Transcript
Good morning. בוקר טוב Boker tov to all. Welcome back to Parsha Perspectives for today. After our little summer break, we are back together, back in action, and so excited to study the parsha together again. Enormously grateful that our dear friends, Becky and Avi Katz, have agreed again to sponsor the parsha series for the coming year in memory of Becky's father, David Grossman, לעלוי נשמת דוד בן מנחם מנש l'ilui nishmas Dovid ben Menachem Manash. A very, very special thank you to the Katzes for their friendship, for their generosity, and sponsorship. And a reminder that while they are sponsoring the series, there are opportunities to sponsor each individual class, and we've made it easier than ever. Go to brsonline.org/donate, BRSonline.org/donate. If you hit sponsor a class, you'll be able to put in the date, the language, pay, all in one convenient place, and we will be able to partner with you in sharing and spreading the message of Torah. I thank you in advance. This week we have the privilege of learning, studying, and elucidating Parshas ואתחנן Va'eschanan. The parsha that continues Moshe רבנו Rabbeinu's monologue, Moshe רבנו Rabbeinu's soliloquy, Moshe רבנו Rabbeinu's march on the last day of his life to try to communicate and transmit to the Jewish people his sort of final will and testament, his spiritual final will and testament. He's trying to communicate what he has learned through the lessons of history and to give them a charge for what they are meant to be, what they're meant to accomplish, the nation they're meant to build in the future. ספר דברים Sefer Devarim is a מוסר mussar ספר sefer. There are גדולי ישראל Gedolei Yisrael that in the summer wouldn't bring other ספרים sfarim with them. All you need is a ספר דברים Sefer Devarim. אלה הדברים אשר דיבר Eleh hadvarim asher diber לכל ישראל l'chol Yisrael. It's not just to those in that place and at that time, but the messages of ספר דברים Sefer Devarim apply equally in a timeless way to all of us, and excited to tap into many of them and share them with you this morning. So the parsha begins, actually before we get even into the parsha and ואתחנן Va'eschanan, I want to begin with a message about שבת נחמו Shabbos Nachamu, because this שבת Shabbos is שבת נחמו Shabbos Nachamu, the שבת Shabbos following תשעה באב Tisha B'Av. We are transitioning out from focusing and leaning into the sorrow, the pain, the sadness, the tragedy into feeling comfort, consolation, a sense of נחמה nechama. שבת נחמו Shabbos Nachamu. In fact, the חסידישע רבי'ס chasidishe Rebbes say, the גמרא Gemara tells us that אילו שמרו ישראל שתי שבתות Ilu shamru Yisrael shtei Shabbosos, if the Jewish people only observed two successive שבתות Shabbosos, מיד נגאלים miyad nigalim, immediately we would be redeemed. Unlike the famous song, just one שבת Shabbos and we go free, it's two שבתות Shabbosos and we will go free, we would be redeemed. And the רבי'ס Rebbes point out, which two שבתות Shabbosos are we talking about? Not any random two שבתות Shabbosos, not simply two successive שבתות Shabbosos, but specifically שבת חזון Shabbos Chazon and שבת נחמו Shabbos Nachamu last week, preparing and anticipating for תשעה באב Tisha B'Av, and שבת נחמו Shabbos Nachamu following תשעה באב Tisha B'Av. And the question that we ask each and every year, the question that if you're a thinking, thoughtful person should bother you each and every year is, where's the נחמה nechama on שבת נחמו Shabbos Nachamu? Where's the comfort? Where's the consolation? What's different? Absolutely nothing has changed. Nothing has changed. Not only has nothing changed, the Jewish condition has not improved, has not reversed. Antisemitism continues to spike and to grow. Jews continue to be targeted and beaten up, not only in Israel, around the world. Ben and Jerry's, who during the nine days did not want to lose the revenue by boycotting Israel when we had to eat מילכיגס milchigs, waited till after תשעה באב Tisha B'Av in order to announce their boycott. The terrible, terrible, inconsistent, hypocritical, duplicitous treatment of the Jewish people continues. So where's the נחמה nechama? The people that we lost in the tragedies that we endured, they've not reversed, they've not undone, those people haven't come back. Where is the נחמה nechama? What is the comfort in שבת נחמו Shabbos Nachamu? We ask it each and every year. We try to quote different beautiful interpretations of what it could mean. We've quoted רב פנחס Rav Pinchas and רב וואלבע Rav Volbe and many others. But I want to share with you this morning an insight of the great רב אברהם שאר שליט\"א Rav Avraham Schorr shlita, son of the אור גדליהו Or Gedalyahu, the author of the ספרים sfarim לקח והלבוב Lekach v'Haleivuv. And he says the following. כתיב אצל נח שנקרא כן על שם זה ינחמנו Ksiv etzel Noach shenikra kein al shem zeh yenachameinu. ונחלקו הראשונים בפירוש המילה V'nechleku haRishonim b'peirush hamila. It says when it comes to נח Noach in בראשית פרק ה' פסוק ט' Bereishis Perek Hei Pasuk Tet, you happen to have a חומש Chumash right in front of us. So בראשית Bereishis chapter five, pasuk 29. The Torah tells us, ויחי אנוש Vayechi Enosh. I lost the פרק ה' פסוק ט' Perek Hei, Pasuk Tet. נח Noach. Where's the pasuk about נח Noach? It says זה ינחמנו zeh yenachameinu. זה ינחמנו Zeh yenachameinu. And the ראשונים Rishonim on this word נחמנו nechameinu have a debate. רבינו בחיי Rabbeinu Bachya says, מפרש מלשון נחמה mefareish milashon nechama. אם כן למה לא נקרא מנחם im kein lama lo nikra menachem. If it's נחמה nechama, consolation and comfort for the destruction of the world, for the hard reset on the world, then why isn't it מנחם menachem? Why is it נחמה nechama? כי רצה לרמז גם כן ענין של חן בשמו ki ratzah l'ramez gam kein inyan shel chein b'shmo. Because we want to continue to incorporate the notion of חן chein. Of נח מצא חן בעיני ה' Noach matza chein b'einei Hashem who was Moshe's charm, his charisma, his חן chein, why God tapped him to be the continuity to save the world. ויש להקדים ענין של נחמה של שבת נחמו עצם המציאות של שבת V'yesh l'hakdim inyan shel nechama shel Shabbos Nachamu etzem hametzius shel Shabbos. So says רב אברהם שאר Rav Avraham Schorr, you know what the נחמה nechama of שבת נחמו Shabbos Nachamu is? שבת Shabbos. That even after a weekday, the weekday is characterized and defined by scrambling, by working, בזעת אפך תאכל לחם b'zeias apecha tochal lechem. We have to work, we have to struggle, the sweat of our brow, we survive. The weekday we're searching, we're looking, we're yearning for ה' Hashem, and אמונה בלילות emunah b'leilos, we have to take a leap of faith sometimes when we live the weekday life to believe that there is a reason and a purpose to the world. But שבת Shabbos comes, and שבת Shabbos we're whole, שבת Shabbos we're complete. שבת Shabbos is a taste of that world to come. שבת Shabbos is a glimpse into the world the way it can and will be. שבת Shabbos there's clarity, שבת Shabbos there's comfort. שבת Shabbos, there's a sense of confidence that Hashem is running the world. And נח נקרא על שם מנוחה Noach nikra al shem menucha and נח הוא בבחינת שבת Noach hu b'bchinas Shabbos. נח Noach we say, יונה מצא נוח yona matza noach. נח Noach is שבת Shabbos. נח Noach is synonymous, his name מנוחה menucha is because he was בבחינת b'bchinas, he had that character trait, that אמונה emuna, that ease, that tranquility of שבת Shabbos. שנח הוא מלשון נחמה She'Noach hu milashon nechama. שבת קודש הוא עצם הנחמה Shabbos kodesh hu etzem hanechama. ולכן נקרא שבת נחמו ul'chein nikra Shabbos Nachamu. So it's not that we call the day after תשעה באב Tisha B'Av, we don't call it מוצאי תשעה באב נחמו Motzei Tisha B'Av Nachamu, איסרו תשעה באב נחמו Isru Tisha B'Av Nachamu, we call it שבת נחמו Shabbos Nachamu, because the very source of the נחמה nechama, the driver of our having a comfort is immersing ourselves in שבת Shabbos. In other words, just as at the end of every hard week, there's a שבת Shabbos in which we remember and remind ourselves that there is a greater purpose, that there is a greater order to the universe, that nothing is random and everything's for a reason, that we're working towards something and that we will be rewarded with a taste of that world to come. So too that is a microcosm of what the whole world is, that even though we've endured calamities, tragedies, challenges, suffering, that even though we experienced the תשעה באב Tisha B'Av and we don't get the people we lost back, but the נחמה nechama is in שבת נחמו Shabbos Nachamu. שבת Shabbos is the source of נחמה nechama. שבת Shabbos is what is מנחם אותנו menachem osanu. And therefore שבת Shabbos is זכר למעשה בראשית zecher l'maaseh bereishis. וירא אלקים כי טוב מאד vayera Elokim ki tov me'od. אמר הקדוש ברוך הוא amar Hakadosh Baruch Hu, הלוואי שתהיה מעלות חן לפני כשעה זו halevai shetihiyeh ma'alos chein lefanei k'sha'ah zu. ובכל שבת קודש יש מציאות חן u'vchol Shabbos kodesh yesh metzius chein. לכן הוא זכרון למעשה בראשית lachein hu zikaron l'maaseh bereishis. שבת הוא נחמה Shabbos hu nechama ומביא ראיה מנח u'meivi raaya mi'Noach. He elaborates more kabbalistically, more mystically, not for now, but for this year's something to think about is not just that תשעה באב Tisha B'Av