Matos-Masei - Enemies of Israel Fall

You're listening to the weekly para podcast with Ari Goldwag recorded with Hashon's never ending assistance in Mabish Israel 5785 2025. This week's para is paras mats and mas. We have two paras and I'd like to share with you a thought from paras. We have in the para a discussion of how instructs Mosha to distribute the land of Israel amongst the people of Israel. We have 12 tribes plus a 13th tribe. And the Jewish people are to receive pieces in the land of Israel. We need to understand what is the concept of receiving a piece of the land of Israel. And the PK says like this. The PK refers when speaking about the land being received by each of the tribes, their particular portion. The PK says that this is the land that will fall to you as an inheritance. And the terra uses the word fall in reference to the receiving of each of the tribes and each of the families receiving that piece of land which is their destiny. It falls to them. An inheritance falls to them. We need to understand the concept of falling. What is the idea of falling? Arts fellas says the medish. An interesting question. Does it make sense to talk about the land falling arts? Busk says in Cohelis the very beginning in the first chapter of Ecclesiastes Pusk daled the land always stands. The land will always stand. And if you want to talk about something eternal, about talk about something that lasts forever, believe we spoke about this a few weeks ago when we spoke about the bris Melik, something that's inanimate, it has life, a tree, something that that grows, it has a limited lifespan. But the earth, something inanimate, salt, it's a rock. It lasts forever. You want to talk about a covenant, you talk about something that lasts forever. So why if the Tyra refers to the land as something that stands forever? It's something that's eternal. It stands, right? It stands. So how can you talk about it in terms of to fall? Standing is one thing. Falling is a different thing. We'll try to understand exactly what is the concept obviously of falling and what is the concept of standing. But referring to land in these two opposite terms seems difficult to understand, says the maj. The land falls in an inheritance, but the land lasts forever. Which to me sounds like how can you talk about getting something that outlives you? The the land it it lasts forever. That's the indication of the pock in coalis. It lasts forever. So how can you talk about it falling? To me falling indicates when something falls there's an impermanence in it. So if it's falling in an inheritance to a human being who naturally lives and dies. So how can we talk about the earth falling to a person? So me says an interesting thing and again as we read this it's not going to sound like it responds per se to the question but let's understand this at depth and then we'll see how it does. When the Moragam came, the Moragum had gone to investigate the land of Israel to notice what what are the people like there? What are the inhabitants of the land of Israel? Is this a place that's perhaps difficult to conquer? What are the what is the terrain like? Are there mountains and valleys? Is there water? Is it lush? Is it dry? Is there wilderness? So they they went and they came back and what did they do? They spoke negatively of the land of Israel. They said, "It's too hard. This the people there are too difficult. The land is a land that's too hard to live there. It's hard to have parosa there. It's hard to raise your kids there." They spoke negatively of the land of Israel. So when they did that, the measure says Moshe was incensed. He got angry at them. So the the people of Israel said to him, "Why are you getting so upset? Like they're stating their opinion. There's a lot of people here, right? It's not just two or three people." Okay, we we should believe them if it would just be two or three people, right? The Torah gives credence to the testimony of two to three people. So if there would only be two or three people, we would believe them. And how many are there? The spies that were speaking negatively of Israel, there were 10. The people of Israel said and it's aim first chapter of Deuteronomy said it's they're too great for me which could mean for us it's they're too great for us to conquer but it can also mean they're too great for him for Hashem meaning can't even do this for The the 31 kings of Kenan are heaven forbid is no match for them. A person who owns a house, if there's bandits inside of his house, he wants to get something out of his house. It's impossible to get it out of there. He can't get his stuff out of there. Can't get his stuff out of there, so to speak. It's impenetrable. even heaven forbid what did hem so listen to the beauty of this med says that what Hashem did in order to show the Jewish people that their accusations are false that it's not impossible for it is absolutely completely easy for Hashem to take out those 31 kings so Hashem proved this by taking the sar the angelic being who protects the land of Cananan which became the land of Israel. He took that angelic being because anything that has power in the world the only power that it has is because it has a spiritual power which goes back ultimately to but it would seem to have its own power but that angel which represented the protection and power of the land of Kenan. Hashem took that angel and he threw it down. Listen to the words. It fell. Hashem took that angel which represented their power and protection and threw it down in front of the Jewish