Transcript
Good morning, בוקר טוב boker tov. Thank you for joining us once again for our פרשה parsha perspectives for today. This week we have the privilege of studying and reviewing two פרשיות parshios together and extracting their lessons and their contemporary messages to inform our current times. As the פרשה parsha always relates to and is relevant to what is happening in the current moment. I want to thank our generous sponsors for the entire series for the year. Becky and Avi Katz, our dear friends, in memory of Becky's father David Grossman. לעילוי נשמת דוד בן מנחם מנוש L'iluy nishmas David ben Menachem Manush. Thank you to the Katzes as always. I also want to thank my dear friends Matthew and Tova Hackerman who are sponsoring this morning's particular שיעור shiur in commemoration of the third יארצייט yahrtzeit of their dear friend David Lax. May his נשמה neshamah have a continued עלייה aliyah. Hackermans are good friends remembering their dear friend and we hope that David's נשמה neshamah has an עלייה aliyah through the study of Torah this morning together. Okay, פרשת נצבים Parshas Nitzavim begins on the ArtScroll Stone חומש Chumash page 1086, 1,086. And as I said, got a lot to get through because we have two פרשיות parshios that we're going to cover this morning. And the פרשה parsha begins, אתם נצבים היום כולכם לפני השם אלוקיכם ראשיכם שבטיכם זקניכם ושוטריכם כל איש ישראל Atem nitzavim hayom kulchem lifnei Hashem Elokeichem rosheichem shivteichem zikneichem v'shotreichem kol ish Yisrael. You're standing today, היום hayom, today, you're all standing before Hashem. And who's the all? The Torah then delineates, the Torah explicitly specifies who they are, the ראשיכם rosheichem, heads of your tribes, זקניכם zikneichem, the elders, שוטריכם shotreichem, your officers. טפכם נשיכם גרך אשר בקרב מחניך Tapchem n'sheichem gerecha asher b'kerev machanecha, your children, the women, the converts, everybody, מחטב עציך עד שואב מימיך m'chotev eitzecha ad sho'ev meimecha. There is so no socioeconomic division or divide, no matter what, no matter what socioeconomic class you are in, everybody is present today for this important, for this important message. What is that message? Why is it that Moshe gathered everybody together? What was so critical? אתם נצבים היום כולכם Atem nitzavim hayom kulchem, everybody, all of you. Torah was given out in parts to different people at different times. Why is it all of a sudden so critical that כולכם kulchem, that everybody all together would need to be there. The אברבנאל Abarbanel has a very fascinating comment my friend Mendy pointed it out to me. האמנם למה בחר משה רבינו שישמעו אנשים ונשים וטף וגרים והנה לא זכר זה בברית ראשון ולא נעשה כזה, הנה ביאור בדבר בצורך המעמד Ha'omnam lama bachar Moshe Rabbeinu sheyishme'u anashim v'nashim v'taf v'gerim, v'hinei lo zachar zeh b'vris rishon, v'lo na'aseh kazeh. Hinei be'ur badavar b'tzorech ha'ma'amad. So the אברבנאל Abarbanel wonders, we don't find earlier when the people enter a covenant, when משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu tells them we are all bound together in one covenant. We all have a promise, we have responsibility, accountability to the Almighty. He doesn't do it כולכם kulchem, the Torah doesn't specify that everybody is there, that every socioeconomic class is present. And yet here, there is some message which specifically needs to be communicated in the context of כולכם kulchem. Everybody, with a description of all of the components, segments and demographics of the community. Why? Why wonders דון יצחק אברבנאל Don Yitzchak Abarbanel. והוא שמשה לפי שידע דעתו להכניסם בברית ההוא V'hu she'Moshe l'fi she'yada da'ato l'hachnisam b'vris ha'hu, and the answer the אברבנאל Abarbanel says is because Moshe wanted them to enter this covenant. רצה ראשון לומר להם אתם ראיתם כל מיני עבודה זרה שהיו במצרים במדין במואב וארץ סיחון ועוג Ratza rishon lomar lahem atem re'isem kol minei avodah zarah shehayu b'Mitzrayim, b'Midyan, b'Moav, v'eretz Sichon v'Og. You know on your journey the last 40 years Moshe tells them, you've seen a lot. You've been exposed to a lot. And it might have impacted, it might have influenced you, it might have left an indelible impression on you. ויש בכם אנשים חכמים ונבונים V'yesh bachem anashim chachamim u'n'vonim, there are many wise and learned, intellectual, sophisticated people among you. ואולי יהיה בלב אדם מכם ספק בשמירת המצוות U'ulai yihiyeh b'lev adam mikem safek bishmiras hamitzvos. So you may be the cynic will come. Maybe you'll sarcastically approach the covenant with Hashem, the observance of Torah and mitzvos, and you're going to say, how do I know this is real? How do I know it's real? On our 40-year journey, we were exposed to and we learned about מצרים Mitzrayim, and lived in מדין Midyan, and מואב Moav, and סיחון Sichon, and עוג Og. There are all kinds of religions. How do I know this one's true? Maybe theirs is more accurate, maybe theirs is more true, maybe theirs is more authentic. ואולי יהיה בלב אדם מכם ספק בשמירת המצוות U'ulai yihiyeh b'lev adam mikem safek bishmiras hamitzvos. How do I know? How do I know that God wants me to do this? How do I know this is really what God is asking? How do I know our God is the God? טענה וחקש בעניין עבודה זרה, לזה איני רוצה שידבר אדם זה כלל בסתר Ta'ana v'hekesh b'inyan avodah zarah, l'zeh eini rotzeh she'yidaber adam zeh klal b'seiser. Says Moshe with a wonderful model and paradigm with a precedent of leadership says the אברבנאל Abarbanel. משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu says, I want full and complete transparency. You have any questions? You have any קשיות kashes? You have any challenges? You have any suspicions? You have any cynicism? Don't discuss it בסתר b'seiser. I don't want it whispered about at the water cooler. I don't want you talking about it in your backyard over the barbecue. כיבצתי כלכם פה לפני השם Kibatzti kulchem po lifnei Hashem, I've gathered everybody. We're all here. We're not whispering behind one another's back. We're not making accusations, criticisms, or condemnations. We're not offering suspicion and cynicism and doubt. Here we are, כולכם kulchem, everybody gathered together as one. ואם יש בלב אדם מכם קטון כגדול ספק או טינה ומחשבה בעניין עבודה זרה V'im yesh b'lev adam mikem k'katon k'gadol safek o tina u'machshava b'inyan avodah zarah. Anyone here has a problem? You have a question? יפרסמו כאן ויוכח עמי yifarsemo kan v'yivakach imi. Raise it now. Address it publicly and let me debate it with you. ואני אסיר ממנו כל ספק וכל טענה V'ani asir mimenu kol safek v'kol ta'ana, and let me resolve any doubt, let me clarify any confusion. Don't do it in the cloak and the shadow. Do it here, do it now, do it in front of everybody. וזהו אומרו V'zehu omro, says the אברבנאל Abarbanel, this is what he means: אתם נצבים היום כולכם atem nitzavim hayom kulchem. כי מילת עמידה ולשון נצבים לא יאמר על עמידה Ki milas amida u'lashon nitzavim lo ye'amer al amida, when it says you were standing. What does that mean? They didn't put out seats? No chairs, no couches, no benches? What does it mean you're all standing here today? Says the אברבנאל Abarbanel, the word standing is not describing a posture. It's not describing the way that they were, the way that they were presenting themselves. כי הם גם על התקוממות בויכוח Ki hem gam al hiskomemus b'vikuach, you're all standing means that you're all erect, you're all standing before me in a ויכוח vikuach, you're ready for a debate, you're ready for an argument. You're ready for full transparency. And he says as an example we have this when it comes to דתן ואבירם Dassan v'Aviram and others. So essentially the אברבנאל Abarbanel says at the beginning of our פרשה parsha, אתם נצבים היום כולכם atem nitzavim hayom kulchem is the very first town hall meeting. Town hall meeting this past Sunday night. We had on Zoom a town hall meeting for members of our community, any questions, any concerns, any constructive criticism, any desire to further understand our policies, how we got here, what we're doing, anything you want to know about where we're going or what's happening in the community. משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu creates a precedent. Moshe is the first one. אתם נצבים Atem nitzavim. נצבים היא מלשון התייצבות, היא ויכוח Nitzavim is mi'lashon hisyatzvus is vikuach. Says Moshe, full transparency. What do you want to know? What doubts, what concerns, what uncertainties, what questions? Raise them now, raise them here, I will address them publicly, and we will be able to take them on. אזוי זאגט Azoy zogt the אברבנאל Abarbanel. That is the approach of the אברבנאל Abarbanel at the beginning of our פרשה parsha. The חידושי הרי\"ם Chidushei HaRim says אתם נצבים היום כולכם atem nitzavim hayom kulchem. What היום hayom? היום Hayom. אתם נצבים Atem nitzavim, you're standing היום hayom, today. What is the היום hayom? So the great, the חידושי הרי\"ם Chidushei HaRim, רב יצחק מאיר מגור Rav Yitzchak Meir of Ger, writes, you know what the היום hayom that אתם נצבים לפני השם כולכם atem nitzavim lifnei Hashem kulchem, what's the today that you're all standing before God? The answer is כולכם kulchem. ביום בו תהיו כולכם יחד מאוחדים באחוה איש ורעהו, ולא רק יחידים שבכם אלא ראשיכם, שבטיכם, זקניכם ושוטריכם כל איש ישראל B'yom bo tihiyu kulchem yachad m'uchadim b'achva b'ish u're'ehu, v'lo rak yechidim shebachem, ela rosheichem, shivteichem, zikneichem v'shotreichem, kol ish Yisrael. You know what the day is that you're standing before Hashem? Only when you are כולכם kulchem. You want to truly be before the