Transcript
Good morning and בוקר טוב Boker Tov from Boca Raton, Florida, where it is frigid cold. You should all have tremendous sympathy for us for this terrible cold front coming through. It's about 50 degrees and a biting wind outside. On all seriousness, we're thinking about those who are buried under snow and wishing you safety and health and warmth and only good, good things. I want to thank our sponsors. First of all, for the day of learning, Ronen and Tova צדק-כהן Tzedek-Cohen in honor of the birth of their granddaughter, זהבה קפלן Zahava Kaplan, daughter to דורית ונחום קפלן Dorit v'Nachum Kaplan. Big מזל טוב Mazel Tov on her birth. You should have a lot of נחת nachas from her. And thank you for sponsoring the learning for the entire day. I also want to thank our פרשה Parsha sponsor for the year, our dear friends, Becky and אבי כץ Avi Katz and family, in loving memory of Becky's father, David Grossman, דוד בן מנחם מנוש David ben Menachem Manush. The learning should be לעילוי נשמתו le'iluy nishmaso. And this morning's פרשה Parsha class, finally, is also sponsored by Judith Rosen in memory of her beloved husband, רבי Rabbi Marvin Rosen, whom I remember very well from my childhood growing up in Teaneck, רבי אברהם אלימלך ברוך בן ציון Rabbi Avraham Elimelech Boruch ben Tzion on his יארצייט yahrzeit, and sponsored by הארי גולדמן Harry Goldman in memory of her beloved husband, Hilton Goldman, הילל בן גרשון Hillel ben Gershon, on his יארצייט yahrzeit, and a רפואה שלימה refuah shleima for herself, הינדי בת פסי Hindi bas Pesi. Should be לעילוי נשמת le'iluy nishmas those for whom it's dedicated, a רפואה שלימה refuah shleima for those for whom it's dedicated. And if you'd like to sponsor a class going forward, please email Lee, L E E at brsonline.org, L E E at brsonline.org. Okay, we've got an action-packed פרשה Parsha class for you this morning. I'm really excited for the דברי תורה divrei Torah that we have. Some really exciting and very beautiful insights. As always, we glean פרשה Parsha perspectives for today. Our goal is not just to analyze the פרשה Parsha theoretically or in the abstract, but to rather extract from it lessons that inform and inspire our living today. פרשת יתרו Parshas Yisro can be found in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash on page 394. וישמע יתרו כהן מדין חותן משה את כל אשר עשה אלקים למשה ול ישראל עמו כי הוציא את ישראל ממצרים Vayishma Yisro Kohen Midyan chosen Moshe es kol asher asah Elokim l'Moshe u'le'Yisrael amo ki hotzi es Yisrael mi'Mitzrayim. יתרו Yisro heard. יתרו Yisro, the כהן kohen, יתרו Yisro the priest, who happens to be the שווער shver, the father-in-law of משה Moshe, heard all that God had done for משה Moshe and for the Jewish people. And what is it referring to? What is all that he had done? What is that a reference to? All that he had done, meaning that he took משה Moshe and the Jewish people out of Egypt. רש\"י Rashi, nevertheless, asks, מה שמועה שמע ובא mai shmuah shama u'va? What is it that יתרו Yisro heard that made him come, which is a peculiar question. We're not going to get into this. We've discussed this many times in the past. It's among my favorite דברי תורה divrei Torah. Because the פסוק pasuk itself tells us what he heard. So why do I need, what do I need רש\"י Rashi to ask what did he hear and then give us three answers? Now רש\"י Rashi, don't blame רש\"י Rashi. רש\"י Rashi is simply quoting the גמרא בזבחים Gemara b'Zvachim. And the גמרא זבחים Gemara Zvachim quotes these three opinions, the three possibilities of what he heard. Did he hear about the splitting of the sea? Did he hear about the battle with עמלק Amalek? Did he hear about the giving of the Torah? But why is the גמרא בזבחים Gemara b'Zvachim even debating what he heard about? Why does רש\"י Rashi even have to raise that question? After all, the Torah itself testifies, the Torah itself tells us. What did he hear? כי הוציא ה' את ישראל ממצרים ki hotzi Hashem es Yisrael mi'Mitzrayim. He heard that God liberated, emancipated, took the people out of Egypt. So what's the guesswork? Why the debate? Number one. Number two, what do you mean he heard about מלחמת עמלק Milchemes Amalek? Shouldn't it say he heard about the victory with עמלק Amalek? Why the war with עמלק Amalek? And the answer to that is very simple. If you look back at the end of last week's פרשה parsha, the end of בשלח Beshalach, you will see that in fact, the Jewish people were not victorious. Nowhere does it say in last week's פרשה parsha that the Jewish people defeated עמלק Amalek. It simply says we battled them. Well, if we didn't beat them, we didn't defeat them, then what was impressive about it? What did יתרו Yisro hear that excited him? What did יתרו Yisro hear that drew him? Why did יתרו Yisro come simply because of it? So the famous answer that's given, רב דרוק Rav Druck has the opening essay on this week's פרשה parsha. We're not going to look at it inside because we have so many other insights from רב דרוק Rav Druck and others to share. But רב דרוק Rav Druck quotes what many others do, which is that רש\"י Rashi was not asking what did he hear. יתרו Yisro heard the same thing as the whole world. Anyone with an internet connection, anyone who got the newspaper delivered, anyone who turned on the radio, they all heard the same thing, the miracles of יציאת מצרים Yetzias Mitzrayim, of the Exodus. רש\"י's Rashi's question was more specific, which is מה שמועה שמע ובא mai shmuah shama u'va? What did יתרו Yisro hear that made him come? What did יתרו Yisro hear that made him leave where he was, מדין Midyan? He was a high priest. יתרו Yisro in מדין Midyan was a dignitary, an aristocrat. יתרו Yisro had prominence and honor, and he leaves it all to go back to the beginning, to start in kindergarten. He's got a PhD, and he goes all the way back to first grade when he joins the Jewish people. And that's what רש\"י Rashi wants to know. What did he hear ובא u'ba, that moved him to get up and change his life? Everyone else took another sip of coffee and turned the page of the newspaper. Huh, interesting. Wow, 10 plagues. Wow, splitting of the sea. Isn't that fascinating? Anyway, could you pass me the sports section? יתרו Yisro didn't keep reading, didn't keep sipping his coffee. He got up and he left. He moved. He transformed his life radically. That's what kind of listener he was. וישמע Vayishma. We've discussed this many times in the past and we won't get into it again now, but I believe this entire פרשה parsha is all about the power of listening, the importance of listening. That's why there's a debate. Did יתרו Yisro come before or after the Torah was given? And one of the things we're going to look at momentarily is, if you assume that יתרו Yisro really came after the Torah was given, then why does the Torah present it as if he came before? Why does the Torah put it out of order? And there's a famous debate among the commentaries. Is there מוקדם ומאוחר בתורה mukdam u'meuchar ba'Torah? יש מוקדם או אין מוקדם ומאוחר בתורה Yesh mukdam or ein mukdam u'meuchar ba'Torah? Is the Torah written chronologically? Is it a history book recording accurately in the timeline it happened? Or is the Torah written thematically? Is it telling us themes and lessons and morals? And therefore, the order is less important than the juxtapositions and the transitions, which are meant to communicate and articulate messages to us. And that's a famous question. But if you believe the Torah has to be written or is generally written in order, and this is moved out of order in order to communicate a theme, what theme is it communicating? Why leave the chronology? Why leave the order? What theme is it communicating? And I think part of the answer, at least, is it's communicating the power of listening. I think those are the opening words of the פרשה parsha, וישמע יתרו Vayishma Yisro. יתרו Yisro listened. And when he joins the Jewish people, by the way, what's his first observation? He says, hey, משה Moshe, there's no way you could be a good listener. There are two to three million people lining up in order to talk to you. And with that kind of pressure and that kind of responsibility, you simply cannot be a good listener without delegating. So therefore, we need to know that before we receive the Torah, we have to learn to be good listeners. In the words of Stephen Covey, first seek to understand before being understood. Covey writes that most people listen, listening is just when they're taking a break in between their turn to talk. Listening is when they're formulating what they're going to say next, but that's not really listening. That's not active listening. There's a reason that one of the 48 ways the Torah is acquired, the משנה בפרקי אבות Mishnah b'Pirkei Avos tells us, is שמיעת האוזן shmias ha'ozen, is listening. So יתרו Yisro is introducing us, we haven't yet learned the lesson if you've been around Jewish people. We're still trying to learn how to be decent listeners and let other people speak. But יתרו Yisro is teaching us that if you want to be able to absorb, if you want to take in, if you want to take the lessons of Torah, you have to first learn to be a good listener. So even though, even if it's out of order, it's nevertheless such an important lesson to teach us. וישמע יתרו Vayishma Yisro, שמיעת האוזן shmias ha'ozen, the power of listening, even before we receive the Torah. The דברי יחזקאל Divrei Yechezkel, the great רבי rebbe, the דברי יחזקאל Divrei Yechezkel has a different interpretation. He says מה כל הרעש... יתרו לאמר, לא בא מיד אחרי יציאת מצרים וקריעת ים סוף? בחינתן ואחרון מלחמת עמלק mah kol ha'raash... Yisro lomer, lo ba miyad acharei Yetzias Mitzrayim u'Krias Yam Suf? b'chinasan