Parsha Perspectives for Today (Vayishlach 5784/2023) - Collective Punishment and Civilian Casualties

okay good morning to all it should be a good morning it should be a good day we should hear yes only good news I want to thank our generous Siri sponsor our Siri sponsor for Becki cats and family in memory of Becky's Father David Gman is Al reminder immediately following she as we've been doing each and every week and each and every Shear we'll complete all of saer the more of you stay the shorter it will take to divide all of saer and complete it also if you've not yet taken from the lobby please take two flags three flags we now have the Israeli flag the American flag and the Taha flag to fly on your car be a proud Jew share it everywhere you go let people know we will not cower and we are not afraid we are on page 170 in the art scroll Stone KES page 170 par the story that we know so well and yet each time that we read it we relive the excitement the anxiousness the anticipation as if it is the first first time each time we read it there's something new you're not going to believe me when I tell you how much I have to say in the first tsim this week I know you won't believe me what's remarkable is we have every year had so much to say about the first tsuk of this and every par and yet each year there's still so more so much more to say the Torah is just endless you keep digging you keep uncovering the layers and layers of it and each year whatever you're meant to be seeing and living and learning for that year is something new that comes comes to your attention that year here so we know this is the long awaited reunion I don't know long awaited by whom but by us since last chabas the long awaited reunion between yob and ASA these brothers these adversaries who've been on opposite sides are trying to reconcile and come together and Forge a future as brothers how does he do itob sends he sends emissaries he sends agents ahead of him to his brother to where as is he doesn't doesn't stand on ceremony he doesn't sit back and wait he's not afraid but rather he sends these agents and in fact we know from the talud until and today is what Jewish leaders have always read when we need to engage in a conflict when we need to confront adversaries when we need to be willing to find the courage to stand up to enemies par has the formula the recipe for the Jewish approach to these things and while some years that is academic and please God we to go back to a time in which it is academic and we're studying yacob's formula for fighting as theoretical this year of course there are so many lessons for today so yob sends these agents you ready next ready and Yakov tells them this is what I want you to tell tell my master asov anything peculiar about that adoni now we understand why yob refers to ASA as adoni when he is in front of asov when he is to his face we understand a little better why does he call him adoni he's trying to show him respect and honor hoping that will contribute to the reconciliation but here yob is not talking directly to ASA to whom is he talking to the agent that he's going to send so why does he refer even to his own people as and what is the message what is this critically important message that he should communicate that he should transmit okay you're going to go see my brother he hates me he's wanted to kill me he wants to kill me right now here's what you need to tell him when you first see him are you ready you're gonna get in the Oval Office you're gonna get to the White House here is the message you're in Qatar head of M is in Qatar today you're gonna be negotiating here's the message I lived with love on and I was a good boy I kept all of Torah and that's where I've been I'm so sorry I'm late so sorry I've delayed I'm so sorry it took me so long you know where I've been I was with Lan and while I was with Lan you should know LTI says rash one of the most famous in the Torah and you think I stole the BR and the BR was I was GNA become some famous influencer I was gonna become some Superstar rock star I was gonna have so many followers know that I was a stranger I was a stranger I was fighting for my life against this used car salesman father-in-law of mine this trickster who kept deceiving me it's not worthwhile for you to hate me I haven't broken through to have what you want you should know where I was and how I was living and what I needed to do to get by and despite that GTI I lived with L G is GATRA the same numerical value as tag 613 clar it comes to teach IM I lived with love on the wicked and it didn't I didn't compromise I was uncompromising I lived in the literally the den of De of iniquity I lived in the backyard of a wicked person I lived in the Metropolis of spiritual decadence and Corruption and I didn't compromise in Iota that's the message that's what ASA cares about that's what's going to win him over asa's still bitter that you dressed up like him that you fooled the father that you stole the blessings and the message is is just want to let you know dinner I'm from my I lived with and I kept that's what's gonna do it gonna go see the head ofas in katar just want to let you know in BRS 8 minum shabas morning morning col afternoon col night we're killing it in the Torah and Mitzvah category okay why is it of interest to ASA why is that what's on jakob's mind so many interpretation we've seen many interpretation if you want to hear old ones you can listen to previous par these are all new new to me new to me at least maybe not to you C Sal despite having lived in padan for 20 years Yakov remained an alien there thear Bas defines a Yos as one who lives continually in a city for 30 days while an live in a city for 12 months these categories are different of citizenship the first thing AKO was telling him is I didn't settle down I never became a resident I didn't have the luxury of fitting in or belonging and Not only was I not a superstar leader influencer I couldn't even fit in I wasn't even a resident