Yishai Show: Chaos and Perfection

[Music] I love everybody and welcome to the shy pleasure show broadcasting live from F rocks that's right the biblical city of F fraud a fraud Bethlehem in Judea yes I'm in Judea in the beautiful town of F fraud my new town my new hometown that's right it's it's a strange it's different but it's also really amazing because just 30 minutes to the north is Jerusalem where I lived for many years but 30 minutes to the south is heparin where I've been working now for two years and so I'm smack in the middle between the two loves of my life you know the the the great cities in my life heparin and Jerusalem and I'm very very thankful to be here it's a great town a fraud it's great for my family and it's it's really right between the two places that I love so much you know and you know how compromise is on the one hand it's never either of the things you're compromising but it also gives you access into both the things that you love and I'm very very thankful I'm also thankful for you being there wherever you are and I am thankful to the great folks at the Land of Israel Network Land of Israel Network which is given us the opportunity to broadcast to you and we have many more great shows and I want to thank you so much for joining us I want to thank also right off the tap I'm gonna I'm gonna kind of reverse the order today I'm going to thank things in the beginning and not worry about it at the end if you hear any kind of kids knocking on my door or anything like that just know that I'm in my own house recording which is great but you know how that is the kids are not asleep yet so I want to thank my beloved wife maka Fleischer for helping me live and exists and and just being you know the love of my life so thank you so much maka for that I want to thank my children and hope that they can the two bigger ones can babysit the latter what little littler the small one because he's a handful he style he is he's all the the he's all the rage he's all the action is these travel very cute but also very rambunctious and cute any case this week the reason I'm not with Rabbi Mike foyer here on the beloved land of Israel Network broadcasting from a fried as I said is because actually this is a Torah portion which I'm very connected to especially through my work and remember my work in Hebron that because it's a job but because it's a passion but this is one this is the big one this is the weekend this is the Shabbat that everybody comes to Chevron 25,000 people are coming VIPs are coming Knesset members ministers chief rabbis etc all kinds of people all show up in Hebron and it's a compilation celebration we celebrate so many things at the same time but that's the simple reason that people come is because of the Torah portion itself and the irony is that I have so much to say about this Torah portion and I'm sure rabbi Mike does as well but the irony is is because this Shabbat is so special that we've been really working very very hard I'm recording this late and Tabitha from the land of Israel Network is gonna be putting this up late and Moshe from the Isha Fleischer Network System is putting it up late and everything is pushed off because there's been so much pressure and the BBC is coming and this is coming and that is coming and everybody's calling me at the last minute that they want to show up and I get it you know everybody wants to be part of this of this special story and and the reason this is a special story is that this Shabbat when we read this Torah portion we are going to be reading about the first purchase of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel we're going to be reading about Abraham's purchase of the Maha Pella to bury his beloved wife Sarah and so we're going to be learning about the the kind of the the the initial the word purchased is not the word I'm looking for there's the word Qingyuan which is like ownership gaining of ownership in the Land of Israel by Abraham that's one aspect of the Torah portion and then there's a whole aspect of the Torah portion which is about thee the people of Israel is supposed to the land of Israel the people of Israel and that is the continuation of Isaac this young man born miraculously almost offered up to God by the hand of his own father at the akkada they've at the binding and now what you know we've we got the the promise that that Isaac is gonna is gonna be the continuation of Abraham but it was gonna help who's gonna who's gonna be the you know the continuing who's gonna be the lady who's gonna be the ladies that gonna happen and yes we found that in the last term portion then a very special girl her name is Rivka was born and she is the intended mate in really this incredible counterweights to yet slacker so maybe we maybe we should start from Rivka for a second I really I really love riff cos a character so much the best thing about rifki is that if you ever read every single one of her lines in the Bible in the Torah you will find that that that more than anybody else there is nobody that that that that is so sure-footed like Rivka Rebecca there's nobody who's so it fires and acts with total fast undoubted conviction that's a lesson I guess for all of us right to have that ability to be with total conviction if you want to if you want to learn from from a character in the Torah that doesn't hem and haw and doesn't have self-doubt and doesn't have you know insecurity problems like so many of us like all of us do rifki has no insecurities problems she always knows what's right and and that that basically happens when when Abraham's we first meet that when Abraham's