Transcript
Good morning. I want to thank our sponsors for this morning's class, Gail Shaiwitz in commemoration of the יארצייט yahrzeit of her beloved father, זלמן צבי בן אברם Zalman Tzvi ben Avram, whose נשמה neshama should have an עליה aliyah. I want to begin this morning with a very simple question, and that is, what are you people doing here? Isn't anyone making פסח Pesach? I was really counting on nobody showing up today. I have a lot to do for the שבת הגדול Shabbos HaGadol דרשה drasha. So, we'll see how far we get because every minute right now is precious.This week we have the privilege of reading פרשת צו Parshas Tzav, continuing the theme we began last שבת Shabbos, the third book of the תורה Torah, תורת כהנים Toras Kohanim, the laws of the sacrifices, the guide for the priests who bring them. And again, I reiterate what we spoke about last week, I can't emphasize strongly enough that the symbolism and the themes, though one reads including our פרשה parsha, it seems so esoteric, so archaic, so inaccessible, the themes and the symbolism is as alive and well and relevant and resonant for us as much as ever. The notion of conquering the animal impulse within us, the idea of directing the fats, the blood, the basics, the flour, the indulgences, the wine, that it all is directed towards the service of השם Hashem, remains as relevant, and it's against that backdrop that we study all of these, that we study all of these passages.Our פרשה parsha begins, פרשת צו Parshas Tzav begins not with one of the laws of the sacrifices, but in fact, what happens the morning after the sacrifice. In order for the altar to be used again, what needs to happen? You got to take out the trash. You got to take out the garbage. It begins with the תרומת הדשן trumas hadeshen. צו את אהרן ואת בניו לאמר זאת תורת העולה היא העולה על מוקדה על המזבח כל הלילה ואש המזבח תוקד בו Tzav es Aharon v'es banav leimor zos toras ha'olah, hi ha'olah al mokda al hamizbeach kol halailah, v'eish hamizbeach tukad bo, begins with the law of the קרבן עולה korban olah. We're going to come back to this. It stays on the flame the whole night. And because it's on the flame the whole night, what's left in the morning? A beautiful pile of ash. ולבש הכהן מדו בד ומכנסי בד ילבש על בשרו והרים את הדשן אשר תאכל האש את העולה על המזבח ושמו אצל המזבח V'lavash hakohen mido vad umichnesei vad yilbash al besaro, v'herim es hadeshen asher tochal ha'eish es ha'olah al hamizbeach, v'samo etzel hamizbeach. So what does the כהן kohen do in the morning? Now, if I was told take out the garbage, and by the way, it's messy, it's dirty, there's ash, there's dust, there's a hole in the garbage bag, it's leaking. So I wouldn't put on my finest suit. I wouldn't say, let me first put on my tie. I change out of my fine clothing into more casual clothing in order to take out the garbage. But what does the כהן kohen do? The exact opposite. The כהן kohen literally gets dressed up to take out the garbage. כהן Kohen cleans the altar and the burnt ash. He puts on two of the four בגדי כהונה bigdei kehuna, the priestly garments. And then he does something very unusual. Where does he put this garbage? ושמו אצל המזבח V'samo etzel hamizbeach. I don't know, if I take the garbage out, I don't leave it at the front door. I get a lot of trouble if I'd leave it at the front door. If you take the garbage out, take it all the way out. Make your way to the garbage can. Take the garbage can all the way to the curb. But what does the כהן kohen do? He puts on בגדי כהונה bigdei kehuna, two of the four garments, the priestly garments, for some reason he puts it on the floor of the courtyard on the east of the ramp that leads to the top of the מזבח mizbeach. The question is why? ופשט את בגדיו ולבש בגדים אחרים Ufashat es begadav v'lavash begadim acherim, and then he changes his clothing. So if he's going to change his clothing already, why doesn't he wear something more comfortable, casual, something that can get dirty? He wears בגדי כהונה bigdei kehuna, two of the garments, and then he changes out of that to put on the rest of the garments, and then והוציא את הדשן אל מחוץ למחנה hotzi es hadeshen el michutz lamachaneh. Then he finishes taking out the garbage. So, we've shared this idea before but I share it again because it's one of my favorites and it comes from רב הירש Rav Hirsch. Says רב הירש Rav Hirsch, I'm going to read to you his words. Writes רב הירש Rav Hirsch, I won't read it in the German, I'll read it in the English. The תרומת הדשן trumas hadeshen is an עבודה avodah itself and may only be done by a כשר kosher כהן kohen in priestly vestments. He takes a handful of the ash and he places it deliberately, not scattered on the מזרח mizrach, the east side, next to the altar. The ash has been laid down as a remembrance of the devotion represented by the sacrifices of the past day to God and to his holy תורה Torah. It would give the idea as the introduction to the service of the day that today brings no new mission. It has only to carry out ever afresh the mission that yesterday too was to accomplish. The very last Jewish grandchild stands there before God with the same mission of life that his first ancestors bore. And every day adds to all its solution of the task given to all the generations of the house of Israel. A magnificent idea of רב הירש Rav Hirsch, that the reason the כהן kohen gets dressed up is this is a holy act. It's not a mundane act. We're not just emptying the מזבח mizbeach to make room for today, but that which represents yesterday is itself holy, is sacred, is