Transcript
Good morning, בוקר טוב Boker tov, and it should be a good morning and a בוקר טוב Boker tov. We should hear בשורות טובות besoros tovos for עם ישראל Am Yisrael. May our hostages be brought home, may the soldiers return to their families, may we have a sweeping victory. I want to thank our generous series sponsors for the year, Becky and Avi Katz and family in memory of David Grossman, Becky's father, לעילוי נשמת דוד בן מנחם מוניש leilui nishmas David ben Menachem Monish. Today's שיעור shiur is also is also dedicated in honor of the dear parents, grandparents, David and Nina Bernstein. Love their children and grandchildren, by the Ashman family for the yahrtzeit of יוסף ליב בן חווה הלוי Yosef Leib ben Chava Halevi, and dedicated by Louis and Rabbi Richard Beeler, in loving memory of her mother, Ethel Raff, איטא בת אריה ליב הלוי Ita bas Aryeh Leib Halevi, whose yahrtzeit will be this שבת Shabbos, נשמה שתהיה לה עליה neshamah shetihyeh lah aliyah. Thank you all, our generous sponsors, deeply, deeply appreciated. Also our learning should be for a רפואה שלמה refuah shleimah for חיה יעל שושנה בת חנה פריידל Chaya Yael Shoshana bas Chana Freidel. And as always, please stay afterwards for תהילים Tehillim on behalf of עם ישראל Am Yisrael, our brothers and sisters in Israel. The more people who stay, the quicker that we can complete and finish all of ספר תהילים Sefer Tehillim. Two quick housekeeping notes. One, please God, I'll be back in Israel next week for a few days so there is no שיעור shiur next week. If you're not part of the WhatsApp group, join the WhatsApp group. You get bonus פרשה דברי תורה Parsha divrei Torah, the written Parsha perspectives and stay updated on the schedule. So join the Parsha WhatsApp, WhatsApp group to know. And next week there is no שיעור shiur. And for the last time, hopefully, this year, let's give a live update. We are currently at $193,803 of our $200,000 campaign, which is 96%. That's incredible. It's incredible. But just like in our Parsha, והמלאכה היתה דים vehamalacha hayta dayam, just like in our Parsha, that the solicitation for the משכן Mishkan, they reached their goal, help us reach our goal so that you don't have to hear this ever again until next year. Help us reach our goal. If you benefit, if you enjoy, if you learn, if you read, if you watch, if you grow. If you're a BRS member, you are already doing your part. If you're not, do your part. For $180 you're in a raffle to get two domestic flights to Florida to spend שבת Shabbos with us and VIP tickets to the Ishay Ribo concert that will be here on April 7th. Jeffrey is right here, feel free to raise your hand and Jeffrey will be more than happy to help you. Also, last sponsor, חצקל Chazkel and Judy Lipshitz, לעילוי נשמת leilui nishmas his father חנינא אלימלך בן משה נחמיה Chaninah Elimelech ben Moshe Nechemia. Thank you for your generous sponsorship as well. נשמה שתהיה לה עליה Neshamah shetihyeh lah aliyah. Okay, page 516. ויקהל משה את כל עדת בני ישראל ויאמר אלהם אלה הדברים אשר צוה ה' לעשות אתם Vayakhel Moshe es kol adas Bnei Yisrael vayomer aleihem, eileh hadevarim asher tziva Hashem laasos osam. Moshe assembled, he gathered all of the Jewish people and he said to them, these are the things that Hashem has commanded you to do. And what is the thing that he commanded him to do? ששת ימים תעשה מלאכה Sheishes yamim tei'aseh melacha, שבת Shabbos, the שבת קודש Shabbos Kodesh, the holy שבת Shabbos. We love שבת Shabbos. You know that if you join us every Friday when we turn our Friday into ערב שבת Erev Shabbos and our 10 minutes and we get ready and our holy שלוש סעודות Shalosh seudos, ערבי דערבי Arvei d'Arvei, שבת Shabbos, oh. ששת ימים תעשה מלאכה Sheishes yamim tei'aseh melacha. So much to say, let's get started. So we begin with רב דרוק Rav Druk. רב דרוק Rav Druk, in his ספר sefer says the following on these פסוקים psukim. Moshe gathered all the Jewish people and he said to them, he had a message for them, אלה הדברים eileh hadevarim, these are the things that Hashem has commanded to you לעשות אתם laasos osam. Here are the things that you must do. לעשות Laasos that you must do sounds like active, actively do, perform, behave, construct, do. Wonders רב דרוק Rav Druk. So after that introduction, gather everyone together, inspire and motivate and get to work, get started. There are things that we have to get done, לעשות אתם laasos osam. So what would you expect to find? מצוות Mitzvos of doing, build the משכן Mishkan, build the סוכה sukkah, craft the תפילין tefillin, pluck a שופר shofar off the head of the animal, I don't know, לעשות laasos, go do. Create a חסד chesed committee, start צדקה tzedakah, go do. But what's the first מצוה mitzvah that comes after Moshe gathers everybody and tells them, I'm going to give you, instruct you, motivate you, inspire you, charge you to do things. And what's the very first thing? What you don't do. שבת Shabbos is all about passive, שבת Shabbos is all about inactive, שבת Shabbos is all about observing the ל\"ט מלאכות lamed-tes melachos, the 39 categories of creative labor. So what's going on? מצות שמירת שבת mitzvas shemiras Shabbos. כל העשה בו מלאכה יומת Kol ha'oseh bo melacha yumas. Anyone who does, anyone who's active, anyone who constructs, is put to death, it's a capital crime. הציווי הוא איסור לעשות מלאכה Ha'tzivui hu issur laasos melacha. שבת Shabbos is all about not doing. So why would we introduce, get everybody together and say I've got a big announcement, I got a big message, I have a big charge. Are you ready? Here's what you have to do. Don't do anything on שבת Shabbos. לא תבערו אש בכל משבתיכם Lo seva'aru eish bechol moshvoseichem. And then the Torah elaborates and says, don't light a fire in all your dwelling places on שבת Shabbos. We'll take a closer look at that פסוק pasuk momentarily. Here are all the things you got to do, you ready? Go do them. And what's the first thing you should go do? Don't do anything on שבת Shabbos. The שאלה shayla. רבים תמהו בה מאחר שמצוה על שמירת שבת Rabbeim tamuhu ba mei'achar shemitzvah al shemiras Shabbos. Since we're being commanded on שבת Shabbos, which is passive, why do we begin with אלה הדברים אשר צוה השם לעשות אתם אין כאן כל עשיה eileh hadevarim asher tziva Hashem laasos osam, ein kan kol asiyah. אדרבא, הציווי הוא להמנע מעשיה Adaraba, hatzivui hu lehimana mei'asiyah. So why introduce it with all of that? חידושי הרי\"ם Chiddushei HaRim beer says the a גערער רבי Gerer Rebbe. כמשנאמר לעשות אתם אינו מדבר על שמירת שבת Kimashen ne'emar la'asos osam einu medaber al shmiras Shabbos. The words לעשות אתם laasos osam, Moshe gathers everybody together, he unites them, and he says I got a message, there's something you need to do. The you need to do is not going on שבת Shabbos. שבת Shabbos is passive. חז\"ל מפרנס עשיה, והוא מונע ממלאכה Chazal mefarnes asiyah, v'hu mone'a mimelacha. ביטוי זה של לעשות אתם מתייחס לתחילת הפסוק ויקהל משה Bitui zeh shel laasos osam misyacheis l'tchilas ha'pasuk, Vayakhel Moshe. The words לעשות אתם laasos osam, there's something you need to go do is going back on everybody come together. ענין זה שהוא איחודו של העם כולו, זהו דבר שצריך לשמור עליו ולעשות אותו Inyan zeh shehu ichudo shel ha'am kulo, zehu davar shetzorech lishmor alav v'laasos oso. Talk about, you know, the title of our שיעור shiur is Parsha Perspectives for Today. Every week we try to glean messages and lessons and inspiration from the Parsha relevant to what we're going through right now. And here's a Parsha perspective for today. Says רב דרוק Rav Druk, לעשות אתם laasos osam, go do is not going on שבת Shabbos, because שבת Shabbos is about what you don't do. What's לעשות אתם laasos osam going on? ויקהל Vayakhel. Meaning, I might have thought you read the פסוק pasuk, ויקהל משה Vayakhel Moshe, it's just the backdrop. It's the narrator just setting the stage and the scene. Moshe gathered everybody and now, ooh, let's hear what he has to say. But no, says רב דרוק Rav Druk, ויקהל vayakhel, he gathered everybody לעשות אתם laasos osam, and he said, you know what you need to do? You see this gathering, you see this כנס keness, you see this unity? This is what you need to work on always. לעשות אתם Laasos osam. Stay united, stay together, stay cohesive, stay a community. That doesn't happen passively, it doesn't happen accidentally, it doesn't happen unintentionally. We will only remain with אחדות achdus, united, cohesive, collaborative, a community, if we have intentionality, if we work towards it, if we're mindful of it, if we're willing to compromise and sacrifice and suppress even things that upset us or bother us or individuality because it is a value that we have. האחדות בין כל חלקי העם וגוניו אינו דבר שיכול להתרחש מאליו Ha'achdus bein kol chelkei ha'am v'gavanav einu davar sheyachol l'hisracheish mei'eilav. Says רב דרוק Rav Druk, so importantly and so presciently that being together and remaining united does not happen on its own. Sadly and tragically, that is not the default. אלא הוא דורש עשיה רבה Elu hu doreish asiyah rabbah. It takes עשיה asiyah, it takes work, it takes effort, it takes reminder, it takes programs, it takes energy, it takes messaging. וכלפי זו אומרת התורה לעשות אתם את הויקהל צריך לעשות U'klappei zu omeres haTorah, laasos osam es ha'vayakhel tzorech laasos. The ויקהל Vayakhel, you have to work on, you have to create. וכך יוכלו כולם יחד לקבל את כל התורה לשמור מצותיה וחוקותיה V'kach yuchlu kulam yachad l'kabel es kol ha'Torah lishmor mitzvoseha v'chukoseha, and only then can we receive and live the Torah. You see this also when it comes to קריאת התורה krias haTorah, says רב דרוק Rav Druk. On סוכות Sukkos, on מוצאי שנת השמיטה Motzei Shnas HaShmita, the Torah tells us in ספר דברים Sefer Devarim, בבוא כל ישראל לראות את פני ה' אלקיך במקום אשר יבחר תקרא את התורה הזאת נגד כל ישראל באזניהם b'vo kol Yisrael liro'os es pnei Hashem Elokecha bamakom asher yivchar, tikra es haTorah hazos neged kol Yisrael b'ozneihem. הקהל Hakhel on מוצאי שביעית Motzei Shvi'is, סוכות Sukkos. Today we have זכר להקהל zecher l'Hakhel. The Jewish people gather together, men and women and children who come to give their parents שכר schar, a reward for bringing them. And then the Torah