v'achron milchemes Amalek. Why didn't he come immediately when we left Egypt? Why didn't יתרו Yisro hear the news? Wow, there were 10 plagues. Wow, after 210 years of oppression and servitude, they were liberated from the bondage of Egypt. Wow, I gotta find out more about this. Why didn't יתרו Yisro come then? Or why didn't he come when he heard about the splitting of the sea? What was it about the battle with עמלק Amalek, especially if you consider the fact that we didn't defeat עמלק Amalek, as we asked. We simply battled with them. What's impressive about battling עמלק Amalek? דהשני קשה, למה בא משה אל המדבר? הלא יכול לקבל עליו בירושלים ולא מצוות שארץ מדין de'sheini kashe, lama ba Moshe el ha'midbar? Halo yachol lekabel alav b'Yerushalayim v'lo mitzvos she'eretz Midyan? Moreover, why did he have to come at all? Why couldn't he from his hometown, from מדין Midyan, from his church or from whatever he had his prominent position, why couldn't he simply adopt the seven Noachide laws or even convert to Judaism but yet remain in מדין Midyan, expand the Jewish, the Jewish influence? Why did he have to stop and move and drop everything he had and join the Jewish people? אזאי פרעגט דברי יחזקאל Azai frackt the Divrei Yechezkel, that's the question of the דברי יחזקאל Divrei Yechezkel. And he says the following. ליתרו היה קשה דקריעת ים סוף ומלחמת עמלק היו סתרי דסתרי אהדדי le'Yisro hayah kashe de'Krias Yam Suf u'milchemes Amalek hayu setarti de'sasrei ahadadi. What יתרו Yisro had to come and check out for himself, what he had to come and examine, what he couldn't make sense of, and listen carefully, because I never heard this before, this never occurred to me. What יתרו Yisro was bothered by and he had to come check out was, it was a סתירה מיניה וביה stira minei u'vei, it was a contradiction. I don't understand. On the one hand, this is a people for whom the sea split. This is a nation, the Jewish people, that God suspends the rules of nature, intervenes in this world and splits a sea. And yet, an עמלק Amalek could wage a war against them? How is that possible? היה נודע על ידי יציאת מצרים, קריעת ים סוף, שמעו עמים ירגזון, וחיל אחז יושבי פלשת, אז נבהלו אלופי אדום, אילי מואב, נמוגו כל יושבי כנען hayah noda al yedei mitzias Mitzrayim, Krias Yam Suf, shamu amim yirgazun, ve'chil achaz yoshvei Plashet, az nivhalu alufei Edom, eilay Moav, namogu kol yoshvei Knaan. We say in אז ישיר Az Yashir that the whole world was rattled. The whole world was shaken. Pundits were all trying to examine and understand exactly what happened here. Who are these Jewish people? What happened to the rules of nature? What happened to the way we expect things? Everybody was moved. ימינך ה' נאדרי בכח, במצרים. אם כן, איך בא עמלק להלחם בישראל ולא אימה ופחד? Yeminecha Hashem nedari ba'koach, b'Mitzrayim. Im kein, eich ba Amalek l'hilachem b'Yisrael v'lo ima v'fachad? So this people for whom the rules of nature were suspended, how could עמלק Amalek take them on? How could עמלק Amalek come to fight them? אחרי שהיו מלומדים בניסים acharei she'hayu melumadim b'nissim. These are people who, the very definition, their very definition, who was it who said that in Israel, if you don't believe in miracles, you don't believe in nature? I just totally butchered that quote. I forgot the quote. But the Jewish people were characterized, were defined, our entire history is replete with miracle after miracle after miracle. Our very existence is a testimony to the possibility of miracles. The modern state of Israel, is it not a series of miracle after miracle after miracle, despite our best effort to undermine it, four elections in two years, despite the Jewish incorrigible people who are somehow responsible for it. Nevertheless, God, the whole story of the modern state of Israel is miracle after miracle after miracle. And you could ask the same thing about חמאס Hamas and חיזבאללה Hezbollah and Iran and the anti-Semites and the BDS movement and those who call for the destruction of Israel, you could ask them and those who accuse us of having our laser in in heaven. You could ask the same question. How could anyone study the modern state of Israel? How can anyone look at '67 and '73 and look at all the wars that no scud missile landed and killed anybody, war after war after war and not say, you know what? I'm going to find another people to pick on. I'm going to find someone else in the playground to steal their lunch, because this people, there's something special, there's something going on. They came back to this land, skeletons, Holocaust victims, and they merited miracle after miracle after miracle. Did you not see the film, Steven Spielberg's sister did about the first Israel Air Force, where the planes were made of spare car parts and the people who flew those planes, it's a miracle. So if you're if you're objectively looking at the story of the modern state of Israel, you say, you know what? I'm going to find someone else in the Middle East or somewhere else in the world, that's who I'm going to pick on, because these people, there's something magical, there's something special, there's something miraculous going on. And yet, and yet, against all odds and against all logic, there are enemies even today. Absurd. And that's what's simply repeating history from earlier. So יתרו Yisro looks and he says, one second. On the front page, on top of the fold, I'm reading about the story of a splitting of a sea. Inexplicable. A sea splits, it closes up on the enemy and drowns them, for the Jewish people it's open and they're able to walk across. And then beneath the fold I find that there's a nation that chose to attack that very people who just merited to experience that miracle. It doesn't make sense. I got to check out who these people are. על כן אמר יתרו בליבו שאפשר מה ששמע מקריעת ים סוף היה גוזמא והפריזו על המידה. וגם בדעתו לא עלה לבוא למדבר לדרוש לחקור אמת הדבר ששמע Al kein amar Yisro b'libo she'efshar mah she'shama mi'Krias Yam Suf hayah guzma v'ifrizo al hamida. v'gam b'dai to lo omer b'midbar l'drosh lachkor emes ha'davar she'shama. So says the דברי יחזקאל Divrei Yechezkel, you know why יתרו Yisro dropped everything and came? He said, I gotta check this out. Maybe the headlines were an exaggeration. Maybe it was an exaggeration. Splitting of a sea? Impossible. It had to be an exaggeration. זה שקשה לרש\"י, מה שמועה שמע ובא, הקושיא ובא zeh she'kashe l'Rashi, mai shmuah shama u'ba, ha'kushia u'ba. That's what רש\"י Rashi was asking. Not what did יתרו Yisro hear. יתרו Yisro heard what the entire world heard. That's what we say in אז ישיר Az Yashir. The whole world heard about the miracle. But יתרו Yisro was bothered by something that most others didn't even notice, which was the contradiction. How could it be? על זה תירץ קריעת ים סוף ומלחמת עמלק, דתרי דסתרי. על כן בא למשה לראות אם כן הדבר Al zeh teretz Krias Yam Suf u'milchemes Amalek, de'trei d'sasrei. Al kein ba l'Moshe l'reos im kein ha'davar. That's what he came to see, says the דברי יחזקאל Divrei Yechezkel. He wanted to see what's going on here. Was it which one is an exaggeration? The fact that עמלק Amalek attacked, or the fact that the sea split that there were miracles? Something's being exaggerated here because the combination of the two is an absolute impossibility and so he had to come and see for himself and that was רש\"י Rashi's question, מה שמועה שמע ובא mai shmuah shama u'ba. I have a different suggestion. And my suggestion is that perhaps the reason that יתרו Yisro was so moved by the story of the attack of עמלק Amalek, even though we didn't defeat עמלק Amalek, all we did was survive the attack of עמלק Amalek, we walked away but we didn't win, we didn't triumph. So what impressed him? And I think perhaps this דברי יחזקאל Divrei Yechezkel answers that question, even though he doesn't spell it out. Maybe what impresses יתרו Yisro as he says to himself, עמלק Amalek are the epitome of evil. עמלק Amalek are everything that's wrong. עמלק Amalek are cynical, skeptical, wicked, evil, nefarious. עמלק Amalek represent everything. They don't value life. They don't value certainly an afterlife. They don't value spirituality. עמלק Amalek are the epitome of evil, the paradigm of the paradigm of evil. And yet there's one nation they're obsessed with. There's one nation that evil can't leave alone even though it makes no sense and even though it's self-destructive for them to go down that road. So I've got to go check out who that people are. It wasn't the fact that we defeated עמלק Amalek that impressed יתרו Yisro because we didn't defeat them. Perhaps what impressed יתרו Yisro was not that we defeated עמלק Amalek, but that עמלק Amalek chose to pick on us. And I would say that it's in this way a sort of, I don't know if it's comforting or a silver lining because we'd rather they all leave us alone. But if the UN disproportionately condemns one nation, and the UN is a bastion of darkness and wickedness and evil, and they're obsessed with one people, there's something really good about that people. That people represent the threat of goodness and light and blessing. So sometimes when you can see evil and then you can find who is evil targeting, now you know what's good. Because if that's what evil feels so threatened by, if that's what evil is working so hard to eliminate, that must be the source of good in this world. And perhaps that's what impresses יתרו Yisro and that's what makes him join. All that's point number one. Point number two, I want to share with you insights from רב נבנצל שליט\"א Rav Nevensal shlita. רב נבנצל Rav Nevensal, the great תלמיד חבר talmid chaver of הרב שלמה זלמן אויערבאך זצ\"ל Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach