Learning from History on How to Free Hostages by Rabbi Aaron Dovid Poston

[Music] Shalom welcome home to Torah a warm welcome home the Torah we are not in the IAB midash we are actually in a uh a factory it's it's a school we're making sit for the for the soldiers we're in par and tonight's par again we deal with the CLE car for those that don't have any Hebrew sheets right you go into the description box below you'll find a link and we encourage you to use the Hebrew Sheets if you want an English Associated Source sheet so then you'll send me an email and I'll put you on the list in order to receive them on a regular basis okay so we're in par and unbelievable this is dealing with a lot of auna okay there was a war there were the Four Kings against the five Kings and there was a hostage there was a hostage taking L Abraham's nephew was taken hostage and Abraham not only freed him he went to battle to free him and uh I just wanted to mention just a few things to start with what we are involved with is not a usual War we're talking about Guerilla Warfare we're talking about Terror we're talking about Absolut you in absolutely inhumane death cult okay there is no laws of war when you are fighting a uh the enemy that doesn't follow any rules obviously the Torah is our Rule and our law book and that's what we have to follow uh there's a PLO Charter it was already in 1964 calling for the destruction of Israel so don't start telling me that uh that Israel is to blame for any of this our very existence is what has elicited this hatred um what we're going to talk about is Justice tonight Abraham yes it was his kin it was his kin folk it was his family but he would have done this and I'm telling you now we are going to save the Palestinians the the Islamic world will thank us okay because as we discuss what motivated Abraham aside from the fact that it was a human being it was an innocent human being who did nothing wrong and was nevertheless abducted and most likely tortured and nevertheless Abraham he's a man who stands for justice okay is one for one right he stood for justice in other words it didn't matter in the end if it was not even his k man he knew that this is injust and he would have done everything he would have put his life on the line to save this person that's what Justice Means not because of he's a relative uh I want to mention this is ultimately as I mentioned in the past yesel will do truva he did chuva as an individual and Ben is will do truva in the future and therefore I believe this is a battle for the Islamic leadership and actually has begun and the victors will be the most moral people um so just like in 1948 we thought we saw Seven Nations come against us so too now the truth is this war did not begin now Boer toov if you think it did you were just came out from under a rock but this is our um our fight for our existence and it has been like that for over 2,000 years but in the last 100 years it didn't just begin now and I'm going to say something something that's absolutely incredible but I'm going to say it anyway and that is that the Nazis in Germany yamak shamam they took their lead from the muftis in Jerusalem and the uh the the brainchild of the Holocaust and the slaughter of the Jews was coming from this extreme extreme Islamic thought obviously not all uh Muslims are terrorists thank godem uh we' be in really bad shape so there is there is a lot of hope there's a lot of Hope and let's begin so here we are in chapter 14 of Genesis verse1 14 abam heard that his Kinsmen had been taken captive and he armed his trained men those born in his house 318 and he pursued them until done the yma Abraham heard he heard that his brother his Kinsman actually it was his nephew his brother's son was captured we're going to have to deal with these two words what does it mean VI there's a lot of MIM we're going to we're going to we're going to see that it was trained with arm he armed them he armed who his um initiators the people that he was teaching about Torah and Mitzvah yo the people who were born to his house and how many were there there were three there were 318 the year Dan He pursued them until a place called Dan now of course the uh the setup where the 10 tribes the 12 tribes were was not even set up yet nevertheless he perceived and we'll talk about it where exactly the tribe of Dan would be and up until that point uh I think it's important to see Rashi before we see what the cleak car this is all based on the cakar had to say so Rashi mentions in the middle now let's start in the beginning the AR could mean that he armed that he was uh he armed them um there is another idea that he made them turn green because he embarrassed them in order to get them expunged from their sin before you go to war you have to be free of sin as we know there's a special um cohain who would get up and explain anybody that was in the first year of marriage who uh had a Vineyard and hasn't Dr used the The Grapes yet or have has a house that they haven't lived in yet or if you're afraid of sin you must leave the front you don't go to war you don't go to the battle in the front lines because of fear of of sin so there's