Transcript
Okay, good morning and a good Vinter and welcome back to Parsha Perspectives for today. It's awkward to even use the word good relating to the morning or the day. I know I struggled over יום טוב Yom Tov to even say good יום טוב Yom Tov to anyone or חג שמח Chag Sameach to anyone. Obviously, as we're all so attached and connected to everything that's going on in Israel. It's even difficult to tear ourselves away for this hour to feel disconnected to the news and the updates and what's happening. But we dig deep to find the will to do it knowing that learning תורה Torah from our perspective and our vantage point, from where we are geographically, is the weapon that we have at our disposal. It's our contribution to the war effort among many others. We had a large rally yesterday and we are making contributions and donations and continue to דאווען daven, but the זכות zchus, the merits that we earn, including by learning, are the contribution that we make.So while it's incredibly difficult to tear ourselves away, but every moment that we spend not only glued to the news, getting enough information that we are informed, but then turning our attention to what we can do, learning and דאווענען davening and advocating and donating is is our mission, is our purpose, it's what we can do. I want to thank our פרשה Parsha series sponsors again for the year, Becky and Avi Katz and family in memory of David Grossman, לעילוי נשמת l'iluy nishmas דוד בן מנחם מנש David ben Menachem Monish. We remain very, very grateful to the Katz family for their generosity, for their friendship, and for supporting this שיעור shiur. This morning's שיעור shiur in particular is sponsored by Ryan Snoyman in the memory of his father-in-law Mark Friedgood, whose יארצייט yahrzeit was on the second day of סוכות Sukkos, and who introduced Ryan to the פרשה שיעור Parsha shiur, so we're so grateful to him for listening and it should be לעילוי נשמת l'iluy nishmas Mark. And by Eli Mandelbaum in memory of his father on his third יארצייט yahrzeit of רב אברהם דוד בן שמואל Rav Avraham David ben Shmuel, רב אברהם מאנדלבוים Rav Avraham Mandelbaum, Abraham Mandelbaum whose love for תורה Torah has not been forgotten. And of course, our learning is in memory of the more than 900 lives that were lost. It's an unfathomable number. And in honor and זכות zchus that the captives be brought home safe and secure, that our soldiers, the members of the IDF are protected as they protect us.בראשית Bereishis, page two in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash. בראשית ברא אלקים Bereishis bara Elokim. Here we are again at the very beginning. And we won't spend time on this now, but this is one of the unique weekends of the year that has a name based on the פרשה parsha. It's שבת בראשית Shabbos Bereishis. We won't call next week שבת נח Shabbos Noach or שבת לך לך Shabbos Lech Lecha or שבת וירא Shabbos Vayeira. We don't call it שבת דברים Shabbos Devarim, but it's called שבת בראשית Shabbos Bereishis. Why does the whole שבת Shabbos get a name? What is the significance of בראשית Bereishis? We'll talk about it more maybe on שבת Shabbos, but בראשית Bereishis is more than just the name of a פרשה parsha. בראשית Bereishis is a mentality, it's an attitude, it's a focus, it's a philosophy, it's the way that we are beginning. חכם עיניו בראשו Chacham einav b'rosho. The wise person, their eye is בראשו b'rosho on the ראשית reishis. Everything follows the beginning and therefore this is not just פרשת בראשית parshas Bereishis, it's an important week in all that we do because it's not just פרשת בראשית parshas Bereishis, it's also שבת בראשית Shabbos Bereishis. And how could one help but not start by the opening רש״י Rashi. A רש״י Rashi we all know so well and yet it bears repeating particularly with current events all around us. רש״י Rashi tells us, אמר רבי יצחק, לא היה צריך להתחיל את התורה אלא מהחודש הזה לכם Amar Rabbi Yitzchak, lo hayah tzrich l'hischil es haTorah ela mei'hachodesh hazeh lachem. Where should the תורה Torah have begun from? Where should it begin? It should begin from the very first מצוה mitzvah after all the תורה Torah is communicating, it's transmitting all the laws, all the statutes, all of השם's Hashem's vision for how to live in his world, how to regulate ourselves. So what is the very first law, the first מצוה mitzvah that we were given? החדש הזה לכם Hachodesh hazeh lachem, to sanctify the new moon and with it to control the calendar. So why doesn't the תורה Torah begin with פרשת בא parshas Bo? Why doesn't the תורה Torah begin with החדש הזה לכם Hachodesh hazeh lachem? Why does it start earlier? ומה טעם פתח בבראשית U'mah taam pasach b'Bereishis? We have this entire book, it's a story book of patriarchs and matriarchs. Most of it is not flattering. It's a lot of struggles and navigating family relationships. It's about trying to get it right, sibling rivalry and parenting. So why do we have this whole book? If it's a law book, why don't we begin from the first law? החדש הזה לכם Hachodesh hazeh lachem, you control the calendar, that we have control over sanctifying the new moon. משום כח מעשיו הגיד לעמו Mishum koach ma'asav higid l'amo. It's quoting a פסוק pasuk from תהילים Tehillim. לתת להם נחלת גוים Lases lahem nachlas goyim. שאם יאמרו אומות העולם לישראל, לסטים אתם שכבשתם ארצות שבעה גוים. הם אומרים להם כל הארץ של הקדוש ברוך הוא. הוא בראה ונתנה לאשר ישר בעיניו. ברצונו נתנה להם, וברצונו נטלה מהם ונתנה לנו She'im yomru umos ha'olam l'Yisrael, listim atem she'kavashtem arzos shivah goyim. Hem omrim lahem kol ha'aretz shel Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Hu bra'ah u'nsanah l'asher yashar b'einav. Birtzono nesanah lahem, u'virtzono netalah meihem u'nsanah lanu. רש״י Rashi tells us a tradition he has from his teacher, you know why we have this entire book? For the opening of the book. And the opening of the book reminds us that השם Hashem created the heaven and earth. This is his world. This is his globe. This is his earth. This is his universe, these are his galaxies, and it's his to do what he wants with. And to whom he bequeathed and gave and allotted and allocated each of the parts of that globe, that earth and that world. And when the nations of the world will say, how dare you? You're occupying land, you're occupying territory. From the river to the sea, try to drive us. Make no mistake, and it's a terrible mistake people make. I don't want to say as shocking, nothing is as shocking, but also shocking of the images and visions and stories we're seeing are the images and stories, the Opera House in Australia and the streets of Manhattan, and the streets of Fort Lauderdale and Paris and all over. Those waving Hamas flags, Palestinian flags and aligning themselves with brutal, brutal animals who could take captive and rape and murder as we know how deeply disturbing. This has nothing to do with a peace process or a dispute over land, of which there are legitimate conversations to be had and different positions that people can have. This is brutal. But רש״י Rashi reminds us that when the אומות העולם umos ha'olam, when the nations of the world will say, you're thieves, you're robbers, you're bandits, you're gangsters, you stole this land, you're occupying, you show them the beginning of ספר בראשית Sefer Bereishis. השם Hashem wrote the entire book so that we would be able to point to it and say, we didn't take anything that's not ours. The creator of the universe who owns everything, gave it to us, it is ours rightfully. And רמב״ן Ramban is already bothered, but everyone else can also weigh in and equally bothered by the absurdity of the question. Are we really, you think the nations of the world will be satisfied? Can you imagine you're going to go to the UN? The Israeli ambassador to the UN is going to say, you know how terrible things are when the UN condemns Hamas. When the EU is willing to talk about suspending aid. You know that things are terrible and how low the bar and threshold that when we see anyone, any celebrity, the NFL, Major League Baseball, they put out a notice sympathizing with the victims who were brutally murdered, and we're so grateful that the world, how low the bar, we're grateful that you agree we shouldn't be murdered. It's pathetic. It's pathetic how low the bar is for the Jewish people in the world. So those same אומות העולם umos ha'olam, you think the Israeli ambassador to the UN is going to say, I want to read a רש״י Rashi. You think we're occupying land, we don't belong? Others are entitled to try to drive us out? Let me read a רש״י Rashi. We can resolve this entire conflict. Let me read a רש״י Rashi. So several have suggested this רש״י Rashi, this tradition is not for the אומות העולם umos ha'olam. When