Transcript
Good morning and בוקר טוב Boker Tov and welcome back to פרשה Parsha Perspectives for today. And we have the privilege this week of learning not one פרשה parsha but two פרשיות parshios together, פרשיות חוקת ובלק Parshas Chukas and Balak. I want to thank our dear friends Becky and Avi Katz, who have sponsored the פרשה parsha series for the year. The year comes to a close now at the end of June, in memory of Becky's father David Grossman, לעילוי נשמת דוד בן מנחם מנש l'ilui nishmas Dovid ben Menachem Manes. Very grateful to them for their generosity, for their sponsorship, and I hope that our learning throughout the year really not only enriched their lives and your lives and with its Torah, but served to elevate the נשמה neshama of Mr. Grossman who was a very, very special man. I also want to thank the OU for again promoting and sharing our פרשה parsha perspective and welcome all of our listeners and all those who are participating who found out and came through the, through the OU link.Okay, as I said, we have a lot to cover. Two פרשיות parshios, חוקת ובלק Chukas and Balak. Each one could take five hours. Not to worry, breathe out, we're not going to spend five hours on each one, but we'll see as far as we get. So if you want to follow along in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash, it appears on page 838, at least the beginning of פרשת חקת Parshas Chukas does. And here the פרשה parsha begins: זאת חוקת התורה Zos chukas haTorah. This is the חוק chok of the Torah. וידבר ה' אל משה ואל אהרן לאמר, זאת חוקת התורה אשר ציווה ה' לאמר, דבר אל בני ישראל ויקחו אליך פרה אדומה תמימה Vayedaber Hashem el Moshe v’el Aharon leimor, zos chukas haTorah asher tziva Hashem leimor, daber el Bnei Yisrael v’yikchu eilecha para aduma temima, and so on and so forth. Here we have the Torah introducing what is known as the quintessential חוק chok, the paradigmatic, the perfect example, the model of all חוקים chukim. What is a חוק chok? A חוק chok is an inexplicable, incomprehensible, unexplainable law. We have laws we understand, we have laws that make sense, we have laws that are rational, we have laws that are enriching because they speak to our intellect, our cognitive ability to understand them. And then we have laws that Hashem says jump and we say how high? We do them without understanding them. We do them simply because he says we have to. The question is, it should say זאת חוקת zos chukas, this is the חוק chok of the פרה אדומה Para Aduma. The פרה אדומה Para Aduma is the ultimate example of such a law. Not only is it incomprehensible, in fact, it's paradoxical. The pure person who is using the ash of the פרה אדומה Para Aduma to purify the impure person, themselves becomes impure. How does it make sense? If the person who's pure is trying to purify the impure, they should remain pure. Why do they themselves become impure? How does the process corrupt them? It makes no sense. None other than שלמה המלך Shlomo HaMelech, the wisest, the most brilliant, the greatest genius of all men said, אמרתי אחכמה והיא רחוקה ממני Amarti echkama v'hi rechoka mimeni. He said, let me be wise, let me study, let me analyze, let me dissect, let me plumb the depths to try to understand what it means, והיא רחוקה ממני v'hi rechoka mimeni. Nevertheless, it remained elusive. He was unable to understand, he was unable to be able to comprehend. So why isn't the פרשה parsha introduced specifically, this is the חוק chok of the פרה אדומה Para Aduma? Why is it this is the חוק chok of the Torah? And the answer is, this is the essence of our פרשה parsha as a whole. Our פרשה parsha talks to us about what happens when we don't understand. Judaism is such a beautiful religion. It teaches us and it trains us to ask questions. It's not afraid, it doesn't fear the questions. We're supposed to challenge, we're supposed to seek to understand, we're supposed to peel back and unravel. We're supposed to ask. And yet, what happens when you run into a wall? What happens when you hit a roadblock? What happens when you have tried all you can and yet, you cannot understand? And that's true both in the area of הלכה halacha, it's true in the area of Jewish law, and it's true equally and even more difficultly sometimes in the area of not law, but the area of life. And that is the theme of our פרשה parsha. This is not just the חוק chok of the פרה אדומה Para Aduma, this is the חוק chok of life itself.Let's start by looking at Rabbi Soloveitchik's insight. Rabbi Soloveitchik on these words writes the following. זאת חוקת התורה Zos chukas haTorah, חוקים chukim are classified by our rabbis as unintelligible, enigmatic, mysterious. It's forbidden to ask the reasoning pertaining to certain divine categorical imperatives, but we should inquire the interpretation of a law. There's a difference between explanation and interpretation. And listen to how he compares it, as only the רב Rav could. He says, take physics for example. Physics does not ask why. In science, you don't ask why, because why is not a scientific question. It's a metaphysical question, not a physics question. There can be no scientific why for water freezes 32 degrees Fahrenheit or light traveling at 186,000 miles per second. Asking why God issued certain commandments is seeking to comprehend the unfathomable. Man must recognize that the ultimate reason for מצוות mitzvos is beyond his grasp. The very question of why in regard to מצוה mitzvah observance is philosophically invalid. So the רב Rav says the physicist, the scientist who's studying science, tries to understand, of course. You try to understand the secrets, the mysteries of the universe. You try to explain why things happen the way they do. What are the formulas and what are the, what are the physics to be able to explain the phenomena, the natural phenomena in our world? Of course, that's the whole mission, that's the whole goal of the scientist. But the scientist never asks why? Well, why does water freeze at that level? And why does gravity make things fall? And why does light travel at that speed? Because those are questions that have no answer. They don't interest the scientist. You're not able to discover them, you're not able to measure them, you can't provide a hypothesis, evidence, or proof for them. And the same is true when it comes to מצוות mitzvos. says Rabbi Soloveitchik, 613 מצוות Taryag mitzvos, 613 מצוות mitzvos are no less than the rules of physics. Yes, we dissect them, we analyze them, we interpret them, we explain them. But we don't ask the why. A טעם המצוה taam hamitzvah, we try to discover the טעם taam. I've shared many times, we have the same word, טעם taam, means both reason and the word טעם taam also means taste. Why do we have the same, did we run out of words? Why do we have the same word to describe taste and reason? The answer is I need to eat in order to live. So why not just subsist on the minimum, have bread and water. I could live on bread and water. The answer is once I need to eat to live, I might as well eat with a taste. It might as well have a flavor, I might as well enjoy it. And the same is true with מצוות mitzvos. I need to observe and perform מצוות mitzvos to spiritually live. But once I'm doing it, I might as well give them a flavor and a taste which will enhance it. What if you don't taste? חס ושלום Chas v'shalom someone comes down with coronavirus, they lose their sense of taste. Do they not eat for the next few days? Of course they have to eat. If you don't eat, you're going to die whether you taste the food or not. And the same is true spiritually. Whether you taste what you're eating spiritually, whether you discover the טעם taam, the reason or not, you nevertheless need to continue to observe. So yes, we look to understand, but like the scientist, the physicist, we don't get stuck on the why. When we ask why in the context of human activity, we are truly asking what motivated him? Motivation carries an implication of an unrealized need. But with regard to the divine, to Hashem, it's impossible to ascribe motivation to God. He has neither needs nor deficiencies. So in response to the question of why Hashem created the world, we cannot answer it's because He's kind and wanted to bestow goodness. This assertion implies Hashem had some vague need to do good. The only acceptable answer to the question is, He willed it. As Rashi comments on the פסוק pasuk, גזירה היא מלפני gzeira hi milfanai. It's a גזירה gzeira, it is a decree, God ordained it. We don't ask why, we can't understand why, we'll never know the why, we just know His will. But the question of what can be asked? What is the meaning of this חוק chok as far as I'm concerned? What does the חוק chok tell me? One does not ask why God legislate פרה אדומה Para Aduma or does it purify the ritually defiled, but one can ask, what is its spiritual message to me? How can I, as a thinking and feeling person, assimilate it into my world outlook? I don't get stuck. I don't get stuck. I don't get debilitated on the why, but yet I'm motivated, I'm pushed, I aspire to ask the what. What does it mean for me? How will my life be different? How can I be inspired? What will change? The עבודה שבלב avodah shebalev, the עבודה שבלב avodah shebalev must be present in every religious act, in the ritual as well as the moral. Although the קיום המצוה kiyum hamitzvah can be achieved through a mechanical approach, עבודת אלוקים avodas Elokim means not only to discharge the duty, but to enjoy, rejoice in, and love the מצוה mitzvah. But the עבודת אלוקים avodas Elokim is unattainable if the חוק chok does not deliver any message to us. So when one looks at a מצוה mitzvah and says, I can't understand it, like שלמה המלך Shlomo HaMelech, I'm no smarter, I'm no wiser, I'm no greater. If he got stuck, certainly I'm stuck. It's not a reason to walk away or to give up. It's a reason to double down, but not on the why, on the what. What is it meant to teach me? How is it meant to change my life? We have no right to explain חוקים chukim, but we have a duty to interpret חוקים chukim. What does the מצוה mitzvah mean to me? How am I to understand its essence as an integral part of my service to Hashem? We do not know why the מצוה mitzvah was formulated, but the question