Parsha Perspectives for Today (Re'eh, 5784) - You Choose

okay good morning Bo welcome back to para perspectives for today this week we have the privilege of learning par together the Arts girl page 998 we D every day we should have BOS toas this morning we got good news they rescued a hostage barem in one of the tunnels brought him back a Drews man a father of 11 and uh barem we should just continue to have good news and bring all the hostages home our par this morning is generously sponsored our whole series by Becky and aat and family in memory of Becky's Father David grman our learning is this morning she is sponsored by in memory of her father alter P Ben Yehuda should have and Aliyah thank you as always to all of our sponsors and as always I invite you and remind you join our para WhatsApp group for some bonus par Tor the para write up and to keep up to date on the schedule if if we ever have to change things that's at Rabbi Ean goldberg. org WhatsApp you can join all the sheer WhatsApp groups page 998 in the art SC Stone this is one of my favorite in the Torah and you know that because we often don't get past it we're GNA try we're gonna try really hard this year but there are so many different different Torah and what's amazing about this p is you can dissect this P so almost every word of this opening P could be the subject of what is either the or the the the no the the P ends see I present before you today a blessing and a curse and the simple interpretation of the PK the simple meaning of the PK is what the PK goes on to tell us the story of what comes next the Jewish people were divided six tribes on this mountain six tribes on that mountain harm har AAL the blessings the curses were recited were articulated the people answered aain it's an interesting question we're not going to get into but you can think about which is why didn't Hashem just keep everybody together one audience deliver one message why do you have to divide them why we're half on this mountain half on that mountain half for the blessings half for the curses what was the message nothing is random or chance nothing is by accident it was an embedded message Hashem had a plan in dividing them into two groups six tribes six tribes blessings curses why so the simple understanding of the verse is see I place before you today blessings and curses and then the Torah continues to describe the event har haral can see those mountains today mount aval mount griim where those blessing and curses were delivered but there are additional layers of interpretation of the PUK and as we mentioned what's beautiful what I love about this p is almost every word can be itself the subject of what could be in our life a or a so for example for example in the past we've spoken about but I want to review all the interpretations we said previously you could listen or you could read our previous write ups to see those but one example see I've placed before you the concept the idea of what is mean today live now be here be present why is that a blessing or a curse because being present sees the moment carpedm could lead you to a hedonistic life you could say live for today for tomorrow you may not be here so just do whatever you want indulge in every pleasure pursue every happiness in which case it's not a very meaningful life or you could live today and say I don't want to get stuck in yesterday and I'm not lost in tomorrow going to take advantage fully of being present in every moment h i don't all I have I can't change yesterday tomorrow's not here yet all I have is the present that's why it's called the gift from above you know that poem the present all I have is the present I have today I have today in fact writes that's the last week's para and now Jewish people what does God want from you we spoke on chabas what does God want from you just to have fear of him to love him to serve him to emulate him he wants a relationship with you but why is it introduced with the word and now just say what does God want why now because you know what God wants from you he wants now now be here be present be in the moment don't be distracted don't be competing for attention don't be lost in your thoughts and your fear and your excitement about tomorrow it's not here yet and don't be stuck in your regret or your Nostalgia about yesterday it's gone now be present be in the moment be here that's what ha means look I've placed before you the concept of all you have is today you have the here and now or if realizing all you have is today if confronting your mortality makes you indulge in the pursuit of every pleasure and live for the moment and it's not a very meaningful life but if your mortality makes you live every moment to its fullest a purposeful existence it's a so that word can be a or or blessing or a curse and that's true for every word in this P so let's see some new interpretations and ideas and then we're going to get past a promise sort of Promise try to promise so the we learning the the beautiful insights insights of the passed away this year and he quotes the who was the the and that's the says how can the P say God says I am placing before you today blessing and curse I thought God doesn't Place bad God doesn't do evil God doesn't make CLA curse so how can it be how could it be that God places because ofes we live in a world where everything is neutral everything is power of we IM we endow it with meaning we give it purpose it can be used positively or negatively and it's up to us how we engage it how we engage if God gives us resources if God gives you a lot of access to wealth to money is money good or bad yes depends if it corrupts if it's spent in the wrong way we've seen men we've seen money undo people be people's undoing destroy their relationships their family their identity their legacy money could be the biggest curse in the world money could be the biggest blessing in the world if you use it to change the world improve the world repair the world redeem the world if you use it for a meaningful purposeful life mission Driven Life then resources wealth are wonderful so it's not inherently intrinsically good or bad it all depends on how you use it if you use it for chaos for corruption for moral Decay for decadence then it's a CLW it's a curse then it's a curse it could destroy a family could build a family and so on so the truth is all of these things are can be good or