Transcript
We see from סֵפֶר נְתִיבוֹת שָׁלוֹם Sefer Nesivos Shalom, from the סלאנים רב Slonimer Rebbe, on פרשת שופטים Parshas Shoftim.So we can start this section on a פסוק pasuk, one of my favorite פסוקים psukim in the תורה Torah, if one is allowed to have that. תמים תהיה עם ה' אלוקיך Tamim tihiyeh im Hashem Elokecha. I don't know if you're allowed to, but if you are. תמים תהיה עם ה' אלוקיך Tamim tihiyeh im Hashem Elokecha. So a ספרי Sifri he says on the פסוק pasuk of תמים תהיה עם ה' אלוקיך Tamim tihiyeh im Hashem Elokecha. The פסוק pasuk תמים תהיה tamim tihiyeh means one should be תמים tamim. How do you define תמים tamim? תמים Tamim means whole, it means complete, it means faithful, it means exclusively, singularly, relating to השם Hashem, not relying on, not leaning towards, not not listening to other factors. כשאתה תמים חלקך עם ה' אלוקיך K'she'ata tamim chelk'cha im Hashem Elokecha. The ספרי Sifri understands that כשאתה תמים k'she'ata tamim, when you're whole, wholesome, then חלקך chelk'cha, your portion is with השם Hashem. וביאור המפרשים שתיבת תהיה נדרשת למעלה ולמטה U'biur ha'mefarshim she'teivas tihiyeh nidreshes l'maalah u'l'matah. So when you read the פסוק pasuk, you should read it תמים תהיה tamim tihiyeh and תמים תהיה עם ה' אלוקיך tamim tihiyeh im Hashem Elokecha, meaning, שאם תמים תהיה, תהיה עם ה' אלוקיך she'im tamim tihiyeh, tihiyeh im Hashem Elokecha. The word תהיה tihiyeh, read it as applying to both parts of the פסוק pasuk. If תמים תהיה tamim tihiyeh, if you in fact live a life where you're not looking at horoscopes, and you're not believing in superstition, and you're not relying on נערשקייט narishkeit, but you're with השם Hashem, everything that happens in your life, you realize this is the will of השם Hashem, this is the way השם Hashem meant it to be. So תמים תהיה tamim tihiyeh, if you're with השם Hashem, then תהיה עם ה' אלוקיך tihiyeh im Hashem Elokecha, עמו ובחלקו imo u'v'chelko. So the way to live life with השם Hashem is to welcome, is to invite, is to feel השם Hashem in every aspect of your life. וכן פירש רש\"י תמים תהיה עם ה' אלוקיך V'chein peirush Rashi tamim tihiyeh im Hashem Elokecha, התהלך עמו בתמימות hishalech imo b'tmimus ותצפה לו v'titzpeh lo, ולא תחקור אחר עתידות v'lo tachkor achar asidos. Walk with him wholesomely, completely, learn, look to him, long for him, and don't investigate after horoscopes, after future, astrology. אלא כל מה שיבוא עליך קבל בתמימות Ela kol ma she'yavo alecha kabel b'tmimus, whatever happens to you, you realize it represents the will of השם Hashem. ואז תהיה עמו ולחלקו V'az tihiyeh imo u'l'chelko. So in other words, how do we live a life with השם Hashem guiding our life? When we live a life with השם Hashem. It reminds me of the רמב\"ם's Rambam's opinion on השגחה פרטית hashgacha pratis. There's a lot of different opinions on השגחה פרטית hashgacha pratis. We gave a שבת שובה דרשה Shabbos Shuva drasha about it years ago. But the רמב\"ם's Rambam's opinion is that, unlike the popular opinion or the ברסלב Breslov approach, which is that everything that happens to everyone is from השם Hashem equally, השגחה hashgacha, divine providence, פרטיס pratis, specific to each person. The רמב\"ם's Rambam's opinion is that השם Hashem relates to us proportional to the way that we relate to him. So the more righteous you are and the more that you walk with him, the more he intervenes and interferes in your life. And the less that you acknowledge his presence, the less involved he is in your life. And the רמב\"ם's Rambam's opinion makes a lot of sense from the perspective of a parent to children. Right? Or or a friend or in any capacity of a relationship. The more that you lean on, rely on, not in a sense of, you know, being dependent on the payroll of your parent, but meaning the more that you ask for the advice of and the help of and the support of your parent, the more you turn to your parent, the more the parent wants to be there, be present, swoop in, and help. And the more that you tell the parent, I got it, this isn't you, I don't need you, you know, the more the parent, especially the more you say I'm not even sure you're my parent. I don't even know if you exist, I don't even know if you love me, I don't even know if I have a relationship with you. הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu says the same thing. You lean on me, you rely on me, you love me, I'm there. I got your back. You say that you don't even know if I exist and you could care less about me and you neglect me, good luck, buddy, you're on your own. Enjoy the natural world and the natural order that I put into motion. That's the רמב\"ם's Rambam's opinion. It's a little bit different. A little bit different. A very different, like I say, than what's become popular in our time, the ברסלב Breslov approach, which has its other pluses and minuses, that absolutely everything that happens is from השם Hashem, doesn't matter what level you're on or who you are or where you are, it's all from השם Hashem. So here he's saying תמים תהיה tamim tihiyeh, תהיה עם ה' אלוקיך tihiyeh im Hashem Elokecha. If you're תמים tamim, if you are whole with השם Hashem, if you believe in השם Hashem, you're not subscribing to chance or randomness, you're not