Transcript
Good morning everyone. It's great to be back. פסח Pesach is officially behind us. And we've moved on to the new season. So it is, it's great to see everybody. We have the privilege of studying together this week פרשת שמיני Parshas Shemini. And reading פרשת שמיני Parshas Shemini.פרשת שמיני Parshas Shemini begins ויהי ביום השמיני קרא משה לאהרן ולבניו ולזקני ישראל Vayehi bayom hashemini kara Moshe l'Aharon ul'vanav ul'ziknei Yisrael. It was on the eighth day. The eighth day of what? What day on the calendar was this day in fact? Not the eighth day, but it was, it was the first day. It was ראש חודש ניסן Rosh Chodesh Nissan. Why is ראש חודש ניסן Rosh Chodesh Nissan referred to as the eighth day? The Torah's math seems to be a little off. The calendar's a little bit off.So רש\"י Rashi tells us, ויהי ביום השמיני Vayehi bayom hashemini, it was in fact the eighth day. It was שמיני למילואים shmini l'miluim. הוא ראש חודש ניסן, שהוקם המשכן בו ביום, ונטל עשר עטרות השנויות בסדר עולם Hu Rosh Chodesh Nissan, shehukma haMishkan bo bayom, v'natal eser ataros hashnuos b'Seder Olam. Because this was the eighth day to the מילואים miluim. For seven days, the כהנים kohanim were instructed to go into the משכן Mishkan and to watch משה Moshe. משה Moshe would do a dry run. He would each day, every day, assemble and disassemble the משכן Mishkan and he would go through the daily functionality of the משכן Mishkan. And this was the dry run, and the כהנים kohanim would watch and they would learn. For seven days, משה Moshe assembled and disassembled. ויהי ביום השמיני Vayehi bayom hashemini, it was at the completion of the week of the מילואים miluim that now the inauguration was to happen. It was the eighth day of that process, which was really the first day of the משכן Mishkan functioning in all of its glory, and that happened to coincide with ראש חודש ניסן Rosh Chodesh Nissan. If it was ראש חודש ניסן Rosh Chodesh Nissan, the first day, the inauguration of the משכן Mishkan, why describe it as the eighth day? ויהי ביום השמיני Vayehi bayom hashemini.So the answer the חלבן Chalban, רב חיים כהן Rav Chaim Kohen gives in his ספר sefer, טל חיים Tal Chaim is, because the number eight is exactly what the משכן Mishkan is all about. Seven, we know, corresponds with nature. It corresponds with the days of the week, it corresponds with creation. The eighth, number eight, corresponds with that which is above nature, that which is supernatural, that which transcends, that which, in fact, supersedes.רש\"י Rashi also quotes the חז\"ל Chazal who tell us that the day the משכן Mishkan was established, was inaugurated, was as celebratory, was as joyous, was as great an achievement as the day of the creation of שמים וארץ shamayim v'aretz, the day of the creation of the world. It was the fulfillment of creation. Creating a spiritual abode where the שכינה Shechina would be שורה shora, where השם's Hashem's presence would be intensely felt, was the fulfillment for the very reason which the world was created.But how could you compare? Asks רב חיים כהן Rav Chaim Kohen, the חלבן Chalban, what do you mean? משה Moshe assembled and disassembled the Tabernacle for seven days, and that correlates or that parallels the creation of the world? השם Hashem created for seven days, and then he was done, he rested on the seventh day. So he quotes the famous חז\"ל Chazal who tell us, the rabbis teach us, that in fact, השם Hashem was בורא עולמות ומחריבן boreh olamos u'macharivan. השם Hashem created many worlds before ours, and he destroyed all of those worlds. This wasn't השם's Hashem's first attempt. Now, it's in itself a difficult מדרש Medrash. What does it mean? God, the infinite, omnipotent being, the perfect being who can get it right the first time, what does it mean he had to create and destroy, create and destroy, until he finally settled on our world? And Rav Soloveitchik famously says that השם Hashem was creating a precedent for the fact that we make mistakes. That it's okay for it not to go right the first time. It's okay to have to start again. The ריבונו של עולם Ribono shel Olam didn't need to, but he was modeling for us finite beings who are going to make mistakes, who are going to fail, that nevertheless it's okay to fail, you get back up and you try again. It's an important lesson for later in the פרשה parsha, because on the first day, when it's time for אהרן Aharon to approach the מזבח Mizbeach, when it's time for אהרן Aharon to throw out the first קרבן korban on opening day, what does אהרן Aharon do? He hesitates. He doesn't want to walk out of the dugout. He looks over at the mound. I can tell you someone's excited about the first week of baseball. Even though my team's not giving me much to be excited about. But it's good. It's good. They're, they're humbling them. It's important at the beginning of the season. It's good. It's going to be okay. Turn it around starting tonight. That's right. Anyway, so where was I? So אהרן Aharon is looking out the dugout at the mound, metaphorically speaking. He's looking over at the מזבח Mizbeach, and what does he see? The מזבח Mizbeach was designed with קרנות המזבח karnos hamizbeach, there were protrusions from the corners of the מזבח Mizbeach, horns that stuck out. If you looked at the מזבח Mizbeach from the side, if you looked head-on, there were, it looked like, it literally looked like a calf, an ox. There were horns sticking out. אהרן Aharon is about to approach the מזבח Mizbeach to bring the opening קרבנות korbanos, he sees, and what image does it elicit in his mind? The עגל Egel. He says, \"Whoa, I'm not worthy. This isn't for me.\" He hesitates. He pauses. He's reluctant to go out, because he says, \"To serve the role of כהן גדול Kohen Gadol, to be the high priest? How could I do that?\"What does משה Moshe do? משה Moshe turns to his older brother and he says, \"קרב אל המזבח Krav el hamizbeach. Come close to the מזבח Mizbeach. You can do it. You got this.\" רש\"י Rashi quotes חז\"ל Chazal who say that משה Moshe turned to אהרן Aharon and said, \"למה אתה בוש Lama ata bosh, why are you ashamed? לכך נבחרת Lekach nivcharta. For this you were chosen.\" השם Hashem designated you the כהן גדול Kohen Gadol. So the simple understanding is that if השם Hashem had any problem with you, if השם Hashem thought that you were unworthy because of your role and involvement in the חטא העגל cheit ha'egel, he wouldn't have designated you to be the כהן גדול Kohen Gadol. He wouldn't have assigned you to bring the opening קרבן korban. לכך נבחרת Lekach nivcharta. The fact that you were chosen shows that you were meant for this position, for this mission. So come on, get up, קרב אל המזבח krav el hamizbeach, get going, you were meant for this, השם Hashem designated you for this, you can do it, let's go. And in fact, אהרן Aharon receives the encouragement well, and it's what he needs in order to get going.The כתב סופר Ksav Sofer has another interpretation. כתב סופר Ksav Sofer says that no, what משה Moshe was telling him was, לכך נבחרת Lekach nivcharta. For this you were chosen. What does it mean for this? משה Moshe turns to his brother and he says, \"למה אתה בוש Lama ata bosh, why are you ashamed? Why are you embarrassed? לכך Lekach. From the very fact that you're ashamed and embarrassed, נבחרת nivcharta. Your humility is why you were chosen. The fact that you understand you made a mistake, you admit the mistake of the role that you played, you seek to learn from the mistake that you made, that's not a reason for you not to do this, that is exactly why you are the most worthy person for this, the greatest candidate. למה אתה בוש Lama ata bosh, why are you embarrassed? Why are you waiting? לכך Lekach, because you were embarrassed, the very fact that you are humble to admit a mistake and learn from it, לכך lekach, it is for that very reason, נבחרת nivcharta.