Transcript
Okay, this week we have the privilege of studying פרשת תצוה Parshas Tetzaveh, page 464, 465 in the Stone חומש Chumash. פרשת תצוה Parshas Tetzaveh of course continues the theme we began last week, which is the משכן Mishkan. I mentioned last week, we are somewhat abruptly introduced to the משכן Mishkan. There's no segue. There's no introduction, there's no context which is provided. We kind of go from הר סיני Har Sinai, מתן תורה Matan Torah, נעשה ונשמע naaseh v'nishmah at the end of משפטים Mishpatim, right head first into the משכן Mishkan, the dimensions of the משכן Mishkan, the כלים keilim last week. And this week the focus and the emphasis on the בגדי כהונה bigdei kehuna, the clothing, the garments, the uniform of the priests, of the כהנים kohanim and in particular of the כהן גדול Kohen Gadol of the high priest. As is our practice, let's review the פרשה parsha quickly, an overview, and then we'll delve into the פסוקים pesukim that we're going to analyze together today.ואתה תצוה את בני ישראל V'atah tetzaveh es Bnei Yisrael. The פרשה parsha begins with a commandment, not of the בגדי כהונה bigdei kehuna yet, but to take pure olive oil, a reminder of the obligation of the lighting of the of the נר תמיד ner tamid, of the perpetual candle that remains lit. Perpetual is relative because תמיד tamid, Rashi already points out, means מלילה ללילה me'lailah l'lailah, at night. But the, the role of the כהן kohein was to light the, the candle, and interesting, why does it say להעלות נר תמיד l'ha'alos ner tamid? It should say להדליק נר תמיד l'hadlik ner tamid. One is מדליק madlik, one lights a candle. What do you mean להעלות l'ha'alos? What is the difference between להדליק l'hadlik and להעלות l'ha'alos? להעלות l'ha'alos means to bring up. להעלות l'ha'alos means to raise. What do you mean you raise a flame as opposed to ignite or to light a flame? That's not our, we're not gonna study this today, so I'll leave you that question you could look into it. But anyway, then we get into the כהנים kohanim and their garments. The כהנים kohanim are described by name. They are אהרן Aaron and his sons, namely אהרן נדב ואביהוא אלעזר ואיתמר Aaron, Nadav v'Avihu, Elazar v'Isamar, sons of אהרן Aaron, who are the designated כהנים kohanim. ועשית בגדי קדש לאהרן אחיך V'asisa bigdei kodesh l'Aharon achicha. Moshe's instructed, of course by the way, how many times does Moshe's name appear in our פרשה parsha? None. The tradition is that this is the only פרשה parsha in which Moshe's name does not appear after he arrives on the scene. The truth is that that's not accurate. There are other פרשיות parshiyos that Moshe's name does not appear, but that's the tradition anyway, תצוה Tetzaveh. Most assume that it's a response to really next week's פרשה parsha. After the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel, the sin of the golden calf, Moshe says, \"Forgive the people, if not מחני נא מספרך m'cheini na misifrecha, I want you to erase my name.\" God says, \"Okay, you're such a tough guy, erase your name. No problem.\" פרשת תצוה Parshas Tetzaveh, no Moshe Rabbeinu's name. Another association which is given is that tomorrow, tonight and tomorrow are ז' אדר Zayin Adar, the day of Moshe Rabbeinu's both birth and death, his יארצייט yahrzeit. So we usually falls in the פרשה parsha of, in the פרשה parsha of תצוה Tetzaveh. So Moshe's יארצייט yahrzeit, his absence is recalled by the lack of mention of his name in פרשת תצוה Parshas Tetzaveh. So anyway, ואתה v'atah, we have all these pronouns. ואתה ואתה V'atah, v'atah, and you and you, it's talking to Moshe, but his name never appears. So ואתה v'atah, ועשית בגדי קדש v'asisa bigdei kodesh, make, fashion holy garments, לאהרן אחיך l'Aharon achicha for your brother, and what is their purpose? לכבוד ולתפארת L'chavod ul'sifares, for glory and for splendor. לכבוד L'chavod, for glory and for splendor of whom? We discussed this last year. There's a ספורנו Sforno and others. Is it God's glory? Is it the glory of the כהן kohein? What is the purpose of this uniform? Does the uniform bring glory to the position, to the כהן kohein? Does it bring glory to the Almighty? It's a very powerful image. This is the notion that, you know, the idea of the clothing making the man or the woman. What we wear has a heavy influence on who we are and how we behave. Someone who is in the military will describe or somebody who's in law enforcement will describe a different feeling overcomes them when they put on the uniform. They stand for something else. Interestingly, who paid for the uniforms of the כהנים kohanim? They did. We did. It came from the communal funds. So when the כהן kohein would don the uniform, they would be wearing something that was representative of everybody. They understood. It's kind of like our tax dollars pay for the police or the fire department's uniform. When they put it on, they understand that they are servants of the people. They represent the people. They are on behalf of or ambassadors of the people. The uniform of the כהן kohein was not allowed to have any barrier. There couldn't be a חציצה chatzitzah. There couldn't be anything between their flesh, their skin, and the uniform. Even a bandage, a band-aid, there couldn't be anything. When they wore that uniform, it was part of their very being. It was part of who they are. They animated the clothing, the garment. Their being animated that garment, gave it life, brought it to life. So the כהן גדול Kohen Gadol and the כהנים kohanim wore a garment, it distinguished, you have to understand, it changes your attitude. You know, I'll give you an example. When I'm on vacation all summer long, I don't wear a tie or a suit. I still, you know, dress, my my daughter would say, \"Why can't you be more like Rabbi Brody? Why do you have to always look like a rabbi?\" One of my daughters always tells me. But I'm not wearing a suit. The day I come back to shul and come back to work and I put on that suit and I put on this choker around my neck, I feel like, \"Uh, I'm back in uniform. Bring it on. I'm back to being the rabbi.\" When a person wears a uniform, it has an impact on how we feel. If you dress formally, you'll feel formal. If you're wearing your your old sweatpants, you feel like you're Pesach cleaning. You know, what you wear has a big impact on on how you feel. And that was the purpose of the בגדי כהונה bigdei kehuna. לכבוד ולתפארת L'chavod ul'sifares. First of all, it it it promoted a sense of of dignity. It promoted a sense of mission among the כהנים kohanim themselves. They understood that they are engaged in a holy activity. They're not wearing the same thing. They understood that they represented the people who paid for the uniform that they wear with pride. It brought glory to God because a person looked at a כהן kohein or a כהן גדול kohein gadol and they saw the dignity, the class, they saw the the uniform. These were the soldiers of Hashem. It brought glory to Hashem. In fact, I think we talked about this last week, but this is what the תכריכין tachrichin, the shrouds that we get buried in are modeled after the the clothing of the כהן גדול Kohen Gadol. Literally, the מצנפת mitznefes, the מעיל me'il, it's literally modeled after. When we, anyone who has the privilege of serving in the חברה קדישא Chevra Kadisha, and if you do, we honor you tomorrow night at ז' אדר Zayin Adar, at our ז' אדר Zayin Adar dinner, if if you you understand that, you know, the body