Jewish Inspiration Podcast · Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe

You're listening to Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe of TORCH in Houston, Texas. This is the Jewish Inspiration Podcast.

Good evening, everybody. Welcome back to the Mussar Masterclass. It's so wonderful to be here. It is a true honor and a privilege to learn together. Tonight, the 26th Gate, the Gate of Repentance. We are in the Treasure for Life edition of the Orchha Tzaddikim, the Ways of the Righteous, and we are on page 799. Why are we jumping to the Gate of Repentance? Because being in the season of
Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah is only two weeks away, Yom Kippur is only three weeks away, we are at the precipice of a new beginning, a new start, a whole new career starting fresh. And because we have such an amazing opportunity on Rosh Hashanah to cleanse ourselves from all of our past, so we have the the new beginning comes with new challenges. It comes with new potential. It comes with, hopefully, a new vision for the future. But we have to first take care of the past.
We have to take care of the past and therefore we have the Gate of Repentance. It says that anybody who comes to repent, the Almighty accepts. Someone who comes to repent, automatically, Hashem accepts us. So all our job, that's why if you ever wonder, you know, why do we say, if Hashem forgives, then why do we ask Hashem, Hashiveinu, bring us closer, return us to you? Because all we have to do, essentially, is like someone who's drowning in the pool,
right, they can't get themselves out, but you know what they could do? Just pick up your hand, show a sign of distress, show a sign, I need help, and then they come to save you, they come to pull you out of the water. We're sort of in that big ocean of potentially sins. I don't know about you guys, you guys are all clean, you guys are all pure, but me, I'm in a sea of sins, right? So what do we need to do? We can't get out of our sins.
What do we do? We just pick up our hands, we show a sign of distress, we say, Hashem, we need you to get us out of this, and Hashem lovingly pulls us ashore, cleanses us from all of our sins, and says, here, my child, here's a new beginning. So here, we're going to now talk about the gate of repentance, and we're going to start with a piece of Talmud that we spoke about a few weeks ago. Amor Rebbe Levi, Rebbe Levi said, Gedol ha'teshuvah she'magas et kisi ha'kavod.
Teshuvah is so great that it reaches all the way to the heavenly throne of honor. She'nem arshuv yisrael ad Hashem elokecha. Return, O Israel, the verse states, all the way to Hashem, your God. Amor Rebbe Sina, our sages of blessed memory, said, Zichron ha'lav rocha, k'sha'ola Moshe la'rakia ha'rishon. When Moshe ascended to the first firmament, matz ha'kitos sh'malochim, paschu le'fanav seifet Torah, v'koromasi yom rishon, v'paschu v'tchil ha'saber v'shivkashol Torah. We mentioned this last week in our class, that the angels, that when Moshe
ascended the seven firmaments, in each one of the firmaments, he met greater and greater ranking angels, and each one was talking about something else after they read that day of creation. On the first firmament, they read the first day of creation, and then they started praising the Torah. In the second firmament, he found higher ranking angels, they're reading the second day of creation, and then they started speaking of the praise of Torah and the Jewish people. Then in the third firmament, higher ranking angels,
they're reading the third day of creation, and then they started praising the greatness of Jerusalem. The fourth firmament, higher ranking angels, er'elim, and then as soon as they concluded reading the fourth day of creation, they began to praise Mashiach. Ola l'chamishi, Moshe ascended to the fifth firmament, they were reading the fifth day of creation, again, higher, even higher ranking angels, and then they began to praise Ganim, the cleanser of the soul. Ola l'chamishi,
Moshe then ascended to the sixth firmament, they were reading the sixth day of creation, again, these are even higher ranking angels, and then they were praising Gan Eden. Then, they asked, in their request, after praising Gan Eden, the Garden of Eden, that the Jewish people, the angels, requested the Jewish people have a portion in the Garden of Eden. Then Moshe went up to the seventh firmament, and in the seventh firmament, he found the Ophanim, the Seraphim, the Galgalim, Malachi Rahim, Malachi Chesed, Uztokah, Malachi Erez,
the old, the top of the top tier of all angels. Immediately, Moshe grabbed on to the throne of glory, he started reading about the seventh day, which was Shabbos, and then they concluded, and they started praising what? Teshuvah, repentance. This teaches us, the Talmud says, that Teshuvah reaches the highest of heavens. The highest of heaven is where Teshuvah brings us to. Amor R. Akiva says, R. Akiva,
Sheva d'varim kadmul olam, there are seven things that preceded the world. This is the Talmud of Psochem. What are they? V'elohim, the Torah, Teshuvah, repentance, Gan Eden, the Garden of Eden, or paradise, Gehenim, Kisi Yaakov, the throne of glory, and Beis HaMikdash, the Holy Temple, and Shemosh HaMashiach, the name of Mashiach. V'eloma Eilu, Sheva, why specifically these seven things were created before the creation of the world. These all existed before the creation of the world. Daalacha, you should know,
She'ike b'riyase olam u'bishvil adam, that the most important purpose of the creation of this world was for man. God created the world for man. Ki ein tzorach ba'olam atachton elo ba'adam, because we know, as a very fundamental principle we discussed, God doesn't just play practical jokes. God does everything for a reason. So there's a reason why God created the world. Why did he create the world for us, for mankind? God created the world for us.
