Transcript
Good morning, בוקר טוב boker tov, great to be back together again learning the פרשה parsha. Great to be back in Boca together learning the פרשה parsha. This morning we have the privilege of studying together פרשת שופטים Parshas Shoftim. I want to thank as always our generous sponsors of the פרשה parsha series for the year. Still an opportunity to sponsor individual פרשה parsha classes. Please be in touch with our office. We would welcome your sponsorship and partnership. But we thank our dear friends Becky and Avi Katz and family, who sponsored the series in memory of David Grossman, Becky's father, לעילוי נשמת דוד בן מנחם מנש l'ilui nishmas Dovid ben Menachem Manash, his נשמה neshama should have an עליה aliyah through our study of this beautiful פרשה parsha. שופטים Shoftim begins in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash on page 1,024, 1,024. And says the פרשה parsha, שופטים ושוטרים תתן לך בכל שעריך אשר השם אלוקיך נותן לך לשבטיך ושפטו את העם משפט צדק Shoftim v'shotrim titen l'cha b'chol she'arecha asher Hashem Elokecha nosein l'cha lishvatecha v'shaftu es ha'am mishpat tzedek. The Torah tells us, the Torah instructs us to appoint judges, שופטים shoftim, and officers, policemen, modern Hebrew we call them policemen, שוטרים shotrim. Where? בכל שעריך B'chol she'arecha, in all your gates, אשר השם אלוקיך נותן לך לשבטיך asher Hashem Elokecha nosein l'cha lishvatecha. It's quoted in the name of the חיד\"א Chida, it's quoted in the name of countless people, בכל שעריך b'chol she'arecha, all the gateways means all the openings to our body, to our soul, our two eyes and our ears and our nostrils, our mouth, every orifice, every opening. בכל שעריך B'chol she'arecha, all the gates, we need to have שופטים ושוטרים shoftim v'shotrim, we have to be discerning, judicious, we have to be vigilant and careful what image, what ideas we allow in, what we think about, what we look at, how we behave, who we are. שופטים ושוטרים Shoftim v'shotrim homiletically we have to put בכל שעריך b'chol she'arecha. But what I ask you, why the word תתן titen and לך l'cha? This double language, תתן titen, לך l'cha. So the תולדות יעקב יוסף Toldos Yaakov Yosef, the great student of the בעל שם Baal Shem, רבי יעקב יוסף Reb Yaakov Yosef of Polonne says the following. Why תתן titen לך l'cha? You should have judges and you should have officers, תתן titen, place or put where? לך L'cha, for you. So צדיק tzaddik says, the Torah is teaching us, שלא יהא לדיין שתי אמות מידה של משפט צדק. בעוד שלעצמו נוטה אדם לכף חטאים מאבין כובד עגלותיו, ומהכריעו נותן דעתו כחוט השערה... הסערה shelo yihyeh l'dayan shtei amos midah shel mishpat tzedek. Be'od she'l'atzmo noteh adam l'chaf chata'im, ma'avin koved eglosav, u'machri'o noteh da'ato k'chut ha'se'ara... ha'sa'ara, excuse me. Many people have a double standard. When it comes to themselves, they judge favorably. When it comes to ourselves, we assume the best. When it comes to ourselves, we judge in a way where we understand that we couldn't help it, there's nothing we can do. We judge ourselves favorably while we judge others very strictly. Says the Torah, שופטים ושוטרים shoftim v'shotrim, תתן titen, that which you're going to place, the judgment that you're going to have on others, לך l'cha, is the same or should be equal to the judgment that you have on yourself. תתן Titen, the same judgment you're going to view the world, you're going to interpret the actions, the behavior, the thought, the intent, the motivation of the people around you, תתן titen, the very same judgment you're going to place on others with the assumption of what drives them is לך l'cha, is the same judgment we should have. So if you're willing to give yourself the benefit of the doubt, if you're willing to always excuse or rationalize why you did what you did, then you should do the same in your interactions with others. And if you're unwilling to do that with others, then hold yourself to the same standard, be unwilling to do that for yourself, for yourself as well. רב דרוק Rav Druk, in his wonderful ספר איש תמים sefer Ish Tamim, רב דרוק Rav Druk also wonders, יש לעיין במה שכתוב שופטים ושוטרים תתן לך בכל שעריך. לכאורה תיבת לך מיותרת yesh l'ayen b'mah she'kasuv shoftim v'shotrim titen l'cha b'chol she'arecha. lichora teivas l'cha meyuteres. This word לך l'cha. The פסוק pasuk could have easily just said, שופטים ושוטרים shoftim v'shotrim, judges and officers, תתן בכל שעריך titen b'chol she'arecha, place them at all your gates, place them at the entrance to all your cities, place it at the entrance to your soul. What does it add, the word לך l'cha? What is the word לך l'cha contributing to, contributing to this? תתן לך Titen l'cha. So he says, נראה הביאור שהבא התורה ללמדנו בזאת כי קודם שהשופט שופט את העם, עליו קודם כל להיות שופט לעצמו על אותו דבר nireh ha'bi'ur she'ba haTorah l'lamdeinu b'zos ki kodem she'hashofet shofet es ha'am, alav kodem kol l'hiyos shofet l'atzmo al oso davar. A very similar thought, a very similar idea, that before the judge judges others, they should judge themselves. חז\"ל Chazal tells us, the גמרא בבא מציעא קז Gemara Bava Metzia kuf zayin teaches, קשוט עצמך ואחר כך קשוט אחרים k'shot atzmecha v'achar kach k'shot acheirim. First judge, first evaluate yourself, and then evaluate others. זה מה שנאמר כאן קודם כל שופטים ושוטרים תתן לך שישפטו את עצמם. ורק אחר מכאן ישפטו את העם אחר שיהיו נקיים בעצמם יוכלו לשפוט את העם zeh mah she'ne'emar kan kodem kol shoftim v'shotrim titen l'cha she'yishp'tu es atzmam. v'rak achar mi'kan yishp'tu es ha'am achar she'yihyu n'kiyim b'atzmam yuchlu lishpot es ha'am. When you know that you're clean, when you know that you're pure, when you know that you're innocent, then you can judge others. And then it will be a משפט צדק mishpat tzedek. So שופטים ושוטרים תתן shoftim v'shotrim titen where? לך L'cha. And then ושפטו את העם משפט צדק v'shaftu es ha'am mishpat tzedek. First judge yourself, קשוט עצמך ואחר כך קשוט אחרים k'shot atzmecha v'achar kach k'shot acheirim. You know when you point the finger at others, you have three fingers pointing back at yourself. That which we see as a blemish in others, כל הפסל במומו פוסל kol ha'posel b'mumo posel. When we're willing to dismiss, when we're willing to judge, when we're willing to assume about others, we're really revealing a lot about ourselves. So this פסוק pasuk, while it's giving us of course a national mission or mandate about our attitude and approach towards others, it also very, very much is teaching us about our responsibility towards ourselves, that you should not be in a position that you are judging others before first, before first correcting. The רב שמשון רפאל הירש Rav Shamshon Refael Hirsch says that word קשוט k'shot, which means, חז\"ל Chazal here interpret it to mean קשוט עצמך ואחר כך קשוט אחרים k'shot atzmecha v'achar kach k'shot acheirim, means first judge, first fix, first correct or repair yourself and then others. So רב שמשון רפאל הירש Rav Shamshon Refael Hirsch points us to בריך שמיה Brich Shmei. In בריך שמיה Brich Shmei we say, אורייתא קשוט, נביא קשוט, קודשא בריך הוא קשוט Orayta k'shot, Nevi'ei k'shot, Kudsha Brich Hu k'shot. קשוט K'shot means truth, genuine, authentic, real. קשוט עצמך K'shot atzmecha, be truthful with yourself, be honest with yourself, and then אחר כך קשוט אחרים achar kach k'shot acheirim. We shouldn't tell ourselves lies. We shouldn't distort our view of ourselves. We shouldn't rationalize. The word rationalize is we tell ourselves rational lies. We should be honest with ourselves, קשוט k'shot, honest with ourselves, and then קשוט אחרים k'shot acheirim. So all that is included שופטים ושוטרים תתן לך בכל שעריך shoftim v'shotrim titen l'cha b'chol she'arecha, לך l'cha, first judge yourself, first look at yourself, and only then ושפטו את העם v'shaftu es ha'am can you look at those around you, and then it will be משפט צדק mishpat tzedek. Then it will be just and honest because you're not holding to a double or dual standard. We are first holding and evaluating ourselves. רב דרוק Rav Druk notes another anomaly in this very פסוק pasuk. שופטים ושוטרים תתן לך בכל שעריך. הפסוק מתחיל שופטים ושוטרים לשון יחיד Shoftim v'shotrim titen l'cha b'chol she'arecha. Ha'pasuk maschil shoftim v'shotrim lashon yachid. It begins with specifically a לשון יחיד lashon yachid. It begins in the singular. ומסיים ושפטו את העם. ושפטו זה לשון רבים U'mesayem v'shaftu es ha'am. V'shaftu zeh lashon rabbim. It's plural. So which is it? Is it the individual, the singular, לשון יחיד lashon yachid, שופטים תתן לך shoftim titen l'cha, or is it ושפטו v'shaftu in the לשון רבים lashon rabbim, in the plural? And he says the following. We already explained based on the חיד\"א Chida and the של\"ה Shlah says, we're talking about the individual, you have to place a guard and an officer at every entrance to your body, to your soul. You have to be judicious and vigilant in how we live and how we behave. אלא שלפי זה יש לעיין בהמשכו של הפסוק. מה פירוש ושפטו את העם משפט צדק Elah shel'fi zeh yesh l'ayen b'hemshecho shel ha'pasuk. Mah peirush v'shaftu es ha'am mishpat tzedek? And he therefore suggests the following. נראה לברר על פי סוד ישרים