bad and that's what the p means said the Isel God says no everything I'm putting in your life can be used for good or bad is a telephone good or bad yes if you use it to gossip to speak lanara it's bad New York Times today I don't pay for it I read it online for free has an article on gossip on a on a group a rare group of people who are committed to not gossip and among them of course not surprised is a reference to lanara gossip and a song by the cars for kids Jingle author about lashara and gossip yes a reference in that article so is a telephone good or bad yes if you use it to gossip if you use it to spread slander it's terrible if you use it to call and check in on people it's wonderful all of technology technology may be a prime example in our lifetime is it a blessing or a curse yes it's up to you and depends do we have filters are we careful do they have boundaries are we using them to advance ourselves are we using them for good or for bad continues if you use that Medium that means if you use it to listen to hear if you use it to pursue his mission it's wonderful and if you take that means that technology that gift whatever medium and it's used in the negative then it's a CLA and that's what the means God does not create that's what that's what our Rabbi say God doesn't attach his name to negativity so what do you mean because God says I'm not putting before you a CL I'm putting before you as a choice we have free will we have autonomy and it's up to us and it's up to us they're not inherently good or bad all of these things all of these things resources technology weapons it's the person who uses them and how they use them and what they use them for or CLA we determine the outcome we determine so God says look be thoughtful be mindful be intentional be present look I'm putting before you I'm putting you in this world and you have money you have a house you have a telephone you have a car you have a comp you have technology I'm giving you all these things and I'm putting you in this world hey look see it but no Ora warning warning user beware user beware caution or don't dive in head first and think it's all a blessing and don't run away and turn your back thinking it's all a curse it is all determined by you and how you use it and that is what hasem wants us to know that is what the the says he then goes on he quotes tells us when it comes to our engagement with all of the material things in this world it shouldn't be about pursuit of ourselves our ego our pleasure it's all how can it better power how can it better drive our mission to serve him know God in all of your ways everything we do should be to advance including R including the category of what we would call it's not necessarily is eating a religious Act is eating a religious act well the BR is a religious act the blessing you make washing your hands benching afterwards making sure it's kosher when you put your food in your mouth and you Che and you swallow is that an eating Act is that a religious Act is going to sleep a religious Act is sleeping a religious act so yeah it all depends how you do it are you getting sleep and are you eating to live to better live in this world to better fulfill our mission our purpose in this world or are you indulging as an ends because you love to eat and love to sleep and can't get enough so we spoke previously do you eat to live or live to eat do you live to sleep or sleep to live so one can know Hashem all those ways too and that's the doesn't just mean mortality and today means the pleasures of this world why why are we enjoying and experiencing the pleasures of this world why do we want a nice house and why do we want Delicacies and why do we want to look put together is it all because we have a mission we have a purpose we're on a we're serving hasem or is it towards our own ends that's the Ora about the about the pleasures indulgences about the material part of this world next third interpretation he quotes from thees who says the following the word no God says see I I am putting before you today that concept of an ani means I I is the ego ego ego could be very positive ego gives us self-confidence self-worth self-esteem ego can make me feel I have a mission I have a purpose you know the tell us our rabbis tell us that to be a leader you have to have an eighth of an eighth of arrogance I would translate differently not of arrogance but of self-confidence because who are you to sit up here look at a camera and a microphone and talk to a room of people and share thoughts and ideas who are you stay quiet sit in the corner keep your thoughts to yourself takes a stickle self-confidence some people have to overcome the inhibition overcome their fear of speaking overcome a a inadequacy an impostor syndrome you need a healthy dose in order to be able to express leadership and make change and do good things you can't have too much because then you're in it for the wrong reasons and we know people like that were turned off to people like that rabbis also tell us you should only pursue learning Torah from somebody who's like an angel from somebody who's driven for the right reason the brand is God not themselves it's all about advancing his Torah not about their own name but you need a little atile just a little atick self-confidence an eighth of an a just a little bit just a little bit a little too much you're a Bala if you're arrogant you think you're the brand Fame Fortune it's all your name it's all your honor you're in it for the wrong reasons you're not our role model you're not who we should be turning to but also if you're sitting in the corner and don't express leadership and don't share what Hashem has given you to say then you're also violating hashem's will you got to find that right amount and that's what the says that's what did I put before you what I put before you today is an the notion of an a little bit of a an a sense of ey now the sense of ey you say I'm unique I'm distinct I'm I'm a piece of God this world I'm a unique individual expression of God in this world wow he's waiting for me the world is waiting for me I woke up this morning because I'm not done I yet have a mission and a purpose then that's a br the an the healthy sense of I is a but a person who woke up this morning and said it's about me everyone has to worship me bow to me everybody has to follow me and everybody has to repost me and it's all about