Transcript
Okay, good morning, בוקר טוב boker tov. We have the privilege of bringing the parsha class on the road, not on the road actually, on the sea on our first ever inaugural Bokeraton Synagogue Empty Nester Cruise. And we'll do an abridged class because I know I'm the only thing stopping you from your excursion and relaxation here in the הייליגע hayliga Bahamas. So we have the privilege of learning פרשת כי תשא Parshas Ki Sisa together.פרשת כי תשא Parshas Ki Sisa represents a major shift. The Jewish people were coasting. We've been taken out of מצרים Mitzrayim. השם Hashem has shown us tremendous affection, love, divine providence, ten plagues and the splitting of the sea, and these monumental, seminal moment, the milestone of the giving of the תורה Torah that changed the course of human history. השם Hashem shared his blueprint for creation with us. And then פרשת משפטים Parshas Mishpatim. מה ראשונה מסיני אף אלו מסיני Ma rishona miSinai af elu miSinai. Just as the spiritual highs were authentic and genuine, so too its application, its execution in the real world. And then פרשת Parshas, פרשת יתרו Parshas Yisro then משפטים Mishpatim, תרומה Truma, תצוה Tetzaveh, the משכן Mishkan, finding a physical edifice. We spoke last week, two weeks ago, ושכנתי בתוכם veshachanti besocham. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, ושכנתי שכן veshachanti shachen. We want השם Hashem, השם Hashem desires not just to be the God of the עליונים elyonim, a God who is distant, aloof, all powerful, omnipotent, omniscient. He wants to be a God who's relatable, who's accessible, who's a שכן shachen, who's our neighbor right next door, who's our confidant, who's our best friend. And so השראת השכינה hashras hashchina, שכינה שכן shchina shachen, he institutes the building of the משכן Mishkan. And then we get to פרשת כי תשא Parshas Ki Sisa. And after this direct line coming out of מצרים Mitzrayim that's worked well, gone well, of connection, we have a major shift, the first broken moments, a violation of the relationship itself. But beforehand, פרשה Parsha begins with the taking of a census. כי תשא את ראש בני ישראל לפקודיהם Ki sisa es rosh bnei Yisrael lifkudeihem, ונתנו איש כופר נפשו להשם בפקוד אותם ולא יהיה בהם נגף בפקוד אותם venasnu ish kofer nafsho laHashem bifkod osam velo yiheye bahem negef bifkod osam. When you take the census of the children of the Jewish people, according to their numbers, each one gives, and why do they give? ונתנו Venasnu why? איש כופר נפשו Ish kofer nafsho. What is the word כופר kofer? כופר Kofer means atonement, like כפרה kapara, on יום כיפור Yom Kippur we seek and we achieve a כפרה kapara. But more strictly, the definition is כופר kofer, כפרה kapara means redemption. What does it mean to redeem one's soul? What does the word redemption mean? That one has to redeem oneself or redeem one's soul? And how does one do that through the giving of a census? Rabbi Soloveitchik writes, השם Hashem requires each person to redeem himself, to buy himself back from God. The entire world is consecrated or הקדש hekdesh. The only legal means by which we are allowed to use הקדש hekdesh is through redemption. The הלכה halacha means to redeem an object is a trade. One can exchange the הקדש hekdesh item with a non-הקדש hekdesh item. The non-consecrated item takes on the consecrated status of the item it is being traded for, while the הקדש hekdesh item takes on the secular nature of the non-consecrated item. So if something was dedicated to the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash or something was given the status, the consecrated status of הקדש hekdesh, one could redeem it of that status, you could transfer that status, like מעשר שני maaser sheini, הקדש hekdesh, there are certain opportunities where you can transfer sacred status, thereby releasing the object you want personal benefit from of its sacred or consecrated status, and projecting or transferring it onto something else. That's the notion of כופר kofer, of redeeming. So how does that apply to us? Why is the Torah employing specifically that word to describe what we're doing? Said the רב rav, one's body, one's clothes, one's children, the entire universe requires redemption to allow us to make use of them. Yet what can man possibly offer in trade that could affect such a redemption? The entire world belongs to God. להשם הארץ ומלואה LaHashem ha'aretz umlo'ah. Nothing's ours. I, we acquired it, we purchased it, we worked hard for it, we created it, we built it, we wove it. We think it's ours, but that's a misnomer, it's a mistake. להשם הארץ ומלואה LaHashem ha'aretz umlo'ah. This entire world belongs to God. The physical material world is an illusion. God is the only reality. The world and everything in it belongs to the רבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam. So when I want to make personal use of it, how do I redeem it? If I want to wear this clothing for enjoyment, I want to eat this food for enjoyment, I want my car, I want my house, I want to interact with my loved ones, how can I redeem it? What can I transfer? How can I trade it? Upon reflecting on this paradox, David Hamelech in a moment of resignation proclaimed a פסוק pasuk in תהילים מ\"ט Tehillim mem tes, \"A man cannot redeem himself. He cannot give to Hashem his redemption payment.\" Yet many Jews have a tradition of reciting כפרות kaparos on ערב יום כיפור Erev Yom Kippur. We quote a different פסוק pasuk in which Hashem says, \"Redeem him from descending to the pit. I have found ransom.\" A פסוק pasuk in איוב Iyov. Indeed when Hashem's attribute of judgment is evident, David Hamelech's verse is operative. When his attribute of mercy prevails, the פסוק pasuk from איוב Iyov pertains. Redemption is indeed possible. How? One of three ways. This is the Rav's insight. כופר נפשו Kofer nafsho, that when one contributes to the census, one is achieving a redemption. How can we release anything we have that really belongs to God so that we can benefit from it ourselves? Hashem, the infinite אין סוף ein sof, contracted himself to allow the existence of the world, to make it possible for a finite world to coexist with the infinite. The הלכה halacha of man must also engage in צמצום tzimtzum. It's a kabbalistic notion that הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu fills the entire world. He is the entire world. So how do we have a physical limited universe, planet Earth, a ship, a human being? Because השם Hashem is מצמצם mitzamtzem himself. He constricts himself. He withdraws in order to make room for others. And we too, we too, the הלכה halacha, we follow השם Hashem. Man harbors illusions of greatness, thinking our abilities are limitless and we can attain infinity. The first redemption coin that God exacts from us is our own contraction. Just as Hashem engages in צמצום tzimtzum, so must we. We express צמצום tzimtzum first and foremost by observing the precepts of הלכה halacha. Fealty to the Jewish law is unenforceable. There's no police, no executive branch of government, no jails, no punishment. By following the הלכה halacha despite the lack of an external enforcement mechanism, we engage in צמצום tzimtzum. Really, I want to do whatever I want, wherever I want, however I want. I want to eat everything. I want to go to the beach on Saturday. And I want to be able to cut corners in business. And I want to be able to share juicy, delicious gossip. I want to do whatever I want to do. Yet, I feel bound by a system of rules, by a הלכה halacha, I am מצמצם mitzamtzem, I withdraw, I constrict, I have discipline over myself. That's how I redeem myself.The next attribute of Hashem that we have to emulate, the second redemption coin to redeem our world, is known as הסתר hester or נעלם ne'elam, obscurity. The רבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam not only contracts himself, he obscures himself. He's a קל מסתתר Kel Mistater. He's a hidden God. הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu doesn't need or want the limelight. He doesn't want to go viral. He doesn't want to make the headlines. He doesn't need the likes or follows. He does not act demonstrably, nor does he seek recognition. We, human beings, the רב rav pointed out, have an inclination, we strive for recognition, for honor. We want our efforts and actions to be appreciated