zatzal. רב נבנצל Rav Nevensal should live and be well, is the רב הראשי Rav ha'Rashi of the העיר העתיקה Ir ha'Atika. He's the chief rabbi of the old city of ירושלים Yerushalayim, a great צדיק tzaddik, a great תלמיד חכם talmid chacham. He's got שיחות sichos, magnificent volumes on חומש Chumash. In the שיחות sichos on our פרשה parsha, רב נבנצל Rav Nevensal has a beautiful, beautiful insight in discussing פרשת יתרו Parshas Yisro. This was written up very beautifully in an article called דרך ארץ קדמה לתורה Derech Eretz kadma la'Torah by רב בניש גינסבורג ממכללה Rav Benish Ginsburg of Michlalah. Very grateful, he's taught many of my daughters, teaching my third daughter there this year. So, thank you for writing this up and for expanding upon it. But רב נבנצל Rav Nevensal on his ספר sefer says the following. If in fact יתרו Yisro comes after מתן תורה Matan Torah, why does he appear, why is he presented before, what we began with? If you believe the Torah generally follows chronology, but at times deviates from the chronology in order to communicate a theme, what is the theme that's being communicated here? What is the theme that's being communicated here? And from נתיב אריה N'tiv Aryeh, true, my rebbe in נתיב אריה N'tiv Aryeh, I apologize. So רב נבנצל Rav Nevensal says the following. He suggests that what's being communicated is the juxtaposition or the placement of the arrival of יתרו Yisro after the war of עמלק Amalek and before the receiving of the Torah. And it's teaching us a lesson. Not the lessons that we just mentioned from the דברי יחזקאל Divrei Yechezkel, but teaching us a different lesson. And he says the following. The Torah's teaching us about משה רבינו's מידות Moshe Rabbeinu's midos, משה רבינו's Moshe Rabbeinu's humility, משה רבינו's Moshe Rabbeinu's modesty, that משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu did not let any of this go to his head. משה's Moshe's prominence, משה's Moshe's authority, משה's Moshe's uniqueness in all of mankind could have easily put him in a position that he felt greater, superior, better than anybody else. But he never let it get to them to his head. And where do we see that? This is the משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu who's going to ascend הר סיני Har Sinai, the only one uniquely. He's going to go on top of the mountain and speak directly to God. He's going to live without food and water because he's going to be angelic during that time. He's going to have the זכות zechus to merit to bring down the Torah, and he is going to be the person closer to God than any human being in all of history. משה's Moshe's the only person who one of the 13 principles of faith of the Rambam is to believe that משה's Moshe's the אב הנביאים Av ha'nevi'im, the father of prophets, that משה Moshe is unique, categorically different than all others. Now, you can imagine if you have the pedigree that I just described, if that's what's on your resume, if one of the 13 principles of faith of what it means to be a believing Jew is to believe that you are better, superior, different than every other human being, you can imagine that that would go to your head. And yet, it doesn't. At the end of last week's פרשה parsha, when משה Moshe turns to יהושע Yehoshua, and he says we need to recruit soldiers, we've got to fight עמלק Amalek, they're attacking us. We've got to take them on and defend our people. He says בחר לנו אנשים וצא הלחם בעמלק b'char lanu anashim v'tzei hilachem b'Amalek. Choose for us fighters. And the key word there is לנו lanu, choose for us. And רש\"י Rashi quotes from the מדרש Midrash that משה Moshe, when he's conscripting people into the army, he doesn't say choose for me. I'm the general, I'm the commander-in-chief, I'm the man, I'm God's assistant. Choose for me. He says בחר לנו אנשים b'char lanu anashim. Choose for us. What's the significance of לנו lanu? He's showing honor to יהושע Yehoshua. He's showing honor to the people. He makes it not about I, but he makes it about we. Lincoln's Gettysburg address, which is one of the famous, most famous speeches in all of history. I once read an article, the Gettysburg address is famous. We, we think of the Gettysburg address because everybody knows the name, we think it must be as long as a שבת שובה Shabbos Shuva or שבת הגדול דרשה Shabbos Hagadol drasha, right? It was a few minutes long. It was several hundred words. It was a very, very short address. There's a big lesson in that. I have yet to learn it, but there's a big lesson in that. But I think even more, I read an article that showed that what Lincoln did in that address, which was very different than many of his predecessors, and sadly has been different than many of his successors, is that in that address, Lincoln did not talk about I, I, I, I, me, me, me, my, my, my, I, I, I. He talked about we and he talked about us, and he won over the American people. Because when he involved us and included us and with humility made it about the people and not him, the we instead of the I, and that's what משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu here does. Even though משה Moshe the commander-in-chief, משה Moshe the categorically different unique human being had every right to say I I I and choose for me, he doesn't. He says בחר לנו b'char lanu. He speaks with humility to יהושע Yehoshua. Number one. Number two, Jewish people are fighting and משה's מתפלל Moshe's davening, and they're holding up his hands, אהרן וחור Aharon v'Chur, when he gets tired, he sits on a rock. Why does he sit on a rock? Have you ever seen a רבי's rebbe's chair? You ever been to a טיש tisch? A רבי's rebbe's chair is thick padding, arms ornate, ostentatious, beautiful. Why doesn't he sit in a nice chair? I've had the privilege, I'll give a little flex. I've had the privilege to be at several meetings in the Roosevelt Room of the West Wing of the White House. And it's fascinating. Around the conference table of the Roosevelt Room of the West Wing of the White House, all the chairs are the same but one. The one chair that's different looks like the other chairs, but the back of that chair is taller than the other chairs. And I'll give you a hint. It ain't the vice president who sits there. The president has a chair which has a little bit taller than all the other chairs. I'm not criticizing that. It's the position of the president. You have to honor the position of the president. I got it. But משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu, he's the president, the prime minister, the commander-in-chief, and when he needs to rest in that war, he says, I'm going to sit on a rock, because if my people are fighting and they're uncomfortable, then I'm going to be נושא בעול עם חברו nosei b'ol im chavero. I'm going to feel their pain and I'm going to sit on a rock. I'm not going to sit in some high position. Next we get to this week's פרשה parsha, says רב נבנצל Rav Nevensal. Now, again, let's understand that chronologically, יתרו Yisro arrives after the receiving of the Torah. So the Torah has been given. משה Moshe ascends the mountain, the one person, and he goes up and he speaks directly to God and he receives the לוחות luchos and he is empowered and he is charged to come down and to be the ambassador, the transmitter of Torah to not only the Jewish people then, but in perpetuity and forever he's משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu. He remains our teacher and for our children, our grandchildren, our great-grandchildren, and forever, משה Moshe is the teacher of the Jewish people. He comes down from that mountain. And then they say to him, משה's Moshe's busy teaching. He's been named the ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva of the largest ישיבה Yeshiva, the only ישיבה Yeshiva, the world ישיבה Yeshiva, and he's giving שיעור shiur, he's given the שיעור כללי shiur klali, he's the ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva. And they say, ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva, I know you're giving שיעור shiur right now to like two million people, but your father-in-law's coming. And what does he do? Does he say, you know, give him a cold drink and a newspaper and tell him I'll be there in a few minutes when I'm done? Does he say, tell him to pull up a chair? Take some pride in his איידעם eidem, in his son-in-law. I'm giving a שיעור כללי shiur klali. Take a look. You know what משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu does? He gets up and he goes out to greet his father-in-law. And what happens after משה Moshe interrupts the שיעור shiur? What happens when משה Moshe gets up and goes to interrupt his father-in-law? רש\"י Rashi tells us what happened. He interrupts and then everybody follows him. Everybody follows him. אהרן Aharon follows him, the זקנים zkeinim follow him, the whole people follow him. And whether it means literally they follow, they accompany him physically to greet his father-in-law, or it means they follow him. They watch and they listen and they learn and they follow his way, that דרך ארץ קדמה לתורה derech eretz kadma la'Torah, that you know what? Receiving the Torah is important, but so is דרך ארץ derech eretz. And that's what משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu was displaying. And that, says רב נבנצל Rav Nevensal, is why it appears out of order. The lesson that we have, דרך ארץ קדמה לתורה derech eretz kadma la'Torah, our rabbis tell us that דרך ארץ derech eretz, interpersonal relationships, the way we treat one another, being a מענטש mensch, it precedes Torah. It is the prerequisite to living a life of Torah. If you have Torah, but you're not a מענטש mensch, then you're not really living authentic