Transcript
Good morning, welcome back to פרשה Parsha perspectives for today. First of all, some housekeeping. This is our last פרשה שיעור Parsha shiur until after תשעה באב Tisha B'Av. We're taking a break for a few weeks, so please make a note. This is our last פרשה שיעור Parsha shiur until the week following תשעה באב Tisha B'Av. Hopefully we'll all be in ירושלים Yerushalayim celebrating the rebuilt בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash. But we will resume the Tuesday morning following תשעה באב Tisha B'Av. If you'd like to listen to past שיעורים shiurim on the פרשיות parshios that we're not going to be streaming live, you can find them on YU Torah, you can find them on RabbiEffronGoldberg.org. I want to thank as always our generous sponsors of the series for the year, Becky and Avi Katz, my dear friends in memory of Becky's father, לעילוי נשמת דוד בן מנחם מנש l'iluy nishmas Dovid ben Menachem Manish, David Grossman, who was a very special man. We thank them for their generosity for sponsoring the פרשה Parsha perspective שיעור shiur each year, and hopefully, please God, it will continue.We have the privilege this week of reading and learning, of being transformed and inspired, of being enriched and empowered by פרשת חקת Parshas Chukas. Page 838 in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash. וידבר ה' אל משה ואל אהרן לאמר Va'yedaber Hashem el Moshe v'el Aharon leimor. God speaks to Moshe and to Aaron saying. זאת חקת התורה אשר צוה ה' לאמר, דבר אל בני ישראל ויקחו אליך פרה אדמה תמימה אשר אין בה מום אשר לא עלה עליה עול Zos chukas haTorah asher tziva Hashem leimor, daber el Bnei Yisrael v'yikchu eilecha parah adumah temima asher ein ba mum, asher lo alah aleha ol. First of all, it's interesting, commentators ask, we're not going to get into this, why the word לאמר leimor is repeated. First God spoke to Moshe and Aaron, לאמר leimor, saying. And then he told them this is the חוק chok of the Torah that God commanded, לאמר leimor, saying. Why the redundancy? We already had the word לאמר leimor once. Why do we need the word לאמר leimor a second time so soon? I'll let you offer your own answers. We're introduced here to the quintessential חוק chok, the ultimate חוק chok. And that is the חוק chok of פרה אדומה parah adumah, paradoxical. It did complicated or it was confusing even to the wisest of all men, שלמה המלך Shlomo HaMelech who proclaimed, he said שלמה המלך Shlomo HaMelech, אחכמה echkemah, he wanted to be wise, והיא רחוקה ממני v'hi rechokah mimeni. I can't understand it. I can't digest it. I can't analyze it. I don't understand it. How does it make sense? It's paradoxical. The person who is pure purifies another, becomes impure. The impure pure person becomes pure. It makes no sense. If you're able to purify the other, you should remain pure yourself. Why and how in the process of purifying the other does one become impure? It's the ultimate חוק chok. And it's not only a חוק chok, זאת חקת התורה zos chukas haTorah. It should say זאת חקת הפרה אדומה zos chukas ha'parah adumah, this is the law of the פרה אדומה parah adumah. It's a חוק chok. It is the incomprehensible or inexplicable, un-understandable specific law of the פרה אדומה parah adumah. Why are we generalizing זאת חקת zos chukas, not just a חוק chok in general, זאת חקת התורה zos chukas haTorah, of the Torah at large. Also a great question. But let's dive right into Rav Druk. We have many, many דברי תורה divrei Torah to share. We've been learning Rav Druk this year in איש תמיד Ish Tomid, and he says the following. He quotes רש\"י Rashi. זאת חקת התורה, לפיכך השטן ואומות העולם מונים את ישראל לומר, מה המצוה הזאת ומה טעם יש בה? Zos chukas haTorah. Lefichach ha'Satan v'umos ha'olam monin es Yisrael lomar, mah ha'mitzvah ha'zos u'mah taam yesh bah? The nations of the world, and the nations have an amazing accomplice, the שטן Satan himself. They are busy trying to challenge the Jewish people. What is the nature of this מצוה mitzvah? Bizarre, inexplicable, there's no explanation. It makes no sense. You take a red heifer that doesn't even have two non-red hairs, has to be a certain age, certain appearance. You burn it, you take the ashes, you sprinkle it. When you sprinkle it, the impure become pure, the pure becomes impure. It makes no sense. מה טעם יש בזה? Ma taam yesh bozeh? What's the reason? לפיכך Lefichach, and therefore the Torah characterizes it, therefore the Torah qualifies it as חוקה chukah. גזירה היא מלפני Gzeirah hi milfanai, says God, this is a גזירה gzeirah. This is an edict. God says I am ordaining this on all of you, and don't try to understand it. Don't try to explain it. Don't try to digest it. I'm the king. When I say jump, you say, how high? I'm telling you this is a מצוה mitzvah, this is a procedure, this is a ritual what you need to do. ואין לך רשות להרהר אחריה V'ein lecha reshus le'harheir achareha. You do not have permission to try to understand it. And asks Rav Druk the following. יש להקשות Yesh le'hakshos, one can't help but be bothered. ממתי אומות העולם מתעניינים במצוותיהם של ישראל? Mi'mosei umos ha'olam misanyanim b'mitzvosayhem shel Yisrael? This רש\"י Rashi, the nations of the world, since when are the nations of the world trying to attack the Jewish people because of the טעמי המצוות taamei ha'mitzvos? Are the nations of the world really making their way through פרשת חקת Parshas Chukas? Are the nations of the world, are the anti-Semites of the world, are those who challenge us in the world, is this their number one challenge? Is this their number 100 challenge? Are they really raising the פרה אדומה parah adumah and asking, doesn't make any sense? Since when do we worry? וכי אכפת להם איזה מצוות יש לישראל? Vechi ichpas lahem eizeh mitzvos yesh le'Yisrael? Nations of the world really care, anti-Semites really care about our מצוות mitzvos? There's no, there's no injured party. We're not talking about PETA, who are worried about the perfect red calf and what happens to it. The nations of the world all of a sudden care about this מצוה mitzvah? וביותר תמוה U'v'yoter tamua, and moreover, the שטן Satan, the evil inclination, the יצר הרע yetzer hara, this מלאך המות Malach HaMaves, tries to seduce us to have poor judgment. The יצר הרע yetzer hara, the שטן Satan is usually associated with negative behavior. The שטן Satan tries to entice us, gives us an appetite to make wrong decisions, give into that temptation, give into that animal instinct, given to that base desire. Here the שטן Satan is not trying to distract us. Here the שטן Satan, the imagery of the שטן Satan is invoked not in the context of trying to get us to do the wrong thing. Here the imagery of the שטן Satan is invoked as challenging us as to what a מצוה mitzvah means. Since when is the שטן Satan in the business of טעמי המצוות taamei ha'mitzvos? So the רש\"י Rashi as a whole is bizarre. רש\"י Rashi tells us the nations of the world want to know what is the reason for this מצוה mitzvah, and the שטן Satan joins in the chorus and says, yeah, what is the reason for this bizarre מצוה mitzvah? So God says, I'll present it as a חוק chok. That's my... The nations of the world are asking? Since when is the שטן Satan... שטן Satan's in the business of getting us to give into the יצר הרע yetzer hara. שטן Satan's in the business of challenging us about what a מצוה mitzvah means. What in the world is going on here? Says Rav Druk, ונראה לבאר כל זה, הנה כל ענין מצוות של פרה אדומה הוא כפרה על חטא העגל v'neireh l'vareir kol zeh, hinei kol inyan mitzvos shel parah adumah hu kaparah al cheit ha'eigel. We know that the פרה אדומה parah adumah is the atonement, the פרה אדומה parah adumah is the repair for the mistake that we made with the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel. We cheated on God, unfaithfulness, infidelity, we worshipped an עגל eigel, we worshipped a calf. As the מדרש Medrash says, משל לולד שטינף פלטרין של מלך mashal l'vlad she'tinif paltrin shel melech. The מדרש Medrash, in fact, compares it. A child, a child who soils the courtyard of the king. אמר המלך תבוא אמו ותקנח צואת בנה Amar ha'melech, tovo imo v'tikanach tzoas bna. Let the mother come and clean up for the child. Child makes a mess, the child soils. כך אמר הקדוש ברוך הוא Kach amar HaKadosh Baruch Hu, תבוא פרה אדומה ותכפר על מעשה העגל tovo parah adumah, u'tkaper al ma'aseh ha'eigel. So the imagery of the פרה parah, the cow, and the עגל eigel, the calf. The calf made a mess. Our worship of the calf created a mess for us, and therefore the mother of the calf needs to come up and clean up the mess of the calf. So the פרה אדומה parah adumah is the response, the antidote. פרה אדומה Parah adumah is the repair. It's cleaning up the mess of the calf. On the other hand, שלמה המלך Shlomo HaMelech said, I referenced it in קהלת פרק ז Koheles perek zayin. אמרתי אחכמה Amarti echkemah, I said I'm going to be wise. I'm going to apply my intellect, I'm going to apply my genius, my IQ, but והיא רחוקה ממני v'hi rechokah mimeni. No matter how hard I tried, no matter how much I investigated, I just can't access the truth, the understanding, the deeper reason of what the פרה אדומה