subscribing to the universe, you're not subscribing to coincidence, you're not subscribing to um, Dionne Warwick and her Psychic Friends Network or or some superstitious practices, but you're תמים עם השם tamim im Hashem. It's all השם Hashem. Right? So getting stuck at a red light or your flight was delayed or this worked out or that didn't work out or everything that happens for good and for bad is תמים תהיה tamim tihiyeh, תהיה עם ה' אלוקיך tihiyeh im Hashem Elokecha. הרי שדרגת תמים עם ה' אלוקיך היא המדרגה העליונה שבתורה, שא על ידי זה תהיה עם ה' אלוקיך Herei she'dargas tamim im Hashem Elokecha hi ha'madreiga ha'elyona she'ba'Torah, she'al yedei zeh tihiyeh im Hashem Elokecha. בעל הטורים Ba'al HaTurim says on תמים tamim, ת\"ו גדולה Tav gedolah. שעם תהלך בתמימות כאילו קיימת מא' עד ת' She'im teilech b'tmimus k'ilu kiyamta mei'alef ad tav. The סוף sof of תמים tamim is a big ת\"ו Tav. Why? That if you fulfill תמימות tmimus, then it's as if you fulfilled א' עד ת' alef through tav. That the whole תורה Torah, A to Z, א' עד ת' alef through tav, the whole תורה Torah is all a platform to promote our feeling השם's Hashem's presence in our life. So we discussed a couple weeks ago in פרשת עקב Parshas Eikev, מה ה' אלוקיך שואל מעמך mah Hashem Elokecha shoel me'imach, don't read it מה mah, read it מאה meah, which the בן איש חי Ben Ish Chai, others explain it to mean, make a hundred ברכות brachos a day. Why? A hundred times during your day, stop and feel השם Hashem inviting you. That's תמים תהיה tamim tihiyeh. So whether it's how you put on תפילין tefillin this morning, the ברכות brachos we're gonna make, or how we speak, or what we look at, or what we do, the מצוות mitzvos we're gonna do throughout the day, they're all a reminder. They're all a platform to position us to live a life of תמים tamim, of connection with השם Hashem. והיינו כאילו קיים כל התורה מתחילה ועד סוף V'hainu k'ilu kiyam kol haTorah m'tchila v'ad sof. עוד מצינו שהתורה כיספה בזאת בשבחו של נח, שהוא איש צדיק תמים Od matzinu she'haTorah kisfa b'zos b'shvacho shel Noach, she'hu ish tzadik tamim. נח Noach is described as a righteous תמים tamim man. וכן על יעקב נאמר ויעקב איש תם V'chein al Yaakov ne'emar v'Yaakov ish tam. ולאברהם אבינו אמר הקדוש ברוך הוא התהלך לפני והיה תמים U'l'Avraham Avinu amar HaKadosh Baruch Hu hishalech l'fanai v'heyeh samim. אברהם Avraham also was instructed, walk before me and be תמים tamim. שכל זה נמי משמע שדרגת תמים היא מדרגה גדולה ביותר She'kol zeh nami mashma she'dargas tamim hi madreiga gedola b'yoser. צריך ביאור ענינה Tzarich biur inyana. So what exactly says the סלאנים רב Slonimer Rebbe, what is this תמים tamim? נח Noach is praised for being a תמים tamim. אברהם Avraham is instructed by השם Hashem, listen, walk before me and how will I know you're walking before me? Be תמים tamim. So we see תמים tamim, being תמים tamim, is one of the highest levels, תמים תהיה עם ה' אלוקיך tamim tihiyeh im Hashem Elokecha. So what is this תמים tamim that is so important that if you live with it, it's as if you kept the תורה Torah, A to Z. עוד ראינו לבאר אחר שמצינו מדרגות העליונות שנאמרו בתמימות שמצינו כמותם, מדוע לא נמנה התמים עם ה' אלוקיך במניין תרי\"ג מצוות Od rainu l'va'er achar she'matzinu madregos ha'elyonos she'ne'emru b'tmimus she'matzinu k'mosam, madua lo nimna ha'tamim im Hashem Elokecha b'minyan Taryag mitzvos? According to the רמב\"ם Rambam and the חינוך Chinuch, who we have a גמרא במכות Gemara b'Makkos that tells us that we have 613 מצוות mitzvos, and the ראשונים Rishonim all come and debate how do you categorize מצוות mitzvos so that you can end up with 613, how do you fit them into the 613. So the question is, if this is such a big מצוה mitzva, תמים תהיה עם ה' אלוקיך tamim tihiyeh im Hashem Elokecha, so much so that נח's Noach's praised and אברהם's Avraham's instructed and we are all mandated to be able to reach this level, if it's in fact so great, why isn't it included among the 613? וכי אין זה צריך ביאור V'chi ein zeh tzarich biur? It is, or it's not. It's not. Why is it not? שלא מצינו כמותו, מדוע לא נמנה Shelo matzinu k'moso, madua lo nimna? Why is it not counted? וכן צריך ביאור גם על עוד מצוה שלא נמנית במניין מצוות, כמו מצוות ועשית הישר והטוב בעיני ה' V'chein tzarich biur gam al od mitzva shelo nimneses b'minyan mitzvos, k'mo mitzvas v'asisah ha'yashar v'hatov b'einei Hashem. We just had a reference in yesterday's פרשה parsha, in פרשת ראה Parshas Re'eh, and we have it elsewhere in the תורה Torah, ועשית הישר והטוב בעיני ה' v'asisah ha'yashar v'hatov b'einei Hashem. Do what's honest and good in the eyes of השם Hashem. Do what's honest and good. How do you understand that? What does it mean to do what's honest and good? שפירש הרמב\"ן שמלבד תרי\"ג מצוות שציוותה התורה שהם מן הדין, יש עוד מצוה ועשית הישר והטוב על עניין של דין בר מצרא She'peirush ha'Ramban she'milvad Taryag mitzvos she'tzivsa ha'Torah she'hem min ha'din, yesh od mitzva v'asisah ha'yashar v'hatov al inyan shel din bar metzra. שאף על פי שאינו מן הדין הרי הם כיעדו הישר והטוב בעיני ה' She'af pi she'eino min ha'din ha'reim k'yado ha'yashar v'hatov b'einei Hashem. There are מצוות mitzvos like ועשית הישר v'asisah ha'yashar. Says the רמב\"ן Ramban, what is ועשית הישר והטוב v'asisah ha'yashar v'hatov? I once wrote an article about