Transcript
Okay, good morning. This week we have the privilege of studying and reading פרשת כי תבוא Parshas Ki Savo. As we're plowing our way through ספר דברים Sefer Devarim and getting ready to complete the Torah once again. As always, we'll do an overview of the פרשה parsha, and then we'll get into hopefully, if time allows, hopefully, we'll get into some specific פסוקים pesukim together.Our פרשה parsha begins with the מצוה mitzvah of ביכורים Bikurim, the obligation of the first fruit. והיה כי תבוא אל הארץ אשר השם אלוקיך נותן לך נחלה V'haya ki savo el ha'aretz asher Hashem Elokecha nosein lecha nachala וירשתה וישבת בה v'rishta v'yashavta bah. When you enter the land and when you and when you inhabit it, when you conquer it, then the Torah tells us ולקחת מראשית כל פרי האדמה ulakachta meireishis kol pri ha'adama, we'll take the first fruit. And this מצוה mitzvah of ביכורים Bikurim is done with tremendous pomp and circumstance. It's done with enormous parade, with a huge celebration. The farmer ties off his first his fig, ties off his first fruit, dedicates it, allocates it, clips it, brings it to ירושלים Yerushalayim and dances it to the כהן kohen with a big parade in which there's an enormous ceremony, a big ritual, a huge celebration that that takes place. מקרא ביכורים Mikra Bikurim. The מדרש Midrash says that in the merit of this מצוה mitzvah of מקרא ביכורים Mikra Bikurim, the whole world was created and the whole world is sustained. It's מקרא ביכורים Mikra Bikurim. ביכורים Bikurim is called ראשית reishis, מראשית כל פרי האדמה meireishis kol pri ha'adama. Jewish people are called ראשית reishis, we are the first. And the Torah is called ראשית reishis, is called the first. And it's in the merit of this מצוה mitzvah. Which is a peculiar comment because it's a really somewhat insignificant מצוה mitzvah. A fig, a fruit, a piece of produce, something insignificant, inconsequential. This is not an enormous donation, it's not an enormous gift, it doesn't require enormous מסירות נפש mesirus nefesh. We have other מצוות mitzvos that demand much greater self-sacrifice, much greater of our resources, our time, our energy, much more of a commitment. So why is ביכורים Bikurim celebrated as this enormous מצוה mitzvah? On Sunday I gave a שיעור shiur based on the סלונים רב Slonimer Rebbe and the נתיבות שלום Nesivos Shalom. You could listen online. And he brought one perspective or one attitude, but I want to share with you another based on based on the ספר החינוך Sefer HaChinuch. Because the פרשה parsha here describes that when the farmer would bring the ביכורים Bikurim to ירושלים Yerushalayim, ובאת אל הכהן אשר יהיה בימים ההם U'vasa el hakohen asher yihiyeh bayamim hahem ואמרת אליו v'amarta eilav. So whether it was the מקרא ביכורים Mikra Bikurim, then the וידוי מעשר Vidui Maaser that followed, when the farmer would confess the distribution of his tithes, there was a a recitation, there was a proclamation that he would make. And what was it? הגדתי היום להשם אלוקיך כי באתי אל הארץ אשר נשבע השם לאבותינו לתת לנו Higadati hayom la'Hashem Elokecha ki vasi el ha'aretz asher nishba Hashem la'avoseinu lases lanu. I am affirming that I've come to the land that God promised. ולקחה הכהן הטנא מידך V'lakach hakohen hateneh miyadecha, and the כהן kohen takes it והניחו לפני מזבח v'hinicho lifnei mizbach, and places it before the altar. וענית ואמרת V'anisa v'amarta, ארמי אובד אבי Arami oved avi, and now we tell our story. Now we're familiar with this section, we're not going to delve into it in depth now. We're all familiar with this section from where? From the הגדה Haggadah. This is the core, this is the centerpiece of the הגדה Haggadah. And the בעלי הגדה baalei Haggadah, all the many commentaries in the הגדה Haggadah debate whom are we speaking about. ארמי אובד אבי Arami oved avi. My father, an Aramean tried to destroy my father. Who is that Aramean? לבן Lavan, there's different interpretations what are we talking about, why are we invoking it in the context of the הגדה Haggadah, but moreover why is the farmer invoking it now? This is such a happy moment. You've come to ירושלים Yerushalayim, you're celebrating the success of your agricultural season. You've harvested your first fruit. So what are you revisiting all of the misery? There was the Inquisition, and we were expelled from Spain, and then the auto-da-fé, and then we had the Holocaust, and the pogroms, and now there's rockets coming from Hamas. What are you... you have to פאשטער fashteir every שמחה simcha? Just come and give your first fruit. You have to undermine the joy of the moment by reviewing history until that point? Lest you think I'm happy, God, lest you think I could be in the moment and celebrate with joy, I remember all the misery. I remember all the history. ארמי אובד אבי וירד מצרימה Arami oved avi vayered Mitzraima ויגר שם במתי מעט vayagar sham bimsei me'at, but ויהי שם לגוי גדול vayhi sham l'goy gadol. It is a succinct history of our Jewish people. Why are we telling this whole story? At the end, ועתה v'ata, we complete the story by saying הנה הבאתי את ראשית פרי האדמה hinei heveisi es reishis pri ha'adama. And now, here I am, after all that, here I stand in the land that you promised with my fruit אשר נתת לי השם asher nasata li Hashem, that you gave me. והנחתו לפני השם אלוקיך והשתחוית לפני השם אלוקיך v'hinachto lifnei Hashem Elokecha v'hishtachavisa lifnei Hashem Elokecha, and you place it before God and you bow down. The farmer doesn't keep that first fruit, he gives it to God. In contrast to מעשר maaser. The 10% the farmer gets to has to give away, but only after he gets to keep the 90%. So one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, nine out of 10, I get to keep. The 10th God says give to my other children, you say no problem because I get to keep the other 90. Here, the first fruit, you've got to give it without knowing what else is to come. It's ראשית reishis, it's the first, it's the beginning. You're willing to devote, you're willing to dedicate, you're willing to give even without knowing what is yet to come. And what feeling do you have? ושמחת בכל הטוב אשר נתן לך השם אלוקיך ולביתך V'samachta b'chol hatov asher nasan lecha Hashem Elokecha u'lveisecha, you should be filled with gladness, with joy, with happiness, שמחה simcha, because of כל הטוב kol hatov, all the good, אתה הלוי והגר אשר בקרבך ata haLevi v'hager asher b'kirbecha. So רש\"י Rashi says that when you come to this כהן kohen, ובאת אל הכהן u'vasa el hakohen, you come to the כהן kohen אשר יהיה בימים ההם asher yihiyeh bayamim hahem will be in your day, ואמרת אליו v'amarta eilav, where I'm on פסוק ג pasuk gimmel. Go all the way back. פרק כ\"ו, פסוק ג perek kaf vav, pasuk gimmel, at the beginning of the פרשה parsha, כי תבוא Ki Savo. ובאת אל הכהן אשר יהיה בימים ההם ואמרת אליו U'vasa el hakohen asher yihiyeh bayamim hahem v'amarta eilav. What are you telling the כהן kohen? So look at רש\"י Rashi. רש\"י Rashi says אשר יהיה בימים ההם asher yihiyeh bayamim hahem, אין לך אלא כהן שבימיך ein lecha ela kohen shebiyamecha. Of course you go to