Transcript
Okay, בקר טוב boker tov, good morning everyone. Our פרשה parsha class this morning is sponsored, co-sponsored by Drs. Ilan and Juliana Rosenblatt in commemoration of the יארצייט yahrzeit of his beloved father, אברהם בן ישראל Avraham ben Yisrael and Dr. Sydney and Mrs. Sheila Stern in honor of our פרשה parsha class. So thank you very much for your sponsorship. As always if you'd like to sponsor, you can speak to the shul office and arrange it.Okay, we have the privilege of studying פרשת כי תשא parshas Ki Sisa together this week. How many of you are snowbirds? How happy are you to still be in Florida right now? Yeah, ברוך השם Baruch Hashem. Yeah, I was on a plane back from New York last night and the plane was giddy with excitement of people leaving New York coming to Florida. It was really unbelievable. Should stay here just the whole year round.Okay, פרשת כי תשא Parshas Ki Sisa page 484 in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash. As always, we'll do our overview of the פרשה parsha and then we will get into some specific פסוקים psukim together. Our פרשה parsha begins, כי תשא Ki Sisa, it's familiar to us. We read it recently. It's the story of the מחצית השקל machatzis hashekel, the census of the Jewish people. כי תשא את ראש בני ישראל לפקדיהם Ki Sisa es rosh Bnei Yisrael lifkudeihem. כי תשא Ki sisa, what does that mean, תשא sisa? Means? Well, Artscroll translates it as to take a census, but the word תשא sisa doesn't really mean a census. What does it mean? Means to lift. When you lift the heads of the Jewish people, how do you lift someone? By making them feel counted, by acknowledging their presence, their contribution, their participation, by acknowledging their existence is how you lift somebody up. So when you lift the Jewish people by making them counted, when you lift them by including them in the count, what's the mechanism through which they do that? ונתנו איש כופר נפשו להשם בפקוד אותם V'nasnu ish kofer nafsho l'Hashem bifkod osam. ונתנו V'nasnu famously is a palindrome that reads the same forwards and backwards. We discussed this a few weeks ago, the scientific research that supports the idea that when you give, you get more in return. That again, we talked about the two groups of people that were both given money. One were told to spend it on others and others were told to spend it on themselves. And those who took that small, modest amount of money and spent it on others measured greater happiness afterwards than those that took the money and spent it on themselves. ונתנו V'nasnu is a palindrome. Person gives כופר נפשו kofer nafsho to be counted. זה יתנו Zeh yitnu, what do you give? מחצית השקל בשקל הקודש Machatzis hashekel b'shekel hakodesh. You give half a שקל shekel. Famously, the commentaries all ask, half a שקל shekel? That's a terribly inefficient way to count. It's much more efficient for everyone to give a שקל shekel. If everyone gives a complete unit, then you know exactly, you count how many units you have and you know how many people you have. Why give a fraction of a unit, a half a unit, is a terribly inefficient way to count. Today's Pi Day. You know what Pi Day is? It's March 14th, 3.14. It's March 14th. It's Pi Day. Okay, 3.1417, which is not Pi. What's Pi? 3.14 something else. Anyway, but why give half a שקל shekel? Half a denomination is an inefficient way to count. So the מפרשים Meforshim all explain, the idea is that when we contribute to be counted, we should never mistakenly conclude that we're a whole, that we are an entire unit on our own, that we've arrived, that we're all that, that we matter. We need to always see ourselves as half a unit. It's only when we combine with others, it's only when we complement and supplement, it's only with a sense of unity that we realize we are incomplete on our own, participating in the community is what makes us whole. כל הפורש מן הצבור Kol haporeish min hatzibbur, אין לו חלק לעולם הבא ein lo cheilek l'olam haba. If you live on your own, you could, the רמב\"ם Rambam writes, it's an amazing, astounding רמב\"ם Rambam. On a deserted island by, it's tempting sometimes to leave the Jewish people, an incorrigible people. We'll see that's what the whole parsha is about, the incorrigible Jewish people. So you're tempted sometimes to go, I know a, it's not a rabbi, but he runs a major Jewish institution, and once a year he goes on a cruise that he calls the no-Jews cruise. He tries to find a cruise with no Jews, the no-Jews cruise. He just needs a week. So the רמב\"ם Rambam says to go live on a deserted island, take your set of ש\"ס Shas and your רמב\"ם Rambam, your כשר kosher food, build your עירוב eiruv, דאווען daven three times a day, be scrupulously observant of Torah and mitzvos, and yet, אין לו חלק לעולם הבא ein lo cheilek l'olam haba, because you're פורש מן הצבור poreish min hatzibbur. Somebody who does not identify with the Jewish people, somebody who sees themselves as independent, apart from the Jewish people has no חלק בעולם הבא cheilek in Olam Haba. Fundamental axiomatic to our faith is the notion that I'm not complete on my own, even if I'm observing everything perfectly, even if I'm doing everything to a T, but I'm incomplete. I'm a מחצית השקל machatzis hashekel. I need to combine with others. Who counted from 20 years and up has to give? The העשיר לא ירבה והדל לא ימעיט ממחצית השקל Ha'ashir lo yarbeh v'hadal lo yam'it mimachatzis hashekel. These were not the contributions to the building of the משכן Mishkan or to the major contributions of the משכן Mishkan. So, everyone gave the same. The rich didn't give more, the poor didn't give less. Everyone gave that מחצית השקל machatzis hashekel. We all contribute equally and evenly to the Jewish people and to be able to be combined to be whole together. רש\"י Rashi says, Hashem showed Moshe מטבע של אש matbe'a shel eish. When he wanted to give Moshe the image of what this מחצית השקל machatzis hashekel was supposed to be, it was a coin on fire. Why was the idea of a coin on fire? So the ספורנו Sforno all explain, the notion is that just as fire is a double-edged sword, just like fire on the one hand is a source of energy and light and warmth, on the other hand, it can burn, it can consume, it can destroy. So too money. On the one hand, it's a commodity for building, for good, to be constructive. On the other hand, a misunderstanding or a misappropriate use of money or an inappropriate attitude towards money can destroy, can self-destruct, can compromise. מטבע של אש Matbe'a shel eish, like fire can be used either way, so too money has that capacity. By giving it to the משכן Mishkan, it's the ultimate use of money when we realize that the money's not really ours. We are stewards on Hashem's money, and when we allocate it properly, he gives us more to watch. If you have a broker who makes you a lot of money, when you get more money, you're going to give it to that broker because he uses it well, he invests it wisely. Hakadosh Baruch Hu has the same attitude towards us. He invests with us and he sees what a kind of return we give. So when we use that money on ourselves, bigger house, a nicer car, a more expensive Pesach program, fancier clothing, Starbucks, when we use the money exclusively on ourselves, Hashem says, I'm not getting much of a return. Not only am I not giving the broker more money, I may get my take my money back. I'm not getting a good return on the principle. But when Hakadosh Baruch Hu invests in us, and we give him an incredible return, because we're helping his other children, we're helping his causes, we're advancing his mission, he gets an incredible return on the investment with us. He says, here's another allocation, here's another check. How can I wire you more money? עשר תעשר, עשר בשביל שתתעשר Aser, t'aser, aser bishvil shetis'asher. Okay, then the parsha goes on, still the overview, the parsha goes on with the כלים keilim, the utensils of the משכן Mishkan, which again the commentaries all wonder why they included here, why weren't these in תרומה Terumah where we saw the ארון Aron and the שולחן Shulchan, the מנורה Menorah, the original utensils of the משכן Mishkan. Here we have the כיור נחשת kiyor nechoshes. We have the laver where the כהנים kohanim would wash their hands and feet before performing the עבודה avodah. Famously, we all know what the base of the כיור kiyor was made out of, the mirrors. The כהנים kohanim would look into it and they'd see the mirrors that the women used to beautify themselves in מצרים Mitzrayim in order to create a continuity. At first the כהן kohan, Moshe himself protested. What do you mean? These mirrors were an instrument of licentiousness. They were an instrument of physicality, material world. They beautified themselves in it. That's the message of the holiest place on earth is to look in the mirror and be reminded of the women who used them to seduce their husbands? And the answer הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu says is, yes, because