Transcript
Good morning, בוקר טוב boker tov. Welcome back to Parsha Perspectives for today. I want to thank our generous parsha series sponsors, Becky and Avi Katz and family in memory of David Grossman. Our learning should be לעלוי נשמת דוד בן מנחם מנש l'iluy nishmas Dovid ben Menachem Manush. Today's shiur is also sponsored by Yael and Avi Miller in memory of Rav Avraham Mordechai Haftka's 18th yahrzeit, today, י\"ז סיון yud-zayin Sivan, and in memory of מיכל בת דוד, שיינדל בת דוד, אבנר בן אברהם הכהן Michal bas Dovid, Sheindel bas Dovid, Avner ben Avraham HaKohen. May their נשמות neshamos have an עליה aliyah. Thank you to all of our generous sponsors.We have the privilege this week of learning פרשת בהעלותך Parshas Beha'aloscha, page 774 in the Artscroll Stone Chumash. וידבר ה' אל משה לאמור Vayedaber Hashem el Moshe leimor. Hashem spoke to Moshe saying, דבר אל אהרן ואמרת אליו daber el Aharon v'amarta eilav, speak to Aaron and tell him, בהעלותך את הנרות אל מול פני המנורה יאירו שבעת הנרות beha'aloscha es haneros el mul pnei hamenorah yairu shivas haneros. When you kindle the lamps, when you kindle the מנורה menorah, the candelabra, toward the face of the מנורה menorah, the seven lamps is the way that you should light it. And there are of course, while this פסוק pasuk is speaking specifically about the מנורה menorah itself, this כלי kli of the משכן Mishkan later of the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash, there are messages, we don't have a מנורה menorah today, but the מנורה menorah stands for תורה Torah, it's the light, the illumination, the warmth, the power, the impact of תורה Torah, and that continues its deeper messages even today. So let's take a look at a couple of them. One of them comes from the ספר אמרות טהורות Sefer Imros Tehoros. The אמרות טהורות Imros Tehoros is the insight of the רחמסטריווקא רבי Rachmistrivka Rebbe. I got it out okay. I'm not going to try it again. אמרות טהורות Imros Tehoros, and he says the following. בהעלותך את הנרות, פירש רש\"י, שצריך להדליק עד שתהא שלהבת עולה מאליה Beha'aloscha es haneros, peirush Rashi, shetzarich l'hadlik ad shetehei shalheves olah mei'eileha. Rashi's bothered, we've spoken about this many times, Rashi's bothered, why בהעלותך beha'aloscha? בהעלותך Beha'aloscha means like the language, the word עליה aliyah. You get an עליה aliyah to the תורה Torah, you step up to the בימה bimah to get the עליה aliyah. You move to Israel, not if, but when we all belong there, we will all make עליה aliyah. עליה Aliyah is to go up. בהעלותך Beha'aloscha is to raise, to elevate, to go up. If we're talking about lighting a flame, lighting a candle, then why are we describing it as raising, as elevating, as lifting up? And Rashi gives two interpretations. One is that the candelabra, the מנורה menorah was large. There was a platform in front of it because the כהן kohein had to step up on it in order to be able to reach, to be able to clean, and later to be able to kindle, to be able to light the מנורה menorah. But Rashi brings a second פשט pshat. Rashi says בהעלותך beha'aloscha, to elevate, to raise, שתהא שלהבת עולה מאליה shetehei shalheves olah mei'eileha. It means בהעלותך beha'aloscha, raise the flame. How do you raise a flame? Hold the match, hold the candle, hold the flame to the wick till the wick catches, and the wick flickers up on its own. That you don't have to hold it there in place, you don't have to leave it there, but when you withdraw your flame, the wick has caught fire and now it is flickering up on its own. So that's why בהעלותך beha'aloscha, cause the candelabra, cause its wick, cause its flame to flicker up, עד שתהא שלהבת עולה מאליה ad shetehei shalheves olah mei'eileha, till it catches, till it's on fire, till the flame is going on its, on its own. In fact, many interpret from here, this is the mission and message of every parent. This is what חינוך chinuch is all about. We represent a candle, a flame, and we touch our flame to the wick of our children, of our neighbors, of our friends in order to ignite their soul on fire, עד שתהא שלהבת עולה מאליה ad shetehei shalheves olah mei'eileha, till it lifts, till it rises, till it flickers, till that flame illuminates and enlightens on its own. We can withdraw. We're no longer there, we're no longer present, but it continues מאליה mei'eileha. It continues to flicker, that flame continues to glow, that flame continues to burn bright even on its own. Says the אמרות טהורות Imros Tehoros, אמר הרחמסטריווקא רבי, שיש בזה קצת רמז למעלת לימוד תורה לפני התפילה zogt der Rachmistrivka Rebbe, sheyeish b'zeh ktzas remez l'ma'alas limud Torah lifnei ha'tefillah. In this פסוק pasuk is an allusion to the value and virtue of learning תורה Torah every day before you go to daven. Some people set their alarm clock, they know exactly, nine minutes I can brush my teeth, get dressed, make it to shul, be only four minutes late, catch the end of קרבנות korbanos. How do you talk to Hashem when you've barely have woken up? The crust is still in the corner of your eyes. You've not yet really fully become conscious. And yet, you're going to be talking to Hashem. How do you do that? So, there's a value and a virtue, says the Rebbe, to learning תורה Torah before you daven. Ground and center your mind, remember who He is and how categorically different we are. Reinvest and reengage in the relationship, and now when you have the conversation, it'll be so much more meaningful. Where is that hinted to in the פסוק pasuk? Where do you see that in the beginning of פרשת בהעלותך Parshas Beha'aloscha? כי על ידי שלומדים תורה לפני התפילה, מועיל אחר כך בשעת התפילה, שיוכל להתפלל כראוי, עד שתהא שלהבת אש התפילה עולה מאליה. Ki al yedei she'lomdim Torah lifnei ha'tefillah, mo'il achar kach b'shaas ha'tefillah, sheyuchal l'hispallel k'rauy, ad shetehei shalheves eish ha'tefillah olah mei'eileha. If you learn תורה Torah and you touch that flame to that wick, then the wick of תפילה tefillah will rise, it will elevate, it will burn, it will illuminate on its own. And that's we know כי נר מצוה ותורה אור ki ner mitzvah v'Torah ohr, the פסוק pasuk in משלי Mishlei tells us that a מצוה mitzvah is likened to a candle and תורה Torah is likened to the light. שעל ידי לומד תורה, הוא האור לפני המצוה שהיא התפילה. אז יאיר לו נרו של מצוה בשעת התפילה, וזהו שאמר הכתוב כאן She'al yedei lomed Torah, hu ha'ohr lifnei ha'mitzvah she'hi ha'tefillah. Az yair lo neiro shel mitzvah b'shaas ha'tefillah, v'zehu she'amar hakasuv kan, and that's the meaning of the פסוק pasuk. בהעלותך את הנרות, היינו כשתעמוד להעלות נר מצות התפילה, נושאים עין לתורה, אל מול פני המנורה יאירו שבעת נרות Beha'aloscha es haneros, hainu k'she'ta'amod l'ha'alos ner mitzvas ha'tefillah, nos'im ayin la'Torah, el mul pnei hamenorah yairu shivas haneros, turn to the מנורה menorah and hold that flame, learn תורה Torah. אור המנורה הוא רמז אור התורה. ועל ידי זה יאיר נר מצוה, זו תפילה, לזה פירש רש\"י, צריך האדם להדליק עצמו באור התורה עד שתהא שלהבת אש התפילה עולה מאליה. Ohr ha'menorah hu remez ohr ha'Torah. V'al yedei zeh, ya'ir ner mitzvah, zu tefillah. L'zeh peirush Rashi, tzarich ha'adam l'hadlik atzmo b'ohr ha'Torah ad she'tehei shalheves eish ha'tefillah olah mei'eileha. If you want the candle of תפילה tefillah to go up, you want to light that spark of davening, of genuine, authentic, meaningful conversation with Hashem, first learn. The מנורה menorah represents תורה Torah, first engage, אל מול פני המנורה el mul pnei hamenorah, first learn תורה Torah, and then השלהבת עולה מאליה ha'shalheves olah mei'eileha, then it'll flicker upward, you'll be able to have a conversation. All of this is a shameless plug for the קול בוקר Kol Boker. We're in the second week of the קול בוקר Kol Boker, it's going phenomenally well. 6:15 to 7:00 every day, then 7:00. We grew out of the בית מדרש Beis Medrash already, there's no room. ברוך השם Baruch Hashem, more than 30 men every morning, 6:15 a.m., incredible. We're learning every day, קול בוקר Kol Boker. It changes not only your day and your learning, it changes your davening. By the time you come to שחרית Shachris, you've already been talking to Hashem for 45 minutes. By the time you come to שחרית Shachris, you've already been remembering who He is and engaging and learning about Him. So you see this from our פסוק pasuk, that first turn to the מנורה menorah, engage תורה Torah, and then the שלהבת של תפילה shalheves shel tefillah will be עולה מאליה olah mei'eileha. But it's true even if you're davening at home, many women who don't go to מנין minyan all week long, it's true, even if you're not making it to the קול בוקר Kol Boker, spend a couple of minutes, open something, challenge your mind, learn some תורה Torah, recenter yourself in terms of who He is and why you're having this conversation. Why is He the one that you're turning to to ask? Because recentering through תורה Torah will be enormously influential and impactful in then the quality of the תפילה tefillah that will follow. The הייליגע ר' נחמן heilige Reb Nachman has a different interpretation. Says Reb Nachman of Breslov. הנרות במנורת בית המקדש מסמלים את התורה והחכמה שנמשלו לאור. Haneros b'menoras Beis Hamikdash mesamlim es haTorah v'ha'chochmah she'nimshlu l'ohr. The מנורה menorah of the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash, the משכן Mishkan later, the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash, is the symbol of תורה Torah and חכמה chochmah. The seven branches of the מנורה menorah are the seven wisdoms of the world. תורה Torah of course is the primary wisdom, that's the center branch of the מנורה menorah, but