the כהן kohen in your day. You don't get a time machine, you don't get to go back in time and go to a כהן kohen in another day. You don't get to go to the כהן kohen in the future. We talked about this I think last week, that you're stuck with your כהן kohen, in your day. יפתח בדורו כשמואל בדורו Yiftach b'doro k'Shmuel b'doro. The leader in your generation, every generation gets leaders whom they deserve. If we don't like our leaders, we should look in the mirror. We get leaders who parallel ourselves, we get the leaders that we deserve. And our attitude, we spoke about this with with לא תסור lo sasur. Our attitude towards our leaders have to be the same in every generation. When we have the when we merit to have the greatest leaders or when we have leaders who we think we could do better, in either case, יפתח בדורו כשמואל בדורו Yiftach b'doro k'Shmuel b'doro, the attitude, the fidelity, the loyalty, the commitment to follow has to be equal. ואמרת אליו V'amarta eilav, says רש\"י Rashi, שאינך כפוי טובה she'eincha kfui tova. What is the ואמרת אליו v'amarta eilav? Why is the farmer saying this whole thing? This is my point. And I'd like to suggest this is the meaning behind the מדרש Midrash that it's in the merit of the מצוה mitzvah of ביכורים Bikurim that the whole world exists. What does that mean? So רש\"י Rashi says, why is the farmer making this proclamation? Why is he offering this recitation? What is the farmer saying? רש\"י Rashi says, אמרת אליו amarta eilav, he's telling this, why? שאינך כפוי טובה she'eincha kfui tova. What is he really saying to God? What he's saying to God is I am not an ingrate. I don't take for granted this little fig. And why don't I take it for granted? Because I am living the past, the present and the future simultaneously. Because I'm not only in this moment, in the here and now, I'm not only in it for myself, I'm not only measuring my life against what I wish I could have and want right now, but I live in three dimensions simultaneously, three realms. I am aware of my past, acutely aware of my past. I'm fully in the present, and I have an eye towards the future. And because I know where I come from and what we went through, I don't take being in Israel and having this little fig for granted. I am not כפוי טובה kfui tova, God. I am not an ingrate. I am not unthankful. I am not ungracious. אינך כפוי טובה Eincha kfui tova. I am not an ingrate. And the ספר החינוך Sefer HaChinuch writes on this מצוה mitzvah, מצוה תר\"ו mitzvah taf reish vav, על כן בהיטיב לו השם יתברך al kein b'heitiv lo Hashem yisbarach, ובברכותיו עשהו uv'virchosav osoh ועל אדמתו לעשות פירות v'al admaso la'asos peiros, וזכה להביאם לבית אלוקינו v'zacha l'haviam l'veis Elokeinu, ראוי לו לעורר לבבו בדברי פיו rauy lo l'oreir l'vavo b'divrei piv ולחשוב כי הכל הגיע אליו מאת אדון עולם v'lachshov ki hakol higia eilav me'eis adon ha'olam. This farmer should feel, בהיטיב לו השם יתברך b'heitiv lo Hashem yisbarach, God is so good to him. Wow. My eyes work, my ears work, my feet work, my hands work. My farm is working. It rained. I had the right weather. I have produce, I have income. I am filled with ברכה bracha. על אדמתו Al admaso, on my land, I own land, I have real estate. And it's not in Uganda, it's in Israel. It's in the land the whole world is envious of and fighting over. In the holiest place on earth, I have real estate, I have land, says this farmer. And I was merited, I merited to work it and for it to succeed and it to produce and to yield produce. So now he comes and says ראוי לו לעורר לבבו rauy lo l'oreir l'vavo, he has to arouse his heart, he has to wake up! בדברי פיו b'divrei piv. And how do you wake up with gratitude? Gratitude can't just remain in your heart. Gratitude has to be communicated with your lips and with your actions. ולחשוב כי הכל הגיע אליו מאת אדון העולם v'lachshov ki hakol higia eilav me'eis adon ha'olam. And to feel, you know, everything I have, my tractor, my hay, my barn, my horse, everything I have, the farmer has to feel is only because of the graciousness and the goodness of השם Hashem. ויספר חסדיו יתברך עלינו ועל כל ישראל דרך כלל V'yisaper chasdav yisbarach aleinu v'al kol Yisrael derech klal. So when you're overwhelmed with gratitude, you don't keep it to yourself. When you're overwhelmed with gratitude, you intuitively, instinctively can't help but share it, but express it, but tell someone about it. Listen to what happened or I'm in such a good mood or I can't believe I'm so happy. ויספר חסדיו V'yisaper chasdav. על כן מתחיל בעניין יעקב Al kein maschil b'inyan Yaakov, שחלצו השם מיד לבן she'chaltzo Hashem miyad Lavan, ועניין עבודת מצרים לבנו v'inyan avodas Mitzrayim l'vono והצילנו ברוך הוא מידם v'hatzilenu baruch Hu miyadam. says the ספר החינוך Sefer HaChinuch and that's why the farmer's revisiting history. Not because he's פביסן fabisen and פאשטיירינג fashteiring all שמחה simcha. You think I'm happy? You think I don't know what we went through? It's the opposite. השם Hashem, I know what we went through. So that I am here right now and I have this ברכה bracha right now, it makes it all the sweeter. It makes it all the more beautiful. I'm so much more appreciative of it because I know where I come from and what my ancestors endured and that only makes me more and more and more grateful. And that's why he's revisiting it. I don't take for granted what יעקב Yaakov had to overcome with לבן Lavan. I don't take for granted our journey through Jewish history. And now I'm so overwhelmed with gratitude, I can't keep it to myself. I refuse to be a כפוי טובה kfui tov. I won't be ungrateful. I will shout from the rooftops to whomever will listen how good you are to me, how appreciative I am, and how I am counting all the blessings in my life. And maybe that's the רמח\"ל Ramchal writes in מסילת ישרים Mesilas Yesharim, the eighth פרק perek. The רמח\"ל Ramchal, רבי משה חיים לוצאטו Rav Moshe Chaim Luzzatto writes the following. אמנם מה שיכול להרבות התעוררות Omnam ma sheyachol l'harbos hisorerus לעבודת השם l'avodas Hashem, הוא התבוננות ברוב הטובה שהקדוש ברוך הוא עושה עם האדם בכל עת ובכל שעה hu hisbonenus b'rov hatova she'Hakadosh Baruch Hu oseh im ha'adam b'chol eis uv'chol sha'ah. What can... and I share this with you here in אלול Elul in particular. We're all looking for something to kickstart our אלול Elul. We're looking for something to motivate and inspire our עבודת השם avodas Hashem. I really want to be on fire. I want my דאווענען davening to be charged. I want to be motivated to learn. I want to be inspired to improve. But we're stuck in a rut. So says the רמח\"ל Ramchal in the eighth פרק perek of מסילת ישרים Mesilas Yesharim, you want to know what could be a kickstarter? You want to know what could jumpstart your עבודת השם avodas Hashem? taking a moment and pausing and thinking about the good that השם Hashem has given you. And it doesn't mean to say that everyone in this room only has good and hasn't had challenges. There are people in this room and there are people in every room who have had to endure difficult, difficult challenges, some