Transcript
Okay, good morning, everyone. Thank you as always to our פרשה Parsha series sponsors for the year, Becky and Avi Katz and family, in memory of Becky's father David Grossman, לעילוי נשמת l'ilui nishmas דוד בן מנחם מנש Dovid ben Menachem Manish. Also want to thank our sponsor for today, Hencha Gansburg in memory of the יארצייט yahrzeit of her beloved father Irving Stone, the great sponsor of the חומש Chumash that we all benefit from each week. So thank you Hencha for that sponsorship, may her father's נשמה neshama should have an עליה aliyah, by Harriet Goldman in commemoration of the יארצייט yahrzeit of her husband Hilton Goldman, הילל בן גרשון Hillel ben Gershon, whose נשמה neshama should have an עליה aliyah as well. I also want to take a point of personal privilege to dedicate our learning this morning, today is my father's 75th birthday and he's here this morning. There we go, he deserves an applause, 75 years. So my father, if you know, is a very modest and humble person. I'm in very big trouble for embarrassing him now. But in addition to being an outstanding father, he is a great source of wisdom, he is my role model, my confidant, my source of great advice, and if I am anything, it's because of my amazing parents, so I want to wish my father a very happy birthday and it's a great source of joy for me that my parents at least occasionally are here in Boca, a part of the year, and coming to this class and בעזרת השם b'ezras Hashem we should be able to learn together for many, many, many, many more years. A very happy birthday.Okay, פרשת בשלח Parshas Beshalach. פרשת בשלח Parshas Beshalach can be found in the Irving Stone Artscroll חומש Chumash, on page 366. And our פרשה parsha continues this amazing story and narrative that even though we know what happens, the suspense is great each and every year nonetheless. ויהי בשלח פרעה את העם Vayehi beshalach Paro es ha'am, it is when Paro sends the nation forth, ולא נחם אלקים דרך ארץ פלשתים v'lo nacham Elokim derech eretz Plishtim, כי קרוב הוא ki karov hu, Hashem doesn't lead them what is the more direct route, even though it's close, כי אמר אלקים פן ינחם העם בראתם מלחמה ושבו מצרימה ki amar Elokim pen yinachem ha'am bir'osam milchama v'shavu Mitzrayma, maybe the people will reconsider, they're gonna confront conflict, tension, and they're gonna want to turn around. So Hashem will redirect, he reroutes the people based on what he knows. I started putting out a one-minute motivation video a week. Last week, two weeks ago, the video was about an experience I had recently. Did I tell it here in the פרשה שיעור Parsha shiur? About going to a wedding, and a couple down south, 45 minutes south of us, and a couple that we know left before us and texted us, and they said don't take 95, there's an accident, there's crazy traffic in Hillsboro. So I said to my wife, text them back, didn't they use Waze? And they said, no, we know how to get home, so why would we use Waze? So I said, I don't pull out of my driveway without turning Waze on. Maybe there's traffic in the driveway, how do I know? How do I know how to get out? Waze tells you where the police are, which I don't need to know, Mom, because I never speed, but it's good to know where the police are. But it more significantly tells you where the traffic is. And the משל mashal that I tried to give in this one-minute video is that we can either choose that I know how to get there, but all we can see is the one block in front of us. You can't see around the corner, and you can't see over tall buildings, and you have no idea what accident, you have no idea what traffic, you have no idea what natural disaster, you have no idea what's going on that you can't see. And yet we have access to this tool that comes מן השמים min haShamayim, there are satellites above, it sees everything, and it tells us, there's your destination and here's where you are, trust me, let me route you the best way there. And it's going to feel like you're taking a detour. And you're going to say to yourself, everybody knows the most direct route is 95. Why in the world would I take side streets? And then you'll get your text from your friend who didn't go on Waze, who's going to tell you exactly why it didn't take you the way that you already know. The רבונו של עולם Ribono shel Olam, the האייבישטער Ha'Eibishter is the same way. We can either live our lives with what we can see right in front of us and say, I know where I want to go and I know how to get there, I don't need any help. Or we can live our lives where we realize that מן השמים min haShamayim from up above, Hashem is showing us the ways. Hashem is telling us here's how to reroute. Here's the traffic, here's, and this is a perfect example of this. Because הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu says, כי קרוב הוא פן ינחם העם בראתם מלחמה ki karov hu pen yinachem ha'am bir'osam milchama, so they say, honestly, why are we going this way? Everyone knows the way out, for 210 years we've been studying the map that when we'll finally be able to get out, we'll know the best way there. Why are we going the wrong way? Why are we taking this circuitous route? הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu says, just trust me. דביקות dveikus, דבק devek, glue. Hashem says, stick with me and even when it feels like I'm taking you on a detour, I'm taking you where you want to go and I know how to get you there better than you do. The question is why is the פרשה parsha introduced with the word ויהי vayehi? ויהי בשלח פרעה Vayehi beshalach Paro. The word ויהי vayehi is מלשון אוי mi'lashon oy, אוי וויי oy vey, ויהי vayehi is a negative language, the מדרש Midrash tells us. So what's the negativity? ויהי בשלח פרעה Vayehi beshalach Paro, אוי וויי oy vey, when Paro sent us out. Who's giving the קרעכץ krechtz? Who's giving this moan? From whom does the אוי וויי oy vey emanate? Is it coming from Paro, from the people? So the מדרש Midrash says Paro. ויהי בשלח פרעה את העם Vayehi beshalach Paro es ha'am, it is when Paro is sending forth the people מלשון ויהי mi'lashon vayehi, he's giving a קרעכץ krechtz, an אוי וויי oy vey. What is Paro so miserable about? It's finally an end to these מכות makos, ten plagues, ten natural disasters, which really are supernatural disasters. Paro should be thrilled, over the moon, finally, peace, serenity, tranquility, safety, security, not ויהי vayehi, but זיי געזונט zai gezunt. Don't let the door hit you on the way out, Jewish people. It was fun while it lasted. I'm done. I want to recover, זיי געזונט zai gezunt. What's the לשון ויהי lashon vayehi? And the מדרש Midrash is amazing. The מדרש Midrash tells us the following incredible idea, the interpretation at least of the מדרש Midrash. It says, you know, all the time that Paro was being visited by these horrible plagues, at least he had contact and connection with Hashem. The whole time that Hashem was visiting him with these, he was intervening with nature, violating the rules of nature in order to bring these disasters upon him, at least he felt Hashem knew who he was, was talking to him, was interacting with him. There was a communication, there was a connection. The ויהי בשלח פרעה vayehi beshalach Paro is now the Jewish people leave and I just go back to מצרים Mitzrayim, and what is going to be with my relationship with Hashem? Now, at first glance, that's an astonishing perspective because why would anyone want to have a connection or a relationship with God from such a negative position? The קאצקער רבי Kutzker Rebbe says the month of אב Av, the month that is most characterized by calamity and tragedy and Jewish suffering and we sit on the floor and we mourn and we cry is called not אב Av, what do we call that month? מנחם אב Menachem Av. Says the קאצקער Kutzker, where is the נחמה nechama in אב Av? Yeah, there'll be שבת נחמו Shabbos Nachamu and singles events in the Catskills and yeah, you'll turn the music back on and wear the freshly laundered clothing. But the month really is characterized by not נחמה nechama, not מנחם אב Menachem Av. There's no comfort and consolation, it's sadness and tragedy. So where's the מנחם menachem? So says the קאצקער רבי Kutzker Rebbe, says you know, if you're standing on the corner and you see an adult disciplining a child, what do you know about that adult? That it's the child's parent, maybe grandparent. A stranger doesn't care enough about the child to discipline them. If someone is disciplining a child, it's because they care, they're devoted, they're dedicated, they have a connection, they have a relationship. Says the קאצקער Kutzker, we're not grateful, we're not glad for the tragedies and calamities that fell our people, but מנחם אב Menachem Av, the נחמה nechama in the month is that Hashem is our אב Av, he's our father and he therefore cares enough to discipline us, to try to turn us around and bring us back. The worst parents don't discipline. They're too tired, they're too lazy, they're too exhausted, they're too stressed, they have too much of on their own plate and so they take the easy way out and they don't discipline their children. מנחם אב Menachem Av, a