the other six branches are the other wisdoms that the גאון Gra studied, the גאון Gra was aware of and familiar with, science and mathematics, there are all kinds of wisdoms through which we access, according to the רמב\"ם Rambam, we come to learn and thereby to love Hashem. And the מנורה menorah is that symbol of wisdom, the symbol of תורה Torah. And Reb Nachman writes in ליקוטי מוהר\"ן חלק א סימן א Likkutei Moharan Chelek Aleph Siman Aleph, על ידי התורה מתקבלים כל התפילות והבקשות של ישראל Al yedei haTorah miskablos kol ha'tefillos v'habakashos shel Yisrael. Without תורה Torah, תפילה tefillah is inadequate. Without learning תורה Torah, engaging תורה Torah, living תורה Torah, being curious about תורה Torah, and you're all fulfilling this, being here at a פרשה parsha shiur, listening and watching, and imbibing and absorbing the messages of תורה Torah, that is the prerequisite to a meaningful תפילה tefillah. How does that work? Can't a person be an ignoramus? Can't a person choose to not challenge their intellectual approach, don't learn, but daven? Daven sincerely, and from the heart, and shuckle, and sway? Why are they connected? כי החיות והחשיבות של ישראל מסע למעלה Ki ha'chayus v'ha'chashivus shel Yisrael mis'al l'maalah. כי מי שאינו לומד תורה Ki mi she'eino lomed Torah, says Reb Nachman in Likkutei Moharan, whoever doesn't learn תורה Torah, גם תפילתו אינו מתקבלת gam tefillaso eino miskabeles. If you don't learn תורה Torah, the תפילה tefillah is not accepted. As the פסוק pasuk says in משלי פרק כ\"ח פסוק ט Mishlei perek chaf-ches pasuk tes, מסיר אזנו משמוע תורה גם תפלתו תועבה meisir ozno mishmo'a Torah gam tefillaso to'eivah. A person who removes their ear from hearing תורה Torah, it's very intentional the language of משלי Mishlei, שלמה המלך Shlomo HaMelech. מסיר אזנו Meisir ozno, you remove your ear. You don't want to hear it. You know, I was raised, my father always taught me, it's one thing to not make it to a shiur, but it's another thing to get up and walk out. And you see this phenomenon all the time. Daily, between מנחה Mincha and מעריב Maariv, there's a דבר תורה dvar Torah every day, six-minute senior snippets or some other דבר תורה dvar Torah. And there are the people who after מנחה Mincha get up and walk out. They'd rather shmooze in the lobby, they'll חאפ מעריב chap Maariv, they'll come back in in a couple minutes. You see that on יום טוב Yom Tov where you have a long shiur between a מנחה Mincha and a מעריב Maariv, they get up, they walk out, they go shmooze, they even go learn in another room. It's one thing to not make it to the shiur, it's another when you were there to get up and to walk out. מסיר אזנו משמוע תורה Meisir ozno mishmo'a Torah. Not interested, disconnected. Today, you don't have to physically get up and go out in order to check out. Today, if between מנחה Mincha and מעריב Maariv you take out your phone, and you think you're listening passively, but you're really scrolling, and texting, and you're checking what happened that day, and you're checking your status, and checking the stock market, checking what time the Heat game is tonight. You're not really there. Physically, you may be present, but you're absent present because you're really on your phone, you're not really there. And such a person who is invited and has the opportunity, who is already in the room when תורה Torah is being proclaimed, תורה Torah is being shared, and they're מסיר אזנו משמוע תורה meisir ozno mishmo'a Torah, shut one's ear from hearing תורה Torah. Not interested, disconnected, distracted, literally walking out, or metaphorically walking out, גם תפלתו תועבה gam tefillaso to'eivah. The davening of such a person is repulsive to Hashem. So it means the מעריב Maariv after you spent between מנחה Mincha and מעריב Maariv on your phone is a תועבה to'eivah to Hashem. Maybe we should post this in shuls everywhere. קל יוסף להתפלל מאשר ללמוד Kal yoser l'hispallel mei'asher lilmod. Where does this come from? Says Reb Nachman, which is harder, to daven or to learn? It depends who you are, different people have different inclinations, but on the whole, we know there are people who daven three times a day who barely ever open a ספר sefer. Davening you feel connected, I need to ask, I need to thank, I need to praise, I need to communicate, but learning is hard. Learning people struggle to relate to. ואפילו על עסקו בלהבות וברחשות אבל בלי לימוד תורה לא רק שהתפילה הזאת אין ערך, אלא שהיא מאוסה בעיני ה' V'afilu al osko b'l'havos u'vrachashos, aval bli limud Torah, lo rak she'ha'tefillah hazos ein erech, ela she'hi me'usah b'einei Hashem. Without it being on the foundation and against the backdrop of learning תורה Torah, so the תפילה tefillah is lacking a value, it's lacking a context, it's lacking a credibility. How could I talk to you and have a relationship with you? I'm going to try to suggest what Reb Nachman means. He doesn't say it here in the ספר sefer. I would suggest maybe what he means is the following. How could I talk to you if I don't bother ever listening to you? If I'm never interested in hearing what you have to say, what's the value of my communication with you? Our davening is our talking to Hashem. Our learning תורה Torah is Hashem talking to us. Whenever we open a ספר sefer, whenever we go to a shiur, whenever we want to hear what the divine message is for us, we're listening to Hashem. He's sharing his blueprint for creation, he's giving us his instruction manual for life, he's giving us insight into our own psyche, into relationships, he's telling us the prescription for life. And if you never open a ספר sefer, you never go to a shiur, you're not interested in what he has to say, then what value is there in your talking to him? When asked, one of the pieces of advice I give, what to look for on dates, a young couple, they're in שידוכים shidduchim, I say, you know, does the other person only talk about themselves, or do they have an interest and a genuine curiosity about you? Does the whole meal revolve around them? Do they monopolize the conversation? Are they offering everything about their life? Or do they ever stop and say, enough about me, tell me about you. Let me hear. Where did you go this and how was this and what do you feel about this and what what's your hobby about that? If the person's not interested in you, what's the value of their communication? So if you're never learning תורה Torah, if you never want to hear what Hashem has to say, and all you want to do is talk to him, I need this, I need that, I need the other thing. Thank you for giving me that yesterday, please give me that again tomorrow. And Hashem says, can I get a word in here edgewise? Do you mind? Can I say something? Can I tell you about my needs, my wants? No, not interested. I go on my phone between מנחה Mincha and מעריב Maariv. I don't go to any shiur, in fact I walk out even when I was there and there's one being offered. So sorry Hashem, no you can't get a word in edgewise. I just want to talk to you about everything I need, but I'm not really interested in hearing what you have to say or about your needs. Such a תפילה tefillah is a תועבה to'eivah, says the פסוק pasuk in משלי Mishlei. Not just that that תפילה tefillah is not the highest quality, that תפילה tefillah is in fact a תועבה to'eivah. It's repulsive to Hashem. What does that have to do with anything here? There's a long Reb Nachman, but I'll skip to the end. This is the פשט pshat in the פסוק pasuk. We take this from the ספר שולחן הסבא Sefer Shulchan haSaba of Reb Nachman, the teachings of Reb Nachman applied to the parsha. דבר אל אהרן Daber el Aharon, who is the צדיק tzaddik who is involved in תיקון נשמות ישראל tikkun nishmas Yisrael. ואמרת אליו V'amarta eilav, בהעלותך את הנרות beha'aloscha es haneros, כאשר אתה מעלה את נשמות ישראל שנמשלו לנרות ka'asher ata ma'aleh es nishmos Yisrael she'nimshlu la'neiros, אל מול פני המנורה יאירו שבעת הנרות el mul pnei hamenorah yairu shivas haneros. When you want to elevate a יחיד yid, a Jew, בהעלותך beha'aloscha, when you want to lift, when you want to elevate, when you want to inspire, when you want to ignite the spark of a יחיד yid, of a Jew, where do you need to direct them? Where do you need to turn them? אל מול פני המנורה El mul pnei hamenorah. Turn them to stop and listen to what Hashem has to say. Learn תורה Torah, engage תורה Torah, connect to תורה Torah. And then it'll change your davening and your חסד chesed and your relationships and your life. A יחיד yid, a man or a woman, every day needs to engage, needs to experience to some degree, לימוד תורה limud Torah, she is the אור האמיתי שמבטל את החושך של היצר הרע she'hi ohr ha'amiti she'mevatel es ha'choshech shel ha'yetzer hara. תורה Torah is the תבלין tavlin. Hashem created a יצר הרע yetzer hara. We have all kinds of impulsive and compulsive behaviors, temptation, drive, desire, and what is the תבלין tavlin? What is the, what is the medicine? What is the antidote? It's, it's תורה Torah. תורה Torah gives us, it empowers us to navigate this complicated world. So Hashem says, stop talking for a minute and listen to me. Because if all you know how to do is talk and you never want to listen, we don't really have much of a conversation going on here at all. And in fact, all your talk is, is a תועבה to'eivah to me, because all you want to do is talk and you're not interested in listening. So where does it begin? Listening to Hashem. And once we listen, we say, now Hashem, we have something to share. I want to say thanks, want to say praise, and also I want to share with you our needs because we're