Transcript
Good morning, welcome back to Parsha Perspectives for today. Thank you for your flexibility. ברוך השם Baruch Hashem traveling for שמחות simchas again. So appreciate the flexibility in moving the שיעור shiur to Monday. Parsha series is generously sponsored by our dear friends Becky and Avi Katz and family in memory of David Grossman. Our learning is לעילוי נשמת leilui nishmas Becky's father, דוד בן מנחם מנש Dovid ben Menachem Manush. We remain incredibly grateful to the Katz family. This morning is also sponsored by Avi Ashman to commemorate the yahrtzeit of Leah bas Chayim. נשמה שתהיה לה עליה neshama she'tihyeh la aliyah. And by doctors Joey and Sima Laskov in honor of David Mueller's birthday, whose age is protected by a non-disclosure agreement. So, a very happy birthday to our dear friend David, and many more in good health and happiness. We have the privilege this week of learning and reading פרשת בהעלותך Parshas Behaaloscha, page 774 in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash. And we continue ספר במדבר Sefer Bamidbar which is our trek and journey through the desert on our way to the promised land, but like most adolescent experiences, is filled with ups and downs. It's not linear, it's not simple. We don't get to simply leave Egypt and find ourselves in Israel, the promised land, but the journey towards any, almost any promised land, any promised land that's worth getting to, is filled with ups and downs, רצוא ושוב ratzov v'shov, we advance, we progress and we regress, and it's all about overcoming. We'll see an insight soon. It's all about persevering and overcoming and enduring and not letting the downs spiral down, but learning to be able to bounce and to be able to go even higher than we were. וידבר השם אל משה לאמר Vayidaber Hashem el Moshe leimor. We begin page 774. Hashem spoke to Moshe saying, דבר אל אהרן ואמרת אליו daber el Aharon v'amarta eilav, speak to Aaron and tell him, בהעלותך את הנרות אל מול פני המנורה יאיר שבעת הנרות behaaloscha es haneiros el mul pnei hamenora ya'iru shivas haneiros. Speak to Aaron, tell him when you light the מנורה menorah toward the face of the מנורה menorah, the seven lamps cast light. The branches, there were seven branches in this candelabra. What did the מנורה menorah look like? The רמב\"ם Rambam holds that they were straight. Others suggest that they were curved. You'll see depictions of the מנורה menorah differently. The Arch of Titus maybe should be definitive if we believe the artist whoever carved the Arch of Titus was accurately portraying what the מנורה menorah looked like when it was stolen and maybe still is sitting in Rome, in the Vatican, then maybe that is the ultimate, the ultimate authority on what it looks like. But everyone agrees it had seven branches, a middle branch, and then three eastern branches and three western branches that pointed towards that, towards that middle branch, towards that middle branch. רש\"י Rashi tells us, יאיר שבעת הנרות ya'iru shivas haneiros, ששה שעל ששת הקנים shisha she'al shishas hakanim, six that were on branches, שלושה המזרחיים shlosha hamizrachim, the three eastern branches, פונים לאמצעי ponim la'emtzai, ראשי הפסילות שבהם roshei hapsilos shebahem. The wicks of the three eastern branches did not, the wicks that ordinarily burn up, these were extraordinary wicks. These branches and the wicks leaned towards the center branch. וכן שלושה המערביים v'chein shlosha hama'aravim, ראשי הפסילות לאמצעי roshei hapsilos la'emtzai. So the three eastern and the three western branches, their wicks did not burn straight up, and if you look at an accurate depiction of the מנורה menorah, the candelabra, they will show the only wick, the only flame that burns up is the middle one, and the three on either side are slanted, tilted, burned towards the middle one. ולמה Ve'lama? Wonders רש\"י Rashi, why? Why this anomaly? Why this very unusual manner for candles to burn? Answers רש\"י Rashi, כדי שלא יאמרו לאור הוא צריך k'dei shelo yomru la'or hu tzarich. Lest you think that the מנורה menorah, the candelabra, is about the light, it's illuminating, otherwise it would be dark, that Hashem wouldn't be able to see, so we light a מנורה menorah so that he can see. Lest you think that, it was organized in an unusual fashion with the wicks tilted and leaning in so that you don't think that. And wonders הגאון רב שמואל בערנבוים HaGaon Rav Shmuel Berenbaum, the הגאון תפארת שמואל HaGaon Tiferes Shmuel, צריך עיון בפירוש רש\"י tzarich iyun b'feirush Rashi, למה דווקא במנורה Lama davka b'menora, יש לומר שהקדוש ברוך הוא צריך לאור yeish lomar sheHaKadosh Baruch Hu tzarich l'or. Why now? Why here? All of a sudden we're worried that we want to demonstrate that it's not that Hashem needs the light. How will we demonstrate that? By organizing it in an unusual fashion. What about all the other כלים keilim? What about all the other vessels in the Mishkan? What about all the other עבודות avodos, all the other manners of service? So for example, we have the לחם הפנים lechem hapanim. יאכלו לפני השם תמיד yochlu lifnei Hashem tamid. The לחם הפנים lechem hapanim, the showbread, that sat on the שולחן shulchan, on the table, תמיד tamid, regularly. And we weren't worried, well, we better do something to show that Hashem doesn't need the bread. It'll be misunderstood. They'll think Hashem needs the bread. We better organize it in a way that demonstrates Hashem doesn't need the bread. We don't say that. Moreover, הקרבת הקרבנות hakravas hakorbanos, אש תמיד תוקד על המזבח לא תכבה eish tamid tukad al hamizbe'ach lo sichbeh. There was a fire burning on the altar, never extinguished. Or the קטורת ketores, the incense that was burning and we don't say, we better do something unusual to demonstrate that the incense isn't because Hashem wants a pleasant aroma. We better do something to demonstrate that the fire is burning on the altar because הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu loves a good barbecue, he wants some good פלייש fleish. We don't say that. So why all of a sudden here do we say we better demonstrate that the light is not for Hashem, it's not that he couldn't see without it, but rather it serves some other purpose. Why here and why now and why didn't we for anything else? Says a from the following. ונראה לפרש דברי תורה כי כל פני המנורה דווקא אל מול פני המנורה שאור המנורה הוא סמן לחכמת התורה v'nir'eh l'faresh divrei Torah ki kol panei hamenora davka el mul pnei hamenora she'or hamenora hu seman l'chochmas haTorah. The light of the מנורה menorah, each of the כלים keilim, the vessels in the Mishkan stood for or symbolized, they represented another quality, another aspiration, another goal or ambition, another energy. What was the energy of the מנורה menorah? The מנורה menorah represented Torah. כי נר מצוה ותורה אור ki ner mitzvah v'Torah or. The light of the מנורה menorah represents Torah. In fact, the word Torah, the root of the word Torah is אור or is light. Torah illuminates this world, it gives us a path, it lets us navigate. It's the instruction manual, the blueprint of creation. כי נר מצוה ki ner mitzva, the candles, the mitzvah, and the Torah is likened to אור or, light. And that's why חז\"ל Chazal in בבא בתרא כ\"ה Bava Basra kaf hei tells us הרוצה להחכים ידרים harotzeh l'hachkim yadrim. If you want the wisdom of Torah, which direction do you face? Go south. Go south. I spoke last night, a beautiful to this pray that we had at the ישיבה Yeshiva to thank our outgoing ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Leven שליט\"א shlita, who welcome Rav Wuliger, we'll do at the end of the summer in אלול Elul a special event. And I reminded the ישיבה Yeshiva בחרים bachrim, I reminded the ישיבה Yeshiva, הרוצה להחכים ידרים harotzeh l'hachkim yadrim. If you want wisdom, you want Torah, Yeshiva of South Florida. ידרים Yadrim. ושיעשיר יצפין v'sheya'ashir yatzpin. If you want wealth, יצפין yatzpin. Go to the north. Now why? Why is it that if you want, if you want Torah, face south, and if you want wealth, face north? What does that mean? Because in the Mishkan, the שולחן shulchan was to the north. The שולחן shulchan represented wealth, the table, affluence, and the מנורה menorah which was the symbol of the light of Torah was in the south. They say that's why, that's