good parent, an אב av, a father, the מנחם menachem, the נחמה nechama is they cared enough about me to set boundaries, to create accountability, to care. So that's the same שבת shat with Paro. Too many children unfortunately or too many parents, they give attention to their children from a negative perspective. They never acknowledge the child for doing what's right. The only time they ever notice a child is for doing what's wrong. A couple years ago I spent some time with a parenting expert, a professional who works with families and teachers and the whole methodology and strategy is not negative reinforcement but positive reinforcement. You see it's true in school and it's true at home that if a child only can garner the attention of their parent, their teacher and so on when they misbehave, when they act out, then they get the endorphin release, they get the pleasure from acting out. That's the reward they receive is from acting out. And really we need to turn it around and not give attention from the negative perspective but catch the child doing something right. You're playing so beautifully. You did your homework without being asked. You got ready so nicely. You cleaned your room without even, to catch them doing what's right, which we take for granted and we expect so we don't acknowledge and therefore the only time they get our attention or hear our voice is when they're doing something wrong. ויהי בשלח פרעה Vayehi beshalach Paro. Paro thought the only way to get הקדוש ברוך הוא's Hakadosh Baruch Hu's attention is acting out, is negatively. So even though it's true that Hashem's attention is being given to him through consequence, through ten plagues, but nevertheless, he craved that attention, at least he got it in that way. That's the פשט pshat ויהי בשלח פרעה vayehi beshalach Paro, the לשון ווי lashon voy is on is on Paro himself.On their way out, ויקח משה את עצמות יוסף עמו v'yikach Moshe es atzmos Yosef imo, כי השבע השביע את בני ישראל לאמר ki hashbeia hishbia es Bnei Yisrael leimor, and they grabbed the bones of Yosef. I think we spoke about this last year or the year before, not the עצמות יוסף atzmos Yosef but the עצמות יוסף atzmus Yosef. They took Yosef's entire life story, that he was able to survive in the diaspora and he never compromised an iota of who he was, that he was able to live with the affluence of the palace and yet the affluence did not corrupt him, did not distort him. They didn't just take the עצמות יוסף atzmos Yosef, they didn't just take the bones, they took the עצמות יוסף atzmus Yosef, the עצמות atzmus, the essence of Yosef, the life lessons of Yosef, that's what they went back to capture, that's what they went back to carry, that's what took them across the sea and that's what was responsible, the catalyst for it splitting, what caused the enormous miracle was of course Yosef. And we've shared before, just as Yosef overcame his nature to resist the advance of the wife of Potiphar, so too the sea violated its own nature, instead of staying as one, it chooses to split into. Hashem does these miracles as they travel, the pillar of fire at night and the clouds during the day and the symbolism of what that represents, and so on we've spoken about so much of this I want to get to some new topics together with you. פרק י\"ד פסוק Perek Yud-Daled, pasuk, let's go to pasuk ט\"ו tes-vav. What happens, of course, the Jewish people leave, וחזקתי את לב פרעה ורדף אחריהם v'chizakti es lev Paro v'radaf achareihem, even then Paro should have given up and nevertheless doubles down the stubbornness and obstinacy. Paro is still very committed. ואכבדה בפרעה ובכל חילו וידעו מצרים כי אני ה' V'ikavda b'Paro uv'chol cheilo v'yadu Mitzrayim ki Ani Hashem. Hashem continues to tell us his agenda. His agenda is Paro when introduced by Moshe to God said, I don't know, לא ידעתי lo yadati, I don't know this God, to which God responds over and over experientially. You don't know me, you've read about me in a book but you don't see me in your life, וידעו מצרים כי אני ה' v'yadu Mitzrayim ki Ani Hashem, ויעשו כן vayaasu chein. Paro, Hashem's whole curriculum is they're going to know. ויוגד למלך מצרים כי ברח העם V'yugad l'melech Mitzrayim ki barach ha'am, he knows the people ran away, ויהפך לבב פרעה vayehafech levav Paro, and he has a change of heart, and he gets his chariot and his horses all ready, וירדפו מצרים אחריהם vayirdefu Mitzrayim achareihem, and they run after them. ופרעה הקריב u'Paro hikriv, וישאו בני ישראל את עיניהם vayisu Bnei Yisrael es eineihem, and now the Jewish people raise their eyes and what do they see? They are literally stuck between the rock and the hard place. They raised their eyes and they see that the Egyptians are in pursuit behind, the sea is in front of them, and now what? וייראו מאד V'yir'u me'od, they were very fearful. ויצעקו בני ישראל אל ה' Vayitz'aku Bnei Yisrael el Hashem, and they cried out to Hashem and they said, המבלי אין קברים במצרים ha'mibli ein kvarim b'Mitzrayim, what the cemeteries, no graves in מצרים Mitzrayim? You couldn't let us have at least a dignified demise there with a burial place? You have to bring us here where we're going to drown or be slaughtered and never have a proper burial, die in the desert. מה זאת עשית לנו Ma zos asisa lanu, why'd you take us out of מצרים Mitzrayim? Why'd you take us out? So Moshe tells them, אל תיראו al tirau, don't be afraid, התיצבו וראו את ישועת ה' hityatzvu ur'u es yeshuas Hashem אשר יעשה לכם היום asher ya'aseh lachem hayom. Hashem's going to do something incredible for you today. כי אשר ראיתם את מצרים היום לא תסיפו לראתם עוד עד עולם Ki asher r'isem es Mitzrayim hayom lo sosifu lir'osam od ad olam. ה' ילחם לכם ואתם תחרשון Hashem yilachem lachem v'atem tacharishun. Hashem will make a war for you and you be silent, not to worry. So Hashem says to Moshe, מה תצעק אלי ma titzak elai. He looks down and he finds the Jewish people are davening and he says what's with all the davening? Close the Tehillim, close the siddur, leave the Amain group, stop being the chazan, enough with the segulos and the tfilos and דבר אל בני ישראל ויסעו daber el Bnei Yisrael v'yisau, start walking, start going. Now ויסעו v'yisau start walking is a bizarre instruction, where? Where does he expect them to walk? He doesn't say Moshe touch your staff to the to the sea and let it split and then tell them to walk. He doesn't give any insight, he doesn't give any prophecy about what's going to come. He tells them to ויסעו v'yisau and they look, they're basically staring back at Waze and Waze says drive and they say but it's a dead end. But I'm at the edge of a cliff, what do you mean drive? What are you talking about? I'm at the end of Palmetto Park Road, all there is the ocean in front of me. What do you mean drive? Where? How? ויסעו V'yisau, go. What's פשט pshat ויסעו v'yisau? Only then ואתה הרם את מטך ונטה את ידך על הים ובקעהו v'ata harem es matcha u'netei es yadcha al hayam u'vka'eihu. ויבאו בני ישראל בתוך הים ביבשה V'yavou Bnei Yisrael b'soch hayam bayabasha. The order is the wrong order. First he should say touch your staff and split it and then you'll see that a lane opens up and Waze tells you, oh you didn't see that there was really a highway underneath the city, but after you press the certain feature, then it opens up and now you have this lane, ויסעו v'yisau. What's פשט pshat ויסעו v'yisau? And then ואני אחזק את לב מצרים v'ani achazek es lev Mitzrayim, don't worry they're going to come after you and מצרים Mitzrayim is gonna drown and you're gonna be all safe and secure and everything's going to be good. What does it mean that you need to go? So Rav Soloveitchik has in Mesivta D'Harav. There are two types of divine intervention. One in which man plays no role, and one where man takes the initiative and Hashem becomes a partner in the enterprise. One would assume that Hashem should be thanked more for the former than the latter. When do we owe the debt of greater debt of gratitude to Hashem? When do we have to be more expressive in our in our appreciation? When he did everything or when we partnered with him and we took some initiative? So I would expect when Hashem does everything and I get to sit back as a spectator, when I get to sit passively and have the redemption happen to me, I should be more grateful. I went along for the ride. And yet, it's the opposite. We show more gratitude when we take the initiative and we invite him to be the partner. Our gratitude is increased because we must bless Hashem for the privilege of allowing us to be his partner. In the Exodus from Egypt, it was not an angel, not a man, a better Hashem on the wondrous night of watching on the ליל שמורים Leil Shimurim. Yet strangely at the time that the Jews left Egypt, neither Moshe nor the people sang for the amazing miracle they witnessed. It was only seven days later after splitting the sea that Moshe and the people sang the song of the sea. Why did they wait a week to give thanks? Ten plagues, no one has anything to say. Ten plagues, nobody sings a song, nobody offers Hallel, nobody composes שירה shira, nobody convenes the Klezmer band. Ten plagues, gornisht. Splitting