Transcript
Good morning, בוקר טוב Boker Tov. Welcome back to Parsha Perspectives for today. Before we begin and before we even thank our sponsors, just a reminder, incredible program that we have tonight. In fact, we're expecting such a wonderful crowd, you might want to just stay in your seat from now until then, make sure that you reserve your fantastic seat. Rav Moshe Weinberger, שליט\"א shlita, the rav of איש קודש Aish Kodesh in Woodmere, a really transformational leader, powerful speaker, incredibly inspiring individual, live music, inspiration. It's going to be a טיש tish, the lights dimmed, candles, it's going to be an incredible, incredible night tonight you do not want to miss. So wherever you live and wherever you drove from for this שיעור shiur, you'll want to drive back for tonight. It's at 7:30 p.m. right here in the main sanctuary. There are flyers on your chairs, you could feel free to take one. Not too late to join our host committee, there's a private reception beforehand with Rav Weinberger, if you want to be in a small private reception with him. But hopefully you'll join us tonight at 7:30. I promise you you won't be sorry you came, you will walk away inspired, uplifted, enriched. You will walk away, as the young people say, it'll be fire. You'll be on fire. I'm one of the young people, by the way. So you do not want to miss it, that is tonight. Okay, I want to thank our generous sponsors. The parsha שיעור shiur for the year by Avi Katz and family in memory of Becky's father, David Grossman, לעילוי נשמת דוב בן מנחם מענדל leilui nishmas Dov ben Menachem Mendel. This morning's שיעור shiur is also sponsored by Harriet Goldman in commemoration of her beloved husband's יארצייט yahrtzeit, Hilton Goldman, הלל בן גרשון Hillel ben Gershon, his נשמה neshama should have an עליה aliyah. Parshas Yisro. We are making our way and we are turning a corner on ספר שמות Sefer Shmos. We have made our way out of Egypt. Egyptians have pursued us, we've faced the sea. Hashem did a miracle as he does for so many of us when it feels like there's an obstacle, there's an impediment blocking our path, when it feels like there's no way forward, when it feels like we're stuck and how are we going to take our next step. Sometimes we have to find the combination of both faith, the אמונה emunah in Hashem, תפילה tefillah, combined with, combined with initiative, השתדלות hishtadlus. Start walking, start moving, start going, and Hashem makes things open up. He opens up the sea and he opens up those things blocking our lives and we're able to walk through.And Yisro heard. He heard about these incredible miracles and the parsha begins page 394 in the ArtScroll Stone חומש Chumash: וישמע יתרו כהן מדין חותן משה את כל אשר עשה אלוקים למשה ולישראל עמו Vayishma Yisro kohen Midyan chosain Moshe es kol asher asah Elokim leMoshe uleYisrael amo. Yisro heard. Yisro tuned in. Was he watching CNN or Fox News? Did he get the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal? We don't know, but we do know that he heard the news of what happened. And not only did he read that news and then just turn the page, continue with his Danish, take the next sip of his coffee. מה שמועה שמע ובא Mah shmuah shama uva, Rashi says. He listened and he heard in an altogether different way of hearing and listening. Spoken about this countless times in the past, so we will not revisit it now. But the notion that Yisro is the paradigm, Yisro is the role model. Yisro teaches us how to listen. Not passive listening, not a listening that Stephen Covey says most people do, where the listening is just the break they take in between talking. But a listening which is an active listening, a desire to hear, to absorb, to be changed, to be transformed. A listening where you turn off your output and you turn up your input, so there's no static. There's not a conflict or tension between the two. מה שמועה שמע ובא Mah shmuah shama uva, Rashi says, he came. We quote every year, what do you mean מה שמועה שמע ובא mah shmuah shama uva, what did he hear that made him come? The פסק pasuk itself tells us, כי הוציא ה' את ישראל ממצרים ki hotzi Hashem es Yisrael miMitzrayim. So why was Rashi asking? The question was not מה שמועה שמע mah shmuah shama, what did he hear? We all hear all kinds of things all the time. מה שמועה שמע ובא Mah shmuah shama uva. What kind of listening did he do? A listening that led to action. We all listen, we hear, we become aware, we're knowledgeable, we're familiar with countless pieces of information, with data points. We hear stories, and you know what they do for us? גאָרנישט Gornisht. Often nothing. Nothing. We heard it, we moved on. Maybe it got us choked up for a moment, maybe we even forwarded it to our family. But then what? It died in the email. That was it. Did it make us stop and think? Did it make us stop and change? Did we go and inquire? Did we go and sign up? Did we go and join the cause? Did we go and be part of a movement? Yisro is exceptional. He's not the only one who heard. שמעו עמים ירגזון Shamu amim yirgazun. The entire world heard what happened. It was broadcast everywhere. God, ten miracles, split a sea, we survived the attack of Amalek. There were no shortage of news stories that the Jewish people were the front headline of. Everyone heard, the whole world knew. But you know what they did? They turned the page of the paper. They turned the channel. They went to the next, they clicked on the next story. Yisro says, whoa, one second, something's going on here. I gotta check this out. I've got to see for myself. I want to be part of this. מה שמועה שמע ובא Mah shmuah shama uva.And that's our first insight. Comes from the מגיד Maggid Yosef Soloveitchik. וישמע יתרו פירש רש\"י מה שמועה שמע ובא? קריעת ים סוף ומלחמת עמלק Vayishma Yisro, peirush Rashi, mah shmuah shama uva? Krias Yam Suf u'milchemes Amalek. He heard about the splitting of the sea and he heard about the war with Amalek. יש להזבונן מדוע דוקא נסים אלו גרמו לישרו להתגייר? ולא עשר מכות ושאר מופתים שנעשו לישראל במצרים ועל ידי הים. Yesh lehizbonein madua davka nissim eilu garmu l'Yisro l'hisgayer? V'lo eser makkos v'shaar mofsim she'naasu l'Yisrael b'Mitzrayim v'al yedei ha'yam. These were exceptional experiences, the splitting of the sea, and surviving the vicious attack of Amalek. Are they the most exceptional? Are they the most extraordinary? They're certainly not the only ones. What else happened? Ten plagues. God intervened ten times, he suspended the rules of nature. Ten times Moshe as loyal servant predicted it, ten times God came through. Yisro wasn't moved by that. Yisro's not impressed, he doesn't get up, he doesn't schedule his flight until the splitting of the sea. And what is it about מלחמת עמלק milchemes Amalek? ונראה על פי מה שאמרו חז\"ל V'nireh al pi mah she'amru Chazal. So says Rav Soloveitchik, it seems based on what חז\"ל Chazal tell us, שמעו עמים ירגזון shamu amim yirgazun, שקריעת ים סוף נשמע בכל העולם shekrias Yam Suf nishma b'chol ha'olam. The splitting of the sea was heard around the world. We don't find the עשר מכות eser makkos were. But we find the splitting of the sea, not we find, we say in our אז ישיר Az Yashir every day we say, שמעו עמים ירגזון shamu amim yirgazun. The whole world heard and they trembled. ופשוט שגם עמלק ידע מזה U'pashut she'gam Amalek yada mizeh. So if the whole world heard, you know who else heard? You know who was among the world? Amalek. And what did Amalek do? Now you're Amalek. You're an enemy of the Jewish people. And then they're not even born yet. It's really extraordinary they have an enemy, if you think about it. The Jewish people had not yet even gotten out of bed in the morning and they had an enemy. 