רבותינו. כשהאדם מתחזק בלימוד התורה ושמירת המצוות, אינו עניין שלו בלבד, אלא משפיע הוא בזה על כל העולם כולו Nireh l'varer al pi sod y'sharim raboseinu. K'sheha'adam mischazek b'limud haTorah u'shmiras ha'mitzvos, eino inyan shelo b'lvad, elah mashpia hu b'zeh al kol ha'olam kulo. You see, when we improve ourselves, when we elevate ourselves, when we are more careful ourselves, when we behave in a better way ourselves, we don't only improve ourselves, it trickles down, it overflows. It has an impact and lifts all those around us. כמו כן חלילה ההפך k'mo kein chalilah ha'hefech, the opposite is also true. כשיש חלילה רפיון מצד שמירת התורה והמצוות k'sheyesh chalilah rifyon mitzad shmiras haTorah v'ha'mitzvos, if a person slips or slides, if a person's more lackadaisical or casual in their attitude towards Torah and Mitzvos, if their fire is dimmed or extinguished, if the person is much more relaxed, then the people around them are going to become uninspired as well. We are a product of our environment. The רמב\"ם Rambam says you have to choose so carefully where you live because socially our friends and our neighborhood, our neighbors, and our environment, both nature and nurture have an enormous impact on us and we have that enormous impact on it. And that's what the פסוק pasuk is coming to tell us, he suggests. That why does it switch, why does it transition from the singular to the plural, that שופטים ושוטרים תתן לך shoftim v'shotrim titen l'cha individually, and then ושפטו את העם v'shaftu es ha'am in the plural collectively, to teach us that the decisions and the attitude that we have for ourselves doesn't only impact ourselves, but will impact those around us. It's true in a virus, it's true in wearing masks, it's true in distancing and behavior, and it's true metaphysically, it's true spiritually, it's true the spiritual viruses that can be contaminate and that can be transmitted as well. Our attitude, our approach, our vigilance is not just about us. It's not an individual sport. It's a team sport. It's a team world. And the attitude that we bring will have a much more global impact. And that's what the פרשה parsha is beginning by telling us, that the judges, the judgment that we have, and the judgment that we use, what's safe, what's correct, what's moral, what's ethical, what's appropriate. The שופטים ושוטרים shoftim v'shotrim, the judgment that we use and the vigilance, the officers that we place around our behavior and our attitude, it begins with לך l'cha, what we choose for ourselves, ends with ושפטו v'shaftu in the plural, will impact the greater number, will impact the greater amount, and therefore we have to be very careful in our choosing how we're going to behave and being very, very careful and clear in how we use our judgment. The פסוק pasuk then addressing now the judges, ולא תטה משפט ולא תכיר פנים v'lo sateh mishpat v'lo sakir panim. A judge has to not pervert judgment. You're not allowed to respect someone's presence. ולא תקח שוחד V'lo sikach shochad, don't accept bribes. Why? כי השוחד יעוור עיני חכמים ויסלף דברי צדיקים ki ha'shochad y'aver einei chachamim v'yisalef divrei tzaddikim. Bribery is pernicious. Bribery is odious. Bribery corrupts. Bribery compromises justice. ולא תקח שוחד Lo sikach shochad, don't accept שוחד shochad. And why should you not accept שוחד shochad? The פסוק pasuk itself tells us why. חזון איש Chazon Ish holds it's a חוק chok. חזון איש Chazon Ish writes in אמונה ובטחון Emunah u'Bitachon that שוחד shochad, that accepting bribery is not really a rational law, but it's a חוק chok. And how does he know it? Because he says the שוחט shochet, who has a lot of money invested in the שחיטה shechita, whether the animal's kosher or not kosher, the שוחט shochet is believed regarding his own שחיטה shechita. A person is believed regarding their own כשרות kashrus. A רב rav can פסקן pasken regarding his wife's own נידה שאלות niddah shailos. So you see that even though one is, so to say, has a bias, nevertheless, they're allowed to judge in those cases. שוחד shochad he concludes is a חוק chok. But most disagree. And they say it's not true. שוחד Shochad, bribery, is a is a very rational rule. And the פסוק pasuk itself here tells us the reason why. יעוור עיני חכמים Y'aver einei chachamim. It blinds, it clouds the eyesight, the judgment, the vision of whom? Of the חכמים chachamim. It's a very powerful פסוק pasuk. It means who is prone to bribery? Who is vulnerable or susceptible to having their opinion swayed by a bribe? Not just the wicked or the evil or the corrupt. It says יעוור עיני חכמים ויסלף דברי צדיקים y'aver einei chachamim v'yisalef divrei tzaddikim. It blinds the eyes of the wise and ויסלף v'yisalef, it makes crooked whom? The דברי צדיקים divrei tzaddikim. So you see that bribery is something that can affect, that can compromise not only those who are corrupt, but even those who are wise and those who are righteous. That's how powerful, that's how impactful, that's how penetrative it is. We gave three or four שיעורים shiurim about שוחד shochad and פרוטקציה protektzia earlier this year, you could listen on my website, ravfromgoldberg.org or on YU Torah, and we applied it to modern applications of questions. The bribery scandal that happened in the world earlier this year, you remember that? There was a... in our lives we're divided between pre-Corona and after Corona. So you may remember pre-Corona, there was a whole scandal of those college admission bribery scandals. But those scandals and that פרוטקציה protektzia happens all the time, not only in college, secular college campuses, it happens in ישיבות yeshivos and חדרים chadarim and כוללים kollelim, who do you know and how much did your grandfather donate, and what's your connection and how do you get in? And we gave a series of שיעורים shiurim approaching this question. But that's how שוחד shochad, it has that impact on the on חכמים chachamim and צדיקים tzaddikim. The פסוק pasuk earlier in שמות Shmos, on פרק כג perek kaf gimmel, שוחד לא תקח כי השוחד יעוור פקחים ויסלף דברי צדיקים shochad lo sikach ki ha'shochad y'aver pikchim v'yisalef divrei tzaddikim. There the פסוק pasuk doesn't say it clouds the judgment of the wise, it says פקחים pikchim, those who are clear-sighted. Those who are bright. It's not just that if you're stupid you accept a bribe. People who are brilliant accept a bribe. That's the power, that's the temptation of bribery. It appears no less than three times in the Torah. It appears once in תהלים Tehillim. תהלים טו Tehillim tes vov, one of my favorite פרקים prakim of all תהלים Tehillim, a very short פרק perek that talks about what is the description, what are the criteria of a righteous person. כספו לא נתן בנשך ושוחד על נקי לא לקח Kaspo lo nasan b'neshech v'shochad al naki lo lakach. A person who doesn't lend with interest and a person who never accepts bribery against the innocent. עושה אלה לא ימוט לעולם Oseh eileh lo yimot l'olam. A person who behaves in that way will never be shaken, will never be abandoned forever. That is the righteous lifestyle that a person should aspire to. דוד המלך Dovid HaMelech describes and in the behaviors or character traits of the truly righteous, דוד המלך Dovid HaMelech includes שוחד על נקי לא לקח shochad al naki lo lakach. That is our פרשה parsha, the prohibition of accepting שוחד shochad. The גמרא כתובות Gemara Kesubos teaches us about this פסוק pasuk, about this prohibition of שוחד shochad, that it doesn't just mean if you change your mind. It's not just bribery is prohibited if it actually sways your opinion. Even if you stay with your opinion, you're forbidden to accept the bribe. So you're going to accept that student anyway. You're going to judge, you're going to rule in the favor of that particular litigant anyway. Nevertheless, it's prohibited to take a bribe. Why should that be? Why should that be? So the שפת אמת Sfas Emes writes, לא תקח שוחד lo sikach shochad on our פרשה parsha, הטעם כי המשפט לאלוקים הוא ha'ta'am ki ha'mishpat l'Elokim hu. Because justice and truth really belong to God. והקדוש ברוך הוא נתן לנו כח המשפט שבתורה v'haKadosh Baruch Hu nasan lanu koach ha'mishpat she'ba'Torah. When we are analyzing, when we are adjudicating, when we are trying to conclude what is true, what is just, what is right, what is righteous, it shouldn't come from our בויך boych, it shouldn't come from our intuition or our instinct. It has to come from the pursuit of trying to reveal the will of השם Hashem, the רצון השם ratzon Hashem. Because that's the only true truth. That is the only authentic. And that's what the שפת אמת Sfas Emes explains, the גמרא Gemara uses the language, a לשון lashon, הדן דין אמת לאמיתו ha'dan din emes l'amito. A דיין dayan, a justice, a judge who has done דין אמת לאמיתו din emes l'amito, who is trying to discover or pursue or rule the truth in the truth. It's a very clumsy or awkward expression. What does it mean to be דן דין אמת לאמיתו dan din emes l'amito? How do you rule the truth in the truth? And that's what the שפת אמת Sfas Emes suggests. He says, you know, you could come to the truth by accident. A broken clock is right twice a day. You