Torah. The prerequisite to Torah is to be a מענטש mensch. And where does it say that? How did they know that? Where did they see that? And the answer is, from the fact that the arrival of יתרו Yisro is placed between the battle with עמלק Amalek and receiving the Torah, is teaching us the lessons that משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu himself transmitted, not with his words, but with his modeling, with his actions. That what? בחר לנו אנשים b'char lanu anashim. He shows humility and he says to יהושע Yehoshua, we, instead of I. He sits on a rock instead of on a throne. He gets up and he interrupts the שיעור shiur he's giving to millions of people in order to go out and to greet his father-in-law, and everybody follows. Because why? דרך ארץ קדמה לתורה derech eretz kadma la'Torah. And then רב נבנצל Rav Nevensal quotes a fourth פשט pshat in the name of his father. רב נבנצל Rav Nevensal quotes in the name of his own father. יתרו Yisro comes to משה Moshe and tells him he's making big mistakes in the judicial system. Now again, יתרו Yisro comes, I'm like a good father-in-law and I can make this joke now because I am a father-in-law twice over. יתרו Yisro comes, I'm in the club, and he gives unsolicited advice to his son-in-law, משה Moshe. Now, I'm a son-in-law and a father-in-law. As a father-in-law, you don't understand why your advice is not warmly received. After all, you're so smart and you live life longer. But as a son-in-law, sometimes you wonder why is he giving me advice? I didn't ask for it. I don't need it. Doesn't he know who I am? So what does משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu? משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu, again, the אב הנביאים Av ha'nevi'im, the greatest human being to ever live, the father of prophecy, the one who was on the mountain and spoke directly to God. משה Moshe, who was handpicked by God. And all of a sudden his father-in-law comes on the scene and he's not there for 20 minutes and he's already giving unsolicited advice. If I'm משה Moshe, I say, listen, listen, whatever he called him, אבא Abba, טאטי Tati, father-in-law, שווער shver, I have no idea what he called him. But listen, and יתרו Yisro had seven names so he might as well throw on a few more. Whatever he called them, I can understand משה Moshe saying to him, listen, I appreciate it. It's very thoughtful. You're a very accomplished man in מדין Midyan, but you know, I've got this relationship with God. God's mentoring me, and I think I'm good. I think I'm good. God didn't talk to me about setting up systems and courts and just, I think I'm good. If God had something to tell me, he would have told me. He didn't tell me. So I think I'm good. But משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu doesn't do that. In this fourth story, what does משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu do? He says to יתרו Yisro, that's fantastic advice. Thank you for sharing it. There's such wisdom. I'm going to accept it, I'm going to pursue that. משה Moshe displays that he's לומד מכל אדם lomeid mi'kol adam, that part of דרך ארץ קדמה לתורה derech eretz kadma la'Torah, part of the מענטשלעכקייט menschlichkeit, part of what it means to be a good person, is the willingness to learn from anyone and everyone. There's wisdom in everyone around us, even our father-in-law. Again, I'm a father-in-law. Even a father-in-law, there's wisdom. So משה Moshe doesn't say thanks but no thanks. I don't need you. I got God as a mentor and a רבי rebbe. He says that's very good advice. That's brilliant. Absolutely, I'm going to do it. And so רב נבנצל Rav Nevensal shows that דרך ארץ קדמה לתורה derech eretz kadma la'Torah is in the חומש Chumash itself. And maybe that's why it's out of order. You can read more in רב נבנצל's Rav Nevensal's wonderful ספר שיחות sefer Sichos on ספר שמות Sefer Shmos, where he describes it very, very beautifully. But רב בניש גינסבורג Rav Benish Ginsburg, when he quotes this in his שיעור shiur, he related it to a great תלמיד חכם talmid chacham, רב ישראל גוסטמן זצ\"ל Rav Yisrael Gustman zatzal, who was a גדול gadol in the previous generation, a member of the בית דין beis din in וילנא Vilna when he was only in his 20s. He survived the Holocaust, spent several years running from the Nazis, made his way to ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael, lived in רחביה Rechavia, and there are incredible stories of רב גוסטמן Rav Gustman. I wish if we had more time, I would share some of them with you. But one of them that's relevant here is that רב גוסטמן Rav Gustman was once caught cleaning the floors of his ישיבה yeshiva on ערב שבת Erev Shabbos. And people said, רבי rebbe, this is beneath your כבוד kavod. You're the ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva. Like you're a huge תלמיד חכם talmid chacham. What are you washing the floor for? So he said, let me tell you a story. I once arrived late to the בית דין beis din in וילנא Vilna, and when I walked in, רב חיים עוזר Rav Chaim Ozer stood up for me. When the חפץ חיים Chofetz Chaim was visiting, since רב חיים עוזר Rav Chaim Ozer stood up, the חפץ חיים Chofetz Chaim stood up. And once the חפץ חיים Chofetz Chaim stood up, the רבי rebbe and the rest of the בית דין beis din stood up. And said רב גוסטמן Rav Gustman, that moment when I was so embarrassed, that was enough כבוד kavod to last an entire lifetime. So it's perfectly okay for me to clean the floors or do anything, because in that moment, I got more than enough כבוד kavod for an entire lifetime. And רב גינסבורג Rav Ginsburg says that always reminds him of this story, that when יתרו Yisro arrives, משה Moshe goes out, because משה Moshe goes out, אהרן Aharon goes out, because אהרן Aharon goes out, the זקנים zkeinim go out, because they go out, the rest of the Jewish people all go out as well, and that is, and that is the story of דרך ארץ קדמה לתורה derech eretz kadma la'Torah, the דרך ארץ derech eretz that's shown. He quotes here as well, one more, one other story of רב גוסטמן Rav Gustman, that you know, רב ליכטנשטיין זצ\"ל Rav Lichtenstein zatzal, when he made עלייה aliyah and he wanted to volunteer to fight in a war, shortly after his arrival, the Yom Kippur War, but they didn't need him at his age. So there was a shortage of milkmen delivering milk though. So the least he could do was deliver the milk to try to help out. So he was delivering the milk in רחביה Rechavia where he lived, and he delivered it to the home of רב גוסטמן Rav Gustman. And when he delivered the milk to רב גוסטמן Rav Gustman, רב גוסטמן Rav Gustman and he started to get into a conversation, and they ended up speaking for a long time, and they talked in learning, they talked סוגיות בש\"ס sugyos in Shas. And when he left, רב גוסטמן Rav Gustman apparently commented to his wife, this is why we moved to ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael, because even the milkmen are enormous תלמידי חכמים talmidei chachamim. It's a great story, both about רב גוסטמן Rav Gustman and about רב ליכטנשטיין Rav Lichtenstein. So that is all דרך ארץ קדמה לתורה derech eretz kadma la'Torah, maybe why it is out of order. פרק י\"ח פסוק י perek yud ches, pasuk yud. Moving right along, יתרו Yisro arrives, he's greeted warmly. ויאמר יתרו Vayomer Yisro. So, what happens? משה Moshe tells them all about what had happened. משה Moshe with excitement and with such joy tells them all about the story, about everything that had happened. And יתרו Yisro, ויחד יתרו vayichad Yisro, he got goosebumps, רש\"י Rashi says. He was so excited. He was so moved. משה's Moshe's enthusiasm was so contagious that after ויספר Vayisaper, the way that משה Moshe told them, ויספר משה לחתנו Vayisaper Moshe l'chosno, because he told him with such excitement, it was contagious. In fact, that's what the אמרי חיים Imrei Chaim writes. The אמרי חיים Imrei Chaim, the ויז'ניצר Vizhnitzer writes, ויספר משה לחתנו, ויאמר יתרו ברוך ה' Vayisaper Moshe l'chosno, Vayomer Yisro Baruch Hashem. משה רבינו סיפר לו סיפור יציאת מצרים בהתלהבות והתעוררות כזו Moshe Rabbeinu siper lo sipurei Yetzias Mitzrayim b'hislahavus vis'orerus kazu. Because of the enthusiasm with which משה Moshe told the story, עד שגם יתרו נתלהב ונתעורר בעצמו, ופתח ואמר גם הוא ברוך ה' אשר הציל אתכם מיד מצרים ad she'gam Yisro nislahav v'nisorer b'atzmo, u'pasach v'amar gam hu Baruch Hashem asher hitzil eschem miyad Mitzrayim. Because משה Moshe told the story with enthusiasm and joy and vigor, so therefore יתרו Yisro, it was contagious. יתרו Yisro also said, \"Wow, that's amazing! What a story! You're right. ברוך ה' Baruch Hashem!