the אומות העולם umos ha'olam will raise this protest and objection, we the Jewish people need to remind ourselves and one another about our right to this land. It is our homeland. It is the one and only Jewish homeland. It was given to us by God. It is our divine right. And we need to remind not only the nations of the world, many of whom won't listen, though we have so many friends among them and should be grateful. In this country, elected leaders, Congress and the president, past president, we're grateful and we should be grateful. But we have many who are aligned with us and many who don't, but the message has to begin. This רש״י Rashi and this tradition, this teaching of רבי יצחק Rabbi Yitzchak is really firstly for ourselves. It is for ourselves to remember, never doubt, never be uncertain, never question השם's Hashem's world, it's his earth, and he gave it to us and he told us this is our land. This is our land. There are legitimate conversations to have but not about our right to live there and to be there, to be recognized, to exist, to even debate someone's right to exist is insane, the definition of insanity. בראשית ברא אלקים Bereishis bara Elokim, the message is for the Jewish people. So many of whom don't understand and don't get it and are on the wrong side. And we need to be reminded and we need to stick together with unity, with one voice, and without politics to stand up for our people at this time. The זרע קודש Zera Kodesh, the ראפשיצער Ropshitzer, says on this פסוק pasuk, בראשית ברא אלקים Bereishis bara Elokim. רש״י Rashi says, מה טעם פתח בבראשית, משום כח מעשיו הגיד לעמו mah taam pasach b'Bereishis, mishum koach ma'asav higid l'amo. כח מעשיו Koach ma'asav, the strength, the power of his actions, הגיד לעמו higid l'amo, he told his people. It's a פסוק pasuk in תהילים Tehillim, קא kuf yud alef. We're all saying so much תהילים Tehillim right now. We should know what it means. כח מעשיו Koach ma'asav, the strength, the power of his deed, of his actions, of his creation, הגיד לעמו higid l'amo, he transmitted, he told to his people. Says the הייליגער ראפשיצער Heiliger Ropshitzer, שהגיד הוא לשון המשכה she'higid hu lashon hamshacha. הגיד Higid, to tell, means המשכה hamshacha, it means to drag, to give, to transmit. והענין בזה שהקדוש ברוך הוא המשיך לעמו הכח להיות שותפים במעשיו בבריאת שמים וארץ V'ha'inyan b'zeh she'Hakadosh Baruch Hu himshich l'amo ha'koach l'hiyos shutafim b'ma'asav b'vrias shomayim va'aretz. His strength, his power, his creativity, his capacity to create, הגיד higid, המשיך himshich, he transmitted, he gave over, לעמו l'amo, to we his people. He invited us to be his partner in the creation of heaven and earth. Like the גמרא Gemara says, כל האומר ויכולו kol ha'omer vayechulu, גמרא שבת קיט Gemara Shabbos kuf yud tes, כל האומר ויכולו, נעשה שותף להקדוש ברוך הוא במעשה בראשית kol ha'omer vayechulu, naaseh shutaf l'Hakadosh Baruch Hu b'maaseh Bereishis. If you say ויכולו vayechulu, if we acknowledge God as the creator, we become partner with him in creating heaven and earth. And it says, על בני ישראל שהם כאילו בונים שמים וארץ. ומהיכן יש להם לבני ישראל כוחות הללו al bnei Yisrael she'hem k'ilu bonim shomayim va'aretz, u'me'heichan yesh lahem l'bnei Yisrael kochos halalu. Where do we have that right? Where do we have our building license? Where did we pass that test to build, to be his partner? The answer says the ראפשיצער Ropshitzer, this פסוק pasuk. רק שהקדוש ברוך הוא המשיך להם שיהיה להם כוחות הללו שנעשה כאילו הם עושים עמו שמים וארץ Rak she'Hakadosh Baruch Hu himshich lahem she'yihyeh lahem kochos halalu she'naaseh k'ilu hem osin imo shomayim va'aretz. זהו כח מעשיו הגיד, דהיינו המשיך לעמו Zeh hu koach ma'asav higid, d'heim himshich l'amo. השם Hashem says, be my partner in the creation, in completing creation. שיהיו שותפים עמו בבריאת שמים וארץ She'yihyu shutafim imo b'vrias shomayim va'aretz. He began the process of creation but he wants us to finish. We spoke about this a couple years ago in our פרשה parsha class on בראשית Bereishis. נעשה אדם בצלמנו Na'aseh Adam b'tzalmeinu. In the plural, נעשה na'aseh, let us make man. What do you mean let us? Already חז״ל Chazal say we should worry. השם Hashem left open the door for heretics to say you see there's more than one God. What do you mean נעשה na'aseh, let us make man? The זוהר הקדוש Zohar Hakadosh says, who's the us? Let us? השם Hashem says, נו nu, I got you started. I gave you DNA, I gave you genetics, I physically brought you into this world. נעשה Na'aseh. נו Nu? Come, be my partner. Now express your free will, make choices, take actions. Be my partner, finish off your creation. The whole idea of the ברית מילה bris mila, השם Hashem left the tag, the tailor leaves the the suit stitched and you have to tear open the pockets, you have to remove the final label, the flap. And הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu says, I'm the tailor, I created you, and now cut off the final flap. Remove the ערלה orlah, the ברית bris, be my partner. Be my partner, the ברית bris in the area where you might most likely might give in to your lust and instinct and animal impulse, specifically in the area of your greatest impulse and יצר הרע yetzer hara, we'll see in our פרשה parsha. אדם וחוה Adam and Chava don't even recognize their nakedness before the יצר הרע yetzer hara, before the pull to do the wrong thing becomes internalized, when it's only externally manifested in the עץ הדעת eitz hadas, they don't even realize they're naked because because intimacy, physical intimacy, you're not ashamed or embarrassed to eat in front of somebody else. And that act had no shame or embarrassment or impulse or lust around it. It wasn't something of the יצר הרע yetzer hara. But once they ate from the עץ הדעת eitz hadas and the יצר הרע yetzer hara became internalized and absorbed from within, all of a sudden the very next פסוק pasuk, אדם וחוה Adam and Chava say, ooh, did you feel that breeze? Feels kind of cool in here. They realized their naked. And we'll see a beautiful insight of the רב Rav, how do they clothe themselves? How do they protect themselves both from the elements, but also from shame? How do they introduce the notion of modesty? But it's when the יצר הרע yetzer hara becomes internal. So it's specifically on that organ and in that place that the ברית מילה bris mila, השם Hashem says, נו nu, come, be my partner, be my partner. So says the ראפשיצער Ropshitzer, that's why, where do we get the power to be השם's Hashem's partner? Why do we have the right to have an army to defend ourselves, to defend our homeland? What right do we have to stand up and try to redeem the world, repair the world, improve the world? Who are we to try to influence and mold and shape the world? We don't just have the right. חברה Chevreh, we have the responsibility, we have the obligation. השם Hashem says, נעשה na'aseh, come, be my partner. השם Hashem says, השם Hashem says, משום כח מעשיו הגיד לעמו mishum koach ma'asav higid l'amo. כח Koach, השם Hashem says, the כח koach to be my partner, לעמו l'amo, you, my people, you בני בכורי ישראל b'ni b'chori Yisrael, you, my children, you, my eldest children, you, my בכור b'chor, be my partner. Let's redeem and repair the world. Let's mold this world in the image. We have to root out evil. We have to purge evil from this world. Get rid of the dark and have only light. We have to shape this world. We have to do it literally and our heroes are courageously already and further positioning themselves to do it physically. But all of us can do it in our own way. We're all serving in different units. We're all called up as reservists in this fight to add greater light, to repair this world, how we treat one another, how we speak to one another, what we do with our time, how we share our resources. We're all serving. We are all serving in this mission and mandate to repair and redeem השם's Hashem's world for light over dark, for life over evil that celebrates death. And where do we get the right to be his partner? משום כח מעשיו הגיד לעמו Mishum koach ma'asav higid l'amo because he invited us. Where did he invite us? This opening פסוק psuk פסוק pasuk, this opening פסוק pasuk of ספר בראשית Sefer Bereishis.