comes in often with bandages, often with with blemishes and with wounds and with tubes, and and you know, when that body comes in, if it's been in a in a hospice or the hospital or whatever the situation may be, the body can appear soiled. And by the time the חברה קדישא Chevra Kadisha is done with their work, of applying amazing care and concern and sensitivity and love and dignity, that body is now clean and hair combed and ears cleaned and nails cleaned, every every inch of that body, and the body is dressed in the shrouds which resemble, you literally that body is transformed to when you put them in the in the coffin, it's as if you are burying the כהן גדול Kohen Gadol, the high priest, on יום כיפור Yom Kippur. It's a very powerful thing. It's a casket, not a coffin. A coffin is a Christian terminology. I'm sorry. Is that true? Okay, casket, ארון aron, we'll call it the ארון aron, the ark, the Jewish terminology. So when we, by the time that we are finished with our work, that individual literally resembles the high priest. It's very, very powerful. So that's the purpose of this uniform. That's all by way of introduction. Just hold hold your questions if you don't mind till the end. And then of course the פרשה parsha begins to get into them. We have the אפוד ephod. The אפוד ephod is is kind of Rashi describes it as an apron. Women would wear it when they'd ride horses. But it's kind of an apron that begins below the waist but has straps that come up over the back and connect from over the back to the חשן choshen, to the breastplate and they hold it in place. But that underneath that, first is the כתונת ksones, the tunic, which is kind of a long undershirt which is woven. On top of that is the מעיל me'il, which is the robe. That's what we're going to focus on. So, and these are the eight garments. The כהן גדול Kohen Gadol, the high priest, wore eight garments, except for יום כיפור Yom Kippur where he wore when he went into the קדש הקדשים Kodesh HaKodashim, then he wore only four garments, the four garments that the כהן הדיוט kohen hedyot, that the the every כהן kohein wore, except they were made of all white. They were white garments. During the rest of the year, the high priest wore eight garments. So he wore the tunic, the כתונת ksones, like the long undershirt, the מעיל me'il, the robe on top of it, the אפוד ephod, this apron which combined with the חשן choshen, the breastplate on top of that. And each of them, you know, the Torah describes here in detail how they were woven, seven strands woven, and then the four of the seven woven to create one thread, which when it was woven into the garment, you understand the level of craftsmanship. Rashi describes, the reason it's called מעשה חושב ma'aseh choshev, it's described as as uh, מעשה חושב ma'aseh choshev is is the work of craftsmanship. חושב Choshev is intelligence. Why? Because they they were able to, this is without computers and technology and spreadsheets, they were able to create a thread of so many colors and yet when woven together revealed a pattern which was so magnificently complex. But not only complex, they were able to do a pattern, Rashi on פרשת תרומה Parshas Trumah, last week's פרשה parsha describes this, that when you, I don't know if anyone here does needle point. I don't appreciate this. If you do needle point, you can appreciate it probably even more. They were able to weave a pattern such that the image on either side was different, not the same. That when you'd look on either side of the product, the finished product, the pattern was different, not the same. That was the level of craftsmanship and artisanship with which they they wove. The Torah continues and describes the headplate, the ציץ הזהב tzitz hazahav, it said קדש להשם Kodesh L'Hashem. Was it on one line, was it on two lines? There's a great גמרא Gemara where one of the great rabbis, one of the תנאים Tannaim, says that having a debate. קדש להשם Kodesh L'Hashem, was it on one line? Was it on two lines? So one of the great rabbis says, \"I was in Rome. I was in the Vatican, and I saw it. And and it was on two lines and that's the authoritative position. There's no reason to have a debate. I actually saw it.\" We discussed this when we talked about the garments having been taken after the destruction of the second בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash, when the Romans tragically pillaged our holy temple and they took the sacred vessels which has been memorialized on the Arch of Titus. In fact, the whole image of the מנורה menorah, if you compare it to the way it is on the Arch of Titus to the פסוקים pesukim of last week's פרשה parsha, we discussed this then. So קדש להשם Kodesh L'Hashem, was it on one line, was it on two lines? He says, \"I saw it. I saw it. Checkmate. I saw it and this is how it appeared.\" So you see that there's a tradition that it's in the Vatican in Rome. Um, then you have the garments of the ordinary כהנים kohanim who wore four garments, not eight. We have the ritual of the inauguration of the כהנים kohanim of how that takes place, the different, the different sacrifices they brought, and then towards the end of the פרשה parsha we have the תמיד tamid offering. את הכבש אחד תעשה בבקר ואת הכבש השני תעשה בין הערבים Es hakeves echad ta'aseh baboker v'es hakeves hasheini ta'aseh bein ha'arbaim. We have a מדרש Midrash which is quoted. Nobody has ever actually identified where the מדרש Midrash is, but later authorities make reference to a מדרש Midrash. So we're not sure it ever really existed, but we can call it a מדרש Midrash, where there was a debate among three great rabbis. What is the most important verse in the Torah? What's the motto of the Jewish people? What's our bumper sticker? One, not surprisingly says, שמע ישראל ה' אלקינו ה' אחד Shema Yisrael Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad. Hear, oh Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. The unity of God's existence, the statement of Jewish philosophy, theology, we don't believe in in multiple deities and paganism. We believe in one God. Everything traces itself back to one source, like a prism. One ray of light comes in, but multiple colors come out. We experience God, the many different colors, but there's one ray of light. God is one. There's a unity to God's existence. Okay, that makes sense. That was one nomination. A second candidate was ואהבת לרעך כמוך v'ahavta l'reiacha kamocha. Love your neighbor as yourself. After all, זה כלל גדול בתורה zeh klal gadol baTorah, Rebbe Akiva says, \"That is the principle of Torah. That is the motto of the Jewish people. Love your neighbor as yourself.