\" And in fact, we'll speak in a moment, he was the very first to say ברוך ה' Baruch Hashem, to use the word ברוך Baruch in association with God. But what precipitated יתרו's Yisro's reaction was משה's Moshe's enthusiasm. And I think there's a very powerful lesson from this אמרי חיים Imrei Chaim, that if we want our children to be on fire, we have to be on fire. If we want the people around us to be excited about the hand of a Shem in our lives, then we have to be excited about the hand of a Shem in our lives. ויספר Vayisaper, the degree and the way in which we tell that story is the way in which the people around us will react. So יתרו Yisro reacts ויחד vayichad, he gets, in fact, he gets goosebumps. And how does he react? פסוק י\"א pasuk yud aleph on page 396. ויאמר יתרו ברוך ה' אשר הציל אתכם מיד מצרים ומיד פרעה Vayomer Yisro Baruch Hashem asher hitzil eschem miyad Mitzrayim u'miyad Paro. Wow, ברוך ה' Baruch Hashem, God saved you from the hands of Egypt, the hands of Pharaoh, אשר הציל את העם מתחת יד מצרים asher hitzil es ha'am mitachas yad Mitzrayim. He saved the nation from under the hands of the, of the Egyptians. This expression of ברוך ה' Baruch Hashem, let's take a look at our first, our first אש תמיד aish tamid, our first רב דרוק Rav Druck of the day. So first he quotes the גמרא בסנהדרין Gemara in Sanhedrin. The גמרא בסנהדרין Gemara in Sanhedrin tells us, תנו משום רב פפוס, גנאי הוא למשה וששים ריבוא Tanu mi'shum Reb Papus, gnai hu l'Moshe v'shishim ribo. יתרו's Yisro's reaction was, in fact, an indictment both of משה Moshe and of the Jewish people. שלא אמרו ברוך עד שבא יתרו ואמר ברוך ה' shelo amru Baruch ad she'ba Yisro v'amar Baruch Hashem. אברהם יצחק ויעקב Avraham Yitzchak v'Yaakov, they praised God, they thanked God, but they never said ברוך Baruch. And כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael, the Jewish people, they saw God, they talked to God, they were grateful to God, but they never said ברוך Baruch. Who said ברוך Baruch? The very first to say ברוך Baruch, blessed, is יתרו Yisro. This non-Jew, this spectator, this observer to their history, he is the first one to say ברוך Baruch. מבואר שיתרו חידש את מטבע של ברוך Mevuar she'Yisro chidesh es matbeah shel Baruch. יתרו Yisro is the one who introduces us to the word and the notion of ברוך Baruch. of ברוך Baruch. Moshe and 600,000 didn't say it until Yisro came. So, why didn't they say it, wonders Rav Druk? It's a great question. The word ברוך Baruch is arguably the most common word in our liturgy. Think about our davening, think about the blessings that we say. You have a cup of coffee, you have to say ברוך שהכל נהיה בדברו Baruch shehakol niheye bidvaro. You go to the bathroom after the cup of coffee, ברוך אשר יצר Baruch asher yatzar. You say 15 blessings, ברכת השחר Birchas Hashachar, we start the day by saying, God, I take nothing for granted. Wow, I can see and I can hear and I'm alive and I have a roof over my head. ברוך ברוך ברוך ברוך ברוך Baruch, baruch, baruch, baruch, baruch. So ברוך Baruch is such a part of our, why didn't they say ברוך Baruch? The indictment, the criticism, both of Moshe and the 600,000, why didn't they say ברוך Baruch? And what led יתרו Yisro to taka say ברוך Baruch?יתרו Yisro comes after the splitting of the sea. Moshe and the Jewish people, they sang שירה shira. If they were so moved by the splitting of the sea in order to sing a song, and the song is incorporated into our davening, that's how powerful it is, if they were so moved to sing a song, why weren't they so moved to say ברוך Baruch? Blessed. Why didn't they use the word blessed is God? Blessed are you, God. Blessed is God. So what's going on with this word ברוך Baruch? So, first he quotes his father. Rav Druk quotes his father, the דרש מרדכי Drash Mordechai, of Mordechai Druk, and he says the following: עד אתה הודו בני ישראל ושבחו והללו להשם על הניסים שעשה עמהם שהציל אותם מיד פרעה ומידה של מצרים ad ata hodu Bnei Yisrael v'shibchu v'halelu l'Hashem al hanisim she'asah imam she'hitzil osam miyad Paro u'midah shel Mitzrayim. Until now, the Jewish people were grateful. They were singing and they were praising God for the miracles they experienced. But whenever the Jewish people thanked God, you know what they thanked him for? The things that they received. The benefits that they got directly. Their gratitude was limited to the things that they experienced. יתרו Yisro is the very first person who says, you know what? I want to see and express gratitude and acknowledge and recognize God not for anything he did for me, but for something he did for another. To see God as a third party, as a spectator. He was the first to point the finger and say ברוך השם Baruch Hashem, even though he wasn't the beneficiary, he was a spectator to those who were. וביתר הביאור היה מה שנאמר ויחד יתרו על כל הטובה u'veyeser ha'beur hayah ma shene'emar vayichad Yisro al kol hatovah. Rashi writes, נעשה בשרו חידודין חידודין na'aseh b'saro chidudin chidudin. He got goosebumps when he heard the story. Why did he get goosebumps? I understand if a miracle just happened to you. You had a near escape from a car accident, from Corona. You came back after being in a ventilator חס ושלום chas v'shalom for a month and you came back and you survived. Somebody's visiting our shul who apparently was on the brink of death three times from Corona, and ברוך השם Baruch Hashem, thank God, they are better. So I understand that you recover from a terminal situation and you say ברוך השם Baruch Hashem, blessed are you God. I got it. But יתרו Yisro got goosebumps? And the answer is that's the power of what יתרו Yisro saw and how he felt. So יתרו Yisro what he introduced to the world is that יתרו Yisro is the very first, as an outsider and as a spectator, who's able to say ברוך השם Baruch Hashem. That is the insight of the דרש מרדכי Drash Mordechai. To expand on it, the the גרי\"ז Griz, Rav Velvel Soloveitchik, whose last living son passed away, Rav Dovid Soloveitchik, the world is still in mourning for him, Rav Velvel, the בריסקער רב Brisker Rav, explains a law in שולחן ערוך Shulchan Aruch this way. In the code of Jewish law in שולחן ערוך Shulchan Aruch it tells us that you're allowed to be יוצא ברכת הגומל מחברו yotzei Birchas Hagomel me'chaveiro. If a person survives a life-threatening situation, which could mean an illness, but also could mean air travel or traveling across the ocean, you come back from a cruise, or you land from an overseas flight, according to many, then you recite the bracha of ברכת הגומל Birchas Hagomel. God, thank you. My life was potentially threatened and I survived and I want to thank you. So the שולחן ערוך Shulchan Aruch says that one person can fulfill this bracha for another, can have them in mind. Sometimes you wish that people would observe this. We ever had a minyan where a whole group of people just came back from Israel? One after another after another after another, they all think they have to בירכת הגומל bench gomel. Let one person bench gomel on behalf of everybody else. It's a מפורש שולחן ערוך mefurash Shulchan Aruch. And the רמ\"א Rama writes there, דאף על פי שלא אירע לו עצמו נס חייב בברכה זו d'af al pi shelo eira lo atzmo nes chayav b'vracha zu. The רמ\"א Rama adds on an enormous חידוש chidush. The רמ\"א Rama adds on an enormous novel idea. He says, do you know that a person could say the blessing and fulfill it for another, even if the person reciting the blessing themselves is not obligated? You didn't just cross the sea, you didn't just come through an ocean, you didn't just get out of jail, you didn't just recover from a terminal illness, a life-threatening car accident, but you could still say the blessing for somebody else. How's that possible? So listen to what the בריסקער רב Brisker Rav says. The בריסקער רב Brisker Rav says, you know why that's possible? Because like יתרו Yisro. It depends. If you really don't care that the other person survived, you're not moved, you're not impressed, you're not inspired, you're not wowed, then you can't say the blessing and be מוציא motzi them. But if their survival, if their story and their experience gives you goosebumps, if you hear how they came back, and you hear the miracle of their recovery, and you hear the miracle of their near escape, and you hear the miracle of their safety, and you are so moved, you have goosebumps, you can't help but say ברוך השם Baruch Hashem, then the ט\"ז Taz qualifies this רמ\"א Rama and says, then you're allowed to. The ט\"ז Taz says you have to have שמחה simcha. Only if you have שמחה simcha, if you have joy from the miracle of the other, can you say the ברכת הגומל Birchas Hagomel for them and be מוציא motzi them. And that, says the בריסקער רב Brisker Rav, is is exactly what's going on over here. That יתרו Yisro is the very first one to feel the ברוך השם Baruch Hashem. He's the first one to say ברוך Baruch because he's a third party, he's a spectator. He's not the beneficiary, he didn't directly benefit. And the בריסקער רב Brisker Rav continues, that's why ויחד יתרו vayichad Yisro. ויחד חידודין vayichad chidudin means goosebumps. יתרו Yisro had goosebumps, he had this incredible joy. But ויחד vayichad also means מלשון אחד milashon echad, unity, unified, connection. When you feel united, unified, connected to another, so much so that their experience inspires you, that you're able to connect with them vicariously, it's as if you survived. So much so that you're moved to bless God, then you're allowed to say the ברכה bracha, even though you yourself are not obligated, you could say the blessing for them. What a beautiful insight about us as third party, as spectators, but seeing Hashem's hand in others. How often do you read a biography, or you read stories of small miracles, and you're just wow after wow after wow, what a story, and you're moved by it. You get goosebumps, you shed a tear, you you you shiver. So you say ברוך השם Baruch Hashem, יתרו Yisro, that was the ברוך Baruch that he introduced us to. That was the ברוך Baruch of the of the ברוך השם Baruch Hashem.But Rav Druk offers a different explanation, not that of his father and not that of the בריסקער רב Brisker Rav. He asked some questions on his own father's interpretation, therefore he rejects it, but he offers another. And he says, ונראה בביאור הדברים באופן אחר, בהקדם עיקר ענינה של ברכה, שמברכים את השם שלכאורה צריך להבין v'neireh b'veiur hadvarim b'ofen acher, b'hekdem ikar inyana shel bracha, she'mevarchim es Hashem, she'lichora tzarich l'havin. How in the world can we bless God all together? God is מלא כל הארץ כבודו melo kol ha'aretz kevodo, God fills the whole world. God is the source of all blessing. What is the idea that when one sees a miracle and points and says, ברוך השם Baruch Hashem, blessed are you God. We are in a position to bless God. God's