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Parshas Re’eh Life Lessons · The Frum Health Club Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Goodis pars Re Shabsvarkum El The Parsha begins Re Mesha says Behold and see before you today that God has given you the choice between good and evil and that your choice will result in a life of blessings or the opposite.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: Victor Frankel, the famous psychologist and Holocaust survivor, taught about making choices that between a stimulus or a trigger and the response, there is a space, a moment, and in that space lies our power to choose how we respond.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: And this is your freedom to choose.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: So let us make wise choices, and this controls our destiny.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: And the Pasik says, Hayem, today, that every day is unique and truly a blessing.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: We are reminded that we are a holy nation, Am Kadesh, and Rashi explains Kadesh Asmacha Bimutralh, which means sanctify or separate yourself from things that you are allowed to do but really are not necessary.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: And Chasidis further explains that holiness is not just avoiding sin, but really controlling your desire for even things that are permitted, meaning don't overdo it with eating, for example.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: A person should elevate the material world rather than being enslaved by it.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: And in our parsha we also read about what is kosher.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: And as the saying goes, you are what you eat.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: When you eat something, its physical and spiritual energies are digested and integrated into your body and soul.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: So be mindful to eat well.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: Even the names of the animals have lessons.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: There is a bird called chasida.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: It is called that because it does chesed, kindness, and shares its food with its friends.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: In contrast, a mouse, the Gemurah calls it wicked.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: Why?
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: Because a mouse calls his friends to enjoy someone else's pile of grain.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: Being generous with what belongs to someone else is not kindness.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: And that is just the opposite.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: We also read Asir to Asir from our parsram.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: And we also read it on the holidays when Yiskar is said, since Siddhaka and tithing, which is giving a tenth of your earnings to charity, will also cause the Nishamah that you are praying for to get in Aliyah.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: And Rabbi Gordon says, To make it easier to give, think about that everything comes from Hashem.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: And he is letting you keep 90%, just to make sure to give at least 10% to Tedaka.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: And the double term Asser to Aser, Rashi explains, Asser Bishfil Shetasir, that giving Tzedaka will make you wealthy.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's pretty much a guarantee from Hashem.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: I like to imagine that you are taking the coin, which is a dot on top of the sin of Asir, and you put it in the tzedaka, and that moves the coin or dot to the other side, and that becomes the shin of wealth, to Asher.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: Furthermore, giving tzedaka in the month of El, which is coming up, has even more of a special significance.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: So there are 55 mitzhs in our parsha.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: And the Al Shikh says, if one considers that this is a difficult burden, as it says, Kilaisukhaus, as the Pasak says, if this is difficult to carry, the problem is actually, as the verse continues, Kiyircha kmha makim, meaning there is a distance between you and Makim, Hashem, which should not be the case, since we also read that we are God's children, and we need to maintain that special relationship, that closest to God, and that will make us realize that mitzvahs allow us to cleave to Hashem, from the term Tsavsa Vahib, binding us to Hashem, and mitzvahs become like valuable gems to achieve this goal.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: And to conclude, we pray Re and Shmaina Esra for Hashem to look at us in our oppression and to fight our battles to those who antagonize us.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: Ugalina Mahera La Mancha Mecha and bring us the Ga'ula Moshiach for the sake of your name.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.