Transcript
Good morning, בוקר טוב Boker tov to all. Thank you for joining us. As we continue to learn virtually together, taking advantage of the incredible technology, the gift of technology that we have. So glad that we are together and hope that you can hear clearly this morning. This morning we have the privilege of studying פרשת אחרי מות Parshas Acharei Mos together. We're going to try to incorporate some thoughts of the theme of יום הזיכרון Yom HaZikaron. Today is a day that we join Jews around the world in thinking about, commemorating, memorializing those who gave their lives for the founding of the State of Israel and for the continuity, the protection of the State of Israel, victims of terror who died על קידוש השם al kiddush Hashem, and we join Jews around the world in thinking about them. Our פרשה parsha series this year is generously sponsored by Becky and Avi Katz and family in memory of Becky's father, David Grossman, לעילוי נשמת דוד בן מנחם מנש le'ilui nishmas David ben Menachem Manesh. Thank you so much for your generosity, your sponsorship, and your leadership in so many different ways. אחרי מות Acharei Mos is found in the Artscroll חומש Chumash on page 636. As always, it's best to have a חומש chumash with you to be able to follow along, preferably even a מקראות גדולות Mikraos Gedolos, as we'll see some of the מפרשים meforshim inside together today. If not, it's no problem. You can listen carefully, and we will try to explain.So our פרשה parsha begins, וידבר ה' אל משה Vayedaber Hashem el Moshe, אחרי מות שני בני אהרן בקרבתם לפני ה' וימותו acharei mos shnei bnei Aharon b'karvasam lifnei Hashem vayamusu. The פרשה parsha begins by referencing what had happened recently. The tragic premature death of נדב ואביהוא Nadav v'Avihu. Aharon had suffered a horrific loss on what should have been the happiest day of his life, the inauguration of the משכן Mishkan, opening day of his serving as the כהן גדול Kohen Gadol. Instead, he tragically lost his two sons inexplicably, so much so the text is absent, and our commentaries debate exactly what they did wrong. And here we introduce our new פרשה parsha, and the story of Aharon's role in leading the Yom Kippur service with this reference to אחרי מות שני בני אהרן acharei mos shnei bnei Aharon, after the death of the two sons of Aharon. We're not going to get into it, but I leave it to you or I challenge you to think about, why does our פרשה parsha not mention their name? Why are their names not deserved to be acknowledged? They're simply known here as אחרי מות שני בני אהרן acharei mos shnei bnei Aharon, after the death of Aharon's two sons. Why not mention them by name? But moving on to the next פסוק pasuk. ויאמר ה' אל משה דבר אל אהרן אחיך Vayomer Hashem el Moshe daber el Aharon achicha, speak to your brother, ואל יבוא בכל עת אל הקדש מבית לפרכת ve'al yavo bechol eis el hakodesh mibeis laparoches. You cannot come casually. You cannot come whenever you crave to the קודש Kodesh, אל פני הכפרת אשר על הארן ולא ימות כי בענן אראה על הכפרת el pnei hakapores asher al ha'aron velo yamut ki be'anan era'eh al hakapores. You're not allowed to just approach whenever you want. You can't approach the bench without being summoned. Similarly here, it's only when there is a cloud that will appear that Aharon will know he is eligible to approach. Otherwise, he cannot come close. He cannot come close. Why? בזאת יבוא Bezos yavo. רש\"י Rashi says, ואף זו לא בכל עת כי אם ביום הכיפורים ve'af zu lo bechol eis ki im beYom Kippurim. And even this is not talking about all throughout the year. We're talking about the holiest person, the holiest place, and the holiest day of the year, only then can he approach. It's a very interesting instruction. We're going to examine it more closely in one moment, but I want to first ask a simple question. God speaks to Moshe and he says דבר אל אהרן daber el Aharon, speak to your brother Aharon. Only here, he doesn't just say speak to your brother Aharon, he says speak to your brother Aharon, אחיך achicha, your brother. The text could have simply said, speak to Aharon. If by אחרי מות acharei mos you don't know that Aharon and Moshe are brothers, you have not been paying careful attention. We all know that Aharon and Moshe are brothers. So why not simply say, Hey Moshe, speak to Aharon and tell him this rule. You can't approach at will, at whim. You can't approach casually. You have to be invited. Why is it introduced specifically as אהרן אחיך Aharon achicha here?This question is asked by רבי ישראל מאיר דרוק Revi Yisrael Meir Druk in his wonderful sefer איש תמיד Ish Tamid on the פרשה parsha. I've been sharing insights with you from it recently. He was kind enough to give me a set with a beautiful inscription. Great ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva in ירושלים עיר הקודש Yerushalayim Ir HaKodesh. And he asks this question, why אהרן אחיך Aharon achicha here? And he asks it not just here. He points to several places throughout Torah and he says, sometimes Aharon is simply identified as Aharon. Other times, Aharon is identified as אהרן אחיך Aharon achicha. For example, when Aharon hesitates and refuses to go, Hashem tells him הלא אהרן אחיך הלוי ידעתי כי דבר ידבר הוא וגם הנה הוא יוצא לקראתך וראך ושמח בלבו Halo Aharon achicha haLevi yadati ki daber yedaber hu vegam hinei hu yotzei likrascha v'raacha v'samach b'libo. He's going out with you. You don't have to worry. Aharon, your brother. We have similarly, ראה נתתיך אלהים לפרעה ואהרן אחיך יהיה נביאך rei nasaticha Elokim l'Pharaoh v'Aharon achicha yihyeh neviecha. והלבשת אתם את אהרן אחיך v'hilbashta osam es Aharon achicha. קח את המטה והקהל את העדה אתה ואהרן אחיך kach es hamateh v'hakhel es ha'eidah ata v'Aharon achicha, the story of the Mei Merivah when Moshe hits the rock instead of speaking, the instruction is to take his staff, you and Aharon, your brother. ומת בהר אשר אתה עלה שמה והאסף אל עמיך כאשר מת אהרן אחיך u'mus bahar asher ata oleh shama v'he'asef el amecha ka'asher meis Aharon achicha. You will ascend the mountain and you will die there just like your Aharon, your brother. So Revi Yisrael Meir Druk wonders, why sometimes is Aharon identified simply as Aharon? And by now we all know who he is, his pedigree. And other times he is identified specifically as Aharon, אחיך achicha.He gives a very interesting answer. First, he references the אור החיים הקדוש Or HaChaim HaKadosh. And the אור החיים הקדוש Or HaChaim HaKadosh says the following. Says the following. The אור החיים Or HaChaim quotes a מדרש Midrash here. The פסוק pasuk says דבר אל אהרן daber el Aharon, speak to your brother, שאמרתי לך she'amarti lecha, I told you, הלא אהרן אחיך הלוי וראך ושמח בלבו Halo Aharon achicha haLevi v'raacha v'samach b'libo. The פסוק pasuk says that your Aharon, your brother, is the Levi. I know he speaks readily, and he's going out to meet you and he'll be happy to see you. When Moshe demurs, when he hesitates, when he feels inadequate to be able to go be the leader, to redeem the Jewish people, Hashem reassures him and says, don't worry, you got Aharon. So what's going on? Why is the מדרש Midrash saying that here? ובאור החיים שלמדנו זה מיתור תיבת אחיך, ולזה דרש אחיך שאמרתי לך הלא אהרן אחיך הלוי, והכוונה כי יפחידוהו שלא יארע לו כמו שארע לבניו, והצד שממנו יתחזק ואמר לו כי זהו הצד שהוא אחיו, אח ונכון ונאמן U'biur haOr HaChaim shelamadnu zeh miyitur teivas achicha, v'lezeh darash achicha she'amarti lecha halo Aharon achicha haLevi, v'hakavanah ki yafchiduhu shelo ye'era lo kemo she'eira l'vanav v'hatzad shemimenu yischayek v'amar lo ki zehu hatzad shehu achiv, ach v'nachon v'ne'eman. Why is Moshe has to instruct Aharon, go, and you're going into the קודש הקדשים Kodesh HaKodashim? It's a very risky proposition. As the כהן גדול Kohen Gadol, you may not walk out alive. Aharon may worry. Look what happened to Aharon's sons, my two nephews. They acted, they entered inappropriately, without being invited. And what was the consequence? What was the result? They died tragically. What about my brother? So what drove Moshe's concern and worry was the notion it was his brother, and therefore he has to give this instruction, לא יבוא, אל יבוא בכל עת אל הקודש lo yavo, al yavo bechol eis el hakodesh. He's speaking as אהרן אחיך Aharon achicha as a brother, with brotherly love, with brotherly concern, with a brotherly focus. That's אחיך achicha. The fact that Aharon is his brother is what is offering that concern, and that's what Torah is telling us. Moshe is giving Aharon that warning, you can't simply enter whenever you want. But Rav Druk gives an alternative פשט pshat, a very fascinating פשט pshat. And it's at length, I'm just going to summarize it for you. But Rav Druk basically says the following, not only in this פסוק pasuk and in this circumstance, but applies it every time Aharon is identified not simply as Aharon. Applies it every time Aharon is identified as אהרן אחיך Aharon achicha. And he basically says the following. Aharon and Moshe had an extraordinary quality, and that quality has a Yiddish term today, and that term is the capacity to פארגין fargin another. פארגין Fargin means to be able to share in the joy, to make room for the success, the triumph, the happiness, the accomplishment, the achievement, the prominence, the esteem, the admiration of another. We live in a time that people struggle to פארגין fargin another, to be able to share in the happiness or the joy of another. You know, the ספר ארחות מוסר sefer Orchos