by as many as possible. Right? Especially we see this in our generation maybe more than any, where through social media and through media in general, we measure a person's worth, how many friends, how many followers, how many likes, how many posts, how many reposts, how many comments, how viral a person went. That's their value. Oh, did you see how many hits? Did you see how many follows? For נרישקייט narishkeit. You remember that woman who was in a bathtub with cereal, who interviewed President Obama, likes and follows, interviewing people from a bathtub filled with cereal. נרישקייט Narishkeit, ridiculousness, stupidity. That's value? הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu is a קל מסתתר Kel Mistater. He actually contributes to the world in a meaningful way without needing the limelight, the spotlight, without needing to make the headlines or go viral. And that's the second way we imitate him and redeem ourselves when we act like him, by being satisfied, being behind the scenes, living life with modesty and humility, trying to make meaningful contributions but without the need for recognition or for headlines.The Rav here goes on and on, but I want to get through more of the parsha. He says, finally, the third redemption coin a person must pay in order to make use of this world is Elem, voiceless, mute, passive acceptance. Although Hashem occasionally reveals himself in a dramatic fashion, more often he's mute and passive. This tendency towards silence is also reflected in his attributes of slowness to anger, ארך אפיים Erech apayim. We'll get to it later in the parsha. Despite the actions of man that should provoke an angry response, Hashem is long-suffering with silent acceptance. A Jew regularly recites a ברכה bracha upon eating and satisfying his hunger. All is well. He's healthy, in possession of his faculties. One can readily sense the presence of Hashem. In cruel contrast, upon the tragic death of a mother, father, son, daughter, spouse, when a person tears their clothing at the moment of grief, we say דיין האמת Dayana emes. A person prepares the body for burial, places it in the ground, shovels earth on top of the casket. As everything that means anything to him lies lifeless before him in the grave, he recites the ברכה bracha. Where is the אתה atta? Where is Hashem's presence at the moment that he is being tormented? He responds with קדיש Kaddish. The world is השם's Hashem's and everything that takes place in it is a reflection of his will. Unanswerable, unexplained tragedies have accompanied the Jew in his long history. When faced with death, when a Jew is confronted with the ultimate תיקו teiku, he recites the ברכה bracha of דיין האמת Dayana emes. Emotional sublimation is the greatest act of redemption a Jew can pay the holy one. So just as you have to pay a redemption to redeem something of הקדש hekdesh, to make it unconsecrated to be able to make personal use, we have to pay the רבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam in order to access his world. It's pay-per-view, pay for use. We have to pay to be able to use it. What's the form of payment that we offer the רבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam? ונתנו איש כופר נפשו Venasnu ish kofer nafsho. How can we redeem our נפש nefesh? How can we redeem ourselves? We too belong to השם Hashem. How can we redeem ourselves to enjoy and to benefit the pleasure of this world? Through these three, through these three different ways. צמצום Tzimtzum, contracting ourself, modesty and humility, and דיין האמת Dayana emes, recognizing להשם הארץ ומלואה laHashem ha'aretz umlo'ah. Even when we don't fully understand or appreciate the whole world, everything belongs to השם Hashem. It's a funny census. We've shared this every year. There are certain דברי תורה divrei Torah on the פרשה parsha you have to repeat every year because they're they're core to the theme of what the פרשה parsha is trying to tell us. And I always tell you, I don't feel bad because the פרשה parsha also repeats itself every year. הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu has us read the same same words every single year. Clearly the message is supposed to resonate. So why do we take the census with a half שקל shekel? It's a very inefficient way of counting. It'd be much more efficient if everyone gave a שקל shekel. And whatever number you're left with is the number of people there are. Why is everyone giving a half שקל shekel? And the answer is obvious. Because it's a reminder that we on our own are each a half. Lest we think that we've arrived, we're whole, we're complete. We are done. We make a entire unit of a contribution to this world. We only give a half to recognize that we are incomplete without one another. Only by complementing and supplementing one another, only by being together. כי עמך כולם צדיקים Ki amech kulam tzadikim. When are we צדיקים tzadikim? When we have an attitude of כי עמך ki amech. The word עמך amech, עם am. The word עם am means עם im. When are you a nation? When are we an עם am? When we're עם im with one another. When we're individuals, when we're distinct, when we think that we can live on an island on our own, we're by ourselves, we've arrived, we're happy, we're complacent, we're good. Then we're in trouble. כי עמך כולם צדיקים Ki amech kulam tzadikim. When are we צדיקים tzadikim? When כי עמך ki amech, when we are עם im one another. So everyone gives a half shekel to realize on our own, we're incomplete. On our own, we're a fragment. On our own, we are half. In order to become whole, we have to combine with others. And of course, spoke about last week or two weeks ago with תרומה truma. This is the famous ונתנו venasnu, the וילנא גאון's Vilna Gaon's, what's it called? You read it palindrome. When you read it forward and backwards the same way, because when you give, you really receive more. You remember two weeks ago we spoke about כי לא במותו יקח הכל ki lo vamasa yikach hakol. The מלבי\"ם's Malbim's question. What do you mean לא במותו יקח הכל lo vamasa yikach hakol? You can't take everything. And there is something you can take? And the answer is yes. Paradoxically, the only thing that you can take is what you've given. What you held on to, it stays behind. You can't take it with you. But what you gave away, that is what you take with you to the next world. Paradoxically. So everyone who's holding on for dear life, dear life. I know exceedingly wealthy, wealthy people who have money not only for their life, but for generations to come, if they tried, they couldn't spend everything they have. And yet, you ask them to contribute to a meaningful cause to ease the pain of others, to promote and spread תורה Torah, they hold on so tight, they're so nervous. They want to take it all with them. They want to be on that list of the Forbes 400, climbing higher and higher. They want to leave more and more of a legacy. And they don't realize the more they hold on to, the less they take with them. And the more you give away, the more you have and the more you take with you. ונתנו Venasnu, what you give is what you take. The Torah continues the next, ואתה קח לך בשמים ראש מר דרור ve'ata tikach lecha besamim rosh mar dror. Take with you בשמים ראש מר דרור besamim rosh mar dror. This is the incense, the aromatics. דוד המלך David Hamelech requests a פסוק pasuk in תהילים קמ\"א Tehillim, kuf mem aleph. דוד המלך David Hamelech says my תפילה tefillah, let it be established like קטורת ketores, like incense before you. Why is תפילה tefillah described like incense? Twice a day, in the morning and the evening, they would burn incense on the inner מזבח mizbeach. It would ascend on high and be a pleasant fragrance, a pleasant aroma. Does הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu need perfume? It's a little cologne. Did the כהנים kohanim have body odor from all that work? What's פשט pshat? בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash, we're trying to mask, it smelled like a locker room? Why do we need incense? Why are they burning incense? What's the purpose of the of the incense? When I was finishing my סמיכה smicha in ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael in YU's כולל Kollel in Israel, there was another ישיבה yeshiva that no longer exists, but it was housed in the same facility. And my precious, very innocent wife, one of the first nights we were there, we opened the window to get some air. There was no air conditioning, ירושלים Yerushalayim in the summer is hot. And there was a aroma that wafted through our little apartment. And she said, \"Wow, someone's burning incense. It's like the קטורת ketores.