Transcript
Good morning everyone. I want to thank our sponsors for this morning's class, Erica Galler and Mary Markowitz in memory of their beloved mother, חיה הינדא בת אברהם Chaya Hinda bas Avraham, and Rabbi Henoch לְעִילּוּי נִשְׁמַת l'iluy nishmas אפרים פישל בן ישראל Ephraim Fishel ben Yisrael, whose נשמה neshama should have an עליה aliyah through the דברי תורה divrei Torah that we will study.Also a reminder, a couple of events this week everyone's invited to. This Thursday night, the new president of Yeshiva University, Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman will be here. We're hosting him in an armchair conversation. I'll be talking to him about the future of orthodoxy. It's at 8 o'clock in this room, Thursday night. Promises to be a fascinating conversation and everyone is invited. And lastly, this weekend, Boca Raton Synagogue is celebrating the wonderful accomplishments and contributions of the Dr. Yitzchak Belazon בית מדרש Beis Medrash of BRS, such as this class, many classes, our afternoon כולל kollel, our night סדר seder, our visiting ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva, and its sister organization, the BRS Women's מדרשה Midrasha, that has exploded with its women's learning opportunities within the community. And it culminates on Saturday night, מוצאי שבת Motzei Shabbos with a מלווה מלכה Melava Malka. There is no charge for the מלווה מלכה Melava Malka. We'll be hearing inspiring words from Rav Dovid Miller, who's the head of the Gruss Kollel, Yeshiva University's Kollel in ירושלים Yerushalayim. And we'll be accompanied by a קומזיץ kumzitz with Simcha Leiner, who is one of the premier Jewish music superstars today, a phenomenal singer, a wonderful individual who will be with us for שבת Shabbos. So join us for the קומזיץ kumzitz and the דברי חיזוק divrei chizuk and מלווה מלכה Melava Malka, it's taking place this Saturday night, this מוצאי שבת Motzei Shabbos. I see there is no time on the flyer. So when you make הבדלה havdalah, make your way over to the shul. At some point. It's for men and for women. But I would ask that if you benefit from our בית מדרש Beis Medrash, if you attend the classes, if you enjoy the learning opportunities, add your name to those who are supporting its activities. We cannot continue to provide what we do and to expand what we do, if we don't have your support. There's a website, you could stop by the shul office, you could speak to Linda. To whatever degree, however much you can, but please do your part to participate in the learning of תורה Torah in our community.Okay, enough with the commercials. On with the פרשה parsha. פרשת תרומה Parshas Terumah, page 444 in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash. פרשת תרומה Parshas Terumah represents sort of a shift from where we were, going through the history of the Jewish people. We began with the birth of our family through the book of בראשית Bereishis. Began as a dysfunctional family, I'm not sure we ever became functional, we became less dysfunctional through the book of בראשית Bereishis. The book of שמות Shemos, our book so far has been about the story of our birth of a nation. The birth of a people. We emerged from מצרים Mitzrayim, from Egypt, having been fashioned, having been formed as a people. We stood at the base of הר סיני Har Sinai and God, in the greatest moment of revelation, gave us this blueprint for the world, gave us his sacred תורה Torah. We then last week, פרשת משפטים Parshas Mishpatim, spoke about the ו vav of ואלה המשפטים v'eileh hamishpatim. The ו vav, just as the ראשונים rishonim were מסיני m'Sinai, אלו מסיני eilu m'Sinai, just as the first ten commandments were from God, that moment of revelation of light and sound show, the pomp and circumstance, just as that came from השם Hashem, so too, the civil law, criminal law, tort law, ritual law, the litany of laws that משפטים Mishpatim was filled with is the actualization, the fulfillment, spirituality is rooted in the mundane. It's by going into the workplace, it's by going out into the world, it's by practicing the laws of פרשת משפטים Parshas Mishpatim, that we find the fulfillment of פרשת יתרו Parshas Yisro of the giving of the תורה Torah. And that brings us to פרשת תרומה Parshas Terumah.And תרומה Terumah represents sort of a shift, because now we're going to come to the edifice of the משכן Mishkan. God's command, God the detailed engineering plans, the detailed diagram of the of the משכן Mishkan, and then the כלים keilim, the utensils that are contained within, and next week, the clothing, the wardrobe of the כהנים kohanim who serve in in the משכן Mishkan. What happened? Between פרשת משפטים Parshas Mishpatim and תרומה Terumah, we went from taking all of our religious experience and bringing it to the marketplace, to the workplace, to the residence, and now we're going back. It almost seems like we're retreating back into the shul, into the בית מדרש Beis Medrash, into the משכן Mishkan. What happened between משפטים Mishpatim and תרומה Terumah? We're not going to spend time on it now, but of course there is the question of when does everything occur, which is a theme that we've been coming back to over and over, and according to many, the truth is that the משכן Mishkan occurs after חטא העגל chet ha'eigel. We read תרומה תצוה Terumah Tetzaveh, then כי תשא Ki Sisa with the story of the sin of the עגל eigel, then ויקהל פקודי Vayakhel Pekudei. But according to many or most, in fact, the משכן Mishkan is the response to the חטא העגל chet ha'eigel. Maybe we'll talk about that in two weeks with with the חטא העגל chet ha'eigel. But in what way is the משכן Mishkan the antidote? In what way is building an edifice, a house for השם Hashem to dwell, in what way is that the תיקון tikkun, the repair, the response to the חטא העגל chet ha'eigel? We'll talk about another time. But there clearly is a major shift. And I want to bring you your attention even before we begin in an introduction to פרשת תרומה Parshas Terumah, that רמב\"ן Ramban has an introduction here in our פרשה parsha, says along the same lines, the רמב\"ן's Ramban's introduction to פרשת תרומה Parshas Terumah. But I want to call your attention to the סלונים רבע Slanimer Rebbe. The סלונים רבע Slanimer Rebbe says that what פרשת תרומה Parshas Terumah represents, there are two ways, יש ב' דרכים בעבודת השם yeish beis drachim b'avodas Hashem, there's two ways to serve God. הדרך של יחידי סגולה מסולאים מבחינת קודש הקדשים haderech shel yechidei segulah mesulaim m'bchinas kodesh hakodashim, there are those who are able to transcend the physical universe. They're so lofty, they're so spiritual, they're so holy, they're such souls that they almost forget that they have a body. They are a soul with a body, but so identifying with their soul that they almost, I don't want to say neglect, but forget they have a body. And so they transcend the appetite, the desire, the temptations, the physical pleasures of this world, and they live almost in a heavenly abode with the Almighty. They live a קודש הקדשים kodesh hakodashim. They have penetrated the inner sanctum of sanctity, of spirituality, they've been able to climb the ladder to be with השם Hashem in heaven. But there's a second way of serving השם Hashem, and it's what he describes, the סלונים רבע Slanimer Rebbe, for the average person is what he says giving השם Hashem דירה בתחתונים dira b'tachtonim. דירה בתחתונים dira b'tachtonim, giving השם Hashem a dwelling place, a residence down here on earth. Not escaping this world to climb on high to find God, but in fact, inviting God and finding God right down here on earth. And says the סלונים רבע Slanimer Rebbe, that's exactly what we're about to learn. That's exactly what we're about to read. The משכן Mishkan gave us the opportunity in a very tangible, palpable way to feel that we're connecting with and that we've given השם Hashem a dwelling down here.Now you give השם Hashem a dwelling in the place designated for him, the shul, the בית מדרש Beis Medrash, you give השם Hashem a dwelling in in every place that we are, which is really the continuation of that theme. That once we had merited the משכן Mishkan, but the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash was destroyed, we weren't worthy. השם Hashem withdrew his countenance and said, 'You're not worthy of of my living with you under one roof, I'm moving out.' So where is השם Hashem found today? ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם v'asu li mikdash v'shachanti b'socham, the most famous פסוק pasuk in our פרשה parsha, and in the whole משכן Mishkan, in the whole משכן Mishkan text is that השם Hashem says, 'Build for me a משכן Mishkan and I will dwell in them.' What do you mean 'them'? I thought I would dwell in it. Which is it, it or them? And many commentaries, none more famous than רב חיים וואלוז'ינער's Rav Chaim Volozhiner's נפש החיים Nefesh HaChaim, talks about how we create the dwelling for God here on earth. Through the way that we we use our homes, through the way we live our lives, through our practices and through our behaviors, through us, we bring השם Hashem, we give him a dwelling place, we give him a residence right down here on earth. And so the theme introduction to פרשת תרומה Parshas Terumah, and we studied this a little bit last year, we're going to continue exactly where we left off last year, is that the כלים keilim, the utensils that are being described in detail in our פרשה parsha are not sort of wasted space, it's not why we studying this, they don't exist now, they won't exist again until the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash. Our commentaries throughout our פרשה parsha over and over again emphasize that the values and the lessons that are extracted from the משכן Mishkan, from its utensils apply in our home. That the furnishings and furniture of a Jewish home should be modeled after the furnishings and furniture of God's home of the משכן Mishkan. Does that mean that you need a מנורה menorah? Does it mean that you need a שולחן shulchan as ornate? Do you have an ארון aron and לוחות luchos? No. But when we understand the dimensions, why some are whole numbers, integers, fractions, which we spent time on in the past, what what the material that they're made out of, what they have as זר זהב zeir zahav, the crown that extends around it, where the poles stay or go, all these details, these minutia which seem to to bog us down, in fact lift us up. Because when we extract the lessons from them, we can apply them in our own lives, they haven't expired, we haven't graduated them, they're not outdated or arcane at all, they continue to inform and inspire our lives.So the mission of פרשת תרומה Parshas Terumah, and the truth is the mission of our lives, is to give השם Hashem דירה בתחתונים dira b'tachtonim. To not try to ascend on high. The נזיר nazir, the נזיר nazir on the one hand is called קודש kodesh. He's a קדוש kadosh. The נזיר nazir who takes a vow to abstain from the pleasures of this world, some of them, it's called holy. But at the conclusion of his of his pledge, he brings a קרבן חטאת korban chatas, he brings a sin offering. The rabbis explained because truly he achieved holiness, but he took a shortcut to it. He copped out in how he got there. He became holy by abstaining and transcending this world rather than engaging it and finding the holiness within the world. And the סלונים רבע Slanimer Rebbe in the same piece says, that's what we say, it's a פרק perek that we're allowed to say all year round, but we say most prominently throughout the month of אלול Elul, all the way until the end of סוכות Sukkos, and we say it famously in תהלים כ\"ז Tehillim Kaf Zayin. Great songs, a great Jewish songs have been written. אחת שאלתי מאת השם אותה אבקש Achas sha'alti me'eis Hashem osah avakeish. דוד המלך Dovid Hamelech says, God I have one thing I want from you. אותה אבקש osah avakeish, there's only one thing. שבתי בבית השם כל ימי חיי Shivti b'veis Hashem kol yemei chayai. I want to sit in the house of השם Hashem. And the סלונים רבע Slanimer Rebbe like so many others asks, דוד המלך Dovid Hamelech really think he could sit in the house of השם Hashem all day? Didn't he have responsibilities? Didn't he have to sleep and eat? He had a lot of wives to spend time with. to listen to. He had probably credit cards to pay with the lot of wives to attend to, I'm just joking. He had a lot, he was a warrior, he was a leader, he was the king, he had a lot to attend to. So was it realistic to aspire שבתי בבית השם כל ימי חיי shivti b'veis Hashem kol yemei chayai? How is that possible? And the סלונים רבע Slanimer Rebbe so beautifully says, we're misinterpreting what it means שבתי בבית השם shivti b'veis Hashem. How do you achieve שבתי בבית השם shivti b'veis Hashem? When it's כל ימי חיי kol yemei chayai. When I invite God into everything I do, I turn everywhere I go into בית השם beis Hashem. So when דוד Dovid says I want to feel I'm in the house of God all the time, כל ימי חיי kol yemei chayai. When when you conduct your home with kindness and sensitivity and thought and care and concern, when you host guests and you're charitable and your home is a platform to do good, when you're building a place of sanctity, and you're judicious and careful with what images and messages you allow in, then you've turned that into a בית השם beis Hashem. When you go to work and you carry yourself with honesty and integrity and thoughtfulness and your word is your bond, you make a קידוש השם kiddush Hashem, you've turned your office into בית השם beis Hashem. When you go to the gym, I don't know, and you're nice and kind and you wipe down the the machine afterwards and you hold the door for the person on the way in, and then you've turned that into בית השם beis Hashem.שבתי בבית השם shivti b'veis Hashem, how? By כל ימי חיי kol yemei chayai. By bringing השם Hashem everywhere go through the כל kol, that's what turns it into בית השם beis Hashem. So השם Hashem wants us to give him דירה בתחתונים dira b'tachtonim. He wants to dwell, it's a Kabbalistic idea. It's based on the מדרש שיר השירים Midrash Shir Hashirim. The מדרש Midrash says באתי לגני אחותי כלה basi l'gani achosi kallah. באתי לגני basi l'gani אין כתוב כאן אלא לגני ein kasuv kan ela l'gani לגנוני l'ganuni, המקום שהיה עיקרי מתחילה hamakom shehayah ikari m'tchila. גן עדן Gan Eden was a place where God was found. There was no doubt, there was no uncertainty, there was pure revelation. And we were expelled after the חטא אדם הראשון chet Adam Harishon, השם Hashem withdrew, we were expelled. And the מדרש Midrash describes that there were seven sins, and with each sin God withdrew another step. חטא אדם הראשון ונסתלקה שכינה לרקיע הראשון. חטא קין נסתלקה לרקיע השני, חטא אנוש נסתלקה לשלישי, חטא דור המבול, חטא דור הפלגה, חטא אנשי סדום, חטא המצרים בימי אברהם chata Adam Harishon v'nistalka Shchina l'rakia harishon. Cheit Cain nistalka l'rakia hasheini. Cheit Enosh nistalka l'shlishi. Cheit dor hamabul. Cheit dor haflaga. Cheit anshei Sdom. Cheit haMitzrim b'yemei Avraham. השם Hashem withdrew all the way to the seventh level. He said, forget about it. This world is corrupt. I don't want to be contaminated by its corruption. I'm out of here. I thought I could live down here, I created a world so I could be present, they could feel my presence, tap into something great, derive the greatest pleasure, which is to connect to me, but they're unworthy. This world is contaminated, it's unpure. I'm out of here. What happened? Seven צדיקים tzaddikim God deposited in the world. זכה אברהם והורידה משביעי לשישי. עמד יצחק מששי לחמישי. יעקב מחמישי לרביעי zacha Avraham v'horidah m'shvi'i l'shishi. Amad Yitzchak m'shishi l'chamishi. Yaakov m'chamishi l'rivi'i, all the way down to משה Moshe who brought השם Hashem back down. And that's what he said. So the צדיקים tzaddikim, the righteous who know they're a soul and don't have a body, who have no appetite temptation, who are unmoved and unscathed by the physical world, they could have climbed up to God where he was all the way on the seventh level, withdrawn. They they have the code, they have the secret password to get into where God withdrew to because they're worthy. For the rest of us, I don't know about you, but for me, an average, normal, basic human