Transcript
Okay, top of the morning, נתיבות שלום Netiva Shalom. סלונים Slonimer Rebbe, פרשת יתרו Parshas Yisro. פרשת יתרו Parshas Yisro is action-packed with incredible תורה Torah. This is the birth of our people. This is the most seminal moment of all of history when the Jews received the תורה Torah. It transformed the world, gave us our mission, and provided us the blueprint for the way that life is meant to be led.So the סלונים Slonimer Rebbe, we're going to look at a short piece because I know it's ערב Erev Yeshiva Week, everyone's got a place to be. וידבר אלקים את כל הדברים האלה לאמר Vayedaber Elokim es kol hadvarim ha'eileh leimor. Not everyone, most of us. וידבר אלקים את כל הדברים האלה לאמר Vayedaber Elokim es kol hadvarim ha'eileh leimor. יש לדעת Yeish ladaas, מה בא לרבות לרמז באמרו את כל הדברים וכן באמרו לאמר ma ba l'rabos l'ramez b'omro es kol hadvarim v'chein b'omro leimor. God spoke all of these things, כל הדברים kol hadvarim, all these things, לאמר leimor, saying. So two of those words seem superfluous. Why does it have to say כל הדברים kol hadvarim? Just say God spoke דברים dvarim. This is what השם Hashem meant to say. And if he said it, he obviously meant it to be shared, so why do you have to say לאמר leimor? הרי כל כלל ישראל מקטן ועד גדול היו במעמד הר סיני כשנבקעו כל שבעה רקיעים וראו כל שאין עוד מלבדו Harei kol Klal Yisrael mikatan v'ad gadol hayu b'maamad Har Sinai keshenivku kol shiv'a reki'im v'ra'u kol she'ein od milvado. כולם שמעו עשרת הדברות למי עוד יש לומר זאת Kulam shamu aseres hadibros l'mi od yeish lomar zos. So normally when it says לאמר leimor, it's directed to משה Moshe or to משה Moshe and אהרן Aharon, or to משה Moshe, אהרן Aharon and the זקנים zekeinim, and they're given permission to take what they've been told and to communicate to pass it on further. In fact, the גמרא Gemara learns from the fact that the תורה Torah always uses the word לאמר leimor, the default is you're not allowed to repeat something unless you have permission to repeat it. Meaning is the default that everything is public information unless someone tells you, don't tell anyone? Or is the default that something is private unless someone says, feel free to tell anyone you want? So I would have thought it's public information unless they add the disclaimer, don't tell anyone. But the גמרא Gemara learns from this word לאמר leimor that every time השם Hashem says to משה Moshe something, he says לאמר leimor, says, \"Look, this I'm giving you permission to repeat.\" And we see from here the default is anything told to you is told to you in confidence, it's told to you privately unless it's explicitly clear that you're allowed to repeat it.So the סלונים Slonimer Rebbe is asking, but why do you need to say the word לאמר leimor here? To whom is משה Moshe supposed to relate this? To whom is he supposed to tell it? Everyone was there at הר סיני Har Sinai. They all heard it directly from the רבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam. So what's the לאמר leimor? עוד צריך ביאור Od tzarich biur. מה דכתיב במשנה תורה רק השמר לך ושמור נפשך מאוד פן תשכח את הדברים אשר ראו עיניך ופן יסורו מלבבך כל ימי חייך Ma d'ksiv b'Mishneh Torah rak hishamer l'cha u'shmor nafshecha m'od pen tishkach es hadvarim asher ra'u einecha u'fen yasuru milvavecha kol yemei chayecha. So we're going to say later in ספר דברים Sefer Devarim, one of the daily remembrances, one of the daily reminders is, be careful and guard yourself. Don't ever forget what your eyes saw and don't ever let it stray from your heart all the days of your life what you experienced. It was unbelievable. It was monumental. It was life-changing. It was transformative. And don't let it ever become stale. We just had this incredible week with the Israeli soldiers. And I was talking to the hosts and, you know, you come off of a week like that. I remember we came back from our Poland trip, you come back from March of the Living, you come back from certain trips to Israel. And you think like, \"Oh, it's never going to be the same again. We're going to be so tight. I'm going to talk to them every day.\" And this is my new cult and my, and then a week, a month, six months later, you're like, who? Who's that? It's very easy for these things to wear off. And the challenge is, how do you keep the energy? How do you extract the experience and how do you have it make a permanent impression on you? So the תורה Torah says, what you just experienced at הר סיני Har Sinai, it's transformative, it's incredible. Let it last, don't ever forget all the days of your life. וקשה V'kasha. הרי הדברים הללו נאמרו בסוף ארבעים שנה שכל דור יוצאי מצרים Harei hadvarim halalu ne'emru b'sof arba'im shana, shekol dor yotzei Mitzrayim. All those who had merited to leave Egypt had passed away in the desert, due to the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel and due to the חטא המרגלים cheit ham'raglim, they all died in the desert. רק אלו שהיו פחות מבן עשרים שנה במעמד הר סיני עוד ראו את קבלת התורה, ומהו אומרם הדברים אשר ראו עיניך Rak eilu shehayu pachot miben esrim shana