Full transcript
0:19Peaceful Sabbath to everyone . Kaph . As
0:32has already been said , our weekly Torah
0:34portion today is double this time . And
0:41the topic we will talk about today is
0:45the last day before passing away . We
0:51are approaching the autumn holidays .
0:57There will be three holidays .
1:05We have Rosh Hashanah , which is called
1:06the Day of Blowing in the Tanakh . There
1:12is Yom Kippur , which is the day of
1:14judgment . And there is the holiday of
1:23Sukkot , when God dwells together with
1:26man . Together with Sukkot , there is
1:39also the giving . Like .
1:47In the end . The Day of Blowing , or
1:53Teruah . And . The word " Teruah " itself
2:04is similar in root to the word for "
2:06waking up " or " awakening . " They sound
2:18very similar . They have the same
2:22letters . And this shows us that the
2:33primary purpose of the blowing is to
2:36awaken a person to this , to awaken him
2:39to God , to repentance . If you compare
2:51all these holidays together , there is a
2:58certain logic in their order . We awaken
3:06in order to repent and be with God for
3:10eternity . And every year , God reminds
3:16us of this through the holidays , not
3:19just for the . Nations . And in my view ,
3:38this is one of the main reasons why
3:41Satan convinces the Christian part of
3:43believers that these are unimportant
3:46holidays and are no longer needed ,
3:52but we see how important it is . Usually
4:00, a person doesn't think about eternal
4:02life . They never think about the last
4:07day before death , they don't think
4:12about the day of judgment , until they
4:17approach death . And in this weekly
4:22portion it is the last day . What do you
4:37think ? Answer for yourself . What would
4:47you do on the last day before death if
4:50you knew it was your last day ?
4:55Let's think about this
5:00and answer within ourselves . If you
5:07think that everyone would start
5:09repenting , then I doubt it . I think
5:19most people would want to do what they
5:21haven't yet managed to do for
5:23themselves ,
5:28for themselves in their lives . Maybe
5:35jump with a parachute ,
5:45or at least fly to Japan for half a day
5:48.
5:55Maybe eat the most expensive chocolate
5:57in the world , which they heard about
5:58but couldn't afford . Perhaps a person
6:04would go to ask for forgiveness from
6:06someone , or would go to do some good
6:10deed . Different things , but there is
6:19one thing that unites all these actions
6:21. A person will do what their
6:27conscience tells them . Why is it
6:31different for everyone ? Because it
6:38depends on the state of each person's
6:41conscience . We see that one person will
6:45choose one thing , and another will
6:46choose something else . And this is an
6:54internal testament to a person's
6:56attitude toward certain things . Let's
7:06look at Moses . What does he do on his
7:08last day ? And the Midrash says that
7:19this is the last day . And Moses says
7:21that he is already 120 years old . And
7:29there is something important he hasn't
7:30managed to do yet . God tells him to
7:33accomplish it . And the double weekly
7:45portion has already told us about "
7:48standing . " And " Nitzavim " is a very
7:56interesting word . It is not just about
8:01" standing , " because this word implies a
8:06commitment . and
8:12stability . A person also stands firmly .
8:18You may be physically standing , but in
8:21your life , you are not stable . Perhaps
8:32you are doing well with your finances
8:34and have stability there ,
8:37but soulfully , internally , you are
8:39unstable . Look , for example , at people
8:46from Hollywood . They stand firmly on
8:49their feet , depending on in what regard
8:51. Yes , enough for four generations . But
9:02how many end their lives by suicide or
9:07fall into drugs ? or some other things .
9:14There is no internal balance .
9:24And God says : " Stop , be stable , you
9:32have this stability inside you now . "
9:50And as it was said , if you have this
9:53stability , it was all there , you are
10:00ready to go and meet the Creator . Moses
10:04was stable , and he went . Let us read
10:21Deuteronomy chapter 31 verse . And the
10:45Lord said to Moses : " Behold , your days
10:47approach that you must die . Call Joshua
10:49and stand at the tabernacle of meeting ,
10:52and I will give him a charge . " And
10:55Moses and Joshua came and stood at the
10:56tabernacle of meeting .
10:58Amen .
10:58Amen . One could think , but it is Moses
11:07' last day , yes , he should rest already .