one idea that he gave them like this battlecry as we're doing right now okay so that's one idea turning green the other idea is armed and we'll talk about that and he trained his men he took his trained men according to Rashi according to midashim it was only one person El elzar can you imagine it says in the text there were 318 and later on we'll see that the spoils were divided amongst these people and yet we have a tradition that it was just one man the the servant the um the designated servant or the loyal servant of Abraham elazer from Damascus whom he had trained to perform the Commandments the word hanov is an expression like initiation like kanuk is coming up hanuk is coming up um so he was initiating him into a proper lifestyle as a Ben Noah okay so that's the first idea brought down and now look at look at the CLE car right away he says Rashi pish elzar Lam that it was rash explains it was only elar sh elezar right the full gatria the value of elzar's name is 318 now that's a statement he's bringing Rashi and now he asked a very good question lar this is strange that the Torah is going to tell me that one person uh went to war and it's because of the number the value of his name 318 that's the way the Torah normally speaks of course not so that's a very strong question why does the Torah then go out of its way to tell me 318 men went when only one really went and it's the gatria the value of his name very strong question and another question how come in verse 24 if you look on on number two on the sore sheet it says and the share of the men who went with him so there was the booty the schl that was divided up divided up amongst all the Warriors it seems clear that it was more than just Eleazar the PK itself says exclusive of what the lads ate and the share of the men who were who went with him with me and Esko MRE they shall take their share the even Rashi seems to imply there were these other people my servants who went with me and additionally an M now although my servants entered the battle as we saw in verse 14 he and his servants and smote them an's companions what did they do they stayed behind with the luggage to guard it in other words they went as far as the battle but not into the field according to the way we're understanding Rashi so now we have another question why would he take these people with them specifically 318 additional people but the last line in the first paragraph the clear strengthens the question H from the p certain seems like it was not just elezar that he took with him he certainly seemed to have taken these other people with him now the clear Begins by saying it makes sense for me the clear to tell you what I'm thinking this is the answer shagam Rashi MOA he's telling us that Rashi actually agrees he's admitting that Rashi is saying yes you know what Abraham did take 318 additional people besides elzar now this drum roll pleas is what I would say at this point but you got to understand we're in the midst of a war anytime even in business you want to make money you want to survive in this world that a person is obligated to do whatever ever they can possibly do in the physical world according to their abilities to make it to be successful in anything and we're going to a war he's going to a war so why wouldn't he take 318 people with him you think he just took one guy we have this principle we cannot rely on Miracles when do we rely on Miracles wait to hear this we can only rely on a miracle or Miracles after we've exhausted all physical efforts then you can rely on a but to outright rely on a we don't do however this brings a great difficulty so so why did abrah take with him 318 men what is the Torah trying to tell us well wait till you hear this the 318 men could never have like if we think think about it if we really think about it we're here by miracle I mean if you think that we been relying on and I'm not I'm not being heretical here on the Israeli Army I I got kids did the Army they told me it's a miracle that we're we're here okay seven armies invaded 1948 some of those okay you know maybe they're not powerful at least in number at least in number they're very powerful and for some miracle we're still here today and then there was in 56 and there was in ' 67 and there was 73 and you can go on and on and on I've been the country for over 35 years and I've seen what they call these inas and these uprisings it's a miracle it's an absolute miracle that we're here so my point here is listen to this so what does the Turk trying to tell me that he took 318 people these were strong Wars this Four Kings and five Kings this was a this was an unbelievable war and Abraham's going to go in and with his servant his loyal servant elezar from Damascus and take back their captive it was actually physically impossible for them to to win that war but he took we'll see why did he take the 318 nevertheless abrah went to the war he relied on the fact he leaned on the fact he believed that Hashem would be with him because he was fighting for justice and he believed in God now on Russia Shana we take different fruits and say different yo tones and these are Sim art scroll translates it as Omens