Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Hello, my friends, and welcome back to this week's episode of the Practical Parsha Podcast. This is Rabbi Shlomo Cohen, and I hope you are well.
[00:00:07] For this week we continue with Parshas Hazinu. We're closing in on the end of the Torah and g d willing, we will start again with Parshas Parishas in a couple of weeks.
[00:00:20] So before we begin, as always, if you have any questions, comments, or would like to reach out, feel free to send me an email at Rabbi Shlomokon kohnmail.com I'd love to hear from you.
[00:00:31] This week's Parsha is Parshas Hazinu. Just to give a quick overview of the weekly parsha, Parshas Hazinu is Moshe Rabbeinu's song to the Jewish people.
[00:00:42] On, uh, the last day of Moshe's life, he's renewing this covenant with the Jewish people, which sort of blends together past, present, future, reminds the Jewish people where they come from, where they've made mistakes, where they should prevent themselves from going wrong.
[00:01:02] And it talks about how Hashem, uh, God is kind to the Jewish nation, how you know what's going to happen in the future and the mistakes the Jewish people will make, and how Hashem will eventually redeem the Jewish nation. Finally, the Parsha finishes off with Hashem, commanding Moshe Rabbeinu to go up to Har Novo, which he will do at the end of the Parsha to pass on, and that no one shall know the place of his burial.
[00:01:33] The first idea I am going to share with you today takes us to the beginning of the Parsha. Parsha begins Hazinu hashemayim vadabera vasishma aretz and mere.
[00:01:42] Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak. And may the earth hear the words of my mouth.
[00:01:47] Yaroif kemoter likhi tizal, uh, kitalim rosi kesirim alidesha, uh, vikhrivim alay aseb, uh, may my teaching drop like the rain, May my utterance flow like the dew, like storm winds upon vegetation, and like raindrops upon blades of grass.
[00:02:05] So the commentaries explain that Moshe Rabbeinu, when he's introducing this song, covenant, he's calling upon heaven and earth to bear witness to what is about to be said. So that although these people that are hearing it right now, they will eventually pass on.
[00:02:25] But the heaven and the earth are going to listen to this song that Moshe Rabbeinu is going to tell the Jewish nation where obviously it's this covenant where the Jewish people has to do what they're supposed to do. And if, God forbid, they don't, not good things can happen.
[00:02:41] So the earth, heaven and earth will hear it, and they'll be the guarantors to enforce the judgment, whether it be for good or, God forbid, the other way.
[00:02:50] So the parsha, you know, one of the first verses over there, it says, yaroif kemotar likhi tizakhitalim rosi kesirim alideshe vekhrivivim alay asav.
[00:03:04] May my teaching drop like rain. May my utterance flow like dew, like storm winds upon vegetation, like the raindrops upon blades of grass.
[00:03:12] So Rachaim Shulavitz explained from the vilnagon on this verse, when it says, yarov kemotar lichi, may my teaching drop like the rain, it's what is that referring to?
[00:03:26] And he explains, we know that rain.
[00:03:29] We need rain.
[00:03:31] Rain is a good thing. Now, always we have the rhyme, rain, rain, go away, come back another day. But the truth is, it's one of the biggest blessings to have rain, because if it doesn't rain, nothing grows.
[00:03:43] But the thing is, if, uh, rain pours on just dirt, nothing happens.
[00:03:51] The rain has to be sprinkled as they come down on some type of plant, on some type of growth.
[00:03:58] Only when there's some type of growth, can the rain cause an effect to make it ripe, to make it, you know, sprout, to make it more beautiful, more luscious, whatever it is.
[00:04:12] Right. Uh, if there's nothing there, the rain is just going to make mud, and it's not going to do anything. You'll have mud cakes.
[00:04:19] And the lesson that's brought out here from the vilnagon is that when a person studies Torah, you know, there's a concept, it's called Derech Eretz kadmila Torah, that a person has to have, you know, basic terek eretz, you have to have good traits in order for the Torah to go in.
[00:04:37] But the idea here that is being brought out is that when a person has traits, good traits or bad traits, so when they're going to study Torah, when they're going to do mitzvos, it's going to amplify the things that are there already.