\" You can make mistakes and come back from it.In fact, the whole חטא העגל cheit ha'egel, the גמרא Gemara tells us in the beginning of עבודה זרה Avodah Zarah, those who just, who learned the דף daf, we completed עבודה זרה Avodah Zarah recently, at the very beginning of עבודה זרה Avodah Zarah, the גמרא Gemara tells us the whole חטא העגל cheit ha'egel was preordained from above. השם Hashem orchestrated events for the חטא העגל cheit ha'egel. I, why were they so accountable and punished so terribly? All kinds of explanations are offered, says that it wasn't the actual חטא העגל cheit ha'egel, it was the מחולות mecholos, it was the circles, the dancing, the celebration they did afterwards. The fact that they were scared when Moshe didn't return, the fact that, at least according to the כוזרי Kuzari, they needed a tangible means with which to connect to השם Hashem, so they created something physical, that was ordained from above, that was divinely, that was divine providence. They weren't accountable for that. But it was the celebration, the joy, the lack of shame, embarrassment, regret, remorse, that's what they were accountable for after the fact. So says the גמרא Gemara in עבודה זרה Avodah Zarah, why would God orchestrate things? Why would God organize the world so to have almost suspended their free will and essentially divinely pushed them to the חטא העגל cheit ha'egel? Why would he have done that? And the גמרא Gemara says, to set a precedent for us that individually and even nationally, we can make mistakes and we can come back. We have to learn from them. We have to have regret. We have to have remorse. We have to have a sense of בושה busha, a healthy dose of shame. Shame is a lost art in our world. We live in a world that says you shouldn't be ashamed of anything. Say who you want to be, be what you want to be, dress how you want to dress, act how you want to act, do what you want to do, whatever you want. Nothing ever to be ashamed of. That's the world we live in. It's ripped down the veil. Said, don't be ashamed of anything. Be, do what, let the whole world in or do what you do in private, out in public. There's nothing to feel a sense of of a shame. תורה Torah says shame is critical. Jewish people, one of the three character traits through which we are known is ביישנים byshanim. The capacity for בושה busha. The capacity to say, you know, either I'm ashamed of something I've done, or I'm blushing by something I'm listening to or seeing or I'm exposed to or I'm around. Rabbi Manis Friedman has a famous book about people don't blush anymore, that loss of modesty. I've spoken about before that in in the world of medicine, there's a disease, neuropathy, where a person's nerve endings are not working. And it's terribly, terribly dangerous. If a person's nerves aren't working, they don't know if they stepped on a sharp object, if they have internal bleeding, if they've got some horrible disease, if something's wrong. We need nerves. We, you know, sometimes you say I'm jealous, I wish I didn't have pain. What I would give to have that disease and never feel pain. It's a ברכה bracha to have pain because the pain alerts you to something being wrong, so it can be treated and healed and fixed. הלוואי Halvai. Sometimes pain we struggle for the fixed part, then we have to do other things that numb the pain. But pain is a ברכה bracha because it's an alert system. So what pain, what nerve endings are for the body, is what shame is for the soul. The soul needs to feel a sense of shame. And when it loses that capacity to feel shame, it is horribly ill and diseased. It can't know when something's wrong. If you watch and listen and see things and they don't make you blush and they don't make you cringe and they don't make you recoil, inappropriate language, inappropriate imagery, inappropriate jokes, offensive. Today nothing's offensive, nothing's inappropriate, nothing's anything. Anything and everything go. And if we allow that, we're in trouble. We are ביישנים byshanim. We're characterized by our capacity for shame. So אהרן הכהן Aharon HaKohen, he is בוש bosh, and משה Moshe says, \"That's a good thing that you're ashamed. לכך נבחרת Lekach nivcharta, that's why you were chosen. It's okay to make mistakes and come back. השם Hashem set a precedent for that by being בונה עולמות ומחריבן boneh olamos u'macharivan, by building worlds and destroying them until he came on the world the way he wanted it to be, the world that would last.\" So says the חלבן Chalban, coming back to our opening of the פרשה parsha. Says the חלבן Chalban, that's the parallel. משה Moshe assembled and disassembled the משכן Mishkan for seven days, that parallels השם Hashem assembling and disassembling worlds for seven days, six days, and then sticking with the world of the seventh day. And therefore it's ויהי ביום השמיני vayehi bayom hashemini. That's why it is on the eighth day. Because seven is the natural order. Seven is the world of limits. Seven is the world of boundaries. Seven is the world of nature. Eight transcends. מהר\"ל Maharal writes about this often. We see this, there's a ברית bris taking place in the other room. This is the theme of a ברית bris. A boy has his ברית bris on the eighth day because ברית bris is telling us in the very organ where people have the greatest natural drive, impulse, inclination that leads them astray, that we on the eighth day say we have the capacity for the supernatural. We can transcend the natural to be able to live a supernatural. To not have to give into our nature, but to be able to be above, not trapped or in the limits or boundaries of nature. We can be disciplined and dignified and in control and even beyond. The משכן Mishkan was that place. When you were outside the walls of the משכן Mishkan or the מקדש Mikdash, you were in the world of the nature, the natural world. And when you went into the abode of the ריבונו של עולם Ribono shel Olam, where the שכינה Shechina was שורה shora, you were in a place brought to you by the number eight, in a place that is the theme of supernatural, that which transcends. Eight, that is the opening of our פרשה parsha, ויהי ביום השמיני vayehi bayom hashemini.The beginning of the פרשה parsha lists the קרבנות korbanos that אהרן הכהן Aharon HaKohen brings to dedicate the משכן Mishkan, and it says if you look at פסוק ו pasuk vav, פרק ט פסוק ו Perek tes pasuk vav, chapter nine, verse six, on page 588 in the ArtScroll Stone חומש Chumash. ויאמר משה זה הדבר אשר צוה השם תעשו Vayomer Moshe zeh hadavar asher tziva Hashem ta'asu. משה Moshe tells his brother אהרן Aharon that that which השם Hashem says you have to do, וירא אליכם כבוד השם vayera aleichem k'vod Hashem. And when you do it, when you'll bring these קרבנות korbanos, when you'll live that life, when you'll be sanctified, then the glory of השם Hashem will appear to you. What does that mean, the glory of השם Hashem will appear to you? That when you bring these קרבנות korbanos, when you fulfill your mission for which you are created, השם's Hashem's presence will descend upon you. You will, השם's Hashem's presence will dwell in the משכן Mishkan, you will feel that you are with him. The תרגום יונתן Targum Yonasan, the תרגום יונתן Targum Yonasan has an amazing translation. If you have the your מקראות גדולות Mikraos Gedolos, there on פרק ט פסוק ו Perek tes pasuk vav, says the תרגום יונתן Targum Yonasan, אמר משה דין פתגמא דתעבדון אעבירו ית יצרא בישא מן לבכון Amar Moshe dein pizgama d'savdun avru yat yitzra bisha min libchon. משה Moshe turns to his brother אהרן Aharon and says, \"This is the matter you have to do.