Almighty, you want an audience with Hashem, you cannot do it in isolation. You cannot do it in a state of division. We can only do it in a state of כולכם kulchem. כולכם Kulchem. If you want your parents to visit, then get along with your siblings. If you want your parents' love and affection and generosity, then get along with your siblings. כולכם Kulchem. What is the היום hayom, which is the today that you're נצבים לפני השם nitzavim lifnei Hashem standing before God? Only, says the חידושי הרי\"ם Chidushei HaRim, the day that your ראשיכם שבטיכם זקניכם שוטריכם טפכם נשיכם גרך rosheichem, shivteichem, zikneichem, shotreichem, tapchem, n'sheichem, gerecha, חוטב... שואב מימיך chotev... sho'ev meimecha, only when you're all together. There is no demographic divide, no socioeconomic divide, there is no superiority, there's no division, there's no judgment, there's no criticism. Only the day that you're כולכם kulchem, only when we are united and together as one, that, that is when we are נצבים לפני השם nitzavim lifnei Hashem, that's when we truly are standing before Hashem. The אמרי חיים Imrei Chaim echoes the sentiment. The great אמרי חיים Imrei Chaim, the great ויז'ניצער רבי Vizhnitzer Rebbe writes on the next פסוק pasuk. פסוק Pasuk, פרק כ\"ט, פסוק י\"ג Perek kaf tes, pasuk yud gimmel. Not the next, but further down. ולא אתכם לבדכם אנוכי כורת את הברית הזאת ואת האלה הזאת V'lo itchem l'vadchem anochi koreis es habris hazos v'es ha'alah hazos. Says the Torah, I'm not only creating this ברית bris with you. ולא אתכם לבדכם V'lo itchem l'vadchem, פסוק י\"ג pasuk yud gimmel. Not only with you, but rather, those who are here and those who are not here today. With everybody I'm creating this ברית bris. It's a ברית bris that transcends time, it transcends space. Says the אמרי חיים Imrei Chaim, the ויז'ניצער רבי Vizhnitzer Rebbe: בזמן שאתם לבד, לא אתכם לבדכם. בזמן שאתם לבד לא מאוחדים, איני כורת אתכם ברית, רק כשאתם באחוה ורעות מאוחדים ומלוקדים B'zman she'atem l'vad, lo itchem l'vadchem. B'zman she'atem l'vad lo m'uchadim, eini koreis itchem bris. Rak k'she'atem b'achva u'v'reus m'uchadim u'm'lukadim. ולא אתכם לבדכם V'lo itchem l'vadchem, says Hashem, לא אתכם לבדכם lo itchem l'vadchem. When you're alone, when you're לבד l'vad, when you're apart, when you're separate, distinct, in disagreement with others, I'm not כורת הברית הזאת koreis a bris hazos. Hashem says you want this ברית bris, you want this covenant, you want this special relationship, you want the ברכה bracha that will flow from it, then you need to be not לבדכם l'vadchem, not alone and apart and in isolation and divided, you need to be כולכם kulchem. So we have a choice. We're approaching the יום הדין Yom HaDin. And that's what others say, that אתם נצבים היום atem nitzavim hayom, היום hayom is ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah. We're approaching the יום הדין Yom HaDin. When we come before the Almighty on יום הדין Yom HaDin, we have a choice. And the choice is, are we לבדכם l'vadchem or are we כולכם kulchem? Those are the options. לבדכם L'vadchem means I live alone. I do what's in it for me. I make my מנין minyan, I create my ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah, I make my שבת Shabbos. I don't care about community, I don't care about שול shul, I don't care about the well-being of the greater sum of the parts. I don't connect, I don't invest, I don't give, I'm not a part of, I'm apart from. If we are לבדכם l'vadchem, if we're in it for ourselves, if we're apart, if it's my way or the highway, we think we're better and greater, then we're not going to succeed or triumph, persevere on the יום הדין Yom HaDin on the היום hayom. So the opposite of לבד l'vad, לא אתכם לבדכם Lo itchem l'vadchem. If you're לבדכם l'vadchem, Hashem doesn't want a ברית bris, Hashem's not invested in us. But if we are at כולכם kulchem, if we're נצבים כולכם nitzavim kulchem, if every segment and part and demographic, if we still create community, if we still create community. You'll allow me a momentary editorial comment. I've had several people reach out, not a lot, a few, who say, you know, I can't go to שול shul this year. So why should I pay membership? Why should I pay my membership? Why should I be part of the שול shul? I'm not talking about the Boca Raton synagogue in Boca Raton. I'm still talking about, I've spoken to colleagues across the country. And people say, you know, whatever my health condition, my secondary conditions, my vulnerability, I can't דאווענען daven indoor, outdoor on the שול shul campus. I can't go to שול shul this year. Why should I pay membership? Why should I be a member? So since when does membership have to do with your ability to attend only? If you leave the country part of the year, if you take a vacation, you suspend your membership for those weeks? If you can't go visit your grandchildren, are you not their grandfather or grandmother right now during coronavirus because you can't visit them? Community is part of our very definition. Community is who we are. Community defines us. Community transcends the ability to congregate. I'm not saying if you're having a hard time financially, of course every community should accommodate people. It's not about the money, but there's a value called community. And that's what these פרשיות parshios are telling us over and over and over again. אתם נצבים היום כולכם Atem nitzavim hayom kulchem. You want to be לבדכם l'vadchem? If I can go, I pay. If I can't go, I don't pay. The כולכם kulchem, being part of community is not about the ability to attend. It's about the shared values and the shared vision. It's about the commonalities. It's about when this is over, having a strong community that will be there for us when we need it. Are we לבדכם l'vadchem or are we כולכם kulchem, which will determine the kind of יום טוב Yom Tov, the kind of ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah that we are going to have and the kind of consequence or the result of the judgment we'll experience on it. I want to look at an insight from the איש תמיד Ish Tomid, רב ישראל מאיר דרוק Rav Yisrael Meir Druk. We've been quoting a lot from his beautiful, beautiful ספרים sforim on the פרשה parsha. And today again, we're going to quote several of his magnificent insights. In fact, they just came out, if you've been enjoying רב דרוק Rav Druk, ArtScroll just came out with an English translation of רב דרוק Rav Druk on the מחזור machzor. He has a ספר sefer in Hebrew, but ArtScroll came out with it in English, which is רב דרוק Rav Druk on the מחזור machzor. I want you not to read it because I'm going to quote a lot of things from it. But if you're, if you're nevertheless want it, it's really a beautiful, beautiful ספר sefer. So רב דרוק Rav Druk in his איש תמיד Ish Tomid in the פרשה parsha says the following: יש לעיין בכפל הלשון הנאמר בזה, כולכם וכן כל איש ישראל Yesh l'ayin b'kefel halashon ha'ne'emar b'zeh, kulchem v'chein kol ish Yisrael. You have a redundancy. Why does the פרשה parsha repeat כולכם kulchem, you're all standing, כל איש ישראל kol ish Yisrael, everyone. הלא כבר ידענו שמדבר הכתוב על כלל בכולם Halo kvar yadanu she'medaber hakasuv al klal b'kulam. מה טעם כפל זו Ma ta'am kfel lazu? What's the reason for the repetition? As פרק אשת חיל perek Eishes Chayil, the פירוש הרש\"י Pirush HaRashi, שכולו מדבר על התורה הקדושה shekulo medaber al haTorah HaK'dosha. וכן מפרש על כל הפסוקים V'chein mefaresh al kol hapsukim. The פרק של אשת חיל perek of Eishes Chayil, the very last chapter of משלי Mishlei that we sing on Friday nights, a tribute to the wonderful women, the נשי חיל nishei chayil of our lives. The רש\"י Rashi explains it's all talking about the תורה הקדושה Torah HaK'dosha. It's really a love song, it's really affection that's being proclaimed to the Torah. It says there: לא תירא לביתה משלג כי כל ביתה לבוש שנים lo sira l'veisah misheleg, ki chol beisah lavush shanim. Your home will not see snow because your whole home is לבוש שנים lavush shanim. And רש\"י Rashi there based on the מדרש תנחומא Medrash Tanchuma says כי שלג זה הוא שלג של גיהנום ki sheleg zeh hu sheleg shel Gehenom. Now, we're used to the description of גיהנום Gehenom, as my kids would call it, H-E-double hockey sticks. We're used to the description of גיהנום Gehenom as being a place of fire and brimstone, hot and burning, being consumed. That's גיהנום Gehenom. Yet the מדרש תנחומא Medrash Tanchuma and רש\"י Rashi quotes in משלי Mishlei says גיהנום Gehenom is the שלג sheleg, שלג sheleg. לא תירא לביתה משלג Lo sira l'veisah mi'sheleg. The גיהנום Gehenom is described as שלג sheleg. וכל ביתה לבוש שנים, הוא שמלבושים בכפל V'chol beisah lavush shanim hu she'malbushim b'kefel, נתון תיתן nasone titein. And what's the כל ביתה לבוש שנים chol beisah lavush shanim? Our whole house is wearing שנים shanim, שניים shnayim. What protects us from the snow, from the ice, from the frigid cold of גיהנום Gehenom? The whole home is לבוש שנים lavush shanim. שנים Shanim, שניים shnayim. The double language. What's the double language? The Torah says, נתון תיתן nasone titein, פתוח תפתח pasoach tiftach, הענק תעניק ha'anek ta'anik, all of these places in the Torah where the Torah describes, where the Torah describes the מצווה mitzvah of giving צדקה tzedakah, the מצווה mitzvah of taking care of the vulnerable. I just lost my connection to Zoom. Hold on one moment. Unstable internet. Sorry, are you back? I had unstable internet. It says it's back. Did I lose you? Did I lose you? It said I had unstable internet. Are you back? You can see me. I don't know if it was describing the internet