but moreover says thereof the following Yakov was taken away from his Parental Home and experienced a long night of Darkness misery and distress he was burdened with the mission of proving to the world that the covenantal community was capable of practicing aam's unique moral code by living a lifestyle of saintliness not not only in the promised land but in gas in Exile far from The Hills and Valleys ofon I lived with L and yet yob stayed with L 20 years enough time to settle down and become a citizen ofan to consider himself a veteran resident and he should have said he should have said I dwell I became a citizen a resident I was a Yos a to why does it say GTI GTI comes from the word g because he felt like a stranger the way his son yoseph later felt in Egypt he had not assimilated he had not integrated himself into love and society and Community he had not accepted their morals their code of ethics or their lifestyle he sojourned to Karan for a long time yet he preserved he preserved his moral religious identity his commitment to hem of ab his commitment to the way of life that Hem of sanctioned his commitment to the promised land to ER Israel all those commitments and many more were not affected at all yob was as dedicated at the end of his 20 years of servitude in L's house as he was the first night he spent on the cold stones in beel when he pledged Hashem will be my God at the completion of his sour in Khan the angel of hasem revealed himself to Yakov in other words you remain loyal to your spiritual Heritage and faith in me it's a very beautiful Insight yakob was not saying this as a message to asov to win asov over yakob was saying this a statement of himself and who was he saying it to you and me each and every one of us wherever you are you're in gas you're in Exile whether geographically outside the land of Israel or even in Israel in a state of Exile when the kind of atrocity of October 7th could have happened we are in a state of Exile in a time in a period of that can't happen we feel the bitterness of that Exile in the land and outside the land right now and one might think how are we meant to navigate how can we live a righteous religious life how can we see and find Hashem here and yob says I lived with love on I lived with love on and I didn't assimilate I didn't lose my identity I didn't compromise in iot was burdened with a similar task he again had to prove that aam's covenant could be practiced outside the promised land that the moral laws are not contention upon geography and chronology the difference between Yakov and yosef's assignment is a dual one first says there Yakov had to prove that the Torah is reliable in poverty and oppression that the Immigrant no matter how hard he has to work for a livelihood no matter how poor and oppressed is capable of if he makes up his mind to give devotion and loyalty to his ancestral tradition yose's mission was to demonstrate that enormous success and limited riches admiration prominence and power are not in conflict with a saintly covenantal Life The Immigrant no matter what his Destiny turns out to be glorious success or miserable failure can if he possesses the hero quality of either yob or Yosef attend to his commitment it's an incredible insight yakob and Yosef both prove to us that the Torah travels know first writes that the polls that are put into the Aron the other of the B of the mishan the poles once the mishan rests are removed out of that CLE out of that utensil but the Aron The Arc of the Covenant the Torah theis the poles remain rights are first you know why because the Aron is transportable Torah comes with us wherever we are Torah is not only relevant in the promised land Torah is not only relevant while you're in Yeshiva or sh Torah is not only relevant when you're in your Gap year Torah is not only relevant when your newly married col couple Torah has those polls it travels with us wherever we go wherever we live whatever we are confronting Torah comes with us Yakov and Yosef both proved that to us they both took Torah were informed and inspired by it in a place of gullas but they did it from diametrically opposed socioeconomic statuses yakob does it from a place of poverty and he says even with nothing even with working overtime with honesty and integrity and fighting to go collect p katum even building myself up from nothing and from poverty I didn't abandon Torah ysf had the opposite problem it is a problem that we have not had too many times in our history and that's why I don't think we have such a rich tradition for it and we're suffering from that today and that is living Torah in a place of not poverty but a place of of great wealth of great Prosperity we have a m of how to live with pgrs and persecution and poverty we got 2,000 years of practice but how to have a m to live with prosperity what should be our priorities what's our attitude to material success how do we integrate it with spirituality do we flaunt it in the face of those our host nation and neighbors what's our M for living with prosperity that we have less of a rich tradition and we are living in truly prosperous times not to suggest that we don't have a large Tom shabas program here at BRS that we're not launching the Florida Network we have enormous CED needs but even those living with the least have much more than the wealthiest had just a short time ago the family who are receiving the most help from the community still have the latest versions of smartphones and cars with power windows and a roof over their head and food to eat that's a great testimony to our community that's not a indictment of them but it means that even our poverty is with a level of prosperity that was unprecedented from before and ysf teaches us that because Yosef descends to Egypt he rises to be the vice Roy he has great prosperity and it's very easy to lose your way you could become an assimilated observant Jew you go to the DA you make a Dominion you pay your tuition but in your values and priorities