Transcript
Good morning, בוקר טוב Boker Tov. Welcome back to Parsha Perspectives for today. This week we have the privilege of learning and reading פרשת נצבים Parshas Nitzavim, as we are in the final stages of חומש Chumash of Torah, of completing our cycle. We read it specifically when we do. כי תבוא Ki Savo last week, really חז\"ל Chazal instituted to read כי תבוא Ki Savo before ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah, end the year and its curses, begin a new year and its blessings. We don't bring the energy of one year into the other, each year has its own energy. But this year for whatever reason we read פרשת נצבים Parshas Nitzavim on the cusp of ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah. I want to thank our generous sponsors, series sponsors for the year Becky and Avi Katz and family in loving memory of Becky's father, David Grossman, לעילוי נשמת דוד בן מנחם מנוש li'iluy nishmas David ben Menachem Manush. Also this morning is sponsored, our beloved member, Carolyn Jaroslaw, is having surgery as we speak, as we are learning. So our learning is for a רפואה שלמה refuah shleimah, for חיה בת גוסטה Chaya bas Gusta. She should have speedy, complete, and painless רפואה שלמה refuah shleimah. We should hear about a successful surgery. Also this morning is sponsored by Arlene and Paul Lusterger in honor of their dear cousins, Lori and Harold Landa, our beloved Landas. By Linda and Murray Markowitz in commemoration of the יארצייט yahrtzeit of her mother Rose Markowitz, רייזא בת יוחנן שלום Reiza bas Yochanan Shalom, his father Andrew Markowitz, בנימין בן משה יעקב Binyamin ben Moshe Yaakov. And by Erica and Perry Galler in memory of her father בנימין בן משה יעקב הלוי Binyamin ben Moshe Yaakov HaLevi. Thank you to all of our generous sponsors, we deeply appreciate.אתם נצבים היום כולכם לפני השם אלוקיכם Atem nitzavim hayom kulchem lifnei Hashem Elokeichem. Moshe stands, he faces the Jewish people and he says to them, you are all standing here when? היום Hayom, today. We have a strong tradition that that word היום hayom is a reference to which day? ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah. You are standing here today on ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah. And what is the way to persevere? How do we triumph? How is it that we are sealed and signed for a good year? כולכם Kulchem. When we are united, when we are together, when we are a community, when we are a people, when we are loyal. We just read in the הפטרה Haftarah, עמך כולם צדיקים amech kulam tzadikim. We read at the beginning of פרקי אבות Pirkei Avos, the פסוק pasuk that was the end of the last הפטרה Haftarah. עמך כולם צדיקים Amech kulam tzadikim. And the Rebbes tell us to read it, when are you כולם צדיקים kulam tzadikim? When עמך amech. When you're part of a nation, part of a people, when you feel connected to a shared history and a shared destiny, when it's not everybody for themselves, but we subscribe to the transcendent core value of community, of peoplehood, when עמך amech, then כולם צדיקים kulam tzadikim. If we're judged, if we're looked at as individuals, if we're each on our own, Hashem says bring me his file, bring me her file. Let's see how well they're doing. But when we are עמך amech, when we are devoted and committed, when we are loyal, fiercely loyal, to community, to people, putting aside or submitting our own individual needs or independence, subscribing to this higher value, עמך amech, then כולם צדיקים kulam tzadikim. Then in his eyes, we blend together, we complement one another. כולם צדיקים Kulam tzadikim, we are all צדיקים tzadikim. And that is the theme here at the beginning. אתם נצבים היום כולכם Atem nitzavim hayom kulchem. We are standing when we stand כולכם kulchem together. ראשיכם שבטיכם זקניכם ושוטריכם כל איש ישראל Rosheichem shivteichem zikneichem v'shotreichem kol ish Yisrael. We're talking everybody, heads of the tribes, elders, officers. טפכם נשיכם וגרך אשר בקרב מחניך Tapchem n'sheichem v'gercha asher b'kerev machanecha, as well as the convert, מחוטב עציך עד שואב מימיך meichotev eitzecha ad sho'ev meimecha. There is no socioeconomic divide. There is no class system. We don't care what someone gives or what kind of car they drive or what home they live in. Everybody, from the wood chopper to the person who draws who carries the water, everybody is represented, everybody is combined, everybody is together, everybody is united. Everybody is united. We are all one in that, in that moment. אתם נצבים היום Atem nitzavim hayom. The מדרש midrash says, when is it אתם נצבים atem nitzavim? When are we firm and when are we strong and when are we triumphant? When are we נצבים nitzavim? כלכם לפני השם Kulchem lifnei Hashem. You could punctuate, put the comma not, אתם נצבים היום כולכם atem nitzavim hayom kulchem, comma, you're all gathered here today together לפני השם lifnei Hashem before God. But, אתם נצבים atem nitzavim, when are you standing firmly, when are you standing strong? כלכם לפני השם Kulchem lifnei Hashem, when you're united together a collective conscience, supporting and caring for one another in front of Hashem. When we are together. And this is another theme of our פרשה parsha. Mutual responsibility, communal and collective responsibility. That we don't leave people alone or isolated or on their own, but we care deeply and passionately about one another and we realize that our destinies and our fate is intertwined. We'll see the פסוק pasuk, פרק כ\"ט פסוק perek kaf-tes pasuk a little bit later ב' beis, skip ahead for a moment. הנסתרות להשם אלוקינו והנגלות לנו ולבנינו עד עולם Hanistaros l'Hashem Elokeinu v'haniglos lanu u'levaneinu ad olam. The פסוק pasuk says that the hidden things belong to Hashem. Top of page 1090. פרק כ\"ט פסוק כ\"ח Perek kaf-tes pasuk kaf-ches. הנסתרות Hanistaros, the hidden, להשם אלוקינו l'Hashem Elokeinu. והנגלות V'haniglos, but that which is revealed, לנו ולבנינו עד עולם lanu u'levaneinu ad olam, is for us and our children forever, לעשות את כל דברי התורה הזאת la'asos es kol divrei haTorah hazos, for our children forever to carry out all the words of this Torah. This is a very significant פסוק pasuk. By the way, so significant a פסוק pasuk, that this wonderful ספר sefer I've been telling you about, the אוצר פלאות התורה Otzar P'laos HaTorah, this great collection of fascinating, diverse, really interesting ideas, quotes a tradition, I had never heard of this before, that among the פסוקים psukim that people, the congregation stands for, is this פסוק pasuk. Is this פסוק pasuk, to stand for this פסוק pasuk. It quotes from, מנהג נפלא הביא בספר כתר שם טוב minhag nifla hevi b'sefer Keser Shem Tov. Who's the author of the כתר שם טוב Keser Shem Tov? Not the בעל שם טוב Baal Shem Tov. Different כתר שם טוב Keser Shem Tov. הגאון רבי שם טוב גאגין HaGaon Rabbi Shem Tov Gagin, who was born in ירושלים Yerushalayim. And then he went to live in England. He was the אב בית דין av beis din of the ספרדים Sefardim of England, and the ראש ישיבה rosh yeshiva of אהל משה Ohel Moshe. So he writes in his ספר כתר שם טוב sefer Keser Shem Tov, מנהג לונדון ואמסטרדם minhag London v'Amsterdam, the מנהג minhag in London and Amsterdam was, הציבור עומד על רגליו בשעה שהקורא בתורה קורא hatzibbur omed al raglav b'sha'ah she'hakoreh baTorah koreh, that the community would stand for the following readings. Number one, עשרת הדברות Aseres Hadibros in יתרו ואתחנן Yisro v'Eschanan, ten commandments. Number two, שלוש עשרה מידות שבפרשת כי תשא Shlosh esrei midos she'b'parshas Ki Sisa, the thirteen attributes that we are invoking now as part of סליחות slichos. Number three, הנסתרות להשם אלוקינו Hanistaros l'Hashem Elokeinu. גם כן עומדים Gam kein omdim. They would stand for this פסוק pasuk, הנסתרות להשם אלוקינו Hanistaros l'Hashem Elokeinu. This is a significant פסוק pasuk, so what does it mean? If it's so important that some communities, we don't, but some communities in England and Amsterdam had the tradition to stand, then we should understand, what does it mean? What are the hidden things and what are the revealed things? The hidden, הנסתרות hanistaros, להשם אלוקינו l'Hashem Elokeinu. The hidden belongs to God. נגלות Niglos, the revealed, they belong לנו ולבנינו lanu u'levaneinu, that's for us and our children. So what are the hidden and what are the revealed? So רבינו בחיי Rabbeinu Bachya suggests the hidden things are for Hashem, means the טעמי המצוות ta'amei hamitzvos. Why do we do what we do? What's the deeper meaning? What's its purpose? Why does Hashem ordain it? The purpose, the meaning, the why. We can posit, we can offer suggestions, we can conjecture, we can study. But in the end of the day, הנסתרות להשם אלוקינו hanistaros l'Hashem Elokeinu. We have to concede that Torah and מצוות mitzvos, while we see the richness, we see how it empowers, we can study, we can suggest all kinds of beautiful reasons and they give a טעם ta'am, they give a taste to what we do, but in the end of the day, we have to submit and surrender, we have to concede, הנסתרות להשם אלוקינו hanistaros l'Hashem Elokeinu. The why, it's up to him. When he says jump, our response is how high. Hashem says this is what I'd like you to do. We say we'd like to understand. We are in, whether we do or don't, but we'd like to understand, but ultimately הנסתרות להשם אלוקינו hanistaros l'Hashem Elokeinu. While we can't definitely know the