Transcript
Good morning, בוקר טוב Boker Tov, welcome back to Parsha Perspectives for today, our weekly study and analysis of the parsha with an emphasis trying to draw contemporary lessons and ideas to inspire our lives in a very real way. I want to thank our generous series sponsors for the year, our dear friends Becky and Avi Katz and family in loving memory of Becky's father David Grossman. Our learning should be לעילוי נשמת le'iluy nishmas דוד בן מנחם מנוש David ben Menachem Monish. Also this morning's שיעור shiur is sponsored by Avi Grison in honor of his loving and amazing wife Tamar and their beautiful children, עליונה פעשה Alyona Pesha and רפי Rafi, on the occasion of their seventh anniversary. Very happy anniversary. And by the Bigleizen family, זכר נשמת zecher nishmas שמואל דוד בן יעקב שלמה ביגלייזן Shmuel David ben Yaakov Shlomo Bigleizen, with the 20th יארצייט yahrzeit of his murder in the 9/11 attacks. I believe this is the 20th יארצייט yahrzeit. This is the Hebrew date of the 9/11 attacks. His נשמה neshama should have an עלייה aliyah together with all those who were murdered on that terrible day. And lastly, by Naomi Bellazon in memory of her father, שמואל מנדל Shmuel Mandel, for his יארצייט yahrzeit. Thank you to Mrs. Bellazon, thank you to all of our sponsors. If you'd like to sponsor a future שיעור shiur, you can go to brsonline.org/sponsor, brsonline.org/sponsor. With that we begin פרשת נצבים Parshas Nitzavim, page 1,086 in the ArtScroll Stone חומש Chumash, 1,086. We are in the home stretch of חומש Chumash. אתם נצבים היום כולכם לפני השם אלוקיכם, ראשיכם שבטיכם זקניכם ושוטריכם כל איש ישראל Atem nitzavim hayom kulchem lifnei Hashem Elokeichem, rosheichem shivteichem zikneichem v'shotreichem kol ish Yisrael. You are standing here today, all of you before Hashem your God. And then the Torah delineates who are all of you, who are these people? ראשיכם Rosheichem, the heads of your tribes, זקניכם zikneichem your elders, שוטריכם shotreichem your officers, כל איש ישראל kol ish Yisrael, everyone, you are all together, you are all standing there. It's a very, very interesting opening פסק pasuk. First of all, היום hayom. היום Hayom, many already have said, describes, היום hayom is a reference to ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah. היום Hayom, היום הרת עולם hayom haras olam. אתם נצבים היום Atem nitzavim hayom. We always read this parsha right before ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah. And there are many reasons which are given. We've shared and explored some of them together in the past. But it's interesting that we begin כולכם kulchem. Who is standing before משה Moshe? משה Moshe is addressing כולכם kulchem, all, collectively, a community, everybody together. And then we spell it out, each one distinctly, ראשיכם, זקניכם, שוטריכם rosheichem, zikneichem, shotreichem. And then we come back, we return to כל איש ישראל kol ish Yisrael. So we start with the whole, united, כולכם kulchem. We then divide out the individual, we then come back to כל איש ישראל kol ish Yisrael, everybody together. And I think the significance, I think it's a very powerful message and really in many ways, it's the mission statement of the Jewish people, how we are to see ourselves. On the one hand, we are כולכם kulchem. We are united, we are a community. On the one hand, we are a whole, we are a people. On the other, being a whole, being united, unity is not uniformity. Being united, being together, being whole does not mean erasing our differences. So we are able to be ראשיכם, שבטיכם, זקניכם, שוטריכם, כל איש ישראל rosheichem, shivteichem, zikneichem, shotreichem, kol ish Yisrael. We're able to be separate and apart, distinct and different, and at the same time see ourselves as כולכם kulchem. They're not contradiction. The ability to maintain our individuality and yet simultaneously blend and integrate into a community is not a contradiction. אתם נצבים Atem nitzavim, when are we upright, when are we standing, when can we endure and persevere, when we find that blend of כולכם kulchem and כל איש ישראל kol ish Yisrael. We're not asked, that's the motto of the Boca Raton synagogue, our שול shul, valuing diversity, celebrating unity. On the one hand, we value that diversity. We don't just tolerate it. You tolerate slow Wi Fi, you tolerate a bad rash, you don't tolerate a fellow Jew. That diversity, the one who's different than you is not just something tolerated, we value it. Valuing diversity, ראשיכם, שבטיכם, זקניכם, שוטריכם, טפכם, נשיכם, גרך אשר בקרב מחניך, מחוטב עציך עד שואב מימיך rosheichem, shivteichem, zikneichem, shotreichem, tapchem, n'sheichem, gercha asher b'kerev machanecha, m'chotev eitzecha ad sho'ev meimecha, the Torah goes on and it delineates these differences, these distinctions, because they matter, they're important. We're not all asked to be uniform. We're not asked to blend our attitude and our politics and our policies and our perspective. We have different personalities. We're different people, and we respect and we recognize. We value that diversity. We're richer and we're better for it. But we value diversity, we celebrate unity. The diversity to be united, to be unified, to be whole, not to be uniform, not to be uniform but to be united. So when are we אתם נצבים היום atem nitzavim hayom, when are we נצבים nitzavim, when do we stand strong, when can we stand and withstand any wind that comes our way, when we have that blend of כולכם kulchem and then כל איש ישראל kol ish Yisrael. On the one hand, we're united, and on the other hand we see our differences. We value our diversity, but we very much must celebrate our unity simultaneously. Very interesting. The היום Hayom I mentioned was a reference to ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah, but more than that, the וילנא גאון, הגר\"א Vilna Gaon, the Gra makes a famous comment, famous because I happen to know it. The וילנא גאון, הגר\"א Vilna Gaon, the Gra makes a comment here on this opening פסק pasuk. אתם נצבים היום Atem nitzavim hayom. There are five days on the Jewish calendar where we are נצבים nitzavim, we stand before God in judgment. Five days on our calendar that are designated that we reflect, introspect, we see ourselves as standing before him, being evaluated, and we prepare, and we make the argument for our worthiness. What are they? The two days of ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah, יום כיפור Yom Kippur is three, הושענא רבה Hoshana Rabbah, which has a דין din aspect, the חזן chazan wears a קיטל kittel, and we add פסוקי דזמרה psukei d'zimra of שבת ויום טוב Shabbos v'Yom Tov, and we use the נוסח nusach, we use the tunes of the ימים נוראים Yamim Noraim, and שמיני עצרת Shmini Atzeres when we דאווען daven גשם geshem, these five days. Said the וילנא גאון Vilna Gaon, says the גר\"א Gra, these five days are alluded, they're hinted to, אתם נצבים היום atem nitzavim hayom. אתם נצבים Atem nitzavim, you are standing in judgment, היום hayom, ה יום hey yom, five days. Two days of ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah, one day of יום כיפור Yom Kippur, הושענא רבה Hoshana Rabbah, שמיני עצרת Shmini Atzeres, add up those five days, and היום hayom, ה יום hey yom, five days we are אתם נצבים atem nitzavim, five days we are standing before Hashem in judgment. כולכם Kulchem. And how do we survive, how do we persevere, with אחדות achdus, when we see ourselves as כולכם kulchem, when we are united. We have our differences. In BRS, we have many, many מניינים minyanim on the ימים נוראים yamim noraim, most שול'ס shuls do. We have different נוסח nusach, we have different מנהגים minhagim. We have different expectation, we have different pace, different lengths of the מניין minyan, different חזנים chazanim, different מנהגים minhagim. And yet, כולכם kulchem. When are we נצבים nitzavim? When can we stand upright? When can we endure and persevere? When can we succeed and triumph in דין din, in judgment, when we are כולכם kulchem and when we are כל איש ישראל kol ish Yisrael, when we succeed in finding in meeting that blend between the two. That is the opening of the parsha. נצבים Nitzavim. We've studied in the past, we will not review, the contrast of our parsha and next week's parsha. We don't read it together as a double parsha this week, but נצבים nitzavim and וילך vayelech. נצבים Nitzavim is to stand, וילך vayelech is to go. משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu is וילך vayelech. אתם נצבים Atem nitzavim, but משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu is וילך vayelech in next week's parsha. We'll get to that maybe next week. וילך משה vayelech Moshe. He's still moving. The last day of his life, retired, it's over, he's hung them up, and yet וילך vayelech, he continues to be on the move. But נצבים nitzavim doesn't mean עומדים omdim. The מלאכים malachim, the angels, are described as עומדים omdim. But רב גיפטר Rav Gifter describes, רב גיפטר זצ\"ל Rav Gifter zatzal says, the word נצבים nitzavim does not mean עומדים omdim. It doesn't mean standing still. To be נצבים nitzavim is, I a picture, you know, I remember in little