Parsha Perspectives for Today (Shoftim, 5782) - If You're Disconnected You are Dead Even While Alive

okay good morning bocanto welcome back to our parsha perspectives for today so good to be together again let's resume our learning of the parsha with a focus on perspectives for today what we can glean how we can grow how the parsha can inform and inspire our lives i want to thank our generous sponsors for our partial series as always becky naughty cats and family in loving memory of david grossman becky's father lulu nishwas david manush i just want to remind everyone that our one-on-one campaign continues one minute a day of torah learning one dollar a day of giving an incredible program daily giving that we cooperate or partner with enables you to give a dollar a day and make a difference all over the world on the minute of day of learning we have a tremendous amount of people learning one minute a day all for sd moscow it's esther t vasayatsipura and all holy straw should have a refusal this week we have the privilege learning parshas shoftim you can sign up prsonline.org one and one that's where you can sign up for the campaign partial show them is in the earthquake stonehenge page 1024 1024 is continuing his soliloquy moshe continues his monologue to the jewish people he continues to inspire them as they're about to cross the threshold into the land of israel and realize their dream their whole growth as a nation their purpose and creation and he continues to try to warn them and position them and inspire them that they should be mindful of the threats that loom of the dangers that they could fall prey to of how they can be sure to be focused on who they need to be and tell them we're not going to repeat we've spent a lot of time on this opening in previous years what does it mean judges and officers place for you the notion that the human being we all have many openings and entrances into our body and through that into our mind and into our soul our eyes our nostrils our mouth our ears we have many gates we have many entrance ways and we need both shot in the show trend we need judges we need to show good judgment clear judgment on clouded judgment prudent judgment and as or maybe more importantly show trim we need police officers meaning you can have all the judgment in the world give it all the clarity in the world you can have all of the correct perspective in the world but if you lack the discipline if you don't have the show trim if you're not disciplined in being able to show the self-control to be able to enact or to be able to express or manifest a good judgment then what's it worth then what's it worth the um teach us without police without law enforcement you can't have judges you don't have good judgment we spoke about last year what that means and we'll leave it we'll leave it there but i want to show you a fascinating madrish the measure says that we should have judges and police officers at all of our gateways and the measure says about this so go look at a lazy ant see its way its path how lazy it is how lazy it is and become wise be inspired says this is what it means the ant is lazy and lethargic and procrastinates and you we should look at that and recoil and be inspired to what to be different how should we be different what does the mattress tell us look at lich on the mala artel according the passage what would you say look at someone something lazy and how should you react don't be lazy b what's the opiate opposite industrious act with alacrity zeal enthusiasm be energized go pursue what is wise the opposite of laziness is not wisdom the opposite of laziness is action activity zeal enthusiasm so what is the mejis what does the majority mean explains and answers the following he says what is the source of laziness tips is ignorance and foolishness laziness is not i mean it could be a person could go for a lab report and figure out why are they slow why are they lethargic why do they lack energy sometimes there can be a chemical issue sometimes the person needs some intervention medically but generally speaking says the level your value beyond that laziness stems from foolishness from ignorance from stupidity and why does a person mistakenly pursue promiscuity why does a person look at the wrong thing why is a person drawn to the wrong thing why does a person behave in the wrong way or with the wrong action because of their heart meaning that where does laziness come from laziness comes because we're not smart enough to say that's a dumb way to live what a waste of life what a waste of time what a waste of potential what a waste of possibility a person who's smart who's wise is the person who pursues with alacrity goals and aims and makes resolutions so the the lazy lethargic good for nothing they know intellectually what will be in the end elisha but what happens tim tamale their heart is closed their heart closes their eyes valees they sleep the good sleep they just want to take a nap they just want to dremel they just want to schluff they don't want to think about the future the morosh so therefore says the mantra the opposite of laziness is wisdom be smart the answer the way to get somebody lazy to act is to say be smart look at the potential look at the possibility that what you're going to accomplish look at the difference you could make because the opportunity that you have it's not that the opposite of laziness is zeal what gets you to the mindset of zeal what puts you in the position of zerezus if you're wise why is that be mature be smart be smart that's what will get a person that's what will get a person going so the parsha opens with this notion that all of us are shifting we all use judgment we've spoken about this a lot recently that every time the torah is giving this warning this caution these rules and regulations to judges it's not only talking about technical judges who serve in courts formally but it means every one of us we all use judgment regularly we all use our judgment use our judgment to judge favorably use our judgment to judge clearly use our judgment to judge fairly don't have clouded judgment don't have to store