V'hu moshel b'chol ha'olam atachton, God created the world for mankind, and who controls the world? Who has power over the world? Mankind, ba'behemos, v'chaios, v'ofos, v'dagim, v'sharatzim, over all animals, or beasts, or birds, or fish, or creeping things, man has the power over all of them. U'meacha she'ike b'riya bishvil adam, and since the prime purpose of creation is man, im kein hu tzorach la'akdim ha-tora, she'hi kiyum ha-olam. So now, since we understand that the purpose of creation, the entire world, was for man,
you can't have a man exist in a world without a manual. It's impossible to, you know, you don't buy a product from Ikea without having the instructions about how to assemble it, because otherwise you'll have, you know, a bag of screws, a bag of nuts, a bag of this, a bag of that, you put the, you're not gonna know where
to put anything, because you don't have the manual to tell you this board needs to connect A with B, and B with C, and C with D, et cetera, et cetera. You need to have a manual. Before they, by the way, before they put that wood into the box for the dresser that you're buying from Ikea, they first designed it. And they had an exact idea of exactly what's gonna go on over here.
They printed the manual, they put together those boards, where they actually take apart the boards, put them into a box, and put the, slap the manual right in there, and then they sell it to you in the store. The world is no different. The world is no different. God cannot put us into a world and not give us guidance in how to succeed. If you ever wonder, it's actually interesting. When a baby is born, where's the manual on how to raise this child?
It doesn't come with a manual. You don't see the little, little baby holding a little book of like, you know, user's guide of how to raise me. It's save this book. You don't see that, right? So how do we raise a child? Most people rely on what they learn from their parents, or they ask a friend, tell me, you know, what do you do with bedtime? What do you do with the kid doesn't want to go to school?
What do you do with the kid doesn't want to eat dinner? What do you do with the kid who talks back to you? What do you do with the kids who, you know, you can have all those questions. You can ask, there's a manual for it. There's a Torah, and the Torah gives us guidance in exactly how to maximize that child. Everything useful in this world has a manual. Right? There are clear instructions. It's something that they teach in the military. You must follow the command of your officer
to the T. Otherwise, he says, Carlos, drop and do 200. Let's go, right? It's no monkey business, because you need to learn to follow the instructions. That's some of the things that we need to learn in our day-to-day lives. We have to follow the instruction manual. What's the instruction manual? It's telling you how to maximize life. Im kein hutzroch l'hakdim ha-Torah shehikiyu ma'olam. The whole purpose of our existence in this world is to maximize and benefit from this world. How do you do that?
By following the instruction manual, which is the Torah. So the Torah, in essence, is the purpose of the world. Dechsef, as the verse states, Im lo b'risi yom u'valayah l'chukash mayim varetz lo samtih. If I had not, if not for my covenant, my Torah that I made with you, day and night, I would not have made the ordinances of heaven and earth. What do we need to have in earth and Mars and
all of the the whole universe? What do we need to have? It's such a sophisticated universe. The brilliance of this world is unreal. What do we need to have it, if it's not for us? All of it is for us. V'kei van shehiktim ha-Torah, and since the Torah came before the creation of heaven and earth, and Adam, and Eve, and all of us, hutzroch k'mochin l'haktim t'shuvah. Because the Torah was given first, t'shuvah, repentance, also needed to be created first. Why? V'kei van shehiktim ha-Torah, and since the Torah
comprises of performative mitzvot, and prohibitions, and punishments, hutzroch ha-Kalponim l'haktim t'shuvah, you always have to have a path that doesn't involve punishment, which is repentance. So God had to create repentance as part of the prerequisite for this world's existence. Sheim yech te'odim, that if a person sins, she yeh lo zman lo shuv, he should have time to repent. Sheim lo kein lo hoyah olam kayam dor echad, because if you steal and your hand gets chopped off,
you're gone. If you make a mistake, and God says, well, that's a death penalty, bow, chow chow, you're gone, you're out, so then you'll never have a second generation of humanity. Never have a second generation. K'odom ein tzadik ba'or tzah sheh yaseh tov lo yech ta, there is no righteous upon the earth, no man that is so righteous upon the earth that will do good and never sin. Hu miyad kesh ha'ador choteh ro'ui hu lechaloso v'la hashmidoh v'la kach nechtav ma'aseh estom ha-Torah. So now he's going to explain