league growing up, playing baseball, when the little league coach would tell you, you know, you're standing there at shortstop, you're standing in center field. If you let yourself go and if you're just standing there like a big lump, if the ball's hit to you, you're not going to be able to react. נצבים Nitzavim means you got to crouch, you got to be in the poised position, you got to be ready to react, you got to be ready to jump, you got to be ready to move. So you could be standing and both individuals, the person who's standing whose muscles are all relaxed, who's tuned out, who's checked out, is a big lazy lump, is standing. And the person who is poised, whose muscles are engaged, who's crouched down, who's ready to move, is similarly standing. Neither of them are moving, both are stationary, but there's two different ways that you could be stationary. You could be עומדים omdim or you could be נצבים nitzavim. עומדים Omdim are like the מלאכים malachim. עומדים Omdim stand still. We the Jewish people are called upon, says רב גיפטר Rav Gifter, not to be עומדים omdim, to be נצבים nitzavim. We got to be ready. We got to be ready for whatever is going to be thrown our way. That's been our history. For 2,000 years, the Jewish people cannot afford to tune out, to check out, for our minds to wander. There have been people after us, the world is a complicated place for us to navigate. We never know what's coming our way. We are נצבים nitzavim, we are standing poised and ready to serve Hashem, ready when we get the next call for our mission and the difference we're meant to make, we are נצבים nitzavim. We are poised and ready to be able to react. Continuing, Torah tells us למען הקים אותך היום לו לעם l'maan hakim oscha hayom lo l'am, we are a people, children and progeny of אברהם יצחק ויעקב Avraham, Yitzchak v'Yaakov, ולא אתכם לבדכם אנכי כורת את הברית הזאת v'lo itchem l'vadchem anochi koreis es habris hazos, not just us. Hashem is not just making this covenant, this promise, this deal with us alone, את אשר ישנו פה עמנו היום, ואת אשר איננו פה עמנו היום es asher yeshno po imanu hayom, v'es asher einenu po imanu hayom. And those who are standing here that day, and those who are not standing there that day. And we've discussed this in the past, we won't get into this now either, but what kind of a contract, what kind of a covenant is this? How could our ancestors have obligated us? We weren't standing there. How can they bind us, how can they obligate us? We weren't alive, we weren't in existence. What right, how are they entitled to do that on our behalf? How did that work? כי אתם ידעתם את אשר ישבנו בארץ מצרים Ki atem y'daatem es asher yashavnu b'eretz Mitzrayim. You were familiar, you were there in Egypt. ואת אשר עברנו בקרב הגוים אשר עברתם v'es asher avarnu b'kerev hagoyim asher avartem. So this is a warning now, the Torah shifts, Moshe pivots to warn us. You're going into the land momentarily, the last day of Moshe's life, the end of ספר דברים Sefer Devarim, the end of חומש Chumash as we know it, you're about to go into the land of Israel. Now you know, because you lived in Egypt, אתם ידעתם Atem y'daatem, you know, you've seen, you've experienced, you were in that land, that culture saturated with idolatry, with corruption, with moral depravity. אשר עברנו בקרב הגוים אשר עברתם asher avarnu b'kerev hagoyim asher avartem. We lived among them, we saw those billboards on I-95, we witnessed, we watched the temptation, the desire, we saw the corruption. ותראו את שיקוציהם ואת גילוליהם vatiru es shikutzeihem v'es giluleihem. You saw their abominations, you saw their detestable idols. עץ ואבן כסף וזהב אשר עמהם eitz v'even kesef v'zahav asher imahem. Their idols were made of wood and stone, of silver and gold. פן יש בכם איש או אישה או משפחה או שבט אשר לבבו פונה היום מעם השם pen yesh bachem ish o isha o mishpacha o shevet asher l'vavo poneh hayom me'im Hashem. So that was you, you saw that, you lived among them, maybe you assimilated, maybe you changed your values, you absorbed the attitude of the host country. Maybe among you there's a man or a woman, a family, a tribe whose heart is turning away from Hashem, ללכת לעבוד את אלהי הגוים ההם laleches la'avod es elohei hagoyim hahem, going to serve other gods, פן יש בכם שורש פורה ראש ולענה pen yesh bachem shoresh poreh rosh v'la'anah. Maybe among you there's a root flourishing with gall and wormwood. We'll see what that means in a moment. But first, what does it mean because we lived among the Egyptians and because we witnessed and saw their idols, all of a sudden now we have this harsh, harsh warning. Moshe's speaking very harshly, very intensely, very strongly. Let's finish. והיה בשמעו את דברי האלה הזאת והתברך בלבבו לאמור v'haya b'shomo es divrei ha'alah hazos v'hisbarech bilvavo leimor, שלום יהיה לי כי בשרירות לבי אלך shalom yihiyeh li ki b'shrirut libi eilech, למען ספות הרוה את הצמאה l'maan sfos haravah es hatz'meah. So maybe that individual who's drawn to, who's assimilated, who is connected with that idolatry, maybe when they hear the words of this curse, they'll bless themselves and they'll say, peace be with me. Though I walk as my heart sees fit, I do what I want. I do what I want. You know, Judaism doesn't speak to me, Torah, not for me. I do, I pick and I choose and I do what I want. Thereby adding the watered upon the thirsty. לא יאבה השם סלוח לו Lo yoveh Hashem sloach lo. Hashem will not be willing to forgive such an individual. כי אז יעשן אף השם וקנאתו באיש ההוא ki az ye'eshan af Hashem v'kinaso ba'ish hahu. Because Hashem's anger and jealousy will smoke against that individual, ורבצה בו כל האלה הכתובה בספר הזה v'ravtza bo kol ha'alah hak'suva basefer hazeh, and this curse will fall upon them, ומחה השם את שמו מתחת השמים umacha Hashem es shmo mitachas hashamayim, and Hashem will erase their name. What is going on here? This section that warns us, don't fall prey to idolatry, don't assimilate and integrate and mix into that host country into their corrupt values and their moral and their moral compromise. Why? Because you lived in Egypt, you saw it and you witnessed it, and therefore you are vulnerable to it. רש\"י Rashi or says ותראו את שיקוציהם vatiru es shikutzeihem. We saw, we saw their disgusting behavior. שהם מאוסים כשקצים shehem me'usim k'shkatzim. The Egyptians were repulsive like שקצים shkatzim. They were disgusting, they were low lives, they were repulsive like שקצים shkatzim. Somebody just told me about a צדיק tzaddik who lived a couple decades ago in Brooklyn, a great, great צדיק tzaddik, a great חסיד chasid, a great רבי rebbe who wrote and he said the moral depravity that we're living far, far outweighs what they went through in Egypt. What we see, what we witness, I've spoken about this. The average person who goes on the highway, what you see on the billboard, what you see in advertisements, what you see in the subway station, what you see in any newspaper, what you see in any attempt to remain briefed on the news, you cannot help what we see in our world today. The moral corruption, the moral compromise, the moral depravity that surrounds us, it's challenging. מאוסים כשקצים me'usim k'shkatzim, it's repulsive, it's degrading. גילוליהם Giluleihem, says רש\"י Rashi, שהם מסורחים ומאוסים כגלל shem mesorachim u'me'usim k'galal. It's as disgusting as waste. The גרי\"ז Griz, רב וועלוול סולובייצ'יק Rav Velvel Soloveitchik, the בריסקער רב Brisker Rav wondered and he said the following, so what? שהיא מאוסה כל כך כגללים כשקצים, כיצד זה יוכל להיכנס בלבו הרצון לעובדה shehi me'usa kol kach k'glalim uk'shkatzim, keitzad ze yuchal lehikanes b'libo haratzon l'ovda. The fact that we lived among the Egyptians, why does that mean we'd walk like an Egyptian? The fact that we saw the way they were behaving, we were witness to their moral compromise and corruption, why does that mean that we were going to follow suit? Why do we need to be warned so intensely? עד שהתורה כל כך מגדילה בעונשו ad shehaTorah kol kach magdila b'onsho, till the Torah tells us that you're going to be wiped out, you're going to be cursed, your name will be erased. מי הוא איש הזה שהילך אחר דברים מאוסים ומסורחים כל כך ויעסוק עליהם mi hu ish hazeh sheyeilech achar devarim me'usim u'mesorachim kol kach v'ya'asok aleihem. If in fact they're so disgusting, they're so repulsive, they're so degrading, if in fact they're so terrible, wouldn't the person who sees them, if they were repulsed, wouldn't they be pushed away? Wouldn't they draw back away from them? So why do we need to be warned? So the גרי\"ז Griz, the בריסקער רב Brisker Rav said a phenomenal and fantastic and critically important insight. He said we can learn from here a יסוד עצום yesod atzum. We see a critical, core, foundational principle. כשאדם רואה דבר עבירה אפילו חפץ של עבירה נגד עיניו k'sheadam ro'eh davar aveirah afilu chefetz shel aveirah neged einav. The way that we are comprised, the psyche of the human being, the way Hashem designed and programmed us is that what we see leaves an indelible impression upon us. What we witness, what we observe, what we see, that image embeds itself in our