is read in the ears of the Jewish people. And there we call it הקהל Hakhel. הקהל Hakhel. הקהל את העם האנשים והנשים והטף וגרך אשר בשעריך Hakhel es ha'am ha'anashim v'hanashim v'hataf v'gercha asher b'shearecha. Go gather, go unite, למען ישמעו ולמען ילמדו l'maan yishme'u u'l'maan yilmedu, so they'll listen and learn, ויראו את ה' אלקיכם v'yaru es Hashem Elokeichem, God, ושמרו לעשות את כל דברי התורה הזאת v'shamru laasos es kol divrei haTorah hazos. And ושמרו v'shamru, what is the word ושמרו v'shamru? They'll guard, safeguard, לעשות laasos, to do. Rashi says המלך קורא haMelech korei, the king would read from the beginning on the בימה bimah, on the platform. But you have to wonder, what's going on over here, says רב דרוק Rav Druk? הקהל Hakhel means gathering. So what is לשמור lishmor? How are you guarding the לעשות laasos? And he says the same thing. הקהל Hakhel means to gather, to unite, to be together. The king has a message, he's proclaiming the Torah. The Torah is the vocabulary that unites us, but it doesn't happen by accident and it doesn't happen coincidentally or by chance and it doesn't happen automatically and it is not our state of being by default. אחדות Achdus is hard work. It's hard work. לעשות Laasos, לעשות אתם laasos osam. You know, after October 7th, we felt this wave of unity and the differences and the dividers, they dissipated, they fell apart, they dissolved. Those differences, pro-judicial reform, anti-judicial reform, חרדי, חילוני, חרד\"ל, דתי ציוני Chareidi, Chiloni, Chardal, Dati Tzioni, all the differences, diaspora Jewry, Israeli Jewry, it all disappeared because collectively we had experienced this tragedy and we continue to mourn. But you can already begin to feel it falling apart. The אחדות achdus is already in danger. Because as much as we feel and want and wish and דאווען daven that that אחדות achdus, that unity would endure and that unity would be really be this new permanent definition of who we are, it's not so simple. It takes work. It takes work. לעשות אתם Laasos osam. It takes effort. ושמרו לעשות אתם V'shamru laasos osam. Safeguard, protect, care enough, be invested in order לעשות אתם laasos osam to create them. To create them. You know, ברך השם Baruch Hashem, our community has exploded and we're so proud and it's so incredible. Thanks to you, thanks to our community. We have eight מנינים minyanim on שבת Shabbos morning and 1000 families and I'm not giving you a little promo, we're almost at the end of the campaign. But creating the community within communities become easy, because we're living in a generation and we're living at a time in which people want on demand and you have partisanship and people have special interest groups and people want what I want. My נוסח nusach that meets at my time, that is my קידוש kiddush with the person I want giving my דבר תורה dvar Torah, with the room set up the way I want, with my בעל תפילה baal tefillah. Everyone has their want, their need. So our breakout מנינים minyanim, they're exploding. You can't get in the room. That's easy. It doesn't take a lot of work in order to accommodate and indulge people's desire for their on demand, special interest partisan group. You know what takes the work? When you say, we're not just the Jewish community center that happens to house eight separate מנינים minyanim. Where are we united? When are we together? How can we create a sense of a קהל kahol, הקהל Hakhel, ויקהל Vayakhel, a קהל kahol, a ציבור tzibbur? How can we be a community? How can we be a community made up of smaller communities, community within community? But the community within community has to be within community. The value of community. This is increasingly a lost value in our time. Not specific to the Jewish people, in the Western world, everything that we have and who we are, we are increasingly divided and fragmented and focused on our individual want, small subsets and small groups and mini communities. That's what people want. But how can we be patriotic and be a nation and a people beyond just our partisan or parochial need? How can we be a ציבור tzibbur, a קהל kahol, a community beyond just the different מנינים minyanim that are inside? This is a value. Put differently, we're living now within the shtiebelization of America. The shtiebelization of America. You see it all over in communities all over, which are people are in their own home, maybe somebody just let her know that not a great time to make popcorn. In their own home, they're creating שטיבלעך shtibels, in their own home they're creating מנינים minyanim. Those שטיבלעך shtibels don't have a sense of community. On every block, there are some communities that every block have three home מנינים minyanim. But the קהל kahol, a sense of a ויקהל Vayakhel, לעשות אתם laasos osam, it takes work and it takes effort and we have to create it. It doesn't happen on its own, לעשות אתם laasos osam. Number two, רב דרוק Rav Druk of the day. ויקהל משה Vayakhel Moshe, Rashi says, when was this? When was this ויקהל Vayakhel? When did Moshe gather everybody? למחרת יום הכיפורים, כי ירד מן ההר L'macharas Yom HaKippurim, ki yarad min hahar. It was the day after Yom Kippur when Moshe came down from the mountain. והוא לשון הפעיל, שנאספו על פי דיבורו V'hu lashon hifil, she'ne'esfu al pi diburo. Moshe gathered everybody, he sent out a text message, an email, a phone tree, he called everyone, he said, \"Unite, gather, there's a message, there's something I have to tell you.\" And when was that? מוצאי יום כיפור Motzei Yom Kippur, the day after Yom Kippur. Now, why? Why was it the day after Yom Kippur? After Yom Kippur, everybody's pure and perfect and innocent. Everybody has purged their mistakes, transformed themselves. מוצאי יום כיפור Motzei Yom Kippur, everybody's holy. So why was that the day that ויקהל Vayakhel, everybody had to come together? Listen to what רב דרוק Rav Druk says. הנה ביום הכיפורים יחודו של יום הוא בכך שאין בו קנאה ושנאה ותחרות Hineh b'Yom HaKippurim, yichudo shel yom hu v'kach, she'ein bo kina v'sinah v'tacharus. On Yom Kippur, there's no jealousy, there's no hatred, there's no anger. On Yom Kippur, nobody has time, head space, nobody has the energy to fight. Yom Kippur is the day that we're all fighting for our lives, we're fighting for our fate, we're fighting for our family. We're pouring our heart into our תפילות tefillos, we're on our best behavior. So nobody's looking with jealousy or envy. Oh look at his kittel, what a fancy kittel. You know, nobody's looking at, everybody is just focused on their family, their faith, their connection to Hashem. אלא הוא יום שכל ישראל מאוחד Elu hu yom shekol Yisrael me'uchad. And if there's ever a day that we feel united, it's Yom Kippur. ברך השם Baruch Hashem, our shul for נִעילה Neilah, several of the מנינים minyanim come together and we unite. Even though they meet separately over ימים נוראים Yamim Noraim for נִעילה Neilah, we take the chairs out of this holy sanctuary and we pack the people in. Ooh, it's a נִעילה Neilah. Mamesh, it carries me the entire year. It's an unbelievable נִעילה Neilah. Why? Because אחדות achdus. During נִעילה Neilah, you just want to put your arms around the people next to you. You just want to tell everybody, sing as loud as you can, make these walls shake and reverberate. There's an אחדות achdus. וכולם מצטמצם מוחלים זה לזה V'kulam misatzim mochlim zeh l'zeh. And you look around and there are no differences and disagreements and I forgive you and I forgive you and I forgot that and I don't care about this because we're all fighting, let it just be a good year, let us all be healthy and well, let us all be back here next Yom Kippur. אמנם, יש להזהר למחרת יום הכיפורים Omnam, yeish l'hizare l'macharas Yom HaKippurim. But what happens the next morning when you wake up? Then you say, actually, I am still upset at you. And you, I'm actually still not talking to you. And you, yeah, I still don't forgive you. And I come late to shul, and I get angry at the person who's sitting in my seat, and we revert right back to where we were. Right back to where we were. You know, during COVID, we made all kinds of promises to ourselves, right? Our שמחות simchas are going to change forever. Our שבת Shabbos will change forever. פסח Pesach, even though this was the first time I ever made Pesach because I had to and I could not, it was beautiful in my home. I'm never going away again, ever. And we forgot all the promises that we made. And right now after October 7th, כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael has come together and we've healed so many open wounds and we've been there for one another and we care and our דאווענען davening and our learning and our connection and attachment to Israel and more importantly to our brothers and sisters there, and we say that will be forever. But you know what happens? There's a למחרת l'macharas. There's a day after. There's the day after. And the day after, too often, we revert back to the way we were. Says רב דרוק Rav Druk, לכן משה רבנו הזהר את ישראל שלכן להיות בהקהל Lachein Moshe Rabbeinu hizhir es Yisrael she'lכן liyos b'Hakhel. So when does Moshe gather them? דוקא למחרת יום הכיפורים Davka l'macharas Yom HaKippurim. On the day after, he already sends an email out. By the way, the day after Yom Kippur, we're having a congregational meeting. Why? After נִעילה Neilah, you need a congregational meeting? Yes, because the day after you need a congregational meeting. The day after, you need a הקהל Hakhel, a ויקהל Vayakhel. The day after, you need to remind everybody, don't act like it's a day after. Continue and maintain and grow and lean in further to that sense of אחדות achdus. לא רק ביום הכיפורים, אלא גם למחרת יום הכיפורים Lo rak b'Yom HaKippurim, elah gam l'macharas Yom HaKippurim. זה מה שהתורה רצתה להדגיש שמשה הקהיל את ישראל למחרת יום הכיפורים להשאירם באותו אחדות של יום הכיפורים Zeh mah she'haTorah ratztah l'hadgish she'Moshe hik'hil es Yisrael l'macharas Yom HaKippurim, l'hashiram b'osah achdus shel Yom HaKippurim. You see what we just experienced? Let's bottle it. Let's collect it, let's contain it, let's grow it. למחרת L'macharas, on the day after. On the day after. Community