Transcript
Ai ya ya za za za. Ai ya ya ra ra ra ra ra ra ra. Ai ya ma ra va va va la la la la la. Ai ya ra ra ra ra. Ai ya ra ra ra ra. Shkoyach, shkoyach for coming, the final Thursday night שמועס shmooze, חולנט cholent and שמועס shmooze of the year, of uh, next year, next year starts, next week starts a whole new year, we start again. So שְׁכּוֹיֵחַ shkoyach for being here. Just a quick thought to be together Thursday night, to warm our belly with some חולנט cholent, warm our hearts with some Torah. הנסתרת לה' אלקינו והנגלת לנו ולבנינו עד עולם לעשות את כל דברי התורה הזאת Hanistaros l'Hashem Elokeinu v'haniglos lanu u'levaneinu ad olam la'asos es kol divrei haTorah hazos. Our פרשה parsha, משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu, is coming to the end of his monologue, the last day of his life, his instruction, his charge to כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael, how to live life when we come into ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael. And in the middle or towards the end of the speech, he proclaims, הנסתרת לה' אלקינו hanistaros l'Hashem Elokeinu. הנסתרת Hanistaros, that which is hidden. That which is hidden belongs to God. והנגלת V'haniglos, that which is revealed, it לנו ולבנינו lanu u'levaneinu is for us and our children עד עולם ad olam, for eternity, in perpetuity, לעשות את כל דברי התורה הזאת la'asos es kol divrei haTorah hazos, to do, to perform all the words of this Torah, of this Torah that משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu has been teaching them, משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu has been delivering. And all, all the מפרשים meforshim jump in, all of them try to understand what are the נסתרות Nistaros and what are the נגלות Niglos? What is hidden that belongs to God? What's revealed, it belongs to man? What is the פסוק pasuk, what were, what was משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu trying to communicate? And it's worthwhile go through the מקראות גדולות Mikraos Gedolos, the ordinary מקראות גדולות Mikraos Gedolos, the new מקראות גדולות Mikraos Gedolos, פרדס Pardes, whichever מקראות גדולות Mikraos Gedolos, and you'll see many different interpretations, beautiful interpretations of what it means.Rashi says הנסתרת לה' אלקינו Hanistaros l'Hashem Elokeinu. Rashi says this is an allusion. Moshe is reminding them again of the interpersonal responsibility we have of כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael. כל ישראל ערבים זה בזה Kol Yisrael areivim zeh bazeh, last week's פרשה parsha, it was established, the contract, the commitment we have, that we're not allowed to break away, we're not allowed to be on our own, we're not allowed to worry only about ourselves and our future, our destiny, our judgment, but we are personally responsible for one another. And Rashi says, אם תאמרו מה בידינו לעשות im tomru ma biyadeinu la'asos, אתה מעניש את הרבים על הרהורו של יחיד ata ma'anish es harabim al hirhuro shel yachid? Hashem, what do you want me to do? Because this guy in private is thinking, is doing, is acting, is watching, is, how am I in charge of that? I don't even know about it. I'm not exposed to that. How am I meant, how can I take responsibility for that? So that's what the Torah says, הנסתרות hanistaros, לה' אלקינו l'Hashem Elokeinu. Taka, you're right. נסתרות Nistaros, what a person is doing in the privacy of their home, the privacy of their own mind, what you don't know about, you can't be accountable for. That's between that person and God, you're not responsible. However, הנגלת לנו ולבנינו haniglos lanu u'levaneinu, says Rashi, אין אני מעניש אתכם על הנסתרות שאין לה' אלקינו einani ma'anish eschem al hanistaros she'ein l'Hashem Elokeinu. והוא יפר במיסתר מעשיו של יחיד, אבל הנגלות v'hu yifor b'meistar ma'asav shel yachid, aval haniglos, לנו ולבנינו לבער הרע מקרבנו lanu u'levaneinu leva'er hara mikirbeinu. הנגלות Haniglos, what we see, what we see around us, the attitude, the behavior, the climate, the culture, the choices that are being made, the way people are behaving around us, לנו ולבנינו lanu u'levaneinu, that's on us. And it's going to impact our children. What people do privately, what people do in their own mind, how can we control? How can we be accountable? But a culture, a climate, what do we tolerate? What do we tolerate in the community? Do we tolerate talking in our מניינים minyanim? Do we tolerate gossip, לשון הרע lashon hara, slander of one another? Do we tolerate divisiveness and hatred and judgment? Do we tolerate a casual attitude to הלכה halacha, a laxity in מצוות mitzvos? What are we willing to tolerate? Because what we as a community tolerate says everything about us and we are accountable, says Rashi. הנגלות Haniglos, what is revealed, what we can know, לנו ולבנינו lanu u'levaneinu, it's on us. ואם לא v'im lo, נעשה דין בהם יענשו הרבים na'aseh din bahem ye'anshu harabim. And if we, if we don't intervene, and we don't intercede, and we don't make an effort to elevate the community, if we don't take responsibility, it's not enough to say I'm