Pinchos - Finding Our Lot in Life

You're listening to the weekly para podcast with Ari Goldwag recorded with Asham's never- ending assistance in Ramapish Israel 5786 2026. This week's para is para spinas. Welcome to the people of joining us in Israel saying the same para and this week's para of course we're in the three weeks. So the three weeks represent as we said in the yesterday being sent out of Israel Israel losing our connection to Israel. And here in our para at the beginning of the three weeks we have the love of Israel. We have the uh the distribution of the land of Israel to the tribes. And we have the daughters of the five righteous daughters of who as we'll see in the medish represented the special the uniqueness of the women of Kalisel the as we spoke about a few weeks ago as opposed to the moraglin who all they could see was the negative of Israel. The women the hay Jewish women were able to see the beauty of Israel. They showed that they cared to have a inel to have a portion in Israel. And on till today I've heard a few stories of people who moved to Israel recently who was the wives the women who were the they were focused on making sure to get their family to Israel. So I want to talk about the love of Israel. I also want to talk about the challenge of Israel. Of course today if you read any Jewish news you know what's going on here in Israel you know what's going on for the those who are studying Torah and I want to talk about and I want to not just touch upon but kind of get a depth in what it means to have a love for Israel what it means to have a connection and how when we have a connection to Israel unlike the moragum the opposite of the moragulum the moragum all they could see was the negative. But when you love somebody, when you love somebody, all you see is the positive. So, we're going to get there, but let's read a little bit about the kalucasars. There's some really interesting things in the maj about it. We're going to read about the and see some interesting interesting things about them. and we'll see what we can take personally from these says the people who were present at the time the end of the 40 years in the wilderness they were the ones who were going to receive the holy land of Isra going to receive it so our measure says it was going to be distributed to them our measure says What we have is a mish and the mish says that when you have a when you have a when you have an inheritance so you can have anger you can have jealousy think about it when someone passes away heaven forbid so the children fight over the they fight over the inheritance. Who's going to get this portion? Who's going to get that portion? Now, on the surface of it, understand that of course it's negative. It's negative because, you know, everyone should get what they deserve. Everyone should get their portion. But on a deeper level, if you think about it, what's really going on when we have a when we have an inheritance is that the parent, and this is something that I believe the Ramban talks about, a parent, he has a certain uh he has a certain purpose in the world. The parents, the mother and the father, they have a certain thing that they were placed on this earth to do. And Hashem gives each and every individual the wherewithal to be able to do that. Okay? Okay. So when there's an inheritance, what's really going on is that the children are taking over for the parents what their purpose is. Parent has aid of said. So the children in order to do that to continue in the footsteps of their parents, they need the wherewithal that the parents had. So the the parents leave behind to their children the things that supported them in their ability to to fulfill their function in the world. So the children who are continuing that function, they receive the inheritance. They receive those things. So they can continue that now. So what I think you see from here is that when people are fighting over an inheritance, oh I I you know this uh set of pots and pans, these the candlesticks that mommy used that Bubby used alaby used whatever. Let's let's keep it far away. you know, when when there's a fight over that, what they're really saying is at its death, not at the service, but at its death, is that I want to continue to to light the way my bubby lighted to what to light the candles and say the and to pray for my children the way my bubby and my great my my alabi they were praying for their children. I want to light that same way. Okay. So now let's talk about it in the context of the tribes of theatim. So there could be there can be fights, right? There can be fights. Hey, why is he getting that portion? He's he's next to the sea. I want to have a I want to have a beachfront property. Why is the why does that person get beautiful uh streams and and and waterfalls? I would like that. Right? Each of the could say that they would like something that somebody else has. Maybe they would even say it as in a similar vein as a as children from their parents. Hey, my per, you know, I want to have that role. I want to be the one who's on the beach front so that I can be the one do going out to to bring merchandise back to Israel and providing that service to Kra, right? But the Pik says, the Pik gave us a way out of the of the fights because the Pik tells us that Yakov gave already back in braces, right? A few hundred years earlier, Yakov when speaking to his kids, he gave them blessings and he said to them, "This is what is your purpose in the world. You're this is where your portion is going to be. This is who you are. This is what your tap in life is. The tribe of Zulen will be on the beachfront. Is the one who's going to sit and learn is going to have abundant abundant uh bread. So now the message tells us one thing, one way of getting out of the arguments that could ensue. Remember what Yakov