what are these things what do we believe that yes these things are real what we say what we think these are just signs but they can come they can bring reality into existence the idea of bringing uh 318 which is the gamachu of elzar what is elzar mean Al yor that God is my helper listen to what he says elzar that he took with him originally 318 people the value of the name elar horos to teach us elar that it was elzar alone who was really there meaning on the front line in the in the back with the luggage we could also say there was 318 people this would be a hard thing to swallow but God warns us over and over again it's not by your might that's a mistake it's the belief in Hashem it's this relationship we have with Hashem doing the Torah doing the mitas okay there's also the fact that he chose us and he made a covenant with us that is Unbreakable but that we did not win the war because of any personal effort because of Any Human effort only because of hashem's and if we really know that and we really believe that I know it's a hard pill to swallow because we rely so much on and you know what intelligence and whatnot after what we saw on October 7th the those uh intelligent failures I we really H we have to rely on hem we have to rely on hasem um okay let me continue as the verse said they only chased him until done what's going on here what is done I told you that we we the land was not yet divided into the tribes Abraham felt you know he was extremely spiritually sensitive he kept the Torah even though it wasn't even given yet he didn't keep the Rabin laws even before they were given he was so extremely spiritually sensitive he understood that there was a sin a tragic sin of the Jewish people in the future with the golden calfs you know the northern tribes the 10 Northern tribes created these two golden calfs and it was one of them was in betel the other one was in Dan he actually felt or perceived or understood that the was not with him at that point because of some future sin that Jewish people would create in that geographical area therefore weaned his he became weakened his power became weakened at the moment that the uh the help of God was removed moved from him and he knew it and he felt it and batem through our trua through our Unity they should hopefully uproot all of our sins cleanse us from our sins cleanse us from our past for us so that we can be cleansed so that we can have the uh not just the moral for fortitude but hashem's help as well all the way through and this is what it means in verse 15 if you go to um number four it says and he divided himself against them at night and he and his servants and smote them and pursued them until a place called hovah which is to the left of Damascus now what exactly is happening that there's this division he divided himself let's just see the Hebrew the Hebrew says wow I'm sorry who him and his servants so what's going on here what's the word divided is divided going on and it could be on the people because normally in a war you separate you uh you have some people go to the left some people go to the right some people go around some people go under some people go over whatever it is right by C by land and by air however here maybe the word divide is going on the let's look at rashi rashi on number four on Genesis 14 verse1 15 and he divided himself against them according to the simple meaning so you understand that he divided him and his servants um they divided themselves like you normally when you pursue people you go in different directions or divided the night after Nightfall meaning soon as it became dark he didn't refrain from pursuing them and that's usually it's a scary time to pursue but nevertheless it didn't stop him and so the the medish explains that the night was divided it was the night that was divided in the first half so that's when aam went and fought and in the last half of the night meaning from Midnight onward a miracle occurred and similar to what happened in Egypt as we know the very famous PK that it was K ala was around midnight that Hashem went out of Egypt and slaughtered the firstborn of the Egyptians so let's go back into the last two lines of that paragraph in the clear so God divided the night and the second part of the night was his part of the night that he would go out and fight for the Jewish people for Aram similar to this to the way he fought for the Jewish people when we left Egypt that's when hasem himself went out into Egypt and slaughtered the first borns that's exactly what happened in this war that this war was none other didn't we didn't win it any other way other than with the help of Hashem with the the um the the Mighty the almighty one a share me S he is the one who delivered the enemies into Abram's hands alternatively the clear has a an alternative explanation kamisar elzar there's another reason why he took 3 18 people with him again because of the number the the gatria elezar LA horos to teach what elzar shakul Ked kulan that elzar who was the servant of Abraham he was his servant but he was close to him and he was loyal we on the other hand we are so distant and far away but I think what he's talking about this