Transcript
Okay, good morning. Welcome back to Parsha Perspectives for today. So grateful for this microphone because I have no voice. The sign of a good שבועות Shavuos is when you have no voice on איסרו חג Isru Chag the day after. ברוך השם Baruch Hashem. I want to thank our generous series sponsors for the year, our dear friends Becky and Avi Katz and family, who've dedicated the Parsha Perspectives in loving memory of David Grossman, Becky's father, דוד בן מנחם מנש David ben Menachem Monish. I want to remind everyone who has not yet signed up for the one-on-one campaign, a dollar a day of צדקה tzedaka, a minute a day of Torah learning, in the merit of our beloved Esti Moskowitz, אסתר טילה בת אריה צפורה Esther Tila bas Aryeh Tzipora. The Moskowitzes get alerted each time someone signs up. It's tremendous חזוק chizuk, it gives them a lot of strength to know that people are willing to give a dollar a day and learn a minute a day. You can find it online, brsonline.org/oneandone. We are not in person the next two weeks. We'll be elsewhere. אם ירצה השם Im yirtzeh Hashem, celebrating a שמחה simcha. We may do the Parsha class online only, haven't decided yet, on location from a very special place. We'll see. But we're not going to be in person. So please pay attention to the notices about whether we are streaming live the Parsha class the next two weeks, but it will not be in person. We have the privilege this week of reading and learning פרשת נשא Parshas Naso, page 748 in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash, פרשת נשא Parshas Naso. And here we are continuing the story of כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael's trek through the desert. וידבר השם אל משה לאמר Vayedaber Hashem el Moshe leimor, Hashem spoke to Moshe saying, נשא את ראש בני גרשון גם הם לבית אבותם למשפחותם Naso es rosh bnei Gershon gam heim l'veis avosam l'mishpichosam. We are continuing this notion of the census. It's the census that never ends. It is the count that is never complete. The continued exercise in Hashem's affection for his children, continues to count and to visit and revisit how many there are over and over again. The חידושי הרי\"ם Chidushei HaRim made a point on our Parsha. חידושי הרי\"ם Chidushei HaRim said that there's more תורה שבעל פה Torah sheba'al peh in פרשת נשא Parshas Naso than anywhere else. The מדרש Midrash on פרשת נשא Parshas Naso, the תורה שבעל פה Torah sheba'al peh, the Rabbinic text and Rabbinic tradition on our Parsha is extreme, is elaborate, is lengthy, is comprehensive. Why so much? The זוהר הקדוש Zohar HaKadosh also has an enormous amount of quantity on this Parsha. Why specifically פרשת נשא Parshas Naso is there such a rich Rabbinic tradition that complements the תורה שבכתב Torah sheb'k'sav, that complements the text itself? The חידושי הרי\"ם Chidushei HaRim said that this Shabbos is not just an ordinary Shabbos. We have some שבתים Shabbosim that have a name. Shabbos is not just associated with its Parsha, but there's a name, there's a theme. And the Shabbos of פרשת נשא Parshas Naso is known as שבת נאך שבועות Shabbos noch Shavuos. It is the Shabbos after שבועות Shavuos. Not just פרשת נשא Parshas Naso. שבועות Shavuos is not in the rearview mirror, שבועות Shavuos is not behind us. No matter how gratified and satisfied we are that we're complete and that we finished all of our שיעורים shiurim and דרשות drashos and all of our themed, extensive, elaborate שבועות Shavuos programming. But שבועות Shavuos is not in the rearview mirror, it's not behind us. The next Shabbos after שבועות Shavuos, is שבת נאך שבועות Shabbos noch Shavuos. It is still an extension. We are still drawing from the wellsprings of שבועות Shavuos. And writes רב אברהם שור Rav Avraham Schorr quotes this from the חידושי הרי\"ם Chidushei HaRim and he writes, מפני שבפרשת נשא קורין בשבת אחר חג השבועות, ובשבועות קיבלנו התורה מחדש, ויש השפעה של תורה mipnei she'b'parshas Naso korin b'Shabbos achar Chag HaShavuos, u'v'Shavuos kibbalnu haTorah michadash, v'yeish hashpa'ah shel Torah. שבועות Shavuos, we received the Torah. שבועות Shavuos, we re-received the Torah. We weren't commemorating, we spoke about this on שבועות Shavuos morning. We didn't commemorate or remember or memorialize. We didn't recall. We don't have a ritual or a ceremony because מתן תורה, קבלת התורה Matan Torah, Kabbalas HaTorah was not something in the past. It's not ancient or archaic. It doesn't have to be relived or remembered. It is ongoing. It never ended. קול גדול ולא יסף Kol gadol v'lo yasaf. קול גדול ולא פסק Kol gadol v'lo pasak. There was no הפסק hefsek, there's no break, there's no barrier. Hashem continues to speak to us, the conversation is ongoing. We are receiving the Torah each and every day anew. ויש לנו ללמוד מזה מה שמגיע לנו אחר חג השבועות לדע ונודע, אין אנו זוכרים לפתיחת מעינות החכמה בזמן מתן תורתנו, אבל מצידנו הרי צריכים לעשות פעולות להוסיף בעבודת לימוד התורה, הן בכמות השעות הן באיכות הלימוד V'yeish lanu lilmod mizeh mah shemagia lanu achar Chag HaShavuos, lada'a v'nodea, ein anu zochrim l'psichas mayanos hachochma b'zman Matan Toraseinu. Aval mitzideinu harei tzrichim la'asos peulos l'hosif b'avodas limud haTorah, hein b'kamus hashaos hein b'eichus halimud. We add to the quantity and quality of our learning, more time dedicated for learning, and a deeper understanding and approach, more penetrating insight into learning. והרי שבת קודש נמע שבת נאך שבועות, בשם מרן אבא ז\"ל רב גדליה, כי שייך עדיין לחג השבועות ויש לנו קשר לשבועות עדיין V'harei Shabbos kodesh neima Shabbos noch Shavuos, b'shem moron abba z\"l Rav Gedalia, ki shayach adayin l'Chag HaShavuos v'yeish lanu kesher l'Shavuos adayin. There is still an ongoing connection to שבועות Shavuos. That energy, that inspiration, that motivation, the drive that we took from שבועות Shavuos to revisit Torah anew, to receive it anew, to learn it with excitement, with enthusiasm, with zeal. יש לנו לקבל על עצמנו כל אחד ואחד לקבוע עתים לתורה ביתר שאת ויתר עז Yeish lanu l'kabel al atzmeinu kol echad v'echad likvoa itim l'Torah b'yeser se'eis v'yeser oz. We have to accept upon ourselves to learn Torah with more time, greater quantity and in a deeper way, greater quality. So it's not a coincidence our tradition teaches that we have so much תורה שבעל פה Torah sheba'al peh in פרשת נשא Parshas Naso because we are diving deeper, we are allocating more time. שבועות Shavuos is not over and the summer has begun. שבועות Shavuos just gets us going. We're not done with ספירת העומר Sefiras HaOmer. We counted the forty-nine days, שבועות Shavuos came and went, and now it's over. We're just getting started. We're just beginning. We're just setting our learning goals. We're just making time for Torah. We're we're just getting started with עשה תורתך קבע aseh Torascha keva. We're making Torah the central part of who we are and of our lives. So that is why there's so much תורה שבעל פה Torah sheba'al peh connected to our Parsha. פרק ד פסוק מ\"ט Perek daled pasuk mem tes. We're going to already start post this census on the next page, page 750. The Torah tells us at the end of this count, we're given the totals. All of those who were counted. פסוק מ\"ו pasuk mem vov. כל הפקודים אשר פקד משה ואהרן ונשיאי ישראל את הלווים למשפחותם ולבית אבותם Kol hapkudim asher pakad Moshe v'Aharon v'n'siei Yisrael es haLeviim l'mishpichosam ul'veis avosam. The לוים Leviim were counted separately. They were not part of the general census. They deserved their own distinguished count because they had distinguished themselves in their service, in their behavior. They hadn't fallen prey, they hadn't made the same mistakes as the rest of כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael. ויהיו פקודיהם V'yihyu pkudeihem, we're on פסוק מ\"ט pasuk mem tes. על פי השם פקד אותם ביד משה, איש איש על עבודתו ועל משאו Al pi Hashem pakad osam b'yad Moshe, ish ish al avodaso v'al masao, the counted them at the word of Hashem, every person over his work and over his responsibility, ופקודיו אשר צוה השם את משה u'fkudav asher tziva Hashem es Moshe, and his count was as Hashem commanded Moshe. What does this mean ופקודיו אשר צוה u'fkudav asher tziva Hashem at Moshe? So, רב צדוק אפשטיין Rav Tzadok Epstein. ופקודיו אשר צוה השם את משה U'fkudav asher tziva Hashem es Moshe. Let's take a look at the רמב\"ן Ramban, what the רמב\"ן Ramban has to say. ויתכן שיהיה אשר צוה כפשוטו V'yisachein sheyihiye asher tziva k'pshuto. Rashi understands, let's take a look first at Rashi. פסוק מ\"ט pasuk mem tes in Rashi. Rashi understood, ופקודיו אשר צוה השם את משה U'fkudav asher tziva Hashem es Moshe. והוזן הפקודים היו במצוה מבן שלושים שנה ועד חמישים שנה V'huzan hapkudim hayu b'mitzva miben shloshim shana v'ad chamishim shana. This was a reference to Moshe. Moshe had to count the people from thirty years until until fifty years. These were the counting, but the רמב\"ן Ramban rejects it. The רמב\"ן Ramban does not fully accept Rashi. He says, יאמר שמונה שלושה אלה כל אחד על עבודתו ועל משאו yomar she'moneh shlosha eileh kol echad al avodaso v'al masao. Moshe here was counting the offspring, the progeny of each of these three brothers. Who were the three brothers that we're talking about? גרשון קהת ומררי Gershon, Kehas, u'Merari. These three, thank you. These three brothers. We're talking about they and their offspring. כל אחד על עבודתו Kol echad al avodaso, each had their own personal service. Each had their own responsibility, their burden, their responsibility, what they had to do. שאין בן לוי רשאי לעשות במלאכת חברו ולא לסייע בה she'ein ben Levi rashai la'asos b'meleches chaveiro, v'lo l'sayeah bo. A person has their own responsibility, their four אמות amos, what they're meant to do, their own mission. And we cannot overlap or interfere. We don't compete or compare. We don't do someone else's mission and a person doesn't do ours. כמו שאמרו כר ביקש רבי יהושע בן חנניה לסייע לרבי יוחנן בן גודגדא על פי הדלתות, אמר לו חזור לאחריך Kmo she'amru Korach, bikesh Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya l'sayeah l'Rabbi Yochanan ben Gudgeda al pi hadlasos, amar lo chazor l'achorecha. The רמב\"ן Ramban quotes a גמרא Gemara, a חז\"ל Chazal in ספרי Sifrei and קורח Korach, that one great sage wanted to help the other sage and he said, \"Step back. Fall back.