Transcript
Good morning, בקר טוב Boker tov. Welcome back to Parsha Perspectives for today. Always great to be together and to study the פרשה parsha and to tap into the פרשה's parsha's timely and timeless messages for us. I want to thank our generous פרשה Parsha series sponsors for the year, for every year, Becky and Avi Katz and family, in memory of David Grossman. Our learning should be לעילוי נשמת l'ilui nishmas דוד בן מנחם מניש David ben Menachem Manish. And before we begin and dive into our פרשה, פרשת תרומה parsha, parshas Trumah on page 444 in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash, and we will keep coming back to this theme because it is so perfectly timed for our פרשה parsha, but I want to talk to you about something incredibly exciting and ask for your help. Those who are here in person, ברוך השם Baruch Hashem, we have such a wonderful, wonderful חברה chevra, a wonderful crowd. You saw and you see when you pull in, you see the tractors and the piles of dirt, the construction and the building that's going on. Just like the משכן Mishkan, we are building, we are expanding. We are doing more of what we do. Every year we have a global campaign, and every year we ask those who listen and read and watch and connect to our תורה Torah, wherever you are in the world to help us, help us spread it, help us share it, help us learn, help us teach more and more and more. This year we're not doing the global campaign per se. We need everyone's help to finish expanding our מקדש מעט mikdash me'at. This incredible center of Jewish life and learning and living that in person and on the ground impacts thousands, but also from here spreads light around the world. And our expanded campus will have more classes, more programs, more podcasts, more, more light that we can influence the world. We need help. So there are incredible people in this room who've already contributed and who are helping us build. But what we're asking of the global community this year, and this year only, it's not a new standard. We're not asking you to hit this mark going forward every year, but for this year, we are trying to find 250 global ambassadors who will give or get $1,800. Give or get $1,800 and your name will be listed as sponsoring the media room at BRS, from which we will share and promote תורה Torah, podcasts, people, personalities. Be part of building that out. If you give or you become an ambassador that raises from your friends and your neighbors and your customers and your clients $1,800, the BRS rabbis are coming to New York, ירושלים Yerushalayim, and here in South Florida to have a dinner, take you out for dinner to say thank you. All the global ambassadors in those three locations, if you give or get $1,800, we are coming to you to meet face-to-face and to say thank you. So, we're going to dive into the פרשה parsha, but you can go to brsonline.org/global, brsonline.org/global, and dig deeper. We normally ask people to give whatever you can. We're asking you to not only give, but to give and to get. I hear from people all the time, Rabbi, my friends, my cousins, my neighbors, my children, my מחטונים machatanim, they love the class. They love the writings. They love what comes out of BRS. Good. Don't just tell me you love it, show me you love it. Show me the money. Not just you, but you and your friends. Be a global ambassador and help us. Help us, not just locally, but help us because locally if we have this campus and our new BRS media room from which we are going to share and project so much more, your name will be listed on it. You'll be making a difference for it. And if you can't give or get 1800, give or get whatever you can. We need your help, whatever you can. brsonline.org/global. Page 444. פרשת תרומה Parshas Truma. And if you think you're listening later and you just fast forwarded that to the beginning of the פרשה parsha, I'm going to keep talking about it so you can't avoid it. פרשת תרומה Parshas Truma, page 444. וידבר ה' אל משה לאמר Vayidaber Hashem el Moshe leimor. God spoke to Moshe. דבר אל בני ישראל ויקחו לי תרומה Daber el Bnei Yisrael v'yikchu li trumah. Hashem says, speak to the Jewish people and take for me תרומה trumah, מאת כל איש אשר ידבנו לבו תקחו את תרומתי mei'eis kol ish asher yidvenu libo tikchu es trumasi. From everyone who has a general, generous heart, take תרומה trumah. This is the פרשה parsha. I want to tell you that we timed it, that we sat down, and in our command center, we said, when should we have the campaign? This week, next week? Let's do it פרשת תרומה Parshas Truma. But like so many other things in life, we did not. It just so happens to be that when we put the dates on the calendar, Hashem chose that we would work on building our home, דוקא davka the פרשיות parshios where he is building his. But I want to begin with the following question and the following insight, which is very much on my mind. I last week פרשת משפטים Parshas Mishpatim, I was still finishing שנים מקרא ואחד תרגום Shnayim Mikra v'Echad Targum. I was still finishing the weekly obligation to read the פרשה parsha twice with commentary, even after last week's פרשה parsha. Because משפטים Mishpatim, so much Rashi. משפטים Mishpatim is filled with so many intricate detailed laws. There's so much Rashi, so nuanced, so complicated, so technical, it took a long time. So I finished משפטים Mishpatim when we had already begun, we had already begun the week of תרומה Truma. And we often finish a פרשה parsha, we have a little break until we take a look at the next פרשה parsha. But when you look at them in succession, and you see, it doesn't really flow so smoothly. Turn back a page, 442. ויבא משה בתוך הענן ויעל אל ההר Vayavo Moshe b'soch he'anan vaya'al el hahar. Last week at the end of the פרשה parsha, משפטים Mishpatim, we have this covenant and there's a debate, did it happen before הר סיני Har Sinai? Did it happen after הר סיני Har Sinai? When exactly was this experience, this spiritual moment, coming down from the mountain, they ate and they drank and they entered this covenant. And the Almighty appeared, the glory of God appeared like a consuming fire on the mountain top. And Moshe is on the mountain, 40 days and 40 nights. So the last we left off, God and the glory of God are appearing to the people, to Moshe. Moshe's on the mountain, 40 days and 40 nights. Turn the page, all of a sudden there's a campaign going on. All of a sudden there's a solicitation going on. All of a sudden, what happened? What happened? Spiritual, top of the mountain, Moshe, glory of God, image of Hashem, spiritual קומזיץ, פארברענגען, טיש, הר סיני kumsitz, farbrengen, tish, Har Sinai, 40 days, 40 nights, punk. You turn a page, and all of a sudden the rabbi doesn't stop talking about the campaign, turn down a tab, click the link, sign up, give, get, what happened? What happened to our קומזיץ kumsitz? What happened to our קומביה kumbaya? Where'd the פארברענגען farbrengen and the טיש tish go? Where'd the spiritual experience go? So I want to share with you an insight from someone who has become one of my רביים rabbeim, Rav Weinfeld, רב חצקל וויינפעלד Rav Chatzkel Weinfeld, who was here earlier this year back in Boka. He is phenomenal, ר\"ם Ram in ישיבת קול ירושלים yeshivas kol Yerushalayim. And he says the following. The פרשה parsha begins, דבר אל בני ישראל ויקחו לי תרומה daber el Bnei Yisrael v'yikchu li trumah. What is the connection between this פרשה parsha and the previous week, which was about משפטים Mishpatim? Last week was a litany of laws. Last week, we went through so many details, civil law, tort law, criminal law, so many detailed laws. Especially according to those who say that ציווי tzivui for the משכן Mishkan was given after the חטא העגל chet ha'eigel. If you understand that our פרשה parsha and the building of the Tabernacle chronologically really only comes after the mistake and the sin of the golden calf, so why did the Torah put it in this order? Why did we go from last week's משפטים Mishpatim, litany of laws, into all of a sudden ויקחו לי תרומה v'yikchu li trumah, there's an appeal which is taking place, a campaign which is taking place. Says Rav Weinfeld, one explanation could be that now, the building of the משכן Mishkan, people, they're taking people's money. So first they needed to know the משפטים Mishpatim, which dealt with how to deal with people's money. And only afterward could it be ויקחו לי תרומה v'yikchu li trumah, that they could start dealing with other people's money. There's a campaign, there's an appeal, we're building a house for Hashem. We're transforming the world, we're redeeming the world, we are illuminating the darkness of the world. So what money, what resources, what contributions can you take? When you're trying to build such a center for Hashem's presence and to connect with him, you can't take tainted money, contaminated money. Someone shared with me this morning a picture, apparently Publix, the great Publix, we're very indebted to our local Publix, but the big Publix is being sued for lots of money. Why? Because someone's claiming that Publix, their weights and scales, their measures are not, I'm looking at Publix, Publix didn't send it to me. But Publix, let's see, Publix's alleged weighty deception. $5 million class action fight. Publix is accused of implementing a deceptive scheme, falsely claiming that food sold by weights such as meats and cheeses and so on, their scales are off. And there's a class action lawsuit, $5 million. I don't know if it's true or not true. I hope it's not true. I love Publix. Especially love Publix now that Winn-Dixie's closing. We love Publix even more. I hope it's not true. But let's say Publix came and said, Goldberg, you know, your community supports us so much. We want to give to