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Yitro: A Priest and a Heretic · A Thought for the Week

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to a Thought for the Week, a Torah in
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  Speaker 1: Motion podcast. I'm Jake Hellman, founding director of Torah in Motion,
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  Speaker 1: and it's a pleasure to have you here with us.
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  Speaker 1: When one thinks of Parsia Tetro, one immediately thinks of
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  Speaker 1: the Assarah Tadi Brutt, commonly known as the Ten Commandments.
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  Speaker 1: And for a good reason. It is at Mount Sinai
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  Speaker 1: that through the assaraha Brut that God revealed himself to
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  Speaker 1: mad It's clearly the highlight of Parsha Tetro, and presumably
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  Speaker 1: it's the highlight the most important part of the entire Torah.
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  Speaker 1: It is very fascinating that our rabbis who divided the partia,
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  Speaker 1: that's like a rabbinic idea, dividing the tour into fifty
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  Speaker 1: four sidrut, and that we read over the course of
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  Speaker 1: the year. So they divided in such a way that
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  Speaker 1: the Ten Commandments appear in Parsia Yetro Yetro. Of course,
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  Speaker 1: being a heathen priest Kohane me John Me, he worshiped Idols,
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  Speaker 1: he was a major Nite priest, and very fascinating. That's
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  Speaker 1: the Parsha in which the Sarah that they brought a
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  Speaker 1: peer that's for good reason, obviously. Now Yutro sees Mosha
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  Speaker 1: judging the people alone until the persia begins. He comes,
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  Speaker 1: he greets him and heard all that had happened with
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  Speaker 1: the Jewish people and Mosha sitting there from morning tonight
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  Speaker 1: alone judging the people. And Yetra says, boy, oh boy,
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  Speaker 1: this ain't gonna work now, Boltivol, You're gonna fail and stumble.
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  Speaker 1: This is really really bad. Why in the world don't
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  Speaker 1: you have any assistance? And of course Yetro then gives
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  Speaker 1: Mosha the advice that he accepts to appoint systems. And
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  Speaker 1: the whole court system that we have is through Yutro,
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  Speaker 1: And this is one of the ways that Torre is
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  Speaker 1: teaching us the principle of yeshi akama bagame. There is
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  Speaker 1: much wisdom in the nations of the world, and there's
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  Speaker 1: much to learn. Hello, it made me call it domb.
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  Speaker 1: We should learn from many of we've learned from everybody
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  Speaker 1: and everybody. Or to put it a slightly other way,
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  Speaker 1: Derek erz Kadma litera Derek character is a little bit
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  Speaker 1: difficult to trantate, and different commentaries understand it slightly differently.
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  Speaker 1: But let's say the ways of the land, the ways
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  Speaker 1: of the world. Derek herrots how you conduct yourself that
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  Speaker 1: is kadma latura that proceeds or a prerequisite for Torah.
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  Speaker 1: Without proper worldly knowledge, you can't have Torah. It just
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  Speaker 1: doesn't work. You need to have all kinds of discipline
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  Speaker 1: that help us understand Torah, or to put it in
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  Speaker 1: the administrative context that Yetro did in a sort of
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  Speaker 1: more modern setting. If you don't have good administration, you
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  Speaker 1: can't have a good, good day school. You need. Tora
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  Speaker 1: can only be taught. Organization can only run if they're
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  Speaker 1: administrators well. And Mosha was not doing a good job,
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  Speaker 1: and he took the advice of Vietro. And that's the introduction.
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  Speaker 1: Before we get to Torah, before we get God's revelation
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  Speaker 1: kach mabagoyem. We got to set up a proper system.
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  Speaker 1: And of course this is the idea that the the
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  Speaker 1: Serata de Broader, the Ten Commandments. We'll say here is
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  Speaker 1: maybe God's revelation to the Jewish people, but its message
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  Speaker 1: is universal and if you take a look at it.
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  Speaker 1: I don't know if people really pay attention to this.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe they do, I'm not sure. But with the exception
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  Speaker 1: of Shabbat. Every one of the ten commandments applies to
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  Speaker 1: non Jews. Many of them are part of the Cheva
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  Speaker 1: mitsop and they know up to seven noachit laws. That's
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  Speaker 1: basically Jewish Torah for non Jews. But the Torah says,
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  Speaker 1: nondrews have to do idolatry, the prohibitions of idolatry, murder, adultry, theft,
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  Speaker 1: they're all part of the chev and they know so clearly.