davening in the corner. I've got my minyan, I've got my corner, I've got my davening. It's good enough, leave me alone. I do my learning, I go to my shiur, I have my chavrusa, it's not my business. I watch my mouth, I guard my eyes, the rest of it has nothing to do with me. We don't have that luxury. We don't have that right. The Torah again, just last week said, ארור אשר לא יקים את דברי התורה הזאת arur asher lo yakim es divrei haTorah hazos. The רמב\"ן Ramban understands to mean cursed is the person who has the opportunity to lift someone with Torah and doesn't. The רמב\"ן Ramban is one interpretation is it's הגבהה Hagbah. The fools who think that getting an aliyah is the big כיבוד kibud because it has a talking part, the bigger כיבוד kibud is הגבהה Hagbah. The רמב\"ן Ramban says, when you lift the Torah for the world to see, to point, there's no מקור makor for using your pinky in הגבהה Hagbah. The שולחן ערוך Shulchan Aruch quotes you take your forefinger. The שולחן ערוך Shulchan Aruch doesn't quote your forefinger, שולחן ערוך Shulchan Aruch quotes you bow. When you see the Torah, you bow, you acknowledge הגבהה Hagbah, you have to see the letter of the Torah, the lettering of the Torah, you find your letter, your name, your Torah, where you fit into Torah. And הגבהה Hagbah is bigger. But the רמב\"ן Ramban's other interpretation, ארור אשר לא יקים את דברי התורה הזאת arur asher lo yakim es divrei haTorah hazos means cursed is the person who could have intervened, could have interceded. Somebody bageled you. If somebody said to you, I was in Wyoming earlier this summer, this was the ultimate bagel. I don't want to get too graphic, but I was in the men's room doing what one does in a men's room, and the person next to me says, no יארמלקע yarmulke, nothing visibly Jewish about him, says, you're here for a חתונה chasunah? I said, nope, I'm here to go see Yellowstone. And he finished up and said, זיי מיר געזונט zai mir gezunt, and headed out. So that's a bagel. That's a bagel in the airport in Wyoming. So when a person bagels you, their נשמה neshama is crying out. Again, not necessarily the right place, the right time, but the נשמה neshama is crying out and saying, I want you to know that I'm a Jew, I have a פינטעלע ייד pintel Yid. We can ignore it, we can take their name. We could get them a partner in Torah. We can answer their bid, the נשמה's neshama's bid for connection. And when we don't, when we ignore it, ארור אשר לא יקים את דברי התורה הזאת arur asher lo yakim es divrei haTorah hazos and Rashi says that's what's going on here in our pasuk. הנסתרת לה' אלקינו Hanistaros l'Hashem Elokeinu. We're not responsible for what we don't know, but הנגלות haniglos. You look around, you take the temperature of a community, you see there are things that we need to work on. לנו ולבנינו Lanu u'levaneinu. It's on us. And if we don't take care of it, לבנינו levaneinu. Then our children will think you could talk in shul. And our children will think you can call people names. And our children will think you can have a casual attitude to Torah and מצוות mitzvos. It's on us, לעשות את כל דברי התורה הזאת la'asos es kol divrei haTorah hazos. אזוי זה כדרש\"י Azoi zeh k'deRashi. That's Rashi's interpretation.רבנו בחיי Rabbeinu Bechaye has a different interpretation. רבנו בחיי Rabbeinu Bechaye says what this פסוק pasuk is talking about is the following. הנסתרות Hanistaros, לה' אלקינו l'Hashem Elokeinu. You'll say, well, what's the reason for the מצוה mitzvah? What's the reason? What's the deeper reason? That מצוה mitzvah, that הלכה halacha, why? What's the reason? Why does it matter? What am I meant to be thinking? So the Torah's telling us הנסתרות hanistaros. The reasons of מצוות mitzvos, they are mysterious. We should try to find out. We have all kinds of explanations, we have all kinds of suggestions. But ultimately, when God says jump, you say how high. When God says this is what you do, we do it. Then, once we're committed to doing it, just like we reenact הר סיני Har Sinai, נעשה ונשמע naaseh v'nishmah every day with every מצוה mitzvah. We first say I'm in God, I'm in for the מצוה mitzvah. I'll do it. No questions asked. By the way, now that I'm doing it, wouldn't it be worthwhile to understand why and to know what to think about and how to be mindful and what the intention should be. So says רבנו בחיי Rabbeinu Bechaye, that's what's going on here. הנסתרות לה' אלקינו Hanistaros l'Hashem Elokeinu. The deeper reasons, don't think you'll ever have the answer, the answer, the conclusive answer. That belongs to השם Hashem. הנגלות Haniglos, but what to do, the מצוה mitzvah, the action, the behavior, לנו ולבנינו lanu u'levaneinu, that is on us. What Rashi and רבנו בחיי Rabbeinu Bechaye have in common, and this is really the message I wanted to share with you, with myself tonight, as we are winding down the month of אלול Elul and quickly and rapidly approaching the ימי הדין Yemei Hadin of ראש השנה Rosh Hashana, is that you know, the head and the heart, they matter. What's in our head and our heart, they matter. But they