\" What is it you have to do? אעבירו ית יצרא בישא מן לבכון Avru yat yitzra bisha min libchon. How does he translate זה הדבר אשר צוה השם תעשו zeh hadavar asher tziva Hashem ta'asu? What is the actual thing that you have to do? Simple understanding of the text is you have to offer the קרבנות korbanos. How does the תרגום יונתן Targum Yonasan translate it? Remove the יצר הרע yetzer hara from your heart. ומן יד יתגלי לכון איקר שכינתא דהשם u'min yad yisgalei l'chon ikar shchinta d'Hashem. If you want to feel השם's Hashem's presence, you need to remove the יצר הרע yetzer hara from your heart. It's an amazing comment of of the תרגום יונתן Targum Yonasan. And based on it, the קאצקער רבי Kotsker Rebbe says that in order to acquire a connection with שכינה Shechina, if you want to feel spirituality, again, we live in the new age of spirituality. No one even knows exactly what that word means. I don't want to necessarily observe הלכה halacha, I don't want to come to דאַווענען davening and have the formal text of the סידור siddur, I just want spirituality. Ooh, ah. I read Deepak Chopra and this one and that one, and ooh, spirituality, spirituality, spirituality. Says the קאצקער רבי Kotsker Rebbe, the תרגום יונתן Targum Yonasan is telling us here that the formula, the the way to achieve spirituality, if you want השם's Hashem's שכינה Shechina, assuming spirituality means a connection with the divine, the way to the connect with the divine is by eliminating the יצר הרע yetzer hara. You can't give into your יצר הרע yetzer hara. You can't be undisciplined in what you look at and what you say and what you listen to and how you eat and how you do your business dealings. You can't be undisciplined and think that you can achieve spirituality. That the root to spirituality, the way to make contact with the divine is to remove the יצר הרע yetzer hara. That's what the תרגום יונתן Targum Yonasan is translating, is טייטשן taiching the פסוק pasuk to tell us that is, you want the שכינה Shechina to be שורה shora, you want השם Hashem to to reside within you, then you have to remove the יצרא בישא מן לבכון yitzra bisha min libchon, you have to remove the יצר הרע yetzer hara from our very hearts. And of course, this goes all the way back to when we are introduced to the משכן Mishkan in ספר שמות Sefer Shmos, ושכנתי בתוכם V'shachanti b'socham. השם Hashem says, \"Forget the building and the walls and the bricks and mortar and the curtains. I want to dwell in you. I want you to make contact with me. I want to feel that I'm with you all the time, but I need you to do what you need to do, and what we need to do as a prerequisite to that is to remove the יצר הרע yetzer hara.\" You can't be corrupt, you can't be immoral, you can't be undisciplined, you can't be undignified, and think that you can have spirituality. That's a counterfeit spirituality. We're going to get to that in our פרשה parsha as well. We talk about the role of wine and alcohol. There are counterfeit highs and there are counterfeit spiritualities. They're not real. A genuine spirituality, which means contact, connection, feeling an intimate rendezvous with the divine, must, as a prerequisite, have at least the attempt to remove the יצר הרע yetzer hara, to be disciplined and to be dignified. Critically important. Okay, what's next in our פרשה parsha?We have the priestly blessing as part of this inauguration, the קרבנות korbanos that אהרן Aharon was designated by משה Moshe to bring. We have the priestly blessings. If you look on page, where is it? פרק יוד Perek Yud? פסוק Pasuk, כ\"ב khaf-beis. פרק יוד Perek Yud, פסוק pasuk, I'm sorry, פרק ט Perek tes, פסוק כ\"ב pasuk khaf-beis, the end of פרק ט Perek tes. ויבא משה ואהרן אל אהל מועד ויצאו ויברכו את העם Vayavo Moshe v'Aharon el Ohel Moed v'yeitzu v'yevarchu es ha'am. משה Moshe and אהרן Aharon. I'm sorry, go back a פסוק pasuk, כ\"ב khaf-beis. I apologize. Chapter 9, verse 22, the bottom of page 590. וישא אהרן את ידיו אל העם ויברכם Vayisa Aharon es yadav el ha'am vayevorchem. So, משה Moshe, אהרן Aharon does approach the מזבח Mizbeach, he brings the קרבנות korbanos, he is sanctified, he gets the ball rolling on his role, his mission in the world. And then וישא אהרן את ידיו vayisa Aharon es yadav, he raises his hands ויברכם vayevorchem and he gives the people a ברכה bracha. וירד מעשות החטאת והעולה והשלמים Vayered mei'asos hachatas v'ha'olah v'hashlamim. What is the ברכה bracha that he gives? Look at רש\"י Rashi, ויברכם vayevorchem, ברכת כהנים Birchas Kohanim, יברכך Yevarechecha, יאר ya'er, ישא yisa. The ברכת כהנים Birchas Kohanim. The ברכה משולשת bracha meshuleshes. We're reading פרשת נשא Parshas Nasso, the ברכה משולשת bracha meshuleshes, we call it the threefold ברכה bracha, really it has six ברכות brachos. יברכך השם וישמרך Yevarechecha Hashem v'yishmerecha, יאר השם פניו אליך ויחנך Ya'er Hashem panav eilecha v'yichuneka, ישא השם פניו אליך וישם לך שלום Yisa Hashem panav eilecha v'yasem lecha shalom. Why do we call it the threefold ברכה bracha if it really includes six? So, I don't know if I'll be here when we're in פרשת נשא Parshas Nasso this summer, but when we get up to it, ask me then. Why is it called the threefold ברכה bracha if it has six? The real source, the text of the ברכה bracha comes in ספר במדבר Sefer Bamidbar, but the origin of the מצוה mitzvah, the source of the מצוה mitzvah of ברכת כהנים Birchas Kohanim, what we call דוכנ'ן duchaning, דוכנ'ן duchaning because the כהנים kohanim ascend the דוכן duchan, they climb the platform in order to give the ברכה bracha. The source of the מצוה mitzvah appears here in our פרשה parsha. אהרן Aharon is giving that ברכה bracha to the Jewish people. And then it's followed, ויבא משה ואהרן אל אהל מועד ויצאו ויברכו את העם vayavo Moshe v'Aharon el ohel moed v'yeitzu v'yevarchu es ha'am. Now Moshe is joined, Aharon is joined by his brother משה Moshe, they go to the אהל מועד Ohel Moed, they come out and they give the people a ברכה bracha.What is the ברכה bracha they give? רש\"י Rashi says, אמרו יהי נועם השם אלקינו עלינו amru yehi noam Hashem Elokeinu aleinu. יהי רצון שתשרה שכינה במעשה ידיכם Yehi ratzon shetishreh shechina b'ma'asei yedeichem. They give the people a ברכה bracha, may it be God's will that the שכינה Shechina should dwell because of the your deeds, the deeds of your hand. שבכל שבעת ימי המילואים שהעמיד משה את המשכן ושימש בו בקרבנות כל יום, לא שרתה בו שכינה sheb'chol shivas yemei hamiluim shehe'emid Moshe es haMishkan v'shimmesh bo b'korbanos kol yom, lo sharsah bo Shechina. The seven days that משה Moshe did the dry run assembling and disassembling the משכן Mishkan, God did not yet descend and dwell. והיו ישראל נכלמים ואומרים למשה V'hayu Yisrael nechelamim v'omrim l'Moshe, \"משה רבנו, כל טורח שטרחנו שתשרה שכינה בינינו, ונדע שנתכפר לנו על עון העגל Moshe Rabbeinu, kol torach shetarachnu shetishreh shechina beineinu, v'neida she'niskaper lanu al avon ha'egel.\" And the people said, \"Moshe, we don't feel it. Where's the spirituality? God is not here. Why are we doing all this effort? To be able to come back from the חטא העגל cheit ha'egel. I thought it was so that God would return to us. We want to reunite. We want to reconcile. We miss the intimacy with Hashem. Where is he?