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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!
00:01 - Intro (Announcement)
You are listening to Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe of Torch in Houston, Texas. This is the Parsha Review Podcast.
00:10 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
All right, welcome everybody. Good morning, Good Sunday morning. I hope everyone has a beautiful week ahead. So I'm a little bit in debt because last week we did not do a Parsha Power segment and now we're ready. We're going to quickly do a and a thought, an idea that I was learning this shabbos, I said I I need to share this so that we, hopefully, will all be inspired for this coming week.
00:42
So the first verse in Parshas Miketz, chapter 41, verse 1, V'hihi Miketz, sh'nosayim yomim it was at the end of two years of days. Ufaro cholem v'hineh omed al yo'or, Pharaoh was dreaming and he beheld that he was standing over the river. He was standing by the river, as you know the story. He had a dream that there were seven weak cows that swallowed up seven strong cows. And he has other dreams and then he needs someone to interpret these dreams. And then they pull Joseph out of the prison cell. And then they pull Joseph out of the prison cell and he becomes the hero overnight and takes over the whole Egypt. And that's the way the story goes.
01:32
The Torah tells us exactly every detail of this and it really is a miraculous story. But what's really going on over here? So the Talmud tells us that any time the Torah says the word Vayyehi, like it says in the beginning of Parshas Miketz, it's referring to a sad tone. For example, we have the beginning of the Megillus Esther, the book of Esther. It starts with the word Vayyehi because there's about to be oppression for the Jewish people, it's about to be a very difficult time for them. So you have Vayihi. What's the Vayihi going on in this week's Parsha? What's Vayihi? What is the sadness, the challenge that is facing the storyline of this week's Parsha, the storyline of this week's parasha?
02:27
Our sages tell us that this hints to a different message that Pharaoh was getting. Pharaoh was getting a message of the end. What is the end? You know we live life and we're very, very confident, healthy, strong. I work out, I eat good, I do the things I'm supposed to do, and we're going to live for eternity. Uh-uh, no, you're not. Pharaoh had an awakening here. Behemiketz Ketz means the end. He suddenly envisioned the end. What is my end going to be? What is going to be the end, the purpose of it all? We're here, we're living in this world, doing whatever we're doing, and what's the end? What's the ending when we stand in front of the Almighty, in the heavenly tribunal, and God says what did you do with your life? What are we going to answer? That is a very serious question. That's a question that each person needs to prepare for. I'll share with you a quick story which I think is relevant to this idea.
03:38
A dear friend of mine was meeting with a rabbi in the conversion process and he eventually converted. But he called me one day and he was very, very upset. He said you know how hard I'm trying, you know how hard I am working and I go to the rabbi and the rabbi is humiliating me, asking me these questions and just badgering me. What am I supposed to do? You know, it's part of the process. What am I supposed to say? You know, he called me back a day later with the most profound, the most profound perspective. He said to me I just realized the rabbi on the Bet Din on the Jewish court is just a microscopic experience of what it's going to be standing in front of the heavenly court when the rabbi is asking me these pointed questions and I'm like I don't know, I have no idea. What am I going to answer? He says, but it's just preparing me for the ultimate court case which is at the end of our lives. He says, in that case I need to call the rabbi and ask him to meet with me every month so that he prepare me for what's going to be at the end of our lives, when we stand in front of the heavenly court.
05:13
And you know, there's a story that's told. Obviously this is a parable, but there's a story that's told about a man who was traveling and he goes to to a cemetery. You know that's typically what Jews do when they go to a city. You know you go to Poland, you go to anywhere in Europe, you go to see the old Jewish communities. There's really nothing left of the communities but there's cemeteries and you can see the ancient stories. You know through that the one guy he goes and every grave says this guy lived five years, this guy lived 10 years, this guy lived 15 years, the most was 20 years. You know it was like. But he looks they're not young people, they're regular full-size graves and each one had like, just like they lived three years, five years, seven years, like what was going on. He goes and he asks the people of the town what's the story here with the cemetery of all these young people. He said no, in this town we had a special custom.
06:11
When someone would become bar mitzvah and now become an adult and be responsible, we'd give them a notebook and in the notebook they would mark down every hour that they studied Torah. And at the end of their life we would take their notebook and we would see how many years did they study Torah, because that's the real life and that's what we would put on their tombstone. Now, obviously, our hope is that we live 100 years, 120 years filled with Torah, filled with study, filled with doing good deeds. That's also mitzvah, that's also part of a real life, life. But to have this genuine, sincere concern for how am I maximizing my life, how am I dedicating myself to the Almighty? Not to get depressed about it, Not to get, oh, my goodness, what am I going to do? What am I going to answer? Think of it the other way. God believes in us, God loves us. He gives us another day, he gives us another week, he gives us another month, another year, Because he believes we can produce. He wants us to produce. He's our investor who says I want you to make this company great. This company is your life. I want you to make this company great. This company is your life. I want you to make every aspect of it special, unique, maximized. That's what Hashem wants from us and loves us and the essence of our service of Hashem.
