guy will say yeah but in my heart my heart is the Asus Hashem the Seattle but deep deep down even before the heart and my kidneys I know subconsciously what I really believe God says I know it's even doing in the kidneys investigating your kidneys knowing why you think what you think the law says to give a man in accordance with his ways according to the fruits of his actions Rashi says okay now what is a cuckoo consent ah a chirping bird a bird that is called a Kara or a curry when he's sitting on his eggs of a different bird when he's sitting on the birds of another egg now the eggs hatch and the the chicks come out and they look up and they see someone who's not mommy are you my mother that's the book right the kids book very they um where do you think they got it from right right so they they understand that the this this word is not their true mother so in other words and it's he's not the he didn't give birth likewise somebody who comes wealthy unjustly through a stick through uh conniving methods with lack of be talking and Hashem then you should know the same way ultimately the chicks will leave this fake bird the money will leave the owner of you could be sure even before half your days the money will depart and in the end at the end of days a person will be ashamed the Throne of Glory Glory maraim May reshine higher than the beginning [Music] what does this mean so all of a sudden it sounds like we're praising God why are we praising God over here what does this have to do with anything sarashi says because we're about to say anyone who forsakes God will be ashamed it first talks about the praise and it says you that which was exalted from the very beginning of the creation of the world which is the case I covered is the opposite meaning the Throne of Glory maraim has been exalted May reached on from the beginning of time exalted above and or just like the kise had covered in the highest of Heavens Hashem prepared from yesteryear likewise is the base the base is also the makima one of the messages here is don't think that is high and mighty and this somehow prevents them from knowing well intimately what's going on down here no hashem's presence is vashamai Mao but also viola therefore mikvay Israel Hashem the Mikvah of Claudius what is a Mikvah doesn't mean a ritual of black McVeigh the source of trust we should hope mikvay Israel the source of Hope of Israel is God place your trust in God realize he's all-knowing he knows your actions he knows your thoughts he knows why you think what you think and anyone who forsakes him anyone who forsakes you God if I shall be ashamed the Surah those who divert from the path of God will be written in a book to go to the netherworld the source of Living Waters as Hashem got himself and therefore as we saw as we learned last week in Bahar remember we learned in Bahar what did God tell yeremiah God told yermia was in jail and Hashem tells Jeremiah I want you to buy real estate in Israel and Jeremy says what in the world shall I buy real estate in Israel the the ramps already are at the wall and you know it's primed to destroy the walls of the base and Hashem says no one day you're going to return to this land but now your Mia sees the handwriting is on the wall your sign is about to be destroyed is advancing and he says gives one final shout refer any Hashem heal me God and I will be healed protect me Viva Shay and I will be protected because you are my praise because I take pride in you I glory in you that you are the only one who could help me somebody asked me the other day you know the gemara says that a person should always dive in before they get ill not to get ill because it's very it's easier for God to protect someone from illness than to cure someone who is sick so someone asked why don't we pray for that in the davening we seem only to pray that God should heal us from an illness why don't we pray to God to have good health the answer is because we do reference heal me and I'll be healed save me then I shouldn't get sick in the first place that's a very important Fila that's a much more effective Fila because once a person gets ill then God says the onus is on you to prove that you deserve to get better however while a person still has their health so he says look at least keep it this way that's easier now has a number of ramazim on these words okay that's a good point I guess more urgent would be if somebody needs the refua says a number of different perus from here first he says when a person is physically ill where does uh that somebody's one said right he has a virus so you know the joke you tell him to do chuva he has averas right a virus okay so that was a joke okay one two okay um so we know that all illness comes from spirituality from aviros from sins meaning we have a well-known concept there are 248 positive Commandments and 248 Limbs and 365 negative Commandments and 365 sinews and if we knew let's say a person uh their toe hurt if they knew the middle they corresponded to their toe if they would be proficient in that they would they would have an immediate uh healing so we say Hashem God heal me benafshi and my soul then the era Faber goofy I will be healed in my body we know that when a person sins it creates a accusation in heaven who stands and accuses so we say hoshieni save me from this accuser that was created from my sin and then I will be saved from the physical malady I want to tell you one more REM is and we'll call it a day there's a well-known kabbalistic teaching that brings in the state noise from the Ari says there's a concept there are 288 Sparks and when you say the words numerical value 288 to some house purify and select out the 288 Sparks well that's the the tradition so he says it could be when we say numerical value 288 that we're asking the era FEI to be mavaria the 288 Sparks Aya hey Andi begins to the 11 spices Alexa that we need also to sift out and that's how we will have her fush Lima so this is the the first and the last letter is okay very good there you go one last thing refini Hashem Atria 216 and we've explained many times 216 first of all is that we're asking Hashem to heal from the denim from the guru rice has it and we know um his name was review um okay so we know that God's name is not full until amalek is wiped away so in the future Redemption a molecule wiped away hashem's name will be shalim and this is the Yeshua that we are hoping for okay everybody have a great day you've just experienced another Torah class brought to you by torahanytime.com