July 17, 2024

Accountability and Excuses: Lessons from Bilam's Failure

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Season 7

Ever wonder why some people consistently fail to meet their goals while others seem to hit the mark every time? Today’s episode unpacks the powerful wisdom behind the saying, "It is the Indian, not the arrow," and reveals how excuses only serve those who make them, leaving everyone else unimpressed. Drawing from my father’s southern wisdom and the story of Bilaam from Parshas Balak, we explore the fascinating dynamics of accountability and execution and how one's success is a blend of skill, effort, and divine blessing.

Together, we’ll dissect Bilam’s futile attempts to curse the Jews, showcasing his tendency to shift blame rather than accept the simple truth that some things are beyond human control. Through his story, you’ll learn the critical importance of taking responsibility and why it’s essential to acknowledge and embrace your role in achieving your goals. This episode will challenge you to scrutinize your own actions, avoid the pitfalls of excuse-making, and strive for genuine improvement in all your endeavors. Tune in and transform your approach to success!

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Questions or Comments? Please email me @ michaelbrooke97@gmail.com



WEBVTT

00:00:01.802 --> 00:00:06.490
excuses sound best to the one that's making them up.

00:00:06.490 --> 00:00:19.416
To everybody else they just hear a rather feeble and unimpressive argument to not have to take care of business.

00:00:19.416 --> 00:00:28.548
Down in the south, where I'm from, we have another way of making fun of excuses that would come up empty on a certain assignment.

00:00:28.548 --> 00:00:40.225
My dad would say, son, it is the Indian, not the arrow, as if to say don't blame the equipment, don't make excuses.

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Results are dependent upon one's ability to execute and hopefully Hashem blessing your execution and we can point to this point to the Indian, not the Arab or the lack thereof.

00:00:57.060 --> 00:01:08.207
To be Bilaam in our parashahs, one of the many big mistakes In his great debacle in which he tried to curse the Jews.

00:01:08.207 --> 00:01:54.207
He tried to proclaim parables that would lead towards the Israelites' downfall, but after going up on high on a mountain overlooking the Jews standing with Balak at his side, after making many karbonos to try to gain favor in the eyes of Hashem and then opening his mouth to try to curse the Jews for failing miserably and preaching beautiful poetry and deep, meaningful psukim about Klal Yisrael, he just takes a step back, unsure of why everything went awry, and says it wasn't my fault, balak.

00:01:54.207 --> 00:01:54.709
I tried.

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It must be the place it must be that we're giving over these curses in the wrong makom.

00:01:59.689 --> 00:02:02.509
We got to try to curse the Israelites on a different mountain.

00:02:02.509 --> 00:02:05.371
He blames the arrow, he blames the mountain.

00:02:05.371 --> 00:02:06.079
He blames the mountain.

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He blames his tennis shoes or his tennis racket, as opposed to just seeing the dead obvious truth that it's quite impossible to ever do anything that Hashem doesn't want.

00:02:17.451 --> 00:02:19.967
Hashem doesn't want you to curse the Jews.

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He tries again and again, before going up to different mountains, checking different animals, offering different sacrifices and trying to proclaim different curse filled parables, but each and every time that he fails, he fails to blame the indian and he instead he blames the arab.

00:02:40.740 --> 00:02:43.888
He makes up excuses.

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He didn't see the truth.

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The lesson among the many that we can take from Parshas Balak is that excuses sound best to those, to the one that's making them up.

00:02:56.346 --> 00:03:00.669
And don't blame the arrow, blame the Indian.

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Take accountability, don't be like Billum, and then choose to act better in the future to get the job done.