Transcript
Good morning, בוקר טוב boker tov to everyone. Welcome back to our weekly parsha perspectives for today, where we analyze the weekly parsha trying to extract lessons for our contemporary times, messages, the Torah portion is always relevant to whatever it is that we're going through. Nothing is by coincidence or random, but the way it falls out always has lessons and that's what we'll try to do this week today as always. This week we have the privilege of studying פרשת ואתחנן Parshas Va'eschanan, which appears in the ArtScroll Stone חומש Chumash on page 958. As always, a very special thank you to our super generous sponsors of the parsha series for the year, Avi and Becky Katz, dear friends. In memory of Becky's father David Grossman, לעילוי נשמת דוד בן מנחם מנוש l'ilui nishmas David ben Menachem Manush. If you'd like to sponsor a particular week within the series, please be in touch with our office. We would welcome your sponsorship, and we welcome your support, thanking you in advance for it. Okay.ואתחנן אל ה' בעת ההיא לאמר Va'eschanan el Hashem ba'eis hahi leimor, the parsha begins, משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu turns to הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu, and he pleads, he begs in that moment and at that time. He asked Hashem, saying, ה' אלקים אתה החלות להראות את עבדך את גדלך ואת ידך החזקה אשר מי קל בשמים ובארץ אשר יעשה כמעשיך וכגבורתך Hashem Elokim atah hachilosa l'har'os es avdecha es godlecha v'es yadcha hachazaka asher mi keil bashamayim uva'aretz asher ya'aseh k'ma'asecha v'chigvurosecha. משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu turns and he pleads and he begs and he cojoles and he says Hashem, I dedicated my whole life to this incorrigible, impossible people. I've led them through the desert, through the wilderness. I was your agent to take them out of מצרים Mitzrayim, and my lifelong dream, what I've devoted myself to is simply to enter your land. To which חז\"ל Chazal wondered, did משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu want to eat the all-you-can-eat breakfast at the Waldorf? Did משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu want the all-you-can-eat Papagayos after the nine days? Why did משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu so desperately want to enter ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael? It was to fulfill the מצוות התלויות בארץ mitzvos hatluyos ba'aretz, because there are commandments that are fulfilled, that are designated, opportunities that arise only in the land of Israel and for that Moshe so desperately wanted to enter. Desperately wanted to enter. So, so Moshe tells הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu, you've shown me your greatness and your strong hand. What power in the heaven and the earth that can perform anything? So you can do anything. You can certainly forgive me. You can do anything. You can certainly invite and allow me to enter. Let me in. Let me in. אעברה נא ואראה את הארץ הטובה אשר בעבר הירדן Ebra na v'er'eh es ha'aretz hatovah asher b'ever haYarden, let me in. Let me see ההר הטוב הזה והלבנון ha'har hatov hazeh v'haLevanon. It's not a coincidence, we read ואתחנן Va'eschanan. דברים Devarim we read before תשעה באב Tisha B'Av. ואתחנן Va'eschanan is usually שבת נחמו Shabbos Nachamu. ואתחנן Va'eschanan includes the section that we read actually תשעה באב Tisha B'Av morning and here what does it represent and what does it reflect? משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu's longing along, and it should be in every one of us, whether you live in Israel or you don't yet live in Israel, we should identify with and feel connected to, it should be who we are, that longing. אעברה נא ואראה את הארץ הטובה אשר בעבר הירדן Ebra na v'er'eh es ha'aretz hatovah asher b'ever haYarden. For the first time in a very long time, Jews in חוץ לארץ chutz la'aretz know that feeling of longing, not so easy to travel, not so easy to arrive, not so easy to go for your year in Israel, not so easy to make עליה aliyah. So many this summer and more who are in the pike who simply need the flights to be able to travel. Like משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu. ויתעבר ה' בי למענכם ולא שמע אלי ויאמר ה' אלי רב לך אל תוסף דבר אלי עוד בדבר הזה Vayis'aber Hashem bi l'ma'anchem v'lo shama elai, vayomer Hashem elai, rav lach, al tosef daber elai od badavar hazeh. What did Hashem answer Moshe? His heartfelt pleas. Hashem turns to Moshe and he says, \"Enough. גענוג Genug. Stop asking. Stop asking. רב לך אל תוסף דבר אלי עוד בדבר הזה Rav lach al tosef daber elai od badavar hazeh. Don't ask me again.\" Like many of us have said to our own children, who nudges and much us and won't let it go. גענוג שוין Genug shoin, enough! Enough. Let it go. Drop it. Don't ask again. It's not happening.And this whole opening section of our parsha begs for us to interpret it. What in the world is going on here? Moshe asks over and over and over, and הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu rejects him, his most loyal servant. Moshe, one of the axioms of our faith is to believe that Moshe is categorically different and superior to every other human being. And yet משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu is not heard on this one request, on this one plea. It's as if הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu is even toying with him, playing with him. What is going on here? What is going on here and why? And then Hashem makes it even worse, because he says, עלה ראש הפסגה ושא עיניך ימה וצפונה ותימנה ומזרחה aleih rosh ha'pisgah v'sa einecha yamah v'tzafonah v'teimanah u'mizrachah. You can't go in, נא נא נא קישקעס na na na kishkes, you can't go in. You don't get to make עליה aliyah, you don't get to cross the border, you don't get to get an Israeli passport, you don't get to get the Israeli all-you-can-eat breakfast. You're not going to the כותל Kosel, you're not going on הר הבית Har HaBayis. Nothing. You don't get to go in. But you know what you can do, Moshe? You know what you got? עלה ראש הפסגה Aleih rosh ha'pisgah. Climb the mountain. ושא עיניך V'sa einecha. And look. Look around. West, north, south, and east with your eyes. But, but, לא תעבור את הירדן הזה lo sa'avor es haYarden hazeh. You can look as an outsider. You don't get to cross in. You don't get to be an insider. וצו את יהושע וחזקהו ואמצהו V'tzav es Yehoshua v'chazkeihu v'amtzeihu. And not only do you not get to go, your successor יהושע Yehoshua, it's time, it's time to get him ready, it's time to bring him on board. You will have a worthwhile successor. You'll have a worthwhile successor in your stead. What is going on here? I'm not going to take the time now. I have an eight minute from last year or two years ago where we addressed this question. Hashem seems to pour salt in משה רבינו's Moshe Rabbeinu's wounds. You can go on rabbiafrimgoldberg.org or why you.torah and listen to this eight minutes. רבי מנחם ליב טאג Rabbi Menachem Leeb Tag has a suggestion why Hashem wants him to look in every direction. He's imitating אברהם אבינו Avraham Avinu. Other answers are given why he's looking in every direction. רב שוואב Rav Schwab has a suggestion. Maybe if you're looking east, you'll see the land that ראובן וגד וחצי מנשה Reuven v'Gad v'chatzi Menasheh will take up residence in, they'll expand the boundary, the border of Israel, and כאילו ke'ilu you got to go in, Moshe. So I didn't let you all the way in, but כאילו ke'ilu I let you in part of the way. And we offered our own suggestion that Hashem was telling Moshe, perhaps, perhaps, don't look where you don't get to go, look how far you've come. See, what's the goal of looking east? East is behind them. East is outside of Israel. West from that vantage point is directly into ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael. Even if he can't enter, at least you can set your eyes. Climb the mountain and look down, and what a view. What a view. Twice in my life I went skydiving, I jumped out of an airplane. Both were in ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael. First of all, I trusted צנחנים tzanchanim in Israel more than anywhere else. But, I'll tell you the view's pretty good. When you climb that mountain, when you look down, when you're descending in your flight into תל אביב Tel Aviv, the view is pretty good. ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael is magnificent. So Moshe, but why look east? Why look away? And perhaps Hashem was telling Moshe, don't only look, don't only gaze and peer where you can't get to. Look at how far you've come. Measure your life by how far you've come, not by where you didn't get to go. We have that choice in life. You know, what will bring us happiness is not what we don't have. What brings us happiness is what we have. You can focus, you can look on, you know, I was talking to a חתן וכלה chasan v'kallah whose wedding is coming up soon, and I said to them, don't look at who's not coming, look at who's coming. Don't look at who can't stay, look who stays. Don't look at who hasn't responded, look who's responded. Don't look at who hasn't given a gift, appreciate those who gave a gift. In life, we can look at what is not, or we can look at what is. And Hashem is saying to Moshe, climb the mountain and look, get a kick, you can look in, but also look east. Don't only focus on where you didn't get to go, focus on how far, how far you have come.But why does Hashem dispel Moshe's תפילה tefillah? What is Moshe trying to appeal? So if you look at רש\"י Rashi, רש\"י Rashi says, and if you want to hear that whole insight, as I said, it's eight minutes online. Rashi says, ואתחנן אל ה' בעת ההיא לאמר Va'eschanan el Hashem ba'eis hahi leimor. Moshe turns to הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu and ואתחנן Va'eschanan, he plead, he implored Hashem in that moment. אין חנון בכל מקום אלא לשון מתנת חנם Ein channun b'chol makom elah lashon matnas chinam. Says Rashi, ואתחנן Va'eschanan, the root of the word ואתחנן Va'eschanan is not just to דאווען daven. He didn't just open the siddur, he didn't just זאג תהלים zog Tehillim. ואתחנן Va'eschanan is from the לשון חינון lashon chinun, חינם chinum. חינם Chinum means מתנת חנם matnas chinam, which means something for nothing. Moshe asked Hashem, please be gracious and kind, please give even though I'm undeserving, I'm unworthy. Even though the righteous have so many זכויות z'chuyos. The righteous have such merits which to rely upon. The righteous have what to be able to cash in on. Yet, yet, they don't do that. They don't dip into their bank account. They ask for a מתנת חנם matnas chinam. They ask the רבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam for free, for free. And that's the root of the word חינון chinun, ואתחנן Va'eschanan. This is one of the forms of תפילה tefillah. We have 13 synonyms for תפילה tefillah. We've shared many times and we have online, we learn the entire book, שערי תפילה Sha'arei Tefillah, of רב פנחס Rav Pinchas זצ\"ל zatzal, his insights, that the ילקוט שמעוני Yalkut Shimoni quotes what seem to be 13 synonyms, רנה בצור צעקה זעקה rinah, bitzor, tza'akah, zakah. We have so many synonyms for תפילה tefillah. Each one has a subtle difference. Each one represents תפילה tefillah, the prayer coming from another place. And one of them is חינון chinun. ואתחנן Va'eschanan, מתנת חנם matnas chinam. It's worth reviewing in שערי תפילה Sha'arei Tefillah what that means. But I want to share with you briefly this morning the insights of החלבן HaChalban. החלבן HaChalban who passed away almost a year ago, רב חיים בן פרחיה כהן Rav Chaim ben Prachia Cohen, the milkman. He was known as החלבן HaChalban. He died at 84 years old. He was a milkman, a clean-shaven, wearing a blue shirt, worked in a milk factory. He was a milkman. Little did people know for many years that in fact, he was a great Kabbalist and an extraordinary תלמיד חכם talmid chacham, but he was discovered, he was revealed, he gave שיעורים shiurim and he wrote ספרים sfarim. And in one of his ספרים sfarim, תולדות חיים Toldos Chaim on the פרשה parsha, on פרשת ואתחנן Parshas Va'eschanan, his opening essay is on this concept of מתנת חנם matnas chinam. And I just want to share with you his insight. He says our parsha is all about faith in דאווענען davening. The very opening word of our parsha is all about tapping into the depths, believing that Hashem is listening, ואתחנן Va'eschanan, to turn to him, to turn to him, to lean on him, to rely on him, to depend on him, to thank him, to protest him, to object to him. However it means, but to see his presence in our life and to talk to him. Every relationship needs communication and the relationship with God is no different. It needs us to communicate with him. Our parsha is the blueprint. Our parsha is the formula, if you want to know how to דאווען daven as a Jew, how to pray as a Jew. If you want to know how to pray, this is our parsha. It gives us the answer. It gives us the answer. As the parsha will go on and tell us, כי מי גוי גדול אשר לו אלהים קרבים אליו ki mi goy gadol asher lo Elokim kerovim eilav. What nation is God so accessible, so close? כה' אלהינו בכל קראנו אליו K'Hashem Elokeinu b'chol kor'einu eilav. Like God, בכל קראנו אליו b'chol kor'einu eilav. You know, Hashem is accessible, he's available. What does it take? What do you need to do? בכל קראנו אליו B'chol kor'einu eilav. All you have to do is call out. All you have to do is talk to him. All you have to do is talk to him and he is listening. You know, it's hard to get an audience with powerful people, to get an audience with influencers, to get an audience with celebrities, to get an audience with powerful people, it's hard. It's hard. How many phone calls have I gotten in the last two weeks of people whose children's passports are expiring, and they're scheduled to go to Israel for the year? What are they going to do? And you know what? Even the powerful people say they can't help right now. It's backlog and phases closed and you can't get in. So you're talking to the wall. You could ask and you could ask over and over and over again, but you're talking to the wall. But the רבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam, you don't need an appointment. And the רבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam, you don't need an invitation. And the Almighty, you don't need to have פרוטקציה protektzia, you don't need to be able to find favor. Our parsha says, who is קרובים אליו kerovim eilav? Who's close to God? בכל קראנו אליו B'chol kor'einu eilav, whoever calls out to him. We say this in אשרי Ashrei. We say it in אשרי Ashrei. קרוב ה' לכל קוראיו לכל אשר יקראוהו באמת Karov Hashem l'chol kor'av l'chol asher yikra'uhu v'emes. Hashem is close to all who call out to him, to all who call out to him in truth. דוד המלך David HaMelech undoubtedly got that from this pasuk, this verse in our, in our parsha. By the way, there's one day, there's one day where he's not accessible. He's not available where the door is closed, where he's not interested. He is so frustrated and he's so disappointed and he so badly needs a break from us that there's one day he closes the door and he's not interested. In איכה Eicha, in איכה Eicha, the נביא navi tells us, סתם תפלתי sasam tefilasi. Hashem silenced our prayers. The reason we don't wear טלית ותפילין tallis v'tefillin on תשעה באב Tisha B'Av morning is because those 24 hours God says, we're on break. We're alienated from one another. I can't live with you. You've violated my trust. You've disappointed me. You've come up so short. We need to work it out. I need some time. I need a day. סתם תפלתי Sasam tefilasi. Hashem silenced our prayer. We don't wear טלית ותפילין tallis v'tefillin. It's only in the afternoon, only when מנחה Mincha comes that we can get up, we can sit on the chair. So our parsha, which normally comes, which this year comes after תשעה באב Tisha B'Av is describing who is Hashem close to? All who close to, all who call to him. It's a long essay. It's several pages. We don't have time to go through it because our parsha is rich with so many ideas that I want to explore together. But I just want to bring you. Why is it so hard to daven? Because there's an illness, there's a weakness within inside us and the weakness that's inside us is, we're not sure someone's listening. You ever on the phone with someone and they're quiet for too long on the other end? And when they're quiet for too long on the other end, what do we all do? Say, are you there? Do you hear me? Yeah? Something, some indication. Groan, grunt, say a word, answer me. Give me some indication. Why? Because there are few more foolish things in the world than feeling like we're talking and nobody's listening. To feel like we're pouring out our heart and there's no one on the other end. And that's at the core of why we find it hard to pray. You can't see or feel or touch or smell Hashem. So you're talking and it's frustrating. You feel it's difficult to know that he's really there on the other end. Our mouth knows God. Our mouth is moving. It's saying the words. We know Hashem is there on the other end. However, our heart struggles. Our heart struggles to confidently feel that he in fact is listening. So he goes on and he talks about this in Rashi. It's a מתנת חנם matnas chinam and the צדיקים tzaddikim, the righteous do not tap into their account. They do not deplete the זכויות z'chuyos that they have, the merits that they have in order to get what they're praying for, but they ask for מתנת חנם matnas chinam. Why would they ask for מתנת חנם matnas chinam? And he develops the idea, again it's a lengthy piece, we don't have time to read the whole thing inside, happy to share it with anyone who would like, but he develops the idea of the following. You see, if a person asks for a favor from another and they say, \"You know what, I've done favors for you. I have merits. I have deposits in the account. Simply take it out of my deposits,\" then what is the nature of the relationship? It is completely transactional. It's a transactional relationship. Hashem, you asked me to do A, B, and C. Not only did I do A, B, and C, I did D, E, and F as well. So therefore, I've got some credit with you. Take it out of my credit with you. Now, I'm asking you to do X, Y, or Z, take it out of my credit with you. When a person has that attitude and that relationship with Hashem, it's a purely transactional relationship, which is a very superficial relationship. The צדיקים tzaddikim, the righteous ask ואתחנן Va'eschanan, they want a מתנת חנם matnas chinam, and why do they want a מתנת חנם matnas chinam? Because they say, \"Hashem, I'm asking you for something I don't deserve and I am unworthy, and don't give it to me because I have credit. Don't give it to me because my bank account with you is full. Give it to me as a reflection, as an expression of our love, of our bond, of our loyalty, of our connection.