Transcript
Good morning, בוקר טוב Boker Tov. A good winter to everybody. Hope everybody had a beautiful יום נורא Yom Norah and a wonderful סוכות Sukkot, reinvigorating, elevating, exciting, healthy, and safe. And it's good to be back to resume our study of the פרשה parsha. And what better place to begin than the very beginning with ספר בראשית Sefer Bereishis and with פרשת בראשית Parshas Bereishis. So thanks for being back together with us for our פרשה parsha perspectives for today on פרשת בראשית Parshas Bereishis. I want to thank our generous sponsors, my dear friends Becky and Avi Katz, who've sponsored in memory of Becky's father, David Grossman, לעלוי נשמת le'iluy nishmas דוד בן מנחם מנוש David ben Menachem Manush. Thank you so much. And this morning's class in particular as well, sponsored by Dr. Gordon and Yonina Haas, in memory of his mother, Rose Haas, רות בת יעקב Rus bas Yaakov. The יארצייט yahrzeit was yesterday. And for Joel and Sally Flamholtz in honor of their 53rd wedding anniversary by their children and grandchildren. Should have a very happy anniversary and many, many more to come. Okay, we begin with, as I said, ספר בראשית Sefer Bereishis and פרשת בראשית Parshas Bereishis. We go back to the beginning, the story of creation, and it's very significant. You know, this שבת Shabbos is called שבת בראשית Shabbos Bereishis. We don't have שבת נח Shabbos Noach and שבת לך לך Shabbos Lech Lecha and שבת וירא Shabbos Vayeira. We have שבת בראשית Shabbos Bereishis, because this שבת Shabbos, בראשית Bereishis represents not only the name of the פרשה parsha that we read, בראשית Bereishis represents our עבודה avodah, the בחינה bechinah, what we're working on, what we're doing, the energy, the invitation and the opportunity to start again, the invitation and the opportunity for new beginnings and for a fresh start. The most famous רש\"י Rashi perhaps in the תורה Torah is the opening רש\"י Rashi. So we're on page two in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash. בראשית ברא אלקים את השמים ואת הארץ Bereishis bara Elokim es hashamayim v'es ha'aretz, in the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. You know, teaching on פרשת בראשית Parshas Bereishis is very, very difficult. Many or most years, we don't get to do it because of the way שמחת תורה Simchas Torah falls and בראשית Bereishis and the פרשה parsha class, it often never falls. בראשית Bereishis is huge and it's filled and packed with so much opportunity and invitation to dissect it, to be elevated, to apply its messages to today. It's very, very hard to be מצמצם metzamtzem, to hold back and to choose what to focus on. בראשית ברא אלקים Bereishis bara Elokim. In the beginning, God created. Or, God created the very beginning. The very first act of creation was in fact the beginning. He created the heaven and the earth. And רש\"י Rashi famously says, אמר רבי יצחק amar Rabi Yitzchak, לא היה צריך להתחיל את התורה אלא מהחודש הזה לכם שהיא מצוה ראשונה שנצטוו בה ישראל lo hayah tzarich l'haschil es haTorah ela me'haChodesh hazeh lachem she'hi mitzvah rishonah shenitztavu bah Yisrael. Where should the תורה Torah have begun from? The תורה Torah should have started from החודש הזה לכם haChodesh hazeh lachem. תורה Torah should have begun from the very first מצוה mitzvah. If in fact the תורה Torah is a legal book and a legal document, it is our constitution and our bylaws, so start with the very first מצוה mitzvah, החודש הזה לכם haChodesh hazeh lachem, מצוה mitzvah number one out of 613. ומאי טעמא פתח בבראשית U'mai ta'ama pasach b'Bereishis. Why do we start with this whole history of the world? First, God created, six days of creation, and then, משום כח מעשיו הגיד לעמו לתת להם נחלת גוים. שיאמרו אומות העולם לישראל לסטים אתם שכבשתם ארצות שבעה גוים. הם אומרים להם כל הארץ של הקדוש ברוך הוא היא, הוא בראה ונתנה לאשר ישר בעיניו, ברצונו נתנה להם וברצונו נטלה מהם ונתנה לנו. Mishum koach ma'asav higid l'amo lases lahem nachlas goyim. Sheyomru umos olam l'Yisrael listim atem she'kivashtem artzos shivas goyim. Hem omrim lahem kol ha'aretz shel haKadosh Baruch Hu hi, hu b'ra'ah v'nasnah la'asher yashar b'einav, birtzono nasnah lahem u'virtzono natlah meihem v'nasnah lanu. So the most famous רש\"י Rashi on the תורה Torah tells us, why does the תורה Torah not start, why does it not start this legal code or document with the first מצוה mitzvah? And the answer is to teach a very powerful and critically important lesson, that later in life, later in the development of the unfolding of Jewish history and destiny, there will be nations of the world who will challenge Jewish ownership and Jewish sovereignty over our land. It has happened since the very existence and the formation of the Jewish people, and it can and does and will continue to happen, even though just yesterday there was more evidence found, not that we need it, tying Jews to our eternal homeland going back since our very inception. So רש\"י Rashi quotes his רבי Rebbe, רבי יצחק Rabi Yitzchak, who taught that the reason the תורה Torah begins from creation rather than from the first מצוה mitzvah is to establish firmly and forever Jewish ownership over the land, that God created the whole world, and as the creator and owner of the entire world, he was entitled to allocate and gift parts of that world, including the land of Israel, and he gave that land of Israel to his children, to the Jewish people. Now there's a lot of questions you can ask. Number one, do you think חמאס Chamas and the Palestinians or detractors and our adversaries are learning the opening רש\"י Rashi on the תורה Torah? To whom is that statement, is that teaching directed? Are our enemies and detractors who think, \"It doesn't belong to the Jewish people, it belongs to us. They stole it, they're occupying it.\" Ah, או, בר זאגט רש\"י Oh, aber zogt Rashi, so they say, \"Oh, oh רש\"י Rashi says that. Enjoy, never mind, it's yours.\" So to whom is this רש\"י Rashi directed, number one? But much more over, the problem is that explains the story of creation. That explains and justifies the opening פרק perek, the opening פסוקים psukim of the תורה Torah. What about the rest of ספר בראשית Sefer Bereishis? What do I need the stories of אברהם יצחק ויעקב Avraham, Yitzchak v'Yaakov and שרה רבקה רחל ולאה Sarah, Rivka, Rachel v'Leah? Why do I need the entire ספר בראשית Sefer Bereishis, all the stories and all the narratives and ultimately our descent into slavery in Egypt? What's it there for? Why do I need it? wonders the רמב\"ן Ramban. The נצי\"ב מוולוז'ין Netziv mi'Volozhin, my רבי Rebbe, and I share this by way of introduction to our study of not only פרשת בראשית Parshas Bereishis but ספר בראשית Sefer Bereishis, the נצי\"ב Netziv explains, I think very, very importantly, very powerfully, that the land, ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael, which is inherently and intrinsically sacred, it's קדוש kadosh, it's holy, could only be given to those whose character was in harmony with תורה Torah and the land. The land has character. Unlike every other soil and every other earth and other other portion of land everywhere else, the land of Israel has character. It has virtue. It senses the people who inhabit it and it could only be given and gifted, inhabited and resided in by those whose character is in harmony with תורה Torah and with the value and virtue of the