Rinat Chaim: ...And the Pious Will Exalt in Song with Rabbi Aaron Dovid Poston

Heat. [music] Heat. [singing] [music] [singing] My birthday [music and singing] [music and singing] everybody. Welcome back to the madrash. Welcome home to Torah. And we're back in the rein. This is the book that Raay Freellander put together. I mean here's a whole collection called sift kayim but this particular one is on the high holidays and as I mentioned before every class when we're dvening on rash shana and yam kipur we're dinging for the whole year so of course the meanings behind the prayers hashkuffically are meaningful throughout the year so we're on the last two lines on cuff Zion okay and um it says kamur as we said what we had been speaking about was the difference between sadikimarim andim there are different majot of righteousness [snorts] and that was the last paragraph. So now as we said each one of these righteous people are going to reach a level and grasp a level and have a level understanding and have joy each according to their preparation. If you don't prepare right just like on Shabbat the weekday if you don't prepare for Shabbat you have nothing to eat. Well, guess what? Just think about it. Hashkuffically is mainah Shabas is like a taste of the world to come. If you don't prepare your life, if you have 60 years, 70 years, 80 if you're lucky, 120, right? So healthy, right? When we say, what we're really saying, not that you should live to 120 years, but you should live like Moshe. When he was 120, he was healthy. He was full of vigor. He had strength and he had his m and he had his mind of course and that's really when we bless somebody 100 to live 120. [snorts] So vizm when we reach the world to come everything is according to our preparation. Shabas if you don't just it's like a dugma it's like a a sample or a simile what we do every single day right there's the first day of shabas the second day of the week right each day we're really having in mind I don't know if you're aware of the makus between b shai and basil what should you do you know basil says listen okay let's start b shama every single day you buy food for shabas right on Sunday you buy the best meat well guess what I don't after two days may not be the best meat anymore. So you find better meat on Wednesday or Tuesday and then you eat. But at least you bought it all in mind for Shabas. But Hill says Basil says, "You know what? Maybe we're not on that level. Thursday night you go to the Thursday maybe Thursday afternoon, Friday morning, you go to the shook, you make shabas." We're not on that level to live the whole week. I was guest by one, well very good friends of ours. We used to go all the time. Every Friday night would come to the house, they had these huge pots. They b they only cooked once a week for shabas. So everything they bought was the covered shabas kesh and it lasted them. It was just a couple kids already grown up. But uh listen, I don't know if you when you have kids if you can really do do like that. But uh to live your life anyway the idea here is the preparation that we do in this world is going to let's say set us on a trajectory not only in this world for growth but there's a constant growth in the world to come as well. So if you're growing in this world you're going to continually continuously grow spiritually even in the world to come. But let's just talk about this world. Who doesn't want joy? Who doesn't want happiness? Well, actually, I'll just give you an idea the the verse the the the prayer we're talking about, right? Theiru, right? We're we're discussing this idea of theim, the righteous will see and be joyful, theim, the upright will rejoice, and the pious ones will exalt in song. That's the topic at hand. So, he says, ishu. We're not all the same. We all are on different mandregas. It's just the way it is. Okay? So, some are on a higher level, some are on a lower level, but as long as they're all growing, that's the most important thing. there. The idea is that you may be lower or higher than someone else. Now, he's a little bit cryptic here. Thank God for the English translation because he says um shal okay we all know how to count but he's basically saying there's progress there's progress and there are people that advance at at like even a greater rate maybe a double right people you're driving on the highway and says is 55 and someone passes you at 100, but they'll get a ticket. You you'll be safe, but there's people advancing at different rates. Okay? Is just the idea there are people that go at accelerated rates and on and on and on. until there's people that on every kind of level, great levels, increased levels, um just different levels of grasping and understanding and having this joy. I mean, ever you've seen people just like especially people you know that are that are righteous and are learned and people like people are doing test it all day long. You could just see the shine on their face and you kind of say, "I want some of that." Right? This is exactly what we're asking for. We're specifying. We're detailing it out in our prayers. [snorts] All these different levels of happiness. There's sadikim, we call them the righteous ones. Yesim, the ones who are upright and theim the ones who are pious and every one of them will be so happy at the time to see the redemption finally come. However, each one in a different way. And one may rise much more than someone who's