when all the men gave up, when they lived in the moment, when they lacked any optimism or hope or positive spirit, the women were רואה את הנולד ro'eh es hanolad. The women said, you know what, we're going to get out of here. There's going to be a brighter future and we deserve to have more children. They beautified themselves, they had more children and in perpetuity that faith and optimism and positive spirit of the women was preserved. So the כהנים kohanim every day they had to wash their hands and feet, they had to look into that mirror and be be reminded of the optimism of the נשים צדקניות nashim tzidkaniyos who saved our people. Next we have the בשמים ראש besamim rosh. Here, we're a week late or a few days late. The תורה Torah says, קח לך בשמים ראש, מר דרור kach lecha besamim rosh, mar dror, חמש מאות, קנמון בשם מחציתו חמשים ומאתים chameish me'os, kinmon besem machtziso chamishim u'maysayim. When the גמרא Gemara wonders, מרדכי מן התורה מנין Mordechai min haTorah minayin, so the בשמים besamim, מר דרור mar dror, and so on. We have the incense. Then then we have the the קח לך סמים kach lecha samim, page 488. We have the recipe of the incense. We know the incense included in it a very odorous ingredient, a terrible ingredient. And the Torah tells us, yeah, from here we learn, this is יום כיפור Yom Kippur, אנה מתרי ליסטים פועלין עבריינים ana materlis, poalin avaryanim, that we are not whole. Let's go back to the beginning of the parsha. You might think, whose מחצית machatzis do I want in my collection? Whose half a שקל shekel do I want? The righteous, the noble, the virtuous. But the רשעים reshaim, the people who are wicked, rebellious, the people who neglect Hashem's will, I don't want them in my midst. Let them דאווען daven somewhere else. The people who are struggling with their observants, struggling with their identity, struggling with their inspiration, struggling with what it means to be a Jew, struggling with living in the 21st century with a cultural confusion, let them go somewhere else. I only want to דאווען daven in a מנין minyan of righteous. Comes along the קטורת ketores, the incense, and it says, no, the חלבנה chelbona is included. All of the ingredients are included. Even those that stink, even those that stink to high heaven, even those that are unpleasant, but they will be overwhelmed by the positive, and they too have a place. Their מחצית השקל machatzis hashekel belongs in our collection as well. Then we have the designation of בצלאל Betzalel and אהליאב Oholiav who are going to be the architects of the of the משכן Mishkan. Again, it's peculiar. We already had תרומה Terumah, we already had תצוה Tetzaveh, only now in כי תשא Ki Sisa are they appointed. Okay. Then we have שבת Shabbos. דבר אל בני ישראל, אך את שבתותי תשמרו Daber el Bnei Yisrael, ach es Shabsoysai tishmoru. We discussed this in the past was one of the פרשה parsha classes a few years ago you could listen. Why in the plural, שבתותי תשמרו Shabsoysai tishmoru? What do you mean? We observe one שבת Shabbos at a time. How many שבתות Shabbosos do we have? The answer is the מפרשים Meforshim explained, the כתב סופר Ksav Sofer and others, intrinsic within every שבת Shabbos is two שבתות shabossum. There's the physical resting, the fact that we are physically at peace with nature. We're not trying to manipulate it. We're not trying to conquer it. We're not trying to be able to show sovereignty over it. We're at peace with nature. We're not trying to control electricity. We're not planting and harvesting. We're not trying to to to weed out or to cook or to bake. We're at peace with the natural world around us. There's the physical resting. But the goal of the physical resting is to spiritually rejuvenate. There's a second שבת Shabbos, the שבת Shabbos of, שבת Shabbos does two things. Last last, I think it was last שבת Shabbos, there was a Jewish group that tried to promote, and it was picked up by every news organization and magazines like Vogue magazine, not because I read the magazine, but someone sent me the link, that last שבת Shabbos was designated, last weekend was 24 hours to disconnect. They tried to get celebrities, they tried to get everybody. What was the idea? From Friday night, sundown Friday to sundown שבת Shabbos. It was a Jewish group trying to take the gift of שבת Shabbos and share it with the world. So שבת Shabbos does two things. We disconnect to connect. So physically you disconnect, that's one שבת Shabbos. But then you have to do the other thing. In other words, if you disconnect from electricity, you disconnect from all the tasks and obligations and things you have to do, and what do you do instead? You שלאָף shluff for 18 hours straight. You stuff your face for 18 hours straight. If that's all שבת Shabbos means to you, the disconnecting hasn't led to connecting. The goal of disconnect is to connect. You're liberated from all the things that you normally have to do. I I've often repeated the משל mashal that my mother once shared with me and can appreciate for those up north appreciate. שבת Shabbos is the weekly snow day. The gift of a snow day is no matter how much you have to do, no matter how much is on your plate, no matter how many errands you have to run, how much is waiting for you at your desk at work, how much there is to accomplish, you're liberated and there's nothing you can do. It's guilt-free. There's nothing you can do and it's guilt-free. We get that once a week there's a snow day, a שבת Shabbos day, guilt-free liberation from whatever it is that you thought you had to do, which is why שבת Shabbos is זכר ליציאת מצרים zeicher l'yetzias Mitzrayim. יציאת מצרים Yetzias Mitzrayim was all about being liberated from that which enslaved us. And שבת Shabbos, unless you're a rabbi, is all about being liberated, being liberated from that which enslaves us. So את שבתותי תשמרו es Shabsoysai tishmoru, כתב סופר Ksav Sofer says there's two שבתות Shabbosos each week. There's the שבת Shabbos of disconnect, but then there's also the שבת Shabbos of connect, connect to family, to friends, to דברי תורה divrei Torah, to learning, to rejuvenating, to mindfulness. Disconnect and connect. אך את שבתותי תשמרו ach es Shabsoysai tishmoru, כי אות היא ki os hi, it's a sign. ושמרתם את השבת U'shmartem es haShabbos, observe שבת Shabbos. Of course, famously it was said, more than the Jews have kept שבת Shabbos, שבת Shabbos has kept the Jews. ושמרו בני ישראל את השבת V'shamru Bnei Yisrael es haShabbos. You have to be שומר שבת shomer Shabbos. What does it mean? Go back to בראשית Bereishis. We saw the the great, I don't know if we saw it here, I mentioned it in another class, Rav J.J. Schacter pointed it out. The אוהב ישראל Ohev Yisrael, the אפטר רב Apter Rav, רב אברהם יהושע העשיל Rav Avraham Yehoshua Heschel, the great אפטר רב Apter Rav, the אפטר רבי Apter Rebbe, in his ספר אוהב ישראל sefer Ohev Yisrael points out, when it says, ואביו שמר את הדבר v'aviv shamar es hadavar, that when Yosef was missing, it was reported to Yaakov that Yosef was missing, the pasuk says ואביו שמר את הדבר v'aviv shamar es hadavar, that יעקב Yaakov was שמר shamar. What does שמר את הדבר shamar es hadavar mean? It means the מפרשים Meforshim explain, יעקב Yaakov waited with great anticipation, with great excitement. He longed for and he waited for and he anticipated when Yosef would come, when Yosef would return. So that root ש-מ-ר shin mem reish, שמר shamar, ואביו שמר את הדבר v'aviv shamar es hadavar means to anticipate, to wait, to long. Says the אפטר רב Apter Rav, רב אברהם יהושע העשיל Rav Avraham Yehoshua Heschel, in the אוהב ישראל Ohev Yisrael, then ושמרו בני ישראל את השבת v'shamru v'nei Yisrael es haShabbos, if you apply that definition of ש-מ-ר shin mem reish, ושמרו בני ישראל את השבת v'shamru v'nei Yisrael es haShabbos means to all week long wait for and look forward to and long for שבת Shabbos. What does it mean, says the Ohev Yisrael, to be a שומר שבת shomer Shabbos? The definition of a שומר שבת shomer Shabbos is not how you spend Friday night and Saturday, the definition then of a שומר שבת shomer Shabbos is how you spend Sunday through Friday. Do you wait, och, it's שבת Shabbos, who wants to cook for שבת Shabbos, and who wants to disconnect on שבת Shabbos, and the burden of שבת Shabbos, and who needs שבת Shabbos? Then you're not שומר שבת shomer Shabbos. I don't care how vigilant you are. You keep שמירת שבת כהלכתה shmiras Shabbos k'hilchasa, even the footnotes. I don't care. If from Sunday through Friday, you're miserable about שבת Shabbos, you're not שומר שבת shomer Shabbos. Says the אפטר רב Apter Rav, to be a שומר שבת shomer Shabbos like אביו שמר את הדבר aviv shamar es hadavar is to wait longingly, to be excited, to anticipate, like the גמרא'ס Gemara's famous מחלוקת machlokes, בית שמאי Beis Shammai, בית הלל Beis Hillel, when you come across a great piece of meat, do you eat it that day? ברוך השם יום יום Baruch Hashem yom yom? Or do you say, this is for שבת Shabbos? So it's a מחלוקת machlokes בית שמאי Beis