Mussar points out that the quality of נושא בעול עם חברו nosei b'ol im chaveiro, one of the ways in which Torah is acquired, the משנה פרקי אבות Mishnah Pirkei Avos tells us, is that a Torah personality has to cultivate within themselves the ability to be נושא בעול nosei b'ol, to feel for another. We've spoken about this at length in other contexts, and normally we think about נושא בעול nosei b'ol, to feel for another, in the sense of feeling the pain of another, seeking to relieve the pain, to carry the burden so it's lighter for the other. And we've given classes on practical examples of being נושא בעול nosei b'ol in a time of need, in a time of struggle, how can we help those? But the ספר ארחות מוסר sefer Orchos Mussar and many others point out that we're mistaken if we think נושא בעול nosei b'ol, the capacity to feel for another, is limited to feeling pain. It's a very Jewish and a very Torah concept to also be able to feel the success, the happiness, the joy of another. To a degree, it's easier to feel the pain of another than the happiness of another, the אלתר מקלם Alter of Kelm points out. Why? Because when you're going through suffering or pain, when you're going through an acute crisis, of course, I'm so grateful I'm not going through it. I'm so happy that that's not affecting me, that it's not me. So I channel my happiness that it's not me into reaching out to help you. But when you're having joy, happiness, success, when you're still getting a paycheck, when you're getting נחת nachas from your children, when there's שלום shalom in your בית bayis, when everything's going well, so then it's hard because I say, why them, not me? I deserve that happiness, I deserve that joy. I deserve that שמחה simcha, I deserve that windfall. Why them and not me? It's harder to be נושא בעול בשמחה עם חברו nosei b'ol b'simcha im chaveiro. It's harder to feel for another when it means to participate or partake in their joy than it does even in their in their hardship. נושא בעול עם חברו Nosei b'ol im chaveiro, that is משה רבנו Moshe Rabbeinu's wonderful quality. He exhibits it as a shepherd with the sheep. It's why Moshe, it's why God recruits him to be the quintessential paradigmatic leader of the Jewish people in perpetuity, but it's also something very special that Moshe and Aharon share with one another, the ability to be נושא בעול בשמחת חברו nosei b'ol b'simchas chaveiro. Aharon is older than Moshe. And Moshe is deemed greater. One of the 13 principles of our faith is to subscribe to the uniqueness of Moshe as the אב הנביאים Av HaNevi'im. He's categorically different than all other prophets. He ultimately succeeds, exceeds Aharon in his greatness. And yet, Aharon has no feelings of jealousy or envy. Aharon has no ego or arrogance. He's able to share in the joy and the success of his younger brother Moshe. And Moshe too. Moshe, as much as he is successful, he's limited. And says Rav Druk, that's what's going on in our פרשה parsha. Because after all, Moshe says, one second, Aharon's the כהן גדול Kohen Gadol, but I'm greater than Aharon, and I'm not allowed to go into the קודש הקדשים Kodesh HaKodashim. Only Aharon is. So in this moment, when Moshe is reminding Aharon about what it takes to enter the Holy of Holies, it is introduced specifically as Aharon, אחיך achicha. Because Moshe had no jealousy. Moshe had no competitiveness. Moshe didn't look and say, why is Aharon allowed to enter and I'm not? Doesn't Aharon know the 13 principles of faith of the רמב\"ם Rambam? Doesn't he know I'm the אב הנביאים Av HaNevi'im? Why is he allowed to enter and I am not? I should be allowed to enter. Moshe had no such thought, no such feeling. He simply experienced the joy of the success of Aharon, his position of prominence and distinction that Aharon was the כהן גדול Kohen Gadol who was allowed to enter the קודש הקדשים Kodesh HaKodashim. We don't have time to develop this fully now, but this is replete in מדרשים Midrashim. The pasuk in Tehillim tells us that כשמן הטוב על הראש ירד על זקן, זקן אהרן keshemen hatov al harosh yored al zakan, zakan Aharon, like the fine oil on the head runs down on the beard, the beard of Aharon. The מדרש Midrash wonders in שיר השירים רבה Shir HaShirim Rabbah, why do I have to be told it runs down the beard, the beard of Aharon? If it runs down the beard, whose other beard is it running down? This is the anointing oil that's elevating Aharon to that position of distinction. And the מדרש Midrash tells us, כך אמר הקדוש ברוך הוא למשה kach amar Hakadosh Baruch Hu l'Moshe. Moshe, כשם שמורה ילך כך ימורה על אחיך, והוא לא עשה כן, אלא וילך משה ואהרן ויעשו את כל ישראל kesheim shemora yelech kach yemora al achicha, v'hu lo asah kein, ela vayelech Moshe v'Aharon v'ya'asu es kol Yisrael, and so on. Says the מדרש Midrash, שהיה שמח זה בגדולתו של זה וזה בגדולתו של זה shehayah same'ach zeh b'gedulaso shel zeh v'zeh b'gedulaso shel zeh. The beard, when it went down Aharon's, when the oil went down Aharon's beard, it was כאילו ke'ilu it was as if it was on Moshe's beard. Moshe took such joy. He shared in the happiness, the success of Aharon. Aharon shared in the happiness and the success of Moshe. We see it similarly in the מדרש Midrash on this פסוק pasuk that we alluded to earlier. When Hashem tells them הלא אהרן אחיך הלוי halo Aharon achicha haLevi, your brother Aharon, וראך ושמח בלבו v'raacha v'samach b'libo, he's gonna see you and he's gonna go out so happy to see you. The מדרש Midrash says אמר רבי שמעון בן יוחאי amar Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, הלב ששמח בגדולת אחיו יבוא וישמח וילבש אורים ותומים halev sh'samach b'gedulas achiv yavo v'yismach v'yilbash Urim v'Tumim. It's in the merit that Aharon shared in the success of his younger brother Moshe that earned him the position of כהן גדול Kohen Gadol and that enabled him to wear the אורים ותומים Urim v'Tumim. That's the word, the capacity to פארגין fargin another, to share in the joy, the happiness, to not be competitive, to not ask, why not me, I deserve more, I deserve better, but rather to see what someone else is having, not only to share in נושא בעול nosei b'ol in the pain and suffering and struggle of the other and seek to relieve it and make it lighter, but to share in the success and the joy and the happiness and the achievement of the other and to be able to simply be happy for another person. And that's why, suggests Rav Yisrael Meir Druk over here, that specifically the instruction to Aharon to enter the holy was preceded by אהרן אחיך Aharon achicha. Moshe, there was no competitiveness. It didn't matter that Moshe was greater. For this, he was just simply happy for Aharon.Good. בזאת יבוא אהרן Bezos yavo Aharon. בזאת Bezos. What does it mean בזאת bezos? So there are several interpretations that we know are famous. One, on of course our פרשה parsha, the majority of our פרשה parsha is dealing with the laws of יום כיפור Yom Kippur, the service of יום כיפור Yom Kippur. Today we experience יום כיפור Yom Kippur differently. None of us know how we're going to experience יום כיפור Yom Kippur this year. We hope that we'll be back together, led by a חזן chazan hearing דרשות drashos, moved, elevated, and enriched together. We hope and we pray, please God, by then and much sooner. But in the time of the בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash, יום כיפור Yom Kippur was essentially and primarily led by the כהן גדול Kohen Gadol, rendering the rest of כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael essentially spectators to יום כיפור Yom Kippur. And the כהן גדול Kohen Gadol was the main protagonist. He was the centerpiece of the יום כיפור Yom Kippur service. That is the majority of our פרשה parsha. So בזאת bezos, which in ונתנה תוקף Unesaneh Tokef, which is arguably the most moving and stirring part of our liturgy, both on יום כיפור Yom Kippur and ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah, in ונתנה תוקף Unesaneh Tokef, we culminate, we declare, ותשובה ותפלה וצדקה מעבירין את רע הגזרה u'teshuvah u'tefillah u'tzedakah ma'avirin es ro'a hagezeirah. If we want to emerge from יום כיפור Yom Kippur successful and destined for a year of blessing and goodness, then what we need to do, the behavior that will yield that is תשובה teshuvah, introspection, תפילה tefillah, heartfelt davening, צדקה tzedakah, generosity with our resources. On top of those words in the מחזור machzor, תשובה, תפילה וצדקה teshuvah, tefillah, v'tzedakah, what do you see on top of those words? צום, קול, ממון Som, kol, mamon. Fasting, the sound, the voice of תפילה tefillah, of prayer, and money, what we do with our money, our capacity to share our money shows everything about how where we know that money comes from. The סידור siddur snippet, we're learning about ויברך דוד Vayivarech David right now. And the אריז\"ל Arizal had a מנהג minhag, the משנה ברורה Mishnah Berurah quotes, when we get up to the words העשר והכבוד מלפניך ha'osher v'hakavod milfanecha in ויברך דוד Vayivarech David at the end of פסוקי דזמרא Pesukei D'Zimra, there is a מנהג minhag to give צדקה tzedakah. Why do we give צדקה tzedakah specifically there? So when we're up to that in סידור siddur snippets today or tomorrow, we'll give several reasons, but one of which, the one that resonates deeply for me, is the whole paragraph of ויברך דוד Vayivarech David is דוד המלך David HaMelech saying, all the wealth and all the success and the battles I've fought and the material possessions I've accumulated