leaders and our whole community need to be thinking about the day after. Let us hope and דאווען daven that's today or tomorrow, that's the day after this war. Let's hope and דאווען daven. But today already is the day after. Tomorrow will be the day after. But what will be on the day after? Who will we be? How will we be changed? What will we hold on to? How can we maintain that אחדות achdus? רב דרוק Rav Druk quotes his father, the great the great maggid, Rav Mordechai Druk, the Drash Mordechai. And his father explained both in Niflos, בתפילת מעריב של מוצאי יום הכיפורים b'tfilas ma'ariv shel motzei Yom HaKippurim. You just finished נִעילה Neilah. Hashem Hu HaElokim, seven times in a row, you blow the שופר shofar, לשנה הבאה בירושלים l'shanah haba'ah b'Yerushalayim. Someone gives a clap, והוא רחום יכפר עון v'hu rachum yechaper avon. You begin מעריב ma'ariv. And what's the opening words of מעריב ma'ariv? והוא רחום V'hu rachum. What's והוא רחום v'hu rachum? Hashem forgive us. You just finished Yom Kippur. There is not a moment that you are more pure in your life than while you're singing and dancing לשנה הבאה בירושלים l'shanah haba'ah b'Yerushalayim. What do you need to say והוא רחום v'hu rachum for? אלא מאחר ואיננו נשארים באותו מצב של אחדות el-ah mei'achar v'einenu nish'arim b'oso matzav shel achdus. לכן אנחנו צריכים כפרה lachein anachnu tzrichim kaparah. Because already by מעריב ma'ariv on מוצאי יום כיפור Motzei Yom Kippur, we are in the בחינה bchina of מחרת macharas, we're already in the after. Oh, Yom Kippur's over. You know, people are taking off their tallis, they're folding it up, they're just davening מעריב ma'ariv in their kittel, they're looking around. Now they already see that person. Oh, they were singing so loud, screaming in my ear. That person didn't scream enough. Why couldn't they contribute through their song? This person is blocking me to get home. I want to break my fast. I heard they have a break fast, they didn't invite me. Already by מעריב מוצאי יום כיפור ma'ariv Motzei Yom Kippur, we're back. All that אחדות achdus and all the angel and all the holiness and all the purity and all the white, it's gone. So already by מעריב ma'ariv we have to say, והוא רחום יכפר עון v'hu rachum yechaper avon by that point. So when does Moshe gather them? ויקהל Vayakhel, למחרת יום הכיפורים l'macharas Yom HaKippurim. Already by למחרת יום הכיפורים macharas Yom HaKippurim, we need to be reminded and reinvigorated and strengthened that sense of אחדות achdus. You talk about Parsha perspectives for today, those two insights by רב דרוק Rav Druk, לעשות אתם laasos osam, אחדות achdus takes work. It's not the default. It doesn't what happen on its own. It's not automatic. By the way, that's true at every level and the concentric circles in which we live. Our family. The אחדות achdus is not the default of a family. שלום בית Shalom bayis and love and loyalty and everyone getting along. It takes energy, it takes effort. Parents, grandparents have to takes sometimes it takes expense. A person has to make an effort to bring the family together, to create opportunities for cousins to play together, to know one another. It doesn't happen on its own. לעשות אתם Laasos osam. ויקהל Vayakhel, a קהילה kehillah, a family, it takes an effort. I think I've shared with you before, somebody I know and admire has set up in his estate planning and for his family a specific trust, money that can be used only to bring the family together when he's gone. While he and his wife are alive, they bring the family together every year, every other year as often as they can. They set up a trust. He told me his sons are not the trustees, his daughters-in-law are because he trusts them more to make sure it will happen. And there is a trust specifically that money to be used only, nobody can complain or argue, this year we can't, we can't afford, we we don't want to allocate for that, we made a שמחה simcha. No, there's a trust, doesn't affect anybody. It is exclusively to bring the family together. Because it doesn't happen automatically, it's not a given. לעשות אתם Laasos osam, it takes an effort to הקהל Hakhel, to ויקהל Vayakhel. It's true for a family and it's true for a community. Don't assume everybody believes in and buys into community. Community is an increasingly lost value. We have to teach it to our children and grandchildren. By the way, when you get married and you move somewhere and you eat at the קידוש kiddush and the שלוש סעודות Shalosh seudos and take advantage of the youth groups and ask the שאלות shaylos to the rabbi, don't forget to join the shul. You'd be surprised. Don't forget that that's a basic מענטשלעך menchlich thing that you do, that being a member of community matters, particularly when the shul doesn't make finances an obstacle and says pay whatever you can afford. But that's a מענטשלעך menchlich thing. Community matters. ויקהל Vayakhel, הקהל Hakhel, לעשות laasos, it won't happen on its own. It should be part of חתן hasan classes and כלה kallah classes, that among the things you have to do is, when you'll get married and you'll be somewhere, what קהילה kehillah are you going to be part of? A קהילה kehillah matters. A קהילה kehillah matters because when you'll need a קהילה kehillah. You know, a מנין minyan you could find, three on every block. A קידוש kiddush you could find, five on every block, even without the דאווענען davening, you could find it on every block. But a קהילה kehillah? Find a קהילה kehillah in a time of need and a time of celebration, in a time of crisis for כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael, in a time that you need someone who has the congressman's cell phone number because your passport expired and you're supposed to go to Israel tonight. You need a קהילה kehillah for those moments and the convenience of that neighborhood מנין minyan, don't take the place of a קהילה kehillah when you'll need it. And they need you because the קהילה kehillah needs the people and what each of us bring. ויקהל Vayakhel, לעשות laasos, I have strong feelings if you can't tell on this. לעשות Laasos, it takes effort, it doesn't happen on its own. לעשות Laasos. And למחרת יום הכיפורים l'macharas Yom HaKippurim, even when it happens, we can lose it so easily. למחרת L'macharas, you got to plan for the day after. The אוהב ישראל Oheiv Yisrael, the מאור עינים Meor Einayim, the מאור עינים Meor Einayim is Rav Menachem Nachum of Chernobyl. The טשערנאבלער Chernobyler and the אוהב ישראל Oheiv Yisrael, the אפטער רב Apt Rov, Rav Avraham Yehoshua Heschel of Apt. They both say the same thing on this פסוק pasuk, ויקהל משה Vayakhel Moshe. Because what's the next thing we saw? What does Moshe launch into after he gathers everybody together? He launches into what מצוה mitzvah? שבת Shabbos. The two crowns that were taken away when we were unfaithful and unloyal, they're returned to us on every שבת Shabbos. And that's why we say in our דאווענען davening, ישמח משה במתנת חלקו Yismach Moshe b'matnas chelko. כי ביום שבת שמח משה רק בחלקו בלבד כי שאר כל הכתרים של בני ישראל מחזירם ונותן להם Ki b'yom Shabbos sameach Moshe rak b'chelko bilvad, ki she'ar kol haksarim shel Bnei Yisrael machziram v'nosein lahem. On שבת Shabbos, Moshe only has his חלק cheilek. All week long, he has everybody's crowns because he got to keep his. He didn't violate the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel. But on שבת Shabbos, he only has מתנת חלקו matnas chelko, his portion, because we got our crowns back. So says the אוהב ישראל Oheiv Yisrael, why did Moshe take all the crowns for himself? Because the חטא העגל חיצוני בקליפה cheit ha'eigel chitzoni b'klipah, the יצר הרע yetzer hara was rampant, was raging, the evil inclination, we made such a mistake, we had such confused clouded judgment, and if we wore those crowns, it would have attached itself to those crowns. But שבת Shabbos, we're worthy of those crowns again, because שבת Shabbos we return to Hashem. שבת Shabbos, we revert to who we were before the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel, that love, that loyalty, that incredible romantic connection, intimate rendezvous with the Almighty. Says the מאור עינים Meor Einayim, שני הכתרים אלו הם אהבה ויראה Shnei haksarim eilu heim ahava v'yirah. These two crowns correspond with love and awe. על ידי שמיקבלים בני ישראל הכתרים בשבת זוכים לעבוד את השם יתברך באהבה ויראה A yidei she'mekablim Bnei Yisrael haksarim b'Shabbos zochim la'avod es Hashem Yisborach b'ahava v'yirah. So we come on שבת Shabbos and we can connect to Hashem both through love and through awe. We pull back a little bit, he's the creator of the universe and we recognize and respect and we therefore feel distant, we recoil with awe, but we also lean in and come close and feel that intimate connection with the אהבה ahava. And that's ויקהל משה Vayakhel Moshe. ויקהל משה את כל עדת בני ישראל Vayakhel Moshe es kol adas Bnei Yisrael. העדת לשון עדיי רמז לעדיים, שניתן לבני ישראל מעל הר חורב Ha'adas lashon eddai, remez l'adyim she'nitan l'Bnei Yisrael mei'al Har Choreiv. אלה הדברים Eileh hadevarim, that is שבת Shabbos. שבת Shabbos, we return who we were before the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel. We revert back to that, to that sense. The Rebbe of Lublin in his דברי אמת Divrei Emes says the following, אלה הדברים אשר צוה השם לעשות אתם Eileh hadevarim asher tziva Hashem laasos osam. להבין באיזה עשיה הכתוב מדבר L'havin b'eizeh asiyah hakasuv medaber, על פי מה שאמרו חז\"ל al pi mah she'amru Chazal. What עשיה asiyah? רב דרוק Rav Druk wondered, לעשות אתם laasos osam, to do them. What do them? The next instruction is שבת Shabbos and שבת Shabbos is passive. So רב דרוק's Rav Druk's answer was, לעשות אתם laasos osam, to do them is not going on שבת Shabbos, it's going back on ויקהל Vayakhel. But the Rebbe of Lublin says something different. להבין באיזה עשיה הכתוב מדבר, על פי מה שאמרו חז\"ל, איזו עבודה שבלב L'havin b'eizeh asiyah hakasuv medaber, al pi mah she'amru Chazal, eizeh avodah she'balev? חז\"ל tells us, הגמרא תענית דף ב' ha'Gemara Taanis daf beis tells us, what is the עבודה avodah? When we use the term עבודה avodah, תורה, עבודה, גמילות חסדים Torah, avodah, gmilus