Transcript
Okay, good morning, בוקר טוב Boker Tov. Please God it should be a good morning for עם ישראל Am Yisrael, כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael. We should hear בשורות טובות besoros tovos, ישועות ונחמות yeshuos v'nechamos. Please God that today be the day that we hear good news of a sweeping victory over our enemies and the return of our hostages and an end to this war. Our פרשה parsha series is generously sponsored by Becky and Avi Katz and family in memory of David Grossman, לעילוי נשמת דוד בן מנחם מנש l'iluy nishmas David ben Menachem Manush. We remain always very grateful to the Katzes for their generosity. Today's שיעור shiur is also sponsored by ר' שיע בן ר' משה R'Shia ben R'Moshe, ישר כח Yashar Koach to the great Boca Raton Synagogue, זכות לכל העניין zchus l'chol ha'inyanem. Okay, שכויח shkoyach, very grateful for that. And also I want to dedicate our learning this morning in זכות zchus, in the memory of somebody who's gonna only be buried in ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael in the next short time from now and that is Reb Abie Berkowitz who was a tremendous, tremendous person, a real leader in Miami Beach community and well, well beyond, a great בעל חסד baal chesed and בעל צדקה baal tzedakah, a great father and grandfather, our own Richie Merzoff's father. עליו השלום ר' אברהם אבא בן משה חיים Alav Hashalom R' Avraham Abba ben Moshe Chaim, his נשמה neshama should have an עליה aliyah, should be a מליץ יושר meilitz yosher for his beautiful family. My son-in-law is משפחה mishpacha with him, so we knew him quite well and really a very, very special person and a big loss, not only for Miami Beach, but for all of כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael and the world, and our learning should be in his memory.So before we dive into פרשת תזריע Parshas Tazria, normally we read תזריע מצורע Tazria Metzora together, this year the calendar falls out, we read them separately, which means two things. Number one, get to שול shul early on שבת Shabbos because the פרשה parsha is short. So there's not your usual timing, it's a short פרשה parsha, so get to שול shul early enough. And number two, we're able to focus a little bit more on תזריע Tazria, there's only one פרשה parsha this week. But before we jump into תזריע Tazria page 608 in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash, I want to share with you a thought because today is ראש חודש Rosh Chodesh, a חודש טוב chodesh tov to all. It's a new month, it's a new year, because there's a debate the גמרא Gemara records, was the world created in תשרי Tishrei or was the world created in ניסן Nissan? בניסן נברא עולם או בתשרי נברא עולם B'Nissan nivra olam or b'Tishrei nivra olam? When was the world was created? It's a big מחלוקת machlokes, it seems to be a great debate. The סלאנימער רבי Slanimer Rebbe quotes the קדושת לוי Kedushas Levi of לוי יצחק מברדיטשוב Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev who says, in fact, there's no debate at all, there were different things created and they both agree. The question is which are you focused on. What happened in תשרי Tishrei? תשרי Tishrei was the what. What was created? The world. The six days of creation, the heavens and earth, and the stars and the sun and the moon that covered the sun, everyone got their pick of the solar eclipse yesterday. Was the the constellations and the oceans and the rivers and the birds and the animals and mankind. So תשרי Tishrei represents what we call ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah, the first of תשרי Tishrei are ימים נוראים Yamim Noraim was the answer to what. What was created, the material, physical world, that was in תשרי Tishrei. You know what came about in ניסן Nissan, not the what, but the why. The why we were created. And why were we created? Because the Jewish people were born. Because the whole world exists for עם ישראל Am Yisrael, for כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael. God created this world for us to be models and examples and to repair and to redeem His world. That's not only a great merit, but even more significantly, that's an awesome responsibility. It's not that we are superior and better, triumphant or we're arrogant, it's that we feel this incredible onus. We feel this relentless responsibility to repair and redeem השם's Hashem's world, to make it a better place and to be examples. So תשרי Tishrei was the what. What was created? The ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah for the what was תשרי Tishrei. Says ר' לוי יצחק מברדיטשוב Rav Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, ניסן Nissan, today, is the beginning of the answer of the why. Why were we created? Because of the Jewish people. And when were we born? When we left מצרים Mitzrayim. We came down to Egypt as a family, a family of 70, and we left Egypt not as a family, we left Egypt as a nation, we left Egypt as a people, and that was why the world was created. Moreover, says ר' לוי יצחק Rav Levi Yitzchak, but that wasn't until when? Two weeks from now, a little over two weeks from now, when we'll celebrate פסח Pesach. What happens beginning today? We don't say תחנון Tachanun at BRS, many of the custom not to say תחנון Tachanun for the month of ניסן Nissan. It's not פסח Pesach for two more weeks. Why are we stopping תחנון Tachanun? So today's ראש חודש Rosh Chodesh, that's easy. You don't say תחנון Tachanun on ראש חודש Rosh Chodesh. But why won't we say it for the next two weeks? Because of בין הזמנים Bein Hazmanim? We're so excited, the kids are coming home? Why aren't we saying תחנון Tachanun? So the answer is, today represents something significant. It's יום הקמת המשכן yom hakamas haMishkan. Today was when the Tabernacle, the משכן Mishkan, was inaugurated, was opening day, is when it all began. That's what we read about last week's פרשה parsha. ויהי ביום השמיני Va'yhi ba'yom ha'shmini, it was on the eighth day, which really was the first day, after the seven days of practice, the seven days of dress rehearsal, the first day, the opening day of the משכן Mishkan was the first of the month of ניסן Nissan, today, today. Why is that an answer to the why? How is that celebrating the birthday of the world, the ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah of the why? The answer is what did the משכן Mishkan represent? It represents שכינה Shechinah. שכינה Shechinah is מלשון שכן m'lashon shochen. השם Hashem is our neighbor, he's accessible, he's available, he's involved in our life. And therefore the משכן Mishkan represents השם Hashem having דירה בתחתונים dira b'tachtonim, השם Hashem as a dwelling place right down here on earth. The משכן Mishkan is the vehicle, the instrument, the conduit through which we can find and give השם Hashem manifestation here in this world. And that's the why. Why are we here? To be vehicles of Godliness. So people see us and they say, wow, that's what it means to be people of God. So that when we're in an airport or traveling, having a bad travel day, that we make a קידוש השם kiddush Hashem in the way we react, and the way we respond, and the way we negotiate when things aren't going our way. That people come over and say, I want a piece of that. Tell me more about your religion. To be מרבה כבוד שמים marbeh kvod Shamayim, השרת השכינה hashra'as haShechinah, דירה בתחתונים dira b'tachtonim, to give God a dwelling place down here on earth, to act with integrity and honesty, the way we carry ourselves in business, who we are with courtesy everywhere we go, all of that is an answer to the why. So תשרי Tishrei is what was created. And that's what we celebrate, the ימי הדין yemei hadin. And if we want to continue to exist, we come before God in judgment with the what. What? You want to still be here? The what? The physical, material existence in this world? Then you have to prove your worth. That's the month of תשרי Tishrei. But ניסן Nissan, ניסן Nissan is not the what, ניסן Nissan is the why. So the קדושת לוי of ר' לוי יצחק Kedushas Levi of Rav Levi Yitzchak suggests they're not arguing, but really they both agree. The question is which is the focus. So there are two ראש השנה's Rosh Hashanah's. And as seriously and as intensely and as excited as you were for the last ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah of תשרי Tishrei, is as intense as today is. It's the ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah of the why. Today is the ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah of ניסן Nissan. בניסן נברא עולם B'Nissan nivra olam. It's one of the ראש השנה's Rosh Hashanah's. So get excited. Today's ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah. You don't have to stay in שול shul all day דאווענען davening. You didn't have to cook a big meal. You're not cutting up apples and making a סדר seder and getting the honey. But today is a big day. Today is the ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah of the why, of why we are here. And why are we here? To be a nation, to care about our nation, to be united with our nation. And why are we here? To be vehicles and instruments for God to express himself in this world. Answer that why. That is this ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah. A גוט יאר a gut yohr, a שנה טובה a shanah tovah, it's