you're totally assimilated you could become an assimilated observant Jew when you have too much Prosperity so firstov and later we'll get to teach us that the Torah is relevant the Torah is accessible the Torah informs and inspires and enriches and empowers and obligates wherever we are in whatever state we are whatever time of life we are and whether we are in poverty or whether we are in prosperity the Torah remains relevant and that's what yob was saying after all these years in this moment of reunion he is reflecting back on that experience that is Sal the he has now a different Nuance not our question why would as care but yob says now the truth is every Jew has to fulfill all 613 now our is made up of positive Commandments and negative Commandments I understand why it makes sense to say I fulfilled the positive I put on tius I put on fillan I will light the Kana candles I heard the chauffeur I shook positive Commandments you can say I fulfilled how do you fulfill there is a fly I don't know this fly was in a previous life maybe I mistreated him in a parir and he's back to get me but he will not leave me alone welcome welcome back to sheer fly welcome back so it makes sense to sayam I fulfilled a positive commandment how do you fulfill a negative commandment don't eat non kosher oh I fulfilled it what do you mean you fulfilled it just don't do it don't do it imagine at the end of the day you say to your spouse wasn't I an extraordinary husband today what did you do I didn't scream at you I didn't yell at you I didn't hit you I didn't abuse you I don't know that you get the Nobel Peace Prize for that what did you fulfill you just did what you were supposed to do you didn't violate what you're not supposed to do we don't call that a a fulfillment the Los say the negative commandment is don't do that you didn't actually do anything means you did something the negative means you didn't do that's a misnomer the truth is that the person who can withstand and resist the temptation to drive the urge to do the wrong thing did do something you know what they did they defeated the urge they defeated that drive they defeated that instinct they did something the premise of our question was wrong we asked you do something when you do a positive commandment you didn't do anything if you didn't violate a negative one says wrong if you found the Courage the energy the conviction the will the resolve to not do the wrong thing when you were tempted when you were driven when you wanted to then you did do something there was a Kum there too now when is it you can say that by fighting thear you did something in the positive when you had a Yahara for something if you didn't have a Yahara for that thing you didn't do anything by not doing it so I have a Yahara for food that is unhealthy for some non- Kosher foods I have no Yahara for lobster for shellfish zero nada nothing no temptation ifem would come to me say Goldberg enjoy a lobster I'd say thanks no thanks no interest no interest so I'm not fighting AAR that's not a but if there is a Yara and I don't need to spend now and if you want for later for the right donation I'm happy to tell you all my yaras but not right now but if I have a Yahara and in fact fight it and I and I resist it so there's a k there's a fulfillment so how could Yak say I fulfilled all 613 you know why in Love on he lived with the captain of yahar he lived with thear he lived with the engine ofar so because he lived with Lan who was the greatest source of Yahara to do the wrong thing he can say not only did I fulfill the positive Commandments but he can say wholeheartedly all 613 including the negative ones I kept and I observed the let's keep going you know I was getting back to bar got a beautiful email from his grandson who was so gratified to hear how much recording his grandfather it's not a favor his Torah is beautiful I've really been enjoying it and in this new the of the Brooklyn says the following again rash quotes I didn't become influential and famous I was a GE the same gria I understand the first interpretation of Rashi why this would make as happy ASA you think I became all that all these years you've been wondering I stole the BR and then I fulfilled it don't worry I didn't I've been a stranger I've been hated upon I've had to navigate don't worry however the second interpretation that I kept all T what in the world would care if yov kept all the Torah or no is angry why yov you pulled the biggest fast one in the world you pretended to be me and you stole my Bros so if you tell me but you've not yet received the Fulfillment of those Bros maybe he's appeased but that you're a good from boy still that's part of why I hated you to begin with how does that make as happy because had told yov if at any time you don't fulfill who you meant to be if you don't meet your potential if you don't reach out and grab on to these Bros if you violate them then you no longer are covered by the you'll now be exposed to the elements no I'm not vulnerable because I kept her in MIT built into the original BR was a condition that if I wouldn't observe then the bras would not protect me so as we're about to meet up I want you to know know that there's no there's no crack in my armor I kept Torah in mitos I still am deserving of those Bros and therefore I am not vulnerable I not vulnerable to you says the will become aware that fulfilled the will the word of therefore God is with him now he'll change gears Paradigm Shift instead of as wanting to battle Yakov defeat Yakov maybe he'll want to enter a covenant if hasem is with you let me grab on let me make a covenant we see that with and we saw that earlier and that's what yakov's hope is here another interpretation know said about this again what's the question why in the world will care that yov kept observing Torah mitz why should that appease him in any way in fact understood this listen carefully will change the way you hear this Rashi forever the says says rash I lived with love