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  Speaker 1: They apply to non Jews. But even the ones that
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  Speaker 1: are not technically part of the serahad brought also to them.
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  Speaker 1: Don't be jealous, that's a universal idea. Don't lie, don't
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  Speaker 1: swear falstery honoring parents. Matter of fact, the classic Communic
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  Speaker 1: examples of honoring parents are by non Jews. The tomb
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  Speaker 1: would says sue uruh, go and see go mean, go
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  Speaker 1: and learn. Let's learn how to do this mitzvah me
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  Speaker 1: mas ovko kaven what this idolator did la Aviv. See
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  Speaker 1: how wonderful this idolator treated his father, And let's learn
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  Speaker 1: from him. But Askalon in the city of Ashkalon, the
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  Speaker 1: dam Benetina schmo and his name was dumb Benetina Nigmar
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  Speaker 1: describes us, Ok, he wouldn't wake up his father whatever.
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  Speaker 1: But the idea is, of course that applies to non
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  Speaker 1: Jews matter fact, they're the ones the tom would says,
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  Speaker 1: who teach us even Shabat, which we know is is
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  Speaker 1: a gift from God to the Jewish people. It's a
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  Speaker 1: special gift. And the tomb would even says it's forbidden
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  Speaker 1: for a non Jew to keep shabat. That's true on
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  Speaker 1: the technical aspect, the thirty nine Mila Shabbat, but the
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  Speaker 1: idea of Shabbat a day of rest, giving workers off freedom,
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  Speaker 1: recognizing God as the creator of the world, that of
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  Speaker 1: course is the universal lady, and it's pretty much universally
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  Speaker 1: accepted by other religions. God is a god of all people.
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  Speaker 1: And that's why it's so important that the Ittro, the
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  Speaker 1: Heathen priests, priest, and the Assertiti Brod come together. That's
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  Speaker 1: the what is the lead up to the Asserti Brod,
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  Speaker 1: This concept, you know, the coming together Jew non jewar
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  Speaker 1: of course dates back to creation, where we don't have
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  Speaker 1: Jews and non Jews, we have humanity. All are created
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  Speaker 1: in the image of God, and of course our sages
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  Speaker 1: linked creation and Torah. Not surprisingly that the Torah, the
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  Speaker 1: giving a tour was the pinnacle and the purpose of creation.
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  Speaker 1: It's no coincidence that Amarut our rabbis teach with ten
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  Speaker 1: sayings olamni vras. Of course the asam Mamarut the ten
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  Speaker 1: sayings correspond to the notion of the Assirat had he
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  Speaker 1: brought the creation and Torah go hand and hand. The
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  Speaker 1: universal message of Torah in our Partsha is manifest also
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  Speaker 1: on a personal level, the love of ut and motion
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  Speaker 1: towards each other. Mosha goes out and he greets his
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  Speaker 1: father in law and he kisses him. That Tore tells
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  Speaker 1: him that he kissed him, and how he'm doing well.
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  Speaker 1: We don't find any affection in the Torah between Mosha
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  Speaker 1: and Sipora. The affection was that's displayed in the Torah
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  Speaker 1: between the Mosha and his father INLAWE is then very
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  Speaker 1: excited to tell him everything that is happening, that happened
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  Speaker 1: to the Jewish people. I find the kind of interesting
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  Speaker 1: fascinating that Ytro when he told Mosha what he's doing
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  Speaker 1: is inappropriate, he said, Lotov Davos, it's not good. It's
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  Speaker 1: not good trick doing the only other time. The expression
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  Speaker 1: lotov appears in the Lummish is by creation Bayoma Shamlohim.
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  Speaker 1: The Lord God said low tova, though it's not good
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  Speaker 1: for man to be alone. As Celo aser connecto. I
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  Speaker 1: just find that an interesting literary parallel. The the tank
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  Speaker 1: commandments are so central to Judaism. Of course, it's divine revelation.
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  Speaker 1: It's the basis of Judaism. It was said every day
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  Speaker 1: in the temple, the mishnah in Masaka Tami that describes
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  Speaker 1: the sacrificial service that they did every day in the temple,
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  Speaker 1: says Marlahemahmanna. The appointed one said, make a blessing behin barku.
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  Speaker 1: They made a blessing whatever this is the dublin karu
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  Speaker 1: a saraha varim. They read the asserata varim shmah vayam
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  Speaker 1: shamoa bayomer barku, and they blessed the people three three blessings.
