Transcript
Good morning, בוקר טוב boker tov to all. Thank you for joining us again for our weekly פרשה Parsha perspectives for today. And this week we have the privilege of studying פרשת פנחס Parshas Pinchas together. Thank you so much for being, being with us. Just working out the technology here. Rabbis are now producers and directors and technology IT experts in addition to everything else we're expected to do. I want to thank our dear friends Becky and Avi Katz who are sponsoring the פרשה parsha series for the year again. Can't thank them enough for their generosity and for their leadership and for their friendship. They're sponsoring a memory of Becky's father, לעילוי נשמת דוד בן מנחם מנוש le'iluy nishmas Dovid ben Menachem Manush, David Grossman, who was a very special man. I had the privilege of knowing him, someone who loved learning תורה Torah, sharing his תורה Torah thoughts, had an insatiable thirst for knowledge and for תורה Torah, and therefore it's a great privilege for me to be able to share דברי תורה divrei Torah in his memory each and every week throughout this year. Thank you to the Becky and Avi. And thank you to the OU for continuing to share and continuing to support this class as well. This week we have the privilege of learning פרשת פנחס Parshas Pinchas. It appears in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash, if you have it in front of you. I hope you have it in the מקראות גדולות Mikraos Gedolos and you could follow inside. We got a ton to cover today. Page 876, 876 in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash. Again, you'll forgive me if I'm looking in multiple directions and trying to balance all of the, all the different perspectives and technologies at once. פרשת פנחס Parshas Pinchas, וידבר השם אל משה לאמר, פנחס בן אלעזר בן אהרן הכהן השיב את חמתי מעל בני ישראל בקנאו את קנאתי בתוכם, ולא כליתי את בני ישראל בקנאתי Vayedaber Hashem el Moshe leimor, Pinchas ben Elazar ben Aharon Hakohen heishiv es chamasi mei'al Bnei Yisrael bekan'o es kinasi besocham, velo chilisi es Bnei Yisrael bekinasi. Hashem said to Moshe, Pinchas, the son of Elazar, here we give his lineage, we give his whole background. What is he, submitting his שדך shidduch resume? Pinchas is looking for a שדך shidduch, he's got to give his whole background, where siblings went to school, what their GPA, what what medicines they're on. What is it telling us everybody, everything? פנחס בן אלעזר בן אהרן הכהן Pinchas ben Elazar ben Aharon Hakohen, what is he being rewarded for? Because he turned away Hashem's anger from the Jewish people. מעל בני ישראל בקנאו את קנאתי בתוכם Mei'al Bnei Yisrael bekan'o es kinasi besocham, when he avenged God's vengeance among them, ולא כליתי את בני ישראל בקנאתי velo chilisi es Bnei Yisrael bekinasi. So Hashem says, I didn't destroy the Jewish people out of my anger. I was tempted to, I wanted to, but ולא כליתי velo chilisi, I withstood, I withheld, I held back from doing it. Why? In the merit of, and because of the actions of, of Pinchas. What's going on over here? So Rashi tells us, פנחס בן אלעזר בן אהרן הכהן Pinchas ben Elazar ben Aharon Hakohen, לפי שהיו השבטים מבזים אותו lefi shehayu hashevatim mevazim oso. The שבטים shevatim would make fun of Pinchas. Do you see where he comes from? Do you know his יחוס yichus? His ancestors used to fatten the calves for עבודה זרה avodah zarah. They prepared the idolatry, they were pagans. והרג נשיא שבט מישראל V'harag nasi shevet mi'Yisrael? לפיכך בא הכתוב ויחסו אחר אהרן Lefichach ba hakasuv veyichaso achar Aharon. So because on one side, perhaps he didn't have the most distinguished lineage, therefore the Torah comes out of its way to tell you, don't think that Pinchas was poisoned by his lineage. Don't think that in fact he was an individual who inherited the quality, the character trait of idolatry, of paganism, and that's why he murdered a leader of the Jewish people. No, look at his זקן zeideh on the other side. You know who his זקן zeideh on the other side is? None other than Aharon Hakohen. Rav Soloveitchik expands and he tells us what is the פסוק pasuk coming to do to testify about his lineage? What do we know about Aharon? Aharon is אוהב שלום ורודף שלום ohev shalom v'rodef shalom. Aharon is a person who loves peace. He loves peace, he pursues peace. The Rambam in his commentary on the פרשי משניות pirshei mishnayos and others explained what was his methodology? How did he achieve that peace? Two people were in a fight, how appropriate now as we're going about to enter the three weeks, a time defined by מחלוקת machlokes, divisiveness and conflict. And how did Aharon achieve peace? He went to both sides and he said, do you know that the other really wants to make up with you? They want to reconcile, they just don't have the courage to come to you. And he went to the other side and said, do you know that the other really wants to make up, they really want to reconcile? Each side was under the impression the other side was willing to initiate, and through that strategy, through that methodology, Aharon was a lover of peace, he made peace all day long. He was peaceful, he was calm, cool, collect, sweet, kind. He was kind. So some might mistakenly think that Pinchas's actions were inconsistent. He was off the דרך derech. His זקן zeideh Aharon was a lover, pursuer of peace. And this Pinchas is a קנאי zealot. בקנאו את קנאתי bekan'o es kinasi is a murderer and a קנאי zealot, and he's violent. No, to dispel this fallacy, to offset this misconception, the Torah specifically testifies and records Pinchas ben Elazar ben Aharon Hakohen. He goes all the way back to Aharon. You're not called to the Torah by your father and your grandfather's name. You don't fill in the כתובה kesubah your father and your grandfather's name. Why here do we have both Pinchas ben Elazar ben Aharon Hakohen? And says Rav Soloveitchik, to dispel that misconception, the mistaken notion that Pinchas was off the דרך derech of his זקן zeideh. His זקן's zeideh's דרך derech was peace, pursuer of peace, a lover of peace, and so was Pinchas. How is this peace driving a spear through two human beings simultaneously? An act of קנאות zelutry and violence is in fact a being a pursuer of peace. That's inheriting the quality of his זקן zeideh, of Aharon? And the answer is yes. You know, sometimes those who are cruel to the kind, those who are kind to the cruel, end up cruel to the kind. Sometimes to pursue peace, you have to take drastic measures and take things into your own hands. It's not about being a pacifist. In fact, that's why he's rewarded ultimately with the ברית שלום bris shalom. The next פסוק pasuk tells us, הנני נותן לו את בריתי שלום Hineni nosein lo brisi shalom. Hashem tells Moshe, announce, לכן אמור lachein emor, pronounce that what? What's Pinchas's reward? It's very peculiar. The reward for an act of violence and zealousness is peace. I'm giving him the peace prize, the Nobel Peace Prize, which is no longer a distinguished prize. The Nobel Peace Prize goes to Pinchas. For what? A public act of murder. That doesn't seem to make sense, it seems somewhat ironic. After all, he demonstrated the heroism not of a pacifist, but of a warrior. He takes on the Midianite king and a leader of a tribe. He's zealously crushes a rebellion. It should qualify him as a general. He should win the, the, the five stars in the army. He should win a purple heart. Why is he winning a peace prize? So Rav Soloveitchik explains here in his beautiful חומש Chumash, there are those who feel that pacifism is a cure for man's problems. They argue if we would unilaterally announce arm cuts, we would be able to spare the world from disaster. They try to prove the immorality of war by championing the cause of pacifism. We know from history, from bitter example, the many tragic consequences that have been arisen from the cause of pacifism. Who can tell how many Jewish lives would have been saved had the pacifists in England and America not delayed entry into the war against the Nazi butchers and aggressors? What is the philosophy of Torah toward the use of force? Certainly, the great goal is to establish a world dominated by patience, understanding, peace, to resolve to settle differences amicably. Some theologians turn to the Torah with accusation, quoting the Torah's statements about the seven nations of Canaan and the command not to spare anyone. These theologians overlooked the covenant of peace that Yehoshua offered each nation in turn, and the requirement that in laying siege to their cities, we leave one side open so they can escape. There's a מצוה mitzvah that when you conquer the land of Israel, you have to eliminate the Canaanite nations, and some people quote that to say that we are barbaric, that we are animals, that the Jewish people are brutal. But the Rav correctly points out, doesn't need me to say correctly points out, that of course the prerequisite to driving them out of the land was to first offer them our hand in peace, to live together and to live side-by-side in the worship and the service of Hashem. And even if not, when you lay siege around them, you leave one side open for them to flee, for them to leave, for them to go. The Torah philosophy is clear. To gain anything precious, you have to be willing to make sacrifices. A businessman to earn money must first invest capital he already has. For a person to be able to enjoy time with his family, he must first give up from work and from making a living. For us to acquire peace, we must be ready to fight for it, to relinquish peace on a temporary basis in order to keep it in the long term. In other words, ironically, somewhat paradoxically, you have to be willing to fight for peace. It sounds like an oxymoron. What do you mean you have to be willing to fight for peace? The answer is sometimes you have to be willing to compromise or sacrifice peace in the short term in order to achieve a real, authentic, and a lasting peace in the long term. Neville Chamberlain of history made the tragic mistake of thinking peace could be achieved with those who denied the worth and importance of the individual. Peace cannot be attained by appeasement. A true peace lover has to be ready to take up arms and resort to their use if necessary to attain and protect the sacred institutions that these aggressors seek to destroy. Zimri's sin was to flaunt his immorality publicly. He indicated his contempt for Moshe and Hashem's authority. Pinchas