me then the an the sense of I is a curse in your life and it's a curse to the people around you so see what I put before you today is the notion of the ey so as I told you every word of this P concludes with or blessing or curse what's the blessing a curse could be could be could be could be could be every word that predes it in the P could itself be the subject that we could either direct as a br or a CLA and that's why I love I think it's a fantastic fantastic P why do we shift the told istic he notes C is see in the plural the singular grammatically re is the singular re you the individual the singular see is the is the plural so which is why do we shift you in the singular see what I'm putting before you in the plural so the explains we've seen this on when a person davens with passion with presence with pus when a person is living reading the Diary of hem accessing the divine then they give life to the letters of Torah like the says says do them observe them but could mean to make to to Fashion them how do we fashion Torah hm gave us Torah the answer is he gave us Torah is it sitting on a shelf collecting dust or is it living vibrant animating what's the conversation at your shabas table what's the conversation at your dinner table what's the conversation when you when you meet a friend is it what you're talking about I was at the wedding of a dear close beloved friend last week who I love since Yeshiva since before Yeshiva we were in Camp together just an amazing person and it was taking a long time for them to come into the dinner and I went to go check where he was because we had a reunion of a whole group of friends who wanted to see him wanted to get a picture with him and I walk into the back of theer room where they're still taking pictures and this dear friend of mine AI is in a heated conversation with someone I looked I thought I don't know the caterer mess the flower per the photographer who messed up what's going on why is he so animated why is he so heated what's this all about I see they're taking pictures this is the Father of the Bride what's going on I get a little closer see does he need my help what's going on over here and I hear him explaining that's not the sheet of R mayor that's not where R mayor held so I think where R mayor held they're taking pictures it's his daughter's wedding and he's telling somebody this Insight he had that he's so excited about because Tor is not sitting on a shelf it's not collecting dust don't worry they weren't waiting for him for the picture it was the 3se second break he got between the pictures you know when the other side is taking the pictures but what was he talking about he's talking about Torah Torah is not in a museum it's not behind glass it's not collecting dust it's alive we we fashion we make Torah how we breathe life the Torah could be a Golem or if we give a little CPR and breathe life into it the Torah is alive and it's vibrant and it's vibrant that's that's the what are we up to three or four the to says that's what the means when we learn when we study when we engage that you're sitting here this morning wherever you're watching or listening later if you're thinking about repeating this on chabas at your table just think about what we're doing it mentioned last week who's taking the American law book off the shelf a lawyer who needs to for their work to win a case to take home a paycheck somebody for fun you go to a wedding the Father of the Bride is having a conversation who's not a lawyer or a judge he's just so excited about some law we're giving it it's life it's it's our life it's our sustenance who we are it's the air that we breathe and that's what it means so the plural is I've given the whole Torah to you everybody equally the masses but the the singular the to really live and the depths and the vibrancy and the dynamism of that's the that's more unusual so we want to not just be among the many we want to count ourselves among the few who are Roy who are who are Merit and eligible to be on that level to get to that level of who are living and learning the Torah in that dep so four interpretations one more Cutler was also bothered in his mishna SAR founder of BMG in Lakewood SAR Cutler also was bothered why the grammatical shift a in the singular in the plural and he says the following you'll say you know what nobody around me is doing it everybody around me gossips and Slanders and speaks negatively and critically and marginalizes others everybody around me is dressing this way or everybody around me comes late to schul or everybody around me talks in daving or everybody around me bends the truth on their income tax filing so why can't I just be like everybody else says ra that's why the PK says re you and the singular don't just be a product of peer pressure don't just be the composite of the people around you you as an individual have to think and be present be intentional and be mindful in who you are and how you regulate yourself and the life that you live true thez is given to all of us together no this wasn't just given you know there's a phenomenon also there another way of understanding what raron is telling us there's a phenomenon that's um called I don't remember what it's called because I wasn't going to speak about it but I just reminded myself of it what's a phenomenon called when you have a room full of people and someone says can someone take care of it nobody takes care of it the diffusion of responsibility that's what it's called diffusion of responsibility is you know they say a a camel is a horse that was created by a committee I forgot who said that a camel is the horse created by a committee diffusion of responsibility when there are so many people around when you task a huge group of doing something Nobody Does it why because the next person will do it so Hashem wants us to realize Hashem is asking all of us to observe and keep the Torah Torah is for all of us the BR CL all the interpretations we said until now Torah Torah life a Torah lifestyle it's it's for all of us but we should live re as if it's only on us see it re in the singular so in the plural it's for all of us create a community a people a nation Bound by and living an example of Torah life in the plural all of us a community but but we should feel the personal responsibility that if we don't do it if we don't take care of it if we don't show up then nobody will