טעם המצוות ta'am ha'mitzvos, הנגלות לנו ולבנינו haniglos lanu u'levaneinu. That which is revealed about מצוות mitzvos, namely, the do's and don'ts, the how-to, the הלכה halacha, that's incumbent on us and our children. So רבינו בחיי Rabbeinu Bachya interprets this פסוק pasuk as describing our relationship to מצוות mitzvos. When it comes to מצוות mitzvos, the revealed part of מצוות mitzvos, the how and the what, that's up to us and that's revealed. The why, ultimately we could search, we could seek, it's up to him, let go. רש\"י Rashi describes this פסוק pasuk as not focusing on our relationship to Hashem and to his מצוות mitzvos, but rather this פסוק pasuk, הנסתרות והנגלות hanistaros v'haniglos, the hidden and the revealed, is talking about our interpersonal relationships with one another. What are the הנסתרות hanistaros, the hidden, are the hidden mistakes, hidden mistakes. But the concealed indiscretions of a fellow Jew, they belong to God. What people do privately, what people do in their own heart or mind, what people do in their own private life, I don't know about, and I can't be responsible for. However, the נגלות niglos, that which is revealed, that which is obvious, that which is observable, that which we can intervene and intercede and inspire, that לנו ולבנינו lanu u'levaneinu, that's on us. Why? What's the principle that drives that? Why can't I say everything you do, public and private, I'm not getting involved. I'm not touching it. It's not from me. You're you, I'm me, nothing to do with me. Why can't we say that? Because of ערבות arvus. כל ישראל ערבים זה בזה Kol Yisrael areivim zeh bazeh. We are guarantors one with the other. The כלי יקר Kli Yakar, the אור החיים Or HaChaim elsewhere in the Torah bring a fantastic משל mashal. You're in a boat with someone else and they drill a hole under their seat. You don't say as you watch them with the drill puncture the hole in the bottom of the boat, you don't say that's your seat, I have my seat. You paid for your seat, I paid for my seat. You could do what you want under your seat. I'm in my seat. As long as I stay in my armrests, as long as I stay in my seat, my seat's my seat, your seat, that's foolish. That's foolish. If you're drilling a hole under your seat, we're all going down because we're on the ship together, we're on this boat together. We're all journeying through this trip together. The same is true on the Jewish journey through life and destiny. When a person drills a hole under their own boat, in their own life, and we have the ability in a sensitive way, in a inspired way, in a humble way, to try to intervene, to uplift. We spoke about last week. ארור אשר לא יקים את דברי התורה הזאת Arur asher lo yakim es divrei haTorah hazos. The רמב\"ן Ramban, cursed as a person who doesn't uplift, uphold the Torah. You're exposed to, you're revealed, you're in the presence of someone that you could inspire, and you look the other way, and you ignore their בעטעלינג beteling you. They reached out, they begged you. Tell me about Rabbi Brudny's explanatory service. Invite me for a שבת Shabbos meal. Connect me to my פינטעלע ייד pintele Yid, to something Jewish in me. And you say, I'm too tired, I'm running late, I don't have time, I don't feel like it. The Torah doesn't say you're neutral. The Torah doesn't say you're פארווע parve, you're Switzerland. Torah says you're cursed, ארור arur. You could have, you know why? Because you're in the boat together. We're all in this boat together. When Jews around us are assimilating and intermarrying, we don't say, my family, we're all good. So far, first of all, no one should ever take anything for granted in their own family, their own progeny, their own grandchildren, great-grandchildren. God forbid, God forbid. Many know this pain, no one should ever take anything for granted. But let's say somebody, בלי עין הרע bli ayin hara, their children, their grandchildren, great-grandchildren, so far, so good. Everyone's married to a Jew. You say, so assimilation is not my problem, intermarriage is not my problem. I'm good to go. Look at my line. We're all good. Everyone's observing, everyone's in the בית מדרש beis medrash, everyone's pious. We're all good to go. How could someone say that? We're in this boat. And there are hundreds of thousands, millions of Jews, not intentionally, but holes are being drilled under their seat in our boat. כל ישראל ערבים זה בזה Kol Yisrael areivim zeh bazeh. So הנסתרות hanistaros, what you're doing privately, what someone's doing in their own home, in their own private life, in their own heart, how could I be accountable? How can I be accountable for what you do that I don't know? הנסתרות Hanistaros, that's להשם אלוקינו l'Hashem Elokeinu. But הנגלות haniglos, what I know, what I see, what I can inspire, what I can improve about myself and hopefully in others, that's לנו ולבנינו lanu u'levaneinu. We and our children are accountable. We and our children are accountable. If we see the data and we see the statistics, if we see a world that is chaotic and confused, if we see a community that needs inspiration and we sit it out, then הנגלות לנו ולבנינו haniglos lanu u'levaneinu. You can't say, well, I don't talk in שול shul. I'm quiet in my chair, in my seat. We have to create a culture respectfully, not judgmentally, but that creates a culture that says, there's too much at stake, there's too much we're davening for. People we care about deeply. We can't have talking around us. Talk outside and we love you and there's nothing wrong and take a break, but we are responsible for the culture that we create. הנגלות Haniglos, that which is revealed, and that which we can intervene, לנו ולבנינו lanu u'levaneinu. That is on us, that is our shared responsibility. When Rav Soloveitchik would reflect on this, he pointed out this is not a theoretical הלכה halachic construct. This is a central basic fact of Jewish history in terms of our relationship to other nations of the world. Our neighbors have always condemned us for the crimes of a few. If a Jew is in the headlines, if a Jew stands out, if a Jew's done something wrong, we are all held accountable. We're all held accountable, unjustly, but generalizations of all Jews because the actions of a few. They condemn us because of the crimes of a few. Our neighbors don't allow a Jew to be judged on his or her own merit alone. They regularly point out to the behavior of the individual as a means to indict the entire community. No other people, no other nation, no other race, no other ethnicity is held to that standard, judged in that manner. Nobody makes the generalization of any other people, race, ethnicity because of the outliers, because the headlines of the few. A Jew steals or is arrested for corruption, we're all condemned, conclusions are drawn about all Jews. Not just by non-Jews, by the way. Fellow Jews, too, who do that about different segments within the Jewish community. An Orthodox, יאמעקע yamaka wearing Jew, lands on the front page for some reason, it's all Orthodox Jews. Our neighbors understand the concept of ערבות arvus. They hold us accountable, the concept of ערבות arvus. They say, I don't care if it's an outlier, if it could come from the community, the community needs to reflect and introspect and take responsibility. You know why? Because הנגלות לנו ולבנינו עד עולם haniglos lanu u'levaneinu ad olam. Because the נסתרות nistaros, the hidden, nobody can hold anyone else accountable for what they don't see and what they don't know. But הנגלות haniglos, that which we do know, we are responsible for one another. אתם נצבים Atem nitzavim, when are we strong and when are we firm and when do we persevere and when will we succeed on the יום הדין yom hadin? When? כולכם לפני השם Kulchem lifnei Hashem. When we are united and when we are a community and when we are together all where? Before Hashem. That's why we're going to daven Sunday night for two days and for ten days, ויעשו כולם אגודה אחת לעשות רצונך בלבב שלם V'ya'asu chulam aguda achas la'asos r'tzoncha b'leivav shalem. Hashem, let us feel we are one אגודה אחת aguda achas. Let us be one bundle, one group, one collective conscience. Let us care about one another. Let us recognize and see the people with the holes under their seat and plug them up because we're all on this journey together. The ship will go down if there's a hole under anyone's seat. We are all in this together. Rav Moshe Sherer, the great president of אגודה Agudah, אגודה אחת Aguda achas. He pointed out the ספר תהלים Sefer Tehillim ends with the words, we say it in davening every day, כל הנשמה תהלל קה Kol haneshama tehallel Kah. כל הנשמה Kol haneshama. כל Kol, all of, translate, all of souls. But it doesn't say souls. כל הנשמות Kol haneshamos are the souls in the plural. כל הנשמה Kol haneshama means all of the soul. That doesn't make much sense. כל Kol, all of the, sounds like multiple, נשמה neshama is one soul. So he pointed out, if we're all united as one soul, if we have one heart, one goal, one dream, if we feel the pain of one another and we celebrate the joy of the other, if we show up to cry, to support, to check in, to provide, for able to dance and sing and celebrate the שמחות smachos of one another, then we will eventually attract all Jews to join in and praise Hashem. It's when כל הנשמה kol haneshama, when we are one נשמה