11:12A person could definitely say : " I have
11:14already done enough , let me rest
11:17a little , leave me alone . " There is one
11:22thing on the last day .
11:29Without it , it is impossible to
11:30complete the Torah .
11:36One song needs to be written . A very
11:42important song . And here God does not
11:59want to say anything else specifically
12:01to Moses . He wants , well , it would seem
12:06, yes , he wants to call Joshua to
12:08instruct him through Moses . But from
12:16all this , we see only one verse in
12:19which God addresses Joshua . And
12:25everything else is a conversation
12:26between God and Moses . Did God make a
12:30mistake ? It seemed the point was to
12:34prepare Joshua and talk to him .
12:42And people often think , God must speak
12:44to me directly . God hasn't told me .
12:49God hasn't told me to serve yet . I am
12:54still waiting . And a leader tells you ,
13:00and a pastor says : " Come on , we need to
13:02start already . " Until I receive it all
13:08from above , I won't do anything . Here
13:14we see that God addresses Joshua
13:18through Moses . In this way , God shows
13:30Joshua how He converses and
13:32communicates with Moses . How each of
13:37them reacts , how one must listen . God
13:42speaks to each of us at the very least
13:49through the relationship of God with a
13:51leader . How much can one learn from
13:55there
13:56and receive ? And this song , what is it
14:09about ? In general , it speaks about the
14:21path of the Jewish people with God
14:27and the fall of Israel and that in the
14:32future they will fall ,
14:39but the central thought is that God
14:42remains faithful . One might think , why
14:52write this if you know the people will
14:55fall again and again ? But it was not
15:01just necessary to write it . They had to
15:05learn from it . We will see where this
15:10was supposed to be . This is the
15:15nineteenth verse in the same chapter .
15:26It is similar .
15:38Now therefore , write down for
15:40yourselves this song , and teach it to
15:42the children of Israel ; put it in their
15:44mouths , that this song may be a witness
15:46for me against the children of Israel .
15:51The 26th book of the law , and place it
16:04by the side of the ark of the covenant
16:06of the Lord your God , and it will be
16:08there as a witness against you . Amen .
16:14I want to correct something here ,
16:15because it is important . In the Russian
16:23translation , they translated it as this
16:25song being a witness against you . That
16:32is true , but that is not the entire
16:33meaning of what is written in the
16:35original . Well , because of the
16:40translation , people understand it as a
16:42witness against Israel needed for
16:45judgment . But in Hebrew , it is written
16:50differently . It will be a witness
16:55within you . Do you hear the difference ?
16:59Yes . So that at the end of the Torah ,
17:12God's people would have a witness
17:14inside , that even if we fall , God will
17:20remain faithful . It was said in the
17:25weekly portion ,
17:29He will not forsake , He will not break
17:31His covenant . The one within whom this
17:55witness already existed is the best
17:58person capable of passing it on . What
18:08kind of inner witness is there ? When we
18:13approach Yom Kippur in my view some say
18:29we don't need it , we are already saved
18:31and we move , as it were , straight into
18:33righteousness and so on . I see it as
18:43God's mercy , because every year we can
18:47repeat this
18:51and even practice . A person thinks ,
18:59well , as we go along , when we get
19:01closer , I will fix everything . A
19:03believer , right ? I am not talking about
19:05non-believers . You don't know when it
19:10will happen , for you , you need to
19:16practice every year . Yes , it is a very
19:21good opportunity to prepare yourself ,
19:30to remove something of the weight of
19:33sin . To fix things .
19:40Usually a person says : " Well , okay ,
19:42next year , later . "
19:49It just gathers and accumulates
19:53and grows . Every time we approach the
20:04day of judgment ,
20:11we need to examine ourselves and
20:13reflect on what inner witness is inside
20:15us . Are we ready to meet God ? Is there
20:22confidence within us ? Is there
20:26stability ? Will I truly stand as I
20:30ought to , and am I standing firmly on
20:35the foundation ? Usually people think ,
20:48when I stand before God , God will
20:50probably ask me ,
20:52what have I done for you ? But in
21:00reality , this question brings us back
21:03to another question related to this
21:06song : do we remember everything God did
21:11along the whole journey ? And this
21:19determines whether you do something for
21:20God or not . In the end , He will ask you
21:29if it was within you . Did you remember
21:34your whole journey , everything that I
21:36did for you ?