as unstable or the speaker as unstable. Or maybe a little bit of both. Okay, but we're back. So what is the שלג sheleg? What is the cold, the frigid, the ice of גיהנום Gehenom? We're used to it being hot. And what does it mean that what protects us is the double, the שניים shnayim? So it's the double language, the כפל kefel. נתון תיתן Nasone titein, פתוח תפתח pasoach tiftach, and so on. So says רב דרוק Rav Druk, what does this really all mean? What does this מדרש Medrash really describing? We still on all our platforms? Are we still live here? Hopefully we are. Whoever's with us is with us. So he says the following. הנה בעיקר סוד גיהנום זה הוא עונש משלג Hinei b'ikar sod Gehenom zeh hu onesh mi'sheleg. So the שם משמואל Shem MiShmuel, the great סוכטשובר רבי Sochatchover Rebbe explains as follows. What does it mean a גיהנום Gehenom that's cold? The גיהנום Gehenom that's cold is actually directly proportional, reciprocal, of the קרירות kriros of the cold with which we perform מצוות mitzvos. זה גיהנום קר שנוצר על ידי עשיית מצווה שלא נבעה מרשפי אש קודש פנימי אלא רק בצורך חיצוניות וקרירות Zeh Gehenom kar she'notzar al yedei asiyas mitzvah she'lo nav'a mei rishpei esh kodesh p'nimi, ela rak b'tzorech chitzonius u'kriros. When you do מצוות mitzvos ice-cold, there are relationships that have passion, that have fire, that have romance. There are relationships that are hot, and there are relationships that are ice-cold. There are relationships that are frigid. There are people and personalities that are ice-cold and that are frigid. So says רב דרוק Rav Druk, the type of גיהנום Gehenom we experience could be the result of the punishment or the consequence for different mistakes. Maybe you burn in the fire of גיהנום Gehenom because the passion and fire with which you pursued עבירות aveiros. Or maybe you freeze in the freezing cold of גיהנום Gehenom because of the cold and totally disaffected way in which you performed your מצוות mitzvos. זה שמגישה התורה לא תירא לביתה משלג, אינו לא ירא מעונש שלג של גיהנום Zeh she'magisha haTorah lo sira l'veisah misheleg, einu lo yira mei'onesh sheleg shel Gehenom. So when the Torah says that לא תירא לביתה משלג lo sira l'veisah mi'sheleg that you don't have to worry about the cold of גיהנום Gehenom, why? מפני שכל ביתה לבוש שנים... כל מעשה בכפילות, דבר שאדם עושה פעם אחת וראשי יצא משום שחייב הוא בו Mifnei she'kol beisah lavush shanim... Kol ma'aseh b'kefilus, davar she'adam oseh pa'am achas v'roshi yetzei mishum she'chayav hu bo. ומאחר וכאן חזר על כל כך דבר שאוסה בבית פעם ובכפל, הרי שאין זה נובע אלא משום חביבות העניין U'mei'achar v'kan chazar al kol kach davar she'oseh b'bayis pa'am u'v'kefel, harei she'ein zeh novea ela mishum chavivus ha'inyan. אם כן כל דבר שעושים פעמים זה מורה כי המצווה נעשית מאהבה פנימית Im kein kol davar she'osim pa'amayim zeh moreh ki hamitzvah na'asis mei'ahava p'nimis. Something that you only do once, something that you minimally get away with, something that you mail in and do the bare minimum, you're doing out of a sense of obligation. It's cold. It's cold, it's dispassionate. You're just doing it because you have to. Your spouse, your child, your boss, Hashem, all of our boss told us to do it, check, mail it in, ice-cold. I'm not present, I'm not mindful, I'm not passionate, I'm not excited, I'm not enthusiastic. Ice-cold experience of מצוות mitzvos. Such an ice-cold experience of מצוות mitzvos is going to land you in the frigid cold of גיהנום Gehenom. But a person who does something twice, you come back again, you're not satisfied with the bare minimum. You're not enough to just mail it in. You want to get it right. You do it intensely, you do it with passion and enthusiasm, such a person will be spared the cold of גיהנום Gehenom. By the way, again, we've said this so many times but this is what עמלק Amalek was trying to do to us. We read a few weeks ago in כי תצא Ki Seitzei, אשר קרך בדרך asher karcha ba'derech. עמלק Amalek attacked us. And how did they attack us? What was the methodology of their attack against us? אשר קרך בדרך Asher karcha ba'derech, מלשון קרירות, קור mi'lashon kriros, core. We were on fire. We just came out of a שמועס shmuz, a שיעור shiur, we just read a book, we had a conversation, we experienced a קומזיץ kumzits, saw a sunset, we were on fire. There's a Hashem and he loves us and we love him. And you know what עמלק Amalek came along and they did? They poured a bucket of ice water. It wasn't the ice bucket challenge, they poured a bucket of ice water on our head, they cooled us off, they extinguished our fire. אשר קרך, מלשון קור Asher karcha, mi'lashon core. So there are people who walk around ice-cold. Their personalities ice-cold, their relationships ice-cold, their commitments ice-cold, their actions are ice-cold, there's no passion, there's no enthusiasm in them. What's the evidence of whether you're hot or cold? Whether you get away with the bare minimum or whether you go above and beyond, whether you're trying to do more. Says רב דרוק Rav Druk, based on the סוכטשובר Sochatchover, the שם משמואל Shem MiShmuel, we find this also in the גמרא ראש השנה Gemara Rosh Hashanah. Sh'tei... in the גמרא ראש השנה דף ט\"ז עמוד א' Gemara Rosh Hashanah, daf tes zayin amud alef, Rav Yitzchak. למה תוקעין בראש השנה Lama tokin b'Rosh Hashanah? Why do we blow on ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah? למה תוקעין? רחמנא אמר תקעו Lama tokin? Rachmana amar taku. The גמרא Gemara says, why do we blow the שופר shofar on ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah? To which, of course, you should all respond and say, what do you mean? Why do you blow the שופר shofar on ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah? Hello, the Torah says you have to blow the שופר shofar on ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah. אלא למה מריעין? רחמנא אמר זכרון תרועה Ela lama mari'in? Rachmana amar zichron tru'ah. So why do we blow a תרועה tru'ah? Because the Torah says, blow זכרון תרועה zichron tru'ah. אלא למה תוקעין ומריעין כשהם יושבין ותוקעין ומריעין כשהם עומדין Ela lama tokin u'mari'in k'shem yoshvin v'tokin u'mari'in k'shem omdin? So the גמרא Gemara says no no, that wasn't the question. The Torah just says blow the שופר shofar. And the Torah says blow a תרועה tru'ah. But why do we blow sometimes standing and sometimes sitting? Or put differently, we blow before we begin the שמונה עשרה Shmoneh Esreh, and then we blow during the חזרת הש\"ץ Chazaras HaShatz of מוסף Musaf, at least in ordinary years, we do not all מנינים minyanim will be doing it this way that way. So the גמרא Gemara answers, why do we blow twice in two different ways, in two different postures? Anyone know the answer? The גמרא Gemara says, cryptically, כדי לערבב השטן k'dei l'arvev hasatan. Oh, okay, that makes sense. To confuse the שטן Satan. Ah, now I get it. שטן Satan? Who is he? Does he get confused? This is it? This is what throws him off? Because we blow standing, sitting, we blow before מוסף Musaf, during מוסף Musaf? What in the world's going on here? פירוש רש\"י, כדי לערבב שלא ישטין Peirush Rashi, k'dei l'arvev shelo yasten. כשישמע ישראל מחבבין את המצוות, מסתתמים דבריו K'sheyishma Yisrael m'chabvin es hamitzvos, mistatmim d'varav. רש\"י Rashi explains, you know what it means to confuse the שטן Satan? When the שטן Satan hears that we blow twice, he knows that we're not just trying to get away with the bare minimum. He knows that we're not mailing it in, he knows that it's not ice-cold, we're on fire. We blow the שופר shofar not once, we come back and we blow the שופר shofar a second time. Before מוסף Musaf and during מוסף Musaf and after מוסף Musaf, we can't get enough of the קול שופר kol shofar. We can't get enough of it awakening us and arousing us towards doing תשובה teshuvah. לצורך ביאור L'tzorech be'ur, asks רב דרוק Rav Druk, היכן ראינו כאן עשיית המצווה... ישראל מחבבין את המצוות Heichan re'inu kan asiyas hamitzvah... Yisrael m'chabvin es hamitzvos? Where do you see the Jewish people love מצוות mitzvos because they blow the שופר shofar? The answer is because we do it twice. When you do something twice, you know that we love it. And maybe this based on the, based on the שם משמואל Shem MiShmuel, the קור core, the cold of גיהנום Gehenom is avoided. לא תירא לביתה משלג Lo sira l'veisah mi'sheleg, you don't have to wait for the snow, you don't have to worry that you're going to freeze in, in גיהנום Gehenom. You know, when my son was little, he used to like to go with יוכבד Yocheved to Costco. And Costco has what he called the cold section, the walk-in fridge to get the fruit or vegetables or whatever. And he would always hate to love or love to hate to go in there. It was his favorite part of going, and he would hate it, it's ice cold, oh we got to get out of here, it's so cold, it's so cold, and that was his cute little שטיק shtick. So that's גיהנום Gehenom for some. Being locked in the cold room. It's the cold room forever. You can't get out and warm up. You're just locked into that cold room, that walk-in refrigerator permanently. לא תירא לביתה משלג Lo sira l'veisah mi'sheleg, you don't have to worry about the cold room of גיהנום Gehenom. Why? When we do things בכפלים b'kiflayim, when we do things in double. Why? Because when you do it in double, you show that it's passionate, enthusiastic, it's on fire. And that's why we confuse the שטן Satan by blowing the שופר shofar twice. What confuses him? When he sees our passion, he knows he has no chance to prosecute us. And by doing something double, that's when you show your real love of it. And based on this, רב דרוק Rav