This week's Parasha talks about the Bene Gad and Bene Reuven who had a lot of sheep and wanted to take land on the other side of the Jordan, and not go into Eretz Yisrael, which connects to the pasuk that we’ve been talking about, which we read on Tisha B’Av ( Yirmiyah 9,22) אַל־יִתְהַלֵּ֤ל חָכָם֙ בְּחׇכְמָת֔וֹ וְאַל־יִתְהַלֵּ֥ל הַגִּבּ֖וֹר בִּגְבֽוּרָת֑וֹ אַל־יִתְהַלֵּ֥ל עָשִׁ֖יר בְּעׇשְׁרֽוֹ The wise, the wealthy, and the strong shouldn't be proud of their wisdom, wealth, and strength… Rather be proud of your knowledge of God. Regarding this, the Midrash Tanchuma says, There are three gifts that God created in this world: Wisdom, strength, and wealth. If you have them, you have everything. But, there’s a caveat, “ When they’re gifts of God, it’s God strength, not man's wealth, wisdom and strength.” That means there are two kinds of wealth, two kinds of wisdom, and two kinds of strength: God’s and man’s. God’s means I attribute it to God. Man’s means I think it's mine. I got it on my own. It’s only a gift when you realize it's God’s. And he brings two pesukim, one in Kohelet, 9/11: שַׁ֜בְתִּי וְרָאֹ֣ה תַֽחַת־הַשֶּׁ֗מֶשׁ כִּ֣י לֹא֩ לַקַּלִּ֨ים הַמֵּר֜וֹץ וְלֹ֧א לַגִּבּוֹרִ֣ים הַמִּלְחָמָ֗ה וְ֠גַ֠ם לֹ֣א לַחֲכָמִ֥ים לֶ֙חֶם֙ וְגַ֨ם לֹ֤א לַנְּבֹנִים֙ עֹ֔שֶׁר וְגַ֛ם לֹ֥א לַיֹּדְעִ֖ים חֵ֑ן I sat and I saw… that the light footed don't always win the race, the strong don't always win the war, the wise people don’t always have bread. Not always do the understanding people have wealth and not always do the knowledgeable people have charm. So, you can have all the qualities but not get what your supposed to get- That’s when it’s not a gift of God. And when they're not gifts of God, when (in the term the Mishna uses), you grab them , then they bring destruction. The Midrash then goes on through history, referencing two people for each quality, one from the Jews, one from the goyim, and shows what their end was because they didn't attribute it to God. One of the wisest men in the world, the Jew Achitofel, was the advisor. He was called the Yoetz . He ended up killing himself when his advice wasn't accepted. Bilam was the wisest among the goyim, and he also had a tragic ending. Of the two strong men, both the Jew Shimshon (on his level, he ended up not using his strength properly) and the goy, Goliat, lost this world. The two wealthy men, Korach and Haman, one a Jew, one a goy, both ended up losing. This was because, in the words of the Midrash, it wasn't a gift from God…they grabbed them (figuratively speaking). When we don't attribute our talents to God, it's like we're grabbing them, like grabbing gifts. Grabbing gifts doesn’t bring success. We have to attribute our gifts to God. Shabbat Shalom