the campaign. We want to give to the appeal. Would we take that money? Says Rav Weinfeld, before you could build the משכן Mishkan of Hashem and you would solicit and you do an appeal for people's money, you had to know how to define what's כשר kosher money, what's tainted money. What is pure money? What is contaminated money? What is money that comes honestly? And what is money that comes with integrity? And what is the money that comes in ways that are compromised and corrupt? And that's maybe why משפטים Mishpatim appears before תרומה Truma. Because first learn the laws of honesty in business. First learn the laws of what is pure and holy money. Now you could run an appeal and know the difference. And the Jewish people, we are warned and we are cautioned, no matter how much pressure you are under, no matter how much money you have to raise, do not sell your soul. Don't take from unholy sources, don't take money that's earned in unholy, illegitimate ways. How do we know and how do we define? משפטים Mishpatim comes before תרומה Truma. אזוי זאגט רב וויינפעלד Azoy zakt Rav Weinfeld, that is his first insight. The Gemara in the beginning of פרק לולב הגזול perek lulav v'gazul, the pasuk says, אני ה' שונא גזל בעולה Ani Hashem sonei gezel b'olah. I am God, I hate, I hate dishonesty, stealing in the world. Therefore the donation should not God forbid be a מצוה הבאה בעבירה mitzva haba'ah ba'aveira. They shouldn't be a positive deed that came out of something dishonest. So first we have to ensure the money is rightfully owned, פרשת משפטים Parshas Mishpatim and only then פרשת תרומה Parshas Truma. That's his first insight and explanation. But then Rav Weinfeld continues. Perhaps, another explanation could be as follows. In the end of משפטים Mishpatim, כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael, the Jewish people said, נעשה ונשמע na'aseh v'nishma. We think of יתרו Yisro as being the סדרה sedra, the פרשה parsha of מתן תורה Matan Torah, that has the story of הר סיני Har Sinai, Mount Sinai. But the words נעשה ונשמע na'aseh v'nishma aren't in יתרו Yisro. The words we will hear and then we will do, where do those iconic words appear? Last week's פרשה parsha, משפטים Mishpatim. ויאמרו כל העם אשר דיבר ה' נעשה Vayomru kol ha'am asher diber Hashem na'aseh. But as the statement says, put your money where your mouth is. So the first ציווי tzivui, the first commandment after they say נעשה ונשמע na'aseh v'nishma, Hashem, you're amazing. Hashem, we love you. Hashem, we're so into you. Hashem, you're everywhere. Hashem, embrace your place, I am where I'm meant to be, blah, blah, blah, all those things Goldberg talks about at the end of אמונה emunah. Hashem, you're amazing. Hashem says, I'm so amazing. Put your money where your mouth is. You have so much lip service. You talk such a big game. You have so much to say about wanting to be connected and wanting to be close to me and wanting to fulfill my will for this world. It's lovely you say all those things. Now show me. Now demonstrate. Now let me see. The biggest proof to if one is serious about a commitment of נעשה ונשמע na'aseh v'nishma is if you're willing to pay. There are people who will give their kidney before they'll write a check or Venmo or wire or whatever other mechanism of transferring funds. There are people for whom it is so hard, sadly, tragically, it is so hard to depart with their hard-earned money. חז\"ל Chazal, our rabbis, call money דמים damim. דמים Damim is the same word as blood because it takes blood, sweat and tears, it takes work to earn that money. And if a person gave their blood, sweat and tears, they don't want to part with that money. And there are many people who struggle. They don't understand the greatest געשמאק geshmak, the biggest joy, the most fulfilling use of that money, the investment with the biggest return in this world and the next is when you give and when you share. They don't know that. So Hashem says, suggest Rav Weinfeld, we go from משפטים Mishpatim to תרומה Truma, why? Because משפטים Mishpatim is נעשה ונשמע na'aseh v'nishma. Ooh, קומזיץ, פארברענגען, טיש kumsitz, farbrengen, tish, let's sing. It's amazing. Hashem, you're amazing. Thank you, Hashem. Hashem says, oh, thank me, thank you, Hashem. Let's see. Let's see, put your money where your mouth is. This connection is emphasized, says Rav Weinfeld in the order of things in the פרשת תרומה Parshas Trumah itself. The reason is because the beginning of the פרשה parsha says, the opening pasuk we just read, ויקחו לי תרומה v'yikchu li trumah, take a donation, a gift, מאת כל איש אשר ידבנו לבו תקחו את תרומתי mei'eis kol ish asher yidvenu libo tikchu es trumasi. Anyone who has a generous heart, תקחו את תרומתי tikchu es trumasi. Now the appeal happens without saying the purpose of the appeal. זהב וכסף ונחשת ותכלת וארגמן Zahav v'chesef u'nechoshes u'secheiles v'argaman. Give gold, give silver, give materials, give ingredients, give goods, give your money, give Bitcoin, give Trump's special coin, give whatever coin, give whatever you want. The פרשה parsha lists everything you can give. Venmo, Zelle, wire, carrier pigeon, check, cash, everything. The Torah says, however you want, we'll take it. We'll find a way to take it. But this is the only appeal that ever happened without ever saying what is the purpose of the appeal. It's only at the way end of these opening psukim, the zosah trumah, give, ערת אלים מאדמים וערת תחשים ועצי שטים, שמן למאור בשמים לשמן המשחה ולקטרת הסמים, אבני שהם ואבני מלאים oros elim me'odamim v'oros techashim v'atzei shittim, shemen la'maor b'samim l'shemen ha'mishchah v'liktores ha'samim, avnei shoham v'avnei miluim, the whole page, page 444, the entire page is listing all of the things that you can give without telling us why, for what, towards what purpose. Why? It's only at the end ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם V'asu li Mikdash v'shachanti b'socham. Oh, oh, we forgot to tell you. Why is it we'd like you to give? What's the purpose of the appeal? Because we're building a house for Hashem. We are making a כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael shul where Jews of every background, Jews of every stripe, Jews of every education, Jews of every observance can feel comfortable, warm, welcome and connect to Hashem. And through this place, we're going to radiate a light that's going to transform the world. Oh yeah, we forgot to tell you that's why. First, we spent all this time asking you, please give, give, give, give, and we never mentioned why. And it's not a coincidence. Says Rav Weinfeld, at the time of the initial collection, it is unknown what they were giving all these goods for. That's the idea of נעשה ונשמע na'aseh v'nishma. Expressing the willingness to do before you understand and know the meaning behind the doing. By giving to the collection before knowing what for, כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael was demonstrating and fulfilling נעשה ונשמע na'aseh v'nishma. Imagine, I make a meeting, I make an appointment with one of you, and I say, listen, I need help. I need a favor. We're working on something. And you say, you know what, Rabbi? Say no more. נעשה ונשמע Na'aseh v'nishma. I'm in. I'm in. I brought my checkbook. Just tell me how many zeros. I'm in. I said, well, I, one second, I didn't even tell you what it was for. I didn't tell you what it's about. How do you know that you believe in it? How do you know you buy into it? How do you know you're one of the builders of it? Because that's נעשה ונשמע na'aseh v'nishma. נעשה Na'aseh, first I'll do, then נשמע nishma. You could tell me afterwards what it's about. So the evidence that תרומה Trumah comes after משפטים Mishpatim to demonstrate put your money where your mouth is, says Rav Weinfeld, is implicit in the beginning of תרומה Trumah itself because the whole purpose of the appeal is not given until the appeal is done. Why? נעשה ונשמע Na'aseh v'nishma. This is the meaning of Rashi on ויקחו לי תרומה v'yikchu li trumah. Rashi quotes the תנחומא Tanchuma, לי Li, could have just said ויקחו תרומה v'yikchu trumah, take a donation. Why does it say ויקחו לי תרומה v'yikchu li trumah? Take for me תרומה trumah. Says Rashi, לי לשמי li lishmi. Meaning, it's not a donation for a particular designated purpose, rather it's לי לשמי li lishmi. Do you love me? Do you believe in me? Do you want to be close to me? Do you want to be connected with me? Hashem says, is it about the water fountain you're going to dedicate? Is it about the room? Is it about the mezuzah you're putting up? Is it about the name you're memorializing? Or לי לשמי li lishmi, is it about the relationship with me? So the evidence and the demonstration of נעשה ונשמע na'aseh v'nishma is ויקחו לי תרומה v'yikchu li trumah even though ועשו לי מקדש v'asu li mikdash doesn't come till the very end. So after משפטים Mishpatim comes תרומה Trumah, why? Because put your money where your mouth is. The Ramban in the beginning of the פרשה parsha says that the מקדש Mikdash is a מקום makom, a place for השרת השכינה hashras ha'shchinah. The בית המקדש beis ha'mikdash, the משכן Mishkan is a place for divine dwelling. The notion is clearly seen in the pasuk ועשו לי מקדש V'asu li mikdash, make for me a sanctuary, ושכנתי בתוכם v'shachanti b'socham, and I'll dwell in them. However, the רמב\"ם Rambam, in the beginning of הלכות בית הבחירה Hilchos Beis HaBechirah, the Rambam in the beginning of his laws of the temple says, מצות עשה לעשות בית לה' Mitzvas asei la'asos bayis la'Hashem. There's a positive commandment to build a house for God, מוכן להיות בו מקריבים בו קרבנות muchan l'hiyos bo makrivim bo korbanos, so it will be ready to to offer the sacrifices. Why did the Rambam abandon the reason the Torah gives and give us another reason? How