Transcript
Good morning Boker Tov and welcome back to our weekly Living with Emunah series in which we gather to remind ourselves of the presence of Hashem in our lives, of his dominion and providence, that he didn't just create us and move on but he created us and he continues, sorry about that, and he continues to interact and to be part of our daily lives. I want to thank our generous Emunah sponsors of the series for the year, Dr. Avi and Bella Morgan in memory of Rabbi Dr. Brian Galbut and in memory of Bella's mother, Dr. Adeline Shanzer. Thank you so much for your generosity and your sponsorship. This morning's Shiur is also sponsored for the Refuah Sheleimah, a speedy recovery of Yisrael ben Charlotte, wishing a complete speedy and painless recovery and Le'ilui Nishmas in memory of ר' משה בן אברהם, a Holocaust survivor, a case study in Emunah Peshuta. Thank you all so much for your generosity and for your sponsorship. I want to take a little bit of a detour. We've been studying Rav Itche Meir Morgenstern's wonderful Sefer Beyam Darechecha, concentrating on the Midah, the quality of Deveikus. And we've been talking about what it means to cling to the Almighty, what it means to stick to Him and what it means to stick with Him, and what it means to know that He's by our side and that when a person lives life with Devek, glue, clinging and sticking to Hashem, then we have nothing to fear, nothing to worry about. We have nothing to be envious over, we have no arrogance to feel because we realize our place, Makir es mekomenu, we know our place in this world. So we've been learning about Deveikus, but I want to take a detour this morning and I want to take a look also at Rav Itche Meir Morgenstern but not in his Sefer Beyam Darechecha and on Deveikus. I just put out a beautiful Kuntras, a beautiful pamphlet on Pesach and I want to look at a piece that he has and what he says about Pesach because whether you're listening to this, I know people listen later or catching up on the series at other times, so whether you're listening later and it's Pesach time, Shavuos time, Tisha B'Av time, Chanukah time, the message is relevant all year round but particularly speaks to the issue of Pesach as we are counting down and we are getting ready. Says Rav Itche Meir the following, you don't have it in front of you but it's a beautiful new little pamphlet, a Kuntras he's put out called Beyam Darechecha on Pesach and he says the following: הנה הטעם שבפסח השם יתברך משפיע בלא הגבלות באופן שיכירו בו הנבראים. Hakadosh Baruch Hu interacts with us on Pesach without intermediaries, without boundaries, in a way that we can understand, we recognize, we the Nivraim recognize the Borei. כיון שבתחילת העבודה חייבת להיות בהכרה במציאות השם יתברך ויחודו. Because at the beginning, what is the core, what is foundational, what is fundamental to our Avodas Hashem? What it means to be a Jew, what it means to be alive, what it means to be an Eved Hashem is the recognition that He exists. It's the ABCs, it's 101, you don't even get started. You cannot talk about a life of service of Hashem if you don't talk about the presence of Hashem. Yichudo is his uniqueness, his distinctiveness that Hashem is one and one and only and one of a kind, there is only one Hashem. ורק אחרי שהכרה זאת מושרשת יכול הנברא לפעול ולעשות. And only after this recognition is planted firmly within us, only then can the created begin to operate. So we are the created, He is the Creator. We the created need to know that we didn't come from nothing, that we are not immaculate conception, we didn't just come to be, we're not the random result of a Big Bang, but there is a Borei Olam, there is a creator, the creator, the Ribbono shel Olam, Melech Malchei Hamlachim, the King of Kings, He is here before we even understood what time is about and He will be here eternally, He will be here forever. God is not bound by time, not by space and not in power, not in any which way. Hashem is unlimited and He is all powerful and only when we recognize that only by the goodness and the graciousness of God go we, that we are not here of our own volition and we cannot take responsibility for our own lives or success though