people. Interesting. Hashem said, "Behold, Hashem has given before you the land." Now, listen to the word, which I noticed it doesn't say this explicitly, but the word in front of you is the same letter as reverse it. It's the word, right? So, there's two ways of being. There's where your face is up. You're standing, you're looking forward, you're in control, you have power, and there's no fall where something has fallen. When something falls, it has no power. So, Hashem is saying, "Look, I have placed before you. You're standing. You're in the state of I have caused their angel to fall. At the beginning of Deuteronomy, they're standing at the precipice, but they're not there yet. The med says, "What had fallen in front of them, Hashem took the angel of protection of the land of Cananan and threw it down in front of them. Don't be afraid of the which is an interesting language. The nephilim are it's a it's a reference to the powerful giants of the land of Israel. Notice the name of them. Nephilim means the ones who fell teach us that they were actually angels that fell down from heaven into this world. They were huge. They were powerful. But notice they don't really have power. Nila means something that's fallen down and been detached from its power. They look like they have power. They look like they're giants, but they're nothing. They have fallen. The Pik says when you cause the land to fall. So we see that when it comes to the land, yes, it's true that there's an aspect of the land standing. The land has power. There are people within the land who seem to be standing. They they're giants. They're powerful. They're mighty. But Hashem says, "Look, their only power is their spiritual power. That's where they get power from. And ultimately the power is mine and I'm throwing it down in front of you. You are the ones who are standing. They are your ping. Your face is up and their face is down. Right? We always talk about alanov person falls on his face which means to say his face is down. When your face is down you can't see what's going on. You have no control. You have no power. When we say that the land falls to am understands the medish as I understand it the the pik is saying that the land falls you are standing and the land falls before you. The land does your will. The land the the power of the land has fallen. You have power over it. When we speak about the land falling to us in an inheritance, it means to say it becomes subservient to us. Why? Because its power is spiritual. And the moment that the inhabitants of the land are film, they have fallen. They look like giants, but they have fallen. That means they've severed their tie. They've disconnected from because they've disconnected from Hashem. Their evil ways have caused their angel to fall which means they have no power. And Israel who's standing up. They fall before us because we are the ones who come in with the true power which is the fact that is the one who gives us power. And Hashem is the one that we are trying to fulfill his will. That's the true power and we are standing. Yes, there are times that the land stands says in but that just means to say that it lasts. It has a certain kum and has a certain existence which is strong. And we could say that of all the things in the world, the land is the thing that does the the will of Hashem the most. Doesn't resist Hashem as it were. But there's a place where it does resist and that's represented by the people who are not connected to and they fall and then it falls to those who are standing which is am now the medish brings the puss which I want to explore more which I want to really delve into but first let's see what the med says about it then we'll look at the inside and see what the mafor from there say about it because there's an incredible lesson in these We're trying to understand the word. What does it mean that the you have a an inheritance that falls? It falls to a person. What is the inheritance that falls? What does it mean? The land has fallen. So we have one shot has to do with the the spiritual power falling so that we can use it. But here's another shot. says interestingly per starts off with the word which means a golden nugget of King David. This chapter which we're going to hopefully read together soon which is chapter Zion the 16th chapter of Psalms. So it's a beautiful golden nugget of King David. He loved this before explain he loved this particular poem that he wrote and in that poem he says the portion means a portion of land the portion that I received whether it's my talents in life or whether it's the piece of land that Hashem gave me the beautiful backyard I have whether it's the spouse that I have the children that I have the parents the family of my origin And all these things, the things that I inherited, my portion in life, it fell to me in a pleasant way. And we're going to see here what it means falling. And he ends up by saying the the the inherence that I have is beautiful to me. I remember hear from my rashiva pair, you talk about his tie. He said, you know, this tie that I'm wearing, I love this tie. It's a $1 tie. I bought it at the yeshiva bazaar. But he would speak about how he loved it cuz it was his. Right? We know there's a concept of of uh that if you live in a certain place, you love that place. It's beautiful to you. It might not be as beautiful to someone who comes to visit, but it's beautiful to you. It's mine. It's my portion. So David says, "I recognize," and we'll see more about what it means to recognize that, but I