it in judgment don't rush to judge unfavorably and so on and so forth okay moving along tests as i am don't erect for yourself ahmad seva that god despises and that god hates what is this warning don't erect for yourself imatseva what does that mean rashford one solid piece of stone to offer on and even to heaven i sure sunday god hates that in the days of the others hashem loved it and now hashem has come to hate it why what's the difference what happened because i doubt it was embraced and since idolaters embraced it that's why hashem now hates it so we have to understand so what that the um somewhat of the nations of the world that non-jews are doing this they also have altars all together they offer sacrifices altogether in fact the rambam the whole origin for sacrifices in the jewish people is the response non-jews offer sacrifices jews are going to crave to go through the same or similar ritual so god says i'll appease you you need something tangible you need something physical you need to slaughter you need to smell you need to burn so i'll give you a base i make touch with an altar so all together we're doing a similar thing to the non-jews by having them as bail so how it's constructed one piece separate pieces that's what hashem cares about that's what he that's what matters listen to this incitement of moshe feinstein ramosh has an incredible insight to ash moshe he says the following videos what is the difference between the matseva and the mizbear the mizbeh was constructed by separate stones you put them together you piled them up and you created an altar what's a mat sava today we have a mahakam a person loses a loved one rahman al-salam and our custom narrative right away here within the first year we erect a monument we have a kamas matseva place a monument every every um unveiling that i officiate i always begin by saying it's not an unveiling we don't believe in unveilings that's a non-jewish concept you get to the cemetery and they have a piece of cloth taped over it family gather rounds voila thousands of dollars later and family disputes what to say on it later and finally an agreement later and supply chain issues so it's longer than anyone ever thought later here it is that's not what we believe we don't believe in an unfailing jews don't have an unveiling what do we have aha means the erecting the installation of the monument we are marking recognizing the fact that there's a monument what's the difference between the monument and a misbehave what's the difference in a monumental sort of motion says the following he says satisfied if you did a few nice things and you stopped if you were fixed in your way if you said you know what i resolve to be a decent person a good person a moral person a kind person and i'm done i'm pretty moral i'm pretty good and this is who i am and this is what you get and now i'm fixed like a matsaifa like a matsai bam cesar of motion the torah gave us the tools deva gave us torah gives us the prescription torah gives us the formula how to live the most meaningful the best life grow add on make progress improve advance always don't be stuck and don't be don't be stable don't be complacent but always advance and always grow and always add on more so the image of a mate says moshe is a monument one piece of stone still and stagnant and one piece of stone the image of them is baach in contrast is what stones piled on one another you can continue to add more and more he doesn't say this but a mate is when you're dead person is gone person's life is over it's done it's finished hopefully they leave a beautiful and rich legacy hopefully matseva tells the story of the difference that they made but they're done they're no longer among the living so the more difference they can make so it's a matseiva but a person shouldn't have a matseva while they're alive if you have a matseva while you're alive what you're so done you say while i'm napping put him outside next to my bed and my seat and she'll put him at seva next to my chair but i'm not save them matseva says you're fixed you're done you're finished that's it it's all you have to offer it's all you're going to contribute that's all you're going to live is for after we're gone but save us for after we die while we're alive we have a mesbah we add stones we grow lo matseva don't establish for yourself don't worship god with the mentality don't worship god with the matseva mentality i went to yeshiva i you spoke to somebody recently who tells me i invited him to learn to get involved what could the show do with so many learning programs our air of shabbos kolaver men's afternoon color women's mid-rasha advanced beginner intermediate he says that i want to ishid my shiva years are done i'm done i put in my time killed myself burned the midnight oil i excelled ah years ago i'm done now killing business schmoozing back to shoulder am i learning done a person who's living in might save a life put up the matseiva which message does i learn put up the matseiva how much parsha i explored put up the matseva which shirama i went to i'm done i'm fixed i'm finished the way i understood it what i learned i'm done so the banana says hashem hates that he hates that you're done 21 22 years 23 whenever left to shiva you're done you're finished hashem hates them don't lead a mat save a life live on this bayak life add and grow and build and expand and do more and more and more and more that's what hashem wants from us while we're alive he wants us to worship through a mizbeh that we build and we grow and we add and we do more and more and more in fact what do you call somebody who's an enormous scholar what's the name for them in yereshkai you praise somebody someone's a huge what we don't say they're huge we don't say they're a brilliant scholar what do we say they're a huge talmud you know what makes them a great scholar they're not a mate if they're saver they're not somebody we should admire they're might say they're not somebody that we should learn from there are mater they shouldn't be the rash of shiva the rebbe the mashiach they're finished as a student they continue to study and learn