Transcript
Good morning everyone, thank you for being here. I want to thank our sponsors for our parsha class this morning. Irving and Bunny Cherson in memory of his mother ווליא בת שמואל Vulyia bas Shmuel and her father פנחס בן יוסף Pinchas ben Yosef on their יארצייט Yahrzeits, the fifth of אדר Adar and the 28th of שבט Shvat respectively. Their נשמות neshamos should have an עלייה aliyah.Okay, this week we have the privilege of learning and reading פרשת תצוה Parshas Tetzaveh. And we continue, if last week's parsha introduced us to the concept of the משכן Mishkan, a physical dwelling place for the רבונו של עולם Ribono shel Olam, for the Almighty. We learned and studied of the different utensils, the architecture, the engineering of the Tabernacle, the משכן Mishkan, the utensils therein, then this week we move over and we continue to study what was the uniform of the people who conducted the service within the משכן Mishkan. The bulk of פרשת תצוה Parshas Tetzaveh deals with the בגדי כהונה bigdei kehunah, the clothing of the כהנים Kohanim and the clothing of the כהן גדול Kohen Gadol, of the high priest, who, the service required one to be wearing that uniform. Without the uniform, it was it was something which was incomplete. Our פרשה parsha is an exception. The וילנא גאון Vilna Gaon already points out, as did many others, that this is the only parsha in the whole Torah, that once we were first introduced to משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu, the only parsha subsequent to that introduction in which Moshe's name does not appear. There are a number of reasons which are given why. I saw a beautiful reason this year that I'd never seen before, but I'm saving it for שבת Shabbos, because I may use it, I may use it for my דרשה drasha, because it connects also to פורים Purim.But note that Moshe's name does not appear, it's not a coincidence. פרשת תצוה Parshas Tetzaveh is usually read in the very week of ז' אדר Zayin Adar, the week which commemorates Moshe's birth but also his יארצייט yahrzeit, also his passing. ז' אדר Zayin Adar has been dedicated for centuries as a day to recognize and honor the members of the חברא קדישא Chevra Kadisha, those who do the holy work of טהרה taharah, burial preparation and so on. One of the reasons given is that the חברא קדישא Chevra Kadisha had the day off when Moshe was נפטר niftar, the day of Moshe's passing. השם Hashem himself did the טהרה taharah, himself השם Hashem himself did the קבורה kvura. There was no audience at Moshe's funeral. There were no attendees. Moshe's funeral was him and the רבונו של עולם Ribono shel Olam, the עבד השם eved Hashem and השם Hashem alone. We don't know where Moshe is buried for the fear or the reason we might turn it into a place of worship if we knew. So ז' אדר Zayin Adar, the day of Moshe's passing is always the פרשה parsha of תצוה Tetzaveh in which Moshe's name does not appear. Like I said, many, many reasons are given. The bulk of our parsha deals with the issue of ועשית בגדי קודש לאהרן אחיך v'asisa bigdei kodesh l'Aharon achicha, to make clothing. But what is the purpose of the clothing? The purpose of the clothing is not the way we wear clothing. We wear clothing, or one thinks we wear clothing to protect us from the elements. Clothing were first introduced for that reason. אדם וחוה Adam v'Chava are in גן עדן Gan Eden, they've eaten from the עץ הדעת eitz hada'as which they weren't supposed to, and what is the very first realization? What's the very first recognition? Said, whoa. They turn to one another and say, \"Do you feel that breeze?\" \"I feel naked.\" And הקדוש ברוך הוא Akadosh Baruch Hu gives them the great fig leaf, from the leather, the they're able to to be clothed.So we think of clothing as protecting us from the elements, to avoid cold, to avoid thorns and rashes, to avoid sunburn. But here the Torah describes, ועשית בגדי קודש v'asisa bigdei kodesh, the uniform of the כהנים Kohanim, for Aharon and his family was לכבוד ולתפארת l'chavod ul'sifares. For honor and for glory. We've discussed this in the past, you could listen online, we're not going to go into it. For whose honor and for whose glory? For whom is the כבוד chavod and תפארת tifares? For השם Hashem? For the כהנים Kohanim? For כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael? All the options are offered. Again, like I said, we've studied it in the past. But I'll share with you רב סולובייצ'יק Rav Soloveitchik from his חומש chumash describes, \"People appointed by the public such as government officials have always worn uniforms. The uniform indicates that the one wearing it holds an office and is endowed with authority. Even an absolute monarch wears a uniform to distinguish himself from the ordinary citizen. Leadership and distinction express themselves in distinctive garments. The dignity of man lies in his dress. Dignity, unlike any other capability, must be planted into a person. If dignity is not part of his educational process, he will never possess it. Dignity does not come on its own. In a king or ruler, personal capabilities, or lack of them, often go unnoticed. However, lack of dignity is noticed and a ruler that exhibits it is punished by the people. Clothing is an expression not of the intellect, but of the dignity of man. And uniforms imply that those donning them are are specially selected by the people and are given certain privileges that others do not receive. There's a special aspect of humility that is indispensable to positions of power, where authority comes not from within, but from without. God wanted the כהן גדול Kohen Gadol to realize he was undeserving of his position. When he wore his uniform, the כהן גדול Kohen Gadol recognized that he filled his role not due to his own merits, which were insufficient for anyone to assume such a high office. The same is true of the king. Without donning the royal garments, he would not have the authority to act as a king.\"So here the רב Rav is communicating a number of messages simultaneously. One of them is about dignity, that clothing and the idea of donning a uniform reflects with whom we identify, the community. What uniform are we wearing? Do clothing make the man? And make no mistake, though some are cynical, let's say of the ישיביש Yeshivish world, everyone wears the same white shirt, black pants, black hat, that's a uniform. But do you think the non-Yeshivish world are not wearing uniforms? Do you think when teenagers, do you think every man on שבת Shabbos who's now wearing tight pants as part of his suit and is terribly uncomfortable because that's what the fashion demands, or the latest uniform, men who wear pants that don't meet their shoes and they wear shoes without socks. Men wearing fancy business suits with shoes with no socks and short pants, they look ridiculous, they'll look ridiculous when they look back in pictures in a few years from now. The glasses that we're wearing, the outfits that, I can't comment on the woman's. I mean I could, I have a lot of, I live in a, I live in a girls' dormitory with a lot of women. But the point is that whatever community we're part of, you have piercings and tattoos, you have this haircut, no haircut, you grow your beard long, or you were bullied into trimming it. Whatever the case may be, you're part of a community, you're identifying with a uniform. We can be naive and suggest it's just my individuality, and why are you judging me by externality and by the superficial? But if we're honest, we recognize and realize that what we wear says a lot about us. And what it says most about us, says the רב Rav, is our sense of dignity. Do we carry ourselves with dignity? Do we carry ourselves with class? Do we carry ourselves with a sense of צניעות tznius, of modesty? Clothing preserve a sense of our dignity. But also the fact that clothing and a uniform give us that identification externally means that often we are unworthy internally, but rather the title that we have is bestowed upon us from the outside. That's not a uniform, that's not something that we should