does that fit into the reason the Torah gives? The Torah gives us a reason. Build for me a house, ושכנתי בתוכם v'shachanti b'socham. I want to dwell among you. I want to be connected with you. I want to be available and accessible to you. And the Rambam says, yeah, that's nice. Forget that reason. Technically, where are you going to daven? Where are you going to offer korbanos? So the beis hamikdash is because you need to offer korbanos. Where are you going to have mincha? Where are you going to have maariv? We're changing the clock. Everybody sitting down? We're soon coming out with our new list of minyanim because we've been expanding them. People come and drive from all over because you need a minyan at any hour. It's our current campus and our future campus. You ready? I think there's a demographic here who will appreciate this. A new daily מנחה-מעריב פלג Mincha-Maariv plag. A new daily plug, מנחה-מעריב mincha-maariv. So you can hit the early bird special, get to bed early, daven מנחה-מעריב פלג mincha-maariv plag, you're good to go. So the Rambam says, why are you building a shul? Where else are you going to get Mincha and Maariv? Where else are you going to kapish with a shlushi? That's why. But why did the Rambam give that as the reason to offer קרבנות korbanos? That's not the reason. The Torah said the reason is השרת השכינה hashras ha'shchinah, the divine presence, the divine presence. Says Rav Weinfeld, the answer is that of course the purpose of the משכן Mishkan is to be a divine dwelling place, but only when a person gives sacrifices of himself does he make it that divine dwelling place. Chevra, did you hear? The Rambam is saying, the Rambam doesn't abandon the reason given by the Torah. The Rambam is elucidating the reason given by the Torah. The Torah says why should you build the בית המקדש beis hamikdash? Because don't you want to be connected to Hashem? And Hashem says, you know the way you could be connected to me? Offer a קרבן korban. What are you willing to give? What are you willing to sacrifice? What are you willing to do? You think you can lean back, sit back and recline, be a spectator? It's going to be handed to you a relationship with me? Relationships take work. The more important the relationship, the more intimate the relationship, the more work it takes. A healthy, beautiful marriage is the greatest thing in the world. It takes work. It takes consciousness and mindfulness and work. It takes sacrifice and compromise. It takes putting someone else before yourself. Having children is the greatest thing in the world. And those who are waiting should be blessed with many healthy children. It takes work. You got to wake up in the middle of the night. You got to feed and diaper and clothe and small kids, small problems, and big kids, big problems. It takes a lot of work and there's nothing better in the world. Why? Because the most meaningful relationships in life, they take work. They take sacrifice. They take compromise. They take effort. And that's what the Rambam is saying. If you want a place for השרת השכינה hashras ha'shchinah, if you want a משכן Mishkan of divine dwelling, you know what creates the feeling of access and connection with the divine? What are you willing to put in? What's your work? What sacrifice are you willing to make? What sacrifice are you willing to offer? It said that every home is a מקדש מעט mikdash me'at. The Gemara says, איש ואשה זכו ish v'isha zachu, I just spoke at a שבע ברכות sheva brachos last night. I should have used this. איש ואשה זכו שכינה ביניהם Ish v'isha zachu, shchinah beineihem. That if a man and a woman merit, if they have peace and harmony in their marriage, if they are in tune and align, if they respect and love and admire one another, if they sacrifice and compromise and put the other party first, then it's not just a wonderful marriage of happiness and bliss for this man and woman. They have transformed their house, their home into a מקדש מעט mikdash me'at, into a miniature temple. Why? Because God now dwells among them. Only when איש ואשה ish v'isha, when a man and a woman are willing to make sacrifices, that's what creates the space for שכינה shchinah. That's what the Rambam was telling us. If you want space for שכינה shchinah, take sacrifice, it takes work, it takes effort. So you say, Rabbi, I already give away my מעשר ma'aser. I've already allocated my giving for 2025 through 2055. So I'm so sorry, I can't contribute. Say, that's nice. That's what you had to give. That's what you were giving anyway. Now dig deep and make a sacrifice. Now go into your savings. Now make an investment that will give you the greatest return. Because if you want שכינה shchinah, if you want to feel connected to the divine, if you want that relationship, if you want to repair, redeem the world, if you want to be a source of that light, then you got to be willing to sacrifice. So the Rambam, in הלכות בית הבחירה Hilchos Beis HaBechirah, the Rambam when he codifies the laws of the משכן Mishkan is not abandoning the reason the Torah gave, he's elaborating, he's expanding on it. The Torah said the משכן Mishkan's a place of divine presence. The Rambam says, how do you create and achieve divine presence? Sacrifice, קרבנות korbanos. That's what it is all about. Rav Sachs, or I'll go to Rav Soloveitchik first. Rav Soloveitchik in his חומש Chumash, he points something out. Rav Yonason ben Uzziel clarifies this phrase, מאת כל איש אשר ידבנו לבו mei'eis kol ish asher yidvenu libo. The Torah asks for every person whose heart inspires him for generosity. And says Rav Yonasan ben Uzziel, do not use force or methods of coercion for this collection. This, the appeal, the campaign for the building of the משכן Mishkan was not obligatory. Was not obligatory. There was no building fund that was put on everybody. Oh, you want to be a member? You want to live here? You're now bound by the new building fund. No. Voluntary. Whoever believes, whoever buys in, if you want to voluntarily be part of it, then we want you. Why? Wouldn't it be much more efficient? Wouldn't you achieve your goal much faster? Shouldn't everyone have to participate? Shouldn't it be 100% participation? Shouldn't it be mandatory, obligatory, a building fund? Although everyone whether poor or rich must give the half-shekel, the contribution to the משכן Mishkan was voluntary. We read in a couple weeks, both the פרשת כי תשא Parshas Ki Sisa, and because we'll read it, of course, before פורים Purim, חודש אדר Chodesh Adar is beginning, that every Jew had to give a half-shekel. That's how the census was done. Every Jew gave half a shekel, the currency, and the calculation, the census was taken. So why when it came to the half-shekel, it didn't matter wealthy or poor, everyone had to give? And yet when it comes to the contribution to build the משכן Mishkan, no no no no no. Only אשר ידבנו לבו asher yidvenu libo. Only if you're generous, only if you have a good and a giving and a kind heart. Why the difference? Says Rav Soloveitchik. The collection of money for the משכן Mishkan is different from the collection of charity. The Rambam in his Moreh Nevuchim, Guide for the Perplexed, writes, part three, chapter 53, that charity is an act of justice. How do you say charity in Hebrew? צדקה Tzedakah. What's the root of the word צדקה tzedakah? צדק Tzedek. What does the word צדק tzedek mean? Right, justice. צדק צדק תרדוף Tzedek tzedek tirdof. But I don't understand. When I give צדקה tzedakah, that's not just, that's kindness, that's mercy, that's compassion. So it should be called חסד chesed. The Rambam writes, why do we call taking part of what I worked hard for and giving it to you or to an institution, we call that צדקה tzedakah, צדק tzedek, that's just? That's not just. What's just is that I get to keep what I have. For me to share with you is not just, it's kind, it's compassionate. It's a nice thing to do, but it's not just. So why is it called צדקה tzedakah? What we call צדקה tzedakah should be called חסד chesed. So the Torah allows the taking of charity by force. Why? There's an explicit הלכה halacha in בבא בתרא דף ח Baba Basra daf ches to the effect that it's permissible to remove objects from the home of a prosperous person who refuses to give charity, even on Friday just before sundown. One was allowed to force members of the community to give צדקה tzedakah. There's an obligation, it's a tax. What we think of as taxes, I don't want to make those listening from outside Florida feel bad, but our governor yesterday just announced that he's now trying to get rid of property tax in Florida. So we have no state income tax, and please God, we will now have no property tax, and while there's even more traffic on our roads and highways when people want to take advantage of of that. But what we call tax, the taxes that we live with today, the Torah also had a tax. What was the Torah's tax called? צדקה Tzedakah. And interestingly, it was prorated based on your income because 10% of your after-tax income you were obligated to give to the community. We have a set tuition in our schools, but from the Torah perspective, there wouldn't be a set tuition for every family. Why should the family that makes $10 million a year pay the same tuition as the person who's getting by on $40,000 a year? It was prorated based on income. It's complicated and we don't do that today, but צדקה tzedakah was essentially a obligatory tax to contribute to communal institutions, to take care of the poor, the needy, to help the widow and the orphan, to ensure everyone could get a Jewish education. And the הלכה halacha was so strong that in fact, that portion of your income, now, why are we entitled to take a portion of your income? We're entitled to not only encourage