b'maamad Har Sinai od ra'u es kabalas haTorah, u'mahu omram hadvarim asher ra'u einecha. Only those who were less than 20 merited to go from the desert into Israel, and they don't remember. So what do you mean? Don't ever forget what you saw, what you experienced, what transformed you. Who are you talking to? You're talking to the next generation. ועוד יותר צריך ביאור הרי התורה הקדושה נצחית לדור דורות, ומהו נצחיות באמרו הדברים אשר ראו עיניך V'od yoter tzarich biur, harei haTorah ha'k'dosha nitzchis l'dor doros, u'mahu nitzchiyus b'omro hadvarim asher ra'u einecha. Everything the תורה Torah says is eternal, it's permanent. It has resonance for people in every generation. It's contemporary, no matter when you're alive. So what does the תורה Torah mean when it says don't forget the things you saw with your eyes? I was born way after קבלת התורה kabalas haTorah. I didn't see it with my eyes. How could I be commanded? How could there be an instruction in the תורה Torah which remains in perpetuity telling me, don't forget what you saw with your eyes when I never saw it with my eyes? וגם מה הכפילות בלשון השמר לך ושמור נפשך מאוד V'gam ma hakfeilus b'lashon hishamer l'cha u'shmor nafshecha m'od. And why the double language? השמר לך Hishamer l'cha, be careful, guard yourself, ושמור נפשך u'shmor nafshecha, and be very careful to guard your soul not to ever forget these things.So the סלונים Slonimer Rebbe קדקד בקודש Kadka b'kodesh lists a series of questions here. Number one, why does it say כל הדברים kol hadvarim? Just say דברים dvarim. Why does it say לאמר leimor? You have permission to tell it over. Anyone whom you would have told it to was already there. Number three, why does it say later in ספר דברים Sefer Devarim, just be careful, don't forget? Who are you talking to? The end of the 40 years. The people who were there aren't alive anymore. So you're telling the next generation who wasn't even there, don't forget what you never even were there to see? And lastly, why does it say אשר ראו עיניך asher ra'u einecha if we're reading the תורה Torah today in תשע\"ט Taf Shin Ayin Tes and it's still supposed to be speaking to us today and we never saw it with our eyes?ויש לומר V'yeish lomar, יסוד דברי הזוהר הקדוש y'sod divrei haZohar haKadosh. מה דכתיב בשירה שהיה ויאמרו לאמר Ma d'ksiv b'shira shehaya v'yomru leimor. The זוהר Zohar on last week's פרשה parsha, yesterday's פרשה parsha says about the שירה shira, when it says אז ישיר משה Az Yashir Moshe and someone ויאמרו לאמר v'yomru leimor, לדור דורן l'dor dorein. לאמר Leimor is לדור דורן l'dor dorein, for generation to generation. דהיינו שהכניסו כח באמירתם לדור דורות, לאמר בעולם הזה ולאמר בעולם הבא D'haynu shehichnisu koach b'amiratam l'dor doros, leimor b'olam hazeh u'leimor b'olam haba. שכח השירה והרגשה הם נצחים לדור דורות שיהודי יכול תמיד לאמר שירה Shekoach ha'shira v'ha'hargasha heim nitzchim l'dor doros, she'Yehudi yachol tamid lomar shira. The impact and the power of the שירה shira was so strong. What they had experienced where everything came together and everything made sense and all the dots on the canvas formed the picture, or all the threads on the back of the embroidery, you turned it around and you saw what it what it made, and they responded spontaneously, they erupted with a sense of שירה shira. That feeling, that experience, the power of that שירה shira wasn't just for the moment. Unlike what I just described about so many of our experiences in camp or on a trip or on a mission or or Poland or Israel, where it fades and it fades away, the שירה shira captured the experience of something which was everlasted and passed not only from generation to generation but from this world to the world to come. That's what it means עשרת הדברות שנאמרו בקבלת התורה הם נצחיות לדור דורות Aseres HaDibros she'ne'emru b'kabalas haTorah heim nitzchiyos l'dor doros. שדיבר השם בעשרת הדברות לא היה דיבור חד פעמי לשעתו, אלא דיבור נצחי הנאמר לעולם She'diber Hashem b'Aseres haDibros lo haya dibur chad pa'ami l'sha'ato, ela dibur nitzchi ha'ne'emar l'olam. When הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu spoke at הר סיני Har Sinai, it wasn't a momentary speech. He didn't speak so only those present could hear. He spoke and those words continue to reverberate and they continue to they continue to ring in our ears eternally, until today. Meaning there are such events in human history whose impact continued to be felt that even those who weren't present feel as if they were there because the reverberations continue so strong. The reverberations transcend generations. The reverberations are not bound by time and space. So you continue to feel them even if you weren't there, you continue to feel its impact. Right? להבדיל Lehavdil on the opposite direction, you have the Holocaust. ברוך השם Baruch Hashem none of us were in the Holocaust. Two are children of survivors and others are grandchildren of survivors, but the Holocaust while we were never there and can't compare ourselves to those who endured or experienced it, but כאילו ראו עיניך k'ilu ra'u einecha, if we saw