Thinking Talmudist Podcast · Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe

00:00 - Intro (Announcement)
You are listening to Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe of Torch in Houston, Texas. This is the Thinking Talmudist Podcast.

00:14 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Welcome back, my dear friends, to the Thinking Talmudist Podcast. We're a little bit late, but you know what we have fun, and that's the objective here is to have fun while we learn Hashem's amazing words for us to learn and understand. Today's class is sponsored by Yossi and Ashleen Azulay for the speedy recovery of David ben Simona. David ben Simona should have a reforged shalem. He should have a speedy recovery and the Torah that we studied should be a merit to him. And thank you, yossi and Ashleen. I appreciate it so much. The Jewish people appreciate it so much. And now we begin. Today's Talmud is track date Barachot 7a. Previously we talked about that the Almighty prays, and here the Talmud begins by saying Rabbi Yochanan said in the name of Rabbi Yossi From where do we know that the Holy One blessed is he that he prays? The Gemara says. Of course, we know that every statement that's said in the Talmud needs to be backed up. It's not enough for someone to have an opinion, you have to back it up. It's not enough for someone to have an opinion, you have to back it up. This is not the Washington Post, where you can have anonymous sources. We don't have anonymous sources in the Torah. Everything needs to be sourced and you need to publish those sources. So the Talmud here asks what's your source to saying that the Almighty prays every single day? I will bring them to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of my prayer, the house of my prayer, the Almighty's house of prayer. It doesn't say their prayer, meaning the Jewish people's prayer or the people of the world's house of prayer, but rather it's my house of prayer, the house of my prayer. From here we learn that the Almighty prays. Now, what's your question? I know exactly what you're asking, anna. What's your question? Let me hear To who is God praying? What is going on here? We pray, we talk to Hashem, okay, but who does God pray to? Who does God pray to? What is going on over here? Prayer means I'm having a communication with someone. I'm talking to someone. We say prayer is a. You can't pray if you're arrogant. Right, because if you're not willing to accept that you need somebody else to assist you, then your prayer is nothing right. You can't come to God with prayer when you're arrogant. You have to be humble. That's why we bow when we pray. We bow, we're showing humility. Who is God praying to? God need to be humble, does God? God arrogant? I mean, what's going on over here? The Gemara now is going to ask exactly your question, anna. You're now a Talmudist. Right, exactly there we go.

03:22
The Gemara discusses the prayer of God. What is this prayer, my Matzli? What does God even say in his prayer? So the son of Tuvia said, in the name of Rav, may it be my will. I'm praying that it be my will. This is the Almighty's prayer. She yich b'shu rachamayiz kasi. That my mercy conquer my anger. V'yogoli rachamay al midosai, and that my mercy overcome my sterner attributes, v'esnaig imbonay b'midas harachimim, and that I behave towards my children with the attribute of mercy and that, for their sake, I go beyond the boundary of judgment. The Gemara cites a briso which records an almost identical prayer. Okay, so that's God's prayer, god's prayer that I should deal with my children with mercy and that I should not be in the measure of judgment, but rather with kindness. Tanya, we learned in a brisa Amr Abishmol ben Elisha Abishmol, the son of Elisha, said he was one time, on Yom Kippur, he was a high priest.

04:56
Only, the high priest went into the Holy of Holies and I entered into the Holy of Holies to burn incense. This is part of the offerings on Yom Kippur. Entered into the Holy of Holies to burn incense. This is part of the offerings on Yom Kippur. V'ro'isi akas rikel, ko' Hashem, tzvokos. And I saw akas rikel, ko' Hashem, tzvokos. What is that?

05:16
Ko' Hashem and tzvokos are all scriptural names of God. That means I saw the presence of God. However, we don't call God directly by his name. We say it a little differently. The name does not show up anywhere in liturgy, except for Shabbos, in our special prayers, the Shabbos before Pesach.

05:45
But either way, he was the holy of holies and he is saying that he saw the presence of Hashem there. And God is sitting on the high and lofty throne. And he said to me God. God said to him Yishmael, my son, bless me. God is asking. Yishmael, the Kohen Gadol, bless me.

06:28
So what did he say, amartilo? I said to the Almighty Yehi ratzon milfonecho, may it be your will, hashem, sheyich b'shu rachamecho eskazcho. That your mercy conquer your anger. V'yagol u rachamecho amidoshecho, and may your mercy overcome your sterner attributes, and that you behave towards your children with the attribute of mercy and that you, for their sake, you go beyond your boundary of judgment. And how did God respond? God nodded with his head to me, demonstrating his approval.