he says AB de that the Merit of Abram clung clinged to to elezar the servant he was really loyal but then the clear says something that makes my face drop and I wonder what he's talking about he he says by the way it's not the clear saying it's based on the medish that how great how nice the mundane conversations just the conversations that elezar would have with Abraham would be so much greater MIM than the Torah of his children now it could I could easily justify this and say look we're talking about yesma and asav and elzar was really you know close to Abraham certainly much more than is and ASA but I'm not so sure I would G I would almost guarantee that we're talking about even us today that we learn Torah and we think we're holding fast by Torah but we are so short we must be so short compared to elezar who was just a Noah I think this really teaches about a Ben no you know for those non-jews that believe in the revelation of Mount Si believe the mission and support the mission of the Jewish people I think there's a lot of credit uh you know we we we unfortunately we we do things by rot we're born into it listen you guys are going against the grain you know for our societies we just you know put on to fill in and we do what we're supposed to do but you guys are standing up for Israel Against All Odds so anyway that's what I think let's go into the last three lines before we change subjects a little bit some say that the word v which has a connotation we said it meant it meant armed he's going to say it's the opposite unarmed I mean this is mindboggling theem Clay Zion he disarmed his people I mean that's not what the verse seems to have said right we said that he armed his trained men according to the medish according to the clear uh there's no way he's making this up if this is true this is unbelievable why would Abraham remove the weapons the physical weapons of war from his own trained men below clay Zion and they went to war without weapons of war now I I've always said it's a joke but it's not I mean it's somewhat serious I I say you know you heard the expression real men don't e Kish maybe I say real settlers don't carry guns that's because the Army has taken them away but okay put that aside um how can it be that you go to war it must be and in my mind that there was no way whatever weapons they had was going to be sufficient otherwise why would you take them away but that's the shot here according to the CLE car and they would rely on the on the salvation of God if you were relying on your weapons then God forbid you would be making a mistake at the same time we've said over and over again you have to do everything you can within the realm of nature but if you know that the weapon is absolutely useless it might even get in your way of your faith I'll leave it at that he basically brings down a pusk to explain that the word arik could mean uh without any weapons okay so let's go on to verse 19 verse 19 if you look in number six on the SW sheet I brought down Verse 18 for reasoned who by the way is shame one of the sons of Noah the king of Salem brought out Bread and Wine he wanted to bless abam now who was maed he was the priest to the most high God now it mentions the most high God and he shame blessed AR and this was the blessing he blessed Abraham with Blessed Be Abraham to the most high God who possesses Heaven and Earth what we're going to do is compare how shame himself he is only referred to as the priest of the god of the most high in Hebrew he was the Coen Leon but AR on the other hand when he blesses abah he says there's a inclusion of Heaven and Earth into Abraham's um blessing description that even shame himself is it doesn't get attributed to so here we go into the clear it says like this what does K mean the uh who possesses God is the one who possesses the heavens and the earth now meaning in the previous verse it describes there's no reference to Heaven and Earth I'm really emphasizing the Earth part uh when it comes to uh shame and why not ready again this is where I would say drum R please before Abraham came meaning come came to the scene God Almighty was known as God Almighty the god of the heavens until Abraham had come God was not known for his kingship in this world this is how the non Jews nbody was Jewish at the time this is how the world looked God he created the world but he's so big he's so far he's so hard to have a communication and a relationship with so he doesn't deal with all the little stuff so it would be impossible to really have a relationship with him comes AB he says no that's not the case he's the he's the he it's his kingdom on Earth and you can have a relationship with God so kha perish Rashi on verse 24 verse 7 if you look at number seven on the sore sheet Abraham says the Lord God of the heaven who took me from my father's house so in the Hebrew so that is how Abraham referred to him over there the ab hi okay now what does that translate as it was Abraham who acquired for God the heavens and the Earth by publicizing God to everybody I'm I'm not going to call him missionary but he carried the gospel he carried the good word he wanted people to know that you can