\" Or what we would say today in today's parlance, \"Stay in your lane. Stay in your lane.\" שהרי אתה מתחייב מיתה שאני מן השוערים ואתה מן המשוררים Sheharei ata mitchayev misa, she'ani min hasho'arim v'ata min ham'shorerim. What are you doing? My job is to lock the gate and your job is to sing. We each have different jobs. Why are you trying to infringe on my job? Why are you trying to take my responsibility, my role, my mission? We don't just overlap and we don't just allow it to blur. We have distinct, unique missions in this world. Hashem positioned each of us with our talents, with our skills, with our blessings. He positioned each of us even with our liabilities and our challenges, and he told each and every one of us to pursue why we're here, what we're meant to do. Don't simply copy someone else and don't compare and don't compete with someone else, and don't infringe on the responsibility or the job of someone else. And no one should in ours. And that's what רבי יהושע בן חנניה Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya was telling רבי יוחנן בן גודגדא Rabbi Yochanan ben Gudgeda or he tried to help him. And what did רבי יוחנן בן גודגדא Rabbi Yochanan ben Gudgeda say? חזור לאחריך chazor l'achorecha. Stay in your lane. Fall back. That's not your job. That's not your place. Each of us have a unique mission. And where do we know that? Where do we see that? From our פסוק pasuk. The רמב\"ן Ramban understands that's ופקודיו אשר צוה השם את משה u'fkudav asher tziva Hashem es Moshe. That Hashem was instructing Moshe, each one's responsibility, each one's job, what each one was meant to do. The great רב צדוק אפשטיין Rav Tzadok Epstein, the משגיח דישיבת תורה אור hamashgiach d'yeshivas Torah Ohr, in his הארות ha'aros, beautiful ספָרים sfarim, we're going to quote him several times today. The great רב צדוק אפשטיין Rav Tzadok Epstein says in this רמב\"ן Ramban, עד כמה צריך כל אחד להכיר את מקומו ad kama tzarich kol echad l'hakir es m'komo. How important it is for each and every person to be מכיר את מקומו makir es m'komo. A person has to know their place. A person has to know, why am I here? What am I meant to do? What are my strengths and what are my challenges? Too many people in life just coast through life. We're just carried by the momentum of life. We're just trying to keep up with others in life. But do we pause and do we stop and do we say, why am I here? What am I meant to do? What is my unique mission? Or what is my unique responsibility? What is my purpose? What are all the aspects of my life that position me to do what? כי אם עושה דבר שאינו תפקידו עלול להתחייב מיתה Ki im oseh davar she'eino tafkido alul l'hischayev misa. You see from this רמב\"ן Ramban that if a person does what they're not meant to do, it's a capital crime. It's a capital punishment. We're not taking advantage of what we were here for. The world will be bereft and absent, void of what we were meant to contribute to it. אף על פי שבעיניו נראה מעשה כעבודת השם צרופה Af al pi she'b'einav nir'eh ma'aseh k'avodas Hashem tzrufa. This is the חידוש chiddush. Here's the incredibly powerful insight is that even though, even though what I'm trying to do is what you were doing is serving Hashem, but if it's not what's meant to be for me in serving Hashem, חייב מיתה chayev misa. It's not just a factor, it's not just a function of is this for me or is this for Hashem. Even if it's for Hashem, it has to be what was meant for me for Hashem. It has to be what was meant for me for Hashem. נתאר לעצמנו לוי שנתמנה להיות שער בית המקדש והוא מרגיש בעצמו בקול ערב Neta'er l'atzmeinu Levi she'nitmana l'hiyos sho'er beis hamikdash v'hu margish b'atzmo b'kol areiv. Someone who was a gatekeeper, someone who was supposed to tend the gate, and instead they decided, you know, I have a nice voice, I'm going to sing. And their singing is for Hashem. They want to be in the choir of Hashem, the לוים Leviim that sang when the קרבנות korbanos were offered for Hashem. They're חייב מיתה chayev misa. אבל כל אחד להכיר את תפקידו וזו חובתו בעולמו למלאות תפקידו על הצד הטוב ביותר Aval kol echad l'hakir es tafkido v'zo chovaso b'olamo, l'malos tafkido al hatzad hatov b'yoser. רב צדוק אפשטיין Rav Tzadok Epstein in his הארות ha'aros says every Jew has to figure out what they're meant to do, why they're here and then pursue that, and then pursue that, and not infringe on someone else's territory, and not compete with someone else's territory. פיאסצנא רבה Piacetzna Rebbe, רבי קלונימוס קלמן שפירא Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira, in his צו וזירוז Tzav V'Ziruz, in his צו וזירוז Tzav V'Ziruz writes, כמה מזוינים האדם לאמר כי בחירתי החפשית אני כאסור בעבותות החשק וחמדת העולם kama m'zunim ha'adam leimor ki b'chirati hachafshis ani k'asur ba'avososei hacheishek v'chemdas ha'olam. People bemoan what they see as a lack of freedom of choice. They feel so compelled, I'll read you in the English. They feel so compelled by earthly desires that they feel they cannot control themselves. But know that for every choice that must emerge from an individual chooser, there must be an individuated self to choose. There must be a person who can stand by himself who can decide what he wants for himself. But if there's no person, just one of the crowd, there can be no free choice or personal will, because who will choose if besides the herd mentality, there is no one there at all. In other words, we're swept up with peer pressure, with popular opinion, with the behavior of others, and we think and we claim, what could I do? What choice did I have? I don't really have free will. I don't really have בחירה bechira, but we do. We do, if we simply take the responsibility for it. If we take ownership over it, we have that בחירה bechira. We have that בחירה bechira if we take that responsibility, we have that בחירה bechira. But it begins with what? Not being part of the crowd, recognizing our individuality, understanding that we're unique and distinct and different and that each and every one of us have our own purpose in why we are here. That's what it begins with. Are you like a plant or animal whose individual essence is just one of a kind? What is in the species is in the specimen, which is why we have no free will. Their instincts are not under their individual control, but under that of collective laws of the species. Their willfulness does not write out of individual need but out of collective need. And so, the פיאסצנא רבה Piacetzna Rebbe says, before we can express or exert free will, free will begins with being ourselves, individuality, recognizing who we are. That is the beginning of, that is the beginning of free will. The essence of individuation. How is a person individuated from mankind? By differentials in intelligence or willfulness? This cannot be. Animals also have differentials of this kind. At its prime, an animal's greater strength, willfulness, perhaps even intelligence than one aged, nevertheless, the basic nature encompasses them all without the ability. So a person must individuate himself with the essence of who he really is. Not only must he not remain imprisoned by social rules, cultural customs or accepted thought without the ability to see beyond them, he must also have a mind of his own. Without this, not only is he not a Jew, he's not even a person, not even a person. This means bringing out that which is unique within you, that which depicts your very self. Your Torah learning or divine service should not just be an expression of your intelligence, but of your very essence. The way you approach Torah learning or prayer should represent you. When someone hears a Torah thought or a specific spiritual practice, that they'd be able to identify it as typically one of yours. Take for instance the רמב\"ם's Rambam's works, they could be identified by their style and distinct wisdom. Same is true of רמב\"ן Ramban and so on. And this is not some privilege reserved only for great luminaries, says the פיאסצנא Piacetzna. Each and every little one of us has not only the right, but the obligation to express his unique and individual self. And to the degree that you are able to live in this world from the very center of your unique self, to that degree will you be able to exercise your individual free will. Raise yourself up above the crowd. Bring out what makes you unique. Become a person who can choose for himself, the