Transcript
Okay, good morning, בוקר טוב boker tov and a good חודש chodesh. חודש טוב Chodesh tov. מי שנכנס אדר Mishenichnas Adar. Tomorrow's officially the first day of אדר Adar, but you can never be too early for feeling שמחה simcha, so מרבים בשמחה marbim b'simcha. A good month, a good חודש chodesh. מזל טוב Mazal tov חתן וכלה chatan v’kallah who are here. Ron, Pam, amazing. It's great to see you.I want to thank our generous sponsor of the פרשה parsha series for the year, Becky and Avi Katz and family in memory of Becky's father David Grossman, a נשמת דוד בן מנחם מענדל nishmas David ben Menachem Mendel. Tonight's שיעור shiur is also sponsored by Arleen Jacobson in honor of Paul and Elky Trenk, by Evie and Stanley Right Wise, Gloria and Al Fine in memory of their father Ari Lewis Weiss on his יארצייט yahrtzeit on the third of אדר א Adar Alef. By Judith Rosen, Judy Rosen in commemoration of her beloved husband's יארצייט yahrtzeit, רבי מרווין רוזן Rabbi Marvin Rosen, who I was privileged to know. And I want to dedicate our שיעור shiur this morning, all the שיעורים shiurim, all the learning in our שול shul for two young members of our community in need of a speedy, painless and full רפואה שלמה refuah shleima, אסתר תהילה בת אריאלה צפורה Esther Tehila bas Ariella Tzipora and כרמיאל שי בן רייזל Carmiel Shai ben Raizel, that they should have a full and a speedy רפואה שלמה refuah shleima.This week is a big transition. We go in ספר שמות Sefer Shmos, we're still in the book of שמות Shmos, the second book of the Torah. However, we are moving from the story of יציאת מצרים Yetzias Mitzrayim. We are transitioning from the story of the Exodus to the building of the משכן Mishkan. תרומה Terumah begins what seemed to be in some ways repetitive פרשיות parshiyos, and yet there's so much to glean, so much to extract, so many perspectives for today. תרומה Terumah and תצוה Tetzaveh, and then כי תשא Ki Sisa, we take a little detour to read about the story of the חטא העגל Cheit Ha'eigel. I'm all twisted up here. To read about the story of the חטא העגל Cheit Ha'eigel. And then we come back to ויקהל פקודי Vayakhel Pekudei that seemed to be redundant, they seemed to be repetitive and yet they too add something new. It's on page 444 in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash. וידבר השם אל משה לאמור Vayedaber Hashem el Moshe leimor. Hashem speaks to Moshe, maybe that's him calling right now, saying, דבר אל בני ישראל Daber el Bnei Yisrael. He tells Moshe, speak to the Jewish people. And what is the message, what are they to say? ויקחו לי תרומה מאת כל איש אשר ידבנו לבו תקחו את תרומתי V'yikchu li terumah me'eis kol ish asher yidvenu libo tikchu es terumasi. Tell the people, let them take a portion for me from every person whose heart motivates, take a portion. From each ידבנו לבו yidvenu libo, from everyone whose heart motivates. There is so much to say we could spend a full hour just on this opening פסוק pasuk. By the way, just two more opportunities to learn together today. I'm going to shamelessly promote. One is a lunch and learn that we're having at 12:30. If you didn't order the lunch, then you're just coming to learn. 12 o'clock, but I'm speaking at 12:30. I only care about what I have to do. You can get there what you could stay from now until then if you want, but the שיעור shiur part will be, the learn part will start at 12:30. If you did not order, you will not be provided with lunch, but you can feel free to come, join us, bring a snack nonetheless at 12:30, the שיעור shiur will begin. Also, tonight 7:30, Rabbis on the Run. We have the privilege of studying tonight. I'm very excited, fascinating topic. Really fascinating topic. The Friediker Rebbe, the last Lubavitcher Rebbe, the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, who was saved from the Nazis by a German secret service officer, by essentially a Nazi who himself was half Jewish. It's an extraordinary story. And without his being saved, we wouldn't have had the seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe, the Rebbe of Menachem Mendel Schneerson, and all of Chabad that we have today. You on vacation would have no kosher food, nowhere to דאווען daven, and no מקוה mikvah to use. So be very grateful for that. We'll hear about that story 7:30 tonight.ויקחו לי תרומה V'yikchu li trumah. Hashem through Moshe says, everybody, give a donation with a generous heart, a generous soul, a generous spirit, give a donation. Oh, so much to talk about here. Why are we beginning with a donation? Why are we beginning with a donation? So we'll start with an insight from the מגד יוסף Meged Yosef. מגד יוסף Meged Yosef again, my neighbor, Mayor Surotskin, his father, יוסף יהודה לייב סוראצקין Yosef Yehuda Leib Surotskin, in his beautiful safer מגד יוסף Meged Yosef that he shared with me. He says the following, תנא דבי אליהו, כיון ששמעו ישראל נעשה ונשמע, מיד אמר הקדוש ברוך הוא למשה, ויקחו לי תרומה Tanna D'vei Eliyahu, keivan she'shamu Yisrael naaseh v'nishma, miyad amar haKadosh Baruch Hu l'Moshe, v'yikchu li trumah. This is an amazing מדרש medrash. Listen carefully, I'm tempted to save this for our capital campaign. I will promise you I will bring it up again then. The מדרש medrash tells us that last week's פרשה parsha we read, Hashem offers the Jewish people the Torah and they say, \"We're in. נעשה ונשמע Naaseh v'nishma.\" He says, \"But I didn't even tell you what it says.\" They say, \"It doesn't matter, we love you, we're in.\" You tell a good friend, \"I need a favor.\" The friend says, \"Done.\" \"What do you mean done? I didn't even tell you what it is yet.\" \"Doesn't matter. I love you, I care about you, I'm there for you. Done.\" When we have somebody that we love going through a hard time, we're lining up whatever we can do. You don't have to tell us what it is. נעשה Naaseh, I'm in, done. I'm in. All in. I'm moved, I'm in. The מדרש medrash says, as soon as the Jewish people said נעשה naaseh, as soon as they said we are all in, Hashem said, \"Oh yeah, okay, good. ויקחו לי תרומה V'yikchu li trumah.\" Says the מגד meged, says the מגד יוסף Meged Yosef understanding this מדרש medrash, and others say similarly, it's really easy to say I'm all in. But then they say, \"Great, can I get your credit card number?\" \"Great, would you like to make a donation?\" \"I'm all in, Rabbi, I love you, I love the community, I love everything the shul stands for. I love the vision, I love the values, I identify.\" \"Would you consider being a member of our pillar society?\" \"Well, I don't know if I love it that much. You know, the egg salad, I would get a different brand. I don't know, I once couldn't find a parking spot, the פרשה parsha שיעור shiur.\" נעשה ונשמע Naaseh v'nishma doesn't mean anything if you're not ready for ויקחו לי תרומה v'yikchu li trumah. The measure of how committed we are is how much you're ready to give. I'm not to say you have to go into debt or act irresponsibly in what you give. But talk is cheap. Lip service, it's easy. And this isn't my insight. This is the מדרש medrash. מיד Miyad, immediately after נעשה ונשמע naaseh v'nishma, אמר הקדוש ברוך הוא amar haKadosh Baruch Hu, \"Oh yeah? Oh, נעשה ונשמע naaseh v'nishma. Interesting. Really, you're in?\" \"Yeah, we're in.\" \"No matter what?\" \"No matter what.\" \"You love me?\" \"Oh, you have no idea how much I love.\" \"Fantastic. Open your checkbook.\" \"Well, I don't know, it wasn't such a good year. Corona, I can't. You don't know what I give. I pay my grandchildren's tuition. You don't know.\" Every excuse under the sun. But דבר אחר davar acher, says the מגד יוסף Meged Yosef. דמה נעשה ונשמע, שכלולה של האהבת נפשות, תחת השפעות אוסו מעמד אדיר מתן תורה Dama naaseh v'nishma, shichlula shel ha'ahavas nafshos, tachas hashpa'os oso ma'amad adir Matan Torah. נעשה ונשמע Naaseh v'nishma was a high. נעשה ונשמע Naaseh v'nishma was an unbelievable moment. At the end of the Moshe Weinberger פרברענגן farbrengen the other week, the lights were dimmed, everybody was singing and dancing and jumping and hopping and poppin'. He touched our hearts and our souls. And if I would have said everyone you're in, I'm in, I'm never missing a minyan again. I'm going to דאווען daven, I'm going to learn, חסד chesed, I'm on fire. Fantastic. להבדיל להבדיל, מתן תורה Lehavdil lehavdil, Matan Torah was many many multiples of that. אבל אומה שלמה אינו יכול להחזיק נעשה ונשמע לנצח עולמים Aval umah shleima eino yachol l'hachzik naaseh v'nishma l'netzach olamim. But a real nation cannot forever feel, can't remain on that level of that spiritual inspiration, that enthusiasm, that energy. It wanes. אינם יכולים להחזיק בפסגת ההר באופן תמידי Einam yecholim l'hachzik b'piskas ha'har b'ofen tmidi. You cannot stay on top of the mountain all the time. You can't. The feeling you had on your way out of נעילה Ne'ilah, the feeling you have at a magnificent sunrise, sunset, the feeling at a phenomenal פרברענגן farbrengen, the feeling that you have in a moment of great joy, of a שמחה simcha, you can't stay on top of the mountain. וכיון שמתן תורה והקבלה את התורה לכל הדורות, רצה הקדוש ברוך הוא שיקבל את התורה מתוך שקול הדעת וידיעה ברורה V'keivan she'Matan Torah v'hakabalah es haTorah l'chol hadoros, ratza haKadosh Baruch Hu she'yikablu es haTorah mitoch shikul ha'daas v'yediah brurah. So Hashem said, but I want this to last. So what happens? If I leave it at the enthusiasm, if I leave it after the energy of מתן תורה Matan Torah, what happens? As soon as that energy dissipates, so does this commitment. As soon as the energy dissolves, there goes this story, this experiment called the Jewish people. So how do we solidify, how do we concretize? How do we get them invested? How