\" The מתנת חנם matnas chinam means it's not transactional. It's not in exchange. It's not because I have credit. Do it because you love me, and because I love you. Do it as an expression and reflection of the special closeness and connection of our relationship. And that is a form of תפילה tefillah we have called ואתחנן Va'eschanan, חינון chinun. Sometimes we turn to Hashem and we say, \"Hashem, I'm totally unworthy. I'm totally undeserving. I'm grossly inadequate.\" Even though yes, Hashem, I did X, Y, and Z recently. But you know what? I'm not turning to you for that because I'm sure you could even despite that see me as unworthy. I'm turning to you because you're my father. I'm turning to you because you're my lover, you're my spouse because of that relationship we have. I'm turning to you not transactionally, I'm turning to you out of love. In marriage if you say, \"Can you do my need A right now because yesterday don't forget I took out the garbage, I did the dishes, I brought home the paycheck, I went to shopping, I put the kids to bed last night, so you do tonight.\" Say, \"Really? That's it? That's why? That's why? That's the core of our relationship?\" So ואתחנן Va'eschanan, לשון חינם, מתנת חנם lashon chinum, matnas chinam. The מתנת חנם matnas chinam, the notion of do it for free reflects not a lower level. It's not that somebody is groveling, do it for free because they're a taker. It's the opposite. Do it for free because our relationship is on such a high, it's on such a high level.So ואתחנן אל ה' בעת ההיא לאמר Va'eschanan el Hashem ba'eis hahi leimor, Moshe turns to Hashem and he davens. How many times did he daven? The, the gematria, the numerical value of the word ואתחנן Va'eschanan is 515. 515 times ואתחנן Va'eschanan. Moshe turns to Hashem and he says, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, make this person better. Please, please, please, let this work out. Please, please, please come through. Please, please, please, let me find my spouse, let me have that baby, let me make that שמחה simcha. Please let that person recover. Over and over and over and over and over again, the Midrash tells us ואתחנן Va'eschanan, 515 times, the gematria. 515 times, he said to him, 515 שמונה עשרה Shmoneh Esrei's, 515 מניינים minyanim, 515 תהילים Tehillim gatherings, 515 times he poured out his heart in desperation, and the Midrash tells us even further. He said, רבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam, master of the universe. You know the effort and the sacrifices I've made for you, you know the suffering I've endured to lead your people, and is this the reward you give me after 40 years? זו תורה וזו שכרה Zu Torah v'zu s'charah? This is what I gave, this is how I sacrificed, and this is the reward that you say no, that you say no? Moshe's argument was compelling. His intent was pure, his request was reasonable and fair. And if anyone, if anyone could present a proper, near-perfect prayer, it was משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu. It was משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu. He's רבנו Rabeinu, he's our quintessential, paradigmatic leader. He knew how to package and deliver the ultimate prayer and he got a no. So you know what it makes us feel? Why bother? Why should I open my siddur? Why should I open my Tehillim? Why should I make it to my minyan? Why am I opening my heart and turning to God and praying? If Moshe could ask, and he was the highest level, the אב האבים aven avim, if Moshe was categorically superior and he was rejected, his heartfelt plea, his lifelong longing, and I, why should I bother? How does Hashem answer? רב לך אל תוסף Rav lach, al tosef, enough. Stop asking. It's not happening.Now, how did Moshe take that news? How did Moshe respond to that answer of no? How did he react to Hashem ignoring those pleas? I'll tell you what's fascinating. Keep reading in the חומש Chumash. Keep reading. Moshe turns 515 times, Hashem says drop it, it ain't happening. And by the way, if you want, you can climb the mountain, give a look, west, east, north, south. And then, the Torah goes on. ועתה ישראל שמע אל החקים V'atah Yisrael shma el hachukim. Moshe then begins to instruct the people how to observe Hashem's laws. What, what happened? What happened? That's pretty abrupt considering it's משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu. Moshe doesn't deserve a greater consideration? The Torah never tells us. The חומש Chumash, the Torah never tells us how Moshe responds. There's no report what he did next. Did he hang his head in shame for having asked all those times? Did he brazenly walk away frustrated and angry at Hashem? Did he lose faith in the power of prayer? How did he walk away? How did he walk away? You know, we're coming on the anniversary. It was the anniversary of the kidnapping and the loss of the two boys six years ago. The three boys who were kidnapped and murdered. And while the three boys were still missing, Racheli Frankel, who many of us have heard and had been inspired by, went to the כותל Kotel to דאווען daven. In the כותל Kotel plaza, there were a group of children who were gathered to דאווען daven for her son and the other two. And impromptu, they asked her to address the boys and she did and she said, \"I believe wholeheartedly that they will return, but whatever happens, remember.\" This was her message to them. And it remains her message to us. She told them, \"You must remember, הוא לא עובד בשבילנו, אנחנו עובדים בשבילו hu lo oved bishvilanu, anachnu ovdim bishvilo. God does not work for us, we work for him. God doesn't work for us.\" However this turns out, she told them, while they were still missing, \"However this turns out, remember that God doesn't work for us. הוא לא עובד בשבילנו, אנחנו עובדים בשבילו Hu lo oved bishvilanu, anachnu ovdim bishvilo. We work for him.\" What poise and what strength and what faith, and that was what משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu showed as well. Because I heard that story several years ago and I thought to myself, maybe that's what it means in the parsha. The Torah does tell us what happened next. You think it's absent? You think it's missing? You think we don't get filled in, we don't get to know? Perhaps, perhaps the Torah does tell us what happens next. ועתה ישראל שמע אל החקים ואל המשפטים אשר אנכי מלמד אתכם לעשות V'atah Yisrael shma el hachukim v'el hamishpatim asher anochi melamed eschem la'asos, פרק ד פסוק א Perek daled, pasuk aleph, the very next section of our parsha, still page 958 in the ArtScroll Stone חומש Chumash. \"And now, and now, Jewish people, שמע אל החקים shma el hachukim, listen to what Hashem expects of you, that I'm going to teach you, למען תחיו l'ma'an tichyu, so that you live ובאתם וירשתם את הארץ אשר ה' אלקי אבתיכם נתן לכם uvasem virishtem es ha'aretz asher Hashem Elokei avoseichem nosein lachem, so that you can merit to come.\" Moshe absorbs the news that Hashem has not requested, accepted his request, and he turns to the people and he essentially tells them, listen. Hashem has expectations of you, of us. He gave us a prescription to how to live the most meaningful and purposeful life here on earth. שמע אל החקים Shma el hachukim. Don't just observe them and keep them, שמע shma. That word שמע shma doesn't just mean to listen. The word שמע shma doesn't mean to listen. שומע כעונה Shome'a k'oneh, you're יוצא yotzei if you hear, it's as if you said, is only when you understand. שומע Shome'a, the word שמע shma means not just to hear, to listen audibly, it means to understand. Says Moshe, don't just blindly observe. שמע Shma, listen, study, analyze, plumb the depths, seek to understand because God has given us the formula and the prescription for a meaningful and a purposeful life. He's told us how to get the most out of life and to give the most to life. למען תחיו L'ma'an tichyu, you want to really be alive? The way to be alive is not to neglect your soul and to neglect him. The way to be alive is to nourish your soul and to nourish your relationship with him. למען תחיו L'ma'an tichyu, do you want to be alive? Essentially, משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu pours out his heart 515 times. God says no. And you know what he does next? You know how he react? He turns to the people and he says, הוא לא עובד בשבילנו, אנחנו עובדים בשבילו hu lo oved bishvilanu, anachnu ovdim bishvilo. God doesn't work for us. We work for him. And I have to tell you that there are many people who right now are hearing no to their heartfelt pleas and many people over these last four and five months have lost loved ones, who've heard the answer of no to their heartfelt תפילות tefillos and prayer. And tonight is the first יארצייט yahrzeit of a beloved and dear friend who heard the answer no, he and his family and all of us who knew him and loved him were his family and the answer was no. But like Racheli Frankel and long before like משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu and more recently like Barchi Tiv and Reuven Nusan and so many others, when הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu sometimes says no, ואתחנן Va'eschanan is not only the formula for how to דאווען daven, but it's also the precedent that gives us the strength for how to take a no, how