what we do here. I said in a side, the Rabbi sits to the left of the ארון aron, and the president sits to the right of the ארון aron, because when the rabbi faces מזרח mizrach but angles towards the ארון aron to show respect to the ארון aron, so which way is he facing? South, because הרוצה להחכים ידרים harotzeh l'hachkim yadrim, the rabbi wants more Torah knowledge. So he's facing southeast. Whereas the שול shul president who has to make budget, he when he angles towards the ארון aron is facing which direction? North, northeast. Both facing east towards ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael, but depending which side of the ארון aron you're sitting on, the rabbi is interested in, he needs Torah to teach Torah, learn Torah. הרוצה להחכים ידרים harotzeh l'hachkim yadrim. Shul president, treasure, maybe should sit there also to the right of the ארון aron, because הרוצה שיעשיר יצפין harotzeh sheya'ashir yatzpin, if you want wealth, then יצפין yatzpin. So יש שני אפשרויות yeish shnei efsharos, says. There are two ways, two ways that you could teach Torah and spread Torah. One, dumb it down, lower the bar, make it accessible to everybody. Don't stand out, don't be exceptional. Lower the bar so everybody feels they have a place. Or, raise the bar. Be an example, illuminate the way. So says, the second, השנית היא לעשות מקום תורה, מקום שהוא כולו אור ha'shenis hi la'asos makom Torah, makom shehu kulo or. Create a place that's a מקום תורה makom Torah that's all light. בלי לעשות שום פשרות b'li la'asos shum psharos. Don't make compromises. לחזק את התלמידים שטר יוכלו ללמוד שם דוקא כי ניתנה באש גדולה l'chazek es hatalmidim shetar yachulu leilmod shem davka ki nisinason b'eish gedolah. Make Torah illuminate, make Torah be transmitted, teach Torah in a way that's on fire. Young people today have an expression, lit. Be lit, be all lit up, be lit, be on fire, the way it was originally given at הר סיני Har Sinai. הפתרון הזה מצינו כאן Ha'pitaron hazeh matzinu kan, we see that here. במצות הדלקת המנורה, שהמנורה היא סמן ללימוד התורה b'mitzvas hadlakas hamenora, she'hamenora hi seman l'limud haTorah. And it says אל מול פני המנורה יאיר el mul pnei hamenora ya'iru, שמקום של המנורה יהיה כולו אור, אין גאַנצן ליכטיק she'makom shel hamenora yihyeh kullo or, in ganzen lichtik. The place of the מנורה menorah needs to be entirely lit, should be entirely light, lit, lit up so that the light that comes, that middle branch, which represents Torah, is going to the other lights, shine on it so it is illuminating everywhere around. ויסוד הדבר להשפיע לאחרים צריך לעשות את עצמו כולו ליכטיק v'yesod hadavar l'hashpia l'acheirim tzarich la'asos es atzmo kulo lichtik. If you want, if you want to shine a light on others, if you want to illuminate others, if you want to ignite the spark in others, you have to be all lit up. If you are lukewarm, if you're not on fire, then don't expect to light up other people. If you're neutral, if you're פארעוו parve, if you're half asleep, if you're complacent, if you're apathetic, if you're casual, if you don't have an on-fire relationship with whatever we're talking, Torah, מידות midos, תפילה tefillah, then you're not going to inspire people around you. We have a principle. רב ישראל סלנטר Rav Yisrael Salanter used to talk about that a Jew, the best way to influence the people around us is to be so inspired that we overflow, we ooze the inspiration. But if you're not inspired, how do you expect to inspire others? Inspire yourself to inspire other people. And so the מנורה menorah, the lights all shine on the middle branch so it is entirely illuminated, and only when it is אין גאַנצן ליכטיק in ganzen lichtik, only when it is entirely lit, can it illuminate out towards the others. וזה יש לפרש למה נרות המנורה נדלקת מנר המערבי v'zeh yesh l'faresh l'ma nerot hamenora nidlekus me'ner ma'aravi. And says, with that we can understand why is it, what candle was used to light up all the other branches of the מנורה menorah, the western candle. What was special about the western candle? נר מערבי לעולם לא כבה Ner ma'aravi l'olam lo kavah. It never went out. Even though the candelabra was lit once a day, but the western candle was remained lit constantly, it never extinguished, never went out. We imitate and emulate in our מקדש מעט Miktash me'at, we have a נר תמיד ner tamid, we have a light that always remains lit. So why was that the one that lit the others? You see from here says, כדי להשפיע לאחרים להלהיבם, צריך המדליק, המשפיע, להיות כולו שקוע ודולק תמיד k'dei l'hashpia l'acheirim l'halehidvam, tzarich hamadlik, hamashpia, l'hiyos kulo shaku'a v'dolek tamid. If you want to light others, you have to be lit all the time. If you're casual, if you're indifferent, if you're checked out, if you're not inspired, then you can't light up other people. Parents, רביים rebbeyim, grandparents, community leaders, we have to constantly reinforce and reinvigorate and inspire and remotivate because if we're not on fire, then we can't expect to inspire anybody else. I I once went to a small rabbinic gathering, a conference, a group of rabbis, and we were talking, planning, strategizing. And one of the conclusions that we all reached was how inspired are we? The things we're looking for or hoping for in our מתפללים mespalelim, in our congregants, in our members, we want to improve דאַווענען davening, we want to eliminate talking, we want it to be more inspired. But when we look in the mirror, how inspired are we? What does our דאַווענען davening look like? What example are we, are we leading? In every which way, in every area of Jewish and Torah life. And that's true not only for a group of rabbis, again, parents, educators and all, we have to ourselves be inspired, if we want to inspire, if we want to be able to inspire others. So that's what says. אל מול פני המנורה, יאיר שבעת הנרות El mul pnei hamenora ya'iru shivas haneiros, that the the middle candle has to be all lit. And he writes, this is the exact opposite of what you'd call a chandelabra. A chandelabra, all the candles point in different directions. Why? Because the goal is to spread the light throughout the room. So if you have a light fixture hanging out over your dining room table, you have a light fixture, the candles are all pointing different angles to bring the light all over the room. And this is the opposite. The candles are all pointing towards the middle light. What's the point? That's the difference. Not that Hashem needs the light. We do. His Torah needs to be אין גאַנצן ליכטיק in ganzen lichtik, entirely lit up, and then it can spread that light and share it with others. Continues the Torah, פסוק ג' pesuk gimel. ויעש כן אהרן Vaya'as kein Aharon. This was the instruction to Aharon, which by the way, appeased him. We're not going to get into it because we've spoken about it in the past, but Rashi already tells us that this was what appeased Aharon. When last week Aharon didn't get to bring one of the one of the offerings of the נשיאים nesiyim, the twelve heads of the tribes all brought the exact same parallel sacrifice, and we didn't just read it once and say, times twelve. We read it twelve times. It's once described, I heard last week's פרשה parsha once described as a פרשה parsha only a Bar Mitzvah boy's mother could love, because it feels so repetitive and redundant and endless and long, the longest פרשה parsha in the Torah, 176 פסוקים pesukim. So over and over again. Why is that? You have to wait to פרשת נשא Parshas Nasso next year. But Aharon is upset, he's jealous. What about me? I want to bring special korbanos. I want my chance, I want my moment. And what does Hashem say? Relax. I've got you. בהעלותך את הנרות behaaloscha es haneiros. You for generations to come will light the candelabra. Which by the way, the רמב\"ן Ramban quotes and others, this was an allusion to חנוכה Chanukah in the Torah because what were the generations to come that you would light and relight? Was a reference and allusion to חנוכה Chanukah in the Torah. Interestingly, as we pointed out in the past, Hashem does not say to Aharon what we would expect, which is, you get what you get and you don't get upset. What are you complaining, what about me? What do you mean what about me? Everyone gets what they need, what they