Transcript
Good morning, בוקר טוב Boker Tov, welcome back to פרשה Parsha Perspectives. For today we have the privilege of learning פרשת כי תשא Parshas Ki Sisa together, incredible פרשה parsha that is packed with הלכה halacha, with story, with narrative that continues to impact us until today. Our פרשה parsha series is generously sponsored by Becky and Ari Katz and family in memory of Becky's father, לעילוי נשמת דוד בן מנחם מנש l'iluy nishmas Dovid ben Menachem Monish. Our learning is in memory of David Grossman. This morning is co-sponsored by Sylvia Prozansky in memory of her מחותנת machatenes, Esther Sue Hausdorf, so the נשמה neshama should have an עלייה aliyah, and by Amy and Michael Tarlo in loving memory of Michael's father, יחזקאל אהרן בן חיים מאיר Yechezkel Aaron ben Chaim Meir, whose third יארצייט yahrtzeit is Thursday. We're very grateful to the Tarlos for all their generosity and leadership in our community. I want to begin by saying a big thank you, an enormous thank you, because we ברך השם Baruch Hashem had a successful campaign thanks to you. Those who listen and watch and who come and who learn and those who took a moment to contribute and to give. We're never done. Unlike the משכן Mishkan, we'll never say we have enough. We need more. But the campaign was a success and it was only a success because of you. So I really want to begin by first and foremost saying a big thank you to all those who stepped up, who gave, who enabled us to continue to share and inspire and teach. And if you haven't yet, it's not too late. Of course, we would continue to welcome it, but for all those who did, thank you so much. Page 484 in the Artscroll Stone חומש Humash. וידבר השם אל משה לאמר Vayedaber Hashem el Moshe leimor, Hashem told Moshe the following: כי תשא את ראש בני ישראל לפקדיהם Ki sisa es rosh Bnei Yisrael lifkudeihem, when you want to take a census, it's time to count. It's time to take a census of the Jewish people. לפקדיהם lifkudeihem, according to our number. How? So the simple way, people walk around with a clipboard, they knock on the door. You send out an email or a link, you ask everybody to fill out the form. Not the Jewish people, not the Torah. The way that we take a census is we ask everyone, ונתנו איש כופר נפשו להשם בפקוד אותם v'nasnu ish kofer nafsho laShem b'fkod osam, ולא יהיה בהם נגף בפקוד אותם v'lo yihyeh bahem negef b'fkod osam. We ask every person to give an atonement for their soul when counting them so that there'll be no plague among you. In other words, even implicit in the instruction to take a census, to do a count is, it's dangerous. There's a risk. So we've got to get it right. We want to make sure that the census, that counting the people will elevate, will be an atonement, will enrich, not God forbid, risk or the opposite. So how do we do that? The פסוק pasuk continues. זה יתנו כל העובר על הפקודים מחצית השקל בשקל הקודש עשרים גרה השקל מחצית השקל תרומה להשם Ze yitnu, kol ha'over al ha'pkudim machatzis hashekel b'shekel hakodesh, esrim geira hashekel, machatzis hashekel truma laShem. Instead of counting one, two, three, four, instead of assigning a number, instead of walking around with a clipboard, instead, instead, every person gives a half shekel, we add up the half שקלים shekalim and we have our total, we know how many there are. Who qualifies? כל העובר על הפקודים מבן עשרים שנה ומעלה Kol ha'over al ha'pkudim m'ben esrim shana va'ma'ala. Those who are 20 and up. And there's a specific reason for that because we're not simply doing a census סתם stam. It was to be able to form an army, to be able to defend ourselves, to know how many we are, and so on. So it was those eligible to serve, which was 20 and up.I've been quoting this new Koren Rabbi Sacks חומש Humash. So many have reached out to say, where can I find it? And I myself sometimes spend some time online looking for the link to share with you. It's not out yet. This is one of the benefits of being a rabbi. I mean, you know, it makes you lose your hair and go gray prematurely, but you get free books in the mail. If that doesn't make it worth it and even it out, I don't know what does. But you get ספרים sefarim even before they're published. And Koren is coming out with this. You can only so far order in bulk for שולן shuls and ישיבות yeshivas, but you'll be able to come out with it soon and our local Koren store will have it, but it's not available yet. So I'm just wetting your appetite. So Rabbi Sacks, it's a collection of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, זכרונו לברכה zichrono livracha, on the פרשה parsha, organized in a beautiful חומש Humash with רש\"י Rashi, אונקלוס Onkelos, and his commentary on the bottom. And he says the following. The פרשה parsha begins with God's command to Moshe to take a census of the people, but it's phrased in a curious manner. Moshe is told not to count the people directly, but obliquely. Each is to give a half shekel, and only thus was their number to be calculated. The פסוק pasuk warns Moshe to do it in a way so that no plague strikes them when you count them. And Rabbi Sacks is noting what we mentioned. Why would I think that a plague would strike? You know, you're in Disney, you're counting up your kids, you're on the empty nester trip in Panama and somebody's taking the number on the bus, make sure everybody's here. Nobody says, wait, don't do that. There's going to be a plague. Wait, stop. Stop counting. In class, taking attendance. Wait, stop. There's going to be a plague. Why would one think you can have a plague because you're taking a census, because you're taking a count? Says Rabbi Sacks, evidently, it's dangerous to count Jews. Many centuries later, ignoring this warning, דוד המלך Dovid Hamelech, King David, took a census of the people and disaster struck the nation. שמואל ב׳, פרק כ״ד Shmuel Beis, perek chaf daled, chapter 24. To this day, we do not needlessly count Jews, even to calculate whether there's a מנין minyan in the שול shul. Our custom is to take a פסוק pasuk with 10 words, הושיעה את עמך וברך את נחלתך Hoshia es amecha uvarech es nachlasecha and use that instead. So even when we want to see, do we have a מנין minyan? Can we start? ברוך השם Baruch Hashem BRS, we keep adding more and more and more מנינים minyanim. We have our daily מנחה מעריב Mincha Ma'ariv, now our daily plug מנחה מעריב Mincha Ma'ariv, late מעריב Ma'ariv, as many שחריתs Shachrises. They're still davening. There's still going to be a couple more מנינים minyanim in the other room. Your half your day will be over. They'll still be davening שחרית Shachris in the other room. So they want to know, do we have a מנין minyan? So we don't say one, two, three, four. We say weird things, like not one, not two, not three. Weirdos. We're weirdos. Who counts like that? How weird. Or we count הושיעה את עמך וברך את Hoshia es amecha uvarech es, who remembers what you're up to? הושיעה את עמך Hoshia es amecha. The classic commentators on Shmuel give several answers. Rashi says counting is fraught with danger of עין הרע ayin hara, evil eye. That's why many people, if you say, how many children, כן עין הרע kain ein hara, do you have? How many great-grandchildren? How many great-great-grandchildren are you up to? Don't don't mention, don't talk about it. We don't say a number. עין הרע Ayin hara. We don't count, don't offer a number, עין הרע ayin hara. רבינו בחיי Rabbeinu Bachya suggests that when people are counted, they are numbered as individuals separated from the community and there's a danger that an individual's merit may be insufficient to save him from the adverse judgment. Don't give a number because if you're number four, you're number six, you're number two, now you're a number separate, independent, apart from the whole. And as an individual separate, apart from the whole, ooh, now Hashem says, bring me his file, bring me her record. Let me see how they're doing and what their worthiness is. So we say, me, no, I blend in. I'm just part of the whole community. I'm hiding behind the צדיק tzaddik. I'm hiding behind the צדקת tzadekes. I just blend in. I combine, I complement, I supplement with the great people around me. Don't look at me, measure me, count me as an individual. That's רבינו בחיי Rabbeinu Bachya. So we had Rashi, we had רבינו בחיי Rabbeinu Bachya. But Rabbi Sacks offers his own suggestion. Why do nations count their numbers? To estimate their strength, military, political, or economic. I was just seeing the news, they're going to try to pass a bill today to stop the government shutdown. Apparently, the president had to be making phone calls last night, the vice president is on the hill. Why? They want to make sure they have the numbers. They want to make sure they have the numbers. Because what are the numbers? Strength. Who's polling better? In the numbers. Who's going to get the vote? Who has the numbers? Behind the ancient practice of counting population is the assumption that their strength in numbers. The larger the people, the stronger it is. That is why it's dangerous to count Jews. If we ever came to believe that their strength was in numbers, we would God forbid give way to despair. For 4,000 years, the strength of the Jewish people has never lain in numbers. What an insight by Rabbi Sacks. If we would count with numbers and we'd realize