being, temptation, desire, struggle, stumbles, so we can't climb those seven steps. But it's through the merit of those צדיקים tzaddikim, culminating in משה Moshe who gave us his תורה Torah, the תורה Torah is the blueprint for how to bring God back down those seven levels into the world. Be one of God's angels, be a מלאך malach for someone else. Be ethical and moral. The discipline of keeping kosher, teaching the world this connect to connect by keeping שבת Shabbos, a sanctuary in space, the sanctuary in time, the entire תורה Torah is a blueprint for how to live the most fulfilling, meaningful life in service of השם Hashem, with a sense of mission to to spread השם's Hashem's name, to make the world better. To give השם Hashem a דירה בתחתונים dira b'tachtonim.And that's really at the end of last week's פרשה parsha, which I'll just call your attention, I don't think I got to it last week. Did I get to it last week? ואל אצילי בני ישראל לא שלח ידו V'el atzilei Bnei Yisrael lo shalach yado. Remember last week we talked about משה אהרן נדב ואביהוא והזקנים Moshe, Aaron, Nadav, v'Avihu, v'hazekeinim after the story of קבלת התורה Kabbalas HaTorah, they saw this image of God's throne, the gem at his foot, at his feet, and what did they do? ויחזו את האלקים ויאכלו וישתו Vayechzu es ha'Elokim vayochlu vayishtu. Let's eat. Oh, what a דאווענען davening Rosh Hashanah. Went on the singing forever, I lost track of time, I was moved, I felt something I never felt. What should we do now? Kiddush. ניעלה Neilah. I'm an angel, I have no need for food, drink, anything. I don't have to brush my teeth, mouthwash, shower, no leather shoes. This could go on forever. ניעלה Neilah, I'm climbing, I'm soaring on high. What should we do now? Eat. And here too, ויחזו את האלקים vayechzu es ha'Elokim, they saw God, ויאכלו וישתו vayochlu vayishtu, it should be the biggest moment of heresy in the whole תורה Torah. What do you mean you saw God, you made contact with the divine, and how did you memorialize it? A meal. I don't remember where I saw this, I regret I don't remember where I saw this. But not only is this not a statement of heresy, it is a statement of Jewish value. And the Jewish value is not the age-old joke, right? They tried to kill us, we survived, let's eat. The Jewish value is because you saw God, because ויחזו את האלקים vayechzu es ha'Elokim, how do you manifest that experience of having made contact with the divine? By the way you eat and drink. Immediately. You come. What is the most base human need? You have to sleep, but you have to eat. If you don't eat and drink, you will die. I deal with a lot of end of life שאלות shailos. What are heroic efforts, what can you hold back, what do you have to provide? And you have to provide hydration and nourishment, unless it's contraindicated, because denying it is to starve the loved one to death. We can allow nature to take its course and for a person to die, we don't have to intervene with a heroic measure, with a medicine or with a a procedure, but to provide the basic nourishment that sustains life if if it's denied, one can't live. So what is the most base human need is to eat and drink? So what's the פסוק pasuk telling us? ויחזו את האלקים Vayechzu es ha'Elokim, they saw God, they had contact with the divine and therefore they said, I want to eat and drink because I want to bring דירה בתחתונים dira b'tachtonim. I want השם Hashem to be present even in the way I eat and drink. Is what I what I'm eating is it kosher, is it not kosher? Did I make a ברכה bracha and thank השם Hashem before? Did I make a ברכה bracha afterwards? Did I wash my hands? You know how few people wash their hands correctly? The הלכות halachos of washing your hands are very simple. Take the cup with your right hand, you put it in your left hand, you pour twice on your right hand, twice on your left hand, you have to go all the way up to the wrist, you make the ברכה bracha before you dry your hands and then you dry your hands. That's it. If you could drive a car, you could wash your hands. It's not hard. But we're all so hungry and so starving, they just brought the good food to the bread to the table and before everyone else takes the good rolls, and so we wash, we basically splash some water on either hand. Splash the water. My own children I was telling, slow down, wash to your wrist, על נטילת ידים al netilas yadayim. What does the word נטילת netilas mean? We make a ברכה bracha, על נטילת ידים al netilas yadayim. What does it mean? Many of you here have washed their hands several times in their life. It's important we should know what the ברכה bracha means. What does נטילת netilas mean? So most people think it means to wash. Blessed are you God who commanded me to wash my hands. Okay, if that's what נטילת netilas means, now translate the following ברכה bracha. אשר קדשנו במצותיו וצונו על נטילת לולב Asher kideshanu b'mitzvosav v'tzivanu al netilas lulav. נטילת Netilas doesn't mean to wash, right? You don't pour water on your לולב lulav after you make the ברכה bracha. So what does the word נטילת netilas mean? It means to lift. We're lifting our hands. We shake the לולב lulav, we lift it, we lift the ד' מינים daled minim. Why are you washing your hands? That's not at all relevant to why we're here today for our topic. I'm not going to go there. But whether it's hygienic and discipline, whether we're imitating the priests who sanctified their hands before the service, but the idea is that before I'm about to indulge, dive face first, press in the food before me, I want to lift the experience. על נטילת ידים Al netilas yadayim. I I'm lifting myself up. I'm lifting this from a base, mundane, animal indulgence into a spiritual experience. I'm fueling my body so it can be an even greater vehicle for my soul. That's why I'm eating. So I'm lifting על נטילת ידים al netilas yadayim. So ויחזו את האלקים vayechzu es ha'Elokim, what did they do right away? ויאכלו וישתו Vayochlu vayishtu, eat and drink.The חיד\"א Chida says there's a סוגיא sugya in the tenth פרק perek of פסחים Pesachim, we make קידוש kiddush, the קידוש kiddush has to be במקום סעודה b'makom seudah. In order to fulfill the מצוה mitzvah of קידוש kiddush, you have to recite קידוש kiddush with מזונות mezonos, for some don't hold מזונות mezonos is enough, you have to wash and have bread. אין קידוש אלא במקום סעודה Ein kiddush ela b'makom seudah. That has הלכת halachic consequences. But the חיד\"א Chida understands homiletically, אין קידוש אלא במקום סעודה ein kiddush ela b'makom seudah. You want to achieve קדושה kedusha? You know where קדושה kedusha is found? במקום סעודה b'makom seudah. How do you eat? How do you eat? האוכל בשוק דומה לכלב ha'ochel b'shuk domeh l'kelev. חז\"ל Chazal tell us, if you eat in the marketplace, you're like a rabid dog. Sit down, make a plate, make a ברכה bracha, be mindful of every bite, be grateful for where the food came from, who prepared it, who shopped for it, thank השם Hashem, thank, פסוק pasuk says ואכלת ושבעת וברכת את השם אלוקיך v'achalta v'savata u'veirachta es Hashem Elokecha. Eat, drink and bless God. Why the word את es? You know every time the word את es, which is extraneous, it's unnecessary, is there, we learn something from it. So one of the ראשונים rishonim, a תוספות רי\"ד Tosafos Rid says, you know what את es is לרבות l'rabos? הבעל הבית habalabayis. It really should say הבעל הבית'ה habalabusta. ואכלת ושבעת v'achalta v'savata, you ate, it was good, וברכת u'veirachta, say thank you, give a blessing. Where? את Es, give it to השם Hashem, but the את es, don't forget the בעל הבית balabayis. Every time I'm asked to lead בנצ'ינג bentching, before I lead the בנצ'ינג bentching, I turn to whomever made the food I say thank you so much, this was such a delicious meal. רבותי נברך Rabosai nevarech. Before בנצ'ינג bentching, you got את לרבות הבעל הבית es l'rabos habalabayis. So אין קידוש אלא במקום סעודה ein kiddush ela b'makom seudah. How you eat and drink is how you bring God into the world. We give השם Hashem דירה בתחתונים dira b'tachtonim through through the משכן Mishkan.Which brings us to the month of אדר Adar. I'm going to get to the פרשה parsha, I