Druk says, מעתה יובן מה שנאמר על ידי הפסוק שכפל התורה, אתם נצבים היום כולכם, כל איש ישראל Mei'ata yuvan ma she'ne'emar al yedei hapasuk she'kafal haTorah: atem nitzavim hayom kulchem, kol ish Yisrael. Now we know why it appears twice in the פסוק pasuk. מונח בזה הוראה שכאשר יקיימו ישראל את המצוות בכפילות Munach b'zeh hora'ah she'ka'asher y'kaymu Yisrael es hamitzvos b'kefilus, and this is a, this is a reminder to us that when we do something double, when we do it twice, when we do it well, when we do it, not just bare minimum, but we do it with pride. בתוך חביבות המצוות ולא רק מן ההרגל b'toch chavivus hamitzvos v'lo rak min ha'hergel. אז מסתתמים טענותיו של השטן ומאסטן, וממילא נשאר ישראל קיימים לפני השם יתברך Az mistatmim ta'anosav shel ha'Satan u'mastein, u'mimaila nishar Yisrael kayamim lifnei Hashem yisbarach, והוא לעולם עולמים v'hu l'olam olamim. Okay. Continuing. Continuing, moving right along. We're going to do another piece in רב דרוק Rav Druk. Continuing. So the פרשה parsha says the following. פרק כ\"ט, פסוק ט\"ו Perek kaf tes, pasuk tes vav. Skip ahead. פרק כ\"ט, פסוק ט\"ו Perek kaf tes, pasuk tes vav. כי אתם ידעתם את אשר ישבנו בארץ מצרים, ואת אשר עברנו בקרב הגוים אשר עברתם Ki atem y'da'tem es asher yashavnu b'eretz Mitzrayim, v'es asher avarnu b'kerev hagoyim asher avartem. You know how you dwelt in the land of Egypt and how we passed through the midst of the nations through whom we passed. ותראו את שיקוציהם ואת גילוליהם Vatir'u es shikutzayhem v'es giluleyhem, you saw you were exposed to. Maybe you even experimented or tried with their abominations and detestable idols. עץ ואבן כסף וזהב אשר עימהם Etz va'even kesef v'zahav asher imahem. They're made of wood and stone, the silver and gold that are with them. פן יש בכם איש או אישה או משפחה או שבט אשר לבבו פונה היום מאם השם Pen yesh bachem ish o ishah o mishpacha o shevet asher l'vavo poneh hayom mei'im Hashem, maybe among you there's a man or a woman or a family or a tribe who's turning away from Hashem. ללכת לעבוד את אלהי הגוים ההם Laleches la'avod es elohei hagoyim ha'hem, you're going to serve those deities, those false gods. פן יש בכם שורש פורה ראש ולענה Pen yesh bachem shoresh poreh rosh v'la'anah, maybe among you there's a root flourishing with gall and wormwood. Maybe there's corruption, maybe there's contamination. והיה בשומעו... והתברך בלבבו לאמור שלום יהיה לי V'haya b'shom'o... v'hisbarech bilvavo leimor shalom yihiye li, and so on and so forth. Says רש\"י Rashi, ותראו את שיקוציהם Vatir'u es shikutzayhem. פרק י\"ד Perek yud daled. Again we're on page 1086, פרק כ\"ט Perek kaf tes, chapter 29, verse 14. I'm speaking quickly, even more quickly today because we got a lot, double פרשה parsha. So you got to speak in double speed. And those who are listening to this in double speed are really listening in quadruple speed. עץ אשר עמהם Etz asher imahem. With the generations that are coming. כי ידעתם Ki y'da'tem. I'm sorry, פסוק ט\"ו pasuk tes vav, verse 15. ותראו את שיקוציהם Vatir'u es shikutzayhem, says רש\"י Rashi, לפי שראיתם האומות עובדי עבודה זרה, ושמא יש בלב איש אחד מכם לעשות ללכת אחריהם L'fi she're'isem ha'umos ovdei avodah zarah, v'shema yesh b'lev ish echad mikem la'asos laleches achareihem, you saw, you saw. They were מאוסים כשקצים musam k'shkatzim. They were disgusting, they were despicable, they were repulsive. So wonders, wonders the בריסקער רב Brisker Rav. היקשה מרן הגרי\"ז Hiksha Maran HaGriz. The בריסקער רב Brisker Rav wonders, מאחר וראו את העבודה זרה שהיא מאוסה כל כך כגולים כשקצים, כיצד זה יכלו לכנס בלבם רצון לעבודה? עד שהתורה כל כך מגדילה באונשו Mei'achar v'ra'u es ha'avodah zarah she'hi m'usa kol kach kigulim kishkatzim, keitzad zeh yachlu l'kanes b'libam ratzon la'avodah? Ad she'haTorah kol kach magdila b'onsho. מי הוא האיש הזה שירצה ללכת אחר דבר המאוס ומזוהם כל כך ויעזוב להם Mi hu ha'ish ha'zeh she'yirtzeh laleches achar davar ha'ma'us v'ham'zuham kol kach v'ya'azov lahem? Who is the person that's drawn to something that we know is repulsive, disgusting, reprehensible, abominable? So אמר הגרי\"ז Amar HaGriz, so the בריסקער רב Brisker Rav answers, כי מכאן שוב יש לנו ללמוד את יסוד עצום ki mikan shuv yesh lanu lilmod es yesod atzum. A very, very important, foundational insight. Listen carefully. כאשר אדם רואה דבר עבירה או אפילו חפץ של עבירה לנגד עיניו, אין ערוך לגודל ההשפעה שדבר זה מסוגל לחרוב בנפשו ולהותיר בו רושם Ka'asher adam ro'eh davar aveira o afilu chefetz shel aveira l'neged einav, ein aroch l'godel ha'hashpa'ah she'davar zeh m'sugal lacharov b'nafsho u'l'hotir bo roshem. When you see something despicable, abominable, repulsive, no matter how much of a turnoff it is, it leaves an impression. It leaves an indelible impression in your mind, in your imagination, in your world of wonder, in your world of fantasy. Maybe you're repulsed by it. You know, I would almost say it's like, you know, the expression or the phrase that you couldn't turn away from the car accident. You couldn't not look. You could have something which is gruesome, and yet you can't not look. And even when a person is exposed to or sees something which is repulsive or which is wrong or which turns them off or to which they are opposed, nevertheless simply being exposed to it, simply seeing it, it, it burns an indelible impression in our mind and in our memory, and now it becomes a part of a reality that we have to confront. אין לזלזל במראה עיניים, מה שעיניו רואות נחקק בליבו של אדם, משפיע עליו לעומקו ומקלקל אותו Ein l'zalzel b'mar'eh einayim, ma she'einav ro'ot nechkak b'libo shel adam, mashpia alav l'umko u'm'kalkel oso. It has a deep, deep indelible impression in you and it's hard to overcome. We know this in the world of of things of שמירת עיניים shmiras einayim, things that people watch that are very hard to overcome. You know, there's, I'll just say it בדרך רמיזה b'derech remiza, but there's a new diagnosis called porn-induced ED. There are dysfunctions that are the result of what one's eyes sees. Because what one's eyes sees has an impact on a person's heart and a person's behavior. And even something that you see which is repulsive and disgusting, nevertheless can become part of the imagination. It's an image which is now part of a person's reality. It is now part of a person's reality. And what's another example? So that was the insight of the גרי\"ז Griz of the בריסקער רב Brisker Rav. But רב דרוק Rav Druk applies this to another area, it's a famous ווארט vort that we've shared in other contexts, in פרשת נשא parshas Naso where this appears, where we see with the נזיר Nazir. The Gemara wonders why is פרשת סוטה parshas sota, פרשת נזיר parshas Nazir, why are they adjacent? Why are they juxtaposed one to the other? למה נסמכה פרשת נזיר לפרשת סוטה Lama nismicha parshas Nazir l'parshas sotah? Because כל הרואה סוטה בקלקולה, יזיר עצמו מן היין kol ha'ro'eh sotah b'kilkulah, yazir atzmo min hayayin. What happens to the סוטה sotah, the wayward woman who has infidelity? The woman who cheats on her husband and she drinks the מים המרים mayim ham'arim? What happens? If she's innocent, she's blessed. If she's innocent, she receives beautiful blessing. But what happens if in fact she's guilty? She dies a horrific and graphic, graphic death. So the Gemara says if someone sees that, your neighbor is accused of being a סוטה sotah, she's litigated and prosecuted and found to be guilty, the מים המרים mayim ham'arim exposes her that she's guilty, and she dies a graphic horrific death. And you know about it, you watch it, you read it, you're there, you're present, you witness, you testify to it, you need to immediately, immediately you better take a vow not to drink wine. Why? When you see a סוטה בקלקולה sotah b'kilkulah, when you see the סוטה sotah, you have to be careful. You see, you see what alcohol and you see what partying and frivolity could lead to, you need to distance yourself from it. So there too, many wonder, I don't understand. I don't understand. If anyone doesn't need to take a vow of absence from wine, it's the person who witnessed what happens to the סוטה sotah. When you see her conclusion, when you see her consequence, what happens to her, you'll never ever come close to that behavior. So why do you need to be the one to take this vow not to drink? So again, you see the very same idea. You see the same idea, it's so powerful. You're right. When you see what happens to the סוטה sotah, you say I'm not going to do that. You see the indignity that happens to to Eliot Spitzer or to Tiger Woods or to countless public people who were caught with infidelity, you say, you know what, I don't want to throw away my marriage, my children, my פרנסה parnasah, my life, my honor, my dignity. On the one hand. On the other hand, you say, I guess having an affair is not just a theoretical thing. There are people who've done it. It becomes real. You're now exposed to it. To the point that you're right, a person needs to do something. to offset, to off balance, to negate, or to overcome that indelible impression in their imagination. And that's why. And so the same is true over here. He then says the same word applies to the mitzvah of תוכחה tochacha. Parshas Kedoshim we have a pasuk that tells us הוכח תוכיח את עמיתך לא תשא עליו חטא hochei'ach tochiach es amisecha, lo sisa alav cheit. When you see someone doing something wrong, we have an obligation, gently, appropriately, sensitively, judiciously, הוכח תוכיח hochei'ach tochiach to rebuke them, to rebuke them. So why is it the double language, הוכח תוכיח hochei'ach tochiach? Why is it twice? So Rav Druck suggests based on everything he just