210 years they're enslaved in Egypt, 210 years they're subjugated, they're in servitude, they're persecuted, they're oppressed, they're murdered. And they've been liberated for about half a second, and there's already a nation that wants to wipe them out. What what did they do? What did they do? What aggravated, what created, what incited this first anti-semitism? What did they do wrong? It's very telling about anti-semitism, the world's oldest hatred, that it has no basis, it has no rational explanation, it has no excuse. Because the Jewish people had done nothing to offend the world. They had done nothing to even yet be the moral conscience of the world. And yet, before their, or at the same time as their very birth as a people, Amalek's already out to get them. So if you're Amalek and you're out to get them, you say to yourself, huh, this Jewish people, I don't like them, I don't want them around. But is this the moment to attack? You just heard that there was a miracle. God split a sea. That doesn't happen every day. The sea was split in two, dry land in between, the Jews walk across, and then the sea collapses and drowns the Egyptians. Amalek heard that news, they read that headline, and you know what they said to themselves? Let's attack. הרי עמלק שמע גם הוא מקריעת ים סוף ואף על פי כן בא להלחם, תגר וללחום נגד ישראל, ולא הסתכל כלל מהניסים הגדולים שנעשו לישראל. Harei Amalek shama gam hu mikrias Yam Suf v'af al pi kein ba l'hilachem, tagar v'lilchom neged Yisrael, v'lo histakel klal mehaneisim hagdolim she'naasu l'Yisrael. They were not moved an iota. They were not moved an iota from the miracles that were done to the Jewish people. So therefore, you know what they said to them, you know what Yisro said to himself? אם כזה הוא גוי, לא יהא חלקי עמהם אלא עם כלל ישראל. Im kaze hu goy, lo yehei chelki imahem ela im Klal Yisrael. If Amalek, if what it means to be a non-Jew, if what it means to be a spectator and observer to this story is that you're willing to ignore the message of history, you're willing to ignore and neglect the lesson that's in your face, I don't want any part of that. I want to go be part of the other team. I want to go be part of the Jewish people. וישמע יתרו Vayishma Yisro. Because when you think about it, what is it? I've shared previously, this is one of my own personal insights, I have very few. Mostly I'm just good at repackaging and sharing with you. But וישמע יתרו Vayishma Yisro, he didn't hear that the Jewish people defeated Amalek. You know why he didn't hear that? Why didn't he hear that? Why didn't he hear that we defeated Amalek? Because if you paid attention to last week's parsha, we didn't defeat Amalek. We survived Amalek. At the end of last week's parsha, Yehoshua gathers the men and Moshe's watching and he raises his arms and we survived their attack. We didn't win. We won the battle, but we were not victorious or triumphant in a war. So that's why it doesn't say that Yisro heard that we defeated Amalek, because we hadn't defeated Amalek, which makes the question all the more compelling. So what's so exciting or impressive about it that made him come? Why would he arrive? Did you hear about the big tie in the soccer game, the hockey game, football game? Jewish people tied Amalek. That's my team. Where can I get some swag? Why is Yisro showing up because we survived the attack of Amalek? We didn't even beat them. So I humbly submit and suggest to you, Amalek is the most wicked nation on earth. They are the epitome of evil. When evil identifies and is threatened by and seeks to eliminate something, you know it's special. You know it's holy. And I would argue with a certain sense of pride that that's true about the Jewish people. That the world is irrationally obsessed with us, disproportionately focused on us, is not in fact a badge of shame, it's a badge of honor. We wish they would change their attention. We wish they would look to something new. But the very fact that the presence of the Jewish people in Israel or around the world means something to people when it should mean nothing. Look at how small we are, how insignificant we are, how negligible we are statistically and yet we draw such attention to the world. The same reason Yisro looked up and he said, hah, Amalek's obsessed with this people. Amalek's the epitome of evil, and evil is threatened by this people, this nascent people. I don't even know who they are, but I know that if Amalek is so threatened by them, I want to check them out. I want to be part of that. I want to know more about what's going on over there. So Yisro picks up, and he doesn't just have that thought. He makes a change. He makes a change. There was a groundswell of aliyah after the Six-Day War and other significant times in history. There are moments where you read the writing on the wall, you read history and the headlines, and you can't sit still and you're not the same person. And that's Yisro. We listen to Yisro. I've shared in the past, that's why I think that even according to the opinions that Yisro really arrives after Matan Torah, Hashem places the arrival of Yisro in our parsha before Matan Torah. Why? Because listening is a prerequisite to receiving the Torah. Being an active listener, learning and listening like Yisro, following that quality is a prerequisite. It's a critical prerequisite to accurately and authentically being able to receive the Torah.פרק י\"ח פסוק ג' Perek Yud Ches, Pasuk Gimmel. We're moving right along. ויקח יתרו חותן משה את צפורה אשת משה אחר שלוחיה Vayikach Yisro chosain Moshe es Tzipporah eishes Moshe achar shilucheha. Yisro takes his daughter צפורה Tzipporah, שני בניה shnei vaneha, her two sons, אשר שם האחד גרשם asher shem ha'echad Gershom, כי אמר גר הייתי בארץ נכריה ki amar ger hayisi b'eretz nochriya, ושם האחד אליעזר v'shem ha'echad Eliezer, כי אלקי אבי בעזרי ויצלני מחרב פרעה ki Elokei avi b'ezri v'yatzileini m'cherev Paroh. So Yisro gathers up the משפחה mishpacha. He gathers his family, his daughter צפורה Tzipporah, his אייניקלאך einekelach, his grandchildren, you didn't call them that yet because he hadn't converted, but his grandsons, גרשם Gershom and אליעזר Eliezer. Why is גרשם Gershom named גרשם Gershom? Because I was a גר ger, I was a stranger in a strange land. Why is the other אליעזר Eliezer? Because God came to my aid and he saved me from the sword of פרעה Paroh. He saved me from the sword of פרעה Paroh. So the חפץ חיים Chofetz Chaim wonders, שם של אדם אינו לסימן בעלמא אלא לתאר מהותו shem shel adam eino l'siman b'alma ela l'ta'er mahuso. A name is not just a symbol or a signal. A name is a description. A name is a description. שאיפתו She'ifuso, it represents the goal, the aim, the ambition. מה מקום יש לקרוא שם בנו בשם שמציין שעבד שהוא גר בארץ נכריה? Mah makom yesh likro shem b'no b'shem shem'tzayen she'avad shehu ger b'eretz nochriya? Why did Moshe and Tzipporah name their son Gershom? What is so significant or what is so descriptive that Moshe wants to memorialize that I was a sojourner, I was a stranger in a strange land? ובפרט שהשם השני אליעזר בא להכרת טוב לקדוש ברוך הוא U'vifrat shehashem hasheini Eliezer ka l'hakaras hatov laKadosh Baruch Hu. ומה מקום יש לציין עבודת שהוא גר לפני הכרת הטוב של הקדוש ברוך הוא על הצלתו? U'mah makom yesh l'tzayen avodas shehu ger lifnei hakaras hatov shel haKadosh Baruch Hu al hatzalaso? The second name אליעזר Eliezer means Hashem was my ויצילני... עזרי v'yatzileini... ezri. He was my help. God saved me. I was in the house of Paroh. Paroh wanted to kill me, he wanted to destroy me, he wanted to annihilate me, he wanted to assassinate me, and Hashem saved me. And I'm gonna name one of my children, Hashem saved me. אליעזר Eliezer. God saved me. Survived the car crash, survived the diagnosis, survived hosting a pro-Israel night, survived, whatever it is one survived. You name your child, God saved me. I want to forever remember, הכרת הטוב hakaras hatov, God saved me. That makes sense. So name the first child God saved me. Chronologically it happened first. Why do you name your first child, you know, did you hear about the time I got stuck in France, it was on a flight but then I got diagnosed corona and I had to quarantine. So I named my kid, I got stuck in France. I was a stranger in a strange land. What a strange way to name a kid. And why would you name your first child that? So the חפץ חיים Chofetz Chaim says the following. משה רבינו בא בביתו של יתרו שהוא עדיין לא התגייר Moshe Rabbeinu ba b'beiso shel Yisro she'hu adayin lo hisgayer. ובית רחוק היה מלהיות שר, הרי על הפסוק עדיין לא ידע כי הקדוש ברוך הוא אלוקים, משמע שכבר עבד כל עבודה זרה שבעולם u'beis rachok hayah mi'liyos sar, harei al pasuk adayin lo yada ki haKadosh Baruch Hu Elokim, mashma shekvar avad kol avodah zarah sheba'olam. When Moshe first arrives at Yisro's house, is Yisro the man we meet in our parsha? No. Yisro now is the righteous convert. Yisro now is the active listener. Yisro now is the role model who hears the messages of history. When Moshe first arrives, you know who Yisro is? The professor of comparative religion. When Moshe first arrives, Yisro is the idolater who has experimented with every idolatry in the world. וכשידע משה שהוא בדרך לבית כזה, וחשש שלא ילמד ממעשיהם Uk'sheyada Moshe she'hu b'derech l'beis kazeh, v'chashash shelo yilmád mimaseihem. So Moshe falls in love with the well and he's going home to his father-in-law, Yisro, but he's worried legitimately so. He doesn't want to assimilate. He doesn't want to become compromised or corrupt. So what does he do? כשנולד בנו הראשון קראו גרשם K'shenold b'no harishon karo Gershom. להזכיר לעצמו ולגבוה בנפשו L'hazkir l'atzmo v'ligvoa b'nafsho. שכל שהותו בבית זה ובארץ זו הוא רק בבחינת גר בארץ נכריה She'kol shehuso b'bayis zeh u'v'eretz zu hu rak b'vchinas ger b'eretz nochriah. I mean, imagine at the bris, his שווער shver is right there and you say, I know we're living in your house right now, but let me be clear, and I can't be more clear than by naming my first son, that we're just stopping by. So my first son's name, your first grandchild, is