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The Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe Podcast Collection is the one-stop shop for the Torah inspiration shared by Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe in one simple feed. The Jewish Inspiration Podcast, Parsha Review Podcast, Thinking Talmudist Podcast, Living Jewishly Podcast and Unboxing Judaism Podcast all in one convenient place. Enjoy!
Judgment, indictments, mugshots.
I mean, this is what's going on in the news, but you know what?
Each one of us are going to have our mugshot taken in just about two weeks.
We're going to be standing in front of the heavenly courts and we're going to be indicted
and we're going to be indicted in a very unusual fashion.
We're not going to be sitting, meeting with our lawyers, planning, strategizing,
you know, having representatives.
No, no, no, no, no.
It's going to be a judgment with just us standing in front of the Almighty.
And we're not going to be in trepidation, shaking under the table.
Oh my goodness.
Are they going to throw me into the jail in Atlanta, Fulton County?
That's not what it's going to be like.
Instead, we're going to wine and dine.
We're going to eat delicious foods.
We're going to wear our finest clothes and we're going to be celebrating creation.
We're going to stop everything that we're doing on an ordinary day and we're going
to celebrate creation and we're going to thank Hashem for giving us life.
And we're going to say, Hashem, you are our God.
Hashem, we want you to reign over us.
Hashem, we want you to be our life, our existence, that everything
that we do, and we want to bring into our reality, the knowledge that Hashem
is controlling everything, that Hashem has the power over everything.
We're going to try to instill that into our consciousness.
That's Rosh Hashanah.
Rosh Hashanah, the halacha says, as we'll see soon in our brand new
everyday Judaism podcast, formerly known as Living Jewishly, that
it's a day of great celebration.
Rosh Hashanah, our day of judgment is a day of great celebration.
Why celebration?
What are we celebrating?
We should be in trepidation.
We should be in fear.
We should be worried.
What's our outcome?
What's going to be?
Instead, the halacha says, it's a day of great joy.
Therefore, you should wear your finest clothes, eat the finest foods,
and for two days, we have judgment.
You know why?
We have to remember that Hashem is not like any other judge out there.
No right-wing judge, left-wing judge, Bush appointed, Obama
appointed, Trump appointed.
It doesn't make a difference.
Hashem is the Melech Meleche Am Lachem.
Hashem is the king of all kings.
Hashem is the judge of all judges.
And Hashem judges us justly and mercifully.
Where Hashem wants us to merit to a good life.
Hashem wants us to be in our best.
So, you know what we do before Rosh Hashanah?
We try to think and contemplate and introspect.
What do I need to do to be better next year?
What do I need to do to enhance my year next year?
And we come to Hashem with a plan.
Hashem, here is my blueprint for my coming year.
I'm showing you, look, I came with a whole list of things.
These are the ways in which I'm going to change this coming year.
And you know what Hashem says lovingly?
Ah, my children are coming back.
Of course, I'll grant you the greatest judgment.
And we celebrate and it's a time of joy.
It's different than any kind of other judgment.
People are nervous.
Oh, I have my, you know, I have my day of judgment.
I got to, I got to be, I have a court, it's, it's, it's worrisome.
It's concerning.
Sages tell us that we have to have something called Yirah.
Yirah means fear.
But if you take the same word of Yirah, Yirah also means perspective.
We have to put things in perspective.
You see, we live casually throughout our year, every day of our year.
And we get more and more entrenched in our materialism, entrenched
in our control over this world.
You know, I love AI.
I love IOT, which is internet of things.
You can control your, your computer.
You control your air conditioner.
You can control your heating.
You can control your fan.
You can control your lights.
You can control everything from your phone, your car.
You can unlock the door from your phone.
You don't even have to touch a button.
It has near field communication, NFC.
You just walk next to your car, it unlocks.
It gives us a false feeling of control.
It gives us a feeling like we're in control of this world.
It's all about me.
And we forget, we lose perspective that Hashem is the one
who's in control of this world.
Rosh Hashanah is a time to put things into perspective.
Rosh Hashanah is a time that when we celebrate properly, Hashem
says, come my dear children.
I'm going to, this is a day of the beginning of a process
of atonement and forgiveness.
Rosh Hashanah, the first day of Rosh Hashanah is the first of
the 10 days of repentance.
The 10 days of awe, where Hashem, it's our, we're on trial.
Hashem says, you're asking for a great new year?
Show me change.
Show me it's a probationary period.
Show me that you're indeed putting it into action.
And if you notice, very interestingly, there are seven days between
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
There's the two days of Rosh Hashanah and the one day of Yom Kippur.
But then you'll have a full Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,
Friday, Shabbos between Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah.
You'll have every day of the week to demonstrate your perfection of that day.
You say, you know what?
I didn't come into Shabbos appropriately this year.
I'm going to change it this coming year.
Hashem, forgive me on behalf of that change.
Okay, show me during the 10 days of repentance that you change
the way you walk into Shabbos.
Show me, demonstrate how your Monday is going to be different, how your
Tuesday is going to be different, how your Wednesday is going to be different.
Show it to me in action.
We have one of each of the days that we can demonstrate how we are going
to change that day and make that day the example of how we're going
to behave the coming year.
So my dear friends, Rosh Hashanah is coming.
Avoid the rush, the repentance rush.
It's wholesale, Hashem is wholesale, allowing us to, no problem.
Any deal Hashem takes, just come with a deal.
Don't say, I don't have a plan.
My dear friends, Hashem should bless us that this should be the most
amazing Rosh Hashanah we've ever had.
The most amazing 10 days of repentance we've ever had and the most
amazing Yom Kippur and year ahead.
It should be filled with good health.
It should be with success.
What is success?
People think success is money.
No, success means attaining our goals, reaching our perfection,
connecting with the Almighty.
That's success.
Oh, and when they make Uber money, like big, big, big money, like the Jeff Bezos
and the Steve Jobs and the Bill Gates, and they suddenly all get divorced.
What's going on here?
You think that's success?
That's not success.
Success is a good husband.
Success is a good wife.
Success is a good relationship with your children.
Success is a good member of our community who donates their time,
donates their resources.
That's success.
Hashem should bless us to have a year of unbelievable abundance and
success in everything that we do.
Amen.