Beshalach - Hearing God's Voice

You're listening to the weekly partial podcast with Ari Goldwag recorded with Hasham's never ending assistance in Bish Israel 57886 2026. This week's par is par Bashalak. It's a great moment. It's also called Shabashira. It's the song Jewish people go through the sea on dry land and they come out the other side. They're free from their enemies. They're no longer slaves. They sing a Yoshir. But I'd like to bring you to the moment right before they cross. The moment right before they cross [snorts] was calling out to Hashem saying, "Help us." Hashem responds in an unusual way. Says, Hashem says to Mosh, "Why are you why are you screaming to me? Why are you calling out to me right now? Is so speak to the children of Israel and let them move. Let them move. let them travel. So, walk into the sea. It's not a time for prayer right now. So, it's very unusual that Hashem would say, I don't know if there's other examples of this in in Tanakh, but that Hashem would say, don't d like to share with you a beautiful, beautiful piece in the Mish um and it's in par and it's in Sim Gimmel. I'd like to give you just a little bit of an introduction. I don't want to read it inside. It will take too much time. But in the first section there infal so the metric talks about the call of Jacob the the call the voice the fact that the Jewish people have a unique heritage which we got from Jacob Jacob's power was in his voice and the voice is expressed in prayer the voice is expressed in learning Torah as well as we'll see And what is the concept of the voice? Pik says five earlier that the Jewish people called out to Hashem. That is our heritage. We have this ability to call out when things are tough. Where do we go? We go inside and we go to Hashem. We talk to God and we say, "God, take care of us. God, save us." And imagines off by telling us that that Mosha Raenu is being told by Hashem, you don't need to daven yourself because the Jewish people have already doed. They've already used that power from Yakov. They've used their voice and now I'm going to take care of them. I'm going to save them. So you don't need to be involved in prayer at this moment. The prayer has already done its thing. That's that's the first section, a quick sum up. But I'd like to draw you deep into this section in Gimmel which speaks about the idea of and it speaks about the idea of calling out using our voice and he speaks about the heart. Let's see this together. And the magic is trying to understand why is Hashem saying to Moshe, don't call out now. Why don't you know? So we just had an explanation. You don't need to call out because I've already heard the Jewish people's calling. I've already heard their prayer. You can stop now. The mages says another idea says in Isaiah 65 24 it says it will be before they they call I will I will answer them. That's what the puzz says, right? When when does Hashem answer us? Hashem knows what we need, right? Do we even need to really pray? So, we'll see what what it means. But the Pik says, Hashem says, "Before they even call out, before they even pray for their needs, I will already answer them. Help is on the way before we even call." [snorts] And then the Pik says the second half of the Pab, "Even as they're speaking, I will hear." There's an interesting thing about hearing and speaking, right? as opposed to looking at a picture with with one's eyes. The sensation of seeing is different than hearing. When you see something, you see a whole picture all at once. Wherever you are right now, if you look around, you can see a picture that if you would have to describe it with words, it would take many thousands of words. A picture is worth a thousand words. when I when I look. So I see a big picture when I hear and when I speak. So there's one word and another word and another word and another word and then the pieces come together by the time I sentence is finished. So I have a concept and my brain puts together all of the pieces at the end after all the words are said. Now Hashem is saying like this. I hear I hear your prayers. I hear it. I hear it as you're calling. I hear it. And we'll see that Hashem even hears it before. As we said, before we even say it, Hashem already sees the picture before. Hashem sees it before. And the message points out that the says twice. It says, "And it will be before you call and I will answer." Okay. So the I Hashem is saying I will answer even as you're speaking which sounds like a different thing. You are now praying. You are now asking for your needs and I will hear. Again uses the word I. Right? The Isaiah is quoting God and he says I I. Why does it say I twice? Points out. Why does it say this? We find that Moshe says again he's a prophet quoting God. See now it's seeing that it is I. I am I am. It says twice an. [snorts] So what is what is the concept of I twice? Why does Hashem say I over and over again? says the medish like this very interesting it's really deep listen in here this is an important concept that can change your life whoever whoever says the majush how do we davin how do we dav how do we pray you ever have a really good file did you have a davin and you felt like oh I I dave well I really had cavana I really had cavana right we're supposed to have kavana in davin what's kavana what is the word kavana mean? Maybe it means intent. Maybe it means focus. What does it mean? So, we're going to see what does good prayer look like? What does it really mean to have a good prayer? What does it mean really to dav? Well, get this. Do the will of Hashem. That's how the prayer starts. You want to you want to have a good prayer. be in a space where I'm looking to do the will of Hashem maybe focus your heart the word means means a direction right direct your heart get your heart in the right direction put your heart in the right direction in