do we make sure this is set up and positioned to last? You know what the answer is? Put some skin in the game. Reach into your wallet. Make an investment. Give what you've worked hard for, a piece of yourself, and now you have a commitment. Now you've concretized, now it's real. מיד אמר הקדוש ברוך הוא למשה ויקחו לי תרומה, אין אמצעי ישר יותר להוריד את האדם מהתלהבות רגשית ופזקום עם המציאות, מלחיים תשלום ממון Miyad amar haKadosh Baruch Hu l'Moshe v'yikchu li trumah, ein emtza'i yosher yoter l'horid es ha'adam m'hislaavus rigshis v'pizkum im hametzius, m'lachaim tashlum mamon. There is nothing that will as quickly or precipitously bring you down from a spiritual high than writing a check. Nothing will ground you and nothing will root you and nothing will concretize you and nothing will test you how real this is like opening up your wallet. I could talk to you about checks. The young people, Venmo, Zelle, they don't know what a check is. Nothing will ground you as quickly as having to cough it up, as having to be a stakeholder, of having to invest and give a piece of yourself. So says the מגד יוסף Meged Yosef, that's what's going. Oh, last week. Oh, נעשה ונשמע naaseh v'nishma. Oh, amazing. Oh, you love me, love and romance and energy, spiritual high on top of the mountain and it's amazing. It's amazing. You do anything? Anything. Okay. ויקחו לי תרומה V'yikchu li trumah. Are you ready to contribute? Are you ready to be counted? Are you ready to move the proverbial thermometer? Are you ready to make this new campus a reality? Let's see. Let's see that level of commitment. And that's why the מדרש medrash says מיד miyad. נעשה ונשמע naaseh v'nishma, מיד miyad, ויקחו לי תרומה v'yikchu li trumah, immediately. He tells the story once, רב חיים וואלאזשינער Rav Chaim Volozhiner, a great תלמיד talmid of the גר\"א Gra, came to the גר\"א Gra, בהתלהבות גדולה b'hislaavus gedola. He was on fire, energized, he wanted to open up a ישיבה yeshiva. And the גר\"א Gra said, \"Nope, you don't have my blessing.\" \"I'm on fire. I can change the world. This ישיבה yeshiva will be, it will be incredible. It'll be almost as good as the Yeshiva of South Florida.\" And the גר\"א Gra said, \"No. Now is not the time and you can't do it.\" And רב חיים וואלאזשינער Rav Chaim Volozhiner was was very was very taken aback, he was very sad. His own רבי Rebbe wouldn't give an endorsement for this ישיבה yeshiva he was so excited about. So a few weeks went by, a few months went by and רב חיים וואלאזשינער Rav Chaim Volozhiner came back to his רבי rebbe, the גר\"א Gra, and he said, \"Give it a lot of thought and I've really sat on it and I've really created a strategic plan around it and here's why I really believe this is right.\" And the גר\"א Gra said, \"Absolutely, I'm all in. You have my full support.\" He said, \"Well, what happened?\" He said, \"When you were on fire and when you were, you know, enthused and when you're what happened? When that enthusiasm would wane, your ישיבה yeshiva wouldn't succeed. You needed to come from a position of calm. You need to come from a position of being concretized, real, thought out, strategic planning. That which is done only from being on a spiritual high, it won't last. It won't last. It needs to be manifest in in real world application and concretizing and so on. That's the פשט pshat in ויקחו לי תרומה v'yikchu li trumah right after נעשה ונשמע naaseh v'nishma. I love that insight for some obvious reasons and I will be following up with some of you about that insight as well. That is the insight of the מגד יוסף Meged Yosef. רב נחמן מברסלב Rav Nachman of Breslov has a similar insight. He says, \"What's פשט pshat ויקחו לי v'yikchu li? Why does it say ויקחו לי v'yikchu li? Why is it for me? איך אפשר לקחת תרומה להשם Eich efshar lakachas trumah la'Hashem? How can you take a gift for God? What do you get for the person who doesn't have everything, who is the source of everything? What gift do you give God who doesn't just have everything, He is everything? התשובה היא כפי שכתב רש\"י Ha'tshuva hi k'fi she'kasav Rashi. Rashi writes on the word לי li, ויקחו לי v'yikchu li, לי li, לשמי lishmi. As תרומה של בית המקדש הוא אחד הדברים שצריך להיות לשם שמים, ועדין צדקה, אנחנו יושבים מזמן הזה trumas l'Beis Hamikdash hu echad hadvarim she'tzarich l'hiyos l'shem Shamayim, v'adin tzedakah, nachnu yosvim mizman hazeh. What you're giving God is not really the financial investment. The ויקחו לי v'yikchu li, Rashi says, ויקחו לי v'yikchu li, accept for me a donation, a תרומה trumah, לי li, לשמי lishmi. It's not about the check or how big it is, it's about what's in your heart. It's about how generous a spirit you have. You know, did they have to come do root canal to get the money? Did they have to do open heart surgery? Did they have to pin you against the wall? Did you give it because of pressure? Or do you have a generous spirit and a generous heart and are you doing it for the right reasons? Are you giving because you want to advance and further a cause you believe in and identify with? Are you giving because you want your name in lights or you want the social accolades or you want to meet the peer pressure? Why are you giving? So Rashi says, לי li, לשמי lishmi. Don't just give something a financial amount, the לי li has to be לשמי lishmi. It has to be for the right reason. And the same is true when it comes to צדקה tzedakah. You know, on the one hand צדקה tzedakah, did the check clear? That's all that matters. But on the other hand, that's not all that matters. Maybe for the recipient what matters is, did the check clear, but for the giver, it's about the manner in which you gave. What energy did you bring in the way that you gave? Did you give a piece of yourself? Did you pay this so you wouldn't have to give some of your self? Some people make large donations so that other people will practice what they're supposed to. So they write to the ישיבה yeshiva, the כולל kollel, the שול shul, the מקוה mikvah, the עירוב eruv, you guys be religious, you're the religious institutions and now I've paid my dues so I can go live the life I want. Some people pay as the out to be able to go live the way they want. And Hashem says, no, no, no, no, no, that's not what it's about. ויקחו לי V'yikchu li, לי לשמי li lishmi. It's not just about writing the check. You're not paying your way out, but it's about giving a piece of yourself. רב נחמן Rav Nachman writes in ליקוטי מוהר\"ן חלק א סימן סג Likutey Moharan Chelek Aleph Siman Samech Gimmel, אי אפשר לבוא להשגה גבוהה בהשם, אלא על ידי שבירת תאוות הממון i efshar l'vo l'hasagah gevoha ba'Hashem, ela al yedei shviras taivas hamamon. He says, the way that you get to a connection with Hashem, we have several תאוות taivos, we have many struggles, temptations, desires, compulsions that we that we confront, that we fight. Tonight with Citeras Snippets we'll continue, we talk about this, לא תסורו אחרי לבבכם ואחרי עיניכם lo sasuru acharei levavchem v'acharei eineichem. There's a beautiful insight of the גר\"א Gra, we'll talk about the three different types of תאוה taivah that a person has tonight. We have lots of opportunities to learn together today, so just keep coming back, just Uber Eats. Just stay here the whole day and send for your send for your stuff. So, but Rav Nachman writes, one of the biggest תאוות taivos that really defines who we are is תאוות הממון taivas hamamon. What is our relationship and attitude towards our money? Are we the steward over God's money and therefore we use it and allocate and delegate it the way it's intended to? Or is the money ours and we hold on to it tight and we hold on to it tight. You know they say when a baby is born, their fists are closed. A baby's born, their fists are closed. And those who are in the חברא קדישא chevra kadisha do the טהרה tahara, you know that a person passes away, their hand is open. When you come into this world, you're grabbing on tight. You're trying to hold on. You think it's yours and it's mine and I need and I need more and I need more. And when you're ready to leave this world, you realize that you can't take any of that with you. It never defined you. And while it's nice to have and there's nothing wrong with enjoying it and there's nothing wrong with working hard for it, but you have to have it in the right perspective. Have to have it in the right perspective. So רב נחמן Rav Nachman says one of the big metrics, one of the big tests of who we are and our relationship with Hashem is our attitude towards money. Now is not the time, I once gave a whole שבת שובה Shabbos Shuva דרשה drasha about this because we say that one of the three things that rips up the גזירה gzeira and we speak about this, the conclusion, the pinnacle of ונתנה תוקף U'nesaneh Tokef, arguably the most moving and stirring part of our liturgy, of our דאווענען davening, we say one of the three things, ותשובה ותפילה וצדקה מעבירין את רע הגזרה u'tshuva u'tfila u'tzedaka ma'avirin es ro'a ha'gzeira. תשובה Tshuva, you can transform yourself entirely, change, become a much better version of yourself. תפילה Tfila, you can דאווען daven, you can pray, you can be humbled, or just write the check to the judge and he'll change your sentencing. Just how much can you shlep the judge? How much can you write the check for? How much can you take? What, צדקה מעבירין את רע הגזרה tzedaka ma'avirin es ro'a ha'gzeira? We discussed this in the past. תשובה Tshuva I understand. תפילה Tfila I understand. צדקה מעבירין את רע הגזרה Tzedaka ma'avirin es ro'a ha'gzeira? So the quick answer, which makes you wonder why it took me an hour and a half that שבת שובה Shabbos Shuva, but the quick answer is because as transformative as