How Jew Are You? - Mishpatim On Fire

This Torah class is brought to [music] you by tora anytime.com. >> A Torah Anytime original series. At the end of a long list of mitzvah in this week's para, the Tyra adds what seems like a strange and almost unnecessary commandment. The Torah says, "Do not be like the non-Jews. don't act like the way they act. And there's an obvious question. If a person is already living by the Tyra, keeping all the mitzvah, checking every box, isn't he automatically not like the nations of the world? He's shaking the lulaf, he's blowing shaer, he's wearing fill, and he's dominating. He's eating only kosher. Don't those mitzvah by default make him someone who isn't doing what the non-Jews do? What exactly is this mitzvah adding that the other mitzvah did not already accomplish? The answer is that this mitzvah is not repeating the need to keep the other mitzvah. It's defining your identity. A person can keep every mitzvah. He checks every box. Fully observant, fully religious, and still measure himself by the values, approval, and worldview of the surrounding non-Jewish culture. And you don't exactly have to look very far to see this. Someone can wrap Phil in in the morning like he's brushing his teeth and dominate quick routine mechanical dominating and then run downtown to spend the rest of his day happily swimming in non-Jewish culture, absorbing it, admiring it, measuring himself by it. And if you ask him what he's doing wrong, he'll look at you like you're crazy. What do you mean what I'm doing wrong? I'm doing everything right. I check every single box. And that is exactly why the Tyra adds one more mitzvah after the long list of mitzvah in Parishbat to tell us that the mitzvah are not just for you to live differently. It's for you to see yourself differently. Because at the end of the day, identity drives behavior. Who you think you are determines what you chase, who you admire, what excites you, and what you are willing to sacrifice for. You can keep mitzvah and still be a follower of the non-Jewish world. The Tyra demands more. The title demands a self-defin that you are not here to blend in. You are not here to borrow your worth from the approval of a culture that doesn't even know your mission. You are not here to imitate. You are here to lead. And once you understand that, this mitzvah stops sounding redundant and starts rewriting how you see yourself and your purpose and your place in the world. Imagine the scene for a second. You're standing at Arcai. You just witnessed the most overwhelming spiritual moment in all of human history. Thunder, fire, the voice of Hashem. Reality itself is shaking. And then it ends. The thunder stops, the smoke clears, the silence settles, birds start chirping again. The world slowly wakes back up. And suddenly life begins. And we arrive at Parishbat and Mosha stands up and starts teaching rapid fire. Mitzvah after mitzvah, law after law. You can't do this. You must do that. You can't eat this. You have to eat that. Suddenly the mood shifts. Suddenly it's real. You can't eat what you used to eat. You can't say what you used to say. You can't dress how you used to dress. You can't live how you used to live. This isn't inspiration anymore. This is identity. And you could imagine what someone might feel. A little fear, a little uncertainty, maybe even a quiet gulp. You glance back at Egypt, a world that now looked in comparison carefree and unrestricted and easy, where there were no mandated structure. There were no constant demands. And you look around at the nations of the world and they could eat what they want and they could go where they want to and they could watch what they want to and they could live how they want and maybe a thought creeps in. Did I just sign up for something a little bit too heavy for me? This really is a lot to handle. So what do some people try to do? Perhaps they compromise. They tell themselves, "Hey, I'll keep the mitzvah, but I'll still live like the non-Jews to an extent. Like I'll shake the lul, but I'll still go to their parties and their clubs and their culture. I'll give to Daka, but I'll still chase their fashion and their celebrities and their lifestyle. I'll check the Tyra boxes, but I'll still think like the rest of the world. It's a perfect plan. I'll have Tyra plus everything else. It's the best of both worlds. I'll keep all 613 and I'll still be upto-date and cool and with it and normal and cultured and accepted at my company. Awesome. I'm fitting in and making God proud. It's perfect. And the Tyra knows this mindset exists. And the Tyra doesn't like it. Not one bit. So after its long list of mitzvah, the Tyra adds one more command. Do not be like them. Not just don't sin. Don't be like them. Don't think like them. Don't chase what they chase. Don't build your self-worth on their approval. Don't live a Torah life while secretly trying to blend into their culture. The Tory looks at you and says, "You weren't created to blend in. You were created to stand apart." Now, a lot of people think, okay, this mitzvah of or is just protective. If you live like non-Jews, then