\" God, you can't have a relationship with God before you show love to His children. Okay, that also makes sense. And the third opinion was, את הכבש אחד תעשה בבקר ואת הכבש השני תעשה בין הערבים es hakeves echad ta'aseh baboker v'es hakeves hasheini ta'aseh bein ha'arbaim. The end of this week's פרשה parsha, that two sheep, one sheep you offer in the morning, and one sheep you offer every day as a sacrifice in the afternoon. Are you kidding me? That's the third nominee? That פסוק pasuk should be the motto of the Jewish people? One sheep you slaughter in the morning, one sheep you slaughter in the afternoon. That belongs up there with the unity of God's existence and love your neighbor as yourself? Are you kidding me? So I'll leave that also as a question we can address another time. Then at the end, it again begins with the, I'm sorry, the פרשה parsha ends with the מזבח הקטורת mizbeach haketores, the altar that they would offer the incense upon. And of course, you can't help but be puzzled with another question which is, what is it doing at the end of this פרשה parsha? Last week we talked about the שולחן shulchan and the ארון aron and the, last week we had all the utensils of the of the משכן Mishkan. Why was this one, why did this one remain? What is it doing here at the end of פרשת תצוה Parshas Tetzaveh, which tells me about, focuses on the כהנים kohanim, their garments, their inauguration, their sacrifices? This should have been listed among all the utensils. What's it doing here? Yet another question I leave you for another time. So let's get into what I want to look at this week's פרשה parsha. And that is שלישי shlishi, which is chapter 28, verse 31. פרק כ\"ח פסוק ל\"א Perek kaf ches, pasuk lamed aleph. It is in the Stone חומש Chumash on page 470. Page 470 in the Stone חומש Chumash. Everybody have me? Fantastic. Page 470. Page 470, chapter 28, verse 31, שלישי shlishi. Says the Torah. Now, the Torah is describing, I mentioned in the overview, the כהן גדול kohen gadol had eight garments, eight garments throughout the year, four on יום כיפור Yom Kippur when he entered the קדש הקדשים Kodesh HaKodashim. So he had underneath he wore this kind of long undershirt, the כתונת ksones. On top of that, he had the מעיל me'il. So that's what we're up to. ועשית את מעיל האפוד כליל תכלת V'asisa es me'il ha'ephod klil techeiles. The כהן גדול kohen gadol would put on the robe of the אפוד ephod, which was made entirely, כליל klil, it was entirely תכלת techeiles. תכלת Techeiles, like we described turquoise, comes from that something miraculous, whatever that snail is called. It's been rediscovered today. So turquoise, it was made of this special turquoise wool. והיה פי ראשו בתוכו, שפה יהיה לפיו סביב, מעשה אורג, כפי תחרא יהיה לו, לא יקרע V'hayah pi rosho b'socho, safah yihyeh l'fiv saviv, ma'aseh oreg, k'fi sachra yihyeh lo, lo yikarei'a. The opening, the neckline of the of this robe, which was not a V-neck, it was a crew neck, it was circular. The opening was folded over within it and stitched. In other words, there was a reinforcement, a hem, a reinforcement around the border. It was all around of weaver's work, like the opening of a coat of mail, כפי תחרא יהיה לו לא יקרע k'fi sachra yihyeh lo, lo yikarei'a. What's a coat of mail? What's a coat of mail? Like a coat of armor. The coat of armor around the neck was doubled over to give it extra strength there, why? So that if they were slashed, it wouldn't tear open, because then you'd be exposed and vulnerable. So similarly, this robe of the כהן kohein had a, it was doubled over, it was a hem, it was doubled over so that it was reinforced, such that it would not tear. לא יקרע Lo yikarei'a, it could not allow it, it must not be torn. ועשית על שוליו רמוני תכלת וארגמן ותולעת שני על שוליו סביב, ופעמוני זהב בתוכם סביב V'asisa al shulav rimonei techeles v'argaman v'sola'as shani al shulav saviv, u'fa'amonei zahav b'socham saviv. It had on its hem, meaning the bottom of the robe, which stretched all the way down towards the ground, there were pomegranates that were made of turquoise, of תכלת techeles, purple, and scarlet wool on the hem all around, and there were gold bells between them. So the hemline of this robe was alternating little pomegranates made of תכלת techeles and alternating between them golden bells with a ringer inside. The next פסוק pasuk, פעמון זהב ורמון פעמון זהב ורמון על שולי המעיל סביב pa'amon zahav v'rimon, pa'amon zahav v'rimon, al shulei hame'il saviv. A gold bell then a pomegranate, a gold bell and a pomegranate, all on the hem of this robe all going around. והיה על אהרן לשרת ונשמע קולו בבאו אל הקדש לפני ה' ובצאתו ולא ימות V'hayah al Aharon l'shareis, v'nishmah kolo b'vo'o el hakodesh lifnei Hashem uv'tseiso v'lo yamus. And you would hear, קולו kolo. Translate קולו kolo? its voice or his voice? So the sound, its sound, let's see, Artscroll translated is, \"Its sound shall be heard when he enters the sanctuary before Hashem and when he leaves, so that he shall not die.\" Now, again, obviously I just hinted to we'll get back to, ונשמע קולו v'nishmah kolo, whose voice? Aaron's voice? The voice of the bells? The sound of the bells, Aaron's voice, what's going on here? Okay, so that's that's the unit that we're going to look at here, the description of the מעיל me'il, the robe, the description of from the head to the toe, right? The the neckline had reinforced, the hem was an alternating bells and pomegranate, and the purpose of the bells was to make a sound when he would enter and when he would leave. Let's analyze and take a look. Let me just tell you something fascinating. In September of last year, an incredible discovery was made by archaeologists. I might have described to you, it's still not open to the public. I just found out last week, but underneath if you, who's been to עיר דוד Ir David? So if you've been to here עיר דוד Ir David, you know that south of of the Old City, outside the current wall, what we call the wall of the Old City, which is really relatively new in terms of its dating, but there's עיר דוד Ir David, where דוד המלך David HaMelech lived. דוד המלך David HaMelech's palace was where דוד המלך David HaMelech, when he made Jerusalem the capital of the Jewish people. עיר דוד Ir David has been explored for for many years already. And we know at the base of עיר דוד Ir David, all the way down, you have the שילוח Shiloach, you have this water which is where we know they they drew from. They discovered fairly recently the street that ran from the base of עיר דוד Ir David all the way up to the הר הבית Har HaBayis, which was the way that the people had access, how they would go with their animals for sacrifices and how they would go from the city, from the village all the way up. That in itself is an incredible discovery, the the main street, the main thoroughfare how they would get up there. But then they discovered something even more incredible. Underneath the street, the street was constructed that it was kind of bow-shaped and the water would be able to run off to the sides and underneath it. And underneath it, there was a sewer, there was a drain that would allow the water to run off and collect it and remove the water. They discovered accidentally this sewer that also runs underneath this main street all the way up to the, all the way up to the Temple Mount. Now, the main street, they can't excavate all the way because there's buildings in city and Jerusalem on top of it. But the sewer they can. So they dug and dug and dug and dug, and all the way from the base of עיר דוד Ir David, all the way the bottom of the hill south of the Old City wall, you can now climb, you don't have to climb, you can walk through that tunnel, and you know where it exits? At the at the כותל Kotel plaza at the entrance to the כותל Kotel tunnel tours. They're going to make it one contiguous route that you'll be able to go from the base of עיר דוד Ir David all the way through the כותל Kotel tunnel tours all the way to the northwest corner of the כותל Kotel, of where the base of הר הבית Har HaBayis was. Now, here's what's unbelievable. So I I happen to know that people, they were here last weekend, as part of that Jewish Statesmanship Institute, or they were here two weekends ago, Nachman Zoldan, Nachman and Miriam Zoldan, incredible couple. They're very big supporters of עיר דוד Ir David. So they arranged for, I took one of our missions last year and then this past summer my family, we had access to go through this tunnel. What they found was that this tunnel, they found an incredible amount of pottery, unbelievable amounts of pottery dating to the time of the Second Temple. All broken shards everywhere. So much so they said to us, \"Take as much as you want, bring it home with you.