is behind us, we're so grateful, relieved it's in the rearview mirror, the nine days are over, we can swim, listen to music, have blowout barbecues and move on. No. The נחמה nechama is we always have a שבת Shabbos to come back to. שבת Shabbos grounds us. שבת Shabbos is our anchor. שבת Shabbos is our center. We always have a שבת Shabbos to come back to, and that is the source of our נחמה nechama, שבת נחמו Shabbos Nachamu. שבת Shabbos is what is מנחם אותנו menachem osanu. Parsha, page 958 in the Artscroll Stone Chumash. ואתחנן אל ה' בעת ההיא לאמר Va'eschanan el Hashem ba'eis hahi leimor. Moshe, Torah describes, says, I davened to God בעת ההיא לאמר ba'eis hahi leimor. I poured out my heart to the רבונו של עולם Ribbono shel Olam. I davened as hard as I could to him. ואתחנן Va'eschanan גמטריא 515 gematria 515. No less than 515 times, Moshe, over and over and over again, relentlessly comes back over and over and over again. The שער התפילה רב פנחס Shaar HaTefillah Rav Pinchas says, this is one of the modes or models of תפילה tefillah. The idea that we don't just discharge a davening, we don't deposit a davening, we don't put a checkmark next to I davened, but if we daven and we're not answered, we're back again. We're going to מוטשער mutcher and we're going to, we're going to come back to God over and over and over again relentlessly. קוה אל ה' Kaveh el Hashem, חזק ויאמץ לבך chazak v'ya'ameitz libecha. Put your hope and faith in God. And if he doesn't answer, if you don't feel there's a response, then קוה אל ה' חזק ויאמץ לבך Kaveh el Hashem chazak v'ya'ameitz libecha, strengthen your heart, and what? וקוה אל ה' v'kaveh el Hashem. Come back and do it again. 515 times, no less than 515 times, Moshe comes back again and again and again. And he teaches us like our children. Our children drive us crazy and they don't take no for an answer. They keep coming back again and again. They wear us down and they convince us and they try to persuade us with their arguments why they are worthy and we should reconsider and change our minds. And that is a model and mode of תפילה tefillah called חינון chinun, one of the 13 synonyms of תפילה tefillah the ילקוט שמעוני Yalkut Shimoni provides. שער התפילה Shaar HaTefillah is based on ואתחנן Va'eschanan 515 times Moshe comes over and over and over again. He keeps coming back again and again and again. Why does it say בעת ההיא ba'eis hahi? Why couldn't Moshe just say ואתחנן אל ה' Va'eschanan el Hashem? I davened to God. גמטריא ואתחנן Gematria Va'eschanan 515, 515 times I davened to God. לאמר Leimor, here's what I said. ה' אלקים אתה החלות Hashem Elokim atah hachilosa. God, you've begun to show your greatness, your strong hand, heaven and earth, according to your mighty acts. So let me go see the land. אעברה נא ואראה את הארץ הטובה אשר בעבר הירדן evra na v'ereh es ha'aretz hatova asher b'ever haYarden. What was his תפילה tefillah? Moshe says, let me fulfill my mission, my mandate. Let me complete my life's work. Let me get into the land of Israel. Let me have the זכות zchus. Some of us feel that way right now. We haven't been there in almost two years. And there are people who haven't been there in a lot longer. Those who go more regularly, we need our fix. We need contact with those holy stones and holy people. We need to be able to connect. It's what charges us and energizes us. Hashem, אעברה נא ואראה את הארץ הטובה אשר בעבר הירדן evra na v'ereh es ha'aretz hatova asher b'ever haYarden. Let me in, let us in. Let this pandemic go away. Not a criticism of the Israeli government. They're doing what they think is necessary to keep everybody safe. But Hashem, reverse the pandemic, reverse the reality. Let us be able to go. And Hashem says, no. Hashem does not let Moshe Rabbeinu in. Says the holy צאנזער Tzanzer, the דברי חיים מצאנז Divrei Chaim of Tzanz once was asked by his חסידים Chasidim. The דברי חיים Divrei Chaim was asked, what do you do, מה עושה רבינו לפני התפילה ma oseh Rabbeinu lifnei hatefillah? רבי Rebbi, רבי Rebbe, what do you do before davening? מקוה mikvah, תהילים tehillim, do you learn ח\"ס chas? What do you do before davening? And what do you think the רבי Rebbe answered? Undoubtedly, he did all of those things as well. But what did the רבי Rebbe answer? What does he do before davening? Said the רבי Rebbe, אני מתפלל שבשעת התפילה אתפלל ani mispallel sheb'shaas hatefillah espallel. You know what I do before davening? I daven that my davening should go well. And where did the רבי Rebbe get this from? Where did the צאנזער Tzanzer get this from, the דברי חיים Divrei Chaim? He said, because that's משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu. ואתחנן אל ה' Va'eschanan el Hashem. I davened to Hashem that what? בעת ההיא Ba'eis hahi, that in that moment that I'm davening, לאמר leimor, let it go well, let it flow, let me have the words. You know, sometimes we think that we should daven for physical, material things. I daven for parnassah, I daven for good health, I daven for nachas for my children. I should daven for physical, material things. But we forget that to succeed in רוחניות ruchnius, to break out in spirituality, we also need סיעתא דשמיא siyata d'shmaya, we need divine assistance and help. And so Moshe Rabbeinu says, you know, I can open my mouth to daven, sometimes it flows and sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes I find the words and sometimes I'm speechless. Sometimes I'm able to focus and other times my mind wanders. What will determine whether I'll have an effective davening? What will determine whether I'll have a transformational davening? So he would take a moment before he davened to daven that he have a good davening. A moment before learning, to daven to have a good learning, to learn well, to understand, to retain what one learns. So ואתחנן אל ה' Va'eschanan el Hashem, said the צאנזער Tzanzer, before I daven, I daven that I should daven well. ואתחנן אל ה' Va'eschanan el Hashem. Moshe davened to Hashem בעת ההיא ba'eis hahi that in that moment that he's davening, לאמר leimor, that he have an effective davening. I shared the story before, but I once was invited to to the White House. This is not a flex or a T4, the young people. But I'm telling you a story for a purpose. I once had the privilege, I was invited to participate in a conversation at the White House. And I happened to be at the סקווערער רבי Skverer Rebbe the night before. And I asked the סקווערער רבי Skverer Rebbe, I'm going to have an audience with the the mightiest human being alive, with other people. What should I say? What are the words? What should we ask for? What should be communicated? What is it that I should say? I wanted some advice, some guidance, some thoughts. So the רבי Rebbe said, it wasn't פרשת ואתחנן parshas Va'eschanan, but he answered tersely, succinctly. He simply said, ואתחנן אל ה' בעת ההיא לאמר Va'eschanan el Hashem ba'eis hahi leimor. And I understood it to mean, daven to Hashem that בעת ההיא ba'eis hahi, that in that moment when you need to find the right words, לאמר leimor, let you find the right words. Sometimes we have to go into a difficult conversation with a business partner, with a family member. Sometimes it's a difficult conversation in the community, and we're not sure we'll find the right words. It's such a difficult conversation. Will we know what to say? Will we say the right things? Will we make things better? Will we bring support and comfort? ואתחנן אל ה' Va'eschanan el Hashem. Before the conversation begins, daven. That בעת ההיא ba'eis hahi, daven that in that moment, לאמר leimor, that we are given the right words. Davening isn't relegated to the סידור siddur, the תהילים tehillim, or שול shul. Davening is before each and every activity we do. ואתחנן אל ה' Va'eschanan el Hashem, daven to Hashem that בעת ההיא ba'eis hahi, that in that moment when we have to make a fateful decision, in that moment we have to have a critical conversation, in that moment that will matter, לאמר leimor, that he puts the right words in our mouth. That was the insight of the צאנזער רב Tzanzer Rav and יבדל לחיים טובים וארוכים yibadel l'chaim tovim v'aruchim, the סקווערער רבי Skverer Rebbe. Says Rav Druck, we're not yet done with אש תמיד Eish Tamid. We have some new ספרים sfarim to introduce this year, but we're not yet done. We've not exhausted the brilliant insights of Rav Druck. We will continue to quote them and disperse them among the many others. Says Rav Druck, the pasuk, the Medrash rather, in דברים רבה Devarim Rabbah says, מניין שהתפלל משה באותו הפרק חמש מאות וחמש עשרה פעמים minayin she'hispallel Moshe b'oso haperek chamesh me'os v'chamesh asar pa'amim? How do we know that Moshe davened 515 times? I already told you this. ואתחנן אל ה' Va'eschanan el Hashem. אתחנן בגימטריא הכי הוי Eschanan b'gematria hachi havei. Because ואתחנן Va'eschanan in numerical value is 515. We know he davened 515 times. And wonders the great Rav Druck, יש לתמוה yesh litmo'ah. משה רבינו השקיע תפילות רבות כל כך מנשים יזכה להכנס לארץ ישראל Moshe Rabbeinu hishkiya tefillos rabos kol kach menashim yizkeh l'hikanes l'Eretz Yisrael. Moshe davened 515 times. But Moshe was not the only one precluded from entering the land of Israel. Moshe, who dedicated