Shammai, בית הלל Beis Hillel, but the common denominator of both is that when you see that great piece of meat, you're thinking about שבת Shabbos. Which is exactly how we count the days of the week. To be a שומר שבת shomer Shabbos means there's no such thing as Tuesday. What's today? יום שלישי Yom Shlishi. What does it mean to be יום שלישי Yom Shlishi? Day three. Day three from what? Day three to what? יום שלישי בשבת Yom Shlishi b'Shabbos. In other words, our entire lives revolve around שבת Shabbos. שבת Shabbos is the axis through which our entire lives revolve around. It's actually, there's a peak and a valley. There's שבת Shabbos, you count up to שבת Shabbos. When do we start counting towards שבת Shabbos? Wednesday morning at the very end of שיר של יום Shir shel Yom, we tack on לכו נרננה lechu neranena. We start קבלת שבת Kabbalas Shabbos on Wednesday morning. It's a long קבלת שבת Kabbalas Shabbos. Long קבלת שבת Kabbalas Shabbos from Wednesday morning till שבת Shabbos, we're already in, oh, it's Wednesday, you could already start to say a good ערב שבת erev Shabbos. You could already start to say a good שבת Shabbos. In fact, I was, three weeks ago, four weeks ago, I was visiting someone in Sloan Kettering Hospital, and to tell you how many frum Jews are in Sloan Kettering Hospital, they should all have a speedy and complete רפואה שלימה refuah shleima. It's amazing. I was visiting, and the whole floor was frum Jews, חסידישע Chassidishe Jews. So I asked the person I was visiting, do Jews, חלילה chalila, have a disproportionate amount of cancer? Why is this whole place from Jews here in Sloan Kettering? So the answer was fascinating. It's not Jews have the same proportion of getting cancer, just Jews aren't satisfied going to the local doctor and hospital. They all use connections to get into Sloan Kettering. So that's why the whole hospital is made up. So I'm leaving and this African-American nurse as I'm walking out, she says to me, \"Have a good שבת Shabbos. I learned that as of Wednesday, I'm allowed to say that to you.\" So the African-American nurse in Sloan Kettering knows, she said, לכו נרננה lechu neranena. She said, it's Wednesday, I could already say a good שבת Shabbos. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, boom, the peak, the top is שבת Shabbos. שבת Shabbos ends and how long are we still drawing the energy of that שבת Shabbos? How long does that previous שבת Shabbos, the rejuvenation, the mindfulness, how long, the connection, how long does it last? How long do you have to say הבדלה havdalah if you missed הבדלה מוצאי שבת havdalah motzei Shabbos? Somehow you missed it Sunday, somehow you slept through Monday. How long do you have to say הבדלה havdalah? Till Tuesday. So you see that from Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, שבת Shabbos, you still come down from שבת Shabbos Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. The whole week is all about שבת Shabbos, counting to שבת Shabbos, continuing to draw from שבת Shabbos. And just Tuesday when your battery from last שבת Shabbos is on empty, all of a sudden comes Wednesday, לכו נרננה lechu neranena, א גוטן ערב שבת a gutten erev Shabbos, it's all of a sudden ערב שבת erev Shabbos. Says the אפטר רב Apter Rav, to be a שומר שבת shomer Shabbos is not about how you spend Friday night שבת Shabbos. To be a שומר שבת shomer Shabbos is how you spend the rest of the week. Does your life revolve around שבת Shabbos? Are you counting towards שבת Shabbos? The רמב\"ן Ramban has a similar comment when he talks about about שמור וזכור shamor v'zachor, when he talks about about קידוש Kiddush, the רמב\"ן Ramban says it's not just about the קידוש Kiddush you make Friday night, it's about the whole week long thinking about שבת Shabbos. But I told you we're not going to talk about this, it's on the previous year. This אפטר רב Apter Rav we didn't. The אפטר רב Apter Rav is new, that's not on the recording from a few years ago. Okay. Moshe receives the לוחות luchos. שני לוחות העדות, לוחות אבן כתובים באצבע אלוקים Shnei luchos ha'eidus, luchos even ksuvim b'etzba Elokim. The first set of לוחות luchos, miraculous. הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu carved not only the עשרת הדברות Aseres Hadibros, the Decalogue, and not only did he did he carve all of מצוות Mitzvos, הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu carved תורה שבעל פה Torah she'b'al peh onto the first set of לוחות luchos. They were miraculous. They were miraculous, which is why when Hashem withdrew His שכינה Shechina from the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel, they were so heavy, it's a מחלוקת machlokes, did Moshe throw them or did Moshe drop them? There's a מחלוקת machlokes about everything. Did Moshe throw them down and smash them, or did they all of a sudden become so heavy when they were spiritual, when they had the שכינה Shechina, they were miraculous, they were light. It was a miracle. They they lifted, they were like nothing. All of a sudden Hashem withdrew His שכינה Shechina, they became incredibly, you know, when someone else is holding the thing with you, it's very light for you. But when they let go of their end, all of a sudden it becomes so heavy that Moshe, Hashem let go of his end of the לוחות luchos, and he was bearing the majority of the weight. All of a sudden they became heavy, and Moshe and Moshe dropped them. Moshe comes down the mountain and what does he find? He finds the people building the golden calf. We've discussed this in the past, we're really not getting into this now, the great mystery, how could a people, the דור דעה Dor Deah, who had experienced unparalleled, unprecedented revelation, how could they build a golden calf? It's the wedding night. They have an incredible romantic courtship, and then you stand under the חופה chuppah and you offer vows to one another and you pledge your love and you experience a wedding and you go back to the hotel that night, and the husband goes to get ice from the ice bucket, and the next thing you know he's in the room of another woman. On the wedding night, after the חופה chuppah and the party and the romance and the celebration, this is כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael. הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu held the mountain over our heads, it was a חופה chuppah. We stood at the wedding with Hashem. We had a romantic courtship where Hashem could not have been more gracious in giving to us through miracles and miracles and miracles. And on the wedding night, we're waiting for Moshe, and what happens? חטא העגל Cheit ha'eigel. It's astounding. בלא יאומן B'lo ye'uman, you can't believe what happens. ברוך אתה ה' אלקינו מלך העולם שהכל נהיה בדברו Baruch ata Hashem Elokeinu melech ha'olam shehakol niyeh bidvaro. So what exactly went on? We've discussed the כוזרי Kuzari and the בית הלוי Beis HaLevi and the משך חכמה Meshech Chochmah. You could listen to this online, I'm not repeating it. What really went on, it's not what it seems. The חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel was not an idol, and they weren't worshiping it. It was something all together different. It was a need the Jewish people had, a craving they had that was satisfied by something physical, which also explains Moshe telling Hashem, forgive them or erase me from the book. Again, we've discussed all this in the past, I'm not going into it, you could listen online. But הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu understandably reacts with tremendous anger. לך רד Lech reid, he says to Moshe, you're not going to believe what's happening. Look at the security camera. Look what's going on down there. Quickly, get out of here. You got to get down there. כי שחת עמך אשר העלית מארץ מצרים Ki shicheis amcha asher he'elisa mei'eretz Mitzrayim. Your people that I proposed to, that I gave a ring to, that I took out of Egypt. You know how many gifts I gave them? דם, צפרדע, כינים, ערוב Dam, tzefardeia, kinim, arov, קריעת ים סוף Krias Yam Suf. And your people, אשר העלית מארץ מצרים asher he'elisa mei'eretz Mitzrayim. You think Hashem has a little bitterness, or wants us to perceive that he has a little bitterness? Could have just said the people are sinning. Your people that I took out of Egypt, quick. סרו מהר מן הדרך אשר ציויתם Saru maher min haderech asher tzivisim. Quick, you got to get down there. And of course the other mystery, how could אהרן הכהן Aharon HaKohen participate? Where was he to protest? חור Chur protests, costs him his life. אהרן Aharon seems to participate. What exactly was going on there? Is Aharon accountable for that? Hakadosh Baruch Hu says, ויאמר ה' אל משה vayomer Hashem el Moshe, on the top of page 496, ראיתי את העם הזה והנה עם קשה עורף הוא Raisi es ha'am hazeh v'hinei am kshei oref hu. This is an incorrigible people. I can't believe it. Maybe I miscalculated. Maybe this whole thing was a mistake. Stubborn, obstinate, incorrigible. I can't deal with them. הניחה לי ויחר אפי בהם