Jewish Inspiration Podcast · Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe

00:03 - Intro (Announcement)
You're listening to Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe of TORCH in Houston, Texas. This is the Jewish Inspiration Podcast.

00:12 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Before we begin, I just want to talk for a second about Rosh Hashanah, which is going to be in just two more days. So Monday night, we welcome in Rosh Hashanah. Monday night, we welcome in Rosh Hashanah, and it's really a phenomenal, phenomenal opportunity for us to really realign ourselves and to take a moment before Rosh Hashanah to try to evaluate why we're asking for another year. We're asking for another year. We're coming to Rosh Hashanah. We're going to be saying, wherever we may be in our synagogues, in our homes, whatever it is that we're doing we're saying we want a sweet new year. We dip the apple in the honey. We have the pomegranates. We want to be filled with mitzvahs, just like the pomegranate. We do a lot of these positive omens, we do a lot of these symbolisms. For what? What do we really want and why do we want it? Rosh Hashanah is a time for us to evaluate and to realign ourselves with what our purpose, what our mission is in this world. And if we take a few minutes before Shoshana to put together a plan, say you know what next year, this is what I want to accomplish.

01:29
I was looking at last year's notes of what I set for myself is what the goals, what the things I want to accomplish. And the truth is some of them were really crazy. Some of them were really crazy, but with the help of Hashem I was able to successfully attain those goals and even beyond them. You know, in a way that I didn't think was possible, but hopefully I can come this year to Hashem and say, hey, I was a pretty decent investment for you last year. Maybe invest in me another year. Because look at the new goals I have, look at the new plans, look at what I want to accomplish, look at the things I want to learn. Because look at the new goals I have, look at the new plans, look at what I want to accomplish, look at the things I want to learn, look at the things I want to share with the world, look at the things I want to do and accomplish.

02:10
You know, in in my study, in my connection with you, you know one of the things that the missilati sharim, the ways of the upright, that magnificent book on by, written by the ram hal, one of the things thatight, that magnificent book written by the Ramchal, one of the things that he writes, is that we should aspire to cleave to Hashem. What does it mean to cleave to Hashem Is that there's no barrier between us and God. I'll give you an example of what a barrier could be. You know, I know it's the right thing to give charity, and I have the money to give it, but we start having other interests. Maybe I should buy a car first. Maybe I should, you know, do this first. Maybe. Why did God give it to me? He gave it to me so that I'd be his messenger out there in the world to do it. But if a person is cleaving to Hashem 100%, but if a person is cleaving to Hashem 100%, then the will of Hashem is my will.

03:08
Who do we see had the greatest such relationship with Hashem? Moshe. We see that Moshe, when he died. What does it say about Moshe Vayamos? Moshe eved Hashem and Moshe died a servant of Hashem. That's it the whole eulogy, the whole eulogy For Moshe a servant of Hashem. That's it the whole eulogy, the whole eulogy for Moshe, his entire life. One simple thing he was a servant of God. God gave me a mission, god gave me power, and what am I using it for? I'm using it to serve Hashem. Everything God has given me, I'm using it for the service of Hashem. Okay. So now, when we talk about repentance we mentioned this on Friday God has given me. I'm using it for the service of Hashem, meaning okay. So now, when we talk about repentance we mentioned this on Friday when we talk about repentance, what are we saying? Okay, this is us, this is God. What we're trying to accomplish is become one with Hashem, so to speak. We want to be close to God. But what stands in the way? Our arrogance, our comforts, our, our arrogance, our comforts, our luxuries, our desires, our temptations, our jealousy, our arrogance, our anger All of these things stand in the way. We're saying. We're not saying I'm sorry for all those mistakes. We say I'm sorry for being separated from you with these barriers that don't let me get close to you. I want to be close to you. That's essentially what we're saying on Rosh Hashanah. We're saying Hashem, I want to become one with you. I want to be with no barriers, with no separation. Tshuva means I'm returning to a oneness with Hashem. You see, before we're born, it says that the baby because the baby in utero has no physical trappings, has no physical limitations. I mean it's locked up in a womb right, but spiritually it's able to see from one side of the world to the other. Why? Because there's no physical barrier. It's living in a godly realm. Suddenly, it comes to this world. It doesn't like it. It cries why? Because until now, it was in a place where there was no limitations. It's oneness with Hashem and when it comes to this world, it has so many different distractions, so many different things, whether it be our phones, whether it be little toys for children, whether it be books, whether it be philosophies, whether it be little toys for children, whether it be books, whether it be philosophies, whether it be all of these different things that try to distract us and take us away from our closeness to Hashem. Twitter X, facebook, instagram, any of these games, all the gaming platforms that people are busy with. People are spending hours and hours and hours and hours. These things are distractions that build a barrier between us and the Almighty. We're trying to connect and become and suddenly we feel like I'm stuck. I can't, I can't, I can't get there. So in this week's Power Show that we just read yesterday in our synagogues all around the world, I had the most incredible reading of the torah portion and it said it's very, very close to you, it's very attainable. What is it? It's very, very close to you, it's very attainable. What is it? It's within the ability of your heart, it's within the ability of your mouth to accomplish, to attain it. Say, just tell us something really incredible. There's a big dispute here. What is HaMitzvah Hazot? What is this mitzvah? What is this mitzvah Ki? Hamitzvah Hazot, this mitzvah that I command for this commandment that I command you today, not beyond understanding, is it for you and not distant? Is it Not in the heavens? Is it for you to say who can ascend for us to the heaven to take it and let us hear it and let us perform it? And it is not across the sea? Is it for us to say who can cross for us to the other side of the sea and take the Torah for us so that we can hear it and perform it? Rather near to you, is the matter extremely so In your mouth and in your heart to do it. We can all attain and accomplish. Now. Commentaries. Dispute on what is this mitzvah, this mitzvah?