servant who's identified as Eliezer but the Torah portion does not call him that those just calls him the servant that also teaches you something about being in the service of Abraham you kind of when you're kind of less important than Abraham you're the servant and sometimes when we work for Abraham especially in hay bran there's an element that we lose you know we don't have to send an element of losing it's it's it's not I'll give you an example what I mean people say to me shy you're uh semi-famous a little bit you're kind of known I say I'm known are you joking me I work for known people I work for Abraham Isaac and Jacob Sarah Becca and land they are known people the Bible has chosen to write about them but I am not known I'm I'm just a small person and I'll do my part in my life and and if I can honor the the great memory of of these great people and and and honor God's most beloved people then then I've done my role but I used to live next to Cemetery so I know that the great people come and go and most of us don't our names aren't remembered but Abraham Isaac and Jacob Sarah Beckett Leah and Rachel of course I remembered so that's the servant the servants he doesn't have exactly a name because he's in the service in the emissary work of Abraham but the tradition identifies him as Eliezer and it makes sense because we learned that his number-one servants as Eliezer in any case Eliezer goes out to Quran to southern Turkey to find a gal the right gal a suitable girl a gal for Yitzhak oh and by the way yeah and I caught a little bit of a cold throughout the week as well thanks a lot I listened to a friend of mine I went jogging and I came back I'm like I think I just caught a cold anyway so the servant goes out to Quran he's in a place where nobody knows him and he looks up to God and he says you know God if you if you really love Abraham and you want to do kindness with them please help me find the right the right woman and the way to do it is is if I'm asking for a sign and the sign is that the sign is that if a girl comes out and in offers to water my camels and give me water because I am thirsty and and waters the the camels indeed she will have proven herself to be from the right family from the right people hood that is what I need for a for Isaac my servant son I'll even read that right from the text so you can get the feeling of the dramatic element there and here's the servant and he says Hashem God of my master Abraham may you so arranged for me this day that you do kindness you that you do kindness with my master Abraham behold I am standing by the spring of water and the daughters of the townsmen come out to draw water let it be that the maiden to whom I shall say please dip over your jug so that I may drink and her replies drink and I will even water your camels her will you have designated for your servant for Isaac and may I know through her that you have done kindness with my master and it was when he had not yet finished speaking that suddenly Rebecca was coming out she who had been born to Beth well the son of Milcah the wife of the brother of Abraham with her jug on her shoulder now the maiden was very fair to look on a virgin who no man had known she descended to the spring filled her jug and ascended the servant ran towards her and said let me sip if you please little water from your jug she said drink my lord and quickly she lowered her jug to her hand and gave him to drink when she finished giving him to drink she said I'll draw water even for your camels until they have finished drinking anyway he's totally amazed that the man was astonished at her reflecting silently to know whether Hashem had made his journey successful or not and it was when the camels had finished drinking the men took a golden nose ring it's weight was a Becca and two bracelets on her iron and he put two bracelets on her arms ten gold shekels was the weight and he said whose daughter are you and so on meaning to say he was just so he had he made this kind of deal with God and there it was before even finished speaking it happened so he's the kind of ultimate you know emissary and God does a miracle through him and he goes back to the her family and they sit down and they try and then and he tells them the story about how it all happened he tells him about Abraham and his success and the birth of Isaac and he says let me take let me take Rebecca so they're like no you know let her let her hang out with us for like a month you know we can't just say goodbye to her and he says to them look if you delay me I can't be delayed I need to succeed on my mission tell me right now is she coming with me or not then they come to the conclusion that the best way to really do this is to just ask Rebecca right ask grifter what she says I love the Hebrew v : Africa they called rifki l'amour la and they said to her hat till he EEMA each has their shall you go with this man now who is this man the total stranger right tell a stranger with with with with with wild-eyed stories so they like Rebecca um let's just ask you a question are you gonna go with this man and she has one line here she says LS LS means I will go I am going I shall go I'm going I'm out and the next thing we learned is that she kind of rides the camels in a sense ahead of the servant and she's leading the pack ahead and this is Rebecca you know she is she is sure sure footed about her decisions there's incredible personality and and he follows her throughout always knows exactly what she wants one word LF you know can I have some of your water absolutely and I'll give some to your camels as well not I don't