and I kept all Toros was yob flexing he didn't know what the word Flex meant at that time or what the kids would call a T4 who cares you kept all Tora why is yob flexing says is not flexing at all he's not showing off with pride he's in fact offering selfit criticism and what's the criticism he's offering himself he says I should have learned from I didn't learn from his evil ways isn't that a good thing if you live with bad people and you don't adopt their bad habits isn't that a good thing says the no because there's something to learn from everyone you shouldn't have learn to follow their bad habits what could you have learned neglected his power his potential the person he was meant to be he dropped it all he abandoned it all to pursue money material possessions he was driven he was passionate he pursued it yakob should have learned from that not to run after money but to run after Torah said looking at laan his drive his passion his singular Focus there was something to learn I could have learned I could have learned that and I didn't I didn't I didn't learn it don't worry that I got the bras for money you know why I lived with Lan I saw how much he valued money how greedy he was but I didn't learn that from him this is the opposite of the first interpretation I should have learned from him the same passion the same Pursuit the same drive only for Torah instead of money but I didn't I failed to learn from him therefore I am Unworthy of the Bros so don't be jealous of me that I took the Bros don't worry and don't be jealous don't worry and don't be jealous others say maybe we're going to see this now I think the uh R has has a similar interpretation and he says similarly I should have learned from him says beautiful and say similarly what is do you see the picture of the soldier with theum that the bullet the tum stopped the bullet someone said to me even a bullet can't make it through kutes kutes is the longest peric inum the one it's alphabetical order you spell names takes forever to say even a bullet can't make it through KU test anyways says from my enemies I gain wisdom what wisdom can I get from my enemy we can learn what not to do how not to behave who to never become but we can also learn that single-minded Focus that unyielding passion and tenacity that resolve it's channeled and directed in the wrong way but if we can somehow adopt and then adapt we can achieve incredible things when you see the power of the that it never gives up and it never gives in and it never takes a break and it never rests person should always learn from that and that's what it means from my enemies I should learn how to pursue look at the way that people pursue look at the money they spend look at how they run after look at how they stay up at night to do the wrong thing take those same energies and direct it to do the right things now we can understand what yov sent to ASV he didn't come to flex he didn't come to pra praise himself it wasn't a point of Pride his point was I could have and I should have learned and I didn't I didn't learn and therefore he was knocking himself to his brother in the hope that ASA will be more open to to greeting him okay that's the and let's keep going skip to Turn Turn the page page 172 yov became very frightened V means frightened V what does v meaner could mean AAR inclination could mean to create what does the mean here yov was scared V all right you're all cheating you're looking in the English you could cheat it's an open book test he became frightened and it distressed him it distressed him it made him stressed what's the difference between being afraid and being stressed the Torah uses two words that's describing two separate emotions that yakob was experiencing maybe we can relate to them maybe there's a lesson in it for us what was he experiencing it V he was afraid and as a result of that V so what did he do he led to action he divided the people into two the flock the cattle the camels two camps it was a military strategy he was diversifying the encampments so if he got attacked eliminated one they would survive there would be a there would be a future but what's the difference between V and V and here again we have many interpretations for you so Theos quotes for Shalom was very afraid yob was really afraid and then the fact that he was afraid got him very anxious why would being afraid make him anxious I mean being afraid is in itself an expression of anxiousness but it's not just the fear included anxiousness it's being afraid made him anxious why why continues if you ever feel yourself panicked afraid frightened then you have to ask yourself where's my amuna now there is a natural in the amuna sh we've been learning we finished we're going to start something new tomorrow we were learning the aim of the P the previous G during the Persian Gulf War we learned the beautiful mimer of his during the Persian Gulf War in which he validated if you put on a gas mask and you're going into a sealed room there's something wrong with you if your heart's not fluttering a little bit a little healthy fear if you live Fearless then you will live Reckless healthy fear is good because it means you'll drive safer and it means you won't go to the edge of the cliff literally and figuratively of life so a healthy fear is good but a debilitating fear a fear in the extreme is in fact an expression of a failure of am because if a person realizes you could listen to the conversation I had the other night with mosha g mosha g the author of of it's all the same to me and his new book The Three conditions we had a conversation on Sunday night the B's idea of shave everything's equal equinity it's all the same to me that means that I have a range of emotions in life there's happiness and joy and laughter there's sadness and grief and pain and everything in between there's a range of emotions that's human and that's real and that's valid but behind each of those emotional experiences and expressions is the absolute knowledge