conceding, we're surrendering that you are in fact the source of being able to provide whatever it is that we, whatever it is that we need. פרק ח פסוק ג Perek ches pasuk gimmel. So Aharon receives this instruction on how to light the מנורה menorah. And the Torah tells us something, ויעש כן אהרן vayas kein Aharon. Aharon was told what to do and Taka he did what he was told to do. אל מול פני המנורה העלה נרותיה El mul pnei hamenorah he'elah neroseha. He in fact lit the candles towards the candelabra. כאשר צוה ה' את משה ka'asher tziva Hashem es Moshe exactly as Moshe had instructed. Hashem had instructed through Moshe. And we've alluded to, we've spoken a little bit about this in the past. The parsha is the same parsha. So much of the parsha we've always spoken about in the past, each year we bring new ideas, new sources and new perspectives for today. So much ink, הרבה דיו נשפכו והמון קולמוסים נשתברו harbei dyo neshtapru v'hamon kulmusim nishtabru. The אוצר פלאות התורה Otzar Pla'os HaTorah says much ink has been spilled and much many quills have broken over the question of what is the Torah telling us that ויעש כן אהרן vayas kein Aharon, Aharon did what he was asked. That's a חידוש chiddush? He's אהרן הכהן Aharon HaKohein. He's אהרן הכהן Aharon HaKohein. To say Aharon did what he was commanded? Duh. Tell me something I don't know. He's אהרן Aharon. He's אהרן Aharon. Aharon and Moshe are the greatest of their generation. Of course he followed. And Rashi compounds it because Rashi says, להגיד שבחו של אהרן שלא שינה l'hagid shivcho shel Aharon shelo shinah. This is the praise of Aharon, he didn't deviate, he didn't distort, he didn't change. He followed what he was asked. And much ink has been spilled and many quills have been broken trying to evaluate and analyze what in the world is Rashi telling us. This is the praise of an Aharon, שלא שינה shelo shinah, that he didn't deviate or distort or change or pervert what Hashem had told him. Of course he didn't. He's Aharon. He's compliant, he's obedient, he's a נביא ה' nevi Hashem. That's the praise, שלא שינה shelo shinah? So we've shared in the past a beautiful insight, שלא שינה shelo shinah is not talking about the instruction or the command. What is שלא שינה shelo shinah? What didn't change? Aharon. Aharon was tapped for this position of distinction. Aharon was tasked with this incredibly prominent role. And you know what? לא שינה Lo shinah. He remained the same humble, modest person. He got a title, he got prominence, he was a big influencer. He had a big stage. He had a big role. He had a big responsibility. And you know with all that? לא שינה Lo shinah. He didn't change. He was the same Aharon, אוהב את הבריות ohev es habrios. He was the same person who loved people, who loved peace, who loved Torah, who was humble, who was modest, who was available. לא שינה Lo shinah is not talking about he didn't change the command or how he fulfilled it. לא שינה Lo shinah is he didn't change. Another interpretation, לא שינה lo shinah means first time he was asked to light those candles, how do you think he did it? He did it with passion and energy and enthusiasm and vigor. Uah, this is his moment. He was jealous. Rashi also tells us, he was jealous at the end of last week's parsha, Naso, why do we have the menorah right after the story of the korbanos of the Nesi'im? The 12 princes who offered the exact same korban, because Aharon looked at Hashem and he said, it's not fair to me, how come they bring to bring a korban and I don't? And what did Hashem say? I would have expected Hashem to say, what's the matter with you? What are you, two years old? It's not fair to you? It's not your job. Your job is your job and their job is their job. What's what's the problem? That's what I would have expected Hashem to say. Stop crying, don't be a crybaby, what you get what you get, and you don't get upset. Everybody gets their thing. It's not what Hashem says. What does Hashem say? Hmm, you're envious, you're jealous? You wonder where yours is? Don't worry, Aharon. Don't worry, you also get yours. You get to light the candelabra, you do that in perpetuity, you light the menorah. It's a very interesting answer from Hashem. Instead of putting Aharon in his place, he seems to reward Aharon for his jealousy. We've spoken about that in the past. You can listen to a previous shiur to find out the answer to it. שלא שינה Shelo shinah means he didn't lose his enthusiasm. He didn't lose his energy, his excitement. The millionth time he lit the menorah had the same energy, enthusiasm and passion as the first time. So there's two words שלא שינה shelo shinah, he didn't change. Did he not change the commandment, how he fulfilled it? Did he not change his own attitude? Or did he not change what he brought to the mitzvah, his energy? All those we've shared in the past. But אוצר פלאות התורה Otzar Pla'os HaTorah quotes several others. רב יהונתן אייבשיץ Rav Yonasan Eibshitz in his תפארת יהונתן Tiferes Yonasan says the following. How tall was Aharon? חז\"ל Chazal tell us he was 15 feet tall. עשר אמות eser amos. Is it meant literally? Is it meant metaphorically? He was tall. No growth hormone for Aharon. He was very tall. So he didn't need that step up. Remember I told you one of the interpretations of Rashi, בהעלותך beha'aloscha is that there was a platform in front of the menorah, you could step up to the menorah to light it, otherwise you'd have to reach. Did Aharon need that platform? No. Aharon was 10 amos tall. He could have reached it. Nevertheless, he stepped on the platform because that's what the Torah told us. וכשעלה גבי מעלה, הוצרך לכפוף ראשו כגמון שלא יפגע במכסה המשכן בראשו Uk'she'ala gabei ma'alah, hutzrach lach'pof rosho kahagmon shelo yifga b'michseh hamishkan b'rosho. And when he stood on that platform, he had to bend his head, otherwise he would have hit his head on the roof of the משכן Mishkan. ועשה כן רק בשביל להשנות משאר הכהנים שלהם היתה קומתם גבוה כל כך וזהו שבחו שלא שינה V'asa kein rak bishvil l'hishanos mi'shar ha'kohanim she'lahem hay'sah komasam g'voha kol kach, v'zehu shivcho shelo shinah. Says Rav Yonasan Eibshitz, even though he didn't need the platform, he could have moved it out of the way. He stepped up onto it to not stand out. If all the other kohanim would need to stand on it, he did too. I, it meant he had to bend his head. He was humble enough to bend his head when he needed to, but לא שינה lo shinah, he wasn't going to change or deviate from the way all the other kohanim did it as well. So that's interpretation number four, that's new this year, Rav Yonasan Eibshitz in his תפארת יהונתן Tiferes Yonasan. Tell you another one comes from the אוצר פלאות התורה Otzar Pla'os HaTorah himself. He says, להגיד שבחו של אהרן שלא שינה, שאף על פי שהיה אהרן הכהן אוהב שלום ורודף שלום l'hagid shivcho shel Aharon shelo shinah, she'af al pi she'hayah Aharon ha'kohein ohev shalom v'rodef shalom. Aharon HaKohein, how did he spend his day? Tennis? Golf? Mahjong? Lying by the pool reading a book? San Beda Coladas? What did Aharon do with his time? He was busy, אוהב שלום ורודף שלום ohev shalom v'rodef shalom. He never tired, he didn't slow down, he didn't have hobbies. You know what Aharon HaKohein's hobby was? Making peace between people. אוהב שלום ורודף שלום Ohev shalom v'rodef shalom. Solving מחלוקת machlokes. Reuniting family members, friends, community. היה טרוד מאוד סביב איסוקיו ולהשכין שלום בין אדם לחברו בין איש לאשתו Haya tarud me'od s'viv isukav ul'hashkin shalom bein adam l'chaveiro bein ish l'ishto. He was doing marriage counseling. He was doing mediation. He was bringing peace and harmony to the Jewish people. וכן הוא אוהב את הבריות ומקרבן לתורה V'chein hu ohev es habrios umekarvan laTorah. And when he wasn't busy doing that, you know what he was doing? Outreach, קירוב kiruv, putting תפילין tefillin on people. He was teaching them תורה Torah. He was running partners in תורה Torah. He's a pretty busy man. שגם בזה היו לו טרדות רבות Shegam b'zeh hayu lo tirdos rabbos. When you're involved and engaged in outreach, follow up, you want to come for Shabbos dinner, you want to meet at Starbucks and learn a little bit, to come partners in Torah, don't miss that night. Let's solve another מחלוקת machlokes. He was busy, he was running. ומעולם לא שינה בהדלקת נרות להדליקה על ידי שליח, או שלא בזמנם, או שינויים אחרים U'mei'olam lo shinah b'hadlakas neiros l'hadlikah al yedei shliach, o shelo b'zmanam, o shinuyim acheirim. So you might have thought Aharon, he's running, he's doing noble things, so he'll delegate. He'll delegate the lighting of the menorah to somebody else. Or the menorah could take five minutes to light if you have a lot of kavanah, it could take 60 seconds to light because you got to get back to kiruv and you got to get back to mediation, you got to get back to getting rid of machlokes. But Aharon לא שינה lo shinah. He didn't change whatsoever. He had the capacity, unusual, difficult, that with a million things on your mind and so much to do, noble, mitzvos, righteous things, it's so hard to concentrate and be present for a mitzvah. But להגיד שבחו שלא שינה l'hagid shivcho shelo shinah, despite all that Aharon had on his mind, despite all that he had on his plate, despite all that he was doing, he was never distracted. He had the capacity to be present in whatever he was doing. When he was lighting the menorah, he was lighting the menorah. When he was doing kiruv, he was doing kiruv. When he was making peace, he was making peace. But they didn't overlap or infringe on the other activity. Whenever he was meant