parah adumah is all about. And the גמרא Gemara in יומא Yoma tells us, דרשו זאת הפרה אדומה שהיא חוק darshu zos ha'parah adumah, she'hi chok. The גמרא יומא Gemara Yoma tells us, that פסוק pasuk in קהלת Koheles is talking, what does it mean when שלמה המלך Shlomo HaMelech gave up, he threw up his hands and he said, I just don't get it. I just can't understand no matter how hard I try. The גמרא יומא Gemara Yoma tells us, י\"ד yud daled, he was talking about the law of פרה אדומה parah adumah. So I don't understand. שלמה המלך Shlomo HaMelech didn't realize? What do you mean? You know what the פרה אדומה parah adumah is here for? It's here to clean up the mess of the calf. Why didn't he know the מצוה mitzvah of פרה אדומה parah adumah cleans up for the mistake, the poor judgment, indiscretion of the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel? אלא התשובה היא, גם עם ישראל וגם אומות העולם חשבו, כי טעמה של מצוות פרה אדומה היא, כדי שתבוא האם ותקנח צואת בנה. ולכן אומות העולם בקשו שעם ישראל יאמרו בפה מלא שזה הטעם Ela ha'tshuva hi, gam Am Yisrael v'gam umos ha'olam chashvu, ki taama shel mitzvas parah adumah hi, kedai she'tavo ha'eim v'tikanach tzoas bna. V'lachen umos ha'olam bikshu she'Am Yisrael yomru b'peh malei she'zeh ha'taam. Why are the nations of the world involved? Why are our enemies and anti-Semites, since when do they care about פרה אדומה parah adumah? The answer is, because they want to, they want to challenge, they want to prosecute the Jewish people. Do you know how you prosecute the Jewish people? They said, Jewish people, what's the reason for the פרה אדומה parah adumah? They were trying to trigger us. They were trying to catch us. They were trying to, what do they call it, gaslight us. They were trying to say, hey, how come you need this פרה אדומה parah adumah? What's the role of the פרה אדומה parah adumah? And they wanted us to answer, you know why we need the red heifer? The red heifer, we made a mistake, we had terrible judgment, we cheated on God, we practiced infidelity, we were poorly behaved, and therefore we have to undergo this process of the red heifer. The nations of the world, there was a role, there was room for the anti-Semite. The שטן Satan was trying to prosecute and persecute us by getting us to admit, by getting us to confess and say the reason we need the law of the red heifer, the פרה אדומה parah adumah, is because we made a mistake, because we cheated on God. אומות העולם בקשו Umos ha'olam bikshu, that we'd say it בפה מלא b'peh malei, ויעוררו קטרוג בשמים על זה v'ye'orreru katrog b'shamayim al zeh. They wanted to prosecute us in heaven. ויובן מעתה מדוע אומות העולם והשטן מצרים את ישראל דוקא במצוה זו V'yuvan mei'ata ma'dua umos ha'olam v'ha'Satan metzarim es Yisrael davka b'mitzvah zu. And now we understand why specifically, out of all 613 commandments that they could have challenged and they could have prosecuted us with, why they come at us with specifically the מצוה mitzvah of the red heifer. The answer is because it's that מצוה mitzvah which reveals, it's that מצוה mitzvah which would have pressured us to admit, which would have made us confess the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel, the mistake of the golden calf. ולכך שולחים כדי שישראל יאמרו V'lakach sholchim kedai she'Yisrael yomru, and therefore they challenged us so that we would have to respond, we'd have to admit, we'd have to confess it out loud. זוהי גם כן הגשה Zohi gam kein ha'gasha, and that's what it means that דוקא יאמרו בפיהם davka yomru b'fihem. מונים את ישראל לאמר Monin es Yisrael leimor. They pressured us, they pushed us, they tried to entice us to get us to say it, בפה מלא b'peh malei, out loud, they wanted us to articulate our mistake of the עגל eigel. ולכך אמר הקדוש ברוך הוא V'lakach amar HaKadosh Baruch Hu, God says, hey, my children, hey Jewish people, I got your back. זאת חקת התורה. גזירה מלפני Zos chukas haTorah. Gzeirah milfanai. No, this is a גזירה gzeirah before me. אין רשות להרהר אחריה Ein reshus le'harheir achareha. You cannot try to understand, you cannot try to explain it. So מכיוון שכך נודע מעתה כי לא זה הטעם שתבוא אם ותקנח צואת בנה אלא היא נחשבת לחוק שטעמו נעלם מאיתנו Mikeivan she'kach nodea mei'ata ki lo zeh ha'taam she'tavo eim v'tikanach tzoas bna, ela hi nechshevet l'chok she'taamo ne'elam me'itanu. You need to know that really this מצוה mitzvah, while there's a cute play on words, פרה parah and עגל eigel, while there's a cute association of the mother cow and the calf, don't try to understand the ways of God. God says I'm omnipotent, I'm infinite, I'm perfect, I'm all knowing. I've existed forever, I will be here forever. Don't try to understand my ways. Don't try to understand my directives. Know that I'm coming from an infinite omnipotent place and I'm asking you or telling you to do this. וממילא כך אין אומות העולם מצר לאיתנו בשאלה זו U'mimela kach ein umos ha'olam metzar l'eitanu b'sheila zu. So God had our back and he totally disarmed our anti-semitic threatening friends. He totally disarmed and took away their ability to try to indict, to try to prosecute us by saying, don't try to explore the reason. אין לנו רשות להרהר Ein lanu reshus le'harheir. You don't have permission to try to understand it. ובזה מיושב גם כן שאין סתירה U'v'zeh meyushav gam kein she'ein stira. So there's no contradiction for שלמה המלך Shlomo HaMelech. On the one hand, שלמה המלך Shlomo HaMelech understood the mother's cleaning up for the child, but is that the reason for the מצוה mitzvah? It happens to be, when we observe it, the mother is cleaning up for the child, but that's not the reason. And we're not entitled to try to explore the reason. והיא רחוקה ממני V'hi rechokah mimeni, it's too far. Why do I enjoy this דבר תורה dvar Torah? Why is it important to me to share? What is the פרשה Parsha perspective for us for today? I think that this insight reminds us that when we go through challenges in life, and this year the Jewish people saw several challenging situations, whether it was the 45 people who died in מירון Meron, whether it was the rockets that rained down on the heads of our brothers and sisters, whether it was the tragic losses due to Corona, the worldwide pandemic, whether it was the bleacher collapse in Karlin-Stolin, whatever the challenges the Jewish people have faced, are we in the business of trying to say definitively, conclusively, and this is why God does what he does? And this is the message for us, and this is what God wants us to take. We're not in that business. If שלמה המלך Shlomo HaMelech, the king, the wisest of all men, said, I tried to explore, I tried to understand, I tried to analyze, והיא רחוקה ממני v'hi rechokah mimeni. I'm not God. I'm not infinite. I'm not omnipotent. I don't have that view and that perspective. I don't look down at the world from that perch. And therefore I cannot say I understand. We're not asked nor are we entitled, as רש\"י Rashi said, אין לנו להרהר ein lanu le'harheir. We're not allowed to, אין לך רשות להרהר אחריה ein lecha reshus le'harheir achareha. We don't have permission. We don't have license. Now, do we have to act? You have to observe the פרה אדומה parah adumah. We have to grow, we have to improve, we have to take upon things for ourselves. We have to ask not why, but for what, not למה lama, but למה lema. Of course, we have to react. Of course, it should inspire us to be better. Of course, it should motivate us to try to improve. But to definitively or conclusively point, put a finger and say, this is why God did what he did. שלמה המלך Shlomo HaMelech couldn't figure it out. We can't figure it out when it comes to the law of פרה אדומה parah adumah, and we can't figure it out when it comes to some of the tragedies in our world. So it's not a contradiction. It's not a contradiction on the one hand to say, let the mother clean up for the child, on the other hand, to say, but we don't understand the reasons for God's rules. I want to suggest to you my own interpretation, that what is the connection, the association? How here is the mother cleaning up for the child? Is it just a cute play on words, פרה parah and עגל eigel, the mother cow and the calf, or is there a deeper connection? We've studied many times back to פרשת כי תשא Parshas Ki Sisa, what was the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel? Where did we go wrong? What mistake did we make? So according to Rav Yehuda HaLevi, according to the Kuzari, the mistake that we made was we didn't cheat on God. We did not have an affair on the side on God. The עגל eigel was not an alternative to God. We desperately were trying to connect with God. We made the mistake of needing a physical means, of needing a physical mechanism. We were looking for something tangible, palpable. Until then we had משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu. Moshe was the expression of God in this world, and Moshe communicated the word and the will of God in this world, and Moshe was our conduit and our connection to God. But when Moshe was on top of the mountain, and when the Jewish people miscalculated, and we thought he wasn't coming back, they