[00:04:57] So if a person has positive traits, the Torah will bring it out and make it shine even more, helping him use it in the best fashion possible.
[00:05:08] But at the same time, if there are these overwhelming bad traits, so it's not necessarily going to happen that the Torah that he studies is going to make him a better person. It could make him a bigger menace, that if he knows more knowledge, he'll become more arrogant. Right? Just like the rain. If the rain comes down on apples and oranges, it will make them more beautiful fruits. But if it comes down on poison mushrooms, it'll make those mushrooms more poisonous. So the point is this. This concept of derech eretz kadma al Torah, that, this concept that we have to be vestibules, that we have to be vessels to accept the Torah and to let the rain develop us in a positive way. Now, sure, you know, there's another concept here as well. At the same time that the Torah is machs, that the Torah itself turns the good in. It turns a person back towards the truth and towards the light.
[00:06:00] But at the same time, we have to know that we have to be a, uh, receptacle for the rain, for the dew to come and develop us, to let us bring out the good traits within us and to not let it get to our head just because we're doing something right or we're studying Torah or doing mitzvahs, that we should let it go to the other side, where we're going to think we're better than somebody else, or we're going to think that we know more, and so on and so forth. This is, uh, one idea we see brought down from the Parsha, where the Torah teaches us that the teachings of the Torah are like rain. It has to go on to the right places in order to make the right things grow. We have to use it in the right way to bring out the best in us. Don't necessarily assume that if we just study and we learn, it's always going to just be good. We have to make sure it's going to the right places.
[00:06:52] The next idea I'm going to share with you today takes us to the next verses. It says, hatzor tamimpalo kihal de rachav mishpat el amuna ve' inavel hatzadik v' yashar hu.
[00:07:05] The rock Perfect is his work, for all his paths are just justice. A God of faith without iniquity, Righteous and fair is he.
[00:07:14] And the simple understanding of this verse is that Hashem runs the world with fairness.
[00:07:19] Everything is exact.
[00:07:21] Hazur tamen polo.
[00:07:24] Everything is perfect.
[00:07:26] Now we might see our situation that things could be get better. But we have to have emunah. We have to have faith, we have to know, we have to have belief that if it could be Better. It would be better.
[00:07:40] You know, not always is it easy for us to recognize this, but this is the truth. When you believe in Hashgacha Pratvis, when you believe in Divine providence, Hashem, uh, runs the world and every. All his ways are just.
[00:07:53] If he felt something would be better for you, he would change it for the better.
[00:07:58] And there's a reason why things are the way they are.
[00:08:03] You know, it's not. Times are not always how we wish them to be, but they're always for our good.
[00:08:09] And when we have this awareness, it gives us a certain elevated feeling in our lives because, you know, there's a plan, there's a mission, there's a reason.
[00:08:22] And I think if you ask most people after they go through that, you know, that moment where they thought it wasn't the. The way they wished it to be, but they experienced it and they went through and they pushed through, they're happy.
[00:08:36] They won't trade that experience for anything now. At the same time, we have the ability, at times we have the ability to try to improve our situation, but we could only try. There's no guarantees.
[00:08:52] And it's so important for us to have this recognition, to recognize that the situation that we are in right now is what we're supposed to be. We do our part, we could try to improve things, but we have to realize ultimately we're not in control. And Hashem knows what's best for us. And that's the idea in this Posseq Hazur Tamim Paolo Kichal de Rachav Mishbat the rock. His acts are perfect, all of his ways are just.
[00:09:22] Because there's only really two ways of looking at things.
[00:09:26] Either you believe that Hashem, uh, is running the world with divine providence and therefore everything makes sense, or nothing makes sense and you just go crazy. So the point is, I opt to have Ashkakha pratist, to have divine providence, to view the world, that there's a mission, there's a reason, and there's meaning to everything, and there's a specific situation we're all supposed to go in. And that's why we're here, because it's best for us. And I think life proves to us when we go through it, we're at the other end that the things we went through, maybe we don't wish it on other people, but we acknowledge that it has made us who we are today.