said, הוכח hochei'ach once to the person, and תוכיח tochiach once to yourself. If you see someone doing something wrong, on the one hand you have to help them, on the other hand, the fact that you saw them means you yourself need to do something also to be able to grow from it and not to be impacted and affected by it. Reb Yisrael Salanter when he saw somebody מחלל שבת mechalel Shabbos, הלך וקרקר בעצמו על מה ולמה נזדמן לו לראות בענין של חטא זה heilich oolkarcar b'atzmo al ma v'lama nizdaman lo liros b'inyan shel cheit zeh. If he ever witnessed somebody being מחלל שבת mechalel Shabbos, he would stop and pause and analyze and asking himself why he saw it, what he was meant to learn from it, how he was meant to grow from it, what he needed to do in order to increase his his respect and honor of Shabbos, since he witnessed the desecration of of Shabbos. So you see this theme, this notion, that we are impacted by what we see, and therefore even though it's defined as שיקוציהם וגילוליכם shikutzeihem v'giluleichem, even though this idolatry was repulsive and despicable, and abhorrent, nevertheless, they had to do something to not be attracted to it, because it leaves an impression and it creates an image and possibly even a fantasy which could have a negative impact on us. Okay. The Torah now continues, I want to get into some רשונים Rishonim. Let's go back to our מקראות גדולות Mikraos Gedolos. The Torah continues with this fascinating string of פסוקים psukim. פרק ל Perek Lamed. We're on page 1090 in the ArtScroll Stone חומש Chumash now. 1,090. And the פרשה parsha now continues as follows. Now continues as follows. The פסוק pasuk before, הנסתרות לה' אלוקינו ha'nistaros l'Hashem Elokeinu. Top of page 1090. הנסתרות לה' אלוקינו ha'nistaros l'Hashem Elokeinu, that which is hidden belong to God, והנגלות לנו ולבנינו עד עולם לעשות את כל דברי התורה הזאת v'ha'niglos lanu ul'vaneinu ad olam la'asos es kol divrei haTorah ha'zos. So what's revealed is really all about us. I would say if there's a פסוק pasuk that I'm gonna launch my שבת שובה דרשה Shabbos Shuva drasha about this year, it's this one. The theme of our שבת שובה דרשה Shabbos Shuva drasha this year, which we're just getting started on, is, you are what you do. That's the theme of our our שבת שובה דרשה Shabbos Shuva drasha. You know, many people like to think that they're a צדיק tzaddik in their heart. I know my actions, I know if you were to look at me, I know if you were to measure by what I do, you think of me one way, you should know though in my heart, I'm a חסיד chasid, I'm a צדיק tzaddik, in my heart I'm this, I'm that and the other. Well, newsflash. You are not in your heart, you are what you do. הנסתרות לה' אלוקינו Ha'nistaros l'Hashem Elokeinu. God knows what's in your heart. But והנגלות לנו ולבנינו עד עולם לעשות את כל דברי התורה הזאת v'ha'niglos lanu ul'vaneinu ad olam la'asos es kol divrei haTorah ha'zos. The way we interact with you, what we know of you, what we think of you, who you are to us, is not what's inside you, it's what's outside you, it's who you are, how you behave. It's the נגלות niglos. We'll talk more about that on מוצאי שבת שובה Motzei Shabbos Shuva. We're gonna broadcast the שבת שובה דרשה Shabbos Shuva drasha, and uh, and you'll be able to either come live in person, or be able to watch it afterwards, but it will be based on and launched by this פסוק pasuk. But it's the next series of פסוקים psukim that I want to look at with you. והיה כי יבואו עליך כל הדברים האלה הברכה והקללה אשר נתתי לפניך V'haya ki yavo'u alecha kol ha'dvarim ha'eleh ha'bracha v'ha'klala asher nasati l'fanecha, and it'll be when these things come upon you, the blessing, the curse I presented to you, והשבות אל לבבך בכל הגוים אשר הדיחך ה' אלוקיך שמה v'hasheivosa el l'vavecha b'chol ha'goyim asher hidichacha Hashem Elokeicha shama. Wherever you are and among whomever you're dispersed, you're going to put these messages in your heart. There'll be an awakening. This is such a beautiful passage. And we hope and pray that it's happening in our time, a mass awakening, a yearning, there's an ache and an emptiness that leads people to search and to yearn and to explore and to return to their roots. תשובה Tshuva means to return, to return to the Judaism. And that's exactly what the פרשה parsha tells us is going to happen. ושבת עד ה' אלוקיך V'shavta ad Hashem Elokecha, you're going to return to God, ושמעת בקולו ככל אשר אנוכי מצוך היום אתה ובניך בכל לבבך ובכל נפשך u'shama'ta b'kolo k'chol asher anochi m'tzavcha ha'yom ata u'vanecha b'chol l'vavcha u'v'chol nafshecha. or you and your progeny, with all your heart with all your soul. ושב ה' אלוקיך את שבותך ורחמך v'shav Hashem Elokecha es shvuscha v'richamecha. And Hashem is going to bring you back from your captivity. So you're going to be spread and dispersed among the nations, something is going to inspire you to look at your life, there'll be a mass תשובה tshuva movement. When you do come back, he will bring you back. ושב וקבצך מכל העמים אשר הפיצך ה' אלוקיך שמה V'shav v'kibatzcha mi'kol ha'amim asher hefitzcha Hashem Elokecha shama. He will gather you in from those exiles. אם יהיה נדחך בקצה השמים משם יקבצך ה' אלוקיך ומשם יקחך Im yihiyeh nidachacha biktzeh ha'shamayim mi'sham yikabitzcha Hashem Elokecha u'mi'sham yikachecha. If you're dispersed will be at the ends of heaven, Hashem will gather, will take you in. והביאך ה' אלוקיך אל הארץ אשר ירשו אבותיך וירשתה V'heviacha Hashem Elokecha el ha'aretz asher yarshu avosecha v'rishta. He's going to take you to the land that he promised you and you will inherit it. והיטבך והרבך מאבותיך V'heitivcha v'hirbicha mei'avosecha. And he will do good to you, and he will make you numerous, more numerous than your forefathers. Now ומל ה' אלוקיך את לבבך ואת לבב זרעך u'mal Hashem Elokecha es l'vavcha v'es l'vav zar'echa, he is going to circumcise, peel back the layer over your heart, ואת לבב זרעך v'es l'vav zar'echa and the heart of your progeny, לאהבה את ה' אלוקיך בכל לבבך ובכל נפשך למען חייך l'ahava es Hashem Elokecha b'chol l'vavcha u'v'chol nafshecha l'ma'an chayecha. So you can love God. I don't understand. This is the question I want to look at with you. The sequence of פסוקים psukim here, I don't understand. We're dispersed among the nations, but there's going to be something that awakens us to do תשובה tshuva, and we're going to come back and we're going to repair and we're going to change our lives. And we will prove worthy that God will bring us back. He will accept our תשובה tshuva. ושבת עד ה' אלוקיך V'shavta ad Hashem Elokecha, and ושב ה' אלוקיך v'shav Hashem Elokecha. Both ways we're coming back. We make the move, he reciprocates, we draw close, we're coming home. We're coming home. So what layer is there still over our heart? What needs to be peeled away? I don't understand. What is the ומל ה' אלוקיך את לבבך u'mal Hashem Elokecha es l'vavcha... I lost the פסוק pasuk. ומל ה' אלוקיך את לבבך ואת לבב זרעך U'mal Hashem Elokecha es l'vavcha v'es l'vav zar'echa. את לבבך ואת לבב Es l'vavcha v'es l'vav, some say that's the acronym for אלול Elul. When is it that we peel off the layers of our heart? אלול Elul. אני לדודי ודודי לי ani l'dodi v'dodi li, איש לרעהו ומתנות לאביונים ish l'rei'eihu u'matanos l'evyonim, את לבבך ואת לבב es l'vavcha v'es l'vav. In this month of אלול Elul is when we're working to peel off those layers. Why are there still layers blocking my heart? Why do I need my why does my heart need a מילה mila, circumcision. What is circumcision? What is a ברית מילה bris mila? It removes a foreskin. It removes something covering. There's a cover on my heart. My heart's not able to properly feel, experience. Why? I thought already we did ושבת עד ה' אלוקיך v'shavta ad Hashem Elokecha. ונתנך ה' אלוקיך את כל הקללות האלה על אויביך ועל שונאיך אשר רדפוך V'nasan Hashem Elokecha es kol ha'klalos ha'eleh al oyvecha v'al son'echa asher r'dafucha. ואתה תשוב v'ata tashuv and then you're going to do תשובה tshuva and you're going to hear Hashem. Why am I only doing תשובה tshuva in פסוק ח' pasuk ches? I thought I already did תשובה tshuva in פסוק ב' pasuk beis. What's going on? Does this bother any of you? Or is it just bothering me? Okay, either way, we'll look at what the מפרשים meforshim have to say. Start with the רמב\"ן Ramban. פרק ל פסוק א Perek Lamed, pasuk aleph. So the רמב\"ן Ramban says the following. What in the world is going on here in these פסוקים psukim? What's going on over here? So the רמב\"ן Ramban says, This entire section has not yet happened. This is not a description of history or destiny, it is not yet occurred. This whole thing is something that is not yet happened. Says the רמב\"ן Ramban, שתשוב אל ה' בכל לבבך ובכל נפשך ותקבל עליך ועל בניך ודורותיהם לעשות ככל אשר אנוכי מצוך היום she'tashuv el Hashem b'chol l'vavcha u'v'chol nafshecha, u'tekabel alecha v'al banecha v'doroseihem la'asos k'chol asher anochi m'tzavcha ha'yom. And Hashem is going to accept our תשובה tshuva. כאשר עשה בגולה שנית ka'asher asa b'golah sheinis. as he did with the second גאולה geulah. And he quotes a פסוק pasuk in נחמיה Nechemia. או יאמר מצוה שתצוה אתה ובניך כמצותך לבניך O ye'amer mitzvah she'titzaveh ata u'vanecha k'mitzvascha l'vanecha. Now I'll go to the next פסוק pasuk, ו' vav. So what's ומל ה' אלוקיך u'mal Hashem Elokecha? זהו שאמרו בעל הטורים מסייעו אותו zehu she'amru Ba'al haTurim m'saye'o oso. מבטיחך שתשוב אליו בכל לבבך והוא יעזור אותך Mavtichacha she'tashuv eilav b'chol l'vavcha v'hu ya'azor oscha. You know what happens? At the beginning is the first gesture we do of תשובה tshuva. We take the first baby steps, the