rightly understood that Zimri represented a cancer, which if allowed to exist would mean the destruction of everything that had been accomplished under Moshe's leadership. The fight for peace required giving up peace. Pinchas did not relish the role of using force. He wasn't eager to smite the sinner. He did it reluctantly but with the conviction that only through his bold action could the Jewish people be saved. It's only those individuals who are prepared to fight for peace and risk their entire credibility for the sake of peace who succeed in creating an inner unity. It is most appropriate that the covenant of peace should be their reward. So the notion of the peace prize being the the prize that Pinchas gets for a graphic and brutal and violent act is not ironic or paradoxical or inconsistent. In fact, it is entirely and wholly, both H.O. and W.H.O., appropriate. He got the peace prize because sometimes in the name and the pursuit and to achieve a real, authentic, and a lasting peace, one has to decide for a time, set aside, set aside peace. So the Torah itself testifies that Pinchas is not off the דרך derech from Aharon's path of אוהב שלום ורודף שלום ohev shalom v'rodef shalom. He too is a lover of peace, but loving peace doesn't mean it's another religion that says turn the other cheek, look the other way, be forgiving at all costs. We don't let ourselves get slapped across the face. Rather, for the pursuit of peace, one has to be willing to stand up with courage and bravery, and as Pinchas did, sometimes an act of קנאות zelutry is in fact for the sake of peace. Now, if you look in the חומש Chumash, if you look in the Torah, if you look even in the Artscroll חומש Chumash, in the Stone חומש Chumash, the depiction of our of our חומש Chumash, which tries to depict the actual text the way it appears in the Torah scroll accurately, you'll notice there is a small letter יוד yud. וידבר השם אל משה לאמר, פנחס בן אלעזר בן אהרן הכהן Vayedaber Hashem el Moshe leimor, Pinchas ben Elazar ben Aharon Hakohen, the יוד yud in the name, in the word פנחס Pinchas is a יוד קטנה yud ketana. It's a small letter יוד yud. Why is the letter יוד yud there small? So Rav Zalman Sorotzkin in his ספר עוזנים לתורה sefer Oznaim laTorah tells us something which I think is so important to know. Pinchas goes down as a hero of history. The תלמוד ירושלמי Talmud Yerushalmi by the way tells us that it was only, it took time for him to be a hero. Even after the episode, and even after God rewards him with the peace prize, with the ברית שלום bris shalom, the ירושלמי Yerushalmi tells us, nevertheless his contemporaries wanted to put him in חרם cheirem. An act of קנאות zelutry? What happens to a society and a civilization? What happens to a community where people don't offer due process? It wasn't that זמרי and כזבי Zimri and Kozbi were arrested and tried and then were put to death. When a person, a קנאי zealot can simply rise up and drive a spear through two people, when a קנאי zealot can take the law into their own hands, it is a very slippery slope. It is a very dangerous prospect. And therefore the ירושלמי Yerushalmi tells us that his contemporaries, even after God gave him the ברית שלום bris shalom, nevertheless still wanted to put him in חרם cheirem until they were convinced otherwise. It's not so simple. So he goes down ultimately, Pinchas, we recall him as a hero. And who know who Pinchas's גלגול gilgul is? The זוהר Zohar tells us that Pinchas comes back, the reincarnation of Pinchas is none other than another קנאי zealot, not a violent קנאי zealot, sort of a peaceful קנאי zealot, but another קנאי zealot by the name of, drumroll please, אליהו הנביא Eliyahu HaNavi, Elijah the Prophet. אליהו הנביא Eliyahu HaNavi is a קנאי zealot in his own right when he fights the נביאי בעל nevi'ei Ba'al. Even when he doubts the Jewish people with his zealousness and Hashem says, you're going to come back and you're going to attend every ברית bris, and you're going to be at every פסח סדר Pesach seder, and you are going to make הבדלה havdalah in every Jewish home. They're going to sing your name and you will witness the continuity and the courage of the Jewish people. אליהו Eliyahu becomes the symbol of optimism and hope and belief in a brighter future. We spoke all about this in שבת הגדול Shabbos HaGadol this year in the middle of, towards the beginning of, we wish it were the middle of, towards the beginning of as it turns out to be, this this pandemic, who אליהו הנביא Eliyahu HaNavi was. But אליהו Eliyahu was the גלגול gilgul, the reincarnation, the זוהר Zohar says of Pinchas. Pinchas is a hero of history. He rose up with courage and bravery even when משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu froze, was debilitated, didn't know what to do. When Moshe halted and didn't know what to do, Pinchas rose up and took matters into his own hand. So one might think Pinchas was a precocious young child. Pinchas was a prodigy. One might think Pinchas from a young age already displayed these leadership qualities. Maybe Pinchas already was on the track and the trajectory towards greatness. Says Rav Zalman Sorotzkin in his עוזנים לתורה Oznaim laTorah, that's why we have a small יוד yud. The small יוד yud tells us that until this moment when Pinchas distinguished himself, he was an ordinary member of כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael. He was ordinary. Before פנחס Pinchas beat his מעשה קנאות ma'aseh kana'us and the מגפה mageifah was in בני ישראל Bnei Yisrael, there was a מגפה mageifah, there was a plague. There was a plague, we didn't even get into. We're already at a time and we're just starting. But the end of last week's פרשה parsha, what happens? בלק Balak recruits בלעם Bilam to curse the Jewish people, but it doesn't work. Those who try to recruit us, try to curse us, it doesn't work. Hashem transformed it to a blessing. Already in the beginning of בראשית Bereishis Hashem says whoever blesses this people will be blessed and whoever curses it will be cursed. And while the Jewish people for the most part struggle to believe it, evangelicals and non-Jews are the ones who take it seriously and believe it from their heart. Who was the football player? Some NFL player who offered words recently to a Jewish, I think to a Jewish high school graduation, quoted and invoked this פסוק pasuk. Those who bless the Jewish people will be blessed and those who curse it will be cursed. And, and that was the failure of Bilam and בלק Balak, that strategy and scheme would never work. So what did they do instead? What did they resort to, which tragically always works? Instead, they threw, they seduced us and provoked us with beautiful women, מואבי Moavi women at us who came to seduce us and distract us and tempt us, and we failed. Not just כזבי and זמרי Kozbi and Zimri, but there was a more collective and a broader sense of failure. Someone here on YouTube's asking if they can ask questions. Absolutely, we ask questions, love questions in the chat on Zoom, on YouTube, on Facebook, everywhere we're broadcasting at, though it's hard to see it and read it all at once. But if you can, please do. So God visits a מגפה mageifah, a plague. A מגפה mageifah, a virus, a pandemic upon the people. And how does it end? Pinchas is the one who rises and ends it. So says רב זלמן סורוצקין Rav Zalman Sorotzkin in his עוזנים לתורה Oznaim laTorah, back to his text, עד עוד נטרח המגפה בבני ישראל ad od nitrach hamageifah bivnei Yisrael. He was the one who stopped it. היה אדם רגיל מן השורה Hayah adam ragil min hashurah and his מעשה קנאות ma'aseh kana'us at once, באחת b'achas, rose to the top, לרום המעלה l'rom hama'aleh. He was an ordinary person. He was just one member of the tribe, but it was this act of heroism, of bravery, of courage. It was the clarity of vision to be able to distinguish between immorality and morality, to be able to call out what was unethical from what's ethical, to be able to purge promiscuity from our midst, that is what gave him a position of distinction and honor. It's what secured him as a hero for history. And therefore, it's a יוד קטנה yud ketana. It's a small יוד yud to tell us that he wasn't destined for this greatness. It wasn't seen from his youth. It wasn't something which was projected about him. It was a יוד קטנה yud ketana. He was an ordinary, simple person. It was a small יוד yud, and yet, he took that within him, and he took that moment, and he rose to greatness, and therefore goes down in history with greatness because he took advantage of the moment. He lived the moment, and that is how he's recorded in, in history. Okay. בקנאו את קנאתי בתוכם bekan'o es kinasi besocham. The פסוק pasuk said, again page 876, still at the beginning of the פרשה parsha, בקנאו את קנאתי bekan'o es kinasi. It's a very clumsy, it's a very awkward, it's a very difficult, a difficult פסוק pasuk. He's rewarded with the peace prize. Why? Because he avenged God's vengeance, and where did he do it? בתוכם Besocham. Which is peculiar. Why does the Torah have to say בתוכם besocham? What is the word בתוכם besocham among them add? Again, to translate the פסוק pasuk, Pinchas the son of Elazar, the son of Aharon Hakohen has turned my anger away from the children of Israel by his zealously avenging me among them so that I did not destroy the children of Israel because of my zeal. בתוכם Besocham, what is that word בתוכם besocham among them add? So, there are a few approaches I want to share with you to this question, which we derive timeless lessons for today, which is the theme of our פרשה parsha. The first comes from, the first comes from Rav Yitzchak Gvarka. Rav Yitzchak Gvarka says the following. What does the word בתוכם besocham add? He says, אף על פי שפנחס קינא קנאת השם צבאות, בכל זאת לא גבה לבו במעשיו זה ולא החשיב עצמו מכך לאדם גדול af al pi shePinchas kina kinas Hashem Tzvakos, bechol zos lo gava libo b'maasav zeh, v'lo hechshiv atzmo mikach l'adam gadol. What happens? A person has a heroic moment. They rise to the challenge of history. And in that moment, they secure their distinction forever. What is the natural temptation? For it to inflate your ego, for a person to become arrogant, for a person to become arrogant is the natural is the natural reaction. Do you know who I am? Everyone else froze, the great משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu froze, but I, I rose for the moment. I'm the one who acted. So one would have thought maybe it went to