תשובה tshuva is, as life-changing as תפילה tfila is, it's how transformational צדקה tzedakah is because it's what it says about our relationship with our money. Where it comes from, how much it defines us and what we do with it. Work hard for it, enjoy it, enjoy fine things in life. Nothing wrong. Hashem put us in this world to do that. But do we give our share? Do we give what we're meant to give? So רב נחמן Rav Nachman writes, שבירת תאוות הממון shviras taivas hamamon. Breaking that תאוה taiva, that impulse, that instinct, that love, that definition of ממון mamon. ועל דרך לשבור תאוות הממון V'al derech lishbor taivas hamamon. So what's the test of your relationship with money? What's the test? Is צדקה tzedakah. צדקה Tzedakah. Do you run to give or do you wait to be asked? When you're asked, do you give readily and grateful for the opportunity to make that investment or do you give a hard time, 14 excuses, say no before finally you give the bare minimum of what it will take to end the conversation? אם הוא נמנע מלתת צדקה, ומפזר את כספו, משום שהוא חושש, מהעוסר ודואג, שיתן את כספו לאחרים וישאר לעצמו בלא כלום, למה Im hu nimna miloseis tzedaka u'mefazer es kaspo, mishum she'hu choshesh, meiha'oser v'doeg she'yiten es kaspo l'acheirim v'yishaer l'atzmo b'lo klum. Why? Why does a person not give? Why does a person not give? Believe me, this is on my mind. We have, we haven't announced yet, but this capital campaign, thank God we're well on our way, but we have a lot of money to give, a lot of money to raise. And there are people who have capacity. ברוך השם Baruch Hashem a many, many times over, Hashem has blessed and people worked hard and deserve the credit and should be proud who have tremendous capacity. I don't know. You know why I know that? Because this is on my mind a lot. Because people will tell you how well they're doing and how much they're killing it and how big their business is and how everything is going. And then you say, \"That's fantastic. I'm so happy for you. Would you help me with this cause that we're working on?\" \"Well, it's not going that well and right now it's just, you know, on paper and I don't really have whatever.\" So people talk about how much they have. And they said, \"Well, Hashem has blessed you.\" So if you would help us in this way, it won't impact you, your children, your grandchildren, your great grandchildren. It will never impact anyone in your family forever and ever and yet you can change our community forever. What do you say? Are you in? No. Why? What holds a person back? When it won't change a person's own quality of life or living? When it won't change the quality of life or security, financial security of anyone in their family forever? What holds a person back? What holds a person back? So it's a lack of אמונה emuna, it's a fear, it's an anxiety. It's either a competitiveness, \"I have to have more, I have to have the most, I have to rank the highest,\" or it's a fear, \"What happens if something could happen? What if there's a crash? What if there's a this? What if there's a that? What would happen? I'll be left without.\" צדקה Tzedaka is an expression of אמונה emuna. When you say, \"You know what? 90% I get to keep. 90% I get to keep. Just 10% Hashem said.\" Hashem was the senior partner in every endeavor I'm in. Every investment, every business, every entrepreneurship, everything I've ever done, Hashem is the 90% partner and I am at best the 10% contributor. And yet Hashem said, \"I'll tell you what though. You get to keep 90% and 10% I don't even want. Just give it to your siblings, give it to my other children, they need help.\" And a person says, \"No, I need 100%. I can't even give 10.\" Do you know what the Jewish people would look like if the Jewish community actually gave מעשר maaser? Every problem we have would be solved. The Jewish tuition crisis and Israel advocacy and חסד chesed and מקוואות mikvaos and ישיבות yeshivos, every problem would be solved if actually people gave 10%. Not 11%, just the 10%, if we actually gave it. For whatever reason, we have this allergy. Some people have the allergy. They have not yet tasted the ultimate joy and satisfaction and meaning and purpose and happiness of using your resources in a way that makes a difference. They haven't tasted it yet. I'm sorry, I'm going off on this, that was not the point. Let's come back to רב נחמן Rav Nachman. But if you'd like to speak to me right after שיעור shiur, I'd be more than happy to talk to you about the future here. על ידי מתן צדקה בידו רחבה, מראה אחד מן אלו שאין לו בטחונו בהשם Al yedei matan tzedaka b'yado rachava, mochia achad mena'ale she'ein lo bitchono ba'Hashem. So how do we express our our ביטחון bitachon, אמונה emuna? \"Hashem, I trust you. I'm not going to give away 100% of what I have right now.\" I was at Reb Shlomo Carlebach's funeral. A collection had to be made in order to pay for his funeral. You know why? Because Reb Shlomo Carlebach had a problem. Every concert he did and every CD he sold and every time he was paid, the next poor person who said to him, \"Hey, brother, can you help me out?\" he just gave the whole thing away and he was left with nothing. He was death to his funeral had to be paid for. That's not right. That's not correct. In הלכה halacha, you're not allowed to give more than 20% of your income to צדקה tzedakah. A person shouldn't help others to the point that they then need help. I'm not here to criticize him. He had such a giving heart, he couldn't help himself. But that's not what's expected of us. And nowhere does the Torah say, give away everything so that you need help. That's not what the Torah is saying. But give away what you're meant to give away and that is an exercise in אמונה emuna. \"Hashem, I trust you, so I can give 10% away because you're going to replace it with 20% more. I believe, I trust, I know. And you're my partner and I know that I'm giving you such נחת רוח nachas ruach. I know how much pride you take in me when I do the right thing with our money.\" מראה שהוא אינו דואג מה יאכל מחר Mochia she'eino doeg ma yochal machar. You're not worried what you're going to eat tomorrow. אינו חושש על פרנסתו Eino choshesh al parnasaso. You're not worried about the future. רב נחמן Rav Nachman further writes in ליקוטי מוהר\"ן חלק א סימן קטז Likutey Moharan Chelek Aleph Siman Kuf Tet Zayin, אדם שנותן צדקה, ניצול מעבירות adam she'nosein tzedaka, nitzul m'aveiros. By giving צדקה tzedakah helps protect you from making mistakes. That's what חז\"ל Chazal say, כל המרחם על הבריות מרחמים עליו מן השמים kol hamrachem al habriyos merachamim alav min hashamayim. The גמרא Gemara in שבת קנא Shabbos Kuf Nun Aleph, that a person who is compassionate and kind to others, Hashem is compassionate and kind to you. When you bail someone out, Hashem bails you out. When you step up and support someone, Hashem's going to step in and support you. When you enable and empower and enrich others with your resources, Hashem will enable and empower you. It's directly proportional. There's a direct relationship, says the גמרא Gemara. And there's a lot more. But that's what Rav Nachman says, ויקחו לי תרומה v'yikchu li trumah. That's why it's ויקחו לי תרומה v'yikchu li trumah. This also explains, he doesn't say it explicitly, but this also explains the famous question. It should be ויתנו v'yisnu, you should give. Why is it ויקחו v'yikchu? It's a palindrome, ויתנו v'yisnu backwards and forwards reads the same. No. Which is the palindrome? ונתנו V'nasnu, thank you. ונתנו V'nasnu. Every time you give, you really receive. What are you receiving? You're receiving this boost in אמונה emuna, you're receiving this relationship with Hashem, you're receiving becoming a better person. ויקחו V'yikchu, ויתנו v'yisnu. Kotzker. Few more on this opening פסוק pasuk and then I promise you we will move on. The Kotzker. Oh, such a great Kotzker. The Kotzker Rebbe, Rav Menachem Mendel of Kotzk, had a close dear friend, colleague, named Rav Yitzchak Vorka. And they had a big disagreement. The Kotzker Rebbe loved to practice hisבודדות hisbodedus. He wasn't the first, it goes back to משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu, and it goes back to אברהם יצחק ויעקב Avraham, Yitzchak v'Yaakov and it goes back to אדם הראשון Adam Harishon, the notion of התבודדות hisbodedus. The notion of being comfortable in our own skin, spending time by ourselves, connecting to Hashem, being alone. Being alone. אדם נברא יחידי Adam nivra yechidi. Man was created alone. The שורש של אדם shoresh shel Adam in our core is a comfort with being alone. Now, we're not meant to be alone. לא טוב היות האדם לבדו Lo tov heyos ha'adam levado. It's not good to be alone. אעשה לו עזר כנגדו E'eseh lo ezer k'negdo. Hashem says, don't be alone for life, I'm going to make a helpmate opposite you. Go find companionship. But the שורש הנשמה shoresh haneshama at the core of who we are is אדם נברא יחידי Adam nivra yechidi. אדם Adam was created not with חוה Chava, he was all alone in this world. We should be comfortable being alone. You don't have to turn on the radio or a podcast. You don't have to have noise, you don't have to be on the phone. You could drive and just be lost in your thoughts. You could go for a walk, you can sit, you could be talking to Hashem from within your heart. So Rav Nachman was very far from the first, but he was an enormous proponent who really promoted and spelled out in detail התבודדות hisbodedus. Rav Yitzchak Vorka on the other hand would do התחברות his'chabrus, not התבודדות hisbodedus, not spending time alone in his own thoughts and in conversation with Hashem, but his התחברות his'chabrus with other חסידים chassidim. Connection with others, camaraderie with others. This is essentially a debate, and I don't mean to limit this or minimize it by simply saying it's a question of the Kotzker was an introvert and Rav Yitzchak Vorka was an extrovert. It's not that simple. But there's clearly a component of that. Where do you draw your energy from when you are alone or do you draw your energy and inspiration from when you are with and connected to others? So once the two of them met, so said the Kotzker, דרך שלי מרומזת בתורה derech sheli merumezes b'Torah. My path and my way, my התבודדות hisbodedus, it's alluded to in the Torah. Where? A פסוק pasuk says, סתם פסוק stam pasuk, ויקחו לי v'yikchu li. ויקחו V'yikchu, take, לי li. Me time. Being alone. אם תאמרו דרך אמת Im yomru t'darach emes, Rashi says, לי לשמי li lishmi, העצה, תרומה, להיות תרום מן האנשים ha'eitzah, trumah, l'hios torum min ha'anashim. The word תרומה trumah means a gift, but the word תרומה trumah, as in the mitzvah of תרומה trumah, also means to separate. תרומה Trumah, when the farmer gives תרומה trumah to the כהן kohen, they are separating, they're tithing. So תרומה trumah, ויקחו לי תרומה v'yikchu li trumah. You have to separate for yourself and be apart. You have to have the capacity for התבודדות hisbodedus. So said the Kotzker to his dear friend and colleague, Rav Yitzchak Vorka, he said, \"You see, the Torah endorses my way. ויקחו לי תרומה V'yikchu li trumah.