how few we are and will always be, we would give up, we would despair. Imagine if little Israel would look at the 26, 27 Arab countries that surround her, who want to annihilate her, obliterate her, destroy her, and they would look at the numbers, the billions in the world and say, little us, several million, what chance do we have? What are our odds? If we would look and count by the numbers, we'd have given up long ago. For then, for then did it lie. To this the Torah gives an answer of great beauty. In effect, Hashem tells Moshe, do not count Jews, ask them to give, and then count the contributions. That's how you measure the strength of the Jewish people. In numbers, we're small, but in terms of our contribution, we are vast. In almost every age, Jews have given something special to the world. In one, in one era, it was תנ\"ך Tanach, the most influential document in the history of the world. In later centuries, Jews produced a never-ending stream of scholars, saints, poets, and philosophers. It is not that Jews are brighter, cleverer, more energetic, or talented than others. That's a racist doctrine and I reject it, writes Rabbi Sacks. Nor is it that Jews more than others are driven to succeed. That is at the heart of much anti-Semitic propaganda and it's false. The simple answer given in the Torah and engraved in Jewish sensibility is that to be a Jew is to be asked to give, to contribute, to make a difference, to help in the monumental task that has engaged Jews since the dawn of our history, to make the world a home for the divine presence, a place of justice, compassion, human dignity, and the sanctity of life. Through our action, though our ancestors cherished the relationship with Hashem, they never saw it as a privilege. Instead, they saw it as a responsibility. Hashem challenged them to give. In that familiar yet astonishing phrase, he invited them to be his partner, his שותף shutaf in מעשה בראשית maaseh bereishis, גמרא שבת ק\"י ט' Gemara Shabbos kuf yud tess. Hashem invited us, be my partner in creation itself. And we have answered that call. Hashem invites us and he says, be my partner in repairing and redeeming and molding and shaping this world. Be my partner in making a better place, be my partner in fighting for justice, compassion, human dignity, the sanctity of life, for קדושה kedusha, for holiness. Be my partner. And we have answered that call, and therefore, we're counted not by our number, because our strength is not in our number, we'll always remain a few. Where is our strength? In what does it lie? That we've answered that call, our contributions. So how do Jews do a census? We take a census in a very illogical, in a very inefficient way, which is give something and that's how you count. Imagine they knock on your door for the American census. The city of Boca Raton is coming upon its hundredth anniversary in May, I believe. It's amazing how young this entire city is. Imagine they knock on your door for a census and they say, we're doing a census, we're celebrating the 100th anniversary of Boca Raton. Please, if you would contribute, we'll be able to count you. You say, count me, I'm right here. I'm waving, take a picture, you can count me. Why do I have to give you something in order for you to count me in the census? I pay my taxes, I live here. I'm already counted. So in Judaism and יידישקייט Yiddishkeit, the Torah, Hashem says, no, no, you're not counted by passively being a number. How does one count? When you make a contribution. That's what counts. Not our number, we'll always be few. Our contribution, boy, do we punch above our weight. Boy, do we contribute and make a difference well beyond our number. And I don't have to get into the Nobel Prize winners and the leaders of movements and the fighters of justice and the difference we've made. This country, the Declaration of Independence, its very language is founded on Judeo values, justice, charity, equality. That's our contribution to the world. And that's what the Torah is communicating. So why? Why do we have, כי תשא את ראש בני ישראל ki sisa es rosh Bnei Yisrael, it's time for a census. Oh wait, there's going to be a plague. What's the plague? Rashi says, עין הרע ayin hara. If you give a count, a number, ooh, you're welcoming עין הרע ayin hara because you're gonna say, I've got 15 children. You're going to say, I've got 22 grandchildren and I'm only 50 years old. Somebody's going to say, ooh, why them, not me? And there's going to be an עין הרע ayin hara. That's Rashi. So we don't say a number. We don't say a number. רבינו בחיי Rabbeinu Bachya says, no, that's not the issue. The issue is we want to be part of a community. We want to rely on the merit of complementing one another. And when we separate ourselves out as an individual, as a number, now we are vulnerable. And Rabbi Sacks offers a third interpretation. It's not that. Says Rabbi Sacks, you know what the danger, the plague will bring upon ourselves? If we believe that it's a matter of the numbers, we'll always be few. We don't ever put it to a vote. Truth is never put to a vote, because if that were the case, the Jewish people would have been canceled long ago. It's not about the number. It's about the contribution, it's about answering the call. And that's why it's done with a מחצית machatzis, a מחצית השקל machatzis hashekel. Rav Sternbach has an interesting interpretation. Says Rashi on the מחצית השקל machatzis hashekel, says Rashi on the words מחצית השקל machatzis hashekel, הראה לו כמין מטבע של אש her'a lo k'min matbe'a shel eish. Moshe Rabbeinu looked and he said, half shekel, I don't get it, what does that look like? I don't know what you mean. Hashem said, give a kick, give a look. He showed him a coin, a half shekel, a half dollar on fire. A half dollar in the image of being on fire, כמין מטבע של אש k'min matbe'a shel eish. And Moshe said, oh, now I get it. Now we're good. Oh, makes sense. What didn't he understand and what made sense now? And we've offered interpretations in the past. We won't review at length, but such as that that money, money is a prime example of a resource, a commodity that can go either way. Money can, you contribute money, you can build, you can elevate, you can enrich, you can help, you could support. Money can do incredible things, but money can corrupt, and money can blind, and money can destroy. Where do we see a precedent before currency, commodity, money that something itself is neutral and it can either build or destroy, create or eliminate? Where do we see that? Fire. Fire is energy. Fire is warmth. Fire is light. And fire, ask the people in California, fire can destroy. Fire can destroy. Money is like fire. It is not inherently good or bad. It's all what we do with it, how we direct it, what boundaries we place around it, how careful and vigilant we are with it. And that's why כמין מטבע של אש k'min matbe'a shel eish. People are contributing money. We're now talking money. So Hashem says, you need to know that money is like playing with fire, fire. It can do incredible things, it can also be horrific things. Money is like fire. That's what we shared in the past, but of Sternbach in his, in his ספר טעם ודעת Sefer Ta'am V'Daas has a different interpretation. He says, משה she'niskashe Moshe, he's bothered. He says, Hashem, you got to give me more work to do? I don't like math, I don't like algebra. Now I've got to start doing math. Everyone's going to give a half shekel, that means that when I take the total number of contributions, I've got to half, it'd be much more efficient if everybody gave a full shekel. Everybody give a dollar, however many dollars is however many people. When everyone gives a half, now I've got to do math. So Hashem, why are you asking people to give a half instead of a whole? למה רק מחצית lama rak machatzis? We've answered this in the past too. And it's גוואלדיק g'valdik שבע ברכות sheva brachos, אויפרוף ufruf, under the חופה chuppah, it's all yours. Which is what? Everyone contributes. We are measured not by the number but what we contribute. But when we contribute, we need to know we're only making a partial contribution. None of us is complete on our own. We need to combine and we need to complement with others. And only when we combine, only when we integrate, only when we partner, only when we work with others are we whole. But if we think my contribution, I'm the hero, I got it done, I get the credit, it's all me, there is no whole when it comes to the contribution. It's a half. I've given my part, someone else gives their part, and it's only when we all give our part that we become a whole. That's why it's a half. But that's also not yet Rav Sternbach. That's also from the past. So what does Rav Sternbach say? Says Rav Sternbach, listen to this. הראה לו הקדוש ברוך הוא מטבע של אש Her'a lo Hakadosh Baruch Hu matbe'a shel eish. היינו אש של מטבע haynu eish shel matbe'a. שעיקר מצות הנתינה יחשוב ויס להבושה של אדם בעת נתינתו she'ikar mitzvas hanesina yechashov v'yis la'busha shel ha'adam b'eis nesinaso, שזה מורה על נדיבות ליבו she'zeh moreh al nedivos libo, ורצונו יוסר מריבוי הנתינה עצמה u'retzono yoser m'ribui hanesina atzma. ולכן מחצית השקל שמחצית שניר רוחם v'lachen machatzis hashekel she'machatzis sh'nir rucham. Why was it a half shekel? Because a half