Pinchas's head. Maybe it went to Pinchas's head and maybe he became arrogant. That says Rav Yitzchak Gvarka what the פסוק's pasuk's telling us. בקנאו את קנאתי Bekano' es kinasi, but Pinchas remained בתוכם besocham. He was part of the עמך amcha. He remained among כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael. Even though it's true, he acted heroically, he rose to the moment, but he never forgot where he came from. He never saw himself as superior or greater or better than anyone else, and that's what the פסוק pasuk is telling us and testifying to us, בתוכם besocham, he remained humble and modest. He wasn't an אדם גדול adam gadol. He didn't see himself as better than anyone else. He remained בתוכם besocham among them. The הייליגער נועם אלימלך heiliger Noam Elimelech, the great רב אלימלך מליז'נסק Reb Elimelech of Lizhensk, we led a trip to Poland several summers ago, we had a great טיש tish. Those who remember, I see some people on this who are with us, in the great טיש tish that we had in Lizhensk at the קבר kever, at the ציון tziyun, at the at the grave of the of the רבי רב אלימלך Rebbe Reb Elimelech, the great רב אלימלך מליז'נסק Reb Elimelech of Lizhensk. So he says the following, you know what it means בתוכם besocham? Says the רבי רב אלימלך Rebbe Reb Elimelech, בתוכם besocham means this attribute, this quality, this capacity for courage and bravery that when we look around and everyone else is frozen and doesn't know what to do, to step up and to stand out and to take the matter into our own hand, to defend, to defend the honor of Hashem, בתוכם besocham, he implanted it within each and every one of us. Pinchas put that in our DNA. He implanted that in our system. He gave us that capacity for מסירות נפש mesirus nefesh, that willingness. You know, חז\"ל Chazal tell us that Pinchas was willing to die. Says that Pinchas was willing to give his life to avenge God's honor in that moment. He was willing to be מוסר נפש moser nefesh of the highest order. I don't mean מוסר נפש moser nefesh to pay the high tuition, which is מסירות נפש mesirus nefesh. I don't mean מוסר נפש moser nefesh that he couldn't get the meat because he ran out of meat at a cheap price. I don't mean מוסר נפש moser nefesh that the restaurants were closed. I mean he was willing to be מוסר moser, literally his נפש nefesh. He was willing to give his life all together to defend the honor of כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael. And says the רבי רב אלימלך Rebbe Reb Elimelech, that's what it means, בתוכם besocham. He implanted this comment, this, he implanted this attribute, this capacity בתוכם besocham, within us, and we too can realize that among ourselves, אזוי שטייט azoy shtayt the רבי רב אלימלך Rebbe Reb Elimelech. I want to show you a couple other opinions. Back to the ספר אש תמיד Sefer Eish Tamid, beautiful ספר sefer by רב ישעיה מאיר דרוק Rav Yishayah Meir Druk, a great ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva in ירושלים Yerushalayim. Each week I've been taking a few insights from his beautiful ספר sefer. And here he has an essay on this topic, asked this question, what do you mean בתוכם besocham? Where's the word בתוכם besocham add? So far we've seen Rav Yitzchak Gvarka and we've seen the רבי רב אלימלך Rebbe Reb Elimelech. But he goes back to the ראשונים Rishonim, we go back to the medieval commentators, רב עובדיה ספורנו Rav Ovadia Sforno, the ספורנו Sforno, the great Italian exegete says the following. The ספורנו Sforno writes, quote, בקנאו את קנאתי בתוכם שאז עשה נקמתי לעיני כולם כדי שברואם זה ולא ימחו יכופר על אשר לא מיחו בפושעים ובזה השיב את חמתי מעליהם bekan'o es kinasi besocham she'az asah nikmasi l'einei kulam kedei sheb'ro'am zeh v'lo yimchu, yechupar al asher lo michu b'posh'im, uv'zeh heishiv es chamasi mei'aleihem. Says the ספורנו Sforno, you know where he avenged God's honor? Do you know where he wiped out Kozbi and Zimri specifically? He did it בתוכם besocham. He did it intentionally and specifically and by design publicly. Why? Because the fact that the people would see someone so publicly stepping up and standing out and having the courage to avenge his blood would be an atonement, it would be a כפרה kaparah for their indifference, for their apathy, for their willingness to have allowed that promiscuity in public. You see, the מגפה mageifah, the plague was visited upon them, not because every one of them engaged in the very act, but because even those who didn't engage in the act were indifferent from it. And so the ספורנו Sforno says the word בתוכם besocham is used intentionally, and the word בתוכם besocham is used by design because what set back the מגפה mageifah, what repaired the damage of the plague, was the קידוש השם kiddush Hashem created publicly. To offset, to negate, to undo a חילול השם chillul Hashem, the desecration of Hashem's name, it can only be undone with a great act of קידוש השם kiddush Hashem. And therefore בתוכם besocham, when Pinchas took matters into his own hands, he did it specifically where? בתוכם Besocham in a public way, in a public place, so others can see. Which reminds me, I'll share with you, a little bit more expanding on this theme from the Sforno that Rav Druk quotes, from an old drasha I once gave. The reward for Pinchas, the Nobel Peace Prize, the most difficult thing to understand in the story is the reason, because if you keep going in the פסוק pasuk, what does it say? Because he avenged my, he avenged my, השיב את חמתי heishiv es chamasi. He took back my anger against the people. Didn't Pinchas deserve the reward even if the people continued to be punished? The reward was because it turned back God's anger? That's not why he was rewarded. Wasn't he rewarded because he stopped Kozbi and Zimri from doing what they were doing? Isn't he rewarded because he made a קידוש השם kiddush Hashem? Isn't he rewarded because he stood up for God's honor for that which is correct? What do you mean the reward is השיב את חמתי heishiv es chamasi? Because he turned back the anger. Why are the two intertwined? So, I'll tell you an amazing story. I've shared this before, but it's worth repeating. Maybe some of you aren't familiar with the story. Do you know how 9/11 began? Not the date on the calendar that we associate with the tragedy of the, of the World Trade Center, but 911. In a case of an emergency, people are meant to dial 911. Every one of us think that. God forbid, if there were an emergency, you dial 911. When did that start and where did it come from? So, some of you may remember the story. It was before I was born. On a cold winter night, March 16th, 1964, 2:40 a.m., 28-year-old Kitty Genovese was attacked with a knife a block from her apartment and died in her stairwell. The New York Times coverage of her murder stated the police recorded, the police record showed that 38 people admitted to hearing her cries for help. In her building, out their windows, 38 people, 38 separate people had admitted to hearing her cries for help and not a single witness called to report the incident. Now dozens of books have been written about her death and the lack of empathy and action that were taken, but now more than 50 years later, a new documentary called The Witness actually dives into the tragic story and reveals that the Times exaggerated that number and it's unclear exactly what the background was. So there weren't 38 eyewitnesses, but there were maybe only a handful, but there were those who witnessed this murderer who ultimately died in prison a couple years ago, who attacked and killed Kitty Genovese. At least two neighbors claimed to have called the police, and one neighbor in fact ran to help Kitty and held her as she died. Whatever the exact number is, doesn't really matter. The bottom line is that people heard her being attacked and for the most part did absolutely nothing. Her tragic death led to several positive things as I alluded to. One of them was the adoption of the 911 emergency call system. In 1964, it was adopted as a result of that incident to make it easy for people and easy to remember, you dial 911, but it led to social scientists studying indifference and what leads to people who are passive and apathetic to that which is happening around them. And I'd like to suggest, although it turns out it's the ספורנו Sforno really, I'm expanding on the ספורנו Sforno, that that is the story of Pinchas. The villains of the Pinchas story are not in fact Kozbi and Zimri, or they are not the main villains of the story. The main villain of this story is indifference. That two people acted out in public and nobody challenged them on it. A nation stood by and watched. Perhaps they were stunned, but they were also silent. Nobody protested. Nobody objected. Nobody said anything. And when telling the story, the Torah emphasizes that where did it take place? Kozbi and Zimri and their great act of of immorality? Where did it take place? לעיני כל ישראל L'einei kol Yisrael. It took place in front of everyone. They witnessed it, they saw it, and they did nothing about it. And the Jewish people are collectively punished not for the act of one or even a few, but because of their own failure to act. They watched and observed and they didn't object. They tolerated the intolerable and they created an attitude of indifference in which evil could propagate, evil could thrive. Pinchas's act of קנאות kana'us, Pinchas's act of zealotry, when focused on Kozbi and Zimri, the two recipients of the spear, looks violent and even looks barbaric or heinous. But from the perspective of a crowd of passive onlookers who were unable or were unwilling to act, Pinchas's stepping in was a brave act of heroism. His doing so was not graphic or barbaric. His doing so was an act of bravery to in fact restore peace. And that's why he's awarded the ברית שלום bris shalom, the peace prize, because sometimes, as we saw from the Rav, the path to peace is not through indifference and looking away. The path to peace is through initiative and bold willingness to be intolerant of the intolerable. Pinchas's rewarded for relieving the people of their punishment. It wasn't, the driver of his reward is not the קידוש השם kiddush Hashem of stopping Kozbi and Zimri. What is the driver of the reward, the פסוק pasuk says? Because השיב את חמתי heishiv es chamasi, because you stopped the anger that I was putting on them. I'll just end this this insight with a quote from the great Nobel laureate, the late Holocaust survivor, Elie Wiesel, who said, quote, \"Of course, indifference can be tempting. More than that, seductive. It's so much easier to look away from victims. It's so much easier to avoid such rude interruptions to our work, our dreams, our hopes. It is after all, awkward, troublesome to be involved in another person's pain and despair. Yet for the person who's indifferent, his or her neighbor are of no consequence. And therefore their lives are meaningless. Their hidden or even invisible anguish of no interest. Indifference reduces the other to an abstraction. In a way, to be indifferent to that suffering is what makes the human being inhuman. Indifference is more dangerous than anger and hatred.