Transcript
Good morning and בוקר טוב Boker Tov. Welcome back to פרשה Parsha Perspectives for today. Excited to jump into the third book of the תורה Torah together, ספר ויקרא Sefer Vayikra and פרשת ויקרא Parshas Vayikra. It's great to see so many people, so many more people joining us online as well. Everyone online should be here back in person. Someone suggested we charge for watching online, it'll motivate people to come in person. But in fact, we are charging to watch online because we're still running our global campaign. So if you are not a member of the Boca Raton Synagogue and you are here right now, you should feel compelled to contribute. You're benefiting, you're enjoying, there's air conditioning, there's coffee, there's a decent rabbi giving a decent שיעור shiur, decent enough that you came for. Either that or you have no life at all that you're willing to come. So, take out your phone, brsonline.org/global, brsonline.org/global. If you've not yet contributed, please be counted. There's a little postcard on every seat with a QR code, and please do your part. Our פרשה Parsha series is generously sponsored by Becky and Avi Katz and family in memory of David Grossman, whose יארצייט yahrzeit is coming up. Ah, you'll say it was just last month. That's correct. It's in אדר Adar. So it was last month and this month. His נשמה neshama should have an עליה aliyah through his beautiful family, Becky and Avi, my dear friend Seth, who does so much and contributes so much to our community and to his and to others. His נשמה דוד בן מנחם מענדל neshama, Dovid ben Menachem Mendel, should have an עליה aliyah. The שיעור shiur is also sponsored this morning by חוה Chava Man in gratitude for the online classes, enjoying them from North Miami Beach. You could drive here חוה Chava Man, North Miami Beach is not that far. But it's just far enough that we'll also forgive you, so you can watch online. So חוה Chava, thank you for your generous sponsorship. And if you're not sponsoring the actual שיעור shiur, but you should be part of helping us produce and share and distribute our שיעורים shiurim, our writing, our program, again our online campaign. You're making me grovel. It makes me look bad, it makes you look bad. Just do your part, please, and we greatly, greatly appreciate it. Okay, ספר ויקרא Sefer Vayikra. פרק Perek 550, page, 554 in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash. ויקרא אל משה וידבר ה' אליו מאהל מועד לאמר Vayikra el Moshe vayidaber Hashem eilav mei'ohel moed leimor. The third book of the תורה Torah begins with God calling Moshe. ויקרא ה' Vayikra Hashem. God calls Moshe. So, the בעל הטורים Baal HaTurim rather, we'll start with the בעל הטורים Baal HaTurim. The בעל הטורים Baal HaTurim writes, אלף של מילת ויקרא זעירא Alef shel milas Vayikra ze'ira. If you look in our Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash, it replicates what appears in the תורה Torah itself. The בעל קורא baal korei, the one getting the עליה aliyah, see it, that the אלף alef of the word ויקרא Vayikra is a miniature אלף alef. It's what we call an אלף זעירא alef ze'ira. It's a small, mini אלף alef. משה לא רצה לכתוב אלא ויקר Moshe lo ratza lichtov ela vayikar. Moshe did not want it to say ויקרא Vayikra. Moshe was humble, he was modest. For the תורה Torah to declare that God called him, that would seem arrogant. Moshe would look like he was gloating, he was showing off. Look at me, you know who I am? God calls to me directly. Moshe preferred without the אלף alef. Without the אלף alef, the same letters, ו-י-ק-ר vav-yud-kuf-reish spells ויקר vayikar. ויקר Vayikar, which means מקרה mikreh, chance, happenstance, randomly. God randomly tripped on me. Could have called anyone. He screamed out, I was the one who answered. כדרך שנאמר אצל בלעם Kederech shene'emar eitzel Bilam. And where do we see that word used? With בלעם הרשע Bilam HaRasha. כי לא נראה לו ה' אלא במקרה Ki lo nir'ah lo Hashem ela be'mikreh. With Bilam, the תורה Torah specifically depicts as if God stumbled across Bilam. It was chance, it was happenstance, it wasn't by design. And Moshe says, \"Let me look like Bilam. I don't have to stand out, I don't have to be special, I don't have to look like God called me. I want it without the אלף alef. Let it just say מקרה mikra.\" אמר לו הקדוש ברוך הוא Amar lo HaKadosh Baruch Hu, God said, \"Nice try. That's your job to seem humble. My job is to produce a תורה Torah. So put the אלף alef in.\" I'm the editor in chief, I got the final say. Hashem says I'm the editor, I'm the author, I'm the publisher, and we're going to do it with the אלף alef. So what did they compromise? What did משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu do? He snuck in an אלף קטנה alef ketana, an אלף זעירא alef ze'ira. He insisted, no אלף alef. He wanted to look humbly like God chanced upon him. God says, \"I didn't chance upon you. I came to you specifically by design. Put in the אלף alef.\" What does Moshe do? Makes Hashem happy, puts in the אלף alef, but gets his way, makes it an אלף קטנה alef ketana, an אלף זעירא alef ze'ira. Which is a bizarre thing when you think about it. I mean, it sounds like an impetuous child. Sounds like something my child would do, right? Fine, they'll give in, they'll do it, but they'll still do it their way a little bit. They won't entirely do it your way. I insist you do this. Okay, but they slip in a little bit, they have to get some victory. So משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu, he's supposed to be humble, the whole driver and motivation for why he doesn't want the אלף alef is because of his humility. And yet, despite his humility, he's insistent it has to be his way. Isn't it peculiar? Okay, you expressed your humility. You said, \"No, don't honor me at the dinner, don't give me מפטיר יונה maftir Yonah, don't give me the עליה aliyah.\" No, no, no. I said no three times, that was your job. But now we call you up for the עליה aliyah. So when משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu had to give in after Hashem told him it's my call, what did he still insist on, the small אלף alef? How is that an expression of humility? In some ways, it's an insistence of arrogance.פירוש רש\"י, כל דיבור ודיבור, כל אמירה ואמירה, הקדימה להם קריאה לשון חיבה Peirush Rashi, kol dibur ve'dibur, kol amira ve'amira, hikdima lahem kria, lashon chiba. לשון שמלאכי השרת משתמשים בו שנאמר וקרא זה אל זה ואמר Lashon she'malachei ha'sharet mishtamshim bo, shene'emar vekara zeh el zeh ve'amar. Rashi here says that whenever God speaks to Moshe, first he calls him. Before he tells him what he's going to say, first he calls out. Why do you first call out? You say, יוכבד Yocheved dear, can I ask you a question? She's sitting right next to me, why do I have to call יוכבד Yocheved dear? She's sitting right next to me. Because it's an expression of affection. The מלאכי השרת malachei ha'sharet, the מלאכים malachim use that expression. We repeat it in our קדושה kedusha. וקרא זה אל זה ואמר Vekara zeh el zeh ve'amar. Why not just ואמר ve'amar? Say what you got to say, angels, you're all on the same frequency. Why וקראו זה אל זה ve'kara zeh el zeh? First you have to call before you say? The answer is, it's an expression of affection. You say someone's name, you call them, \"Can I talk to you? Can I be frank with you? Can I say something to you? Can I ask you something?\" You call first as an expression of affection. אבל לנביאי אומות העולם נגלה עליהם בלשון עראי וטומאה Aval l'nivei umos ha'olam, nigla aleihem b'lashon arai v'tumah. שנאמר ויקר אלקים אל בלעם Shene'emar vayikar Elokim el Bilam. When it comes to the non-Jewish prophets, when it comes to Bilam, there is no affection. There's no \"Bilam, can we talk for a moment? Bilam, come over here dear, I've got something to tell you.\" No, it's ויקר אלקים אל בלעם Vayikar Elokim el Bilam. Hashem happened upon Bilam. He stumbled upon Bilam. So once he chanced upon Bilam, he had a conversation. So what's going on over here? Says Rav Zev Leffshtein in his ספר הרעש sefer HaRo'osh. Try to now have the two volumes. I'd never heard of before the פרשה שיעור parsha shiur. But then you quote people, and you meet their grandchildren in the parking lot and you get their ספרים sfarim. So Rav Zev Leffshtein, the משגיח mashgiach of אור תורה Or Torah, or says the following. קריאה אינה רק בגדר סימן לאדם שיגש ויגיע לאיזה מקום Kria eina rak be'geder siman la'adam sheyagish veyagia l'eizeh makom. When you call out to someone, what you're saying is, \"Could you come over here? You're over there, I don't want to shout,\" or, \"Let's pick a rendezvous point, let's meet at Starbucks, I want to talk to you.