of the sea, all of a sudden אז ישיר משה az yashir Moshe ובני ישראל u'Bnei Yisrael and Miriam has the women's choir and then the Nashay get together, the Sisterhood has their own event. What's going on over here? No Men's Club, no Sisterhood, no choir, no nothing in מצרים Mitzrayim. Ten miracles. And now all of a sudden, one more, one tag on, one addendum at the end, one more bonus feature and for that, everyone's on stage singing. What's going on? Says Rav Soloveitchik, the reason lies in a fundamental difference between יציאת מצרים yetzias Mitzrayim and קריעת ים סוף Krias Yam Suf. Hashem did not have nor did he seek man's assistance. You shall not go out any man from the entrance of his house until the morning. When it came to מצרים Mitzrayim, Hashem said buckle down, stay home, lock the door, smear it with some blood on the inside, not the outside, it's for me, says Hashem, not anyone else, but stay home. Category five coming your way, get in the closet, lock the door. The Jews were to remain in their homes, eat of the Pesach lamb and watch as events unfold. In such a case, the expression of gratitude was attenuated. But in contrast, at קריעת ים סוף Krias Yam Suf, the splitting of the sea, Hashem offered the Jewish people a role in their own redemption. It required a leap of faith, a jump into the water prior to the parting of the sea. The shock of cold water, the fear of drowning became Israel's minute contribution to the miracle. At that moment they became partners with Hashem. And as a result Moshe and the people full-throatedly sang the majestic אז ישיר az yashir in gratitude. In other words, the Rav is turning אז ישיר az yashir on its head. This is an incredible insight. Listen to me carefully. אז ישיר Az yashir is not a song praising Hashem for the miracle he did. Of course, that's what it is. And when you read its words, it of course tells the story of Hashem's amazing miracle. But essentially, says Rav Soloveitchik, אז ישיר az yashir is not about Hashem's part in doing the miracle. It is a statement of gratitude that we get to be his partner, that we get to take initiative, that we get the satisfaction, that we have we are gratified and we are fulfilled and we have the reward of feeling that we too did something. That we too did something. You ever have a small child and you're trying to do something and you really do it but you trick them and make them feel like they did it because they desperately want to be the one who puts on their shoe or buckles their seatbelt or gets themselves dressed or puts the puzzle together, because there's a child in us who finds tremendous fulfillment, who derives great satisfaction from a feeling of accomplishment, of making a difference, of contributing to our own destiny, of shaping our own lives. And so אז ישיר az yashir is not Hashem, I sat back like a couch potato, I did nothing, you did everything, and thank you. One would think that what would garner, what would precipitate the greater statement of gratitude is מצרים Mitzrayim. Stayed at home, kicked back in the recliner. I'll be reading Mishpacha magazine, you do ten plagues, let me know when the coast is clear. Let me know when the coast is clear and it's time for me to leave. And one would think you'd be overwhelmed with gratitude then. No. כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael said when the coast was clear, שכויח shkoyach. Maybe they gave a שכויח shkoyach. Maybe. But then they come to the sea and all of a sudden they're singing a big song. You know why? Because Nachshon ben Aminadav dipped his little toe, went up to his knee, and to his hip, and to his chest, and to his shoulders, and to his chin, and it was freezing cold, and all of a sudden the sea split and the people went in and they said, Hashem, you are the one who did the miracle. Thank you for enabling us to feel that you're your partner. It's an amazing thing. The word for faith is, what do we live with? Every Wednesday morning we have a shiur living with אמונה emunah. How do you say a livelihood or a profession? How do you say a profession in Hebrew? An אומנות umnus. The same word אומנות umnus, אמונה emunah. Use the same word to describe a profession as we do for faith. Why? Why? Because even in my professional ambition and aspiration, I realize I'm just a partner and I'm the junior partner. But Hashem, thank you for letting me feel like I did something. The truth is if you wanted me to be a billionaire, I can be a billionaire without ever getting off the couch. And if you want me to struggle to make a living, I could work 23 hours, six days a week and barely put food on my table. And in the end of the day, it's you, not me. You are the senior partner in this project, whatever my profession. But you know Hashem, you're so kind and so gracious and so good. Thank you for letting me feel like I've contributed. Thank you for letting me live with the illusion that it's my acumen and my brilliance and my work ethic, it's my skill set, it's my strength, it's my courage, it's my bravery. Thank you. Thank you for letting me feel like I've contributed something. אמונה Emunah and an אומנות umnus. At the core of my אומנות umnus, of my profession is אמונה emunah, that no matter how hard I work, no matter how much initiative I take, in the end of the day it's up to you, רבונו של עולם Ribono shel Olam. Whether it's a successful outcome or not, it's all up to you. And here's the amazing thing and I've pointed it out countless times. He's the senior partner, partner. Whether the whole endeavor succeeds or not depends and relies on him and yet you know what he says to us? Eh, you keep 90% of the profits. I just want 10% and by the way Hashem says I don't want them for me. I just want 10% of the profits that you would have none of without me. You keep 90%. I did 99.9% of the work, you did 0.1, but you keep 90% of the income of the profit. 10% just if you could do me a favor, I have some children, they're struggling, I don't need the money, just give it right to my children. And some people struggle to give מעשר maiser. It's mind-boggling. Mind-boggling. Some people struggle. I'm not talking about when you struggle to give מעשר maiser because if you give מעשר maiser it means you don't have food to eat. I mean you're still going away for Pesach and have three housekeepers and four homes and six electric cars and people struggle when you ask them to help their hungry people, they can't get up to the point of giving מעשר maiser. Hashem says, I'm the senior partner. And I'll tell you what? You keep 90%, just 10% give to my kids who are struggling. And we say 10%, so much? How, 10% so demanding? So unreasonable, 10%, 10%. He does 99.9% of the work. So Rav Soloveitchik says אז ישיר az yashir is not a song about the greatness of Hashem. That they saw through the 10 plagues. אז ישיר Az yashir is a song about thank you Hashem for letting us live with the illusion that we took initiative, that we are your partner, that we've contributed to this process and to this outcome. And that's why Hashem says ויסעו v'yisau. You see if he told Moshe, touch the staff to the sea and it would split and now there's a clear lane and now there's an open highway, that would be 100% from God. That would be the equivalent of an 11th plague. What made this different is it took the ויסעו v'yisau. It took that initiative, it took that effort, it took that courage, it took that leap. Sometimes we have to say רבונו של עולם Ribono shel Olam, I'm taking that leap. I'm jumping in. That's what the תוספתא Tosefta in ברכות Brachos tells us. במה זכה יהודה למלכות B'mah zachah Yehuda l'malchus? Why did Yehuda merit to be the king, monarchy, royalty? And the Gemara entertains, maybe it's because Yehuda saved Yosef from the pit. No, because he didn't really save him enough. He still allowed them to throw him in the pit. Maybe it's because Yehuda admitted with Tamar, צדקה ממני tzadka mimeni, she's more righteous than I. Nah, says the Gemara, that can't be, the Mishna, the תוספתא Tosefta, that can't be it, why? Because still he had the מעשה maiseh with Tamar, even though in the end he did the right thing, but there's no way he was rewarded that his progeny are royalty because that can't be. So במה זכה יהודה למלכות b'mah zachah Yehuda l'malchus? So why is it that the descendants of Yehuda are royalty? Why are they the kings? So listen Rabbi Akiva says in the תוספתא Tosefta, you know why? Because Yehuda was such a person that he produced in his progeny, in his grandchildren, a נחשון בן עמינדב Nachshon ben Aminadav. And you know who נחשון בן עמינדב Nachshon ben Aminadav was? נחשון בן עמינדב Nachshon ben Aminadav was a person that when everyone else stood around, I can really picture the scene. You could probably too. There are two to three million people, 600,000 adult men standing there, the Egyptians are running right behind them, and the sea is standing right in front of them and they don't know what to do. And you know what everyone's doing? They're telling everyone else, you really should do this and you should do this. And this is why this would never work. And I told you why that