on a lower level than them. All these different words for Jew. I mentioned in one of the press past classes in Eskimo language there's I don't know if there's 28 or 30 different languages uh lono expressions for snow cuz they need to know which ones are good for igloos which ones are good for chopping up uh you know to cut through the ice to go fishing there's different kind in Judaism there's I I I really don't know the count but it's in it's in the 20s or 30s the amount of words for joy And it tells you a lot about the vocabulary tells you a lot about the kind of people we are or want to be. And so the words we use in our prayers on [snorts] as we said it means right the righteous will see and be joyful and the upright will rejoice. Sadik and the word. What's the difference? There's there has to be an explanation. We clarify the difference between what a sadic we'll call him a righteous person versus someone who's a yasher who's an upright person. So he freelander is using the say for he's using the these words the words upright [snorts] this is someone whose nature is already leaning towards the good in fact he doesn't even have any battle with his yates I don't know if we're sadikim but sadikim are battling and constantly battling. So hopefully that's the category we're in. We shouldn't necessarily think of ourselves maybe as bayonim. That's a whole discussion. But hopefully we're we know we're battling. I mean if if you're not battling it means you're really at a yasher or you're deluding yourself, right? So that's what we want to make sure that we're not deliluding ourselves in thinking that we're on a higher level than we are. [snorts] So the yasher is someone whose nature is already no is already drawn uh for good. He has no desire, no will, no want to do anything evil or to sin. His only desire is towards doing what's right and what's good. that now on the other hand or in spite of this sadik he's on a majar he is on a lower level apparently than the one who's upright we I don't know if we would have thought that we would have thought they're all in the great great levels how is there such a difference but apparently there is that the the is on a lower level mata because all the time consistently or constantly he is struggling. He's in a battle with his inclination. Okay. But he wins. He's he's constantly winning. Okay. But as soon as he wins or maybe even simultaneously there are additional battles as you will see. Yes. True. He is indeed at the truth is right we say falls down seven times but gets up each time right you've heard that before. So he wins he's he he wins he he he's victorious over his inclination. I'm not sure if he's stuck. Remember, he can still elevate himself to a but it sounds like it's um he's going to constantly be in a battle. Okay. and after every time he wins that battle. Now there's a sec concept that Hashem does not give you uh a test that you cannot handle. I don't know if you've ever heard that expression that is absolutely true. There's also another expression the Clear says it that in in spirituality in there's only growth. Either you're going up or you're going down. There's no such thing as stagnation. And the example that he gave is when the angels are going up and down on Yakov on the ladder in Yakov's dream. I mentioned last week also Roberto Roshiva when you ask him like what really is life about like what's the what should one concentrate on growth right the vagon says tonos you have to work on your character which is what we're going to talk about here as well >> huh >> did I say Carl Young my bad although Carl Young was he had some >> who said the one about that the letters going up and down. That was also the vulnerab. >> That was the cleat yakar. Maybe I said that too quick. Clear mentions that idea. [snorts] The vigon says that purpose of creation for us is tikonitos, right? And Roberto used the word growth. If you're in a if you're either grown, you're not growing. Right? That's the idea is to be in a state of growth. And we also spoke about that talk about Messiach. Messiah is a Kerin. The Kerin um David the Kerin is a horn and the horn is constantly growing, right? It's not Babas. It doesn't like just sprout out of the animal's head. It happens gradually. Just like the gula happens in a process. So too are Yeah. The Karen is a process of salvation. and be weary. Wow, I just had like this epiphany and I'm saved. Right? That's not uh Judaism, you know, and it's work. It's the real work on the character. That's what he says. You just are going to it's a necessity. It's going to happen that you're going to be constantly at war. I even I don't think I made up the term but I call it an inner internal jihad right that's the true war right so forget all this external jihad you know it's all about the internal fight and struggle >> so like the is famous for the statement that he you know he had epiphies or whatever he wants to change the whole world he wants to change the whole world who doesn't want to change the world so he says he tried and then he realized you Well, it's a big big world out there, you know. Just try my country. This is the speaking you know and he tried and he said you know what I think it's a little bit too much just try my county also too much try my city that was you know what I just tried my family even that you can't change other people can only change yourself and he says when I changed myself I changed the