Transcript
Okay, so good morning. We want to thank our generous sponsor this morning, Hencha Gansburg, who's sponsoring this morning's פרשה parsha class in memory of her beloved father and the namesake of the חומש Chumash from which we are learning, Irving Stone, the Stone חומש Chumash. And in fact, she gave me her father, Irving Stone's actual edition of his Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash, which I'll be using and we'll be learning from. Should be לעילוי נשמתו l'ilui nishmaso this morning. And by Robert and Rachel Gruen, לעילוי נשמת אסתר מלכה בת ישראל l'ilui nishmas Esther Malka bas Yisrael, whose נשמה neshama as well should have an עלייה aliyah. We thank you for your sponsorship. As always, a quick overview of a פרשה parsha, and as always, we'll hopefully leave some time to get through some פסוקים psukim. We last left off last year in the middle of explaining אז ישיר Az Yashir. אז ישיר Az Yashir, which is so critical to understand in order to have insight into the פרשה parsha, but also very worthwhile to understand because it happens to be that we say it each and every day. So consider this an hour-long siddur snippet, where we're going to take something that we say as part of our דאווענען davening every single day and really try to have greater insight and to understand it. But first, let's begin at the beginning of the פרשה parsha, page 366 in the Stone חומש Chumash. Has even more meaning today to say that. In the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash, page 366, Jewish people have been emancipated from Egypt. הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu has revealed his hand in unprecedented revelation, ten miracles, intervened, interceded with nature. The Jewish people did our part heroically, taking a sheep, tying it to the bedpost, slaughtering it, and השם Hashem struck the Egyptians and has liberated us, took us out. And now, ויהי בשלח פרעה את העם ולא נחם אלקים דרך ארץ פלשתים כי קרוב הוא Vayehi b'shalach Paro es ha'am v'lo nacham Elokim derech eretz Plishtim ki karov hu. When Pharaoh let the people go, that השם Hashem did not lead them by way of the land of the פלשתים Plishtim, even though that was more accessible, even though Waze would have told you that's the more direct route, but because השם Hashem said, פן ינחם העם pen y'nachaim ha'am, the people might reconsider. They see war, it's a very fragile people, they still have a slave mentality, they're still very vulnerable. I have to be careful and protect them, what they are exposed to, what they see. בראותם מלחמה ושבו מצרימה b'ro'sam milchama v'shavu Mitzraima, they'll want to come back to מצרים Mitzrayim. Rabbi Soloveitchik points out that in this term, ויסב אלקים את העם Vayaseiv Elokim es ha'am, the מדרש Medrash makes the following statement on the word ויסב Vayaseiv, the people, lest the people, led them around, ויסב Vayaseiv, circuitous route. And from here is where חז\"ל Chazal understand that לשון lashon, that language, ויסב Vayaseiv. Does that remind you of any practice we have at the סדר Seder table? ויסב Vayaseiv? הסיבה Haseiba. How do we drink? How do we consume the wine? How do we eat the מצה matzah? בהסיבה b'haseiba. We lean, we recline. חז\"ל במדרש שמות רבה Chazal in the Medrash Shemos Rabbah say from here that the rabbis learned that even a poor person must not eat until he reclines. אפילו עני שבישראל לא יאכל עד שיסב Afilu ani sheb'Yisrael lo yochal ad she'yaseiv. A poor person, it's a משנה בפסחים Mishna in Pesachim, even the poor person. Now why would you think a poor person should not recline? Because it looks ridiculous. It's a poor person. So he's going to go through the motions, the outward appearance. He's going to demonstrate freedom and majesty and royalty and aristocracy and look at me reclining. I'm so wealthy and I'm waited upon. So you'd think the poor person, like, who are you fooling? Who are you fooling? So the משנה Mishna says, no, even the poor person. That night we're all wealthy. And that night we're all free. And where do we learn that from? This word, ויסב אלקים את העם Vayaseiv Elokim es ha'am. And the question Rabbi Soloveitchik asks is, what in the world did חז\"ל Chazal have? It's just a cute play on words, ויסב, הסיבה Vayaseiv, haseiba, it's the same root, same word. So from here we know that everyone, even those who don't feel like leaning, even those who are leaning not by choice because they're not healthy to sit up straight, how do you know that everyone leans? How do you know that everybody leans? What's the connection? Rabbi Soloveitchik said the following. The mitzvah of reclining is due to the obligation to reenact the Exodus from Egypt. Through reclining, one demonstrates freedom. While it's obviously difficult for a poor person to perform such reenactment, he has to feel so free despite the fact that he's dependent at the moment on others. Seventh day of פסח Pesach, the anniversary of קריעת ים סוף Krias Yam Suf is the culmination of פסח Pesach. But it was 40 long years after this miraculous event before the nation entered the land of Israel. And indeed, complete redemption still has not taken place. Here we are in the diaspora, here we are in גלות galus, here we are still dispersed across the world. Here we are still confronting antisemitism, where a congressman who makes a comment, a racist comment, appropriately is removed from all the committees he sits on. And I think the GOP deserves great credit and recognition for swiftly acting against somebody who could make such racist and white supremacist comments. But yet colleagues in Congress can act without recourse, say anything they want about Jews, two new members of Congress and nobody says boo, nobody stands up, nobody talks about their committee assignments. We still live in a world where we have not yet experienced the complete redemption. There's no בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash, there's no השריית השכינה hashra'as ha'Shechina. השם Hashem's divine presence is not intensely felt or felt by all. And so not only did the redemption defined by entering the land of Israel not happen till 40 years after they came out of Egypt. To a certain degree and to a certain extent, it has yet to occur. This is the fate of the Jew, says the רב Rov. God leads his people via a roundabout route. Throughout our historical path, we have demonstrated great faith and trust, as we await for the fulfillment of his promise. Even though he may tarry, we still wait. ואף על פי שיתמהמה עם כל זאת אחכה לו V'af al pi sheyismahmeia im kol zos achakeh lo. The Jew suffered oppression and expulsion through many eras in the history of our people. And yet, we recline on סדר Seder night, fulfilling the imperative of reenacting our redemption. Although we may experience poverty or other hardships, although God still leads his people in a roundabout manner, the promise of redemption remains. We must strengthen ourselves with the trust that the promise will be realized. Such a phenomenal, fantastic, meaningful insight of the רב Rov. What do you mean the poor person also reclines on סדר Seder night? Who's he fooling? How hypocritical, how fake, how inauthentic? You're poor, what are you reclining? What are you putting on a show? And that's where we learn the poor person does הסיבה haseiba from the word ויסב Vayaseiv, that השם Hashem took them in a roundabout way. Said the רב Rov, השם Hashem is still taking us in a roundabout way. Redemption is not linear. Redemption doesn't happen in a straight line. Redemption is like the stock market. It's volatile. It goes up and down. You hope it trends up, but there's no day, no week, no month, no year, the market doesn't just go up. It's volatile. It goes up and down and up and down, and a big up and a big down. And you just hope that overall the trend is up. Redemption is not linear. It unfolds in increments. And it's a process and it evolves. And we spoke about this, the ד' לשונות של גאולה dalet leshonos of geulah, the four languages and we quoted the ירושלמי Yerushalmi, who says not ד' לשונות dalet leshonos, it's not four languages of גאולה geulah, but it's ד' גאולות dalet geulos, there are four redemptions. Redemption doesn't happen overnight. And even the current