said, now what? We need something tangible. We need something to look at, to touch, to listen to. We need some manifestation to connect something tangible and palpable to feel God's presence. So they built an עגל eigel, not as an alternative to God, not in a as a way of cheating on God, but in an effort to connect to God, it was misguided. It was wrong. Says the Kuzari, that was the mistake. We are not allowed to be too inventive. We're not allowed to be too entrepreneurial. We're not allowed to be too creative or independently thinking when it comes to connecting with God. He gave us 613 מצוות mitzvos, and within those מצוות mitzvos, we have different traditions and we have different customs. There are 70 paths of Torah, but we have to be within the מצוות mitzvos, within the 613 commandments. We are not entitled to design, to creatively make up our own. We're not allowed. That was the mistake. No matter how noble the intent, no matter how pure the motive, no matter how strong the desire to be closer to God, we cannot be too inventive or creative that I want to grow close to God in this way. Nadav and Avihu made the same mistake. They brought קטורת ketores, they brought incense on the inauguration day of the tabernacle that they weren't commanded, and therefore they left this world, they were struck down tragically because there's there is room for creativity within religious practice, but there's not room for too much creativity. There are boundaries to the religious creativities that we can practice. So perhaps here, essentially, what is the ultimate antidote to a mistake because we needed to understand? What is the ultimate antidote to a mistake because we demanded that we comprehend, we understand it had to meet our needs, the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel? The ultimate antidote is חקת התורה chukas haTorah, the quintessential חוק chok, פרה אדומה parah adumah. When we are willing to observe something that we don't understand, when we're willing to observe something that we can't comprehend, that is a testament to our commitment to all of מצוות mitzvos, even the ones we do understand. That's what I think it's the Or HaChaim, that's what others explain. That's why it's called זאת חקת התורה zos chukas haTorah, not זאת חקת פרה אדומה zos chukas parah adumah. It's חקת התורה chukas haTorah because you know when you're willing to do the things you don't understand, it shows that even the things you do understand, you're not doing it because you understand it, but all that we do, we're doing in our devotion, our commitment, in our dedication to God. Last week on Behind the Bima, we had Beatie Deutsch, who is the accomplished marathon winner in several marathons, lives in Israel, is competing for the was competing and will compete again for the Olympics. An amazing woman, she runs in a skirt and with her with her arms covered and her head covered, and really difficult and challenging, but is committed. So she was talking on the podcast. It's worth listening to Behind the Bima last week, BehindtheBima.com. You can find it. She was talking about she's disadvantaged running that way. She still wins and she still competes. She's disadvantaged. Why does she do it? Where does the commitment to modesty come from? And she likened it to, you know, she would she would throw her clothing over the door to dry after a run, and it bothered her husband, he asked her not to. So at first she said to him, what's the problem? It doesn't bother me. And then she stopped herself and realized, doesn't bother me, but that's not the point. It bothers you, and I care about you. So whether I understand it and whether it bothers me or not, if I'm committed to a relationship, it's not about what I understand or what bothers me, it's about what you've communicated is your need, is your want, is something that bothers you. And when she realized that in that conversation, that momentary exchange with her husband, she says she realized that's true about Torah and Mitzvos. So even on the days that she doesn't feel the beauty of modesty, even on the days that she desperately wishes she weren't wearing that clothing that is putting her at a disadvantage, that's making it harder to run, but it's about God. We're in a relationship. And when you're in a relationship, it's not all about what I understand, it's not all about what are my needs. That's why it's called זאת חקת התורה zos chukas haTorah. Because our attitude to the moments when we don't understand, our attitude to the moments when that doesn't bother me, so if it doesn't bother me, so then do I keep doing it? Or even if it doesn't bother me, but if it bothers you, then it bothers me. חוק Chok, when God says, you're not going to get this one. It's a test. Let's see. Are you all in even when it doesn't bother you? Are you all in even when you don't understand? And perhaps that is the greatest atonement. That is the power of the mother atoning for the calf, because the greatest antidote, the greatest response, the greatest repair to the mistake that we made with the עגל eigel, which was a mistake of a craving, of a need to know, to understand, to comprehend, for it to meet our needs, the greatest antidote is to do a חוק chok, is to observe something when it is beyond our comprehension. All that is number one. Number two, even though there were like three or four things in number one, but nevertheless, number two. זאת חקת התורה Zos chukas haTorah. רש\"י Rashi tells us, שהשטן ואומות העולם she'ha'Satan v'umos ha'olam. Now the גמרא Gemara in קידושין Kiddushin tells us the following. The גמרא Gemara in קידושין Kiddushin דף ל' עמוד א' daf lamed aleph. The גמרא Gemara in קידושין Kiddushin דף ל' עמוד א' daf lamed aleph says, אמר רבי יהודה בר שמעון Amar Rabbi Yehuda bar Shimon, שאלו את רבי אליעזר עד היכן כיבוד אב ואם sha'alu es Rabbi Eliezer, ad heichan kibud av v'em. How far does the commandment, the מצוה mitzvah, we have an obligation or responsibility of כיבוד אב ואם kibud av v'em. We have to honor our mother and our father, they gave us life. And the גמרא Gemara says when you honor your mother and father, you've honored me, says God. When you dishonor or known today as diss, your mother or father, you have dishonored and you have dissed me, says God. So how far does that מצוה mitzvah go? How far? Do we have to spend our money or their money? Do we have to inconvenience ourselves? How far must we sacrifice? How selfless must we be for כיבוד אב ואם kibud av v'em? So he answered רבי אליעזר Rabbi Eliezer, he said, צאו וראו מה עשה עובד כוכבים אחד לאביו באשקלון tzu u'reu ma asa oved kochavim echad l'aviv b'Ashkelon. If you want to know how far it goes, check out this gentile, check out this non-Jew, check out this idolater in Ashkelon, דמא בן נתינה שמו Dama ben Nesina shmo. His name is Dama ben Nesina. בקשו ממנו חכמים אבנים לאפוד בשישים ריבוא שכר Bikshu mimenu chachamim avanim l'eifod b'shishim ribo schar. The rabbis came to him because he had access to special gems, special jewels for the breastplate of the כהן גדול kohein gadol, for the אפוד eifod, and they were willing to pay very hefty. ורב כהנא מתני בשם רבי והיה מפתח והמפתח מונח תחת מראשיותיו של אביו ולא ציירו V'rav Kahana maskin b'shem Rabbi v'haya mafteach, v'ha'mafteach munach tachas me'rashe'osav shel aviv v'lo tzi'aro. The key to be able to get those gems was under his head's father, the father of the head of his father. His father was napping, so he could wake his father, disturb his father, get the key and be able to turn the huge profit, or not. לשנה אחרת נתן הקדוש ברוך הוא שכרו שנולדה לו פרה אדומה בעדרו L'shanah acheres nasan lo HaKadosh Baruch Hu scharo she'noldah lo parah adumah b'edro, that he merited because of his extraordinary honoring of his father, he merited that he had a פרה אדומה parah adumah. פרה אדומה Parah adumah is a red heifer that is purely red. נכנסו חכמי ישראל אצלו Nichnesu chachmei Yisrael etzlo. So the rabbis came to him. אמר להם יודע אני בכם שאם אני מבקש מכם כל ממון שבעולם אתם נותנים לי Amar lahem, yodea ani bachem she'im ani mevakesh michem kol mamon she'ba'olam, atem nosnim li. I know this is so rare, so unusual, that if I ask you for all the money in the world, you'd be willing to pay it in order to buy this פרה אדומה parah adumah. אלא אין אני מבקש מכם אלא אותו ממון שהפסדתי בשביל כבוד אבא Ela ein ani mevakesh michem, ela oso mamon she'hifsadeti bishvil kvod aba. All I want is the money I lost out when I let my father sleep and I didn't wake him up in order to get the key, in order to sell the gems. אמר רבי חנינא ומה מי שאינו מצווה ועושה כך מצווה ועושה על אחת כמה וכמה V'amar Rabbi Chanina, u'mah mi she'eino metzuveh v'oseh kach, metzuveh v'oseh al achas kama v'kama. If a gentile of a non-Jew, it's not one of the seven Noahide laws, you're not obligated according to the Noahide laws in honoring parent, you can't dishonor, can't be rude to anybody, but there's no specific obligation to honor parents. It's not among the seven Noahide laws. So here's a gentile who honors his father in extraordinary fashion, even when he's not commanded, all the more so we who are bound by