we're only here temporarily. That's his name. We're strangers, we're stopping by, we're outsiders. That's his name. ולא לשוב לכבוד, ולכן צריך אני לזהור מאוד במעשי V'lo l'hishevu l'chavod... v'lachein tzarich ani l'zahor meod b'maasai, so in order to remain mindful, in order to remain very focused, he names his son I'm just a stranger. This is the legacy of אברהם אבינו Avraham Avinu, is it not? גר ותושב אנכי עמכם Ger v'toshav anochi imachem. And this is the mission statement of a Jew, particularly in גלות galus. Although the Jews in Israel are in גלות galus. Go into so many restaurants at the mall and listen to the music playing and you are in גלות galus. The lyrics, the language, it's even worse because many don't even know what it means. If your English is your first language, you shudder sometimes when you hear the music that's being played. You can have גלות galus even geographically when you're in Israel, certainly when we are outside of it. And the message and the mission statement, the motto, and the bumper sticker of a Jew is, I'm a resident and a stranger simultaneously. I participate in, I contribute to, and I take out the best of where I live, but I'm still a stranger. I'm an outsider. I'm connected to and part of, but I'm altogether apart from and totally different simultaneously. That tension, which seems to be opposites and contradictory, that's the challenge of being a Jew, is to not make them contradict. I'm here, I'm present, I participate, but on the other hand, there's a lot we don't have in common. Our definitions, our values, our orientations, our attitudes, there's so much that's different. So as Moshe is in מדין Midyan, he's in this foreign land, this foreign home, and he's in the home of the king, he's the priest of מדין Midyan, יתרו Yisro. He is the king of comparative religion. Moshe says, \"whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, my first son's name is I'm just stopping by. I'm a stranger. We have a lot in common, thank you. יישר כח Shkoyach for the hospitality, but I'm not here to stay.\" And as much as we have in common, we have more that separates us and that leaves us different. And so yes, there was time for הכרת הטוב hakaras hatov, אליעזר Eliezer, God, I'm so grateful you saved my life. But what was the point of saving my life if I'm going to assimilate and lose who I am? So even before I say thank you, the first name is not אליעזר Eliezer, the first name is גרשם Gershom even before we get to it.פרק י\"ח פסוק ה' Perek Yud Ches, Pasuk Hei. Moving along. ויאמר משה אל חותנו יתרו אני בא אליך Vayomer Moshe el chosno Yisro ani ba eilecha. I'm your שווער shver, I'm coming. Watch out, here I come. ואשתך ושני בניה עמה V'ishtcha u'shnei baneha imah. And your wife and your two sons are with her. ויצא משה לקראת חותנו וישתחו וישק לו Vayeitzei Moshe likras chosno vayishtachu vayishak lo. Moshe goes out to greet him, וישתחו vayishtachu, and he kissed him. We've spoken about this in the past too, we won't speak about it now. Who's he and who's him? He kissed him. Intentionally the pasuk is ambiguous and uses pronouns. ויצא משה לקראת חותנו Vayeitzei Moshe likras chosno. We have specific nouns now. Moshe goes to greet his father-in-law. וישתחו Vayishtachu and he bows. וישק לו Vayishak lo and he kisses him. Who bowed, who kissed whom? I just wanted to be able to use the word whom. וישאלו איש לרעהו לשלום Vayishalu ish l'rei'ehu l'shalom. They inquire one to the other how their their well-being, ויבאו האהלה vayavo'u ha'ohelah, and they go inside. ויספר משה לחתנו את כל אשר עשה ה' לפרעה ולמצרים על אודות ישראל Vayisaper Moshe l'chosno eis kol asher asah Hashem l'Paroh ul'Mitzrayim al odos Yisrael. So Moshe is loving having his father-in-law there. And he says, let me tell you everything going on. Let me tell you what's happening. Let me fill you in. You're never going to believe it. את כל התלאה אשר מצאתם בדרך ויצלם ה' Es kol hatla'ah asher m'tza'asam ba'derech v'yatzileim Hashem. Let me tell you about all the travails, all the challenges, all the problems, everything that happened on the way, and you're never going to believe it. You're never going to believe it. Now, why is he telling him about כל התלאה kol hatla'ah? Why is he telling him about all the travails and all the problems and all the challenges? What should he be telling him about? It's משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu. It's Mr. Positive, שמחת החיים simchas hachaim, smile, focus on the good. There were miracles. You just walked away from miracles. Miracles. Israel's closed down, you miraculously were able to get in. There were a hundred miracles that took place, even the fact that you sat in a tin can that flew through the air and you were able to get to Israel in a few hours. And when you land, you say, you're not going to believe the zaftig person sitting next to me, and they ran out of diet Coke on the plane, and my seat didn't recline as far as I wanted it to go. כל התלאה אשר מצאתם בדרך Kol hatla'ah asher m'tza'asam ba'derech. And the person who picked you up at the airport says, are you out of your mind? Nobody can come to Israel right now. The country's cut closed down, you somehow snuck in. And you were on a box that was flying through the air. And you're able to just land and go to Israel, and all you're focused on was that the meal was wasn't so great. That's what you're thinking about? The person next to you took the armrest for the whole flight? This should be, instead of a safety card, there should be an etiquette card, who gets the armrest. There are certain rules about who gets the armrest. They're unwritten, but they should be written. And I think the flight attendants, instead we know how to buckle a seatbelt. Instead, stand in the aisle and tell us the rules of the armrest. All right, I got that out of my system. So you land in Israel. Moshe Rabbeinu should be telling Yisro, שווער shver, you're not going to believe it. It's unbelievable. You're not going to believe what we went through. I know you read about it, but let me tell you, what you read was a fraction of what we experienced. Let me tell you, there were ten miracles, דם, צפרדע, כינים, ערוב dam, tzefardei'a, kinim, arov. And then we got to the sea, we thought we were safe, and it turned out the Egyptians were right behind us, and we thought it was all over. שווער Shver, you're not going to believe it. The sea split. Instead, what does Moshe tell him? You're not going to believe it. We thought we're out, they chased us. I almost lost my mind, the people were fighting. This guy Nachshon, finally he jumped in. He tells him about all the, they wouldn't leave the sea, they were collecting all the gold and silver. I had to schlep them away. And they were already a complaining and card-carrying people, they want the water. All the problems. Moshe is our role model, it's תורת משה Toras Moshe. If it's תורת משה Toras Moshe and Moshe's our role model, what happened to the positivity bias? What happened to the focus on positivity? What's the כל התלאה kol hatla'ah? Let me tell you about all the problems.So a Rav in Ramat Eshkol, my son-in-law's Rav, Rav Weinfield, I've become a very big fan of his. And he says the following, which I think is פשט pshat. I think this is the פשט pshat. Rashi says Moshe tells him about everything happened after קריעת ים סוף ומלחמת עמלק, למשוך את לבו לקרבו לתורה Krias Yam Suf u'milchemes Amalek, l'mshoch es libo l'karvo la'Torah. His goal was to try to draw him closer to Torah. Draw him closer to Torah. But if a few pesukim earlier, Rashi says about Yisro, יתרו היה יושב בחדרו של עולם, ובא לבו לצאת אל המדבר, לשמוע דברי תורה Yisro hayah yosheiv b'chodro shel olam... uva libo latzeis el hamidbar... lishmoa divrei Torah. Yisro already made this great move. So why did Moshe have to be מושך את לבו mosheich es libo? So what did they have in the whole conversation to begin with? Yisro is about to criticize Moshe, not criticize. In-laws don't criticize. He's about to offer constructive criticism. I'm an in-law now, so I'm on the in-law team. He's about to offer constructive criticism to Moshe that you don't have enough time for the people. The tent, the line outside the tent is more than our COVID testing site. So if he doesn't have enough time, why is Moshe wasting his time telling Yisro what he already knows? So many questions. Says Rav Weinfield. Moshe wasn't telling him the glory of Krias Yam Suf and Milchemes Amalek. He was telling him about the צרות tzaros, you know why? Look at the Rambam in הלכות איסורי ביאה פרק י\"ד הלכה א' Hilchos Isurei Biah, Perek Yud Daled, Halacha Aleph. Says the Rambam, when a person comes to be מגייר megayer, we had conversion meetings last week, every month, I'm the head of מנהל הבית דין Menahal ha'Beis Din for conversion here in South Florida for our community. And last week, incredible, wonderful candidates