a good year. It is the ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah of ניסן Nissan. But I really want to share one other thought before we dive into the פרשה parsha. Because we're going to consider in just over two weeks at the סדר seder table, יכול מראש חודש yachol mei'Rosh Chodesh. We're going to wonder, hmm, maybe we could have begun to celebrate פסח Pesach already from today, from ראש חודש Rosh Chodesh. תלמוד לומר ביום ההוא Talmud lomar ba'yom ha'hu. No, it says that day. אי ביום ההוא יכול מבעוד יום, תלמוד לומר בעבור זה Ee ba'yom ha'hu yachol mib'od yom, talmud lomar ba'avur zeh, בעבור זה לא אמרתי אלא בשעה שמצה ומרור מנחים לפניך ba'avur zeh lo amarti ela b'sha'ah she'matzah u'maror munachim l'fanecha. Don't celebrate freedom, emancipation, exodus, don't celebrate leaving Egypt until the מצה ומרור matzah u'maror are before you. And when is that? The 15th of ניסן Nissan. Wait until פסח Pesach when it corresponded the historical event, that's when we celebrate פסח Pesach. That's when we tell the story. That's when we feel the freedom. But I might have thought, יכול yachol, maybe, perhaps, I might have thought when does it all begin? Today, from ראש חודש Rosh Chodesh. Why would I have thought that? Would I have thought that about חנוכה Chanukah? Don't wait till כ\"ה כסלו Chaf Hei Kislev, maybe from ראש חודש כסלו Rosh Chodesh Kislev? Would I have thought that about סוכות Sukkos? Don't wait till the 15th, maybe? Would I have thought that about פורים Purim? Don't wait for פורים Purim until? There's no other holiday we think, I might have thought, let's take it in early. Why would I have thought I could observe פסח Pesach from ראש חודש ניסן Rosh Chodesh Nissan, from today? Why would I have even thought that? So listen to this insight. The לובאוויטשער רבי Lubavitcher Rebbe, זכותו יגן עלינו zchuso yagen aleinu, the לובאוויטשער רבי Lubavitcher Rebbe said a novel approach. He says יכול מראש חודש yachol mei'Rosh Chodesh is not a question, it's a statement. Said the לובאוויטשער רבי Lubavitcher Rebbe, you don't need to wait until the 15th of ניסן Nissan, but יכול מראש חודש yachol mei'Rosh Chodesh, you're already allowed to start to celebrate your freedom. Take your life seriously, answer the why, experience the flavor of the Exodus from ראש חודש Rosh Chodesh. It's not יכול מראש חודש yachol mei'Rosh Chodesh, I might have thought maybe already. No, יכול מראש חודש yachol mei'Rosh Chodesh. You're allowed. You're allowed to start celebrating פסח Pesach today. You're allowed to lean into the energy of פסח Pesach as of now. תלמוד לומר ביום ההוא Talmud lomar ba'yom ha'hu. On this day. You don't have to wait till then. On this day, because already that day, ראש חודש Rosh Chodesh, משה Moshe already began to teach the הלכות halachos of פסח Pesach. Already from today, feel free. Mark your freedom. Celebrate your freedom. But how? The מצה ומרור matzah u'maror aren't here yet. We're not telling the story. So it's such a beautiful insight. You don't have to wait. יכול מראש חודש Yachol mei'Rosh Chodesh. Already from today, you can. But how? So ר' סאלאוויטשיק Rav Soloveitchik has another interpretation based on the ספורנו Sforno. ספורנו Sforno tells us, why is the very first מצוה mitzvah? We shared this before. The very first מצוה mitzvah that השם Hashem and the תורה Torah give us when we leave Egypt, if I were taking a poll of everybody here, and I said, what do you think should be the first מצוה mitzvah of this nascent nation, of this new nation just born, what should be the very first מצוה mitzvah? So someone might have said, שבת Shabbos, טהרת המשפחה taharas hamishpacha, לשון הרע lashon hara, I don't know, we would have come up with all kinds of suggestions what the first מצוה mitzvah. What does the תורה Torah give us as the very first מצוה mitzvah? החודש הזה לכם HaChodesh ha'zeh lachem. To be able to establish a new month, a new moon. And what is the new month, the new moon? Today. החודש הזה לכם HaChodesh ha'zeh lachem is the new month of ניסן Nissan. Why is that the very first מצוה mitzvah? And we therefore operate on a lunar calendar, not a solar calendar. And that's why hopefully yesterday the eclipse, because the גמרא Gemara says if it were a solar, if it were a lunar eclipse, סימן רע siman ra, it's a bad news for the Jews. But because it was a solar eclipse, good news for the Jews, bad news for the enemies of the Jews, particularly when it happens, the זוהר Zohar says at a time when the moon is barely discernible, which is when the eclipse happened yesterday, when the moon was at its smallest, which the זוהר Zohar says is particularly bad for ישמעאל Yishmael, and please God, let that be true. It was bad for a חמאס Chamas commander last night who they took out and killed. So it's already bad for one. Let it be bad for many, many, many more. Why is that the first מצוה, החודש הזה לכם mitzvah, HaChodesh ha'zeh lachem? Why not טהרת המשפחה taharas hamishpacha, יום כיפור Yom Kippur, צניעות tznius, honesty in business, weights and measures, so many other מצוות mitzvos we might have come up with to be the first, to be the special, to be the beginning. But to sanctify the new moon? And listen to what the ספורנו Sforno says, ר' סאלאוויטשיק Rav Soloveitchik elaborates. He says, you know what the difference between being a slave and a free person is? Your relationship with time. The slave doesn't own their own time. The slave's time is bound and obligated to others. What the master says to do is what they have to do. They don't have freedom or flexibility. They can't control their own time. But a free person has the ability to determine, to choose their time. So when you're addicted, when you're addicted to your cell phone, to its apps, then you're a slave to your cell phone and its apps. When you're addicted to your work, and you're a workaholic, you're a slave to work. When you're addicted to binge-watching whatever series you were told you have to see, you're addicted to Netflix. You're a slave to that Netflix. What does it mean to be a free person? A free person is to be punctual. A free person is to be on time. A free person is to make the most of all time. So maybe יכול מראש חודש yachol mei'Rosh Chodesh, maybe I might have thought that what empowers, what's the engine that drives all of this freedom, all this emancipation, all this exodus is ראש חודש Rosh Chodesh, a new beginning, a fresh start, a relationship with time, owning time. I might have thought what begins this entire experience, ראש חודש Rosh Chodesh, החודש הזה לכם HaChodesh ha'zeh lachem. תלמוד לומר ביום ההוא Talmud lomar ba'yom ha'hu, no, when מצה matzah, when מרור maror, it's also beautiful ראש חודש Rosh Chodesh, and it's the first מצוה mitzvah. And our ability to own our own time is important. But really, we celebrate פסח Pesach when we'll have the מצה ומרור matzah u'maror. But the רבי's Rebbe's insight is also true. יכול מראש חודש Yachol mei'Rosh Chodesh. Beginning today, no more Jewish time. No more Jewish time. You know, there are dictionaries of slang. And for Jewish time, you know what it says? Perpetually late, habitually late, Jewish time is flexible with time. One of the greatest gifts, not that there were any silver linings to corona, we wish it never happened. But we used to announce the beginning of a שיעור shiur, פרשה שיעור Parsha shiur is at 9:30. People were still trickling in, 9:31, 9:32, 9:33, 9:34, 9:35. And when we pivoted to also go online, because people were waiting, we had to press go live, every שיעור shiur I give now starts, פונקט punkt, whatever time we announce that begins. Punctuality. You know what Jewish time should mean? Punctual. On time. If you're if you're early, you're on time. If you're on time, you're late. If you're late, don't come. ר' אהרן קארלינער Reb Aharon Karliner, קארלינער חסידים Karliner Chasidim, in the צוואה tza'vah, in the ethical will of ר' אהרן קארלינער Reb Aharon Karliner he left, several things about דאווענען davening. Number one, קארלינערס Karliners דאווענען daven fast, quick. Why? They don't value דאווענען davening? They value it enormously. But they know that the longer you דאווענען daven or keep דאווענען davening going, the more likely you'll get distracted. So ר' אהרן קארלינער Reb Aharon Karliner said in his צוואה tza'vah, דאווענען daven quickly, טשיק טשאַק chik chak, the faster you go, the more likely you can concentrate the whole time. Number two, they scream. If you've ever דאווענען davened in the קארלינער בית מדרש Karliner Beis Medrash, they scream. Everyone is screaming. Like screaming to the point that you'd feel silly screaming. Screaming. Why? Because when you דאווענען daven quietly to yourself, your mind wanders. When you're screaming, it keeps you focused. But what was the third thing ר' אהרן קארלינער Reb Aharon Karliner said? If you're not on time, don't come. דאווענען Daven by yourself at home. If you're not on time, don't come. A איד Yid, a Jew, doesn't keep the king waiting. On time is late, early is on time. And if you're late, don't come. Jewish time is to be punctual. Jewish time is to be on time. Because the value of every moment, החודש הזה לכם HaChodesh ha'zeh lachem. So יכול מראש חודש yachol mei'Rosh Chodesh, I might have thought that freedom is time. So maybe I should begin to observe from ראש חודש Rosh Chodesh. No. תלמוד לומר