to get the answer of no. And to remember שמע אל החקים ואל המשפטים shma el hachukim v'el hamishpatim, למען תחיו l'ma'an tichyu. The answer was no, now what? Now what? God forbid in the worst case, we lost a loved one. In a lesser case, went through a hard time, struggle or suffering, and the answer was no, and now what? And now what? Whether it was Esther Waxman who lost her son, or Racheli Frankel, or whether it was many others. שמע אל החקים למען תחיו Shma el hachukim, l'ma'an tichyu, you want to live? We put one foot in front of the other. רב אשר וייס Rav Asher Weiss, מורי ורבי morei v'rabbi, רב אשר וייס Rav Asher Weiss who's giving a שיעור shiur tonight in memory of Brian on his first יארצייט yahrzeit. In his הגדה Haggadah and elsewhere, he quotes the קלויזנבורגער רבי Klausenberger Rebbe, his רבי rebbe, who lost his wife and 11 children. The קלויזנבורגער רבי Klausenberger Rebbe lost his wife and 11 children in the Holocaust. And he said the following פשט pshat, we say שמע shema in our parsha also. We have שמע Shema and ואהבת v'ahavta later in our parsha, and we have the custom we take our hand and we cover our eyes while we say שמע Shema, and the classic reason offered of why we cover our eyes when we say שמע Shema is in order to eliminate the distractions. It's so important, it's so fundamental, we're biblically obligated to recite the שמע Shema. You have to shut out all the distractions happening around you, you take your hand and you cover your eyes. But the קלויזנבורגער רבי Klausenberger Rebbe said that's not the reason, because שמע Shema represents קבלת עול מלכות שמים kabbalas ol malchus shamayim. שמע Shema is, Hashem, I accept your yoke over me. I submit myself to you. And in order to do that, sometimes, sometimes, said the קלויזנבורגער רבי Klausenberger Rebbe, you have to cover your eyes. Sometimes to submit and sometimes to accept, you have to stop looking at what's happening around you. Because if you were to watch and look and perceive and feel, it'd be hard. And so we say שמע Shema, we cover our eyes because sometimes, sometimes, in order to be able to accept the yoke of heaven from our limited, finite perspective, we have to cover and shield our eyes from the pain and the suffering and the loss that we see so that we can say that sense of, that sense of שמע Shema. And so our parsha, according to the חלבן Chalban, is the formula for how to דאווען daven, but I would suggest that it's also the formula and the precedent for how to react and respond when our דאווענען davening is not accepted. What do, where do we go when our דאווענען davening, the answer is, the answer is no.The צאנזער רבי Tzanser Rebbe had another perspective. We're going to get past the opening פסק pasuk. I know, we're almost halfway done. We're going to get past the opening פסק pasuk. I promise. The צאנזער רבי Tzanser Rebbe had another perspective. רב חיים מצאנז Rav Chaim of Tzans, and he said the following. You know what the words mean? ואתחנן אל ה' בעת ההיא לאמר Va'eschanan el Hashem bo eis hahi leimor? They once asked the רבי rebbe, the צאנזער רבי Tzanser Rebbe, what do you do before דאווענען davening? What do you do? חסידים Chassidim generally דאווען daven, some of them a little bit later because they're not sleeping in, but they're occupied with preparations and הכנות hachanos and getting ready in order to be able to דאווען daven most effectively, in order for the דאווענען davening to be most meaningful. So they asked him, \"What do you do before you דאווען daven?\" and he answered, \"What do I do before I דאווען daven? I דאווען daven about my דאווענען davening. I דאווען daven before I דאווען daven that my דאווענען davening will go well.\" And he said that's the פשט pshat in our פסק pasuk. ואתחנן אל ה' Va'eschanan el Hashem, I turn to Hashem and I דאווען daven to him, and what did I דאווען daven? That בעת ההיא bo eis hahi, that in the moment I go דאווען daven, לאמר leimor, he gives me the words to דאווען daven. Sometimes you have to דאווען daven that you can דאווען daven. When people turn to me and they ask me, and not that I'm perfect, I've perfected this, I struggle daily myself, but they say, \"How can I focus and concentrate more in my דאווענען davening?\" There are so many distractions and so many are quarantining or locked down, are still דאווענען davening at home and don't have the benefit of a מניין minyan, of a חזן chazzan, of the environment of the קדושה kedusha, of a בית כנסת beis knesses, of a שול shul. How do you concentrate in your דאווענען davening when there are so many distractions? And I think that one of the answers and one of the strategies is that among the things we're דאווענען davening for is to be able to דאווען daven. Among the things we're asking for is to דאווען daven effectively. ואתחנן אל ה' Va'eschanan el Hashem, I turn to Hashem and I דאווען daven that בעת ההיא bo eis hahi, that in that moment, לאמר leimor, that he gives me the words to be able to, to דאווען daven. I was once in New York on the night before I had the privilege of attending a meeting at the White House and I went to the סקווערער רבי Skverer Rebbe, who I have a relationship with for many years and occasionally visit and get ברכות brachos, and I happened to be visiting him that night before. So I asked, \"What should I, what should I bring up? What does he think is important? What was critical at the time?\" And it was פרשת ואתחנן Parshas Va'eschanan. It was right before this parsha. And he said to me, \"ואתחנן אל ה' בעת ההיא לאמר Va'eschanan el Hashem bo eis hahi leimor. Turn to Hashem, and בעת ההיא bo eis hahi, that when you're in that moment and at that meeting, לאמר leimor, he puts the words in your mouth of what to say.\" Sometimes we're going into a difficult conversation with a loved one, an effort to reconcile, a business meeting, a שידוך shidduch date, you're going into a difficult, difficult position and you're concerned. ואתחנן אל ה' Va'eschanan el Hashem. Turn to Hashem and דאווען daven that בעת ההיא bo eis hahi that in that moment, whatever the moment and whoever the audience, לאמר leimor, among the things that we're allowed to ask him is to give us the right words to say, to say the right things at that time. Okay, moving right along. So Moshe takes the no, ועתה ישראל v'atah Yisrael, he turns to them and he says, למען תחיו l'ma'an tichyu, you want to live, you want to be alive, listen to the חוקים ומשפטים chukim u'mishpatim. It has been the prescription that has carried us throughout the generations. And by the way, again, I don't want to, we're going to sit on the floor this week. משיח Moshiach will come and we won't. But otherwise, we're scheduled to sit on the floor and to mourn and grieve the calamities and tragedies of Jewish history. And there are no shortage of them. Crusades and inquisition and Holocaust and expulsions and exiles, oppression, persecution, murder, systematic attempts to exterminate. And you know what got us through it all? למען תחיו L'ma'an tichyu, you want to stay alive? You want to survive? You want to get through it intact and for there to be a Jewish people and a Jewish story? Then שמע אל החקים ואל המשפטים shma el hachukim v'el hamishpatim. You see, when you give up the חוקים ומשפטים chukim u'mishpatim, when you stop listening and stop learning and stop observing and stop caring, then למען תחיו l'ma'an tichyu, our people disappear. America is destroying us more than any enemy could before. Assimilation and intermarriage are by far eliminating our people at a faster rate and more devastating rate than any of our adversaries or enemies could before. למען תחיו L'ma'an tichyu, if you want our people to live, to survive, to be alive, then שמע אל החקים shma el hachukim. Listen, the world is looking around trying to find meaning and purpose. Mental health challenges and families dissolving and marriages falling apart. שמע אל החקים Shma el hachukim, the Torah gives us the antidote, the Torah gives us the answer. Listen, למען תחיו l'ma'an tichyu, so that we live. ספר דברים Sefer Devarim has within it all the answers. It's so magnificent, so beautiful. לא תסיפו על הדבר Lo sosifu al hadavar, don't add, לא תגרעו lo sigre'u, you're not allowed to add to the mitzvos, you're not allowed to take away from the mitzvos. We move to פרק ד פסוק טז Perek daled, pasuk tes vov. This parsha is so rich. It's an endless amount that we can talk about. But a few lessons for today. Page 962. Page 962. ונשמרתם מאד לנפשתיכם V'nishmartem me'od l'nafshoseichem. This is a pasuk which is very relevant right now, and it's being quoted often. ונשמרתם מאד לנפשתיכם כי לא ראיתם כל תמונה ביום V'nishmartem me'od l'nafshoseichem ki lo re'isem kol temunah b'yom. דיבר שם על הרכם בחרב מתוך האש diber Hashem al harchem b'Chorev mitoch ha'esh. Now this pasuk is really taken, so to say, out of context. Because the pasuk here is not talking about the way we often quote it. ונשמרתם מאד לנפשתיכם V'nishmartem me'od l'nafshoseichem. Take good care of yourself. It's a Jewish value. We are stewards over our body, they don't belong to us. We're not entitled to shorten our lives. Suicide is forbidden from the Torah and any form of living which in fact decreases our life, our lifespan, is a form of of suicide. You can't use and abuse your body. ונשמרתם מאד לנפשתיכם V'nishmartem me'od l'nafshoseichem. We have an awesome and great responsibility to take great care of our body, of ourselves. ונשמרתם מאד לנפשתיכם V'nishmartem