07:44
What is this dispute on? What is this mitzvah, this mitzvah, what is this? So the the um, the rambam, but, sorry, many commentaries say. Rashi, for example, says that it's referring to torah study. That torah study is very interesting, david, listen to this very well.

08:01
Torah study. Many people think like me, what can I learn? I'm not a scholar, I'm not some rabbi. I don't know how to read Hebrew, I don't know. Guess what. If we just open the book and read the words and we desire for it, you'll get it.

08:18
Anybody want to know how to become a Torah scholar? I'll tell you. It's very simple. Open a Torah and read it, you become a scholar. It's not more complicated. You don't have to be skilled in a particular way. By the way, you see, many, many, many of the sages of yesteryear were not the most brilliant minds. They weren't. But they had two things they had the desire and they did it. That's it. Desire it, will it? And open up the book and read it. Beficha, start saying the words, because you know what happens. It snowballs into a new reality. It creates a whole new world of opportunity. Beficha u'bervavcha la'asoto, did you ever have something that you wanted to accomplish? And you tried, and you tried and you tried and you tried and it didn't work. And then suddenly one day, boom, it works. You have no idea why or how I had this.

09:23
I used to be a drummer, okay, and I was learning to drum. I was 12 or 13 years old and I was working on a certain rhythm, a certain syncopation, which is it's sometimes complicated because the hands are coordinated differently and the legs are coordinated differently and you have to coordinate things in a beat, in a rhythm that you're not trained to do, you're not familiar with it. It's difficult. And I remember I was trying and I was trying, and I was trying and I was trying, and suddenly I just took the sticks and dropped them. I was out, I'm out, I'm out, I'm out. I tried and I couldn't get it to the speed that I needed to tried and I couldn't get it to the speed that I needed to. I couldn't get it. I could do it, but very slowly, it wasn't, it wasn't working. And I kept on trying the next day and I kept on trying the next day and suddenly one day it just poof, it appeared I was able to do it. I was like, how did that happen? I remember, I remember, like this epiphany. I was like that was a gift. I tried and it just suddenly worked.

10:34
We have the ability sometimes to accomplish the unaccomplishable. We can attain the unattainable. You know how Something called will Hashem says I see, you tried, I see you tried, I see you tried, I'm going to give it to you as a gift. Now it's just going to happen and you're going to be able to do it. That's the study of Torah. By the way, I said it about drumming, about musical accomplishments, but about Torah accomplishments, it's even more. It's even more Because sometimes it seems like, oh, it's so daunting.

11:03
You know this sheet that we've shared many, many times in our class. Okay, this is something I'm very, very proud of, because this was part of my journey of learning and growing. It wasn't because I prepared it for students, I prepared it for the class. No, I prepared it for myself, because I wanted to understand it, I wanted to learn it. And when I was sitting with students, I suddenly realized, oh, my goodness, I hope they don't realize how much I don't know and this is going back now, 23, 24 years, when I was teaching in Yishuv in Israel and I was trying to. They're asking me what's the difference between this and between that, I'm like I better start learning, I better start understanding things more, because if I want to be able to teach, I have to really know. And I remember, you know, working and working and working, and finally it's just like Hashem opened up a clarity that I was able to understand. And the same thing is with, by, the way we're doing now our prayer series.

12:03
You may not know this, but I'm very intimidated by this whole series. I'm very intimidated. Why am I intimidated? Because I don't understand necessarily all of the deeper meanings of the prayers. So what do I have to do? I excuse me, I have to sit down and work hard and try and try and try and write down notes and notes and notes and notes, and hope and pray that it makes sense when I get here.