you, we're entitled to not only lecture you, we're entitled to not only obligate you, we are entitled to garner your wages, to take what you should be giving to צדקה tzedakah. I wish we could do that today. חלואי Halevai. We would solve all the problems in the Jewish community if the Jewish people would actually tithe like some other religions. If we would actually tithe 10% of after-tax income would go back to the Jewish community, we could solve all our problems. There are many Jewish billionaires and millionaires and we can solve our problems if people actually tithe 10% of after-tax dollars. We can garner wages in order to do that. The Gemara in בבא בתרא Rav Soloveitchik is quoting says, we can go into your house and take your artwork, your sculpture, the money you're hiding in the books or the cushions, the gold bars that you put in the safe, we can take that even if you say, well, one second, I was going to buy my Shabbos food with that. No, no, no, we're taking it because you owe it. So that we're allowed to take. Why? Where do we come from taking that? Because the answer is that was never yours. We are all stewards of Hashem's money. We spoke about this last week when it came to the עני עמך ani imach, the poor person with you. And Rashi said, see yourself as a poor person. And we asked, how could you see yourself as a poor person? So last week we spoke about because if we all realize I'm not entitled to anything I have. None of it is coming to me. Yes, I work hard and yes I can take pride in my accomplishments, but the senior partner in everything I do is the Almighty and any success I have is only because he allows it and I am the steward of his money. And he says by the way, even though I'm the senior partner and without me you'd have nothing, you could keep 90%. Such a partner we would kill for. Could you imagine we had a partner who had all the connections, all the access, all the brains, did all the work and says to us, keep 90%? That's God. He says, you can't have any of it without me, but I'll tell you what, you keep 90%. 10% that really is mine that you're holding on to, give it to my other children. So now the community can come and say that other 10% is never yours. You're just a steward, you're holding onto it for him. Now you have to give it to the other children. Why did the Torah eliminate the construction of the משכן Mishkan from the class of activity which does not require consent on the part of the giver? So again, the Rav is asking, why is building the משכן Mishkan, no no no no no, that's only אשר ידבנו לבו asher yidvenu libo, maximum gratitude, minimum pressure. When it comes to צדקה tzedakah, תומכי שבת Tomchei Shabbos, tuition assistance, when it comes to that, I could go into your house, we don't do this today so don't practice it הלכה למעשה halacha l'ma'aseh, but theoretically I could garner your wages. I could go into your house and take what you should be giving because that never really belonged to you to begin with. That we say is obligatory mandatory, to the extent I can take it. And yet when it comes to building a house for Hashem, the משכן Mishkan, no no no no no. Only כל אשר ידבנו לבו kol asher yidvenu libo. Only if you're generous, only if you have a good and a giving and a kind heart. Why the difference? Says Rav Soloveitchik. Listen carefully. Man is basically a homeless being. No matter how large and opulent his home, he is exposed. He is subject to the vicissitudes of life, subject to nature which at best is indifferent to man, at worst is hostile, and subject to an inscrutable future. There's only one home where man gains security. God, Hashem is called מעון ma'on in abode. The only home where man can find security is in the רבונו של עולם Ribono shel Olam. Hashem told Moshe not to collect the money for the משכן Mishkan by using force because the משכן Mishkan was to be built only if the nation felt the need to build a home for Hashem on their own, for Hashem to descend from infinity into a משכן Mishkan built by man is, as it were, a sacrificial act on his part. This act of self-contraction is a sacrifice. He was willing to make, but only if the people themselves wanted a משכן Mishkan and were willing to contribute to build it. Because would you want to stand under a חופה chuppah with someone who a gun was put to their head because they were told you have to marry you? I wouldn't want to. Who would want to be in a marriage or relationship with the other party was only there because they had to be? So Hashem says when it comes to the משכן Mishkan, which is our home, the place of our intimate rendezvous, the place of our close connection, I only want you there if you want to be there. I only want you to be a partner and a builder if you believe in the mission and purpose and cause. And if you don't want, I'm not obligating you. Now, when it comes to feeding the poor person, I don't care whether you want to or don't want to. I'm going to take what you should be giving because we all need your help.But when it comes to the משכן Mishkan, which is the house of a intimacy with us and השם Hashem, the house of rendezvous with us and השם Hashem, that's the חופה chuppah, that's the place of love. That's the home, that's the bedroom that we have with השם Hashem. Only be there if you want to be there. Only give if you want to give. Only אשר ידבנו לבו asher yidvenu libo. It's a brilliant insight of the רב rav. That distinction, that difference between צדקה tzedakah, which is צדק tzedek, it's just, you have to give. We can garner your wages, we can take it from you. And building a משכן Mishkan only if you want. Because צדקה tzedakah, the needs of the community, I don't care whether you want to or not, you must give. We're obligating you. But when it comes to this house, I'm not forcing you to stand under the חופה chuppah. I'm not making you love me. Only love me, only be under the חופה chuppah, only build a home with me, only be in this bedroom with me if you want to be here.Now, what did השם Hashem do to be there? Says רב סולובייצ'יק Rav Soloveitchik, צימצום Tzimtzum. The קבליסטים Kabbalists, maybe we'll come back to this, we'll see if we have time. But maybe in honor of our campaign, the פרשה שיעור Parsha shiur should be two hours for the next couple weeks. Okay, from that reaction we'll keep it at one. So, רב סולובייצ'יק Rav Soloveitchik says, what did השם Hashem do for the משכן Mishkan? What do you mean what did he do? He's infinite and omnipotent, and he contracted himself. He practiced what the mystics, the קבליסטים Kabbalists call צמצום tzimtzum. He contracted himself to fit in this world, to be available and accessible in this world, to be relatable so to say in this world. He contracted and constricted himself so that we could have access to him in this world. That's what he did. That's what he gave up. That's the sacrifice he made. What are we willing to do to be there? So it has to be אשר ידבנו לבו asher yidvenu libo. It has to be something that comes from a generous heart.I told you I got the new Rabbi Sacks קורן חומש Koren Chumash. The קורן Koren store here in Boca, by the way. I don't get any piece of the action. I don't get anything for free. But I want to promote it because it's beautiful to have a ספרים sforim store. It's a beautiful קורן Koren bookstore. Go there, window shop, you'll find something that you'll read and will change your life, including this new beautiful חומש Chumash. It's at the Fountains. At the Fountains there's a new beautiful קורן ספרים Koren sforim store. This new beautiful חומש Chumash where they put out a beautiful חומש Chumash with the commentary collected from הרב לורד יונתן זקס Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, זכרונו לברכה zichrono livracha on the bottom. And he makes the following point. I'm only going to take one part of this essay or comment he has because I found it fascinating. The early chapters of שמות Shmos are all about the politics of freedom. We read about יציאת מצרים yetzias Mitzrayim. We went from slavery, we were liberated, we were emancipated. But the last section, beginning here until the end of the book, a third of the book of שמות Shmos, is about the apparently minor and seemingly irrelevant episode about the construction of the משכן Mishkan. That's ancient history. That happened in the desert. That's over. Why are we so obsessed? Why we have so much focus? Why is so much a third of this book about something that happened once and is done and is now relegated to history? And listen to what הרב זקס Rabbi Sacks says. He says, putting all this together, we arrive at the boldest of all of the Exodus's political statements. A nation, at least the kind of nation the Jewish people are called on to become, is created through the act of creation itself. Not all the miracles of יציאת מצרים Yetzias Mitzrayim combined, not even the revelation of סיני Sinai itself, turned the Jewish people into a nation. In commanding משה Moshe to get the people to make the Tabernacle, השם Hashem is effect in effect saying, to turn a group of individuals into a covenantal nation, they must build something together. I repeat, to turn a group of individuals into a covenantal nation, they must build something together. We were taken and liberated out of Egypt, we were scattered individuals who happened to all be slaves together, but individuals. How do you turn a group of individuals into a covenantal nation? They must build something together. Freedom cannot be conferred by an outside force, not even by God himself. It can be achieved only by collective, collaborative effort on the part of the people. Hence the construction of the Tabernacle. A people is made by making.