the one who gives the blessings, not us. So how could we possibly saying ברוך השם Baruch Hashem? So the נפש החיים Nefesh Hachaim says, פירוש הברכה לאו דוקא תוספת וריבוי ממש, שהרי רצונו יתברך תם כביכול שימשך ויתרבה שפע קדשו על ידי הברכה והתפילה מכוח העולמות העליונים, שהן מוכנים ומוכשרים לקבל שפע קדושתו אור עליון peirush habracha lo davka tosefes v'ribui mamash, sheharei r'tzono yisbarach tam k'v'yachol sheyimshach v'yisrabbeh shefa kadsho al yedei habracha v'hatfilah mikoch ha'olamos ha'elyonim, she'hein muchanim umuchsharim lekabel shefa kedushaso or elyon. Says, says the נפש החיים Nefesh Hachaim, Rav Chaim of Volozhin, that God sometimes has storehouses of blessing that he wants to descend to this world, but he needs us to recognize. The key to opening the storehouse, the key to the flow of blessing is for us to recognize it comes from him. And that's when we point what we're saying is God, you are the מקור הברכה mekor habracha. You are the source. It comes, it derives, it flows from you. The word ברכה bracha comes from the word בריכה breicha, which is a stream. Everything that flows, all the blessing that we value, it all flows and it all comes down from you. It's all coming from you. That's ברוך אתה Baruch ata, not blessed are you, God, that we're giving him the blessing, but ברוך אתה Baruch ata, you God are the source of all blessing. And that's how יתרו Yisro was reacting. ברוך השם Baruch Hashem. He wasn't giving God a blessing, but he was acknowledging, he was pointing, and he was recognizing that God is the source of all the blessing in the world. And Rav Druk continues, he says we see this in our Benching. In the paragraph, היעלה כל השם ha'ya'aleh kol Hashem, we say, ואכלת ושבעת וברכת את השם אלוקיך על הארץ הטובה אשר נתן לך v'achalta v'savata u'veirachta es Hashem Elokecha al ha'aretz hatovah asher nasan lach. Eat and be satisfied and bless God. What do you mean eat and satisfied? It's based on a pasuk in פרשת עקב Parshas Eikev. Eat and be satisfied and bless God. How do you bless God? What it means is whatever you've just eaten, whatever you've just enjoyed, whatever you've just had in your life, recognize, point, and say he's the מקור הברכה mekor habracha. It all comes from God is the source of it all. It is all from God. פרק י\"ג פסוק י\"ג Perek Yud Gimmel, Pasuk Yud Gimmel. Let's keep going. Torah continues and it says that יתרו Yisro brought all kinds of sacrifices. ויבוא אהרן וכל זקני ישראל לאכול לחם עם חותן משה לפני אלוקים Vayavo Aharon v'chol ziknei Yisrael le'echol lechem im chosain Moshe lifnei ha'Elokim. Aaron and the elders all came to break bread with Moshe's שווער shver, חותן משה chosen Moshe, doesn't need another name. He's called Moshe's שווער shver. They came to break bread with Moshe's father-in-law, לפני האלוקים lifnei ha'Elokim, before God. So listen to Rav Meir of Apta. Rav Meir of Apta, not Rav Avraham Yehoshua of Apta, not the אפטער רב Apter Rav, but the great tzaddik Rav Meir of Apta. He says homiletically, he says, look at the pasuk. Aaron and all the elders, they came to eat bread with Moshe's father-in-law, לפני האלוקים lifnei ha'Elokim. Do you know what you have to do before you can connect with God? He writes the following, כלל גדול אנו למדים klal gadol anu lomedim, we learn a very important principle. לפני שמגיעים למדרגות הגבוהות עד לפני אלוקים Lifnei shemagi'im l'madregos hag'vohos ad lifnei Elokim, before you can arrive at the high level of being before God, יש צורך לאכול לחם, צורך איש ישראל פרנסה כדי שיהיה משוחרר מדאגות ארציות ויוכל לעבוד את השם בלב שלם yeish tzorech le'echol lechem, tzorech ish Yisrael parnasa kedei she'yiheyeh meshuchrar mi'da'agos artziyos v'yuchal la'avod es Hashem b'lev shalem. You need a פרנסה parnasa. You need a פרנסה parnasa. דרך ארץ קדמה לתורה derech eretz kadma la'Torah. The other interpretation of דרך ארץ derech eretz, not Rav Neventzal's, is דרך ארץ derech eretz means a livelihood. You need a livelihood. You need to be involved in society in the world. You need to be working and productive. You need to earn a livelihood with pride. Earning a living is a mitzvah in the Torah. Work is not a concession, it's a value. God worked six days before he rested the seventh. We work before we rest. And so therefore, Rav Meir of Apta says, that's the פשט pshat. Aaron and the elders come to break bread before לפני האלוקים lifnei ha'Elokim. Before you can connect with God, you need a פרנסה parnasa. Because, you know, if you're if you're scrambling, if you're knocking on the doors, if you're collecting from others, if you can't make ends meet and you can't put food on your table, then how much are you going to learn? And how can you daven? And what good can your religious life be? So therefore, לאכול לחם le'echol lechem. First, you got to take care of your פרנסה parnasa. אין קמח, אין תורה Ein kemach, ein Torah. First, you got to take care of your livelihood, your income, you got to make sure you're stable, and only then can you turn to, can you turn to a life of לפני האלוקים lifnei ha'Elokim. Rav Soloveitchik has a little bit of a different slant on this as you might have guessed he would. Rav Soloveitchik in the Rav Chumash says the following. He says, ויבוא אהרן וכל זקני ישראל לאכול לחם עם חותן משה לפני האלוקים vayavo Aharon v'chol ziknei Yisrael le'echol lechem im chosen Moshe lifnei ha'Elokim. Who was the host of that gathering? There's a great barbecue going on. יתרו Yisro offered זבחים zevachim, he offered sacrifices, and now אהרן Aharon and זקני ישראל ziknei Yisrael all come to break bread. So who's the host of it? Is it יתרו Yisro? After all, he's the בעל הקרבן ba'al hakorban, he's the one who brought the sacrifice. Is it Aaron? He's the elder statesman. זקני ישראל Ziknei Yisrael? Who is it? So writes Rav Soloveitchik, Rashi comments that Moshe served everyone the food at this repast. Moshe was the one who served. One would have expected Yisro to be the one to serve the guests, it was he who offered the sacrifice. However, Yisro recognized that he was not in fact the true host. Since God owns everything, he in reality is the host. Moshe was therefore the most appropriate person to serve food, since Moshe was God's plenipotentiary. Fancy word for saying he was Moshe's representative. In an analogous way when Hashem visited Avraham, Avraham jumped up from his seat to receive the divine presence. Hashem in effect said, you're making a mistake Avraham, you consider yourself the host and I am the guest, but the opposite's true. I am the host and you are the guest. I am receiving you not in your tent, but it's my tent. This is my tent because nothing on earth is truly yours, everything is mine, so remain seated. And that's as the Rav is what's going on and the words לפני האלוקים lifnei ha'Elokim. Yes, they had a meal. And who was the host of the meal? Was it יתרו Yisro who brought the sacrifice? Was it אהרן Aharon who's the elder statesman? Is it Moshe? The answer is לפני האלוקים lifnei ha'Elokim. God is the host of every meal because this whole world and everything in it really belongs to God. But then Moshe, then the Rav continues, and he says, dining before God. לאכול לחם לפני האלוקים le'echol lechem lifnei ha'Elokim. How strange this phrase would have sounded to the Greeks of old. Thinking before rather with God was a truism in Greek philosophy, particularly among the Stoa, who considered the finite human intellect an infinitesimal component of the infinite divine logos, and who regarded thinking as a reflexive of the divine noetic gesture. Whenever man engages in cognition, he submerges in God, because only through him is acquisition of knowledge possible. To convive with God or to unite with him through such an unrefined carnal activity as eating would simply evoke ridicule. So in the Greek way of thinking about God and religion, you would never talk about eating לפני האלוקים lifnei ha'Elokim. You'd never talk about eating, being before God. What you do before God is think or philosophize. What you do before God is meditate or conceptualize. But the notion of a carnal act of eating, a mundane, material, base physical act of eating, to describe that as being before God, how is that before God? Yet, says Rav Soloveitchik, our religious conscience felt differently. One eats with God in his presence. How? By sacrificial action, which converts the food of man into the bread of God. Judaism developed a new institution, the סעודה seudah. It is neither an ordinary meal nor a feast, it is more than that. It is the crucible in which the bread of man is transposed into the bread of God, expressing the fellowship between God and man and participating of God in all human pursuits and activities. The realization of the idea of סעודה seudah can occur only when man eats differently from the animal, when he displays uniqueness with regard to the physiological processes which are required to satisfy the demands of his body. From this pasuk, the Gemara derives the maxim that whoever enjoys a meal in which a scholar is involved, שרוי sharuy, it is as if they enjoyed the radiance of the שכינה Shechinah. Rashi quotes this. Rashi writes, on this, מכאן שנהנה מסעודה שתלמיד חכם מסובים בה כאילו נהנה מזיו השכינה mikan sheneheneh miseudah shetalmid chacham mesubin bah ke'ilu neheneh miziv hashchinah. If you eat a meal where righteous people, it's as if you've enjoyed the radiance of the שכינה Shechinah. The word שרוי sharuy is derived from a phrase that appears in regard to a נזיר nazir who's prohibited from partaking in grape products. According to the במדבר Bamidbar, he must also not partake of משרת ענבים mishras anavim. The Gemara says it refers to bread soaked in wine. Just as bread absorbs wine, the divine presence