\" \"Sometimes you have to take for yourself to separate. Sometimes you have to disconnect. Sometimes you have to be alone.\" So Rav Yitzchak Vorka said to him, and and he said, the Kotzker, \"אפילו מן הטובים, אפילו מאיש כל אשר ידבנו לבו afillu min hatovim, afillu m'eish kol asher yidvenu libo. Sometimes you have to even be willing to separate from others as well, as ידבנו לבו yidvenu libo. Good people around you, good חסידים chassidim, good righteous people, of course they have a lot to offer, of course they could complement you, but still, ויקחו לי תרומה v'yikchu li trumah. Sometimes you have to separate yourself away.\" So the Vorka Rebbe, the Rebbe of Vorka said, \"No, no, no. דרך שלי גם כאן Derech sheli gam kan. My path is also alluded to in the very same פסוק pasuk. ויקחו לי תרומה מאיש כל איש, מכל אחד ואחד שיש לצרף ברעים וללמד מהם V'yikchu li trumah me'eis kol ish, m'kol echad v'echad she'yesh l'tzaref b'reim v'leilamed mehem.\" You should separate yourself with every person. Find what from every person you could draw from, you could learn from, what you could connect and how you could connect from them. So an interesting debate between the Kotzker Rav Yitzchak Vorka, introvert, extrovert, where do you draw your energy? What is going to inspire, elevate and enrich you more? When you're comfortable in your own skin, alone time, or when you are camaraderie, companionship, connection time? Of course, the answer is both. You need a little bit of both. You have to find that blend, find that mix. Each of them tried to bring evidence from from the פסוק pasuk. Um, two more quickly. Two more quickly. דבר אל בני ישראל ויקחו לי תרומה Daber el Bnei Yisrael v'yikchu li trumah. The בעל הטורים Bal HaTurim here in the פסוק pasuk, the בעל הטורים Bal HaTurim says, פסוק דבר בני ישראל בלשון פיוס pasuk daber el Bnei Yisrael b'lashon piyus. The פרשה parsha begins, דבר daber, לשון פיוס lashon piyus, to appease, to satisfy. כמו דברו על לב ירושלים K'mo dabru al lev Yerushalayim. Like the פסוק pasuk says, דברו על לב ירושלים dabru al lev Yerushalayim. We read on שבת נחמו Shabbos Nachamu in the הפטרה haftarah. בשביל שהוא היה בחיסרון כיס, פייסם Bishvil she'hu hayah b'chisaron kis, piyusam. Why in the world did you need to appease them? Why did you need to communicate this gently and softly? Because it's going to cost them something. It's going to cost them something. It's easy when it costs you מנחה מערב mincha maariv. It's easy when it costs you, could you show up and help at the soup kitchen? Serve on the חברא chevra? Relatively easy. When you got to dip into your wallet, you got to dip into your bank account, your savings, חסרון כיס chisaron kis, it's going to cost you something, it needs פיוס piyus. You have to be gentle, you have to ask, you have to apologize, you have to appease, and so on. The מדרש medrash says, אמר רב אבהו, מה לעשות משכן? כביכול לקפל את ישראל, אמר דבר בני ישראל לשון פיוס, דוחקנות ישראל ונותן את ממונם, מה תהא עליה Amar Rav Avahu, ma la'asos Mishkan? K'vayachol l'kafel es Yisrael, amar daber el Bnei Yisrael lashon piyus, dafkenus Yisrael v'noslan es mamonam, ma tehei aleha? So, we have to understand what's going on over here. כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael, they need a פיוס piyus because it's going to cost them? I understand in 2022, תשפ\"ב Taf Shin Pey Beis, I understand that everyone in this room and everyone in this community and everyone around the world, we worked hard for our money. And therefore, we struggle to part with it. And by the way, חז\"ל Chazal acknowledge that. In the גמרא Gemara, in the תלמוד Talmud, what word do we use for money? דמים Damin. You know why דמים damin? Because blood, sweat and tears to earn that money. You gave up energy, time, opportunity, little league games, you gave up dinner, you gave up, there was a lot that was given up in order to earn that money. So we feel, rightfully, it's ours. It's who we are. It's a piece of me. I gave up for it. דמים Damin, my blood, sweat and tears for it. But asks the many, we'll see the גר\"א Gra, Rabbi Alter of Kelm and others, but this generation, where did they get this money? Moshe Rabbeinu turns and he does the first capital campaign. We're raising money for the משכן Mishkan. I'd like everybody to give according to their means. Everybody give, according to their capacity. Everybody give a meaningful gift for them. And the people said, \"I don't know, it's my money.\" Moshe says, \"Please, דבר בלשון פיוס daber b'lashon piyus.\" What are you talking about? This is the generation that just experienced miracles. Minutes, moments ago, they were slaves, persecuted, oppressed. I don't know if Whoopi Goldberg would say it's not racism because you can't see it on the color of their skin. So even though millions were murdered, it doesn't constitute a real affront to humanity. It doesn't qualify. A shame to have the same last name. We're not related. As far as I know. As far as I know. It's אבושא abusha, not not even doesn't even deserve to be spoken about. So, this is a slave nation. A minute ago, literally moments ago, they were persecuted, oppressed, murdered, holding on to their lives. On the way out, God said, \"You won the lottery. Take gold and silver from the Egyptians.\" And then when they drowned in the sea from their chariots, take even more, collect, compile, take, you're good to go. So, you liberate the death camp. On the way out, you say every victim was walking out of of Auschwitz, Birkenau, here's a million dollars. And then a week later you said, \"By the way, could you from the million dollars, would you make a donation, would you make a contribution? We're trying to build the שול shul.\" Someone would say, \"It's my money. No. How could you ask me? Be gentle, kind, appeasing.\" What are you talking about? Where did they get this money? They were going to die a minute ago. They're miraculously saved, they're entirely gifted this money, and now all of a sudden they're struggling to part with it. They need a לשון פיוס lashon piyus? עיקר תמוה, הרי מבקש מהם תרומה זו לצורך בניית המשכן, שהוא מקור הכרת הטוב, הצלחה ועבורם Ikar tamua, harei mevakesh mehem trumah zo l'tzorech binyan ha'Mishkan, she'hu makor ha'hakaras hatov, hatzlacha v'avuram. Moreover, what's the משכן Mishkan for? It's for them. We're not going to go into it now, maybe in two weeks פרשת כי תשא Parshas Ki Sisa, but why why did they need a משכן Mishkan all together? The משכן Mishkan, according to most, is the antidote, it's the repair, it's the reaction to the חטא העגל Cheit Ha'eigel. You, people, wanted something tangible. God says, \"I was good to go going through the desert into ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael and we'd have a purely invisible, spiritual relationship.\" But you, you claimed you need someone to see, to touch, to hold on to, a place to go, to visit, to stand in. And so you built an עגל eigel, 'cause you needed something physical. Wrong way to go. You can't do it for yourself, you can't experiment on your own. Don't take such bold initiative. I understand the sentiment, but you went about it the wrong way. But I'll tell you what, here's a משכן Mishkan. So it's for you. But I need you to help pay for it. No, no, no, no, no.What's going on over here? Why? So the גר\"א Gra, שכן רואים אנו עד כמה קשה היצר הרע shekein ro'im anu ad kama kashe ha'yetzer hara. גם אם יוליד אדם כסף וזהב לרוב, אינו מניח לו לעשות אפילו תרומה עוד, אפילו דבר חשוב ביותר Gam im yolid adam kesef v'zahav l'rov, eino maniach lo la'asot afilu truma od, afilu davar chashuv b'yoser. The גר\"א Gra says, \"You see from here, from the very inception of our people, how difficult it is to part with money.\" This is the יצר הרע yetzer hara. It's a יצר הרע yetzer hara. And I'm not saying that cynically, sarcastically, critically. It's validating the feeling that we have. One of the biggest יצר הרעס yetzer haras we have is financial insecurity and the and the challenge with a willingness to part with our money. You see that even when we believe in the cause, even when we care about the cause, even when we won that money, we still struggle to part with it. In other words, the questions are so compelling that it leads the גר\"א Gra to conclude that there's not an answer other than, \"What an enormous יצר הרע yetzer hara we have,\" that משה Moshe had to be patient and sensitive and slow and kind.The alter of קלם Kelm, the alter of קלם Kelm says, לא לפני שנתבונן עד כמה קשה היצר הרע, היו מלמדים כי יסופר איש אחד ישר לחבירו עשיר רב מאוד מאוד, ואחר כך יבקש ממנו איזה נדבה קטנה lo lifnei shenitbonen ad kama kashe hayetzer hara, hayu melamdim ki yesupar ish echad yashar l'chaveiro ashir rav meod meod, v'acharei kach yevakeish mimenu eizeh nedavah ketanah. So imagine somebody says to you, \"I'm giving you a gift.