and grow and add up now i'll leave off one post script together mush it doesn't say this either but i say this at every hakamas matseva every time we have an unveiling which is really we launch we recognize we read the materia the person is no longer here is captured their legacy is communicated through that monument but what do we do before we take leave of the cemetery we have a customer of minha we reach down and we find what a stone of pebble and where do we put it on top you know why they're gone they're a monument but we build them as bach out of the monument we say i'm going to continue i'm going to build i'm going to add there they may be done but what they've invested in me and what are we placed after stone how do you say stone in hebrew evan father parent child grandchild or a conjunction of av and ben evan is ava and ben or an acronym for av and evan is stone is continuity when we put a stone on top of the monument we say the monument is their legacy and they're gone but i put a post don't i'm going to build higher i'm going to add to it i'm going to turn the monument into a mizbayach because i'm still alive their monument informs my mizbayach life and i'm going to continue to grow so that's what says he hates that he hates that you're fixed you're finished you're done 1920 21 22. that's your understanding of yiddish kite it's an enormous tragedy in cloud israel there are people walking around and that's it they're done their understanding of the parasha the quality of their ahmeda their shimon ashrae again shameless plug for sitter snippets we're learning the amida now we just began you didn't miss much all we did is hashem like nine different snippets on it but hashem society there are people dominating astray at 80 years old the same way they did when they were eight years old you could see because you could clock it the length of their amidah their level of concentration their comprehension of the words they're people's understanding of partial shot is the same as 80 as it was at eight is there a greater tragedy grow up mature literally grow up grow up vm is back grow up don't be a fixed monument bro most of us grow out we don't grow up we got to stop growing out and start growing up will be a lot healthier way to live parakeet blemish sacrifice you can't breathe bring him you find somebody who is violating hashem's will who threatens to compromise and corrupt the people worship idols what do we do as such a person these are the rules the matter of judgment is hidden from you it's an issue a question a matter of judgment and it's in any of the areas of jewish law there's an allusion here to all the areas of allah your death bishop these four descriptions of possible questions that arise are describing the four areas or pillars of jewish law what should you do they come to the ali get up and go to the place that hashem is designated where is that place last week we wrote in the weekly that you can find it online never reveals it he wants us to be mad action he wants us to hone our radar and calibrate our compass and be spiritual seekers and go find that place so ki palai what is the word yi palai palai is a appella a wonder a wonder befalls you have a question something doesn't make sense about justice something seems unjust something seems unfair something seems confusing unclear what should you do the camta the alisa get up and go rise to that place and the pasik is speaking specifically go to the judges that you have in that day and seek out their wisdom seek out their their sagacious advice seek out what they think is just and correct but there's a beautiful from this passage of wine fell shlita quotes some sofa who says something for you is a pella a question what should you do what should you do now what kind of a question sometimes there's a question which is not earth shattering it's a question which doesn't paralyze or debilitate it's a question that doesn't rock your ammuna so for example i get those questions regularly rabbi i found a milking fork in my fleshing dishwasher i have yet to see somebody who walks away from yiddish kite i've yet to meet somebody who's amuna is rocked whose faith is broken because of a flashing fork and a nothing dishwasher fine however there are people who go through horrific pain difficulty in life where's the mishpat where's the fairness someone around me i love is suffering someone is sick someone is lonely someone is someone is suffering he palai tapella hashem it's a wonder it's an absolute wonder and it feels and it seems so unjust what should you do with that feeling and what should you do with that question does the israelite expect you to suppress it and bury it are we meant to deny it is it a failure of faith to be filled with that question should you say well kasparok is perfect infinite and all-knowing so i have no questions it's wonderful that they're suffering it's wonderful they're in treatment it's wonderful they don't have children it's wonderful they're single they can't find their bashir it's wonderful they're homeless because hashem is amazing and everything hashem does is for our best so i have no questions is that the way that we're meant to live says if you're filled something is a pellet a wonder it's confusing it's unclear it makes no sense it's painfully difficult la mespad specifically when it comes to an issue of justice or fairness the kant of the ali get up and bring it to hashem challenge him ask him protest him object to him because that's how you grow don't use it as a pretext or an excuse to walk away from him don't use it as a cop-out to give up on him but the kant of the ali makkom get up and bring it up and present it and get closer to hashem from it the kantava alisa el hamakom we don't shy away from questions says something zapella the kanta the alisa get up and raise that question raise that question such an important sofa such an important insight on our pasuk how many young people we know not young people people of all ages we know who walked away from yiddish because when they asked questions they were shunned they were silenced they were told we don't ask that they were