permeates the meal through the participation of the scholar. I love this insight of the Rav. In fact, it's the basis of a lot of חסידות chasidus and חסידיק chasidic thinking, the idea of the שריים shirayim of the Rebbe, that when the Rebbe brings the right attitude to his eating, he transforms the food from a base animal act to an act of holiness and sanctity, and if you can imbibe part of his leftovers, then you are making contact with transformed food which has become a vehicle and an instrument of holiness. So in other words, we don't bifurcate our lives. It's not that religious activity for us happens in the shul or in the study hall and then when you eat, ooh, we stuff our face and we fress, we eat like animals, we eat like pigs. No, in the eating we reveal everything about who we are. We transform the act of eating to be לפני האלוקים lifnei ha'Elokim. לאכול לחם לפני האלוקים Le'echol lechem lifnei ha'Elokim. Think about this verse. לאכול לחם Le'echol lechem, we're eating bread, but לפני האלוקים lifnei ha'Elokim. So the way we eat and the quantity we eat and the style we eat and what we eat and with whom we eat and and what we talk about while we eat, all of it is able to transform something which is a carnal base physical act of eating to transform it to become לפני האלוקים lifnei ha'Elokim, something that in fact is happening in front of and before God. ויהי ממחרת Vayehi mimacharas. The Torah now tells us, pasuk yud gimmel, ויהי ממחרת וישב משה לשפוט את העם vayehi mimacharas vayeshev Moshe lishpot es ha'am. So much more I want to cover and so much time we're running out of. It was the next day and Moshe came to judge the people. ויעמוד העם על משה מן הבוקר עד הערב Vaya'amod ha'am al Moshe min haboker ad ha'arev. And as we said, Moshe comes and he offers us unsolicited advice. What precipitated it? Because he sees, he sees these crazy lines. And there was no fast pass. Actually, Rashi says there was a fast pass. People had a hierarchy in the order, in the lines. We gave a series of shiurim earlier in the year about פרוטקציה protektzia, rules of lines, the הלכתי halachic rules of lines. But anyway, so there's an enormous line and Yisro says, it's not right. You need to delegate because there's no way you could be a good listener. The question is, when did this all take place? So Rashi tells us, the word ממחרת mimacharas. When did it take place? It took place the day after. Whenever you see the words ממחרת mimacharas, the day after, it's a reference. Says Rashi, the day after what? ממחרת יום הכיפורים Mimacharas Yom HaKippurim. It's the day after Yom Kippur. The day after Yom Kippur. So the מפרשים mefarshim asks the following. This is in a ספר sefer called תפוחי חיים Tapuchei Chaim. This was pointed out to me by my friend Avi Tashman. תפוחי חיים Tapuchei Chaim, my old roommate from סמיכה smicha. And he says the following, the תפוחי חיים Tapuchei Chaim, written by Rav Chaim Alter of Karlsberg. And he says the following: הקשו המפרשים איזה משפט היה להם תיכף אחר גבול היום הקדוש יום הכיפורים hikshu hamfarshim eizeh mishpat hayah lahem teikef achar gevul hayom hakadosh Yom HaKippurim. Picture the scene for a moment. Moshe Rabbeinu has a line out his tent through the whole camp, thousands of people are waiting to speak to him. What do they want to speak to him about? They're not asking about a milchig fork in the fleishig dishwasher. What are they asking him about? What they're asking him about is, what they're asking him about is to adjudicate fights. There are conflicts, there are disputes taking place between people and they come to Moshe in order to resolve them. So, the מפרשים mefarshim, these commentators wonder, one second. There are thousands of people waiting in line for Moshe to resolve disputes and conflicts they're having, and when was this? The morning after Yom Kippur? Like Yom Kippur wasn't enough to make everyone let everything go? Yom Kippur didn't reprioritize everybody? Why are there all these disputes and conflicts to resolve ממחרת mimacharas, the day after Yom Kippur, the day after getting the tablets. So you're talking about, this is after Har Sinai, the greatest moment of divine revelation, the ultimate in the אילא ilah kumzits to be moved. You're talking about the day after Yom Kippur and there's still so many conflicts that need to be resolved? So the ספר תפוחי חיים Sefer Tapuchei Chaim answers based on an insight of the קאצקער רבי Kotsker Rebbe, a famous insight of the קאצקער Kotsker. The קאצקער Kotsker says in, in our parsha, יתרו Yisro tells Moshe you need to delegate and in order to delegate you need to choose qualified judges. What is the definition, what are the criteria of a qualified judge? What are the criteria of a qualified judge? So יתרו Yisro gives him a list of criteria. He's got to be wealthy so that he can't be swayed or bought off by money, he's got to be, Yisro gives a list of criteria. One of them is not אנשי שלום anshei shalom, people of peace. And the קאצקער Kotsker was bothered. Why wasn't אנשי שלום anshei shalom included in the list that Yisro is about to give him? Yisro tells him that the people have to be God-fearing, they have to despise money, they have to have their own money so that they can't be bought off. Why didn't he tell them they also have to be אנשי שלום anshei shalom, they have to be people of peace? That was the question that bothered the קאצקער Kotsker. So the קאצקער Kotsker says why? Because once we already said that they have to be יראי השם yirei Hashem and אנשי אמת anshei emes, so then we know they're going to be אנשי שלום anshei shalom. לא אמר יתרו לבחור אנשי שלום כי כאשר הם יראי השם ואנשי אמת אין מחלוקת וחילוקי דעות והשלום בא ממילא Lo amar Yisro livchor anshei shalom ki ka'asher hem yirei Hashem v'anshei emes, ein machlokes v'chilukei deos, v'hashalom ba mimeila. If you're people of truth and you're God fearing, then you're not going to have conflict. Conflict arises because of ego. So if you've subjugated and sublimated your ego, if you're God fearing, if you have awe of God and you're people of truth, then you're not going to have the conflict. וכל העם גם כן יבוא על מקומו בשלום, אבל שלום לבד אינו יתרון כי על ידי שקר וחניפה אפשר בקל להחיות בשלום עם כל אדם V'chol ha'am gam kein yavo al mekomo b'shalom, aval shalom levad eino yisron, ki al yedei sheker v'chanufa efshar b'kal l'hachyos b'shalom im kol adam. You know, through lies and false flattery, through manipulation, you could live peacefully with anybody, but that's not a real peace. A real peace, אבל כאן דווקא בקבלת הלוחות ואחר יום הכיפורים היו במדרגה כזאת שעסקו בחילוקי הדעות בדרך ישר ואמת aval kan davka b'kabbalas haluchos v'achar Yom HaKippurim hayu b'madregah kazos she'asku b'chilukei hadayos b'derech yosher v'emes. So when Moshe was resolving the conflicts between people, it wasn't financial disputes and it wasn't personal ego-driven conflict, it was that people said, I want to know the right hashkafa. We're having a debate right now. Should rabbis endorse candidates? Should we give land for peace? Should we, there's two legitimate points of view. And they came to Moshe to try to resolve it because that's the real shalom. A real shalom is when you're trying to resolve the truth, not when you have a shalom, a peace that's based on on false flattery and lies. הלכו למשה לברר האמת ולקבל עליהם כולם כאחד. אבל לפני יום זה לא היו במדרגה כזו שיוכלו לבוא לאחדות ביניהם Holchu l'Moshe l'varer ha'emes u'lekabel aleihem kulam ke'echad. Aval lifnei yom zeh lo hayu b'madregah kazo sheyuchlu lavo l'achdus beineihem. They couldn't come to that real unity. You know, we have we have a Federation that magnificently convenes all the rabbis several times a year, reform, conservative, orthodox, Chabad, they categorize Chabad in its own category, not me. And we get together and we have an amazing unity. In fact, our community won the unity prize in Yerushalayim. Representatives of our community flew to the president's home, Reuven Rivlin's home, President Rivlin's home, and received the unity prize for the unity that we have. But unity is easy when you do a joint Purim carnival. Unity is easy when you have a joint rally to stand up for Israel or against antisemitism. Can you have unity where you're debating, where you're debating very significant and real things? That's the real question of unity. So a unity that's based on on either superficial connection or a unity that's based on manipulation and false flattery is an easy unity. But a unity, says the קאצקער Kotsker, that's based on the ability to have legitimate real disagreements, the ability to connect to people even though you disagree vociferously and vehemently, that's a real unity. And that could only happen the day after Yom Kippur. That could only happen after receiving the לוחות luchos, that is his his suggestion. Okay, they stand underneath the mountain. They stand underneath the mountain, it's time for קבלת התורה Kabbalas HaTorah. And we know for three days they prepare, so much to say in this parsha. Three days they prepare and then Hashem holds a mountain over their head and he threatens them that if you receive it good, if not, שם תהא קבורתכם sham tehei k'vuraschem, then you're going to be buried there. כפה עליהם הר כגיגית Kafah aleihem har k'gigis, God held the mountain over our over our head. First of all, I want to tell you an amazing חיד\"א Chida. Rabbi Chaim Yosef David Azulai, an amazing comment of the חיד\"א Chida. גר שנתגייר כקטן שנולד דמי Ger shenisgayer k'katan shenolad dami. Says the חיד\"א Chida, you know that we have a we have an expression, a convert who converts is as if they're born again, they're born anew. And the truth is this has a major הלכתי halachic implication. The