his life, who sacrificed his life, Moshe blood, sweat and tears to get the Jewish people into that promised land, and all he wants is to go in. And why can't he go in? Because he made a mistake back in פרשת חקת Parshas Chukas when God said, ודברתם אל הסלע v'dibartem el hasela, speak to the rock, and instead of speaking to the rock, he hit the rock. And we spoke then, we won't review now, what did he do wrong? Countless suggestions have been offered. What was Moshe Rabbeinu's mistake? Was it a mistake? A reality? We've shared many, many interpretations. However, my dear Parsha perspective friends, I call your attention. When God offered an instruction back in פרשת חקת Parshas Chukas, when he said, speak to the rock, to whom did he address that charge? It doesn't say ודברת אל הסלע v'dibarta el hasela, you, singular, speak to the rock. It says ודברתם אל הסלע v'dibartem el hasela, you in the plural. Who was Moshe's partner? Who was Moshe supposed to speak to the rock with? None other than his normal mouthpiece throughout his career, his brother Aharon. So wonders Rav Druck, אהרן גם כן היה בכלל הגזירה הזו Aharon gam kein hayah b'chlal ha'gzeirah zu. ויאמר ה' אל משה ואל אהרן Vayomer Hashem el Moshe v'el Aharon, יען לא האמנתם בי להקדישני לעיני כל ישראל ya'an lo he'emantem bi l'hakdisheini l'einei kol Yisrael, בני ישראל Bnei Yisrael, לכן לא תביאו את הקהל הזה אל הארץ אשר נתתי להם lachein lo saviu es hakol hazeh el ha'aretz asher nasati lahem. Because you failed to sanctify my name, both you, Moshe and Aharon, neither of you will enter the land. So why, wonders Rav Druck, here we have a פרשת ואתחנן Parshas Va'eschanan, the very beginning of the parsha, our parsha chalk full of an incredible amount we'll never get to, including עשרת הדברות, שמע Aseres Hadibros, Shema, and so much more, we'll do our best. But ואתחנן Va'eschanan, the whole beginning of the parsha is Moshe's relentless plea, Moshe's מוטשערן mutcheren and פעטשערן petcheren and not leaving Hashem alone. Let me in. What about Aharon? Do we find even one time Aharon saying, Hashem, can I go in? How come Aharon doesn't daven relentlessly the way Moshe? Moshe is praised. We learn from Moshe, ואתחנן מתנת חינם Va'eschanan matnas chinam. We learn a whole mode and model of davening from Moshe. Why didn't Aharon daven? Why did Aharon take no for an answer when Moshe refused to take no for an answer until he had no choice? So several suggestions are offered. The מגלה עמוקות Megaleh Amukos, the הייליגע מגלה עמוקות heilige Megaleh Amukos suggests that Aharon knew, Aharon understood, the מגלה עמוקות Megaleh Amukos believes in reincarnation. Reincarnation is a fascinating subject for another time. We've given a whole shiur on it previously. There are two different perspectives within our tradition. You're not obligated to believe in reincarnation, but you're also entitled to if you want to. There's an entire stream that believe in reincarnation, that our soul comes back in another form, in another body, there's more work to do and it will keep coming back until the soul has used some גוף guf in order to make choices that the soul needs to make. And others say no, you get one shot, you're in this world one time. So the מגלה עמוקות Megaleh Amukos believes, subscribes to reincarnation, גלגול gilgul, and says we have a tradition that אהרן הכהן Aharon HaKohen, Moshe's brother, came back, was resurrected, he came back in the גלגול gilgul in the form of עזרא הסופר Ezra HaSofer, the great prophet Ezra. Ezra who led the Jewish people, too few of them, not his fault but ours, but Ezra who led a return to Israel, the ספר עזרא, עזרא נחמיה Sefer Ezra, Ezra Nechemiah. So we have a tradition, the מגלה עמוקות Megaleh Amukos says that Aharon came back in reincarnation as Ezra. Ezra did enter Israel. Ezra led the charge to come back to Israel. So therefore Aharon didn't need to daven. The חיד\"א Chida says the same thing in the ספר מדבר קדמות Sefer Midbar Kadmos in the name of the רמ\"ז Ramaz, and he adds, רק שידע שיכנס בעצמו לארץ בימי עזרא הסופר, אלא שאז יכניס גם כן את ישראל לארץ ישראל כפי שעשה עזרא rak she'yada she'yikanes b'atzmo l'aretz bimei Ezra HaSofer, ela she'az yachnis gam kein es Yisrael l'Eretz Yisrael k'fi she'asah Ezra. It's not a coincidence that Aharon comes back as Ezra, because Ezra accompanies, leads, inspires, ushers the Jewish people into Israel. That's what Moshe and Aharon wanted and were meant to do. So Aharon comes back as the reincarnation of Ezra, completing and fulfilling his earlier mission, now bringing and ushering the Jewish people into Israel. And therefore he didn't daven. He knew that he would. He didn't have to say, please Hashem, give me a chance, let me go into Israel. He says, thank you Hashem for the fact that I will go into Israel and lead others into Israel, when? Not in that lifetime, but in a future when he is reincarnated as Ezra HaSofer. That is the answer of the חיד\"א Chida and the הייליגע מגלה עמוקות heilige Megaleh Amukos. Another interpretation, the ספר תולדות יצחק Sefer Toldos Yitzchak, the uncle of the בית יוסף Beis Yosef, Rav Yosef Karo's uncle, תולדות יצחק Toldos Yitzchak, says the following, מה שלא התפלל אהרן להכנס לארץ ישראל כפי שעשה משה, שראה אהרן שבניו נכנסים ממלאי מקום לכל הגדולה ma shelo hispallel Aharon l'hikanes l'Eretz Yisrael k'fi she'asah Moshe, she'ra'ah Aharon she'banav nichnasim memalei makom l'kol hagedulah ולכל מעלה ונחת דעת מזה u'lekol mala v'nachas da'at mizeh. משה רבינו לא עליו השלום בניו מתו בחייו ולא נכנס אחריו מבניו, לכך הרבה והפציר תפילה על זה Moshe Rabbeinu lo alav hashalom benav mesu b'chayav v'lo nichnas acherav mi'banav, l'kach hirbeh v'hiftzir tefillah al zeh. Aharon had נחת רוח nachas ruach. Aharon was satisfied. He had a continuity, he had a legacy, his children were ממלא מקום memale makom, they were taking his place. His children would continue as the high priests. The leadership Aharon had, he's not resentful it's cut short, because his children will pick up exactly where he left off. Moshe doesn't have that blessing, that privilege, that opportunity. Moshe's children do not succeed him. Moshe's children are not his legacy. Moshe is succeeded by someone who's not a relative, his loyal student Yehoshua, but not his direct relative. Since Moshe doesn't have that satisfaction that at least his children will continue to be leaders who lead them into the land, that's what drove Moshe to daven as opposed to Aharon. That is the answer of the uncle of the בית יוסף Beis Yosef of the ספר תולדות יצחק Sefer Toldos Yitzchak. A third interpretation comes from the מי כמוך Me'am Lo'ez. Me'am Lo'ez says something very interesting. The גמרא Gemara in חז\"ל Chazal in סוטה דף י\"ד Sotah Daf Yud Daled tell us that the reason Moshe Rabbeinu wanted to enter the land of Israel, וכי לאכול מפריה הוא צריך v'chi le'echol mipirya hu tzarich. Does Moshe want a shwarma? Marzipan rugelach? What was Moshe Rabbeinu? Why did he want to go in so badly? לשבוע מטובה הוא צריך lisbo'a mituva hu tzarich. He heard about the breakfast at the Waldorf, the breakfast at the Plaza, the Hilton, I don't want to leave anything out. He heard the Citadel, he heard about the incredible breakfast, the Israeli style breakfast, the omelets, the fresh fruits, the fresh vegetables. No. וכך אמר משה v'kach amar Moshe, הרבה מצוות נצטוו ישראל ואין מתקיימין אלא בארץ ישראל harbeh mitzvos nitstavu Yisrael v'ein miskaymin ela b'Eretz Yisrael. So אכניס אני לארץ כדי שיזקימו כולן על ידי ekaneis ani la'aretz kedei she'yazkimu kulan al yadi. Moshe says I crave, I have an appetite, not for an Israeli breakfast or for shwarma or rugelach, I have an appetite for מצוות mitzvos. And there is a category of מצוות mitzvos that you're not eligible to fulfill outside the land. מצוות התלויות בארץ Mitzvos hatluyos ba'aretz. So says Moshe, my desire, my drive to get into Israel has nothing to do with me, it has to do with my soul, my נשמה neshama. I want to do מצוות mitzvos so badly. So suggest the מי כמוך Me'am Lo'ez, if that's the case, Aharon as a כהן kohen, as a כהן גדול kohen gadol, if he made it into Israel, would be the beneficiary of some of those מצוות התלויות בארץ mitzvos hatluyos ba'aretz. He would receive the תרומה trumah, and he would be given a portion of land in other people's area territory. And Aharon would have the wool that they would shear. Aharon as a כהן kohen stood to benefit. So Aharon didn't daven lest it look like he wasn't accepting the divine will, and instead he wanted to cash in. Lest it look like Aharon wanted to cash in, he forfeited that davening, and he said, Hashem, whatever you want. Moshe didn't stand to benefit. Moshe wasn't going to receive anything by those מצוות התלויות בארץ mitzvos hatluyos ba'aretz, and therefore he davened, let me in. Not for the גשמיות gashmius, not for the physical material blessings or bounty, but for the spiritual. Okay, that is the first piece of Rav Druck. Second piece. Va'eschanan. So the Medrash says, again, we know he davened 515 times from the gematria of the word Va'eschanan is 515 times. Here's the question. Here's the question. Moshe Rabbeinu, he davened 515 times. He saw that he's not succeeding after one, after two, after ten, after a hundred, he keeps going. גזר