know I don't know who you are you're a stranger they should show you go with him well let me consult with my mom no I'm ready to go she goes on her way with this servant and in the distance she sees a man coming from the field what does this field this is the field of the Michaela where Abraham was buried isaac used to do the afternoon prayer there used to meditate there and talk to God commune with God and he saw her from a distance she saw him from a distance and it is there's my son who jumps in hello yes trial hello Israel okay Sarah you got to go out of this room hey guys I was in my room when I'm recording so from a distance Rebecca also sees Isaac and she famously falls off the camel I prefer to think that she didn't actually fall off the camel but the word is a little bit different than has a different meaning and then she prays from the top of the camel because the word fatigued pole it can also come from the work to feed laughs but she prayed from atop her camel and that's because Isaac and Rebecca were famous for being able to pray in the same room the Midrash tells us in different corners and they had an incredible impact they were just standing different corners and pray and he was coming from the field and he was praying in Rebecca rifka sees him from a distance and he's praying she immediately begins to pray they are what do you call those harmony kind of sticks you know those harmony you can have you when you harmonize with one of the sticks but the one in the same pitch starts to vibrate as well so that's what they're like rifki Rebecca and Rifkin's rock and it has the most beautiful lines at the end of the story portion and then towards the end of this story actually it says well let me read to you that part that I just meant Isaac went out to supplicate in the field towards evening and he raised his eyes and saw and behold camels were coming and Rebecca raised her eyes and saw Isaac she inclined while upon the camel right so this is a special kind of translation there like she leaned usually means that she fell but but my explanation is that she prayed and she said to the servant who is that man walking in the field towards us and the servant said he is my master she didn't took the veil and covered herself the servant told Isaac all the things he had done and Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah his mother he married Rebecca she became his wife and he loved her and thus was Isaac consoled after his mother so what we see is that at the end of the Torah portion Isaac is consoled he marries Rebecca but there's a word here that is not often used in Judaism and that is romance right it's a very romantic words Shh Rebecca took the place of Sarah he brought her into Sarah's tent and he loved her and this is very important because the beginning of the Torah portion which was which is kind of why it's such a big deal in Hebron is because Abraham loved Sarah and and he came to to honor Sarah and he wanted to bury her and give her the most beautiful plot and he found the plot which was connected to the Garden of Eden and that's what he loved about the Machpelah and that's what he wanted to to connect Sarah to he also probably knew that it would be great way to hold on to the Land of Israel if he buried Sarah in the holiest place and the tombs of the fathers and mothers are really anchors spiritual and historical and narrative anchors for the Jewish people in the Land of Israel and that's what Abraham does and he does it if you read the first part of the love the Torah portion he does it with full contractual obligations there's actually no God in the purchase of the Mafia and the purchase of the land the tomb of the what's going to become the tomb of the patriarchs and matriarchs call them up a lot the double cave there's actually like no God there he comes into that in into into negotiations with the Hittites and and it doesn't say God gave him the land God promised him the land he had a dream that God should give him to land it just says he went into negotiations he said to them call out I'm looking for this guy named Ephron the Hittite and I want to buy from him this plot of land and Efron says I'm willing to give it to you for free but Abraham says no I want to buy it I want to buy in full I want to purchase I don't want a present and and that's what he does he purchased it he purchases the Martha a lot for 400 silver weight and it becomes an eternal inheritance for the Jewish people one of the things that I am always thinking about and I'll be speaking about that this Shabbat and remember I remind you that there's going to be 25,000 people and a lot of VIPs all kinds of folks are coming to heaven for Shabbat one of the things that I'm gonna be talking about is that Ephron the Hittite one of the things that I'm gonna be talking about is that the czar says that Ephron the Hittite looked towards the Machpelah in towards that cave and field and you know what he saw he saw Touhou Evo who he saw he saw a totally messed up dirty backwards and disordered this unified world and Abraham he saw the Garden of Eden when you look at Hebron today you could also come and see if you come and visit you'll also see with your fleshly eyes you'll see an upside-down world a world of randomness and disorder and chaos and entropy a world of chaos and the Jewish people who live in have run they saw like they see like Abraham saw the beauty the future perfection the Garden of Eden all right it's the exact opposite of one another the exact opposite of one another some people see total confusion and other people can see within that confusion brilliance an