the people who lived it, we've heard their stories and and we know their their survival. It reverberates. It will continue to reverberate in the ears of the Jewish people for a long time. As it says the פסוק pasuk in ישעיה Yeshaya, ודבר אלוקינו יקום לעולם u'dvar Elokeinu yakum l'olam, לעולם השם דברך נצב בשמים l'olam Hashem d'varcha nitzav ba'shamayim. כמו שמפרש הרב הקדוש מקאז'ניץ K'mo shemefaresh ha'Rebbe ha'kadosh mi'Kozhnitz. The קאז'ניץ Kozhnitzer Rebbe, זכותו יגן עלינו zechuso yagen aleinu. May his merit protect us. במאמר חז\"ל B'maamar chazal, הגמרא בחגיגה ha'Gemara b'Chagiga, בעניין השם הקדוש שדי, שין דלת יוד b'inyan ha'Shem ha'kadosh Shakai, shin daled yud. שאמר לעולמו די She'amar l'olamo dai. That name of השם Hashem, each name of השם Hashem reflects a different power or energy or strength of השם Hashem, and that's why we choose to use different names in different circumstances. And this name of השם Hashem means that he said to the world, די dai. דבשעה שאמר הקדוש ברוך הוא יהי רקיע היו הרקיעים מתפשטים D'b'sha'ah she'amar Hakadosh Baruch Hu yehi rakia hayu ha'reki'im mispashtim. ואמר הקדוש ברוך הוא השם שקי V'amar Hakadosh Baruch Hu ha'Shem Shakai. And השם Hashem said his name שין דלת יוד shin daled yud, די להם שלא יתפשטו עוד dai lahem shelo yitpashtu od. Enough, you've spread out enough. If you dissipate, if you if you spread out even further, then you'll you'll fall apart. So הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu, whenever the תורה Torah employs that name שין דלת יוד shin daled yud of השם Hashem, it means השם Hashem is looking and he's saying, enough, שונים shoinim. ומה קשר הרי השם הזה הוא מהשמות הקדושים והוא נצחי U'ma kesher harei ha'Shem hazeh hu mei'ha'sheimos ha'k'doshim v'hu nitzchi. This name of השם Hashem is a holy name of השם Hashem. It's eternal. מה זה שנקרא השם מאורע חד פעמי Mah zeh she'nikra ha'Shem me'ora chad pa'ami. So what do you mean that the name is used to describe one moment in time where he turned to that thing and he said enough? אך עניינו שדיבר השם יהי רקיע הוא נצחי ונאמר תמיד Ach inyano she'diber Hashem yehi rakia hu nitzchi v'ne'emar tamid. The answer is that that description of history is not just part of the past, it's something which is eternal. ומכוחו שואפים הרקיעים תמיד להתפשט עד אין סוף U'mikocho shoafim ha'reki'im tamid l'hitpashet ad ein sof. וכנגד זה גם השם שדי שאמר לעולמו די, הועצר באדם הוא נצחי U'k'neged zeh gam ha'Shem Shakai she'amar l'olamo dai, ha'otzer ba'adam hu nitzchi. It means that when we read the story of מעשה בראשית Ma'aseh Bereishis, and the רקיע rakia, the heavens began to spread, and השם Hashem said, \"Good, stop. That's perfect just the way it is. Don't spread anymore. Don't contract anymore, don't spread anymore.\" So what are you telling me that story and why you using that name of השם Hashem? That was 6,000 years ago and we've moved on since then. So the סלונים Slonimer Rebbe is explaining, no. See the רקיע rakia still wants to spread itself. And הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu, the only reason it stays fixed and firm where it is and doesn't spread itself anymore, which would compromise our whole existence, is כי כאילו הקדוש ברוך הוא ki k'ilu Hakadosh Baruch Hu continues to say, די dai. That name of השם Hashem that the תורה Torah recorded as telling the רקיע rakia to hold itself in place wasn't just a piece of history. It's not part of the past. It's something which is continuing to happen over and over again.So similarly, עשרת הדברות הם נצחיות ונאמרות בבריאה תמיד Aseres HaDibros heim nitzchiyos v'ne'emros ba'briah tamid. The moment of עשרת הדברות Aseres HaDibros, the giving of the תורה Torah which transformed our people and gave our people a purpose and formed and forged us into a covenantal community. We were not just some random political entity or nation. We weren't France, England, Germany, Australia, South Africa, we weren't America, we weren't some country who had no mandate. We were transformed to be this covenantal community that we have a mission to fulfill in this world. So that moment that הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu transformed us and he gave us the תורה Torah and he said, \"Here is the blueprint to the world. Here's the instruction manual to life. Go be that ממלכת כהנים mamleches kohanim. Go be that nation of priests. Go teach the world how to relate to food and sexuality and time and space and relationships and pleasure. Go teach the world how to relate to everything, what it means.