land. עם ישראל Am Yisrael, ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael, תורת ישראל Toras Yisrael, they go together. These traits are not contained in any one מצוה mitzvah of the תורה Torah. Indeed, we don't have מצוות mitzvos to have good character traits. There's not one of the תרי\"ג taryag that says דרך ארץ derech eretz. There's not one of the תרי\"ג taryag that says no כעס kaas, that tells us that we have to have good מדות middos. It's not contained. And yet, רב חיים ויטאל Rav Chaim Vital, the great student of the אריז\"ל Arizal explains that מדות middos are the underlying foundation of every מצוה mitzvah, that the purpose, the goal of the מצוה mitzvah is a platform for how to cultivate our מדות middos to become better, more refined people, to be able to be the best version of ourselves, to realize our very purpose and our mission of why we are here. דרך ארץ קדמה לתורה Derech eretz kadma laTorah. So all of ספר בראשית Sefer Bereishis is to establish, one-fifth of the תורה Torah is to remind us, before we ever qualify to receive the תורה Torah, before we arrive at the narrative of the giving of the תורה Torah, we have to firmly establish דרך ארץ קדמה לתורה derech eretz kadma laTorah. The notion of our character traits, of our מדות middos, of who we are and how we behave, of the impression that we leave on the world, the way in which we interact with the rest of the world, that we are here to be מקדש שם שמים mekadesh shem shamayim. We pledge and we promise in קדושה Kedusha every day, ונקדש את שמך ברבים u'nekadesh es shimcha barabim, God, I'm going to sanctify your name. My attitude towards science and medicine, my concern for keeping myself and those around me safe, my responsibility and obligation to follow the laws and the rules, ונקדש את שמך ברבים nekadesh es shimcha barabim. I am here to sanctify your name. And before I can ever get up to a story of receiving the תורה Torah, before I can ever become a covenantal community and a nation charged with living תורה Torah, דרך ארץ קדמה לתורה derech eretz kadma laTorah. And I have an entire ספר בראשית Sefer Bereishis, not only to teach me that God created the world and he also gave us the land of Israel. We have nothing to be defensive about, we have nothing to be apologetic for. It is our land that has been since the creation of the world, God gave it to us. Maybe it's not directed as teaching of רבי יצחק Rabi Yitzchak to the non-Jewish nations of the world, maybe we Jews need to hear that in order to overcome their this hesitancy, this sense of being apologetic or defensive. It's our land, there's nothing to apologize for. Yes, we need diplomacy, and yes, we should have peace with our neighbors, and yes, we should invite those who are willing to live peacefully with us to be with us, but there's nothing to be apologetic for. So that represents the opening, the creation, but the rest of ספר בראשית Sefer Bereishis is there to remind us that דרך ארץ קדמה לתורה derech eretz kadma laTorah. That land is special. The reason God allocated it to us is not to live as some secular entity in it, nor to live observing תורה Torah but lacking דרך ארץ derech eretz in it. We need to be a model for the world. The whole goal and purpose of that land was to realize the integration of עם ישראל Am Yisrael, ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael, תורת ישראל Toras Yisrael, to be a beacon of light from there to the rest of the world, to be a model how to behave, how to be compliant, how to live safely, how to sanctify השם's Hashem's name, how to be able to have מדות טובות middos tovos. The גמרא in עבודה זרה דף כ\"ה Gemara in Avodah Zarah daf chaf-hey tells us that ספר בראשית Sefer Bereishis is in fact called ספר הישר Sefer HaYashar. What does it mean ספר הישר Sefer HaYashar? The book of the straight, those who are on the straight and narrow. The נצי\"ב Netziv explains in his introduction to ספר בראשית Sefer Bereishis, it's called the ספר הישר Sefer HaYashar because the אבות ואמהות avos v'imahos, our patriarchs and matriarchs, they practiced חסד chesed even to those who were despicable to them. Our matriarchs and patriarchs, they lived among pagans, they lived among idolaters, they lived along morally bankrupt and corrupt society and people, but they didn't hesitate to nevertheless show them חסד chesed and to have מדות טובות middos tovos and to realize that דרך ארץ derech eretz proceeds תורה Torah. We who live in a much more civilized society, all the more so we have a responsibility and obligation to practice and to live דרך ארץ derech eretz. ספר הישר Sefer HaYashar. We need to be ישר yashar, be ישר yashar in the way we conduct ourselves and who we are and how we behave, and all of that proceeds תורה Torah. That doesn't mean to suggest, and I want to be unequivocally clear, that doesn't mean to suggest, \"Well, as long as you're honest and have integrity, and as long as you're a kind and good person, then observing תורה Torah is not so important.\" Observing תורה Torah is non-negotiable. We are bound and obligated, and there are consequences if we neglect. Observing תורה Torah for us is non-negotiable. Let me be clear. But nevertheless, we have to continue to know and to live and to model and to emphasize to the next generation that דרך ארץ קדמה לתורה derech eretz kadma laTorah. ספר בראשית קדמה להר סיני Sefer Bereishis kadma l'Har Sinai. That all of the book of בראשית Bereishis is ספר הישר Sefer HaYashar, how we can live as a sense of ישרות yashrus, as ישרים yoshrim, before we even move on to receiving the תורה Torah. Okay, all of that is by way of introduction to our wonderful book of ספר בראשית Sefer Bereishis. And now let's dive in. We begin, of course, with the story of creation, story of creation. Each and every week we observe שבת Shabbos, and with our observance of שבת Shabbos, we pay testimony, we testify to השם Hashem as the creator of the world, that השם Hashem is the creator of heaven and earth, the creator of the universe. פרק א, פסוק ה Perek aleph, pasuk hey. Let's skip to פסוק ה pasuk hey. ויקרא אלקים לאור יום ולחשך קרא לילה Vayikra Elokim la'or yom, v'lachosech kara lailah. He creates the first day, heaven and earth. What's the very first creation? Many mistakenly think שמים shamayim. It's the first thing mentioned. First creation is שמים shamayim, heaven, וארץ v'aretz, and earth. Egh, wrong, mistake. The very first creation is בראשית Bereishis. בראשית ברא Bereishis bara. The very first creation is בראשית Bereishis. He created the beginning. The very first creation is time, a beginning, a middle, and an end. God, who is omnipotent, immortal, God who is perfect, God who is infinite, there is no beginning, middle of an end. For God, all of time is simultaneously. He transcends, he's operating outside of time. So the very first thing he created, even before the physical material universe, the very first creation is בראשית ברא Bereishis bara. He created the beginning. That's very important for us to understand that we are subject to time, God is not. He creates heaven and earth, it's תהו ובהו tohu va'vohu. מדרש Midrash references the different states and stages of גלות galus that we've lived in are already predicted here. תהו ובהו וחשך על פני תהום Tohu va'vohu v'choshech al pnei sehom. ורוח אלקים מרחפת על פני המים V'ruach Elokim merachefes al pnei hamayim. God says let