quiet we live in a world where today you know if that were true in years past where a rebbe amore a teacher didn't want to be challenged didn't want to answer a question they couldn't didn't know the answer to didn't want to validate or acknowledge something was questionable so they they quieted and they even shunned or shamed the person who was asking they're people who walked away from yiddish they walked away because first of all they were embarrassed or they were shamed for having the question or they were simply dissatisfied because they never got an answer or they never at least felt validated that it was a legitimate question of a comment all the more so today any young person who has a question doesn't need to go to an adult or an authority what do they do they just need a keyboard they just need a connection to the internet and they have terabytes of information at their fingertips so if google or siri will answer your question but your rebbe or your moto or your parent won't then what's going to be the source of your truth so it's so important to communicate to our children whatever question you have bring it i don't know that i'll have the answer i don't know that it'll be so compelling i might be filled with the same question but we're gonna search and look together we don't discourage and we don't silence and we don't shame for having a question that's not our religion that's not our religion that's not who we are and what we believe it's a great rabbi i knew shalom he spoke here many many years ago gives tours at yad vashem and he's a convert his name is escaping me at the moment anyone know who i'm talking about what's his name rabbi so-and-so rabbi asher wade i knew that i crowd-sourced that thought i'd get some help your way so rush away tells the story when he was rising in the church not only as a low-level priest but he was rising up and studying more he was filled with questions and he brought those questions i don't remember archbishop whatever level superior person above him expecting to get the answers and he asked all of his questions on scripture and the person superior to the turn and said you know i have those same questions he felt wow that's wonderful great i'm going to get answers and he said no he didn't say new yet because he wasn't jewish but he said whenever the equivalent of new was before he converted and the superior turned to him and said yes when i have those questions i get on my hands and knees and i pray that they go away and then he began to explore judaism who said questions fantastic we love questions pesach night we have four questions at the seder and the basic measures is filled with questions and in the hebrew language there are six seven eight synonyms for questions to give to kasha sheila we have incredible number of synonyms for questions rebel weinfeld points out very few words for answer because we're filled with questions we have many ways to describe our questions we welcome questions we want questions we want curiosity and inquisitiveness we want people who are engaged and are searching and who are looking we love love love questions we love questions and so keep our when a question rises by mishpat when a question rises it feels unjust i'm confused it's unclear it feels unfair the kanta ali said get up and bring that question up raise the question raise the question you may not get a perfect answer you may not get a satisfying answer but don't be afraid to raise the question we are a people of questions we encourage and we promote questions we welcome and we encourage and we should reward our children for asking the questions it was a nobel prize winner is a door my mind is a little uh slow not operating in a lot of sleep i forgot his name i wasn't planning on saying i need this that's why i didn't prepare and don't know these are just the things that come to me for better or for worse so uh he was once into the new york times his obituary tells the story how he became a nobel prize winner what differentiated him what made him better he's a jewish man so he said when he was a child when he was a child all the other kids would come home that day and the mother the parents would ask did you answer a good question today what'd you get on your task did you raise your hand did you answer a question on the teacher today and his mother would ask did you ask a good question today did you ask a good question today and he credited becoming a nobel prize winner his curiosity his inquisitiveness his search for wisdom his discovery he credited it all with the fact that his parents didn't say did you answer a question today but did you ask a good question today did you ask a good question you're curious we don't discourage we reward we don't shame we elevate the count of alisa get up and raise that question and pursue it and use it to get close to hashem to get closer to hashem we're not afraid we're not afraid of questions we believe in hashem there are things that defy explanation the things that we won't have great answers to but nevertheless we can get close to hashem through the questions that we ask moving along king page 1 10 20. but when you come to the land that god gives us when we conquer it when we inhabit it we're going to want something we're going to look around and we're going to say wait everybody else has a monarchy everybody else has royalty everyone else has a kingdom we want to we want a king hashem says you know what fine you can have one testimony you can appoint for yourself a king that has to be from among your brothers which eliminates excludes the convert in others learns sirara positions of authority and leadership men not women why that is the king can't have too many horses because then we'll turn to egypt to go get horses for his collection of the king can't have too many wives he'll be distracted it'll be difficult too many credit card bills to pay below and he shouldn't pursue too much money he shouldn't be consumed by materialism the pursuit of materialism is the king has an obligation when he sits on his throne to write for himself two sephirah torah two torahs two copies of the torah by saying