to be doing, he was fully present in that moment, doing that thing in that moment. The other night, the community welcomed the צדיק ר' אברהם צבי קלוגר tzaddik, Rav Avraham Tzvi Kluger. Rav Kluger is a great kabbalist, a great mystic, a great תלמיד חכם talmid chacham, he's a great rebbe in בית שמש Beit Shemesh in Israel. נזר ישראל Nezer Yisrael is the name of his Beis Medrash. He's put out many, many, many ספרום sfarim, very, very special person. And he's here and he spoke at the yeshiva in conjunction with the shul the other night. And there he mentioned in passing that Rav Vozner, in his שו\"ת שבט הלוי shu't Shevet HaLevi, תשובה teshuvah, חלק ז סימן א' chelek zayin, siman aleph, in the first teshuva of חלק ז chelek zayin, Rav Vozner is asked from a rabbi who is so occupied and preoccupied with his עבודת ה' avodas Hashem with teaching and helping and supporting and inspiring others, he says, I can't concentrate in davening. I go to daven and what happens when I go to daven? I go to daven and I go to daven and I'm distracted. I go to daven and I'm thinking about all the meetings I have, all the follow-up I have to do, all the people who are suffering and struggling, and I can't daven. שאילתך כמים קרים על נפש עיפה Ha'shayloscha b'avodas Hashem k'mayim karim al nefesh ayefa. Your question in עבודת ה' avodas Hashem was like cold water on a tired soul. בראותי אותך מס אל ורוצה לעלות B'rosi oscha mis'al v'rotzeh la'alos. I see that you're striving, that you want to elevate. וכל ספקותך באים מנפש טהורה V'chol s'feikosecha ba'im mi'nefesh tehorah. And all of your doubts and all of your challenges that are coming from a very holy and a very pure place. ואף שאני רק ודל, ומכל מקום, אולי אני זקן ובעל נסיון בכמה קצות ידיעות V'af she'ani reik v'dal, u'm'kol makom, ulai ani zakein u'baal nisayon b'kama ktzos yedi'os. Maybe the fact that I'm a little bit older and maybe I have a little bit more experience, maybe I could approach your question. And he writes him a תשובה teshuvah. He writes him a תשובה teshuvah. And towards the end of the תשובה teshuvah he says the following. And I just heard this from Rav Kluger this week and it reminded me of this insight of the אוצר פלאות התורה Otzar Pla'os HaTorah, that Aharon לא שינה lo shinah, he never got tired, he never got overwhelmed, he never got distracted, he never wasn't able to, he never wasn't able to to to concentrate. אינני פוטר חס ושלום את מרביצי תורה מחדדי התלמידים מדרך תפילה Einani poter chas v'shalom es marbitzei Torah mi'chaddei ha'talmidim mi'derech tefillah. Says Rav Vozner, we cannot exempt those who teach תורה Torah from davening. תמיד צריך להתאמץ לקיים שניהם Tamid tzarich l'hisa'meitz l'kayem shneihem. You have to assert yourself. You have to have the courage, the conviction, the resolve, the resiliency to do both. זה זמן תורה לחוד וזמן תפילה לחוד Zman Torah l'chud v'zman tefillah l'chud. Be present, fully present with whatever you're meant to be doing. When you're giving a shiur, give a shiur. And when you're davening to Hashem, daven to Hashem. And don't stand during davening flipping through the sefer preparing the shiur. Find the ability to be present with whatever you're doing. As the גמרא Gemara in שבת דף י' Shabbos daf yud says, אבל רוצני לומר בזה דין באמת מחמת טרדות התלמידים, ועומק העיון, לא יוכל פעם לצמצם בכוונת התפילה Aval ritzoni lomar b'zeh din be'emes machmas tirdos ha'talmidim v'omek ha'iyun, lo yuchal pa'am l'tzamtzem b'kavanas ha'tefillah. But if it comes out, if it turns out, that because you're so overwhelmed and you're thinking about your beloved students and you are so devoted to them and you're concentrating on caring about them and all the follow-up you have to do with them, and because of that you're distracted from davening, כשהוא עם לב טהור, לא יפול רוחו בקרבו על זה, כי טרדה של מצוה גרמה. k'she'hu im lev tahor, lo yipol rucho b'kirbo al zeh, ki tirdas ha'mitzvah garma. Don't become despondent. Don't become depressed. Don't give up. So if the quality of your davening is not a 10 out of 10, if the quality of your davening is a two out of 10 because you're so distracted thinking about the yeshiva and you got to raise the money and you love your talmidim and you got to prepare the shiur, אין לו דין תפילה עבור זה ein lo din tefillah avur zeh, don't worry, that's still davening. That's still a davening. Don't become depressed, don't become despondent. But what's the goal? What's the ambition? תורה לחוד ותפילה לחוד Torah l'chud u'tefillah l'chud. And now you understand Rashi. להגיד שבחו של אהרן שלא שינה L'hagid shivcho shel Aharon shelo shinah. If Rav Vozner has to write this teshuva to a holy yid who's so distracted and he says I can't, my davening is suffering. I'm thinking about my shiur, I'm thinking about my talmidim, I'm thinking about the money I have to raise, can't. And Rav Vozner says you can. So this is the שבח shvach, this is the praise of an Aharon HaKohein, שלא שינה shelo shinah. שלא שינה Shelo shinah that he was never distracted in the in the process. Okay, a lot more he has on this, as you can imagine in the Otzar Pla'os HaTorah, but let's move on. פרק ח פסוק י\"ח Perek ches pasuk yud-ches. Turn the page, consecration of the Levites towards their holy work. And the Levites take over for someone. The Levites have a very significant role and very holy work. However, they were not originally designated for this holy work and for this holy task. The pasuk says, פרק ח פסוק י\"ח perek ches pasuk yud-ches, page 776. ונתונים נתונים הם לאהרן ולבניו מתוך בני ישראל לעבוד עבודת בני ישראל באהל מועד ולכפר על בני ישראל ולא יהיה בבני ישראל. Sorry, I skipped. Which pasuk? Sorry, sorry. חס י\"ח Ches yud-ches, yeah. ולקחת את הלוים תחת כל בכור בבני ישראל V'ekachta es ha'Levi'im tachas kol bechor b'vnei Yisrael. Hashem says I take the Levites, I designate the Levites in whose stead? Who should have been this designation? Who should have had this role? The בכור bechor, the firstborn. But Hashem took it from the firstborn and instead gave it to to the to the Levites. What happened? What went wrong? Why was it withdrawn from one and given to the other? So the חזקוני Chizkuni gives a very interesting reason. חזקוני כתב כאן דבר נפלא מדוע נבחרו הלוים תחת הבכורם Chizkuni kasav kan davar nifla madu'a nivcharu ha'Levi'im tachas ha'bechorim. And this is the language of the חזקוני Chizkuni. והיה כך הלוים תחת כל בכור, שאם היו הבכורם עובדים, יהיה בהם נגף. שהרי עובד של זה הבכור, שמא לא היה בכור. ולא עבד אבי אביו ולא הורגלו בעבודה. וכשיבוא לעבוד, לא יהיה בקי ונזהר בו, ויעשה שלא כהוגן ויגף. כמו שמצינו בנדב ואביהוא. אבל הלוים, כיוון שנבחרו הם ובניהם ובני בניהם לדורות, הורגלו והוזהרו בעבודתם לעשותו כהוגן. V'hayah kach ha'Levi'im tachas kol bechor, she'im hayu ha'bechorim ovdim, yehiye bahem negef. She'harei oved shel zeh ha'bechor, shema lo hayah bechor. V'lo avad avi aviv, v'lo hurgelu ba'avodah. U'k'she'yavo la'avod, lo yehiye baki v'nizhar bo, v'ya'aseh shelo k'hogen v'nigaf. K'mo she'matzinu b'Nadav v'Avihu. Aval ha'Levi'im, keivan she'nivcharu hem u'vneihem u'vnei v'neihem l'doros, hurgelu v'huz'haru ba'avodasam la'asoso k'hogen. The classic understanding is חטא העגל cheit ha'egel, the mistake of the חטא העגל cheit ha'egel. The בכור bechor participated, they lost their designation, and the Levites who did not participate in the חטא העגל cheit ha'egel got it instead. But the חזקוני Chizkuni gives a different reason. Listen to this Parsha Perspective for today. Says the חזקוני Chizkuni, what would be the problem if the בכור bechor served in that role of the לוי Levi, ran the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash, contributed to the leadership of the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash? What would be the problem? What is a בכור bechor? A בכור bechor is a firstborn. So just because someone had a first... firstborn son, doesn't mean that they were a firstborn son. So what will that בכור bechor be lacking? What will they be missing? An example, a role model. A father who already is the precedent, sets the precedent. How could you serve if you don't have a parent who's a role model for the very service that's expected of you? And that would undermine the service, the quality of the service. That would undermine what they would, what they would do. And therefore, and therefore, הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu took it from the בכור bechor and gave it to לוי Levi. Because every לוי's Levi's father is a לוי Levi. And that לוי's Levi's father's father is a לוי Levi. And the לוי's Levi's son will be a לוי Levi. So there'll be a transmission because they'll be an example. It's a very interesting, beautiful insight of the חזקוני Chizkuni, the danger and the risk of leaving the leadership in the hands of the בכור bechor is that this בכור's bechor's father might not be a בכור bechor. And then he won't have an example.You see this also in the הפטרה haftarah of last week's פרשה parsha. Rav Schwab says, when the angel visits the wife of מנוח Manoach and says your son's going to be a נזיר nazir, no haircut, and so on. And then אשת מנוח eishes Manoach comes and reports it to מנוח Manoach. What does מנוח Manoach say? Nah, get the angel back. I want to hear it again. And then the angel comes back and simply repeats the exact same thing he once said. And now מנוח Manoach says, okay, we're good to go. So first of all, what kind of marriage was that? מנוח Manoach didn't trust אשת מנוח eishes Manoach? He had to have the angel come back? And moreover, the angel didn't add anything new. So why did מנוח Manoach accept it now? So Rav Schwab brilliantly says, look at the פסוק pasuk. He did say something a little bit different. When the angel comes back, he repeats and he says, תשמר tishmor. All of these things, observe, safeguard, be careful. And says Rav Schwab, that doesn't mean safeguard that your son is a נזיר nazir. It means whatever you expect of your son, you need to keep first. What was מנוח Manoach saying to his wife, I want the angel to come back. Why? What מנוח Manoach was saying was, I'm supposed to have a son who's a נזיר nazir. How? How will he be a נזיר nazir? How will he know how? How will he know what to do? How will he have the conviction to continue to be a נזיר nazir? So the angel comes back and says, I'll tell you how. You be a נזיר nazir. You want your child to דאווענען daven well? How do they see you דאווענען daven? You want your child to love שבת Shabbos? What do they hear are your feelings towards שבת Shabbos? You want your child to have אמונה emunah? Do they see you panic? Or do they see you living with אמונה emunah? Whatever you expect and want in your child, you have to first exhibit, you have to practice first. And that's the reason the חזקוני Chizkuni says, so much so that הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu changed from the בכור bechor to the לויים Leviim, because that inherently wouldn't be possible with בכור bechor, not every בכור's bechor's father was by definition a בכור bechor as well.