promise. It brings us to the month of אדר Adar. This, when is ראש חודש Rosh Chodesh? Thursday, Friday? This week is ראש חודש אדר Rosh Chodesh Adar. מי ששנכנס אדר מרבין בשמחה Mishenichnas Adar marbin b'simcha. I hope everyone's smiling and happy and joyous and turning up the pilot light. Rav Schwab describes that happiness is like a pilot light. מי ששנכנס אדר מרבין בשמחה Mishenichnas Adar marbin b'simcha. מי ששנכנס אב ממעטין בשמחה Mishenichnas Av mema'atin b'simcha. It doesn't say in אדר Adar be happy, in אב Av be sad. You have to always have a pilot light of happiness. In אדר Adar, we fan the flame. We make it glow. In אב Av, we turn it down. It's just a low light. But you have to always have happiness in your life, שמחת החיים simchas hachaim. You have to wake up and be happy. I was having a conversation the other day with someone, Rav Shlomo Katz, great Jewish music superstar and a wonderful rabbi and teacher who was here this past שבת Shabbos, performing tonight at the Hadar dinner. And and he's he has a great שמחת החיים simchas hachaim. He teaches so beautifully and has a great שמחת החיים simchas hachaim. So someone was talking to me Sunday night at a dinner, said, you know, I have to be happier. I don't know how to do it. I wish it were contagious. He's so happy, it's so inspired me. I don't know how to find that happiness. And I said to him, which is what I really believe, happiness is not an emotion, it's a decision. Decide to be happy. אחר פעולות נמשכים הלבבות Acharei hapeulos nimshachim halevavos, a ספר החינוך Sefer HaChinuch says, after our actions come our feelings. Make the decision to be happy, smile, when people say how are you, fantastic. I don't care if you just came from seven doctors or you have to go eight doctors or the stock market plummeted a thousand points that day. How are you? I'm fantastic. I'm alive, I'm here, I'm fantastic. If you look at what we have, you'll be happy. You look at what you're lacking, you'll never be happy. Everyone has something to be happy about, it's just a question of where you place your attention, which is why the word שמחה simcha is שם מוח sam moach. Where do you put your brain? What do you focus on? What you look at will determine whether you're happy or unhappy. So it's not an emotion, it's a it's a decision. So מי ששנכנס אדר מרבין בשמחה Mishenichnas Adar marbin b'simcha. What about אדר Adar can make me feel happy? It's not even Purim yet, it's still halfway through the month. So what about אדר Adar? So the מאור עינים Me'or Einayim, the טשרנוביל רבע Chernobyler Rebbe, רב נחום נחום מ טשרנוביל Rav Nachum Nachum of Chernobyl, says that the word אדר Adar, the name of our month comes from, the etymology is, א' דר alef dar. The א' alef, if you ever made it to the end of the Pesach seder, you know one is, one is השם Hashem. If you were sober enough to remember. One is השם Hashem, on the heaven and the earth. One is השם Hashem. אחד בשמים ובארץ Echad bashamayim uva'aretz. א' Alef, השם אחד Hashem echad. There's one unique, singular God, everything that comes, everything that exists is from him. אדר Adar is a month in which we work on א' דר alef dar, that השם Hashem lives down here with us. The whole story of Purim can be read, השם's Hashem's name doesn't appear in the מגילה Megillah. If you want, you can read the מגילה Megillah and say, well, what a spring of coincidences. What a random flow of chance. Huh. Amazing how things worked out. An atheist can read the מגילה Megillah with no problem, it's not a religious document, God's name doesn't appear. What's our mission? What's the מגילה Megillah called? מגילת אסתר Megillas Esther. Our mission is to be מגלה דנסטר megaleh d'nistar. מגילה Megillah, מגלה megaleh means to reveal. אסתר Esther comes from נסתר nistar which means hidden. When we listen to the מגילה Megillah, we're not listening to a nice story. We are working to be מגלה דנסטר megaleh d'nistar. We are revealing the hidden. What's the hidden? השם's Hashem's name that is in between the sentences or our tradition, every time המלך Hamelech, it's really referencing השם Hashem. א' דר Alef dar, אדר Adar. That דירה בתחתונים dira b'tachtonim, that השם Hashem is right down here on earth. See השם Hashem in the story of your life, extend your antenna and pick up the message that השם Hashem is sending us every single day. א' דר Alef dar, אדר Adar. So if you could live your life looking for and finding השם Hashem, מי שנכנס אדר mishenichnas Adar, מי שנכנס א' דר mishenichnas alef dar, when you begin, מי שנכנס mishenichnas, when you begin to live your life finding השם Hashem in this world, מרבין בשמחה marbin b'simcha, you're going to be filled with joy. You know why? because even though it's hard to see sometimes and excruciatingly hard to see other times, but nothing's random, nothing's chance, everything is for a reason, there is God, there is a השם Hashem. And when you can live when you can live with the confidence that there is a השם Hashem who runs the world, what greater שמחה simcha is there than that? So מי שנכנס אדר mishenichnas Adar, when you begin to live life, א' דר alef dar, you can't help but be filled with joy. מרבין בשמחה marbin b'simcha. When you give השם Hashem a דירה בתחתונים dira b'tachtonim, כל ימי חיי kol yemei chayai, when השם Hashem is found everywhere you go and in everything you do, then then מרבין בשמחה marbin b'simcha, then you could be in השם's Hashem's house each and every day. Okay, פרשת תרומה Parshas Terumah, page 444. I'm sorry, I just had to get that off my chest.Okay. פרשה Parsha begins ויקחו לי תרומה v'yikchu li trumah. השם Hashem speaks to משה Moshe and he says, no, collect for me תרומה trumah, מאת כל איש אשר ידבנו לבו תקחו את תרומתי me'eis kol ish asher yidvenu libo tikchu es trumasi, from every person with a generous heart, gather a donation. It's time. משה Moshe is calling for a collection, the great campaign and appeal, the greatest campaign in Jewish history, the only Jewish campaign that yielded a surplus in Jewish history. But it begins with משה Moshe saying, do not give out of a sense of obligation. It has to be ויקחו לי תרומה v'yikchu li trumah, כל אשר ידבנו לבו kol asher yidvenu libo. Only the person who is moved. The בעל שם טוב Baal Shem Tov sees in his words, אשר ידבנו לבו asher yidvenu libo, who's moved, why? First of all, it's a little anticlimactic. הר סיני Har Sinai, the greatest spiritual moment, פרשת משפטים Parshas Mishpatim had to live a virtuous, enriched life, and now of course, it always comes back to the appeal. It's always back to the appeal. Isn't that a little anticlimactic? הר סיני Har Sinai, פרשת משפטים Parshas Mishpatim, the תורה Torah, they saw השם Hashem, ויאכלו וישתו vayochlu vayishtu. Now, turn down a tab, the גבאי gabbaim will walk around and collect it, you take credit card or check, cash, money order. The בעל שם טוב Baal Shem Tov has a phenomenal insight here. He says, you know, if you feel, if you experience a spiritual awakening, you have to capture it and concretize it with something tangible. If you were moved and you don't do something about it, it's gone. You have to actualize it, you have to memorialize it. You come down from the הר סיני Har Sinai, you come off of פרשת משפטים Parshas Mishpatim, make a donation. Something moved you, something touched you, you're appreciative about something in life, make a donation. Every day somebody wanders into the shul office and says, I got good news about a grandchild or something happened, the test came back from the doctor, it was positive, I want to give a little something. לתומכי שבת l'Tomchei Shabbos. I was so moved by that, it's beautiful. Every day there are people who get good news and you know what they do? גאָרנישט gurnisht, nothing. Said, well, I got good news. Let's go play mahjong, let's hit the golf course, let's get to the early bird dinner.But the good news has to translate into action. The good news has to translate into making a difference. So says the בעל שם טוב Baal Shem Tov, you come off of הר סיני Har Sinai and you come off פרשת משפטים Parshas Mishpatim, ויקחו לי תרומה v'yikchu li trumah. Put your money where your mouth is. You say you're