convert after the conversion is no longer הלכתי halachically related even to their immediate biological relatives. They're no technically they can marry their own sister because they're not related to her. Why? Because גר שנתגייר כקטן שנולד דמי ger shenisgayer k'katan shenolad dami, the convert who converted is as if they're born again, born anew. You can have a 90-year-old convert and they are exactly one day old on the day of their conversion. So listen to this חיד\"א Chida. And for my holy convert friends out there, I have the privilege of being the מנהל menahel of a בית דין beis din for conversion here in South Florida. We did three conversions a couple weeks ago. We meet regularly and we have the privilege of welcoming new Jews into the tribe, all qualified, worthy, all that we would be proud and are proud to have as as members who work hard and who earn their their place. So listen to this חיד\"א Chida. This is dedicated to them. He says, he says, גר שנתגייר כקטן שנולד דמי, בחון לשון הזהב שאמרו גר שנתגייר ולא אמרו גוי שנתגייר ger shenisgayer k'katan shenolad dami, b'chon lashon hazahav she'amru ger shenisgayer v'lo amru goy shenisgayer. Why doesn't it say גוי שנתגייר goy shenisgayer? It really the expression should be a non-Jew who converted. What do you mean a convert who converted? Did it ever bother you? It has struck me before that it's a very clumsy expression. It should be גוי שנתגייר goy shenisgayer, a non-Jew, a gentile who converted. Why do we say a convert who converted? Listen to what he says the חיד\"א Chida. להורות כי זה לפני מעמד הר סיני שקיבלנו התורה שם נמצא נפש הגר הזה, הבא אחר זמן רב מאוד להתגייר l'horos ki zeh lifnim mima'amad Har Sinai shekibalnu haTorah, sham nimtzah nefesh ha'ger hazeh, haba achar zman rav me'od l'hisgayer. Because maybe they just converted when they emerged from the mikvah today, but you know their soul has been Jewish since Har Sinai. They were at Har Sinai. We have a tradition, we have a a Medrash that tells us that every convert who ultimately converted, their soul was present at Har Sinai as well. I saw a comment from רבי עקיבא איגר Rabbi Akiva Eiger. רבי עקיבא איגר Rabbi Akiva Eiger had a tradition. He says that when God went nation to nation and offered the Torah and the other nations rejected, it means that the wholesale nation rejected, but there were individuals among those nations who said, I would accept it. I'd love this. I'd embrace it. I want to be part of it, but they were afraid to speak up for fear of the leaders of their nation who were rejecting it. Those individuals, they are the future converts who join our people. And so because at that time already they were already their souls were ready to to accept it, it means the soul of every ultimate convert was really present at Har Sinai. And that's why we have this expression. Not גוי שנתגייר goy shenisgayer, not a non-Jew who converted, but a גר שנתגייר ger shenisgayer, the convert who converted, because they've been a convert not only once they emerged from the mikvah, they were a convert since Har Sinai, their soul was always destined to convert. They've been a member of our people since we became a people. There was just a technicality that they had to undergo this process, but their soul actually has been part of our people since we became a people, since we stood side by side with them at Har Sinai. An amazing, amazing חיד\"א Chida. Rav Druk has a beautiful comment on this notion that we stood under the mountain and כפה עליהם הר כגיגית kafah aleihem har k'gigis. We don't have time for me to tell you because we're running out of time. So I'm going to save that one for next year. For an amazing כפה עליהם הר כגיגית kafah aleihem har k'gigis. He explains a a a line in דינו Dayenu in the Haggadah. אילו קרבנו לפני הר סיני Ilu kirvanu lifnei Har Sinai. God, if you only brought us before Har Sinai. And everybody knows the question, what do you mean, what would be the point of being brought before Har Sinai if we never got the Torah? So the usual answer everyone gives is because ויחן שם ישראל נגד ההר vayichan sham Yisrael neged hahar, we had אחדות achdus, we had this tremendous unity. So if we experienced unity and community, even if we didn't get the Torah, דיינו dayenu, that would have been enough. That's the classic answer everybody says at the seder. But Rav Druk has a different answer. He says, note it says אילו קרבנו ilu kirvanu להר סיני l'Har Sinai, it doesn't say להר סיני l'Har Sinai, it says לפני הר סיני lifnei Har Sinai. It doesn't say if you only joined us to get the Torah, it says if you only brought us to the point that that happened before the giving of the Torah. What happened before the giving of the Torah? God held the mountain over our head and threatened us. And that is what the Haggadah is referring to. There was something special about that moment. The experience of his holding the mountain over our head was impactful, was transformational. There was something so significant about it that we say דיינו Dayenu that and enough would be enough for us to be grateful for, even if we didn't afterwards get the Torah. What is it that was so special about that moment? That, you'll have to tune in to Parshas Yisro next year because we're running out of time for this year in order to be able to say it. You'll have to come back to next year. So let me just end with another message, another insight of the great רבנו בחיי Rabbeinu Bachya, רבנו בחיי Rabbeinu Bachya. At towards the end of our parsha. Towards the end of our parsha. I said there was so much more to talk about. Breaks my heart. If you would stay here, I'd speak for two hours, for three hours, because each parsha, it's just, it's a disservice to the parsha. Anyway, towards the very end of the parsha, now that we've received the Torah, we start to examine its laws. Page 412 in the Artscroll Stone Chumash, ויאמר השם אל משה כה תאמר אל בני ישראל אתם ראיתם כי מן השמים דברתי עמכם vayomer Hashem el Moshe, koh tomar el Bnei Yisrael, atem re'isem ki min hashamayim dibarti imachem. Moshe, speak to the Jewish people and tell them, you saw that I God spoke to you directly in an unprecedented revelation, I spoke to you. לא תעשון איתי אלוהי כסף ואלוהי זהב לא תעשון לכם Lo sa'asun iti, elohei kesef v'elohei zahav lo sa'asun lachem. God says, you saw me, you experienced me, you've tasted the real deal, the genuine thing, so therefore, do not make an image of what is me. Gods of silver and gods of gold, do not make for yourselves. God says, now that you could touch the real thing, now that you experienced the real thing, don't make images of gold, don't make images of silver. רבנו בחיי Rabbeinu Bachya, רבנו בחיי Rabbeinu Bachya, however you pronounce his name, has an amazing comment. It's פרק כ' Perek Chaf, פסוק כ' Pasuk Chaf, and he says the following: יש לפרש לא תעשון אתי, דהיינו כשתם עומדים בתפילה אתי, לא תחשבו בכסף וזהב אשר עמכם, שאם תעשו כן, מה אני עליכם, כאילו עשיתם אלוהי כסף ואלוהי זהב Yesh l'fareish lo sa'asun iti, don't do to me, k'she'atem omdim b'tfilah iti, lo tachshevu b'chesef v'zahav asher imachem, she'im ta'asu kein, ma'aleh ani aleichem ke'ilu asisem elohei chesef v'elohei zahav. Says רבנו בחיי Rabbeinu Bachya, here's how he interprets the pasuk. לא תעשון אתי Lo sa'asun iti, when you're supposed to be with me, when is it we're with God? Of course, it's every moment of every day. But when are we with God? When we're davening. So when you're supposed to be with me, don't think about gold and silver. When you're supposed to be with me, don't be obsessed with money and your portfolio and the stock market. Don't think about what kind of car you drove to shul that day or the house that you want to buy. לא תעשון אתי Lo sa'asun iti. When you're with me, don't be thinking about material physical things, because if you do, then you've made אלהי כסף ואלהי זהב elohei kesef v'elohei zahav. You've turned the gold and silver into God. There was a Rav who once went to a wealthy individual to solicit a donation to support his communal efforts. But the wealthy person refused to give. And rather than react with disappointment, the rabbi simply led the wealthy person to the window and asked him to describe what he saw. So the man said, I see people walking in the street and I see children playing in a playground. So the rabbi led the man in the home to a mirror. And he said, okay, tell me now, what do you see? So the man said, now I see myself. So the rabbi said the following. He said, the window and the mirror, they're both made of glass. When you look through the clear window, you saw other people. But when you look through the glass that was coated with silver, all you could see was yourself. That's the difference between the window and the mirror. So this amazing רבנו בחיי Rabbeinu Bachya. רבנו בחיי Rabbeinu Bachya says, לא תעשון אתי lo sa'asun iti, when you're supposed to be with me, don't be obsessed and consumed with physical material things, because then you've turned those physical material things into a god and you have abandoned me. Thank you again to our sponsors. If you'd like to sponsor a future edition, again, Lee L E E at bsr online.org. Next week, we're running a big campaign, BRS+, BRS Global. If you're listening and you're not a member of BRS but you want to be part of the BRS Global community, then watch and listen for that opportunity. And we thank you in advance for your participation. Looking forward to continuing to learn tomorrow morning, 10 minutes of meeting 8:15. Living with Emunah at 8:45. Tomorrow night we go behind the bima with Congressman Ted Deutch and his wife Jill. That's at 9:00 p.m. tomorrow night. Until next time, stay happy, stay healthy, and stay holy.