פרק א פסוק ה Perek alef pasuk hei. ויקרא אלקים לאור יום ולחשך קרא לילה ויהי ערב ויהי בקר יום אחד Vayikra Elokim la'or yom v'lachoshech kara laila vayehi erev vayehi voker yom echad. It was night and it was dark, that is one one day. I'm going to tell you a beautiful thought. This I shared again two years ago, the rest of the פרשה שיעור parsha shiur is all new, but it's so important and it's so relevant and it so bears repeating. And I didn't remember it. I don't want to challenge anyone else, but I wonder if others would anyway. ויהי ערב ויהי בקר יום אחד Vayehi erev vayehi voker yom echad. It was evening, it was morning, the first day. רב זאב מסטריקוב Rav Zev of Strikov has a beautiful חסידישע chassidisha interpretation, a טייטש taitsch, a beautiful ווארט vort in the פסוק pasuk. ערב Erev, evening, represents darkness, exile, gloom, struggle, suffering, distress. ערב Erev, your buvya, darkness. ערב Erev is the cloak of darkness. Dark. בוקר Boker is light, redemption, salvation, clarity, השם's Hashem's kindness. How do we go from ערב לבוקר erev to boker? ויהי ערב ויהי בקר Vayehi erev vayehi boker. We're in a state of exile, a state of suffering, a state of struggle. We're in a place of horrific darkness. How do we go from ערב לבוקר erev to boker, from darkness of suffering to the light of redemption? ויהי ערב ויהי בקר, יום אחד Vayehi erev vayehi boker, yom echad. We need a day of אחדות achdus. How do you go from ערב לבוקר erev to boker? יום אחד Yom echad. A day of אחדות achdus, of unity, of coming together, of harmony. When the Jewish people are united, when we are unified, which is what we're seeing all over the world. A unity government about to be announced, people sitting around that table you never could have imagined could cooperate, setting aside differences that are important and that undoubtedly they will return to. But יום אחד yom echad, we need a day of אחדות achdus if we want to go from ערב לבוקר erev to boker. Because literally our enemies pray on our divisiveness, and השם Hashem our father in heaven, when children are fighting, a parent withdraws. When kids just have conflict and call each other names and can't get along and have tension, no harmony, the parent says I'm out of here. I don't want to be around you and I'm not intervening to rescue you. You're killing each other, let others kill you, you're on your own. But when the children set aside those differences and come together and say, Father, אבינו שבשמים Avinu shebashamayim, we're all getting along. We're hugging, we're holding hands, we're singing, we are one. It's a יום של אחד yom of echad. It is a day of unity. ויהי ערב ויהי בקר Va'hi erev va'hi boker, we can go from ערב לבוקר erev to boker, we can go from darkness to light, we can go from exile to redemption when we have a יום אחד yom echad. We say in the ברכה של יוצר אור bracha of yotzer or each morning, עושה שלום ובורא את הכל oseh shalom u'vorei es hakol. Once there is שלום shalom, then there's everything. For we're embroiled in conflict and strife, we remain in darkness. It's only when we can transcend those differences and we can join together with love and with harmony that we can go from ערב לבוקר erev to boker, from darkness to exile. Now, אחד echad does not mean uniformity. We do not all have to be the same. The army is made up right now of many different units. השם's Hashem's army has many different units. We don't have to be the same. But we have to be אחד echad, we have to be with a sense of אחדות achdus.פרק ב פסוק י Perek beis, pasuk yud. We go through of course all of creation, we've studied this in the past, so I'm moving through it. All of the six days of creation, man is created of course on the sixth day and then comes the creation, the seventh day, שבת Shabbos. ויכלו השמים והארץ וכל צבאם Vayechulu hashamayim v'haaretz v'chol tzva'am. השם Hashem rests. That too is an act of creation, we don't think of it that way. We don't think of it that way. Rest is creativity. When you are creative, you rest. When you're not creative and you're just carried by momentum, when you're on autopilot, you stay in motion, you stay in movement, you keep working. Rest is also an act of creation, of creativity. And that's what השם Hashem did. ויכלו השמים והארץ וכל צבאם Vayechulu hashamayim v'haaretz v'chol tzva'am. That's why it says ויכל אלקים ביום השביעי vayechal Elokim bayom hashvi'i. And then it says it was after six days, but it was also ביום השביעי bayom hashvi'i. So when did he rest? The answer is it was the last act of creation was introducing and creating rest and that's what we emulate and imitate. That's the gift of שבת Shabbos. We have a lot more to say on this, but you could listen every Friday to turn Friday into ערב שבת Erev Shabbos. That's what we talk about for 10 minutes every Friday when we prepare for שבת Shabbos. ויברך אלקים את יום השביעי ויקדש אותו Vayevarech Elokim es yom hashvi'i v'kadash oiso. הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu blessed the seventh day, he sanctified it, כי בו שבת מכל מלאכתו ki vo shavas mikol melachto. Because he rested from all that he had, all that he had created. And then we have the Garden of Eden. אלה תולדות השמים והארץ בהבראם Eleh toldos hashamayim v'haaretz b'hibar'am. הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu creates heaven and earth. And we go to פסוק י pasuk yud. ונהר יצא מעדן להשקות את הגן V'nahar yotze mei'Eden l'hashkos es hagan. There is a river that issues forth from Eden from the garden that waters the garden. ומשם יפרד והיה לארבעה ראשים U'misham yipared v'haya l'arba'ah rashim. And from there it's divided four different rivers. שם האחד פישון הוא הסובב את כל ארץ החוילה Shem ha'echad Pishon hu hasovev es kol eretz ha'Chavila. And the תורה Torah then names the four rivers that come out from this major river that leaves the גן gan, that leaves the garden. What does it mean ונהר יצא v'nahar yotzei? So a teaching from the קדושת לוי Kedushas Levi. The holy קדושת לוי Kedushas Levi of לוי יצחק מברדיצ'ב Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev. He says the following. I actually got the author, Artscroll just put out a three volumes קדושת לוי Kedushas Levi in English. It's remarkable, קדושת לוי Kedushas Levi is not an easy ספר sefer of לוי יצחק Levi Yitzchak is beautiful deep teachings. And they put it out, they make it accessible and usable. I'm grateful they shared a copy with me, and I want to share with you. And with gratitude to them and encourage you to study it your yourself as well. So the of לוי יצחק Levi Yitzchak says the following. ונהר יצא מעדן להשקות את הגן V'nahar yotzei mei'Eden l'hashkos es hagan. And he אמרו רבותינו, הוי זהיר במצוה קלה כבחמורה, שאין אתה יודע מתן שכרן של מצוות omru rabboseinu, havei zahir b'mitzvah kalah k'v'chamurah she'ein atah yodea matan s'charan shel mitzvos. Our sages taught be as careful in the performance of what we call a minor מצוה mitzvah as a major one, for you do not know the reward given for מצוות mitzvos. הענין הוא שאין אנחנו יכולים להשיג התענוג שיש להקדוש ברוך הוא מהמצוה, אלא זה אנחנו יודעים Ha'inyan hu she'ein anachnu yecholim l'hasig ha'taanug she'yesh l'Hakadosh Baruch Hu mei'hamitzvah, ela zeh anachnu yodim. We do not know the divine joy that God gets from every מצוה mitzvah we do. But this we know. השפעה שבאה לעולם מהמצוה שהקדוש ברוך הוא שולח לנו לעשות מצוה אחרת כשהקדוש ברוך הוא רואה שאנחנו רוצים לעשות מצוות Hashpa'ah she'ba l'olam mei'hamitzvah she'Hakadosh Baruch Hu sholeach lanu la'asos mitzvah acheres k'she'Hakadosh Baruch Hu ro'eh she'anachnu rotzim la'asos mitzvos. The idea behind this is that we cannot comprehend the pleasure השם Hashem derives from the performance of a מצוה mitzvah. We know that the result of a מצוה mitzvah that is God affords us the opportunity to perform is another מצוה mitzvah since he sees we desire to do מצוות mitzvos. Just as when a father sees that his son understood some idea, the father asks him to consider yet another idea. When השם Hashem sees we get a געשמאק gishmak from a מצוה mitzvah, he gives us another מצוה mitzvah. He nourishes us with another opportunity, invitation again. וזהו נהר יצא מעדן להשקות את הגן, והיה לארבעה ראשים V'zeh hu nahar yotze mei'Eden l'hashkos es hagan, v'haya l'arba'ah rashim. And this is the idea of the river that issues forth and splits into four smaller rivers. כי במוח יש ד' חללים Ki ba'moach yesh dalet chalalim, because he says the brain, the skull houses the brain in four cavities. It's third cavity is divided into two. And then he goes on to liken this, but he continues in the next piece and he says another another idea that I want to share with you. כי ידוע שצורך כל ישראל להדבק תמיד במדות הטובות ובמדות הישרות לעשות נחת רוח לבורא ברוך הוא Ki yadu'a she'tzorech kol Yisrael l'hadbeik tamid b'midos hatovos u'v'midos hay'sharos l'aasos nachas ruach l'vorei borchu. Another interpretation is, as is known, every Jew must constantly cleave to virtuous and upright behavior in order to give השם Hashem נחת רוח nachas ruach. We don't think of it that way. We think we're so sophisticated and intellectual and rational, the omnipotent infinite being, he doesn't need anything, he doesn't get anything. But השם Hashem is מצמצם metzamtzem השם Hashem himself, he constricts himself, the infinite one, so that