\" That was not a momentary gift, that is something that repeats itself over and over. כמו שאומרים בברכת התורה, נותן התורה K'mo she'omrim b'Birkas haTorah, nosein haTorah. Just like, we finished there, so there's no ברכת התורה Birkas haTorah. But just like in ברכת התורה Birkas haTorah, we end not נתן התורה nasan haTorah, God gave the תורה Torah. ברכת התורה Birkas haTorah ends with השם Hashem continues to give. ולא נתן התורה V'lo nasan haTorah. דנתינת התורה נצחית ודבר הוה תמיד D'nesinas haTorah nitzchis v'davar hoveh tamid. שהקדוש ברוך הוא נותן תמיד את כל התורה לעם ישראל SheHakadosh Baruch Hu nosein tamid es kol haTorah l'Am Yisrael. וזהו פירוש וידבר אלקים את כל הדברים האלה לאמר V'zehu peirush vayedaber Elokim es kol hadvarim ha'eileh leimor. לאמר is לדור דורות Leimor is l'dor doros. Who's the לאמר leimor if everyone was there? The לאמר leimor is to us. Every generation, every new child who is initiated into תורה Torah, every בעל תשובה baal teshuva, every גר ger, every one of us who is reinitiated back into תורה Torah, the תורה Torah is לאמר leimor. It is speaking directly to us. We're not reading an old document that was given to our ancestors, but you know what, it has some relevance to us, we might as well embrace some of its messages. We're learning a document, we're learning words that weren't given to our ancestors, they were given and regiven to us over and over and over again. One of my favorite דברי תורה divrei Torah I've said many times is, it says also there in ספר דברים Sefer Devarim when it recounts the experience of הר סיני Har Sinai from this week's פרשה parsha, it says קול גדול ולא יסף kol gadol v'lo yasaf. That what the people heard was a great sound, a great voice, ולא יסף v'lo yasaf. What does the word ולא יסף v'lo yasaf mean? So if you look, there's a מחלוקת machlokes, אונקלוס Onkelos, הרמב\"ן Ramban, האבן עזרא Ibn Ezra, רש\"י Rashi, הספורנו Sforno, they all weigh in. What is the word ולא יסף v'lo yasaf? הר סיני Har Sinai, השם Hashem spoke to the people, it was a great voice, ולא יסף v'lo yasaf. So two of the מפרשים meforshim, half of them explain, ולא יסף v'lo yasaf means never to be repeated again. That moment of revelation where two to three million people heard השם's Hashem's voice directly, that was a greater revelation than עשר מכות, קריעת ים סוף Eser Makos, Krias Yam Suf. It was the greatest and singular revelation of all time. You stood at הר סיני Har Sinai and we heard השם's Hashem's voice. We don't even know what that means. The anthropomorphism of השם Hashem taking on a voice. זכור ושמור בדיבור אחד Zachor v'shamor b'dibur echad. He only said the first דיברות dibros and משה Moshe had to take over. Whatever it even means, we can't even relate to it, we can't even imagine it, we can't even describe it. We can't even reenact it. But whatever it means, it was a singular moment of divine revelation that has never been repeated since. So קול גדול kol gadol, it was a great voice, ולא יסף v'lo yasaf, never ever to be repeated again. There's another פשט pshat. The others argue and they say, אונקלוס Onkelos and others, ולא יסף v'lo yasaf means it never stopped. It never ended. It was a sound so great. You know, you scream into the Grand Canyon, you hear that echo, echo, echo, echo, echo, echo. So eventually after a few seconds, it ends the echo. But the רבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam at הר סיני's Har Sinai's voice was such a קול גדול kol gadol, it was such a a a strong sound, it was such a strong voice, ולא יסף v'lo yasaf. It's continuing to reverberate. The echo continues to be heard thousands of years later and will continue to be heard until the end of time. So when I quoted in a דרשה drasha when I originally gave this, and I said, okay, so who's right? Which of the מפרשים meforshim are right? ולא יסף V'lo yasaf means it never happened again, or does ולא יסף v'lo yasaf means it never stopped? And I suggested the answer is, it's up to us. It's both. If your antenna's up and you pick up the message and you hear the reverberation, then it never stopped. And if your antenna is down and you're not listening carefully and closely, then it's never to be heard again. Whether those sounds are heard is entirely dependent on our antenna. So the the the echo of תורה Torah is so the experience of הר סיני Har Sinai is so powerful, so great, and we go back to it. We go back to those הר סיני Har Sinai moments in our lives. When we had the privilege of being in Montana together, but you see הקדוש ברוך הוא's Hakadosh Baruch Hu's incredible nature, and you see these magnificent scenes, the greatest צור, אין צור כאלוקינו, אין צייר כאלוקינו Tzur, ein tzur k'Elokeinu, ein tzayar k'Elokeinu. There's no artist like the רבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam. There's no artist, there's no artwork you could pay all the money in the world for to see what הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu painted himself. The portrait, the canvas that הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu created. Those are הר סיני Har Sinai moments. You learn a שטיקל תורה shtickel Torah that changes your life, that you literally make a change in your life, that שטיקל תורה shtickel Torah, you are back at הר סיני Har Sinai. You have an experience with a person בין אדם לחברו bein adam l'chaveiro, you see something that touched you so deeply, you make contact with something greater than yourself, those are הר סיני Har Sinai moments where the antenna is up and you re-experience what it means to be back at הר סיני Har Sinai. You know, there's a woman came up to me at the end of the פרשה parsha class and she asked