beginning of redemption, the flowering of redemption, the ראשית צמיחת גאולתנו reishis smichas geulaseinu that we are living in, didn't happen overnight. It's still unfolding, the redemption in Israel. We're still having to secure our boundaries and we're still having to fight enemies, physical enemies and BDS enemies. Redemption doesn't happen. ויסב Vayaseiv, it's circuitous. So collectively, our story is circuitous and individually our stories, it's ups and downs. The poor person ends up doing well. The person doing well, it's a גלגל galgal, it's a wheel. There's an economic cycle. Sometimes you're on top and sometimes you're on the bottom. And so even the poor person on the night of the סדר Seder reclines. Is he a fraud? Is she a fake? No. It's the recognition that redemption is circuitous. Redemption evolves and that right now I may be poor. And right now my bank account may look like it's empty, but that's the beginning of redemption. That too is a stage in redemption. And therefore ויסב Vayaseiv and הסיבה haseiba, the person doing הסיבה haseiba, even while they're poor and even when they don't feel like or look like they should be doing הסיבה haseiba, is entitled to do הסיבה haseiba and should do הסיבה haseiba because redemption happens ויסב Vayaseiv. Writes the רב Rov, deviations from the straight course characterized the strange movement of Jewish history. The longest, not the shortest route, seems to be our destiny. The zigzagging pattern of our historical past, seeming to violate the geometric rule that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. At times, we seem to be approaching our destiny, slowly but surely, and suddenly we're deflected, thrust aside or forced to move in the opposite direction. Positions previously achieved are abandoned, the accomplishment of entire generations are wiped away. Whole settlements, ישובים yeshuvim are annihilated. We find ourselves starting anew, just as surely גאולה geulah once again starts beckoning, inspiring new hopes and movements. This process of historical detours is unlike the history of other nations, which seem more or less to be moving in a straight course from the inception of nationhood to eminence upon occasion to its subsequent decline. Just think of the 20th century, has there ever been a greater expression of ויסב Vayaseiv, the circuitous route of the Jewish people than the 20th century? The beginning of the 20th century, European Jewry on top of the world, successful, accomplished, participating in society, independent. The משך חכמה Meshech Chochma, רב מאיר שמחה מדבינסק Rav Meir Simcha of Dvinsk describes that they believed, they called Berlin ירושלים Yerushalayim. They were so comfortable and so settled, רב מאיר שמחה Rav Meir Simcha writes that in his time, they described Berlin as the ירושלים Yerushalayim of their day, the golden age. And from there, six million are annihilated, wiped off. You talk about a circuitous route. And at the end of the Holocaust, if the survivors, if you would have told them that within three years there would be the founding of the modern state of Israel and an Israeli army, an Israeli air force, and that within 70 years, that modern state of Israel would be an economic superpower, would be a military superpower, and that the state itself would be the largest contributor to תלמוד תורה Talmud Torah, the biggest supporter of תלמוד תורה Talmud Torah than anyone in history, with more כוללים koilelim, ישיבות yeshivas, and learning going on in Israel than ever before, tell a Holocaust survivor on their way being liberated out of a camp that that would happen not in 100 years or 1,000 years, but in three years. You talk about ויסב Vayaseiv, the circuitous route of the Jewish people. We have to get used to it. Those who are shocked and stunned by the escalation of antisemitism shouldn't be. That's the norm. The last 70, 75 years have been a reprieve. The world gave us just a little bit of a window, a break, a little time off because we had it so rough in the Holocaust. And now we're just going back to the normal of the 2,000 years. This isn't new, this is old as old as the Jewish people ourselves. ויסב Vayaseiv, our life, our journey, collectively, individually, has been a circuitous route. And the key to remember is that even when you're an עני שבישראל ani sheb'Yisrael, that even when you're feeling poor and down and out and hopeless and helpless, you still do הסיבה haseiba. You recline. Why? Not just because you fake it till you make it, and not just because, you know they say, dress for the job you want, not the job you have. So I'm going to recline because then I'm not going to be an עני ani, I'll be a rich person if I'm reclining. It's not just that we're demonstrating who we want to be, it's that we believe we're already those people. The poor person does a הסיבה haseiba because they realize ויסב Vayaseiv, that life is circuitous and they will be back. And the parsha then continues with the fulfillment of a promise that was made. ויקח משה את עצמות יוסף עמו Vayikach Moshe es atzmos Yosef imo. Moshe on the way out of Egypt says, whoa, one more thing I have to grab. Some people are grabbing their picture album and some people are grabbing their family heirlooms and some people are grabbing their favorite luggage and some people are grabbing their technology. And what does Moshe go to grab? The bones of Yosef. Why? כי השבע השביע את בני ישראל לאמר Ki hashbeia hishbia es Bnei Yisrael leimor. Because a promise had been made. Yosef said, whatever you do, don't leave me in מצרים Mitzrayim. Get me out of here. I want to be buried in the land of my forefathers. And now Moshe makes good on that promise. ויקח משה את עצמות יוסף עמו Vayikach Moshe es atzmos Yosef imo. He takes the bones of Yosef together with him because he took an oath by, פקד יפקד אלקים אתכם והעליתם את עצמותי מזה אתכם pakod yifkod Elokim eschem v'ha'alisem es atzmosai mizeh itchem. He took a promise, made a promise, God will surely remember you, bring me up my bones from here with you. The Rogatchover, in the sefer on the parsha, quotes that the Rogatchover asks, how could a promise from the past be binding on the next generation? The Rogatchover was asked, people used to send postcards to the Rogatchover with a question and he would answer it very succinctly. And those postcards were collected in שו\"ת צפנת פענח shailos u'teshuvos Tzafnas Paneach. So the Rogatchover was asked, in the מדרש כתובות Gemara Kesubos says, there were שלש שבועות shlosha shevuos, there were three oaths we took. We'll talk about this tonight when we discuss Rav Teitelbaum. But the anti-Zionists believe, whether they actually believe this fundamentally or they use this to support what they believe for other reasons, but they quote the Gemara that we took three oaths to Hashem based on שיר השירים Shir Hashirim, the פסוקים בשיר השירים psukim b'Shir Hashirim. And one was that we won't, we won't take Israel by force. We'll wait till the redemption. And the Rogatchover was asked, well, how can an oath that was taken hundreds or thousands of years ago be binding on me? I didn't take the oath. I didn't make the promise. Whoever took the oath, whoever made the promise has to make good. But if I didn't take it, why am I bound by it? And the Rogatchover answers that question, which we won't get into now, by addressing our pasuk. Why is Moshe, why do the Jewish people when they're leaving Egypt feel bound by a promise that was made to Yosef so many years earlier? How can a promise or an oath transcend time? How can a future generation be bound by something that they weren't even alive when the promise, when the promise was made? So the promise was made to Yosef, and here Moshe makes good on it. And he collects and he gathers and he takes Moshe's, takes Moshe's, Yosef rather, Yosef's bones together with him. While everyone else is schlepping their luggage, Moshe's carrying the coffin on his back. And the Abarbanel wonders, why is the Torah first telling us about this now in פרשת בשלח parshas Beshalach, after they left Egypt? Where should it have told us? Last week, פרשת בא parshas Bo, when they're preparing to leave. By now, they're already out of Egypt. They're about to get stuck between the Egyptians