Ari Goldwag - Vayakhel-Pekudei - Nature and Nurture

you're listening to the weekly partial podcast recorded with a Shems never-ending assistance in Rome a picture miss rel 5777 2017 this week's parsha is partially Olympic ooh dang I'd like to share with you something slightly different format then you might be used to for my shoe room I'd like to share with you some stories actually and then a beautiful idea based on the mesh in our parsha when I was a young man between the ages of 15 and 20 I used to go every single week almost every single week to Brooklyn to borrow Park and I would go there for voice lessons and during my time there my Bubbe my grandmother lived not far from where I would go for my voice lessons so each week I would get to spend time with her she would make me dinner and she would tell me stories about her life in the old country she grew up in Poland she moved to Israel in the 1930s what was then called Palestine and she would tell me stories about her life she would tell me stories about her father his name is Rubio six tries and he was a Jew a carpenter that was how he made his living and he had many students my grandfather my bubbies husband my Zadie was one of his students and he was a very devout person who's very committed to his leadership to his Judaism and he there are many stories that she would tell me to describe this one of the stories I remember her telling me was how on Fridays when he lived in - when he lived in Israel so right before Shabbos at that time the idea of the car the the automobile had just begun to become more common and he would literally lie down in the street on Friday afternoon to stop the traffic to stop people from driving on Shabbos because it's forbidden to drive on Shabbos another story I remember about my great grandfather is that there was a fire once in his shul this is back in Poland in the town of bridge on there was a fire in the shul and he ran to the shul the place is burning down but he ran inside and he saved the sofrito receive the Torah scrolls another profound short story that my bubby told me about him was head on Friday nights he would wait until the last people you know in shul and those times in the synagogue so there would be visitors who were visiting the town and they didn't have anywhere to eat and people would take them home people would give them a place to eat and he would wait til the end the people who nobody else really wanted to invite to their house he would invite them and there was a particular man with a very bad smell perhaps he hadn't showered or bathed in many months and nobody else wanted to take him home but my great grandfather rabbi yosef he took him home my Bubbe told me how she remembered that the smell was so bad that she and her sister and her mother couldn't stay at the table but my great-grandfather didn't want to embarrass him and he set the whole meal alongside this man who had come to be machina Sora to greet and to bring into his home and to take care of his guests now why am i starting off telling you some stories it's not my usual way it's not my usual format you'll soon find out why I did this I'd like to turn out to the parsha like to turn to our parsha and actually the measure she continues speaking about what we spoke about last week which is the character the personality the individual name bit so low but Salah was a young man he was 12 years old 13 years old and he was incredibly talented he was filled with wisdom with intuition with understanding with knowledge and the Ruach Allah came he was filled with the Spirit of God that rested within him in order to be able to construct a Myshkin to create all of the different parts of the Mishkan in order for him to be able to guide all of those who were involved in the melaka in the construction and the creation of all those parts of the tabernacle which would be used as a vehicle as we've said to be able to interact with God to serve God to come into a relationship with Hashem now last week we spoke about one element of hoobat Salah was and how Hashem has a certain thing that he wants to bring into the world a certain talent a certain greatness a certain manifestation within the world that has to happen and depending on the person depending on the choices that are made so those things have that's what we spoke about last week to add a new idea or another dimension perhaps of this idea based on the magician that are in this week's partial partial vehicle so last time we spoke about the fact that the versus ray a a ninety Curitiba shame bit Salah Shem says behold I've called out the name of its also we have a similar lotion we have a similar language in our preciouses root Cara Hashem Hashem it's all so very almost identical language behold Hashem is called the name of but Salah so the measure says like this dove or affair another explanation Hashem behold how a Shem is called math grandma Nikken VI oli about his sama the Gomer the verse refers to bits Allah speaks about the fact that he came from it's all been or even who he was the son of Orie the son of so we see that we have his you cuz he have his lineage they also say that he's comes from he comes from I tell you who does a tribe of Judah also we speak about someone else who is working with him