we have to take our initiatives within them. Only when we recognize and acknowledge and affirm our commitment to the Borei, the creator, then the Nivra, then we the created, now we can begin to live, now we can begin to operate. But if we don't understand and we don't see that we have a master and if we don't know that we have someone to whom to report, that someone who has given us a blueprint and a prescription for life, someone who holds us accountable, if we don't recognize we're here for a reason that He is in charge and He is in control, then our whole existence and our whole purpose as the Nivra, as the created, is compromised, is undermined. כי הנה יש בבריאה ב' חלקים. In creation there are two parts. חלק אחד הוא הבורא יתברך שהוא הכל. On the one hand is the Borei, the creator, there's Hashem, He is the source of everything, He is everything. והחלק השני הם הנבראים שהשם יתברך נתן להם כוחות. There's the creator and there's the created. The creator is everything. Everything is an extension, everything emanates, everything is an expression and a manifestation of Hashem as the Creator. He is everything. But we the created and we the created means we human beings, it also means the furniture and it means the animals and it means the plant and it means everything. We the created, Hashem gave us kochos. He gave us energy, talents, powers, ושלח אותם לפעול ולעשות כאן בזה העולם. He created us and he deposited us here in this world and he said go, here is your mission, here is your charge. Every blade of grass, every tree, every chair, and l'havdil every person. Hashem built and planted within it, within us, possibility, capacity, and he said now go. I am the source of everything, the whole world is me, but I've invited you into my world. I've created you and now that you are the created, go fulfill your mission, go pursue your purpose, go make a difference in this world. ובכל ענין ומעשה צריך לחבר בין הבורא לנברא, ואדם צריך לעשות את המעשה, אבל מתוך זכרון ברור שהוא רק שליח והפועל האמיתי הוא השם יתברך. Every act and every deed and every day we are trying to create this connection between the borei and the nivra, the creator and the created. And a person has to have that mindfulness, that consciousness, a person has to go through life and with every act and every deed and with every pursuit to remember with clarity that I'm a shliach, I'm a messenger, I'm an agent, and really hapoel haamiti Hashem yisborach. The boss to whom I report, the one who is responsible for all the success, the source of it all and me, is Hashem yisborach, is the Almighty, is the Eibishter. So I live, we are meant to live with the recognition and the mindfulness regularly of the contrast of the borei and the nivra, of the creator and of the created, of our responsibility and our duty to him even as we enjoy and draw the pleasure of living a life of service and even though it feels good and is meant to feel good, but to recognize that he's in charge and he's in control and we report to him. Aval the yetzer hara מושך אותנו כל הזמן, but what happens as Rav Itche Meir, we run into a wall, we run into resistance, we run into a problem. ברוך אתה אדוני אלוהינו מלך העולם שהכל נהיה בדברו. Ah, thank you Hashem. Delicious cold drink. What happens? It draws us מושך אותנו כל הזמן all the time, inevitably, invariably we run into this proverbial wall. לאחד הצדדים או שהוא מפתה שנחשוב שהאדם הוא העושה. And the yetzer hara works in one of these ways. Resistance, resistance, resistance holds us back, resistance blocks our way, resistance manipulates and distorts our thinking, and resistance compromises and sabotages our own success. And how does resistance express itself? It can be in many many different ways. So one of them is, it mifateh, it seduces us שנחשוב שהאדם הוא העושה. It fools us into thinking that we are the ones who are responsible, that we're the ones creating, we're the ones doing, we're the ones accomplishing. וכאילו יש מציאות עצמית לבריאה. And it makes us think that we are independent. It makes us think that we alone are responsible. ובזה הוא מפיל את האדם לגאווה ולעוד הרבה בעיות. And it therefore entices us and it fools us into a place of arrogance. It creates all kinds of