prerequisite for reaching Hashem. And in his צו וזירוז Tzav V'Ziruz, this is written in his spiritual diary. He had a diary, but the פיאסצנא Piacetzna, קלונימוס קלמן Kalonymus Kalman, didn't write in his diary, you know, what I had for breakfast today or I can't believe my friends didn't pick me for the for the softball game or the softball team. פיאסצנא Piacetzna in his diary wrote these spiritual thoughts that he had. He wrote these spiritual struggles that he had. He wrote what came to mind. And here he talks about this notion that the prerequisite for free will is recognizing the power of our individuality, recognizing who we are and what we offer the world. He writes in another entry, two entries later, that was entry י', ten. Two entries later, this is one short paragraph, so I'll share it with you. He says, המכיר את מקומו hamakir es m'komo, a person has to know their place. You have to be מכיר את מקומו makir es m'komo, you have to stay in your lane. וכי עושה ופועל בעולם ונותן לו יניקה מתובו עד שתהיה מקומך בעולם יהיה ניכר V'chi oseh u'fo'el ba'olam v'nosein lo yenika m'tuvo ad shetihiyeh m'komcha ba'olam yihiyeh nikar. Be creative and contribute to the world, give it the best you have. Make a niche for yourself that will always be felt in the world. הלא המקומות האבות והנביאים ושאר צדיקים, גם אתה לא ניכר בעולם Halo ham'komos ha'avos v'haneviim u'sh'ar tzaddikim, gam ata lo nikar ba'olam. When you're מכיר את מקומו makir es m'komo, when you carve out your place, when you plant your flag, when you know why you're here, you achieve immortality, eternity. Your legacy lives on forever. אברהם, יצחק ויעקב, משה רבינו, רבי עקיבא, רמב\"ם Avraham, Yitzchak v'Yaakov, Moshe Rabbeinu, Rabbi Akiva, Rambam. Are we not still quoting them? Are we not still referencing them? Do they not all know their place? אילו חיה עולם שמים לו לא היה בו הבעל שם טוב וכולי Ilu chayah olam shamaim lo lo haya bo haBaal Shem Tov v'chulei. Are there not places of our forefathers, the prophets and the צדיקים tzaddikim to this day not known in the world? What a void there would be in the world for instance had there been no בעל שם טוב Baal Shem Tov. החכם מכיר לאחרים את מקומם ונותן מקום בעולם נראה Hachacham makir l'acheirim es m'komam v'nosein makom ba'olam nir'eh. He who knows his place will leave a mark in this world with his life, his place will forever be known even beyond his life. The notion of being מכיר את מקומו makir es m'komo. We can't begin to live our life, we can't begin to craft a legacy, to leave a legacy, if we don't know our place. Who are we and why are we here? What difference are we meant to make? What is our unique and distinct mission in this world? מכיר את מקומנו Makir es m'komeinu, to know our place. We've shared countless times the רמח\"ל Ramchal, that the essence of life, מה חובתו של אדם בעולמו mah chovaso shel adam b'olamo, not בעולם ba'olam, not as what's man's duty in the world, but בעולמו b'olamo. Each and every one of us have our own world. We are a world unto ourselves. Everyone's going through their own פק'ל pekel, everyone's going through their own thing. Everybody is positioned with their own power and strength. We have to know our place. We have to know our place and while we are here. רבי אלישע שור Rabbi Elya Schorr of וילנא Vilna also elaborates on this, but I don't have time I want to get back to the parsha. But he too writes so beautifully about, דע את עצמך דע לך עבודה גדולה וחשובה מוטלת עליך, להכיר את אשר חנןך בוראך במעלות וכישרונות נעלים, להכיר כי אין מלכות נוגעת בחברתה, חלקך בתורה שמור לך לבד, וכל חבריך אשר יסיו להגביעו כי אין יד שיכולה לגשש לחלקך המיוחד לך da es atzmecha, da l'cha, avodah gedolah v'chashuva muteles alecha. L'hakir es asher chanancha bor'acha b'ma'alos u'v'kishronos na'alim, l'hakir ki ein malchus nogas b'chavertah, chelk'cha baTorah shamur l'cha l'vad, v'chol chaveirecha asher yisayu l'higavo, ki ein yad shey'chola l'gashshesh l'chelk'cha hamyuchad l'cha. An individual knows himself and is aware of his nature who knows whatever Hashem has given him is a wondrous gift. If he will only take advantage of his talents and strengths, he will attain all desirable traits. Such an individual does not suffer from jealousy or envy of another person's lot in life. Don't compare. Have faith in Hashem. He's given us all of our spiritual needs. טעם ידע ותבין עד כמה הבורא יתברך נתן לך שכל ודעת, אין לך צורך לאחרים ולהסכמתם Ta'am yeda v'tavin ad kama haBorei yisborach nasan l'cha seichel v'daas, ein l'cha tzorech la'acheirim ul'haskamasam. We don't need anyone else's הסכמה haskama. You don't need anyone else's approval. קודשא בריך הוא's Kudsha Brich Hu's approval is all we need. To wake up and realize why we're here, what we're meant to achieve and accomplish. We don't emphasize this enough, and we don't undergo this exercise enough with our young people. We try to download countless information and data. We try to overload them with הלכה halacha, we overload them with facts, all critically important, all part of תלמוד תורה Talmud Torah. But do we have a curriculum? Do we teach? Do we have an exercise in teaching them what it means to be מכיר את מקומו makir es m'komo? How does a person understand who they are, not in comparison or contrast, not in competition with others, but uniquely and distinctly who each person is on their own and what they offer the world and what difference we are meant to, what difference we are meant to make. Okay, let's keep going. רב צדוק צו וזירוז, וילנא Rav Tzadok Tzav V'Ziruz, Vilna but good. פרק ה הלכה א' Perek hei halacha yud. פרק ה פסוק א' Perek hei pasuk yud, rather. We move on with the law of the purification of the camp. וישלחו מן המחנה כל צרוע וכל זב וכל טמא לנפש V'yishalchu min hamachaneh kol tzaruah v'chol zav v'chol tamei l'nefesh. Expel from the camp those who are impure. The camp has to retain its purity, because קודשא בריך הוא Kudsha Brich Hu has a concept of קדושה kedusha. כל מחניך Kol machanecha, our whole camp has to be holy and the three camps of Hashem have a higher threshold of holiness that have to be maintained. There's a notion of תשלוח tishaluach, of sending out until the person undergoes their own purification and is ready to come back. פרק ה הלכה פרק ה פסוק ה' Perek hei halacha, perek hei pasuk hei next. וידבר השם אל משה לאמר דבר אל בני ישראל איש או אשה כי יעשו מכל חטאות האדם למעול מעל בהשם ואשמה הנפש ההיא Vayedaber Hashem el Moshe leimor, daber el Bnei Yisrael ish o isha ki ya'asu mikol chatos ha'adam lim'ol ma'al b'Hashem v'ashma hanefesh hahi. Hashem spoke to Moshe and he taught the following הלכה halacha. Speak to כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael, a man or a woman who commits any of man's sins, and what are those sins by committing treachery, מעילה me'ila, toward Hashem, and that person becomes guilty. What do they have to do? והתודו את חטאתם אשר עשו V'hisvadu es chatasam asher asu. Such a person has to confess the חטא cheit that they did. A person has to confess the חטא cheit that they did and והשיב את אשמו בראשו וחמישיתו יוסף עליו v'heishiv es ashamo b'rosho vachamishiso yosef alav, they have to pay back the principle and add another 20%, a fifth, ונתן לאשר אשם לו v'nasan la'asher asham lo, and pay back the person whom they hurt, the person who they hurt. So what why this is the source of the רמב\"ם Rambam, והתודו את חטאתם v'hisvadu es chatasam. The notion that when we make a mistake, we have to confess it. It's not enough to make restoration. It's not enough to offer compensation. But a person has to offer a confession. You have to admit, you have to articulate, you have to say it out loud. I made this mistake. I did this thing that was wrong. I take responsibility, I take extreme ownership. It was me. There are no excuses, there's no one else to blame, but I am taking responsibility. והתודו V'hisvadu, the notion that we have to confess when we are repairing, when we're undergoing תשובה teshuva for any mistake, the רמב\"ם Rambam learns from this פסוק pasuk, from this case of גזל הגר gezel hager, when a person stole from a convert. The חידושי הרי\"ם Chidushei HaRim wonders and is bothered, of every place the רמב\"ם Rambam can learn it, of any source that we can learn that this is a obligation or responsibility of confession, why specifically in the case of גזל gezel? Why theft? Why not learn that if you violated Shabbos, admit it, confess, you violated Shabbos. You ate non-kosher, admit it. Spoke לשון הרע lashon hara, admit it. Why not some other transgression? Why not that be the source for the notion of וידוי vidui of confession, of articulating our mistake? Why specifically גזל gezel? The חידושי הרי\"ם Chidushei HaRim has a magnificent answer. The גר רבה Ger Rebbe, the חידושי הרי\"ם Chidushei HaRim says, says, you know why it's here? Because implicit in every חטא cheit that we ever do is גזל gezel. And this connects to what we just saw in the פיאסצנא Piacetzna and רב וילנא Rav Vilna. The idea that each of us are given gifts. Each of us are an individual who are positioned with opportunity to make a difference in this world. Every time we make the wrong choice, every time we abuse, we misuse our strength, our health, our talents, our skills, our gifts, we have stolen from God. We've stolen from Hashem. He endowed us with those things to make a difference. And when instead of using