that people make mistakes, and we learn from those mistakes, and we correct our ways. That's why the story of Sodom and Gomorrah is brought in the Torah. Lo hodi al ha-chotim shehem ro'uim li yos kolim, heim v'kol ha-sholahim, to give a warning that those who sin against God will face punishment if they don't repent. Because what happened, you remember that Abraham came. Abraham said, well, if they have 45 righteous, if they're 40 righteous, 35, 30, 25, 20,
you know, it's almost like they're running towards the end zone of a football, right? And then a football stadium and a field. And then Abraham says, 20, 10, God says, not less than 10. If there's 10 righteous, I'll allow for an opportunity for repentance. But since there even wasn't one righteous person, well, actually only Abraham's nephew was righteous-ish, ish, kind of, kind of, sort of. So what happened? So
Hashem says you can get him out, and he got him out with his two daughters and his wife and two daughters, and then what happened? The whole entire city was turned over by the Almighty. It was sulfur and it was, it was totally destroyed. But so why does that story need to be mentioned? Why does the embarrassment of humanity need to be exposed in the Torah? The whole generation of Noah, they were so wicked, God says, out, no mas. Why?
So that we learn a lesson from it, that we understand that there are repercussions, there are there's a cause and effect. You do good, you get good. You do not so good, you get not so good. And the earth itself also gets punished, if the people residing on that earth do evil. We see that with Noah. But what did God create first before all this? God created repentance. Mark, you hear this? God created repentance, which means that you can turn around the scorecard.
You can turn it around. You're, you're, you're, you made mistakes. That's fine. God says, I'm patient. I'm waiting for you to repent. You're not, we're not cutting off your hand tomorrow morning because you stole. You're gonna, God is patient, and God waits for us to repent. God says, I, you know what, a day will come, we'll be inspired, and we'll, and we'll repent. And since Torah and Teshuvah were preceding the creation of the world, therefore also the Ganeiden, the Garden of Eden, or Paradise, Gehennam, and the
Throne of Glory also needed to be created before. Why? That's where people get the reward. All right, so you wonder, reward, why is Gehennam reward? Why is purgatory reward? It's reward because we said, most of humanity are good, decent people. Most. Not all. Most. God says, you know what, I really want you close to me. I put you in this world because I wanted to give you good. I wanted you to earn good.
But you made, you made some, you had some blemishes. You get, you scratched that car a little bit. So, you know what, I'm gonna have to clean it. We're gonna have to fix it. How do we do it? We take this power wash, and we clean off all the filth, all the impurities, so that now you can come into God's presence. So that's part of the Teshuvah process.
Shehem bekomos l'sham li'ish l'ma k'masav. A person who does good will get the good. We'll get the paradise. We'll get the good. And if unfortunately someone tragically made a mistake, then there's a price to pay as well, but not a permanent, a temporary correction. V'keiven shehikdim k'oleilu, hu tzurkh l'hagdim b'samigdish. And since these preceded the creation of the world, so too was necessary that the Temple also, and the name of Mashiach, precede as well. Hu tzurkh l'hagdim b'samigdish v'shmo sh'mashiach, ki b'yamim ahema, timo le'oretz deya.
But what's gonna happen in the end of times, in the times of Mashiach? Our days, by the way, our generation. Timo le'oretz deya es Hashem. What's going to happen? The world will be filled with wisdom, with knowledge. V'lo yiye yitzer rab evnei adamim. And people won't have an evil inclination. People are just gonna be thirsty for the Word of Hashem. I'll tell you, to those of you who are watching this online, those of you who are listening online, you know, every time you share a
Torah video, a Torah podcast, you share it with your friends, share it with your groups, with your, you're part of the prophecy that it says, timo le'oretz deya, the world will be filled with wisdom of Torah. What happens when the world is filled with Torah, the world is filled with wisdom? It removes the yetzer hara from people. It removes, people get a clarity. People get a clarity. They get an understanding. V'kulam, gedolam ektanim, the big, the adults, the children,
yeidu Hashem yis'aleh yidiyo gedolam. They will know Hashem in a very, very clear way. I saw a video. I have it saved. One day I want to show it to the class. I want to show it to our online audience as well. Someone was talking to an AI, and he says, is there a possibility of there being a creation of a human being not with God? Not with God means without a God and he basically says it's impossible. He says he brings this whole mathematical equation out.