ביום ההוא Talmud lomar ba'yom ha'hu when the מצה ומרור matzah u'maror is there. But the רבי Rebbe comes and he says, still, יכול מראש חודש yachol mei'Rosh Chodesh. Not sure how many of his חסידים chasidim understood this message or this part of it. But at least the punctuality part of it. But you're allowed to start the שטיבל מנין shtiebel minyan on time. You're allowed to פארברענג farbreng on time. You're allowed to begin יכול yachol, יכול מראש חודש yachol mei'Rosh Chodesh. You're allowed on time. I'll tell you an amazing story. An amazing story. After his father, the סטייפלר Steipler was נפטר niftar, ר' חיים קנייבסקי זצ\"ל R'Chaim Kanievsky zatzal delivered a שיעור shiur in תלמוד ירושלמי Talmud Yerushalmi. It was a sophisticated, high-level שיעור shiur to accomplished תלמידי חכמים talmidei chachamim. It lasted all through the year of mourning, through his year of אבילות aveilus for his father, the סטייפלר Steipler. And as soon as the first year of אבילות aveilus was up, ר' חיים R'Chaim ended the שיעור shiur he did in memory of his father. So ר' חיים's R'Chaim's son wondered, he asked his father, why did you stop giving this שיעור shiur? So ר' חיים R'Chaim said, I didn't have time anymore to prepare it. He said, how long did it take you to prepare? He said, exactly five minutes. So he said, five minutes, you didn't have, first of all, the fact that he prepared a high-level ירושלמי שיעור Yerushalmi shiur for the greatest תלמידים talmidim of בני ברק Bnei Brak and it took him five minutes to prepare. But he said, you don't have five minutes. And he said, no, I don't have five minutes. I don't have five minutes, because he had his obligations in learning, because he had, he answered every single letter that he got. Every single letter that came to his home, he spent hours every day answering. And he met with countless people on long lines that trailed all through בני ברק Bnei Brak. But every minute, every moment of ר' חיים's R'Chaim's life was carefully considered and planned and accounted for. So those five minutes was too long to have to prepare for a שיעור shiur, he didn't have the time. He didn't have the time. That was the value of five minutes to ר' חיים R'Chaim. That was the value of five minutes to ר' חיים R'Chaim. So what's the value for us? What's the value for us? With this we begin פרשת תזריע Parshas Tazria because this connects the פרשת תזריע Parshas Tazria. Because the פסוק pasuk says, תזריע מצורע Tazria Metzora, the גמרא'ן ברכות Gemara in Brachos asks, we say immersing in the מיקוה mikvah is not enough for the מצורע metzora to become pure. Somebody spoke לשון הרע lashon hara and they are afflicted with צרעת tzara'as, a spiritual malady of leprosy. And in order for them to become pure, the individual, even, even if they went into the מיקוה mikvah, they have to wait until the nighttime. Why is it not enough to bring the קרבן korban, bring the sacrifice, and go to the מיקוה mikvah? Why do they have to wait till הערב שמש haarev shemesh? Why do they have to wait for the sun to go down, for the day to be complete, before they be considered pure? So the גמרא'ן ברכות Gemara in Brachos asks this question. ומי מהי דהאי ובא השמש, ביאת השמש u'mimai d'hai u'vo ha'shemesh, bi'as ha'shemesh. והאי וטהר, טהר יומא v'hai v'taher, tahar yoma. דלמא ביאת אורו הוא מהי טהר טהר גברא dilma bi'as oro hu mai taher taher gavra. אמר אבא בר רב שילא, אם כן לימא קרא ויתהר Amar Abba bar Rav Sheila, im kein leima kra v'yit'har. מהי וטהר, טהר יומא mai v'taher, tahar yoma. The גמרא Gemara concludes, the day has to end. Something about the day ending is critically important, is a necessary ingredient for the individual who gossiped and had this affliction to become pure once again. גמרא Gemara is telling us purification of a person who made a mistake, you need the day to be pure, טהר יומא tahar yoma. What's the difference? So רב קוק Rav Kook, רב קוק זצ\"ל in his עין איה Ein Ayah, in his commentary on the aggadic parts of of sections of תלמוד ברכות Talmud Brachos, he says that the person needs purification for two things. The poor choice that they made, but the day also needs purification because of the poor use of time that day. Two things need purification. The גברא gavra and the יומא yoma, the day. The person needs to be purified because they abused the power of speech. They gossiped. They harmed and injured a friend. They damaged a relationship. So the person needs to be rehabilitated. The person needs to be purified. The person has to go into the מיקוה mikvah and bring a קרבן korban, a sacrifice. The person needs to be purified because the person made a mistake. But the day also needs to be purified. What happened in the day? They wasted the time in that day by squandering the speech on something that they could have been doing instead. Could have been doing instead. ר' חיים's R'Chaim's five minutes. The five minutes that a person gossiped. The 10 minutes on the telephone. The 15 minutes having coffee and saying לשון הרע lashon hara and gossiping about somebody else. How could those 15 minutes have been used? Who could you have called and lifted their spirits? Who could you have visited and given them some good energy and positive vibes? Who could you have asked, how are your children and grandchildren who live in Israel? How are you doing and how are you faring now six months into this war? How could that power of speech? How could those five minutes? How could those 10 minutes? How could they have been used differently? So the individual needs to be purified, says רב קוק Rav Kook, but so does the day, so does the time. That's why it's not enough to go to the מיקוה mikvah, it's not enough to bring the קרבן korban. There also needs to be הערב שמש haarev shemesh, there also has to be going to the the מיקוה mikvah. There are 168 hours in everyone's week. 168 hours in the week. And many of them are accounted for. Subtract 50 for sleep and 21 hours for דאווענען davening a week, maybe 40 if you work eight hours a day, you're very lucky. That leaves 57 hours a week. So how much discretionary time do we have a week? 50 hours? Every seven days you have about 50 hours. What are you going to do with it? How are you going to spend it? How will you account for it? When you look back on the week, what will you show for it? Not the part that was pre-programmed and that you were obligated, the 50 hours that are discretionary, that you can choose. What would your screen time on your phone say about you? In the pre-פסח Pesach workshop, we talked about this. We said בדיקת חמץ וביעור חמץ bedikas chametz u'biur chametz, what's חמץ chametz? It's only one difference between חמץ chametz and מצה matzah. Both have the same ingredients, flour and water. What's the only difference? Time. חמץ Chametz is leaven. It's inflated. You let it sit. You let time have its impact. So the search for חמץ chametz is not just a search for the physical leaven of חמץ chametz. What are we looking for and searching for in our life? Squandered and wasted time. We're looking for the Jewish time in our life. We're looking for the wasted time in our life. So I suggested maybe this year for בדיקת חמץ bedikas chametz, you know what you should do? Before you make the ברכה bracha, before you start to walk around with the candle and the feather and the spoon, everyone should take out their smartphone and everybody should open up and look at where it says screen report. How you spent your time on your phone. And everybody should do בדיקת חמץ bedikas chametz on their phone. What app do I need to erase? Which app do I need to delete? Where was I wasting and spending way too much time? That's ביעור חמץ biur chametz. בדיקה Bedika, the search for חמץ chametz and the ביעור חמץ biur chametz to destroying חמץ chametz, look for the חמץ chametz, the leaven, the inflated, wasted, squandered time in our phones, on our computers, in our lives. So יכול מראש חודש yachol mei'Rosh Chodesh. חבר'ה Chevra, you don't have to wait. You don't have to wait until two weeks. פסח Pesach will celebrate the יציאת מצרים yetzias Mitzrayim, the exodus, when the מצה ומרור matzah u'maror are sitting in front of us. But the new attitude towards time, punctuality, making the most of every moment, making each day full so the day doesn't need purification, יכול מראש חודש yachol mei'Rosh Chodesh, that you're allowed to do beginning already today. Let's go back to the beginning of the פרשה parsha. Page 608. פרק י\"ב פסוק א' Perek Yud Beis Pasuk Aleph, וידבר השם אל משה לאמר Vaydaber Hashem el Moshe leimor, God spoke to משה Moshe saying. דבר אל בני ישראל לאמר Daber el Bnei Yisrael leimor, speak to כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael and tell them, אשה כי תזריע וילדה זכר isha ki sazria v'yaldah zachar, if a woman conceives and she has a male child, וטמאה שבעת ימים כימי נדת דותה תטמא v'tameh shivas yamim kimei nidas d'vosah titma, she shall be impure for seven days. When a woman gives birth, there's an impurity she experiences. Impurity is not dirtiness. You know, some of the worst anti-Semites who study the Bible, one of the tropes that they try to use is that we describe a woman who's menstruating as dirty. Purity and impurity is not a gender bias. It happens to be that women, based on a cycle or based on childbirth, have impurity. Men also have impurity