Transcript
Good morning, Boker Tov. Welcome back to Parsha Perspectives for today. I want to thank our generous Parsha series sponsors. Becky and Avi Katz and family in memory of Becky's father, l'iluy nishmat שמואל דוד בן מנחם מניש, David Grossman. Today's shiur is also sponsored by the Ashman family in honor of יוסף לייב בן חלבנא's yahrzeit. By Jared Charth, thank you to Parsha Perspectives, the strength to complete his race to the Base Half Marathon. Listen to Parsha Beshalach and Yitro and made it to the finish line. Amazing. And by Jay Lerman for the refuah sheleimah of Menucha bat Gittel, Devorah שמואל אביגדור בן רבקה, דוד יחזקאל בן בלימא. Anonymously, in the merit of אבנר בן אברהם הכהן, Sheindel bat David, Meshulam ben David, David ben Meshulam, Nissan ben Shimon, פול חיים בן דוד, אשר ירחמיאל בן יוסף הלוי. May their neshamot have an aliyah. Thank you to all of our generous sponsors. I have amazing news to report today. And the amazing news is I am done mutchering you. We have reached our goal and surpassed it by far. And I want to from the bottom of my heart, from the bottom of my heart, thank each and every one of the nearly 800 families who contributed to our global campaign to enable us to continue to learn and teach. I told you two weeks, it was two weeks and not a day more. You made that happen. From the bottom of my heart, really with the greatest sincerity and gratitude, I thank you for your generosity, thank you for making it happen. I have to tell you, I'm incredibly proud. 800 nearly 800 families from 167 different cities around the world participated, which means that our learning is global indeed. It's worldwide. There's I can't describe how gratifying and satisfying that is. It means the world to me. I'm sorry that I mutchered you. I'm not sorry I mutchered you because we needed to make it happen. I thank you for responding. Page 444. And you saved me from having to weave it into this Parsha, even though it's the perfect setup. וידבר ה' אל משה לאמר דבר אל בני ישראל ויקחו לי תרומה מאת כל איש אשר ידבנו לבו תקחו את תרומתי. Hashem spoke to Moshe and he said, speak to the Jewish people and let them take for me a portion. From every person whose heart motivates him, you shall take a portion. Veyikchu li terumah. We know famously it should say veyitnu li terumah, give. Why does it say veyikchu? And we all know these divrei Torah. Because every time we give, we really get. Every time we think we're giving, we get the experience of dedicating and allocating our resources and the gifts we have towards good. And indeed we're getting more than we're giving. And since we're getting more than we're giving, the Torah formulates it as veyikchu li terumah. There's a great Rebbe who used to say not I give tzedakah, I take tzedakah. I'm taking tzedakah. When he would give tzedakah he'd say I'm taking tzedakah. Not taking receiving, I'm taking mean through the act of giving. Nebach there are people who don't know this joy. There are people who don't know the incredible pleasure there is. They think the hold or they tight it, the tighter they hold it, the longer they'll have it, the more they can enjoy it. And they don't realize they can't take it with them. And the only thing that we really ever have, the only thing that actually defines our worth is what we give away because what we have, what we have can disappear, what we have, what we have we can lose, what we have we can't take with us. But what we give away that's that's who we are forever. So Hashem tells the Jewish people, and it's not a coincidence, it's soon after being a slave nation. Slaves hold on tight to what they have. They have so little, so meager, they have nothing of their own. כל מה שקנה עבד קנה רבו. Whatever a slave owns really belongs to their master. They have nothing, including their own independence. And here you have a people who discovered a fortune. They borrowed money on the way out of Egypt and they lapped up money at the banks of the sea and they have a small fortune and now the slave nation who had financial insecurity and financial anxiety are now being asked veyikchu li terumah. It's time to give. Because at the very beginning of our becoming a people, what defines us as a people is not what we earn and what we take and what we have, even though you know our enemies like to talk about Jews are rich and what Jews have. There's a there's a podcast which is very popular called Kosher Money. And it was designed for the Jewish people. How do you have a large family? How do you save? What do you do to invest? How do you ensure you could pay tuition? But it turns out that non-Jews all over the world would love to listen to a podcast by Jews about money. So non-Jews, those who admire and flatter us for having money and those who use that as a meme of their anti-Semitism, as a trope about how we have all this money, they shouldn't highlight what people have, what makes the Jewish people different, what should differentiate us is not what we hold on to but what we give away. Let them look at the statistics which are publicly available about how much Jews give, the philanthropy. The generosity, the charity, what differentiates us is not wealth, what should differentiate us is what we share, what we give, veyikchu li terumah, veyikchu, not veyitnu, because when a person is charitable, they're not giving, they're getting much more than they're giving away because we only ever really have what we give, not what we hold onto. And nebach on the people who don't know that, the incredible joy, the satisfaction, the meaning, the purpose to allocate and dedicate our resources to good and to see. So Rashi says, veyikchu li terumah, פתח לדבר אל בני ישראל בלשון פיוס. Why did Hashem have to say דבר אל בני ישראל? Listen Moshe, be gentle, go lightly, take it easy. People, they're not going to part with their money so easily. You're running a campaign, the campus campaign, the global campaign, the Beis Medrash campaign, there's always a campaign. It's just which one this week. So be careful, Hashem tells Moshe, daber, gentle, sweet, sweet, talk gently, talk sweetly, ease them into it, bilshon piyus, כמו דבר על לב ירושלים בשביל שיש בו חסרון כיס, paisam, says the Baal HaTurim. Sorry, not Rashi, it's the Baal HaTurim. Says the Baal HaTurim, you're asking for money, it's easier to ask them for their kidney. Their kidney you can be strong and harsh and tell them they have to give, but money, gentle, sweet, careful, paisam, you have to appease them. Speak gently. Baal HaTurim says you have to, why? Because there's chesron kis. Anytime that we're out of pocket, anytime that we have to spend, anytime that it costs, people are going to hesitate, they're going to resist. So speak gently. daber, דברו על לב ירושלים, daber is the language of gentle, sweet, sweet. Davar kasheh lehavana says the L’havat Esh, Rav Druck, שהנה מצינו בגמרא בבכורות. The Gemara in Bechoros daf hei says אין לך כל אחד ואחד מישראל שלא היו עמו תשעים חמורים לובים טעונים מכספה וזהבה של מצרים. There wasn't anyone in the nation who didn't have 90 donkeys laden with the gold and silver they took out of Egypt. They had incredible wealth. We walked away with everything that washed up on the bank of the sea. We walked away with everything that we borrowed, really were compensated from the Egyptians. Everyone had 90 mules, 90 donkeys schlepping the gold and silver. אם כן לשם מה היה צריך לפייס ישראל בכדי שיתנו תרומה? So that should be the easiest appeal in the world. Right? The