and amassed, לך ה' הגדלה Lecha Hashem hagedulah, it all comes from you. העשר והכבוד מלפניך Ha'osher v'hakavod milfanecha, the wealth and the honor, they're from you. So you know, that's lip service. To look at your house and your car and your portfolio and your health and your success and say, Hashem, that's all you, it's lip service until you demonstrate that you really believe it's from Hashem. So when you stop and you give צדקה tzedakah, when you say העשר והכבוד מלפניך ha'osher v'hakavod milfanecha, Hashem, you know my wallet, the money in my pocket, whatever I have, really, it's from you. It's all from you. I'm demonstrating it's from you by my willingness to share it right now with others, העשר והכבוד מלפניך ha'osher v'hakavod milfanecha. So תשובה, תפילה, צדקה teshuvah, tefillah, tzedakah, צום, קול, וממון som, kol, u'mamon. And many point out, I'm not a huge גמטריא gematria guy, but this one's a famous one. צום, קול, וממון Som, kol, v'mamon are each 136, times three is 408, the same גמטריא gematria as זאת zos. And therefore what the פסוק pasuk is telling us is, בזאת יבוא אהרן אל הקודש bezos yavo aharon el hakodesh. If you want to come into the קודש Kodesh, you want to come into יום כיפור Yom Kippur, you want to succeed in יום כיפור Yom Kippur, it has to be בזאת bezos, the גמטריא gematria 408, three times צום, קול, וממון som, kol, u'mamon, you have to come in with that attitude, you have to come in with that mentality, you have to come in with that behavior in order to succeed, in order to be able to emerge. The אמרי חיים Imrei Chaim, you knew we'd get to an אמרי חיים Imrei Chaim, the heilege Vizhnitzer Rebbe, the אמרי חיים Imrei Chaim says differently. ואל יבוא בכל עת אל הקודש Ve'al yavo bechol eis el hakodesh, don't worry, he quotes that one also, but then he offers another. ואל יבוא בכל עת אל הקודש Ve'al yavo bechol eis el hakodesh, אל יבוא בכל עת al yavo bechol eis, you cannot enter at any time is the גמטריא gematria בעצבות b'atzvus. You cannot enter holiness with sadness. You cannot enter holiness. The גמטריא gematria of אל יבוא בכל עת al yavo bechol eis is בעצבות b'atzvus. You can't find holiness if you're sad. The prerequisite to being holy, to being elevated, to being enriched, to being spiritual, is to be happy. The sad, somber, depressed, despondent person can't find holiness. In order to strive, to reach, in order to find holiness, it has to be based and founded and built on happiness. That's what the פסוק pasuk says, כי בשמחה תצאון ki b'simcha setzeiyun. You know how you get out of whatever predicament you're in? You know how you get out of that צער tzar? We're in this narrow place, we're restricted to our homes, we're fearful of what will be, and how do you emerge? How do you escape? How do you elevate and transcend above that hardship, that challenging time? It's כי בשמחה תצאון ki b'simcha setzeiyun, with a sense of שמחה simcha. So אל יבוא בכל עת אל הקודש al yavo bechol eis el hakodesh. אל יבוא בכל עת Al yavo bechol eis, עצבות atzvus, בעצבות b'atzvus. You cannot enter with עצבות atzvus, with sadness, into קודש kodesh. If you're trying to get into a place of holiness, trying to have more כוונה kavanna and davening, you're trying to be elevated in your personal behavior and conduct and your speech and your thought and your action and your interactions with others, then you need to first be happy. Put a smile on your face. Smile. Smiling is contagious. Smiling releases dopamine. Smiling is what Hashem wants. תחת אשר לא עבדת את ה' אלהיך בשמחה ובטוב לבב Tachas asher lo avadta es Hashem Elokecha b'simcha u'vetuv levav. We know the פסוק pasuk tells us, the תוכחה tochacha, the horrific consequence Jewish people face is a result of תחת אשר לא עבדת בשמחה tachas asher lo avadta b'simcha, because we don't have שמחה simcha. כי בשמחה תצאון Ki b'simcha setzeiyun. You don't feel like it? Don't wait to be happy to smile. Smile and it will make you happy. אל יבוא בכל עת Al yavo bechol eis, בעצבות b'atzvus. You cannot enter any meaningful relationship in your life. You cannot enter קודש kodesh, holiness in your life, with a sense of עצבות atzvus, with a sense of with a sense of sadness. He then offers another פשט pshat. He says the גמטריא gematria of בזאת bezos is גאוה ga'avah, which is arrogance. You cannot enter holiness, you cannot enter meaningful relationships with arrogance, with ego. You have to put your ego aside, you have to be able to submit to the other, make space and room for the other. That is a prerequisite to a meaningful and to a happy relationship.But I want to end our study of the first פסוק pasuk, aren't you impressed so far, 20 minutes on the opening פסוק pasuk, with the beautiful insight of רב חיים שמואלביץ' Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz. רב חיים שמואלביץ' Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz wonders, what do you mean, אל יבוא בכל עת אל הקודש al yavo bechol eis el hakodesh? Asks רב חיים שמואלביץ' Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz, the great משגיח Mashgiach of the מיר Mir, the ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva of the מיר Mir, he wonders, why? Why is it that Aharon can't enter any time that he wants? And רש\"י Rashi tells us the reason Aharon can't enter at will is because the שכינה Shechinah, the divine presence, dwells there. Okay, good. But Aharon is the holy, Aharon is the כהן גדול Kohen Gadol. If anyone is eligible, if anyone is positioned to be able to enter, it's Aharon. So why can't he enter? What is the, what is the meaning behind this מצוה mitzva, behind this instruction or this warning that Aharon, even after he purifies himself for seven days, cannot enter without being summoned, without being invited? And listen to what he writes, רב חיים שמואלביץ' Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz, מאמר תש\"ל\"א maamar taf shin lamed aleph. He says the following, ההרגל הוא האויב הגדול של כל רגש קדושה והתרוממות Hahergel hu ha'oyev hagadol shel kol regesh kedusha v'hisromemus. You know what the enemy of holiness is? Familiarity. Familiarity, comfort, casualness is the enemy, the אויב הגדול oyev hagadol, of any רגש regesh, of any feeling of holiness or התרוממות hisromemus, of being elevated. You know, the first time you visit the כותל Kosel, the כותל Kosel's overwhelming, the sight of הר הבית Har HaBayis. But what happens when you live opposite and you wake up to see it every day? It's a challenge. It's hard. Familiarity robs us of the excitement, the joy, the passion, the enthusiasm. Familiarity breeds contempt, we know. Mixing things up and interspersing and keeping things fresh is what allows us to be able to bring a certain level of enthusiasm. And that's what he says. מי לנו גדול מאהרן הכהן קודש קדשים ה' שהעיד עליו Mi lanu gadol mei'Aharon haKohen kodesh kadoshim Hashem she'he'id alav. He has to separate seven days before he can be entered. אל יבוא בכל עת אל הקודש שגילוי שכינה שם יזהר שלא ירגיל לבוא al yavo bechol eis el hakodesh shegilui shechina sham yizaher shelo yargeil lavo. What's going on here, and he quotes many other sources in a really beautiful insight by רב חיים שמואלביץ' Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz. I don't want to dwell too much, I want to move on. But he says what's going on, this is a an instruction for all of us, that familiarity breeds contempt, and that the antidote to familiarity is אל יבוא בכל עת אל הקודש al yavo bechol eis el hakodesh. To keep things fresh, to keep things real, to introduce novelty and newness and innovation, to take a break and come back, that is the source of holiness. Without it, you can't have holiness. And this is a message for us. It's a message about our davening and keeping it fresh, about our learning and keeping it fresh. I spoke the other night about, I gave a talk on שלום בית shalom bayis when you can't leave the בית bayis, and we talked about this insight of רב חיים שמואלביץ' Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz, because that's a danger. We're living on top of one another 24/7, newlyweds to empty nesters. We're on top of one another 24/7. This is the ultimate incubator of familiarity. And חס ושלום chas v'shalom, God forbid, it should breed a contempt that there is no personal space, that we can't ever retreat, that there are no boundaries, that there's too much familiarity. רב חיים שמואלביץ' Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz is right if we want קדושה kedusha to our קידושין kedushin, holiness within our marriage, then we need to be able to navigate and negotiate how to have a sense of closeness without breeding a familiarity which would undermine that sense of closeness.Okay, let's move on. So here we have the introduction to the story of יום כיפור Yom Kippur. בזאת יבוא אהרן Bezos yavo Aharon אל הקודש el hakodesh. How does he enter? He enters בפר בן בקר לחטאת ואיל לעלה b'par ben bakar l'chatas v'ayil l'olah. He comes with a young bull for a sin offering, a ram for an elevation offering. And then the Torah goes on and it tells us, פסוק ז pasuk zayin, skip ahead. ולקח את שני השעירם והעמיד אתם לפני ה' פתח אהל מועד V'lakach es shnei hasse'irim v'he'emid osam lifnei Hashem pesach Ohel Moed. He takes two goats. And these two goats, how are they identified? ונתן אהרן על שני השעירם גרלות גורל אחד לה' וגורל אחד לעזאזל V'nasan Aharon al shnei hasse'irim goralos, goral echad laHashem v'goral echad laAzazel. One is for Hashem, and the other is for עזאזל Azazel, one is for God. And he goes through