Ekev - Accessing the Supernatural

you're listening to the weekly paraa podcast recorded with hm's never ending assistance in rap Israel 5775 2015 this week's para is para's akev and this week continues the the conversation the speech of mosha of Moses exhorting the Jewish people as he's about to pass on from the world as they're about to enter into the land of Israel giving them the instruction talking about the beauty of keeping the Torah of keeping the Commandments of having a true a true relationship with God and so at the beginning of the para at the beginning of this week's para mosu says to them this is in chapter 7:12 and it will be if you listen to these statutes and you keep them and do them God will keep his Covenant and the kindness which he swore to your forefathers verse 13 he will love you he will bless you and he will make you great and he will give blessings to the fruit of the womb to the fruit of your land your grains your storehouses your your grape Vines the produce of your cattle and your sheep on the land that God swore to give to you to your forefathers and then the verse says in in verse 14 you will be blessed amongst the Nations or more blessed than all of the other nations you won't have any people and any animals who are unable to conceive and give birth the verse say amazing when we read these verses the promises of the T the promises for keeping the Tyra for having this relationship with hem are amazing he if you do what it says in this Torah you will not get sick all of the the Egyptian sicknesses the bad sicknesses which you are aware of you knew you saw you won't get them God will give them to all of your enemies and verse 16 and you will consume all the nations that God is giving to you don't have comp passion upon them do not worship their Idols because it will be your downfall if you do so so the Torah gives us amazing promises amazing blessings that can that can and will befall the Jewish people if they fulfill the T if they fulfill the Commandments if they have that relationship with God which God calls them to have with him God will Express his love and give his blessings and Bounty upon them now there's a very interesting point here which I saw saw the theme of which is consistently brought down in the Mish the mes speaks about the verse the first verse which starts off the par it will be if you listen to and you keep these Commandments these laws these statutes now the word that it uses in this p in this verse is unusual it says the par is called AEV because of this word AEV now the word akv means because of of as a result of as a result of you listening to the Commandments of the Torah so God will give you all this bounty all these Blessings Now the word akev the mees points out the Rashi points out the word akev doesn't just mean because of but the word AEV also means a heel a heel the the the back of one's foot is called an AEV and now why does the Torah use this word heal in this context of listening to the Commandments of God listening and indeed there will be blessings so the medish tells us that the word heal is used because there's something just like the heal represents the end of a person's body the bottom the person's head is of course the beginning the top of the body right we speak about rash hasana the head of the year that's the beginning that's the head the foot represents the end the AAR the bottom the end the the latter part of the body so the mes tells us that Hashem the verses are promising us that it's true we look in this world and we see the blessings are the blessings really being fulfilled when we keep the Torah when we do what's right do we immediately see the results of that do we see those blessings immediately I can't answer that question some people do some people don't but the me says I want you to know something whether or not you see it right now you should know that in the end you will receive those blessings the blessings will come in the end the way that the M says it it gives an analogy to a y a person who lost his parents and he was taken into someone's home and in that place so the deal was that he's going to get food he's going to have a roof over his head he's going to have clothing and he needs to be involved in the family in in the chores of the family doing things for the family and now at a certain point indeed that's what happens he does his chores he does the things for the family he works for family and he receives clothing and food and shelter at some point he says is that all is this all I get is just the food and the shelter and the person the forer family who took him in says says to them of course not these are just things that you you you do get because you're part of the family now but the things that you've done to work for the family the produce that you brought the profit that has come as a result of you you will be paid for make no mistake you will be paid as well says thees this is an analogy is saying to us as well when we keep the Mitzvah when we do the right thing we do see a result in this world when when a person does good things in this world the natural result is good we can see this all the time we know who we want to do business dealings with we want to deal with people who are honest who have integrity we know who we want to interact with we know who we want our children to to have as teachers we want those people who are intelligent who are going to interact with our kids in a way which is humble which is Godly which is spiritual in other words we see very clearly that good begets good that's clear in this world but we don't always see the the promises that says it's going to be amazing blessings not something that we always see immediately it's not something that we even see over time says the Mish don't worry