\" ענינה של קריאה חיבה דבקות ואהבה Inyana shel kria chiba, dveikus v'ahava. To call out to someone is to initiate, is to express affection that I want a connection. עראי אינה עצם דבר מהותו רק נקרא בשם סיבה חיצונית משום צורך זו ולכן עראי זה לשון גנאי וטומאה Arai eina etzem davar mahuto, rak nikra be'shem siba chitzonit mishum tzorech zo, velachein arai zeh lashon g'nai v'tumah. So when you call out is to establish a relationship, is to create a foundation, is to desire to connect, as opposed to chance and happenstance. משה רבינו עם רוב ענוותנותו ידע והכיר את גדולתו Moshe Rabbeinu im rov anvasnuso yada v'hikir es gedulaso. Moshe Rabbeinu was the most humble person ever, of all time, the most humble of all people, and yet humility does not mean you don't know who you are or what you are. Humility does not mean that you think less of yourself. It means you think of yourself less often. That's humility. Humility is not you think less of yourself, it's you think of yourself less, less often. So Moshe knows exactly who he is. He knows he's categorically different than all other people. He knows he's unique and distinct. He knows he's exceptional. יחד עם זה ידע שערכו הוא מצד עצמו לכלום Yachad im zeh yada she'erko hu mitzad atzmo l'klum. But he also knows that his worthiness does not come from himself. He knows that whatever talents or skills, he knows whoever he is is not because of him, it's on loan and it could disappear any moment. It's not part of his permanent connection. כי רובו הוא רק מחסדו של הקדוש ברוך הוא Ki rubo hu rak mei'chasdo shel HaKadosh Baruch Hu. His greatness is because Hashem empowers and enables it. If Hashem wants him to lose his memory, his genius, his emotional IQ, his talents, his skills, his assets, they could be gone in a heartbeat, in a heartbeat. לכן אינו יכול לכתוב בתורה ויקרא באלף שכן חיבה זו אינה מצדו Lachein eino yachol lichtov baTorah vayikra be'alef shekein chiba zu eina mitzido. ורצה לכתוב בלי אלף שזה במקרה כמו בלעם שאין שם עצמיות וחשובות רק מתנה מלמעלה Veratza lichtov b'li alef, shezeh b'mikreh k'mo Bilam she'ein sham atzmiyus v'chashivus, rak matana mil'mala. What drove Moshe to want to omit the אלף alef? Moshe said, \"Look, it's not that I want to omit the אלף alef because I'm not so great.\" Ah, stop saying that, I'm not so great. Moshe says, \"No, I know I'm great. But here's the deal with my greatness. It could disappear tomorrow. I'm only as good as my latest דרשה drasha. I'm only good as my latest leadership. I'm only as good as my latest interaction. Tomorrow I could stumble upon my words, I could develop a stutter or a stammer, tomorrow I could be in a permanent vegetative state. Whatever gifts or talents I have could be gone tomorrow.\" So Moshe says, \"It's not that I'm in denial of who I am. I know exactly who I am. But part of knowing who I am is knowing that the wealth, physical, material or in talent or skill is from you and it could disappear.\" And that's why I don't deserve for it to say ויקרא Vayikra in the full form, in the full format. So אמר לו הקדוש ברוך הוא כתוב amar lo HaKadosh Baruch Hu, ksov. הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu says, \"Write it anyway.\" שכן באמת נתנה לך דבקות וקירבה אל ה' יתברך בכל לשון של קריאה וחיבה Shekein b'emes nitna lecha dveikus v'kirva el Hashem Yisbarach b'chol lashon shel kria v'chiba. ובכל זאת לא לכתוב באלף גדול שכן כל גדולתו של משה היא דווקא בהכרתו שאין זה שלו U'v'chol zos lo lichtov b'alef gadol, shekein kol gedulaso shel Moshe hi davka b'hakaraso she'ein zeh shelo. קטנות האלף זהו גדולתו של משה Katnus ha'alef, zehu gedulaso shel Moshe. So it's not that Moshe defied God by writing the small אלף alef. God consented to the small אלף alef because by writing the small אלף alef it captured both of their intent. Moshe says, \"It's true I'm great, but my greatness only comes from you.\" And Hashem says, \"Wow, you're right.\" So, I still wanted to say אלף alef because in the end you are great because you connect to me and you recognize me. But leave it a small אלף alef in the recognition that the greatness only stems from the connection with me and it could be gone any moment. So we see from here שאדם חייב לדעת ולהכיר חשיבותו ומדרגתו she'adam chayav lada'as v'lehakir chashivuso u'madreigaso. A person has to know their greatness. It's a false humility. It's a fake humility to pretend you're not good at something you're good at is not only a false or counterfeit humility, it's in fact offensive to God who gave you that talent and skill and wants you to realize it and utilize it to its fullest. To pretend you don't have it is just false and fake and counterfeit, but more than that, it's disrespectful, because Hashem gave it to you to use. We should embrace and lean in and utilize the gifts and the talents that we have, physical, materially, in resources, in skill, but we should always leave the small אלף alef in our life to remember that whatever we've been given is on loan, is not part of our permanent collection, it could be gone at any moment and at any time. So Rav Zev is giving an entirely new explanation or understanding of what this conversation is. I thought it's a very beautiful insight, and it's also very instructive to each and every one of us, and to our children, to מחנכם mechanchem to life. When we speak about humility, we have to speak about it accurately. Humility does not mean pretending you're not good at something. That's not what humility is. Humility is to recognize. And we as parents, I think one of our primary responsibilities, we're living in an age of tremendous insecurity. Just had a meeting yesterday, but it could be a meeting any day with anyone, and if we're honest, we feel it ourselves, where we have this imposter syndrome. I'll be honest with you, every week when you show up, I can't believe you're here. I'm still waiting for people to figure me out. And I'm just taking from everyone else's ספרים sfarim, I'm just sharing it, that really I'm somewhat of a fraud. I can't believe that you show up. And we all have that voice inside our head that says, \"I'm a nothing. I'm inconsequential, I'm invisible, I'm incapable, I'm unworthy. I'm not really so good, I'm not really so talented.\" But that's not healthy. We're living in an age where there's an enormous spike of mental health challenges and there's a lot of children who are struggling with their own value and their own worth. And we as parents and we as educators, I think one of our core, central, primary responsibilities is to build them up, is to make them feel their greatness. Now you'll say, but is that really the challenge? Then they'll lead to an arrogant generation, an entitled generation. So the answer is the אלף זעירא alef ze'ira. This insight of Rav Zev Leffshtein is exactly the marching order and the mission statement of every parent and every מחנך mechanech is to instill in our children, here's your greatness. Let me tell you your greatness, let me build you up. But your greatness brings a responsibility. Your greatness doesn't entitle you. Your greatness doesn't give you license. Your greatness is not about what you can get from it, it's what your responsibility to give, what's your duty to the world? How does your greatness position you to make a difference? What's your mission with it? And whatever your greatness is, remember, it's not yours forever. It could disappear tomorrow. I don't care how wealthy someone is, the world economy can change. I don't care what a great speaker or orator you are. הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu can, a tiny small little illness can take it away in a heartbeat. In a heartbeat. I forget which great rock star was on tour, the top of his game, and developed a polyp or laryngitis and had to cancel his entire tour. You could wake up one morning with no voice. You could be a great singer, a great speaker, you could wake up one morning with no voice. And the examples go on and on and on, where whatever we have is on loan it could be taken away tomorrow.Okay, that is number one, Rav Zev Leffshtein. Let's move over to Rav Nachman, the הייליגער רב נחמן פון ברסלב Heiliger Rav Nachman of Breslov and this new ספר sefer that I love, this beautiful ספר שולחן השבת עם רב נחמן sefer Shulchan HaShabbos im Rav Nachman. To be clear, this ספר sefer is not quoting רב נחמן Rav Nachman. The quote in this ספר sefer is using the teachings of רב נחמן Rav Nachman from ליקוטי מוהר\"ן Likutei Moharan and elsewhere, and then connecting it to the פרשה parsha or finding where Rav Nachman talks about the פרשה parsha in those ספרים sfarim, and then organizing it according to the פרשה parsha. תחילת ספר ויקרא מסופר כיצד קרא ה' למשה אל האהל מועד כדי למסור לו את המצוות Tchilas Sefer Vayikra mesupar keitzad kara Hashem l'Moshe el ha'ohel moed kedei limsor lo es hamitzvos. The beginning of the book of ויקרא Vayikra, it starts, it launches with how Hashem called Moshe to come to the אוהל מועד ohel moed to give him, to transmit to him the מצוות mitzvos. לפי המסורת הרי אות אלף במילת ויקרא נכתב כשהיא קטנה, אלף זעירא L'fi hamasores harei os alef b'milas Vayikra nichtav k'she'hi ketana, alef ze'ira. מה בא הדבר ללמד Ma ba hadavar l'lamed? So that's what we've been talking about, why is it a small miniature אלף alef? שמורידוסה אות אלף ממילת ויקרא, ונקבל ויקר Shemoridosa os alef m'milas Vayikra, u'nekabel Vayikar. As we've been talking about, Moshe wanted to look like chance, happenstance. ויקר אלקים אל בלעם Vayikar Elokim el Bilam. מי שחושב שהצרות והקשיים שבאים עליו הם מקרה יהיה לו קשה מאוד לקבל אותם Mi she'choshev she'hatzaros v'hakshayim she'ba'im alav heim mikreh, yiheh lo kashe me'od lekabel osam. A person who thinks that whatever happens to them in life is chance, it's happiness, they are a victim of randomness. They are a loser, a lottery winner or a lottery loser, that they happen to be diagnosed, that they happen to lose that money, that they happen to have that incident or accident happen to them. If you feel that you're a victim of randomness or chance, that what happened just was a fluke, it's very difficult to accept. It's very difficult to get through. והוא עלול להגיב מתוך כך לטומאת של כפירה V'hu alul le'hagiv mitoch kach l'tumah shel kfira. And the person who lives life and says, \"It's a fluke, it's chance, it's randomness, and I don't know why I have to be the victim of it,\" can lead you to a life of heresy, a life of loneliness, a life of feeling depressed and despondent. אבל באמת הקדוש ברוך הוא שהוא אלופו של עולם נמצא בכל מקום Aval b'emes HaKadosh Baruch Hu, she'hu alufo shel olam, nimtza b'chol makom. But the truth is, that Hashem who is the אלופו alufo, the word אלוף aluf, אלף alef means the mighty, the strong, the providential king, the creator, the source of the world. He's נמצא בכל מקום nimtza b'chol makom. Hashem is everywhere and in everything. וגם בתוך הצרות הוא מסתתר V'gam b'toch hatzaros hu mistater. Even within that which is painful, even within that which is tragic, even in the challenging times, Hashem is there. It's not an accident, it's not a coincidence, it's not chance, it's by design, it's from above. וזהו האלף הזעירא V'zehu ha'alef ha'ze'ira. It's not a coincidence the small letter is the letter אלף alef. The word אלף alef that spells the letter אלף alef, אלף alef means the one and only. אלקינו ה' אחד Elokeinu Hashem echad, the one and only, the unique distinct God, who is the אלופו של עולם alufo shel olam. He is the creator, the mighty ruler of the world. המסמלת על הקדוש ברוך הוא והופכת את ויקר לויקרא Hamesameles al HaKadosh Baruch Hu v'hofeches es Vayikar l'Vayikra. How do you take the ויקר Vayikar of life? The attitude of this was chance, this was random, this was happenstance. How do we take the ויקר Vayikar, this was chance, and we add a little אלף alef? You add a little Hashem. And you say, \"This wasn't chance and this isn't random and this comes from above.