me'od l'nafshoseichem. Even though again, this pasuk is not really talking about this. Moshe's warning of a danger. The people might be misled thinking that they heard Hashem's voice. There had been physical contact that's been produced, but it'd be heretical. The Ramban says that's what this pasuk is talking about. It's talking about הר סיני Har Sinai. You might have thought Hashem spoke directly to you. ונשמרתם מאד לנפשתיכם V'nishmartem me'od l'nafshoseichem. Don't think that because you had an audience with the Almighty that therefore you have license to do certain things. Be careful and protect and protect yourself. We quote it in the context of, wear a mask, socially distance, don't do behaviors which are dangerous. ונשמרתם מאד לנפשתיכם V'nishmartem me'od l'nafshoseichem. How does one protect themselves? Says a beautiful אמרי חיים Imrei Chaim. The אמרי חיים Imrei Chaim, the ויז'ניץ רבי Vizhnitzer Rebbe says homiletically, ונשמרתם מאוד לנפשותיכם V'nishmartem me'od l'nafshoseichem. ונשמרתם V'nishmartem, what should you safeguard and protect? מאד Me'od. Why? לנפשותיכם L'nafshoseichem. What he interprets it to mean is, ונשמרתם v'nishmartem, if you want to protect and safeguard נפשותיכם nafshoseichem, yourself, then how do you do it? By being careful of your מאד me'od. What does that mean? He gives two פשטים pshatim, two interpretations. Number one, the Mishnah in פרקי אבות Pirkei Avos tells us, מאד מאד הוי שפל רוח me'od me'od hevei shfal ruach. One should be exceedingly humble. We know that our rabbis told us that there are two attributes, two character traits which you should not walk the golden mean, but you need to be extreme. Be extreme not to anger, and be extremely humble. מאד מאד Me'od me'od. So our rabbis tell us מאד מאד me'od me'od, very very. Be very very humble. So says the ויז'ניץ רבי Vizhnitzer Rebbe, when the pasuk says ונשמרתם מאד לנפשותיכם v'nishmartem me'od l'nafshoseichem, protect for your soul, you know what you need to protect? Preserve the מאד me'od, שפל רוח shfal ruach, preserve the humility. לשלימות הנפש צריכים להתנהג בענוה, כי מאן דיהיר בממום הוא L'shleimus hanefesh tzrichim l'hisnaheg b'anava, ki man d'yahir b'mumo hu. Whoever is arrogant, the Gemara Megillah khaf tes tells us, the arrogant person has a בממום ba'al mum. The arrogant person, person who walks around with arrogance who has an inflated ego, who thinks great of themselves, מאן דיהיר man d'yahir, the arrogant person, בממום הוא ba'al mum hu, is a, has a character flaw, has a blemish. And therefore ונשמרתם מאד v'nishmartem me'od. You know what you need to do for your נפשותיכם nafshoseichem? ונשמרתם V'nishmartem, you need to protect the sense of מאד me'od. You need to be exceedingly, exceedingly humble. If you're going through life, you want your relationships to thrive, you want meaningful relationships, you want to get ahead, you want to succeed in life, it's not by inflating your ego and your arrogance and your sense of self, it's by doing the opposite. It's with humility. It's with a sense of humility. We'll come back to this later in the parsha with ואנכי עומד v'anochi omed. We'll talk more. Second pshat the ויז'ניץ רבי Vizhnitzer Rebbe says, he says ונשמרתם מאד לנפשותיכם v'nishmartem me'od l'nafshoseichem. מאד Me'od, we're going to say later in the parsha, ואהבת v'ahavta, what do we say? בכל לבבך ובכל נפשך ובכל B'chol levavcha u'v'chol nafshecha u'v'chol, מאדך me'odecha. And Rashi translates, what does it mean בכל מאדך b'chol me'odecha? You have to be willing to give your life for Hashem. You have to be willing to give your heart for Hashem. And you have to willing to be to give מאדך me'odecha, and מאדך me'odecha means, מאדך me'odecha means, מאוד רומז לממון me'od romez l'mamon. בכל מאדך B'chol me'odecha means your money, your resources. אין הנפש יכולה להיות שלימה אלא אם כן נשמר הממון, שהמשא ומתן הוא באמונה Ein hanefesh yechola l'hiyos shleima ela im kein nishmar hamamon, shehamasa u'matan hu b'emunah. Says the ויז'ניץ רבי Vizhnitzer Rebbe, ונשמרתם מאד לנפשותיכם v'nishmartem me'od l'nafshoseichem. You want to protect your nefesh? Then you need to protect the מאד me'od. And מאד me'od can be either an allusion to humility or מאד me'od can be an allusion to your money, ממון mamon. Both your resource, your attitude towards your money, are you stingy or are you generous? Do you work hard or do you cut corners? The attitude we have to the money is what will impact and define and molds our character and molds our נפש nefesh. So ונשמרתם לנפשותיכם v'nishmartem l'nafshoseichem, if you want to protect and preserve your נפש nefesh, נפשותיכם nafshoseichem, then be careful and protect the sense of מאד me'od, your humility, and your resources. Protect your sense of money. פרק ד' פסוק Perek Dalet, pasuk, is that ל' lamed? כי תוליד בנים Ki solid banim, the the part that we read on תשעה באב Tisha B'Av morning is פסוק כ\"ה pasuk khaf hei. כי תוליד בנים ובני בנים ונושנתם בארץ Ki solid banim u'vnei vanim v'noshan'tem ba'aretz. ונושנתם V'noshan'tem means it gets stale. It gets old. Being in the land. We're beginning to suffer from this ourselves. After 1948, after 1967, the miracle of the modern state of Israel was fresh, was new, was worth singing הלל והודאה hallel v'hoda'ah on and then it gets old. And generations are born who never knew a world that didn't have access to Jewish sovereignty over the land. ונושנתם בארץ V'noshan'tem ba'aretz, the word נושנתם noshan'tem means that it'll, you'll grow old. It grows old and it grows stale. והשחתם ועשיתם פסל תמונת כל V'hishchatem v'asisem pesel temunas kol. And then you're going to follow other values and other influences. And Hashem says, what heaven and earth testify for you today that when it gets old and stale and wrote, when you stop appreciating and valuing the gift of being in the land of Israel, then you're going to be vomited from the land of Israel. You simply cannot cannot continue there. The Torah tells us, בצר לך ומצאוך כל הדברים האלה Batzar lecha u'metzaucha kol had'varim ha'eleh, a pasuk ל' lamed. באחרית הימים ושבת עד ה' אלקיך ושמעת בקולו B'acharis hayamim v'shavta ad Hashem Elokecha v'shamata b'kolo. You know what's going to happen at the end of days? You'll be exiled from the land and you'll suffer, you'll be expelled. When you're in distress and all these things have fallen on you, you'll return to Hashem. ושבת עד ה' אלקיך V'shavta ad Hashem Elokecha. Moshe Rabbeinu has a נבואה nevuah. This is not later in תנ\"ך נביאים וכתובים Tanach, Nevi'im u'Kesuvim. In ספר דברים Sefer Devarim, in פרשת ואתחנן Parshas Va'eschanan, Moshe himself has this נבואה nevuah and prophecy that there will grow a time that you will roam the earth in exile. You'll be able to taste from all the other religions and values and cultures. And then you know what's going to happen? ושבת עד ה' אלקיך V'shavta ad Hashem Elokecha. There'll be a mass תשובה teshuva movement. There'll be a desire and a drive to come home to Hashem. ושבת עד ה' אלקיך V'shavta ad Hashem Elokecha. You'll want to come home to Him. ושמעת בקולו V'shamata b'kolo, and you'll hear, and you'll hear his verse, voice. Says the אמרי חיים Imrei Chaim, what does that mean? Says the אמרי חיים Imrei Chaim, אוי להם לבריות מעלבונה של תורה, כמאמרו חז\"ל, ומזה נמשך הרהורי תשובה oy lahem labriyos me'elbonah shel Torah, kamamro Chazal, u'mizeh nimshach hirhurei teshuva. Where does this movement, this mass תשובה teshuva movement, we're starting to see it. Number of בעלי תשובה baalei teshuva. They've experienced and experimented. They've tried what the world has to offer and it leaves them feeling empty. And so there's a mass movement. And so many are credited, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, and Rav Shlomo and Rav Noach Weinberg and all these great leaders of the mass תשובה teshuva movement. Why? Because there was an ache. There was a spark. There was something inside them. You know where it comes from? ושבת עד ה' אלקיך V'shavta ad Hashem Elokecha. It comes from a sense of, ושמעת בקולו v'shamata b'kolo. You're listening to his voice. Where do you hear his voice? Where do you hear his voice? That assimilated Jew, the Jew so distance and far, the Jew who has no education and yet feels driven, feels this pull, feels this magnetism to check out Judaism. Where does that come from? Where does that come from? So the ויז'ניץ רבי Vizhnitzer Rebbe says, the pasuk is telling us, ושבת עד ה' אלקיך ושמעת בקולו v'shavta ad Hashem Elokecha v'shamata b'kolo. ושמעת בקולו V'shamata b'kolo, you know where it comes from? The פינטעלע איד pintele yid is the sound of the voice of Hashem inside each and every one of us. The הרהורי תשובה hirhurei teshuva, that drive for more, for better, comes from the godly soul and the godly spirit inside us. ומזה יש לומר ושבת עד השם אלקיך, אם תשוב בתשובה, אז תזכה ושמעת בקולו U'mizeh yesh lomar v'shavta ad Hashem Elokecha, im tashuv b'teshuva, az tiskeh v'shamata b'kolo. If you make that first move, if you make that first move, that longing, that desire, listen to that class, go speak to that person, go put on the tefillin, light the candles, do something, then ושמעת בקולו v'shamata b'kolo. When we make that first move, ושבת עד ה' אלקיך v'shavta ad Hashem Elokecha, then we merit, ושמעת בקולו תזכה לשמוע את הקול בחוש יוצא, לא רק בהרהורים v'shamata b'kolo, tiskeh lishmoa es hakol b'chush yotzei, lo rak b'hirhurim. You won't just hear God in your imagination. You'll feel and see and palpably have an awareness