was a better terrible idea. And everyone had an opinion and everyone had a criticism and everyone had a suggestion and everyone had a solution for everyone else. And all of a sudden there's one guy who walks out of the crowd and he's not talking and he didn't raise his voice and he didn't tell others what to do and he didn't play Monday morning quarterback about the mistakes they made. You know what he does? He just pulls out of the crowd a little bit and they're all debating and they're all arguing and they're all fighting and they're all the committee and they're all the board and they're all the people criticizing. He walks out and he just starts walking in. He says, I'm not going to focus on the problem, I'm going to be the solution. I'm going to be the change I want to see. I'm going to be the catalyst to bring about that redemption and that result. And that's what the מדרש Midrash concludes, the תוספתא Tosefta concludes, יהודה Yehuda who expressed such leadership and who ingrained within his own spiritual DNA and produced such a grandchild who didn't kvetch and complain and point a finger, who didn't tell others what to do and didn't focus on a problem but became the solution and started walking, that's what we need from leadership. That's why he was זכה למלכות zacha l'malchus, because what we need from leadership are not people who can express problems, but people who are the solution. ויסעו V'yisau. Hashem wanted, and Nachshon understood that message. Stop, close the Tehillim, close the Tehillim, close the siddur, close the rally. This is a time for action. This is a time for אומנות umnus, not אמונה emunah, because אומנות umnus includes אמונה emunah in it. There are two types of initiative we take. We take initiative with our actions, I'm sorry, and we take initiative with our words. We show אמונה emunah in our Tehillim and we show אמונה emunah in our אומנות umnus when we go to work and we say, Hashem, I'm going to do my part, and now the rest is up to you. I'm going to make my effort and now it's up to you. This bothers me so much. If I had a dollar for every email I got this week about saying פרשת המן parshas ha'man and the סגולה segulah for פרנסה parnassah, we'd be sitting in the brand new campus of new shul by now. Why does that bother me? Yes, we have a tradition and I'm not discouraging you from saying the פרשת המן parshas ha'man that is in our פרשה parsha this week. But it bothers me because how many people think I just need to sit back in my recliner and read פרשת המן parshas ha'man and then literally Hashem's going to make it rain. Then the פרנסה parnassah is going to flow. I don't have to try harder at work, I don't have to take more initiative, I don't have to have professional ambition, I don't have to have training or skill set. I'm just going to say פרשת המן parshas ha'man and then it's going to fall from the sky. That's not our tradition. Not only is it not our tradition, the פרשת המן parshas ha'man skips right over the whole story of the קריעת ים סוף Krias Yam Suf where Hashem says, close your פרשת המן parshas ha'man and get to work. You know what the biggest סגולה segulah for פרנסה parnassah is? Going to work. It's going to work, is the biggest סגולה segulah there is for פרנסה parnassah. But some people, no, I say the פטום הקטורת pitum ha'ketores from the קלף klaf and then I say the פרשת המן parshas ha'man three times and then I separate my 17 חלה challah making of the day, and then I do that and what can I do? Hashem, there was no time left to work, so now just give me פרנסה parnassah. Now give me פרנסה parnassah, my סגולות segulos took up the whole day, so I didn't have time to make a living, so I stopped by the rabbi and leave an envelope. That's not our religion. That's not our פרשה parsha, that's not the message. Hashem says, stop, מה תצעק אלי ma titzak elai, דבר אל בני ישראל ויסעו daber el Bnei Yisrael v'yisau. There's אמונה emunah within your אומנות umnus. In other words, what were חז\"ל Chazal trying to communicate to us by calling a career and a profession an אומנות umnus? That when you work, it's not a סתירה stira, it's not a contradiction to having faith in Hashem. Work is not a contradiction to faith, work is a fulfillment of faith. Hashem, I'm doing my part, and thank you for letting me feel like you're partner. Thank you. That's אז ישיר az yashir. And we sing אז ישיר az yashir with a sense of joy. The משנה ברורה Mishnah Berurah quotes that a person every day, the משנה ברורה Mishnah Berurah says a person should say אז ישיר az yashir with a sense of joy, with a sense of happiness. כל האומר שירה בכל יום Kol ha'omer shira b'chol yom, you should say it with a ניגון nigen, you should say it with a song and with a sense of joy. And according to Rav Soloveitchik, what that means is you're saying אז ישיר az yashir, Hashem, with a sense of song and a sense of joy, Hashem, thank you for letting me be your partner. Thank you for letting me bring about this whole result. Okay, we haven't started yet. I want to get to the פסוקים psukim before we run out of time. פרק י\"ד פסוק Perek Yud-Daled, pasuk, so what is the שירה shira? So we're up to the שירה shira. They start walking, נחשון בן עמינדב Nachshon ben Aminadav, the sea splits, it's גישמאק geshmak, the Egyptians walk in, they all drown. What's going on over here? ויאמינו Vayaminu, פרק י\"ד פסוק ל\"א Perek Yud-Daled, pasuk lamed-alef, all familiar to us because we say this every day. אז ישיר Az yashir, even before, sorry, even before you get to אז ישיר az yashir, we say ויושע ה' ביום ההוא Vayosha Hashem bayom hahu, it's in our siddur every morning. This is a preview of snippets. We'll get to it one day. וירא ישראל את היד הגדולה אשר עשה ה' במצרים ויראו העם את ה' ויאמינו בה' ובמשה עבדו Vayar Yisrael es hayad hagedola asher asah Hashem b'Mitzrayim vayir'u ha'am es Hashem vayaminu ba'Hashem uv'Moshe avdo. So they see, the nation sees Hashem, they believe in Hashem, and Moshe avdo. So first of all, as we've talked about in the past, very difficult to understand, they believe in Hashem and they believe in Moshe? All of a sudden, חס ושלום chas v'shalom are we suggesting an equivalency between God and Moshe? Is there some other deity or power? What do you mean in the same breath, in the same sentence, ויאמינו בה' ובמשה עבדו vayaminu ba'Hashem uv'Moshe avdo? So the גר\"א Gra says, no, what they're believing in is ויאמינו בה' vayaminu ba'Hashem, they believed in Hashem, and now this Moshe, whose credibility they questioned until now, who they were struggled to really have faith and to defer to him as their leader, now everything became clear. And the picture became complete. And their destiny began to unfold and now not only do they have faith in Hashem, but they had faith, said the גר\"א Gra, that Moshe is avdo. That Moshe who claims to represent Hashem, he's legit, he checks out, that Moshe is indeed avdo, indeed עבד ה' eved Hashem. The אלשיך Alshich says, no, this is the ערב רב Erev Rav. The ערב רב Erev Rav believed not only in Hashem, but they started to worship Moshe. Remember we discussed the ר\"ן Ran, the דרשות הר\"ן drashos haRan, mentioned that I didn't have the new Artscroll דרשות הר\"ן drashos haRan and then. My buddy Mendy sent it to me in the mail. So, I don't have the whole set of, what should I say this week? Got to name something I want this week. I don't have a new Tesla in my driveway. No. So, in the דרשות הר\"ן drashos haRan we mentioned that why was Moshe, remember we talked about the whole מדרש Medrash and he touched the, he burnt his tongue and he wasn't an orator, and we quoted the מהר\"ל Maharal, and we quoted different interpretations about why Moshe had a speech impediment, and we shared the ר\"ן Ran. We didn't want anyone to think that all of this was a charismatic, transformational leader stood up and pulled the wool over a people's eyes. So Hashem instead said, I'm going to give you the worst public speaker of all time. He's got no charisma, the worst oratory skills, you'll be miserable listening to him, and it's through him that I'm going to give you my timeless and true Torah, where it'll be about the content, not about the packaging. That was Moshe Rabbeinu, that's what the Ran said, why Hashem did it in that exact way. So the ערב רב erev rav didn't see that. They thought Moshe is this miracle worker, and they began to have faith not only in Hashem, they had faith in Moshe. But the order is peculiar. What do you mean ויראו את ה' ויאמינו בה' vayiru es Hashem vayaaminu b'Hashem? Shouldn't it be ויאמינו בה' vayaaminu b'Hashem and then ויראו את ה' vayiru es Hashem? What comes first, seeing God or having faith in him? What's the right order? The pasuk seems entirely out of order. And my Wednesday morning חברא chevra should know the answer to this because we studied it together recently. In the ספר אמונת ועוד יחיה sefer Emunas V'od Yichyeh of ר' וולבה Rav Wolbe. And Rav Wolbe said the following. He says it's not the way we think logically, intuitively. It's not that, well if I have great אמונה emunah, I'm going to subscribe to the אמונה emunah WhatsApp, and the אמונה emunah email, and the אמונה emunah voice