only matter as much as what's in our hands. Do we put into practice? Do we behave? Do we show up? Do we do? It's wonderful to in your head be a צדיק tzaddik. You could be the most righteous person in your mind. You can have the most חסידיש chassidish heart. You could be the nicest and kindest and most generous and most charitable person in your mind. If I had this, and if that, you would see, rabbi, I would give the most. You don't know, rabbi, it doesn't look like it, but really I'm a, in my heart, I'm the biggest חסיד chossid in the whole community. It's lovely. What's in your heart, what's in your head, that belongs to השם Hashem. הנסתרות לה' אלקינו Hanistaros l'Hashem Elokeinu. That's nice. When you get upstairs, God will tell you either he buys it or he doesn't buy what you claim is in your head or your heart. But הנגלות לנו ולבנינו haniglos lanu u'levaneinu. All we know is the way that we interact with one another. You are what you do. What you do is who you are. That's it. That's it. The way we interact and whether we show up, and whether we are trustworthy, and whether our word is our bond, and whether we're kind, and whether we're charitable, and whether we're careful with keeping הלכה halacha, and whether we set aside time. I wrote last week how the calendar doesn't lie. The calendar doesn't lie. We all claim we have all these values and priorities. Open your calendar. I'm not telling you to, but it would be a fun exercise. Open your calendar and look at your calendar, and the things that you claim to care about, are they in your calendar? Do you schedule them? Learning, time with the family, taking care of your health. Are they in the calendar? The calendar doesn't lie. If you want to know what your priorities are, open your calendar and open your credit card account, and you'll see exactly what your priorities are, because they don't lie. You could be the most charitable person in your mind, but if your checkbook and your bank account don't show you as being charitable, it's only in the נסתרות nistaros, it's only in your mind, it's only in your heart, it didn't make its way to the hand. הנגלות לנו ולבנינו עד עולם Haniglos lanu u'levaneinu ad olam. I shared this story before, um, that I heard from a rabbi in New York who was once coming back from a trip and he called his son, he needed to be picked up at the airport. And his son said, \"אבא Abba, I love you, but unfortunately, I have a conflict, I can't pick you up.\" His father said, \"I understand that, but I have no other ride.\" This was before Uber and Lyft and whatever rating you have on it. Everybody today was after last night's Barn Davi'm, everybody's sending me pictures of screenshots of their, of their Uber rating. And it's more impressive if you have a lot of Uber rides and you have a high Uber rating. But anyway, before Uber, so he called his son, he said, \"I need a ride.\" \"אבא Abba, I'd love to, I can't, I have a conflict.\" He said, \"I really need you to. I don't have any other rides.\" He said, \"I really, really love you, אבא Abba. אבא Abba, you're like my favorite person, but I just, I just can't.\" He said, \"Look, I have no other way to get from the airport. Whatever you have, I need you to reschedule. I need you to pick me up.\" So his son said, \"אבא Abba, you're the greatest אבא Abba in the whole world. And I respect you and love you like no sons ever loved an אבא Abba before. And you're the greatest אבא Abba of all time. And if I could, I would, I just can't.\" So his father said to him, \"Love me less and pick me up at the airport. Love me a little less and pick me up at the airport.\" And that's what this פסוק pasuk is telling us. If we're honest with ourselves and we want to be honest with ourselves going into the year ahead, and we want the hidden and the revealed to be matching. הנסתרות לה' אלקינו Hanistaros l'Hashem Elokeinu. But השם Hashem says, \"Love me less and pick me up at the airport. Love me less in your heart, and with your hands start showing me some מצוות mitzvos. In your calendar, in your credit card statement, start showing me some מצוות mitzvos.\" That's what, that's what this last week is really all about. הנסתרות Hanistaros, לה' אלקינו l'Hashem Elokeinu. But we כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael are responsible for one another. We're responsible to raise and elevate our community and our people. And we're responsible to filter down the commitments in our head and our heart to put them in our hands and into practice. And please God, when we do, then לנו ולבנינו lanu u'levaneinu. When our children, when the next generation see that we don't only talk a big game, we walk a big game, that we don't only have it in our head and our heart, but it happens in, in practice, then לנו ולבנינו עד עולם lanu u'levaneinu ad olam. Then they will do it too, and it will live on. It'll be געשמאק geshmak to be a ייד Yid in perpetuity for all time. We should be signed and sealed for a wonderful year. We'll pick up חולנט שמועס cholent shmooze, please God, in תשפ\"ב Taf Shin Pei Beis.