and טומאה tumah. They can also have an emission that creates an impurity. עזרא Ezra, in fact, was מתקן metakein that any man who had a nocturnal emission, any man who had any emission, a seminal emission, had to go to the מיקוה mikvah before he could דאווענען daven, before he could learn. That's why many men have the custom to use the מיקוה mikvah daily, ערב שבת erev Shabbos, ערב יום טוב erev Yom Tov, they go to the מיקוה mikvah. It's not a gender bias. Men, women, צרעת tzara'as could apply to both before going to the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash, before going on הר הבית Har Habayis, טומאה וטהרה tumah v'tahara apply to both equally. It happens to be today, when we no longer observe the טומאה tumah of טומאת מת tumas meis, of the impurity that comes from contact with a corpse or a שרץ sheretz, a creepy crawly, so women are the primary ones who use the מיקוה mikvah or who have to purify from an impurity because of their cycle. But there's nothing, there's nothing gender specific, there's nothing gender bias about it. So one of the categories of people who are impure and need to be purified is a woman after she gives birth. And there's a difference between whether she had a boy or a girl. Seven days or 14 days, how the impurity lasts. It's a fascinating quote, Aristotle also talks about this seven-day, 14-day impact on a woman after giving birth, depending if it's a boy or a girl. Clearly, he took it from the תורה Torah, clearly he took it from the Bible. So here on this eighth day, ר' סאלאוויטשיק Rav Soloveitchik says the following, he says, hold on, let's keep going because we'll get to the ברית bris. וביום השמיני ימול בשר עלתו U'v'yom ha'shmini yimol bsar arlaso. פסוק ג' Pasuk Gimmel. On the eighth day, the ברית bris takes place. On the eighth day, the ברית bris takes place. ר' סאלאוויטשיק Rav Soloveitchik says the following. There are two fulfillments in the מצוה mitzvah of מילה milah, in the מצוה mitzvah of circumcision. On the one hand, the act of circumcision is conceptually similar to many other מצוות mitzvos. There's a מצוה mitzvah to circumcise one's son, just as there is a מצוה mitzvah to hold a לולב lulav. On the other hand, a new status is conferred upon the person through מילה milah. One who takes a לולב lulav is the same person before and after the מצוה mitzvah. His status has not changed. After מילה milah, however, the child becomes a בן ברית ben bris. Only then can he enter the מקדש Mikdash or bring sacrifices. מילה Milah, circumcision is an integral part of conversion. After conversion, the individual is fundamentally changed. These two aspects of the מצוה mitzvah of מילה milah are reflected in the two blessings that are recited at a circumcision, at a ברית bris. The first ברכה bracha, אשר קדשנו במצותיו וציונו על המילה asher kiddishanu b'mitzvosav v'tzivanu al ha'milah. It's a classic ברכת המצוות birchas ha'mitzvos, the ברכה bracha you do before a מצוה mitzvah. Before you sit in a סוכה sukkah, before you shake a לולב lulav, before you're gonna eat the מצה matzah, על אכילת מצה al achilas matzah, before you put on your טלית tallis, להתעטף בציצית l'hisatef b'tzitzis. But according to רבנו תם in פסחים דף ז' Rabeinu Tam in Pesachim daf zayin, the second ברכה bracha, להכניסו בבריתו של אברהם אבינו l'hachniso b'vriso shel Avraham Avinu, to enter in the covenant of אברהם Avraham our forefather, that goes on the change of status that is the result of the ברית bris. So this ברית bris is unique. Every other מצוה mitzvah has an action. Doesn't change your status or identity. There's an external action that's done. So you make only the ברכה bracha corresponding, the blessing on the action. But here there are two things. There is the action and there's the ברכת המצוות birchas ha'mitzvos before the action. But there's also a resulting change of status and that's the second blessing of להכניסו בבריתו של אברהם אבינו l'hachniso b'vriso shel Avraham Avinu. The גמרא Gemara records that the evil Roman governor טרנוס רופוס Turnus Rufus once asked ר' עקיבא Rebbe Akiva, if God hates the uncircumcised, why did He create man in an uncircumcised state? What are you doing? And by the way, you see this again today. There are countries in the world right now trying to yet again outlaw ברית מילה bris milah. It's cruel, there's no consent of the child, of the baby, it's barbaric. This traces back to טרנוס רופוס Turnus Rufus, the Roman governor, who said, what are you doing? It's barbaric. If God, you think God wants you to do this, this is such a commandment you have to do, then why did God make people with a foreskin? If it's so horrible, why didn't He make them circumcised? ר' עקיבא Rebbe Akiva said, does the earth yield bread? I don't understand, does the earth grow bread? The earth grows wheat. You plant kernels and it grows wheat. And the earth grows wheat. And what is man charged to do? Take that wheat and thresh it, and grind it, and winnow it, and sift it, and knead it, and bake it into bread. In his rhetorical response, ר' עקיבא Rebbe Akiva conveyed, just as God desires that man bring forth bread from his effort, it's only man who can sanctify himself. If man wants to attain holiness, the initiative rests with him. He must circumcise himself. בדמייך חיי B'damayich chayi. Only through the blood of his personal sacrifice shall man live on a holy plane. Without toil and suffering, there is no holiness. You don't get to enter into the covenant of the Jewish people, you don't get to become a full member of the Jewish people without toil and suffering and effort. There can't be holiness without effort. The role of man in the endowment of holiness is a central theme in הלכה halacha. If a scribe writes a תורה Torah and does not explicitly state the sanctity of השם's Hashem's name, לשם קדושת ספר תורה l'shem kedushas sefer torah, while writing השם's Hashem's name, neither the name nor the scroll of any sanctity. The loftiness of the text itself makes no difference. Without the intention of writing the name for the purpose of vesting holiness, even the ultimate expression of faith, the שמע Shma, becomes profane. We have to be invested, we have to be mindful, we have to be present, we have to be thoughtful. We are the ones who transform it, we are the ones who who elevate it. פרק י\"ב פסוק ו' Perek Yud Beis Pasuk Vov. ובמלאת ימי טהרה לבן או לבת תביא כבש בן שנתו לעולה ובן יונה או תר לחטאת אל פתח אהל מועד אל הכהן U'viml'os yemei tarah l'ven o l'vas tavi keves ben shnaso l'olah u'ven yonah o sor l'chatas el pesach ohel moed el ha'kohen. The תורה Torah tells us, and the days of her purification have been completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring a sheep in the first year as a burnt offering, a young dove or turtle dove as a sin offering to the entrance of the Tent of the Meeting. A woman who gives birth has to bring a קרבן חטאת korban chatas, a sin offering. When do you bring a sin offering? I'll give you a little hint. It's in the name. When do you bring a sin offering? When you've done a a sin. We I hate the word sin. I've told you this for years. There's no such word as sin. That was borrowed from the Catholics. Jews don't have a sin. A חטאת chatas means a חטא chet is a missed opportunity. Sin is not our word. We believe in חטא chet as a missed opportunity. השם Hashem gave us מצוות עשה, מצוות לא תעשה mitzvos asei, mitzvos lo sa'asei. He gave us many ways we can get close to Him when we take advantage of an opportunity, and if we violate, we miss an opportunity. We miss an opportunity. It's a sin. If my wife asked me to take out the garbage, and I missed garbage day, wish this were hypothetical, and I missed garbage day this week. So, did I do a sin against her? I don't know what that word means, a sin. It's a missed opportunity. It means if I would have done it, you know what the greatest opportunity would have been? Imagine if I took out the garbage without her asking. And she said don't forget, and I say, already at the curb. Already done. We have that in מצוות mitzvos too. גדול מצוה Gadol metzuveh, a person who's not metzuveh metzuveh, who volunteers the greatness. Okay, but then you have, and it's גדול המצווה ועושה gadol ha'metzuveh v'oseh if you're asked. But if you didn't do something, it's not a sin, it's a missed opportunity. Okay, so for a few minutes, she'll be disappointed, frustrated. I do everything you ask, you couldn't get that done, I'm frustrated. It's a missed opportunity. that brings with it yields a consequence, a little distance, a little friction, a little tension. That's the same thing in our relationship with השם Hashem. We don't have sins. We have missed opportunities. So what opportunity did this woman miss? Nine months she carried this baby around. Aches and pains and stretch marks and nausea and vomiting. Nine months. Now she gave birth. No epidurals. No epidurals. Nine months. Nine months. Was talking to ריבו Ribo, ישי ריבו Ishay Ribo on Friday night about how he writes these songs. And he was sharing at the שבת Shabbos table about some of them he gives birth, בלי אפידורל bli epidural. Quickly they come right out, beautiful. Others, nine months of gestation, a painful labor. He was describing. So what what did this woman do? She brought this new נשמה neshama into this world, a new soul. She has to