note, and the אמונה emunah this, I'm going to read the book on אמונה emunah and everything. If I take seminars on אמונה emunah, I'm going to increase and promote my אמונה emunah and then I'm going to see Hashem everywhere. That's not the way it works. It works the opposite. If you begin to see Hashem everywhere, then you're going to realize he's always with you and you're going to have a great sense of אמונה emunah in him. On Shabbos I spoke about the השגחה פרטית hashgacha pratis WhatsApp group of our family. Just yesterday we posted new things. I met my wife at Starbucks yesterday, and we both ordered a drink, and I went to pay, and it was $9.39, and on my Starbucks app I had $9.38. ממש Mamash. And I started lecturing the barista in Starbucks about השגחה פרטית hashgacha pratis, which, she didn't seem that interested, but I thought it was pretty, I thought it was pretty outstanding. I thought it was pretty outstanding. The exact right amount. ממש mamash. Unbelievable. In fact, she said to me, don't claim I left you penniless. You still have one penny. It's exactly what I had afterwards, worth one penny. So, השגחה פרטית hashgacha pratis. If you live your life and you say everything, everything that you, everywhere you look, and everything that happens, and everything that unfolds, you feel, wow, that wasn't a coincidence, it wasn't random, it wasn't chance, it was by design. It worked out perfectly. Look, the person pulled out right when I pulled in, and there were no other parking spots. Thank you, Hashem. You live your life with the sense of thank you Hashem. The order is not first you have אמונה emunah and then you'll start seeing Hashem. The order is look for and start seeing Hashem, pull back that veil and see he's pulling the strings. Notice him everywhere and then the result will be אמונה emunah. First it begins ויראו vayiru and then it leads to a sense of אמונה emunah. אז ישיר משה Az yashir Moshe, and then Moshe responds with a deep sense of, with a deep sense of, of, of שירה shira. So what is שירה shira? What is שירה shira, and where does it come from, and why do we emulate it, and why did it take until now? What was going on until now? The קאצקער רבה Kotzker Rebbe also points out, you don't sing שירה shira, same thing as the Rav. Ten plagues in מצרים Mitzrayim, nobody said boo, no שירה shira. But now, ויאמינו בה' vayaaminu b'Hashem. When you feel אמונה emunah and you see him everywhere, ooh, your whole life is singing and dancing. Your whole life is defined by שירה shira. I mentioned in the אמונה שיעור emunah shiur also the בעל שם טוב Baal Shem Tov. The Baal Shem Tov says, if you walk in a room and you see people gyrating and moving and hopping and bopping and bouncing, and there's silence, they look like a bunch of lunatics. You think they're a bunch of weirdos. But if you hear music, then they look like they're dancing. אמונה Emunah is hearing the music. And as you live through, walk through life, you hear the music, then you're going to want to join the dance. You can't help but move with them. So that's שירה shira. שירה Shira is אמונה emunah. It's hearing the music, the rhythm of life. It's seeing Hashem pulsating from behind the curtain. The one who's orchestrating and organizing it all. That is the deep sense of שירה shira that we, that we live with and that we see. So this Shabbos is known as שבת שירה Shabbos Shira because of אז ישיר Az Yashir. And among the monumental events, this is the first time that שירה shira is sung. The מדרש שמות רבה Midrash Shemos Rabbah tells us מיום שברא הקב\"ה את עולמו ועד שעמדו ישראל על הים לא מצינו אדם שאמר שירה לקב\"ה אלא ישראל Miyom shebara Hakadosh Baruch Hu es olamo v'ad she'amdu Yisrael al hayam, lo matzinu adam she'amar shira l'Hakadosh Baruch Hu, ela Yisrael. From the time the entire world was created, nobody had as of yet composed or sang a שירה shira. And the מדרש Midrash even elaborates. ברא אדם הראשון ולא אמר שירה Bara Adam Harishon v'lo amar shira. אדם הראשון Adam Harishon, poof, comes into existence, looks around. גן עדן Gan Eden, hmm, not bad. All you can eat schmorgasbord, I don't even have to work. It's a little cool in here, but otherwise, it's beautiful. Everything's amazing, and still, לא אמר שירה lo amar shira. But he never said שירה shira. הציל אברהם מכבשן האש ומן המלכים ולא אמר שירה Hitzil Avraham m'kivshan ha'eish u'min ha'malachim v'lo amar shira. Avraham's thrown into a furnace, and he walks out unscathed. He fights a war with kings, and he perseveres and triumphs. And he said thank you, but he fell short of singing שירה shira. וכן יצחק מן המאכלת ולא אמר שירה וכן יעקב מן המלאך ומן עשו ומן אנשי שכם ולא אמר שירה V'chein Yitzchak min ha'ma'acheles v'lo amar shira v'chein Yaakov min ha'malach u'min Eisav u'min anshei Shechem v'lo amar shira. Yitzchak, Yaakov, Avraham, their lives were characterized by Hashem intervening and saving them, and yet, while certainly they said thanks, although not the thanks that Leah gave until Leah came along, but they never sang שירה shira. כיון שבאו ישראל לים ונקרע להם הים אמרו שירה לפני הקב\"ה שנאמר אז ישיר משה ובני ישראל, אמר הקב\"ה לאלו הייתי מצפה Kevon sheba'u Yisrael la'yam v'nikra lahem hayam amru shira lifnei Hakadosh Baruch Hu shene'emar Az yashir Moshe u'vnei Yisrael, amar Hakadosh Baruch Hu l'eilu hayisi metzapeh. הקב\"ה Hakadosh Baruch Hu says, I've been waiting. Finally, I've been waiting for this playlist. I've been waiting for this שירה shira. I've been waiting for this song. I've gotten nice cards, and expressions of gratitude. I've gotten nice text messages. But a שירה shira, finally, I've gotten this שירה shira. לאלו הייתי מצפה L'eilu hayisi metzapeh. So what is this שירה shira? And why was it not said until now? And what stimulated it to be said at that moment? And you know why it's critically important? Because the גמרא Gemara in סנהדרין צ\"א עמוד ב Sanhedrin tzadi aleph amud beis tells us כל האומר שירה בכל יום זוכה ואומרה לעולם הבא kol ha'omer shira b'chol yom zocheh v'omra l'olam haba. There is a goal, we have a mission every day to be able to sing שירה shira in our lives, to emulate and imitate what they did in that moment. So defining it is critically important to us. Now, the first hint to the definition of שירה shira can be found in the מדרש המכילתא Midrash haMechilta on the words ויאמרו לאמר vayomru leimor. And the מכילתא Mechilta there quotes a מחלוקת machlokes between רבי עקיבא Rabbi Akiva and רבי נחמיה Rabbi Nechemya. What is ויאמרו לאמר vayomru leimor? What is it that they said? What was it similar to? רבי עקיבא Rabbi Akiva says it was a הלל hallel. They called out and they sang praise. And רבי עקיבא Rabbi Akiva is the more compelling position. I understand that אז ישיר Az Yashir if you read it, is essentially a very poetic הלל hallel. They are singing out the praise and exalting Hashem. רבי נחמיה Rabbi Nechemya says no, ויאמרו לאמר vayomru leimor is שמע Shema. אז ישיר Az Yashir is parallel, is modeled, is similar to שמע Shema. So the similarity of שירה shira to הלל hallel I get. How is אז ישיר Az Yashir similar to שמע Shema? And parenthetically, how is שירה shira different than תפילה tefillah? We sing זעקה zaakah, רינה rinah, בקשה bakasha, so on and so forth. How is שירה shira, what does שירה shira add? What is the difference? What do we aspire to, to be saying שירה shira בכל יום b'chol yom? So I want to share with you the following definition, which I think is brought in many ספרים seforim, what שירה shira means. שירה Shira is not reading a text. It's not discharging an obligation to make your way through a liturgy. It's not checking off a box that I recited and said a bunch of words. If I read a thank you note, if I say a card, I've given a thank you. I've acknowledged my debt of gratitude to the other. שירה Shira is the spontaneous expression of joy. שירה Shira is the language of the heart, the song of the soul, the melody of the נשמה neshama. שירה Shira is when something happens in your life that so moves you, that so touches you, that so makes sense to you. When something happens that you never believed or dreamt could happen, when things worked out exactly the way you wanted or needed them to, even when you didn't believe they yet could, and you're so moved that you just, you have a bounce in your step and you're humming a melody, and you can't help but sing this spontaneous outburst of song, you're singing שירה shira all the time. When we feel, more than simply acknowledge and more than simply state, but we internally feel Hashem's existence, His goodness, the purpose and order of the universe, that everything was orchestrated to come together for a reason, we cannot help it but sing שירה shira. Someone's in a good mood, the day of the birth of a child or the wedding's about to happen, and they're just humming and they're just singing and they just can't stop singing because everything feels right and everything feels it's coming together. שירה Shira is far beyond words that we recite. Words we recite are important. It's important to say the right thing. It's important to say thank you, but it's an altogether other level to sing a poem of gratitude, to be moved to