order and genius and and beauty and history and meaning that isn't isn't amazing the not amazing how how how there's such opposites in a place and hey bran it's amazing that you really get to see something that is so for some people it just seems like the most tangled and in and unpeaceful and the destructive and and violence and other people can see that there's a beauty there and that there's life and that there's actually romance and that romance is also procreative and life-giving and Families born there it's it's to me it's incredibly ironic how the the broken elements of Hebron coexist with the beautiful elements of Hebron I guess I'm having a little meditative moment here myself without rabbi Mike to balance me out in any case I'm very excited to also be sharing this the this purchase document that when we read the Torah portion right there there is in my mind few moments in Judaism that feel like what it feels like on Shabbat I Saarinen have Rome and on this particular Sabbath and have bran something happens which is which is inexplicable which is when you read the Torah portion talking about Abraham's purchase in the place that he did that purchase with thousands of other people there's this like moment where like it all comes together like this is the place we are the people this is the language this is the land this is its secrets and this is its God above it all like comes together like when there's a good Torah reader right next to outside of Martha fill our inside and it just that that moment happens when you hear it being read from a mouth of a holy Jew who's a continuation of Abraham and this this this this contract is being read out the story of the contract and you see how real it is and and how perfect the Torres it all kind of comes together and all the all the mess around and about two years ago not about exactly two years ago we had a Shabbat hey Sarah and guess what there were shots fired by snipers against the Jewish community nobody was a soldier was hurt actually somebody was hurt that took a bullet to the leg but nobody was killed or badly injured but you know there's such a tension between the people of tow of a vote of the people of chaos and the energy of chaos and then this moment of perfection that happens in Shabbat morning and and and of course when we when we stand in front of the maratha acapella we really have to love each other not only because you know God commands us to love one another but because our parents are looking and we want to give knock us to our pants we want to give you - analysis a filling of cup of Jewish consolation to our to our beloved parents so what can I tell you you know it's like it's like a moment of peoplehood it's a moment of land ownership it's a moment of a belief that the Torah is written by God in its perfection so it's a theological moment it all just it all just comes together and and the envelope around that is this envelope of chaos and and if you if you ever come to everyone look at the children look at the men and women there's something very beautiful about them look at the art that comes out of her from very beautiful and it's exactly in this place of chaos that that beauty rises up and I find that to be a very special very miraculous I hope that that that one day the the beauty and the truth the particular scent of the Garden of Eden will overwhelm and will kind of [Music] but you know erase or whiteout the darkness that's there if you if you drive to everyone it is amazing how much trash has been thrown around by it by folks in the local population it's just it's incredible there's just trash everywhere it's trashed out and that's something that certainly has to be formed and cleaned and so you have a Torah portion here where you have the continuation the continuity of the Land of Israel the purchase of the Land of Israel the eternal ownership of Abraham and his seed of the Land of Israel and the continuation of Isaac and the continuity of Isaac Isaac who is this we kind of think of him as a kind of later on we'll learn in next week's Torah portion why why I would think that that he's kind of an introvert a quiet type not always social maybe somehow stilted by his experiences at the Mount Moriah the the rabbi's described him as a perfect offering there's something about him that's like as though his ashes are before the throne of God and so there's an element of like he's a little bit dead in some way like not dead like he's you know he's one of our great forefathers but there's he's not of this world that's really what I meant to say he's not of this world and yet Rebekah strongly in command knows exactly this world and and interestingly enough when she dies not in next week's Torah portion you kind of never hear about that you never you never really find out about that so she's very strong in this world but we kind of don't know of her process into the next world Isaac we kind of know his process until the next world almost from his you know inception but then you know his this worldliness is not strong and I know people in in in this world who were not so strong in this world they were they were already ethereal connected to the next world in any case folks as I told you it's a very very busy Shabbat and so my I am totally preoccupied with so many things and I'm gonna be speaking on Shabbat I'm very excited about that and and a lot of a lot of energy is generated through this excitement I'm tired like anything but I want to hear from you and I have heard from you I want to just finish up the show by talking about the folks that I've heard from recently so I heard from Gary Cohen