consecrated. And we interact and we deal with it as such. The כהן kohen gets dressed up. And one takes great care. And why do you put it down right next to the ramp going up to the מזבח mizbeach before you take it out? Says רב הירש Rav Hirsch, because the כהן kohen is making a statement. And what is that statement? That before I bring my sacrifice of today, I remember that sacrifices were made yesterday. I don't bring my sacrifice today as if I'm the first to ever have to make a sacrifice. As if I have appeared something from nothing. But rather I recognize that I am built on that which comes before me. I add to that which comes before me. I am the beneficiary of the sacrifices that come before me. This שבת Shabbos, שבת הגדול Shabbos HaGadol, we're going to talk about identity. We live in a world of identity crisis, and identity confusion, and stolen identity, and it's time to recover our identity. Who are we? Who we really are. That's the topic for this שבת Shabbos. So there's an incredible work on identity by a therapist, a psychologist, and he talks about vertical identity versus horizontal identity. My cousin, רבי דוד בשבקין Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin, told me about this book. What is horizontal, what is vertical identity? Vertical identity is what shapes your identity is where you come from, your ancestors, versus horizontal identity is the influence on your identity from your peers, from those who are with you. So the, the first עבודה avodah of the day, and it's part of the עבודה avodah. Right? You wouldn't just say, well the first major task that I do each day that's part of my mission is I take out the garbage. No, you'd say I take out the garbage because my house, I don't want it to smell. Then I start doing the important things of the day. But in the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash and the משכן Mishkan it was different. Taking out the garbage was the first important, it was part of the עבודה avodah. The כהן kohen got dressed up. Why? I affirm my horizontal identity. I put the trash next to the altar, so when the next person walks up that ramp, they see the ash sitting there and they remember that my sacrifices don't come out of nowhere, they're built on the sacrifice of yesterday. There's an additional reason. The בעלי מוסר baalei mussar, the בעלי מחשבה baalei machshava all point out because ultimately, ultimately what taking out the garbage the first thing in the morning reminds me to do is to live life with a sense of a sense of humility. This כהן kohen is about to perform on the big stage. The משכן Mishkan is the centerpiece, the big stage of the Jewish people. There's no bigger platform, there's no greater stage, there's no more shining spotlight than the service in the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash, in the משכן Mishkan. They served in 24 rotations, and when it was that כהן's kohen's week to serve, they made the big time. That was it. It could easily go to the כהן's kohen's head. They had the, they won the genetic lottery to be born a כהן kohen. They qualify and they're eligible to serve as a כהן kohen. They get to enter parts of the משכן Mishkan that non-כהנים kohanim are not allowed to enter. They engage in activities that non-כהנים kohanim are not allowed to do. That could easily inflate the ego. What is the very first עבודה avodah? Because it too is part of עבודה avodah? Don't forget to take out the garbage. I've told the story a million times. When I was privileged to be invited to the White House a few times for meetings, and one of them was with the president himself, and I come out of that White House and I call my wife, of course, the first to tell her all what it's like, it's incredible in the Oval Office, having met the president. She listens and listens and listens and then she says, I think it must have been a Wednesday because she said, 'All right, that's nice. Listen, when you come home late tonight, don't forget to take out tomorrow's garbage day. Don't forget to take out the garbage.' Could always count on a good רבנית rebbetzin to keep you humble. And I don't say that sarcastically. I mean that seriously. It's very important and actually the פסח Pesach edition of משפחה Mishpacha, apparently they're doing a story about shuls and shul rabbis so they they sent me a list of questions and they asked, I'll give you a little spoiler alert in the פסח Pesach edition of the משפחה Mishpacha magazine. So they asked me what is the secret weapon of a rabbi? What's so important for a good rabbi? So, I answered, maybe I shouldn't tell you. I answered, a good רבנית rebbetzin. And I meant that. So, I don't say it sarcastically, that you need to depend on all people who are in positions where easily things could go to their head need to surround themselves with those who keep them humble.So what did the כהן kohen do, the first עבודה avodah? And the בעלי מוסר baalei mussar point out this is our first עבודה avodah every day. Our first עבודה avodah is not necessarily to take out the garbage, but our first עבודה avodah is an act of humility. To remember where we come from, to remember who we are, to remember our limitations and to live life with a sense of, with a sense of humility. That's what דאווענען davening is. דאווענען Davening is an exercise in humility. If דאווענען davening, we spoke last week, takes the place of the קרבנות korbanos, when we ונשלמה פרים שפתינו unshalma parim sefaseinu, the נביא navi says, then דאווענען davening is an exercise, an exercise in humility. When I stand before