\" I said, \"That's not incense, honey.\" That ישיבה yeshiva is not here anymore, but they were מקטיר makter, it wasn't קטורת ketores that they were being מקטיר makter, we'll just say. So, ברוך השם Baruch Hashem, it was a very, a very holy, very high place. Everybody was ממש mamash getting high, close to השם Hashem. So why, so why do you need the קטורת ketores in the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash? What is דוד המלך David Hamelech likening? What's the parallel? What's he saying, \"May my prayers be established like incense before you\"? The analogy between תפילה tefillah and incense is the fact that there was an ingredient מעלה עשן maaleh ashan. One of the ingredients, the magnificent ingredients of this holy mixture caused the smoke to rise directly up in a perfectly vertical direction. No wind could make it where swaying back and forth over here on this holy ship. But the wind, nothing, the waves, the wind, nothing could move the smoke. It went directly up. And that's the analogy דוד המלך David Hamelech is saying, just like no outside influence, no element can manipulate or distort or corrupt or move my holy smoke, the smoke of the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash, may my תפילה tefillah ascend directly up. Let it not be distracted, let it not be manipulated, let my תפילה tefillah not run into a roadblock, let it not, you know, the connection be weak. Let it be a direct connection with the תפילה tefillah ascend directly, directly on high. Why does הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu love? What is the benefit of this incense? First of all, you'll notice in this פסוק pasuk, ואתה קח לך בשמים ראש מר דרור ve'ata tikach lecha besamim rosh mar dror. Anyone recognize the words מר דרור mar dror? That was the name of מרדכי Mordechai. The גמרא Gemara in מגילה Megillah says, מרדכי מן התורה מניין? מר דרור Mordechai min haTorah minayin? Mar dror. This ingredient, as part of the incense, מר דרור mar dror, pure מר mar 500 shekels of weight, fragrant קנמון kinamon cinnamon, בשם א חציתו besem achatziso, and so on and so forth. How is this a hint to מרדכי Mordechai? We spoke about I think last year or the year before. Not for now. But why does הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu want this? Why does הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu crave this? What is it all about? So it's very interesting, how do we describe, how do we describe השם Hashem getting angry in the Torah? It's an anthropomorphism. Of course, השם Hashem doesn't have physical attributes. He doesn't have a human human anatomy, but the way we relate to him, the way we identify with him is by a physical parallel, a physical analogy. So how do we describe השם Hashem getting angry? He is חרון אף Charon af. What's אף af? In the nostrils, in the nose, that's where he gets angry. And later after the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel, when משה Moshe appeases, appeals to השם Hashem, tries to appease השם Hashem and השם Hashem says, here is a formula. This is the magic formula. You use this formula, I can't help but forgive you. So משה Moshe uses the formula, the 13 attributes of divine mercy. And what is the way that we ask השם Hashem to forgive us? How do we appeal to his forgiveness? ארך אפיים Erech apayim. So he gets angry where? In the nose. And when he's calm and when he forgives, where does that happen? In his nose. What's the obsession with השם's Hashem's nose, his nostrils? חרון אף Charon af, the nostrils flare, he gets angry. ארך אפיים Erech apayim, slow to anger, the nostrils constrict, the nationals, then he's calm. What's with the nostrils? And what's with the incense? What's going on over here? So perhaps the answer is, why are we reminding הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu about אפיים apayim? Because we're reminding הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu about the very, very beginning, when he created, when he fashioned us, when he breathed his life into us, when he made us living, animated beings that contain a צלם אלקים tzelem Elokim, when he put a piece of himself in us. In קבלה Kabbalah, they describe that you can, you know, you give someone a kiss, it's very holy, it's very connected, but it's very superficial, it's just the lips. You can blow into something, but you're just using your mouth, your larynx, your voice box, you're not going deep. But to really blow something up, the קבלה Kabbalah uses the language like a glassblower who's trying to blow up, expand the glass, or we use the analogy because we don't blow glass, of a balloon. If you've had to blow up a balloon for your grandchild's birthday party, you can mamash need a nap afterwards, you can be out of breath. Two balloons and you're exhausted, you can't breathe, you're catching your breath. Where does the breath to blow up a balloon come from? Deep inside yourself, you take a deep breath, bring it up from your diaphragm, from your קישקעס kishkes from deep inside you, and then you blow it out. Only then can you really make it expand, can you blow it up. And you hope you get the tie and knot around it before the thing goes all over the place, or you have to start again. What did you put inside that balloon? You put the air that's deep inside yourself. The רבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam when he breathed his life, what does the פסוק pasuk say? How did God start our life? ויפח באפיו נשמת חיים Vayipach be'apav nishmas chaim. Where did הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu put a piece of himself, through what opening, through what conduit? How did he blow us up, so to say? How did he make us living animated, vibrant beings, godly beings, צלם אלקים tzelem Elokim? ויפח באפיו Vayipach be'apav. So we remind הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu, we have a נשמה neshama inside us. True, like we spoke about last night in סירער סניפעטס siter snippets, the introduction to קרבנות korbanos. True, we have an animal instinct, an animal impulse. True, there's the animal part of who we are, but רבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam, don't forget חביב אדם שנברא בצלם choviv adam shenivra betzelem. Don't forget you love us שנברא בצלם she'nivra betzelem because you made us בצלם betzelem. We are in your image. There's a piece of you in us. And how did that piece of you get in us? Don't forget. ויפח באפיו Vayipach be'apav, through the nose. So when you are losing patience, when you're getting angry, when you've given us, when we're incorrigible and you want to reject us and give up on us, where does he get angry? באפיו Be'apav, where he placed life, the נשמה neshama in us. And when we appeal to him and appease him and we get him to forgive us, where do we achieve that? באפיו Be'apav. So how do we remind him of our נשמה neshama? What is the place to remind someone about the pleasantness of through the nose? A pleasant fragrance. That's the role of the of the קטורת ketores. That's the role of the incense. Is to remind הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu, I have a נשמה neshama in me. It's not a coincidence on מוצאי שבת קודש Motzei Shabbos Kodesh, when we make הבדלה havdalah, and we're saying goodbye to something that we had on שבת Shabbos. What did we have on שבת Shabbos? A נשמה יתירה neshama yeseira. You know the thing that people convince you you can't gain weight because you have a נשמה יתירה neshama yeseira? Okay. Many tried and it didn't work. But anyway, we have a נשמה יתירה neshama yeseira, bless you, on שבת Shabbos. The נשמה יתירה neshama yeseira, we'll get to if we ever get to it, the נשמה יתירה neshama yeseira, those not going on the excursion can stay. We could do the parsha the whole day. Those going are excused. So, the נשמה יתירה neshama yeseira that we get on שבת Shabbos is not physical. It is a mindfulness, a presence, a peace, a serenity, a מנוחת הנפש menuchas hanefesh that is our our soul has