It's just impossible to have a fruit be created in its perfection. The way we buy them, it's like how beautiful, how perfect, with all its nutrients, with everything. You know how many random things have to go right? Are you talking about the billions and billions and billions of things have to go right in order for that to happen? It's virtually impossible for there to be a world, not virtual, it's impossible for there to be a world. It's like imagine this, okay? Mark, you listening?
Imagine I give you a cup of ink and a white canvas, and I say I want you to make a size 100 font type Times New Roman. You know that font? You know that font? Times New Roman, exactly. 100 font and your name is Mark. I want you to make an M perfectly just with this ink. I want you to throw it up in the air and it land to be a perfect Times New Roman size 100 letter M. What's the likelihood?
One in a trillion, okay? If even that's possible. And you're telling me that our bodies that are so sophisticated, right, you can't even get a cup of ink to spill properly to spell the first letter of your name. Imagine, I would say, okay, what's the likelihood that it'll spell the letter A next to that M? What's the likelihood? Impossible. Right, impossible. You just throw up because you only have one try because the minute that A doesn't land correctly on line being perfectly aligned next to that A,
you erase the A because it's too much ink, the ink splatters all over. So it's not gonna be so easy for that to happen randomly. Oh, but all of the millions of cells in our body, they get reproduced. For us to be able to talk and to hear and to see and to eat and to digest and to recycle and to think that, oh, evolution and things like that. No, that doesn't happen. We're smarter than that. Therefore,
ve'oz yeidu, at that point, why do people sin? Because they forget about God. The generation of Messiah will be a generation when everyone will know Hashem. The older, the younger, the adults, the children, everybody. It'll be a yidia gdola. It'll be a very, very great knowledge. Ve'oz yeidu kulam she'i ker b'yas ha-olam b'shvil havod ha-sabor yisbor. And everybody will know at that time that the purpose of this world was to serve God. L'chein hikdim eilu ha'shiva la'olam. Therefore, Hashem
preceded the creation of this world with these seven virtues, with these seven qualities. Ve'olu moshim ba'har tzion, as the verse states, and saviors will ascend Mount Zion. U'val tzion go'elu l'shav v'pesha b'yakov amein v'chein ye'hotzon. And the Redeemer will come to Zion and to those Jews who repent, amein, thus let it be His will. So this concludes day number 144. But before we finish, I want you to just know that this, it's so important for us to realize our responsibility.
Our responsibility is to connect to Hashem on the greatest level possible. For us to realize that Hashem created a universe for us to be responsible, for us to not get distracted, for us to not get carried away. You know what I told my children, I told my children yesterday, the, you know, opening day of the NFL, they were very excited to watch their Houston Texans lose again. You know, start another season with a lot, okay, I'm not being so, I don't want to be so negative,
but either way, my kids were all excited and it worked up and this and that, you know, they were so, they were jumping up and down and they were, then they have their fantasy league and they were just all, I said, guys, guys, guys, don't forget sports wasn't created for us. Sports were created for the nations of the world, so they don't make us their sport. Okay, sports was meant to keep the nations of the world with you and enjoy, enjoy,
but don't get, don't get so carried away where you think that this, no, this is, my life and death is dependent on my team winning. It's okay, you can, you can survive. It's meant for the nations of the world to be busy and to be preoccupied so that they don't focus on hating more Jews and doing more harm to the Jewish people. And we pray and we hope that we should return to Shuvah and then we'll never need those reminders from the nations of the world.
And that's what it'll be in the time of Mashiach. It'll be a time of day. I want to share with you something else. I believe firmly that that is this generation, the nation of, the generation of wisdom. It's this generation. You don't have a single generation in the history of the world that has as much intelligence and technology and knowledge and wisdom like this generation has in their fingertips. I'm giving a class in a couple of, in a little while, on a specific topic. I went to AI.
I said, let me check it out. I said, can you give me a few good sources to look at to learn about this topic? It is. Absolutely. I mean, you talk about having wisdom. Now, it's not having wisdom on the computer. It's having wisdom in our brain and using that wisdom in the way we act. But definitely having these tools are a great, great gift to each and every one of us so that
we can learn, we can grow, we can understand. And we can, obviously, we have our own intellect and we're obligated and responsible to follow our own intellect, which is why it's not, you say, well, if I would grow up in a certain environment, maybe I would also be a terrorist if that's what I go. Well, you have your own intellect, too. In your own intellect, the Torah begins after your own common sense.
The Torah doesn't teach you to have common sense. That's obvious. The Torah begins after common sense. And that's the, that's the day number 144, my dear friends.

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