Transcript
Boker tov, good morning everyone. Thank you for joining. Thanks for coming back for our parsha perspectives for today. Every week, an analysis of the parsha with an emphasis on lessons that we can learn, ideas that we can take out that inspire us in contemporary times that we can apply to our lives in a very real way. I want to thank our sponsors, our generous sponsors for the year, our dear friends Becky and Avi Katz in memory of David Grossman, Becky's father, לעילוי נשמת דוב בן מנחם מנש Le'ilui nishmas Dov ben Menachem Monish. Also this morning's class is sponsored by David and Sharon Carpel in memory of Reverend Herman Rakov, חיים שמואל בן מנחם פייבל Chaim Shmuel ben Menachem Faivel, Rabbi Canter's Zaymor Rakov, רבי אליהו שלום בן חיים שמואל Rabbi Eliyahu Shalom ben Chaim Shmuel. Thank you for your generosity and for your sponsorship.Today we have the privilege of studying together Parshas Re'eh. Parshas Re'eh appears in the Artscroll Stone Chumash on page 998. And it starts with the iconic words, ראה אנכי נותן לפניכם היום ברכה וקללה Re'eh anochi nosein lifneichem hayom bracha u'klalah. And believe me, friends, as I know you do, that if we wanted, we could spend several hours, literally hours, analyzing just these words, just this opening pasuk. ראה Re'eh, behold, see, look. אנכי נותן לפניכם היום Anochi nosein lifneichem hayom, I place before you today, ברכה וקללה bracha u'klalah, blessing and curse. What do these means words, what do these words mean? Rashi tells us, ראה אנכי נותן Re'eh anochi nosein, what is Hashem putting before us? What is Moshe Rabbeinu conveying? What is he communicating? Says Rashi, האמורות בהר גריזים ובהר עיבל ha'amuros b'Har Grizim u'v'Har Eival. This is a reference to the brachos that will be delivered at הר גריזים Har Grizim and at הר עיבל Har Eival. He's instructing them that when you enter Eretz Yisrael, when we enter the land, there'll be these two great mountains. We'll divide the tribes and they'll stand on either side, and you will be given blessings and curses that will be recited, you'll answer amen and ראה Re'eh, that's what you should behold, that's what you should see, that's what you're going to get. But the Ramban disagrees. And the Ramban famously says that this pasuk is in fact giving us something different, something fundamental, something axiomatic. Says the Ramban, this is the Torah's source for free will. The idea that we are empowered with autonomy, that we make decisions, that we have choices, and that the choices we make have consequences, that we create a reality around us. We make the right choice, we draw closer. We make the wrong choice, and we create distance, we put a wedge. It's true in our relationships, it's true in marriage, it's true in friendship, and it's true in our relationship with Hashem. So ראה Re'eh, behold, I give you ברכה וקללה bracha u'klalah. You have choices. You're not pre-programmed robots, your life is not fatalistic, what you do does matter. Says the Ramban, this is the Torah source for the concept, the idea and the ideal of free will. Look and embrace and see and know that what you do will, that what you do will in fact matter.The Chasam Sofer says that this notion of free will is very significant. ראה אנכי נותן לפניכם היום ברכה Re'eh anochi nosein lifneichem hayom bracha. I'm reading to you from the Chasam Sofer on the parsha. מדקדקים, דפתח בראה לשון יחיד, ומסיים לפניכם Medaktikim, d'patach b're'eh lashon yachid, u'mesayem lifneichem. Note the grammatical shift. We begin ראה אנכי Re'eh anochi, ראה Re'eh means in the singular, you, individual, look, singular לשון יחיד lashon yachid. And then, נותן nosein where? לפניכם lifneichem, before you in the plural. Why the shift? Why the change from the singular to the plural? לשון רבים. והא בדברים נאמר בזה Lashon rabbim. V'ha b'dvarim nemar b'zeh. The Chasam Sofer acknowledges that many interpretations, many answers have been offered to this question. ועליי יש לומר, ומהיות זה רמז, מרמז מה שאמרו חז\"ל v'ulai yeish lomar, u'meihyos zeh hint, meramez ma she'amru Chazal, our great rabbis, the Gemara in Kiddushin daf mem tells us, לעולם יראה אדם עצמו כאילו כל העולם כולו כאילו מחצה זכאי ומחצה חייב Le'olam yir'eh adam atzmo k'ilu kol ha'olam kulo k'ilo mechtza zakai v'mechtza chayav. A person should live their life and look at the world and say, imagine, the entire future of the world hangs in the balance. Everything is half זכאי zakkai and half חייב chayav. זכה, אשרי שהכריע את עצמו ואת כל העולם לזכות, וההיפך בהיפך Zacha, ashrei she'hichria et atzmo v'et kol ha'olam l'zakkus, v'hahefech b'hefech. It means to say that a person should live their life and say, the entire world, the outcome of this pandemic, the outcome of Ilhan Omar's election today, please God she should lose and we should celebrate. The outcome of the enemies and their plans against us, the outcome of whatever it is that we're hoping or looking for in this world, even if it's global, even if it's something which is international or national, a person should bring the mentality and the attitude of it depends on me. The whole world hangs in the balance 50/50 and my next act, what I look at on the internet, what I say to my friend, how I conduct myself in business, how I occupy myself with my time, my next decision, my next act, it matters. It has cosmic implications. It makes an enormous difference. על כן בכל מעשה שיעשה אדם יראה עצמו ויאמר לנפשו, הרי בזה אני ממית כל העולם ומחייהו, הכל לפי המעשה Al kein b'chol ma'aseh she'ya'aseh adam yir'eh atzmo v'yomar l'nafsho, harei b'zeh ani meimis kol ha'olam u'mechay'eihu, hakol l'fi ha'ma'aseh. This next decision seems so insignificant, so negligible. What does it matter? Do I make a bracha? Do I not make a bracha? Do I bentch from a bencher? Did I say אשר יצר Asher Yatzar when I got out of the bathroom? Did I call and check in on someone? Did I actually give tzedakah? What does it matter? It's inconsequential, it's negligible, it's invisible, it's immeasurable. Says the Chasam Sofer, no, that's what the Torah is telling us. ראה Re'eh, we change from a לשון יחיד lashon yachid to the רבים rabbim, from the single to the many, to know that the fate of the many depends on the act of the individual. וזהו הקרא מצוה לכל יחיד ויחיד, ראה בנפשך V'zehu akra mitzveh l'kol yachid v'yachid Re'eh b'nafshecha. Look into your heart, look into your life, you the individual. לאמור תמיד, לכל העולם בלשון רבים, אנכי נותן לפניכם היום, במעשה ברכה וקללה, הכל לפי זכותי Leimor tamid, l'chol ha'olam b'lashon rabbim, anochi nosein lifneichem hayom, b'ma'aseh bracha u'klalah, hakol l'fi zechusi. ראה Re'eh, you the individual, ראה Re'eh, look, נותן לפניכם nosein lifneichem in front of all of you, the whole world, ברכה וקללה bracha u'klalah. Your next act will determine if it's a bracha or klalah, a blessing or a curse. Your next decision, your next thought, your next speech, your next interaction with the world will determine so much for more than just you, for more than just your family, but on a much larger and more global scale. That is on the one hand an awesome responsibility. It's one we don't necessarily ask for, it's one we didn't invite, it's one we didn't ever sign up for or even accept. It's an awesome responsibility, but it's also amazingly empowering, to know that we're not invisible or inconsequential, that what we do, what we say, what we think, it matters, it makes a difference, it shapes and it molds the very future. It's incredibly empowering to us. It matters. It matters.In the sefer והגדת V'higad'ta, Rav Yankel Galinsky זצ\"ל zatzal asked Rav Chaim Kanievsky שליט\"א shlita, יבדל לחיים טובים וארוכים Yi'badel l'chaim tovim v'aruchim, he said to him, what's the emphasis? He was a great דרשן darshan, Rav Yankel Galinsky. He went around and he spoke and he inspired. He was a Jewish motivational speaker. And he asked רב חיים Rav Chaim, what should I emphasize? What's the most important thing to draw attention to? And he said, רב חיים Rav Chaim, תעורר t'oreir, you should awaken people, שכל אחד ידע shekol echad yeda that everyone needs to know שכל הצרות שבאות בעולם באות בגללו shekol hatzaros sheba'os b'olam ba'os biglalo, that whatever is happening in the world, good or bad, is because of them. That should be our mentality, that should be our attitude. You know, when I was a little kid, I used to think whether the Yankees won or lost that night would was determined by whether I was a good or bad boy that day. I loved the Yankees, I rooted for the Yankees, I cared about the Yankees, and in a very immature, unsophisticated view of sports and philosophy of the world, I used to think that how well the Yankees did and whether they would emerge from the playoffs was not determined by their skill set or their worthiness or by the worthiness of the owners or stakeholders. For a young boy in Teaneck, New Jersey, it was determined by me. On the one hand that was immature and unsophisticated and it was grossly misapplied to a world of sports. But what רב חיים Rav Chaim was saying was, it should be our attitude, להבדיל l'havdil, to the world at large. My community, my shul, my family, my people, the outcome, their outcome will be determined by me and my behavior. It's a great responsibility, but it's also enormously empowering. Where did he get this from? Where did he get this from? What the חת\"ם סופר Chasam Sofer get this from? Where did רב חיים Rav Chaim get this from? רב חיים קנייבסקי Rav Chaim Kanievsky? They got it from a רמב\"ם Rambam. The רמב\"ם Rambam in הלכות תשובה Hilchos Teshuva, we're not yet at אלול Elul, but it's never too early to start getting ready. The רמב\"ם Rambam in הלכות תשובה פרק ג' Hilchos Teshuva perek gimmel writes, לעולם יראה אדם עצמו ואת כל העולם כולו כאילו חציו חייב