07:12
The Talmud says this is the same prayer that God himself prays about himself. He prays that his mercy should overcome his sternness and his anger, and he should be with mercy in front of the Almighty. So the Gemara now isolates the lesson to be derived from this incident. So what do we learn from this? Rabbi Shmuel comes to inform us. What does he tell us from this?

07:44
Let me ask you what's going on over here? The Almighty doesn't need the prayers or the blessings from anybody. God, so to speak, asks for Yishmael, the Kohen Gadol, to give him a blessing. He gives him a blessing and God says Thank you. Thank you very much, I appreciate it. Let me ask you a question. God needs his prayers.

08:09
Is this Kohen Gadol, this high priest on the level of God, that God should need his blessings? I mean, relative to God, he's kind of a nobody. I mean, think to God, he's kind of a nobody. I mean, think about it, right. Relative to God, who's the Kohen Gadol? Who's the high priest? It's like when you're flying on a plane and you see little ants walking on the ground. You see these little, teeny little cars. You're on the plane, 30,000 feet. You look down and you see these little teensy-weensy cars and it's like insignificant. What are we relative to the Almighty? That the Almighty? After you smoke, god gives him the blessing. He nods in approval.

08:57
Talmud says we learn from here don't ever take the blessing of another person, as simple as they may be, a simpleton, a nobody, so to speak. Don't take it in vain, don't take it lightly. It's an enormous blessing. Take it seriously, because the blessing of a nobody is something, because there is nobody who's a nobody. Everybody is something special.

09:29
I want to bring you a proof, an amazing thing, also having to do with the Kohen Gadol. You know that when someone killed somebody by mistake, there's a whole tractate, tractate, makot. What happens if someone is climbing up a ladder and he falls off the ladder by mistake? Who falls off the ladder on purpose? Nobody. He falls off the ladder, falls on somebody else and kills him. Such a person runs to exile, and exile is like a place of refuge where you're safe If you're in the city of refuge.

10:11
There were three cities of refuge in the land of Israel, three cities of refuge, as the Torah tells us, in Transjordan, and you would run. Wherever you went, there was always a sign telling you where you can run away to, to the city of refuge. You were in the city of refuge. The family of the person who was killed cannot take revenge. You were safe. And what got you free? Only one thing got you free If the high priest died, there was an atonement for all of those people and they would be set free.

10:48
So the mother of the Kohen Gadol, the mother of the high priest, would go there, to that city of refuge, and she would wine and dine these people and she would make clothes for them. She would take care of all these criminals. Why that they don't pray? That her son, the high priest, that he should die? Our sages ask really these are the murderers? That her son, the high priest, that he should die? Our sages ask really these are the murderers, these are the people who killed other. They have blood on their hands and you're worried about their prayers. You're worried about their prayers. These guys have a lot of things to clean up before you get worried about that. They've got a lot of issues to handle. You're worried about their prayers? Our sages tell us yes, because there's no prayer that's wasted. There's no prayer, even of the lowest of society. Their prayers have power, and the mother of the Kohen Gadol recognizes this and that's why she would wine and dine them so that hopefully, they're happy that she's taking care of them and they won't pray for her to become irrelevant by her son dying and then stop taking care of them.

12:12
Because every prayer is a powerful prayer and when someone gives you a blessing, don't ever say, well, if you were a little bit more righteous, if you had a longer beard or you looked a little bit more serious, if you were the Dalai Lama, you were the Pope, you were someone holy, then I would take your blessing seriously. But you, just being the guy I meet at the country club, the guy I play golf with, the guy I play pickleball with, eh, what do I take about your blessing? No, talmud tells us take every blessing seriously, because God took every blessing seriously. That's something you learn from this. Someone says you should have a good day. Thank you, thank you. Don't take someone's blessing lightly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Everyone says that. No, no, no, no, no. That blessing can have power. Don't take it lightly. So profound, it's, so important. You know why? Because it teaches us the value of every person. Every person has incredible value. What we think. You know, the Talmud says a story. I don't know if we did this in our Talmud series. We should.

13:35
One of the great sages died and was revived. He came back to life and his father in law asked him what did you see on the other side? He says I saw an upside down world. The people who were being glorified in this world were humiliated in that world, in the world of truth. And the people who were humiliated in this world were glorified in that world. What we see is a total upside down world. We see, oh, oh. The person with money, the person with fame, the person who won the gold medal, the person who's famous. Those are the people everybody idolizes. They run after them with their cameras. Can you sign my football? Can you do this? Can you do that? Can I take a picture with you? Those are the people everyone adores.