this very peculiar ceremony. He draws lots that distinguish which of these goats that are exactly identical, one of them is dedicated to Hashem, will be offered as a sacrifice, and the other will, don't tell PETA, but be pushed off a cliff. And again, we feel for animals, we have laws that govern our sensitivity and love of animals, but the role of animals within our service and personal growth, they serve as the leather of our couch and our shoes and our belt and the steak that we eat and the קרבנות karbanos that we offer, and even this in this service serve. So it would be a waste and it would be cruel if we didn't understand what it's about and what we're meant to get out of it. So what's really going on over here? You're pushing an animal off a cliff? And who is this עזאזל Azazel? עזאזל Azazel. What is this name עזאזל Azazel? So the כהן גדול Kohen Gadol takes these two goats and stands them before Hashem and places these lots upon them. One will be offered and one will be pushed off the cliff. Why is it called עזאזל Azazel? The goat to God, I get, לה' LaHashem, we understand. We know Hashem. We're not too familiar with Hashem. We don't have a familiarity or a casual relationship. We have a sense of awe of Hashem, but we've heard of Hashem, we know Hashem. What is this עזאזל Azazel that the Torah here is referring to, which is so critical to understand this whole section of our פרשה parsha, and frankly, it's critical to be able to experience יום כיפור Yom Kippur fully. So make notes for יום כיפור Yom Kippur. Why is it called עזאזל Azazel?So the אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra and the רמב\"ן Ramban on our פרשה parsha both reference the גמרא Gemara in יומא Yuma on דף ס\"ז עמוד ב' daf samech zayin amud beis. The גמרא Gemara there tells us, תנא דבי רבי ישמעאל עזאזל שמכפר על מעשה עוזא ועזאל Tanna d'bei Rebi Yishmael, Azazel shemechaper al ma'aseh Uza v'Aza'el. עזאזל Azazel is a combination of two names. עזאזל Azazel is מכפר mechaper. Pushing this goat off the cliff atones for the act of the fallen angels עוזא ועזאל Uza v'Aza'el. Oh, well that makes it much better. That clears it up for us. Only it doesn't. Who are עוזא ועזאל Uza v'Aza'el? What is their מעשה ma'aseh? What is the episode they went through? Why do they need atonement? And how does this atone for their mistake? Again, many of you, many of us have lived through many יום כיפור Yom Kippurim, and we read the עבודה avodah in our מחזור machzor and we read פרשת אחרי מות Parshas Acharei Mos, but we don't begin to understand what the significance or symbolism is here, and it's so critical to understand. Who are these angels, what happened to them? So where both the פרשה parsha and even the גמרא Gemara in יומא Yuma leave off, the זוהר Zohar פרשת בלק Parshas Balak picks up. The זוהר Zohar on פרשת בלק Parshas Balak tells us that when the רבונו של עולם Ribbono Shel Olam, when the Almighty created the world, nobody objected to the introduction of the trees and the clouds and the ocean and the sun and the moon. No angels, no one objected to any of the creations within nature. They're beautiful. What a great background. What a great backdrop. But when man was created, when הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu proposed man, and remember, he consulted the angels, נעשה אדם בצלמנו na'aseh adam b'tzalmeinu, נעשה na'aseh in the plural, the angels took that invitation to an opinion and they staunchly objected. And they said, מה אנוש כי תזכרנו mah enosh ki sizkerenu, what is man that you're mindful of him? ובן אדם U'ven adam, and the son of man that you visit him, a פסוק pasuk in תהלים פרק ח' פסוק ה' Tehillim, perek ches, pasuk hei. Man is frail and fallible and imperfect. Why is he worthy of your creation and attention? The angels looked at God and they said, you know, the rivers and the streams, the Grand Canyon, the Swiss Alps, they're magnificent. We got it. Thanks for creating them. But this pathetic, reject, נעבעך nebech, man, he's filled with mistakes and temptation. He's inadequate and unworthy. He's frail, he's fallible. Why in the world are you creating man? Hashem said, שכויח Shkoyach, thanks for the input, but it's not really a committee. And he went forward and created man nonetheless. And when man made that mistake, when אדם וחווה Adam v'Chava made the mistake in גן עדן Gan Eden that got them expelled, and yet they obtained a pardon, two angels objected. They came to הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu and they said, what do you mean you're giving him a pardon? What do you mean you've expelled him but you're giving him a second chance and a continuity of this experiment called humanity? עוזא ועזאל Uza v'Aza'el approached Hashem and said, we were right. Man is frail and fallible and wrong. And had Hashem looked at the two of them, and he said to these angels, had you been with them, you would have sinned equally. And he cast them down from their high estate in heaven onto the earth. He looked at עוזא ועזאל Uza v'Aza'el, and he said, had you been tempted, had you been had you been solicited, had you been recruited, you would have made the same mistake. And with that, he took these two angels and he threw them down from the heavenly abode down here to earth. Where did they go? Where did they go when he threw them down? עד כאן הזוהר Adkan the Zohar. The זוהר Zohar gives us the greater background. עזאזל מכפר על המעשה של עוזא ועזאל Azazel mechaper for the ma'aseh of Uza and Aza'el. Who are עוזא ועזאל Uza and Aza'el? These two angels who were the prosecutors against us, who objected to our creation and then threw it in Hashem's face and said, told you so, when we made our mistake. Hashem says, you would have done worse. And he threw them down to earth. Where did they go? עד כאן Adkan. Here the זוהר Zohar leaves off.Says the אישביצער רבי Ishbitzer Rebbe in his בית יעקב Beis Yaakov, the מי השלוח Mei Hashiloach, the great אישביצער רבי Ishbitzer Rebbe in his בית יעקב Beis Yaakov. He says, you know where they went? עוזא ועזאל Uza v'Aza'el? My dearest friends, they went into each one of us. Their voice of prosecution, their voice of indictment, their voice of objection, מה אנוש כי תזכרנו mah enosh ki sizkerenu, man is pathetic and unworthy and incapable and inferior and inadequate and frail and infirm and fallible. Man is insignificant and inconsequential. Those voices are in us and they continue to haunt us. And says the אישביצער רבי Ishbitzer Rebbe, on יום כיפור Yom Kippur, on the holiest day of the year, on the time designated for a fresh start and a new beginning, you know what we do with that voice of עזאזל Azazel of עוזא ועזאל Uza v'Aza'el that are inside us? We thrust them and throw them off a cliff. And we say, voices of negativity, voices of unworthiness, verses of being incapable, we're throwing you off a cliff, we're getting rid of you. You see, the philosophy of the angel עזאזל Azazel has crept into our psyche, it rings in our ears. It tells us we are imperfect and we have shortcomings and deficiencies. We're not the smartest or the best looking or the most creative or the most capable, and therefore we underachieve. So we take that voice that causes us to underachieve and what do we do with it? We throw it off a cliff. Listen to the words of the מי השילוח Mei Hashiloach Ishbitzer. והנה זה הכוח צפון בלב אדם שמקטרג על הויתו וממילא זה הכוח ירצה להביא את האדם לאבדון סהו V'hinei, zeh ha'koach tzofun b'lev ha'adam, she'mekatreg al hav'yaso, u'memayla zeh ha'koach yirtzeh l'havi es ha'adam l'avdon sohu. This voice is מקטרג mekatreg, it tries to bring us down. You know, this is particularly true. I've been reading articles of people who have been acting out. And I've been talking to חברים chaveirim who were בני עליה bnei aliyah, who outside of the quarantine before this all struck, were striving and reaching and aspiring. And then all of a sudden we've been knocked out of our routine and our sense of normalcy, cast into roles that we're uncomfortable with and that are difficult and that are are inconvenient. We have been broken out of the platform that helps propel us forward. And therefore people are acting out on the internet with what they're looking and what they're doing. They're not דאווענען davening the way they could, learning the way they could, behaving the way they could. They've stopped exercising, they're overeating. You've seen the countless memes and gifs supporting that. And that voice inside us that says I can't, and I give up, and I'm not capable, and I can't grow in this environment.Comes along the עבודה avodah of יום כיפור Yom Kippur, we take עזא ועזאל Aza v'Azael. We take this עזאזל Azazel, the combination of these two angels represented by this goat, and we throw it off a cliff. We are capable. We can do it. We can strive, we can reach, we can achieve. We should not give up on ourselves. We should not feel that we can't do it. Push that voice off a cliff. Get rid of it. Says the בית יעקב Beis Yaakov, says the Ishbitzer, we'll end with this and move on. He says, you know, when you say the וידוי vidui on יום כיפור Yom Kippur, you clap the על חטא al cheit which is not in our פרשה parsha, but our modern day observance of יום כיפור Yom Kippur, you might say, what do you mean? The whole וידוי vidui testifies to the עוזא ועזאל Uza v'Azael are right. I did this wrong and that wrong and the other thing wrong. I'm pathetic, I'm a נבך nebach, I'm a reject. No, it's saying the opposite. The reason