bring a חטאת chatas? What is she bringing a חטאת chatas for? Why is she bringing an atonement?So the רמב\"ן Ramban writes, why does she have to bring a חטאת chatas? Because what happened? In the pangs of childbirth, she's lying there in the hospital bed. And you know who what she's doing? She's looking at that husband of hers. You lowlife, אויסוואָרף oisvorf, you did this to me. You no גודניק goodnick, you miserable pain in the... I'm going to kill you. She looks over at the doctor, I'm never doing this again. She swears, this is the last time. Forget about it. This is never happening again. And you, find another bedroom, find another house, find another wife. I'm done with you. Never going to be close to you again. Doctor, I'm done with you. I'm never coming, no more children, I'm done. So the רמב\"ן Ramban says when she sobers up, which is usually when she's holding the baby in her arms, by then, she can't feel any pain anymore for a little bit. So she regrets having made that promise, that pledge, having said those things. So she has to bring a קרבן חטאת korban chatas. She brings a קרבן חטאת korban chatas.The כלי יקר Kli Yakar alternatively suggests that the חטאת chatas is offered by the mother to atone for the חטא חוה cheit Chava. Why does she have the pain in childbirth to begin with? Why wasn't it so comfortable? Why doesn't she show up at the hospital, 10 minutes later, oh, delicious, beautiful baby. Why does she have to have contractions and pain and nausea? Because we all have to pay the piper for what happened in the garden. אדם Adam, men, we're working by the sweat of our brow. We're working long days in order to earn an income, in order to make money, in order to pay our bills. We're still working hard. And the snake is still slithering on its stomach. Although I just saw a video of an invention. Somebody put a snake on this like long thing with wheels. And the snake is able to, I don't know, somehow drive it, so it's no longer slithering on its stomach. משיח'ס Mashiach's coming, I don't know what the, if we're reversing the punishment of the snake, I don't know what that means. Snake, for the most part, is still slithering on its stomach. And what was חוה Chava, what was Eve's punishment? She's going to now have pain of of childbirth, the pain of labor. My oldest was born in Israel. And we hired a birthing coach, a doula, whatever they're called. It's a very פרום frum, spiritual woman, which seemed like a fantastic idea. Until יוכבד Yocheved went into labor. And we're at the hospital. And she was trying to convince יוכבד Yocheved not to get an epidural because you're going to be מכפר mechaper for חוה Chava, lean into the pain, feel the... She had to bring a קרבן חטאת korban chatas for the thing she said about this woman. Trying to distract the doctor so it would be too late to get the epidural so she can. Meanwhile, you see that when a person wishes something, it comes true, because the doctor at the hospital who gave the epidural, it only took in half of her body. So every contraction that she had, יוכבד Yocheved, half of her body she didn't feel the pain, the other half she was in agony. So half of חטא cheit of חוה Chava was מכפר mechaper. יוכבד Yocheved at least contributed to the כפרה kaparah of the רוחלי Rucheli of the half of half of the חטא חוה cheit Chava.So the כלי יקר Kli Yakar says, the כלי יקר Kli Yakar says, she's not bringing a קרבן חטאת korban chatas because she did anything in particular wrong. Why does every יולדת yoledes, why does every woman who gives birth bring a קרבן חטאת korban chatas? Because womankind, because of all of women, in on the on behalf of חוה Chava, the mistake they made with the with the עץ הדעת eitz hadaas. The mother requires atonement because she rejects the exertion associated with childbirth, a rejection reminiscent of אדם Adam and חוה Chava when they refused to undergo the exertion required to attain knowledge. סולובייצ'יק Soloveitchik adds to this כלי יקר Kli Yakar the following, listen to this. I never heard this. The need to wait so many days until the woman can become purified after childbirth can once again be traced to the first sin. Because according to the מדרש Medrash, I didn't know this, אדם Adam and חוה Chava ate from the tree of knowledge, עץ הדעת eitz hadaas, on what day of the week? A Friday. The מדרש Medrash says had they waited a few more hours until שבת Shabbos, then הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu would have told them they could eat from that tree too. When he first put them in the גן Gan, he said, מכל mikol, eat from the whole שמורג shmorg, enjoy. Some say that's actually the first מצוה mitzvah. Before פרו ורבו p'ru u'rvu, before החדש הזה לכם hachodesh hazeh lachem, מכל עץ הדעת mikol eitz hadaas eat. It's השם Hashem saying enjoy my world. Enjoy this שמורג shmorg, enjoy the buffet, enjoy my world. In other words it's a positive commandment. השם Hashem doesn't want us to live an ascetic life. He says I put you in this beautiful געשמאַק geshmak world, go, עס es, go eat, go enjoy. That one tree don't touch. And by the way, if they would have just waited a few more hours, even the carving station would have opened up. Even the sushi station would have opened. A few more hours, even the men at the חתן'ס טיש chasan's tisch would have gotten some food. If the Torah is gender biased, if Judaism is a bias against anybody, it's against the men. The women get the whole שמורג shmorg. And they're not going to eat anything except the fruit. And the men, we get some sponge cake. Where's the שמורג shmorg? Where's the carving station? I don't know how we got on to that. But anyway, if they would have waited a few more hours, just a few more hours, they would have had the עץ הדעת eitz hadaas. ליקוטי תורה Likkutei Torah, פרשת קדושים Parshas Kedoshim, the רבי Rebbe is quoting, the רב Rav is quoting ליקוטי תורה Likkutei Torah. He knew it cold. As a punishment for אדם Adam and חוה Chava impetuous, a woman must with wait many days until her נדה nidda impurity is removed, and man must wait three years before he can eat the fruit of a newly planted tree, ערלה orlah. Many of the מצוות mitzvos in the Torah teach us the importance of the ability to wait. Isn't that an interesting insight of the רב Rav? She's bringing a קרבן חטאת korban chatas and she has to wait to become purified again because it's teaching patience. Because the whole חטא חוה cheit Chava, the whole challenge, the whole problem of the עץ הדעת eitz hadaas was, was a failure to be patient. So therefore, this whole formula is to teach some patience. Oh boy. Speaking of time management, we're still pretty bad at it.Okay. Let's go back to the beginning of the פרשה parashah. ויהי ביום השמיני קרא משה לאהרן ולבניו ולזקני ישראל Vayehi bayom hashmini kara Moshe l'Aharon ul'vanav ul'ziknei Yisrael. On the, sorry, wrong place, that's last week's פרשה parashah. ובמלאת ימי טהרתה לבן או לבת U'Vimlos yemei taharasah l'ven o l'vas. No, we're still here. So she has a boy or a girl, she's got to bring a קרבן korban, she's got to bring a קרבן חטאת korban chatas. רב דרוק Rav Druk also wonders why she's bringing the קרבן חטאת korban chatas. Because she gets up, she swears she's never going to be intimate with her husband again, through the pain of childbirth. בדרך דרוש נראה לבאר B'derech drush nir'eh l'va'er, but רב דרוק Rav Druk suggests something else. ואף על פי שנוסף. מהו הטעם שהיולדת צריכה להביא קרבן חטאת? שהרי ידוע כאשר אדם נמצא במצוקה כלשהי, בין נפשית, בין גופנית, מתחיל האדם להתקרב לבוראו, לתפוס את עצמו, להתבונן כלפי מעלה, ולהבין את טיב החיים ואת תפקידו בזה העולם. ועל ידי כך הוא מגיע להחלטות ושינוי בחייו ומיטיב את דרכיו, ומתחיל להתנהג כיריא שמים אמיתי בגלוי ובסתר V'af al pi she'nosaf... Moadu'a ha'ta'am she'hayoledes tzrichah l'havi korban chatas? Shor yadua ka'asher Adam nimtza b'metzukah kol shehi, bein nafshis, bein gufanis, maskil ha'adam l'hitkarrev l'boro, l'hitfos et atzmo, l'hitbonen klapei ma'alah, u'l'havin et tiv ha'chaim v'et tafkido b'zeh ha'olam. V'al yedei kach hu magia l'hachlatos v'shinui b'chayav v'meitiv et d'rachav, u'maskil l'hitnaheg k'yirei Shamayim amiti b'gilui v'seser. רב דרוק Rav Druk says the opposite insight. So we had the רמב\"ן Ramban, we had the כלי יקר Kli Yakar, we had סולובייצ'יק Soloveitchik, and now we have רב דרוק Rav Druk. You ready? Listen to this. What happens to the woman when she's in childbirth? Is the same thing that happens to anyone in a moment of pain, of crisis, of urgency. What do you start to do? You start to negotiate with the Almighty. God, if you get me to that bathroom, I will never speak לשון הרע lashon hara again the rest of my life. God, if you make this pain go away, if you heal me from this cold, this flu, if you get me out of this bed, if you take away the sciatica, if you stop my hip from hurting, if you whatever the ailment is, השם Hashem, I will finish ש\"ס Shas. I will say תהלים Tehillim all all תהלים Tehillim every day. I will... When a person feels they're in a moment of crisis or urgency, boy, are they talking to השם Hashem. Boy, are they talking to השם Hashem. כעבור זמן כאשר באה החלמה והישועה K'avor zman ka'asher ba hachlama v'hayeshua. Attempted to tell you a story, but my mother wouldn't be happy. במקרים רבים אדם מתחיל להתעלם מאסוריו ואף לשכוח B'mikrim rabbim, adam