neshama, תהלל קה tehallel Kah. Then we could praise Hashem. Then we could praise Hashem. I always give this example because it's so relatable for us and hopefully a metaphor for us to to draw from, but if your children get together to do something for your anniversary, but a child is absent because they don't get along with the siblings, so they won't participate in that party they're making for the parents. So your, your joy is tempered. It's nice, appreciative for the children who are there, but you couldn't figure it out together? You couldn't all be together? You couldn't be united to celebrate our milestone or our anniversary? So your joy is tempered, the celebration is is diminished. הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu is the same way. כל Kol, when are we תהלל קה tehallel Kah? When do we praise Hashem? Not when we're כל הנשמות kol haneshamos, we're disparate, divided, separate, competing souls. כל הנשמה Kol haneshama, when we are united. ויעשו כולם אגודה אחת V'ya'asu chulam aguda achas. This is, this is what we're here for. This is what we're working on. These days leading up to ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah, we certainly are increasing and improving and elevating our בין אדם למקום bein adam l'Makom, our davening, and our learning, and our piety, and our righteousness, everything between us and God. But one of the best ways to get through to him is by caring about his other children. אגודה אחת Aguda achas, community and people and nation as values that transcend our own individual needs for independence. Core values, community, people, nation, requires inconvenience and discomfort, requires sometimes having to make concessions. But we want to be אגודה אחת aguda achas or not? Do we want to be כל הנשמה kol haneshama or not? Are we כל ישראל ערבים זה בזה kol Yisrael areivim zeh bazeh or not? Are we כולכם לפני השם kulchem lifnei Hashem or not? One last connection to the פרשה parsha. We'll say כי את אשר ישנו פה עמנו עומד היום ואת אשר איננו פה עמנו היום ki es asher yeshno po imanu omed hayom v'es asher einenu po imanu hayom. We describe the covenant with Hashem applies both to the people who are standing here this day and those who are not here. And those who are not here. In the Torah that means that this is a corporate binding covenant, contract. This is not a personal contract because if it was, why can't we say, 'Hey God, I wasn't there. I'm not bound by whatever deal my great-great-grandparents cut with you.' The promise they made to you about a certain life and lifestyle, I never would have agreed to it. I'm not ready to give up my Saturdays. I want to be able to eat certain foods. I wouldn't have signed up or signed in for that, for that deal, so I'm not bound by that. So why are we bound by that? It's a question many young people implicitly or explicitly ask. Consciously or subconsciously, it's essentially their challenges, says who? Why? I didn't sign up for this. I didn't join this covenant, this promise, this deal. Why? I'm out. I'm out. All this focus on the royalty of England and some of the drama surrounding it, there are those who opted out. They had to wear apparently a different uniform, whatever, different מלבוש malbush. But they opted out. So can you opt out? Can you say, 'Yeah, just because I'm born in this line, I'm, I'm opting out. I didn't sign up for it.' So that's את אשר ישנו פה עמנו עומד היום ואת אשר איננו פה עמנו היום es asher yeshno po imanu omed hayom v'es asher einenu po imanu hayom. You can't opt out. You can't live in America but opt out of its rules because the founding fathers created a covenant called the Constitution and we're bound by it and we're citizens of this country. A metaphor, I understand is imperfect, you could still move. You can't move out of Judaism. But it's a corporate, corporate contract covenant which transcends generations. But the other way you can understand this is, את אשר ישנו פה עמנו עומד היום ואת אשר איננו פה עמנו היום es asher yeshno po imanu omed hayom v'es asher einenu po imanu hayom. We are responsible for the people who are here. Come Monday, Tuesday, there'll be enormous amounts of Jews piling into שול shuls around the world to hear the שופר shofar and to celebrate ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah. But for every Jew who will be in שול shul, there are multiples of Jews are איננו פה עמנו היום einenu po imanu hayom. They will not be standing there with us. Do we care? What are we willing to do? Does it matter? Do we see the empty chairs metaphorically in our שול shuls? And what are we willing to do about it? Because there is a spiritual holocaust taking place all around us, that is making a disappearance of the Jewish people at a faster clip than Hitler ever could have dreamt of, ever could have dreamt of statistically. So do we care about the איננו פה עמנו היום einenu po imanu hayom or not? Do we care about them or or not? ויעשו כולם אגודה אחת V'ya'asu chulam aguda achas. So maybe that's why in England and in Amsterdam, they would stand up to read this פסוק pasuk, because this is a really important פסוק pasuk. הנסתרות להשם אלוקינו Hanistaros l'Hashem Elokeinu. Like רבינו בחיי Rabbeinu Bachya said, the טעם המצוות ta'amei hamitzvos, the deeper reason, that's for Hashem. But הנגלות haniglos, the revealed, what's on us, what we could intervene, what we could intercede, לנו ולבנינו lanu u'levaneinu. Stand up and look around and think about the difference that we could make that is our awesome responsibility. Let's go back to פרק כ\"ט, פסוק י\"א perek kaf-tes, pasuk yud-alef. לעברך בברית השם אלוקיך ובאלתו Lo'ovrecha bivris Hashem Elokecha u'v'alaso, you to pass into the covenant of Hashem and into imprecation that Hashem your God seals with you today. אשר השם אלוקיך כורת עמך היום Asher Hashem Elokecha koreis imcha hayom. כורת עמך היום Koreis imcha hayom. Rav Leib Chasman, who was the משגיח mashgiach of the ישיבה Yeshiva of חברון Chevron, he said the following, כל יהודי אפילו הפשוט ביותר חוטב עצים ושואב מים כורת עם הקדוש ברוך הוא ברית באופן פרטי Kol Yehudi afilu hapashut b'yoser chotev eitzim v'sho'ev mayim koreis im Hakadosh Baruch Hu bris b'ofen prati. If you really understand what this pasuk is describing, it describes every individual Jew has a personal covenant with the Almighty. Now you'll say, that's, that's remarkable. Can you imagine the king meets with every citizen? Not just the dignitaries, the rich, the influential, but the king meets with the simple, the poor, the everyone. Our king, לעברך בברית השם אלוקיך La'avrecha bivris Hashem Elokecha. We all pass before him. The King of kings has time and space for all of us. My article this week I'm writing that, the coronation of King Charles won't take place for several months till the period of mourning is over. But we're all invited, and none of us, I stand corrected. Correct me if I'm wrong. I don't think any of us are invited to King Charles's coronation. But we're all invited to the coronation of the King of kings on Monday and Tuesday. It's going to be a beautiful trumpet played, it's called the שופר shofar. We're going to dress to our finest. And we're going to be ממליך השם mamlich Hashem, we're going to recite מלכיות malchiyos, כדי שתמליכוני עליכם k'dei she'tamlichuni aleichem. It's a coronation of the King of kings. It's greater pomp and circumstance and ceremony and ritual and richer tradition. All of the things that surround royalty which so attract the attention and focus of so many, we have. We don't have to look elsewhere. We have ourselves. We have ourselves. And Hashem is going to invite us to enter that ברית bris, that covenant, with each and every one of us. We're all invited, and we all have a role to play. And we're all there for for a deep reason. So Rabbi Leib Chasman points out that specifically in the context of Hashem making a personal, individual covenant with each person, does the Torah delineate every age, every gender, every socioeconomic class. הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu is with everybody, with everybody. There is no hierarchy in his eyes. פרק כ\"ט, פסוק כ\"ו Perek kaf-tes, pasuk kaf-vav. כי אתם ידעתם את אשר ישבנו בארץ מצרים Ki atem yedatem es asher yashavnu b'eretz Mitzrayim, ואת אשר עברנו בקרב הגוים אשר עברתם v'es asher avarnu b'kerev hagoyim asher avartem. You know how we've dwelt in the land of Egypt, we passed through the midst of the nations. ותראו את שיקוציהם ואת גילוליהם Vatiru es shikutzeihem v'es giluleihem, and when we passed through those other nations on our way to the promised land, we saw their abominations, their detestable idols, עץ ואבן כסף וזהב אשר עמהם eitz v'even kesef v'zahav asher imahem, of silver and gold that were with them. פן יש בכם איש או אישה או משפחה או שבט Pen yesh bachem ish o ishah o mishpacha o shevet. And now Moshe warns them, you came out of Egypt and you passed through these lands of pagans and idolaters. You were exposed to true corruption and moral decay. You lived in a place that no longer maintained basic morality and ethics, basic definitions, basic principles of God. And maybe פן יש בכם איש או אישה או משפחה או שבט אשר לבבו פונה היום מעם השם Pen yesh bachem ish o isha o mishpacha o shevet asher l'vavo poneh hayom me'im Hashem. So maybe somebody has lost their way, ללכת לעבוד את אלוהי הגוים ההם laleches la'avod es elohei hagoyim