Transcript
שבוע טוב Shavua tov. Our shiur this morning is dedicated for a רפואה שלמה r'fuah shleimah for יוסף יצחק יהודה בן חנה שרה Yosef Yitzchak Yehuda ben Chana Sarah, should have a speedy and complete and painless רפואה שלמה r'fuah shleimah.Okay, we're studying the שיב שלום Siv Shalom of the Slonimer Rebbe, פרשת פקודי Parshas Pekudei, the last parsha of ספר שמות Sefer Shmos. With this we end ספר שמות Sefer Shmos.כי ענן ה' על המשכן יומם ואש תהיה לילה בו לעיני כל בית ישראל בכל מסעיהם Ki anan Hashem al hamishkan yomam v'eish tihyeh laila bo l'einei kol beis Yisrael b'chol mas'eihem. Says the Slonimer Rebbe the following: The cloud of Hashem was on the Mishkan יומם yomam, by day, and the fire would be לילה בו laila bo, at night, לעיני כל בית ישראל l'einei kol beis Yisrael, before the eyes of the entire Jewish people, בכל מסעיהם b'chol mas'eihem, in all their travels. The cloud of Hashem was on the Mishkan during the day, and a pillar of fire traveled with them at night for all the Jewish people to see, בכל מסעיהם b'chol mas'eihem, on all their travels, on all their journeys. Explains רש\"י Rashi, בכל מסעיהם b'chol mas'eihem, all their journeys, בכל חניתם b'chol chanayasam, whenever they encamped, whenever they stopped. שמקום חניתם אף הוא קרוי מסע Shemokom chanayasam af hu karei masa. When the place that's identified as the place of where they stopped, that's also called part of a journey, part of a travel. לכאורה L'chora, פרשת לשון מסעיהם משמע יותר לשון נסיעה parshas lashon mas'eihem mashma yoser lashon nesia. It sounds kind of backwards. You would think that מסעיהם mas'eihem refers to their travel, their journey, where they're going. What do you mean when you use the word \"in their travels\" it means to when they stop? So say בכל חניתם b'chol chanayasam, every time they stopped. Why does it say בכל מסעיהם b'chol mas'eihem? ויש לומר על דרך העבודה V'yesh lomar al derech ha'avodah, על פי מאמר בספרים הקדושים על הפסוק ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם al pi ma'amar b'sfarim hak'doshim al ha'pasuk v'asu li mikdash v'shachanti b'socham. So we can understand this based on what everyone's been talking about for the last five weeks since פרשת תרומה Parshas Truma. I rank it among the top three cliché דברי תורה divrei Torah, which is ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם v'asu li mikdash v'shachanti b'socham, we started in the singular and we end in the plural. בתוכם לא נאמר אלא בתוכם B'socham lo ne'emar ela b'socham. It doesn't say in \"it\", it says in \"them\", בתוך כל אחד ואחד b'soch kol echad v'echad. והיינו שזו מצוה מוטלת גם על כל יהודי בפרטות V'haina she'zu mitzvah muteles gam al kol Yehudi b'pratus, שיקדש גופו כחומר של הדיוטות כמקדש she'yikadesh gufo k'chomer shel hedyotos k'mikdash. מקום קדוש הראוי להשראת השכינה Makom kadosh haraui l'hashra'as ha'shchina. These פרשיות parshiyos, these four out of five, Trumah, Tetzaveh, Vayakhel, Pekudei, are all a prescription. They're all the design of not bricks and mortar, not a building of a Mishkan, but how to construct our lives and how to live our lives in a way in which just like when you build the bricks and mortar, its purpose, its goal is to bring down השראת השכינה hashra'as ha'shchina, is so that God will descend and have a place here on earth, in our world. So too, when we build בלבבי משכן אבנה b'livavi mishkan evneh, this architecture, these dimensions, this description is all about how to mold and shape our heart, how to mold and shape our lives and our homes in a way that Hashem will come down and dwell. The נפש החיים Nefesh HaChaim says over and over that it's not that we are the משל mashal and the בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash or the Mishkan is the נמשל nimshal. It's not that the, you know, בלבבי משכן אבנה b'livavi mishkan evneh, really it's only in the absence of a Mikdash, so we use some homiletical interpretation to make us feel better, singular to plural, cliché דבר תורה dvar Torah, Hashem's in all of our hearts. It's the opposite. We are the נמשל nimshal. The whole Trumah, Tetzaveh, Vayakhel, Pekudei, all these dimensions and diagrams and this whole description is to reveal to us, it was all a metaphor for us. So when you went to that building, when you came to the Mishkan, and you saw the layout and its utensils and all that was going on, it was a metaphor for what really should be happening inside all of us. יעודו ותפקידו של יהודי הוא להתקדש Ye'udo v'tafkido shel Yehudi hu l'hiskadesh. The goal, the essence, the mission, the purpose, the destiny of a Jew is, he says this in the התפעל hitpael, reflexively, we should sanctify ourselves. כמו שמצינו בתורה רוב הציוויים על כך K'mo she'matzinu b'Torah rov ha'tzivuyim al kach. Just like we find in the Torah, this is such a redundant and repetitive mandate to lead a holy life. David Brooks has a book, The Road to Character, and in it he has a great, I think the whole book, leave David Brooks aside, a complicated person, but the whole book is worth it for one sentence. He says, \"We don't live for happiness, we live for holiness.