take, that we should take lightly. The Torah begins to then delineate the different בגדי כהונה bigdei kehunah.The different בגדי כהונה bigdei kehunah. What are these different garments? What are these different vestments? We have the חשן choshen, אפוד ephod, מעיל me'il, כתונת ksones, תשבץ tashbeitz, מצנפת mitznefes, אבנט avnet. ועשו בגדי קודש לאהרן אחיך v'ya'asu bigdei kodesh l'Aharon achicha. When we use clothing to preserve dignity, to protect modesty, to communicate that we are much more than our body, but we are a soul, then the clothing is serving as לכבוד ולתפארת l'chavod ul'sifares. The clothing is serving us to have honor and to have dignity, to have glory. So we have the אפוד ephod, which is, again, we're not going to take time now because I want to get to our section. But the different, the different בגדי כהונה bigdei kehunah that the regular כהן kohen wears, the כהן גדול Kohen Gadol wears, the, the חשן choshen which was engraved with the, with the stones, the חשן choshen, the breastplate, which was on the אפוד ephod, that had the stones representing all of the different שבטים shvatim. And here I'll call your attention just to give you one example within our overview of the parsha. The, the חשן choshen is described, ושמת את שתי האבנים על כתפות האפוד אבני זכרון לבני ישראל ונשא אהרן את שמותם לפני השם על שתי כתפיו לזכרון v'samta es shnei ha'avanim al kisos ha'ephod avnei zikaron l'vnei yisrael v'nasa Aharon es shmosam lifnei Hashem al shnei kseisav l'zikaron. I'm on פרק כח פסוק יב perek kaf-ches, pasuk yud-beis, Chapter 28, verse 12, the top of page 468. Aharon is told, \"You place both stones on the shoulder straps of the אפוד ephod, the stones for the children of Israel, he carries their names before השם Hashem on both his shoulders as a remembrance.\" ונשא אהרן את שמותם V'nasa Aharon es shmosam. It doesn't say ונשאם v'nasam, place their names. I would have thought it should say place their names. Engraved on stones on the breastplate, I would think it should say place. But it doesn't say place, it says carry. Why does it say carry? So here רב סולובייצ'יק Rav Soloveitchik writes, \"Two of the items the כהן גדול Kohen Gadol wore are emphasized, the ציץ tzitz and the חשן choshen. The ציץ tzitz pieced for sins regarding impurity. The ציץ tzitz was entirely קדש להשם kodesh laShem.\" In fact, it said on the ציץ tzitz, which was the sort of headband that the כהן kohen wore, it said קדש להשם Kodesh laShem. It said holy, the כהן גדול Kohen Gadol wore holy for השם Hashem. The גמרא Gemorah has a debate, did it say it on one line or two lines? קדש להשם Kodesh laShem on one line, or קדש kodesh and להשם laShem on two lines. There's an amazing גמרא Gemorah because I don't remember who the, the great rabbis are, but one says to the other, \"Trust me, I'm telling you the way it says it and I'm right.\" He says, \"Well how do you know, why are you so confident you're right?\" He says, \"Because I was in Rome and I saw the ציץ tzitz. And I'm telling you what I saw there.\" Which is one of the early sources that testify to after the חורבן Churban, the fact that our כלים keilim, our utensils of the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash likely until this very day still sits somewhere in the Vatican. So the ציץ tzitz said קדש להשם Kodesh laShem, holy for השם Hashem. It was placed on Aharon's forehead, opposite intelligence, opposite knowledge. The ציץ tzitz would rule on questions of what was permitted, what was forbidden, what was pure, what was impure, liability. The ציץ tzitz would rule on the הלכות halachos of the עגונה agunah, marriage, divorce, mixtures of unkosher items, stains, and נדה niddah. The ציץ tzitz was opposite the brain. So the שאלות shailos, the complicated questions that required knowledge, analysis, הלכה halachic conclusions were arrived at with the use of, in the merit of the ציץ tzitz. The חשן choshen was not opposite the intellect, the brain, but sat where? The חשן choshen was worn opposite the heart, the center of love and affection for the Jewish people. All the names of the tribes were etched on it. The Torah gives it the appellation of חשן משפט choshen mishpat. The חשן choshen was concerned about completely different questions. Should we enter the land or not? Should we conquer this land and fight the enemy or not? Should I call for public gatherings to protest against Israel's dishonor or not? How should I relate to a specific current event? How should a Jew act in the public sphere? How should I plan my actions, my words, my declarations, my speech? These questions, which relate to the essence of כנסת ישראל Knesses Yisrael, were decided through the חשן choshen which was where? On Aharon's heart, a heart which reflected the suffering of his nation. This was a general rule over the thousands of year of exile and wandering. The very same כהן kohen who wore the holy ציץ tzitz, who ruled on the matters of Jewish law, was also the one to inquire of the אורים ותומים Urim v'Tumim of the חשן choshen. The very same כהן kohen who would הלכה halachically rule regarding all the difficult problems of should I enter the land or not, of war and peace, of hope and despair, of our relationship with the nations of the world and the government, the same כהן kohen whose mind was saturated with the holiness of the Torah of רבי עקיבא Rabbi Akiva, רבי אליעזר Rabbi Eliezer, of אביי Abaye and רבא Rava, of the רמב\"ם Rambam, the רייב\"ד Raavad, the בית יוסף Beis Yosef and the רמ\"א Rama, who through the Holy Spirit seek the solution to all current political questions, all that transpires in the world, all the demands that are on the agenda. The same כהן kohen who wore the holy ציץ tzitz, the master of הלכה Halacha and אגדה Aggadah would stand before kings, would fall on supplication before leaders of the world, sometimes bestowing blessings and sometimes acting stubbornly. He who was pure of mind, overflowing with the knowledge of the Torah, also had the heart that beat in tandem with the people. He who ruled in questions of יורה דעה Yoreh Deah, also ruled upon difficult and complicated questions regarding אורח חיים Orach Chaim, how to rule on political matters. There can be no אהבת ישראל love of Israel by our leadership that does not reflect the sanctity of Israel. There is no חשן choshen without the ציץ tzitz.\" It's a very, very interesting insight of the רב Rav, very precious insight too today, where we have a world where people say, \"The rabbis with the ציץ tzitz, the brilliant, encyclopedic mind who deal with the issue of complicated questions of כשרות kashrus and end of life issues and הלכות שבת hilchos Shabbos and הלכות נדה hilchos niddah and new technology and new innovation, they should stick to the בית מדרש Beis Midrash. They should stick to the ספרים sefarim. They should stick to the arena of פסק הלכה psak halacha. But I, even though I'm barely literate on those matters of the brain, of the intellect, I have the heart to tell you whether the Jewish people should be engaged in this innovation, that innovation, what we should be doing, what we should not be doing.