hahem. I just saw a rabbi advertising a big meal on Yom Kippur afternoon, on behalf of Palestinians and I don't even know what. When we live in a foreign land and foreign values and we worship at the altar of other isms, we could absolutely abandon our own faith and be worshiping some other religion all together. פונה היום מעם השם Poneh hayom me'im Hashem. ללכת לעבוד את אלוהי הגוים ההם Laleches la'avod elohei hagoyim hahem. פן יש בכם שורש פורה ראש ולענה Pen yesh bachem shoresh poreh rosh v'la'anah. Maybe among you is a root flourishing with gall and wormwood, which is the Torah's way of saying maybe you're rotten at its core. Maybe there's rot within you, which can spread and is contagious like mold. There's moral decay. Happens to be that the acronym for שורש פורה ראש ולענה shoresh poreh rosh v'la'anah, ש shin and ו vav and פ pei and ר reish spells שופר shofar. How do you, what's the alarm that awakens you, that arouses you, that moves you, to not be yourself the source of the mold and the decay, the rot, listening to the שופר shofar. שורש פורה ראש ולענה Shoresh poreh rosh v'la'anah, it awakens us. So by living in and passing through these other places, we can so easily be exposed to, so easily be exposed to and endanger of, endanger of adopting some of these values which are so foreign to ours and becoming corrupt our own, ourselves. Rashi says, אתם ידעתם Atem yedatem, you know you left Egypt. לפיכך אני צריך להשביעכם Lefichach ani tzrich l'hashbiachem. Because you know you left Egypt, you traveled through those lands, I have to make you swear to be careful. And really, it's very perplexing. Why? Say the opposite. Because you left that land, you should know. You left Egypt, you saw the other side. You were exposed to the paganism, the idolatry. You stood at הר סיני Har Sinai and received the Torah. I understand why others will need to take an oath, why others need to swear to uphold. But you? You lived it, saw it. If there's anyone who doesn't need it, it should be you. So why specifically here? So in דעת חכמה ומוסר Da'as Chochmah U'Mussar, Rav Yerucham Levovitz, the great משגיח mashgiach of the מיר Mir, he says, גם דור המדבר שהגיע למדרגה שראה שפחה על הים מה שלא ראה יחזקאל בן בוזי gam dor hamidbar shehegiya l'madreiga she'ra'ah shifcha al hayam mah she'lo ra'ah Yechezkel ben Buzi, even this generation, the דור דעה dor dei'ah, this enlightened and elevated generation, among whom we said that the lowly שפחה shifcha saw on the sea greater than the prophet יחזקאל Yechezkel. אחרי קבלת התורה, אחרי כל עמוד ענן במדבר Acharei kabbalas haTorah, acharei kol amud anan bamidbar, after receiving the Torah 40 years in the desert, גם אותם צריך להשביע באלה ובשבועה וברית Gam osam tzrich l'hashbia b'alah u'b'shvuah u'v'bris, even they needed a renewed covenant and an oath and swearing and a promise, משום שעברו דרך עמון ומואב וראו שיקוציהם mishum she'avru derech Amon u'Moav v'ra'u shikutzeihem. You know why? Because no matter how firmly you think you believe, no matter how great your Jewish education, no matter how much money was spent on going to ישיבה yeshiva or seminary, עבודה זרה מאוסה של פאור מרקוליס, אף שהיא זועקת עליהם כשקצים ומרחיק גלולים, בכל זאת ראיה זו אתם כבר צריכים ברית מחודשת והזהרות גדולות Avodah zarah me'usah shel P'or Markulis, af shehi zo'ekes aleihem k'shkatzim umarchik gilulim, b'chol zos re'iyah zo atem kvar tzrichim bris mechudeshes v'hazharos gedolos. Because when you pass through and when you live among foreign and corrupting forces, you need to double down. Doesn't matter you got a Jewish education. Doesn't matter how inspiring your role models, your parents and grandparents. It doesn't matter how firmly rooted you think you are in יידישקייט Yiddishkeit. The dangers are so great and grave, the winds, the hurricane forces can so make a person lose their way, lose their compass, their their direction. הכל בכדי להרחיק מליבך מהרשם של מה שעבר דרך עמון ומואב Hakol b'chdei l'harchik milibcha me'haroshem shel mah she'avar derech Amon u'Moav. When you've passed through עמון ומואב Amon u'Moav, when you've been exposed to שיקוציהם וגילוליהם shikutzeihem v'giluleihem, no matter how repulsive and abominable they seem to be, you can so easily adapt and so easily adopt. And look what's happened in this great melting pot. This blessed country, of which we should be so grateful to be able to live on the one hand with the religious freedom and the safety it gives us, safety we could use more of, but safety it gives us. But on the other hand, the danger of it welcoming us with open arms, and the isms and ideas and values which increasingly should be so foreign to us and are seeping right in, right into the Torah community, children and schools, and confusion and corruption. So says Rav Yerucham, why אני צריך להשביעכם ani tzrich l'hashbiachem, I have to make you swear. What do you mean? This is the group who were at הר סיני Har Sinai. This is the group who saw miracles, ten plagues and a splitting of the sea. If there was anyone who didn't have to swear, if there was anyone who didn't have to take an oath, it was this generation. Why them? Because they passed through עמון ומואב Amon u'Moav. And when you live among a foreign host, when you live among foreign values, it is so pernicious, it is so dangerous and threatening, you have to double down and take an oath. You have to take an oath. Reb Leiv Chasman, second Reb Leiv Chasman of the day, משגיח of חברון mashgiach of Chevron. תהליך כרסום הזוחלת בפסוק עצמו Tahalich karsum ha'zochelet ba'pasuk atzmo. And this slow, maybe not so slow, this slippery slope, no matter your education, no matter who your parents and grandparents were, no matter how steeped you think you were in אידישקייט Yiddishkeit, how dangerous and vulnerable it is, is in the פסוק pasuk itself. Where do you see that?בפעם הראשונה כשראה אדם עבודה זרה B'pa'am ha'rishonah k'she'ra'ah Adam avodah zarah, אכן אצלו כשיקוץ וגילול achein etzlo k'shikutz v'gilul. First time he saw the עבודה זרה avodah zarah, the פסוק pasuk describes it as שיקוץ וגילול shikutz v'gilul. What is the translation of שיקוץ shikutz and גילול gilul? What does that mean? Disgusting, repulsive, abominable. Second time, what does it look like? עץ ואבן Eitz v'even. It's stone, and it's wood. It's an idol. It's no longer repulsive and disgusting and abominable. Now it's stone and wood. And by the third time the Torah references it, the third time you see it, כסף וזהב Kesef v'zahav. Ooh. It's valuable. It's beautiful. I want some. What started out as repulsive and abominable, foreign and corrupt, quickly turns into stone and and wood, innocuous, benign. And then can quickly become gold and silver. I want some. I want it too, it's valuable. It's real. That's the danger. Says Reb Leiv Chasman, the פסוק pasuk itself is telling us just how that slippery slope works if we don't double down באלה ובשבועה b'alah u'bishvuah, by taking a promise and an oath about the covenant that each of us need to uphold, that each of us need to keep.פרק ל', פסוק ב' Perek Lamed, pasuk beis. Very timely. We have here the source of the מצווה mitzvah of תשובה teshuva. פרק ל', פסוק ב' Perek Lamed, pasuk beis. Page 1090. והיה כי יבואו עליך כל הדברים האלה, הברכה והקללה אשר נתתי לפניך V'haya ki yavo'u alecha kol had'varim ha'eleh, ha'bracha v'ha'klalah asher natati l'fanecha, and it will be when these things are upon you, the ברכה bracha and the קללה klalah, the blessing and the curse that I'm giving you, והשבת אל לבבך v'hasheivosa el l'vavecha, place it where? In your heart. בכל הגוים אשר הדיחך, הדיחך ה' אלקיך שמה B'chol ha'goyim asher hidichacha, hidichacha Hashem Elokecha shama. Put them in your heart among all the nations that Hashem will disperse you among. ושבת V'shafta, and when you are living there dispersed, and when you see that ברכה bracha and קללה klalah, and when you have, when you have lost your way, ושבת עד ה' אלקיך V'shafta ad Hashem Elokecha. ושמעת בקולו V'shamata b'kolo, return to God and listen to His voice, ככל אשר אנכי מצוך היום, אתה ובניך, בכל לבבך ובכל נפשך k'chol asher anochi m'tzavcha hayom, ata u'vanecha, b'chol l'vavcha u'v'chol nafshecha, everything I'm telling you. משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu says to them, listen, not if, but when you will lose your way. Life has ups and downs. Life has feelings of closeness and distance. We're learning about that now and living with אמונה emunah on Wednesday mornings. בים דרך B'yam Derech Rabbi Yitzchak Meir, we're learning about רצוא ושוב ratzo v'shov, פנים ואחור panim v'achor. We're learning all about גדלות gadlus and קטנות katnus, highs and lows of אידישקייט Yiddishkeit. Sometimes feeling deeply connected and plugged in, and other times lost and distanced and, I don't know what's going on. I don't feel connected at all. How do you, how do you find ה' Hashem and inspiration even when you feel disconnected and distanced? So משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu doesn't say if, but when. I don't think anyone's religious life is linear, uphill. Our religious lives are, we hope like the stock market, it trends up. But it's ups and downs and hopefully trends up. But know that there will be ups and downs. רב אברהם שאר Rav Avrum Schorr gives the משל mashal, I mentioned this in living with אמונה emunah. חיים וועבערמאן Chaim Weberman first quoted it on the one and one. He says, you