we can relate to him in a way that we experience him getting נחת רוח nachas ruach from our actions, from our actions. You know? Spoke to my parents yesterday, they're in ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael. How's the rally? How was סוכות Sukkos? How'd the יזכור דרשה Yizkor drasha go? I'm whatever age I am and I still get an enormous pleasure from giving my parents נחת nachas. I get a huge pleasure from giving my parents נחת nachas. It doesn't matter what age you are. You can get enormous pleasure from giving your parents נחת nachas. We have members of our שול shul, 100 years old. Their children in their 70s are still giving their parents נחת nachas. They're 70s. That's how we designed the world is that among the greatest pleasures that we get is that when there's someone we respect that we admire, somebody that we defer to and they get joy from us, that's unbelievable pleasure. It's an incredible pleasure that we get. It's one of the motivating pleasures. In the world of business, they talk about knowing the employee, what will motivate. Positive words of affirmation, money. For some, having a kind word from a boss is better than a bonus. I'm not sure how big a bonus, but than a Starbucks a Starbucks gift card. More saying job well done, we couldn't have done it without you, you're an incredible asset to our organization. Wow, you know what that does for somebody? So we are meant to live in this world and in this life knowing, you came to the rally yesterday? You opened the תהילים Tehillim last night? You showed up at the פרשה שיעור parsha shiur? You know what that means to השם Hashem? Do you know what it means? You were tempted to watch something and you said, it's not right for a בן תורה Ben Torah. I'm not going to watch that image, that show. You know what that means to השם Hashem, the נחת רוח nachas ruach that you're giving him? The intention of serving should be that השם Hashem is proud of us as it says in פרקי אבות Pirkei Avos, as the קדושת לוי Kedushas Levi quotes, רבי אומר, איזוהי דרך ישרה שיבור לו האדם, כל שהיא תפארת לעושיה ותפארת לו מן האדם Rabbi omer, eizehi derech yesharah she'yavor lo ha'adam kol shehi tif'eres l'oseha v'sif'eres lo min ha'adam. So רבי Rebbe teaches, רבי יהודה הנשיא Rebbe Yehuda HaNasi in פרקי אבות Pirkei Avos, which is the right path that a person should choose? All that is honorable to the one who does it and brings him honor from humanity. The phrase that the משנה Mishna stated in its eloquence, all that is honorable to the one who does it, can be read... רבי לוי יצחק Rebbe Levi Yitzchak is suggesting an alternative reading of the teaching from פרקי אבות Pirkei Avos. What does it mean? What does it mean כל שהיא תפארת לעושיה kol shehi tif'eres l'oseha? We normally read it to mean all that is honorable to the one who does it. But רבי לוי יצחק Rebbe Levi Yitzchak suggests it should be read, all that is a source of pride to לעושיה l'oseha, doesn't mean the one who does the act. לעושיה L'oseha means you're giving pride to the one who made you, השם Hashem. Giving נחת רוח nachas ruach to the אייבערשטער Eibeshter. A deeper level, a person ought to follow the right path so השם Hashem will take pride in him. Interpreting the subject of the verb who makes him to be השם Hashem is justified in as much as the one who makes everything. אבל באמת לכאורה קשה. מה זה להשם יתברך לבני אדם? הלא יש לו כמה מלאכים מעלה שהם משבחים לבורא Aval be'emes l'chorah kashah. Mah zeh la'Hashem Yisbarach l'bnei adam? Halo yesh lo kama malachim maalah she'hem meshabchim l'borei. But then רבי לוי יצחק Rebbe Levi Yitzchak of קדושת לוי Kedushas Levi is bothered by a question, what does השם Hashem need our מצוות mitzvos? What does השם Hashem need our discipline? What does השם Hashem need our good deeds for? After all, he's surrounded by מלאכים malachim, he's the angels in heaven. And the angels are perfect. They get nothing wrong, they do everything right. They don't struggle. They never give in to temptation, impulse. So what does he need us? So says רבי לוי יצחק Rebbe Levi Yitzchak, that's what it means תפארת לו מן האדם tif'eres lo min ha'adam. Angels doing the right thing is meaningless to השם Hashem. If you have a robot and it responds based on the way it was programmed and what it is meant to do, you don't go over to your little Amazon Echo or whatever say, I'm so proud of you. Laptop, I'm so proud of you. Smartphone, smart house, I'm so proud of you. Smart thermostat, way to go. You turned the AC on in time, you maintained the right pressure, the right uh the right um temperature. I'm so proud of you, thermostat. Couldn't have done it without you. Nobody talks about the נחת nachas they get from their thermostat. Why? Because it's just programmed. It's automated. It doesn't have a soul. השם Hashem doesn't get נחת nachas from the angels, they're just thermostats. They're vacuum cleaners, they're smartphones. What gives השם Hashem the נחת nachas? ותפארת לו מן האדם V'sif'eres lo min ha'adam. When we struggle with temptation, when we could be doing the wrong thing and nevertheless we do the right thing, gives a נחת רוח nachas ruach to the רבונו של עולם Rebono Shel Olam. וזהו תפארת לו מן האדם, דהיינו מן האדם מגיע לו תענוג, אז זה מתפאר עמו. וכשהאדם מכריע בעצמו בבחינה זו, אז מגיע תענוג לבורא, ואז גורם השפעה טובה לכל העולמות V'zeh hu tif'eres lo min ha'adam, da'inu min ha'adam magi'a lo ta'anug, az zeh mispa'er imo. U'k'she'ha'adam machria b'atzmo b'china zehu, az magi'a ta'anug l'borei, v'az gorim hashpa'ah tovah l'chol ha'olamos. When a person gets the joy and the pleasure and the pride in giving pride and pleasure to השם Hashem, ooh ah, that brings down such light, such sparks that transforms, that redeems the world in such a way. וידוע הוא שנהר הוא השפעה V'yadu'a hu she'nahar hu hashpa'ah. And that's the meaning of the פסוק pasuk. What in the world does this have to do with this פרשת בראשית parshas Bereishis, with this פסוק pasuk? Says the קדושת לוי Kedushas Levi, that's what it means, ונהר יצא מעדן להשקות v'nahar yotze mei'han Eden l'hashkos. A river is a metaphor for שפע shefa, a stream of divine bounty. So that's what it means, this flow. A river issues forth from גן עדן Gan Eden to water the garden, that from גן עדן Gan Eden the delight and pleasure that השם Hashem derives from was service of him, a stream of goodness issues forth to גן עדן Gan Eden and it nourishes the whole world. It nourishes the whole world. What a beautiful teaching, no? Thank you Artscroll. Thank you to the author who sent it. So grateful. Moshe Silk, thank you so much for your work and sharing it with me. A beautiful teaching of רבי לוי יצחק Rebbe Levi Yitzchak. Says the קדושת לוי Kedushas Levi, we give השם Hashem נחת רוח nachas ruach. When we give השם Hashem נחת רוח nachas ruach, we derive incredible pleasure and we become incredibly motivated. And that's what elevates and transforms this world and that's what brings down. So that's the טייטש taitsch, ונהר יצא מעדן v'nahar yotze mei'Eden. There's a river that leaves גן עדן Gan Eden. You know what the river that leaves heaven, that brings down the goodness and the blessing in this world? Is that השפעה hashpa'ah are the sparks that come from השם Hashem when he gets pride that we do the right thing. We're needed by him. We have a role to serve. All of us could keep living life exactly the same as we were before שמיני עצרת תשפ״ד Shmini Atzeres Taf Shin Pei Dalet. We could just be in motion, we could be exactly the same, or we could be inspired to change. To accept his invitation to be his partner in redeeming and repairing this world. We could take advantage of every moment. דאווען Daven, learn, חסד chesed, צדקה tzedakah. We could be better people to each other. And when we do and we give that נחת nachas to השם Hashem, more is gonna be יצא מעדן yotze mei'Eden. That river's gonna flow, it's gonna overflow, it's gonna deliver and bring all of that ברכה bracha that we so desperately need. And that is the way we make the river flow. That's the way we make the river overflow, says the holy רבי לוי יצחק מברדיצ'ב Rebbe Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev. פרק ב פסוק טו Perek beis, pasuk tes vov. This garden that השם Hashem put man in, he also gave him a charge. ויקח השם אלקים את האדם וינחהו בגן עדן Vayikach Hashem Elokim es ha'adam v'yanicheihu b'Gan Eden. לעבדה ולשמרה le'ovda u'leshomra. He put man in the Garden of Eden, לעבדה le'ovda to work it and to guard it. And all the environmentalists and environmental groups, and there's nothing wrong with that, we have a responsibility. This is their favorite פסוק pasuk and bumper sticker and motto in the world. לעבדה le'ovda and the next word, לשמרה leshomra, that why are we here? To not only work this