על תענית Gazar al taanis, he fasted. ועג עוגה קטנה ועמד בתוכה V'ag ugah ketanah v'amad b'socha, he drew a little circle, stood in front of it, inside of it, and said, איני זז מכאן עד שתבטל אותה גזירה eini zaz mikan ad she'tivatel oso gzeirah. I'm not leaving here, God, until you reconsider. באותה שעה B'osa sha'ah what did he do? לבש שק ונתעטף שק lavash sak v'nisatef sak, he put on sackcloth and schmeared ash on himself. And he davened and he poured out his heart out in front of God and he said, Maker of heaven and earth, reverse your decree, reconsider, let me into the land. And here is the question, השאלה נשאלת ha'sheilah nish'eles. מדוע הניח לו הקדוש ברוך הוא למשה להתפלל כל כך הרבה תפילות madua hiniach lo Hakadosh Baruch Hu l'Moshe l'hispallel kol kach harbeh tefillos? Why did God let Moshe daven so many times? You cannot learn the first pasuk of ואתחנן Va'eschanan and not ask this question. If the answer was going to be no, and not only was it a no, it was the no, who when sometimes we are parents with fortitude, sometimes when we're parents who are ready and willing to parent with everything that we need and should be doing, and we're willing to tell our children no, that's what God does. ויאמר ה' אליי Vayomer Hashem eilai, Moshe testifies, the parsha tells us, pasuk 26, that Hashem said to me, רב לך Rav lach, enough, genug, אל תוסף דבר אלי עוד בדבר הזה al tosef daber eilai od badavar hazeh. I don't want to hear another word about it. God says to Moshe, do not bring it up again. I'm done, finished, genug, that's it. We're done. And Moshe says, what could I do? I hit 515, I thought I was going to get it, one more and maybe I would have, and Hashem stopped me in the nick of time and said, do not bring it up again. It's enough, it's more than enough. So wonders Rav Druck, have you wondered this question? Wonders Rav Druck, if God knew, אל תוסף דבר אלי al tosef daber eilai, that the answer's no, he knew the answer was no after number one. Sometimes my children ask me something and I say, you can ask me not 515 times, you can ask me 515 million times, the answer will be no. So let's save us both from trouble and drop it now. Don't ask number two or three or five or ten, because the answer is going to be no. And then you get into that, and if you ask again, then not only will it be no, but something else will be no too. So if Hashem knew he was going to answer no after 515, why put Moshe through the exercise and process? Why give Moshe the false hope? Why let Moshe dress in sackcloth and ash and draw the circle and pour out his heart and beseech it and beg God? Why? Why put him through that? Why put him through that? This is not the question of Rav Druck, it's a question of the Ibn Ezra. Rav Avraham Ibn Ezra, the great medieval commentary. And Rav Avraham Ibn Ezra says the following, הטעם הזאת הפרשה לחבב את ארץ ישראל hatam hazos ha'parsha l'chabev es Eretz Yisrael. God did it because he wanted all of us in perpetuity to read this parsha and say, wow, Moshe so desperately wanted to get into Israel. Moshe didn't daven 515 times for a Tesla. Moshe didn't daven 515 times for his team to win the World Series. Moshe didn't daven 515 times to win the lottery. Moshe davened 515 times for to get into the land of Israel. That was his love, that was his ambition, that was his drive, that was his desire, that's what he wanted. That was what he wanted. So to instill in us that the great Moshe Rabbeinu, with all of his worthiness, when it was time to cash in and ask for something, what did he pour his heart out for 515 times? It was for ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael. And we too should feel the same way, says the Ibn Ezra. And as I say, I think there's a very powerful lesson, not only in the Shabbos Nachamu, the week after Tisha B'Av, when we should be still mourning the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash, but whether it's those who live in Israel, who should feel that as much as Hashem has begun and eschalta d'geulah, we're beginning to feel the redemption, the privilege, the gift, the miracle, the religious significance of the modern state of Israel, but until we have a Beis Hamikdash, it is incomplete and deficient. And those who are not yet living in Israel, to ask ourselves, not if, but when. There are legitimate reasons not to live in Israel, there are no legitimate reasons not to struggle with when we will live in Israel. 515 times, לחבב את ארץ ישראל l'chabev es Eretz Yisrael. To show Moshe's affection and to create that affection, that draw for each and every one of us. Moshe, that's what he wanted, that's what he asked for, and we too, it should be at the forefront of our mind, should want, should ask as well. We want the pandemic to end, and among the reasons we want it to end is we can't wait to get back to ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael. As soon as we're allowed in, we will be there. That's our first stop. We're not going on some other exotic vacation. We're not going to some other locale. We're going to ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael, a beeline as soon as we can, number one. Number two says Rav Druck, another interpretation, and this is what I want to share with you. He says, תפילותיו של משה לימוד גדול יש בזה, גם אם נגזרה הגזירה ונחתמה, עדיין יש מקום להמשיך לבקש ולהתפלל tefilloso shel Moshe limud gadol yesh b'zeh, gam im nigzar hagzeirah v'nechtama, adayin yesh makom l'hamshich l'vakesh u'l'hispallel. A Jew doesn't take no for an answer. We daven and we daven and we continue to daven, and even when it feels like the answer is no, we daven again. על ידי ריבוי התפילות Al yedei ribui hatefillos, because through an abundance of תפילה tefillah, through the repetition of תפילה tefillah, through not taking no for an answer in תפילה tefillah, התפילה מתקבלת hatefillah miskabeles. The ירושלמי Yerushalmi says in ברכות Brachos, תפילתה של חנה tefilloso shel Chana, רבי חייא בשם רבי יוחנן, רבי שמעון בן חלפתא בשם רבי מאיר Rebbe Chiya b'shem Rebbe Yochanan, Rebbe Shimon ben Chalafta b'shem Rebbe Meir, והיה כי הרבתה להתפלל לפני ה' v'hayah ki hirbesah l'hispallel lifnei Hashem. Pasuk says in שמואל א' Shmuel Aleph that when חנה Chana kept davening, הרבתה hirbesah, over and over and over again, מכאן שכל המרבה בתפילה נענה mikan shekol hamarbeh b'tefillah ne'eneh. You see that whoever dwells on davening and repeats davening and davens over and over again is answered. גם כי תרבו תפילה אינני שומע, מכאן שכל המרבה בתפילה נענה gam ki tirbeh tefillah eineni shomea, mikan shekol hamarbeh b'tefillah ne'eneh. זה שאמר הקדוש ברוך הוא למשה, אל תוסף דבר אלי zeh she'amar Hakadosh Baruch Hu l'Moshe, al tosef daber eilai. And that's why God had to stop Moshe, because if Moshe would have kept going, the answer would have been no. Now, my own interpretation on this is, because we know people who've davened and davened and not stopped davening and asked and asked and the answer is no. They lose a loved one, they lose their own battle, they lose the promise or the hope that they had for a שידוך shidduch, for a child, for a job, they daven over. and over and over again. When it means a תפילה tefillah is answered is not the particular תפילה tefillah necessarily. Maybe it's not answered for them, it's answered for another. We don't know the cosmic impact of our prayers. How they ascend on high and when God pulls it from a file cabinet to answer that prayer if not for us, but for another. And God does answer for us in another way. And what is that other way? That is the third interpretation. We wondered, if the answer was going to be no, why didn't God stop Moshe earlier? Why 515 times? Why put him through the exhausting exercise when the answer was going to be no? That was our question. So, there was a faulty assumption in the question. The assumption of the question is that the reason we דאווען daven is so we get the thing we're דאווענען davening for. That the whole purpose of דאווענען davening, the מטרה matara, the reason we דאווען daven, is so that we're answered, is so we get what we're asking for. But who says that's why we דאווען daven? Maybe we דאווען daven because the act of דאווענען davening, the exercise of דאווענען davening, the process of דאווענען davening, it changes us, it transforms us. It leaves us different than the way we went in. So that when we're done, even if we didn't get what we want, we still got something. What did we get? A brand new us. What did we receive? A new connection with Hashem. What did we get? A new grounded sense of אמונה emunah, of faith, of strength, of a capacity to confront this world. So if you assume the only reason that you ask is to get a yes, so if you didn't get a yes, the whole thing is one big fail. The whole thing is one big failure. And why didn't God stop Moshe earlier? But if you assume that the reason we ask is not to get a yes, but it's to have a relationship. Child goes out with a parent and makes a whole argument trying to persuade the parent for the thing they want. In the end, they didn't get what they want, but you know what they got? Quality time with the parent, a conversation with the parent. They got to debate and deliberate a fascinating request that