\" I have some of it here at home. What what was it from? When they were fleeing the Romans during the time of the destruction of the Second בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash, one of the ways they ran out was through this sewage system. They ran out through it. So these jugs were probably carrying the food that they were using to sustain themselves as they were fleeing from the Romans. In fact, you can see inside the tunnel, there are areas of ash or where there's black char on the walls, which likely came from the burning of the בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash and from the Roman fires when they broke through the siege of Jerusalem. It's incredible. There's so much more to describe about it. I don't want to take up our time. But I'll tell you this. As they continued to excavate that tunnel, that sewer system underneath the main road, they found this past September a golden bell with a loop on the end of it, which they believe belonged to the כהן גדול Kohen Gadol, to this robe, to the מעיל me'il that we're learning about this morning. The uh, the antiquities authority, the archaeologists, the professors who found it said the bell looks as if it was sewn on the garment worn by the כהן גדול Kohen Gadol at the time of the end, towards the end of the Second Temple period. Now, why was it doing, what was it doing there? They say it's likely that the כהן גדול Kohen Gadol, this garment was for whatever reason passing on that street and the bell fell off and ran off into the sewer and then was underneath. And they found this actual bell. So it's unbelievable. It comes to life this uh, the מעיל me'il, the the, the פעמון ורמון pa'amon v'rimon, this פעמון pa'amon, this bell. There were stories all over the news. It was September of last year, just a few months ago. If you Google it, you'll you'll you'll find it. So let's get to, let's start looking at the פסוקים pesukim. Says, why is it called the מעיל האפוד me'il ha'ephod? The פסוק pasuk describes it as ועשית v'asisa, you should fashion, make the מעיל האפוד me'il ha'ephod, the robe of the אפוד ephod. Comes to show you, the purpose of the robe was to serve the אפוד ephod. What's the אפוד ephod? The אפוד ephod was worn on top of this, both on top of the um, on top of the undershirt, the כתונת ksones, and the um, and the מעיל me'il. And the אפוד ephod was was this woven, very technical garment with the straps. That was the purpose of it. So if you look at for example, look at the רשב\"ם Rashbam, רב שמואל בן מאיר Rav Shmuel ben Meir. מעיל האפוד Me'il ha'ephod, שלובש עליו את האפוד shelovesh alav es ha'ephod. Why is it called the מעיל האפוד me'il ha'ephod? Because you wore, you wore on top of it the אפוד ephod. That was the purpose of it. That's why you wore it. אפוד Ephod, you look at the בעל הטורים Ba'al HaTurim in פסוק ל\"א pasuk lamed aleph, he says, אפוד ephod is בגימטריא b'gematria מלאך malach, שהיה מלובש כמלאך shehayah melubash k'malach. The אפוד ephod is the same numerical value as the word מלאך malach, an angel, because the כהן גדול Kohen Gadol, when he wore the אפוד ephod, looked angelic. So this מעיל me'il, the robe that was worn underneath the אפוד ephod was called the מעיל האפוד me'il ha'ephod because it didn't have an independent value. The purpose of the robe was not for itself, its purpose was to serve the אפוד ephod because it was the אפוד ephod that allowed the כהן גדול Kohen Gadol to look angelic. As the בעל הטורים Ba'al HaTurim says, the same גימטריא gematria, שהיה מלובש כמלאך shehayah melubash k'malach, he was dressed like a an angel. Look at the כלי יקר Kli Yakar, source, פסוק ל\"א pasuk lamed aleph. Says the כלי יקר Kli Yakar of Luntschitz from Lemberg, לפי שהמעיל מכפר על לשון הרע l'fi shehame'il mechaper al lashon hara. The כלי יקר Kli Yakar, throughout his commentary on this פרשה parsha, is referencing the גמרא Gemara. The גמרא בזבחים Gemara b'Zevachim tells us, each of the garments of the priests and the high priests corresponded with the ability to atone for a different pattern of poor behavior. We have different patterns of poor behavior, we make mistakes in bad judgment and so on. The different garments of the כהן גדול Kohen Gadol, the whole function of the משכן Mishkan was a place of atonement. You made a mistake, you displayed poor judgment, you sought spiritual inspiration, you went to the משכן Mishkan and that's where you found it. Right? That's the whole symbolism of the of the sacrifices. Rav Hirsch describes so beautifully, you would sacrifice an animal, what was the idea? You're sacrificing the animal instinct inside you. And the symbolism of sprinkling the blood is our passion, and the flower offering is our most basic needs. And the, he goes through all of this symbolism. So to the garments of the priests and the high priests corresponded with different mistakes that we made, and the symbolism contained within those garments would inspire תשובה teshuvah, repentance, and would achieve atonement. So look at the כלי יקר Kli Yakar. He says, the מעיל me'il, this robe, what did it correspond with? What symbolism, what did it elicit that we would draw from and achieve atonement? מכפר על לשון הרע Mechaper al lashon hara. If a person would gossip, the מעיל me'il would remind us of the mistake. על כן היה כולו תכלת כי תכלת דומה לים ועל ידי התכלת יסתכל בים ומימנו ירא וכן יעשה Al kein hayah kulo techeles ki techeles domeh l'yam, v'al yedei hatecheles yistakel b'yam u'meimenu yirei v'chein ya'aseh. So why was the robe made entirely of the turquoise color? What's the purpose of turquoise? So that should remind us of ציצית tzitzis. ציצית Tzitzis will study in פרשת שלח Parshas Shelach, the end of פרשת שלח Parshas Shelach is the מצוה mitzvah of ציצית tzitzis. So ציצית tzitzis, we know we have all these threads of white, and then we have one thread that's made of turquoise. And the contrast of the blue and the white is supposed to remind us that that the blue, the the richness of the blue is similar to the blue of the ocean. And the blue of the ocean reminds us of the blue of the sky. And the blue of the sky, you look up, it reminds you of the heavenly court, and the heavens. And the heavens remind us that there is, there's a being, there's something greater than ourselves. There's a a an Almighty who runs the world. So and that was the purpose of ציצית tzitzis. When a person, a man would look at his ציצית tzitzis and see that blue string, he would, it was like tying a string around your finger, it served as a reminder, as a source of inspiration. So so too over here, says the כלי יקר Kli Yakar, a person would gossip, they would lose their way, they would lose their focus, they would lose their anchor of what's important in life, their compass, they would see the blue of the robe, an entire robe of this stark blue color, this rich blue color, turquoise color, remind you of the ocean, and then the heavens, and then the heavenly court, and so on and so forth. כי בים נאמר ואשם ברא עליו חקי וגדולושים ובריח ודלתים, ואומר עד פה תבוא ולא תוסיף ובכן נתן הקדוש ברוך הוא על הלשון חום ובריח כמו שאמר רז\"ל ולא עוד אלא שהקפתי לך שתי חומות אחת של עצם ואחת של בשר ומה יתן ומה יוסיף לך לשון רמיה Ki b'yam ne'emar v'ashim b'ra alav chuki u'gedolo, v'lachol u'vriach v'dalatayim, v'omer ad po tavo v'lo sosif. U'v'chein nasan Hakadosh Baruch Hu al halashon chom u'vriach k'mo she'amru amru razal, v'lo od ela shehikafti lach shtei chomos, achas shel etzem v'achas shel basar, u'ma yiten u'ma yosif lach lashon remiah. So he says the following. How does the ocean cause you to to remember to stop speaking לשון הרע lashon hara? Why should this blue of the מעיל me'il be a reminder not to gossip? He says, \"What's the problem of gossip? When we forget that there are boundaries to speech.