Torah, all the more so we who are commanded should excel in this מצוה mitzvah. So לכאורה יש לעיין במעשה זו lechora yesh l'iyun b'ma'aseh zu. asks Rav Druk the following. מפני מה זכה דמה בן נתינה דוקא לשכר זו Mipnei mah zacha Dama ben Nesina davka l'schar zu. Why was that the merit? He didn't wake his father, he didn't disturb his father to get the key to access the gems to turn a profit. And what was the reward? God said, red heifer. You will grow a red heifer and you'll turn a big profit that you'll make up what you lost with the gems by selling that red heifer. ולמה לא דרך אחר? למה תן לו שכרו במצוותיו? מדוע קיבל שכרו דוקא בדרך זו? V'lama lo derech acher? Lama ten lo scharo b'mitzvosav? Madua kibel scharo davka b'derech zu? Why didn't God make him win the lottery? Why didn't God make him do make him an incredible stock investment? Why didn't God make him short the market when everyone else went long? Why didn't God let him make up that money in some other way? Why was specifically the reward for not waking his father, פרה אדומה parah adumah? Says Rav Druk the following. נראה הביאור כי בשעה שקיים דמה בן נתינה מצוה זו של כיבוד אב ואם נתעורר קטרוג גדול על ישראל Neira ha'biur ki b'sha'ah she'ki'eim Dama ben Nesina mitzvah zu shel kibud av v'em, nis'orer katrog gadol al Yisrael. because in the moment that Dama ben Nesina displayed this extraordinary honor for his father, again, the prosecutor, the prosecuting began to speak against the Jewish people. And he said, here this non-Jew, this idolater is excelling in honoring his father. He's willing to forego, he's willing to forfeit all this money, all in order to honor his father. What about the Jewish people? Where's their honor? Are they willing to go that far? Are they willing to forfeit? לפיכך, בכדי להסיר קטרוג זה, ציווה הקדוש ברוך הוא לישראל מצוות פרה אדומה Lefichach, b'chdei l'hasir katrog zeh, tziva HaKadosh Baruch Hu l'Yisrael mitzvas parah adumah. In order to remove this prosecuting notion against the Jewish people because Dama ben Nesina excelled, therefore the reward was specifically a פרה אדומה parah adumah. Why? ואף כל ממון שבעולם לא היו משלמים כדי לקחת הפרה, נתן הקדוש ברוך הוא לדמה בן נתינה פרה אדומה, שיבואו ישראל לקנות ממנו בדם מרובים V'af kol mamon she'ba'olam lo hayu meshalmim kedei l'kachas ha'parah, nasan HaKadosh Baruch Hu l'Dama ben Nesina parah adumah, she'yavo'u Yisrael liknos mimenu b'damim merubim. Because now the Jewish people would come and it would be they would be asked to spend an exorbitant amount of money. And that would eliminate, that would remove the קטרוג katrog. That would eliminate the prosecuting angel. Why? Because דמה בן נתינה Dama ben Nesina was willing to forfeit money to honor his father. Honoring your father is a logical מצוה mitzvah. If I were to ask you, do you need the Torah to tell you to honor your father and mother? No, it's logical, it's rational. He look at this generation doesn't always look so logical and rational, but in theory, it's logical and it's rational. The people who gave us life, we have to show them respect. People who gave us the very life that we have, we have to express our gratitude. It's a מצוה שכלית mitzvah sichlis, it's a rational, logical מצוה mitzvah. We don't need God to command it in order to have discovered it. So Dama ben Nesina, he earned his he earned his reward for doing something which is logical. But when we came and we were willing to pay whatever it took in order to get the פרה אדומה parah adumah, we were showing that we were willing to spend money, we were willing to forfeit money, we were willing to lose money for something we don't understand. And that removed the קטרוג katrog. That removed the prosecuting angel against us. And therefore maybe that is the connection between the two. Very good. Continuing the Torah. Here the story of the פרה אדומה parah adumah. We discussed, I believe last year, some of the other ingredients to the פרה אדומה parah adumah that go into it, the עץ ארז eitz erez, אזוב ושני תולעת eizov u'shni tola'as. We know that it's burned, and then we take wood, cedar, hisp, and crimson thread, and you throw it into the mixture into this recipe, sprinkled onto the impure person. We discussed the symbolism and significance of those other ingredients, I believe, last year. Moving along to פרק כ' פסוק י\"א Perek Chaf, Pasuk Yud Aleph. Turn the page, 840 in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash. ולקחו לטמא מעפר שריפת החטאת, ונתן עליו מים חיים אל כלי V'lakchu la'tamei mei'afar sreifas ha'chatas, v'nasan alav mayim chaim el keli. We take from the contaminated person some of the ashes of the burning of the animal, and we put upon it spring water in a vessel. The Holy Vizhnitzer Rebbe, ולקחו לטמא מעפר, עפר רומז לענווה ושפלות רוח V'lakchu la'tamei mei'afar, afar romez l'anava v'shiflus ruach. Why are we taking also from the dust? We're taking from the ashes and from the dust. What does ashes and dust reference? Humility, humility, modesty. ונפשי כעפר לכל תהיה V'nafshi ke'afar la'kol tihiyeh. We daven and we pray three times a day. At the end of our Amidah, we say, God, let me be like modest and humble in the eyes of others. סגולה לטהרה Segulah l'taharah. So says the, there's something very powerful we can learn from here. If the whole section of the is telling us, you want to live a pure life? How can we purify ourselves from the contaminations we've experienced? How can we purify ourselves from the impurity that we've had? The answer is להתנהג בענווה l'hisnaheg b'anava, humility and modesty. סגולה לטהרה, להתנהג בענווה Segulah l'taharah, l'hisnaheg b'anava. Modesty and humility. We don't have to be the loudest person in the room. We don't have to suck out all the air in the room. We don't have to have the spotlight in the room. We are about promoting the brand is Hashem, his Torah, meaning inspiration, not us. The סגולה לטהרה segulah l'taharah, you want to live a pure life and you want to purify the impurities, the contaminants, להתנהג בענווה l'hisnaheg b'anava. Practice humility, that is the, that is the answer. פרק כ' פסוק א' Perek Chaf, Pasuk Aleph. Let's move right along the next parak. Page 842. The next story, right after we're introduced to the parah adumah and its application is, tragically, the death of Miriam. Miriam and Aaron both die in our parsha, and it feels like it comes out of nowhere. It feels like we just left Mitzrayim. We know that we're only in BaMidbar. We all still have half of BaMidbar, Dvarim to go. We're only in the beginning of Tammuz. We're not going to complete reading the Torah until Simchas Torah. What do you mean? What do you mean we lost? When I realized almost every year when you read Parshas Chukas, when I was preparing, I realized, oh my goodness, we lose Miriam, we lose Aaron. What Moshe's on his own. It feels like it comes out of nowhere. It's abrupt. It's so sad. It's so tragic. We lose the perspective of the context and the scope of those years in the desert and where we are within them. So the Torah tells us, ויבואו בני ישראל כל העדה מדבר צין בחדש הראשון, וישב העם בקדש Vayavo'u vnei Yisrael kol ha'eida midbar Tzin ba'chodesh ha'rishon, va'yeshev ha'am b'Kadesh. Children of Israel, whole assembly, we arrived in the Midbar, first of the month, we settled in Kadesh. ותמת שם מרים ותקבר שם Va'tamas sham Miriam va'tikavar sham. And Miriam, Miriam HaNeviah, Miriam the prophetess, Miriam, Miriam who was responsible for saving Moshe, Miriam who was a mother of the Jewish people, she died and she was buried there. ולא היה מים לעדה V'lo hayah mayim la'eida. And immediately we didn't have water. Why didn't we have water? So Rashi already tells us, what is the connection? What is the sequence between Miriam dies and immediately we don't have water? Says Rashi, ותמת שם מרים, למה נסמכה מיתת מרים לפרשת פרה אדומה? לומר לך, מה קרבנות מכפרים, אף מיתת צדיקים מכפרת Va'tamas sham Miriam, lama nismicha misas Miriam l'parshas parah adumah? Lomar lecha, mah korbanos mechaprrim, af misas tzaddikim mechaperes. First of all, what's the juxtaposition here between the death of Miriam and what came right before, namely the parah adumah? The juxtaposition is that just like the parah adumah and just like sacrifices can atone, so too the death of the righteous achieves atonement. ותמת שם מרים אף היא בנשיקה מתה Va'tamas sham Miriam af hi b'neshika meisa. She died with the kiss of death. The kiss of death means that for the righteous, for the unrighteous, we make the mistake of thinking that my body is who I am. Ah, soul, maybe I have one, maybe I don't have one. When the soul is extracted from the body and the soul looks down at the body, the soul says, that that was me? The soul is in great pain. The process of the transition from this world to the next, of the soul being extracted from the body, can be very painful, the more one associates and identifies with the body. But the less one associates and identifies with the body, the more one knows I am a soul and I have a body, but the body is just a vehicle, it's just an instrument. The body is just a garment for my soul, but the real me is the soul, then death is