Ki Savo - Deep Listening

You're listening to the weekly parha podcast recorded with Hashem's never ending assistance in Israel 5775 2015. This week's par is part in chapter 28 verse1 the Torah tells us and it will be if you listen to the voice of your God is to keep and to do all of his commandments that I command you today and God will place you above all of the nations of the earth. Now, what's interesting is at the very beginning of this verse when it speaks about listening to God, it doesn't just say if you will listen to God. It says if you will listen, listen to God, to the voice of God. Why does it use this double language? What's the idea of this double this double like it's a reassertion? If you shall listen, if you shall surely certainly listen to God, what is the idea behind this double language? So there's a few different things that I'd like to share with you. A few different majal of our sages that if we look at them, we try to get a broader picture of them. There's a very deep idea that we can take home from these different statements of kazal. The first of them that I'd like to share you is actually it's a gamarra and suka and it's on dim page 46b and the gra says like this. What is the idea of that if you listen listen the double language said and there there are those who say there was I'd like to show you look look come and see that the way of Hashem the way of God the spiritual path is different than we see in the world is different than the way that people behave or that people the the path that people take. What's the attribute of of humanity? If we look at the physical world, if you want to fill up a cle you want to fill up a cup, a vessel, so it needs to be empty in order to hold something. Once it's already full, it can't hold anything else. Our sages say an unbelievable thing. The way of God is what's the spiritual path mole if it's already full if a person is full of spirituality if a person is full of words of Torah if a person is full of a desire to serve God so then he can hold more he can receive more the more a person knows the more a person can learn but if he's empty of that desire if he's empty of that Torah if he's empty of that spirituality he's not going to be able to hold anything it'll be very very challenging much more difficult to hold anything and it brings our verse the brings our verse says if you will hear then you will hear meaning if you have already heard if you have made yourself a vessel to receive if you have already been determined to be spiritual to have a relationship with God so then you will able you will be able to deepen that relationship with Hashem you'll be able to hear even more if you've heard If you've already been determined to hear, you will hear more. But if you don't already have something inside of you, if you don't already have that desire, if you don't already have that commitment, it'll be very difficult to hear. So this is the first statement of our sages that I wanted to share with you that speaks about the fact that we have this double language explaining why does it say you will hear you will hear the voice of God. What does it mean? So in in this kamar it means if I've already heard I will hear further. Now there's a there's a medish a whole piece in the medish that gives a few different explanations of this and I think that there's so important to understand to try to develop an awareness of and a depth in this idea. Now the measure starts off with something that seems not relevant to what we're speaking about. It says like this the the law is let's say someone is leading the prayer service someone is is it permitted for him when you know in in the land of Israel and also outside of Israel here we do it every day but outside of Israel it's only on yontiff it's only on the festivals so the kohan and the priests get up and they say the blessings of the Jewish people they say they go through the blessings that are special blessings of the kohan of the priests and they're led by the one who is leading the prayer service also gives them word by word what they're supposed to say. So the says they say the says they respond they it goes they go back and forth now the the one who's leading the prayers. So as as opposed to everyone else when the when the kohan when the priest finish each each one of the three blessings so the kahal the congregation responds and says amen. What does the the do is he supposed to say amen? So the is that he should not say amen. We're afraid that if he says a he has to lead the con the priests in in each of these words. He might get confused. He might mix up the words. He might forget the verse and so he shouldn't have a heake in the middle. He shouldn't have an interruption in the middle where he says to their blessing. He should just focus on the words that he needs to lead them with. But interestingly the medish says and this is I believe the sages teach us if a person can respond and say a without losing the place so then he should and indeed that's what we do when they say their blessing. So the actually does not say amen to the end of the blessing but from each of the blessings of he does indeed answer amen along with the congregation. Now llama says the magic an amazing thing something you wouldn't have expected. Why is it so? There's nothing greater to God. There's nothing more precious and special to God than the amen. When the Jewish people respond and say amen, there's nothing greater than that. Explains what this is trying to say. He says that the magic is telling us that this is an integral part of the it's an integral part of the prayers and therefore it's permitted. It's not considered a halfsick. It's not considered an interruption as long as he's not going to get confused. It's perfectly permitted. Not only is it permitted, but it's part of the prayers and it's something Hashem really wants to hear. Hashem wants to hear us say amen. So, we read this maj and we're going to see more of the medish. But before we move on, the question that's obvious here is what does that mean? It's so important to God that we say a what is the idea of a what is the concept of a mean? What does the word a mean? What is the idea of responding? Someone says a blessing we say a many times in we read we read the psalms and David has the word amen. Even in the Torah itself we have the word amen in numerous places. What is the idea of the word amen? Why is