Reeh - Israel - Mind of the World

you're listening to the weekly partial podcast recorded with hm's never ending assistance in ra Israel 5775 2015 this week's para is par and we have in this week's para the continuation as we've been speaking about of Moser renu's final speech to the Jewish people as they're about to enter the land of Israel as they're about to come into ER Israel and there are a number of things that he says in this week's para which are very interesting and neat explanation we start off the par we start off the very beginning it says tells us that Hashem God places in front of the Jewish people blessings and C curses the blessings are the blessings come when a person listens to the Commandments of hem Our God that Moses is commanding us today what about the curses if the Jewish people does not listen to The Commandments of God and they turn away from the path of God that I am commanding you today to go after other gods idolatry that you don't know now so the first thing the tius starts off with in the para is you have blessings and you have curses blessings come if we keep the Torah curses come heaven forbid if we don't keep the Torah now it's really interesting is immediately mainu tells us that the mitzvas the blessings and the curses are connected to something specific something physical what are they connected to it's the next verse it's chap 11: 29 and it will be when God brings you to the land that are coming to inherit you shall place the blessings on Mount G and the curses upon the mountain of aval so immediately the Tyra connects the blessings placing the blessings onto the land onto the mountains of her Israel the Jewish people as they come into the land of Israel the first thing or one of the first things that they do is they come to these mountains and there's an amazing scene an amazing M where they stand there and they place the blessings on this mountain they place the the curses on the other Mountain needs explanation we have spoken about this but it needs a deeper explanation what is the idea of placing the blessings upon the mountains and how is it connected to ell as we read the the Pim here over and over and over again obviously we're speaking you know Misha is talking at the at the threshold of the Jewish people entering into Israel but over and over he speaks about the fact that we're coming into the land of Israel and therefore we have to keep the only a few verses later it says like this you are passing over the Jordan to come to inherit the land that God is giving it to you you shall inherit it and you shall live there the next verse immediately connected connection between and the and you shall keep it you have to keep all these statutes all of these laws that God is placing before you today over and over again we see that in order to keep the T there's there's some deep connection between the keeping of the T and the land of Isel the land of Israel Israel the land of Israel is a place which is special which is unique it's a place that uniquely one can fulfill the Commandments one can fulfill the tah one can have a Rel ship with hasem in this place specifically now I think it's important to look at the fact that we read safer we read this book which is all about the Jewish people about to enter Israel and it's the speech ofu as they're about to enter into the land of Israel we always read this book starting from around the time of sh starting from the three weeks when we lose the B English when the B English is destroyed all the way up to rashash we have 10 weeks we start with the shus the three weeks of we read these negative things the destruction of the temple the destruction of the B then we have seven we have seven weeks of starting with where God consoles the Jewish people and that there's going to be a future for us in land of Israel we're going to receive the land of Israel back after this long and deep and dark Exile we have these seven weeks but we have a total of 10 weeks they start at Shas and when do they end the end of rashash it's very interesting we have these 10 weeks where we're talking about the destruction of the temple we're talking about the future rebuilding of the land of Israel of the Temple of the Jewish people returning to their land leading up to what leading up to rashash it's very interesting we read sa which is all about standing right there at the threshold of Israel this is what we read as we're about to get to rashash Yumer and sukus and then on sukus WE complete the Torah we get to that point and then we start again from racious but what is the understanding of this what is the depth of this why did kazal when our sages set up how we read the Torah why do they set it up this way that we read these parus that speak about Israel we read them as we're coming we're leading up to to rashash we read these ha toras the special readings from the from the prophets they're also read at this time leading up to rashash why is it that the lead up to rashash the lead up you know we're about to startes El is chabas and Sunday we're about to start El it's a time it's 1 month now until rashash so we're getting ready for rashash and here we are reading about the land of Israel and and and and Mos Moses makes make no mistake he makes it very clear ER Israel and the T and the mitus are intertwined are are inextricably bound