Everyday Judaism · Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe

00:01 - Intro (Announcement)
You are listening to Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe of Torch in Houston, Texas. This is the Living Jewishly podcast.

00:09 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
All right. Welcome back everybody to the Ask Away segment of the Everyday Judaism podcast. This is episode number nine of the Ask Away series and I'm so excited to open the floor for questions, and we're going to begin with our first question today. Go ahead.

00:27 - Class Participant 1 (Guest)
My question is when two women are studying together, is it better for them to study from a book or to actually attend a shir from a Rebetzin?

00:43 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
All right. So just to repeat your question when two women are studying together, is it better for them to study from a book or is it better for them to study from a teacher, from a Rebetzin? I think it's a great question because I think both are very important. It's both important for us to learn from a teacher to make sure that we're on the right path, but it's also important for us to study on our own and to have a study partner that we can go back and forth and ask the questions and try to. So I think the blend of the two and this is what they do in yeshiva.

01:20
In yeshiva, you have some time that you're studying with a study partner, with a chavruta, and there are times that you're sitting in a lecture and it's. They're both important, they're both essential for our growth. So I would recommend that you should do both. And if you can find a, a class where there is material that's given out to study with a study partner, and then you have the class on that material, so then the benefit of that is that you're able to see, and I remember when I was in yeshiva we had the same thing, where my rabbi would give us sources that we would have to go and learn up with our study partner and, let's say, we came up with our understanding of what he was going at and then we went into the lecture and we were totally off. We learned that we were totally on the wrong track, like 100% on the wrong track, because and that's the benefit of it is that we learn how to think properly you learn how to understand Torah in the right way with, again, the idea of having a teacher is that the teacher has a teacher and the teacher's teacher had a teacher, and it goes all the way up. You know my smicha that I got my rabbinic ordination doesn't come from me, it comes from my rabbi, who got it from his rabbi, who got it from his rabbi all the way up to Moses at Mount Sinai, you understand. So it needs to be a source, a traceable source, and we have it here. We've showed this many times in our class that the Torah that we received at Mount Sinai, at Mount Sinai, the Ten Commandments, and then the written law, and then the oral law, and then the hal law, and then the oral law and then the halacha All of this was transmitted all the way from Moses and Mount Sinai to us here in the classroom, 130 rabbi to student relationships. But it's an amazing thing, it's such a powerful thing to know that the Torah that we're studying here today is not me coming up with some idea.

03:28
Oh, I read an article, I'm going to share this with you and like it's like anonymous sources. No, no, no, everything is sourced. Everything is coming from what we learn here. Everything is coming from the sources all the way, going back to Moses at Mount Sinai and sometimes, especially someone who's newer to the study of Torah newer meaning 20 years, 30 years, 40 years, never it's never too much Torah that we've learned. We're always fresh, we're always new at it. To make sure that we're aligned properly, To make sure that we're on the right path, that we don't suddenly, to make sure that we're on the right path, that we don't suddenly, you know, because of our own inclinations, because of our own reasoning, we fall into going to the wrong path. That could be troubling and it could be problematic. So it's very important to have a teacher, to learn from a teacher and to ensure that the understanding that we have is correct. Now, that does not limit a person from being independently thinking and to be inquisitive and to ask questions and to be creative and original, but it has to be sourced.

04:43
And I shared the story in the past. I'll share it once again. I once came to my rabbi with an idea, a certain idea, that a creative thought that I had on a Torah verse, and he loved it. His face lit up and he was like, and then he said to me and what's your source? I have no source, just an idea. He said, it's garbage, it's nothing, just like, shoved me away, find a source, and then it's worth something. The idea is, yeah, it's very important, you must have a source. So, yeah, when you're able to read from a book which is credible and, by the way, most books that you will open up in this library all have approbations meaning there's a rabbi who signed off on it and saying this indeed follows the path of Jewish theology, that isn't off course. This isn't someone's novel idea that he just wanted to share, which has an absolutely noorious source to it. That's why we get those approbations, that's why we have them, so that it can be an insurance to the people reading the book and people learning from it that this is not some rabbi who made up some things, but that it's actually sourced, and it's very, very important for a person to have that verification. A person knows with confidence this is the right path. Okay, excellent question.