me, did you ever hear of the hidden שול shul of Theresienstadt? Anyone here ever hear of it? It's an amazing thing. It was only discovered several years ago, less than a decade ago. And and she said, I had heard of it, and she said that was my father who created it. And she then this last פרשה parsha, she gave me a manila envelope with a few articles to read. So I hadn't read them. I brought them to my שבת Shabbos table yesterday, I read them. My whole שבת Shabbos was crying. My kids crying their eyes out. It's an unbelievable story of her father who sent, he had two daughters, sent the two of them away on the Kindertransport to England, they survived. So the last time they saw their parents was when they were sent on the Kindertransport, and he was, grew up in Germany, was a חזן chazan, was an artist, and taught children. And ended up in Theresienstadt. And in Theresienstadt, this is an unbelievable story. Her sister in England, the one who comes to my פרשה parsha class, married, built a family, lived in Detroit, and but is down here because gravity brings all Jews down to South Florida at some point. So when her sister in England who never had children passed away, she went to England to pay a שבעה shiva call and a cousin came to pay the שבעה shiva call, to say שבעה shiva and a cousin came to pay a שבעה shiva call and said, \"You know, I was just in Theresienstadt, would you like to see pictures?\" Shows her pictures and says, \"Would you want to hear an incredible story?\" She says, \"You know, when I was when I was there, there was a Czech villager, a poor man, who who said to me, 'If you make it worth my while, I'll show you something incredible.'\" She said, \"I gave her $20, that was enough to make it worth his while.\" And he showed me that after the war, he came back to reclaim his house, which was in the concentration camp, because the Germans had taken even people's homes away to add them onto the camp. And only a few years ago, his wife wanted to expand the kitchen. So he went to go knock down his wall to open up next to it to be able to expand the kitchen, and he sees through the hole in the wall he created this ancient script on the walls. And he goes to his priest because he's superstitious, doesn't want to touch it. And the priest says, \"That's Hebrew writing, don't touch it. God will curse you if you touch it.\" And and he takes this cousin, not knowing at all it's related, to see this room. And it turns out that in Theresienstadt, in in a room the size of a walk-in closet, someone had made a שול shul, a makeshift שול shul, with פסוקים psukim around it, including the most poignant and powerful, בכל זאת שמך לא שכחנו b'chol zos shimcha lo shachachnu. Not אל תשכחנו al tishkacheinu. With all this, we haven't forgotten your name, השם Hashem, don't forget us. Anyway, she sees, so the cousin shows her the pictures of, isn't that amazing, and she recognizes the font of the writing on the walls is the font that her father had inscribed the סידור siddur he gave to her when he sent her away on the Kindertransport. It's the same font. I'm not going to tell you the rest of the story now. The bottom line is, she realizes her father was the artist who made this שול shul. She goes and through יד ושם Yad Vashem, she proves it, and now it's part of, if you tour Theresienstadt, you see the hidden שול shul of Theresienstadt. How he was able to make a שול shul when he was there, and he never lost his אמונה emunah, and he was deported from Theresienstadt to Auschwitz, where he was gassed on the day he arrived there. But when she was talking about this once, someone who was on the train but later survived described how her father never stopped his אמונה emunah on the train from Theresienstadt to Auschwitz, called the children over and was singing with them and telling them stories about אמונה emunah and השם Hashem and his greatness. Anyway, you read this whole story about building a שול shul in Theresienstadt and how he acted on the train to Auschwitz, that's contact with הר סיני Har Sinai. Not a happy, good, positive הר סיני Har Sinai, but the fact that people could maintain that אמונה emunah in those moments is is to build that שול shul, you know, I was telling with my kids there, I want to go to that שול shul. That's got to be one of the holiest places on earth. In that camp, to see everything going on, to send your children away, to know what's going to happen to you, and to have the wherewithal to make a שול shul and to say בכל זאת שמך לא שכחנו b'chol zos shimcha lo shachachnu. To say, \"הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu, we'll never forget you, no matter what you're doing to us.