it's almost I don't want to say it's all the way because you know we've been in Gus for 2,000 years we've been keeping the tou for 2,000 years but it almost sounds like the only place that you can keep the Tyra say it the only place that you can keep the Tyra truly can truly have a relationship with Hashem is in the land of Israel yes there are many beautiful cities there's there's amazing places there's Lakewood there's Los Angeles Chicago New York Switzerland you go you know you go throughout the world Australia you can find Jews everywhere you can find a ma you can find Jews anywhere you can find a synagogue anywhere but our Tyra the safer dor that we're reading right now makes it clear the place of the Jew to keep the T to have relationship with Hashem is in Isel so what's the meaning of that what is the idea behind it why do we read this as our introduction to rashash what does this teach us now an amazing thing amazing medish on these very verses that say that you're going into land of Israel You're about to inherit it and you will keep the Tyra there these two him are right next to each other that's what it says making it clear that the place to keep the t is in Isel so there's two MA there's two stories in in a that I want to share with you it says like this were a group of rabbis they were leaving the land of Israel they were going out to outside of Israel they came to a certain location which was outside of got there and all of a sudden they remembered they they they they they paid attention their heart awoke them to the fact that they're not inel anymore they're not in the land of Israel they looked up they straightened their eyes the tears started to flow the and they ripped their clothing they did something with showed mourning showed sadness showed they lost something and they read or they set out this verse you will inherit it and you shall live there and there you will keep all of the statutes and they said living in the land of Israel is comparable to keeping the entire T amazing thing person lives in the land of Israel it's it's equal to the keeping of the entire Tyra that's what we see from the fact that these two verses are next to each other another story in this same vein they were leaving the land of Israel for a good reason they were going to learn Torah they came toid which it seems either was on the edge ofel or they were outside of Israel and they remembered the land of Israel Z they too they looked up and their eyes started to pour forth tears they ripped their clothing they read this verse that you will inherit the land and you will keep the there they said they said again the same statement that living in the land of Israel staying in the land of Israel is equal to all of the it's equal to keeping the entire they couldn't stay outside of Israel they had to return to the land of Israel you know as we read the para further we see over and over again where do you rejoice where's the true Sim where's the true relationship with hem it's in Israel it's in front of God Israel the land of Israel is that place that's called in front of God it's the place where we have a true relationship with hm it's almost like this is the place where it's natural for a Jew to to be a Jew I I had a conversation with a producer of music producer of all kinds of different uh media not not a a secular person a non non-religious person we're talking about music creating some kind of music uh you know that's appropriate for the masses in Israel even for those who aren't religious but still with a with a deep message with something deeper and he said to me you know you have to be careful about how you say it but people do want to hear it he said look at me I'm not I'm not someone who's religious this he said to me I'm not someone who's religious but I walk up to that cotel I walk into Jerusalem I walk to the cotel to that wall the Western Wall I can't help but be moved there's something there there's something powerful something spiritual the land of Israel specifically the kisil the harabas the the the Temple Mount these are places that spirituality is palpable relationship with hasm is palpable you can't it's almost impossible to go there and not be affected not not be moved by it you know in thinking about the connection between Isel and rash it's very interesting the T tells us Isel is a land we read it I believe in last week's para recently we read it that the eyes of are always there from the beginning of the year until the end of the year we see that when when Hashem wants to describe and tell us talk about his his special Divine Providence that he gives her Isel he says his eyes are there from the beginning of the year until the end of the year so it's remarkable there's two things that you see in the verse one is that the eyes of God whatever this means the eyes of God are connected to Earth Israel God is looking at the land special Divine Providence that's number one the second thing is that there's somehow a connection to rashash Shana to the beginning of the year to the beginning the beginning of the year in time what is that connection what does it mean hasem looks at what is the connection as we asked before what is the connection between rashash and Isel why do we talk about getting to Israel the importance of Israel the importance of living in Israel it's K just living