The 13 Principles of Jewish Faith - Principle #8: Torah - Can You Sense it? - Rabbi Akiva Fox

[Music] another perhaps slightly different explanation of the word time it's who you ought to be a danger that is found now in our hand why are we referring to the Torah in our hands technically it's in our hearts and our minds but we're referring to the Torah specifically because being in our hands so we discussed last time that one explanation is that the tourist specific goes directly to a person in acting it goes directly to the actual izing it's not theoretical it's not just philosophy but it goes directly to the actualization of what the torah commander this is not seven ish ma this is what we say you do before you hear this is the just do it of Torah but perhaps what's perhaps the a slightly different explanation but it's a fascinating thought there's a story with Elio another lie Elijah the Prophet aliawan avi was walking with one of the car now in one of the great sages in the Gomorrah and they passed a dead carcass and animal carcass on the side of the road and there was a terrible odor emanating from this carcass so the ton of man meat sadhika the stage that was walking with eliana he covered his nose he couldn't stand the smell but eliana we did not ileana be kept walking then they passed somebody who was about dive about divers the haughty individual thinks he's the best he's arrogant he thinks he is the king of the world and God's gift to mankind and they passed this man and elio on of e closes covers his notes and the sage that was walking with him did not so we learn from here something very fascinating very important the sage covered his nose because there was a smell and a bad odor emanating from the carcass of an animal that's the natural reaction to somebody who come across something that smells putrid that smells bad as he covers his nose elio uh no he did not and yet when elio are naughty passed by this haughty arrogant individual laor nutty covered his nose what that teaches us is that some things especially words of the Torah are eternal and eternal means that that's something that we need to internalize to the point that it becomes a physical it becomes the sensual reality that we live in just as you might close your nose from the odor from the putrid smell of a carcass of an animal carcass molding rotting on the floor so too there is a putrid smell of the spiritual there is a terrible odor to somebody that goes against the words of the Torah there was somebody that is arrogant and that is considered despised and despicable in the eyes of a Shem meaning the knowledge the awareness that the Torah considers this something Despicable disdained arrogance becoming a hottie this is something that the Torah puts down that creates a physical entity that creates a change in the physical makeup of that person again this is not how we are supposed to look at or judge or perceive people and what in accordance to how they comply with the Torah laws that is not the direction that this lesson that we're trying to teach the point is that the Torah creates a physical reality and if you internalize it enough you with your senses in a sensual way in the physical to the in the way you see in the way you perceive and even in the way you smell it is changed because the Torah is something that is to be internalized to the point of physical change that is why we say shkolu Tyra I matsuya after that the entire tour that we have now be a Daniel in our hands meaning it is now the new physical reality everything that the Torah says and everything that the Torah perceives gives us a different perception in the physical realm in the sensual dimension that now it is not just knowledge that gives me a different idea of what I perceive but it is actually the physical way that I perceive it sometimes the Torah can give us a completely different perception of something because of what we know there's a deeper level that is internalizing it until it becomes physical let's give a small example there's two ways to stay away from fire there's the little children who don't know what fire is and daddy and mommy state don't play with matches don't touch the fire the only reason that the little child stays away from the fire is because daddy and mommy said no but if daddy and mommy are not around they could play with it until that knowledge becomes something personal that it goes a step deeper perhaps one way of going to step deeper one way of internalizing it more is this they actually catch fire or get burned by fire all of a sudden that knowledge that hypothetical idea that they should stay away from fire becomes a lot deeper now it becomes physical the child will be repulsed the child will be afraid of fire because he knows the power he knows what it is it has now become from only knowledge up here he has internalized it and now it has become actually physical sensual he can relate to it much deeper that is what our understanding and our complying and accepting the color should do it should be internalized a lot more than just hypothetical theoretical knowledge it becomes our new physical reality it becomes the new way of living and complying with the with the way of life meaning that elio are nothing new that the tour despises and God despises and disdains those who are haughty and arrogant but that knowledge that he had was internalized so much deeper that he actually smelled the pooch putrid odor the terrible laughs coming from this person is something he had in his physical reality he couldn't take it that means that it's something that was internalized inside him so much more so perhaps this is another way of understanding how matsuya oughtta be a day new that is found now in our hands meaning that we have internalized it now the tour has been internalized so much that it is now our physical reality it has affected our perception so strongly that we can sense it physically some things that we fear or were repulsed by them we stay away we feel a spine-tingling we feel that sixth sense that says stay away from it that is what the Torah should do for us to the things that the Torah and a shame has said that the Torah says stay away from it is not just abstract it's not just in the loose it's not just a hypothetical idea or a pretty flowery way of perceiving the world know what it has it has been internalized so much that it has affected our perception we actualize it we live it and we feel it with our actual fences this is something you could smell it's something you could touch because the Torah has been internalized by us so much that it has changed the reality it has given us a completely different physical perception this is bringing down the Torah from the dimension of the divine to a higher will to actualizing to feeling it to being able to smell it because the Torah is something that is not just practical but the tour is something that we internalize we we make affect the way we live and the things we do and the way we perceive the actual world [Music]