wealthier someone is, the easier it should be for them to give away money. Because they couldn't possibly spend all that money in their lifetime, the lifetime of all their descendants that will come after them, what that money will earn on its own, passive income. They couldn't possibly spend. הלא היה להם הון עצום ורב לאין מספר. ומה הוא אותו פיוס שהיה צריך משה רבינו לפייס ישראל ולמה למד דבור של נדבת המשכן בלשון פיוס? Why? Why tread lightly? Why be careful? Why be cautious? Why speak gently? You think if you got a meeting with Elon Musk, he's closing in on the first trillionaire ever. Said Elon, living with emunah, you know, 1,800 dollars. I can't describe how little that is to him if you're worth nearly a trillion. So you'd have to be gentle? I don't mean, if it's okay, no pressure, please, possibly, if you don't mind. Really? Someone who's worth almost a trillion. עוד יש לעיין בדברי בעל הטורים הגם שיש במצוה זו חסרון כיס על כל פנים יש להם עוד מצות רבות בתורה מענין נתינת צדקה, she'ar netinos. When it comes to so many other mitzvos in the Torah, there are expenditures. There is a cost to it. There's a budget needed for it. Giving tzedakah in general, nason titein, pacho'ach tiftach, haneik taneik. You got to spend money on arba minim, got to spend money on kosher food, got to spend money on tuition, I don't have to tell you what you have to spend money on. And yet there it doesn't say, listen Moshe, when you tell them about that mitzvah, it's an expensive one, break it to them lightly, go gentle. Doesn't say that. So why specifically here when it came to raising for the Mishkan, all of a sudden bilshon piyus, lepayeisam, you got to be gentle, got to be careful, got to be sweet, got to be endearing. ויש לבאר בזה בהקדם, so says Rav Druck, let me answer based on a Gemara Kesuvos. The Gemara Kesuvos daf ches, שבברכת המזון שבסעודת ברית מילה אין אומרים שהשמחה במעונו. Im yirtzeh Hashem have a wedding tonight, I'm officiating, we're going to, and at the benching at the end of this wedding, we'll say shehasimchah bime'ono, that the joy is up in the celestial heavens. But we don't say that at a bris. Why don't we say shehasimchah bime'ono at a bris? Isn't Hashem happy and joyous? A new young boy entering the covenant of the Jewish people. הטעם משום שטרודים עקב הצער שיש לרך הנימול. Because this baby just had surgery with no anesthesia. This mother's cringing. If you look, I'm pointing there because usually when the bris is right here. She's in more pain watching the *bris* than she is delivering the baby. Delivering the baby without an epidural would be less painful than watching her son get this *bris*. The *krechts*, the *oy*, the look on the face. How could you make a *beracha* *shehasimcha bem'ono*? Joy and *simcha* and happiness as a baby in pain? ממילא השמחה אינה שלמה גם במעונו של הקדוש ברוך הוא. And if we down here can't be fully joyous, then up there *Hashem* can't either. יתר מזו גם יש מנהג הקדמונים בחוץ לארץ שלא לברך ברכת שהחיינו בברית מילה. We have a *minhag* at least *Ashkenazim* in *chutz la'aretz*, we don't make a *beracha* of *shehecheyanu*. Why don't you make a *shehecheyanu*? Why don't you make a *shehecheyanu*? You take the *lulav* and *esrog* for the first time that year, you make a *shehecheyanu*. Sit in the *sukkah* the first time that year, you make a *shehecheyanu*. And a *bris*, probably not having more than one a year, you don't make a *shehecheyanu*? Why not? For the same reason. You're gonna make a *shehecheyanu* *vekiyyemanu vehiggianu*? Oh, *geshmak*, *gevaldig*, a big *simcha*! The baby's looking up, so yeah, big *simcha*! Ouch. זאת אומרת שאפילו בסעודה כמו ברית, you know the baby, the boys, when we open the door for *Eliyahu*, last time we saw him we were sitting on his chair, we cringe a little bit. Some bad memories, it's triggering. שיש בו שמחה גדולה שזכו להכניס עוד תינוק בבריתו של אברהם אבינו. ומצות מילה אמרו בגמרא שכרת עליה י\"ג בריתות. ומצוה יחידה מלבד קרבן פסח שהיא מצות עשה שיש בה כרת. ולמרות כל זה כיון שיש צער התינוק אין הקדוש ברוך הוא שמח בעולמו. You know *bris* is a big thing, very big thing. To bring someone in the covenant of *Avraham Avinu*. On *bris mila* it says this is like thirteen covenants formed with *Hashem*. There's only two positive commandments that if you don't fulfill it, you get the punishment of *kares*, spiritual excision. The *korban pesach* and *bris mila*. And despite its uniqueness and distinctiveness, despite its significance, nevertheless, we don't make this *beracha* *shehasimcha bem'ono*. You know why? 'Cause if we can't fully be joyous down here, then *Hashem* is not fully joyous up there. How could you say *shehasimcha bem'ono* that *Hashem* is so happy in the heavens if there's any pain in this process down here? Says *Rav* Druck, יש לבאר היטב את הטעם על פי מצות נדבה במשכן. כי כאשר מבקש הקדוש ברוך הוא שיבנו עבורו בית להשרות שכינתו. ויום בניית המשכן הוא יום שמחה של הקדוש ברוך הוא. You know the day that we built the *Beis Hamikdash* is an incredibly joyous day for *Hashem*. Like the *Gemara* in *Ta'anis* learns on the *pasuk* in *Shir Hashirim*: ביום חתונתו וביום שמחת לבו. That's the *pasuk* in *Shir Hashirim*. On the day of your wedding and the day of the joy of your heart. *Yom chasunaso*, say *Chazal*, הוא יום מתן תורה. *Yom simchas libo*, הוא יום בניית המשכן. So what is the day that is the most joyous and happiest for *Hashem* is the day of the building of the *mishkan*. אין הקדוש ברוך הוא שמח בעולמו ואינו יכול להשרות שכינתו במשכן אם יש איזה יהודי אחד מישראל שיש לו איזה צער. So *Hashem* says I want this to be an incredible day. Opening day of the new *shul*, of the expanded *shul*, I want it to be the most joyous happy day. *Hashem* says it's my joy, my happy. The learning, the *davening*, the communion, the conversation, the connection that we're gonna have there, the coordination of the *chesed* that will happen there, unbelievable, I want to be completely happy. But here is the problem. I can't be completely happy up there if there's anyone unhappy down here. אם יש לו תרעומת קל שאפילו איזה הרגשה מסוימת לא טובה על כך שלקחו ממנו ממון נגד רצונו. If anyone feels you instituted a building fund, you forced them, you made them, you coerced them, you took that money. They're gonna have *tainos*, they're gonna be miserable, they're gonna say they couldn't afford it, they're gonna say it wasn't necessary, they're gonna say it was unfair. *Hashem* says if anyone's miserable down there, I can't be happy up here. So here's the deal, *Moshe*, you need to run a campaign where everyone's giving out of the will of their heart. You need to find a way to run a campaign that everyone's invested, everyone's a stakeholder, everyone cares, everyone wants to give. We didn't institute with this big campus that's going up. *Parsha Shiur* is gonna be in a new location, unbelievable, we'll be able to fit three times as many people, *Baruch Hashem*. We'll stream it with greater technology and reach more people, can't wait, super excited. I hope it's gonna give *nachas ruach* to *Hashem*. But we didn't institute a building campaign, that was our promise and pledge to the community. We want everyone to, we want everyone to give. We're gonna do a campaign for a hundred percent participation, but voluntary. Because just like the original, just like the *mishkan*, *asher yidvenu libo*, it's got to be out of the will of one's heart. A person should have to want to give. They have to want to say I want a *cheilek*, I want a part, I want to walk through that