deserve. חנוך לנער על פי דרכו chanak l'naar al pi darko. Aharon, Aharon, this lover of peace and unity, Aharon all of a sudden is complaining? What, he's an ego? He wants the spotlight? What's going on over here? But Hashem doesn't say that because we have a principle called קנאת סופרים תרבה חכמה kinas sofrim tarbeh chochma. This is a makor in the Torah for the healthy application of competitiveness. Competitiveness can be unhealthy. Some of us have to work on that when we can't even let our grandchildren beat us in a game. But competitiveness can be unhealthy, but competitiveness can be very healthy because if competitive leads to drive, it increases wisdom. The Gemara Chazal say קנאת סופרים תרבה חכמה kinas sofrim tarbeh chochma. When scholars are competing, they break through with wisdom, it leads to progress and innovation. So Aharon is not, his ego is not driving him. It's that he's driven in a very pure לשם שמים l'shem shamayim way, because if you see someone's davening beautifully and you say, not I want to daven beautifully instead of them, I want the עמוד amud, I want to lead the davening, but just I wish I were so connected to davening, then that's a wonderful thing to be inspired to be competing so to say, one wants to be a, I want to be as much of a מתמיד masmid. I want to be as driven. Then it's a good thing, then it's a good thing. So all that we've shared in the past, I'll pose a question which we won't answer, which is, why now, why this does it appease Aharon? Aharon first says, see him, what about me? And Hashem says, relax, you like the menorah. He says, oh, daka, good point. Thank you. I'm good to go. There are plenty of other things that only Aharon and the Kohanim get to do. Why did none of those appease Aharon? It's only this? There are plenty of sacrifices, access to the קודש הקדשים kodesh hakodashim, offerings, plenty of things that only Aharon and the Kohanim were able to do. And yet, he doesn't seem to be appeased by them. Why specifically is it here? But in any case, ויעש כן אהרן vaya'as kein Aharon. Aharon does what's asked of him, אל מול פני המנורה העלה נרותיה el mul pnei hamenora he'elah neroseha. He indeed turns all the branches of the menorah and elevates them כאשר צוה השם את משה ka'asher tziva Hashem es Moshe, the way Moshe had commanded. ויעש כן אהרן Vaya'as kein Aharon. Says Rashi famously, להגיד שבחו של אהרן שלא שנה l'hagid shivcho shel Aharon shelo shina. This is the ultimate praise of Aharon. ויעש כן vaya'as kein, he did what was asked, he didn't deviate. Ooh, ah. Wow. Should be blown away by Aharon. God told him to do something, and you know what? He did it. Yeah, that's why he's Aharon. Still, במדבר Bamidbar, we're now three parshios into במדבר Bamidbar and we're still impressed that Aharon didn't change, he didn't deviate, he did what was asked. Like we're supposed to be impressed by that? שלא שנה shelo shina, he didn't deviate. He didn't deviate. So some suggest שלא שנה shelo shina doesn't mean that he didn't deviate in what was asked of him. שלא שנה shelo shina means he didn't change. The same Aharon who was anonymous, the same Aharon before he had been raised and elevated to greatness, the same Aharon, now that he is of prominence, he never changed. He's the same as the way he was. Some people are elevated to positions of prominence and distinction. Some people get power, some people have a prestigious role, and they, it goes to their head. They get an ego, they say, look at me. They think they're different. They think their time is more valuable than others. They think their attention is more valuable than others. להגיד שבחו של אהרן l'hagid shivcho shel Aharon, that even though he is designated בהעלותך behaaloscha to light the menorah, even though he's the כהן גדול kohen gadol, להגיד שבחו l'hagid shivcho, the praise of him is, שלא שנה shelo shina, he didn't change. He stayed the same Aharon, down to earth, the same Aharon. But the קוצקער רבי Kutzker Rebbe on a different answer. Rabeinu az al omar b'shem haYehudi HaKadosh ki b'sha'ah she'beirach b'chol yom ha'bracha shelo asani goy, hergish b'nafsho she'nishtanah b'chol yom k'mo me'ein ha'yihyeh l'Yehudi l'Yehudi. The יהודי הקדוש Yehudi HaKadosh every morning in ברכת השחר birkas hashachar when he'd make a ברכה bracha שלא עשני גוי shelo asani goy, thank you God for not having made me like the other nations of the world, essentially thank you for making me a ייִד yid, a Jew. Thank you for giving me the Torah to illuminate and light up my life. Thank you for giving me access to the blueprint of creation. Thank you for giving me this life and this lifestyle. Thank you for not making me like the others. So the יהודי הקדוש Yehudi HaKadosh when he made this bracha, he would feel every day שנשתנה בכל יום she'nishtanah b'chol yom, every day he would feel like he just got out of the מקוה mikvah, he just converted. Every day he'd wake up and say, \"Wow, I'm a Jew.\" Exceptionalism. אשר בחר בנו מכל העמים asher bachar banu mikol ha'amim, we spoke about on שבועות Shavuos. You've chosen me, you've designated me, you've given me this mission, this task, you've empowered me with the tools to succeed, to accomplish it. Wow, wow, I'm like a convert. והוסיף רבינו בשם הקוצקער v'hosif Rabeinu b'shem ha'Kutzker, he's that's the perish of the רש\"י Rashi, ויעש כן אהרן שלא שנה vaya'as kein Aharon shelo shina, means שלא הישיין אצלו shelo hish'yashein etzlo. The word שנה shina means didn't deviate, either the actions didn't deviate, he didn't change, or a third interpretation, the word ש.י.נ.ה shin, yud, nun, hei can also be יָשָׁן yashan, הישיין hisyashein means it never got old. בכל יום היה עובד מחדש ולא ברגילות כמו דבר ישן b'chol yom haya oved m'chadash v'lo b'regilus k'mo davar yashan. It never got old. It never got old for him. Sometimes you do something repetitively, it could get old. I won't say my age, but I've been putting on תפילין tfillin for a few years and it can get old. Every single day putting on תפילין tfillin, every day the same שמונה עשרה Shmoneh Esrei, every day living with the same wife, every day dinner with the same kids, every day. In life, the challenge, the danger, things are at risk, there's a threat, when we let things get old and stale and repetitive and redundant. The greatness of Aharon שלא שנה shelo shina, שלא ישן shelo yashan, it never got old. It never got old and it never got stale. It never got old and it never got stale. A beautiful marriage is one in which you wake up and say, I can't believe, wow, I can't believe I'm married to this person. It doesn't matter what anniversary you're celebrating. Someone in our shul is turning 97, has been married for many, many, many years. He talks about his wife like they're newlyweds. Like they're newlyweds. I don't know if they're married more than 70 years. They talk like they're newlyweds. Every day he acts like he just got engaged, like he just walked out from under the חופה chuppah. That's the אהרן הכהן Aron Hakodesh had that attitude with Hashem. Every time he opened the סידור siddur, he said, I get an audience with the Almighty. I get to tell him what's in my heart. I get to דאַווענען daven. I get to put on תפילין tfillin. I get to keep שבת Shabbos. I get to make a ברכה bracha. I get to study the פרשה parsha. It never got old. It's not a coincidence, the קוצקער Kutzker doesn't bring this, but it's not a coincidence that the word old, יָשָׁן yashan, is the same word as יָשֵׁן yashein. יָשֵׁן yashein means to sleep. Because when things get old, we tend to sleepwalk through them, as opposed to be awake and alive. How many are sleepwalking through life? Sleepwalking through marriage, sleepwalking through parenting, sleepwalking through their job, sleepwalking through their דאַווענען davening, sleepwalking through the פרשה parsha, and they wake up after many years and many decades and they call it a life, but they've been asleep all throughout, sleepwalking through. So don't let it become יָשֵׁן or יָשָׁן yashein or yashan. Don't sleepwalk through, don't let it be old. להגיד שבחו של אהרן l'hagid shivcho shel Aharon, the great praise of Aharon, שלא שנה shelo shina, he never fell asleep. He didn't sleepwalk through his ייִדישקייט yiddishkeit. Was with a bren, with a fire, with an excitement, with an energy, with