06:13
I want to just go to the question that we have here online from Olivia. I am a newly returned person to Torah life. I have many moons behind me. I have heard that women are not required to pray. I've also heard that women are required to pray one or two times a day, just not time restrained. Which is it so great question?

06:37
The Torah commands us. We see this from Abraham, isaac and Jacob. We see it from Sarah, rebecca, rachel and Leah. Every person is obligated to pray. It's a biblical commandment. To pray how many times is a good question. How to pray is another good question. But we're required to pray. What does that mean? To pray? Talk to Hashem, talk to Hashem. Talk to Hashem. Use your own words If you don't have the time, the knowledge, the understanding of prayer from a prayer book. Open your heart, close the book and open your heart. Talk to Hashem, have a conversation. That is the requirement of the Torah is to talk to Hashem. Now. It is appropriate to pray twice a day Morning and evening. Morning and evening. At every change of the world's existence, meaning day and night, day and night, day and night to have a communication with Hashem at every change of the world's existence. Meaning day and night, day and night, day and night to have a communication with Hashem. Now we can have many different forms of communication with Hashem A time where we're introspective and we're appreciating the gifts that Hashem has given us.

08:00
We can thank Hashem for our family, for our circumstances. We can thank Hashem for our health. We can thank Hashem for our family, for our circumstances. We can thank Hashem for our health. We can thank Hashem for our body, for our abilities. We can also ask Hashem, hashem. I'm looking for a partner in marriage. I'm looking for success. I'm looking for health. I need healing, hashem. I need comfort, hashem. I need guidance, hashem. I need Hashem. I need guidance, hashem, I need. We can ask Hashem.

08:27
But if we see in our prayer it's structured in three parts. Prayer is structured. The first part is praising Hashem, praising Hashem, acknowledging Hashem, which is the first three blessings of the Amidah. Then we have 13 blessings asking, asking for wisdom, asking for repentance, asking for forgiveness, asking for success in our livelihood, asking for healing, asking, asking, asking, asking. And then the most important part is giving thanks. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. That's an important part of our prayer as well, so it's that a person can fulfill.

09:16
A person doesn't have to have their prayer like that. Our sages structure that because that's the ultimate form of prayer. But if a person's not at that level, person doesn't have the knowledge or the how-to. With your own words, you don't have to be in a synagogue to do this. You can be in your car, as we said. You could be at the library, you could be online at the bank. You can be in the grocery store. You can be, you know, waiting online at the supermarket. It doesn't make a difference. You could be at your desk in the grocery store. You can be waiting online at the supermarket. It doesn't make a difference. You can be at your desk in the office. That's also considered a prayer. Close your eyes and talk to Hashem. You're facing a challenge. You have a deadline. I don't know what to do. Hashem, I need your help.

09:59 - Class Participant 1 (Guest)
Talk. Talk to.

10:00 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Hashem, that's prayer. Now, why did our sages institute, why did our sages help us by writing a prayer book for us? Because we have so many needs, we have so many causes. We have so many causes. We have so many things.

10:22
It's very easy to forget them. Oh, I can't believe it. I just finished praying. I forgot to ask about this. I forgot to ask about that. They cover all our bases through the prayer that we have. So prayer is a very, very powerful, very important element of our life and it definitely should be an important component of every single day. When a day doesn't go by, we don't experience a great level of communication with Hashem. All right, it's a great question, olivia. I hope I answered your question and welcome to our class. Okay, next question it's a very good question, okay, so this is something which I want to do more research on it before I give you the answer. The answer is I don't know that's the correct answer. That's the incorrect answer, but that's the correct fact right now. So I don't know what the correct thing to do is. I will get back to you about that. Okay, that's a great question. I don't know the answer. I'll do my research and get back to you, god willing, next week, with a complete answer on this topic.

11:29 - Class Participant 2 (Guest)
Rabbi, I will be. Thank you so much for your words of wisdom today. So they say in Judaism that the best way to answer a question is with another question. Here's my question to you In your rabbinic advice and from your knowledge and wisdom and faith in Hashem, would you say that, in terms of understanding and loving and having faith in Hashem, would you say that Emunah precedes B'tachon? Would you say B'tachon precedes emunah or do they both go together?