a place of song, to not be limited and held back by the, by the words. It's an experience that, unfortunately, often, we'll talk more about this in a moment, lasts only for a fleeting moment. It's a feeling which comes quickly and too often disappears almost as quickly. But in that moment when we lean in and when we embrace it, we are moved to this outburst of song. Some of the most amazing שירה shira has no words, like a ניגון niggun, where the words do not hold us back and limit us to have to think about the words or remember the words or struggle to understand the translation of the words. That's the power of a ניגון niggun, the power of just a tune, of a שירה shira. It moves us, it transforms us. And some of our most moving moments in that קומזיץ kumzits, or that שלוה סעודות shalosh seudos, or that עונג oneg, or that טיש tish, or that experience, whatever it was, the הבדלה havdalah, that song, that שירה shira that so deeply moves us. So perhaps what Rabbi Nechemya is teaching in the מכילתא Mechilta is that when you say שירה shira, it's because you're having the most palpable moment of קבלת עול מלכות שמים kabbalas ol malchus shamayim. See, when I say thank you, I just said thank you. Do I really believe in you? Did you really do it? I don't know, but I got to say thank you because it's the right thing to do. It's common courtesy, it's מנשלכקייט mentchlechkeit. I have to deliver and I have to repay my debt of gratitude by saying thank you. I have to make the admission that you helped me, that I was incomplete without you. I have to say thank you. But Rabbi Nechemya is teaching us is that a שירה shira is so much more than just saying thank you. It's more than discharging words. שירה Shira is קבלת עול מלכות שמים kabbalas ol malchus shamayim. שירה Shira is a complete awareness of Hashem's role and providence in our lives, that we would never have gotten to this point, and we'd never get to this moment, and we'd never experience what we're experiencing if not for his goodness and his kindness and his great graciousness. So the אבות avos all praised Hashem, and the אבות avos all thanked Hashem, but the אבות avos had never confronted a moment like that, with the sea in front of them and the Egyptians behind them and no way out, no solution. There simply was nothing that would enable them to survive. It was a helpless and hopeless moment and somehow, against all odds and all possibility, הקב\"ה Hakadosh Baruch Hu came in and made it work. And all they could feel in that moment was to count, was to sing, was to sing שירה shira. Sometimes we live life an inch away from the canvas and all we see are the tiny dots, and they look like splatters of paint, they make no sense. And other times we get to step back and see the whole picture, and understand why it had to happen and unfold the way it did, and how it was really for our benefit, and the good that really resulted and came out of it. And in those moments where we have that clarity and we have that perspective and we have that broad vision, we spontaneously sing שירה shira. The שפחה על הים shifcha al hayam saw more than יחזקאל Yechezkel because you don't have to be sophisticated or great or brilliant or wise or knowledgeable. All you have to do is be alive. All you have to do is have a pulse. And in that moment when it all comes together, that awareness, that קבלת עול מלכות שמים kabbalas ol malchus shamayim that comes together creates a sense of שירה shira for us. And that's our mission. מזמור שיר ליום השבת Mizmor shir l'yom haShabbos. Shabbos, first of all, is a day that we disconnect from the distractions of technology and the obligations and the responsibilities that מזמור mizmor, we don't just sing a מזמור mizmor. שיר ליום השבת Shir l'yom haShabbos. Shabbos comes, ah, a שיר shir. We sing Hashem, thank you. Thank you for what I have and thank you for making it to this point and thank you for this gift. A person who celebrates Shabbos sings to Shabbos, bursts out with a שיר shir for Shabbos. The משנה ברורה Mishnah Berurah I mentioned quotes the זוהר Zohar that a person should exhibit joy when singing אז ישיר Az Yashir. Don't mumble and don't swallow אז ישיר Az Yashir, and don't try to fly through the אז ישיר Az Yashir, but every day, אז ישיר Az Yashir is a moment to stop and reflect, what happened in my life this week or this morning that brought me to this point that I can sing שירה shira, that I could respond with that sense of קבלת עול מלכות שמים kabbalas ol malchus shamayim. Hashem, I see you so tangibly and palpably and feel you so, so literally in my, in my life. Rav Wolbe has a very interesting insight. If you look at the אז ישיר Az Yashir, which is what we're studying, you look a little more closely at it, you'll see several references in אז ישיר Az Yashir to בנין בית המקדש binyan Beis HaMikdash, to the anticipation of the day there will be a building of the בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash. For example, פרק ט\"ו פסוק ב perek tet-vav pasuk beis. זה קלי ואנוהו Zeh keli v'anveihu. This is my God, ואנוהו v'anveihu, and I will glorify him, which the גמרא Gemara learns is נאה לו לפניו במצות na'eh lo lefanav b'mitzvos. We have two דרשות drashos that come out. One is to beautify מצוות mitzvos, that's why we have הידור מצוה hiddur mitzvah. We beautify all that we do. And we have another that we should imitate and emulate Hashem. זה קלי ואנוהו Zeh keli v'anveihu is אני והוא ani v'hu. I want to be like Him. We know that the greatest form of flattery is imitation. מה הוא רחום אף אתה רחום Ma hu rachum af atta rachum. Be like God. I want to be not like Mike, I want to be like God. I want to understand God and know God. What does God value? What does he prioritize? What does he care? What does he exhibit? How does he behave? And now the greatest way I can flatter Hashem is to be like Him. זה קלי Zeh keli. You, זה zeh, we pointed with a finger, זה zeh. We know the לשון lashon of זה zeh is to be able to point. It's the מדרגה madreiga, it's the level of משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu, his נבואה nevuah, with such certainty and such knowledge, no doubt whatsoever that this was all Hashem, it was all him. זה Zeh, you, קלי keli, you're my God, you're in my life. You're responsible for this all. ואנוהו V'anveihu, and now, אני והוא ani v'hu, now I want to be like you. Now I just want to be like you. So tell me about you. Hashem says, tell you about me? Oh, no problem. I visit the sick, you should visit the sick. I comfort the mourner, you should comfort the mourner. I bury the dead, you should bury the dead. I clothe the naked, you should clothe the naked. You want to be like me? אני רחום, אתה תהיה רחום, אני חנון, אתה תהיה חנון Ani rachum, atta tihiyeh rachum, ani chanun, atta tihiyeh chanun. Why do we have these two separate דרשות drashos? We have two different פסוקים pesukim. אחרי ה' אלקיכם תלכו Acharei Hashem Elokeichem teileichu to walk after Hashem, and זה קלי ואנוהו אני והוא Zeh keli v'anveihu, ani v'hu. So Rav Asher Weiss, I mentioned him be here in March. Rav Asher Weiss says, you know why you have two separate פסוקים pesukim? Because they're telling me two separate ways that we imitate Hashem. I think we mentioned this last year as well. One is go through the motions and act like Hashem. Visit the sick and bury the mourner. And you know, that's all very beautiful. It means to say the following. I really have no interest in volunteering for the חסד chesed committee. I really get nothing out of giving צדקה tzedakah. I really hate paying a שבעה shiva call or doing ביקור חולים bikur cholim. But you know what? Hashem does it? I'm going to do it. I do it, not because it's what I intuit, not because it's my instinct, not because it's my nature, but I do it because it's the right thing to do. That's the דרשה drasha of just like he is מבקר חולים mevaker cholim, you should be מבקר חולים mevaker cholim. The other דרשה drasha, מה הוא רחום אף אתה תהיה רחום, מה הוא חנון אף אתה חנון ma hu rachum af atta tihiyeh rachum, ma hu chanun af atta chanun is, mold and fashion and shape your heart to be like God. Develop a חסד chesed instinct. Develop that חסד chesed intuition. Don't just analyze a situation and say, well, what would God want me to do? He would be like that, so I should be like that. Don't just go through a motion or do the action even though you don't want to. Transform yourself into a חסד chesed personality. Become that individual. Become that בעל חסד baal chesed, that בעלת חסד baalas chesed, not just the person who's performing. Like you're acting. When you say performing an act of חסד chesed, performing is acting. Don't be acting, be the חסד chesed. Be a person who instinctively intuits חסד chesed. But Rav Wolbe has a different interpretation. Rav Wolbe says ואנוהו v'anveihu, based on חז\"ל Chazal, is I will build a בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash for him. זה קלי Zeh keli, this moment, it's incredible. Everything came together. This wasn't chance. This was orchestrated and choreographed by above. Hashem, you're amazing, זה zeh, I see you. I know you're trying to hide there behind the