shekel is only half the מצוה mitzva. How is half shekel only half the מצוה mitzva? You have to give, they gave. Because half of it is to give, the other half is, how do you give? Do you give on fire? Do you give with a ברען brein? Do you give with excitement? Do you give with enthusiasm? Do you give with passion? Do you give with joy? Are you on fire? Or do you give because somebody pushed you and the peer pressure and they guilted you, and you're miserable and you're forbidden and you're resentful, and you'll carry it against and you'll always remind who you gave to. How you give is the other half of the מצוה mitzva. Half the מצוה mitzva, it's a מחצית השקל machatzis hashekel says Rav Sternbach. Half the מצוה mitzva, give. But the other half of the מצוה mitzva is how you give. And that's true for everything. That's true for everything. When you were asked to take out the garbage, you could take out the garbage, that's half of it. The other half of it, did you do it with a smile? Did you do it with joy? Did you do it with pleasure? Should you have thought of it on your own? Half the מצוה mitzva is you gave the birthday card. The other is, did you have to be reminded? Did you give with joy? Did you write something nice in it? Half the מצוה mitzva is you gave the משלוח מנות mishloach manos, you gave the organization, you gave the yeshiva, the school that your children went to, you gave to the שול shul that's building, that has transformed your family. You gave. Did you give with a joy, with a passion, with a fire? So it's a מחצית machatzis, says Rav Sternbach, half the מצוה mitzva is the giving. The other half, how you did it. And this is true for all מצוות mitzvos. For all מצוות mitzvos we do, half of it is getting it done, and the other half of it is how we do it. And that's why הראה לו מטבע של אש her'a lo matbe'a shel eish. He answered Moshe's question. Moshe wasn't puzzled how there could be such a thing as a half dollar. He wanted to know, why would you take a census with a half dollar? That's not sensible, that makes no sense. Hashem said, no, no, because I want you to know that half of the מצוה mitzva is giving, so it's a half a dollar, half a shekel. The other half is how you do it, and I want people to do it כמין מטבע של אש k'min matbe'a shel eish, do it on fire, do it with a ברען brein, do with excitement, do with joy, do with enthusiasm. I want you to know, in this campaign, almost 2,000 people gave. We raised almost $7 million. We're not done, there's more to do, ברוך השם Baruch Hashem, but we pause to say thank you, we're so grateful. One person came in to meet with me and said, I'd like to make my contribution. Many people, we had many, many, many, many, many meetings. But one person said, I need to come give it to you על פי כתבי האר\"י ז\"ל al pi Kisvei HaArizal. I had never heard this before. He came in and he had a coin, and he had the writings of the Arizal, the great Kabbalist, and he showed me in the writings of the Arizal that he took the coin that represents five, and he took it from his hand with his arm, which is heh, his arm is the vav, and my arm is a vav, and my heh, put it in my hand, and we elevated it, and he said, I'm not just giving. I want to give in a way that, ooh, י-ה-ו-ה Yud Kei Vav Kei, we spelled Hashem's name with our hands, and the way I gave and the way I elevated. I'd never been through anything like that before. Nobody ever gave me anything like that before. It was unbelievable. It was unbelievable. What a different way of giving. You could say, send me the link, rabbi. Give me the wire information. Can we Venmo? Can I drop off a brown paper bag of cash? How do we pay? Just let me, tell me, I want to be done with it, let me be finished with it. How do I do it? There's no credit card fee, what I need to do. He had a whole, it was a different experience. It was the other half the shekel. Half the shekel was, I want to give. The other half the shekel was, הנני מוכן ומזומן לשם יחוד קודשא בריך הוא ושכינתיה Heneni muchan u'mezuman l'sheim yichud kudsha brich hu u'shchintei, you know, let's get ready. We're about to do a מצוה mitzva. I want to give to you that I'm giving to you with my heart. I'm giving to you, I'm on fire. I'm giving it to you with all myself. That's what Rav Sternbach says. Half shekel, don't just do the take out the garbage, change the diaper, buy the birthday card, do the dish. That's half of it. Shake the lulav, hear the shofar, buy the matzah, that's half of it. The other half of it is, how do you do it already? If you're going to do it, what attitude, what פנימיות pnimiyus, what in our essence do we bring to what we are doing? Lastly, on this opening פסוק pasuk, then I promise you we will move on. The להב אש L'hav Eish, Rav Druck, Rav Druck says the following, מחצית השקל בשקל הקודש machatzis hashekel b'shekel hakodesh. The Torah calls the half shekel, a half shekel, take a half shekel of the sacred shekel. A half shekel of the sacred shekel. What does that mean? מחצית השקל machatzis hashekel of, בשקל הקודש b'shekel hakodesh. Says Rashi, במשקל השקל שקצבתי לכם לשקול בו שקלי הקודש כיון שכלם אמורים בפרשת זה אחוז b'mishkal hashekel she'katzavti lachem lishkol bo, shklei hakodesh, k'gon she'kolim hamurim b'parshas ze'ech nu, u'shte'achusa. What does it mean מחצית השקל machatzis hashekel? So Rashi says, half of the shekel, the same shekel that we talk about in other contexts where we are talking about the holy shekel. יתכן לפרש עוד ענין זה בדרך רמז yitachen l'faresh od inyan zeh b'derech remez. He says, let me give you another interpretation, half shekel. כל שקל יהפך להיות שקל הקודש, לא רק המחצית שנתן לנסקצ' בקידוש הקודש, אלא גם המחצית השנייה שנשאר בידו, היא ראויה להיקרא מעט החלק משקל הקודש Kol shekel yehafech l'hiyos shekel hakodesh, lo rak hamachatzis she'nasan l'niskatze b'kedushas kodesh, ela gam hamachatzis hashniya she'nish'ar b'yado, hi re'uya l'hikare me'at hachelek m'shekel hakodesh. If you give half a shekel, what does that imply that you still have? The other half the shekel. So when you give a half shekel, you made the whole shekel a שקל הקודש shekel hakodesh. How? Because when you take part of your resources and you demonstrate that you understand the purpose, you understand the meaning of having resources, you've elevated not only what you gave, but you've elevated also what you keep. So it's a מחצית השקל machatzis hashekel, בשקל הקודש b'shekel hakodesh. It reflects back on the other half, on the total, on the whole, on the whole shekel. היינו כי בשעה שנתן קדוש ברוך הוא מחצית השקל הזה, אף מחצית השני שנשאר אצלו נס בקידושה Haynu ki b'sha'ah shenasan Kadosh Baruch Hu machatzis hashekel hazeh, af hamachatzis hashaini she'nish'ar etzlo, nes b'kedusha. שהרי מראה בזה כי כל השימושים שמשתמש בכסף שיש לו לצורכי קודש she'harei mar'eh b'zeh ki kol ha'shimushim she'mishtamesh b'kesef she'yesh lo, l'tzorchei kodesh. Because I have all shekel, Hashem says give me half. I gave him half, but the half I now spend on my house and my car, my electricity, my vacation, my Shabbos table, my Yom Tov, my books, my clothing, all of that's also to serve you, Hashem. I need a home to host people. I need a car to take me to the חומש Humash shiur, to the פרשה parsha shiur. I need resources. I want to get dressed to be a בן תורה ben Torah, בת תורה bas Torah, I want to make a קידוש השם kiddush Hashem in all that I do. So there's the half shekel I give you, but the half I hold on to, I've demonstrated through the half I gave you that the half I hold on to, I'm also living a life that is כולו kulo directed to you. And therefore it's a מחצית השקל machatzis hashekel, ב b', שקל הקודש shekel hakodesh. It reflects back on the other half, on the total, on the whole, on the whole shekel. And then he has another interpretation, but I told you and I promised you we would move on. פרק ל׳ א׳ Perek Lamed Aleph, פסוק pasuk, פסוק י״ח pasuk yud ches. We're skipping the rest of פרק ל perek lamed. We have the כיור kiyyor. Now this is also out of place. We're skipping all of this because I'm told I never get to the end of the פרשה parsha, so I'm trying, I'm working, I'm a work in progress. Right, Ma? I'm a work in progress. I'm a work in progress. So, I'm trying, we're going to get to the end of the פרשה parsha. But we have here the כיור kiyyor. The כיור kiyyor is the laver, it's the, it's the sink, the portable sink where the כהנים kohanim would sanctify their hands and feet before they'd go serve. Where would you expect this to appear? כי תשא Ki Sisa? What's it doing here? Where did it belong? This big copper water vessel, utensil, the כהנים kohanim would wash their hands and feet to prepare for their service, it was in the משכן Mishkan. So where did we learn about all the vessels of the משכן Mishkan? Back in פרשת תרומה Parshas Truma. Then we stuck one in at the end of פרשת תצוה Parshas Tetzaveh, the מזבח הקטורת mizbeach hak'tores, and yet now we have one more here. Why is it here? Why wasn't it there? We discussed that in the past. What was it made out of? The bottom of it? Mirrors. And why was it made out of mirrors? Where were these mirrors from? Moshe Rabbeinu said to Hashem, I don't want no mirrors in our משכן Mishkan. Mirrors are instruments, they're tools of vanity. This is not a place of vanity. You're going to come into the משכן Mishkan and you're