וחציו זכאי Le'olam yir'eh adam atzmo v'es kol ha'olam kulo k'ilu chetzyo chayav v'chetzyo zakai. Everyone should every day approach the world and say the world hangs in the balance. The scales are weighed exactly and entirely even. And my next deed, my next act, my next thought, my next speech, it's going to be placed on one side of the scale or the other, and it will tip the scale in one favor or the other. עשה מצוה אחת אשרי, שהכריע את עצמו ואת כל העולם כולו לכף זכות. עבר עבירה אחת אוי לו, שהכריע את עצמו ואת כל העולם כולו לכף חובה Asah mitzvah achas ashrei, she'hichria es atzmo v'es kol ha'olam kulo l'chaf zechus. Avar aveira achas oy lo, she'hichria et atzmo v'es kol ha'olam kulo l'chaf chova. And we also see this in the Gemara in Yoma pey vav, שבשביל יחיד שעשה תשובה מוחלין לכל העולם כולו sheb'shvil yachid she'asah teshuva mochlin l'kol ha'olam kulo. When one person transforms their life, when one person takes stock in their life and changes their life, it can bring great merit not only to them, their family, the community, and to our people. And that's the attitude we need to know. And and it's it's on the one hand great, creates great guilt, that's not the goal. It's supposed to empower us and drive us and give us an ambition to live the kind of lives we're capable of living. said, it's true. In the world of מזיק mazik, גרמא בנזיקין grama b'nizikin is פטור patur. If a person damages someone else indirectly, they are exempt. But רב חיים קנייבסקי Rav Chaim Kanievsky was quick to point out that that's true בדיני אדם b'dei adam. That's true in a human court, we'd be exempt if we damage indirectly. But בדיני שמיא b'dei shmaya חייב chayav. So when we don't take advantage of every moment, every opportunity, every invitation to tip the scale in the favor for the people we care about, that's גרמא בנזיקין grama b'nizikin. That is an indirect damage for which we will be liable. So as I said, that's great, that's greatly um, obligates us, but it's also greatly, it's also greatly empowering. And it's very consistent with what the Ramban was telling us. ראה אנכי נותן לפניכם Re'eh anochi nosein lifneichem, the shift from the yachid to the rabbim, the ראה Re'eh to the לפניכם lifneichem, that the outcome for the whole world depends on us is supposed to be empowering, that our free will matters. So much of the spike of mental health illness in our time, particularly with young people, is the result of FOMO, of looking around on social media and thinking, everyone else is living such glorious, incredible lives, such perfect lives. They're all mattering, they're all make such a difference. And me, I'm invisible. Nobody cares. Nobody would notice if I disappeared. I've had that conversation with so many and it is so profoundly and deeply painful to hear that so many, no matter how connected they are online, offline, feel invisible, inconsequential, like we don't matter. And that's what the Torah is empowering. It tells us, no ראה Re'eh, look, Hashem says, I'm giving you bracha or klalah. Your next act, your next deed, it makes a difference, it matters, it shapes the cosmos. It has a global impact and implication. I want to share with you from תולדות יעקב יוסף Toldos Yaakov Yosef, רב יעקב יוסף Rav Yaakov Yosef of Polna, who was the principal talmid of the Ba'al Shem Tov, who really captured the Ba'al Shem Tov, the founder of Chassidus's teachings and spread them. He was really the one who recorded the Ba'al Shem Tov's teaching and is the one who shared them with the world. And he writes, one has to know כי גם בענוה צריכים לפעמים מידה בינונית ki gam b'anava tzrichim l'faim mida beinonis. When it comes to humility, there can be extreme humility in a bad way. There can be humility in a bad way. Actually, before we look at this, I want to read, share with you from Rav Druk, because Rav Druk also expanded on this notion with a very beautiful interpretation, a homiletic interpretation. He says, יש לפרש פסוק זה בדרך דרוש Yeish l'faresh pasuk zeh b'derech drush. כבר נתבאר בפסוק אנכי עומד בין ה' וביניכם Kvar nitzvar b'pasuk anochi omeid bein Hashem u'veineichem. You know the pasuk says אנכי עומד בין ה' וביניכם anochi omeid bein Hashem u'veineichem. אנכי Anochi, the sense of אנכי anochi. When Moshe Rabbeinu two parshios ago is reminding the people of the story of the giving of the Torah, he says after the first two dibros which were given directly by God, you panicked, you had a meltdown, and you weren't able to hear from God directly. And I had to communicate the rest. I had to give it to you. אנכי Anochi, says Moshe, I stood between you and Hashem and I gave you the rest of the dibros, I transmitted to you the rest of Torah. But the Ba'alei Mussar and the Chassidishe Rebbes say, don't read it that way. It's not אנכי anochi I Moshe stood between you and God and gave you the rest of the dibros. The way to read it is אנכי anochi. Do you know what stands between us and God? Do you know what the biggest obstacle is between our connecting to the divine, feeling his presence and his love, expressing gratitude, dependence, loyalty to him? The biggest obstacle or impediment that stands between us and him is אנכי anochi. אנכי עומד בין ה' וביניכם Anochi omeid bein Hashem u'veineichem. The sense of אנכי anochi, the I, the ego, the id, the ego, the arrogance, our need, our wants, our view of the world, our honor, it stands between us and God. אנכי עומד בין ה' וביניכם Anochi omeid bein Hashem u'veineichem. So Rav Druk takes this wonderful pshat of אנכי anochi and he says maybe that's what's going on over here. ראה אנכי נותן לפניכם Re'eh anochi nosein lifneichem. I've given you a sense of אנכי anochi. I've given you a self-confidence, a sense of self. ברכה Bracha or קללה klalah? It can go one of two ways. You see a sense of self can go one of two ways. You know, there's another form of mental illness, people who have no self-confidence, people who have no self-value, people who don't see themselves as mattering, what we're talking about, as making a difference. Then אנכי anochi, אנכי anochi is a bracha. A person has to know, I matter, I make a difference. I'm a צלם אלקים tzelem Elokim. We'll have later in the parsha and we'll talk about this this morning. בנים אתם לה' אלקיכם Banim atem l'Hashem Elokeichem, we are children of Hashem. I need to know, I'm a prince, I'm a princess, I'm royalty, I descend from the Almighty, there's a piece of him in me. My אנכי anochi, I matter, I make a difference, I'm here in this world for a reason. אנכי Anochi, a healthy sense of self, of self-confidence, of self-worth, it's critically important. So a healthy notion and sense of אנכי anochi is a bracha. But an אנכי anochi that says my way or the highway, an אנכי anochi that says that I have to overpower everyone around me, the אנכי anochi that says everyone has to honor me and bow to me and bend to me and yield to me, that אנכי anochi, קללה klalah. A person with arrogance and ego, too much arrogance, too much ego, that in fact is a curse. So says Rav Druk, maybe that's the pshat in the pasuk. ראה Re'eh, look and see a sense of אנכי anochi. I've given you a sense of self, ברכה bracha or קללה klalah. It can go either way. Too little sense of self, that's a mental illness, suicidal ideation, depression. That's mental illness when you have too little sense of self. It's a bracha to know that you matter. Too much sense of self, arrogance and ego, קללה klalah. Then, then in fact, it's a curse. So let's go back to the תולדות יעקב יוסף Toldos Yaakov Yosef. That's what he's expanding on as well. גם בענוה צריכים לפעמים מידה בינונית Gam b'anava tzrichim l'faim mida beinonis. Even when it comes to humility, you need to be measured and moderate. כמו ששמעתי ממורי k'mo she'shamati m'mori, as I heard from the Ba'al Shem Tov, שרוב ענוותנות הנתושה של אדם גורם שיתרחק מעבודת ה' יתברך she'rov anvisus ha'noshei shel adam goirem she'yis'rachek mei'avodas Hashem Yisborach. Too much humility, false humility, when you think, who am I? What difference? Do you think it really matters to God if I make a bracha, if I daven, if I keep Torah u'mitzvos, if I give tzedakah, if I do chessed? Does it really matter to him, the omnipotent, the infinite one? Little old me, little nothing me, little insignificant me, that's a klalah. Such a form of humility is not humility. It's simply a misunderstanding and a misconception. שמצד שפלותו אינו מאמין כי אדם גורם על ידי תורתו ותפלתו שפע בכל העולמות she'mei'tzad shiflusoh eino ma'amin ki adam goreim al yedei toraso u'tefilaso shefa b'chol ha'olamos. You don't realize that your next deed, what you look at on the internet when we're done, where you go, what you say, the next text you send, it has cosmic implications. It matters. It shapes the entire world. וגם המלאכים ניזונים מידי תורתו ותפלתו v'gam ha'malachim nizonim mei'idei toraso u'tefilaso. Every moment of Torah you learn, every heartfelt tefillah that you offer, it has cosmic implications. The angels are nourished with it. כמה היה עובד ה' בשמחה וביראה ומרוב כח kama hayah oveid Hashem b'simcha u'v'yirah u'me'rav koach, if you only understood that, if you had that view of the world, if you were able to see from that perspective, we would live every moment to its fullest. We would embrace every second and every opportunity. We would realize the inestimable value of every deed. היה נזהר בכל אות ואות בתפלה במלה ומלה לאמרה כדעת hayah nizar b'chol os v'os b'tefilah b'milah v'milah l'amra k'daos. The way we would daven, slowly, with concentration, if we understood that the outcome of elections and the outcome of a pandemic, let alone the outcome of the Yankee score, depends on you, depends on me. וגם לזאת לב, ומה שאמר דוד המלך V'gam l'zeis leiv, v'mah she'amar David ha'Melech, אם תשכבון בין שפתיים Im