curtain, but I see you peeking through. I know it's you. I see you. And I want you to know, come out. I'm going to build a special home, a בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash, and you and I are going to hang out there. Stop peeking from behind the curtain. Stop hiding. Come out. I'm going to build a בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash. זה Zeh, I see you. זה קלי Zeh keli, ואנוהו v'anveihu, I'm going to build a בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash. But then we continue, in פסוק י\"ג pasuk yud gimmel, נחית בחסדך עם זו גאלת nachisa v'chasdecha am zu ga'alta. With your strength you led them to the בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash. And then we conclude, מכון לשבתך פעלת ה' מקדש ה' כוננו ידיך machon l'shivtecha pa'alta Hashem, Mikdash Hashem konenu yadecha. Your hands formed your בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash. What is going on right now? A moment ago, they were a slave nation for more than two centuries of servitude of bondage. They've been out for five minutes, and all of a sudden in this song, they're anticipating a בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash. Several references to, we will build it for you, Hashem, you will inspire and help us build this בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash. What is the connection? What's the correlation between ים סוף Yam Suf and the בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash? Why, they just went through this miracle. Do they have to dedicate the entire song to the, just revel in the moment. Just experience the moment. Be present in the miracle and sing about it. Why are they already up to the next thing? And we're going to build you a בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash. Remember, at this point they didn't know that it's going to take 40 years of wandering. They didn't know that Waze was going to reroute them. And the anticipated arrival time would be 40 years from now. They didn't know that. So what are they saying? We just got out, and you're trying to hide, but זה קלי ואנוהו zeh keli v'anveihu, we see you. And ואנוהו v'anveihu, we're going to build you a בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash. That's what's coming up next. Asks Rav Wolbe, why are you looking at what's coming up next? Be in the moment. Listen to this insight he says. It's so powerful. Says Rav Wolbe, you know what happens? We experience a spiritual high, and then we come down from it and poof, it's gone. We go through a moment where we undeniably saw Hashem and we felt a connection to him and it was Rav Nechemya's קבלת עול מלכות שמים kabbalas ol malchus shamayim. And we spontaneously burst out by singing this amazing song. And five minutes later, where's Hashem? The wifi is slow here, there is no God. Five minutes later, לשון הרע lashon hara, forgot to make a ברכה bracha before I ate. Five minutes later, we have amazing spiritual highs. I come out of נעילה Neilah, מוצאי יום כיפור Motzaei Yom Kippur, this is it. This is my year. This is it. I'm going to be the biggest צדיק tzaddik, the biggest צדקת tzadeikes. This is it. Three minutes after I broke my fast, I'm fighting with this one, I'm telling לשון הרע lashon hara about that one, I forgot to really בנץ' bentch, I בנץ' bentched while I was cleaning the table. I was, what happened to all the promises? What happened to נעילה Neilah? What happened to the song you're singing at נעילה Neilah? Says Rav Wolbe, after experiencing a divine revelation of remarkable proportions, so much so that a simple maidservant perceived Hashem with more clarity than all the future prophets than יחזקאל Yechezkel, בני ישראל Bnei Yisrael said, you know, we need a way to be able to preserve this newfound spiritual level. If you want to capture a moment of high, you need to take a קבלה kabbalah on yourself in that moment. You can't wait and think that the, that that inspiration, that spiritual inspiration is going to last. You need to in that moment decide what's going to be different. Here's my קבלה kabbalah. I'm going to put into practice. I'm going to put into play. I'm going to create something new. Building a בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash would help them maintain the momentum and integrate it into their daily lives. So while yet they were in the middle of singing the song, for the spiritual high that they had happened, even yet in that moment, they said, and here's how we're going to capture it. Here's how we're going to bottle it. Here's how we're going to ensure that we can build on it. Here's how we're going to create a momentum from it. We're building a בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash. Who's in? If a person wants to be able to continue, then you can't just experience it and wish that it will go on. You need a plan. You need a resolution. You need something in practice. You need to be able to put it in place. And that also sheds light on the incident that immediately follows קריאת ים סוף Krias Yam Suf. They walked for three days in the desert, and בני ישראל Bnei Yisrael do what they become experts at doing. They complain. They say, what should we drink? And regarding the location of their quest, the Torah tells us, he gave the nation there, שם שם לו חוק ומשפט ושם נסהו sham sam lo chok u'mishpat v'sham nisahu. And there he tested them. And רש\"י Rashi there, it's in פרק ט\"ו פסוק כ\"ה perek tet-vav pasuk kaf-hey. It's in page 382. ויצעק אל ה' ויורהו ה' עץ וישלך אל המים וימתקו המים שם שם לו חוק ומשפט ושם נסהו Vayitz'ak el Hashem vayoreihu Hashem eitz vayashlech el hamayim vayimtiku hamayim, sham sam lo chok u'mishpat v'sham nisahu. They cried out to Hashem, they complained, and he showed them a tree, and he threw it in the water, and the water became sweet. And there he gave them parts of the Torah, שם שם לו חוק ומשפט sham sam lo chok u'mishpat, parts of the Torah, ושם נסהו v'sham nisahu, and there he tested them. רש\"י Rashi says, what was the test he gave them there? ושם נסהו ראה קושי ערפן שלא נמלכו במשה בלשון יפה ביקשו רחמים שיתן להם מים לשתות אלא נתלוננו V'sham nisahu. Ra'ah koshi orpan shelo nimlechu b'Moshe b'lashon yafeh, b'kasho rachamim sheyitein lahem mayim lishtos, ela nislonenu. What was the test that he gave them there? He tested to see if they would respectfully ask Moshe to דאווען daven for them. Would they ask in a way that was befitting the people on their level? Would they who had just experienced unprecedented, unparallel, and unrepeated divine revelation, would they when it was time now that something was missing? In other words, you just had this amazing spiritual level. You just claimed that you felt and saw Hashem in your life. You just claimed that you know he's there with certainty. You just claimed that it transformed you forever. Okay. Five minutes later, you're thirsty and there's no water. How does that go? How does that go? Does that experience transform you to now ask Moshe, Moshe, respectfully, can you דאווען daven for us? Maybe is it possible, is a way that Hashem could get us some water fountain? In essence, it was a test to see if they had integrated the spiritual level into their daily lives. And they failed the test. A moment ago, they were at the highest of the highest of the highest. And a moment later, they're a little thirsty. It's all gone. The test to all of us, my dear friends, is not whether we get a גישמאק geshmak דאווענען davening, or was the נעילה Neilah beautiful, or was the time with our grandchildren amazing, or how was the vacation, or how was the high? מי יעלה בהר ה' ומי יקום במקום קדשו Mi ya'aleh v'har Hashem u'mi yakum b'makom kadsho. You can't stay on the high. You can't stay on top of the mountain, but can you take the mountain down with you? Do we put it into practice? Do we make a קבלה kabbalah? Does it change us in what is truly a lasting and transformative way? That is, that is the question. And that's why קריאת ים סוף Krias Yam Suf is connected with the מקדש Mikdash so much. Because they pledge in that moment, not just to sing שירה shira for the here and now, but what's the plan? What's the plan? How are you putting it into practice? How does it remain not a wish? How does it become a resolution with a plan to be able to implement it? What is the plan? What is the plan? What is the plan to be able to finish what I wanted to say to you this morning? When as usual, we are running out of time. What is the plan? What is the plan? So I'll just tell you, I wanted to take you through the whole end of the parsha with Amalek. What is this battle with Amalek? I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to ask you a bunch of questions about it, and then next year, we'll offer the answer. I had so many more things. I had another great Rav Wolbe. So, I'll ask you a bunch of questions. First of all, I'll tell you about the מן mann. For the people who don't like that I ranked the פרשה ס'מן parshas ha'mann, let me tell you about the מן mann. Say the פרשה ס'מן parshas ha'mann. Say it, and it will work. אמונה Emunah, אומנות umnus. Say the פרשה ס'מן parshas ha'mann, and