12:33
And then I come after teaching a class on anabikach, which is to me very, very intimidating, because I till before that class, I really had no idea of the power of this prayer. I knew it was a powerful prayer. I didn't know why. I had no idea of the power of this prayer. I knew it was a powerful prayer. I didn't know why. I had no real connection to it, Spending hours and hours preparing, you suddenly build a connection.

12:50
But when I came to class last Tuesday and we learned that prayer together from Reb Nechonio Ben Hakono, nechonio Ben Hakono, I was very worried. I hope it's not going to be terrible. And then after class I get a beautiful comment from Bruce. Bruce says that's the best class you've ever taught. And to me, I was worried because, right, I was worried because, again, we have to try. We have to try, we have to put ourselves out there, and this is what the verse in the Torah says Go out there and try and give it the best you have. It works, it works, it doesn't work, it doesn't work, and I have this many times. There are times that I come to class and I'm like this is going to be the best class I've ever taught. Okay, and I still haven't published that episode because it's so awful. I felt that it was just, it was terrible, it was terrible, right, and as to when I came, I came prepared, and sometimes I come unsure and it's the best.

13:55
We never know. We never know how Hashem is going to place things in our mouths, what has an influence, what doesn't. Our job is not to worry about the outcome. Our job is not to worry about the results. Our job is only the effort. That's our job when it comes to tshuva the Ramban, by the way, on this verse, he says what is this mitzvah? This mitzvah is the mitzvah of tshuva, says the Ramban Nachmanides. He says it's the mitzvah of teshuva, that if you just try, put your mouth, say the word, say Hashem, I'm sorry, I was wrong. I did the wrong thing. I created barriers and now I wasn't able to connect to you properly. Ubel Vavcha, feel it in your heart how damaging it is for you to create that barrier. Then you'll accomplish teshuva. Sometimes we're just afraid to say the words right, and we're going to get to this.

14:51
Next week we're going to talk about teshuva. We'll talk about actual repentance. How does repentance actually work? I'm talking about now, not in front of the Almighty, our fellow man, whether it's our spouse, whether it's our child, whether it's our parent, whether it's our siblings, whether it's our friends and neighbors.

15:10
You say you know, I just want to ask forgiveness. I asked my rabbi this week. Forgiveness, ask my rabbi. I talk to him every single week. I have a great privilege of having a beautiful relationship with my rabbi every single week.

15:22
I have a great privilege of having a beautiful relationship with my rabbi, and he said something this year that really bothered me, that I wholeheartedly disagreed with. I was offended by what he said, I was hurt by what he said and I said Rebbe, I need to ask you forgiveness. He says oh, I want to hear what it is that you're asking forgiveness for. Don't just say I'm asking forgiveness, what is it about? Because you can't just forgive for something you don't even know what the person did, because then you find out what the person did. You're like oh well, now let me reconsider that. Let me reconsider.

16:00
So I said two things First, I want to ask forgiveness and second is I wholeheartedly disagree with what you said, but I know that, as your student, I need to accept what you said. I need to accept what you said because you're my rabbi and I need to accept it. I want your help in learning to accept it. We can be like Korach, who stands opposite moshe and fights with him, or we can be like many others to say, moshe, I know that you're, that you're our leader, you know what's right, because you have divine wisdom from the almighty and we want to humble ourselves to understand how we were wrong. I felt I wanted to be like the latter rather than the former. I don't want to be a Korach, and I know that he has some wisdom that I don't clearly.

16:53
So I said, rabbi, please help guide me so that I can understand why you did what you did, so that I can learn to accept. And there's nothing wrong with us having different opinions. We don't have to be a bunch of sheep. Oh, he said well, okay, fine, that's it. No, that's not the way we work in Judaism.

17:15
We can dispute, but ultimately, at the end of that conversation, we have to accept and we have to realize, we have to humble ourselves and realize that he's far greater than me in torah knowledge. He's far greater than me in wisdom. He's far greater than me in understanding. He's not out to hurt me and I have to accept, even when it's difficult, even when it's not, even when it's against me. So so do I think that his judgment was wrong? No, I don't think his judgment was wrong. Do I like it? No, I don't like it, but his judgment wasn't wrong. I have to understand that you don't have to like it. So, when a rabbi gives a ruling, when a rabbi gives a ruling. When a rabbi gives a decision, it's something that we, as students, we need to accept. We need to learn to accept even if it's against us, even if it's not something, because I've seen too many times congregants of congregations Now, congregants is a little bit different because they hire the rabbi to be their, their spiritual leader, but not, they don't really accept them as their spiritual leader.