maskil l'hisalaim mei'isurav v'af lishkoach. What happens? You you come out, you make your אשר יצר asher yatzar. Within 10 minutes you forgot about how you almost didn't make it. Never mind God, I got there okay. I didn't need you. Forget it, I'm back to לשון הרע lashon hara. Forget the ש\"ס Shas, forget the תהלים Tehillim, forget... Never mind השם Hashem, the sciatica resolved itself. Never mind השם Hashem, Tamiflu, I got better, I got out of bed, chicken soup is unbelievable. I didn't need you. I'm good to go. What happens? We always forget השם Hashem. It doesn't take long until the same solution and answer that we turned to, that we negotiated with, that we made all kinds of promises and pledges about. So ובמלאת ימי טהרה לבן או לבת u'vimlos yemei taharah l'ven o l'vas, when this יולדת yoledes, when the woman who gives birth, ובמלאת u'vimlos when she completes her purification for a son or of a daughter, so now she's healed. She's completed the purification. It's already time has passed. Contractions have subsided, even the post have subsided, her stitches are feeling better, she's walking around comfortably, even the baby weight is started to go away. She's feeling fantastic, she's feeling great. What happened to her promise? I'm going to start to go to the אמונה שיעור Emunah shiur, I'm going to join the תהלים Tehillim group, I'm going to start to make חלה challah every week. She forgot because she's feeling better. So that's why you bring a קרבן חטאת korban chatas. The חטאת chatas is for, because when I was in a state of urgency, I made all these promises, I made all these pledges, ובמלאת ימי טהרה u'vimlos yemei taharah, when it comes to when you're feeling better, bring a חטאת chatas. Bring a חטאת chatas if you didn't make good on the promises that you made. If you weren't able to continue that incredibly high spiritual level, the talking to השם Hashem, the surrendering to השם Hashem, the pleading and begging to השם Hashem when we need him in that moment of crisis, big or small, if a person regresses, if a person reverts back to where we were beforehand, that's why you need a קרבן חטאת korban chatas for. Unbelievable רב דרוק Rav Druk, no? Was worth coming today just for that רב דרוק Rav Druk. Just for that רב דרוק Rav Druk. A person has to be cognizant and devoted that after we pass an urgent moment, that we don't revert back to who we were. That the same closeness we felt to השם Hashem when we were begging him, groveling to him, carry that conversation even when you don't need him as desperately, even when you don't need him as urgently in that moment.Now we move over to צרעת Tzaraas. פרק י\"ג Perek Yud Gimmel, we we start the story of צרעת Tzaraas. וידבר ה' אל משה ואל אהרן לאמר, אדם כי יהיה בעור בשרו שאת או ספחת או בהרת Vayedaber Hashem el Moshe v'el Aharon leimor, Adam ki yihyeh b'or b'saro se'eis o sapachas o baheres. If a person has on his flesh a שאת או ספחת או בהרת se'eis o sapachas o baheres. Even the ארטסקרול Artscroll doesn't translate these words. Person has a what seems like a dermatological condition. Only cortisone cream doesn't make this one go away. Put a little cortisone cream on it, right? Everybody knows the joke, but I won't say it. Because my שווער shver is a dermatologist. If it's wet, dry it. If it's dry, wet it. Put cortisone cream on it. I won't say it because it wouldn't be nice to my father-in-law. So this is not a dermatological disease. Cortisone cream is not taking care of this one. Steroids not taking care of this one. So what is the dermatological presentation? שאת, ספחת, או בהרת Se'eis, sapachas, o baheres. It's בעור בשרו b'or b'saro, it's on the skin of your of your flesh, לנגע צרעת l'nega tzaraas. And what's the solution? Where do you go? והובא אל אהרן הכהן או אל אחד מבניו הכהנים V'huva el Aharon hakohein o el achad mibanev hakoanim. Go to Aaron or to one of his sons. And here we have three רב דרוקס Rav Druks in a row. Buckle up. Here we go. A lot more, but let's start with three רב דרוקס Rav Druks in a row. פרשת תזריע ומצורע סמוכות זו לזו ועוסקים בדיני נגעים, נכתב לאחר פרשת שמיני Parshas Tazria u'Metzora smuchos zu l'zu v'eskim dinim nega'im, nichtev l'achar parshas Shemini. We have פרשת תזריע Parshas Tazria after שמיני Shemini. How does שמיני Shemini end? What laws? כשרות Kashrus. How does תזריע Tazria begin, the law part here, now with צרעת tzaraas. Why? What's the סמיכות פרשיות smichus parshios? What's the connection one to the other? Says רב דרוק Rav Druk, you know what? Don't only be careful and vigilant with what you put in your mouth. Also be careful and vigilant with what comes out of your mouth. Don't only care about what you put in your mouth. How many people we know who keep גלאט כשר glatt kosher. They're scrup super strict and scrupulous. חלב ישראל Cholov Yisroel, בישול ישראל bishul Yisroel, פת ישראל pas Yisroel, חיים שכחרים chaim she'chayrim, שחיטה shechita of the best. I won't eat there, I won't eat this, I won't touch that, I can't eat this, I only make this at home. And meanwhile, לשון הרע lashon hara, רכילות rechilus, שקר sheker. Be as careful with what comes out of your mouth as what you put in your mouth. That's not to say be less careful with כשרות kashrus. It's to say be more careful with לשון הרע lashon hara. That we should be as careful with what comes out of our mouth as with what we put in our mouth. And that's why the גמרא Gemara in ערכין Arachin tells us, נגעים באים לכפר על עוון מספר לשון הרע nega'im ba'im l'chaper al avon mesaper lashon hara. So that's the סמיכות פרשיות smichus parshios, says רב דרוק Rav Druk, be as careful with what comes out of your mouth as with what you put in your mouth. That is number one.Number two. We have all kinds of טומאה tumah: מת meis, שרץ sheretz, נבילה neveila, שכבת זרע shichvas zera, זב zav, זבה zava, נדה nidda, יולדת yoledes. The impurity we spoke about before, if a person has contact or is even simply in the same building as a corpse, they become contaminated without even touching. A כהן kohein can't go into the hospital if there's a morgue. It's a whole שאלה shailah. Still being done. Lenny's Pizza, delicious, wonderful. We have all they're all wonderful, they're all delicious. Lenny's Pizza is in a strip mall that also has a Jewish funeral home. It's in the same building under the same covering under the same roof. Or if you're from the Midwest, roof. And the שאלה shailah is can a כהן kohein go in to get pizza? Depends what's in that funeral home. They cremate, ash. Do do ash also, do ash also מטמא metamei? What if the ash have an עצם etzem? Is there enough כעדשה k'adasha? Is there a barley measure of ash of bone mixed in with that ash that could be מטמא metamei? So in fact, we've worked with Lenny's. A כהן kohein, Lenny's will bring it out for pickup. You don't have to go inside. They'll bring it to the curb. But a כהן kohein is strict, doesn't go in. A כהן kohein who flies can figure out which route, if the airplane flies over a cemetery, could be a problem. If the airplane has a body on the particular airplane, depending how the airplane is designed, you're in the same space as the corpse, as the מת meis, it's מטמא metamei. A שרץ sheretz is מטמא metamei. A creepy crawly שרץ sheretz, I don't know how you translate שרץ sheretz. Creepy crawly insect. A נבילה neveila, a carcass of an animal. שכבת זרע Shichvas zera, a seminal emission. A זב zav, a זבה zava, sorts of illnesses and diseases like a gonorrhea. נדה Nidda, יולדת yoledes. A woman is menstruating, a woman who gave birth. They all create טומאה tumah. אנו מוצאים כי המשותף לכולם היא אובדן החיות Anu motz'im ki hamshutaf l'kulam hi ovdan hachiyus. You know what the common denominator of all of them is? A loss of life. A loss of liveliness. A loss of life energy. מת, שרץ ונבילה מתים לגמרי Meis, sheretz, u'neveila, meisim l'gamrei. A corpse, dead creepy crawly, a carcass are understandably, they have no חיות chiyus. There's no life force left in them. שכבת זרע וזב Shichvas zera v'zav, a man's seminal emission or a זב zav, ניצן החיות מצד האיש Nitzan hachiyus mitzad ha'ish, they could have, they could have conceived. That semen could have been the beginning of a new life. It had in it the ingredients of life. A נדה nidda. What's נדה nidda? The default of a woman's body, it's an extraordinary thing. A woman's body is programmed every month, the endometrial lining of the uterus thickens in anticipation of the implantation of a conceived egg. That means to say that the default of a woman's life, from the moment she is the age of godless, she's mature, the default of a woman's life, the way her body is designed, is to conceive and carry a baby. Which you understand why it's so unbearably painful for those who don't, who struggle with infertility, primary infertility, secondary infertility, because that same body that's so beautifully is carefully designed to prepare, to prepare. The endometrial lining of the uterus thickens, that's what a period is. Menstruation, the bleeding of menstruation is not the egg. The egg is is microscopic, you can't see it. It's the lining of the uterus that thickened in anticipation and preparation to receive a conceived egg. When there is no conceived egg because there is no pregnancy, then the lining sheds, and that is the the blood of of a period, of a נדה nidda. And if that's the