your prayer right we're talking about our hearts now okay the is the service of the hearts we need to understand what is the heart exactly involved when you're domining and you have a good domining. It sounds like you got your heart into it. That's what it sounds like. Your heart was directed into it. And we'll see what that means. If you do Hashem's will and you and you direct your heart in your prayer. So then Hashem says, Hashem says I twice because I Hashem will help you in this world if you dive in correctly and I Hashem will help you in the next world if you dive in correctly. This is mysterious what this means exactly. Let's try to understand it. Pik says before you call I will already answer you that's talking about now that's in this world in this world you don't even have to say anything if your heart is in the right place that's what the measure seems to be saying if your heart is in the right place if your heart is directed correctly then you don't even have to say a word and Hashem is already going to answer your prayer he's We're really going to to give you what you need in the future. Not sure exactly what this means, but somehow in the future time, maybe it's Msiah time, maybe it's as they're speaking, I will hear it. And I had this thought about the concept of voice, the concept of sound, right? I'm saying something and as I'm talking so if I speak loud enough they can hear me far away. Right? There's a there's an advantage of sound over sight. Sound you can hear something that's very far away even if you can't see it. Right? Often you can hear the thunder but you don't see the lightning. Sound is something that I can communicate here and it will get to you. I'm in Ram Shemesh. You might be in America. You might be in England. You might be anywhere in the world hearing this, Australia, wherever. The sound of my voice carries and it can carry far beyond what I can see. That's something unique about sound. So the the there's an aspect of the heart which is as we'll see we'll see soon there's an aspect of the heart which is the the the foundation of it. The feelings we say in the human being has the the system of heart. We have the heart. We have the feelings. It's Hashem who gives us the beauty of speech, the full expression of something. The way that it comes out, the way that it manifests, the way that it's heard. I'm saying something. I'm see I'm thinking something. I'm feeling something. And you're going to hear this and you're going to interpret it and receive it as you do. I don't have control over that. I can just try to communicate something, but you're going to hear the thing that you need to hear. That's not up to me. Right? So, in communication, there's there's the speaking. There's the heart. I'm sorry. First, there's the heart. And then there's the speaking, which is the emanation of it, the giving out of it. Right? There's which is kind of like we're in the space of the heart. We don't see the results of it yet. We're in the emotions of it and it hasn't yet expressed itself in words when we get to the future time. So then everything is manifest. Everything comes out when we get to that future world. So there's already a speech. There's already a manifestation of it. There's already something that's become concrete and I will hear it. Hashem says, but Hashem hears it even when it's in our earlier stage. Even when it's just in our heart, it's just a feeling in our heart. But when does when does he hear it? When is it it I think this is maybe the said it's I. It is I. What does it mean? It means you're looking for Hashem's will. Why am I domining? We spoke about this in the Buff podcast not long ago. Why am I domining? What am I asking for? What is the purpose of my prayer? Is it to for me to get what I what I want? Is it for me to get what I need? Even the ultimate prayer is I recognize it's about me recognizing that what I need is provided for by Hashem. And the type of prayer that I'm supposed to pray is not for myself that I should have my needs per se. That's fine. But the reason that I want these needs is because Hashem, I want to serve you. I want to be someone who is able to share with others, inspire others, give to others. Hashem, I want to be a vehicle for for you to manifest in the world. That's a different prayer. That's a different feel. That's what this message seems to be saying. I'm I'm interested in doing Hashem's will. This is not about me. And I'm directing my heart in my prayer. What does what does it mean? I'm directing my heart in my prayer. This is what kavana looks like. Kavana means I'm directing my heart in my prayer that the prayer should be one that I could be able to do Hashem's will that if you do Hashem's will then you'll have rain in its time. You'll have everything that you need. All the blessings will come. When do the blessings come? They come when we're trying to do Hashem's will. That's really what it comes down to. The prayers are answered when the va which is Hashem speaking and saying it is I displaces the eye of my ego. When I move out of my ego and I'm moving into Hashem's will. I'm trying to do the rashem and I'm trying to direct my heart that that's what I'm doing for. Hashem, please give me wisdom so I can understand your tra. Please, Hashem, give me health so that I can serve you properly. Hashem, please bring a B English. There's more clear. Rebuild Jerusalem so that we can serve you there. Right? So, if that's what my looks like, then I'm going to be answered. That's where the heart directs the words. That's where it starts in my heart. But a heart that's filled with the vani the eye of Hashem where my lowercase self my S with a myself with a lowercase S which is my ego and my selfishness that moves to the side and the capital S of my nishama of my soul of my the piece of Hashem that's in me becomes the the moving force of my heart