of how I can integrate and assimilate the מצוה mitzvah into my total religious consciousness, world outlook, and eye awareness, that question is not only permissible, but it is one that we are duty bound to ask. I know I'm speaking very quickly, you don't have to write it in the chat or send me an email, but it's a double פרשה parsha. What can I do? It's a double פרשה parsha and you only give me an hour. If you gave me the whole day or the whole week, I would be able to speak a lot slower, but alas you don't. That is the insight of Rabbi Soloveitchik. Rabbi Soloveitchik says don't get stuck on the why like the physicist doesn't ask why, ask the what. And that's what it means זאת חוקת zos chukas. And the reason that is זאת חוקת התורה zos chukas haTorah, not just זאת חוקת zos chukas of the מצוה פרה אדומה mitzvah Para Aduma, because this is the essence of Torah. You see, it's our attitude towards חוקים chukim that reveals our attitude towards משפטים mishpatim. משפטים Mishpatim are rational מצוות mitzvos, they make sense. They're logical, they're rational. I understand them. Even human beings might have come up with them. So why am I doing them? Am I doing them because they make sense to me or am I doing them because גזירה מלפני gzeira milfanai, they're the will of Hashem. You see, if I'm only willing to do what I understand and I'm unwilling to do that which I don't understand, then it reveals my very motivation and agenda in all that I do. Our relationship with Hashem is no different than our relationship with, with the Almighty, with, our relationship with the Almighty, sorry, is no different than our relationship with our spouse in the human realm. So imagine I tell my spouse, my spouse says to me, would you do X, Y, or Z? I'm very concerned, I'm very nervous, I'm very anxious, it's an awkward time and if you did A, B and C, it'd make me feel more calm. And I say to them, makes no sense. It's irrational. It's ridiculous. It makes no sense to me. No. I'm only willing to do your needs, the things that you want, that reconcile and integrate with what makes sense to me. But the things that you ask for that make no sense to me, God bless, good luck, you're on your own. How would that relationship would look? What would be the nature of that marriage? The fabric, the foundation of a marriage is when I say, you know what, you've said it 15 times, I still don't know what you're talking about. I don't know the why, but okay, it's what you want, it's what you will, if it matters to you, it matters to me. And when a person is willing to invest in, and a person is willing to selflessly pursue the חוק chok, that which does not, does not conform with their understanding, it reveals that even the משפטים mishpatim, even that which they understand that they pursue is also for the right reason, is also for a meaningful and enriching reason. And that's what the רב Rav is saying. זאת חוקת Zos chukas not just פרה אדומה Para Aduma, but the attitude to the פרה אדומה Para Aduma is זאת חוקת התורה zos chukas haTorah. The attitude to the פרה אדומה Para Aduma in fact reveals and reflects our whole attitude to all of Torah and to all of observance. The הייליגע שפת אמת heilige Sfas Emes, ר' יהודה לייב מגור Reb Yehuda Leib miGur, has a different interpretation. זאת חוקת התורה Zos chukas haTorah, he says, he says that זאת חוקת התורה zos chukas haTorah, this is not just the חוק chok of the פרה אדומה Para Aduma, this is in fact זאת חוקת zos chukas of the whole Torah. Why? Because it takes us all the way back to the beginning of Torah. You see, our attitude towards and our performance of even a חוק chok repairs the damage that was done at the very beginning of the Torah. What was the damage that was done at the very beginning of the Torah? So says the גערער רבי Gerer Rebbe, says the שפת אמת Sfas Emes, what was the first mistake? You know, if it weren't for the mistake of חווה Chava, of אדם Adam, if it weren't for the mistake of going after the עץ הדעת eitz hada'as, we would still be in גן עדן Gan Eden. All you could eat, shmorg, barbecue, midnight buffet. Women would not have to have pain in childbirth. There would be no gestational period. There would be no need for the epidural. We men wouldn't have to go work, the sweat of our brow, our bank accounts would be overflowing, and the buffet would be overflowing, and there'd be no social distancing and no coronavirus. And we would be, we'd feel a little breeze, it'd be a little cool. We wouldn't have clothing, but it would be this ideal existence. But alas, what happened? There was a mistake in judgment. I'm not blaming anyone. חווה's Chava's fault. I'm not blaming anyone, but it began, the נחש nachash enticed חווה Chava, who enticed אדם Adam, and the next thing you know, we're on the outs. Why? What was the whole source of this? So the פסוק pasuk says, והייתם כאלוקים יודעי טוב ורע vi'heyisem k'Elokim yodei tov v'ra. How did the נחש nachash entice? How did he seduce? How did he persuade חווה Chava? It's okay, touch it, eat it, it's not a problem. He said, the day you eat it, you will gain wisdom, you'll open your eyes, and you're going to be smart, והייתם כאלוקים vi'heyisem k'Elokim, you'll be like God, יודעי טוב ורע yodei tov v'ra, you'll know the difference between good and evil. You'll have a sense of consciousness, you'll have a conscience, you'll know the difference between right and wrong. That was the first mistake. The first mistake was this goal of understanding. The first mistake was thinking you were capable of differentiating, of distinguishing, of thinking, of understanding. So said the גערער רבי Gerer Rebbe, said the שפת אמת Sfas Emes, the ביטול שכלו של אדם, וקיום חוקי התורה bitul sichlo shel adam, the kiyum chukei haTorah. When a person says, you know what? I am nullifying my need to understand. I am submitting to you. I'm not trying to be יודעי טוב ורע yodei tov v'ra. I'm not trying to conquer and understand. I'm not willing to only be obedient to observe that which I understand. When you say jump, God, I say how high. It's all about you and your dominion over me. I'm not trying to compete כאלוקים יודעי טוב ורע k'Elokim yodei tov v'ra. You're the only אלוקים Elokim. When I'm מבטל mevatel my דעת daas, when I submit that I'm willing to do even that which I don't understand, it is the תיקון tikun, it is the כפרה kapparah, it is the repair, it is fixing the mistake and where we went wrong with the sin of the עץ הדעת eitz hada'as. So said the גערער רבי Gerer Rebbe, that's why זאת חוקת zos chukas, not just the חוק chok of the פרה אדומה Para Aduma, this is the חוקת התורה chukas haTorah because we go all the way back in time and we repair that very first mistake, that first mistake of the, of the Torah. You also see this, you also see this, why פרשת חוקת Parshas Chukas comes right after קרח Korach. Because קרח Korach too said, כל העדה כולם קדושים kol ha'eidah kulam kedoshim, I want equal access. Everybody's capable of understanding, everybody knows. I want equal access. And the answer is there's some things you can't understand. There are some things that you don't know. There are some things that are beyond your comprehension. You cannot and you will not know it. And I want to suggest based on an insight that also comes from a ספר, עטרת מרדכי sefer, Atteres Mordechai. The עטרת מרדכי Atteres Mordechai is ר' מרדכי רוגוב Rav Mordechai Rogov, and I'm grateful to my חבר chaver, רב משה צבי Rav Moshe Tzvi for sharing the source last year, he mentioned it in a שיעור shiur, the עטרת מרדכי Atteres Mordechai, who has the following suggestion, he says part of this, but I want to add to it and expand on it in my own, in my own way in the following context, in the following context. Our פרשה parsha begins with the story of the פרה אדומה Para Aduma, the red cow, the perfectly red cow. It has to have never worked. It has to have no, it has to be perfectly red. It can't even have other extraneous hairs. It can't have a מום mum, a blemish. And then you burn it, and you take the ash of it in a mixture, it's sprinkled on the person who is impure and in that process, they become, they become pure. That's the first part of the פרשה parsha. And then the פרשה parsha turns to one of the most mysterious, one of the most enigmatic, inexplicable sections, narratives of our entire Torah. We are 38 years, 38 years of the 40 years of wandering in the desert has passed in our פרשה parsha. It's amazing. From ספר שמות Sefer Shmos all the way to במדבר Bamidbar, all the way to קרח Korach is two years. And now in חוקת Chukas, fast forward, expedite. You know, you can listen to a שיעור shiur on double speed, triple speed. Well, Jewish people went on quadruple speed. 38 years went flying by in one פרשה parsha in חוקת Chukas. And in our פרשה parsha, we have this mysterious מצוה mitzvah of the פרה אדומה Para Aduma, and then a few passages later, we have the story of Moshe and hitting the rock. We've examined this in depth in the past, and there's many, many explanations which are offered. The Rambam says Moshe gave into anger. He gave into rage. He acted out against the Jewish people. He gave into his urge to castigate them and criticize them. He couldn't take them. They're an incorrigible people who complain, they're ungrateful, and he just can't take it anymore. He gave into that sense of anger, and the Rambam says for that Moshe was accountable, he couldn't lead them into Israel. And others give many, many, many, many different explanations and answers of what Moshe did wrong. We suggested our own one year, that in fact it wasn't a punishment, it was a description of reality. I'm not going to review the whole thing, but I'll give you a little bit of a hint. What's a little bit of the hint? When God first recruits Moshe to be a leader, what does God say to him? I want you to come lead the people. I'm appointing you a leader. And what is Moshe's response? He demurs, he hesitates. He says, no, I'm not qualified. I'm inadequate. Why? לא איש דברים אנוכי Lo ish devarim anochi, I'm not a man of words. Fast forward 38, many more than 38 years later, and God says to Moshe, Moshe, have you learned to communicate? Have you become an orator? Have you mastered the power of persuasion and speech? ודברתם אל הסלע V'dibartem el hasela. I want you to speak to the rock. And Moshe does what? He doesn't speak to the rock. The Maharal says speech is the bridge between the physical and the spiritual. Moshe is so great, so spiritual that he is transcendent above the power of speech. He doesn't know how to live and operate in the physical. So Moshe was the quintessential leader, Moshe was the perfect choice to lead us through the מדבר midbar, through a desert lifestyle, through a time when we had the מן man and the באר b'er, we're protected by the clouds, when we were living this כולל kollel life and everything was provided for us and we didn't need anything else. Moshe was the leader. But they're about to go into ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael, a land of מצוות התלויות בארץ mitzvos hatluyos ba'aretz. They're about to need to bridge heaven and earth. ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael is the bridge of heaven and earth. It's the place where in soil, earth, we perform מצוות mitzvos through it. And so Moshe, God says, are you ready? Have you learned how to bridge heaven and earth? ודברתם אל הסלע V'dibartem el hasela. Have you learned the power of speech? And Moshe does not speak to the rock. He hits it instead. And so I've argued that it's not a punishment that Moshe can't go into Israel, it's simply a description of a reality. The reality is he was the perfect leader for the דור המדבר dor hamidbar, for the מדבר midbar. He was the perfect leader for the desert lifestyle, but they're going into Israel, we have to set up a judicial system, a police force, an agricultural society, a stock market, you have to set up businesses and commerce and transportation and government. Israel where you have to begin to integrate and build a bridge, heaven and earth, Moshe is no longer the right person. But it's very interesting, there are countless explanations which are offered. So many were the hypotheses that the 19th century Italian commentator, ר' שמואל דוד לוצאטו Rav Shmuel David Luzzatto said, quote, Moshe committed one sin, yet the commentators have accused him of 13 or more, each inventing some new iniquity. Moshe did one mistake, but we've come up with many, many more. In fact, there's a ספר, שערי אהרן sefer Shaarei Aharon, and I looked in the שערי אהרן Shaarei Aharon, and there are no less than 25 different explanations of what Moshe did wrong. Poor Moshe, one mistake, this incredible leader who literally saved the Jewish people, he made one mistake. But instead of putting him in the books for one mistake, the שערי אהרן Shaarei Aharon has no less than 25 suggestions of what he did wrong. And what I want to suggest to you is stop looking, stop trying to explain. This is what the עטרת מרדכי Atteres Mordechai says, again in a little bit of a different context, but expanding on it for my own. And he says, you know what the theme of our פרשה parsha is? What do the פרה אדומה Para Aduma and the story of the מי מריבה Mei Meriva, Moshe hitting the rock instead of speaking to it, what do they have in common? And you know what the answer is? Let me read to you the words of the עטרת מרדכי Atteres Mordechai. He says כשם שיש חוקים ומשפטים בתורה, כמו כן אתה מוצא חוקים ומשפטים בחיים K'shem she'yesh chukim u'mishpatim baTorah, k'mo kein ata motze chukim u'mishpatim ba'chaim. There are חוקים chukim in laws and there are חוקים chukim in life. Why was Moshe not allowed in? I don't know. He דאווענט davened ואתחנן Va'eschanan 515 times. He wasn't answered. Why not? The great Moshe, when he advocated and דאווענט davened for the people, he was answered. Why wasn't he answered for himself? You know what? It's a חוק chok. Sometimes in life there are חוקים chukim. Why is there a virus and why did some people lose their life and why are some struggling and others seem protected? And why are some regions the data is spiking and other places they seem they're going back to normal? Sometimes in life, one has to throw up their arms and say, you know what, it's a חוק chok. It's a חוק chok. I'm trying so hard to understand, but not everything do we have access to, not everything are we capable of understanding, not everything will we understand. It was קרח's Korach's mistake. קרח Korach is followed by פרשת חוקת Parshas Chukas. And חוקת Chukas begins with the פרה אדומה Para Aduma but it ends with מי מריבה Mei Meriva, because like there are חוקים chukim in laws, there are חוקים chukim also in life. And that's the message of our פרשה parsha. It's what it's telling us. With all due respect to the 25 different reasons which are suggested and offered, the answer is, you know why Moshe wasn't allowed in? Why was he punished? Why was the punishment so severe? Because sometimes there's a חוק chok not only in law, there's a חוק chok sometimes in life. Be humble. Be humbled to realize that we're not capable of understanding everything. To think that I'm capable and I deserve and I'm entitled to understand everything is arrogance. It's the epitome of arrogance. You know, to believe in God is not only to believe that there is a God, but to accept that we won't understand everything, because if we could understand everything, then we would be God. We're not competing with God. That's what the שפת אמת Sfas Emes said. The הייליגע שפת אמת heilige Sfas Emes said, this is the תיקון tikun for the עץ הדעת eitz hada'as. The עץ הדעת eitz hada'as, we said we want to be כאלוקים יודעי טוב ורע k'Elokim yodei tov v'ra. But you know what? To be a religious personality means to submit, submission. Footnote four of Halachic Man where Rabbi Soloveitchik talks about that religious man, religion at its core, he defines religion, religion means submission. You see, we live in a time and we're living in a generation that says, you know what religion is? Spirituality and I'm moved and my soul is on fire and love and קומזיץ kumzitz and meditation and התבודדות hisbodedus and you know me, you know that I believe in all those things as much as anyone else and I'm working on all of those things. But you have to understand that as beautiful as that is, spirituality and music and קומזיץ kumzitz and התבודדות hisbodedus and meditation and every מצוה mitzvah all the deep reason, it's all beautiful. But at its core, you know what religion is? At its core, religion is submission. At its core, religion is, I don't only observe and I don't only follow and I don't only stick with you and I don't only see you when it's all good, but I stick with you and I see you and I submit to you even or especially when I can't understand. משפטים Mishpatim are lovely, but ultimately the evidence of the genuineness of our relationship with Hashem is not in our observance and acceptance of משפטים mishpatim, but rather it's in חוקים chukim. And that's why it's זאת חוקת התורה zos chukas haTorah. This is the חוק chok of Torah, not just זאת חוקת zos chukas, not just זאת חוקת zos chukas of the פרה אדומה Para Aduma, but זאת חוקת התורה zos chukas haTorah. And I want to expand this theme. I know I usually give a lot of דברי תורה divrei Torah and we're going to start that in a moment, but I want to just share with you this theme that is pervasive throughout this פרשה parsha of חוקת Chukas. It's called חוקת Chukas for this reason. And even though arguably it belongs elsewhere, maybe in ויקרא Vayikra where we have קרבנות korbanos, maybe the law of the פרה אדומה Para Aduma, we have טומאה וטהרה tumah v'taharah in ויקרא Vayikra, why isn't it there? It's here because it's in the middle of the book of במדבר Bamidbar, when we have an adolescent nation developing with rebelliousness, seeking to understand. Now is specifically why it's placed here. By the way, Rashi at the beginning of the פרשה parsha tells us, זאת חוקת התורה zos chukas haTorah, that this is the, this is the antidote and the repair for what? The חטא העגל chet ha'egel. Let the mother come and clean up for her calf. Let the mother come and clean up for her calf. What does that mean? Is it just a cute play on words? פרה אדומה Para aduma, the cow, and עגל egel, the calf? Just cute, these animals are related to one another? Of course not, it means so much deeper. The כוזרי Kuzari, the great כוזרי Kuzari, ר' יהודה הלוי Reb Yehuda HaLevi says, what was the mistake of the חטא העגל chet ha'egel after all? Moshe disappears on top of the mountain and the Jewish people say, how are we meant to connect to God? We need something tangible. We need something palpable. We need something we can hold, we can look at, we can feel, we can smell, we can listen to. We need something. We want to understand, we want to connect, we want to do it our way. And God says, you know, that may be a legitimate need and I'll give you a משכן Mishkan to fill it, but you can't do it your way. You're not capable of understanding. You're not omnipotent and infinite. You're limited and finite. To be religious, to have a relationship with Me, says God, means the willingness to submit, the willingness to concede, the willingness to admit that you're not God. And therefore, you have to do it my way. That's why the בית הלוי Beis HaLevi writes the פרשיות parshios of ויקהל Vayakhel of תרומה תצוה Terumah Tetzaveh are repeated, ויקהל פקודי Vayakhel Pekudei. You have תרומה תצוה Terumah Tetzaveh, the laws of the משכן Mishkan, then you have כי תשא Ki Sisa, the חטא העגל chet ha'egel, and then you have ויקהל פקודי Vayakhel Pekudei. The difference, says the בית הלוי Beis HaLevi is, in ויקהל פקודי Vayakhel Pekudei, you have כאשר ציוה ה' את משה ka'asher tziva Hashem es Moshe. Over and over again, you have as God commanded, as God commanded, as God commanded, because the lesson of the חטא העגל chet ha'egel is, you're not capable of understanding. You cannot innovate and invent. There's not room for entrepreneurship in religion. God says there's 613 מצוות mitzvos. Now, yes, there's religious creativity, and yes, there's poetic creativity, and yes, there's romantic creativity and this loving relationship we have with the קדוש ברוך הוא Kadosh Baruch Hu, of course, and yes, but fundamentally it begins with a commitment to תרי\"ג מצוות Taryag mitzvos, the 613 מצוות mitzvos. They're non-negotiable. They're from Him. We don't try to modify them, we don't try to change them or adapt them based