expanded, our soul is more authentic and real, our soul is in touch with itself, because we're disconnected from the נרישקייט narishkeit, the chaos, the to-do list, the troubles, the anxiety of the world. We achieve a serenity, a peacefulness, a נשמה יתירה neshama yeseira. הבדלה Havdalah comes, and before you make הבדלה havdalah, your entire family is looking at their phones and your phone is blowing up and you got seven events to go to on מוצאי שבת Motzei Shabbos and Sunday it all starts again, 14 משלוח מנות mishloach manos knocking on the door, and life has begun. You got work and you've got debt and you've got responsibility and you've got, you got doctor's appointments and you've got lab results you're waiting for. It's all there waiting for you after הבדלה havdalah. There goes the נשמה יתירה neshama yeseira. זיי געזונט גיי ביי zeh gezunt gebai. How did the נשמה יתירה neshama yeseira leave you? Where did it go out of? Well if the נשמה neshama first came into you through the nose, then the נשמה יתירה neshama yeseira, the more authentic feeling of the נשמה יתירה neshama yeseira leaves where? Through the nose. So how do we comfort ourselves? בשמים Besamim. We make a ברכה bracha בורא מיני בשמים borei minei besamim in order to comfort ourselves from the נשמה יתירה neshama yeseira. If you didn't make הבדלה havdalah on מוצאי שבת Motzei Shabbos and you only made of הבדלה havdalah on Sunday and Monday, until Tuesday, do you make a בשמים besamim? No, it's only on מוצאי שבת Motzei Shabbos when you said goodbye to the נשמה יתירה neshama yeseira that you make that ברכה bracha. On מוצאי יום טוב Motzei Yom Tov, if you didn't get a נשמה יתירה neshama yeseira on יום טוב Yom Tov, you don't make the ברכה bracha. Why don't you have a נשמה יתירה neshama yeseira on יום טוב Yom Tov? You can cook on יום טוב Yom Tov, so you still have to prepare and cook and serve and there's a element of work. You don't have that level of serenity. You don't have. What if שבת Shabbos goes into יום טוב Yom Tov? Do you make? Do you have a נשמה יתירה neshama yeseira if שבת Shabbos goes into יום טוב Yom Tov? It's a מחלוקת machlokes תוספות Tosefos in עבודה פסחים Avodah Pesachim has a discussion about it. So that's the notion of the קטורת ketores, this proper incense, the מר דרור mar dror, מרדכי Mordechai. When we're reminding הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu, just when you're ready to give up on us, just when you think that we forfeited our נשמה neshama, we remind you we have a נשמה neshama. And how do we remind you, we affirm our נשמה neshama inside ourselves? How? By producing מר דרור mar dror, by producing magnificent incense, a pleasant aroma and fragrance for the רבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam. The גמרא Gemara says, רבי נתן אומר Rebbe Nosson omer, כשהוא שוחק אומר הדק היטב היטב הדק keshehu shochek omer hadek heitev heitev hadek, מפני שהקול יפה לבשמים pnei shehakol yafe labesamim. When the כהן kohen would prepare the בשמים besamim, when they were crushing the ingredients for the בשמים besamim, Rabbi Nosson teaches, the Gemara says that they would say to him, \"Good job, חזק וברוך chazak u'baruch, יישר כוח yashar koach, do it, grind it in a fine way, fine, grind it very fine. הקול יפה לבשמים Hakol yafe labesamim. The Gemara concludes why? Because the voice, the קול kol, is good for the בשמים besamim. How is the קול kol good for בשמים besamim? It's like you, you know, my grandmother used to talk to her sponge cake when she made it. The קול kol is יפה yafe to the sponge cake. The voice is good for בשמים besamim? What does the voice have to do with בשמים besamim? So what's the answer? It's what we spoke about last Shabbos. I'm not going to say the whole drasha again. But what we spoke about last Shabbos. You know what it means? It means when the כהן kohen is painstakingly doing his work, he's grinding that קטורת ketores, and it gets old, and it gets stale, and it gets boring, and it gets difficult, and his hands are aching, but someone is there giving him encouragement, a positive word, \"Good job, יישר כוח yashar koach, חזק וברוך chazak u'baruch, well done.\" הקול יפה לבשמים Hakol yafe labesamim means that when there are words of encouragement, when there's a compliment, when there is positivity, it's good for the product, the outcome, for whatever we're doing. The power of a compliment, the power of a positive word, spoke about last Shabbos with the bells on the bottom of the כהן גדול's kohen gadol's clothing, 72 bells which atone for the לשון הרע lashon hara. The antidote for negative speech is not no speech, it's not silence. The antidote is positive speech, for compliments to ring like bells, to offer positive words that reverberate, that ring, what they can bring out. We said over the חתם סופר's Chasam Sofer's פשט pshat, הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu tells משה Moshe, \"Find חכמי לב chachmei lev, find those people who are wise of heart, and tell them you're great, you have potential, and then they'll produce the בגדי כהונה bigdei kehuna.\" When people are complemented, when they're given a positive message, then they produce great things, they produce greatness. And that's part of the message here of the preparation, the way that the קטורת ketores was prepared as well. Okay, let's keep going. Then we have the כיור kiyor, where the כהנים kohanim would wash. We'll get to this in siter snippets in the next couple nights, maybe tonight, about the כיור kiyor, the basin where they washed. What was it made from? The mirrors the women used to beautify themselves in מצרים Egypt. When the men typically had given up, and the women with their optimism and faith said no, it's worth bringing more into this world, it's worth bringing more into this world. I always mention how there was a, in Egypt, we can understand men. They looked at the world of cruelty, of harshness, of persecution, of oppression and they said, \"I'm going to bring children into this world to be tortured, to be the targets of anti-Semitism and extermination. For what? Forget it.\" They withdrew from their wives and the women said, \"Don't you understand there's a רבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam? There's a master plan. Have faith. There's a brighter future. It's worth yet bringing children into this world.\" The greatest Jewish population growth, certainly of modern times, took place, anyone know where? In the DP camps and following. Survivors who should have given up, who should have said what we went through, we're done. Whatever's left of the Jewish people will live it out, we'll ride it out. Last one turn the lights off, we're done. Instead, what a commitment, what a commitment. We had dinner last night with someone who said the last time they were on a ship, 1951, they were born in a DP camp to their survivor parents, came over as a baby, it's the last time they were on a boat, until until now. This is the commitment of our our incredible survivor parents and grandparents, the כיור kiyor, the mirrors, that faith that the world is a brighter future. By the way, the women in מצרים Mitzrayim were right, and the survivors of the Holocaust were right. Did they ever know that a few years later there would be the declaration of the state of Israel and a flourishing orthodoxy in America and other parts of the world, more ישיבות yeshivos and כוללים kollelim and מקוואות mikvas, everything that's going on. Their faith and optimism was rewarded, and that's what the כהנים kohanim look at. When they wake up in the morning and they wash their hands and they begin their day and they begin their service in the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash, the first message they see are the mirrors in the bottom of the basin. And they remember that no matter what's going on outside those walls of that בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash, no matter how dire, no matter how how how ominous, but to have the faith and the optimism that the קרבנות korbanos have to be brought with that positivity, with that faith, and with that optimism, the פרשה parsha of the כיור kiyor. Next, oh, ראה קראתי בשם בצלאל בן אורי בן חור למטה יהודה Reh karasi beshem Betzalel ben Uri ben Chur l'mateh Yehuda. הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu says, ואמלא אותו רוח אלקים