ואכלם Hanicha li v'yichar api bahem v'achaleim. That's it, I'm done. I'm destroying them. What a stubborn, miserable, obstinate, complaining, negative people. Forget about it. ויחל משה את פני ה' אלוקיו ויאמר Vayechal Moshe es pnei Hashem Elokav vayomer. So Moshe pleads with Hashem. Why? למה יחר אפך בעמך אשר הוצאת מארץ מצרים... אשר הוצאת Lama yichar apcha b'amcha asher hotzeisa mei'eretz Mitzrayim... asher hotzeisa. Moshe too invokes the fact that we left Egypt. Why is Moshe invoking it? בכח גדול וביד חזקה B'koach gadol u'v'yad chazakah. Because Moshe's argument to Hashem is, why did you take us out of Egypt the way you did? Well Hashem, you already told us why. It was a curriculum, it was an educational process for the Jews, for the Egyptians, for the world, and for eternity. To look back and say, Hashem is the source of nature, Hashem controls and manipulates nature, there's such a thing called divine providence, that you are the source of all that exists. That's why you took us out. Well, if that's why you took us out, and now you're going to destroy the Jewish people who were the subject of your curriculum, what are they going to say? You're going to undo the lesson that you taught. למה יאמרו מצרים לאמור, ברעה הוציאם Lama yomru Mitzrayim leimor, b'ra'ah hotziam, להרוג אותם בהרים laharog osam b'harim. Everyone's gonna say, God is not creating this special people because he wants to teach the world how to act. God took him out to kill them. So therefore Moshe says, זכור לאברהם, ליצחק, לישראל z'chor l'Avraham, l'Yitzchak, l'Yisrael, remember the אבות Avos and so on. וינחם ה' על הרעה אשר דבר לעשות לעמו Vayinachem Hashem al hara'ah asher diber la'asos la'amo. Hashem reconsidered regarding this pledge to destroy the people. First of all, how could he have pledged to destroy the people? What happened to the bris he made? But okay, not for now. So ויפן וירד משה vayifen vayeired Moshe, Moshe talking comes down, he's got the לוחות luchos. הלוחות מעשה אלוקים המה Ha'luchos ma'aseh Elokim heima. As we said, they're the wonder of God. The גמרא Gemara tells us, for example, the סמ\"ך samech and the מ\"ם סופית mem sofit, they were suspended in the middle of the carving and yet they didn't fall out. A סמ\"ך samech and a מ\"ם סופית mem sofit, there's nothing to hold it in place with the rest of the stone. מעשה אלוקים המה Ma'aseh Elokim heima. This was the carving. והמכתב מכתב אלוקים הוא חרות על הלוחות V'hamichtav michtav Elokim hu charus al haluchos, engraved on onto the לוחות luchos. Moshe comes down, of course, he smashes, again, did he throw them? Did he drop them? What's the נפקא מינה nafka mina? Not for now. Then Moshe turns to Hashem and he דאווען davens on their behalf. And that's the part that we're going to see in a second. But Moshe pleads with Hashem. הודיעני נא את דרכך Hodieini na es d'rachecha. Make your ways known to me so that I know you, so I can find favor in your eyes. הראני נא את כבודך Hareini na es k'vodecha. Show me your glory. Moshe is saying to Hashem, I want to understand your ways. I want to understand what's going on here. And what's Hashem's response? He doesn't just say no. I would understand if the רבונו של עולם Ribono shel Olam declines. Says, I'm sorry, you can't have the password. I'm sorry, you can't see. You don't know. I'm infinite, you're finite. I'm omnipotent, you're limited. No. But Hashem doesn't answer that. He says something a little peculiar and mysterious. Says Hashem, you cannot see my face, for no human can see my face and live. There's a place near me, stand on the rock, when I pass by, I'll shield you with my hand until I pass. And when I remove my hand, you'll see my back, but my face may not be seen. You can't see my face. What in the world was Hashem saying to Moshe? So the גמרא Gemara in ברכות דף ז' עמוד א' Brachos daf zayin amud aleph explains, Moshe when he said, הראני נא את כבודך hareini na es k'vodecha, הודיעני נא את דרכך hodieini na es d'rachecha, הראני נא את כבודך hareini na es k'vodecha, Moshe was saying, I want to understand why do bad things happen to good people. I want to understand. Show me your face. What does it mean, show me your face? Means let me see the world through your eyes. Let me understand your calculations. Why would a child have cancer? Why would a natural disaster kill people? Why would you deny people finding their mate or having a baby? Why would you put people through such hardship? Why the human suffering, whether on the magnitude of the Holocaust or whether it's really the very same question on the magnitude of a little child. I had a professor, a visiting professor at Yeshiva University, who famously wrote a book arguing that the Holocaust was a unique event in human history. Its magnitude made it unlike anything else which ever occurred. And I had the chutzpah, as a young college student, I was arguing with him on this exact point. I'm not talking historically, whether historically anything is comparable, but philosophically, from the perspective of why do bad things happen to good people, is there really a question, is there really a difference between the question of 6 million or one? Why should one child, an innocent, pure child who has nothing wrong, no blemish, no contamination, no poor judgment, who is not responsible for their actions, that child suffers and suffers and suffers. Go to the halls of Sloan Kettering and the cries that you hear and the suffering you witness, which is almost harder on the parents for whom those cries are indelibly impressed in their ears than please God the children who will recover and move on with their childhood and not even remember what happened. But is it really a difference between the magnitude or even the the one? The question is, why do bad things happen to good people? It's צדיק ורע לו tzaddik v'ra lo. So Moshe says, let me see your face. Let me see the world the way you see. I want to understand it. And what's Hakadosh? Hakadosh Baruch Hu's response, you can't see my face. No human being can. Why does he emphasize human being? Because his point is that's why I'm God and you are not. I run the world in a way you can't comprehend. You know, if your three-year-old says I want to understand why I can't put my finger in the outlet, why I can't run in the street. You say, look, I could try to explain it to you but you won't understand. There are things that as a parent, we prevent or consequences we give you because I'm trying to teach you something, but you're not capable right now of understanding it. You just have to trust me that I have your best interest in mind. הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu is our parent. He's omnipotent, he's infinite, he's all powerful. He is singular, he is unique. We can't even describe what he is, we just know what he's not. He's not bound by time, he's not bound by space. And הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu interacts with us in ways that are painful sometimes, but we're not capable of understanding them. We're not God. And that's what השם Hashem is telling משה Moshe. You're human. You can't see through my eyes. And anyone I will add, not just recently, anyone throughout Jewish history who claims to speak for God and to explain why God brought the Holocaust and why God makes kids die in a fire, and why God gives this one cancer, and why God gave that one autism, and why anyone who claims to talk for God is a heretic. משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu couldn't do it. The great משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu, one of the י\"ג עיקרים Yud Gimmel Ikkarim is to believe that משה Moshe is singular and unique. He's a נביא navi like none other. And yet משה Moshe asked השם Hashem, can I speak for you? I'd like to represent you in explaining why you make bad things happen to good people. And השם Hashem says, thank you, but no, thank you. No one can speak on my behalf. No one can understand my ways because you're finite, I'm infinite. No human being can see and understand. But השם Hashem tells משה Moshe, but I'll tell you what. Stand here, stand here, and you could see the back of my head. Says the גמרא Gemara, what does it mean you could see the back of my head? It means that sometimes, after the fact, you could string together a series of events to understand why they happened that way. What they yielded, the good that came from it. Even if in each moment, you can't understand it. Sometimes when you see retroactively, sometimes when you use the gift of being retrospective, you could string it together to understand. The חידושי הרי\"ם Chidushei HaRim says an incredible insight about פורים Purim. It's not even שושן פורים Shushan Purim, but I'll get you ready for next פורים Purim. Says the חידושי הרי\"ם Chidushei HaRim. Says the חידושי הרי\"ם Chidushei HaRim. Imagine somebody walks in the בית מדרש Beis Medrash and they say, give a clap. Guess what, ושתי Vashti refused the king and she's being put to death. The בחורים bachurim