in Israel is as powerful as keeping the entire tah why is that what does that mean and how is it connected to rashash to the beginning of the year it's also interesting speaking about sight speaking about seeing see see the fact that I plac before you today blessings and curses what's the seeing what's the seeing what's the idea of seeing I was thinking you know the rush when we look when we look at it's called rashash it's called the beginning of the year it's not called the beginning of the year it's called the head of the Year Ro sh ro means the head why is it called the head of the Year why isn't it called the beginning of the year it's called R it's called Rous the head of the Year why is that now in thinking about it we look at our head you know certainly it's clear the head represents the spiritual part of the human being it's where the brain is the intellect is it's where the as speaks the comes into the body through the head but besides for that if we talk about The Human Experience where does a person experience all of his Sensations a person a person sees from his from his eyes you perceive yourself as in your head or and another way of thinking about it if a person feels a person you know if a person stubs his toe or if a person touches something with his fingers so yes the sensation is that I'm feeling that in my toes or in my fingers but the true place that that sensation occurs is inside of the Mind the nerves send the information into the mind with the location of where that pain or that sensation is coming from and indeed the information is there inside of the head that's the r it's the center of communications it's where all the action is it's the base it's the all inclusive place the brain controls everything that's where everything is based rashash Shana the head of the year the beginning of the year what do we do on rashash you know say it's a day of judgment but we don't really talk about the Jud judgement that much what we do speak about is that Hashem is our King we speak about the malus of hem we also talk very interestingly about the future time of the dimes of the Messiah when everyone is going to join together to serve Hashem but it's the center it's the root it's the brains of the year it's the mind of the year if I make God my king on rashash Shana if I make Hashem to be my master on rashash so that's the brain that's the mind so then the the the result of that in all of my year my entire year is going to be about the arms of my year the legs of my year the the movement of my year so to speak the body of the year will all be if my if my mind is thinking God is my master God is my king so then the result will be that my entire year will look like that that's the rashash now that's true in time and in space when we talk about the the spatial location of the r of the the the head the center of communications of the entire Globe it's Israel it's Jus it's Jerusalem it's the harabas it's the temple it's the center of the world it's the center spiritually of connection to to when we say that a person who lives in Earth Israel it's like they fulfilled the entire Torah what is that that mean it means that this is the space which is the foundation of the relationship with Hashem throughout the world yes a person in Los Angeles can keep the Torah yes a person in Chicago can keep the Torah yes in Switzerland yes in Australia yes it's true but where's the root of it where does it come from where does that power come from where is it possible how is it possible for him in in that far-flung place in in that which is the the hands of the world which is Los Angeles or the feet of the world which is Australia Etc how does that happen it's because inel the foundation of the world it's possible to keep the tire or the ti is being kept in Israel now this is this obviously we're going to say this so it's going to be a problem because so many years or thousands of years there were no Jews and Earth Isel or very few Jews and Isel keeping the Tyra so what does that mean that there was no brain if there's no brain you can't have a body there's no functioning body that's that's important question and just perhaps briefly to address it we can think about the fact that you know erel is the only place that God says if you don't keep the Torah you will be thrown out of Israel you know if you don't keep the Torah in Los Angeles you will not get thrown out of your house if you don't keep the Tyra in Chicago you won't be thrown out if you don't keep the Tyra in in Geneva you won't be thrown out of your house Andel if you don't keep the Tyra you're out of here right Isel is the only place that that's true it's the only only place that the Tyra says if you don't keep the Tyra you lose your rights to be here so as long as the Jew is in Isel keeping the Tyra so then the brain is functioning everything is fine when the Jew doesn't keep the Tyra in the land of Israel what happens to him it's like the brain ceases functioning and he has to be thrown out he can't be there the brain is dead if the brain is dead there's you know all of the functions of the body are going to be equally dysfunctional and the Jew in Exile when the Jew is in Exile so there's a darkness in the world there's a lack of spirituality in the world there's a disconnect there's a disconnect from the true reality the AEM