that what's all the same is that it's all from Hashem there's an Almighty he's curating he's choreographing he's organizing all that happens not a victim of Randomness or chance to know that nothing that happens is random or chance doesn't bring a loved one back doesn't make pain less as much as it doesn't make me less happy to know that the source of this happiness is not coincidence but is Hashem in both directions it's not meant to dve the emotion that's natural to experience but behind the emotion is the knowledge hisas equinity that it's all the same why is it all the same because it all traces to Hashem it all traces it all comes back to Hashem I'm gonna give you a terrible metaphor but if a person is watching a film if there is such an appropriate film that a person should watch speaking of theara but if a person is watching a film there are parts of the film that will make you cry they tug on the hearts the heartstrings they're emotional they make you cry parts of the film that you laughed out loud they were hilarious but one thing you know about the film is that there was a writer and a director to the whole film you're not watching something unfold that's just random or chance or it just happens to be coming together that's what hisas means there are times in life I'm going to cry there are times in life I'm G to laugh I'm not trying to suppress those emotions but I meant to trace back that at all times I know with a certain sense of Peace inner peace I could have an inner peace and cry because there's grief I could have an inner peace and be singing and dancing with joy because there's Sim but inside there's a peace and a sameness to know that nothing is chance and random it all comes from a higher power we call Hashem that's the summary of the conversation Sunday night still read his book still listen to the conversation and this is something that needs every single day more and more and more work to live with that that that as I live my life with the range of emotion I'm not living it as R mosha put it down here I'm not going for my range of at a low level I'm living it up here I'm with you I'm living with the director I'm living with the writer I don't know how the movie turns out I don't even know what's in the next scene and I don't know whether I'm going to be laughing or crying but however the next scene turns I know that there's a writer and that there's a director and that the film will conclude the way it's meant to be that nothing about it is chance or random so says Theos what was yob saying vob mod yob was experiencing a moment of unhealthy unwarranted panic and what did he do immediately he did a gut check he did an evaluation and he said to himself uhoh I'm deeply troubled my level of panic my level of anxiousness my level of fear I'm not talking by the way I want to be very clear you know our support for mental health somebody who's diagnosed with anxiety and those challenges we're not talking about it's because you lack don't go to a doctor skip your medicine just go to the Amir Amir is also very helpful it's not me saying that doctors will tell you that but a person needs to also Engage The Other support they need we're not talking about somebody who's been diagnosed with anxiety we're talking about everyday anxieties that we have that more and more of us have that before Corona certainly during Corona since October 7th person almost needs to see a doctor if they're not having some anxiety and ask themselves how are they alive do they have a pulse if they're not after a Corona after October 7th after the rise of anti-Semitism but but there's out of range and yako felt what I'm feeling is out of range this is not the range of what the P validated you should feel if you put on a gas mask and go to a sealed room yov felt severe and therefore what bothered him was uhoh so therefore what the two separate experiences it's not a redundancy we asked says was afraid and he was afraid it's a redundancy it's repetitive says the no it's not he was very afraid of as and then he got very afraid that he was afraid where's my where's my what's going on I'm the son of I'm the grandson of a I'm the father of the sh where's my where's my where's my equinity where's myav where's my confidence and my clarity my knowledge that everything's from Hashem so I'll take my three-step formula diplomacy and prayer and preparing for war my three-step formula I'm going to do it all but without panic because I know Hashem is in charge so very important and beautiful interpretation of that these are two separate experiences V and V see several more several more the says V he was very afraid of asov he's about to face his brother he's about to face his Beast hun Barbarian of a brother he was afraid the fear came from his brother the worry came from his wives say hey yov we were happy at home shepherdesses growing up nice life all good would' you bring us to this dangerous situation why you bringing us to the Middle East where everyone's got Rockets pointed at us we were all well and good what's going on says is from his wives who had the seemingly legitimate complaint what do you bring us into this the ham says differently meaning he was afraid of but then says the is he sensed he had a premonition and the premonition is what scared him you ever wake up in the morning having after to had a dream you have a premonition about something says those are the two emotions that he felt says he was afraid of as of himself he also was anxious over what distressed him was asa's Army again each of them are bothering from are starting from the same point what's the point each of them are starting from why do we have two words and we just read the almost done have Tor let's get to The KES we don't stop and think each of these were bothered they weren't just reading the par they weren't just trying to get through it they were trying to understand it when you read aask and there seems to be a redundancy you have to stop and ask what why same emotion