[00:10:08] Something we need to internalize and remember every day.
[00:10:13] The next idea I want to share with you today takes us to the next verse. We're continuing right along in the parasha shiches lei loy banav mummam dar ikeish upisaltzel. Corruption is not his.
[00:10:25] The blemish is his children's. A perverse and twisted generation. The Pasig is explaining how Hashem, uh, is, you know, there's no corruption in him. Everything is straight, and that it's us as his children. Unfortunately, we have learned to be corrupt at times.
[00:10:44] And the idea that I saw brought down from Rabbi Twersky is that he brings down a very powerful idea in regards to distortion of logic.
[00:10:54] And in his previous writings, specifically in regards to addiction, he talks about how somebody who is an addict, you know, in his experience as a therapist, that an alcoholic can distort logic. He can convince himself and others that what he's saying is perfectly reasonable and perfectly clear.
[00:11:17] But the truth is this logic that the addict or the alcoholic is thinking about is totally defective.
[00:11:28] And there's so many examples that he brings down that, for example, a person would be reluctant to attend an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting because they'll be exposed as an alcoholic, but they're not concerned about, uh, being arrested for drunk driving or acting intoxicated in public. And there's many other examples. I feel like, you know, he brings us down in his experiences as a therapist who dealt with addiction and alcoholism. But the point here is that he brings out from this verse that this verse brings us a powerful lesson when it comes to distorting our logic and just being totally unreasonable because we want to see things how we want to see them, right? And that's what it means, you know, perverse and twisted generation. He reads into the pasuk. It says, corruption is not his. The blemish is his children's. Uh, a perverse and twisted generation.
[00:12:22] That when we sometimes do things and happens to be. Most people, they don't view themselves as bad.
[00:12:30] They don't look at themselves that they're doing the wrong thing, but rather they rationalize to themselves to the point where they think that they're doing the right thing. And you know what? We are all that person.
[00:12:42] We all have things within ourselves that we do that we rationalize. And we make logical reasons of why we're doing the right thing, why it's a mitzvah. But the truth is it's defective.
[00:12:58] It's distorted logic and happens to be. It's brought down from Shlom, Hamelech, King Solomon. He brings down in the Yalkut on Mishlei. And actually it's brought down in the mesilla she Sharim as well. In the work of the path of the just, Rabbi Moshachem Latzato brings us down, says it was a lazy person who's told, oh, your teacher's in town. Go learn Torah from him. And he says, I'm afraid. I'm afraid if I go outside, I'm going to meet a lion on the way. He says, no, don't worry about it.
[00:13:32] Um, he's in your house or teacher? He says, nah, it's probably locked the door that he's in, so I can't get in. No, no, no. So he responds, the door's open. So this fellow who's continuing the reasons, he's like, I can't go now. I'm too tired. I must take a little rest. But I'm sure the point is that we all know these people, and probably it's us as well. We make excuses for ourselves, for the things we want to do. We become illogical to the point where we make reasons for things and we think it's normal, but really it totally doesn't make any sense. The point is, I think the idea that we need to take out from this is that when it comes to our responsibilities and the things we need to do, we have to think straight. We have to have clear logic. We can't distort things to a point where we think the fact that we're not doing something, you know, the fact that we're not doing it, is it's the correct thing when it's really not the correct thing. And especially when it comes to our responsibilities to Hashem, our obligations to G D, we have to recognize our, uh, the role we play and the things we need to do. Because ultimately, in the end of the day, if we take responsibility for our actions and not distort the truth and not distort our logic, we will go much further in life. And this is this idea in the posseh, because Hashem is straight. He doesn't. He's perfect. We're the ones who make up these distortions and reasonings to, you know, to cover ourselves. So we shouldn't do things that we need to do. The point is we have to recognize. Be honest with ourselves to recognize our shortfalls and to be honest to take responsibility for our actions.
[00:15:17] And hopefully, God willing, when we do that, it'll help us do the right thing more often than not. The last idea I want to share with you today takes us towards the middle of the Parasha.
[00:15:28] So one of the verses that Moshe is talking to the Jewish nation.