problems. So that voice of resistance, that voice of self-sabotage, that voice that says, "I'm not so sure. Who says there's a creator?" There's doubt, there's uncertainty. "Maybe it's all you. Maybe you're here randomly and whatever you're making of your life, you can take pride. It's all you." That's the voice of the yetzer hara. או שהוא מפתה לחשוב, or it fools us into thinking שאין כלל לאדם מה לעשות, that there is nothing for a person to do ואינו יכול לפעול וגורם לו להתייאש. So the way of the yetzer hara is very powerful. The yetzer hara is very conniving. The yetzer hara works in one of two ways. It either makes us believe that we're everything, or it makes us believe that we're nothing. It either tells us, "There is no God, there is no Him, there's only you. You should take credit, you take responsibility, you be filled with pride. It's all you." Or it works in the exact opposite direction. There's Him, so you're a gornisht, you're a nothing, and therefore you have accomplished nothing and you can accomplish nothing and you have no capacity to accomplish anything. So the yetzer hara convinces us, it fools and seduces us to mistakenly thinking that either we're everything or that we're nothing. But both are equally untrue. V'haemes hee, what is the truth, says Rav Itche Meir? שצריך לשלב כל הזמן. Person has to think and a person has to balance and a person has to be contemplative. זה על ידי שבכל מה שקורה עמי אני צריך לזכור ראשית. as a Borei Yisborach that whatever happens to me and with me I have to first think about Hashem. I have to first think about Hashem. What is he telling me, what is he communicating to me, what does he want me to do? How does he want me to react? How does he want me to think? What does he want me to believe? What will give nachas ruach to Hashem Yisborach? What will give him nachas ruach? It's in fact this week's parsha, Vayikra. Rei'ach nichoach. The korbanos that are offered, they bring God a rei'ach nichoach, a pleasant aroma. And Rashi says, what's the pleasant aroma? That Hashem says, I see my children are doing what I've asked of them. They're giving me a nachas ruach. And therefore the nachas ruach is the most pleasant aroma there is. We mentioned the parsha shiur earlier this week. The korban, the sacrifice, is the greatest barbecue. Who doesn't love a great barbecue? Who doesn't love the wonderful aroma produced from a great barbecue? You know who doesn't love it? Hashem. He doesn't need it. He doesn't love it. Hashem is not excited by the amazing smell of a good barbecue. He's the infinite omnipotent one. Of course he enjoys a good barbecue, who doesn't? But he doesn't need the smell of a good barbecue. That's not the rei'ach nichoach. The rei'ach nichoach is he says, please bring korbanos. And when we do, and when we do carefully and vigilantly and scrupulously, and when we do at a personal expense, we have to take off work and make our way to Yerushalayim, we have to buy an enormously expensive korban. We have to identify the kohen who's going to bring it on our behalf. There's an enormous amount that goes into a korban. And when we do, and when we're willing, and when we exert the effort, and when we make the sacrifices, there's a rei'ach nichoach, there is a pleasant aroma. And what for God is the most pleasant aroma? That we're doing his will. We don't identify with this as parents? When a child meets our needs, when a child shows they value what we care about, when a child runs to do what we want, you don't have a nachas ruach? When the child says something or does something and you go, ah, nachas. That's a nachas note, that's a nachas moment. That's the greatest rei'ach nichoach, the most pleasant aroma, the most pleasant experience that a person can embody, that a person can go through is the nachas from their children. And the same is true with Hashem. And that's what we're meant to contemplate. It's what we're meant to think about. It's how we're meant to approach everything in our life. Difficult decisions that we have to make, we have to say, what is the halacha? What is the halacha? What does it say in Shulchan Aruch? What do the poskim say? And if it's not clear-cut, then I have to ask