\" And he quotes his Jewish sources, his Jewish roots for that principle. That we don't live for happiness, we live for holiness. And I think in that sentence it really captures the difference between most of the world today and our religious community, our Torah community and what our, what our overarching mission and mandate are. Most of the world today is living for happiness. Does it make me happy? Does it give me pleasure? Does it give me joy? Do I want to do it? Just do it. Obey your thirst. Do what you want. They're living for happiness. Are you happy? Deserve to be happy. I want you to be happy. Do whatever you want to that makes you happy. That's the defining character, that's the defining criteria in in the world at large. Does it make you happy? Judaism says, \"What does your happiness have to do with anything?\" Who brought up your happiness? Who said you deserve to be happy? Who said you're entitled to be happy? Are you being holy? Now, it happens to be that when you're holy, nothing makes you more happy. When you're living a life of holiness, of sanctity, of purpose, of mission, when you're living your best you, nothing brings more fulfillment, not the fleeting kind of of of pleasure or happiness which is experienced and then is gone and then you just crave it again, but the most lasting kind of of fulfillment comes from holiness. So do you live for happiness or do you live for holiness? The Torah over and over and over says, live for holiness. קדושים תהיו K'doshim tihiyu, והתקדשתם והייתם קדושים v'hiskadishtem v'hiyisem k'doshim, ואתם תהיו לי ממלכת כהנים וגוי קדוש v'atem tihiyu li mamleches kohanim v'goy kadosh. There's just three examples, but Torah in many, many places reinforces over and over, holy, be holy. Now, what is holiness? If it's in contrast to happiness, if happiness is not our mission or goal, but holiness is, what is holiness? That we make sure that no women ever play the drums at our weddings, is that holiness? What no one's face can appear, no one's name can be used? What is holiness? That's a that's a counterfeit holiness. That's a cop-out holiness. That's a fast-track or a or a kind of distorted sense of holiness. That's not holiness. What's holiness? ואז מבטיח הקדוש ברוך הוא ושכנתי בתוכם V'az mavtiach HaKadosh Baruch Hu v'shachanti b'socham. כאשר יהודי מקיים ועשו לי מקדש ומקדש את עצמו K'asher Yehudi m'kayem v'asu li mikdash u'mekadesh es atzmo. So what does it mean ועשו לי מקדש v'asu li mikdash? Be from me a Mikdash, be from me a sanctuary, means מקדש את עצמו mekadesh es atzmo. Be from me a holy vessel. Be from me a symbol, an icon. Be from me somebody that people point to and say, \"Wow, I I work with this guy, or I went to gym with this guy, or my neighbor is this guy.\" So they're really holy. I can sense their holy energy. The way they live their lives with virtue and righteousness, honesty and integrity, with godliness, their presence, their mindfulness, their compassion, their kindness, their empathy, their service of Hashem, their selflessness, all of that, wow. אז הגוף הוא נהיה לבית מקדש קטן שהשכינה שורה בו Az ha'guf hu nihiya l'Beis Mikdash katan she'ha'shchina shora bo. When you live your life like that and people see that in you and people are drawn to that of you and people are inspired and impressed to be like you, so then you have fulfilled, you've turned your life into a Mikdash. Turn your life into a Mikdash. ועשו לי מקדש v'asuli mikdash. וכנגד זה נאמר הפסוק כי ענן ה' על המשכן יומם ואש תהיה לילה בו U'k'neged zeh ne'emar ha'pasuk ki anan Hashem al hamishkan yomam v'eish tihyeh laila bo. And that's what it means the pasuk says, the cloud of Hashem is on the Mishkan during the day and the pillar of fire at night. שיש שמירה עליונה על המשכן She'yesh shmira elyona al hamishkan. היינו על יהודי שמקדש את עצמו להיות משכן Hainu al Yehudi she'mekadesh