\" לכך אמר, זה הדבר אשר צוה השם תעשו, וירא אליכם כבוד השם Lekach amar, zeh hadavar asher tziva Hashem ta'asu, v'yera aleichem k'vod Hashem. That's why משה Moshe said to אהרן Aharon, \"Seven days my dry run didn't do it. Now you need to, pun intended, take the bull by the horns. You need to approach the מזבח Mizbeach and begin the קרבנות korbanos and that will bring Hashem down. אהרן אחי, כדאי וחשוב ממני, שעל ידי קרבנותיו ועבודתו תשרה שכינה בכם, ותדעו שהמקום בחר בו Aharon achi, kedai v'chashuv mimeni, she'al yedei korbanosav v'avodaso tishreh shechina bachem, v'teidu she'hamakom bachar bo.\" משה Moshe says something astounding. משה Moshe, according to רש\"י Rashi, says to the people, \"You're right. My seven days of practice, the dry run, didn't do it. But you know, אהרן's Aharon's greater than I am. אהרן Aharon is more worthy than I. And therefore, as soon as אהרן Aharon starts, השם Hashem will be back. You'll feel it. All will be good. Put your trust in my brother אהרן Aharon. He is more worthy. He is greater than I.\"Someone asks the question, how could אהרן Aharon, how could משה Moshe say that? How could משה Moshe say that? Isn't it one of the 13 principles of faith that משה Moshe is the greatest Jew whoever lived, whoever will live? One of the 13 principles of faith, one of the אני מאמין Ani Ma'amins is to recognize משה's Moshe's uniqueness, his distinction. משה Moshe is one and only. So how could משה Moshe himself say, \"אהרן's Aharon's greater, אהרן Aharon is more worthy than I\"? Don't worry, put your trust in him. Isn't משה Moshe kind of, ironically, violating one of the 13 principles of faith, which is for משה Moshe to be the greatest Jew ever? How could משה Moshe violate the principle of faith that talks about himself to say that אהרן Aharon is even greater than he? I'll leave that as a question. Rav Soloveitchik deals with it in his נתיבות שלום Nesivos Shalom, but I'll leave that for you as a question because I want to keep going. But Rav Soloveitchik says here on this, the fact that this is the source of ברכת כהנים Birchas Kohanim and the ברכה bracha that אהרן Aharon gave, רש\"י Rashi explains the first blessing was the priestly blessing, the second was a prayer to God to accept the service. They said, \"יהי רצון Yehi ratzon, may it be God's will that the work of our hands establish for us God's presence.\" There's a specific הלכה halacha obligating the priest serving in the Temple to pray at the end of the ritual that the order of worship be accepted as satisfactory. In other words, this is the source that the קרבנות korbanos would be offered and at the end, they would offer a prayer, \"השם Hashem, everything we just did, let it be pleasant. May it be acceptable to you, may it appease you.\" This formula of supplication was transferred from its original place in the Temple ritual to our daily prayers. It should be familiar to us because we do the exact same thing. The עמידה Amidah constitutes an act of sacrificial worship in one's heart. איזו היא עבודה שבלב? ולעבדו בכל לבבכם Azei hi avodah she'balev? Ul'avdo b'chol levavchem. The פסוק pasuk says we serve השם Hashem with all of our hearts. פסוק Pasuk in שמע Shema. גמרא Gemara says, \"איזו היא עבודה שבלב azei hi avodah she'balev? What is the עבודה avodah in the heart? What's the work you do? You do work with your hands, you don't do work with your heart. Work is with your hands. What's the work of the heart? איזו היא עבודה שבלב? זו תפילה Azei hi avodah she'balev? Zu tefillah.\" The work of the heart is prayer. When you stand before God, you're not fashioning anything with your hands. You're not working hard with your legs. You're not working up a sweat with your body. You can be sitting absolutely still, but you're working incredibly hard, because prayer, the ability to concentrate the heart, the ability to feel in the presence of the ריבונו של עולם Ribono shel Olam, the ability to submit to him with a sense of utter dependence, reliance, the ability to admit we need him and feel a sense of gratitude. All of that is extremely hard work. When you walk out of a meaningful דאַווענען davening, you could feel exhausted. You feel spent. Not physically, or even physically because of the emotional experience of the exhaustion. So ולעבדו בכל לבבכם זו תפילה ul'avdo b'chol levavchem zu tefillah. The עבודה avodah of the heart is תפילה tefillah. In the רצה Retzei paragraph towards the conclusion of the עמידה Amidah, one prays. So right, our פרשה parsha just told us at the end of the קרבנות korbanos, the Kohen would offer a prayer, \"יהי רצון השם Yehi ratzon Hashem, may it be רצוי ratzui. May all that we just did be acceptable to you, may it appease you, may it be pleasant to you, may you reciprocate and respond positively to it.\" We do the same in דאַווענען davening. If our דאַווענען davening are the קרבנות korbanos of our hearts, the עבודה שבלב avodah she'balev, then we also at the end of דאַווענען davening or towards the end of דאַווענען davening say, \"השם Hashem, may this be pleasant, may you accept it positively.\" How do we do that? With what paragraph? יהי רצון מלפניך Yehi ratzon milfanecha. We say that at the very end, although that actually is supplication that is beyond technically the עמידה Amidah. Within the technical עמידה Amidah, we do it as well. I'll give you a hint. We do it right after the part that parallels the קרבנות korbanos. We spoke about this several weeks ago. We have three opening ברכות brachos, שבח shevach. We praise השם Hashem, as we described, not to flatter him, but to understand our contrast to him, to know him. At the end, we have הודאה hoda'ah, we have gratitude. In the middle 13 are the supplications, the requests, the things that we need. So right after those, what do we say? רצה Retzei. רצה Retzei. In the רצה Retzei paragraph, one prays, השם Hashem will be satisfied with the prayer. What do we say? ואישי ישראל ותפלתם באהבה תקבל ברצון V'ishei Yisrael u'sfilosam b'ahava sekabel b'ratzon. The אישי ישראל ishei Yisrael, the fire offerings of Israel, which can be an allusion to the קרבנות korbanos or the אישי ישראל ishei Yisrael is the fire in our heart, and ותפלתם u'sfilosam and our prayers, באהבה תקבל ברצון b'ahava sekabel b'ratzon, accept it God with love and with favor. That paragraph of רצה Retzei is the same word as ריצוי ritzui, רצוי ratzui, נרצה nirtzeh. It's the same goal that that we just did, השם Hashem, we just invested ourselves, we just spent time, we just worked on something. השם Hashem, that which we just did, may it be רצוי ratzui before you. And that is the purpose of the רצה Retzei. So from now on, you know, רצה Retzei is one of those paragraphs we kind of, many people tune out. The middle ברכות brachos, the בקשה bakasha, we have a lot of needs, a lot of wants, we're tuned in. מודים Modim, ooh, gratitude is tremendous. Feel a sense of gratitude. When Rabbi Penner was here a few weeks ago, he spoke at שלש סעודות Shalosh Seudos, he spoke about how when he says the words מודים Modim, he pauses just long enough to feel his heart beating in his chest. He stops for a moment to feel his actual heartbeat and to be mindful of his breath, and then in that context when he remembers how grateful he is to be alive, to have a pulse and to have air in his lungs, then he's ready for מודים Modim. מודים Modim, we're back to paying attention. But רצה Retzei, who pays attention for רצה Retzei? But for now on, we got to pay attention. Because רצה Retzei is the ריצוי ritzui, it's the תקבל ברצון sekabel b'ratzon, ותפלתם באהבה תקבל ברצון u'sfilosam b'ahava sekabel b'ratzon. השם Hashem, everything I just asked you for in אתה חונן Atah Chonein, רפאנו Refaeinu, ברך עלינו Barech Aleinu, שמע קולנו Shma Koleinu, all these things I need so badly, תקבל ברצון sekabel b'ratzon. I hope that it's, I hope that you accept it. I hope you understand where it's coming