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  Speaker 1: So the mission and lesa which sort of becomes the
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  Speaker 1: basis and of our prayer book. These are some of
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  Speaker 1: the basic prayers that we say. And a sarahava riim
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  Speaker 1: the asserta de brut the ten statements of God were
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  Speaker 1: said in the temple every day once the temple is destroyed,
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  Speaker 1: many of our practices got transferred to our mini temples.
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  Speaker 1: That's our shools and more important, our homes. But so
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  Speaker 1: we should not be surprised to hear that. Tomwood says
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  Speaker 1: in an amazing series, just one after another, i'm our
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  Speaker 1: rev hoooda'mur schmul rev said in name of school up
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  Speaker 1: big vuling, let me shool us okay. And they also
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  Speaker 1: wanted to do the asserta de broad outside of Vuli
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  Speaker 1: means really outside of Israel. Outside you know, we're going
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  Speaker 1: to do it here too, where we live Schmuls living
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  Speaker 1: in Babylonia elisha karbi bloom if nay to a Roman hominy.
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  Speaker 1: But we cannot do it. They the rabbi's already the
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  Speaker 1: Schmuls living in the third century, so already they I
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  Speaker 1: guess they had said it runs after the temple was
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  Speaker 1: destroyed for a while and the rabbis got rid of it.
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  Speaker 1: Beep bloom no longer say it because of the complaining
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  Speaker 1: of the heretics Tarromanja meaning we'll get back to that
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  Speaker 1: in a moment. Then the kamara continues the next line
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  Speaker 1: of kamoraw tanya namiafi we learned like this, also, Rabbi
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  Speaker 1: not then no mara, nothing says begouling, be true, k okay.
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  Speaker 1: They wanted to read it outside the temple alicia qarbik
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  Speaker 1: bloom if nay tarna meanim no, it was nullified because
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  Speaker 1: of the heretics. Robert Barafana ro Savvusura in the Babylonian
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  Speaker 1: city of Sura. He wanted to establish it, and Rafista
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  Speaker 1: said him no, barbie gloom if nay tarrona meaning a
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  Speaker 1: maymar samkin the harda a memar wanted to, but make
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  Speaker 1: sure that the every shool in the heart that they
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  Speaker 1: said the tank commandments are ravashi varbie bloom if nay
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  Speaker 1: trona medim no, no, no, no, you can't do that
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  Speaker 1: because of the heretics. These rabbis lived between the second
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  Speaker 1: and the fifth century, so for hundreds of years there
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  Speaker 1: are attempts by great rabbis to introduce the assyrih had
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  Speaker 1: be brought to our daily fula, and they keep our unsuccessful.
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  Speaker 1: They can we cannot do it because of the heretics.
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  Speaker 1: Who are these heretics? What what is heretical about saying
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  Speaker 1: the tank commandments in our daily? She looked so Russi gives.
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  Speaker 1: They think the famous explanation that we're afraid that the
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  Speaker 1: meaning the heretics will tell the ama art, I'll tell
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  Speaker 1: the ignorant people ain' shart and the rest of the
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  Speaker 1: tour is not true. So you know those other six
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  Speaker 1: hundred and three, so that that's not really important. The
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  Speaker 1: only thing that really counts is the tank commandments. And
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  Speaker 1: how do I know? How do I know I'm right?
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  Speaker 1: They do? You should know, ain't comine eli shamar kutisparku
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  Speaker 1: uh ushimomi peede that we only say in shule. That's
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  Speaker 1: what God said to the Jewish people. The tank maps,
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  Speaker 1: obviously the others are is not really important. It was important,
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  Speaker 1: we'd say it in Shule. Now, of course this is incorrect,
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  Speaker 1: but they're going to tell this to the ignorant people,
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  Speaker 1: and they're going to believe it. They're going to say
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  Speaker 1: audiosity brought that it's the only important thing in the Torah,
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  Speaker 1: and we don't have to keep the rest. Now. Of course,
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  Speaker 1: the certainty brought is the most important part of the Torah,
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  Speaker 1: but the other parts are also important. Right. There is
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  Speaker 1: a misconception a lot of people have that always what
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  Speaker 1: are equally important, and we have to be careful of
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  Speaker 1: what every meets. But it's true, you have to be
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  Speaker 1: careful about every meets about in the abstract. But obviously
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  Speaker 1: saving a life is more important than fasting on your kipper.