this. My buddy Dan Deals wasn't so happy with me. It was in response to the phenomenon of when an airline makes a big mistake, or when anyone makes a big mistake, should we promote it, encourage others to take advantage of it? Should we be okay, so they debate, the airline does it on purpose, it's marketing. Leave aside the technicality. Leave that aside. The רמב\"ן Ramban says ועשית הישר והטוב v'asisah ha'yashar v'hatov means that even if you can't find a שולחן ערוך Shulchan Aruch, a סעיף בשולחן ערוך se'if b'Shulchan Aruch that says something is forbidden, always stop and ask yourself, am I making השם Hashem happy? Is this what השם Hashem wants from me at this moment? Am I putting a smile on השם's Hashem's face, כביכול k'viyachol? Am I giving נחת רוח nachas ruach to השם Hashem? Meaning, says the רמב\"ן Ramban, השם Hashem couldn't, he could, but he couldn't anticipate every scenario and legislate and give us an instruction book for absolutely every scenario that would arise in life. That book would be forever long. So what did he do? He said, here's the most important 613, everything else, ask yourself what I would do. Ask yourself what would make me happy. ועשית הישר והטוב V'asisah ha'yashar v'hatov. Or similarly says the סלאנים רב Slonimer Rebbe, וכן מצוות קדושים תהיו כי קדוש אני ה' אלוקיכם, שגם בזה פירש הרמב\"ן שאחר כל האיסורים שאסרה התורה בעריות, עדיין יכול אדם להיות נבל ברשות התורה בעניינים המותרים, ועל זה ציותה התורה קדושים תהיו אפילו בהיתר. מדוע אין מצוות אלו בכלל מניין מצוות V'chein mitzvas kedoshim tihiyu ki kadosh ani Hashem Elokeichem, she'gam b'zeh peirush ha'Ramban she'achar kol ha'isurim she'asra ha'Torah b'arayos, adayin yachol adam l'hiyos naval birshus ha'Torah b'inyanim ha'mutarim, v'al zeh tzivsa ha'Torah kedoshim tihiyu afilu b'heter. Madua ein mitzvos elu b'klal minyan mitzvos? So the רמב\"ן Ramban says similar to ועשית הישר והטוב v'asisah ha'yashar v'hatov is פרשת parshas מצוות קדושים תהיו mitzvas kedoshim tihiyu, to be holy. What is the מצוה קדושים תהיו mitzva kedoshim tihiyu? Is don't be a נבל ברשות התורה naval birshus haTorah. If you sit on the couch today, all afternoon, and you binge-watch Netflix, assuming you could find something on Netflix which is appropriate to binge-watch, which is a big assumption, which is not a proper איסור issur but might be even permissible. So if you could find something to binge-watch, and you finish a six-pack of beer and three bags of potato chips, and your belt is open and you are burping away, so which סעיף בשולחן ערוך se'if in Shulchan Aruch have you violated? You've not violated any area of שולחן ערוך Shulchan Aruch. If someone were to walk up to you, you could say, what did I do wrong? Where, show me what I did wrong. And the רמב\"ן Ramban says, אי נמי eine ch'nami, you're right. You did nothing wrong, except you did something very wrong. Because we have a overall, overarching מצוה mitzva called קדושים תהיו kedoshim tihiyu, that says strive for holiness. A holy person doesn't sit on the couch binge-watching with their belt open burping. That's not what a holy person does. So קדושים תהיו kedoshim tihiyu. So, the סלאנים רב Slonimer Rebbe is quoting these two מצוות mitzvos that the רמב\"ן Ramban says are overarching מצוות mitzvos that fill between the gaps of מצוות mitzvos. We have 613 proper, and then we have these two umbrella מצוות mitzvos that say, even when you can't find it within the actual rules that are legislated, these are umbrella clauses that say, you know who you're supposed to be, you know how you're supposed to live, don't blow it. Make השם Hashem proud, give him נחת nachas, strive for holiness. So why aren't those included, says the סלאנים רב Slonimer Rebbe? Why aren't ועשית הישר והטוב v'asisah ha'yashar v'hatov or קדושים תהיו kedoshim tihiyu included in the 613 מצוות mitzvos? And why isn't this תמים תהיה עם ה' אלוקיך tamim tihiyeh im Hashem Elokecha included? יש לומר על פי מה דאמרינן במדרש שמות רבה, הקדוש ברוך הוא קורא לישראל יונתי תמתי Yesh lomar al pi mah d'amrinan b'Midrash Shemos Rabbah, HaKadosh Baruch Hu kore l'Yisrael yonasi tamasi. The משנה Mishna in, the משנה Mishna, the פסוק pasuk in שיר השירים Shir HaShirim that Simcha Leiner made famous, I won't spare you from singing it right now, יונתי תמתי yonasi tamasi. We did a we did a series a couple years ago where we took Jewish music and we played it and then we explained it. Basically, we sing all these songs and sometimes we don't even know the words, and even when we know the words, we don't know what they mean. So this was, I I did a presentation with three songs and this was one of the songs. This פסוק pasuk from שיר השירים Shir HaShirim. יונתי תמתי Yonasi tamasi. So מלשון תמתי, יונה milashon tamasi, yona is the, יונה yona is the dove. Why are we compared to the dove, the Jewish people? And we're not only compared to the dove, we are יונתי, תמתי yonasi, tamasi. מלשון תמימתי milashon tmimasi. שנתממו עימי בסיני, ואמרו כל אשר דבר ה' נעשה ונשמע she'nismamu imi b'Sinai, v'amru kol asher diber Hashem na'aseh v'nishmah. So where does it come from? The מדרש Midrash says, why are we to God, we're whole, we're complete, we're תמים tamim? Because we were whole with השם Hashem at הר סיני Har Sinai when we stood there and