of God communicating to you. ואז ושמעת V'az v'shamata and then you will hear. ושמעת בקולו תיכף כי יקרא לך ה' יתברך, תסע אליו לבואו V'shamata b'kolo teikef ki yikra lecha Hashem yisborach, tisa eilav lavo'o. When He calls you, you will come running. You'll have this burning desire to connect and to be with him. ושבת אל ה' אלקיך, ושבת אל ה' אלקיך V'shavta el Hashem Elokecha, v'shavta el Hashem Elokecha. But beforehand, what drives us to it? Is ובקשתם משם u'vikashtem misham. From that place of exile, from that place of distance, we will seek Hashem. We're in פרק ד' פסוק כ\"ט Perek Dalet Pasuk Khaf Tes. Go back one pasuk. What will inspire, the catalyst of the ושבת אל ה' אלקיך v'shavta el Hashem Elokecha, what will lead us to that mass תשובה teshuva movement is a feeling of ובקשתם משם u'vikashtem misham. We're going to seek God. We're going to be searchers. We're going to be looking. We're going to be מבקשים mevakshim. We're going to have a desire for to to seek Hashem. ובקשתם משם את ה' אלקיך U'vikashtem misham es Hashem Elokecha, and when you seek Him, when you look, then ומצאת u'matzasa. You see Hashem is all around us. מלא כל הארץ כבודו Melo kol ha'aretz kevodo. The world is filled with our ability to acquire him. Every breath we take is present. Every sunrise, sunset, every moment of health where our, in where our faculties are working, that's הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu. He's all around us. ובקשתם משם U'vikashtem misham. You have to look, you have to search, ומצאת u'matzasa and you'll find Him. Rav Soloveitchik wrote a whole book and essay was written based on his insights into these very words. ובקשתם משם U'vikashtem misham. From there shall you seek. It was translated into English from there shall you seek. But I want to read to you from the Rav's חומש Chumash, Rav Soloveitchik's insight on these words, ובקשתם משם u'vikashtem misham. And he says the following. Judaism knows well the tensions and hesitations involved in the wearying search for God, as well as the joy and ecstasy of the search. All the prophets called upon us to observe creation, to search out the secrets of the cosmic process, to observe the wellsprings of the world and to uncover the hidden and obscure, the glory of of the Creator's majesty which hovers over mute creation. They all wove laurels for the searchers after God, both for those who seek him within mechanical nature in its great opacity, for those who tear open the window of the wondrous higher realms of pure, utterly perfect being. Says the Rav, it's all around us. Somebody, a dear friend of mine sent me a picture yesterday, holding his new granddaughter. And I look at that picture of this newborn baby and a grandfather who was hoping and waiting for a healthy grandchild. And I say, there's the רבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam. ובקשתם משם U'vikashtem misham. This person, you wonder, you look, you seek, you don't know if he's there. Look into the eyes, look into the פנים panim of that newborn baby. And you'll see הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu. He's all around us. Listen to how the Rav writes, by the way. A man who only learned English later in life. His grasp of the English language, so poetic, so beautiful. דוד המלך David Hamelech viewed creation primarily, primaly, seeing the likeness of the creator reflected in everything. It sings a majestic song. And on the nights preceding the ימים נוראים Yamim Noraim when the Jewish people recite סליחות slichos, the beloved clings to her lover and pleads with him that her request should not be in vain and that he should present himself to her when she goes out to greet him. A whispered plea bursts forth and rises with the morning star that appears on the eastern horizon. ובקשתם משם U'vikashtem misham. We seek Hashem, you will find him ומצאת u'matzasa. You attract us with an awesome enormous power which no one can withstand. We hear your footsteps. You are very very near to us. Please appear here with us now tonight, the night of סליחות Slichos, the night clothed in the secret mystery, the night of extensive grace and manifold mercies. Please appear when we seek you. The הלכה halacha proves this confrontation between Hashem and man and the within the world. We're commanded to utter a ברכה bracha over every cosmic phenomenon. Over the afterglow of the fiery sunset and the purple of the sunrise trickling along the mountaintops. Over the rising moon sprinkling its pale light, over the stars and the courses and the comets leaping from clear space. Over the sight of the rainbow in the clouds, over the thunder and lightning arising from the mist. Over the budding trees and the sweet-smelling, exquisite flowers. Over the murmur of the ocean and the rushing of the surf. Upon eating water and bread, the fruits of the tree and the crops of the field. Over the healthy body created with wisdom with its muscles and nerves. Over the ability to move and to stand direct. In short, we utter a ברכה bracha over everything man encounters that demonstrates the power of creation. What is a ברכה bracha, whether ברכת הנהנין birkas ha'nehenin, a ברכה bracha over something we imbibe, or ברכת הראיה birkas ha're'iyah, a ברכה bracha over something we behold, if not praise and thanksgiving to Hashem for the nature of the world. A nature that changes in the instant the ברכה bracha is uttered into a supernatural miraculous universe. If not the redemption of nature from its muteness that provisions solitude, if not the identification of the cosmic dynamics with the primordial will of the creator which is hidden and acts from within its hiding place on organic and inorganic matter, on animal, vegetable, and mineral. What does the ברכה bracha attest to if not the strange fact that in spite of the psychological law that habit and custom dull the subtleties of feeling and dim the alertness of the intellect and extinguish the flame of ecstasy, the Jew is enthusiastic about each and every phenomenon. Woof. What a beautiful insight. And what written so beautifully by the Rav. Every ברכה bracha that we say, a ברכה bracha on a cup of coffee, a ברכה bracha on בסמים besamim, on the fragrance, a ברכה bracha on the lightning and the thunder. Every ברכה bracha we say is observing the word and ובקשתם משם u'vikashtem misham. It is our effort to search for him and to find him behind it, behind all of that nature. What precipitates the catalyst for ושבת עד ה' אלקיך v'shavta ad Hashem Elokecha, what will lead us to return to him and ושמעת בקולו v'shamata b'kolo, then to hear his voice through us is ובקשתם משם u'vikashtem misham, to be searchers and seekers, to look. And then if we look, we are guaranteed, says Hashem, to find. We will discover and we will find him. Our generation has grown somewhat stale, unimpressed. Eh. We see and we manufacture and we do. Maybe one of the, maybe one of the, if there are silver linings to the pandemic and the coronavirus, maybe it will successfully humble us. The humility that we so desperately need. Maybe it will humble us that we're not in charge and we don't control and we can't predict and we don't anticipate. And therefore to look around in the world with a little bit more marvel and to be ובקשתם u'vikashtem, to be seekers and searchers and to say Hashem, where are you all around us? Where are you in creation and how can we find you? And how can we find you? פרק ד' פסוק ל\"ט Perek Dalet, Pasuk Lamed Tes. Keep going. Next page 966, the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash. וידעת היום והשבות אל לבבך V'yadata hayom vahashevosa el levavecha. Here's a pasuk that we're familiar with from עלינו Aleinu. וידעת היום והשבות אל לבבך כי ה' הוא האלקים בשמים ממעל ועל הארץ מתחת אין עוד V'yadata hayom vahashevosa el levavecha ki Hashem hu ha'Elokim bashamayim mima'al v'al ha'aretz mitachas ein od. אין עוד Ein od. You should know this day and take to your heart that Hashem is the God. He's in heaven above and on the earth below. אין עוד Ein od. There is no other god but Him. He is everything. He is not something. He is everything. The Rav Aharon Karliner, the Karliner has a beautiful insight. He says homiletically the following. Don't worry, I know we're sharing a lot of חסידות Chassidus. We're going to get to the מפרשים meforshim section in a moment. וידעת היום נו, והשבות אל לבבך V'yadata hayom no, v'hashevosa el levavecha. It's a very interesting pasuk. Where does knowledge take place? Where would I think that you would place your knowledge? Where is the intellect? Where is cognition? It's in your head. I would think it would be וידעת היום v'yadata hayom know today והשבות v'hashevosa and put in your brain, put in your head. But where do you put it? In your heart. You know why? Because the knowledge that leads to action is the knowledge not of the head, but is the knowledge of the heart. How many people know about behaviors that are negative, that are poor, that are self-destruction, that self-sabotage, but they do them anyway. Because the farthest distance between any two objects on earth is the distance between a man's head and his heart. And therefore the Torah understands this and says, וידעת היום v'yadata hayom, know today. והשבות V'hashevosa, and where do you need to insert that knowledge? Not in your head. It's a knowledge that needs to trickle down to your heart. That's number one. Number two, and we don't have time for this, but we can