on our own intellect. It is submission to Him. And that's what it means. Let the mother, the פרה אדומה Para Aduma come and clean up for the עגל egel. The עגל's egel's mistake was you thought you could understand everything. You thought you were in charge. You made a mistake with the חטא העגל chet ha'egel. It was a costly mistake. And you know what the antidote, you know what the response is? פרה אדומה Para aduma. Let the mother come and clean up for the calf, clean up for the calf. You see this as well. Again, we're giving this whole theme. So much more to get to. But you see this as well towards the end of פרשת חוקת Parshas Chukas. What's at the end of פרשת חוקת Parshas Chukas? The Jewish people are ready to go through the land of סיחון ועוג Sichon and Og. וישלח ישראל מלאכים אל סיחון מלך האמורי Vayishlach Yisrael malachim el Sichon melech ha'Emori. They sent emissaries, ambassadors to סיחון Sichon. אעברה בארצך, לא נטה בשדה ובכרם, לא נשתה מי באר, בדרך המלך נלך עד אשר נעבור גבולך E'ebra b'artzecha, lo niteh b'sadeh u'v'kerem, lo nishteh mei b'er, b'derech hamelech neilech ad asher na'avor gvulecha. Said, can we pass through your land? A shortcut, we're on our way. We're not going to touch anything. We won't violate, we won't compromise, we won't touch your resources. Can we just cut through? ולֹא-נָתַן סִיחֹן אֶת-יִשְׂרָאֵל, עֲבֹר בִּגְבֻלוֹ; וַיֶּאֱסֹף סִיחֹן אֶת-כָּל-עַמּוֹ, וַיֵּצֵא לִקְרַאת יִשְׂרָאֵל הַמִּדְבָּרָה V'lo nasan Sichon es Yisrael avor bigvulo, vayeesof Sichon es kol amo vayeitzei likras Yisrael hamidbara. They wouldn't allow it, and so on. So there is a battle and there is a fight. ויכה ישראל אתו לפי חרב, ויירש את ארצו מארנן עד יבק עד בני עמון Vayakeh Yisrael oso l'fi charev, v'yirash es artzo mei'Arnon ad Yabok ad Bnei Ammon. And what happens? The Jewish people, we kill them with the sword, we took possession of the land to the children of Ammon, כי עז גבול בני עמון ki az gvul Bnei Ammon. The border of the children of Ammon is powerful. I'm on page 852 in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash, the end of פרשת חוקת Parshas Chukas. I just read to you פסוק כ\"ד pasuk kaf daled. What's going on over here? סיחון ועמון Sichon and Ammon prevent the Jews from entering. So they go to war with סיחון Sichon, but not עמון Ammon. Why don't they go to the war with עמון Ammon? They go to war with סיחון Sichon, they triumph over סיחון Sichon, they eliminate סיחון Sichon. What happened to עמון Ammon? עמון Ammon equally, egregiously does not allow the Jewish people to pass through their land. Why does עמון Ammon get a free pass? So the פסוק pasuk tells us why, you know why? כי עז גבול בני עמון Ki az gvul Bnei Ammon, because the border of the children of Ammon is incredibly powerful. So now you'll tell me, what does it mean that they're incredibly powerful? What is the Torah telling us? What is the Torah testifying to us? כי עז גבול בני עמון Ki az gvul Bnei Ammon. The border of Ammon is so powerful. What's so powerful? It's fortified, militarily, it's got incredible weapons, it's got a massed an enormous army. What is so powerful that אז az, כי עז גבול בני עמון ki az gvul Bnei Ammon. So Rashi here says, ומהו חזקו umahu chezko, what is the strength of this border? What is the strength of this boundary that you can't pass through it? says Rashi, הזהרה של הקדוש ברוך הוא שהזהירם עליהם אל תצורם ha'azhara shel Hakadosh Baruch Hu she'hizhiram aleihem al tatzurum. Because later in דברים Devarim, God reveals to us that He told us that the Jewish people were not allowed to harass or wage war against עמון Ammon. So אז גבול בני עמון az gvul Bnei Ammon. You know what the strength of עמון Ammon was? Because God said no. That was its strength. Isn't that an amazing Rashi? My brother called my attention to this Rashi many, many years ago. My brother pointed out what Rashi is telling us is the strength of that boundary, that border was not its military, was not its army. You know what the strength was? God said no. And when God says no, the answer is no. It's a non-negotiable and it's a non-debatable. To Moshe, Hashem's word is a reality. כי עז גבול בני עמון Ki az gvul Bnei Ammon, God said no, so the boundary was strong, there's nothing to talk about, it's a non-negotiable. So I remember many years ago when he told me that inside on this Rashi, it occurred to me, you ever go to the supermarket? Remember when you can go to the supermarket? You ever go to the supermarket with your child? Let's say, and, and, you know, the people who design the layout of a supermarket are not dumb. There's tremendous חכמה chochma. There's a whole wisdom to the design of a supermarket. They don't put the milk in the front when you first walk into a supermarket. You know why? Because the milk is a staple, you have to get milk. They put it all the way the furthest point from the entrance, because you'll have to pass a lot of other things and you'll fill your cart with things you don't need on your way in and on your way out. So by design, the milk is the furthest from the entrance of the supermarket because they want you to have to pass everything and be enticed by everything and buy things that you don't need and you don't want. There's a חכמה chochma, there's a wisdom. Part of that wisdom, it's a cruel, absolutely cruel wisdom, cruel wisdom is at the checkout line, what is there a wall of opposite the conveyor belt of the checkout line? There is a wall of candy. And why do they put that there? Again, you're waiting in line, the people in front of you, it's taking a while. And you're you're hungry, you're tired, your guard is down. You're going to grab for the candy. You're going to stuff it on on the in the cart or on the conveyor belt. So, if you haven't been to the supermarket with your young child, and your young child starts, you know, pulling on your pant leg or on your skirt, pulling on your arm, starts קוועטשינג kvetching, I want the candy, I want the candy. I want the candy. I'm dying for candy, I want candy, they take the candy, and you don't want to give them the candy. Now there's two things you can say. If you say to the child, not two things you could say, but there's two options of what kind of candy they're asking for. If you say, well, you can't have the candy. You haven't eaten dinner yet, candy's going to cause cavities, we don't need the candy, it's overpriced and it's expensive. Is your child going to stop crying? A Jewish תורה'דיגע Torah-dika, observant child, will they stop crying? In most cases, in my experience with several children, the answer is no. If you tell them that it's going to cause your teeth to fall out and rot, if you tell them it's overexpensive, if you tell them you didn't have dinner yet, that's not, No, but I want it, I'm going to cry. Why? Because children are very smart. They're almost as smart as the people who design supermarkets. And they know that they're going to beat you out. If they can just cry longer, they're going to wear you down till you can't take it, you're embarrassed, you're humiliated, you're going to give in and give them the candy. But what happens when you turn to that same child and you say, because it's true, I'm not suggesting you lie, but you say, the candy that you're crying about and holding, you can't have it. Why? Because it's not כשר kosher. You know what that child does? Three, four, five years old, they look at you and they say, Okay, and they put it back on the shelf. Why? Why is it when you say it's not כשר kosher, they put it back on the shelf? But when you say it's going to make your teeth fall out, and you didn't eat dinner yet, and it's too expensive, they try to wear you down and they're going to cry their eyes out. The answer is כי אז גבול בני עמון ki az gvul bnei amon.This is what משה Moshe was telling us, is when השם Hashem says something, the core of why we do it is not I need to understand it and why, you know, according to many כשרות kashrus is a חוק chok. There are different explanations which are offered for why we keep כשר kosher, but some suggest in the end of the day that כשרות kashrus itself is a חוק chok. Ultimately כשרות kashrus is a חוק chok. So, if the child says, well, I want to understand it. No, the child says, Oh, it's not כשר kosher? Never mind, and puts it back. כי אז גבול בני עמון Ki az gvul bnei amon. So you see this notion of זאת חקת התורה zos chukas haTorah. Just those three words that begin our פרשה parsha. זאת חקת התורה Zos chukas haTorah. This is the חוק chok of the whole תורה Torah. This is the חוק chok of the תורה Torah. It's not just the חוק chok of the פרה אדומה parah adumah, it is the חוק chok of the whole תורה Torah. It is teaching us an attitude towards religious life, submission, to concede, to admit we're not capable of understanding, we're not entitled to understand, we have no expectation of understanding. Like the physicist, we're not getting stuck on the why, but we're asking the what. What does it mean for me? What does it mean for my life? How can I live the most virtuous life from it? זאת חקת התורה Zos chukas haTorah. זאת חקת התורה Zos chukas haTorah. This is the פרה אדומה parah adumah. This is why it's not here in, why is it not in ויקרא Vayikra? טומאה וטהרה Tumah v'taharah, why is it here? Why is it after קרח Korach? How does it repair for the חטא העגל chet ha'egel? How does it repair for the עץ הדעת eitz hada'at? How does it connect to the second half of the פרשה parsha of משה Moshe hitting the rock instead of speaking to the rock? How does it connect to the story of סיחון Sichon of of עמון Amon, the fact that we can't penetrate their border, כי אז גבול ki az gvul? The answer to all those questions is the notion of the חוק chok which is at the core of what it means to live a, what it means to live a religious life. Okay, let's keep going. Now I got to do some triage and figure out where we're going, but let's keep going. פרק י\"ט Perek Yud Tes, פסוק ו' pasuk vav.In the context of the פרה אדומה parah adumah, we're trying to purify the impure. פרק י\"ט Perek Yud Tes, פסוק ו' pasuk vav says the following: ולקח הכהן עץ ארז ואזוב ושני תולעת והשליך אל תוך שרפת הפרה V'lakach hakohen eitz erez v'eizov ushni tola'at v'hishlich el toch srefat haparah. The process of the purifying is that the