פרשת בהעלותך Parshas Behaaloscha then continues with פסח שני Pesach Sheni. פסח שני Pesach Sheni. Page 778, פרק ט' Perek Tes. פסוק א' Pasuk Aleph. וידבר ה' אל משה במדבר סיני בשנה השנית לצאתם מארץ מצרים בחדש הראשון לאמר. Vayidaber Hashem el Moshe b'midbar Sinai bashanah hashenis l'tzeisam m'eretz Mitzrayim bachodesh harishon leimor. Hashem spoke to Moshe. ויעשו בני ישראל את הפסח במועדו V'yaasu Bnei Yisrael es haPesach b'moado, keep פסח Pesach in its time. Now fast forward, ויהי אנשים vayehi anashim, what happened, פסוק ו pasuk vav, there were people אשר היו טמאים לנפש אדם asher hayu t'meim l'nefesh adam, they were impure. Why? What was the source of their impurity? Why were they disqualified from participating in the original פסח Pesach? So the גמרא Gemara records several positions. One, maybe they're carrying the bones of יוסף Yosef. Remember, יוסף Yosef made the Jews promise, don't leave me here in מצרים Mitzrayim. Take me out, bury me in the holy land when you get there. Someone had to be carrying his bones. So those who were carrying ארונו של יוסף arono shel Yosef, those who were carrying יוסף's Yosef's bones, were impure. They were ineligible to have participated in the first פסח Pesach and now they are the ones who come and step up and complain and need the second. Others say it was a מת מצוה meis mitzvah. There was a Jew who died and there was no one to care for him, and they stepped up and these were people who were טמא לנפש tamei l'nefesh because they, they cared for him, because they cared for him. Or, so these were טמאי לנפש t'mei l'nefesh. And they come and they step forward to Moshe, ויאמרו האנשים ההמה אנחנו טמאים לנפש אדם vayomru ha'anashim haheimah anachnu t'meim l'nefesh adam, we were disqualified from participating in the first קרבן פסח Korban Pesach, but למה נגרע lama nigara. It's not fair to us. Second time in the פרשה parsha. First אהרן Aharon, פרשה parsha begins with אהרן Aharon, not fair to me. And השם Hashem rewards him. I love that attitude. I love it. Not because I want you to be jealous and envious and overly competitive with your brothers, but I want you to be hungry. I want you to have drive. I want you to have ambition. I want you to feel you want a chance to stay up all night and learn with your father on שבועות Shavuos. You want a chance to go to שול shul. You want a chance to volunteer for חסד chesed. Not fair to me, not fair to me, because you're hungry for some spiritual ambition. That's געשמאק geshmak. That's געוואלדיג gevaldig. That's fantastic. And now the second time, the people who precipitated, those who were the catalyst for the whole holiday of פסח שני Pesach Sheni, they said those iconic two words, למה נגרע Lama nigara. Why should we be deprived? I ask you, if you were told, you don't have to keep פסח Pesach this year, you're off. You're ineligible, you get a pass, you're disqualified, no hard feelings, you're good to go, no punishment, not your fault, take the year off, no פסח Pesach. How many of us would be screaming from the rooftops, למה נגרע Lama nigara! No way! Not fair to me. I want פסח Pesach. No way. למה נגרע Lama nigara that attitude. למה נגרע Lama nigara. I want to go to שול shul, I want to learn, I want to do חסד chesed. I want to go on that trip. I want to make that difference. למה נגרע Lama nigara. הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu applauds, he loves the attitude of למה נגרע Lama nigara. אהרן Aharon exhibited it at the beginning of the פרשה parsha, and now we have these holy Jews who exhibit it, and who introduced because of them, we are introduced to an entirely new מצוה mitzvah, פסח שני Pesach Sheni. Turn the page. So, השם Hashem, Moshe takes this to השם Hashem, it's above his pay grade so to say, one of the areas of הלכה halacha that was נתחדש nischadesh, that was novel and new, and השם Hashem gives them the answer, דבר אל בני ישראל לאמר, איש איש כי יהיה טמא לנפש או בדרך רחוקה לכם Daber el Bnei Yisrael leimor, ish ish ki yihyeh tamei l'nefesh o b'derech rechoka lachem. If a Jew is ineligible to be part of the קרבן פסח Korban Pesach because he's impure or because he's too far away, או לדורותיכם ועשה פסח להשם o l'doroseichem v'asah Pesach l'Hashem, so then בחדש השני בארבעה עשר יום בין הערבים bachodesh hasheni b'arba'a asar yom bein ha'arbayim, in the second month on the 14th day, על מצות ומרורים יאכלוהו al matzos u'merorim yochluhu. You don't have to clean the house. You're allowed to have חמץ chametz, no four cups of wine, but it is מצה matzah and מרור maror, the קרבן פסח שני Korban Pesach Sheni. and it too, לא ישאירו ממנו עד בקר lo yashiru mimenu ad boker, you can't leave it over until the, until the next night.So why is פסח שני Pesach Sheni in אייר Iyar? They didn't need a full month in order for those who were impure to become pure. Those who were too far away to get there. So why is it a whole month later? The 14th of אייר Iyar rather than the 14th of ניסן Nisan? Why is פסח שני Pesach Sheni a month later? So the בעל הטורים Baal HaTurim writes, the reason is the following. בחדש השני לפי כשמעברין השנה אז אייר במקום ניסן. Bachodesh hasheni l'fi k'shemaabrin hashana az Iyar b'makom Nisan. When you, when you add a leap year, what do you add? a month of אדר Adar. So it turns out that without the leap year, the 14th of אייר Iyar would have been the 14th of ניסן Nisan. So you see, יש חלוף לחודש אייר עם חודש ניסן yesh chiluf l'chodesh Iyar im chodesh Nisan. Those two months have an overlap, they have a connection. It's only with the introduction of a leap year that you pushed it off, but otherwise they could take up the same space, so to say. So when there's a delay for a פסח שני Pesach Sheni, it דווקא davka happens on in the month of אייר Iyar, in the month of אייר Iyar. The יעב\"ץ Yaavetz writes in his סידור siddur, טעם פסח שני שהוא באייר, גילו לי מן השמים. Ta'am Pesach Sheni she'hu b'Iyar, gilu li min hashamayim. The reason that פסח שני Pesach Sheni is in אייר Iyar was revealed to me from the heavens. שבוא כלתה הררה שהוציאו ממצרים. She'bo kaltah ha'arara she'hotziu mi'Mitzrayim. You know why? That's the date that we ran out of מצה matzah from Egypt. When we left Egypt, we left with מצה matzah and that's when we ran out. לפיכך הוכרח נס יציאת מצרים ואכילת מצה. ולכן פסח שני מצה וחמץ יאכלוהו בבית, כמו שהיה בראשון. L'ficha huchrach nes Yetzias Mitzrayim v'achilas matzah. V'lachen Pesach Sheni matzah v'chametz yochluhu babayis, k'mo shehayah barishon. So on פסח שני Pesach Sheni, you have חמץ chametz and מצה matzah. Now you're done with מצה matzah, you've introduced חמץ chametz, you have חמץ chametz and מצה matzah, just like you did the first פסח Pesach in מצרים Mitzrayim, and that's why it's in אייר Iyar on the 14th of אייר Iyar, that's when we ran out. That's what the יעב\"ץ Yaavetz brings. Very interesting language when he says גילו לי מן השמים gilu li min hashamayim. It was revealed to me from heaven. And that's all the אוצר פלאות התורה Otzar Pelaos HaTorah needed to hear to then go on for pages and pages and pages of other examples of great רבנים rabbanim who say it was revealed to me from the heavens. How did I come upon this idea? How do I know this truth? It was revealed to me from the heavens. Pages and pages. The ראב\"ד Raavad on the רמב\"ם Rambam writes, הופיע רוח הקודש hofia ruach hakodesh. אחרונים Acharonim we talk about, מראות החלום maros hachalom, it was given to me in a dream. We have the תשובות מן השמים Teshuvos Min HaShamayim, everything was revealed in a dream. The בית יוסף Beis Yosef, Rav Yosef Karo, the שולחן ערוך Shulchan Aruch, has the מגיד maggid, who used to come to him in his dreams. The מגיד מן השמים Maggid min hashamayim, a בית יוסף Beis Yosef wrote a ספר sefer מגיד מישרים Maggid Meisharim. The answers to all his הלכה halachic questions that were revealed to him in a sleep, in a dream. And we have many others, again he goes on and on, such a beautiful אוצר פלאות התורה Otzar Pelaos HaTorah. He collects these great, every time an אחרון acharon said, how did I know this? How did I stumble upon this? It came in a dream. It came while I was asleep. It came while I was dozing off. האיר לי מן השמים He'ir li min hashamayim, it was revealed to me from the heavens, very, very interesting. That's why פסח שני Pesach Sheni is in the second month. Again you could listen to previous שיעורים shiurim and we dove into the פסח שני Pesach Sheni much deeper. It's the month of second chances, the יום טוב yom tov of second chances. יום טוב yom tov of second chances. What's the connection to יוסף הצדיק Yosef Hatzaddik? יוסף Yosef gave his brothers a second chance. And that was the argument to השם Hashem. We're carrying the bones of יוסף Yosef. יוסף Yosef, the father of second chances, he gave his brothers a second chance. השם Hashem give us a second chance. We, למה נגרע lama nigara, we also want to be able to bring the קרבן korban, the קרבן פסח Korban Pesach, a lot more.