I clap על חטא al cheit and say the וידוי vidui is I'm saying, look how much what I does matters. Look how what I do has an impact. It has cosmic implications. And therefore I have to apologize, I have to atone, I have to stand up and be accountable. Why? Not because I'm insignificant, but specifically the opposite, because of just how significant I am. That voice that says you're insignificant, you're inconsequential, you're inferior, that's the voice of these angels that השם Hashem threw down to earth. He put them in us, and we are supposed to purge them and cast them from us. We throw those voices off of a cliff. That is what is going on here in this entire עבודה avodah, so critically important.Let's keep going. Skip ahead, פסוק כ״ד pasuk kaf daled. פסוק כ״ד Pasuk kaf daled. Oh. Page 642 if you're in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash. We're continuing in this entire episode of the עבודה avodah. The incense service, the lots, the confession, the he-goats, the removal of the shovel and the ladle. So פסוק כ״ד pasuk kaf daled tells us, ורחץ את בשרו במים במקום קדוש ולבש את בגדיו ויצא ועשה את עלתו ואת עלת העם וכפר בעדו ובעד העם v'rachatz es b'saro ba'mayim b'makom kadosh, v'lavash es b'gadav v'yatza v'asa es olaso v'es olas ha'am v'chiper ba'ado u'va'ad ha'am. What happens now? אהרן Aharon, the כהן גדול kohen gadol who succeed him, immersed themselves in the water, where? במקום קדוש B'makom kadosh, in a holy place. ולבש את בגדיו V'lavash es b'gadav and they change their clothing. We know that this is the ultimate fashion show of the year. The כהן גדול kohen gadol is constantly immersing, coming out, washing, changing, and he's wearing not his ordinary garments and vestments, but rather the ones specifically designated for יום כיפור Yom Kippur. He goes out, ויצא v'yatza, ויעשה את עולתו v'ya'aseh es olaso, he performs the קרבן עולה korban olah, עולת העם olas ha'am, וכפר v'chiper, he achieves atonement, בעדו ובעד העם ba'ado u'va'ad ha'am, on his own and on behalf of his people. Elsewhere earlier it said בעדו ובעד ביתו ba'ado u'va'ad beiso. And in fact, we have this in our liturgy. In the עבודה avodah we read in מוסף musaf on יום כיפור Yom Kippur, בעדו ובעד ביתו ובעד העם ba'ado u'va'ad beiso u'va'ad ha'am. And I also spoke about this in the שיעור shiur the other night. He is included in his family, and they are included in the people. So why does the פסוק pasuk waste space and time to tell us he achieves atonement on behalf of himself and on behalf of his family and on behalf of the people? Just say he achieves atonement on behalf of the people, and behalf of the people includes the family and includes him. But you see from here a critically important lesson. That the greatest way to change your family and the greatest way to change the people is בעדו ba'ado to begin by changing yourself. It's easy to point a finger, it's easy to blame others, it's easy to see ourselves and cast ourselves as victims. But if we want to change the energy in our home, if we want to change the atmosphere in our home, the answer is not to blame and the answer is not to lecture the others. The answer is to model. בעדו, ובעד ביתו, ובעד העם ba'ado, u'va'ad beiso, u'va'ad ha'am. It begins by changing ourselves, and then we will see the result is our family will be inspired and changed, and then we'll see hopefully an even broader sense of change that comes from that. But it has to start בעדו ba'ado. It has to begin by ourselves. We have to take extreme ownership and say, what could I do differently? What positive energy can I contribute? What smile can I put my face? What words could I be using? What actions could I be modeling? בעדו, בעד העם, בעד ביתו ובעד העם ba'ado, ba'ad ha'am, ba'ad beiso u'va'ad ha'am. It begins and it must begin with us.But in this pasuk it describes that when Aharon, when the kohen gadol is changing, first ורחץ את בשרו v'rachatz es b'saro, he, he washes his his flesh, essentially he immerses. Where? במים ba'mayim, in a מקוה mikveh. במקום קדוש B'makom kadosh, in a holy place. What happens when you don't have a מקום קדוש makom kadosh? At least for the men, the men's מקוה mikveh is closed. COVID-19 coronavirus, it would be unwise, it's unnecessary. A men's מקוה mikveh is something which is extra. So what do you do and what happens? Oh. Comes along the הייליגע אם רחם heilige Imre Chaim. זאגט די וויזשניצער רבי Zogt der Vizhnitzer Rebbe, מקוה ישראל השם mikveh Yisrael Hashem. You know, the mikveh of the Jewish people, we can immerse ourselves, we can transform ourselves, we can cleanse ourselves, we can purify ourselves, מקוה ישראל mikveh Yisrael, the mikveh of the Jewish people is השם Hashem. אשר אפשר לטהר ולטבול בהייליגען בשעפער. בך ארחץ. Asher efshar l'taher v'litbol b'heiligen b'shefer. B'cha erchatz. You're never going to say בריך שמיה brich shmei the same way again. בך ארחץ B'cha erchatz, he טייטשעס teiches, he translates, בך ארחץ b'cha erchatz, בך b'cha, in you, ארחץ erchatz, I cleanse myself. I clean myself. Going back to our פסוק pasuk, ורחץ את בשרו במים במקום קדוש v'rachatz es b'saro ba'mayim b'makom kadosh, I cleanse myself in a מקום קדוש makom kadosh means I can go to the מקוה mikveh. But what happens when I'm denied and deprived of a מקוה mikveh? Then, בך ארחץ b'cha erchatz. I can immerse in a מקוה mikveh and I can immerse in you, השם Hashem. I can immerse in feeling your presence, your warmth, your love, your guiding hand. I can immerse in my דאווענען davening, I can immerse in התבודדות hisbodedus with you. I can immerse in meditation and mindfulness with you, I can immerse by singing, having a קומזיץ kumzitz with you. בך ארחץ B'cha erchatz. בך B'cha, in you, ארחץ erchatz. וזו V'zo, ורחץ את בשרו במים במקום קדוש v'rachatz es b'saro ba'mayim b'makom kadosh. בהמקום, הקדוש ברוך הוא, כי שם ה׳ ברוך הוא לעולם מקום ba'makom, haKadosh Baruch Hu, ki shem Hashem baruch hu l'olam makom. So that מקום makom, like המקום ינחם אתכם haMakom yenachem eschem, and like ברוך המקום ברוך הוא Baruch haMakom Baruch Hu we just said at the סדר seder, that term מקום makom is a name for השם Hashem. So therefore says the Vizhnitzer, when the פסוק pasuk tells us ורחץ את בשרו במים במקום קדוש v'rachatz es b'saro ba'mayim b'makom kadosh, even when you don't have a מקוה mikveh, you can immerse, where? במקום b'makom, in השם Hashem, קדוש kadosh who is holy. מקוה ישראל השם Mikveh Yisrael Hashem. Even when we don't have the physical מקוה mikveh, we can immerse בך ארחץ b'cha erchatz. In you we can be רוחץ rochetz, we can immerse ourselves and cleanse ourselves in you הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu.Okay, we continue. Conclusion of the יום כיפור Yom Kippur service, and we have the continuation of the of the קרבנות korbanos that were offered on יום כיפור Yom Kippur, and then the Torah continues and it tells us the prohibition against eating blood. כי נפש הבשר בדם היא ואני נתתיו לכם על המזבח לכפר על נפשותיכם כי הדם הוא בנפש יכפר Ki nefesh ha'basar ba'dam hi v'ani nesativ lachem al ha'mizbeach l'chaper al nafshoseichem ki ha'dam hu ba'nefesh yechaper. Blood is the definition of the soul. This is one of the key sources in the big debate how you define death in Judaism. Is it the cessation of spontaneous respiration? Is it the heartbeat and the ability for the blood to flow? כי נפש הבשר בדם היא Ki nefesh ha'basar ba'dam hi. כי הדם הוא בנפש Ki ha'dam hu ba'nefesh. There's a correlation between the blood and blood flow and life and the soul. This pasuk is one of the sources. We're not allowed to eat blood because blood is the source of the source of life. Okay, continuing, we have a מצוה mitzvah to cover the blood. What is the nature of this mitzvah to cover the blood? There's a whole story not for not for now.Okay. פרק י״ח Perek yud ches, beginning of the next פרק perek. Now that we've finished the story of יום כיפור Yom Kippur service. וידבר ה׳ אל משה לאמר Vaydaber Hashem el Moshe leimor. God speaks to משה Moshe, דבר אל בני ישראל ואמרת אליהם אני ה׳ אלוקיכם daber el Bnei Yisrael v'amarta aleihem Ani Hashem Elokeichem. Remind them who I am, who they are. Remind them of the categorical difference between us. I am the omnipotent being who has created the world, who has designed the world and designed them. And here's what I'm telling them. You ready? כמעשה ארץ מצרים אשר ישבתם בה לא תעשו K'ma'aseh eretz Mitzrayim asher yeshavtem bah lo sa'asu. וכמעשה ארץ כנען אשר אני מביא אתכם שמה לא תעשו ובחוקותיהם לא תלכו U'ch'ma'aseh eretz Canaan asher ani meivi eschem shamah lo sa'asu u'v'chukoseihem lo seileichu. I want to spend time on these next three פסוקים psukim, probably the remainder of our time together on this beautiful morning. The Torah tells us השם Hashem says listen carefully, I'm God. And I programmed you and I designed you and I created this world and I know what's best for you, and I know how you'll get the best and the most and the greatest pleasure out of life. And are you ready? Listen carefully. Here's the deal. כמעשה ארץ מצרים K'ma'aseh eretz Mitzrayim, what they did in מצרים Mitzrayim that you lived in, לא תעשו lo sa'asu. Don't repeat and don't emulate and don't imitate. וכמעשה ארץ כנען U'ch'ma'aseh eretz Canaan, don't do what they do in כנען Canaan, אשר אני מביא אתכם שמה asher ani meivi eschem shamah, that I'm bringing you there, לא תעשו lo sa'asu. So both the place that you're leaving, don't imitate, don't emulate. And the place that you're going to, don't pick up their habits. ובחוקותיהם לא תלכו U'v'chukoseihem