from and I hope that you'll respond to it positively. It's not the time to tune out, it's the time to tune in. Okay. We continue now, of course, with the heart of the פרשה parsha, the tragedy of the פרשה parsha. Which is very poignant this week after כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael suffered several tragedies last week, particularly in the Five Towns, the New York area, for those who followed, horrific, horrific tragedies. Really paralleling this, young people who die so prematurely and seemingly out of nowhere. And this is what should have been the happiest day of אהרן's Aharon's life. אהרן Aharon walks into the משכן Mishkan, it's inauguration day. He is the feature, the centerpiece. He is designated, assigned the כהן גדול Kohen Gadol. It should be the happiest day in his life and in a moment, in a flash, it turns into the most tragic. His sons נדב Nadav and אביהוא Avihu are struck down, they die on that very happy day, what should have been that happy day. Why do they die? We're not going to spend time on this right now. We have in the past, you could listen online. What do נדב Nadav and אביהוא Avihu do wrong? Are they drunk? Do they not have children? Do they bring a incense that they weren't instructed to bring? All kinds of suggestions, which tells you just how ambiguous the text is. The fact that we have such diverse suggestions, it's so ambiguous and it's such a mystery, what they did wrong and how it could have been so egregious that it deserved that punishment and it deserved it instantly. They couldn't enjoy. What about אהרן Aharon? His merit didn't deserve for this to be delayed so we could at least enjoy that opening day. The answer is, the answer is no. My tenth grade רבי Rebbe, Rabbi Asher Bush, suggests that maybe the connection between the death of נדב Nadav and אביהוא Avihu and then the end of the פרשה parsha, the whole end of the פרשה parsha, the laws of כשרות kashrus. The rules of כשרות kashrus. What is the connection between the death and the loss of נדב Nadav and אביהוא Avihu, the tragic death of נדב Nadav and אביהוא Avihu, and כשרות kashrus, the end of the פרשה parsha, it seems non sequitur. What's the connection between the two? So כשרות kashrus, according to some, רש\"י Rashi and the רמב\"ן Ramban say that כשרות kashrus is a חוק chok. Lest you try to find reason for כשרות kashrus, it's a חוק chok. השם Hashem said eat this and don't eat that. This qualifies and that doesn't qualify. It's a חוק chok. It's something which we can't comprehend. So Rabbi Bush suggests maybe that's the connection. The same way what the תורה Torah is telling us in פרשת שמיני Parshas Shemini is, the same way that in the world of מצוות mitzvos, I have חוקים chukim. I have like כשרות kashrus and שעטנז shatnez and כלאים kilayim. I have מצוות mitzvos which I can't comprehend. פרה אדומה Parah Adumah, the quintessential חוק chok. just like in the world of מצוות mitzvos, I am asked to obey and to observe and to accept even when I can't comprehend, so too in life, there are moments in life that are חוקים chukim. And the loss of נדב ואביהוא Nadav v'Avihu is a חוק chok. Don't try to understand it. Don't try to comprehend it. Don't try to make sense of it, don't try to figure it out, because you won't be able to. פרה אדומה Parah Adumah, the greatest חוק chok, beginning of פרשת חוקת Parshas Chukas described as the quintessential חוק chok, שלמה המלך Shlomo HaMelech says, אמרתי אחכמה והיא רחוקה ממני Amarti echkama v'hi rechoka mimeni. The wisest of all men שלמה המלך Shlomo HaMelech. Yesterday's נ\"ך יומי Nach Yomi, those who do נ\"ך יומי Nach Yomi yesterday in מלכים Melachim began, we're into מלכים Melachim now, I think the third or fourth פרק perek. שלמה המלך Shlomo HaMelech, God says you're the new king, tell me what do you want? What did שלמה המלך Shlomo HaMelech ask for? It's such a beautiful פרק perek. I thought of it as a rabbi, as a communal leader of any sort. It's really very, very inspiring. Because what does שלמה המלך Shlomo HaMelech ask for? He says I want wisdom. I want the wisdom and the sensitivity of the heart so that I can help people. I want to be able to resolve their challenges, their difficulties. I want to support them. I want to help them. השם Hashem give me wisdom and the sensitivity of the heart to be able to help them. And what does השם Hashem say? He says wow. Most kings would ask for wealth and riches and wives and horses and and and kingdoms and palaces. And you asked for wisdom, so you know what? I'm going to give you all those other things and wisdom. Because that's what you wanted, that's what you cared about. So שלמה המלך Shlomo HaMelech is the wisest of all men. And he says I can't understand פרה אדומה Parah Adumah, it's beyond me.So just like there are חוקים chukim within מצוות mitzvos, there are מצוות mitzvos to which no matter how hard we try, we can't understand, so too in life, there are moments in life, there are experiences in life, there are episodes in life which are חוקים chukim. We cannot comprehend. We cannot understand. And we have the model of אהרן הכהן Aharon HaKohen in how Aharon reacts. How does Aharon react to the tragedy? The loss of his two sons? If I'm Aharon, I come to השם Hashem and I say, השם Hashem, I'm here to serve you. I'm in this משכן Mishkan, it's all about you and this is what you do to me on that day. What did they do that was so bad? What did they do that was so bad? No matter what the interpretation, they didn't marry, they drank wine in the in the משכן Mishkan, they brought an אש זרה eish zarah that wasn't commanded of them. Whatever it was, is it so terrible they deserved to be struck down? In their youth? In their in their prime? On my day? Aharon doesn't say any of that. What does he say? וידום אהרן Vayidom Aharon. He in fact says nothing. The word וידום Vayidom is very different than וישתוק Vayishtok. שתיקה Shtika is silence. שקט בבקשה Sheket bevakasha. שקט Sheket is silence. שתיקה Shtika is silence. He's not silent. He's וידום Vayidom. What's the difference between שקט sheket and וידום vayidom? וידום Vayidom is saying something with silence. Sometimes your silence is the absence of words, and sometimes you can say more with silence than you can say with words. Aharon's וידום Vayidom is saying more with silence than he does with words. It's a silence of faith. We're not exactly sure what what he means within that, within that silence. I'll tell you something I've I've said often but I'll say it again because tomorrow night is יום השואה Yom HaShoah and I think that our פרשה parsha coinciding with יום השואה Yom HaShoah, this loss and Aharon's reaction is I think not a coincidence.But a man once approached the קלויזנבורגר רבי Klausenberger Rebbe. Klausenberger Rebbe's just an amazing, amazing person. He lost everything in the Holocaust. He lost I think thirteen children, he lost his wife. And this young man said to the קלויזנבורגר רבי Klausenberger Rebbe, tell me, how is it that you and so many of the survivors found the courage and the strength not only to survive but to rebuild your families, to rebuild the Jewish people, to remain positive, to have faith in society, in humanity, in השם Hashem? How is it possible? I'm sorry, 11 children. Klausenberger Rebbe lost his whole family, he lost everything. So the Rebbe answered him in two words. He turned to him and he said בדמייך חיי B'damayich chayi. We say it at a ברית bris. We just said it right here in this spot this morning. So the young man was startled, he thought he understood those words. בדמייך חיי B'damayich chayi, we said it at the פסח סדר Pesach Seder. Those words come