a shaila. I have to ask a question from an Adam Gadol, from a great person. I have to seek Da'as Torah. What does Torah tell me? But it's more than just seeking the Da'as Torah by asking a rav. We should go through life saying, does this give nachas to Hashem? What's the right thing, what's the ratzon Hashem? Will this give nachas to Hashem? Does this make Hashem happy? Does this put a smile on his face? And sometimes, even though it appears from the Shulchan Aruch, even though it appears from the from the approach of strict halacha that something is permissible, if it doesn't give Hashem nachas, don't do it. If you ask yourself, does this put a smile or a frown on Hashem's proverbial face, then don't do it unless it puts a smile. So, I tzarich lizkor, I always have to remember ראשית את הבורא יתברך. The beginning, the start, before it all begins is to remember that reishis haBorei Yisborach. There's a Hashem. ולהרגיש שהוא עושה מה שקורה כאן. And to feel that he is the driver, he is the engine, he is the one powering whatever's happening here. I'm flying through the sky, it looks like there's an airplane with an engine and a pilot. Hashem is the one allowing it to happen. I'm driving in a car, it feels like there's a car and then a driver. Hashem is the one who allows the car to drive. I'm breathing, I have a pulse, my legs are working, there's a Borei in the world. In investment, it's giving me a return, I planted, it's growing out of the ground, whatever activity and whatever we're engaged in, that there is a Borei. There is a creator, and he is responsible. V'acharkach, and only after there's a hakara, there's a recognition, only after there's an acknowledgment of the Borei, of the creator, now, להבין מה שהשם יתברך מצפה ממני שאעשה בתור שליחו. Now I can say to myself, there's a creator. What does he want me to do? I'm a shliach. He's the he's the meshale'ach, and I'm the shliach. He has sent me, and I am the agent. U'mitoch mabat kazei, and through this perspective, האדם ילך בטח ויעשה מה שצריך לעשות מתוך זכרון שהבורא הוא העושה האמיתי. So we need to have שיויתי השם לנגדי תמיד. Hashem is opposite me always. I'm about to listen, watch, speak, go, do, I have to remember there's a Borei. There's a creator and he's with me and he's in this room and he's watching me and his arm is around me. And he is the one responsible for my existence, he's responsible for my success. He has expectations of me and will this meet those expectations? Does this give nachas ruach? What I'm about to choose to listen to, to watch, to say, to go, to do, is it is it compliant and is it something that Hashem wants from me? First I remember the Borei and now I can go pursue my interest as the nivra. First I remember the the creator and now I can go live as the created. וזה היה המהלך ביציאת מצרים. Continues Reb Itche Meyer, this was the mahalech, this was the perspective, the pursuit when it came to leaving Egypt. בתחילה גילה השם יתברך זרועו ועוזו. First Hashem extended his outstretched mighty arm. Hashlataso Veyichudo. His rule, his dominance, his providence. שאין שום כוח חוץ ממנו. When Hashem took us out of Egypt and he suspended the rules of nature and he revealed himself in unprecedented ways, he showed that he is the most powerful and there is no comparison. וישראל לא הוצרכו לעשות כמעט כלום. And the Jewish people almost didn't have to do anything. אלא הכל היה בבחינת התייצבו וראו את ישועת השם. Just watch, be spectators, watch this, you ain't seen nothing yet, watch what Hashem is about to do. Just watch as a spectator and marvel at the Borei revealing himself. He's a Kel Mistater, Hashem generally remains hidden. He wants us to search and to find him. That was the holiday of Purim that we just experienced and talked about. But Pesach, he doesn't encourage or invite us to go find him, he reveals himself. He says, here I am. התייצבו וראו את ישועת השם. Stand and watch the Yeshuas Hashem. Take in and watch the show, you ain't seen nothing yet. אומנם זה אינו אלא התחלה. It's only the beginning. שבו צריך להכיר ביחוד השם להשרות את האמונה. This is the beginning. Pesach night, spoke last night to a group about Seder messages and to me this is the message of the Seder. We