grateful, you say you're thankful. That's nice. Those are nice words. Write a check. ויקחו לי תרומה V'yikchu li trumah. Put your money where, where, where your mouth is.Rabbi Soloveitchik points out in his חומש Chumash that the Torah here emphasizes only to collect money from somebody who's moved. כל אשר ידבנו לבו kol asher yidvenu libo. Somebody whose heart inspires them graciously to generosity. And the תרגום Targum, רבי יונתן בן עוזיאל Rabi Yonason ben Uziel, טייטשעס teitches the פסוק pasuk, do not use force or methods of coercion for this collection. You can't coerce the person to give to this. Only the person who was moved and wanted to give, give. Don't coerce. And so whether you're poor or rich, you have to give the חצי שקל chatzi shekel, the half a shekel. But the collection of the משכן Mishkan was different than the collection of צדקה tzedakah.Rabbi Soloveitchik notes a contrast. The רמב\"ם Rambam in מורה נבוכים Moreh Nevuchim writes, I've shared this before, why is צדקה tzedakah called צדקה tzedakah? It should be called. What does the word צדקה tzedakah mean? Comes from the word צדק tzedek. What is צדק tzedek? Justice. What is just about my taking my hard-earned money that I earned honestly and I earned legitimately and having to give it to you? What's just about that? That shouldn't be called justice. What should it be called? Kindness. It shouldn't be called צדקה tzedakah, צדק tzedek, it should be called חסד chesed, רחמים rachamim. It's a nice thing to do. I'm all for it. I try to do it, I try to encourage others to do it, I'm all for it. But it's not just. What's just about my having to take what's mine and share it with you? So the רמב\"ם Rambam in מורה נבוכים Moreh Nevuchim says a very, very beautiful insight. He says it absolutely is justice. Why? Because who says what you have really belongs to you? You are the steward of what you have. It all belongs to the רבונו של עולם Ribono shel Olam, to God.There's a senior partner and a junior partner in every success you've had. And I hate to break it to you, but you're the junior partner. Putting a lot of work and a lot of time and should be proud of your accomplishment and the return of your investments. But with all of that said and done, you've only met success if the senior partner, God, has put in the okay. And you know what the senior partner says? He says, \"Even though this could not have met success without me, I'll tell you what. You take home 90%. 90% is yours. Spend it on yourself, spend it on your family, spend it how you like. I have no say. And even though I'm the senior partner and this couldn't have happened without me, I just want 10%. And I don't want the 10% for me. I have other children just like I have you, and they need help. So do me a favor. Keep the 10%, watch over it, use 10% of what we made together and help my other children, help your siblings.\" And that's what the רמב\"ם Rambam says צדקה tzedakah is all about. It's צדק tzedek, it's just. When you give 10% of your income, don't think you're some great קנאקער knacker or you're some צדיק tzaddik. You're not a צדיק tzaddik giving away what you earned. You're simply allocating the 10% the way the owner of the 10% asked you to. It never belonged to you, not for one moment. The 90% doesn't belong to you, and you don't deserve it, but השם Hashem says keep it. It's yours. He says, but 10%. 10% he says, a little 10%. 10% I'm asking you to be the steward, to watch over and to allocate to others. So the רמב\"ם Rambam says that's why it's called צדקה tzedakah. It's צדק tzedek, that's just, that's not kindness. You think you're such a בעל חסד baal chesed because you gave 10%? You're not a בעל חסד baal chesed at all. You're just practicing צדק tzedek. You're doing what's just and right because it's God's money and God has asked you to. So writes the רב Rav in contrast. Why did the Torah eliminate the construction of the משכן Mishkan from that class of activity which does not require consent on the part of the giver? By the way, based on this, the רמב\"ם's Rambam's explanation of מורה נבוכים Moreh Nevuchim, now you understand why הלכתית halachically we can place a lean on your property for צדקה tzedakah. I wish we did this today, we don't. The Jewish community is not structured in this way anymore. Because by the way, if we would just be a little bit more like the non-Jews and actually tithe, there'd be no tuition crisis, there'd be no תומכי שבת Tomchei Shabbos crisis. There'd be no this crisis, there'd be no that crisis. הלוואי halevai, Jews would tithe as accurately, punctually, mindfully, vigilantly as non-Jews. So that would be the solution. And once upon a time, the Jewish community was structured, the הלכה halacha was, the רמב\"ם Rambam brings it down, it's referenced in the שולחן ערוך Shulchan Aruch, that you could coerce a member of the community who was not doing his or her part to give that money. And if they didn't, you put a lean on their home. You say your home on Montoye Circle went up so much value because of the shul, the community it grew, your home is worth X, you're driving cars that are nice as Y, and you give nothing. You're not counted in any of the giving. That's not right. So the community's placing a lean. We've repossessed your car. Now you see some guy in תומכי שבת Tomchei Shabbos driving your Lexus. Now you see somebody in scholarship driving your Mercedes. Because we've repossessed your car. We don't have that ability anymore. But wonders Rabbi Soloveitchik, why when it comes to צדקה tzedakah, because it's צדק tzedek, it wasn't really yours, now you understand. We could place that lean, we could coerce, we could take it away because it was never yours. You were supposed to be in charge of it. Just like if I go to the bank and my broker is not properly allocating the money the way I ask him or her to, I change the account. I move it over to another broker. That's what השם Hashem does. By the way, that's why עשר בשביל שתתעשר asser bishvil shetis'asher, עשר תעשר asser te'asser. When you're when you're a good broker on God's money, he gives you more. He invests more with you. And when you don't give him a good return, he moves, he switches brokers. You want to do well in life, do God's portion. So why is it when it comes to צדקה tzedakah, which is צדק tzedek, I can coerce, I can place a lean, and when it comes to the משכן Mishkan, אשר ידבנו לבו asher yidvenu libo, you have to be moved and inspired. We're not coercing anyone. We're not placing any lean. Only give and only participate if you are so moved. Says Rabbi Soloveitchik, man is basically a homeless being. No matter how large and opulent his home, he is exposed. He is subject to the vicissitudes of life, subject to nature, which at best is indifferent to man, at worst is hostile, and subject to an inscrutable future. There is only one home where man gains security. God is called מעונה me'onah, an abode. One of the names for God is an abode. מקום Makom, called מקום Makom. The only home where man can find security is in the רבונו של עולם Ribono shel Olam. God told Moshe not to collect the money by using force, because the Mishkan was to be built only if the nation felt the need to build a home for God on their own. For God to descend from infinity into a Mishkan built by man is, כביכול kiviyachol, a sacrificial act on his part. This act of self-contraction, צמצום tzimtzum, was a sacrifice. He was willing to make it, but only if the people themselves wanted a Mishkan and were willing to contribute to build it. צדקה Tzedakah is to take care of God's children. השם Hashem says, whether you're motivated or not, inspired or not, I don't care. I want my other children taken care of. We'll go place a lean, we'll go collect, whether you want to or not. But God says when it comes to me, when it comes to my having a home, don't do it if you don't want to do it. I'm not forcing myself on you. That's like my placing a lean on my wife's account to get a birthday card from her to me. If you want to give it, give it. I'm not going to go place a lean on your account to get a birthday card from you. The whole notion of it