going to come into the משכן Mishkan and everybody's going to start to vanity? How do I look? Do I look okay? That's not what the משכן Mishkan is. This is the holiest place on earth, a place of intense divine dwelling. You're gonna have vanity? Hashem says, no, that's not vanity. The holy women who beautified themselves, who preserved the continuity of our people when the men were willing to despair and give up, those are the mirrors. Rav Soloveitchik had a different interpretation. You know why the mirrors? Before you go to the מזבח mizbeach and offer a sacrifice, before you ask Hashem for forgiveness, you know what you need to do? You need to look in the mirror. If you don't look in the mirror and take responsibility and accountability for who you are, you can't ask for forgiveness. Real forgiveness requires first looking in a mirror, but I said we're not talking about this now. Next we have the קטורת k'tores. קח לך בשמים ראש מר דרור Kach l'cha b'samim, rosh, mar d'ror. Always the week of Purim, we read כי תשא Ki Sisa, מר דרור mar d'ror, מרדכי Mordechai. מרדכי Mardachi, מרדכי Mordechai, מר דרור mar d'ror, is an allusion, the גמרא Gemara in Megillah tells us where do we see Mordechai in the Torah? מר דרור mar d'ror. We have the ingredients of, we spoke about last week, the קטורת k'tores had the חלבנה chelbona, this terrible odor of the, but it was part of the mixture because all the Jewish people, a שול shul has to be a place where everybody, everybody belongs, where everybody belongs. And we have the incense, the קטורת k'tores, takes us to פרק ל׳ א׳ perek lamed aleph. פרק ל׳ א׳ perek lamed aleph, Hashem speaks to Moshe, I have called בצלאל בן אורי בן חור למטה יהודה Butzalel ben Uri ben Chur l'matei Yehuda, אמלא אותו רוח אלוקים בחכמה ובתבונה ובדעת amalei oso ruach Elokim, b'chochma, b'tvuna, u'v'daas. I have filled him with the spirit of God, בחכמה ובתבונה ובדעת b'chochma, b'tvuna, u'v'daas. What is that acronym? חכמה בינה ודעת Chochma, bina, v'daas, is the acronym for Lubavitch? No, it's the acronym for חב\"ד Chabad. חכמה בינה ודעת Chochma, bina, v'daas. The Alter Rebbe, we're starting tomorrow. We have completed several series. I realized I should really share them with you as series because we learned together the entire שערים בתפילה Sha'arim B'Tefillah of ר' פנחס Rav Pinchas. We learned together the entire מסילת ישרים Mesilas Yesharim of רמח\"ל Ramchal. We learned together the entire אגרת הרמב\"ן Igeres HaRamban, we finished it last week, and tomorrow we are beginning, drumroll please, I say with great humility and fear, but tomorrow we're beginning תניא Tanya, ספר תניא Sefer Tanya. So the Alter Rebbe, תניא Tanya is all based on this פסוק pasuk. חכמה בינה דעת Chochma, bina, daas, חב\"ד Chabad, that is the basis of תניא Tanya. So Hashem says, I have filled בצלאל Betzalel, these are the necessary ingredients, requirements. This is the job interview, the resume. You have to have חכמה בינה ודעת chochma, bina, v'daas. What is the difference? Three types of wisdom, knowledge, intellect. What's the difference between חכמה בינה ודעת chochma, bina, v'daas? Let's see how the Artscroll translates it. God says, I filled them with wisdom, insight, and knowledge. So let me ask you a simple question. What's the difference between wisdom, insight, and knowledge? Translation, I don't know, helped us here. So that you'll have to start listening or coming to the תניא Tanya שיעור shiur together. So בצלאל Betzalel is endowed with these great qualities. Therefore, he was most qualified to serve in this role, says Hashem. But let's keep going. Then we interrupt for the שבת Shabbos. דבר אל בני ישראל, אך את שבתותי תשמרו Daber el Bnei Yisrael, ach es Shabsoisai tishmoru, observe my holy שבת Shabbos. Why does Hashem stick in שבת Shabbos here? You might think that building the משכן Mishkan is so important that you might even, it might supersede. You should violate שבת Shabbos to build a house for me. Says Hashem, no, take a break, take a rest. שבת Shabbos is so core. More than the Jews have kept שבת Shabbos, שבת Shabbos has kept the Jews. So even, even versus the building of the משכן Mishkan, observe שבת Shabbos. The word שבתותי Shabsoisai, is that singular or plural? Plural. It should say שבתותי Shabosai, observe my שבתות Shabbasos, but it doesn't. It says observe my שבתותי Shabsoisai. Why is it in the plural שבתותי Shabsoisai, not שבתותי Shabosai? Why is it in the plural? We've talked about that in the past as well. So here we have שבת Shabbos, but let's keep going to פסוק י״ח pasuk yud ches. We're on page 492, 492. ויתן אל משה ככלתו לדבר אתו בהר סיני שני לוחות העדות Vayiten el Moshe k'chaloso l'daber ito b'Har Sinai, shnei luchos ha'eidus. When Hashem finished speaking to him on Mount Sinai, Hashem gave Moshe the two tablets of testimony, לוחות אבן כתובים באצבע אלוקים luchos even ksuvim b'etzba Elokim. These were the two tablets, stone tablets inscribed by the finger of Hashem. So these פרשיות parshiyos are written, according to Rashi, out of order. אין מוקדם ומאוחר בתורה Ein mukdam u'me'uchar baTorah. These פרשיות parshiyos are not written in order. I don't understand. Are we up to the משכן Mishkan? Are we still at הר סיני Har Sinai? חטא העגל Cheis ha'Eigel, the mistake, the sin of the golden calf? What order did it all happen in? So really, first Moshe went on the mountain, he got the Torah, he came down, he saw them, the golden calf, he broke the לוחות luchos, and the answer, the antidote, the response to it was, Hashem said, here's a משכן Mishkan. We read the משכן Mishkan before the חטא העגל Cheis ha'Eigel. Why that is, we could discuss another time. But we need to know, we're acknowledging that it seems to be out of order. So we're back to Moshe being on top of the mountain and getting the two tablets. And here the Torah tells us, when Hashem finished speaking to him, he gave Moshe the two tablets that are called the tablets of testimony. stone tablets, these miraculous tablets inscribed with the hand of Hashem. Listen to this Midrash. Says the מדרש רבה Midrash Rabbah, אמר רב אבהו Amar Rav Avahu, כל ארבעים יום שעשה משה למעלה kol arba'im yom she'asah Moshe lemala, היה לומד תורה hayah lomed Torah, ושוכח v'shocheach. All forty days that Moshe was on top of the mountain, he would learn Torah with Hashem and forget. Forget. Maybe you suffer from this. I already learned the דף daf this morning. We have a beautiful כולל בוקר Kollel Boker, 6:15 this morning. My wonderful חברותא chavrusa, we learned the דף daf. What מסכתא masechta, what דף daf, what פרק perek, what topic? If you learn the דף daf, you're flying. You're flying down the highway of life. You gotta חזרה chazarah, you gotta review, but even with it. We learn so much. I like to say, if I would only know what I've taught, I'd be somebody. But people tell me all the time, my dear friend Ben, from the 11559. He quotes my own דברי תורה divrei Torah to me all the time. I said that's fantastic, that's beautiful. He said, yeah, you said it. I said, I did? I don't remember that. I don't remember that. So you could have despair. What's the point? Why wake up in the middle of the night to learn the דף יומי Daf Yomi and be at the כולל בוקר Kollel Boker? Why come to the פרשה שיעור parsha shiur when by the time שבת Shabbos comes, you don't even remember what was said. What's the point? So the מדרש Midrash tells us, you know who suffered from this? None other than משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu. For forty days he went on the mountain, he'd learn, and he'd say, what דף daf is it? What was the topic? אמר ליה רבונו של עולם Amar lei Ribono shel Olam, יש לי מ' יום ואיני יודע דבר yeish li mem yom, v'eini yodea davar. Hashem I got forty days under my belt and I don't know nothing, I don't remember anything. מה עשה הקדוש ברוך הוא Ma asah Hakadosh Baruch Hu? What did Hashem do? משהשלים מ' יום M'shehishlim mem yom, נתן לו במתנה nasan lo b'matana, שנאמר ויתן אל משה sh'ne'emar vayiten el Moshe. At the end of the forty days, Hashem gave it to Moshe as a gift. He sent him home and he said here's a thumb drive, plug it in, download it, you've got it all. ויתן אל משה Vayiten el Moshe. That's why this פסוק pasuk that we just read, chapter thirty one, verse eighteen, ויתן אל משה vayiten el Moshe, ככלתו לדבר אתו k'chaloso l'daber ito. When he finished speaking to him, ויתן vayiten, he gave Moshe. Why he gave? Because even when we despair and we think I forget what's the point, Hashem gives us a gift. צריך להבין Tzarich l'havin, asks רב צבי אפשטיין Rav Zaidle Epstein the משגיח mashgiach of תורה אור Torah Or, in his ספר הערות sefer Ha'aros. למה נצרכה הנהגה כזו שמשה רבינו הצטער ארבעים יום והרגיש שאינו יודע כלום Lama nitzracha hahanhaga k'zu sheMoshe Rabbeinu itztar arba'im yom v'hergish she'eino yodea klum, וכל עמלו לריק v'chol amalo l'reik. If Hashem was going to give it to him on a thumb drive, if Hashem was going to plug in a ניצוץ של חכמה netzotz shel chachma, if Hashem was going to allow Moshe as a gift to know it all, why waste forty days? On day one, gift him the whole thing. Send him home. Why forty days of learning forgetting, learning forgetting, learning forgetting, learning remembering? Just stop. Give it to him on day one. Says רב צבי אפשטיין Rav Zaidle Epstein, דוקא אצל משה רבינו davka eitzel Moshe Rabbeinu, מוסר התורה moser