said. Remember Yakov aortioned things precisely according to the purpose and and the role that each of the tribes would play. But there's another thing and it's alo and it's very interesting to look at this because I mean think about it. Each and every one of us has a reason why Hashem placed us on this earth and and it's not so it's not often easy to figure it out. Sometimes it is, but sometimes it's not. What am I here for? What am I on this earth to do? What does Hashem expect of me? How can I serve the Jewish people? How can I serve the world? So, one way to know is from a Yakabuino, from a a wise, insightful great-grandfather who says, "This is who you are. I I've watched my children. I've watched my grandchildren and I'm watching you and I see who you are and what your purpose is. And of course, he had a when he said it, he had divine inspiration. But another way is alpro the is the is the lots that were drawn as we'll see there was miraculous stuff going on in them. It wasn't it was clearly not by chance that each and every one of the different of the tribes received a particular portion based on the lots there were miracles that happened with the guru who was at this point already the high priest. So he was wearing the he had the special breastplate on his chest which had in it the the stones that would light up and then there were the the I don't even know what to call them cards or some kind of um things that he would pull out of the thing. He would he would pull these cards that had on a certain location or a certain name of a tribe. So that was in front of Joshua. Okay. So let's let's get it clear. So you have Elazar who's the the spiritual leader of the Jewish people who's the kayen. You have a Yahushua who is the lawful leader you know the bala leader of Kal is and he was the leader went out to battle with the Jewish people. So the says in Yeshua that there's going to be a which is thrown here in front of Hashem, right? So it's it's like Hashem is going to manifest something that looks like it could be happen stance, right? How does it come out? It looks like it's just, you know, it's the luck of the draw, right? like they say, can look like the luck of the draw, but we're going to see that it wasn't something that was just the luck of the draw. It was something that was clearly done in a way that it was directed by Hashem before he even picked out the the card. Pick a card, any card. Before the card was picked out, Elaz said, "I know which card you're going to pick. I know you're going to pick the king of hearts. I know that you're going to pick the the location where your tribe is going to be. Here's what it's going to be. And this is what you're going to pick. This is what's going to be picked on behalf of this particular tribe. And then after made his statement, Yeshua would stick his hand into the bag, pull out a card, and that's exactly exactly what said is exactly what was pulled out. So you have a conscious awareness of what Hashem's will is by the Cuttle and you have an act by the by the by Yeshua of choosing on behalf of that particular tribe says this. It says these are the portions that were aortioned by Allahar and so they through what we just described through the through the clear direct divine providence they were involved in giving out the and aortioning the land. But there was one more miracle that happened. Here was another thing, right? They picked out the beachfront property. That's what it said on it. And and he's and and the actual card itself was screaming out, I belong to Zulim. Each of the cards that represented the places that were going to go to each of the tribes was actually speaking miraculously. Sounds like the donkey of Bum. But here it's an inanimate object and it's speaking and it's saying I belong to so and so I'm the portion of a particular tribe and this is the place where they're going to be says how do we know that the girl spoke because says it was alpag which literally means based on it's a phrase that means based on the lots based on the draw but it also means alp can mean by the mouth of it spoke now I don't know if this means literally doesn't bother me if it does in fact it's kind of nice kind of cool but it could be that it even means perhaps that it was so clearly correct it was so clearly aligned It was so clearly aortioned to the correct tribe that there was nothing. It spoke for itself. It spoke for itself. Everything speaks out loudly exactly who this tribe is and where they belong. I was thinking about this in terms of each and every one of us. We wonder, you know, what is our toughket in life? Who are we supposed to be? What role are we supposed to be involved in? And what does Hashem expect from us? And I think that, you know, we could go to spiritual advisers to to the Kangut. We can go to the gut, to the great sages, the great insightful sadikim. But sometimes the thing itself calls us. Sometimes the thing itself speaks to us and says, "This is what you're supposed to be doing." Our hearts are drawn towards it. Our hearts are drawn towards our purpose in life. You know, Hashem, I have some talented kids. My daughter, she's learning to be an art therapist. She also sings beautifully. She also writes beautifully. One of my recent songs she wrote the Hebrew lyrics for. But the the art has called her. She was she gets she lights up when she does art music as well. she's called by. She lights up when she does music, when she sings. No, a person lights up from the things that they are. It It speaks to you. It says this is who you are. This is who you're supposed to be. The things that you're good at, the things that you love, the things that you connect to. Could be teaching. It can be learning. It could be helping others. Could be. It could be so many things. There's so many places within the Tyra for us to find