whole world I actually changed the world by changing myself so I think that's the key we [clears throat] cannot change others and as educators we find it very frustrating frustrating and difficult. We want to see growth. But uh there's a lot at us as educators. Every Jew is an educator, right? Just as an example, so you should know that uh we all have a mitzvah to learn Torah, right? Okay, women have a little bit less to learn, but we all have to learn Torah. It's a big mitzvah. And if I would ask you and Roof Weinberg used to ask where is it, right? Every mitzvah has a source in the Torah. There's a Pik, right? Whether it's the uh the Rambam or the Sino or the somebody brings a PK, they all bring the same PK. The most important thing about learning is the PK source. And if you would ask people, most people would quote from Joshua, right? You should meditate, you know, negaila, meditate on the Torah day and night. But that's a problem because we're not looking in Joshua. We want to know in the five books of Moses, what is the source? That's where the source for the 613 commandments are. And we say it every day in the Schma or several times a day. And you shall teach your son. That's the mitzvah to learn Torah. To teach. Yeah. Because the real mitzvah is to teach. Learning is a prerequisite. You can't teach unless you learn. Right. So the real mitzvah is to learn in order to teach. This is the way RN explained it. And that's why he said listen if you know olive go out and teach al you know bet go teach something that someone else doesn't know. >> So as educators we want to see right here we have a teacher here when a student gets it and excels and hopefully the students even become bigger and greater than we are then we feel we have succeeded but doesn't all happen in one night or one day takes takes time. You have to motivate all >> you have to figure out ways of motivation. Each person individually, right? Each student according to his way, each son, each child according to his way. Um that's one of the things also the Christians get wrong. Um you know, you take a na'vi and you say, "Wow, something new." I'm going to tell you, I was a secular person. I thought, you know, I I heard this heard that there was a quote from some prophet in the Christian religion says, "Love your neighbor as yourself. I was like, "Wow, that's intense." I It's in Leviticus, right? It's in our Torah. So, the truth is there's nothing new. There's no new Naveim. There's no new prophets. Prophecy ended 2500 years ago. But the prophets, it says, if we came into Erit Israel and didn't sin, we wouldn't even need the prophets. All there would have been was Joshua. The prophet's job is not to predict the future, but to explain the five books when we're off track. That's it. Just as a guide. They're shepherds. They're guides. So everything we learned in the desert for 40 years, if we are not behaving properly, they're going to remind us. It's a reminder. There's nothing new in the Nvi. There's nothing new. There's no even the Nim that we have. Forget about after prophecy is over, the Nim themselves did not discuss anything that we didn't already know. Okay? They were there to remind us of what we needed to do. So whatever you you know, if you read Joshua and it says, you know, well, we're going to meditate on it day and night because that's something we already had instilled in the teachings in the five books. Okay, let's continue. Let me just see where we left off. So, we're talking about the sadic the whole time that he's still battling or she's battling with her. So, then they cannot feel or experience complete joy. who because of the difficulties that they're they're experiencing that they have to deal with. It's just it's not complete. But when will it be complete? In the world to come, which is what we're saying here. But in the future, tale. You know, there's going to be a time even when Messiah comes, there's not going to be evil. But the question is, why are we bringing sin offerings when after Messiah comes, right? And the Nvi says, and we know the Messiah brings sin offerings. There's going to be sin offerings for shake, not for there never was. It's another thing the Christians have wrong. They say, you know, you need a blood sacrifice. You once you don't have the temple, you have no way to get atonement. Hello. They they had they they messed up the whole plan. They messed up the whole um the Torah. They they they um just lied. They just flat out lied, right? It doesn't say that in our Torah. If you do a sin on purpose, only thing that God wants from you is your heart. He doesn't want your corbin. Okay? You cannot bring an offering. There is no prescription for an offering for a a premeditated sin. Just chuva. That's what God prescribed. It's for shogi. Shog is inadvertent. I woke up one shabus morning and I thought it was a Tuesday. Listen, I'm not that old, but I understand. I've I've seen some uh people that are just a few months older than me and they get confused about the days. Okay. So, you know, you know what inadvertent sin is. You didn't know you didn't know the full extent of what you're doing. Okay. So to move forward in the lusty love there won't be any any rah there won't be any evil okay the evil part and it will be cancelled out that's when the sadikim won't have that battle anymore and they'll experience full and that's what we're praying for Yeah, we have a little bit to go. Remember