chasadim, when we use the term עבודה avodah, it means the service in the בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash. But איזו עבודה שבלב eizeh avodah she'balev, that's the external service where we offer the sacrifices and burn the incense. What's the עבודה שבלב avodah she'balev? What's the עבודה avodah that we do in our heart? איזו עבודה שבלב, זו תפילה Eizeh avodah she'balev, zu tefillah. עבודה שבלב Avodah she'balev, the עבודה avodah, the service that we do within our heart is תפילה tefillah, prayer. תפילה נקראת עבודה לתפילה על ידי דיבור Tefillah nikreis avodah l'tefillah al yidei dibbur. How does one דאווען daven with their mouth? לזה רמז הכתוב אלה הדברים L'zeh remez hakasuv, eileh hadevarim. הדיבורים שאומרים בתפילה, הן הן העשיה, עבודה, שציוה השם לעשות Ha'dibburim she'omrim b'tefillah, hein hein ha'asiyah, avodah, she'tziva Hashem laasos. אלה הדברים אשר ציוה השם לעשות Eileh hadevarim asher tziva Hashem laasos. These are the דיבורים dibburim, the דברים dvarim, דיבורים dibburim, this is what Hashem wants us to do. And what's the thing he wants us to do? Is דאווען daven. And how does he want us to דאווען daven? said the Ari, he wants us to דאווען daven with the sense of ויקהל משה את כל עדת בני ישראל, אלה הדברים, הדיבורים, אשר ציוה השם לעשות Vayakhel Moshe es kol adas Bnei Yisrael, eileh hadevarim, ha'dibburim, asher tziva Hashem laasos. Don't דאווען daven alone, don't דאווען daven by yourself, don't דאווען daven with just a few. How should we דאווען daven? With a sense of ויקהל Vayakhel, a קהילה kehillah. Be part of a קהילה kehillah. That's why the ארי הקדוש Ari HaKadosh, the אריז\"ל Arizal said before one דאווען davens, what should they say? לפני התפילה, הריני מקבל עלי, I accept upon myself, מצות ואהבת לרעך כמוך mitzvas v'ahavta l'reiacha kamocha. Before I could talk to Hashem and ask him my needs, I have to turn to my neighbors, my friends, and I have to express unconditional love. ואהבת לרעך כמוך V'ahavta l'reiacha kamocha. ואהבת לרעך כמוך V'ahavta l'reiacha kamocha. You want to get something from me? Tell me how wonderful my children are. Get along with all my children. Take care of and help my children, and then you got me. Then you got me at hello. So עבודה שבלב avodah she'balev, we're about to talk to Hashem and we need Hashem. ואהבת לרעך כמוך V'ahavta l'reiacha kamocha, first we have to love his other children, our siblings. And that's what it means, ויקהל משה Vayakhel Moshe, אלה הדברים אשר ציוה השם לעשות eileh hadevarim asher tziva Hashem laasos. ענין האחדות, זה עשיה שציוה השם לעשות לפני התפילה Inyan ha'achdus, zeh asiyah she'tziva Hashem laasos lifnei ha'tefillah. So, לעשות אתם laasos osam, sort of like רב דרוק Rav Druk, לעשות אתם laasos osam is the ויקהל Vayakhel before אלה הדברים, אלה הדיבורים eileh hadevarim, eileh ha'dibburim. Before you דאווען daven, ויקהל Vayakhel, unite. It's a very powerful idea. Walk into shul and look around. You know, you don't talk in shul. It's maybe my article this week. There's all the things that we're doing for our brothers and sisters in Israel, there's something we should not do for our brothers and sisters in Israel, and that is talk during דאווענען davening. There's so much for us to do, but there's one big thing that we should stop doing in their honor, in their merit, and that is talking during דאווענען davening. So it's not we don't believe in, let's just be on record, we don't believe in talking during דאווענען davening. But we believe in talking before דאווענען davening and after דאווענען davening. That means to say, come early to דאווענען davening and say hello and connect and unite and be a קהילה kehillah. Practice ואהבת לרעך כמוך v'ahavta l'reiacha kamocha. Look around and say, oh, this is a ציבור tzibbur. This is my team. This is who I'm going into this with. This is my unit. Let's go, let's do this. Every תפילה tefillah on a front line of appealing to Hashem. This is my unit. Let's go. We've got this. Be a ציבור tzibbur. That's the אריז\"ל Arizal. Before one דאווען davens, ואהבת לרעך כמוך v'ahavta l'reiacha kamocha, I accept upon myself. And that's what the פסוק pasuk was telling us. ויקהל משה Vayakhel Moshe, לעשות אתם laasos osam, make this happen. The effort to connect with the other people in your קהילה kehila and then אלה הדברים אשר צוה השם eila hadvarim asher tziva Hashem, אלה הדיבורים eila hadiburim, now you're ready to speak. Now you're ready to דאווען daven, now you're ready to turn to השם Hashem and to connect and to connect with him and to connect with him. רב שור אב\"ד שליט\"א Rav Shor Av Beis Din shlita also focuses here ויקהל משה Vayakhel Moshe on the concept of אחדות achdus, on our unity. The ספר תורת אמת Sefer Toras Emes says the following, ויקהל משה Vayakhel Moshe is the gematria of מלכות malchus. מלכות malchus. What's מלכות malchus? Royalty. Why? Because the פסוק pasuk in וזאת הברכה V'zos Habracha says ויהי בישורון מלך בהתאסף ראשי עם יחד שבטי ישראל Vayehi v'Yeshurun melech b'hisasef roshei am yachad shivtei Yisrael. אימתי Eimasai, when is it ויהי בישורון מלך v'Yeshurun melech? When is king, when is the monarchy, when is royalty at its greatest? בהתאסף ראשי עם b'hisasef roshei am, when we are united, when there is a nation. If you're a רבי rebbe but you have no חסידים chasidim, I got bad news for you. You're not a רבי rebbe. If you're a king, but you don't have a nation, you could put a crown upon yourself. You could take a שרביט הזהב sharvit hazahav and you could walk around and people will think it's פורים Purim, because if you don't have a people and you have no nation that you rule over, I got bad news for you. You're not a king. So when are you the king? בהתאסף ראשי עם b'hisasef roshei am, יחד שבטי ישראל yachad shivtei Yisrael. When the nation unites and gathers and connects, when there's a community, when there's a people, that's when there's מלכות malchus. רק בהיות איש אחד כלל ישראל Rak b'heyos ish echad Klal Yisrael. וממילא כאשר הגיעו למדרגה של ויקהל משה U'mimela ka'asher higiu l'madreiga shel Vayakhel Moshe, so when we came to the place of ויקהל משה Vayakhel Moshe, שהתאחדו בני ישראל על ידי משה רבינו she'hischadu bnei Yisrael al yedei Moshe Rabbeinu, שהוא הנשמה הכוללת שיש בכוחו לאחדם shehu haneshama hakolleles sheyesh b'kocho l'achdam. If there was ever a leader or ruler who could unite us, it was the נשמה neshama of משה Moshe, the נשמה neshama of משה Moshe that had כאילו ke'ilu the DNA of all of כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael, אז נתגלה בחינת מלכות az nisgala b'chinas malchus. So the greatest מלכות malchus, the greatest manifestation of מלכות malchus or royalty is when you represent the most amount of people, when you unite and bring together and create a sense of peoplehood, a nation. יש אז הכרה בעולם yesh az hakara ba'olam, ויהי בישורון מלך v'yehi v'Yeshurun melech. That's why ויקהל משה Vayakhel Moshe is gematria מלכות malchus. בהיות שיש קהילה של כלל ישראל B'heyos sheyesh kehila shel Klal Yisrael, אז יש כוח אדיר az yesh koach adir. כי כלל ישראל Ki Klal Yisrael מגיעים על ידי אחדות לשורש נפשם magi'im al yedei achdus l'shoresh nafsham. It's only when we are united that we can fully realize our collective נשמה neshama. Every individual has a נשמה neshama, and the Jewish people as a whole has a נשמה neshama, the נשמה neshama of כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael. When is the נשמה neshama of כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael whole and complete? When we are united. Last week we read about the קטורת ketores, two weeks ago the מזבח הקטורת mizbeach haketores that has the חלבנה chelbona. We're only whole when there's space and room for the imperfect, for the fallible, for the פושעי ישראל poshei Yisrael, for those who don't live the observant life or don't make the choices we wish they would make. But when we have אחדות achdus nonetheless, when there's space and room and we invite and we have a sense of unity among all, then we realize the נשמה neshama of כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael, the soul of the Jewish people becomes complete. That's what we say in the מגילה Megillah. We're gonna read soon. להקהל ולעמוד על נפשם L'hikahel v'la'amod al nafsham. ספת אמת Sfas Emes is מדייק medayek, על נפשם al nafsham, מה שמו שהוא למעלה מכוח נפשם mashma shehu l'maala m'koach nafsham. What does it mean? What does it mean the מגילה Megillah tells us? Gather together, לעמוד על נפשם la'amod al nafsham. לעמוד על נפשם la'amod al nafsham, simple meaning is לעמוד la'amod means stand up for your life. Fighting for our lives. לעמוד על נפשם la'amod al nafsham. But says the הייליגע ספת אמת heilige Sfas Emes, זכותו יגן עלינו zechuso yagen aleinu, what it means is when we are, להיקהל, להקהל l'hikahel, l'hakahel gathered together, ויקהל, הקהל Vayakhel, hakhel, when we are united, when we are one, when we are together, when we are loving, when we are loyal, when we are complementing and supplementing one another, we're realizing the שורש הנשמה shoresh haneshama of כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael. We're acting at our best, at our height. No anti-Semite can touch us. No enemy can harm us. When we come together, when we are united, then we are, then we are nobody can defeat us. כי שורש המאחד מהוה הנפש למעלה מהנפש ki shoresh hame'ached mehaveh hanefesh l'maala min hanefesh. לעמוד la'amod, ענין של עמידה inyan shel amida. We're able to stand firm and strong and tall, and no one can topple us over. That is the strongest that we are. That's why, that's what הר סיני Har Sinai was, כאיש אחד בלב אחד k'ish echad b'lev echad. הר סיני Har Sinai was כאיש אחד בלב אחד k'ish echad b'lev echad, we were united, we were together. And that's what we long for, that's what we want to return to. That's why it was such a זכות zechus we'll say at the סדר Seder, דיינו dayenu. If we just stood at הר סיני Har Sinai, if we just had that אחדות achdus, if we just realized the שורש הנשמה shoresh haneshama of who we were, even if we didn't get the תורה Torah. That's why we have a מצוה mitzva to always remember מעמד הר סיני Maamad Har Sinai. יום אשר עמדת לפני ה' אלקיך בחורב Yom asher amadta lifnei Hashem Elokecha b'Chorev. Why do we have to remember standing at הר סיני Har Sinai? Remember receiving the תורה Torah? Why is it we have to remember יום אשר עמדת לפני ה' אלקיך בחורב yom asher amadta lifnei Hashem Elokecha b'Chorev? You know why? Because when we stood at הר סיני Har Sinai כאיש אחד בלב אחד k'ish echad b'lev echad, when we had that unity and that collaboration, that cooperation, that community, then we had the שורש הנשמה shoresh haneshama was fully realized. Then we were our best selves. Then we were undefeatable. Then we were our strongest.