Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
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.
My dear friends day 168 We continue on page 892 in the treasure for life edition of the Orcha Sadikim ways of the righteous in the gate of repentance Ve'atu b'doros ha'ele asher b'niyadom chaloshim me'od b'gufam He says, okay, what are we gonna do now in our generation where people are weak? People are weak and people aren't able to fast like they used to so what are you talking to me giving me this out-of-touch?
repentance of fasting and doing other things of Limiting the physical body the aim lam koha rishona, and we're not we're not as strong as the previous generations My ass all them shall caught the call yama of Baloch and Hora Who because nifus over? Hamidos Haroz cool on and what do you do with someone who sinned for many years speaking Lashon Hara? Flattery Lashon Hara slander talking negatively about other people which by the way is a terrible terrible sin
I've it's time wrote a whole book of time passed away less than a hundred years ago You know that in 1934 the habits high and passed away. He wrote a book He dedicated his life to the awareness about proper speech about not speaking negatively about another person Do you know that there are 17 biblical prohibitions about speaking negatively about another person? All right, so if you want to say something All right about Bruce
You know, it's all you're gonna say, you know, I gotta tell you something Bruce, you know, Bruce Let me let me tell you I know Bruce from ten years ago he's gonna make believe this and and a person could come up with a whole story and Even if it's true if it's true, it's Lashon Hara, if it's false, it's Motsi Shemra. It's just putting out a bad a bad a bad slanderous Word about a person out there. That's a terrible thing Then you have Hanifa
Hanifa is flattery where you kiss up to someone just to curry favor, but you really don't like the guy So you're two-faced. Oh That's not good Torah says not to be two-faced, you know, why because God's not two-faced. God is exactly what you see is what you get and Hanufa is something which is really despised by the Almighty because it's not honest and it's not truthful Well, we'll call on me to sorrow school and in any of the negative traits that a person may
Act with below knees are Koyama begu fam. It's a sort of someone who's not cautious about the mitzvahs of the Torah Mach ma shalom ra adam shahayim mekayim osam she yilma, you know, maybe it's not because he is just independently Irresponsible with the mitzvahs. No, he never had anybody teach him about the mitzvahs. Nobody ever taught him. He never learned He never had a good example He his father was a mean guy a bad guy. Who is he supposed to learn from his dad?
No, he has bad friends who's he supposed to learn from she's not even my fault he goes in front of God He says God, it's not my fault. I didn't do anything. I just didn't have good examples around me The low hash Koyama of the Ispala because one of our brothers or someone else who? Perhaps did grow up in a fortunate lifestyle, but he didn't pray properly He didn't recite blessings properly the cane because I'm it's was a he's both sarla fee Masha over
How can someone repent for anything that that that is the aforementioned key, hello, ain't Haker Vane miss Barlow Ruby Aveiro, so a person who doesn't know about the laws of a genre and Talks lashonera all day all night. They get together with their friends in the coffee shop and they're like, ooh Did you see so-and-so? Did you see that person? Did you see them? Did you see their husband? Did you see their children? Did you see their did you did you see what type of car they're driving?
Did you see what type of house they're building and people talk and talk and talk and it really is a very very terrible thing So now you tell someone okay, you're not allowed to speak lashonera about other people You're not allowed to speak negatively. The Torah says it's forbidden 17 biblical commandments a person's gonna say like if I count all the times I spoke natively negatively about another person It's thousands and thousands and thousands of times
How in the world do I recover from that like how do I how do I turn that around and that's a very good question How do we turn that around? L'chaim yesh losum derech L'fnei bnei adam ha'mesnat vim la'shuv. Therefore we must present a way for those who want to repent a way that is Possible a way that is attainable V'yesh hiluk ben adam la'adam Obviously, every person is different. Every person is unique and kei tzad im zeh choteh bal torah
V'im yahber alav b'in yonei ha'tzar ve'a'tanis az la yukhalil mot torah v'le'takeh midos avaros He says for one person who's studying Torah if he's gonna start fasting, it's gonna weaken his Torah study. That's not good V'yesh lehokil alav vim mine ha'tanis ve'a'tzar Therefore it's such a person should be very cautious about fasting what he's trying to say here And this is such a fundamental principle. We see this all across Judaism. That is That every person must find their own path Every person is unique
Every person is special mark you hear this There is no other mark in the world like you and there never will be you're the you're one-of-a-kind Each and every one of us. We're one-of-a-kind There's no one who will ever compare to who you are right now ever So now you have to custom plan your teshuva process each person according to what they're capable of V'yesh lehokil alav vim mine ha'tzar v'le'takeh midos avaros Therefore it's such a person should be very cautious about fasting what he's trying to say here