an enthusiasm. He never fell asleep through it. He was so excited and happy to be alive, to be married, to be a father, to have a brother, to be the כהן גדול kohen gadol. It never got old, just like the יהודי הקדוש Yehudi HaKadosh would wake up every day and, I just became a Jew. I just walked away from Har Sinai. Wow, I'm a Jew. What as if they just discovered I'm a Jew. Last week we we converted five people. Baruch Hashem. I also spoke on Shavuos how active our בית דין beitz din is, the line is out the door, and it doesn't matter how many more are trying to kill us, and the bigger target will be on your back by joining our people. More and more, no one's dropping out, and more and more people are lining up. And Baruch Hashem, we had the privilege, the privilege of welcoming five new Jews last week. And one was crying hysterically in the מקוה mikvah. Emerged from the water to breathe again, born anew, with a new birthday, a new birth, was crying hysterically at the privilege to be a Jew. To come out of that מקוה mikvah and to make the first ברכה bracha as a Jew, to put on as a Jew, to be a Jew. And that the יהודי הקדוש Yehudi HaKadosh said, he felt every day, when he'd make the ברכה bracha, שלא עשני גוי shelo asani goy, Hashem, wow, I just got out of the מקוה mikvah, I'm a Jew. How privileged, how blessed, how lucky, how fortunate am I? להגיד שבחו של אהרן שלא שנה L'hagid shivcho shel Aharon shelo shina, it never got old, he never fell asleep. It was always new, it was always fresh, it was always something exciting. Then we have the consecration of the לויים levi'im, the לויים levi'im, their roles, their jobs, their responsibility, and how they were elevated, how they were given their job, apprenticeship and responsibility, when they were counted from five, בן חמש ועשרים שנה ben chameish v'esrim shanah, from 25 years old until 50 years old are the key years of working, not younger, not older, did they succeed, where they destined for that job or not, there's a lot here to say, but we move to פרק ט' perek tes, page 778. פרק ט' פסוק א' perek tes pasuk aleph, chapter 9 verse 1. וידבר השם אל משה במדבר סיני בשנה השנית לצאתם מארץ מצרים בחדש הראשון לאמר Vayidaber Hashem el Moshe b'midbar Sinai ba'shanah hashenis l'tzeisam me'eretz Mitzrayim ba'chodesh harishon leimor. Hashem speaks to Moshe in the desert, it's the second year, second year since we've left מצרים Mitzrayim, in the first month. ויעשו בני ישראל את הפסח במעדו v'ya'asu vnei Yisrael es hapesach b'mo'ado. What's the first month in this context? ניסן Nissan. We know we have a debate, which is the first month on our calendar. Nobody debates is the first month January or August. Actually, I take it back. Our fiscal year is July 1st. So I guess in Boca Raton synagogue you can argue is the ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah January 1st or July 1st? Is it July 1st? So להבדיל l'havdil, להבדיל l'havdil. But in Torah, we have a debate. Is the first month תשרי Tishrei or the first month ניסן Nissan? And here the Torah is referring to ניסן Nissan as the first month. And the Jewish people, what happens in ניסן Nissan? What holiday? Pesach. This is year two. In other words, the one-year anniversary of leaving Mitzrayim. בארבעה עשר יום לחדש הזה בין הערבים תעשו אותו במועדו ככל חוקתיו וכל משפטיו תעשו אותו B'arba'ah asar yom la'chodesh hazeh bein ha'arbayim ta'asu oso b'mo'ado ka'asher kol chukasav v'chol mishpatav ta'asu oso. Now it's time to observe. This wasn't when they lived the Exodus. This is the first time commemorating the Exodus, reliving the Exodus. Vayidaber Moshe el Bnei Yisrael la'asos hapesach and he said, \"Good to go. Start cleaning, buy your matzah, save up, make your salt water, your karpas, and so on. Observe Pesach, the korban Pesach.\" Vaya'asu es hapesach, they did it in the first month, on the 14th day, by bein ha'arbayim, k'chol asher tziva, all that Hashem commanded Moshe, kein asu bnei Yisrael, thus did the Jewish people. ויהי אנשים אשר היו טמאים לנפש אדם vayehi anashim asher hayu t'mei'im l'nefesh adam, but what happened? There were those who were ineligible. There were those who were טמא tamei. There were those who were impure. לא יכלו לעשות הפסח ביום ההוא lo yachlu la'asos hapesach ba'yom hahu. They weren't able to participate, they couldn't be part of it. Why not? They were טמא tamei. And how did they become contaminated? Why were they impure? The Gemara records Chazal have a debate. Some say they were carrying the bones of Yosef. Others say, מת מצוה meis mitzvah. All different reasons offered why they were ineligible to participate because they were impure. But in any case, they said something that almost nobody has said since, which is, it's not fair to me, I want to clean for Pesach. It's not fair to me, I want to have to host a Seder. It's not fair to me. These people said, ויאמרו האנשים ההמה אליו אנחנו טמאים לנפש אדם למה נגרע v'yomru ha'anashim haheimah eilav anachnu t'mei'im l'nefesh adam lama nigara. Why should we be denied? Why are we deprived? Why don't we get to have Pesach? And Moshe says to them, \"Huh, that's a good question. Let me check in with Hashem and find out what the rule.\" And here we're introduced to פסח שני Pesach Sheini, the יום טוב yom tov of second chances. And we won't repeat, we've spoken about it in the past. I think we once wrote an article about it. They're carrying the bones of Yosef, and who better is a model of second chances? Yosef gave his brothers the ultimate second chance. And the whole יום טוב yom tov of פסח שני Pesach Sheini is a holiday of second chances. So here Rabbi Sacks, zechuso tagen aleinu, in his Chumash, I don't know if it's out yet, but I have my copy, writes, \"The first month of the second year, the first commemorative Passover, as opposed to the original Pesach in Mitzrayim, already presents the issue of people unable to fulfill the command as given.\" My favorite sentence in the English language, you're curious to say what I'm going to hear what I'm going to say next? Rabbi Sacks wrote, his favorite sentence in the English language, he knew the English language pretty well and lots of sentences in it. His favorite sentence in the English language is Winston Churchill's definition of success: going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. Winston Churchill's definition of success is going from failure to failure without the loss of enthusiasm. The real difference is not between failure and success. The real difference is between failing and giving up and failing and keeping on going, missing the mark and recalculating the route. Because even the Torah acknowledges this, we know that in the inner reaches of our soul, we can be honest with ourselves, we can acknowledge the way in which we have fallen short. Those who cannot offer the Pesach sacrifice, whether due to lack of planning or circumstances beyond their control, are eager for another chance. They know that in His forgiveness, Hashem gives us the strength to heal what we have harmed, to try again, and to become the person he wants us to be. To go from failure to failure without the loss of enthusiasm, that is the definition of success, and here the Torah gives us this recipe for that success by acknowledging that life doesn't always go the way we want, and sometimes we'll need second chances, and that is the beautiful holiday, the yom tov of Pesach Sheini. Turning the page, Perek Tes, chapter nine, verse 18, pasuk yud ches, page 780. Now that we have this Pesach Sheini, now the Torah gives us the divine signs of when to travel, when to journey, when to go, when to stay put. We know the Jewish people had many journeys through the midbar, and how did they know when it was time? Pack up. And when it was time to settle down? They knew because there were divine signs. Hashem himself was the voice of ways. Hashem himself was the one who who announced, we're taking off, we're going to be boarding, it's time to go. There was no debate, and there was no doubt. Do we stay? Do we go? Hashem himself divinely was the one who said what to do. So the wonders on these pesukim says the following. על פי השם יסעו בני ישראל ועל פי השם יחנו al pi Hashem yis'u vnei Yisrael v'al pi Hashem yachanu. Through Hashem we travel, through Hashem we stay put. יש