said נעשה ונשמע na'aseh v'nishmah. שלא שאלו שום שאלות ואמרו נעשה, אף שעדיין אינם יודעים כלל מה לעשות, כי כל אשר צוה לנו הקדוש ברוך הוא, נעשה Shelo sha'alu shum she'elos v'amru na'aseh, af she'adayin einam yodim klal mah la'asos, ki kol asher tziva lanu HaKadosh Baruch Hu, na'aseh. We stood there and we didn't start to say, well, let's look at the fine print, or we're going to debate this clause, or we're going to turn the document. הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu, these 612 are okay, but this 613th, I'm not so sure about. We didn't start to negotiate with הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu. He said, yeah, we got it. Whatever you say. Don't even tell us the details. Whatever you say, we got it. ועל כן קורא להם הקדוש ברוך הוא תמתי. שזו היא המדרגה של תמימות V'al kein kore lahem HaKadosh Baruch Hu tamasi, she'zu hi ha'madreiga shel tmimus. So, by the way, you can find that class on Whyy Torah. So, הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu calls us תמתי tamasi because that's what it means to be תמימות tmimus. So this מדרש Midrash in שמות Shmos on that פסוק pasuk, יונתי תמתי yonasi tamasi, is telling us what does it mean to be תמים tamim? It means to not ask questions. It means to not outsmart השם Hashem. Don't be a wise guy, don't negotiate, don't don't pull shtick. Don't be shticky. Just be תמים tamim. Just be תמים tamim. Right? It's shtick. So you could, ah, I figured out a way that I get the extra point, the loop, or the system, I, I figured out a way with the taxes, I figured out a way with the shul, with the dude, I figured out a way. No, that's not תמים tamim. When you start pulling shtick, when you're shticky, you're not תמים tamim. This is the Torah's prohibition against shtick. ביאור הדברים, המצוה תמים תהיה עם ה' אלוקיך, משמעותה שיהודי יהיה בטל לגמרי לרצון השם Biur hadvarim, ha'mitzva tamim tihiyeh im Hashem Elokecha, mashmausa she'yehudi yihiyeh batel l'gamrei l'ratzon Hashem. Don't be shticky. What you should do is say, what gives השם Hashem נחת רוח nachas ruach? I'm not in this because I'm trying to get away with the letter of the law. I'm in this because I'm in a relationship with the ריבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam. I love him. I love him. What it means to know השם Hashem is to love השם Hashem. We have a מצוה mitzva to love השם Hashem. My brother in a שיעור shiur yesterday described this, that there were other monotheists before אברהם אבינו Avraham Avinu. What's the difference then? Why is אברהם Avraham the אב המון גוים av hamon goyim? Right? If you ask anybody in the street, what did אברהם Avraham, what did Abraham introduce? The average person will say, he's the father of monotheism. But is he? The רמב\"ם Rambam writes explicitly in the beginning of הלכות עבודה זרה hilchos avodah zarah that we had many others who preceded אברהם Avraham who knew and just one השם Hashem. אדם Adam, שת Sheis, נח Noach, שם ועבר Shem v'Ever, we have many brought קרבנות korbanos, they built מזבח mizbeach. So why is אברהם Avraham? So the answer is they all did, but they kept it to themselves. אברהם Avraham stood on a soapbox and preached it. They all philosophically subscribed to one God, but אברהם Avraham fell in love with that one God and brought others to love השם Hashem as well. So there's a fundamental difference. The בני נח bnei Noach, the nations of the world have to philosophically, theologically believe in one God. But the descendants, the progeny of אברהם Avraham, we have to love that God. We have to be in a relationship with that God. Which is why, my brother went through this yesterday, that's why non-Jews do not have to give up their life for עבודה זרה avodah zarah. It's not יהרג ואל יעבור yehareg v'al ya'avor. Because giving up your life is is a result of if you love, not practicing infidelity to the one you love. They, it's philosophical, it's theological. So in order to preserve their life, חי בהם chai bahem, you can demonstrate as if they're worshipping an idol. But a Jew, if you love השם Hashem, you say, okay, maybe technically I could fake it and bow down, but I would never do that. I wouldn't even give the appearance to the person I love that I'm cheating on them. I can't do that. So we, the descendants of אברהם אבינו Avraham Avinu, have this additional level. And it's throughout ספר דברים Sefer Devarim, of loving השם Hashem. And loving השם Hashem means being whole with השם Hashem. It's being means being מבטל mevatel ourselves לגמרי l'gamrei, לרצון השם l'ratzon Hashem. In every situation and in every scenario to stop and say, what does השם Hashem want from me right now? Not what's the shticky thing, not what can I get away with, not how can I cut corners, not what technically is the letter of the law but I pulled some shtick, what will give השם Hashem נחת רוח nachas ruach? How can I be מבטל mevatel my רצון ratzon, submit, nullify my will to that of השם Hashem? כדברי רש\"י שמתהלך עמו בתמימות ואינו חוקר אחר עתידות, כל מה שבא עליו הוא מקבל בתמימות K'divrei Rashi she'mishalech imo b'tmimus v'eino choker achar asidos, kol mah she'ba alav hu mekabel b'tmimus. Whatever you receive, whatever comes your way, whatever happens to you, whatever happens in your health, whatever