expand on it another time. Are you meant to have faith in God? Is there a leap of faith that you have to take? Are we a group, a nation of believers, blind faith that there is a God, that there is a deity? Not according to this pasuk. The pasuk says, וידעת היום v'yadata hayom. You know today. וידעת כי ה' הוא האלקים V'yadata ki Hashem hu ha'Elokim. There's a God in heaven and earth. Relationship with God is not based on faith or belief, it's based on knowledge. Examine the evidence and you will conclude. There is as much evidence and overwhelming compelling evidence for God's existence as there is for anything else in your life. We don't have time right now to share it and I bet I've piqued your curiosity for another time, but there is as much evidence for God's existence as there is for anything else. And how do I know that? This pasuk. וידעת היום V'yadata hayom. You can know. It doesn't say believe today. It doesn't say have faith today. It says know today. Know today and place it in your heart because you can have an absolute knowledge that God exists. The same compelling evidence for anything else exists for this. That was number two. Number three, says Rav Aharon Karliner, וידעת היום v'yadata hayom, when you know well, והשבות אל לבבך v'hashevosa el levavecha, and you put it into the recesses of your heart that כי ה' הוא האלקים ki Hashem hu ha'Elokim, that there is a God in the world. He created everything. He has dominion and providence over everything. בשמים ממעל ועל הארץ מתחת Bashamayim mima'al v'al ha'aretz mitachas. He's in the heavens above and the earth below, then אין עוד ein od. Then you will not need or search or submit to anything else in this world. You will not be impressed by, you will not pursue, you will not bow down, you will not defer because אין עוד ein od. וידעת V'yadata, look around this world, ובקשתם u'vikashtem be a searcher, ומצאת u'matzasa, find Hashem, and וידעת v'yadata, then you will know. And when you know, you will then put in your heart. And when you put it in your heart, then you will constantly walk around life saying אין עוד מלבדו ein od milvado. אין עוד מלבדו Ein od milvado. אין עוד Ein od. There is no one, there is nothing. A נפש החיים Nefesh HaChaim, Rav Chaim of Volozhin brings down, we studied this in our אמונה שיעור emunah shiur countless times, that a person who feels they're stuck, a person who feels that they're struggling should simply recite אין עוד מלבדו ein od milvado. אין עוד מלבדו Ein od milvado. There is nothing but him. There is nothing but you. You are everything. אין עוד מלבדו Ein od milvado. ועל הארץ מתחת אין עוד V'al ha'aretz mitachas ein od. My friend Chaim points out the Rambam לידע שיש שם מצוי ראשון leida sheyesh sham matzui rishon. The first mitzvah, you have to know, לידע leida, you could have knowledge that there is a first cause. You have knowledge that there is a God, that there's Hashem. It's not faith, it's not a belief, we could have knowledge. I want to tell you an insight of Rav Yosef Chaim of Baghdad, otherwise known as the בן יהוידע Ben Yehoyada. The בן יהוידע Ben Yehoyada, in his commentary on the גמרא בבא בתרא דף כ\"ה עמוד ב' Gemara Bava Basra daf kaf hei amud beis says the following about this pasuk. It says, בשמים ממעל ועל הארץ מתחת bashamayim mima'al v'al ha'aretz mitachas, and the simple understanding is you can know that there's a God, there's a God who's in the heaven above and he's on the earth down below. But the בן יהוידע Ben Yehoyada, Rav Yosef Chaim of Baghdad says the following. He says perhaps what it means is the following. When it comes to heavenly aspiration, when it comes to רוחניות ruchniyus, when it comes to growing spiritually, השמים ממעל hashamayim mima'al, look up. Look up to the people who are greater, who are better, who are further along, and look up to them as role models, try to be like them. And when it comes to the matters which are מתחת mitachas, when it comes to the earthly physical matters, look at the הארץ ha'aretz, ועל הארץ מתחת v'al ha'aretz mitachas, look at those who have less than you. This is the formula, the secret to happiness in life. The secret to happiness in life is when it comes to רוחניות ruchniyus, שמים ממעל shamayim mima'al, look up. Look at people who have more than you and say, I want to daven like that, I want to learn like that, I want to do chesed like that, I want to have a emunah like that. השמים, עניני שמים Ha'shamayim, inyonei shamayim, when it comes to heavenly matters, ממעל mima'al, look up. ועל הארץ V'al ha'aretz, when it comes to the earthly matters, when it comes to the physical things, מתחת mitachas, look at those who have less than you, and be satisfied with what you have. And with that he explains the גמרא בבא בתרא Gemara Bava Basra, which is why his comment is there בן יהוידע Ben Yehoyada, הרוצה שיחכים ידרים, והרוצה שיעשיר יצפין Harotzeh sheyachkim yadrim v'harotzeh sheya'ashir yatzpin. The Torah journal that our Bais Medrash, thanks to the Shabtai brothers who edit it, put out every year, the beautiful ידרי\"ם Yadrim, is named ידרי\"ם yadrim on this Gemara. Because the Gemara says הרוצה שיחכים harotzeh sheyachkim, one who wants to grow wise, ידרים yadrim, look south. And who wants to grow wealthy, שיעשיר יצפין sheya'ashir yatzpin. That's why the rabbi sits to the left of the ארון קודש aron kodesh, and the shul president sits to the right of the ארון קודש aron kodesh. Because the ארון קודש aron kodesh at least in חוץ לארץ chutz la'aretz where we are, faces east. So when the rabbi davens towards the ארון קודש aron kodesh, he's looking where? If the aron's east, he's looking south, because he's davening for חכמה chochma, for wisdom. The rabbi wants to be grow smarter. The shul president who's responsible for the finances of the shul, he faces, he sits to the right of the ארון קודש aron kodesh. When he davens and faces the ארון קודש aron kodesh, he's facing north. הרוצה שיצפין, יעשיר יצפין Harotzeh sheyatzpin, ya'ashir yatzpin. So the rabbi, he wants the יחכים yachkim is ידרים yadrim. He looks to south. The shul president is responsible for the finances, he wants to יצפין, he wants to יעשיר ya'ashir, wants to grow wealthy יצפין yatzpin, he faces the north. So says Rav Yosef Chaim says the the Ben Yehoyada, if you want to grow wise, face the south. If you want to become rich, you face the north. If you want greater wisdom and Torah knowledge, look to the south and feel humble. Look like you have much more to achieve and grow. And if you want greater wealth, look north and feel that you are above, that what you have is what you need and you should be satisfied with it. It is enough for you. Okay, moving right along. The Torah now tells us, אז יבדיל משה az yavdil Moshe, we're up to the ערי מקלט arei miklat. אז יבדיל משה שלש ערים בעבר הירדן מזרחה שמש Az yavdil Moshe shalosh arim b'ever haYarden mizracha shamesh. אז Az. What is this word אז az doing here? The כלי יקר Kli Yakar is bothered by the presence of the word אז az. אז יבדיל משה Az yavdil Moshe. Why אז az? We were already given the mitzvah of of uh, the ערי מקלט arei miklat at the end of ספר במדבר Sefer Bamidbar. So what do you mean now, אז az? What do you mean now, אז az? The כלי יקר Kli Yakar says, בקשה פסוק זה מה ענין לכאן וכי אחר כל המפרשים לוקח ולא תבין מה הוא ספק B'kasha pasuk zeh mah inyan l'chan v'chi achar kol hamforshim lokeach v'lo savin mah hu safek. What's the connection between the ערי מקלט arei miklat and the section we just read about coming back to Hashem and returning to him and Hashem is in the heavens above and the earth below. ומה הוא לשון אז U'mah hu lashon az. And what is this word אז az mean? ואתה תראה איך נכשמה כי מתנים שאדם עוסק במצוה, אף שאין יכול לבוא לידי גמר על ידו, מכל מקום מצוה שבאה לידו חייב לקיימה V'ata tireh eich nikshmah ki matnim she'adam osek b'mitzvah, af she'ein yachol lavo l'yedei gmar al yado, mikol makom mitzvah sheba'ah l'yado chayav l'kayma. The Gemara in Makkos tells us that a mitzvah that you have the opportunity to begin even if you can't finish it, you should still start it. You should still start it. As we see with David he tells his son Shlomo. David began the foundation of the Beis Hamikdash even though he knew he couldn't complete the project. The person who plants the esrog tree, even though they know they won't benefit from the fruit in their lifetime. We have the opportunity to do something, do it. Don't wait, don't procrastinate. Don't be lazy. And don't only do the things that you reap the fruit of. You have the opportunity to do something, do it. And says the Kli Yakar, that's what the word אז az here is teaching us. That even though Moshe Rabbeinu would not complete the ערי מקלט arei miklat would not kick into action till the other three were set up and established on the western side of the Jordan. But nevertheless, אז יבדיל משה az yavdil Moshe. Moshe here had the opportunity to separate the ערי מקלט arei miklat on the east side of the Jordan of the Yarden. And says the Kli Yakar, that is the message of of the word אז az that Moshe did not hesitate. He didn't to be or he didn't pause. Moshe had the opportunity to begin a mitzvah that even though he knew he couldn't complete, nevertheless, nevertheless he got it started. One of the laws of an עיר מקלט ir miklat is that the person who is in the עיר מקלט ir miklat is there, stays there until the כהן גדול kohen gadol dies. What is the connection? This is the second time that I'm going to