ללמוד כל כך הרבה על פי אדם ומשרינו וטפנו להיות תמיד מוכנים לארץ חפציהם Yesh lilmod kol kach harbeh al pi adam u'mashreinu v'tapeinu l'hiyot tamid muchanim l'eretz cheftzeihem. You know, and it's not easy. The people who travel. ברוך השם Baruch Hashem, I have the זכות zechus to be traveling a lot lately and in the coming weeks for שמחות simchas, and that's the best reason to travel, and never ever, ever complain if that's the reason that you're traveling. But there are people who travel for work, there are people who commute regularly, and it gets old and tiring. It's difficult and exhausting. And that's one person or a small group of people. How many was this? Two to three million people. And if you're traveling with your family, I'll never forget, ברוך השם, כן אינ הרה Baruch Hashem, kein ayin hara, I have seven children. Our family unit now, כן אינ הרה kein ayin hara, is bigger. Several are married and grandchildren, but they were the seven children. We didn't often travel all together, but when we did, especially going to Israel, when, and in the old days you had to go through somewhere else, let's say New York. When you got to TSA with nine passports, everyone looked at you like, could you choose another line? Please go somewhere else. But every kid with their carry-on, with their snacks, with their demands, put it in the bag, I'm not sharing a bag, I want my own bag, I need to pull my own bag, I need my own backpack, I need my own. Two to three million of those. Two to three million. Women packing multiple outfits a day, shoes, accessories.How is it they 42 times picked up and moved on and then settled down? How is it? How is it? Lucky people have lived in the same house for many years, but some people due to circumstances, they move cities, they move homes, and they'll tell you it's exhausting. It's exhausting. דבר שאינו קל לשום אדם Davar she'eino kal l'shum adam. So how did they do it? Two to three million people, 42 times. 42 times in 40 years. 42 times in 39 years. That's a lot, that's a move more than once a year. That's huge. ויש לומר V'yesh lomar says a משנה mishnah from דף מב daf mem beis in מסכת שבת Masechet Shabbos. קסבר רבי יוסי סותר על מנת לבנות במקומו הוי סותר. על מנת לבנות שלא במקומו, לא הוי סותר K'savar Rabbi Yosi, soter al menas livnos bimkomo, havei soter. Al menas livnos shelo bimkomo, lo havei soter. We have 39 categories of creative labor. One of the prohibited things we're not allowed to do on Shabbos and Yom Tov is to demolish. The prohibition of building is when you're demolishing is when you demolish on the condition for the purpose of building where you demolished. If you demolish and you're not going to build where you demolished, then you haven't violated the biblical prohibition of demolishing. Because that's קלקול kilkul, you're destroying. אמר רבא, כל המלאכות ילפינן מן המשכן Amar Rava, kol hamelachos yalfinan min haMishkan. Where do we learn these 39 categories from? The משכן Mishkan. So where was סותר soter? Where was demolishing in the משכן Mishkan? They took it apart. Each time they traveled, they took it apart. Ay, how can you tell me biblically you only violate the prohibition of demolishing when you plan to build, if when they took it apart, they weren't going to build in the same place? התם סותר על מנת לבנות, שלא במקומו הוא Hassam soter al menas livnos, shelo bimkomo hu. They were going to build in a different place. How could it be? אמר לו, שאני התם, כיוון דכתיב על פי ה' יחנו, כסותר על מנת לבנות במקומו דמי Amar lo, shani hassam, keivan d'chsiv al pi Hashem yachanu, k'soter al menas livnos bimkomo dami. Because the pasuk says that they traveled and journeyed not based on their own inclination, not based on their own intuition, not because of their own decision. When did they travel? When Hashem told them to. Because they traveled based on Hashem telling them to, עיקר קביעותם היה להיות עם הקדוש ברוך הוא ikkar kvi'usam haya l'hiyos im Hakadosh Baruch Hu. They traveled to be with Hashem, so wherever they went to was מְקוֹמוֹ mekomo.Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz puts it a little bit differently. We'll come back to the דבר שמואל Dvar Shmuel. Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz says the following משל mashal. Says the following משל mashal. A mother with a little baby has to travel. So she goes from Miami to New York, to Paris, to London, to Israel, to Australia, back to South Florida. So from her perspective, her passport is stamped all those cities. She kept traveling and journeying and found herself in many different places. But the baby that she carried in her arms, how many places was that baby? One. In his mother's arms that whole time. Ay, his mother was in so many places? Her passport is stamped so many places? True. But the baby was in his mother's arms the entire time, and the rest is irrelevant. In the מדבר midbar, we traveled in Hashem's arms. He was holding us, על פי השם al pi Hashem. Everywhere we went was an extension of the same place in his arms, and that's how we can learn סותר על מנת לבנות במקומו soter al menas livnos bimkomo, even from the משכן Mishkan. נמצא, שכלל ישראל עבדו על עצמם להיות מוכנים תמיד, כששמעו תקיעת החצוצרות Nimtza, she'Klall Yisrael avdu al atzmam l'hiyos muchanim tamid, k'sheshamu tekias hachatzotzros, they lived always prepared and ready that as soon as they heard that siren of the trumpet, לארוז מיד כל חפציהם la'aroz miyad kol cheftzeihem, pack up, ללכת אחרי השם lalechet acharei Hashem. We are following Hashem wherever he takes us, wherever we go. החנייה היה באופן של ושמרו את משמרת השם Hachanaya haya b'ofen shel v'shamru es mishmeres Hashem. When they unpacked, we are where we are where Hashem wants us to be. And when it's time to pack up and go, we are where Hashem wants us to be. So you're right. If you have to commute, if you keep having to travel, you could be annoyed, you could be disturbed, you could be frustrated, particularly certain airports, you could be very bent out of shape. But if you always feel my life is a mission, if you embrace your place, if you are where you're meant to be, if Hashem is directing our journey, then we're ready to pack up and unpack, because we're constantly on this journey of where he sends us. We're on the road of where he wants us to be. We're fulfilling our mission and our purpose in our life. So the key, the difference to whether you'll be frustrated and annoyed by the commute or embrace the adventure of the commute, the entire difference is whether you'll be willing to embrace your place. This is the sticker we created on the back of cell phones or the decal in the car windshield or the tag for your luggage, which you could all order these online at BRSonline.org/decal. And it's a constant reminder. Embrace your place, you are exactly where you are meant to be. That our journeys are not random, and they're not chance. And even when we're delayed or especially when it's expedited, it is all the guiding hand of Hashem. So how could the Jewish people 42 times in 40, 39 years, pack up, unpack, pack up, unpack, two million passports to hand to the TSA agent. How could they not be incredibly frustrated? Because when a person feels they're in their mother's arms, if you feel you're in the embrace of Hashem, you go with him wherever he's going, wherever he takes us, wherever he sends us, then you won't live a life of being frustrated. פרק יוד, פסוק אלף Perek yud, pasuk aleph. You make the two חצוצרות chatzotzros.Page 782. וידבר ה' אל משה לאמור עשה לך שתי חצוצרות כסף מקשה תעשה אותם Vayedaber Hashem el Moshe leimor: Aseh lecha shtei chatzotzros kesef, mikshah ta'aseh osam, make two trumpets, hammer them out of silver, והיו לך למקרא העדה ולמסע את המחנות v'hayu lecha l'mikra ha'eidah u'l'masa es hamachanos, and you will use them to call and to direct the camps. And here, Rabbi Sacks invokes some teachings from Rabbi Soloveitchik, so we get a two for one. The passage where the juxtaposition of the words, congregation, עדה eidah, camp, מחנה machaneh, become a springboard for one of the most profound meditations of Rabbi Soloveitchik. We have seen that for Rabbi Soloveitchik, there are two ways in which people become a group: a community, society, or nation. The first is when they face a common enemy. They