who writes to me says last week remember we had an hour-long show and I asked people to write in and say did you listen to the end just right and I listened to the end of the show so Gary Cohen says I listen to the end of the show so Gary thank you and guess who else Jonathan H from California says I listen to the end of the show and Dina Grossman I said listen to the end and then she adds always do and also oh I think there's an aka there sorry anyway anyway Dena she she also has known as Diane and Libby Davis says listen to the end more than once oh good let me god bless you and you know you have to you have to tell me what I said last week and and also Dana Dana fish says Dana in Chicago she says he shine Rev Mike love love love your precious discussion I always learned something new always again food for thought and I always share your wisdom with the husband on our Shabbat walks with our dog Caleb right so caliph is is the word for dog in Hebrew and and Dana or Donna in Chicago says I always listen to the end and and I want to wish you and your husband the shabbat shalom and also to calif and and and here you remind me that calif is is the same spelling as the name Kalev or Caleb Caleb the son of Jephunneh you know you Funes could have any funny who I've always talked about and and his great moment is gonna come when he comes to Hebron by himself and he's gonna he's gonna pray the tombs of the fathers and mothers and and he connects all the way three books away we're in the book of Genesis in the beginning of Genesis after that after that we're gonna go through Exodus and Leviticus and then the Book of Numbers California he is going to come and and pray and kiss and see the courage and the beauty and the truth and the fearlessness and it's gonna connect to all that and bring that energy down the energy of Hebron by the way just just you clear this is in no way to compete with the uniqueness of Jerusalem Jerusalem is the number one city there's no question about that the temples in your shall I'm King David is in Hebron for seven years and moves to Jerusalem Jerusalem is number one Jerusalem is the heart of it all you shall I'm right you were saw him absolutely is the heart of it all but there's there's a there's a you know I always tell people a hammer-on is considered the second holiest city what does that even mean second all city's not even important what's first one one second think let me give you an example what's what's number one is it your head or your hearts which one is more important your head or your heart your brain or your heart which one are you willing to give them well you could probably say that you could give up your heart more right because there's probably some machinery that can pump your your blood but you can't give up your brain because nothing can replace it on the other hand I don't know how you could live without a brain you're not alive but you get your body can keep pumping the bottom line I'm trying to make here is that is that there are things that are important sure there's the number one that's the the center of it all but understand that you're number two is very very important it's very much part of love of the make up of the whole body right and so so heparin Chevron as opposed to Jerusalem it has a different role right and I like to say that we have two concepts sister concepts Bane Adama McComb and Bane Adama cavero we have two kinds of Commandments and two canons of relationships like rabbi micro he says relationships we have relationship with God we really ship with our fellow man and woman right and so Baena Dom Lim macomb that is Jerusalem the relationship between me and God God and the people God and Abraham the the God human relationship is really centered in in Jerusalem that's the meeting place of God and that's why that's number one that's why that's number one but the relationship they know that looks like a pharaoh you're Keane already here in the word is the connection between man and his brother or man and a sister between mankind and that's from the word sovereign ever own right friendship togetherness in the more interview man reaction interaction our our relationship to our forefathers and mothers that's Chevron right that's what everyone and that's also where we have to leave a bear to one another we have to have covered we have to have friendship we have to have communion community that's so very very important friends I have to go I really do I have a lot of whatsapp's waiting for me and a lot of stuff to take care of and I'm also tired and my throat hurts and I need to get my strength back but it is very important to me to talk with you through thick and thin I really have tried always to broadcast you whenever I can and I and I appreciate the opportunity to share with you these things that are so so dear to our people they dear to our people dear to dear to our forefathers and mothers right and and and it's a testimony to to our people hope that we can remember their memories and feel their feelings and of course that's through the great Torah it all comes together it's gonna all come together the Torah the peoplehood the land the God it's just it all it all becomes the most organic and holistic of all things and how great of an irony in this whole picture is how great of an irony is that is that this is what so many in the world want to deny this most organic and holistic of all things just the Jewish people in their lands it always when I think about it always baffles me it's just it's baffling and and yet the answer is within that bafflement we need to say that's exactly what those elements