them to make a positive difference, we use them in the pursuit of selfish hedonism. We use them to satisfy our own, to indulge in our own instinct and impulse. We haven't just crossed the boundary of done something wrong, but we've actually stolen from Hashem. Every חטא cheit is an act of גזל gezel. Every time we ignore Hashem within every sin we do, we have stolen, we've misused our resources, our health, our strength, all of it could have been more directed to Hashem. So that's why והתודו את חטאתם v'hisvadu es chatasam, the source of confession is learned from the case specifically of גזל הגר gezel hager. That's מעילה me'ila. מעילה Me'ila is to take something holy and to profane. If you have הקדש hekdesh, you have something consecrated, sacred, sanctified, and instead you use it for something personal, that's a violation of מעילה me'ila. Something designated for the temple and you use it personally, you violated מעילה me'ila. So the truth is every time we abuse and misuse what we have that could be consecrated and sacred, the talents, the skills, the strength, the energy, the time that we have that could be used for a holy purpose, and instead we use it for something else, that's מעילה me'ila. That in itself is a violation of, of of profaning something that was meant to be holy. פרק ה' פסוק י\"א Perek hei pasuk yud. Turn the page. We move on to the case of the סוטה sotah. The case of the סוטה sotah. דבר אל בני ישראל ואמרת אלהם איש איש כי תשטה אשתו ומעלה בו מעל Daber el Bnei Yisrael v'amarta aleihem ish ish ki tisteh ishto u'ma'alah bo ma'al. If you have a man whose wife goes astray, כי תשטה ki tisteh, סוטה sotah, ס' ו-ש' samech and shin are interchangeable. That's why חז\"ל Chazal uses the סמך samech, מסכת סוטה maseches Sotah, Torah here uses the ש' shin, כי תשטה ki tisteh, but it means that a woman made a poor choice. She went astray. She violated her marriage. She was untrustworthy. ומעלה בו מעל U'ma'alah bo ma'al. Why here is this called מעילה me'ila, treachery, מעילה me'ila, to profane something sacred? What was sacred? Marriage. Marriage is called קידושין kiddushin, הקדש hekdesh, קדוש kadosh, קדושה kedusha. Marriage is holy. Marriage is not just, marriage is not just some partnership which is of convenience. Marriage is not some transactional relationship. You cook dinner, I take out the garbage, you bring in the money, I'll bathe the kids. Marriage is holy. It matters. It's a big problem. I'm going to write an article about this. The institution of marriage is under assault, not only in its new definitions, but even just people not getting married. The the numbers, the data of how many people are choosing to, not talking about in the frum community right now, but everything that happens in the world ends up seeping in and penetrating into the Torah community. But the people who are just choosing to live together because marriage is just a piece of paper. What difference does it make? It makes a huge difference. Marriage is an institution, marriage is a commitment, marriage is a promise and a pledge of holiness. It's something that transcends more than just the transactional relationship or even a romantic relationship but absent commitment. Marriage is the expression of commitment. It's called קידושין kiddushin. It's called holiness. It's called holiness. And it means something. And it's bigger than just the tax benefits that you can claim. It's bigger than just a civil ceremony. There's something greater which is achieved. There's a קדושה kedusha, there's a holiness which is achieved. And when that holiness is violated, when it's profaned, מעלה בו מעל ma'alah bo ma'al, there's a מעילה me'ila which is which is violated. A מעילה me'ila which is carried out, profaning something that should have been sacred. Why did it happen? The commentaries point out, why do we have a redundancy? איש איש ish ish? What led this woman, כי תשטה אשתו ki tisteh ishto, what led her to look elsewhere? What led her astray? What led this woman to seclude herself with another man, who it turns out that maybe, maybe not, she actually violated physical boundaries with. Maybe they were just playing chess or checkers, maybe they were just having a conversation or a cup of coffee. But she did it inappropriately. She violated יחוד yichud, she was alone, secluded in a locked space. What led her there? So the commentary say איש איש ish ish could have just said איש ish once. איש איש Ish ish. This man overpowered, איש איש ish ish, he dominated, he overpowered, he micromanaged. He was so interesting in showing her his masculinity, איש איש ish ish, כי תשטה אשתו ki tisteh ishto, he so overpowered, that's not to suggest she's innocent. You don't blame him to the exclusion of her accountability, but it means that part of the background of what created the situation that she looked elsewhere was איש איש ish ish, his dominance led her כי תשטה אשתו ki tisteh ishto, that she wanted to find someone else who validated, who loved, who had affection, who admired, who was appreciative, who was grateful. So many of the unfortunate, tragic episodes of infidelity have nothing to do with physical connection or intimacy of everything to do with looking for something emotionally elsewhere, looking elsewhere for an emotional connection because of the result of an איש איש ish ish or an אישה אישה isha isha, but the result of an overbearing or overpowering of a lack of of affection and connection and intimacy emotionally, כי תשטה אשתו ki tisteh ishto that leads elsewhere. ושכב איש אתה שכבת זרע ונעלם מעיני אישה ונכתה וטמאה ועד אין בה והיא לא נתפשה v'shachav ish osah shichvas zera v'ne'elam mei'einei ishah, v'nistera v'hi nitma'ah v'eid ein bah v'hi lo nitpasa. The case of סוטה sotah is not a case of a woman who necessarily was wayward. What happened was a man said, a man is suspicious. You secluded yourself, you isolated yourself. Don't ever do that again. I'm giving you a warning. And the warning is in front of two witnesses. Don't ever seclude yourself again. Don't lock yourself. Don't violate יחוד yichud. Don't be alone in a place of temptation. And she secludes herself. She ignores the warning and witnesses testify that she isolated herself with another man. She is brought to the משכן Mishkan, to the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash, she's given the מי מרים mei marim. She drinks from this special beverage, this special concoction, this special liquid. Hashem allows his own name to be erased for the purpose of שלום shalom, to try to preserve שלום shalom. And the Torah here tells us what happens. If she's innocent, she's blessed with a child. If she's guilty, she explodes, she suffers a horrific, graphic death, and so does the man with whom she violated her marriage, even though that man is not summoned to the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash, he doesn't appear before the כהן kohen, the man does not drink from that concoction, but the man with whom she violated that boundary also. dies as a result. says, the Belzer Rebbe says, from that phenomena we see the source of drinking לחיים l'chaim. What? What does drinking לחיים l'chaim have to do with the man dying in the case of סוטה sotah? He says you see if the woman in the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash could drink and he wherever he is, he's playing racquetball, he's in the בית מדרש beis medrash, he's at work, wherever he is, when she drinks, he suffers the consequence. If that could take place for the negative, then it could also be that when we drink, we could bring a positive result for someone even if they're not there. So when you could drink a לחיים l'chaim, someone should have a רפואה שלמה refuah shleima. לחיים L'chaim, somebody should have a שמחה simcha. לחיים L'chaim, somebody should have good news. You see that if you could work in the negative, the סוטה sotah could drink and the man drops dead, then we could drink לחיים l'chaim and it brings somebody else wherever they are, a sense of a רפואה שלמה refuah shleima. So in this context, פרק ה פסוק יוד perek hey, pasuk yud. I skipped. ואיש את קדשיו לו יהיה איש אשר יתן לכהן לו יהיה V'ish es kodoshov lo yihyeh, ish asher yiten l'kohen lo yihyeh. Go back a section. I apologize, I left out. I just left out. At the end of the section that preceded this, a person was obligated to bring to the כהן kohen all of the proper gifts to the כהן kohen. A person was obligated to bring those proper gifts to the כהן kohen. So רש״י Rashi says here, now we have the case of סוטה sotah. That's why I skipped and was confused. Coming off a three-day יום טוב yom tov and spoke, I won't tell you the number of times, so you have to bear with me and forgive me today. Just bear with me.