eventually you might stop keeping mitzvah, meaning if you hang out at their parties, you'll end up assimilating. It's sort of a protective measure. The Tyra is cautioning us from doing things that non-Jews do, even if they aren't blatant is because the Tyra is afraid that before long, you'll assimilate. That's what a lot of people think. But I believe the Tyra is doing something much deeper. I believe the Tyra is telling us a world view. When the Tyra says, it's not saying don't do the aos that non-Jews do because that's already been covered by other mitzvah in the Tyra. Which means it's coming to say even the things that aren't user stay far away from. It's telling us that we are not here to get cozy in this world. We're not here to check boxes on a giant 613 page clipboard while reading People magazine in Starbucks watching CNN. Your mindset is not to be a follower. You are a leader. You don't do what they do. They should be doing what you do. You are the trendsetter. You are the You are the You are the torchbearer of Hashem's light for all of humanity. And you cannot possibly live with that identity while swimming in their world and reading their magazines and tracking their celebrity gossip and memorizing every tweet of every one of their politicians, shaping your opinions by talk shows, measuring worth by followers and fashion and fame. You cannot possibly see yourself as a spiritual leader in this world while standing in line for non-Jews approval because that's the whole point. We are here as a nation in this world as teachers and leaders. Hashem doesn't just want observance of mitzvah. He wants pride. He wants fire. He wants a Jew who knows who they are. It's not enough to keep mitzvah. He wants builders and trailblazers. People who burn with purpose. People who wouldn't dream of sitting through non-Jewish movies or their shows or their culture. Not only because something might be user, but because that's not who I am. I'm not chasing their world. I'm building my world. Is not just about avoiding imitation. It's about identity. It's about refusing to live as a spiritual follower in a world that is starving for leaders. Let's be honest. If a movie is inappropriate, you don't need to not watch it. It's already from other. If a magazine is nons, you don't need this mitzvah. It's already forbidden from other mitzvah. If their books or podcast or ideas contain, you don't need to stay away from it. The already told you to stay away from it. So, what is this mitzvah adding? The answer is that it's adding something far deeper. It's telling you that even when there's no pitus, even when there's no kira, even when technically nothing seems wrong, it can still be wrong. It can still be user. Why? Because slowly, quietly, almost invisibly, it's reshaping you. It turns you from a leader into a follower, from a builder into a consumer, from someone who defines reality into someone who absorbs reality. Hashem wanted to make something crystal clear. You're not receiving mitzvah as restrictions. You are receiving them as the codes to light up the world. But that only works when both eyes are on the mission. Not when one eye is on the Tyra and one eye is on YouTube or with one foot in one foot in culture or one heart for Hashem and one heart for validation. A nation chosen to shine cannot live half in the light and half in the noise. Means decide who you are. Step into it and let the world catch up to you. It's telling us to say loud and proud, I'm a Jew. I'm not a follower. I'm a leader. I'm not here to copy the world. The world should be copying me. I'm not chasing their attention. They should be chasing mine. Is the line. Cross it and you're ordinary. Own it and the world stops and watches and realizes greatness isn't them, it's in you. If you look at the non-Jewish world, you can sum it up in one word. Chasers. People forever chasing attention, pleasure, approval, dopamine, status. The top 1%, the rich, famous, the people you'd think would be completely in their comfortable in their own skin, are the most paranoid of all. Their clothes have to be extremely provocative and scream for your attention. Their cars have to flex. Every tweet, every headline, every photo has to make sure you know that they're somebody. Why? Because their worth depends on you noticing them. They are the ultimate chasers. Now here's what's interesting tell us in Rabbi Hashem always favors the ones who are chased not the ones doing the chasing. He was chased by Cayen yet Hashem favored Heak was chased by his generation but he inherited the world and the generation was wiped out. Aram was chased by Nimrod and he became the father of nations. Yets was chased by the pushim yet Hashem chose him. Yakov was chased by Ascer. Yv was chased by his brothers yet he rose to power and became king over all of them. Moshe was chased by Pyro and he led Kai Israel to freedom. David was chased by Sha yet he became king. Clal Israel as a whole were chased by the surrounding nations forever and ever and we were chosen as the amigula. The pattern is brutal but simple. The world chases but Hashem favors those who are pursued for