could come upon the truth, you could stumble upon it by accident. You could also come to it for the wrong reasons and the wrong conclusions. You could come to the conclusion that is true, not out of אמת emes but out of שקר sheker. You were bribed. You happened to judge in favor of what's right, but you were bribed to do it. That's what the Torah is telling us, שוחד shochad, don't accept bribery. Even if it doesn't sway your opinion, even if you rule what's correct, why? Because our mission is to be דן דין אמת לאמיתו dan din emes l'amito. Not only to come to the right conclusion, but to come to it for the right reason. The right conclusion for the right reason. כדי להתקשר באמת האמיתי K'dei l'hiskasher b'emes ha'amiti because that's how we draw close, that's how we connect, that's how we stick to הקדוש ברוך הוא haKadosh Baruch Hu. That's how we reveal his goal, his vision for this world. רק על ידי בקשת האמת בכח תורת אמת, יכולים להתדבק בשורש האמת Rak al y'dei bakashas ha'emes b'koach Toras emes, yecholim l'hidavek b'shoresh ha'emes. Only when you seek the truth with the power of the Torah that's true, can you really cling to the source of truth? אבל כשהוא דן על ידי שוחד Aval k'shehu dan al y'dei shochad, but when a person is willing to hear bribery, show favor, be swayed, אפילו הוא צדק afilu hu tzadak, even if you're correct, אינו יכול להתקשר בשורש האמת ואינו לאמיתו eino yachol l'hiskasher b'shoresh ha'emes v'eino l'amito. Then it's not truth. It's not דן דין אמת לאמיתו dan din emes l'amito. שפת אמת Sfas Emes on our פרשה parsha, פרשת שופטים Parshas Shoftim. Not only are you prohibited from offering a bribe, the רמב\"ם Rambam in הלכות סנהדרין Hilchos Sanhedrin in פרק כג perek kaf gimmel says that the judge is forbidden from taking the bribe. Why? Because of לפני עור לא תתן מכשול lifnei iver lo siten michshol, a prohibition of לפני עור lifnei iver. You're not allowed to accept a, you're not allowed to accept a bribe. Okay. The Torah then continues, פסוק כ pasuk kaf. צדק צדק תרדוף למען תחיה וירשתה את הארץ אשר השם אלוקיך נותן לך Tzedek tzedek tirdof l'ma'an tichyeh v'yarashta es ha'aretz asher Hashem Elokecha nosein lach. You have to pursue צדק tzedek. Now did the Torah all of a sudden develop a stutter? Why is the Torah being redundant? צדק tzedek, צדק תרדוף tzedek tirdof. Why is added by the dual double language of צדק tzedek, צדק tzedek? Righteousness, righteousness shall you pursue. צדק Tzedek, צדק תרדוף tzedek tirdof. My brother-in-law's father is a federal judge in New York, and in his chamber he has these words, צדק צדק תרדוף tzedek tzedek tirdof written. This is what he has, the Torah he is prescribing his attitude towards justice. Why the double language? צדק צדק תרדוף Tzedek tzedek tirdof? Why not just צדק tzedek? So רב שמחה בונים Reb Simcha Bunim of פשיסחא Pshischa says, צדק צדק תרדוף, שגם את הצדק תרדוף יש לעשות באופן של צדק tzedek tzedek tirdof, she'gam es ha'tzedek tirdof yesh la'asos b'ofen shel tzedek. בדרכים ראויות ונויות שכן כדי להשיג מטרה קדושה צריך להשתמש באמצעים קדושים B'drachim re'uyos u'naos she'kein k'dei l'hasig matara k'dosha tzarich l'hishtamesh b'emtzaim k'doshim. ולא כאותם הרודפים צדק ובדרכים רמוסים את הכל V'lo k'osam ha'rodfim tzedek u'v'drachim remusim es ha'kol. רב שמחה בונים Reb Simcha Bunim has a penetrating insight, and such an important insight in our time and for all times. He says the dual language צדק צדק תרדוף tzedek tzedek tirdof means צדק בצדק תרדוף tzedek b'tzedek tirdof. Pursue righteousness with righteousness. You know, you see sometimes people have a righteous ends and they pursue it with a very unrighteous means. So they have a very righteous noble ends. They're trying to fight for justice, fight for the vulnerable, fight for the downtrodden, fight for the targeted, fight for the discriminated against. But they do so in such an unjust way. Look at some of the movement we're seeing in our time, standing up to oppose racism. That's wonderful. All good people should participate in a movement that opposes racism. But rioting, looting, discriminating against others, that's not צדק בצדק תרדוף tzedek b'tzedek tirdof. That's an extreme example. There are much less extreme examples in in shul politics, in life, in the workplace. צדק Tzedek. People have a noble and just cause that they're fighting for, but they fight for it in very ignoble and unrighteous ways. And that's what the פסוק pasuk is telling us, says רב שמחה בונים Reb Simcha Bunim. צדק בצדק תרדוף Tzedek b'tzedek tirdof, pursue justice with justice. But the גמרא סנהדרין דף לב Gemara Sanhedrin daf lamed beis has a different interpretation of צדק צדק tzedek tzedek. The גמרא Gemara there says, צדק צדק תרדוף, אחד לדין ואחד לפשרה tzedek tzedek tirdof, echad l'din v'echad l'pshara. The reason it's repeated twice is to tell us that there is not only one kind of justice, there are two kinds of justices. That doesn't sound very just. That sounds corrupt. What do you mean there are two kinds of justices? How could that be? So the גמרא Gemara says, there's a צדק tzedek of דין din and there's a צדק tzedek of פשרה pshara. There's a צדק tzedek of the absolute rule. What is the absolute correct thing to do? Absolute justice, objective justice. But there's also a צדק tzedek, there's a righteousness to פשרה pshara. פשרה Pshara means compromise. The spirit of compromise. Compromise by definition is not staying true to what is just. When you reach a compromise, you're not following the strict letter of the law. You're actually compromising. Whenever I mediate, whether it's two partners in a fight, or marriage, or whatever scenario, I always introduce the mediation by saying that we're looking to create a compromise, and the definition of a compromise is something neither party is happy about, but both parties can live with. The spirit of a compromise is something you're not necessarily happy about, but you could live with. If you were happy with it, then you would have gotten your way. Maybe that's just, but it's not a compromise. A compromise is something that neither party is necessarily happy about, but both can live with. That's not unjust. A compromise is also a form of something which is which is correct, which is correct. The גמרא Gemara wonders, כיצד keitzad? And the גמרא Gemara gives an example. שתי ספינות עוברות בנהר ופגעו זו בזו Shtei sfinos ovros b'nahar u'fag'u zo b'zo. Two boats are passing in the river and they encounter one another. Who gets to go first? What are the ethics of lines? That's what we did in this series, three or four or five parts, I forgot how many, about the laws of bribery, of פרוטקציה protektzia, of lines, what are the ethics of lines. We went through a number of שאלות shailos. But what are the ethics, what are the הלכות halachos that guide the formation of a line? Who gets to go first? Can anyone cut the line? Can the vulnerable, the weak, the disabled, the poor? Can a תלמיד חכם talmid chacham cut the line? Is anyone entitled to use פרוטקציה protektzia to get in earlier, to cut the line? We saw that in questions of supermarkets, we saw that in the case of organ donor or organ recipient lines. We saw that from the small to the to the large. Can you use פרוטקציה protektzia to cut a line? What are the ethics and what are the הלכות halachos of it? I encourage you if you're interested to listen, we addressed some fascinating, fascinating שאלות shailos. The חשוקי חמד Chashukei Chemed of רב זילברשטיין Rav Zilberstein had a fascinating question. He was asked, apparently, there was an איינפאל einfal, somebody had a great idea. They walk into a supermarket, and there's always long lines to check out. So they had a great idea. They put the cart on line at the checkout, empty, and then they walk around and start shopping. And as they collect their goods, they put it in the cart that's already moving on the line. And by the time they're done getting their things and have filled their cart, their cart is at the front of the line. Is that correct? Is it correct? Morally, ethically, הלכתית halachically, is it correct? Is it permissible? That and other fascinating questions like it. The Torah then goes on and tells us, לא תטע לך אשרה כל עץ אצל מזבח השם אלוקיך אשר תעשה לך lo sita l'cha asheira kol eitz eitzel mizbach Hashem Elokecha asher ta'aseh lach. You're not allowed to plant an idolatrous tree, an אשרה asheira, a tree that's bowed down to, a form of idolatry. You can't plant it where? Near the מזבח mizbeach. What's the connection between an idolatrous tree and judges and justice? We spoke about that in previous פרשה parsha classes. It is a fascinating question. ולא תקים לך מצבה אשר שנא השם אלוקיך. לא תזבח להשם אלוקיך שור ושה אשר Lo sakim l'cha matzeivah asher sanei Hashem Elokecha. Lo sizbach l'Hashem Elokecha shor v'seh asher... you're not allowed to offer an animal with a מום mum. תועבת השם אלוקיך הוא To'avas Hashem Elokecha hu. It's a form of a of a תועבה to'eivah. It is a form of an abomination to השם Hashem. We have the death penalty for one who worships idols, and so on. Okay, פרק יז פסוק ח perek yud zayin pasuk ches, page 1,026 in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash. כי יפלא ממך