considering that life-changing transformation. And we always reiterate to them, and while they're in the מקוה mikvah, before they dunk and come up a Jew, we say, do you know that right now, you don't have a target on your back? But when you come out of this מקוה mikvah and you're a Jew, it means that a gunman can sneak into your shul and hold you hostage because of his antisemitic demands. Make no mistake, the FBI finally corrected themselves. We tell the candidate, you need to know, you need to know that right now, you're free and clear. The moment you become a Jew, there's a target on your back. Writes the Rambam, מודיעין אותו שבא לגייר, ידעת ישראל בזמן הזה דחופים סחופים ומטורפים ויסורים באים עליהם? modi'in o'soh sheba l'gayer... yada'ta... Yisrael b'zman hazeh... dchufim s'chufim u'm'turafim... v'yisurin ba'im aleihem? Do you not know that we're persecuted and oppressed, that there's antisemitism? אם אמר אני יודע ואיני כדאי Im amar ani yodeia v'eini k'dai. And if the person says, yeah, I know, I'm not under a rock. I know about antisemitism, I read the ADL report, I followed what happened last week in Texas. I know, but you know what? איני כדאי eini k'dai. I'm not even worthy still to join the, I desperately want. Yes, I'm all in. מקבלין אותו מיד Mekablin osoh miyad. We accept such a person immediately. Don't join the Jewish people because you think you know, you'll become a successful lawyer or stockbroker, accountant. Don't join the Jewish people because you think you're going to land a rich Jewish husband or a beautiful Jewish woman. Don't join the Jewish people because of our fine cuisine. Don't join the Jewish people for any external reason, because you need to know that with all those rights and privileges, that with געפילטע פיש gefilte fish and טשולנט cholent comes antisemitism. So only sign up if you're prepared to bear the burden of antisemitism. And if the person says, I know and I'm in nonetheless, מקבלין אותו מיד mekablin osoh miyad. Says Rav Weinfield, you know where we learn this from? משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu. Yisro shows up and he says, I'm ready to join. Where's the closest מקוה mikvah? Dunk me, I'm ready. I'm all in. And Moshe says, whoa, whoa, whoa, Dad. שווער Shver, let me tell you, not all fun and games. You understand we thought we were out, they chased us. They still wanted to take us down. And so he's telling him about the צרות tzaros. Moshe is telling, כל התלאה kol hatla'ah, all the travail, the tribulations, because if you're coming to be מגייר megayer, then you need to know. רות Rus says, עמך עמי ואלוקיך אלוקי amech ami v'Elokayich Elokai. First thing one needs to do is identify with the people and not with the success. You can't be a fair-weather fan and join the Jewish people. You can't just latch on to when it is all well and good. You have to know כל התלאה kol hatla'ah, you have to know all the suffering and all the challenges. You have to know everything else that led up to it and be part of it and want to be in nonetheless.פרק י\"ח פסוק י\"א Perek Yud Ches, Pasuk Yud Aleph. How does Yisro react? What does he say? עתה ידעתי כי גדול ה' מכל האלהים Atah yadati ki gadol Hashem mikol ha'elohim, כי בדבר אשר זדו עליהם ki vadavar asher zadu aleihem. Yisro says, now I know God is greater than all other gods, all other deities, all other idols, from the very matter in which the Egyptians had conspired against them. עתה ידעתי Atah yadati. What does that mean? עתה ידעתי Atah yadati. Now I know. What do you mean now you know? Only once Moshe finishes speaking now he knows? He knew before Moshe finished speaking. How do we know that? Rashi says, מכיר הייתי לשעבר, ועכשיו ביותר makiro hayisi l'she'avar, v'achshav b'yoser. I thought I knew God. I thought I read the headlines. I thought I was moved to join the Jewish people. But that was nothing. Now, now I really know. What do you mean עתה, עתה ידעתי Atah, atah yadati? You studied comparative religion. You heard the Jewish story and you were moved by it to come. Did Moshe tell you anything new? What did Moshe add? A few details, a few personal firsthand experiences, but there's nothing new that came out of it. What do you mean עתה ידעתי Atah yadati? So Rav Chaim Mordechai Katz tells, learns from here, this is quoted in our ספר sefer we've been making our way through the זכאי עליון Zikkei Elyon, that after a person has הבנה והכרה בגדלות ה' יתברך havana v'hakara b'gadlus Hashem Yisborach, אין כאן רק תוספת הבנה בידיעה והכרה הקודמת, אלא כל הידיעה משתנה ומובנת בצורה אחרת לגמרי, עד שנעשית ידיעה אחרת וחדשה לגמרי ein kan rak tosefes havana b'yediah v'hakara hakodemes, ela kol hayediah mishtaneh u'muvenes b'tzurah acheres l'gamrei, ad she'naaseis yediah acheres v'chadashah l'gamrei. When you have a moment in your life, you're present at the birth of a child, you hear great news, something seemingly coincidental works out so in your favor, something you were so worried about and had such anxiety over turned out to be nothing. When you witness a magnificent sunrise or sunset, when something extraordinary or transformational happens, and in that moment you feel undeniably, with no doubt whatsoever, with no uncertainty, there is a Hashem, and he's involved in my life, and he loves me. You know when you're going to feel that? Tonight at 7:30. I'm not exaggerating. I don't overpromise and under-deliver. I don't. I don't. You don't hear me make these promises often. But the dimmed light and the music we're going to play, and you're going to close your eyes, and you're going to feel your נשמה neshama moved. And Rav Weinberger has a way to speak right to the נשמה neshama, right to the נשמה neshama. And in that moment and in those moments that you're singing and your eyes are closed and there is no time and there is no space and there is no to-do list, all there is is to dream about who we could be. All there is to feel the loving embrace of Hashem. All there is is to lean in to the sense that there's order and purpose to this world and this universe. In those moments we feel a connection, we feel alive. So says the, tells the Rav, in those moments that you feel alive, it's not that, you know, my אמונה emunah was a five and now I cranked it up a notch. I got it up to an eight in that moment. It's not that I added on or expanded. It's that it's replaced, find and replace. You don't know. If you have to write a weekly article, you are a good friend of the find and replace. this feature in Microsoft Word. But find and replace. What I thought was אמונה amuna, ah, was nothing. Find and replace. What I've just experienced has transformed me. So I'm not adding on to what I had before, it is an altogether new experience of what I had before. This is true in another area of life, love. Sometimes with a spouse, sometimes with a child, something happens that in that moment, there aren't words that capture how connected and how much love you feel. And in that moment, you don't say, I used to love you, I feel more love for you. You say this is a categorically new love. I feel something categorically different. עתה ידעתי כי גדול השם מכל האלהים Ata yadati ki gadol Hashem mikol ha'elohim. Yisro doesn't say, I thought I knew him but I know him better. I believe in him more. No, עתה ata, now in this moment, this is a categorically different and new connection and feeling that I had before. עתה Ata. It's a very, very beautiful insight and an important insight for us to think about. To look for those moments and experiences, and when we are processing them, when we are processing those moments and experiences, to realize that what I'm feeling right now is not just adding on to what I had before, but I'm a new person. And this is a new relationship and that's a new emotion. עתה ידעתי Ata yadati. We're going to see this theme repeated in a moment with the notion of, with the notion of היום hayom. I went to a סיום הש\"ס siyum hashas last night. A member of our shul, Moshe Winograd made a סיום הש\"ס siyum hashas. Two years ago he decided that he was going to finish ש\"ס Shas. It's actually an extraordinary story. Two years ago, he watched Rabbi Yoni Leven, who's here right now running our winter כולל kollel and is the new ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva of the ישיבה Yeshiva of South Florida starting in אלול Elul. Rabbi Yoni Leven makes a סיום הש\"ס siyum hashas every year. Every year he finishes the whole ש\"ס Shas. He learned seven and a half blat a day and he finishes ש\"ס Shas every year. I grew up with him in Teaneck. A couple years younger than me in Frisch, and he's finishing ש\"ס Shas every year. I told him last night at the סיום siyum, I said in Woodmere, the rabbis make a סיום הש\"ס siyum hashas. Come to Boca the בעלי בתים balabatim do. So Moshe Winograd made a סיום הש\"ס siyum hashas last night. He watched Rabbi Leven's סיום siyum two years ago and he said, you