their purpose, for their fire, for their unshakable light. Not the ones scrambling for likes, not the ones bending to trends. Not the people begging for attention. The ones who stand tall, who live for something sacred, who refuse to chase the noise, they are the ones that the world can't stop following. That's who we are as Jews. We don't chase the world. The world chases us. We are the standard. We are the spark. We are the light that refuses to dim. So stand in that truth and watch the world rise to meet you. That is what the mitzvah is screaming at us. It's not just about keeping mitzvah. It's about owning them. It's about defending them. It's about living them and teaching them like the the air that you breathe. We aren't meant to be chasers. We don't need to blow $170,000 on a car just that someone else notices us. That's weak. It's pathetic. That's gayish. You're going to spend $2,000 on a pair of shoes just so people can stare at you. You're going to wear clothes that would make your grandmother throw up. You're going to watch shows that would make your grandfather faint. You're going to go places no Jew should ever go. Sure, maybe there's no AUS there, but there's no Yiddish there. There's nothing but a sea of Gam chasing approval, chasing pleasure, chasing validation. We're not built for that. We're too special. We're too sacred. We're too unshakable. We don't follow the world. The world follows us. Listen to this story. I once found myself deep in the Gamba rainforest in the country of Panama. This was a humid rainforest with lots of different plants and wildlife and animals. and we're on a tour seeing it all and we are checking out the elements, the animals of this rainforest. And then the guide stopped and we're about to enter the part of the rainforest where there were lots of poison dart frogs. Now, poison dart frogs are the single most poisonous animal on Earth. There's enough poison in each of these little frogs to kill 20 humans easily. Now, luckily, their poison only works if you ingest it, but looking at them or even touching them is completely safe. So, we're about to check them out when the tour guide turned to the group and said something I'll never forget. He said, "There's a golden rule in nature. The brighter and more neon an animal is, the more dangerous and poisonous it is. These poison dart frogs, each with its neon blue and green and orange color, is telling it its wouldbe predators, "Don't chase me cuz I'm nothing but trouble." That is how the animal world operates. If an animal is loud and neon usually means you should stay far away. And then it hit me. People are the exact same. We live in a world that is wired to run after loud people. People with neon colored lives, huge homes, over-the-top cars, provocative, ridiculously priced clothing, and we naively follow and aspire and chase such people. But they are no different than the rest of nature. The bolder the colors often means the more dangerous that person can be. The louder the outfit, the more eye-cashing the car, the more outrageous the accessories, the more poisonous that person might be to you and your spiritual health. The $900 heels, the $24,000 watch saying, "Look at me and approve me and validate me." That's not just fashion. Those are warning signs. They are broadcasting to the world that behind the glitter is a go is a quiet truth saying, "Keep your distance cuz there's chaos here that you do not want to inherit." You didn't don't chase chasers. We follow depth. We follow people who are whole inside, who don't need noise to prove worth. Who don't need to wear their value. They live their value. Kazal said it in Piras. Chase honor and it will run from you. Chase from honor and it runs after you. Because people begging for validation are empty. But the ones who know his worth is unshakable. That's who we are meant to be. The people who see through the neon lights of this shallow world and find the truth buried underneath it. Because here's the raw truth. When you chase the world, you become small. When you stop chasing, when you stand in your ems and in your nishama, in your mission, something flips. You don't need attention anymore. Attention finds you. That's who the Jewish people are. Not the chasers, but the ones worth chasing. Here's another story. They say Alexander the Great was once marching with his army when he came to a narrow bridge that he would need to cross. And right at the front of the bridge, there was a Jewish man who was diving. was lost in his prayer, completely absorbed. The entire army had to wait because of him. And eventually, Alexander's general loses patience and screams, "Move. Don't you see the army is coming?" But the man doesn't budge. And the general screams again louder this time, "Move out of the way." Still nothing. Finally, the general yells, "Do you even realize who's in front of you? This is Alexander the Great. He is so great. He conquered the entire world." The old Jewish man who finished his file, he opens his eyes, calm, unshaken, he says, "You might have conquered the entire world, but I don't need to conquer a thing to know that I'm