Torah Insights of Rabbi Balkany: Shoftim (Video 243)

What’s said in this shiur

The opening of this shiur, in Rabbi Yehoshua Balkany’s own words — taken from the captions, so names and Hebrew terms may be approximate.

I am recording this year on Monday night two nights before Rosh Chodesh Elul Haba'ana L'tova. This Shabbos is Parshas Shoftim. And Shoftim always comes out the first Shabbos of Chodesh Elul. And there is a famous question that the Arizal asks. The opening possuk says Shoftim, judges, v'shotrim, and police Titen l'cha b'chol sh'arecha. You should have in all of your towns, your hamlets, your cities, your your provinces, there has to be law and order, and there has to be structure with backbone. But the Arizal asked and said that if it was speaking to the whole Klal Yisrael, it should have said Shoftim v'shotrim Titnu lachem b'chol sh'areichem. That means the plural. Titen l'cha is a singular, speaking to one person. And b'chol sh'arecha is also a singular. As if you're speaking to one person. So says the Arizal, we are speaking to the individual features of a person. That means when we come into Elo, when we want to rectify, to correct, to put into position of the atmosphere and the framework of Elo, we have to start with the faculties of our own self. That means we have a mouth, for instance, that's a sha'ar, that's a gate. We speak what we speak, how we speak, and also the intake. It's like a sha'ar, like a gate that you go in and you go out. You You eat things that you have to be doubly cautious. Is it kosher? Isn't it kosher? And all of the ramifications. When it comes to the ears, so the unit of ears, we listen to a lot of things. People are busy gossiping, people are busy relating, and we know that there's much to be desired in what we hear.

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1. 0:00I am recording this year on Monday night two nights before Rosh Chodesh Elul Haba'ana L'tova.…
2. 5:29because the Midrash says that on the pasuk Ki ye- right at the towards the beginning…
3. 11:26and respect to. And that's similar by taking some of the blood and by covering it…
4. 16:50You can get shleimus sholem by Yeru, by when you have yirah shamayim. When someone has…
5. 23:07then the judgment begins, but then we have the Aseret Yemei Teshuvah, which we're much closer…
6. 28:57read to you says that when it's expanded Mashiach comes and you're going to get that…
7. 34:12cuz the world's not going to change and there will be innocent killing. But according to…
8. 40:12it wasn't enough. They needed the ability of the strength of the personality to be able…
9. 45:35he didn't have a chance to move in and thinking the possuk says the ish acher…
10. 51:39about appointing a king that if call yourself says, "We want a king like all the…

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