\" Elie Wiesel had witnessed the worst atrocities and he, what he sees and what he blames is indifference. There will always be evil people and evil people who perpetrate evil. But what enables them to either succeed or fail are the people around them. Whether they be indifferent and apathetic to them or where they step up and make a difference. It's a question we have to ask in our lives in so many ways going on right now, whether it's fighting for racial equality and justice, and I don't mean the reactions that are pandering, I mean our willingness not to be indifferent to some of the ingrained biases. Whether it's stepping up about calling out antisemitism, even within some of those movements, and antisemitism in general, what are we indifferent to and what do we tolerate that's intolerable and what does it say about us? Because it's not just the perpetrators of the wrong, when we are indifferent or apathetic to it, we become accomplices to those wrongs for which we too become liable. And that I think is some of the story of Pinchas that doesn't get emphasized enough. So that is all based on the ספורנו Sforno. But רב דרוק Rav Druk continues, and he quotes next the גאון, the בריסקער רב Brisker Rav, רב וולוול סולובייצ'יק Reb Velvel Soloveitchik, who says, התורה הדגישה שפנחס עשה מעשיו זה בתוכם HaTorah hidgisha shePinchas asah ma'asav zeh besocham, that the Torah emphasizes that Pinchas did his act where? Specifically בתוכם besocham, among them, בפרהסיא b'farhesya. Why? כיון שכל מה שהיה מותר לפנחס להרוג את זמרי מדין בויל ארמית כנעין פוגעין בו, ודין זה נאמר דווקא אם עשו כן בפרהסיא Keivan shekol mah shehayah mutar l'Pinchas laharog es Zimri mi'din bo'el aramis kana'in pog'in bo, v'din zeh ne'emar davka im asu kein b'farhesya. What was the license Pinchas had to act this way? By what right did Pinchas have to in fact take matters into his own hand? What was his license to act so zealously? So the Torah, the תלמוד Talmud testifies, the גמרא Gemara tells us that הבועל ארמית קנאין פוגעין בו habo'el aramis kana'in pog'in bo, that the היתר heter of קנאות kana'us of zealousness is only if you do it בפרהסיא b'farhesya, if only if you do it publicly. And therefore, the Torah had to testify it was בתוכם besocham. to justify the behavior and the act itself that it took place בתוכם besocham. We see this in פרשת אמור Parshas Emor as well Rav Druck expands, when you see the whole source of the mitzvah of קידוש השם kiddush Hashem. You know, we have a major mitzvah of קידוש השם kiddush Hashem. We don't think of it as one of the תרי\"ג taryag, but it's a mitzvah. In fact, it's the way we recite קדושה kedusha. What's our response in קדושה kedusha? The חזן chazzan gets up in קדושה kedusha and we declare, נקדש את שמך בעולם nekadesh es shimcha ba'olam. What is our mission? Who are we? What are we meant to do? What is the difference we're made to make in the world? נקדש, נקדש את שמך בעולם nekadesh, nekadesh es shimcha ba'olam. We are here in order to sanctify Hashem's name. Where? בתוכם besocham in בעולם ba'olam. And this is based on the פסוק pasuk in פרשת אמור Parshas Emor that says, ונקדשתי בתוך בני ישראל venikdashti besoch bnei Yisrael. Where does the קידוש השם kiddush Hashem take place? בתוך בני ישראל besoch bnei Yisrael. You know, when I act privately and alone, and I do something anonymously, it's wonderful. It's a beautiful virtuous act. And it's wonderful and it should be celebrated and applauded, but it doesn't have the impact of קידוש השם kiddush Hashem. In order to achieve קידוש השם kiddush Hashem, ונקדשתי venikdashti, where? בתוך בני ישראל besoch bnei Yisrael. We declare in קדושה kedusha, נקדש את שמך nekadesh es shimcha, where? בעולם ba'olam, in the world. And therefore this קידוש השם kiddush Hashem too, says the גור אריה Gur Aryeh, took place where? בתוכם besocham, among them, and it is specifically described as taking place where? It's specifically described as taking place among them, among them.Okay. There's more interpretations on this, but we will be out of time and I don't want to be out of time, I want to cover some other, some cover some other areas. Okay. פסוק Pasuk, פרק כ\"ה פסוק י\"א Perek Chaf Hey Pasuk Yud Aleph. We'll move on to פרק כ\"ה פסוק י\"א Perek Chaf Hey Pasuk Yud Aleph. We're still in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash on page 876, and we're still on the second פסוק pasuk. Making our way all the way. הנני נותן לו את בריתי שלום Hineni nosein lo es brisi shalom. Sorry, let's go to פסוק ד' pasuk daled. ושם איש ישראל המכה אשר הכה את המדינית זמרי בן סלוא נשיא בית אב לשמעני V'shem ish Yisrael hamukeh asher huka es hamidyanis Zimri ben Salu nesi beis av laShimoni. Here the Torah now gives us the names. The Torah now identifies who these villains were who carried out this and perpetrated this promiscuity in publicly. And what are their names? זמרי בן סלוא Zimri ben Salu, who's נשיא בית אב לשמעני nesi beis av laShimoni, and the ושם איש ישראל זמרי בן סלוא v'shem ish Yisrael Zimri ben Salu, and the שם האישה shem ha'isha, the woman's name, who seduced him, the seductress, the מדענית midyanis seductress is כזבי בת צור ראש אמות בית אב במדין הוא Kozbi bas Tzur rosh umos beis av b'Midyan hu. במדין הוא b'Midyan hu. So, why is it peculiar that the Torah gives us their identities here? Not because of פרשת פנחס Parshas Pinchas, but because of the end of פרשת בלק Parshas Balak. At the end of last week's פרשה parsha, if you were paying attention, it tells us איש ישראל ish Yisrael and אישה isha. There was a Jewish man and a woman, very generic. Pronouns are offered, but not their names themselves. So, which is it? Are we protecting their identity or are we revealing their identity? Why at the end of פרשת בלק Parshas Balak do we protect it? They're in the witness protection program, and here in the beginning of פרשת פנחס Parshas Pinchas, all of a sudden we are revealing their identity and we're naming names. Why the difference? So I call your attention to the אור החיים הקדוש Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh. And why is it so significant? Because today is the יארצייט yahrzeit of the אור החיים Ohr HaChaim. רב חיים אבן עטר Rav Chaim ibn Attar, who was a leading רב rav in Morocco, ultimately ultimately made his way to ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael and was buried there. The אור החיים הקדוש רב חיים בן עטר Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh Rav Chaim ben Attar, and it's appropriate to learn his תורה Torah. The greatest testimony, the greatest testament to a תלמיד חכם talmid chacham, their תורה Torah outlives them. They achieve immortality through their תורה Torah, and therefore we study his תורה Torah today. So on פרק כ\"ה פסוק י\"ד Perek Chaf Hey Pasuk Yud Daled, chapter 25, verse 14, the אור החיים הקדוש Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh is bothered by this question. קשה, ממה נפשך, אם חפץ השם לגלות ערוותם, היה לו להזכירם בשעת מעשה Kasha, mi'mah nafshach, im chafetz Hashem legalos ervasam, hayah lo lehazkiram b'shaas maaseh. If Hashem wants to reveal their identity, he should have done so when, when the episode took place, for the event itself, in last week's פרשה parsha, where we first read about the event, it should have said their names. והנה איש מבני ישראל... שם היה המקום להזכירה. ולומר, והנה איש זמרי, וכשהזכיר גם כן המדינית, היה לו להזכיר שמה V'hinei ish m'bnei Yisrael... sham hayah hamakom lehazkirah. v'lomar, v'hinei ish Zimri, u'k'shehizkir gam kein haMidyanis, hayah lo lehazkir sh'mah. And similarly, when we mentioned the seductress, the מדענית midyanis seductress, that was the place to say her name. ואם תורה כיסתה עליהם V'im Torah kista aleihem, כדרך שכיסה על המקושש שבשבת k'derech she'kisa al ham'koshesh she'b'Shabbos, and if the Torah wants to hide their identity, just like the story of the מקושש עצים mekoshesh eitzim. We read several weeks ago about the מקושש עצים mekoshesh eitzim which is connected to our פרשה parsha because the גמרא Gemara tells us, it's a גמרא Gemara in שבת Shabbos, those learning the דף יומי Daf Yomi recently came across it. Who is the מקושש mekoshesh? We read recently, there was a Jew who went out and gathered wood on שבת Shabbos and Moshe Rabbeinu held him accountable and he was given the death penalty, very severe for having violated the laws of שבת Shabbos, the מקושש mekoshesh. The Torah never tells us who he is. But the גמרא Gemara does. Who does the גמרא Gemara tell us is the מקושש עצים mekoshesh eitzim? Spoiler alert right now. Who's the מקושש עצים mekoshesh eitzim? None other than צלפחד Tzlofchad. צלפחד Tzlofchad. How does the גמרא Gemara know it? Because in our פרשה parsha, when the daughters of צלפחד Tzlofchad say, \"Our father died in the desert,\" they want to make clear he didn't die as part of the act of rebellion in קרח Korach. He died for another reason altogether. And the גמרא Gemara sees his death in the מקושש עצים mekoshesh eitzim as he did an עבירה לשמה aveira lishma. He took one for the team. He intentionally violated שבת Shabbos and gave his life to do it in order to communicate to the entire nation and people the severity of the violation of שבת Shabbos. That's why he did it, says the גמרא Gemara. In fact, the גמרא Gemara there has that conversation and wonders, if the Torah didn't want to reveal the identity, why did you? I believe it's רבי עקיבא Rabbi Akiva who reveals the identity. And the גמרא Gemara challenges רבי עקיבא Rabbi Akiva, I think it's רבי עקיבא Rabbi Akiva and says, if Hashem wanted to hide his identity, how dare you reveal it? What are you doing by revealing it? So anyway, the אור החיים הקדוש Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh says, is it like the case of the מקושש mekoshesh? In the case of the מקושש mekoshesh, the Torah never tells us who it