it's on us it's on us that's says rler is the shift from the singular to the plural peric Torah says the following the curses if you don't listen what's gonna happen you'll deviate you'll get distracted you'll get lost from the path that I'm showing you today so God says look I put it all before you I've made it I'm setting the table for you here's how to live here's the right way to eat and drink here's the moral ity of intimacy and relationships here's how to relate to time here's how to live 613 mitzah the blueprint for creation the instruction manual for life I'm setting it all up as a table do it observe it keep it and I'm giving you the navigation tools I'm giving you the app Ways Google Maps you'll find your way but if you neglect it if you abandon it if you don't keep it then you know what it's going to happen you're going to get lost and you won't have a map you won't have ways you're not going to find your way back you're going to follow you're going to follow other gods that you don't know says the PK said what's gonna happen observe my Torah Embrace this life and this lifestyle you're gonna find meaning and you're gonna find purpose and you're gonna find Joy it doesn't mean and I always say this God and the Torah never guaranteed that if you live an observant life you won't have struggle everyone will be healthy everyone will get married everyone will have babies everyone will make a living never says that anywhere there's no promise like that in the Torah nowhere what the Torah promises is that whatever challenge or struggle you go through now you have the tools to get through it the resilience the resolve the navigation now you have the ability to confront and navigate whatever challenge you face that's the tor's promise not that there won't be problems but that we have the tools to get to get through so hm says it's all before you but if you don't if you're distracted if you go the wrong direction if you turn the wrong way you're gonna follow a God You Don't Know You're Gonna Worship an idol so wonders the megin it sounds like by definition if you turn the other way if you pivot if you deviate from the plan you're G to end up at idolatry who says can't you just not be observant but not be an idolor who says that if who says that if you're going to end up neglecting an observant way of life you'll end up worshiping there's a huge gap there's a huge gap between being non-observant and not being an idolator look around the world unfortunately sadly and there should be a tremendous responsibility and obligation on us the overwhelming majority of the Jewish world does not observe it not to any fault of their own they should have no guilt or shame it's not their fault they weren't raised they weren't privileged they weren't exposed and yet the Jewish Nish is on fire I I landed yesterday I had two weddings on Sunday in New York I came back yesterday morning we landed in front of me was a woman she says my son wants to tell you something the little son says I'm Jewish too with a big smile the pin the Jewish soul is screaming out last Sunday I was in a store and I had to go try something in the in the fitting room and the person running the fitting room says you buying that for Shabbat I said maybe I came out and she said shabbat shalom I said it's Sunday I said shabbat shalom back I didn't say that because everywhere you go right now the Jewish souls are screaming out they're on fire they want to be nourished they're dehydrated and malnourished and they're saying I'm a yid I'm a Jew connect to the best and the most true part of who I am I'm a Jew so you could have a whole non-observant Community were not educated not their fault and they're now idolators why does the P say V and then you'll end up because the bottom line is that you'll either live your life either live your life according to the directives and directions of God or you're going to end up worshiping at another altar now it may not be the altar of an idol it may not look like a a stone Idol and you're not going to bow down to the sun of the moon but if you worship to the Mighty Dollar you worship celebrities you're worshiping at the altar of the country club you're worshiping movements which are far to ours then yes that's the formula the Torah is telling us and tragically we're seeing it in our time this with the meged yoseph what an Insight I won't tell you how many members we have who've come from other denominations not because they woke up and became observant overnight they're still not classic traditionally observant though everybody's in their own place and on their own growth path but what happened they sat in the pews elsewhere and they said my religion Judaism got exchanged for something else and and even those other things they believe I don't want to get in trouble right now but I'm just repeating what I was told by people who came from there and said I believe in social justice I believe in environmentalism but I'm a Jew and when I come to schul I want to hear about Judaism and I don't want environmentalism or social Justice to have replaced my religion if you deviate from God if it's not chabas andas and family and honesty and business and lashar it's not about y if it's not about God's plan you're gonna end up worshiping you're gonna end up servicing serving movements and and being part of isms that are Elohim they're far Gods they're modern forms of idolatry and even if those values speak to you and there's many much virtue in some of those values they're not our religion so it's an incredible Insight incredible Insight if you deviate from the path if you walk away from the life from the blueprint from the instruction manual that God's given it is inevitable it is invariable that your religious craving will be replaced and supplanted by Elohim something else and you're going to be serving something else and you're going to be serving some other God and whether that God is Fame and Fortune and being an influencer and celebrity or whether that God you're serving is is is a movement we have to the danger is moving and he says mus and that doesn't happen overnight but is an eventuality and that's why it says if you're going on a path and you make one wrong turn you're off a little bit a little bit at the beginning in the end you're going to be very far away the pilot takes off and the navigation is off a drop there golfers here if your Club face