Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Hello my friends, and welcome back to this week's episode of the Practical Parasha Podcast. This is Rabbi Shlomo Cohen and I hope you are well this week. It's the last Parsha of the year. Rosh Hashanah begins Monday night and before we begin this week's episode, I want to take a moment to thank you for listening and wish you a Ksiva Vechasima Tovah to be written and sealed for a sweet new year.
[00:00:33] Each and every one of you, all the listeners of the Practical Parasha podcast family, I wish you a year of success, spiritual success, material success, health, happiness, nachas from your children, and God willing, we should share happy occasions together and the usual spiel. If you have any questions, comments, or just would like to reach out to say hello, or maybe you want to wish me a Shanah Tovah, I'll take it.
[00:01:05] Send me email Rabbi Shlomokon kohnmal.com I'd love to hear from you. This week's Parsha is Parshas Nitzavim. Now, Nitzavim is a smaller parsha, but it's jam packed with beautiful ideas that we can take and relate to each and every one of us. The Parasha begins on the last day of Moshe Rabbeinu's life.
[00:01:33] And as this last day is about to begin, Moshe calls the entire Jewish nation to a meeting. Everyone comes, from the adults to the children, from the scholars to the water carriers.
[00:01:51] And now he is going to bind them into a final oath, a final covenant between them and Hashem.
[00:02:00] But this covenant is a little bit different than the previous covenants that have happened between the Jewish people and Hashem.
[00:02:08] In this meeting, in this gathering, Moshe binds the Jewish people, an everlasting bond between Hashem, the Jewish people.
[00:02:20] And it's not just the people that are there now, but all future Jews are bound to this oath that's about to be taken, even those that haven't been born yet.
[00:02:36] Me, you, each and every Jew that's ever been born is bound to this oath. And just to give a quick overview of the Parsha, the Parsha is Moshe Rabbeinu telling the Jewish nation how they need to be connected to each other.
[00:02:55] And we're going to talk a little bit about that shortly.
[00:02:58] He warns B' Nai Yisrael, the Jewish people, against idol worship because it's going to be something that can lure them to go astray.
[00:03:10] And he gives a very beautiful speech here talking about the final redemption and how the Torah is accessible to all.
[00:03:21] It's not far away.
[00:03:24] It's not hard to get to. It's for each and every one of us to have a peace in.
[00:03:31] And Moshe Rabbeinu ends this parsha with a message to the Jewish people that in the past weeks we've seen laid out to us, right to the Jewish nation.
[00:03:46] How there's this pattern that if we do what we're supposed to do, there's blessing. And God forbid, if we don't right, we're bound with this other covenant, then the curses can come upon us.
[00:03:59] And Moshe Rabbeinu, uh, in all these past weeks, he's trying to give the Jewish nation inspiration.
[00:04:05] He's trying to remind them where they made mistakes.
[00:04:08] He's trying to tell them what happens when we do good and what happens when we do bad.
[00:04:13] And he tells them, choose life.
[00:04:20] Choose life.
[00:04:22] Choose the Torah.
[00:04:24] Choose the Mitzvos make the right decision, because it's up to us.
[00:04:30] It's up to you.
[00:04:32] And that's what his message is to the Jewish people as he is about to pass on and to give leadership over to Joshua, to Yeshua, who's going to lead the Jewish nation into the Holy Land, into the land of Israel, where they're going to start a new beginning.
[00:04:48] It'll be a new reality.
[00:04:50] Not how they lived in the desert, with miracles, but more of the natural order.
[00:04:55] And therefore Moshe Rabbeinu is extorting them. After this build up this whole speech, which started 45 days before he passed, and now it's culminating on this last day.
[00:05:07] Make the right decisions. It's in your power to do that.
[00:05:11] Now. The first idea I want to share with you today takes us to the beginning of the Parsha.
[00:05:18] The Parsha begins. Atem ah ni tzavim hayoim kulchem lefne Hashem and lo kem rosheichem shiftehem zikne echem um shoetra echem kolish Yisrael.
[00:05:30] You are standing today, all of you, before Hashem, your g D, the heads of your tribes, your elders and your officers, all the men of Israel. And the next verse continues. Tapichem um neshehem vegerecashir bekerev machanecha your small children, your women and your converts, who is in your midst of your camp, from the hewer of your wood to the drawer of your water, for you to pass into the covenant of Hashem your g D and into his imprecation, that Hashem, your God seals with you today in order to establish you today as a people to him that he be a God to you as he spoke to you, and as he swore to your forefathers, to Avram, to Yitzchak, and to Yaakov.