and the sea. They're about to sing the wondrous song that please God we'll get to studying together this morning. So, it's too late to go back and grab the bones. The bones were in Egypt. Why didn't the Torah tell us last week, פרשת בא parshas Bo, that Moshe grabbed the coffin, Moshe grabbed the, the bones? Why did it wait till now? And the מכילתא Mechilta explains. ויקח משה את עצמות יוסף עמו, להודיע חכמתו וחסידותו של משה, שכל ישראל עסוקין בביזה ומשה עוסק במצות עצמות יוסף. עליו הכתוב אומר, אומר חכם לב יקח מצות, ואויל שפתים ילבט. Vayikach Moshe es atzmos Yosef imo, l'hodi'a chachmaso v'chasiduso shel Moshe, shekol Yisrael oskin b'bizah u'Moshe osek b'mitzvas atzmos Yosef. Alav hakasuv omer, omer chacham lev yikach mitzvos, u'evil sfosayim yilabed. This newly emancipated nation, barely had a moment to celebrate their freedom before their former oppressor is pursuing them, boxing them in, squeezing them between the sea before them and the Egyptians behind them. And when the Egyptian military and their chariots drowned in the sea, their wealth, their gold, their silver is all floating. Those chariots were adorned with golden and silver. They were ornate. And when the Egyptians drowned, all their wealth starts floating to the top for the Jews. And as they stood on the other side of the sea watching and welcoming their salvation, what did they bend down and pick up? This is a newly formed nation, just freed from slavery, and they gathered all the wealth. They picked up the golden and silver, they took the spoils. All of them were picking up the spoils except one. Moshe says the מכילתא Mechilta had the wisdom, חכמתו וחסידותו chochmaso v'chasiduso. Moshe had the wisdom and the righteousness to collect what was the greatest wealth at that moment. And it wasn't gold and it wasn't silver. He didn't pick up possessions or material things. ויקח את עצמות יוסף Vayikach es atzmos Yosef. He took the bones of יוסף הצדיק Yosef Hatzadik. And so while the rest of the members of this newly formed nation took advantage of the moment to try to gain newfound personal wealth and a brighter future, Moshe was unwilling to look only to what lay ahead. He recognized that they couldn't go on with what came behind, Yosef. Yosef is part of them. He's their history. He's their connection to the past. He reminds them of where they come from and their roots. And he's unwilling to forge forward on their new future. He doesn't want to secure only the physical material future. He wants to secure their spiritual future. And how do you secure your spiritual future? By looking at your, by looking at your past. ויקח משה את עצמות יוסף עמו Vayikach Moshe es atzmos Yosef imo. He takes Yosef. He's part of them. The כלי יקר Kli Yakar on that pasuk says, it doesn't just say ויקח את עצמות יוסף vayikach es atzmos Yosef. But it says he took את עצמות יוסף עמו es atzmos Yosef imo. עמו Imo. He didn't just carry the bones of an old ancestor. He took יוסף עמו Yosef imo. He took Yosef with him. Yosef's life shaped who he was and who he was to become. The עטורי תורה Iturei Torah says, don't read it עצמות יוסף atzmos Yosef, but read it as עצמות יוסף atzmus Yosef. He didn't just take the bones, he took the essence of Yosef. Yosef's narrative, Yosef's personal story, Yosef's challenge, his courage, his heroism, his accomplishments, his rise to greatness, his extraordinary ability to raise a Jewish family in a foreign culture and land. He didn't just take the עצמות יוסף atzmos Yosef. He didn't just transfer the bones. He took the עצמות יוסף atzmus Yosef. He understood and he reviewed who Yosef was and the life that he lived. And he took Yosef, he took Yosef with him. And that is the message of fulfilling that promise. He didn't do it as a fulfillment of a promise to Yosef. He did it for himself, and he did it for his people. I was listening, there's a book that I love and I've highly recommended called Essentialism by Greg McKeown. So the author was interviewed recently on a podcast by Tim Ferriss, another author whom I enjoy. And he made the following point, which I reserve the right to use in a Yoshed Roshan in the future. But I'll tell it to you now anyway. He says, he's polled thousands and thousands of people, and he's only come across a few who could name the first name and last name of all eight of their great-grandparents. If we did that exercise in this room right now, I imagine we would have the same results. How many can name the first name and last name of all eight of their great-grandparents? Now, please God, that's changing and will change when great-grandparents are going to live and overlap with their great-grandchildren and they'll be those relationships. So you could change that to, please God in a few years, great-great-grandchildren. That is an incredibly depressing thought. And it's a depressing thought because it means as we're living our lives where we think we're so important and the legacy we're forming and the name that we're making, the thought that our great-grandchildren won't even know our name is incredibly disturbing and upsetting. And the point he makes when he raises this is that they may not know our name, but they'll feel our impact because the choices we'll make today will set them on the trajectory that they're going to be living tomorrow. So your great-grandchildren, your great-great-grandchildren may not know your first and last name, but they'll know your impact by how you lead your life and what you leave and the legacy, religiously, materially, emotionally, the family you build and in so many other which ways. עצמות יוסף Atzmus Yosef, not עצמות atzmos, עצמות יוסף atzmus Yosef. Moshe says, before I cross this sea, before I come out on the other side and before remember where they're supposed to be going. The journey right now is supposed to be immediately and directly into the land of Israel. And before I go, says Moshe, I have to take the עצמות atzmos and the עצמות יוסף atzmus Yosef. We have to know where we come from. We have to know how we got here. We have to learn the lessons. We have to show the appreciation. It's a very powerful beginning to our, to our parsha. Why were they afraid? The Jewish people are so afraid when they see this number of chariots. טוב לנו עבודת מצרים ממותנו במדבר Tov lanu avodas Mitzrayim mi'museinu ba'midbar. We'd rather serve the Egyptians than die in the desert. So the אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra asks, you have 600,000 Jewish men at ים סוף Yam Suf. And why are they so afraid when they see 600 chariots? 600,000 against 600 chariots? For one time in history, the odds were in our favor. We had the numbers. So why were the Jewish people so afraid? Why does the pasuk describe that in fact they're so anxious and so fearful, they say, let us turn around. Let's get out of here. And the אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra explains, because they're slaves. And they still have a slave mentality, and they still have a sense of, a sense of passiveness and fear and they're afraid to contradict anyone, to antagonize anyone. And even when that fear is unjustified and unfounded, when a person feels defensive and fearful, they will always be anxious. Only when they see their oppressor drowned in the sea, are they ready to move on. Only then are they ready to take that next step towards, towards freedom. How do they react? They דאווען davven. They call out to השם Hashem, save us. You think that's a good thing? I would have thought that's a great thing. Here you have this people, this nation who came out of the 49th level of טומאה tumah, and so quickly they've learned that the way to react in a crisis is to call out to השם Hashem. You'd think השם Hashem would give them a huge יישר כח yasher koach. Unbelievable. Coupons to Dunkin Donuts. Doesn't Duncan donuts for everyone. It's amazing. You did the right thing. Good boys and girls. You דאווען davvened. Instead, השם Hashem says, what are you doing? Why are you talking? Close your mouth and start walking. Why would השם Hashem be encouraging them to walk? And Nachshon ben Aminadav is the hero, although he did the most foolish thing. He walks into the sea. And we all know the מדרש medrash, the water's at his knees and then