different emotion same cause to different causes and what's beautiful is once you ask the question then look how many beautiful answers there are look how many beautiful answers the we saw to he was afraid because he heard that ASA was coming after him to fight V and he was distressed he thought why is as now coming to get him what must that mean what is that indicating y must have died why the fact that ASA was coming to attack him now why would that indicate that died because strategy was who is as what's the Mitzvah he excels at asov is even better than yov even better than yob so yob says to himself I know that ASA will never put a finger on me while my father's alive he would never do that to Dad so if he's coming after me now what must that mean something happened to tati something happened to Aba I'm hedging because I don't know what Yakov called his father something must have happened so that's how the Das and bosos understand the two words uh oh Brothers coming after me uh oh that must means something happened to Aba has another interpretation he says you know what I'm not going to prepare myself for war because what message will that send what will that signal to asov if I show up wearing a ceramic bulletproof vest and a gun around my back you know when you're ready and living with war it's my sister's birthday the other day I facetimed her to wish her happy birthday she was out for dinner with her husband the first time since before rashash she has two sons-in-law and a son in the Army so she was almost apologetic not that she had to be she certainly deserved it to be out for dinner she deserved it but she said to me she showed me she turned her FaceTime camera around and said let me show you what being out to dinner right now means and at almost every table there was somebody wearing a M16 a gun on back that's what it means to be out to dinner right now in Israel so yob says if I show up to dinner with asov and even if I'm dressed nicely but I've got a gun around my what message am I sending him so he's worried to not come with a gun he's worried to come with a gun if I come with a gun he doesn't come with a gun I'm going to ruin it all if I don't come with a gun but he came with a gun I'm in trouble that's why has another interpretation but I think we've seen a lot so isn't it amazing if you just stop and pause to ask the question v v look how many we saw one two three four five six seven interpretations so far about why we would have those two words but we're not done yet order now and you yet we're not done yet another interpretation says the following these all go together and in these you see that yob did several things he divides his family into two when did he do that before or after he listened to a living with Amun asir look at the chronology of the P this is very important listen up yob is afraid of as then he's afraid of the fact that he got afraid uh oh I just had a major dip fail in B and amuna then he GED himself in Amun got himself ready reoriented recalibrated himself to have faith in Hashem and did what next divided his camp in two if you have such faith in Hashem what are you doing just get to the Bas Mish just open your tum why do you need an army why you need a military isn't Torah protects us isn't what will take care of us why did he divide the AR the camp in too what's the problem I thought if you have then everything will be okay and if you have soldiers or Davin for them then maybe you're showing that you don't really have faith that Hashem is going to take care of you why is Yakov doing that says the rashash of the Brooklyn to you know why because a yid has a responsibility to do a Jew has to take initiative we have to operate in the natural order and the natural world once he divides the camp in two then he turns to open his then he opens the tillum he starts to what did he do first sayum and then when that's done just ahe just in case a few of you grab a gun go to the front just in case we won't need it because the TM will take care of us no says baram first Army soldiers military then when that's set in the natural order the natural world you've taken the initiative that is required of you now he opens the tum and starts davening [Music] even though tells us a person should always be always D before the comes but if you already find yourself in a crisis first first initiative and then you go D you know why because if you begin with daving you know what Hashem says to you uh buddy how do you expect me to make a miracle for you if you don't take the steps the initiative for yourself what do you want me to do you have thousands to the north and thousands to the South and I ran on the verge of a nuclear weapon and in the natural order if you don't have a border and boundaries and you don't have a military and soldiers and you don't have a strategy and a system then there's Hashem says those kind of Miracles I don't do so you take the initiative and I'll make Miracles within your initiative that look like the natural order so you've got to take the first step here's how I understand it and where do we learn this from what happened when we were found between the Rock and the hard place the first rock and place called the yam and the MIT before we between andas we were between the rock the the uh Sea and the mitam and you know what K Isel did they just got back from their year in Israel and they found themselves in a crisis oh they had the biggest TM rally ever opened up their they started and what does hem say to MOS Hashem says to mosha mosha what what's going on down what are you doing aren't you in charge of these people what are you doing m is like yeah isn't it beautiful tum massive tum unbelievable Hashem says buddy this is not the time for tum there'll be a time of course we say of course the centrality of Tor and F we're gonna get to that of course the Yakov but first start walking start moving hisas initiative says from our par you see the formula from moments of crisis an urgency from