says what are What are they going to be talking about? Right? What are we going to really need when Msiah comes? Right? When Msiah comes, we're going to need to ask for anything. Everything will be perfect. Everything will be perfect. Everything will be provided for. People won't need any money. There's not going to be anything. We're just going to sit and learn. The says, "What are you talking about? We're not even asking for our needs," says the speaking. The says, "We're just going to be sitting and learning. We're not even going to be dovening. We're not going to need to do and ask for needs. They'll just be provided for automatically. So, what are we going to do? We're going to be talking. We're going to be speaking about how do I get close to Hashem? How do I fulfill Hashem's will? We're going to stand and we're going to make the Torah learning. How do I do Hashem's will? What does he want me? How do I keep Shabas better? How do I serve Hashem better? How do I dav better? How do I come closer to Hashem? How do I discover the Hashem inside of me? The capital S self. So the measure says something amazing. The measure says that when I in the future time, and by the way, anyone anyone can access the future time right now. We're doing it right now. If we're talking about Hashem's will, we're accessing that future time right now. But it's going to be that everyone's going to be involved in that. The Rambam says when they they didn't want Mashiach so that we could have power over everybody else. That's not it. It was so that we could sit and learn so that we could be focused on Torah wisdom, which is all about serving Hashem. But what happens is an amazing thing. as we are sitting and learning right now as we are sitting and learning. So, Hashem is standing where actually the says he's sitting who Hashem is taking part in our conversation is talking through us. When we're discussing Hashem's will, Hashem is right here talking through us, discussing with us. Hashem, his divine presence is here. If you sit at your shabas table and you're talking about how can I serve hashem is there talking through you how do I know says it will be then as those who fear hashem which as we've spoken about it means those who seek hashem's will as they speak one to another listens hashem hears and he listens. What does it say? He hears and he listens. So the Marzu explains that he hears and he makes heard. Right? What does it mean he listens? Right? If you're listening to me, so that gives me a chance to speak, right? It gives me a chance to to say what needs to be said. I'm also listening to what I'm saying. I'm also benefiting from sharing these words of Torah with you. And Hashem pays attention and he listens. It means that Hashem gives an opportunity for it to be heard. He gives an opportunity for whatever spiritual seeking that we're doing. It it gets shared when we sit and learn right here right now right here for you guys are hearing wherever you are in the entire world. Right? And that's true in a spiritual sense. Whenever you sit and you learn Torah, seek Hashem's will. It has an impact on the entire world. It starts in your heart, right? Just like a thought, a feeling starts in a person's heart and then it's expressed through his mouth, it comes out to full expression. So too, when we are luring Torah, it's something if we're having li if we're aligning, that's what means aligning my heart with Hashem's will. So then the result is that the words come out and the words don't just stay here. Even if I'm by myself, the words don't just stay here, they impact the entire world. It changes the entire world when we seek Hashem's will. We talk about his will. says in reference to the Msiah time that we will see with our eyes we will see Hashem as it were we'll be able to witness the presence of Hashem in our lives everyone will have and notice where it's in the heart right where's ru the ru which means the wind of of holiness means divine inspiration but where is it in the place of wind where we breathe. Where do we breathe? In our lungs. Where's our lungs around our heart? Right? So the is something that's felt in the heart and that's when we are lining up our will with Hashem's will. Then we hear we hear Hashem's voice and we see Hashem in our lives. Hashem says all of your children are the learned ones of God. What does it mean the learned ones of God? Hashem means that when we are searching through our Torah, learning for Hashem's will, we become godly. It is the learning of Hashem and that Hashem is present. Hashem is present and felt and seen. [gasps and sighs] This is what Hashem says. You don't need to call out to me at this time. You don't need to call out to me at this time. Why? Before you even call, you don't have to say a word. I'm already going to answer you cuz I see what's in your heart. Once your heart is aligned with my will, I am there. I'm present in your heart. I know what you're thinking. You don't even have to say anything. And by the way, that's the feeling of that's the feeling of you just you just feel like you're in in Hashem's presence. You feel like you're in Hashem's space and you know everything's going to be fine. You know it's all going to work out. It's all going to be awesome. Yeah. So before we read the the rest of the medish, it comes out an amazing thing. It comes out an amazing thing. You want to know what real looks like? It doesn't look like what we think. Doesn't look like Hashem, give me what I want. It looks like Hashem, give me what you want. I've said this idea before and I've been using this in my my since I had this had this uh thought. Hashem dropped the thought in my mind in shel I say Hashem hear my prayers but I also add in Hashem help me hear your prayer for me help my children hear your prayer for them help Kalis hear your prayer for us help all of your kids all the people of