[00:06:19] And this paragraph finishes, not with youh alone do I seal this covenant and this imprecation, but with whoever is here standing with us today, before Hashem, our God, and with whoever who is not here with us today.
[00:06:33] Now, the commentaries explain that after hearing all the curses, the hear raising curses in the previous Parshios, the Jewish people were so frightened.
[00:06:46] They're like they said to themselves, we can't bear this. We're not going to be able to handle this if we make a mistake, if we choose the wrong thing, we're going to be decimated. And you know, you listen to the curses that were in last week's Parsha.
[00:07:05] They are hair raising. So the Jewish people were tremendously frightened. They were scared. And the Midrash tells us that they turned green and they were totally petrified.
[00:07:16] And that's why this week's Parsha is next to the Parsha of the curses, to teach us that Atem uh ni tsavim hayim Moishe Rabbeinu called them back and said, you're still standing today. You're still here. Don't worry. G D is not going to destroy you. That even in spite of your rebelliousness and the mistakes you have made and will make, God is going to continue to keep you.
[00:07:41] He's not going to destroy you. You're going to survive. And I saw a very beautiful thought that Rabbi Twersky brings down based on this Midrash, that what Moshe Rabbeinu was telling the Jewish nation is that despite all your hardships and your challenges that you're going to face and that you that you have faced and you're going to face, you're still going to strive, you're still going to thrive.
[00:08:08] And on a deeper level, what Moshe Rabbeinu was telling the Jewish nation was that because of the curses that you're going to experience, because of the things that you've gone through, that that is precisely what's going to preserve you as a nation. Because of the challenges, because of the mistakes and the things that you're going to have to go through in your history, that's what's going to define you as a people. That's what's going to keep you going.
[00:08:39] And really, if you think about it, what has preserved the Jewish nation, it's the challenges that we've gone through.
[00:08:47] If there wouldn't be any challenges.
[00:08:50] If there wouldn't be anything that we would have to deal with as a people, we'd be gone a long time ago.
[00:08:58] It's because of the covenants that we've bound ourselves to and that the curses that are attached to that, uh, that's precisely why we've become this great nation. That's precisely why we've come through all these crazy scenarios, all these situations that despite all the odds, despite everything going against us, the Jewish nation is still around.
[00:09:25] The Romans are gone, the Greeks are gone, the Persians are gone, the Mesopotamians are gone. They're all gone.
[00:09:31] Right? And even more recently, the Communists are gone, the Nazis are gone. But we're still here.
[00:09:39] What keeps us?
[00:09:41] And it's because we're bound in this covenant with where we have this deal with God, where we're bound, that if we follow what we're supposed to do, things are good. But if we don't, we have to go through challenges. And when we m. Make those mistakes as humans, we come through it. But we have to know we're still here, that we have this covenant, that God's going to keep us, he's not going to destroy us. And it's because of that deal.
[00:10:10] That's what makes us great. And if you think about this is on a national level that our greatness comes from our challenge. But on a personal level as well.
[00:10:21] Right.
[00:10:22] Can we think of all, uh, the how we developed ourselves through pleasant experiences.
[00:10:31] Right.
[00:10:32] It's hard to think of, you know, pleasant times and experiences where we've gained tremendous things, where we've been able to refine our character to such a degree, we'd be hard pressed to describe that. But I could tell you things that I've gone through that has made me a better person. Hard things, challenging things. And I'm sure you as well, many people in this audience, everybody can. You can think of challenging things that you've gone through.
[00:11:02] That's help you become great.
[00:11:05] So it comes out. The challenges we face are primarily the experiences in life that preserve us and make us great. And that's what Moshe Rabbeinu was telling the Jewish nation. Atem, uh, Yitzhav Hayim, you're still here. Hashem loves you. Hashem cares about you. He's not going to destroy you. And it's going to be those hardships that bring out the best in you and something we should think about in our own lives.
[00:11:29] That it's sometimes the challenge, most times the challenge that brings out the greatness in Us another understanding of Atem Yitzvah ma yim is based on the explanation of the Arochaim hakadosh.
[00:11:42] So as I mentioned earlier in the episode, in the introduction, Moshe Rabbeinu was binding the Jewish nation into a final covenant. And this covenant was a little bit different that he was binding the Jewish people together.
[00:11:56] What does that mean, binding the Jewish people together?
[00:12:00] Now, there's a concept in Judaism called arvus.
[00:12:04] And if I would translate that word in English, it means joint responsibility.
[00:12:10] And the way that it can be understood is that the Jewish nation are considered ish echad b' lev echad. We're considered like one man with one heart.