band together for mutual protection, knowing that only by doing so they can survive. Such a group is called a מחנה machaneh, a camp, a defensive formation. Alternatively, people can come together not a defensive formation, people could come together because they share a vision, a set of ideals. This is what it means to be an עדה eidah, a congregation. עדה Eidah, the root of the word עדה eidah is עד eid, עדות Eidus. What's an עד eid? A witness. A society built around a shared project is not a מחנה machaneh, but an עדה eidah, not a camp, but a congregation. A camp is brought into being by what happens to it from outside, a congregation comes into existence by internal decisions. The first is as a response to what happened to the group in the past. The second represents what the group seeks to achieve in the future. This duality was given its first expression with this command. Make two silver trumpets, make them out of hammered metal, use them for summoning the עדה eidah and for having the מחנות machanos set out. The two types of groups represent in the most profound sense, two different ways of existing and relating to the world. Our ancestors became a מחנה machaneh in Egypt, forged together by a crucible of slavery and suffering. Ever since, Jews have known that we are thrown together by circumstance. One of the things that bonds us and binds us with Jews around the world right now, we are a מחנה machaneh. We're on the defense. We're having to argue for our right. Would you believe in 2025 there's a candidate for mayor of New York who can't call Israel the Jewish state? Antisemitism on the rise, the call to globalize the intifada. DC, Colorado, and last Friday, the FBI sending out a warning to shuls and Jews everywhere to be on heightened alert. We are a מחנה machaneh. We're a מחנה machaneh. We share a history all too often written in tears. Rabbi Soloveitchik calls this covenant of fate, ברית גורל bris goral. This is not a purely negative phenomenon, it gives rise to a powerful sense, we're part of a single story. We have in common is stronger than the things that separate us. The covenant of fate was born in the experience of slavery in מצרים Mitzrayim. But there's an additional element of Jewish identity. Rabbi Soloveitchik calls this the covenant of destiny, ברית יעוד bris yi'ud, entered into at הר סיני Har Sinai. ברית אבות Bris avos and ברית סיני bris Sinai. This defines the people of Israel not as the object of persecution, but the subject of unique vocation, to become a ממלכת כהנים וגוי קדוש mamleches kohanim v'goy kadosh, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Our task as a people of destiny is to bear witness to the presence of Hashem through the way we lead our lives, Torah, and the path we chart as a people across the centuries, history, a camp and a congregation. Sometimes, the clarion call speaks to our sense of faith. We are Hashem's people, his emissaries and ambassadors charged with making his presence real in the world through healing deeds and leading holy lives. At other times, the trumpet that sounds and summons us is the call of fate, Jewish lives endangered in Israel or the diaspora. Whichever sound the silver instruments make, they call on that duality that makes Jew and Judaism inseparable. However deep the divisions between us, we remain one family in fate and in faith. Incredible idea from this פסוק pasuk. These two חצוצרות chatzotzros are למקרא העדה ולמסע את המחנות l'mikra ha'eidah u'l'masa es hamachanos. The trumpets, the clarion call, sometimes, the trumpet says stand up and defend a fellow Jew. You're part of one camp, you're part of one fate, you come from one history, you're part of a מחנה machaneh, you're one camp. And others the trumpet sounds to call the עדה eidah, pay witness and testimony, faith, Torah, the life, the lifestyle. There's ברית אבות bris avos, what unites us with all Jews, no matter their background, level of observance, the shared history, and the defensive position and being part of one camp, and then there's the covenant, the ברית סיני bris Sinai, we're bound by Torah that legislates and regulates our lives and gives it purpose and meaning. פרק יוד, פסוק למד Perek yud, pasuk lamed. The order of breaking the camp.Bottom of page 784. ויאמר לו, לא אלך Vayomer lo, lo eilech. Sorry, the next thing. ויאמר משה לחובב בן רעואל המדיני Vayomer Moshe l'Chovav ben Reu'el haMid'yani. Moshe now turns to his שווער shver, his father-in-law, and he says to him, don't go. You have to stay. It may have been unprecedented, but it's been repeated by me a lot. I love my שווער shver, and every time he's ready to leave Boca, which he is this week, I say, where are you going? Why are you leaving? Stay even longer. So Moshe and I have that in common. We both love our father-in-law. So Moshe tells his father-in-law, חובב בן רעואל Chovav ben Reu'el, which is another name for יתרו Yisro, and he says, נוסעים אנחנו אל המקום אשר אמר ה' nos'im anachnu el hamakom asher amar Hashem, we're heading out to the place that God showed us. This isn't the end. We're not there yet. Don't leave now. We're just breaking ground. We're just going on our way. We're making it to the promised land. לכה אתנו והטבנו לך כי ה' דבר טוב על ישראל Lecha itanu v'heitavnu lach, ki Hashem diber tov al Yisrael. And come with us and we will treat you well because Hashem has spoken of good for Israel. ויאמר אליו לא אלך, כי אם אל ארצי ואל מולדתי אלך Vayomer eilav, lo eilech, ki im el artzi v'el molad'ti eilech. And Yisro says, I'm out. I'm not going. I got to go home. It's time to return home. I'm going back to my land and the place of my birth. Whose words are very, they're not reminiscent because they're a precursor to the same words used by Naomi, Ruth in that conversation. ויאמר, אל נא תעזוב אותנו Vayomer, al na ta'azov osanu. Moshe implores him. He repeats it, don't go. כי על כן ידעת חנותנו במדבר והיית לנו לעיניים Ki al kein yada'ata chanosenu bamidbar, v'hayisa lanu l'einayim. Don't forsake us. You know the way around the wilderness and you will be our eyes. What does that mean you will be our eyes? Now by the way, we're not going to speak about this now because we have in the past. Does Yisro stay or does Yisro go? Should I stay or should I go now? Does he stay or does he go? Is Moshe persuasive? Does he convince him or is he unsuccessful and does Yisro bail? What does it say? It doesn't. The Torah is ambiguous. The Torah is mysterious. The Torah leaves it open-ended, and you have to ask yourself, why? If it was important enough to raise that they had this dialogue, this conversation, why leave it as a cliffhanger? Why not tell us? So we gave an answer, we've discussed that in the past. But why is Moshe so desperate? Aside from loving his father-in-law, why is he so desperate? He gives us a hint. והיית לנו לעיניים V'hayisa lanu l'einayim. You will be our eyes. What does that mean you will be our eyes? You're a good scout, you see well, you can track the footprints. What does that mean you will be our eyes? Oh. So I think they were all Jews by force. אשר ישנו עמנו היום, ואיננו פה עמנו היום Asher yeshno imanu hayom, v'einenu po imanu hayom. At הר סיני Har Sinai, the Jewish people were endowed with קדושת ישראל kedushas Yisrael. We got the sanctity of what it means to be a Jew, and it's non-negotiable. Even though we weren't there. It's 3,300 years later. We weren't present physically. So why can't we turn to Hashem and say, I'm not bound by this contract. I didn't sign it. I didn't sign up for it. I'm out. Why am I obligated by it? Because not only those who are physically there, those who were descended from those who were there, it's like a corporate contract, not a personal contract. It's like a, it's like a constitution where all of its citizens are bound. We're obligated, we're obligated. So they were all Jews by force. There is only what can be known as a Jew by choice. And who is that? Yisro. Yisro came after, because all that he had heard, and he wanted to put his lot and destiny with this people. And Moshe says, you know, there's nothing more motivating and inspiring for the Jewish people than converts. They're holy, they're amazing. They're amazing. As I just described. We spoke at length on שבועות Shavuos, and even then didn't