of them unimaginable, some of them hard to wake up in the morning and move on. And yet even within that, even within that, we can allow our lives to be defined by the challenges and therefore to not only lose whoever or whatever we've lost in the past, but to therefore give up and lose everything in the present and the future, whoever remains, children, grandchildren, friends, our lives, or, says the רמח\"ל Ramchal, if we stop and take an inventory of the ברכה bracha in our life despite the hardship, despite the challenges, where is the ברכה bracha? What blessings do I still have? Who are the people, what are the things, what are the resources, what are the moments, what are the experiences? Where are the blessings? And when we take inventory of the ברכה bracha of our lives, then we can't help but feel connected to the source of that blessing. We can't help but feel connected to the one who's granted us those blessings. Says the רמח\"ל Ramchal, והנפלאות הגדולות שעשה עמנו מעת לידה עד היום האחרון v'haniflaos hagdolos she'asah imanu me'eis leida ad hayom ha'acharon, from our birth until today, what led to where we are, כי כל מה שירבה להסתכל ולהתבונן בדברים אלה ki kol ma she'yarbeh l'histakel ul'hisbonen bidvarim eileh, the more that we emphasize, the more time we spend, the greater the inventory we take of the ברכה bracha, the more aware and mindful and conscientious we are of the ברכה bracha in our lives, הנה ירבה להכיר לעצמו חוב רב על הכלל המטיב לו hinei yarbeh l'hakir l'atzmo chov rav al haklal hameitiv lo. So you will be overwhelmed with a feeling of gratitude to the one who bestowed it upon you and you'll feel more connected to him. והיו אלה אמצעים שלא יצעצל ויתרפה מעבודתו V'hayu eileh emtzaim shelo yitza'tzel v'yisrapei me'avodaso, and it won't grow tired, it won't grow old. If someone did an enormous favor, if a doctor saved your life, if a lawyer got you out of a horrible case, if a financial advisor saved you from an enormous financial loss or made you a huge amount of money, if you would just remind yourself or every time you saw that person or every time you relived that episode, you would be overwhelmed with gratitude. You want to make a phone call, you'd want to see that person, you'd want to give them a hug, you'd want to get them a gift. You would just feel this pull to feel connected to the one who did that incredible טובה tova, the great good for you. Well, if that's true in the mundane sense down here with the lawyer, the doctor, the financial advisor, על אחת כמה וכמה al achas kama v'kama, all the more so, says the מסילת ישרים Mesilas Yesharim, it's true if we would just take inventory and recognize that all the goodness and any goodness and any ברכה bracha in our lives is all from השם Hashem. So that's my suggestion, based on the ספר החינוך Sefer HaChinuch and the רמח\"ל Ramchal, maybe that's what the מדרש Midrash means, that the whole world exists in the merit of the מצוה mitzvah of ביכורים Bikurim. It's not the fig, it's not the first kernel, it's not the first apple or the grape, it's not the first fruit that is the source of the whole world's existence, but perhaps it means that the the whole character of the מצוה mitzvah, the theme, the essence of the מצוה mitzvah is to cultivate within ourselves a sense of gratitude, הכרת הטוב hakaras hatov, to live life, walking around being grateful for the ברכה bracha. You could only see the bad, and then you'll be miserable your whole life, or you could only see the good and then you'll be happy and energized. The choice is ours. Because happiness is not an emotion, happiness is a decision. Gratitude is not a feeling, gratitude is a decision. It's a decision. We use it as an excuse, it's a cop out to say I don't feel gratitude, I don't feel happy. Who said happiness is a feeling? Who said gratitude's a feeling? It's not a feeling, it's a decision. It's a decision to be grateful. It's a decision to be happy. And it's decisions that shapes and molds the whole character of the rest of our lives, the quality of our lives, the experience, the joy of our lives. So whether the current ברכה bracha will turn into new ברכה bracha is up to us. You have to see the ברכה bracha, which is also a theme in our פרשה parsha because the פרשה parsha continues with ברכות וקללות brachos u'klalos, and it says והשיגוך v'hisigucha, which I've shared some of these דברי תורה divrei Torah, many of these דברי תורה divrei Torah in the past, but the whole notion of והשיגוך v'hisigucha is the ברכה bracha will overcome you. Rav Zevin says והשיגוך v'hisigucha is like a השגה hassaga of the רייבד and the רמב\"ם Raavad and the Rambam. You know what the biggest ברכה bracha is? The biggest ברכה bracha is to see the ברכה bracha that you already have. ובאו עליך כל הברכות האלה והשיגוך U'vau alecha kol habrachos ha'eileh v'hisigucha. All these ברכות brachos will come upon you and you will acquire them. If last week I gave you a דבר תורה dvar Torah based on my brother-in-law, this is the דבר תורה dvar Torah I heard from his father-in-law at his שבת שבע ברכות Shabbos sheva brachos. So Rav Zevin says, ובאו עליך כל הברכות האלה והשיגוך U'vau alecha kol habrachos ha'eileh v'hisigucha. What does it mean the word והשיגוך v'hisigucha? If you have the ברכות brachos, what do you need to והשיגוך v'hisigucha? And if you didn't והשיגוך v'hisigucha, then you don't have the ברכות brachos. What does it add the word והשיגוך v'hisigucha? So Rav Zevin says, what it adds is this ברכה bracha all around us. You woke up, you have a roof, you have a car, you have eyes and legs and feet and organs that work, you have a few resources in the bank, you have people around you, you have love, so there are ברכה bracha in your life, there is ברכה bracha in your life. But והשיגוך v'hisigucha, but you have a השגה hassaga about the ברכה bracha? Do you see it? Do you recognize it? Do you feel it? Are you overwhelmed with the appreciation and joy? Do you live a life of awareness of it? So having the ברכה bracha, that השם Hashem provides. But seeing it, the decision, again not the emotion, that decision is up to us. And this is the theme of the whole פרשה parsha. Maybe we'll come back to it still if we have, but later in the תוכחה tochacha. When השם Hashem pinpoints the reason, he says, you want to know? He says, let me tell you about every miserable, heinous, graphic, physical, material punishment you can imagine. You being destroyed, your children dying prematurely, your fields being destroyed, losing all your finances, whatever are the worst, excuse me, curses that you can imagine, that's what השם Hashem tells us we're going to get. And then he reduces it to its core and he says, and you know why that's going to happen? And he doesn't say because you cheated on your taxes or on your spouse, or because you cheated on me, you worshipped an idol, or because you violated שבת Shabbos, or because you didn't keep יום כיפור Yom Kippur. It's not what he says. When he has to reduce it to its core, and he says, you know why I'm going to visit all those horrific curses on you? He