there be light, there's light. He calls the light good, he distinguishes between light and the dark. He calls the light day and the dark he calls night. ויהי ערב ויהי בקר Vayehi erev vayehi voker. It is evening and it is morning, יום אחד yom echad, it is one day. There's a beautiful comment, a חסידישע chasidisha comment by רב זאב Rav Zev of Strykov who says the following. Says the צדיק tzaddik, ערב מרמז על חשכת הגלות ועל הייסורים והצרות Erev meramez al chashchas ha'galus v'al ha'yisurim v'ha'tzaros. ערב Erev, nighttime, the cloak of darkness, a person's in a dark place, a person is subject to darkness, a person is cast into the darkness, a person is struggling and suffering and challenged. All of that is described as darkness. בקר מרמז על אורות של פדות וגאולה Boker meramez al oros shel pedus u'geulah. Light, illumination, a fresh beginning, stepping into the light. Light is described as redemption, light is described as salvation. בני ישראל יכולים להפוך בכח מעשיהם בהשם ויהי ערב ולא ויהי בקר Bnei Yisrael yecholim l'hafoch b'koach ma'aseihem b'Hashem, vayehi erev v'lo vayehi voker. How do we go from a state of ערב erev to בקר boker? ויהי ערב Vayehi erev. How do we go from living in a place of it is dark to ויהי בקר vayehi voker, to stepping into the light, to experiencing redemption, a better time and a better place, a better reality? The answer he says is יום אחד yom echad. על ידי אחדות ששורר ביניהם Al yedei achdus she'shorer beineihem. יום אחד Yom echad. When we have a day where we are united, when we arrive at the יום אחד yom echad, when we arrive at the day that we are united, that we come together, that there's peace, that there's harmony, that we live together, that's when we go from ויהי ערב vayehi erev to a state of ערב erev of night to ויהי בקר vayehi voker. Again, not the פשט pshat, it's a beautiful חסידישע chasidisha תורה Torah. And this is hinted to in the ברכה bracha we say of יצר אור Yotzer Or, עושה שלום ובורא את הכל oseh shalom u'vorei es hakol. השלום שקול כנגד הכל Ha'shalom shakul keneged hakol. When you have peace, it's שקול כנגד הכל shakul keneged hakol. So יום אחד yom echad, when we can get to that day, maybe it'll be the day after the election, maybe it'll be some day in the future, when we can set aside legitimate differences and disagreements, find a way to overcome the divisiveness, focus on how much, which is the majority that we have in common, and when we can get to a place of יום אחד yom echad, we get to a place of being united, not uniform, not uniform, but united, when we get to the יום אחד yom echad, that's how we get from the ויהי ערב vayehi erev to a place of ויהי בקר vayehi voker. רבי סולובייצ'יק Rabi Soloveitchik also has a comment on this פסוק pasuk. Says the רב Rav, ויהי ערב ויהי בקר Vayehi erev vayehi voker. Evening is referred to as ערב erev. It denotes ערבוביה irbuviya. ערבוביה Irbuviya is confusion. Man often gropes in the darkness, sensing that his spiritual light has been extinguished. This verse assures him that this corruption and confusion is not indefinite, that ערב erev cannot categorize the entirety of the human personality and experience. While darkness may temporarily infiltrate the individual, a minute spark, the בקר boker remains pure and incorruptible. The מדרש Midrash presents a view that יום אחד yom echad is a reference, which day in the Jewish calendar, even in גלות galus, do we not have two days? Two days of the beginning of סוכות Sukkot, two days at the end of סוכות Sukkot, two days at the beginning of פסח Pesach, two days at the end of פסח Pesach, two days of שבועות Shavuos. Which day is יום אחד yom echad? Is a reference to יום כיפור Yom Kippur. The message is that without יום כיפור Yom Kippur, a day of renewed commitment to God, the world itself would not have been created. There is a spark of the divine in man that is inextinguishable, and through this spark, mankind will ultimately accept his will. ויהי ערב Vayehi erev, ערבוביה irbuviya. When we are in that dark place, we need to know, we need to have confidence, we need to have faith that we're going to yet come to a place of ויהי בקר vayehi voker. We will come to a place of and it is morning. It's not if, it is a question of when, and what an important message for us, for we who are in this deep dark state of this of this pandemic that we desperately want to end. I mentioned on יום טוב Yom Tov that my young son asked me, \"אבא Abba, when is Corona over?\" As if we can look at the calendar, the schedule, and there's a date when we know it will be over. We feel the very same way, when will it be over? We have to, the longer we live in it, the more it feels like this is a new reality which is permanent, but we have to realize that even though it's a ויהי ערב vayehi erev, it's an ערבוביה irbuviya, this chaos, this confusion, we're living in a world where things are upside down, we don't, what we thought we knew yesterday is not true today. We're in a place and a state of ערבוביה irbuviya. It's ויהי ערב vayehi erev. Rest assured there'll be a ויהי בקר vayehi voker. There will be a light, there will be a tomorrow, we will turn a corner, we will come back to seeing the light, we will experience a redemption, going back to a world of the way that we knew it. The תורה Torah then goes on when it talks about creation, we go through all the days. I wish we had time to examine, explore all the days, but we move on to פרק א פסוק כ\"ז perek aleph, pasuk chaf-zayin. We come to what is the culmination or climax of creation, which is the reason it's all there. The גמרא in סנהדרין Gemara in Sanhedrin, the משנה Mishna tells us that a Jew, כל אחד ואחד kol echad v'echad, a person should say, everyone should say, בשבילי נברא העולם bishvili nivra ha'olam. The whole world, all the previous six days, heaven and earth and everything in it were created בשבילי bishvili, for me. If not the billions of people alive or the billions of people cumulatively through history, if all that was created ever was just me, בשבילי נברא העולם bishvili nivra ha'olam. Not in an arrogant, egotistical way, but in a sense of obligation, responsibility. בשבילי Bishvili, for me to take responsibility for this world and to repair this world and to watch over and safeguard this world, בשבילי bishvili for me to fulfill my mission, this whole world was created. Man is the pinnacle and the culmination, the climax of all of creation, the essence of why the world is created, which is why we just observed ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah corresponding with not the first day of creation, but rather, ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah corresponds with the sixth day of creation because that is the whole purpose, that is the whole essence. ויברא אלקים את האדם בצלמו, בצלם אלקים ברא אותו, זכר ונקבה ברא אותם Vayivra Elokim es ha'adam b'tzalmo, b'tzelem Elokim bara oso, zachar u'nekeva bara osam. Now the תורה Torah describes, ויברא אלקים את האדם בצלמו vayivra Elokim es ha'adam b'tzalmo, God created man in his image. בצלם אלקים b'tzelem Elokim. בצלם b'tzelem, following the צלם tzelem, the image, there's a piece of God, a חלק אלוקה ממעל ממש chelek Eloka mima'al mamash inside us. He fashioned us from the earth, he collected the soil, the ground, the earth in order to make us a little גולם golem, but what gave us life, what animated us into a