know, if if you go for an EKG, you had a heart incident, הצלה Hatzalah comes, and they quickly put on the EKG. If the line is flat, what does that mean? You're dead. If the line goes up and down, you're alive. So in our lives, when it goes up and down, it means you're alive. When you stop having ups and downs, highs and lows, in your marriage, in your parenting, in your career, among your hobbies, in your relationship with ה' Hashem, if there's not fluctuating, if it stop having ups and downs, if you flatline, bad news. You're spiritually dead. So the highs and lows, the ups and downs are the evidence that we're spiritually alive, that we're spiritually struggling. It's a good thing. It's okay. It's okay. And that's why משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu says, it's okay. Not if, but when you're going to stray. ושבת עד ה' אלקיך V'shafta ad Hashem Elokecha, just come back. Come back home. Come back home. ושמעת בקולו V'shamata b'kolo and listen to His voice. Come back home. Says רב צוקרמן Rav Zuckerman, I mentioned to you I had the privilege of meeting רב צוקרמן Rav Zuckerman, רב מרדכי צוקרמן Rav Mordechai Zuckerman, in גבעת שאול Givat Shaul, took a group of teenagers to meet him, one of the last living students of the חפץ חיים Chofetz Chaim, he's no longer living, in his לב מרדכי Lev Mordechai. He says, ושבת, ושמעת V'shafta, v'shamata. You return to Hashem, ושמעת v'shamata and listen to His voice. So, why in that order and why the redundancy? So says רב מרדכי צוקרמן Rav Mordechai Zuckerman, משל למה הדבר דומה Mashal l'ma hadavar domeh, he says, you know how you can understand this? Like two people. If you're all the way in the back of the room and I'm here in the front of the room, if we're far away from one another, can you hear me well? No, you say, what? What'd you say? Say it again? I say, come over here. Not my children, of course, but sometimes one can have children who scream at you from their room or across the house, they try to tell you, so you say, if you want to talk to me, come here. If you have something to say, I want to hear it, come close. I can't have this conversation through seven doors, four walls, music playing, and you're in another, I can't do that. If you want me to hear you, if it matters, come close. Says רב מרדכי צוקרמן Rav Mordechai Zuckerman, says the לב מרדכי Lev Mordechai, the closer you are, the better you hear. And that's what the Torah is telling us. ושבת עד ה' אלקיך, ושמעת בקולו V'shafta ad Hashem Elokecha, v'shamata b'kolo. ה' Hashem says I've got a lot to say. Not for me, for you. I got a lot. I got the manual, the instruction book for your life. I've got the secret code and the formula how to lead the most meaningful, purposeful, happy, pleasurable, להתענג על ה' l'hisaneig al Hashem life. But you're not going to hear me if you're far away. If you're far away, you can't hear. So, ושבת עד ה' אלקיך V'shafta ad Hashem Elokecha, come here, ושמעת בקולו v'shamata b'kolo, and listen to my voice. I could give you the opposite metaphor. You call your children, come close, I've got great news. And they're off in their room and say, what is it? And you say, come here, I want to tell you. Just tell me, I'm in bed. What is it? You say, come here, I have something, I've got great news. But you gotta come close. You gotta come close. If you want to hear the great news I have to tell you, we bought this, we're going there, this thing's happening, guess who's coming to visit. I have great news. But you have to come close if you want to hear it. ה' Hashem says I have such great news for you. I have great news for how to live the most meaningful, beautiful, happy, pleasurable life. But ושבת עד ה' אלקיך V'shafta ad Hashem Elokecha, come close, ושמעת בקולו v'shamata b'kolo and then you can hear Him. We hear better the closer we get. So you can't be far away from ה' Hashem, but say still, you know, tell, I'm comfortably in my bed, ה' Hashem. I don't feel like doing Your way, I don't feel like coming close, but tell me, tell me anyway. Give me the good news anyway. If we want to hear the good news, if we want the message, we have to make the effort ושבת V'shafta to come close. ושבת עד ה' אלקיך V'shafta ad Hashem Elokecha.פרק ל', פסוק י\"א Perek Lamed, pasuk yud aleph. We're going to spend a little time on this. פרק ל', פסוק י\"א Perek Lamed, pasuk yud aleph. Bottom of page 1090. It's not just a great אברהם פריד Avraham Fried song. כי המצוה הזאת אשר אנכי מצוך היום לא נפלאת היא ממך ולא רחוקה היא Ki ha'mitzvah ha'zos asher anochi m'tzavcha hayom lo nifles mimcha v'lo r'chokah hi. This מצווה mitzvah, we've spoken about in the past, three or four or five explanations. I'm going to give you five more today because there's no shortage of insights on this amazing פסוק pasuk. כי המצוה הזאת Ki ha'mitzvah ha'zos, this מצווה mitzvah, אשר אנכי מצוך היום asher anochi m'tzavcha hayom that I'm giving you today, לא נפלאת היא ממך lo nifles mimcha, it is not hidden from you, ולא רחוקה היא v'lo r'chokah hi, it's not far away. לא בשמים היא Lo ba'shamayim hi, it's not in the heavens, לאמר מי יעלה לנו השמימה ויקחה לנו leimor mi ya'aleh lanu ha'shamaymah v'yikacheha lanu. It's not so far away in the heavens, they have to say, who's the one who's going to build the rocket ship to go get it for us? וישמיענו אותה ונעשנה v'yashmi'einu osah v'na'aseina. ולא מעבר לים היא v'lo mei'eiver la'yam hi, it's not on the other side of the sea that someone needs to build a boat or a ship to go get it. מי יעבר לנו אל עבר הים ויקחה לנו וישמיענו אותה ונעשנה mi ya'avor lanu el eiver ha'yam v'yikacheha lanu v'yashmi'einu osah v'na'aseina. Where is it? כי קרוב אליך הדבר מאד Ki karov eilecha ha'davar m'od, tempted to break out in a little איתן כ\"ץ Eitan Katz, but I won't. בפיך ובלבבך לעשותו b'ficha u'vilvavcha la'asoso. It's in your mouth and in your heart to do it. Great, beautiful פסוק pasuk, phenomenal. אברהם פריד Avraham Fried, איתן כ\"ץ Eitan Katz, amazing songs, really, the most amazing songs to this. Amazing songs, beautiful, right? What does it mean? What is this thing that is not in the heavens, it's not on the other side of the sea. It's in my mouth, in my heart, I don't taste it, I don't feel it. What is it? Where is it? What is it? המצוה הזאת Ha'mitzvah ha'zos. Could we have anything more enigmatic or ambiguous than this מצווה mitzvah? כי המצוה הזאת Ki ha'mitzvah ha'zos, this מצווה mitzvah. Which מצווה mitzvah? What מצווה mitzvah are we talking about here? What מצווה mitzvah are we talking about? כי המצוה הזאת Ki ha'mitzvah ha'zos. המצוה הזאת Ha'mitzvah ha'zos. So, some say מצווה זו mitzvah zo is all Torah. Big מחלוקת ראשונים machlokes rishonim. All of Torah, תרי\"ג מצוות Taryag mitzvos. Don't think it's beyond you, it's not available to you. It's doable. Everybody, it's not in the heavens. ה' Hashem did not create and give us a system and framework. He didn't he didn't legislate and regulate a lifestyle that we're incapable of living. He didn't do something that's beyond us, that's impossible for us. He didn't do it for him, he did it for us, and it is doable. It is doable. It's not in the heavens, not on the other side of the sea. It's in your mouth, it's in your heart, get going. Start doing, we got it. That's how ר' נחמן Rav Nachman understands this פסוקים psukim. That's how ר' נחמן Rav Nachman understands. התורה Ha'Torah. I'll just have to find it, and then I'll tell you what he says. התורה אינה נסתרת ורחוקה מאיתנו Ha'Torah einah nisteres v'r'chokah mei'itanu. There are people who say, I don't know it, I'm not holding in it, I didn't get that education, I don't have that background, it's beyond me, I can't delve into it, I'm I'm denied access to it. But they're wrong, it's not true. First of all, we're living in a time and a generation where it's more untrue than ever. No matter what language you speak, you can find entree into תורה Torah. It's translated into countless languages. It used to be that, well, I can only learn this hour and there's no class being given then. But now we have something called, and maybe this is the whole reason it exists, because otherwise we could do better without it. But maybe the whole internet is just because you could learn תורה Torah any hour, 24/6. 