recognize that the portion that I have that fell to me is pleasant, is beautiful. The understands what are the what is the portions that we're talking about here? What are the portions that have fallen? This is a reference to the 12 tribes. And we need to understand as we say as we see this what is the concept of the 12 tribes these are the 12 tribes the portions that we're speaking about right Jacob is a portion of God's inheritance says right so the 12 tribes of Jacob they are a they are referenced when we speak about which means a portion There's a portion of Hashem and that's Am Israel. And it splits down into 12 tribes. And the land of Israel is split up into 12 parts, distributed amongst those 12 tribes. We find in reference to speaking of the boundaries and borders of the land of Israel that's inherited by whom? By the 12 tribes. There's a concept of 12 tribes within the Jewish people. Of course, we have all types and all stripes. We have those who are Torah learners. We have those who are teachers. We have those who are more spiritual. We have those who are involved in parasa, involved in liveli. We have those who stand up and protect. We have th we've got it all. We've got lots of different types. And each person needs to be who they are, of course, which is the concept of the 12 tribes. Each one has their unique gift that they bring to the Jewish people. Each one has their portion and each one has their portion both talentwise we could say and also in the land of Israel. You see there's people of Zulen. They would go off on boats and they would be involved in in uh in parasa merchandise. They lived on the they lived on the on the beach. And so they would take their boats and go where they needed to go and return and bring back parnosa and the people of Isach would be sitting and learning and they would provide for them and help them out. It was a spiritual partnership. But it it goes by where you live. Where you live has to do with what you're meant to accomplish in the world. says, "The portion came down to me in a pleasant way." What's in the merit of the Torah, right? The Torah defines for us what is our purpose in life, who we are, what we're supposed to do, what is it, what is the service of Hashem look like for me personally. That's written in the Tyra, the portion of the Tyra that I relate to. There are certain people who love to learn Garra. Some some people love hala, some people love maj. Hi, I'm the guy. And the portion that we have is pleasant. What is that referring to? It's in the merit of the what does that mean? When you keep the mitzvah, when you keep the it's pleasant, right? You find also doesn't say it here, but the ways of the are pleasant. The thing that you're speaking about on your lips, the talks about the mish in proverb 22:18. The thing that's on your lips, the tire that's on your lips is that which is pleasant. It makes us our life pleasant. It gives us guidance. It shows us who we are and what we're meant to do and what we're supposed to be. The medish finishes off and says, "You have a person who's beautiful, good-looking person, but he wears ugly clothes." You could have someone who's not a good-looking person, but wears very nice clothes. And that can be a reference to different nations. They can do certain things. Let's say they do a lot of kindness, but they're really rotten to the core people. And you can have a nation that that does things that's not good. But I'm sorry that they are good at the core, but on the outside they look not so good. The I'm sorry. The message says that the Jewish people actually let let me backtrack a drop. It's saying that you could have a very nice people and the land that they live in is not so nice. You could have a very ugly people, they're not such good good people, but the land is beautiful that they live in. An Israel is beautiful and the land that they live in is beautiful. It fits them to a tea. The land of Israel is a beautiful place. It's a spiritual place. It's filled with all kind every different kind of thing. mountains and valleys and snow in the north and and and rivers and and lakes and you name it, we've got it. And we have all kinds of people and the is that this this inheritance is beautiful to me. It it fits me. It's beautiful on me. He says in I I wore righteousness. It was my clothing. So the the land is like an outer aspect of who we are. So what does it mean when we speak about the concept according to the second part here of what is is the land knifel? What does it mean? It falls. It sounds like everything falls out according accordingly correctly according to who we are. according to the the unique character of each of the 12vatim of each of the 12 tribes. Everything is precisely tailored. When we talk about the land falling, it means everything falls down into its correct place, exactly where it belongs. Exactly. The right people are in the right land. The right shvet, the right tribe is in the right piece of land that's appropriate for them. Now I'd like to read to you from Zion the time that we have left. And when we see this and we understand this, we come home. You're going to come home with a beautiful idea that really we can take to heart and take with you anywhere. I'm going to read the whole thing. Here's the golden nugget of King David. This is a psalm that he loved. Protect me because I trusted in you. Hashem, you said you, my soul, spoke on behalf of God and you said, Hashem, you're my God. You're my good. There's nothing besides for you. There's nobody greater than you, Hashem. To