פרק ל\"ה פסוק ב' Perek lamed hei pasuk beis. ששת ימים תעשה מלאכה Sheshes yamim te'aseh melacha, six days do work. וביום השביעי u'vayom hashvii on the seventh day יהיה לכם שבת קודש yihiye lachem Shabbos kodesh, שבתון להשם shabason l'Hashem is is שבת Shabbos. כל העושה בו מלאכה יומת kol ha'oseh vo melacha yumas, and if you do work on that seventh day, death penalty, it's a capital crime, one is put to death. We've shared many times that in our religion, work is not a concession. In other religions, work is a concession. In the ideal world, we wouldn't have to work. Work is a concession. But you see the תורה Torah says ששת ימים תעשה מלאכה sheshes yamim te'aseh melacha. Six days be constructive, be productive, do work. Work is not a four-letter word. Work is not evil. Work is not a concession. Work is how we conquer the world. פרו ורבו ומלאו את הארץ וכיבשוה pru u'revu u'milu es ha'aretz v'kivshuha. השם Hashem said go multiply, promulgate the world and control it, manipulate it, be in charge of it, conquer it, study it. ששת ימים Sheshes yamim. The תורה Torah doesn't just say on the seventh day rest, it says six days be constructive, be constructive. And רב לופיאנסקי Rav Lopiansky who was here, gave a שיעור shiur here last night and met privately with some people last night, answered questions, and he spoke about, the ישיבה בחורים yeshiva bachurim were asking him, what's the best use of a ישיבה בחור yeshiva bachur's off time? Learning תורה Torah we know is the best זאך zach, learning תורה Torah is the highest thing a person can do. We're making contact with our immortality, with the divine. But when you're not learning, so he said the worst thing in the world is בטלה batala. When a person is wasting time, that is they're they're destroying, they're wasting their soul. They're not wasting the time. You have to fill that space with something meaningful and productive. And that's ששת ימים sheshes yamim. It's not a concession. We're doing work this whole time.רש\"י Rashi says you learn from here, שבת Shabbos is coming now before משכן Mishkan and what do you learn from here? Says רש\"י Rashi הקדים להם את ציווי שבת למלאכת המשכן hikdim lahem es tzivui Shabbos l'meleches haMishkan. The תורה Torah repeats the obligation to observe שבת Shabbos before reminding us about the construction of the משכן Mishkan, why? שאינה דוחה את השבת she'eina doche es haShabbos, to remind us that building the משכן Mishkan doesn't supersede שבת Shabbos. You might have thought, I'm committed to שבת Shabbos, I'm a שומר שבת shomer Shabbos, but building the משכן Mishkan creating a house for השם Hashem, so significant, so virtuous, maybe that even supersedes שבת Shabbos. No. No. עשה Aseh you don't say עשה דוחה לא תעשה aseh docheh lo sa'aseh here, you don't say building the משכן Mishkan supersedes שבת Shabbos, you have to observe שבת Shabbos. Says רב וולבה Rav Wolbe מנשירי חומש min shirei Chumash, קשה Kasha, למה צריך הערה lama tzarich he'ara? מהיכי תיתי שמשכן דוחה שבת meiheichei teisi she'Mishkan docheh Shabbos? וכי יש הוה אמינא שכתיבת ספר תורה דוחה שבת v'chi yesh hava amina she'ksivas sefer Torah docheh Shabbos? Would we ever say, bring the ספר sofer, let's have the הכנסת ספר תורה hachnasas sefer Torah on שבת Shabbos. It's the best day. Nobody can do anything anyway, no one's going anywhere anyway. So have the הכנסת ספר תורה hachnasas sefer Torah, let's celebrate a new תורה Torah on שבת Shabbos. The ספר sofer will come, they'll finish the last letters, we'll tie it up, because writing a תורה Torah should be דוחה שבת docheh Shabbos. Nobody would say such a thing. So why would one think that the building of the משכן Mishkan should be דוחה שבת docheh Shabbos? Why would one think that? So says רב וולבה Rav Wolbe, אינני יודע את הפשט כאן Eineni yodea es hapshat kan, אבל אני רוצה לומר משהו aval ani rotze lomar mashehu. I'm not sure exactly the pshat, but I want to tell you something. כל חטא העגל לפי פירוש הרמב\"ן Kol cheit ha'eigel l'fi peirush haRamban, כן מצוה הבאה בעבירה k'mitzva haba'ah ba'aveira. You have to understand why the Torah goes out of its way to teachers this year. Listen carefully, I never heard this before. The whole חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel, what happened? Last week's פרשה parsha, what happened? How could it be? The greatest moment of revelation in all of history, הר סיני Har Sinai, unprecedented and never repeated. The greatest moment of revelation. God Almighty, the King of the universe, the Creator, revealed himself and spoke directly to us. And we were in love. We were smitten. We were taken. We stood under that mountain like a חופה chuppah, like a, and we fell in love and we married him. And then that night, how could it be? חטא העגל Cheit ha'eigel, we build an idol, we worship an idol. How could it be? The answer is, not as it seems. Don't read it simplistically and superficially. What went wrong, the כוזרי Kuzari says, the ספר אבן עזרא Sefer Ibn Ezra says this, many say this, it was a מצוה הבאה בעבירה mitzva haba'ah ba'aveira. The people panicked. They calculated משה Moshe was supposed to return at a certain time. משה Moshe didn't return by that time, they said, who's our intermediary? How will we connect? We need something tangible, physical, material. God is so abstract. God is so esoteric. God is so conceptual. I can't connect to someone and something I can't see, or hear, or feel, or touch, or smell. How am I supposed to connect? משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu was my conduit. משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu was my connection. Remember, they didn't have a ספר תורה sefer Torah, they didn't have a שול shul, they didn't have משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu. When they saw him, when they heard him, he was that intermediary, he was that connection. They panicked. So they said, you know what, we don't have משה Moshe, we need to construct, we need to craft something else physical. We need to craft something else material that will be our conduit, our intermediary, our physical manifestation, connection, because otherwise, he's too distant, he's invisible, I can't see, I can't connect to him. So that's called a מצוה הבאה בעבירה mitzva haba'ah ba'aveira. The מצוה mitzva was they had an authentic, genuine yearning to still connect to השם Hashem. It was בא בעבירה ba ba'aveira, it came about in a corrupt way because you can't just even with the most noble intentions build an idol. You can't just no matter how creative you want to be come up with a new way you're going to serve השם Hashem. That's why, what does השם Hashem do? The question we didn't ask is, we have תרומה, תצוה Terumah, Tetzaveh, and the משכן Mishkan. Then כי תשא Ki Sisa and the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel. Then ויקהל, פקודי Vayakhel, Pekudei we repeat everything we already had in תרומה, תצוה Terumah, Tetzaveh. Why are we repeating it? Because the משכן Mishkan is the antidote, the משכן Mishkan is the response to the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel. God says you crave a physical material intermediary, legitimate, I acknowledge that. That that's a legitimate, reasonable need. But you can't make it up. You can't creatively decide it on your own. You have to follow only the word of השם Hashem. That's why the בית הלוי Beis Halevi says in ויקהל, פקודי Vayakhel, Pekudei, כאשר צוה השם ka'asher tziva Hashem, כאשר צוה השם ka'asher tziva Hashem, over and over and over again, we see a reference as God commanded, as God commanded, as God told you. We can't creatively come up with new ways of serving השם Hashem. There's room for creativity in תורה Torah and מצוות mitzvos. שולס Shuls come up with dynamic new programs, new inspiration, new learning opportunities, but when it comes to the מצוות mitzvos and the הלכה halacha, you can't decide, you know שבת Shabbos for me is all supposed to be about rest, tranquility, serenity. For me, I find that when I do yoga on the beach. So it's okay to drive to the beach to do yoga because that to me, you can't creatively come up with, even when you have a noble intention. That's a מצוה הבאה בעבירה mitzva haba'ah ba'aveira. Even if you have a noble intent, but you know, the road to H E double hockey sticks, my kids would say, is paved with those noble intentions. Even with the most noble intentions. It's a מצוה הבאה בעבירה mitzva haba'ah ba'aveira. The עגל eigel was a מצוה הבאה בעבירה mitzva haba'ah ba'aveira. They wanted to connect to השם Hashem, they didn't have משה Moshe, they panicked. They said we don't have משה Moshe, we'll substitute, we'll build an עגל eigel. God says, you can't make it up on your own. It has to come from me. I'll give you a משכן Mishkan, legitimate, fair. I'm giving you the משכן Mishkan. I'm giving you a physical place, I'm giving you a somewhere to come to. I'm giving you a physical material building in which to connect to me. So therefore, לכן בא משה להזהירם lachen ba Moshe l'hazhiram, שלא יתחאו עוד פעם עבירה בפני מצוה shelo yit'u od paam aveira bifnei mitzva. דווקא Davka now in the aftermath, in the shadow of the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel, it is specifically now that משה Moshe has to teach them, building the משכן Mishkan doesn't supersede שבת Shabbos. Why? Because you can't do a מצוה הבאה בעבירה mitzva haba'ah ba'aveira. Even though you want to build the משכן Mishkan that's a noble deed, it's wonderful and noble you want to build the משכן Mishkan, you can't do it through the עבירה aveira of of violating שבת Shabbos. זה היה אחד מיסודותיו של ישראל מסלנטר Zeh haya echad m'yesodosav shel Yisrael miSalant. ר' ישראל סלנטר Rav Yisrael Salanter, the great father and