have a bank account of faith, of emunah. And there are times in the year we have to make withdrawals. There are times that we run into challenge and conflict and struggle and pain and we're not sure where is Hashem, does he love me, and why isn't he stepping in? And you know, that's a withdrawal. So our bank account of emunah, of faith, better be full enough to be able to not go into overdraft. So when is the big deposit? When is there a cash influx into our bank account of faith, of emunah? It's Seder night. When we sit and we tell that story and when we dwell on our history and when we tell our personal narrative, then we have planted the hashrash, we are planting emunah in ourselves, in our children and grandchildren and everyone who's assembled. אבל אחר כך הגיעו למתן תורה והתחילו לעבוד ולפעול בעולם כרצון השם יתברך. So Hashem says first sit back and watch me and then Hashem says I'm going to sit back and watch you. You sit back and watch me, that's Yetzias Mitzrayim, that's Pesach. The most I'm going to ask you to do is put the blood on the door. I'm going to ask you to bring the Korban Pesach. We're going to talk about the Shabbos Hagadol Motzei Shabbos 9:00 PM here on our YouTube channel, subscribe and you will be notified when we go live. But you watch me in Pesach. You be a spectator, you watch the magic. But then comes Matan Torah, I'm going to give you my Torah, says Hashem, I'm going to be a spectator. I'm going to watch the way that you live with it and what you do with it. First we begin with the Borei and then the Nivra, the creator then the created. וכך הוא סדר בכל שנה. בליל הסדר השם יתברך משפיע עלינו את אור האמונה. On the Seder night Hashem influences us with the light of emunah. He reveals and exposes, he shines a flashlight in our face. הכרה עמוקה יותר ביחוד השם ומשפיע לכל ישראל באהבה. We begin Avadim Hayinu, we were poor, nothing, oppressed, persecuted, and then we went free. There were ten plagues, he showed us love, he put his arm around us, he embraced us, he took care of us, he lifted us and he made us a charge, he gave us a mission. ורק אחר כך מתחילה העבודה של ספירת העומר. So then begins the count where we go from the spectator and then we get ourselves into the game and we count Sefiras Haomer. שעבודת הנברא לקנות את האמת הזאת ולפעול על פיה. We, the Nivra, begin that avodah of looking for the Borei. And now Reb Itche Meyer moves us over to, this is exactly, and stay with me, so important, so important to understand, this is exactly the idea of chametz and matzah. Chametz and matzah, we are obsessed with carbs, with gluten, with food. What is the deal, wonders Reb Itche Meyer? מצוות ביעור חמץ היא מצווה מופלאה שלא מצינו כמותה. The mitzvah to get rid of, to obliterate, search and destroy chametz is unique. We have nothing like it. I'm not allowed to eat meat and milk but I don't have to go burn it and destroy it. I'm not allowed to eat pig or pork products but I don't have to go find them and destroy them. And I also don't find that I have a mitzvah of food where part of the year is permissible and part of the year is forbidden. Doesn't exist. It's either in the category of muttar, of kosher, or it's not kosher. שבכל השנה הוא מותר ואף יש בו מצוות ובזמן מסוים נהפך להיות איסור גמור חמור ונורא. So chametz all year long it's permissible and at times even a mitzvah to eat it, the Korban Toda. And then Pesach comes and all of a sudden it's arch enemy number one. And then it's a villain, search and destroy. כל המאכלות האסורות המטמטמות את הנפש. All the forbidden foods which are poison, they contaminate the soul. Inyano muvan. יש במאכלים אלו אחיזה לקליפות המכסות המציאות בעולם. I understand why they're forbidden because there is a contamination, there is... poison inherent within. And if I swallow, if I imbibe, if I absorb those non-kosher foods and tastes, then I'm absorbing that poison that spiritually, well, will threaten me. וממילא אוכל מאכלות אסורות רחמנא ליצלן לבו ונשמתו מטמטם. So therefore I can't eat them, I have to stay away from them, they are forbidden. But chametz, what's the deal? אם הוא רע הוא מסמל את הגאוה מדוע בכל השנה מותר לאוכלו. So if chametz represents the inflated ego. What is chametz? The yeast allows it