כהן kohen takes cedarwood, עץ ארז eitz erez, and אזוב eizov, hyssop, ושני תולעת ushni tola'at, a crimson thread, and throws it into the burning of the cow. This mixture, this funny recipe, these ingredients, you could beat Bobby Flay with this recipe. He's never tried this one before. The פרה אדומה parah adumah, you throw it all in, you sprinkle it on the impure person, they become pure. The pure person himself becomes impure. Why are these specifically the ingredients that are chosen? What is the lesson? What is the message? So רש\"י Rashi here explains that each component of the purification process, they're not random, but they are by design. Why specifically are these the ingredients that are chosen? So רש\"י Rashi tells us. רש\"י Rashi tells us. Where is this רש\"י Rashi? Oh. תמימה בהמימות Temimah b'hemimot, it should be pure, we have to be pure. And רש\"י Rashi says here that each aspect of the מצוה mitzvah connects with and rectifies the mistake of the Golden Calf, the חטא העגל chet ha'egel. We explained it in the intellectual sense of needing to understand everything. The cedar, the עץ ארז eitz erez, a cedar tree is the tallest of all the trees. A cedar tree is a tall, sturdy, firm tree. The hyssop, the אזוב eizov, is the lowest of all the trees, a little lowly bush. And says רש\"י Rashi, this symbolizes that the haughty, arrogant person, how did they get impure? How does one become impure in life, contaminated by life? When a person's arrogant, egotistical, narcissistic, self-centered, that person needs to be sprinkled by an אזוב eizov. They need to be sprinkled by something which is lowly, something which is humble, something that's going to bring them down and make them more modest. רב וולבה Rav Wolbe, expanding on this רש\"י Rashi, רב וולבה Rav Wolbe says in his שיעורי חומש shiurei chumash on our פרשה parsha, רב וולבה Rav Wolbe says you see at the core of every mistake, at the core of all contamination, at the core of all impurity, at the core of all corruption, is the ego, is arrogance. Now that doesn't mean to say that that anytime a person makes a mistake, they're arrogant. We know humble people that make mistakes. Arrogance here doesn't mean that the person needs to be the loudest in the room or garner all the attention of the room. Arrogance in this context means that they're driven by their ego. They're driven by their needs. They're driven by putting themselves first. They're incapable of being disciplined. They're incapable of quieting the voice of their own of their own needs, of their own needs. So a similar idea is conveyed when the תורה Torah describes בני ישראל Bnei Yisrael complained about the מן man. השם Hashem sent them the שליו slav, the quail, as a punishment, and he said that they would eat it until it comes out of their noses, until they're disgusted, because you've disgusted השם Hashem who's in your midst. And רש\"י Rashi there says, השם Hashem was telling them that were it not for the fact that I dwelled among you, you wouldn't have become conceited and sinned. It was their haughtiness that brought them to sin. So when a person is arrogant and haughty, when a person thinks that they're all that and all capable, that is the beginning of the end. גאוה Gaivah is what undoes it all. That arrogance, that גאוה gaivah, that arrogance is the underlying feature that brings about our demise. And that's what's going on over here. רש\"י Rashi says specifically why the עץ ארז eitz erez, why it is that. פרק י\"ט פסוק י\"ד Perek Yud Tes Pasuk Yud Daled. Moving right along.זאת Zos, we have a very similar language. The פרשה parsha begins זאת חקת התורה zos chukas haTorah, and now we have זאת התורה אדם כי ימות באהל zos haTorah adam ki yamus b'ohel. This is the law of the תורה Torah. אדם כי ימות באהל כל הבא אל האהל וכל אשר באהל יטמא שבעת ימים Adam ki yamus b'ohel kol haba el ha'ohel v'chol asher b'ohel yitma shivas yamim. We're talking about the laws of impurity, how a person becomes contaminated by the negative energy of a corpse. This is the teaching regarding a person who would die in a tent, page 840 in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash, פרק י\"ט Perek Yud Tes, פסוק י\"ד pasuk yud daled. Here again רבי סולובייצ'יק Rabbi Soloveitchik jumps in with beautiful insight. And says רבי סולובייצ'יק Rabbi Soloveitchik, he says, interpreting this phrase homiletically, רש לקיש Reish Lakish, the גמרא Gemara in ברכות Brachos on דף ס\"ג daf samech gimel explains, זאת התורה אדם כי ימות באהל zos haTorah adam ki yamus b'ohel. A person, if you want the תורה Torah, תלמוד תורה Talmud Torah to be מתקיים miskayem, a person who studies תורה Torah, you're coming to the פרשה parsha class, beautiful. You're logged in, Zoom, YouTube, Facebook, WhyUTorah, RabbiEphraimGoldberg.org, wherever you're listening, live, recorded, one speed, two speed, triple speed, but you're learning תורה Torah. How are you מקיים התורה mekayem haTorah? How do you make it last? How do you imbibe it? How do you absorb it? How does it become part of you? Says the says the גמרא Gemara in ברכות Brachos, רש לקיש Reish Lakish, only מי שמת עצמו עליה mi she'meimis atzmo aleha. Only a person who is מת עצמו meimis atzmo on it. You have to apply yourself. You have to toil, you have to work. You know, no pain, no gain. Jack LaLanne, you have no pain, no gain. If you don't work for something, then you don't really acquire it. So I have to tell you, by the way, this פרשה parsha class is beautiful, and I'm so glad you're listening. I'm not sitting here by myself. But it's passive listening. You're listening. Even if you're taking notes, some of you I see are taking notes, כל הכבוד kol hakavod, I'm honored. Even if you're taking notes, it's passive learning. You got to open a חומש Chumash. You got to read it inside. You got to break your teeth, you got to struggle, you got to toil. The things we work for are the things that we most acquire. They are the things that most transform us. By the way, the בעלי מוסר ba'alei mussar point out that רש לקיש Reish Lakish says, when is it that תורה Torah lasts? When is it that we truly acquire it in a meaningful and lasting way? מי שמת עצמו עליה Mi she'meimis atzmo aleha. Because it's learned זאת התורה zos haTorah, אדם כי ימות באהל adam ki yamus b'ohel. אוהל Ohel is the אוהל ohel of תורה Torah. אוהל Ohel is the tent of תורה Torah like יעקב Yaakov dwells in the tent of תורה Torah. The אוהל ohel is the tent of תורה Torah. אדם כי ימות באהל Adam ki yamus b'ohel. זאת התורה Zos haTorah. If you want זאת התורה zos haTorah, אדם כי ימות באהל adam ki yamus b'ohel, you have to be willing to die for it. But the בעלי מוסר ba'alei mussar say it doesn't mean you have to be willing to want it so bad and work for it so hard that you're willing to die for it. By the way, it's true, if you watch these motivational YouTube videos, I don't care whether it's an athlete or whether it's a business icon or whether it's someone who broke through in any arena and they'll talk about they were in the gym before and they stayed in the gym after and they worked harder and they put in more hours. Whatever it is you want, whatever you really want the most, you got to be willing to kill yourself. That's the לשון lashon, the language and the vernacular we we use. Someone's willing to kill themselves for it and kill themselves over it. So אדם כי ימות באהל adam ki yamus b'ohel. The אוהל ohel of תורה Torah, you have to be an אדם כי ימות adam ki yamus. You have to be willing to die for it. So the גמרא Gemara in ברכות Brachos, רש לקיש Reish Lakish says, ממית עצמו עליה meimis atzmo aleha. You know how you acquire תורה Torah? Like we just said from רב וולבה Rav Wolbe about the אזוב eizov, about the hyssop. Why was the hyssop used? You were an עץ ארז eitz erez. You think that you're such a mighty, tall, arrogant, haughty, self-centered, narcissistic, arrogant person, you became contaminated. We got to sprinkle you with a little modesty, a little humility. זאת חקת התורה Zos chukat haTorah, מי שמת mi she'meimis, what do you have to kill? The עצמו atzmo, the sense of arrogance. עצמו Atzmo means the sense of 'I,' the sense of ego. You only really acquire תורה Torah when you're מת meimis the עצמו atzmo, when you're willing to kill the sense of 'I,' the ego, עליה aleha, in it. In a different passage, רבי סולובייצ'יק Rabbi Soloveitchik continues, in פרקי אבות Pirkei Avos we read, such is the way of תורה Torah. We read in פרקי אבות Pirkei Avos, this is the way of תורה Torah. פת במלח תאכל Pas b'melach tochal and מים mayim, water in small measures you drink, and sleep on the ground and a life of deprivation, that's how you toil in תורה Torah. That's how you toil in תורה Torah.So, in פרקי אבות Pirkei Avos, it deals with the necessity for material denial to attain greatness in תורה Torah. And רש לקיש Reish Lakish refers to spiritual self-sacrifice. In order to merit greatness in תורה Torah, you have to be ready during a תורה Torah discussion to endure embarrassment by immediately admitting that you're wrong when such an admission is warranted. So, in פרקי אבות Pirkei Avos, it's talking about that if you really want to break through with תורה Torah greatness, you have to be willing to be מסתפק במועט mistapek b'muat. You have to be willing to live with little. And that's why classically in ישיבות Yeshivas we say, you know, a person, the ישיבה בחור Yeshiva bochur has to be willing to live with very little. The one who broke out of that mold was רב מאיר שפירא Rav Meir Shapiro, זכר צדיק לברכה zecher tzaddik livracha. רב מאיר שפירא Rav Meir Shapiro, the great founder of ישיבת חכמי לובלין Yeshivas Chachmei Lublin, was the first to say people shouldn't sleep on a bench, they shouldn't have to beg for their meals, they shouldn't have to live in a schlocky בית מדרש beis medrash. Anyone who's been to the ישיבת חכמי לובלין Yeshivas Chachmei Lublin in Lublin, in Poland, knows ישיבת חכמי לובלין Yeshivas Chachmei Lublin is a beautiful edifice. It's a magnificent ישיבה yeshiva. It had a dormitory. It was the first of its kind of a modern ישיבה yeshiva with a dormitory and a cafeteria and a magnificent בית מדרש beis medrash. I, how did he understand this משנה mishnah in אבות Avos that says that in order to break through in תורה Torah you have to be