dynamic, vibrant, alive being? He breathed life into us, ויפח באפיו נשמת חיים vayipach b'apav nishmas chayim. He took a breath into himself, he blew it into us and we became alive. And when he put a piece of himself in us, he gave us, so to say, his DNA, we became alive. There's a fundamental מחלוקת machlokes between the ראשונים Rishonim, the רמב\"ן Ramban, the רמב\"ם Rambam and others, whether God took a piece of himself and put it in us, or his light emanated from him into us, with נפקא מינה nafka minas, did we exist since the beginning, or is we finite and we came into... In other words, if his light emanated into us and we're an extension of him, then we are him and we've existed since he's existed, which is forever. Or was there a moment in which he placed a piece of himself into us, in which case there is a finite and point of time in which we in which we began? Complicated, kabbalistic, above my pay grade and capability and not for now. But what I want to share with you is that the פסוק pasuk, when it relays the way in which we are created, the פסוק pasuk specifically does so and says, זכר ונקבה בראם zachar u'nekeva b'ra'am, that we were created both זכר zachar and נקבה nekeva. We were created in the same, in the same way. What does that mean? The תורה Torah then goes on to tell us that חוה Chava seemingly was extracted from אדם Adam, and many mistakenly subscribe to the misconception that אדם Adam, man was created as man and then חוה Chava, woman, was extracted, her rib formed from man and is the final act of creation. But if you look at the פסוק pasuk, that's not what it says. What the פסוק pasuk says is an androgynous figure was created, that was half man and half woman, and then split in two. What is the meaning of this juxtaposition of the reference to the image of השם Hashem to the creation of man as זכר ונקבה zachar u'nekeva? wonders the רב Rav. Asks רבי סולובייצ'יק Rabi Soloveitchik, why בצלם אלקים b'tzelem Elokim, we're in the image of God, זכר ונקבה בראם zachar u'nekeva b'ra'am. What do you mean? God is united, he's השם אחד Hashem echad. God is singular. So what does it mean in the very same context that we are בצלם אלקים b'tzelem Elokim, we're in his image, but also specifically juxtaposing זכר ונקבה zachar u'nekeva. So listen to what the רב Rav says. Very important I think, especially in our time. In interpreting the phrase male and female he created them, חז\"ל Chazal explained that when God initially creates אדם Adam, he created him in a dual form. See רש\"י Rashi here. Male and female in this context are be taken not only in a physiological sense, but also in a spiritual, metaphysical one. Every soul consists of a spiritual androgyny, a male and female persona. The combination of these elements is known in rabbinic literature as דכרא ונוקבא duchra v'nukva, which can be found in every individual. דכרא Duchra refers to dynamic, active man, while נוקבא nukva refers to effective, passive man. Man both influences and is influenced, both giver and receiver. Only in the biological world is man exclusively male or female. In the spiritual world, every individual carries both traits. And only through the development of both the דכרא duchra and the נוקבא nukva perspectives can individuals attain their full spiritual potential. Now, there are several points that רבי סולובייצ'יק Rabi Soloveitchik is making that he made many years ago. Let's see this teaching comes from דרשות הרב Drashos HaRav. So it's from many, many years ago, and the רב Rav is making several simultaneous points, some of which are very politically correct, and some may seemingly be politically incorrect in our time. Number one is that masculinity and femininity are not accidental. Masculinity and femininity are critical components of the world in which we live. That הקדוש ברוך הוא haKadosh Baruch Hu, the ריבונו של עולם Ribono shel Olam with his infinite wisdom created a world with both components, and the degree to which we deny the differences of masculinity and femininity, the degree to which we blur or blend masculinity and femininity, the degree to which we fail to preserve the boundaries of masculinity or femininity, we are violating creation itself. This world and, now is not the time, but it exists not only in the human realm, it exists in the animal kingdom, it even exists in the world of vegetation. There are masculinity and femininity in the world of vegetation, in every form of creation, science confirms, there are these traits or attributes, there are these components and notions of masculinity and femininity. And we are responsible to preserve them and to protect them, to establish boundaries around them, and to realize that the degree to which we violate, impersonate, pretend, or blur, we are doing a disservice to a world which in order to have an equilibrium and balance needs both. I'm not elaborating what are masculine and feminine traits for now. I'll let you decide, but we need to protect the world that has both. That might be politically incorrect. It's hard to believe that we there would ever be a time that that statement would be politically incorrect. And yet, in many places I would be shamed and maybe I still will be if this gets out there. The part that is political correct that's important that the רב Rav says is, while on the physical realm, one has anatomy and chromosomes and they tell us who we are, in the spiritual, metaphysical realm, gender is not binary. In the spiritual, metaphysical realm, gender is not binary. And it's not that there is a spectrum, but spiritually we have components of both masculinity and femininity. We have both דכרא ונוקבא duchra v'nukva. We are both giver and receiver. We both influence and are influenced. And here he elaborates. For example, when a teacher instructs his students, he is the giver, the male, the דכרא duchra, while his students who absorb his ideas are the female, the נוקבא nukva. At one point in the lesson, however, a perceptive student may ask a particularly incisive question that leads the thoughts of the teacher in new directions. Indeed, רבי חנינא Rabi Chanina exclaimed, \"I've learned from my students more than from anyone else.\" גמרא תענית דף ז Gemara Taanis daf zayin. At this juncture, the דכרא נוקבא duchra nukva roles are reversed. The student has planted a seed that blooms into a beautiful flower within the mind of the teacher. A young student with eager eyes and an inquisitive expression becomes a דכרא duchra, while the teacher with the gray beard and the august title of הרב haRav is transformed into the נוקבא nukva. Who is the giver and who is the receiver? Who is influences and who is influenced? As undeveloped as one's intellect may be, no one is exclusively a student. And as great as a person may be intellectually, no one is exclusively a teacher. Right, what do we call a rabbi, a scholar? A תלמיד חכם talmid chacham. Not just a חכם chacham, a תלמיד חכם talmid chacham. The blessing that השם Hashem bestows on man during creation operates in both the spiritual, metaphysical realm as well as the physical realm. Actualizing the potential of דכרא ונוקבא duchra v'nukva is the greatest and most exalted of blessings. A person must actualize his נוקבא nukva blessing to absorb spiritual wealth and beauty. Concurrently, he must actualize his דכרא duchra blessing by using his spiritual