founder of the מוסר Mussar movement, this was one of his core principles, שהאדם בעבודתו צריך להשמר ממצוה הבאה בעבירה sheha'adam b'avodaso tzarich l'hishamer m'mitzva haba'ah ba'aveira. הוא קרא לזה פרומע נגיעה hu kara l'zeh frumme negiah. He called it a פרומע נגיעה frumme negiah. Don't have a, don't be so פרום frum. Don't be פרום frum. Don't be פרום frum. You know, Rabbi Klein, עליו השלום alav hashalom used to live here. He used to tell me that in Europe they used to say, a גלח galach is פרום frum, a איד Yid is ערליך ehrlich. A גלח galach is פרום frum. A גלח galach, a priest is פרום frum. A איד Yid is ערליך ehrlich. I can't, it's not that Yiddish is my first language, but you can't translate that. A גלח galach, a priest is פרום frum. Don't be so פרום frum. Be ערליך ehrlich, be ערליך ehrlich. A פרומע נגיעה frumme negiah means you you have a bias, you have a distorted judgment, you're trying so hard to be פרום frum. And when you try so hard to be so פרום frum, it's a מצוה הבאה בעבירה mitzva haba'ah ba'aveira. היה מעשה שיהודי פעם התעטף בציצית Haya maaseh she'Yehudi paam his'atef b'tzitzis ותפח עם הציצית על פניהם של ר' ישראל סלנטר v'tafach im hatzitzis al paneihem shel Rav Yisrael Salanter. ר' ישראל סלנטר Rav Yisrael Salanter was once in שול shul standing next to somebody putting on their טלית tallis. So you know when a man puts on his טלית tallis properly, correctly, many don't, but they do עטיפה atifa and you put on your טלית tallis properly, you know you pull it up over your shoulder, you wrap it over and you throw it over one shoulder. So what happened? A איד Yid put on his טלית tallis, totally and had no idea what was going on around him. He threw his טלית tallis over his shoulder and the טלית tallis, he whipped the face of ר' ישראל סלנטר Rav Yisrael Salanter. אז אמר לו ר' ישראל Az amar lo Rav Yisrael, למה אני אשם שאתה ירא שמים lama ani ashem she'ata yarei shamayim. קם מעשה שמספר ר' ישראל Kam maaseh sh'mesaper Rav Yisrael. So he turned to him. And and ר' ישראל סלנטר Rav Yisrael Salanter rebuked him. You can't put on your טלית tallis with such zealousness that you smack another Jew in the face. And that that's how ר' ישראל Rav Yisrael lived his life. You know they would ask ר' ישראל סלנטר Rav Yisrael Salanter, now the מצות matzos already were made since חנוכה Chanukah. There are still places making מצות matzah today. But they'd ask ר' ישראל סלנטר Rav Yisrael Salanter, what חומרא chumra should I adopt when it comes to פסח Pesach when it comes to my מצות matzos? What חומרא chumra? 18 minute מצות matzah, שמורה shmura from the time of the... which חומרא chumra should I adopt? What חומרא chumra should I adopt? He said, you know what חומרא chumra you should adopt? Make sure that the widows, the women working in the מצות matzah factory are paid well and paid on time. That's the חומרא chumra you should adopt. He'd wash his hands in someone's home on a day where it wasn't so simple with sinks and indoor plumbing. People had to bring the water. And while others would splash the water generously up their arm, enough water, knowing that there was someone else who had to bring it and שלעפ shlep it and set it up for him to wash, he was more concerned to follow the minimum שיעור shiur, the minimum measure of washing, but the maximum חומרא chumra of not taking advantage of someone who would have to שלעפ shlep it. And there's many examples רב וולבה Rav Wolbe brings, רב וולבה Rav Wolbe the great משגיח mashgiach of ירושלים Yerushalayim brings many examples how ר' ישראל סלנטר Rav Yisrael Salanter, these were his חומרות chumros. Don't put on your טלית tallis with such rigor that you end up smacking another Jew in the face. Don't be so careful in נטילת ידים netilas yadayim washing your hands that you make someone else become your שלעפער shlepper. Don't have such a חומרא chumra when it comes to מצות matzos and neglect the fact that people are are not paid on time. What he called a פרומע נגיעה frumme negiah, מצוה הבאה בעבירה mitzva haba'ah ba'aveira, with all the noble intent and all the virtuous living, don't be so righteous on somebody else's account. A person shouldn't do a מצוה הבאה בעבירה mitzva haba'ah ba'aveira. So why is that taught right here דווקא davka now? Because that was the mistake of the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel. It was a מצוה הבאה בעבירה mitzva haba'ah ba'aveira, with a noble intent. We need something physical, material, an intermediary to connect with השם Hashem. They went and they built an עגל eigel. That was a מצוה הבאה בעבירה mitzva haba'ah ba'aveira. Don't think you can build the משכן Mishkan by violating שבת Shabbos. Let השם Hashem give you the rules. Let השם Hashem teach us the hierarchy of what is most important. Don't do it for, don't do it for yourself.פרק ל\"ה פסוק ג' Perek lamed hei pasuk gimel. לא תבערו אש בכל מושבותיכם ביום השבת Lo seva'aru eish b'chol moshvoseichem b'yom haShabbos. We have 39 categories of creative labor, but only one of them is spelled out in the תורה Torah. 38 of them we learn from מלאכת המשכן meleches haMishkan. Whatever was deemed creative labor for the building of the משכן Mishkan is creative labor that you're not allowed to express or exert on שבת Shabbos. One of them is spelled out. Which מלאכה melacha? לא תבערו אש Lo seva'aru eish. You can't light a fire, you can't burn a fire on שבת Shabbos. We've spoken in the past about the מצוה mitzva of eating טשאלנט cholent on שבת Shabbos. We learned from here, because the קראים Karaites, who interpreted the תורה Torah literally understood you can't have a fire burning in your house on שבת Shabbos. They would sit in the dark and only eat cold food. But we know you can't light a fire on שבת Shabbos. A fire that's pre-existing from before שבת Shabbos, you can. Which is why we have lights that we benefit from that we leave on from before שבת Shabbos. And why we've adopted a מצוה mitzva to eat טשאלנט cholent. A מצוה mitzva for a איד Yid to eat a hot food on שבת Shabbos in order to demonstrate that they're not a קראי Karai. So that's the origin of טשאלנט cholent, we've spoken about טשאלנט cholent in the past. The של\"ה הקדוש Shlah Hakadosh homiletically interprets these פסוקים psukim. The של\"ה הקדוש Shlah Hakadosh homiletically interprets them, how? לא תבערו אש בכל מושבותיכם Lo seva'aru eish b'chol moshvoseichem, says the של\"ה Shlah and the עקידה Akeida says similarly, אש eish, fire, is an illusion, a metaphor for anger. You can't get angry when it comes to שבת Shabbos. No, you shouldn't be angry all week long either. But especially on שבת Shabbos, don't disrupt, don't interrupt the peace, the tranquility, the serenity, the holiness, the happiness of שבת Shabbos with anger. לא תבערו אש בכל מושבותיכם Lo seva'aru eish b'chol moshvoseichem, don't let anger burn in any of your dwelling places ביום השבת b'yom haShabbos. On שבת Shabbos and on ערב שבת Erev Shabbos. ערב שבת Erev Shabbos is one of the times that people are most vulnerable, susceptible to getting angry. What do you mean you didn't set the table? What do you mean you're not ready? What do you mean you're not even close to being home yet from work? What do you mean you didn't do the one chore I asked you to do? What do you mean you left that in the middle of the floor? What do you mean you didn't pick up that food I asked you to pick up? It's very easy to lose one's cool on ערב שבת Erev Shabbos, weekly, weekly. So the תורה Torah goes out of its way to remind us, לא תבערו אש בכל מושבותיכם lo seva'aru eish b'chol moshvoseichem ביום השבת b'yom haShabbos. And one of the suggestions about how to avoid getting angry on שבת Shabbos, one of the ways to get around it, is רב חיים פלאג'י Rav Chaim Palagi in his כף החיים Kaf Hachaim. ואני הגבר ראיתי V'ani hagever ra'isi, so רצה הנה שהכל בית שהיה במחלוקת בערב שבת ולא שבת rotzeh heina shekol bayis she'haya b'machlokes b'Erev Shabbos v'lo Shabbos בדוק ומנוסה כי יראה נגד פניהם baduk u'menuseh ki yireh neged pneihem ולא יצא מכימוס השבוע באיזה מקרה רע רחמנא ליצלן v'lo yetze mikimos hashavua b'eizeh mikreh ra rachmana litzlan. Says the כף החיים רב חיים פלאג'י Kaf Hachaim Rav Chaim Palagi, any home where they entered שבת Shabbos in a state of anger, there was anger on Friday night in that home, something doesn't go right for that family that week. Could be failing a test in school, losing the soccer game, could be the air conditioning gave out, could be, but if you enter שבת Shabbos with anger, that fire burns and when a fire burns, it destroys, it consumes. He says בדוק ומנוסה baduk u'menuseh says רב חיים פלאג'י Rav Chaim Palagi the כף החיים Kaf Hachaim, I saw it with my own eyes and I've tested it. You want a סגולה segula, שלום בית shalom bayis, is to have שלום בית shalom bayis. Is to go into שבת Shabbos with an intended, mindful, concentrated effort, no matter what happened this past week, no matter how disappointed or frustrated I am right now, I'm just letting it go. Just letting it go and going into שבת Shabbos with a sense of peace. בדוק ומנוסה Baduk u'menuseh says רב חיים פלאג'י Rav Chaim Palagi. And one of the suggestions about how to do that is, חז\"ל Chazal tell us when a person goes into שבת Shabbos, they should go in with an attitude and with a sense that כל מלאכתך עשויה kol melachtecha asuya, all your work is done. All of your work is done, not just a great journey song, but all of your work is done. It's not done. There are bills you still don't know how they're going to get paid. There are things that still need to be taken care of. There's news that's still coming in that's very upsetting. But you go into שבת Shabbos feeling whole and complete, and you take all that and you put it up on a shelf, even if you're going to bring it down afterwards. And when a person is able to say I'm not looking at what's missing, I'm looking at what's here, I'm not looking at what I still have to do, I'm looking at what we got done. When a person can go in with that attitude, you can have peace and tranquility going into going into שבת Shabbos. The great גערער רב ראש ישיבה Gerer Rebbe, Rosh Yeshiva, רב שאלתור Rav Shalter, has another interpretation. לא תבערו אש בכל מושבותיכם Lo seva'aru eish b'chol moshvoseichem. He quotes his