Allah behna hai sama and he was from the tribe of done and so the mesh wants to understand why does it mention the lineage what is it tell us but Solomon who were he was the son of why does it tell us a holly of been a he summarized to tell us he was the son of a few some of what is the significance of it why does it tell us his tribe so think about the sari the measure says chevrolet chevelle of if it's a praise to him and it's appraised his father Shevek Amish bhakti and surprised his family chef lasheeda shia-sama Meno and it's a praise to the tribe from which he comes so the torah is giving us his lineage in order to describe the greatness the praise of this individual for the great deeds that he is doing the praised his parents his grandparents and to his entire tribe so what is idea here we need to understand also interestingly the measure says it's not always for good that we find that this is this type of situation but we also find this in the negative sense as well in the Torah math Korean or machaca came they're mentioned in the negative way the Shamy - Wesley Reed almighty done it refers to the one who is McHale who cursed that his mother was as the daughter of differing from the tribe of Dan g'nite la la vía or less profitable Chevy Chase is on the menu and it's coming to say that there's something negative about this person something negative about his mother and his grandfather and his very tribe and the matrix gives a few other examples and we need to understand still the mesh is telling us something and there's a depth here what is the idea what is the measure is coming to teach us when it tells us that when there's something negative about a person or there's something positive about a person so it reflects in a negative or a positive way on his parents and on his grandparents and on his very tribe what is the depth of that idea I'd like to share with you two more pieces in the man dish and hopefully after that we'll start to see what the idea is what the pieces of the picture will start to come together Deborah Kerr says the magic are ashamed ashamed salbon or even horsey behold a Shem is called in the name of it Solomon or even Mara Allah has recorded his grandfather's name it's telling us as follows a little bit shush a picture used to elevate about his off him when the Jewish people had gone to serve the golden calf Knutson national dish pork live alone in Econ who were guide up and stood in the way he said this is not okay he stood up for the honor of God and he said we cannot serve this idolatry i'm Duva hora gu and then the people of israel and their hasting in their feverish zealousness to serve this idolatry they went and killed ona at Kadesh Burkle and this was the grandfather of it's how a Shem system like this I yeah I promise you Shani Parihaka that I'm gonna pay you back that you're gonna get paid for this great deed that you did Marshall says the measure its analogous lamella sham or dual of legaia up to a king that his legions rebelled against him ahmud Surat Sava shallow now the general of his army got up then they'll come in my him and he started to do battle with the legions Omar Laham Alamelu fought em more than when he said to them you're rebelling against the King on the Vargo so the legions got up and they killed him and they overpowered him Omar Jimenez after the king saw this he said he'll amano-san li if he would have given me money law you see took the Frollo would I not have to pay back allah has come a Bahama sure nationís an ally certainly he gave his soul for me manny oh salaam-alaikum hella called bun initiate some ameno an imam Edom the custom that park him so the king says any children that this general has I'm going to to place them to make them extremely important people in the Empire cow in a similar way with Russia Austria ha ago when the Jewish people made the golden calf a month core Vanessa national dish merkel core got up and he tried to prevent them gave up his life I'm Erlich I echo Hashem says I swear called bottom I ate seven o'clock any children that you have anemic Gotham shame table Elam I'm going to give them a good name in the world shameimaru Caramba shame its Allah as the verse says behold our Shem is call in the name of its all the sort of worry the son of so in the merit of his grandfather and the merit that great sacrifice that he made sham promised that he would have children and grandchildren who would be outstanding individuals important ministers and the Empire of God as it were so he had this grandson named it's all very interesting we spoke last week about the fact that it's all came from Miriam it was in her merit indeed the next piece in the measure speaks about that fact that he was in her merit so we have the merit of his grandfather who were merit of his grandmother Miriam Manjit also says Hodja Sheva has a mean I know where did all of this honor come from from it's all mushy be Judah came from the fact that he was a member of the tribe of Judah so we seem to have multiple factors that are involved in bringing about this amazing individual giving him the talents that he has but there's another factor the measures tells us which is a foundational reason why but Sol merited to have these great abilities the Dumber are Emilio so