es atzmo l'hiyos mishkan. שענן ה' עליו יומם ואש תהיה לילה בו She'anan Hashem alav yomam v'eish tihyeh laila bo. Just like the pasuk promises that there was this incredible traveling security system that was with the Mishkan in the מדבר midbar. In the מדבר midbar, you're exposed to all the elements, snakes and scorpions and bandits and scorching sun and and and a cold night. What protected the Mishkan and all of its holy vessels? So Hashem protected it. A cloud in day and a pillar of fire at night. So just like the Mishkan, which is the physical embodiment of holiness, earns a divine protection, so too we, when we mold ourselves into instruments of holiness, vehicles of holiness in this world, we too merit and earn that divine protection of Hashem. וזהו שאמר בכל מסעיהם V'zehu she'amar b'chol mas'eihem. כדאיתא בספר דגל מחנה אפרים בשם הבעל שם טוב K'd'eiso b'sefer Degel Machaneh Ephraim b'shem ha'Baal Shem Tov, זכותו יגן עלינו zchuso yagen aleinu. So the דגל מחנה אפרים Degel Machaneh Ephraim says in the name of his grandfather the בעל שם טוב Baal Shem Tov on פרשת מסעי Parshas Masei, בענין מ\"ב המסעות שנמנו שם b'inyan mem-beis ha'masa'os she'nimnu sham. פרשת מסעי Parshas Masei counts 42 journeys, 42 Uber rides, 42 trips. I don't know what the cloud surge rating was not very high. וכתב שכל יהודי עובר בימי חייו את בחינת כל מ\"ב המסעות של בני ישראל V'kasav she'kol Yehudi over b'mei chayav es b'chinas kol mem-beis ha'masa'os shel Bnei Yisrael. So the tradition that we have from the בעל שם טוב Baal Shem Tov is that every Jew throughout their lifetime will make 42 stops and have 42 journeys in that road towards character, in that road to our own self-discovery. Who are we? What's our life about? In the road to our own personal fulfillment, we have מ\"ב מסעות mem-beis masa'os, 42 journeys, travelings. וזהו פירוש הכתוב אלה מסעי בני ישראל V'zehu peirush ha'kasuv eileh masei Bnei Yisrael. היינו מסעותיו של כל יהודי Hainu masa'osav shel kol Yehudi. פרשת מסעי Parshas Masei, that's what it begins. אלה מסעי Eileh masei, these are the journeys of the Jewish people, means not the Jewish people who lived then, but כל יהודי kol Yehudi, every Jew שיוצא מארץ מצרים she'yotzei m'Eretz Mitzrayim, who left Egypt, מעת צאתו מרחם אמו עד בואו אל הארץ העליונה mei'es tzeiso m'rechem imo ad bo'o el ha'aretz ha'elyona. So from the moment we emerge from our mother's womb until we are returned to the ground from which we came, there will be 42 milestones, 42 demarcations, 42 points that we can identify in our lives which were transformative, 42 points on our journey which helped to find us. ששב למקור לחיים העליונים בעולם העליון שהרי עובר מ\"ב מסעות She'shav la'mekor l'chaim ha'elyonim b'olam ha'elyon she'harei over mem-beis masa'os. והתורה הקדושה באה כאן להורות ליהודי איך יעבור את כל מ\"ב המסעות עד שיבוא למקורו V'haTorah Hak'dosha ba'a kan l'horos la'Yehudi eich ya'avor es kol mem-beis ha'masa'os ad she'yavo l'mekoro. So how do we go on that trip? How do we go on that journey? How do we survive or endure or thrive on those 42 stops? תחילת מסעי בני ישראל שבמשכן בנו סעו ובאו במדבר הגדול והנורא T'hilim masei Bnei Yisrael she'b'mishkan b'no sa'u u'va'u b'midbar ha'gadol v'hanora. מקום נחש שרף ועקרב Makom nachash saraf v'akrav. The 40 years that we traveled through the actual desert, as we mentioned, there were all the elements that were threatening. זכור את כל הדרך אשר הוליכך ה' אלוקיך זה ארבעים שנה במדבר Z'char et kol ha'derech asher holichacha Hashem Elokecha zeh arba'im shana b'midbar. We remember, we have a command to remember. Don't neglect, don't be forgetful. Remember with gratitude that you crossed the desert for 40 years. המוליכך במדבר הגדול והנורא נחש שרף ועקרב Ha'molichacha b'midbar ha'gadol v'hanora nachash saraf v'akrav. And we passed through very dangerous territory. We were exposed to great elements and we survived. כעין הוא אצל כל יהודי במ\"ב המסעות שעובר בחייו הרי הוא עובר את כל בחינות של המדבר הגדול והנורא K'chain hu eitzel kol Yehudi b'mem-beis ha'masa'os she'over b'chayav, harei hu over es kol b'chinos shel ha'midbar ha'gadol v'hanora. נחש שרף ועקרב Nachash saraf v'akrav. כמו שהיה אומר האדמו\"ר הבית אברהם זכותו יגן עלינו K'mo she'hayah omer ha'Admor, l'Beis Avraham, zchuso yagen aleinu, חוזר בשם הרבי הקדוש ר' איצלה קווידנובר chozer b'shem ha'Rebbe ha'kadosh Reb Itzila Kavdinber. I don't know who that is. מגדולי תלמידי הרבי הקדוש ר' מנחם מענדל מויטבסק B'dolei talmidei haRebbe ha'kadosh Reb Menachem Mendel