Why do Jews have Rabbis?
A musical explanation on why Jews have Rabbis and where it comes from in history. Something is happening in Jerusalem. Subscribe for more content. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9lud2XQRJqNgzBu7SkR8Wg The ideas on will and sin are from the Ramhal and can be seen in Path of the Just and Derech Hashem. Biography of Rav Adam Sommer Adam Sommer born Sept 24, 1975 is an American businessman whose main focus is Torah study. He is the grandson of New York Real Estate Developer Sigmund Sommer. Adam was born in Queens, New York to a German Jewish family. He attended Duke University. He began his career working for his family office as a construction project manager building a hotel and shopping center before moving to Manhattan. He became acquainted with Hineni’s Rebbitzein Ester Jungreis in 2002 and began learning more seriously about his Jewish roots. During that time, Adam learned more about frumkeit from his cousin Shemi Rokeach of the Rokeach family from Belz. In 2005 Adam moved to Main Land China to develop a business venture in Guangzhou China. During the course of his 20’s and 30’s, Adam studied Taijutsu in Japan with Dr Haatsumi Maasaki, the famed martial artist, where he earned a black belt in the art. Adam also studied kung-fu while living in the mainland. Adam moved to Jerusalem Israel in 2013 where he began learning in the Yeshiva Dvar Yerushalayim with Rosh Yeshiva Baruch Horowitz in Har Nof. In 2019, Adam became the Rosh Yeshiva’s hebruta and he teaches the Yeshiva’s Yerushalmi gemara class. Adam learns Torah full time at the Yeshiva and an after-hours Kollel. Adam has grown up and lived in mansions with maids and the finest foods but felt spiritually empty and began to question the meaning of material persuits as an end before seeking out Hineni. Adam excelled in eastern martial arts for more than a decade but found that nothing in the world compares to the treasures in the Torah and Torah learning, particularly in a Yeshivish environment. In 2015, Adam finished the Yerushalmi shas for the first time where the Rosh Yeshiva arranged for a sium at the home of Rabbi Kanievski to celebrate. At the sium, Rabbi Kanievski gave Adam a blessing to finish the whole Torah each year. In 2016 he finished the Bavli Shas for the first time and Yerushalmi shas in 350 days, along with the Tanakh, Shulchan Aruch and Mishnah. Since then, he completes the Bavli Shas, Yerushalmi Shas, Mishnah, Shulchan Aruch, Midrash Rabbah and Tanakh each year according to a learning program arranged by Rabbi Ezriel Auerbach. In 2018, Adam was tested on the Yerushalmi Shas by the Rosh Yeshiva of Meir Yeshiva. Adam describes looking at pages of the Yerushalmi as seeing the letters sparkle, catch on fire, and then stand-up on the page and dance. He is passionate about inspiring jews to connect with the less popular jewish classics such as those by Rabbi Shlomo Ibn Gibriol and making those ideas accessible for a general audience. In 2016, Adam married Edna, the niece of Rabbi Nissim Yagen, where they live in Har Nof, Jerusalem. Click here https://soundcloud.com/yaronreuven/sets/daily-chidush To Listen to our very popular "Daily Chidush" short audio series on SOUNDCLOUD or the Podcast Channel at https://beezrathashem.jewishpodcasts.org Born in Netanya, Israel, Rabbi Yaron Reuven began his American Dream as a little boy, when his family immigrated to the United States. He went from a newspaper boy at the age of 10, to a well-known self-made Wall Street multimillionaire by the age of 23. During his time in Wall Street, he owned his own private brokerage firm, a hedge fund, and an international insurance agency. He was featured on CNBC, Bloomberg and Chinese NDTV due to his success in the financial industry. At age 26 he faced a 7-year battle for his life when a simple surgery went wrong. From that moment his life would never be the same. This moment marked the start of a series of miraculous events and an exciting pursuit of truth, ultimately resulting in Rabbi Reuven renouncing his lofty position and success in Wall Street, after 16 years, to become a full-time KIRUV rabbi. His Teshuva story is sure to catch the heart of every listener. Rabbi Reuven’s shiurim are in English and Hebrew. His classes are focused on spreading the truth and divinity of the Torah through MUSSAR, scientific proofs, and many other methods to reach each individual listener. Rabbi Reuven is the leading educator on the topic of wasting seed in the English language with over 30 hrs of content