consciousness. אין ארוך לגודל ההשפעה של דבר זה מסוגל לחרוב בנפשו ולהותיר בראשו ein aroch l'godel ha'hashpa'ah shel davar zeh mesugal lacharov b'nafsho u'l'hotir b'rosho. We cannot underestimate the impact, the fantasy, the thoughts, the distraction, the desire, even if we would never follow in that way, even if we would never emulate that individual, but now that we know it's possible, now that it's part of our active imagination, now that it's part of our active consciousness because we've seen it, we've witnessed it, we're familiar with it, we've been exposed to it, we know it, now it leaves an impression on our heart, it contaminates our soul, so much so that something needs to be done. So you're right, just because we lived in Egypt and we witnessed their moral depravity means we're vulnerable to it? What are you talking about? It's repulsive, it's disgusting, it's degrading, it's repulsive. We would be repulsed by it. The answer is, even if you're repulsed by it, it nevertheless now becomes part of your mind, part of your memory, part of your consciousness. It now becomes a fixture in contaminating our soul, so much so that something needs to be done. In this case, Moshe making a harsh statement about what the consequence would be. That's the insight of the בריסקער רב Brisker Rav. When Rav Druck expands on the Brisker Rav, he points out a famous insight shared by many others. The Torah in פרשת נשא Parshas Naso has a סמיכות פרשיות smichus parshiyos. Right after the story of the סוטה sotah, the wayward woman, the woman who has infidelity or is accused of infidelity against her husband, she's brought to the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash in front of the כהן kohen, her hair is uncovered, she drinks from this concoction, this recipe, this mixture. And if in fact she was guilty, then she explodes, she dies a horrific, graphic death. So does the בועל boel, so does the man with whom she had the infidelity, by the way. He's not present with her, but when she drinks, he suffers the same consequence as her. And the Torah tells us, right afterwards we have in פרשת נשא Parshas Naso, the laws of the נזיר nazir, the individual who takes a vow of abstinence, not to drink wine. So why do we have the פרשה parsha of נזיר nazir right next to סוטה sotah? Why are they adjacent? Why are they juxtaposed to one another in the parsha? So the גמרא Gemara tells us in סוטה דף ב Sotah daf beis famously, למה נסמכה פרשת נזיר לפרשת סוטה Lama nismicha parshas nazir l'parshas sotah? לומר לך שכל הרואה סוטה בקלקולה יזיר עצמו מן היין Lomar lecha shekol haro'eh sotah b'kilkulah yazir atzmo min hayayin. Because if you knew that woman and you heard about the accusation and you read, you learned, someone told you that in fact she died because she had violated her husband's trust, now you need to יזיר עצמו מן היין yazir atzmo min hayayin. You need to react, you need to do something. Now that you know that, you need to do something to remove that stain, to erase that contamination, to elevate yourself from the impact of that knowledge. The question is why? You didn't cheat. You're not the one who violated the trust of your spouse. So why do you need to do something so radical as יזיר עצמו מן היין yazir atzmo min hayayin? And the answer is, because even when you're not following in those footsteps, even if you're not going to cross that boundary or that line, the very fact that you know that you saw, that you've learned, that you've been exposed, that it's part of your consciousness, your mindset, your mentality, that you know that someone who did it, who's capable of it, that needs to be addressed. One needs to lift themselves from it. And he continues that insight of the בריסקער רב Brisker Rav on our parsha, this pasuk about, even though we were exposed, ותראו את שיקוציהם, מאוסים כשקצים Vatiru es shikutzeihem, me'usim k'shkatzim, but nevertheless you need to take an act to distance yourself. And similarly, the נזיר nazir has to do something radical, something significant to overcome the urge, the instinct, to overcome the consciousness, the image of the סוטה sotah. Similarly in the פסוק pasuk הוכח תוכיח hochei'ach tochiach. Torah tells us in ספר ויקרא פרק י\"ט Sefer Vayikra perek yud tes, פרשת קדושים Parshas Kedoshim, הוכח תוכיח את עמיתך hochei'ach tochiach es amisecha, ולא תשא עליו חטא v'lo sisa alav cheit. We give מוסר mussar, we have to give rebuke when you love a fellow person, you give them rebuke. Rebuke is a very biblical word. I had a friend who came from the USSR in high school, my dear friend Lev, who now lives near me in South Florida, I love Lev. When he came from the USSR, he learned English by reading the Bible. He would open a Russian Bible and he would read Hebrew, English, and with English, and he learned English. So he would say to us, it wasn't a very popular language to use in high school. He would say, why do you rebuke me? It was very funny, no other teenagers were using the word rebuke. So הוכח תוכיח hochei'ach tochiach is a biblical word. We only use the word rebuke as a translation for הוכח תוכיח hochei'ach tochiach. We have a responsibility, an obligation, when we love the people in our lives and we know they're doing something which could be improved, could be corrected, so don't keep it to yourself, share it with them. ולא תשא עליו חטא v'lo sisa alav cheit, don't carry a חטא cheit. So what does that mean? הוכח תוכיח Hochei'ach tochiach. Why the double language? הוכח Hochei'ach then תוכיח tochiach. So Rav Druck says something fantastic. He says because when you see someone's done something wrong, הוכח Hochei'ach, first you have to react yourself. First you have to make a change in your life. You've witnessed, you've observed, you've seen, you've absorbed into you the possibility of what you know is wrong in them. They skip שחרית Shacharis, maybe it won't be so bad. They spoke לשון הרע lashon hara, maybe I'll speak לשון הרע lashon hara. Someone else you learned watches, looks at things, gazes at things they shouldn't. Okay, so now maybe it's in the realm of possibility for you, whereas beforehand you thought it wasn't. So first הוכח hochei'ach, first you have to do something for yourself, then תוכיח tochiach. Only first when we've reacted for ourselves, then תוכיח tochiach, then we are in the position to now be able to do it for others. The תוספתא Tosefta in מסכת שבועות Maseches Shvuos says הרואה דבר מצוה זכאי לראות haro'eh davar mitzvah zakai liros. הרואה דבר עבירה חייב לראות haro'eh davar aveirah, mechuyav liros. If you saw a mitzvah, you have to look, but if you saw an aveirah, there's a reason. So הרב מרדכי דרוק Rav Mordechai Druck, the דרש מרדכי Drash Mordechai says, what does that mean? הפירוש הוא מכיוון שנזדמן לו משמיים לראות דבר עבירה זה Hapeirush hu mikeivan she'nizdaman lo m'shamayim liros davar aveirah zeh. If you saw someone doing something wrong, זה סימן שיש לו שייכות פנימיות לחטא זה zeh siman sheyesh lo shaychus pnimiyus l'cheit zeh, that you too are connected to that mistake. If you learn or you're drawn to, you witness, you observe something that someone's done wrong, it means that that possibility, that that capacity, that that temptation is inside you too. And therefore, אילו היה מופקע מחטא זה לחלוטין לא היו מזדמן לו משמיים לראותו ilu haya mufka me'cheit zeh l'chalutin, lo hayu mizdaman lo m'shamayim liroso. If you were entirely disconnected from that mistake, you wouldn't have seen it. The fact that you saw it meant you're tempted by it, something needs to be done about it. A person has to extract himself, react to it, just like the נזיר nazir has to vow to abstain from wine once they saw the סוטה sotah. And just like once we witnessed the Egyptians and we lived in Egypt in our parsha, we lived in Egypt, we saw their עבודה זרה avodah zarah, we now need to do something strong to remove ourselves. And similarly, if you saw someone doing a דבר עבירה davar aveirah, הוכח hochei'ach, first react, pledge, promise, take upon a קבלה kabbalah to offset the impact of that contamination, of that image of having seen that. And then תוכיח tochiach, only then can we react to someone to someone else. Okay, moving right along. Moving right along. So that is the warning against idolatry. Keep going. פרק כ\"ט Perek Kaf Tes, פסוק pasuk י\"ח yud ches. We just read it. והיה בשמעו את דברי האלה הזאת והתברך בלבבו לאמור v'haya b'shomo es divrei ha'alah hazos v'hisbarech bilvavo leimor. When you hear the words of this אלה alah, of this warning, when you hear the words of this curse, so this individual who's flippant, this individual who's tempted by idolatry, the individual who has a casual relationship with Hashem and a casual relationship with his Torah, and a casual relationship with the Jewish people, will in their own heart, והתברך בלבבו לאמור v'hisbarech bilvavo leimor, they're going to say in their own heart, שלום יהיה לי shalom yihiyeh li. Ah, I'm at peace with it. I'm good with it. I pick and I choose. I'm off the דרך derech, I'm on my own דרך derech. I have a casual relationship with Yiddishkeit. שלום יהיה לי Shalom yihiyeh li. I'm okay. I'm at peace with it. כי בשרירות לבי אלך Ki b'shrirut libi eilech. I walk as my heart sees fit. I do what I want. למען ספות הרוה את הצמאה l'maan sfos haravah es hatz'meah, thereby adding the watered upon the thirsty. So Hashem's not going to forgive that individual. They will be the target of this curse, their name will be, their name will be erased. To whom are these words addressed? I want to share with you a beautiful insight of the קלויזנבורגער רבי Klausenburger Rebbe, the סאנז קלויזנבורגער רבי זצ\"ל Sanz Klausenburger Rebbe zatzal said the following on פרשת נצבים Parshas Nitzavim. It says והיה בשמעו v'haya b'shomo. So, קשה לכאורה, הלא הדיבר תורה כאן מהרשע שמתברך בלבבו לזלזל בדברי האלה הזאת kasha l'chora, halo hadibur Torah kan me'rasha shemisbarech b'libo l'zalzel b'divrei ha'alah hazos. It sounds like the Torah is talking to whom? The Torah is talking to a wicked person, a person who has a flippant, casual relationship with Hashem and his Torah, that's whom the Torah is addressing. אם כן, מה אמר לו לא יאבה השם סלוח לו, אם אינו מאמין בהשם im kein, ma amar lo lo yoveh Hashem sloach lo, im eino ma'amin b'Hashem. Why does this person care? What does the Torah say? That this individual with the casual relationship, who says, \"I'm good with it, I'm at peace with it, I'll do what my heart sees fit.