lo seileichu. Don't follow their decrees and their traditions. We have a specific commandment to be a Jew and to live like a Jew, to have Jewish lifestyle, Jewish habits, Jewish routine, Jewish behaviors. We cannot imitate and emulate the other nations of the world. Of course, we have much in common with them, and of course we derive the beauty of what they have to offer and we contribute to them. But on the whole, we are informed and inspired by distinctly and uniquely Torah values, Torah ideals and Torah behaviors.What is this talking about? כמעשה ארץ מצרים K'ma'aseh eretz Mitzrayim? What is it specifically talking about כמעשה ארץ מצרים k'ma'aseh eretz Mitzrayim that we are not supposed to imitate? So open your מקראות גדולות mikraos gedolos. Let's go to the מקראות גדולות mikraos gedolos. And look first, let's see. כמעשה ארץ מצרים K'ma'aseh eretz Mitzrayim. זאגט רש״י Zogt Rashi, מגיד שמעשיהם של מצרים ושל כנענים מקולקלים מכל האומות Magid she'ma'aseihem shel Mitzrayim v'shel K'naanim mekulkulim mikol ha'umos. These are the most degraded, the most decadent, the most morally corrupt of all the nations of the world. ואותו מקום שישבו בו ישראל מקולקל מן הכל V'oso makom she'yashvu bo Yisrael mekulkul min ha'kol. And that place you were living in, they had lost their moral compass, they were morally corrupt. Don't be defined by the morals and the ethics and the ethos and the values of where you're living. My dear friends, we too have to be careful. Where we are living is incredibly kind and it has offered us beautiful religious freedom and prosperity. And it's invited us to be able to integrate and assimilate and that in here is the danger. We have Jewish values and perspectives on all areas of life and we have to not follow כמעשה ארץ מצרים k'ma'aseh eretz Mitzrayim. We have to not follow that which is deemed corrupt. אשר אני מביא אתכם שמה, מגיד שעושה מעשה עם שכן שכניו מקולקל מכולם Asher ani meivi eschem shamah, magid she'oseh ma'aseh am sh'k'neinav mekulkul mikulam. And when they get to כנען Canaan, the nations that they will conquer are מקולקל מכולם mekulkul mikulam, they too are the most corrupt. ובחוקותיהם לא תלכו U'v'chukoseihem lo seileichu, says רש״י Rashi, you cannot follow their חוקותיהם chukoseihem, דברים החקוקים להם, תרטיאות ואצטדיות d'varim ha'chakukim lahem, tartiyos v'itz'tadiyos, their stadiums, their their their um entertainment sources. It's not who we are. Their styles and fashions, that is not who we are. We have to elevate, we have to elevate above it, says רש״י Rashi. The כלי יקר Kli Yakar expands here and I want to bring your attention to this beautiful כלי יקר Kli Yakar. The כלי יקר Kli Yakar says, כמעשה ארץ מצרים אשר ישבתם בה k'ma'aseh eretz Mitzrayim asher yeshavtem bah. What does this mean? Why does it say אשר ישבתם בה asher yeshavtem bah? We don't know we came from there? When God tells Moshe and Moshe is telling the people, like the people of Egypt that you came from, what that we came from? They don't know where they came from? It's stamped in their passport. They know exactly where they just came from. They suffered there for 210 years. מסתמא יוסף בירר לו ולבית אביו מקום שלא יתערבו כל כך כדי שלא ילמדו מעשיהם לדורות הבאים. וכן מסתמא הקדוש ברוך הוא בירר לישראל מקום שלא יתערבו כל כך כדי שלא ילמדו מעשיהם, שהרי נאמר ומהר אגרשם מפניך, וכו׳ Mistama Yosef birer lo u'l'veis aviv makom shelo yis'arvu kol kach k'dei shelo yilmedu ma'aseihem l'doros ha'ba'im. V'chein mistama haKadosh Baruch Hu birer l'Yisrael makom shelo yis'arvu kol kach k'dei shelo yilmedu ma'aseihem, she'harei ne'emar v'meher agarshem m'panecha, v'choo. And so on. And and the כלי יקר Kli Yakar therefore comes to the final conclusion. ויעל זה נאמר כאן כמעשה ארץ מצרים, כאותו מעשה שעשיתם בארץ מצרים. ומהו המעשה הרע שעשיתם? אשר ישבתם בה. V'al zeh ne'emar kan k'ma'aseh eretz Mitzrayim, k'oso ma'aseh she'asisem b'eretz Mitzrayim. U'mahu ha'ma'aseh ha'ra she'asisem? Asher yeshavtem bah. You know what the problem was? Don't emulate what you did in מצרים Mitzrayim. And you know what the horrific thing you did in מצרים Mitzrayim was? אשר ישבתם בה Asher yeshavtem bah. You settled there. שביקשתם ביישיבה של קבע מצד שחשקה נפשכם בגלוליהם ובשיקוציהם ונפשם חפצה She'bikashtem b'yeshiva shel keva mitzad she'chashka nafshechem b'giluleihem u'v'shikutzeihem v'nafsham chaftza. What happens? Where's the Kli Yakar getting this from? When they left Egypt and they're in the desert, this incorrigible people continue to complain to Moshe and one of the things they say is, take us back to מצרים Mitzrayim. They had an unbelievable buffet. The salad bar there was fantastic. The lifestyle there, we miss it. Why'd you take us out in the desert to die here? We miss and we want to go back to מצרים Mitzrayim. They craved settling in Egypt. They wanted to identify and walk like Egyptians. They wanted to assimilate into the Egyptian way, בגלוליהם ובשיקוציהם נפשם חפצה b'giluleihem u'v'shikutzeihem nafsham chaftza. לא תעשו עוד כאלה לבקש ישיבה של קבע בין עם זר ההולך בדרך לא טוב. פן תלמדו מעשיהם כי קרוב לכם מצריים. Lo sa'asu od k'eile l'vakesh yeshiva shel keva bein am zar ha'holech b'derech lo tov. Pen tilmedu ma'aseihem ki karov lachem Mitzrayim. So the כלי יקר Kli Yakar understands what's going on here in the פסוק pasuk, and here we come to a יום העצמאות Yom Ha'atzmaut message. And he says, you know what the problem of מצרים Mitzrayim was? אשר ישבתם בה Asher yeshavtem bah. It's not extraneous to say that you dwelled there, it is exactly the root and the core of the mistake and the problem of what we are being enjoined to avoid. כמעשה ארץ מצרים אשר ישבתם בה לא תעשו K'ma'aseh eretz Mitzrayim asher yeshavtem bah lo sa'asu. What's the לא תעשו lo sa'asu, what is it you're not supposed to do? אשר ישבתם בה Asher yeshavtem bah. There are reasons to live outside of Israel. There are legitimate reasons not yet to make עליה aliyah. People have financial, family, health, serving the community, there are legitimate reasons. But there are no legitimate reasons not to be struggling with when we'll make עליה aliyah, not if, but when and how we can fulfill this dream. We are guests, we are here temporarily. The only place a Jew has permanence is in ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael, it's where we belong. And as tonight and tomorrow we'll celebrate the religious significance of הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu performing miracles that were literally as great as the splitting of the sea and the ten plagues to give us back our homeland and to give us back a sense of sovereignty and the ability to protect ourselves. Look at, look at what's going on in Israel. The statistics, there are roughly the same number of people who live in Israel as who live in New York, and New York City, and yet, look at the difference of the casualties. Look at the difference of the, of the behavior, of the social distancing that's led to, not to suggest that we're better or deserve better, but the behavior. And that's because we have that ability to govern and to rule ourselves. It's a miracle for which we have to express gratitude and whatever way we do, הלל, ברכה, no, whatever you do, but to pause and to take a moment, say קפיטל תהלים kapitel Tehillim, to say הודאה hoda'ah to הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu, thank you for this gift, thank you for this ברכה bracha. We should just be able to fly and visit and ultimately move there again. So says the כלי יקר Kli Yakar, כמעשה ארץ מצרים k'ma'aseh eretz Mitzrayim, you know what it is that you did in מצרים Mitzrayim that לא תעשו lo sa'asu you shouldn't repeat? אשר ישבתם בה Asher yeshavtem bah. That you settled, that you thought you were there permanently, that you wanted to be just like them, that you didn't move and make a move to be able to come to ארץ, ארץ כנען Eretz, Eretz Canaan. Because that's where we belong. And that's what the כלי יקר Kli Yakar continues. וכמעשה ארץ כנען U'ch'ma'aseh eretz Canaan. היינו שהוא מוכיח את ישראל על שלא הרגישו בערך ארץ הקדושה שהיתה חביבה על האבות והם עשו בהדרת שפלות הרוח שלהם שצריך הקדוש ברוך הוא להביאם שם בכורחם שלא בטובתם. Hainu she'hu mochiach es Yisrael al she'lo hirgishu b'erech Eretz ha'K'dosha she'hayta chaviva al ha'avos, v'hem asu b'hadras shiflus ha'ruach shelahem she'tzarich ha'Kadosh Baruch Hu l'haviam sham b'korcham shelo b'tovasam. אברהם, יצחק, ויעקב Avraham, Yitzchak, v'Yaakov, they loved, they craved, they were magnetically drawn to the land of Israel. But here, says the Kli Yakar, the Jewish people, ah, they were fine living in Egypt. They were perfectly happy living in Egypt. So much so that Hashem had to orchestrate events to be able to bring them and drag them to Israel. וזהו שאמר כמעשה ארץ כנען כאותו מעשה שעשיתם בארץ כנען, ומהו המעשה אשר אני מביא אתכם שמה, כי הנני מראה שאני מביא אתכם שמה. V'zehu she'amar k'ma'aseh eretz Canaan k'oso ma'aseh she'asisem b'eretz Canaan, u'mahu ha'ma'aseh? Asher ani meivi eschem shamah, ki hineni mar'eh she'ani meivi eschem shamah. So what's the מעשה ארץ כנען ma'aseh eretz Canaan? אשר אני מביא אתכם שמה Asher ani meivi eschem shamah, לא תעשו lo sa'asu. What we should not do that's like מעשה ארץ כנען ma'aseh eretz Canaan, the לא תעשו lo sa'asu there is אשר אני מביא אתכם שמה asher ani meivi eschem shamah. That God says I have to drag you. I have to drag you there by by increasing the antisemitism in חוץ לארץ chutz la'aretz where you are. I have to drag you there by making things so inconvenient or uncomfortable that