בחכמה ובתבונה ובדעת ובכל מלאכה v'amale oso ruach Elokim bechochma u'visvuna u'vedaas u'vechol melacha. Anyone know what that stands for? חכמה Chochma, בינה bina, and דעת daas? חב\"ד Chabad. Is there a חב\"ד Chabad in the Bahamas? Yes. Of course there is. Of course, חב\"ד Chabad in the Bahamas, ברוך השם Baruch Hashem. Of course. חכמה Chochma, בינה bina, and דעת daas. We're not going to go into this now. I think we spoke about it last year, two years ago, you can listen online. But what is the difference between חכמה chochma, בינה bina, and דעת daas? These are three descriptions of knowledge, of intellect, of analysis, of cognition. What's the difference between them? And what was the core of the philosophy of the אדמו\"ר הזקן Alter Rebbe, of of רבי שניאור זלמן מליאדי Rebbe Shneur Zalman of Liadi? What was he saying? חכמה Chochma, בינה bina, and דעת daas, חב\"ד Chabad. People identify or associate mistakenly, they think חב\"ד Chabad's about פארברענגעןs farbrengens and לחייםs lechaims. It is about that also, but at its core, תניא Tanya is all about לימוד התורה limud haTorah, the supremacy of לימוד התורה limud haTorah, the centrality of לימוד התורה limud haTorah. חכמה Chochma, בינה bina, and דעת daas is not about a לחיים lechaim. חכמה Chochma, בינה bina, and דעת daas is not about קיגל kigel. It's not about a פארברענגען farbrengen. חכמה Chochma, בינה bina, and דעת daas is not about משלוח מנות mishloach manos or honey cake. חכמה Chochma, בינה bina, and דעת daas is the centrality of תורה Torah and the different approaches, the intellectual approaches to תורה Torah. What are the differences between them? Why does הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu, he identifies, why should בצלאל Betzalel be the architect and designer of the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash, of the משכן Mishkan? Because he's filled them with רוח אלקים ruach Elokim. And what does it mean to have רוח אלקים ruach Elokim? It means to be a חב\"דניקער Chabadniker, to have חכמה chochma, בינה bina, and דעת daas. What is the difference between them? Again, you can listen online. Next, ואתה דבר אל בני ישראל, אך את שבתותי תשמורו V'ata daber el Bnei Yisrael, ach es Shabsosei tishmoru, כי אות היא ביני וביניכם לדורותיכם לדעת כי אני השם מקדשכם ki os hi beini u'veineichem l'doroseichem ladaas ki Ani Hashem mekadeschem. Next, we're interrupted by שבת Shabbos, the gift of the presence of the significance of שבת Shabbos. Why is שבת Shabbos brought here? To contrast the building of the משכן Mishkan, at least חז\"ל Chazal seem to say, שמירת שבת Shmiras Shabbos is in the middle of מלאכת משכן meleches Mishkan to teach that you're not allowed to build the משכן Mishkan on שבת Shabbos. No matter how lofty, how noble the building of the משכן Mishkan, no matter how significant the building of the משכן Mishkan, it does not supersede the laws of שבת Shabbos. The laws of שבת Shabbos come first. But there's so much more and it's so much deeper. שבתותי Shabsosei. is in the plural. Why is שבתותי Shabsosei in the plural? It should say, what should the פסוק pasuk say? אך את שבתי, השבת, תשמרו Ach es Shabasi, haShabbos, tishmoru, you should observe. שבתותי Shabsosei. Why is שבתותי Shabsosei in the plural here? Any suggestions? What? Okay, good. Because the גמרא Gemara says, if only שמרו שתי שבתות shamru shtei shabbasos, if only the Jewish people kept two Shabboses in a row, מיד נגאלין miyad nigalin, immediately we would be redeemed.They say the חסידישע ספרים Chasidishe sforim say, which two Shabboses? Which two Shabboses? שבת חזון Shabbos Chazon and שבת נחמו Shabbos Nachamu. If we keep those two Shabboses, if we would understand and tap into the energy of שבת חזון Shabbos Chazon and feel the absence of Hashem, the mourning, and then we'd feel שבת נחמו Shabbos Nachamu, if we'd only keep those two Shabboses correctly, מיד נגאלין miyad nigalin, and then we'd be redeemed. But two Shabboses, just one... I don't know, just one... it should be just two Shabboses and we'll all be free. Why was it just one Shabbos? Maybe it's a different גירסא girsa. So שבתותי Shabsosei in the plural.The כתב והקבלה Ksav V'hakabalah, Rav Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenburg has a different explanation. He says something phenomenal. He writes, בוא לשון יחיד על הרבים כי טעם שבתותי בעבור כי שבתות השנה הם רבים bo loshon yochid al harabim ki taam Shabsosei b'avur ki shabsos hashanah heim rabim. First he quotes the רמב\"ן Ramban, who says because we don't just get to keep one Shabbos. There's no Shabbos on, Shabbos off, Shabbos on, Shabbos off. Shabbos comes every week and we're bound by it. We have to observe it. It's a non-negotiable. שבתותי Shabsosei in the plural. For Shabbos for the rest of our life, it's a non-negotiable. That's always like the רמב\"ן Ramban, that's the רמב\"ן Ramban. But the כתב והקבלה Ksav V'hakabalah says להורות על המעבור בשם שבת שיש בו פי שנים באורו עסו l'horos al hamavor b'shem shabbos she'yesh bo pi shnayim b'oro aso. Within every 25-hour period of Shabbos, there's really two Shabboses. האחד ענין הביטול וההפסקה ממלאכה Ha'echad inyan habitul v'hahafsak m'melacha. והשני ענין ישוב הדעת לעניינים אלוקיים V'hasheini inyan yishuv hadaas l'inyanim elokiyim. אם כן יש בכל שבת ושבת שתי שביתות im kein yesh b'chol shabbos v'shabbos shtei shvisos. שביתת הגוף מעיסקי עולם shvisas haguf m'iskei olam ושביתת וישוב הנפש לעסוק בעניינים רוחניים אלוקיים u'shvisas v'yishuv hanefesh l'isasek b'inyanim ruchniyim elokiyim.There's the Shabbos of the body and the Shabbos of the soul. On the one hand, every Shabbos comes, no work, 39 acts of creative labor, no going to work, no obligation, no responsibility, no to-do lists. On the one hand, there's the Shabbos of the body, we refrain, we abstain, we rejuvenate, we renew, we rest, we שלאף schloff, we eat. We drink fine wine, we make a לחיים l'chaim. There's the Shabbos of the body. We abstain. But there's also the Shabbos of the נשמה neshama. It's not just what we abstain from, it's what do we fill that void with. זמירות zmiros and דברי תורה divrei Torah and board games with our family, and laughter, and fun, and time together, disconnecting from technology in order to connect to the people and the things around us that matter most. There are two components. שבתותי תשמרו Shabsosei tishmoru. There's not just one Shabbos. Implicit within every Shabbos is the observance of two Shabboses. We're good at one of the Shabboses. We take off, we שלאף schloff. We have שיעורים shiurim, ל\"ט מלאכות lamed tes melachos, we know the details and the חומרות chumros and the בורר borer, which jelly bean to take from which jelly bean, and how do I make the tea, and the כלי שלישי kli shlishi, and how do I eat the food and the... We're good at the מלאכות melachos. We know how to do the details, the minutiæ, the laws. That we excel at.But have we given the spirit of Shabbos, the flavor of Shabbos, the scent of Shabbos, the feeling of Shabbos, that other Shabbos of שבתותי Shabsosei? That's the critical part of Shabbos that we need. We say, כי אות היא ביני וביניכם לדורותיכם ki os hi beini u'veineichem l'doroseichem. What do you mean אות היא ביני וביניכם os hi beini u'veineichem? This is a sign, a symbol between me and them, לדורותיכם l'doroseichem, for generations. We say again, ושמרו בני ישראל את השבת לעשות את השבת לדורותם ברית עולם u'shamru vnei Yisrael es haShabbos, la'asos es haShabbos l'dorosam bris olam. So the ספרים הקדושים sforim hakdoshim say, ושמרו בני ישראל את השבת v'shamru vnei Yisrael es haShabbos. First you have to be שומר שבת shomer Shabbos. And how are you שומר שבת shomer Shabbos? The ל\"ט מלאכות lamed tes melachos. Don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, can't, can't, can't. שומר שבת shomer Shabbos, the things you can't do. But you want Shabbos to be לדורותם l'dorosam. You want your children and your grandchildren to know the געשמאק geshmak of Shabbos, then that Shabbos can't be defined only by the ושמרו בני ישראל v'shamru vnei Yisrael. Don't, don't, don't, can't, can't, can't. It has to be לעשות את השבת la'asos es haShabbos. You have to make Shabbos. Shabbos just can't be what you can't do. לעשות La'asos. You want the children to look forward. Shabbos should be totally different. You come to Shabbos, my parents, I have their attention, I have their time, I have their concentration, we