\" I'll tell you something personal. Many years ago, 20 years ago now, my wife had a stillbirth. It was after our second girl. It was a stillbirth little boy. And it was a very, very challenging, very difficult, incredibly painful time. And they had no explanation, no understanding. It was almost full term. Beautiful little healthy, beautiful little baby boy, but it was a stillbirth. And it's very painful, I don't need to elaborate. When they have to induce you and you have to endure labor, and you have to go through all those pains and the recovery, and then your milk comes in and your body tells you you're supposed to be nursing, but there's no baby. It was an incredibly, almost unbearable time. we've been blessed so many times over with a beautiful family and I don't say it to you for your sympathy, we're incredibly blessed. Why am I telling you this story? Because while we were going through this, you know, they did a chromosomal analysis, they did analysis of the umbilical cord, they couldn't figure out why it happened. There was no explanation. And in many ways that made it harder. There's no explanation, there's no understanding why. And it felt like a fluke. Why did this fluke happen? Why did this random thing happen? Why did this random, unexplainable, chance happenstance painful thing happen? And someone gave me great חזוק chizuk at the time and they said, \"You know, when something's unexplainable and the only way to explain it is that it must be by design, when you can't attribute it to something that you could point to, when you can't attribute it to a lab result, when you can't attribute it to something that happened or went wrong, or somebody's negligence, when you can't attribute it to anything, you have no choice but to say, this was by design. This was meant to be.\" And I have to tell you, it gave me great comfort. I remember 20 years later, I remember it profoundly. That the thought that this happened on purpose and by design and from above, didn't make it less painful. It was still very, very painful to endure. But it made sense. There was a framework, there was a reason, there was the ability to accept that it didn't happen for no reason. Maybe in this world we would know the reason, maybe it won't be till the world to come that we'll meet that child. You know, when you have a stillbirth little boy, you give a ברית bris. The רמ\"א Rama in שולחן ערוך Shulchan Aruch quotes, יורה דעה Yoreh Deah, that you give a ברית bris to the little boy and you give a name. It's a very beautiful reason. The רמ\"א Rama says because when משיח Mashiach comes in תחיית המתים techiyas hameisim, that little boy will come back to life and you'll meet that little boy. And the little boy needs to be גמול gamul, the little boy needs to have a ברית bris when they come back to life, and they need to have a name. So they know they have a name and you know what to call them when you meet them. This is not some heebie-jeebie, מקובל mekubal, mystical, now transfer me, wire me a lot of money. This is our רמ\"א Rama in שולחן ערוך יורה דעה Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah. You give a ברית bris and you give a name. So when, I somehow made this very sad and עזר שני eizer sheini, very sad פרשה Parsha perspective, but it's not sad. I'm trying to make a point of adding the little אלף alef. The little אלף alef. We go through moments in our life, says רב נחמן Rav Nachman, that feel like ויקר Vayikar. We go through these moments in our life that feel like this is just chance, this is random. Why do I randomly have to win this terrible lottery? Why does this random negative event have to happen to me? Where are you? I feel all alone, and I lose my faith, and it feels like ויקר Vayikar. You got to put in the little אלף alef. The little אלף alef is Hashem. The one and only, the אלופו של עולם alufo shel olam. We add the little אלף alef to ויקר Vayikar, to chance, and now we give it meaning. We give it context, we gain support, and we feel that there's reason and that it makes sense. We add the little אלף alef and we transform ויקר Vayikar to ויקרא Vayikra. And what happens when you add the little אלף alef? כל שזוכה להבין זאת שומע את קולו של ה' הקורא לו כל הזמן Kol she'zocheh l'havin zos, shomeia es kolo shel Hashem hakoreh lo kol hazman. When you add the little אלף alef to ויקר Vayikar, when you add the little אלף alef to chance and happenstance and randomness, when you add the אלף alef, you get the word ויקרא Vayikra, that God is calling you. That God is telling you something. That God is talking to you through whatever happens to you in your life. And then the question is to decipher what is he saying? What does he want from me? What is he telling me? What is he calling me? What is my calling? כמו שאמר רבי נחמן בשיחות הר\"ן שמכל הדבר צריך לקבל מהקדוש ברוך הוא וקורא לאדם לחזור אליו יתברך Kmo she'amar Reb Nachman b'Sichos HaRan, she'mikol hadavar tzrich lekabel mei'HaKadosh Baruch Hu v'koreh l'adam lachzor eilav Yisbarach. Throughout our lives and throughout all that occurs, Hashem's calling, \"Come home, I want to spend time with you. I'm talking to you. I'm communicating with you.\" לא כולם שומעים את הקול הזה Lo kulam shom'im es hakol hazeh. Not everybody can hear it. Not everyone has the frequency, not everyone owns the antenna. גם על הקול שדיבר למשה באהל מועד כתב רש\"י שהקול היה הולך ומגיע לאזניו של משה וכל ישראל לא היו שומעים אותו Gam al hakol she'diber l'Moshe b'ohel moed, kasav Rashi she'hakol haya holech u'magia l'oznav shel Moshe, v'chol Yisrael lo hayu shom'im ozo. When Hashem spoke to Moshe in the אוהל מועד ohel moed, Rashi tells us that even though audibly it was loud enough that potentially everyone could have heard, no one had the frequency to pick it up. Only משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu heard God speak. Everyone else was within range to pick up the sound waves. It's not that he wasn't speaking loudly enough, Hashem was whispering to Moshe. He was speaking so loudly, anyone in theory could have heard, but they didn't have the frequency to pick up the message. למשה הקול היה חזק מאוד יש קול שגדל לשמרו צריך להיות במדרגה המתאימה באמונה ומשה מי שלא הגיע אליה לא ישמע L'Moshe hakol haya chazak me'od. Yesh kol she'gadle l'shomro tzrich l'hiyos b'madreiga hamat'ima b'emuna. U'Moshe, mi she'lo higia eileha, lo yishma. Sometimes Hashem speaks to us, but we have to have the level of אמונה emuna and faith, we have to be so plugged in that we could pick up the frequency. I davened at a wedding on Sunday night. I davened מנחה Mincha at the wedding. We stepped outside, we made a quick מנין minyan, and the שליח ציבור shliach tzibbur was a חיוב chiyuv. He asked if he could lead davenening, no problem. And he took out of his pocket, not a גאַרטל gartel, I'd never seen this before. He took out a USB charging code and tied it around his waist as his גאַרטל gartel. And I thought it gave new meaning to plugging in for דאַוונען davening. It was a USB code. A USB code was the גאַרטל gartel around his waist. Interesting, innovative. Person has to figure out when you don't have a choice. He plugged in. So sometimes you have to be plugged in to pick up the frequency, but we turn the moments of ויקר Vayikar of our life, the moments of chance and randomness and aloneness, by adding a little אלף alef, by putting Hashem in the picture, we turn a ויקר Vayikar into ויקרא Vayikra. We turn feeling alone and a victim of chance into God's talking to me, God's calling me. What is God saying to me? אבל מי שאכן יש בו דעת ויודע שהכל בהשגחה מאת ה' שהקדוש ברוך הוא נמצא בכל מקום יהיה לו קל לשאת את הקשיים Aval mi she'achein yesh bo da'as v'yode'a she'hakol b'hashgacha mei'es Hashem, she'HaKadosh Baruch Hu nimtza b'chol makom, yiheh lo kal lases es hakshayim. What gives us the strength to endure, the resiliency to confront and to face whatever we have to is to know that Hashem is with us. He's behind us, he's next to us, he's lifting us, he's holding us, he's crying with us. He's right there, the אלף זעירא alef ze'ira, the little אלף alef, the little voice of the אלף alef, the little sound of the אלף alef, it's right there. It's what the מריניץ טשערנאבל רבה Chernobyler Rebbe says מי שנכנס אדר מרבין בשמחה mi shenichnas Adar, marbin b'simcha. When you put, מי שנכנס א-דר mi shenichnas A-dar. When you put the אלף alef into דר dar, when you give Hashem a dwelling place, then מרבין בשמחה marbin b'simcha. You want to be happy in life? Then realize Hashem is with you everywhere and in everything. That everything is for a reason, there is meaning, there is order to the universe. Submit and surrender to him. אלף Alef, the אלוף aluf, דר dar. Give him a dwelling place here on earth. מי שנכנס אדר Mi shenichnas