published online. Rabbi Yaron Reuven is a proud member of the Igud HaRabbonim (The Rabbinical Alliance of America), a national rabbinic organization founded in 1942. Today, our 900+ members are congregational leaders, religious teachers, chaplains, heads of Jewish organizations and communal leaders united in their commitment to traditional Orthodox Judaism. For more information please visit: https://rabbinicalalliance.org/ 00:00:00 Intoduction 00:00:21 The Torah, Sages, and Oral Law 00:01:11 Benefits of Shulchan Aruch Guidance 00:01:30 Rambam's View on Nature and Virtue 00:01:53 The Need for Teshuva 00:02:36 Prophets vs Sages: Acceptance and Criticism 00:03:16 Obeying Sages and Torah Law 00:04:08 Relevance of Oral Law Today 00:04:35 Becoming a Gadol: Merit and Learning 00:05:25 False Prophets and Rebellious Sages 00:05:58 Shulchan Aruch: Tradition and Leaders 00:07:37 Following Gedolim: A Path to Heaven 00:08:15 Judaism Openly Given: Follow Sages
Transcript
0:21The Torah says to follow the words of the sages of the day. The laws of the Torah are only understood through these explanations of the gedolim, and we have a whole system of Oral Law that is worked out through this tradition that's given up to the Zugot, and the Zugot passed it down to the Tannaim. and the Amoraim clarify those halakhot. Every Jew is required to follow the Shulchan Aruch, and the Shulchan Aruch is easy to follow. For all the people who say the Shulchan Aruch is too hard to follow, that's not true. The Torah is close to you. It's not far from you. It takes learning. Once you start to learn about it, you'll start to get the hang of it. These are inherent parts of what it takes to be a Jew, and you need these clarifications from the Oral Law and the rulings from the Sages in order to codify it. All the oral law that we have today goes back to Har Sinai and Moshe Rabbeinu. If you don't realize how fortunate you are to be a Jew and to live a lifestyle guided by the Shulchan Aruch, you will gain wisdom. This wisdom will extend your life, help your parnassah, and enhance your marriage.
1:30you. You don't need to go to a mountain to discover it. In an amazing chiddush by the Rambam in Moreh Nevuchim, in Book 2 and in Book 3, he explains that the laws of nature are interwoven with virtue. It's blended in with how the nature works. The Rambam is pointing out the way you behave is interwoven with these other laws of nature itself. You don't need to go to a mountain to discover it. In an amazing chiddush by the Rambam in Moreh Nevuchim, in Book 2 and in Book 3, he explains that the laws of nature are interwoven with virtue. It's blended in with how nature works. The Rambam is pointing out that the way you behave is interwoven with these other laws of nature itself. Human action with morality is intertwined with the nature. These are the structures of the way the universe is put together. You have to make teshuva. You have to get better. For it is written, said the Maharal, do not preach, you preachers. They shall not preach to these people.
2:36so that they shall not be overtaken by shade. The preachers mentioned here are the prophets who always begged Israel to better their ways, and in this verse, Hashem tells the prophets to stop preaching to Am Yisrael, for the people are disinterested and will simply shame them. The prophet Micha explains further why Hashem ordered the prophets to stop preaching. It is because the people are unwilling to accept criticism for their deeds. Once the people become disinterested in the words of the prophets, Hashem withheld prophecy. There is no parallel in regards to the words of the sages. explains further why Hashem ordered the prophets to stop preaching. It is because the people are unwilling to accept criticism for their deeds. Once the people become disinterested in the words of the prophets, Hashem withheld prophecy. There's no parallel in regards to the words of the sages. Hashem never tells the sages to stop issuing directives in Halakhot and putting up fences. To the contrary, the sages are charged to always set down the law and issue clarifications and fences, whether the people are going to obey it or not. And those who reject their words are punished severely in all times. never tells the sages to stop issuing directives in halakhot and putting up fences. To the contrary, the sages are charged to always set down the law and issue clarifications and fences, whether the people are going to obey it or not. And those who reject their words are punished severely at all times.