we discussed the upright regarding them. It says that they will rejoice. It's that type of is bursting forth outside. It's um it's external. You can see it. Uh, and we know what's going to happen. I mean, thank God we live in we see I I'm sure this happens in Jewish communities across the world. But here's an extra simra. You can see people I know people that are dancing. They're dancing in the streets. The problem is what happens is they won't see that the real full extent of showing it because other people are suffering, right? What what is it about the Jew? Jew is compared to a sheep. A sheep, maybe you look at a sheep and you think it's a big animal because it's got a lot of wool, uh, whatever you want to call it, fur, wool, but when you shave it down, it's a skinny little animal and it's very, um, sensitive and if it stubs its toe, its whole body shakes. That's the Jewish people. I mean, we don't have to go [cough] through and discuss what's happened recently. The Holocaust still, you know, still in our recent past. Um, but when a Jew is murdered, a Jew experiences a um an anti-Semitic attack, we all feel it. We and we if we don't, there's something wrong with us, right? So this idea is as we're explaining what is it going to be about the future of the of the yasher the usher will rejoice we'll see it's only once other people are no longer suffering but in the meantime let's just read on what he says and he's going to come to a place of recruit he's going to want to dance and the yasher no we said he has no realahara he's his nature is inclined towards the good as he's already conquered the evil inclination now even now in this world he [cough and clears throat] only internal for the moment we said it should burst forth that's what we're praying for he sees those around him in his um in you know around him those people that are in Still evil rules over them and others are struggling. People are struggling all around him. How can he be happy? I mean on the outside therefore he's either not able to express it either because he doesn't want to show it or because he really can't express it because he's really feeling for others. So his expression of simp is somehow limited or lacking regarding that we say these words that they will see and they will be joyful while in we're in this dark exile right already 2,000 years maybe if you want to count the second temple I mean most of the Jews didn't come back right from Babylon even in the second temple we didn't have the Shina, we didn't have the Araesh. There's a lot of things even in the second temple. You know, as long as the majority of Jews don't are not here in Israel, we're still in Galut, right? It's one of the things that the Messiah is going to do is bring back the exiles. But once the majority of Jews are here, it's going to be a quantum leap of spiritual burst. I don't know, blowout, right? You're talking about so many of the mitzvah that we thought we can't do in even in Israel we can't until a majority of Jews come back and we have the temple but like just example shmita we're we're practicing as midan I mean there's certain aod there's certain malot that are dissa but will become dissa when a majority of Jews live in Israel and yov and so many other mitzvah will actually become And we'll be actually practicing them on a a quantum, you know, a totally different level. >> We're really close to I don't know what to say, but uh we're we're getting there. >> And I don't know if it's I don't know if it's 49, 51. I don't know if it's, you know, 48, 52, whatever. The the >> take it seriously like the scales. >> Seriously. We're dabbing every day for our brothers to come home, but it's more than we're dabbing for the Shina to return. The Sheen is in exile. We talked about that too recently. [snorts] You know, it's not just about us and, you know, our personal issues. It's it's national and it's global and it's historical. It's about Hashem in Galut. So the whole time the whole time that evil seems to prevail and be successful and the seem to be suffering but you know what they are believers that everything that Hashem does for us is really for our benefit. benefit is really for the good. Well, it's true. They don't really see it, right? It's like in their imagination, right? They just know it. They they know it, but to see it is a whole another level. They know in the future they will see it when there's this final victory over evil of good over evil and even more than this. They will come to recognize and notice that all of whatever reign of evil existed and all the suffering that people went through all of it was for our benefit was for the good then the will have complete complete and full joy at that time. on page 29. Hopefully we'll get through the first paragraph timewise. We're doing good. So on the other hand the the usher the one who's upright he already sees he sees already even now he sees in this world that the righteousness and the justice of Hashem right through his laws and his ways everything is really true justice by the way we have this concept and we say um I know it's very hard intellectually it makes sense but emotionally how do you do It says in the Gomorrah, we when we when we hear good news, we say, right? Well, God is good and he does good. And when we experience or hear bad things, we say God is the true judge. The Gomorrah says you're supposed to say them the same. And the Gmorrah says, "What do you