\" לא יאבה השם סלוח לו Lo yoveh Hashem sloach lo. Hashem will not be forgiving, will not be willing to forgive the person. One asks the קלויזנבורגער רבי זצ\"ל Klausenburger Rebbe zatzal, why does this רשע rasha care if God will forgive him? I thought the whole idea here, the person is a רשע rasha. The one Hashem is addressing is a wicked person. So if they're a wicked person, if they have a casual relationship with Hashem, why do you care if you're forgiven from Hashem? So, אך יש ברבינו, so the קלויזנבורגער רבי Klausenburger Rebbe said, נראה שדיבר תורה לא על רשע אלא דייקא על צדיק nir'eh she'diber Torah lo al rasha, ela davka al tzaddik. So really, the קלויזנבורגער רבי Klausenburger Rebbe made a suggestion, had to reread this pasuk, that the Torah is not addressing the individual with the casual relationship. The Torah is not addressing the רשע rasha, but rather the צדיק tzaddik. Torah is talking to the צדיק tzaddik, the righteous person. השומע את דברי האלה הזאת, וזה מתברך בלבבו לאמור שלום יהיה לי ha'shomei'a es divrei ha'alah hazos, v'zeh misbarech b'libo leimor shalom yihiyeh li. So the צדיק tzaddik hears the Torah's harsh warning to the one who misbehaves, the Torah's harsh warning to the one who's not obedient, and he says to himself, שלום יהיה לי shalom yihiyeh li. אני רוצה לעשות למען שלום נפשי שלי ani rotze la'asos l'maan shalom nafshi sheli. בשרירות לבי אלך b'shrirut libi eilech. אדאג לצרכי הרוחניים ולא אדאג לצרכי אחרים edag l'tzorchei ha'ruchniyim v'lo edag l'tzorchei acheirim. So the קלויזנבורגער רבי Klausenburger Rebbe reinterprets this pasuk. We're not addressing the רשע rasha, the wicked, we're addressing the צדיק tzaddik, the righteous. And the Torah is saying the righteous person might say, you know what, that curse, that reaction, that punishment, that consequence, that's reserved for the wicked. But I the righteous, בשרירות לבי אלך b'shrirut libi eilech, I'm going to focus on my heart. I'm going to focus on my רוחניות ruchniyus, I'm going to focus on my life and my spiritual growth. Why do I have to worry about others? Let that דברי האלה הזאת divrei ha'alah hazos, let that curse befall the wicked. Why is that my business? שלום יהיה לי shalom yihiyeh li. I'm at peace. בשרירות לבי אלך b'shrirut libi eilech, I'm going to work only on myself. So, לא יחפש להם חס ושלום אחרים שיסרו מן הדרך lo yachpesh lahem chas v'shalom acheirim sheyasuru min haderech. עליו אמר, so says the קלויזנבורגער רבי Klausenburger Rebbe, about such an individual the Torah says, לא יאבה השם סלוח לו lo yoveh Hashem sloach lo. כי חייב אדם לדאוג על עצמו וגם על חברו ki chayav adam lidog al atzmo v'gam al chaveiro. That's what the Torah is talking about. So again, the קלויזנבורגער רבי Klausenburger Rebbe's question was, if the individual has thrown off the yoke of Torah, if this individual is dismissive about Hashem's expectations, then why does he care לא יאבה השם סלוח לו lo yoveh Hashem sloach lo? Why does he care if God is forgiving of him? The answer is we're not talking about the wicked, we're talking about the righteous. And the righteous does care if God is forgiving. So the Torah is telling us if you say בשרירות לבי אלך b'shrirut libi eilech, if you say שלום יהיה לי shalom yihiyeh li, the individual who says, what do I care? What do I care about the unaffiliated? What do I care about the assimilated? What do I care about the intermarried? What do I care about the kid who grew up religious but is off the דרך derech, the individual around me who is struggling? What do I care? שלום יהיה לי Shalom yihiyeh li. I'm good. I'm at peace. I'm on fire. בשרירות לבי אלך b'shrirut libi eilech. I'll worry about my רוחניות ruchniyus, I'll worry about my life. That's whom the Torah is addressing. Said the קלויזנבורגער רבי Klausenburger Rebbe, that's who the Torah is saying, לא יאבה השם סלוח לו lo yoveh Hashem sloach lo. God will not forgive you if that's your attitude. And then he got up and he stood up and he screamed. This was on in אייר תשנ\"ט Iyar Tashnat. He got up and he screamed, it was פרשת נצבים Parshas Nitzavim that year. And the קלויזנבורגער רבי Klausenburger Rebbe got up and he screamed, מליוני יהודים נסרפו במשרפות milyonei yehudim nisfu b'misrefos. Six million Jews were burnt in Auschwitz, in the Holocaust, they went up in flames. אילו מסרו גופם על קידוש השם ilu masru gufam al kiddush Hashem, they sacrificed, they paid the ultimate sacrifice, they gave their lives על קידוש השם al kiddush Hashem. ועלינו מוטל מסירות נפש v'aleinu mutal mesirus nefesh, שהכוונה למסור את הנפש שלנו למען השם she'hakavanah limsor es hanefesh shelanu l'maan Hashem, שגם השני יוכל לומר ושעוד יהודי ישוב למקור מחצבתו shegam hasheini yuchal lomar v'she'od yehudi yashuv l'mekor machtzavto. So said the קלויזנבורגער רבי Klausenburger Rebbe, he reread this pasuk, that the pasuk is not addressing the רשע rasha, the pasuk is addressing the צדיק tzaddik. And the pasuk is telling the צדיק tzaddik, you're not entitled, you don't have the luxury of saying you're only going to focus on yourself. That Hashem will not forgive you if you say you're only going to focus on yourself. We lost six million Jews, already they went up in the flames of Europe. We cannot lose another millions more to assimilation and intermarriage. And the קלויזנבורגער רבי Klausenburger Rebbe saw this pasuk, this directive of the Torah as a mission statement, לא יאבה השם סלוח לו lo yoveh Hashem sloach lo. Hashem will be unforgiving of us if we say שלום יהיה לי shalom yihiyeh li, I'm at peace, because בשרירות לבי אלך b'shrirut libi eilech, all I care about is myself. We have to go out and we have to care, we have to reach out, and we have to connect with those who are unaffiliated, who are uninspired, who are turned off, who are disaffected. We have to lift them up. We saw this in last week's parsha. ארור אשר לא יקים את דברי התורה הזאת Arur asher lo yakim es divrei haTorah hazos. We mentioned the Ramban last week, cursed is the one who does not uplift the Torah. You interact, you overlap with someone you could have inspired, you could have made your energy contagious, you could have shared excitement for Torah, and you didn't, you're not neutral, you're not פטור patur, you're cursed, ארור arur. ארור אשר לא יקים את דברי התורה arur asher lo yakim es divrei haTorah. לא יאבה השם סלוח לו lo yoveh Hashem sloach lo. Hashem will not forgive you says the קלויזנבורגער רבי Klausenburger Rebbe, in our time, in our generation, the threat and the challenge of assimilation of intermarriage surpass whatever danger there is from antisemitism, from Corona combined. Outside the orthodox, a 70% intermarriage rate. Within our own community, those who are leaving, who are turned off, who are disconnected, who are disaffected. לא יאבה השם סלוח לו lo yoveh Hashem sloach lo. Hashem will be unforgiving to us if we dismiss them, if we simply let them go. We have a responsibility, we have an obligation to do all we can. פרק ל' Perek Lamed, next perek, turn the page. פסוק pasuk. הנסתרות להשם אלוקינו Hanistaros la'Hashem Elokeinu. Actually, maybe we'll come back to that. The last pasuk of פרק כ\"ט perek kaf tes, top of page 1090, one of my favorite פסוקים psukim in the תורה Torah. I don't know if you're allowed to have favorite פסוקים psukim. If you are, this is one of mine. הנסתרות להשם אלוקינו Hanistaros la'Hashem Elokeinu, the hidden things are for Hashem. הנגלות לנו ולבנינו עד עולם Haniglos lanu ul'vaneinu ad olam, the revealed things are for us and our children. לעשות את כל דברי התורה הזאת la'asos es kol divrei haTorah hazos, all the words of this Torah. There are dots over the words לנו ולבנינו lanu ul'vaneinu. Why are there dots? What are the hidden and what are the revealed? Why are some for Hashem and some for us and our children? What does this mean? Maybe we'll come back to it. One of my favorite