sing, no one has anywhere to go, we enjoy, we play, we laugh, we read. לעשות את השבת La'asos es haShabbos. זמירות Zmiros, the feeling of Shabbos. לעשות את השבת La'asos es haShabbos. Shabbos is not just passive. It's not that the sun sets Friday, I refrain, I abstain, I stop doing those creative labors, and that's my Shabbos. If that's my Shabbos, it won't last לדורותם l'dorosam. The next generations will not want it. In order for it to be לדורותם l'dorosam, it can't just be ושמרו בני ישראל את השבת v'shamru vnei Yisrael es haShabbos, it has to be לעשות את השבת la'asos es haShabbos. Then ביני ובין בני ישראל אות היא לעולם beini u'vein bnei Yisrael os hi l'olam. What does it mean אות היא os hi? The חזקוני Chizkuni writes, חזקוני Chizkuni writes כשתשבתו כמוני ידעו כל ולא ביני ובין האומות האות כי אתם עמי k'shetishbesu k'moni yed'u kol v'lo beini u'levein ha'umos ha'os ki atem imi. חזקוני Chizkuni writes, it's not between me and the other nations. When the rest of the world sees there's still something called a Jew who keeps Shabbos, it's an אות os. ביני Beini... then the world will see the special relationship that כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael has with Hashem.We are the last vestiges on earth. They will study us in a short time from now, who for 24 hours can withdraw from technology. Does there exist such a such a person on the planet who can disconnect, who can shut down, who could not manipulate and not engage in technology for that period of time? It's an אות ביני וביניכם os beini u'veineichem. The world will see that the special relationship between God and the Jewish people that we continue to observe in this way. We continue to observe in this way. And Shabbos is not just something that we wait for on Friday. If you wait for it, by the time Friday comes, it's too late. You gotta look forward to it the whole week. The רמב\"ן Ramban, ושמרו v'shamru means יום ראשון בשבת, שני בשבת, שלישי בשבת, וכו' yom rishon b'shabbos, sheini b'shabbos, shlishi b'shabbos, v'chulu. Our entire week is oriented around Shabbos. Our entire week. It's one day since Shabbos, it's one day to the next Shabbos. Our entire week is oriented around Shabbos. We look forward to it. We count from it, we count down towards it. I can make הבדלה havdalah until Tuesday, and already beginning Wednesday, what is it? What do I say at the end of the שיר של יום shir shel yom Wednesday morning? I begin קבלת שבת Kabbalas Shabbos. When does קבלת שבת Kabbalas Shabbos begin? People want to know. I have to come home from work within the 18 minutes. When is the last second? What time is קבלת שבת Kabbalas Shabbos? You know what the answer is? What time is קבלת שבת Kabbalas Shabbos? Wednesday morning. Am I late? Did I miss קבלת שבת Kabbalas Shabbos? Yeah, it starts Wednesday morning. That's when קבלת שבת Kabbalas Shabbos starts. You're shopping for Shabbos, you're cooking for Shabbos, the dry cleaning for Shabbos, the haircut for Shabbos, setting the table for Shabbos. ושמרו בני ישראל את השבת V'shamru bnei Yisrael es haShabbos... I'm not gonna get into this now. We've spoken about it countless times. From the סולובייצ'יק Soloveitchik, Yaakov Kamenetsky, others pointed out that in America we have Shabbos, but we've lost the notion of ערב שבת Erev Shabbos. Everyone's using up every one of their 18 minutes and rushing in. Where's the ערב שבת Erev Shabbos? If you set the table Thursday night, you wake up Friday morning to an ערב שבת Erev Shabbos. The whole feeling, the whole atmosphere, the whole, the whole Friday is different. It's not Friday, it's ערב שבת Erev Shabbos, and there's an enormous and fundamental difference between the two. Shabbos doesn't just happen passively. לעשות את השבת La'asos es haShabbos, if we want it to be לדורותם l'dorosam.And there's a lot more to say, but we don't have the time. Next. ויתן אל משה ככלתו לדבר אתו בהר סיני שני לוחות העדות לוחות אבן כתובים באצבע אלוקים Vayiten el Moshe k'chaloso l'daber ito b'Har Sinai shnei luchos ha'eidus luchos even ksuvim b'etzba Elokim. Torah reminds us that Moshe gave at הר סיני Har Sinai the לוחות luchos. First of all, the לוחות luchos are called the לוחות העדות luchos ha'eidus. They are the tablets of testimony. They testify to the special relationship of the Jewish people and Hashem. Why is this פסוק pasuk given right here as an introduction to the new story of the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel? Why here? Why now? Why now? So first of all, we set the stage. What function, what role do the לוחות העדות luchos ha'eidus have? The לוחות העדות luchos ha'eidus are the wedding ring. חתן Chasan puts a ring on a כלה's kallah's finger under the חופה chuppah, and it's an עדות eidus. It's a testament to a commitment, to a loyalty, to a fidelity. So the Torah is reminding us before the story of the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel, it's setting up that relationship of marriage, of intimacy, of affection, of commitment that was supposed to be of loyalty, right before it tells us now, describes just how egregious, just how broken, just how terrible what we did is. But the Slanimer Rebbe understands it differently. He says, this פסוק pasuk is here to teach us that הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu gives the רפואה refuah before the מכה makkah. הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu always provides the antidote, the medicine, the response, the repair before he gives us the challenge. It's a יסוד yesod, it's a principle that we have, a tradition we have, the רפואה refuah comes before the מכה makkah. The מכה makkah was this terrible, terrible event of infidelity. And what's the רפואה refuah? What's the response? What's the repair? What's the road back? The לוחות העדות luchos ha'eidus, Torah. Torah is the compass. Torah calibrates our lives. Torah is the way that we come back.And we now get to the story of the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel. Moshe goes up, 40 days, 40 nights, they miscalculate, they think he hasn't come down in time, and they panic. And they build an עגל eigel. And Aharon seems to cooperate with the עגל eigel. And the Rav has very interesting here. We don't have time. I think the phrase I say more than any other in the פרשה שיעור parsha shiur. We don't have time. ויאמר להם אהרן Vayomer lahem Aharon. Aharon seems to cooperate. Why is Aharon unaccountable? He seems to be the quarterback of the עגל eigel. And the people are punished terribly and Aharon seems to get away. What's the difference between the roles of Moshe and Aharon? Moshe and Aharon are like a mother and father. Mother and father I use generically. Sometimes it's the reverse, depends on the family. But you have the strict parent and the lenient parent, the one who wants to be the דין din, the one who's רחמים rachamim, the one who when they say something, you better not challenge them, they mean it, and the other that you can win them over to your side. So, the סולובייצ'יק Soloveitchik describes, there's the king teacher represented by Moshe, מידת הדין midas hadin, criticizing, exhorting, holding people accountable. The עם הארץ am ha'aretz, the ignoramus, the lax are censured, אמת emes, truth demands unbending justice. Moshe is the איש אמת ish emes. And then you have not the king teacher but the חבר chaver, the saint teacher, Aharon, who's guided not by דין din but by חסד chesed, limitless compassion, overflowing kindness. The essence of חסד chesed expresses itself in universality and its ultimate love, no one is excluded. The איש חסד ish chesed as opposed to the איש אמת ish emes. These two archetypes, these two personalities, the contrast between them can be seen within the story of the of the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel. What happened with the Jewish people? Where did they go wrong? So again we've said countless times, to me it's the only explanation I find that's most meaningful of the כוזרי Kuzari, Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi. חטא העגל Cheit ha'eigel is not the story of infidelity. Could you imagine the Jewish people on their wedding night, they excuse themselves from the honeymoon suite to go get ice from the ice machine, and in the end they slip into another room, they have an affair against the ריבונו של עולם Ribbono Shel Olam, they