then get to work. And that's הקב\"ה Hakadosh Baruch Hu would like the מן mann, if I have trust in you, the מן mann will fall. Okay, good. So, what do I want to tell you about the מן mann? פרק ט\"ז פסוק ד Perek tet-zayin pasuk daled. They're hungry, the מן mann begins to fall, double portion Friday, doesn't fall on Shabbos, ארון לחם משנה aron lechem mishneh, וכולי וכולי וכולי v'chulei v'chulei v'chulei. Top of page 384. ויאמר ה' אל משה הנני ממטיר לכם לחם מן השמים Vayomer Hashem el Moshe, hineni mamtir lachem lechem min hashamayim. I'm going to make it rain. What's this expression in our vernacular we use that? The rainmaker. The person who could bring in the money is the rainmaker, who could drum up the business, who could network and make it happen. Right? It's raining. When business is good, it's raining. Can you make it rain? Where does it all come from? Our Torah. ויאמר ה' אל משה הנני ממטיר לכם לחם מן השמים ויצא העם ולקטו דבר יום ביומו למען אנסנו הילך בתורתי אם לא Vayomer Hashem el Moshe, hineni mamtir lachem lechem min hashamayim, v'yatzah ha'am v'laketu dvar yom b'yomo, l'ma'an anasenu, hayelech b'sorasi im lo. Hashem says they'll go collect it every day, and this will be a test. And what is the test? הילך בתורתי אם לא Hayelech b'sorasi im lo. Will they walk with my Torah or not? And from here we derive, לא ניתנה תורה אלא לאוכלי המן lo nitnah Torah, ela l'ochlei ha'mann. חז\"ל Chazal say from the fact that Hashem says and characterizes this as a test. So the מכילתא Mechilta says, לא ניתנה תורה אלא לאוכלי המן lo nitnah Torah, ela l'ochlei ha'mann. The Torah was only given to those who eat the מן mann. What's פשט pshat that the Torah was only given to those who eat the מן mann? What does that mean? Torah is only given to those who eat the מן mann. So there's a beautiful קאצקער Kotzker. The קאצקער Kotzker says, the קאצקער Kotzker once called in his שמש shamash, the קאצקער רבה Kotzker Rebbe, ר' מנחם מענדל מקאצק Rav Menachem Mendel of Kotzk, and he said, what's פשט pshat? לא ניתנה תורה אלא לאוכלי המן Lo nitnah Torah, ela l'ochlei ha'mann. The Torah was only given to those who consume, who rely on and trust, who experienced it raining from the heavens, the מן mann. So his שמש shamash said, \"Oh, what it means is, כוונה בזה על אנשים סמוכים על שלחן אחרים ואין עליהם דאגת פרנסה ויכולים הם משום כך לשבת ולעסוק בתורה kavanah b'zeh al anashim smuchim al shulchan acherim, v'ein aleihem da'agas parnasah, v'yecholim heim mishum kach lasheves v'laasok b'Torah. Just like the דור דיעה dor dei'ah, just like the דור המדבר dor ha'midbar, just like those in the desert, had no worries. They had no anxiety. Stock market up, is it down? What's happening with interest rates? Was the trade deal closed with China? They weren't worried, is business good? Is business bad? My clients, my customers. They weren't worried. The מן mann fell literally from heaven. And because of that, they had margin in their brain, they had headspace to be able to learn Torah. They learned Torah with no worry, no fear, no anxiety, because they knew where their food was coming from. They were living a כולל kollel life. The stipend was coming in. It was getting paid, the bank account. The parents were the ATM. It was happening. לעסוק בתורה La'asok b'Torah, with a clear head, they were able to just sit and שטיגן shteigen and study and learn Torah. So that's what he said. The קאצקער Kotzker said, no, you got it all wrong. It's exactly the opposite. The כוונה kavanah of the מכילתא Mechilta is exactly the opposite. Meaning that the people who struggle and worry about their פרנסה parnasah and nevertheless, they're not worried. They have בטחון bitachon Hashem will provide. Why? What does it mean לאוכלי המן l'ochlei ha'mann? The אוכלי המן ochlei ha'mann, it's true, they knew the food descended from heaven. But how much were they allowed to take? For that day. So they knew where they would eat from that day, but they had no idea where they're going to eat from tomorrow. And nevertheless, they sat and diligently dedicated themselves to the study of Torah because Torah is really acquired not by the people who feel such independence they don't need Hashem. Torah is really acquired, said the קאצקער Kotzker, by the people who feel so dependent and nevertheless rely on with בטחון bitachon that Hashem will provide. Even though all I have is enough for today, I'm confident Hashem will give me for tomorrow and therefore I can sit and study Torah. And that's said the קאצקער Kotzker is the פשט pshat is לא ניתנה תורה אלא לאוכלי המן lo nitnah Torah, ela l'ochlei ha'mann. Not the ones with such certitude because they had the מן mann, but lack of certitude because you don't know where you're going to get it from tomorrow, and yet you have בטחון bitachon Hashem will provide. That's what it means to be able to receive the Torah. That is the פשט pshat of the קאצקער Kotzker. But ר' מאיר שפירא מלובלין Rav Meir Shapiro of Lublin, the founder of the דף היומי Daf Yomi, the ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva of the חכמי לובלין Chachmei Lublin said the following. Why is the משל mashal, לא ניתנה תורה lo nitnah Torah, the only ones who really receive the Torah, the Torah was given for those לאוכלי המן l'ochlei ha'mann? So he said the following. He said, what was the character of the מן mann? What was unique about the מן mann? It was the ultimate שלום בית shalom bayis dinner. Why? This one wanted מילכיגס milchigs, this one wanted פליישיגס fleishigs. This one wanted Chinese, and this one wanted Italian. This one wanted שווארמא shawarma, and this one wanted sushi. This one wanted, and you know what Hashem said? No problem, eat. Whatever you wanted to taste like is what it tastes like. Whatever you crave is what it satisfies. There's a lot of fascinating הלכה'דיק halachic discussions about the מן mann. Did they בנץ' bentch after eating the מן mann? ואכלת ושבעת V'achalta v'savata. What ברכה bracha did they say before? Do you have to wait from מילכיגס and פליישיגס milchigs and fleishigs? All about all of how we understand כשרות kashrus and ברכות brachos, how does it apply to the מן mann? is actually a big discussion. But said the לובלינער Lubliner, said ר' מאיר שפירא Rav Meir Shapiro, the following. He says, you know, בַּמָּן יָכֹל לִטְעֹם כָּל חֶשְׁקַת מִשְׁאֲלוֹתָם וְכָל טַעַם אוֹכְלָם b'man yachol lit'om kol cheshkat mishalotam v'chol taam ochlam. You could taste whatever it is that you crave. So מִשּׁוּם כָּךְ נֶהֱנָה כָּל אֶחָד מֵאֲכִילַת מָן לְפִי רְצוֹנוֹ mishum kach neheneh kol echad me'achilat man l'fi r'tzono. הֶעָשִׁיר טָעַם בַּמָּן מִן מִבְחַר הַמַּעֲדַנִּים כְּפִי שֶׁהוּרְגַּל לָהֶם וְהֶעָנִי טָעַם בַּמָּן טַעַם מְזוֹנוֹ הַפָּשׁוּט Ha'ashir taam b'man min mivchar ha'ma'adanim k'fi she'hurgal lahem v'ha'ani taam b'man es taam m'zono ha'pashut. The wealthy had the manna taste like caviar. And the poor had the manna taste like potatoes, bread and water. Whatever your experience previously and whatever you're craving, you were able to find it and you were able to taste it in the manna. Similarly, and so too, said ר' מאיר שפירא Rav Meir Shapiro with Torah. הַיְהוּדִי הַפָּשׁוּט וּבֶן תּוֹרָה, הָאִישׁ הַמּוּרָם מֵעָם, הַגָּאוֹן וְהֶחָסִיד, לוֹמְדִים כֻּלָּם אוֹתוֹ פָּסוּק בַּתּוֹרָה, אוֹתוֹ דַּף גְּמָרָא Hayehudi ha'pashut u'ven Torah, ha'ish ha'muram me'am, ha'gaon v'hechasid, lomdim kulam oso pasuk ba'Torah, oso daf Gemara, וְכָל אֶחָד טוֹעֵם בּוֹ טַעַם אַחֵר לְפִי טַעְמוֹ וַהֲבָנָתוֹ v'chol echad to'em bo taam acher l'fi taamo v'havanaso. Just like the manna tasted like whatever you craved and what you were looking for, so to כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael. From whatever your background and whatever your knowledge base and whatever your perspective and whatever your predisposition, we study the same פסוק pasuk. We learn the same פרשה parsha. And ר' מאיר שפירא Rav Meir Shapiro enabled us all to say we're sitting on the same בלאט blatt. We're learning the same דף גמרא daf Gemara. But we all get something else out of it. We all taste something else in it. We all are able to introduce another חידוש תורה chiddush Torah in it. And that's the פשט pshat he said, לֹא נִתְּנָה תּוֹרָה אֶלָּא לְאוֹכְלֵי הַמָּן lo nitna Torah ela l'ochlei ha'man. The Torah was given to those who had the experience with the manna. And just like the מן man had a diversity of taste based like what the person was looking for, so too Torah, the שבעים פנים לתורה shivim panim la'Torah. This one likes the חסידות chasidus, and this one likes the למדנות lamdanus, and this one likes the ספרדי Sefardi approach, and this one likes the פשט pshat, and this one likes the דרש drash, and this one likes the סוד sod, and this one likes. שבעים פנים לתורה shivim panim la'Torah, there are layers and layers of Torah. It tastes like what we crave and what we're looking for in it. And that's what it means לא ניתנה תורה אלא לאוכלי המן lo nitna Torah ela l'ochlei ha'man. I was going to, I'm not even going to ask you the questions on the עמלק Amalek because we don't have time. But I'm wishing everyone a great day. And בעזרת השם b'ezrat Hashem we'll pick up with בשלח Beshalach next year.