דבר למשפט בין דם לדם בין דין לדין ובין נגע לנגע דברי ריבות בשעריך Ki yipalei mimcha davar l'mishpat bein dam l'dam, bein din l'din, u'vein nega l'nega, divrei rivos b'she'arecha. וקמת ועלית אל המקום אשר יבחר השם אלוקיך בו V'kamta v'alisa el ha'makom asher yivchar Hashem Elokecha bo. If a matter of judgment is hidden from you, what happens? You live where you live and you have שאלות shailos, you have questions. You're not sure exactly how to observe properly the הלכה halacha. What do you do? There are debates. There are more than one opinion. כי יפלא ממך Ki yipalei mimcha, word פלא pele, יפלא yipalei means it's a פלא pela. It's a פלא pela. רש\"י Rashi says כי יפלא ki yipalei, כל אפלאה לשון הבדלה ופרישה. שהדבר נבדל ומכוסה ממך kol afla'ah lashon havdalah u'frishah, she'hadavar nivdal u'mechuseh mimcha. A פלא pela, a wonder, means that is something which is obscured from you, something which is covered from you, you don't have access to it. You are you are distanced from it. It's נבדל ומכוסה nivdal u'mechusa. And you don't know what the הלכה halacha is. What does this mean? בין דם לדם Bein dam l'dam is בין דם טמא לדם טהור bein dam tamei l'dam tahor. Questions in נידה niddah. בין דין לדין Bein din l'din is בין דין זכאי לדין חייב bein din zakai l'din chayav, our questions in in civil law. You don't know who is right and who's wrong, who is who's obligated, who's exempt. בין נגע לנגע Bein nega l'nega, when it comes to the laws of צרעת tzara'as. דברי ריבות Divrei rivos, when it comes to fights. What do you do? וקמת ועלית אל המקום V'kamta v'alisa el ha'makom, you get up and you go to the place, i.e., אשר יבחר השם אלוקיך בו asher yivchar Hashem Elokecha bo, you go to the place that I've chosen. Again, a throwback to last week's פרשה parsha when we talked about, we talked about last week's פרשה parsha, why doesn't Hashem give us the coordinates? He never tells us where it is. Where is this בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash? Where is this mysterious מקום אשר יבחר השם אלוקיך בו makom asher yivchar Hashem Elokecha bo? We talked about last week, the רמב\"ן Ramban, רב סולובייצ'יק Rav Soloveitchik, that we're supposed to magnetically be drawn to it, intuit it. We're supposed to want to on our own search and discover holiness and find it. So when you have these questions, you're supposed to go specifically to this place, and ובאת אל הכהנים u'vasa el ha'kohanim, you'll come to the כהנים kohanim, הלווים ha'levi'im, השופט אשר יהיה בימים ההם, ודרשת והגידו לך ha'shofet asher yihyeh ba'yamim ha'hem, v'darashta v'higidu l'cha, you'll ask them and they will tell you, על פי התורה אשר יורוך al pi haTorah asher yorucha. This is the source of rabbinic law, rabbinic authority. The Torah here is telling us exactly, Hashem says, I gave you a Torah, I gave you a written Torah, but you also have rabbis, and they are the ambassadors, they are transmitting the oral Torah. And when a question rises, לא תסור מן הדבר אשר יגידו לך ימין ושמאל lo sasur min ha'davar asher yagidu l'cha yamin u'smol. Do not stray from what they tell you right or left. לא תסור Lo sasur is the power of rabbinic law. So why do I have to keep חנוכה Chanukah and פורים Purim? And why is it that I can't go swimming on שבת Shabbos, or I have to observe other forms of rabbinic laws in my life? Why do I have to keep all these rabbinic laws? So the Torah says לא תסור lo sasur. Observing rabbinic law is a biblical law. The רמב\"ם Rambam and the רמב\"ן Ramban have a famous discussion if that's the case, why do we say ספק דאורייתא לחומרא, ספק דרבנן לקולא safek d'oraysa l'chumra, safek d'rabbanan l'kula, that a doubt in a biblical law we're strict, a doubt in a rabbinic law we're lenient. Every rabbinic law really is a biblical law. So really every doubt in a rabbinic law is a doubt of a biblical law. It's a great discussion between the רמב\"ם Rambam and the רמב\"ן Ramban, not for now. But לא תסור lo sasur, observing rabbinic law has an element of observing a biblical law because the Torah empowers and charges the rabbis to be the ones who interpret and to be the ones who who institute laws, laws that are safeguards for us, and laws that are new laws for us to observe. The של\"ה הקדוש Shlah HaKadosh, the שני לוחות הברית, רב ישעיה הלוי הורביץ Shnei Luchos HaBris, Rav Yeshaya HaLevi Horowitz, has another beautiful understanding and interpretation homiletically of what this פסוק pasuk means. And he says the following. Listen carefully. We're still in חודש אב Chodesh Av. אלול Elul has not yet begun. We're still in the month in which we mourned, in which we mourn the destruction, the devastation, the distance from the שכינה Shechinah and the causes of it. And he says the following. The של\"ה הקדוש Shlah HaKadosh says this פסוק pasuk is describing, מדבר בענין החורבן medaber b'inyan ha'churban. כי יפלא ממך Ki yipalei mimcha, if you wonder, you're sick and tired. יתפלא אדם על משפטו של הקדוש ברוך הוא בין דם לדם Yispalei adam al mishpato shel haKadosh Baruch Hu bein dam l'dam. And you want to understand, הקדוש ברוך הוא haKadosh Baruch Hu, I don't understand, בין דם לדם bein dam l'dam. דם חיה ועוף התורה מצווה לכסותו Dam chaya v'of haTorah mitzaveh l'chasoso. When it comes to the blood of an animal, the Torah says after you שחט shecht the animal, you have to cover the blood. ודם ישראל נשפך כמים והוא בלא כיפורה V'dam Yisroel nishpach k'mayim v'hu b'lo chipura. And yet Jewish blood flows freely and so many of our ancestors weren't even given the privilege of a proper burial. בין דין לדין Bein din l'din, when it comes to animals the Torah says אותו ואת בנו לא תשחטו ביום אחד oso v'es b'no lo sishchatu b'yom echad. You're not allowed to schecht an animal and its child on the same day. It's cruel. ואילו עם ישראל, בניו של הקדוש ברוך הוא, נשחטים בנים על אבות וילדים רכים בחיי אמותם V'ilu am Yisrael, banav shel haKadosh Baruch Hu, nishchatim banim al avos v'yeladim rakim b'cheik eimosam. And here we have mothers and their children, families who were slaughtered simultaneously. בין נגע לנגע Bein nega l'nega, I don't understand, the גוים goyim, התורה אומרת לפנות כל הכלים מן הבית כדי שישורש ונוס נצוות. ואילו בבית המקדש, מקום השראת השכינה, בעוונותינו נשרף בנחרבן כל הכלים כולו כולו goyim, haTorah omeres l'fanos kol ha'keilim min ha'bayis k'dei she'yishoresh v'nos nitzvas. V'ilu b'Beis HaMikdash, makom hashras ha'Shechinah, ba'avoneinu nisraf b'nichravan kol ha'keilim kulo, kulo. When it comes to a house that is afflicted with צרעת tzara'as, we take out all of its contents in order to save and preserve them. And yet your holy בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash, it was burned to the ground with everything in it. כי יפלא ממך דבר Ki yipalei mimcha davar, says the של\"ה הקדוש Shlah HaKadosh, the פסוק pasuk means, כי יפלא ki yipalei, you've reached the point of wonder, you don't accept. How could it be השם Hashem? Why do you have such a dual standard? בין דם לדם Bein dam l'dam, the way you ask us to treat the blood of animals between the way our blood is treated. בין דין לדין Bein din l'din, the laws that pertain to not showing cruelty to the animal, and look at how much cruelty has been shown to the Jew. בין נגע לנגע Bein nega l'nega, between our possessions. All this, איך לא חס הקדוש ברוך הוא על כבודם של ישראל ועל כבוד שמו הגדול המחולל בגויים eich lo chas haKadosh Baruch Hu al k'vodam shel Yisrael v'al k'vod shmo ha'gadol ha'mechulal ba'goyim? How could God not be more careful, more protective of his honor and our honor? בין דם לדם בין דין לדין בין נגע לנגע Bein dam l'dam, bein din l'din, bein nega l'nega. And the answer is, says the של\"ה הקדוש Shlah HaKadosh, keep reading in the פסוק pasuk. You know what the answer is if you wonder? You know what the answer is if you don't understand? דברי ריבות בשעריך Divrei rivos b'she'arecha. It's because of the דברי ריבות divrei rivos, because of the מחלוקת machlokes, because of the infighting, because of the baseless hatred, the שנאת חינם sinas chinam, because of the way you treat one another. If you want to know why there is this duplicitness, why there is this dual standard, why the world treats us differently than the way we're supposed to behave, בין דין לדין, דם לדם, נגע לנגע bein din l'din, dam l'dam, nega l'nega, דברי ריבות בשעריך divrei rivos b'she'arecha. The answer is because of our infighting, because of the way we treat one another, because of our attitude, because of our baseless hatred. When we don't treat one another correctly, then the world has no problem mistreating us as well, says the של\"ה הקדוש Shlah HaKadosh, maybe homiletically, that's what this פסוק pasuk is alluding to, that's what this פסוק pasuk is hinting at. Okay, so after we've seen the Torah institution and the authority of rabbinic law, that the rabbis are empowered to be the ambassadors, the interpreters, and also the authors of law, we move over to another law, namely the law of the king. כי תבוא אל הארץ אשר השם אלוקיך נותן לך וירשת וישבת בה, ואמרת אשימה עלי מלך ככל הגוים אשר סביבותי Ki savo el ha'aretz asher Hashem Elokecha nosein l'cha v'rishta v'yashavta bah, v'amarta asima alai melech k'chol ha'goyim asher s'vivosai. When you