moments of conflict and War we have to take our initiative and the way I have always understood it is what is the T telling us not that we take initiative that has nothing to do with Hashem and then we doav and it's all up to Hashem the way that I always understood it is we dve in in two ways we dve in with our hands and feet and we dve in with our mouths we dve in through initiative when we say Hashem I'm taking my initiative but guide it protect it make it successful and then we dive in with our words but if we don't ding with our hands and feet then Hashem says don't come ding with your words salich says similarly salich says also yov yakob was very frightened if yakov's anour included Angels ready to take orders why was yob so afraid the book of Mal describes how one Angel destroyed 180,000 of s's Army so that's a pretty good ratio one Angel got rid of 180,000 of San's Army must be we de devalue the lives of San because of that ratio why was Yakov so concerned about an army of only 400 if one Angel could take care of 180,000 then certainly the angel hasem promised them can take care of 400 measly soldiers of asov say similarly because this is obvious and this has always been our M miracles do not occur as long as the natural Cosmic order is not pursued man must seize the initiative in a natural way no Miracles occur until all natural means are exhausted the Angels would not give assistance as long as yov can handle the situation why then did Yakov send Angels at all Yakov thought it was impossible for a son of Y and a grandson of ab to be spiritually insensitive that asa's road to repens could not be entirely blocked Angels were a common sight in's home yov to the sight of angels might awaken a feeling of longing in ASA of nostalgia and Contrition but Yakov understood that despite sending an angel and an angel easily could defeat 400 that's only if you also operate in the natural order we have to take initiative we have to take AAS we have to take AAS okay he also has oh you know what I'm gonna read this one too says we shared seven eight interpretations why both words do they mean two separate things and were they stimulated by two separate reasons C of Sal get another reason Rashi comments that yob suggests yob expressed fear he might be killed veter conveys yakov's concern he might have to kill others you know the famous golden ear quote we can forgive them for killing us but we can't forgive them for turning our sons into Killers who have to kill them something like that that's where Sal understands here is V I'm afraid ASV is gonna kill us V but I just realized that means to stop him we might have to kill him and to turn me and my family and my Entourage into people who have to killer that made him afraid why yakob recognizing this conflict with Asa would continue until the Messianic era was afraid that his descendants would ultimately come to adopt as's violent of what scared him was that they would have to wear the Y ASV he didn't want them to have to wear the Y ASV V he was afraid of V I can't tell you how afraid I am of this we ran a program in our community a couple times called peace of mind it's extremely expensive in which we brought a unit of the army to bokeh who had gone through a conflict in Israel fought one of the wars and never dealt with their PTSD and we brought them with their therapist they spend a week in our community it's a beautiful program it's not B they run it all over our community did it twice peace of mind because when a person is in Battlefield and what they face and what they're forced to do and the decision they have to make and the conditions they have to live in are not easily forgotten v y v he's worried what if something happens to them in the battlefield V and what will be with them after the battlefield if that's not a partial perspective for today I don't know one it's incredibly oh you see I'm guilty now I got to pay for the nro because my kids don't know I give a par on Tuesday Mornings 9:30 to 10:30 so give them a canas have to give them a can so we saw eight or nine interpretations why both words but this last one of salich boy is it resonate today V what if they kill our boys but V what will be of our boys if they have to kill them by wow wow okay let's keep going says I've become diminished by all the kindness and all the truth that you've done for me for with my staff I cross the yarding and now I have become separated broken up into two separate camps I understand understand why feels I understand why he feels diminished by theem you did more for me than I deserved you went above and beyond konti I understand but what does it mean M A what does that mean I became diminished mola Ms Ms means truth if it's truth and if it's just then why should Yakov be diminished for it he wasn't cashing in on anything he was deserving of it it's truth it's Ms says rash Ms that you followed your word that you kept your word that you guarded me and you follow through on all the promises that you made me so bothered says that he's bothered that's a big deal is so impressed you kept your word would you ever contemplate for a moment that Hashem would want run his world not through truth God's signature is truth so what's going on over here when Rashi interprets this I don't know what he's adding not only did you keep your promises sh you safeguarded your promises not not you fulfilled your promises what language does rash use not you fulfilled sh means you garded ising for here is not that Hashem fulfilled his word well yob is thinking Hashem for is thank you for guarding me so that I lived in a way that I was worthy of you fulfilling your promise thank you and that's what he says is the meaning at the never did we doubt for a moment that God you would follow through on your word but Sher what it means you guarded is you guarded me so that I made the right decisions and I live the right life so that I was worthy of your indeed following through on that promise also is bothered by this expression of Ms