הרב זקס Rabbi Sacks was amazing. What a tragedy, what a loss. We miss him so much. Listen to his language. To become the nation the Jewish people are called on to become is created through the act of creation itself. A people is made by making, a nation is built by building. What they build was a home for the divine presence. The משכן Mishkan placed at the center of the camp with the tribes arrayed around it, symbolized the public square, the common good, the voice that had summoned them to collective freedom. It was a visible emblem of community. Within the משכן Mishkan was the ארון Aron. Within the ארון Aron were the tablets. And on the tablets were written the details of the covenant. It was the home of their constitution of liberty. What was true for the Jewish people holds true in every generation. Society like the משכן Mishkan is the home we must build together. Our campaign, BRS, between the B and the R, you can fill in the letters, is builders. Builders. We're trying to expand and double this campus that you come so often for, שיעורים shiurim and classes and בית מדרש Beis Medrash and מדרשה Midrasha and כולל בוקר Kollel Boker and Afternoon כולל Kollel, and concerts and speakers and Israel advocacy and army, because we're trying to build. Not a campus, we're trying to build כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael, build תורה Torah, build חסד Chesed, build our future, build outreach, build youth, build teens, build continuity. We're trying to build, build, build, build, and that's how you create community. To turn a group of individuals into a communal nation, they must build something together. And that's why a third of the book is about how we built together. What we gave, what we did, what we what we built, because that's what made us a people. Getting out of Egypt, that liberated us, that gave us some freedom, that didn't make us a people. Even standing at הר סיני Har Sinai being bound by תורה Torah, that was top-down. That was השם Hashem giving it to us. What turned us into a covenantal community, into a nation, into a people? We became a people when we built together. That's what made all the difference.So that's the beginning of the פרשה Parsha. ויקחו לי תרומה V'yikchu li truma, the contribution, what's the purpose, ועשו לי מקדש v'asu li Mikdash. Where is the greatest מקדש Mikdash? It is in us, ושכנתי בתוכם v'shachanti b'socham. As we share every year, we go from the singular to the plural because the ultimate place of divine dwelling is not in any bricks and mortar, it's not in any square footage, it's not in any decorations or decor, it's not in any building. Where is the ultimate place of divine presence? ושכנתי בתוכם V'shachanti b'socham, it's in us. It's in every one of you. It's in every יהודי Jew in Boca and South Florida and around the world that we're trying to tap into, to awaken, to ignite that spark, that spirit, that Godliness in them. That's our mission, that's our message, that's what we're building. ושכנתי בתוכם V'shachanti b'socham, inherent and inside every יהודי Jew is a spark of השם Hashem, is a Godliness, is a Godliness, is eternity, is immortality. בתוכם B'socham, it's in us. But how do we access it? How do we tap into it? How do we nurture it? How do we fan the flame of it? We need a dwelling. We need a משכן Mishkan, we need a מקדש מעט Mikdash Me'at. We need a campus of life and living, cradle to grave, that every every age, every background, that everyone feels connected, everyone feels warm and welcome, everyone can call it home so that ושכנתי בתוכם v'shachanti b'socham, it's not the ends, it's only a means. The ends is not to be on a campus because that's השם Hashem's dwelling. It's to remind that השם Hashem is dwelling ultimately, where really is where? In each and every one of us.פרק כ\"ה פסוק י' Perek chaf hei, pasuk yud. Turn the page. The first of the כלים keilim now, Tabernacle. Interestingly, we're out of order. Before we get into the Tabernacle, before we talk about the new campus, let's talk about what will the furniture look like. Is it pews? Is it benches? Will there be tables, Rabbi? Will they be the blue chairs or these comfortable chairs? It's kind of out of order. This is a question we'll deal with another time. But why did we begin תרומה Trumah, instead of talking about the building, we talk about the furniture. Don't you first talk about how to build your house and then you go shopping for the furniture? You don't talk about the furniture and then you build the house around it. So seemingly we're out of order, but we begin with the furniture. And what is the first piece of furniture? ועשו ארון עצי שיטים V'asu Aron atzei shittim. Build an ark, build the ארון Aron out of acacia wood, two and a half אמות amos, אמה וחצי amah v'chetzi in width, an אמה וחצי amah v'chetzi in its in its height, in its height. One more comment from הרב זקס Rabbi Sacks for today. And he writes the following. Literally, they shall make. השם Hashem instructs משה Moshe on the making of the sanctuary and its appurtenances, detailed by detail. And each case, the verb is in the second person singular. וציפית v'tzipisa, ועשית v'asisa, ויצקת v'yatzakta, ונתת v'nasata, והבאת v'heveisa. We have a lot of verbs, a lot of verbs going into building. I'll repeat it. וציפית v'tzipisa, ועשית v'asisa, ויצקת v'yatzakta, ונתת v'nasata, והבאת v'heveisa. We have five second person singular verbs. You shall cover, you shall make, you shall pour, you shall place, you shall bring. There's one exception, one exception, and that is ועשו ארון v'asu Aron. The ark. There the verb is in the third person plural, not the second person singular. I already lost everybody because I mentioned grammar. Not the second person singular. It's a risk I was willing to take. But the third person plural because the point is so beautiful, it was a risk I was willing to take. So why the shift? Why did we go from second person singular to only with the ארון Aron, with the ark, now we're in third person plural. Why they shall make, not you? Why the shift from the singular to the plural? The ארון Aron was made to hold what? The לוחות Luchos. Among other things, but the לוחות Luchos, the tablets of stone given to משה Moshe at הר סיני Har Sinai. The תורה Torah calls the לוחות Luchos, the לוחות האדות Luchos ha-Eidus. They are the tablets of testimony. They were the physical symbol of the Sinai covenant. According to חז\"ל Chazal, both the complete set of tablets and the fragments of the first broken tablets that משה Moshe broke after the חטא העגל Chet HaEgel, both לוחות ושברי לוחות מונחים בארון Luchos v'Shivrei Luchos munachim b'Aron. The גמרא Gemara in בבא בתרא Bava Basra and מנחות ברכות Menachos brachot. The ark in short symbolized and represented תורה Torah. The reason therefore that the construction of the ark is commanded in the plural, listen, is because every יהודי Jew has a share in it. Unlike other aspects of service in the sanctuary or temple, תורה Torah is the heritage of everyone. You see, in the משכן Mishkan, ישראלים Yisraelim had to stop here. Only לויים Leviim could go there, and only כהנים Kohanim could go past there, and only כהנים Kohanim could do this, and only לויים Leviim could do that. All Israel were parties to the covenant. All were expected to know and study its terms. Judaism might know other hierarchies, but when it came to knowledge, study, and the dignity conferred by scholarship, everyone stood on equal footing. Yes, we have כהנים Kohanim, לויים Leviim, and ישראלים Yisraelim. Yes, we have different categories and hierarchies of people. But when it comes to תורה Torah, מורשה היא morashah hi. It is our inheritance, it is our heritage. Every יד Yid, every יהודי Jew has equal access to תורה Torah. תורה Torah is all of ours. Belongs to all of us. Man, woman, child, empty nesters, youth department, outreach department, and any campus of השם Hashem is a place that תורה Torah is available, accessible, inspires and informs everyone. Not only the elite. Sadly, we struggle, many of our schools, much in the community is geared to the elite. The elite can participate. You know, if you look behind me, one of the holiest things on our campus is that page turner. A lot of people who come from other communities come and say, what's with the numbers? What are the what are the numbers? What what are they what are they saying? They're so unfamiliar, so unfamiliar, they didn't can't even imagine what it might be. But you know what those are? Those are the numbers so that anyone who walks in here, we're all on the same page. How many people need the page turners? Not many, these days. But even if there's one person who without it would be lost, then it's our responsibility to have it. You know, recently, there was someone, the normal, the person who ordinarily turns the pages wasn't here. Someone volunteered to do it. And I got emotional. It was a powerful moment because the person who was now coming up to keep everyone on the same page is one of the people who was benefiting the most, was one of the biggest beneficiaries himself when he first moved here of why we had them. It's not incredible? One of the people who needed it and benefited the most became the person who then turned the page so other people could be on the same page. It's one of the holiest vessels on our campus is this page turner because תורה Torah, תפילה tefillah is all of ours. Everyone deserves to be on the same page. Everyone deserves to be plugged in. From Friday night live, to the high level חבורה Chaburah that we're coming on our thousandth חבורה Chaburah and we're celebrating in a couple weeks on שבת Shabbos morning, from the women's מדרשה Midrasha, to the men's בית מדרש Beis Medrash, to the outreach, to the teen, to the youth. That's why here alone, writes הרב זקס Rabbi Sacks, in its list of components part of the sanctuary, the תורה Torah shifts from the second person singular to the third person plural. When it comes to the ארון Aron, home and symbol of the most significant form of knowledge, everyone must have equal share. Everyone. And that's why there is a grammatical shift, because תורה Torah belongs to us all.