say, what do we care? Why are you distracting us from the learning? We got to get back to learning. Next day they give a clap. You won't believe it, Esther was chosen as queen. Okay, what do we care? We're learning right now. They give a clap. We read in the news that Mordechai uncovered the plot to kill the king. Okay, okay, who cares? Guess what, they give a clap. Each of these things they come into the בית מדרש Beis Medrash, they give a clap, you're not going to believe at this, you're not going to believe at that, you're not going to believe at the other thing. Says the חידושי הרי\"ם Chidushei HaRim, the בחורים bachurim learning תורה Torah said, we don't follow the news. What do we care about the news? We're learning תורה Torah. This is what matters to us. Okay, this event, that event, the third event, the tenth event. What do you keep disrupting us? Why do you keep interrupting? But only after the fact, says the חידושי הרי\"ם Chidushei HaRim, do they realize that each of those unique events added up to a storyline, a narrative which resulted in the miracle of פורים Purim. When you look at each event isolation, you can't understand it. But when you string them together, the picture becomes clear. The חידושי הרי\"ם Chidushei HaRim says something amazing, the גערער רבי Gerer Rebbe. He says as we live through our contemporary events, a Jew should follow the news because a Jew needs to understand that everything going on in the world is not an isolated event. It's not something of insignificance to us. These isolated events string together, they create realities. They create realities. You know, World War I, World War II, each began with an insignificant, isolated event. Amazing events. And so we should not say don't interrupt me, don't disrupt me. We need to study the world because when do you see השם's Hashem's hand, says the חידושי הרי\"ם Chidushei HaRim? The obligation of reading the מגילה Megillah is an obligation of being retrospective, of looking back at what seem isolated, disconnected coincidences, and our responsibility as Jews is to string them together and to weave a storyline that reveals the יד השם yad Hashem. We can't always see, we can't ever see השם's Hashem's face. We don't understand why things happen as they happen, but after the fact, we can string it together sometimes if we're fortunate enough. We can string together and try to understand why things are happening the way they're happening. Okay, there's a lot more to say on that subject, but we got to get to the פרשה parsha. So, משה Moshe דאווענט davens. The aftermath of the golden calf, משה Moshe pleads for הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu to return. And השם Hashem invites משה Moshe for the second set of לוחות luchos and reveals his thirteen attributes. This is what we're going to study. And the promise and the renewal of the covenant, it's restored, the 40 days and 40 nights, משה Moshe comes down from the mountain, his face is now radiating. משה Moshe carries with him the קרני הוד karnei hod. He's got these, the קרן אור keren or, the קרני הוד karnei hod. He's got these beams of light protruding that came from the leftover ink. Where did this leftover ink come from? A lot to talk about. Go to page 506. Now we're going to get into the פסוקים psukim. 506, פרק ל\"ד פסוק א' Perek Lamed Daled Pasuk Aleph. Chapter 34, verse number one. ויאמר השם אל משה Vayomer Hashem el Moshe. And the reason I chose this today is it's familiar to us. We read this on fast days. We might as well know what we're talking about, we read it so often. Not to mention the סליחות slichos and so on. ויאמר השם אל משה פסל לך שני לוחות אבנים כראשונים וכתבתי על הלוחות את הדברים אשר היו על הלוחות הראשונים אשר שברת Vayomer Hashem el Moshe, psol lecha shnei luchos avanim karishonim v'chasavti al haluchos es hadvarim asher hayu al haluchos harishonim asher shibarta. Hashem says, carve for yourself two stones like the first ones, and I'll inscribe on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets which you shattered. והיה נכון לבקר ועלית בבקר אל הר סיני ונצבת לי שם על ראש ההר V'heyei nachon laboker v'alisa baboker el Har Sinai v'nitzavta li sham al rosh hahar. And then be prepared in the morning because I want you coming back on top of the mountain and stand with me there on the mountain. ואיש לא יעלה עמך וגם איש אל ירא בכל ההר V'ish lo yaaleh imach v'gam ish al yera b'chol hahar. But this time we're going to do it differently. Instead of two to three million people around the base of the mountain, instead of the sound and light show, thunder and lightning, there will be no band, there's no photographer, there's no flowers, there's no שמארג shmorg. This חופה chuppah is going to be different. Just you and I, come on the mountain, no one else. גם הצאן והבקר אל ירעו אל מול ההר ההוא Gam hatzon v'habakar al yir'u el mul hahar hahu. Not even the flock and cattle should be grazing near the mountain, just us, nobody else. יחוד Yichud. ויפסל שני לוחות אבנים כראשונים וישכם משה בבקר ויעל אל הר סיני כאשר צוה השם אותו ויקח בידו שני לוחות אבנים Vayifsol shnei luchos avanim karishonim vayashkem Moshe baboker vayaal el Har Sinai kaasher tziva Hashem oso vayikach b'yado shnei luchos avanim. So Moshe carved out two stones like the first ones, he got up early in the morning, he went on the mountain, he took the two stones in his hand. וירד השם בענן ויתיצב עמו שם ויקרא בשם השם Vayered Hashem b'anan vayityatzev imo sham vayikra b'shem Hashem. Hashem descended in the cloud and he stood there with him and he called out with the name of Hashem. There's a lot of pronouns here, which you're going to see in a moment, there's a מחלוקת machlokes, what are these pronouns? Who stood, who covered, who called out, to whom did he call, all these pronouns, who's talking to whom? ויעבר השם על פניו ויקרא Vayaavor Hashem al panav vayikra. And Hashem then passed before him, and he called out, and these are the י\"ג מידות yud gimmel midos. השם השם קל רחום וחנון ארך אפים ורב חסד ואמת נוצר חסד לאלפים נושא עון ופשע וחטאה ונקה לא ינקה פקד עון אבות על בנים ועל בני בנים על שלשים ועל רבעים Hashem Hashem Kel rachum v'chanun erech apayim v'rav chesed v'emes, notzer chesed la'alafim nosei avon vafesha v'chata'ah v'nakei, lo yenakeh poked avon avos al banim v'al bnei vanim al shileishim v'al ribeim. The thirteen attributes that describe Hashem, and Moshe, Hashem gives Moshe this secret code. If I ever, if your people act incorrigible again, and I again threaten to destroy them, when you see that you've aggravated me, here's what to say to me to appease me. Here's when you say this to me, I can't be angry at you anymore. When you say this to me, you've touched a place in my heart that I have to be forgiving, and he gave us this code. Which is a bizarre thing. In fact, maybe we'll skip to this before we even go back to the פסוקים psukim. It's a very, very bizarre thing. The Jewish people act inappropriately, they violate the will of the Almighty. Is the Almighty so shallow that all you have to do is say, Hashem, did I mention you look so pretty today? Did I tell you how good you? Did you lose weight, השם Hashem? You look so good lately. You're kind, you're merciful, you're good, you're slow to anger, you're forgiving. Are we good now? We're good? Everything's all good? Hashem says everything's all good. We're good. Is Hashem so shallow? All we have to do, carry around in your, in your phone, carry in your wallet, י\"ג מידות yud gimmel midos, just recite this formula and Hashem says we're good. We're good. Of course not. גמרא Gemara in ראש השנה דף יז עמוד ב Rosh Hashanah daf yud zayin amud beis. The גמרא Gemara tells us, which is the origin of reciting this formula. אמר רבי יוחנן אלמלא מקרא כתוב אי אפשר לאומרו Amar Rabbi Yochanan, ilmalei mikra kasuv, ee efshar l'omro. Had the pasuk not said it, we could not even suggest it. מלמד שנתעטף הקדוש ברוך הוא כשליח צבור Melamed shenisatef Hakadosh Baruch Hu k'shliach tzibbur. That Hashem put on a טלית tallis like a שליח צבור shliach tzibbur והראה לו למשה סדר תפילה v'her'ah lo l'Moshe seder tefillah and he taught him these י\"ג מידות yud gimmel midos, the thirteen attributes. אמר לו Amar lo, said השם Hashem to משה Moshe, כל זמן שישראל חוטאים יעשו לפני כסדר הזה ואני מוחל להם kol zman sheYisrael chotim, ya'asu lefanai k'seder hazeh, v'ani mochel lahem. So first of all points out Rabbi Soloveitchik, when השם Hashem, the גמרא Gemara, חז\"ל Chazal tell us, when השם Hashem wants to take on the image of a שליח צבור shliach tzibbur, what does he do? מתעטף השם כשליח צבור Misatef Hashem k'shliach tzibbur. הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu puts on a טלית tallis. מתעטף Misatef is the language, he wraps himself in a טלית tallis like a שליח צבור shliach tzibbur, and he taught us. Why does השם Hashem wear a טלית tallis? Does השם Hashem need a טלית tallis? ד' כנפות Daled kanfos? What kind of טלית tallis? Said the רב Rav, why is השם Hashem wearing a טלית tallis? A טלית tallis is the uniform of a