first incremental change. And when we make that first move, when we show what we want, Hashem opens a path in front of us. He makes it easy, he expedites it, he helps us, he lifts us, he accelerates it. ונראה מן הכתובים בענין זה שאמר כי מזמן הבריאה היתה רשות ביד אדם לעשות כרצונו V'nir'eh min ha'ksuvim b'inyan zeh she'amar ki mi'zman ha'briah haysa r'shus b'yad adam la'asos kirtzono, צדיק או רשע tzaddik o rasha. וכל זמן התורה כן, כדי שיהיה להם זכות בבחירתם בטוב ועונש ברצותם ברע v'chol zman haTorah kein, kedei she'yiyeh lahem zechus b'vchirasan b'tov v'onesh b'ritzusam b'ra. We have free will, we have choice, we can repair, we can make change. אבל לימות המשיח תהיה הבחירה בטוב להם טבע Aval l'ymos ha'Mashiach tihiyeh ha'bchira b'tov lahem teva. So right now, good and bad present themselves equally to us. Right now we're confronted by our free will to shape and to mold who we are and who we want to become. But in ימות המשיח ymos ha'Mashiach, in the eschatological era, in the time of redemption when משיח Mashiach comes, natural instinct and the natural inclination will be to do good. לא יתאווה להם הלב למה שאינו ראוי ולא יחפוץ בו כלל, וזהו המילה הנזכרת כאן Lo yisaveh lahem ha'leiv l'ma she'eino ra'uy v'lo yachpotz bo klal, v'zehu ha'mila ha'nizkeres kan. כי החמדה והתאווה עורלת הלב, ומל הלב הוא שלא יחמוד ולא יתאווה Ki ha'chemda v'ha'ta'ava orlas ha'leiv, u'mal ha'leiv hu she'lo yachmod v'lo yis'aveh. So ושבת v'shavta, the first time we're coming back says the רמב\"ן Ramban is right now, before משיח Mashiach. When we're doing תשובה tshuva, when we're making the effort, the formula of the רמב\"ם Rambam, we have regret, we confess, we make a pledge not to do it again in the future. But you know what? Our heart is still struggling. Our heart still exists with tension. Our heart still is tempted by temptation. בימות המשיח B'ymos ha'Mashiach when משיח Mashiach comes and Hashem is revealed, then the heart won't even have temptation. The heart won't have as a default an inclination or a distraction. And then, then לא יחמוד ולא יתאווה lo yachmod v'lo yis'aveh. It'll peel off, ומלתם u'maltem, it'll peel off the layer, the blockage of the heart. וישוב אדם בזמן ההוא למעלתו שהיה קודם חטא אדם הראשון V'yashuv adam b'zman ha'hu l'ma'alaso she'haya kodem cheit Adam ha'Rishon. So what is this a description of peeling off the layer of the heart? It's a description says the רמב\"ן Ramban of ימות המשיח ymos ha'Mashiach, when we will return and we will go back to the way it was before the חטא של אדם הראשון chet shel Adam ha'Rishon. So that is how the, that is how the, the רמב\"ן Ramban understands this series of פסוקים psukim, the chronology of the פסוקים psukim. They're different stages of the תשובה tshuva movement. There's the stage where we make an effort, but we're not yet there, and then Hashem reciprocates and removes even the inclination, and that's ומלתם את ערלת לבבכם u'maltem es orlas l'vavchem. הנה ימים באים נאום ה' hinei yamim ba'im ne'um Hashem, that's describing in ימות המשיח ymos ha'Mashiach the way it's going to be. The אור החיים הקדוש Ohr haChaim haKadosh has a different understanding of these פסוקים psukim. The אור החיים הקדוש Ohr haChaim haKadosh understands that it's all describing תשובה tshuva, not ימות המשיח ymos ha'Mashiach. These are not stages in this world and then in the time of משיח Mashiach. It's all describing what's happening now. It's all describing what's happening now. It's a long אור החיים Ohr haChaim, you have to look at each of these pieces separately, which we don't have time to do. But just look at the part where he says, ומל ה' אלוקיך u'mal Hashem Elokecha, פסוק ו' pasuk vav. יש להעיר אחר שאמר למעלה ושבת עד ה' אלוקיך ושמעת בקולו Yesh l'ha'ir achar she'amar l'ma'ala v'shavta ad Hashem Elokecha v'shamata b'kolo, once we already said that we're going to return to Hashem, what are we adding with ומלתם את לבבכם u'maltem es l'vavchem? What are we adding or changing when we talk about peeling off the layer of the heart? מה מקום לומר עוד ומל ה' Ma makom lomar od u'mal Hashem? עוד ראינו שאומר אחר כך ואתה תשוב Od re'inu she'omer achar kach v'ata tashuv. And then it says you're going to return. I thought ושבת v'shavta, I thought we already returned. What is it? And what's going on? What's going on here? שכן שמה שאמר עד הנה לא היא גילוי תשובה, וזה אינו כי אחר שמעיד על עצמו שבכל לבבו ובכל נפשו אין לך תשובה גדולה מזו She'ken she'ma she'amar ad heina lo hi gilui tshuva, v'zeh eino ki achar she'me'id al atzmo she'b'chol l'vavo u'v'chol nafsho ein l'cha tshuva g'dola mi'zu. אכן לפי מה שפירשנו בפרשת כי תבוא Achen l'fi ma she'peirashnu b'parshas Ki Savo, בין בענין הברכות ובין בענין הקללות שיש שלוש דברים כלולים במצות ה', עסק התורה, שמירת מצות לא תעשה, ושלישית קיום מצות עשה bein b'inyan ha'brachos bein b'inyan ha'klalos she'yesh shlosh dvarim klulim b'mitzvas Hashem, eisek haTorah, shmiras mitzvos lo sa'aseh, v'shlishis kiyum mitzvos aseh. There are three stages, three levels of our commitment, of our devotion, of our growth to Hashem and they include says the אור החיים Ohr haChaim, number one, occupying ourselves with Torah. The Torah informs and inspires our lives. Number two, therefore we refrain and we abstain and we avoid violating the negative commandments. And number three, we with zeal and passion run to fulfill the positive ones. לזה כשאמר לתקן התשובה סדר שלשתן כנגד תשובת עסק התורה L'zeh k'she'amar l'saken ha'tshuva seder shloshtan k'neged tshvuas eisek haTorah. אמר תשובה ראשונה ושבת עד ה' אלוקיך, אומר ושמעת בקולו שהוא תלמוד תורה, ולא הזכיר עוד דבר אחר Amar tshuva rishona v'shavta ad Hashem Elokecha, omer u'shamata b'kolo she'hu talmud Torah, v'lo hizkir od davar acher. So the first step of תשובה tshuva is a recommitment to the study of Torah. I'm preaching to the choir here listening to this שיעור shiur, but to make time to learn to study, to immerse ourselves in Torah. We're going to get to it very soon, a beautiful description of Rabbi Soloveitchik of immersing ourselves fully in Torah. So the first step of תשובה tshuva is immersing ourselves in Torah. And that's why ושבת v'shavta includes the words ושמעת בקולו v'shamata b'kolo, to hear Hashem's voice. Where do you hear his voice? Where does God speak to us? When we learn Torah. It's been said by many, when we דאווען daven, it's us talking to Hashem. When we learn, it's Hashem talking to us. Davening is us talking to God, learning Torah is God talking to us. ושמעת בקולו v'shamata b'kolo. So that's the אור החיים Ohr haChaim, that's this פסוק pasuk. ושבת ושמעת בקולו V'shavta u'shamata b'kolo. you want to hear God talk to you? You want him to tell you what to do? You want him to tell you what he's thinking? Open a ספר sefer, turn on a שיעור shiur, learn Torah. Learning Torah is God talking to us. That is the first step and first stage of תשובה tshuva. That's why ושבת ושמעת בקולו v'shavta v'shamata b'kolo. And then, and then, וכנגד שמירת מצוות לא תעשה איתא ומל ה' אלוקיך את לבבך ואת לבב זרעך u'k'neged shmiras mitzvos lo sa'aseh itah u'mal Hashem Elokecha es l'vavcha v'es l'vav zar'echa. We're going to peel off the layer of our heart. עורלת הלב הוא עשות הרע, שהרע עריבה לנפש, והאדם נכסף אליו. הלב חומד הרע, שאינו של אדם, כי אם של השטן. הלב יורנוס לרע, וזהו עורלת הלב, הוא עשות הרע, שהרע עריבה לנפש. הלב חומד הרע. Orlas ha'leiv hu asus ha'ra, she'ha'ra areiva l'nefesh, v'ha'adam nichsaf eilav. Ha'leiv chomed ha'ra, she'eino shel adam, ki im shel ha'satan. Ha'leiv yoreinu l'ra, v'zehu orlas ha'leiv, hu asus ha'ra, she'ha'ra areiva l'nefesh. Ha'leiv chomed ha'ra. The heart yearns for bad. That is the layer over the heart. Peeling off the layer of the heart is the second stage of תשובה tshuva, which is the commitment to abstain, refrain, be more vigilant in our observance of לא תעשה lo sa'aseh. of לא תעשה lo sa'aseh. And then כנגד קיום מצוות עשה k'neged kiyum mitzvos aseh, the third stage, which is the passion for positive commandments, it says ואתה תשוב v'ata tashuv. So the רמב\"ן Ramban has his understanding of how to understand this unfolding chronology of the פסוקים psukim, the אור החיים Ohr haChaim has his. I refer you and encourage you to look at the כלי יקר Kli Yakar who has his. But if nothing else, when you're learning the פרשה parsha, when you're listening to the פרשה parsha, please God, we all have the ability to listen to the פרשה parsha in שול shul, when you're listening to the פרשה parsha, don't listen passively. Think critically. Try to look and ask questions. The מפרשים meforshim are all asking this question. I don't understand, how does it make sense? First you said והשבות ושבת עד ה' אלוקיך v'hasheivosa v'shavta ad Hashem Elokecha. If ושבת v'shavta, why later is it ומל u'mal? It doesn't make any sense. Why מל mal after the fact? So what's going on here? The אור החיים Ohr haChaim, the רמב\"ן Ramban, the כלי יקר Kli Yakar and others all address this. Okay, let's keep going. The פרשה parsha then says, how much more time do we have? What could we get to? כי מצוה הזאת Ki mitzvah ha'zos. פרק ל' פסוק י\"א Perek Lamed, pasuk yud aleph. Famous פסוק pasuk. Famous פסוק pasuk. We spoke about this in the afternoon כולל kollel last week, because last week we talked about the מצוה mitzvah of confession. I guess we alluded to it in the פרשה parsha class also, because כי תבוא Ki Savo, the וידוי מעשר vidui ma'aser, confession. And we saw that the רמב\"ן Ramban understands that's how this, that's what this פסוק pasuk means. I don't want to focus on the רמב\"ן Ramban. Bottom of page 1090, 1090 the ArtScroll Stone חומש Chumash. Last word, כי כי המצוה הזאת אשר אנוכי מצוך היום לא