know what? I think I could try that. Rabbi Leven spoke last night and he said that every year after his סיום siyum, part of the reason, the main reason he does it is to try to motivate and inspire others. He said every year he gets countless phone calls of people who want to know, how do you do it? How do you organize it? Where do you start? When do you find the time? Help me. He said he's gotten countless phone calls, countless years. Only one person has ever gotten to the finish line. And that was last night. Moshe Winograd. So Moshe Winograd last night, I'm embarrassing him publicly and for that, it's too bad. But I hope he forgives me. He's a very humble person. There are 36 מסכתות masechtos in ש\"ס Shas. Last night was his 36th birthday, and when he spoke at his סיום הש\"ס siyum hashas, he went through every מסכת masechta and turned it into a תפילה tefillah. He took ברכות, שבת Brachos, Shabbos. He went through every מסכת masechta and used it as a תפילה tefillah. השם Hashem, help me this way, help us feel closer that way, thank you for this that way. I sat there so moved. I'm still, I texted him, I'm still processing that the love note that you wrote to השם Hashem and the romantic description of a relationship with Torah that we were זוכה zocheh, you let a few of us listen in on.Why am I telling you this whole story? עתה ידעתי Ata yadati. I sat there feeling, I'm witnessing something, and I'm listening to something, and I'm feeling something, עתה ידעתי כי גדול השם Ata yadati ki gadol Hashem. Right now I'm experiencing something. So it's not oh, this is more, this is a better סיום siyum that I ever went to. No, this is, this is an altogether new experience. עתה Ata, right now, it's something altogether new. And it's important for us to think about that as we process it. פרק י\"ח פסוק י\"ב Perek Yud Ches, Pasuk Yud Beis. Let's try to pick it up a little bit. Try to get a few more ideas. ויקח יתרו חותן משה עולה וזבחים לאלקים Vayikach Yisro chosein Moshe olah u'zvachim l'elokim. So Yisro makes a barbecue. קרבנות Korbanos. Thank you, God. ויבא אהרן וכל זקני ישראל לאכל לחם עם חותן משה לפני האלקים Vayavo Aharon v'chol ziknei Yisrael le'echol lechem im chosein Moshe lifnei ha'elokim. So Yisro's making a סיום siyum. He says I found God. I come, I converted. I want to have a barbecue. I want to have a, I don't know if he served Chinese, barbecue, עולות וזבחים olos u'zvachim. He had a barbecue. And he invites Aharon, calls all the זקני ישראל ziknei Yisrael, all the elders. לפני האלקים Lifnei ha'elokim, before God, to come eat before God, to come eat before God. Says Rashi: מכאן שהנהנה מסעודה שתלמידי חכמים מסובין בה כאילו נהנה מזיו השכינה Mikan shehaneheneh miseudah she'talmidei chachamim mesubin bah, k'ilu neheneh mi'ziv haShechinah. From here you learn that if you eat a meal with a תלמיד חכם talmid chacham, it's like you are deriving benefit, pleasure, directly from the Almighty. What? You said at a meal with a תלמיד חכם talmid chacham, it's as if you're sitting with השם Hashem himself. I understand you're sitting in the בית מדרש beis midrash with the תלמיד חכם talmid chacham. I understand you're sitting in the שיעור shiur of the תלמיד חכם talmid chacham. But you're sitting breaking bread with the תלמיד חכם talmid chacham? הנהנה מסעודה Haneheneh miseudah, if you enjoy from the סעודה seuda? What does that mean? And Yisro is inviting Moshe, Aharon, זקני ישראל ziknei Yisrael, they have time for? And the Torah. So I think last year, previously we quoted Rabbi Soloveitchik on this. Just to remind you what he said. Previously we quoted Rabbi Soloveitchik on this. Oh. He served the food. One of, one would have expected Yisro to be the one to serve the guest. No, that was a different insight. Here it is. לאכל לחם עם חותן משה לפני האלקים Le'echol lechem im chosein Moshe lifnei ha'elokim. Dining before God. How strange the phrase would have sounded to the Greeks of old. Thinking before, rather with God, was a truism in late Greek philosophy, among the Stoics who considered the finite human intellect an infinitesimal component of the infinite divine logos and who regarded thinking as a reflex of the divine noetic gesture. Again, I remind you that the Rav learned English when he got to America. Whenever man engages in cognition, he submerges in God because only through him is acquisition of knowledge possible. To come close to God or to unite with him through such unrefined carnal activity as eating would simply evoke ridicule. To the Greeks, the idea that you could find God in the pastrami on rye, to the idea that you find God in the potato kugel, that you could find God in the delicious gefilte fish, would be an insult, would be the subject of ridicule. But our religious conscience felt differently. One who eats with God, in his presence. How? By sacrificial action, which converts the food of man to the bread of Hashem. Judaism develops a new institution, the סעודה seuda. It is neither an ordinary meal nor a feast. It is more than that. It is the crucible in which the bread of man is transposed into the bread of Hashem, expressing the fellowship between Hashem and man and the participation of Hashem in all human pursuits and activities. The realization of the idea of סעודה seuda can occur only when a man eats differently from animal, when he displays uniqueness with regard to the physiological processes which are required to satisfy the demands of his body. From this פסק pasuk, the גמרא Gemara derives the maxim that whoever enjoys a meal with a scholar, שרוי sharui, it is as if he enjoyed the radiance. The word שרוי sharui is derived from a phrase that appears in regard to the נזיר nazir, who is prohibited from partaking of the grape based products. משרת ענבים Mishras anavim, bread soaked in wine. Just as bread absorbs wine, the divine presence permeates the meal through the participation of the תלמיד חכם talmid chacham. In other words, for us religion is not only in the shul or the בית מדרש beis midrash. For us, religion is not asceticism. For us religion is not transcendence. For us religion is not a vow of abstinence or celibacy or a fast. For us, connection to Hashem is found where? In the pastrami on rye. It's found in the gefilte fish, the cholent, and the kigel. For us, you find Hashem by transforming and elevating the physical, the mundane into the spiritual. The Rav is a Brisker as writing, but if you've been to a חסידיש טיש chasidish tisch, this is the idea of the שייריים shirayim of the צדיק tzaddik. When the צדיק tzaddik eats from the food, and the צדיק tzaddik is able to have that consciousness and that mindfulness and endow that food with that holiness and that sanctity, and the צדיק's tzaddik's act of eating is altogether different than us. We still struggle with the animal instinct and impulse. So you could say לכבוד שבת קודש l'kavod Shabbos kodesh. Rebbe Blackman in camp Yavneh used to say, you know, the kid would flip out. He was in KBY for 20 minutes and he was already now in Shabbos, לכבוד שבת קודש l'kavod Shabbos kodesh. And Rebbe Blackman would say, are you sure it's not לכבוד יור בויך l'kavod your boyech? Maybe you should say לכבוד מיין בויך l'kavod mein boyech. It's for my stomach. You're sure it's לכבוד שבת קודש l'kavod Shabbos kodesh that you're eating? If not for Shabbos you wouldn't be diving head first into the kishka. You're sure it's לכבוד שבת קודש l'kavod Shabbos kodesh not לכבוד יור בויך l'kavod your boyech? So we still struggle. א שטקל כבוד אונזער בויך A shtickel kavod unzer boyech. It's still a little bit for our stomach, for ourselves. But the צדיק tzaddik is כולו לכבוד שבת קודש kulo l'kavod Shabbos kodesh. The צדיק tzaddik is able to get to that level of their eating is all about Hashem. So their food now is transformed. It's different. So the שייריים shirayim, if you can eat and absorb some of the holiness and the way they transformed that food, special. Now I personally enjoyed the Slonimer tisch in ירושלים Yerushalayim. It's the one tisch I've ever been to, that the שייריים shirayim they put on a plate with a fork. Most, it's a lot more היימיש heimish than that. Super spreader before I ever heard the word super spreader. So, but the שייריים shirayim is to more than that, the act of eating is transformed. And that's what again a very different source than a חסידיש רב chasidish rav or the rav, Rav Shmuel Berenbaum was the ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva of the Mir, zatzal. He says, ניתן היה לומר שגדלות סעודה שתלמידי חכמים מסובין בה היא בקשרם ועסקם בדברי תורה, יראת שמיים, גמילות חסד ישראל nitan hayah lomar she'gadlus seudah she'talmidei chachamim mesubin bah hi b'kishram v'iskam b'divrei Torah, yiras shamayim, v'itan gam chesed Yisrael. So maybe I would have thought הנהנה מסעודה שתלמידי חכמים מסובין בה כאילו נהנה מזיו השכינה haneheneh miseudah she'talmidei chachamim mesubin bah, k'ilu neheneh