enter the land, there are three laws that Rambam writes when you enter the land of Israel, there are three laws that dictate our behavior. We have to conquer the land, eliminate the עמלק Amalek and the Canaanite nations. We have to establish a king, and then we build the בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash. Does the modern government of Israel have the status of a king? Interesting question in הלכה halacha. The laws that apply to a king, the king is the sovereign of Israel. Does the modern elected government of Israel have the הלכתית halachic status of a king with implications? Interesting discussion in הלכה halacha. What are they empowered and titled to do? So when we enter the land, we have to follow this threefold formula and do these three things. And the Torah here describes it as ואמרת v'amarta, you will say, אשימה עלי מלך asima alai melech. You will want that king. מקרב אחיך תשים עליך מלך Mi'kerev achecha tasim alecha melech. The king has to arise from among you. You can't have a king, a king cannot be from a convert or from those who did not originate. לא תוכל לתת עליך איש נכרי אשר לא אחיך הוא Lo suchal lases alecha ish nachri asher lo achicha hu. The ספרי Sifri says here מלך ולא מלכה melech v'lo malka. It's a king, not a queen. From which the רמב\"ם Rambam deduces, that positions of authority are prescribed specifically for men not for women. Not because women are not trustworthy, not because women are not capable or competent, but these positions of authority also demand a certain level of cruelty. One has to be able to go to war and battle. One has to be able to switch off their kindness and their predisposition towards empathy to be able to enact and exact what a king demands. And the Torah doesn't want women who have a more maternal instinct to suppress that or quiet that in order for what it takes. How does that apply? Rabbi Soloveitchik applied מלך ולא מלכה melech v'lo malka this ספרי הלכה למעשה Sifri halacha l'maaseh. Rabbi Soloveitchik felt that a woman should not be a president of a shul. Others disagree, and say מלך ולא מלכה melech v'lo malka is a מדרש medrash but it doesn't apply in הלכה halacha and are more liberal. It's ironic that Rabbi Soloveitchik who's thought of as the the פוסק posek and the גדול gadol of the more modern so-to-say community, took that hardline position on female presidents of shuls. Others take more more lenient positions. But there is a whole discussion of מלך ולא מלכה melech v'lo malka, positions of what's called שררה serara. The Rambam calls שררה serara, authority. Again, not because there's incompetence or lack of trust, but because what are we trying to cultivate, which behaviors or what what instinctive gender attitudes do we want to preserve as opposed to want to want to suppress. The בלזער רבי Belzer Rebbe has a beautiful insight. Because the Torah tells us about this king, there are several laws that govern the king. Number one, לא ירבה לו סוסים lo yarbeh lo susim he can't have too many horses. לא ישיב את העם מצרימה למען הרבות סוס אשר אמר השם לכם לא תוסיפון לשוב בדרך הזה עוד V'lo yashiv es ha'am mitzrayma l'maan harbos sus asher amar Hashem lachem lo sosifun lashuv baderech hazeh od. Because the king is going to want to increase his stables, want to increase his collection of horses, will be drawn back to Egypt, which is where horse breeding took place. But we're not allowed to go back to Egypt. We're not supposed to go back there geographically, physically, and we're not supposed to go back there in our mentality with superstition and so on. We graduated, we move on, we freed ourselves. ולא ירבה לו נשים ולא יסור לבבו V'lo yarbeh lo nashim v'lo yasur levavo. The king can't have too many wives. וכסף וזהב לא ירבה לו מאד V'kesef v'zahav lo yarbeh lo me'od and should not pursue too many riches. כְּשִׁבְתּוֹ עַל כִּסֵּא מַמְלַכְתּוֹ k'shivto al kisei mamlachto when the king is on his throne, וכתב לו את משנה התורה הזאת על ספר מלפני הכהנים v'kasav lo es mishneh haTorah ha'zos al sefer milifnei ha'kohanim. The הלכה halacha is that the king has to write a ספר תורה sefer Torah. The king has to have his own personal ספר תורה sefer Torah. It is one of the הלכות halachos. He has to write. וכתב לו את משנה התורה הזאת על ספר מלפני הכהנים הלוים Kasav lo es mishneh Torah ha'zos al sefer milifnei ha'kohanim ha'leviim. והיתה עמו וקרא בו כל ימי חייו V'hayesa imo v'kara vo kol yemei chayav and the king will have this Torah with him and he'll read from it all his days למען ילמד ליראה את השם אלוקיו l'maan yilmad l'yirah es Hashem Elokav so that he will learn to have awe of Hashem and to observe all of Hashem's Torah and his laws. לבלתי רום לבבו מאחיו L'vilti rum levavo mei'echav so that he does not become too haughty or arrogant over his brothers. You know, if you're in a position of being a king, you have a palace and a throne, you can off with someone's head, you can call for a capital punishment, your ego can get somewhat stoked, you can get inflated, you can get arrogant. לבלתי רום לבבו מאחיו L'vilti rum levavo mei'echav. What is the antidote? What does the Torah prescribe to be able to offset the inclination towards arrogance that a king would follow? It is to have a ספר תורה sefer Torah. To have a ספר תורה sefer Torah. Learning Torah, living Torah, carrying a Torah, a ספר תורה sefer Torah is what will fight and offset that that inclination. The בלזער רבי Belzer Rebbe, the שר שלום Sar Shalom of Belz, says מקרב אחיך mikerev achecha. How is it, how is it? He interprets this פסוק pasuk, על ידי התקרבות לאחיך al yedei hiskarvus l'achecha, by drawing close to your brothers, your sisters, by being someone of the people, אהבת ישראל ahavas Yisroel, אחווה ורעות בין אדם לחברו achva v'reius bein adam l'chaveiro. By being a person who loves other Jews, who's kind and compassionate and good and accepting, יגרום הדבר שתשים עליך מלך yigrom hadavar shetasim alecha melech תזכה לקבל על עצמך עול מלכות של עולם tizkeh l'kabel al atzmecha ol malchus shel olam מלך מלכי המלכים הקדוש ברוך הוא melech malchei hamlachim haKadosh Baruch Hu. So how is it that תשים עליך מלך tasim alecha melech? By being מקרב אחיך mikerev achecha. By being מקרב אחיך mikerev achecha. That's how you שום תשים עליך מלך som tasim alecha melech, מקרב אחיך mikerev achecha. You can place Hashem as your מלך melech, how? מקרב אחיך Mikerev achecha, by getting along with Hashem's other children. You can't claim to love God and mistreat his other children. They go together. They go together. רש\"י Rashi says what's the purpose of the Torah? Why is he carrying the Torah? So Rashi says, not one Torah, but two Toros, שתי ספרי תורות shtei sifrei Toros. אחת שמונחת בבית גנזיו ואחת שנכנסת ויוצאת עמו achas she'munachas b'veis ginzav v'achas she'nichneses v'yotzes imo. One Torah stays home with him and one Torah comes with him at all times. It is the king's spiritual compass. It reminds the king of his bearings, his context, to whom he reports, his sacred mission. The king carries two Toros, one that is at home and a second Torah that he carries with him off on the road. We're on פרק י\"ז Perek Yud Zayin, פסוק י\"ח pasuk yud ches. The רמב\"ן Ramban here, those of us who are following inside have them Mikraos Gedolos. The רמב\"ן Ramban here describes, why does he have this Torah? והיתה עמו התורה הנזכרת קודם בספר הנזכר אבל דרך האמת והיתה עמו התורה עצמה תהיה עמו כדרך השם וישב שלמה על כסא השם למלך V'hayesa imo haTorah ha'nizkeres kodem b'sefer ha'nizkar aval derech ha'emes v'hayesa imo haTorah atzma tihiye imo k'derech Hashem v'yaishev Shlomo al kisei Hashem l'melech. The Ramban says the king has to internalize these lessons of Torah to the extent that they remain with him all the days of his life. Learn the Torah. The Torah is the guide, the Torah is the moral compass, the Torah is that anchor. Because the king as they engage in diplomacy or warfare, the king as they encounter the opulence of royalty, the king can easily sway or be swayed and therefore the Torah is their compass, the Torah is the anchor, and that's why he has to have a Torah. The חתם סופר Chasam Sofer writes, חתם סופר על התורה Chasam Sofer al HaTorah, פרשת שופטים Parshas Shoftim writes, the Torah has to be in the possession of the kings all the time because the king has to make difficult decisions. A king has to decide with whom to engage in diplomacy, with whom to make peace, what to give up for that peace, what level of taxes to levy on the land, how to react to a pandemic. A king has to make nearly impossible decisions all the time. And so the king carries that Torah to remember that the king should not make those decisions arbitrarily or randomly or his own intuition. It is the authority of the Torah that should determine the king's conclusions, that we have a guide. The Torah is supposed to tell us how to behave and how to think. The Torah should guide exactly the conclusions that we come to. The Torah, now, he didn't just have one Torah. He had two Torahs. The Gemara in סנהדרין דף כ\"א ע\"ב Sanhedrin daf kaf alef amud beis tells us that there were two Torahs. Even though the pasuk just says והיתה עמו וקרא בו כל ימי חייו v'hayesa imo v'kara vo