סמך לו איש איש כי תשטה אשתו Samach lo ish ish ki tisteh ishto. רש״י Rashi says, why do we have the responsibility of giving to the כהן kohen positioned right next to the case of the אישה סוטה isha sotah? למה נסמכה פרשת סוטה לפרשת תרומות ומעשרות Lama nismicha parshas sotah l'parshas trumos u'ma'asros? We have a responsibility to tithe, to separate from our income. Today we do it financially, מעשר כספים maaser kesafim, but the farmer took a portion of what they worked hard and toiled, the income they drew, with the produce that they harvested. And they had to give a portion to the כהן kohen, a portion to the לוי levi. So why do we have the juxtaposition? Why does the Torah teach us the laws of separating a portion for the כהן kohen and לוי levi, and immediately afterwards, it's succeeded right by איש איש כי תשטה אשתו ish ish ki tisteh ishto? איש איש Ish ish, that the case of the wayward woman. לומר לך Lomar lecha, says רש״י Rashi, כל שיש לו תרומות ומעשרות ואינו נותנן לכהן סוף נצטרך לכהן על ידי אשתו kol she'yesh lo trumos u'ma'asros v'eino nosnan l'kohen, sof nitzrach l'kohen al yedei ishto. Whoever has that produce, whoever has that income but they're stingy, they're selfish, they refuse to give it or share it with the כהן kohen, they don't bring it to the כהן kohen. You didn't go to the כהן kohen to deliver the gift you were meant to give to the כהן kohen. In the end, you're going to have to go to the כהן kohen, you know why? Because you're going to be bringing your wife to the כהן kohen when you suspect her of adultery.So ר׳ יצחק ויינשטיין Rav Yitzchak Weinstein, who was a משגיח mashgiach of סלונים Slonim in Lithuania. He says, you think this is נותן טעם מה שיש כאן עונש על חטא מידה כנגד מידה noten taam ma she'yesh kan onsh al chet, midah k'neged midah? מי שביקש להשתמט מהכהן לכן יצטרך לבוא לסוף לכהן בנסיבות בלתי נעימות Mi she'bikesh l'hishtamet mei'hakohen, lachen yitztarech lavo l'sof l'kohen b'nesibos bilti neimos. At first this sounds like the Torah is telling us a classic case of מידה כנגד מידה midah k'neged midah. You were trying to avoid the כהן kohen. You selfishly and stingily didn't want to give the כהן kohen what he deserved. You avoided the כהן kohen, you can't avoid the כהן kohen. You tried to keep it to yourself, you avoided the כהן kohen. Guess what? In the end, you're going to the כהן kohen, not for such a pleasant thing to deliver תרומה trumah, you're going to the כהן kohen to test your wife, to try to save your marriage. אולם לאחר התבוננות נראה שסיבת הגעת לכהן היא תולדה טבעית מיסוד הענין גופו Ulam l'achar hisbonenus, nir'eh she'sibas ha'aga l'kohen hi toldah tiv'is mi'yesod ha'inyan gufo. However, says רב ויינשטיין Rav Weinstein, no, this is not just a classic מידה כנגד מידה midah k'neged midah. This is not just because you didn't want to go to the כהן kohen, now you're being dragged to the כהן kohen. תפקיד יהודי להיות קדוש Tafkid yehudi lihiyos kadosh. The goal and the mission of a Jew is to be holy. קדושים תהיו Kedoshim tihiyu. והכהנים הם מרביצי הקדושה לעם ישראל V'hakohanim hem marbitzei ha'kedusha l'am Yisrael. Who are the source? Who are the role models? Who are the influencers of holiness? The כהנים kohanim. That's their whole mission, that's their whole job. להבדיל בין קודש ובין חול L'havdil bein kodesh u'vein chol. וקדשתו V'kidashto. The כהנים kohanim have a responsibility. They are distinguished in their sanctity, in their holiness, in their service in the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash, but more than that, we treat them with that dignity, with that sanctity. They get that first עליה aliyah, and they lead the benching. And you're not allowed to be משמש בכהן m'shamesh b'kohen, you can't ask a כהן kohen to go bring you a cup of water. We treat a כהן kohen with distinction because they are the role model of קדושה kedusha. תפקידם לחנך את העם על ידי עבודתם וכל מעשיהם לסגולת קדושת ישראל Tafkidam l'chanech es ha'am al yedei avodasam v'chol ma'aseihem l'sgulas kedushas Yisrael. ומתנת כהונה היא הכרה בקדושת הכהנים וחשיבות תרומתם U'matnas kehuna hi hakara b'kedushas hakohanim v'chashivus trumasam. Why do they get תרומה trumah? Why do they live off the community? Why don't we say to the כהן kohen, why don't you go buy your own farm? Why don't we say to the כהן kohen, buy your own farm or be your own farmer, be your own sharecropper? Draw your own income, draw your own livelihood. What are you leaching off the community, כהנים kohanim? The answer is, no. We give a portion, we give תרומה trumah, 40th, the 50th, the 60th, depending on our level of stinginess and generosity. We give the כהן kohen, why? Because that is his payment for being our teacher and our role model, for being our mentor, our trainer, and our coach. It is not we're doing something generous or magnanimous. We're not doing something gratuitous. We're doing something that is deserved, it's his compensation. The כהן kohen has that role, and our recognition, our appreciation for the modeling of קדושה kedusha that the כהן kohen does, we give him the תרומה trumah. בא אדם מישראל ומכחיש את מתנת כהונה Ba adam mi'Yisrael u'makchish es matnas kehuna. So someone who says, nah, I'm not paying it. I'm not giving that compensation. I'm not paying the כהן kohen through תרומה trumah. מה משמע? Ma mashma? What is that person really saying? שאינו מכיר בסגולת קדושתם She'eino makir b'sgulas kedushasam. You know what? I don't think the כהן kohen is so holy. And I'm not really interested in holiness. I don't want to live with holiness, I don't want to learn from his holiness. So I'm not paying him. I don't need a trainer, I don't need a coach. I don't need him as a role model. I don't recognize that aspiration or ambition, and I don't recognize his role in my life. אדם כזה שמכחיש את סגולת הקדושה בישראל וזו אבירא דביתיה Adam kazeh she'makchish es sgulas ha'kedusha b'Yisrael v'zo avira d'beisei. והיחס לקדושה הוא לאו דוקא v'hayachas l'kedusha hu lav davka. So this person who the atmosphere in his own home, his spouse and his children say, אבא Abba, Daddy, טאטי Tati, she says to her husband, nu, are you gonna bring the תרומה trumah to the כהן kohen? Don't we have to say thank you for the model he is, for how he serves, for the holiness that he inspires us to live? The husband says, no, I'm not inspired to live holiness. I don't value holiness. I don't care about his being a role model of holiness. What happens? What happens? You degrade, you dissolve the pursuit and the appreciation of holiness within such a home. And then what happens? The result is the wife goes astray and you're left going to the כהן kohen, paying the price for the unraveling of your קדושה kedusha. קדושה Kedusha is holiness. And if we want to receive holiness and live with holiness, we want the people around us to preserve and protect and honor and be faithful to holiness with us, then we have to be faithful and honor and pursue and value holiness. We spoke on יום טוב yom tov about Indian Americans dominating the spelling bee and why that is. What we celebrate, we value, what we value, we celebrate. What our children see us celebrate, they will value and they will sacrifice for. And what they don't see us celebrate, they don't see us care about or value, then they won't sacrifice. They won't pursue and they won't value. So what role does קדושה kedusha have in our life? רב ויינשטיין Rav Weinstein is saying, it's not just מידה כנגד מידה midah k'neged midah. You didn't want to give the gift to the כהן kohen, in the end of the day, guess what? You're going to the כהן kohen, you'll need the כהן kohen now. It's not just that. It's not just you who used to speak לשון הרע lashon hara about the rabbi at your שבת Shabbos table, you had nothing good to say about the rabbi, you didn't care about your membership, you didn't pay membership, you didn't value membership in the שול shul, you didn't care about the rabbi. Guess what? You're going to need the rabbi. When your passport expires, you want to go to Israel, you need a connection with the congressman. When you have a שאלה shailah, an end-of-life issue, when you need that rabbi because your marriage is falling apart or your child is in crisis. It's not just that, that's also true. But it's not just that. It's not just מידה כנגד מידה midah k'neged midah. It's, it's explaining to us the notion of קדושה kedusha. If you don't value holiness to the point of giving תרומה trumah to the כהן kohen, then that will permeate the atmosphere of your home will be an attitude and an atmosphere that doesn't value holiness. And then the result will happen. You'll find yourself at the כהן kohen because your marriage, the holiness of your marriage has been compromised and corrupted.The מגד יוסף Meged Yosef of סוראצקין Sorotzkin has an insight here also. I saw that's very interesting and very beautiful. Rashi says the connection is the מתנת כהונה matnas kehuna. הקשר בין הצרות עין של הבעל ובין הזנות של האישה Ha'kesher bein ha'tzarus ayin shel ha'baal u'bein ha'znus shel ha'isha. He sees a different connection. This man is stingy. This man is self-centered. He doesn't want to give the כהן kohen what he deserves. What does that have to do with his wife, her behavior, her unfaithfulness? צריך תלמוד, איך מידה כנגד מידה וניכר בזאת טיב הצרות עין במתנת כהונה, מקורו בחוסר אמונה ובטחון בהשם יתברך Tzarich talmud, eich midah k'neged midah v'nikar b'zos tiv ha'tzarus ayin b'matnas kehuna, mekoro b'choser emunah u'bitachon b'Hashem yisbarach. Why does a person act stingily? Why don't they want to give generously? Why does this farmer not want to give the כהן kohen what he deserves? שהרי אם היה בטוח במה שהובטח לו ממעל, עשר בשביל שתתעשר sheharei im hayah batuach b'mah she'huvtach lo mi'maal, 'aser bishvil she'tis'asher'. והיה עושה את דברו בלב שלם, ובוטח בדבר השם, ודאי היה מבקש לחלק מתנותיו כדי שיתעשר v'haya oseh es devaro b'lev shalem, u'botayach b'dvar Hashem, vadai haya mevakesh l'chalek matnosav k'dei she'yis'asher. The