12:02 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
That is an excellent question, whether or not emunah precedes bitachon or vice versa, or they go together. So the answer to this is I'm going to use from Rabbi Laser Brody has an incredible book. Okay, it's all the way back there. You see that on the top, left over there, ein Od Milvado right. So over there he talks about the power of Emunah and B'tachon and the way he explains it. He says that Emunah is the bachelor's degree, b'tachon is the master's degree. It means you have to have emunah is level one, you have to have a relationship with Hashem. You can't trust someone you don't know. Yeah, those three words, three words of emunah. There you go, you got it right there on the top Magnificent book. My dear friends, I'm doing a little plug for my dear friend, rabbi Laser Brody. Three words, little plug for my dear friend, rabbi Laser Brody. Three Words of Emunah, an incredible, incredible book. And this book you can find it on Amazon and he talks over here. He says right in the beginning of this book, he says so beautifully, importance of first having Emunah, first having a basic relationship with Hashem, an understanding, basic understanding of Hashem, and then taking it up a notch, of having that trust. So and then you fuse them together. Okay, then they're. They're inseparable. Because it's like you know, a child can't trust somebody that they don't know and they don't, they're not familiar with. Most children are wearyfully of people they don't know. I don't know this, it's a total stranger. But their parent they know and they trust, they know and they trust. With time they trust even more because they know my parents are always there for me. They always take care of me, they're always loving, they're always there to help me and assist me. When I fall, they're always there to take care of me. So they're always there to help me and assist me. When I fall, they're always there to take care of me. So the more time goes by, the more that trust grows. But it has to be on the basis of a relationship and that relationship is emunah. So it starts with emunah and then it builds. That trust keeps on building and building and building.

14:13
One of the things that we love to say here in our class from Rev Meilech Biederman. He says an incredible thing on you know, when Moshe Rabbeinu asks God, he says I want to see your glory, and Hashem says my face you can't see, but you can see my back. You don't see my back. And you know, rashi says that he showed him the back of his tefillin, the knot of his tefillin on the back of his head. And we look at this, rashi, and we're like this is crazy right, because this whole verse doesn't make any sense, because God doesn't have a face, god doesn't have a human form. So what in the world are we talking about here? What is Moshe saying I want to see your face and God says no, you can't see my face, you can only see the back.

14:51
Sages teach us that the face means the future, the back means the past. Mos that the face means the future, the back means the past. Moshe was saying I want to understand the future. God says you can't see the future, but you know what you could see. You can see the past.

15:05
If you look back at history, you look back at all of the experiences that you had in your life, you'll see I was always there for you. So when you're worried about the future, don't look forward and be worried about it. Don't get stressed out, don't get anxiety. Oh, what's going to be? I don't know. I don't know what's going to be. Look back, see. You know what? Every time, hashem took care of me every time I was worried. It always worked out on the best possible way. Every time, look back, you'll see, ah, he was always there. So I'm confident now. Every time, look back, you'll see, ah, he was always there. So I'm confident now and I build my trust for the future I want to share with you.

15:45
One other thing Is that we say what is the verse? We should always say Hashem's praises in the morning and have emunah at night. Say Hashem's praises in the morning and have emunah at night. Say Hashem's praises in the morning and have emunah at night. Say just tell us something so beautiful. What is King David telling us here? You know what morning means, what happens in the morning. Clarity You're able to see. The sun is shining, there's light. At night, it's dark. You can'tarity. You're able to see. The sun is shining, there's light. At night, it's dark. You can't see. You're looking. There's no clarity at night when you see Hashem's kindness, when it's clear to you.

16:33
Praise Hashem and praise Hashem, and praise Hashem, and praise Hashem Non-stop. Thank Hashem. You have good health, thank Hashem every day for it. You have success. Thank Hashem, thank Hashem. Build up the reserves. You know why? Because the day is going to come, it's going to be dark, it's going to be night, and you know what you're going to need then Emunah, and the more you have in reserves of those praises for Hashem, the more it's going to help you when you're going to need that Emunah.