you realize it's time to go. We're not supposed to redeem these, repeat these patterns of history. So you hear this פשט pshat of the כלי יקר Kli Yakar? It's fantastic. The כמעשה ארץ מצרים k'ma'aseh eretz Mitzrayim that לא תעשו lo sa'asu is אשר ישבתם בה asher yeshavtem bah, that we settled there. And the כמעשה ארץ כנען k'ma'aseh eretz Canaan that we're not supposed to repeat לא תעשו lo sa'asu is אשר אני מביא אתכם שמה asher ani meivi eschem shamah, that we have to be dragged there. Says the כלי יקר Kli Yakar of Lunshitz, writing a long time ago, not with Zionist uh underpinnings, that these two psukim, this pasuk which is telling us about how we're to behave and what we're to not emulate, is essentially our our mission statement as a nation, of a people, of how we're supposed to see ourselves when we're in חוץ לארץ chutz la'aretz, and that we should be driven, not if, but when. There's legitimate reasons not to make עליה aliyah, there are no legitimate reasons not to be struggling with when we will be able to make that עליה aliyah.Another understanding of כמעשה ארץ מצרים k'ma'aseh eretz Mitzrayim is in sort of Rav Shechter, מורה דאתרא Morah D'asra, says all the time. He said it in our שול shul several times in fact, that כמעשה ארץ מצרים k'ma'aseh eretz Mitzrayim, מצרים Mitzrayim was known as a place of of superstition. It was governed by superstition and horoscopes and magic. And הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu says כמעשה ארץ מצרים k'ma'aseh eretz Mitzrayim, I took you out of there. You're not supposed to look at or worship or subscribe to horoscopes and superstition and magic. You have me. תמים תהיה עם ה' אלוקיך Tamim tihiyeh im Hashem Elokecha. To be תמים tamim with השם Hashem means it's prohibited to turn to or to look for answers elsewhere. In fact, בחוקותיהם לא תלכו b'chukoseihem lo seileichu says רש״י Rashi, you're not allowed to go בדרכי האמורי b'darchei ha'Emori. The תוספתא Tosefta says, you know what דרכי האמורי darchei ha'Emori is? A red בנדל bendel. Tying a red string around your wrist, the תוספתא Tosefta, the תנאים tannaim write is דרכי האמורי darchei ha'Emori. You think you're going to misbehave, you're going to speak לשון הרע lashon hara, you're not going to make a ברכה bracha, you're going to cheat in business, you're going to sleep late and not דאווענען daven. Oh, but I tied a red string around my wrist, I'm good to go, nobody can harm me, nobody can touch me. That's דרכי האמורי darchei ha'Emori. That's not a Jewish mentality, that's not תמים תהיה עם ה' אלוקיך tamim tihiyeh im Hashem Elokecha. That's going back to Egypt, that's מעשה מצרים ma'aseh Mitzrayim. השם Hashem says I took you out of Egypt, why are you going back? Tying a red string. We just ate a delicious שליסל חלה shlissel challah. Those who subscribe to שליסל חלה shlissel challah, I'm not going through the history of it right now, I'm not railing on it. Someone made me and I ate a delicious שליסל חלה shlissel challah. It's a school for the dentists when everyone bites into the metal key. But the שליסל חלה shlissel challah is if you think that, you know what? I don't have to have virtue or merits, I can act out and misbehave. Ooh, I put a key in my חלה challah or I shape my חלה challah like a key. Ooh, the פרנסה parnassah is going to flow this year. Then you've gone back to מצרים Mitzrayim, then you're simply walking like an Egyptian, then you're subscribing to silly נרישקייט narishkeit superstitions. But if you say when I put a key in the חלה challah it reminds me that the חלה challah really is reminiscent of the מן mun, and just like the מן mun descended from heaven, הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu is the one who's responsible for my פרנסה parnassah, so this מנהג minhag or not מנהג minhag, legitimate or illegitimate, reminds me that the מן mun descends from heaven, my פרנסה parnassah also descends from heaven. It therefore reinforces and promotes the אמונה emunah in me, then it's beautiful. So we have to measure and we have to evaluate each of these behaviors. Is it silly superstition? Then כמעשה ארץ מצרים k'ma'aseh eretz Mitzrayim, it's taking me back to Egypt. Does it have greater meaning? Then it's something which is okay.Says the שפת אמת Sfas Emes, כמעשה ארץ מצרים k'ma'aseh eretz Mitzrayim. Says the שפת אמת Sfas Emes, what is this talking about, כמעשה ארץ מצרים k'ma'aseh eretz Mitzrayim? Which behavior? Which behaviors? Listen to the שפת אמת Sfas Emes, the גערער רבי Gerer Rebbe, רבי יהודה לייב מגער Reb Yehuda Leib MiGer. אין התורה מתכוונת כאן לאיסורים שראה כך חוזר ישראל בנפרד בפסוקים מפורשים Ein haTorah miskavenes kan l'isurim sh're'a kach chozer Yisrael b'nifrad b'psukim meforashim. When the Torah says don't be like an Egyptian, it's not talking about things that are prohibited, eating non-kosher, violating שבת Shabbos, wearing שעטנז shaatnez. That's not what it's talking about when it says don't be like an Egyptian. And how does he know that, the שפת אמת Sfas Emes? Because the Torah explicitly tells us those prohibitions. So obviously that's not what it's talking about. So then what is it talking about? It's not talking about things that are already prohibited, it's talking about even that which is permissible. The style, the fashion, the ethos, the mentality, the attitude, the behavior. Don't be like the host country in which we're living, but rather fashion specifically a Jewish way of life and the Jewish value.And thirdly, I want to share with you on this פסוק pasuk, כמעשה ארץ מצרים k'ma'aseh eretz Mitzrayim, one more פשט pshat. And this is a beautiful from an article from one of my רביים rebbeim, רבי יעקב נויברגר שליט״א Rav Yaakov Neuburger, shlit\"a. And he says the following beautiful insight, he quotes from רב הירש Rav Hirsch. כמעשה ארץ מצרים K'ma'aseh eretz Mitzrayim, what is this מעשה ma'aseh, the practice of the Egyptians? So, according to many of our מפרשים meforshim, to the nature of their social interaction that we were supposed to study and learn and deplore and distance ourselves from. We don't hang out in bars and we don't follow certain behaviors when it comes to social behaviors. We have a Jewish standard, a Torah standard. רב הירש Rav Hirsch explains that the word מעשה ma'aseh in Torah indicates social conduct and ultimately the attitude of a people towards justice and civic life. It's certainly reasonable that slave masters could start out as individuals whose entire world consisted of themselves and their needs. Perhaps that's why we are reminded in that pasuk that we must not emulate the Egyptians among whom we lived. Apparently it's precisely because we felt the awful sting of a society built on self-focus that we should seek with great conviction to protect ourselves from the behaviors that could have contributed to the development of that culture. In other words, we are who we live with. We are affected, nature and nurture. So we've been nurtured in Egypt, we might behave like them. That's what we're being warned. כמעשה ארץ מצרים K'ma'aseh eretz Mitzrayim. When it comes to our interactions with others, don't be like them. It's not okay to gossip or to judge or to negate or to ostracize. It's not okay to marginalize. It's not okay to extort or exploit the most vulnerable in society. כמעשה ארץ מצרים K'ma'aseh eretz Mitzrayim, just because we saw them do that in Egypt doesn't mean it's okay for us. We are בבית יעקב mi'beis Yaakov, מעם לועז me'am loez. And here, רבי נויברגר Rabbi Neuburger quotes a beautiful insight from רב ברוך הלוי אפשטיין Rav Baruch HaLevi Epstein, the author of the תורה תמימה Torah Temimah, has a beautiful ספר sefer, we use it in seder snippets, it's called ברוך שאמר Baruch She'amar. And there he says the following. What is the פשט pshat when we say in הלל Hallel, we just said it, when we left מצרים Mitzrayim, we describe it as, בצאת ישראל ממצרים, בית יעקב מעם לועז b'tseis Yisrael mi'Mitzrayim, beis Yaakov me'am loez. The house of Jacob left מעם לועז me'am loez, a people לועז loez, who had a strange language. That was the big miracle God took us out? You took us out from an oppressive people who were persecuting, torturing us, people who are killing us. You took us out, they had a different language? Why is that significant? Why is that important? Why does דוד המלך David HaMelech choose to describe our oppressors in this non-descriptive term? You know, even people who treated us well could have had a foreign language. Why is he describing them? מעם לועז Me'am loez, a nation with this foreign language? And listen to what the תורה תמימה Torah Temimah says. The תורה תמימה Torah Temimah suggests that the Egyptians are being referred to as an evil tongue nation, not a foreign-tongued nation, but an evil, as perpetrators of לעז la'az. לעז La'az is לשון הרע lashon hara. The Egyptians, even within their moral code, had absolutely no problem with gossip, with negativity, with slander. They had no problem with being verbally abusive. מעם לועז Me'am loez, that was the vernacular, the vocabulary, the language of the Egyptians was לעז la'az, was לשון הרע lashon hara, was negative. It was a tool the Egyptians leadership used against us to try to marginalize and to torture and to abuse us. And that's what we're being warned and that's what we're being told. דוד המלך David HaMelech is saying, בית יעקב beis Yaakov, we have the ability to come out and elevate מעם לועז me'am loez, to use our power of language so differently and to rise above. And that's what the