is closed or open a millimeter so in the first yard off the tea it doesn't make a difference but over time you're going to end up in the lake and in the woods you make one wrong turn so to begin with you're only a block away but keep going that wrong direction and you're going to be nowhere near your destination so a little bit just a little bit I don't like your I'm Gonna Leave the just a little bit just what looks like a little bit at the very beginning of changing the path you end up way way way way off the coordinates of where you were trying to go a brilliant Insight of the the if you deviate at the beginning if your angle is off your trajectory is off just a drop you're going to end up at the place of that's where you're gonna end up per b b Torah continues about the decrees and the ordinances and what happens to the sanctity of the land when you come into this land we have to honor it we have to cherish it certainly we're feeling that in our time it's fragile and a person has to embrace it and love it and honor it and cherish it and must be Central to who we are aare of and when we enter that land the Torah tells us utterly destroy all the places where the Nations that serve their gods you're gonna inherit you're gonna conquer you're gonna take over there's GNA be houses of idolatry get rid of them destroy him Purge him you know why if you allow them to remain if you allow them to stay they will penetrate they will enter they will corrupt where are these alternate houses of Tre they're on the hills and the mountains and they're under every leafy tree and look out for where they are and what you're going to do to them which is to destroy them break apart their altar smash their pillars their sacred trees burn in fire their carved images cut down obliterate their names from that place and then the Torah concludes and everything I just instructed you to do to their idolatry then God says but don't do that to to the Lord your God don't do that to me R eradicate eliminate destroy obliterate get rid of all the idolatry and this is the source of our care with sheos right so idolatry you get rid of but Sheamus anything a document that has God's name you're not allowed to throw out so if you have a safer if you have a Jewish Torah book if you have a it's a big question we're living in a challenging time with this because you know certainly before the pr press but even since for the last several hundred years how many documents did a person have people didn't have access to books as readily as we do today print at will today we have printers at will the worksheets the newsletters the Torah documents it's the proliferation is just unbelievable and the sheos can't keep up to get rid of it just can't keep up it's actually a big challenge in South Florida we're going to have our Mitzvah Market our annual Mitzvah market in El and we'll coordinate you could drop off your sheos but there's no places to bury it we've run out of places to bury it it's actually a coordinated effort in South Florida to buy land to become a collective sheos because we've just run out of space because there's so much sheos that's produced what our kids bring home from school well we print out each week to read the newsletters and the Torah letters it's unbelievable what there is loas you can't destroy hashem's name idolatry get rid of so that when Jews for Jesus leaves some Messianic document at your door they drop off a copy of what looks like The Zo you know where you take it right in the garbage right in the dump ah but it looks exactly like my Torah has the same words y even looks like God's name but if it's made from the wrong source with the wrong intent it is garbagio it goes in the it goes in the garbage that's what the Torah is telling us but when it comes to God don't do that to God instead what should we do now verse five what should you do go to the place that God has chosen to put his name there seek out his presence and come there very very interesting we' spoken in the past we won't elaborate now very interesting that Hashem has this place it's very significant place it's the place you could feel his presence most intensely it's where he wants us to go and to be and yet he doesn't tell us where it is he leaves out the address he leaves out the coordinates where is it you know what he tells us his presence his being your neighbor his connection Sid just start going and you will Inuit it you will follow you will feel this magnetic spiritual pull to where you're supposed to be Hashem doesn't in the Torah tell us where the bash is where the temple is he doesn't tell us y explicitly what he tells us the way he tells us you have to be a you know when you'll find hasem in your life when you're searching if you're not looking you won't find if you're not searching you won't discover said the Kat where is Hashem wherever you let him in we say in our daving in kadus we say a by asking where is he now you found him a if you're looking you found him if you're not looking you won't find you won't find you have to be a you have to be asking you have to be looking you have to be says when a non-jew has a house of idolatry after you destroy the house of idolatry there's no longer any presence of impurity but that's not true in contrast and contradistinction even when we are exiled even when we are dispersed from our holy place the Holiness the sanctity is still there Ben lit the world on fire this week again by announcing he's open to building a sh on top of har not getting in the timing Hally right wrong politically right wrong certainly got a lot of criticism because it's not the right time to be doing that in the face of our enemies and provoking and does that risk Jewish lives and so on I'm not getting into that right now but why is there controversy Hally about whether you can go up on the Temple Mount it's a controversial question there are big rabbis who say you can there are many great rabbis who say you can't and you shouldn't why it's no Bas on M so what sanctities left the answer is because in Jud m in Torah the sanctity of a place is not dependent on the building being there it lasts well beyond the is it continues the the imprint of the sanctity is still there Med says that the sanctity of the Western Wall never left never departed even after the temple the bikash was destroyed Jews have always been drawn back we've always DED at that Western Wall because