Dvar Torah on Parshas Shemos | Shovavim

I was cruising down the Jersey Turnpike and then all of a sudden I found myself in shock and awe, the most improper, offending and morally wrong billboard that I've seen in a while. It's shocking that society even allows such billboards. And I was thinking to myself afterwards, what am I supposed to do? What are we supposed to do? You can't not look where you're driving. You can't put your head down. You try to have tunnel vision and keep your eyes on the road, but at times you just feel like an onus, like you can't even be blamed. It's at this time of the year that the catalyst teach that it's a time to rectify sins of the lewd nature in 2023. The reality is, is that the Yatera, Satan has shown his hand, he has chosen in which areas he's going to attack cla. He's removed the guidelines of basic decency, and he continues his onslaught and attacks towards the Jewish people in the world of Ario promiscuity. But the good news is that he's shown his hand. He has told us where he's going to attack, and now it's our job to fight back. Maybe you've heard the word chk before. Maybe you haven't. What Chk is is an acronym. An acronym that stands for Shava and Theios, in which the ZA writes in his[inaudible], which you'll find in Theios that LA these days are special to work on these areas, areas of purity. Some people fast. It is not the contemporary min hug to fast, but the custom is to do chuva specifically and the world of Aiaas. Chk is actually also a word in a PA of Mia. The prophet there says svu Bonham Chm return O mischief makers. There's even a save that's been written about all the different customs and practices of Chau Vim that came out in 1724 called Oli Shrum. And you can figure out more details about this time by reading that safer. In today's the podcast, I wanna highlight one important idea on the topic of that we see in our par show, and then end with practical advice to strengthen ourselves that I heard from an [inaudible], a great man. So let us begin. Tell us, we are no longer a small family of Yaakov, but we are a burgeoning nation. We are now Benet, PA continues, Ruben. These are the tribes of Yaakov that came down to Egypt, Don God Fork

And the[inaudible]. And it was all of the soul that came out of Yako was 70 soul. And the commentators point out that we are all one soul. It is singular, and that 70 number encompasses all of Yakovs children. But there's three more words of the Pasuk that are sticking out. The Pasuk finishes, SK and Yos was in Egypt. Now, Rahi wants to know, number one, isn't he included in the 70 count? And secondly, don't I already know that he's in Egypt? So what is the Paik telling me? This teaches us the righteousness of Joseph. He was yo, that was shepherding the flock of his father, Butk. And this is the same sif who rose to power in a country so morally corrupt with everything at his fingertips. And he was the same sif. That's what the PA is telling us when it says, and Joseph was in Egypt. He hasn't given an inch. Now we know Hazal don't exaggerate. These words cannot be believed. I imagine that when I was a teenager with acne and braces learning privately alone with my rebi and my Yeshiva days, things were good, things were peaceful. But if I was shipped off or I had taken a job in England to work in politics and then I rose to power, I don't mean to suggest that the country is inappropriate at all. I just mean to pick a mu that is a far away land and I can do whatever I want and I'm alone. And I am the exact same pure[inaudible] after all of that. But that's what these words say.[inaudible] who[inaudible]. How is it possible now? There's an amazing [inaudible]. It's discussing the [inaudible] that says like this translation, we have a little sister, but you cannot nurse. What shall we do for our sister on the day that she will be spoken of, continue. If she'll be a wall, then we will build upon her a turret of silver[inaudible]. But if she is a door or[inaudible], we will enclose her with cedar panel finishes. [inaudible] I am a wall and my chest is a tower. Then I am in his eyes, like one who found peace, who is this little

Sister that we're referring to. What does it mean that if she'll be like a wall, then things will be peaceful. But if she'll be like a doorway, then things won't work out. Says the, this is actually referring to the comparison between sad and yes, that that this young sister that's referring to stone, she cannot nurture. She cannot nurse because they have no good deeds and no mitzvas. So what are we supposed to do? What should we do? For our sister says the there's nothing to do. They ended up being destroyed. But if you will be a wall, if the Jews will uphold[inaudible] their actions, their mitzvahs like, then they will build and they will be saved.[inaudible]. But if they will vacillate, if they will swing, if their actions will not withstand the test of time, then [inaudible] then they too will not withstand the test of time. Amazing. There are two different approaches to mitzvahs. You can do mitzvahs when things are easy, but if a person is unable to keep it going, when it doesn't work, when it's hard, well then it seems like it won't endure. And Claudia Israel won't find shalom. But if you'll be an iron clad filibuster, unyielding, unbreakable, well then there is nothing greater than that. The ate heart of the Sat show his hand and has punched us. It is now time that we stand up. We step up to the plate, we gerd ourselves and turn into a wall. To add some context to this, I'd like to draw upon American history, a famous episode that may help us to understand what it means to be a wall. And while comparing divine matters to earthly matters, I still believe that this story will aid us in what the Mers is trying to explain. When the Civil War broke out, there was a general in the Confederate army and his name was Thomas Jackson, and it was at the Battle of Bull run in Virginia when with all the gunfire confusion of the battle, a general looked over and saw Thomas Jackson standing there in the middle of the battlefield. While others were retreating, he would not move. His soldiers were inspired by his stubborn courage and the general exclaimed. Look at Jackson standing there like a stonewall. That person became general Stonewall Jackson, a famous general, probably only second in his fame to Robert E. Lee, but helped the south during the Civil War. We must become a wall. We must not

Retreat. We must have stubborn courage. We are most definitely in the middle of a war and we must be a[inaudible]. I hope that when I leave this earth after 120 that my gravestone should read. Here lies Rabbi [inaudible] Stonewall Brook, a man who stood up for what he believed in, had stubborn courage and became[inaudible]. I am a wall. I have no doubt that when Rubri says that after a person dies, there will be a jury that judges a person in heaven. There will be God with righteous ones sitting on the bench. [inaudible] will turn to the jurors and say, so what do we think of this individual? Does he deserve to get into heaven? Now, those righteous ones says rub. They are people from our generation, people from the generation that the deceased lived in. It cannot be someone from an earlier generation for they didn't have the same challenges of this person. Now, I bet my last dollar that Rabbi Daniel Gladstein will be on that jury, a walking safer. Tyra, someone who epitomizes being a light unto the nations and he's doing it in our generation. Recently, when he was giving a class about chev him this topic, he gave a piece of advice citing a rad Vaz and alio Rubio Desler. He said that the more you just say, no, no, no, no, no, the more the Sahara says, yes, yes, yes. He says, do this. You say no and he doesn't stop there. And he gives a piece of advice when you say no, and the Sahara says yes, bribe him. You[inaudible] tell the Sahara, oh, you want me to do that sin? Okay, I'm on your team. Sure, I'll do it. Just gimme a minute, I'll get the next one. You show me that billboard, there's a million billboards. I agree to you, yes, you win. I lose the next billboard. I got you. I'm gonna look, but for now, gimme a minute. I'm busy with something, a psychological ploy to fight back. It is el new. It is upon us to come up with strategies to fight back. Building a wall and becoming a wall means to do whatever it takes to fight back and to not give up an inch. We have six weeks here to rectify previous sins, an auspicious time for Chah. And to conclude, there's an old adage, an old question that says, well, what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? And acts how sometimes our battle with the Yates of hark can feel, I wanna be strong, I wanna be an Im immovable object, but he is just an unstoppable force. If we can become a wall, if we can become an iron clad rock solid cement wall, well then we will see that he is not an unstoppable force. He will melt and he will crumble. Learn from yo, you can be surrounded by immorality, but if you can nickname yourself, Stonewall[inaudible] then might shalom. Then I amend his eyes, like the one who found peace.