the Almighty and I say, 'I am nothing without you. I utterly depend and rely on you. I can't achieve or accomplish anything without you. I need your help for health and livelihood and justice and redemption and so on. It's an exercise in humility. Each time I take three steps and I'm in the presence of the Almighty, and I remember my life in contrast to his, and I I submit to him, it is an exercise in humility. I'm taking out the trash in my heart. I'm taking out the trash in my head. I'm remembering to be humble.And in fact, רב הירש Rav Hirsch writes, all this I've told you before, but what I'll tell you now is new, that רב הירש Rav Hirsch writes this is really critical to the very first קרבן korban that's that's represented in our פרשה parsha. Our פרשה parsha goes through זאת תורת העולה zos toras ha'olah. The עולה olah is an elevation offering. And then it's going to get to, I'll give you the summary of the פרשה parsha right now, then we get to the קרבן מנחה korban mincha, the meal offering. And then we get to the קרבן חטאת korban chatas, which is the sin offering. And then we get to the קרבן אשם korban asham, which is the guilt offering. And then the פרשה parsha talks about the מלואים miluim, the offerings that were given as part of the inauguration of the משכן Mishkan. And then the שלמים shlamim, the peace offering, and the קרבן תודה korban todah, the special offering that was made when one survived a life-threatening situation and they want to express gratitude. Each of these קרבנות korbanos represents and reflects the spectrum of human behavior, externally, and a failure or a positive expression of an internal thought or intention. So, it reflects the external mistakes we've made or the internal positive gesture, desire to draw close. רב הירש Rav Hirsch writes that generally the עולה olah comes from a person's awareness that he's in need of making greater strides towards coming close to the רבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam. It's the awareness that one has failed to perform certain duties and that we won't neglect them again in the future. But why specifically is the עולה olah offered? If a קרבן korban represents or is is correlated with certain behaviors, what behavior precipitates, what behavior generates the obligation of a קרבן עולה korban olah? So each קרבן korban has different rules. The, for example, the owner doesn't eat the קרבן חטאת korban chatas, but who does? The כהנים kohanim. The כהנים kohanim partake of the delicious barbecue, they eat the חטאת chatas. The owner eats the majority of the meat of a קרבן שלמים korban shlamim, like a קרבן תודה korban todah, the owner gets to eat. I'll fast forward, I'll tell you a beautiful נצי\"ב Netziv that I'm also very fond of sharing. If you've come to this פרשה parsha class often enough, you're just going to hear me saying the same things every year. So the נצי\"ב Netziv has a beautiful thing. He says the קרבן תודה korban todah is classified as a שלמים shlamim. Normally a קרבן שלמים korban shlamim, the owner who's offered the sacrifice has two days and a night to eat it, 48 hours. Not 48 hours, but two days and a night. A long period of time. קרבן תודה Korban todah has one day and a night. Why? If it's in the category of a שלמים shlamim, why is it given a narrower window to be able to eat it? And the נצי\"ב Netziv has a magnificent insight. Says the נצי\"ב Netziv, because what happens? You're not allowed to leave over any of the meat. We're going to get to that, that's called נותר nosar. There's a prohibition to leave over anything that was supposed to be eaten or burned or consumed. So what's going to happen if you have this whole animal that has to be eaten and you don't have a large window to eat it, you only have a shorter window, what do you need to do in order to ensure that it's all eaten? What do you have to do? You got to share. You have to invite other people. And why is that important specifically here says the נצי\"ב Netziv? Because real gratitude is not something that you offer privately or modestly or in hiding. Real gratitude is something you want to shout from the rooftops, you want to tell the world. So the קרבן תודה korban todah is given a smaller window which to eat it, because that forces the owner to invite friends, family, in order to partake so that they too become aware and learn of the goodness and the graciousness of the רבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam for which the person feels such a sense of gratitude. A סעודת הודאה seudas hoda'ah, we sponsor a קידוש kiddush, we make a סעודת הודאה seudas hoda'ah, we tell people, some people say I'm private, I don't need people to know. אדרבה Adrabba, they should know. The גמרא Gemara says if someone falls sick, that you should דוקא davka let people know. Why? So they can דאווען daven for you. And when you have a positive experience, you're saved, then what should you do? Shout it from the rooftops so people learn there's a God in the world and he has an outstretched hand and he has a guiding hand, and let them feel connected with your story and your miracle and see השם Hashem in their own lives. What do we do today? We don't have a קרבן תודה korban todah. What today takes the place of the קרבן תודה korban todah? בנץ' גומל Bench Gomel. We בנץ' גומל bench Gomel, the four categories of people for whom we בנץ' גומל bench Gomel correlate with the קרבן תודה korban todah. Someone was in a life-threatening situation. Someone asked me the other day, they were nearby the bridge in Miami that collapsed. They wanted to know