says, because תחת אשר לא עבדת את השם אלוקיך tachas asher lo avadta es Hashem Elokecha בשמחה וטוב לבב b'simcha uv'tuv leivav. You know why? Because I gave you so much ברכה bracha and you walked around so miserable. And there's nothing worse than when you did something nice for someone and they're unappreciative. There's nothing worse than when you see someone who should be filled with such שמחה simcha, and all they have is misery. You say, you know what? I have no interest in being around you. Your negative energy is just going to bring me down, nor do I have an interest in doing anything nice for you going forward because you can't see kindness and you feel no appreciation for kindness. I have no interest in giving it to you. So that's what הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu says. I've been protecting you and shielding you, but I'm going to withdraw my countenance from you and you will be exposed to all the elements. Why? Because when I shower you with that kindness, you don't even see it. You have no השגה hassaga. You have no gratitude. You're not like the farmer with ביכורים Bikurim. And that's the purpose and essence of the whole world, is to be not a כפוי טובה kfui tov, not an ingrate, but to be an individual who's overwhelmed with gratitude. What do we call that? Not a כפוי טובה kfui tov, what do we call gratitude in Hebrew? הכרת הטוב Hakaras hatov. It's not a coincidence. הכרת הטוב Hakaras hatov. It's a very long way of saying grateful. It doesn't even translate to grateful. What do the words הכרת הטוב hakaras hatov mean? הכרת הטוב Hakaras hatov means to see the goodness, to recognize the goodness. Because gratitude is not an emotion. הכרת הטוב Hakaras hatov is an action. So the Torah is not mandating gratitude as an emotion. It doesn't say feel grateful. It says הכרת hakaras, be מכיר טוב makir tov. Recognize, take a moment and pause and recognize. In our generation it's easier than most because there are all kinds of apps for your phone of gratitude journals. I'm not joking. There's alarms that set throughout the day to pause and be grateful. There are things that you can start the day, end the day, gratitude journals to keep track, to be grateful. And you fill out a... you could do it the old-fashioned way with a pen and a notebook, too. But if you keep a gratitude journal, it'll change your life. It'll transform your life. And it can't just be the same corny things every night you go to bed. Grateful I was alive and I have a roof and I have children. You got to actually say, I'm so grateful that today this thing I thought wouldn't work out, did work out. I'm so grateful today I had this moment and it was so amazing and it was so special and I'm so grateful for it. I'm so grateful for this opportunity. I'm so grateful for... If you are articulate, you're מכיר makir, we identify and we're מכיר טוב makir tov. Like the farmer, we refuse to be כפוי טובה kfui tov, then it's in that זכות zechus that the whole world exists. And maybe what it means is not the world as in the globe or the cosmos, but it means our world, our world, the equilibrium, the joy of our world exists because of the choice to be happy. תחת אשר לא עבדת Tachas asher lo avadta. עבדו את השם Ivdu es Hashem בשמחה b'simcha. It's the theme, to walk around בשמחה b'simcha, to be בשמחה b'simcha. That's what הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu says, no sad faces, no פביסן fabisen people. Just be בשמחה b'simcha. Be בשמחה b'simcha. I try to make a concerted effort because I can't stand... I've shared this before. When you see people, how are you, what's going on? Uh, could be worse or it could be better or listen to my tough day or whatever. It doesn't mean people aren't entitled to have their problems and you're entitled to have good friends and confidants in whom you unload your problems and seek support and advice. But when you see people, just be a ball of positive energy. Be בשמחה b'simcha. No matter what's going on in my life, people say, how you doing? I always say never better. Never better. Everything's great, never better. Never better. מכיר טוב Makir tov, everything's fantastic. First of all, I guarantee whatever you're going through, I see this a lot as a rabbi, which is why maybe I work hard to do this, whatever you're going through, be grateful for your פקל pekel. Whatever you're going through. מכיר טוב Makir tov, see the good. Nobody wants your negative energy. It could be better, it could be worse, listen to what happened, the thing and ah. Nobody wants your negative energy. Again, have a friend, a confidant, a family member, you confide, you find your support. But when you walk around, just I know because when you encounter the people like that, you just walk away. You just they just suck the piece of your life away from you. The negative energy. Be בשמחה b'simcha. שמחת חיים simchas chaim. Just have a joy for life, a שמחת הנפש simchas hanefesh, a שמחת חיים simchas chaim. תחת אשר לא עבדת את השם Tachas asher lo avadta es Hashem בשמחה b'simcha. We have so many מקורות mekoros that you can't serve השם Hashem other than with שמחה simcha. I'll give you a few more of them. Still the overview of the פרשה parsha, the overview of the overview of the overview of the פרשה parsha. But I'll give you a few more of these מקורות mekoros. First of all, we know the גמרא Gemara says in ברכות דף ל\"א Brachos daf lamed aleph, אין עומדים להתפלל לא מתוך עצבות ולא מתוך עצלות ולא מתוך שחוק ein omdim l'hispalel lo mitoch atzvus v'lo mitoch atzlus v'lo mitoch schok, ולא מתוך שיחה ולא מתוך קלות ראש v'lo mitoch sicha v'lo mitoch kalus rosh. When you get up to דאווען daven, what is the, what's the energy, what's the emotion, what's the attitude that you should be getting up? So you want to have a successful דאווענען davening, you want to connect, you want an intimate rendezvous with your creator, you want to feel that you spoke to him, there was a bond, you want to feel closer, so not עצבות atzvus, you can't be sad. You can't be lazy. You can't be joking around. You can't have a frivolous mentality, ולא מתוך דברים בטלים v'lo mitoch dvarim b'teilim, אלא מתוך שמחה של מצוה ela mitoch simcha shel mitzvah. The גמרא Gemara says, walk into דאווענען davening with שמחה של מצוה simcha shel mitzvah. Give צדקה tzedaka on the way in, do חסד chesed on the way in. The אריז\"ל Arizal said be מקיים mekayem ואהבת לרעך כמוך v'ahavta l'reiacha kamocha on the way in. But be בשמחה b'simcha. Before you ever דאווען daven, think about something you're grateful for. Before you start דאווענען davening, you want to feel connected, be בשמחה b'simcha. Something that's going to put you in a good mood, a שמחת חיים simchas chaim. Be בשמחה b'simcha. אלא מתוך שמחה של מצוה Ela mitoch simcha shel mitzvah. ירושלמי Yerushalmi in סוכה Sukkah tells us אמר רבי יונה יונה בן אמתי Amar Rabbi Yona, Yona ben Amitai, מעולי רגלים היה me'olei regalim hayah, ונכנס לשמחת בית השואבה v'nichnas l'simchas beis hashoeva, ושרתה עליו רוח הקודש v'sharsah alav Ruach Hakodesh. למדך שאין רוח הקודש שורה אלא על לב שמח Lomadcha