his hips, then it's at his shoulders and his mouth and it starts to come up to his nose. And what does he do? He's still walking. And of course here, this is the מקור makor for the conversation of the balance between השתדלות hishtadlus and השגחה פרטית hashgacha pratis. When do we take initiative? When do we believe it's all up to us? When do we have to take action? And when do we rely on השם Hashem? When do we turn to him? On Wednesday mornings, we study this in the אמונה emunah shiur, and we're studying this contrasting the positions of רבנו בחיי Rabbeinu Bachya in his חובות הלבבות Chovos Halevavos with the Ramban. Two very different perspectives on השתדלות hishtadlus, on the importance of taking action. But essentially השתדלות hishtadlus is a form of אמונה emunah. If you believe that השם Hashem is all-capable, then you're willing to act even in irrational ways. You're willing to do the impossible and the improbable because you think nothing is beyond השם Hashem. When you sit back and wait for a miracle, השם Hashem says, you think you're so worthy of a miracle? But if you take action, even if it's action which is a long shot, even if it's action which makes no sense, that initiative and that action is in itself an expression of, of אמונה emunah. But we discussed this much more. Jewish people cross the ים סוף Yam Suf. Wow, what a miracle. Sea splits, combines, it crashes, their oppressors are gone and finally, finally they're ready to see themselves as free people. ויושע השם ביום ההוא את ישראל מיד מצרים Vayosha Hashem bayom hahu es Yisrael miyad Mitzrayim. השם Hashem saves them. Rav Soloveitchik points out that it doesn't say השם Hashem saved them me, meyad mitzrim, from the hands of the Egyptians. What does it say? מיד מצרים Miyad Mitzrayim. What's the difference between מיד מצרים miyad mitzrim and מיד מצרים miyad Mitzrayim? At the ים סוף Yam Suf, the nation was liberated not only from the tyranny of Egypt, but מיד מצרים miyad Mitzrayim, the Egyptian culture, from their mode of thought. The full significance of their physical liberation a week earlier was only now understood. And as a result, both Moshe and the people sang שירה shira. They weren't just free from the physical tyranny, but מיד מצרים miyad Mitzrayim. They had broken out. They didn't just take Jews out of Egypt, but with this miracle, Egypt was taken out of the Jews. מיד מצרים Miyad Mitzrayim. They transcend to rise above, to rise above even מצרים Mitzrayim. ויאמינו בהשם ובמשה עבדו Vayaminu ba'Hashem uv'Moshe avdo. We won't get into it right now, but that's a difficult phrase. We say that in our דאווענען davening every day. We're equating faith and belief in השם Hashem with belief in Moshe? Isn't it dangerous when we turn to charismatic leaders with such faith and invest so much of ourselves in them? ויאמינו בהשם Vayaminu ba'Hashem, what does it mean to have faith in both השם Hashem ובמשה עבדו uv'Moshe avdo? And then we have אז ישיר Az Yashir. We began studying it last year, we're going to continue and pick up with it in a moment. But in אז ישיר Az Yashir, and we say that in the moment of the revelation, the שפחה על הים shifcha al ha'yam, the unsophisticated person at the sea saw with greater clarity and greater sophistication than the highest prophet, than יחזקאל בן בוזי Yechezkel ben Buzi. What an amazing moment of revelation when everything comes together. No one had said שירה shira until that moment. How is שירה shira different than תפילה tefillah? Plenty of prayers had been offered. שירה Shira is when everything that felt so disjointed and made no sense and felt so irrational and one felt such a product of randomness, when it all comes together and when it all makes sense and you see the full picture, you're overwhelmed with שירה shira. You just want to sing songs. You're dancing down the street. You're just overwhelmed. שירה Shira is the spontaneous eruption of song, the overwhelming feeling of gratitude when everything makes sense. When you go from seeing the dots on the canvas to seeing the big picture, and when you see the back of the embroidery where there's loose threads and nothing looks like it makes sense and you turn it around and you see the whole picture. We live life in the dots. We live life in the loose threads and there are brief moments, glimpses, blips, if we're lucky in our lives, which are שירת הים shiras hayam moments, where everything came together. And now I know why I went through and now I know I went through that place and why that was delayed and why my child and my civil, now I understand why everything unrolled and unraveled the way it did because had it not, I never would have been brought to this moment. And in that moment, when we see that, if we see it and reflect upon it, we erupt with a spontaneous sense, literally or figuratively, of שירה shira, of song. And in this song we pledge זה קלי ואנוהו zeh Keli v'anveihu. This is my God. And I will make the anveihu. What is the word v'anveihu? Zeh Keli v'anveihu. פרק ט\"ו, פסוק ב' Perek Tes Vov, pasuk beis. Chapter 15 verse two, the beginning of אז ישיר Az Yashir. זה קלי ואנוהו Zeh Keli v'anveihu, and I will build him a sanctuary. אלקי אבי וארוממנהו Elokei avi va'aromenhu, the God of my father and I will exalt him. First of all, this pasuk is so powerful. We're not going to, we we moved past this so we're not going to spend time on it now but I'll remind you. Pasuk itself is a statement of our philosophy. זה קלי Zeh Keli, he's my God and he's אלקי אבי Elokei avi. And the Jew is supposed to live both simultaneously. We have a relationship with the ריבונו של עולם Ribbono Shel Olam that's predicated, that's built on our מסורה mesorah, our tradition. My parents had a closeness with השם Hashem. My grandparents were close with השם Hashem, my great-grandparents. So there are family friendships and family relationships and they transcend just me. And even if I don't feel close at this moment, and even if the communication doesn't feel so open and flowing at this moment, but there's a relationship that's אלקי אבי Elokei avi. This is lost on much of the younger generation today, who only do things that are זה קלי Zeh Keli. If it's meaningful to me, if it makes sense to me, if it makes me feel good, if it fills my needs. I, what if it doesn't? If it doesn't, I'm not interested. I drop it, I move on. What about the fact that your family's been doing this for thousands of years, that you're a link in a chain, that if you abandon it or walk away, you'll sever a tradition of your family? Eh, who cares? Doesn't do anything for me. Why do I have to do something for someone else? Because my great-grandparents or my great-grandchildren, it doesn't do it for me. But the pasuk is telling us that's not how a Jew lives. A Jew lives simultaneously with both, a relationship that's predicated that's built on אלקי אבי Elokei avi. My parents, my grandparents, my great-grandparents. I'm a link in a chain. I'm part of a מסורה mesorah community. I have a relationship with השם Hashem because of a tradition I've received. And at the same time, זה קלי Zeh Keli. I have to go pursue an individual relationship with השם Hashem. Where is he in my life? What are his expectations of me? What are the gifts and blessings he's uniquely bestowed upon me? What's my relationship, my individualized, personalized, unique relationship with השם Hashem? And throughout our liturgy, now that you understand and hear that insight, you'll see throughout our liturgy, the relationship and the references to both. Pointed out in the siddur snippets were up to ברכת השחר Birchas Hashachar. שעשה כל צרכי She'asa kol tzarki. שעשה לי She'asa li, we say every morning. It's not שעשה כל צרכי העולם she'asa kol tzarkei ha'olam. It's not that God made a world and he gave everybody more or less what we need. It's שעשה לי She'asa li. It's the only of the 15 ברכות brachos where we say the word לי li. Individualized, personalized, I have everything I need. How do I know? Because by definition, what השם Hashem gave me is everything I need. לי Li. The beginning of the עמידה Amidah. אלקינו Elokeinu. אלקי אבותינו *Elokei Avoseinu*. I begin my conversation with Hashem, I take three steps forward and now I'm in a spot and I'm in a place there's