\" \"I'm giving you a gift. I won the lottery, I have a billion dollars, and you're my friend, I care about you, I want to set you up, I want you to be happy.\" So here's $5 million dollars I'm transferring to you. Transfers the $5 million, and a week later says, \"By the way, I'm hosting a dinner for this cause I believe in. Would you take out an ad?\" The person says, \"No.\" Last week I just gave you $5 million. Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me? That's what happened here. השם Hashem says, \"You're undeserving, you didn't work for it. I just gave you and granted you all this money, and now I'm asking for a donation.\" And they say no. How could it be? How could it be? How could it be?So he says, הלא מיד אם לא טובתו וחסדו מבקש, רק שמחה יחשב לו. כל שכן לכבוד טובתי Halo miyad im lo tovaso v'chasdo mevakeish, rak simcha yechashev lo. Kol shekein lichvod tovati. אלא מדוע יש צורך פיוס, הודיעני על מקרב כוח שיגעון היצר המעוור עיני חכם לראות האמת, ויאמר לעצמו, כחי ועוצם ידי עשו לי החיל הזה Ela madua yesh tzorech piyus, hodiani al meikarev koach shigaon hayetzer hame'aver einei chacham lirot ha'emet, v'yomar l'atzmo, kochi v'otzem yadi asu li es hachayil hazeh. וזו אזהרת התורה, וזכרת כי הוא הנותן לך כוח לעשות חיל V'zu azharas haTorah, v'zacharta ki hu hanotein lecha koach la'asot chayil. You see the capacity of the יצר הרע yetzer hara to even convince yourself that you deserve and you're worthy and you worked hard for that which just came to you. Even that which just was gifted or granted to us, we somehow have this capacity to manipulate in our own minds and to make ourselves believe that we worked hard for it. So much so that we struggle to part with it. Again, similar idea as the גר\"א Gra, reinforcing this notion of how strong this יצר הרע yetzer hara is. And many more ideas along this line, but I want to move on. One last interpretation. Rabbi Dr. Abraham J. Twerski. זכרונו לברכה Zichrono livracha who's יארצייט yartzeit we just observed. What an incredibly special man. And he said the following amazing insight. Amazing insight.He says, \"People don't like to receive. Many people don't like to receive. They're in a difficult situation in life and they need help, they need חסד chesed, they need meals, they need carpool. They need help and they don't want to. Why don't people ever want to receive? For two reasons, he says. Number one, pride. A person feels, \"My ego will be bruised. I'm the one who gives, I don't ever receive. I take care of others, I don't need to be taken care of.\" What does it say about me if I have to take? So people hesitate, and they reject, they're reluctant, they don't want to do it. Number two, when you receive, what comes with it? A debt. You owe someone a debt of gratitude. Even in our vernacular, we lose that language. A debt of gratitude. People don't want to have or carry a debt of gratitude, so they refuse to receive. Some people have no problem with this, they receive readily, they're grateful to receive. I always say, you want to know about people, you could tell at the end of a meal. You go out to eat together, there are two types of people. There's the one who says, \"I found a way for the other person to pay.\" \"I didn't have to pay anything, they treated.\" And there's the person who says, \"Let me cover, let me treat. You'll get it next time.\" Nothing makes me happier than, \"I got it.\" There's just two types of personalities. There's nothing wrong with them both say, \"Let's split it.\" We both ate, we ate together, let's just split it, let's make it simple. \"But you had three appetizers, I had two. You had a more expensive appetizer, I had the less one. How do we calculate? Get out your calculator, algebra book, get out your what's that thing with the beads you move over?\" Yeah. You know, the people who sit there doing higher math, so to make sure it's even and fair. But you could tell how generous a spirit someone has. So there are people who have no problem receiving. But there are many who say, \"I don't ever want, I don't want to get חסד chesed, I don't want to get help, I don't want to receive, I don't want to take.\" So Rav Twerski said, ויקחו לי תרומה v'yikchu li trumah. Hashem formulated and expresses it in this way because he wants us to know there's nothing wrong with when you need to receive. There's something called a gracious giver, and there's something called a gracious receiver. You have to know how to give graciously, when you're called upon to show up and to step up and to give, you have to give graciously. And you have to know that when you're in a position to receive, it's not your fault. It's not your, you didn't do it. You have to receive graciously. That's what השם Hashem wants from you in that moment too. And that's what that's what's right for you. So השם Hashem says, \"You know what? In order to teach you, to show you, watch me, I'm going to do it.\" ויקחו לי תרומה V'yikchu li trumah. משה Moshe, go collect for me. Go teach the people. השם Hashem says, \"I'm not too big and I'm not too great and I'm not too worried to have a debt of gratitude, then משה Moshe for you to go collect for me.\" It's an amazing insight, no, Rav Twerski? You see there are people who struggle, and in those moments, I'm so happy to have seen this because it empowers me to tell people who sometimes hesitate and they push away and they're reluctant, they don't want help. That this in this moment, they're gracious giver and they're gracious receivers. השם Hashem was a gracious receiver. הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu gave us a precedent of how to be a gracious receiver, of how to take graciously. Okay, let's start.פרק כ\"ה פסוק ז' Perek chof hei, pasuk zayin. The Tabernacle, all the components that go into it, the משכן Mishkan and the כלים keilim. פרק פסוק ז' Perek pasuk zayin. Those who came to the rabbi's class last שבת Shabbos, Rabbi Golthar of זכרו Zichru in 45 minutes taught us how to memorize all of חומש Chumash. חומש Chumash, בראשית שמות ויקרא במדבר דברים Breishis, Shmos, Vayikra, Bamidbar, Devarim. 12, 11, 10, 10, 11. That's how many פרשיות parshiyos are in each. What's in every פרשה parsha, told us the whole thing. תרומה, תצוה, ויקהל Trumah, Tetzaveh, Vayakhel. He gave us תרומה תצוה Trumah, Tetzaveh and משכן כלים Mishkan, keilim. He went through the whole thing. If you weren't here, you really missed something special. It was very, very cool. אבני שוהם ואבני מילואים לאפוד ולחושן Avnei shoham v'avnei miluim l'eifod v'lachoshen. says that שוהם shoham stones and stones for the settings for the אפוד eifod and for the and for the breastplate. So there's a beautiful insight of רב חיים Rav Chaim of רב חיים שמואלביץ Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz here. מדוע נזכרו אבני שוהם ואבני מילואים רק אחר זהב וכסף ונחושת, תכלת וארגמן Madua nizkeru avnei shoham v'avnei miluim rak achar zahav v'kesef v'nechoshes, tcheles v'argaman. We have all these materials that are listed. But פסוק ד' pasuk daled, back in verse four, we have gold, silver, copper, turquoise, purple, scarlet wool, linen, goat hair, died ram skins, תחַשׁ tachash skins, acacia wood, oil, spices, everything is listed. And then at the end we get to these precious jewels. The last thing we list are the שוהם shoham stones and the stones for the settings. So why are they last? Why do they come after the list? Why is that a question? Because they are the most expensive. They're the most precious. They have the greatest value. So you would have asked me, if I'm trying to impress you or if I'm soliciting, recruiting, let me first list the most impressive, the highest end. מה יצריכם להימנות ראשונים Ma yitzrichem lehimanot rishonim. They should have been listed first. Why are they listed at the end? So רב חיים שמואלביץ Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz says, \"You know why they're listed at the end?\" Because there was no effort in getting them. Stones are the way they appear. They're created, they're part of nature. They're part of nature. All these other materials needed to be worked, toil, effort, they need to be cultivated, they needed to be created, they needed human intervention. So something might objectively have a greater value, but the truth is it's much less valuable. And that's what I tell you every other time. I don't give her a diamond. I just, you know, make up a card on the computer because it's my own initiative and... I'm just joking, I don't say that. But you see that the greater value to השם Hashem and what should be a greater value to us is not that which took no effort, was just created and made that way, but the materials that took a greater effort and that took more work. עיקר תרומת המשכן הוא נדבת לב Ikar trumas haMishkan hu nedvas lev. Because again, the giving is all about the effort. Giving is all about the energy, giving is all about the attitude. So the stones, you find them in a quarry, you collected the stones, they had stones. They come ready to go. As opposed to the other materials that needed to be worked. So you see that even though objectively, the stones have a greater value, but what is more valuable to השם Hashem is what's more valuable to השם Hashem is the effort, is the effort. is the effort.Okay, that is רב חיים שמואלביץ Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz. Moving right along. וכן תעשו v'chein ta'asu. פרק כ\"ה פסוק ט' Perek chof hei, pasuk tes. ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם V'asu li Mikdash v'shachanti b'socham. We've spoken about this פסוק pasuk at length previously, we don't need to get into it again. The shift from the singular to the plural, \"Make for me a מקדש Mikdash to dwell in them.\" Should say, \"Dwell in it,\" not \"them.\" Why the shift? We've spoken about it a lot in the past. But go to פסוק ט' pasuk tes, the next פסוק pasuk. ככל אשר אני מראה אותך את תבנית המשכן ואת תבנית כל כליו וכן תעשו K'chol asher ani mar'eh oscha es tavnis haMishkan v'es tavnis kol keilav, v'chein ta'asu. \"Everything I show you, the form of the Tabernacle, the form of all its vessels, so shall you do.\" Everything I'm showing you, this blueprint, this design, go get it done. Go get it done. says the נפש החיים Nefesh HaChaim. Says רב חיים וולוז'ינר Rav Chaim Volozhiner. Go get it done. Quotes רש\"י Rashi. רש\"י Rashi says, כן תעשו לדורות kein ta'asu l'doros. For generations to come. What is רש\"י Rashi talking about for generations to come? We build the משכן Mishkan once. We build the בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash twice, but in theory once. So what do you mean לדורות l'doros? התורה Torah is now going to spend four of the next five פרשיות parshiyos. התורה Torah is now going to spend second half of ספר שמות Sefer Shmos. משכן, קרבנות Mishkan, karbonos take up 50% of the תורה Torah more. What do you mean לדורות l'doros? For generations to come? This is it. This is it. So the נפש החיים Nefesh HaChaim writes in שער א' פרק ד' Sha'ar Alef, Perek Daled, based on the גר\"א Gra, that כל כליו של בית המקדש היו מבוססים על הליכות התורה שנמצא שם בארון בבית קודש הקדשים kol keilav shel Beis Hamikdash hayu mevusasim al halichos haTorah she'nimtza sham ba'aron b'veis kodesh hakodashim and throughout the משכן Mishkan. That we should understand the following. It's not that the משכן Mishkan was the משל mashal, is the is the נמשל nimshal, and we are the משל mashal. ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם V'asu li Mikdash v'shachanti b'socham. Hashem says, \"I want to dwell not in it, but in them.\" And we are supposed to be living and walking בתי מקדש batei Mikdash. We are supposed to be godly and godlike, we are supposed to be vessels that communicate, vehicles that bring God and godliness and light into this world. The real charge here and the real description and we'll get into a little bit. Unfortunately we won't have time at length but, ברוך השם Baruch Hashem, we have four of the next five פרשיות parshiyos to do it. The dimensions, the materials, the symbolism, it's all really about us. It's not about bricks and mortar. It's not about structure and vessels. It's really all about us, who we are, who we're meant to be, and the vessels that we are meant to be in this world. So you might say to yourself, \"That's cute. That's a cute message.\" That's a cute. ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם V'asu li Mikdash v'shachanti b'socham, one of the most famous דברי תורה divrei Torah in all of חומש Chumash. Really we're supposed to be the בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash, that's cute. So really, you know, we are the משל mashal and really the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash is the נמשל nimshal. רב חיים וולוז'ינר Rav Chaim Volozhiner says that that's backwards. הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu created the בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash as the משל mashal. And we are the נמשל nimshal. It's not that the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash was destroyed, we don't have it, we're sad about it, so we came up with a cute וורט vort, and we came up with a great song, בלבבי משכן אבנה bilvavi mishkan evneh, so that a NCSY שבתונים shabbatonim, we have something to sing. It's not that we came up with this because we don't have the בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash, so we came up with a cute וורט vort. We're getting it all wrong. We need to know fundamentally, we need to know we are the נמשל nimshal. The whole בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash, everything we're about to learn and everything we're about to study and every detail and every פרט prat is a description for us and for our lives and for who we are. שמואל אורבך Shmuel Auerbach based on גמרא ביומא דף כ' Gemara b'Yoma daf kaf, says, \"You know, at the end of יום כיפור Yom Kippur, the כהן גדול kohen gadol, we sing about this on יום כיפור Yom Kippur, would be escorted by the people. If he came out of the קודש הקדשים kodesh hakodashim alive, it bode well for the people, that they were innocent, that their כפרה kapparah was received, and he was escorted out. And a big party ensued, everybody was joyous, it was incredible. So the גמרא Gemara there tells the story that there was a כהן גדול kohen gadol left the בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash, כל העם הלכו אחריו ללוותו kol ha'am halchu acharav l'lavoso. He was being escorted by the whole nation, a huge entourage, grateful, excited, joyous, happy, partying. And what happened? All of a sudden שמעיה ואבטליון Shmaya v'Avtalyon came around. And when the people saw them, they quickly pivoted, abandoned the כהן גדול kohen gadol who walked the rest of the way home by himself, and went to go escort שמעיה ואבטליון Shmaya v'Avtalyon. Because these two great scholars, שמעיה ואבטליון Shmaya v'Avtalyon, of the זוגות zugos, this pair of great scholars, scholars of תורה שבעל פה Torah she'baal peh. So שמואל אורבך Shmuel Auerbach wonders, \"What? What happened? I thought you were supposed to escort now the כהן גדול kohen gadol. He's the one who just achieved the כפרה kapparah. He is the one who served the בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash. How could they have abandoned him to go walk and escort שמעיה ואבטליון Shmaya v'Avtalyon?\" So he explains because, the כהן גדול kohen gadol served in the בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash, the בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash is the משל mashal. But שמעיה ואבטליון Shmaya v'Avtalyon were the נמשל nimshal. The people who are the living, walking embodiment of תורה Torah, they are living, vibrant, dynamic בתי מקדש batei Mikdash. So if you can serve a living, dynamic, vibrant, mobile בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash, that's who you go escort. That's who you walk. That's what life is meant to be. I don't remember where I saw this, but they say that's the פשט pshat in the פסוק pasuk, ככל אשר אני מראה אותך כן תעשו k'chol asher ani mar'eh oscha kein ta'asu. משה רבינו Moshe Rabbenu was not saying, \"ככל אשר אני מראה אותך k'chol asher ani mar'eh oscha, everything I show you you do\" is not everything I show you on the blueprints, on the plans, with the materials. Everything I show you who I am. משה רבינו Moshe Rabbenu is a בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash. And what he was telling the people is, \"My life is incorporating all these teachings, all these vessels, all these dimensions, all these plans. That's who I am.\" ככל אשר אני מראה אותך K'chol asher ani mar'eh oscha, \"Everything that I show you by example, and how I live and who I am, that's what you should go incorporate and live and execute on in your life.\" That's what you're meant to be. וכן תעשו V'chein ta'asu. That is who and what we are meant to be.The ארון aron in fact, let's look at its dimensions for a moment. פרק כ\"ה פסוק י' Perek chof hei, pasuk yud. ועשו ארון עצי שיטים V'asu aron atzei shittim. Let's go with the first vessel now. לארון L'aron, the ark. Ark of the ארון הלוחות, ארון הברית Aron ha'luchos, Aron ha'bris. It was made out of acacia wood, עצי שיטים atzei shittim. אמתים וחצי ארכו אמה וחצי רחבו ואמה וחצי קומתו Amasayim va'chetzi orko amah va'chetzi rochbo v'amah va'chetzi komaso. It was one, it was two and a half cubits in its length, two and an a cubit and a half in its width, and a cubit and a half in its height. אמה Amah. An אמה amah is a foot and a half, approximately a foot and a half. An אמה amah, a cubit. So you'll notice, the כלי יקר Kli Yakar does even if you don't. And here right now I'm going to give you a perfect example of what we just spoke about. That it's the, the בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash and the משכן Mishkan and its כלים keilim are the משל mashal. All these dimensions, all these materials, are to give us insight into ourselves. It's not just a cute דבר תורה dvar Torah for later. So the כלי יקר Kli Yakar, I think does it best. רב לונשיץ Rav Lunshitz, the great כלי יקר Kli Yakar, where he now goes through our פרשיות parshiyos, תרומה ותצוה Trumah v'Tetzaveh, and he looks at the dimensions, the materials, the details, and he says, \"What can we extract, what can we learn about how to incorporate that into who we are in the בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash that is our lives?\" So he notes something very fascinating. He says some of the vessels, the unit of measure of their dimensions are whole units and others are integers, others are fractions. So here the ארון aron is a fraction. Two and a half, one and a half. Why not use whole numbers? It's easier. If you ever have to build or assemble anything, if you got a whole number, it's just easier. When you go to Home Depot or Lowe's and you say, \"Could you cut me the board two feet?