you must be with him all the time he reads from it in order that he will learn the manila even ezra and last week's parsha says means he will become accustomed he will train and condition himself to yira shamayim your shamayim we have to become trained and conditioned to just on the side the word le manilla like ishmael ishmael means means habit wrote the mantillmud means we should create positive habits by the way tonight eight o'clock i'm speaking on the book atomic habits a torah take on the book atomic habits so habits can be good or bad the fact that we are pre-programmed in our day we are creatures of habits can be an asset or a liability if we have poor habits it's a horrific liability if we have good habits fantastic asset atomic habits how do we form the best habits so the manual model until mud means to condition ourselves to habits and the habits not habits habits when we have good habits they lead to what layers hashem a look of we sometimes mistakenly think this is a big insight of this we think you know when intellectually i'm there then i will carry out and follow through but it's the opposite when you start carrying out and follow through then you're going to feel a sense of your shame love is a verb not an adjective love is a verb not an adjective is a verb your shaman fear and awe of hashem is action it's how we behave when we behave and act in that way then we feel connected the yiddish expression with the eating comes the appetite i'm hungry i can't eat i'm full i'll never eat again let me just take a taste of that next thing you know three main courses later six side dishes and seven desserts mr or misses i'm not hungry with the eating comes the appetite after the actions follow the heart if we start to do then we'll behave dress for the job that you want not the job that you have so many examples so mud the sashimi the king has to write and carry and read and act and perform and behave and dress a certain way because when we do it will condition ourselves to feel what we're meant to be able to feel as a result of why is the king doing all this to make sure he doesn't become hari will build his sermon to him any small so he does not abandon god's missiles right or left he will live a long life on his throne who wanna be careful israeli and his family among the jewish people so lots to say here i want to say on this on these sukkam where should we start because of the mishnah torah so she has to write the he reads it all of his life it should say he writes a torah he reads from it all of his life ability and also by the way the vilti rome la vavo don't don't become arrogant just because you're the king just because you're the monarch just because you're royalty don't let it go to your head it is a responsibility and a privilege it's not a right and therefore don't let it go to your head where's the vove it should say oolavilty and don't become hari so there was a great sadhaku who lived in ushalam of murakaitsukerman he was the talmud of calm he knew that he was one of the last living talmudim of the khaft and many years ago 15 16 years ago and i took a teen mission to israel with teenagers with the privilege of taking them to go meet with succumbing in yerushalayim and he told the stories of so for these young people to hear directly from him to sit in the presence of somebody who was a student of the was amazing so he asked this question and you say for lay more why doesn't there why is there above the king should have to write a torah to learn from it and don't become hawaii so he says the following yes because there is a fear and awe of a king and everybody else because the king knows they're in a position of power there's the enormous danger of it going to his head these are not two separate statements it's not king you have a mitzvah to write a torah oh also by the way try not to let it go to your head don't because this is a prescription do you know how you avoid becoming an arrogant by learning torah the reason the king need two torahs is when you keep your nose in the book when you study the torah when you continue to connect with it then it will calibrate your compass then you will stay humble and modest but if you ignore and neglect if you stop reading and imbibing his messages if you're not nourished by the torah giving us a sense of context and truth then you're in enormous risk yes so for the king there's a danger of arrogance but for all of us in our profession in our personality in our private lives we have we all have struggles some struggle with envy strum some struggle with temptation some struggle with anger some struggle with jealousy we all have challenges what's the antidote what's the answer like the king keep your nose on the book every day you have to study torah torah humbles why why is totally humble why does torah effectively work in that way because torah is the diary of hashem torah reminds us that we're not all and be all we're not in charge we're not in control torah intellectually causes us to surrender to him torah helps us see us ourselves in a context of a much bigger world around us torah enables us and enriches us and empowers us and challenges us to feel that we're here not to take but to give that we don't have rights and entitlements we have duties and obligations that we have a mission in this world and when we engage in torah and we remember that we have a mission and responsibility in this world then we're going to be able to overcome whatever is those obstacles in our life and then the karabakh then we read it all the days of our lives so the same way it's not above ou laville t it's not two separate things write a torah and learn it oh also by the way don't be arrogant it's connected the way to avoid being arrogant is to call you the karabo read it every day of your life read it every day of your life the higher a position you are in life whatever position of power you're in of office you're in the more responsible you are to set aside time every day to study people mistakenly think the less time that you have the less time that you have but the more important it is the king who had more pressure on their