finish what we had to say. But the גמרא Gemara tells us, קשים גרים לישראל כספחת kashim geirim l'Yisrael k'sapachas, that converts are as painful and difficult to the Jewish people like a bad rash. That's not a big compliment for converts. So in fact, רש\"י, תוספות Rashi, Tosfos, they give reasons, because you see, converts, many of them don't stick with it. They make us look bad. We went through a program, we converted and changed their identity, and then they bail, then they back out, then they don't keep up the lifestyle. So they make us look bad. Others say they're a bad influence. The convert brings their whole upbringing, their whole background, their genetics, and they're going to compromise when they when they mix in and integrate. But תוספות Tosfos quotes, אברהם הגר Avraham haGer, תוספות Tosfos quotes the opinion of a convert himself, who says, you know why קשים לישראל כספחת kashim l'Yisrael k'sapachas? You know why converts are as bad as a bad rash? Because they're so on fire and so inspired and so motivated, they make us feel bad. Converts are annoying like בעלי תשובה baalei teshuva. They're so on fire and they're so excited by the things that we're so bored that have become stale and rote and we're sleepwalking through. And they hold up a big mirror to ourselves and they make us be better. And that's annoying. That's really annoying. The goody two shoes, the person so on fire, that's annoying. So ultimately, it's a compliment to the convert, not God forbid an insult. And maybe that's why Moshe is telling his father-in-law, don't go anywhere. We need you here. And why do we need you here? Because you are the only one who's opted in. Everybody else is obligated in. You've opted in. You are a Jew by choice. And so you're being in our community and among our people, you remind us how lucky and how fortunate we are because you chose this. While some are trying to run away, you ran towards. And that's a great reminder. Moshe says, don't leave. But Yisro says, לא אלך lo eilech. I mean he says, I will not come. I'm not coming. Says Rabbi Sacks, it's perhaps not by coincidence that immediately after we read of Yisro's departure, Moshe experiences burnout and despair. We're about to see Moshe turn to Hashem and say, I'm done, I'm out, I can't do it. Something very similar will happen later in פרשת חוקת Parshas Chukas, where first we read about the death of Miriam, followed immediately by the scene in which the people ask for water and Moshe loses his temper and strikes the rock. This act cost him the chance to lead the people across the ירדן Yarden into the promised land. It seems that in their different ways, Yisro and Miriam are essential, are essential emotional supports for Moshe. When they are there, he copes. When they are not, he loses his poise. Leaders need soulmates, people who lift their spirits and give them the strength to carry on. No one can lead alone. It's a very interesting observation. Maybe it resonates for me more than you, but Rabbi Sacks describes that Moshe, when he has the emotional support, the connection, identifying with his father-in-law, his sister, in each of these episodes, when he leads, loses a support system, he loses his poise also, because Rabbi Sacks writes, leaders need soulmates, people who lift their spirits. No one can lead alone. And that should be appreciated too. Sometimes leaders can feel lonely. פרק יוד, פסוק למד ה' Perek yud, pasuk lamed hei. Here we have the bracketed interruption. ספר במדבר Sefer Bamidbar is not really one book. Our rabbis saw it as three books. The part before this bracket called the upside down נון nun, on page 786, then the two sentences in between is its own book, and then the rest of במדבר Bamidbar is a third book. And these נון nun, upside down נון הפוכה nun hafucha, these upside down נון nun, not only look like brackets, but they act as brackets, sectioning off this part of the of the Torah. So here, Rav Druck, our first Rav Druck of the day, ויהי בנסוע הארון Vayehi binsoa ha'aron. Why is this part a bracket? We're familiar with these פסוקים psukim. One we, one we invoke when we take the Torah out, and the other we sing when we put the Torah away. What are the two פסוקים psukim? ויהי בנסוע הארון vayehi binsoa ha'aron, when the ark would travel, ויאמר משה vayomer Moshe, he would say קומה ה' ויפוצו אויביך ונוסו משנאיך מפניך kuma Hashem v'yafutzu oyvecha v'yanusu m'sanecha mipanecha, arise Hashem and scatter our enemies, let those who hate you flee from before you. ובנחה יאמר Uv'nucho yomar, and when it rested, we would say, שובה ה' רבבות אלפי ישראל shuva Hashem rivvos alfei Yisrael, reside tranquilly Hashem among the myriads. So when we take the Torah out, when it travels, we invoke ויהי בנסוע הארון Vayehi binsoa ha'aron, Hashem, decimate our enemies. And we put the Torah away after we read it, שובה השם Shuva Hashem, come back Hashem, dwell among your myriad. Wonders Rashi, those are two lovely thoughts. Those are two beautiful פסוקים psukim. Why do we have to bracket them off? Why do we have to section them off? Says Rashi, עשה להם סימניות מלפניהם ומלאחריהם asa lahem simaniyos milifneihem u'mil'achareihem, we make a sign, a symbol before and after, לאמר lomar to tell us, שאין זה מקומו she'ein zeh mekomo, it doesn't really belong here. These two verses are out of place, they don't belong here. ולמה נכתב כאן V'lama nichtav kan, why are they here? כדי להפסיק בין פורענות לפורענות kedei l'hafsik bein pur'anus l'pur'anus, because we don't want two negative events, two poor experiences of the Jewish people to be back to back. So to break them up, we interrupt with these two פסוקים psukim that are bracketed off. So says Rav Druck in his לא בשמים היא lo ba'shamayim hi. He says the following. What are the two things that were bracketing off? The Gemara Shabbos tells us, the one was ויסעו מהר ה' Vayis'u mei'har Hashem, that we ran away from הר סיני Har Sinai, and then what comes after the bracketed, ויהי העם כמתאוננים רע באזני ה' Vayehi ha'am k'mis'onenim ra b'oznei Hashem, we were complainers. First we ran away from Hashem, from הר סיני Har Sinai, and then we complained to Hashem. So to not put these two episodes back to back, that reflect poorly on us, we put these two פסוקים psukim, we schmear them in, bracket them off, and section them off. So says Rav Druck, למה דווקא פרשה זו, ויהי בנסוע הארון lama davka parsha zo, vayehi binsoa ha'aron? We could have chosen a lot of things to take out of place and put in here. Why do we choose these two to be the interruption? And the answer is because the first of the פורענות pur'anus was ויסעו מהר ה' vayis'u mei'har Hashem. What does it mean? כתינוק הבורח מבית הספר K'tinok haboreiach mibeis hasefer. When the bell rings at school, those kids are out of there like Vladimir. They run as fast as they can. There are two ways you could leave some place. You could back away slowly, the way we walk away from the כותל Kotel. We turn around, we walk away backwards. We don't want to leave, we want to stay, it pains us to leave, we walk away slowly, or when the bell rings, when the work day is over, you run, you run, you are done, you are out of there. הרי הנה בורחים, שלא היו נשארים בהר סיני לא עולם אלא היה צריך ללכת משם Harei heina borchim, shelo hayu nish'arim b'Har Sinai l'olam, ela haya tzarich lalechet misham. So what was the problem that they left הר סיני Har Sinai? They couldn't stay there forever. They weren't meant to be there forever. They had to journey. Moshe himself tells them, שובו לכם לאהליכם shuvu lachem l'oholeichem, go back to your tents, go back to your regular everyday life, and begin to practice what you just learned. So they had to leave. What was the חסרון, ויסעו מהר ה' chisaron, vayis'u mei'har Hashem? The answer is, they were so quickly ready to run and lose the feeling of having been at הר ה' Har Hashem. You know, some people, שבועות Shavuos was last week, it's in the rearview mirror. They forgot it was שבועות Shavuos, they forgot what they ate, what they learned, what they listened to, who was here. It's old news, it's in the record books. For others, and it should be all of us, especially those who still didn't say תחנון tachanun today, the last day, because we're in the שבע ברכות sheva brachos after standing at הר סיני Har