miVitebsk. I know who that is. זכותו יגן עלינו Zchuso yagen aleinu. שהיה בכל יום ובקומו בבוקר היה אומר, קשה להיות יהודי She'hayah b'chol yom u'v'kumo b'boker hayah omer, kasha l'hiyos Yehudi. היצר הרע הוא מלאך Ha'yetzer hara hu malach. ואחרי כך היה רוקע ברגלו ואומר אבל אם ארצה, אוכל V'acharei kach hayah roke'a b'raglo v'omer aval im ertzeh, uchal. הקדוש ברוך הוא עוזר HaKadosh Baruch Hu ozer. צדיקים מעלמא דילין מעולם העליון עוזרים V'tzaddikim m'alma dilein m'olam ha'elyon ozrim. So this tradition from ר' מנחם מענדל מוויטבסק Reb Menachem Mendel miVitebsk who used to wake up in the morning and say, \"שווער צו זיין א איד Shver tzu zein a Yid. It's very difficult to be a Jew.\" I'm about to face the day. We go on WhatsApp and some bot got control of the group and posted inappropriate things. From the moment you open your eyes, you haven't even washed נגל וואסער negel vasser, you should probably wash נגל וואסער negel vasser before you grab your phone. But from the moment you open your eyes till you go to sleep, it's it's קשה להיות יהודי kasha l'hiyos Yehudi, שווער צו זיין א איד shver tzu zein a Yid. How are we going to remember to make brachos before and after we eat and דאווען daven with כוונה kavanah and not speak לשון הרע lashon hara and not listen to לשון הרע lashon hara, act with integrity and honesty, not look at inappropriate images and not hear, listen to... there's a million and one things to be conscientious of. It's hard. It's very hard to be a Jew. The יצר הרע yetzer hara is all around us. It says that's not good for you, eat it anyway. You shouldn't look at that, look at it anyway. You shouldn't think of that, think about that, listen to that, go there, watch that, waste that time. It's very hard. So ר' מנחם מענדל מוויטבסק Reb Menachem Mendel miVitebsk used to wake up and say, \"But, as difficult as it is, as challenging as it is, as hard as the test is, אם ארצה, אוכל im ertzeh uchal, if I want, I can.\" If there's a will, there's a way. If you will it, there is no dream. Maybe Herzl stole that from ר' מנחם מענדל מוויטבסק Reb Menachem Mendel miVitebsk. If you will it, it's no dream. אם ארצה im ertzeh, if you want, אוכל uchal, you can. You can persevere, you can endure, you can triumph. How? Not on your own, not by yourself. הקדוש ברוך הוא עוזר HaKadosh Baruch Hu ozer. Turn to the Ribono Shel Olam and ask Him to help. הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu, I have many נסיונות nisyonos, I have a יצר הרע yetzer hara, I'm tested. I need your help to endure. I need you to strengthen me. צדיקים Tzaddikim. וביותר הדברים אמורים בארבעים שנה האמצעיות של האדם שהם עיקר שנותיו V'im yoter ha'dvarim amurim b'arba'im shana ha'emtza'iyos shel ha'adam she'hem ikar shnosav. And this specifically most applies in the 40 middle years of our life, which are the majority of our life. Which are those 40 years? ובהם עליו בעיקר להגיע ליעודו ותכליתו U'vahem alav b'ikar l'hagia l'ye'udo v'sachliso. It's during those 40 years that we are meant to arrive at our purpose, at our mission. שעובר אז את המשכול הקשה שבבחינת נחש שרף ועקרב She'over az es ha'mishchol ha'kasha she'b'b'chinas nachash saraf v'akrav. That's when we are most tested and that's when it's also expected the most of us. I don't know, is that 20 to 60? Probably 20 to 60, right? This is following the desert paradigm. From 20 to 60. At 20 you start to be a big boy, big girl and grow up. Start to figure out who you are, who you're meant to be, and what you can uniquely contribute to the world. And by 60, you're over a bottle. It's all over. Just joking, חס ושלום chas v'shalom. The truth is, by 60 is only half your life. It's only half your lifetime. You're expected to live much more. The whole world has changed with life expectancy, but I don't have to tell you all that. I thought the other day, off the top of my head, without even calculating it or looking, בלי עין הרע b'li ayin hara, I can name four couples in the shul that both the husband and wife are in their 90s. It's like, when we were kids, no one heard of such a thing. You didn't know anyone in their 90s. וזהו אומרת התורה הקדושה כי ענן ה' על המשכן יומם ואש תהיה לילה בו לעיני כל בית ישראל בכל מסעיהם V'zehu omeres haTorah Hakdosha ki anan Hashem al hamishkan yomam v'eish tihyeh laila bo l'einei kol Beis Yisrael b'chol mas'eihem. שהיהודי המתקדש יש לו שמירה עליונה של ענן ה' She'ha'Yehudi ha'miskadesh yesh lo shmira elyona shel anan Hashem. אשר ענן ה' היה הורג את כל הנחשים שרפים ועקרבים