שליח צבור shliach tzibbur. To be called the שליח צבור shliach tzibbur, it's not just that you're standing at the שטֶנדֶר shtender, it's that you are wearing the uniform. You're anointed with the uniform of the שליח צבור shliach tzibbur. That's why when השם Hashem wants to give the image of a שליח צבור shliach tzibbur, it's נתעטף nisatef, he's wearing a טלית tallis. So the רב Rav concluded, and that's the practice of our שול shul, that the שליח צבור shliach tzibbur doesn't just wear a טלית tallis at שחרית shacharis and at מנחה mincha, he wears a טלית tallis when? At מעריב maariv. Why? Not because it's זמן ציצית zman tzitzis. Forget, you know, חובת גברא chovas gavra, as a חובת מנא chovas maneh, forget the חקירה chakira on טלית tallis. But nighttime is not the time of a טלית tallis. So why would the שליח צבור shliach tzibbur wear a טלית tallis? Because it's not a דין din in ציצית tzitzis. When the שליח צבור shliach tzibbur wears a טלית tallis, it's not a דין din in ציצית tzitzis, it's a דין din in being a שליח צבור shliach tzibbur. הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu also didn't need to fulfill the מצוה mitzva of ציצית tzitzis. But yet, when he wants to teach משה Moshe, נתעטף הקדוש ברוך הוא כשליח צבור nisatef Hakadosh Baruch Hu k'shliach tzibbur. How do you have the image of a שליח צבור shliach tzibbur? Only when you're wearing a טלית tallis. I know that a lot of more חסידישע Chassidisha מנהגים minhagim, the שליח צבור shliach tzibbur doesn't wear a טלית tallis. I always feel it's like the שליח צבור shliach tzibbur is naked. You're like דאווענען davening in a שול shul, he's up there leading מנחה mincha, there's no טלית tallis. Why is that guy up? Where's his טלית tallis? Who's the שליח צבור shliach tzibbur here? נתעטף הקדוש ברוך הוא כשליח צבור Nisatef Hakadosh Baruch Hu k'shliach tzibbur. So the רב's Rav's practice, our practice is, even at מעריב maariv. You see this also, the משנה ברורה Mishnah Berurah quotes, that when you begin סליחות slichos באשמורת הבוקר b'ashmores haboker, let's say someone's leading סליחות slichos at night, you're saying סליחות slichos the proper time, חצות chatzos, 1 AM. We always call it for 1 AM even though חצות chatzos is usually like 1:12. I'll tell you the little secret but you'll forget by אלול Elul. So 1 AM here, it's so late. Does the שליח צבור shliach tzibbur wear a טלית tallis for סליחות slichos? The משנה ברורה Mishnah Berurah says yes. Now you might think why? Because this is the מקור makor of סליחות slichos, the י\"ג מידות yud gimmel midos, נתעטף השם כשליח צבור nisatef Hashem k'shliach tzibbur and he gave us the י\"ג מידות yud gimmel midos, he gave us סליחות slichos. But it's not just for סליחות slichos. It's anytime someone is serving in the capacity of שליח צבור shliach tzibbur, you put on a טלית tallis. So comes along the מהר\"ל Maharal. Comes along the מהר\"ל Maharal and he says, notice, he asks our question. What, he just simply say the formula and all's forgotten? Is השם Hashem really so shallow, we have to flatter him? We highlight what makes him great and he just can't help but forgive us? Says the מהר\"ל Maharal, רבי יהודה ליוואי Rabbi Yehuda Loewe, no. The מהר\"ל Maharal on this גמרא Gemara in ראש השנה י\"ז עמוד ב' Rosh Hashanah yud zayin amud beis, says pay close attention. The גמרא Gemara does not say אמרו לפני כסדר הזה imru lefanai k'seder hazeh. What does the גמרא Gemara say? יעשו לפני כסדר הזה Ya'asu lefanai k'seder hazeh. We mistranslate it. Say the formula before me, השם Hashem says I can't help but forgive you. That's not what the גמרא Gemara says. יעשו לפני Ya'asu lefanai. What does יעשו ya'asu mean? Perform, imitate these qualities and I can't help but forgive you. According to the מהר\"ל Maharal, it turns the whole thing on its head. סליחות Slichos, fast days, סליחות slichos is not just about reciting some formula. We repeat the formula over and over and over to remind ourselves to imitate that formula, to be like God in those ways, to follow exactly in those footsteps. What it means to be a מענטש mentsh, what it means to be forgiving, what it means to be interpersonal. When we're like השם Hashem in these ways, these י\"ג מידות yud gimmel midos, then השם Hashem is forgiving of us. So one of the more famous חסידישע chassidishe stories everybody knows is רבי משה לייב ססובר Reb Moshe Leib Sassover and יאַנקל דעם מתנגד Yankel dem Misnaged who was visiting סאַסאָוו Sassov during the ימים נוראים Yamim Noraim when Jews wake up before dawn to recite סליחות slichos. When יאַנקל Yankel came to the שטיבל shtiebel, he noticed that the רבי, רבי משה לייב Rebbe, Reb Moshe Leib, arrived after סליחות slichos had concluded. So he came up to the רבי's Rebbe's followers and he says, your רבי Rebbe is such a צדיק tzaddik, he's so great, he's so great. He missed סליחות slichos. He came late. So the חסידים chassidim said, no, no, no, you don't understand. Our רבי Rebbe טאקע takeh is so great. And the reason he was so late and he missed סליחות slichos is because rather than saying it here with us, he ascended on high. He went into the heavens to pray on behalf of the Jewish people. He wasn't here with us mere mortals, you didn't see him because he was on high. So יאַנקל Yankel the skeptic, the cynic, is dissatisfied. He laughs at the חסידים chassidim for having that ridiculous belief. He thinks lowly of the great רבי, רבי משה לייב ססובר Rebbe, Reb Moshe Leib Sassover, and he decides he's going to expose the רבי Rebbe. So the next day, he goes and he hides outside the רבי's Rebbe's house and to be able to follow, to see where is he? What is he really doing? Why is he late to סליחות slichos? He must be at Starbucks, he must be at Dunkin Donuts, he's having his morning joe. He's really a fraud. Why is he late? So יאַנקל Yankel hears רבי משה לייב Reb Moshe Leib wake up, leave the house. He doesn't recognize him. The סאַסאָווער'ס Sassover's dressed like a peasant. He walks into the woods, you all know the story, he takes out the ax, he chops the tree into firewood, he takes the bundle, he walks out of the forest, he knocks on the door of a run-down old house. An elderly woman answers and lets him in and pretending to be a peasant, the רבי Rebbe explains he brought the woman firewood so she could have a warm house, he brought her food. And when the woman says she has no money to pay, the great רבי Rebbe, the סאַסאָווער Sassover says, it's not a problem, we'll put it on an account, you'll pay me when you have the money. And יאַנקל Yankel who's hiding behind the bushes watches all this transpire from the darkness of night. And when the woman says she was not strong enough to light the fire, רבי משה לייב ססובר Reb Moshe Leib Sassover dressed as the peasant puts the wood into the furnace and bends and crouches down, and as he's lighting the fire, יאַנקל Yankel overhears the רבי Rebbe as he places each piece of wood and as he lights it on fire. השם, השם, קל רחום וחנון Hashem, Hashem, Kel rachum v'chanun. He's saying the י\"ג מידות yud gimmel midos. So יאַנקל Yankel can't believe what he sees. Wow. This is why the great רבי Rebbe was in fact late. He runs back to the שטיבל shtiebel, and the חסידים chassidim see him and they say, נו Nu? What did you see? What did you find? And יאַנקל Yankel answers them that in fact, I saw the רבי Rebbe ascends on high into the heavens. I saw that in fact he is in the heavens if not higher. So the י\"ג מידות yud gimmel midos, יעשו לפני ya'asu lefanai. יעשו לפני Ya'asu lefanai. It's not אמרו לפני imru lefanai. Don't just say these things and then go be dishonest in business and speak לשון הרע lashon hara and leave this one out of your mahjong game and don't invite that one to the שבת Shabbos meal and the פורים Purim סעודה seudah and... You can't just say the י\"ג מידות yud gimmel midos and then go back to being the same lowlife and think that השם's Hashem's going to forgive you. It's not אמרו לפני imru lefanai, it's יעשו לפני ya'asu lefanai and only when יעשו לפני ya'asu lefanai, then הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu forgives us. So what are these י\"ג מידות yud gimmel midos? Let's look at the פרשה parsha a little bit. Why was there so much to talk about? So we mentioned, look at פסוק ג' Pasuk Gimmel, רש\"י Rashi. ואיש לא יעלה עמך V'ish lo yaaleh imach. The first לוחות luchos were given with pomp and circumstance and fanfare, lightning and thunder and sound. And the second one, איש לא יעלה עמך ish lo yaaleh imach. משה Moshe, I want you alone, nobody else. I don't even want the animals grazing in the vicinity. So look at רש\"י Rashi. הראשונות על ידי שהיו בתשואות ובקולות ובקהלות שלטה בהן עין רע Harishonos al yedei shehayu b'tshu'os uv'kolos uv'kihalos, sholtah bahen ayin ra. אין לך יפה מן הצניעות Ein lecha yafah min hatznius. Says רש\"י Rashi, הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu realizes you know why it all went wrong the first time? Because I was trying to communicate and educate to the world by having all the pomp and circumstance, by having