V'yesh lehokil alav vim mine ha'tzar vim mine ha'tzar Therefore it's such a person should be very cautious about fasting what he's trying to say here So the the midrash tells us that whatever a person is Good in in a service of God So let's say you're good in in study. So study a little bit more you're good in midos Exercise them a little bit stronger midos are our character traits So if you're doing if you're good, your positive trait is kindness do a little bit more kindness
It's charity give a little bit more charity meaning we have to utilize our good and Expand it Expand it even more Alma we see from here Yesh kapar b'rov limut. We see that there is a Way for a person to do teshuvah any way a person can Become a little bit more selfless a little bit more dedicated Ya seh chesed v'emes v'b'zeis kapar v'nosav a person who does kindness a person who commits to truth Will always find
Will always find teshuvah and all of his sins will be forgiven and forgotten shenemar v'chesed v'emes y'chupar ovim as King Salman teaches us in Proverbs with kindness and With truth sin is atoned kindness and truth. These are the two fundamental ingredients for repentance v'yitrach lasos kol mitzvah u'mitzvah kema'amorah and a person should always Try to fulfill every mitzvah as best as he can v'yitrach lezakos harabim l'igmol chasadim levnei adam v'l'ispal b'kavano v'achno v'krias aleiv. He says an amazing thing here
Find a way to merit the congregation do good for others. You hear this? Do good for others find a way to help other people volunteering Becoming part of your congregation and helping out that what that does is by giving to others So then what you did in hurting others Innocent being selfish innocent by being selfless That's how we repent l'ispal b'kavano and a person who's able to pray with proper intention v'b'achno with humility v'b'krias aleiv with a broken heart a broke. There's nothing more whole
Than a broken heart. There's nothing more pure than that v'levakesh michilo me'eis Hashem And if a person can ask forgiveness from God say God, I can't believe I made such a mistake I can't believe that I went the wrong way al kol p'shov on all of us and v'yimna atzmo mischok v'tiyulim v'tvorim b'teilim v'l'shmoah chidushe haolam a person who's to this amazing says Stay away. If you're if you're if you're cautious for your Well-being your spiritual well-being he says
Try to stay away from news try to stay away from this amazing. He says chidushe haolam, which is chadashot, which is the news People are so busy with the news. You see people. They're so busy with the news Did you hear this and you'd hear that you know what that does it wastes time? It wastes time because I guarantee you the same news that you read 1974 Hasn't changed
You still have this party against that party and you have this person against that type of person and you have this group against that Group, nothing changes maybe different country Maybe different maybe different leader, but the same principles are there nothing really changes We're living in a world that Hashem creates so much Distraction the Yetzirah creates that distraction to get us to be like what what's going on? Oh anything but me anything but looking at myself and this is something which is so important for a person to realize
That these are distractions the chen by the way, even good things can become distractions Okay, you know I once was talking to my rabbi We're talking about vacation is vacation a good thing vacation a bad thing. Well vacation could be an amazing thing It can also be a really terrible thing. I have a friend of mine because it's June. He's got to go on vacation Do you need a vacation? No, but it's June. I go on vacation
That's when I go on vacation. Now if a person is working really hard and they read to rejuvenate You don't have to wait the June go whenever you need to go because that's that's what vacation is for It's and that is a service of Hashem by the way, so that you can continue doing the important things that you're doing Princessy well when I'm on vacation, I'm not I'm not in my regular routine
I'm not gonna be learning with my study partner coming to torch classes. That's not a good thing. Perhaps. Well, guess what? Because you're taking that break in order to rejuvenate and get your energy back. It's a mitzvah now for you, right Lauren We like such kind of mitzvahs, right? Right. We like such kind of mitzvahs. That's right. So So this is this this is an important thing for us to understand that even something which we can think or imagine That might not be a good thing
There's a way that it could be very very important for a person the Hainim knots I'm a called out Varano be sharp at smushed the sheer move on a Zed over you Lasso's who me Yucca Lisboa in a sec a Torah by mitzvahs We started all of Shia Lebo nicknowledge him with a hoppers yom echad beshavu. Yes Anna, she says if a person can humble himself in front of God be present with God Be present with God, you know in our every synagogue
There is a halacha a Jewish law that says there should be a sign in the front of the synagogue Which says she VT Hashem Linac D tamid. I always place God before me When we're standing in synagogue, it's very nice that we're meeting our friends. It's very nice. It's important It's crucial but not while we're talking to God When we're talking to God, we should be talking to God. That's why we have the invention of Kiddush
Kiddush is so important. That's when we schmooze with our friends and I even have no problem if people Celebrate Kiddush before they go into synagogue, right? Sometimes he's so excited to meet our friends. We haven't yeah, I'll tell you there's a rabbi I was in a synagogue Friday night. He's about to start the Kabbalah Shabbat Which is the introductory prayer for Shabbat and he sees that everyone is so restless You know what his guys his congregants have been all week working hard traveling going this that