\" And רב סולובייצ'יק Rav Soloveitchik very, very vociferously communicates here the notion that they're inseparable. It's the same כהן kohen who wore the ציץ tzitz who wore the חשן choshen. It's the same one who combines the intellect, the brain, and the emotion of the heart. You have to care about the truth, the authenticity, the מסורה mesorah of Torah, but you also have to care about the Jewish people. This is really a continuation of the theme that we mentioned last week, when רב סולובייצ'יק Rav Soloveitchik talks about יעוד yeud and גורל goral, fate and destiny, can, ברית סיני bris Sinai and ברית אבות bris avos. Right, last week we talked about the notion, I think it was last week. Two weeks ago, last week. But we talked about the notion that there's ברית אבות bris avos. As the offspring, the progeny of אברהם יצחק ויעקב שרה רבקה רחל ולאה Avraham, Yitzchak v'Yaakov, Sarah, Rivka, Rochel v'Leah, we are bound as a people, by peoplehood, by a shared history, and by a shared destiny. And if our lives and lifestyles may look different, our understanding of הלכה halacha, either the legitimate differences within הלכה halacha of the of the אלו ואלו eilu v'eilu, or the debate about הלכה halacha which is not a legitimate debate between those who are part of the מסורה mesorah and those who've distorted it, but we're still bound by ברית אבות bris avos. We're part of a people, we're part of a nation, we're part of a narrative, we're part of a story. And also in parallel, we have ברית סיני bris Sinai, the idea that we are bound by הלכה halacha, by a system, by expectations, and by a lifestyle.So, the two run in parallel, they intersect, but ברית אבות bris avos and ברית סיני bris Sinai. One might feel ברית אבות bris avos is the heart and ברית סיני bris Sinai, הלכה halacha is the head. But you know, they're both adjudicated and the authority to determine both come from the people steeped in Torah. You can't be almost illiterate in הלכה halacha, in Torah, in ש\"ס Shas, and think that you are in a position of authority to address enormous questions of the day that affect כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael. Even the ברית אבות bris avos, not the ברית סיני bris Sinai. But it's only the one who is the authority on ברית סיני bris Sinai who simultaneously is the authority on ברית אבות bris avos. The two are inextricably linked and they can't be disconnected. You can't be an authority on one without the other. You can't wear the חשן choshen without also wearing the ציץ tzitz. But this very beautiful imagery here about how the כהן גדול Kohen Gadol wore, as I pointed out, it doesn't say he placed the names, it says he carried the names of the Jewish people. The Jewish people, אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra now says, the Jewish people's names have to be on the heart. The Torah says that he would wear the Jewish people's names when he entered the קדש הקדשים Kodesh HaKodashim, but he didn't he didn't wear this garment on his way in. So the שפת אמת Sfas Emes explains so beautifully, it doesn't mean he was wearing the חשן choshen, the stones, when he entered. It meant he was wearing the thought of the people on his heart. We can't see ourselves as disconnected from the storyline of the Jewish people. Oh, that's their problem in Parkland. That's their problem in that מושב Moshav in ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael. That's their problem, the Jews who are struggling or suffering down in South America or wherever else. To be a Jew is to carry the names of the Jewish people on our heart. It's to carry the story of the Jewish people on our heart. That's what it means to be a leader, but it's also what it means to be a member of of the Jewish people. We have the אפוד ephod, the ציץ tzitz of תכלת techeiles. The כלי יקר Kli Yakar, by the way, throughout, based on גמרא Gemorah, explains the magnificent symbolism within each of these garments, what they atone for, what they correspond with, what the symbolism is. These פרשיות parshiyos, תרומה תצוה ויקהל פקודי Truma, Tetzaveh, Vayakhel, Pekudei, they seem so inaccessible to us, whether it's the utensils, whether it's the קרבנות karbanos of ספר ויקרא Sefer Vayikra, whether it's these garments, we can't relate to them, we don't identify with them, we don't have them. But I highly recommend studying the כלי יקר Kli Yakar who does a magnificent job of showing the symbolism of each of these garments, utensils, the משכן Mishkan, the קרבנות karbanos, and the symbolism is as relevant today, and in some ways more, than than ever. The end of then we have the inauguration ritual when משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu, who is not going to serve as the כהן גדול Kohen Gadol, משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu, why is that? It's part of the answer I'm not telling you that I'm saving for שבת Shabbos. But משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu does not have the blessing of serving as the כהן גדול Kohen Gadol, but for seven days he does a dry run of the משכן Mishkan. And he teaches, he tutors. It's almost rubbing salt in his wounds. You don't get to be the כהן גדול Kohen Gadol, but you are going to act as if you are. You're going to pretend for seven days to teach your brother who will serve that position of prominence and pass it on to his offspring. In fact, I think recently in the דף daf, we just had the question, what did משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu wear when he was serving those seven days? On the one hand, he can't wear his ordinary clothing. He is doing this dry run, a rehearsal of the משכן Mishkan. On the other hand, he's not a כהן kohen. How can he wear the בגדי כהונה bigdei kahuna, the כהן גדול Kohen Gadol? The גמרא Gemorah gives an answer, a special חלוק לבן chaluk lavan, white clothing that he wore, and so on. So we have the the dry run. And then the end of the parsha we have the קרבן תמיד karban tamid, the תמיד tamid offering that was offered every morning and every evening without fail. It's one of the reasons we mourn on שבעה עשר בתמוז Shiva Asar B'Tammuz, the 17th of תמוז Tammuz is when that offering ceased. It's when we were prevented from bringing the daily offering. Imagine never missing, and then the shul has to close down, you can't have שחרית Shacharis and מנחה Mincha that day. You're prevented. Our enemies, our oppressors, don't allow you. That's an incredible source of grief and of pain. The תמיד tamid was offered daily. Didn't matter rain, sleet, snow, weekday, שבת Shabbos, יום טוב Yom Tov, the קרבן תמיד karban tamid was offered on a regular basis. There's a tremendous lesson in the קרבן תמיד karban tamid, the idea of consistency, the idea of תמיד tamid. In fact, many are familiar with the מדרש medrash that's quoted by the introduction to the עין יעקב Ein Yaakov, which no one's been able to actually find the מדרש medrash, that talks about the rabbinic gathering where they debated what is the motto of the Jewish people? And one opinion was that was שמע ישראל Shema Yisrael, which we can understand, the unity of השם's Hashem's existence. That is a summary of our theology. Another was no, ואהבת לרעך כמוך v'ahavta l'reiacha kamocha. Interpersonally, זה כלל גדול בתורה zeh klal gadol baTorah, that's the whole Torah. Love your neighbor as yourself. And the third position was our פסק pasuk, את הכבש אחד תעשה בבקר ואת הכבש השני תעשה בין הערבים es ha'keves echad ta'aseh baboker v'es ha'keves hasheini ta'aseh bein ha'arbaim. Two sheep, one brought in the morning and one in the afternoon. שמע Shema, ואהבת v'ahavta, those are very compelling cases. This פסק pasuk should be the motto, the bumper sticker of the Jewish people? Are you kidding me? And the answer is yes, to be a Jew is to never be on vacation. We're never on hiatus. You never take a break. A relationship with the רבונו של עולם Ribono shel Olam is like a marriage. You don't say I'm married when we're both home, but when I'm on my business trip, I'm single. I'm married when I'm on the ground, when I'm in the air, I'm married when I'm, when I'm at work. Marriage is an identity. It's part of your core of who you are. It's inseparable. You're never on hiatus, you never take a vacation. It's what it means to be a Jew, in a relationship with the רבונו של עולם Ribono shel Olam, fulfilling our mission and purpose for why we are here. There is no break, there is no vacation. את הכבש אחד תעשה בבקר את הכבש השני תעשה בין הערבים Es ha'keves echad ta'aseh baboker, es ha'keves hasheini ta'aseh bein ha'arbaim. It's part of what motivated רב מאיר שפירא Rav Meir Shapiro, the לובלינער רב Lubliner Rav and the founder of the דף יומי Daf Yomi, the daily learning, the daily grind, to never miss a day, to build that consistency. When one arrives at the end of seven and a half years, it makes a סיום הש\"ס siyum haShas. The entire סיום siyum is broken if you miss one day. One day, you say, \"Are you kidding? Seven and a half years, I missed one day and I can't participate?