mi'ziv ha'Shechinah, what's the הנאה hana'ah you get? What is the pleasure you derive from a meal with the תלמיד חכם talmid chacham? What's the pleasure? The שטקל תורה shtickel Torah they say. They say a דבר תורה dvar Torah at the table. That's the הנאה hana'ah. אבל רש\"י ביאר באופן אחר כאילו נהנה נוצר עדי סעודה מסובין בה aval Rashi be'er b'ofen acher, k'ilu neheneh, notz a dei seuda mesubin bah. But Rashi says it's not the דבר תורה dvar Torah. It's the fact that the צדיק tzaddik is eating. עצם האכילה הגשמית נהפכת לדבר רוחני Etzem ha'achilah ha'gashmis ne'peches l'davar ruchani. Their eating is not mundane, profane, it's not secular. Their eating is a religious activity. Their eating is bringing Hashem down into that eating. And that's our mission. יקר ועבודה זה אדם להיות לקדש את הרוחניות ikar avodah zeh adam l'hiyos l'kadeish es ha'ruchniyus. Our job is to sanctify the profane. בכל דרכיך דעהו B'chol drachecha da'eihu. To know Hashem in all that we do. And he writes here, the Rav Shmuel Berenbaum the Rosh Yeshiva of the Mir zatzal, that's the idea of תפילין tefillin, אוכלים מצה ochlim matzah, מובן לנו שזה מעשה מצווה שעוסקים בענייני העולם הזה אפילו אכילה שתייה לצורך הגוף עם עשיית רצון השם יתברך muvan lanu she'zeh ma'aseh mitzvah she'oskim b'inyanei ha'olam hazeh afilu achilah shtiyah l'tzorech haguf im asiyas r'tzon Hashem yisbarach. When I eat the matzah, I make a bracha על אכילת מצה al achilas matzah, I have כוונה kavanah for the matzah. I'm self-conscious about the כזית kezayis, בכדי אכילת פרס bichdei achilas pras. I'm very focused on, present in my eating of the matzah. The level of mindfulness you have when you eat the matzah is the mindfulness we should have with every bite that we eat all the time. Of what we're doing and that it too is a way to connect to Hashem and that Hashem can be found in it. הנהנה מסעודה של תלמידי חכמים מסובין בה Haneheneh mi'seuda shel talmidei chachamim mesubin bah. Korbener Rebbe was here a few weeks ago, the tisch Friday night, I noticed something interesting. This is a big עניין inyan in בעלי מוסר baalei musar. I noticed that when he ate the soup, he had a hot bowl of soup that was put in front of him. When he ate the soup, most people when they eat soup, what do they do? It's a piping hot bowl of soup. It's not hot enough, send it back. It's the מסורה mesorah for my father. If you don't burn your tongue on the soup, it wasn't hot enough. That's our family מסורה mesorah. So the soup is piping hot. So what do most people do when they slur, eat their soup? You lean over and you eat your soup. But if you look at the צדיקים tzaddikim, they never ever bow down or lean in or come closer to the food. The food comes closer to them. So I noticed that the Korbener Rebbe sat up straight and he took each spoon of soup and his hand underneath it, and he brought it up to his mouth. The food, the food's here to serve us. We're not here to serve it. We eat to live, we don't live to eat. And when you lean in and you bow, these are minor little, it's a little gesture, it's a little posture. Does God really care if you lean in, the soup? Yeah. He doesn't care because he cares about the soup, he cares because he cares about us. And we condition ourselves and we impact ourselves and we consciously, subconsciously express our attitude towards food in the way that we eat. In the way that we eat. So not for now, we've given a shiur last year about the Jewish philosophy of eating. We're still trying to put it into practice, but the Jewish philosophy of eating, and Rabbeinu Meyer, Be'on der Chacham, has a whole chapter we drew from, and he holds that achilah is specifically the place of kedushah, milchama lechem, but why? Because we need to eat in order to live. A person can't fast several days in a row, you'll die. You need to be nourished in order to live, which means that within the food are the nutrients for life itself. Who gives us life? Hashem. Where can we find Hashem in this world manifest in a physical sense? In the food we eat. So every bite we take, we're not just eating food, we are imbibing and absorbing Hashem. We are swallowing God. We are adding to the חלק אלוקה ממעל ממש chelek elokah mima'al mamash. That is a level of consciousness. That's a level of mindfulness during eating, which is altogether different. So that's הנהנה מסעודה שתלמידי חכמים מסובין בה haneheneh miseudah she'talmidei chachamim mesubin bah. It's not the dvar Torah the talmid chacham gives. Rav Volbe zatzal, who we quote almost every week. Rav Volbe's grandson moved to our community and he told me from a young boy, he grew up in his grandfather's home, Shabbos meals, Yom Tov meals, and he said his grandfather rarely said a dvar Torah at the Shabbos table. They sang zemiros, he told stories, he told jokes, he wanted his family to be happy and smile. He shared divrei Torah through life was Torah, but not necessarily at the Shabbos table. And that reminds me of this Rashi. הנהנה מסעודה של תלמידי חכמים מסובין בה Haneheneh miseudah shel talmidei chachamim mesubin bah is not necessarily the shtickel Torah, it's not their dvar Torah. Rav Bender said here this past Shabbos, don't force your kids to say it at the table, don't think the table is a classroom with a curriculum where you're going to say over your shiur klali. That's not what the Shabbos table is about. הנהנה מסעודה שתלמידי חכמים מסובין בה כן נהנה מזיו השכינה Haneheneh miseudah she'talmidei chachamim mesubin bah k'neheneh mi'ziv hashechina is an altogether different attitude. Okay. Let's keep going. Let's keep going. Let's keep going. Um, perek yud ches, pasuk chaf. No. Sorry. Yeah. No. Go back. Perek yud ches. Pasuk yud daled. ויהי חותן משה את כל אשר הוא עושה לעם ויאמר מה הדבר הזה אשר אתה עושה לעם מדוע אתה יושב לבדך וכל העם נצב עליך מן הבקר עד הערב Vayehi chosain Moshe es kol asher hu oseh la'am vayomer mah ha'davar hazeh asher atah oseh la'am, madua atah yosheiv l'vadecha v'chol ha'am nitzav alecha min haboker ad erev. So now the father-in-law kicks in and he's got some feedback for Moshe. And he says what is this? You're sitting by yourself and there's a line out the door from the morning until the evening. What's going on over here? What's going on over here? All this time. So Rav Soloveitchik says from morning until evening. Says the Rav, the Jews in the desert constituted a classless society. When I first read that, when he says classless society, he doesn't mean that they were classless in their behavior. He means it wasn't divided by class. All their physical needs were satisfied equally. There were few civil cases. In other words, nobody's beamer bumped into somebody else's Honda Accord. Everybody drove the same donkey. Everybody ate the same food, the mon that fell. Everybody had the same water that came from the be'er. Nobody had, you know, the 150 bottle of wine and the other person was drinking the cough syrup. Everybody had the same. People had been in slavery for hundreds of years, ridiculed, humiliated, tortured. Their wives dishonored, their children snatched from their arms, brutally murdered. Suddenly they're liberated. Suddenly they find themselves free, independent. Many did not know how to live in freedom. Nightmares pursued them. Memories played havoc with them. Each knock on the door at night reminded them of a blood chilling scenes of a few years ago. Inmates of the extermination camps have related that for years afterward, they could not sleep at night. And any noise, any knock on the door would frighten them. The people were dislocated mentally, displaced physically, confused, frightened. What a great phrase. Dislocated mentally. Can have a dislocated limb, you can be dislocated mentally. What a great phrase. They didn't need a judge, they needed somebody to lead, to teach, and particularly somebody to confide in. They clung to Moshe. They wanted to be in his company. It's an insight of the Rav, amazing. In other words, the Rav is wondering, there's a line out the door. Moshe is not sticking Q-tips up their nose so they could travel. Why is there a line out the door? What are they waiting for? There's no civil disputes. Nobody owns anything. Everybody's on equal footing, everyone's of equal class. Their lifestyle doesn't lend itself to conflict. So why is there a line out the door? So it says the Rav, because do you know what this people had been through? They clung to Moshe. They wanted to be in his company. His mere presence was inspiring. His ways were assuring and calming. His words of wisdom enlightened them, drove away the ghosts of the past, his words of comfort and solace placated their pent up emotions, healed their schism, infused them with hope and faith. Why did the people stand from before Moshe, from morning until evening? Certainly not due to his official capacity, certainly not because Moshe assumed the role of Oriental ruler and chief justice and required that