is. Similarly here, it just says a Jewish man and a מדענית midyanis woman. So why in the next פרשה parsha do we tell us their names? What is going on, what is going on here? So the אור החיים Ohr HaChaim tells us in the second paragraph, אכן הנה אדון ברוך הוא אינו חפץ לזלזל אפילו ברשעים לפרסם מי בעלי הדבר המתועבים Achein hinei adon baruch hu eino chafetz lezalzel afilu b'reshaim l'farsem mi baalei hadavar hametoavim. He says an incredible principle of the ריבונו של עולם Ribbono Shel Olam, the Almighty, which we should follow and emulate. He says Hashem does not want to denigrate. Hashem does not want to harm or hurt or injure even wicked people who deserve it. Even these wicked people who perpetrated an evil, who led to a plague, who desecrated Hashem's name so publicly, it was an affront. It was a direct challenge to Hashem, to his holiness, to his dignity. Even then Hashem does not intentionally share or promote or harm or injure even wicked evil people. We sometimes think that when someone's done something wrong, then we have license to share their name or hurt them or publicize it as much as we want, as much as we can. We even turn it into a מצוה mitzvah to do so. And the אור החיים Ohr HaChaim here is very instructive and is very inspiring. And it tells us that in last week's פרשה parsha, Hashem doesn't reveal their identity because even the names of רשעים reshaim, Hashem doesn't want to harm. ומקושש יוכיח, גם במשל לפנינו, תראה שלא גילו בשעת מעשה אלא דוקא אחר שהזכיר שבח פנחס, אשר פעל ועשה מן המעשה הטוב שקינא לשם, החריב בני ישראל, זכה גם כן להיות כי אלהים באדם פחסה באדם גדול נשיא בית אב U'mekoshesh yochiach, gam b'mashal lefaneinu, tireh shelo gilu b'shaas maaseh ela davka achar shehizkir shevach Pinchas, asher pa'al v'asah min hama'aseh hatov she'kinei l'Shem, hechriv bnei Yisrael, zachah gam kein l'hiyos ki elohim b'adam pachasa b'adam gadol nesi beis av. So why does he reveal it here? Oh, if the אור החיים הקדוש Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh is right, if Hashem wants to even protect the dignity, the honor, even of the wicked people by not promoting where they went wrong, and that's the reason in last week's פרשה parsha he conceals their identity, what happened to this week's פרשה parsha? Why here does he share it or reveal it? So the אור החיים Ohr HaChaim says, you know why? Because in last week's פרשה parsha, it was about indicting them. Last week's פרשה parsha was about acknowledging their mistake. There, Hashem protected their identity. But this week's פרשה parsha is about rewarding פנחס Pinchas. This week's פרשה parsha is about identifying and acknowledging פנחס's Pinchas's greatness. So here, now that we're talking about פנחס's Pinchas's greatness, it would diminish פנחס Pinchas to simply keep them anonymous. Why? Because maybe פנחס Pinchas took two low lives, two nobodies, two homeless people, and that's who he killed. So you need to know that no, the ones that פנחס Pinchas stood up with courage and conviction to confront were none other than a נשיא בית אב nesi beis av. This was the leader, the head of a tribe. This was the daughter of a מדענית midyanis king. These were people of great power and great distinction. Here, revealing their identity is in fact part of the way that we honor and acknowledge פנחס Pinchas, and that is why in the last week's פרשה parsha we conceal it, and in this week's פרשה parsha we reveal it, and that is the insight of the הייליגע אור החיים הקדוש heilige Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh. The בנות צלפחד bnos Tzlofchad. The Torah goes on, let's moving right along. The Torah goes on, tells us the story of בנות צלפחד bnos Tzlofchad. I identified with צלפחד Tzlofchad for a long time because I had five daughters. My first five children were girls. So I felt like a modern day צלפחד Tzlofchad for a little while. Then I had a sixth daughter, then I felt like צלפחד Tzlofchad's got nothing on me, who's צלפחד Tzlofchad with five daughters, and then ברוך השם, בלי עין הרע Baruch Hashem, bli ayin hara, I had my my seventh which was a son. So the Torah here moves on and tells us we have the census. We're skipping over the census and the story of צלפחד Tzlofchad.Page 886, Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash page 886, פרק כ\"ז Perek Chaf Zayin, chapter 20 chapter 27. Actually, let's go back one more comment, I'm sorry. Go back to פרק כ\"ו פסוק ט' Perek Chaf Vov Pasuk Tes. 26:9. Let's make one comment in the census. There's a fascinating comment. We know that a couple weeks ago, we read the story of קרח Korach, and קרח Korach is one of the great villains of Jewish history. He's a great villain of our 40 years in the desert. קרח Korach, קרח Korach started this rebellion and challenged the authority of Moshe and of Aharon, and we know the ground opened up and swallowed up קרח Korach and his followers. דתן ואבירם בני ראובן Dasan v'Aviram bnei Reuven and so on. פרק כ\"ו פסוק ט' Perek Chaf Vov Pasuk Tes, Chapter 26, verse number 9. So here the Torah tells us in the context of the census, we've begun the census. Why is this a census? Because the דור dor, the generation who were in the desert, were not destined to go into Israel. Part of their punishment of the terrible mistake of the spies was that they were all wiped out. They didn't go into the desert, they didn't go into Israel. The women all got to go into Israel. Why? Because the women did not make the same mistake. The women got to go into Israel. The women, their righteousness. Um, they did not participate in the חטא העגל chet ha'egel, they did not participate in either the also in the in the sin of the spies, they got to go in. But the generation of men were wiped out. This is a new generation and therefore a census needed to be taken. In the context of this sentence, census, the פסוק pasuk tells us, פסוק pasuk ט' tes, verse 9, the following. ותפתח הארץ את פיה ותבלע אתם ואת קרח במות העדה באכול האש את חמשים ומאתים איש ויהיו לנס ובני קרח לא מתו Vatiftach ha'aretz es piha vativala osam v'es Korach b'mos ha'eidah ba'achol ha'esh es chamishim u'matayim ish v'yihyu l'neis. U'vnei Korach lo meisu. In the context of a census, all of a sudden the Torah throws in this gratuitous fact. You should know the children of קרח Korach, his own קינדערלעך kinderlach, his own אייניקלעך einiklach, they did not die. קרח Korach, דתן ואבירם בני ראובן Dasan v'Aviram bnei Reuven, 250, the ground opened up, swallowed them up. They were goners, but בני קרח לא מתו bnei Korach lo meisu. The children of קרח Korach did not die. Here again, the אור החיים Ohr HaChaim has a comment. I share it because it's worthwhile to learn, but also it is his יארצייט yahrzeit today. Again, פרק כ\"ו פסוק י\"א Perek Chaf Vov Pasuk Yud Aleph. And the אור החיים Ohr HaChaim says, הודיע כתוב עניין זה כאן ולא במקום אחר המעשה hodi'a kasuv inyan zeh kan v'lo b'makom achar hama'aseh. Again, he has the same question. Why are we mentioning now that Korach's children didn't die? Where would have been the more appropriate place to mention it? Nothing in the Torah is coincidental or chance. Nothing is because the publisher decided there's more room or space to put it in here. קודשא בריך הוא Kudsha Brich Hu is the author. קודשא בריך הוא Kudsha Brich Hu is the publisher. So where would have been the more natural place to put this fact that בני קרח לא מתו bnei Korach lo meisu? Where should it have gone, that the children of Korach didn't die? Where? You're on muted so you can't answer me and I'm just asking you it over and over again. The answer, I'll answer for you. The answer is, of course, in פרשת קרח Parshas Korach. In the story of קרח Korach, and the whole narrative of קרח Korach is the logical place to put in ובני קרח לא מתו u'vnei Korach lo meisu, that the children of קרח Korach didn't die. גם לא כותב במקום מספר הלווים Gam lo kosav b'makom mispar haLeviim? כי שם מקום הודעת מעשיהם מהם Ki sham makom hoda'as ma'aseihem meihem. Or the census of the לויים Leviim. Why didn't we put it in there? We just took another census here. So why don't we include the לויים Leviim at their own census in parallel? בני קרח bnei Korach, the children of קרח Korach are among the לויים Leviim. Why didn't we put the fact that בני קרח bnei Korach, the children of קרח Korach live in the census of the לויים Leviim? So two alternatives, two better places to have put this, says the אור החיים Ohr HaChaim, why here? כי דרך ששתף חובם של דתן ואבירם כל בתיהם להיות עיקר המחלוקת Ki derech she'shitaf chovam shel Dasan v'Aviram, kol bateihem l'hiyos ikar hamachlokes. Because this somehow tells us something positive about קרח Korach. that even though דתן ואבירם Dasan v'Aviram got mixed into this whole episode, קרח Korach did not pay it forward to his own children. קרח Korach did not pass it on to them, and therefore they continued to live. They continued to live. The קהילת יעקב Kehilas Yaakov, the סטיפלר Steipler, also addresses this question. היה מקום להקשות מדוע נענשו דתן ואבירם כל כך, היו כאנוסים לפני שהיו שכניו של קרח Hayah makom l'hakshos madua na'anshu Dasan v'Aviram kol kach, hayu k'anusim lifnei shehayu sh'cheinev shel Korach. Listen to this insight from the סטיפלר Steipler. I love this insight. The great סטיפלר Steipler גאון gaon is the father, זצ\"ל zatzal, of רב חיים קנייבסקי שליט\"א Rav Chaim Kanievsky shlita in בני ברק Bnei Brak today. The סטיפלר Steipler, the author of the קהילת יעקב Kehilas Yaakov says the following. He says, דתן ואבירם Dasan v'Aviram, why don't you say that דתן ואבירם Dasan v'Aviram, who are held so accountable, דתן ואבירם Dasan v'Aviram, who also go down as villains of Jewish history because they are accomplices and partners and they joined the bandwagon of of rebelling against Moshe. Why don't we say they're אנוסים anusim? They were, we should let them off the hook, why? שכניו של קרח Sh'cheinev shel Korach. They were neighbors with קרח Korach. So אוילא רשע אוילא שכנו oy la rasha oy l'shcheino. You have a bad neighbor, and the neighbor can say, \"Come on, come over for a drink, everybody's doing it. Try a smoke of this, everybody's doing it. Listen to this לשון הרע lashon hara, everybody's listening to it.\" Or the modern day application would be the neighbor says, \"Come over for lunch on שבת Shabbos with no mask and sit two feet away from me, everybody's doing it.