of the Jew in in G is just not the same it's not the same the Jew in Exile can't serve God can't relate to God in the same way that a Jew in Earth Israel in the land of Israel can relate to God you know there is an idea that the b m the place of learning thees the place of of of of prayer they get a k of they get a Holiness of and that represents the fact that indeed we can we can you know kind of get a taste of or bring back is that that that connection to God that brain we can somehow bring back we can Revitalize bring back some of the vital signs so to speak by keeping the Tyra but it's only uh it's it's a minute a small amount compared to what happens when Jews are in learning the T keeping the T focused on a relationship with hem you can't compare it to to when Jews are outside of Israel keeping the tah having a relationship with hm it's a beautiful thing we couldn't get back there if that hadn't happened for 2,000 years but once we have Earth Israel again once there's an opportunity to live in Earth Israel again you can't compare it all of a sudden the brain the functioning of the brain is coming back yes we've been in exile for so long the the body the limbs have been dysfunctional things haven't been working but we're coming back we're coming back to Israel the Tyra is returning in Israel relationship with hem is returning in the land of Israel Russ Shana the beginning of the year is the malus is the is the kingship is the making God our King Isel is a place where we similarly make God our King this is the place it doesn't make sense for a Jew to be here what are you doing here do you know the N everyone wants to destroy you are you crazy it only makes sense to be here if this is the place that Hashem God chose for Jewish people which is the center the brains of the entire world of what it means to have spirituality of what it means to have a relationship with Hashem this is the place and before we enter into rashash Shana before we get there before we talk about malus before we talk about God being our King we need to remember the true place where we can make God our King we can't forget about that we can't forget that our lives as Jews always need to be about say for D we're about to enter Earth Israel we're about to get there the whole story from braus was LE Abraham the first Jew God says to him go to the Israel the entire story is him going to Israel going down to GIS into Exile but coming back the Jewish people are on their way back they're always on their way back the Jew always has to be on his way back and then we get to rashash we're not just on our way back we're almost there we're on the edge we're we're on the border of Israel we're about to enter we're about to get a relationship with Hashem we're about to enter into the brains into the RO into the center of where that relationship occurs and it's in Earth Isel I need to remember that even if I'm in Los Angeles even if I'm in Chicago even if I'm in all these different locations the I'm in the feet I'm in the hands I'm in the extremities of the body I'm in the far-flung places of the Earth but where is my RO where is my head where is my root where do I truly serve Hashem where do the Jew belong I belong in Israel I belong in Israel I belong in that place where I can truly serve Hashem where the air inspires me the the the Holiness of the land itself inspires me and just living here is like I'm keeping the entire Tyra I don't do anything I just walk into Israel I get off the L plane I walk down I kiss the ground I just it's like I've kept entira I've kep kept the entire all of The Commandments I have a relationship with hem just by being here I need to remember that this is the RO before I get into rashash my Essence I need to remember that my Essence is serving God God is my master God is my king my Essence is Israel the land of Israel where it's natural to serve hem where it's the place where all I want it's the place where I can just Express I can experience serving Hashem Hashem says The Eyes Of God are on the land of Israel see you know you look at the mountains of is you walk into Israel you look at the mountains and you see AEM you know I've been I I go to Seattle every year and there in Seattle there's a mountain called Mount Rainer it's a gorgeous Mountain you can see it from everywhere it's so big it's so beautiful in s Israel you see the mountains everywhere you go you see AEM Place those blessings and curses on the mountains the land itself speaks a Hashem speaks serving God speaks relationship with Hashem I want to bless you and please bless me back Hashem should help us that our Ro our head our minds our hearts should be in Isel should be focused on the service of hasem what it means to truly inherit the land of Israel what it means to truly live in Israel what it means to truly be someone who's when you're here you're it's like you're keeping you can't help yourself when you're outside of Israel you you look up at the sky has should help us to look up at the sky and our eyes should pour forth tears and we should Mish Rend our garments in sadness how can I not go back to Earth Isel how can I not how can I leave Earth Israel and like these sages we should be we should Merit to return to Israel thank you so much for listening have a wonderful shabus 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]