it so precious to God? What is the depth of this idea? So the medish continues and starts to explain what is this word? What does it mean? Says this word has three different ways that it's used. What does it mean? One way that it's used is it can be used as an oath. And the magic goes on to explain that you have a sot a woman who's a weward wife. So they make her swear. They make her make an oath. And the way that she makes an oath is that the priest who's leading her says the different things that she's making an oath about. She doesn't actually say the oath. She just says amen. She just responds and says amen. And it's as if she's made an oath. So the first place that we see the word a is as an oath. The second place says vikab. It's an acceptance. I accept what you're saying. When I say the word a can be accepting what you're saying. I'm committed to doing whatever you say. And the and the maj brings a verse of that everyone has to respond with the word amain. When it comes to the blessings and the curses, they need to respond and say I accept that whoever does this particular thing will get a blessing. Whoever does the opposite of that will get a curse. Heaven forbid. And they receive that and they say they accept that and they say amen. The third way that the word amen is used is as an ammon says the medish. What is an ammona? An amana is a statement that if if let's say you ask you say a prayer you ask of God something and I say a so I am also joining in in your prayer it's a confirmation of the prayer and it's a wish that indeed that prayer be fulfilled. So those are the three types of or the three explanations of the word amain or the three contexts where the word amen applies. Now the mish goes on to tell us a few more interesting things about the word a matter said whoever answers a in this world he merits to answer a in the future world. An amazing thing if you say amen here in this world if you when you hear a blessing you say amen. If you confirm spiritual things, spiritual prayers, you affirm with the word amen in this world. So you'll continue doing that in the world to come. What does this mean? Not clear. What does this mean? Or what's the idea of it? Because I say a here, I'm going to say a there. What does that mean? What is the idea of this? says another thing says, "Whoever goes into a synagogue, a place of Torah learning in this world in the future time, in the future world, when the Messiah comes, the world to come, he's also going to come into the synagogues and and places of study of Torah in the future." How do we know this? As a verse says, "Praised are those who sit in your house. They will again praise you." If we sit and we're involved in Torah learning here in this world, it will happen again in the world to come. So, it's a parallel statement. Just like is in regards to the word amen. When I say amen, somehow I I merit to be able to say amen in the future in the future world. when I learn Torah now when I come to the synagogue I pray along with all the other people praying so if I do that I'm going to do that again in the future time again what does this mean what's the idea I think it's important to point out over here that we see a parallel to the gamar that we saw in suka we saw that if a person has already learned person has already developed a spiritual awareness a relationship with God so that enables him to be able to have a deeper relationship so it's very clearly parallel to what we're speaking about here. If I've said a man in this world, I'm going to say a man in the world to come. If I've done something spiritual here, I'm going to be able to do something spiritual in the future. There's this parallel and indeed the measure finishes off with another statement which is similar also to the gor and it says like this another matter said amazing thing if a person listens to the voice of Torah in this world person follows the directives of the Torah in this world he's going to merit to hear that voice that the Torah that sound that the Torah speaks about the verse says in Jeremiah 33:1 it's speaking about in the future time when the temple is rebuilt when Jerusalem is rebuilt that there's going to be a sound of joy a sound of a sound of a bride and a groom rejoicing etc the rest of the verse I want to read the verse it's so beautiful it says there's a voice of them saying, "Give praise and thanks and admit to Hashem that God is good. His kindness is forever." They bring a sacrifice of thanksgiving to God. That God is going to bring back the Jewish people who have been spread out. He's going to bring them back to the land of Israel as in the beginning. God says. So if a person is listening to the Torah, if a person is trying to do the will of God, so what will he merit? If he's listening to that voice of the Torah, he's listening to that voice of God, you will merit to hear another voice, the voice of of thanks, the voice of the the people who have returned to Jerusalem. Amazing thing. And that's the that's the understanding of our verse. It says, "So this is what Moses is saying to the people of Israel. Whoever listens to words of Torah is so raised up in in both worlds, in this world and the next. Be so careful to hear words of Tory, to hear words of spirituality." How do you know this from that which our verse says? If you have heard, you will hear the voice of Hashem your God. So the is understanding that when the Tyra uses this double language and says, "If you have heard, you will hear. If you have heard, you will surely hear. If you have already in developed and and surround yourself with spirituality, you've developed an appreciation for the Torah, for the word of God, for for a spiritual reality, for having a connection to God. If someone has developed that, so he will be able to develop that deeper and deeper and deeper. And where will he receive the true voice? Where will he be able to hear that voice in the world to come? Now, what is the idea here? What's the depth of the idea? What is the word amain? How does that tie in to if I have heard I will hear? And I think that there's a profound thing that's the the words of the Torah are soy. They're so carefully chosen. What does it mean to hear? What does it mean to hear? If we think about the concept of hearing when a person is listening, truly listening, not listening to respond, but truly hearing, the word in Yiddish is deare, which means to