\" When we think that we can say whatever we think, we can say whatever we feel, we can say whatever we feel like saying. There's no boundaries. Whatever comes to us, we say, no boundaries. The ocean is a place of boundaries. The ocean is surrounded by the beach, by the shore that protects the land from the ocean but gives it a sense of a boundary. There's a beautiful, I think it's רבינו בחיי Rabbeinu Bachya who says in fact, that's why a חופה chuppah is called a חופה chuppah. What's the root of the word חופה chuppah that they get married under? חוף Chof. What's a חוף chof? The חוף chof is the shore, the the beach, the uh, the shore. And he talks about the bridge of two separate things but being together. It's a beautiful concept of what the what the חופה chuppah is really all about. So here the כלי יקר Kli Yakar says, \"Just like the ocean has boundaries, the ocean, the water can't go in any direction it pleases, but there are boundaries to the ocean.\" So too our speech has boundaries. We have a nose above our top lip, we have a chin below our bottom lip. There are boundaries to speech. We can't simply say whatever we feel, and therefore when we saw the red blue richness of the מעיל me'il, it would be a reminder not to speak לשון הרע lashon hara. ויהיו מוראי שילמד אדם מן הים שאינו עובר את דלתיו ובריחו ודרך גדרו, וזהו טעם התכלת שדומה לים, כי בהסתכל בתכלת יהיה נזכר לים שדומה לו בצבע מעלה יתבונן אז במעשה הים ומימנו ירא וכן יעשה v'hayu morei she'yilmad adam min hayam she'eino over es dalasav u'vricho v'derech gedero, v'zehu ta'am hatecheles she'domeh l'yam, ki b'histakel b'techeles yihyeh nizkar l'yam she'domeh lo b'tzeva ma'aleh yisbonen az b'ma'aseh hayam u'meimenu yirei v'chein ya'aseh. So he says, just like the water doesn't go wherever it pleases, it never breaches the the shore, except when there's a hurricane. So so too, we should not, our speech should not breach. And that's what the symbolism represents. And he continues by referencing פרשת שלח Parshas Shelach when it comes to the תכלת techeles of ציצית tzitzis, that it's supposed to fulfill a similar purpose. And it's a long כלי יקר Kli Yakar, he goes on with this thought, but the כלי יקר Kli Yakar is explaining why was the מעיל me'il made out of תכלת techeles. All of that is number one. Next, consistent with that theme, what's the idea of the hem? What's the idea of doubling over the neckline to protect it from being torn? So look at the בעל הטורים Ba'al HaTurim. שפה יהיה לפיו Safah yihyeh l'fiv. פיו Piv, meaning the opening of the robe had to have a שפה safah, had to have a hem, a boundary. Why, says the בעל הטורים Ba'al HaTurim? שהמעיל מכפר על לשון הרע שחוטא בלשון אחת ופיו, יעשה שפה לפיו, שימנע מלשון הרע, ויעשה תשובה ויכופר לו Shehame'il mechaper al lashon hara, she'chota b'lashon achas v'fiv, ya'aseh safah l'fiv she'yimana mi'lashon hara, v'ya'aseh teshuvah v'yichuper lo. Just like there's a strong. boundary around the opening of the robe, so too, the opening of our body, our mouth has to have a strong boundary, a strong hem, has to be reinforced to not speak לשון הרע lashon hara.So again, it's the גמרא Gemara in זבחים Zevachim which says that the מעיל me'il corresponds with לשון הרע lashon hara and not gossiping. And based on that symbolism, the כלי יקר Kli Yakar explains the color. That's why it's a turquoise blue. And the בעל הטורים Ba'al HaTurim explains why the opening was doubled over and reinforced, because the opening to us, our mouth has to be reinforced to make sure that we don't speak out of turn, that we don't gossip, that we don't say things we shouldn't be saying.Okay. It, the, the collar is turned where? פסוק Pasuk says, בתוכו besocho, right? Verse ל\"ב lamed beis. פי ראשו בתוכו Pi rosho besocho. The opening to the מעיל me'il was doubled over inward and then sewn to create that reinforced stitch. Why בתוכו besocho? Why not double it outwardly and then stitch it? You could create the reinforcement by doing it out and then having stitching or by doing it in and then having stitching. Why do it inward? Look at this רשב\"ם Rashbam. ר' שמואל בן מאיר R' Shmuel ben Meir. בן תיוסו למעלה Ben tiyuso lemala, one would do it inward. Why? להבדיל כעין מלבושים של גלחים Lehavdil ke'ein malbushim shel galachim. In order to distinguish the robe of the כהן kohen from the גלחים galachim. What are גלחים galachim? The priests. Now it's interesting, the רשב\"ם Rashbam, the רשב\"ם Rashbam lived at a time of course of Catholic priests. The רשב\"ם Rashbam suffered at the hands of those priests. We discussed last week, we did the wine event with the wine from Spain and the history of the Jews of Spain and I spoke about the church and its hand in throughout whether it was when when Christians ruled Spain or without the Crusades, first crusade, the second crusade. The רשב\"ם Rashbam, ר' שמואל בן מאיר R' Shmuel ben Meir was Rashi's grandson, he suffered. So he, he certainly was was familiar with the the collar of a priest. But why would God design the robe that was instituted at the time of the משכן Mishkan, long before there were these גלחים galachim? So, maybe the רשב\"ם Rashbam is superimposing his own experience onto that, or he doesn't mean גלחים galachim in the form of priests of Christian priests, he means עבודה זרה avodah zarah. He means to distinguish the uniform of the high priest from other pagan uniforms that existed at the time. Therefore the collar was turned inward and not outward. I thought that was an interesting comment of the רשב\"ם Rashbam. What's the purpose of doubling the collar over? Why does it need to be doubled over? So that לא יקרע lo yikarei'a, it may not be torn. It may not be torn. Look at Rashi: כדי שלא יקרע והקורעו עובר בלאו kedei shelo yikarei'a, vehakore'o over belav. There is a biblical prohibition to actively, willingly, knowingly destroy, tear one of the priestly garments. שזה ממנין לאוין שבתורה Shezeh miminyan lavin shebaTorah, it's one of the 613 commandments. וכן לעזב חכמים וכן לסור ממנו הנאמר בבדי ארון Vechein le'ezev chachamim vechein lesur mimenu ha'ne'emar be'badei ha'aron. Similarly when it comes to these other verses, a person is not accidentally is accidentally, but a person is not allowed to purposefully tear or damage one of the בגדי כהונה bigdei kehuna, one of the priestly garments. And this is learned from the verse, לא יקרע lo yikarei'a. It may not be torn. Not only can it not passively be torn, but if you're not, if if the reason you're creating this reinforcement is to protect from around the collar it being torn, then we extrapolate that you cannot tear it. In fact, if you look at the ספורנו Sforno, לא