time on their schedule than the king but yet the karabakh you have to read it every day because the more position of power you're in the more vulnerable you are the more susceptible you are the more that you think you're above the rules and above the law the more danger you're in to become corrupt if power corrupts absolute power corrupts absolutely how do you avoid that the torah here gave a prescription not only for the king but for all who are like the king and what is that prescription read total learn torah every single day every single day called to you who are here live and in person back in the rand sanctuary with coffee and other granola bars today and even granola bars no granola bars not to bring them back but you are learning torah every day multiple times a day it grounds us it informs us it challenges us but enables us not to be as vulnerable to those issues so you'll say but i'm i'm i'm not a king i'm not a queen so first of all we all are we all are we were online in the airport coming back from our family trip and they announce you know first class can board and business class can board and medallion members can board an extra legroom platinum preferred can board so uh one of my young daughters uh said why aren't we boarding i said sweetie we're nothing we sit in the back of the plane we sit among the peasants we're the simple people we're the simple folk she paused hello then she said abba we're not peasants or poor people we're princes and princesses because we're children of hashem he said ah every dollar of tuition paying off that's why we couldn't sit by the way in the business class in the first class and wherever else because all those dollars of tuition but what right what a great line from the mouth of children i loved it i loved it she says we're not peasants of poor people the princes and princesses were children of hashem says says there's a big debate is there a mitzvah to appoint the king or is it that if you crave a king here's the proper way how do we have a proactive obligation or no if we crave it here's how here's how much fishery the same way that the message for judges and police people is talking to each and every one of us similarly the prescription and the obligation for the king is similarly talking to each and every one of us for every member of the jewish people for every one of us we have a status of malchus shabba who moshe of the show late what is a melech is the ultimate authority amelica is the highest level of power some people are only in charge of their home themselves they pay their bills they make the rules they're in charge of their home some are in charge of other people they're in a position of management they're a director they're an administrator somebody is a mayor an elected just like we had hierarchy and a structure of leadership in the jewish people we're all in positions of influence some influence and are in charge only of themselves some of their family some of their community some of their business some of the local some of state some of national international and so on benign you could have implicit and explicit malchus he goes on listen to what says or based on the teaching we have to realize that power with power comes great responsibility with great power comes great responsibility so melaka malka are not just you get to fly first class they're not just you get to sit in the throne they're not just you're in charge in your control of others there's awesome responsibility and you have to use it for the good not the bad it can't be for personal pleasure and now let's look at the puzzle in this context says hashem the commission allah don't be a person of power of authority of control do it with camaraderie and companionship and love and empathy allah don't use your power in your control to become a stranger to think you're different or above others don't think that you're not a brother that you're somehow above so ibnachman reads into it for each and every one of us anyone who is in whatever position of power at whatever level who sees themselves as a melaka malka see that only for the good like my daughter online at the airport not in a way that god forbid corrupts or that god forbid brings us down that's from nachman and the lave murder the megan yosef of swarovski points out torah cautions the king from three things loya bello not too many horses which today today people in great positions of power were of great wealth they're not at risk of amassing too many horses what are they at risk of too much horsepower not horses but horsepower they want many cars the strongest cars and horsepower which is a fascinating thing because no matter what horsepower your car has you're still bound by the same speed limit so what motivates the greater horsepower the more horsepower the more cars so the third one is stated differently loya bello don't accumulate don't have too many horses don't have too many women or wives and money silver and gold should not accumulated by him much it's formulated differently says the megadose three things horses women and money senator where do they raise horses where do they breed horses egypt we are warned in three places in the torah we're not supposed to return to egypt if the king is consumed by accumulating the greatest horse collection in the world where are they going to go egypt torah gives us the reason binashem not have too many wives why loya levo this is not biased or whatever to women but if he has too many wives and he's so in love with all of them and he's overcome by romance and love and care and support he's going to be distracted he's got to be a king we just spoke about a king is not only about privilege it's about responsibility king is responsible for the welfare safety the security the well-being the governance of the people leos he can't be distracted how many anniversaries he's going to have to mark flowers he's got to buy and deliver chocolates often he's going to be apologize he doesn't have time for all that veneer but the money there's no reason given me so torah's calling and begging us pursue try to understand you know where the answer can be found