haTorah, באה התורה להשמיענו ba haTorah l'hashmieinu, שיתכן להיות סתם אדם חשוב ביותר sheyitachein l'hiyot stam adam chashuv b'yoser שלומד תורה shelomeid Torah, מפי הרב הגדול ביותר m'pi haRav haGadol b'yoser. You could be the greatest rabbi of all time who's learning תורה Torah from the greatest רבי Rebbe of all time. Who's Moshe's רבי Rebbe? Hashem. He's got the greatest רבי Rebbe of all time, the source of all תורה Torah, the author of the תורה Torah. Greatest רבי Rebbe of all Torah, all time, and Moshe's the greatest mind of all time, learning with the greatest vigilance and diligence of all time, בהתמדה ועקשנות ארבעים יום ולילה b'hasmada v'akshanus arba'im yom v'layla. Greatest רבי Rebbe, greatest diligence, greatest mind, ועדיין לא הצליח v'adayin lo hitzliach and he wasn't successful. He forgot. ויחד עם זה לא לייאש V'yachad im zeh lo l'ye'eish, but don't despair. Don't give up. אלא להבין שעליו לחזור שוב ושוב Elah l'havin she'alav l'achzor shuv v'shuv, over and over. You got to חזרה chazarah, you got to try. You have the next day's דף daf, you have the next פרשה שיעור parsha shiur, you have the next year that you're going to read the same פרשה parsha. כי זו הדרך להצליח בתורה Ki zu ha'derech l'hatzliach b'Torah. That's the way to succeed in תורה Torah. What Moshe was doing, what Moshe planted in us is a precedent, never despair when it comes to תורה Torah learning. Forty days in a row, he learned, forgot, learned, forgot, learned, forgot, learned again. And then he had his breakthrough. And we too, learn, keep plugging away, keep sticking with it, keep breaking your teeth, keep coming back, keep reviewing. חזרה, חזרה Chazarah, chazarah, נאך אמאל חזרה noch amol chazarah. Review it and review it, do it again, do it again, and over again, and again, and over again. אינו דומה Eino domeh, you can't compare learning 101 times with learning 100 times, over and over and over and over again. And don't despair. And that's why Moshe had to go through this to teach us that message, that lesson, don't despair. פרק ל\"ב פסוק ו Perek Lamed-Beis pasuk vav. Chapter 32 verse 6. People saw Moshe, now we enter the story. Ooh, חטא העגל cheit ha'egel. Breaks our heart every year to read it even when we know the story. They saw Moshe was delaying, Moshe wasn't coming from the, down from the mountain. So they gathered and they said we've got to make ourselves a God. כי זה משה האיש אשר העלנו מארץ מצרים לא ידענו מה היה לו Ki zeh Moshe ha'ish asher he'elanu mei'eretz Mitzrayim, lo yadanu meh hayah lo, because this man, Moshe, who took us out of Egypt, we don't know what happened to him. Nobody's seen him. He's not back on schedule. He's running late. We've got to do something. And so they panic. They panic. We share every year the כוזרי's Kuzari's insight, which is what makes the most sense to me, gives me the most meaning in this section, is that they were not in fact practicing idolatry, worshipping another God, but rather, what made them panic? Moshe was the tangible, physical connection to Hashem. After all, we're human beings. Our soul is housed in a body. And we operate, and we live, and we navigate a physical world. So we connect to physical things. We connect to physical things. And they craved a physical connection, and Moshe was that. כי זה משה האיש Ki zeh Moshe ha'ish. Moshe the man, the physical man. We used to see him and hear him and touch him and he used to give us a hug and a handshake and he was there and we knew he represented Hashem. But he's gone. So now you want me to still have the connection with someone, something I can't see, hear, smell, touch, feel? How? So we need to build something else physical. And that's what drove them and motivated them. And that was, in fact, says the כוזרי Kuzari, that was understandable. But Hashem says you can't do it on your terms, you got to do it on mine. So what does he give us? A משכן Mishkan. Oh, you need some place physical, you need something physical? Here's a ספר תורה Sefer Torah for you to hold. Here's a שול shul for you to go into. Here's a משכן Mishkan, here's a בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash, here are קרבנות karbonos to offer. I get it. It's legitimate. I validate. It's reasonable you need something tangible and physical, but you can't make it up. You don't get just to decide. It's not a function of your creativity, religion. I'm God. And I tell you what to do. And that's what's going on in this, that's what's going on in this passage. So פרק ל\"ב פסוק ו' Perek Lamed-Beis pasuk vav. What happens? וישכימו ממחרת V'yashkimu mimacharas. So what happens in the story? Aaron says, wait, don't serve idols. Everybody, remove your rings, take off the gold in the ears of your wives, sons, and daughters, bring them to me. They bring him, he takes their hands, he fashions a calf. He saw he built an, what's he doing all this for? He's trying to buy time. He's trying to buy time. He knows Hashem has a plan. He knows Moshe is coming back. He just needs to buy some time. He sees the altar and he calls out to them, a festival for Hashem tomorrow. He's buying time. Tomorrow. Tomorrow, for today we built it. Go to sleep everybody, we'll pick it up tomorrow. And by tomorrow Moshe'll come back. He's buying some time. פסוק ו Pasuk vav. וישכימו ממחרת ויעלו עולות ויגישו שלמים V'yashkimu mimacharas v'ya'alu olos, v'yagishu shlamim. They rose early the next day and they offered up the elevation offerings. וישב העם לאכל ושתו ויקומו לצחק Vayeshev ha'am l'echol v'shaso v'yakumu l'tzachek. And they brought peace offerings. The people sat to eat and drink and they got up to revel. You know it never occurred to me but it just did. Why do we stay up all night שבועות Shavuos night? The מנהג minhag to stay up all night שבועות Shavuos night, which is a מנהג minhag that only began relatively recently, happened to have begun concurrent to the discovery of coffee, but that's another topic for another time. I'm not joking. Happens to be there's an article in an academic journal about the discovery of coffee and the mass production and distribution of coffee and its impact on us religiously, תיקון ליל הושענא רבה Tikkun Leil Hoshana Rabba, תיקון ליל שבועות Tikkun Leil Shavuos, happened to be gaining in popularity around the time that the beginning of when coffee spread. But why do we stay up all night שבועות Shavuos night? Because we have a famous מדרש Midrash that tells us the Jewish people overslept. The morning of הר סיני Har Sinai, they slept in. The alarm went off over and over, they kept hitting snooze, and they overslept. When I was a child, there was a book my father used to read us called שפעטער Shpeter. שפעטער Shpeter means later. And שפעטער Shpeter was all about this guy whose name was שפעטער Shpeter. Every time, take out the garbage, שפעטער shpeter. Do your homework, שפעטער shpeter. Later, I'll get to it, later, later, later. We still have that book. I should read it to our kids. שפעטער Shpeter, later. So they woke him up for מתן תורה Matan Torah, later, שפעטער shpeter, hit the snooze button. And it just occurred to me, now it comes to the חטא העגל cheit ha'egel. So when it came to הר סיני Har Sinai, Hashem has a message, Hashem wants to talk to you. Later, I'm going back to sleep, שפעטער shpeter. And it came to worshipping the golden calf, וישכימו v'yashkimu! They woke up early. They woke up early. They woke up early before the alarm clock went off, they were up early. They woke up early, they were dressed, they were ready, they ran. Asks רב שמואל בירנבוים Rav Shmuel Berenbaum on the תפארת שמואל Tiferes Shmuel, למה לא צוה הקב\"ה למשה רד באותו היום שעשו העגל lama lo tziva Hakadosh Baruch Hu l'Moshe reid b'oso hayom she'asu ha'egel? רק המתין לו עד למחרת שירד Rak kimtin lo ad l'macharas sheyered. Why? What's going on over here? What's פסוק ז pasuk zayin? They wake up early to go serve. And then פסוק ז pasuk zayin, וידבר ה' אל משה Vayidaber Hashem el Moshe, לך רד כי שחת עמך אשר העלית מארץ מצרים lech reid ki shicheis amcha asher he'elisa mei'eretz Mitzrayim. Quick, go down. You've got to see what's going on down there. The people, they made a calf, they built an offer, altar, they're about to offer on it. Quick, go down and get involved. Why did Hashem say quick, go down when they were building the עגל egel? Why did he only say quick and go down and get involved when they're ready to offer on it? Why is it only the next morning when they wake up early, that's when Hashem says, quick, get down there, get involved? Why not when they first set out to build this עגל egel? Why not then? Says רב שמואל בירנבוים Rav Shmuel Berenbaum, ויש לומר V'yeish lomar, כי עצם מעשה העגל ki etzem maaseh ha'egel, כיוון שעשו אותו בחשבון טוב keivan she'asu osei b'cheshbon tov, כדי שלא יהיו בלא רואה k'dei she'lo yihyu b'li ro'eh, אפשר שבאמת לא התכוונו לעבור על רצון ה' לעבוד עבודה זרה efshar she'b'emes lo hitkavnu l'avor al ratzon Hashem l'avdei avodah zarah. They had actually a noble intent. When they first built it, it was why? A means to connect to Hashem. וראיה לזה היתה V'raayah l'zeh haisa, אם ביום שלמחרת היו מיד עושים תשובה על עשיית העגל im b'yom shel macharas hayu yomiad osim teshuva al asiyas ha'egel, היו מתפללים ומבקשים מחילה hayu mispalelim u'mvakshim mechila, כמו בתפילת נעילה k'mo b'tiflas Neilah. And what would be the evidence, what would prove that