physical design of the body, then spiritually that's the anticipation and the desire and the longing and the very definition. אם אין, מתה אנכי Im ain, meis anochi, רחל אמנו Rachel Imeinu says, if I don't conceive, if I go through another month where my body says, no good, failure to launch, failure to conceive, failure to be your role, then מתה אנכי meis anochi, I can't live like this. So we daven that all those who are waiting and wanting and longing should celebrate the birth of beautiful and healthy children that give them tremendous נחת nachas. So why does a נדה nidda create טומאה tumah? Because that was her body that could have been conception. שלילת תכלית יצירת חיים מחיי האישה Shlilas tachlis yetziras chaim me'chaimas ha'isha. ואף טומאת יולדת שהיא חולשה ופרישת כח תולדות שיוצא לחיים ולד מגופה אם V'af tumas yoledes, she'cholash parash k'toldos she'yotzei l'chaim vlad mi'gufa eim. כמו כן טומאת הצרעת שאינו מעניין אובדן החיות K'mo kein tumas hatzaraas she'eino me'inyan ovdan hachiyus. So, so, wonders רב דרוק Rav Druk, if that's the common denominator of all the other things that create טומאה tumah, where does צרעת tzaraas fit in? Someone who gossips about someone else, someone who's afflicted with a spiritual leprosy, why are they טמא tamei? Where is the טומאה tumah? So he says, here too there's a טומאת מת tumas meisa. Here too there's a lack of חיות chiyus. Where's the lack of חיות chiyus here? Because when a person, when a person abuses and violates that gift called the power of speech, they have forfeited their very humanity. They have killed a piece of themselves. They've killed a piece of themselves. Torah tells us when man is created, ויפח באפיו נשמת חיים Vayipach b'apav nishmas chaim. God breathed his soul into ours. He took a deep breath, כביכול k'viyachol, the the mystics explain this, the נפש חיים Nefesh Chaim, רב חיים וואלאזשינער Rav Chaim Volozhiner says the image of a glass blower. If you've ever seen glass be blown, glass blower inhales and then takes a deep breath, blows into a straw and expands, in Italy I saw this. I told my children as we were watching it's נפש חיים Nefesh Chaim, the glass gets expanded. What's inside that glass? What's the relationship of the glass blower to the glass? He loves it. It's his יצירה yetzirah, it's his creation. What does it contain in it? His breath. That glass is not just glass. So when you pay or overpay for that glass in Italy or in America where they tell you it was from Italy, you know, you bought a nice thing to decorate your house with. But for the glass blower, it's not just a nice decoration. It's a piece of him because it's his breath inside it. And הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu took in כביכול k'viyachol a deep breath, his essence, he blew it into us. And our breath is a piece of him. That's how we put the צלם אלקים tzelem Elokim, the חלק אלוקה ממעל ממש chelek Eloka mima'al mamash. That's how God put a piece of himself into us. That's why, that's why, the same letters, the same word, you've heard this from me a million times, נשמה neshama and נשימה neshima. Every time I take a breath, I am affirming my נשמה neshama. Hashem's breath is in me and when I breathe and I make contact with my breathing, I am nourishing my נשמה neshama, I am affirming my נשמה neshama that it comes from him, that it comes from him. So, the תרגום אונקלוס Targum Onkelos, when he translates the word נפש חיה nefesh chaya, we became a living, breathing, animated being, he translates the word נפש חיה nefesh chaya as רוח ממללא ruach memalela. תרגום אונקלוס Targum Onkelos translates and says God breathed into us and made us a speaking being, that we were able to talk. מות וחיים ביד לשון Maves v'chaim b'yad lashon, the פסוק pasuk in משלי Mishlei, שלמה המלך Shlomo Hamelech says, life and death are in the hands, in the power of speech. Life and death is in the power of speech. I'll tell you, you see that because we're cursed to have such terrible leaders in our time and the choices and alternatives of such terrible leaders in our times, who equally, and now I'm not ranking on either side, say such stupid things, both sides. And through saying stupid things, they move economic markets, they impact stability, geopolitical stability in the Middle East. They embolden our enemies. All they have to do is say certain things, like, 'I'm giving an ultimatum,' 'I'm considering no longer supporting or sending weapons.' And that emboldenment, what it does, מות וחיים ביד לשון Maves v'chaim b'yad lashon. there's not no weapons discharged, but מות וחיים ביד הלשון Maves v'chaim b'yad halashon. Simply through speaking, through speaking, you can create and destroy worlds, start and stop wars, the impact that you can have, that you can have. So what defines us as human beings? The power of speech. So what happens when a person abuses it and wastes it and squanders it? Says רב דרוק Rav Druk, they've given up their חיות chiyus, their life. There's a death to their power of speech. They could have used the speech to destroy, to uplift, to empower, to enable, to elevate, to enrich. And we use the power to put down, to denigrate, to diminish, to destroy. That's a lack of חיות chiyus. So therefore there's טומאה tumah. טומאה Tumah is whenever there's a removal of life force. So we asked, I understand that when it comes to all these others, מת meis, שרץ sheretz, נבילה neveila, שכבת זרע shichvas zera, זב zav, זבה zava, נדה nidda, יולדת yoledes, I understand there's a lack of חיות chiyus, so it results in טומאה tumah. Where is the lack of חיות chiyus, where is the lack of a life force when it comes to gossiping? So the answer is because when you violate the whole reason that you were created, the whole reason you're here, the whole thing that differentiates you from the animal kingdom, then what's the result? A lack of חיות chiyus, the result is טומאה tumah. Last רב דרוק Rav Druk for the day is the third one on this פסוק pasuk. He says, how do you become pure? You go to the כהן kohein. Why do you go to the כהן kohein? טאקע Taka, put some cortisone cream on it. Open up the חפץ חיים שמירת הלשון Chofetz Chaim Shmiras Halashon. Open up the חפץ חיים'ס Chofetz Chaim's book שמירת הלשון Shmiras Halashon and start to learn it. Start to study it. I wrote an article last year. A wonderful member of our community who has a very large, successful business, who has a lot of religious Jewish employees. So he brings them away and gives them an incredible weekend every year to appreciate them. And they wanted to appreciate him. So they thought, what gift are they going to give him? He owns the company. He has everything you could want. So what are they going to get him? And you know what they came up with? They know that he loves the book שמירת הלשון Shmiras Halashon. חפץ חיים Chofetz Chaim has a whole book, a whole motivational book on guard your tongue, how to be careful not to gossip. So you know what they bought him? You know what they got him? They bought every member, every employee of the company a copy, Hebrew-English, of the חפץ חיים Chofetz Chaim guide, and they pledged to do, it can be broken up to learn the whole book in a year. Thank you. And in gratitude, our gift to you is we all take upon ourselves to learn this book. Isn't that a beautiful gift? What it says about the owner, that they knew that's what he would want as a gift. But it says about them, that that's what they thought to get him. It's a beautiful thing. We should all do that. We should all take it upon ourselves. So but why go to the כהן kohein? Why go to Aaron? So says רב דרוק Rav Druk, נראה לבאר על פי דברי רש\"י nir'eh l'va'er al pi divrei Rashi. ויבכו את אהרן שלשים יום כל בית ישראל Vayivku es Aharon shloshim yom kol Beis Yisrael. When Aaron died, the Jewish people were inconsolable. They cried, they mourned, they grieved for 30 days. רש\"י Rashi says why? What they love about him? He was the אוהב שלום ורודף שלום ohev shalom v'rodef shalom. When a couple were in conflict, when a couple were in crisis, when parents and children weren't talking, when two business partners were in a fight, who can they count on? Where did they go? אהרן הכהן Aharon hakohein. Aaron was the great resolved conflict, peacemaker. And they all loved him. They loved him because Aaron brought great peace. גמרא Gemara in חולין Chullin says, גדול השלום שבין איש לאשתו Godel hashalom she'bein ish l'ishto. נא שמצורע, כל כמה שלא נטהר, אסור בתשמיש המטה Ni she'metzora, kol kama sh'lo nitahar, asur b'tashmish hamitah. A מצורע metzora, while they're impure, can't be intimate with his wife, is separated from his wife. Who brings that union, who brings them back together? Aaron, the כהן kohein. The מצורע metzora came through gossip, introduced dispute, injured and harmed a fellow Jew. Who is able to resolve it and bring them back together? Aaron. That's why דוקא dafka this illness, this melody, where does one go? To אהרן הכהן Aaron hakohein. It is resolved through Aaron.The אמרות טהרות Amaras Taharos, the רב שליט\"א מקרעטשניף Rav Shlita of Kareva also has few beautiful ideas on this as we are running out of time. You have to begin punctually. I don't know if you have to end punctually. Yet to be decided. So the אמרות טהרות Amaras Taharos, the רב שליט\"א מקרעטשניף Rav Shlita of Kareva quotes the דגל מחנה אפרים