from the prophet, the נביא יחזקאל Navi Yechezkel. And they mean בדמייך חיי B'damayich chayi, in your blood live. בדמייך B'damayich, in your blood, חיי chayi, find life. We say it at every ברית bris of a newborn Jewish baby boy and it's an allusion to the time in Egypt just prior to יציאת מצרים Yetziat Mitzrayim, just prior to the exodus where the Jewish people were commanded to circumcise their sons and to bring the קרבן פסח Korban Pesach. The merit of the two which with which with which we left מצרים Mitzrayim. בדמייך B'damayich, in the blood of your courage and willingness to offer the קרבן פסח Korban Pesach, in the blood of your courage to circumcise your sons, חיי chayi, find strength, find redemption in that blood. That's how it's normally translated. בדמייך חיי B'damayich chayi, בדמייך חיי b'damayich chayi we say at a ברית bris. בדמייך B'damayich, the Jewish people have spilled countless blood through the millennia. But it's through that blood, through that מסירות נפש mesirus nefesh that I spoke about on the eighth day, the willingness to be מסירות נפש moser nefesh, the willingness to spill blood, חיי chayi, that is the source of our survival, of our resolve, of our tenaciousness. So the young man commented out loud thinking he understood that the Rebbe was hinting that they were able to move on how? because בדמייך חיי b'damayich chayi, through their מסירות נפש mesirus nefesh, through the blood that they lost of their loved ones, חיי chayi, because of their מסירות נפש mesirus nefesh, they were able to move on with אמונה emunah. But the Rebbe looked at the young man and he corrected him. And he said that's not what בדמייך חיי b'damayich chayi means. The secret, the formula to the courage of survivors comes from somewhere else, said the קלויזנבורגר רבי Klausenberger Rebbe. Where is it? It's our פרשה parsha. That when נדב ואביהוא Nadav v'Avihu are struck down and Aharon suffers unimaginably, the פסוק pasuk describes וידום אהרן Vayidom Aharon. Aharon was silent. Moshe's words, Moshe tries to encourage him, בקרובי אקדש b'krovai ekadeish, that השם Hashem sanctifies himself with those closest to him, we don't understand השם Hashem's ways, really they died על קידוש השם al Kiddush Hashem. You know what Aharon does? He turns to Moshe and what's his response? Silence. It's not that his response was nothing. His response was not nothing. His response was silence. וידום Vayidom. Complete, utter, absolute, and total silence. The קלויזנבורגר רבי Klausenberger Rebbe says Aharon put one foot in front of the other and kept going despite what had happened to him. That וידום vayidom, that silence is the affirmation of faith that I will not get paralyzed, I will not become stuck trying to comprehend, trying to understand, but the silence is that despite what has happened and my inability to understand or even accept, I put one foot in front of the other and I continue. And said the קלויזנבורגר רבי Klausenberger Rebbe, the words בדמייך חיי b'damayich chayi are not בדמייך b'damayich the the דם dam of מילה milah and פסח Pesach. בדמייך B'damayich דל\"ת מ\"ם daled mem is the דל\"ת מ\"ם daled mem of וידום אהרן vayidom Aharon. בדמייך חיי B'damayich chayi, with the וידום אהרן vayidom Aharon of Aharon, חיי chayi, that's how we live. Following the precedent that Aharon was able to do it, we too are able to do it. Elie Wiesel once was once asked, is there a tradition of silence in Judaism? Yes, he answered, but we don't talk about it. וידום אהרן Vayidom Aharon, בדמייך חיי b'damayich chayi, that's the בדמייך b'damayich the קלויזנבורגר רבי Klausenberger Rebbe and all of the incredible survivors who we continue to honor tomorrow night. We have a 97-year-old survivor who will speak tomorrow night about his experiences and his and his stories.So what did they do wrong, נדב ואביהוא Nadav v'Avihu? I said we weren't going to talk about it but I'll share one insight from Rabbi Soloveitchik. The רב Rav in the חומש Chumash says on the day of their installation wearing their priestly vestments, נדב ואביהוא Nadav v'Avihu were overcome by ecstasy and the desire to express their emotions. The incense that they burned was identical to that which their father Aharon had offered, but there was one significant difference. What'd they do wrong? They brought the exact same thing as their father, so what did they do wrong? Aharon was obeying God's will while נדב ואביהוא Nadav v'Avihu performed an action that God had not commanded. If you want to get close to God, here's the deal. You can't make up what you want and what you think will bring you close to God. You have to do what השם Hashem tells you will bring you close. This is a repeat, says Rabbi Soloveitchik, of the חטא העגל Cheit HaEigel all over again. חטא העגל Cheit HaEigel השם Hashem said, I I respect that you want to draw close to me. You need a tangible physical connection. That's legitimate, that's reasonable, but you can't make it up. You have to do it based on what I say. And that's why השם Hashem responds to the חטא העגל Cheit HaEigel by giving the משכן Mishkan. And according to the בית הלוי Beis HaLevi, that's why ויקהל פקודי Vayakhel Pekudei repeats תרומה תצוה Trumah Tetzaveh with the difference of כאשר ציוה השם את משה ka'asher tzivah Hashem es Moshe. That now they were doing what השם Hashem had commanded. An authentic relationship with השם Hashem is the result of not trying to guess and not trying to impose on השם Hashem what we think would bring us close to Him, but it's about responding to what He commands, what He tells us will bring. And it's just like any other relationship. You can't if your spouse asks you to do something, you can't ignore that, do something else and then say, but I thought this would bring us closer. The spouse will say that's nice but that's not what I asked. If you care about me, then you should do what I asked that I said would be meaningful and would bring us closer. Not ignore what I ask and think that you have some much better idea which is really your version, but doesn't in fact meet the need or the want or the ask that I was giving. So the relation with השם Hashem is no different than the other relationships in life. And that's, according to Rabbi Soloveitchik, what was going on here. The sin of נדב ואביהוא Nadav v'Avihu he writes illustrates the dichotomy in one's approach to religious observance, religious law and serveth it's accompanying discipline versus ceremonial experience. A מצוה mitzvah is not merely a perfunctory action. It must also translate into experiential terms. The Torah demands that we experience joy and satisfaction when we perform a מצוה mitzvah. There are two ways to achieve the exalted state, the Jewish way and the pagan way. The Jewish way requires us to fashion our lives according to God's discipline as illustrated by the word, what's it in fact called? We have 613 מצוות mitzvos. What's the root of the word מצוה mitzvah? צווי tzivui, it's a commandment. The ברכה bracha we say that precedes every מצוה mitzvah is אשר קדשנו במצותיו וצונו asher kidishanu b'mitzvosav v'tzivanu. How are we sanctified? How do we achieve spirituality? Not by making it up on our own, not by designing, innovating, radically changing, not by being creative religiously. How do we experience spirituality? וצונו v'tzivanu. When we respond to what you, the infinite omnipotent being who created us, designed us and know what's best for us and how we can best connect to you, when we obey and listen to what you think. וצונו v'tzivanu, when we perform a מצוה mitzvah, a צווי tzivui. The reason we perform the מצוה mitzvah in our absolute is our absolute surrender to