understand, right? I very notice in English the word is to hear. In Yiddish is their hair. Right? The the word to hear in Yiddish is what the word lishma in Hebrew means. It doesn't just mean to hear. It means to to understand, to let into the depths of one's soul, into the depths of one's being. When I hear, when I'm listening, I'm completely passive. The ear just it's a cle. And you look at the ear, it's a hole, right? It's a hole and it's a receiver. It's like a satellite dish. The eyes, they stick out a little bit, but the ear is in an indentation in one's in one's skull on the side. And the idea is that when I am truly hearing, I'm truly receiving truly ready to do to understand to do to give myself over to the one who I'm listening to. Whenish means if I am completely ready to do whatever it is that Hashem says that means I'm completely myself and nullify my ego in the face of God's will. That's the word a word a means. What does a mean? I'm not even going to say anything. You say the blessing and amen I receive it. I'm not even going to speak up. I'm just going to say whatever you said I agree with it. I don't have to say too much more. I am just showing that I have heard it and I'm affirming. That's what the word amen means. It's an affirmation. Sometimes it's an oath. If if the if the coin the priest says to the woman, "This is what you're this is what's going to happen to you. Do you agree? Do you accept this oath?" She says, "Amen. I accept." Someone says a blessing. Someone says a a a prayer. God, please let it be so. Hashem, please let it be so. And I say, "Amen." I'm I'm just affirming. I'm receiving and affirming. Incredibly powerful inc. It's an incredibly powerful statement. I'm not going to add anything to your prayer. I'm not going to add anything to your blessing. I'm just going to receive it and say, "Amen." That's I think that's the you know, you read this. There's nothing greater to God than the word that the Jewish people respond. What does that mean? It's so grand. I mean, it's a big deal. You're saying a man. It's three letters, you know, it's it's one word and but it contained within that word when I say a when I say a what I'm saying is I'm ready to receive. Is that the hardest thing to possibly say to say it for real? to say I mean yes I'm ready to receive if I hear if I'm willing to to study the word of God to accept the word of God to to do the will of Hashem if I have heard it if I've received it what a level I've reached if I've incorporated God's will into my life I was quiet I nullified myself I listened I didn't speak the measure is telling us there's an incredibly powerful thing. You want to know what it looks like in the world to come? You want to know what Messiah looks like? It's an amazing thing. That's what we read the Pik in Mio. What does it look like when Messiah comes? What's the sound? What are people saying? What are people doing? They're coming to Jerusalem to serve God. And they're saying, "Thank you, my God. Thank you, my God. God is so great. Thank you so much. Thank you. I, you know, throughout my life, I thought that this thing that happened to me wasn't good. And this thing that happened to me, you know, this challenge that I went through and I look back and I say, "Thank you, my God. Everything was for my good." Messiah comes and Messiah arrives. There's only one kora. According to our sages, there's only one sacrifice that we bring. There's only one thing that we bring. We say thank you to God. That's his verse in Jeremiah 33. This is what God says. What are we going to be saying? What are we going to be saying? We're going to be saying, "Thank you, God." How can I say thank you about anything about everything in the future? We're going to say the same blessing when something good happens when something bad happens. How could I say that? Because I get to that the the world to come is a place where it's all receiving. I understand that everything is good. Everything is good. There's no such thing as bad. If I say amen, in this world, if I can if I can receive in a world where I can't see that everything is good. If I can receive in this world, I can be quiet. Someone says a blessing, I want to say, "Oh, I have my own blessing." If I can, if I can be quiet, I have my own prayer. Someone says a prayer, I can just say, "Amen." And nothing more. I don't have to add in my two cents. I don't have to add in anything. If I can say, "Amen." In this world, I've already got I've already tapped into what's going on in the next world. I've already tasted something in the future. Shabas is a day that we just receive. We just listen. We just receive everything that we've worked on throughout the week. We've spoken about this before, but but that's the idea of a that's the depth of what we're saying here. If I say amen in this world, I say amen in the next world. If I walk into the synagogue, I walk into the study hall, I give myself over to God, I'm willing to do his will, I'm willing to pray, willing to ask for my needs and not think that it's all about me. I I I'm getting what's going on here. And I'm getting what's going on in the future world. And I'm going to merit to also be in that space in the world to come. If I have heard words of Torah, if I've listened to them in the past, I'm going to merit to continue. If I've given up my will and tried to do God's will, I'm going to be able to continue to do that. And I've already gotten here in this world what's happening in the next world. I want to bless you and please bless me back. Hashem should help us to be able to say a in this world to be able to hear, to listen, to dare, to understand, not always have to bring in our two cents. you know, I've I've got all kinds of ideas and reasons and understandings and I even know what God's will is. Maybe, maybe not. should help us to be able to listen to say amen to be able to receive and and in this way Hashem should give us the merit to say amen in this world to say amen in the next world to be able to hear and if we have heard should help us to be able to continue to hear to continue to get a greater depth a greater ble a greater self-nullification to the will of hashem thank you so much for listening have a wonderful shabas this podcast was made possible through the gracious donation of listeners like you. For more podcasts like this, please visit www.ariegoldwag.com or search on iTunes Ari Goldwag. [Music]