she'ein Ruach Hakodesh shora ela al leiv sameach. You want רוח הקודש Ruach Hakodesh, if you want divine insight, divine inspiration, you can't have רוח הקודש Ruach Hakodesh unless you're בשמחה b'simcha. השם Hashem doesn't want to hang out with you when you're sad and פביסן fabisen and miserable and negative. I don't want to hang out with you. You don't want to hang out with you. Nobody wants to hang out with you. השם Hashem doesn't want to hang out with you. So if you want הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu, you want to feel his hand on your shoulder, if you want רוח הקודש Ruach Hakodesh, divine inspiration, the ירושלמי Yerushalmi in סוכה Sukkah says, then you need to be בשמחה b'simcha, a לב שמח leiv sameach. Your disposition, your predisposition has to be your default, doesn't mean you don't have bad moments of sadness, doesn't mean you don't have moments of hardship, of reflection, of depression, but it means that your default is לב שמח leiv sameach. It's עיקר עבודה ikar avodah. It is our עיקר עבודה ikar avodah. And again you see that from our from our פרשה parsha. I think it's one of the themes from the beginning, the ביכורים Bikurim, that the farmer is not a כפוי טובה kfui tov, he chooses, not the emotion, he chooses to be בשמחה b'simcha, all the way all the way through. Okay. I got a lot to tell you and I'm running out of time. So let me tell you some more. וידוי מעשר Vidui Maaser. The farmer confesses, the most unusual confession of all time. I don't recommend trying it at home. It's the most unusual confession of all time. Honey, I have a confession to make. I am the best husband that ever lived. I've never done anything wrong. Everything you ask me, I do right. Feeling pretty good. And I'm the best. And I'm happy to have shared that confession with you. Now if that sounds strange, that's exactly the confession that the farmer makes here. He says, לא עברתי ממצוותיך ולא שכחתי lo avarti mimitzvosecha v'lo shachachti. Here I am, השם Hashem, just want to let you know, didn't do anything wrong, got it all right, did the מצוות mitzvos properly, I haven't forgotten anything. לא אכלתי באוני ממנו Lo achalti b'oni mimenu, I didn't eat it in the wrong state. ולא בערתי ממנו בטמא ולא נתתי ממנו למת V'lo biarti mimenu b'tamei v'lo nasati mimenu l'meis. שמעתי בקול השם אלקי Shamati b'kol Hashem Elokai. I listened to everything you told me. I've done it all right. עשיתי ככל אשר ציוויתני Asisi k'chol asher tzivisani. I followed your instruction to the T. And all the commentaries ask and we're not going to give answers right now, what kind of confession is that? Isn't a confession about what I did wrong? Isn't confession about where I came up short? Now it's really important to understand what confession is about because come Saturday night we're going to start offering a bunch of them for 10 days straight. We're about to start saying סליחות Slichos, וידוי Vidui. We're about to start saying a bunch of confessions. So it's really important to understand what it is. We've spoken about it at past. You can listen online at a definition of what of what וידוי Vidui is. But I'll tell you one beautiful insight from the שפת אמת Sfas Emes. Because here the farmer says לא עברתי ממצוותיך lo avarti mimitzvosecha ולא שכחתי v'lo shachachti. I didn't violate your מצוות mitzvos and I didn't forget. What is it that he didn't forget? So look at רש\"י Rashi. לא שכחתי lo shachachti. So רש\"י Rashi, what did I not forget? לא שכחתי מלברכך על הפרשת מעשרות Lo shachachti mil'varechcha al hafrashas maasros. I didn't forget to make the ברכה bracha. Not only did I do the מצוה mitzvah of separating the tithe, but says רש\"י Rashi, לא שכחתי מלברכך lo shachachti mil'varechcha, I didn't forget to make a ברכה bracha. And this is in fact one of the sources, making ברכות brachos is not דאורייתא d'Oraisa, it's דרבנן d'Rabbanan, it's a Rabbinic commandment. When we say ברכת הנהנין Birkas Hanehenin, a ברכה bracha before we indulge in the pleasures of this world from eating food to a pleasant aroma. People think that בורא מיני בשמים borei minei v'samim is a הבדלה Havdalah ברכה bracha. It's not a הבדלה Havdalah ברכה bracha, it's a ברכה bracha. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, if you smell a pleasant aroma, of course there are criteria that determine when you make the ברכה bracha, which ברכה bracha you make, בורא מיני בשמים borei minei v'samim, עצי בשמים atzei v'samim, and so on. But it's not a הבדלה Havdalah ברכה bracha. We only say it מוצאי שבת Motzei Shabbos, why? Because we're comforting our נשמה יתרה neshama yeseira that left us. The נשמה יתרה neshama yeseira left us, we need to comfort our weekday נשמה neshama that our שבת Shabbos נשמה neshama has gone for the week. How do we comfort it? Because we imbibe a pleasant aroma and that demands that we make a ברכה bracha on the pleasant aroma. בורא מיני בשמים Borei minei v'samim. תוספות Tosfos says a debate, do you make that ברכה bracha if you have שבת Shabbos going into יום טוב Yom Tov? Does the נשמה יתרה neshama yeseira remain on יום טוב Yom Tov or does יום טוב Yom Tov the נשמה יתרה neshama yeseira leave? Is נשמה יתרה neshama yeseira only שבת Shabbos or for יום טוב Yom Tov as well? And that's the מחלוקת machlokes, do you make a בורא מיני בשמים borei minei v'samim when you make יקנה\"ז Yaknehaz, the הבדלה Havdalah of מוצאי שבת Motzei Shabbos going into יום טוב Yom Tov? I gave the חבורה chaburah a couple weeks ago on שבת Shabbos morning. We spoke about the hurricane שאלות shailos we had from a year ago where we דאווענד davened מעריב maariv after פלג המנחה plag haMincha because the hurricane was scheduled to hit. When you דאווען daven מעריב maariv after פלג plag on שבת Shabbos afternoon, which you're allowed to do, you can say הבדלה Havdalah as of פלג המנחה plag haMincha. The sun is high in the sky, you're saying הבדלה Havdalah. So do you say בשמים b'samim in that הבדלה Havdalah? Obviously you don't say בורא מאורי האש borei meorei ha'eish. The איסור מלאכה issur melacha remains. You can't light a candle till nightfall. But you could say הבדלה Havdalah. So that you do. So do you say בורא מיני בשמים borei minei v'samim, it's a מחלוקת machlokes between the פרי מגדים Pri Megadim and the שולחן ערוך הרב Shulchan Aruch HaRav, the אלתר רבי Alter Rebbe. What are they arguing? What are they debating? They're debating when you say הבדלה Havdalah as of פלג plag, does the נשמה יתרה neshama yeseira leave or stay? Again, you can't do מלאכה melacha till nightfall, but does the קדושה kedusha of שבת Shabbos change? Does it become Saturday night already as of Saturday afternoon when you said הבדלה Havdalah? You still can't do מלאכה melacha, but does the status of the day change? So anyway, that's why, but בשמים b'samim is... what did I get into this? Ah, בשמים b'samim because you make a ברכה bracha, ברכת הנהנין Birkas Hanehenin, not only on what you eat, good food, but what you smell, a pleasant aroma, you also make a ברכת הנהנין Birkas Hanehenin. That ברכה bracha is דרבנן d'Rabbanan, it's not biblical. Yet, our rabbis find an allusion