great-זיידע zeide, the ספת אמת Sfas Emes. Makes the following observation in the name of his father, first גערער רב Gerer Rebbe, the חידושי הרי\"ם Chidushei HaRim. In פרשת כי תשא Parshas Ki Sisa, last week's פרשה parsha, the תורה Torah mentioned שבת Shabbos after the משכן Mishkan, and here in ויקהל Vayakhel, first there's a שבת Shabbos and only then the משכן Mishkan. Why? Why the Torah between last week's parsha and this week's parsha, why did we change the order? Says the חידושי הרי\"ם Chidushei HaRim explains the difference. פרשת כי תשא Parshas Ki Sisa discussed the topics before the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel. ויקהל Vayakhel comes chronologically after the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel. Before the עגל eigel, the Jewish people were on the מדרגה madreiga, we were on the level of נעשה ונשמע naaseh v'nishma. Tell us we're in, and then tell us what to do. We would grow every day, reaching the highest level on שבת Shabbos. שבת Shabbos would be the culmination. We'd grow a little bit each day, and then שבת Shabbos would be the pinnacle, the culmination. שבת Shabbos is discussed after the משכן Mishkan, first the משכן Mishkan, grow each day, and then שבת Shabbos. But after the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel, the weekdays themselves need שבת Shabbos to help them stay true. So therefore, פרשת ויקהל Parshas Vayakhel, שבת Shabbos is mentioned first. Before the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel, we worked all week, and the reward we got to שבת Shabbos. Now we need the holiness, the sanctity, reminding, reminder of what matters, what's important. We need to come together and be a קהילה kehila and take all of that in order to bring that into the week. חידושי הרי\"ם Chidushei HaRim then explain the statement of the מדרש Midrash, that after the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel, השם Hashem warned כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael. He said you've ruined נעשה naaseh by making the עגל eigel, take care to uphold נשמע nishma. You ruined נעשה naaseh, now at least take care to make sure that you uphold נשמע nishma. Now certainly that doesn't mean that we were no longer committed to נעשה naaseh, to fulfill the מצוות mitzvos, חס ושלום chas v'shalom. It means, says רב שאלתור Rav Shalter, that originally when we were singularly committed to השם Hashem, נעשה naaseh, fulfillment of מצוות mitzvos brought one to נשמע nishma, to an even higher depth of understanding. But after the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel, the precedence of נעשה לנשמע naaseh l'nishma was lost. And instead, נשמע nishma, understanding brings us to נעשה naaseh. We lost that commitment that we're in, now tell us what. Now we say, tell us what, help us understand, and that will inspire us to feel we're in. So the חידושי הרי\"ם Chidushei HaRim connects us with the above principle of שבת Shabbos. He says the following: שבת Shabbos affects the mindset of נשמע nishma, opening the hearts of Jews to hear, so that during the week we'll come to have proper נעשה naaseh. שבת Shabbos, we're in a state of נשמע nishma. We're listening to קריאת התורה Krias HaTorah, we're listening to the דרשה drasha, we're listening to the זמירות zmiros, we're listening to one another, we're listening to our own נשמה יתירה neshama yeseira. שבת Shabbos is all about נשמע nishma. So then it can bring us to a proper state of נעשה naaseh. Before חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel it was נעשה ונשמע naaseh v'nishma. After חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel, it became נשמע ונעשה nishma v'naaseh. So before חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel, it was משכן Mishkan then שבת Shabbos. After חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel, it is שבת Shabbos and then and then it became and then it became נשמע nishma. And then it became משכן Mishkan. Okay. Let's keep going.פרק ל\"ה פסוק ד' Perek lamed hei pasuk dalet. ויאמר משה אל כל עדת בני ישראל לאמר זה הדבר אשר צוה ה' לאמר Vayomer Moshe el kol adas Bnei Yisrael leimor zeh hadavar asher tziva Hashem leimor. השם Hashem spoke to the entire people, and he said this is the word that השם Hashem has commanded saying. Notice anything funny in that פסוק pasuk? Says the עמרות טהרות Amaros Tehoros, קחו מאתכם k'chu me'itchem, sorry. Let's keep going. קחו מאתכם תרומה להשם כל נדיב לבו יביאה את תרומת השם זהב וכסף ונחושת K'chu me'itchem truma l'Hashem kol nediv libo y'vi'eha es trumas Hashem zahav v'chesef u'nechoshes. We are repeating the solicitation for the משכן Mishkan. This is the משכן Mishkan campaign. This is the word that השם Hashem has commanded, take for yourself a portion for השם Hashem. Everyone whose heart motivates him shall bring it as a gift to השם Hashem, gold, silver, and copper. What are the words קחו מאתכם k'chu me'itchem? קחו מאתכם k'chu me'itchem תרומה להשם truma l'Hashem. קחו מאתכם תרומה מהשם K'chu me'itchem truma me'Hashem. How do you understand that? So let's go back to רב דרוק Rav Druk. רב דרוק Rav Druk says the following. Why do we say קחו מאתכם k'chu me'itchem? So the ספורנו Sforno explains, למה דבר על התרומה עצמה אלא על אנשים lama dibber al hatruma atzma ela al anashim. קחו מאתכם, תקחו אנשים שהם יקבלו מאתכם את התרומה k'chu me'itchem, tikchu anashim shehem yekablu me'itchem es hatruma. משה Moshe speaks to עדת בני ישראל adas Bnei Yisrael. He speaks to this gathering, this community, and he says this is the matter that God commanded you. קחו מאתכם תרומה להשם k'chu me'itchem truma l'Hashem. You could just say קחו תרומה k'chu truma, take a gift, a donation. What does it mean מאתכם me'itchem? So the ספורנו Sforno explains it means designate people, גבאים gabbaim who are going to chairs of the dinner, make people who are going to do the campaign. But why still קחו k'chu? It should just say קחו תרומה k'chu truma, why מאתכם me'itchem? Why מאתכם me'itchem? So רב דרוק Rav Druk developed the following idea. The גמרא שבת Gemara Shabbos tells us that when we make it to 120 and come upstairs, we'll be asked a series of questions. And one of the questions, the first question we're asked is נשאת ונתת באמונה nasata v'natata b'emuna? Did you do your business dealings faithfully? Did you have integrity? Did you have honesty? Were you faithful? Why is it the first question? Very important. Of course, it's fundamentally important, but is it the most important mitzvah in the whole Torah? Is that really the first and only measure of man? Why is that the first question that we are asked? Why is that the first question that we are asked? Maybe you should ask, did you put on תפילין tefillin? Did you keep שבת Shabbos? Did you fast on יום כיפור Yom Kippur? Did you observe תענית של משפחה taanis shel mishpacha? Did you speak לשון הרע lashon hara? Did you give צדקה tzedaka? Why are we first asked about this? Why are we first asked about this? So רב דרוק's Rav Druk's father answered because, the first question we get upstairs is not tell me how many pairs of ציצית tzitzis, how many pairs of תפילין tefillin, how much צדקה tzedaka you gave. The first question is all the wonderful things that I'm sure you'll tell me about that you did. First question is, where'd you get the money? What paid for it? Where did it come from? Was it כשר kosher? So therefore the Torah says, when you take the money it's got to come מאתכם me'itchem. You're building a house for me? Don't make a donation to the global campaign, brsonline.org/global, or don't make a donation to the capital campaign at your shul or the kollel or the mikvah or the kashrus or the eruv or Eretz Yisrael. Don't make the donation on יאנעם'ס חשבון yenem's cheshbon because you stole it from your neighbor. It has to be מאתכם me'itchem. It has to be you collected it, you arrived at it, you got it in a way that was kosher. It has to be money that you got מאתכם me'itchem, and it has to come from you. It has to come from you. Such beautiful ideas here. We are running out of time, we have time I think for one more.פרק ל\"ה פסוק ל' Perek lamed hei pasuk lamed. One one parsha this week so it's short. Page 524. ויעש בצלאל את הארון עצי שטים אמתים וחצי ארכו ואמה וחצי רחבו ואמה וחצי קומתו Vayaas Betzalel es ha'aron atzei shittim amatayim vachetzi orko v'ama vachetzi rochbo v'ama vachetzi komaso. בצלאל Betzalel made the ארון aron, the ark. He made it of wood, acacia wood, two and a half אמה ama in length, and an אמה ama and a half in width and an אמה ama and a half in height. The ארון aron. Says רב דרוק Rav Druk, says רב דרוק Rav Druk, ויעש בצלאל Vayaas Betzalel. The Gemara Megillah tells us... The Aron didn't take up any space in the קדש הקדשים Kodesh HaKodashim. The Aron, the ark, that contained in it the tablets, the לוחות Luchos, the broken tablets, the שברי לוחות shivrei Luchos, for a ספר תורה Sefer Torah, a little צנצנת של מן tzintzenes shel man, a little container of מן man. That ארון Aron, that ark that had all those things, didn't take up any room. The Gemara says the ארון Aron didn't take up any room, שלא תפס שטח shelo tafas shetach. It didn't take up any space in the קדש הקדשים Kodesh HaKodashim of the משכן Mishkan. קדש הקדשים Kodesh HaKodashim was ten אמה amah by ten אמה amah. The ארון Aron was two and a half אמה amah by an אמה amah. When you entered the, when you put the ארון Aron in the קדש הקדשים Kodesh HaKodashim, and you measured on both sides, there were five אמות amos. How could that be? If the whole width was ten אמה amah and it took up two and a half אמה amah, how could you still have the same ten אמה amah left? It wasn't מן המדה min hamidah. Miraculously, somehow, even though it was there, but it didn't take up space. What about the לוחות Luchos inside the ארון Aron? Did they take up space? Yes. The לוחות Luchos in the ארון Aron took up space, but the ארון Aron didn't take up space.How do you understand that? What's the significance of the ארון Aron? The לוחות Luchos. If the לוחות Luchos are what animate the ארון Aron, if the tablets are what give significance and sanctity to the ark, so why is it that the ark doesn't take up space or room, but the לוחות Luchos, the tablets do? It doesn't make