\" The answer is yes. It's a grueling marathon. It is a spiritual Ironman competition to be able to complete. This is the motto of what it means to be a Jew is את הכבש אחד es ha'keves echad, day in and day out. You could go on vacation, but you still have to דאווענען daven and make a ברכה bracha and keep שבת Shabbos, and you don't ever go on vacation from that status, from that relationship with השם Hashem. And lastly, in the section that we're going to study together this morning, is the very end of פרשת תצוה Parshas Tetzaveh, we have the obligation to build the מזבח הקטורת mizbeach haktorus, the gold מזבח mizbeach in which the incense was offered, and Aharon's special service with it that would happen once a year on יום כיפור Yom Kippur. So, let's get delve right into that on page 482 in the ארטסקרול סטון חומש Artscroll Stone Chumash, פרק ל פסוק א perek lamed, pasuk aleph.Okay. Says the Torah, ועשית מזבח מקטר קטרת עצי שטים תעשה אתו v'asisa mizbeach miktav ktorus atzei shitim ta'aseh oso. Make an altar that you're going to bring incense up and smoke. What is the altar made out of? Acacia wood, עצי שטים תעשה אתו atzei shitim ta'aseh oso. Make it out of acacia wood. Which is kind of a funny material to make something you're going to light a fire on. That doesn't sound so proven. So we'll see the מפרשים mefarshim in a moment, it was covered with gold and it was a very small fire that was all that was necessary to burn the incense and the wood was never really at risk. עצי שטים Atzei shitim, acacia wood, I mentioned on שבת Shabbos, the מדרש medrash says in שמות רבה Shemos Rabbah, עצי שטים אינו עושה פירות atzei shitim eino oseh peiros, that this wood comes from a tree that does not produce fruit. And I saw such a beautiful פשט p'shat that what the Torah is telling us by using wood, דוקא dafka from a non-fruit tree, a tree that doesn't produce fruit, is that the walls of the משכן Mishkan, the utensils themselves, they have no continuity. They're going to rot, they're going to decay, they're going to disappear. The continuity of the משכן Mishkan is not from the furniture and it's not from the walls, it's from the people. That ושכנתי בתוכם v'shachanti b'socham, that when השם Hashem dwells within us, it's not the משכן Mishkan, the walls, it's not the furniture, the furnishings that create a sense of continuity and a presence of השם Hashem. It's the ושכנתי בתוכם v'shachanti b'socham, it's the people. So the walls, the furniture that are made from עצי שטים אינו עושה פירות atzei shitim eino oseh peiros, they have no future, they have no fruit. But we, we have to feel השם's Hashem's presence, and when we create that atmosphere of enthusiasm, when we live a life, we spoke about last week, that בשבתי בבית השם כל ימי חיי b'cheisiv es haShem kol yemei chayai, I want to sit in השם's Hashem's house all day, how? כל Kol, because I bring השם Hashem into every aspect of my life, at gym, at work, at home, in the shul, everywhere, that when I bring השם Hashem down ושכנתי בתוכם v'shachanti b'socham, then I have פירות peiros. Then I will produce offspring and fruit who will follow in those footsteps. So this מזבח הקטורת mizbeach haktorus was also made from acacia wood. אמה ארכו ואמה רחבו רבוע יהיה Amah arko v'amah rochbo ravoa yihyeh, its length was an אמה Amah, its width was an אמה amah, about a foot and a half. It was square, אמתיים קומתו amosayim komaso, its height was two אמה amah. ממנו קרנתיו mimenu karnosov, and from its height, there were four protrusions in the corners that looked like horns that came out. וצפית אותו זהב טהור v'tzipisa oso zahav tahor, and you cover it with gold, את גגו ואת קירותיו סביב ואת קרנותיו es gago v'es kirosov saviv v'es karnosov, the top of it, the walls, the thorns, all of it, ועשית לו זר זהב סביב v'asisa lo zer zahav saviv. And there's a golden molding, a golden crown that goes all around. ושתי טבעות זהב תעשה לו מתחת לזרו על שתי צלעותיו תעשה על שני צדיו u'shtei taba'os zahav ta'aseh lo mitachas l'zaro al shtei tzal'osov ta'aseh al shnei tzidav. You make two golden rings under the crown on the two corners on the sides so that you put the poles through them, לבתים לבתים לשאת אותו בהמה l'vatim l'vatim laseis oso baheima. You drive the staves, the poles through the rings so it's transportable, it can be carried throughout the desert. ועשית את הבדים עצי שטים v'asisa es habadim atzei shitim, the poles also are made from acacia wood, וצפית אותם זהב v'tzipisa osam zahav, they too are layered, they too are covered with gold. ונתת אותו V'nasata oso, where does this go? It goes לפני הפרוכת lifnei haparoches, in front of the curtain אשר על ארון העדות asher al aron ha'eidus, that's covering the קדש הקדשים Kodesh HaKodashim, the curtain that's covering the ark. לפני הכפורת אשר על העדות אשר אועד לך שמה Lifnei hakapores asher al ha'eidus asher iva'ed l'cha shama. In front of the cover on top of the ארון Aron where I will have my meetings with you. אועד Iva'ed. We also have in our parsha ונועדתי v'no'adeti. אועד Iva'ed, ונועדתי v'no'adeti, what other word is similar? מועד Moed. The root of the word מועד moed, אועד iva'ed, ונועדתי no'adeti means a meeting place, a rendezvous point. A מועד moed, a יום טוב yom tov is a rendezvous point. All throughout the year, we're coasting, we're being carried by momentum, inertia. And then come the holidays, the שלוש רגלים shalosh regalim is to break our sense of הרגל hergel. The שלוש רגלים shalosh regalim come, the three holidays come, and they disturb, they interrupt our momentum, the habit, the pattern we've formed, and they become a מועד moed. They're a rendezvous point to return to a feeling of intimacy, of connection, of affection with השם Hashem. So he describes where does the מזבח הקטורת mizbeach haktorus go? It's placed outside the פרוכת paroches, opposite the ארון aron, where I come to meet with you. והקטיר עליו אהרן קטורת סמים בבקר בבקר בהיטיבו את הנרות יקטירנה v'hiktir alav Aharon ktores samim baboker baboker b'heitivo es haneiros yaktirena. And Aharon offers spices on it, the קטורת ktores, the incense that go up and smoke, when? Every morning, when he ignites, when he lights the flame of the מנורה menorah. ובהעלות אהרן את הנרות בין הערביים יקטירנה U'v'ha'alos Aharon es haneiros bein ha'arbaim yaktirena. And again in the afternoon, it goes up in smoke, קטורת תמיד לפני השם לדורותיכם ktores tamid lifnei Hashem l'doroseichem. It's a continual incense before השם Hashem for your generations. לא תעלו עליו קטורת זרה ועולה ומנחה Lo sa'alu alav ktores zarah v'olah u'mincha. Don't you dare bring any other sacrifice on it. Remember, we have two מזבחות mizbachos, we have two altars. There's the copper altar, which is out in the courtyard, which is brought the קרבנות karbanos, the sacrifices are brought on. And this is the smaller golden altar designated exclusively for bringing incense. וכפר אהרן על קרנותיו אחת בשנה v'chiper Aharon al karnosov achas bashana. Aharon receives atonement using the horns once a year. How? מדם חטאת הכיפורים אחת בשנה יכפר עליו לדורותיכם קדש קדשים הוא להשם Midam chatas hakippurim achas bashana yechaper alav l'doroseichem kodesh kodashim hu laShem. When he sprinkles the blood of the חטאת chatas on יום כיפור Yom Kippur on the corners, קדש קדשים הוא להשם kodesh kodashim hu laShem, he receives atonement from it. Okay, that's the entire text. We're now going to go back and analyze, but our analysis begins with what should be to you the obvious question. And what should be the obvious question here? What's the obvious question? Apparently not so obvious question. What's the obvious question? Very good. What in the world is this doing here? Lovely section, why is this here? פרשת תרומה Parshas Truma delineated the שלחן shulchan, the מזבח mizbeach, the מנורה menorah, the משכן mishkan. This פרשה parsha is all about the בגדי כהונה bigdei kehunah, the clothing, the כהן גדול kohen gadol. What is this doing here? Why is it here? Logically, it much more belongs in פרשת תרומה Parshas Trumah. Why is it at the end of פרשת תצוה Parshas Tetzaveh?And why are we told its placement is opposite the ארון aron? You know that the