ובדרך לא היה uv'derech lo haya. פרק ט' Perek Tes, פסוק יג pasuk yud gimmel. והאיש אשר הוא טהור ובדרך לא היה וחדל לעשות הפסח V'ha'ish asher hu tahor uv'derech lo haya v'chadal la'asos haPesach. Somebody who was holy, was pure, ובדרך לא היה uv'derech lo haya, and was not on the road, וחדל לעשות הפסח v'chadal la'asos haPesach, they simply neglected to make פסח Pesach. Do they also get a chance? Somebody says, I don't feel like it. I'm טהור tahor, I'm close by, but I'm not in the mood. ונכרתה הנפש ההיא מעמיה v'nichresa hanefesh hahi mei'ameha, the punishment is כרת kareis. כי קרבן השם לא הקריב במועדו, חטאו ישא האיש ההוא Ki korban Hashem lo hikriv b'moado, cheto yisa ha'ish hahu. Person neglected to bring the קרבן korban in the right time, such an individual bears their iniquity, they bear their sin. So listen to this incredible ר' עקיבא איגר Rabbi Akiva Eiger. The לשון lashon, the language of the פסוק pasuk was, what was the language of the פסוק pasuk? ובדרך לא היה uv'derech lo haya. ובדרך לא היה Uv'derech lo haya. So ר' עקיבא איגר Rabbi Akiva Eiger in דרושי וחידושי ר' עקיבא איגר על התורה Drushei v'Chidushei Rabbi Akiva Eiger al haTorah, he writes, האיש אשר הוא טהור ובדרך לא היה ha'ish asher hu tahor uv'derech lo haya. Someone who is pure and who was not on the road. נראה לומר הדרך מליצה nir'eh lomar haderech melitzah, said ר' עקיבא איגר Rabbi Akiva Eiger, you know what you can derive from here? כשהאדם יושב בביתו הרי הוא מקיים כל המצוות כראוי, אבל כשיצא לדרך, שוב אינו מקיים המצוות כתיקונם Kshe'ha'adam yosheiv b'veiso harei hu mekayem kol hamitzvos k'raui, aval k'sheyotzei l'derech, shuv eino mekayem hamitzvos k'tikunam. כי מאוד צריך אדם להיזהר אם ירחק נדודיו ויצא לחוץ לבל יפול ברשת היצר. Ki me'od tzarich adam l'hizaher im yarchik nidudav v'yotze l'chutz l'val yipol b'reshes ha'yeitzer. And where do you see this hinted to in the פסוק pasuk? האיש אשר הוא טהור, בדרך לא היה. Ha'ish asher hu tahor, b'derech lo haya. If you want to be pure, if you want to have a good routine, if you want to develop a good habit and pattern of how to live a righteous life, I got my מנין minyan, I got my דף יומי daf yomi, I got my sleep pattern, I eat my healthy meals, I got my Peloton, I got my חברותא chavrusa, I spend my time with my family, I got all my routine. I've got all my parameters in place. I've got everything's positioned to lead my best life, and then you go off on the road. I know people like this. I'm related to people like this. Such creatures of habit. All is amazing when they're on their home turf. And then they have to go off on the road, and there's a panic kicks in. Where are we דאווענען מנחה davening mincha? Where are we going? What time is it going to be? How do I go for this? What do I do with this? How do I grind? How do I make my coffee? Where do I go? ובדרך uv'derech. So that's the ר' עקיבא איגר Rabbi Akiva Eiger says, if you want to live your best self, האיש אשר הוא טהור, בדרך לא היה. ha'ish asher hu tahor, b'derech lo haya. Now some people have no choice. The business people have to travel, you travel for pleasure to see השם's Hashem's world to gain from it, but on the whole, don't always be running and going and frantic. It's very hard to fall into a healthy routine. It's a געוואלדיג ר' עקיבא איגר gevaldig Rabbi Akiva Eiger. האיש אשר הוא טהור Ha'ish asher hu tahor is the one who's בדרך לא היה b'derech lo haya. Don't be running around, don't be frantic, don't be switching it up, don't be on the move. Have a pattern, have a, have a perspective, have a, have a strategy to live your best. Okay.פרק י' Perek Yud, פסוק ו' pasuk vav. Here we go. Next פרק perek. Page 782. וידבר השם אל משה לאמר, עשה לך שתי חצוצרות כסף מקשה תעשה אותם, והיו לך למקרא העדה ולמסע את המחנות. Vayidaber Hashem el Moshe leimor, asei l'cha shtei chatzotzros kesef, mikshah ta'aseh osam, v'hayu l'cha l'mikra ha'eidah ul'masa es hamachanos. We have the trumpets. הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu designed trumpets for us. They're used to call the people, they're used to call the נשיאים nesi'im, they're used to gather everyone. we shared a great insight, maybe we'll revisit it this year in another context, every generation needs its own trumpets. The call for every generation is different. We develop a different language, a different vocabulary. The Torah is timeless, but how it's communicated needs to be able to land for each generation is different. The order for breaking the camp, Moshe invites, before we get to Moshe, yeah, Moshe invites Yisro to remain. פרק י' Perek Yud, פסוק כ\"ט pasuk kaf tes. ויאמר משה לחובב בן רעואל המדיני חותן משה, נוסעים אנחנו אל המקום אשר אמר השם אותו אתן לכם. Vayomer Moshe l'Chovav ben Re'uel haMidiani chosain Moshe, nosim anachnu el hamakom asher amar Hashem oso eten lachem. Moshe tells his father-in-law, יתרו Yisro, נו, לכה איתנו, והטבנו לך, כי השם דיבר טוב על ישראל l'cha itanu v'heitavnu lach, ki Hashem diber tov al Yisrael. And יתרו Yisro says, לא אלך. כי אם אל ארצי ואל מולדתי אלך. Lo eilech. Ki im el artzi v'el molad'ti eilech. I gotta go home. I gotta go back to my hometown. I gotta go back to where I, where I come from. ויאמר, אל נא תעזוב אותנו Vayomer, al na ta'azov osanu. And now Moshe pleads with the שווער shver, don't leave. You can't go. I beg you. Don't abandon us. כי על כן ידעת חנותנו במדבר, והיית לנו לעיניים. Ki al kein yada'ta chanoseinu bamidbar v'hayisa lanu l'einayim. You are our eyes. Meaning, you're an outsider. You're a Jew by choice. You elected to join us. You didn't have to. You weren't born into this. You're not obligated. And yet you chose to. Don't go anywhere. Don't go anywhere. We want you to stay. We want you to stay. Don't go anywhere. Don't go anywhere. And what does יתרו Yisro decide? What does יתרו Yisro conclude? What does יתרו Yisro conclude? Not sure. We don't know. Torah leaves it as open-ended. All of a sudden now they're on the road. Was Moshe compelling? Did he convince them? Did it work? We don't know. Why does the Torah leave it ambiguous? מחלוקת ראשונים Machlokes Rishonim. Did יתרו Yisro stay? Did יתרו Yisro go? We don't know. Very interesting. Very interesting. Now why was יתרו Yisro, why did he want to leave? Why did he want to leave? Why was he struggling with staying? So the אוצר פלאות התורה Otzar Pelaos HaTorah quotes something very interesting from the ספורנו Sforno. שלא תסבול זקנתי, אוויר ארץ אחרת ומזונותיה. Shelo tisbol ziknasi, avir eretz acheres u'mezonoseha. Yisro says, I have to go home. אל ארצי, ואל מולדתי El artzi, v'el moladeti. You know why? I'm an old man. And I don't breathe well here and I don't digest your food well. I've got to go home. So similar to the ר' עקיבא איגר Rabbi Akiva Eiger we just saw. Person does best in their natural habitat. That's where you do best. And Yisro was saying to him, it's been fun. I've enjoyed and I've appreciated the visit. But according to the ספורנו Sforno, לא תסבול זקנתי lo tisbol ziknasi, my old age can't bear your food and your air. The ספורנו Sforno also explains a פסוק pasuk in דברי הימים Divrei Hayamim the same way. When we see the same attitude in the ספר יוספון Sefer Yosifon, אוצר פלאות התורה Otzar Pelaos HaTorah quotes, very interesting. The doctor say, אין לו רפואה עד שתשתה ותרחץ ותנה ממימי מקומה ein lo refuah ad shetishteh v'tirchatz v'taneh mimeimei mekoma. That there are many people who can't drink the water where they go. They can only drink the tap water where they're from. Our tap water is the best. New Yorkers love to talk about their tap water. Our tap water is the best. But then you go, everybody knows you go to Israel, you better buy the מי עדן Mei Eden. If you're not there long enough to acclimate to the tap water, don't try it. You'll miss your whole trip. We'll leave it at that. Don't try it. So where does this come from? The notion that when you travel and you go somewhere new and then you have to now adjust to their diet, to their food, to their air, to their drink, to their water. יתרו Yisro, that's what יתרו's Yisro's complaint was, I gotta go home. It's been fun. I gotta go home. אל ארצי, אל מולדתי El artzi, el moladeti, I need my חברותא chavrusa, I need my מנין minyan. I gotta go, I need my bed. I need my tap water. I gotta go home. Isn't that interesting? I find it interesting. Okay, let's keep going.