פרק כ\"ה פסוק ט\"ז Perek chaf hei, pasuk tes zayin. I'm on page 446. ונתת אל הארון את העדות אשר אתן אליך V'nasata el ha'Aron es ha'Eidus asher etein eilecha. You shall place in the ark the testimonial tablets that I shall give you. Says the לבבוש Levush, says הרב דרוק Rav Druck, you're putting in. Quotes רש\"י Rashi. רש\"י Rashi tells us these tablets are called העדות ha-Eidus, התורה שהיא לעדות ביני וביניכם ha-Torah she'hi la'eidus beini u'veineichem. The תורה Torah is the testimonial between me and you, שציויתי אתכם מצוות הכתובות בו she'tzivisi eschem mitzvos haksuvos bo. Because through it I commanded you all these מצוות mitzvos. Writes הרב דרוק Rav Druck in his לבבוש Levush. The גמרא Gemara in שבת דף ל\"ב Shabbos daf lamed beis tells us, תניא רבי ישמעאל בן אלעזר אומר בעוון שני דברים עמי הארצות מתים Tanya Rabbi Yishmael ben Elazar omer, ba'avon shnei devarim amei ha'aretzos meisim. Listen to this. Because of two sins, the ignorant in the Jewish people die. על שקורין לארון קודש ארנא Al she'korin l'Aron Kodesh Arna. Because they call the ark ארנא Arna, they have a nickname, a disparaging nickname, ועל שקורין לבית הכנסת בית עם V'al she'korin l'Beis Haknesses Beis Am. And they call the שול shul, the בית הכנסת Beis Haknesses, they call it a בית עם Beis Am. It's our meeting place. And רש\"י Rashi there writes the גמרא Gemara שבת דף ל\"ב Shabbos daf lamed beis, בית עם לשון ביזוי Beis Am loshon bizui. שמתקבצים בו הכל she'miskabtzim bo hakol. Instead of calling it the holy שול shul, you know what they call it? The community center. Oh, let's meet at the community center. Let's hit the קידוש kiddush club at the קידוש kiddush at the community center. JFK. You know what JFK is? If you don't, you're lucky. JFK is a relatively recent phenomenon in the Jewish people. JFKers, JFK is just for kiddush. It's the people who come to שול shul, JFK, just for kiddush. So there are people who say בית הכנסת Beis Haknesses is not בית הכנסת Beis Haknesses, it's בית עם Beis Am. Let's hit the community center, JFK. So רש\"י Rashi says, כי חומר עוון בכך שקורין לבית הכנסת בית עם ומצד הזלזול בבית הכנסת ki chomer avon b'kach she'korin l'Beis Haknesses Beis Am u'mitzad ha'zilzul b'Beis Haknesses. If you call the שול shul instead of the holy שול shul, the holy place of השם Hashem, the holy place of connection, the holy place of covenant, instead you say let's go to the community center, so you're disparaging the שול shul. Disparaging the שול shul. אבל מהרש\"א בחידושי אגדות Aval Maharsha, b'chidushei agados, the הייליגע מהרש\"א Helige Maharsha of שמואל איידלס Shmuel Eidels writes, שאין זה רק מצד הזלזול בבית הכנסת she'ein ze rak mitzad ha'zilzul b'Beis Haknesses, the reason it's such an egregious mistake to refer to the holy campus of life and living and השם Hashem and שכינה Shechina as just a community center is, says the מהרש\"א Maharsha, שקורין לבית הכנסת בית עם נראה שכוונתם שבית הכנסת אינו מוקדש של מי היא אלא של כנסיה וכל העם ישראל she'korin l'Beis Haknesses Beis Am, nir'eh she'chavanosam she'Beis Haknesses eino mukdash shal mihi elah shel k'nesiyah v'chol ha'am Yisrael... אלוקים נצב בעדת קל Elokim ni'tzav ba'adas kel. מה שאין כן בית עם כי אלוקים ייוחדס לעם לצרכם ואין חלק אלוקים בה Ma she'ein kein Beis Am, ki Elokim yuchdes la'am l'tzorchem v'ein chelek Elokim ba. When you call it a gathering place, whom are you eliminating? Who are you eliminating? If you say let's go to the community center, I'll meet you at the community center. So anything can be a community center. You can meet at the gym, you can meet at Costco, you can meet at Publix, you can meet at whatever the community center is. Wherever you play mahjong, wherever you play bridge, wherever you throw darts, you go play pickup ball, you go put together a softball game. Those are places that you meet. And what defines who's there? Those meeting places, those centers of community, who's there? Only those whom you see. But a שול shul is categorically different because who is the most important person or being present in a שול shul? Not just those that you can visibly see that are picked up on the camera or the surveillance of the שול shul, who's there? השם Hashem himself. The Almighty. Now it's true, on קבלה שיעור Kabbalah Shiur he's there, here, there and everywhere, but our rabbis tell us where is he more intensely present? Where can you feel his presence? You know, outside of שול shul, it's dial connection, dial up, it's 3G. In שול shul, high speed. In שול shul, it's the highest speed possible. So the מהרש\"א Maharsha says, עיקר עניין שעמי הארצות נאסים בגללו כשקורין לבית הכנסת בית עם ikar inyan she'amei ha'aretzos nasim biglalo ka she'korin l'Beis Haknesses Beis Am. שבאמת הקדוש ברוך הוא מצוי בבית הכנסת she'be'emes ha'Kadosh Baruch Hu matzuy b'Beis Haknesses. השם Hashem is here. And when you call it a בית עם Beis Am, it's a gathering place, then what you are defining it by, what you're characterizing it by, what you're limiting it to is the people you see. But that's not all this place is. ברוך השם Baruch Hashem we have a thousand families and on a שבת Shabbos there's 2,000 plus people and there's eight מניינים minyanim and it's happening and moving and popping and people and דאווענען davening and learning and laughing and having fun and kids playing. But you know, the biggest presence is השם Hashem. It's השם Hashem. The most important presence on that campus, on our campus in a משכן Mishkan is השם Hashem. And that's why those who call a בית הכנסת Beis Haknesses a בית עם Beis Am have diminished it, have disparaged it, have done a disservice to it. The גמרא Gemara in ברכות Brachos further says, אמר רב הונא תשעה וארון מצטרפים amara funa, tisha v'aron mitstarfin. The גמרא Gemara entertains the possibility, what if you don't have a מנין minyan? You have nine people and the ארון קודש Aron Kodesh. Let's say one of our מניינים minyanim, we're adding more and more. Eight, nine, ten מעריב Maarivs, so at 10:00 מעריב Maariv, which in Boca might as well be midnight. 10:00 in Boca is like midnight in New York. Just if you don't know, there's a difference in time. There's a time... no no state income tax, please God, no real estate tax, but there is a time difference. 10:00 in Boca might as well be two in the morning. So our 10:00 מנין minyan, ברוך השם baruch hashem, we haven't missed one yet. But let's say they only got nine. So ah, the גמרא Gemara says in ברכות Brachos, if you have nine and the ארון Aron, you're good to go. How? וארון גברא הוא Ve'Aron gavra hu? Wonders the גמרא Gemara. Is the ארון קודש Aron Kodesh a person that you could count it towards a מנין minyan? אלא אמר רב הונא תשעה נראין כעשרה מצטרפין Ela amra funa, tisha nir'in k'asarah mitstarfin. If nine look like 10, close enough. Now again, do we follow that? Not follow that? For מעריב Maariv, for other מניינים minyanim? Not for now. But what was the גמרא Gemara's הוה אמינא havah amina? What did the גמרא Gemara think that nine and the ארון Aron are good? Says the חיד\"א Chida, in his פתח עינים Pesach Einayim. רב חיים יוסף דוד אזולאי Rav Chaim Yosef David Azulai. He says, ראשי תיבות rashei teivos, ארון אחד רואה ואינו נראה Aron: echad ro'eh v'eino nir'eh. Who's the one who sees but is not seen? ארון אחד רואה ואינו נראה Aron: echad ro'eh v'eino nir'eh. Who's the one who sees and isn't seen? השם Hashem. It's like there's nine people and they say, we only have nine, what are we going to do? We have no מעריב Maariv. And השם Hashem is here and he's waving from the ארון Aron. \"Hey, ho, you forgot about me. I'm here too. I count too. I'm also in the מנין minyan. That's why you're here is to talk to me.\" Again, הלכה למעשה halacha l'maaseh, do we practice this or not, is not important. But that's how the חיד\"א Chida understands the גמרא Gemara. ארון תשעה וארון מצטרפין Aron, tisha v'Aron mitstarfin. Nine plus the ארון Aron. What's ארון אחד רואה ואינו נראה Aron? Echad ro'eh v'eino nir'eh. One who sees and isn't seen. Don't overlook, not just some guy fast asleep in the back corner you could wake him up and he could be your tenth. Don't forget when you have nine, open the ארון Aron and השם Hashem is there waving. That's the whole reason you're here so we can hang, we can talk, we can connect. Don't forget me, nine and ארון Aron. So don't call it a בית עם Beis Am. Community center you could find elsewhere. There's a tennis and there's golf and there's the country club. There's a challenge, a lot of people are moving and living and they like country clubs are בית עם Beis Am. You want to worship at the altar of the country club? You want to bow down to the buffet? You want to make your life be defined, central to your life is the paddle ball, not paddle ball, what do they call it today? Pickleball. Pickleball, tennis, mahjong, bridge, poker, the country club, that's the... that's a בית עם Beis Am. Nothing wrong with that. Go, enjoy, God bless. That's a בית עם Beis Am. That's a בית עם Beis Am. But we're not building a בית עם Beis Am. השם Hashem didn't ask us with the original משכן Mishkan or every מקדש מעט Mikdash Me'at since then, he didn't ask for a בית עם Beis Am. בית עם Beis Am, put out the best קידוש kiddush, you'll have the biggest בית עם Beis Am. But השם Hashem, nothing wrong with a good קידוש kiddush, and we should put out a good קידוש kiddush. But the best קידוש kiddush in town will get the biggest בית עם Beis Am, but that's not what השם Hashem wants us to build. A בית עם Beis Am. What does he want us to build? A בית כנסת Beis Knesses. ארון מצטרפין Aron mitstarfin. השם Hashem says I want a place where you're learning and living and investing and connecting and being inspired by a relationship with me. Where there is a great קידוש kiddush, but that's not the central part of why you're here. That's not the defining factor or feature why you're here. Where there is other activity, we have BYOG. We have every month our empty nesters, bring your own game, come and play, coffee and tea and slushies. Absolutely, it's a place of socializing and connection. But that's only part of what we have. Most of all, you know who comes to show, you know who shows up for BYOG? השם Hashem. He's here for that game, for the שכינה Shechina. תשעה וארון מצטרפין Tisha v'Aron mitstarfin. הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu is part of it.