happens in your finances, whatever happens in your relationships, we take our initiative, we do our best, we do everything our can, we can, and at the end, we accept, we nullify. In the competition or conflict between our will and the will of השם's Hashem's, we accept his will. Don't force ours on him. אפילו הרהור גרידה דאינו מהרהר אחר הנהגות הבורא כי סמוך לבו בטוח בהשם Afilu hirhur greida d'eino m'harher achar hanhagos ha'Borei ki samuch libo batuach ba'Hashem. We don't even challenge, we don't question, we just trust. מצוה דביקות Mitzva dveikus is stick to God. God says, stick with me, I got your back, just stick with me. So we too, with whatever life throws our way, sometimes very pleasant and we're so grateful, sometimes unpleasant and challenging, we stick with השם Hashem. וזו המדרגה העליונה ביותר של אמונה שיש בו שני פירושים, אמונה פשוטה ואמונה מלשון אימון, שמתוך אימונו בהשם יתברך אינו מהרהר אחריו V'zu ha'madreiga ha'elyona b'yoser shel emunah she'yesh bo shnei peirushim, emunah pshuta v'emunah milashon imun, she'mitoch imuno ba'Hashem Yisbarach eino m'harher acharav. There are two levels of אמונה emunah. There's אמונה פשוטה emunah pshuta, and there's אמונה emunah, there's, there's trust that you don't have any suspicion, you don't have any doubt, you don't challenge, you don't question. הרי הוא בטל לגמרי להשם יתברך עד שאינו חוקר אחר דברי השם. וזו היא מדרגתו של אברהם אבינו באמונה, שבתחילה אמר לו הקדוש ברוך הוא כי ביצחק יקרא לך זרע Hareihu batel l'gamrei la'Hashem Yisbarach ad she'eino choker achar divrei Hashem. V'zu hi madregaso shel Avraham Avinu b'emunah, she'b'tchila amar lo HaKadosh Baruch Hu ki b'Yitzchak yikare l'cha zera. הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu tells him, אברהם Avraham, I want you to go around and I want you to rip all the people who are sacrificing their children. I want you to tell them how morally corrupt they are. I want you to, I want you to announce how deplorable they are. Stand on a soapbox and announce it to the world, and I'm going to give you a son, and through that son, you're going to have progeny, you're going to build a people. Then he says, yeah, אברהם Avraham, remember I've been telling you that you should take out time on TV, commercials, and broadcast that anyone who sacrifices their child is deplorable, despicable, איכס, פֿאַרפֿעל, horrible, ridiculous human being? Yeah, I want you to take your son, I want you to sacrifice him. Can you do that? קח נא את בנך, יחידך אשר אהבת את יצחק, והעלהו שם לעולה Kach na es bincha, yechidcha asher ahavta es Yitzchak, v'ha'aleihu sham l'olah. ולא הרהר כלום לגודל, and you know what אברהם Avraham says? He doesn't say, one second, God, you just, he says, okay. All right, השם Hashem, that's my next mission? My mission yesterday was to tell everybody who's sacrificing their children they're morally corrupt and deplorable, and my mission today is to sacrifice my own son. Okay. I'm not מהרהר m'harher, I'm not doubting, I'm not suspicious, I'm not challenging. I'm not negotiating with you, השם Hashem. השם Hashem, you are the infinite, omnipotent one, and whatever you determine is the right thing and the best thing, that's it. That's what I accept. That's what I accept. I lost the place. ולא הרהר כלום כמו שאמר לו הקדוש ברוך הוא התהלך לפני והיה תמים, שדרגת תמים היא שלו עד יתור בלבד שאינו עובר על רצון השם, אלא אפילו להרהר אינו מהרהר V'lo hirher klum k'mo she'amar lo HaKadosh Baruch Hu hishalech l'fanai v'heyeh samim, she'dargas tamim hi she'lo ad yitur bilvad she'eino over al ratzon Hashem, ela afilu l'harher eino m'harher. It's not just that he went along with the will of השם Hashem, it said he never challenged it. He never doubted, he never hesitated, he never paused, he never demured. הוא מתוך שכל מציאותו של אדם בטלה לגמרי להשם יתברך Hu mi'toch she'kol metziuso shel adam b'tela l'gamrei la'Hashem Yisbarach. His whole essence was to blend himself in, to conform to the will of the ריבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam. That's what the סלאנים רב Slonimer Rebbe says this elsewhere, that's what אלול, אני לדודי ודודי לי Elul, ani l'dodi v'dodi li, is. אני Ani, the אני ani in me, my sense of I, my sense of ego, my sense of identity, my entire sense of existence, my אני ani is לדודי l'dodi. אני לדודי Ani l'dodi. And when we can do that, when we say אני ani, my I, my ego, my id, my everything is לדודי l'dodi, to השם Hashem, I submit it to you, I make it conform to your will, then דודי לי dodi li. Then השם Hashem says, wow, I love you too. It's just like marriage. When you tell the other person, I put your will ahead of my own, my your interests, your tastes, your desires ahead of my own. I want for dinner, you want for dinner. Okay, we'll go. And when each, so what does the other one say? אני Ani, my אני ani, everything I am, my whole existence, is לדודי l'dodi. I I it's all for you. The other one says, דודי לי dodi li. No, no, no, no, let's go for. You want, let's go for. Now you have a couple fighting not over each one what they want, but they're fighting over which one can do what the other one wants. And that's a healthy marriage. So that's the same thing in our marriage with the ריבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam. אני