no one else in the world. My feet are together like an angel with one leg, I have nowhere else to go. An intimate personal rendezvous with Hashem, Hashem, you're ready for a conversation.I introduce it with השם שפתי תפתח ופי יגיד תהלתך *Hashem s'fasai tiftach u'fi yagid tehilasecha*. Open my lips. Let these words flow. Let me have a conversation with Hashem. Let me talk to you Hashem, I got some things I want to talk to you about. Things I want to protest, things I want to express gratitude toward, things I want to ask you for. I have a conversation. You got to prepare for a conversation. You're going into a big meeting, you're going to prepare and the Amidah demands preparation. That's why we say פסוקי דזמרה *psukei d'zimra*, that's why at מנחה *Mincha* we say אשריי *Ashrei*, it's why at מעריב *Maariv* we have introductory paragraphs, because you have to be ready, you have to calibrate and align, what is my agenda for this meeting? I'm having an audience with Hashem. You go in to see a חסידישע רבי *Chasidisha Rebbe*, what do you just walk in? He says, what would you like a ברכה *bracha* for? I haven't really thought about that. I guess I need a ברכה *bracha* for. You walk in, you write a קוויטל *kvittel*, you got all the names, these are the things in my life, the people around me I care about, here's what I want a ברכה *bracha* for.כביכול *Kivayachol*, you're walking into an audience. You're invited to the Oval Office, you're going to meet with the President, things you want. The President says, what can I do for you? I'm the leader of the free world, the most powerful man on the planet, what can I do for you? You say, you know, give me a minute, I didn't really get a chance to think about that. You're going to craft your words, you're going to shape them, you're going to think about them. You're going to want to know what to say. So the Amidah takes a proper Amidah, you take a few moments. What what's going on in my life? What's on tap for today? What happened yesterday? What do I want to talk to Hashem about? I've said countless times, this isn't directly relevant, but I've said countless times, the Amidah is a template. חז\"ל *Chazal*, אנשי כנסת הגדולה *Anshei Knesses Hagedola* gave us the עמידה *Amidah* as a template. And they said, look, on the days that you're struggling for words, don't worry, we got your back here are the words. But you can't just deliver Hashem the words. I've said this analogy countless times. You come on your anniversary and you went, you bought the card. American Greetings, I was going to say Hallmark, but today we better say American Greetings. So you go and you buy an American Greetings card. And you're going to give it to your wife, to your spouse, and they open it up and they say thank you so much, it's so nice. You made your way all the way to CVS. And you bought the card, and even though it's a little piece of paper, it costs $400. But it's so nice, the American Greetings card, but it's blank. You say, yeah, but I didn't have to write my own words. It pretty much says what I want to tell you. It says everything. I even underlined a few special words that I found in the card. Some of the words I even double underlined. That's how far I went to tell you how much I love you. So the spouse says, okay, but the card's blank. It's blank. There's not, you had nothing to say besides what American Greetings authors thought of? Say, well, they were so good, I there's nothing to add. How's that anniversary going to go? That's going to be a rough anniversary, it's going to be a difficult birthday. On the other hand, you grab a napkin and you scribble down, I don't know where I'd be without you, 30 years ago was the best day of my life, Hashem found my other half, you're the greatest thing that ever happened to me, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And then you go out for dinner, romantic candlelight dinner, and you hand over the napkin with the scribbles. Wow. The sentiments are so meaningful. But you didn't have two seconds to pick up a card? You couldn't get a card? This napkin, I'm going to frame this napkin. I'm going to save the napkin in a shoebox. What am I going to do with this napkin?So, what's the answer? We go, we buy a card, and then we write personal things that complement what it says in the card. And the עמידה *Amidah* is our card. אנשי כנסת הגדולה *Anshei Knesses Hagedola* were the American Greetings of their time. And they wrote us the most incredible card to Hashem. And it contains the totality of the requests. It is the categories of requests that are universal, that anyone could ever need. From health, to intellect, to justice. And you know what? Then they threw in one generic, שמע קולנו *Shma Koleinu*. And they said here's one, the ultimate universal ברכה *bracha*, that fit in whatever you want. Put in whatever you want for that day. Hashem, please help me get a seat at the Parsha class, let me find parking. Whatever you want, שמע קולנו *Shma Koleinu*, you can throw into שמע קולנו *Shma Koleinu*. So imagine you spend 50 years of your life just handing Hashem blank cards. You never once filled in anything. You didn't even write, \"Dear Hashem.\" ענני ביום אש אש שנה *Aneni b'yom esh esh shana*. You didn't even write anything to Hashem. You hand him the סידור *siddur*, the template, the card. Lovely, you picked up a card and you read the words. And maybe you say some of them emphatically, that's like a double underline on some of the words. But don't you have anything personal to add or to say? Hashem wants to know that he's hearing from you. Is there nothing going on in your life? Nothing to protest, nothing to ask for, nothing to express gratitude about? Nothing? Every one of us, every moment, could have endless conversations. Endless conversations. And you know what, if you were meeting with the big Rebbe or meeting with the president, even if you had nothing to ask for for yourself, would you not take advantage of that audience to ask for others you care about?So אלקינו ואלקי אבותינו *Elokeinu v'Elokei Avoseinu*. We begin the עמידה *Amidah*, זה קלי ואנוהו, אלקי אבי *Zeh Keli v'Anveihu, Elokei Avi*. Both. We have this dichotomy, we have this parallel, we live in both simultaneously. I'm in a relationship because I'm part of a family relationship. An intergenerational relationship. Our families go way back. I don't particularly like the one that's my generation, but our families go way back. And therefore our families are going to continue, our children will continue to know one another. And we have Thanksgiving together, we go on vacation together, we remember each other's birthdays. We don't even live in the same place anymore, but we call each other a few times a year because there's a family relationship. אלקי אבי *Elokei Avi*, even if I don't feel it. But then on top of that, he's Elokei. So it's in this pasuk, it's Az Yashir, it's from the birth of our nation, of our peoplehood, and it appears in the beginning, it's the way we begin the Amidah itself. This זה קלי ואנוהו *Zeh Keli v'Anveihu* we learn, the גמרא *Gemara* learns that we have to imitate Hashem. Because how is it זה קלי *Zeh Keli*? If he's really our God, if he's really our God, if he's really our deity, he's the omnipotent, omniscient, perfect, infinite God, then what is the greatest form of flattery? What is the greatest form of flattery? Rabbi Moskowitz and I remind ourselves of this every time we see a shul advertising a program that looks very familiar to us. So we always remind each other, don't be insulted. Imitation is the greatest form of flattery. It's flattering. So how do we flatter Hashem? What is the וְאַנְוֵהוּ *v'anveihu*? How do I praise Hashem? How do I flatter Hashem? Flattery. So what is וְאַנְוֵהוּ *v'anveihu*? Chazal say read the word וְאַנְוֵהוּ *v'anveihu* as, וְאַנְוֵהוּ *v'anveihu* is אני והוא *Ani v'Hu*. He and I. I'm like him. I'm imitating Hashem. So on the one hand, we learn it from here, זה קלי ואנוהו *Zeh Keli v'Anveihu*. On the other hand, the גמרא *Gemara* elsewhere learns, how do I know I have to imitate Hashem? I think last week we quoted one of the most famous Latin expressions, Ex nihilo. So this week we can quote the other Jewish Latin expression, Imitatio