Parashat Re'eh - Getting The Message

0:03By the way, as a side note, in case people don't know, sometimes you have to tell people the same thing a few times, and we see this principle from the Torah. For example, in this week's Parasha, Parashat Re'eh, we're starting a new section. HaKadosh Baruch Hu says at the beginning of the Parasha, "See, I present before you today a blessing and a curse. The blessing is that you hearken to the commandments of Hashem, your God, that I command you today."

1:07"And the curse, if you do not hearken to the commandments of Hashem, your God, and you stray from the path that I command you today, to follow gods of others that you did not know." So you see in this week's parasha, first and foremost, we've already heard this more than a few times. HaKadosh Baruch Hu is telling us once again, you have two options. There's no middle ground. There's no gray area with Hashem. He simply says, "You have, you have." He doesn't say, "You have half a mitzvah, you have a medium-sized mitzvah, you have a small mitzvah, big mitzvah," you know, a mediocre mitzvah, a mitzvah with some, uh, rims on it. He doesn't say any of that. What does he say? Either your life is blessed or it's cursed. Simple. It doesn't tell you, "Oh, maybe there's..." Nothing. Blessing or curse, but we heard this already. How many times are you going to tell us? Apparently, we need to hear it a few times. We heard it already in Parashat Bechukotai, where it tells us we have blessings and blessings and blessings.

2:16Over a dozen verses of blessings, and then over almost four dozen verses of curses. Chazal say that the reason why there are only a dozen or so verses of blessings and so many more curses is not because there are more curses than blessings, but because we simply do not understand what a blessing is. So it'd simply be a waste of time and a waste of space in the Torah to detail the blessings. We wouldn't understand what it is anyway. So He gives us the basics, stuff we can understand, stuff that our human mind can understand. You know, money is a blessing. Okay, I'll give you money. Kids are a blessing? Okay, before you have them, you think it's a blessing. After, maybe. 50/50, we'll see. Okay, before you have them, you think it's a blessing. After, maybe it's 50/50, we'll see. You think getting married is a blessing? Yeah. Wait until you get married and she wakes you up at three o'clock in the morning and says, "Honey, uh, do, do, do, do, do." "I have an idea." "What?" "I have an idea." It's three o'clock; I want to go to sleep. "I have an idea." "What?" "I have an idea." It's three o'clock; I want to go to sleep. "Oh, I have an idea." Sometimes they have an idea at three o'clock in the morning. So it tells you a blessing or a curse.

3:20Tells you a blessing or a curse. We don't understand what blessings are. We don't understand what curses are. We think Hashem is joking about the curses. We don't understand what blessings are. We don't understand what curses are. We think Hashem is joking about the curses. We heard the curses. Curses are scary. The Rabbeinu Yonah, at the beginning of the chapter, at the beginning of the book, says, "There are some people that are so foolish that they don't believe there's punishment." That's what he says. He says, "There are some people in the world," and he adds, "There's not many." He lived 800 years ago. says, in the beginning of the chapter, beginning of the, uh, the book, he says, "There are some people that are so foolish that they don't think there's punishment." That's what he says. He says, "There are some people in the world," he says, "There aren't that many." Uh, he lived 800 years ago. That's why he says there's not that many. There are not that many. But he says, "Some people, they're so foolish, they don't think there's punishment," he says. As if Hashem didn't say it a bunch of times. As if it doesn't apply. So, we saw in Parashat Bechukotai, HaKadosh Baruch Hu says there are blessings and there are curses.

4:26We saw in Parashat Ki Tavo that there are blessings and curses. We have observed this in many other Parashot. And if that wasn't enough, Hashem mentions it again, twice, here. If you noticed, he says, "I present before you a blessing and a curse." Okay, finished. Okay. No. He says, "Not blessing or curse, the blessing if you do everything I say." "But you said that there's a blessing or curse." "I know, obviously, if I do what You said, I'm gonna get a blessing." "Why are you mentioning it again?" If there's a blessing or a curse, obviously if I'm smart enough to understand what this verse is saying, you don't need to explain to me that the blessing goes along with me doing what You said, and the curse goes along with me going against what You said. Obviously, I understand. But no. HaKadosh Baruch Hu knows His creation. He says, "You have a blessing and a curse. The blessing is if you do what I said. The curse is if you go against what I said." How come HaKadosh Baruch Hu thinks that we need to know that there's a blessing and a curse so many times?