not painful, it's a נשיקה neshika. Death is a נשיקה neshika. The Rambam in in his Guide to the Perplexed writes that, for the most righteous, death is the kiss of death. Death is bliss. Rav Nachman of Breslov writes in the Kutei Moharan, he says that, not that he longs for, God forbid, nobody longs for death, but he says, I long for a time when my soul can disrobe from the body. You get home from the end of a long day, finally take off that tie, you can finally take off what a person had to wear at work, change into something more comfortable. Rav Nachman says, my soul can't wait to disrobe from the garment that is the body. So Miriam's death is described as as a נשיקה neshika. It's the kiss of death, it's bliss for the righteous that always knew they were a soul and they had a body, death is not painful or uncomfortable, death is bliss. ממשה נאמר על פי השם, שם דרך כבוד של מעלה. ובארון נאמר על פי השם, ואלה מעשה Mi'Moshe ne'emar al pi Hashem, sham derech kavod shel ma'ala. U'v'Aharon ne'emar al pi Hashem, v'eileh ma'aseh, fine. Now, ולא היה מים לעדה v'lo haya mayim la'eidah? Why was there no water? What's the connection? We spoke about the juxtaposition, the contrast to what came right before. But what about what comes right after? לא היה מים לעדה lo haya mayim la'eidah, what does it mean there was no water? מכאן שכל ארבעים שנה הייתה להם הבאר בזכות מרים mikan shekol arbaim shanah haytah lahem ha'be'er bizchut Miriam. All forty years they were in the desert, the באר be'er was in the merit of Miriam. Miriam now died, there was no more water. Miriam dies, they lost the water. With Aaron too. If you fast forward, פרק כ פסוק כט perek kaf pasuk kaf tet, in the same פרק perek we lose both. It's ממש mamash getting emotional and get choked up. The same פרק perek, chapter 20 of במדבר Bamidbar, we lose both Miriam and Aaron. Two-thirds of this of these siblings who really founded our nation, we lose them. It's painful.So what happens? He dies. אהרן יאסף אל עמיו, שם Aharon ye'asef el amav, sham, Aaron's going to die there. Moshe takes off Aaron's clothing, he puts it on his children, there's the succession, and ויראו כל העדה כי גוע אהרן ויבכו את אהרן שלשים יום כל בית ישראל vayiru kol ha'eidah ki gava Aharon vayivku et Aharon shloshim yom kol beit Yisrael. The whole nation sees that Aaron died, and they cry for 30 days. And Rashi here tells us what happened when Aaron died, the clouds were gone. The clouds of glory, the clouds of protection, they disappeared. We lost the we lost the clouds. What happened? The clouds were were gone. What's the connection? Why is Miriam associated with the well and Aaron with the clouds? Why did we have specifically those elements in their merit and why did they lose them? I think we hit on this last year a little bit as well. What is the connection between them? It's a beautiful, beautiful רבנו בחיי Rabbeinu Bachya. Rabbi Asher Brander in his book called Teachings quotes several of these interpretations. And רבנו בחיי Rabbeinu Bachya says the following. רבנו בחיי Rabbeinu Bachya says the following. And by the way, this is the this is the rock when we're going to get to in our section we're going to get to momentarily that that Moshe was instructed to hit a rock so that water will come out, it wasn't any old rock. It was this Miriam's well which was mobile. It moved with them just like the rock moved with them. What was the connection, what is the connection over here? So um, רבנו בחיי Rabbeinu Bachya says the following. He says that when Moshe was floating in the water, Miriam was watching. She was patiently watching. And it was Miriam's idea to save her brother. And Miriam patiently wanted to see what would happen to him. Miriam's great חסד chesed and concern for Moshe took place at water. Water is the symbol of חסד chesed, and therefore the well was in her merit because that is where that is where she did that חסד chesed of saving the savior of the Jewish people. It all took place with her vision, with her patience, with her devotion, all at a body of water. Therefore the traveling body of water that sustained us was in her merit. But he quotes another interpretation. And the other interpretation was the significance of a well. We've spoken about this in the past too. We have countless individuals of our matriarchs and patriarchs whose שידוך shidduch took place at the well. Maybe that's the answer to the שידוך shidduch crisis. Not resumes or profiles, not שידוך shidduch pictures. We need more wells. We need more wells and people can hang out around the wells. That's where the שידוכים shidduchim happened. So what happened at the well? Why the well by the way? Because the well was a social center. The well was a place of great חסד chesed. It was a meeting place. It's where Yitzchak and Rivka and Yaakov and Rachel and Moshe met the shepherds at the well as well. So it was an obvious meeting place and it was a place where people went to water their flock. It was a place of חסד chesed, it was a place of sensitivity, it was a place of caring. So perhaps the reason that Miriam we in the merit of the of the well was associated with Miriam, Miriam was also a great שדכן shadchan. Whom did she set up? Miriam was a שדכנית shadchanit? סוטה יב עמוד א Sotah yud beis amud aleph. Who did Miriam set up? So the answer is Miriam set up a couple that had previously been married but needed to remarry, namely, her mother and her father. Her father withdrew from her mother saying, how could we bring children into such a hopeless world, such a despondent world? He looked out at the world suffering of and servitude of מצרים Mitzrayim, 210 years of persecution and oppression and he said, how can we bring children into this world? He withdrew, he left her mother. And what did Miriam do? She made the argument. She said, you know, פרעה Pharaoh's only killing the men. You're killing everybody. How could you how could you not be committed to a continuity? She reintroduced her mother and father, her father and her mother. She was the great שדכן shadchan and brought them together. So maybe, maybe the association of the well with Miriam is because of Miriam's capacity and Miriam's role in having served as the great שדכן shadchan that yielded the birth of Moshe, that yielded our savior. She was a שדכן shadchan, a שדכנית shadchanit, and she received her reward was commensurate with her life. The reward that the well was in her merit because the well is the symbol of bringing people together and she brought her mother and father together. She brought the Jewish people and Moshe together, she brought the Jewish people and Hashem together. What about Aaron and the cloud? What's the connection between Aaron and the cloud? So we know that Aaron was אוהב שלום ורודף שלום ohev shalom v'rodef shalom. Aaron's character trait, Aaron is known as the ultimate peacemaker. He pursued peace, he brought people closer through the peace. And there's no greater peace than Aaron ever made than the peace between Hashem and the Jewish people. He advocated for the Jewish people and he fought for the Jewish people and he דאווען davened for the Jewish people. And so the role of the of the cloud was was in a symbol as a symbol of peace. Rabbi Akiva taught that when a husband and a wife when they when they get along, then the שכינה Shechinah dwells among them. איש ואשה ish v'ishah, the יוד and the ה yud and the hey. But when they don't get along, אש אוכלתם eish ochlatam, the אש eish consumes them. You take out the יוד and the ה yud and the hey that are God's name, all you have left from איש and אישה ish and ishah is אלף and ש aleph and shin. אלף and ש Aleph and shin is אש eish, is fire, is fire. So the מהר\"ל Maharal writes in his נצח ישראל פרק נון דלת Netzach Yisrael perek nun dalet, the מהר\"ל Maharal writes that the clouds of glory were because of Aaron. He was the connector between Hashem and his nation. When the שכינה Shechinah was revealed in the lower worlds, it was by means of the clouds of glory. And Hashem appeared in the pillar of the cloud. Through Aaron came the connection between Hashem and the Jewish people. So the clouds of glory come to כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael by means of the שלום shalom that Aaron forged the relationships that he created. So both Miriam and Aaron operated, they lived, they represented, they modeled kindness and peace and that was their agenda, that's what they devoted their lives to, that's what their legacy is. And those things therefore were in their were in their merit, namely the clouds and the and the well. Someone just gave me, my friend Lenny Friedman gave me, this beautiful ספר sefer, new ספר sefer of Rav Reuven Feinstein שליט\"א shlita, called נהר שלום Nahar Shalom. It's in English. נהר שלום Nahar Shalom, Rav Reuven Feinstein on ספר במדבר Sefer Bamidbar. It's a thick ספר sefer, beautiful beautiful דברי תורה divrei Torah. I'll just share this morning a couple with you. So on this he comments the following, when he talks about Aaron's death and Aaron's legacy. He quotes Rashi that not only did the men of כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael mourn for Aaron, the women cried as well. Why? Aaron was the אוהב שלום ורודף שלום ohev shalom v'rodef shalom. And אבות דרבי נתן Avos d'Rabbi Nassan tells us he brought people together, he healed friendships, business partnerships as well as שלום בית shalom bayis. Rashi there in פרקי אבות Pirkei Avos tells us, Aaron had an amazing methodology. Two people were in a fight, Aaron would go to one and say, you know the other person really wants to make up with you, and he go to the other person say the other person really wants to make up with you, and by suggesting that the other was willing to initiate, he disarmed the other party and the tactic work, the two would come together and they would be able to resolve their fight. So Aaron would approach the person who was upset and ask what was wrong, and that person would relate all the terrible things, and after patiently hearing him out, Aaron would say, maybe any of the actions have been taken in response to something the person had done to him. So Aaron would get the man to realize that at least some of what he had done to that person was done out of anger. When he was sure the person would be willing to resolve the מחלוקת machlokes, Aaron and a similar kind of conversation with the other and he brought them together. חז\"ל Chazal, this is the point I wanted to tell you. Rav Reuven Feinstein שליט\"א shlita quotes, חז\"ל, קהלת רבה, פרק גמאל Chazal, Koheles Rabbah, perek gimel teach there were 80, 80, 80,000 children at the time of Aaron's death who were named for him. 80,000 children who were named for him. Now שלום בית shalom bayis is delicate and it can take time. You meet with a couple, you're trying to heal the wounds. Even if Aaron had started his career in שלום בית shalom bayis when כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael left מצרים Mitzrayim, there were approximately 2,000 resolved cases per year or more than five happy couples per day. That's a staggering number. I don't care what mental health professional you are, how successful you are, but did you hear that? Rav Reuven Feinstein crunches the numbers according to the קהלת רבה Koheles Rabbah, 80,000 children were named for Aaron ostensibly because those parents were grateful that Aaron had brought שלום בית shalom bayis into their family. And if you do the math, it comes out to five a day. The way Aaron was able to accomplish this says Rav Reuven Feinstein, an all too necessary feat was by advising many people at once. How so? Aaron was able to lend perspective to the many husbands and wives through public discourses in a way that no one else did. Aaron had a unique focus on שלום shalom and when he discussed it he would bring out to the people again and again in many different ways that often the deficiencies they were detecting in their spouse were in some way a reflection of their own issues. By causing the people to undertake honest introspection, Aaron was able to make quarreling couples realize they had solved their problem without ever talking directly to them. Out of הכרת הטוב hakaras hatov maybe to memorialize the lessons he taught them, they named their sons in his honor, they named their son Aaron. Which by the way is interesting because it says by the time he died, there were 80,000 children named Aaron, which means they were naming for him in his lifetime, which is the ספרדי Sefardi practice, which is a fascinating origin for that for that practice. Okay, moving right along. פרק כ פסוק יוד perek kaf pasuk yud. Now we get to this story. What פרשת חוקת Parshas Chukas is unfortunately most well-known for. God speaks to Moshe and he says קח את המטה והקהל את העדה, אתה ואהרן אחיך ודיברתם אל הסלע לעיניהם, ונתן מימיו kach et hamateh v'hakhel et ha'eidah, atah v'Aharon achicha v'dibartem el hasela l'eineihem, v'nasan meimav. Take your staff, gather the people, speak to the rock before them, and it will give forth its water. והוצאת להם מים מן הסלע, והשקית את העדה ואת בעירם v'hotzeita lahem mayim min hasela, v'hishkisa et ha'eidah v'et b'iram, and you will extract water from the rock, not a rock, הסלע hasela, the rock, and it will then it will be able to water the people and their and their animals. ויקח משה את המטה מלפני השם כאשר ציוהו Vayikach Moshe et hamateh milifnei Hashem ka'asher tzivahu. He got the first part right. He grabbed his staff like he was commanded. ויקהילו משה ואהרן את הקהל אל פני הסלע Vayak'hilu Moshe v'Aharon et hakahal el pnei hasela. He got step two right. He gathered the people at the rock. ויאמר להם שמעו נא המורים Vayomer lahem shimu na ha'morim, listen you rebellious ones. המן הסלע הזה נוציא לכם מים Hamin hasela hazeh notzi lachem mayim? Should we get water out of the rock for you? And already we begin to now see where things went wrong. Moshe's lashing out. Moshe has lost his patience. Moshe is now calling them names. Listen you rebellious ones. Should we, we? Is Moshe bringing out the water from the rock or is it God? וירם משה את ידו ויך את הסלע במטהו פעמים, ויצאו מים רבים ותשת העדה ובעירם Vayarem Moshe et yado vayach et hasela b'mateihu pa'amayim, vayetzu mayim rabbim vateisht ha'eidah u'v'iram. Moshe raises his arm, he hits the rock twice, the water comes out, but that's not what God told him to do. That wasn't the way it was supposed to go down. So God tells Moshe, יען לא האמנתם בי להקדישני לעיני בני ישראל ya'an lo he'emantem bi l'hakdisheini l'einei Bnei Yisrael, because you didn't believe in me, God says you didn't believe in me. This is Moshe. Moshe's legacy. He made a mistake because of this mistake God is ready to declare, God is ready to say because you didn't believe in me. So definitively you didn't believe in me. Strong statement. You didn't believe in me להקדישני l'hakdisheini, you didn't enable me to make a to to to be sanctified in the eyes of others. You failed at the opportunity, the invitation to make a קידוש השם kiddush Hashem. לכן lachen, therefore you're not coming into Israel. המה מי מריבה אשר רבו בני ישראל את השם, ויקדש בם Heimah mei merivah asher ravu Bnei Yisrael et Hashem, vayikadesh bam. These are the waters of strife, the מי מריבה mei merivah, and he was sanctified through them. There are a thousand questions, and there are a thousand answers and we've spoken a thousand times about this section. I have an original interpretation of what was going on here, which we're not going to get into, we don't have time right now. Why did God specifically want Moshe to speak? Why Moshe still couldn't speak, it's a throwback to the burning bush where Moshe said I'm not an orator. I don't speak well. God tested him, Moshe failed. Perhaps he couldn't go into Israel because Israel needed someone who spoke well. Why is speaking well a prerequisite to being a leader in Israel? We spoke about it in the past, all for another time. Where did Moshe go wrong? We don't know. This is a harsh, harsh punishment. And Moshe spends the rest of his life דאווען davening that it be reversed, unsuccessfully. A harsh, harsh punishment. Moshe's life work is to lead the Jewish people into Israel and he is denied that opportunity. Where did it go wrong? What did he do wrong? Many, many suggestions are are offered. Where did he go wrong and what went wrong over here? One suggestion is that the רמב\"ם Rambam's, he got angry. He got angry. He made the mistake of giving into anger. Rashi says the mistake was that he was supposed to speak to the rock and he hit the rock. But the רמב\"ם Rambam says that wasn't the mistake because water came out anyway. And if that was such an egregious error, God would not have had water come out. So the רמב\"ם Rambam, is quoted by the רמב\"ן Ramban, says that Moshe was not punished for hitting the rock, why was he punished? Because he got angry. He screamed out שמעו נא המורים shimu na ha'morim, listen you rebellious ones. He lost his patience and he gave into that character trait of anger. Wasn't he entitled to? These were an incorrigible people. These were an impossible people. Moshe's frustration was more than understandable. Wasn't he entitled to lose his cool, lose his patience a little bit? Moshe, the one who dedicated his entire life effort, who toiled and worked and sacrificed all for this people, all for God's mission, who gave his energy and his resources and arguably sacrificed and forfeited his own family. And he can't go into Israel because for a moment he lost his cool? And the answer is yes. That's the anger, that's the emotion of anger. Anger gets us to make decisions which are horrible. In a moment of anger, a person loses their judgment, loses their clarity, loses their conscience, loses everything. In a moment of anger when we lash out, when we act out, we can absolutely sacrifice and we can sabotage everything, everything. The סטיפלער גאון ברכת פרץ Steipler Gaon, Birkas Peretz, we've said this before, says the plague of frogs, the second plague, צפרדע tzefardeya. We know the frogs had this unusual feature, and that was the frogs didn't need to multiply. There was one frog visited on Egypt, but when you hit the frog it became two. You hit two, they became four, four became eight