answer is, it's a breakdown not only interpersonally. It's not only that you are failing to give the כהן kohen what he deserves, but it is a breakdown also in faith with Hashem. Why does the farmer not give to the כהן kohen? Because he's worried. What if I don't have enough? I can't become wealthy if I give away and share what I have with others. So a lack of faith that Hashem can make me wealthy without my holding on tight to everything I have, the unwillingness to be charitable and generous is not only unkind to people around you, it is a lack of faith in Hashem that he can't provide or can't make you wealthy even when you give away, especially considering that this is the one area where we're allowed to test Hashem, where we have the promise of עשר בשביל שתתעשר aser bishvil she'tis'asher. That if you give מעשר maaser, if you tithe, he will replace, replenish, and expand and make us wealthy. So this individual was exhibiting not only stinginess but unfaithfulness. He was unfaithful to Hashem. וכן פרשת סוטה, כל עניינה בחוסר אמונה באשתו שחושדה שזינתה תחתיו, ולכן מקנא בה V'chen parshas sotah, kol inyana b'choser emunah b'ishto she'choshda she'zinta tachtav, v'lachen mekaneh bah. He didn't have faith in Hashem, and when he accuses his wife, he doesn't have faith in her. וכל שאינו שם מבטחו בהשם יתברך, כנגד זה עונשו שהוא אינו בוטח באשתו ומגיע לפרשת סוטה V'nimtza d'chol she'eino sam mivtacho b'Hashem yisbarach, k'neged zeh onsho she'hu eino boteiach b'ishto u'magia l'parshas sotah. If you're not faithful to Hashem, you'll not be faithful to your wife, you're not faithful to people. אי נמי i nami, our second explanation. כל שאינו מוכן להתחלק בכספו בעל כרחו נמצא מתחלק מאשתו Kol she'eino muchan l'hischalek b'kaspo, b'al korcho nimtza mitchalek mei'ishto. If you're not willing to part with your money, in the end you're gonna part with your wife. If you're stingy and you're not willing to part with your money, your wife may go elsewhere and you're going to end up being parted from your wife. Don't be stingy and self-centered, be generous and giving. The person who can't give מתנת כהונה matnas kehuna, says the מגד יוסף Meged Yosef, the individual who can't generously give the gift to the כהן kohen that they deserve will probably also be acting that way to their own wife. So stingy, when you're unkind and stingy and self-centered, then it's going to drive the people close to you away, and that's in fact what happens. פרק ה פסוק טז Perek hey, pasuk tes vov. Now moving back to the. והביא האיש את אשתו אל הכהן והביא את קרבנה עליה עשירית האיפה קמח שעורים, לא יצוק עליו שמן ולא יתן עליו לבונה, כי מנחת קנאות הוא, מנחת זכרון מזכרת עון V'heivi ha'ish es ishto el ha'kohen, v'heivi es karbanah aleha asiris ha'eifa kemach se'orim, lo yitzok alav shemen v'lo yiten alav levona, ki minchas k'naos hu, minchas zikaron mazkeres avon. He brings, the man brings his wife to the כהן kohen, he brings an offering, a tenth ephah of barley flour, should not pour oil over it, not put frankincense on it, it's a meal offering of jealousy, a meal offering of remembrance, a reminder of iniquity, a reminder of iniquity. The another טעלזער Telzer, ר׳ יוסף לייב בלוך Rav Yosef Leib Bloch, ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva of טעלז Telz. רש״י Rashi says on this פסוק pasuk, why is she bringing a קרבן korban, a sacrifice of שעורים se'orim and not חיטים chitim? We spoke about this several times over ספירת העומר Sefiras HaOmer. The קרבן העומר korban ha'omer of פסח Pesach was made from barley. קרבן העומר Korban ha'omer that we just brought yesterday, two days ago, שתי הלחם shtei halechem was made from wheat. Why did we go from barley to wheat? Barley is מאכל בהמה ma'achal behema, animal food. We came out of מצרים Mitzrayim, a group of animals, וילדע חיות vilde chayas. We were a group of animals in the 49th level of טומאה tumah. We counted ספירת העומר Sefiras HaOmer, we elevated, we ascended, we climbed the ladder to improve ourselves, to become human beings. לעולם יהא אדם L'olam yehei adam, to just simply be פשוט אדם poshut an adam, to be a human being. So where do we see the אור החיים Orach Chaim says this from there, that the count from פסח Pesach to שבועות Shavuos, from שעורים se'orim, קרבן העומר korban ha'omer to the שתי הלחם shtei halechem, is going from being an animal, a בהמה behema, to becoming an אדם adam. So רש״י Rashi says the same thing here. What קרבן korban does this woman bring who is accused? שעורים Se'orim. Why? היא עשתה מעשה בהמה, קרבנה מאכל בהמה Hi asta ma'aseh behema, karbanah ma'achal behema. You acted like an animal, you're a וילדע חיה vilde chaya. You secluded yourself with a man, you gave into this animal impulse, animal instinct. You acted like an animal, you bring the קרבן korban of an animal. ולא יצוק עליה שמן ואין נותנין על זה הקרבן לא יהא קרבנה מהודר שהשמן קרוי אור, והיא עשתה בחושך Lo yitzok aleha shemen v'ein nosnin al zeh ha'korban lo yehei karbanah mehudar shehashemen karui or, v'hi asta b'choshech. Sometimes we use oil. Oil is very expensive. Oil can be very expensive, it's considered a commodity. And oil elevates everything it's added to. Something with oil, something with oil is considered מהודר mehudar, it's elevated. Oil is light, oil glistens and it shines. But she did something in the dark. She did something in the dark. She doesn't use oil on her קרבן korban, which illuminates and shines. ולא יתן עליה לבונה V'lo yiten aleha levona, you don't use frankincense, לבונה levona. Why? שהאמהות נקראות לבונה, כאשכול לבונה She'ha'imahos nikraos levona, k'eshkol levona. והיא פירשה מדרכיהן V'hi pirsha midarkeihen. She didn't learn from their ways. She didn't act like one of our matriarchs. So רש״י Rashi says you see in her קרבן korban, her קרבן korban reflects so much about her mistake and where she went wrong, her קרבן korban. Number one, it's made from barley, not wheat, she acted like an animal, not a human being. Number two, there's no oil because she didn't act with light, she didn't act enlightened. What she did was in the dark. And number three, there's no לבונה levona because the matriarchs, our righteous mothers were called לבונה levona, and she did not follow in their path, she did not walk in their, in their way, in their way. Good. So, ר׳ יוסף לייב בלוך Rav Yosef Leib Bloch, ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva of טעלז Telz says the following, he asks the following. בורא עולם, אם לגנות מעשה סוטה, ולמה דואגים עם רמזים כל כך דקים? גם שעורים במקום חיטים, גם שמן לבונה? שאינם מעוררים התפעלות מידית חזקה, והרושם פועל עליהם רק בכך שמשאירים בהם רישום דק שמחלחל אל נבכי הנפש ומעורר אותם Borei Olam, im l'ganos ma'aseh sotah, v'lama do'agim im remazim kol kach dakim? Gam se'orim bimkom chitim, gam shemen, gam levona? She'einam me'orerim hispa'alus miyadit chazaka, v'haroshem po'el aleihem rak b'kach she'mash'irim bahem rishum dak she'mechalchel el nivchei hanefesh u'me'orer osam. He says, you see from here a powerful lesson that sometimes when you want to give someone מוסר mussar and feedback, it's not explicitly or overtly, it's not overpoweringly, it's subtly and it's with nuance, and it seeps in and the person's capable of hearing and learning from it. בשעת מעשה עושים רושם גדול על האדם ומביאים אותו לידי התפעלות וסערת רגשות מרובה. אך באמת אינם פועלים כל כך, שדווקא מחמת שעושים רושם חיצוני גדול, הם מעלימים את כוח ההשפעה הדקה שבאדם Ach b'emes einam po'alim kol kach, she'davka machmas she'osim roshem chitzoni gadol, hem ma'alimim es koach ha'hashpa'ah ha'dakah she'b'adam. Sometimes if you let someone have it, the stronger you are, the more they recoil and react in the moment, but it doesn't last. It's a hyper-reaction to a hyper-action in the moment, but it dissipates and disappears quickly. But if you subtly and in a nuanced way, you get a message across that this was beneath you, you acted like an animal, but you're a human being. That you have role models of matriarchs that you should have followed. They need to come out of the dark and live in the light. That sometimes the more subtle, the more nuanced our message, the deeper it will penetrate, the more transformational it will be than the explicit, overt, or overpowering, overwhelming strong response that we sometimes that we sometimes have, that we sometimes have. The גרא Gra talks about the little differences that we make. The וילנא גאון Vilna Gaon פגש פעם באכסניה יהודי שאכל בלא ברכה, וכשהוכיחו על כך, ענה היהודי, מה לי ולך? אני משומד רחמנא ליצלן, מה אתה יש לך עסק בכך שאיני מברך לפני אכילה pagash pa'am b'achsanya yehudi she'achal b'lo bracha, v'k'she'hochicho al kach, anah ha'yehudi, 'Ma li v'lach? Ani meshummad, rachmana litzlan! Ma ata yesh lach eisek b'kach she'eini mevarech lifnei achila?' And he saw this non-observant Jew, this משומד meshummad, this heretic, an atheist, was eating without a ברכה bracha. And the וילנא גאון Vilna Gaon said, nu, you forgot to make a ברכה bracha. So the atheist looks at him and says, forgot to make a ברכה bracha? וילנא גאון Vilna Gaon, I'm an atheist, I'm a heretic, I don't believe, I'm a משומד meshummad. A ברכה bracha you're worried about? So אמר לו הגר״א, לא יחשוב שזה שמשתמד פוטר אותו מאיזה עונש שמגיע לו Amar lo ha'Gra, lo yachshov she'zeh she'mishtamed poter oso mei'eizeh onesh she'magia lo. You think that because you're a משומד meshummad, you're not also