if they בנץ' גומל bench Gomel. They weren't nearby like they ran and escaped its collapse. They were nearby. So I said say a פרק תהילים perek of Tehillim, sponsor a קידוש kiddush, donate to צדקה tzedakah, but you don't בנץ' גומל bench Gomel. If if you, you get that question a lot, I was almost in a car accident. You don't בנץ' גומל bench Gomel for that. If חלילה chalila you were in a car accident and it was threatening and you survived, you בנץ' גומל bench Gomel. If you were almost in, you don't בנץ' גומל bench Gomel for it. So the בנץ' גומל benching of Gomel, what are you get up on the בימה bimah, you say it in front of a מנין minyan, men or women. The משנה ברורה Mishnah Berurah quotes a woman from the women's section can בנץ' גומל bench Gomel during קריאת התורה Krias HaTorah. Why? It's a public proclamation of gratitude. If you're really grateful, then you don't tell the person, look, I'm whispering, I'm grateful, don't tell anybody I told you I was grateful. Gratitude is also an exercise in humility. It's a statement, 'I needed you, I depended on you, I relied on you.' So the קרבן תודה korban todah, the ברכת הגומל birchas haGomel, and I think in our human interactions also, expressions of gratitude, shouted from the rooftop, that really reflects that there's a sincere sense of of gratitude. So, so why is the קרבן עולה korban olah offered? What does it correlate with? Right, the חטאת chatas the כהנים kohanim eat and the בעלים baalim don't eat. And the שלמים shlamim, the בעלים baalim eat. In fact, the קרבן תודה korban todah, the בעלים baalim have to invite others to eat with them. What's the law of the עולה olah? The חטאת chatas goes to the כהנים kohanim, no one else can eat it. The שלמים shlamim, even the owners can eat, anyone can eat. What's the הלכה halacha of the קרבן עולה korban olah? קרבן עולה Korban olah sits on the altar and it burns through the night. That's what the פסוקים psukim we just read at the beginning of the פרשה parsha. It totally burns to ash. The מדרש ויקרא רבה Medrash Vayikra Rabbah sees in the word עולה olah, the word עולה olah itself includes what the shortcoming, what the misgiving, what the indiscretion was that obligated the עולה olah. What does the word עולה olah mean? עליה Aliyah. What does it mean? To rise up, to go up. Our rabbis understood who brings a קרבן עולה korban olah? Someone who feels more elevated than others. Somebody whose ego is inflated. Someone who sees themselves as superior, as higher, as greater, as more important. The קרבן עולה korban olah is the קרבן korban that corresponds with arrogance. The מדרש Medrash comments that the prescription to burn it entirely on the altar is an allusion to the punishment for those who are arrogant or haughty. Listen to the words of the of the מדרש Medrash in the seventh פרק ויקרא רבה perek of Vayikra Rabbah. Whoever acts arrogantly before the Almighty is punished only by fire. That the worst places in גיהנום Gehenom are reserved for people who lived life with a sense of arrogance and a haughtiness. Because if you're arrogant and haughty, you can't discover the רבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam. There's no room for God and arrogant people in this world. And arrogant people can never learn from other people. And they can never experience real relationships with other people. And it's really all about them. The גמרא Gemara says that an arrogant person is like an idolater, because you're really worshipping yourself. Everything you do, every decision, every behavior, every action is all about your ego and your honor. The arrogant, haughty person could feel high in this world, but they're going to go to the lowest place in the next world. And the מדרש Medrash says that's why the קרבן עולה korban olah is offered and entirely consumed on the fire because the person who brings that קרבן korban, I guess the person who failed to bring that קרבן korban but should have, lived life as עולה olah, they thought they were greater, higher, superior, and they will go to the lowest place and be burned in the greatest fire.I have a friend who I grew up with in Teaneck, New Jersey, lives in אלון שבות Alon Shvut today, רבי דוד סילברברג Rabbi David Silverberg. He authors beautiful דברי תורה divrei Torah on the virtual בית מדרש Beis Medrash website, VBM, of גוש עציון Gush Etzion. So he suggests that perhaps חז\"ל Chazal understood the connection to arrogance not only from the etymology of the name עולה olah, but from the קרבן korban, but from the law, the הלכה halacha itself too. Because when it comes to most character traits, really, one should follow the golden mean, what the רמב\"ם Rambam calls the golden mean. That there needs to be a little bit, not to be extreme in any direction, the golden mean, moderation. A moderate amount. We've shared many times, that's why character traits are called in Hebrew מדות middos. A מדה midah is a measure. Because the אורחות צדיקים Orchos Tzadikim writes, every character trait is like an ingredient that belongs in the recipe. The only question is, what is the מדה midah, what's the measure? If you're making chicken soup, you want to put some salt and pepper, some flavorings. If it has none, it'd be bland, it'll be lousy. If you pour in the whole bottle of pepper, you destroy your chicken soup. If you have no pepper, it has no taste. Pepper belongs in the soup, the only question is to what measure. So all מדות middos, says the אורחות צדיקים Orchos Tzadikim, they belong in our recipe, they belong in the soup of life. All of them have a place. Stubbornness has a