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  Speaker 1: And there are thousands examples. Of course, there's a hierarchy,
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  Speaker 1: and it meets foot that there is so that sarenity
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  Speaker 1: brought is in the hierarchy. But we were afraid that
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  Speaker 1: the people would say, the ignorant people say the rest
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  Speaker 1: is important. I think we see that that that really
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  Speaker 1: is true. People do often say, ah, the tank amandments.
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  Speaker 1: You know, that's what I gotta keep. There's another interpretation.
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  Speaker 1: So which is I found mind boggling, really amazing. The
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  Speaker 1: Benuho Daya, that is the Benuho Daya is Rabioseef Kaimbaut.
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  Speaker 1: Then the Beneski James is the Beni Sky really one
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  Speaker 1: of the great great, great sparta a lucky authorities of
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  Speaker 1: the past thousand years, really a tremendous uh the of
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  Speaker 1: Iraqi jury and I don't know in the Ashkenazic world,
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  Speaker 1: I don't know famous is Beni Ski and his I've
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  Speaker 1: got a comment here in the tummon is known as
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  Speaker 1: ben yohoda ya okay. So he says, he quotes Rushi
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  Speaker 1: and he doesn't necessarily disagree. He says, uh says milvape
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  Speaker 1: rush Rushi. In addition, I'm going to give you another explanation,
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  Speaker 1: he says, like this tarumana, meaning is the heretics not
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  Speaker 1: observed that people who you know, wanted to get at
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  Speaker 1: the Rabbis and Judaism. They would say, you know, you
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  Speaker 1: choose You're a bunch of hypocrites. Every day you say
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  Speaker 1: the Ten Commandments in shule Quola Yama Tima says emivarkimo tum.
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  Speaker 1: You make blessings. That's interesting, but ain't a temic kim.
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  Speaker 1: And you don't keep them. You don't keep them. You
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  Speaker 1: don't keep the Ten Commandments? What I mean, you don't
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  Speaker 1: keep them. Look, let let's stick around. These are things
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  Speaker 1: that people just ignore. For example, and then he quotes both.
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  Speaker 1: He said, Sea of Shemelokaa. People take God's name and
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  Speaker 1: dan you know they you know, when they curse all
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  Speaker 1: kinds of things whatever, Low Tignov, you know business practices
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  Speaker 1: don't steal, Low tugh Mud, Well, you know people aren't jealous.
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  Speaker 1: You think meha honor your parents you Jews, they talk,
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  Speaker 1: they're so religious, and yet they don't keep it. So
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  Speaker 1: therefore it's better not to say, because we'll look like
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  Speaker 1: a bunch of hypocrites. And then he actually points out
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  Speaker 1: this language fits much better to a romance. The Roman
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  Speaker 1: is a complaint, a complaint of the heretics. So they're
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  Speaker 1: were complaining, Yeah, you think you're so good, why don't
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  Speaker 1: you do it? If it's just a faith thing, that
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  Speaker 1: language doesn't work as well. I find this a commentary
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  Speaker 1: very fascinating and basically say we're worried. We can't be
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  Speaker 1: we can't be hypocrites. You're gonna say in shul every
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  Speaker 1: day you know x y, but you do z or
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  Speaker 1: z that our unique status as the chose a nation.
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  Speaker 1: That's what the assertity brought is God chose us from
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  Speaker 1: all the nations Benieba, Hari Israel, and we left in
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  Speaker 1: Egypt because where God's firstborn, so to speak, where I'm
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  Speaker 1: left at Conam Kadosh, where a holy nation, a priestly
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  Speaker 1: nation and holy. It's not because we're better, It just
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  Speaker 1: means we have more responsibility and more demands. We are
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  Speaker 1: the leader of the team. But non Jews Jews same
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  Speaker 1: we're on the same team to bring morality and ethics
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  Speaker 1: into the world. We have to be very careful that
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  Speaker 1: we practice what we preach. Especially we know children pick
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  Speaker 1: up on this right away. When you say one thing
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  Speaker 1: and do another, that's the worst educational method you can give.
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  Speaker 1: Much more important thing lift service to meets foot is,
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  Speaker 1: of course observing them. Sure, but your lom. We hope
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  Speaker 1: Slash Tony thank you very much, looking forward to learning
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  Speaker 1: with you next week.