God's will. Eventually we must progress from that surrender to a profound spiritual experience and encompasses our entire being. Prayer begins as an obligatory even compelled act with rigid requirements of time, location and behavior. We're particularly aware of this during the winter or in inclement weather. We must venture out into the cold for minyan early in the morning and at night. However, as we progress in our relationship to prayer, we feel the rewards of intimate communion with God. The pagan approach, which is the antithesis of the Torah approach, begins with excitement and culminates in sin and disillusionment. It very much parallels the approach of the modern world where one uses drugs or alcohol to create an artificial feeling of euphoria, masking one's actual life situation of disappointment and futility. Says the רב Rav, there are two ways to achieve and to attain and to experience spirituality, the genuine authentic way and the counterfeit way. The genuine way is the one that God determined, the formula, the prescription that God gave for us. Sometimes it starts slowly, it takes מסירות נפש mesirus nefesh, it's hard. But if you dedicate your heart, you do the עבודה שבלב avodah shebalev, you connect with the פנימיות התורה pnimius haTorah, you connect with the deeper meaning of what you're doing, it is elevating, it's transformative. It is ecstatic. The counterfeit version is, begins with euphoria. You get high on drugs, you get drunk on alcohol, and it ends with shame. It ends with a hangover, it ends with ends with a headache. It ends with with a problem, disappointment and futility. Korach erred in this manner, confusing the ceremonial with God's command. According to the sages, Korach attempted to discredit Moshe by posing two questions. If a person wears a garment that is made entirely of תכלת techeiles, is it valid in fulfillment of the מצוה mitzvah of ציצית tzitzis? The house is filled with תורות Torahs, must a מזוזה mezuzah be affixed to its doorpost? When Moshe said yes to both questions, Korach mocked him. Korach's error was his undue focus on the ceremonial aspect of the מצוה mitzvah while ignoring the aspect of God's command, which is the most important. The transgression of נדב ואביהוא Nadav v'Avihu whom the Torah describes as sanctified, was that they brought before the Lord foreign fire, אש זרה eish zarah, אשר לא ציוה asher lo tzivah. This was a foreign fire that it wasn't a מצוה mitzvah. God didn't command it. The divine command and our discipline are obeying that command are the only healthy roots to religious inspiration. Any deviation is unacceptable and ultimately doomed to failure. I think it's important for our time as well. So many even within the observant community are trying to push the boundaries of religious creativity. Let's do this, let's try that, let's innovate this way, let's innovate that way. And once you break through the barrier of וצונו v'tzivanu, when you've broken through the מצוה mitzvah and now it's you imposing your creativity, your innovation, what you think will be meaningful, what makes you feel good, you no longer worshipping השם Hashem, you're worshipping yourself. You've brought an אש זרה eish zarah. You've worshipped the חטא העגל Cheit HaEigel. You are walking in the footsteps of נדב ואביהוא Nadav v'Avihu and of those who perform the חטא העגל Cheit HaEigel. It's not what השם Hashem wants. There is room for religious creativity. There's room for religious debate. There's room for religious growth and progress. But it has to be within the boundaries that the בעלי המסורה ba'alei ha'mesorah tell us still fit within that which is a מצוה mitzvah, still fit within that which is a sense of וצונו v'tzivanu.Okay. Almost done with our overview of the פרשה parsha. But forget the overview. We'll go now into we'll see if we get to כשרות kashrus in a moment. But that brings us to the few פסוקים psukim I wanted to look at very quickly. Our פרק י' פסוק ח' perek yud pasuk ches. Because what comes right after the death of נדב ואביהוא Nadav v'Avihu? And in fact, its presence is what led some to think that it is what נדב ואביהוא Nadav v'Avihu violated. פרק י' פסוק ח' Perek yud pasuk ches. Chapter 10 verse 8, top of page 594. וידבר השם אל אהרן לאמור Vayedaber Hashem el Aharon leimor. השם Hashem speaks to Aharon and he gives him a new מצוה mitzvah. And what is this command? יין ושכר אל תשת אתה ובניך אתך בבואכם אל אהל מועד ולא תמותו חוקת עולם לדורותיכם Yayin v'sheichar al teischt atah u'vanecha itach b'voachem el Ohel Moed v'lo samusu chukas olam l'doroseichem. Aharon tells, השם Hashem tells Aharon, you and your sons, no wine. No wine. No intoxicating wine with you and your sons when you're going to come into my holy place. And if you do, if you drink and come in, if you drink in my place or drink and come in intoxicated, you know what the consequence is? Capital punishment, the death penalty, death. ולהבדיל בין הקודש ובין החול U'lehavdil bein ha'kodesh u'vein ha'chol. In order to distinguish between the sacred and the profane, בין הטמא ובין הטהור bein hatamei u'vein ha'tahor, between the contaminated and the pure. ולהורות את בני ישראל את כל החוקים אשר דיבר השם אליהם ביד משה u'lehoros es Bnei Yisrael es kol ha'chukim asher diber Hashem aleihem b'yad Moshe. To teach the children of Israel all the decrees Hashem had spoken to them through Moshe. Short section. These three פסוקים psukim, השם Hashem gives Aharon a new מצוה mitzvah. The fact that השם Hashem gave him this command right after the episode of נדב ואביהוא Nadav v'Avihu is in fact what led some to say that's what נדב ואביהוא Nadav v'Avihu violated, they had come in drunk. What's the matter? Can't you have a לחיים l'chaim in the משכן Mishkan? What's the matter with a good לחיים l'chaim? Alcohol takes away your inhibition. It calms, it relaxes you. For some, it makes you more open to spirituality, to spiritual experience. Within moderation. Why can't you have a לחיים l'chaim in the משכן Mishkan? So Rashi tells us יין ושכר yayin v'sheichar, יין דרך שכורתו yayin derech shichruso, it means intoxicating wine. בבואכם אל אהל מועד אין לי אלא בבואכם להיכל B'voachem el Ohel Moed, ein li ela b'voachem laHeichal. So it means not only in the אהל מועד Ohel Moed when you come up to the מזבח mizbeach. And what's the reason for this? says Rashi ולהבדיל u'lehavdil, שתבדילו בין עבודה קדושה למחוללת she'tavdilu bein avodah kedosha l'mechuleles. If you do the עבודה avodah while drunk, it is invalid. The עבודה avodah is no good. In addition to the punishment the כהן kohen who does it gets. What's the purpose? ולהבדיל l'havdil. In order to create distinction in lives. You want a לחיים l'chaim outside the משכן Mishkan, at home, a nice wine, glass of wine with dinner, there's nothing wrong with a nice glass of wine with dinner. But not in my space. Not in the משכן Mishkan, not in the בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash. In fact the בעל הטורים Baal HaTurim says ולהבדיל u'lehavdil, שמבדיל על היין she'mavdil al ha'yayin. This is the Gemara in Shabbos says you should davka make havdalah on wine. The Gemara says if you make kiddush and havdalah on wine, you'll have bnei chorin, you'll have male children. But להבדיל l'havdil, הבדלה על היין havdalah al ha'yayin. Havdalah should be on wine, but not in the בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash, not in the משכן Mishkan. Why not? What's the matter with the לחיים l'chaim there? Kli Yakar here talks about it, the Ramban talks about it. But Rabbi Soloveitchik interestingly, not in the חומשים Chumashim here, they don't bring this. Rabbi Soloveitchik gave the