in several places, this is one of them, our פסוק pasuk. That the farmer says, לא שכחתי lo shachachti. What didn't I forget? רש\"י Rashi says, מלברכך mil'varechcha. I did the מצוה mitzvah, I separated the מעשר maaser, and I even didn't forget to make a ברכה bracha. I proudly made a ברכה bracha. So the שפת אמת Sfas Emes says based on this that there's a strong lesson hinted to in the words ולא שכחתי v'lo shachachti about how we make ברכות brachos. See when you mumble a ברכה bracha, שהכל shehakol, מזונות mezonos, בורא פרי העץ borei pri ha'eitz, בורא פרי האדמה borei pri ha'adama, whatever ברכה bracha you're making, if you mumbled it and you raced through it to the point that when you were done eating, you don't even remember making the ברכה bracha, then it's as if you didn't say the ברכה bracha. What's the farmer proudly saying? לא שכחתי lo shachachti. I didn't, I didn't forget making the ברכה bracha. I was so present when I said the ברכה bracha. I articulated it slowly, and I articulated it with thoughtfulness and with intention so much so, לא שכחתי lo shachachti. In other words, when I'm done eating, I could tell you I made a ברכה bracha because I've created the habit to make a ברכה bracha. But do I really remember being present in the words שהכל נהיה בדברו shehakol nihyeh bidvaro? No, I mumbled. I I swallowed the שהכל shehakol faster than I did the the iced tea. So that's the שפת אמת Sfas Emes says, תורה Torah here's telling us ולא שכחתי v'lo shachachti. Not only did I make a ברכה bracha, but I made a quality, the ברכה bracha of such quality that לא lo שכחתי shachachti, that I didn't forget making the ברכה bracha. The ברכה bracha was of such a quality, so slowly with such כוונה kavana, with such intention that לא שכחתי lo shachachti, it was such a high quality ברכה bracha that I didn't forget making the ברכה bracha. That's how special that ברכה bracha is. שפת אמת Sfas Emes says that is a lesson here in our פרשה parsha about making ברכות brachos. Okay. Then we get into the relationship of השם Hashem and the Jewish people, how inseparable we are. פרשה Parsha continues, a new ברית bris, a new covenant that we forge when we enter the land, these stones that we place in the middle of the ירדן Yarden. The ירדן Yarden split, not in two, it split in one. There was one wall, not like קריעת ים סוף Krias Yam Suf. We passed in front of it, in between it. We had to place these enormous stones. We've spoken about this in the past as well. The whole תורה Torah was written on these stones.I think it's the אברבנאל Abarbanel with such a beautiful insight that they represent a מזוזה mezuzah for the whole land of Israel. Just like a doorway of a room has a מזוזה mezuzah, the stones in which the whole תורה Torah was engraved on the ירדן Yarden as you cross the border into Israel was the equivalent of a מזוזה mezuzah for the whole land of Israel. We have the ברכות brachos and קללות klalos, הר גריזים Har Grizim and הר עיבל Har Eival, standing on on both sides, the magnificent ברכות brachos. But before we do, the פרשה parsha says the following. The the prelude to the ברכות brachos and קללות klalos, וידבר משה והכהנים הלוים אל כל ישראל לאמר הסכת ושמע ישראל היום הזה נהיית לעם לה' אלקיך Vaydaber Moshe v'hakohanim v'leviim el kol Yisrael leimor haskes u'shma Yisrael hayom hazeh niheisa l'am l'Hashem Elokecha. Moshe tells the people, he says be attentive, הסכת haskes, pay attention, ושמע u'shma, and listen. Today, נהיית לעם לה' אלקיך niheisa l'am l'Hashem Elokecha. You became a people to השם Hashem, your God. What does it mean היום hayom? Today, you became a people to your God. What does that mean? What does it mean?רש״י Rashi says בכל יום יהיו בעיניך כאילו היום באת עמו בברית b'chol yom yehiyu b'einecha k'ilu hayom basa imo b'bris. Every day you wake up, you should see yourself, every day, wake up, you should see yourself like you just became Jewish today. You just established this relationship today. You just stood under the חופה chuppah with השם Hashem today. Imagine the quality of your marriage if every day you woke up and said, I am as excited to be married today as I was the day I was walking down the aisle. Even though you thought you were in love then, you didn't know what love was, you didn't know what marriage was, you didn't know what anything was. But but the excitement, the passion, the joy, the enthusiasm, imagine if every day you woke up with a sense of renewal. Says רש״י Rashi, that's that's why השם Hashem says היום hayom. היום Hayom... where's the פסוק pasuk? היום הזה נהיית לעם Hayom hazeh niheisa l'am. Today, every day you wake up and say today, בכל יום ויום יהיו בעיניך כאילו היום באת עמו בברית b'chol yom v'yom yehiyu b'einecha k'ilu hayom basa imo b'bris. As if today is when I entered the ברית bris. The great פיאסצנה Piaseczna Rebbe, השם יקום דמו Hashem yikom damo. The great פיאסצנה Piaseczna Rebbe, who by the way, a couple of weeks ago, when the United States just deported one of the last living Nazis back to Germany, so this was one of the guards in the Trawniki death camp, which is where the פיאסצנה Piaseczna Rebbe was killed. Very possibly he was involved with the death of the פיאסצנה Piaseczna Rebbe. So when we talk about the פיאסצנה Piaseczna Rebbe, we're not talking about somebody from ancient times years ago. Someone who was involved in his murder is alive today in his late 90s and should suffer whatever time he has left here on this earth. So the פיאסצנה Piaseczna Rebbe writes in his צו וזירוזים tzav v'ziruzim in his in his intellectual diary, which is a magnificent work that צו וזירוזים tzav v'ziruzim appears in the back of ספר חובת התלמידים Sefer Chovas HaTalmidim. The פיאסצנה Piaseczna Rebbe once laments, he says רבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam, if only I could have been born non-Jewish and made the choice to convert to be close to you. He laments, right? He laments, sad many Jews inappropriately violate the most repeated מצוה mitzvah in the תורה Torah and they're negative about converts or disparage converts or hesitate to let their children date or marry a convert. The rabbinic attitude is exactly the opposite. Converts are the highest, most lofty. קשין גרים לישראל כספחת kashin gerim l'Yisrael k'sapachas. Converts are a thorn in our side because they remind us of what real zeal and enthusiasm look like, what real self-sacrifice, מסירות נפש mesirus nefesh looks like, what real opting in looks like. So the פיאסצנה Piaseczna Rebbe says, if only I could have been, made the choice to enter the covenant, if only I would have converted to be a Jew, and I could have displayed that opting in, I could have elected, I could have made the choice to be Jewish, ah, that would have been the greatest display, השם Hashem, of love and devotion to you. That's a fulfillment of these words, בכל יום יהיו בעיניך כאילו היום באת עמו בברית b'chol yom yehiyu b'einecha k'ilu hayom basa imo b'bris. Live every day like you converted to Judaism today. Not I was born into it and I've been doing it since I emerged from the womb and I don't know any other way