Degel Machaneh Ephraim, who was he? The זיידע zeide of the, the אייניקל ainikel rather, of the בעל שם Ba'al Shem. And he quotes the following: כזה ברמז כי יתכן לכל אדם להזדמן לפעמים ירידות ונסיונות בעבודת ה' יתברך. דהיינו יורד לזה כמה סיבות. שיכול על ידי זה לשוב לעלות ביותר בעבודת ה' יתברך Kazeh b'remaz ki yitaken l'chol adam l'hizdamen lifamim y'ridos v'nisyonos b'avodas Hashem Yisborach. Diyeno yored l'zeh kama sibos... She'yachol al yedei zeh la'shuv l'asos b'yoser avodas Hashem Yisborach. A yid, a Jew, sometimes falls down, and it could be a lot of reasons. But if he bounce back, so some Jews fall down, we're not into it. We're not inspired, we're not motivated, we go through a rough stretch. But when we bounce back, we can go higher than we ever were. לפעמים הסיבה יכולה להיות מצד החברותא. שיחבר לאנשים שאינם הגונים, הם גורמים לו ליפול ממדרגותיו. ולפעמים יש כך סיבה שלישית, מחמת שמרגיש שעושה עסור בעבודת ה' יתברך Lifamim hasibah yecholah liyos mitzad ha'chavrusa. She'yachaver l'anashim she'einam hagunim, heim gormim lo lipol mimadreigasav. U'lifamim yesh kach sibah shlishis, machmas shemargish she'oseh asur b'avodas Hashem Yisborach. So negative peer pressure brings us down. Sometimes it can be we were so on fire, we got so arrogant about how righteous and religious we were, that in fact we were so, such a holy roller that it made us so unholy and we had a big fall. And that's what the פסוק pasuk says, says the דגל Degel, the דגל מחנה אפרים Degel Machaneh Ephraim. אדם כי יהיה בעור בשרו שאת. כאשר יש לו נפילה בעבודת ה' יתברך, הנה זה יכול להיות מחמת כמה סיבות. כי יהיה בעור בשרו... שאת Adam ki yihyeh b'or b'saro se'eis. Ka'asher yesh lo nefilah b'avodas Hashem Yisborach, hinei zeh yachol liyos machmas kama sibos. Ki yihyeh b'or b'saro, when you have a fall, se'eis. שאת Se'eis means to lift. It could be because you grew too arrogant. או ספחת O sapachas, or ספחת sapachas is חברות chabrus means a connection. It could be because you were hanging out with the wrong people. או בהרת, בהירות O baheres, b'hirus. It could be because you were chasing the wrong things. So what's the answer? והובא אל אהרן הכהן, בחוזר בתשובה V'huva el Aharon hakohein, b'chozer b'tshuva. How? Through אהרן הכהן Aaron hakohein is is the example of getting close to השם Hashem. Okay. Interesting way of reading the פסוק pasuk. The נועם אלימלך Noam Elimelech, רב אלימלך מליז'נסק Rav Elimelech of Lizhensk, has another interpretation. And he says the following. Sometimes a person has a מחשבה טובה machshava tova, a person wants to do תשובה teshuvah or do a מעשה טוב ma'aseh tov, but he can't get it into his core. It's an external desire, drive, spark, but he hasn't internalized it to do it. Why? שלא תיקן עדיין מה שהוא צריך לתקן She'lo tiken adayin ma she'hu tzarich l'saken, because the person hasn't corrected or repaired something inside themselves that they have to that's going to enable them to do what they need to do. So it says אדם כי יהיה בעור בשרו שאת Adam ki yihyeh b'or b'saro se'eis. If there is a התנוססות בעבודת ה' hisnasus b'avodas Hashem או ספחת, שעולה במחשבות להתחבר ולהידבק בצדיקים o sapachas, she'olah b'machshavos l'his'chaber v'l'hidabek b'tzaddikim. Now it's all positive things. כי יהיה בעור בשרו Ki yihyeh b'or b'saro, person is superficially driven, שאת se'eis, they want to go higher. או ספחת O sapachas, התחברות his'chabrus, they want to connect, attach themselves to someone righteous, good. Or בהרת baheres, they why they have some clarity on some righteous thing they want to do. But רק בעור בשרו rak b'or b'saro. It only remains on the surface, on the outside. לנגע צרעת L'nega tzaraas. So then it'll be a נגע nega, a blemish on them because it's only superficial. So what do you do? והובא אל הכהן V'huva el hakohein, you have to go to a righteous person to see the way it goes from thought into action. So when you have something but it's only in the thought, it's a שאת se'eis, ספחת sapachas, בהרת baheres but only in thought, then in order to bring it into the world of action, והובא אל הכהן v'huva el hakohein, you have to be brought to the כהן kohein. The last אמרות טהרות Amaras Taharos, the last רב מקרעטשניף Rav of Krechnif is the תפארת שלמה Tiferes Shlomo. ...of Radomsk says the following. וְהוּבָא אֶל הַכֹּהֵן Vehuvah el hakohain, הרי תורה כולה נצח היא ועומדת לעד harei Torah kulah netzach hi v'omedes l'ad. So the תפארת שלמה Tiferes Shlomo was bothered, it should just say you bring him to a cohen. Why does it first say you bring him to Aaron? Why Aaron? So if you answered that because Aaron is the person of shalom, the אוהב שלום ורודף שלום ohev shalom v'rodef shalom. But the תפארת שלמה Tiferes Shlomo was also bothered, if the Torah is written as an eternal document, and it speaks to every Jew in every generation at all time, and Aaron's not here anymore, so why would it instruct us when we go through the same malady called צרעת tzaraas, וְהוּבָא אֶל אַהֲרֹן vehuva el Aaron, go to Aaron. Because of the verse, the תפארת שלמה Tiferes Shlomo says the following. We say in our davening, אלקי אברהם אלקי יצחק ואלקי יעקב Elokei Avraham Elokei Yitzchak v'Elokei Yaakov. It's not סיפור דברים בעלמא sipur devarim b'alma, it's not just a story. עבודת אלקותם של האבות קיימת לעד Avodas elokusam shel ha'avos kayemes l'ad. על זה אמר אלקי אברהם Al zeh omar Elokei Avraham. Because what we're saying is about אברהם אבינו Avraham Avinu wasn't a historical figure that is relegated to history, to the past. The energy and the עבודה avodah, and what Avram embedded within our DNA, it continues to live. It's immortal, it's eternal. אברהם יצחק ויעקב Avraham, Yitzchak, v'Yaakov for us are not historical figures. They're not people of the past. Who they are, their energy, their teachings, their lives, their very DNA, we have and we carry within us. כי אברהם אבינו היה מידת החסד Ki Avraham Avinu hayah midas hachesed. So בכל איש שישנו אדם מדבק עצמו במידת החסד b'chol ish sheyeshno adam m'dabeik atzmo b'midas hachesed, הוא מקשר נפשו עם נשמת אברהם אבינו hu mekasher nafsho im nishmas Avraham Avinu. Same way with a parent or a grandparent, when you walk in their footsteps, when you emulate their ways, when you make their recipe, when you say their נוסח nusach of the הגדה Haggadah, so they're still alive. They're still here. You are their embodiment. So similarly, when you do חסד chesed, and where do we learn that? How do we have the ability to do that? החסד הוא של אברהם Hachesed hu shel Avraham. And a person who's מדבק medabeik to the יראה yirah is keeping יצחק Yitzchak alive. And a person who is connected to the מידה של אמת midah shel emes is keeping יעקב Yaakov alive. So, a person who's connected to אוהב שלום ורודף שלום ohev shalom v'rodef shalom again to love, they're keeping אהרן הכהן Aharon Hakohen alive. והובא אל אהרן Vehuvah el Aharon, be drawn to the quality of Aaron. Be drawn to the same אלקי אברהם אלקי יצחק ואלקי יעקב Elokei Avraham Elokei Yitzchak v'Elokei Yaakov. והובא אל אהרן Vehuvah el Aharon doesn't mean the Aaron, it doesn't mean Aaron the historical person, it doesn't even mean the Aaron of our generation, it means Aaron the מידה midah of Aaron that's inside us. Why did you gossip? Why were you nasty? Why were you slandering someone else? Because you were in מחלוקת machlokes. You felt some disconnect. You felt some unhealthy competition. There was envy or jealousy. Aaron would never tolerate that. והובא אל אהרן Vehuvah el Aharon, drag yourself, go to the מידה midah of Aaron. Go to the place where you're אוהב שלום ורודף שלום ohev shalom v'rodef shalom. Reconcile, and overlook the little things and be, like we spoke about last שבת Shabbos, be be נעלבים ואינם עולבים, שומעים חרפתם ואינם משיבים ne'elavim v'einam olvim, shom'im cherpasam v'einam meishivim. Don't respond. Don't escalate. Don't carry a grudge. והובא אל אהרן Vehuvah el Aharon. If we'd all go closer to Aaron, we'd be brought to Aaron, we'd be מטהר metaher, we'd have the ability to purify ourselves. The question all comes down to in צרעת tzaraas, I guess we'll have to start with this next year בעזרת השם בירושלים b'ezras Hashem b'Yerushalayim. But the question comes down to, what happens when you abuse the power of speech? What do you result with? A נגע nega. If you favorably look at people and have a positive power of speech, it's because why? What did you do? You looked at them with an עין טובה ayin tovah, a good eye. It's all about the עין ayin. Is the עין ayin at the end of the word נגע nega, or is the עין ayin at the beginning of the word עין ayin? So, who would be the ספר sefer that would talk about this? The הייליגע בת עין heilige Bas Ayin. The בת עין Bas Ayin, the הייליגע רבי heilige Rebbe. The בת עין Bas Ayin talks all about, is the עין ayin at the end of the word, then you get a נגע nega. If the עין ayin is a positive word, is it an עין טובה ayin tovah or an עין רעה ayin ra? An עין רעה ayin ra, you have a נגע nega. עין טוב Ayin tov, then you're going to see favorably, you're not going to have a נגע nega. He elaborates a lot more in this, but we are out of time. בעזרת השם B'ezras Hashem, we'll pick up next week. Have a wonderful day. It should be a day that we hear בשרות טובות besoros tovos, ישועות ונחמות yeshuos v'nechamos. A גוטן חודש guten chodesh. יכול Yachol, מראש חודש mei'rosh chodesh, today also you can begin this journey towards freedom and...