have a relationship with the Creator the universe he's not too far he's not too distance and so he acquired for God the heavens and the Earth how because he publicized the existence of God in this world that's why this phrase is found by Abraham often that Abraham acquired for God the Heaven and the earth now we just have a few short paragraphs left all the bras that we receive in this world come from two places they're coming from the Dew from the moisture that's coming from the heavens and from from the fat of the earth that's why by the BR that shame gives Abraham it's both the bro is coming through both the Heaven and the Earth so later on in the other verse which we mentioned you'll see this number eight I rais abah said to the king of sedom I raise my hand to the Lord to the most high God who possesses Heaven and Earth and then he says not a thread not from a thread to a Sho strap Aram wanted nothing now it says why the verse says I'm not going to take anything that's yours so you should not say that I made abam wealthy wait till you hear this because when we read the Tanakh without the oral Torah we have no clue what it's even saying you need the oral Torah listen to what these words are har I raise up my hand to the to the almighty God who who acquires the heavens and the Earth I'm not going to take even a string and not a a shoelace why did he say this we saw the verse certainly seemed because I don't want people to say that you made me wealthy God abam wanted to let everyone know that I'm wealthy because of God I'm not because I don't want anybody saying you although that's shot at this point I don't want anybody saying that you made me wealthy I want what I do want is that people should know that God made me wealthy now now one second say when when when AB said so people should not say that we don't want you uh the king of Sodom to ever say I made a wealthy according to the that's not at all true that's what the verse says I don't don't think that it means that in order that people shouldn't say this but this is what AB was actually saying you know what I know you and you never you're never going to say that I made wealthy nevertheless I don't want to take anything so in the very beginning as we spoke about Hashem is known as the Supreme one you know the one way up there because what people basically said because what people would say people did say that God's Providence doesn't reach down below the orbit of the moon now I want to mention this is interesting because I did look up what a uh a uh the symbol of the Moon in Islam it is a iconic uh thing they have on many of their things a half moon it is very interesting that this is the language that he uses because usually you say the clay car uses that terminology a lot in reference to this world and yet he uses the term analogy here and the people held that Hashem doesn't reach below the orbit of the moon Zoo but through this war and I believe that's the same thing here R and then people will see with their own eyes that it's Hashem who really is the king of the Earth the god of the the God of this world who tangible who's you can have a relationship with him that his Providence reaches his involvement his not just observance but his involvement reaches into this world that it's not through the might of a human being but it's rather through Hashem himself I just want to reiterate what we spoke about par that Elohim that God created the heavens and the Earth right in the beginning what does it meanit there's two things that are calledit that's for the sake of the Torah and for the sake of Israel right and it's because of Israel that people come to know that there's a God it's because right of the Torah the people will come to know there's a God and of course the cleart talked about through science through looking at the world it's very hard it's not easy but there are some really intelligent scientists that came to the conclusion that there is a God we used Einstein as an example but the main thing is that it's through the Jewish people and what's happening now Will Open the Eyes of the world you're going to see you are going to see that we will win and we're not doing this for our sake like Abraham did not just do this because it hit home when it's yeah but if we would scream and yell and do all this I guarantee you the world would have come down hard on us but but we're doing this to save and I don't know what they're called we can call them Palestinians we can call them Arabs okay these people are being tortured and uh humiliated and they need to be saved and we're going to be there and just remember that right now when I said that we're not doing it only for our sake yes it's the nerve it's the Brotherhood it's the kinship like Abraham felt but we're standing up for justice what Hamas and all the other um terrorist organizations are doing it's it's a sin it's a crime against humanity and we're here to um to rectify that even though we are we are actually the carbonos we are the Canary in the mind and batem with your prayers with your help we should be victorious so have Shalom and keep the [Music] faith 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