great, cuz my greatness is innate. It's built in, and I don't need the world's approval to prove it." That's right. There is intrinsic greatness in us. That's who the Jewish people are. We're not measured by fame or power or approval. We're not measured by how many people notice us. Our greatness comes from within, from our souls, from our connection to Hashem. The Jewish people have always been the chase, the hunted, the stepped on. It's not despite our greatness, it's because of it. It's because our worth is intrinsic. We don't need to read your magazines or follow your shows or mimic your trends. We don't need to explore your definition of greatness in your museums and galleries because we aren't self-conscious about our greatness because our greatness is innate. Go ahead, show off. conquer lands, establish empires, amass riches. We aren't intimidated. Our greatness was here long before you and will remain long after you. Our greatness isn't going anywhere because our greatness is innate. That's why the Tyra stresses the need to stay removed from the practices of the non-Jewish world. Not because they're blatant of us there, but because our greatness gets dulled there. And our feelings of greatness is the most precious thing we have. There is an interesting gimmar in Sanhedrin that says that once asked, "When is Msiah coming? It's been far too long. I want to know when he's coming." So Elavi, he looks at him and he says, "Well, why don't you go ask him yourself?" Well, he said, "Okay, so where do I find him? Where's he hiding?" And Elio responds and he says, "Oh, he's sitting right by the gates of Rome." So Yeshua goes to Rome and he finds a holy looking Jew sitting by the gates of Rome. And he says, "Hey, like you, Mashiach?" And the man said, "Yes." And he said, "Okay, so when are you coming?" He said, "I'm coming today." "Today?" "Wow, okay. I can't wait." And he runs off in excitement and he waits and he waits and he waits some more. Mashiach doesn't come. And he waits more. No sign. And he waits until the sun goes down and the day is done. And Yeshua marches off to Elio and he says, "What is this? He told me he was coming today." And Elio looked at Rab Yeshua and said, "Yeah, he was supposed to." But Cla didn't want him today, so he didn't come. Claire could have had Msiah today, but they were too busy to want him. And Ele gave a long sad stare at Rab Yeshua and he walked off. It's a pretty sombering gimmar. But here's the question. What's Messiah doing sitting at the gates of Rome? What is Messiah doing sitting there of all places? Shouldn't Messiah like learning in some hidden somewhere? Shouldn't Messiah be in some cave in a forest learning cabala? Shouldn't Messiah be on a mountaintop somewhere hidden? What's he doing sitting in front of the gate of the most famous secular city in the world? Sir explains inim that Messiah was sitting there to make a statement. Rome represents the world we live in today. Unlike Babylonia, Persia, Greece who which were powerful but temporary empires, Rome endures. It's the ongoing system of the world. The culture of chasing, of competing, of living for appearances. Mashiach sitting at the gates of Rome is a message. Mashiach isn't in some far off, unreachable place. He's not on some frozen mountaintop or in a dark cave. He's not hidden from the world. He's right here at the entrance of our cities waiting for us. The problem is that we can be sometimes so absorbed in the Roman way of life that we walk right past it. were so captivated by the culture, the approval, the noise, so enamored with modernism and its illusions that we can literally pass by Mashiach sitting there hoping, waiting, longing to be noticed, and he's literally sitting there ready, waiting, but we still don't see him. As long as our hearts are still in Rome, still chasing pleasure and approval and status and comfort and distraction. The moment a Jew breaks free from that mindset, the moment we stop imitating shallow values and stop craving their attention and stop measuring ourselves by their world, we walk out of the gates of Rome and meet Messiah. That's the truth. Our role was never to copy the world. Our role is to teach the world, to show direction, to show truth, to bring light where there is noise and clarity where there is confusion and purpose where there is emptiness. That is who we are. So lift your head, remember who you are, walk with pride, live with fire, and when enough of us stop chasing Rome, we will finally notice Messiah who has been sitting there all along. Here's one more story. Several years ago, I was in the city of Orlando and I brought my kids to SeaWorld. One of the highlights of SeaWorld is, of course, the orcas, the massive, powerful, deep sea animals that can flip and dive in ways that leave you breathless. And one of the highlights of SeaWorld and the is the orca show that they have several times throughout the day. So I'm sitting there in the stands and the crowd is buzzing with excitement waiting for the show to begin. And then the announcer says something unexpected. As a salute to our veterans, we would like to ask any veterans