there's a hint there's a clue in the passage it doesn't give us a reason but it does use one extra word and maybe that one extra word is a clue and what's the actual word the torah says when it comes to horses lawyer when it comes to wives when it comes to money lawyer below how is that a clue how is it a hint ghazal tell us if you have a hundred you want two hundred the islam you have 200 you want 400. really do you ever meet a person who says i'm good i'm done i have enough no matter how much you have you want more you make your first thousand you want i'm first million in the first million you want to be in the billionaire club you're in the billionaire club you want to be in the multi-billionaire club you want to you made it on the forbes 400 you want to be in 100 100 you want to make to number five you wanna make the number one it's built into the human psyche to crave to want more and more by mama and magbirus having money actually causes you to want more money who knew and who struggled in this area oh hey kesef if you love kasev the more you love it the less satisfied you can ever get with it you'll ever become from it the more you love money no matter how much you have you crave and want more you're never done so if you want enough to live if you want enough to live comfortably beautiful enjoy have ambition have drive those are wonderful qualities and enjoy the best and the beautiful of what hashem has to offer there's nothing wrong with that but the more that you define and confuse your identity and the pursuit of money who you are the more that there's mode you just want more you can't be satisfied the more it's owed then it's all you'll think about you'll be consumed by it because then it's going to corrupt your thinking and you won't be able to you won't be able to lead in the most prudent way us if you look at the target in the translation of this passage it says don't have a lot of gold so that you don't raise your heart and you'll rebel against hashem if you have a mode an insatiable appetite for materialism and money then you can't be close to hashem the insatiable appetite if you love money you'll never have enough money oh it totally meaning all of us have drive we have temptation we have appetite sometimes insatiable the question is how do we channel and how do we direct it if it's for cars or money we'll never have enough but it could be for rashi and tosus it could be for torah and if we do it for torup now we've channeled it for the best in the most beautiful way good well evilti sur mina mitsu perkins we just read and what happens the king the vilte rumor at the danger of the danger of what the danger of becoming arrogant and what else is he in danger of will of surah mitzvah yamin usmo if the king has too many horses too many wives too much money then he will become arrogant an inflated ego and he will abandon torah he'll turn away from torah yum in a small right or left and that's a bad thing and that's a bad thing and that's a bad thing the ololosa friend the oldest of friends alma margolios says the following why right and left what is the allusion to right or left first of all the king i'll tell you my right and left we use in our vernacular the right wing in the left wing of religion the right wing in the left wing of politics don't be guided by ref left or right don't be guided by conservative liberal politics what should you be guided by truth that took a little too long truth truth hashem be guided by hashem is truth by the divine wisdom so don't don't be partisan don't be predictable if you're in a position of power you're a melech or a malka don't try to make the mitzvah fit into your paradigm or your politics right or left right or left you're an elected official you're a position of power don't make legislation fit into your politics right or left pursue its moral which just what's true what's true yamin is small but the old safari says something else tells us if you want to become wise turn south if you want to become wealthy turn north where do you want to get that from the mishka is the mikdash what was in the south the menorah we know it was the source of wisdom what was in the north the source of the bread show bread which was wealth so to the south is where wisdom can be found to the north is where wealth can can be found we've now put out four volumes of our base measures the bookers on synagogue based madrish has a total volume we've put out four volumes what's the name of our of our torah journal yadrum why is it called yadrim because of this gemara harotsa yadrin if you want to become wise yad rim da rome is the south yad rim turn towards the south i wrote an introduction to all four it's getting increasingly difficult but in each of the introductions i quoted a different shot a different understanding of interpretation what does that mean turn to the south for wisdom turns towards the north some say it means we think that you turn to the east or wherever you are in the world you turn towards air to throw and there is truth to that kimono records that records that however post can say for example we should really be facing southeast east towards israel but to the south also because i wrote him so some say that kumar is talking about which direction you face when you dive in others say it's talking about other qualities and other things but this is yadrin you got to move to south florida if you want wisdom that's where it's found it's quoted that's why in the shul if you look behind me in actual two the rabbi sits to the left of the aram and the president sits to the right why because when the rabbi is sitting to the left of the iron when you're dominating you're going to face the our own so you're facing where southeast you're looking the rev is looking for wisdom as they face east the president is responsible for the finances of the shul faces the around where are they facing north east faces the south bend yazpin so the president faces the faces of the north fine that's why we started new yeshiva hashem started yesterday shiva south florida flourishing thriving fantastic we're so super excited we should have called the whole