energies to give to others. The student who lacks a teacher, although born with great potential, cannot realize his potential as a נוקבא nukva. Similarly, sometimes a great teacher can lack students to absorb his wisdom. He cannot develop his potential as a דכרא duchra. One spiritual personality is necessarily dependent on the other in order to develop an elevated level of self-actualization. In marriage, in relationships, there is the male, the female, there is the even anatomically, the giver, the receiver, but spiritually and metaphysically, there is a duality and a dance, there's this shifting and changing role, sometimes the דכרא duchra, sometimes the נוקבא nukva. It's not a binary spiritual, metaphysical existence, but it's something which can change. And I thought that that was a very, very fascinating, particularly contemporary insight of רבי סולובייצ'יק Rabi Soloveitchik on this role of masculinity, femininity and why in the very same פסוק pasuk we contrast צלם אלקים tzelem Elokim, created both in the image of God, צלם אלקים tzelem Elokim, but also זכר ונקבה בראם zachar u'nekeva b'ra'am, not coincidentally and very importantly, זכר ונקבה בראם zachar u'nekeva b'ra'am. Okay, moving right along. Now we get to the seventh day. And here we have a somewhat confusing comment or פסוק pasuk, because the תורה Torah testifies, ויכלו השמים והארץ וכל צבאם Vayechulu hashamayim veha'aretz vechol tzva'am. We say this, we're very familiar with this, דאווענען davening and קידוש Kiddush. ויכל אלקים ביום השביעי מלאכתו אשר עשה וישבות ביום השביעי מכל מלאכתו אשר עשה Vayechal Elokim ba'yom ha'shvi'i melachto asher asah, vayishbos ba'yom ha'shvi'i mikol melachto asher asah. God finished his work and he rested. ויברך אלקים Vayivarech Elokim, and he sanctified that seventh day, and he made it holy. And why did he do so? Because he rested. And we emulate, we imitate God, we too rest from our work. Earlier God had said, וכבשוה v'kivshuha, go conquer the world, go out there and conquer the whole world. And now God says, \"Set aside your conquest, stop manipulating, controlling the world, be at peace and harmony with the world.\" But I want to call your attention to what jumps out from a פסוק pasuk here is ויכל אלקים ביום השביעי מלאכתו אשר עשה Vayechal Elokim ba'yom ha'shvi'i melachto asher asah. When did God rest? When did he complete his work? You can't answer me, so I'll answer for you. When did God complete his work? I would have thought, when did God complete his work? He completed it at the end of the sixth day. He finished working at the end of the sixth day and the seventh day now commences, begins his state of being at rest. But do you notice, that's not what the פסוק pasuk says. Look at the פסוק pasuk carefully. And remember we say this in our קידוש Kiddush, you should be very familiar with it. ויכל אלקים ביום השביעי מלאכתו אשר עשה Vayechal Elokim ba'yom ha'shvi'i melachto asher asah. When ויכל vayechal, when does he conclude? When is he done with his work? ביום השביעי ba'yom ha'shvi'i. So the פסוק pasuk makes me feel a little bit better because I work on שבת Shabbos, but it sounds like God worked on שבת Shabbos. ויכל אלקים ביום השביעי Vayechal Elokim ba'yom ha'shvi'i. When did he finish working? On שבת Shabbos. The פסוק pasuk sounds an awful lot like God works on שבת Shabbos, very much flying in the face of everything we thought we knew about when he finished working and when he rests. So look at רש\"י Rashi. זאגט רש\"י Zogt Rashi, ויכל אלקים Vayechal Elokim, פסוק ב pasuk beis. בשר ודם שאינו יודע עתיו ורגעיו צריך להוסיף מחול על הקודש. והקדוש ברוך הוא שיודע עתיו ורגעיו, נכנס בו כחוט השערה ונראה כאילו כלה בו ביום Basar v'dam she'eino yodea isav v'rigav tzarich l'hosif mechol al hakodesh. V'haKadosh Baruch Hu she'yodea isav v'rigav, nichnas bo k'chut ha'sa'ara v'nir'eh k'ilu koloh bo ba'yom. רש\"י's Rashi's clearly bothered by this question. Whenever רש\"י Rashi comments, he's clearly responding to and bothered by a question. So what does רש\"י Rashi say? רש\"י Rashi says in the name of רבי שמעון Rabi Shimon that we man who are finite, and me generic men, we generic men who are finite, so we struggle to be able to identify exactly the moment and point of transition from Friday into שבת Shabbos, exactly that moment of the sunset, of שבת Shabbos beginning. So we can't take any risks. We take שבת Shabbos on a little bit earlier. In fact, we have a מצוה mitzvah, משנה ברורה Mishna Berurah paskens it's דאורייתא d'oraysa, it's a מחלוקת machlokes ראשונים Rishonim, called תוספת שבת tosefes Shabbos. We don't wait for שבת Shabbos to descend on us. We welcome and greet שבת Shabbos. We add on to שבת Shabbos with what we call תוספת שבת tosefes Shabbos. This is the custom universally that women light candles 18 minutes before שקיעה shkiah, before sunset, תוספת שבת tosefes Shabbos. In ירושלים Yerushalayim, even earlier than that. Men should be mindful to דאווען daven מנחה mincha early enough that we accept and welcome Shabbos even before Shabbos falls on us. We have a mitzvah called תוספת שבת tosefes Shabbos. But says רש\"י Rashi, the רבונו של עולם Ribono shel Olam, the Almighty, who's perfect and omnipotent, who sees all and knows all, He's able to calculate exactly when Shabbos begins. So the פסוק pasuk is articulated as ויכלו אלקים ביום השביעי vayechulu Elokim bayom hashvii, when did He stop doing work? On the seventh day. It means exactly, punkt, when the seventh day began, that's when he stopped doing work. Not to suggest he worked on Shabbos, but to tell us how accurate and how calculated השם Hashem is in contrast to us, who need תוספת שבת tosefes Shabbos to start a little bit earlier. That's Rashi's understanding. That's Rashi's understanding. The אור החיים Ohr HaChaim has a different understanding.The אור החיים Ohr HaChaim has a different understanding. I'm going to come back to Rashi's second interpretation in a moment. The אור החיים Ohr HaChaim, our first vision of sorts of the new year, the אור החיים Ohr HaChaim says, ויברך מלשון הברכה vayivarech milashon havracha. Any farmers or landscapers, any gardeners here? To be מבריך mavrich, the verb to be מבריך mavrich in Hebrew means to blend, to make a hybrid, to graft one thing onto another, is to be מבריך mavrich. He says the word ויברך vayivarech comes from the word to graft, to blend together. ויברך מלשון הברכה Vayivarech milashon havracha. השם יתברך כביכול מבריך עצמו ביום השביעי Hashem yisbarach kivyachol mavrich atzmo bayom hashvii, בשבת קודש אשר שולחת ביסר הגשמי אלקותו יתברך שמו b'Shabbos kodesh asher sholachas b'yeser hagashmi Elokuso yisbarach shmo. Says the אור החיים Ohr HaChaim, we have a concept the גמרא Gemara in ביצה Beitzah tells us, we've been studying this together on Friday afternoons in our turn Friday into ערב שבת erev Shabbos. Everyone's invited and welcome to join us 5:30 on Fridays, turn Friday into ערב שבת erev Shabbos. We've been studying several interpretations of what does it mean in the גמרא Gemara in ביצה Beitzah that when Shabbos begins we get a נשמה יתירה neshama yeseira. We are endowed with an expanded soul, a broader soul, a נשמה יתירה neshama yeseira, an extra soul. Says the אור החיים Ohr HaChaim, you know where our extra soul comes from? Because all week long, there's us, there's God. Us, God. My interests, my physical, material pleasures, my distractions, temptations, the