3:39The Gemara continues, it says, but here, regarding the elders, the sages, and the gedolim, it is written, according to the teaching that they teach you, you shall do. This is in Devarim 17:11, because we need the explanations of the sages. You know, when you go and look at a Masechet like Peah, those obligations of Peah, that's de'oraita. But how much Peah do you leave? You can't go and just say, well, you know, I just want to be a Torah Jew and just follow what the Torah says. You can't do it. need the other part, which is the Oral Law, and because we're living in a time where they're adding all sorts of things, you know, for instance, like in cranberry juice with the color red, it's made out of bugs that didn't exist before. You need the gedolim, who are going to tell you yes, this is made out of an insect, this violates this part. That's why you need extra guidance today because a lot of these processes are not done the same way as they were done before. Now, understanding the relevance of the Oral Law is crucial in ensuring adherence to Torah law. There's a key point here, and we see in Micah, there's no directive to tell the sages to stop. You have to listen to the sages because these gedolim, they know more than you. Nobody went and told the Vilna Gaon to go learn 21 hours a day. Nobody told Ovadia Yosef to go learn 20 hours a day. In fact, it's very much merit-based. You can become a gadol too. Go put in the years, sit and learn, put your nose in a book.
5:01and go through the stuff for 20 or 21 hours a day. And you can also be great, you know, but a guy who comes in and learns a little bit shouldn't think that he knows as much as those other people who are licensed by the Torah. They come down and put up fences because they can see more than you, as they "eat from the Tree of Knowledge" all day long, and you don't. So don't assume that you can see the world with the same wisdom. You can't. And this is put together with the laws of Zaken Mamre and following the real prophets and the false prophets and the rebellious sages. These things are clumped together. And you can find that about the false prophets in Devarim 13. And over here in 17, right next to it, the sages, according to the teaching that they teach you, you shall do. This verse is not linking the authority of the elders to them having to produce a heavenly sign, but simply states that they are to be obeyed in all circumstances. a Mamzer Talmid Chacham, that he's even greater than the Kohen Gadol, who is an Am Ha'aretz. If he becomes a Torah scholar, he can acquire a degree of greatness. And that shows us how amazing it is that when you're eating from the Tree of Knowledge all day long, these people who are the Gedolim of the day, they don't need to make a heavenly sign. The Torah just instructs us to listen to them in all circumstances.
6:24Everybody, as a principle, accepted the Shulchan Aruch. So there's nowhere to hide. That was unanimous. There's no minority about that at all. So the big question is, who are the sages? The sages are the people who are following the Shulchan Aruch and who advocate following the Shulchan Aruch. This is the tradition going back to Moshe Rabbeinu. This is the tradition that was handed down to Rabbi Akiva and passed to the Amoraim and passed to the Geonim and passed down to the Rishonim. These are your forefathers. These are your grandfathers. This is the tradition, and anyone who tells you anything about watering down the Shulchan Aruch or changing the Shulchan Aruch, or not following the Shulchan Aruch, this is a crooked path and this will lead you away from Kedusha. This is guaranteed to lead you away from Hashem. And the purpose of the Jew is to go toward Hashem. This is the path for the Jew to get very close to Hashem and to start receiving all the blessings promised in the Torah, and you can achieve this. And who are the Gedolim today? The Gedolim today are only those recognized by all other major Haredi rabbis as being the leaders of Jewish thought and the Jewish people. Leaders such as Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, the Belzer Rebbe, the Gur Rebbe, and others who head the significant Hasidic dynasties and the Lithuanian Orthodox community.
7:37only those who are recognized by all the other major Hareidi rabbis as being the leaders of Jewish thought and the Jewish people. People like Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, the Belzer Rebbe, the Gerrer Rebbe, the leaders of the major Hasidic dynasties, and the heads of the Lithuanian Yeshiva community. the heads of the Sephardi communities today. These are the Gedolim. These are the people to follow. Pick one and go with it and enjoy it because it is all a path that leads to Shamayim for you and a better life for you in this world. The Torah was given in front of everybody at Har Sinai. Everybody was a witness to it. We all heard it. Now you have some religion that comes up and says, "Oh yeah, there's a mystery and you've got to look at all these riddles to figure out this other contradicting theology or replacement theology, God forbid." Judaism is the only religion where everything happens in front of the Jewish people. The stipulation on final halakhic determinations is left to the Torah sages. There are no riddles here. The theology is given openly to the Jewish people. Follow the way of the sages. That is eternal. It is unchangeable. And it's for your good. As the Torah says, these statutes are for you to live, to get life, to get blessing, to get bracha. So these are not a burden. These are to water you so you can grow to be the strongest, healthiest version of yourself. Have a great day.
8:57for your good. As the Torah says, these statutes are for you to live, to get life, to get blessing, to get bracha. So these are not a burden. These are to water you so you can grow to be the strongest, healthiest version of yourself. Have a great day.