this great stage and platform. But you know what happened? עין רע Ayin ra. When you attract attention, it attracts the עין הרע ayin hara. And when people peer with their עין הרע ayin hara, which we've explained before according to the מהר\"ל Maharal, is not some mystical heebie-jeebie, עין הרע ayin hara, they look at you and a red bendel will ward it off and if they look at you, עין הרע ayin hara works that when you attract the attention of others and they look with a jealous and envious eye, and the jealous and envious eye for the מהר\"ל Maharal turns into a form of prayer. Say to השם Hashem, why do they have such a big beautiful house? They're not nearly as righteous as I am. They talk לשון הרע lashon hara, they're late to שול shul, they don't pay their taxes, and they you reward with שלום בית shalom bayis and נחת nachas from the children and the big house? When you're flashy and ostentatious and you attract attention, it makes other people turn to השם Hashem and say, they're not so great, what's going on over here? I deserve it more. And השם Hashem says, you know what? Bring me their file. טאַקע Taka, that's a good point. I wasn't paying attention, but you know what, they're not so great. So if we want to get away with all the goodness that we have, if we're undeserving, then keep it under the radar. Keep it under the radar. There's nothing wrong with enjoying beautiful things. There's nothing wrong with elegance and quality, but keep it under the radar. So הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu himself said, the wedding, the first wedding I made was over the top, and because it was over the top, עין הרע ayin hara, and look what happened, the עגל eigel, the smashing of the לוחות luchos. So you know what? The second wedding, we're going to do it quietly. It's just me and you. In order to avoid the עין הרע ayin hara. We have a גמרא Gemara says that אין הברכה ein habracha that אין הברכה שורה אלא בדבר הסמוי מן העין ein habracha shorah ela b'davar hasamui min ha'ayin. That blessing can only reside on that which is hidden from the eye. I gave a דרשה drasha two weeks ago at the פרוכת paroches. The goal, the רב Rav said, the reason that you have a פרוכת paroches is there has to be a קודש הקדשים kodesh hakodashim. The most intimate, the holiest, the most precious things we have are not on public display. They're not exposed to the world. What makes them precious, קודש הקדשים kodesh hakodashim, is there's a פרוכת paroches dividing. It's private, there's such a concept as privacy. You know, with social media, there's nothing private anymore. Everybody airs everything publicly. Everything publicly. I mean it's cute, so I saw what everyone's פורים Purim costumes were this year, fine. Everyone put the picture on Facebook of what their family wore on פורים Purim, it's cute, it's adorable, it connects us all, nothing wrong with that. But now you start, you know, just sharing your most, pledging your love to your spouse, the anniversary, the birth, love, every feeling, every emotion, every reaction, there's nothing private, there's no קודש הקדשים kodesh hakodashim. אין הברכה שורה אלא בדבר הסמוי מן העין Ein habracha shorah ela b'davar hasamui min ha'ayin. She'll kill me for saying this, but both of our parents are here, so I'll say it anyway. When I first went out with my wife, we dated for a significant amount of time, and then we broke up, or AKA she dumped me. And we were apart, it's a story I'm happy to share with you on another time, but we were, we were broken up for six weeks and we got back together. It's a great story, but for another time. When we got back together, she's the one, you taught her a lot, she's the one who said to me, you know what, the first time we went out, everybody knew about it, siblings, parents, friends, everybody had an opinion about it, everybody was trying to exert their influence on it, everybody was telling everybody what to do, it wasn't good. She quoted this חז\"ל Chazal, אין הברכה שורה אלא בדבר הסמוי מן העין ein habracha shorah ela b'davar hasamui min ha'ayin. Let's keep this under the radar. So our dates consisted of babysitting for my niece in Riverdale and telling my sister and brother-in-law, you go out, we'll babysit. Just quiet. Don't worry, we left the door open a little bit. There was no יחוד yichud problem. So, quiet, under the radar. Under the radar you want ברכה bracha. So even הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu himself experienced this. The first wedding, הר סיני Har Sinai, מתן תורה Matan Torah, over the top. Too many pieces in the band. The second wedding was a lot quieter. איש לא יעלה עמך Ish lo yaaleh imach. And therefore the ברכה bracha can be שורה shora, and that was lasting. The second set of לוחות luchos lasted, they were whole, they were complete, they continued to have their influence. Says the רמב\"ן Ramban, פסוק ג' Pasuk Gimmel. איש לא יעלה עמך שלא יעלו עמך כל זקני ישראל כאשר עשו בלוחות ראשונות Ish lo yaaleh imach shelo ya'alu imcha kol ziknei Yisrael ka'asher asu b'luchos rishonos. When the first לוחות luchos, the זקני ישראל ziknei Yisrael, the elders, the wise, the sages also partially went up the mountain. וגם איש אל ירא בכל ההר גם בתחתיות ההר מקום עמדת ישראל בראשונה V'gam ish al yera b'chol hahar, gam b'tachtios hahar makom amidas Yisrael barishona. So I don't want anyone going up with you, I don't want anyone on the base of the mountain with you. I don't want anyone around. This is all you. All you. Says the אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra, איש בבאו של אהרן ובניו עמו אחר מעמד הר סיני וירד עמהם גם עלה עמהם שם בפעם הראשונה ish, b'vo shel Aharon u'banav imo achar maamad Har Sinai v'yarad imahem, gam alah imahem sham b'paam harishona. Okay. Let's keep going. Let's keep going. Said Rabbi Soloveitchik, I'm reading to you from the רב Rav חומש Chumash. פסל לך Psol l'cha. Here הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu told משה Moshe, first set of tablets, מעשה אלקים המה ma'aseh Elokim heima. They were on me. I carved them, I did the heavy lifting, literally and figuratively, I did the work. Now, פסל לך psol l'cha, it's your turn. Said the רב Rav, in regards to תורה שבכתב Torah shebichsav, the written law, משה Moshe acted as a messenger of God to give to Israel. Had Israel at הר סיני Har Sinai desired to hear the תורה Torah from God himself instead of asking משה Moshe, it would have been given to Israel directly. There'd be no need for משה Moshe to act as a messenger. In this sense, משה's Moshe's portion in תורה שבכתב Torah shebichsav was no greater than any other Jew's. תורה שבעל פה Torah sheba'al peh however was given to משה Moshe, פסל לך psol l'cha, hew it for yourself, who in turn imparted it to Israel as a רבי rebbe. When a רבי rebbe imparts תורה Torah to a student, he's not merely a messenger of the Almighty, he's the owner of that תורה Torah, bestowing his greatness upon the student. משה Moshe owned the תורה שבעל פה Torah sheba'al peh as his property. The rights of an owner, דעת מקנה daas makneh, were assigned to him. The phrase like the first one recurs numerous times in the narrative. This phrase implies the renewal of God's original relationship with Israel. The first set of tablets did not have any greater sanctity than the second. The process of repentance in Israel is such it's possible that one who sinned grievously only yesterday will arise to an even higher level than he was before the sin. And then the רב Rav comments on the words ועלית בבקר אל הר סיני v'alisa baboker el Har Sinai. Why does השם Hashem describe to משה Moshe ascend? Now obviously because he's going up on a mountain. But the רב Rav sees more significance. Said the רב Rav, ascend. Listen to what he says, beautiful. חטא Cheit occurs, sin occurs when man becomes an object, when he changes from a גברא gavra to a חפצא cheftza, when he's transformed from a creator to a victim. The simplest verb which denote the dichotomy between a subject and an object are those of ascent and descent. Ascent involves an act of overcoming the force of gravity, while descent involves succumbing to this force. Gravity is a force that is not characteristic of personality. It is characteristic of objects, things. If a person loses his dynamic, subjective existence and cannot counteract various forces which tend to pull him downward, he's acting as an object. So the רב Rav goes on here but he describes, when we see ourselves as a victim, that we don't have autonomy, that we're not making choices, then we're an object like gravity. That's why you describe someone as falling. They fell into sin, they fell into a bad situation, they fell. Gravity asserts its influence on them because that person has forfeited their humanity, they've become a חפצא cheftza rather than a גברא gavra. A גברא gavra is a person, is a subject. A subject makes choices. A subject can defy gravity. A subject can climb. And that's why you talk about somebody who's improving, who's growing, is going higher and