tishkevu bein shfatayim, שהקב\"ה שומר ושוקל על שפתי האדם לנשקו כשעומד בתורה ובתפלה She'Hakadosh Baruch Hu shomer v'shokeil al sifsei ha'adam l'noshko k'she'omed b'Torah u'b'tefilah ודאי למזהר איש שלא יחזנו רטט וזיעה v'dai l'mizaar eish shelo yachzeno reshes v'zeiah. הקב\"ה Hakadosh Baruch Hu is giving you a kiss. The נחת רוח nachas ruach that we give Hashem, and he goes on and on. The קדושת לוי Kedushas Levi, ר' לוי יצחק Reb Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev has a very similar idea on last week's parsha, parshas Eikev, ועתה ישראל v'ata Yisrael, and now Jewish people, what does Hashem want from you? And says the קדושת לוי Kedushas Levi, חס ושלום chas v'shalom you should have too little sense of self. You should dismiss the difference that you make. Realize, he calls, he goes so far as to say, אם חס ושלום אדם יענה במצוות ה' im chas v'shalom adam ya'aneh b'mitzvos Hashem, when it comes to making a difference, when it comes to be of of importance, when it comes to the difference that your mitzvos make, if a person thinks too little of themselves, false humility, ויאמר וישיא מה מעשיי חשובים לה' V'yomar v'yusei mah ma'asai chashuvim l'Hashem. Ah, what does Hashem care about my daf? If I drop it, will he even notice? What does he care if I attend the parsha shiur? What does he care if I make it to minyan? What does he care if I give tzedakah? What does he care if I hold the door for another? זהו כפירה zehu kfira says ר' לוי יצחק Reb Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev. It's heresy. אדרבה, במצות ה' צריך אדם להשיא לב לאמר, מעשי שאני עושה רצון ה' חשובים בעיני הבורא, ויש לו תענוג לה' יתברך ממעשי Adaraba, b'mitzvos Hashem tzrich adam l'hasi leiv l'omar, ma'asai she'ani oseh retzon Hashem, chashuvim b'einei ha'Borei v'yeish lo taanug l'Hashem Yisborach mei'ma'asai, שאני עושה את מצותיו יתברך she'ani oseh es mitzvosav Yisborach, שה' יתברך יש לו תענוג ממצות איש ישראל שעושה לפניו כידוע she'Hashem Yisborach yeish lo taanug m'mitzvos ish Yisrael she'oseh l'fanav k'yadua. הקב\"ה Hakadosh Baruch Hu has נחת רוח nachas ruach, just like when we do the right thing we give our parents nachas, and that feels so good for us. When we do the right thing, we give Hashem such נחת רוח nachas ruach, and that too should feel so good for us. So so far, ראה אנכי נותן לפניכם היום Re'eh anochi nosein lifneichem hayom, we saw Rashi, the Ramban, the Chasam Sofer, why the shift from the single to the plural, to know that what we choose to do makes a difference to so many. Based on that, Rav Druk, what did Hashem give us? A sense of אנכי anochi. A sense of self. Too much sense of self, קללה klalah. Too little sense of self, I'm sorry, too little sense of self, קללה klalah. Too much sense of self, קללה klalah. Just the right sense of self that I matter, I make a difference, that in fact is an enormous, an enormous bracha.The אלכסנדר רבי Alexander Rebbe had a different understanding of this pasuk. Said the אלכסנדר רבי Alexander Rebbe, ר' יחיאל חנניה כהן Rav Yechiel Chana'cha Cohen. The emphasis should not be on אנכי anochi. We're going to move past this pasuk, I promise you, but I told you we could spend a week just on this opening pasuk. It's so rich, it's so beautiful, it's so געשמאַק gishmak. So the אלכסנדר רבי Alexander Rebbe זצ\"ל zatzal said the following, שיגן עלינו She'yogein aleinu. He said the emphasis in this pasuk should not be on the word אנכי anochi. What exactly did Hashem give us? What is Moshe telling us? What did Hashem give us that could either be a bracha or klalah? We saw Rav Druk said it's the אנכי anochi, sense of self. Says the אלכסנדר רבי Alexander Rebbe, it's not that, it's the sense of היום hayom. ראה אנכי נותן לפניכם Re'eh anochi nosein lifneichem, what am I giving before you? היום Hayom. A concept of today, of mortality, a concept of impermanence, a concept of being temporary and fleeting, of of knowing that you're a mere mortal, that you won't live forever. All you have is the here and now. All you can live in is this moment of היום hayom. And that realization, that acceptance of our fragility and our vulnerability and our mortality, the notion that all I have is היום hayom, I don't know what tomorrow will bring, who would have predicted six months ago where we are today? And who can predict today where we will be six months from now? All we have is היום hayom. We are mere mortals, we are fragile, we are vulnerable, and that concept itself, ברכה bracha or קללה klalah, can go in either direction. Tonight will be the final installment of being our best selves. We've been focusing on this notion of mindfulness, of living in the present as the foundation to be our best selves. We'll continue tonight at 9:00. It can go in either direction, bracha or klalah. If we allow that feeling of vulnerability, if היום hayom to bring us to a state of despair and depression, if we allow it to make us give up or give in, it's a klalah. If I say all I have is today, and all I do is focus on my vulnerability, then I'll have great anxiety and worry and fear. And then it's a klalah. But if the recognition of mortality, if it makes us embrace every moment and live it to its fullest and becomes a catalyst and a stimulus of change, then it's a bracha. So ראה אנכי נותן לפניכם Re'eh anochi nosein lifneichem, says the אלכסנדר רבי Alexander Rebbe, I've given before you היום hayom, mortality, temporary. What do you do with it? How do you feel from it? And we see חז\"ל Chazal contrast these two perspectives. On the one hand our rabbis discourage us from approaching life with an attitude of אכול ושתו כי מחר נמות achol v'shaso ki machar namus. Don't say eat and drink and be merry because you could die tomorrow. Don't just live today carefree and recklessly because you could die tomorrow. Recognition of our own mortality for some is a license for hedonism, to live selfishly, and that's wrong. It's a klalah. If that's the approach, then it's a klalah, it's a curse. But instead חז\"ל Chazal say, live and say, אם לא עכשיו אימתי im lo achshav eimasai, if not now, when? Make that phone call, repair that relationship, make that change, start that new life. A pasuk earlier in דברים Devarim says, היום לעשותם hayom la'asosam, the concept of היום hayom is לעשותם la'asosam. When we think about the word היום hayom, לעשותם la'asosam, it should drive us, it should move us to move, to act, to do. It should be a springboard for change and to make a difference. Mortality should encourage us to take advantage of every moment. And perhaps that's what the Torah is telling us. ראה אנכי נותן לפניכם היום Re'eh anochi nosein lifneichem hayom. The וילנא גאון Vilna Gaon, the גר\"א Gra points out, note that the pasuk doesn't say ראה נתן לפניכם Re'eh nasan lifneichem, I gave you, but it says it in the present, נותן לפניכם היום nosein lifneichem hayom, I give to you in the present tense. Why נותן nosein in the present tense? The וילנא גאון Vilna Gaon says, because you don't only have free will when you're young, you don't only have free will at the beginning of your marriage or the beginning of your parenting or the beginning of your career or the beginning of your life as an observant Torah Jew. It's ראה אנכי נותן Re'eh anochi nosein in the present tense. I give you every day the opportunity to start again. Every day is the opportunity to embrace today as if it's the first day. Daven like you've never davened before. Learn like you've never learned before. Have new ambition in your career and your profession. Have new ambition in your marriage, in your parenting. ראה אנכי נותן לפניכם Re'eh anochi nosein lifneichem, says the גר\"א Gra, נותן nosein, not נתן nasan. Every day is a new day, a fresh start. Every day is a new opportunity to redefine ourselves. It's never too late to become the person that we were meant to be. ראה אנכי נותן לפניכם היום Re'eh anochi nosein lifneichem hayom. Lastly, on this pasuk, the אמרי חיים Imrei Chaim, the great ויז'ניצער רבי Vijnitzer Rebbe, the אמרי חיים Imrei Chaim, says the following, ראה אנכי נותן לפניכם היום ברכה וקללה Re'eh anochi nosein lifneichem hayom bracha u'klalah. Says the אמרי חיים Imrei Chaim the following, יש אמונה על פי השמיעה, היינו אמונה פשוטה Yeish emunah al pi ha'shmia, hainu emunah pshutah, המסורה לנו מאבותינו ואבות אבותינו מדור דור ha'mesurah lanu mei'avoseinu v'avos avoseinu midor dor. One can arrive at the conclusion that there's a God because of one of two reasons. It could be אמונה פשוטה emunah pshutah, what we call simple acceptance. My parents, who I see are listening today, hello, seeing them on Zoom. My parents told me that there's a רבונו של עולם Ribono shel Olam, there's an אויבערשטער Eibishter. They have a relationship with him. He's been involved in their lives and he's involved in mine. How did they know it? They heard it from their parents who heard it from their parents who heard it from their parents who were at הר סיני Har Sinai and heard from Hashem directly. And אמונה פשוטה emunah pshutah, I don't have to investigate, I don't have to analyze, I don't have to take philosophy courses, I don't have to read or take discovery seminars, I don't have to look at Bible codes. How do I know there's a הקב\"ה Hakadosh Baruch Hu? My parents told me. My parents told me. How do I know there's Hashem? Because I see the sun rise in the morning. How do I know that there's Hashem? Because I look out at this world. ויש אמונה על פי הראיה, היינו מצד החקירה וההבנה, אמונה שכלית המסוכנת מאוד V'yeish emunah al pi ha're'iyah, hainu mi'tzad ha'chakira v'ha'havana, emunah sichlis ha'mesuchenes me'od. And there's another type of emunah, the person who says prove it to me. Where's the evidence? How do I know? Prove it to me. I want proof. Where's the evidence? ראיה Re'iyah, I want to see it