Adar. Not when you enter the calendar of אדר Adar, but מי שנכנס mi shenichnas when אדר Adar enters you. When an attitude and a philosophy of אלף-דר alef-dar, when אדר Adar enters you, מרבין בשמחה marbin b'simcha, then we're going to feel an incredible sense of an incredible sense of joy. So that's the, that's the effort. That's what we're supposed to be doing. That's our mission and our mandate. That's our responsibility. And then מרבין בשמחה marbin b'simcha. So ויקרא Vayikra, we're going to get past the first word of the פרשה parsha. Promise. But if you look in your חומש Chumash, the little אלף alef, we're not going to get there yet because there's a lot more to say about this little אלף alef, this beautiful little אלף alef. Somebody should write a storybook about the little אלף alef that could. But the little אלף alef. The little אלף alef, Moshe's compromise with Hashem, number one Rav Zev Leffshtein. Rav Nachman number two, put the little אלף alef in the ויקר Vayikar of your life and turn the ויקר Vayikar into ויקרא Vayikra. Instead of feeling like a victim of chance, listen to Hashem talking to you. Listen to Hashem calling out to you. But it's up to us to put the little אלף alef in. We have to put the little אלף alef in. Next. ויקרא אל משה Vayikra el Moshe. The מדרש תנחומא Midrash Tanchuma says the following. The מדרש Midrash, the מדרש תנחומא Midrash Tanchuma says the following. אמר רב אסי למה מתחילים התינוקות של בית רבן ללמוד בספר ויקרא Amar Rav Asi, lama maschilin hatinokos shel beis rabban lilmod b'sefer Vayikra? The מדרש תנחומא Midrash Tanchuma says that I don't know that we do this, I'm sure in certain חסידיש Chasidish schools they still do, that when children begin to learn חומש Chumash, the first חומש Chumash you give them is not בראשית Breishis, good stories. It's not שמות Shmos, more good stories. Not במדבר Bamidbar, some difficult stories. Not דברים Dvarim, great מוסר שמועס mussar shmuess. First book you learn with children is ויקרא Vayikra. Time and memorial since the תורה Torah was given, the first ספר sefer we give children to start learning is the book of ויקרא Vayikra. Why? שהכל קרבנות כסורים בו, שהם טהורים מהחטא ועניינם לא יודעים מה טעם חטא ועוון. לפיכך אמר הקדוש ברוך הוא יבואו התחילה בסדר קרבנות She'kol hakorbanos ksurim bo, m'she'heim tehorim mei'hachet, v'einyonim, einam yodim ma hu ta'am chet v'avon. L'fichach amar HaKadosh Baruch Hu, yavo hat'chila b'seder karbanos. Because the book of ויקרא Vayikra talks about טומאה וטהרה tumah v'tahara, purity and impurity. The קרבנות karbanos that achieve כפרה kapara, these children, innocent and sweet and pure, before they are contaminated, we start and we learn the book of ויקרא Vayikra. יבואו הטהורים ויעסקו במעשה טהורים Yavo'u hatehorim v'ya'asku b'ma'aseh tehorim. Let those who are pure come and learn from the book of pure. ולפיכך הנה נחשב לו לעולם כאילו הוא עומד ומקריב אותה קרבנות, אף על פי שחרב בית המקדש ואין קרבן עולה, תנוקת שקורא בסדר קרבנות לא היה עולה אמן L'fichach hinai nachshav lo l'olam k'ilu hu omed u'makriv ota hakorbanos, af al pi she'charav beis hamikdash v'ein korban olei, tinokos she'koreh b'seder karbanos, lo haya oleh amen. So, some bring down, what's the allusion to this? How do you know, the מדרש תנחומא Midrash Tanchuma, how do you know they should start teaching children from the book of ויקרא Vayikra? Not בראשית, שמות, לא במדבר, דברים, אבל ויקרא Breishis, Shmos, lo Bamidbar, Dvarim, ba'Vayikra? The אלף זעירא alef ze'ira. זעירא Ze'ira means a small little child, a cute, adorable little קינדער kinder. So you start teaching the children from the book of ויקרא Vayikra. So asked Rav Elazar, the of Gateshead, \"I don't understand. We said take the pure innocent child and teach them from the book of the pure and innocence, of כפרה וטהרה kapara v'tahara. But why can't we start from בראשית Breishis and not get to ויקרא Vayikra? I don't understand. למה צריך שתחילת לימודם יהיה דווקא בעניינים אלו Lama tzrich she'tchilas limudam yiheh davka b'inyanim elu? עיקר עניין שלימוד עניין קרבנות קודם שיבואו לכלל מחויב במצוות Ikar inyan she'limud inyan karbanos kodem she'yavo'u l'chlal mechuyav b'mitzvos. The key was before they get to the age of מצוות mitzvos, before their בר מצווה bar mitzvah, get to ויקרא Vayikra. So no problem. Start from בראשית Breishis and make sure you get to ויקרא Vayikra by their בר מצווה bar mitzvah. Why do you have to start from ויקרא Vayikra to begin with? So he says יסוד גדול, אם לא יתחילו התינוקות בחומש ויקרא, בתוך זמן קצר כבר יהיו נוגעים במידה מסוימת בטומאת העולם, וכבר לא יעמדו באותה דרגת טהרת ההתחלה yesod gadol, im lo yatchilu hatinokos b'chumash Vayikra, b'toch zman katzar kvar yihyu nog'im b'mida mesuyemes b'tumas ha'olam, v'kvar lo ya'amdu b'osa darges taharas ha'hatchala. ואנו ביודעינו את ערך העצם של לימוד ענייני טהרה, ונושאים עליהם שיהיה כמה שיותר בדרגה גבוה ביותר של טהרה V'anu b'yodeinu es erech ha'etzem shel limud inyanei tahara, me'unyanei shel limud yiheh k'mah she'shaiyach b'darga gevoha b'yoser shel tahara. And the answer is because when you live life even a little bit, you become contaminated. You become affected, you become corrupt. Our goal is to have them engage these סוגיות sugyos and these topics while they're still innocent, before they become compromised or contaminated. While they're innocent is when we begin. So you take the pure child and you give them the tools and the instruments for purity before it becomes too late. Why is this a very important פרשה Parsha perspective for today, in my opinion, in my mind? Because I think there are a lot of parents, myself included, who when our children are young, we take a lot for granted and we make a lot of assumptions. And then when they start to mature and develop and get exposed to and engage the world, and now we worry, now we try to play catch-up. Now we talk about Hashem and אמונה emuna and מסירות נפש mesiras nefesh. Now we talk about בטחון bitachon and דבקות dveikus and מצוות mitzvos. Now we talk about giving Hashem נחת רוח nachas ruach. And we're trying to play catch-up. When we first get the hint that we're a little bit worried. Oh, they use that expression, they want to go on that device, they have that friend, they saw this thing. Now we're trying to play catch-up. It's so much harder to play catch-up than it is to ingrain and imbue these values and these habits from when they're young and pure. There are so many parents who can give big lectures about their regret they have of how differently they would do things if they could do it again. Don't be that parent. If you're a grandparent, don't tell your children this, that's not your job, it's my job. But parents, young parents who are listening, young parents who are listening, we should have a panel of people who would have the courage to talk about their regrets and speak to the young parents. You know, that I think it was the Steipler they came in, the Chazon Ish, and you know, a woman who was pregnant said, \"When do I need to start to learn about חינוך chinuch and about my children and parenting?\" And he said, \"You're too late. Before you got married, when you were single.\" When we start working on ourselves and we work on the philosophy of what our home will look like and what our dining dinner table will look like, and the חינוך chinuch of how we'll get the kids into the carpool in the morning and get the homework done at night, and our attitude towards שבת און יום טוב Shabbos and Yom Tov. So it's hard to start again. It's hard to get a new beginning. But when the children are young and innocent and pure, what we ingrain within them then, the assumptions that we create within them then, the habits that we form within them then, there's nothing like it. And that's why, that's why the אלף זעירא alef z'eira. Start the children from ספר ויקרא Sefer Vayikra. Start them from ספר ויקרא Sefer Vayikra. There's other beautiful reasons we've spoken about in the Parsha Perspectives in the past. I'll let you listen to those online. Let's keep going. Another from Reb Zeidel Epstein. Still on פסוק א' pasuk alef, but we're moving past the opening word. ויקרא אל משה Vayikra el Moshe, good, we got that down. וידבר השם אליו Vayidaber Hashem eilav. ויקרא Vayikra, he called him, and then וידבר vayidaber he spoke.So Rashi says, יכול אף להפסקות הייתה קריאה yachol af la'hafsakos haysa kria. Maybe Hashem called them even for the break. We know the Torah is filled with breaks. פסוחות וסתומות pesuchos u'stumos, there are pauses. Pregnant pauses within the conversation. Awkward silence. We would call it today awkward silence. תלמוד לומר וידבר Talmud lomar vayidaber. הדיבור היה קריאה ולא להפסקות Ha'dibur haya kria v'lo la'hafsakos. ומה היו הפסקות? משום שנותן רווח למשה להתבונן בין פרשה לפרשה U'mah hayu ha'hafsakos? Mishum she'nosein revach l'Moshe l'hisbonein bein parsha l'parsha, ובין ענין לענין, קל וחומר להדיוט הלומד מן ההדיוט u'vein inyan l'inyan, kal v'chomer l'hedyot ha'lomed min ha'hedyot. So Rashi here tells us that Hashem would dictate to Moshe the Torah, he would teach Moshe. And Moshe would say give me a minute. Let me think about that, I need to absorb that. I want to process that. I want to assimilate that knowledge into who I am. Give me a minute. So there's a small break and it continues in the same line. He needed a minute. When there's a complete break and the Torah continues in the next line, he needed more than a minute. So Rav Zeidel Epstein points out, התורה מדברת כאן על הרב הגדול בבריאה Ha'Torah medaberes kan al ha'rav ha'gadol ba'bria, הקדוש ברוך הוא בעצמו HaKadosh Baruch Hu b'atzmo. The greatest teacher of all time. Who is the greatest teacher that ever lived? Not משה רבנו Moshe Rabbeinu, even though he gets the name רבנו Rabbeinu. The greatest teacher, transmitter of Torah of all time is none other of course than Hashem. Hashem is the greatest teacher ever. And with that, with Hashem being the greatest teacher of all time, what did Moshe need? A pause. Some margin, a break. The capacity and the ability and the time to process.