world, but לשמרה leshomra, we have to protect and guard this world. We have to protect and guard it, and indeed we do.But why do we have to protect and guard this world? Not because the world deserves it, but because man, who is the pinnacle of creation, man who is the centerpiece of creation, man for whom there is a creation, man is what השם Hashem cares about. And so we לעבדה ולשמרה le'ovda u'leshomra, we don't see creation as the ends and man is the means. We see man as the ends and creation, the world, the environment is the means. And so we have a responsibility to ourselves לעבדה ולשמרה le'ovda u'leshomra.The אור החיים הקדוש Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh, רבי חיים בן עטר Rav Chaim ben Attar, אור החיים הקדוש Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh says, יש להבין איך שייך עבודה ושמירה בגן עדן, שאין הקרקע שם גשמי שצריך לזרוע אותו, או לשמרה שלא יכנסו אחרים לשוחו Yesh l'havin eich shayach avodah u'shmira b'Gan Eden, she'ein ha'karka sham gashmi she'tzarich lizro'a oso, o l'shomra shelo yikansu acheirim l'socho. This is not an ordinary garden. Ordinarily when you have a garden, I had a garden for about 15 minutes during Corona. Maybe 16 minutes on a good day. I had a garden for a very short time. What I was told, the reason it was a very short time because I was only told, I didn't actually do it, you've got to water it, it's got to be in the right spot to get the right sunlight, there are weeds that you've got to pull the weeds, you've got to build a little protective fence around it to make sure the rodents and the insects aren't going to get to it. A garden has to be taken care of. But this garden, this גן gan, the גן השם Gan Hashem, גן עדן Gan Eden, the נהר יוצא nahar yotzei, what do you mean לעבדה ולשמרה le'ovda u'leshomra? It doesn't take ordinary soil from Home Depot or Lowe's. I prefer Home Depot because we had Bernie Marcus stand behind the בימה bimah and he gives a tremendous amount of money to Israel and is on the right side of Israel. So you can't buy the the shovel and the hoe and the soil and the nutrients at Home Depot. So how do you fulfill לעבדה ולשמרה le'ovda u'leshomra for this garden? ומבאר שכל הדברים הנאמרים בעולם הזה הינם משלם, משלים לדברים רוחניים בעולמות העליונים u'meva'er she'kol ha'dvarim ha'ne'emarim ba'olam ha'zeh heinam mashlim, meshalim l'dvarim ruchniyim ba'olamos ha'elyonim. The whole description in בראשית Bereishis, everything that exists in this world is really a metaphor for the upper world. וענין העבודה בגן עדן הוא על ידי לימוד התורה ועשיית מצוות ומעשים טובים, שעל ידי זה נעבד את הגן עדן V'inyan ha'avodah b'Gan Eden hu al yedei limud haTorah v'asiyas mitzvos u'maasim tovim, she'al yedei zeh na'aved es ha'Gan Eden. The גן עדן Gan Eden, right, our connection, our image of a garden below, is a metaphor so that we can picture what a garden above means. There's a גן gan above in the heavens. And we nourish it not with anything you buy at Home Depot and not with your hose or sprinkler system, but with תורה ומצוות Torah u'mitzvos. וענין השמירה בגן עדן הוא על ידי זהירות מלַעֲבֹר על לא תעשה, וזהו שנצטווה אדם הראשון לעבדה ולשמרה V'inyan ha'shmirah b'Gan Eden hu al yedei zehirus me'la'avor al lo sa'aseh, v'zehu she'nitztaveh Adam HaRishon l'ovda u'leshomra. לעבדה L'ovda are the מצוות עשה mitzvos aseh. לשמרה L'shomra are avoid the לא תעשה lo sa'aseh. That garden upstairs, do you know how you take care of that garden? לעבדה L'ovda. We nourish the garden with the positive things we do, and לשמרה l'shomra we protect the garden by not doing the negative, harmful things.ומסיים האור החיים הקדוש, שאדם הראשון היה רואה בחוש איך שהגן עדן נשמר ונבנה על ידי מעשיו U'mesayem ha'Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh, she'Adam HaRishon haya ro'eh b'chush eich she'ha'Gan Eden nishmar v'nivneh al yedei ma'asav. And the אור החיים Ohr HaChaim concludes that Adam HaRishon saw palpably, tangibly, he saw exactly how his doing the right things improved the garden for him. And when he violated the one thing he wasn't meant to do, how that harmed and damaged the garden. ובאמת גם היום כן, שעל ידי לימוד התורה וקיום המצוות ומעשים טובים, ועל ידי זהירות מלַעֲבֹר על לא תעשה, עובדים ושומרים את הגן עדן, רק שאין יכולים לראות בפועל כפי שהיה פועל בזה, אבל באמת שייך ענין זה כאן, כעז גם אתה לעבדה ולשמרה U've'emes gam ha'yom kein, she'al yedei limud haTorah v'kiyum ha'mitzvos u'maasim tovim, v'al yedei zehirus me'la'avor al lo sa'aseh, ovdim v'shomrim es ha'Gan Eden, rak she'ein yecholim lir'os b'fo'al k'fi she'hayah po'el b'zeh, aval be'emes shayach inyan zeh kan, k'eiz gam atah l'ovda u'leshomra. Our impact on the cosmos, on the heavens, on the sparks of שמים Shamayim, לעבדה ולשמרה le'ovda u'leshomra are true.And far be it from me to disagree with the אור החיים הקדוש Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh. He says אדם Adam saw in real time the results of his לעבדה ולשמרה le'ovda u'leshomra on the גן gan. But we don't. We just believe that somewhere up there, but I disagree. I think our garden is our holy community, is the environment. Right, what is a גן לעבדה ולשמרה gan le'ovda u'leshomra? It's an environment. And the environment that we create around ourselves, and when we fill it with ולעבדה u'le'ovda, when we do תורה ומעשים טובים Torah u'maasim tovim, we create a beautiful environment, a beautiful place to raise our children, a beautiful community. ולשמרה U'leshomra, and we have to protect it. We have to protect it from divisiveness and שנאה sinah and tension. We have to protect it from immorality. We have to protect it from the influences and the forces and the values that seek to corrupt it and to compromise it. לעבדה ולשמרה L'ovda u'leshomra is true from the גן gan each of us have a גן gan. Our home, our family is a beautiful garden. How do we nourish it and how do we protect it? With the מצוות עשה ולא תעשה mitzvos aseh v'lo sa'aseh, תורה, מעשים טובים Torah, maasim tovim and avoiding the יצר הרע yetzer hara. We want the garden to flourish. You want it to be like my 15-minute Corona garden that was extremely short-lived, that when I first planted it my kids were already making fun of me. אבא Abba, you're only doing this for a דרשה drasha, and they were 100% correct. So do we want the garden of our family, of our home, of our community to last only as short as my Corona garden? Or do we want it to be going on for generations and generations to come? To plant, to plant things that will blossom, that our great, great, great, great-grandchildren will be tasting the sweetness of what it produces. So the way to nourish our garden like the גן השם Gan Hashem, לעבדה ולשמרה le'ovda u'leshomra are the same values of the אור החיים הקדוש Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh of the מעשים טובים, תורה ומצוות maasim tovim, Torah u'mitzvos and protecting from the יצר הרע yetzer hara.Torah then continues, פסוק ט\"ז pasuk tes-zayin, the very next פסוק pasuk. ויקח השם Vayikach Hashem, the next פסוק pasuk, ויצו השם אלקים על האדם לאמר מכל עץ הגן אכל תאכל vayitzav Hashem Elokim al ha'adam leimor, mikol eitz ha'gan achol tocheil. And now Hashem says this beautiful garden I've deposited you in, safeguard and protect it, take good care of it, nourish it and nurture it and guard it. And there's one, one tree. מכל עץ הגן אכל תאכל Mikol eitz ha'gan achol tocheil. All of the trees you could eat. אבל מעץ הדעת טוב ורע לא תאכל ממנו Aval mei'eitz ha'daas tov va'ra lo sochal mimenu. Some say by the way, what's the first מצוה mitzvah in the Torah? The first formal מצוה mitzvah of תרי\"ג Taryag is in פרשת בא Parshas Bo. That's what we opened up and spoke about. That's החודש הזה לכם hachodesh hazeh lachem. But the first ציווי tzivui Hashem says, even before he says go propagate, is מכל עץ אכל תאכל mikol eitz achol tocheil. Enjoy my beautiful world. Enjoy it. It's sweet, it's delicious, go out there and enjoy it. We don't believe in ascetic lives. We don't believe in lives of celibacy. That's not our religion. We, our motto, מכל עץ הגן אכל תאכל mikol eitz ha'gan achol tocheil. Hashem says go and enjoy. It's delicious. It's wonderful. It's not an ends, again, it too is a means to living a virtuous, meaningful, purposeful life of service to Hashem. But go. אבל מעץ הדעת טוב ורע לא תאכל ממנו Aval mei'eitz ha'daas tov va'ra lo sochal mimenu. Only one tree do not eat from. כי ביום אכלך ממנו מות תמות Ki b'yom acholcha mimenu mos tamus, you will die. It is poisonous. The moment you eat from it, you are done. What is that tree? It's עץ הדעת טוב ורע eitz ha'daas tov va'ra, it is the tree of knowledge. What knowledge? טוב ורע, לא תאכל ממנו tov va'ra, lo sochal mimenu, don't eat from it. What kind of a tree was that? The one kind of tree we know it wasn't is an apple