want to suppress which is this ultimate and incredible truth I want to thank the folks at the toilet organization tek h e le t and if then i couldn't make it oh yeah like you know a message about that also yes I did yes I did I got a message also from Ezra Ezra in the land Ezra G says how you shy on your last show you asked listeners to drop you an email I try to listen every Fridays I prepare for Shabbat loading the dishwashers cooking BB cueing etc and I'm a big fan I was one of your supporters and there's a hoot primaries and I'm part of the Sehun Anglos group Thank You Ezra you're the man fYI I've been thinking of buying together for a while and your regular reminders certainly kept it in my thoughts I put in an order last night and looking forward to becoming a true-blue Jew when the package arrives thanks for doing all that you do in regards from more wretched and lower Galil so that's a beautiful part of the land of Israel that is where Ezra lives I hope I get to hear you speak in person someday maybe somewhere in the Haifa karmiel area if not in our Mossad means Goff that's an area in Israel in which has quite a number of angles blessings Ezra Ezra god bless you thank you so much for your email I'm so excited for you to become a true-blue Jew you aren't going to feel totally reborn really as I did when I first put on the the blue toilet the website for that is t e KH e l ET de telecom and that is absolutely a gift for you in your life there are certain things in this world that are worth the money good to fill in right that's you know you know how I was safe what friends right villain is for the men right although women are allowed to put on tefillin but it's a men's commandment mezuzah is like for the women the household has to have an amazing mrs. I spend the money spend the money the best measures are that you can buy get great to fill in and get great toilet okay get it and and you'll see it you know it'll you know and get good flags it doesn't say that in the Torah but I say get good flags as well you know that that should in the same thought when you think about getting to Palin and get great art I have a piece of Noxon art here right now it's not an original it's a it's a lithograph work some kind of other technology and I'm looking at it I've been looking at it throughout this whole show as I've been recording because this of course Barth Nostrum is one of the greatest ever owned artists and I don't even know a website for him specifically right now but I love knocks on art I think it's knocks on art calm or something but it's you know na CH SH oh and fabulous thank you so much Berkeley now and God bless you I hope to see you all so over Kyocera Ezra thank you so much thank you to the good people who are making Jewish lego sets and when yet C will you make a beautiful mozzarella Lego set I'm looking forward to that that's found that J brick J BrickCon J brick calm who else do I want to thank I want to thank the good friends at Hebron Hebron fund dot o-r-g please folks donate yes give a little bit of money to honor the father and thy mother that's exactly what we're gonna do with the money that you give of course speaking of donations certainly the Land of Israel Network needs your donations Ari and Jeremy are bringing our building a beautiful headquarters in in Judea you got to see it and this network needs your support and yes yours truly as well yours truly is working hard to make great shows for you and other things and we have more great projects along on the way really great stuff as being a concocted right now so if you go to each I fly show calm and throw in a few of your hard-earned dollar shekels and yen that would be awesome and who else do I want to thank oh yes Jango my good friends of Jango net jangle net who are providing information about but actually it's the people who live in the Land of Israel providing that information but jangled that net is the is the premiere what's it called platform system and of course our good friend Zev stub is doing great stuff and he also wrote a beautiful article about this Shabbat and is around anyway folks I know I'm rambling it's just fun to be with you I want to bless you wherever you are and and I'm gonna make you a deal okay you can how am I gonna do this I want you to feel like you are there in Shabbat hey Sora I'm gonna Facebook live it as much as I can of course not during Shabbat the before Shabbat but if you hear this show in time send me your name and I will I will I will I will I will print out all the names and I will bless you guys on fascia on place or on Shabbat morning when they ask for the Misha barracks and not for not just for sick people just for anything and I will throw in your good name I will say it and I will bless you in a chevron on this special sabbath and you will be there because that's what this network is all about it's about helping you be there be here and it's also about bringing you here and connecting you to this place and making you jealous and making you angry that you're not here making you wish and want and and pray and and have that that revelation in your eyes that you've got to be connected one way or another to this great land this great story of this great Torah there's great people and this great God who is so kind to us that has given us a chance to live in this great great time of redemption and revelation and prophecy god bless you folks wherever you are write me an e-mail Yishai at the land of israel network you said the land of israel network.com and lots of love wherever you are god bless you stay strong stay tuned [Music] yes I know [Music]