לדודי Ani l'dodi. I take my sense of אני ani and I'm מבטל mevatel it to דודי dodi. And the סלאנים רב Slonimer Rebbe says, we just said this yesterday, we took the Torah out, ואני תפלתי לך ה' עת רצון va'ani sfilasi lecha Hashem eis ratzon. Says, that's the פשט pshat. ואני Va'ani, as regards to my אני ani, my my sense of self, תפלתי sfilasi, my prayer לך ה' lecha Hashem, that I can direct it to you. That's our prayer. That I wake up and I say, I'm not going to eat to satisfy my appetite, and I'm not going to binge watch, and I'm not going to go here, and I'm not going to do that. It's not all about me, the car, the house, the life, the pleasure, the lust, the desire, the it's not about me. It's how can, השם Hashem, you've put me in this world with talents and skills, you've given me assets, how can I direct them to your service? How can I repair your world? What can I do for you? I, it turns out eating good food gives me the energy, gives me the excitement to come back to serving you. Having a good gives me the energy. So that's all okay. But I'm doing it the אני ani, the whole way that I take care of my אני ani, I pamper my אני ani, my sense of self, is to position me to best serve you. ואני Va'ani, regarding my אני ani, תפלתי sfilasi, my prayer is לך ה' lecha Hashem, I can direct it to you. וביחוד על פי מה דאמרינן מדרשות הר\"ן, שהקדוש ברוך הוא אמר לאברהם קח נא שהוא לשון בקשה וציווי, שיהיה מרוצה לעשות זאת U'v'yichud al pi mah d'amrinan Midrashos ha'Ran, she'HaKadosh Baruch Hu amar l'Avraham kach na, she'hu lashon bakasha v'tzivui, she'yihiyeh merutzeh la'asos zos. The ר\"ן Ran points out that השם Hashem didn't say to אברהם Avraham, you must take יצחק Yitzchak. He says to אברהם Avraham, קח נא kach na. קח נא Kach na is, if it pleases you, would you sacrifice your son, please? And אברהם Avraham says, is that what you want? השם Hashem says, yes, says, okay, I'm in. אף פי שלא ציווהו בזה, ולא הרהר אברהם כלום Af pi she'lo tzivahu b'zeh, v'lo hirher Avraham klum. Even though it wasn't even a command, אברהם Avraham didn't hesitate. כיוון שהיה בטל לגמרי לרצון השם Keivan she'haya batel l'gamrei l'ratzon Hashem, because he said, look, my whole life is just to conform to your will. If you're telling me that's your will, you say jump, I say, how high? ובכיוון ששמע שזהו רצונו יתברך, מיד וישכם אברהם בבקר U'v'keivan she'shama she'zehu r'tzono Yisbarach, miyad vayashkem Avraham ba'boker. Once he confirmed that indeed this was the will of השם Hashem, he pops up in the morning. He jumps up to do something that no one would ever ever want to do. כמו שכתוב במדרש תנחומא, ויאמר הנני, הנני לכהונה, הנני למלכות, הנני לשחוט את בני, והיכן דהוא רק השם יתברך K'mo she'kasuv b'Midrash Tanchuma, vayomer hineni, hineni l'khunah, hineni l'malchus, hineni lishchot es bni, v'heichan d'hu rak Hashem Yisbarach. So, of אברהם אבינו Avraham Avinu. השם Hashem, I'm here for whatever. השם Hashem, when you made me rich, הנני hineni, I'm here. השם Hashem, when you made my name great, I'm here. And when you want to take my son, הנני hineni, I'm here. You can't just be הנני hineni, answer the call of הנני hineni. השם Hashem says, לך לך מארצך ממולדתך lech lecha mei'artzecha mimoladetecha, go to הארץ אשר אראך ha'aretz asher areka. And רש\"י Rashi says, remember, רש\"י Rashi says there in the beginning of פרשת לך לך Parshas Lech Lecha, לתובתך ולהנאתך l'tovasecha u'l'hana'asecha, for your own good, I'm going to make you rich, and I'm going to give you a big name. And what does אברהם Avraham say? הנני Hineni. Hit the lottery, אברהם Avraham. You're going to win the powerball, 250 million, and you're going to get the most likes ever on Facebook, the whole world's going to, you're going to be a celebrity. You got it all. And אברהם Avraham says, הנני Hineni. But the same הנני hineni that he gave for, yeah, powerball, is the same הנני hineni he gave for, קח נא את בנך kach na es bincha. God says, and now take your son and sacrifice him, הנני Hineni, I'm here. So we sometimes want to answer הנני hineni. Oh, השם Hashem so good to me, he gave me this, he gave me that. That's השם Hashem. And then the bad stuff happens and you say, for real? That's not השם Hashem, or why is that happening, or I don't accept that happening. Again, not the things that we can change. I'm not saying that if you're sick, don't go to the doctor, don't take medicine, because הנני hineni, השם Hashem wants you to be sick. We have the obligation of of taking initiative, of doing our part. But he named me, whatever it is that in the end it is, it is. I accept it from השם Hashem. אברהם Avraham answered it all equally. מדרגה הגבוהה ביותר ששכרונו, מלכות וניצחו את בניו להרג, אם זהו רצון השם. זו היא מצוות תמים תהיה עם ה' אלוקיך Madreiga ha'gevoha b'yoser she'shchronu, malchus v'nitzchu es bnav l'hareg, im zehu ratzon Hashem. Zo hi mitzvas tamim tihiyeh im Hashem Elokecha. And this is the nature of that מצוה mitzva. The nature of that מצוה mitzva is whatever happens that morning, you dropped something, you got stuck somewhere, you were running late, something great happened, it's all from השם Hashem. לעשות רצונך אלוקי חפצתי La'asos r'tzoncha Elokai chafatzti. שכל חפצו ומגמת חייו הם לעשות רצונך, שאם אתה רוצה זאת, גם אני חפץ בזה She'kol cheftzo