yeshiva yadrim but yadrum they come to the south why am i telling you all this what is that to do that parashat says when the king does it shouldn't be for the ulterior motive of either wisdom or wealth don't turn ya mean is small don't turn right or left means don't be doing it for wisdom or wealth do it lashma do it for hashem that's the illusion of yamin ooh small great let's keep going time for one or two more what should we do which one should we do let's do it a bender because i like rabbit bender bender is a beautiful insight we have the uh cities of refuge in our passion person who kills accidentally and they run to a city of refuge if he expands your borders and somebody dies and you set up arie miklot and the person kills accidentally they run there and rashi says you prepare for yourself the way prepare for yourself the way rashi says miklot miklet they had signs at the crossroads they had billboards and street signs and highway signs that said this is the way to the irmikla road signs to make it clear misaka's bikram we're told that the masses heading to yerushalayim they made their way up with pomp and circumstance and singing and dancing others would join them and those who were on their way to bring the first fruit for the bikram would sleep in city squares as they went up and they would wake up with the cry of kumu now let's see no let's get up come who's coming we're going to see we're going to the base of mikdash the great masjid of the mir of points out now we appreciate the reason for this precise clear signage torah did not want them to have to ask for directions when it came to bikurim there were no signs because you'd announce where you're going and you create a sense of an environment of enthusiasm of energy and you get other people to come with you there were no signs specifically so that people would have to ask and then they would encourage others ali oregon there were no signs so people would ask and then you'd encourage when you have a whole entourage and you'd go together but when it came to ir mikula there were clear and precise signs why said you know why the torah did not want these people to engage with others on their way to the umikla why not the simple reason is to save them from embarrassment or shame they're killed by accident it's embarrassing they have to leave their family go to near mikala it's embarrassing to save them from that embarrassment they were clear and precise signs but ravi rakum says something different he says because conversation itself creates culture creates a reality did you hear this person has to go to the aramic land he killed someone it would create a buzz around bloodshed the commotion created by travelers causing the existence of the ari nicola and the reason for their existence would become part of the public discussion torah doesn't want that we don't want people exposed to ra in any manner even the word shrikha is dumb we don't want that to be the conversation of the shabbos table we don't want that to be the buzz we don't want that to be what people are schmoozing about at the water cooler is showing us in this puzzle but we see it in every day when a child sees what a child sees as an effect positive and opposite it's important to bring your children to see gadoli torah to fill your homes and books and pictures of tamil to spend time in great yeshivas just like those who pass through a performer perfumery come out with the fragrance on their clothing so too there's ascent to a makkam kadosh and it leaves a lingering aroma and the opposite is also true the opposite is also true and here he tells the whole story which we don't have time for but the opposite is also true so review points out from the signage itself the khazal torah itself is trying to is trying to control the conversation because what we talk about creates the culture and the culture we live in creates the reality that we have so we have to be very vigilant we need to be very careful but i'll close with one last thought from the muslim who says tells us that when the individual killed by accident goes to an ear mickla who goes with him he's rebbe because the boston says vanessa are he goes to one of these cities the so that he can live so that he can live buras from the gala magalin shiva emo and if the rebbe has to go to an ear mikula who goes with him holtam mind-boggling because somebody in the habit killed by accident the rebbe goes and with the rebel yeshiva goes mind-boggling their whole lives are disrupted how could it be torah says because you have to support the person in the ear mikula how do you support them with what food and water shelter maybe internet connection but how do you really support them as with access to torah learning a person who's cut off from torah learning is dead we saw that coming full circle to the zuckerman the king has to learn every day to be grounded because without being grounded in total learning every day we're done we're lost we're finished so the individual who is magala the individual is exiled brings the yeshiva with him brings the yeshiva with him ignores telling us something absolutely so incredible so incredible without access to torah it's not a life it's like one's dead it's like you're dead and that's why the rebbe and that's why the whole yeshiva go in order to sustain and in order to give life they inconvenience and disrupt themselves because we have to provide life for the person who is there and do all we can to sustain them and to be able to take care of them you see the centrality of total learning see the critical importance to be able to live our best selves to be able to actually be alive without torah we're wandering dead and with nourished by torah we are alive that's the role of torah in our lives it's great to be back tonight eight o'clock torah take on atomic habits tomorrow morning speaking of habits ten minutes of messiah's asharam followed by living with ammuna is back so we have three weeks of stories to tell i'm gonna story he's living with the moon is back and tomorrow night behind the bhima and so on and so forth until next time stay happy stay healthy and stay holy