for myself. I want to analyze, I want to investigate, I want to take that course, read that book. I want it proven. אינם יכולים לנקוד בה אלא אלו שמשורשים בה היטב אמונה פשוטה Einam yecholim lingkod bah ela eilu she'mushrashos b'am heitev emunah pshutah. But the truth is, if you're waiting for an absolute ironclad proof, you'll never get it. Parenthetically, I believe, as I've shared with you, that there's overwhelming evidence that God exists, conclusive evidence he exists, the same amount of evidence exists that there's a God as that you should take the medicine that you got at the pharmacy or believe the brakes on your car will work. And we can share that evidence in another context and at another time. But, but for the skeptic or for the cynic, for the person looking for the whole, you will never have an absolute proof. Just like in science, nothing's absolutely proven, which is why we keep changing it on a regular basis. So the more you investigate, the more you're chasing something that you can never find. And that's the pasuk says the אמרי חיים Imrei Chaim. ראה אנכי נותן לפניכם היום ברכה וקללה Re'eh anochi nosein lifneichem hayom bracha u'klalah. באמונה של ראיה הבאה מצד חקירה יש בה ברכה, אבל גם קללה חס ושלום In emunah of re'eh ha'baah mi'tzad chakira yeish bo bracha, aval gam klalah chas v'shalom. If your relationship with Hashem is dependent on a sense of ראה re'eh, you have to see it for yourself, you have to have it proven to you, you have to investigate and have your questions answered, bracha u'klalah. If you find satisfactory answers, then that attitude towards emunah will be a bracha, maybe it's enhancing your relationship with Hashem. But maybe you won't find satisfactory answers, maybe you'll still be searching, maybe the whole thing is an excuse to walk away, then that attitude of ראה re'eh, prove it to me, I have to see it for myself, is a klalah. However, the next pasuk, את הברכה אשר תשמעו es ha'bracha asher tishme'u. Says the Vijnitzer, את הברכה Es ha'bracha, אמונה שיש בה ברכה בלבד emunah she'yeish bah bracha bilvad is אשר תשמעו asher tishme'u, היינו אמונה על פי שמועה hainu emunah al pi shmuah, אמונה פשוטה emunah pshutah. You want an emunah which is exclusively a bracha, not ברכה וקללה bracha u'klalah? That's אשר תשמעו asher tishme'u. Listen to your parents, listen to your Bubby and Zayde, listen to those who came before, accept with an אמונה פשוטה emunah pshutah that there's a הקב\"ה Hakadosh Baruch Hu in the world. So an attitude and an emunah of ראה re'eh can yield either bracha or klalah. An attitude and an emunah of אשר תשמעון asher tishme'un will yield bracha alone. The choice is ours of which is the approach and the attitude that we're going to bring towards our relationship, towards our relationship with Hashem. Okay, that is the Heilig and ויז'ניצער רבי Vijnitzer Rebbe. I promised you we were going to move on in the psukim and we will. פרק י\"ב פסוק ה' Perek yud beis pasuk hey. So continuing the parsha, again, this is Moshe's monologues, soliloquy to the Jewish people, the greatest mussar sefer ever, ever authored. Incredible, you should read it and dive into it. It kills me to be skipping. פרק י\"ב Perek yud beis, אלה החקים והמשפטים אשר תשמרון לעשות eilah ha'chukim v'ha'mishpatim asher tishmerun la'asos and so on. These are the laws. You got to destroy the idols. You got to purge the contaminants from the land. When you come in, you got to start with a clean slate. הקב\"ה Hakadosh Baruch Hu, his vision for Israel and from there it will project out to the world. פרק י\"ב פסוק ה' Perek yud beis pasuk hey. לא תעשון כן לה' אלקיכם Lo sa'asun kein l'Hashem Elokeichem. Everything I'm telling you to do to these idols, destroy, eliminate, purge, erase, don't do that. That's why we have a whole institution called שמות Sheimos. You're not allowed to throw away the name of Hashem. You can't destroy it, you can't throw it away. Fascinating שו\"ת shuvos. רב זילברשטיין Rav Zilberstein, the חשוקי חמד Chashukei Chemed has a great שובה shuva. He says one neighbor was angry at another neighbor in Israel, and he decided to get revenge. And how was he, how did he decide to get revenge? Don't try this at home. His revenge was that in Israel where there's no rain in the off season, and the windshields often get covered terribly with dust, he decided he was going to write שם ה' Sheim Hashem in the dust on the back windshield of his neighbor's car. And now the neighbor wanted to know what to do. Could he clean his car? Could he clean the car? What to do? שמות Sheimos. Could you clean such a car? לא תעשון כן Lo sa'asun kein. The institution of שמות Sheimos. But it's the next pasuk I want to draw your attention to. כי אם אל המקום אשר יבחר ה' אלקיכם מכל שבטיכם לשום את שמו שם Ki im el ha'makom asher yivchar Hashem Elokeichem mi'kol shivteichem la'sum es shmo sham. לשכנו תדרשו ובאת שמה L'shichno sidreshu u'vasa shama. פסוק ה' Pasuk hey, on page 1,000 in the Artscroll Stone Chumash. Only the place that Hashem your God will choose from among all your tribes to place his name there, that's where you shall seek out his presence and come there. That's where you should go. What is this mysterious place? Hashem says, what am I telling you to do this? Erase and eliminate all the paganism and the idolatry. Don't do that to me. We're going to be a microcosm for the world, עם ישראל, ארץ ישראל, תורת ישראל Am Yisrael, Eretz Yisrael, Toras Yisrael. And we're going to do it at that place that I want you to come to. Where is this mysterious place? Why didn't Hashem give the address? Why not give the coordinates to plug into Waze, the GPS to get there quickest route, no traffic, no police, no accidents, no construction. Why is Hashem so mysterious? Why does he say, אל המקום ela makom, the place that I choose to put my name? לשכנו תדרשו l'shichno sidreshu, you should inquire after it, ובאת שמה u'vasa shama, and come there. Where? What's the address? עיקר חסר מן הספר Ikrei chasar min ha'sefer. Hashem left out the most important part. It's a romantic description of what we're going to achieve there, what we're going to do there, who we're going to be there. Beautiful. I love it. Great. What's the address? So the חזקוני Chizkuni here says it took time for the Beis HaMikdash to finally be built in Yerushalayim, and before and the precursor, the Mishkan moved around. So a specific place to find Hashem's presence was not provided. Hashem doesn't give a location, a GPS coordinate, because it moved around. In fact, Rashi comments that שמה shama, there, is not in fact talking about the Beis HaMikdash at all. Look at Rashi, שמה shama. Rashi says it's talking about the Mishkan. It's talking about the Mishkan which was in שילה Shilo for 369 years. The Ramban has an entirely different way of understanding the word שמה shama. The Ramban says that there, first the Ramban suggests the adverb there is referring to the Beis HaMikdash. If that's the case, why not give the specific location? The Ramban says it's by design. Hashem wants us to seek it. Hashem wants us to calibrate our compass towards holiness. Hashem wants you to close your eyes, take a deep breath and say, I want to be drawn towards holiness. Where do I go next? Not everything, you know, Waze is making us stupid. We have no sense of direction. There are articles that have been written, studies that have been done, that the more that we have GPS coordinates, the more that we have. in our car, built into the car or a smartphone or Carplay, then we have no sense of direction anymore. I can't get to my neighbor's house without Waze, without Google Maps. It's making us stupid. So that's true geographically, but it's also true spiritually. So the Ramban says the reason Hashem doesn't give a location is he wants us to calibrate our compass to holiness. He says, I'm not bailing you out, I'm not making it easy for you. I want you to find it. I want you to be drawn like a magnet towards holiness. So instead of giving us a location, he says, I want... either come to the holiest place on earth and confirm it with a נביא navi. Intuit it, feel it intuitively, and then confirm it with the נביא navi. And that's what happened. חז\"ל Chazal tells us that when David first studied the Torah text, the geography of the land, without information he posited where the future location of the בית המקדש Beit HaMikdash was on הר המוריה Har HaMoriah. And later, גד הנביא Gad HaNavi confirmed that David was correct. So, it happened exactly the way it was drawn up here, but the רמב\"ן Ramban offers a second interpretation. And the רמב\"ן Ramban says the word שמה shama is not referring to a geographic location at all. My friends, listen carefully to this. It's so fundamental, so foundational. It's so important. I think we've studied it before and that's why it bears repeating.He says the רמב\"ן Ramban in the second פשט pshat, for the sake of time we're not reading it inside, but says the רמב\"ן Ramban, שמה Shama is not the משכן Mishkan. שמה Shama, be drawn there, is not the בית המקדש Beit HaMikdash. Where is שמה shama? שמה Shama is לשכנו lishichno. שמה Shama is going to that place where you feel Hashem's presence. Going to the place where you feel his influence. Going to the place where he's involved in your life. Torah is saying תדרשו tidreshu, if you want to feel Hashem in your life, seek him, look for him, reveal him, connect with him, let him in. And this is so significant for us because, I don't know where you're joining from, but many locations were still very much shut down. שולס Shuls are open in very minimal ways. And what we've relied on and counted on to draw inspiration from singing together in שול shul, in מנין minyan, from attending שיעורים shiurim, from socializing at a קידוש kiddush, from