and so on. Every time you hit them they multiplied. So the סטיפלער גאון ברכת פרץ Steipler Gaon, Birkas Peretz wonders, okay, so the first time they hit a frog it became two. Maybe the first time, second time they hit two it became four. You learned your lesson. So stop, stop hitting the frog. They brought the plague upon themselves. The answer is that's anger. When you get, they hit a frog it became two, they got angry. How dare you frog? I didn't want one of you, I don't want two of you. They hit it again, it became four, they kept hitting it. You see, you see just how negative anger is, how toxic anger is. You see that anger causes us to lose our judgment, lose our cool. Anger causes us to make mistakes. Anger causes us to bring a plague onto our family, onto our community, onto ourselves. All in that moment one loses their cool, all in that moment one can give it all up. That's what the גמרא Gemara says, כל הכועס כאילו עובד עבודה זרה kol ha'ko'eis k'ilu oved avodah zarah. That when a person gets angry, it's like they've worshiped an idol. What is idolatry? Idolatry is worshipping something other than God. A person who lives with אמונה emunah knows that everything's from Hashem, everything's for a plan, everything's for a reason. There's no reason to ever get angry. Everything's from God. No reason to get angry, no reason to get anxious, no reason to get envious. So if you got angry, it's כאילו עובד עבודה זרה k'ilu oved avodah zarah. Who are you worshipping? Whom are you worshipping? You're worshipping yourself. You're worshipping yourself. The גמרא in עירובין Eruvin says, in fact, a person is known, כיסו, כעסו, וכוסו kiso, ka'aso, v'koso. We're known in three ways. We're known when we drink a little bit. A person who has לחיים lechaim, becomes a little bit inebriated, what comes out? דברי תורה divrei Torah, spirituality, love, God forbid anger, violence, vile behavior, what comes out? And בכיסו b'kiso, with your pocket. What comes out with your pocket? And כעסו ka'aso, what comes out when you're angry? Those are the three ways that we are known. The מהרש\"א Maharsha says that these three things correspond with the three relationships in life. בין אדם למקום bein adam l'makom, between us and God, בין אדם לחברו bein adam l'chaveiro, between us and fellow man, and בין אדם לעצמו bein adam l'atzmo, our relationship with ourself. And says the מהרש\"א Maharsha, the man's relationship with the רבונו של עולם Ribono shel Olam is, drink tells us about what we think about ourselves. Anger shows our relationship with Hashem. If we get given to anger, it's a momentary lapse of faith. If we had real faith, if we had a real recognition of God and his role in our life, we'd never get angry. Not angry because because you're not going after the light turns green. I'm not angry because you left that in the middle of the floor. I'm not angry because you left me sitting and you were late to our meeting. I'm not angry because the email you sent. I have to deal with things, they can be frustrating, they can be painful, but I don't get angry because I realize everything is from Hashem. A person who gets angry כאילו עובד עבודה זרה k'ilu oved avodah zarah. That moment of anger. And that's the connection the רמב\"ם Rambam is saying, that's what the רמב\"ם Rambam knew this. What did God say? לא האמנתם בי lo he'emantem bi. How could you tell Moshe you didn't believe in me? Moshe, God himself testified there was never ever anyone like Moshe. How can you say to Moshe you didn't believe in me? The answer for the רמב\"ם Rambam is, in a moment of anger, it's a lapse of faith. They don't go together. If you really have faith, you don't get angry. If you got angry, for that moment you lacked faith. That's what the רמב\"ן Ramban, the רמב\"ן נחמנידס Ramban Nachmanides in the letter to his son, the איגרת הרמב\"ן Iggeres HaRamban, the beautiful letter. He implores him, never ever get angry because that's a מידה רעה middah ra'ah. Never give into anger. תדבר בנחת t'daber b'nachas. but rather learn to speak, learn to speak patiently, learn to speak calmly to everyone you interact with, never get into anger. So one of the lessons, at least according to the רמב\"ם Rambam, again there are countless explanations for what Moshe did wrong, what went wrong, what deserved what seems a totally disproportionate reaction of God to say you can't go into Israel. Where did משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu go wrong? According to the רמב\"ם Rambam, a moment of anger. In a moment of anger we can sabotage everything. In a moment of anger we can bring a plague onto our lives, onto our families, onto our home, onto our community. In a moment of anger, we lose that faith because if we maintain the faith, we would never ever get angry.Says the אמרי אמת Imrei Emes, שמעו נא המורים Shimu na ha'morim, look at Rashi. Says Rashi, שמעו נא המורים shimu na ha'morim, listen you rebellious ones, that he that he was angry at the people. Pasuk yud aleph. שמעו נא המורים Shimu na ha'morim. Says Rashi, says Rashi, את המלה המורים, שוטים, מורים את מוריהם et ha'milah ha'morim, shotim, morim et moreihem. What does the word מורים morim mean? שוטים shotim, fools who rebel against their teachers. Wondered the אמרי אמת Imrei Emes of Rav Avraham Mordechai of Ger. Wonders the great אמרי אמת Imrei Emes, the גערער רבי Gerer Rebbe, why do I need two explanations of המורים ha'morim? המורים Ha'morim means the rebellious ones. So why did Rashi need to say שוטים, המורים את מוריהם shotim, ha'morim et moreihem? They are fools who make bitter who rebel against their teachers. So said the אמרי אמת Imrei Emes, שני פירושים האלו לא פירוש אחד הם shnei peirushim ha'eileh lo peirush echad heim. Really the two interpretations of Rashi are really one. It's not Rashi suggesting two interpretations, they are really one. Why? Because the Mishna says in פרקי אבות Pirkei Avos chapter four, איזהו חכם, הלומד מכל אדם eizehu chacham, ha'lomeid mi'kol adam. Who is a wise person? Someone who learns from everyone. A fool thinks they have all the answers. A fool thinks they know everything. Who is the wise person? The one who can learn from everyone. מכאן שאדם שאינו חפץ ללמוד, בוודאי אינו חכם אלא כסיל mikan she'adam she'eino chafetz lilmod, b'vadai eino chacham ela k'sil. If you don't have an appetite to learn, if you're not have a curiosity, if you're not engaging everyone around you to take out what you can learn from them, you're not wise, you're a fool. So you see, so who is גרוע מכל garua mikol? Who is the lowest of all says the אמרי אמת Imrei Emes? Someone who has a teacher and the teacher is able to inspire, teacher is able to be משפיע mashpia. And not only do they not learn from everyone around them, but they reject even their teacher, they think they're smarter than their teacher. So that's what the אמרי אמת Imrei Emes says, Rashi is not telling us two separate interpretations, Rashi is telling us one interpretation that two are one and the same. שמעו נא המורים Shimu na ha'morim, and who are the המורים ha'morim? שוטים shotim, they're fools. And what makes them fools? מורים את מוריהם morim et moreihem, because when you push away your teacher, when you shut your ears, when you shut down, when you dismiss what your teacher is inspiring and teaching you, you're a fool. What makes them שוטים shotim, what makes them fool, המורים את מוריהם ha'morim et moreihem. It's not two interpretations, it's really one and the one and the same. God says לא האמנתם בי lo he'emantem bi, you failed to have an אמונה emunah in me, להקדישני l'hakdisheini. There was an opportunity here of קידוש השם kiddush Hashem. We said לא האמנתם lo he'emantem, a failure of אמונה emunah. How can you say משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu, Moshe went up on the top of הר סיני Har Sinai twice. משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu didn't have אמונה emunah? Moshe was the paradigm of אמונה emunah, but in the moment of anger, anger and אמונה emunah can't and don't go together. לא האמנתם Lo he'emantem, in the moment of anger he didn't have אמונה emunah. And what was wrong with that? Because he failed להקדישני l'hakdisheini, you didn't sanctify me. The רמב\"ם Rambam in the ספר המצוות Sefer HaMitzvos, where he counts all 613 mitzvos, the רמב\"ם Rambam includes the mitzvah of ונקדשתי בתוך בני ישראל v'nikdashti b'toch Bnei Yisrael. The רמב\"ם Rambam says we have a מצווה mitzvah to sanctify God's name. We say it every day, נקדש את שמך בעולם n'kadesh et shimcha ba'olam, in קדושה Kedushah, we answer, we pledge, we promise, I will sanctify your name in public. That's our obligation, to publicize אמונה emunah. לא האמנתם Lo he'emantem, the failure of the קידוש השם kiddush Hashem is you didn't display אמונה emunah. The greatest קידוש השם kiddush Hashem says Rav Volbe, you see from this pasuk, the greatest קידוש השם kiddush Hashem is to put our אמונה emunah on display. The greatest קידוש השם kiddush Hashem we can make is to show others our unwavering, unyielding, unequivocal faith in Hashem. לא האמנתם Lo he'emantem, you didn't have faith, and therefore להקדישני l'hakdisheini you failed