tree. Christian medieval artists decided it's an apple tree and corrupted the image in so many people's mind. But one thing we know is it was not an apple tree. Might have been an אתרוג esrog tree, might have been a fig tree, might have been a wheat stalk. The גמרא, חז\"ל Gemara, Chazal have many different suggestions of what it was. It was not an apple tree. Get that out of your mind. But it was the tree of knowledge, good and good and bad. That's what I said before, the יצר הרע yetzer hara was external. This notion of the struggle between my godly soul, my חלק אלוק ממעל ממש chelek Eloka mima'al mamash, and the animal impulse, the animal soul, it was outside, it was external. It's after man couldn't behave and gave into the seduction of חוה Chava, who gave into the seduction of the נחש nachash, of the snake, it became absorbed internally.The מור ושמש Mor u'Shmesh has a beautiful insight. He says הרוצה לעבוד את השם, לא יראה חסרונות חבירו, רק יראה את הטוב שבו Harotzeh la'avod es Hashem, lo yireh chesronos chaveiro, rak yireh es ha'tov she'bo. If you want to work on yourself, you want to serve Hashem, don't see what's missing in your friend. Don't see their weaknesses. Don't see their pimples and warts. Don't see their liabilities. See their strengths. See what they excel at. See the good in them. ולא יחזיק עצמו לחכם מבין את דרכו של חבירו V'lo yachzik atzmo l'chacham meivin es darko shel chaveiro. You can't judge someone until you walk in their shoes. And you know what? You could never, ever walk in anyone else's shoes. You don't have their background, you don't have their DNA, you don't have their life experience, you don't have their personality, you don't have their strengths and weaknesses. By definition, you can't walk in someone's shoes, which means you can never judge anyone. So don't be such a חכם chacham that you think that you can sit and point fingers, you can sit and you can judge. כמו שיש בני אדם הרואים חסרונות בחבריהם, שזה נובע מגאווה. כשהאיש עניו אדם בענווה, לא יראה חסרונות Kmo she'yesh bnei adam ha'ro'im chesronos b'chaveireihem, she'zeh nove'a mi'ga'avah. Kshe'ha'ish anav, adam b'anavah, lo yireh chesronos. If you're arrogant, you think you're in a position, you think you're poised from your porch to look down and to sit in judgment and criticism of everyone around you. But if you live with modesty, then you only choose to see the good in everyone. You choose to see their strengths, you choose to see their good. And that's the פירוש peirush here. מעץ הדעת טוב ורע לא תאכל ממנו Mei'eitz ha'daas tov va'ra, lo sochal mimenu. לדעת אם אדם אחר הוא טוב ורע, לא תאכל ממנו Lada'as im adam acher hu tov o ra, lo sochal mimenu. Don't indulge and don't eat from the buffet of judgment. Don't eat from the tree of judgment. לדעת טוב ורע Lada'as tov va'ra. You think that you can sit and eat from the tree that will give you the knowledge to be able to judge others, לא תאכל ממנו lo sochal mimenu. And that's what it says, וידעו כי ערומים הם vayeidu ki eirumim heim. Once they ate from that tree, they realized they were naked. You know what that means? לדעת ולהבין את הטוב ואת הרע של חבירו Lada'as u'lehavin es ha'tov v'es ha'ra shel chaveiro. It means they were unable, they were naked from being able to judge their neighbor, their friend. It means that they were exposed, their shortcoming. They were exposed for their weaknesses. So it's of course a homiletical, Chassidic vort. But מעץ הדעת טוב ורע mei'eitz ha'daas tov va'ra, from the buffet of judgment, from the tree of judgment, from the snack, the nosh of judgment, לא תאכל lo sochal. Don't ever indulge, don't ever eat from it. Because if you do וידעו כי ערומים הם vayeidu ki eirumim heim, you're going to know that you're naked. You're going to realize how exposed and how vulnerable you are yourself.פרק ג פסוק ט Perek gimmel pasuk tes, we move over from the חסידישע תורות Chassidishe Torahs to the Rav, Rav Soloveitchik, who also was very familiar with חסידישע תורות Chassidishe Torahs, including the בעל התניא Baal HaTanya and even quoted a קדושת לוי Kedushas Levi. But he tells us the following. פרק ג פסוק ט Perek gimmel pasuk tes. In the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash, page, top of page 16. ויקרא השם אלקים אל האדם Vayikra Hashem Elokim el ha'adam. What happens? Man can't behave, indulges and eats from the עץ הדעת eitz ha'daas. We spoke two years ago by the way, the נחש nachash spoke to חוה Chava, what language? Hebrew, English, French, Aramaic? What language? The snake. What language? Is there a snake language? Did it hiss? חוה Chava understood the hiss of the snake? What language? We saw I think five or six different interpretations, fascinating. What language? The last, the Abarbanel said it was body language. What you do speaks so loudly I can't even hear what you say. You don't have to speak. You don't even have to speak. חוה Chava saw what the נחש nachash did, by eating, it looked so delicious, it had such a big smile, it had such drool running down its little snake mouth, that she followed in his footsteps. But man misbehaves and as a result, Hashem calls out to Adam. Hashem calls out to Adam, ויקרא השם אלקים אל האדם ויאמר לו איכה Vayikra Hashem Elokim el ha'adam vayomer lo ayekah. Where are you? Where are you? What is Ayekah? Says Rav Soloveitchik, because Hashem asked Adam, where are you and Adam did not confess to his sin, there will always be destruction accompanied with איכה eichah, with lamentation. The call from Hashem איכה ayekah is not limited to the episode of Adam's sin. It comes quite frequently through history or through events in one's private life, but man often ignores the call. If man does not answer the איכה ayekah, the call, he will be destined to say איכה eichah, to mourn. If we don't answer the איכה ayekah, then we will say איכה eichah and we will be in a state of of mourning. The the Rav of Soloveitchik, not to say that he got this from, but the בעל התניא Baal HaTanya. The Baal HaTanya very famously also spoke about איכה eichah in this way. In the תורת מנחם Toras Menachem, the Rebbe quotes Frierdiker Rebbe, his father-in-law, related that when the Alter Rebbe was in prison, this is a translation of Toras Menachem, volume ח\"כ א chaf aleph, he was interrogated by a deputy minister who was erudite in the in the scriptures and an authority on Jewish affairs. One of the questions the official put to him concerned the plain text and the eternal God called to Adam and said, איכה ayekah, where are you? Did not God know where Adam was that he had to inquire, where are you? The Rebbe explained to him the text. So again, when the Rebbe was in prison, one of the guards in prison who was familiar with תנ\"ך Tanach said to him to the Frierdiker Rebbe, no, what's your טייטש teitsch? What's your understanding? Sorry, when the Alter Rebbe was in prison. When the Alter Rebbe was in prison, the guard said to the Alter Rebbe, the בעל התניא Baal HaTanya, what does it mean, איכה ayekah? God didn't know? God didn't have Waze? God didn't have Google Maps? God didn't have GPS? He couldn't find him? So the Rebbe answered, the text is interpreted by Rashi. But the official said, I'm aware of Rashi's explanation. I'd like to hear an explanation from the rabbi. This is the חברותא chavrusa, the שקלא וטריא shakla v'tarya going on in prison between the בעל התניא Baal HaTanya and the guard. The Rebbe says, when a person is, for example, X years old, and here he mentioned the exact age of his interrogator, the Almighty asks him, where are you? Are you aware of why you were created on earth? Are you aware of what you were expected to do and how much you have done? The Rebbe, my father-in-law, concluded the story by saying the Alter Rebbe's reply to that official saved him from כלות הנפש klos ha'nefesh, from the flight of of the soul. For the Alter Rebbe was in a state of exaltation for having merited, excuse me, to be imprisoned and to suffer martyrdom for the teachings of the Ba'al Shem Tov and the Maggid. His ecstatic bliss brought him to the verge of כלות הנפש klos ha'nefesh. But as he considered that Hashem asks every one of us, where are you? Have you accomplished your mission? It impressed upon him he must remain here on earth, a soul vested in the body to complete the purpose for which his soul had descended. Every Jew must know what to answer, where are you? It's asked of everyone constantly. It applies to all from the greatest to the smallest, to each according to their own level. To one individual, the demand where are you, may be an admonition to withdraw from כלות הנפש klos ha'nefesh. You must carry out your mission and perform your service on this earth. It's not your time to go. To another, the call of איכה ayekah, where are you, may