14:20
But the simpleton Eh, who's he? I can tell you, people who may consider themselves simpletons in this room are of the holiest people that I know. Gary, I'm referring to you, ed. I'm referring to you. I'm referring to each and every one of you. You know what it means to drive 50 miles each way to come to learn some Torah. Show me someone righteous like that. In the world, this world that we're living in, everyone's like, oh, he's just a nice guy, he's just a no. In the world, this world that we're living in, everyone's like, oh, he's just a nice guy, he's just a no. In the world of truth. Those are the people that are glorified, the people who take time, the people who take effort, the people who make an effort to come and learn Hashem's word. And if you think this is the only class that Ed comes to every week he goes to many classes. He drives. Imagine it's almost 100 miles each way. We should pay the lease for his car because you know it's like, sorry, it's only 35 miles each way, so it's 70 miles. It's unbelievable, it's unbelievable. Hashem should bless you.

15:31
So now the Talmud says another statement by Rabbi Yochanan in the name of Rabbi Yossi. Now that we mentioned Rabbi Yochanan in the name of Rabbi Yossi, we're going to say something else, something else that he taught. From where do we know that you don't try to appease someone when they're in a moment of anger? If someone is in a moment of anger, you say you know, I'm really sorry. What are they going to say? Get away from here, right there. Don't try to appease them then not the right time. Wait till they calm down, and that calming down could take a month, it could take a day, it could take a week, it could take a month, it could take a year, it take 20 years. Don't try to appease someone in their moment of anger. My wife just sent me a funny clip of a big penguin walking and a little penguin penguin, like uh, waddling behind the big one and and it's. It says husband, wife, and the husband is walking worry-free and the wife is, like all, all you know, anxious, uh, trying to catch up. To her husband she says you think you're off the hook? I have something from 10 years ago I'm upset about. It's a. Don't try to appease someone in their moment of anger.

16:54
Dixiv, as the verse says, my face will go and I will give you rest. This means that God said to Moses the following when Moshe was coming to ask God to forgive the Jewish people for the sin of the golden calf, god says, as we say in Arabic, shwaya, shwaya, hold on, just take a moment. Okay, moshe did not go immediately and say Hashem, you gotta forgive them. No, no, no, no. The sin of the golden calf was on the 17th of Tammuz. Moses waited 40 more days. Then he goes up the mountain. He's there for 40 days and then he asks which is the day of Yom Kippur. Then he asks for forgiveness on behalf of the Jewish people.

17:48
Waited, wait, wait till the anger passes. Hamten atshi yav. People Wait, it, wait, wait till the anger passes. Ham tein ad sheyav rupanim shel zam. Wait until my countenance of anger has passed, ve'oniyach l'cho. Then I shall give you rest Meaning, then I will say you're forgiven. And what does God say then? Vayomer Hashem salachti kidvarecho. I forgive you because you asked. There's a right time, there's a right moment to it.

18:16
The Gemara now asks what are you saying that God is angry? What are you saying God has bad character traits like anger. What's wrong with you? The Gemara cites a Brisa which offers proof that God does experience anger. The Gemara says in yes, brisa which offers proof that God does experience anger. The Gemara says in yes, indeed. Again, everything needs to be proved. It's an amazing thing. Oh, just opinion. No, it's not an opinion. You've got to have proof for it. The Tanya it was taught in a brisa the El Zoem Bechol Yom.

18:46
The scripture states that God is angered. Every day, the Kamazamo. And how long is that anger? Rega, one moment, it's a single moment. Now I want everybody to say follow me, it's two syllables Re-ga, say it, rega, that's it. God's anger is past, already Finished. As quick as it takes to say rega, boom, god's anger is past. It means that in the moment of anger, our sages tell us how long it says to say that word rega. That's it, it's done, it passed already. That's how long God gets angry.

19:25
What does God get angry? By the way, remember the story with Balaam. King Balak hired the most powerful prophet, balaam, to curse the Jewish people. Why did he hire him? Because he knew the exact rega that God gets angry. At that moment he'll slip in the curse to the Jewish people. God will accept it because he'll be angry and at that moment the Jewish people will be eliminated, annihilated. He was trying to figure that exact moment. Why did God get angry? Want to hear why?

19:56
Talmud says an amazing thing Because the kings, the leaders of the Far East, every day, they would take a crown and they would put that crown on their head and they would refute the existence of God. What's God angry about? They're idolaters. What's the problem. God is angry that his children don't teach them the right way. He's angry at each and every one of us that we have the power of influence and we don't utilize that influence to teach them that there is a God, there's a creator of heaven and earth. But that anger lasts for how long? Rega Boom Done.