התלמיד הגדול משה, הוא למד רצופות יומם ולילה Ha'talmid ha'gadol Moshe, hu lamad retzufos yomam va'laila. You have the greatest teacher of all time, transmitting to the greatest student of all time. How do you know Moshe is the greatest student of all time? He went forty days, forty nights learning Torah with no break. Didn't eat, didn't sleep, didn't take a break for one second. ואף על פי כן V'af al pi chein, צריך הפסקה tzarich hafsaka. And still, Moshe Rabbeinu, the greatest teacher ever, the greatest student ever, still needed a moment, needed a break to amass, to assimilate, to be able to listen and to accept everything that he was being taught. Says Rav Zeidel Epstein, what do you see from here? If that's true for the greatest teacher and the greatest student, how much more so, how much more is true for us. And is there ever been a generation that needed this more than we do? We're living in this hyper super speed, sonic speed generation. We never pause for anything. We never absorb any conversation we had because we're already onto the next conversation. We've pressed play on the next podcast. We're watching the next news. We're on to the next event, conversation. We're living in such super speed, we don't build in the margin that even Moshe Rabbeinu needed. You learn a דף יומי daf yomi, you fly through the דף daf, you close the גמרא gemara, you pick up the next דף daf that you fly through the next day. Do we stop and absorb? Do we create the space and the margin to think and to be? וידבר השם אליו Vayidaber Hashem eilav. If Moshe Rabbeinu needed it, על אחת כמה וכמה al achas kama v'kama, how much more so we need it. Build in that margin, give ourselves that space. It's so critical.I've shared with you before. In publishing, in books, remember what those things are? The paper, the things that you hold in your hand. Books. In books there's white space around the page. Why? You could make the page shorter, you'd save more money, you could still charge the same price if you had the ink go from the edge to the other edge, from the top to the bottom. Why is there margin in publishing? There's margin in publishing because your eye couldn't take it. No one would read a book that didn't have margin. You cannot... why is there space between the lines and between the words? Because our eyes and our minds were designed to need margin. In order to accumulate, absorb, in order to be able to accept and assimilate what we're reading into who we are, we need margin. And what's true physically, graphically, is true spiritually. We need margin in our lives. Even in a conversation. You know, let me think about that for a second. That's so interesting. Let me think about that. Do we ever do that? We're just when the other person is speaking, we're just preparing our response. And while we're responding, they're preparing their response. Do we ever stop and say, that's so interesting. Let me think about that for a second. Let me think. Maybe you're right. Maybe you've changed my way of thinking. Or maybe you've taught me something new. Let me think. We don't make that time or space to think. Moshe, the greatest student, who had the greatest teacher, nevertheless needed to think. We need to give ourselves the space and the time and we need to make sure that we think as well.רב ירוחם Rav Yerucham. Moving right along. רב ירוחם Rav Yerucham of the Mir, the great רב ירוחם Rav Yerucham. ויקרא אל משה וידבר השם אליו מאהל מועד לאמר Vayikra el Moshe vayidaber Hashem eilav mei'ohel moed leimor. The Midrash says מכאן אמרו כל תלמיד חכם שאין בו דעת mikan amru kol talmid chacham she'ein bo da'as, נבילה טובה הימנו neveila tova heimenu. I love this Midrash, we've spoken about it at length in the Parsha Perspective shiur in the past. We're not going to analyze it at length again, you should listen. Some great insight from Rav Hutner. But the Midrash says, you see from here, כל תלמיד חכם שאין בו דעת kol talmid chacham she'ein bo da'as, נבילה טובה הימנו neveila tova heimenu. A talmid chacham who doesn't have da'as, a putrid, rotten carcass is better than him. That's a pretty low, that's a pretty low statement. It's a pretty, the kids would say that's a pretty big diss. I haven't heard kids use it yet. Maybe we'll introduce it. You know? You want to say something to someone else? You're more putrid than a rotten carcass. Don't try it at home. I don't recommend it. But that's what the Midrash, that's what Chazal say. You see from here that a talmid chacham, a great Torah scholar, שאין בו דעת she'ein bo da'as, who lacks da'as, is worse than a rotting, putrid carcass. צא ולמד ממשה אבי החכמה Tzei u'lmad mi'Moshe avi ha'chochma, you see from משה אבי הנביאים Moshe avi ha'neviim. שהוציא ישראל ממצרים ונעשה על ידו כמה נסים במצרים She'hotzi Yisrael mi'Mitzrayim v'na'aseh al yado kama nissim b'Mitzrayim. Moshe, the greatest human that ever lived, Moshe, the catalyst of salvation for the Jewish people. Moshe, through his hand countless miracles occurred. And yet, and yet, and he brought the Torah down from the heavens and gave it. And he is the one who orchestrated the building of the Mishkan. And yet, with all that pedigree, with all of that resume, with all of that on his CV, can you imagine Moshe's resume? Yeah, I just, I saved them from Egypt, brought about ten plagues, split the sea, went up to the mountain, came down with the Torah, orchestrated the greatest moment of revelation of all time, architect and helped build the Mishkan. And now with that, Moshe can't go in without knocking. לא נכנס לפנים עד שקרא לו Lo nichnas lifnim ad she'kara lo. He doesn't go in until ויקרא אל משה Vayikra el Moshe. He waits outside the אהל מועד Ohel Moed until God says Moshe, I'm ready, come in. So the Midrash says you see from here, what do you see? כל תלמיד חכם שאין בו דעת Kol talmid chacham she'ein bo da'as. What is דעת da'as? What is דעת da'as in this context? What is דעת da'as? What is דעת da'as? רב ירוחם Rav Yerucham says, it's not just that Moshe has all that on his resume. It's not just that Moshe did all of those things and if anyone had the right to have the confidence to enter without being asked, it's Moshe. It's not only that he did all of those things. The Midrash leaves out one last description says רב ירוחם Rav Yerucham. Moshe Rabbeinu is בכל ביתי נאמן הוא b'chol beisi ne'eman hu. God himself says I love you. I love you. You're a בן בית ben bayis by me. You're Moshe, you're everything. You're the most trustworthy, reliable, dependable. So Moshe who's the בן בית ben bayis at Hashem? בכל ביתי נאמן הוא B'chol beisi ne'eman hu. This Moshe needs to wait outside? This Moshe Rabbeinu needs to wait outside? The Midrash says כל תלמיד חכם שאין בו דעת kol talmid chacham she'ein bo da'as, it means if Moshe abruptly entered, he didn't wait to be invited in, if Moshe just casually walked in because he felt like he belonged, you know what would have happened? Done. His legacy would have been over. He would have been considered a rotten, putrid, horrific, malodorous carcass. Really? Walking in the אהל מועד Ohel Moed without being invited would undo and negate all the positive he'd accomplished? Because he forgot to wait till he was invited in and he just walked in because he felt like he belonged, it would undo and negate ten plagues, splitting of a sea, redeeming a people, bringing a Torah, building a Mishkan, and so on and so forth? Says Rav Yerucham, yes. One moment of a failure of דרך ארץ derech eretz. One moment of a breakdown of a common courtesy could undo an entire legacy. You don't walk into a home without you're asked. You don't walk in without knocking.According to רב ירוחם Rav Yerucham, what does it mean כל תלמיד חכם שאין בו דעת kol talmid chacham she'ein bo da'as? What is דעת da'as in this context? דעת Da'as means דרך ארץ derech eretz. Just like the Mishnah in Avos talks about, תורה עם דרך ארץ Torah im derech eretz. דעת Da'as. You have to have דרך ארץ derech eretz, common courtesy. If Moshe would have walked in, the failure, you could be the biggest talmid chacham in the world, you didn't hold the door for someone? There goes your whole legacy. You could be the biggest talmid chacham on the planet. You didn't say please and thank you? You didn't leave a tip? You weren't honest? You lost your whole legacy. כל תלמיד חכם שאין בו דעת, נבילה טובה הימנו Kol talmid chacham she'ein bo da'as, neveila tova heimenu. I've shared before, but I'll quickly share again because it bears repeating. Rav Aharon Lichtenstein has an article that's called, with no דעת da'as, there's no דעת תורה da'as Torah. The whole concept of דעת תורה da'as Torah. Is there an infallibility of the rabbis? דעת תורה Da'as Torah. When rabbis say something, are they always right? דעת תורה Da'as Torah, do we believe in דעת תורה da'as Torah? The infallibility of רבנים rabbanim, of rabbis. Do we believe in דעת תורה da'as Torah? I'll tell you on our flight to New York two weeks ago, we met with one of the מועצת גדולי התורה Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah who are the biggest proponents of דעת תורה da'as Torah in the world. And when one of the members of our Chevra asked him, how do I understand and reconcile people who are גדולי ישראל Gedolei Yisrael, used talmidei chachamim who have been on the wrong side of certain issues I care about, whether it's Corona and others. And I was shocked. This enormous גדול gadol on the מועצת גדולי התורה Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah, the body that most stands for the