the measure says another explanation the verse says I filled him up God says come as any nine weird all of this wisdom where did all of his artistry come from manna Kaddish particle he came from God Himself rueake leukemias verse says he was filled with the Spirit of God Hannah tomate CBO schewe and we also find when it came to Joshua great individual leader of the Jewish people after motion of a No Shuba me Yosef he came from the tribe of Joseph came from the tribe of Ephraim max if beau what does the verse say Yahshua been on Mali Rua hokhmah that Joshua the son of nun was filled with a spirit of wisdom so where did his power come from where did his ability come from it came from God the Gannet emotes a Bosnia Lincoln as she bum you who that we find also when it came to us kneel the son of canals he came from the tribe of Judah Maximo was the verse saying shoved him in judges chapter 3 verse 10 by 2 he la bruja Shem that the Spirit of God rested upon him so in all these instances we see that it wasn't the tribe it wasn't where he was from it wasn't about his family it was the Spirit of God itself so how do we resolve the seeming contradiction between these two different Madras him when drushyam seems to say has to do with his grandfather has to do with his tribe but here we see that it has to do with the rueake like him the Spirit of God that's manifest inside of him what's the resolution of this now before we answer this one more small piece in the magician I want to share with you very interesting intriguing point seems to be difficult to understand by a male of Sirach elokim measure says God filled him with a spirit of god but Losey bill vaad not only bit so low he wasn't the only one and a commission is a signal manaka-san Myshkin anyone who is involved in the preparation of the tabernacle Nasim echo - Burcu hokhmah ivanova das Hashem placed into that person wisdom understanding knowledge and Amar's verses via su colca calmly verse in chapter 36 verse 8 says that all those who had wisdom in their hearts they were involved in the making of the tabernacle now the measure says something political believable vallabha vijnanam not just the human beings who were involved a la fille lubob aim of a higher even the animals shanem are as the verse says hokhmah who swoon a Bahama that there is knowledge and wisdom in them the word Bahama means in them but as the Atheist it explains it could have just said ba hem which is how we normally say in them but instead it says Bahama which can also be read by a mock serve as the measure it's written animals Shanina hokhmah by Adam over bahama that wisdom was placed into man and into animals villainous Farsi me Coulomb elevates all but the tour only speaks about bits Allah's having been filled with his wisdom and the magic was on to explain why as we said before it's in the merit of his tribe the mountain da Matta Buddha or it's the merit of his family etc but what we see here is very interesting we need to understand this and shams help will have an understanding of it based on the idea that I want to share but what is the idea that we understand people can be filled with wisdom we understand perhaps even as they see us it explains that it could be the bahama is speaking about not literally animals but people who are like animals that that they don't have too much wisdom even they were filled with wisdom but that's not the push-up shot the simple understanding what's the message telling us that even the animals are filled with wisdom so I believe that there's a great depth that's being taught in this meddra and soon will understand why I started off telling you some stories about my great grandfather and the depth here of the magic it's teaching us Lokesh m manifests in the world sham manifests in my life and that's the main manifestation that's the main reason why good things occur to me or the the source of my abilities my artistic abilities my talents my understandings in torah whatever is the reason is that that happens as the manager said it's not per se because of my tribe it's not because of my grandparents it's the Ruach Allah Kim it's the Spirit of God manifesting specifically in my life directly very interesting that I believe is such a tremendous but how does it manifest through what vehicle does God spirit manifest in my life it manifests in my life because of my family or through my family through my parents through my grandparents through my tribe through the situation that God places me in in this world everything is tailor-made for me why do I have musical ability well it's because my mother had musical ability my father has a beautiful voice my grandmother she has the ability to write songs my great-grandparents my tribe perhaps are people who are from the tribe of lavey many Levites have musical ability Hashem wanted me to be Who I am that my specific set of abilities and talents and he placed me within a certain family within a certain tribe but Salah saw that his grandfather who made the ultimate sacrifice an unbelievable sacrifice he gave up his life and stood up for God that message was not lost on but Salah he was somebody it's like it almost comes in two directions this Hashem makes a promise that who you're somebody who is willing to give up your