שבמדבר Asher anan Hashem hayah horeg es kol ha'nachashim s'rafim v'akravim she'b'midbar. ואיך שיסתדר לישראל שיוכלו לעבור את מ\"ב המסעות בכל הארבעים שנה במדבר הגדול והנורא עד בואם אל ארץ נושבת V'eich she'yisader l'Yisrael she'yuchlu la'avor es mem-beis ha'masa'os b'chol ha'arba'im shana b'midbar ha'gadol v'hanora ad bo'am el ha'aretz nosheves. כעין היהודי המתקדש יש לו שמירה עליונה של ענן ה' יומם ואש תהיה לילה בו K'chain ha'Yehudi ha'miskadesh yesh lo shmira elyona shel anan Hashem yomam v'eish tihyeh laila bo. When did the Jewish people earn this divine protection, this escort? When they had holiness in their midst. So the same is true with us. Here we are, exposed to the elements. We're exposed to the world. We're exposed to threats and dangers externally, antisemitism, violence, terrorism, a crazy world, false accusations, corruptions, criminals. We have threats that are around us. We also internally have threats. How many sabotage their own lives, sabotage their own success? Even people who've reached pinnacles of greatness, people who are brilliant, charismatic, but their own internal יצר הרע yetzer hara undermines and sabotages all their success. So there are threats abound, externally, internally. You don't want to get out of bed in the morning. Who wants to come out from under the covers? חלילה Chalila, that day, what what diagnosis are they going to get? How will their life change forever? There's a million and one examples of the threats that surround us. So through what merit do we earn divine protection for those 40 years that we feel so threatened and that we are so worried and we're exposed to so many dangers? The same divine protection as Klal Yisrael had in the desert. What was it? When we turn ourselves into a Mishkan. בלבבי משכן אבנה Bilvavi mishkan evneh. When we live not for happiness but for holiness. When we have discipline and self-control, and we measure every speech, every thought, every action through the filter of, \"Will this bring me closer to Hashem? Does it help me better repair His world? Does it more make me fulfill my mission for why I'm here?\" Not my happiness. Why? I want to do it. It makes me happy. It's what I want to do. Not what I want to do. Again, I'm all for relaxing and recreation and enjoyment and fun and vacation, but all of that is in the מסגרת misgeres of repositioning me to fulfill my mission. It's not an ends, it's a means to get back to what it is I'm trying to accomplish. If I'm doing that because that's what I live for, there are sports fanatics who, following sports, the word sport is Latin from disport. People follow sports not as a distraction because they need a break, because they need to re-energize, because they need to be entertained in a kosher way and then come back to life. It becomes the ends into itself. They're fanatics where they've forgotten. They care about the the team more than the own players who are on that who are on that team. So whether it's following sports or these other areas of our life, are we living for our own happiness or are we living for holiness? And when we live for holiness, just like the Jews who traveled through the desert, only when they started to live for holiness did Hashem provide that divine protection. So we too can earn and achieve a divine protection when we live, when we're transformed to live for holiness. ומרומז בזה לענין שמירה בשני מצבים V'murmaz b'zeh l'inyan shmira b'shtei matzavim, בבחינת יומם ובבחינת לילה b'b'chinas yomam u'v'b'chinas laila. So just like the Torah says, בכל מסעיהם b'chol mas'eihem, and every one of us have 42 journeys in our life, and it's said that there was a difference, the cloud protected them during the day and the pillar of fire at night. So יומם היינו בעת שאין היצר הרע מתגבר במיוחד רק הוא בבחינת ענן Yomam hainu b'eis she'eina ha'yetzer hara misgaber b'miyuchad rak hu b'b'chinas anan. שיש לו יהודי מסכים המבדילים She'yesh lo Yehudi maschim hamavdilim, שאינו מרגיש... מרגיש את עצמו רחוק מהשם יתברך she'eino margish... margish es atzmo rachok mei'Hashem Yisborach. ואז השמירה היא ענן ה' V'az ha'shmira hi anan Hashem, שבתוך הענן והחושך ה' יתברך נמצא she'b'soch ha'anan v'hachoshech Hashem Yisborach nimtza. כמאמר אדמו\"ר הבית אברהם K'maamar Admor l'Beis Avraham, על הפסוק משה ניגש אל הערפל אשר שם האלקים al ha'pasuk Moshe nigash el ha'arafel asher sham ha'Elokim. שיש ג' מדרגות של חושך זו למעלה מזו She'yesh gimmel madrigos shel choshech zo l'maala m'zu, חושך, ענן, וערפל