place, we talked about that a few weeks ago, עם קשה עורף am kshei oref, is both a virtue and a liability, it's all how you use it. So character traits all belong in the recipe, it's just a question of to what measure, how much. What is the מדה midah? What is the measure? But the רמב\"ם Rambam, the רמב\"ם Rambam in his משנה תורה Mishneh Torah and the רמב\"ן Ramban in אגרת הרמב\"ן Igeres HaRamban, they both agree that there's two character traits that have no מדה midah. There is no measure, they don't belong in the recipe of life whatsoever. One should not engage them in a moderate fashion, one should not walk the golden mean, but one has to be extreme in not including them. What are the two qualities? כעס Ka'as, anger, and really the two qualities are the same, and the second one is humility. Humility. The רמב\"ם Rambam writes humility is to be pursued not moderately, but in the extreme. Where does the רמב\"ם Rambam get this from? He gets it from the משנה Mishnah. The משנה Mishnah in the fourth פרק אבות perek of Avos says מאד מאד הוי שפל רוח me'od me'od hevei shfal ruach. Be very, very, exceedingly, exceedingly humble. The משנה Mishnah issues this this instruction, this admonition with a special emphasis. מאד מאד Me'od me'od, it's redundant, it's unnecessary, but it's an emphasizing. And the רמב\"ם Rambam writes in his פירוש על משנה peirush on Mishnah there on אבות Avos, because humility, unlike other character traits, has to be in the extreme. That's why it's מאד מאד me'od me'od. Don't be moderate. Don't be a little humble, but have a healthy self-esteem. No, be exceedingly, exceedingly humble. And so, Rabbi Silverberg suggests חז\"ל Chazal maybe looked to the קרבן עולה korban olah as the symbol of the complete eradication of arrogance. So, when it comes to other negative qualities, when it comes to other character traits, moderation. You deserve or it belongs in measure, in a little bit. A person could keep some for himself, so to say. Physical delights should be enjoyed in moderation. A degree of stubbornness or obstinacy is indispensable for success. Greed is reasonable in doses, can motivate people to work and to achieve and to aspire. But arrogance the רמב\"ם Rambam says has absolutely no place in the life of a תורה Torah Jew. And so, while the קרבן חטאת korban chatas belongs a little bit so the כהנים kohanim get to eat it. And the קרבן שלמים korban shlamim has redeemable things so the בעלים baalim get to eat it. But the קרבן עולה korban olah corresponds with with arrogance, with גאוה gaivah, it needs to be entirely burnt on the altar because it needs to be entirely eradicated. The עולה olah is the symbol of arrogance needs to be burned entirely, because arrogance needs to be purged entirely from our lives. And now you understand, because this fits beautifully with רב הירש Rav Hirsch, that if the קרבן עולה korban olah comes from my sense of being עולה oleh on other people, and so its הלכה halacha is I can't have any of it because מאד מאד הוי שפל רוח me'od me'od hevei shfal ruach. I don't get to benefit or partake, it doesn't belong whatsoever in my repertoire. And therefore it needs to be burned through the night. Now I understand. And what's the very first thing I do the next morning? I prove that the קרבן עולה korban olah had its impact. How? By taking out the garbage with humility. I take out the garbage. It's an עבודה avodah. Being humble is also an עבודה avodah. It's not only an עבודה avodah to have the center stage and the spotlight. It's not only an עבודה avodah when you change the world and you make headlines. But being humble is also an עבודה avodah, arguably a harder עבודה avodah.And the ספר וידבר משה sefer Vayidaber Moshe has a beautiful idea that you can actually see this in the words itself of the beginning of our פרשה parsha. Which begins צו את אהרן ואת בניו לאמר Tzav es Aharon v'es banav leimor זאת תורת העולה zos toras ha'olah, זאת zos, זאת zos. What does the word זאת zos mean? This. זאת תורת העולה Zos toras ha'olah. So the ספר וידבר משה sefer Vayidaber Moshe says, זאת zos is תורת העולה toras ha'olah. What leads a person to having to bring a קרבן עולה korban olah? When they arrogantly live life with a sense of זאת zos. This is the way it has to be. זאת Zos. My way or the highway. I've got the answer. I'm right. זאת Zos. The downfall of the בעל גאוה baal gaivah, the downfall of the haughty person is that they live life with a sense of זאת zos. This is the way. To the exclusion of all others. No compromise. No ability to listen. Never willing to give in. זאת Zos. My way or the highway. And this is the cause of so many, so much sadness, friction in marriage and with children, breakdown with business partners, arrogance. Arrogance, a life of זאת zos. So זאת תורת העולה zos toras ha'olah. What is the תורה Torah, what is the doctrine of the person who ultimately has to bring the קרבן עולה korban olah? That they lived life with a sense of זאת zos, arrogantly. This is it. This is the way, my way or the highway.So the whole beginning of our פרשה parsha is all about an exercise in humility, an exercise in recognizing who we are and the limitations that we have. Okay, we already reviewed much of the פרשה parsha by going through these קרבנות korbanos. Actually, we reviewed the entire פרשה parsha. So a few more comments and then we're going to end early today because I need to have a שבת הגדול Shabbos HaGadol דרשה drasha to give. Not that early, relax. When I say a few more comments, you all know what that means by now. Okay.So we have the law of נותר nosar, the prohibition