worship a חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel as they walk away from הר סיני Har Sinai? It's unimaginable after the greatest revelation of all time, hearing the voice of Hashem himself that they could do that. It's impossible. So what what happened? What does it mean? Says the כוזרי Kuzari what it means is, the people, we live in the physical material world and we crave a physical material way to relate to Hashem. And they had that through Moshe as the intermediary, the conduit. And when Moshe didn't come back, they panicked. How can we connect to an invisible God? We can't hear, see, feel, touch, smell him. How will we connect with him? We've lost our physical intermediary. Moshe didn't come back. So they panic and they do what? They build an עגל eigel. And says the כוזרי Kuzari, the building of the עגל eigel is not an act of disloyalty to Hashem. It's an attempt to worship Hashem, just a misguided one. You're not allowed to invent your own way. You can't create your own conduit. But הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu says I recognize the legitimacy of that need. So what does he give us instead? If you assume אין מוקדם ומאוחר בתורה ein mukdam u'meuchar ba'Torah, really the משכן Mishkan was given as the response to the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel. Hashem gave us the משכן Mishkan as a response. He said I understand you have a physical need, but you can't make it up on your own. You have to listen to me. The בית הלוי Beis HaLevi writes, the בית הלוי Beis HaLevi writes, that's why ויקהל פקודי Vayakhel Pekudei repeats תרומה תצוה Trumah Tetzaveh all over again with one big difference. כאשר צוה השם את משה ka'asher tziva Hashem es Moshe. ויקהל פקודי Vayakhel Pekudei over and over and over and over and over again it says, as God commanded them. Doesn't say that in תרומה תצוה Trumah Tetzaveh. Why? Says the בית הלוי Beis HaLevi, to teach us that Hashem gave us the משכן Mishkan and he said, you can have the most noble, you can have the most virtuous goal of serving Hashem, but you can't make up your own new rituals. This is a problem in our generation. Everyone wants to use religious creativity. They institute new titles and new statuses and new מניינים minyanim and new services and new religious rituals and protocols and ceremonies, whatever feels good, whatever makes sense. And they say, how dare you challenge my intent? I have the purest intent. I'm doing it לשם שמים l'shem shamayim. And the בית הלוי Beis HaLevi says you can do something לשם שמים l'shem shamayim, you can have the purest intent, but if it's not commanded by God, if it doesn't conform with his will, then it's inauthentic, it's counterfeit. And that's why ויקהל פקודי Vayakhel Pekudei repeats תרומה תצוה Trumah Tetzaveh to tell us, the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel, at least according to the כוזרי Kuzari, was not an act of infidelity. But it was misguided and that we're not allowed to make up our own religion. We have to follow the will of Hashem, either communicated directly by him or communicated through his emissaries and ambassadors, our חז\"ל Chazal who are his, who are his mouthpiece.What happens? I gave a shiur on Sunday, the Slanimer, I'm not gonna repeat the whole thing, mostly because we're out of time. But the Slanimer points out, Moshe does not break the לוחות luchos when he first hears about the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel. When does he drop them and break the לוחות luchos? When he comes down and he sees them singing and dancing. The Slanimer has, you should listen to the shiur or read the piece in נתיבות שלום Nesivos Shalom. Because the Slanimer has an incredibly important insight. He says we're only human and we're destined to make mistakes. And making those mistakes is excusable, it's forgivable, because we have a יצר הרע yetzer hara. God created us with a drive. He created us with temptation, with instinct. He created us with an appetite. God gave us that יצר הרע yetzer hara, it's understandable. He uses the language, we're even to a degree אנוס oness. We are excused, we are exempt because of the יצר הרע yetzer hara that tempts us. That is forgivable. You know what's not forgivable? When after we make such an egregious mistake, we feel no shame. We have no guilt. We have pride, we have nostalgia. It says that they danced במחולות bimcholos, they were in circles. They had a פארברענגען farbrengen, they made a טיש tish, they sang and they danced to celebrate the עגל eigel. Moshe didn't break the לוחות luchos when he heard they made a mistake. Because people are human, we make mistakes. He broke the לוחות luchos when he saw they had no shame, they had no regret, they had no guilt, they had no remorse, they celebrated their mistake. And only after he breaks the לוחות luchos does he realize, whoa, Moshe just handed the wedding ring back. A spouse knows that you mean business that you're really upset about something when you say, here's the ring, I'm done, I'm out. That's what Moshe did and it drew their attention. And now what does the פסוק pasuk describe? The פסוק pasuk says, וישמע העם את הדבר הרע הזה ויתאבלו vayishma ha'am es hadavar hara hazeh vayis'ablu. They heard and ויתאבלו vayis'ablu means אבילות aveilus, they mourned. That's the emotion that Moshe was looking for. They mourned, they grieved, they felt guilt, they felt shame. We make mistakes, that's okay. But do we learn from them? Do we grow from them? Do we repair from them? Or do we celebrate them? Do we marinate in them? Do we enjoy them? ויתאבלו Vayis'ablu. The סולובייצ'יק Soloveitchik says, why ויתאבלו vayis'ablu, what a strange term. It's not the first time that sin is referred to in terms of mourning. We saw the same phenomenon or we'll see the same phenomenon with the מרגלים meraglim. It says Moshe related all the words, and the people mourned greatly. ויתאבלו Vayis'ablu. Why does mourning follow mistakes? Why that language of mourning? You mourn when you experience loss. So Rabbi Soloveitchik describes so beautifully that according to halakha, the laws of mourning apply when a person loses something important and precious. The loss of money or property is not a real loss. You don't mourn. There's no tech-, you don't sit shiva. There's no technical halakhic rules of mourning because you lost your car or your stocks went down. As sad as that is. Mourning is a reaction to a loss. It expresses itself in a strong sensation of nostalgia, of yearning, of retrospective memories. The power of mourning, its cruelty and its loneliness has its local point in the memory of the human being. Were man able to forget, to eradicate events from his memory, there'd be no need for mourning. The feelings of bereavement are dependent on memory, which is the greatest blessing of man. Memory constitutes the entire awareness of the human I. In times of mourning, this blessing becomes a curse. Memories flowed up from the past. When the past comes to the surface, a man is forced to compare yesterday with today, he's engulfed by a feeling of bereavement and mourning. Over the course of many years, a man becomes accustomed to returning home from the outside affairs, so on and so forth. The sinner also mourns. What does he mourn? He mourns that which he has irretrievably lost. What has he lost? Everything. His purity, his holiness, his integrity, his spiritual wealth, the joy of life, the spirit of sanctity in man, all that gives meaning to life and all content to human existence. The mourner mourns the soul of the beloved one he has lost, and the sinner, his own soul, which he has lost. Mourning inevitably contains a masochistic element. The mourner tortures and torments himself. He hates himself. And in the bereavement of sin, there's also a clear masochistic element. Begin to feel a sense of contempt and disgust towards himself. He goes on and on. ויתאבלו Vayis'ablu. It's healthy. When you make a mistake, recognize it and regret it and feel guilty and feel ashamed of it. Those are healthy attributes. That's how you avoid repeating them again in the future. When you feel no shame, when you feel pride, enjoyment, when you celebrate and you sing and you dance, that's when you're not only in trouble, that's when you're likely to do it again and again and again. And that's