just like that child who lost his parents who was brought into the foster home he questions and worries is he going to get paid for his work and he's assured of course he will get paid for your work don't make any mistake about it we're going to give you your food and your and your clothing and the shelter but you're going to get paid ultimately you will get paid don't think anything else so in the same way sayses the word akev the word akev which means the heal as a result of listening to the Commandments the word as a the word a means as a result in the end the word is a heal because in the end you will see the results you will indeed at some point when when the Messiah comes or in the world to come you will receive it you have fruits in this world but the principle is waiting for you in the world to come now there's a remarkable medish that follows these MIM which contains a very powerful idea really um if we think about it if we see the depth of it there's something really amazing to learn from it the M tells us connects this verse to arsuk that are talking about God keeping his promise to the connects us to a verse just a few before in the end of last week's paraa it says in chapter 7 ver9 and you will know that God is God he is a trustworthy God he keeps his Covenant and kindness to those who he loves those who he who keep his Commandments for a thousand Generations so the medish tells us that there's an analogy it's comparable to somebody there was a king and there was a certain subject of his who had left a picodon a certain item in the charge of the king asked the king to watch this particular item now this subject passes away he dies and the son of his subject so comes to the king and he says to the king I would like to receive my picado and I want my the the item which my father gave to you to watch I would like to take it back cuz I would like to give it to someone else to watch and the King says to this subject to his subject son do you not trust me do you not trust that I will keep that I will be a proper watch Person over this item that your father gave to me certainly you can trust me the medish says that in the same way is there anyone greater is there anyone who's more trustworthy than God if God promises that he's going to keep his Covenant he's going to bring these blessings upon those who keep the Commandments certainly just like a king Hashem is the ultimate King and when he promises when he makes a promise he keeps that promise and he's trustworthy and the mes brings a couple of different places where we see that indem keeps his promises and even where we see that hem is the one who's the balp he's the one who we have given over an item for him to watch so to speak in speaking about the fact that hhm is going to take the Jewish people out of Egypt it refers to to the I have remembered you the word is the same word in Hebrew as an item which is to be watched which is a p so it's it's this analogy it represents the fact that Hashem is coming to return so to speak or to to recognize that he has something that he's promised to watch there's a promise that he's made that he's going to keep and we also see from the fact that the verse speaks about that the Jewish people Hashem had promised the forefathers that their children they would leave MIT they would leave Egypt with a tremendous amount of wealth and indeed that's what happened so the m is trying to show us that God is the K andon he's the trustworthy God he's the one who keeps his promises now it's really interesting is that the me brings four stories four stories I like to share them all with you about RAB P was a tremendous sadic a great a Great Sage and he was extremely Pious and the rabbis say like this listen I'm going to read this inside R the sages say from the trustworthiness of a human being we can learn the trustworthiness of hem meaning just like each and every one of us as we said you know who do we want to trust who who do we want to deal with we want to deal with those who have integrity how do we where did that come from inside of us that we trust those who have integrity or where does it come from that there's a desire to have integrity it's not just a social Consciousness but it's something that's ingrained in us who God programmed within us this desire to have integrity this respect for integrity so if Hashem is given this to us so certainly Hashem himself God himself has this Integrity if if he made us such that we value this Integrity certainly hashm himself has this integrity and so the the the Mish brings these amazing stories with r been y who had incredible Integrity the first story of his Integrity says the magish is that he lived in a certain southern city in the land of Israel and two men came and asked him if he could watch for them two sacks of barley on their behalf and indeed he said I agree to do that not long after that these two people left the town and they completely forgot that they had given these two sacks of barley to rapas Ben rather than allowing The Barley to rot rapas Ben went and he took those barley he planted the barley and each year he continued to take the produce of The Barley those original two sacks of barley and he would plant it again and place it into Storage storage bins a storage house 7 years later the M tells us these two men reminded themselves that they had left these two sacks of barley with her P thinking perhaps that it would have remained then not gotten ruined they came back toas and they said do you still have those two sacks of barley that we left with you that we asked you to watch responded and said those two sacks now fill up a great Storehouse come and take your stuff come and take your barley so the me says we see from the trustworthiness of he was asked to watch something