coordinating חסד chesed, it's been taken from us, snatched from us, robbed from us. And so many have given up, and they cop out and they say, I can't go to שול shul, I can't generate spirituality, so basically I'm taking a loss. Sometimes you made a bad investment, you just take the loss and you write it off. So I'm taking a spiritual loss this year. Corona has been a bad spiritual investment and I'm writing it off and I'm taking a loss. But that's the wrong attitude. לשכנו תדרשו ובאת שמה Lishichno tidreshu uvasa shama. It's for us to be drawn to holiness, to let Hashem in wherever we are, locked down, quarantined, only minimally seeing one another and integrated. We have to generate that spirituality, it's up to us. It's up to us. We were talking yesterday and our אלול Elul campaign this year is going to be exactly this, that the answer is in us. What we've relied on in the past for ימים נוראים Yamim Noraim, ראש השנה Rosh Hashana, עשרת ימי תשובה Aseret Yemei Teshuvah, יום כיפור Yom Kippur, we will not have this year. We can't congregate 2,000 strong. חזנים Chazzanim, דאווענען davening that goes on and on, פיוטים piyutim that we sing out loud. We don't have that choice. So do we write it off? Do we walk away? Do we give up? No, it's up to us. לשכנו תדרשו ובאת שמה Lishichno tidreshu uvasa shama.Rabi Saloveitchik in his beautiful חומש Chumash suggests the רמב\"ן Ramban's two understandings are really one. Whether it's the geographic location of the בית המקדש Beit HaMikdash or the spiritual experiences in the moments that we're longing for, the coordinates in both cases are not provided to us. We're not given the map to arrive at the destination, but we have to calibrate our compass and we have to find it. Ask questions, search, yearn, look, be drawn, extend that spiritual antenna. Be receptive to picking up the signal of Hashem. תדרשו Tidreshu, be a דורש doresh. Go look for him. Go look for him. This is a מחלוקת machlokes between Uncle Moishy and the קאצקער רבי Kotsker Rebbe. What do I mean? A מחלוקת machlokes Uncle Moishy and the קאצקער רבי Kotsker Rebbe doesn't appear in your מקראות גדולות Mikraos Gedolos, this מחלוקת machlokes. Uncle Moishy, who I love and is my friend, Uncle Moishy is saying and says, Hashem is here, Hashem is there, Hashem is everywhere. And it's true. Omnipotent, infinite Hashem is absolutely everywhere. But the קאצקער רבי Kotsker Rebbe was a young boy, and at the time he was challenged by another רבי rebbe. And he said, \"Where is Hashem? Where can he be found?\" And the קאצקער Kotsker as a young boy looked up and said, only where you let him in. Hashem is found only where you let him in. He is here, there, and everywhere, it's true, but he's also only where you let him in. It's up to us to have that relationship to let him in. In הבדלה Havdalah we distinguish between a whole list of things, said the Rav. בין אור לחשך, בין ישראל לעמים, בין יום השביעי לששת ימי המעשה. Bein or lechoshech, bein Yisrael la'amim, bein yom hashvi'i lesheshes yemei hama'aseh. We distinguish and we contrast light and dark, Jews and non-Jews, seventh day and the first six. And the Rav points out light and darkness are clear, we can perceive it. Even animals understand the difference between light and dark. But the הבדלה havdalah between קודש לחול kodesh lechol, להבדיל בין קודש לחול lehavdil bein kodesh lechol, what's holy and what's profane, it's not visible. It's not measurable, it's not scientific, can't be perceived by the naked eye. You have to have a special intuition. You can only see it with your heart. The separation can only be sensed, it cannot be seen. And that's what the Torah is telling us, לשכנו תדרשו ובאת שמה lishichno sidreshu uvasa shama. Calibrate your spiritual compass, extend your spiritual antenna, pick up Hashem's signal. Look, live your life where you're looking for him, you feel him, you know him. It's a מדרש תנחומא Midrash Tanchuma פרשת וירא Parshas Vayeira, it says when אברם Avram went with his entourage to the עקידה Akeida, he saw הר המוריה Har HaMoriah from a distance. And he turned to יצחק Yitzchak and he said, what do you see? And יצחק Yitzchak said, I see a beautiful and a praiseworthy mountain. I see a ענן anan, I see a cloud that envelops it. And then he asked אליעזר Eliezer and ישמעאל Yishmael, the other two in the entourage, what do you see? He said, what do we see? See nothing. It's a barren desert. גורנישט Gornisht. So אברם Avram turns to them, he says, you see nothing? Ah, you stay here with the donkey. The donkey doesn't see and you don't see. יצחק Yitzchak, you see a beautiful mountain enveloped in a cloud? You come with me. ואני והנער נלכה עד כה V'ani v'hana'ar neilcha ad ko. The there, where were they going? עד כה Ad ko. הר המוריה Har HaMoriah, the מקום המקדש makom haMikdash. This place that Hashem chose to put his name. אברם Avram intuited holiness and he checked. יצחק Yitzchak also had the same intuition. He was drawn to that holiness. And the others, they saw a desert. They saw nothing. They saw mundane. They saw nothing.To be a Jew is לשכנו תדרשו ובאת שמה lishichno sidreshu uvasa shama. To be a איד Yid is to make הבדלה havdalah, to distinguish between קודש kodesh and חול chol, spiritual and mundane. It's to calibrate that compass. It's to open that magnet. It's to be extend that antenna. It's to be drawn towards holiness. A donkey only sees the superficial, a surface. A donkey wants to satisfy its appetite, but we see what's more. ובאת שמה Uvasa shama, and we're drawn to want to go there, to go to him, to go to Hashem. The answer is not outside ourselves. The answer is in ourselves and the answer is up to us. The answer is up to us. We Jews have incredible creative spiritual imaginations. That when others look and they see nothing, eh, it's a sunrise, it's a sunset. It's a natural phenomena. We say, natural phenomena? The birth of a child, the marriage of a child, of a grandchild, a sunrise, a sunset, that's the ריבונו של עולם Ribbono Shel Olam. Are you kidding? There are no coincidences. That's השגחה פרטית hashgacha pratis. You see a desert, I see a mountain enveloped in a cloud. לשכנו תדרשו ובאת שמה Lishichno sidreshu uvasa shama.פרק י\"ב פסוק ח' Perek yud beis, pasuk ches, continuing. What's the point here? When we get there, ושמחתם בכל משלח ידכם usmachtem bechol mishlach yedchem. We eat there in front of the בית המקדש Beit HaMikdash, and we uh, offer קרבנות korbanos there, and the goal is ושמחת לפני ה' vesamachta lifnei Hashem. פרק י\"ב פסוק י\"ח Perek yud beis, pasuk yud ches. לפני ה' אלהיך תאכלנו במקום אשר יבחר ה' אלהיך בו Lifnei Hashem Elokecha tochlenu bamakom asher yivchar Hashem Elokecha bo. We offer our קרבנות korbanos, that's where we eat our holy consecrated foods in the place that Hashem chose. אתה ובנך ובתך ועבדך ואמתך והלוי אשר בשעריך Ata uvincha uvitecha v'avdecha v'amasecha v'haLevi asher bisharecha, all the members of our household, ושמחת לפני ה' אלהיך בכל משלח ידך vesamachta lifnei Hashem Elokecha bechol mishlach yadecha. And we should be happy, happy before Hashem with all that we send our heart. Happy before Hashem.Rav Soloveitchik describes that it's not a coincidence that these words appear together. Whenever you find the word שמחה simcha in the Torah, you find it in conjunction with two other words. When are we בשמחה b'simcha? When are we happiest? When do we find that greatest happiness? ושמחתם Vesamachtem לפני ה' lifnei Hashem. לפני ה' Lifnei Hashem. Listen to the Rav. This phrase suggests that when one is in the presence of God there's joy. God's presence must be a constant experience in our lives. Though we can neither see nor hear him, each Jew must still experience the presence of Hashem. A Jew is required to develop the ability to feel closeness to Hashem, to feel his breath on one's face, to see him in every phenomenon, in historical events, in the majesty of nature. One must perceive Hashem not only in miracles but in natural phenomena and in particular in one's own destiny. The sensation of experiencing that one is לפני ה' lifnei Hashem is a הלכתי halachic imperative. Prayer for example, requires more than intent, it requires that man experience God in his immediate proximity. רחמנא ליבא בעי Rachmana liba ba'ei, Hashem wants our heart. There is no greater joy than sensing that one is לפני ה' lifnei Hashem. Joy is the sensation that one feels when he's close to his origin, the creator. He's aware that someone guides and cares for him. The experience of לפני ה' lifnei Hashem is enhanced through his study of Torah. Survival of the Jews throughout generations of persecution and abuses due to the sublime experience of being in his presence. How did a Jew running from a פוגרום pogrom? How did a Jew fleeing from an expulsion? How did a Jew surviving an attempted extermination? How were they בשמחה b'simcha? How are we בשמחה b'simcha? During a pandemic, a coronavirus, with enemies? How can one be בשמחה b'simcha? The answer is, the more that one is לפני ה' lifnei Hashem, the more one is בשמחה b'simcha. They correlate and they go together. If you live in a world where you think that you are simply a subject of randomness and chance, then you'll be miserable, פארביסן farbissen, worried, anxious, walking around all the time. But if you live a life and you live in a world where you say, לפני ה' lifnei Hashem, there's meaning, there's purpose, there's order. It's by design. הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu is choreographing and calibrating and curating my life, then even when we face hardship and challenge, with לפני ה' lifnei Hashem, then we're always בשמחה b'simcha. Always בשמחה b'simcha. On a festival, the laws of mourning are nullified in account of the joyous society with the day. On a festival all Israel