choshech, anan, v'arafel. ערפל הוא החושך המעובה ביותר Arafel hu ha'choshech ha'me'uveh b'yoser. ומשה ניגש אל הערפל בתוך החושך הגדול ביותר U'Moshe nigash el ha'arafel b'soch ha'choshech ha'gadol b'yoser, גילה אשר שם האלקים gila asher sham ha'Elokim. So the two differences of the ways we journey in life, we're בבחינת b'b'chinas, we sometimes are in the status of day, and sometimes in our own lives when we journey, we are in a period of night. To be in a period of day means אין היצר הרע מתגבר במיוחד eina ha'yetzer hara misgaber b'miyuchad, it's not that there's a particularly יצר הרע yetzer hara which is, not a drive, a temptation which is sabotaging us. It means בבחינת ענן b'b'chinas anan. We're in a cloud. We're cloaked in a cloud. מסכים Maschim, is a a mask. There's a mask where you can't feel Hashem. Hashem, we want to believe, we somehow know somewhere He's out there, but there's a barrier, there's a mask, there's a פרוכת paruches between him and us, a sort of הסתר פנים hester panim where we feel like we're going about our daily lives and where's Hashem? I don't feel him, I don't see him. I have struggles and trials and tribulations and I don't feel his presence. I don't feel his guiding hand. I don't feel his love. Nothing goes right, nothing goes easily. For some people, nothing goes well. For many people, even things are going extraordinarily well and everything's perfect and everything's great, but they're in a blah. They're what Rav Wolbe would call ימי הייאוש y'mei ha'yei'ush. Person is in a spiritual cold spell, a spiritual funk. A spiritual funk. So there's a mask. You're in an anan, you're you're like lost in a cloud, you're just in a fog. We describe that people who are going through a a period emotionally, in their marriage, or or professionally or certainly religiously, they're in a fog. So that's the בחינת ענן b'chinas anan. What it means that during the day, in your travels during the day, in which you're in a fog and you don't feel or see Hashem's presence, so where is Hashem? In the ענן ה' anan Hashem. That means that we have three levels: חושך, ענן, וערפל choshech, anan, v'arafel. ערפל Arafel is the thickest fog, cloud of Hashem, cloak covering Hashem. Moshe entered the ערפל arafel and in the darkness, he found Hashem. Sometimes it's in the fog, it's in the funk, it's in the darkness. Why? Because when you feel your furthest from him is when you have the greatest itch and the greatest yearning to draw close to him. So when you feel like everything's okay, it's kind of like Jim Collins's book, Good to Great. Good is the biggest obstacle to great. When you're bad, you strive for being great. When you're good, you're good enough. So he writes, \"Good is the biggest obstacle to great,\" because good is good enough. So when you're good with Hashem, so you're not going to be great, because you're good. But when you feel that you're distanced, you're in a fog, and you're you're you're yearning, you want to draw close, you want to repair. So that will drive you. Now you could find Hashem in in the fog. כמאמר הבעל שם טוב קדוש זכותו יגן עלינו K'maamar ha'Baal Shem Tov kadosh zchuso yagen aleinu, ואנכי הסתר אסתיר v'Anochi haster astir, בתוך ההסתר אנכי מסתתר b'soch ha'hester Anochi mistater. ואנכי הסתר אסתיר V'Anochi haster astir means within the הסתר hester, within the hiddenness of Hashem, אנכי מסתתר Anochi mistater. זהו כי ענן ה' על המשכן יומם V'zehu ki anan Hashem al hamishkan yomam. שהיהודי המקדש את עצמו יש לו שמירה עליונה She'ha'Yehudi ha'mekadesh es atzmo yesh lo shmira elyona, שמרגיש כי בתוך הענן ה' יתברך נמצא she'margish ki b'soch ha'anan Hashem Yisborach nimtza. A Jew who's מקדש את עצמו mekadesh es atzmo, when a Jew is living not for happiness but for holiness, when a Jew in every moment says, \"How can I be the best version of me? How can I live the most sacred life? How can I best represent and be an ambassador of godliness here in this world?