biggest proponent of דעת תורה da'as Torah said, who told you that he's not wrong? He was incredulous. Who told you that that that person's not wrong? They're wrong. They had bad information, they came to the wrong conclusion and they're wrong. Who told you? He was like so upset at the person who asked it from our side. You think דעת תורה da'as Torah means that he's not wrong? Yeah, if someone said something and he's on the wrong side of an issue, be it Corona, be it abuse, be it whatever the topic is, they're flat out wrong. They're wrong. Being a used talmid chacham doesn't give you infallibility. דעת תורה Da'as Torah means that the people who have Torah have a perspective, have a vision that we gain their insight, that we defer to their judgment, that we ask for their judgment when we come to our conclusion, but it doesn't create an infallibility.So Rav Hutner tells Rav Lichtenstein, זצ\"ל zatzal, in that article, says that if you don't have דעת da'as, you can't have דעת תורה da'as Torah. And why does he say that? Because he writes a story. His rebbi was Rav Hutner, זצ\"ל zatzal. And he tells he went to go pay a shiva call to Rav Hutner. And Rav Hutner turned to Rav Lichtenstein, his talmid, and he said at the end of that shiva call, he said you know, just here before you was a great rosh yeshiva, a huge talmid chacham. And he was trying to comfort me by telling me why it's good that I lost my loved one and I'm lucky to have him for so long and just really moronic comments. Unhelpful, painful comments. So Rav Hutner turned to Rav Lichtenstein and he said, the Midrash says כל תלמיד חכם שאין בו דעת, נבילה טובה הימנו kol talmid chacham she'ein bo da'as, neveila tova heimenu. Listen carefully said Rav Hutner, it doesn't say כל עם הארץ שאין בו דעת kol am ha'aretz she'ein bo da'as. It doesn't say when you have an ignoramus who doesn't have common sense. It says a talmid chacham who lacks common sense. You could be the world's biggest talmid chacham and have no common sense. Being a talmid chacham doesn't mean you have common sense. You could be a super genius, could have the greatest Torah knowledge, encyclopedic in the world, you could be the biggest talmid chacham, but אין בו דעת ein bo da'as, if you have no common sense, נבילה טובה הימנו neveila tova heimenu. You're worse than a neveila. You know why you're worse than a neveila? Because by being a talmid chacham people expect you to have the greatest da'as, should have the most common sense, should come to the most sensical conclusions. And when you don't, you're worse than a putrid, rotten corpse. So Rav Lichtenstein said, he might be a big talmid chacham but אין בו דעת ein bo da'as, the person who came in right before you. And then Rav Lichtenstein writes this article, maybe, maybe not we believe in דעת תורה da'as Torah, but I'll tell you this, if you have no דעת da'as, you're not a source of דעת תורה da'as Torah. You could be a huge talmid chacham, but if you have no דעת da'as, if you're on the wrong side of really obvious critical issues, if you have no דעת da'as, you could be a big talmid chacham but you have no דעת תורה da'as Torah.So Rav Yerucham says דעת da'as here means מידות middos. If Moshe Rabbeinu had walked in without knocking, without being said, without Hashem saying nu, Moshe'le, come in. He called him Moshe'le. Without saying come in, then he would have lost his entire legacy. This is Moshe Rabbeinu, the greatest human being that ever lived, but one time walking in without being called, he would have lost it all. That's how important common sense, common courtesy, that's how important דרך ארץ derech eretz is. Okay, let's keep going. We're going to get past the first pasuk too, I promise.Moshe was called many names. The Midrash tells us here in the beginning of Vayikra. What does God call him? ויקרא אל Vayikra el משה Moshe. The Midrash right here at the beginning of Vayikra Rabbah says, עשרה שמות נקרא לו למשה asara shemos nikra lo l'Moshe, Moshe has ten names. Moshe has ten names. I love nicknames, I give all my kids nicknames. Each of my kids has at least ten nicknames. We all call them at least ten different names. Shaya, Shmookie, Shaikele, Shmoo, Yisrolie, whatever, they all have ten names. Moshe Rabbeinu had ten names. ירד, חבר, יקותיאל, אביגדור, אבי סוכו, אבי זנוח Yered, Chever, Yekusiel, Avigdor, Avi Socho, Avi Zanoach, he had ten names. And then the Midrash goes through and tells us how he got each of those names. What did each of those names stand for? ירד שהוריד את התורה מלמעלה למטה Yered she'horid es ha'Torah milmala l'mata. ירד Yered because he brought the Torah from the above down below. אביגדור, אביהם של גודרים Avigdor, aviham shel godrim. חבר שחיבר את הבנים לאביהם שבשמים Chever she'chiber es ha'banim l'aviham she'bashamayim. חבר Chever because he created a connection between children and our Father in Heaven. אבי סוכו Avi Socho, each of these names. אמר לו הקדוש ברוך הוא למשה Amar lo HaKadosh Baruch Hu l'Moshe, חייך chayecha, מכל שמות שיש לך mikol shemos she'yesh lecha, of all of the names that you have, you know which name I'm going to call you? ויקרא אל Vayikra el משה Moshe. Now Moshe got his different names from different people, including among them, the ריבונו של עולם Ribbono shel Olam himself. One of his names was bestowed upon him by God. But God says, you know, instead of using my name for you, you know what I'm going to universally do and get everyone to universally do? We will singularly use the name, not that I gave you, says God, not that your parents gave you at your bris, you know what name we're going to give you and use for you? The name that, איני קוראך אלא בשם שקראתך בתיה בת פרעה eini korecha ela b'shem she'kora'ascha Bitya bas Paro. ותקרא שמו משה Vatikra shmo Moshe, ויקרא אל משה vayikra el Moshe. She called him Moshe and God says ויקרא אל משה vayikra el Moshe.The question is why? Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz, Rosh Yeshiva of the Mir. Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz wonders, why? God defers? Shouldn't we defer to God? Our names are mere mortal names. Our names are original human creations. God's name is a an omniscient name. Shouldn't we defer and use the name that God gave, not the name that בתיה בת פרעה Bitya bas Paro... it's בתיה Bitya not בתיה Basya, that בתיה בת פרעה Bitya bas Paro gave? This non-Jewish princess, we're using her name? Says Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz, an incredible insight. We're running out of time so I'm not going to read it to you inside. Why did she give him the name Moshe? ותקרא שמו משה Vatikra shmo Moshe, go back to Shmos, the second perek, she calls him Moshe, why? כי מן המים משיתיהו Ki min hamayim meshisihu. Because I took him out of the water. משייתו של משה מן המים Meshiyso shel Moshe min hamayim, was במסירות נפש עצומה של בתיה b'mesirus nefesh atzuma shel Bitya. Bitya risked everything to take Moshe out of the water. First of all, she risked her life. She reached far beyond where it was safe to be. She could have drowned and died. She brought a Jewish baby into the palace of her father. This little baby would be his greatest adversary of all time. Bitya displayed, she demonstrated enormous מסירות נפש mesirus nefesh. She took tremendous risk to stand for what was right, to have conviction. And she instilled in Moshe because a name is a description. A name is not a label, a name is a description. And by giving that name, she actually helped form and forge a man whose life would be characterized by מסירות נפש mesirus nefesh. She helped define him with a name and she gave him מסירות נפש mesirus nefesh. So says Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz, זכרונו לברכה zichrono l'vracha, he says that's why the name that we use is not the name from Hashem, it's the name of Bitya in order to elevate this quality of מסירות נפש mesirus nefesh. We see how important, we see how core, we see how critical, the willingness to compromise, to sacrifice, to make an effort. And I would argue, I have in the past, previous Parsha Perspectives, but I'll tell it to you again.You know why I think we start from Vayikra? The אלף זעירא alef z'eira, the little kinderlach, why do we start in the cheder with a little Vayikra, Sefer Vayikra, Parshas Vayikra? You know why we start teaching children from there? Because what is the essence, what is the essential theme of the book of Vayikra? The offering of sacrifices. You know, today with children, want to, the world feels sacrifice, why should I sacrifice? I want to be happy. I deserve to be happy. I'm entitled to be happy. What do I get? What's my entitlement? What are my rights? How can the world serve me? The idea that sacrifice? Break down in marriage is horrific. The growing friction and divorce within the frum community in marriages is disastrous because we're a product of our environment and of our greater culture and we're living in a time which is all about, you know why I got married? Because you're going to make me happy. What you're going to do for me, the pleasure and joy you're going to give me, how fulfilled I will be. But whoever told someone getting married it's about their happiness? Whoever told you you get married to be happy? You get married to make someone else happy. And you know what? There's nothing in the world that will make you happier. Nothing will make you feel more fulfilled than completing the other person. When you have two people who are each committed to make the other happy, you have a happy marriage. Two people ready to compromise and sacrifice and give in and cave and submit because they want the other person to be happy, you'll have the happiest marriage in the world. When you have two people who are in it to be happy, then you're going