kol yemei chayav that there's one Torah, משנה תורה mishneh Torah that's written for him. The Gemara in Sanhedrin learns there are two Torahs, one back in the palace and one he carries with him all the time and wherever he goes. The רמב\"ם Rambam writes that there is a different law with these two Torahs. One of the Torahs can be inherited. One of the Torahs he can receive in ירושה yerusha. Let's say the monarchy is being passed on in succession within the family. So one Torah he can inherit. The second Torah he has to specifically write or commission originally on his behalf. What does that mean these two Torahs? One can be an inheritance and one he has to write in his behalf? So my son-in-law recently at his aufruf said a beautiful insight from the מדרש תלפיות Medrash Talpiyos who said the following. He says that the idea is that there's one attitude we have towards Torah. There's one lifestyle of Torah that we have that we got as an inheritance. There's a part of our Torah way of living, a part of our Torah life, which we got from those who came before. Our מנהגים minhagim, our attitudes, our appreciation, our love, our passion from our parents and from our grandparents, from our ancestors, from our community. But the other form of Torah is the Torah that we have to write ourselves. We can't just rely on, we can't lean on, we shouldn't be satisfied or complacent with the Torah that we received. We have to write our own Torah. We have to author our own destiny. We have to create our own our own path towards a relationship with Hashem. It has to be both of these, the two Torahs, the one that we receive in inheritance, בירשה b'yerusha, and the other Torah that we the other Torah that we write. Okay. The אור החיים Or Hachaim also has an insight into this obligation of writing a Torah. The אור החיים Or Hachaim says the following. The אור החיים Or Hachaim, you know I was going to quote one. וכתב לו את משנה התורה הזאת פירש רש\"י שתי ספרי תורות אחת שמונחת בבית גנזיו ואחת שנכנסת ויוצאת עמו רמז לכל איש ישראל V'kasav lo es mishneh haTorah ha'zos peirush Rashi shtei sifrei toros achas she'munachas b'veis ginzav v'achas she'nichneses v'yotzes imo. Remez l'chol ish Yisroel. This is an allusion and a hint to all of us. You're going to say, but I'm not a king. So why does this law apply to me? כל ישראל בני מלכים הם Kol Yisroel bnei melachim heim. We saw in last week's parsha בנים אתם להשם אלוקיכם banim atem l'Hashem Elokeichem. We are children of Hashem. And as children of Hashem, if you are a child of a king, then you are a prince or a princess, then you are royalty. So therefore these laws apply to all of us. שיהיה נוהג על פי תורה הן בביתו בבית גנזיו והן גם בחדרי חדרים והן כשיצא החוצה למשא ומתן תהא תורה נכנסת ויוצאת עמו שיהיה משאו ומתנו באמונה She'yihyeh nohag al pi Torah hein b'veiso b'veis ginzav, hein gam b'chadrei chadarim v'hein k'sheyotzei hachutza l'masa u'matan, tehe Torah nichneses v'yotzes imo she'yihyeh masao u'matno be'emunah. Says the ויז'ניצער רבי Vizhnitzer Rebbe, says the הייליגע אור החיים heilige Or Hachaim. What the Torah is telling us is that we as מלכים melachim, we as kings, we as royalty, also have to have two Torahs. The Torah that is at home and the Torah that's on the way. That means to say that we shouldn't think that the moment I leave my house and I go to work, I go to the gym, I go to the supermarket, I go on vacation, I go on a trip, I don't have the Torah anymore. I have a more lenient Torah. I have a more lax Torah. I have a more permissive Torah. No. It's the same Torah. There's the Torah of my home that guides my behavior, my attitude, my relationships, my conversations in my home. And there's the Torah I have to take with me on the way. There's the Torah that tells me be honest and truthful, have integrity at work, be kind and courteous, be compassionate, empathetic. There's the Torah of home and the Torah at work. It's the same sefer Torah. It's the same sefer Torah. There's no difference in the Torah. The same rules that guide and regulate who I am and how I behave, it's the same Torah. But there's the one at home and the message that it has to also come with me on the way. It has to guide and inspire my path even as I even as I go. We continue after the laws of the king, the priestly gifts, that we support the כהנים ולוים Kohanim u'Leviim, they serve the people, they are the community כולל kollel, they are the רבנים rabbanim, they are the כלי קודש klei kodesh, and therefore they didn't get their own land. They are supported by the people who are grateful for the model they set and the teaching that they that they offer. So we have the priestly gifts that are given to the כהנים Kohanim and the לוים Leviim. Moving right along, prophecy, Hashem sends for his prophets and here in this context the Torah tells us פרק י\"ח Perek Yud Ches, פסוק י\"ג pasuk yud gimmel. פרק י\"ח פסוק י\"ג Perek yud ches pasuk yud gimmel. תמים תהיה עם השם אלוקיך Tamim tihiye im Hashem Elokecha. Oh wow, תמים תהיה עם השם אלוקיך tamim tihiye im Hashem Elokecha. Rashi says תתהלך עמו בתמימות ותצפה לו ולא תחקור אחר העתידות אלא כל מה שיבוא עליך קבל בתמימות ואז תהיה עמו ולחלקו hishalech imo b'tmimus u'tetzapah lo v'lo sachkor achar ha'asidos, ela kol mah she'yavo alecha kabel b'tmimus v'az tihiye imo u'l'chelko. Oh wow, what a mission, what a motto, what a bumper sticker. תמים תהיה עם השם אלוקיך Tamim tihiye im Hashem Elokecha. This is it. Hey, look friends, this is exactly what the Torah is telling us it's all about. תמים תהיה עם השם אלוקיך Tamim tihiye im Hashem Elokecha. A person needs to be תמים tamim. תמים Tamim means don't look at horoscopes and don't look at other don't worship other sources and don't be impressed by power or celebrity or fame. תמים תהיה Tamim tihiye, be תמים tamim. Have an exclusive relationship, a monogamous relationship, a reliant and dependent relationship with whom? עם השם אלוקיך Im Hashem Elokecha. Be תמים tamim only עם השם אלוקיך im Hashem Elokecha. That's how we are to live our lives. תמים עם השם אלוקיך Tamim im Hashem Elokecha. Be תמים tamim with him. Be תמים tamim with him. The צדיק רבי פנחס מקוריץ Tzaddik Reb Pinchas of Koritz says the following: עם השם אלוקיך im Hashem Elokecha. תמים תהיה עם השם אלוקיך Tamim tihiye im Hashem Elokecha we have עם השם אלוקיך im Hashem Elokecha. This notion that we have to be תמים tamim, you should not pursue horoscopes and don't look at other things that predict your future and don't believe in superstition, silly superstition, only believe in השם אלוקיך Hashem Elokecha. By the way, there's a מחלוקת machlokes רמב\"ן Ramban and רמב\"ם Rambam whether those other silly superstitions are silly at all. Maybe astronomy, astrology, superstitions, maybe there's truth to it. Maybe we can in fact see our fate and our future by studying the cosmos. The Ramban says there is truth in it but we're not supposed to look, we're not supposed to rely. אין מזל לישראל Ein mazal l'Yisroel. We rely on Hashem. The Rambam says the whole thing is נרישקייט narishkeit and silliness to begin with. But the צדיק רבי פנחס מקוריץ Tzaddik Reb Pinchas of Koritz points out that there's two פסוקים pesukim in the Torah, two מצוות mitzvos in the Torah that have the word עם השם אלוקיך im Hashem Elokecha, one in Torah, one in נ\"ך Nach. Ours, תמים תהיה עם השם אלוקיך tamim tihiye im Hashem Elokecha. Be pure, be complete, be holy, be focused, be exclusive, be singular with Hashem. And the second is הצנע לכת עם אלוקיך hatzneia leches im Elokecha. הצנע לכת Hatzneia leches, be modest, be humble with Hashem. With these two מידות התמימות והצניעות יכול אדם לרמות הבריות לעשות עצמו כתמים וכצנוע ויש לו יעקב כי אינו כזה כלל משום כך נאמר עם השם אלוקיך midos ha'tmimus v'ha'tznius yachol adam l'ramos ha'briyos la'asos atzmo k'tamim u'k'tzanua, v'yish lo Yaakov ki eino k'ze klal. Mishum kach ne'emar im Hashem Elokecha. A person can walk around and they can act like they're a תמים tamim or they're צנוע tzanua. A person can in public or for their own notoriety, for their own honor, a person can act like they're such a righteous holy roller in these two ways. Says the צדיק רבי פנחס מקוריץ Tzaddik Reb Pinchas of Koritz no, עם השם אלוקיך im Hashem Elokecha. Hashem really knows בחדרי חדרים b'chadrei chadarim when no one's looking, when no one's watching, עם השם אלוקיך im Hashem Elokecha. The real measure of whether you're a תמים tamim and whether you're a צנוע tzanua is not vis-a-vis your relationship with others, but the real measure of whether you're a תמים tamim or a צנוע tzanua is עם השם אלוקיך im Hashem Elokecha. It's how you behave, it's how you behave when you are with Hashem. עם השם אלוקיך Im Hashem Elokecha, with Hashem, עם השם אלוקיך im Hashem Elokecha. I forgot where I saw it, that תמים tamim. תמים עם השם אלוקיך Tamim im Hashem Elokecha. If you want to be with God, then you have to be a תמים tamim, a תמימות'דיק tmimus'dik person. Like יעקב אבינו איש תם יושב אוהלים Yaakov Avinu ish tam yoshev ohalim. You have to be a תמים tamim. If you're a person who does שטיק shtick, if you do שטיק shtick on your income taxes, שטיק shtick in your interaction with others, שטיק shtick in your following of the