of leftover. In fact, רב סולובייצ'יק Rav Soloveitchik said why do we always read פרשת צו Parshas Tzav before פסח Pesach? On the calendar, we have certain פרשיות parshios that are associated with different holidays. We read פרשת צו Parshas Tzav before פסח Pesach. So two reasons he said. Number one, the reference to the קרבן פסח korban Pesach and its centrality, which we'll mention in a moment, but also because it includes the laws of kashering. Why are the laws of kashering in פרשת צו Parshas Tzav? Really, the most explicit laws of kashering come later, after we have the war with מדין Midyan and we attain the spoils of the war, we take their property, you got to kasher their utensils before you can use them. So why is kashering mentioned in our פרשה parsha as well? Because of this law of נותר nosar. When the sacrifices were left and absorbed into כלים keilim, into utensils, and they did so, the taste was absorbed into the utensil and lasted beyond the allocated time, we believe that טעם כעיקר ta'am k'ikar. Taste, that means that even when there's no ממשות mamashus, there's no actual food item, but the taste that is transferred has the status of the food item itself. Which is the whole basis for the entire enterprise of כשרות kashrus. I have a sparkling, magnificently clean pot. Why can't I cook in it if it was used for non-kosher? It's clean now. Why isn't cleaning something enough to kasher it? The answer is it may look clean, and it may appear clean, but embedded and absorbed within the walls of that utensil is taste. Heat transfers taste and taste, טעם כעיקר ta'am k'ikar, the גמרא Gemara goes through many different tries to derive exactly from where we know that law, טעם כעיקר ta'am k'ikar, דאורייתא de'oraisa, the biblically this notion that טעם ta'am, taste, even when there's no actual food item, כעיקר k'ikar, it is the status of the food item. Which is why you can't use a meat pot for dairy, or dairy pot for meat, or a טרף treif pot for kosher, no matter how clean it may be, because the walls still have the taste. Or you can't use a חמץ chametz pot for פסח Pesach. So therefore our פרשה parsha references the means of kashering and how do you kasher? Well, if taste is the issue and taste is absorbed in the wall of the pot, כבולעו כך פולטו k'bol'o kach polto. The way the taste was absorbed is the same mechanism or means through which it's purged. So if the taste was absorbed through liquid, then the taste is purged through liquid, namely הגעלה hagalah. That's why we boil water and we dip in water. By having water which is מלא על הבועות mala al habu'os, it's bubbling over, water which is which is brought to a boil, a rolling boil, and then you dip the utensil in it, or you make the water go over the walls of the utensil, either way, the heat of that water, since the taste was absorbed through water, the taste is purged through water. People wonder, why, did they have the kashering yet at the federation? Yes, this Sunday. They had it already? No, this coming Sunday. Okay, good. So how does it work? You got one big pot and everybody comes and brings their חמץ'דיק chametz-dik utensils and puts it in the pot and you take it out and voila. Well let me ask you, if the חמץ chametz taste that was in the utensil came out of your utensil, where should it be now? In the water. How come when the next person comes to kasher, it doesn't go into their utensil? Why didn't it go right back into your utensil before you got it out of the water? How does kashering work? It's a good question, right? So that's why we're strict that we have 60 of the water opposite the utensil so the טעם ta'am, according to some, the way it works is that the טעם ta'am, the taste that comes out, is nullified by the ratio of the water. And therefore it can't go back into your utensil or a subsequent one. That's an important הלכה halacha, because if you're kashering at home, and some people do, nothing wrong with it, then you need to know. know that you can't put so many utensils in at once that you lose that ratio. You have to maintain the ratio of 60 to 1 when you're putting utensils in the water. What's another way it works? Is that we only kasher utensils after we've waited 24 hours. How does waiting 24 hours help? When a utensil is an אינו בן יומו eino ben yomo, when the utensil is no longer within 24 hours of when it was used and it first absorbed that taste, now we believe we have a concept that the taste actually spoils. It becomes טעם פגום tam pogum. Becomes פגום pogum. So, yes, taste, טעם כעיקר tam k'ikar, taste is as meaningful as real food, and taste has that impact halachically. However, once 24 hours pass, the taste is considered spoiled.In fact, that's why מדאורייתא mid'oraisa, biblically speaking, biblically speaking, you could use a non-kosher utensil for kosher once you wait 24 hours. Biblically speaking, you could use a dairy utensil for meat or a meat utensil for dairy. Just wait 24 hours. It's an אינו בן יומו eino ben yomo. Whatever taste was in it previously is now considered no longer potent, and therefore you can cook. It's not a problem. Why do we wait? I'm sorry, why do we have separate utensils? It's דרבנן d'rabanan. Because the rabbi said, and I think very wisely, how are you going to keep a running clock on every fork and knife and spoon and pot and bowl and pan, and know when the 24 hours, and you're going to come to use it 23 hours and 58 minutes and that's an איסור דאורייתא issur d'oraisa. Now you're going to eat בשר בחלב bosor b'cholov, now you're going to eat טרף traif. So in order to draw