door and say I also made this happen. I don't just come in as a *shlepper*, I don't just come in as a taker, I don't just come in as a freeloader, I don't just benefit from it all, I had a part in it, I contributed to it, I helped make this happen, and I did it not because anyone made me. I did it because I wanted to. *Asher yidvenu libo*. So *dafka* here, *dafka* here says *Rav* Druck, *dafka* when it comes to the *mishkan* and building a house for *Hashem*, *Hashem* says I don't want to be... in that house if someone thinks I made them contribute to it. I want to be there when everyone gave of their own will, their own volition, with their own excitement and therefore Moshe דבר אל בני ישראל. Speak gently, speak softly, speak affectionately, win them over, persuade them, convince them, don't compel them so that they want to give. Ratzon gamur, nefesh chafetza, v'haskama mleia, she'lo yehei לא יוכל הקדוש ברוך הוא להשרות שכינתו על המשכן ka'asher yesh tza'ar. Hashem doesn't want to be in a place where there's pain, He certainly doesn't want to be in a place where He feels He caused the pain. His mitzvah or His Mishkan created the pain, He doesn't want to be there. And therefore dafka here, just like a bris milah you can't say simcha b'maono, Hashem wants to be able to say there's simcha here and the only way to do that is if what? Everyone gives of their own, everyone gives of their own will. Good. פרק כה פסוק ה. There's so much I want to repeat because there's such incredible divrei Torah on Parshat Terumah, you're going to have to listen to previous years. It's all there, it's all available, it's all up. Find it, listen to it because they're not my own ideas, there's so many incredible ideas from so many others. I'm going to hold back so that we learn new ideas this year. ועורות אילים מאדמים ועורות תחשים ועצי שטים. תרומה תצוה ויקהל פקודי. We're now going to go through the measurements, the materials, the Mishkan, the Kelim, the utensils, everything that's going to go into this house of God interrupted by Ki Tisa, the chet ha'egel, we'll get to in a couple weeks. But by the way, no shiur next week, I'll be traveling Israel, so no shiur next week, resume in two weeks, please note no shiur next week. We'll resume in time for the chet ha'egel, for Ki Tisa. So these measurements and these materials, pasuk hey, orot eilim, red dyed ram skins, tachash skins, acacia wood, oil for illumination, spices for ointment oil and the aromatic incense. What are tachash skins? What are tachash skins? Anyone know? Orot techashim, the skins of the tachash. Zogt der Rashi. Zogt der Rashi, tachash skins, Rashi's the small print, makes us look old. Pasuk hey. מין חיה ולא היתה אלא לשעה והרבה גוונים היו לה l'kach mtargem sasguna שש ומתפאר בגוונא שלו. Says Rashi quoting a Midrash Tanchuma, the Gemara Shabbos, that tachash was an animal that existed only at the time of the construction of the Mishkan. Gemara Shabbos Khaf ches. Tachash skins, that's why if you look at the Artscroll, I don't know if anyone's looking at a Rabbi Sacks Chumash, Artscroll writes tachash, Artscroll writes orot techashim, tachash skins. What a tachash? If an Artscroll doesn't try to translate, does Rabbi Sacks try to translate? Anyone have the Chumash? The Rabbi Sacks Chumash? Tachash skins. So Rashi says this was an animal that existed only at the time of the construction of the Mishkan, had many colors, very colorful, very beautiful and this says Rashi is why Targum renders it sasguna. Sas u-mitpa'er, joyful and proud of its colors. This animal was joyful and proud of its colors. Now why would the tachash take pride in its color? I thought pride is a bad thing, we're not supposed to be proud, we're not supposed to be arrogant. Pride, pride leads to arrogance, leads to misbehavior. Isn't pride something negative? Don't we work on pride? Don't we suppress pride, overcome pride? And yet here Rashi somehow is complimenting this tachash, this colorful animal that existed only at the time of the construction of the Mishkan that was sas u-mitpa'er, joyful and proud. Listen to this insight of Rav Shaul Alter, says the Gerer Rosh Yeshiva. Because it existed only at the time of and for the purpose of the construction of the Mishkan, it was entitled to be proud. You know what you see and you learn from here, this Rashi? Someone whose entire existence is dedicated to avodas Hashem, someone whose entire existence is to say what's my mission? What's my purpose? How do I serve Hashem? That person can be proud. What they're proud of is not their ego, they're proud of their elokus. This is going to go in the book. They're proud of not their ego, they're proud of the elokus. When a person says look at my wealth, look at my house, look at my car, look at my good looks, look at my charm, look at my spouse, look at my children, look at my athletic prowess, look at my artistic, look at my song, my voice, when you say ego, me, look at me, pride, that's negative. That is something that's destructive. When a person says I'm so proud to dedicate my life to Hashem, so proud of the impact of the influence, I'm proud of my mission and proud of my purpose, I'm proud to be dedicated to Hashem, that's a pride which is permissible. And that's what the tachash's cause for joy. Sas u-mitpa'er. mispa'er. True joy is experienced says Rav Shaul Alter in his Beis Desha on Terumah Tashpab, true joy is only by a person whose every action is taken leshem shamayim. Somebody can look at their life, their actions, their behavior, how they use their resources and say, it is all entirely and uniquely, it is entirely dedicated to the service of Hashem, such a person is takeh entitled to be proud. So this tachash that existed only, it's an animal we don't know of. It's an animal we have no evidence for before or after. The only thing we know about this tachash, this animal, is that it existed when? At the time of the building of the Mishkan, its many colors and its sas umispa'er. It's proud and it's colorful. Why is it entitled to be proud? Because anything that exists solely to serve Hashem can be proud. And we too, ego don't be proud. The 'I' don't be proud. That's arrogance. That is something that will interfere. That's the אנכי עמד ביני וביניכם. That's the ego, the 'I' that stands between us and Hashem. But if it's the Elokus in us, avodas Hashem, that we're entitled to be proud of. פרק כה פסוק ח. ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם. We've spoken about this so many times before. Says Hashem, Moshe to the Jewish people, make for me a sanctuary veshachanti and I will dwell besocham in them. Our rabbis darshen, the Alshich quotes this: בתוכו לא נאמר אלא בתוכם. It doesn't say besocho, it says besocham. I'm reading to you now from a new sefer, I'm very grateful the one who published the new version of it, who was the grandchild, great-grandchild of the Kol Aryeh was here last week and gave me a copy. Who is the Kol Aryeh? Anyone know the Kol Aryeh? Yocheved and I were at his kever this past summer. The Kol Aryeh was the Rav of Mad. רב אברהם יהודה הכהן שוורץ, he was the Rav of Mad. Mad is near Kerestir. Everybody knows Reb Shayala Kerestir, the chesed. What you may not know is a short drive from there, there was a shul in Mad. Magnificent. It was restored after the war. And there's no hachnosas orchim there, there's no stuffed cabbage and chicken soup and rugelach like the other stops we made in our trip through Hungary and Ukraine. Magnificent, beautifully redone. And we met the great-grandson there, Reb Aaron Reich, who goes every summer to bring that shul back to life and this is his brother who wrote the Kol Aryeh קול אריה התורה מועדים put out a new version of it, a beautiful Kol Aryeh. And there's a cemetery there that goes back hundreds and hundreds of years, people buried there, and it's intact, and it's really extraordinary. There's actually a little museum attached to it, you get a book about the history of the Jews of Mad and the rabbonim of Mad and going back really, really special. So the Kol Aryeh, the heilige Kol Aryeh here writes: פירוש הרב רבינו מהר״ם אלשיך שכוונתם דהשם יתברך חפצו ורצונו שיקר השראת השכינה הקדושה יהא בישראל בעצמם שהם יהיו מעון השכינה והיינו בתוך כל אחד ואחד עיין שם באריכות. Noam Devarav HaKedoshim. The Kol Aryeh quotes the Alshich who says: Why does it say God tells Moshe build for me a sanctuary and I’ll dwell in what should it say besocho in it? It doesn’t say that. It says build a sanctuary I’ll dwell besocham in them. Who’s the them? Who’s the them? The Alshich says the them is us. The sanctuary are the bricks and mortar. But the the actual place that Hashem wants to dwell is in our hearts. Bilvavi mishkan evneh. In our hearts we build a Beis HaMikdash. We are the Mishkan. We are the Mikdash. We are what make the shul come alive. והדבר הזה יש להוסיף נופך says the Kol Aryeh למאיד דזה שאמר הכתוב אחרי כן ככל אשר אני מראה אותך את תבנית המשכן ואת תבנית כל כליו וכן תעשו. Pasuk Ches, the very next pasuk read it inside. Turn the page. ככל אשר אני מראה אותך, the whole, everything I’m going to show you, tavnis hamishkan, the form, the architectural plans of the Mishkan, tavnis kol keilov, I’m going to give you the detailed drawings of the utensils, vechein ta'asu so shall you do. Zaght der Rashi, vechein ta'asu, Gemara in Sanhedrin tes-zayin, vechein ta'asu so shall you do ledoros for generations to come. Generations to come? What do you mean the Mishkan wasn't permanent? The Mishkan wasn't forever? The Mishkan was just a precursor for the Mikdash? So what do you mean ledoros? All these details, all this architecture, all of these, all of these diagrams, all these materials, everything about the Mishkan and in it is not ledoros. It's not for generations to come. It was just while we wandered through the desert when we first came into Israel and until we set up and built the Beis HaMikdash. So what do you mean vechein ta'asu ledoros? It doesn't for generations. לפי מה שכתוב בזוהר הקדוש וכן כתוב באגרת הרמב\"ם דציורא דעלמא וציורא דבר נש וציורא דמשכנא חד הוא. Says the Zohar Hakadosh and its reference says the Kol Aryeh in the writings of the Rambam that the designs for the world and the designs for the Mishkan and the designs for man, chad hi, zel ba zach, it's one and the same. One and the same. The architectural plans and designs for the world and for the Mishkan and for people, every person, it's the same thing, it's the same design. כי האדם הוא עולם קטן, because a person is a world in miniature. כמו שכתב הרמב\"ם במורה נבוכים, like the Rambam writes, כל מה שיש בעולם יש באדם, whatever exists in the world exists in a person. Dugma, רמ\"ח איברים ושס\"ה גידים, our 248 limbs and 365 giddim, יש בם גם בעולם בציור כמו כן היה במשכן דוגמתו שיש בם גם בעולם. Everything about the makeup of a person, our anatomy, our build, is synonymous and has a parallel in this world and a parallel in the world of the Mishkan. כמבואר למעיין בתורת העולה לרבינו הרמ\"א שמיסד על זה איך כל ענין המקדש כן בעולם שישנה באדם. Everything we're going to read, everything we're going to read about the design, the Mishkan had beams and it had curtains and dividers, it had a private area, a Holy of Holies and a Holy. Everything about it is not a building. Everything about it is a design and an architecture for a person. There's depth to it, there's profundity to it, there's a design for it for us and the way that we're meant to live our lives. ומי שמקיים מצות התורה בלי חסרון, and a person who in fact is living a life of service to Hashem, a person who has turned their body into a vehicle to serve Hashem, ומתקן כל איבריו וגידיו בשלימות הוי בדוגמא משכן וראוי שתשרה שכינה בתוכו. They are a moving walking Mishkan. משה היה שלם בנמצאים בלי חסרון לכן המשכן אצלו בציור לגמרי ותשרה השכינה עליו כמו במשכן. Just like Hashem dwelled, His intense presence could be felt through the Tabernacle, the Mishkan, similarly through a person who is a living, animated Mishkan, Hashem is mashre Shchina, Hashem also dwells on and is visible and accessible on and through such a person. So what's the point? What is the Kol Aryeh getting at is as we read this parshiyos, as we read these pesukim, we're not supposed to think we're just reading about measurements and materials, something outdated, arcane, it doesn't even exist, it's not even extant. We're reading about ourselves. We're looking in the mirror. We're understanding who we're supposed to be and how we're supposed to live, and what is our best selves. Our best selves in our lives, our homes will have a shulchan and a mizbe'ach and a menorah and all the vessels and utensils of the Mishkan. We ourselves will be made up of curtains, there's privacy, there's humility, we'll be made up of beams, we'll be made up of sockets, we'll be made up of hooks, all the materials and all the dimensions of the Mishkan are not speaking only about then and that, it's speaking to and each of us and that's why it says v'shachanti b'socham, God dwells in each and every one of us. We are the moving Mishkan, we are the animated living Tabernacle. That's how we're supposed to channel and direct and live our lives that people will see and comment, that's what people will say. פרק כה פסוק כב. So first we have the ark, ועשו ארון עצי שטים. It's in the plural because the Aron ha'Kodesh, the Torah belongs to all the Jewish people. Many years ago, towards the beginning of Parsha Perspectives, we went through these parshiyos with the commentary of the Kli Yakar, of Luntschitz. The Kli Yakar has magnificent interpretations, that each of the dimensions here are not accidental, they're by design and they have a meaning. Each of the materials, everything, all the language, singular or plural, it's worth reviewing the Kli Yakar on these parshiyos, magnificent. אמתים וחצי ארכו אמה וחצי רחבו ואמה וחצי קמתו. Why are the dimensions of the Aron, for example, integer, they're fractions, they're not whole. Why are they one and a half, two and a half, why not whole, why half? Because if the Aron represents Torah, we need to know that we're incomplete, we're not a whole number, we're a work in progress, we're on our way. We should never feel we've arrived, we're never done, we're never finished, we're never complete, we're like a fraction. First of all, we only, like we read last week Parshas Shekalim, it's only when we combine, complement with another that we become whole, we're only a fraction. But we're also only a fraction of who we could be. We're only using a fraction of our time, we're only using a fraction of our memory, we're only using a fraction of our capacity, we've only achieved a fraction of our potential and possibility. We're not a whole number, we're a fraction because we're just getting started, our best is yet to come, we're on our way and we're never done, we're never finished. And all that, says the Kli Yakar, is just alluded to when the dimensions [Error processing chunk 7] The only thing that keeps us going is our commitment to Torah. That you know what parsha it