and I don't have any other choice, but even if I weren't doing this, I would want all in. I would want all in. You know, when you're a kid, at some point when you're a kid, you have this conversation with your friends. If you found out today that you weren't really Jewish, you were adopted, would you stay Jewish or would you, you know, at some point you have that conversation, maybe שנה א׳ Shana Aleph, maybe it's in high school, whenever. So, if you found out that you were adopted, you weren't really Jewish, would you make the choice now to convert or would you stay not Jewish? It's been one day eating cheeseburgers, then I would convert, everyone has their discussion exactly how they time it, what they would do, what what sin they would indulge in before they came back. Fine, it's a fun discussion. But the פיאסצנה Piaseczna Rebbe says, that's היום hayom, בכל יום b'chol yom. Every day as if I've just converted today. If I came out of the מקוה mikvah anew, fresh, enthusiastic today. And Rav Weiss suggests that we see this elsewhere in our פרשה parsha as well. Later, in פרק כ״ט perek chaf tes. Right, then we have the תוכחה tochacha. תוכחה Tochacha, this harsh, horrific rebuke, which is what we're going to take a closer look at in a moment. But in פרק כ״ט perek chaf tes, at the end of the פרשה parsha, the very end of the פרשה parsha, at the conclusion of the תוכחה tochacha, when Moshe offers his final charge to the Jewish people, towards the end of the פרשה parsha, פרק כ״ט פסוק ג׳ perek chaf tes pasuk gimmel, ולא נתן השם לכם לב לדעת ועינים לראות ואזנים לשמוע עד היום הזה v'lo nasan Hashem lachem lev ladaas v'einayim liros v'oznayim lishmoa ad hayom hazeh. Moshe turns to the people and he says, השם Hashem has not given you a לב לדעת lev ladaas, a knowing heart or eyes to see or ears to hear until when? עד Ad, there's that word again, עד ad היום הזה hayom hazeh, until today, until today. What does רש״י Rashi say here today? All we've seen so far are רש״יs Rashi's. What does רש״י Rashi say here? Says רש״י Rashi, פסוק ג׳ pasuk gimmel. להכיר את חסדי הקדוש ברוך הוא ולדבק בו l'hakir es chasdei haKadosh Baruch Hu v'lidovek bo. To see the goodness of השם Hashem and to cling to him. עד היום הזה Ad hayom hazeh, until today. שמעתי שאותו היום שנתן משה ספר התורה לבני לוי Shamati she'oso hayom shenasan Moshe sefer Torah l'vnei Levi. What does it mean Moshe turns to them and he says, until today, you experienced the Exodus, and you saw the splitting of the sea, and you stood at the base of הר סיני Har Sinai, and you went through 40 years in the מדבר midbar, but until this moment, until this time, until today, you have not had a knowing heart. Which itself deserves exploration. I would think a heart feels. I would think my brain knows. Eyes see and ears here, got it right. That's correct, that's accurate. לב לדעת Lev ladaas, what is a knowing heart? It's an amazing expression. You have been given a knowing heart. I would think it's a knowing head and a feeling heart. What is a knowing heart? Our heart has to be informed by knowledge. Our brain has to be informed by emotions. But a לב לדעת lev ladaas, that's what we're striving for. The purely intellectual, rational. The people who are driven only by emotions and there's no thinking, no good. You need a לב לדעת lev ladaas. You need a heart, but it's an informed heart, it's a knowledgeable heart, it's a לב לדעת lev ladaas. So Moshe says, you didn't get that לב לדעת lev ladaas. You didn't get the eyes to have penetrating insight. You didn't get the ears to really hear, עד היום הזה ad hayom hazeh, till today. What happened today? It says רש״י Rashi, what happened today? Today was the day Moshe gave the תורה Torah ללוי l'vnei Levi, his fellow tribesmen. He gave to the Levi, the tribe of Levi, a copy of the תורה Torah, כמו שכתוב ויתנה אל הכהנים בני לוי k'mo shekasuv vayitna el hakohanim bnei Levi. So what happened? באו כל ישראל לפני משה ואמרו לו Bo kol Yisrael lifnei Moshe v'omru lo. So the rest of the Jewish people, the other 11 tribes come and they say, משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu, אף אנחנו עמדנו בסיני וקבלנו את התורה ונתנה לנו af anachnu amadnu b'Sinai v'kibalnu es haTorah v'nitna lanu. What's going on here? Today was the חומש Chumash party? But the only ones invited were לוי Levi? We also went through kindergarten, we also showed up every day. We were at הר סיני Har Sinai, why don't we get to come to the חומש Chumash party? Why don't we get a חומש Chumash? ומה אתה משליט את בני שבטך עליו ויאמרו לנו יום מחר לא לכם נתנה, לנו נתנה U'ma ata mashlit es bnei shivtecha alav v'yomru lanu yom machar lo lachem nitna, lanu nitna. ושמח משה על הדבר v'samach Moshe al hadavar. So how did Moshe react? How did the teacher, the מורה morah, the גננת ganenet, the רבי rebbe react when the kid said, why don't we get to go to the חומש Chumash party? Why don't we get a חומש Chumash? Moshe's so overjoyed. He's so happy by their protest. ועל זאת אמר להם היום הזה נהיית לעם V'al zos omar lahem hayom hazeh niheisa l'am. When they offered that protest and they say, it's not fair to us, what does Moshe say? Oh, now you got it. Now you deserve it. Now you have that לב לדעת, עינים לראות, אזנים לשמוע lev ladaas, einayim liros, oznayim lishmoa. Now you get it. היום הזה הבנתי שאתם דבקים וחפצים במקום Hayom hazeh hevanti she'atem dveikim v'chafetzim b'Makom. Now I know that you are devoted and eager to serve השם Hashem. What happened now? נַעֲשֶׂה וְנִשְׁמָע Naaseh v'nishma wasn't good enough? They stood at הר סיני Har Sinai and said, נַעֲשֶׂה וְנִשְׁמָע Naaseh v'nishma, we will do and we will listen. Whatever you tell us, we'll do even before we know what it's about. נַעֲשֶׂה וְנִשְׁמָע Naaseh v'nishma wasn't good enough? It wasn't until this moment that they said it's not fair to us, we want a חומש Chumash at the חומש Chumash party. That's when Moshe finally says, now you get it. Now you're השם's Hashem's children. עד היום הזה Ad hayom hazeh, today you became his people. נַעֲשֶׂה וְנִשְׁמָע Naaseh v'nishma wasn't good enough? So the Slonimer Rebbe says this is what we talked about similarly on Sunday, and the רב Rav says the same thing in his חומש Chumash. So when Rav Weiss, the רב Rav, and the Slonimer Rebbe all say the same thing, you know it's an אמת פשט emes pshat. They all say the same thing, which is, נַעֲשֶׂה וְנִשְׁמָע Naaseh v'nishma means I'll do it. I'm an automated robot. I'm a checklist person. You give me the checklist, I'll check it off. I'll do whatever you tell me. I'm in, I'll do it. What happened now different than being a robot, being an automated robot, an autotron who's going to do whatever you tell him? What happened now is they said, it's not fair to me. There's drive, there's ambition, there's an aspiration. This competitiveness to be close to השם Hashem. What do you mean you're giving out חומשים Chumashim and we're not getting any? We want. There's two attitudes the other kids could have had. I don't have to go to the חומש Chumash party, awesome, I'm going to stay home and play on my parents' iPad and I'm