Dei. You're so well-educated. Everyone knows what that means. How to to imitate Hashem, to imitate the divine. We have an obligation to imitate the divine. So we learn from זה קלי ואנוהו *Zeh Keli v'Anveihu*, אני והוא *Ani v'Hu*. And we also learn Imitatio Dei, I have to imitate the divine from, אחרי השם אלקיכם תלכו *Acharei Hashem Elokeichem teleichu*, והלכת בדרכיו *v'halachta b'drachav*. I have to walk in his way. מה הוא רחום אף אתה רחום *Ma Hu Rachum, af ata Rachum*. So one of those we learn, just as Hashem is kind, just as Hashem is gracious, just as Hashem is patient, just as Hashem is forgiving, you have to be like him. From the other pasuk we learn, just like Hashem visits the sick, just like Hashem comforts the mourner, just like Hashem dresses the naked, just as Hashem is charitable, you have to be charitable. Isn't it redundant? Why do we need both psukim? Rabbi Yonason Sacks was here this past Shabbos, an incredible Shabbos of Shiurim, and in one of his Shiurim he quoted this. It's from Rav Ahsher Weiss. Rav Ahsher Weiss has this in fact in Seit Hamenuchas Asher. Why do we have two separate psukim and why do we have two different limudim? It's the same idea. Be like God, imitate Hashem. The answer is, one is about what we do, and the other speaks to who we are. It's not enough to be an עושה חסד *Oseh Chesed*, you have to be a בעל חסד *Ba'al Chesed*. What's the difference between an עושה חסד *Oseh Chesed* and a בעל חסד *Ba'al Chesed*? An עושה חסד *Oseh Chesed* does חסד *chesed*. A בעל חסד *Ba'al Chesed* becomes a person who feels, who develops an instinct and an intuition towards חסד *chesed*. It's not just that I'm a cruel, self-centered, miserable, low-life, עשו *eisav*, an obnoxious jerk of a person, but I want to hedge and make sure I get an upstairs, so I do חסד *chesed*. But I do it begrudgingly, and I do it ungraciously, and I do it hesitantly, and I do it not really wanting to do it. You are fulfilling מה *ma*, just like he's מבקר חולים *mevaker cholim*, you have to be מבקר חולים *mevaker cholim*. If you're מבקר חולים *mevaker cholim*. But if you hate going and complain about it after you leave, and you don't really want to be there while you're there, then you have not molded yourself into מה הוא רחום אף אתה רחום *Ma Hu Rachum, af ata Rachum*. So the two separate פסוקים *psukim* and the two separate לימודים *limudim* correspond with the two non-overlapping obligations. We have to both imitate Hashem in our action, in our deed, but we also have to learn to imitate Hashem by molding and shaping and crafting our personalities into being those very, those very personalities.Okay, continue with Az Yashir. After Az Yashir, people complain right away. Three days, three days go by, they complain. Three whole days. I think we should celebrate that. I think it's extraordinary for the Jewish people. They made it three days without complaining. We hold it against them, but I think it's a tremendous accomplishment. Has anyone seen anyone go three days without complaining? It's easy to go three days without eating. וילונו העם על משה *vayilonu ha'am al Moshe*. Three days. Again, we don't have time. I want to get through our psukim for the last few minutes of our class. But how do you complain three days? Ten plagues, splitting of the sea, wealth washes up ashore, like how could you complain ever again after everything that they just went through? How could they possibly complain? How could they possibly complain after experiencing and seeing all of these incredible miracles? It's a great question, and we're not going to answer it right now. So Hashem responds by giving the manna. We commemorate the manna with the לחם משנה *Lechem Mishnah* on שבת *Shabbos*. So much more to talk about the manna. We've talked about it in the past, we're not going to talk about it now. And the parsha ends with being attacked by עמלק *Amalek*. ויבא עמלק וילחם עם ישראל ברפידים *Vayavo Amalek vayilachem im Yisrael b'Refidim*. עמלק *Amalek* came. We were on fire. We were inspired. And what happens to עמלק *Amalek*? אשר קרך בדרך *Asher karcha baderech*. קרך *karcha* has לשון קור *loshen kor*. They tried to extinguish our fire. They poured cold water on our fire. You think there's such a Hashem? You think these were miracles? Nothing to do with miracles. It had to do with the way the earth was turning on its axis, changed the ecosystem and the alignment of the stars and the wave patterns. The sea didn't really split. It was just a natural occurrence. Ten plagues, each could be explained naturally. עמלק *Amalek*, עמלק *Amalek* is כח *koach*. We have we have the כח *koach* of רב הוטנר *Rav Hutner* describes that the power of עמלק *Amalek* is the כח *koach* of \"eh.\" We're the כח *koach* of awe. Everything you see, you're in awe, it's amazing. I'm in awe, it's incredible. The יד השם *Yad Hashem* is evident everywhere. And עמלק *Amalek* is the כח הביטול *koach ha'bittel*. They try to just knock everything down. Sarcasm, cynicism, undermining, cunning. עמלק *Amalek* is the כח *koach* of \"eh.\" Wasn't that great? Eh. How was the meal? Eh. How was the concert? Eh. How was the shiur? Eh. How was the drasha? Eh. How was it? How's your daughter-in-law? Eh. How's everything? Eh. And then there's eh. כח הביטול *Koach ha'bittel*. That's Amalek. We're supposed to live with the wow and the awe. And אשר קרך *asher karcha*, they splashed cold water on our fire. We were on fire. So inspired, so uplifted, so empowered. אשר קרך *Asher karcha*. אשר קרך *Asher karcha*, how did they splash cold water? From לשון מקרה *loshen mikreh*, happenstance, chance. And how did we defeat עמלק *Amalek*? We didn't really defeat עמלק *Amalek*. In fact, we just pushed them off. We survived עמלק *Amalek*, we didn't defeat עמלק *Amalek*. We're still fighting עמלק *Amalek*. Still fighting עמלק *Amalek*. We never defeated them. We've only survived them until now. But how did we survive them? בחר לנו אנשים *b'char lanu anashim*. Moshe tells Yehoshua, go choose men. And then Moshe raises his hands. When he raises his hands, they're winning. When he lowers his hands, they are losing. It's ridiculous from משנה ראש השנה *Mishnah Rosh Hashanah* asks, do you win or lose a war based on the position of your hands? Does that even make sense? How did Moshe hold his hands up in the sky? Hands get heavier the longer you hold them, the heavier they become. But we actually have a practice based on this. משה, אהרן, וחור *Moshe, Aharon, v'Chur*. אהרן וחור *Aharon v'Chur* held up his hands. And רש\"י *Rashi* quotes, מכאן לתלמיד שצריכים שלושה לעבור לפני התיבה *mikan l'talmid she'tzrichim shlosha l'avor lifnei ha'teiva*. Three people must pass before the aaron. One leads the prayers and one stands on either side. So on many a מנין *minyan* on יום כיפור *Yom Kippur*, it's not just the חזן *chazzan*. The חזן *chazzan* is flanked by someone on either side, שבצניות היו שרויים *she'b'taaniyos hayu shruyim*, because the Jewish people were in a time of fasting while they battled עמלק *Amalek*. We continue to battle עמלק *Amalek* physically and metaphysically, and we therefore imitate Aaron and Chur on either side, standing on either side. We do this even during our day, on, on Yom Kippur. בתענית ציבור יעמדו שנים מצד שליח ציבור *B'Taanis Tzibbur yamidu shnayim mitzad shliach tzibbur*. The שולחן ערוך *Shulchan Aruch* writes, מזה אחד ומזה אחד שיאמרו עמו סליחות *mi'zeh echad u'mi'zeh echad she'yomru imo slichos*. When you say סליחות *Slichos*, one on either side. And the משנה ברורה *Mishna Brurah* writes, where do we know this from? יפים הם ממשה שאהרן וחור תמכו בידיו מזה אחד *Yafim hem mi'Moshe she'Aharon v'Chur tamchu b'yadav mi'zeh echad* and so on. Aaron and Chur held up their hands. The אור גדליהו *Or Gedalyahu*, רב גדליהו שור *Rav Gedalyahu Schorr* says, Aaron and Chur holding up hands, what's going on here? So, I love this insight from the אור גדליהו *Or Gedalyahu*. Aaron and Chur have opposite personalities. What defines Aaron? What's Aaron's character? He is אוהב שלום ורודף שלום *Oheiv shalom v'rodef shalom*. Aaron is a pacifist, he's a peacemaker, he's a peace lover. Aaron had like peace bumper stickers all over the back of his tent. And he was just, Aaron loved peace. אוהב שלום ורודף