Rabbi Minkowicz Weekly Torah Lesson Parsha VEZOS HABRACHAH 5777

it's time for rabbi mankiewicz weekly Torah lesson a place where life's most difficult questions are answered here with his spiritual perspective and insight rabbi megawatts welcome to this week's Torah lesson this week's Torah portion spacious mezuzah Braha the question of the week is how can we achieve the greatest happiness so in this week's Torah portion parshas verzosa braha which actually was celebrating this week the holiday of Sukkot so we read risotto hon not traditionally the you'd read it on Shabbat we read it on the last day of sukkot which is some cast hora so that's when we actually read the last Torah portion of the whole Torah on some costura now what's interesting is we find that when we finish reading the whole Torah on simcoe stora this tremendous joy this tremendous celebration there's a lot of happiness everyone's dancing with the Torah and it's a real beautiful happy celebration a matter of fact come to shul and you'll really experienced something very very happy so the question will be asked a very simple question we know that we receive the Torah win on short now if we receive the torrent wrote we should be happy and very happy and be dancing as well we don't find the truth is celebrated that way specifically when we finish studying the Torah on cinakisz Torah we finish for verzosa braja that's one so happy so don't we ask worry why is that by the end we have the jury versus the beginning we actually got the gift that should give us the greater joy and Derby explains and hey you see an important concept nurse as follows the reason why we are so happy in singles Torah so one reason is a very simple reason is we finished studying the whole turner okay so then you slug the question or why not in the beginning when we received the Torah but there's another reason the Kabbalistic reason why was so happy and similar story and that is as follows we know that when Moses came down at Mount Sinai with the tablets to give it to the Jewish people and the Jewish he laid the golden calf so Moses broke the tablets no tablets no relationship with God Moses went back up to heaven came back down with the second set of tablets when did he come down he came down on Yom Kippur now you is obviously a serious day at the fasting we asked forgot forgiveness so it's not a day to celebrate so the celebration for Moses coming down with the second set of tablets takes place when sim kosterow so sim class Torah the the regular interpretation or the revealed interpretation is because a furnished studying the Torah but the Kabbalistic interpretation is that why do we celebrate simplest oh so happy is because of the second set of tech a blitz that Moses brought down on Yom Kippur but the ready points out you have a common denominator it takes place between finishing the story and the second tablets what is that and Hebrew that's called a voda bukola wats mo in other words there's many gifts that we receive and in kabbalah what's a gift called namitha Zuffa bread of shame you didn't work for it you didn't earn it you got a gift so it might be a great gift so don't give me this huge gift and it's wonderful but you did not earn it however something that you work for something that you earn that is really a way that is really yours and that is a real cause for joy and celebration so the rugby says when it comes to receiving the Torah ranch road when we see the gift it's very nice it's very not wonderful but we're not going to have tremendous joy because we didn't do anything to earn it however when we go through a whole year and we study Torah every single day every single week every single month simchas Torah comes around there is what to celebrate because we work for it or for example we do chuva when the Jewish people did chuva they repented they turn to God to God want to have a set of tablets we don't want the broken ones and God accepted that true but because of their work that's a reason to celebrate so you see the common denominator in the receiving the second tetas tablets and finishing the Torah both took tremendous work from the Jewish people and that's the reason for the tremendous celebration so the answer the question how can we achieve the greatest joy by willing to do the work and the effort what it takes when a person puts the work an effort just like the Jewish people we study a whole year the Torah every receives the second head of house because of our tuba that brought us the greatest joy so if you want to have real joy and happiness do the work and you'll have the greatest joy and happiness this week's torah lesson is a memory of baraka pandari lab and ben Yosef may their souls be elevated to the Torah that we're studying in their memory thanks so much for joining us for our weekly Torah lesson for more information on Habad please see our website you