\" אוילא רשע אוילא שכנו Oy la rasha oy l'shcheino. So what would you say about the neighbor? And let's let's be a little flexible. Let's be a little sympathetic because they had a bad neighbor, an evil neighbor was able to compel them, persuade them. So if I were the defending lawyer, if I were defending דתן ואבירם Dasan v'Aviram, I'd come before the judge, the Almighty, and I'd say, \"Look, דתן ואבירם Dasan v'Aviram didn't lead this rebellion. It wasn't their initiative. דתן ואבירם Dasan v'Aviram, they're victims of קרח Korach. קרח Korach was this great orator, this great spokesperson, this charismatic leader, and let them off the hook.\" So therefore, that's why the קהילת יעקב Kehilas Yaakov says, that's why it tells us בני קרח לא מתו bnei Korach lo meisu. Why? Because if בני קרח bnei Korach could have the spiritual fortitude, if the בני קרח bnei Korach could know that their father was doing what was wrong and not participate and partner in his rebellion, then כל שכן kol shekein, all the more so, a neighbor needs to know that just because your neighbor's doing the wrong thing, that doesn't let you off the hook. The מדרש Midrash tells us בני קרח bnei Korach עשו תשובה asu teshuva. The children of קרח Korach did תשובה teshuva. בני קרח למדו תורה Bnei Korach lamdu Torah, where? בבני ברק b'Bnei Brak. No, in בני ברק Bnei Brak, maybe that's why the סטיפלר Steipler gave this insight. The גמרא Gemara tells us בני בנו של חמן bnei bno shel Haman, I'm sorry, למדו תורה בבני ברק lamdu Torah b'Bnei Brak. So the children of קרח Korach, they did תשובה teshuva. They didn't go down, literally down, get it, get the pun, they didn't go down with קרח Korach. That was good. They didn't go down with קרח Korach. They didn't go down with קרח Korach. Why? Because they had the moral compass. They had the spiritual fortitude to be able to see that what their father was doing was wrong and to withstand his his persuasiveness and his charisma. And that's what the סטיפלר Steipler tells us, the contrast here. דתן ואבירם קריאה עדה שהיצו את משה ואת אהרן בעדת קרח, ותפתח הארץ את פיה Dasan v'Aviram k'rei'a eidah she'heitzu es Moshe v'es Aharon b'adas Korach, vatiftach ha'aretz es piha, it swallowed דתן ואבירם Dasan v'Aviram, ובני קרח לא מתו u'vnei Korach lo meisu. Before you're gonna jump in, the defense attorney, and before you're gonna say, \"No, no, no, דתן ואבירם Dasan v'Aviram, judge, let them off the hook. It's not their fault. They live next door to קרח Korach. There was nothing they can do.\" Before you're gonna jump in and the פסוק pasuk and say, \"Come to the defense of דתן ואבירם Dasan v'Aviram,\" you need to know, ובני קרח לא מתו u'vnei Korach lo meisu. That if the children of קרח Korach could do it, so could you. We who are exposed to all kinds of ideas and ideals on the internet and off of it in the media and social media among our neighbors, need to know that it's not an excuse. It's not a justification to say, \"What could I do? This was my neighbor. I was got caught up in it.\" If בני קרח לא מתו bnei Korach lo meisu, if the children of קרח Korach could know, if children could know right from wrong, then we're capable of knowing right from wrong as well, and we're held accountable to stand up and to do it. Okay, now we move over to בנות צלפחד bnos Tzlofchad, which is where we were heading. After the census, בני קרח לא מתו bnei Korach lo meisu, we have the story of the children, the daughters of צלפחד Tzlofchad. The daughters of צלפחד Tzlofchad.Page 886 in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash. The five daughters of צלפחד Tzlofchad step up and they challenge Moshe Rabbeinu and they say, \"What's the deal? We're only sisters, we have no brother. Are we going to lose our land? Are we going to lose our land? This doesn't feel right, it doesn't seem justified, it doesn't feel fair. What's going on over here?\" בנות צלפחד Bnos Tzlofchad.בנות צלפחד Bnos Tzlofchad stand up. רש\"י Rashi here says the story of בנות צלפחד bnos Tzlofchad. What does רש\"י Rashi say? למשפחות מנשה בן יוסף ותקרבנה בנות צלפחד בן חפר בן גלעד בן מכיר בן מנשה משפחות מנשה בן יוסף L'mishpechos Menashe ben Yosef. Vatirkavna bnos Tzlofchad ben Chefer ben Gilad ben Machir ben Menashe m'mishpechos Menashe ben Yosef. We're going all the way back. If you thought we got to learn פנחס's Pinchas's שידוך shidduch resume, his lineage, at the beginning of the פרשה parsha, now the daughters of צלפחד Tzlofchad, oh wow, their resume goes all the way back. Their אבא זיידע abba zeide was none other than יוסף הצדיק Yosef HaTzaddik. So they wanted to make sure that whatever boys they were going to marry, they would know, they were בן חפר, בן צלפחד, בן חפר, בן גלעד, בן מכיר, בן מנשה, בן יוסף ben Chefer, ben Tzlofchad, ben Chefer, ben Gilad, ben Machir, ben Menashe, ben Yosef. That's a long resume. They stand before Moshe, and they and they challenge him. So רש\"י Rashi says למשפחות מנשה בן יוסף, למה נאמר l'mishpechos Menashe ben Yosef, lama ne'emar? והלא כבר נאמר בן מנשה v'halo k'var ne'emar ben Menashe. It says they were the children of, going all the way back, בן מנשה ben Menashe. למשפחות מנשה בן יוסף L'mishpechos Menashe ben Yosef. The children of מנשה Menashe, according to the family of מנשה בן יוסף Menashe ben Yosef. Does that make sense to you? Why is that here? That's what רש\"י Rashi says. אלא לומר לך יוסף חיבב את הארץ, שנאמר והעליתם את עצמותי מזה, ובנותיו חיבבו את הארץ Ela lomar lach Yosef chibev es ha'aretz, she'ne'emar v'haalitem es atzmosai mizeh, u'vnosav chivvu es ha'aretz. יוסף Yosef loved the land. יוסף Yosef said, don't bury me in מצרים Mitzrayim, take me back to Israel. He loved the land. יוסף Yosef was a great religious ציוני Zioni, a great lover of ציון Tzion, יוסף ציון הלא תשאלי Yosef Tzion halo tishali, יוסף Yosef loved the land. And just like יוסף Yosef loved the land, he ingrained that within his progeny, within his family, and his descendants, the daughters of צלפחד Tzlofchad inherited this quality, and they too loved the land, and that's why they said, תנו לנו אחוזה tnu lanu achuza. That's why they confronted Moshe and said, \"It ain't fair to us. It's not fair. Where's our cut of the land? We want to hold on to our father's property.\" Asks the חתם סופר Chasam Sofer, ר' משה סופר Rav Moshe Sofer of Pressburg asks the חתם סופר Chasam Sofer, a great question. Did it ever occur to any of you? Asks the חתם סופר Chasam Sofer the following great question. How do you know the daughters of צלפחד Tzlofchad loved the land of Israel? Maybe what they loved was land. What's to say that if צלפחד Tzlofchad was going to have property in Boca Raton, if צלפחד Tzlofchad was going to have property in the Five Towns of Teaneck, in LA, in South Africa, in South America, in Paris or London, that they also wouldn't have said, \"It's not fair to us, we deserve to inherit\"? Weren't the daughters of צלפחד Tzlofchad challenging the laws of ירושה yerusha of inheritance? This was no ציוני Zioni statement. They weren't saying, \"We love the land. We too need to be pioneers of settling the land. It's not fair to us, we won't get the land.\" This wasn't some ציוני Zioni statement. This was a this was a statement of inheritance. This was a challenge to the laws of ירושה yerusha. So how does רש\"י Rashi know למשפחות מנשה בן יוסף l'mishpechos Menashe ben Yosef, just like יוסף Yosef was חביב את הארץ chibev es ha'aretz, just like יוסף Yosef was חובב ציון chovev Tzion and he loved the land, חביב את הארץ chibev es ha'aretz, so too בנותיו חיבבו את הארץ b'nosav chivvu es ha'aretz. Where do you see that from? Where do you see that from? It's a great question of the חתם סופר Chasam Sofer. You agree? Great question. Great question. He says the חתם סופר Chasam Sofer the following. He says, בנות צלפחד, הלא היו משבט מנשה, ומשפחות מכיר וגלעד נתנו את חלקם בעבר הירדן Bnos Tzlofchad, halo hayu m'shevet Menashe, u'mishpechos Machir v'Gilad natnu es chelkam b'Ever HaYarden. The family מכיר Machir and גלעד Gilad took the portion of מנשה Menashe. Remember, מנשה Menashe ultimately gets divided in two. ראובן, גד, וחצי מנשה Reuven, Gad, v'chatzi Menashe inherit land where? East of the ירדן Yarden. East of the ירדן Yarden. והם חששו שגם הם יקבלו את חלקם בעבר הירדן עם מכיר והגלעדי V'hem chashshu she'gam hem y'kablu es chelkam b'Ever HaYarden im Machir v'haGiladi. Says the חתם סופר Chasam Sofer, what בנות צלפחד bnos Tzlofchad were worried about was, \"What if we're with the half of מנשה Menashe that are getting the land east of the Jordan? We don't want some expanded version of Israel. We want Israel proper. We want to be within the boundaries and borders. We don't want to be בעבר הירדן b'Ever HaYarden east of the ירדן Yarden. We want to be in Israel properly.\" אף כן אמרו, שלא יגרע שם אבינו מתוך משפחתינו, דהיינו משפחה של חפרי, שנתנו בעבר הירדן והלאה Af kein amru, shelo yigara shem avinu m'toch mishpachteinu, d'hainu mishpacha shel Chefri, she'natnu b'Ever HaYarden v'hala. So this is the source that they loved the land. They weren't worried about getting their portion. They weren't worried about their portfolio, their inheritance. They weren't worried about what their father would leave them. What were they worried about? \"Don't give us the part east of the Jordan. We don't want to be בעבר הירדן b'Ever HaYarden, the extended Israel. We want to be in Israel properly, proper.\" And that's how רש\"י Rashi knew that חביבות ציון chibevas Tzion, that's how רש\"י Rashi knew that what drove this challenge of בנות צלפחד bnos Tzlofchad was in fact, was in fact their love of Israel, their love of the land of Israel, should be at the forefront of all of our minds. I saw that Israel came out and they said, what do they say? Over the next five years, they expect a quarter of a million people are going to make עליה aliyah. I think this summer there was supposed to be the most people who ever making עליה aliyah, most people in a long time. If only they can figure out who would fly them there or how they can get there, which I know is a great challenge. All of us, we're beginning the three weeks and we're experiencing and and reeling from the loss of בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash, of גלות galus, should be thinking not if, but when it's time for us to go, that we too should be the offspring and the disciples of the daughters of of צלפחד Tzlofchad, going all the way back to מנשה Menashe and to יוסף Yosef, to be מחבב את הארץ m'chabev es ha'aretz, to love the land. פרק כ\"ז Perek Chaf Zayin, פסוק pasuk ה' hey. Still in the middle of the story. ויקרב משה את משפטן לפני השם Vayakrev Moshe es mishpatan lifnei Hashem. So the daughters of צלפחד Tzlofchad challenged Moshe, and how does Moshe react? He says, \"That's a pretty good question.