to have a lot of friction and a very quick divorce. Whoever told you you're alive for your own happiness? Life is about duty and responsibility and obligation and mission and giving. And it happens to be, all studies will show you that when you live life in that way, you're the happiest person alive. And when you live life for your own happiness, you're the most miserable person around. Whoever said?So I think that's why we start with children with Sefer Vayikra. You think learning Torah is all about גישמאק צו זיין א איד geshmak tzu zein a Yid? It's גישמאק צו זיין א איד geshmak tzu zein a Yid. The wedding I told you the other night, that mincha, there was a point during the dancing when the band was playing גישמאק צו זיין א איד geshmak tzu zein a Yid. And these young men, I happen to be on that side of the dance floor, these young men were jumping and bopping and hopping and bouncing and you know, they slowed down the beat, גישמאק צו זיין א איד geshmak tzu zein a Yid and they're jumping and jumping and I I wanted to video it but I missed it because in my heart skipped a beat. I actually had a tear in my eye and I said, wow, I have such confidence in the future of Klal Yisrael. When a room packed with young men are jumping up and down and singing to how great it is to be a Jew. It's great to be a גישמאק צו זיין א איד geshmak tzu zein a Yid. It's getting emotional now, even just telling it to you. It gives you faith in our future to see young people, גישמאק צו זיין א איד geshmak tzu zein a Yid. And it is גישמאק צו זיין א איד geshmak tzu zein a Yid. It is so גישמאק צו זיין א איד geshmak tzu zein a Yid. But on Yom Kippur and Tisha B'Av, it's not so גישמאק צו זיין א איד geshmak tzu zein a Yid. And cleaning for Pesach it's not so גישמאק צו זיין א איד geshmak tzu zein a Yid. And when bad things happen to good people, it's not so גישמאק צו זיין א איד geshmak tzu zein a Yid. And if we only sing גישמאק צו זיין א איד geshmak tzu zein a Yid and we don't also teach children שווער צו זיין א איד shver tzu zein a Yid, that when the tuition invoice comes for your kids school, nobody's singing גישמאק צו זיין א איד geshmak tzu zein a Yid. It's not so גישמאק צו זיין א איד geshmak tzu zein a Yid. When the prices of meat and chicken for Pesach are about to go up, it's not so גישמאק צו זיין א איד geshmak tzu zein a Yid. When the price per pound for shmura matzah comes out, it's not so גישמאק צו זיין א איד geshmak tzu zein a Yid. We can't only sing גישמאק צו זיין א איד geshmak tzu zein a Yid, we also have to learn Sefer Vayikra. We have to start with the אלף זעירא alef z'eira. We also have to teach, you have to sacrifice. Your marriage, your finances and your life are going to take sacrifice. So we start from Sefer Vayikra. That's where we begin from. And that's what Bitya names Moshe. And Hashem says of all your ten names, including the one I myself gave you, put them on a shelf, we're not using those names. You know which name we're going to use and give? We're using the name Moshe, מן המים משיתיהו min hamayim meshisihu, בתיה בת פרעה Bitya bas Paro, מסירות נפש mesirus nefesh. Because that's what Klal Yisrael need. Where would we be and who would we be if we didn't have מסירות נפש mesirus nefesh?Do you know that after Eli Beer spoke here this Shabbos describing what United Hatzalah is doing in Ukraine and there are so many worthy organizations, whether it's United Hatzalah or others, and an email just went out with a list of ones you can give to. All of us have to be doing as much as we can. I'll tell you something amazing. Do you know how many phone calls I got on Sunday, I'd tell you this mine. You know how many phone calls I got Sunday, not from people who said how can I give money, which were many, but who said how can I go to Moldova, I want to help? Not doctors and PAs and nurses, not medical personnel, people. I'd like to drop what I'm doing and go and help. That's מסירות נפש mesirus nefesh. I'd like to go to the border of a war zone, to live in not pleasant conditions, to leave my family and take off from work to go and help Jews who are fleeing who are refugees. מסירות נפש Mesirus nefesh. If we don't imbue that within ourselves in the next generation, we're finished because the only thing that got us until now, the only thing, because we could wave it off. It's too hard. When it's not גישמאק צו זיין א איד geshmak tzu zein a Yid, you know, I'll stop being a Yid. And that'll be the end of our story of our people. מסירות נפש Mesirus nefesh is key. We don't celebrate, we don't live and long to be מוסר נפש moser nefesh, but you better be sure to be ready when we're called upon. That's what Bitya names him Moshe, and that's Vayikra the small alef and that's where we begin the pedagogy, the education of our children begins with the willingness to sacrifice, the willingness to give, the willingness to be counted among the global campaign. brsonline.org/global. Do you give, do you sacrifice? You say, but I want that money because I want another triple caramel latte Starbucks. I want it because I want to go out to eat one more time. I want it... But do you give? You love the Parsha class. You laugh, you cry. You laugh with, you laugh at, I don't know, but you enjoy. You enjoy enough to come. A cup of coffee. Beautiful. We love that you're here. We love that you're listening online, you're listening offline. Are you counted among those who give? Baruch Hashem over 400 people have given so far to the global campaign. We're at, I don't know, seventy something thousand dollars. It's a great start, but we're not even halfway where we need to be to continue to produce, to share, to stream, to make available everything we do. So it's simple, we can't do it without your help. Be מוסר נפש moser nefesh. Be like Moshe. מן המים משיתיהו Min hamayim meshisihu. Here's the good news. Not asking anyone to go to Moldova. Not asking anyone to risk their life in the river to save a little baby. Asking you to do something for that for some is even more painful, which is reach into your wallet. That's it. For United Hatzalah, for Ukraine, for, that should be the priority, BRS Global is second right now. It should be a priority for all of us, any other campaign is secondary to saving these Jewish lives. But everybody, to reach in, to dig deep, and to do a little bit like we can, like we can.Okay. Let's move on. Kotsk. Kotsk, we got to do a Kotsker. Go to, Kotsker is פרק א' פסוק י\"ז Perek Alef, Pasuk Yud Zayin. Ooh, a turning pages. Don't get whiplash. Page 548. פרק א' פסוק י\"ז Perek Alef, Pasuk Yud Zayin. ושיסע אותו בכנפיו לא יבדיל והקטיר אותו הכהן על המזבח על העצים אשר על האש, עולה הוא אישה ריח ניחוח להשם V'shisa oso b'chnafav lo yavdil v'hiktir oso ha'kohen ha'mizbecha al ha'eitzim asher al ha'eish, ola hu isheh reiach nichoach l'Hashem. Pasuk says, we're here talking about the korban ola from an oif, a bird ola offering, right? The opening of Vayikra is where we spend all of our time, that's the beautiful uplifting, then we get into the details of the korbanos. Excuse me a little bit more complicated, a little bit more challenging. But here's a beautiful pasuk that tells us that he split it with its feathers, and you need not sever it. The kohen causes it to go up in smoke on the altar, on the wood. It's an elevation offering, a fire offering. It is a ריח ניחוח להשם reiach nichoach l'Hashem. זאגט דער הייליגע קאצקער Zogt der heilige Kotsker. Says the Holy Kotsker Rebbe, Rashi, נאמר בעוף ריח ניחוח ונאמר בבהמה ריח ניחוח ne'emar b'of reiach nichoach v'ne'emar b'behema reiach nichoach. You know, it describes that the wealthy rich person who brings a whole animal, who brings the pastrami or the corned beef, the first cut, first cut pastrami, is that what it's called? Corned beef? The person who brings the most expensive cut of meat when it rises in smoke, it's described as a ריח ניחוח להשם reiach nichoach l'Hashem. It's a beautiful pleasant aroma for Hashem. And the person who couldn't afford the meat, the person who couldn't buy the brisket and just offers a little chicken wing, when it burns it also produces a ריח ניחוח להשם reiach nichoach l'Hashem. Says Rashi, ללמדך l'lamedcha, teaches us, אחד המרבה ואחד הממעיט ובלבד שיכוון לבו לשמים echad hamarbeh v'echad hamamit u'bilvad she'yichaven libo la'shamayim. Whether you're bringing something that costs a lot or you're bringing something that costs a little, for Hashem it's equally pleasing as long as יכוון לבו לשמים yichaven libo la'shamayim. Is your heart in it? רחמנא ליבא בעי Rachmana liba ba'i. Hashem wants your heart. Hashem wants your sincerity. Hashem wants your mindfulness and your presence. Hashem wants you to be personally invested. Don't go through some superficial external empty act. Don't just mail it in. Don't get away with the bare minimum. As long as you're sincere and you're hartzig and you're giving yourself and you're all, ובלבד שיכוון לבו לשמים u'bilvad she'yichaven libo la'shamayim. Whether it's marbeh or mamit, whether you bring something big expensive or small and modest. So says the Kotsker, ובלבד שיכוון לבו u'bilvad she'yichaven libo, אינו קאי על הממעיט בלבד eino kai al ha'mamit bilvad, כי הממעיט מכוון לבו ki ha'mamit m'chavein libo. For whom is that expression? Why do we share that observation? אחד המרבה ואחד הממעיט ובלבד שיכוון לבו Echad hamarbeh v'echad hamamit u'bilvad she'yichaven libo. So my my instinct would have told me that we're sharing that for whom? For the poor person. Even though you're mamit, even though all you're bringing is the little, little inexpensive chicken wing, as long as you מכוון לבו m'chavein libo, don't feel bad. It produces a ריח ניחוח reiach nichoach as good as the aroma as the brisket smoking for 24 hours. Says the Kotsker, you're wrong. This