to rise. If chametz represents the ego, it is inflated, it's arrogant. And chametz, every rabbi, every everybody who is studying about Pesach is reading and learning about chametz is the devil, chametz is evil, chametz is the yetzer hara, chametz is the se'or shebe'isa, chametz is arrogance, chametz is ego, chametz is yetzer hara. Okay, so what about the other 51 weeks of the year? If it's so terrible that one week we search, destroy, and don't go near it, so then why is it permissible the other 51 weeks of the year? Ve'im eino ra, and if the other 51 weeks of the year it's okay, מדוע הוא נאסר בפסח? Then what is the problem with it on Pesach? What is the deal chametz? Chametz are you evil? Chametz are you okay? Who are you, chametz? What is the deal? So listen to the insight of Rav Itche Meyer and it will change and transform your Pesach if you're listening in time for this year or in future years. הביאור הענין הוא שהחמץ מורה על מציאות הנברא בעולם שהשם יתברך בראו כדי לעבוד ולגלות אלקותו יתברך בתחתונים ומצד עצמו הוא טוב. Chametz represents man's capacity to maneuver and manipulate the world. How do you produce chametz? A lot of work, a lot of effort, a lot of direct intervention. To produce chametz, to produce chametz, you gotta plow, then you gotta plant, harvest, sow, winnow, thresh, separate, grind, knead, you gotta add ingredients, you gotta add spice, you gotta add flavor, you gotta allow it to rise, you gotta add a yeast agent, and then you've created bread. Don't just think of regular bread, think of sourdough bread. My wife makes the most amazing challah on the planet. My daughters help and also make their own incredible versions of that challah. But I say make some sourdough, I'd love to eat sourdough, sourdough is in. They say do you know what goes into sourdough? Are you crazy? Do you know how much effort and time, how many steps and stages there are to making a good sourdough? By the way, hint, after Pesach, if you want to drop off a sourdough, feel free. So sourdough, do you know what goes into sourdough? So chametz says Rav Itche Meyer represents man's intervention, man's relationship, manipulation, working. אלא אם הנברא שוכח את השם יתברך ושוקע רק במציאות עצמו ונכנס לגאוה וישות היינו שמרגיש את עצמו כמציאות עצמית כחמץ שטופח בזה הוא מחטיא את המטרה שהיא לגלות את הבורא בתוך הנבראים. So says Rav Itche Meyer such a beautiful, beautiful idea. The idea what chametz represents, chametz is good. The whole rest in the year chametz is good. How? We understand and we accept that we are God's agents, that we are empowered with the tools, that we are empowered with the talents to make a difference in this world, to maneuver, to manipulate, to control, to conquer Hashem's world, to repair and to transform his world. That's a good thing. The chametz in us to know that we have the power to create and the power to make a difference, that's a good thing. So 51 weeks a year we embrace it, we eat it, it's good. Its symbolism, its message, they're powerful, they're not a problem. But what is the problem? The problem is when we start to think, you know what, I'm the one who produced the bread. It's my brilliance, my talent, my skillset, it's me, I'm the one who creates it. And we forget that we're agents of His, that we're shluchim, that we are messengers. We forget, we forget machti es hamatarah, we have violated, we've missed the point of the whole goal. שהיא לגלות את הבורא בתוך הנבראים. The whole mission, the whole goal is to reveal the Borei within the nivra. To reveal the Creator within the created. Hashem as the Creator, He is invisible, He is inaccessible. How does He manifest Himself? Through the created, through who we are, through nature, and through the beautiful world and through history and through our good deeds. That's how the Borei is revealed is through the nivra. So chametz is an example of the Borei being megaleh, being nigleh from being revealed through the nivra when you eat chametz. But the chametz itself becomes the problem. When does chametz become the problem? When instead of realizing that He is being revealed through it, through us, that we are alone and there is no Him, when we have arrogance and gaiva and yeshus, we think that it's ego and we are it and we are everything, that's when it's a problem. So one week a year we reset and recalibrate. 