Defeating the Cult of Waste Worship - Ari Abramowitz: The Land of Israel Fellowship

I went to my friend and I said to him why is it that uh bil-am was punished God said okay go with them and then he went and then God's anger was flared was his wrath was why was he punished and the answer with someone gave me said because there's the unwritten thing your daughter's asking you again and again and again you want to do a thing you want to do a thing you want to do think you're like no no no you know what do the thing but she knows it's not your will and so what Jeremy said about it is blessing to us we really want to do God's Will and this Torah portion is such a beautiful portion because it has to do with blessings Jeremy's talking about blessing the children and I agree to me probably one of the penultimate moments in my entire week is blessing my children at the Sabbath table and you know I say who's going to get up a special brother who's going to get is it you is it you advantages and then I put my hands over her head and she closes her eyes and I bless her and then I kiss her cheeks and then I bless Shiloh who's squiggling and he's a year old but it's such a special moment it's a it's a moment of a blessing and this week's tour portion is about blessings but there's so much to talk about but I don't have that much time so I just want to start you know by talking about have this Torah portion has yet another instance of idolatry I mean how much idolatry can we commit it feels like there are hundreds of instances of idolatry throughout the Tanaka those are only the ones that are written for everyone that's written there's probably a thousand times that aren't we I mean we've seen the Torah and the judges the prophets the writings again and again it's perhaps the most repetitive theme throughout Jewish history I mean we talk about what a stiff-neck people we are just like give it up already but I'll tell you you know earlier in my Torah journey I would view these serial idolaters as backwards tools I mean who prays to the Sun or even stupider they Bow Down and Worship these carved statues of their own making right they crafted it themselves with their own hands and then they worship it I just couldn't wrap my mind around it I mean for them to throw away their relationship with Hashem to betray the rock of Israel Surah Israel who redeemed them from slavery and have proven true to his word throughout history without exception for a statue that they carved with their it was just unfathomably idiotic to me for me to wrap my mind around but now I think I'm a little uh older a little bit wiser hopefully probably not I don't know but now I don't uh I don't think I judge them as negatively I empathize with them these stories are now for me I think they're cautionary tales they're Tales of what can happen when we lose awareness and allow the very human psychological impulse to feel powerful to feel in control to allow that impulse to take over and to dictate our actions because if I'm gonna if I'm gonna be honest I've spent more than enough time in my own life you know teetering on the edge of idolatry if not committing the sin myself on one level or another for you know who Among Us hasn't had a moment of fearing flesh and blow who hasn't had a moment of putting our faith in in someone that we perceive as having some sort of power over us and so we fear them and put our hopes in them it doesn't need to be an actual Idol for it to be idolatry because the idol wasn't you know actually the statue in some ways the idolatry was the belief that there was some independent source of power in the world other than Hashem so whether we're building a calf and declaring that to be the god of Israel or we're getting angry and thereby declaring ourselves God we know what should be and this is not what should be idolatry can take on many forms and many different gradations anyways there were different Idols in biblical times there was Molech and there was nahushdan there were many and each one contained its own illusion of power and said something not only about the idol itself but about the people that worshiped it so let's get to the portion so this portion balak we see a beautiful behind the scenes testimony of hashem's love for us this Cocoon of love and shield of protection within which Hashem nurtures us despite our many sins and rebellions and idolatries and we see that while bilam was one of the greatest prophets in history no matter what he was powerless in his desire to curse the Jewish people he can only bless them but pay close attention here to those blessings because we can see that he was able to figure out from the words that he heard emerging from his own mouth he was able to figure out how the Jewish people could be cursed how they could be harmed how they could be defeated so here we go let's look in chapter 21 chapter 23 verse 21 I'm sorry he does not look at the evil in Jacob and he sees no perversity in Israel Hashem their God is with them so belam realized oh so if there would be perversity among the Israelites their God would not be with them so what did he do he advised the moabites to send in their daughters to seduce the Israelite men not only with their bodies but with their idolatry with their idols and that's what I want to talk about right now the idolatry with which these mobile women seduce the Israelite men because it was a very strange and disgusting type of idolatry it's one of the most disgusting and intriguing types of idolatry it was called and at the risk of grossing you out before breakfast if you're across the world the worship of Balor was the worship of One's Own excrements feces otherwise known as poop or an Israel Kaki that while this is unquestionably disgusting there are a lot of insights that we can glean for today about how the worship of this Idol is perhaps more than any other idolatry the worship of this Idol is on the rise in the world today perhaps I think I think particularly in Western countries they're leading the charge with the bow or Idol and bringing that almost by force to so much of the world so what does REV Jacobson point out about this revolting Idol he said he explains Bellport is the worship of waste and what is waste what is excrement it's that which is left over after all nutrition and vitamins and life and vitality has been extracted from the substance right it's it's uh you know it's the Jewish understanding that Hashem gave us the Torah not to tell us that we can't enjoy this world we're not aesthetic monks on a Mountaintop disconnecting rather to tell us how we can enjoy this world how we can derive pleasure from this world in the most Godly sacred way possible how we can derive pleasure by infusing God into this world because every pleasure has a Godly source and by following God's laws and his decrees and his ordinances he tells us how we can harness those pleasures of this world to connect with him and to infuse the world with his presence because pleasure is a force in the in the world that's a force it's a powerful force unlike anything else that can be twisted and distorted and perverted and the greater the pleasure the greater the capacity for that perversion and when you see it that way I don't want to get personal here but America is leading the West in the Revival of the Legacy and worship of the Bible because by literally worshiping waste one is stripping the the pleasures that are supposed to be harnessed to bring life and connect with Hashem they're stripping these Pleasures from all life and vitality and nutrition and fruitfulness and and by stripping them of all of that they're stripping these pleasures of divinity and of godliness and leaving them empty and void and dead and when you start looking for where the worship of the empty Godless Pleasures are you see them everywhere from The White Flower and the white sugar that is stripped of all nutrition and health and vitality it's addicted Millions causing obesity and heart attacks and misery and death and then of course we have the glorification and the Adoration and even legislation that is enshrining and worshiping the sterilization and the mutilate and the mutilation of children to to allow them to be free in their pursuit of sexual perversions that they themselves these perversions are stripped of all fruitfulness themselves stripped of every last ounce of life ever you look you see the glorification of waste and refuse and death because I don't know about you you know but sometimes I look at these millions of people that are worshiping and revering these Twisted dark perversions and I wonder what's going on has everyone gone mad like what is this all about but then when we immerse ourselves in the Divine Eternal truth of Torah we see oh this is nothing new it's not new it's just a different manifestation of the same ancient idolatrous death Cults and so where does this leave us how do we fight this how do we get empowered by this and I think the answer is in devarim Deuteronomy chapter 30 verse to 19. questions I call Heaven and Earth to record this day against you before you life and death blessing and curse therefore choose life that both you and your seed may live they were deaf so how do we respond by choosing Life by looking at our lives and seeing where we may have stolen Pleasures where we may be choosing death over life ourselves whether it's by guarding our diet or guarding our tongues regarding our eyes I bless us my friends that we choose life may we choose life together and through that choice that we're able to connect in the deepest way possible to the Living God that sustains us the Living God of Israel