a fence which is guarding us from falling off the edge of the cliff of doing an איסור דאורייתא issur d'oraisa of eating טרף traif, we say that we have separate utensils altogether. One of the ראשונים Rishonim, the Ra'ah did not have separate utensils in fact, but we פסק'ן pasken, separate utensils, but that's why when you call me with a כשרות שאלה kashrus shailah, what's the very first question I ask you when you say, I used this spatula in the pan, I put the wrong cover on the pot, I found it in the dishwasher. The very first question any rabbi will ask you is, was it used within 24 hours? Or is it an אינו בן יומו eino ben yomo? So we wait 24 hours before we kasher so that by the time we're kashering, we're kashering something that's no longer biblically potent. So therefore, it's טעם קלוש tam kalush. It's a very weak taste. So in the pot, even if you didn't have the ratio of 60, technically, that taste is not floating in the water because that is is a is a weak taste, it's not potent. It was an אינו בן יומו eino ben yomo. So if the taste was absorbed through liquid, it's purged through liquid. If the taste was absorbed through fire, what's an example? So corned beef is absorbed through liquid. Chicken soup, absorbed through liquid. But if you made a roast, and that is the extent of my examples of through fire. I don't know, what's another example? Your barbecue. But if there's no liquid medium, so then you need fire in order to... הגעלה Hagala is not enough. You need what's called ליבון libun. ליבון Libun, there's ליבון קל libun kal and ליבון חמור libun chamur. This is already a pre-Pesach workshop it's turned into. There's ליבון קל libun kal, there's a light ליבון libun and ליבון חמור libun chamur which is strict. So if the taste was absorbed through the strict fire, so that's why if you want to kasher your barbecue, then because there's an open flame in the barbecue, you need to you need to use a blowtorch on the grates. Or you can put the grates through your self-clean cycle. Self-clean achieves ליבון חמור libun chamur. If you turn your oven on the highest setting for an hour, that's ליבון קל libun kal, and that kashers. But if you want to do ליבון חמור libun chamur, the highest level, and and it's something that demands ליבון חמור libun chamur, then you have to put it. What about a frying pan? Is a frying pan like liquid or is it like dry? Is that הגעלה hagala or does that need ליבון libun? So it depends how much oil you use to fry in it. If it was immersed in oil, then it's like הגעלה hagala. If there was very little oil, it was just to avoid sticking, then that's like in an open fire and it needs ליבון libun. Anyway, this is all alluded to in our פרשה parsha and the Rav said these are the two reasons, the קרבן פסח Korban Pesach and because the laws of kashering derive from our, derive from our פרשה parsha.Okay.The the פרשה parsha mentions I'll move over to the place of the of the קרבן פסח Korban Pesach. It says ויקח משה את הדם ויתן על קרנות המזבח Vayikach Moshe es hadam vayitein al karnos hamizbeach. Where are we? We're on in חמישי Chamishi.See where we are. The Artscroll חומש Chumash on page 582. Page 582, פרק ח Perek Ches, פסוק טו Pasuk Tes Vov. ויגש את פר החטאת ויסמוך אהרן ובניו את ידיהם על ראש פר החטאת Vayigash es par hachatas vayismoch Aharon uvanav es yedeihem al rosh par hachatas. It's talking about the קרבן חטאת Korban Chatas. וישחט Vayishchat, it's slaughtered. ויקח משה את הדם ויתן על קרנות המזבח סביב באצבעו Vayikach Moshe es hadam vayitein al karnos hamizbeach saviv b'etzbao. Moshe took the blood, he put it on the corners, the horns of the altar around. ויחטא את המזבח Vayechate es hamizbeach and he purified the altar. ואת הדם יצק אל יסוד המזבח ויקדשהו לכפר עליו V'es hadam yatzak el yesod hamizbeach vayekadshehu lechaper alav. Poured the blood at the base of the altar. On this Rav Soloveitchik has the following comment. There's an additional reason for reading פרשת צו Parshas Tzav before פסח Pesach. Like פרשת ויקרא Parshas Vayikra, פרשת צו Parshas Tzav contains many descriptions of sacrifices. Most of the time the Torah describes sacrifices offered by individuals. The קרבן פסח Korban Pesach is the first communal offering, represents a shift. It serves as both a herald of and an עקידה akeida of the redemption of the Jewish people. It emphasizes the sense of community among כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael. So the קרבנות Korbanos are mostly every man for himself, every woman for herself. You got to cover your bases, you got to cover your tracks, you got to atone for your mistakes. The קרבן פסח Korban Pesach represents not every individual out for themselves, but community. Only two positive commandments in the Torah must be fulfilled on the pain of כרת kareis. There's only two מצוות עשה mitzvos asei, two positive commandments, כרת kareis is usually the harshest of penalties, is reserved for a negative prohibition. There's only two positive prohibitions that if one fails to fulfill them, they get כרת kareis. What are they? קרבן פסח Korban Pesach and ברית מילה Bris Milah. A man is obligated to be circumcised and doesn't, incurs the כרת kareis penalty. And a person who did not participate in the קרבן פסח Korban Pesach. Said the Rav, we can understand the penalty for not observing ברית מילה Bris Milah because circumcision is the mark of identification of male Jews. It sets them apart from all other nations. But one might ask, why the failure to offer the Pascal sacrifice covers such a severe penalty? Why? Someone was neglectful, they didn't