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This Jewish Inspiration Podcast is dedicated to learning, understanding and enhancing our relationship with Hashem by working on improving our G-d given soul traits and aspiring to reflect His holy name each and every day. The goal is for each listener to hear something inspirational with each episode that will enhance their life.
You're listening to Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe of TORCH in Houston, Texas. This is the Jewish Inspiration Podcast.
And now welcome back to day number 187 on the top of page 975 in the last chapter of the Orcha Tzadik and the Ways of the Righteous in the Gate of Fear of Heaven. And now that we understand that this type of fear is beyond the depth of most people, It's very deep and most people don't get it.
Most people evaluate what they should or should not do based on the benefit that it brings to me. Even sometimes charity. What does it have to do with me? I don't benefit from it. So why should I give? Well, are you giving to give? Because this is God's command? Are you giving because you have a benefit from it? So if they don't have this benefit, they don't have any gain, or the warding off of potential injury, so that if neither of these elements is present, the deed
seems meaningless to them. Why am I doing this? No idea why I'm doing this. Therefore, our sages say that we are permitted to do a mitzvah at a fear of punishment and hope for reward. We could do it after the fact. It's better that we don't do it for that. But if that's the reason you do it, it's okay. It's better than not doing it. You will find in the Torah that there are praises, blessings from God, and there are curses from God.
Why? So that when we learn Torah, we should have a sense of excitement for the blessing that God will bestow upon us, and have a sense of awe and fear for the curse that potentially God could bring upon us. We talked a bunch about education here. We know that education works a thousand times better when you do positive than when you do negative. Here, he teaches us, the author, that when you're teaching a child that doesn't understand,
you have to motivate him. And he says, you know how you do it? Sometimes you're gonna have to give him snacks and treats to motivate him. People do that with their dogs when they're training them. They feed them their yummy food that they enjoy, and then they do more. Same thing with our children. Why does this child study? Not because he understands the meaning, how important it is, but because he enjoys it. He gets a good reward, so he'll do it.
He doesn't know that there's a benefit to what he's learning. He considers his learning hard work, and what he's doing to get his reward. He's just doing it for the reward. Come on, O Simolachah, like someone who does a job at your house, you think they care that your sink is leaking? They don't care. You're gonna pay me. That's why I fix it. Because you pay me, and I want to make money. That's why. Sh'ein ha-molach ha-chashuv ha-be'enav ela b'shvil ha-revach sheba.
Aval im ha-yumav tichin le-nar koton lo-mar le-mar lo. Tilmad ve-etin le-cho ish ha-yofa o-bayis o-osher gadol o-ti-yeh melech oz lo-yilmad avur zeh ve-yoseh yis'ore lev ha-nar avur pri echod mi-ma shi yis'ore avur kol ele. He says, if a young child is assured, learn, and I will give you a beautiful wife, or a house, or great wealth, or a throne, he would not learn for this, and would be much more motivated by one fruit than by all of these, lacking in appreciation of a wife or a throne.
He doesn't appreciate a wife or a throne. Ki ein li-bo ma-kir to-vo se-ish o-ha-melech, ve-chein in-yin ha-to-ro-hu, and so too by the Torah. Le-ha-ir lev ha-adam be-dvarim shu-hu ma-kir ha-yim, ve-yodeh ha-sheim tovim, le-ham shi-yich li-bo la-sos tov. The way we should motivate someone to the study of Torah is by telling him things that are important to him. Le-ham shi-yich li-bo la-sos ha-tov, to draw him to do the good, closer to doing the good. Ve-kol zeh tzarech ha-adam avur she-chokhmah so-ktanah ve-chalashah, Ve-ein bo afkhanah le-hav-chin so-do-yin-yin.
And all of this because a person, this person may be limited with his intellect and he may be weak in his determination. And therefore you can motivate him with these things. Le-hav-chin so-do-yin-yin. Ve-zeh niko shololoshmah, and this is called not for the sake of heaven. But what does the Talmud tell us? Mi-tok shololoshmah boloshmah. It's better for a person to do a good deed for the wrong reason, because eventually they'll do the good deed for the right reason.