in the audience to please stand up. The crowd falls silent. Nobody moves. People are looking around to see if there's any veterans in the crowd. And then I noticed them. two old men with Vietnam war camps on top of them sitting directly in the seats in front of me and they were hesitant. They were shuffling in their seats. They hear the silence of the crowd looking for any veterans and they glance at each other. They nod and they slowly rise to their feet holding each other's hands high in the air and the stadium erupts. Thunderous applause. The sound is deafening, shaking the air around us. people clapping for two men who served in Vietnam, who endured things that no one can imagine, who faced enemies that nobody can comprehend, who survived jungles that swallowed men alive. And yet here they are standing triumphant and they look at each other and the nod passes between them, a silent acknowledgement of what they've endured that no other people other than a veteran can possibly understand. and my wife who had come in the middle of all this and slipped into the row next to me. She looks around and she sees the whole crowd is standing and turns towards my direction. And she looks at me and she whispers, "Why is everyone standing for you?" I look at her and I smile and I say, "No, they're not standing for me. They're standing for them, too." But I remember thinking in that moment, everyone here is standing for those two men. But there will come a day. There will come a day when the entire world is called into a stadium. The end of times is about to begin. And before it does, the announcer will call out, "Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention, please? We would like to take this time to salute the entire Jewish people for fighting the world's fight. And we ask the Jewish people to rise." And the stadium falls silent. Absolute suffocating silence. Every eye is fixed. Every breath is held. And then it erupts. the most thunderous, earthshattering applause in the history of mankind. The applause for the ones who defended truth when it seemed like truth would die. For the ones who remain honest and pure when honesty and purity were suffocating to death. For the ones the world never understood, who endured what no other people on earth could fathom. Clapping for the ones who stood in ghettos and DP camps carrying God's light through the darkness. For the ones who suffered through programs and exiles and tortures the likes of which no people on earth ever endured. all to ensure that God's name would never go extinct. They are standing for the ones who were crushed and burnt AND KILLED AND SPED ON AND LAUGHED AT AND BULLIED AND PUNCHED AND STABBED. For the ones who gave up entire salaries for Shabas, who gave up careers to learn Tyra, who gave up comfort for morality, for the ones who lived with targets on their backs for the greater part of 4,000 years. It's an applause for the ones who stared down history's greatest villains and said, "I will not back down." For the ones who stared down empires and mobs and armies and screamed me. For the ones who did what was right because it was the right thing to do no matter the cost. For the ones who held God's flag high no matter what violence came their way. For the ones who singlehandedly taught the world and nurtured the world and guided the world and cared for the world even when the rest of humanity would have happily let the world burn down. all so that when the world finally comes to its end, there will still be a world left to see God's light. And the world will one day thank us for not following them, for not chasing them, for not copying them, for never giving up the fight. The world will one day realize the truth. And when it does, it will stand tall and salute, saluting the people who never gave in, who never gave up, who refused to let the world stop spinning. That is who we are. That is what we do. And that day when the world finally sees that day is coming. And on that day we will go from being the hunted and to the cheered. From the targeted to the cherished, from the whispered about to the thunderously celebrated, from the chased to the ones worth chasing. And on that day, the world will stand not just in awe but in gratitude for the Jewish people who never bent, never never followed, never gave up. The ones who carried the light when the world almost forgot what light even was. That day is coming. And when it does, the world will finally give us the thanks we rightfully deserve. That is our job. That is our calling. That is why Hashem commands, do not walk in their ways. Because we are not here to chase. We are here to lead. We are here to shine. We don't need the world's approval. We are the standard. We don't follow trends. We set trends. And one day, greatness will be recognized. Not because we begged for it, not because we chased for it, not because it's in, but it's because it's intrinsic to who we are. We are the Jewish people. We don't chase, we endure, we lead. And the world will one day stand in awe. [music] You've just experienced another Torah class brought to you by [music] tora anytime.com.