is, that you can talk about who Moshe is, that you know what the next Jewish holiday is, that you understand Shabbas and Kosher and davening and tzedakah and Torah, that we know what a Mishkan is. This is what grounds us. This is our anchor. This is what holds us, this is what saves us, this is what nourishes us. In a world in which people, as we saw when the Jewish people went three days without water and our Rabbis instituted we can't go three days without Torah because without it we're dehydrated and malnourished, Torah is what keeps us alive. And there is no greater use of or expression of friendship than talking Torah. Talking Torah. Sitting and asking a friend, what do you think of this? Listen to this dvar Torah, listen to what I heard at the parsha shiur. And I will even use the term Torah here more broadly. Not specifically a dvar Torah, not a gematria or a vort. But Torah means asking a friend how's your neshama? How's your neshama? Not how's your guf. I saw the car you drove up in. And I see the fancy credit card you're going to pay for the coffee at Starbucks with. And I see you look better than ever. You had some work done, you didn't have work done, you just look great. You look fantastic. Your body I can... fantastic. But how's your neshama doing? Usually when we get together and we talk to one another, we say how you doing? How am I doing? I'm great. Yeshiva week we went to Panama, Pesach we're going to Malaysia. I don't know is Malaysia, there's probably a program there, Croatia. And the stock market, have you seen what's happening? My net worth? It's through the roof. And look at me. I look fantastic. On the way I stopped in Turkey and I got hair plugs. I look amazing. That's what we think we talk about when we say how are you? How are you? But that's not what we mean. What we should mean. שניים שיושבים ואין ביניהם דברי תורה. What it means to have Torah between us means you say how's your neshama? How's your davening, how's your emunah? How's your neshama doing? What's neshama? So the two kruvim on top of the Mishkan were the image of two friends who were asking each other how's your neshama. אם כן אף שקדושת הלוחות למעלה מכל אבל השכינה מחפשת להיות דווקא בין חברים שנושאים ונותנים בדברי תורה. Hashem says, I don't want to be within these two stones. I don't want to appear to you from two rocks inside a box. You know where I want to be? You know where I want my voice to come from? I want to be with the chevra. I want to be with the chaveirim. Because Hashem says there's nothing holier in the world than chaveirim, than friends. Friendship is unbelievable. kilshen HaToras Kohanim ראה חיבתן של ישראל היכן גרמה לכבוד השם הזה מרובה כביכול נדחק בין שני כרובים חיבתן של ישראל עם חברים שנושאים ונותנים בדברי תורה חביבין לפני הקדוש ברוך הוא יותר מן הלוחות עצמן. Holier to God than the luchos, than the tablets themselves, are two friends talking about their neshama. Two friends nourishing the neshama. We sometimes underestimate and we sometimes fail to recognize the value of friendship. Friendship is holy. Friendship is the holiest of holies. Friendship is in fact even a mitzvah. It's a mitzvah. The Gra, the Vilna Gaon teaches, you know, on Shabbas there's a mitzvah of techumin. You're not allowed to walk more than 2,000 cubits, ama, outside of a settled area. However, if you put an eruv techumin then you buy yourself an extra 2,000 ama. Why are you allowed, when are you allowed to put an eruv techumin in order to buy more space? So the halacha is it has to be for the purpose of a mitzvah. So you're going to expand your boundary for the purpose of fulfilling a mitzvah, then you're allowed to put an eruv techumin. The Vilna Gaon says you're allowed to put an eruv techumin for a sake of a mitzvah, two Jews meeting each other is considered a mitzvah. Someone's on the other side, you're on this side, you want to be able to meet in between, so you need an eruv techumin to get there. Two Jews meeting, two Jews getting together, two Jews expressing friendship, two Jews nourishing each other's neshama, that itself is included. That's called a tzorech. That's called a need. That's called a tzorech mitzvah. Two Jews, two Yidden meeting each other. For that you could put an eruv techumin. That for the Gra is a mitzvah. That's a mitzvah. Friendship is a mitzvah, and not only is friendship a mitzvah, friendship is the holiest thing. So when Hashem says my voice, I, am going to be present and appear to you, you know where I'll always look like I'm speaking from? Not inside a box. Not among tablets. I'm going to speak to you from two chaveirim, from two friends, because that indeed, that taka, is precious. Friendship is holy, friendship is real, friendship is precious, friendship is something to cherish, to nourish, to not neglect. What we call Dvarim shema bekach. Even just to talk about Dvarim shema bekach, casual conversation is holy when it's between two friends and when it's bringing friends closer together. What's the Hebrew word for friend? Chaver. What's the word Chaver? Chibbur. A friend is someone you make a connection with. You share a commonality with. A Chaver is someone with whom you have a Chibbur. You're all my friends. I was blown away, I literally got emotional when we hit our goal because I really felt that nearly eight hundred families from one hundred and sixty-seven cities, these are my friends. These are my friends. I'm not saying a prerequisite to be my friend is to give and donate to my causes. I'm not not saying that, I'm just not saying it. I'm undecided on it. But my point is you're my friend if we care about the same things. It's not that you're my friend cause you took me to the front row at a Heat game. You're not my friend cause you took me out for dinner and paid for it or you dropped off a bottle of my favorite Lagavulin smoky peaty scotch. It's not what that's not what makes you my friend. That's also a way to become... that's not friendship. Friendship is we care about the same things. We're working on the same projects. We want to make the same reality happen. We have the same dreams. There's a Chibbur. There's a Chibbur. There's a connection. You're a Chaver because there's a Chibbur. There's a connection. There's a connection. So says the Ribbono shel Olam when it's time for me to appear and to talk, you know where I come to you? I'm coming to you live from between the two Keruvim. Says Hashem, I'm coming to you live from between two Chaverim, cause that's the holiest holiest place. That's the holiest holiest place. Okay. Isn't that Gishmak? Isn't that beautiful? Rabbi Soloveitchik also has a comment on V'noadati l'cha. Says Rabbi Soloveitchik in his Chumash, the command to build the sanctuary is very difficult to understand. It's linked to a great and sublime secret. Shlomo HaMelech expressed in his Tefilla after he completed the first Beis HaMikdash. It appears in Melachim Aleph. Shlomo HaMelech said, but will God indeed dwell on earth? The heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain you, much less this temple I've erected. Shlomo HaMelech said, the whole heavens can't hold you. You're gonna come dwell here on earth? If the entire universe is insufficient to contain him, how can he dwell in such a small limited space? When Shlomo posed the question, Hashem apparently provided no response. Instead, Shlomo continued with a request. This is a פסוק מלכים א פרק ח. And you shall turn towards your servant's prayer and to his supplication, Hashem, to hearken to the song to the prayer that your servant is praying to you today. Instead of searching for an answer to how infinity can dwell in a place of finitude, Shlomo requests that Hashem accept our prayers. Don't get stuck on the question. Don't get stuck on the riddle. Don't be puzzled. How could it be the infinite can live and dwell here in the finite? Channel and turn the question into a Tefilla. Why does Hashem want a house? So he can dwell among us. This is the true intent of the Mitzvah. V'asisa, what do we say? ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם. Where they live is where I want to live, in a home next to them. At any time you may knock on my door and talk to me, to tell me your worries, your dreams, your desires, without hesitation, without shame. That's the very reason I contracted my glory. It is appropriate for me to dwell between the Keruvim atop the Aron, the infinite being limited to the finite ark, for it is my will that my house will be called a house of prayer. This is very similar to the Maggid Yosef, says Rabbi Soloveitchik. Why does Hashem choose between the Keruvim? Because that's why he's down here to begin with. He doesn't just live upstairs. He comes down here. I saw a beautiful Kotzker השמים שמים להשם והארץ נתן לבני אדם. Says the Kotzker, לעשות בהם שמים. The heavens belong to God and the earth belongs to man, to turn it into heavens. The heavens that's God, the earth he gave to us. Why did he give us the earth? To turn it into heaven. Be his angels, make space for him, be in conversation with him. So that's what Shlomo HaMelech taught us in his Tefilla. Throughout our exile they directed their hearts times of prayer to his house as if they are there and divine presence is right next to them. It wasn't only true when we had a Beis HaMikdash, even now when we lack it, when we Davven, where do we still turn? To Yerushalayim, to Eretz Yisrael. Eretz Yisrael Yerushalayim, Yerushalayim Makom HaMikdash, Makom HaMikdash to the Kodesh HaKodashim because we're still focused on that's where Hashem is. Prayer requires a feeling of closeness as if one is standing opposite him, in his embrace. Such intent is a central idea and a fundamental principle of prayer, writes Rabbi Soloveitchik. פרק כה פסוק לא. Now we move over to the Menorah. So far we covered the Aron, we covered the Kapores on top of it and now we talk about the Menorah. ועשית מנרת זהב טהור מקשה תיעשה המנורה ירכה וקנה גביעיה. We have all the details of this Menorah. This Menorah was uber super complicated. There's no picture here, maybe in the back. This ArtScroll has magnificent colored pictures in the back. But if you look at this Menorah you'll see it's... really complicated. And the hardest part about it is page 1358. Page 1358 in the back and you have both versions, the Rambam Chabad version with the straight arms, the curved version in case that's the case it was, the debate. But you see there are flowers and bowls and protrusions and details and ornaments, and it's all made out of one solid piece of gold. Super complicated, so much so that Moshe said, I don't know how to make this. I don't know how to do this. This is super complicated. How do you build this? And Rashi tells us, Ta'aseh HaMenorah Me'eileha. It will be made on its own. שהיה משה מתקשה בה, Moshe looked at it and said, I'm not a silversmith, I'm not a goldsmith, I'm not a Goldberg. I have no idea how to make this. אמר לו הקדוש ברוך הוא, השלך את הכיכר לאש ונעשית מאליה. Hashem said, relax, I got you covered, I've got your back, Moshe. Take a solid piece of gold, throw it in the fire and the Menorah will come out on its own. Lekach lo nichtav Ta'aseh. It doesn't say therefore, says Me'eileha, Ataseh, it says on its own, on its own. Hikshah HaGriz, asked the Brisker Rav, מאחר שנתקשה משה רבינו בעשיית המנורה עד שהוצרך הקדוש ברוך הוא לומר שישליך הזהב לאש והמנורה נעשית מאליה, once it was so hard, once it was so complicated, once it was so detailed, so much so that Hashem had to make a miracle and make it on its own, why do you have to give us the details? If Hashem made a miraculous Menorah on its own, what do I need the diagram? What do I need the instruction manual? What do I need the dimensions? What do I need all the details? Hashem made it happen on its own. אם כן למה לא נצטרך לעשות שום דבר בעצמו מכל מה שנצטווה מעשה המנורה הכל נעשה מאליו. מה נצטווה משה בכל ציוויים אלו? Why do I need the command? Why do I need the details? Why take up so much space in the Torah with these psukim? If you're going to produce and provide the Menorah miraculously on its own, good, just give the Menorah. Azoy fregt the Brisker Rav. That's his question. Ne'er levavar, so here's the answer. שאילו לא היה משה רבינו לומד בדיוק כיצד לעשות המנורה, had Moshe Rabbeinu not learned, not seen, not held the diagrams in his hand specifically how to make it, with all of its details, all of its flowers, all of its bowls, all of its everything, כאשר היה זורק את הזהב when he threw the gold into the fire, it wouldn't have happened. רק כאשר לומד ומתאמץ להבין לדעת כל הלכות הדינים על בוריים או אז זכה לסייעתא דשמיא שתצא המנורה מאליה. It's only when he worked to study, to learn, to examine, to analyze. It's only when Moshe Rabbeinu learned up the sugya of the Menorah that he merited the miracle of the Menorah being made on its own. You see from here, הבנת דבר השם לא היה זוכה לנס זה כי בלי תורה לא זוכים לנסים. Without learning and studying, without wanting to understand it, you can't merit the miracle of it. So maybe it's inefficient. You don't need to take up space and give it once you're making the miracle. But you see the miracle couldn't have and wouldn't have happened had Moshe not first learned up the sugya of the Menorah. So Hashem said, here are the details, here are the rules, here are the verses, here's what's going to happen. And only after Moshe said, let me study it, let me learn it, let me analyze it, let me seek to plumb the depths of it, then he merited the miracle of it. And we need to learn from here, לעולם מי שרוצה להצליח בלימוד ולזכות לסייעתא דשמיא, if you want to merit Divine Providence, if you want to merit Divine assistance, if you want Hashem's help with anything you're going to do in life, you have to work. It doesn't come handed on a silver platter. You don't get a silver spoon in your mouth. It takes work, it takes study, it takes plumbing the depths, it takes caring about it. If we take those first steps towards, then Hashem will meet us halfway and Hashem will help us. The Sfas Emes has a similar idea. This is one of my favorite insights I've shared it before. Sfas Emes, the heilege Sfas Emes says, same question, Lamah her'ah lo? Why did he have to? He highlights a different thing. Chazal tell us not just that a miracle happened and the Menorah came out, but first Hashem showed him a picture of the Menorah. He said, you see? You see the picture? You see page 1139 in the back of the ArtScroll? You see it Moshe? You see what it looks like? Give a kick, look, that's what it looks like. Now throw the gold in the fire, it's going to come out one Menorah. Says the Sfas Emes, why did he have to see it first? Why did he have to look at it first? Listen to what he says. I'll just tell it to you outside. He says in life, if you want to merit Divine assistance, you first have to have a picture of what you want to be. Without having a picture, a vision, a plan, you won't merit Divine assistance in getting there. I'm working on a project right now I'm really