פרק י' Perek Yud, פסוק ל\"ג pasuk lamed gimmel. ויסעו מהר השם Vayisu mei'har Hashem. So we're left not knowing. Did Moshe persuade him? Did he not? Don't know. Why would the Torah leave it ambiguous? We've addressed that in the past as well. ויסעו מהר השם דרך שלושת ימים Vayisu mei'har Hashem derech shloshes yamim. They travel from the mount of Hashem three days. Which is the הר השם Har Hashem? Where they exit, where they leave? Where they depart from? סיני, הר סיני Sinai, Har Sinai. And וארון ברית השם נוסע לפניהם דרך שלושת ימים לתור להם מנוחה v'aron bris Hashem noseia lifneihem derech shloshes yamim latur lahem menucha. And the ארון aron of the ברית השם Bris Hashem, the ארון aron journeyed before them three days distance to search out a resting place. וענן השם עליהם יומם בנסעם מן המחנה V'anan Hashem aleihem yomam b'nos'am min hamachaneh, and the cloud was over them during the day, בנסעם מן המחנה b'nos'am min hamachaneh, as they journeyed and as they traveled, the cloud was over them during the, during the day. Rav Druk, going back to איש תמיד Ish Tamid to Rav Druk. רש\"י Rashi or quotes, ויסעו מהר השם vayisu mei'har Hashem, they went for three days, and the ארון aron went three days ahead of them. And all of a sudden, פסוק ל\"ה pasuk lamed hey, what do we encounter? Normally we're used to text in the Torah, and all of a sudden we get not just text, we get the נונין הפוכין nunin ha'fuchin. Upside down inverted נון's nuns. The נון nun that is a bracket before and after the two פסוקים psukim. ויהי בנסוע הארון Vayehi binsoa ha'aron, the פסוק pasuk we sing when we take the Torah out, ובנוחה יאמר uv'nucho yomar, the פסוק pasuk we sing, or say, when we put the Torah back. That are bracketed off these two פסוקים psukim by the נון nun before and after. Why do we have these brackets? So says רש\"י Rashi, עשה להם סימניות מלפניו ומלאחריו, לומר שאין זה מקומו Asah lahem simaniyos milfanav u'milacharav, lomar she'ein zeh mekomo. They don't belong here. These two פסוקים psukim are out of place. So they're brackets to tell us they don't belong here. ולמה נכתב כאן V'lama nichtav kan? So if they don't really belong here chronologically or thematically, why are they inserted here? Why did השם Hashem edit his Torah to put them here if they don't belong here? כדי להפסיק בין פורענות לפורענות Kedei l'hafsik bein puranus l'puranus. Because two bad things happen, and it wouldn't look good to have two bad things in a row. We don't want the momentum, we don't want the poor impression of two bad things in a row, so we break it up. So we insert what doesn't belong here with brackets to break it up in order to interrupt the פורענות puranus, one bad thing and the other bad thing. Great. Helpful? Useful? Good. Got it. What are the bad things? So the bad thing after the bracket, I got. What's the bad thing after the bracket? What happens now? ויהי העם כמתאוננים רע Vayehi ha'am k'mis'onenim ra. A bunch of kvetching and miserable, negative complainers. Some things haven't changed. They're about to become complainers and they're about to illegitimately complain and הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu is about to wallop them. That's the פורענות puranus afterwards. What's the פורענות puranus before? פורענות ראשונה Puranus rishona says the גמרא שבת קט\"ז Gemara Shabbos kuf tes zayin, what's the פורענות puranus before? Before I tell you the גמרא Gemara, just look at the Torah text, look at the פסוק pasuk. You have the פרשה parsha right open in front of you, page 786 in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash. What's the פורענות puranus before? All we did was just read about conversation, Moshe and יתרו Yisro, now it's time to leave, three days, the ארון aron went ahead of them. What's the פורענות puranus that precedes it? Says the גמרא Gemara, פורענות ראשונה, ויסעו מהר השם. אמר רבי חמא ברבי חנינא, שסרו מאחרי השם. Puranus rishona, vayis'u me'har Hashem. Amar Rabi Chama b'Rabi Chanina, she'saru mei'acharei Hashem. They didn't walk away from הר סיני Har Sinai the way we walk away from the כותל Kosel, backwards. How'd they walk away? They ran. They ran away. They ran away. Says Rav Druk, הנה יש להקשות, איך ניתן לומר כי ויסעו מהר השם פורענות, במשל כתינוק הבורח מבית הספר. Hinei yesh l'hakshos, eich nitan lomar ki vayis'u me'har Hashem puranus, b'mashal k'tinok haboreiach mi'beis hasefer. This is a criticism of כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael that when they finally departed, they ran like a group of school children who are, ask kids right now, some of the schools are already done, others are in the last week. Every kid from six years old to sixteen years old knows exactly not how many days, how many hours are left to school. Every teacher knows how many hours are left to school. Every parent who drives carpool knows how many hours are left to school. And I promise you, believe me when it's over, כתינוק הבורח מבית הספר k'tinok haboreiach mibeis hasefer. Nobody's walking out backwards, I'll miss you, I don't want to go, I love you, why does it have to end? Nobody is walking out backwards, why does it have to end? They run so fast. They are out of there so quickly. They're out of there like Vladimir. So what's so wrong? הלא היו חונים שם קרוב Halo hayu chonim sham karov... How long were the Jewish people at הר סיני Har Sinai? How long was that stay? They checked in for how long? שנה שלמה Shana shleima. They were there for a full year at הר סיני Har Sinai. ממתן תורה שהיה ב-ו' או ז' בסיון Mi'matan Torah she'haya b'vav o zayin b'Sivan... they were there either the 6th or 7th of סיוון Sivan in the first year until the 20th of אייר Iyar in the second year. שאז נסעו she'az nas'u. As the פסוק pasuk says ויהי בשנה השנית בחדש השני בעשרים בחדש נעלה הענן מעל משכן העדות vayehi bashana hashenis bachodesh hasheni b'esrim bachodesh na'alah he'anan mei'al mishkan ha'eidus. So, are we really critical of the way they left when they were there for a full year? And moreover, says Rav Druk, אילו היו מחליטים מדעת עצמם לקום ולנסוע מהר השם ilu hayu machlitim mi'da'as atzmam lakum v'linsoa me'har Hashem... and if they decided, we've had enough, I'm out of here, I can't take the water in this place anymore, I can't take the meals, I can't take the bed, I'm done, a year is enough, I got to go home. Then we'd understand why it would be a legitimate criticism, כתינוק שהם רצים כתינוק הרץ מבית הספר k'tinok shehem ratzim k'tinok haratz mibeis hasefer. However, who told them to go? השם Hashem. How did he tell them? When the cloud lifted, when the trumpets blew, the message, the signal came from above, time to go. The ultimate travel agent, הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu booked our next flight, the next leg of the flight. And he said, it's departure time. Let's go. So why are we critical of them? They're בורח, כתינוק מבית הספר boreiach, k'tinok mibeis hasefer. על כן נראה לבאר בזה, אומר רב דרוק, שנוכל להסביר, שהתלונה שבפסוק שלנו אינה על בני ישראל בעצם זה שנסעו. Al kein nir'eh l'va'er b'zeh, omer Rav Druk, shenuchal l'hasbir, she'hatluna she'b'pasuk shelanu eina al Bnei Yisrael b'etzem zeh she'nas'u. The criticism is not that they departed. The criticism is not that they left. היא אך ורק על פי השם Hi ach v'rak al pi Hashem, that was the divine will. אלא עיקר התלונה היא בצורה שבה נסעו מהר השם Ela ikar hatluna hi b'tzura sheba nas'u me'har Hashem. It was the way they left. It was the way they left. Because after קריאת ים סוף Krias Yam Suf, the פסוק pasuk says, ויסע משה את ישראל מים סוף vayasa Moshe es Yisrael mi'Yam Suf, and רש\"י Rashi says, הסיעם בעל כרחם hesi'am b'al korcham. What happened? The ים סוף Yam Suf split and what washed up on the shore? All the silver and gold, all the chariots of the Egyptians who drowned in the ים סוף Yam Suf, it washed up on the shore. And the פסוק pasuk tells us, the מדרש midrash tells us the Jewish people were collecting it. These slaves, this slave nation, this slave mentality, they were sticking it in their pockets and in the shirts and underneath and carry, however much they could take. By the way, what was Moshe doing? ויקח משה עצמות יוסף Vayikach Moshe atzmos Yosef. He wasn't collecting gold and jewelry and silver. What was he collecting? Not עצמות יוסף atzmos Yosef, but the עצם etzem of יוסף Yosef. He was collecting a מסורה mesora, our תורה Torah, our value. Meanwhile, what happens? The מדרש midrash tells us, it's time to go. And Moshe goes to them and says, it's time to go. They say, just one more minute. Just two more minutes. Just five more minutes. I can't go. I've just I've more room in my pockets. I could stick more things under my shirt. I have more things I can take. The CEO of Lulu Lemon was there, encouraging them. Take as much as you can go and enjoy. They were sticking it all in, they were running as much as they could. As much as they could. Just two more minutes, five more minutes, just a couple more things. And Moshe has to drag them out of there. Says Rav Druk, it was the contrast of the way that they had to be dragged away from ים סוף Yam Suf, and Moshe didn't even get the words out of his mouth, it's time to go from הר סיני Har Sinai. Okay, we're out of here. We're done, we're good. We're gone. And the contrast of the hesitation and the delay and they're holding on and give us a few more minutes when it came to ים סוף Yam Suf with the contrast of we're out of here like Vladimir. We can't go quickly enough, like a כתינוק הבורח מבית הספר tinok haboreiach mibeis hasefer, that they ran, that they ran out of there. And that's the attitude that we have to have. You know, דאווענען's davening's over, I wish it were still going on. The סדר seder of the שיעור shiur is over, I wish it were a few more minutes. Even when we're going to the next noble deed and even when it comes from above from השם Hashem that there's the next task at hand, but when it comes to holy things, we should want to hold on. And when it comes to unholy things and the experiences material ones, that's when we should be ready to go. So it could be perfectly legitimate to have to pivot or transition or go on to the next step of our journey in life, but the attitude we bring to it. Where do we delay and