ourselves. But it's that I need the outside help sometimes. I need that direction. Who am I? Where am I headed? I need to hear it from others. I also need to hear from the thing itself. But there's another thing that goes on and that's and that's the daughters of the daughters of it seemed not going to get a portion in Israel. We're not going to get a portion of Israel. Before I go on, I want to I want I want to point out that there's something that uh within what I just said, there's it's really important. That's what we see also from the daughters of is there's a a feeling of connection with feeling of love, a feeling of that's something that I want to develop inside of myself, something that I'm good at. I care about other people. I I care about music. I care about Tyra. It's the thing that you care about. It's the thing that inspires you, that makes you feel alive when you do it. Obviously, within the context of what's appropriate according to Tyra, but the saw something that was going on and they were able to say, "Hey, that's part of who I am." Even though it didn't look like they were going to get it, it looked like they were going to be passed over for the opportunity to have a piece of but they didn't allow that to happen. But the so points out something really important that is a contrast between the men and the women of that generation important to understand the women of that generation of the of the generation of the wilderness. The women closed the the broken fences that the men had broken. We find in regards to the right it's well known which happened yesterday happened on so the women were not involved in the sin of the golden calf. Aaron says to the men, "Go take the earrings of your wives and the nose rings of your wives. Get that gold and give it to me." The women did not agree to give up their gold. And it wasn't just because they wanted to have their their uh jewelry because later on for the Mishk they gave it. It was because they didn't want to be involved in a sin. The men did it. The men were the ones who who brought their own jewelry while the women were not involved in the sin of the golden calf. It's like there's a natural affinity on behalf on on the part of women to doing what's right. They see the good. They see what's right. They see the positive. That's their natural ability. Perhaps it goes together with the binia, the natural intuition of a of a woman. Perhaps it goes together with their ability to connect through speech. In order for me to connect to you, I have to be able to talk to you about what's interesting to you, right? I need to find something that that lights you up. So the women were not involved in the which was the wrong use of connection. They were trying to connect to Hashem through the eagle. They referred to the eagle as something that took them out of Egypt. Very difficult to understand that but we're not involved in that. We also find which we spoke about a few weeks ago that they said they spoke negatively. As a result of that, the men, as we'll see, it was decreed upon the men that the men will not be able to get into land of Israel. And the women were not involved in this negative speech about Hashem said to them, "You will surely die in the wilderness." Nobody was left. No man was left except for he says no man was left. That's not true of the women because all the women were left. Why were they punished? Because they didn't want to come into the land of Israel. They were afraid. They couldn't see the good of Israel. arts. But we see later on in our para that women have that unique ability to see the beauty of Israel to to want to be a part of no matter what. I'm sorry. It speaks right before it talks about the how they wanted a piece of it says that the the those who died were not a portion of the land. Only those who were left who still were alive were a portion of the land. And then the women the left speak up. So we see that the women were the ones who were still around. They've been around the whole time. In fact, they were they were they didn't get married yet. Measure says later on. But I want to I want to think about I want to focus on another aspect. We we heard about the thing speaking to you. We heard about the the spiritual master teaching you what your goal is, what your purpose is in life. But here's another aspect of it and that's where the person's heart talks to them. A person's heart speaks from inside of them and says that's that's what I'm supposed to do. A lot of times it seems maybe too big for us. Seems impossible. Seems like our dreams are too far away. Is we can't. It's too hard to get in there. Is difficult. Look, they're doing the How do you How do you go for your dream? How do you get to Israel? which is also representative of each and every one of our purposes in in life. It's the destiny of Kalis but it represents the destiny of every individual within Kalis. How do we how do we get there? And the answer is we learn from that they say why shouldn't I get there? Why should I be any less? What only the men can get to Israel? Why should our family not be part of that? But only those who are already there in Israel are allowed to go to be there to live there. It's not for me because I live in New York or I live in Los Angeles or I live in Australia or South Africa or Europe. It's not for me. Love, why should I be left out? Yeah, maybe it's a challenge. I don't have to look at that. I don't want to look at that. Love is blind. Love is blind. You know, I've thought I've thought about, you know, you've heard me speak you've heard me speak a lot of times about the importance of Israel and living here. And uh I've been thinking about what's going on, the challenges to the venetra that's going on right now. And I want you to know that I have a son who is in theory could be in trouble for sitting and learning because