out of the חומש Chumash party. Who wants a חומש Chumash? חומש Chumash means class, tests on חומש Chumash, teaching חומש Chumash. I don't want a חומש Chumash. That's one reaction. But they didn't have the reaction, I don't want a חומש Chumash, I'm exempt from class, could stay and play on the playground. Instead they said, it's not fair to me, I want a חומש Chumash. When Moshe says I see in you that you're not just doing it to discharge an obligation, you're not just doing it to put a check on a checklist, but there's enthusiasm and passion, there's devotion, you have aspiration and inspiration, Moshe says, now I see that you get it. You've got it. היום הזה Hayom hazeh, now you became a people. That's a every day it should be renewed. And the renewal for us every day is not every day I'm willing to check, I went to the דף daf and I went to the דאווענען davening and I put on a thing and I said that, not every day check, check, check, but every day we're driven by it being meaningful and purposeful. We're driven by the פנימיות pnimius, the depth of what we're doing, the symbolism, the themes which are transformative. So here we are 40 years later, and it's only now that Moshe really measures that they have a true eagerness. Now I see that you're devoted. Now I see that you want it. Today you've distinguished yourself, not just with your actions, not just with the way you walk, but with what you are, with what you are willing to do, you want it truly and you want it in a very deep way. That's the תכלית tachlis of אלול ותשרי Elul v'Tishrei. That's the theme that I'm saying this morning on all of this and on the whole פרשה parsha. The theme is, don't just do it, do it בשמחה b'simcha, do it with joy, do it with excitement, do it with a desire to come close, do it with an understanding of the symbolism and the depth and the meaning of what we're doing and why we're doing it. To just do it, that's amazing, it's a beautiful gesture, it's a very nice notion. But to be willing to do it in an even deeper way, to do it because you understand what you're doing and you want to walk away transformed by what you're doing, that is a whole other level. And to be willing to do it over, עד היום הזה ad hayom hazeh, every day, בכל יום ויום יהיו כחדשים b'chol yom v'yom yehiyu k'chadashim, to be new. And Rav Weiss suggests at the end of this uh of this דבר תורה dvar Torah of this insight, that's the פשט pshat we say every day in לדוד ה' אורי וישעי LeDavid Hashem Ori v'Yishi. Did it ever bother you? We change tenses in the פסוק pasuk. We go from אחת שאלתי מאת ה' achas sha'alti me'eis Hashem. שאלתי Sha'alti is what לשון loshon, what form? Past. It's לשון עבר loshon avar. שאלתי sha'alti. Wow, a bunch of grammarians here. That was quick. אחת שאלתי מאת ה' אותה אבקש achas sha'alti me'eis Hashem, osa avakesh. What is אבקש avakesh? Future. שאלתי Sha'alti and אבקש avakesh. And Rav Weiss suggests we can explain that man goes through several stages in life. Each stage is marked by its own interests, its own dreams and its own aspirations. What interests a child does not always interest an adult. While what interests an adult does not always interest the elderly. Man's thoughts are molded by his place in society. The aspirations of a pauper are different than those of a wealthy businessman. דוד המלך Dovid Hamelech in particular saw many worlds. He began his career as a humble shepherd, concluded as a king of Israel. And the פסוק pasuk, you uplifted me from the pauper, from the dust among the noblemen, is well applied to him. Yet, throughout his life, in youth and old age, in poverty and in riches, in ignominy and in fame, his heart's desire was nothing else than to study השם's Hashem's holy תורה Torah and to draw close to his loving embrace. What דוד המלך Dovid Hamelech is saying, שאלתי ואבקש sha'alti v'avakesh, the constant in my life, my socioeconomic status changed in my life, דוד Dovid says, I was a pauper, I was rich, I was hunted, a shepherd, I became the king of Israel, but the constant in my life of of variables and change was שאלתי ואבקש sha'alti v'avakesh. I always was a מבקש mevakesh. I was searching for השם Hashem. That was the constant. Whatever status of my life, whatever identity in my life, whatever condition of my life, whatever was going on in my life, the one constant in my life was שאלתי ואבקש sha'alti v'avakesh. I was a מבקש mevakesh. I was searching, I was looking, I was yearning. And says Rav Weiss, that is what we are supposed to be doing during this time, is that whatever stage we are in life, working, retired, young, old, parent, grandparent, wherever we are in life, the constant should be that we're not satisfied, we're not complacent, we're not settled, we're yearning. My my my knowledge of the פרשה parsha doesn't remain stagnant where it was 40 years ago. Every year I'm trying to grow and to improve and to change and to be different. I'm not living the same year over and over again, but every year I am changing and I am progressing. And how do I do that? When I live with שמחה simcha, when there's meaning, when I have a לב לדעת lev ladaas. My heart wants to know. My knowledge wants to feel. I'm not just doing the מצוה mitzvah, I want to understand it intellectually and I want to feel it and I want the two to be working in tandem so that the מצוות mitzvos transform me. למען תשכילו L'maan taskilu, our פרשה parsha says when you keep מצוות mitzvos in those ways, then למען תשכילו l'maan taskilu, then you live with an amazing enormous sense of insight, a sense of mindfulness, a sense of presence. So I am going to not even get into the פסוקים psukim, I'm going to stop there. At the overview of the פרשה parsha because we really saw the theme from the beginning to the end. ביכורים Bikurim till the one of the last פסוקים psukim in the פרשה parsha, ולא נתן השם לכם לב לדעת ועינים לראות ואזנים לשמוע עד היום הזה v'lo nasan Hashem lachem lev ladaas v'einayim liros v'oznayim lishmoa ad hayom hazeh. We too, by the way, we prove our worth to השם Hashem עד היום הזה ad hayom hazeh. With whatever you've been through in life, you could be 80 years old, 80 years of יום כיפורים Yom Kippurs and שבתים Shabboses and כשרות kashrus and צדקה tzedaka, 80 years of doing it right, but עד היום הזה ad hayom hazeh until you show, until we show the same enthusiasm that כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael showed that they said we want a חומש Chumash at the חומש Chumash party. I want that opportunity. Until our aspiration is not to get away with the least, but to want more, then עד היום הזה ad hayom hazeh we haven't proven our לב לדעת lev ladaas. The evidence that we have that לב לדעת lev ladaas is that we bring that same attitude, that same enthusiasm, that there's a sense of newness and freshness each and every day, like the פיאסצנה Piaseczna Rebbe, if only I could be a גר צדק ger tzedek, if only I could have converted and showed you השם Hashem my devotion to convert to be your loyal servant, if only I would have that opportunity, when we show that, that's when we prove it.