why the reaction is ויתאבלו vayis'ablu. ויתאבלו Vayis'ablu. ויתאבלו Vayis'ablu.In the context, we're really out of time. I have one more minute. Two more minutes. Ten more minutes. One more minute. In the context of the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel, Moshe says to Hashem, show me your face. הודיעני נא את דרכך ואדעך למען אמצא חן בעיניך Hodi'eini na es drachecha v'eda'acha l'maan emtza chein b'einecha. הראני נא את כבודך Har'eini na es kvodecha. Let me understand your glory. This is the ancient old question of why do bad things happen to good people. People that we love, people who are special, they suffer. They endure terrible things. Why do bad things happen to good people? And what's Hashem's answer to Moshe? כי לא יראני האדם וחי Ki lo yir'ani ha'adam vachai, that nobody can see me and live. So you know what? You can't see me. והעברתי כל טובי על פניך וקראתי בשם השם לפניך V'he'evarti kol tuvi al panecha v'karasi b'shem Hashem l'fanecha. Sorry, backwards. What does he say? ונצבת על הצור v'nitzavta al hatzur, hiding in the cleft of the rock. והיה בעבור כבודי ושמתיך בנקרת הצור ושכותי כפי עליך עד עברי v'haya ba'avor k'vodi v'samtecha b'nikras hatzur v'sakosi chapi alecha ad ovri. I cover my face until you pass. והסירותי את כפי וראית את אחורי ופני לא יראו v'hasirosi es kapi v'raisa es achorai u'panai lo yeira'u. You could see the back of my head, you can't see my face. We can understand events sometimes later. We put the pieces together and later in life we can understand why something happened the way it happened. As we're going through it, as we endure it, it doesn't make any sense. And sometimes only later in life can we make sense of it. It's like somebody who is weaving a tapestry. And when you see the side with all the threads and the knots, it looks like just a bunch of hanging threads randomly. Only when you turn it around, you see the picture painted. The ink dots versus taking a step back and seeing the whole picture. Sometimes only וראית את אחורי v'raisa es achorai, after the fact. But פני panai, you can't see it while we're living it. We can't see it in real time. And sometimes וראית את אחורי v'raisa es achorai, you can't even see it. We go to our our death and we don't even understand why things happen the way they did. But we do so with faith that everything Hashem does has a reason and everything is for our good. And I'll never forget once, a man who lost his wife very, very young, leaving him with very little children, spoke in our shul. He was the a rabbi in אש Eish in England, and he was in BRS for a Shabbos. And his thesis, which only he could say, I could never dare say, was that it's not bad things don't happen to good people. He said, painful things happen to good people, but not bad things. Good or bad is a judgment and we can't give that judgment, only Hashem can. What whether in fact it's good or bad and why it happens, that's up to Hashem, not us. So the right expression and the answer to this question is not bad things happen to good people. It's painful things happen to good people. Why painful things happen to good people, we don't understand. And they are in fact incredibly painful. But it's painful things, not bad things. Good and bad is up to Hashem.If we're a world where only good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people, do you think anyone would choose to be bad? I've always understood that the reason bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people is it keeps us honest. It keeps us having free will, doing making the right choices, doing the right thing, not for the reward, but because it's the right thing to do. If bad things happen to bad people and good things happen to good people, who would ever be bad? They wouldn't be good for being good. They'd be good because they didn't want bad things to happen. So in order to be good because goodness is the right thing to do, sometimes good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people to keep us all honest and ensuring that we're doing the right things for the right reasons. I'll tell you one last thing. Even though there are a thousand more things to say. But I'll tell you one last thing. So הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu now says, if you want me to forgive you, here's the formula. And we say it. We say it for סליחות slichos. ספרדים Sefardim say it for a whole month. It's almost time to start waking up already, eat some קטניות kitniyos and it's time for סליחות slichos. We say it only from the week, מוצאי שבת Motzei Shabbos before ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah through יום כיפור Yom Kippur, but over and over in סליחות slichos what do we say? השם השם קל רחום וחנון Hashem Hashem Kel rachum v'chanun. This formula comes from our פרשה parsha. Even after as egregious as what the Jewish people did, Hashem says say this and you're forgiven. How does that work? How does that work? It's so bogus. Imagine my wife's upset at me. So what do I do? I say, did I tell you you look so beautiful today? You look gorgeous. Did I tell you how important... My life only has meaning because you're in it. Aww, okay, fine, I forgive you. Can't help be angry at you when you say that. Is that what's going on here? השם השם קל Hashem Hashem Kel... Hashem, you look so pretty today. You're so patient, you're so slow to anger, you're so just, you're so fair. Did I tell you how great you are? And he says, 'Oh shucks, you know, I really wanted to be angry at you, but you said those nice things, I can't help but forgive you.' Is that how shallow and superficial Hashem is? You think that works? That makes no sense. That's not a religion I want to be part of. That's not a God I admire. So how does this whole section work? השם השם קל רחום וחנון Hashem Hashem Kel rachum v'chanun. So if you look at the גמרא Gemara in ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah, which tells us about this whole formula and saying it, the גמרא Gemara doesn't say... It doesn't say אמרו לפני imru l'fanai. The מהר\"ל Maharal points this out on the גמרא Gemara in ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah. The גמרא Gemara doesn't say אמרו לפני imru l'fanai. It doesn't say say this before me. It says, יעשו לפני ya'asu l'fanai. Imitate me, be like me, follow my footsteps, and I can't help but forgive you. If you're angry at someone and they say to you, look, I made a mistake, but I want to be more like you. Your values, your ideals, I'm going to embrace them. I want to imitate you. I want to follow in your footsteps. I'm embracing what you care about. That's when you can't help but forgive them. When you see them walking in your path, walking in your ways, following your footsteps, care about what you care about, that's when you forgive them. So it doesn't say אמרו לפני imru l'fanai. It doesn't work as a formula. We repeat this, I say this every year ימים נוראים Yamim Noraim time because people make the mistake. In between השם השם קל רחום וחנון Hashem Hashem Kel rachum v'chanun, they're talking in shul. They're saying לשון הרע lashon hara. In between the י\"ג מדות yud gimmel midos saying the סליחות slichos, they're at work cutting corners, they're forgetting to make a ברכה bracha. It doesn't work. It's not some magic higgledy-piggledy formula that you can just say and Hashem forgives. You can't kiss up to God. It's not אמרו לפני imru l'fanai, it's יעשו לפני ya'asu l'fanai. When we live, השם השם קל רחום וחנון, ארך אפיים Hashem Hashem Kel rachum v'chanun, erech apayim, and so on. So it's worth studying what each of those is. What are these י\"ג מדות yud gimmel midos? תומר דבורה Tomer Devorah, the ספר תומר דבורה sefer Tomer Devorah. Rav Moshe Cordovero, the great kabbalist, תומר דבורה Tomer Devorah, incredible ספר sefer, is all about explaining what each of these attributes are. השם השם קל רחום וחנון ארך אפיים Hashem Hashem Kel rachum v'chanun, erech apayim. יעשו לפני Ya'asu l'fanai. If we want him to forgive us, if we've made a terrible mistake and we want to repair the relationship, if we have shame, regret, remorse, and we want to grow closer, then it's not just enough to say the right things. We have to do the right things as well. And that's what this פרשה parsha is all about. So there's a lot more to say, but enjoy your excursions for the day.