\" That's הר סיני Har Sinai. That's unbelievable, these moments. So if your antenna is up, then you'll hear השם's Hashem's message reverberating in your ears, whether it's in Montana or whether it's in the שול shul in Theresienstadt, or whether it's in the labor room of a child being born, or whether it's on a sunrise on the beach, or whether it's in whatever that moment is. And if your antenna is down, then the message can be in your face and you'll ignore it. You won't see it. You'll deny it. It all depends on us and our antenna. אומר את כל הדברים האלה, המרמז שגם הקולות והברקים שהיו הכנה לקבלת התורה, הרי הם גם כן נצחיים Omer es kol hadvarim ha'eileh, ha'meramez she'gam ha'kolos v'ha'brakim she'hayu hachana l'kabalas haTorah, harei heim gam kein nitzchi'im. שהם חלק מקבלת התורה, כמו המקובל שבאש של אמר לבעש\"ט הקדוש ותלמידיו הקדושים She'heim chelek mi'kabalas haTorah, k'mo ha'mekubal she'ba'ash shel amar la'Baal Shem Tov ha'kadosh v'talmidav ha'k'doshim. And the בעל שם טוב Baal Shem Tov learned with his holy students, היו שומעים ממש את הקולות והברקים שקדמו למעמד הר סיני hayu shom'im mamash es ha'kolos v'ha'brakim she'kadmu l'maamad Har Sinai. When the holy בעל שם Baal Shem learned with his students, the experience was so transformative and so powerful that they heard the sights and the sounds, they heard the lightning, they saw the thunder. They saw the lightning and heard the thunder, although the תורה Torah has it the opposite way, because they were transported back to הר סיני Har Sinai. And we've had that too. You ever been at a טיש tish? You ever heard a שירה shira? You ever heard a שמועס schmooze that that moved you so that you heard the קולות וברקים kolos u'vrakim? ממש Mamash, your your life was was rattled, was shaken. You you re-examine everything you thought previously to be true. וזה אומר את כל הדברים האלה לאמר V'zeh omer es kol hadvarim ha'eileh leimor. Why? Because when our antenna is up, not only do we continue to hear the words reverberating, but כל הדברים kol hadvarim, the כל kol is, even now we can continue to tap into the experience of the thunder and the lightning. כל מה שנאמר ונראה אז לרבות את הקולות והברקים Kol ma she'ne'emar v'nir'eh az l'rabos es ha'kolos v'ha'brakim. לומר לדור דורות, כל זה נאמר תמיד L'omar l'dor doros, kol zeh ne'emar tamid. The כל kol is to tell me it's not just the words, it's the emotional experience as well. It's the idea of חינוך chinuch. Every teacher in a classroom should should recreate. When a child walks out of a of a class with a teacher who loves them, who's passion, who has energy, there should be lightning and thunder in that classroom, the קולות וברקים kolos u'vrakim. Our our mission is not just to to transmit the דברים dvarim, our mission is to transmit the כל הדברים kol hadvarim, the whole experience, the emotional experience of learning תורה Torah. אכן תלוי הדבר על כמה שיש יהודי מזכך ומתאר את עצמו כך זוכה הוא לשמוע Achein talui ha'davar al kama she'yesh Yehudi mezakech u'metaher es atzmo kach zocheh hu lishmoa. To the degree that we prepare ourselves. By the way, they didn't walk into הר סיני Har Sinai unprepared either. אין קדושה בלא הכנה Ein kedusha b'lo hachana. If you're not preparing, you're not going to be holy. So if you walk into the שיעור shiur or the experience of תלמוד תורה talmud Torah or the דף daf, you walk into seeing nature, you walk into whatever moment it is and you're not prepared to see השם Hashem, you're not going to see him. Just like הר סיני Har Sinai took preparation. ותלמידי הבעש\"ט שהיו ראויים לכך שמעו זאת באמת V'talmidei ha'Baal Shem Tov shehayu re'uyim l'kach sham'u zos b'emes. The students of the בעל שם טוב Baal Shem Tov who were worthy of this heard this literally. וזה מה דכתיב השמר לך ושמור נפשך מאוד שפירשו המפרשים השמר לך כלפי על הגוף ושמור נפשך מאוד על הנפש V'zeh ma d'ksiv hishamer l'cha u'shmor nafshecha m'od she'peirshu ha'mefarshim hishamer l'cha klapei al ha'guf u'shmor nafshecha m'od al ha'nefesh, שתשמור עשו מכל סייג ופגם, פן תשכח את הדברים אשר ראו עיניך she'tishmor oso mikol siyag u'fgam, pen tishkach es hadvarim asher ra'u einecha. דמכלל האזהרה אתה שומע שכאשר תשמור את הגוף והנפש מכל סייג ופגם כן תזכה לניצוץ אשר ראו עיניך לראות לשמוע בבחינת יום אשר עמדת לפני השם אלוקיך בחורב D'miklal ha'azhara atah shomea she'ka'asher tishmor es ha'guf v'ha'nefesh mikol siyag u'fgam ken tizkeh l'nitzotz asher ra'u einecha liros lishmoa b'vchinas yom asher amadeta lifnei Hashem Elokecha b'Chorev. So now he explains his last question. Why does the פסוק pasuk later in דברים Devarim use a double language? It's redundant. השמר ושמור Hishamer u'shmor, just say one. The answer is, because one is the גוף guf and one is the נפש nefesh. If you want to have your antenna up, you want to feel השם Hashem, then you have to be worthy. And how are you worthy? If you're some disgusting, promiscuous, licentious, lewd, decadent, depraved, morally corrupt person, you're not going to be able to feel השם Hashem in your life. You have to live with a certain level of of purity. You have to carry yourself with a certain level of purity in speech, in dress, in action, in what we look at with our eyes, and what we say with our mouth. If we want to be able to feel the pure messages that are being transmitted, then you have to, otherwise there's going to be static. If you live with static, you're going to get a static message. If you live with purity, you're going to get a pure sound and a pure message across. בגוף ובנפש B'guf