they had, the ins and the outs, the considerations, the pros, the cons, why the parent was inclined to say yes, but why ultimately they said no. We got something, we learned from it.So if you understand that the purpose of דאווענען davening is not only to get the yes or the answer, but rather to get the experience, to be changed and transformed, now we know why God did not stop Moshe. Why God didn't stop Moshe. רבינו יונה Rabbeinu Yonah uses this language. רבינו יונה Rabbeinu Yonah in his שערי העבודה Shaarei Ha'avodah, אות מ\"ב Os Mem Beis, writes, המתפלל הוא כאיש מביא קרבן לפני בוראו Hamispallel hu ke'ish meivi korban lifnei boro. When one person דאווענס davens, it is as if we're bringing a sacrifice before God. ונפשו קשורה ודבוקה בעליונים V'nafsho keshura u'devuka b'elyonim. Our soul is intertwined, it's attached to the heavenly spheres, בעולם עליון, עולם נשמות, עולם רוחני B'olam elyon, olam neshamos, olam ruchni. We transcend, we elevate, we're able to climb out of this lonely world for the time in which we apply ourselves and we דאווען daven. So for that experience, for that visa to go to another place, when we דאווען daven, we're getting a visa, we're qualified for a visa to go visit another place. And that visit is worth it even if we don't get, even if we don't get the answer.So that is three interpretations. Why didn't Hashem simply stop Moshe after one time? If it was a categorical no, an irreversible no, then why let Moshe דאווען daven 515 times? Number one, the אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra. To impress upon us Moshe's love of Israel and that we too should love Israel. Number two, because the more we דאווען daven, all the ריבוי תפילה ribui tefillah is answered, if not for us, for another, and it is still answered for us. That was interpretation number three, which was that don't assume that the whole reason to דאווען daven is to be answered. The reason to דאווען daven is the benefit, the experience, being transformed from the דאווענען davening, and that is worthwhile whether we are answered or not.פרק ד, פסוק ב Perek Daled, Pasuk Beis. Let's keep going. ועתה ישראל Ve'ata Yisrael, and now Jewish people, שמע אל החוקים ואל המשפטים אשר אנכי מלמד אתכם לעשות shma el ha'chukim v'el ha'mishpatim asher anochi melamed eschem laasos. Listen, understand, we'll get to that later with the שמע shma we're familiar with from our דאווענען davening. Listen, understand the חוקים chukim and the משפטים mishpatim I'm teaching you today, למען תחיו Lema'an tichyu so you live, ובאתם וירשתם את הארץ אשר השם אלקי אבותיכם נתן לכם u'vasem virishtem es ha'aretz asher Hashem Elokei avoseichem nosein lachem. One of the themes of ספר במדבר Sefer Bamidbar is this word וחי v'chai. ובחרת בחיים U'vacharta bachaim. למען תחיו le'ma'an tichyu, so that you live. You can be dead while you're alive, you can live even after you die, it all depends on our connection with immortality. How do we achieve immortality? Through the soul and the spiritual world. When we live a life of חוקים ומשפטים chukim u'mishpatim, a virtuous and a valuable life, when we have an impact in this world, we achieve immortality. And when we live for the here and now, and when we deny the soul inside ourselves and all we think we are is a body, we're dead even while we are alive. So if we leave a legacy, and our soul has been nourished through our lifetime, we live even long after we die. But if we ignore our soul and we think we're a body, then we're dead even while we are alive. And that's why שמע shma, if we listen to the message, the value, the vision of the חוקים ומשפטים chukim u'mishpatim, then למען תחיו lema'an tichyu, it gives us life. It gives us life. לא תסיפו על הדבר Lo sosifu al ha'davar. And because God is giving us a formula, a prescription, God is telling us exactly what to do, we cannot play with it. We cannot manipulate or distort it. לא תסיפו על הדבר אשר אנכי מצוה אתכם, ולא תגרעו ממנו Lo sosifu al ha'davar asher anochi metzaveh eschem, v'lo sigre'u mimenu. Here we have the Torah prohibitions, we are familiar, it's the משנה תורה Mishneh Torah, דברים Devarim repeats what we know from earlier. We have a prohibition of בל תוסיף bal tosif and בל תגרע bal tigra. You cannot add to the מצוות mitzvos and you cannot subtract from them. לשמר את מצוות השם אלקיכם אשר אנכי מצוה אתכם Lishmor es mitzvos Hashem Elokeichem asher anochi metzaveh eschem. You're not allowed to add. They're תרי\"ג taryag. God gave us 613, not 612 and not 614. And therefore we cannot add, we can't distort. It is a perfect formula, it's a perfect prescription. We work for him, he doesn't work for us. Don't add and don't take away. Now what's interesting is, what comes right after this מצוה mitzvah? עיניכם הראות Eineichem ha'ro'os. פסוק ג Pasuk Gimmel. The very next פסוק pasuk. With no break. את אשר עשה השם בבעל פעור Es asher asa Hashem b'Baal Pe'or. Your eyes have seen what God did with that idolatry called בעל פעור Baal Pe'or. כי כל האיש אשר הלך אחרי בעל פעור השמידו השם אלקיך מקרבך Ki chol ha'ish asher halach acharei Baal Pe'or, hishmido Hashem Elokecha mikirbecha. Whoever clung, whoever followed that idolatry called פעור Pe'or was eradicated. God eliminated, but you who cling to God, אתם הדבקים בהשם אלקיכם atem ha'dveikim b'Hashem Elokeichem. In contrast, if you cling to God, השם אלקיכם מקרבך Hashem Elokechem mikirbecha. Sorry. חיים כלכם היום chaim kulchem hayom. אתם הדבקים בהשם Atem ha'dveikim b'Hashem, if you cling to God, you hold on, חיים כלכם היום chaim kulchem hayom. Here we go again with חיים chaim. You are alive today. To truly be alive, צדיק באמונתו יחיה tzaddik b'emunato yichyeh. You want to live? It's through אמונה emunah, through faith, you're really alive. With faith we have the strength to be able to resiliency to be able to confront anything. It's when we are truly, truly alive. So why are these contrasted and juxtaposed? Don't add or subtract to the מצוות mitzvos, and don't worship an idol. Don't count yourself among those who worshipped פעור Pe'or, who had a terrible end. Why are these two things connected? I saw several interpretations who remind us because if you try to change the מצוות mitzvos, God says here's the formula, here's the prescription. I'm the divine, omnipotent, all-perfect being. I created you, I created the universe, and here is the navigation tool. Here is the blueprint for creation. Go, enjoy my world, have pleasure from it, conquer it. And you say, it's pretty good, manual's pretty good, but you know, I'm just going to add a little here, trim a little there, then are you really worshiping God or are you worshiping yourself? If religion is about submission and surrender, if it's about the recognition that he created the world and that we work for him, not the opposite, then we follow the formula to a T. But the moment that we're willing to say, it's a good start God, it's a good start, I'll take it from here. It's a good start. I'm going to make some changes, some edits, going to add a little, take away a little, then we're no longer serving Hashem, we're serving ourselves. We're using Torah and מצוות mitzvos as a platform really to serve ourselves, not him. That's the interpretation I saw that many give.But there's another question that you could ask. And that is, what's so wrong with adding מצוות mitzvos? Taking away, I got it. God says here's the formula, and who are we to say I'm leaving something out? But if you're not leaving something out, you're adding, why would that be a bad thing? I would think that'd be a beautiful thing. God, if you love 613 מצוות mitzvos, you're going to love my 614th and 15th, and my 700th and my 800th. You'd think that taking on more מצוות mitzvos, introducing more מצוות mitzvos is even more noble. A מצוה mitzvah, ציווי tzivui, a צו tzav, is the way that I connect with God, then I should take on more. Why is it something that's looked down as as bad, as bad. So רב דרוק Rav Druk suggests the following. He says, you know, when you add, often you take away. Because once you add of yourself, something that you're not truly obligated in, now you're going to have a much more casual relationship towards that מצוה mitzvah. Because you think, you know, I really expanded, I really added something and I don't really need to do that, maybe I don't really need to do the core thing either. And where do we see this and how do we know this? says רב דרוק Rav Druk, we go back to what story? For those listening at home, which is all of you still for now. We're going to resume in person after the holidays for several technical reasons and for my schedule traveling ברוך השם baruch Hashem for שמחות simchas. We will resume in person in a hybrid model, both in person and streaming professionally online as well, looking forward to that. But for all of you who for now are listening at home, so what story in the Torah does that remind you of? Don't add something extra because then when you violate the thing that's extra, you'll come to violate the core as well. Is there a story or narrative in the Torah that reminds you of? Since you can't talk to me, I'll give you the answer. The answer is the חטא cheit of אדם הראשון Adam Harishon. God said don't eat from the עץ הדעת eitz hadaas. And