\" Even in the cloud, they'll find Hashem. If that's your mission and that's your purpose, and that's what informs and inspires everything you think, say, and do, then even when you're in a fog or a funk, you'll find Hashem in that fog or funk. ואש תהיה לילה בו V'eish tihyeh laila bo, כדאיתא בספרים הקדושים שהלילה הוא עת התגברות החומריות ביותר על האדם k'd'eisa b'sfarim hak'doshim she'ha'laila hu eis hisgabrus ha'chomriyus b'yoser al ha'adam. So that was during the day. During the day, there's no particular יצר הרע yetzer hara which is targeting you. It means you're in a fog or a funk. And what's the solution? ענן ה' Anan Hashem. In the fog or funk, find Hashem in the fog or funk. What's the song that comes from the words of Rav Nachman? אפילו בהסתרה שבתוך ההסתרה Afilu b'hestara she'b'soch ha'hestara... I'm not going to sing that song again. You can... Rav Nachman, אפילו בהסתרה afilu b'hestara. Even when Hashem is hiding, אנכי עומד Anochi omed. You could find Hashem. So almost Dafka, when a person is not playing hide and seek, you're not searching for them, but when they're playing hide and seek is when you're in the exercise of searching for them. So when Hashem is revealed, when He's accessible, okay, you take the relationship for granted. But now that there's a sense of hiddenness and the longing, you can find, you can recover, you can restore the relationship with Hashem through the experience of the longing. So that's the daytime. The night, ואש תהיה לילה בו eish tihyeh laila bo. כדאיתא בספרים הקדושים k'd'eisa b'sfarim hak'doshim, לילה Laila is the time שהתגברות החומריות ביותר על האדם she'hisgabrus ha'chomriyus b'yoser al ha'adam, that the physicality, the material world, it overwhelms us, it overcomes us. שהיצר הרע בוער כאש She'ha'yetzer hara bo'er k'eish. That's when, ooh, your drive for physical pleasure, lust, it burns inside you like a fire. אז השמירה היא ואש תהיה לילה בו Az ha'shmira hi v'eish tihyeh laila bo. אש של קדושה שהיא אש אוכלה אש Eish shel k'dusha she'hi eish ochla eish. So at night, at night's a dangerous time. People are left alone with their technology at night. At night, a person is exhausted. They're they're they're vulnerable. They're whatever is down at night. You feel particularly exposed and the fire of the יצר הרע yetzer hara burns at night. The fire of the יצר הרע yetzer hara burns. So what's the antidote to the fire of the יצר הרע yetzer hara? The fire of קדושה k'dusha. Be on fire in the quest for holiness. לעיני כל בית ישראל בכל מסעיהם L'einei kol Beis Yisrael b'chol mas'eihem, היינו בכל מ\"ב המסעות שעובר כל ישראל hainu b'chol mem-beis ha'masa'os she'over kol Yisrael, שעובר כל יהודי she'over kol Yehudi. ללא השמירה העליונה בלתי אפשר לעבור את זאת L'lo ha'shmira ha'elyona bilti efshar la'avor es zos. רק כאשר היהודי מקדש את עצמו בבחינת משכן, יש לו שמירה עליונה בכל הגלגולים של מ\"ב מסעותיו Rak k'asher ha'Yehudi mekadesh es atzmo b'b'chinas Mishkan, yesh lo shmira elyona b'chol ha'gilgulim shel mem-beis masa'osav, בכל הנסיונות והמשברים העוברים עליו b'chol ha'nisyonos v'hamishbarim ha'ovrim alav. שכל ימי חייו של יהודי הוא בעולם התלאות בגשמיות וברוחניות She'kol y'mei chayav shel Yehudi hu b'olam hatla'os b'gashmiyus u'v'ruchniyus. אך כל מסעותיו שעוברים עליו מקרב אותו להגיע אל תכלית העולם העליונה Ach kol masa'osav she'ovrim alav mekarev oiso l'hagia el tachlis ha'olam ha'elyona. So the first thing is to realize, like this tradition of the בעל שם Baal Shem, that like Klal Yisrael, we have a period of 40 years, hopefully maybe twice as long, where we're going through 42 masa'os. Our life is made up of small journeys. Our life is made up of chapters. We don't live one linear life that goes smoothly from beginning to end. It's not that when you're 10 years old you say, \"I want to be a fireman, I want to be a this, I want to marry this kind of girl, I want a white picket fence, I want this many children, and then I'll die in my bed at peace in my sleep.\" You don't get to prescribe your life early on and one linear fashion. All of our lives are made up of many, many, many chapters. How many? 42 chapters. Most of which we probably never anticipated, going through that experience of success or of disappointment and despair. But our life is made up of 42 twists and turns and chapters of life. And what's the key, the common theme or the common denominator? What is the compass that that leads us, guides us through those 42 chapters of twists and turns of life? It's striving for holiness, not happiness. If no matter what's going on around us, we got the job, we lost the job, we got great news, we heard terrible diagnosis, we experienced a great success, we went through a moment of failure, we're on a spiritual high, we're on fire, we're going through a period where everything's amazing, we're in a low, we're in a funk, we're in a fog. The guiding thing that should inform and inspire all of our twists and turns for the 42 chapters of our life is that aspiration for holiness, not happiness. And if we do, we