is as a gesture of love and affection. The moment it's coerced or forced, it loses its meaning. And that's why in contrast to the rest of צדקה tzedakah, this is אשר ידבנו לבו asher yidvenu libo. Because השם Hashem says, you know, I'm pretty happy upstairs. That's my natural habitat. Obviously, I'm using anthropomorphism. God's not upstairs, downstairs, he's nowhere. But God says, כביכול kiviyachol, I'm happy upstairs. That's where I'm comfortable, that's where my natural setting. I'll constrict myself, I'll be מצמצם metzamtzem myself to come downstairs so there can be דירה בתחתונים dirah batachtonim, I can be with you, but only if you really want to be with me. Only if you love me. If I'm coercing you to it, let's not move in together. If you want to live with me, then I'd want to come down and I want to live with you, and that's why it's אשר ידבנו לבו asher yidvenu libo. And how is this expressed? Because the next פסוק pasuk, what did we give? זאת התרומה אשר תקחו מאיתם זהב וכסף ונחושת Zos hatrumah asher tikchu meitam zahav v'chesef u'nechoshes. We gave gold, silver, and copper. Says Rabbi Soloveitchik in his חומש chumash, the slaves in Egypt had no property rights. Slaves are not compensated. The Israelite would pass an Egyptian woman and see her beautiful clothing, and all the Israelites were in rags. Suddenly they were liberated and they were given so many gifts, clothing, utensils of gold and silver, the people acquired great wealth. So you understand they transitioned incredibly quickly from a slave people who owned nothing to when they left Egypt becoming enormously wealthy. Now they had things. What were they going to do with those things? Were they really free? When one undergoes privation, it is natural to want to be compensated for the years of poverty and destitution when the period of privation ends. But then God makes an announcement. We're ready to accept contributions. The people's willingness to give up these hard-earned possessions they had received from the Egyptians is precisely what hallowed and sanctified the sanctuary. You know what gave קדושה kedusha to the משכן Mishkan? That a slave nation who for 210 years had nothing, and finally came upon something, and they were then asked to take the something and give it right away. And you know what they did? They gave it. That's קדושה kedusha. That's קדושה kedusha. How do you make a dwelling place for Hashem in this world? When you say, you know why I have things? I have things to create experiences. I don't have things because I love things. The whole value of things is to create experiences. So they went from having nothing to having so much. And השם Hashem says right away, would you share your so much? I want to build a משכן Mishkan. And they could have said, רבונו של עולם Ribono shel Olam, could you give us two minutes? Can I go shopping? I just joined Amazon Prime. Can't just give me two minutes. השם Hashem says, no two minutes. I'd like you to give a portion of your things to build me a home. And you know what they said? בכבוד B'kavod. Absolutely, we'd love to. That's affection, that's love to השם Hashem, and that is, says Rabbi Soloveitchik, that in fact is קדושה kedusha. So our פרשה parsha, that all of this is by way of introduction. All of this is by way of introduction. That תרומה, תצוה, ויקהל, פקודי Trumah, Tetzaveh, Vayakhel, Pekudei, it's such minutiae and details of something that doesn't exist any longer. Why are we studying it? And the answer is it's the blueprint for our heart. It's the blueprint for our home. Some suggest that the כלים keilim in the משכן Mishkan correspond with with our essence, with who we are. The חלבנה Chelbona, Rav Chaim Cohen in his טל חיים Tal Chaim says the קודש kodesh, the holy, the קודש הקדשים kodesh hakodashim, the Holy of Holies, the קודש kodesh is the head and the קודש הקדשים kodesh hakodashim is the heart. There's the intellect, there's the emotion, the מזבח mizbeach, the מנורה menorah. The משכן Mishkan is a blueprint for who we are and how we live our lives. בלבבי משכן אבנה Bilvavi mishkan evneh, the great kabbalistic song, sung at every NCSY שבתון Shabbaton in history. בלבבי משכן אבנה Bilvavi mishkan evneh, in my heart I will build a בלבבי משכן אבנה Bilvavi mishkan evneh, a משכן Mishkan. So we, our body, our essence, כל עצמותי תאמרנה kol atzmosai tomar'na, the messages, the values are for us, but also for our home, and that's what I want to continue to see now, how it is for our home. So I listened online and we last left off last year, the end of last year's שיעור shiur in פרק כ\"ה perek kaf hei, פסוק כ\"ז pasuk kaf zayin. פרק כ\"ה פסוק כ\"ז Perek kaf hei, pasuk kaf zayin.And here the Torah tells us the following. We were at the end last year of going through the שולחן shulchan. The כלי יקר Kli Yakar's magnificent פירוש peirush on פרשת תרומה Parshas Trumah. He most vividly takes all of the values out of the כלים keilim and applies them in our lives. So he's talking about the שולחן shulchan. What's the שולחן shulchan in our lives? Our table, our dining room table. Do we host guests, do we talk דברי תורה divrei Torah, do we share gossip, do we rank on the rabbi? What are we doing at our at our dining room table? And he says, I'll just review some of what we closed with at the end of last year. He says, what page are we on? 448. So פסוק כ\"ה pasuk kaf hei. ועשית לו מסגרת טפח סביב V'asisa lo misgeres tofach saviv. Make for it a מסגרת misgeres, a molding. ועשית זר זהב למסגרתו סביב V'asisa zer zahav l'misgarto saviv. And around the molding, there should be a gold crown. Says the כלי יקר Kli Yakar, why does it need a molding? מסגרת Misgeres is a molding. The molding closes something off, comes from the word לסגור lisgor, to close. שיסגור בעת תאוה שלא יהא לו פתח פתוח עליהם אלא יסגור באדם ויתן להם קצבה sheyisgor b'es ta'avah shelo yiheh lo pesach pasuach aleihem, ela yisgor b'adam v'yiten lahem kitzvah. The dining room table can be a place of אין קידוש אלא במקום סעודה ein kiddush ela b'makom seudah. You can elevate yourself, דברי תורה divrei Torah, eating in a holy way, saying a ברכה bracha, or it can be a place of תאוה taavah. I won't check anyone's cholesterol in here, your sugar levels, your, right? It could be a place of תאוה taavah. You have an appetite and you indulge and you were full an hour and a half ago but you're still eating. And you had three portions of dessert but why not a fourth? And you had. So ועשית לו מסגרת v'asisa lo misgeres. When it comes to your table, it needs a molding. It needs boundaries. There's too much. How many mains? How many side dishes? I once got in trouble several years ago, I wrote an article about this. Returning to simplicity, tricolor this and four kinds of that and 15 of this, and the level of competition that has emerged in the Shabbos table is creating consumption, there's there's it's creating consumption problems. It's creating competition problems. Not everybody can afford the lean cut corned beef with the minute roast, with the with the with the seven mains, four side dishes, 15 desserts, you've got 13 layers of plates by the time you get to the plate you're eating on. What's that called, the bottom one? A charger. A charger, and the big plate, and the little plate, the little little plate, and 14 and six crystal glasses. It's beautiful. I know there are people who derive incredible joy from a magnificent set table. I'm not ranking on it. I love it, it's beautiful. I love it like the next person. But ועשית לו מסגרת v'asisa lo misgeres. יש גבול Yesh gvul. There's got to be a molding. There's got to be a boundary. How many meats? How many side dishes? Because you know the next person who you had over who's going to have you back, they can't afford that. They can't afford to go buy that china. They can't afford those meats. And you can't afford to eat like that. So ועשית לו מסגרת v'asisa lo misgeres. ועשית זר זהב למסגרתו סביב V'asisa zer zahav l'misgarto saviv. And you put a gold crown around the molding. כי הסוגר בעד תאוותו הוא ראוי בין חולין ומלך Ki hasoger b'ad ta'avoso hu ra'ui bein chulin u'melech. Why does the molding get a gold crown? Such a געשמאק