\" It's easier than one and one-eighth, one and one-quarter, or one or whatever, anything that you don't have to do a lot of math is easier. So why, why sometimes is it fractions? Why sometimes whole numbers? So the כלי יקר Kli Yakar says the following. It's a long כלי יקר Kli Yakar. I wish we had time to review the whole thing, but you have time, we have time. It doesn't all have to happen in the פרשה parsha class. Look at the כלי יקר Kli Yakar inside. It's an amazing כלי יקר Kli Yakar. There are three core utensils, vessels in the משכן Mishkan, each of them had a זר זהב zer zahav, had a golden crown around them. And they are the ארון aron, the שולחן shulchan, and the מזבח mizbeach. The ארון aron, the ark, the שולחן shulchan, the table, and the מזבח mizbeach, the altar, had a golden crown around them. And חז\"ל Chazal say in יומא ע\"ב Yoma Ayin-Beis, that these three vessels are כנגד k'neged שלשה כתרים, כתר תורה, כתר כהונה, כתר מלכות gimmel ksarim, keser Torah, keser kehuna, keser malchus. These three vessels correspond with the three crowns that we are given, and that each of us is meant to wear, with the כתר שם טוב keser shem tov, of course, being the greatest, the highest of them all. ובדעת ימין אראה כי שלשה כלים אלו היו חלוקים במידת האמות U'v'daas yemin er'eh ki shlosha keilim elu hayu chalukim b'midas ha'amos. And if you look, you'll notice if you compare and contrast these three vessels, you'll see that the way their dimensions are communicated and relayed are all are all different. I hope your כלי יקר Kli Yakar is a bigger font than mine. Namely, ארון היה כל אמותיו שבורות, המזבח היה כל אמותיו שלמות, והשולחן היה מקצת שבורות ומקצת שלמות, הלא דבר הוא Aron haya kol amosov shvuros, ha'mizbeach haya kol amosov shleimos, v'hashulchan haya miktzas shvuros u'miktzas shleimos. Halo davar hu. It's like the כלי יקר Kli Yakar says, \"Huh! Isn't that interesting?\" הלא דבר הוא Halo davar hu. I love that expression. הלא דבר הוא Halo davar hu. Huh! Isn't that interesting? Isn't that interesting? Like these תורה Torah personalities, they come alive in their פירוש peirush. To picture them, you could hear them, you're living with them. That's why we say we don't say the כלי יקר Kli Yakar said. Think about it. Every פרשה parsha, every שיעור shiur we ever give, it's such a beautiful thing about Jewish study. We don't say the כלי יקר Kli Yakar said. I've never in my whole life heard רש\"י Rashi said. תוספות Tosfos said, the רמב\"ם Rambam said. רש\"י Rashi said... The כלי יקר Kli Yakar says. He says, because he's saying it to me right now. הלא דבר הוא Halo davar hu. Huh! Isn't that interesting? He's saying that to us right now. So what's so interesting? What's he find so interesting? These three vessels, the core three vessels, which correspond with the three crowns, כתר תורה, כתר מלכות, כתר כהונה keser Torah, keser malchus, keser kehunah, the three that had the זר זהב zer zahav, the golden thing. And yet, interesting, if you look at it, huh, it's interesting. The ארון aron, all of its dimensions were broken, fractions. The altar, all their dimensions are complete numbers. And the שולחן shulchan, the table, some are whole numbers, some are fractions. \"That's not a coincidence,\" says the כלי יקר Kli Yakar. Okay, if it's not a, if it's not a coincidence, then what does it mean? Why? Why is it that way? Again, he elaborates, but I'll just tell you quickly what he says. He says, כל אמותיו של ארון שבורות, להורות שכל אדם יאמין בנפשו כי לו חסר מן שלמות החכמה, וצריך ללמוד עדיין למלאות חסרונו, כי כל מה החסר, אמרו רז\"ל, דבר חסר תצילח, שימלאו חסרונו. כך עיקר החכמה מאין תמצא Kol amosav shel aron shvuros, l'horos shekol adam ya'amin b'nafsho ki lo chaser min shleimus ha'chachma, v'tzarich lilmod adayin l'malos chesrono, ki kol mah hachaser, amru razal, davar chaser tatzliach, sheyimal'u chesrono. Kach ikar ha'chochma me'ayin timatzei. He says, \"You know why? The ארון aron held the לוחות luchos. The ארון aron is the symbol of תורה Torah.\" When it comes to wisdom, knowledge, תורה Torah, you're never whole. You're never complete, you've never arrived. Nobody can say, \"I know it all. I have it all. I hold it all.\" There's no such thing. So each side of the ארון aron was a fraction, because each side of the ארון aron corresponds with another aspect of תורה Torah wisdom, but in all of תורה Torah wisdom, we are incomplete. We're never done. We're never done, we're never finished. We have to see and recognize ourselves as forever incomplete, needing to grow. And then he goes on and he says, \"Well, if that's the case, then, you know, why does it come to the, to the שולחן shulchan? Why when it comes to the מזבח mizbeach, are you complete? And when it comes to the שולחן shulchan, you're partially complete?\" Again, he applies it. I encourage you to see the rest of that כלי יקר Kli Yakar inside, but it's really very, very beautiful, a very fantastic insight and an example of what the רב חיים וולוז'ינר Rav Chaim Volozhiner was saying, that we are the נמשל nimshal, the משכן Mishkan and its כלים keilim are the משל mashal. And really it's all a design and a program and a formula for us and for how and for how we live. So another example, מבית ומחוץ mibeis u'michutz. פרק כ\"ה פסוק י\"א Perek chof hei, pasuk yud alef. פרק כ\"ה י\"א Perek chof hei yud alef. וציפית אותו זהב טהור מבית ומחוץ תצפנו V'tzipisa oso zahav tahor mibeis u'michutz tetzapenu. When it came to the ארון aron, we cover it with pure gold from within and from without. And you make it of a gold crown all along. Now, gold on the inside, what a waste. What a waste. If you're the architect, the designer, and if you're a donor, I'd say to you, gold on the outside, I get it. Why? It's the superficial, the surface. Everybody sees it. You want it to be majestic and royal and beautiful. And so it's golden on the outside, everybody sees. Gold on the inside, nobody sees the inside of the ארון aron. Why would you waste money? Why would you spend money? Why would you use up this commodity of gold to put it on the inside? Why does that make sense? Why does that make sense? So, the גמרא Gemara in יומא Yoma tells us, because, אמר רבא תלמיד חכם שאין תוכו כברו אינו תלמיד חכם Amar Rava, talmid chacham she'ein tocho k'varo, eino talmid chacham. Because the ארון aron represents תורה Torah, so a person is going to be golden on the outside, and be rotten, cheap, inexpensive on the inside, you're not a תלמיד חכם talmid chacham. You שאַקל shackel so hard in שול shul, and on the outside you look so pious and virtuous and righteous and religious, but really who you are inside is corrupt and contaminated and and duplicitous and hypocritical, that's not a תלמיד חכם talmid chacham. תלמיד חכם Talmid chacham has to be תוכו כברו tocho k'varo. תלמיד חכם Talmid chacham has to be the inside has to match the outside. You have to be pure and genuine through and through. You have to be consistent. So again, the ארון's aron's designed that way not because the ארון's aron what matters, we matter. We who strive to be תלמידי חכמים talmidei chachamim, we who are working and yearning and have ambition to be a living, vibrant, dynamic ארון aron, need to know that part of our mission is to be תוכו כברו tocho k'varo, for our inside and for our outside to match. Good. There's still one question then. פסוק Pasuk says it's gold on the outside, gold on the inside, and but it's made of acacia wood. Well if it's gold on the outside, gold on the inside, then just make it out of gold. Now why do you need the wood? So I understand why you need the gold on the inside because you need to be consistent through and through. But once you're being consistent through and through, just fashion a nice piece of gold and make your ארון aron. Why do you need wood now at the core? Why do you need wood at the center? So רב יוסף לייב בלוך Rav Yosef Leib Bloch who was ראש ישיבה rosh yeshiva of טעלז Telz, says the following. It's a great insight. He says because even the תלמיד חכם talmid chacham needs to know that as golden as they are on the outside and the inside, inside of them is still wood. Wood grows from the ground. Wood is a part of nature. Wood is earth, wood is material, wood is physical. As holy, as spiritual, as high as we fly, as much as we try to be great, even the תלמיד חכם talmid chacham needs to stay rooted, and know where they come from and what they're about. כל זמן שאדם מלובש בחומר גשמי Kol zman she'adam melubash b'chomer gashmi, כמה שיגדל ויעלה למצב של קדושה וטהרה, אינו יכול להיפרד לגמרי מכל ענייני החומר שלא להחשיב בהן kamah sheyigdal v'ya'aleh l'matzav shel kedushah v'taharah, eino yachol lehipared l'gamrei mi'kol inyanei ha'chomer shelo l'hachshiv bahen. You can't ever think, this is when you're in danger. When you think that I'm detached, I rise above, I transcend the physical world. I'm so spiritual, so holy, then you're in trouble. So the תלמיד חכם talmid chacham has to be golden on the outside and golden on the inside, but also has to have wood at the center. at the foundation to remember that we're rooted in this world, we're rooted down here on on earth.We have time for one more. Hmm. Such good ones. פרק כ\"ו פסוק י\"ג Perek chof vav, pasuk yud gimmel. פרק כ\"ו פסוק י\"ג Perek chof vav, pasuk yud gimmel. Yeah. פרק כ\"ו פסוק י\"ג Perek chof vav, pasuk yud gimmel. Sorry about that. Page 454. So, after we go through the vessels, we talk about the cover of the משכן Mishkan. The משכן Mishkan was made of curtains, 10 curtains, twisted with linen, turquoise, purple, wool, a woven design on them. We have the length of these curtains, how the curtains are hung, the loops that are made. But these curtains comprise the cover of the משכן Mishkan. And here פסוק י\"ג pasuk yud gimmel says, והאמה מזה והאמה מזה בעודף באורך יריעות האהל v'ha'amah mizeh v'ha'amah mizeh ba'odef b'orech yerios ha'ohel, the curtains, a cubit on one side, a cubit on the other, extra in length of the curtains of the tent. Why would they hang with extra material? יהיה סרוח על צידי המשכן מזה ומזה לכסותו Yiheyeh saruach al tzidei haMishkan mizeh u'mizeh l'chasoso. They would hang over the sides of the משכן Mishkan on one side and on the other side in order to cover it. So רש\"י Rashi says, \"Why would you make it extra material? Why would it be extra length?