מזבח mizbeach and the מנורה menorah, the שולחן shulchan and מנורה menorah rather, were much closer to the ארון aron than this מזבח הקטורת mizbeach haktoret. In terms of proximity, they were closer. So why is this דוקא dafka identified as being opposite? True, the the מנורה menorah was on the south and the שולחן shulchan was on the north. That's why הרוצה להחכים ידרים harotzeh l'hachkim yadrim. If you want to become wise, you would turn to the south. That's where the מנורה menorah was. If you wanted to, הרוצה להעשיר harotzeh l'ha'ashir, if you want to become rich, then יצפין yatzpin, you turn to the north. The שולחן shulchan that represents sustenance. The name of our Torah journal, volume two will be coming out before פסח Pesach, please God. It's called ידרים Yadrim, based on that expression, הרוצה להחכים ידרים harotzeh l'hachkim yadrim. If you want to become smart, look to the south. South Florida. If you look at, you get it? That's the, that's why we called it ידרים Yadrim. In the introduction to the first volume, I wrote an introduction about that expression. Based on the מנורה menorah, based on the שולחן shulchan. The ערוך Aruch says it has nothing to do with the משכן Mishkan, it has to do with the fact that in ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael, the great scholars always lived in the south of ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael. הרוצה להחכים ידרים Harotzeh l'hachkim yadrim to the south of ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael geographically. Most understand it to mean in the משכן Mishkan, הרוצה להחכים ידרים harotzeh l'hachkim yadrim, look to the מנורה menorah, the מנורה menorah represents the light of Torah. So, true, one was in the south, one was in the north, but in terms of distance, proximity, they were closer to the ארון aron. So yes, the מזבח הקטורת mizbeach haktoret is opposite, but it's opposite but further back. So why is it specifically described here as opposite the ארון העדות aron ha'eidus, ונועדתי לך שמה v'noadti lecha shama. This is the place of the rendezvous point. This is the place that's told to us as a קודש קדשים kodesh kodashim. This is not the Holy of Holies, it's outside the פרוכת paroches. And yet it's described as קודש קדשים kodesh kodashim. Why? There's a whole list of questions that one has on this, on this section. But let's begin with the question of why is it here? Why is it here of all places?It seems to be in the wrong place. It seems to be in the wrong place. So, look at the רמב\"ן Ramban.I don't know where to start. Let's start with the רמב\"ן Ramban. The רמב\"ן Ramban writes, הנה מזבח הקטורת מן הכלים הפנימיים היה, ראוי שיזכירנו עם השולחן והמנורה השמונחים עמהם Hinei mizbach haktoret min hakelim hapnimiyim haya, ra'ui sheyazkirenu im hashulchan v'hamenorah shemunachim imahem. Why was it segregated out and placed here at the end of תצוה Tetzaveh? It should have been included in תרומה Trumah. וכן הזכירו במעשה פרשת ויקהל, אבל טעם הזכירו כאן אחר המשכן וכל כליו וקרבנותיו, בעבור שאמר בתשלום הכל ונקדש בכבודי V'chein hizkiro b'maaseh parshas Vayakhel, aval ta'am hizkiro ka'an achar hamishkan v'chol keilav v'korbanosav, ba'avur she'amar b'tashlum hakol v'nikdash bichvodi. Says the רמב\"ן Ramban, you know why it comes here at the end? I'll tell you why. Because the relevance of the מזבח הקטורת mizbeach haktoret, its function only kicks in when the משכן Mishkan is complete. You've constructed the משכן Mishkan, you've constructed and begun the function of the כלים keilim. ושכנתי בתוך בני ישראל V'shachanti b'soch Bnei Yisrael. אמר כי עוד יתחייב להם שיעשו מזבח מקטר קטורת להקטיר לכבוד השם Amar ki od yitchayev lahem sheya'asu mizbeach maktir ketoret l'haktir lichvod Hashem. וזהו רז שנמסר למשה רבנו V'zehu raz shenimsar l'Moshe Rabbeinu, this was a secret that was transmitted to משה Moshe. שהקטרת עוצרת המגפה Shehaktoret otzeres hamageifah. The pleasant aroma produced by the קטורת ketoret is what stops a plague. When השם Hashem wants to invoke His מידת הדין midas hadin, when השם Hashem is tempted to respond with a sense of justice, to pour His wrath out on the Jewish people, what appeases Him? What calms Him? What causes Him to stand back? Is the smell of the קטורת ketoret. The Gemara in Shabbos, כי הקטורת במידת הדין ki haktoret b'midas hadin, שנאמר ישימו קטורה באפך she'ne'emar yasimu ketorah b'apecha, מונע חרון אפי moneh charon api. והוא שאמר בקטורת זרה ועל פני כל העם הכבד, שידעו בכבודי כי לו יסלחו פשעכם יסלחו בכבודי, ולכך אמר כאן ונתתה אותו לפני הפרוכת אשר על ארון העדות לפני הכפורת אשר על העדות אשר אועד לך שמה V'hu she'amar biktoret zarah v'al pnei kol ha'am echabed, sheyeid'u bichvodi ki lo yisl'chu pishachem yisl'chu bichvodi, v'lachach amar ka'an v'nasata oso lifnei haparoches asher al aron ha'eidus lifnei hakapores asher al ha'eidus asher iva'ed lecha shama. כי מה צורך להאריך בכל אלה ולא אמר ונתתה אותו לפני ארון העדות באהל מועד כאשר אמר בפרשת ויקהל, אבל הוא להורות על ענינו Ki mah tzorech l'haarich b'chol eileh v'lo amar v'nasata oso lifnei aron ha'eidus b'ohel moed ka'asher amar b'parshas Vayakhel, avol hu l'horos al inyano. Says, says the רמב\"ן Ramban, what is the reason that it's out of order here? It says it's a very simple reason. Because really the function of the מזבח mizbeach is only relevant when the construction of the משכן Mishkan is complete. Once the משכן Mishkan has been dedicated, once all the other כלים keilim are constructed and they're put in place, now we're ready. Why? Because once השם Hashem is drawn down, he has a דירה בתחתונים dirah b'tachtonim, once you've given a dwelling place for השם Hashem, he's got a much closer look at the Jewish people. Understandably symbolically, figuratively. But he's got a front row seat. He's got a bird's eye view. And with it, when השם Hashem dwells among us, we are much more vulnerable to מידת הדין midas hadin. We're much more vulnerable to now השם Hashem has a front row seat. Once we're living under his microscope because we're literally, physically, geographically, in his dwelling place, now he operates with us with a מידת הדין midas hadin, with his attribute of strict justice. So how will we survive? What's the response? What's the secret? The answer is the מזבח הקטורת mizbeach haktoret. Why? Why?So this is very interesting. רבי זאב רדמן Rabbi Ze'ev Radman who's a teacher at Michlalah, he published many books of the שפת אמת Sfas Emes, elucidating the פשט pshat of the שפת אמת Sfas Emes. So he explained, needs a רפואה שלמה refuah shleimah, he explained the following. Based on this רמב\"ן Ramban, we just saw the language here in the רמב\"ן Ramban. Why should the מזבח הקטורת mizbeach haktoret be the antidote? Why is it the the answer to מידת הדין midas hadin? Why does it appease השם Hashem? Well, what does קטורת ketoret create? When you burn incense and it produces a smoke, what does it produce? A ריח ניחוח rei'ach nichoach, a pleasant aroma. And somehow that pleasant aroma appeases השם Hashem. It's very interesting. When we talk about מידת הדין midas hadin, when we talk about God getting angry, how do we express it? חרון אף Charon af. Where is השם Hashem, anthropomorphically, where does השם Hashem express his anger, his frustration? חרון אף Charon af, the heat of the nostrils. Like the image, להבדיל l'havdil, of a dragon breathing fire out of its nostrils. Where does that come from? When a person gets angry, the image as if fire is coming out of their nostrils. The language we use to describe השם Hashem as angry is חרון אף charon af. Right, when a person gets angry, they flare their nostrils. They breathe heavily out of their nostrils.What's the opposite of חרון אף charon af? What do we ask for in the י\"ג מידות Yud Gimmel Middos, the 13 attributes of השם Hashem and we invoke השם's Hashem's predisposition to be forgiving? What do we describe השם Hashem as? ארך אפים Erech apayim. What is ארך אפים erech apayim? ארך אף Erech af is the lengthening, the expansion of the nostrils. Don't be so rigid, don't be so angry, don't be so strictly just. Be a little flexible. מידת הרחמים Midas harachamim, a little