geshmak כלי יקר Kli Yakar. Why does the molding get a gold crown? Because you know who the king is? The king is not the פרעסער fresser who can't stop eating. The king is the one who said, גענוג genug. I'm full. Who's the king? The king is not the one who has no boundary. The king is the one who's able to say, enough. This is enough of a menu. איזהו גיבור הכובש את יצרו Eizehu gibor hakovesh es yitzro. The brain over the stomach. לפוקי הפורץ גדרו לעולם הוא עני בדעתו L'fukei haporetz gidro l'olam hu ani b'daato. ונקט לשון זר זכה נעשה לו לזר וכתר V'nakat lashon zer, zacha na'aseh lo l'zer v'keser. לא זכה נעשה זר ונכרי כי יעזוב לאחרים חילו lo zacha na'aseh zar v'nochri ki ya'azov l'acherim cheilo. If you merit, you get a crown. If you don't merit, you're a stranger. You're you're another, you're apart. Isn't that again, you want to tell me פרשת תרומה Parshas Trumah doesn't have relevance for today? When you learn the כלי יקר Kli Yakar it does. Says the כלי יקר Kli Yakar, why is there a molding to the table? Because our table has to have boundaries. And why is there a gold crown on the molding? Because the one who lives with boundaries is the king or queen. That's royalty. There's something called the תענית רייבד taanis Ra'avad. The great רייבד Ra'avad, the, what's the word I'm looking for of the רמב\"ם Rambam? The interlocutor, the the the sparring partner of the רמב\"ם Rambam intellectually. So the רייבד Ra'avad was called תענית רייבד Taanis Ra'avad. תענית רייבד Taanis Ra'avad is to never fully finish eating whatever you were even eating. To always leave over the last bite. I see Jewish mothers here right now, cringing. We have a defibrillator here? Right, Jewish mothers say finish the last bite, finish up the finish the last bite. The רייבד Ra'avad said leave over the last bite. Prove to yourself that you can leave over the last bite. Ah, isn't it בל תשחית bal tashchis? Isn't it בל תשחית bal tashchis? My wife comes from Holocaust survivors, three of her four grandparents. So she was raised in an atmosphere that you finish everything. Nothing ever goes to waste. And I said to her when we first got married, not that she needs to hear this, הלוואי halevai I should be as fit and healthy as she is. But I said, you know, eating something can also be a form of בל תשחית bal tashchis. Eating is it also waste. You could throw it down the chute of your garbage, you could throw it down the chute of your mouth. If you're not hungry, throwing it down the chute of your mouth is the equivalent of throwing it down the chute of the garbage. That's also בל תשחית bal tashchis. So the רייבד Ra'avad said prove to yourself you have the discipline and the dignity to leave something over. תענית רייבד Taanis Ra'avad. ועשית לו מסגרת V'asisa lo misgeres. A molding, and the one who can do that wears the crown. If you can't, you keep eating and you go back for more and you hate yourself after every meal because you can't believe you just ate that way again when you swore you never would. You're not wearing a crown. ועשית ארבע טבעות זהב V'asisa arba tab'os zahav. פסוק כ\"ו Pasuk kaf vav. The table had four, had rings on the side. Why are the rings circular? The כלי יקר Kli Yakar tells you outside, because there's an economic cycle of life. The rich today becomes poor tomorrow, the poor today becomes rich tomorrow. And when you sit at that table and you host others, don't assume with confidence that you are always in the position you're in. If you're wealthy today and blessed to be able to host, don't take it for granted because it could be gone tomorrow. Look what happened to the stock market last week, look what's happened in horrible economic downturns and real estate markets. Don't ever, ever think it's yours permanently. And if you think you're down on your luck and you have nothing, how many people on תומכי שבת Tomchei Shabbos made millions? You never know. It's a cycle. It's round. ועשית קערותיו V'asisa ke'arosav. And then the כלי יקר Kli Yakar takes us to the last one. And there's a long כלי יקר Kli Yakar here, which is what I wanted to do together, but we're not going to. Instead, we're going to go to the מנורה menorah. Well, the כלי יקר Kli Yakar here talks about the last one. חסם כל כלי השולחן במניקיות Chasam kol klei hashulchan b'minikiyos. זה ח' ט' Zeh chaf tes. והורה שיש פרנס בניקיות לא מן הגזל V'hora she'yesh parnes b'nikiyos lo min hagazel. The last portion of the table, the table had many components to it. And one of the components that the table had of it was the מניקיות minikiyos. So he says the reason it ends with that is to tell us that we have to be נקי naki. נקי Naki means clean. If they audit your table, they audit the account that paid for the delicacies on your table, be נקי naki. You better pass with flying colors and be clean. You can't have a table who has all the delicacies and china and the, what was that thing called? The charger. You can't have you can't have all that and it was paid for מן הגזל min hagazel. But the כלי יקר Kli Yakar, a very beautiful כלי יקר Kli Yakar here goes on and says, why are these כלים keilim given in the order they're given? Why do they come in the way they come? It's a long כלי יקר Kli Yakar, we'll see another time. But I want to get to the מנורה menorah. ועשית מנורת זהב טהור V'asisa menoras zahav tahor. The מנורה menorah was made out of pure gold. מקשה תעשה המנורה Miksha tei'aseh hamenorah. We're on פסוק ל\"א pasuk lamed aleph now. Page 450. Make the menorah of pure gold, hammered from its base, its shaft, its cups, its knobs, its blossoms are all hammered from one block of gold. כפתוריה ופרחיה ממנה יהיו Kaftoreha u'fracheha mimena yiheyu. In fact, משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu didn't understand how that was going to happen. משה Moshe panicked. He couldn't picture it. You have this ornate מנורה menorah with knobs and and flowers and a base and branches, and it's all, it's all from one, how? So השם Hashem showed him a מנורה menorah of fire. And then השם Hashem did even more. He took the gold, threw it in the fire, and when it came out, the מנורה menorah was formed. And that's why the פסוק pasuk says in the passive תעשה tei'aseh. It was formed because it was miraculous in nature. If you've been to Israel recently, when you're walking down from the old city, the עיר העתיקה Ir Ha'atikah, on the base, the top of the steps down to the כותל Kotel is in a huge glass encasement, there is a huge מנורה menorah. So I was talking to one of the רבנים rabbanim of the מכון המקדש Machon Hamikdash who produced that מנורה menorah. And I said, \"Oh, you know, the replica of the מנורה menorah is beautiful.\" He looked at me with a scowl. He said, \"Replica of the מנורה menorah? There's no replica. That's the מנורה menorah. It's ready to go.\" You know, the מכון המקדש Machon Hamikdash חבר'ה chevra are busy making the בגדי כהונה bigdei kehuna and the כלים keilim. They believe, let's go. We're ready. Let's go. השם Hashem's waiting for we're waiting for him, he's waiting for us. Let's go. He said, \"Replica, that's the מנורה menorah.