stands before Hashem, and the festival's importance is identified with man's rejoicing before his creator. The joy is an emotional expression of human experience of standing before Hashem, and it is this experience before Hashem that fully annuls the mourning. For mourning and standing before Hashem are mutually exclusive. Because sin separates man and God, one merits happiness upon attaining forgiveness. True שמחה simcha occurs when one feels himself directly in God's presence. You want more שמחה simcha in your life, then work on living with אמונה emunah. Work on being לפני ה' lifnei Hashem, that he's with us wherever and whenever, that he's involved in our lives, that we submit to him. שמחה Simcha is the result of being לפני ה' lifnei Hashem, and that's why we find those world words always, always together. פרק י\"ג פסוק י\"ח Perek yud gimmel, pasuk yud ches, moving right along.Talked about bringing these consecrated and sacred foods to ירושלים Yerushalayim. Permission to eat meat, unconsecrated meat. Originally the intent was only קרבנות korbanos could be eaten. One were we given license to hold our own barbecues and to eat our delicious steaks and jerky and all kinds of other פליישיג fleishig delicacies. I mentioned in another context, it wasn't the פרשה שיעור parsha shiur. Someone said to me, we had in last week's פרשה parsha, we had the falling of the מן mun. And that the fact that the מן mun fell was a test for us, and, and somebody said to me last week, a great insight, they said it as a joke but I take it as true insight, said, where was the חסד chesed in the מדבר midbar? In a total lifestyle where Hashem provided everything. He provided our food, our drink, our security, he gave us our our our פרנסה parnassah, our roof over our head. So how did one do חסד chesed for another when the other had no need? So he said, you know what? That's not true. There was an opportunity for חסד chesed. We know the מן mun tasted like anything that you wanted. So נעבעך nebach, one person was going to have the מן mun taste like מילכיגס milchigs. And when another person said to him, what are you crazy? Picture a steak. That was a great act of חסד chesed. When you said to the other person, what are you doing having מילכיג milchig, having having the מן mun taste like מילכיג milchig? Have it taste like פליישיג fleishig. That was the great act of חסד chesed that could be done in the מדבר midbar. None of you appreciated or enjoyed that as much as I did, so we will move right along. פרק י\"ג, פסוק י\"ח Perek yud gimmel, pasuk yud ches.We have the story of the three, three stories in succession of those who try to lead us astray. מסית ומדיח Mesit u'meidiach and the נביא שקר navi sheker and the עיר הנידחת ir nidachas. קדוש ברוך הוא Kadosh Baruch Hu has a lot of opposition. He faces a lot of opposition in this world. People who try to put forth or advocate opposing forces or powers who try to spew lies. There's a נביא שקר navi sheker, there's a false prophet. We have false prophets in our time who, you know, fake news and try to promote forces and truths other than Hashem. We have מסית ומדיח mesit u'meidiach, those who try to lead us astray. We have technologies that are מסית ומדיח mesit u'meidiach. We have mass produced מסית ומדיח mesit u'meidiach with incredible force that has never existed before. And then we have the עיר הנידחת ir nidachas, the wayward city, a city that is worshipping idols, where the Torah gives us a very very harsh consequence, that we are to eliminate that city. And that section ends with an awkward פסוק pasuk. פרק י\"ג פסוק י\"ח Perek yud gimmel, pasuk yud ches. ולא ידבק בידך מאומה מן החרם למען ישוב מחרון אפו V'lo yidbak b'yadcha meuma min hacherem lema'an yashuv mecharon apo. You should not hold on to anything from that which was banned from this city of idolatry. למען ישוב מחרון אפו Lema'an yashuv mecharon apo, so that Hashem will return from the anger that he had. ונתן לך רחמים ורחמך והרבך כאשר נשבע לאבותיך V'nasan lecha rachamim v'richamcha v'hirbecha ka'asher nishba la'avosecha. He'll give you mercy, and he'll be compassionate to you, and he'll multiply you like he swore to your forefathers. What in the world is the second half of the פסוק pasuk doing here? What in the world does it mean? Here we're given the mandate, the mission, you have to destroy an עיר הנידחת ir nidachas. It's so pernicious, this attitude, this perspective, it can have such a impact on compromising and sabotaging the Jewish people as we take place in our residence, in our land, you have to eliminate them, even your fellow Jew. An עיר הנידחת ir nidachas is not non-Jews. The עיר הנידחת ir nidachas is filled with fellow Jews, and it's so dangerous, so risky, you have to eliminate them. So upon whom is ונתן לך רחמים ורחמך v'nasan lecha rachamim v'richamcha? What's the compassion here? Where is this compassion placed? So the מדרש Midrash wonders this, and the מדרש Midrash quotes first רבי עקיבא Rabbi Akiva. And רבי עקיבא Rabbi Akiva says this compassion is on the children. It's on the children. Even though you're eliminating all the adults, and you're eliminating even the animals of the עיר הנידחת ir nidachas, but the children, the children should be allowed to live. So רבי עקיבא Rabbi Akiva says this is a reference to the children. רבי אליעזר Rabbi Eliezer in the מדרש Midrash disagrees. And רבי אליעזר Rabbi Eliezer says we're not talking about the children, but we're talking about you. And who's going to have compassion on you? The surviving relatives of the people that you slaughtered in the עיר הנידחת ir nidachas. Normally, one person harms a family member of another, that family member wants to avenge the blood. The whole institution of the עיר מקלט ir miklat is that you flee when you kill בשוגג b'shogeg from the family member who wants to avenge the blood of their loved one. So here I would think that the קרובים krovim, the loved ones, the relatives of the members of the עיר הנידחת ir nidachas who are wiped out are going to seek revenge, are going to hate the people who who perpetrated the elimination of the עיר הנידחת ir nidachas. Comes along the Torah, according to רבי אליעזר Rabbi Eliezer, and promises no, ורחמך v'richamcha, he's going to be compassion, there's going to be love, there will be understanding. That's רבי עקיבא Rabbi Akiva and רבי אליעזר Rabbi Eliezer, that's the מדרש Midrash.But the אור החיים הקדוש Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh has a different interpretation. The אור החיים הקדוש Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh, רבי חיים בן עטר Rav Chaim ben Attar, we're on פרק י\"ג, פסוק י\"ח perek yud gimmel, pasuk yud ches. If you have your מקראות גדולות Mikraos Gedolos, פרק י\"ג, פסוק י\"ח perek yud gimmel, pasuk yud ches. The אור החיים הקדוש Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh says the following. כוונת מאמר זה כאן, לפי שציווה על עיר הנידחת שיהרגו כל העיר לפי חרב, ואפילו בהמתם, מעשה זה יוליד טבע אכזריות בלב האדם. Kavanas ma'amar zeh kan, l'fi she'tziva al ir nidachas she'yahargu kol ha'ir l'fi charev, v'afilu behemtam, ma'aseh zeh yolid teva achzarius b'leiv ha'adam. You know what happens? Soldiers come back from war, and even in the noble pursuit of defending their own people, they have to take up arms. When you hold a weapon, when you are forced with having to face it in the direction of an enemy, when חס ושלום chas v'shalom you're put in a position that you have to pull that trigger, it can't help but generate a sense of cruelty in you. People come back from war and they struggle with not being cruel themselves, says the אור החיים הקדוש Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh. כמו שסיפרו לנו אנשי ישמעאל עם כתר רושם במאמר המלך גישאלה, כי יש להם חיזוק גדול בשעה שהורגים אדם, ונכנס להם שורש הרחמים והיה לאכזר. K'mo she'sipru lanu anshei Yishmael im keser roshem b'ma'amar hamelech geishalah, ki yesh lahem chizuk gadol b'sha'ah she'horgim adam, v'nichnas lahem shoresh harachamim v'haya l'achzar. He says, you know I had a meeting and I heard from a group of terrorists, the ישמעאלים Yishmeilim, and those terrorists, these murderous terrorists, they say that they learn to get a געשמאק geshmak from killing. And it breeds in them, it cultivates within them a sense of cruelty, of אכזריות achzarius. היה לאכזר Haya l'achzar. וההכנה עצמה תהיה בשורש בעיר הנידחת. לזה אומר להם הבטחה, שיתן להם ה' רחמים. V'hachinah atzmah tehiyeh b'shoresh b'ir nidachas. L'zeh omer lahem havtacha, she'yiten lahem Hashem rachamim. Says the אור החיים הקדוש Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh, that's why the Torah is making a promise that no, fulfill Hashem's word and eliminate the עיר הנידחת ir nidachas, and Hashem will have רחמים ורחמך rachamim v'richamcha, and he will make you compassionate. He will preserve your capacity for compassion, that even though you will have to carry out what you will have to carry out, nevertheless, you will remain a compassionate people. That's what this פסוק pasuk means, and that's Hashem's promise. The נצי\"ב Netziv adds on to it and he says, that's why פנחס Pinchas got the ברית שלום bris shalom. פנחס Pinchas's reward was the covenant of peace. What a bizarre covenant, a covenant of peace. פנחס Pinchas eliminated כזבי וזמרי Cozbi and Zimri. He killed them, he drove a spear through the two of them at once, and he got the covenant of peace? The answer is yes. Hashem gave him the covenant to know that even though you had to do a graphic, gruesome act, even though you had to do something violent, nevertheless, sometimes doing so is in the name of peace. And nevertheless, Hashem says I preserved your capacity for רחמים rachamim. That's what is going on, that's what's going on over here in this פסוק pasuk, ורחמך v'richamcha.