[00:15:34] You know, he's talking about the false notion of the conquerors and the enemy's foolish conceit regarding the. The Jewish people's tribulations.
[00:15:45] But the verses also have a deeper meaning here in regards to, you know, human beings and our outlook in life in general. So there's different layers to the meaning of the verses in Parshas Hazinu. You know, as I said, it's a song and this prophetic song, which is a little bit of a storyline as well. But one of the verses strike a very powerful message for us.
[00:16:19] Were they wise, they would comprehend this. They would discern it from their end on a simple understanding. The verses here are referring to the nations of the world who are trying to conquer the Jewish people. And they don't realize in the end, you know, it's going to catch up with them and Hashem's, uh, wrath is going to come on them for trying to destroy the Jewish people.
[00:16:44] But Rabbi Twersky brings down from this verse that it also. This verse specifically that, you know, it's referring to the enemies, that they don't realize what's going to happen in their end. They would be wise to think about that, but they don't.
[00:17:01] He brings down another understanding of the verse that really has a very powerful message to us.
[00:17:09] We m all live life as if we're never gonna die. And there's a famous saying which is brought down that we live as if we'll never die, and we die as if we never lived.
[00:17:23] But the truth is, we can't deny reality, and one day we're all gonna pass on from this earth.
[00:17:32] The thing is, as we live life, we don't think about, you know, what's at the end of the tunnel. And Hashem made it like that way, uh, on purpose, I guess, because in a certain sense, it would be too much for us. But the point is, we have to have a little bit of a focus of where our life's going and what direction we're in.
[00:17:54] And the example that he brings out from this message, the message he brings out from this verse is that, uh, you know, and I've. I can relate to this in a certain sense. He says that in his experience as a rabbi and as a doctor, he dealt with many people in their last moments of their life.
[00:18:14] And the regrets that they had during that time were not regrets of, I, uh, wish I could have spent more time in the office.
[00:18:23] I wish I could have made more money. It was, I wish I could have spent more time with My family.
[00:18:30] I wish I could have, you know, been more observant, been more connected, and myself as well. And in my experience, it's always the hardest thing for me to hear from people that if I could do it all over again, I would do it differently. You know, people who wish that if they would have gone, they could go through life again, make different choices, you know, in their. Whether it be life choices, whether it be religious choices. It's just a hard thing to hear.
[00:18:58] Because the point is, when a person gets to a certain point in their life, they gain a certain wisdom which they previously didn't have.
[00:19:08] You know, the things that are the truth. Things are. It's more clear the reality. Since we're getting closer to our end goal, God willing, should be a long time, right? But things become more clear.
[00:19:19] What's really important, what's really true.
[00:19:22] And the possehk is telling us, were they wise, they would comprehend this. They would discern it from their end. Meaning to say is we shouldn't have to wait till the end to get that knowledge, to get that chachma, uh, to get that understanding, to know what's true and what's important in life. We should take it from now.
[00:19:44] We should realize in our youth, in our years, right now, this very moment, of what's important and what's true and what some things we should focus on. And I think just to tie this home a little bit more, especially this time of year, we're going into Yom Kippur. This coming, you, uh, know, after Shabbos, uh, it'll be on Sunday night and Monday.
[00:20:06] That's really what Yom Kippur is all about.
[00:20:08] It's about that, recognizing what's important, trying to get back to the original self of who we really are. Not the externals, not the noise, not the things pulling us down to reconnect to who we are. That's why we get rid of the food, we get rid of the drink. We don't get no physical pleasures because we're trying to.
[00:20:30] One day a year, we're trying to get to our essence of what we really want, which is to serve Hashem, which is to connect with him, which is to be better, which is to get to a higher level. It's letting the neshama, letting the soul soar. That's why we have to detach from everything else. I think this is a very powerful idea from this week's parasha, especially going into Yom Kippur, g D willing, which to everyone, I bless everyone that they should have a Gemar Hasim Hatorah sealed for a good year. If you have any questions or comments would like to reach out, feel free to send me an email at Rabbi Shlomo konkohnmail.com have a great day.