חווה Chava added her own new חומרא chumra. חווה Chava was guilty of בל תוסיף bal toseif. She added a new מצוה mitzvah. She claims God said not only don't eat from it, but also don't touch it. So what happened? When the נחש nachash seduced her and she seduced him and they touched it, nothing happened. She said, you see? You touched it, nothing happened, so עס געזונט ess gezunt, you can eat something too, eat something as well. You see that תחלת ההוספה על ציווי של חוה היה לתכלית טוב כדי להרחיק tchilas ha'hosafa al tzivui shel Chava hayah le'tachlis tov kedei le'harchek. חווה Chava added this layer to say we're not even allowed to touch it. Her goal was to put a barrier, her goal was to introduce a חומרא chumra to make us more likely to observe. אולם מכיון שהוסיפה על הציווי עד שנעשה אצלה כמו איסור עצמו Ulam mikeivan shehosaifa al hatzivui, ad shenasa esla kemo issur atzmo. But when the differentiation between the חומרא chumra and the core הלכה halacha, when the added component from what we're basically obligated in got blurred, the line between them, then בא לידי זלזול וגריעות ba lidei zilzul v'giron. כי אחר שדחפה הנחש על העץ Ki achar she'dachfa ha'nachash al ha'eitz, once the snake pushed her and she touched it and nothing happened, so whoa, we touched it, we made contact. I thought we weren't supposed to do that and that was no different than eating it. Look, we made contact and nothing happened, so too we can eat it and nothing will happen. So suggests רב דרוק Rav Druk, the problem of בל תוסיף. Our first suggestion was the problem of בל תוסיף bal toseif is it's God's prescription, not ours. Don't distort it, don't manipulate it, don't touch it because you're going to ruin it. But the interpretation of רב דרוק Rav Druk is that while בל תוסיף bal toseif on the surface seems noble, מוסיף גורע mosif gorea. There's an expression. כל המוסיף גורע Kol ha'mosif gorea. When you add, you take away. This is it. It's perfect. Don't complicate it. Don't mess it up. These are the 613 מצוות mitzvos. If you're מוסיף mosif, if you add, you're going to end up being גורע gorea, you're going to end up taking away because you're going to be less likely to observe because you'll have a casual negotiate, negotiable relationship with all of it.פן תשכח Pen tishkach, פרק ד פסוק ט Perek Daled, Pasuk Tes. Torah goes on. So don't add, don't take away, don't worship פעור Pe'or. Instead cling to God ואתם הדבקים Va'atem ha'dveikim. משך חכמה Meshech Chochma says, אתם הדבקים hatem ha'dveikim. If you want to hear more about דביקות dveikus, we've given a couple hundred שיעורים shiurim living with אמונה emunah. You can find them all online, Living with אמונה Emunah. It's a podcast, and you can find them on YouTube or our website. Living with אמונה Emunah, we talked to all about what is דביקות dveikus. The משך חכמה Meshech Chochma says דביקות dveikus comes from the root of the word דבק devek. דבק Devek is glue. Glue yourself to God. God says, attach yourself to me. I have your back. Just follow me, just stick with me. דבק Devek, stick, glue. אתם הדבקים Ha'atem ha'dveikim. God says, stick with me, everything is going to be okay. The kid on the first day of school sees a friend, they've never been to the school before. The person on the first day of work has a friend who is a coworker, they say I know you're nervous, I know you're anxious, stick with me, everything will be okay. When we get nervous, when we get anxious, דביקות dveikus. Stick with God, cleave to God, everything will be okay. חיים כלכם היום Chaim kulchem hayom. That's how we get alive. We'll become alive if only we learn to stick to God. Many, many interpretations what is דביקות dveikus and how do we live it practically. You can listen to our Living with אמונה Emunah. Torah then says, ראה למדתי אתכם חוקים ומשפטים re'eh limadeti eschem chukim u'mishpatim. I taught you these חוקים ומשפטים chukim u'mishpatim. ושמרתם ועשיתם U'shmartem va'asisem, you should observe them. כי היא חכמתכם ובינתכם לעיני העמים ki hi chachmaschem u'vinaschem le'einei ha'amim. Because this is the wisdom and discernment in the eyes of the people. אשר ישמעון Asher yishme'un who will hear it, ואמרו v'amru, and they will say, רק עם חכם ונבון הגוי הגדול הזה rak am chacham v'navon hagoy hagadol hazeh. The nations, the world are supposed to say, look at those people, look at the observant Jews, how careful they are with Corona, how much they value life. Look at those careful Jews, how honest they are in business, the integrity that they have, how courteous and kind they are. כי מי גוי גדול אשר לו אלקים קרובים אליו Ki mi goy gadol asher lo elokim kerovim eilav. Because who is a great nation that has righteous decrees like this? כהשם אלקינו בכל קראנו אליו ומי גוי גדול אשר לו חוקים ומשפטים Ke'Hashem Elokeinu b'chol kor'einu eilav. U'mi goy gadol asher lo chukim u'mishpatim. רק השמר לך Rak hishamer lecha. Be careful says משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu. ושמר נפשך מאד U'shmor nafshecha me'od. Be exceedingly careful. Protect and guard. פן תשכח את הדברים אשר ראו עיניך Pen tishkach es ha'devarim asher ra'u einecha. Don't forget the things your eyes saw. פן יסורו מלבבך כל ימי חייך Pen yasuru mi'levavcha kol yemei chayecha. Don't let it leave your heart all the days of your life. והודעתם לבניך ולבני בניך V'hodatam le'vanecha v'livnei vanecha. What is this פסוק pasuk talking about? Moshe is warning and he's cautioning the people and he says to them, he says, you've seen extraordinary things. You've seen and you've lived through remarkable things. Don't forget them. Let them be fresh in your mind and memory. Transmit them to the next generation. Don't forget. They need to be active in your heart, כל ימי חייך kol yemei chayecha, your whole life. והודעתם לבניך V'hodatam le'vanecha. Teach them, transmit them, inform your children and your grandchildren and generations to come with them. What does this mean? What is אשר ראו עיניך asher ra'u einecha? What is אשר ראו עיניך asher ra'u einecha? So the אלכסנדר רבי Alexander Rebbe, רב חנוך העניך פון אלכסנדר Rav Henoch Henoch of Alexander, חשמ\"ל לטובה Chashmal Letova says the following. He says the following. He says, רק השמר לך rak hishamer lecha. פירוש, הנה יש Perush, hinei yesh. I need my glasses for this fine print. הנה יש בכל דור ודור ובכל זמן וזמן קבלת התורה Hinei yesh b'chol dor v'dor u'v'chol zman u'zman kabalas haTorah. We think the simple interpretation of this פסוק pasuk is קבלת התורה kabalas haTorah. Don't forget what your eyes saw. You were there, you were at הר סיני Har Sinai. You heard the voice of God. You received the Torah directly from him. Don't forget, don't forget. And that should be transmitted, that excitement, that enthusiasm, that energy to every generation. But says the Alexander Rebbe, we're not just talking about the original הר סיני Har Sinai. Every generation has its own קבלת התורה kabalas haTorah. ולכל אחד ואחד מישראל כפי מדרגתו Ul'chol echad v'echad mi'Yisrael ke'fi madregaso. והרי היה שפעמים רבות בא לאדם התלהבות גדולה מאוד V'harei ayah she'pa'amim rabos bo'o l'adam hisla'avus gedola me'od. ומכח מה זה בא, אלא משום שאז יש לו קבלת התורה U'mikoch ma zeh bo, ela mishum she'az yesh lo kabalas haTorah. Sometimes a person is at סיום הש\"ס Siyum Hashas. They were blown away. It's their personal קבלת התורה kabalas haTorah. You visit Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons and you saw the nature, the נפלאות הבורא niflaos haBorei, אין צור כאלקינו ein tzar kelokeinu. And that was your קבלת התורה kabalas haTorah. You walked away from something that could have taken your life. You experienced a miracle. Something seemingly so coincidental that it clearly was יד השם Yad Hashem, the guiding hand of God and that was your קבלת התורה kabalas haTorah. Every generation and every person in every generation has their own קבלת התורה kabalas haTorah. אם כן, רואה כל אדם את זה בעיני עצמו Im kein ro'eh kol adam es zeh b'einei atzmo. We see it through our own eyes. אם כן צריך שיהא הדבר עומד בזה הכח שהיה לו אז בשעת קבלת התורה, בחשק והתלהבות גדול לעבודת השם Im kein tzarich she'yehiyeh ha'davar o'med b'zeh ha'ko'ach she'hayah lo az b'shaas kabalas haTorah, b'cheshek v'hisla'avus gadol l'avodas Hashem. אלא שמיד שוכח ועל זה הזהיר הכתוב לכל אחד ואחד מישראל, אפילו בזמן הזה גם כן ולכל דור ודור, פן תשכח את הדברים אשר ראו עיניך Ela she'mayad shocheach v'al zeh hizhir ha'kasuv l'chol echad v'echad mi'Yisrael, afilu b'zman hazeh gam kein ul'chol dor v'dor, pen tishkach es ha'devarim asher ra'u einecha. Don't forget the things your eyes saw. Says the אלכסנדר רבי Alexander Rebbe, we're not just talking about the generation of the desert. Don't forget what you saw and transmit that excitement to the next generation. The Torah and Moshe are speaking to every one of us. Don't forget what your eyes saw. You lived through the Six Day War? Don't forget what you saw. You lived through Corona, a pandemic? Don't forget the lessons and the takeaways. Don't forget the extraordinary things, experiences, events, people, and והודעתם v'hodatam. That is what we have to take and that is what we have to communicate to the next generation. לא פן תשכח Lo pen tishkach. Don't God forbid ever ever forget. רש\"י Rashi says what is it that