excited about about spreading and bringing greater Torah out there. And someone who's become a great mentor of mine has said, first you have to ask, what's the mission? Do we have a picture of what we're trying to accomplish? If you don't have a picture of what we're trying to accomplish, if there's no strategy, then of how you're going to get there, then you're not going to get divine assistance to make it a reality. The only way to merit Hashem's help to bring it into reality, the only way to merit that miracle of it coming to be, is to first have a picture of who we want to become. It's not going to just happen sitting back comfortably reclining in our chair on the couch. It's not the way it works. We have to have a picture, a plan. How you going to finish shas? How you going to volunteer for that chesed? How you going to be in a position to give that much tzedakah? How you going to have that help? How you going to sleep that much, lose that weight, exercise that way? How are you going to make your marriage better than ever? How you going to spend that time with your children and grandchildren? What's the plan? What's the picture? Hashem first הראה לו ה׳ יתברך, first Hashem showed it. He said Moshe look, because until you first look, until you have a picture, a dream, an ambition, until you have a plan, a resolution, then Hashem says I can't step in and bring a miracle. The first step is first you have to have a plan, only once you have a plan can we then bring the miracle and make it a reality, only then can we make it happen. Maggid Yosef also has a commentary but we're going to skip this Maggid Yosef. Veasisa es neirosieha פרק כה פסוק לז. Top of 452. Build the menorah and you should make ועשית את נרתיה שבע. You should make seven branches to this candelabra. והעלה את נרתיה והאיר על עבר פניה. And all the branches of the candelabra should face and be inclined towards the center branch. Tiferes Shmuel says Rav Shmuel Berenbaum, the great rosh yeshiva of the Mir Brooklyn, he quotes Rashi. עשה פי ששת הנרות שבראשי הקנים היוצאים מצדיה מוסבים כלפי האמצעי. You see from this pasuk that the six branches of the menorah all face towards the center branch. כדי שהנרות כשתדליקם יאירו על עבר פניה so that the branches would illuminate spotlight the center branch. מוסב מאורם אל צד פני הקנה האמצעי שהוא גוף המנורה. The simple understanding of Rashi is that the key or the core the centerpiece of the menorah is what? The center branch. So just like a person lehavdil has art hanging on their wall in their home, so they install a special light above it that shines on that art, so the centerpiece of the menorah was the center branch and the other branches are like the spotlight that you shine on the center branch because that's the guf hamenorah. That's the core of the menorah, that's the most important part of the menorah. That's the Rashi. That's the simple understanding of Rashi. But there's nothing simple about Rav Shmuel Berenbaum. And he says tzarich iyun שהדרך שמנורות הוא שכל נר פונה למקום אחר, kemo chandelier. If you go buy a chandelier, you would never choose the chandelier where all the lights are bent towards the center light. Because the whole purpose of the chandelier is to illuminate the room, illuminate your dining room table. Not to turn towards the center light. ולמה כאן כל הנרות של המנורה פונים לנר האמצעי שכל האור יהא דווקא במקום המנורה. If you have a designer working, a contractor working, you walk in the room and they put in all these lights and they all focus on one light, say what are you doing? My money back! You messed up! The whole idea of the lights is to cover the whole space, is to illuminate the whole space. So why here the menorah is different than any other chandelier, any other light fixture? Unlike the way we light any other room, where all the branches are leading towards the center? What's going on? ויש לומר דחז\"ל אמרו וכי לאורה הוא צריך והלא כל ארבעים שנה שהלכו בני ישראל במדבר לא הלכו אלא לאורו אלא עדות היא לבאי עולם שהשכינה שורה בישראל. The menorah altogether was not needed for its light. Hashem miraculously lit up the Mishkan. So why'd you need a menorah? Why do you light a candelabra in a lit room? The room was lit. Not like the kids say lit, lit, actually lit. The room was lit. So why do you need a menorah in a lit room? עדות היא לבאי עולם שהשכינה שורה בישראל. It was a testament that anybody would see it would say God dwells among the Jewish people. עיקר אור המנורה הוא סמל לחכמת התורה. The menorah stands for torah sheba'al peh. The menorah stands for our holy and our precious Torah. Chazal say harotzeh sheyachkim yadrim. Chazal גמרא בבא בתרא כה says that if you want to become wise, you move to the south. South Florida. South of Israel. Harotzeh sheyasher yatspin. You want to become wealthy, you face the north. How do you know that? Because the shulchan was in the north and that stands for wealth and the menorah was in the south and that stands for wisdom. So if you want wealth, then when you daven you face a little bit the north. If you want wisdom, a little bit when you daven you face the south. The name of our Torah journal, the new volume is coming out soon, is called Yad. Yadrim. That's the Torah journal of the Beis Medrash of Boca Raton Synagogue. It's called Yadrim. It's coming out the new volume soon. Why is it called Yadrim? HaRotzeh Lehachkim Yadrim, turn to the south, Yadrim. Yesod Hadavar says Rav Shmuel Berenbaum דכדי להשפיע על אחרים צריך לעשות את עצמו כולו ליכטיג שאור גדול שהתורה אצלו. The best way that you can light up others is to be lit up yourself. So therefore the Menorah's message is get lit. The message of the Menorah is be lit and get lit. Get all lit up. Be lichtik, be a source of light. Be on fire. על ידי זה ישפיע אור תורתו על אחרים. That's how you can illuminate and impact and influence others is not by telling other people what to do, but by being the example. If we're on fire, if we're on fire, if our children, if our neighbors, if our community see us on fire in emuna, if we're on fire in our davening, if we're on fire in our learning, then they will be too. That's what will illuminate them and their space as well. And therefore they faced the center, so it would be as lit up as possible because the more lit up it is, the more it can light up others. So unlike our candelabras that face out and illuminate outwards, it faces in because the more it is lit up, the more it will illuminate. And that is a message for us. Perek Chaf-Vav Pasuk Chaf-Chet. Va'asisa hakrashim now Pasuk Yud-Chet. Esrim kerash Chaf-Vav Yud-Chet Yud-Chet o Ches? Ches. No, let's go to Chaf-Vav Chaf-Chet. Chapter 26, verse 28: הבריח התיכון בתוך הקרשים מבריח מן הקצה אל הקצה. And the the middle bar in the midst of all the planks should extend and penetrate from one end to the other. הבריח התיכון בנס היה עומד. It stood up miraculously. You had the planks that stood up right, a bar that ran between them and that was the outer wall of the Mishkan that held it in place. And Rashi tells us it stood as a miracle. Rashi in Gemara Shabbos explains what the miracle was: שאחר שהקרשים כולם נתנו באדנים לצפון למערב לדרום ולמזרח מבריח לשלשת הרוחות אין לך אומן יכול לעשות כן ובנס היה נכפף מאליו. The miracle of it was there were sockets that these planks stood in, but it was done in such a way that no contractor today could make it happen, those dimensions in that manner in that way, and nevertheless Hashem did and it stood as a it stood as a miracle. What does it mean beness haya omeid? beness