animal in me, there's God. I'm struggling, I'm trying, I'm trying to blend, I'm trying to blend, but I'm struggling. Comes שבת Shabbos, ויברך אלקים את יום השביעי vayivarech Elokim es yom hashvii. On the seventh day He's מבריך mavrich. On the seventh day, He creates הברכה havracha. We're able to graft ourselves together with Him. We have a נשמה יתירה neshama yeseira. My soul is no longer competing. My soul is no longer fighting. My soul is no longer struggling. I disconnect from this world. I turn off my phone and the news and the data and the sports. I turn off the politics. I disconnect from this world, I reconnect to what matters and ויברך אלקים את יום השביעי vayivarech Elokim es yom hashvii. God blessed, and what he blessed it with is that on that seventh day we're able to be מבריך mavrich, we can graft ourselves to Him. We can connect in that most beautiful and profound way. That's what it means ויברך vayivarech. That is the הייליגע ויז'ניצער רבי heilige Vizhnitzer Rebbe.Rashi offered a second interpretation. Back to Rashi. Says Rashi, what does it mean that God worked on the seventh day? And here's a really important and beautiful point about Shabbos. Says Rashi, דבר אחר davar acher. מה היה עולם חסר Mah haya olam chaser? What was the world missing? Six days, the omnipotent, infinite, perfect being created the perfect world. He created a world with everything in it. Now He left work for us to do. He invited us to be his partner in completing it. But He created a world, was done. So מה היה עולם חסר mah haya olam chaser? What was missing? What was missing? And the answer is מנוחה menucha. בא שבת בא מנוחה Ba Shabbos, ba menucha. כלתה המלאכה Kalsa hamelacha. He finished doing his work because what was the last act of work he had to do? Something he could only do on Shabbos, namely, he introduced, had to introduce the world to the concept of מנוחה menucha. Now what is the deeper meaning of this Rashi? Listen carefully. What is מנוחה menucha? What is rest? If you would have asked me before this Rashi, I would have said, you know what rest is? Rest is the absence of work, the cessation of work. When you stop working, you are at rest. That's what I would have said rest is. Rest is when you stop working. But you see from Rashi, ויכל אלקים ביום השביעי מלאכתו vayechal Elokim bayom hashvii melachto, he finished his work. And what was the last act of work? What is the last creation God did? The last act of creation is He created rest. He created rest. Rest itself is not the absence or cessation of work. Rest is a creation. Rest is a creation. ויכל אלקים ביום השביעי מלאכתו אשר עשה Vayechal Elokim bayom hashvii melachto asher asa. He created מנוחה menucha. We need to think of מנוחה menucha not as, I drink a little wine and I pass out on the couch and that's מנוחה menucha. מנוחת שבת Menuchas Shabbos. The goal, the purpose of Shabbos, and Shabbos is תכלית מעשה בראשית tachlis maaseh Bereishis. I don't rest on Shabbos so I can get back to work. I work all week long so I can enjoy and celebrate and experience Shabbos. Shabbos is מנוחה menucha. בא שבת בא מנוחה Ba Shabbos ba menucha. That is the purpose, that is the goal, that is the essence. That's what I'm in it for. That's what it's really, that's what it's really all about. So מנוחה menucha is not the absence of work, מנוחה menucha is a creation, indeed, the last and final creation of Hashem. Says Rabbi Soloveitchik about מנוחה menucha, sorry, sorry, find this comment. ויכל אלקים Vayechal Elokim says Rabbi Soloveitchik, means that God finished His work though the world remained incomplete. When Hashem created the earth from תוהו ובוהו tohu vavohu, He did not replace the chaos entirely. Some of this primordial entropy was allowed to remain so that man through his own effort could strive to eliminate it. עמלק Amalek represents the leftover chaos identified with חטא cheit, which remained behind so man himself could actively play a role in destroying it. Man was given the great assignment of completing creation. ויכל אלקים Vayechal Elokim, He created, but He didn't fully complete. ויכל Vayechal, He completed but not entirely. He invited us to be His partner in that completion. He left some aspects of תוהו ובוהו tohu vavohu. עמלק Amalek represents that chaos. Immorality, corruption in the world represents that chaos. As we spoke about the ספר הישר Sefer HaYashar, we have a mission to לקדש שם ברבים l'kadesh shem b'rabim. We are here to organize that chaos. We are here to be the ספר הישר Sefer HaYashar, to straighten that which is crooked. We are here to bring down Hashem's name and to bring everyone closer to Him. He has invited us to be His partner in that. We'll come back to that in one moment. מכל מלאכתו אשר עשה Mikol melachto asher asa, from all the work that God did. Rabbi Soloveitchik points out that for the Greeks, the Greeks considered physical work as undignified. The aristocratic class would indulge only in mental exercises, engaging in symposia, dialectics, and philosophy. To us, מלאכה melacha is not a necessary evil. מלאכה Melacha, work, is not a concession. Work is a holy, sacred activity. We don't work because without it we'd have no food. We work because that is the way that we כבשוה kivshua, we conquer the world. So work is not a concession and work is not a necessary evil. הקדוש ברוך הוא Kadosh Baruch Hu didn't have to work, and yet the Torah describes his creativity as work, in order to teach us that when we express that creativity, that's work. Work is not a concession, work is not a necessary evil, work is a holy and sacred activity. That is why we are here, we are here in this world to work. So we mentioned that ויכל אלקים vayechal Elokim, that God completed creation but He invited us to be His partner. And we see that elsewhere as as well. We have a פסוק pasuk that tells us, pasuk tells us, when it's describing creation going back, God creates man. ויאמר אלקים נעשה אדם בצלמנו Vayomer Elokim naaseh adam b'tzalmeinu. God says, let us, נעשה אדם בצלמנו naaseh adam b'tzalmeinu, let us create man. נעשה Naaseh? Us? Who's the us? Who's we, Kemosabe? הקדוש ברוך הוא Kadosh Baruch Hu is infinite perfect, the source of all. He preexists anything exists before time and will exist after time. To whom is he referring when he says נעשה naaseh? Let us create man together. So the רמב\"ן Ramban writes, the רמב\"ן Ramban on that pasuk writes, אמר באדם נעשה כלומר אני והארץ הנזכרת נעשה אדם amar b'adam naaseh, klomar ani v'ha'aretz hanizkeres naaseh adam. Says the רמב\"ן Ramban, together, me and the land. That's why the pasuk says נעשה אדם naaseh adam is referring to the land that he had created and all of this creation, where is he going to take the earth from? He's going to draw that earth from the ground and therefore he says let me take the earth of the ground and fashion it into the person. So, together we will, together we will create man. נעשה אדם Naaseh adam says the רמב\"ן Ramban. The רד\"ק Radak, רבי דוד קמחי Rabbi Dovid Kimchi, has a different pshat. Says רבי דוד קמחי Rabbi Dovid Kimchi, לודע שכל נבראי מטה נבראו בעבורו ובשבילו אדון על כולם lodiah shekol nivrei mata nivru ba'avuro uvishvilo adon al kulam. What it means נעשה אדם naaseh adam, למעלת אדם לכבודו בראו באחרונה שכל נבראי מטה נבראו בעבורו l'maalas adam l'chvodo b'rao b'acharona shekol nivrei mata nivru ba'avuro. נעשה Naaseh, everything