you're not supposed to forget? מוסב על הנקרא שלמעלה ממנו אשר ראו עיניך Musa al hanikra shel lema'ala mimenu asher ra'u einecha. יום אשר עמדת בחרב אשר ראית את הקולות ואת הלפידים Yom asher amadta b'Chorev asher ra'ita es ha'kolos v'es ha'lapidim. Don't forget when you stood at הר סיני Har Sinai and you saw the sounds, the enormous sound and light show. Don't forget the experience, the magnitude, the electricity, the energy of קבלת התורה kabalas haTorah. And that needs to be transmitted as well. It's a very powerful insight. Because רש\"י Rashi's adding that on. The Torah only says and is building on what comes before it. What's said before it was יום אשר עמדת בחרב yom asher amadta b'Chorev. Don't forget when you stood at הר סיני Har Sinai. רש\"י Rashi adds on what are you not supposed to forget about what you saw at הר סיני Har Sinai? רש\"י Rashi adds on, don't forget the way you got the Torah. Why does רש\"י Rashi add that on on his own? That wasn't included. Here, רק השמר לך rak hishamer lecha, don't forget אשר ראו עיניך asher ra'u einecha, what you saw, and what is it that you saw? יום אשר עמדת בחרב yom asher amadta b'Chorev, that you stood at הר סיני Har Sinai. Why does רש\"י Rashi add on, namely, אשר ראית את הקולות ואת הלפידים asher ra'isa es ha'kolos v'es ha'lapidim? Why does רש\"י Rashi add that on? רב דרוק Rav Druk suggests the reason רש\"י Rashi adds that on is because, listen very carefully my friends, what is critically important for us to communicate to our children is not just that we stood at הר סיני Har Sinai. Here is a list of do's and don'ts. Here are positive commandments and negative commandments. Here's a law book. Here's a history book. Here's a dry narrative. We're not just transmitting to our children facts and information and data from הר סיני Har Sinai. But with it we need to give them the קולות ולפידים kolos and lapidim. We need to give them the energy, the electricity, the passion, the fire, the ברען bren. That's our responsibility. So רש\"י Rashi understood not only must we not forget, not only must we transmit what we saw with our eyes, we have to transmit not some dry esoteric teaching. We have to transmit the energy, we have to transmit the passion, we have to transmit the excitement, we have to transmit the fire as well, and that's why רש\"י Rashi adds that on as well.Next פרק ד פסוק מ\"א Perek Daled, Pasuk Mem Aleph. We're running out of time, it's almost time to triage the דברי תורה divrei Torah I wanted to share. We get to the ערי מקלט Arei Miklat. We just had this previously in פרשת מסעי Parshas Masei. We have it again. אז יבדיל משה שלש ערים בעבר הירדן מזרחה שמש Az yavdil Moshe shalosh arim b'ever ha'Yarden mizracha shemesh. Moshe set aside three cities in the bank of the Jordan towards the sun. לנוס שמה רוצח Lanus shamah rotze'ach. Somebody who murdered by accident is able to run there. Why does it say אז יבדיל משה Az yavdil Moshe? אז יבדיל משה Az yavdil Moshe. Then Moshe. It's not then, אז יבדיל משה az yavdil Moshe. Moshe wasn't setting aside the cities. Moshe was giving an instruction for when you'll enter the land and you'll be in a position, this is what you need to do. This is not my question, this is the question of the כלי יקר Kli Yakar. כלי יקר Kli Yakar writes, מהו לשון אז mah hu lashon az? What is the connection of this section of establishing the ערי מקלט arei miklat, the section that comes before, and moreover, says the כלי יקר Kli Yakar, why does it begin with אז az, then? ועתה הטה אזנך ושמע v'ata yita aznecha ushma. It says the כלי יקר Kli Yakar, bend your ear and lend your ear and listen. כי מצינו שהאדם מתחיל במצוה אף על פי שאינו יכול לבא לגמרה על ידו Ki matzinu she'ha'adam maschil b'mitzvah af al pi she'eino yachol lavo li'gmaro al yado. בכל מקום, מצוה שבאה לידו, חייב לקיימה B'chol makom, mitzvah she'ba l'yado, chayav l'kaymah. You see from here the כלי יקר Kli Yakar quotes the גמרא מכות gemara makkos that even if a person anticipates they will not complete a מצוה mitzvah, it is upon them to begin. And they are credited with the מצוה mitzvah. כמו שמצינו בדוד K'mo she'matzinu b'David, we see this with דוד המלך David HaMelech as well, getting the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash started even though שלמה Shlomo was the one who completed it. ועל זה נאמר אז יבדיל משה V'al zeh ne'emar az yavdil Moshe. שלש ערים אף על פי שאינן קולטות עד שיבדלו את השלש מעבר בארץ Shalosh arim af al pi she'einen k'lotos ad she'yivdelo es ha'shalosh mi'ever b'eretz, בכל מקום b'chol makom, but אמר משה, מצוה שבאה לידי, אקיימנה amar Moshe, mitzvah she'ba l'yadi, akaymenah. וזהו לשון אז V'zehu lashon az. So Moshe was beginning that process now. Even though Moshe could have said, this is for you to do, when you get there you'll take care of it. I can't finish it, so why should I start it? The answer is even if we're not confident or sure that we can finish a מצוה mitzvah, we should start it nonetheless. A lot more to say about ערי מקלט arei miklat, the role of the כהן גדול Kohen Gadol, and why is it hinged on the כהן גדול Kohen Gadol and the responsibility of the כהן גדול Kohen Gadol, but not for now. פרק ה, פסוק א Perek Hei, Pasuk Aleph.אנכי עמד בין השם וביניכם Anochi omeid bein Hashem u'veineichem. Moshe reminds them, you remember when we stood at הר סיני בחרב Har Sinai b'Chorev, and לא את אבותינו כרת השם את הברית הזאת lo es avoseinu karas Hashem es ha'bris hazos. God did not just enter this deal, this contract with your ancestors. כי אתנו, אנחנו אלה פה היום Ki itanu, anachnu eileh po hayom. פנים בפנים Panim b'panim. But with all of us, those who are here today, Hashem has established this covenant, this contract with all of us. And then he says, אנכי anochi, this is the introduction of the עשרת הדברות Aseres Hadibros, the Decalogue that appears in our פרשה parsha. And he introduces it by reminding them אנכי עמד בין השם וביניכם בעת ההיא, להגיד לכם את דבר השם anochi omeid bein Hashem u'veineichem ba'eis hahi, le'hagid lachem es devar Hashem. I stood between you and God in that moment in order to communicate what God was saying. What does משה Moshe mean I stood between you and God? It means when God tried to speak, we were overwhelmed, we were unable to incorporate, to integrate the word of השם Hashem directly. So משה Moshe served as that intermediary, as that mouthpiece. אנכי Anochi, I stood between you and the people says משה Moshe. בעל שם טוב Baal Shem Tov, I elaborated on this last year, you can listen to last year's class. The בעל שם טוב Baal Shem Tov says המליצתית hamelitikally we could read and interpret it to mean, you know what stands between us and God? אנכי Anochi. אנכי עמד בין השם וביניכם Anochi omed bein Hashem u'veineichem. אנכי Anochi is our sense of I, our ego, our selfish attitude, our narcissistic outlook. What stands between us and God is our ego. Ego stands for edging God out. It's an acronym, edging God out. Ego. אנכי Anochi. Ego gets in the way. Why do we get jealous? Because of our ego. Why do we get angry? Because of our ego. Why are we arrogant? Certainly because of our ego. And why do we struggle to find what we know to be true, that there's a God and he's involved in our lives? Because of our ego. What stands between us and God is אנכי עמד בין השם וביניכם anochi omed bein Hashem u'veineichem. And now we come to the עשרת הדברות Aseres Hadibros, repeated for the second time. We talked about it last year. There's two אנכי anochis right here, two פסוקים psukim in a row. אנכי עמד בין השם וביניכם Anochi omed bein Hashem u'veineichem and אנכי השם אלקיך Anochi Hashem Elokecha. Which אנכי anochi do we put first? Our אנכי anochi? Me, my ego, my sense of self, or the אנכי anochi of אנכי השם אלקיך Anochi Hashem Elokecha? Which one, which one supersedes the other, that defines us. In the עשרת הדברות Aseres Hadibros, we have significant changes. We don't have time to unpack them now, but between the first way the עשרת הדברות Aseres Hadibros were delivered and the way that Moshe recalls and recounts them here in פרשת ואתחנן parshas Vaeschanan, we have several differences between them, in, in כבד את אביך ואת אמך kavod es avicha v'es imacha, in שבת Shabbos, and in others, and that comparison and contrast is worthwhile doing. A lot of lessons can be extracted. I want to share with you one from רב סולובייצ'יק Rav Soloveitchik.In the Rav's חומש Chumash, it says the following. זכר כי עבד היית בארץ מצרים, ויוציאך השם אלקיך משם Zachar ki eved hayisa b'eretz Mitzrayim, v'yotziacha Hashem Elokecha misham. We observe שבת Shabbos, in the עשרת הדברות Aseres Hadibros is the מצוה mitzvah of שבת Shabbos tells us why we should remember that we were a slave in the land of Egypt and God took us out. While the exodus from Egypt evoked in the fourth commandment in the wording of the עשרת הדברות Aseres Hadibros in שמות Shmos is different. There it talks about because ששת ימים עשה השם את השמים ואת הארץ sheishes yamim asa Hashem es ha'shamayim v'es ha'aretz. וינח ביום השביעי Vayenach bayom ha'shevii. על כן ברך השם את יום השבת ויקדשהו Al kein berach Hashem es yom ha'Shabbos v'yekadshehu. So the reason for the observance of שבת Shabbos is an altogether different reason. In the first עשרת הדברות Aseres Hadibros, why do we keep שבת Shabbos? The