those who are holy in the in the land, the mighty ones, all of their desired desires are fulfilled by you. Or perhaps it's the opposite. All of your desires, Hashem, are fulfilled by them. The righteous individual is seeking to do God's will. those those who are denying Hashem, heaven forbid, so they're going to be sad. All of their attempts at bringing corbanis of trying to appease you, God, they don't really believe in you. I don't even want to talk about them. I don't want to talk about the the evildoers or their false gods. And here's where we get to next. We're speaking about distributions of portions in the land of Israel. Hashem is my portion. He is my cup. He says, "You are the one who supports my guil." The word goal means a lot. You know, you draw a lot. You know, it seems like when a person's in this world, it seems like everything is random. Hey, I I picked a lot. It worked out. You know, this is where this is where I am. This is the family that I was born with. This is the wife that gave me. This is these are the children that Hashem gave me. It looks like it's almost random. Yeah, we have maybe a little bit of a say perhaps. It looks like, but not really. But you are the one, says Damelik, who pushed my hand, took my hand, moved it to the thing that I chose. The portion in life that I have is the divinely tailored perfect for me portion. When it looks like my hand chose it, I didn't pick it. Hashem picked it for me. I can see says that the portion that I got was pleasant. It was so beautiful. I just love it. It's so beautiful to me. The inheritance that I have. Listen to the golden nugget of David. I recognize that everything that I have is exactly perfectly tailored for me. Everything that I have is mine because of who gave it to me. No other reason. I can't grab something that's not mine. I can't end up with something that's not mine. And it's beautiful. I recognize it despite all the imperfections, all of the problems, all of the difficulties. I know that everything is made just for me. David says, "I will bless Hashem who advised me." Right? There's that little voice saying go for that. There's that little voice in your heart that says this is the right thing to do. Hashem is the one giving me that little voice advising me. Interesting. At night, my inards, they they give me a tough time, right? I know the truth when I've made choices that are not in line with Hashem's will. I know what's right and I know what's wrong and I can be tormented sometimes by the things that I've done wrong. David says, "I put Hashem in front of me always. I know Hashem is always with me. He's always guiding my hand. That right hand that's the powerful hand that I'm choosing with. Hashem is doing that for me. Hashem is always with me. This is the most intense joy. My my soul it it's on fire. It's it's singing glad song. Even my physical being when I have this recognition when I know that it's only Hashem everything the thoughts that I think are are not mine. The choices that I make seem to be my choices, but really the the only real choice that I have is whether I fear heaven is whether I recognize that it's Hashem who's doing things for me. You know say it's a says he's the one who gives you the power to have success. says gives you the advice about what you buy, what stock you invest in, what career you pursue, what where you place the eggs in which basket. That's Hashem guiding us. What a joy it is to know, to recognize, to realize that is, you know, it looks like it's me making these decisions, but it's not. It's really not. is guiding my Hashem is guiding my decisions. Hashem is guiding me in every moment. He doesn't leave me to destruction. He doesn't allow me to end up in a place of destruction. Show me your path. Which really means to say cuz I'm doing it anyway. Hashem is guiding my thoughts, guiding my choices. But help me see that it's you, Hashem. Let me have that intense joy. Fill me up with the joy of being in front of you, right? As pa. We get to another understanding of pa. It doesn't just mean that I'm standing up and I'm in control and in power. It means I want to see Hashem's face. I want to see that it's Hashem in charge. I want to see that it's Hashem guiding me. It's his face. He's the one that's standing. Really, I'm just I'm just He's just carrying me. I'm just on his shoulders. on the little kid on the shoulders of the father. I want to have this pleasant experience forever. So I think it comes out of here an incredible a powerful idea and the idea is and the lesson is that as much as I think that I'm running the show, I'm not. As much as I think that I'm trying to earn my inheritance, make my way in life, bring my talents to fruition, accomplish, do things, be a better person. Even as much as that's superficially true, really at the depth of it, the power that gives me that ability to do anything is Hashem's power. He takes the angel of Kenan, he throws it down. They looked like they were so powerful. They were nothing. No fall. They fall on their face and we stand because it's Hashem who is with us. It's his face that's turned to us. Hashem is shining his face to us. I want to bless you. I ask you to bless me. Hashem should help us that we should recognize and see and review what David says about himself. We should have that experience that Hashem is in our lives. that Hashem is guiding us, that Hashem is giving us our inheritance in everything that goes on in 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.argoldwag.com or search on iTunes Arig Goldwag.