\" Very interesting. So that they did not throw the gold in the fire and that landed on the steps. That was fashioned. I don't know if it was made out of one piece. If it was, it's pretty extraordinary. So the Torah describes to us what this מנורה menorah looked like. ששה קנים יוצאים מצדיה שלושה קני מנורה מצדה אחד ושלושה קני מנורה מצדה השני Shisha kanim yotzim mitzideha, shlosha k'nei menorah mitzidah echad, u'shlosha k'nei menorah mitzidah hasheini. It had six branches, three on one side and three on the other. שלשה גביעים משוקדים בקנה האחד כפתור ופרח ושלשה גביעים משוקדים בקנה האחד כפתור ופרח Shlosha g'viim meshukadim b'kaneh ha'echad, kaftor vaferach, v'shlosha g'viim meshukadim b'kaneh ha'echad, kaftor vaferach. Three cups engraved like almonds on one branch, a knob, a flower, similarly on the other side. On the מנורה menorah four cups, a knob on the two branches, all the details, the six branches. The ספורנו Sforno points out in פסוק ל\"א pasuk lamed aleph, אחר סידור שני הכתרים והם כתר תורה בארון וכתר מלכות בשולחן achar sidur shnei hak'tarim v'hem keser Torah ba'aron v'keser malchus bashulchan. After the Torah has given us the two crowns, namely the crown of Torah, which is represented by the ארון aron, and the crown of royalty represented by the שולחן shulchan, סידר ענין מנורה כולה מקשה אחת sider inyan menorah kulah miksha achas. And now tells us of the מנורה menorah that was fashioned out of one piece of metal. ואור נרותיה אחד V'or neroseha echad. And it produced one light. להאיר על עבר פניה וזה שהיה אור נרות הימין ונרות השמאל מכוון על האמצעי L'ha'ir al ever paneha, v'zeh shehaya or neros hayamin v'neros hasmol m'chuvan al ha'emtza'i. The candles on the left and the candles on the right were all tilted. You know where they faced? The middle candle. וכן ראוי שיהיה ענין האור השכלי בחלק המדיני וגם כן אור בחלק המעשי V'chen ra'ui she'yiheh inyan ha'or hasichli b'chelek ham'dini v'gam ken or b'chelek hama'asi. So the ספורנו Sforno says three of the branches represent the intellect and three of the branches represent action. And both the intellect and the action all need to be directed towards the middle branch, towards השם Hashem. There's a lot of symbolism. Some say the three branches on one side represent the תלמידי חכמים talmidei chachamim and the other represent the בעלי בתים baalei batim who support them, but they all are directed towards the middle because they each equally contribute to the light of the מנורה menorah. I will המלכתית hamletically tell you that maybe they represent the left and the right politically, the left and the right religiously, and they all have to be tilted towards the middle. As long as everyone's לשם שמים l'shem shamayim. As long as you're לשם שמים l'shem shamayim and you can measure yourself by your יראת שמים yiras shamayim, or you're spreading השם's Hashem's light, there can be the left and there can be the right, religiously, politically, they are tilted towards the middle. They both serve the same light, the middle light, the light of the of the מנורה menorah. So that's the ספורנו Sforno about the branches and where they and where they face. There's a lot to say on the מנורה menorah, but I wanted to bring your attention to one thing, which is really what I wanted to get to. Which is the Torah tells us that the מנורה menorah had ירכה yerecha. Go back to פסוק ל\"א pasuk lamed aleph. רש\"י Rashi says, מקשה תעשה המנורה ירכה וקנה Miksha tei'aseh hamenorah yerecha v'kanah. What's the ירכה yerecha? Says רש\"י Rashi, הוא רגל של מטה האמצעי שעשוי כמין תיבה ושלושה הרגלים יוצאים ממנה ולמטה hu regel shel matah ha'emtza'i she'asui k'min teivah v'shlosha harglayim yotzim mimena u'l'matah. The מנורה menorah was shaped, how many legs did it have at its base, the מנורה menorah? It had three legs at its base. אזוי זאגט רש\"י Azoy zogt Rashi. The רמב\"ם Rambam also, the רמב\"ם Rambam also writes שלושה רגלים היו לה shlosha raglayim hayu lah. And the רמב\"ם Rambam is talking about in the third פרק perek of כלי המקדש Klei Hamikdash, המנורה מפורשת צורתה בתורה hamenorah meforeshes tzurasa baTorah. The מנורה menorah is depicted, its detail in the Torah, and in הלכה ב' halacha beis he begins, ושלושה רגלים היו לה U'shlosha raglayim hayu lah. It had three legs. It had three legs at the base of the מנורה menorah. Here's the question. Has anyone here been to Rome? Has anyone here been to the Arch of Titus? What does it look like on the Arch of Titus? Well, first of all, there's a big debate. Is the מנורה menorah, did it have rounded branches or did it have straight branches? חב\"ד Chabad is מקפיד makpid to have straight branches based on the רמב\"ם Rambam. Many other menorahs do not. What what exactly did the branches look like? But for now, forget the branches. What about the base? Three legs? If you look at the Arch of Titus, I don't have a picture for you, but on the Arch of Titus, it's one pure base. There are no legs. The Arch of Titus artist who sculpted the Arch of Titus did so while looking at the actual כלים keilim that were being transported from the destruction of the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash back to Rome. Titus is long gone, the Jews are back in ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael. We all know the the wonderful the wonderful end of the story, the postscript of the story. But if our most accurate depiction of the real מנורה menorah comes from the Arch of Titus, where are the legs? What happened to the three legs on the Arch of Titus? So my buddy, Rabbi Dr. Meir Soloveichik wrote an article in Commentary magazine in March 2008 addressing this question. He's not the only one, many scholars have addressed this question. He does an excellent job of of addressing it. And he says the following. Right, he asks. The work commemorated by the arch has, it would seem, been undone. It has to be underlined this extraordinary transformation. It's not a coincidence. What was what was chosen as the emblem of the State of Israel? What is in the middle of the emblem of the State of Israel, the modern State of Israel? The מנורה menorah. And which depiction of the מנורה menorah? Are there legs on the מנורה menorah in the depiction in the symbol of the State of Israel? No. So, in the late 1940s, Alec Mishory, an Israeli art historian, explained the rationale. Said the menorah is returned from the Arch of Titus where it symbolizes defeat, humiliation, and disgrace, and is installed in a place of honor on the emblem of the state, the establishment of which is testimony to the eternity of the Jewish people. We could have taken a more accurate מנורה menorah. דוקא Davka that מנורה menorah was chosen for the logo to show the reversal. That the מנורה menorah which was stolen from us and taken to Rome has returned to where it belongs, at least symbolically, in the founding of the modern state. But it still doesn't answer the question. רש\"י Rashi, רמב\"ם Rambam both say the מנורה menorah had three legs, ירכה yerecha. What happened to the three legs? So Rav Herzog, the first Chief Rabbi of Israel, has a who was a great scholar, has a long Hebrew article on this this topic. And he says that at some point after the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash destruction, in the voyage from Judea to Rome, the legs were broken off and replaced with a pedestal. Don't think that the way it was in the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash was inconsistent with the way it was supposed to be, just know they broke it off on the way there. And there are historians who have who have evidence that that might be true. Other scholars suggest that Herod did this, not not that the legs fell off on the long voyage, but that Herod did it. Herod, this great dictator of Rome who ruled ירושלים Yerushalayim, who was a villain in both Jewish and non-Jewish traditions, is the one who did it. What would his motive have been? But I'll just tell you it's interesting, Rabbi Herzog in his article protested the Israeli seal. He was the first chief rabbi, and when the seal of the new modern state came out, he protested it. And he said the following, It's not good what our government does today. Just when we have merited to once again the light of ציון Tzion, that is symbolized by the מנורה menorah, by symbolized by the מנורה menorah, the state chose specifically the image of the מנורה menorah on the Arch of Titus, which it appears was altered by foreigners. And not only this, but an expert in the science of antiquities has testified the מנורות menoros that are formed on the graves in the Jewish catacombs in Rome are all with three legs, as are all those formed in the mosaics and the remains of ancient synagogues that are in the land of Israel. It's a very, very interesting. If you look in mosaics in Israel and apparently in Rome, which made which is more accurate than the Arch of Titus before the legs broke off, which is his thesis, you'll see that the legs are in fact there. There are others who disagree, scholars. Again, I refer you to Rabbi Dr. Meir Soloveichik's article in Commentary about the מנורה menorah and its symbolism with the light, the branches. There was a lot more to say. אם ירצה השם Mirtzashem we'll pick up.