51 weeks a year chametz is good. We remember we're revealing the Borei within the nivra. We're revealing the Creator within the created. 51 weeks a year we remember we have the power. the talent, we have the capacity, and we should go use it and run with it and make a difference with it. But one week a year, we have to go back to simplicity. One week a year, we go back to the fundamentals. One week a year, we remind ourselves and we reset that in fact, there's only the Borei. מצה היא לחם האמונה. Matzah is the bread of faith. בין בפשט שמזכיר לנו את נסי יציאת מצרים, whether literally we eat the matzah when remembering that he took us out. שאז הראה השם יתברך לעיני הכל שאין עוד מלבדו, God showed us that ein od milvado, there is no one, there is nothing but him. So the matzah is a prop. The matzah is a reminder. The matzah imitates and mimics what they ate when they went out. And therefore we are reminded of that experience, an experience which cannot help but engender a sense of faith of emuna. So that's the pshat. Or bein bepnimiyus in its deeper, deeper reason. nahama de'mehemnusa. It is the bread of emuna, lechem ha'emuna, לחם ההכרה הברורה במציאות השם יתברך. When you look at a piece of matzah you see Hashem. שרק הוא כל כוח בבריאה שזה עניין הלחם שנותן את נקודת החיים. You know what matzah represents? Flour and water mixed. And then no one manipulated them. There is no yeast, there is no rising, it's not a sourdough, there are no other ingredients, there is no spice, there is no everything spices that you put on top, there is no cinnamon, there is no chocolate, there is no babka, there is no... this is not a manipulated recipe. This is the most simple. So matzah represents what God gives us, and chametz represents when man intervenes. זה עניין הלחם שנותן את נקודת החיים. This lechem, the most basic, the most fundamental, is what gives us life. ובאכילת המצה האדם מקבל אמונה. And when we eat the matzah we receive emuna. ובפרט אם מתבונן באמונה while eating the matzah when thinking about and talking about and lifting and looking at the matzah we think about אמונה תוך כדי אכילתו ומתענג עליה and that gives us an amazing pleasure and an amazing joy. Not necessarily the taste or the consistency or what it does to our GI system, but what gives us the joy is to remember this little matzah, not my amazing sourdough, not my chocolate cinnamon challah which really should be a dessert not a challah, which I am so proud that I see the Borei within the nivra but I made it, I baked it, I created it, I designed it. Look at a simple piece of matzah. It is the simplicity of the Borei. ומחדירה במחשבתו והרגשתו and it therefore plants and roots itself within our thoughts and within who we are. That's what it's all about. When we look at, when we lift, when we eat the matzah, we are to think about the emuna. It is the bread of emuna. Not just the bread of emuna in the sense that it is the bread we ate when he revealed himself to us which is the source of our emuna, but it is the bread of emuna that it is the symbol, the whole way it's made and manufactured is only with the intervention of the Borei without the nivra and we go back to that one week a year. ולכן המצה נקראת לחם עוני כי על ידו אדם מכיר האמת הנפלא. Matzah's called lechem oni because through it we recognize this truth. שאינו יכול לעשות כלום. I'm a gornisht! I can't do anything on my own. I can't accomplish anything by myself. Hu ani! I'm a poor, impoverished, indigent, pathetic nothing. ובכל תנועה ותנועה צריך סיוע מהשם יתברך and every step at every stage I need his help for everything to work out. For this shiur to be able to go over this technology, he has to will the Wi-Fi to work. For me to breathe, for me to walk, for me to act, for my car to drive, it is all him. At every step and in every act, in every thought, I have to remember there's a Borei Olam, there is a creator כי אדם תלוי תמיד בבורא כל העולמים I am forever and in perpetuity dependent and reliant on the goodwill of Hashem. ואדם שחי זה מרגיש כגמול עלי אמו וחי בשלווה ובמתיקות עצמו. You can live with peace and serenity and sweetness. You live with that knowledge, you live with that confidence, you live with that comfort that there is a Borei and he's got my back. That's the dveykus. There is a creator and he's got my back. So 51 weeks a year I eat chametz, but one week a year I have to reset. One week a year I have to go back to the simple. Not me manipulating, I'm not thinking about me as the nivra as the agent of the Borei, but I go back to just the Borei and all there is is the Borei. Matzah is ein od milvado. Chametz is I'm his shliach. 