מסתפק במועט mistapek b'muat? So רב מאיר שפירא Rav Meir Shapiro read it, he punctuated it differently. And he said, this is a life of תורה Torah that פת במלח תאכל pas b'melach tochal? All you're going to eat is bread and water? No! That's not a life of תורה Torah. He punctuated the משנה mishnah differently to come to a different conclusion. רבי סולובייצ'יק Rabbi Soloveitchik is saying here that the משנה mishnah in אבות Avos and רש לקיש's Reish Lakish's understanding of our פסוק pasuk are not in conflict. One is talking about being מסתפק במועט mistapek b'muat in the physical sense, but here מי שמת עצמו עליה mi she'meimis atzmo aleha is talking about in the spiritual sense. If you really want to grow and you want to discover truth, you have to be so humble that you're willing to become embarrassed over it. And the רב Rav shared a story about his זקן zeideh, about his grandfather. Said the רב Rav, when my grandfather רב חיים Rav Chaim applied to become ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva in וולוז'ין Volozhin, many great rabbis opposed him because they disagreed with his unique method of תלמודיק Talmudic analysis. As part of the process of being considered for the position, he delivered a lengthy שיעור shiur in the וולוז'ין Volozhin בית מדרש beis medrash. At one point, he abruptly stopped the lecture, indicating he just then remembered a passage in the פירוש המשניות peirush ha'mishnayos of the רמב\"ם Rambam, which conflicted with his thesis, which was based on the משנה תורה Mishneh Torah. The skeptics were so impressed with רב חיים's Rav Chaim's ability to admit his mistake, he was offered the position immediately. מי שמת עצמו עליה Mi she'meimis atzmo aleha means that, you know, you see this. Sometimes in any debate, in any conversation, people become so entrenched in their position that even when they're disproved, they nevertheless cling to their mistake because they're so entrenched. Their ego is now so intertwined with the position that they took. מי שמת עצמו עליה Mi she'meimis atzmo aleha means you have to be willing to be embarrassed or humbled. You have to be willing to let go if you're going to discover the truth, not to cling to your not to cling to your positions. Okay, let's keep going. אוי Oy, so much, so much to talk about. What should we do next?The באר of מרים be'er of Miriam. Let's talk about the באר of מרים be'er of Miriam for a moment. פרק כ' פסוק א' Perek Chaf Pasuk Aleph. ויבאו בני ישראל כל העדה מדבר צין בחדש הראשון וישב העם בקדש ותמת שם מרים ותקבר שם Vayavo'u Bnei Yisrael kol ha'eidah midbar Tzin bachodesh harishon vayeshev ha'am b'Kadesh vatamas sham Miriam vatikaver sham. מרים Miriam, מרים הנביאה Miriam ha'neviah, the great prophetess, Miriam, the beautiful woman inside and outside who saved the Jewish people, she saved her brother. She dies. ותקבר שם Vatikaver sham, she's buried. And what does the תורה Torah tell us immediately afterwards? ולא היה מים לעדה V'lo hayah mayim la'eidah ויקהלו על משה ועל אהרן vayikahalu al Moshe v'al Aharon. Miriam's gone, מרים Miriam dies, and with her goes their water source. So what happens? The people are incredibly thirsty. וירב העם עם משה Vayarav ha'am im Moshe ויאמרו לאמר vayomru leimor, ולו גוענו בגוע אחינו לפני השם v'lu gavanu bigvoa acheinu lifnei Hashem. Now they confront משה Moshe and they say, what happened? Why'd you take us? Where's our water? We're surely going to die. What's the connection between מרים's Miriam's death and the lack of and the lack of water? What went wrong here? What went wrong here? So, מרים Miriam, it was in מרים's Miriam's זכות zchus that we had the באר be'er. The תורה Torah tells us back in שמות Shmos, פרק ב' פסוק ד' perek beis pasuk daled, that we had the באר be'er. We had this this well, and the well that traveled and journeyed with the Jewish people as our unlimited water source was in the merit of מרים Miriam. And when מרים Miriam died, there went the water source, and that's why it's exactly after her death that we have them complaining about the water. Why was the באר be'er specifically chosen in the merit of מרים Miriam? So רבנו בחיי Rabbeinu Bachya has a beautiful interpretation. רבנו בחיי Rabbeinu Bachya, רבנו בחיי Rabbeinu Bachya, however you pronounce his name, different traditions. רבנו בחיי Rabbeinu Bachya says that מרים Miriam was responsible for the survival of the Jewish people. Why? Because משה Moshe was, the parents didn't want to have another child, and they had another child. And it was time to get rid of משה Moshe because פרעה Pharaoh was going to hunt him down. And מרים Miriam was the one who said, \"Put him in the river, let him float in the Nile.\" And מרים Miriam is the one who stood by the river and watched. And מרים's Miriam's the one who convinced the daughter of פרעה Pharaoh that her mother could be the one to nurse him. So since מרים Miriam performed this incredible חסד chesed that ensured the survival of the Jewish people out of a body of water, in her merit we always had a body of water. I saw a second beautiful explanation. We know there's a connection between שידוכים at the באר shidduchim at the be'er. There is always marriage, שידוכים shidduchim, at the well. משה Moshe meets his wife at the well, יצחק and רבקה Yitzchak and Rivka, the well, יעקב and רחל Yaakov and Rachel at the at the well. מרים Miriam who reintroduced her mother and father and convinced her mother to beautify herself and her father to reunite with her mother. So מרים Miriam was the שדכן shadchan of her own parents, so to say, in their second go-around, it was in her merit that we had that we had water. Now there's a very interesting הלכה halacha, a little bit of an obscure הלכה halacha, and we learn it from here. The שולחן ערוך in יורה דעה סימן ש\"ל ה Shulchan Aruch in Yoreh De'ah siman Shin Lamed Hei writes, מנהג לשפוך כל מים שבשכונת המת minhag lishpoch kol mayim she'b'shchunas ha'meis. There's a הלכה halacha that when a person passes away, when a person dies, we pour out any water that's in their house and that is in the three houses adjacent to that person. Do we keep this today? Do we not keep this today? Does it mean any water, even if it's closed, or only uncovered water, like in a cup as opposed to a sealed bottle? Forget the exact application of the הלכה halacha today, but the שולחן ערוך Shulchan Aruch, this is not HJB Goldberg didn't make this up. This is שולחן ערוך Shulchan Aruch, יורה דעה ש\"ל ה' Yoreh De'ah Shin Lamed Hei, that when a person dies in a home, you have to pour out all the water in that house and in three adjacent houses. Why? There are two reasons which are offered. The ש\"ך Shach writes there, quote, שידעו הכל שיש במקום מת ולהצטרך להודיע בפה ואם יוציא דיבה she'yeidu hakol she'yesh b'makom meis u'l'hitztarech l'hodia b'peh v'im yotzi dibah. Because we don't like to be, we're not supposed to like to be, the bearer of bad news. Unfortunately, many people love to share the bad news. We're not supposed to want to be the bearer of bad news. So rather than have to announce, don't send out an email, all of a sudden you see that in that house, everybody's spilling out the water into the street, into the sewer, it must be that that person passed away. So in order to to avoid sharing bad news, says the ש\"ך Shach, that's why they have this tradition of pouring out the water. A second reason he gives is שהמלאך המות מפה דם המות she'malach ha'maves mapah dam ha'maves. The מלאך המות malach ha'maves cleans off his bloody sword in the closest water. So as not to ingest that bloody water, we pour out any water that's there. How do we know this הלכה halacha? Where does this הלכה halacha come from? It seems to be a little bit of a bizarre הלכה halacha, a mystical הלכה halacha. Is this true also on שבת Shabbos? Is it true in a hospital? Do we do it in our time? There's a lot of הלכתית halachic literature about this הלכה halacha. Again, שולחן ערוך יורה דעה Shulchan Aruch Yoreh De'ah and ט\"ז Taz. So the באר הגולה Be'er Hagolah writes in the name of the אבודרהם Avudraham that a hint to this הלכה halacha is from where? It's from our פרשה parsha. Why? Because מרים Miriam dies, and immediately the next פסוק pasuk, they say, we're thirsty. Now the question is, didn't they have a little bit of water left? When מרים Miriam died, it meant that the water source was not renewed, but didn't they have some water left in her merit? So the water source is not renewed. So the next day or the next week or the next month, complaining and kvetching that you ran out of water. Why'd they complain and kvetch immediately? Says the אבודרהם Avudraham, they complain and they kvetch immediately, you know why? Whatever water was left had to be spilled out because the הלכה halacha is when someone passes away, the water has to be spilled out. So whatever was left had to be spilled out, and since it was spilled out, since it was spilled out, that's why they had no water, they complained right away. We know as a result of this episode, we're not going to go through it right now, I want to get to פרשת בלק Parshas Balak for a few minutes. We know that as a result of this episode, they're not allowed to enter. משה Moshe דאווענט davens to enter. ואתחנן V'eschanan, 515 times he דאווענט davens. Why doesn't אהרן Aharon ever דאווענט daven to enter the land? אהרן Aharon is part of this, and in our פרשה parsha, אהרן Aharon dies. Tragically, it's so sad, אהרן Aharon dies. Why wasn't אהרן Aharon part of this prayer? Why didn't אהרן Aharon ever דאווענט daven to come in? So the נעם אלימלך Noam Elimelech says, why did משה Moshe want to enter ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael? Because he wanted to play golf in קיסריה Caesarea? He wanted to swim and lounge at the King David lounge? Why did משה Moshe want to get in? He wanted the all-you-can-eat, what's that great restaurant where you turn it over, red and green, do you want more? Do you not want more? All you could eat, I forgot the name, already I haven't been to ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael in a few months and that's it. Why did משה Moshe want to go in? Because he wanted to perform the מצוות mitzvos that are only in ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael. So משה Moshe was desperate, he דאווענט davened, השם