u'v'nefesh. עוד מרמז בזה דעת דגל מחנה אפרים Od meramez b'zeh daas Degel Machaneh Efraim, בשם הבעל שם טוב הקדוש b'shem ha'Baal Shem Tov ha'kadosh. I think דגל מחנה אפרים Degel Machaneh Efraim was his grandson, no? That in the name of the בעל שם טוב Baal Shem Tov, במאמר חז\"ל, בכל יום בת קול יוצאת מהר חורב b'maamar chazal, b'chol yom bas kol yotzeis mei'Har Chorev. The משנה Mishna or the ברייתא Braisa says in the sixth פרק perek of אבות Avos that every day a בת קול bas kol emanates from הר חורב Har Chorev. ושואל כבוד מורנו ושב. ומדוע אין שומעים את הבת קול V'shoel kvod moreinu v'shav. U'madua ein shom'im es ha'bas kol? ואם נשמע עושה לשם מה היא נצחית V'im nishma ose l'shem ma hi nitzchis. Why don't we hear the בת קול bas kol? And if we don't hear it, what's the point of it going out? So the ברייתא Braisa in אבות Avos says every day a בת קול bas kol goes out from הר חורב Har Chorev. Every day the sound continues to reverberate. So ממנו נפשך mamnafshach, if we don't hear it, what's the point of it going out? And and if, and why don't we hear it? If it's going out, why don't we hear it? מבואר שכל זעזוע והרהורי תשובה הפוקדים את יהודי מזמן לזמן Mevo'ar she'kol za'azu'a v'hirhurei teshuva ha'pokdim es yehudi mi'zman lizman, הם כולם מכח הבת קול היוצאת מהר חורב heim kulam mikoach ha'bas kol ha'yotzeis mei'Har Chorev. You see a בעל תשובה baal teshuva? That was the בת קול bas kol going out. You see a גר ger? That was the בת קול bas kol going out. You had an experience where you had a דאווענען davening that lit you on fire. You heard a שמועס schmooze or a שיר shiur. You had an experience with your family on vacation forging memories. You did something that that transformed you, that was the הילוכא דבת קול heilucha d'bas kol. אם אמנם הגוף והנפש אינם שומעים את הבת קול Im omnam ha'guf v'ha'nefesh einam shom'im es ha'bas kol, אך בפנימיות הנשמה שומע יהודי אותה והיא דופקת על ליבו ומעוררתו ach b'pnimiyus ha'neshama shomea Yehudi osa v'hi dofekes al libo u'me'orereto. ויהודי צריך רק לחיים באחזתי ולא ארפנו V'Yehudi tzarich rak l'chaim b'achaztiv v'lo arpenu. Says, you may not hear it externally. It's not like, you know, \"Quick, grab your iPhone, record the בת קול bas kol. Today's בת קול bas kol is coming out. Quick, get it on tape.\" You can't record the בת קול bas kol. You don't hear it with your body. You may not even hear it so to say with your soul. But you know where you hear it? בפנימיות הנשמה B'pnimiyus ha'neshama. Inside you, the a פנימיות הנשמה pintel yid. The Jew inside you, the best version of yourself, the place inside you where you know what's really true, and you know what's everlasting, and you know what's eternal and immortal. The place inside you that's godly. That place, the פנימיות הנשמה pnimiyus ha'neshama, שומע יהודי אותה shomea Yehudi osa. You hear that sound. The thing that's lit on fire in that right moment and it continues to carry you and it draws you. That incredible נעילה ne'ila, the amazing concert, the amazing שמועס schmooze, the speaker who transformed you. כמו שהיה קול יוצא מהר חורב מביא הרהורים לכל כלל ישראל K'mo she'haya kol yotzei mei'Har Chorev mevi hirhurim l'chol Klal Yisrael. שהבת קול יוצא מהר חורב מביא הרהורים לכל כלל ישראל. הרי ודאי קל וחומר שגם דברי השם בקבלת התורה שהם נצחיים She'ha'bas kol yotzeis mei'Har Chorev mevi hirhurim l'chol Klal Yisrael. Harei vadai kal v'chomer she'gam divrei Hashem b'kabalas haTorah she'heim nitzchi'im. עשרת הדברות הנאמרות תמיד מביאים הרהורים אצל יהודי Aseres HaDibros ha'ne'emros tamid mevi'im hirhurim eitzel Yehudi. So similarly, וכל הרהורי תשובה הרהורי דברים טובים v'chol hirhurei teshuva, hirhurei dvarim tovim. Every time you have the thoughts of doing תשובה teshuva, you're moved to want to transform your life. And the הרהורים דברים טובים hirhurim dvarim tovim or you think, \"You know what? I got to get involved. I'm going to volunteer. I'm going to lead that charge. I'm going to initiate. I'm going to give that צדקה tzedaka. I'm going to show up for that חסד chesed. I'm going to participate in that שיר shiur. I want to change the world. I have this vision or mission. I want to make an everlasting difference. I want to change the world.\" That הרהור hirhur, that thought that comes, that comes every now and then, הרי הם מכח דבר אלוקינו אשר יקום לעולם, לעולם השם דברך נצב בשמים harei heim mikoach dvar Elokeinu asher yakum l'olam, l'olam Hashem d'varcha nitzav ba'shamayim. שתמיד נושאים את התורה לישראל She'tamid nos'im es haTorah l'Yisrael. You know what that thought emanated from? The פנימיות הנשמה pnimiyus ha'neshama. It came from deep inside you. It came in that place that wants to go back to הר סיני Har Sinai. It came from that place that's still listening, that's still tuned in to הר סיני Har Sinai. ואם יהודי מקיים השמר לך ושמור נפשך מאוד, הרי הוא זוכה לדברים אשר ראו עיניך V'im Yehudi mekayem hishamer l'cha u'shmor nafshecha m'od, harei hu zocheh l'dvarim asher ra'u einecha. How do you get there? How do you extend the antenna? How do you lift the antenna? How do you fine tune and how do you tune the antenna so you can hear the reverberations and the message of הר סיני Har Sinai? Through השמר לך ושמור נפשך hishamer l'cha u'shmor nafshecha. When we take care of our גוף guf and our נפש nefesh. If we act, we dress, we act, we go, we look, we see, we say, if we act properly in thought and speech and action, then we have prepared ourselves. We're now our antenna is able to pick up that message. If you don't, then don't look and say, \"Well, why is there no השם Hashem and why don't I ever hear anything? And why don't I ever feel anything? And why aren't I inspired?