it is a very sacred place it's my grandfather's urite last week and uh my father and my family shared a letter he had written his first time in Israel some 36 years after they were driven from Berlin in different directions were reunited with his family there and he talks about coming to he called it then the Wailing Wall he called the Western Wall the cotel and the feeling that he had of being there it's an incredible incredible description of what it was like to be there why did he go there why do we still go there is not yet rebuilt but the Divine is not left that Western Wall and why is that sanctity there because the Jewish people are still daving there even after the the destruction Jew still gather we connect we're a community and we collect all of ouros there all of our prayers there about the future of the Jewish people and is and and Mak and that says the that's what He suggests perhaps is an understanding of this destroy all the places that the non-jews worshiped and when you do there'll be no Trace there is no residual Mark don't do that to God keep going even after it's destroyed there's AUM there's a place and you'll find it when you're looking when you're searching when you ask a and when you get there that's where you connect to hasem and you connect him when the building will be built mikdash and even after it will be destroyed when we have no Temple we have no B mdash still Lo don't make it as if there's no kadha there there's still Holiness and there's still sanctity and there's still a reason to go and to gather there per we are flying turn to page 102 102 where should you go it's a perfect segue here these are not next to each other but the same language is used God says go to the place that your heart will tell you to go that your spirit that your soul now you're aama your soul can't be your navigation tool if you don't know you have a aama if you don't know you have the app on your phone it's useless to you if you don't know that you have ways or Google Maps it can't help you get to your Des ation and avoid the traffic and the police you have to know you have it yourish is the ways is the navigation tool in this world but it doesn't work if you don't know you have it and you have to know you're not a body that has a soul you are a soul that happens to have a body who we really are our core identity is our Nish is a pent is our soul is that little boy who says I'm Jewish too that's who we are that's the essence of who we are that's the immortality of who we we are we're in a sh so you'll only know where to go when tells you when you have aish your conscience your moral conscience your soul your spark the peace of God in you and where will it take us to the place we don't get an address we don't get coordinates we're just told to the place you'll know it when you see it when you're drawn to it and here again again it's called the place the place that God will chose in all of your Gates and all of your Dwelling Places among your tribes there you bring your carbon your sacrifice there do everything that I that I command you to the place to the place why is it called so back to the and here He suggests the following Bas why is the Torah many places it calls in the place if you're far away from the place we call it all the time over and over we call it the place why do we keep referring it to the place so says the Tor says the answer is don't worry about it I'm good I'm good says the Torah because the notion of a place is the idea that each of us have our place where is your place where is your place thank you so much people struggle to find what's my place in the world someone is going through mental health challenges often you'll hear the language I can't find my place I don't know what's my place in the world why do we use that language your play what do you mean it's your place what's your address where do you live what's your place place is not a physical it's metaphysical place is existential where is my place where a place describes where is my comfort zone where's my identity what's my purpose where do I feel a sense of belonging that's a mom that's a place where is the m of every Jew it's everyone's place everyone belongs there it's what we would call today a safe space for every Jew it's a place every Jew can and should feel is theirs it's who I am it's where I belong it's where I'm drawn it's where I'm comfortable it's it's my mom it's my mom a a Jew has to know their mom where's my mom today we don't have the B of mikash we still want to go to we should be drawn to go to the kotel and Drawn to long to go up har please God the third Bas mikdash should come speedily in our day but where do we go when we don't have our mikdash today we have a mikdash we have a temple in miniature what's the miniature Temple we have today it's called the it's called the sh in the Bas you know a person can't grow if they're not in their place if you ever had a garden I did for about 20 minutes during Corona long enough to get a druss out of it my kids are still making fun of me so if you have a garden you'll say why doesn't this grow here because you're in the wrong soil you're in the wrong place speak to any what they call the Vinter somebody who grows wine speak to anybody who grows wine they say no no no Those Grapes don't work in that region you could only put the Cabernet in the soil in the southern you can only put the Mero has to be only in this climate for something to grow it has to be in its right place in its right habitat in its right environment so a Jew has to know where's my mom where is the place that I should get planted that I can blossom and I can grow where's my mome for every seed that you're gonna plant you have to check you can't just randomly buy seeds in Home Depot and Lowe's and just drop in some soil does that grow in Florida in our climate does that grow in this earth in this soil does that grow in this weather is it going to grow in this place and a a Jew has to say where is my place where I grow so for a Jew every Jew where's the place that we grow based on N that's why it's called M it's called the M because the place that's the natural habitat that's the appropriate environment that is the pregnant soil for every Jew is the B mikdash and while we don't have a b mikdash where is the m for every Jew the sh the sh has to be a place that every Jew can come feel comfortable feel welcome and feel