they had a proper intent when they built it, they were just misguided, misdirected? What would prove that? If they went to sleep that night, they woke up the next morning and they said, whoa, what did we do? That was a mistake. That was some poor judgment. That wasn't very clear thinking. Ooh, quickly, demolish it, take it apart. We've got to do תשובה teshuva. אבל ביום שלמחרת Aval b'yom she'la'macharas, וישכימו v'yashkimu, ויקומו לצחק v'yakumu l'tzachek. Says רש\"י Rashi, that word, they woke up לצחק l'tzachek. What they went to a comedy show? לצחק L'tzachek means to laugh. They tickled each other? What is לצחק l'tzachek? They woke up early, not שפעטער shpeter, not later. They woke up early, why? לצחק L'tzachek. What's meant לצחק l'tzachek? זאגט רש\"י Zogt Rashi, כמו בג' עבירות חמורות k'mo b'gimel aveiros chamuros. They woke up to violate the three cardinal sins. מזה הוכיח שעיקר כוונתם בעשיית העגל היה לעבודה זרה Mi'zeh hochich she'ikar kavanasam b'asiyas ha'egel hayah l'avodah zarah. So now, what they did the next morning after they had the benefit of a night sleep reflects back, that in fact they did not do it for noble reasons. They didn't wake up literally and wake up figuratively to the fact that they had made a terrible error. לפיכך המתין הקב\"ה עד למחרת L'fichach himtin Hakadosh Baruch Hu ad l'macharas, לראות מה יהיה מעשיהם liros ma yihyeh ma'aseihem. People make mistakes, we're human, we fail. But what happens when we wake up? What happens the next day? Do we say I can't believe the way I spoke to you last night. Can't believe the way I reacted. I'm embarrassed by my actions, by my decision, by my choice. How can I repair it? How can I undo it? How can I make it better? Or do we double down? Do we make it worse? Do we stick with it with pride? Do we dig in our heels? And that's what Hashem waited. וישכימו V'yashkimu, let's see how they wake up tomorrow. Yes, it could be they built it because they panicked. Moshe's not back and they need a way to connect to me. Maybe they were doing it for noble reasons, but they'll realize it was misguided. Maybe they'll wake up and realize the error of their way and seek to correct it. Or, they'll wake up and double down. They'll wake up and make it worse, spiral worse, and then I'll know that even the way they first did it was a mistake. Let's see how they wake up tomorrow. So he doesn't tell Moshe get down there until ממחרת mimacharas, until the next day. And when ויקומו לצחק v'yakumu l'tzachek, when he sees the way that they woke up, he sees the way they woke up, it says everything. He pours in, רב שמואל בירנבוים Rav Shmuel Berenbaum, he says, להבדיל L'havdil, באירופה b'Yropa, he came from Europe, in Europe, ביום ראשון b'yom rishon, on Sundays, היו הגויים הולכים לבית תפלה שלהם hayu ha'goyim holchim l'beis tiflo shelahem. Idolaters, he's talking about, would go to their church. And they would pray to their idol. We hold that these other religions are forms of idolatry. And how would they leave? Holier? More noble? More righteous? What was the מנהג minhag in Europe when you came out of church, particularly midnight mass? Why is there something called ניטל נאכט Nittel Nacht that a Jew doesn't go out on the night of December 25th, the eve before December 25th? Could be there's mystical reasons, על פי קבלה al pi kabbalah, negative energies in the air. The simple historic reason was, it was dangerous. A Jew wasn't outside on the eve of the mass that happened that night because the מנהג minhag was to leave church, get drunk, kill Jews, a pogrom. So says רב שמואל בירנבוים Rav Shmuel Berenbaum, you see how you behave after a so-called religious experience tells you how righteous that religious experience is. If the religious experience could lead you to do that, that was no religious experience. ויהי למחרת V'hayah l'macharas. Let's see what comes afterwards, and we'll know everything about it, everything about it. We'll know what comes with it. Then he says, the ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva said, sometimes young people they get together for a פארברענגען farbrengen, for a קומזיץ kumzits, they get together for an עונג oneg. So if getting together leads you to then have a חברותא chavrusa, leads you to be a better person, you come home more kind, more charitable, more patient, it was wonderful. If it makes you drunk and fall asleep and miss שבת Shabbos lunch with your family, that was not such a righteous, holy activity. So what happens next reveals how authentic and how righteous the first thing was. And that's why ויהי למחרת v'hayah l'macharas. Let's see what happens tomorrow says Hashem. He doesn't send Moshe down when they build the עגל egel. He sends them down the next day when they double down, when they spiral down, when they go the wrong direction. If you go home from a קומזיץ kumzits, a פארברענגען farbrengen, a טיש tish, an עונג oneg, and yeah, you had a few לחיים l'chaims and you sang and you connected with other people and you were a better spouse and you're a better parent, and you want to go and learn תורה Torah, then it was a wonderful experience. But if you go home in a drunken stupor and you have no time and no patience, you fall asleep, your family didn't even get you for שבת Shabbos lunch, then it wasn't such a righteous, holy activity. למחרת L'macharas, what comes next says everything about what was. פרק ל\"ב פסוק ח Perek Lamed-Beis, pasuk ches. Two פסוקים psukim later. So Hashem tells Moshe, quickly get down from the mountain. סרו מהר מן הדרך אשר ציויתים Saru maher min ha'derech asher tzivisim. They have strayed quickly from the way that I've commanded. עשו להם עגל מסכה Asu lahem egel masecha, they've made a calf. וישתחוו לו Vayishtachavu lo, they're bowing down. ויזבחו לו Vayizb'chu lo, and they're sacrificing to it. ויאמרו אלה אלהיך ישראל Vayomru, eileh elohecha Yisrael. And they're saying, this is the God of Israel אשר העלוך מארץ מצרים asher he'elucha mei'eretz Mitzrayim. Quickly, says Hashem, Moshe get down there. They built it, they're worshipping it, and they're giving it credit for taking them out. Quickly get down there. סרו מהר מן הדרך Saru maher min ha'derech. They have deviated quickly from the דרך derech, the path. תלמיד אחד Talmid echad, so the תפארת שמואל Tiferes Shmuel, רב שמואל בירנבוים Rav Shmuel Berenbaum quotes, that a תלמיד talmid asked רב ירוחם Rav Yeruchem, דמאחר שכלל ישראל ראו גילוי השכינה De'me'achareh she'Klal Yisrael ra'u gilui ha'Shechina, גילוי החכמה גדול בעולם gilui ha'chachma gadol ba'olam, ושמעו v'sham'u, explicit, אנכי ה' אלקיך Anochi Hashem Elokecha, לא יהיה לך אלהים אחרים lo yihyeh lecha elohim acherim. היתכן שאחר שזכו כלל ישראל למדרגה גדולה שנגלה השכינה Ha'yitachein she'achareh shezachu Klal Yisrael l'madregah gedolah she'nigla ha'Shechina, עדיין הד יצא הר סיני adayin heid yotzei Har Sinai. היתכן שנפלו לחטא העגל Ha'yitachein she'naflu lachto b'cheit ha'egel? The classic question everybody asks, could it be? Could it be the Jewish people who are present for the greatest revelation in history? They heard מפי הגבורה m'pi ha'Gevurah. They heard God himself. And they quickly stray and worship an idol? How could it be? How could it be? כדי איסא בגיטין K'de'isah b'Gittin, ללוה וכלה שזינתה בתוך חופתה le'lavah v'kallah shezintsa b'toch chupasah. Gemara in Gittin likens it to the chasan and kallah, the bride and groom on their wedding night come from the wedding, go to the hotel and the groom says, let me just go get some ice from the ice machine, and he ends up in someone else's room. That's not me, that's the Gemara in Gittin. Hashem just stood at Har Sinai with the Jewish people. He held the mountain like a chuppah over our head. He said, I love you, you love me. We're entering a covenant, a bond, forever, forever. And then we said, not forever, 'til we build a golden calf. How could it be? זינתה בתוך חופתה Zintsa b'toch chupasah. בעוד שכינה בישראל בסיני עשו את העגל B'od shchina b'Yisrael b'Sinai asu es ha'egel. While the Jewish people were still at Sinai, we were building an egel. How could it be? So Rav Yeruchem began to cry, ואמר שזהו כוח הבחירה v'amar shezehu koach ha'bechira for a mensch. This is the power of free will of a person. שאפילו נתגדל כל כך ובמדרגה גדולה בעבודת השם She'afilu n'isgadel kol kach uv'madreigah gedolah b'avodas Hashem, הוא תמיד צריך לעבוד ולשמור על עצמו שלא ליפול ממדרגתו hu tamid tzarich l'avod v'lishmor al atzmo she'lo l'pol m'madregaso. A Jew needs to know, no matter how inspired you get, no matter how much you've grown, no matter how much you've climbed, no matter how transformed you are, you're never, ever done. You're never, ever finished. The moment you feel I'm good, I'm good. I went to my Israel year. I'm good. I went to the parsha shiur. I'm good, I had a fantastic mussar shmuess. And now I'm good. I don't need to grow, I don't need to learn, I don't need to go anymore. I'm good. The moment you think you're good, you're finished, you're done. The Mishnah in Pirkei Avos says, אל תאמן בעצמך עד יום מותך al ta'amin b'atzmecha ad yom moscha. Don't believe in yourself until your day of your death. Don't trust yourself. Don't believe in yourself. This is the whole recovery community. Once you're an alcoholic, you're always an alcoholic. You can't say, well, I went to AA, I was an inpatient therapy, I had my sponsor, I did my thing, and