פרק י\"ד פסוק א' Perek yud daled, pasuk aleph, moving along. The Torah has a now a list and a litany of of rules, of laws. First we have the laws of כשרות kashrus, but before כשרות kashrus, it's introduced with this statement. בנים אתם לה' אלהיכם, לא תתגודדו ולא תשימו קרחה בין עיניכם למת. Banim atem l'Hashem Elokeichem, lo sisgodedu v'lo sasimu karcha bein eineichem l'meis. You are children of Hashem and because of that you're not allowed to make a bald spot, don't cut yourself, don't make a bald spot between your eyes. לא תתגודדו Lo sisgodedu. You cannot, when grieving for the loss of a friend or a loved one, you cannot be so overwhelmed with grief that you will grieve excessively such that you cut yourself. Cutting yourself is a again a form of mental illness today. People who cut themselves describe that they have a build-up of such pain, such emotional, spiritual pain, that they need to create physical pain as a form of release from the emotional, spiritual pain they're experiencing. Makes no sense. Why would someone cut themselves? People with mental illness literally cut themselves, not in a suicide attempt, they cut themselves. Why? Because they need to manifest the pain that they're feeling, it's the only thing that can give them relief. Interestingly, mental health professionals have an alternative for a person who feels that way. They say a person who's going through that trauma and has that unhealthy, very dangerous feeling, should hold ice. Why? When you hold ice, the ice has a feeling like it's burning a hole in your hand. So it has the effect of that release, and you're able to give yourself and inflict that pain but without חס ושלום chas v'shalom the risk of actually cutting yourself and what could happen. Now that's not healthy either. It's not encouraging people to hold ice in order to cause pain, but it's an alternative to חס ושלום chas v'shalom the opposite. So לא תתגודדו lo sisgodedu, that's not something only new. The Torah already way back when was saying, don't cut yourself and don't create this bald spot. And why? בנים אתם לה' Banim atem l'Hashem. You're the children of Hashem.We've studied this several times in the past in the פרשה parsha class, but I want to offer you a few new perspectives this year. We've seen the great רמב\"ן Ramban, the אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra, a lot of different interpretations exactly what is going on over here. רב מרדכי מקאשמיר Rav Mordechai of Koshmir, great צדיק tzaddik, says the following. You know what it means? בנים אתם לה' אלהיכם Banim atem l'Hashem Elokeichem? You are children of Hashem. בנים אתם Banim atem. Why not say בנים לה' אלהיכם banim l'Hashem Elokeichem? בנים Banim includes you are children. Why בנים אתם banim atem? What does the word אתם atem add over here? So the גמרא Gemara in ראש השנה דף כ\"ה Rosh Hashana daf chaf hei, חז\"ל Chazal דרשן darshan a different פסוק pasuk. A different פסוק pasuk says, אלה מועדי ה' אשר תקראו אותם eileh moadei Hashem asher tikre'u otam. This is the מועדים moadim, this is the holidays, אשר תקראו אותם that you call them. So there the Torah says אתם atem, אפילו שוגגים afilu shogegim, אתם אפילו מזידים atem afilu meizidim, אתם אפילו מוטעים atem afilu mut'im. We know the גמרא Gemara in ראש השנה Rosh Hashana says that the בית דין Beis Din is empowered to set the calendar, the first מצוה mitzvah we were given when we left מצרים Mitzrayim. בית דין Beis Din is the one who sets the calendar. קידוש החודש Kiddush haChodesh, they hear the testimony of the new moon, they set the calendar and they determine when the holidays fall out. What if they made a mistake? What if intentionally they manipulated the calendar? What if they say, I need to be able to catch the playoff game and I can't have it coincide with יום כיפור Yom Kippur, so we're going to sanctify the new moon as full or empty in order to manipulate the calendar to fall out the way I want it to. Or let's say a much more noble reason they wanted to fall out that way. So even if they do it on purpose, מזידים meizidim, if they do it by accident, שוגגים shogegim, even מוטעים mut'im. So that's what the צדיק Tzaddik, רב מרדכי מקאשמיר Rav Mordechai of Koshmir says, the same way חז\"ל Chazal understand the word אתם atem there to mean אתם atem, you are given that gift. אתם אפילו מזידים, אתם אפילו שוגגים. Atem afilu meizidim, atem afilu shogegim. He applies it to our פסוק pasuk. בנים אתם לה' אלהיכם Banim atem l'Hashem Elokeichem. בנים Banim, you are Hashem's children. אפילו מזידים, אפילו שוגגים, אפילו מוטעים. afilu meizidim, afilu shogegim, afilu mut'im. Nothing you can do. Nothing you can do. We as parents tell our children that I may be disappointed in your actions, but there's nothing you could ever do to make me stop loving you. Nothing. I love you unconditionally. I love you to the end of the earth. I would take a bullet for you, I'd jump in front of a car for you. There are things you could do that would make me grievously disappointed. I could reject or disagree with some of your choices, but you as my child, you and your relationship with me, אפילו שוגגים, אפילו מזידים, אפילו מוטעים. afilu shogegim, afilu meizidim, afilu mut'im. There's nothing you can do. So very beautifully, the צדיק Tzaddik applied this interpretation, the דרשה drasha from the גמרא Gemara elsewhere in ראש השנה Rosh Hashana about the מועדים moadim to our פסוק pasuk about בנים אתם לה' אלהיכם banim atem l'Hashem Elokeichem. You are our בנים banim, no matter no matter what.But I want to share with you רב דרוק Rav Druk. רב דרוק Rav Druk has a beautiful פשט pshat here on בנים אתם לה' אלהיכם banim atem l'Hashem Elokeichem. And רב דרוק Rav Druk says the following. רב ישראל מאיר דרוק Rav Yisrael Meir Druk, we've been learning his beautiful ספר sefer that he gave me called אש תמיד Eish Tamid. רב ישראל מאיר דרוק Rav Yisrael Meir Druk, a great ראש ישיבה Rash Yeshiva in ירושלים Yerushalayim today. He says the following. What is the connection between בנים אתם לה' אלהיכם banim atem l'Hashem Elokeichem and לא תתגודדו lo sisgodedu? ולא תשימו קרחה V'lo sasimu karcha. So Rashi says, because you're the children of Hashem, you have to look like royalty. You're princes and princesses. Modern royalty is running away from royalty. Whatever the name of that prince is, I forgot his name, married to that celebrity, so they said, we don't want to be a prince anymore, we're done, we're out, we're out. But we would never want to run away from this royalty. We are princes and princesses. We're children of Hashem. So Rashi says as children of Hashem, what are you gonna carve a bold spot, you're gonna cut your skin? You have to carry yourself as royalty, you have to look like royalty. Because בנים אתם לה' אלהיכם banim atem l'Hashem Elokeichem, because you're royalty, you need to appear like royalty. The Ramban has a different interpretation. And the Ramban says you're not allowed to mourn or grieve excessively. Why can't you mourn or grieve excessively? Because בנים אתם banim atem to whom? לה' אלהיכם L'Hashem Elokeichem. When do you mourn or grieve excessively? When you think all there is is the here and now. There is no afterlife, there is no future, there is no world to come. We'll never be reunited with those that we lost. Then we are inconsolable. Then we are broken beyond repair. But the person who believes in their heart of heart in תחיית המתים techias hameisim, if you believe that we will be reunited with those who are no longer here, if you believe the נשמה neshama has gone to a better place, if you do believe that we will all be in the world to come eventually, if you believe בנים אתם לה' אלהיכם banim atem l'Hashem Elokeichem, then לא תתגודדו lo sisgodedu, ולא תשימו קרחה V'lo sasimu karcha. Then you're never going to grieve or mourn excessively, because while there's a feeling of loss and you have to honor that feeling of loss, it's very real, but you're never going to be excessive with it. The אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra weighs in, the דעת זקנים מבעלי התוספות Daas Zekeinim Baalei HaTosfos weigh in, they all have interpretations, how do you connect the two halves of the פסוק pasuk? We've seen many of them in the past. I want to offer you the new one of רב דרוק Rav Druk this year. And he says the following. What's the connection between the two? So חז\"ל Chazal say, the גמרא Gemara in יבמות דף י\"ג Yevamos daf yud gimmel has another interpretation of לא תתגודדו lo sisgodedu. לא תתגודדו Lo sisgodedu, the פשט פשוט pshat pshat is you're not allowed to cut yourself. But the גמרא Gemara there says, לא תתגודדו lo sisgodedu, לא תעשו אגודות אגודות lo sa'asu agudos agudos. You're not allowed to have different factions and different sects and different segments of the Jewish people. It's a great, we gave a שיעור shiur in the afternoon כולל kollel a few months ago about לא תתגודדו lo sisgodedu, how it applies in הלכה halacha. Can half the שול shul stand while half the שול shul sits? Can half the שול shul wear תפילין tefillin on חול המועד chol hamoed, half the שול shul doesn't wear תפילין tefillin on חול המועד chol hamoed? How do you have אשכנזים Ashkenazim and ספרדים Sefardim דאווענען davening in the same שול shul? How do you have a melting pot of different מנהגים minhagim? לא תתגודדו Lo sisgodedu. You're not allowed different practices and different observances. And the ראשונים Rishonim there in the גמרא Gemara give different reasons why we have this prohibition. Rashi says because it shouldn't look like we have many תורות Torahs. It shouldn't look like we have several תורות Torahs. Hashem gave one Torah, one authentic, one authoritative Torah, we don't have many. Others say it shouldn't look like there's מחלוקת machlokes, that we don't get along. So the גמרא Gemara