and not only did he watch it but he he made it grow certainly hasem is the same and as the says one of the Hashem also takes our Saka The Good Deeds that we do and he plants that Saka he replants it it and it produces amazing fruits we don't even realize the results of the kindness of The Commandments we when we fulfill those Commandments what it actually produces but in the end Hashem saves that for us just as we see that a human being did that for these other people so to certainly hasem does it for us another story with tells us is that one time he came to a particular City and in this city Only within the precise boundaries of this city anyone who lives in the city the mice were infesting they were eating up all of the grains of that particular City said to them what are you doing wrong you realize you're not properly taking off your Meer you're not tithing according to the law you're not taking you're not giving the tithes as you're supposed to and he said to them I I guarantee that if you properly give your tithes on all of this grain the mice will stop and they said if you guarant see it then we'll do it and indeed that's what they did they started to give the tithes properly and the mice disappeared from the town so that's the second story and it's very interesting because in this story we don't see him being trustworthy but what we do see is that he is guaranteeing that hasem is going to be trustworthy that the as the verses tell us that if we give our tithes if we give our Meer if we if we give the Sedaka as we're supposed to we give the charity as we're supposed to God promises that we'll have Bal as a result of that so p b was guaranteeing that what hasem promises he will do he will do and indeed that's what happened a third story The me tells us that there was a certain individual who was involved in in digging pits and digging Wells really for the benefit of the Rin for the benefit of the public and this man's daughter she was suddenly Swept Away by a tidal wave by Water by a river perhaps and this story was told to p and he said it's impossible somebody who's benefiting others benefiting the public with what it can't be that his daughter would be swept away by water not long after that so they came and they told her P indeed a miracle occurred and she returned from the water she was able to escape and the sages said what happened they said that a Malik an angel a Heavenly angel came down and actually physically saved her interestingly the a here says that inami which brings the story as well so it says that the Mal this Angel appeared in the guise ofas it looked like rasar himself and this was to signify the fact that even though it could be that ifas b hadn't said this she would not have been saved but in the Merit of the fact that the sadic this righteous individual said it she was indeed saved it was specifically because of his Merit now this story also needs explanation where's the idea of namus of trustworthy or what do we see from this story this story sounds like you know it's a miraculous story it's a story where rinus B was someone who was such a great sadic he was so righteous he could change nature but how do we see or what what's the message of this story as well that's the third story last story that the mes tells us actually involves not but rather another Great Sage of that time one time he purchased a donkey from a certain isi an isite an Arab and when his students looked at the the donkey closely they noticed that around the donkey's neck there was a necklace and there was a a precious gem that was attached to this donkey said look I purchased the donkey but I did not purchase a precious gem that wasn't part of the the deal so he said I'm going to return it indeed he brought it back so this Yi when when brought it back he wasn't even aware that it had been on the neck of the donkey and he said blessed is the god of shim he was so inspired by this act of shim to return this item which he didn't even know about he wasn't even aware of that he said blessed is your God because clearly as a result of this action God was shining through into the world then so the Mish finishes off from with these four stories and tells us that if we see the trustworthiness of human beings of those who walk in the ways of God those who try to manifest God's will in the world are such if they have such trustworthiness from this we can see the trustworthiness of God that God acts in this way if he promises us we're going to see the results of The Commandments if he promises us that we're going to reap the rewards the benefits of The Commandments and it's not just going to be in this world it's going to be in the next World we can certainly trust that and know it's going to happen and that we will indeed receive it in the end and that ends off the is in the end I will pay you off you will receive the reward you will see the results of your actions and you can trust me says God that I have the Integrity to give you the reward which you deserve now the thought that I had as I read theim and as I read this med was that this story with and the three stories with they seem to be like almost otherworldly B comes into a town he says to them something which is happening with your grains it's because of something spiritual that you're doing wrong and they listen to him and all of a sudden Everything Changes he says to to to to these people who come to him and say that there's this woman who's been dragged by the Sea away you know he says it can't be and as a result of that it changes these stories are Supernatural even the very action that he did with those grains with the barley to plant them and to to replant them he was going to it wasn't something which he was required to do by the Torah he wasn't required to return that