it does not stop me. Not one moment. I don't see that. And if something were to happen, I still won't see that. I still won't see that. To get what you want, to get to get something that you love, sometimes it involves hardships. Sometimes you got to prove that it's really that important to you. I feel like that's what's being asked of us. My sons Rashiva Yeshua, he actually said that part of the reason perhaps that this is going on is because wants us to appreciate and to value and to stand up for the importance of learning Torah. She wants to pull out that potential from us. But I but what I what I want to say what I want to think about I want us all to think about is and we spoke about this a few weeks ago but it it bears repeating especially during the three weeks was destroyed because of that means that we focused on the negative within each other. It's easy to focus on the negative. It's it's it's bullet it sticks out. It's it's easy to be critical especially of others sometimes of ourselves but what's deeper is what's deeper is that when I love somebody when I love Israel when I love my family members when I love those around me my community members when I love Israel I don't see I don't want to see I don't want to look at the negativity bum like we saw last week wants to look Yeah, Kalisrael's negative sides. And Hashem says, I'm not interested in looking at the negative. I'm only interested in looking at the positive. I want to see the good of Kalis. That's the I want to see the good of who you are. Who what is your potential? What is your future? That's the I want to see where I'm going in the future. Where's my place in Israel? Where's my place in the future of the Jewish people? that looking at the good that seeing the good and ignoring the bad. Yeah, I got to be I got to forgive others for the mistakes that they made. I want people to forgive me when I make a mistake. I have to be able to forgive other people of their mistakes. Everyone talks about akus. Everyone talks about unity amongst Kalistro. But can I forgive somebody who's hurting me? Can I forgive the guy who's trying to arrest me and put me in jail? That's what's needed. That's what's needed. The hardest thing is to love somebody who does not love me. But that's the to me it seems like the call of the hour. Can't fight back with more hatred. It just creates more hatred. I can only respond with love. Not a simple thing. Not a simple thing but it's something that calls out from from the very guil itself. The gur itself calls out as we get into we face this because we have to face each other. We have to face each other. I I'm unhappy with how let's say someone who's not like me is behaving. I'm unhappy with what they place as their supreme value and they're unhappy with me with what I place as my supreme value. But I gotta love them. Here we all are in Israel. We're on the precipice of gula. Here we all are together and we got to notice the good within each other. We got to notice the gur of each and every other person. I look at the other person and I say, "Oh, I want what he has." That's that's jealousy. But what what I need to see is he has what he's supposed to have. He is who he's supposed to be. He's doing exact his gar is what he's supposed to wear. And I'm supposed to wear my black hat and have my little pants behind my ears. He's supposed to have his long pass down to wherever, right? And the guy who dabbins longer than me, he's that's his portion. And the guy who dins shorter than me, that's his portion. and the guy who learns more and the guy who learns less and the guy who's more accomplished and the guy all these things. One of the hardest things to do is to be happy for somebody else for their success, but that's the call of the hour to appreciate the people around us for who they are and what they bring to the Jewish people. Not to say that I I don't want something like that. Also, if he's successful, if he's having success in Ruknas or even in Gashmus, I want that too. But I don't want to take it away from anybody else. I also money. Why should I be any any less? That's what the would say. Why should we be any less? We also want to have our portion. I want to be happy for somebody else. I want to look at the good. I want to see I want to see to it that the people around me are accomplishing what they're meant to accomplish. And I think that's what love really means. Thinking about that today. Love really means I love my kids. What does that mean? It means I want the best for them. I want them to be the greatest people that each and every one of them can be. That's what love means. Someone else succeeding does not take away from me. Right? If anything say a person does not have jealousy for his own child. He see he sees the child as his success is my success. That's what love really is. I see other success as my own success. Doesn't take away from me. That's the that's the is asking us all to see the my love somebody else to see that somebody else has their creation their purpose in creation and and I have to find mine I have to find mine figure it out ask for advice hear the thing calling me or hear a voice from inside of my heart calling saying that that's where I'm supposed to be I want to bless you and I ask you to bless me Hashem should help us that we should all be able to find out who we are what our purpose is in this world and Hashem should bless us that we should care about and be excited for watching other people also find their own purposes and fulfill their own potentials as well. And all Israel should be able indeed to come as one in love together in Israel. Thank you so much for listening. Have a wonderful shamus. This podcast was made possible through the gracious donations of listeners like you. For more podcasts like this, please visit www.argoldwag.com or search on iTunes Ari Goldwag.