נפלאת היא ממך ולא רחוקה היא Ki, ki ha'mitzvah ha'zos asher anochi m'tzavcha ha'yom lo niflais hi mimcha v'lo r'choka hi. This מצוה mitzvah that I command you today, it's not hidden from you and it's not distant. לא בשמים היא לאמר מי יעלה לנו השמימה ויקחה לנו וישמיענו אותה ונעשנה Lo va'shamayim hi leimor mi ya'aleh lanu ha'shamaima v'yikacheha lanu v'yashmi'einu osa v'na'asena. This מצוה mitzvah, it's not far away. It's not inaccessible. It's not out of your reach. You have it, you got it, you could grasp it. Where is it? It's right in front of you. ולא מעבר לים היא Lo mei'ever la'yam hi, it's not in the heavens, it's not on the other side of the sea. כי קרוב אליך הדבר מאוד בפיך ובלבבך לעשותו Ki karov eilecha ha'davar m'od b'ficha u'vilvavcha la'asoso. It's right in front of you. Where? בפיך B'ficha, it's in your mouth, ובלבבך u'vilvavcha לעשותו la'asoso. בפיך ובלבבך B'ficha u'vilvavcha, it's right there. It's right in front of you. Now, in the past we focused on the רמב\"ן's Ramban's understanding, which we're not going to do right now. The רמב\"ן's Ramban's understanding is, what is the מצוה mitzvah? This is very cryptic. כי המצוה הזאת Ki ha'mitzvah ha'zos, the מצוה mitzvah. It's not far away, it's not in the heavens, not on the other side of the sea. It's right in front of you. What is the מצוה mitzvah? What is the מצוה mitzvah? The רמב\"ן Ramban says what's a מצוה mitzvah that's בפיך b'ficha, that's in your mouth? The מצוה mitzvah that's in your mouth is וידוי vidui, confession, תשובה tshuva. תשובה Tshuva we do with the mouth, תשובה tshuva we do with וידוי vidui, we enunciate, we articulate, we have to say so that we could bring into this world and confront it, that we can address it and we can improve it. That is the רמב\"ן Ramban. But I want to take another look back at רש\"י Rashi. רש\"י Rashi says which is the מצוה mitzvah? כי המצוה הזאת Ki ha'mitzvah ha'zos. רש\"י Rashi says which is the מצוה mitzvah of the כי המצוה הזאת ki ha'mitzvah ha'zos? רש\"י Rashi says the מצוה mitzvah is, where is it? Where is it? רש\"י Rashi, כי קרוב אליך ki karov eilecha, התורה נתנה לכם בכתב ובעל פה Ha'Torah nitna lachem b'ksav u'v'al peh. You know what the מצוה הזאת mitzvah ha'zos that the Torah is talking about? The Torah. Says רש\"י Rashi, we're talking about the Torah. The Torah is not far away from you. Despite the distance that separates us from Hashem, Hashem is far away, and we can't fully comprehend and we don't see him and we can't feel him and we don't hear him. But nevertheless, don't think it's in the heavens, don't think it's on the other side of the sea. The מצוות mitzvos, the Torah, this ideology, this way of life, this value system, this prescription and formula for how to live, they are given to us. They're for our body, they inform our גוף guf, not our נשמה neshama. The עשרת הדברות Aseres haDibros begin with אנכי ה' Anochi Hashem and they end with refraining from killing, adultery, and coveting. Why? Because the Torah is supposed to inform and penetrate every area of our life and our living. It's not describing a utopian society, it's not describing a world for our souls, it's describing how to live and how to operate in a world of our bodies, in the physical, physical world. The physical world. The כוזרי Kuzari says, maybe that's why the Torah does not explicitly tell us about the next world. It's an age-old question. The Torah tells me about so much. Torah is supposed to tell me about everything about life. Why doesn't the Torah explicitly reference the world to come? Why doesn't the Torah explicitly tell me about what will happen in עולם הבא Olam haBa? עיקר חסר מן הספר Ikar chaser min ha'sefer, where is that important message? Where is that important instruction? Says the כוזרי Kuzari, you know why? You know why? Because the purpose is this world. We don't observe Torah for the next world, we observe Torah because it informs and inspires, it elevates and enriches in this world, in this world. That's why we have the Torah. So there is no emphasis and there is no focus, and don't do it for the next world. Do it for the here and now, because it will teach us the best way to live. It gives us the best prescription and the formula for life, the formula for life. It's why we're here. And that's what רש\"י Rashi is saying. It's not far away and it's not inaccessible. It is right in front of you. It's right under our nose. בפיך ובלבבך b'ficha u'vilvavcha. It's in our mouth and it's in our heart because it's supposed to inspire us in this world. It's not all about aiming and aspiring for that next world, for that world to come. The איש תם Ish Tam, Rav Druck also has a beautiful comment on this. And Rav Druck says the following. Rav Druck says, what does it mean בפיך ובלבבך b'ficha u'vilvavcha? כי המצוה הזאת Ki ha'mitzvah ha'zos? So he says the following. Really beautiful insight. Oh. What does it mean לא בשמים היא lo ba'shamayim hi? It's not in the heavens. לא מעבר לים היא Lo mei'ever la'yam hi, it's not on the other side of the sea. Don't worry, it's right here. It's right there. It's right accessible. You can have it. What's the imagery of לא בשמים lo ba'shamayim? What is it trying to tell us it's not in the heavens? What is the image of לא בשמים היא lo ba'shamayim hi? So, Rav Druck suggests the following. We know that when the people messed up, when they made a mistake previously, Moshe Rabbeinu came down and he saw the חטא העגל chet ha'eigel, he saw that we made a mistake and miscalculation, and what did he do? He smashed, he broke, he destroyed the לוחות luchos. He broke the לוחות luchos, he broke the tablets. That's how Moshe reacted, that's what needed to happen. And then what happened? When it was time for the repair, the correction, Hashem invited him and said, 'Come back on top of the mountain, and I'll give you the second set. Come ascend back to the שמים shamayim, and I'll give you that second set of the לוחות luchos. So therefore, suggests Rav Druck, maybe, לא בשמים היא lo ba'shamayim hi. Don't think that when you make a mistake, the only way to make it better is like Moshe Rabbeinu, you're going to have to ascend, you're going to have to go up, you're going to have to make it to the שמים shamayim. לא בשמים היא Lo ba'shamayim hi. This מצוה mitzvah of תשובה tshuva, this מצוה mitzvah of repair and correction, it's לא בשמים lo ba'shamayim. You don't have to be a Moshe Rabbeinu. You don't have to ascend to the heavens. It's בפיך ובלבבך b'ficha u'vilvavcha. It's down here on Earth. לא בשמים, לא מעבר לים Lo ba'shamayim, lo mei'ever la'yam. It's right here. You don't need a Moshe Rabbeinu, and you don't need to be a Moshe Rabbeinu, and you don't need to go to בשמים ba'shamayim. It's right here, it's right now, it's בפיך ובלבבך b'ficha u'vilvavcha. It's in your mouth, it's in your heart, every one of us can, all of us have the opportunity to be able to do it. Let's go to פרשת וילך Parshas Vayelech. There's a lot more to talk about. I'll have to come back to it in a future year, but let's go to פרשת וילך Parshas Vayelech because it's a double פרשה parsha and I want to get in a little bit of וילך Vayelech. ל\"א י\"ט Lamed Aleph, Yud Tes. Page 1096. Chapter 31, verse 19. This is the last מצוה mitzvah of the whole Torah. The final מצוה mitzvah, number 613 of the Torah. ועתה כתבו לכם את השירה הזאת ולמדה את בני ישראל שימה בפיהם V'ata kisvu lachem es ha'shira ha'zos v'lamda es Bnei Yisrael sima b'fihem. Moshe Rabbeinu says, 'Write the song for yourselves and teach it to the children of Israel, place it in their mouth.' למען תהיה לי השירה הזאת לעד בבני ישראל L'ma'an tihiyeh li ha'shira ha'zos l'eid b'Vnei Yisrael. So this song will be a witness against the children of Israel. This is the 613th מצוה mitzvah of ועתה כתבו לכם את השירה הזאת v'ata kisvu lachem es ha'shira ha'zos. The commandment on every Jew to write a ספר תורה sefer Torah. We've discussed this in the past, we're not going to get into it now, but what is the nature of this מצוה mitzvah? The obligation that we have to write a ספר תורה sefer Torah. Can you fulfill the מצוה mitzvah if you inherit a ספר תורה sefer Torah? Can you fulfill the מצוה mitzvah if you buy a already written ספר תורה sefer Torah? Can you fulfill the מצוה mitzvah if you purchase a letter, a sentence, a פרשה parsha in a ספר תורה sefer Torah? Can you fulfill the מצוה mitzvah if you donate the ספר תורה sefer Torah? There's a lot of discussion about the parameters, exactly how you fulfill this מצוה mitzvah. This is the מצוה mitzvah. The רא\"ש Rosh, the רא\"ש Rosh in its quoted in the by the טור Tur famously says that today we fulfill this מצוה mitzvah by buying ספרים sfarim. When you buy ספרים sfarim and you populate your home with Torah texts, you fulfill this מצוה mitzvah of ועתה כתבו לכם את השירה הזאת v'ata kisvu lachem es ha'shira ha'zos. Now the חפץ חיים על התורה Chofetz Chaim al haTorah has a very interesting insight. חפץ חיים על התורה Chofetz Chaim al haTorah, I thank my dear friend Rav Birnbaum who shared this with me. חפץ חיים על התורה Chofetz Chaim al haTorah says the following. Look at the פסוקים psukim that come right before ועתה כתבו לכם v'ata kisvu lachem. Right before the obligation or the commandment to write a ספר תורה sefer Torah, the Torah warns us that if we misbehave and if we're disobedient, Hashem will hide himself from us. ואנוכי הסתר אסתיר פני ביום ההוא V'anochi hasteir astir panai ba'yom ha'hu. I'm going to hide from you. הסתר פנים Hester panim, this expression when God is hidden, periods of הסתר פנים Hester panim, of God's hiddenness from us. The חפץ חיים Chofetz Chaim says