פרק כ\"ה פסוק י\"ח Perek chaf hei, pasuk yud ches. What do I skip too? There's so much to say. Okay, let's talk כרובים kruvim a little bit. פרק כ\"ה פסוק י\"ח Perek chaf hei, pasuk yud ches. Top of page 448. ועשית שני כרובים V'asisa shnei kruvim. What went on top of the ארון Aron? We're talking the first piece of furniture, the first fixture, first vessel was the ארון Aron. What went on top of the ארון Aron? ועשית שניים כרובים זהב V'asisa shnayim kruvim zahav, make two cherubs, מקשה תעשה אותם mikshah ta'aseh osam. Make them out of one solid block, משני קצות הכפורת mi'shnei ketzos ha'kapores. From both ends of the of the cover. Says the לבבוש Levush. Let's continue with הרב דרוק Rav Druck. Says the לבבוש Levush. Make two כרובים kruvim. Two times we find כרובים kruvim in the תורה Torah. Two times we find כרובים kruvim in the תורה Torah. We already saw the כרובים kruvim once. Anyone remember where? Back in בראשית Breishis, Genesis chapter three verse 24. The פסוק pasuk says there, וישכן מקדם לגן עדן את הכרובים v'yishkon mi'kedem l'Gan Eden es ha'kruvim. East of Garden of Eden were the cherubs, the כרובים kruvim. So how could it be? And here, ועשית שניים כרובים v'asisa shnayim kruvim, and ושאר מקומות v'shaar makomos, פרשת אלה דבר על הכרובים על המזבח שעשו למשכן Parshas Eileh Davar al ha'kruvim al hameizav sh'asu l'Mishkan. So here, רש\"י Rashi describes, what are the כרובים kruvim? דמות פרצוף תינוק Dmus partzuf tinok. It was the face of a child, the angelic, pure, innocent face of the child. But if you flip back in חומש Chumash and go to chapter three verse 24, the רש\"י Rashi on when the כרובים kruvim are mentioned back in בראשית Breishis, how does רש\"י Rashi describe the כרובים kruvim there? They are מלאכי חבלה Malachei Chavalah. Angels of destruction. So which is it? Wonders הרב דרוק Rav Druck. Are these כרובים kruvim pure, angelic, sweet faces of a child? Or are they satanic, demonic faces of destruction, of evil? Which are they? And the answer, of course, is yes. It depends where you are. Where were the כרובים kruvim relative to גן עדן Gan Eden? Outside of it. East of the Garden of Eden. And where are the כרובים kruvim relative to the משכן Mishkan? In it. Says הרב דרוק Rav Druck, that child, that beautiful, pure, innocent, wholesome, optimistic child, in the right environment, they'll flourish and they'll thrive and they'll radiate their purity. But if they're outside of it, if they're told you're an outsider, you're an outlier, you're outside of it, they can turn into מלאכי חבלה Malachei Chavalah. Get mixed in with the wrong crowd, subject to the wrong influences, they themselves become practitioners of חבלה chavalah, of destruction and damage and devastation. כרובים Kruvim, השם Hashem creates potential, and it can go either way, either or. And the only question is where is it? In the right environment, in the right atmosphere, on the inside. If everyone is made to feel an insider, that's what a campus is. It's a place where everyone is an insider, everyone belongs, everyone is there. There are no outliers or outsiders, there are no boundaries, nobody's marginalized, nobody's excluded. Because when a person is marginalized and excluded, then they'll act that way. That's where they'll gravitate towards. That's what they'll look like, that's how they'll behave, that's what they'll become, מלאכי חבלה Malachei Chavalah. But when someone is told, you know, we just had הרב קאליש Rabbi Kalesh a few weeks ago, the great הרב קאליש Rav Kalesh. We still have to put out our conversation on behind the במה bima with הרב קאליש Rav Kalesh. It's amazing, he's amazing. I sound like one of the seminary girls who love him. He's amazing. Okay, I'm happy to sound like that. He's amazing. He's amazing. So one of the things that הרב קאליש by Kalesh, so refreshing, is that every יד Yid, every יהודי Jew is an insider. It's a pure נשמה neshama. What's their story? What makes them special? How do we make them feel they belong? Because in a generation where so many feel invisible, inconsequential, ignored, outsiders, so they become that. If that's who I am, I might as well be that. If that's how you've defined me, if that's how you've characterized me, if that's how you judge me, if that's how you treat me, if that's what you call me, then I might as well be that. That's who I'll hang with. That's how I'll behave. That's what I'll do. But if we say, that's not who you are, you're a צלם אלוקים tzelem Elokim, you're a pure פינטעלע ייד pintele Yid, you have a spark of Godliness, ושכנתי בתוכם v'shachanti b'socham. There is a מקדש Mikdash inside you. Let's find it. I want to listen to it. I want to hear it. I want to know your story. Everyone's an insider. Everyone's an insider. Says הרב דרוק Rav Druck, he quotes from his father, the דרש מרדכי Drash Mordechai, רב מרדכי דרוק Rav Mordechai Druck. That's why the גמרא Gemara in קידושין Kiddushin says, אם פגע בך מנוול זה משכהו לבית המדרש im poga b'cha menuval zeh, mashcheihu l'Beis HaMedrash. When you fight the יצר הרע yetzer hara, what should you do? Shlep him to the בית מדרש Beis Medrash. There's no יצר הרע yetzer hara when you're in the בית מדרש Beis Medrash? Still plenty יצר הרע yetzer hara in the בית מדרש Beis Medrash. The answer is, if you change your environment, if you see yourself as an insider, if you see yourself as someone who belongs, the יצר הרע yetzer hara is there, but now you have what you need to fight it. But if you're an outsider, an outlier, a marginalized part of community, then that יצר הרע yetzer hara is going to overcome you and you're going to come a מלאך חבלה malach chavalah. So are you an insider or are you an outsider? Is the difference, says הרב דרוק Rav Druck. Says the תפארת שמואל Tiferes Shmuel. צריך עיון Tzorich iyun. Sorry, that's a different insight. It's such a good one, and we're not going to get to it, and it kills me. הרב דרוק Rav Druck... You know what, we'll expand on הרב דרוק Rav Druck. This ספר sefer says the following. I'll tell it to you in a different way. Tell it to you in a different way. The גמרא Gemara in סוכה Sukkah tells us these כרובים kruvim, מאי כרוב mai kruv? אמר רב אביי כרביא Amra v'avo, k'ravya. שכן בבבל קורין לינוקא רביא She'kein b'Bavel korin l'yanuka ravya. What is the form face of the כרובים kruvim? Rav Avahu says like a child, כרביא kravya. כרביא Kravya is in the Babylonian one calls a child רביא ravya, and רש\"י Rashi says דמות פרצוף תינוק dmus partzuf tinok. The ארון Aron, this most sacred vessel, was covered with the כפורת kapores and the two כרובים kruvim, the image of these young children. Now if I would have asked you who's the image should we put on the on the ארון Aron in the מקדש Mikdash? What would you say? Put רב משה פיינשטיין Rav Moshe Feinstein. Put רב סולובייצ'יק Rav Soloveitchik. Put הרב זקס Rav Sacks, put the שפת אמת Sfas Emes, put all the personalities that we learn and we draw from, put our holy צדיקים tzaddikim and גדולי ישראל Gedolei Yisrael. You know what the כרובים kruvim should have been? Have you ever seen the video of רב חיים קנייבסקי זצ\"ל Rav Chaim Kanievsky, zatzal, and הרבנית בת שבע קנייבסקי Rebbetzin Batsheva Kanievsky early in the morning reciting ברכת השחר Birkas Hashachar together to answer אמן amen to one another? It's unbelievable video. It's an amazing video. They're incredibly advanced age, they must have been in their 90s, and yet they're like two newly-weds who every day start out by saying ברכת השחר Birkas Hashachar, the morning blessings, to one another to be able to answer אמן amen to each other. I don't know who, what fly on the wall took that video. On the one hand, maybe infringed on their privacy, but also gave us a great gift because it's a tremendous video. So you want to ask me who to put on the כרובים kruvim? רב חיים קנייבסקי Rav Chaim Kanievsky and הרבנית בת שבע Rebbetzin Batsheva. Wow. Saying ברכת השחר Birkas Hashachar facing each other. But we don't. Instead, what do we put on the holy ארון Aron, which was kept in the holiest place on the planet? We put a picture of children who've yet to learn or accomplish or achieve anything. Despite everything we say about them at their בר מצווה bar mitzvah. Until now, they're they we make them a whole their whole franchise. We made you a logo and we made you ימקעס yamakas, and we say the nicest things about you. But if we're honest, they haven't done anything yet. And that's who we put as the image on top of the כרובים kruvim. Moreover, the כרובים kruvim don't always have a positive connotation. As we said, מלאכי חבלה Malachei Chavalah, angels of demolition, of destruction. So which is it? Pure, innocent children or angels of destruction? And the answer as we said is yes. הרב דרוק Rav Druck saw it as are you an insider or an outsider? Is it מקדם לגן עדן mikedem l'Gan Eden or inside the משכן Mishkan? But I want to offer you another perspective maybe in closing. Maybe not, but maybe. The image and message of the כרובים kruvim is not directed at the children. It's directed at us and can