u'magamas chayav heim la'asos r'tzoncha, she'im ata rotzeh zos, gam ani chafetz b'zeh. Whatever you want is what I want. It's kind of like marriage, you learn to say early on, whatever you want, dear. Whatever you want. Whatever you want, dear. Except that you're really supposed to mean it with השם Hashem. Whatever you want, dear. Right? To be מבטל mevatel your רצון ratzon. Oh, we need to paint the house. Should we do purple or blue? I like the blue. Yeah, they will go with the purple. I don't know many men I've heard, not me of course, but I've heard about others, like, why do you ask my opinion every time? Just I'm happy for you to do it your way, don't ask me. No, no, I want to hear what you have to say, so that I can ignore it. So הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu, so הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu wants us to be מבטל mevatel our רצון ratzon. מבטל Mevatel is like a harsh word to nullify. It's more to make it conform. That's what השם Hashem wants. השם Hashem says that right now, this is what's meant, and I mentioned maybe recently, I was in New York a couple weeks ago and I was supposed to fly back on a Wednesday and all of a sudden I get an email from JetBlue, the flight was canceled and came back the next day. And at first I got all aggravated and I called JetBlue and it was a blue sky and they're telling me it was weather related and I get all frustrated and why is this and I had plans and I had meetings and I had classes and I had my the kids to arrange and got all frustrated and flustered and then I said, you know what? I teach all these things, I better practice them. So I said, השם's Hashem's will is for me to be in New York until tomorrow. I don't know why, but that's his will. So why am I fighting it? There are worst places to get stuck. So why am I fighting this? So make your will conform to that of השם Hashem. So that that's an easy example, it's a silly example. There are much more challenging examples that we all have. But we're supposed to instead of fight it, realize, you know what? I have to make my will conform to his. That's what he wanted. This is where I'm meant to be or that's what I'm meant to be doing or this is how it's meant to go down, then I have to make my will conform to השם Hashem, not make his conform to mine. And that's what it means to be תמים tamim, to be whole with השם Hashem, is to say that I'm not trying to manipulate or change or pull shtick with השם Hashem, I'm whole with him. שאין עניין תמים תהיה עם ה' אלוקיך הוא ביטול גמור להשם יתברך, שיהודי מגיע מתוך האמונה הגמורה שיש לו בהשם יתברך, שהוא איזה ביטול מתוך אהבה She'ein inyan tamim tihiyeh im Hashem Elokecha hu bitul gamur la'Hashem Yisbarach, she'yehudi magia m'toch ha'emunah ha'gmura she'yesh lo ba'Hashem Yisbarach, she'hu eizeh bitul m'toch ahava. And why am I doing it? Not because I'm scared. You make your will conform to that of your boss, you know, because just saw an article yesterday, it's unbelievable. I saw a major company for the first time, the article was about how how in business people are are forcing their political views on others. So this is a company now which is so committed to promoting veganism that it will not reimburse employees' expenses if it was spent on buying any meat meal. The company itself will never provide a meat meal for a company event, and it will not reimburse an expense if the employee used it for meat. Right? That's the open-minded, whatever, I won't get into that now. So so that, so so that employee is going to go out for a vegan lunch even though he desperately wants a good steak. He's making his will conform to the boss why? Out of a fear. I want to get paid, I don't want to get fired, I need this job. It's not out of love. We, says the Rebbe, have to make our will to conform with השם Hashem, not out of fear, not because we don't want to be punished or lose out on the reward, we're doing it out of love. When I make my will conform to my wife's, I like steak well-done, she likes the steak rare. She's making one steak. So I say, let's have it rare. Why? I love you so much, I so want you to be happy that I've I've adjusted my taste buds. Right? In marriage, we do that. If there's a real devotion and a real dedication and a real love, we can adjust our very taste buds to make them conform to the other because we love the person. So I'm not sacrificing or compromising. Exactly. So it's the opposite. You're Sephardi, you're never lactose intolerant. That's right. You you made Pam now I'm lactose intolerant. So exactly, so it's out of love that we are conforming our will to that of השם Hashem, not out of fear, and not out of a desire to to not lose our reward. It's out of a sense of love. שמתוך אמונתו בהשם יתברך והגשתו הרם מקבל תמים באהבה, ואף פעם אין לך קושיות וסתירות על הנהגות השם יתברך She'mitoch emunaso ba'Hashem Yisbarach v'hagashaso ha'ram mekabel tamim b'ahava, v'af pa'am ein l'cha kushyos v'stiros al hanhagos Hashem Yisbarach. You don't ask קושיות kashas. אלא כל מה שיבוא עליך אתה מקבל בתמימות. הרי זו המדרגה הגבוהה ביותר Ela kol mah she'yavo alecha ata mekabel b'tmimus. Harei zu ha'madreiga ha'gevoha b'yoser. This is not an easy level. People who have all kinds of experiences