21:44Did you remember that I answered those
21:46prayers that you begged Me for ? Perhaps
21:51I am mistaken , But I don't think God is
21:56so narrow-minded as to ask , " Well , what
21:58did you do for me ? " We will say what we
22:03did and so on , because it is written
22:05about this , for one's life in this body
22:11,
22:14but this is not the center or the
22:16source of the question . First Epistle
22:23to the Corinthians , chapter one . You
22:29all know ,
22:39this is part of the verses that are
22:41read before communion ,
22:47when we also must stand before God , as
22:49is appropriate . The first verse , for if
23:04we judged ourselves , we would not be
23:06judged . In Hebrew , it is written a
23:13little differently : if we examined
23:15ourselves , in principle , an internal
23:18exam is an internal self-examination .
23:26And also the Second Epistle to the
23:28Corinthians ,
23:31chapter .
23:38The fifth verse . ( Untranslatable Hebrew
23:44phrase ) . Oh . ( Untranslatable utterance )
23:56.
24:08Examine yourselves , whether you are in
24:11the faith , test yourselves , or do you
24:14not know yourselves , that Jesus Christ
24:16is in you , unless indeed you are not
24:19what you should be ? Friends , in the end
24:24, what I want to say , the central
24:35thought we must ponder as we approach
24:38the Day of Judgment ,
24:42which is also connected to these
24:46questions ,
24:48who we are , " mi anachnu , " well , well ,
24:52or whether we are what we should be .
24:56The whole song that is written , to
25:06Israel , by whom ? Who created this
25:09nation ?
25:12Not only to remember who God is ,
25:16but also to remember who we are . If you
25:30have been to the World Center , there is
25:32one guy who walks around with a tape
25:34recorder and dances . I always get a bit
25:38worried , thinking he might do something
25:43now . They say he is a quiet guy , of
25:48course . Then we found out through
26:07Rostislav that he is the son of very
26:10rich parents . But he doesn't look like
26:15it .
26:16I don't know his story , of course .
26:22Maybe it suits him to be a bit like
26:24this , not " poisoned , " which exists in
26:37our life , to stand like this for one
26:42day , like a child , to rejoice and
26:44release some tension . ( Untranslatable
26:48Hebrew phrase ) ,
26:48maybe join them , hopefully . He sort of
27:13knows , probably , that he is the son of
27:15rich people . But for some reason , he
27:23hasn't linked his life to that and
27:25behaves completely differently . And
27:28many believers here know , that they are
27:34children of the King of this world . But
27:41, unfortunately , we fall into behaving
27:42in a way that is not fitting for
27:44children of the King . We are orphans
27:54without parents , and our father
27:55abandoned us or left us or something
27:57happened there . What is your internal
28:02testimony ? The Day of Trumpeting and
28:06Yom Kippur . They remind us of this , so
28:15that we may enter the tabernacle with
28:16Him , with Him into this tabernacle for
28:18Sukkot . Every year , these holidays
28:31guide us in this direction . These are
28:38not three separate holidays ; every year
28:41one needs to awaken to something always
28:43. Every year there is something to
28:50repent for , and without this , it is
28:52impossible to enter the , well ...
28:56tabernacle . May God truly bless us all .
29:07This is the song that is the final one
29:10in the Torah , for us , to remember that
29:18this testimony is not against us , even
29:26though we must reprove and judge
29:28ourselves , as we have read ,
29:38but this is a reminder , so that inside
29:40us there is a correct testimony . May
29:43God bless us for the holidays .
29:52Our Father , our King , we are grateful
29:54to You for the autumn feasts . We thank
29:58You for the Sabbath of rest and for the
30:04fact that we are approaching these
30:06holidays . When we enter into Your
30:13holidays , prepare our hearts , so that
30:22we are ready to receive reproof from
30:24You and correct everything we must , so
30:32that we do not fall under judgment
30:33together with this world , but that we
30:38may enter together into Your booth ,
30:41Your tabernacle . Help us all and
30:48blessed be the name of our Lord . Amen .