51 weeks a year I focus and live I'm his shliach, one week a year I reset and recalibrate to go back and to remember that I am... there all there is is him. ein od milvado. ein od milvado. ולכן בתחילה משביתים ושורפים את החמץ יוצאים מהגאוה שלנו. So what's the process? First we search and destroy the chametz. We get out of our own arrogance, we get out of our own ego, we get out of our own misconception that we're in charge, that we're in control, that it's all us. אנו רואים את עצמנו כדבר עצמי stop thinking that you are something. Realize... Yes, on the one hand, I'm a somebody, I'm a prince, a princess, bas melech, ben melech, I'm the progeny of the King, but realize I only am anything because of the King. He is everything. ואז נכנסים חזק לאכילת מצה שבוע שלם. So first I destroy the chometz and then I can eat the matzah, לקנות ולהשריש ידיעה ועיקר מציאות השם יתברך, in order to acquire and in order to see a recognition and an acknowledgment of the existence of Hashem. The whole week that I eat matzah, I am further engaging and endowing myself with the emunah. We gave a shiur earlier this week in the afternoon on whether there's a mitzvah to eat matzah all week long, the perspective of the Ibn Ezra, the Chizkuni, the Baal HaMaor, of the Gra, of the Pnei Yehoshua, Chazon Yechezkel, that it's not just that you're allowed to eat matzah the whole week, there is a mitzvah, kiyumus. You're not obligated, but each time you do, you get mitzvah of matzah. What's the mitzvah? You are further encountering and engaging, you are further planting emunah within you. We look at and we eat that matzah and we think about the Borei, all there is. Sourdough is the nivra, matzah is the Borei. I live 51 weeks realizing I'm a nivra, I'm a shliach, I'm an agent. One week a year I go back to the basics. And he goes on, but we're out of time, Rabbi Itamar, in this beautiful kuntres on Pesach, and he talks about biur chametz is sereifas hayeshus. Burning the chametz is burning the ego, the 'I'. And I'll leave you with this challenge for today, which is something we've adopted in our home the last several years. When we put out the ten pieces of bread for bedikas chametz, we try to identify each piece of bread with a quality that we want to work on, with another part of the yetzer hara, the ego, that we need to get rid of. And then when we take it to biur chametz and we throw it in the fire, I'm throwing in my procrastination, I'm throwing in my laziness, I'm throwing in my envy, I'm throwing in my arrogance. Each of our children, each of us, we think about what do I want to work on? What is the yetzer hara that this year I'm going to find and destroy within me? That is what chametz represents. And then I can eat the matzah of emunah, of ein od milvado, of all there is but Him, and then I can attach myself to Him. הרבה דבר תלוי בכוונת האדם. All of this relies on our kavanah. We're so busy with the shailos: Do I have to clean this? And does this have chametz? Does this need to be kosher l'Pesach? And how does this work? And when is the biur chametz and what exactly is the last time? And they're all very, very, very important, not minimizing them in the least. However, we have to remember the pnimiyus, the depth, the kavanah, the intent. We have to grow through the experience. It's supposed to be something that's meant to be able to transform us. Wishing everyone a wonderful day, join us tonight Behind the Bima with Tzvi Besser, the prolific author, just came out with a Haggadah of the Chasam Sofer, and looking very much forward to enjoying bringing him on, 9:00 PM Behind the Bima tonight. Until next time, stay happy, stay healthy, and stay holy.
