Jewish Inspiration Podcast · Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe

00:01 - Intro (Announcement)
You're listening to Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe, Director of TORCH, the Torah Outreach Resource Center of Houston. This is the Jewish Inspiration Podcast.

00:12 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Welcome back, my dear friends, to day number 59. We're on page 366 in the Orchah Tzaddikim Ways of the Righteous and the Treasure for Life edition. We're in the middle of the Gate of Happiness, and now the author shares with us that we're going to have two challenging works in front of us. We have two different occupations Hashem, in his Torah, and the other, which is the occupation of getting a livelihood working. So we have the work of Hashem, serving Hashem, and the work of our life, Our mundane tasks. A person has to be average on both of them. A person has to be average on both of them ולייחד שעות מיוחדות לעבודת התורה ולעבודת העולם הזה. A person has to have set time when he takes care of himself, his physical needs, which could include his livelihood, taking care of his home, but also having time dedicated to the study of Torah, to the service of Hashem. ויצור שתסחזק ושתעשה עבודה שתיין לעולם ל�. A person has to dedicate himself to these toils, to these works, Not to take one away from the other, Meaning oh, I'm so busy in my livelihood I don't have time to learn, or I'm so busy learning, I don't have time for livelihood. A person has to have both, a blend K'mo sh'nemar Avicha ha'lo ochal v'shosa ve'os ha'mishpat utztoko oz tov lo. The verse states did your father not labor to eat and drink and at the same time, do justice and righteousness? Then it was good for him. The verse also continues and it is good that you take hold of this and also not let go of the other. Just because you're involved in Torah study doesn't mean you don't have other obligations to go get a job and to earn a livelihood. And if you're earning a livelihood, it doesn't mean that you don't have the obligation of studying Torah. A person has to have trust in Hashem, that Hashem should succeed His way. A person shouldn't put all of his reliance and all of his eggs in the basket of his labor, of his work and his career. You have to realize that it's all a tool so that Hashem can send you your success through it. Just like someone breaks is chopping down a tree with an axe. Even though we know that the axe is chopping down the tree, we know that the power behind that axe is not from the axe. The power is from the person holding it Right. So we think, oh, I'm going to work, I'm going to, I am going to earn a living. Is it really you or is it the Almighty behind you? Who's the force behind? You're just the axe. Hashem is the force behind the axe. Achabarzel derech l'achtoch. You're just the axe. Hashem is the force behind the axe. You know that the axe is just the tool to chop the tree. We're just the tool to deliver that success that Hashem is bringing our way.

04:02
If a person has any type of labor, any type of toil, any type of career, that a person brings a livelihood home to his family oh wow, if I didn't have that job I'd be a destitute. No, no, no, no, no, no, Because I have my trust in Hashem. You should think God will send you livelihood from a different way. You don't get it from here, you'll get it from there. That's exactly what you said. Everything that you need is in the hands of Hashem. Ve'har b'shluchim l'mok.

04:48
Hashem has many, many messengers. Ki Moshe, Omer ha'kosuv, ki ein la'Hashem ma'atzor la'oshia b'rav o'b'maat. Hashem has no limit. There's nothing that prevents Hashem from saving you, whether it be the many or the few. And it says additionally who gives you the strength to succeed, the power to succeed? It all comes from Hashem. And it says additionally Zacharias says Hashem tzokos. Zacharias says not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says Hashem of hosts, Rabbo say, my dear friends, this concludes day number 59. I think it's so powerful and so incredibly important for us to understand that all of our success, everything that we have, is the hands of Hashem. We can't put anything in our own hands Like it's me, it's me, it's me. The more we believe in the me, the more we're kicking Hashem out. It's not a good place to be. My dear friends, have a terrific evening. I look forward. Tomorrow, day number 60.

05:59 - Intro (Announcement)
You've been listening to Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe on a podcast produced by Torch, the Torah Outreach Resource Center of Houston. Please help sponsor an episode so we can continue to produce more quality Jewish content for our listeners around the globe. Please visit torchweb.org to donate and partner with us on this incredible endeavor.