פסוקים psukim, but let's move along. פרק ל', פסוק ב' Perek Lamed, pasuk beis, chapter 30, verse 2. Torah here tells us that when you come and all these words the ברכה והקללה אשר נתתי לפניך bracha v'haklala asher nasati l'fanecha, I gave you, והשבות אל לבבך v'hasheivosa el l'vavecha, put them on your heart בכל הגוים אשר הדיחך השם אלוקיך שמה b'chol hagoyim asher hidichacha Hashem Elokecha shama, take them to heart among all the nations when Hashem is dispersed you. When we will be in exile, when we are dispersed among the nations, when we are exposed to and vulnerable to the values of our host country and those who surround us, השבות אל לבבך hasheivosa el l'vavecha. It is critically important to put these ideas in our heart. And if or when we do, the Torah tells us a promise, ושבת עד השם אלוקיך ושמעת בקולו v'shavta ad Hashem Elokecha v'shamata b'kolo, ככל אשר אנכי מצוך היום אתה ובניך בכל לבבך ובכל נפשך k'chol asher anochi metzavcha hayom atah u'vanecha b'chol l'vavcha u'v'chol nafshecha. ושבת v'shavta. שבת shavta is the word תשובה teshuva. We read this parsha always before ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah. This is the theme, the essence, that's what we're meant to be working on right now. ושבת עד השם אלוקיך v'shavta ad Hashem Elokecha. You will return until Hashem, you'll listen to his voice, you'll do what he says. ושב השם אלוקיך את שבותך ורחמך v'shav Hashem Elokecha es shvuscha v'richamecha. And then Hashem will bring you back, bring back your captivity and have mercy upon us. He will return and gather us from those people, he will bring us back. So when we are dispersed and when we're out and about, then ושבת veshavta, we have an obligation to return to him, עד ad. How far do we have to go? How far do we have to return? What does it mean to return to him? עד השם אלקיך Ad Hashem Elokecha. The רמב\"ן Ramban says, ושבת עד השם אלקיך veshavta ad Hashem Elokecha. The רמב\"ם Rambam writes the following: הלכות תשובה Hilchos Teshuva, פרק ב' Perek Beis, הלכה ב' Halacha Beis. The רמב\"ם Rambam, Maimonides, writes in הלכות תשובה Hilchos Teshuva, פרק ב' Perek Beis, הלכה ב' Halacha Beis, he writes: מהו דרכו של תשובה אמיתית mahu darko shel teshuva amitis? He writes: מהי התשובה ma'hi hateshuva, שיעזוב החוטא חטאו sheya'azov hachotei cheto. The person who made a mistake, person who had an indiscretion, that individual, what is often translated as the sinner, I hate the word sinner. It's not a Jewish word, it's a Catholic word. The sinner has to return from their sin. We prefer to translate, the one who's made a mistake has to return from their mistake. ויסירו ממחשבתו Veyasiro mimachshavto, has to remove it from their mind. By the way, that *shtims*, that works perfectly with what we said earlier, that the person who sees the סוטה sotah has to become a נזיר nazir. The person who lived in Egypt and witnessed their moral degradation has to pledge and promise to be holy. הוכח תוכיח Hocheach tochiach, the person who saw someone make a mistake, first has to הוכח hocheach themselves, then תוכיח tochiach. Similarly here, the רמב\"ם Rambam writes: יסירו ממחשבתו yasiro mimachshavto. Because the longer that an image remains in our mind, the longer we have a fantasy, a temptation, a desire, then we're likely to act on it. It has to be erased. It has to be addressed. We have to do something to purge it, to eliminate it. ויגמור בליבו Veyigmor belibo, writes the רמב\"ם Rambam, person has to conclude in their heart, שלא יעשהו עוד shelo ya'asehu od, that they're not going to do it anymore. שנאמר יעזוב רשע דרכו Shene'emar ya'azov rasha darko and so on. וכן יתנחם על שעבר Vechen yitnachem al she'avar. And the רמב\"ם Rambam writes a person has to have regret, remorse for what they did. שנאמר כי אחרי שובי נחמתי Shene'emar ki acharei shuvi nichamti. ויעיד עליו יודע תעלומות שלא ישוב לזה החטא לעולם Veya'id alav yodea ta'alumos shelo yashuv lezeh hachet le'olam. And, listen to how he ends, ויעיד עליו יודע תעלומות veya'id alav yodea ta'alumos. And let the one who knows secrets, who knows secrets? What we just read, הנסתרות hanistaros, to whom? להשם אלקינו laHashem Elokeinu. The one who knows the secrets is השם Hashem. The people around us, we can fool. We can project an image, we can craft and curate an online profile, we can let people believe whatever we want about ourselves. But who knows what's really in our heart? The one who knows the real us, יודע עליו yodea alav, יעיד עליו יודע תעלומות ya'id alav yodea ta'alumos. The יודע תעלומות yodea ta'alumos, the רמב\"ם Rambam describes השם Hashem here not just as השם אלקינו Hashem Elokeinu, not as the רבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam, the מלך מלכי המלכים Melech Malchei Hamlachim. We have so many names and appellations for השם Hashem, but the רמב\"ם Rambam describes him here as יודע תעלומות Yodea Ta'alumos. The one who knows the secrets, the one who knows what really resides in our heart, the one who has access to the real us. Let him, let השם Hashem יעיד ya'id, let him testify, שלא ישוב לזה החטא לעולם shelo yashuv lezeh hachet le'olam. So how far does תשובה teshuva go? The רמב\"ם Rambam writes in the second chapter of הלכות תשובה Hilchos Teshuva, תשובה teshuva must go, the measure of תשובה teshuva, the שיעור shiur. How do you know if you fulfilled תשובה teshuva? תשובה Teshuva must go so far that we have regret and remorse for what we did. We have so conclusively, we are determined to never repeat it again, that God, the one who has access to our heart, could testify about us. He's so, that's how confident he is in our conclusion that we would never do it again, that he could testify about us we would never do it again. That's the רמב\"ם Rambam. So the חיד\"א Chida writes from our פסוק pasuk a hint to the רמב\"ם Rambam. Why? Our פסוק pasuk says ושבת veshavta that we have to return where, how far? ושבת Veshavta, return, עד השם אלקיך ad Hashem Elokecha. Don't read it עד ad, read it עד eid, witness. תשובה Teshuva. Where'd the רמב\"ם Rambam know that from? The רמב\"ם Rambam writes what's תשובה teshuva? תשובה Teshuva is you have such remorse and regret and you have so conclusively determined you'll never do it again that God himself will testify about you that you're pure, that you're clean, that you're good to go, that you're not going to do it again. Where did the רמב\"ם Rambam get that from? That that is the שיעור shiur, the measure of תשובה teshuva? Says the חיד\"א Chida, Rabbi חיים יוסף דוד אזולאי Chaim Yosef David Azulai, he got it from our פרשה parsha, he got it from our פסוק pasuk. ושבת Veshavta, we have to return how far? עד השם אלקיך ad Hashem Elokecha, until God. Don't read it עד ad, read it עד eid. Until השם Hashem would be a witness. That's how far we have to, that's how far we have to, we have to go.But look at ושבת עד השם אלקיך veshavta ad Hashem Elokecha. Along the same lines, I told you this new חומש Chumash I got, מקראות גדולות פרדס Mikraos Gedolos Pardes. Let me scroll to מקראות גדולות הפרדס Mikraos Gedolos HaPardes. I want to thank the editor and publisher again for sharing and sending me a a copy. Thank you so much to Aaron for your generosity. This beautiful new מקראות גדולות Mikraos Gedolos, as I mentioned last week, has teachings of the בעל שם טוב Baal Shem Tov, the מגיד ממזריטש Maggid of Mezritch, the שפת אמת Sfas Emes, the רבי מליובאוויטש Lubavitcher Rebbe, and ליקוטי הלכות Likutei Halachos of the Breslov, and the גר\"א Gra, and the זוהר Zohar. It is a all new מקראות גדולות Mikraos Gedolos in addition to the classic commentators, it has some many new ones as well. So the בעל שם טוב Baal Shem Tov, the בעש\"ט Besht on our פסוק pasuk ושבת עד השם אלקיך veshavta ad Hashem Elokecha, the בעל שם טוב Baal Shem Tov in this new מקראות גדולות Mikraos Gedolos writes the following. מעלת התשובה גדולה כל כך עד שמסלק כל החושך שהיה נמצא בו מלפני שחזר בתשובה Mailas hateshuva gedola kol kach ad shemisalek kol hachoshech shehaya nimtza bo milifnei shechazar beteshuva. ושבת Veshavta, how far do we have to go back? עד השם אלקיך Ad Hashem Elokecha. We have to return, תשובה teshuva, the root of the word תשובה teshuva is לשוב lashuv, to return. We have to go back to the purity of our soul. We have to go back to the way we were created. We have to go back to the clean and fresh slate that we started with. We can go back so far that צא וראה כשאדם מביא את הנר למקום חושך לא נשאר רושם של חושך כלל tzei u'reh k'sheadam meivi et haner le'makom choshech lo nishar roshem shel choshech klal. If you walk into a dark room and you light a candle, the light dispels the darkness. There is no hint or illusion, there's no remnant of the darkness at all. When you light a candle in a dark room, you only have light. It's not that you have light illuminating the darkness, there is no longer any darkness. All you have is the light. And therefore says the בעל שם טוב Baal Shem Tov ושבת עד השם אלקיך veshavta ad Hashem Elokecha. That's how far back we can go. We can illuminate, we can light such a bright light, there is no more dark. We are עד השם אלקיך ad Hashem Elokecha.And then the בעל שם טוב Baal Shem Tov continues, ושבת עד השם אלקיך, אמרו