they can grow it's my environment it's my climate it's my Earth it's my soil it's my sunlight it's my oxygen it's a place where I can come it is my M every Jew has to know that's why whenever we're talking where the Nish is drawn and belongs and can grow it's called a m person has to know what's my place where is my place where can I grow in my place and for every Jew that place is the B mikdash and without the B mik until the B mikash that place is is our shs per B chapter 12 verse 28 page 104 here the Torah is giving us permission to eat unconsecrated meat we're only allowed to eat the coronos the the priest could eat the sacrifice in the for a time we were not allowed to eat meat then we returned to the license we're given the permission to be able to eat meat the carnivore diet which is back in style apparently is very good for you steak three times a day observe and listen to all these things that I commanding you so it'll be good for you and your children after you forever do what is right what is just what is good in the eyes of God in the eyes of your creator your maker back to the amaros says the Amar observe and listen said the quot by the to said the following he says there's many places in says that many place Total us brings down from the B it's a famous B the tells us in M tells us in every day every day still today every day a Heavenly voice goes out from Mount Si Heavenly voice goes out and the question is where is that Heavenly voice said if we can't hear the Bas the Heavenly voice what's the point in sending it out and if you can hear it why don't we hear it if you can hear it God a Heavenly Voice still is declaring the Torah from Mount sa even until today well if he's declaring it why don't we hear it and if we can't hear it then why does he say it why is it still going out said famously when a Jew all of a sudden has this Awakening this arousal of spirituality a Jew all of a sudden says I'm a Jew I'm proud and I want to practice more and I want to learn and I want to grow and I want to change and I want to be connected you know where that comes from the basal is going out it is speaking to them from inside themselves when that boy when we landed said to his mother tell him I'm Jewish I want to tell him I'm Jewish that was the BOS I heard the Heavenly voice I'm jet jeu when we landed in Fort Lauderdale yesterday JetBlue we heard the BOS the Heavenly voice went out when a young boy was moved to want to say I'm a Jew and I'm proud and I'll sing it out loud I'm Jewish too when a Jew says on a Sunday good shabas shabbat shalom because that's all they know to be able to let the other person know a Jew I want you to know I'm a Jew that's the bosal that's the Heavenly voice you don't hear it in your ears the bosal it's not a fre canc see you pick up with an antenna when in our own Hearts we say you know what I'm deleting that app from my phone I was about to share that juicy gossip I'm not doing it I was about to do that wrong thing I'm gonna overcome it you know what I'm gonna wake up I'm gonna make it to I'm not talking in schul anymore I'm going that's the Heavenly voice speaking to us that gives us that impulse that instinct that drive to do the right thing so why does heavly voice go out and ring in our ears and motivate and Inspire us each and every day because you can't hear that voice unless you first do something to get ready to prepare unless you first pick up the frequency so that says the who was he the the grandson of the bashem said the the grandson of the bashem using what could be greater than using Z Torah said he said maybe that's the in our first keep a little bit and then you're gonna pick up the frequency you're GNA hear the Heavenly voice telling you we saw this last week the word does not mean to observe or keep what does it mean we've said this a dozen times what does the word Shamar mean to wait to anticipate to be excited to look forward to so therefore Shore if you're excited to be a yid to be a Jew the shamat you're gonna pick up on the voice that boy because he screamed out loud with pride I'm a Jew something's gonna happen something's gonna happen I gotta I don't know how the story ends yet so I I'll report it more but I got a text on Friday someone who just moved to our community an amazing guy so excited he's here Sam he texts me and he says Rabbi I'm on the red eye I'm flying back and I'm sitting next to a Jew we struck up a conversation that's what you taught me to do and I got him to agree he's going to Manhattan I got him to agree if we could set him up with a chabas meal he wants a shabas meal to go the chabas he said we land in 45 minutes you got 45 minutes go so I got to work with my network tried to find saric rabbis who coordinate H shabas meals where can we plug him in sent him to him on the phone passed it off to the guy I don't have the report yet on how the story ends but it's amazing that that guy actually listened when I spoke it's amazing I don't know why I was inspired to promote that or write that then this amazing guy Sam didn't actually listen to me then he had the courage to say it to the person sitting next to him who mentioned he was Jewish and that guy was open to nourishing his Nish soore if you're willing to lean into your Judaism you're going to hear hasm everywhere but it begins shm you're not going to hear you can't pick up the frequency if you don't extend the antenna young people have no idea what I'm talking about right now but if you remember antennas you know 880 news shut down two nights ago was its Last Broadcast 880 news in New York all of Shalom I don't know what's next 101 wins ne ne 880 there goes my whole childhood 880 news it's gone so you got to extend the antenna if you want to pick up the the frequency that's what you would do before the Min before I I made several references to ways and Google Maps the Min before we had technology was to get in the car take out the map and then fight whether you should take the Westside highway or the FDR Drive you'd fight then you'd agree to turn on 10 10 wins on the tens but you turned it on a minute late then you'd have a fight of whose fault it was to turn it on a minute too late to not hear it in time to choose anyone remember this these this was the Min so much more shalom there's so much more Harmony since we have ways isn't Hashem amazing we don't have to fight anymore about which highway to take and