teaching is not going, is not directed to the poor person. קאי על המרבה Kai al ha'marbeh. שסובר שמביא קרבן גדול She'sover she'meivi korban gadol. על זה קאי שהמרבה צריך לכוון לבו לשמים Al zeh kai she'ha'marbeh tzarich l'chaven libo la'shamayim. See the poor person humbly and modestly says Hashem, here I am, your your lowly poor servant. I wish I could buy a whole cow. I wish I could serve you a bull. I wish I could smoke a brisket in your honor. But all I can do is afford a little chicken wing. All I can afford is the dark meat, not even the white meat. But I'm offering it to you with everything I've got, Hashem. I'm giving you everything of myself. I'm sacrificing and slaughtering this little chicken. It's embarrassing, it's humiliating, it's not a brisket, it's nothing, but it's the best I can do. The poor person humbly and modestly knows they're giving their heart. But the rich person says Hashem look at me, I'm smoking brisket. Smoking brisket with an 18-year-old bottle of single malt. Look at me, look what I'm giving you. That's who the Torah says, be מכוון לבו לשמים m'chaven libo la'shamayim. You think because you could afford and you're bringing all that? You think because your Shabbos or Yom Tov table looks like that? You think you're better, you're holier, you think your aroma that comes up to Hashem smells better? The ריח ניחוח reiach nichoach is just like your neighbor who's eating chicken wings for Shabbos lunch, who all they could afford is some chicken. Your ריח ניחוח reiach nichoach is no better. So it's such a Kotsker, such a Kotsker. המרבה מביא פר צריך יתר עשרה Ha'marbeh meivi par tzarich yeser asara. The wealthy, rich person who is bringing the whole ox needs a greater warning. בי מכוון לבו לשמים Bi'm'chaven libo la'shamayim. מחשבתו הוא כי בודאי נסלח לו Machshavto hu ki b'vadai nislach lo. He thinks ah Hashem loves me and Hashem forgives me and I'm close to Hashem because look how beautiful my brisket is. And my neighbor, good luck to you with your little chicken wings. My brisket, it's getting me right into heaven. Hashem says, you know, the chicken wings got the fast pass. Brisket, get in line. I'm going to make sure your heart's in it, Mr. Brisket. You're the one I need to make sure my heart's in it.All right, a last... I'm leaving out ten insights. Not exaggerating, I'm leaving out ten insights. But let's go to one last one because I saw beautiful from Rav Reuven Feinstein. I am leaving out ten. I have no idea how to pace myself doing this for twenty years, I don't know how to pace myself. Okay, hopefully in in twenty more years I'll learn.So the end of our parsha, פרק ה' פסוק י\"ז Perek Hei, Pasuk Yud Zayin. We're on page, if you want to see it inside, פרק ה' פסוק י\"ז Perek Hei, Pasuk Yud Zayin is page 564. A guilt offering in the case of doubt. What happens if a person's not sure they did an aveira? Till now the parsha's been talking about, you know that you did an aveira. You know you made a mistake, you know you crossed a boundary, you know you violated an indiscretion. Here's your way back, here's your way out, here's how you achieve atonement. כפרה kaporah. What happens if you're not sure? So the Torah says והביא אייל תמים מן הצאן veheivi ayil tamim min hatzon, you bring a ram unblemished בערכך לה' אל הכהן וכיפר עליו הכהן על שגגתו אשר שגג והוא לא ידע ונסלח לו be'erkecha laHashem el hakohein vechiper alav hakohein al shigegato asher shagag vehu lo yada venislach lo. Kohein atones for him for the inadvertent transgression that he inadvertently transgressed and he didn't know and he shall be forgiven. Pasuk Rabbi Reuven Feinstein writes a beautiful new חומש Chumash נהר שלום Nahar Shalom from Rav Reuven שליט\"א shlita.In certain circumstances when one is unsure if he inadvertently transgressed a prohibition that carries כרת kareis if he had done it intentionally, he or she must bring an אשם תלוי asham talui, a special קרבן korban called an אשם תלוי asham talui. An אשם תלוי asham talui means it's a קרבן אשם korban asham if I need it. Any golfers here? Not willing to admit it. One. Come on. In golf, there's something called a provisional. What's a provisional? You're on the tee and you hit a golf ball. And what happens? You slice, you hooked. There's water. You're not quite sure if you're going to find that ball. You hit the ball, it's not straight down the fairway, it might have gone in the woods, it's maybe in the lake, you're not sure you're going to find it. So the rule is you're supposed to hit a provisional. What's the provisional? If you find your first ball, you play your first ball. If you don't find your first ball, you had hit that provisional, that now becomes your new ball. It's called a provisional. You're not sure whether you'll find your ball or not, so you hit a provisional. להבדיל, אלף אלפי הבדלות Lehavdil, elef alfei havdalos. This is a provisional קרבן korban. You're not sure you made a mistake. You're not sure you violated something, you have to bring a provisional קרבן korban. It's called an אשם תלוי asham talui. If at a later point it becomes clear that in fact the sin was committed, then you have to bring a חטאת chatas. Now your אשם תלוי asham talui didn't cut it, your provisional. Now you gotta bring a חטאת chatas. The value of the אשם תלוי asham talui must be at least two סלעים sela'im. Why do we find this minimum amount specifically regarding when one must bring an אשם asham? So there are two ideas that come to mind when addressing this question, says Rav Reuven.The first is the approach of the מלבי\"ם Malbim. And that is that a person should not adopt the attitude that simply because he's unsure if he sinned, nothing happened. Right? Maybe he'll casually say, I'm not sure I did anything wrong, let's go with I didn't. I'm not sure I made a mistake, let's just assume I didn't. For a growing person, a sincere person, that's not the conclusion. People have a habit of reflecting on their actions and saying, I'm not even entirely sure if I sinned in the first place. We rationalize our behavior by saying, I'm not even sure I did anything wrong. I'm not even sure it was like that, I'm not even sure I crossed the line, I'm not even sure it was שבת Shabbos, I'm not even sure. But this is untrue. Sin, even inadvertent sin is a serious matter. The fact that even one who is unsure if he transgressed a sin must seek atonement with an offering that has a minimum value is a call to attention of the gravity of sin. So the reason we have this thing called a provisional קרבן korban, an אשם תלוי asham talui, says Rav Reuven, is to instill in us, don't be flippant when it comes to the possibility you made a mistake. If there's a possibility you made a mistake, don't rationalize and justify and assume you didn't. Don't be flippant about it. Take it seriously, because mistakes are serious business. But then he quotes from his father, the ראש ישיבה זצ\"ל Rosh Yeshiva zatzal, ר' משה Reb Moshe. He said the very fact that a person can find himself in a situation where he doesn't remember the details pertaining to his sin is itself worthy of criticism. It's one thing to not know a הלכה halacha, to lose sight of what's important, and not treat the laws with the proper attention they deserve. But to wander around in one's own life, oblivious to the physical details of his own actions, is a far more serious issue. A person needs to be cognizant of his every action. His journey through life is a string of actions that reflect right and wrong. The service of השם Hashem and רחמנא ליצלן rachmana litzlan are the opposite. A person ought to be so afraid of the possibility of sinning that he'll never lose track of what he did. Because he was not careful to pay attention to his actions on this level, this person ended up unsure if he committed a sin. I'm not sure what I ate, I don't remember if I made a ברכה bracha, I don't know if it was שבת Shabbos. Says ר' משה Reb Moshe, the reason you bring a קרבן korban is not because you can't be flippant about sin, but because it is a sin. To live a life that you don't even know what you did is a sin. You don't bring the קרבן korban because maybe you did a sin. You bring the קרבן korban because you did do a sin. And what was the sin? The sin was living mindlessly. When you mindlessly walk through life and you're not even aware of what you did, you don't know what you ate, you don't know what time it is, you don't know the action that you took, you don't remember what you said. If you could live a life, you're mindlessly not even remembering what you did, that in itself is a sin. So you're not bringing the provisional קרבן korban in case you sinned, the very fact that you don't remember if you sinned is a sin, and that's the מחייב mechayev of the אשם תלוי asham talui. Felt such a magnificent insight of ר' משה Reb Moshe.The good news is next year's פרשת ויקרא Parshas Vayikra שיעור shiur is fully prepared. You've got 10 insights ready to go on it. This week is פרשת זכור Parshas Zachor, we're two. For the women who live here, this שבת Shabbos we have a fantastic women's קידוש kiddush and women's שיעור shiur after דאווענען davening for פרשת זכור Parshas Zachor. So you can hear a special reading of זכור Zachor if you were not in time for the first reading, women's קידוש kiddush, women's שיעור shiur, grateful to Talia. Do not leave today without seeing her. Here's the rule on your way out. If you're a BRS member, walk right by her. Say hello, but walk right by her. If you've already given to the global campaign, walk right by her. Say hello and keep walking. If you've not yet contributed but you enjoyed this שיעור shiur, she's right in the back. Don't walk right by her. Do your part and give. Have a fantastic day. See you next week. Stay happy, stay healthy.