be the admonition not to indulge in passions and worldly pleasures, for these will cause him to fall all together. He's told to make vigorous efforts to study Torah and observe Mitzvos. This demand confers upon each one strength to perform his particular service and attain the destiny for which he was created and to do it with joy and gladness of heart. The relationship between the question of איכה ayekah and the imprisonment of the Alter Rebbe, he then went on to explain further. So this is איכה ayekah. Hashem knew exactly where Adam was. איכה Ayekah doesn't mean where are you, where are your coordinates? GPS. איכה Ayekah means where are you in life? Where are you vis-à-vis who you're meant to be? Where are you? Where are you? Who are you? What is your life about? How are you defined? What legacy will you leave? What is your reputation? What is your brand? How are you thought of? What difference are you making? Are you living a life of service to others? איכה Ayekah, where are you? Where are you? And that is the call. And the Rav says if we don't answer the call of איכה ayekah, we end up with איכה eichah, destruction and devastation and grief and mourning. We have to answer the call of איכה ayekah. And we're living in a time that there is a massive and a loud call of איכה ayekah. Are we standing up? Are we responding? Are we doing what we can, all in limited fashions from where we are? If you're listening in ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael, we're thinking of you, we're davening for you, you're all answering that call in all. I have two nieces whose husbands are on the border right now inside of Gaza. They were done with the army, but they were called up and they moved in with my sister. And everybody, the wives who had to say goodbye to their husbands, children who said goodbye to their fathers, parents who took in children and grandchildren while their sons-in-law are away, and I don't share that with you because I'm any exception, every one of you, every one of us. So those living in Israel, all we do is think about you 24/7 and wake up and check what's going on with you and struggle to even give a shiur for an hour not knowing what's going on with you. And you're answering the call in your way and we have to answer the call in our way from where we are, davening and rally and tzedakah and merits and learning. איכה Ayekah. איכה Ayekah. We don't want any איכה eichah. We don't want further איכה eichah. We have to answer the call of איכה ayekah. Rabbi Lord Sacks, זכר צדיק לברכה zecher tzaddik l'vracha, understood איכה ayekah a little bit differently. He pointed to the first stories of the Torah and he says, you know what the first stories of the Torah, the calamity is? The failure to take responsibility. Hashem says Adam, where are you? איכה Ayekah. He says it's her fault. Kayin kills Hevel and he says, hey Kayin, where's your brother Hevel? השומר אחי אנוכי Hashomer achi anochi? הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu can understand that man is fallible, man makes mistakes. What he doesn't tolerate is when we won't take responsibility, when we don't take ownership for our mistakes. That's what he can't tolerate. The call of איכה ayekah is, will you own up to your mistake? Do you take responsibility? Do you apologize and pledge and promise to try better? Hashem is very forgiving. We just came off that season of forgiveness and we believe he forgives. He can forgive, he's quick to forgive, he's ready to forgive. What he doesn't forgive is when we fail to take responsibility. That's the פשט pshat says Rabbi Sacks in in איכה ayekah.פרק ד פסוק ו Perek daled pasuk vov. Kayin rises and kills his brother Hevel. ויאמר השם אל קין למה חרה לך ולמה נפלו פניך Vayomer Hashem el Kayin, lamah charah lach v'lamah naflu panecha? Hashem says to Kayin, why are you annoyed and why is your countenance fallen? Now this is before he kills him. When he's offering the korban. Kayin had the idea to offer the korban, then Hevel offered a korban. Whose korban was accepted? Hevel. How does Kayin react? He kills Hevel. What's going on over here? So our friend Rav Yosef Sorotzkin, שליט\"א shlita, in his Meged Yosef, ניר להבין תוכחת הקדוש ברוך הוא לקין בדרך הכלי יקר וראיתי בספר צרור המור שאמר שם קצת סבה שלקח זוהר מאחר לקרבן כי לא הביאו עד אחר שראה קין הולך ומקריב Nireh l'havin tokhachas HaKadosh Baruch Hu l'Kayin b'derech ha'Kli Yakar u'raisi b'sefer Tzror HaMor she'amar sham k'tzas sibah shelkach zohar mei'acher l'korban ki lo hevi'o ad acher she'ra'ah Kayin holech u'makriv. The ספר צרור המור Sefer Tzror HaMor finds guilt in Hevel because why was Hevel only motivated and moved to bring a korban to Hashem when he saw his brother Kayin do it? He wasn't inspired on his own, he didn't initiate. אכן נאמר והבל הביא גם הוא Al kein ne'emar v'Hevel hevi gam hu. That's why the Torah says, והבל הביא גם הוא v'Hevel hevi gam hu. Hevel, he also brought a korban. The Torah is giving a little bit of blame, a שטקל פאטש shtikel patch. Hevel wasn't inspired on his own, he only did it because he saw Kayin do it. במילת גם רמז שהיחר קרבנו והביאו מתוך קנאה באחיו, גם הוא B'milas gam remez she'ichar korbano v'hevi'o mitoch kinah b'achiv, gam hu, meaning what motivated Hevel to bring his korban? Only because Kayin. He was keeping up, he was jealous, he was envious of what Kayin was doing, so he did it too. ועוד ניר להקדים דברי הספורנו. הספורנו על הכתוב למה חרה לך, למה תקנא באחיך שקיבלתי קרבנו ברצון ולמה נפלו פניך כי יש בכל תקנה, אין ראוי לצטער על מה שעבר, אבל ראוי להשתדל להשיג תיקון עד כאן לשונו V'od nir l'hakdim divrei ha'Sforno. Ha'Sforno al ha'kasuv lamah charah lach, lamah tekanei b'achicha she'kibalti korbano b'ratzon, v'lamah naflu panecha ki yesh b'kol takanah, ein ra'uy litzta'er al mah she'avar, aval ra'uy l'hishtadel l'hasig tikun ad kan leshono. Hashem turns to Kayin and says, no, what do you look so sad? Why are you so down? Because Hashem accepted Hevel's korban not Kayin. He says, why do you look so sad? Why does he look so sad? Because Hashem accepted Hevel's korban not his. Sforno says, what's the, what's the patch Hashem's giving Kayin? He says, you brought a korban, they both brought korbonos, so Hashem decided Hevel's is better? It's not a competition. Do better next time. Bring a bigger one next time. קין קנא בהבל שקרבנו נתקבל ברצון. אף שקין הגה בעצמו את הרעיון שהקריב להשם Kayin kinei b'Hevel she'korbano niskabel b'ratzon. Af she'Kayin hagah b'atzmo es ha'rayon she'hakriv la'Hashem. You know what drove Kayin crazy? Whose idea was the korban to begin with? His. And who's that Hashem accept more? Hevel. אילו הבל רק התיק רעיון מאחיו. Ilu Hevel rak he'etik ra'ayon mei'achiv. Hevel stole the idea from Kayin and then he's the one who gets honor at the dinner. He's the one who gets all the fanfare and the spotlight. קין חשב שמגיע לו בזכותו בלבד קרבנו עדיף. לזה הוכיח הקדוש ברוך הוא, שבעוד קנאת הבל נחשבת למעלה, קנאת קין מהווה חיסרון Kayin chashav she'magia lo bizchuso bilvad korbano adif. L'zeh hochiach HaKadosh Baruch Hu, she'b'od kinas Hevel nechsheves l'ma'alah, kinas Kayin mehavah chisaron. So the Meged Yosef develops this idea here and he says there are two types of envy and jealousy, good and bad. When envy and jealousy motivates and inspires you to do something good, you've harnessed that natural instinct towards envy to be driven to do something better. So קנאת סופרים תרבה חכמה kinas sofrim tarbeh chachmah. Jealousy amongst scholars increases wisdom. You saw somebody else learning, finishing ש\"ס Shas, finishing מסכתא masechta, going to the shiur, giving the shiur, and you want to learn more and do more, it's a fantastic envy. Envy and jealousy because they have a nicer car, a nicer house, they were honored, they got the spotlight, someone said positive things about them, not you, that is a very, very destructive and negative קנאה kinah. כל זה מונח בתוכחת הקדוש ברוך הוא בפסוק ז Kol zeh munach b'tochachas HaKadosh Baruch Hu b'pasuk zayin. All of this is in this pasuk. All of this is in this pasuk, and it's in the next pasuk too. He goes on to say this is the failure of Kayin and Hevel's story. There's two stories of jealousy. We focus on one. Kayin was jealous of Hevel and therefore he killed him and that's what we focus on. But says the Meged Yosef, there's really two stories of jealousy going on here. Hevel was first jealous of Kayin, but that was a good jealousy and that brought about a positive outcome that he imitated him, emulated him, brought a korban too. But it was followed by the jealousy of Kayin, that brought about of course a terrible outcome. The Kli Yakar has an insight over here. Second Kli Yakar in a row. The Kli Yakar is bothered. Hashem turns to him and he says, פסוק ח pasuk