Likutey Halakhos, Yoreh Deah 1, Yayin Nesech 4, Para. 23-27. Speaker: Rabbi Nasan Maimon. Teshuvah; Free Will; Parshas Balak; Bilaam’s Reincarnation as Naval; Ekev; VaYechi, Blessing of Shevet Dan; Sacrificing One’s Life During Time of Forced Conversion; the Power of Tefilah and Mesiras Nefesh.
00:00 – יֹ֣שְׁבֵי חֹ֥שֶׁךְ וְצַלְמָ֑וֶת אֲסִירֵ֖י עֳנִ֣י וּבַרְזֶֽל – “Those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, prisoners of affliction and iron” – (Tehillim 107:10). Free will: in whatever way a person desires to go, Hashem allows him.
03:21 – תָּעִ֗יתִי כְּשֶׂ֣ה אֹ֖בֵד – “I strayed like a lamb” (Tehillim 119:196). Reference to Likutey Moharan 206. Hashem hears and rescues those who call out to Him for help.
05:32 – PARAGRAPH 24. אִ֣ישׁ בַּ֖עַר לֹ֥א יֵדָ֑ע וּ֜כְסִ֗יל לֹֽא־יָבִ֥ין אֶת־זֹֽאת – “A boorish man does not know; neither does a fool understand this” (Tehillim 92:7). If a person strays and doesn’t reach out in tefilah, Hashem puts pressure on him.
06:06 – Bilaam beat his donkey until the animal crushed his foot, but even so, Bilaam continued to oppose Hashem. This is in contrast to Dovid Hamelech humbly asking Hashem to direct him, in recognition that אַ֜תָּ֗ה תּוֹמִ֥יךְ גּוֹרָלִֽי – “You guide my destiny” (Tehillim 16:5).
09:07 – Pharaoh caused the Jews to return to Hashem.
09:42 – NOTE from Rabbi Rosenfeld ז”ל – Parshas Balak – Bilaam was reincarnated as Jew – Naval – simply because he said the words, “let my end be with them”. If one small tefilah has the power to allow a non-Jew to do teshuvah, imagine what tefilah can do for a Jew.
11:21 – NOTE: The light of the previous Shabbos radiates into the first three days of the week.
11:38 – PARAGRAPH 25. Parshas Ekev – וְהָיָ֣ה | עֵ֣קֶב תִּשְׁמְע֗וּן אֵ֤ת הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים֙ הָאֵ֔לֶּה – “And it will be, because you will heed these ordinances” (Devarim 7:12, Ekev).
14:57 – Why Yaakov Avinu was holding onto the heel of Esav. וְיָד֤וֹ אֹחֶ֨זֶת֙ בַּֽעֲקֵ֣ב עֵשָׂ֔ו – “…and his hand was grasping Esav’s heel” (Bereishis 25:26, Toldos).
16:38 – The only true power we have is our tefilah.
17:11 – Parshas Vayechi – the blessing given to Shevet Dan: יְהִי־דָן֙ נָחָ֣שׁ עֲלֵי־דֶ֔רֶךְ שְׁפִיפֹ֖ן עֲלֵי־אֹ֑רַח הַנּשֵׁךְ֙ עִקְּבֵי־ס֔וּס וַיִּפֹּ֥ל רֹֽכְב֖וֹ אָחֽוֹר – “Dan will be a serpent on the road, a viper on the path, biting the horse’s heels so its rider falls backwards” (Bereishis 49:17, Vayechi). Even if a person finds himself under the heels of a horse, by calling out to Hashem, he can be saved.
19:32 – PARAGRAPH 26. Sacrificing one’s life during time of forced conversion (Sanhedrin 94 and Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Deah 157).
25:45 – PARAGRAPH 27. כָּל־בָּ֖אֶיהָ לֹ֣א יְשׁוּב֑וּן וְלֹֽא־יַ֜שִּׂ֗יגוּ אָרְח֥וֹת חַיִּֽים – “None who go to her return, neither do they achieve the ways of life” (Mishlei 2:19).
28:30 – A Jew’s constant readiness to sacrifice his life for his faith in Hashem.
29:00 – Rav Nasan of Nemirov ז”ל speaks about the bitter opposition to chassidish practices – hisbodedus, chatzos, kivrei tzaddikim – from supposedly Torah observant Jews in his generation.
30:41 – Even the lowliest Jew needs to be ready to go through mesiras nefesh for the sake of Hashem and His Torah. This kind of self sacrifice has tremendous power.
34:44 – Reference to Likutey Halakhos, Orach Chaim, Hilkhos Tefillin 4, Para. 4.
35:18 – NOTE – Biographical account of Reb Yerachmiel Sher, son-in-law of Reb Michel Dorfman ז”ל. Reb Yerachmiel and his brother were saved from execution by a Nazi firing squad during World War II when the commander saw their tzitzis and realized they couldn’t be Russian spies because they were “only Jews”.
37:02 – Q&R about imprisonment in Paragraph 27.
39:48 – Closing blessings.
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