17:01
I say the same thing as in relationships, relationships. They're a time when a young couple, oh, they're in love, they're in love, you know what. Infuse that relationship with as many deposits, as many deposits of love, because there's going to come a time that it's going to be challenging. It's not going to be all lovey-dovey, it's going to be on the rocks a little bit, but if you made enough deposits, those withdrawals won't deplete the account. We have to realize this. This is so important. It's deposits. Those withdrawals won't deplete the account. We all we have to realize this. This is so important, it's so fundamental. Looking forward, we may not understand it, but when we look back we see Hashem was always there for us. He was always there for us. So, yeah, if we just those experiences just passed and we didn't even take a moment to appreciate it, then it's a lost opportunity.

17:59
I want to share with you an amazing story. I cry every time I say this story. There were two men, two very, very great men, who were walking to the Western wall late, late, late at night. One had a very, very big organization helping people who needed medical assistance and one was an enormous philanthropist. They were walking together it's a true story. And they at the wall. They're shocked. This is two o'clock, three o wall. They're shocked. This is 2 o'clock, 3 o'clock in the morning.

18:36
They see a man there crying His soul. He's crying out, he's crying and he's crying and he's crying. So the two men look at each other and they're like we got to go help this guy and they made a deal. If his need is money, I got him covered. If his need is medical assistance, I got him covered. Okay, this is one of the two for sure. That's what he's crying for. Someone crying like this is only one of those two options. He lost his business and that's why he's crying. Or is someone's in terrible, dire need for medical miracle? One of those two. So they approach the man and they ask him.

19:24
What are you crying about? Is it a medical thing? Is it a financial thing? What is it? We want to help you. We see you crying with such fervor, with such intensity. I just married off my 13th child and I just came to say thank you, that's it. I just came from the wedding, thank you. How many such opportunities do we have every single day To just say thank you to Hashem? Just thank you, that's it. You see a beautiful sunrise, a beautiful sunset. Say thank you, memorialize it. It's a love note from Hashem. Don't let it just pass by, because you're going to need that love note in a time of trouble. When you see with clarity, you see Hashem's love. Don't waste the opportunity. Lock it in, lock it in. Lock it in. Feel that closeness, feel that connection, why there's going to come a time where it's going to be dark, it's going to be night and we're going to be like I'm in doubt, oh.

20:45
But look at all those love notes that Hashem sent me. Look at all of those great things. You tasted good food. You loved it. Ah, hashem, thank you. You met the perfect mate. Ah, thank you, hashem. You experienced a great experience. You saw the beautiful views, the mountains, the whatever. It is Hashem giving you a love note, giving you a hug, and there will be a time where you're going to need that hug. Lock it in.

21:21
That's why it's so critically important, like you're asking, emunah and bitachon. First, we have to have a relationship with Hashem. We have to build, build in that relationship. Hashem, I know you're right here. You're right here on my shoulder Taking care of me, because I look, I look in the history of my life. I see you're always there for me, you took care of everything for me. And the more we're able to instill that bitachon every single day, that trust in Hashem every single day, every single day, that trust in Hashem, every single day, it strengthens our Amunah even more and it takes us up, rung after rung after rung after rung, to a point where we have no doubts. We have no doubts because I know Hashem is there with me, he takes care of me.

22:07
No doubts. Oh, you're not worried, you just lost your business. Not worried. You took care of me before. Take care of me again. Oh, you're not worried, you just lost your business. Not worried. You took care of me before. Take care of me again. Oh, your whole factory got burned down. You don't have insurance. What's going to be Bankruptcy? Takes care of me. No worries, no anxiety. The greatest feeling in the world Because I have a stockpile of love notes from Hashem. Excellent question. Thank you, eric. Any other questions? All right. So we're going to close up here. My dear friends, thank you so much for joining us on this ninth segment of the Ask Away series. Please share our podcast with your fellow friends. We appreciate it so much and don't forget to ask away at torchweborg. You're welcome to ask your emails. If you're not in the class, if you're listening online, if you're watching this video, please don't hesitate, ask your questions. We'd love to include it in a future episode. We're deeply grateful for your participation. Thank you and have an amazing week, my dear friends.

23:17 - Intro (Announcement)
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