Hashem let me in, I want to perform the מצוות mitzvos you can only do there. Why didn't אהרן Aharon דאווענט daven says the נעם אלימלך Noam Elimelech? Because you know what מצוות mitzvos אהרן Aharon would have merited there? The מתנות כהונה matnos kehunah. He would have received from the people. And so that אהרן Aharon didn't want to look like he was entitled or that he was trying to take or that he was wanted to get into Israel so that he would have more, therefore he didn't even דאווענט daven to come in. That is the explanation of the נעם אלימלך Noam Elimelech. I want to share with you because I think it's a little bit timely, and these are the פרשה parsha perspectives for today. There is a fast day associated with the Friday of פרשת חקת Parshas Chukas. By a show of hands, how many of you are going to fast this Friday? How many of you have ever heard of the fact that there's a fast day this Friday? שבעה עשר בתמוז Shivah Asar B'Tamuz, you heard of it. It's coming up, the 17th of תמוז Tamuz. But did you know there's a fast day this Friday? It's quoted by the מגן אברהם Magen Avraham. מגן אברהם Magen Avraham references this this fast day. What is the notion of this fast day? Where does it come from? What's it really all about? So the מגן אברהם Magen Avraham explains it's worthwhile for every Jew to cry for the burning of the תורה Torah. And he tells us a customary annual fast for this reason, ערב שבת פרשת חקת Erev Shabbos Parshas Chukas. It's very unusual. Our fast days are all associated or correlated with a date on the calendar, not with a פרשה parsha. שבעה עשר בתמוז Shivah Asar B'Tamuz, תשעה באב Tisha B'Av, עשרה בטבת Asarah B'Teves. יום כפור Yom Kippur is the 10th of תשרי Tishrei. Why do we have a fast day that's associated with a פרשה parsha, with a day rather than with rather than with a date on the calendar? So the מגן אברהם Magen Avraham tells us the reason. He says on that day in the year 1242, on the Friday of ערב פרשת חקת Erev Parshas Chukas in the year 1242, 20 wagon loads, there's another version that says 24 wagon loads, of גמרא Gemara and of Talmudic literature, including many of the works of the בעלי התוספות Ba'alei HaTosfos that we've never recovered, were burned in Paris by agents of the church by King Louis IX. And the pretext was this disputation, a public debate between an apostate monk and several of the leading רבנים rabbanim of France. And the verdict came out, although it was a foregone conclusion even before the verdict was reached, and in 1242, these 20 or 24 wagon loads of manuscripts, handwritten, were burned never to be replaced. Now, remember, 200 years before, the printing press was invented. These these manuscripts were priceless. They were they were critically important in the transmission of our תורה שבעל פה Torah She'b'al Peh. And it was considered such an enormous loss for כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael. We all know that the מהר\"ם מרוטנבורג Maharam Mi'Rotenburg, the last of the בעלי התוספות Ba'alei HaTosfos, who was an eyewitness to this, the edict of King Louis IX, in fact composed a קינה kinah that we recite תשעה באב Tisha B'Av morning. When we sit on the ground, we recite the קינה kinah of שאלי שרופה באש Sha'ali Srufah B'eish, and it's part of our קינות kinos, קינה kinah number 41, commemorates this episode on that happened on the Friday ערב פרשת חקת Erev Parshas Chukas, in 1242, 20 or 24 wagon loads were were burnt. And the מגן אברהם Magen Avraham therefore says that we should commemorate that loss was so severe, so significant, so deep. The great rabbis at the time instituted a fast. And they said, why did this happen? They tried to understand it, they tried to make sense of it. And they looked at our פרשה parsha and they said דגזירת אוריתא d'gzeiras oraisa. This is a גזירה gzeirah of השם Hashem. We quoted earlier רש\"י Rashi, זאת חקת התורה zos chukas haTorah, this is a גזירה gzeirah of השם Hashem. The תרגום Targum, the opening פסוק pasuk, זאת חקת התורה zos chukas haTorah, the תרגום אונקלוס Targum Onkelos translates it as זאת חקת התורה zos chukas haTorah is דא גזירת אוריתא da gzeiras oraisa. This is the will of השם Hashem. We don't understand it. We know that years later, and this is more for תשעה באב Tisha B'Av morning, hopefully we won't have to say קינות kinos this year, we'll have גאולה geulah, but we know that one of the students of רבינו יונה Rabbeinu Yonah who was an eyewitness also, thought maybe this was השם's Hashem's payback. They had burned the books of the רמב\"ם Rambam. They thought the רמב\"ם Rambam was a heretic, they burned the books of the רמב\"ם Rambam. Maybe השם Hashem did this as divine retribution. They tried to make sense of it, and there's a whole history to this. The מגן אברהם Magen Avraham offers another reason for fasting that Friday. He says this day, ערב שבת חקת Erev Shabbos Chukas, two cities were decimated as part of the גזרות ת\"ח ות\"ט gzeiros Tach v'Tat, the Cossack massacres by Chmielnicki in 1648, 1649, recorded by the ש\"ך Shach. So the מגן אברהם Magen Avraham has these two reasons, either because of because of King Louis IX or because of the גזרות ת\"ח ות\"ט gzeiros Tach v'Tat, Chmielnicki rebellion, and so many people died. We therefore have this custom of fasting on the Friday ערב פרשת חקת Erev Parshas Chukas. Why am I raising it? Because it's פרשת חקת Parshas Chukas. And I'm also raising it for another reason, which is there was an article in the Forward that quoted this, although you don't see this movement in mass. If we're going to start taking down statues and we're choosing to whitewash and cleanse history, I'm not weighing in, this is a פרשה parsha class, apolitical, whether we should or shouldn't, then it's time to change the name of the city St. Louis. Because the city St. Louis is named for that king who burned 24 wagon loads of our תלמוד Talmud, who killed Jews, and by the way, who killed Muslims in the crusade to go toward Jerusalem. So, interestingly, the movement to change the name of the city St. Louis is not being led by Jews who embrace the תלמוד Talmud. It's not the learners of the דף היומי Daf Yomi around the world. It's the Muslim community who are saying, if we're going to start cleansing history and taking statues and changing names, it's time to change the name of the city of St. Louis. The church has responded, no, it's true, he made some mistakes, but he was a very good and gracious person, he was sainted, and therefore we keep his name St. Louis. Anyway, it's an interesting footnote to history, relevant to our history, connected to פרשת חקת Parshas Chukas because it was in פרשת חקת Parshas Chukas that this episode, tragic, tragic episode happened. Okay.So much more I wanted to talk about in our פרשה parsha but let's move over to פרשת בלק Parshas Balak, which we also read this week. פרק כ\"ב פסוק י\"ב Perek Chaf Beis Pasuk Yud Beis. פרק כ\"ב פסוק י\"ב Perek Chaf Beis Pasuk Yud Beis. Ay, a few minutes left. What do we do?פרק כ\"ב פסוק י\"ב Perek Chaf Beis Pasuk Yud Beis. בלעם Bilam comes, בלעם Bilam is this wicked, evil prophet, on par with משה Moshe, so great, that he comes to בלק Balak and he tries to recruit him to come curse the Jewish people. And השם Hashem says to him, לא תלך lo seilech. We're on page 858. פרק כ\"ב פסוק י\"ב Perek Chaf Beis Pasuk Yud Beis. ויאמר אלקים אל בלעם לא תלך עמהם לא תאור את העם כי ברוך הוא Vayomer Elokim el Bilam lo seilech imahem, lo sa'or es ha'am ki varuch hu. Don't curse the people because they are blessed. Don't try to curse them.What's going on over here? So רב דרוק Rav Druk, רב ישראל מאיר דרוק Rav Yisroel Meir Druk in his ספר איש תמים sefer Ish Tamim wonders, and he says the following. He says הנה צריך ביאור מה הסיבה שבאמת השם הקדוש ברוך הוא לבלעם ללכת hinei tzarich biur mah hasibah shebe'emes Hashem hakadosh baruch hu l'Bilam laleches. Why was השם Hashem so adamant that בלעם Bilam couldn't go? Why not בלעם Bilam go and השם Hashem you're in charge of the world. So let him go, let him go and whatever בלעם Bilam says, you won't make it come true. He'll go, he'll try to curse and you'll turn it into a blessing, which is in fact what happened in the end. So why does he first hesitate and say you can't go? כי הקדוש ברוך הוא יכול לבטל כל הקללות Ki haKadosh Baruch Hu yachol l'vatel kol haklalos. מה איכפת לן שיקללם וכל הזמן לא תועל מאומה Mah ichpas lan she'yikalelam v'chol hazman lo to'el me'umah? What do we care if he curses if his curse is meaningless? השם Hashem is the one who protects us from curses. אדרבה Adaraba, היה מקום לומר שילך ויקלל ויש קללותיו אינם מתקיימות haya makom lomar she'yilech v'yikalel v'yesh klalosav einam miskaymos. Which would have been the greater קידוש השם Kiddush Hashem? If he didn't go or if he went and tried to curse them and nevertheless was unsuccessful in the curse? It would have been a bigger קידוש השם Kiddush Hashem if he went and tried to curse and was unsuccessful. So why did we why did we hesitate? Why don't we let him go? So says רב דרוק Rav Druk, היה אפשר לומר שלא רצה הקדוש ברוך הוא שבלעם יקלל כיוון שבמהלך הדורות יגיעו לשם ויראו ישראל ויונשו שם, יבואו אומות העולם ויאמרו שהעונש הזה בא מחמת קללתו haya efshar lomar she'lo ratzah haKadosh Baruch Hu she'Bilam yikalel keivan she'b'mahalach hadoros yagi'u l'sham v'yir'u Yisrael v'yonshu sham, yavo'u umos ha'olam v'yomru she'ha'onesh hazeh ba machmas klalaso. השם Hashem didn't want it on the books that there was a prophet who cursed the Jewish people, because fast forward to ערב פרשת חקת Erev Parshas Chukas 1242, fast forward to the 17th century Chmielnicki, fast forward to a time the Jewish people would suffer, and our adversaries and enemies would point back and say, you know why? You know what's bringing them down? Because on the books is a curse from בלעם Bilam. So השם Hashem said, I don't want to curse anyone near my people, and maybe that's why at first he said, no, you can't go. באופן אחר נראה לומר אני יודע B'ofen acher nir'eh lomar ani yodea. I have another reason. שמאוהבתו של השם את ישראל הוא מואס לשמוע כלל דברי קללת ישראל She'me'ahavaso shel Hashem es Yisrael hu mo'es lishmo'a klal divrei klalas Yisrael. Second reason רב דרוק Rav Druk gives is because he says it's true, the curse of this wicked man would be meaningless, and the people would be