people stand in his presence. They stood about him because they loved him. They were fascinated by him. They could not be separated from him. The standing was not of a ceremonial nature, it was a spontaneous, natural, almost instinctual nature. You know what this reminds me of the story of the Kloszenberger. In the DP camp right after the war, the first Friday night, there's a knock on the tent, the entrance of where the Kloszenberger was staying after liberation the first Friday night in the DP camp. And there was a child. The child came to the Kloszenberger and said, could you give me a bracha? And the Kloszenberger Rebbe who himself had lost all of his children, his wife, I think 13 children in the war, said to this child, but I'm not your father. So the child looked up at him and the child said, but I don't, I don't have a father. My father and my mother, they were killed, they were murdered. You're the closest thing I have to a father. Can you give me a bracha? So the Kloszenberger who himself was recovering, was downtrodden, was despondent, was putting his life back together, who didn't understand or appreciate in that moment that he was the father to this child, put his hands on this child's head, and that Friday night he benched him, he gave the child a bracha. The child took leave and a few minutes later there was another knock on his door and it was another child. And he said, my father, my mother were killed, could you give me a bracha? And the Kloszenberger gave him a bracha. And a few minutes later, there was another knock and when he opened the door, there was a line of children. As far as the I could see. They didn't come to the Kloszenberger from morning to evening ceremonially or because he had some official position. They didn't do it for his honor, he wasn't the ruler, the chief justice, they didn't go to resolve disputes that they were having in the DP camp. They came because of what he represented, who he was, and the comfort and solace that he offered and the strength and the support that they needed. From morning to evening. The way the Rav took this pasuk, which we normally read as, two people are having a fight, a dispute, I lent you 100, I didn't, you didn't lend me 100. The Rav, the Rav helps us get into the narrative and into the mindset of where these people had come from and what they wanted and what they longed for, and why they were there. Amazing. Amazing insight. Vayomer hu, perek yud tes, pasuk aleph. Racing against the clock. בחדש השלישי לצאת בני ישראל מארץ מצרים ביום הזה באו מדבר סיני Bachodesh hashlishi l'tzeis bnei Yisrael mei'eretz Mitzrayim, bayom hazeh ba'u midbar Sinai. In the third month of the exodus from Egypt, ביום הזה bayom hazeh, on this day, they arrived in the midbar. They arrived in the wilderness. What do you mean they arrived in the wilderness on this day? You just told us the day. What other day did they arrive in the wilderness? Zogt Rashi, לא היה צריך לכתוב אלא ביום ההוא, מהו ביום הזה lo hayah tzarich lichtov elah bayom hahu, mahu bayom hazeh? Why does it say ביום הזה bayom hazeh on this day? It should say ביום ההוא bayom hahu on that day. שיהיו דברי תורה חדשים עליך כאילו היום נתנו she'yihiyu divrei Torah chadashim alecha k'ilu hayom nitnu. So Rashi says why does it say on, ביום הזה bayom hazeh on this day? To teach us that we should see the Torah new as if we just received it now. They've arrived at Har Sinai. We're about to have this most seminal moment of all human history. The greatest moment of revelation of all of history. And we should tap into and read and experience this story not as an ancient part of history, not as part of the past. ביום הזה Bayom hazeh, today, today. Rav Yerucham, the mashgiach of the Mir, עניין שדברי תורה יהיו בכל יום בעיניך כחדשים אינו רק ביטוי של חביבות, אלא עניינו להחשיב בסוכרינו את הידיעה שעם זה משה רבינו הוריד את התורה לארץ ומבלעדי שלושת ימים לא היה לה שום שייכות לתורה. קבלה זו לא היתה חד פעמית inyan she'divrei Torah yihiyu b'chol yom b'einecha k'chadashim, eino rak bitui shel chavivus, elah inyano l'hachshiv b'sochrenu es ha'yediah she'im zeh Moshe Rabbeinu horid es ha'Torah la'aretz, u'mibaladei shlosha yamim, lo hayah lah shum shaychus la'Torah. Kabalah zu lo hayah chad pa'amis. Moshe climbed up and he brought the Torah down. Otherwise it belonged only in the heavens, had no business being here on earth. And when he did, it wasn't one time only, but it's an experience that we have day in and day out, always, over and over, brand new. And that's the meaning, the Chasam Sofer says, תורה צוה לנו משה, מורשה קהילת יעקב Torah tziva lanu Moshe, morasha kehilas Yaakov. First words we teach a young child when they can speak. תורה צוה לנו משה Torah tziva lanu Moshe, Moshe commanded us this Torah. מורשה Morasha, it is a inheritance. But the word מורשה morasha doesn't mean inheritance. What's the word for inheritance? ירושה Yerusha. So why does the pasuk say מורשה morasha? So said Rav Yerucham, שלא יחשוב אדם ללמוד שהתורה היא ירושה שבאה ממילא מאביו ומירבו, אלא רק על ידי יגיעה ורב מלמד וזוכה עד שתי ירושות לו she'lo yachshov adam l'ilmod she'ha'Torah hi yerusha she'ba'ah mimeilah mei'aviv u'mei'rabo, elah rak al yedei yegiah, v'rav melamed v'zocheh ad she'tei yerushas lo. It doesn't say the word ירושה yerusha because you shouldn't think it's coming. You don't deserve it, you're not entitled to it. It's not automatically being transferred to your bank account. It's not a ירושה yerusha, it's a מורשה morasha. The difference between a ירושה yerusha and a מורשה morasha is a ירושה yerusha, whatever it says in the will gets executed, you get the money. You don't have to make an effort. What do you sign your name? What do you have to do? You have to give a routing number to wire it? What do you have to do? The ירושה yerusha is coming to you. But a מורשה morasha, you have to earn. A מורשה morasha, you have to work for. A מורשה morasha, you have to put in your effort, your toil. Said Rav Yerucham, Torah is not a ירושה yerusha, it's a מורשה morasha. מורשה קהילת יעקב Morasha kehilas Yaakov. And that's why היום הזה hayom hazeh, we have to arrive at Har Sinai when? Not היום ההוא hayom hahu, היום הזה hayom hazeh. We have to work for it, we have to earn it now. The Rebbe has a different vort by the way. The Rebbe said you know what the difference is between a מורשה morasha and a ירושה yerusha? It's a beautiful insight. I think I've told it to you before. I'm reminded of it when you see the ad for a watch that I'm going to mispronounce the name. Patek, what's the, what's it called? Patek Philippe. Philippe? I can't even say the name. I'm not worthy of having such a watch. Not that any of you were getting it for me anyway. But what is their tagline? What do they say? You never really own it. You just hold it for the next generation. It's a brilliant ad, whoever did their marketing. You never really own it, you're just holding it for the next generation. A ירושה yerusha, you inherit, you won the lottery. You, you inherit from your family. Go spend it. Go buy a plane and a yacht and fly through that money and you owe nothing to the generations to come. A ירושה yerusha, you're entitled to spend the way you want. A מורשה morasha, you're not entitled to dip into whatsoever. A מורשה morasha is להבדיל l'havdil, you could wear that watch, but you're just holding it for the next generation. Torah, you're not allowed to use up Torah. We are safeguarding so that we can pass it to the next generation. Chasam Sofer says no, Chasam Sofer says מורשה morasha means you got to work for it. ירושה Yerusha is coming to you, worthy or not, effort or not. מורשה Morasha, you've got to work for it, you've got to be worthy. That's why it says היום הזה hayom hazeh, not היום ההוא hayom hahu. Kotsker has a different insight. Says the Kotsker, as in אמת ואמונה Emes v'Amunah. Rashi says ביום הזה bayom hazeh. You know what day Rashi says? ראש חודש Rosh Chodesh. לא היה צריך לכתוב אלא ביום ההוא, מהו ביום הזה? שיהיו דברי תורה חדשים עליך כאילו היום נתנו. הקשה בחידושי הרי\"ם, היום נתנה תורה? בשבעה בחודש נתנה תורה לישראל, ולא בראש חודש. מהו ביום הזה? Rashi says they arrived in the third month on the first day. And he says I want you to remember that every year this day, this day, ראש חודש Rosh Chodesh you receive the Torah. Says the Kotsker, but they didn't get the Torah on Rosh Chodesh. When did we get the Torah? Which day of the month of Sivan? Seventh of Sivan, sixth of Sivan, seventh of Sivan where the discussion is. אלא Ella, so why does Moshe say ביום הזה bayom hazeh Rosh Chodesh? Listen to this Kotsker. אלא, ראש חודש עשו ישראל הכנה לקבלת התורה, כאילו היום נתנו. שיהיו דברי תורה חדשים בעיניך, שבכל יום שאתה הולך ללמוד תורה, תעשה הכנה מקודם כמו בשעת מתן תורה. Elah, Rosh Chodesh asu Yisrael hachanah l'kabbalas haTorah, k'ilu hayom nitnu, she'yihiyu divrei Torah chadashim b'einecha, she'b'chol yom she'atah holech