wish we could stay longer, and where do we run out of so fast? Because that says everything about our priorities and it says so much about who we are, says Rav Druk. ויהי בנסוע הארון Vayehi binsoa ha'aron, the second פסוק pasuk in these two פסוקים psukim, ויהי בנסוע הארון vayehi binsoa ha'aron, and it was when the ארון aron traveled. And ובנוחה יאמר uv'nucho yomar... Sorry. When the ארון aron traveled, what did Moshe say? He didn't just travel. When the ארון aron traveled, which meant the people traveled, so ויאמר משה, קומה השם ויפוצו אויבך vayomer Moshe, kuma Hashem v'yafutzu oyvecha. Rise up השם Hashem and scatter the enemies, וינוסו משנאיך מפניך v'yanusu misanecha mipanecha, let those who hate you run away from you. So what happened when the ארון aron would journey and the people would journey, what would Moshe do? He offered a תפילה tefillah, קומה השם ויפוצו אויבך kuma Hashem v'yafutzu oyvecha, and the דעת זקנים מבעלי התוספות Daas Zekeinim mi'Baalei haTosfos says, זאת היא תפילת הדרך שלהם zo hi tefillas haderech shelahem. This is the original תפילת הדרך Tefillas Haderech. You're about to set out on a journey, you're about to go, you don't want to encounter an enemy. The enemy could be the כנענים Canaanim, the enemy can be the popo, don't get pulled over, don't have a flat tire, don't get in an accident, don't be robbed on the side of the road. And the חזקוני Chizkuni writes similarly. רב סעדיה גאון Rav Saadya Gaon says ויהי בנסוע הארון, היה נוהג כשבנסוע הארון, משה היה אומר, ה' נא השם בעזרנו וניצחונינו. Vayehi binsoa ha'aron, haya noheg kshe'binsoa ha'aron, Moshe haya omer, hey na Hashem b'ezreinu v'nitzchoneinu. He offered a real תפילת הדרך tefillas haderech. And the תפילת הדרך tefillas haderech weren't only these words, קומה השם ויפוצו אויבך kuma Hashem v'yafutzu oyvecha, there was a full תפילת הדרך tefillas haderech that was said. And it's brought down that this is the origin of תפילת הדרך tefillas haderech. There's a whole discussion who instituted תפילת הדרך tefillas haderech? When you travel and you journey outside of the city limits and to a place that's dangerous, when do you say תפילת הדרך tefillas haderech? When you fly, when do you say it? In the airport, when you get into your seat, when the plane starts to accelerate in the runway, when the first wheel lifts off, it's a big מחלוקת machlokes exactly when to say תפילת הדרך tefillas haderech. But we offer a תפילה tefillah, we offer a prayer that our journey be smooth and be safe, that we arrive at our destination. And who is the one who instituted it? Where did it come from? So the אבני שהם Avnei Shoham says from this בעלי התוספות Baalei haTosfos, שמעתי בשם גדול מקדושי ישראל עולם, משה רבנו תיקן תפילת הדרך shamati b'shem gadol m'kedoshei Yisrael olam, Moshe Rabbeinu tiken Tefillas Haderech. You see, and where did Moshe Rabbeinu, where was he מתקן mesaken it? ויאמר משה, קומה השם ויפוצו אויבך Vayomer Moshe, kuma Hashem v'yafutzu oyvecha. This is where he was מתקן mesaken it. This is where תפילת הדרך Tefillas Haderech comes from, this is where it originates.ויהי העם כמתאוננים Vayehi ha'am k'mis'onenim. Next פסוק pasuk. Miserable, kvetching, negative, incorrigible, complaining people. And השם Hashem is very strong with them. השם Hashem is very strong with this people. And there are a lot of questions on this section. We'll end with this. A lot of troubling details. What exactly are they complaining about? If you read these פסוקים psukim, ויהי העם כמתאוננים רע באזני השם vayehi ha'am k'mis'onenim ra b'oznei Hashem, they're saying something's bad in the ears of השם Hashem, השם Hashem hears them, but what was the complaint? It's too cold, it's too hot, not enough food, too much food, too spicy, too sweet, too much מילכיגס milchigs, too much kale. What was the complaint? What was the complaint? And and we we know they complain there's no meat. Says רש\"י Rashi, how could they say there's no meat? The ערב רב erev rav left מצרים Mitzrayim with cattle. Tribes of ראובן Reuven and גד Gad when it's time to go into Israel say, let us stay east of the ירדן Yarden, we have so much cattle, we have enough פלייש fleish, we have so much meat, we don't know what to do. So how could they say now we have no meat? What's really bothering them? And how do they conclude their complaint? נפשנו יבשה, אין כל. Nafsheinu yevesha, ein kol. Our life, our soul is parched. It's dry, it's wilted. If you're in the mood for a good steak, you say, my soul is wilted and dry. You say, my stomach is empty. I'm starving. I crave steak. What does it have to do with the dryness of your soul? And how does Moshe react? ויאמר משה אל השם למה הרעות לעבדך ולמה לא מצאתי חן בעיניך לשום את משא כל העם הזה עלי Vayomer Moshe el Hashem, lama hare'ota l'avdecha v'lama lo matzasi chein b'einecha lasum es masa kol ha'am hazeh alai. לא אוכל לבדי לשאת את כל העם הזה Lo uchal l'vadi laseis es kol ha'am hazeh. He Moshe reacts so harshly, so severely.They've complained, they've rebelled, Moshe could deal with it. Here, he can't deal with it anymore. What's really going on? So perhaps, we'll close with this. Perhaps the answer to this question can be found in appreciating the grammar of this word. I don't want you to get allergic reaction here. דיקדוק Dikduk. But the grammar is the following. In Hebrew, when wanting to describe an action, a verb, we normally use what form? The פיעל pi'el form. מתאוננים Mis'onenim. מתאוננים Mis'onenim uses a different form. Which form is מתאוננים mis'onenim? It's not פיעל pi'el. What is it? התפעל Hitpa'el. What's התפעל hitpa'el? It's the reflexive form. פיעל Pi'el is the active form. I do a verb. התפעל Hitpa'el is, I do to myself. It's reflexive. It's something a person does to themselves. So maybe what the Torah is telling us by using this form of the verb, ויהי העם כמתאוננים vayehi ha'am k'mis'onenim, they turn themselves into complainers.It's not that they were happy people who had a legitimate constructive criticism. They transformed themselves into miserable, unhappy, hypercritical people. And that is intolerable. That, that is a cancer that metastasizes. That is a danger. It wasn't happy-go-lucky, appreciative people who had a constructive feedback. כמתאוננים K'mis'onenim, they turned themselves into a group of miserable, פארביסענע farbissene, cynical, pessimistic, hypercritical people. So they mentioned meat, but meat's not really their complaint. Meat is just conveniently how they put forth their complaint right now, but they complained before, they'll complain later. Their entire מהות mahus is to complain. They walk in a room, something's wrong. They wake up in the morning, someone's wrong. They'll figure out what it is. So for right now it's the meat. Soon it'll be the AC, the thermostat, then it will be the... They'll find the complaint. But if you wake up and you're a complainer before your day even began, you'll figure out what to complain about, but you're a complainer.The Torah has a lot of tolerance for complaints. I'm imperfect, the shul is imperfect. There's a lot that we need to work on. We we welcome, we invite constructive criticism, suggestions, ideas, solutions. We don't welcome complainers. So if you're a happy, appreciative person with a context and a perspective who has something legitimate to share, share it. But if you become a complainer, that's toxic. That's poisonous. The מאור ושמש Me'or V'Shemesh says, what's the root of the word מתאוננים mis'onenim? The root of the word is אונן onen, is אונן onen. What's an אונן onen? In between death and burial, before you become an אבל avel, a mourner, a person is an אונן onen. Why is the word מתאוננים mis'onenim from the word אונן onen? Because the person made themselves sad and down and grieving and mourning over the thermostat or the brand of the tuna fish at שלוש סעודות Shalosh Seudos, or something more significant, but still. I wrote an article last week about my JetBlue flight, where the woman next to me, because her TV didn't work, screamed, \"Nothing's working!\" The flight attendant said, \"Nothing's working? The plane is working, and that's the most important thing.\"And that was the message for us. Even when my knee, my hip, the Wi-Fi, the, it's not working the way I want, but is my heart still beating? And my lungs, and my I still breathing? The main thing is still working. Don't be a complainer. Go fix your knee, fix your hip, fix the AC, fix the Wi-Fi, but have a perspective, have a context. Don't be a מתאוננים mis'onenim, don't be an אונן onen. You're grieving, you're mourning, you're crying, you're sad, 'cause the TV is not working, you're acting like you lost a loved one? Are you crazy? כמתאוננים K'mis'onenim? We too fall prey to that sometimes. When we choose sadness over happiness. The Zohar says choosing sadness over happiness is a form of עבודה זרה avodah zarah. Choosing sadness over happiness. Don't be an אונן onen. Don't grieve and mourn and make yourself someone sad over something, over something which is fixable, over something which has a solution to it. Don't be somebody who's miserable. Look what's right, not what's wrong. A lot more to say about this and about the פרשה parsha as a whole. We'll end here. Tomorrow morning, we continue 10 minutes of meaning, living with אמונה emunah at regular times. Tomorrow night, we go behind the bima, Lisa Elefant, the founder of Adopt-a-שדכן Shadchan. Very interesting. Person who's exhibited a lot of faith in recent times, suffered a lot of loss, the loss, tragic loss of her son. We'll speak to her tomorrow night behind the bima. Until next time, stay happy, stay healthy.