יקרע לא יהיה לו בית הצואר נפתח לארכו לפניו אבל יהיה עגול lo yikarei'a, lo yihyeh lo beis hatzavar niftach le'orko lefanav, aval yihyeh agol. It's not a V-neck, but rather it's a crew neck for this purpose. If it's a V-neck, it's much more vulnerable to being torn. אבל לשון יקרע יאמר על דבר שנקרע לארכו כמו וקרע לו חלוני שאינו עושה פסיחה אלא חתך ארוך וצר Aval lashon yikarei'a ye'amar al davar shenikra le'orko, kemo vekara lo chalonai, she'eino oseh psicha ela chatach aruch vetzar. לא יקרע lo yikarei'a is mean not V-neck. Don't make it V-neck look like it's torn. The whole V-neck image is it looks like it's already an opening that's torn. So the רשב\"ם Rashbam said, the ספורנו Sforno rather saying, לא יקרע lo yikarei'a, that's the source of it being עגול agul, of it being a circular opening to the מעיל me'il. I have in my מקראות גדולות Mikraos Gedolos, I don't know if you have it, ליקוטי ביאורי המצות מהרמב\"ם Likutei Biurei HaMitzvos me'HaRambam, quoting from the רמב\"ם Rambam. The רמב\"ם Rambam in הלכות כלי המקדש Hilchos Klei HaMikdash writes, הקורע פי המעיל לוקה שנאמר לא יקרע וכן הדין לכל בגדי כהונה שהקורען דרך השחתה לוקה Hakore'a pi hame'il lokeh she'ne'emar lo yikarei'a vehachein hadin lechol bigdei kehuna shehakor'an derech hashchasa lokeh. One would get מלקות malkos. You get lashes. One was punished, there were consequences. It's one of the לאוין lavin, one of the 613 commandments, you're not allowed to tear or damage any of the garments of the כהנים kohanim. Now. Next, on the hem of this מעיל me'il, this robe, we learned that רמוני תכלת וארגמן ותולעת שני rimonei techeiles ve'argaman vetola'as shani were fashioned. Pomegranates, and that's it looked like pomegranates, it was a circle with something coming out the bottom, it looked like a pomegranate. Do you have a picture here in the Stone חומש Chumash? Page, where's the picture? Page 472. In the bottom of page 470, you see alternating bells and turquoise pomegranates. That's what went around the bottom of the of the the hem of the אפוד ephod. How many were there? Bells and pomegranates? Look at the בעל הטורים Ba'al HaTurim. The בעל הטורים Ba'al HaTurim says, ר' יעקב בן אשר R' Yaakov ben Asher, ועשית על שוליו רמוני תכלת פעמוני זהב בתוכם היו ע\"ב שבעים ושנים כנגד ע\"ב מראות נגעים ve'asisa al shulav rimonei techeles pa'amonei zahav besochan, hayu ayin beis, shivim u'shtayim, keneged ayin beis mar'os nega'im. There were, the גמרא Gemara in זבחים Zevachim says there were 72. Except for the poor כהן גדול kohen gadol whose bell fell off in the sewer underneath the road from מאיר דוד Meir David, but there were 72 bells and pomegranates. Why 72? Corresponding with the 72 types of blemishes that the כהן גדול kohen gadol would inspect to label someone a מצורע metzora. We know that a person who had spiritual leprosy would be afflicted with a certain type of blemish, he had to go to the כהן גדול kohen gadol, only the high priest could diagnose that blemish and give him the status of a מצורע metzora. There were seventy types of מראות נגעים mar'os nega'im, seventy types of these blemishes, corresponding with the 72 types, which by the way also fits in with our image. Why did a person get צרעת tzara'as? לשון הרע Lashon hara. So and what was the purpose of the מעיל me'il? To atone for לשון הרע lashon hara. So the בעל הטורים Ba'al HaTurim continues. שהמעיל מכפר על לשון הרע וצרעת באה על לשון הרע She'hame'il mechaper al lashon hara ve'tzara'as ba'ah al lashon hara. So so far we've seen three of the details of the of the מעיל me'il, of the robe, corresponding with its symbolism that when one when one saw it, they were supposed to remember no לשון הרע lashon hara, לשון הרע lashon hara is bad, I need to do תשובה teshuva, I need to seek atonement for the לשון הרע lashon hara I may have spoken. So it was the כלי יקר Kli Yakar telling us the turquoise color of the מעיל me'il evoked the memory of לשון הרע lashon hara. It was the opening of the, what was the second thing? The color was the first. Having a brain freeze. The collar, why is the collar the second? Oh, the opening. Just like there's reinforcement around the opening of the garment, we need reinforcement around our opening, our lips that we can't speak לשון הרע lashon hara. And the third thing now, the בעל הטורים Ba'al HaTurim, which is that there were 72 bells and pomegranates corresponding with the 72 types of blemishes to remind us of לשון הרע lashon hara. Just hold the questions till the end if you don't mind, please. Continuing. The last thing I want to discuss. These bells would make a sound. והיה על אהרן לשרת Vehaya al Aharon leshareis, Aaron had to be wearing it when he entered, and the purpose was ונשמע קולו venishma kolo, it or his voice was heard בבאו אל הקדש לפני השם bevo'o el hakodesh lifnei Hashem, when he entered the קדש kodesh. That's true by the way except for יום כיפור Yom Kippur. On יום כיפור Yom Kippur when he went into the קדש הקדשים Kodesh HaKodashim he was not wearing this. So whatever reason we're about to say for the bells, it didn't apply to יום כיפור Yom Kippur. ובצאתו ולא ימות U'vetzeiso velo yamus. Now what do you mean ולא ימות velo yamus? What does ולא ימות velo yamus mean? Says Rashi, מכלל לאו אתה שומע הן miklal lav ata shome'a hein. From when it says the negative, you can derive the positive. אם יהיו לו לא יתחייב מיתה Im yihyu lo, lo yischayev misa. If he had the bells and pomegranates on the bottom of his robe when he entered, then he didn't die. הא אם יכנס מחוסר אחד מבגדים הללו חייב מיתה בידי שמים Ha im yikaneis mechusar echad me'habegadim halalu chayav misa bidei shamayim. But if the high priest entered missing one of the garments, he received capital punishment, he received the death penalty. Why does it write it in the negative? That if he's wearing it, ולא ימות velo yamus, then he doesn't die. Says the שפתי חכמים Sifsei Chachamim, quoting from the מנחת יהודה Minchas Yehudah, שלפי שהקדוש ברוך הוא רוצה בזכותן של ישראל shelefi she'hakadosh baruch hu rotzeh bizchusan shel Yisrael. Because God wants the merit of the people. God does not want to predict or anticipate when we go wrong. God wants to assume and presume that everything will go right. So God doesn't write, and if he doesn't wear it, he dies. He writes, and when he wears it, he won't die. Why? This is the goodness of God. שהקדוש ברוך הוא רוצה בזכותן של ישראל לכן כתב הפסוק בזכותן וכתב ולא ימות Shehakadosh baruch hu rotzeh bizchusan shel Yisrael, lefi chach katav hapasuk bizchusan vekatav velo yamus, ולא רצה לכתוב בפירוש אם יכנס מחוסר בגדים ימות velo ratzah lichtov befeirush im yikaneis mechusar begadim yamus. וכן כל ולא ימות שבתורה Vechein kol velo yamus shebaTorah. I'm sorry, I quoted the נחלת יעקב Nachlas Yaakov. So the נחלת יעקב Nachlas Yaakov says, we constantly find in the Torah the punishment giving not in the positive, if you do the wrong thing, you die, but rather in the negative. As long as you do the right thing, you won't die. Why is it given to us like that? To show us God's faith in us that God works off the assumption that we're going to do it the right way. It's a big lesson for parenting here. One should communicate to their children not, and if you do the wrong thing, here's your punishment. Communicate to their children, I assume you do the right thing and that's why you're going to be able to always have your cellphone and iPod touch and iPod and laptop and because I assume you're going to do everything right and therefore you're