run out of time and I can't tell it to you. There's a beautiful piece by Rav Wolbe and a beautiful Maharal, but we're going to skip it because I want to get to something else before we end today. But remind me next year parshas Matos-Masei or parshas Va'eschanan both which have the ערי מקלט arei miklat in it, we'll come back to it then. פרק ה' פסוק ה' Perek Hei Pasuk Hei. פרק ה' פסוק ה' Perek Hei Pasuk Hei. Here we have the introduction to the עשרת הדברות Aseres Hadibros. The עשרת הדברות Aseres Hadibros. We know that the Decalogue is repeated twice, פרשת יתרו Parshas Yisro and פרשת ואתחנן Parshas Va'eschanan. If ואתחנן Va'eschanan represents Moshe's soliloquy, his monologue, Moshe is reviewing all the seminal moments of Jewish history until that time. Among them, if not foremost among them is קבלת התורה kabbalas haTorah, is הקדוש ברוך הוא's HaKadosh Baruch Hu's giving us his sacred Torah. So we have a repetition. And of course, there's so much to say in the contrast between the way that the עשרת הדברות Aseres Hadibros appear in יתרו Yisro and in ואתחנן Va'eschanan. There are some subtle and some not so subtle differences between them and we have a lot to learn from the way that they appear. So in the introduction to it, it says the following. Moshe is reminding them of what it was like. לא את אבותינו כרת ה' את הברית הזאת, כי אתנו אנחנו אלה פה היום כלנו חיים Lo es avoseinu karas Hashem es habris hazos, ki itanu anachnu eileh po hayom kulanu chayim. You, we, we were there. We're the ones he made the covenant with. פנים בפנים דבר ה' עמכם בהר מתוך האש Panim b'panim diber Hashem imachem bahar mitoch ha'esh. Face to face, God in an unprecedented, and unrepeated way, God spoke to you. God spoke to you with a level of revelation that has never happened again. And then Moshe says, אנכי עומד בין ה' וביניכם בעת ההיא להגיד לכם את דבר ה' Anochi omed bein Hashem u'veineichem ba'eis hahi l'hagid lachem es devar Hashem. I stood between you and Hashem in order to communicate his will to you. כי יראתם מפני האש ולא עליתם בהר לאמר Ki y'reisem mipnei ha'esh v'lo alisem bahar leimor. Because you were afraid. You were afraid. God spoke to you the first couple dibros, you couldn't take it, you were afraid. So I was the intermediary. I was אנכי עומד בין ה' וביניכם anochi omed bein Hashem u'veineichem. I stood between you in order to be able to communicate Hashem's will, Hashem's will to you. There's a beautiful insight that is quoted in the name of the Baal Shem Tov, it's quoted in the name of the Baal HaTanya. What does it mean אנכי עומד בין ה' וביניכם anochi omed bein Hashem u'veineichem? This idea of אנכי עומד anochi omed. This idea of אנכי עומד anochi omed. The simple understanding as we just said it is, אנכי עומד anochi omed. You were afraid of Hashem, so Hashem, so Moshe says, I stood between you. But the Baal Shem Tov, the Baal HaTanya's talmid, the Alter Rebbe, his chossid, explain a little bit differently. What does it mean אנכי anochi? Let's go back. אנכי ה' אלקיך Anochi Hashem Elokecha, the first of the עשרת הדברות Aseres Hadibros that we have is אנכי ה' אלקיך Anochi Hashem Elokecha. The Ten Commandments. Now Rav Saadia Gaon asserts that these ten are not ordinary mitzvos. They're not like the other 603, but rather these ten commandments in our parsha, they're categories, they're archetypes and all the rest of the mitzvos can be categorized under them and they're contained within them. And even within the Ten Commandments, even within the עשרת הדברות Aseres Hadibros themselves, says Rav Saadia Gaon, something incredible. All of the דיברות dibros, all of תרי\"ג מצוות taryag mitzvos, all of totality of Torah is captured in the one word that introduces it all, אנכי Anochi. אנכי ה' אלקיך Anochi Hashem Elokecha. I am the Lord your God. אנכי Anochi, I. A person who accepts Hashem's I, אנכי Anochi. If we see Hashem in this world and in our lives, and we understand who he is and we understand what he brings to our life, within the word אנכי Anochi, I, is the whole עשרת הדברות Aseres Hadibros. Within the עשרת הדברות Aseres Hadibros is the whole תרי\"ג מצוות taryag mitzvos. It's the entire תרי\"ג מצוות taryag mitzvos. So, um, אנכי Anochi. Our whole life is אנכי Anochi, is אנכי Anochi. And then in our parsha, when Moshe delivers this final monologue, and he reviews the experience of Matan Torah, he says, אנכי עומד בין ה' וביניכם anochi omed bein Hashem u'veineichem. So the Baal Shem Tov says, אנכי עומד anochi omed. You know what stands between a person and Hashem? אנכי Anochi, the other אנכי Anochi. You see there are two אנכי's anochi's in our life. There's the אנכי anochi of אנכי ה' אלקיך Anochi Hashem Elokecha. There's the אנכי anochi of that there's a God. Do we see him? Do we feel him? Do we defer to him? Do we submit to him? Do we accept him? Do we love him? Do we invest in our relationship with him? There's an אנכי anochi of אנכי ה' אלקיך Anochi Hashem Elokecha. But there's another אנכי anochi competing with that אנכי anochi. והאנכי עומד בין ה' וביניכם V'ha'anochi omed bein Hashem u'veineichem. And the other אנכי anochi that's competing is the אנכי anochi that stands between Hashem and that's the אנכי anochi of our sense of I, our sense of self, our sense of ego. Someone once wrote a letter to the Lubavitcher Rebbe and the letter said the following, quote, I am in a state of sadness. I wake up every morning dreading the day ahead. I find that nothing lifts the clouds of gloom. I try various distractions. I pray but inspiration doesn't come. I need the rabbi's help and advice. And the Rebbe sent him a very brilliant reply without even writing one word. He took his pen and he circled the first word of every sentence in the other person's letter. And the first word in the first sentence, the first word of every sentence in the person's letter was the word I. And the message the Rebbe was sending back to him is when every sentence of your life begins with the word I, אנכי anochi, then it's עומד בין ה' וביניכם omed bein Hashem u'veineichem. It's going to stand between you and everyone else. It's going to stand between you and everyone else. The second of the עשרת הדברות Aseres Hadibros, לא יהיה לך אלהים אחרים על פני lo yihyeh lecha elohim acherim al panai, that you're not allowed to have another god. The Gemara answers, the Gemara asks, what foreign god lives among you that you have to be instructed to avoid? The Gemara Shabbos Kuf Hei. And the Gemara says, זה יצר הרע zeh yetzer hara, the ego, the inflated and distorted sense of self, the urge and the drive to only care about ourselves and our happiness and our things and our honor. That אנכי anochi of who we are, it stands in the way. It stands in the way. And so אנכי עומד בין ה' וביניכם Anochi omed bein Hashem u'veineichem, Moshe Rabbeinu was telling him, אנכי עומד anochi omed, that that sense of אנכי anochi, the wrong אנכי anochi. You could live your life with the correct, the right אנכי anochi, the אנכי anochi of אנכי ה' אלקיך Anochi Hashem Elokecha, or you could live your life with the wrong אנכי anochi, the אנכי עומד anochi omed of that sense of ego. So back to the ונשמרתם מאד לנפשותיכם v'nishmartem me'od l'nafshoseichem. The choice, the choice ultimately is ours. Oi. Oi. I wanted to get to so much more. In the עשרת הדברות Aseres Hadibros is זכור את יום השבת וגם שמור את יום השבת zachor es yom haShabbos v'gam shamor es yom haShabbos. Rav Soloveitchik had a beautiful insight about Shabbos. So separate Shabbos. There's the Shabbos that Hashem gives to us, there's the Shabbos that we create. And most of all, I wanted to get to, ועשית הישר והטוב v'asisah hayashar v'hatov. פרק ו' פסוק י\"ח Perek Vav, Pasuk Yud Ches. This I think is the bumper sticker and the model, the mission statement of every Jew. ועשית הישר והטוב בעיני ה' V'asisah hayashar v'hatov b'einei Hashem. This is how you should live your life, is by stopping and asking yourself each and every moment, what does Hashem want from me? Do what is on the right, on the on the right and straight and narrow. ועשית הישר והטוב V'asisah hayashar v'hatov. There's a beautiful Ramban. A beautiful Ramban on this pasuk. What is this mitzvah? ועשית הישר והטוב V'asisah hayashar v'hatov, what is it filling in? And I was going to give some of the halachic application of ועשית הישר והטוב v'asisah hayashar v'hatov, but we're at a time. Look at the Ramban on פרק ו' פסוק י\"ח Perek Vav Pasuk Yud Ches, ועשית הישר והטוב v'asisah hayashar v'hatov. It's an absolute must see to know what this pasuk really means. And בעזרת השם b'ezras Hashem we'll pick up next week. Um, please stay tuned over the next several weeks whether class is on or off. Next Tuesday night בעזרת השם b'ezras Hashem is my daughter's wedding. I still plan on giving the parsha class that morning, but only if I am able to uh, if I'm able to schedule it, to make it happen. So please stay posted to the announcements whether class is on or off. As of now, it is intended to be on. Uh, join us tonight, Rav Asher Weiss at 8:30. 45, the first יארצייט yahrzeit שיעור shiur in memory of Brian Gabba tomorrow morning. מסילת ישרים Mesilas Yesharim at 8:15, living with אמונה emunah at 8:45 tomorrow morning, and our introduction to איכה Eicha tomorrow evening. wishing everyone a good week and a happy week, a holy week, a healthy week and please God we should be celebrating the rest of the week in ירושלים Yerushalayim rebuilt in ירושלים עיר הקודש Yerushalayim Ir HaKodesh.