rules, if you're not תמים tamim, if you're not a pure and a holy and an innocent person, if you have other calculations and compromises that you're making, corruptions, then you're not עם השם אלוקיך im Hashem Elokecha. If you want to be עם השם אלוקיך im Hashem Elokecha, then the prerequisite is תמים tamim. You have to be a תמים tamim if you want to qualify to be עם השם אלוקיך im Hashem Elokecha. Torah continues and it goes on and it tells us yet again, yet again, the laws of the עיר מקלט ir miklat. כי יכרית השם אלוקיך את הגוים אשר השם אלוקיך נותן לך את ארצם Ki yachris Hashem Elokecha es hagoyim asher Hashem Elokecha nosein l'cha es artzam. When you're going to enter the land and you're going to eliminate the idolatrous nations, you're going to have to set aside שלש ערים תבדיל לך shalosh arim tavdil lach. Set aside three, set aside three cities for yourselves, ערי מקלט arei miklat. We know that an accidental an accidental murder can be pursued by the surviving relatives of the one who was killed, and you run to the עיר מקלט ir miklat, that city of refuge. We talked about previously the six cities of refuge are the words שמע ישראל השם אלוקינו השם אחד Shema Yisroel Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad. Six words of שמע Shema. Where do we find refuge? Where do we find protection when we feel we are being pursued? We find it by immersing ourselves in the trust under the protection of Hashem. I want to share with you an interesting הלכה halacha when it comes to עיר מקלט ir miklat. A very interesting הלכה halacha. The pasuk says ונס אל אחת הערים וחי v'nas el achas ha'arim vachai. You run to one of these cities and you live. פסוק ד' Pasuk daled, פרק י\"ט פסוק ד' Perek yud tes pasuk daled, page 1034 in the Artscroll Stone Chumash. וזה דבר הרוצח אשר ינוס שמה וחי V'zeh dvar ha'rotzei'ach asher yanus shama vachai. You run to one of these cities and you will live there. Now the simple understanding is you will live there. What does it mean that you're going to live there if you run to one of those cities? The simple understanding of you will live there is that you will be protected. Remember tag when you were a kid? If you're at home, you're touching the home base, then you're okay. עיר מקלט Ir miklat's the home base. You're being protected. But the רמב\"ם Rambam interprets it differently. The רמב\"ם Rambam writes תלמיד שגלה לערי מקלט מגלין רבו עמו Talmid shegala l'arei miklat, maglin rabo imo. If a student, if a student of Torah is fleeing to an עיר מקלט ir miklat, then his Rebbe goes with him. שנאמר וחי She'ne'emar vachai because the pasuk says that what is the goal of the עיר מקלט ir miklat? To live. עשה לו כדי שיחיה Aseh lo kedei she'yichyeh. So we have to provide for the person who's going to be in the עיר מקלט ir miklat everything they need to live. וחיים בלא חכמה ובלא תלמוד כמיתה חשובין V'chaim b'lo chachma u'v'lo talmud k'misah chashuvim. If you're a real Jew, if you're alive, if you're a מבקש mevakesh, if you're really one who searches and wants to learn, so to be secluded, isolated, to be in an עיר מקלט ir miklat with no access to Torah, you might as well be dead. So the Torah says the whole reason that we provide the עיר מקלט ir miklat is to provide you with life, to provide you with protection. So to not have Torah is to be dead even while you're alive. וכן הרב שגלה מגלין ישיבתו עמו V'chein ha'rav shegala, maglin yeshivaso imo. So if a student has to go to an עיר מקלט ir miklat, the Rebbe goes. And if the Rebbe goes, the whole yeshiva goes with him as well. Why? Because וחי vachai. Because the whole reason is וחי vachai so that they have life. What you see from here is כי הם חיינו ואורך ימינו ki heim chayeinu v'orech yameinu. The Torah is the oxygen that we breathe breathe. The Rambam gets this in the גמרא מכות דף י Gemara Makkos daf yud. If I would have asked you, you're going to have to go into isolation, you have to go into quarantine. Quarantine. You're going to have to be isolated, you're going to have to shut down. What do you need to take with you? Let's say you have no internet connection. What do you need with you? What would you take? Your favorite food? Favorite book? Videos? Water? What would you take? וחי Vachai, what would sustain you? So that's what the Torah is saying is, how could a Jew not say, I would need to take Torah, some ספר sefer. I would need to have it. I would need a Rebbe. I would need a Rebbe. Because וחי vachai. The Torah promises that you're supposed to וחי vachai and one of the ways that we live is Torah. We are nothing and we can have nothing without it. And as we begin the month of Elul this week, we should remember that. Torah is fundamental, foundational to the core. We mentioned yesterday at מנחה Mincha in shul, the first משנה בפרקי אבות mishna in Pirkei Avos that the world exists on three pillars. תורה עבודה וגמילות חסדים Torah, avodah, u'gemilus chasadim. תורה עבודה וגמילות חסדים Torah, avodah, gemilus chasadim. And the מנחם ציון Menachem Tzion points out it is specifically in that order: תורה עבודה וגמילות חסדים Torah, avodah, v'gemilus chasadim. The Torah should inform the עבודה avodah and the עבודה avodah inspires the גמילות חסדים gemilus chasadim. And it has to be in that order. When Yaakov sent his sons down to to Yosef to Egypt, they went to גושן Goshen first to set up a בית מדרש beis medrash. First we need Torah. It's the air, the oxygen we breathe. It's the nourishment we have. Without it, we'll wilt away. Without it, we'll shrivel up and die. We cannot exist without the study of Torah, the inspiration of Torah, without Torah. And that's how he interprets the מנחם ציון Menachem Tzion, the Gemara says, why did הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu destroy the בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash? על עזבם את תורתי Al azvam es Torasi, the נביא ירמיהו Novi Yirmiyahu says. What does that mean we abandoned his Torah? שלא ברכו בתורה תחילה Shelo birchu baTorah techilah. They didn't make the ברכה bracha on Torah first. They didn't recite the ברכות התורה birchos haTorah before learning? That's a capital crime that deserves a capital punishment? He says it means שלא ברכו בתורה תחילה shelo birchu baTorah techilah means when we gave a ברכה bracha to our children. We gave a ברכה bracha to our children. We bless them to get into an Ivy League college. We bless them to break the six-minute mile. We bless them to be millionaire, billionaire, trillionaires. What do we bless them for? שלא ברכו בתורה תחילה Shelo birchu baTorah techilah. The first ברכה bracha has to be that you should be a בן תורה ben Torah or a בת תורה bas Torah. The first ברכה bracha has to be that you live a Torah way of life. First ברכה bracha has to be that you excel in Torah and then everything else comes after. So שלא ברכו בתורה תחילה shelo birchu baTorah techilah, they did it out of order. תורה עבודה גמילות חסדים Torah, avodah, gemilus chasadim. Torah has to be the very first ברכה bracha we give, our very first hope, aspiration, ambition in our lives. וחי Vachai. If a person has to flee to an עיר מקלט ir miklat, we have to provide them with Torah because you simply cannot live, you cannot be alive without the holy, without the הייליגע תורה heilige Torah. Torah then talks about going out to war, going out to war, and the כהן משוח מלחמה kohen mashuach milchama gives a speech and a motivational talk to inspire the people. Who's eligible to go to war? Who do we keep home? Who do we keep home from war? So the Torah says that if you built a new home, if you planted a vineyard, if you got married and you didn't enjoy the benefit of any of those three new things, then you stay home. Then you stay home. Oh, also there's a fourth category. Who is that fourth category? פרק כ פסוק ח Perek Kaf, pasuk ches, page 1040. ויספו השוטרים לדבר אל העם V'yasfu hashotrim l'daber el ha'am the officers continue and they say, מי האיש הירא ורך הלבב ילך וישוב לביתו mi ha'ish ha'yarei v'rach ha'levav, yeilech v'yashuv l'veiso. Who is the one who's fearful, fainthearted? Go home. Go home. ולא ימס את לבב אחיו כלבבו V'lo yimas es levav echav ki'levavo. Don't ruin the don't ruin the morale of the army. Your fainthearted, you're afraid, you're softhearted. What does that mean softhearted? So Rashi here explains, what does it mean? Who is this category? The person who built a home but didn't live in it. Rashi says, why do you go home if you built a home and you didn't live in it? Why do we send you back? If you built a home and you didn't live yet live in it, why do we send you back? So Rashi says, Rashi says, בדבר של עגמת נפש הוא זה איש אשר יחנכנו b'davar shel agmas nefesh hu zeh. Ish asher yachnechenu. The person who has not inaugurated their new home. We send you back. Why? Because it's עגמת נפש agmas nefesh. עגמת נפש Agmas nefesh. עגמת נפש Agmas nefesh. Let me ask you a question. If you go to war and you die, do you really care that someone else lived in your home before you ever got to live in it? Is that your biggest problem that you didn't get to take up residence in your new home and enjoy it? Your biggest problem is that you're no longer here on Earth. Your biggest problem