life from me I'm going to give something to your grandchildren but it also works in the opposite direction but Saul's saw that his grandfather was somebody who dedicated his life to God was willing to give up his life for God and so he was willing to use his artistic abilities that a shaman planted within him for God it was something that he saw and his family he saw his grandfather do and he did that as well so the bottom line is that a Shem manifests in our lives in many different ways but specifically through the family through our situation our family situation the those who surround us it's possible to see if we look sometimes we need to look more carefully but it's possible to see within our family situation the life that Hashem the the place in life where Shem placed us in the world that is the foundation of who we are and I think that that's perhaps part of the reason that the measure says that even the animals when they were involved in the molecular mission when they were involved in somehow helping in creating the different parts of the tabernacle they were also affected when Hashem manifests the tabernacle represents a Shems manifestation in the world it's the place where we get to serve God it's a place where we interact with God where we interface with the spiritual realms so when someone enters into that place one merits to see an open manifestation of God and that's something that's manifest as we said in one's family but it who can manifest in the very animals that are involved with it you see something like this in in the huzzah the house I'll teach us that the donkey of pen has been a year that the donkey of this great sage had certain spiritual characteristics he would only eat certain types of foods that animal and the reason is because when God manifests in our life it doesn't it doesn't just happen through ourselves it manifests in every aspect of our life and manifests even in the animals and all that surrounds us and fashion is there a Shem is really there so there are two take-homes I'd like to share one is the fact that it's important to look and see and recognize and appreciate that the situations that we find ourselves in whether they are outstandingly good or whether it's sometimes they are challenging all of these situations are truly manifestations of a Shems guiding love specific for us to place us with in this situation in order for us to grow and to be able to manifest our special talents everything is tailor-made for us so that recognition that gratitude that awareness is the first point and the second point is that the stories that we create the stories that we tell our children and our grandchildren they affect who they will be when my grandmother told me those stories about her father told me the the incredible commitment that he had to his educate to his service of God to the things that he held were important whether it was running into that shul to grab the sofrito out of that burning synagogue or whether it was lying down in the street or whether it was truly doing off mrs. Orkin making somebody feel comfortable when no one else would these are things that are etched in my mind that should my memory they make me who I am today and I have an opportunity today to tell first of all these stories to my children which I do but also I get to write my own stories my own stories of commitment my own stories of greatness which hopefully my children will share with their grandchildren the first measure that we read really brings out this idea it was about the fact that when bits allo was mentioned in a positive way it wasn't just something positive for him it was also positive for his gran father for who for his father for his tribe and when there was a negative situation it was a negative statement for that person's parents and grandparents and tribe and I think that it's important that we understand and we take to heart that the actions that we do the goodness that we bring into the world serves as a merit for our parents and our grandparents and our tribes so to speak and the reason is because who we are as a reflection of who they were and who we are is going to shape and form where our children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren will be after us but all of this comes back all of it comes down to who is the one who shapes and fills all of that which we do it's Hashem himself Hashem is intimately involved in our lives guiding us helping us showing us what we need to do giving us the talents creating the situations that we are born into and that our children and grandchildren are born into but we become a partner with God through this process through the recognition through the awareness through the gratitude and through a conscious effort to be great people ourselves so I want to bless you and please bless me - MS that we should be able indeed to have this recognition to have this awareness to have this gratitude and that we should be able to write and tell the most beautiful stories of commitment and greatness to our children and our grandchildren thank you so much for listening have a wonderful Shabbos this podcast was made possible through the gracious donations of listeners like you for more podcasts like this please visit WWE [Music] gold black you