more kindness. That means that the anger remains within and it doesn't come out. So the קטורת ketoret is the smell that counteracts the חרון אף charon af. The חרון אף charon af is the imagery of God gets angry where? In his nostrils, כביכול kivyachol. And how do we invoke his ארך אף erech af, his ארך אפים erech apayim? How do we make his nostrils not be a place where he carries out, exacts justice or vengeance against us? Through the pleasant aroma that will enter the nostrils, through the ריח ניחוח rei'ach nichoach of the, of the קטורת ketoret. Why? Why?So this is very interesting. How are we born? How did Adam come to life? God made Adam, took the materials, he fashioned אדם Adam, and how did he animate אדם Adam? He animated אדם Adam, ויפח באפיו נשמת חיים vayipach b'apav nishmas chayim. בראשית Bereishis in the second פרק perek, he blew into Adam's nostrils the soul of life. ויפח באפיו Vayipach b'apav. אף Af. חרון אף Charon af, ארך אף erech af, ויפח באפיו vayipach b'apav. Where is the place of spirituality? Where is the place of the נשמה neshamah? What communicates the נשמה neshamah? It is the sense of the nostril, of the nose, the sense of smell. Of all the senses that we have, the least physical and most spiritual is the sense of smell. Now the sense of smell also results from physical stimuli. Right? You don't smell something that's invisible. The smell is something that's physical. I once took a tour of underground Disney. It was arranged through Yeshiva University, there was a conference in Orlando and they took us on this tour of underground Disney, which for a large sum of money, there's an executive tour where they explains the philosophy and the business strategy of of Disney. It's fascinating. Really, really interesting. I learned a lot. One of the interesting things I learned, I learned, you probably don't know, but you know when you're walking down Main Street in Disney, you smell popcorn, you have to have it. You walk by the bakery, you smell the freshly baked cookies, and you're like drawn magnetically, you're pulled in. We can't have it, but you want to have it. So that's not because there's some baker making great cookies in the back or popcorn being popped every moment, but they actually in Disney have these little machines pointed towards the street that are shooting out fragrance, aroma that entices you when you walk by, that touches your sense of smell, which immediately goes to your brain and says, I have to have it. Maybe it goes to your stomach, not your brain. And says I have to have it. I have to have it. The sense of smell is a very powerful sense, a very powerful force, but of all the five senses that we have, it's the least physical and it's the most spiritual. Why is it the most spiritual? Because it reflects, it corresponds with the נשמה neshamah. The nose, the nostril is the ויפח באפיו נשמת חיים vayipach b'apav nishmas chayim. That's where the נשמה neshamah entered our body. It's not a coincidence that on מוצאי שבת Motzei Shabbos, when our נשמה יתירה neshamah yeseirah, when that sense of our expanded נשמה neshamah is leaving us, which is not just some heebie-jeebie concept, some metaphysical idea, it has הלכה halachic consequences to the to the extent that תוספות Tosafos has a whole discussion. Do you get a נשמה יתירה neshamah yeseirah on יום טוב Yom Tov? Only on שבת Shabbos? What if it's a שבת Shabbos that leads into יום טוב Yom Tov? Does the נשמה יתירה neshamah yeseirah leave? Does it stay? What is the נשמה יתירה neshamah yeseirah? There's a whole discussion. But what do we do every single מוצאי שבת Motzei Shabbos because we are so saddened by the fact that the נשמה יתירה neshamah yeseirah is leaving? We smell the בשמים besamim. If you're making הבדלה havdalah not on מוצאי שבת Motzei Shabbos. So let's say תשעה באב Tisha B'Av falls on a מוצאי שבת Motzei Shabbos. So you don't recite הבדלה havdalah until Sunday night. By the time you recite הבדלה havdalah, you omit בשמים besamim. When you recite הבדלה havdalah on מוצאי יום טוב Motzei Yom Tov, you make it על הכוס al hakos, but you omit the בשמים besamim. That corresponds with the opinion that there is no נשמה יתירה neshamah yeseirah on יום טוב Yom Tov. Why? Because the whole reason we're smelling בשמים besamim, did it ever occur to you? We're making הבדלה havdalah which is the inverse of קידוש kiddush. The bookends that distinguish שבת Shabbos from the rest of the week. The cup of wine, I got it. Why do we make a בורא מאורי האש borei me'orei ha'eish? Because Saturday night is the moment that fire was created. השם Hashem gave a ברכה bracha to אדם Adam, the insight to invent fire. So we express gratitude to השם Hashem every מוצאי שבת Motzei Shabbos by lighting a new fire, corresponding, celebrating, marking the fact that fire was first invented. Without fire, without energy, warmth, light, civilization would be finished. That's why we light a fire. But why do we smell the בשמים besamim? We've been doing it our whole lives, why do we smell בשמים besamim? We smell בשמים besamim because we had a נשמה יתירה neshamah yeseirah. On שבת Shabbos, we felt something more, something new. We were a פנים חדשות panim chadashos. פני שבת נקבלה Pnei Shabbos n'kabalah. We put on our שבת'דיקע פנים Shabbosdike ponim. We get rid of our וואכעדיקע פנים vochedike ponim, we put on our שבת'דיקע פנים Shabbosdike ponim. We felt an addition to the extra appetite that we have on שבת Shabbos physically, there's a greater spiritual appetite. דאווענען Davening is longer, we do more learning, we spend more time with our family, we've disconnected from technology, we're connecting to the world. Rabbi Miller spoke so beautifully this past שבת Shabbos about שבת Shabbos, the secret of the Jewish renewable energy. Other civilizations have disappeared, we are still here, why? We've never burned out. The Jewish people are the violation of the second law of thermodynamics, of entropy. I never knew my Rebbe knew so much about physics. But Rav Miller described within physics and how the Jewish people, the symbol of the סנה sneh that never burns, the נר מערבי ner maaravi in the מנורה menorah that never burnt out, the Jewish people, we we extend and last far beyond our fuel. We we violate, we supersede the rules of physics, the laws of entropy. And what is our source of energy then, if it's supernatural? שבת Shabbos is the source of renewable energy. The fact that we disconnect, connect on שבת Shabbos and re-energize for the week is why the Jewish people are are here to stay. So we feel that on שבת Shabbos, and on מוצאי שבת Motzei Shabbos, we're so saddened that feeling is leaving us, it's dissipating, it's gone. And what is the means through which we comfort ourselves? It's not make הבדלה havdalah then have some tequila. It's not make הבדלה havdalah and then כאפ א שלוף chap a shluf. It's not make הבדלה havdalah, go to the mall, buy yourself something new every מוצאי שבת Motzei Shabbos, you'll feel better for yourself. No. How do we comfort ourselves? We smell the בשמים besamim. People think that you only make a בורא מיני בשמים borei minei besamim or בורא עצי בשמים borei atzei besamim, that's a ברכה bracha that's part of הבדלה havdalah. That's a ברכה bracha that's part of ברכות הנהנין birchos hanehenin. If on a Tuesday you were to smell your own בשמים besamim, you'd make a ברכה bracha beforehand. That's not a ברכה bracha that's part of הבדלה havdalah. That's a ברכה bracha like saying בורא פרי הגפן borei pri hagafen is not part of הבדלה havdalah. If you have grape juice, if you have wine with dinner tonight, you make a בורא פרי הגפן borei pri hagafen. The same is true when you smell a fragrance that's natural, like that which would qualify for בשמים besamim. You'd make that ברכה bracha any day of the week. So why did our rabbis institute דוקא dafka to make it on מוצאי שבת Motzei Shabbos to incorporate it into הבדלה havdalah? Because we're comforting ourselves from the loss of the נשמה יתירה neshamah yeseirah. Because the נשמה neshamah and the sense of smell go together. It is the most spiritual of our