going to have everything that you have and enjoy it, God bless. As opposed to saying to your children, and when you mess up, I'm taking away your whatever. I assume you're going to have great grades and you're going to enjoy all of the luxuries, the things that you're spoiled with. It's a big lesson. That's how השם Hashem relates to us. השם Hashem relates to us with faith in us that we're going to do it right, and therefore expresses it ולא ימות velo yamus, you won't die, as opposed to telling us, you know, when you do it wrong, then you're going to die. The אור החיים הקדוש Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh, רב חיים אבן עטר Rav Chaim ibn Attar, also says, נראה שאם לא יהיו לו הפעמונים והם משמיעים את הקול חייב מיתה לשמים Nir'eh she'im lo yihyu lo hapa'amonim vehem mashmi'im es hakol chayav misa lashamayim. If you didn't have the bells, then you would be liable to the death penalty. By the way, from Rashi, it sounds like this warning, ולא ימות velo yamus, that if you're missing something, you're going to die, what does it apply to the warning? Only the bells and pomegranates or all eight garments? From Rashi he says, מחוסר אחד מבגדים הללו mechusar echad me'habegadim halalu. If you're missing any of the garments, then you're liable for death. Says the אור החיים Ohr HaChaim, no. The פסוק pasuk's not talking about missing the other garments, it's if you're missing these. שאם לא כן דלא היתה כוונתה אלא על מחוסר בגדים היה אומר ולא ימות אחר תשלום הבגדים או לפחות אחר תשלום ד' בגדי כהן גדול ולא באמצע אלא ללמד על פרט זה שהוא חייב אפילו על הפעמונים ומה שאמר בסוף מעשה בגדים וכתב והיה על אהרן שם חייב על עובד מחוסר בגדים She'im lo kein delo haysa kavanasa ela al mechusar begadim, haya omer velo yamus achar tashlum habegadim. O lefachos achar tashlum dalet bigdei kohen gadol. Velo be'emtza, ela lelamed al prat zeh shehu chayav afilu al hapa'amonim. U'mah she'amar besof ma'aseh begadim vekatav vehayah al Aharon, sham chayav al oved mechusar begadim. This פסוק pasuk, says the אור החיים Ohr HaChaim is telling us now specifically if you're missing the bells, you're subject to death. Now, does he disagree when it comes to the law? Rashi says you get מלקות malkos. Rashi says I'm sorry, you're more worse than מלקות malkos, you get death if you enter while missing one of the garments. Does the אור החיים Ohr HaChaim say you don't get death? אור החיים Ohr HaChaim agrees you get death. אור החיים Ohr HaChaim says but we learned that from a פסוק pasuk at the end of the list of all the garments. Why is it telling us now in the middle of the garments? A specific warning corresponding with the bells. So what's so special about these bells? Why is the כהן גדול kohen gadol walking around, I mean it's annoying. It's going to jingle and every every step he takes, every move he makes. What's so special about these bells that 72 bells and pomegranates alternating bottom of the robe, if he's missing, he's subject to death. And their purpose is ונשמע קולו venishma kolo, that a sound or a voice is heard when entering the קדש kodesh, when entering the sanctuary. What's special about them? What what are they about? So there are many, many different opinions here. Who should we start with? We can read the רמב\"ן Ramban. Let's look at the רמב\"ן Ramban. It's a long רמב\"ן Ramban here. The רמב\"ן Ramban, like the אור החיים Ohr HaChaim, disagrees with Rashi about whether this פסוק pasuk is coming to warn if you're missing all eight garments or four garments or specifically the one. But in the middle of the רמב\"ן Ramban, he says, ומה שאמר למעלה umah she'amar lemala, you see where that where he says that? If you have the רמב\"ן Ramban, it's the beginning of a new paragraph, it's about halfway through the רמב\"ן Ramban on verse 35. It says the רמב\"ן Ramban: ונשמע קולו בבאו אל הקדש ולא ימות הוא על דעתי ביאור למצות הפעמונים Venishma kolo bevo'o el hakodesh velo yamus hu al da'ati biur lemitzvas hapa'amonim. When it says that their sound will be heard when you enter, says the רמב\"ן Ramban, it's telling us the reason, the purpose of the bells. כי מפני שאין בהם צורך בלבישה Ki mipnei she'ein bahem tzorech bilvisha, there's no functional reason you need it. You need to have reinforcement around the neck, it serves a function. You're wearing a robe, keeps you warm, protects your legs, there's a function. Bells on the bottom of your robe, there's no purpose, there's no pragmatic reason in terms of a garment. ואין דרך הנכבדים לעשות כן Ve'ein derech hanichbadim la'asos kein. Nor does it appear as a you know, prestigious look. It's not that great kings and great dignitaries and great statesmen wear bells on the bottom of their clothing. So the רמב\"ן Ramban says there's no practical purpose for it and it's not the dress of royalty. So what's the point? לכן אמר כי יצווה בהם בעבור שישמע קולו בקודש ויכנס לפני אדוניו כאילו ברשות Lachen amar ki yitzaveh bahem ba'avur sheyishma kolo bakodesh, veyikaneis lifnei adonav ke'ilu birshus. כי הבא בהיכל מלך פתאום חייב מיתה בתכסיסי המלכות Ki haba be'heichal melech pit'om chayav misa betachsisei hamalchus. You're not allowed to enter the inner sanctuary of the king without what? Without permission. Now, you can't get permission. God's not going, you're not going to knock on God's door and God's going to say yes. So how do you symbolically get permission to enter? By knocking. By wearing bells. How do you knock when entering God's inner sanctuary? You knock through bells. כענין אחשורוש Ke'inyan Achashverosh. Perfect, the timing. Like אחשורוש Achashverosh, right? אסתר המלכה Esther HaMalkah did not want to enter. She was fearful. If you don't have the king's invitation or without his extending his שרביט הזהב sharvit hazahav, you're fearful to enter the inner sanctuary of the king. So says the רמב\"ן Ramban, just like a human king, you can't enter without permission, so too the high priest couldn't enter without permission. How do you knock on God's door? By wearing bells that ring. וירמוז למה שאמרו בזאת יבוא אהרן כל אדם ילמד דרך ארץ שלא יכנס לבית חברו פתאום Veyirmoz le'mah she'amru be'zos yavo Aharon, kol adam yilmad derech eretz shelo yikaneis le'veis chaveiro pit'om. Nobody could be in there. The כהן גדול kohen gadol was alone, was isolated when he went to this intimate rendezvous with the Almighty. How did he alert people, everyone out, I'm about to enter? He wore the מעיל me'il. And when the bells would ring, everyone would scatter so that he would be alone. וכן בצאתו לצאת ברשות שהוא יודע הדבר כדי שיכול משרתי המלך לשוב לפניו Vechein betzeiso latzeis birshus, shehu yode'a hadavar kedei sheyuchlu mesharesei hamelech lashuv lefanav. And you have the opposite, the inverse would occur when he would take leave. Again he would leave with permission. The bells were the symbol of asking for permission to leave. And the sound of the of the bells when he would exit would alert the other כהנים kohanim, it's time you can come back. ובפרקי היכלות ידוע זה הענין מן הטעם שלא לפגוע במלאכי אלהים ויזהר בזה וכן אמרו מפורש זה הטעם לפני השם כי יבוא לפני שרשרת שכינתו שהיא בתוכה כי מלאך השם צבאות הוא כי האדיוטים לא יכנסו בהיכל להקטיר ולהטיב U'vepirkei heichalos yadu'a zeh ha'inyan, min hata'am shelo lifgo'a bemalachei Elokim, veyizhar bezeh, vechein amru meforash zeh hata'am lifnei Hashem, ki yavo lifnei sharsheres shechinaso shehi besocha ki malach Hashem tzva'os hu, ki hahedyotim lo yikansu be'heichal lehaktir u'leheitiv. So the רמב\"ן Ramban says kind of gives