l'ilmod Torah, ta'aseh hachanah mikodem k'mo b'shaas matan Torah. Not only does our receiving and the learning of Torah need to be new, but the preparation, the anticipation for Torah needs to be new. What happened on Rosh Chodesh was not receiving the Torah, that doesn't happen till the seventh. What happened on Rosh Chodesh? The hachanah, the preparation for Torah. So not only does our learning of Torah need to be with the excitement and the enthusiasm as if it's new, but even our preparation needs to be with that enthusiasm as well. Fast forward. Perek yud tes pasuk daled. We have time for a couple more quick. So אתם ראיתם אשר עשיתי למצרים, ואשא אתכם על כנפי נשרים, ואביא אתכם אלי atem re'isem asher asisi l'Mitzrayim, v'esa eschem al kanfei nesharim, v'avi eschem elai. You saw what I did to Egypt, says Hashem. ואשא אתכם על כנפי נשרים ואביא אתכם אלי V'esa eschem al kanfei nesharim v'avi eschem elai. Beautiful song by my buddy Simcha Leiner to these words. ואשא אתכם על כנפי נשרים V'esa eschem al kanfei nesharim, I will carry you on the wings of eagles, ואביא אתכם אלי v'avi eschem elai, and I will bring you to me. We spoke last year I think the Or HaChaim on this. Beautiful Or HaChaim. What this means, what the symbolism is. But Rashi tells us, why what do you mean God carries us on the wing of the eagle? Rashi says כנשר הנושא גוזליו על כנפיו k'nesher ha'nosei gozalav al k'nafav, because the eagle in particular carries the little birds, little chickies on its wing. שכל שאר עופות נותנים בנייניהם בין רגליהם She'kol she'ar ofos nosnin b'neihen bein ragleihem. All other birds hold their young in their claws underneath them. But the eagle says stand on my wing above me. So that way, they're protected. שמה יזרוק בו חץ, שאין עוף אחר פורח על גביו, לכן נותנו על כנפיו shema yizrok bo cheitz, she'ein of acher pore'ach al gabav, lachein nosno al k'nafav. So the eagle carries on top of the wing because it soars the highest of all the birds and is protected from everything else below. So Hashem says, I'll carry you on top of the wing, not below the wing, so you will not be struck by any arrow that's being shot from down below, from down below. Says the Chidushei HaRim. זאגט דער גערער רבי Zogt der Gerer Rebbe. Says the great Chidushei HaRim. What are the חצים chitzim and the בליסטראות blistraos that the מצרים Mitzrim were זורקים zorkim? Hashem says I'll carry you on the wings of eagles. You will be immune, protected. You will be above where the arrows can be slung at you. What are the arrows that the Egyptians can sling at you? So they had טענות tainos. We know that the מצרים Mitzrim turned to God and they said, הללו עובדי עבודה זרה והללו עובדי עבודה זרה Halalu ovdei avodah zarah v'halalu ovdei avodah zarah. We're idolaters, they're idolaters. So, those were the arrows that the Egyptians were slinging, that Hashem absorbed the blows of those arrows. ועל המרוסת טענות וזאת הכניס ישראל תחת כנפי השכינה V'al ha'maros tainos v'zos hichnis Yisrael tachas kanfei ha'Shechinah. And nevertheless, showed up to protect the Jewish people. ויש בזה לימוד גדול לדורות V'yesh b'zeh limud gadol l'doros, we could learn something incredible for generations from here. אל לו לאדם לייאש ח\"ו שאינו ראוי לגשת למוד תורה מחמת חטאיו ועוונותיו Al lo l'adam l'ya'eish chas v'shalom she'eino ra'ui l'geshes l'ilmod Torah machmas chatav v'avonoso. Don't think, you know, I'm not worthy to learn Torah. Because I've made mistakes, I've had shortcomings. I'm inadequate, I'm unworthy. I failed and I have so many failures. So I'm not worthy to study the Torah. אלא אם הוא מקבל על עצמו מכאן ולהבא לשפר את מעשיו ויעשה לו הצליח Ela im hu mekabel al atzmo mikan v'lehaba l'shaper es ma'asav v'ya'aseh lo hatzliach. ועתה אם שמוע תשמעו בקולי V'ata im shamoa tishme'u b'koli. All that matters is right now. Hashem says, climb aboard. Climb on top of my wing. Ah, but someone's going to say, yesterday you were the lates, I'm going to shoot an arrow at you and say, yesterday you were the no good bum oys varf I saw you coming out of McDonalds. Yesterday you were the guy in the back of the shul talking the entire davening in the middle of Kadish and Kedusha. Yesterday you were the one repeating lashon hara. Yesterday you were the stingy one who never gave tzedakah. And who are you now to think you're sitting and learning Torah? Hashem says, climb on top of my wing. I'll protect you from those arrows. That's exactly what the מצרים Mitzrim were flinging at us and God said, climb aboard, I got your back, I will protect you. I will protect you. סגולה מכל העמים Segulah mikol ha'amim. That's what we're described. פרק י\"ט פסוק ה' Perek yud tes pasuk hey. אם שמוע תשמעו בקולי Im shamoa tishme'u b'koli. Now. That's what that's exactly what the Chidushei HaRim was saying. When do we, he says climb on top of my wing, because all that matters is עתה אם שמוע תשמעו ata im shamoa tishme'u. Don't worry what they're going to fling at you about yesterday. They're going to come at you, I remember you from high school. And boy do I have some stories about you from high school. Now you now you think you're the rabbi of a big shul in Florida. I could tell you some stories from high school. So they're flinging arrows, Hashem says, climb on top of the wing. I will protect you. When? When ועתה אם שמוע תשמעו בקולי v'ata im shamoa tishme'u b'koli. Don't worry about high school. Don't worry about yesterday. And don't even worry about earlier this morning. All that matters in the only dimension we live in is ועתה v'ata, right now. אם שמוע תשמעו בקולי Im shamoa tishme'u b'koli, hear my voice right now, listen to my messages right now. ושמרתם את בריתי והייתם לי סגולה מכל העמים Ushmartem es brisi, viheyisem li segulah mikol ha'amim, and be a סגולה segulah from all the other nations. What does it mean to be a סגולה segulah from all the other nations? This is the מקור mekor, the Torah is saying every Jew should wear a red bendel. No. Definitely not. Tosefta says when you wear a red string it's מדרכי אמורי mi'darkei Emori, that is a form of the idolatry and superstition we left behind in Egypt. The red bendel, such silly נאַרישקייט narishkeit, superstition. That is the that's what we left behind in Egypt. It's a תוספתא *Tosefta*. Says if you wear a red string, it's מדרכי האמורי *midarchei ha'amori*, it's idolatry. That's not סגולה *sgula*. Torah says והייתם לי סגולה *v'hiyisem li sgula*. Be a סגולה *sgula* for me. I know what it is. Read פרשת המן *Parshas HaMan* last week, פרשת בשלח *Parshas Beshalach*. Put a key in your חלה *challah*. Bake 40 חלות *challos*. הייתם לי סגולה *Hiyisem li sgula*, be a סגולה *sgula*. Is that what the Torah is telling us? Go find, Google all the סגולות *sgulos* and keep them all? Is that what the Torah is telling us? I met with somebody recently who's going through a very hard time, potentially hard time, waiting for a challenging situation. They said, \"Just tell me what to do. I'll bake all the חלות *challos* in the world,\" started listing off all these סגולות *sgulos*. I said, maybe just דאַוונען *daven* with כוונה *kavana*? Maybe just make an effort to speak less לשון הרע *lashon hara*, not that the person speaks לשון הרע *lashon hara* a lot. Maybe give a little more צדקה *tzedaka*. We have 613 suggestions. We don't need to find new ones or more. הייתם לי סגולה *Hiyisem li sgula*. We have 613 סגולות *sgulos*. None of them include a red string. 613 סגולות *sgulos* that we have. That's what Rabbi Soloveitchik writes on והייתם לי סגולה מכל העמים *v'hiyisem li sgula mi'kol ha'amim*. He says the word סגולה *sgula* means singular, separate, distinguished, different. And then he brings a lot of evidence we don't have time. I want to end with one more thing. But if you look through תנ״ך *Tanach*, you'll see the word סגולה *sgula* means different, distinguished, elevated, above. When השם *Hashem* says והייתם לי סגולה מכל העמים *v'hiyisem li sgula mi'kol ha'amim*, he doesn't mean be the nation that follows the most silly superstitions. He says והייתם לי סגולה מכל העמים *v'hiyisem li sgula mi'kol ha'amim*, it means be distinguished with your מצוות *mitzvos*, be distinguished with your מידות *middos*, be distinguished in who you are and how you behave. 613 דינים *dinim*. We have הלכה *halacha* that guides us and that makes demands of us. And that's who we are. That's who we are supposed to be.Okay. I concede. I guess we'll stop here. I had so many more. Tonight at 7:30, you don't want to miss it. This is הר סיני *Har Sinai*, this is ביום הזה *bayom hazeh*. This is אתה שמעת בקולי *atah shamata b'koli*. Tonight 7:30, come early, grab your seat. It's going to be an incredible evening. Thank you again. Tomorrow morning 8:15, מסילת ישרים *Mesilas Yesharim*. 8:45, living with אמונה *emunah*. Tomorrow night, going behind the בימה *bima* with רב יצחק גנגרשטיין *Rav Yitzchak Gangerstein*. Until next time, stay happy, stay healthy, stay holy.