24, you understand the extraordinary time in which we live? If you lived in a village in Eastern Europe 100 years ago, you didn't have access to a great Torah teacher. You didn't have a great מגיד magid or רבי rebbi or מורה mora in town. They only gave a talk when you had to milk the cows or you were doing laundry down by the river. So you had no access to תורה Torah learning, תורה Torah knowledge, תורה Torah inspiration. And that was the way it was for 2,000 years, for most of the history since we received the תורה Torah. And now we have no excuse because now people have a little device in their pocket, in their ear, that 24/6 you could listen to hundreds of thousands of Torah lectures in any language, on any topic, at every level, by incredible people. It's there for the taking. Go get it. Go get it. So it's not a closed book. For many, for a long time it was. If you didn't understand Aramaic and you didn't have a great rebbi and you didn't have the privilege, which it is a privilege of a Jewish education, then it was a closed book, Gemara. But it is no longer a closed book. We both have translation and we have teachers and whether it's Daf Yomi or others is incredible what we have. It's an open book for all who come and want to read it, want to grab onto it, want to access to it, and are willing to put in the effort to make through it. ישנם אנשים שקיום המצוות נראה להם כדבר כבד וקשה Yeshnam anashim she'kiyum ha'mitzvos nireh lahem k'davar kaved v'kasha. Says ר' נחמן Rav Nachman, there are people for whom תורה Torah and מצוות mitzvos are intimidating, they seem impossible and difficult. הם מרגישים שאין להם כח לקבל אותו על עצמם heim margishim she'ein lahem koach l'kablo al atzmam. It's beyond me. I can't do it. Too many details, too much minutia, too many requirements. Can't. אבל למעשה כל מצוה שבתורה וכל עשייתה בביצועה אינם דורשים שום מאמץ מיוחד Aval l'ma'aseh kol mitzvah she'ba'Torah v'chol asiyasa b'vitzua einam dorshim shum ma'amatz m'yuchad. But the reality is and the truth is, it's all doable. ר' נתן Rav Nossan writes in ליקוטי הלכות Likkutei Halachos, תפילת ערבית Tefillas Arvis. He says, let me give you an example. ציצית Tzitzis. Is ציצית tzitzis a difficult מצווה mitzvah? I happen to be allowed to talk about this because I wear ציצית tzitzis. I'm a member of the club. I wear ציצית tzitzis. ציצית Tzitzis is an amazing מצווה mitzvah. You get a מצווה mitzvah every moment you're wearing the ציצית tzitzis. So you put them on in the morning, you take them off at night, and every moment you're wearing them, you're getting a מצווה mitzvah. Is it difficult? It can be if you're not used to it, hot, uncomfortable, itchy. You got to learn how to tuck it in and how to tuck it. It can be expensive, particularly if you're wearing תכלת techeiles. But on the other hand, is it a difficult מצווה mitzvah? It's hard to say it's difficult. You're putting on a garment that you don't even notice is there after you start wearing it and you're getting a מצווה mitzvah for every moment that you wear it. So much so that it creates a question some ask, which is עוסק במצוה פטור מן המצוה oisek b'mitzvah patur min ha'mitzvah. Why do I have to do any other מצווה mitzvah all day? I'm עוסק במצוה oisek b'mitzvah. I'm doing the מצווה mitzvah of wearing ציצית tzitzis. I'm occupied with a מצווה mitzvah which normally makes me exempt from doing other מצוות mitzvos. So there's answers, it's a great question. The very fact that the question is asked is evidence for how meaningful and significant doing that מצווה mitzvah all day is. So, how could one not do it? Asks ר' נתן Rav Nossan, ר' נחמן's Rav Nachman's תלמיד talmid. וכל רגע שהאדם לובש ציצית הוא מקיים מצוה שאין קץ לשכרה V'chol rega she'ha'adam loveish tzitzis hu m'kayem mitzvah she'ein keitz l'scharah. There is no end to its reward. וכל מה שנדרש ממנו לקנות טלית קטן בכמה פרוטות V'chol ma she'nidrash mimenu liknos talis katan b'kama prutos. What do you have to do is spend a few bucks on a pair of tzitzis and put them on. Imagine if you got a מצווה mitzvah every day for putting on your socks. Imagine every day you moved heaven and earth. The cosmic implications. You carved a special reward in heaven because you put on socks. And you're wearing socks. By the way, this is a hard thing for some people today too. It's the style for a lot of guys, no socks, super tight pants. For them too, to wear socks would be a big מצווה mitzvah. But imagine you got a מצווה mitzvah for wearing socks. Shouldn't be hard. Put on תפילין tefillin in the morning, say שמע Shema. How long does it take? Even if you don't come to מנין minyan, even if you don't say all דאווענען davening with כוונה kavanah, put on תפילין tefillin. How hard is it? ר' נחמן Rav Nachman considered the contrast. העבודה הגדולה ביותר בעבודת ה', קלה מהעסק הקטן ביותר שבני אדם עמלים בו לשם פרנסה Ha'avodah ha'gedolah b'yoser b'avodas Hashem, kalah mei'ha'eisek ha'katan b'yoser she'bnei adam ameilim bo l'shem parnasah. The hardest מצווה mitzvah to do among the תרי\"ג Taryag and the framework of מצוות mitzvos, the hardest מצווה mitzvah to do is easier than the easiest work we have to do to earn a living. It's a lot harder to go to work every day, eight, nine, ten, twelve hours a day. Even if you're like me and you never work a day in your life because you love what you do, it's hard work. It's hard work. And the hardest מצווה mitzvah is easier than the easiest work we can do. And yet, and yet, people gladly volunteer to go to work and do so excessively. And by I mean excessively, they have enough to provide their family after six or eight hours of work, but they continue to work another two or three or four hours because they want to make a killing, the nicer car, more money in the bank, because they want more and more. So when you're hungry and when you have drive, when you want it, you're willing to work. And that's the attitude we're meant to have for תורה Torah and מצוות mitzvos. That's what ר' נחמן Rav Nachman says. לא בשמים היא ולא מעבר לים Lo ba'shamayim hi v'lo mei'eiver la'yam. It's not in the heaven, not on the other side of the sea. בפיך ובלבבך כי קרוב אליך הדבר B'ficha u'vilvavcha, ki karov eilecha ha'davar, it's easy. Relative to the other things that we do, the efforts we exert, it's easy. We just have to have the will. The difference is that we have the will and the drive when it comes to the other things. Do we have it when it comes to תורה Torah and מצוות mitzvos? If we do, it's not hard. It's really not hard if we do. Waking up early. I know people who love golf who will wake up at absurd and obscene hours to get to a golf course to get in that early round. But if you say get up early for דאווענען davening. There are people who wake up very early for business meetings and opportunities and negotiations and networking and introductions because that's going to yield big returns, big money, even if they have enough. They're excited to do it. But do we wake up that early for דאווענען davening? It's all doable. And it's not harder than anything else that we're doing. We're capable and competent. It's not in the heaven, not on the other side of the sea. כי קרוב אליך Ki karov eilecha, it is available and accessible. We can do it. The question is, does it have our will? Are we interested in it? Are we willing to do it? Are we willing to do it? I lost my place. Here it is. כי קרוב אליך Ki karov eilecha. לשיחתו עליון L'Sichso Elyon quotes the מדרש Midrash that says, שהמקום קרוב הוא בפיך ובלבבך She'ha'makom karov hu b'ficha u'vilvavcha. Where is Torah found? Torah is found בפיך ובלבבך b'ficha u'vilvavcha. הרי שמשכנה תורה קיים כבר ונמצא בפי של כל אדם מישראל Harei shemishkena Torah kaim kvar v'nimtza b'piv shel kol odam miYisrael. You know why it's not far? The תורה Torah promises us here and says, it's not hard and it's not far because you know where it is? It's in your heart and it's in your mouth. And you say, well, I'm moving my mouth and no תורה Torah is coming out. So how can you tell me תורה Torah is in my mouth? Chewing, I don't taste it. Speaking, I don't hear it. How could you say בפיך b'ficha, where is it? How could you say בלבבך bilvavcha, where is it? So the ספר לשיחתו עליון sefer L'Sichso Elyon says, you know where it is? The גמרא Gemara in נידה Niddah, דף ל' daf lamed tells us. Everyone's got the little indent on their upper lip. Where did it come from? We have the tradition, the angel gave us a little פאטש potch on the way out, causing us to forget all that we had learned, because in the womb, we learn כל התורה כולה kol ha'Torah kulah. ברוך אתה ה' אלוקינו מלך העולם, שהכל נהיה בדברו Baruch ata Adonai Eloheinu melech ha'olam, she'hakol nihiyeh bidvaro. In the womb we learn כל התורה כולה kol ha'Torah kulah, all of תורה Torah, and on our way out we're caused to forget. In the womb we learn Torah. We have the greatest rebbi in the world. We're learning with the מלאך malach. Which is why, which is why when Yaakov is kicking to get out, when he walks through a בית מדרש beis medrash, question is, why? It's got the greatest רבי rebbi ever. He's learning with an angel. Why is he kicking to get out? So they say, you know why? You could have the greatest רבי rebbi in the world, but if your חברותא chavrusa is עשיו Eisav, you got to switch ישיבות yeshivas. It's time to get out. הלכתית Halachically, according to some by the way, this is why you're not allowed to get induced. Prohibited to get induced unless there's a medical necessity. You can't get induced for convenience. תשובות Teshuvos, right? You can't get the תשובות באר משה Teshuvos Be'er Moshe has a תשובה teshuva, you can't get induced, a pregnant woman can't be induced for convenience. I like that birthday, it's the same as my birthday, I like this, what. You can't get induced for convenience. Why? Because ביטול תורה bittul Torah. Induced labor. Because the baby is learning in the womb with the מלאך malach. And you're going to stop the learning? It's ביטול תורה bittul Torah. Also because it's considered life threatening to be in labor, so when you go into it naturally or medical necessity, then you can, but to do it for convenience, you can't. So in any case, the Gemara says we learn כל התורה כולה kol ha'Torah kulah and then we're caused to forget. What do we learn? כל התורה כולה Kol ha'Torah kulah like ר' חיים's Rav Chaim's כל התורה כולה kol ha'Torah kulah? Women also learn כל התורה כולה kol ha'Torah kulah? What do we learn? How do we learn? But the biggest question is, why do we forget? If we're going to be caused