why, why right after a description or a warning of Hashem's hiddenness, right after it we have the commandment to write a ספר תורה sefer Torah. What is the connection between the two? Says the חפץ חיים Chofetz Chaim, that this מצוה mitzvah comes right after the פסוק pasuk that Hashem will hide, to teach us that even in times of darkness and destruction, even in times of concealment, Torah is what's going to give us light, comfort and consolation. You might think in a period of הסתר פנים Hester panim, I can't find Hashem, I don't feel close to him. I don't see him, he's not accessible to me. We're we're blocked by a period of darkness. כתבו לכם את השירה הזאת Kisvu lachem es ha'shira ha'zos. Even or especially in a period of darkness, there is a מצוה mitzvah to write a ספר תורה sefer Torah. To be informed and inspired by Torah, to mold and craft your life based on, based on Torah. The דברי חיים Divrei Chaim has a different insight. Listen to the אמרי חיים Imrei Chaim. Listen to the vision of צאנז Sanz. He says the following. ועתה כתבו לכם V'ata kisvu lachem. חז\"ל דרשו על הפסוק למען תהיה תורת ה' בפיך מן המותר במוסר בפיך Chazal darshu al ha'pasuk l'ma'an tihiyeh Toras Hashem b'ficha min ha'mutar b'musar b'ficha. Meaning, המותר בפיך, מוסר גם על משא ומתן באמונה, שיהיה בלי שום חשש גזילה ועושק חס ושלום ha'mutar b'ficha, musar gam al masa u'matan b'emuna, she'yiyeh bli shum chashash gezeila v'oshek chas v'shalom. What does it mean? Write the ספר תורה sefer Torah and put it in your mouth. Your mouth is a description of the place where you engage in that which is permissible. And in the area of רשות reshus, in the food, and how you eat, and how you conduct business, a person has to be especially scrupulous and careful. ומוטל עלינו להיזהר בזה, ובפרט בן אוריין עליו להיזהר מאוד לבלתי הכשיל חס ושלום, וצריך להעלות עניין הלאו במדרגה כזו, אשר אם ירצה לדעת על אדם אם הוא נאמן נאמן בעסקו U'mutal aleinu l'hizaher b'zeh, u'vifrat ben oiryan alav l'hizaher m'od l'vilti hachshil chas v'shalom, v'tzarich l'ha'alos inyan ha'lav b'madreiga k'zu, asher im yirtzeh lada'as al adam im hu ne'eman ne'eman b'isko, יספיק לנו לומר עליו הוא תלמיד חכם ומקרא ורש\"י yaspik lanu lomar alav hu talmid chacham u'mikra v'Rashi. וממילא ידעו מזה שגם עסקו באמונה u'mimela yed'u mi'zeh she'gam isko b'emuna. וזהו למען תהיה תורת ה' בפיך V'zehu l'ma'an tihiyeh Toras Hashem b'ficha. Why are we writing this whole Torah? We're writing it so למען תהיה תורת ה' בפיך l'ma'an tihiyeh Toras Hashem b'ficha. So Torah will be written in our mouth. אשר תורת ה' זה יספיק להעיד עליו שהוא נאמן מן המותר, ולא בא עון Asher Toras Hashem zeh yaspik l'ha'id alav she'hu ne'eman min ha'mutar, v'lo ba avon. How do we know that you're honest and scrupulous if Torah informs your life? If you have a loyalty and a fidelity to the Torah, then you'll carry yourself with a certain dignity and a certain honesty and a certain integrity. ועתה כתבו לכם את השירה הזאת היינו תורה קדושה, ולמדה את בני ישראל שימה בפיהם, נקי מחשש רמיה וגזלה V'ata kisvu lachem es ha'shira ha'zos heinu Torah k'dosha, v'lamda es Bnei Yisrael sima b'fihem, naki mei'chashash r'miyah v'gezeila. With your mouth, don't gossip or slander, don't exaggerate or distort, don't cheat or steal. למען תהיה לי השירה הזאת לעד בבני ישראל. מהו לעד L'ma'an tihiyeh li ha'shira ha'zos l'ad b'Vnei Yisrael. Mahu l'ad? So it will be לעד בבני ישראל l'ad b'Vnei Yisrael. Says the דברי חיים Divrei Chaim, לעד l'ad means לעדות על נאמנות l'eidus al ne'emanus. שאם לומד תורה באופן הזה, תהיה התורה הקדושה לעד לתכשיט She'im lomed Torah b'ofen ha'zeh, tihiyeh ha'Torah ha'kdosha l'ad l'tachshit. If you learn Torah, Torah becomes an adornment. Torah becomes something that you wear. Torah becomes something that that testifies, לעד, לעד, לעדות l'ad, l'eid, l'eidus. The Torah that you learn will testify to not only being a person who learned Torah, but being a בן תורה ben Torah or a בת תורה bas Torah, that Torah has molded your personality, that Torah has made you who you are. Beautiful insight of the דברי חיים Divrei Chaim. But I want to end with the insight of Rabbi Soloveitchik on this פסוק pasuk. Oh there's a lot we left out. Oh, okay. But Rabbi Soloveitchik wonders the following. When the Torah gives us this 613th commandment, the final מצוה mitzvah of the Torah, that we have to write a ספר תורה sefer Torah, the Torah likens the Torah to what? ועתה v'ata, and now כתבו לכם kisvu lachem, write for yourselves S. It doesn't say write for yourselves את התורה הזאת es haTorah ha'zos, write this Torah. It doesn't say write this poetry or prose. It doesn't say write this lecture. It doesn't say write, what does it say? How does it characterize or capture what Torah is? ועתה כתבו לכם V'ata kisvu lachem write for yourself as השירה הזאת ha'shira ha'zos. Torah is likened to a song. Why is Torah likened to a song? את השירה הזאת es ha'shira ha'zos. So listen to the words of the רב Rav in the על התורה Al haTorah. Based on these words, the רמב\"ם Rambam in הלכות ספר תורה Hilchos Sefer Torah rules that one must commit to writing not only the song of האזינו Ha'azinu, but all five books of משה Moshe. Write the Torah that contains this song. In fact, the whole Torah is called שירה shira. What's the linkage between Torah and song? Says the רב Rav, the process of learning is an intellectual performance, singing is an emotional performance. The aesthetic experience, the artistic experience is more dynamic than the intellectual one. The intellectual experience can often be dreary, anemic. The aesthetic experience is dynamic, hypnotic. It fascinates, arouses passion, has the power of awakening hidden desires and aspirations. Music is the most powerful means to arouse man. It shares with the religious experience the tremor and excitement, the longing and the joy one feels when confronted with something exalted, beautiful and sublime. If the intellectual experience would consistently engage the emotions like music does, all students would excel and teachers would have no trouble in the classroom. It is therefore not surprising that the organ was introduced in the house of worship. The aesthetic musical experience is a total one. The whole of man is immersed in it. The same should be true, writes the רב Rav, of תלמוד תורה Talmud Torah. The teacher is the Almighty, and through study we meet the great teacher. We sit at his feet to listen to him eagerly. The experience of תלמוד תורה Talmud Torah is total, all-comprehensive, all-penetrating. It is a mystical experience. It is the melody with which, which was once sung by the שולמית Shulamis of the Song of Songs when she was yearning for her beloved. חז\"ל Chazal strongly rebuke a person who is guilty of forgetting even a single word of Torah. The severe penalty is due to the fact that forgetting is the result of limited involvement. If the study of Torah had been a total experience, it could never be forgotten. If one learns only with his mind, he is apt to forget. If there's a total absorption, the mind stimulate, the heartbeat accelerate, the imagination fired, the emotions awaken, the תלמוד תורה Talmud Torah turns into a beautiful melody which can never be forgotten. Isn't this such a beautiful description? Song moves you emotionally. Song transports you to another place and another time. Song stirs the soul. It evokes the emotion. It makes you cry. תלמוד תורה Talmud Torah, כתבו לכם את השירה הזאת kisvu lachem es ha'shira ha'zos, Torah is likened to a song because we're supposed to be fully immersed and engaged in it. It's supposed to stimulate that same range of emotions. It's supposed to indelibly impress itself and last upon us, like a song, like music that transports and that moves us. Not just speak to our head but speak to our heart. And the רב Rav concludes, and let me just inject again, what תלמוד תורה Talmud Torah meant to me during those bleak and dreary years, which have taken their toll in terms of mental agony, loneliness and desolation. The fact that I have survived intellectually, emotionally during the bleak years of mourning, mental agony, loneliness and desolation, is only due to my commitment to Torah. My commitment to Torah is a total one, says the רב Rav. I have one love, this is Torah. I'm not a mystic, yet while studying the גמרא Gemara, I always feel that someone is with me. That a mysterious friend, teacher, companion watches over me. If תלמוד תורה Talmud Torah were just an intellectual performance, I would not have experienced the unseen presence of the teacher. The idea of Hashem being the teacher changes the whole concept of learning and studying. Study of Torah is not a mere intellectual performance consisting of formal comprehension, comprehension, rather an experience of a cathartic, redemptive and mystical nature which overwhelms man with vigor and ecstasy, which sinks into the deepest recesses of his personality. תלמוד תורה Talmud Torah can only be understood within the mystical frame of reference. Learning is simply a dialogue, a colloquy between God and man, between an all-wise teacher and an all-ignorant pupil. What a description, what a personal description the רב Rav has. And I leave it with you that our learning of Torah should not be dry and sterile, but and this is I think the mission of מחנכים mechanchim, teachers to our children. It has to be alive and awake and vibrant and dynamic. It has to sing like a song that we are fully immersed in. Thank you for joining, thank you for our sponsors. Thank you to those who sent in notes from the פרשה parsha class. 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