accountable for the fact that you skipped the ברכה bracha? Even being a משומד meshummad, Hashem cares about each and every little thing. ויש ללמוד מזה מוסר לכל הלכות שצריך לקיים, גם בפרטים הקטנים ביותר V'yesh lilmod mizeh mussar l'chol ha'halachos she'tzarich l'kayem, gam b'pratim ha'ktanim b'yoser. Even the small things, even the little things, Hashem also cares about. וכן הדברים מפורשים בדברי הרמב״ם V'chen ha'dvarim mefurashim b'divrei ha'Rambam. The Rambam writes this in one of his letters, אגרת השמד Iggeres HaShmad. תדע שצריך אדם לידע עיקר מעיקרי הדת, שירבעם בן נבט נענש על בטול ערוב תבשילין ודומיו לו Teida she'tzarich adam lida ikar mei'ikrei ha'das, she'Yarovam ben Nevat ne'enash al bitul eiruv tavshilin v'domav lo. ירבעם בן נבט Yarovam ben Nevat who was a רשע מרושע rasha merusha, who led people astray, Hashem held him accountable because he didn't make an ערוב תבשילין eiruv tavshilin. Really? That's the little thing he held him accountable for? Yes, the answer is, even when a person is failed or come up short on the big, you have to care about the little. And that's the subtle message that comes across to the סוטה sotah, but the inverse is also true. Listen to this incredible insight. Listen to this incredible insight. This אישה סוטה isha sotah, this woman. What happens if she's innocent? She's tested, she's secluded herself, she locked herself in a room. What happens? She gets pregnant. Why does she get pregnant? גמרא סוטה Gemara Sotah says, וניזרה זרע v'nizra'ah zera, אם היתה עקרה נפקדת, דברי רבי עקיבא Im haysa akara, nifkedes, divrei Rabbi Akiva. If she suffered infertility, she conceives. אמר לו רבי ישמעאל אם כן כל עקרות יפקדו Amar lo Rabbi Yishmael, im kein kol akaros yifkedu. So you're motivating. This was חנה Chana threatened Hashem. חנה Chana showed an עזות דקדושה azus d'kedusha. חנה Chana showed a brazenness. She said, Hashem, here's the deal, give me a child, if not, you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to lock myself in a room with a man. I'm not going to do anything wrong, but the very fact that I'll be warned and witnessed and then locked myself in a room, when I drink those מים המאררים mayim ha'marim, you know what will happen? Then I'll conceive, that's your promise. מה תלמוד לומר ונקתה ונזרה זרע אם היתה יולדת בצער יולדת בריוח, נקבות יולדת זכרים Ma talmud lomar v'niksa v'nizra'ah zera? Im haysa yoledes b'tzaar, yoledes b'revach. Nekeivos, yoledes z'charim. It's not only the barren, you're not only rewarding those with infertility. The Gemara elaborates and says, if you have a girl and you want a boy, you'll have a boy. If you had gave birth in pain, you'll give birth without pain. It's not only those who were barren, even those who previously had had children will be blessed. So the question begs itself. The question begs itself. This woman, is she so innocent? Should this woman get the אשת חיל eishes chayil of the year award at the שול shul dinner? No. Why not? Because it's true that it turns out that she didn't do anything wrong when she was in the room, but she was in the room. She was told, don't seclude yourself with another man. She has a tendency, she's flirtatious, she's been talking to this other man, or maybe she wants to seclude herself. So the husband says, don't do it again. קינוי וסתירה Kinui u'stira. קינוי Kinui as in witnesses see she locked herself in a room. She violated יחוד yichud. Mike Pence doesn't violate יחוד yichud and she violated יחוד yichud. So it's true that she didn't cross any boundary when she was locked in that room. Good, you got away, you were lucky, you didn't give into that urge, you didn't do anything in the room. But you're no צדקת tzadekes. You're no צדקת tzadekes. What'd you do going locked in the room? So why does she get this reward? I understand she doesn't die the horrific graphic death, that makes sense. But why is she blessed with this beautiful gift of children, of a child? The חתם סופר Chasam Sofer is bothered by this question, and the חתם סופר Chasam Sofer says, למען שהביאה עצמה בידיים לחשדות ובזיונות, היות שפעל תורה מצווה להשפיל אותה, משום שנתברר שזה היה בטעות, מקבלת שכר כפול ומכופל Lema'an she'hevi'a atzma b'yadayim l'chashados u'vizyonos, heyos she'poel Torah mitzvah l'hashpil osa, mishum she'nisbarer she'zeh haya b'ta'us, mekabeles schar kaful u'mchuplag. She underwent countless בזיונות bizyonos. First the whole world knew, they saw her getting dragged to the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash, to the משכן Mishkan, to the כהן kohen. He uncovers her hair, which is very demeaning and degrading. This is the source, by the way, for married women having to cover their hair from the fact that when she's challenged about her marriage, her hair is uncovered. You see from the fact that the כהן kohen uncovers her hair, that ordinarily a married woman has to have her hair covered. So she suffers בזיונות bizyonos. It's degrading, it's embarrassing, every blog, every headline is following this trial, is following this accusation. Is it true, whose side are you on, justice for the husband or justice for the wife, hashtag, which one do you believe? It's terrible בזיונות bizyonos. She'll never get a part again in a movie. She suffers terrible בזיונות bizyonos. So the חתם סופר Chasam Sofer says, the very fact that she suffers these terrible בזיונות bizyonos, that in itself makes her worthy of the reward if in fact she was innocent. She paid the piper. She put in her time for the embarrassment that she suffers and therefore she gets the reward. That's the חתם סופר Chasam Sofer's answer. I'm not satisfied by it. Because again, I would understand, you did something wrong, you don't get rewarded. Okay, you don't get punished, but you don't get rewarded. So רב אליהו לופיאן Rav Eliyahu Lopian, לב אליהו Lev Eliyahu has a different answer. לב אליהו Lev Eliyahu has a different answer. He says the following. גמרא מכות Gemara Makkos tells us that ישב אדם ולא עבר עבירה, נותנים לו שכר כאילו עשה מצווה yashav adam v'lo avar aveira, nosnin lo schar k'ilu asa mitzvah. If a person sits and has an opportunity and is tempted by the chance to do an עבירה aveira, but they don't do it, they get a reward as if they did a מצווה mitzvah. Get a reward as if they did a מצווה mitzvah. In other words, you're sitting there's some delicious non-כשר kosher. And it looks good and it smells great and you really want it, but you don't eat it. So I would have said, great, you don't get a reward. You just didn't do an עבירה aveira, you don't get punished, you didn't do anything wrong. You were neutral. You didn't do anything right either. You just didn't do anything wrong. But the גמרא מכות כג Gemara Makkos chaf gimmel tells us that when you're tempted to do something wrong and you overcome it, you've not just not done something wrong, you've done something right. It's כאילו k'ilu you did a מצווה mitzvah and you get a reward for it. Says the לב אליהו Lev Eliyahu, listen to how powerful this is. Such a powerful partial perspective for today. It's true this woman did something wrong. It's true she locked herself in a room, she secluded herself with a man who wasn't her husband, after she was warned and cautioned not to. It's true she did something wrong. But when she had the chance to compound it, when she had the chance to make it much worse, when she had the chance to sink and spiral downward fast by then doing something wrong with that man, she didn't. And for that, she deserves to be rewarded. For that she deserves a reward. Yes, the punishment for the fact that she secluded herself, she suffers the terrible בזיונות bizyonos. She's humiliated and embarrassed. But you know what, she could have done more that was wrong and she stopped. She stopped, she didn't. It's a big חיזוק chizuk. A person's looking at something on the internet they shouldn't look at, and they look at it for 59 minutes straight, but in the 60th minute they stop. Their conscience kicks in and they say I shouldn't be looking at this, I shouldn't be acting out on it, and they turn it off and they turn away. So do you say, wow, what a lowlife, איכס, ווארף echs, varf, miserable, unholy, terrible person, they looked at the wrong thing, they acted in the wrong way, הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu is making a burning גיהנום Gehenom? Maybe, for the first 59 minutes. Probably not, but maybe. But we should not dismiss or discount that in that 60th minute, הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu says, wow, I love you. That means something. It means something to me. You spoke לשון הרע lashon hara for 20 minutes and in the 21st minute you said, you know what, let's stop talking about this. My conscience has kicked in. Not just because I ran out of good juicy לשון הרע lashon hara, I still have plenty more to share, but my conscience kicked in and I don't want to compound it and add to it. Does it matter? Does it make a difference? Absolutely. It counts and he cares. So much so that this woman, she did the wrong thing by secluding herself, but when she then stopped herself, הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu cares. It matters, it makes a difference. So you see the atheist who makes a ברכה bracha, הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu is not so happy they don't believe in him, but the