now I could have a drink. I'm no longer an alcoholic. These are issues, they get managed, they're never conquered. Whatever yetzer hara we have, because all of us could or should be in some form of a recovery. Some people are workaholics, some people are shopaholics. Some people are addicted to exercise in extreme ways that are unhealthy. Everybody has what they're a little too much. And the moment we think I've conquered it, is when we're vulnerable to fall prey to it. The challenges we have in life are managed, they're never solved or conquered. They're managed. So long as we recognize with humility we're managing them, we're going to be good. The moment we feel we've conquered them, we're finished. And that, says Rav Yeruchem, is the lesson of cheit ha'egel. We could walk away from Har Sinai. You could come away from the Neilah on Yom Kippur, the greatest mussar shmuess, the greatest drasha, the greatest moment of a chavrusa, the greatest shiur, and realize we are vulnerable and fragile. סרו מהר מן הדרך Saru maher min ha'derech. That's why the Torah is telling us, says Rav Shmuel Berenbaum, that's why Moshe says, they've fallen quickly. התורה מדגישה עניין זה דוקא בעודם אצל הר סיני HaTorah madgisha inyan zeh davka b'odam eitzel Har Sinai. Even while they were still at Har Sinai, סרו מהר saru maher, they fell quickly. אף על פי כן יכול לבוא לידי חטא העגל רחמנא ליצלן Af al pi chein yeicholim l'avo l'yidei cheit ha'egel rachmana litzlan. We can fall quickly. Therefore never give up your guard, you got to stay on top of it. And what did Moshe find when he came down? What did he find? Oh. פרק ל\"ב פסוק י\"ט Perek Lamed-Beis, pasuk yud-tes. Verse 19. ויהי כאשר קרב אל המחנה וירא את העגל ומחולות Vayihi ka'asher karav el ha'machaneh vayar es ha'egel u'mecholos. When Moshe drew near to the camp, he saw the calf and he saw the מחולות mecholos. He saw the tanzing, he saw the dances. ויחר אף משה Vayichar af Moshe, Moshe got angry. וישלך מידיו את הלוחות V'yashlech m'yadav es ha'luchos. And he destroyed the לוחות luchos. וישבר אותם תחת ההר Vayishaber osam tachas ha'har. And he broke them under the mountain. Oh Moshe got angry and he broke the לוחות luchos. What seems to have made him angry? Hashem already told him about the, about the egel. What seems to have set him off? Not just the egel, what else? The מחולות mecholos. What is a מחולות mecholos? What's a מחול machol? A circle. Even then we were dancing in a circle. That's the way Jews dance. We hold hands, we dance in a circle. Even then we were dancing in a circle. So Rav Shwadron, Gersha's great uncle, Rav Shalom Mordechai Shwadron, says that he heard from his Rebbe, Rav Moshe Mordechai Epstein, the Rosh Yeshiva of Chevron, that Moshe ra'ah lo rak es ha'egel, elah gam es ha'mecholos. He didn't just see the calf that they were worshipping, he also saw the singing and dancing. שהעגל עצמו לא היה סיבה מספיק עבורו לשבור את הלוחות Sheha'egel atzmo lo hayah sibah maspik avuro lishbor es ha'luchos. The golden calf was not a reason enough for Moshe to have broken the tablets. That would not have been enough of a reason. רק כשראה את המחולות Rak k'she'ra'ah es ha'mecholos. Only when he saw the circle. Why? הנה על עצם עשיית העגל שמע כבר משה Hinei al etzem asiyas ha'egel shama kvar Moshe. That he already heard about from God. That he heard from God, that they had worshipped the calf. הרי לנו שעם עצם חטא העגל עדיין לא יאבד מהם את התקווה Harei lanu she'im etzem cheit ha'egel adayin lo yibad meihem es ha'tikvah. But even while they were worshipping a golden calf, they were not hopeless. You could have turned them around. If you could wake them up, if you could do an intervention, if you could get up them, realize, what are you doing and make them stop, they were redeemable. אך זה שרקדו סביב העגל Ach, zeh she'rakdu s'viv ha'egel, but that which they were dancing around it, זה היה סימן שאינם מכירים בחטא zeh hayah siman she'einam makirim b'cheit. If you sing and dance and celebrate your mistake, your shortcoming, your failure, it means you don't even realize it's a failure. If you give in to the yetzer hara, person said something they shouldn't say, ate something they shouldn't eat, looked at something they shouldn't look at, but there's some shame, some guilt, there's a little bit of embarrassment, there's a little bit I realize it's wrong. So now you're redeemable. There's hope for you. But the moment that you sing and you dance and you celebrate and you say, look how wonderful what I did is, now it's going to be a lot harder. That's what made Moshe give up on them, smash the tablets. That's what made Moshe really worried. When he saw not only did they worship the egel, it was the mecholos. He doesn't quote this, but where else do you see this? Esav. Esav sells the bechorah. Esav sells the firstborn, the privilege of being the firstborn. And what does he do afterwards? Does he sit and tear kriya? Can't believe I had to do that. I was in a position. I was starving. What did I do? I had to do it. What does he do? Where does he go? ויאכל וישת Vayochal vayesht. He goes to the bar, he goes to the club, he has a drink. He celebrates. Esav is happy. He celebrates even this terrible error, even this terrible mistake. Mistakes, we're human. We're human, we're going to make mistakes. But do we own up? Do we look in that mirror of the kiyor? Do we try to come back and repair? Or do we sing and dance and celebrate? That's when we are really, that's when we're really in trouble. Rav Yisrael Salanter says, וישלך מידיו את הלוחות vayashlech miyadav es ha'luchos. What does the pasuk say again, pasuk yud tes? What does the pasuk say? מידיו miyadav. He cast out of his hands. It should say מידו miyado, his hand. Why does it say hands, hands, in the plural? Said Rav Yisrael Salanter, בתחילה חשב משה b'tchila chashav Moshe, כשהיה ki shehayah Moshe l'hashlich, את הלוח הראשון es ha'luach ha'rishon. Moshe was going to fire a warning shot. He was going to drop and smash only the first of the tablets. שלא יקש נחשד בעבודה זרה לא פוגם מצוות בין אדם לחברו Shelo yakish nichshal b'avodah zarah, lo pogem mitzvos bein adam l'chaveiro. Because the first set of tablets has the laws between man and man and God. So which tablet needs to be smashed? The first one that has the five commandments that are between us and God. וזה שייך ללוח הראשון בלבד ולא השני v'zeh shayach l'luach ha'rishon bilvad v'lo l'sheini. The second tablet has the laws, בין אדם לחברו bein adam l'chaveiro, the laws between man and man. So Moshe was only going to smash the one between man and God. שוב נמלך שכן לא תיתכן שלמות בין אדם לחברו בלי שיש שלמות גם בין אדם למקום Shuv nimlach she'kein lo titachein shleimus bein adam l'chaveiro b'li she'yeish shleimus gam bein adam l'Makom. What made him smash the second? Because he realized, you can't be good with people if you're not good with their father. If you don't care for and have a relationship with God, you cannot adequately, genuinely, meaningfully have a relationship with his other children, with his other children. So if the first tablet gets smashed, so does the second. The two tablets, they go together. They are intertwined, inextricably linked, our relationship with God, our relationship with others, and our relationship with ourselves, those three things, they always go together. Says the אמרי טהרות Amrei Taharos, the רחמסטריווקא רבה Rachmastrivka Rebbe. Says the holy רחמסטריווקא Rachmastrivka. The Gemara tells us in Avodah Zarah, why did this whole episode happen? The Gemara says something astounding. Why would God orchestrate that we would worship a golden calf, then Moshe would come and plead and God would forgive? All of this, why did it happen? לא היו ישראל ראויין לאותו מעשה אלא כדי להורות תשובה לרבים Lo hayu Yisrael re'uyin l'oso maaseh elah k'dei l'horos teshuva l'rabim. Because we were going to make mistakes, individually and collectively, and this was the precedent that there is a way back, that you can make a comeback, that Hashem does love us, that he will forgive us. And so the whole episode is a learning opportunity. The whole episode is a precedent for us to know we can come back. כיוון שראה משה שכל מעשה העגל לא נעשה אלא כדי להורות תשובה לרבים Keivan she'hevin she'kol ma'aseh ha'egel lo na'asah elah k'dei l'horos teshuva l'rabim, על כן רצה להשתתף גם הוא עמהם al kein ratzah l'hishtatef gam hu imahem. And that's why Moshe broke the luchos. As if to say, what's going on here? And the people say, we made a mistake, but Hashem had us do that so we can come back and it'll be a precedent and people will learn for the future. He says, oh, you broke something? I want in on it. He smashes the luchos. I'm also breaking something. You know, they have these rooms you can rent out. Apparently to get out all kinds of stress. You can smash things. I don't know what they're called. We live in an unbelievable time. Someone made a business out of that. You pay money to come into a room to break things. I don't know. I don't know. So Moshe Rabbeinu comes down, he says, oh, you're breaking things? i.e. you built an egel? I want in too. I'm breaking things. I want to be part of the learning opportunity for future generations. So I'm breaking something too. גם הוא יכול להורות תשובה לרבים Gam hu yachol l'horos teshuva l'rabim. והרי אמרו חז\"ל, כל השובר כלי בחמתו כאילו