gem it was something that you know based on the strict letter of the law he could have kept but he did things which were and which were Beyond and it's very interesting because when we read theim it also the the promises that hasem makes seem to be something which is beyond Hashem says if you keep the statutes if you keep the laws you're going to there's not going to be any sickness and there's going to be blessings upon you and your people there won't be any women who can't have children it will be Supernatural you you will live a supernatural life right so we look at this and we say that's just something that we don't experience this just something that's beyond the pale of our experience it's it's not something that we see that we that we know of and perhaps it's something which is only in the future like like we said like the M says in the end you'll see in the end you'll see Hashem is trustworthy but I have a thought I had a thought that came up as I'm learning this that no we think that it's only something that's going to be in the future we think that it's something that you know we're not really to this this is for like these were people who were just beyond they were just unbelievable and they they were to Miracles the Tyra is telling us something else the t is telling us by saying that you can you can access the fruits of this now yes the k the principal is waiting for you in the world to come but it's possible to to access this now the story with tells us that anyone it's not just a sadic does this on behalf of two people two regular guys who came with these two sacks they didn't think that they were going to get back storehouses full of stuff but they did they benefited from it and the people in that city with the mice they they just did what they're supposed to do and the problems just went away as as if by Magic what was the reason why was it would it have happened differently would it have done any if wasn't on the scene with the same thing have happened if they had realized on their own I don't know it could be that had to bring in that amuna that trust that faith that belief it seems that way certainly from the story with the guy who is digging the Wells on behalf of the public P brought in a belief that it can't be that a person is doing something on behalf of the public and his daughter would be pulled away with that very that that she would lose her life have forbid as a result of the very thing that he was doing on behalf of everyone it can't be but his belief is a Muna meant that it had to be true it had to be true and she was miraculously saved and it's also true in regards to this this city with the mice he said if you give Myer I promise I guarantee these mice will go away and that's what happened but the K the power of has been may not have been per se in hisus in his righteousness but perhaps and I believe that this is the me message of the medish that it's something that we all can do and this is something that the Madre speaks about the the the alar of naric speaks about this it's possible for everyone to access a place of amuna of of trust in God that I know if God promises and that's what the medish is saying that's what the PK is saying when God promises he fulfills his promise the only thing that might be missing is my ability to receive it or to believe in it I think that we can even say this is hinted to in the PK itself it says and it will be when you listen to the these laws and you keep them and you do them Rashi tells us that what's another if you even keep the small mitz if you're if you consider if you give value to even the smallest commandment even those things that people just don't don't pay attention to those little details if you give attention to those little details if you give importance to that so then Hashem promises that he will keep this kindness this this this Covenant that he's made with your forefathers and I think that part of what it's saying is if you buy in if you really buy into the the spiritual program which is here in front of you which the Torah lays out for us the Commandments the the the the kindness all these things if you really Buy in the way Buys in then you can bring down the future time you don't have to wait for mashiach to come for the Messiah to come to experience these blessings you don't have to wait for for the world to come it's here in this world you can access the tire you can access godliness spirituality Supernatural you can access that here right here right right now all you need to do is buy in all the way down to the smallest the the the littlest the the minute details of the T if you buy in all the way and you buy in you will believe like that if I do what's right I keep those Commandments I give my me I give my tithes I I if I'm doing something on behalf of the public I'm I'm doing kindness if I return that item even though it's not something I have to if I'm if I behave the way God wants me to be behave the way I understand that God wants me to behave then Hashem will perform miracles for me and I will see things that are Supernatural and the supernatural will be natural for me because I am behaving in a supernatural way I want to bless you and I ask you to bless me that Hashem should help us to indeed be able to access this amazing spiritual Supernatural way of being sh should help us to buy in to go all the way to be able to do his mites to to to fulfill his Commandments to learn his T to do it right to be the person who God really wants us to be and if we do that hashm should help us to be able to live and experience a supernatural way of being where all we experience is God's blessings constantly being showered Upon Our Lives 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.ar gold wag.com or search on iTunes Ari goldwag