חז\"ל במקום שבעלי תשובה עומדים צדיקים גמורים אינם עומדים veshavta ad Hashem Elokecha, amru chazal b'makom she'baalei teshuva omdim, tzaddikim gemurim einam omdim. We know חז\"ל Chazal tell us that the בעל תשובה baal teshuva, the individual who has fallen and who got back up, and we know that you're not really a צדיק tzaddik until you fall in seven times and gotten back up. So the צדיק tzaddik who fell seven times and got back up, they're a בעל תשובה baal teshuva. And in the place the בעל תשובה baal teshuva stands, the צדיק גמור tzaddik gamur. So the person who struggles, the person who confronts temptation, the person who battles with themselves, who's lost and won and lost and won but keeps getting up and doesn't allow themselves to get knocked over and knocked down. That צדיק tzaddik, the צדיק tzaddik who has been there, who has been on the ground, the צדיק tzaddik who has faced and confronted temptation, the desire, the failure, they are in a place the צדיק גמור tzaddik gamur, that the individual who has never struggled, who's never been tempted, who's never had that conflict, they have no access. וביאור משום שבעל תשובה מכיר ענין התלהבות מהחטאים וכן גם עכשיו עושה המצוות בהתלהבות וענין זה נצרך לו כיוון שאינו מורגל במצוות ולכן כשהוא עושה בהתלהבות ייפול ממדרגתו U've'ur mishum she'baal teshuva makir inyan hislahavus me'hachataim, vechein gam achshav oseh hamitzvos b'hislahavus, ve'inyan zeh nitzrach lo kei'van she'eino murgal b'mitzvos velachen k'shehu oseh b'hislahavus, yipol m'madregaso. So the בעל שם טוב Baal Shem Tov explains, what does it mean that במקום שבעלי תשובה עומדים b'makom she'baalei teshuva omdim? What does it mean that where the בעל תשובה baal teshuva, where the individual who fell down and got back up stands, the צדיק גמור tzaddik gamur has no right, doesn't stand? What it means is the following. The person who fell down, they know what it means to live with fire, with passion, with desire, with drive. They know, because whatever it was for, whatever knocked them over, whether it was licentiousness, lewdness, promiscuity, whether it was alcohol, drugs, whether it was the temptation of money, of power, whether it was the desire, the temptation to gossip, to slander, whatever knocked them down, when a person is in the throes of temptation, they know what passion looks like. They know what drive is all about. They know the power, they know the power of that addiction. So that individual, that individual, says the בעל שם טוב Baal Shem Tov, has the ability to take that drive, that passion, that desire, and to channel it for the good, for תורה Torah and for מצוות mitzvos. See the צדיק גמור tzaddik gamur, person who never struggled, the person who never stumbled, the person who never fell, they don't know what it means to be addicted. They don't know what it means to have that passion, that desire. They don't know what it means to be so driven. But the individual who's been there, who's been knocked over, they know, now they also know how to bottle it, capture it, channel it and redirect it towards תורה Torah and מצוות mitzvos. Therefore they are a higher level. ושבת עד השם אלקיך Veshavta ad Hashem Elokecha. The הייליגע שפת אמת heilige Sfas Emes in the same מקראות גדולות הפרדס Mikraos Gedolos Hapardes says, שפת אמת Sfas Emes says the following: פירוש שיש בכל איש ישראל נקודה ונקודת קדשים עליו יתברך והיא נשמת חיים ועל ידי החטא מתרבה מסך החומר וגשמיות על אור הנשמה והיא אינה יכולה להאיר, ולכן כפי מה שמחזק כח הנשמה להיות מיושבת בגופו, כך מאיר כח הנשמה בשורשה למעלה וזהו פירוש ושבת שיוכל להשיב אור הנשמה בגופו Perush sheyesh b'chol ish Yisrael nekudah u'nekudas kedoshim alav yisborach ve'hi nishmas chayim v'al yedei hachet misrabeh masach hachomer v'gashmiyus al or haneshamah ve'hi einah yecholah le'ha'ir. Velachen k'fi mah she'mechazek koach haneshamah lihiyos meyusheves b'gufo, kach me'ir koach haneshamah b'shorshah le'ma'alah. V'zehu perush veshavta, she'yuchal le'hashiv or haneshamah b'gufo. We are a body and we are a soul. And the more we identify as the body, the more we get rid of, we dispel the soul. The more that we return and restore the soul to our body, then the more we are returning to השם Hashem. And that's why the language is ושבת veshavta. Where are you going back to? What are you putting back in? What are you replacing? ושבת עד השם אלקיך Veshavta ad Hashem Elokecha, it is the כח הנשמה koach haneshama, it is the חלק אלוקה ממעל ממש cheilek eloka mima'al mamash. It is the godliness and the spirit inside us literally that we are taking back and putting back, that we are restoring the soul back into our body. Rabbi Soloveitchik also comments on these words, ושבת עד השם אלקיך veshavta ad Hashem Elokecha, that we have to return. And where do we return and how far do we return? עד השם אלקיך Ad Hashem Elokecha. And says Rabbi Soloveitchik the following.The מדרש פסיקתא דרב כהנא Midrash Piskta d'Rav Kahana records the following conversation. I'll read it to you in the English. Yisrael said before רבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam, Master of the universe, if we repent, who testifies for us? So השם Hashem said I'll testify for you. As it says, return unto, עד ad, the Lord your God, the Lord is your witness. עד Ad, eid. The גמרא Gemara in יומא דף פ\"ו Yuma daf pey vav brings a different homily based on the same פסוק pasuk. Great is תשובה teshuva, it reaches the כסא הכבוד Kiseh Hakavod, because it says ושבת עד השם אלקיך veshavta ad Hashem Elokecha. Where's the source of the idea? Where did the גמרא Gemara in יומא Yuma get this from? There's a significant difference between the words עד ad and אל el. Rabbi Soloveitchik very astutely points out, I would have thought the פסוק pasuk should say ושבת אל השם אלקיך veshavta el Hashem Elokecha. To whom, to where, to God? ושבת אל השם אלקיך Veshavta el Hashem Elokecha. But it doesn't say אל el, it says עד ad. The word אל el, to, means I'm going in a specific direction. I've not yet reached my goal. While the word עד ad means I've already reached that goal, that my hands can reach out and to say even touch the throne of glory itself. When the רמב\"ם Rambam speaks of the repentant sinner, he says we are we are to have דביקות dveikus, we cling unto the שכינה Shechina. הלכות תשובה פרק ז Hilchos Teshuva Perek Zayin. One who has repented cleaves and is united with the presence of God, but a connection with the שכינה Shechina is brought about in one way only, through the enactment of a covenant. Without enacting a covenant, it's impossible to achieve the unique state of the characterizes the relationship between השם Hashem and man, epitomized in the פסוק pasuk אתם נצבים היום כולכם לפני השם אלקיכם atem nitzavim hayom kulchem lifnei Hashem Elokeichem. This is the significant of the פסיקתא דרב כהנא Piskta d'Rav Kahana. How may a Jew achieve this state of being עד השם אלקיך ad Hashem Elokecha? So again, not אל el. We're not just going in the direction, the trajectory towards השם Hashem, but we have the ability to go not just אל el, but עד ad, that we can cling, we can cleave, we can connect. We could reach out and touch and be touched by השם Hashem. Is it possible for any human being to really cleave onto the שכינה Shechina? A union of the sort can only be achieved by renewal of the covenant with השם Hashem, and this can be accomplished through the act of perfect תשובה teshuva, which brings man not only to God, but unto God. אל השם El Hashem is to God. עד השם Ad Hashem is unto God. So תשובה teshuva has the capacity, תשובה teshuva has the ability to not only set us in the direction to, אל el, but unto, עד ad.So writes Rabbi Soloveitchik, Judaism, יהדות Yahadus, Yiddishkeit, rests on three attributes of the individual, signified by the head, the hand, and the heart. The head involves the intellectual discipline inherent in Judaism. An ignoramus cannot be a good Jew. Again, an ignoramus cannot be a good Jew. The ideal of תלמוד תורה Talmud Torah involves the highest levels of logic, the ability to think abstractly, analytically, and conceptually. The rigor of Torah learning is equivalent to and perhaps surpasses the modern, most modern and philosophical methods. The learning of Torah is therefore nothing less than the sanctification of the mind through intellectual struggle. The hand involves מצוה mitzvah performance. In this respect, many בעלי תשובה baalei teshuva excel, being vigilant to keep those מצוות mitzvos that are difficult as well as those that are easy, all with precision. Through such performance, a person's hands are sanctified. However, writes Rabbi Soloveitchik, although one can find the first two attributes in abundance today, it is the third aspect which is wanting among contemporary American Jews. The heart involves experiencing השם Hashem emotionally. The גמרא Gemara in סנהדרין Sanhedrin says, רחמנא ליבא בעי Rachmana liba boi. What does השם Hashem want? He wants our heart. One must feel the emotional pull of the רבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam. As William James put it, the presence of the unseen. Can a Jew genuinely feel his presence? Based on my own personal experience, says