participate in the קרבן פסח Korban Pesach. That defines a Jew? Said the Rav, פסח Pesach in the desert serves the identical function of ברית מילה Bris Milah throughout our history. It is more than a single positive commandment, it is the mark of our collective identity. We were slaves in Egypt and many Israelites did not want to leave Egypt. God commanded Moshe to tell each household to offer the קרבן פסח Korban Pesach, the only sacrifice that needs no altar. We were commanded to place the lamb's blood on the doorposts and lentils, an act akin to sprinkling the sacrificial blood on the corners of the altar. This act which demonstrates complete obedience to God is a sign of faith. According to Rashi only one-fifth of the Jewish people left Egypt. Like the קרבן פסח Korban Pesach, the journey required a leap of faith. Those who refused to offer the Paschal lamb showed contempt for God's commandments and a lack of faith in God. These severe transgressions required a severe punishment, כרת kareis. The קרבנות Korbanos are introduced in פרשת ויקרא Parshas Vayikra and completed in צו Tzav, coinciding with the with the holiday of פסח Pesach, to emphasize this element of faith.So this notion that a communal sacrifice is part of our very identity. With the ברית מילה Bris Milah is for our body, it's an identifying mark, participating in the קרבן פסח Korban Pesach is for our soul, is for our collective story, is for being part of the Jewish narrative. It speaks to our core identity. We talked about the vertical identity, that my ancestors came out of מצרים Mitzrayim, and all that that implies is part of who I am and who I continue to be today. Last comment is the end of the פרשה parsha. The end of the פרשה parsha we have the sacrifices around the inauguration, and then we have at the end of the פרשה parsha the actual the consecration of the כהנים kohanim and so forth. So the פרשה parsha ends on page 586, פסוק לה pasuk lamed hey. ופתח אוהל מועד תשבו יומם ולילה שבעת ימים U'pesach ohel moed teishvu yomam valailah shivas yamim. ושמרתם את משמרת ה' ולא תמותו כי כן צויתי Shmartem es mishmeres Hashem v'lo samusu ki chein tzivisy. At the entrance of the אוהל מועד ohel moed you dwell day and night for seven days, to protect Hashem's charge so that you will not die, so I commanded. ויעש אהרן ובניו Vaya'as Aharon u'vanav את כל הדברים אשר צוה ה' ביד משה es kol hadevarim asher tziva Hashem b'yad Moshe. Aaron and his sons carried it all out, everything that God commanded. Everything that God had commanded. So on these words, Rav Soloveitchik writes the following. And it should give you some comfort as everybody prepares diligently for פסח Pesach. Proper preparation is a necessary condition for any encounter with holiness. People quote it as an expression, אין קדושה בלי הכנה ein kedusha b'li hachana, they quote it as a מאמר חז\"ל maamar Chazal, but it's not a מאמר חז\"ל maamar Chazal. But Rav Soloveitchik was very fond and emphasized this very much among his students. אין קדושה בלי הכנה Ein kedusha b'li hachana. There is no sanctity without preparation. For example, in the prelude to receiving the Torah, Moshe warned the people, be ready for three days, do not go near a woman. Similarly, Aaron had to submit to a seven-day preparation period prior to the dedication of the משכן Mishkan. And every כהן גדול kohen gadol subsequently went through a similar sequester prior to יום כיפור Yom Kippur. Both involved an encounter with holiness. The prohibition of מוקצה muktza is centered on the need to preparation. Among the prohibitions of מוקצה muktza is food that was not prepared prior for שבת Shabbos. One does not merit nor is one worthy of celebrating שבת Shabbos unless one prepares for it. The Rambam writes it's a mitzvah to wash one's face, hands and feet in hot water near of שבת Shabbos, due to the honor of שבת Shabbos. One wraps himself in a towel and sits with his head covered, anxiously awaiting שבת Shabbos as if he were going to greet a king. The mitzvah of ספירת העומר Sefiras HaOmer involves preparing for receiving the Torah. One similarly counts the years before שמיטה Shmittah and יובל Yovel as preparation. Holiness does not arise suddenly. It comes only by invitation inherent in the act of preparation. The Rav emphasized, אין קדושה בלי הכנה ein kedusha b'li hachana. Whatever encounter it is that we're having in the human realm or with God, one cannot experience spirituality, holiness. You don't stumble upon it. It doesn't happen without preparation, anticipation, without effort. And that's פסח Pesach. It's another reason that we read this before פסח Pesach. All that work and all that effort which comes is difficult toil, but it leads to the קדושה kedusha of פסח Pesach. It leads to the continuity of our children and grandchildren, loving what it means to be a Jew and participating in פסח Pesach. אין קדושה בלי הכנה Ein kedusha b'li hachana. So may everyone's הכנות hachanos continue to go well and go smoothly and not be backbreaking. And may they אם ירצה ה' im yirtzeh Hashem yield a wonderful sense of קדושה kedusha. We're not having class next week, there's no פרשה parsha like שבת Shabbos, it's יום טוב yontif. And I have a feeling we're all getting ready next. So there's no class. So let me wish everyone a חג כשר ושמח chag kasher v'sameach. And those who are taking leave for the summer, the spring, if you want to continue to listen to the classes, you can listen online. They're posted on YUTorah or subscribe to the שול's shul's email, we send them out. Everyone should have a חג כשר ושמח chag kasher v'sameach.