following. He says when it comes to Purim, the מצוה mitzvah of Purim is to drink. The מצוה mitzvah of Purim is לבסומי עד דלא ידע l'ivsumei ad d'lo yada. To get so drunk that you can't tell the difference. ארור המן and ברוך מרדכי arur Haman and baruch Mordechai. Why would you ever have a מצוה mitzvah to drink associated with a holiday? The word מצוה mitzvah and drink in the same sentence should be anathema to the Jewish people. So Rabbi Soloveitchik, I'm not going to tell you the long version of it right now, I actually listened online to him give this lecture. You could listen on YU Torah. Whose 25th יארצייט yahrzeit was last week, Rabbi Soloveitchik said רבא Rava is the one who teaches us חייב לבסומי chayav l'ivsumei. רבא Rava is the sage who teaches us the obligation to drink on Purim. It's not a coincidence that רבא Rava is the same sage who tells us, why don't we say הלל Hallel on Purim? The Gemara gives three reasons why we don't say הלל Hallel on Purim. One, because it's a miracle that happened outside of Israel. We don't say הלל Hallel on miracles outside of Israel. Number two is מגילה Megillah is הלל Hallel. קריאתה זו הלולה kriyasa zu hilula, reading the מגילה Megillah is הלל Hallel. So much so by the way that the Meiri writes if you find yourself somewhere with no מגילה Megillah and you're not going to hear the מגילה Megillah, you taka say הלל Hallel. It's a beautiful Rav Hutner on that for another time. The third reason is the reason of רבא Rava. רבא Rava says why don't we say הלל Hallel on Purim? אכתי עבדי אחשורוש אנן Akatei avdei Achashverosh anan. Because we are still subjects of Achashverosh. Purim is a glorious holiday where we were spared from physical annihilation, but we still don't have a בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash. We still haven't returned to השראת השכינה hashras ha'Shechinah. We haven't experienced the full גאולה geulah. We're in America. We're in Boca. We're still in גלות galus. I know this is as good as גלות galus gets, it's not a bad גלות galus. If you have to be in גלות galus, it's not a bad גלות galus to experience. But it's still terrible גלות galus. If you think about the tragedies last week, it's a horrible גלות galus. If you think about those going off the דרך derech and you think about assimilation and you think about the threats to the Jewish people and the rise of anti-Semitism, it's a horrible, horrible גלות galus. אכתי עבדי אחשורוש אנן Akatei avdei Achashverosh anan. We don't have a בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash. Said Rabbi Soloveitchik, it's not a coincidence, it's the very same רבא Rava who says that we don't have the בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash and you're obligated to drink. Why? When is it that we drink? says the רב Rav? Because when we don't have access to being לפני השם lifnei Hashem, the real שמחה simcha, if you look in the Torah, you'll see the word שמחה simcha many times. And the word שמחה simcha is always associated with two other words. ושמחת לפני השם אלוקיך V'samachta lifnei Hashem Elokecha. לפני השם Lifnei Hashem. Where does the greatest joy, the greatest שמחה simcha derive from? The most authentic joy is by being in the presence of השם Hashem, by knowing nothing is random, nothing's coincidence, nothing's chance, there's order, there's meaning, there's purpose to the universe, השם Hashem is controlling everything. When one is in the presence of השם Hashem, they are overcome with a sense of calm, tranquility, serenity and therefore with a sense of שמחה simcha. But what happens when you don't have access to that? When there is no בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash, when there is no משכן Mishkan, when there is no place to go to with השראת השכינה hashras ha'Shechinah? Then the only way to experience שמחה simcha is in a counterfeit version by drinking, by having a drink. Said Rabbi Soloveitchik, the Torah prohibition יין ושכר אל תשת yayin v'sheichar al teischt, when you come into my place בבואכם אל אהל מועד b'voachem el Ohel Moed, it is when you have the ability to be לפני השם lifnei Hashem, God forbid don't, if you can have authentic שמחה simcha, don't substitute it with the counterfeit. If you have access to the most authentic joy, don't God forbid substitute it for a counterfeit, inauthentic version of drinking. יין ושכר Yayin v'sheichar is an escape, it's a shortcut, it's fake, it's counterfeit. It is what the רב Rav was describing as the two types of spirituality. When you do it as a מצוה mitzvah, you want to get high, get high on a מצוה mitzvah. Get high on God. Get high on תפילה tefillah, get high on doing חסד chesed. Those are transformative highs that stay with you. In fact that's the the פסוק pasuk in תהילים Tehillim and the רמח\"ל Ramchal quotes this in מסילת ישרים Mesilas Yesharim, that the purpose of life is להתענג על השם l'hisaneg al Hashem. You can get high on God. That's lasting, it's transformative. The other counterfeit highs, alcohol, drugs, fake spiritual, kumbaya moments, those are fleeting, they're temporal, they disappear as quickly as they came, they're fake, they're an אש זרה eish zarah, they're not a צווי tzivui, they're not a מצוה mitzvah from השם Hashem. And that's why the Torah says יין ושכר אל תשת yayin v'sheichar al teischt, when you come in בבואכם b'voachem. There's a video that came out right before Pesach put out by Amudim in New York about Kiddush clubs. I don't know if people saw this video. It's a very, very powerful video of the impact on these Kiddush clubs on young people who are seeing all that drinking and they're saying it's exactly our פרשה parsha. יין ושכר אל תשת בבואכם Yayin v'sheichar al teischt b'voachem. A nice glass of wine, a לחיים l'chaim, a scotch in moderation with a meal, at a at a at a שמחה simcha, that's part of the Jewish experience. We just drank four cups at the Seder. Just made a בורא פרי הגפן borei pri hagafen this morning at a ברית bris, make a בורא פרי הגפן borei pri hagafen under a חופה chuppah, that's part of the Jewish experience, that's part of the וצונו v'tzivanu. But to do it when בבואכם אל אהל מועד b'voachem el Ohel Moed, when you're supposed to be listening to the words of the נביא Navi of the הפטרה Haftarah, when you should be in שול shul, a place of דאווענען davening, when you have access to getting high on תפילה tefillah instead to substitute it with a counterfeit high of drinking and too much drinking, that mixed message not only hurts you but is devastating for our children. It's a really worthwhile video to see. פרשה Parsha ends with כשרות kashrus. We don't have time to go into it. Very beautiful ideas about כשרות kashrus and why הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu told us what כשרות kashrus is really all about. I'll end with a question. The end of the פרשה parsha, והייתם קדושים v'hiyisem kedoshim. כי אני השם אלוקיכם והתקדשתם והייתם קדושים Ki ani Hashem Elokeichem v'hiskadishtem v'hiyisem kedoshim. It's a funny language. I may speak about it this שבת Shabbos. והתקדשתם והייתם קדושים V'hiskadishtem v'hiyisem kedoshim. והתקדשתם V'hiskadishtem is what form of the verb? התפעל Hitpael, it's reflexive. והתקדשתם V'hiskadishtem, do to yourself holiness, והייתם קדושים v'hiyisem kedoshim and then you'll be holy. What in the world does that mean? How does that connect to כשרות kashrus? And what does that mean? It's a very funny language. והתקדשתם V'hiskadishtem, reflexively make yourself holy, okay, if you've made yourself holy, you're holy. והתקדשתם והייתם קדושים V'hiskadishtem v'hiyisem kedoshim. What does that mean? Food for thought. Have a great week. We'll see you.