\" It's a בומב קשיא bomb kasha. In ישיבה yeshiva, you'd call that a בומב קשיא bomb kasha. It's a בומב קשיא bomb kasha. It's a great question. What does he do? He advances their question to God. ויקרב משה את משפטן Vayakrev Moshe es mishpatan. He takes their question and he brings it to השם Hashem Almighty. Asks the חידושי הרי\"ם Chidushei HaRim, \"What's going on?\" When you go, if you go all the way back, I can't find this ספר sefer, חידושי הרי\"ם Chidushei HaRim, here it is. When you go all the way back to the last time this happened, because this isn't the first time and it's not the last time that this happened, it's happened several times, that Moshe Rabbeinu encounters a question he doesn't know the answer to. Rav Yehuda Copperman, the founder of מכללה Michlalah, wrote a whole ספר sefer, I think, about this, each time that Moshe didn't know the answer and how he reacted. So the חידושי הרי\"ם Chidushei HaRim, ר' יצחק מאיר Rav Yitzchak Meir of גור Ger, the גערער רבי Gerer Rebbe wonders that if you go back to the last time this happened, which was פסח שני Pesach Sheini, למה נגרע Lama nigara, Jews stood up and they said, \"It's not fair to us. We were deprived of being able to participate in the קרבן korban because we were טמא tamei. It's not fair to us.\" The Torah there says, עמדו ואשמעה מה יצווה השם לכם imdu v'eshme'a mah yetzaveh Hashem lachem. Moshe says, \"Stand up and ask and let God respond.\" He took himself out of that equation. There in the case of פסח Pesach, he took himself out. And here, I'm sorry, there he said, \"עמדו ואשמעה imdu v'eshme'a, let's stand up together and ask God what he has to say.\" So over here, he takes himself out altogether. ויקרב משה את משפטן לפני השם Vayakrev Moshe es mishpatan lifnei Hashem. He deposits it before, he deposits it before God. So why here does he say, \"God will answer you,\" and in the case of פסח שני Pesach Sheini, he says, \"נו Nu, let's learn this together, let's ask God together, let's find out together\"? When Moshe is stumbled, when Moshe doesn't know, why does sometimes he say, \"Let's learn this together,\" and sometimes he says, \"I'll put this before God and God will answer you,\" as if he's not part of it? So says the חידושי הרי\"ם Chidushei HaRim, \"Because you have to look at what the claim of בנות צלפחד bnos Tzlofchad.\" The claim of the daughters of צלפחד Tzlofchad was אבינו מת במדבר avinu meis ba'midbar, our father died in the desert. והוא לא היה בתוך העדה הנועדים על השם בעדת קרח V'hu lo hayah b'soch ha'eidah ha'noadim al Hashem b'adas Korach. He wasn't among those who rebelled against you with the story of קרח Korach. So therefore, מפני כך חשש משה רבינו שמא אחר שישמיע דברי אלה הפך להיות נוגע בדבר, סילק עצמו לגמרי Mifnei kach chashash Moshe Rabbeinu, shema achar she'yashmi'a divrei eileh, hafach l'hiyos nogea b'davar, silek atzmo l'gamrei. Moshe was worried, \"How can I be a judge to give them an answer? How can I in an unbiased way judge the situation? I just became biased.\" How was he biased? Because they testified about their father, צלפחד Tzlofchad, he was on your side. And all Moshe needed to hear was, \"He's on my side.\" That was enough to constitute a bias. That was enough to be a bribe. That was enough for Moshe to feel disqualified to adjudicate their question, to be able to come back with an answer. You see just how sensitive it is, how easy it is for us to become biased in a certain direction and not to be able to be objective in the conclusion about that question, so much so that Moshe recuses himself from answering only because they themselves testified that that our father was not part of the rebellion. We gave a three or four שיעורים shiurim recently about bribery in in Jewish law. We see it all the time. You bribe to get your grandson into the חדר cheder, you bribe... We had the episode of the people recently who the college, got their kids into the college, academic, athletic programs, and so on and so forth. The bribery in הלכה halacha, how sensitive it is and how careful we have to, we have to be. Okay.I only have a few minutes left and I'm deciding where to go. Okay, פרק כ\"ז פסוק ט\"ז Perek Chaf Zayin Pasuk Tes Zayin. Turn the page, page 888. וידבר משה אל השם לאמר Vayidaber Moshe el Hashem leimor. The next section is Moshe asks for a successor. This really is worth our studying at length. We don't have time for now, but this is a really worthwhile passage to be studying at length. וידבר משה אל השם לאמר Vayidaber Moshe el Hashem leimor. Succession planning in Judaism. What do you look for in a succession? How do you do succession planning? The importance of succession planning is what this is all about. יפקוד השם אלהי הרוחות לכל בשר איש על העדה Yifkod Hashem Elohei ha'ruchos l'chol basar ish al ha'eidah. Moshe spoke to Hashem. He initiates the conversation of his own succession with Hashem. Moshe is a level five leader. Jim Collins, \"Good to Great,\" Moshe is a level five leader. The cause is greater than himself. And therefore, how do you know when the cause is greater than yourself? When you are more concerned with its continuity than you are with your legacy and you're looking to appoint that successor. So for Moshe Rabbeinu, the cause of כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael is greater than his own legacy. And so he comes to Hashem and he says, \"יפקוד השם אלהי הרוחות לכל בשר איש על העדה Yifkod Hashem Elohei ha'ruchos l'chol basar ish al ha'eidah. May Hashem who is the God of the spirits of all flesh appoint a man over the assembly, find somebody who's going to lead over everybody.\" And what are the qualities, what are the qualifications that he is, that he's looking for? So the פסוק pasuk tells us. אשר יצא לפניהם ואשר יבוא לפניהם ואשר יוציאם ואשר יביאם Asher yeitzei lifneihem v'asher yavo lifneihem v'asher yotziem v'asher yeviem. Here are the qualities, here's the criteria. If you're putting it out there, here's the job description to lead כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael. He has to walk out before them and come in before them, take them out and bring them in, and ולא תהיה עדת השם כצאן אשר אין להם רועה v'lo siyeh adas Hashem katzon asher ein lahem roeh, never let them be like a flock who's lacking a shepherd. That's what I'm looking for, says Moshe. So what is this language אשר יצא לפניהם asher yeitzei lifneihem? Along the list of criteria, qualifications, appoint a man who will go out before them and come in before them, who shall take them out and bring them in. What does it mean אשר יצא asher yeitzei, who will go out before them? So there's a beautiful ספר חינוך מחותי התורה sefer Chinuch Machusei HaTorah. It's a beautiful ספר sefer, and in here he says the following about this clause. That Moshe Rabbeinu was saying, שימנה איש על העדה אשר יצא לפניהם, שימסור את נפשו עם כל אדם מישראל She'yemaneh ish al ha'eidah asher yeitzei lifneihem, she'yimsor es nafsho im kol adam miYisrael. Will this leader be מוסר נפש moser nefesh for every member of כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael? כך צריך להיות המחנך Kach tzarich l'hiyos hamenachech. To be a מחנך mechanech, to be a parent, to be an educator, to be a rabbi, to be a leader, is, you have to be willing to be מוסר נפש moser nefesh for the people. You have to be willing to be מוסר moser your נפש nefesh for the people. The way I'd put it is the following. This is what I look for in the people on our team, and this is what I try to demand of myself and those around me. Is this your calling or is this a career? Is it a profession or is it a calling? Do you say, \"I won't do it if I'm not paid,\" or, \"I put in my many hours, I'm not doing any more\"? Do you go above and beyond? Are you satisfied with the minimal or do you seek the maximum? Is it a career or is it a calling? What is it? What is it? And that's what Moshe Rabbeinu was telling Hashem, \"I need you to help me find somebody that it's not their career. They're not doing it for the wrong reasons, they're doing it because it's their calling. They're willing to be מוסר נפש moser nefesh, they're willing to compromise and risk and put themselves on the line. They're willing to do that for the Jewish people. It's what it's really, it is what it's really all about.\" ונתת מהודך V'nasata m'hodcha, פסוק כ' pasuk kaf, פרק perek... פרק כ\"ז פסוק כ' perek chaf zayin pasuk kaf. Continuing. Hashem says, \"No problem.\" ויאמר השם אל משה Vayomer Hashem el Moshe, I got your man. Succession done. You know who your man is? קח לך את יהושע בן נון איש אשר רוח בו וסמכת את ידך עליו Kach lecha es Yehoshua bin Nun, ish asher ruach bo, v'samachta es yadcha alav. Take your man יהושע Yehoshua, your boy יהושע Yehoshua, the one who always stays after and cleans up the classroom, the one who drinks from your feet, the one who's thirsty for everything you have to say. He's your man, יהושע Yehoshua. והעמדת אותו V'ha'amadta oso, and you're going to put your hands over him. And פסוק כ' pasuk kaf, ונתת מהודך עליו למען ישמעו כל עדת בני ישראל V'nasata m'hodcha alav l'ma'an yishme'u kol adas bnei Yisrael. You're going to put your majesty on him so that everybody will listen to him. What does that mean, you're going to put your majesty on him so everybody will listen to him? We're running out of time, but bear with me for a couple more minutes, because it is, it is worth it. You're going to put your majesty on him. So ר' חיים מוולוז'ין Rav Chaim Volozhiner, the great ר' חיים מוולוז'ין Rav Chaim Volozhiner says the following. Why do the כהנים kohanim have to be there? What does the פסוק pasuk specifically say? He says, \"Take יהושע בן נון Yehoshua bin Nun, איש אשר רוח בו ish asher ruach bo.