that was created before is created to serve man. So God turns to all that he had already created and said, nu, all of you, everything I'm already done with, נעשה naaseh, collectively together, the existence, the purpose of all of you is to join me together now, let's create man, נעשה naaseh together. The אור החיים הקדוש Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh, רבי חיים בן עטר Rabbi Chaim Ben Attar on Perek Aleph Pasuk Chaf Vav, same pasuk, has a different interpretation. Listen to the Ohr HaChaim. He says כי מדותיו של הקדוש ברוך הוא רבים הם י\"ג מדות רחמים ושם אלקים שהוא מדת הדין הסכימו יחד לברוא אותם ki midosav shel haKadosh Baruch Hu rabim heim, yud gimmel midos rachamim v'shem Elokim shehu midas hadin hiskimu yachad livro osam. God was not talking to anyone else when he said נעשה naaseh. He was talking to Himself. Now the רבונו של עולם Ribono shel Olam does not have a split personality. Almighty does not suffer from schizophrenia, but we describe Hashem as having thirteen attributes of loving kindness, י\"ג מדות של רחמים yud gimmel midos shel rachamim. הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu consulted with and employed all י\"ג מדות yud gimmel midos, all thirteen complementing attributes when he concluded, let me make man. That's the second interpretation of the אור החיים Ohr HaChaim. He has another interpretation. He says, נעשה כי הוא מקור הענוה ולזה דיבר בלשון רבים כי כן ידבר יחיד העניו naaseh ki hu mekor ha'anava v'l'zeh diber b'lashon rabim ki kein y'daber yachid ha'anav. This is the use of the royal we. Of course הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu is all that exists, the source of all. It makes no sense to describe נעשה naaseh, let us as if talking about others, but נעשה naaseh says the אור החיים Ohr HaChaim means the royal we. It's a reflection and it's an expression of humility to say נעשה naaseh, to say we. It's a beautiful interpretation of Rav Hirsch, but we don't have time for it all. I want to get to Rashi. Because Rashi says נעשה naaseh, that Rashi says the Torah is teaching us a fundamental lesson. Even a great person should consult with and seek the opinion of those who are less great. Hashem was teaching, again the same theme that we're emphasizing all morning, דרך ארץ derech eretz and humility. ספר הישר Sefer HaYashar. דרך ארץ Derech eretz is, maybe you have a higher IQ, maybe you have more life experience, maybe you have more wisdom, but the דרך ארץ derech eretz is to turn to and consult with those who are less great around you. Now these lessons, the רמב\"ן Ramban, Rashi, the אור החיים Ohr HaChaim, the רד\"ק Radak, they're all important. But didn't Hashem leave the door open for heretics and deniers to say, you see, the Torah is written by more than one God. It doesn't say אעשה e'eseh, I will make, it says נעשה naaseh, we will make. Didn't הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu take an enormous risk when he suggested that the Torah was written by more than one person? So, I want to share with you one more interpretation, and that is of the זוהר Zohar. The זוהר Zohar has a magnificent interpretation. And the זוהר Zohar says when הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu said נעשה אדם naaseh adam, this was the risk he took, it was worth taking. Do you know to whom he was talking? נעשה אדם Naaseh adam, the זוהר Zohar says, he was talking to man himself, to the man he was about to create. And he was saying, he was talking to each and every one of us, to you and to me, and he was saying, let us together make you. נעשה אדם Naaseh adam. I'll start. I'll bring you into this world. I'll give you your personality and your predispositions, and I'll make you pregnant with potential. But you need to partner with me. You need to finish what I started. You need to make yourself. נעשה אדם Naaseh adam, says the זוהר Zohar. Hashem says you're going to be different than angels. Angels are perfect and they're holy. Angels have no temptation, no desire. You're also going to be different than animals. Animals only have instinct and intuition. Animals only follow their impulse. You are going to be somewhere in between. You're going to have an animal soul, a נפש nefesh, but you're also going to have a נשמה neshama. You're also going to have a godly soul. And as such, you'll have something neither angels nor animals have. You'll have a little something called free will. Animals, impulse, instinct. Angels have no בחירה bechira because they have no challenge. You, human being, נעשה אדם בצלמנו naaseh adam b'tzalmeinu. Come, says the הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu, the Almighty, puts his arm around us and invites us and says, come, join me in making you. I'll start, you be my partner. It's such an important and critical lesson that we have to realize that we shouldn't be passive or fatalistic or a spectator to our own lives, but to get in the game, to be active, to shape and to mold the reality of who we are and the lives that we live and the differences that we want to make. Not just אעשה e'eseh but נעשה naaseh. One more question. Why does Hashem say נעשה אדם naaseh adam? Why didn't he say נברא אדם nivra adam? Let us create. נברא Nivra, מלשון ברא milashon bara, בראשית ברא אלקים Bereishis bara Elokim. Wouldn't that be a more appropriate verb? That's the verb we've already used. ברא Bara. Why does it say, why does it say, um, נעשה naaseh instead of נברא nivra? So the זוהר Zohar says it's not a coincidence. The word נעשה naaseh is used to invite us to be a partner in creating. What is it an allusion to? When you hear the word נעשה naaseh, what does it immediately evoke? What does it draw? The answer is when we stood at the base of הר סיני Har Sinai, and we were ready to accept the challenge to better ourselves, to live our best lives, to fulfill our mission and why we're here, we accepted the invitation of נעשה אדם naaseh adam by pronouncing נעשה ונשמע naaseh v'nishma. How are we best positioned to partner with him? How do we fulfill this responsibility to make and complete ourselves? We answer נעשה אדם naaseh adam by saying נעשה ונשמע naaseh v'nishma. Our script is written in the language of Torah but we are the actors on the stage. We have free will and we make choices and we determine who we are and we determine who we're going to be. נעשה אדם Naaseh adam, beautiful interpretations, the רד\"ק Radak, Rashi, the רמב\"ן Ramban, the אור החיים Ohr HaChaim, but I love the זוהר Zohar. Hashem puts his arm around us and says, נעשה naaseh, come be with me. It's an invitation, נעשה אדם naaseh adam. הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu creates us in his image. Let's move on in the parsha from the story of creation, culminating in the story of creation of man to the story of the act of first murder, קין והבל Kayin v'Hevel. פרק ב' פסוק כ\"ג Perek Beis Pasuk Kaf Gimmel. We have this conflict. Sorry, before we get to that. Before we get to that. פרק ב' פסוק כ\"ג Perek Beis Pasuk Kaf Gimmel, I'm just deciding, very little time left. ויאמר האדם זאת הפעם עצם מעצמי ובשר מבשרי לזאת יקרא אשה כי מאיש לקחה זאת Vayomer ha'adam zos hapaam etzem me'atzamai u'vasar mibsari l'zos yikarei isha ki me'ish lukacha zos. We have when הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu recognizes it's not good for man to be alone. Man