theme of שבת Shabbos is זכר למעשה בראשית zecher l'maaseh bereshis. We are commemorating creation. Here, the second time שבת Shabbos is given, it's not commemorating creation, זכר למעשה בראשית zecher l'maaseh bereshis, it's commemorating what? יציאת מצרים Yetzias Mitzrayim, the Exodus. Reflecting both of these themes, the קידוש kiddush recited on Friday night says both, זכר למעשה בראשית zecher l'maaseh bereshis and זכר ליציאת מצרים zecher l'yetzias Mitzrayim. There is a dual theme that underlies the recitation of קידוש kiddush. On the one hand, says the Rav, Hashem himself sanctified שבת Shabbos to having rest on the seventh day. For this reason, קידוש kiddush on Friday night initiates with the verses of ויכלו Vayechulu which affirmed that Hashem rested on the seventh day, and concludes with מקדש השבת mekadesh ha'Shabbos, that God himself sanctified שבת Shabbos through having rested on that day. In contrast, while God himself vested holiness in שבת Shabbos, through having rested, it is the Jewish people who sanctify יו\"ט yomtov and the days of awe because we establish every month. And for קידוש החודש kiddush lechodesh when we sanctify the new moon, we are the ones who establish the holidays. And that's why the עמידה Amida, the שמונה עשרה Shmone Esrei of יו\"ט Yomtov ends with מקדש ישראל והזמנים mekadesh Yisrael v'ha'zmanim. God sanctified us and we sanctified the calendar.There's an anomalous passage in the ירושלמי Yerushalmi in פסחים Pesachim. Most people know that. The difference between שבת Shabbos we say מקדש השבת mekadesh ha'Shabbos because שבת Shabbos is established and it comes every week like it or not, here it comes. יו\"ט Yomtov, we set the calendar and the calendar determines when the holidays fall. But there's an anomalous passage in the ירושלמי Yerushalmi in פסחים Pesachim which says the concluding blessing on שבת Shabbos should in fact be מקדש ישראל ויום השבת mekadesh Yisrael v'yom ha'Shabbos. Just like יו\"ט Yomtov. It should be מקדש ישראל mekadesh Yisrael, God sanctified the Jewish people, and we sanctify the שבת Shabbos. That's bizarre, because שבת Shabbos doesn't rely on us sanctifying. שבת Shabbos comes automatically at the end of each and every week. So that suggestion of the ירושלמי Yerushalmi in the פסחים Pesachim seems to say the Jewish people play a role in sanctifying שבת Shabbos. Consistent with the idea implied by the ירושלמי Yerushalmi, there's a פסוק pasuk here in ויקרא Vayikra, in ויקרא Vayikra. Which says the Jewish people sanctify both שבת Shabbos and יו\"ט Yomtov. It says the appointed times which you shall set aside as convocations of holiness. מקראי קדש אשר תקראו במעדם Mikraei kodesh asher tikre'u b'moadam. ששת ימים תעשה מלאכה Sheishes yamim ta'aseh melacha. So you see that שבת Shabbos is called מקראי קדש mikraei kodesh. The passage then goes on to discuss יו\"ט Yomtov. So in the context of the פסוקים psukim, שבת Shabbos like the יו\"ט Yomtov is אשר תקראו אתם במעדם asher tikre'u osem b'moadam, is described as being sanctified by people. So what's going on over here wonders the Rav. Is שבת Shabbos the same as יו\"ט yomtov, is it different? Is it sanctified automatically or does it take our work? Says the Rav, there is a dual sanctification, שני דינים tvei dinim. Hashem has to sanctify man and man sanctify שבת Shabbos in partnership. For this reason we invoke both creation and יציאת מצרים Yetzias Mitzrayim. שבת Shabbos was sanctified by Hashem at creation. At the same time, we sanctify שבת Shabbos. After יציאת מצרים Yetzias Mitzrayim, it was sanctified by the Jewish people. And in light of the dual sanctification, we can understand the הלכה halacha. Says the Rav, we have an idea called תוספת שבת tosefes Shabbos. שבת Shabbos starts when the sun goes down, when the stars come out. There's the שבת השם Shabbos Hashem gives us. But we also have a מצוה mitzvah that we can add on or extend שבת Shabbos. We should start שבת Shabbos earlier, we can end שבת Shabbos late. It's a מצוה mitzvah called תוספת שבת tosefes Shabbos. If there's no role for man in sanctifying the day, then we have no license, no ability to extend שבת Shabbos. There is no תוספת שבת tosefes Shabbos. The whole institution, the whole מצוה mitzvah of תוספת שבת tosefes Shabbos implies that we have a role. And you can use that rationale to explain the insistence of the שולחן ערוך Shulchan Aruch that you can make קידוש kiddush coming home from shul on Friday night. According to the שולחן ערוך Shulchan Aruch, we don't delay. Why? Because there's a part of שבת Shabbos that happens automatically, but there's a holiness and a sanctity of שבת Shabbos that waits for us to give it to it. How? When we make קידוש kiddush. שולחן ערוך Shulchan Aruch says right when you get home, don't delay. If you know Efraim Goldberg, you know this is one of my pet peeves. So if you invite us over on a Friday night, please have this in mind. One of my pet peeves is coming home from shul, go right to the dining room table. What are you sitting on the couch? What are you schmoozing and making small talk? What are you waiting for? שלום עליכם, אשת חיל, קידוש Shalom Aleichem, Eishes Chayil, kiddush, wash, spend the whole night talking over the meal. One of my major pet peeves in life is that it takes way too long to start a meal. You have the whole night to talk, there's no timeline, deadline, finish it by שחרית Shacharis. So it's not only a Goldberg pet peeve, it's a הלכה halacha. שולחן ערוך Shulchan Aruch records this as a הלכה halacha. Where's the שולחן ערוך Shulchan Aruch? אורח חיים סימן רע\"א סעיף א Orach Chaim Siman Resh Ayin Aleph Seif Aleph. אורח חיים רע\"א, שולחן ערוך Orach Chaim Resh Ayin Aleph, Shulchan Aruch says that when you come home from shul, make קידוש kiddush right away. Says the Rav, why are you doing that? Not just because you're annoying Noah Goldberg. You're doing that because there's the part of שבת Shabbos that happened automatically when the sun went down, God embedded in the nature of the day that the holiness, the sanctity of שבת Shabbos emerged naturally, automatically. But there's a sanctity and holiness of שבת Shabbos that takes our work. We have to give it. We have to imbue it. And when we say קידוש kiddush, we transform the day. There's the dual nation. That's what some say is also what's going on, אילו שמרו שתי שבתות ilu shamru shnei Shabbasos. That if only we kept two שבתות Shabbosos, מיד נגאלנו miyad nigalnu, we'd be redeemed. It doesn't mean two successive שבתות Shabbosos. Now we end the way we began, but now we will defend the song Just One Shabbos and we all go free. If you keep one שבת Shabbos, but you keep both parts of it, God's part of it and the part that we create. ושמרו בני ישראל את השבת, לעשות את השבת V'shamru Bnei Yisrael es ha'Shabbos, la'asos es ha'Shabbos. You have to safeguard and keep the part of Shabbos that God created, ושמרו v'shamru, but לעשות la'asos, we have to make Shabbos. Shabbos is not just do's and don'ts. Shabbos is not just passive. Shabbos is not just, I got to get through Shabbos, I can't wait to make Havdalah and get on with my מוצאי שבת motzei Shabbos. לעשות את השבת La'asos es ha'Shabbos, we have to see the געשמאק geshmak. שבת נחמו Shabbos Nachamu. Shabbos offers the נחמה nechama. Shabbos is תכלית מעשה בראשית tachlis maaseh bereshis. The reason we're working the whole week is to get to Shabbos. Shabbos is ממש א גוואלד mamish a gevalt to be with our family, be with ourselves, to be disconnected from technology, from work, from bad news. Read, sleep, learn, enjoy, play games. Shabbos is a גוואלדיגע געשמאק gevaldige geshmak, it's the best. But לעשות la'asos, we have to come in with a story, with a דבר תורה dvar Torah, with a provocative question. We have to shop and cook and make Shabbos, literally. לעשות La'asos, it's up to us. So there's the two components. There's the Shabbos that happens automatically, there's the Shabbos we make. Perhaps that's what it means, שמרו שתי שבתות shamru shtei Shabbosos, is to keep not two Shabboses, to keep one Shabbos, but to keep the two parts of Shabbos, then מיד נגאלו miyad nigalu, then please God, we will be redeemed. We didn't get to it. שמע Shema, the end of the פרשה parsha, so many beautiful insights, but here's the good news. Siddur Snippets is back. And we are currently up to the part of davening which is שמע Shema. So last night, tonight again, we'll have more interpretations. So if you want to join Siddur Snippet, Siddur Snippets, you can listen on podcast player, you can listen on rabbiefremgoldberg.org, you can listen on YU Torah, and you can get a Siddur Snippet in your WhatsApp every day. Six-minute Siddur Snippet, insights. We're up to שמע Shema. So this week you double dip. This week you get both the Siddur Snippet and you get a parsha insight since שמע Shema is in our פרשה parsha. Again, thank you to the Katzes. If you'd like to sponsor a future episode, you don't even have to call or email anyone. Just go online, BRSonline.org/donate. BRSonline.org/donate. Click sponsor a class and you can take care of it all right there. Have a fantastic day. Join us tomorrow morning. 8:15 for 10 minutes of meaning, 8:45 living with אמונה emunah. And until next time, stay happy, stay healthy, stay holy.