senses. When we create the ריח ניחוח rei'ach nichoach, we are affirming the ויפח באפיו נשמת חיים vayipach b'apav nishmas chayim. השם Hashem, you're so disappointed with us. We indulged in the pleasures of the גוף guf, and you want to destroy us, you're angry at us, you want to exact justice against us. You want to express your מידת הדין midas hadin because we seem to have forfeited our soul and we're indulging in our body. So what do we do? We bring the קטורת ketoret, the incense. Why? Because when it produces the ריח ניחוח rei'ach nichoach that will go into השם's Hashem's nostrils, he will experience an ארך אפים erech apayim rather than a חרון אף charon af. He will expand his nostrils rather than flare or have the heat, the fire of his nostrils. Why? Because through the nostrils, we're reminding השם Hashem, השם Hashem, remember when you created us? השם Hashem, we're invoking your nostalgia. Remember when you created us and you breathed life into us through our nostrils? ויפח באפיו נשמת חיים Vayipach b'apav nishmas chayim. We are affirming that we are still that צלם אלוקים tzelem Elokim. We are affirming that we are still that נשמה neshamah within this גוף guf. So my גוף guf distracted me, my גוף guf caused me to make a mistake, but please, don't, don't carry out your מידת הדין midas hadin, have מידת הרחמים midas harachamim. And how do I invoke you to have מידת הרחמים midas harachamim? How do I remind you that I know I'm a נשמה neshamah? By reminding you of your how I got my נשמה neshamah to begin with, which was through the nostril that correlates with the sense of smell. And that's why, says Rabbi Radman, the the nostril, the sense of smell, it's the ריח ניחוח rei'ach nichoach produced by the קטורת ketoret which transforms השם Hashem from מידת הדין midas hadin to מידת הרחמים midas harachamim. The Gemara at the end of חולין Chullin finds a number of hints of the מגילה Megillah in the Torah. And the Gemara says מרדכי מן התורה מנין Mordechai min haTorah minayin? Where is an allusion to מרדכי Mordechai in the Torah? And you know what the Gemara's conclusion is? Where is there an allusion to מרדכי Mordechai in the Torah? מר דרור Mar dror. מרדכי Mordechai is מר דרור mar dror. His Persian name is מר דרור mar dror, and that corresponds with one of the ingredients of the of the קטורת ketoret. There's an allusion to the קטורת ketoret. When there was a מידת הדין midas hadin, when הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu through המן Haman, through אחשוורוש Achashveirosh, through the גזירה gzeirah, there was a מידת הדין midas hadin, justice being executed against the Jews of שושן Shushan. It was the קטורת ketoret of מרדכי Mordechai, the מר דרור mar dror, the נשמה neshamah that was worthy of, that was worthy of, of מידת הרחמים midas harachamim that superseded the מידת הרחמים midas harachamim that overcame the sense of מידת הדין midas hadin. If you look actually in our Ibn Ezra, he makes a very cryptic allusion to this. On פסוק א' Pasuk Aleph, the introduction to the קטורת ketoret, it says ועשית מזבח מקטר קטרת v'asisa mizbeach miktir ketores, make an altar, מקטר קטרת miktir ketores. What is that? It should be a מזבח קטורת mizbeach ketores. It's an altar for incense. What is מקטר קטרת miktir ketores? So look at the Ibn Ezra, שם המפעל shem hamif'al. שם המפעל Shem hamif'al. What is שם המפעל shem hamif'al? It's a דקדוק dikduk, a grammatical observation. שם המפעל Shem hamif'al means the name of the action. The word מקטר miktir, the Ibn Ezra loves good דקדוק dikduk. So מקטר miktir, it should just say מזבח קטורת mizbeach ketores. What's the מזבח מקטר קטרת mizbeach miktir ketores? מקטר Miktir is the name of the action. In other words, it's not enough to do the action, you have to give the action a name. The result is not all that matters, the action, it needs a name, it has a value. And what does the Ibn Ezra invoke as a parallel? What, what's a similar idea to מקטר קטרת miktir ketores? כמו משלוח מנות K'mo mishloach manos. משלוח מנות Mishloach manos is like מקטר קטרת miktir ketores. What's the connection between the קטורת ketoret and משלוח מנות mishloach manos? Is it just grammatical? Is it simply a דקדוק dikduk observation? It seems like it's much more. The idea is, again, that when there's מידת הדין midas hadin, it's the קטורת ketoret, and it was Mordechai, the מר דרור mar dror who acted like the קטורת ketoret, who affirmed that the Jewish people have a נשמה neshamah. They we fasted three days and we דאווענט davened to השם Hashem, we de-emphasized the body, we had been eating at the feasts of אחשוורוש Achashveirosh, we were indulging in the pleasures of the גוף guf. We forgot we were a נשמה neshamah. It was the קטורת ketoret, the מרדכי Mordechai, the מר דרור mar dror who reminded us we had a נשמה neshamah, who produced the ריח ניחוח rei'ach nichoach, the pleasant aroma that overcame from השם Hashem having a חרון אף charon af to an ארך אף erech af, to an ארך אפים erech apayim through the means of the, through the means of the קטורת ketoret. Very, very beautiful. So that's the רמב\"ן's Ramban's reason. All of this was based on the רמב\"ן Ramban. The רמב\"ן Ramban says, why is it that it's out of order? Why is this מזבח mizbeach stuck in here at the end of פרשת תצוה Parshas Tetzaveh? It really belongs in תרומה Trumah. The answer is, once the משכן Mishkan is complete and the utensils are put in place, and השם Hashem comes down to Earth, now there's a מידת הדין midas hadin. What's the antidote to מידת הדין midas hadin? How do we invoke מידת הרחמים midas harachamim? Through השם's Hashem's nostrils. Why his nostrils? It's a reminder of our nostrils, it's our connection. It's the soul, it's the צלם אלוקים tzelem elokim, it's that which we have together. When we affirm, when we produce the ריח ניחוח rei'ach nichoach, that is מידת הרחמים midas harachamim over מידת הדין midas hadin. That's the answer of the רמב\"ן Ramban and the Ibn Ezra, if you want to say cryptically. The the Rambam in מורה נבוכים Moreh Nevuchim gives another answer. The Rambam says, you know why it's here? Because the aroma of the קטורת ketoret is meant to displace the foul odor that would come from the מקדש Mikdash. So once the משכן Mishkan was functional, now you are burning fats and and barbecuing meat and making sprinkling blood and it produces this, well some might consider it a wonderful aroma, others might consider it a horrible odor. So the קטורת ketoret, says the Rambam, was purely functional. It masked, so it wasn't part of the עבודה avodah. The עבודה avodah was all in פרשת תרומה Parshas Trumah. The שולחן shulchan, the מזבח mizbeach, the ארון aron, and so on, the מנורה menorah. This was purely pragmatic. It was like, you know, you have those plugins to make it smell better? That's what the מזבח הקטורת mizbeach haktoret was. It was the plugin to make the משכן Mishkan smell better. That's what the Rambam says. That's why it's not included with the כלים keilim that were part of the עיקר עבודה ikar avodah. This was just functional to make it smell better. It was added in all the way at the end. The משך חכמה Meshech Chochmah doesn't like that explanation and he says if that's the case, and it's pretty compelling, then why would we be told it's opposite the ארון aron, it's the meeting point of השם Hashem, it's קודש קדשים kodesh kodashim. It's not purely functional. It has a much stronger purpose, which begs the question again then, why is it all the way at the end? Why wasn't it included earlier on? So the משך חכמה Meshech Chochmah has a different answer. And here the משך חכמה Meshech Chochmah invokes the Gemara. The Gemara says, the Gemara says in זבחים Zevachim, that מזבח שנעקר, מקטירין קטרת במקומו mizbeach shene'ekar, maktirin ketores bimkomo. The Gemara says that all the other כלים keilim, if they are destroyed, we cannot carry out the service that was done on that כלי keli cannot be done in the absence of the כלי keli. If they're lost, if they're destroyed, if we're precluded from using them, if we don't have it, you can't perform the service. There's one exception. What's