mean? You just said it's two different. It's two different versions. Words are different." Yeah, the words might be different but you have to say with the same emotional intellectual emotional understanding like when you say it's not easy we have practice unfortunately but uh it's something to to think about. See in the world to come everything will right in the world to come we'll realize looking back wow you know the time I tripped and I fell whatever all that bad thing h that was ultimately for my good I wouldn't have met my my my the I wouldn't have made that much money whatever it was right I wouldn't have made a tikon on on a certain sin who knows but only looking back well guess what you can have one foot in right now if you can be like a sadik like a yashar and come to this realization. So there's a job, right? I will I will I see God. I I I sense God in my own flesh. What does that mean? Shalom. that this a person will perceive the grander the greatness of God and the conduct of God all according to your own midos. So like the more kind you are, the more kind you perceive Hashem to be. It's a really a matter of you know adjusting your glasses or cleaning cleaning the lenses or making what they call them rosecolored glasses that all of a sudden you know it's like you're living in a in a different world. No, we have the ability to to um to control our perceptions. I know we're human and we have emotions, but we can we can right we can turn things around. Um uh the labavi said, "Think good and it'll be good." Right? Really thought big, think success. Right? We do have a lot of control over our mind and our mind is a powerful thing. Okay, our perceptions. So the truth is the more kind that we are. By the way, the um tom dvora I gave a whole series on tom d'vorah um the more that we act like Hashem in in the merciful way like judging others favorably be behaving kind to those who may not be kind to us. Hashem opens the spicet of mercy. Okay? Not just on us and on the person we're judging favorably, but on the whole world. So, it's an amazing amazing thing. I'm just giving a plug for the to divor. But here he's saying that the way a person sees the world is how does it go again. the way you perceive Hashem that is how um it's all according to your own behavior. For example, according to your own level of trying to help people that is basically will allow you to see and understand the of Hashem. In other words, if you are a closed off individual in a particular mid, it's very hard to recognize the mida in someone else, let alone God. And if you're working, you're growing in that trait, then your perception of God's greatness will also increase. [snorts] So to the usher, we said that the um the evil was totally banished and removed from his not only his life probably also his his perception and only righteousness and goodness is is he uh is reigning or is governed. He will actually see and understand. He'll come to that level where he'll understand right now the the righteousness and the conduct of Hashem. It starts within you. And then that joy will fill the person's heart. However, nowadays since we're not really able to reveal or disclose what is in his heart, meaning the the yashar, he wants to he it he wants to burst forth, but he's he's limited. Again, we spoke about because other people are suffering. No, because of other people. Other people might say the opposite. Huru I'm sure you've had I don't know there was a movie Guliver's travels or there was always this pessimist or you know like there are people that are very pessimistic and renber used to say insanity is contagious be careful who you hang out with but here he's saying that there are other people they see and they just say that evil is getting stronger and stronger every day, right? We know people like that. They just look at the world, it's like it's going downhill fast. However, that's not true. The the world is not going down in a spiral. the future. The Satikim will see, they will see, they will perceive, all the good, everything, all the um all that happened was for the good and that was Hashem's behavior or conduct and through that they will be joyful and then are able to. And again, just like in the future, the Yesharim, the ones who are upright, they'll be able to re reveal all that they've been holding in their hearts and they'll be able to rejoice out loud. Just to finish off the last three lines about the barina, they're going to sing. They're going the the pious ones are going to exalt in song that the the pious person is even greater level than the one who's upright that he's going to rejoice and exalt regularly constantly and he's on a higher level as we said uh and it's going to be expressed Shia ran the yosir beam it's going to express itself through the song and the um and all the song that's on his mouth but not in a quiet way in a loud way in the kam he's going to be so exaltedly [snorts] happy and bizm this is where we'll end we'll continue this next actually next week we have tisham we have tishad seder And so there's no class per se by Rabbi Flax and myself. The following week it'll only be Rabbi Flax and I will be going to a Huskar for a friend who unfortunately passed away. But so I want to say this is where we're leaving off today and we hope you'll continue to run with us in the future. [music and singing] Heat. Heat. [music] [singing] >> [music] [music and singing] >> Oh my >> [music]