[00:12:22] And even though we're all over the world and maybe we're not quote, unquote related, closely related, but we're still connected to each other. That just like a body, a person can't cut off his finger and say, oh my, you m know, it's not going to affect me. It's all connected. We're all connected.
[00:12:40] All the limbs, all the body parts are all connected to this one body. If one piece of the body gets hurt, the whole body is hurting.
[00:12:48] And that's the example of the Jewish nation. And that's what our vus is that Moshe Rabbeinu was binding the Jewish nation together in regards to responsibility for each other. And specifically, this responsibility is not just about caring for each other.
[00:13:03] That's already given, that's already given in other commandments in the Torah. Right? We have commandments in the Torah to take care of one another. But the specific requirement of arvlis is that we should, we should, we have a responsibility for each other on a spiritual level that we can't just look to our brothers and sisters and say, uh, ah, it's not me, it's, you know, he can do what he wants and I'll do what I want. No, the Torah's attitude is that we're all connected. We're all one body and one soul. And therefore, if there's one person in the Jewish nation is doing something wrong or maybe doesn't know something about the Torah or doesn't know about his own religion, we have a responsibility as Jews to help that person out, to put out a hand.
[00:13:50] And that's what arvos is, arvas is this joint mutual responsibility. Because when, if we're connected, then in the spiritual realms as well, we're connected just as much. And that's what it means.
[00:14:07] Moses was bringing together the people into this covenant to God, between God and the Jewish nation.
[00:14:13] Not just, you know, making an agreement, but he was binding everybody that we're connected to each other. And the connection is not just about the physical, to make sure we're taking care of each other physically, but to make sure that we're for spiritually as well. Which in essence is more important than the physical. Because the physical is something, right? We pass on after how many years? God willing? 120 years. But spiritual is forever. It's for eternity. And that is the responsibility that God placed upon each other now. And really, actually it's very interesting because on a halachic level in Jewish law, this din, this rule of arvus has halachic ramifications. Has ramifications in Jewish law. That is, for example, if I want to make, if I, if I want to eat an apple, right, I have to make a blessing before I eat that apple. But another Jewish person could make a blessing on the apple and then he could take a bite of a piece of apple, then I also could take a bite of the apple, meaning he's able to make that blessing for me. Because we're connected. And similarly we're going to be coming into Rosh Hashanah and Rosh Hashanah we blow the shofar. So I don't blow the shofar and shul, someone blows the shofar and I listen.
[00:15:27] And the way that works, how could someone else do a mitzvah and I should be able to fulfill my requirement. And the answer to that is this rule of Arvis of joint responsibility because we're connected to each other, because we have this mutual responsibility for the well being of our spiritual lives. So therefore one Jew can blow shofar for another and help fulfill their obligation. That's how far this rule of Arvos goes. And I think the lesson for us is that we have to know as Jews, we have to care about each other.
[00:16:03] And you know, even if there's a Jewish person in Timbuktu and something happens to them, we have to care about them because they're our brothers, they're our sisters. And it's something. And we see here in the verses that it wasn't just the people that were there right by the mountain, physically that we're bound into this covenant, each and every one of us.
[00:16:27] Whoever was not here was also bound into the covenant. Meaning to say is all of us, we were all bound into this covenant to care for each other. And the caring is not just physical, it's for the spiritual and to look out for each other and to know that Our actions effect each other. We shouldn't just think we're on, uh. It's isolated. You know, the example that's given is if there's a guy, he's on an airplane, and he's in his seat, and he starts drilling a hole by his seat. And they say, what are you doing?
[00:17:00] Why are you drilling a hole?
[00:17:02] And he says, what do you mean? This is my seat. I paid for my seat. It doesn't do with you. He says, you fool. We're all going to go down. The whole plane's going to go down if you make a hole under your seat. That's the, uh, example similar to the one body with one soul, that we're all connected. We're all connected to each other in our service of Hashem. And it's something very important we need to feel and we need to remember.
[00:17:23] The last idea I want to share with you today takes us to the part of the Parasha which talks about the final redemption. Now, the parsha talks about how there's going to come a time where the Jewish people will eventually recognize what's correct and Hashem will have mercy on us. And the possehk reads, asher, uh, nosati lefonecha vashivosa le vecha bechola goyem hashe hiddichicha Hashem el achecha shema. It will be. When all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse that I have presented before you, then you will take it to your heart among all the nations where Hashem, your G D, has dispersed you.
[00:18:10] The next verse continues, and you will return unto Hashem, your G D and listen to his voice according to everything that I commanded you today, you and your children, with all your heart and all your soul.
[00:18:32] Now, it's very interesting. The Ramban Nachmanides explains that this is referring to the future.
[00:18:38] And this hasn't happened yet. It's going to happen, but hasn't happened yet.