or news that they stop and they pause and they question. We're not suggesting that this is easy or easily accessible or attainable. What we're saying is that this is the highest level. This is what we're meant to do. גדולה מצוה זו יותר מכל המצוות שמגיע האדם על ידי דברי הספרי להיות חלקו עם השם יתברך Gedola mitzva zo yoser mi'kol ha'mitzvos she'magia ha'adam al yedei divrei ha'Sifri l'hiyos chelko im Hashem Yisbarach. That's why it's the highest of all the מצוות mitzvos, that through it, we can arrive at walking with השם Hashem. And through it, we fulfill the תורה Torah from א' עד ת' alef to tav, A to Z. כי תרי\"ג מצוות הן מצוותים, אבל תמים תהיה עם ה' אלוקיך אינו ציווי Ki Taryag mitzvos hein mitzvosim, aval tamim tihiyeh im Hashem Elokecha eino tzivui. This is not a classic commandment. Put on תפילין tefillin is an action, is a commandment. Shake the לולב lulav is a commandment, blow the שופר shofar is a commandment. They're actions. We discharge the commandment, the obligation. תמים תהיה Tamim tihiyeh is not an obligation, it's not a commandment, it's a way of being. Imagine you get married and you say, I fulfill your commandment to eat the rare steak, I fulfill your commandment to paint the house blue, I fulfill. These are not commandments. Saying that I so love you that I want to adjust my will to conform to yours is not the fulfillment of a particular commandment, it is a very way of being. It's a very state of existence. שיהודי יהיה בטל לגמרי להשם יתברך ויסלך עמו בתמימות, הרי הוא כאילו קיים כל התורה She'yehudi yihiyeh batel l'gamrei la'Hashem Yisbarach v'yislech imo b'tmimus, harei hu k'ilu kiyam kol ha'Torah. So why is it equal to as if you fulfilled the whole תורה Torah? Because when you live that way and it's your your whole mindfulness, your whole consciousness, your whole existence, your every waking moment is saying, what does השם Hashem want from me right now? And I'm going to make my will conform to, I'm not just going to do what he wants, I'm going to make my will conform to his will. That level of תמים tamim, of walking with him, that's not just a fulfillment of a particular, it is a כלל klal, it is, it is something which overarches. And therefore, it's not included in the מניין המצוות minyan ha'mitzvos. כי מצוה זו וכן כל אלו עניינים שהזכרנו, יש בהם גבוה מעל גבוה Ki mitzva zo v'chein kol elu inyanim she'hizkarnu, yesh bahem gavoah me'al gavoah. So this and קדושים תהיו kedoshim tihiyu, and ועשית הישר והטוב v'asisah ha'yashar v'hatov, these are not at specific moments in time, they're not a particular action, they are overarching מצוות mitzvos which are much broader and much more significant and much more defining in our very essence and in who we are. תמים תהיה עם ה' אלוקיך Tamim tihiyeh im Hashem Elokecha. We should all be זוכים zocheh to live mindful days, conscientious days in which throughout the day we're literally walking with השם Hashem. He's with us everywhere we are, and we're always saying, I love you so much, השם Hashem. What do you want from me right now? I need to sense, as Rav Berel Weiss has a whole notion of certain מצוות mitzvos, the whole concept within מצוות mitzvos that we have מצוות עשה mitzvos aseh, which you have מצוות לא תעשה mitzvos lo sa'aseh, we learn certain מצוות עשה mitzvos aseh from certain פסוקים psukim, we learn them through the י\"ג מדות yud gimmel middos through the 13 hermeneutical principles, but we also have a concept called רצון השם ratzon Hashem, that we can identify a מצוה mitzva. by figuring out if it's the רצון השם ratzon Hashem. צער בעלי חיים Tza'ar ba'alei chayim, he has a whole essay in like 23 different suggestions throughout ש\"ס Shas and מדרש Midrash about where maybe צער בעלי חיים tza'ar ba'alei chayim comes from. But ultimately the איסור צער בעלי חיים issur tza'ar ba'alei chayim is revealing the רצון השם ratzon Hashem. The רצון ratzon, who is in, it's a whole separate conversation, but who is licensed to determine רצון השם ratzon Hashem? So who will know better how to finish my wife's sentence? Who will know better what to order her on the menu when she's running late? You? A friend, an acquaintance, a stranger, or me, the person who loves her more than anyone else on earth, the person who knows her better than anyone else on earth. So who is empowered or licensed to determine the רצון השם ratzon Hashem to be able to derive מצוות mitzvos? תלמידי חכמים Talmidei chachamim. Not a stranger with God, not a mere acquaintance of השם Hashem, not a friend of השם Hashem, not a family member of השם Hashem. The ones who love השם Hashem unlike anyone else, who know him better than anyone else on earth, that's the בריסקער רב Brisker Rav's eulogy for his uncle, the בריסקער רב Brisker Rav, who can finish השם's Hashem's sentences. The ones who are married to השם Hashem, who can finish השם's Hashem's sentences, they are given license to literally finish השם's Hashem's sentences and tell us the רצון השם ratzon Hashem. So תמים תהיה עם השם אלוקיך tamim tihiyeh im Hashem Elokecha is to walk in life not shtick, not not cutting corners, not what's the least I can get away with, not what I can get by with, and what not is technically okay, but what does השם Hashem want from me? How can I put a smile on his face?