higher. It's not a coincidence, says the רב Rav, that we use these terms in the vernacular: to fall, to climb, to go higher, to go lower, because it's the difference between seeing ourselves as a subject and as an object. And that's why it's ועלית v'alisa, that משה Moshe goes up, he is defying gravity by helping the people overcome their sin. The... one last thing, there's a beautiful new פירוש peirush that came out from my רבי rebbe. It's called Rav Schechter on the Parsha, Insights and Commentary based on the שיעורים shiurim of Rav Hershel Schechter, adapted by Dr. Alan Weissman. And I remember these פרשה שיעורים parsha shiurim. He collected the שיעורים shiurim of Rav Schechter and and put them together. So here on our פרשה parsha he says the following. Our פרשה parsha describes a major difference between the first לוחות luchos and the second. The first time משה Moshe ascended to receive the לוחות luchos, he didn't take any material with him. הלוחות מעשה אלקים המה Haluchos ma'aseh Elokim heima. והמכתב מכתב אלקים הוא v'hamichtav michtav Elokim hu. The לוחות luchos are described as being made of stone, but they were formed from a heavenly material. With the second לוחות luchos, it's פסל לך שני לוחות אבנים כראשונים psol l'cha shnei luchos avanim karishonim. Carve for yourself. משה Moshe was to ascend with stone לוחות luchos from this world to serve as the substance upon which השם Hashem would engrave the עשרת הדברות Aseres Hadibros. The בית הלוי Beis Halevi expanded on the difference, citing מדרשים midrashim that explained that not only the עשרת הדברות Aseres Hadibros, כל התורה כולה kol haTorah kulah, the entire תורה Torah including what is now תורה שבעל פה Torah sheba'al peh was miraculously engraved on the first לוחות luchos. The engraved script of the second לוחות luchos, however, was limited to עשרת הדברות Aseres Hadibros themselves. The פסוק pasuk cited above, וכתבתי על הלוחות אשר שברת v'chasavti al haluchos asher shibarta, at the time that you shattered them, the additional letters and words on the first לוחות luchos that comprised the entire corpus of the תורה Torah flew into the air at the time of חטא העגל chet ha'eigel. All that remained at the time they were smashed were the letters of עשרת הדברות Aseres Hadibros, and only these letters were later engraved on the second לוחות luchos. So the בית הלוי Beis Halevi talks about the notion of the תורה שבעל פה Torah sheba'al peh and the תורה שבכתב Torah shebichsav. The first set of לוחות luchos had everything engraved. השם Hashem, הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu spoon-fed us the entire תורה Torah. The second set of לוחות luchos only had the עשרת הדברות Aseres Hadibros. The תורה שבעל פה Torah sheba'al peh remained for us to study and to learn. He went on and Rav Schechter quotes Rabbi Soloveitchik as talking about the fact that this was what made us the עם הנבחר am hanivchar, the chosen people. The fact that the תורה שבעל פה Torah sheba'al peh remained oral and was communicated orally meant that while you can go into any bookstore, while you can open the drawer of any hotel room and have access to the Bible, but the oral tradition remained the secret code of the Jewish people and the Jewish people alone. It was the תורה שבעל פה Torah sheba'al peh. We discussed this in the afternoon call a few weeks ago, Rav Hutner on the רבינו תם Rabeinu Tam on תוספות's Tosfos's commentary in קידושין Kiddushin about why the תלמוד בבלי Talmud Bavli is called the בבלי Bavli, it's all מבולבל mevulbal, and how רבי יהודה הנשיא Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi with the משנה Mishnah and רבינא Ravina and רב אשי Rav Ashi with the גמרא Gemara preserved the notion of it being oral even after it was written down, by mixing it up and requiring a רבי rebbe student relationship. But what makes us that עם הנבחר am hanivchar is this תורה שבעל פה Torah sheba'al peh. So the בית הלוי Beis Halevi talks about the fact that by having it be תורה שבעל פה Torah sheba'al peh, the first set of לוחות luchos, הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu really did us a favor. With the first set of לוחות luchos, it was all spoon-fed to us. We had access to the totality of תורה Torah, including the oral tradition. You didn't have to work for it, it was easy. But with the second set of לוחות luchos, all you had was עשרת הדברות Aseres Hadibros, and now you got to break your teeth over the גמרא Gemara and רש\"י Rashi and תוספות Tosfos and the טאז Taz and the נתיבות Nesivos and the ר' חיים Reb Chaim. Now you got to break your teeth over acquiring תורה שבעל פה Torah sheba'al peh, the oral tradition. And what a gift that is, because only when you break your teeth, only when you express יגיעה yegiah and עמל amal, only when you work for it, does it transform to become yours. So Rabbi Soloveitchik based on this teaching of his great-grandfather, the בית הלוי Beis Halevi, was opposed to the following. We have a מנהג minhag, I'll end with this. We have a מנהג minhag when you go to a שלום זכר shalom zachar, today שלום זכר's shalom zachar's are like a wedding שמוערג shmorg. It's a buffet. You would think that people didn't just come from שבת Shabbos dinner. Potato קוגל kugel and טשולנט cholent and it used to just be, you know, some jelly beans and potato chips. Today it's over the top. But what is the, what is the universal food at all שלום זכרס Shalom Zachars? ארבעס Arbis. Chickpeas. And why do we eat chickpeas? Nobody eats raw chickpeas ever any other time. Why do you eat chickpeas at a שלום זכר Shalom Zachar?We all know. Chickpeas are round, they're like the lentil, they're like the egg. They're among the symbols of אבלות aveilus of mourning. And why, Rabbi Moskowitz, I'm finishing, I'm sorry. And why, why at a שלום זכר Shalom Zachar would you eat something round, the symbol of mourning? Because after all, one of the reasons why are we there for the שלום זכר Shalom Zachar? We're there to comfort the baby who in the womb was learning כל התורה כולה kol haTorah kulah. In the womb had the greatest rebbe in the world. In the womb was finishing all of Torah. And then the angel tapped him on the lip and caused him to forget. And now this baby נבך nebach has to start learning from the beginning, take it again from the top. And we're comforting the baby for having lost this great rebbe, leaving that בית מדרש beis medrash called the womb.That's why we eat ארבעס arbis at a שלום זכר Shalom Zachar. Briskers do not eat chickpeas at a שלום זכר Shalom Zachar. Because of this בית הלוי Beis HaLevi. He said, you're mourning the fact that the baby lost? This is wonderful. That's, it's beautiful. The baby has to start again. The baby is going to now take it from the top. We don't believe in a Torah which is spoon-fed to us, which we download, you know, we download from from the internet and we all of a sudden have it all in our head. We have to work for it. And the working for Torah is what transforms us. So the fact that the baby is caused to forget is not a bad thing. Says the בית הלוי Beis HaLevi, if you understand the two sets of לוחות luchos, it's a good thing. Which begs the question, and with this I really end, what's the point of the angel teaching the baby to begin with? If the angel's only going to cause—the גמרא נדה Gemara Niddah—if the baby's going to forget, then why learn it all to begin with? And said the רב Rav, it's very simple. Because by having learned it, it means that when you learn it again, it's familiar. When you learn it, it's not for the very first time. It's familiar to us. It's the פונטעלע ייד pintele Yid. The fact that even the non-observant, uneducated, unaffiliated Jew walks around and has some, some magnetic pull, wants, has a thirst, wants to learn, wants to understand, wants to experience, wants to live. Where does that פונטעלע ייד pintele Yid come from? The fact that the angel once learned with him or her. Her. There's even a woman's בית מדרש beis medrash. The women's Midrasha in the womb. The angel learned the whole Torah with us, makes it familiar to us, and that פונטעלע ייד pintele Yid, come learn it again.I want to take out full-page ads. With the rise of antisemitism across America, I think we're missing an opportunity to leverage it. We should be taking out full-page ads that say to unaffiliated Jews, if they already want to kill you for being a Jew, you might as well learn what it means to be a Jew. If you're being targeted, you might as well find out a little bit more about what it means to be a Jew. And to try to reawak... there's nothing, nothing serves the growth of the Jewish people like a good anti-Semite, like a good crisis. If you look through our history, we were the most—not that we welcome it or want it—but when it comes, we shouldn't miss the opportunity to use it, to leverage it for a sweeping movement of תשובה teshuva, to reawaken that פונטעלע ייד pintele Yid within all of us. I'm sorry, Rabbi Moskowitz. Everyone should stay for the phenomenal class on מלאכות melachos.