But it's always best to get into the habit of doing good deeds. Lo-chein, al-tehei doma l'anah, don't be silly, don't be a child. Ach tevakish ha-emes le-chvod ha-emes, do the truth for the sake of the truth. Ve-zeh o-yin yon-tsarach binov ha-afkhon ha-gdolah, and this demands great understanding and discrimination. Lo-chein, therefore my dear friends, yei shloho dee-yah ha-yin-yin ha-nishamah, therefore we have to know the power of our great beautiful soul. Ko-chah u-gvurah sah, its strength, its power, and its ability.
Ve-az tasim sikh lo-chah ali yisod ha-elyon, and then we will be able to, once we understand the power of our nishamah, we will see that we should put all our efforts forward at doing the right thing for the right cause. Ve-dol meh zeh ha-yin yon le-ben melech, this is like a prince. Compare it to a prince, nar ben shano o-shnatayim she-nig-nav mi-beis aviv, so the prince, little prince, one-year-old, two-year-old, was kidnapped from the king's palace. Ve-holichu le-meh ro-chok elef par-sos, and they took him thousands of miles away, oh Yosser.
Ve-nizgah do-be-beis ka-fri, un-nislam-ed mitoch ka-fri-im, and what happens? He was raised in the house of a villager, and learns rustic ways, never thinking or even remembering of a kingdom. Ve-lo-chah she-va lo-zokh ra-ach ha-malchuso, ki lo-hi-kir ve-lo-yeda, because he never knew it existed. He was too young. Ve-ach ha-shah am-ar al-dat-to, bo-el av-echon mi-u-vis-ro ve-am-ar lo-at ha-ben melech. And then someone finally tells him when he's older, and he matures, someone says, you know that you're a prince.
You know that you're really from the king's palace. Ve-am-ar lo-at ha-ben melech, you're the son of the king. Av-lo-hi-gid lo eizeh melech hu-avi, but he didn't tell him which king is his father. Oz go-va li-bo ktas, he got a little bit excited, ach lo-chash kol-kach, but not completely. Ke-von shu-lo yoda mi-hu-avi, he still doesn't know which one is his father, which king is his father. Ve-ach ha-kach bo-el av mi-va-sar-ach, and someone else came to him later and told him ve-hi-gid lo eizeh melech hu-avi,
and told him which king is his father. Ve-hi-gid lo mi-di-no-so ve-ar-tsi, told him that kingdom, that palace, that royalty is your dad. Oz go-va li-bo yos-er ve-yis-av e-lelech, now he became so proud and so excited that he wanted to go to his father. Mi-kol-mo-kom hu-sh-bal li-bo bi-zokh-ro. Still his desire is somewhat dampened by the thought that even if he went there, no one would take notice of him, and no one would recognize him. Afi-lim e-lech sham lo yeh-chu-shu-bi, ke-lo ma-skir mo-esi, nobody even remembers me.
Achar-kach sham-a ha-melech he-chon b'no, but later the king found out where his son had been taken to. Ve-shol-ach ha-charav mi-bnei be-yis-o ve-hi-ki-ru si-manim bi-gu-fo, and they, he sent out messengers, family members, he said go investigate if that's really my son, remember he has a birthmark here, remember he has a scar over there, find it, see if it's him, and indeed they investigated, and they found that indeed it was the son of the king, they saw the signs. Ve-shol-ach hi-maim sorim rabim ve-nich-badim u-vig-dei ha-melech, and what did he do?
He sent with them, he sent with them noble people, he sent with them royal apparel, distinguished officers, to dress him properly, to bring the prince to the king. Then his heart was soaring. And when they put the royalty clothes upon him, and they put him on the king's horse that the king rode on, then he realized his capability as being a real prince. And then he had a heart like a king. And he was very, very excited. That is the equivalent of our lofty soul.
Hi-bas-mel, the soul that we have, is the breath of God that's been instilled within us. Nefucha ba-odam, imbued into man, mi-kisi ha-kovod vehuva b'guf ha-melech loch. It's from God that we've been infused with a lofty soul, but that lofty soul is placed in a lowly body, and this is the challenge. So this concludes day number 187.
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.