08:06
You know the Talmud, at the end of Tractate Makot says okay, if you needed to boil down the entire Torah to one principle, what would you boil it down? Every one of the sages that are listed there. One says you know what? I can narrow it down to these ten ideas. And this one says to these five ideas, to these three ideas Bo Chavakuk. Chavakuk was one of the prophets and V'himidon al-Achas. He says the entire Torah boils down to one thing and he brings the verse Tzadik be'emunato yichyeh A tzaddik lives his emunah A tzaddik lives his connection with Hashem. And I think that this is the essence of it all. You have to work.
08:54
You know, my daughter asked me. My daughter asked me a question this week and I gave her the answer that I thought was the correct answer. And then I was learning Shabbos morning before I went to shul Shabbos morning and I found the answer that I said. I was so thrilled. So she was asking me about, you know, some person like how do they make money? I said they don't make money. Hashem makes money, Hashem gives money. Hashem gives us our livelihood. Hashem gives us our career. We keep ourselves busy. You know, I can tell you people who have the dumbest businesses in the world that are so successful. And I can tell you people who have the most brilliant companies in the world and can't make a living. One has nothing to do with the other. You know, King Solomon says and can't make a living. One has nothing to do with the other. You know, King Solomon says lo lachacham lechem, it's not the wise who have bread, it's not the wise who have success in their livelihood.
10:10
Our job is to keep ourselves focused in our relationship with Hashem, to realize that every single phone call you make to another client is you're doing Hashem. I'm doing this so that I can fulfill the mitzvah of providing for my family. How you bring me the success is completely irrelevant. I'm going to attempt, I'm going to do my best and you're going to bring the success. However, you bring the success To live in an existence of Emunah. So going to work is not futile, it's not a oh, that's what King Solomon was talking about. Futile of all the futilities? No, no, no, no. That's serving Hashem too. That's serving Hashem too, With the right focus of recognizing that the success doesn't come because I'm so brilliant, because I have such a great idea, because I'm going to call that client, I'm going to make this partnership, I'm going to do this, I'm going to do that, I'm going to attempt to do the best I can do.
11:12
Success comes from Hashem's blessing and when we live that way, our life is complete. Our life is perfect Because we feel Hashem's hand guiding us every single minute of every day. This is the essence, this is the purpose of our existence. He indicates it was an abrupt awakening for Pharaoh. He realizes one second I'm doing all these things, thinking it's me, and Hashem suddenly shows me I'm not in control. He has these dreams. These dreams, the dreams, are driving him crazy. He realizes he's not in control. There's a bigger picture here. We can all take a lesson from this. So awaken ourselves to recognize that there's a broader picture here. There's something much, much bigger. There is a God who created each and every one of us, with our skills, with our talents, with our abilities, with our family situations, with our struggles, with our you name it all the problems that we have.
12:34
We can blame this one and we can blame that one. We can blame our parents, we can blame our children, we can blame our spouse. We can blame the entire world. If only I would have this, If only I would have that my boss didn't fire me. Everything's because of them, and if my neighbor didn't do this, I would have had that and everything. We can blame others, or we can blame others, or we can unmask our eyes and see that everything is the hand of Hashem. Hashem is guiding us, trying to wake us up every single day. Hashem wants a closeness with us. Hashem doesn't need. Hashem wants. Hashem wants our connection and that is the essence of it all.
13:24
Just so that I can show you the actual words okay, ולהמחשת עניין האמונה המתבטה בחיי היום-יום. And for this to become real, this idea of emunah in our day-to-day lives, we'll bring one example. If someone would ask us from what do you live and how do you provide a livelihood for your family, Everyone will know exactly what to say. You know what I do. I do. I'm a special ed teacher. I am a. I'm a you know a construction engineer. I'm a mechanical engineer. I'm this, I'm that.
14:14
Everyone has their answer. Kol ha-chad lefee, isko u panasato. Everyone talks about their livelihood, talks about their profession, talks about their skills. Ha-chad yo omar shu mitasek be-binyan One will say that he is a contractor. Ba-shini be-masav, matan be-khinhala. One is in commerce, and so on and so forth.
14:41
But one who believes in Hashem does not answer like that.
14:45
One who believes in Hashem.
14:54
It's not his own skills, it's not his work, it's not his own skills, it's not his work, it's not his labor that supports him.
15:01
The person should only say as follows I live by the word of Hashem, by the decree of Hashem, that God gives me my sustenance, like he gives to every one of his creations.
15:21
It's all the hand of Hashem. But for the sake of my putting my efforts forward, where God decreed that we go out and get a job, when God decreed that we go out and get a job. Where God decreed that we work and toil, when does that come from? From Adam, From the sweat of your brow. You will bring your bread, Meaning you're going to have to work for it, but success doesn't come from that. That's just so that you have to work. Hashem brings my success, but I'm just fulfilling Hashem's will and this is my trade. Hashem should bless us all that we should indeed see His hand in every single thing that we do, Every minute of every day. We should feel that and recognize that we're here on a journey. Our life is temporary Beautiful, but we're on a mission and that's our goal. Our goal is to accomplish, Our goal is to accomplish, Our goal is to do, and our goal is to bring out the best possible closeness that we can attain in our lifetime. Have a magnificent week, my dear friends.
16:53 - Intro (Announcement)
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.