to forget, why bother teaching us to begin with? Talk about an exercise in futility, talk about a waste of time for the angel. Does this angel not have a better assignment? If Hashem is going to cause us to forget, why teach it to us to begin with? Why teach it to us to begin with? רב סולובייצ'יק Rav Soloveitchik, רב הוטנר Rav Hutner, others say, because this is the entire idea of the פינטעלע איד pintale yid. Why does a Jew with no background, the ליובאוויטשער רבי Lubavitcher Rebbe was very opposed to saying a Jew has no background. So I'll take it back. The ליובאוויטשער רבי Lubavitcher Rebbe, if he heard someone say a Jew, you would meet someone and ask them and they'd say, I don't have a Jewish background. He'd say, you don't descend from אברהם יצחק ויעקב Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov? Your great grandmothers aren't שרה רבקה רחל ולאה Sarah, Rivkah, Rachel, and Leah? Every Jew has a background. Every Jew has a background. You might not have had a Jewish education, every Jew has a background. So I take it back. I take it back. But why is it a Jew with no Jewish education, an assimilated Jew in the middle of Yaphetzville, feels a Jewish pull, a Jewish conscience, a Jewish connection, a Jewish magnetism? Where does that come from? What is that? Said הרב the Rav, because embedded inside us, there is a blueprint of תורה Torah which has been tattooed on our heart. True, we are caused to forget it in our consciousness, but in our subconsciousness, we still have a Jewish soul, we still have a Jewish spark. When we ignite it, when we light it in others or ourselves, תורה Torah is not something brand new, תורה Torah is familiar. We're relearning something we already know. We're reconnecting with something that's already been imprinted on our heart. We already have an established connection with it that we are re-establishing. It's not new to begin with. So that's says the לשיחתו עליון L'Sichso Elyon, that's בפיך ובלבבך b'ficha u'vilvavcha. It's in your mouth, it's in your heart. Yes, you have to go learn it again. Yes, you have to learn it anew. Yes, there are some who have to make up for time to catch up in their knowledge. But בפיך ובלבבך b'ficha u'vilvavcha, it's not brand new. It should be and is familiar to us because we've been there before. We've been there before. We've learned it before, even before we were caused to to forget. רב נתן צבי פינקל Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel, ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva of the מיר Mir. רב נתן צבי בכל נפשך Rav Nosson Tzvi b'chol nafshecha says the following. The רמב\"ן Ramban tells us what מצווה mitzvah is this. We said כי המצוה הזאת Ki ha'mitzvah ha'zos, until now we said it means תורה Torah and מצוות mitzvos, an observant lifestyle, it's inside you because there's a פינטעלע איד pintale yid. And ר' נחמן Rav Nachman said it's not hard for you. It's easier than the easiest work that we do to earn a living. If we're honest with ourselves, it's easier than what we do to earn the living. It's not beyond us. Putting on tzitzis is not hard. Just do it. And so many other mitzvos. But the רמב\"ן Ramban has a different interpretation. That המצוה הזאת ha'mitzvah ha'zos is not talking about generally, but it's talking about specifically which מצווה mitzvah? The מצווה mitzvah of תשובה teshuva. Where do you see the מצווה mitzvah of תשובה teshuva in these פסוקים psukim? What leads the רמב\"ן Ramban to conclude המצוה הזאת ha'mitzvah ha'zos is talking about תשובה teshuva? Because בפיך ובלבבך b'ficha u'vilvavcha. What do you do in your heart and with your lips? Repent, restore, return, תשובה teshuva. I can understand how you do that in your heart, genuine, sincere change happens in the heart. What happens with the lips? What does it mean בפיך b'ficha, in your mouth? The רמב\"ן Ramban writes that's the מצווה mitzvah of וידוי Vidui. An indispensable part of תשובה teshuva is וידוי vidui, confession, admission. That's בפיך b'ficha, that's done with the the mouth. That's done with the mouth. So says רב נתן צבי Rav Nosson Tzvi, איך יתכן הבדל כה גדול בין לא בשמים היא למסקנה שבֶּאמת קרוב אליך הדבר מאוד eichi tachen hevel k'gadol bein lo ba'shamayim hi l'maskanah she'b'emes karov eilecha ha'davar m'od. How did we get from the original thought, I can't do this, it's beyond me, it's beyond my grasp, it's in the heavens, to, nah, it's in your mouth, it's in your heart, קרוב karov is very close to you. We skipped a huge chasm. We didn't go from it's not in the heavens, but you got to drive a little way. It's not in the heavens, but you got to rent a helicopter. It's not in the heavens, but you're going to have to really stretch far to get it. We went from it's not in the heavens to, כי קרוב ki karov, it's right in front of you. כי קרוב אליך Ki karov eilecha, it's right there. How did we go from one extreme to the other? מרגלא בפומיה Margala b'fumei of רב נתן צבי פינקל Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel. He used to say, האדם במשך חייו נתון במצב תמוה, שהרי כל בר דעת רואה ומבין שאם לא יעמוד בניסיונות וחלילה יכשל בעבירות, יפסיד את כל שליחותו בעולמו. אם כן איך יתכן שכל כך הרבה אנשים ובהם אנשים חשובים מתעלמים מאמת כה פשוטה? Ha'adam b'mechech chayav noson b'matzav tamua. She'harei kol bar da'as roeh u'meivin she'im lo ya'amod b'nisyonos v'chalilos yikashel b'aveiros, yafsid es kol shlichuso b'olamo. Im kein eichi tachen she'kol kach harbeh anashim u'vihem anashim chashuvim mit'almim mei'emes k'pshutah? He says, we all understand we're here for a purpose and a reason, we're here for a mission. There are expectations of us and we are accountable for what we get wrong. So how is it that we mess up so royally? How is it that we come up so short? How is it that we fail on such a large scale often? The answer is קודשא בריך הוא kadosh baruch hu created a יצר הרע yetzer hara that has unbelievable powers. So tragic. How many tragic people among us, and ourselves, who have such potential, but have so little willpower, so little discipline, who absolutely sabotage aspects of lives because we can't get it together, because that's the force and the power of the יצר הרע yetzer hara to so distract, to so tempt, to so corrupt our way of thinking. So what's the answer? What's the antidote? How do we overcome that urge, that instinct? How do we live the best emotional, physical, spiritual lives? How do we make the right choices? How do we show the right judgment? How do we stay on the right path? How do we overcome that יצר הרע yetzer hara? There is only one antidote. בראתי יצר הרע, בראתי תורה תבלין Barasi yetzer hara, barasi Torah tavlin. ה' Hashem says I created the יצר הרע yetzer hara, so I I I created the virus. It didn't come out of Wuhan, China, the יצר הרע yetzer hara. I created the virus, says. Came out of my lab. But I also created the the antidote to it. I created the תבלין tavlin. And what is it? תורה Torah. Not for now. Why is it called a תבלין tavlin? A תבלין tavlin is a spice. חז\"ל Chazal didn't say, I created the יצר הרע yetzer hara, I created the antidote. So I created the יצר הרע yetzer hara, I created the spice. Spice? What does the spice have to do with everything? Not for now, but an important question. So what is the only antidote to this virus? Well, the creator of the virus told us, he created it, and he also said this is the antidote. And what is the antidote? תורה Torah. Studying תורה Torah, learning תורה Torah, living תורה Torah, inspired תורה Torah. ר' ישראל סלנטר Rav Yisrael Salanter explained chovos ha'adam she'ha'Torah hi k'midah, midah eich l'inhog ba. וזהו העצה היחידה כנגד יצר, להתבונן ולשנן כל יום סוד או יסוד השמים על ידי לימוד מוסר, שזה יזכיר לו באותה שעה להמלט מלטעות אחרי תאוות היצר הרע שרוצה להכשילו V'zehu ha'eitzah ha'yechida k'neged yetzer, l'hisbonen v'shanain kol yom sod o yesod ha'shamayim al yedei limud musar, she'zeh ya'azkir lo b'otah sha'ah l'himalei mi'lito's acharei ta'avos ha'yetzer hara she'rotzeh l'hachshilo. מוסר Musar, תורה Torah is our compass. תורה Torah is our navigating tool. תורה Torah is our Waze, our Google Maps, whichever you prefer to use, but we have a destination we want to get to. There are all kinds of roadblocks and detours and construction and police and traffic and תורה Torah is Waze. תורה Torah is Google Maps. So the difference between לא בשמים היא lo ba'shamayim hi and קרוב אליך karov eilecha, such a huge chasm, such a huge extremes from it's not in heaven to it's right in front of you is תורה Torah makes it right in front of you. It's like saying, I don't know how to get from here to New Jersey. It's a bad example because you just get on 95 and you're there. I don't know how to get from here to wherever, filled with twists and turns. I don't know how to get there. So the answer is לא בשמים lo ba'shamayim. You know why? It's still very far away and there's a lot of twists and turns. But here, I just downloaded Waze for you. Now it's קרוב אליך הדבר מאוד karov eilecha ha'davar m'od. I just made it easy, I gave you Waze. Without Waze, there still are people who don't have Waze. I don't know why they would deprive themselves of this incredible gift Hashem gave us to know from a satellite perspective where the traffic and so on is. But for whatever reason people do. So someone says, I've got to drive a six-hour drive. Let's say someone says I'm driving to Cleveland, I'm