20:48
But we have to remember that there's an accountability where God says and by the way, it's an amazing thing, look at all of the most powerful people today in social media. They're all Jews. You have Facebook. You have all of these companies that had billions of people using their platform daily Google, two Jews, zuckerberg, zuckerberg. We have to utilize that power to influence the world in a positive way that they see the light of Hashem. We don't go out and proselytize. We don't go out and missionize. We don't go out and converting people. We push people away because we don't want numbers, we don't want quantity, we want quality, we want people who are real, genuine and committed to Hashem. That's the agenda.

21:49
So now the Talmud says that God does have a moment. What is the length of that moment that rega? How long is it? Moment that rega? How long is it? Echot mi chameshes ribo v'shmona, salafim v'shmona me'os, v'shmonim v'shmona b'shah. How long is it? It is one 58,888th part of an hour, which is basically a millisecond. V'zo hi rega.

22:18
That is a moment the Gemara says and no human being knows how to figure out that specific moment, except for Bilaam, the prophet, the wicked Bilaam. He knew how to exactly figure out that moment because it says about Bilaam. He knew how to exactly figure out that moment Because it says about Bilaam. He knew the mind of the Supreme One, he knew the exact moment, but we see that he did not understand the mind of his animal. What happened with his donkey? How is it possible that he did not understand the mind of his animal? What happened with his donkey? Das El Yon, havi Yadah? How is it possible that he knew the mind of Hashem, so to speak, but he didn't know the mind of his donkey? Remember, the donkey squeezed him against the wall. He started yelling at the donkey.

23:11
The donkey says don't you see there's an angel right in front of me Trying to stop him, the angel of mercy. Our sages tell us sometimes you try to push through a door and the door is locked. You try to push, you want to get that job, you want to get that raise and it doesn't go Like oh, hashem hates me. No, hashem, put an angel of mercy. It's not going to be a good fit for you. Oh, I want to marry that girl. Oh, I'm so infatuated, I'm so in love, I'm so what. It's not going to work. Hashem says it's not a good idea for you Right now. You think, with your limited perspective, you think this is good for you. Hashem, who sees the big picture, says this is not a good idea for you. I'm going to put an angel of mercy, like I did for Bilaam.

23:51
An angel of mercy stood in front of his donkey. He didn't see it. The donkey saw it. You're telling me this Bilaam is able to understand the mind of the Almighty, but not the mind of a donkey. Elam Elamed we see from here he didn't understand God's mind. He knew how to measure the exact moment, the precise moment that the curse would be effective. And this is the meaning of that which the prophet Micah said to Israel. My people remember, please, what Balak, the king of Moab, plotted and what Bilaam, the, so what does it mean that it says that he realized the benevolence of Hashem Amar Abelazer. Abelazer says benevolence of Hashem Amar Abelazer.

24:59
Abelazer says the Almighty said to the Jewish people Realize how kind I have been to you, that in the generation of Bilaam, in the time of Bilaam, in those days I didn't get angry. Why? So that he not be able to curse you. Typically I would. I would have that split moment, not when Bilaam was around, because he knew the exact moment and therefore I didn't want him to be able to curse you. I didn't get angry Just to get him Right. She'il moleh kasti.

25:37
Because had I become angry, lo nishtayir misoneim sh'li yisro slid ufolit, then no remnant whatsoever would remain from the enemies of Israel. What the enemies of Israel, the enemies of Israel would not survive. Be'ayinu diko'amro le'e bilam le'balak. And this is the meaning of what bilam said to Balak. How can I curse? God has not cursed. How can I anger? Hashem has not become angry. We see that all through those days Hashem did not become angry.

26:25
So now the Gemara asks a simple question and gives a quick answer. And how long does that anger last? We know over here in the class, because we're all Talmudic scholars. How long did it last? Boom Bekama? How long, ami, rebbe Yavin. Rebbe Yavin says V'yitem, rebbe V'inon. Some say it was the opinion of Rebbe V'inon, rega kimemre, the moment equal to the time it takes to say the word Rega, rega. Okay, my dear friends, we're going to stop here. We are a few minutes over time. To those of you online, thank you so much for joining us. Have an amazing Shabbos. We look forward to seeing you live here in our classroom. God willing, we're going to be back to class Sunday morning and we're going to be back to class Monday night and we're going to be back to class Tuesday morning and we're going to hopefully work on new classes. We're going to be back to class Tuesday morning and we're going to hopefully work on new classes. We're going to continue to expand these. My dear friends, have an amazing Shabbos.

27:24 - Intro (Announcement)
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