haya omeid. It should have said beness haya nichnas. It entered as a miracle. Why the language beness haya omeid? It stood as a miracle. It stood as a miracle. So says Rav Druck, what did they make these planks from? מן העץ שנטע אברהם בבאר שבע. When Avraham was in Beer Sheva he planted and when that wood grew, those trees, those planks grew, Yaakov took them down to Mitzrayim and the Jewish people took it out and that became the basis the foundation of the Mishkan. ועשה ממנו בריח התיכון ארכו שבעים אמה ובנפלאות נעשו בו כשהיו מקימים את המשכן היה מתגלגל כנחש שבא בתוך הקרשים של המשכן וכשהיו מפרקין אותו היה מתפשט כמקל. הבריח התיכון הזה יסודו מעץ שנטע אברהם אבינו. This plank, this miraculous one that wrapped around, this miraculous one that stood even though it defied physics, this came from the wood that went back all the way to Yaakov, all the way to Avraham. So אפשר לומר פשיטות כוונת הגמרא בשבת לומר הכל בריח התיכון נס היה עומד ובנס נשמר מזמן אברהם אבינו עד בניית המשכן שהצליח לעמוד בכל הזמן הזה עד שבנו אותו. The miracle was that we kept it. We held onto it. We believed in it. We knew one day we'd use it. Intergenerationally, the miracle and understanding what gets transmitted. What holds us up, what makes us firm, what allows us to stand is that intergenerational commitment. Unlike the people who care about and live for the here and now, we're focused on a future, on a continuity. We plant so that our great-grandchildren can harvest. And that's beness haya omeid, that is the miracle of what stood. One last idea, just so relevant for today. Perek Chaf-Vav Pasuk Lamed-Gimel. Chaf-Vav Lamed-Gimel. ונתתה את הפרכת תחת הקרסים והבאת שמה מבית לפרכת את ארן העדות והבדילה הפרכת לכם בין הקדש ובין קדש הקדשים. There was a curtain, a paroches, that stood between the holy and the holy of holies. A paroches between the holy and the holy of holies. Listen to the words of Rav Soloveitchik. I've quoted them before, I've written about this before, and it remains as relevant today as when he said it many years ago. We'll end with this, but listen to these words because I have to tell you technology is destroying this. Social media, technology, even podcasts, and I'm part of that world and I'm trying to leverage the best of that world, but this comment I'm about to read you is what gives me enormous pause. It is a word of caution. It's what we have to be careful about. Says Rav Soloveitchik: From the time I was young, I learned to restrain my feelings and not demonstrate what was happening in my emotional world. My father would say that the holier or more intimate the feeling, the more it should be concealed. There is a hidden curtain that separates between one's interior and the exterior, just like this paroches, the dividing curtain shall separate between the holy and the holy of holies. What location is more sanctified than the inner sanctum of one's emotional life? If all is going well and one's heart overflows with happiness, he should reveal the deep interior of his soul to God, but he should not reveal it to others lest a stranger profane his holy of holies. If on the other hand someone is in dire straits, mired in a cloud of pain and suffering, finding himself abandoned and alone, he should reveal his thoughts before the creator. He should cry to him and supplicate behind the curtain. A stranger should not approach the holy of holies, lest in his apathy he profane the sanctity of the mute pain that burdens the sufferer. Lo yavo, that's why the pasuk says you can't just come to the holy of holies. Kohen Gadol's rendezvous with his creator is in solitude. Listen to what Rav Soloveitchik says: I'm not endorsing this, this is Brisker and this is a little extreme. My father never kissed me. When he took leave of me, he would press my hand and say, \"Go in peace and may God watch over you.\" A casual onlooker who were to hear these routine words might be taken aback and mumble \"dry Brisker coldness.\" But that observer witnessed only the exterior, that which was outside the curtain of my father's personality, and did not comprehend that his interior, his holy of holies, was full of mercy and compassion, contained a refined and bold love for his children, incessantly concerned about their welfare, sacrificing himself for their future. His entire being was overwhelmed with love. At the same time, he was careful not to violate the warning וכל אדם לא יהיה באהל מועד, protecting the modesty of emotional life. I'm not endorsing not being affectionate, I think it's critically important to be affectionate and loving today. But what Rav Soloveitchik is pointing out is we need a paroches, a curtain between the Kodesh and the Kodesh Hakodashim of our lives. Just like the Mishkan had that curtain separating, the holier it was, the more separate it was. The holier it was, the less accessible to the public it was. Today people post every thought, every feeling, every experience. People are interviewed about the details of their marriage, how they almost got divorced, of their parenting, of their courtship, of every detail of their lives. Nothing is sacred. Nothing is holy. Nothing is holy of holies. There's nothing left just between them. Every thought is shared. Every experience is shared. Every emotion is posted about. Every experience you're interviewed and you share dating, marriage, parenting, hardship, good. Now I understand there's value, there's value. Other people can learn from our experiences, it can be mechazek other people. I get it. I get it. And there are times, we've participated in podcasts about things in our lives that we thought could be helpful to others, a stillbirth we experienced and so on. It was in a closed Zoom and it was for people in that particular case and it didn't include every detail of how we felt or how we experienced. There are things that have to be held back. There are things that are private. There are things that are emotional holy of holies. If we live in a world where there are no emotional holy of holies, if we live in a world where everything is secular and profane and shared to the public, then what's left of our lives? There's no holy of holies, there's no intimacy between us. There's no intimacy between us and God. If every conversation you have with God you're also willing to have into a microphone and a camera, then is there any real intimate connection with God? If every conversation you're willing to have with your spouse you're willing to have into a microphone and a camera, do you have any emotional intimacy with your spouse? If every feeling and thought you have that you'd share with your closest of friends, on top of the kruvim, on top of the aron, you'd share with a microphone and a camera, you'd post on your page, then there's no holy of holies. There's nothing left. We're in danger. Our generation has to restore the paroches. Put back the curtain. Section off and remember that there has to be. So we have to have that curtain, that area, that section, that is our Holy of Holies, and find that balance. I want to be very clear, I'm not criticizing, certainly not anyone in particular, but find that balance between what we can share in a way that helps others, but what we also hold back, that we preserve and protect, because we need our Holy of Holies. We're not on next week, we resume in two weeks, once again an enormous thank you, a mazel tov and a thank you to all those who helped, all my friends, my chaverim, who helped make our global campaign happen, stay happy.