ches, ויאמר קין אל הבל אחיו ויהי בהיותם בשדה ויקם קין אל הבל אחיו ויהרגהו Vayomer Kayin el Hevel achiv vayehi bi'yosam ba'sadeh vayakom Kayin el Hevel achiv vayahargeihu. Kayin speaks to Hevel his brother and they're in the field, Kayin gets up and he kills him. What's missing from the pasuk? What did Kayin say? First of all, usually physical violence erupts because there's a failure of communication. Nobody's listening, they're not speaking, they're not communicating. You see that in this pasuk, there's a failure, a breakdown of communication. Then Hashem says אי הבל אחיך ei Hevel achicha and he says I have no idea. השומר אחי אנוכי Hashomer achi anochi? פליאה גדולה על קין, איך אמר לא ידעתי Pli'ah gedolah al Kayin, eich amar lo yadati? How can Kayin turn to God and say, I have no idea where Hevel is. אם טעה בזה לאמר לא יראה אלא ולא יבין מעשה תחתונים, אם כן למה הקריב מנחה להשם Im ta'ah b'zeh leimor lo yireh Elokah v'lo yavin ma'asei tachtonim, im kein lamah hikriv minchah la'Hashem? Why did he bring a korban? The same Kayin that brought a korban because he thought God can see what's happening down here, then surely God saw that you just killed your brother. So how did you think you're going to get away with it when you're saying לא ידעתי lo yadati, I have no idea where he is. It's a מורדיקע קשיא moiredike kashe, no? It's a בומבא קשיא bomba kashe the Kli Yakar asks. If you don't believe God sees what goes on on earth, then why'd you bring a korban? If you brought a korban because you think God is connected to what's happening down here on earth, then why do you, why do you answer לא ידעתי lo yadati? ונראה לומר, this is what the Kli Yakar says, כי ודאי הודה קין ששאל הקדוש ברוך הוא על רצח אחיו וענה שם לא ידעתי, השומר אחי אנוכי, רוצה לומר, לא ידעתי שיש עוון בדבר ההריגה Ki vadai hodah Kayin she'sha'al HaKadosh Baruch Hu al retzach achiv v'anah sham lo yadati, hashomer achi anochi, rotzeh leimor lo yadati she'yesh avon ba'davar ha'harigah. When did you tell me God that I can't kill? Where does it say it? You gave one instruction, the tree of knowledge, good and bad, don't eat from. And my father, my parents blew it. You never said I can't kill. You put a few human beings here on earth. You put a lot of animals and you never gave instructions. You never said you can't kill. השומר אחי, אין לשון תמיהה אלא מוסב על לא ידעתי, כי אמר לא ידעתי אם אני מחויב לשמור את נפש אחי שלא ירצחני, וזה לא השומר אחי אנוכי, it's לא ידעתי השומר אחי אנוכי Ha'shomer achi, ein lashon t'mihah ela musav al lo yadati, ki amar lo yadati im ani mechuyav lishmor es nefesh achi shelo yirtzacheni. V'zeh lo, ha'shomer achi anochi, it's lo yadati, ha'shomer achi anochi. I didn't know that I have to watch my brother and not kill him. Where does it say? Who says? Doesn't say anywhere. שמירה הוא מלשון אחז נפשו ישמור, כי טען קין כי לא ידע אם הוא מחויב לשמור נפש אחים או לא Shmirah hu milashon ocheiz nafsho yishmor, ki ta'an Kayin ki lo yada im hu mechuyav lishmor nefesh achim o lo. אמר לו הקדוש ברוך הוא, איך לא ידעת? הרי מצוה זו מן המושכלות. Amar lo HaKadosh Baruch Hu, eich lo yadati? Hareh mitzvah zu min ha'muskalos. There are some things you don't have to be told. There are some laws you should intuit. There are some truths you should just know. They're basic and core human instinct. The value of human life is a natural knowledge. You don't need to be told, you don't need to be taught, it doesn't need to be written in a book. Hashem says to Kayin, yes השומר hashomer, yes you have to safeguard your brother. I, I didn't instruct it, I didn't explicitly state it, I didn't write it anywhere. So what? It's a rational mitzvah, you should have known. קול דמי אחיך צועקים אלי מן האדמה, שהשכל מחייב לקיים מצוה זו אף אם לא נצטווית עליה Kol d'mei achicha tzo'akim eilay min ha'adamah, she'ha'sechel mechayev l'kayem mitzvah zu af im lo nitztaveisa aleha. What does it mean? האדמה Ha'adamah, the ground means our natural instinct. The the voice of your brother is crying out to me from the ground, meaning your brother is telling me that you should have known. It's not an excuse. It's not a defense. Well you didn't ever tell me, it doesn't say it anywhere. There are things that every basic, moral, decent human being knows. And do not murder is one of them. Had the Torah not said do not murder, we should know it. בטעמו דבר כי כשם שאדמה נרגש בה דבר המקבל דין הריגה, כך מחייבת אדמה עצמה את רוצחים וכן הלאה B'ta'amo davar ki k'shem she'adamah nirgash bah davar hamikabel din ha'rigah, kach mechayeves adamah atzmah es ha'rotzchim v'chein ha'la'ah. And this connection is obvious to our time. Barbarians, terrorists, immoral, animal, who have forfeited their צלם אלוקים Tzelem Elokim. I had a little bit of a debate online with my dear friend Rabbi Pilichowski, because I said they may look like human beings. Some of my children saw these images and said, I don't understand, they they look, they're wearing a t-shirt and jeans and they smile and their hair is cut and they look like they could be anybody. I don't understand. I said that's because you assume that they're human beings. They're in the guise of human beings, but their evil has purged the צלם אלוקים Tzelem Elokim within them. Rav Soloveitchik writes this in a few places and believes this, that a person can purge, he writes it about Amalek, and he spoke about it about the Nazis, you could be so evil that you purge and you lose the very divine soul that you had and all that you are left, he writes you take the form of a Satan here on earth. I will say if you purged your godly soul, then all that you have left is that animal instinct, you are an animal. You're an animal in the guise of a human being. And I'm not taking away from their free will, that was the debate online. Of course they began with free will and they chose evil. But in choosing this evil, they are animals because every human being has a natural knowledge, a rational knowledge to know, every decent and moral human being knows you cannot murder. Murder is illegal. So Kayin says the defense of, where does it say you can't murder? When did you say it? Where does it say it? No one told me. And Hashem says nice try. That's not a defense. You're a human being, you have a divine soul. If you have a divine soul, then you value, value life, you don't celebrate death. And if you're celebrating death and you don't value life, you don't have a divine soul. You're a Satan. You are a, an animal here on earth, an animal here on earth. How does Hashem will end with, there's so much more to say. We're starting the new year no different than the way we always are. But when they come out of the gan and they realize they're naked, and Hashem clothes them. פרק ד פסוק כ\"א Perek daled pasuk kaf-aleph, ח\"א chaf-aleph. ויעש השם אלקים לאדם ולאשתו כתנות עור וילבישם Vaya'as Hashem Elokim l'Adam u'l'ishto kosnos ohr vayalbishem. Hashem made for Adam and his wife coats of skin. We learned that Adam and Chava first fashioned clothing for themselves. The Gemara explains they made these clothes out of fig leaves because the tree of knowledge was a fig tree. They therefore sought to create clothing from the very source of their sin, thus identifying themselves with the hedonic pseudo-personality they had created through the eating of the fruit. In other words, by taking the very source of their mistake and using that to cover themselves up, they were permanently identifying themselves with their failure, with their mistake. They thought they couldn't overcome it. They couldn't improve upon it. They couldn't transcend above it. But Hashem created a different attire for man to wear. Instead of כתנות עור kosnos ohr, the Medrash relates that in Rebbe Meir's Torah, the word עור ohr, ע ו ר ayin vov reish, leather, was spelled with an אל\"ף aleph. אל\"ף ו' ר aleph vov reish, meaning light. Hashem designed clothing to cast light upon man's true essence, to accentuate man's ethical personality, that man would identify with his unblemished self. Don't read it ע ו ר ayin vov reish, עור ohr, leather, don't read it identifying with the mistake and the failure, read it אל\"ף ו' ר aleph vov reish, light. We have the ability to restore our purity, to reboot, to return to who we once were. We have the ability to go back to once we were becoming. But we have to answer the call of איכה ayekah because if not, God forbid, the answer to the call of איכה ayekah, God forbid, God forbid, God forbid, there could be more איכה eichah. איכה Eichah. God forbid. Stay now, we're going to say תהילים Tehillim. Those who want, we'll divide up all of תהילים Tehillim. We'll try to complete the תהילים Tehillim. Of course, we דאווען daven and dedicate all of our learning and all that we do to the merit of those in Israel.