[00:18:42] But, uh, the commentaries explain on this, on these verses that says that the Jewish nation is going to come to a point where they have a recognition that you know what is true in life and what is correct, and they're going to take it to their heart. V', Vaisa, uh, Al Ravecha. That whatever has happened to them, the blessings, the curse, they're gonna take it to their heart.
[00:19:09] So one understanding is the importance of the heart.
[00:19:12] Uh, everything has its place. Every emotion can be used for good or bad.
[00:19:18] And many times our emotion gets the better of us.
[00:19:23] It causes us to make bad decisions. You Know the way we feel. We do things based off of feeling too much.
[00:19:32] But is there a, uh, correct place for emotion? And the answer is yes.
[00:19:36] Emotion has to stir up that feeling to help us to get that heart to be truly authentic.
[00:19:43] Obviously, we have intellect. We need to think about what we're doing. But the emotion, the heart, is what's going to cause us to be sincere. It's what's going to help us truly do Teshuvah, to help us truly return.
[00:19:56] And that's what Hashem really, really wants. He wants our heart, Rahmana li ba ba. That God wants a person's heart, that obviously we do actions, we do things, but he doesn't want autopilot. He wants us to be sincere.
[00:20:13] He wants to be authentic, that we should really desire to be close to him, that we should really want to change our ways. We want to follow what Hashem tells us to do. That's what it means, that we should return our heart to him. The importance of the heart, that's the place for it. I think it's extra special now, especially going into Rosh Hashanah, that we're all looking for something to merit a good new year. And I think it's very important.
[00:20:44] Having our heart in the right place, that's a good step for number one. But it's also segueing that into something with action, to have that feeling of emotion, but then to channel it into something else, something small to small action, where we could improve on something that we can do better on for the next year. And it doesn't have to be. We don't have to think about for the whole year just to do it for a little bit, for a week, for two weeks, that's a success.
[00:21:12] And when we take that heartfelt emotion and we turn it into action, G D sees we're trying. He sees we're trying to work on things, and that can help us merit a sweet new year.
[00:21:24] Now, just one other understanding, which I saw to this verse.
[00:21:30] It says that after all the blessings and the curses come upon us, we're going to return our heart to Hashem, right?
[00:21:40] We'll take it to heart, and God will see that, and he will redeem us. So I saw that Rab Yin is in Eibshitz. He brings down that this, the wording in the Torah, and you shall take it to heart, teaches us an important lesson about perspective in life. Every situation in life can really can either be a blessing or a curse. It really depends how we take it to our heart. That every situation we're presented with can either be good for us or bad for us. It just depends. Up to us. It's up to how we handle the situation.
[00:22:19] Uh, it's how our heart views it, how we take it and go with it. For example, person can be blessed with wealth, but that could be the biggest curse for him.
[00:22:32] He could ruin his life.
[00:22:34] And at the same time, a person can have a challenge of poverty, but he can come out from that experience on a, uh, super high level.
[00:22:45] So there's no guarantee that any situation that you have will be good for you. And there's no guarantee that any quote unquote bad situation that we go through is going to be bad for us.
[00:22:58] It depends on, on how we take it to our heart. And that's one of the messages of this week's parasha in this verse, that it's up to us. And this is really a very important aspect to have an attitude to help us deal with difficult life situations.
[00:23:16] If we look at situations in life and challenges as a way of perfecting our character, so then we have a different way of viewing things. You know, sure, we want to have smooth, uh, sailing, and sure, we pray every day. We shouldn't have to face tests. But we have to know that if Hashem gives us a test, it's for us and it's for us to deal with. And it means we could deal with it, and it means we're going to grow from it. And in fact, Orochayim Hakadosh, he brings down from the Gemara in brachas. The Talmud states in Brachas 54A that when the word vahaya is used, it can connote. It has this wording of joy. It connotes joy and the joy that is here. The joy of. When it says vahayah in this posseq, referring to the blessings and the curses, is referring to the fact that the reality is, in the end of the day, every situation that we are in, we have to realize that God put us in there for our benefit. And if we have that recognition, if we have that trust, we have that recognition, realize that then that's true joy. We realize that even if we're faced with a hard situation, we can utilize it to become better people. I'm not saying take away the challenge, and I'm not saying it's magically gone. But when we have this attitude that everything is ultimately for our benefit and we could become better people from that, we have joy. It's a happy thing because we want to be the best. We can be.
[00:24:57] So with that, I'm going to fish for today's podcast. I hope you enjoyed. If you have any questions, comments, would like to reach out, feel free to send me an email at rabbi shlomo kon kohnmail.com have a great day.