little ברכה bracha matters. The little things, they matter, they make a difference, they have a cosmic implication. They matter to הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu. They matter. Why do we say she doesn't bring the לבונה levona? She doesn't bring the לבונה levona, the frankincense, because our אמהות imahos, our matriarchs are called לבונה levona, and she didn't live דרכיהן darkeihen, she didn't live on their path, she didn't follow in their way. So what? Was she really meant to live like them? Is that even a possibility? So רב חנוך ליבוביץ Rav Henoch Leibowitz, ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva of חפץ חיים Chofetz Chaim zatzal. He says, התביעה אינה על כך שלא הגיעה למדרגת האמהות Ha'tviah eina al kach she'lo higia l'madregas ha'imahos. She's not accountable that she didn't live on the level of שרה רבקה רחל ולאה Sarah, Rivka, Rochel v'Leah. Who can? Who can? They're the אמהות imahos for a reason. Who can? That's what we're holding her accountable for, that she wasn't שרה רבקה רחל ולאה Sarah, Rivka, Rochel v'Leah? She doesn't bring לבונה levona in her קרבן korban, they're called לבונה levona, she didn't live like them? So says the ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva of חפץ חיים Chofetz Chaim, note, look carefully, that is not what it says. It doesn't say she's accountable because she didn't reach their level. Rather, היא פירשה, she separated, מדרכיהן midarkeihen, from their path, from their way. It's not that she didn't live like them, it's that she didn't aspire to live on their path, in their direction. She didn't take that trajectory. We are not accountable for not reaching those levels. We're accountable for not having that ambition, that aspiration, for not making that effort, for not caring or for not trying. That we are accountable for. גמרא חז״ל Gemara Chazal tell us, חייב אדם לומר מתי יגיעו מעשי למעשה אבותי, אברהם יצחק ויעקב Chayav adam lomar masai yagiu ma'asai l'ma'asei avosai, Avraham, Yitzchak v'Yaakov. תנא דבי אליהו Tanna d'bei Eliyahu tells us that a person has to say to themselves every day, when will my actions reach the actions of my forefathers, אברהם יצחק ויעקב, שרה רבקה רחל ולאה Avraham, Yitzchak v'Yaakov, Sarah, Rivka, Rochel v'Leah. Not when will I become them. I'm not capable of becoming them. I'm not meant to become them. We spoke before all about being מכיר את מקומו makir es mekomo. You have to stay in your lane, you have to know your place. You're not meant to be שרה רבקה רחל ולאה Sarah, Rivka, Rochel v'Leah, you're not meant to be אברהם יצחק ויעקב Avraham, Yitzchak v'Yaakov. So how why doesn't she bring the לבונה levona, not because she wasn't them, but because she didn't aspire or have an ambition, she didn't have the drive to follow in their footsteps, to walk in their, to walk in their way. The מגיד יוסף Meged Yosef of סוראצקין Sorotzkin asks a great question. When does she bring the קרבן korban? When she's accused before she drinks the water. You don't yet know the outcome. הרי בשעת הבאת המנחה, טרם נתברר אם אכן זינתה Harei b'shas havaas ha'mincha, terem nisbarer imachen zinta. We don't yet know whether she was guilty. So why does she bring שעורים ולא חיטים se'orim v'lo chitim, because it's מעשה בהמה ma'aseh behema? You don't know if she acted like an animal yet. The jury's still out. The water results haven't come back. She brings the קרבן korban of barley, barley not wheat, because she acted like an animal, but it's before we yet know if she acted like the animal. ולא יובן מדוע זאת נקרא מעשה בהמה V'lo yuvan madua zos nikra ma'aseh behema. הלא בזנות עצמו אפילו תאמר שאין שייך מצד בהמה, הפועל על פי אינסטינקט ודחף הטבע Halo b'znus atzmo, afilu tomar she'ein shayach mitzad behema, ha'poel al pi instinct v'dachaf ha'teva. An animal acts on nature. So, אלא זנות נחשב מעשה בהמה, אין הזנות טרם נתברר, אלא זה שהסתתרה עם איש שבא לקנא לה Ela znus nechshav ma'aseh behema, ein ha'znus terem nisbarer, ela zeh she'histatra im ish she'ba l'kaneh lah. והנה בהמה נאמנת למי שמאכילה ומטפל בה, ואילו אישה זו בגדה בבעלה שפרש חסותו עליה, ובזה היא פחותה מבהמה V'hinei behema ne'emenes l'mi she'ma'achila u'metapeil bah, v'ilu isha zu bagda b'va'ala she'paras chasuso aleha, u'v'zeh hi pchusa mi'behema. He says the מעשה בהמה ma'aseh behema is not the fact that she what she did in that seclusion with that man. That is not the מעשה בהמה ma'aseh behema. The מעשה בהמה ma'aseh behema was that she allowed herself to be secluded. What she did in that room may have been מעשה בהמה ma'aseh behema or not, but that was the very act of going into the room was a מעשה בהמה ma'aseh behema. She acted like a בהמה behema. A בהמה behema is ungrateful to the owner who gives it food, and this woman was ungrateful to the relationship, unfaithful to a relationship that had responsibility to it. So he's right, it's before the results are in, but the מעשה בהמה ma'aseh behema was not necessarily what happened in the room, it was even the ability to go in the room to begin with. To go in the room to begin with. You know, once a person is in that room, in that situation, in that setting, it's difficult if not impossible to overcome the animal impulse. The whole reason we have an institution and a prohibition of יחוד yichud is to say, don't put yourself in that circumstance. Don't put yourself in that situation. Because once you're in that situation and circumstance, it's almost impossible not to fall or fail. So the key and the core is don't even get there to begin with, to stay true and honest, to never ever get there to begin with. This parsha is incredible. בירכת כהנים Birkas Kohanim. We have all of the נשיאים nesi'im, the קרבנות הנשיאים karbanos ha'nesi'im that are repeated over and over and over again. I only had 100 more דברי תורה divrei Torah to tell you. איש כי יפליא לנדור נדר Ish ki yafli lindor neder, יזיר עצמו מן היין Yazir atzmo min ha'yayin, is a נזיר nazir good or bad, the role of wine, why become a נזיר nazir, יביא אותו yavi oso, who's brought, את עצמו es atzmo, we have to bring ourselves, personal responsibility. I have another hour of sheer prepared here. Who's in for another hour? Don't worry, I'm not, so you're okay. You're okay. Make a לחיים lechaim. Let's make a לחיים lechaim. כלי מחזיק ברכה Kli machzik bracha. You need a כלי מחזיק ברכה kli machzik bracha. We'll end with the end of the פרשה parsha. One more insight. One more insight. ויהי ביום כלות משה להקים את המשכן Vayehi beyom klot Moshe lehakim et haMishkan. The very end of the פרשה parsha, ז' א' zayin aleph. פרק ז' פסוק א' Perek zayin pasuk aleph. 7:1. Towards the end of the פרשה parsha, you're going to see him. ויהי ביום כלות משה להקים את המשכן Vayehi beyom klot Moshe lehakim et haMishkan, וימשח אותו ויקדש אותו ואת כל כליו ואת המזבח ואת כל כליו וימשחם ויקדש אותם vayimshach oto vayekadesh oto v'et kol keilav v'et hamizbeach v'et kol keilav vayimshacheim vayekadesh otam. It was on the day that Moshe finished inaugurating the Mishkan, he anointed it, sanctified it, and the utensils and the altar and everything in it. So says רש\"י Rashi, ולא נאמר ביום הקים v'lo ne'emar b'yom hekim. It says ביום כלות משה להקים b'yom klot Moshe lehakim. On the day that Moshe finished inaugurating. It doesn't say the day that he established. מלמד שכל שבעת ימי המילואים היה משה מקימו ומפרקו Melamed shekol shivat yemei hamiluim hayah Moshe mekimo umefarko. For seven days Moshe put it together, took it apart. Put it together, took it apart. ובאותו היום הקימו ולא פירקו Uv'oto hayom hekimo v'lo peirako. On the seventh day he put it together, he didn't take it apart. לכך נאמר ביום כלות משה להקים L'kach ne'emar b'yom klot Moshe lehakim, אותו היום כלו הקמותיו oto hayom kalu hakamosav. It was the end of putting together and taking apart. Doesn't say he put it together for the first time. It was the erection, the inauguration, it was the end of putting it together and taking it apart.Why did he do that so many times? Why did he have to put it together and take it apart so many times? How many times? Seven. Why? It's not a coincidence, says Rav Zeidel Epstein. כי שבע יפול צדיק וקם Ki sheva yipol tzadik v'kam. We have the idea that a צדיק tzadik falls seven times and gets up. You're not called a צדיק tzadik if you didn't fall seven times and get up. The things that we build get destroyed. The things that we construct fall apart. The things that we build sometimes unravel. In life we have mistakes and we have failures and we have shortcomings. In life we fall. משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu was modeling for us the idea of standing up each time that you fell, that you put it together even when it comes apart, and then you put it together again even if it comes apart. And that משה Moshe himself was modeling for us. Don't become disheartened and don't despair. Don't become hopeless and don't become helpless because even the great משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu, for the משכן Mishkan, seven days, seven times, שבע יפול צדיק וקם sheva yipol tzadik v'kam, we will fall, and the key and the definition of being a צדיק tzadik is our ability and our willingness to get back up.Again, we will not have שיעור shiur next two weeks in person. Whether we will stream it live online, I'll let you know. Just pay attention to the announcements. Stay happy, stay healthy.