18:29
They tolerate them. They don't accept them right at best. At best they tolerate them, which is a problem, because there should be, there should be a deeper respect and appreciation that students have for their rabbi. But in congregations, for whatever reason, I've seen people who don't have a single 1%, one iota of 1%, not even one little smidgen of understanding of what the rabbi has, and they're fighting like they have some opinion here. That should matter and it's not true. It's not respectful. If you want a rabbi to just be your broom to clean up your mess, so then hire a cleaning crew, right. But if you're asking for someone to be your spiritual guide and your spiritual mentor, then you have to accept what the rabbi tells you.

19:31
And I see this way too often, where people have a disregard for their rabbis I'm talking about particularly in congregations. I'm not talking about where we are here in Torah study. I'm talking about in congregations where the rabbi, just your job, is to give the sermon and go home. What's the purpose? By the way, in most congregations it's like that they don't want to hear from the rabbi, they don't want guidance from the rabbi, they don't want the rabbi telling them how to live their lives, that they did something right, did something wrong. Who's the rabbi to tell me what to do? Which is tragic. The rabbi is there to be our mentor, our guide, and if people don't accept it, they can find another place to go pray, they can go someplace else, but the rabbi has to. Which is a big problem with many of the congregations out there in the world today is that the rabbis don't have free reign. The rabbis are controlled solely by their boards. Board of directors tell them to do this, they have to do this, and they tell them to do that. They do that. They ask them to jump, they ask how high. That's not the way a rabbi should be running a congregation. The rabbi is there to be the spiritual guide, the spiritual mentor for the participation, for the congregation and, if the people aren't willing to accept it to go someplace else where you do respect the rabbi.

20:38
So a little bit about teshuuvah that we discussed. It's, I think, just an interesting thing. Numerology a little bit. We say this mitzvah, the numerical value of Zot is 408. Taf is 400. Aleph is 1. Zion is 7. 408.

21:00
Our sages tell us that if you take the three words beneath the prayer on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we say there are three things that remove the evil decree. What is those three things? Teshuvah, tefillah, tzedakah. Teshuvah, repentance, tefillah prayer, tzedakah charity. Those three things remove the evil decree. You know the numerical value of the words just beneath that. If you pass me the blue book right there, yeah, yeah, pass it please. Here we go Right beneath those three words, there are three Kabbalistic translations to what's said over there. And what is it? This is right.

21:43
At the beginning of the repetition of the Amidah, the Chazen says but repentance, prayer and charity remove the evil decree. So what is Teshuvah? That's Tzom, that's fast. Tefillah means call voice and tzedakah means money. Fast meaning fasting, taking upon ourselves Affliction, physical affliction, to realize and to feel a physical connection to our change of our ways. Prayer, prayer not just prayer, in our heart, in our voice, speak it out to our change of our ways. Prayer, prayer not just prayer in our heart, in our voice. Speak it out. And tzedakah, mamon, which is giving actual charity, not donating our time, giving actual money.

22:36
Some people refer to money as being their oxygen. I can't give away my money. No, no, no To give it away. Why? Because we're showing Hashem. We realize that you are the one who gives us everything we have. We realize that you are the source of all of our supply. Without you, we have nothing.

23:00
I remember a friend of mine, a friend of Torch, called me. He says Rabbi, you didn't pick up the check. I'm like what check? What are you talking about? He says I have a check waiting for you on my desk. Come to my office, my assistant will be there. If I'm not there, she'll give you the check. I said, wow, thank you so much. I come there. It was a really nice check. I called him and I said, wow, thank you so much. He says, rabbi, don't thank me. He says, don't thank me.

23:25
If it was my money, you wouldn't see a dime, but it's God's money. It's God's money. So I'm doing what God wants me to do with it, and I thought it was such a healthy perspective. You know, if it's me, who I own, it's my money then you wouldn't get a dime. But it's not mine, it's God's money and because it's God's money, I have to give God where God wants me to give it to. So I'm giving it to you. I thought it was a very, very healthy perspective.

23:56
Teshuvah tefillet snakav. If you take the word fast, voice and money in Hebrew, kol mamon etzom, the numerical value is 408. The mitzvah that we're referring to here, kiya mitzvah hazos this mitzvah says the governor of Vilna, is referring to the mitzvah of teshuva of prayer, of repentance and charity. That's what it's referring to. Hashem should bless us all that we should merit, to an amazing new year, a year filled with blessing, a year filled with good health, a year filled with clarity. We're living in a world that is so confused. We should merit to learn Torah, to gain clarity, to gain understanding and to hopefully bring about the awareness of Hashem to all of His creations, where everybody, where we say in our prayers that every single person, every person, should know that you are his creator. Every creation should know that you are the power switch behind them. You're the one that gives them the energy. You're the one that gives them the ability. Hashem should bless us all. We should have an amazing, amazing new year. Amen.

25:20 - Intro (Announcement)
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