he also tackles it what kind of Ms over here so listen to what he says it's a very novel very interesting interpretation save me from my brother from God promised I'm with you I'll take care of you so why was yob so worried tells us was worried about means maybe the sin he'll lose out on the maybe because of his mistakes he'll be Unworthy of the promise the protection which mistake maybe because of which what was he worried about when first came to to get the what did he say I am as your eldest son now true Rashi has a whole way of getting out of it Ani period hard stop asov period hard stop rash has a creative way of getting out of it butov lied told his father I am as of your eldest son he lied he wasn't mtic Bono he didn't say the truth and now he's worried all this time 20 years he's been holding on to uh oh I lied to my father and I'm the and I lied to my father that's gonna come back to bite me so that's what he says he says save me from my brother from that's a strange word because an I am afraid of him it's a peculiar word there an says not peculiar at all at all you know I I'm afraid because I lied to my father and I said now now we can understand because what's the what was the which that's what he was worried about that's what he was worried about that's what he wasn't being m in that was the fear okay we have time for one last idea which gets us about a third of through what we prepared I wanted to spend some time talking to you about punishment also a big message for today Collective punishment do we believe in Collective punishment and we'll finish with this why is collective punishment come up in our paraa also very important for what's going on because we know the story Dina is abducted this is not the first time in Jewish history we've had Jewish hostages Dina was held hostage she was kept captive by a terror group called and what do Le and Shimon do they come up they concoct an entire scheme in order to retrieve rescue their sister Dina and why do they do that why are they led to do that because the the Torah tells us no way this can happen we can't let this stand they say this can't stand our sister is abducted no way goes back first the beginning of peral they came in they heard it they were very upset and they said this can't this can't happen this can't happen we can't sit by we can't allow this we can't give him so what do we do they can the whole scheme and they get the entire city of to pretend they can convert give bris in their third day when they're the weakest they come and they decimate the commentaries are all bothered isn't this Collective punishment the innocent civilians of Shem just kill benem who was the one who kidnapped and raped Dina just go after the Kamas Savages what about the innocent civilians what about Collective punishment the ethics of war and Collective punishment we don't have time to go through it at length but the ran deals with this question and the ran quotes the r who deals with this question but I want to read to you in conclusion the G which is the commentary of the Mari prag on Rashi and he says the following sinned good kill him but the whole city what did they do Collective punishment inocent civilians and he quotes the ra says because because all non-jews are obligated in the seven noahide laws and one of the seven noahide laws is to observe a system of justice and this was a gross Injustice this is also a lesson when people sit idly by and allow Terror to reign in their hospitals and mosques and kindergartens when they vote in terrorists democratically as governance when they are pulled and 70% say we're proud of what the terrorists did then they are not innocent civilians and victim they are in fact accompli to the heinous Terror that's the ra because there is an obligation one of the seven laws is Den is Justice and when a person does not stand for and fight for and vote for justice then they are also guilty that is the r but says you know when you talk about innocent bystanders and innocent civilians when you're not in a war but War by definition has its own set of rules and laws for example a person can't go up to someone else and kill them but in war you defeat the enemy you're not violating murder it's not an act of murder in war because War has its own set of laws came since this was a national War abducted in the name of the whole city in the home of the name of the whole nation the whole country it became a war between two Nations and when there is a war between two peoples the laws of warfare are what are what govern now in war let me be very clear there's not a more ethical moral army in the world than the Israeli Army and in War of course we still try to preserve of course we have to still try to protect innocent lives however War always has civilian casualties Google look it up later how many civilians that America kill in Iraq and Afghanistan how many what do you think it is 10 100 a thousand 10,000 it's more than half a million we're not proud of that I'm sure the American Army did everything it could to avoid that but that is the nature of war and do you know who is responsible for the loss of those civilian lives is not the Army who protected itself but the aggressor the initiator the immoral unethical terrorist who launched it to begin with they are the ones responsible with the loss of those civilian lives but don't hesitate because that's part of War and says the mar the G Rashi that is the right and the responsibility the right and the responsibility ques as applying still to today it's a lot more to say and unpack on this question of collective punishment and civilian War we didn't get into yakob wrestling with the angel at all who was the angel why did he go back for these small flasks when yob meets up with asov to whom do you belong he tells the messengers they're going to ask who do these belong to which is a funny question who else could they belong to there's a lot more to say but we're going to read again next year in together please stay for