פסוק pasuk is teaching us, says Rabbi Neuburger. כמעשה ארץ מצרים K'ma'aseh eretz Mitzrayim, what is the behavior in מצרים Mitzrayim that we're supposed to elevate above? Don't talk gossip, and don't negate others, and don't judge, and don't be verbally abusive, and don't slander. We are מבית יעקב, מעם לועז mi'beis Yaakov, me'am loez. כמעשה ארץ מצרים K'ma'aseh eretz Mitzrayim, we are not supposed to imitate or emulate that behavior.But what I want to spend our last few minutes on is really contrasting the last two, the next two פסוקים psukim, which is all we'll have time for. The next two psukim seem utterly redundant and repetitive and even so out of order. What's going on? פרק י״ח Perek yud ches, chapter 18 verse ד daled. את משפטי תעשו ואת חוקותי תשמרו ללכת בהם Es mishpatai ta'asu v'es chukosai tishmeru laleches bahem. Carry out my laws and safeguard my decrees and follow them. אני ה׳ אלוקיכם Ani Hashem Elokeichem, I am God. ושמרתם את חוקותי ואת משפטי U'shmartem es chukosai v'es mishpatai. So we just said משפטי וחוקותי mishpatai v'chukosai, now we switch the order, חוקותי ומשפטי chukosai u'mishpatai, אשר יעשה אותם האדם וחי בהם asher ya'aseh osam ha'adam v'chai bahem, and if you do this, if you safeguard them, וחי בהם v'chai bahem, you will earn life. And how do I know that? אני ה׳ Ani Hashem. So he tells us in two successive psukim, he tells us he's God, we already knew that. He tells us to observe the חוקים chukim and the משפטים mishpatim, we just told us that. He switches the order of it for some reason, and he throws in, by the way, if you do this then וחי בהם v'chai bahem. What in the world is going on over here? So the אור החיים הקדוש Or HaChaim haKadosh, רבי חיים בן עטר Rav Chaim ben Attar tells us that here we have a formula or a prescription for personal growth. Again, if we had time, I would walk you through רש״י Rashi. רש״י Rashi has what to say on each of these, and the רמב״ן Ramban has a beautiful insight, but the אור החיים הקדוש Or HaChaim haKadosh I want to draw your attention to, says the following. ושמרתם U'shmartem. Asks the אור החיים Or HaChaim a question, צריך לדעת למה כיפל לומר דבר מעצמו שנאמר בסמוך tzarich ladaas lama keifal lomar davar me'atzmo she'ne'emar b'samuch. Why are we repeating what we just said? So he is בורא פי דבריהם bo'er pi divreihem. שאמר וחי בהם ולא שימות בהם, שאין מצווים לעבור וללכת מצוות ה' יעבור ולא יהרוג. she'amar v'chai bahem v'lo she'yamus bahem... ya'avor v'lo yeihareg. Here we have something that we are all fulfilling right now. What does it mean וחי בהם v'chai bahem? We have a mandate to live by them. To live by them means that Torah, all the laws and rules of Torah are there to enhance our life, to enrich our life. And if they would cost us our very life, then what is the point of them if they were not here to enjoy and benefit from them? And therefore outside of the three cardinal sins, murder, promiscuity, and idolatry, we are supposed to violate Torah law rather than sacrifice or give our life. And sadly in our time, we are fulfilling this mandate, this mission of וחי בהם v'chai bahem regularly. In fact, Rav Soloveitchik in his חומש Chumash talks about his grandfather, who's being referenced a lot these days, רב חיים מבריסק Rav Chaim mi'Brisk, who was very, very strict on וחי בהם v'chai bahem, that פיקוח נפש pikuach nefesh that saving a life is דוחה כל התורה כולה docheh kol haTorah kulah. And therefore we are forfitting מינין, דברים שבקדושה minyan, d'varim she'b'kdusha, the rules of שבת Shabbos, and people being able to drive to donate plasma, all left and right, וחי בהם v'chai bahem, we are fulfilling וחי בהם v'chai bahem all around us. He tells a story that his grandfather Rav Chaim disagreed with the legal view that on the day of atonement when you feed a sick person small amounts at a time, each amount less than the forbidden measure. He instructed those who were taking care of a sick individual to serve a regular meal just as they would on other days. When my father was about to travel to a town close to קובנא Kovno to take up a rabbinical post, רב חיים Rav Chaim took him aside and said, I command you to follow my view regarding a sick person in danger on יום כיפור Yom Kippur for it is an absolute הלכתית halachic truth. רב חיים Rav Chaim was very strict. He said I'm not being lenient on יום כיפור Yom Kippur, I'm being strict in וחי בהם v'chai bahem, in פיקוח נפש pikuach nefesh. This is our mission and our mandate, and those who play with it have the status of a רודף rodef. This is not a time to play with it or to be lenient or flexible. We are strict like רב חיים מבריסק Rav Chaim Brisker on וחי בהם v'chai bahem.So says the אור החיים Or HaChaim coming back to the אור החיים Or HaChaim. אשר יעשה אותם האדם וחי בהם, ויש ג' עבירות שאתה חייב למסור נפשך עליהם... עבודה זרה, גילוי עריות, ושפיכות דמים Asher ya'aseh osam ha'adam v'chai bahem... v'yesh gimmel aveiros... avodah zarah, gilui arayos, v'shfichus damim. Now, the first pasuk is adjacent to all the mitzvos of arayos. And the second pasuk, we have the whole section אחרי מות Acharei Mos that tells us about the laws of promiscuity, of licentiousness, of immorality, of what are the relationships that are out of bounds. So the פסוק pasuk that is adjacent to that section doesn't include וחי בהם v'chai bahem because you have to lose your life rather than violate them. And therefore we repeat the פסוק pasuk again when it's adjacent now to the next section when it comes to the rest of the מצוות mitzvos, now, וחי בהם v'chai bahem, one should forfeit the mitzvah in order to ensure their life, because the whole mitzvos are there in order to enhance our life. That is their purpose, that is their reason, that is why they are, that is why they are here. Rav Soloveitchik says something very interesting on את משפטי תעשו ואת חוקותי es mishpatai ta'asu v'es chukosai. He says this word חוק chok. Generally חוקים chukim seem to be irrational. If not for the divine imperative, we would never observe them. We assume a divine purpose and value, but we cannot fathom them. משפטים Mishpatim on the other hand reflect cultural and humanistic considerations. Yet the force of the divine command applies to both, demanding observance and unqualified commitment. In other words, what's the difference between משפטים mishpatim and חוקים chukim and we repeat it and we change the order of it? The משפטים mishpatim we understand. They have humanistic considerations, they're intuitive, they're rational. Whereas the חוקים chukim seem to be a divine imperative beyond our understanding. רש״י Rashi cites a rabbinic comment on פרה אדומה Parah Adumah. It's a decree ordained by me, you have no right to question it. This suggests that חוק chok could be defined as an absolute norm and an ultimate command demanding total submission without reservation. It is to be affirmed even if the certain and the nations of the world taunt Israel, ridiculing its irrationality. The observant Jew accepts the Torah as a patient follows the prescription of a doctor, taking complex medication and submitting to required surgical procedures. The חוק chok has two characteristics, universal immutability, and the fact that a חוק chok is independent of situational factors. Etymologically, the root חקק chok, ח-ק-ק ches-kuf-kuf, signifies the act of carving, engraving, making incisions in a hard surface like stone or metal. And that's the idea of a חוק chok. It is it is engraved onto our heart, it is within us. And what the Rav essentially suggests here, I wish the time to go through it entirely, and in fact, if you look on the bottom of the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash, this is one of the places that it quotes רב סולובייצ'יק Rav Soloveitchik and the Artscroll חומש Chumash, the Rav says even a חוק chok comes from the פינטעלע ייד pintele yid inside us. We think that the משפטים mishpatim are the result of our rational thinking and a חוק chok is beyond us. It's not beyond us. The word חוק chok, חקק chakak, engraved in us means הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu put it within the פינטעלע ייד pintele yid. He put it within our Jewish soul that we don't arrive at it intellectually, and yet we can sense, we have a familiarity, we have a comfort with us, with it, because הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu engraved it within our heart and within our and within our soul.וחי בהם V'chai bahem. I'll just end off with the קאצקער רבי Kotsker Rebbe on וחי בהם v'chai bahem. Says the קאצקער רבי Kotsker Rebbe on וחי בהם v'chai bahem, וחי בהם v'chai bahem means the way in which we're supposed to do the מצוות mitzvos. ושמרתם את חוקותי ואת משפטי U'shmartem es chukosai v'es mishpatai. וחי v'chai observe Torah וחי בהם v'chai bahem. How do you earn life by doing them? If you have a pulse but you're not connected to השם Hashem, to his world, to his prescription for how to find meaning, purpose, and happiness, you're not really alive. And how are we supposed to do it? With a sense of וחי v'chai, with a sense of התלהבות hislaavus, with a passion, with an energy, with an enthusiasm, with a zest, with a zeal, with a sense of, with a sense of joy. So we should merit וחי בהם v'chai bahem to be healthy and to be able to live without having to sacrifice מצוות mitzvos. And we should merit וחי בהם v'chai bahem to do those מצוות mitzvos with a sense of joy, a sense of fervor, a sense of a great vigor. Thank you so much, have a wonderful and a meaningful day.