who didn't get the news on on Time on the tens 10 10 wins 880 is done so you gotta how do we get there because you got to extend the antenna if you want to pick up the frequency you got to extend the antenna the same is true with Hashem if you want to hear him talking to you sh first Shore first be willing to say to the person sitting next to you I'm a Jew and I'm proud nice to meet you how are you you have to be willing to introduce yourself and lean in and be proud and then and I'm not talking just about a non-observant Jew talking about us educated in observant Jews Shore to be excited you have to be looking you have to extend the antenna and then Hashem says I'm everywhere and you could pick up my frequency you just got to extend the antenna are you learning are you studying are you open-minded are you aware of your Nisha are you nourishing it are you safeguarding it are you keeping it are you expressing it because if you do you're gonna pick up you're gonna pick up the message everywhere page 106 tells us observe God says observe everything I'm giving you don't do less and don't do more here's the recipe T 6113 mitos don't do less and don't do more and I want to share with you an amazing that I saw from ISAC share great masac share he shared the following we already had on just a couple weeks ago we were already told there's 613 mitos don't do 612 and don't add to 614 why not I would think adding is good if 613 is great 614 is even better right well that'd be like saying to the doctor doctor you told me to take a pill in the morning and a pill in the afternoon tell you I did even better I took two in the morning and two in the afternoon do says what are you doing I gave you a prescription a formula because that's what works if you start messing with the formula it ain't gonna work so Hashem says I'm giving you a formula for life don't experiment don't omit a dose don't add a dose follow the instructions on the bottle take with food take before you eat take at night take just follow the instructions because if you met with mess with it you think you know better you got WebMD you Googled it now you think you know better it's not going to be effective you want it to be effective follow the formula and hasem says the same thing don't add don't subtract I told you to take four species on sukus don't take three and don't take five four pases inin don't have three don't have five whatever I told just just do what I told you don't mess the formula so we already had that two weeks ago why are we repeating it here why are we repeating it that is the question of of the great Mas of so he says the following he says because in the Torah was cautioning us when it comes to the MIT when it comes to Jewish practice don't add don't subtract don't change just follow what you got 613 mitos this is the this is the law what are we adding now we're adding something else we're adding what we're adding is B also on feelings B on religious experience where does the Torah give us this law in the context of not emulating and imitating idolators non-jews other religions it's not just in practice don't add and don't subtract it means Even in our own interpersonal meditation and feeling and song and don't take on New Age new what's in the fashion type of inner ideas not only externally in the observance of mitzvos should you not alter the recipe the formula the prescription but on the internal experience of Torah and Mitzvah also the internal pemus we have a m we have a tradition we have a truth on the internal experience of the observance of Mitzvah so don't experiment and don't play with it on the outside and don't experiment and don't experience on the inside and you see that in our generation there are people they read a book that they bought in the airport it's a bestseller and now they want to inject that into their Judaism New Age new fangled new Neo idea no no no no it's not just in the observance of Tor on the outside there's also M tradition in the pus and who we are on the inside and how we do things there as well and that's why it's repeated that's why it's told again over here we have time for one more we have time for one more why not I control the time we have time for one more we have time for one more is different than is different than so therefore mogam there's differences and there's individuals we don't have time for one more but I'll plant the seed the meged yose tells the following interesting we are children of God so when experience a loss and death don't grieve or mourn excessively don't cut your skin as a result because we're are children of hem we've spoken about this PK in the past but he tells here the following because rash in the says the sanctity that you have comes from your forefathers what does that have to do with death and mourning what does that to do with cutting yourself what does that to do with being children of Hashem how does Rashi interpret what's Rashi adding to this P he says the following I heard that when R salich his wife passed away R hutner andas tis went to pay Shiva call they all knew each other from before the war hudner and RAB tits went to go pay a Shiva call to RAB salek when his wife passed away and what do they discuss what did g is discuss at a I'm sure they spoke about Mrs rabbitson but they also got into a Torah discussion that was permissible during Aus they spoke about why is it when a person God forbid loses a parent how long is mourning a year and if a person loses a spouse a sibling God forbid a child how long is mourning 30 days you would think the opposite because the loss of a parent is natural it's the way of the world it's how things are meant to go nobody lives forever so people will lose a parent that's natural so 30 days you honored it you move on but God forbid God forbid the loss of a child of a spouse that's Earth shattering of a sibling you'd think that that would be a year so it's the reverse and he goes on to say how did R hudner explain it how did RAB tits explain it how did RAB salich explain it and how does that explain Rashi so we'll have to share that next year that interesting question how the three explained it and how that explains the Rashi a fantastic rutner a fantastic Megos rather we'll pick up with that next year please stay next next year in please stay we complete all sa our day began with good news please God it should just continue should have only sosos yes