שלום *Oheiv shalom v'rodef shalom*. Who's Chur? Who is Chur? Who is Chur, what characterizes Chur? How did Chur die, anyone know? Thank you. How did Chur die? For the חטא העגל *chet ha'egel*. The מדרש תנחומא *Medrash Tanchuma* writes, מיד אמר חור וגער בהם *miyad omar Chur v'ga'ar bahem*. עמדו עליו והרגוהו *amdu alav v'harguhu*. Chur protested the building of the עגל *egel*. He was a קנאי *kanai*. He was a zealot. He stood up, he screamed, he protested, he rallied. He was an absolute zealot. And because of his zealotry, it cost him his life when he protested the organizers of the חטא העגל *chet ha'egel*, they murdered him, they killed him, they killed him. So the אור גדליהו *Or Gedalyahu* says, אהרן וחור *Aharon v'Chur* are opposite personalities. They represent the zealot and the peacemaker. When do we defeat our enemy? When do we survive עמלק *Amalek*? When Aaron and Chur are on either side holding up Moshe's hands. When the Jewish people work with synergy and collaboration, when we have a sense of אחדות *achdus*, of unity, when you have the right and the left and the conservative, you have all the different extremes and the different perspectives and the different philosophies and the different attitudes, and when they're working together in tandem, that's when we win. Okay, let's get to our פסוקים *psukim* for at least a few minutes. Got plenty of time left. What are you laughing about?So last year we left off פרק ט\"ו *Perek Tes Vav*, פסוק י\"ב *pasuk Yud Beis*. Is where we left off. נטית ימינך תבלעמו ארץ *Natisa yeminchah tivla'emo aretz*. The פסוק *pasuk* says, see where we are? Page 378 in the Stone חומש *Chumash*. פרק ט\"ו *Perek Tes Vav*, פסוק י\"ב *pasuk Yud Beis*. Chapter 15, verse 12. In the middle of the אז ישיר *Az Yashir* that we say every single day. So the pasuk says, people, נטית ימינך תבלעמו ארץ *natisa yeminchah tivla'emo aretz*. You stretched out your hand, Hashem, and the earth swallowed them. What are we talking about? Rashi writes, כשהקדוש ברוך הוא נוטה ידו, הרשעים כלים ונופלים *k'she'HaKadosh Baruch Hu noteh yado, ha'reshaim kolim v'noflim*. When Hashem stretches out his hand, the wicked, they fall and they are obliterated. שהכל נתון בידו ונופלים בהטייתו *she'hakol nosun b'yado u'noflim b'hatayaso*. We describe Hashem's hand when we talk about his dominion over the world. You know why? Because we want to describe that for Hashem it's not heavy lifting. It's not hard work. He's the infinite, omnipotent, all-powerful Hashem. וכן הוא אומר והשם יטה ידו וכשל עוזר ונפל עזור *v'chein hu omer v'Hashem yateh yado v'chashal ozer v'nafal azur*. משל לכלי זכוכית המסוימים ביד אדם *Mashal l'klei zchuchis ha'mesunim b'yad adam*. You're holding a glass, with a little flick of your finger, you break a glass, you break a vase. For the רבונו של עולם *Ribono Shel Olam*, מטה ידו מעט והם נופלים ומשתברים *mata yado m'at v'heim noflim u'mishtabrim*. For Hashem's flick of his finger, for the wave of his hand, he controls the entire universe. So נטית ימינך *Natisa yeminchah*, Hashem stretched out his right hand, he flicked his finger, he waved his hand, and תבלעמו ארץ *tivla'emo aretz*. The earth swallowed up a people. Just with the flick of his finger, just with the wave of his hand. That's all it took, נטית ימינך *Natisa yeminchah*. The רשב\"ם *Rashbam* writes, ויאמר השם אל משה, נטה את ידך על הים וישבו *v'yomer Hashem el Moshe, n'teh es yadcha al ha'yam v'yashuvu*. So Rashi sees the pasuk is describing Hashem's hand. You intervened in nature, you created the supernatural. What, did Hashem have to rest afterwards? Was he exhausted? Did he break a sweat? It's nothing, it's garnished. With the wave of a hand. The רשב\"ם *Rashbam* says no, it's a reference to Hashem telling Moshe, put your hand on the sea so it will split. How did Hashem stretch out his hand? Through Moshe's hand. Moshe as his emissary, as his ambassador, that's how he stretched out his hand. Rashi continues, תבלעמו ארץ *tivla'emo aretz*, for the earth swallowed them up. Why did they merit the earth swallowing them up? מכאן שזכו לקבורה, בשכר שאמרו השם הצדיק *mikan she'zachru l'kvura, b'schar she'amru Hashem ha'tzadik*. The מכילתא *Mechilta* says that as the Egyptians were drowning, they called out and they recognized Hashem's righteousness. They became בעלי תשובה *baalei teshuva*. יש קונה עולמו בשעה אחת *Yesh koneh olamo b'sha'ah achas*. You can acquire your portion in one moment. So even after a lifetime of being persecuted as oppressors, even after a lifetime of wickedness and evil, but in their last moments they called out Hashem is righteous, and because of that, they merited burial. They really should have floated around the sea. They shouldn't have merited a total burial. Anyone see the article that זק\"א *ZAKA* at the Danube River in Hungary is going, they're using technology to find bodies of Holocaust victims who were thrown into the river, who were shot into the river, and they're using the technology and sensors, radar, to be able to find their remains and give a proper burial. It's going to be outrageous. There will be, there will be children and grandchildren who will get a phone call to have, right? based on the genetic testing that will come from it, to be able to prove, it's extraordinary what's going on. So here, זכו לקבורה *Zachu l'kvura*. תבלעמו ארץ *Tivla'emo aretz*. They, the מצרים *Mitzrim*, were זוכים לקבורה *zoche l'kvura*. It wasn't just that they floated in the river, that they never had peace, they never found a final resting. Here the Egyptians were זוכים לקבורה *zoche* to final resting, to קבורה *kvura*. Why? Because they in that last moment, they expressed that sense of righteousness. פסוק י\"ג *Pasuk Yud Gimmel*. נחית בחסדך עם זו גאלת, נהלת בעזך אל נוה קדשך *Nachisa b'chasd'cha am zu ga'alta, neihalta b'ozcha el n'vei kodshecha*. With your kindness you guided this people that you redeemed. You led with your might to where? נוה קדשך *N'vei Kodshecha*, to your holy בית המקדש *Beis HaMikdash*. Now, נחית בחסדך *nachisa b'chasd'cha*. You, Hashem, with your chesed. Where's Hashem's chesed? What is this reference to? נחית בחסדך *Nachisa b'chasd'cha*. First of all, what tense is it in, נחית בחסדך *nachisa b'chasd'cha*? It's in past tense. So is that a hint to what it's referring to? נחית בחסדך *Nachisa b'chasd'cha*. The אבן עזרא *Ibn Ezra* says, אמר נחית לשון עבר, תחת עתיד כמשפט הנבואות *amar nachisa loshon avar, ta'as asid k'mishpat ha'nevuos*. וטעם בחסדך על עמודי הענן והאש *v'ta'am b'chasd'cha al mudei ha'anan v'ha'eish*, כי הוא המנחה אותם *ki hu ha'minchah osam*. זה רמז להשם יחן וארתה *zeh remez l'Hashem yichan v'arata*. So this is, it's, it's using the past tense, but the Ibn Ezra says this is a literary tool that sometimes you talk about something in the future using the past tense, and it's prophetic, that Moshe is saying Hashem you're so kind, you were so kind, and what's the you were so kind is you will be so kind. And how will Hashem be so kind? By granting us, by gifting us the pillar of the clouds and the fire, which are divine security systems. We don't need an army or police force as we wandered in the desert, or at that time as they thought that they were about to journey into the land of Israel. So it's a past tense which is prophetic about something in the future. אל נוה קדשך *el N'vei Kodshecha*. What's the נוה קדשך *N'vei Kodshecha*? Hashem, your kindness is you guided us, where? To נוה קדשך *N'vei Kodshecha*, to your place of קודש *kodesh*. What's your place of קודש *kodesh*? Says the אבן עזרא *Ibn Ezra*, הר סיני *Har Sinai*, ששם שכן הכבוד *she'sham shachan ha'kavod*. So נוה קדשך *N'vei Kodshecha* is the experience of contact with the divine, which took place where? At, at Har Sinai. That is the Ibn Ezra's interpretation. Look at the Rashbam. נהלת בעזך, מנהל אתה ישראל עכשיו כדי להכניסם לארץ כנען שהוא נוה קדשך *Neihalta b'ozcha... mina ha'ata yisrael achshav k'dei l'hachnisam l'eretz kenan she'hu n'vei kodshecha*. נוה קדשך *N'vei Kodshecha* is not הר סיני *Har Sinai*. That's outside of Israel. The נוה קדשך *N'vei Kodshecha*, where is the place of Hashem's holiness? His holy land. Your kindness, you're going to guide us. Right now, remember they thought, we're out, we're done. Where's the next stop? עלייה *Aliyah*. The נפש בנפש *nefesh b'nefesh* Israel. We're going to make us we're going to Israel. That's it. That's it, we're going to Israel. So the אבן עזרא *Ibn Ezra* says, where's the kindness? The נחית בחסדך *nachisa b'chasd'cha* is prophetically, you're going to give us divine protection. The רשב\"ם *Rashbam* says no, the kindness is you're taking us, you're escorting us to נוה קדשך *N'vei Kodshecha*. Where's נוה קדשך *N'vei Kodshecha*? ארץ כנען *Eretz Kna'an*. Whereas the אבן עזרא *Ibn Ezra* saw נוה קדשך *N'vei Kodshecha* was הר סיני *Har Sinai*. Look at the ספורנו *Sforno*. נחית בחסדך, מאז שגאלתם וזה כשהוצאתם חוץ לגבול מצרים ובאו לסכות *Nachisa b'chasd'cha... me'eish she'ga'altam v'zeh k'she'hotzeisam chutz l'gvul Mitzrayim u'va'u l'Sukos*, התחלתם לנחותם הדרך *hischaltam l'nachosam ha'derech*. The ספורנו *Sforno* says you know what the kindness was? It's a reference back to יציאת מצרים *Yetzias Mitzrayim* when you guided the Jewish people to סכות *Sukos*. And then into the sea bed, even before קריעת ים סוף *Krias Yam Suf*, you guided us out by overseeing our journey, by serving as our GPS system, by taking care of us. The Ramban also weighs in here. נוה קדשך *N'vei Kodshecha*, he gives another explanation, a third explanation. Isn't נוה קדשך *N'vei Kodshecha* הר סיני *Har Sinai*? Ibn Ezra. Is נוה קדשך *N'vei Kodshecha* ארץ ישראל *Eretz Yisrael*? Rashbam. What's the third possibility? בית המקדש *Beis HaMikdash*. Remember that was also part of the plan. Come into ארץ ישראל *Eretz Yisrael*, build a בית המקדש *Beis HaMikdash* right away. You'll have the משכן *Mishkan*. The משכן *Mishkan* will get upgraded to the בית המקדש *Beis HaMikdash*. There'll be a permanent place to relate to Hashem. So says the רמב\"ן *Ramban*, what Moshe was saying was, נחית בחסדך *Nachisa b'chasd'cha*, with your leading us with your chesed, to again, either one interpretation is Har Sinai where we'll get the Torah, to Eretz Kna'an, the holy land, or to life with a בית המקדש *Beis HaMikdash*, נוה קדשך *N'vei Kodshecha*, בית המקדש *Beis HaMikdash*, three interpretations. Last week we quoted a fourth or an altogether different understanding from the חפץ חיים *Chofetz Chaim* of נחית בחסדך *nachisa b'chasd'cha*, based on an insight of the גאון *Gra*. Remember last week's parsha we studied how לשון נא *loshen na*, the Jewish people on the way out of Mitzraim were told, ask kindly, say please to borrow things from רעך *re'echa*. And remember we said the insight of the גאון *Gra*, the רעך *re'echa* was not from the מצרים *Mitzrim*, was from your fellow Jew. The חפץ חיים *Chofetz Chaim* said that's what נחית בחסדך *nachisa b'chasd'cha* is. You took us out with חסד *chesed*. When we were able to display חסד *chesed*, you reciprocated. You showed מידה כנגד מידה *midah k'neged midah*, that חסד *chesed*, that חסד *chesed* back. So, the אבן עזרא *Ibn Ezra* sees it as an expression of praise and thanksgiving, that Moshe and the people are giving on the other side of the sea, not so much about the past, but foreshadowing the future. אמר נחית לשון עבר, תחת עתיד *omar nachisa loshon avar, tachat asid*. The מדרש תנחומא דבי אליהו *Medrash Tanchuma d'bei Eliyahu* gives a different explanation. Says the Medrash, כשהיו ישראל במצרים, נתקבצו כולם וישבו יחד *k'she'hayu Yisrael b'Mitzrayim, niskabtzu kulam v'yoshvu yachad*. When they were in Egypt with bleakness and hopeless, they gathered together, they made a commitment, כרתו ברית יחד שיעשו גמילות חסדים זה עם זה *kartzu bris yachad she'ya'asu gmilus chasadim zeh im zeh*. They made a covenant that they would show kindness with one another. Why that commitment? Why now? And that's what the חפץ חיים *Chofetz Chaim* said. When the people realized they could not come up with a strategy to end the persecution of the Pharaoh, it's only going to increase every day, they said, you know what? There's only one way we can relieve this suffering. There's only one thing that's going to make this even a little bit more palatable or better. And you know what it is? By being kinder to one another. So the חפץ חיים *Chofetz Chaim* writes definitively, הדבר הזה היה סיבה לגאולתם *ha'davar ha'zeh hayah sibah l'geulasam*. The kindness they showed one another was the catalyst and cause for their salvation. And he quotes the ירושלמי *Yerushalmi* in סנהדרין *Sanhedrin*, אמר הקדוש ברוך הוא לישראל: בני, לכו והתדבקו בחסד *Amar HaKadosh Baruch Hu l'Yisrael: Banai, l'chu v'hitdabku b'chesed*. Go and attach yourself to chesed. It's an amazing and important insight for us that no matter how the world is treating us and no matter what's going on in the world, we find חיזוק *chizuk*, we find strength when we can at least be kind to one another. It's why it's so terrible when we're unkind. When people come to shul, you're in my seat, get out of my seat, we're elbowing each other at the קידוש *kiddush* to get quicker and faster access to the, to the קוגל *kugel*, and we're unkind to one another. We call each other names, we marginalize one another, we put each other down, we judge one another, we leave people out, we leave people eating meals alone. When we're unkind to one another, it's like the world's not unkind enough to us. You have to also compound it by being unkind? Just be nice. Just be a nice person. Just be nice to one another. Because no matter how the world is treating us, no matter what else is going on in our lives, if at least we're kind to one another. And that's what the חפץ חיים *Chofetz Chaim* is saying. That's the source of redemption. You want redemption, you can't necessarily change how other people are treating you. But we can change how we treat one another. And that's what it means נחית בחסדך *nachisa b'chasd'cha*. It was that performance of and predisposition towards chesed that caused Hashem to lead us out. And maybe that's also the meaning of the pasuk in Yamim Noraim that we sing and say on ימים נוראים *Yomim Noraim*. זכרתי לך חסד נעורייך *Zocharti lach chesed n'urayich*. Hashem, you remember the חסד *chesed* of our youth. Says the חפץ חיים *Chofetz Chaim*, what's the חסד *chesed* of our youth? It took such חסד *chesed* to follow Hashem out. That was such chesed. Hi, I broke you out of jail, and I've got wealth and a good meal and a hot shower for you. Oh, I'm going to do a great חסד *chesed* in following. That's a great חסד *chesed* that we followed Hashem? That's not what it's talking about. כה אמר השם זכרתי לך חסד נעורייך *Komar Hashem zocharti lach chesed n'urayich*. Says the חפץ חיים *Chofetz Chaim*, the חסד נעורייך *chesed n'urayich* is, I remember that no matter how you were be treated by others, you chose to treat one another kindly. And because I remember it, I invoke that covenant of חסד *chesed* that you had with one another. What was the חסד נעורייך *chesed n'urayich*? The חסד *chesed* that we did, the חסד *chesed* that we did in Egypt. When we hear someone who's sick or חס ושלום *chos v'shalom* in attack in Israel, we often say תהילים קכ\"א *Tehillim kuf kaf aleph*. We say השם שמרך, השם צלך על יד ימינך *Hashem shomrecha, Hashem tzilcha al yad yeminecha*. Hashem will protect you, he's your shadow. I'll learn with this because we're over time. I apologize to Rabbi Moskowitz. What's the meaning of comparing Hashem to a shadow? השם צלך על יד ימינך *Hashem tzilcha al yad yeminecha*. Hashem is your shadow. The answer is, a shadow does exactly what you do, it's your mirror. And the same is true with Hashem. When no matter how the world is treating us, we're kind to one another, Hashem will be kind to us. But if we prove that we're unkind to one another, we can't even be kind to one another, then Hashem has no reason to be kind with us. השם צלך על יד ימינך *Hashem tzilcha al yad yeminecha*. He's your shadow. He will respond and reflect exactly what you do and how you behave. If we behave with kindness, נחית בחסדך *nachisa b'chasd'cha*, that is the source of גאולה *geulah*, that no matter how the world is treating us, we can redeem ourselves and extricate ourselves from whatever that exile in order to achieve a sense of holiness. We did two פסוקים *psukim*. One of them even had four words in it. We did two whole פסוקים *psukim*. We'll pick up with ט\"ו י\"ד *Tes Vav Yud Daled* בעזרת השם *b'mirtzas Hashem* next week.