the Rav, the encounter with השם Hashem is eminently possible. Man not only must believe in God, he must feel God's hand supporting his head during times of emotional turmoil. Potential בעלי תשובה baalei teshuva pine for the sublime sense of hearing השם Hashem's whisper. The experience of עד השם Ad Hashem involves the very real perception of contact, communication, and dialogue. This sensation is expressed in the Talmudic passage that great is תשובה teshuva, it reaches עד כסא הכבוד ad Kiseh Hakavod. Without my feeling the presence of השם Hashem in 1967, when I suffered the loss of my mother, brother, and my wife all in the same year, I would not have been able to maintain my emotional equilibrium. The perception of השם's Hashem's proximity was particularly strong during the study of תורה Torah while poring over the opinions of אביי Abaye and רבא Rava, I sensed his presence in the room.This passage by Rabbi Soloveitchik is so powerful, is so beautiful. ושבת Veshavta, not אל השם אלקיך el Hashem Elokecha, ושבת עד veshavta ad. That when we return to השם Hashem, when we turn to him, when we lean into him, we're not just leaning towards him, we're not just leaning to him, we're leaning unto him. To him means he's far away, we're heading in the direction. To lean unto him means that we're connected with him. He is our support system. We're leaning on him, we're leaning unto him. So therefore ושב עד השם אלקיך v'shav ad Hashem Elokecha. It's not אל el, it's ושב עד v'shav ad. And the Rav here so poignantly writes, the head, intellectually, academically, cognitively, תורה Torah, we're learning תורה Torah, analyzing תורה Torah, academic תורה Torah, we have תורה Torah at the highest levels. And the hands, the actions, the חסד chesed, the צדקה tzedakah, the מצוות mitzvos that we're doing with vigilance, with precision, with חומרות chumros, beautiful. But what about the heart, רחמנא ליבא בעי Rachmana liba boi? השם Hashem wants us ושבת veshavta in this time of אלול Elul, in this countdown to ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah, it's not just being more careful and more scrupulous with the מצוות mitzvos we do. It's not just more learning תורה Torah in our head, in our mind, but what about our heart? Are we connected? Do we have a relationship? Are we talking with him? Are we עד ad or are we only אל el? And here he describes, you know, when the Rav, it's not here in the passage in the חומש Chumash, but he talks about in the Boston, the the בחורים bachurim of the ישיבה של רבי יצחק הכהן Yeshiva of Rabbi Yitzchak HaCohen would go up to Boston to learn with the Rav in the summers. And every summer they would decide what they were going to learn together. The Rav, the great sign of the Brisker methodology, the great Brisker. So the Rav, of course, his his תורה Torah, his למדנות lamdanus was arguably unparalleled in his lifetime. But he would ask what they'd want to learn. And one summer, the Rav said, you know what? I want to learn תניא Tanya. He taught the תניא Tanya. The Rav grew up in חסלוביץ' Khaslavich, had a Lubavitch מלמד melamed. He knew תניא Tanya back and forward. He wanted to learn תניא Tanya. But a few days later, the בחורים bachurim rebelled. And now they wanted to go back to the גמרא Gemara, they wanted to go back to Brisker למדנות lamdanus. And the Rav later bemoaned, he said, my תלמידים talmidim, they're only interested with what's in my head, they're not interested in what's in my heart. They are only interested in what's in my head, they're not interested in what's in my heart. השם Hashem wants what's in our heart. רחמנא ליבא בעי Rachmana liba boi. It's not just our head, it's our heart. And how do our heart? עד השם אלקיך Ad Hashem Elokecha. It's with our heart that we lean on God. It's with our heart that we don't just go to God, but we fall unto God. And we cleave with God and that תשובה teshuva can take us so far עד כסא הכבוד ad Kiseh Hakavod. I'll give a shameless plug that the four episodes of Behind the Bima, the interviews that we've had, Yosef Mendelevitch, who four weeks ago talked about what it was like to be on a hunger strike in a Siberian prison for 56 days and how he leaned on השם Hashem in that time. The hunger strike was really a תענית ta'anis, a fast for God. And then we had Mariana Rivera, a non-Jew who cannot say a sentence without mentioning God's name. Talks about God in the winning and the losses. Hall of fame pitcher who you have to listen to that interview. And then this last week, Rav Moshe Weinberger, pshh. The great מורה דרך moreh derech, Rabbi Moshe Weinberger שליט\"א shlita, fire about what it means to live a life connected עד השם אלקיך ad Hashem Elokecha. And then lastly, tomorrow night, we're interviewing Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook, who talks to us about the fact that she doesn't know if she really believed in God until her husband dropped dead out of nowhere, until she lost her husband of blessed memory. And that's when she leaned in and leaned on God unto, עד השם אלקיך ad Hashem Elokecha. You want to grow, you want to be מחזק mechazek your אמונה emunah, all four of these interviews, you really want to listen to. Excuse the shameless plug. ושבת עד השם אלקיך Veshavta ad Hashem Elokecha, such a beautiful, beautiful passage of Rabbi Soloveitchik.Moving right along, פרק ל' Perek Lamed, פסוק ו' Pasuk Vav. Next פסוק pasuk. ומל השם אלקיך את לבבך ואת זרעך לאהבה את השם אלקיך בכל לבבך ובכל נפשך למען חייך Umal Hashem Elokecha et levavcha v'et zera'echa le'ahava et Hashem Elokecha b'chol levavcha u'v'chol nafshecha lema'an chayecha. השם Hashem, your God, will circumcise your heart and the heart of your children to love השם Hashem with all of your heart, with all of your soul, so that you may live. בכל לבבך ובכל נפשך למען חייך B'chol levavcha u'v'chol nafshecha lema'an chayecha. ומל השם Umal Hashem, he's going to circumcise our heart. So the בעל הטורים Baal Haturim says here, says the בעל הטורים Baal Haturim, את לבבך ואת לבב et levavcha v'et levav. He will circumcise our heart and the heart of our children. Says the בעל הטורים Baal Haturim, את לבבך ואת לבב ראשי תיבות אלול et levavcha v'et levav roshei teivos, Elul. את לבבך ואת לבב ראשי תיבות Es levavcha v'es levav roshei teivos is an acronym for אלול Elul. לכך Lechach says the בעל הטורים Baal Haturim, לכך lechach, therefore, נהגו להשכים ולספות סליחות מאלול והילך nahagu l'hashkim u'lesapos slichos me'Elul v'eilech. Therefore, the מנהג minhag is to wake up early to say סליחות slichos in the month of אלול Elul because the ראשי תיבות roshei teivos, because אלול Elul is an acronym for את לבבך ואת לבב et levavcha v'et levav, therefore we wake up early in order to say סליחות slichos in the morning. Excuse me? What's the therefore? Cute. את לבבך ואת לבב Es levavcha v'es levav, אלול Elul. Everyone knows אלול Elul is an acronym for אני לדודי ודודי לי ani l'dodi v'dodi li. It's an acronym for איש לרעהו מתנות לאביונים ish l'rei'eihu matanos la'evyonim. It's an acronym I saw last week's פרשה parsha, I think it's the חיד\"א Chida, last week's פרשה parsha he says it's an acronym for... אזנים לשמוע ועינים לראות לב לדעת oznayim lishmoa v'einayim liros lev lada'as. What what is it? אלול Elul. אזנים לשמוע ולב לדעת oznayim lishmoa v'lev lada'as, Elul. אזנים לשמוע ולב לדעת oznayim lishmoa v'lev lada'as. אלול Elul is an acronym for many, many different things. So, cute בעל הטורים Baal Haturim, את לבבך ואת לבב es levavcha v'es levav is an acronym for אלול Elul. What's the לכך lechach? Therefore, wake up early to say סליחות slichos in the morning. What is the therefore? So, the ספר sefer called אבני חן Avnei Chein, the אבני חן Avnei Chein asks that question and he gives the following answer. He says, the תורה Torah is connecting, where is the place of the יצר הרע yetzer hara? It's in the heart. The יצר הרע yetzer hara is in the heart. In fact, לבבך levavcha. Here in our פרשה parsha, we had that word לבבך levavcha so many times. We've just read that word לבבך levavcha. החשבת אל לבבך Hashivosa el levavcha. בכל לבבך ובכל נפשך B'chol levavcha u'v'chol nafshecha. ומל לבבך ואת לבב זרעך לאהבה בכל לבבך ובכל נפשך umeil levavcha v'es levav zarecha le'ahava b'chol levavcha u'v'chol nafshecha. לבבך לבבך לבבך לבבך Levavcha, levavcha, levavcha, levavcha. If you listen to our series on שמע Shema, which by the way we shamelessly plugging this morning, then you know that in שמע Shema we're up to, ואהבת ve'ahavta, if you to love השם Hashem בכל לבבך ובכל נפשך ובכל b'chol levavcha u'v'chol nafshecha u'v'chol. Why בכל לבבך b'chol levavcha? It should say בכל לבך b'chol libecha. The גמרא Gemara asks that question. Why not with your one heart? בכל לבך B'chol libecha. Why בכל לבבך b'chol levavcha? Here in our פרשה parsha, the word צלם tzelem over and over and over and over again, בכל לבבך b'chol levavcha. Says your two hearts. Why not your one heart? The answer is, we have a יצר הטוב yetzer hatov and a יצר הרע yetzer hara. We have two hearts. Not anatomically, not physically, biologically, spiritually, we have two hearts. We have the יצר הטוב yetzer hatov, the drive for good, and the יצר הרע