driving to Memphis, I'm driving to Detroit, and I have no idea how to start going there. I don't know which highways, which turns, how you go, which bridges you have to cross. So it's בשמים ba'shamayim. Like a daunting task. How do I go? I have no clue. I'm going to try to figure this out and navigate on my own. I'm going to get so lost. I'm going to veer so far from the path, I can't do it. Then someone says, I don't know, here's Waze. Here's Google Maps. I put in the coordinates. Just follow the directions, it's not a problem. Tells you exactly what time you're going to arrive, tells you what to avoid, tells you how to get there. Say, wow, קרוב אליך הדבר מאוד karov eilecha ha'davar m'od. You just made it incredibly close. So Hashem gives us his תורה Torah, and that which otherwise would be so far away, so inaccessible, so filled with twists and turns, so easy to fall off the path, just became קרוב אליך karov eilecha. It just, says Rav Nosson Tzvi, became so close. All it matters, all it means is, we have to engage תורה Torah. If or when we engage תורה Torah, it is so close, it's so available, it is so, so right there, so right there. חפץ חיים Chofetz Chaim also had an interpretation on this. חפץ חיים Chofetz Chaim. תורה Torah is telling us that תורה Torah and מצוות mitzvos are where? בפיך ובלבבך B'ficha u'vilvavcha. We normally think תורה Torah and מצוות mitzvos regulate, they legislate what? My actions, my behavior. What can they not tell me to do? My thoughts. My thoughts, that's me. That's my domain. What to do with my hands and feet, where to go, how to live. That's what the תורה Torah can tell me. What to eat, and so on and so forth. But what to think? That's when the תורה Torah comes and says, בפיך b'ficha, and where else? בלבבך Bilvavcha. בלבבך לעשותו Bilvavcha la'asoso. Our heart, our emotions, our thoughts, they also, they also matter. Back to this fantastic ספר sefer. Thank you, Mendy. As always, my best ספרים sfarim from Mendy. אוצר פלאות התורה Otzar Pela'ot HaTorah on this פסוק pasuk. לא בשמים Lo ba'shamayim. He says, we don't have time for almost anything in this I don't have time for. I'm just giving you מראה מקומות mar'eh mekomos. Again, I don't get any royalty on this ספר sefer. Do you? You should. We don't get any royalty. That's our, that's our new, in the future, let's, let's get some royalties on these. So לא בשמים היא lo ba'shamayim hi, he quotes, he has a great essay, pages on, how could you say תורה Torah is לא בשמים lo ba'shamayim? He goes on countless examples of great rabbis who say, you know where I came to this conclusion? A dream, an angel, a heavenly voice. The ריב\"ן Rivan. הלכות לולב פרק חס, כבר הופיע רוח הקודש בבית מדרשנו מכמה שנים והלאה שהוא פסול Hilchos Lulav Perek Ches, kvar hofia ruach hakodesh b'veis medrasheinu mikama shanim v'halah shehu pasul. The ריב\"ד Raivad says, רוח הקודש Ruach Hakodesh has been in our בית מדרש beis medrash and it told us, this הלכה halacha is פסול pasul. חתם סופר Chasam Sofer in a תשובה teshuva, אורח חיים סימן ר\"ח Orach Chaim Siman Resh Ches, says, no, no, the ריב\"ד Raivad didn't really mean there was some heavenly voice in his בית מדרש beis medrash. There wasn't some ghost, some heavenly voice. The ריב\"ד Raivad meant, this is a holy place, so we had divinely were inspired to come to the conclusion.But you see the ריב\"ד Raivad in his commentary on the Rambam, is referencing, he's invoking רוח הקודש בבית מדרשנו Ruach Hakodesh b'veis medrasheinu. We have countless great halachists who invoke חלום chalom, they came to a halachic conclusion because of dreams that they had. The ת\"ז Taz quotes רבינו יצחק בר משה Rabbeinu Yitzchak bar Moshe, the אור זרוע Or Zarua, who wasn't sure how to spell עקיבא Akiva on a גט get. How do you spell עקיבא Akiva? It's important. If you're ever invited to sign a כתובה kesubah and your name is עקיבא Akiva. How do you spell עקיבא Akiva? עין קוף יוד בייס Ayin Kuf Yud Beis, that's easy. What's the last letter of the name עקיבא Akiva? Is it a הא hey or an אלף aleph? So, he quotes the אור זרוע Or Zarua. What did he do? שאל את בעל החלום איך לכתוב Shaal es baal hachalom eich lichtov. He asked the dreamer in the dream, how do you write it? How do you write it? And he answered him, אור זרוע לצדיק ולישרי לב שמחה Or zarua latzadik u'leyishrei lev simcha, a פסוק בתהילים pasuk b'Tehillim. אור זרוע Or zarua... אור זרוע לצדיק ולישרי לב שמחה Or zarua latzadik u'leyishrei lev simcha. סופי תיבות Sofei teivos, the last letter of every word there is עקיבא Akiva with a הא hey. So it was revealed to him in a dream to the אור זרוע Or Zarua. אור זרוע לצדיק Or zarua latzadik... So, again, he's invoking a dream. The בית יוסף Beis Yosef, the great רבי יוסף קארו Rav Yosef Karo, the author of the שולחן ערוך Shulchan Aruch, had a מגיד maggid who would come in a dream and reveal הלכה halacha to him. And there are many, many other more examples he invokes here. A case of רבי עקיבא יוסף שלזינגר Rabbi Akiva Yosef Schlesinger, the לב העברי Lev HaIvri, who resolved a case of an עגונה agunah because of a dream. התרת עגונה על פי שמות הקדושים Hataras agunah al pi sheimos hakdoshim through a dream. התרת עגונה על ידי חלום Hataras agunah al yedei chalom.And many other תורה מסיפתא דרקיעא Torah misifta d'rekiya, the בית מדרש beis medrash. How could you say לא בשמים היא lo bashamayim hi and yet... This is again, this is a perfect example of the kind of really fun stuff that is in this amazing ספר sefer. I'll give you one last example on ובחרת בחיים uvacharta bachaim. We have to end even though as usual, we didn't get through anything.פסוק Pasuk at the end of the פרשה parsha, העידותי בכם היום את השמים ואת הארץ החיים והמות Ha'idosi bachem hayom es hashamayim v'es ha'aretz hachaim v'hamaves. Heaven and earth testify today, God says, I've given you life and death, blessing and curse. ובחרת בחיים Uvacharta bachaim, choose life. Why should you choose life? By the way, למען תחיה l'maan tichyeh, so that you live. If you chose life, you'll live. Why do I have to be told, choose life so that you live? It's an amazing רב משה Rav Moshe on this, we don't have time for. But אוצר פלאות התורה Otzar Plaos HaTorah says on this פסוק pasuk, amazing.פסוק Pasuk says in משלי Mishlei, this is dedicated, this דבר תורה dvar Torah to King Charles, לב מלך ביד השם על כל אשר יחפוץ יטנו lev melech b'yad Hashem al kol asher yachpotz yatenu. פסוק במשלי כ\"א Pasuk b'Mishlei Chaf Aleph. It says the heart of the king is in the hand of השם Hashem. הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu twists, manipulates him however he wants. The מלבי\"ם Malbim on that פסוק pasuk says, the מלבי\"ם Malbim, sorry, on the פסוק במשלי pasuk b'Mishlei, פלגי מים לב מלך palgei mayim lev melech, הגם שלב האדם הפרטי נתון ברשותו הבחירה בידו hagam shelev ha'adam haprati nasun birshuso habechirah b'yado. It's true you and I, mere lowly citizens, we, lowly citizens, we have free will. This פסוק pasuk of ובחרת בחיים uvacharta bachaim, חיים ומות chaim u'maves, מות וחיים maves v'chaim, טוב ורע tov v'ra, ברכה וקללה bracha u'klalah, ובחרת בחיים uvacharta bachaim, free will, we all have free will. You know who doesn't have free will? לא כן לב המלך Lo kein lev hamelech. אשר בבחירתו תלוי אושר הכלל Asher bivchirasoi talui osher haklal. ואם יבחר בדרך רע ישחית רבים ועצומים V'im yivchar b'derech ra yashchis rabim v'atzumim. לכן לבו זה הכלל הוא ביד השם Lachen libo zeh haklal hu b'yad Hashem. והוא בענין הכלל משולל הבחירה V'hu b'inyan haklal meshulal habechirah. So I don't know if this applies to non-Jewish kings, only Jewish kings, the מלבי\"ם's Malbim's comment. Non-Jewish kings, and the משלי Mishlei is specifically speaking about non-Jewish kings. So until now, King Charles, until last week, when was she נפטרה niftera already? Two weeks ago? I don't remember. They waited a long time for the לוויה levayah. Whenever she passed away, he became king immediately, even though the coronation is not till later. So until now, for 70 years, he was a citizen. He had free will. Every day he woke up, he chose his breakfast. He chose what to wear. He chose with whom to hang out. Every day he woke up, he had his own free will, King Charles, Prince Charles. But the moment his mother died and he became king, the מלבי\"ם Malbim says he no longer has free will. Kings don't have free will. They are mere pawns in the hand of השם Hashem. Maybe the same is true with elected officials who also act like kings in other, in other governments. They lost their free will the moment that they took a position of power. So again, another fun אוצר פלאות התורה Otzar Plaos HaTorah, I owe you a רב משה Rav Moshe. I want to wish everyone a כתיבה וחתימה טובה ksiva v'chasima tova, a good געבענטשט יאר gebencht yohr. We won't meet next week. I'll be available Tuesday morning. None of us will be available. We'll be in ראש השנה Rosh Hashana. So וילך Vayelech, we're on our own. But wishing everyone a כתיבה וחתימה טובה ksiva v'chasima tova. Tomorrow morning, 10 minutes of meaning, מסילת ישרים Mesilas Yesharim, living with אמונה emunah tomorrow night, going behind the בימה bima with Judge Dan Butler, an extraordinary person who can give us some clues how to do well when you come before a judge. Tomorrow night, Judge Dan Butler. And until next time. Until next year. It's the last פרשה שיעור parsha shiur of the year. Until next year. Stay happy, stay healthy, and stay holy.