5:29Because, apparently, Rabbeinu Tam, a human being, unless you repeat the instructions, when it comes to Kedusha, when it comes to things that are relevant to the purpose of life, unless you repeat it over and over and over again, it simply does not sink in for long enough. It goes in, you came to a shiur, you got a chizuk. Tomorrow, you're gonna have to start all over again. "Yeah, but I got a whole chizuk for three hours. It's good, no? Yeah, it was good for today. The two, three hours you came to the shiur saved you from all the other garbage you could have done with those three hours." Tomorrow, you have to do something else. You have to go on YouTube, and type in Yom Iyun, Parashat Re'eh. Why? Uh, you have to learn new Torah. "Yeah, but I already learned Parashat Re'eh." You have to learn it again.

6:33How many times? Uh, until, uh, until Mashiach comes. Unless you repeat it over and over and over and over again, it doesn't sink in. Why doesn't it sink in? Why? Is there something wrong with us? No, nothing wrong with us. So HaKadosh Baruch Hu says He created the Yetzer Hara. And Yetzer Hara's job involves multiple roles. He is the Yetzer Hara, the Satan, and the Malach HaMavet. The Gemara says in Massechet Berakhot, "All three are him." The Yetzer Hara's job is to distract you from HaKadosh Baruch Hu, leading you to focus on other things and diverting you from a life closer to Hashem. Listen, instead of shiur Torah, go, go have a drink with the guys. You haven't seen them in a long time. "Yeah, but learning Torah is good learning Torah." I could have a drink with the guys some other day. No, no. Come on, the guys? What, are you going to insult the guys? No, you... Come on. I mean, it's, it's, uh, this one. All types of laws they're going to create for you are somehow connected to your friends. Why?

7:40"Listen, my friends." "Yeah, but what about the shiur Torah?" A shiur Torah, you can watch tomorrow. Yetzer Hara is going to lead you astray, away from the righteous path. Once you succumb to the Yetzer Hara, it transforms and becomes the Satan. Satan comes from the word mastin. Mastin means, like, he rats on you. He goes up to Shamayim, he becomes the prosecutor, he goes to Hashem and says, "Hashem, you see this of Yours?" "What?" "Your son, Your son, instead of going to shiur Torah, he went to have a couple of drinks with the guys." Can you believe it, Hashem? He desecrated Your Torah. He went to have a couple of drinks instead of learning Torah, attending shiur Torah for free. He didn't even have to pay for it. Not like Hillel, who had to pay all of his money to hear Torah. He received it for free. He didn't go, Hashem. But instead, he went to go see, uh, who knows what he saw in the bar, Hashem. This is what he did, Your son. This is your son, Hashem. What an embarrassment in Shamayim you have. What an embarrassment a person has in Shamayim when Hakadosh Baruch Hu, his Father in Heaven, watches this movie of his son leaving His Torah to watch football, Sunday night football.

8:45Why? It's because he could watch a game, to watch football, Sunday night football. A bunch of overgrown men on steroids that are probably going to die before the age of 55, getting paid millions of dollars which they're going to waste before they even end their careers. Most of them declare bankruptcy within four years of retirement. And you're gonna spend all your time, what? To go watch them instead of a shiur Torah. So now Hashem is not happy with this. So then the Satan takes advantage. What does he say? He changes uniforms again. Another uniform. Who does he become? Malach HaMavet. Another uniform. Who does he become? Malach HaMavet. Malach HaMavet says, "Hashem, You know, if somebody desecrates Torah, You said in Your Torah, You said in the Torah, Hashem, they deserve the death penalty. No, Hashem, can I go to work?" Can I go to work right now?" So now, you see, we have to pray that we have some zechut somewhere. We have a tzaddik grandfather, a tzaddik grandmother. A... Some mitzvah we did that we forgot about. Some potential that we have.

9:49Something that's going to fight for us against the Malach HaMavet. That's the job of the Yetzer Hara. So HaKadosh Baruch Hu says, "I have to remind you day after day that there is a beracha and there's a kelala." Why? If I don't, you're going to just treat My Torah as if it's something you can study whenever you feel like it, whenever you get a chance, and treat it like it's a mundane matter, like it's something secular that you're learning. That whenever you get a chance, you read the paper and watch the news, just to keep up to date. And you're not gonna treat it like it's life or death. You're not gonna treat it like this is either the key to blessing or to curse. So unless I remind you over and over and over again, you're not gonna get the point. So once again, Parashat Re'eh, he tells us again, there's a berakhah and a kelalah. We are meant to be a light unto the nations, not to follow their misguided practices. Remember, every Jew has to remember that he's a Jew and she's a Jew. We don't celebrate non-Jewish holidays, even if they seem harmless.

11:02It's a zilzul, disrespect to the Torah, and could lead to chillul Hashem, desecration of Hashem's name. Stick to our holy Torah and our own holidays. That's the path of a true Jew.