yetzer hara, the drive for not so good. So, where is the יצר הרע yetzer hara found? It's found in the heart. It's in the heart. את לבבך ואת לבב Es levavcha v'es levav. You need to מל mol, circumcise, peel off the layer, remove the יצר הרע yetzer hara that can be found in the heart. What is one of the biggest יצר הרע yetzer haras that we have, he writes? We have a huge יצר הרע yetzer hara to stay in bed, to sleep, to blow off סליחות slichos. People blow off סליחות slichos for lots of reasons. Some because they're helping to do carpool. Some because they're helping to do surgery. Some because they've scheduled their day to have their חברותא chavrusa at that time. People blow it off because they're helping the widow, the orphan, the poor person. They're doing it because they think they need their sleep in order to be healthy. There are a lot of reasons, excuses, rationalizations we have to blow off waking up early for סליחות slichos instead of scheduling our day and ensuring we get enough sleep and getting it all in because this is the crunch time, high intensity time. They blow it off. So where is that יצר הרע yetzer hara that tries to convince us to blow off סליחות slichos? It's in our heart. את לבבך ואת לבב Es levavcha v'es levav. לכך lechach, נהגו להשכים nahagu l'hashkim. What's the answer, the antidote? אלול Elul, את לבבך ואת לבב es levavcha v'es levav, wake up early. Wake up early. That's the לכך lechach he says within the בעל הטורים Baal Haturim, it's not just a cute acronym אלול את לבבך ואת לבב Elul es levavcha v'es levav, but it's also לכך lechach. Therefore, the antidote, the answer is to wake up early and to make a difference. The great קאצקער רבי Kotsker Rebbe, רבי מנחם מענדל Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotsk in our new ספר sefer, אמת ואמונה Emes Ve'emunah. The הייליגע קאצקער heilige Kotsker says: ומל השם אלקיך את לבבך Umal Hashem Elokecha es levavcha. Doesn't it say in פרשת עקב Parshas Eikev already, ומלתם את ערלת לבבכם u'maltem es orlas levavchem? Doesn't it say that השם's Hashem's the one who's going to do it? משמע שמותר על האדם לחסב בעצמו את ערלת לבבו Mashma she'mutal al ha'adam l'hasev b'atzmo es orlas levavo. So first השם Hashem commanded us, ומלתם את ערלת לבבכם u'maltem es orlas levavchem, and now it says ומל השם אלקיך את לבבך u'mal Hashem Elokecha es levavcha. Who's the one who's going to circumcise our hearts? Is God going to circumcise our hearts or are we obligated to circumcise our hearts? Is it ומלתם את ערלת לבבכם u'maltem es orlas levavchem, פרשת עקב Parshas Eikev, or is it ומל השם אלקיך u'mal Hashem Elokecha, פרשת נצבים Parshas Nitzavim? Which is it, asks the הייליגע קאצקער רבי heilige Kotsker Rebbe? אמר Amar, so he says, כי חייב האדם בעצמו להסיר את עור הלבבו, שהיא כלי מוכן לקבל הקדושה ki chayev ha'adam b'atzmo le'hasir es or halevavo, she'hi kli muchan le'kabel hakdusha. Our heart has a covering. Our heart has a hard shell. We have to remove the covering. We have to remove that hard shell. We have to expose our soft heart. אבל שהיא הפך לבבו מן הקצה אל הקצה שלא יתאווה לתאוות עולם הזה כלל זה אינו ביד האדם, רק על ידי השם יתברך שיאמר את לבבו Aval she'yehapech levavo min hakatzeh el hakatzeh, shelo yisaveh le'ta'avos olam hazeh klal, zeh eino b'yad ha'adam. Rak al yedei Hashem yisborach she'yamol es levavo. ובשביל כך כתיב בפרשת עקב ומלתם את ערלת לבבכם דהיינו כיסוי של הלב וכאן כתוב ומל השם אלקיך את לבבך U'bishvil kach, ksiv b'Parshas Eikev, u'maltem es orlas levavchem, d'haynu kisui shel halev. V'chan kasuv u'mal Hashem Elokecha es levavcha. Only in פרשת עקב Parshas Eikev it says ומלתם את ערלת לבבכם u'maltem es orlas levavchem, we have to remove the ערלה orlah, we remove the covering, and then השם Hashem ומל את לבבך u'mal es levavcha. We remove the covering of our heart and then השם Hashem helps purify the heart itself. We have to take that first step, we have to initiate, we have to show our interest and our desire, and then השם Hashem does the rest from there. השם Hashem takes it from there. The תורה Torah then tells us that this מצוה mitzvah of תשובה teshuva, כי המצוה הזאת ki hamitzvah hazos, this great מצוה mitzvah that we think is so far away, is so inaccessible, is so distant, לא נפלאת היא ממך ולא רחוקה היא lo nifles mimcha v'lo rechoka hi. לא בשמים היא Lo bashamayim hi, it's not in the heavens, מי יעלה לנו השמימה mi ya'aleh lanu hashamayma, that you'll say who can go up to the heavens to get it. It's not on the other side of the sea. כי קרוב אליך הדבר מאוד Ki karov eilecha hadavar me'od, amazing Eitan Katz song. כי קרוב אליך הדבר מאוד בפיך ובלבבך לעשותו Ki karov eilecha hadavar me'od b'ficha u'vilvavcha la'asoso. This מצוה mitzvah, what מצוה mitzvah? כי המצוה הזאת Ki hamitzvah hazos. The תורה Torah intentionally leaves it ambiguous, mysterious. What מצוה mitzvah are we talking about? כי המצוה הזאת Ki hamitzvah hazos, which מצוה mitzvah? The רמב\"ן Ramban says we're talking about the מצוה mitzvah of תשובה teshuva. How do you know? Because it's בפיך ובלבבך b'ficha u'vilvavcha. What מצוה mitzvah is in our mouth and our heart? The מצוה mitzvah of תשובה teshuva because that's וידוי viduy, confession, admission. It's in our heart and it's in our mouth. It must be the מצוה mitzvah of תשובה teshuva, the מצוה mitzvah of וידוי viduy. That's what feels like it's so far away and so difficult, but it's doable. It is accessible. We have it. We can take care of it. So the קאצקער Kotsker says, לא בשמים היא lo bashamayim hi. Listen to this קאצקער Kotsker. התורה איננה אצל אותם יהודים החושבים שהגיעו לשמים HaTorah einena eitzel osam Yehudim ha'choshvim she'higiu la'shamayim. לא בשמים היא Lo bashamayim hi. The תורה Torah is not for those people who have their head in their clouds. The תורה Torah is not for those people who are arrogant, who have inflated egos, who think they're so great. לא בשמים היא Lo bashamayim hi. The תורה Torah is not found among those who think they're so great that their heads are in the heavens, their heads are in the clouds. Where is it? בפיך ובלבבך B'ficha u'vilvavcha. So says the קאצקער Kotsker on these words, I love this קאצקער Kotsker too. בפיך ובלבבך B'ficha u'vilvavcha. It's important you gotta talk a big game. Talk תורה Torah, talk אמונה emunah, talk דביקות dveikus, talk דברי תורה divrei Torah. It's important to talk about it. ובלבבך U'vilvavcha. You have to have a good heart. Kind heart, a sensitive heart, a caring heart, a faithful heart. But you know what the mouth and the heart have to do? בפיך ובלבבך B'ficha u'vilvavcha, it's just lip service and it's just inside your heart unless לעשותו la'asoso. בפיך ובלבבך לעשותו B'ficha u'vilvavcha la'asoso. עיקר לעשות לא רק בדיבור ובמחשבה רק לעשות Ikar la'asos lo rak b'dibur u'v'machshava, rak la'asos. Says the קאצקער Kotsker somewhat cynically, it's not enough to be בפיך b'ficha. It's not just in your mouth. You can't just talk a big game. ובלבבך U'vilvavcha, and you can't just talk about what's in your heart. There are people who tell me, Rabbi, you don't know me. But in my heart, I'm the I'm the firmest person you know. I'm the most observant person you know. In my heart, I have the most אמונה emunah of anyone you know. That's lovely. I'm sure your heart will go to שמים Shamayim. What about the rest of you? Your heart's a good place, it's a good start, it's a good beginning. But it can't just be בפיך b'ficha, says the קאצקער Kotsker. It can't just be lip service. It can't just be בפיך b'ficha and it can't just be ובלבבך u'vilvavcha. It can't just be in our heart. לעשותו La'asoso. In the end of the day, it has to be something that drives us, לעשותו la'asoso, to do, to achieve, to accomplish בפיך ובלבבך b'ficha u'vilvavcha.All right, there's a lot more to share, but we are going to stop here because there's a lot to prepare, a שבת שובה Shabbos Shuva and more. Join us tomorrow morning for 10 minutes of מסילת ישרים Mesilas Yesharim at 8:15. Then 8:45 we go to Living with Emunah. Tomorrow night at 9:00 p.m. we'll go behind the Bima with the COO of Facebook, Sheryl Sandberg. If you would like to be notified in real time when we go live, please if you have not yet, take a moment, subscribe on YouTube. Just hit the subscribe button, you will be subscribed. You'll be notified every time we go live to be able to learn and grow together. Thank you again to all of our sponsors. You'd like to sponsor a future episode, a future שיעור shiur, all you have to do is click BRSonline.org/sponsor. BRSonline.org/sponsor. Also, as I've been sharing, if you'd like to see a PDF notes of the Parsha Perspective shiur, if you want to be able to print out, beautifully laid out by my dear friend Matthew Miller, if you want to be able to share at your שבת Shabbos table and have the notes prepared, then subscribe to our newsletter at rabbiefremgoldberg.org. Rabbiefremgoldberg.org. You'll get a newsletter every Thursday morning, early in the morning with the PDF of the notes of the פרשה parsha. You could print it out, bring it to your שבת Shabbos table. It is a beautiful compliment to listening or watching to the פרשה parsha שיעור shiur. Until next time, stay happy, stay healthy, stay holy.