protected from it, yet nothing to worry about. And yet, nevertheless השם Hashem says, if you love someone, you can't tolerate hearing them cursed out. Even if the curse is not going to negatively impact them. But if you love them, you cannot and you will not tolerate somebody speaking about them in that way. When we have people around us that we love, you know, sometimes there's a person acting out, but the real more egregious violators are not the ones who are cursing, it's the general public who sit there apathetically, quietly and therefore become accomplices. Because if you really love somebody, you can't tolerate someone else cursing them out. השם Hashem couldn't tolerate it, and therefore he intervenes and intercedes, even though it seems like it wouldn't really need be necessary. He then says רב דרוק Rav Druk on the next פסוק pasuk. ויאמר אלקים אל בלעם לא תלך עמהם לא תאור את העם כי ברוך הוא Vayomer Elokim el Bilam lo seilech imahem, lo sa'or es ha'am ki varuch hu. ויבוא אלקים אל בלעם לילה ויאמר לו אם לקרא לך באו האנשים קום לך אתם Vayavo Elokim el Bilam lailah vayomer lo im likro lecha ba'u ha'anashim kum lech itam. So isn't השם Hashem going back on his word? What happened? Whatever his original hesitation was, why does he give in in the end? So the גרא Gra, the וילנא גאון Vilna Gaon in his קול אליהו Kol Eliyahu gives an answer. And he says, notice there's a change in word. Be sensitive to the text and notice there's a change in words. And what's the change in words? He goes from לא תלך עמהם lo seilech imahem to קום לך אתם kum lech itam. What's the difference? עמהם Imahem means when you're aligned with them and their interest. עמהם Imahem means don't go with them where you become one of them. אתם Itam means to just physically be alongside them. But to physically be alongside them is different than to go with them and among them, and that's what changed. And that's why the גרא Gra traces this and רב דרוק Rav Druk expands upon it. And he says we have the episode when השם Hashem שילוחן פה עם החמור shilchan poh im hachamor, עם הדומה לחמור am hadomeh lachamor. Because it says עם im, not את החמור es hachamor. That's where we learn from עם im. The difference between the word עם im and אתם itam. From the difference in those words, you can apply that in several other places as well. Look in the ספר איש תמים sefer Ish Tamim, רב דרוק Rav Druk applies it in other places as well. Okay, we have a couple minutes left. I just want to bring to your attention a couple more quick, beautiful, inspiring ideas. I guess the beauty of learning virtually is you drop out and I'm not insulted, so you'll go when you have to, but just give me a few more minutes if you're able to stay. פרק כ\"ב פסוק מ\"א Perek Chaf Beis Pasuk Mem Aleph. כ\"ב מ\"א Chaf Beis Mem Aleph. Back and forth, back and forth, and he goes and the donkey, and this is no ordinary donkey. He had a very special, intimate, and inappropriate relationship with this donkey. פרק כ\"ב פסוק מ\"א Perek Chaf Beis Pasuk Mem Aleph. ויהי בבקר ויקח בלק את בלעם ויעלהו במות בעל Vayehi baboker vayikach Balak es Bilam vaya'alehu bamos Ba'al. Finally, they're there. בלעם Bilam has successfully gotten בלק Balak to where he's going to curse them, and he brings him on top of the mountain. And from his perspective, from his perch on top of the mountain, בלעם Bilam is going to look down and issue and offer this curse. וילך במות בעל וירא משם קצה העם Vaya'alehu bamos Ba'al vayar misham k'tzei ha'am. He goes on top of the mountain, the heights of Baal, and from there he sees the people and gives a curse. And the רמב\"ן Ramban makes an incredible comment here. We don't have time. I'm not going to read you the רמב\"ן Ramban inside, but I encourage you to look at this רמב\"ן Ramban, פרק כב פסוק מא perek chaf beis, pasuk mem alef. You know what the רמב\"ן Ramban says about this? He says, why did בלעם Bilam have to come all together? Send בלעם Bilam a telegram and let בִּלְעָם Bilam, let בִּלְעָם Bilam curse the people from his home office, from quarantine, from seclusion. Why couldn't בלעם Bilam have been buckled down and בלק Balak would send him a text, send him a WhatsApp, send him an email, and from his home office, why couldn't he from the safety of his home office? Why does he have to come all the way to מואב Moav? And why does he have to climb on top of the mountain and look down at the people in order to be able to curse them? What's going on over here? So says the רמב\"ן Ramban, you know why? בלק Balak led בלעם Bilam to a place where he'd see with his own eyes because a person is deeply affected by what they see with their own eyes. אינה דומה שמיעה לראיה Eina doma shmia l're'iya. When you see with your own eyes, when you see, when you connect, when you observe, you are much more connected with something that you just hear about.You see this when it comes to משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu as well. Because we know when the Jewish people left מצרים Mitzrayim, עמלק Amalek comes out to greet them, and יהושע Yehoshua gathers a people, group of people to fight. And while יהושע Yehoshua is leading the people fighting, משה Moshe goes where? On top of the mountain to דאווענען daven. When he lifts his hands, they win, and when he lowers his hands, they lose. But where does משה Moshe go to דאווענען daven? He goes on top of the mountain. Much like בלעם Bilam here goes on top of the mountain. And the רמב\"ן Ramban there too. שמות יז, ט Shemos Yud Zayin, pasuk tes. The רמב\"ן Ramban there too says, משה Moshe, can't he just lie in his own bed, sit on his own comforter? Why does משה Moshe have to get up out of his massage chair and go to the top of the mountain to דאווענען daven for them? Why can't he דאווענען daven from the convenience of wherever he was? And the רמב\"ן Ramban says the same thing over there. Because משה'ס Moshe's תפילות tfilos are going to be much more heartfelt, much more genuine, much more potent, much more effective when he's looking down at כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael. When we see, when we connect. Why am I sharing this רמב\"ן Ramban with you? It's a רמב\"ן Ramban in two places, I think very powerful רמב\"ן Ramban, because it's one of the great fears that I have. When this pandemic is over, and it will be over, make no mistake, it will end. We will please God have a vaccine or we'll have a antibody formula and combination and it's going to be over. We're going to come back. Hopefully it'll happen soon. I hope, I hope that you're not all going to be watching and listening to me on Zoom or Facebook or YouTube. Again, if you don't live here and you can't come here. I hope you'll be in a room and we can feel the energy of being together, and we can look at each other with our with our four eyes and connect in the way that we're meant to connect. Because that's the message of the רמב\"ן Ramban here. The רמב\"ן Ramban is telling us that בלעם Bilam had to see the people. משה Moshe had to look at them when he דאווענען davened for them. We have to be able to be experience one another together. Not just to see across technology, not just to see across cyberspace, but to see physically, to be together physically. And it's one of the things that I worry about, and that I hope and that I pray that when this ends and we can turn it around, one of the things that we can capture, we can continue to do going forward is to recover that ability to be together and to be able to put eyes on one another, just like that was part of the power of בלעם'ס Bilam's effort to curse, and it's part of the power, להבדיל lehavdil, of משה'ס Moshe's ability to דאווענען daven.I wanted to tell you about מה טובו Mah Tovu, לא הביט און ביעקב lo hibit avon b'Yaakov, in אור החיים הקדוש Or HaChaim HaKadosh and קדושת לוי Kedushas Levi, about שם טוב Shem Tov. I didn't even tell you one אמרי חיים Imrei Chaim today. How could you not even share one אמרי חיים Imrei Chaim? One אמרי חיים Imrei Chaim. Okay, we'll just close with one אמרי חיים Imrei Chaim. Can't end without an אמרי חיים Imrei Chaim, the ויז'ניצר רבי Vizhnitzer Rebbe. The אמרי חיים Imrei Chaim tells us we know that when the people suffered a plague, the symbol of the AMA, the American Medical Association, is this snake wrapped around the staff. Where did that come from? Our פרשה parsha. When the people made a mistake and they were struck with the plague, they recovered from the snakes biting them by looking at the snake, and that's how they recovered. So the Torah says, עשה לך שרף aseh lecha saraf, you have to make a snake. פרק כא, פסוק ח Perek Chaf Aleph, pasuk ches. כא, ח Chaf Aleph, ches. It's back in חוקת Chukas. ויאמר ה' אל משה עשה לך שרף ושים אותו על נס והיה כל הנשוך וראה אותו וחי Vayomer Hashem el Moshe, aseh lecha saraf v'sim oso al ha'nes v'haya kol ha'nashuch v'ra'o v'chai. Make an image of a snake, a fiery serpent, put it on a pole. Anyone who was bitten by a snake will look at this image and will live. Says the ויז'ניצר Vizhnitzer, כל מה שאתה עושה יהיה בהתלהבות ואש קודש, מיט אַ ברען kol ma she'ata oseh yihyeh b'hislavus v'eish kodesh, mit a bren. Whatever you do, עשה לך שרף aseh lecha saraf. Whatever you do, be on fire when you do it. Make for yourself a fire. Be on fire. מיט אַ ברען Mit a bren. בהתלהבות Behislavus. Whatever we're doing, we have to do on fire. The גמרא Gemara in שבת Shabbos says, שבת Shabbos says, הרגיל בנר הויין ליה בנים תלמידי חכמים ha'ragil b'ner, havyan lo banim talmidei chachamim. A person who is accustomed to be by the fire will have children who are on fire. The שם משמואל Shem Mishmuel, the שפת אמת Sfas Emes says, what does it mean הרגיל בנר ha'ragil b'ner? It means if you're on fire and you're a מנורה menorah for others, then it'll be contagious, others will be on fire too. And give us all a ברכה bracha, we should be safe from snakes and from plagues, we should be able to be in the presence of one another, to put eyes on one another, and that we should אם ירצה השם im yirtzeh Hashem live our lives מיט אַ ברען mit a bren. We should be on fire, passionate, excited in all that we do. Thank the OU again, thank you to our Katzes, our wonderful sponsors, and אם ירצה השם im yirtzeh Hashem we'll pick up next time. Have a wonderful and a safe, healthy, and holy day.