\" We have several people in the שול shul who who reach out to me every now and then. We have lunch, we have coffee. \"I don't feel anything. I need you to inspire me. Inspire me. I don't feel anything. I want to be inspired. Inspire me.\" I say, \"Buddy, I love you. You don't come to שול shul. You don't come to classes. You don't listen to דאווענען davening. You don't listen to messages of nature. What are you investing in? What are you doing? You're going to sit back on your couch, sip on a beer, and you're going to feel inspiration? It just doesn't work that way. Where are you? What's your investment in feeling inspiration? What are you putting in? What are you doing to extend your antenna? The messages are all around. הר חורב, הר סיני Har Chorev, Har Sinai continues to reverberate. What are you doing to pick up the signal? Where's your investment? Where's your openness? Where do you have a curiosity? Are you investigating? Are you researching? Are you inquiring after השם Hashem? Are you looking for him? It's like lying back on the couch, \"Honey, I don't feel any love for you. Make me feel love for you. Say something that makes me feel love for you. I don't really feel any affection towards you. Do something to make me feel affection towards you.\" That's not how it works. That's not how it goes. Do not try that at home. So similarly here, we have to, השמר ושמור hishamer u'shmor. What are we doing to extend that antenna? How are we living life to look for the messages all the time all around us and to absorb them, to hear them, to allow them to penetrate to our inner being, to the פנימיות הנשמה pnimiyus ha'neshama, to capture that experience and to let it carry us forward. Not just to move on, not to have it fade away. ופן יסורו מלבבך כל ימי חייך U'fen yasuru milvavecha kol yemei chayecha. That warning, lest it leave our heart all the days of our life. ויש לומר דעת מאמר חז\"ל V'yeish lomar daas maamar chazal. ימי חייך הימים, כל ימי חייך לרבות הלילות Yemei chayecha ha'yamim, kol yemei chayecha l'rabos ha'leilos. הלילות היינו בשעה חומר מתגבר על האדם Ha'leilos haynu b'sha'ah chomer misgaber al ha'adam. What is the night? Night always represents the time of darkness, doubt, uncertainty, feeling overwhelmed, feeling confused. החומר מתגבר על האדם Ha'chomer misgaber al ha'adam. When the material world is overwhelming a person. וכן זמני החושך כשהיהודי בחושך גם אז נאמר ופן יסורו מלבבך כל ימי חייך V'chein zmanei ha'choshech kshe'ha'yehudi ba'choshech gam az ne'emar u'fen yasuru milvavecha kol yemei chayecha. When do we need to most be attuned to and listen to the messages of הר סיני Har Sinai? דווקא Dafka during the nighttime, כל ימי חייך kol yemei chayecha. When you're feeling doubt, when you're feeling uncertainty, when you're feeling overwhelmed by anxiety, by pressure, by the material responsibilities, then you have to tap into the message of הר סיני Har Sinai to recalibrate. היא קבלת התורה ועשרת הדברות הם נצחיות ודבר השם מדבר אל יהודי בכל המצבים שהוא נמצא Hi kabalas haTorah v'Aseres haDibros heim nitzchiyos u'dvar Hashem medaber el Yehudi b'chol ha'matzavim she'hu nimtza. The word of השם Hashem is speaking to us no matter what. We're having success or we're having struggle. We're we're celebrating triumph or we've just had a disappointment. No matter what state, no matter what stage of life, whether it's the day where there's clarity and hope, we just landed an incredible deal or we just performed an incredible surgery, or we just completed an amazing דרשה drasha. Whatever the case may be for any of us here. Right? So in those moments of the day, of the morning, of the light of clarity, it's easy to have a little skip in your step and say, \"Oh, there's a השם Hashem, and there's a רבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam, and I feel like I'm at הר סיני Har Sinai and I love you, השם Hashem, you're the best.\" What about when it fails? What about when you bomb? What about when there's a disappointment? What about when it doesn't work out or there's a struggle? Do you feel הר סיני Har Sinai then too? Is הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu running your world in those moments as well? That's the כל ימי חייך kol yemei chayecha. כל לרבות הלילות Kol l'rabos ha'leilos. That the דבר השם מדבר על יהודי dvar Hashem medaber al Yehudi, the word of השם Hashem is speaking to us בכל המצבים שהוא נמצא b'chol ha'matzavim she'hu nimtza, in any situation or circumstance we find ourselves, השם Hashem continues to speak to us. The only question is, are we listening?