the exception? The קטורת ketoret. מזבח שנעקר מקטירין קטרת במקומו Mizbeach shene'ekar maktirin ketores bimkomo, that if the מזבח mizbeach was removed, we can still offer קטורת ketoret in the place where it normally stands. While the מצוה mitzvah of קטורת ketoret involves offering it on the מזבח mizbeach, the מזבח mizbeach is not critical to the עבודה avodah. Even if you didn't have a מזבח הקטורת mizbeach haktoret, it's the exception that the קטורת ketoret can be brought nonetheless. And that's why it's included here all the way at the end of תצוה Tetzaveh. It's unlike the other כלים keilim. If you lack the מנורה menorah, you can't just randomly light a candle. If you lack the שולחן shulchan, you can't just randomly bring the לחם הפנים lechem hapanim. If you lack the מזבח mizbeach, you can't randomly bring the עולה שלמים olah shlamim and so on. But if you lack the מזבח הקטורת mizbeach haktoret, you can still bring the קטורת ketoret, and that's why it's included here all the way at the end. The משך חכמה Meshech Chochmah doesn't say this exactly, but I saw some people understand the משך חכמה Meshech Chochmah this way. Why should the קטורת ketoret be unique? Why should it have a lasting power even beyond the קרבנות korbanos? That when the קרבנות korbanos are gone, the קטורת ketoret can still be brought. What's different about the קטורת ketoret? The קטורת ketoret had the ingredients of the קטורת ketoret included not only things that smelled pleasant, but it had a very toxic ingredient as well. And we're told that you can't bring the קטורת ketoret unless all the ingredients are represented. It's invalid unless they're all there. Why? Because even the putrid, odorous Jew is also part of כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael. If the קטורת ketoret represents the full diversity and range of Jews, then even the negative, toxic smelling, odorous Jew is included within the קטורת ketoret. The קטורת ketoret is the עבודה avodah that represents the unity of כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael. It's the totality of the Jewish people. It's that ברית אבות bris avos we spoke about. Even the Jew neglecting ברית סיני bris Sinai is part of the ברית אבות bris avos, is included in the קטורת ketoret. And if you see the קטורת ketoret as representing כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael, the unity of כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael, we can understand why it has a lasting power even beyond קרבנות korbanos. That when the משכן Mishkan, when the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash are destroyed and we can't achieve כפרה kapparah through the קרבנות korbanos, we still have this notion of the unity of the entity, of the connection of the Jewish people. Maybe that's why the קטורת ketoret also has a very powerful place within, within the Jewish practice until today. The Medrash, the notion that the קטורת ketoret is the antidote, it's the מידת הרחמים midas harachamim over the מידת הדין midas hadin. And why? Because it represents כלל ישראל באחדות Klal Yisrael b'achdus. Every segment, every type of Jew, the virtuous and the non-virtuous are all part of it. The Zohar in פרשת ויחי Parshas Vayechi says that if there is something negative, if the Jewish people are struck by a מגפה mageifah, like the Ramban wrote, then the the Jewish community should get together and do what? Recite פטום הקטורת pitum haktoret. And if you incite the פטום הקטורת pitum haktoret with intensity, it stops the plague. Why? So, again, if you apply everything that we've just said, הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu, מידת הדין midas hadin is חרון אף charon af. How do you achieve ארך אפים erech apayim? Through the ריח ניחוח rei'ach nichoach produced by the קטורת ketoret. Why should that produce a ריח ניחוח rei'ach nichoach? ויפח באפיו נשמת חיים Vayipach b'apav nishmas chayim, we are asserting, we're validating, we're affirming we know that we're a נשמה neshamah within the גוף guf. We know who we are and we're offspring of you. So even when we lack the מזבח הקטורת mizbeach haktoret and even we know functionally bring the קטורת ketoret, the Zohar brings down this notion that when we recite the קטורת ketoret, the כל בו Kol Bo notes, say פטום הקטורת pitum haktoret is a is a סגולה לעשירות segulah l'ashirus. How many of you have a leather-bound קלף klaf, פטום הקטורת pitum haktoret that you say every morning? It's complicated. The first one who quotes this practice is in the ספר סדר היום Sefer Seder Hayom. It's quoted by the חפץ חיים Chafetz Chaim, it's quoted by the כף החיים Kaf Hachaim that it's a סגולה segulah to say פטום הקטורת pitum haktoret from a קלף klaf. Just so you know, it's not so פשוט pashut. רב עובדיה Rav Ovadia was very against it. In יביע אומר Yabia Omer and חלק י\"א מבעל פה chelek yud aleph mi'ba'al peh in חזון עובדיה Chazon Ovadia, he wrote and רב שכטר Rav Shechter is against it because it's a violation of a number of הלכות halachos. We have a הלכה halacha that you're not allowed to write פסוקים pesukim on parchment as if it's the Torah when it's only part of the Torah. We have a הלכה halacha that you're not allowed to use the same letters, כתב אשורית ksav ashuris that we write a ספר תורה Sefer Torah with, not for a ספר תורה Sefer Torah. There are several הלכות halachos that this מנהג minhag, though it is quoted by the כף החיים Kaf Hachaim and others, in many ways or in some ways seems to be a violation of הלכה halacha. So there were, רב עובדיה Rav Ovadia, רב שכטר Rav Shechter is against this practice, against the practice of saying it from a קלף klaf. But one should still, there are several מקורות mekoros, the idea of saying it. In fact, in line with this, the נודע ביהודה Noda B'Yehuda writes in his תשובות teshuvos in אורח חיים Orach Chaim, that the reason we say אין כא-לקינו Ein K'Elokeinu before we say פטום הקטורת pitum haktoret, in ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael they say it every day, ספרדים Sefardim say it every day, נוסח ספרד Nusach Sefard says it every day, אשכנזים Ashkenazim, we only have the patience to say it on שבת Shabbos, we're running out. But why do we introduce פטום הקטורת pitum haktoret with אין כא-לקינו Ein K'Elokeinu? Have you thought about what the words אין כא-לקינו Ein K'Elokeinu mean? אין כא-לקינו Ein K'Elokeinu, אין כאדונינו ein k'adoneinu, מי כא-לקינו mi k'Elokeinu. It's an amazing, we're describing who's like השם Hashem? This is theology. This is belief in השם Hashem 101. Why are we saying that before we're talking about פטום הקטורת pitum haktoret? So the נודע ביהודה Noda B'Yehuda says because, and we don't say it before, in the morning we say the פרשה parsha of תמיד tamid and the כיור kiyor, we say all these קרבנות korbanos in the morning and we don't say אין כא-לקינו Ein K'Elokeinu first. Why דוקא dafka before פטום הקטורת pitum haktoret? Says the נודע ביהודה Noda B'Yehuda, because since פטום הקטורת pitum haktoret is a סגולה לעשירות segulah l'ashirus, it brings wealth, before we say it and achieve our wealth, we remind ourselves who is the source of wealth. אין כא-לקינו Ein K'Elokeinu, אין כאדונינו ein k'adoneinu, מי כא-לקינו mi k'Elokeinu, מי כאדונינו mi k'adoneinu, and then we say פטום הקטורת pitum haktoret and receiving השם's Hashem's מידת הרחמים midas harachamim, we're able to get all the ברכה bracha. I'll just say, because it drives me a little crazy, you can't talk all דאווענען davening, come late, have the shortest שמונה עשרה Shmoneh Esrei on the planet, but you said פטום הקטורת pitum haktoret from a קלף klaf before you left early, so now, oh, it's a סגולה segulah, you're going to become wealthy. We we have better סגולות segulos, it's called שמונה עשרה Shmoneh Esrei. It's called דאווענען בכוונה davening b'kavanah, דאווענען davening without talking, come on time to שול shul. So sometimes we like to use these shortcuts, take, we employ these סגולות segulos at the expense of forfeiting what what really is is the basic. But this is a little bit about the the קטורת ketoret and what it's all about. Have a great week.