will earn in return. Hashem reciprocates that divine protection, just like He did in the desert, of the cloud during the day, namely the merit of finding Hashem in the fog, and the fire at night, that the antidote to the fire of the יצר הרע yetzer hara is to light the fire of spiritual ambition. וזהו סיום ספר שמות V'zehu siyum Sefer Shmos שמסתיים מן פרשת הגלות של גלות מצרים she'mastim min parshas ha'galus shel galus Mitzrayim וגאולת מצרים u'geulas Mitzrayim, שזהו בחינת עיבור של עבר ישראל she'zehu b'chinas ibur shel ever Yisrael. ואחר כך מתחילים מ\"ב המסעות שעבר ישראל V'acharei kach maschilin mem-beis ha'masa'os she'over Yisrael, שמהם היו מסעות ובהם נתגדל ישראל כמו קבלת התורה ועוד she'mehem hayu masa'os u'vahem nisgadel Yisrael k'mo kabbalas haTorah v'od. So, Sefer Shmos begins with the deepest, darkest exile. Here we were in in Mitzrayim. And afterwards we start the 42 journeys that the Jewish people passed, and they had many chapters, many twists and turns, like receiving the Torah. והיו מסעות ובהם ירדו ישראל V'hayu masa'os u'vahem yardu Yisrael. אך מכלל מ\"ב המסעות נתעלה ישראל Ach miklal mem-beis ha'masa'os nis'aleh Yisrael. So, the story of our people is like an individual life story. We had highs, like standing at Kabbalas HaTorah, and then we had major lows, חטא העגל chet ha'egel, המרגלים meraglim. We were appreciative, mature adults, and we were impetuous, obstinate children who complained and who were ungrateful. Our story in Sefer Shmos and we'll pick it up again at least the narrative part in Bamidbar is this journey of the 42 stops and chapters through life, the highs and lows. וכמו כן כל יחיד עובר בחייו מסע של עליה מסע של ירידה U'k'mo chain kol yachid over b'chayav masa shel aliyah u'masa shel yerida, ומכולם הוא מגיע לתכליתו u'mikulam hu magia l'tachliso. We too have periods of highs and periods of lows, but when we learn to navigate them using the compass of Torah, of יראת שמים yiras shamayim, the compass of striving for קדושה k'dusha, so in the end we can arrive at our destination. You have arrived at your destination. ואחר כך מסיים בפרשיות האחרונות V'acharei kach mesayem b'parshiyos ha'achronos, בענין ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם b'inyan v'asu li mikdash v'shachanti b'socham, שזהו התכלית של היהודי שיעשה מעצמו קדוש, מקדש she'zehu ha'tachlis shel ha'Yehudi she'yaaseh mei'atzmo kadosh, Mikdash. ואז יזכה לושכנתי בתוכם V'az yizkeh l'v'shachanti b'socham. If we can in fact transform our lives to the pursuit of holiness, then ושכנתי בתוכם v'shachanti b'socham. So, it's kind of like with the eating comes the appetite. If we start doing it, then we feel, people say, \"If only I felt Hashem. If only I saw Him, if only He talked to me, if only I knew He was there, oh, then I'd live a really righteous and really and really pious and really religious life.\" It's the opposite. Live a righteous and pious and religious life, and then ושכנתי בתוכם v'shachanti b'socham, He'll come down and you'll feel His presence. שישמור היהודי מהתחלתו ומכל נסיונות חייו She'yishmor ha'Yehudi m'aschalaso u'm'kol nisyonos chayav. כשמסיים הספר בפסוק כי ענן ה' על המשכן יומם ואש תהיה לילה בו K'she'mesayem ha'sefer b'pasuk ki anan Hashem al hamishkan yomam v'eish tihyeh laila bo. שהיהודי המקדש את עצמו יש לו ענן ה' השומר אותו יומם ואש תהיה לילה בו לשמרו... לשמרו She'ha'Yehudi ha'mekadesh es atzmo yesh lo anan Hashem ha'shomer oiso yomam v'eish tihyeh laila bo l'shomro... l'shomro. So, it's it's the opposite. Don't wait to feel inspired, don't wait to feel Hashem's presence and to be inspired, and then you'll live the life. Start living the life, and then Hashem will come down and you'll feel His presence in your life. It's the exact opposite. I think it's what informed the Lubavitcher Rebbe's campaigns of lighting candles or putting on tefillin, that start doing. If you start doing, a campaign of doing, if you campaign of ועשו לי מקדש v'asu li mikdash, light candles, put on tefillin, lead a life of קדושה k'dusha, and then ושכנתי בתוכם v'shachanti b'socham, you're going to feel His presence. It'll be undeniable, it'll be palpable, and then you'll just want more and more and more and you'll want more. טעמו וראו כי טוב ה' Ta'amu u'r'u ki tov Hashem. If you taste it, you'll see, כי טוב ה' ki tov Hashem. So טעמו ta'amu, it's up to us to take that first step. Taste what a life of holiness is like, and then טוב ה' tov Hashem, you'll feel ושכנתי בתוכם v'shachanti b'socham that Hashem comes down.