Finally, they see their friends They want to just schmooze with their friends. She says guys Break, we're taking a break Everybody out. We're making Kiddush now and they made a Kiddush for 15-20 minutes Before the beginning of service and then when they came in so during the during that break They were schmoozing and they were laughing and catching up and getting you know Getting all connected with their friends. Then when they came back into synagogue for Kabbalah Shabbat, it was fire
I never saw such a beautiful Kabbalah Shabbat because It was so much energy. They got all of their personal stuff put aside and now They were able to pray with all of the focus and intention so you have to know your people and you have to know yourself every person has to know what is the best way for them to connect and to Elevate their closeness with Hashem and he says if a person can take one day to do teshuvah one day to have a special time to
To get closer to God without physical trappings and in general, you know Those who do intermittent fasting myself being one of them it's a It's it's a good thing. It's a good habit But it's also something which is if it's difficult and a person has in mind that this be a form of Repentance, that's great. And a person should take some time during a day Where they want to introspect and they want to become closer so that they can focus on teshuvah So there's something called
His bododos. His bododos is when you go into your own little world alone Without your phone and without your friends and without the news and without a radio without a television without anything, you know in fact my grandfather in His yeshiva in Bariakov, Rabbi Shlomo Wolby, my grandfather in his yeshiva had a room Which was a his bododos room. You know what was in that room? Nothing, nothing. I was in that room. It almost looks I hate to say it, but it looks like a solitary confinement room
Okay, it was it was there was a light hanging from a string a light hanging from a string and That was it and a chair that's literally it and there was a Notebook on the door and people would reserve the room for a half hour for 20 minutes 10 minutes Just to have uninterrupted time Without any distraction. You just go into that room in solitude and just thank Hashem talk to Hashem Contemplate your relationship with Hashem Apologize to Hashem thank Hashem cry with Hashem
There's so much but the problem is we're in a world filled with distractions all over the place constantly distractions And it's not letting up. It's not letting up every minute as soon as you think it's bored. There's nothing going on You're bored. It's boring. There's nothing in the news. It's a slow news day suddenly boom You have one crazy story boom another crazy story you have Iran you have Gaza you have Syria you have Lebanon you have Egypt you have Jordan you have Yemen. Yes, it's endless
That's just Israel talk about the United States You have I can I can start today and tomorrow just with the list of things that can distract us we have to take time to just introspect and Think about ourselves think about our relationship with God and where we may have Mistakenly veered off the highway the y'all can ask mo. But also I young shoulders problem. We saw Shemalkin oh, so Yoma where I'll be happy. I won't let you speak He bought a ship up over there you come on
So he says some people had the custom that they would they would they would give themselves Whippings okay, and While they would do that, they would save a who Rahman he who has mercy the merciful will atone the sin and not destroy turning away his anger many times and Not awakening all of his wrath and these are verses from Psalms 78 verse 38 the cane Yoma the whole malcosom alcoholish Pum in the cane yasak all I young I'm at Jim so came the fnail
And a person has to do whatever he can to find favor in the eyes of God And this is something where we can we can see things. I want to just share with you a quick story You know my rabbi may he live and be well rabbi It's like Berkowitz was fielding questions from his students and this was during the height of the war with Iran and the war With in Gaza and everything that that's been going on in the last two years have been absolutely crazy
But this is back in a year ago or so and Everyone was worried. What's going on? Is is this the sign of the end of times? Is this Armageddon what what's going on here? And my rabbi said then I think this is such a such an eye-opening Perspective because we talk about simplicity, right? God speaks very simply and they asked is it the end of time is are we in in terrible?
Devastating times to come for the Jewish people. My rabbi said look around and see the miracles that Hashem is performing If God was angry at us right now, he wouldn't be performing these miracles for us right now Understand just look around you see miracles where they shoot hundreds of ballistic missiles hundreds of ballistic missiles at Israel and There's a few scratches on a building It's it's it's unfathomable that when you have hundreds of rockets being launched at Israel and it's minimal damage, it's minimal of
Those that made it in where God was flicking them out of the sky Is that an angry God where God is angry at us or guy who loves us who got a smiling upon us? He's saying I love you. My children. You're so great. You're so beautiful Keep on doing your acts of kindness Keep on doing all of the amazing things that you're doing and I think that that perspective of looking and seeing with simplicity how Beautiful Hashem loves what we're doing
Hashem loves how the Jewish people are growing and connecting It's a really really special time. It really is. So now we're going to conclude day number 168.
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.