alone is a taker. Man partnered becomes a giver. לא טוב היות האדם לבדו Lo tov heyos ha'adam l'vado. So Hashem says, He passes all the animals before God, before man. Man says not for me, not for me, not for me, gives one each one a name which means he understands its essence. He gives them a description. Not for me, not for me. ויאמר אדם זאת הפעם Vayomer Adam zos hapaam. Then God fashions the side, he takes out of him. וייבנה את אדם Vayiven es ha'adam. ויבן את הצלע Vayiven es hatzela. בינה יתירה Binah yeseirah. He gives women בינה יתירה binah yeseirah. ויבן Vayiven, doesn't say ויברא vayivra again, it says ויבן vayiven, God built woman from man when he divided the androgynous figure in two. It does not say ויברא vayivra, he created, it says ויבן vayiven, he built. Women are endowed with a בינה יתירה binah yeseirah. And what's man's reaction to the surgery he just underwent where he's now cut in two? He's an organ donor. He's more than an organ donor, he's a human donor. He donates half himself to create another gender. ויאמר האדם Vayomer ha'adam, man says, זאת הפעם zos hapaam, this time it is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. This will be called woman, for from man she was taken. What do you mean ויאמר האדם vayomer ha'adam? Why do we have a reference here to man speaking? ויאמר האדם Vayomer ha'adam. So listen to the Rav. Says Rabbi Soloveitchik, the community can only be born through an act of communication. After gazing at each other in silence and defiance, the two individuals involved in the unique encounter begin to communicate with each other. Out of the mist of muteness, the miraculous word rises and shines forth. Adam suddenly begins to talk. He addresses himself to Chava. And with his opening remark, two fenced in and isolated human existences open up and they both ecstatically break through to each other. The word is a paradoxical instrument of communication and contains an inner contradiction. On the one hand, the word is the medium of expressing agreement and concurrence, of reaching mutual understanding, organizing cooperative effort, and uniting action. On the other hand, the word is also the means of manifesting distinctiveness, emphasizing incongruity, and underlining separateness. The word brings out not only what is common in two, but the singularity and uniqueness of each existence. It emphasizes not only common problems, aspirations, and concerns, but also uniquely individual questions, cares, and anxieties that assail each person. Says the Rav, the very first connection between Adam and Chava, Chava is extracted from Adam and Adam turns and ויאמר האדם vayomer ha'adam because it is word, it is communication that is the foundation of every relationship. Words unite us, words complement us, words enable us to learn or contrast with one another. Words are the foundation of a relationship and therefore, the very first connection when Adam and Chava are split in two is ויאמר האדם vayomer ha'adam. Now the Rav doesn't say this but you see this is also true, very sadly. In the next section, Cain and Hevel. The pasuk describes when Cain rises to kill his brother Hevel. Hevel's korban is accepted and Cain's is not and Cain becomes very despondent, becomes very depressed. פרק ד' Perek Daled, page 20 in your Artscroll Stone Chumash. The pasuk says, ועל קין ועל מנחתו לא שעה v'el Kayin v'el minchaso lo sha'a, God did not accept Cain's korban. ויחר לקין מאד ויפלו פניו Vayichar l'Kayin me'od vayiplu panav. Cain became very depressed and his face fell. ויאמר השם אל קין למה חרה לך ולמה נפלו פניך Vayomer Hashem el Kayin lama chara lach v'lama naflu panecha. And Hashem turns to Cain and He says, what are you so sad about? Why has your face fallen? What are you so sad about? The חידושי הרי\"ם Chidushei HaRim by the way wonders, what is Hashem asking? Cain's korban was just rejected. What do you mean what are you so sad about? You're sad because you just lost. You lost the NBA finals, my Heat lost the finals, my Yankees were eliminated from the playoffs. What do you mean למה נפלו פניך lama naflu panecha? Isn't the answer obvious? So the חידושי הרי\"ם Chidushei HaRim says no. When Hashem was asking למה נפלו פניך lama naflu panecha, he wants to know why are you sad? Are you sad because your korban wasn't accepted, or are you sad because your brother Hevel's was? Why are you sad? Are you sad because you didn't get an עליה aliyah, or you're sad because someone else got the עליה aliyah instead? What is the source of your sadness? Because you crave to come close and you missed the spiritual opportunity? Or because someone else has it? למה נפלו פניך Lama naflu panecha says the חידושי הרי\"ם Chidushei HaRim, what Hashem was asking him is, not why are you sad, but what is the driver of your sadness? The fact that your korban was rejected or that that of your brother was accepted. In any case, what happens? ויאמר קין אל הבל אחיו Vayomer Kayin el Hevel achiv, Cain says to his brother, ויהי בהיותם בשדה vayihi biyosam basadeh, they're in the field, ויקם קין אל הבל אחיו ויהרגהו vayakam Kayin el Hevel achiv vayahargeihu. Cain rises and kills his brother. What happened in the pasuk? ויאמר קין אל הבל אחיו Vayomer Kayin el Hevel achiv, Cain says to his brother, ויהי בהיותם בשדה vayihi biyosam basadeh and they were in the field and Cain rises and kills his brother. What did he say? ויאמר קין אל הבל Vayomer Kayin el Hevel and Cain said to his brother, what did he say? Never tells us what he said. So perhaps I think you can complement the Rav's vort. Adam and Chava launch their relationship with ויאמר האדם vayomer ha'adam, with communication, with conversation. The foundation of a relationship is the ability to communicate and to have healthy communication. So much of marriage counseling and so much of improving our already healthy marriages, going from good to great is learning how to communicate effectively, efficiently, learning how to listen. So, ויאמר האדם vayomer ha'adam that was the beginning of the relationship between Adam and Chava and that was the end of the relationship of Cain and Hevel. ויאמר קין אל הבל אחיו Vayomer Kayin el Hevel achiv, what did he say? We never know. They didn't communicate effectively. He meant to say something, he wanted to say something, but he didn't know how. He didn't have the words. He didn't know how to express himself. And instead he turns to violence. The very first act of murder, the very first act of violence. The failure of communication is what undermines the future of the world. It is the failure of our of our existence. There's a lot more to talk about in ספר בראשית Sefer Bereishis. Cain and Hevel, איכה Ayeka, Hashem's call איכה Ayeka which Hashem continues to call out to us each and every generation. If we don't answer the איכה Ayeka, the Rav says it turns into a איכה Eicha. We have the story of of of the continuity of man, זה ספר תולדות אדם zeh sefer toldos adam, but my voice is lost and we are out of time, so please God we'll pick up with it next time. Stay happy, stay healthy, stay holy. Special behind the bima tonight, Tuesday night this week instead of tomorrow night. Our guest is Ben Shapiro. Ben Shapiro with millions of followers online. We're not going to talk politics. We're going to go behind the bima about his life and background. Join us 9 o'clock tonight for behind the bima.