to make a קידוש השם kiddush Hashem. That's the קידוש השם kiddush Hashem. The קידוש השם kiddush Hashem is by holding the door, קידוש השם kiddush Hashem is saying please and thank you. קידוש השם kiddush Hashem is using somebody's name. Of course that's all the קידוש השם kiddush Hashem, but ultimately the greatest קידוש השם kiddush Hashem is to talk about with אמונה emunah. Please God, thank God, to show others what it means to believe in God, to never get angry, envious or anxious, to show the the benefits of God. That's a קידוש השם kiddush Hashem. We each have that responsibility to avoid a חילול השם chillul Hashem. What's then a חילול השם chillul Hashem? If that's the definition of a קידוש השם kiddush Hashem, then the inverse, the opposite is the definition of a חילול השם chillul Hashem. A חילול השם chillul Hashem is a breach of אמונה emunah. A חילול השם chillul Hashem is that you got angry, you lost your cool, you showed you didn't believe in God. A קידוש השם kiddush Hashem means you got envious, you got jealous. You showed you didn't believe that God gives you everything you need. That's a חילול השם chillul Hashem. חילול השם Chillul Hashem is not only sticking your head out the window of the bus on the class trip. חילול השם Chillul Hashem is not only spitballing in the classroom. חילול השם Chillul Hashem is not only when you land as a headline in the newspaper. The חילול השם chillul Hashem is when you act in a way that shows that you don't really believe and that you don't really live with faith in Hashem. Rav Druk also deals with להקדישני l'hakdisheini. And Rav Druk says the following. I left one out. Okay, for next year. We left one there of Druk's there. Rav Druk says להקדישני l'hakdisheini. And Rashi there says שאילו דיברתם אל הסלע she'ilu dibartem el hasela, if you would have spoken to the rock, והוציא, הייתי מתקדש לעיני כל העדה v'hotzi, hayisi miskadesh l'einei kol ha'eidah. I would have been sanctified before the eyes. והיו אומרים, ומה הסלע הזה שאינו מדבר v'hayu omrim, u'mah hasela hazeh she'eino m'daber, this rock doesn't speak. This rock is an inanimate object, it does what God tells it. So too we must do what God tells us. The ילקוט שמעוני Yalkut Shimoni, the מדרש ילקוט שמעוני Midrash Yalkut Shimoni in our פרשה parsha. רמז תשס\"ג Remez taf shin samech gimel says the following. ודיברתם אל הסלע v'dibartem el hasela, speak to the rock. ובכיסה לא נאמר uv'hikasah lo ne'emar, doesn't say hit the rock. אמר לו הקדוש ברוך הוא, כשנער קטן, רבו מכהו ומלמדו Amar lo HaKadosh Baruch Hu, k'she'naar katan, rabo makehu u'melamdo. So when a child is young, the teacher perhaps strikes them to teach them in the old days. כיוון שהגדיל, בדיבור הוא מיסרו Keivan she'higdil, b'dibbur hu m'yasro. Once he grows a little bit older, then the teacher uses words, no longer needs to use the stick, the teacher uses words. כך אמר הקדוש ברוך הוא למשה, כשהיה הסלע הזה קטן, הכית אותו kach amar HaKadosh Baruch Hu l'Moshe, k'she'hayah hasela hazeh katan, hikisa oso. So God said to Moshe, when we were an immature people, so you hit the rock, והכית בצור v'hikisa b'tzur, you see that in שמות פרק יז Shemos perek yud zayin. But עכשיו achshav, now, ודיברתם אל הסלע v'dibartem el hasela. You're much more mature, the nation's more mature, it's time to speak. שנה לה פרק אחד, והוא מוציא מים מאליו shneh lo perek echad, v'hu motzi mayim mei'eilav. Teach the rock one piece of Torah. Say a piece of Torah near the rock and the rock will give out water. So says Rav Druk a beautiful, beautiful insight from here. Says Rav Druk, there are people who think, you know, those who are learning Torah, those who are dedicated and devoted to learning Torah, they're being supported by the businessmen. The businessmen are supporting, are holding up those who are learning Torah. And those who are learning Torah, they're takers. They are simply being held up, being provided for, being supported. But according to the ילקוט שמעוני Yalkut Shimoni you see that הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu is telling Moshe, you want to get rock out of the, you want to get water out of the rock, teach the rock a lesson of Torah. הדבר שהיה בידו אפשר לגרום לסלע להוציא את מימיו, הוא על ידי לימוד התורה Ha'davar she'hayah b'yado efshar ligrom la'sela l'hotzi et meimav, hu al yedei limud haTorah. You know what brings about the miracle? You know what brings about the water? You know what makes the water flow? You know what makes it rain? You want the income to come? Teach Torah. שימוש רבינו, הסלע מוציא מים לכל ישראל Shimush Rabbeinu, ha'sela motzi mayim l'kol Yisrael. אם כן, לימוד התורה עצמו, הוא זה שמשפיע ברכה im kein, limud haTorah atzmo, hu zeh she'mashpia bracha. בלומד התורה הוא זה המשפיע ברכה והצלחה על מחזיק ותומך בתורה ולא בהפך B'lomeid haTorah hu zeh ha'mashpia bracha v'hatzlacha al machzik v'tomech b'Torah v'lo b'hefech. The one who's learning Torah makes it rain for the one supporting him. And that's the Ohr HaChaim understood. Ohr HaChaim says the pasuk in משלי Mishlei that we sing when we put the Torah away, עץ חיים היא למחזיקים בה ותומכיה מאושר eitz chaim hi la'machazikim ba, v'somcheha me'ushar. The Torah is an עץ חיים eitz chaim, the Torah is a living tree for those who grab onto it and those who support it are are blessed, are fortunate, are made wealthy. So why do we say למחזיקים בה la'machazikim ba? We should say למחזיקים אותה la'machazikim osah. Those who hold on to it. What do you mean hold on in it? Said the חכם חיים Chacham Chaim, שני מיני אנשים מחזיקים את התורה shnei minei anashim machzikim et haTorah. There are two types of people who strengthen Torah. יש מהאנשים שמגישים שבגללם התורה לתחזק מעמד yesh mei'ha'anashim she'margishim she'biglalam haTorah l'thazek ma'amad. There are those who feel if I don't write that check, if I don't give to that dinner, if I don't support the Torah learning Torah teaching in the שול shul, in the ישיבה yeshiva, in the בית מדרש beis medrash, in the כולל kollel, if I don't support Torah learning, it won't exist. And there are others who say, I write that check because Torah is supporting me. If they're not learning Torah, I'm not going to do well in business. ותומכיה V'somcheha. מעלתם של אותם אנשים שמגיעים לדרגה של מאושר, זוהי הדרגה הראשונה. אבל מי שיודע שהתורה תמיד תתקיים גם בלעדי תמיכתו Ma'alasam shel osam anashim she'magi'im l'dargah shel me'ushar, zohi ha'dargah ha'rishona. Aval mi she'yode'a she'haTorah tamid titkayem gam b'la'adei t'michaso. The Torah is going to exist either way. The Torah will be here, the Torah is what sustains the world. I'm not lifting Torah, Torah's lifting me. Just like those who carried the ארון aron, they didn't carry the ארון aron, the ארון aron carried them. And that's the attitude that we have to have. למחזיקים לא אותה, למחזיקים בה La'machazikim lo osah, la'machazikim ba. that we are strengthened in it. that when we learn Torah, live Torah, support Torah, Torah is what lives, what supports all of us. And that's what it says. כאילו היה משה רבנו מדבר אל הסלע ושונה לו פרק אחד k'ilu hayah Moshe Rabbeinu m'daber el hasela v'shoneh lo perek echad, if Moshe would have spoken to the rock and taught it one lesson of Torah, then היו מגיעים כלל ישראל hayu magi'im Klal Yisrael, the Jewish people would have seen that you know what makes the water flow? Torah. They think the water is keeping them alive and the Torah is just accessing the water. It's the opposite. The Torah is keeping them alive and the water responds to the learning of Torah. There was an enormous קידוש השם kiddush Hashem opportunity here. And the קידוש השם kiddush Hashem would have been says Rav Druk, the role, the centrality, the power, the support of Torah. And because Moshe Rabbeinu did not speak and he hit, he did not take advantage. Right? What was he supposed to say? The Torah doesn't even tell us this. What's he getting at? Rav Druk? What was he supposed to say? He's supposed to speak to the rock but he didn't speak to the rock. Had he spoken to the rock, what was he supposed to say? So that's what the Yalkut Shimoni is telling us. He was supposed to teach them Torah. And you see the power of Torah. The Jewish people would have seen and would have learned about the power of Torah and that was an enormously lost opportunity. All right, there was much more we didn't get to, the plague that struck the Jewish people, how when they looked up at the snake they were healed. Why the snake? Does a snake heal? The Mishna in ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah. There's a lot more we didn't get to. We'll do חוקת Chukas next year. I want to wish everyone a healthy and a happy summer, a good summer, a summer of learning, of growth and please God, I look forward to resuming our learning together the Tuesday following תשעה באב Tisha B'Av. Until then, stay happy, stay healthy, and stay holy. We are on tomorrow morning, 15 minutes, 8:15, Living with Emunah 8:45, and tomorrow night we go to Behind the Bima before our break, the last Behind the Bima of the season, father son for the upcoming Father's Day, Rabbi Manis Friedman and Benny Friedman. Tomorrow night 9:00 p.m. Have a fantastic day.