two reasons. What are the two reasons for the bells? Functional. What the פסוק pasuk says says the רמב\"ן Ramban. ונשמע קולו Venishma kolo, the sound will be heard. And what benefit is there for the sound to be heard? One, God. It's courtesy. It's common courtesy. You don't just walk into a room. The גמרא Gemara even records one of the great rabbis would knock on his own door before entering. Not just you knock on someone else's door before you go into their house, he would knock on his own door. Why? It's a display of courtesy. It's a display of modesty, of humility. You knock on a door before you enter. In fact, to the point that it's quoted in that גמרא Gemara, he would knock when he knew no one was home. The practice was to knock even when no one's home. It's just it's it's courtesy, it's dignified, the way that you enter a home. By the way, it's true and dignified even your own home. Maybe your spouse is not dressed properly, is sitting in an awkward position, is doing you, before you're going to enter somewhere, you alert someone that you're coming in. So it says in רמב\"ן Ramban, reason number one for the bells is, it's common courtesy to the Almighty that you're about to enter his space, you let him know you're coming. And reason number two was that the כהן גדול kohen gadol would enter, he'd be alone, so you'd let the other כהנים kohanim know it's time for them to hit the road. When they and also בצאתו betzeiso, because the פסוק pasuk says ובצאתו u'vetzeiso, and when he would take leave, he would alert the כהנים kohanim that they could now come back. Those are the two reasons of the רמב\"ן Ramban. The חזקוני Chizkuni, the חזקוני Chizkuni gives two different reasons. The חזקוני Chizkuni says, we don't have it in our מקראות גדולות Mikraos Gedolos, חזקוני Chizkuni says, first of all, it distinguished the כהן גדול kohen gadol from everyone else. How did the כהן גדול kohen gadol remember that he's just a step above, that he has greater responsibility, that he is distinct and distinguished from the others? These bells. When he would hear their sound, it would remind him, I'm different. And he would carry himself in an even more dignified way and he would recognize the even greater responsibility that he had. Second thing the חזקוני Chizkuni says is it would alert everyone around that it was the time for the עבודה avodah. When they heard the bells ring, they knew the כהן גדול kohen gadol was doing the עבודה avodah, they knew it was time for the עבודה avodah, similar to the רמב\"ן Ramban in terms of alerting the כהנים kohanim. The כתב והקבלה Ksav vehaKabbalah of ר' מקלנבורג Rav Mecklenburg says another reason, or similar to the חזקוני Chizkuni, but he says the bells on the bottom of the robe of the כהן גדול kohen gadol were similar to the ציצית tzitzis that every man wore. Just like we have ציצית tzitzis that remind us of our awesome responsibility, remind us of our relationship with השם Hashem, remind us to do that which is right, the bells on the bottom of the מעיל me'il paralleled the ציצית tzitzis on the corner of the, or the תכלת techeiles on the corner of a pair of ציצית tzitzis. That also makes sense when you think that the מעיל me'il was תכלת techeiles, and both correspond with לשון הרע lashon hara, so all of that makes sense. So these are all different reasons given for the sound, for the ונשמע קולו venishma kolo, you would hear the sound. If you look at the בעל הטורים Ba'al HaTurim, the בעל הטורים Ba'al HaTurim, ר' יעקב בן אשר R' Yaakov ben Asher says, ונשמע venishma, three פסוקים psukim it's reminiscent of. ג' במסורה Gimmel bemisora. Three times we have a tradition that this word ונשמע venishma is used. ונשמע קולו בבאו אל הקדש Venishma kolo bevo'o el hakodesh, our verse, that the bells will be heard, their sound, when entering the holy. כל אשר דיבר השם נעשה ונשמע Kol asher diber Hashem na'aseh ve'nishma. End of פרשת משפטים Parshas Mishpatim, הר סיני Har Sinai. Everything God asks of us we will do and ונשמע ve'nishma, we will listen. And the third time? ונשמע פתגם המלך Venishma pitgam hamelech comes from the book of Esther. והיינו דאמרינן במגילה Vehainu de'amrinan be'Megillah, אמר רבא מקרא מגילה ותלמוד תורה מקרא מגילה עדיף Amar Rava, mikra megillah ve'Talmud Torah, mikra megillah adif. If there's a conflict between learning Torah and hearing the Megillah, which one is more important? Megillah. By the way, some of the commentators ask, I don't understand. Isn't Megillah one of the 24 books of תנ\"ך Tanach? Aren't you fulfilling the מצוה mitzvah of תלמוד תורה Talmud Torah when you hear the Megillah also? So what do you mean, מבטלין תלמוד תורה מפני מקרא מגילה mevatlin Talmud Torah mipnei mikra megillah, one should stop learning in order to go hear the Megillah? Isn't hearing the Megillah a form of learning? It's a great question. I'll give you the answer another time. So, I'll tell you הרב עובדיה יוסף Harav Ovadia Yosef gives an answer. הרב עובדיה יוסף Harav Ovadia Yosef has a tiny little booklet, I forgot the name of it, which he wrote about the ideas of learning. So he says, you see from there that when there are different levels of learning, and if you could be learning at a high level and you're choosing to learn at a low level, that's a form of ביטול תורה bittul Torah. So, you're reading some easy book that's served to you on a silver platter instead of toiling over learning Torah deeply and you have the capacity to, the skill set to, then that's a form of ביטול תורה bittul Torah. Hearing the Megillah read is a cute story when you could be pouring over גמרא Gemara, that's a form of ביטול תורה bittul Torah. We do that ביטול תורה bittul Torah, hearing the Megillah takes precedence, but that too is a form of ביטול תורה bittul Torah. מקרא מגילה ועבודה מקרא מגילה עדיף Mikra megillah va'avodah, mikra megillah adif. There's a conflict between hearing the Megillah or the עבודה avodah of the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash, מקרא מגילה עדיף mikra megillah adif. היינו כל אשר דיבר השם נעשה ונשמע דהיינו תלמוד תורה ועבודה דכתיב בבאו Hainu kol asher diber Hashem na'aseh ve'nishma, dihainu Talmud Torah va'avodah de'chsiv bevo'o. ונשמע קולו Venishma kolo. ונשמע פתגם המלך היינו קריאת המגילה ושמע כי רבא אמר דעדיף תרי וגמרא רבא קאמר ליה Venishma pitgam hamelech hainu krias ha'megillah vesama ki Rava amar de'adif trei u'gemara Rava ka'amar lei. So this word ונשמע venishma appears in all three places to teach us hearing the Megillah takes precedence. So here we have an intersection between our פרשה parsha, ז' אדר Zayin Adar of משה רבנו Moshe Rabbeinu tomorrow night and פורים Purim which is coming up in מרת השם mirtzashem next week. Have a fantastic. We didn't we didn't address one question by the way, which was given the reasons we spoke about, we didn't address five questions. But given the reason for the bells, why was it unnecessary on יום כיפור Yom Kippur? Because God listens. So רבנו בחיי Rabbeinu Bachya, that's why I had this רבנו בחיי Rabbeinu Bachya out. רבנו בחיי Rabbeinu Bachya says, he says, you need to knock. You need to knock to have the courtesy of entering when there's a formal relationship. But on יום כיפור Yom Kippur, when the כהן גדול kohen gadol feels a sense of intimacy and connection and love and embrace with השם Hashem, there's such a closeness, you don't even need to knock before you enter. And that's why they weren't worn on יום כיפור Yom Kippur. Exactly. Alright, have a great שבת Shabbos.