is that you were killed at war, you're gone. So the עגמת נפש agmas nefesh is, a person who's more worried about their things than their life, that's עגמת נפש agmas nefesh. The person who is more concerned with, more protective of their possessions than they are of their own life, than they value their own life, that should be a cause of עגמת נפש agmas nefesh that a person should have. So you built a home but you didn't live in it, or you planted a vineyard but you didn't drink the wine from it, or you're married but you're not yet done with your שנה א' shana alef, then you go home. We don't want you. But who is this fourth category? Who is this individual who is faint of heart, softhearted, who's going to ruin the morale? What did they do wrong and why are we sending them home? So Rashi tells us who is this individual? Who is this individual? Rabbi Akiva omer ki'mashma'o, she'eino yachol la'amod b'kivshei milchama v'liros cherev shlufa. A person who can't see blood. We have a member of our rabbinic staff, I'll protect his identity. If there's a picture or you describe a scene or somebody has a cut, there's blood, he'll pass out, fall flat on his face. There are people who can't see blood. There are people who cannot go to war. They can't imagine pulling a trigger. They don't have what it takes to be able to respond in the moment. So Rabbi Akiva says that's what we're talking about. Softhearted means a person is faint of heart, is softhearted. They can't take it. רבי יוסי הגלילי אומר הירא מעבירות שבידו Rabbi Yosi HaGlili omer, ha'yarei mei'aveiros she'b'yado. Rabbi Yosi HaGlili interprets it to mean the person who's afraid of the עבירות aveiros, the mistakes, the indiscretions בידו b'yado, in their hand, they're sent home. What are these עבירות aveiros? עבירות שבידו Aveiros she'b'yado. The person who has עבירות aveiros in their hand, they're sent home. Who is this person with עבירות aveiros in their hand? So the אור החיים הקדוש Or HaChaim HaKadosh, we don't have time to read with you inside. The אור החיים הקדוש Or HaChaim HaKadosh says when a person goes out to war and they're enlisted at the battlefront, it's only natural to be scared, it's natural to be afraid, and to say to yourself, what if I'm unworthy to survive? What if I'm unworthy? What if I don't deserve to come home? The mind will take the soldier to a bad place, and they'll approach the war, they'll go out to battle with fear and with doubt. They'll think about the עבירות aveiros, the mistakes, the poor judgment they've shown, the violations, they're worried the law will catch up with them. So that's the עבירות aveiros. But why is it described as בידו b'yado? The עבירות בידו aveiros b'yado in their hand? Why is it described as בידו b'yado? Rabbi Yosef Bloch the son of Rebbin, in his גנזי יוסף Ginzei Yosef explains creatively, he says the pasuk's telling us the following. When it comes to past mistakes and violations, we know we can always be מהרהר בליבו meharher b'libo, we can have regret and remorse and commit not to repeat them. We can do תשובה teshuva in our heart and repair for the things that we've done. But that which is בידו b'yado, the things in our hand, if you've stolen, you can't just decide in your head that you're a בעל תשובה baal teshuva. You have to repair that, you have to return that which you stole. If you damaged someone, you can't just decide in your heart that you're a better person. You have to make whole the person that you harmed. That's what the person fears. עבירות שבידו Aveiros she'b'yado. We send home the person who specifically is afraid of the עבירות aveiros that are where? בידו B'yado. The אמרי אמת Imrei Emes, the fourth Ger Rebbe gives a different interpretation. The Torah says the person is רך הלבב rach halevav, they're soft of heart. Soft of heart, carrying something in their hand. Who is this person? Says the אמרי אמת Imrei Emes, look at the pesukim that come right before. We just described the other three individuals we send home from battle. Built a new home, planted a vineyard, first year of marriage. When it says we send home the person who's softhearted and they're carrying something in their hand, we're not adding a fourth category, says the אמרי אמת Imrei Emes. We are alluding to the first three. What all three have in common is they're distracted. Their thoughts are elsewhere. How could you be expected to go to battle? How could you be expected to be a warrior and to fight to defeat an enemy when you're thinking about that house and you'll never get a chance to live in it. When you're picturing that vineyard and you'll never have the chance to drink from it. When you have an image of your spouse, of your wife, who you've never had the ability to really settle down with. We don't just send someone who can't stop thinking about what they did wrong. The stakes are so high and the consequence so grave, we even send home someone who can't stop thinking about something they did right. Nothing wrong building a home or planting a vineyard or certainly getting married. But those thoughts are extraneous, they're distracting a person who can't regulate the thoughts, a person who won't be focused, a person who can't quiet the noise in their mind, we cannot afford to risk our future by having them in battle. This is the danger of our time. פיזור הנפש Pizur ha'nefesh. Our mind, our thoughts, they're so scattered, they're so fragmented, they're so broken. How can we control our thoughts so we can go to battle? How do we keep our mind from racing so that we can focus on overcoming the יצר הרע yetzer hara, what we need to do? Because the מפרשים meforshim all describe is the battle in these pesukim is the battle against our altar ego. It's the battle against our יצר הרע yetzer hara. It's the battle against the voice that is telling us to sabotage. And how does it win? Extraneous thoughts. By contaminating our mind with pollution, with noise. And the way to defeat it is to learn to quiet the mind. The way to defeat it is to remove the עבירות שבידו aveiros she'b'yado. בידו B'yado. To not have in our hand juggling so many thoughts simultaneously, but the ability to regulate them. שופטים ושוטרים Shoftim v'shotrim. We place policemen and officers at the gateway to our brain, to our thoughts. Not every thought that comes knocking do we have to allow in. We're allowed to reject it, we're allowed to tell it to go home. We don't have to let in every thought that occurs that occurs to us. There's another interpretation perhaps. What does it mean? מה ירא ורך עבירות שבידו Mi yarei v'rach aveiros she'b'yado, Rabbi Yosi HaGlili that we send home this soldier who's afraid of the עבירות שבידו aveiros b'yado, the עבירות aveiros that is in his hand. The עבירות aveiros that's in their hand. Maybe what it means is עבירות שבידו aveiros she'b'yado. The קאצקער רבי Kotzker Rebbe says the issue with the soldier is they don't know how to move on. They don't know how to put down the poor choices and the bad decisions, the indiscretions. The עבירות aveiros, everything they ever did wrong in their life, they carry בידו b'yado. And they become debilitated and derailed by this image that they can't do better, that they're unworthy, that they can never accomplish. It's בידו b'yado. They can't ever put it down. They carry it with them everywhere they go. They carry it with them everywhere they go. Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac Sher, the great משגיח mashgiach says, תשובה teshuva is not about evaluating the past and getting stuck there. It's not about beating ourselves up or feeling inadequate or incapable or unworthy. Those attitudes, those thoughts, they sabotage our future and they cause us to forfeit our present. They're not at all what it's about. They elicit hopelessness and helplessness. תשובה Teshuva is about being able to move forward. Don't carry the עבירות בידו aveiros b'yado. Resolve them. Feel regret for them. Pledge to do better in the future, but don't carry them בידו b'yado. Don't carry them around with us all the time. That's what we daven for every night. When we say in השכיבנו Hashkiveinu, והסר שטן מלפנינו ומאחרינו v'haser satan milfaneinu u'mei'achareinu. Hashem remove the שטן satan from before me and from behind me. The שטן satan before me, I understand. שטן Satan before me are the temptations that I'll yet confront. I don't want to eat that, say that, look at that, act in that way. I understand the שטן satan that is before me. Who is the שטן satan that is behind me מאחרינו mei'achareinu? The שטן satan that is behind us is the עבירות שבידו aveiros she'b'yado when we carry it with us in our hand, when we refuse to put it down and let it go, when we think that we're unworthy and we can't do better, it incapacitates, it debilitates, it helps it prevents us from becoming the people that we're capable of being. Much more to say on our incredible parsha but we'll leave it there for this year. Parshas Shoftim. Join us tomorrow morning, 8:15 for 10 minutes of Mesilas Yesharim, 8:45 for living with Emunah. Tomorrow night 9 o'clock, we're going back behind the Bima. Have a healthy, a happy, and a holy day.