\" He's got a lot of רוח ruach. You know, in camp, we've got רוח ruach, yes we do, we've got רוח ruach, how about you? יהושע Yehoshua would win color war every year. He won the רוח ruach contest. He is איש אשר רוח בו ish asher ruach bo. We have to define what that means. If we weren't out of time, I'd spend some time on this. איש אשר רוח בו Ish asher ruach bo. What does it mean Yehoshua is a, he's got רוח ruach, yes he does, he's got רוח ruach, how about you? והעמדת אותו V'ha'amadta oso, where are you supposed to put him? In front of אלעזר Elazar, לפני כל העדה, וציוית אותו לעיניהם lifnei kol ha'eidah, v'tzivisa oso l'eineihem, and give him a command. ונתת מהודך V'nasata m'hodcha and take your majesty and your glory and put it on on him. Says רש\"י Rashi, זכות רש\"י zechus Rashi, quoting the גמרא בבא בתרא ע\"ה Gemara Bava Basra ayin hey. ולא כל הודך V'lo kol hodcha. Don't give him all your majesty, save some, but put your majesty on him. זקנים שבאותו הדור אמרו Zekeinim she'b'oso hador amru. פני משה כפני חמה פני יהושע כפני לבנה, אוי לו לאותה בושה אוי לו לאותה כלימה pnei Moshe k'pnei chama pnei Yehoshua k'pnei levana, oy lo l'osah busha oy lo l'osah klima. So Rashi quotes the גמרא Gemara, חז\"ל Chazal, that the Rabbis, the elders of that generation said, they watched this transition, they watched this succession and they said what? The face of Moshe is like the face of the sun, and the face of Yehoshua is like the face of the moon. Why is it specifically זקנים zekeinim who observe this? Why is it the זקנים zekeinim who note this? So Rav Chaim Volozhiner, the great primary student of the Vilna Gaon, Rav Chaim Volozhiner says, you know why it's דווקא davka the זקנים zekeinim, the older people? For the following reason. Because the younger people thought that you know what, Moshe is not really greater than Yehoshua. Moshe is at the end of his career, Yehoshua is at the beginning of his career. Give Yehoshua all those years, he'll end up as great as Moshe. You can't compare and contrast. It's not apples to apples. Moshe's at the end of his career, Yehoshua is at the beginning of his career. So who was the only one who knew Moshe at the beginning of his career, who can say, no, even at the beginning of his career, Moshe was categorically different and greater than Yehoshua? That was this זקנים zekeinim. The זקנים zekeinim had the perspective of history of time. They know Moshe, they knew Moshe in his youth, and therefore they're able to accurately compare and contrast and to testify that the face of Moshe is like the face of the sun, and the face of Yehoshua is like the face of the moon. What does that mean? What is this comparison? The face of the sun, the face of the moon? What does that mean? So, so Rav Druk explains, many explain this way, that what it means is the following. The sun is a primary source of light. The sun is a source of light. The sun is not greater than the moon because of its size. It's not that the comparison of greatness of the sun versus the moon is because of size. It's not the the quantity, it's the quality. The sun is a originator. It is a source of light, and the moon is only a reflector of light. The moon mirrors or reflects the light, and the sun is the source of light. And that's what it means. פני משה כפני חמה, פני יהושע כפני לבנה pnei Moshe k'pnei chama, pnei Yehoshua k'pnei levana, that Yehoshua, of course was a great disciple, but he reflected back everything he learned from his teacher. Moshe introduced new things, and Yehoshua reflected back the things that he had seen from his teacher. And Rabbi Soloveitchik added that's what we say at a bris. We wish this child זה הקטן גדול יהיה zeh hakatan gadol yihiyeh. Right now he's a קטן katan, he's simply reflecting his parents. גדול יהיה Gadol yihiyeh, may he be an originator of light himself. And you see that from the sun and the moon. The sun is called the המאור הגדול hamaor hagadol, and the moon is called the מאור הקטן maor hakatan.There's a lot more to say about all this, but I want to end with one more thought because it connects to our fast day on Thursday. So bear with me for one more moment, and I thank you for those who are still with us. The parsha has in it at the end the story of the קרבן תמיד korban tamid. את הכבש אחד תעשה בבקר, ואת הכבש השני תעשה בין הערבים es hakeves echad ta'aseh baboker, v'es hakeves hasheini ta'aseh bein ha'arbaim. You offer one lamb in the morning, one in the afternoon. This is the story of the קרבן תמיד korban tamid, the daily sacrifice that was offered each and every day, every single day in the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash until when? Until it stopped. Until it was put to a stop by the Babylonians when they lead lead siege and we ran out of animals, there the קרבן תמיד korban tamid was ended. And that happened on שבעה עשר בתמוז Shiva Asar B'Tammuz. One of the five reasons we're given why we fast on the 17th of Tammuz, why we'll fast this Thursday is it was the end of the קרבן תמיד korban tamid. Why do we mourn the end of a קרבן תמיד korban tamid? What's so important about a קרבן תמיד korban tamid that we're crying for its loss? Because something that we took as part of our pattern, as part of our habit, as part of our ritual, namely the daily sacrifice was put to an end. When something, you know, one of the challenges of this pandemic, how many people who had certain habits, positive habits and lifestyles, which the pandemic deprived us of and and put to an abrupt halt and stop and it's devastating, it's painful. We offered that korban every morning, every night, weekday, Shabbos, Yom Kipper, it didn't matter. Cal Ripken Jr. record. We did it every single day, day in and day out, and the Babylonians lead siege and we were no longer able to do it, and that was devastating and it's one of the reasons we fast. But it's much more significant than that. We know that עין יעקב Ein Yaakov quotes a מדרש Medrash, מדרש Medrash nobody's ever found, but a מדרש Medrash that says that the Jews, the rabbis got together to debate what is the most significant motto? What is the bumper sticker? What is the great statement of the Jewish people? And one of them proposed, I would give this to you dramatically but we're out of time, one of them proposed it is ואהבת לרעך כמוך v'ahavta l'reiacha kamocha. What is the motto, the bumper sticker of the Jewish people? Love your neighbor as yourself. And the other said, no, it's שמע ישראל ה' אלוקינו ה' אחד Shema Yisrael Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad. It is a statement of Jewish unity. And the third stood up and said, no, it's את הכבש אחד תעשה בבקר ואת הכבש אחד תעשה בין הערבים es hakeves echad ta'aseh baboker v'es hakeves echad ta'aseh bein ha'arbaim. The morning and the, what are you talking about? That's the most important. They voted, of course, undoubtedly, this conference was at the Homowack hotel. And they voted, what is the motto, the bumper sticker? Maybe the Concord. What is the motto, or bumper sticker of the Jewish people? And they voted, it is את הכבש אחד תעשה בבקר, את הכבש השני תעשה בין הערבים es hakeves echad ta'aseh baboker, es hakeves hasheini ta'aseh bein ha'arbaim, the קרבן תמיד korban tamid. That's the motto, that's the bumper sticker. And the answer is yes, because if we don't have consistency and constancy, if we are not reliable and dependable, if we're not willing to do it day in and day out, we have nothing. Judaism is not a casual relationship. It's not something we do when we feel like it. It's something that is part of our very identity, it's part of our core, it's with us whenever and wherever we go, on vacation or at home. It's like a status of marriage. You're not married while you're at home, but if you're on vacation or a business trip, you're single. Marriage is part of your core, who you are, and it informs and inspires everything you do and everywhere you go. And that is the consistency that Torah and mitzvos demand, the daily grind every morning and every afternoon. And that was what was denied from us, and that's why we fast on Thursday. When we think about it this Thursday, שבעה עשר בתמוז Shiva Asar B'Tammuz, the loss of that korban tamid, the loss of that capacity for consistency. So the אמרי חיים Imrei Chaim, and we end with this. You knew I wasn't going to get out without an אמרי חיים Imrei Chaim. The הייליגע וויזשניצער heilige Vizhnitzer, he says the following. He says, את הכבש es hakeves, the word כבש keves means a lamb, a sheep, but it can also mean מלשון כובש mi'lashon kovesh. Where do we see that? Who is a גיבור gibor? Who is a mighty person, a warrior? הכובש את יצרו hakovesh es yitzro. האדם צריך לכבוש את יצרו בשני מיני כבישות, פעמיים בכל יום ha'adam tzarich lichbosh es yitzro b'shnei minei kvishus, pa'amayim b'chol yom. Every morning and every evening you have to conquer your יצר הרע yeitzer hara. הכבש אחד תעשה בבקר, את הכבש אחד תעשה בין הערבים hakeves echad ta'aseh baboker, es hakeves echad ta'aseh bein ha'arbaim. כובש את יצרו kovesh es yitzro every morning, and כובש את יצרו kovesh es yitzro every evening. בבוקר לפני צאתו לפועלו לעבודתו baboker lifnei tzeiso l'foalo l'avodaso, in the morning before you head out to work and you're going to confront all the יצר הרע yeitzer hara to cheat, to be dishonest, the יצר הרע yeitzer hara to interact inappropriately with others, the יצר הרע yeitzer hara to gossip at the water cooler. So before you go out in the בבקר boker, in the morning, את הכבש אחד תעשה בבקר es hakeves echad ta'aseh baboker, בכבוש יצרו b'kvosh yitzrecha in the morning before you head out for the day. And שיהא משאו ומתנו באמונה, לא לשון הרע ושקר sheyehei maso u'matno b'emunah, lo lashon hara v'sheker. אין צדק ולאו צדק ein tzedek v'lav tzedek. והכבישה השניה בין הערבים בלילה בבואו לביתו v'hakvisha hashniya bein ha'arbaim balaila b'vo'o l'veiso. And now when you come home and you're about to go back into your house and you're going to lose your cool with your wife or with your children or your spouse, you're going to you're going to act inappropriately or watch the wrong things, את הכבש אחד תעשה בין הערבים es hakeves echad ta'aseh bein ha'arbaim when you come home from work and you're coming back into your house, בכבוש יצרך b'kvosh yitzrecha a second time on the way in. A beautiful interpretation. את הכבש es hakeves, the lamb, the sheep is כובש את יצרו kovesh es yitzro twice a day, תמיד tamid consistently, regularly, every morning and every evening we have to be כובש kovesh that יצר yeitzer. We should all be זוכים zocheh to be able to achieve it, to accomplish it, to fulfill it. Again, I want to thank the Katz family for sponsoring our series for this year. Others can sponsor each individual שיעור shiur. Please be in touch with our שול shul and you can sponsor any individual שיעור shiur. Tonight, I'm starting a new series at 9:00 p.m. called Be Your Best Self Yet, and tomorrow morning we have 10 minutes of meaning, מסילת ישרים Mesilas Yesharim, living with אמונה emunah. Tomorrow night we have, what do we have? Behind the בימה Bima. All of this available on our YouTube channel, youtube.com/rabbiefremgoldberg. Please subscribe to the channel there. Wishing everyone a happy, healthy, and holy rest of your day.