the world hear your prayer for us right that's what this is talking about that's a real Hashem help me hear your prayer for me that's the heart that's the of the heart but by aligning our heart with Hashem aligning our our heart with Hashem hearing what does Hashem want and Hashem is like I know what you want it's not different from what I want okay I'm going to skip a little piece here because I don't want to get involved in this little idea We're going to get to the end of the year and finish off. King Solomon said, "Know, understand the God of your father and serve him." Such a beautiful way of saying it. You should know. The idea of knowing is something intimate, intimate knowledge. You got to get a feeling of what does Hashem want for you. We find out, we learn that from studying the Tyra, from studying Gumar, knowing we get it also from understanding, understanding the depths of ideas, the kind that we're discussing here. We get a sense of we get a sense in our arts of what does Hashem want? It gets we start to resonate with it. What does Hashem want? What is Hashem's will for me? know intimately the God of your forefathers and serve him. We got to serve Hashem from a from our heart. The says says Hashem understands that which fashions your thoughts. Where do my thoughts come from? It can come from one of two places. I really have two hearts. I have two hearts. I have a start rah and it depends what I feed, right? I have an evil inclination and a good inclination. The evil inclination is all of my desires and all of my ego and that can feed my thoughts and I can end up thinking thoughts about doing things wrong. But I have another heart and that's the heart that we're talking about that we're developing. That's the the good inclination. That which is Hashem's voice inside of us, that which is our conscience. And Hashem understands all of that which fashions our thoughts, right? Our thoughts, we think thoughts, but they really come from the heart. Our feelings begin. That's where it's we can have a feeling about something, we don't even have the words for it. We're feeling something and we don't even know what it is. We could be we're afraid of something, we're not sure what. Or it could be we feel great love and we're not even sure why. And then our words will form based on the feelings. It's called the fashioning of the thoughts. Hashem is maven. He intuitively understands how our thoughts are fashioned. says the message actually even before the the thought is formed in our heart which means to say we have a feeling and it hasn't formed into a word yet hashem understands it the word maven is from the word bina which means intuition intuitively understands our hearts listen to this hashem could see seven generations before a particular ular individual had a thought. Hashem knew what was going to happen. The evil king of Babylonia was not even born yet. It was long before he was born. Isaiah had the following prophecy. And he knew based on Hashem's informing him what was going to think in his heart. You said in your heart the the heart of a wicked person is is fashioning egoic desires, egoic thoughts. And what was he thinking even before he was born? What was he thinking? He was thinking, "How can I get up to heaven and fight with God? How can I be the one who reigns over heaven?" So, Hashem knew that that thought's going to happen. If before seven generations before the thought was even thought by this wicked person knew what he's going to think [gasps] certainly a one day old righteous person which by the way could mean me right now I just did chuva and now I want to do Hashem's will. Does Hashem know what I'm going to think? Of course he does. Well, why is that? Why is that certainly true? Hashem certainly knows what the saddic is going to think more than a wicked person because the saddic has aligned his heart with the van, the eye of Hashem, with the capital S self. The saddic has aligned his heart. So certainly Hashem knows what the satic is thinking and certainly Hashem knows even before that thought comes into his mind. That's why the Pik says even before they call out I will already answer them before it's even manifest before they even speak it. I know what's in their hearts because I know that's what you don't need to even if you're in the heart space. If your heart is aligned with Hashem's will, you don't even need to say anything. It doesn't even need to be expressed because your heart is so full. It's so full of just I want to do Hashem's will. Hashem, I just want to be close to you. Hashm, I just want to be whatever you want me to be. I just want my life to look like what you want it to look like. That's that's the real tila. That's a tila that's for sure going to be answered. You don't even have to say it. You don't even have to pray the prayer. Your heart just feels it. You're just aligned. You're in tune. You're resonating with the va. And if that's where you're resonating, if that's where your heart is, eventually usu it's going to be in the future. We're gonna be sitting and talking about how do we get closer to Hashem? Even when the is gone, we're still gonna be talking about how can we get closer to Hashem and Hashem is going to bring that out and make that real. Hashem is going to bring that out and make it real and make it be heard. I want to bless you and ask you to bless me. Hashem should help us to have real prayers, realism should help us to to want his will. Should help us to be direct our hearts get them in that space of hearing the va of hearing the eye of the capital S self of our nishama which is our eternal connection with Hashem. Thank you so much for listening our wonderful Shabas. This podcast was made possible through the gracious donations of listeners like you. [music] For more podcasts like this, please visit www.ariegoldwag.com or search on iTunes Ari Goldwag.