עובד עבודה זרה V'harei amru chazal kol ha'shover kli b'chamato k'ilu oved avodah zarah. And when you break something, these rooms, these aren't Jewish rooms. Jews shouldn't go. Why? If you're so angry that you're smashing something against the wall, what are you doing? You're indulging anger. And when you indulge anger, what are you indulging? Idolatry. And what are you worshiping? Yourself, because anger is the most unhealthy emotion a person can feel. That's what we learned, Igeres HaRamban that we just completed the whole series, 33 or 34 parts, 10 minutes each. The Ramban, the whole beginning is all about anger. We don't manage anger, we eliminate it. How do you eliminate it? He has a whole formula. And when you and you get so angry that you break something, that is unhealthy. That is idolatry. You're worshipping yourself, your ego. לפיכך שיבר את הלוחות כדי שעל ידי זה יוכל להיות עמהם בתוך עזה כדי להורות תשובה לרבים L'fichach shiber es ha'luchos k'dei she'al yedei zeh yuchal l'hiyos imam b'chol eza k'dei l'horos teshuva l'rabim. So they worshipped an idol, and Moshe getting so angry he broke something, which makes it as if I worshipped an idol. And therefore I'm part of the action of creating a learning opportunity for the future. Now, with that he explains a pasuk. ויהי כאשר קרב אל המחנה Vayihi ka'asher karav el ha'machaneh, וירא את העגל ומחולות vayar es ha'egel u'mecholos. When Moshe got close, he saw the egel and the circle. שהבין משה מה שנצטווה על מעשה העגל עניין אלא בשביל המחולות She'hevin Moshe ma shenitztaveh al maaseh ha'egel, inyan elah bishvil ha'mecholos, להורות תשובה לרבים l'horos teshuva l'rabim, שיהיה על ידי זה מחילת עוונות she'yiyeh al yedei zeh mechilas avonos. The egel was where it went wrong, and the mecholos stands for מחילת עוונות mechilas avonos. That right now the precedent of doing something wrong will help people in the future know and believe that you can come back just like we are. So egel, mecholos, mechilos. וישלך מידו את הלוחות וישבר אותם V'yashlech m'yadav es ha'luchos vayishaber osam. And that's why he broke them so he could have a part in their comeback and in their improvement, in their improvement. Okay, מלה שמע אלי mila shemay eli, רב ירוחם Rav Yeruchem, נציב Netziv we don't have time for. מבקש השם Mevakesh Hashem, a beautiful Targum we don't have time for. נער Na'ar, Yehoshua is described, פרק ל\"ג פסוק י\"א Perek Lamed-Gimel pasuk yud-alef. We spoke about this last week or two weeks ago. Now we have Moshe pleads for Hashem's nearness. ויאמר אם נא מצאתי חן בעיניך הודיעני נא את דרכך Vayomar im na matzasi chein b'einecha hodieni na es d'rachecha, show me your way. And, sorry, פרק ל\"ג פסוק י\"א Perek Lamed-Gimel pasuk yud-alef. Sorry, pasuk, go backwards. ודבר ה' אל משה פנים אל פנים V'diber Hashem el Moshe panim el panim. God spoke to Moshe face to face, top of page 504. כאשר ידבר איש אל רעהו Ka'asher y'daber ish el re'eihu. ושב אל המחנה V'shav el ha'machaneh, Moshe goes back to the camp. ומי שרתו U'misharso, and his loyal assistant, יהושע בן נון Yehoshua bin Nun, who's described here as being a נער na'ar. לא ימיש מתוך האהל Lo yamish mitoch ha'ohel. Yehoshua is always by his side. How old is Yehoshua here? According to the סדר עולם Seder Olam, 42 years old. According to the רמב\"ן Ramban, אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra, according to Ibn Ezra 56 years old. And he's called a נער na'ar. And we said a couple weeks ago, why is he called a נער na'ar? Because we're supposed to preserve our youthfulness, our innocence, our curiosity, our energy, the fire that we began the shiur with. Yehoshua at 50, 6 years old, 56 years old, Yehoshua, he's 56 and he's still a young man. In his energy, in his passion, in his curiosity, inquisitiveness, adventur, adventurousness. He's still a, is that a word? We'll go with it. He's still a נער na'ar. And that's what we said, התנערי מעפר קומי Hisna'ari mei'afar kumi, התנערי hisna'ari. Shake off old age. התנערי Hisna'ari. Shake off the old age, shake out the נער naar in you. Be a נער naar like Yehoshua. איש אל רעהו Ish el rei’eihu. Okay, we'll do one more. I have so many more, but we'll do one more. One more אמרות טהורות Amaros Taharos. I had another Rabbi Sacks, וביום השביעי u'vayom ha'shvi'i, about Shabbos, but we're already ready for next year. Um, one more from the אמרות טהורות Amaros Taharos, from the רחמיס רבקה Rachmes Rivka. One more. פרק ל\"ג, פסוק כ Perek Lamed Gimmel, Pasuk Chaf. ל\"ג כ Lamed Gimmel, Chaf. The following, beautiful בת עין Bas Ayin. פרק ל\"ג, פסוק כ Perek Lamed Gimmel, Pasuk Chaf. Page 506. 506. Moshe says to Hashem, \"Why are bad things happening to good people? Show me Your face. Let me look at the world through Your eyes. Let me understand how You run the world.\" And Hashem says, \"No, nobody can see me and live.\" לא תוכל לראות את פני כי לא יראני האדם וחי Lo suchal liros es panai, ki lo yirani ha'adam vachai. Nobody can see my face and, and live. Says the בת עין Bas Ayin, לא תוכל לראות את פני כי לא יראני האדם וחי lo suchal liros panai ki lo yirani ha'adam vachai. What do you mean? Back, pasuk yud aleph, it says, ודיבר ה׳ אל משה פנים אל פנים v'diber Hashem el Moshe panim el panim. It just said that God spoke to Moshe face to face, כאשר ידבר איש אל רעהו ka'asher yedaber ish el rei’eihu. Just like I'm talking to you right now, איש אל רעהו ish el rei’eihu, you're all my friends, I'm your friend. Just like two friends who talk face to face, who have a cup of coffee, who have lunch, who get together. Just like two friends talk face to face, so Moshe was talking to Hashem פנים אל פנים panim el panim, face to face. So how could you fast forward a few psukim and Hashem says, no, no, nobody can see my face and live. What do you mean? Torah itself has just described that Moshe is talking to Hashem face to face. אזוי פרעגט דער בת עין Azoi fregt der Bas Ayin, that is the question of the בת עין Bas Ayin. ומבאר העניין U'meva'er ha'inyan, כי אין השכינה שורה בישראל אלא מתוך אחדות ki ein ha'Shechinah shorah b'Yisrael elah mitoch achdus. God can only dwell among us out of a sense of unity. שכאשר יש אחדות בקרב ישראל, אז שורה השכינה על הצדיקים She'ka'asher yesh achdus b'kerev Yisrael, az shorah ha'Shechinah al ha'tzaddikim. When there is unity among the Jewish people, Hashem dwells. ואז יוכל הקדוש ברוך הוא לדבר עם משה פנים אל פנים V'az yuchal ha'Kadosh Baruch Hu l'daber im Moshe panim el panim. So when there's unity, then God speaks to us through our most righteous. And that's what the pasuk means. ודיבר ה' אל משה פנים אל פנים V'diber Hashem el Moshe panim el panim. When does God speak to Moshe face to face? כאשר ידבר איש אל רעהו Ka'asher yedaber ish el rei’eihu. When we speak to one another, when we display and demonstrate friendship and love. Where do you see the words איש אל רעהו ish el rei’eihu? We're going to end with the holiday coming up. I don't know if it's on your calendar, but there's a holiday on Friday called Purim. And there's a mitzvah of משלוח מנות mishloach manos. You have to deliver משלוח מנות mishloach manos. איש אל רעהו Ish el rei’eihu. Because the essence, the purpose of משלוח מנות mishloach manos is, I don't lock my door and drink wine and celebrate for myself. I have to find a friend. I have to display community, camaraderie, friendship. And when you make your list of who you're giving משלוח מנות mishloach manos to, don't think about the most popular kids in your class, most popular friends in your group. Think about who is least likely to get שלח מנות shalach manos. I beg of you, when you think of your list, make a list not of who will be getting from everyone, they don't need yours. They don't need yours. When you make your list, think of who is unlikely to get from anyone. Whose doorbell will not ring? Who there'll be nothing sitting outside the door? Who is the least likely to be thought of or remembered by others? That has to be your list. That's the list. Because that's the point of משלוח מנות mishloach manos. How did we defeat Haman? לך כנוס כל היהודים Lech knos kol ha'Yehudim. We displayed an incredible אחדות achdus. We got together for unity. That's the essence of Purim, unity. תענית אסתר Ta'anis Esther, Thursday, is a reenactment of לך כנוס כל היהודים lech knos kol ha'Yehudim. We're gathering again to display tremendous unity. And we still have the same enemies: Iran, Persia is still our enemy. We're still facing their wanting to eliminate and destroy not only the Jews of שושן Shushan, but the Jews of the whole world. And how will we stop them? When we practice אחדות achdus, איש אל רעהו ish el rei’eihu. So when does God speak פנים אל פנים panim el panim? When we are איש אל רעהו ish el rei’eihu, when we live with אחדות achdus, with unity, then God does come down, then He does, then He does live with us. He elaborates, he explains it even more, but we're out of time. Wishing everyone a פרייליכן פורים freilichen Purim, a wonderful, happy Purim. Please remain to say all of ספר תהילים Sefer Tehillim for our brothers and sisters in Israel. I'll be in Israel for two days next week. I'll be back on Wednesday, but no פרשה שיעור parsha shiur next week. I am giving a שיעור shiur in ירושלים Yerushalayim on Monday. Anyone in ירושלים Yerushalayim, join us 10 a.m. on Monday morning. I'll post more details about it. So we'll see you in two weeks from now.