\" תורה Torah itself tells us. It hung a little extra over so that it would cover. So says רש\"י Rashi, למד תורה דרך ארץ להיות חס על היפה Limed Torah derech eretz, l'hiyos chas al hayaffeh. תורה Torah here is teaching us דרך ארץ derech eretz, and what is the דרך ארץ derech eretz? The דרך ארץ derech eretz is that we are careful of היפה hayaffeh. It's beautiful, it's magnificent, so we're careful. So says רב שמחה זיסל ברוידא Rav Simcha Zissel Broide, ראש ישיבה rosh yeshiva of חברון Chevron. What does רש\"י Rashi mean? חסה על יופיים של יריעות Chasah al yofyam shel yerios? Are we being careful on the משכן Mishkan, its beautiful, its beauty, these curtains? It not get dirty, it not get soiled, it not get stained? What does that mean? He says impossible, why? Because we know that in the מדבר midbar, שמלותם לא בלתה מעליהם simlosam lo valsa me'aleihem. Their own clothing they never grew out of. Their own clothing miraculously never wore out, never got stained. So if clothing didn't wear out or get stained, certainly the יריעות yerios of the משכן Mishkan, these curtains of this holy place never did. They didn't need dry cleaning. So why have it hang over extra? And what is the דרך ארץ derech eretz? So he says, \"What you hold precious and what you value, you protect and you cover.\" \"When you expose, you don't really care.\" רב שמחה זיסל Rav Simcha Zissel says, \"This is the definition of צניעות tznius.\" צניעות Tznius is not about prudeness, צניעות tznius is not about some religious coercion. צניעות Tznius is not about power. צניעות Tznius, for both men and women, צניעות tznius is about, you know, your most precious jewelry you put in the safe deposit box. Your most precious jewelry, you didn't wear it to the פרשה שיעור parsha shiur this morning. Your most precious jewelry is in your safe. Comes out on special occasions. You're grateful, you're glad you have it. But what you care about and you value the most, you protect and you cover. And the things that we expose and we share and make accessible to the world, we don't really value. And that's what the תורה Torah is telling us here. דרך ארץ להיות חס על היפה Derech eretz l'hiyos chas al hayaffeh. It's a מידה middah of דרך ארץ derech eretz to know what you value and what is precious and to care about, to protect, and to cover it. That we don't share, we don't expose, we don't overexpose, we don't overexpose. רש\"י Rashi says, למה נמשלו ישראל לאגוז Lama nimshlu Yisrael l'egoz? Why are the Jewish people compared to a nut? I have my own answer to that. מה אגוז זה אתה רואה עוסו כולו עץ ואין הניכר בו שבתוכו, פורצו מוצא בו אילן מגורות מגורות של אוכלים Mah egoz zeh atah ro'eh oso kulo eitz v'ein hanikar bo she'b'socho, portzo motzei bo ilan m'guros m'guros shel ochlim. כך ישראל צנועים באונבסם מעשיהם, ואין תלמיד חכמים שבהם ניכרים Kach Yisrael tznuim v'onvasam ma'aseihem, v'ein talmidei chachamim she'bahem nikarim. A nut on the outside looks like a hard shell, a worthless nut. When you crack it open, you find delicious, nutritional, valuable food on the inside. Similarly the Jewish people, modest, humble, covered, and on the inside you see what we value, what is true, what is real. So רב שמחה זיסל Rav Simcha Zissel, this is the meaning of דרך ארץ derech eretz. So I thought this very much connects with an insight that רב סולובייצ'יק Rav Soloveitchik has, I've shared with you before, I wrote a whole article about it once, because I think that our generation arguably needs this more than any. And we'll end with this insight, which is a review, we shared it before. והבדילה הפרוכת לכם בין הקודש ובין קודש הקדשים V'hivdilah ha'paroches lachem bein ha'kodesh u'vein kodesh ha'kodashim. Later in the פרשה parsha, we're told about the פרוכת paroches. The פרוכת paroches, פרק כ\"ו פסוק ל\"ג perek chof vav pasuk lamed gimmel. The פרוכת paroches is the curtain, and the curtain separates between the holy and the Holy of Holies. The Holy of Holies, the holiest place on earth, was sectioned off, was separated by the פרוכת paroches, by the curtain that separated it. Says רב סולובייצ'יק Rav Soloveitchik the following, listen carefully. He says, \"From the time I was young, I learned to restrain my feelings and not to demonstrate what was happening in my emotional world. My father would say that the holier and more intimate the feeling, the more it should be concealed. There's a hidden curtain that separates between one's interior, our קודש kodesh and our קודש הקדשים kodesh ha'kodashim. What location is more sanctified than the inner sanctum of one's emotional life? If all is going well and one's heart overflows with happiness, reveal the deep interior of your soul. soul to God. But you don't have to reveal it to others lest a stranger profane the holy of holies. If on the other hand, someone is in dire straits mired in the cloud of pain and suffering, finding himself abandoned and alone, he should reveal his thoughts before השם Hashem. He should cry to him and supplicate behind the curtain. A stranger should not approach the holy of holies, lest his apathy he profanes the sanctity of the mute pain that burdens the sufferer. לא יבוא Lo yavo, a person is זר zar can't come. The כהן גדול's kohen gadol's rendezvous with his creator is in solitude.Rabbi Soloveitchik describes in, here he describes I think sadly, I'm not suggesting we emulate this. He says, my father never kissed me. A קאלטע ליטוואק kalte Litvak, a cold Brisk'er. The רב Rav said, my father never kissed me. When he took leave of me, he would press his hand into my hand and say, go in peace and may השם Hashem watch over you. A casual onlooker were he to hear these routine words might have been taken aback and mumbled to himself, dry Brisk'er coldness. But that observer witnessed only the exterior, that which was outside the curtain of my father's personality, did not comprehend that his interior, his קודש הקדשים Kodesh HaKodashim, was full of mercy and compassion, contained a refined and bold love for his children, incessantly concerned about their welfare, sacrificing himself for their future. His entire being was overwhelmed with love. At the same time he was careful not to violate the warning that no man shall be in the tent of meeting, protecting the modesty of his emotional life.I'm not suggesting I I I receive kisses from my parents and I give kisses to my children. I think our generation needs a lot of love and affection, verbal and otherwise. I'm not suggesting that we imitate the רב Rav in this way. But is this is this insight not only not brilliant but necessary for our generation? Social media has peeled back the curtain. And everyone thinks that not only is it מותר mutar but it's a מצוה mitzvah today to share with the world every feeling, every experience, every emotion, every everything, every dessert you had, everything. There's a מצוה mitzvah to share. And the רב Rav is saying again, the prescription for the משכן Mishkan is a prescription for our lives. We need curtains. We need to have our own קודש הקדשים Kodesh HaKodashim. There has to be feelings and experiences that don't have to be shared with the world, that they represent the innermost sanctum, the innermost sanctuary, the holiest place within ourselves, the personal, the private, that we have them. And we have to reinstate that and we have to preserve that, we have to teach that within our children. Because the oversharing and overexposure, and again I think this insight of the רב Rav about the role of the פרוכת paroches, really שטימט'ס shtims so beautifully with this insight that we saw from the טלז ראש ישיבה Telz Rosh Yeshiva about the cover and רש\"י Rashi, that דרך ארץ derech eretz. דרך ארץ Derech eretz is to cover that which is יפה yafeh. What you value, what you hold most valuable, what is most dear to you, you don't just share, you don't just expose. You don't walk down the street and say, look and see.Now the application in the world of צניעות tznius, both for men and women is that when a person lacks צניעות tznius, when they dress immodestly, what they're saying is, I don't really value my body, I don't really value who I am. I don't save it for the right setting and the right person and the right time, but I just share it. I share it. So just like we're living in a world where people share their nakedness physically, we're living in a world where people are sharing and exposing their nakedness spiritually and emotionally too much. And we need to put back the פרוכת paroches. We need to put back the יריעות yerios and the מכסה michseh and the cover. We need to recognize that דרך ארץ derech eretz once again. And that I think will help our mental health. We're not doing it punitively, we're doing it because perhaps that will help us with our mental health. So, thank you very much. The lunch learners at 12:30. 7:30 tonight we go to the פריערדיקער רבי Frierdiker Rebbe. And in between, I'm happy to have any conversation of what you'd like to contribute to our מקדש מעט Mikdash M'at and our future growth. Till next time, stay happy, stay healthy, stay holy. We've never cleared out a room.