Sinai with Hashem, after standing under that mountain in that marriage. So we're still feeling fired up from שבועות Shavuos. We're still on fire. Ah, the יום טוב yom tov is over. I was a week ago, but we're still on fire. So they were so ready to leave הר סיני Har Sinai behind. They weren't still carrying it with them. They weren't still on fire from it. And that was a פורענות pur'anus. So what is the reference or the response, the answer or the antidote to that feeling? What is injected here? ויהי בנסוע הארון Vayehi binsoa ha'aron. Why? להורות כי לא רק בשעת מעמד הר סיני בזמן קבלת התורה L'horos ki lo rak b'shaas ma'amad Har Sinai b'zman kabbalas haTorah, it wasn't just that while we were at הר סיני Har Sinai, we should be on fire and excited and have this relationship with Torah, it's ויהי בנסוע הארון vayehi binsoa ha'aron. The Torah goes with us wherever we go. So the answer and antidote to תינוק בורח מבית הספר tinok boreiach mibeis hasefer, to run away from הר סיני Har Sinai, to let the feelings lose so quickly, is to realize ויהי בנסוע הארון vayehi binsoa ha'aron, that the ארון aron and the Torah go with us בן סועה ben so'ah, they journey, they travel with us wherever we go. So essentially, we never left הר סיני Har Sinai. We took it with us and we take it with us. You could run away from an experience, a שמחה simcha, a milestone, a vacation, a יום טוב yom tov, and it didn't transform you. It didn't change you. You leave it behind, it's in the rearview mirror, or you could constantly remember it, you could be transformed by it, you can invoke it, you can look back at it, you can share the great memories of it. It's coming with you. You don't leave it behind. הר סיני Har Sinai was meant to come with us and that is the message of ויהי בנסוע הארון vayehi binsoa ha'aron, and that's why that is the antidote. And then Rav Druck has a second piece. This is a second piece. ויהי בנסוע הארון Vayehi binsoa ha'aron. So there were פורענות pur'anos before and פורענות pur'anos after. The פורענות pur'anos before were that we left הר סיני Har Sinai. After, ויהי העם כמתאוננים vayehi ha'am k'mis'onenim. I understand afterwards, we were punished for the ויהי העם כמתאוננים vayehi ha'am k'mis'onenim. That's called פורענות pur'anos. וישמע ה' ויחר אפו, ותבער בם אש Vayishma Hashem vayichar apo, vat'va'ar bam eish, and he burned them with a fire, and they were destroyed, so פורענות pur'anos. פורענות Pur'anos means, what's the translation of פורענות pur'anos? a calamity, a פורענות pur'anos. So there was a calamity, we complained and there was a calamity that he brought a plague about us and we lost many people. But where's the calamity that we left הר סיני Har Sinai? We weren't punished. There was no consequence or accountability. Says Rav Druck, ויסעו מהר ה' נחשב כפורענות Vayis'u mei'har Hashem nechshav k'pur'anos. The calamity was that we walked away and didn't carry the charge, the energy of הר סיני Har Sinai. Sometimes the calamity is not some external punishment. The calamity is not some external, external, external consequence. Sometimes the calamity is what we gave up, the opportunity lost, who we could have been. That in itself is a calamity for which we, for which we mourn. Okay, the same thing I didn't get to last year, I didn't get to today. So next year ב'עלותך b'ha'aloscha, please God we'll learn in ירושלים Yerushalayim. But והאיש משה עניו מאוד V'ha'ish Moshe anav me'od. Moshe was incredibly humble. We have Miriam and Aaron speaking לשון הרע lashon hara about their brother and Hashem comes and gives the ultimate endorsement, says don't touch Moshe, he's mine, he's my man, because he's the most humble man of all time. The most humble man of all time. In fact, I'll tell you one insight in it in the last two minutes. I have many more, but I'll, I'll just read to you what Rabbi Sacks. Today was a big Rabbi Sacks day. What Rabbi Sacks writes, והאיש משה V'ha'ish Moshe. So so Miriam and Aaron are gossiping about Moshe. Miriam is punished and Hashem himself comes along and testifies for Moshe. And how does he do so? What's the ultimate testimony he gives? He doesn't say, how dare you. Moshe is the holiest, the most righteous. He's the most careful on Kashrus. He has the longest Shemoneh Esrei. He's the biggest Masmid in the Beis Medrash. He doesn't say any of those things. What's the ultimate compliment? What's the ultimate admiration Hashem has for Moshe? והאיש משה עניו מאוד V'ha'ish Moshe anav me'od. Moshe is very humble. Writes Rabbi Sacks, this is a novum in history. The idea that a leader's highest virtue is humility must have seemed absurd, almost self-contradictory in the ancient world. Leaders were proud, magnificent, distinguished by their dress, appearance, and regal manner. They built temples in their own honor. They had triumphant inscriptions engraved for posterity. Their role was not to serve, but to be served. Everyone else was expected to be humble, not they. Humility and majesty could not coexist in the ancient world. So this seemed absurd. In Judaism, this entire configuration was overturned. Leaders were to serve, not be served. Moshe's highest accolade was to be called עבד ה' eved Hashem, Hashem's servant. The architectural symbolism of the two great empires of the ancient world, the Mesopotamian זִיקוּרָת ziggurat, tower of בבל Bavel, and the pyramids of Egypt, visually represented a hierarchical society, broad at the base and narrow at the top. The Jewish symbol, the מנורה menorah, was the opposite, broad at the top, narrow at the base, as if to say that in Judaism, the leader serves the people, not vice versa. Moshe's first response to God's call at the burning bush was one of humility, מי אנכי mi anochi, to bring the Jewish people out of Egypt. It was precisely the humility that qualified him to lead. Humility is not what it is sometimes taken to be, a low estimate of oneself. True humility is mindfulness of self. An ענו anav is one who never thinks about himself because he has more important things to think about. I once heard someone say about a religious leader, he took God so seriously, he didn't need to take himself seriously at all. That is biblical humility. Humility is not self-abasement, it is not self-anything. It is the ability to stand in silent awe in the presence of others, the otherness of other people, the majesty of creation, the beauty of the world, the power of great ideas, the call of great ideals. Humility is the silence of the self in the presence of that which is greater than the self. Humility is one of the most expansive and life-enhancing of all virtues. It does not mean undervaluing yourself, it means valuing other people. It signals an openness to life's grandeur and the willingness to be surprised and uplifted by goodness wherever one finds it. Humility is more than just a virtue. It is a form of perception, a language in which the 'I' is silent so I can hear the 'thou'. The unspeaking call beneath human speech, the divine whisper within all that moves, the voice of otherness that calls me to redeem its loneliness with the touch of love. Humility is what opens us to the world. But that contrast between the ancient world, which, and think about today, I'm going to write an article hopefully today or tomorrow, about how the world almost was brought down last week because the richest man in the world and the most powerful man in the world had an ego match because they had a keyboard and an internet connection at their fingertips and went at it. And the ego and access to post their thoughts in real time could have had an enormous impact on the whole rest of us and the rest of the world. And we still live in a world to a certain extent, which believes that leadership is ego and majesty and regal and royal and that all serve them, instead of recognizing that in Judaism, the leader serves the people. serves the people, and the leader serves השם Hashem, and that service should be done with humility, which was the ultimate accolade of משה Moshe. אם ירצה השם Im yirtzeh Hashem we will pick up next week. It should be a day of בשורות טובות ישועות ונחמות besorot tovot, yeshuot v'nechamot. Please remain for all of ספר תהילים Sefer Tehillim. If everybody takes a booklet, we דאווען daven hard for our hostages and our soldiers.