go either way. When being youthful and childlike makes you impetuous, impulsive, immature, and juvenile, then the attribute of youthful is a מלאך של חבלה malach of chavalah. If you are being youthful is really you're being juvenile and immature, irresponsible, then it's a מלאך חבלה malach chavalah of destruction. But if on the other hand, tapping into our youthfulness makes us energized and curious and innocent and ambitious and vivacious, oh, it's a great quality.So that image of the child can go either way. Stay childlike your whole life. There are people in this world, people in this world, there are people in this room over a hundred years old and their yearning and love of learning is childlike. And there are people who are in their 90s who are immature, juvenile, self-centered children. Being childlike can go either way. The נביא הושע Navi Hoshea tells us in the 11th chapter, כי נער ישראל ואוהבהו Ki na'ar Yisrael v'ohavehu. I feel in love with the Jewish people when he is still a child. When does Hashem love us? כי נער ישראל Ki na'ar Yisrael ואוהבהו v'ohavehu. When do I love Jewish people? When they're a child. I've called him my son ever since Egypt. Rabbi Salanter explains, Hashem has a particular love for כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael when we awaken the נער na'ar, the youthfulness, the freshness, the liveliness within ourselves. Children are naturally driven, energetic, curious, adventurous, open to new ideas, new experiences. Children are eager to explore. Children are eager to accomplish. Adults, tired, exhausted, set in my ways, it is what it is, I am what I am. I'm not changing, you're not changing, nothing's changing. Adults are stuck, they're fixed. Children, ooh, adventure, explore, new ideas, just getting started. To be a נער na'ar is to never be done, to remain incomplete, to refuse to let fatigue set in. You can be older and be a נער na'ar, you could be young and be a זקן zaken. That's why we say in סליחות slichos, אל תשליכנו al tashlichenu לעת זקנה l'eis zikna. Don't cast me away like I'm an old person. What does that mean? I'm an old person. I walk slowly, I got a walker, I got a cane, I can't go. No, it means even when I'm young, don't let me feel I'm fixed. Don't let fatigue set in. Don't let life become stale and boring. Don't let me lose my energy and curiosity. אל תשליכנו לעת זקנה Al tashlichenu l'eis zikna. Let me never be an old person in my mindset, because age is just a number.יצחק Yitzchak was how old at the עקידה Akeidah? 37 years old. And what does the Torah call him? ואני והנער נלכה עד כה V'ani v'hana'ar neilcha ad ko. Why was יצחק Yitzchak called a נער na'ar at 37? He had youthful exuberance, a willingness to go on this adventure. יהושע Yehoshua is a grown man. According to the אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra, when he comes to serve משה Moshe, how old is he? 56. But the Torah sees his energy and ambition and describes יהושע Yehoshua, ומשרתו יהושע בן נון נער לא ימיש מתוך האהל u'mesharto Yehoshua bin Nun na'ar, lo yamish mitoch ha'ohel. יצחק's Yitzchak's 37. יהושע's Yehoshua's 56, and he's still called the נער na'ar. Why are you called a נער na'ar? Because it's a mindset. כרובים Kruvim, being childlike can destroy us if we indulge in impulsivity and immaturity, or it can make us ageless, what helps us experience the holiness and happiness of life. כרובים Kruvim were כרביא k'ravia. They captured the version of us that Hashem loves. כי נער ישראל ואהבהו Ki na'ar Yisrael v'ohavehu. Hashem loves us when we're נער na'ar. Youth is not a demographic, it's a description. You know what, maybe we should change the name of the empty nesters to the youth department. The youth department shouldn't become the אלטע קאקרס alte kackers. Youth department should become the super youth department, and the empty nesters should be the youth department. It should be the youth department. Because at that age, age is just a number. The empty nesters is the real youth department, because you could stay young at every age. Stay young at each and every age. I'll just end as we're having ראש חודש אדר Rosh Chodesh Adar on Friday and שבת Shabbos, we're building up to פורים Purim. It's a fascinating מדרש Midrash on the פורים Purim story that relates an episode in which מרדכי Mordechai after learning of המן's Haman's decree to annihilate the Jews, the מדרש Midrash tells us, I won't read it to you in the Hebrew, we don't have time, but מרדכי Mordechai runs into three young school children. And he asks them, נו nu, what are you learning? What are you learning? פגש בשלושה תינוקות של בית רבן paga b'shlosha tinokos d'beis rabban. אמר להם מרדכי, אמרו לי פסוקיכם amar lahem Mordechai, imru li psukeichem. Tell me what you're learning. What did you learn today? What did you learn today? So the first boy promptly recites the פסוק pasuk he learns at school, \"Don't fear terror, nor the destruction of the wicked when it comes.\" The second boy says a פסוק pasuk, \"Contrive a scheme, but it will be foiled. Conspire a plot, it will not materialize. Hashem is with us.\" And the third boy says, \"To your old age I am with you. I have made you and I will carry you. I will sustain you and I will deliver you.\" Three boys, they quote three separate פסוקים psukim. And when מרדכי Mordechai heard these responses, שחק מרדכי sachak Mordechai. Immediately, what does he do? He laughs. He laughs. He laughs. המן Haman says to him, \"What are you laughing at? Little kids, they're telling you what they're learning, it's making you laugh?\" Says מרדכי Mordechai, מיד כעס אמר ליה בבשורות טובות בשרוני miyad ka'as amar lei b'vsoros tovos bisruni. You know why I'm laughing? I just heard such good news. מיד כעס המן בלבו ואמר איני שולח יד תחילה אלא בתינוקות הללו Miyad ka'as Haman b'libo v'amar eini sholeach yad techila ela b'tinokos halalu. המן Haman was infuriated, he was enraged and he said, \"Who am I going to kill first? These children that you're laughing that somehow you're inspired by.\" What's going on in these פסוקים psukim? Mordechai says, \"I'm happy because of the glad tidings they told me that I should not be afraid of the evil plot. Our enemies want to kill the כרובים kruvim, the נער na'ar that shares messages of optimism and hope inside us.\" Did Mordechai even meet three children, or did Mordechai tap into the child in him? Hope, optimism, a bright future, positivity. When it comes to our future, we have to see the child in us. And that's what we sing on Friday night. What do we say in the לכה דודי Lecha Dodi? התנערי מעפר קומי Hisna'ari mei'afar kumi. The word התנערי hisna'ari means let me shake off מעפר קומי mei'afar kumi, shake off the dust and arise. But התנערי hisna'ari is not just shake off the dust. התנערי Hisna'ari, shake off the fatigue, shake off the hopelessness, shake off the cynicism, and awaken the נער na'ar. התנערי Hisna'ari, wake up the נער na'ar in you, מעפר קומי mei'afar kumi. Wake up the old age, wake up feeling fixed and set, wake up being pessimistic and fatalistic, and instead, wake up the נער na'ar. התנערי Hisna'ari. Idealism, energy, determination, tenaciousness, wake up the נער na'ar. That's how we defeated המן Haman. That's how we're going to defeat our enemies. We're deep, 500 plus days in, it's exhausting. Wake up. Wake up the גבורה gvurah to continue to fight עם הנצח am ha'netzach. We beat המן Haman. We're going to continue to beat our enemies, and it's through the ושכנתי בתוכם v'shachanti b'tocham having inside us. So I end the way I began. And I'm so sorry, I apologize in advance, you're going to grow sick and tired. And I really, I do feel bad, but we have to get it done. And there's an easy way for me not to do it. It's for any of you to come and tell me, you'll take care of the rest of it. But we've got to finish what we're building. Be a builder. Be a builder with us. Many of you are, and from the bottom of my heart, maximum gratitude, minimum pressure. But if you come here, many of you sitting here and many of you listening and watching wherever you are, you're not members, and yet you read, watch, listen, you come, you participate, you benefit, you're connected to what we stand for and what we value. So please, next year we'll go back to the small amounts. We're not going to do this every year. But for this one year, become, I got to get to 250 BRS builder ambassadors, global ambassadors. Give $1800, or become an ambassador. We'll make you a page, we'll give you a link, send it out. All your friends and classmates and neighbors and clients and coworkers and all your family members who tell you they love what we do, let's see נעשה ונשמע na'aseh v'nishma, משפטים תרומה mishpatim trumah. Let's see how much they love it. Help, let them help you get towards the $1800, and then you'll come to a dinner in New York, ירושלים Yerushalayim, and Florida, with special free giveaways and write-ups of our תורה Torah, qualify to come to it. Give any amount, give a dollar, one eighty, three sixty, a thousand, but 1800 if you give, and even if you can't give, every one of us can get if we turn to the people who claim to love. And this one time, one time only, help us realize this dream. BRSonline.org/global. BRSonline.org/global. BRSonline.org/global. ויקחו לי תרומה V'yikchu li trumah, only those who are in a נדיב לב nediv lev. We're not forcing you. We're not mandating. No one's at the door and say you can only come to the פרשה parsha class, only come to the אמונה שיעור emunah shiur, only hear עקיבא Akiva, only hear the the the soldiers if you gave. We're not doing that. This is נדיב לב nediv lev. It's got to come from your heart. It's only if you want it. I hope you find it in your heart to want it, and thank you in advance for it. And may we hear בשורות טובות bsoros tovos.