there in יבמות Yevamos says לא תתגודדו lo sisgodedu, you're not allowed to have אגודות אגודות agudos agudos. You can't have different factions. We have to be a melting pot, we have to unite, we have to become together as one. So says רב דרוק Rav Druk, maybe that's the connection. Because בנים אתם לה' אלהיכם banim atem l'Hashem Elokeichem, לא תתגודדו lo sisgodedu. You see, my children, קיין עין הרע kein ayin hara, ברוך ה' Baruch Hashem, I'm very blessed. I now have nine children. I had seven children, but when two of them marry, you very quickly go to nine and it's beautiful. I now have two sons that I didn't have to raise. I didn't have to take them through adolescence and high school and the most horrible years. It's the most beautiful thing in the world when your children get married. You get to get them when they're already a מענטש mentch and a בן תורה ben Torah. It's such a beautiful thing. So, קיין עין הרע kein ayin hara, בלי עין הרע bli ayin hara, nine children. My nine children are diverse and different, and I hope they'll continue to grow to be diverse and different in their thinking, in their practice, in their dress, in their likes, in their wants, in their needs. But you know what they're united in? In their loyalty and love of family, in their commitment to our shared values and shared ideals. How do you achieve לא תתגודדו lo sisgodedu? When will you not be אגודות אגודות agudos agudos? When you're בנים אתם לה' אלהיכם banim atem l'Hashem Elokeichem. Says רב דרוק Rav Druk, if we see ourselves as children of Hashem, I don't care if you're אשכנזי Ashkenazi or ספרדי Sefardi, מזרחי Mizrachi, נוסח ספרד Nusach Sefard. I don't care whether you follow רב משה Rav Moshe or you follow רב אלישיב Rav Elyashiv, you follow חזון איש Chazon Ish. It doesn't matter. בנים אתם לה' אלהיכם Banim atem l'Hashem Elokeichem. We can express and manifest our individuality as long as we're united as בנים אתם לה' אלהיכם banim atem l'Hashem Elokeichem. We are all children of Hashem. And he suggests maybe that's the פשט pshat in the פסוק pasuk. That's how you connect the first half and the last half of the פסוק pasuk. Not on לא תתגודדו lo sisgodedu don't cut yourself, but לא תתגודדו lo sisgodedu, don't be אגודות אגודות agudos agudos. Why and how should you not be אגודות אגודות agudos agudos? Because בנים אתם לה' אלהיכם banim atem l'Hashem Elokeichem. And then he invokes, we've shared this interpretation before, why do we give the ברכה bracha on Friday night, ישימך אלהים כאפרים וכמנשה yesimcha Elokim k'Efraim v'chi'Menasheh? We bless our children אפרים Efraim and מנשה Menasheh. We don't bless them be like משה ואהרן Moshe and Aharon, we don't bless them to be like אברהם, יצחק ויעקב Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov. We don't bless them to be like דוד ושלמה David and Shlomo. Why do we bless them אפרים Efraim and מנשה Menasheh? They are not the most major figures of our תנ\"ך Tanach, of our Torah. The answer is they are the first to get along. They're the first to get along. There's no jealousy or enmity, there's no competitiveness between them. אפרים Efraim and מנשה Menasheh. Even though it was switched, אפרים Efraim's the younger one, and he is considered greater than מנשה Menasheh, that יעקב Yaakov pulled the switcheroo on the two of them and that competitiveness didn't create a divide between them. They got along, and that's our ברכה bracha to our children. This reflects the ultimate hope of a parent. בנים אתם לה' אלהיכם Banim atem l'Hashem Elokeichem. Hashem just wants us to get along. We give a ברכה bracha to our children Friday night, you know what the most meaningful thing to me is, ישימך אלהים כאפרים yesimcha Elokim k'Efraim, just be like אפרים Efraim and מנשה Menasheh. Be different, be individuals, but don't be competitive. Get along, love one another. So we too can show that בנים אתם לה' אלהיכם banim atem l'Hashem Elokeichem, we show that love to Hashem how? When לא תתגודדו lo sisgodedu, when we don't act as separate factions with מחלוקת machlokes, when we all get along.Last, I have so much more as always that I wanted to share with you, but last idea for today. Last idea for today. בעזרת ה' Be'ezras Hashem next week we'll be broadcasting back from our home. Can't wait to be back. פרק י\"ד פסוק כ\"ב Perek yud daled, pasuk kaf beis. פרק י\"ד פסוק כ\"ב Perek yud daled, pasuk kaf beis. עשר תעשר את כל תבואת זרעך Aser ta'aser es kol tevuas zar'echa. You recognize this from the ליינען leining on יום טוב Yom Tov. עשר תעשר Aser ta'aser. And here חז\"ל Chazal tell us, עשר תעשר aser ta'aser, עשר בשביל שתתעשר aser bishvil shetis'asher. Tithe so that you can become rich. What? Tithe so that you can become rich? עשר בשביל שתתעשר Asher bishvil shetis'asher. What are you talking about? What are you talking about? The גמרא Gemara in תענית דף ט' Taanis daf tes, רב יוחנן Rav Yochanan teaches, עשר תעשר aser ta'aser, עשר aser, why do you tithe? Why do you separate? How do you give away? בשביל שתתעשר Bishvil shetis'asher. And the גמרא Gemara there in תענית Taanis has a whole discussion with רב יוחנן Rav Yochanan. What do you mean? Are you allowed to test Hashem? If I give צדקה tzedakah, Hashem is going to give me manifold, manifold back? And the answer is yes. If you have an investment broker, and they give you a return on your investment, do you not allocate more money to them? If you have another broker who gives you a loss, do you not stop giving them money? קדוש ברוך הוא Kadosh Baruch Hu is the same way as us. We are stewards over his money. When we make a wise decision and give him a return on the investment he's given us, he gives us more because we're in fact fulfilling his vision, his will for that money. But if we in fact have a loss, we don't share it, we don't give it out, we don't take care, we don't repair the world, we don't help others with it, we selfishly squander it, keep it for ourselves, then he'll stop giving it. So on the one hand, עשר תעשר aser ta'aser, give מעשר ma'aser, and it's the one area of Torah, the one מצוה mitzvah, the one area of הלכה halacha that you're allowed to test God. God, 10% I'm going to give it away, and I'm counting on you to make it back. I'm counting on you to replenish the coffers. I'm counting on you to put it back in the account. I'm allowed to test God in that way. I'm allowed to rely on that promise from him. עשר בשביל שתתעשר Aser bishvil shetis'asher. But רב דרוק Rav Druk has another פשט pshat. And רב דרוק Rav Druk says maybe we should read it differently. Why? The רמב\"ם Rambam in שמונה פרקים Shemonah Perakim, the גמרא Gemara tells us, חז\"ל Chazal tells us that to be a נביא navi, an authentic prophet, you have to have several qualities. And among the qualities that a נביא navi has to have is a נביא navi, in order to get נבואה nevuah, אין נבואה שורה אלא על חכם גיבור ועשיר ein nevuah shora ela al chacham gibor v'ashir. To be a נביא navi, to be a prophet, to be a leader, you have to be wise, you have to be a warrior, and you have to be wealthy. Now the simple understanding is when you have those things, you're beyond reproach. No one can buy you out. No one can buy your opinion. You're independently wealthy. No one thinks they have such influence on you with money. You have wisdom, you're smart, you're discerning, obviously you're going to be a leader. And you're גיבור gibor, you have what it takes, you have fortitude to stand up to the forces that you need to confront. So a נביא navi, a leader, in order to be eligible and qualified for נבואה nevuah, has to be a חכם, גיבור ועשיר chacham, gibor v'ashir. However, the רמב\"ם Rambam in שמונה פרקים Shemonah Perakim, פרק ז' perek zayin, offers a different interpretation of the word עשיר ashir. And the רמב\"ם Rambam here says, what does it mean? We have גדולי ישראל gedolei Yisrael, we have the people of the past, to be a נביא navi, you got to be wealthy? What are you talking about? They were all in real estate? They all did well with their investments? What are you talking about, hedge fund managers, the נביאים nevi'im? So it says the רמב\"ם Rambam in שמונה פרקים Shemonah Perakim, איזהו עשיר? השמח בחלקו Eizehu ashir? Ha'sameach b'chelko. To qualify for נבואה nevuah, you don't have to have a lot of money in the bank. You have to be happy with what you have. איזהו עשיר השמח בחלקו Eizehu ashir ha'sameach b'chelko. So based on that רמב\"ם Rambam in שמונה פרקים Shemonah Perakim, רב דרוק Rav Druk suggests here, עשר תעשר aser t'aser. תורה Torah says give away צדקה tzedakah, עשר aser, בשביל שתתעשר bishvil she'titasher. How will you become wealthy? By sharing what you have. Does that mean literally you'll become financially wealthy? No. When you're willing to share what you have, then you reveal that you're שמח בחלקו sameach b'chelko, that you're happy with your lot in life. And when you're happy with what your lot in life is when you're really going to find happiness in your life. So עשר תעשר aser t'aser. Give מעשר ma'aser so that you become wealthy. Either literally, one interpretation, or by sharing what you have, you'll discover that you're happy with what you have, and that is the greatest wealth that anyone can have. So it's good to be back with the פרשה parsha. We continue at 9:00 tonight, the last, the last class for our best version of yourself, 9:00 tonight. Tomorrow evening, we are behind the במה bima again with רב יהודה מישל Rav Judah Mischel. Very excited to go behind the במה bima with him. We have some incredible guests lined up for the next few weeks. If you're watching on YouTube, please subscribe to our channel. Even if you're not, please take a moment to go subscribe to that channel and help us share our תורה Torah more broadly and widely. It's great to see everyone. Stay happy, stay healthy, and stay holy.