sense. Says Rav Druck, the following. ארון דומה לתלמיד חכם Aron domeh l'Talmid Chacham. We know that the ark, the ארון Aron, is a metaphor for a תלמיד חכם Talmid Chacham. The Gemara tells us, מבית ומחוץ תצפנו mibayis u'michutz t'tzapenu. The pasuk tells us that the ark was was layered with gold on the outside and inside. And we learn from here, כל תלמיד חכם שאין תוכו כברו אינו תלמיד חכם kol Talmid Chacham she'ein tocho k'varo eino Talmid Chacham. If a תלמיד חכם Talmid Chacham, a scholar, a righteous person, if their inside doesn't match their outside, their outside doesn't match their inside, they're not a righteous person. You have to be through and through. You have to be consistent. You have to be in public and in private. But if you're only righteous in public, not in private, if you're righteous on the outside but not the inside, you're not a תלמיד חכם Talmid Chacham. So you see the ארון Aron that represents a תלמיד חכם Talmid Chacham. And the same way that the ארון Aron is a בית קבול לספר תורה beis kibbul l'Sefer Torah, same way that the ארון Aron is housing the ספר תורה Sefer Torah, every תלמיד חכם Talmid Chacham is a בית קבול beis kibbul for Torah, for Torah. So a תלמיד חכם Talmid Chacham who is, a תלמיד חכם Talmid Chacham who's like the ארון Aron doesn't take up space. Why? Because the תלמיד חכם Talmid Chacham like the ארון Aron shouldn't see himself as significant. Should live with and practice such a humility that they have no significance, they don't take up space. The real תלמיד חכם Talmid Chacham is not looking at how big an influencer they are online. You think מורינו ורבינו הרב שכטר Moreinu V'Rabeinu Rav Schachter has any clue how many שיעורים shiurim he has posted online, how many people have listened to them? He wouldn't even know how to find online. The תלמיד חכם Talmid Chacham doesn't take up space.I'll tell you something amazing about him. I sat on several Zooms with him and other major פוסקים poskim during Corona that were trying to give guidance to community leaders about what to do. I've sat in meetings with מורינו ורבינו הרב שכטר Moreinu V'Rabeinu Rav Schachter in such circumstances. And many others are vying to take up all the space in the room, to give their opinion, to be the first to express it, to monopolize the conversation, to show how much they know. Rav Schachter sits there quietly, and until someone says, Rav Schachter, what do you think? He doesn't assert himself. He doesn't insert himself. He doesn't push himself. He doesn't take up space in the room. A real תלמיד חכם Talmid Chacham like the ארון Aron doesn't take up space, is not looking to take up space. Ah, so why did the לוחות Luchos then take up space within the ארון Aron? Because the Torah that's inside the תלמיד חכם Talmid Chacham have to take up all the space of the תלמיד חכם Talmid Chacham. The Torah takes up all of our space. It informs and inspires all of who we are. So the ארון Aron doesn't take up any space in the קדש הקדשים Kodesh HaKodashim, but the לוחות Luchos, the Torah, takes up all the space of the ארון Aron. To teach us that to be a real תלמיד חכם Talmid Chacham is not to need to take up space in this world, but the Torah should take up all the space inside us to fully inspire all of who we are. Lastly on the same פסוק pasuk, רב וואלבע Rav Wolbe. Rav Wolbe on these words, ויעש בצלאל Vaya'as Betzalel, פרק ל\"ז פסוק א' Perek Lamed-Zayin Pasuk Aleph. We just read it. ויעש בצלאל Vaya'as Betzalel. בצלאל Betzalel made the ארון Aron. ויעש בצלאל Vaya'as Betzalel, he made the ארון Aron. Why does it say ויעש בצלאל Vaya'as Betzalel? Rashi says, לפי שנתן נפשו על המלאכה l'fi shenasan nafsho al hamlacha. The other things he built, he made the ארון Aron. He also made the מנורה Menorah and the שלחן Shulchan and the and the מזבח Mizbeach. He made everything. So why doesn't it say when it comes to the other things ויעש בצלאל Vaya'as Betzalel? Why does it only say it here? So רש\"י Rashi tells us because בצלאל Betzalel really gave his all. יותר משאר חכמים נקרא על שמו Yoser mi'shar chachamim nikra al shmo. So when someone gives their all to something, it is associated with their name. And says רב וואלבע Rav Wolbe in a שיעורי חומש shiurei Chumash, מי שמבסס משהו או שמוסר נפשו עליו, הדבר נקרא על שמו mi she'mevases mashehu o shemoser nafsho alav, hadavar nikra al shmo. When you sacrifice yourself for something, it is known by your name. When you give your all, when you compromise, when you invest, when you sacrifice yourself over it, it's called by your name. זה כלל בכל מקום Zeh klal b'chol makom, it's true everywhere. Miriam was called אחות אהרן Achos Aharon, לפי שמסר נפשו עליה l'fi she'masar nafsho aleha, because Aharon risked his life to save her to daven on her behalf. So she's known as the sister of Aharon. זכרו תורת משה עבדי Zichru Toras Moshe avdi. משה מסר נפשו Moshe masar nafsho. Moshe, it's called תורת משה Toras Moshe. Why is it called תורת משה Toras Moshe, the Torah of Moshe? Because Moshe was מוסר נפש moser nefesh for the Torah. And we have several other examples that every time somebody is מוסר נפש moser nefesh for something, it is identified with their name, with their name. We can learn Torah, daven, do mitzvos, and they don't have an effect on us. But if we want Torah and mitzvos to be truly ours, to change our essence, to create a real connection to Hashem, says רב וואלבע Rav Wolbe, you got to put in a real effort. We have to be willing to sacrifice. A person has to be יגיע yagia, יגע yagea. A person has to make that effort. We want everything to be easy. It's what Rav Lopiansky spoke about last night too. For it to have a ברען bren, a life, to carry itself, and to not feel like a burden, עבודת פרך avodas parech, oppressive, then we have to put in the effort. We have to make it ours. We're living in a generation and a time of what's called the tyranny of convenience. Goes back to the shribalization of America. Everybody wants what's comfortable, what's convenient, what's most local, what's easiest, what's fastest, what's got the best kiddush. And and you see this. Rav Lopiansky spoke last night about his son worked at a אתרוג esrog store in Brooklyn. And a big גביר gvir, a wealthy person came in and spent a lot of time, no, no, not this one, bring me another, not this one, not this one. When he finally settled on his אתרוג esrog, an expensive, beautiful, high-level אתרוג esrog, they brought out a bottle of משקה mashke, some alcohol, they made a לחיים l'chaim and they did a dance. That אתרוג esrog. Today, whatever אתרוג esrog, it's pre-packaged, it's pre-sealed, הדסים hadassim, ערבות aravos. You used to be the מנורה menorah, the חנוכה Chanukah candles. You remember your fingers would get so oily? Because you'd put the thread in the wick and the the wick inside the floater, and you'd fill the glass with the oil, with the water. You have a, we used to be that you had a סוכה sukkah. My father was saying last night after the שיעור shiur, I have such vivid memories of growing up. We had these metal poles, they were labeled, but the labels fell off, or they got rubbed out. Every year, we'd have to re-remind ourselves and figure out where those poles went. Anyone remember that? We had bamboo, not the bamboo mats you unroll, it's easy, it pop up, you throw it in the air, you have a סוכה sukkah. We had bamboo mats. You had to tie them together, it would come apart, they'd fall, they'd hit you on the head, they were wobbly. You had to alternate the thick side and the thin side. You had to line them up over the, you had to put the wooden slats so it wouldn't be sitting on the metal. And there was an effort to build that סוכה sukkah. You didn't throw a סוכה sukkah in the air and it landed and you had a סוכה sukkah, voilà. You didn't go to the store and you brought the pre-packaged מנורה menorah, the חנוכה Chanukah was done. You're going to go to the store in the next few weeks and you're going to see, you know what you're going to find they're selling? It's it's maybe this is the biggest indictment over our generation of anything in the world. Salt water. We're at a point that you can't even make salt water. You'll be able to for פסח Pesach go and buy, I'm not, I'm not joking. Aside from the fact you're going to be able to go and buy 10 pieces of חמץ chametz to hide in your house. That's already made. Manufactured, numbered. I'm surprised they don't have an Apple thing on it with a tracer so you could find the 10 pieces with an app so you know where they are. That's coming. In fact, if you invent that, I want a royalty on it. That's coming. Salt water. We can't even make our own salt water. So it says רב וואלבע Rav Wolbe, ויעש בצלאל את הארון Vaya'as Betzalel es ha'aron. When you put in an effort, it becomes yours. You become it. You're intertwined, you're associated. That effort is defining of who you are. Don't take the easy way out. Don't take the easy way out. Put in the effort because the effort is what creates the relationship. When you chop, I vividly remember my my grandparents, my mother's here with our children, the chopping bowl among the last things we have from grandparents from Europe, the chopper, the chopping bowl, that חרוסת charoses, that was, that that, these are the memories that are embedded inside us. What memories are our children going to have? I remember I needed an outfit for the morning and an outfit for the afternoon and an outfit for the late afternoon and an outfit and if I was in שדכנות shidduchim, I needed twice that many outfits. That's what they're going to remember, the luggage and the bellman and getting there early and leaving there late. That's the, that's what they're going to remember about פסח Pesach. I remember that I went and I bought the salt water from the store. You remember, it's the effort. ויעש בצלאל Vaya'as Betzalel, says says רב וואלבע Rav Wolbe, we are identified with the effort that we put in. We should all put in the effort. Should be a day of בשרות טובות besoros tovos. Help us finish the campaign. Let's see if you helped us during the שיעור shiur. Real live updates. Stay for תהלים Tehillim. All תהלים Tehillim. Nope, we're still 5,000 away. Help us. BRSonline.org/global.
