Transcript
Good morning, בוקר טוב boker tov, welcome back to פרשה Parsha Perspectives for today. This week we have the privilege of reading פרשת תזריע Parshas Tazria, and because it is a leap year, we are not reading תזריע Tazria and מצורע Metzora, we're just reading תזריע Tazria, which gives us a little bit more chance to dive deeper into תזריע Tazria. Normally we're trying to make our way through two פרשיות parshios. We have an extra פרשת החודש Parshas HaChodesh this שבת Shabbos as well and ראש חודש Rosh Chodesh. This is a three ספר תורה Sefer Torah שבת Shabbos. So plan your שבת Shabbos day accordingly. It's a three ספר תורה Sefer Torah שבת Shabbos, which is always exciting. I want to thank our generous sponsors of the פרשה parsha series for the year, Becky and Avi Katz, in family memory of Becky's father David Grossman. Our learning should be לעילוי נשמת leiluy nishmas דוד בן מנחם מנוש Dovid ben Menachem Manush. This morning's שיעור shiur is also sponsored by Sharon Wenger and Jonathan Wenger in loving memory of their dear husband and father, Bruce Wenger, דובערי בן ישראל Dovari ben Yisrael's sixth יארצייט yahrzeit is כ״ז אדר ב' Chaf Zayin Adar Beis. Thank you for that generosity and for that sponsorship. Also, our learning is for a רפואה שלימה refuah shleima for אסתר טהילה בת אריאל Esther Tehila bas Ariel.פרשת תזריע Parshas Tazria appears on page 608 in the ArtScroll Stone חומש Chumash and begins וידבר ה' אל משה לאמר דבר אל בני ישראל לאמר אשה כי תזריע וילדה זכר וטמאה שבעת ימים כימי נדת דותה תטמא Vayedaber Hashem el Moshe leimor, daber el Bnei Yisrael leimor, isha ki sazria veyaldah zachar, vetamah shivas yamim kimei nidas d'vosah titma. If a woman conceives and gives birth to a boy, וטמאה שבעת ימים כימי נדת דותה תטמא vetamah shivas yamim kimei nidas d'vosah titma. There is a impurity that she has, she is contaminated with, and she needs to purify herself from. But before we dive into that, the bigger question is what does the beginning of this parsha have to do with the end of last week's? If we read the Torah in succession without the break that we normally and are accustomed to reading it with, but if we simply go from the end of one parsha to the other, if we were to simply open the חומש Chumash and study the חומש Chumash straight, we would see the contrast, the comparison, the juxtaposition of the different sections of the different narratives. The very end of שמיני Shemini deals with what? The laws of כשרות kashrus. The laws of כשרות kashrus. The beginning of תזריע Tazria begins with what? What is the connection between the two? רב ישראל סלנטר Rav Yisrael Salanter says, the great founder, father of the מוסר Mussar movement, למה נסמכה פרשת תזריע שרוב עניני נגעים ומצורע מבוארים בה לפרשת שמיני Lama nismicha Parshas Tazria she'rov inyanei negaim u'metzora mevoarim bah le'Parshas Shemini? So we deal with childbirth, but childbirth is an impurity, which is the beginning of the theme of impurity that whose main focus, whose main theme is צרעת tzaraas. Is צרעת tzaraas. So what does צרעת tzaraas, נגעים negaim, what do the spiritual leprosy and impurity have to do with keeping kosher, the end of last week's parsha? Says רב ישראל Rav Yisrael, הנגעים באים על עון לשון הרע ובעוון שרוב בני אדם נזהרים מסור מאכלות אסורות ובודקים בשבע בודקים ובשבע פערים שלא יבואו לתולעת קטנה אינם נזהרים כל צרך בחכך ולשונם, לטעום לשונם אוזנם בפיהם ובלשונם ובולעם אותם חי hanegaim baim al avon lashon hara u've'avon she'rov bnei adam nizharim me'issur maachlos asuros u'vodkim b'sheva bodkim u'b'sheva pe'arim shelo yavo'u le'tola'as ketana, einam nizharim kol tzorech b'cheicham u'le'shonam, litom l'shonam osam be'fihem u'vilshonam u'volam osam chai. Says רב ישראל Rav Yisrael, you know why we have these two topics juxtaposed one to the other? Because the Torah is not only concerned with what you put into your mouth, the Torah is equally or more concerned with what comes out of your mouth. The end of last week's פרשת שמיני Parshas Shemini deals with the laws of כשרות kashrus, how careful we are to inspect for insects and to confirm that the הכשר hechsher is valid and legitimate and to make sure that our utensils don't get mixed up and confused. We have פסח Pesach seminars and workshops all about the food, and despite that, you text and you email and ignore everything that we said and follow up with all of your questions as if we did not give an entire seminar about it, because we're all so concerned about the minutiae and the details of every little negligible thing that enters our mouth. Says רב ישראל Rav Yisrael, that's good, it's important, we should be vigilant, we should be careful. Of course, non-kosher is spiritual poison, we spoke about last week. Same way you wouldn't take chances, if you had any doubt whatsoever, you wouldn't put something that could kill you in your mouth. Why would you put something that could spiritually kill you and compromise and corrupt you into your or your children's mouths? So it's good, it's important. But says רב ישראל Rav Yisrael, it's important not only to be careful with what goes in our mouth, but it's important to be careful equally with what comes out. לכן נסמכה התורה פרשיות אלו ללמדנו Lachein nismicha haTorah parshios eilu le'lamdeinu. And that's why we have the connection. כשם שאתם נזהרים ממאכלות אסורות, כך תזהרו בלשון אסורה K'shem she'atem nizharim mima'achalos asuros, kach tizaharu b'lashon asurah. Just like you're careful that something impure, just like you're careful that something forbidden doesn't go in your mouth, be equally careful that something impure, that something forbidden, doesn't come out of your mouth. שכן כאן ראינו בסדר טהרתם שהטהרת המצורע קשה מטהרת אוכל מאכלות אסורות Shekein kan ra'inu b'seder taharasam she'taharas hametzora kasha mi'taharas ochel ma'achalos asuros. The Torah spends more precious valuable real estate, two פרשיות parshios on what comes out of our mouth. And the process of rehabilitation, the process of repair is much greater, more intense when it comes to saying the wrong thing, what comes out of our mouth than what comes in it. So therefore, says רב ישראל Rav Yisrael, that's why there is such an emphasis and that's why we are so careful here. What an important and powerful message. What a recalibration of our priorities. We have to care about both. You have some people who are מקפיד makpid, they are strict and stringent on the laws of כשרות kashrus, and then they are cruel in their gossip and slander, they're ruthless in how mean they are with their words. And you have other people who say, look, I'm nice and I'm kind and I'm careful and I'd never speak that way, kosher? Not so much, not as important. Being a kind and a good and a moral and an ethical person, that's what matters. As Jews, we strive for both. We can't emphasize one to the exclusion of the other. We are careful both with what goes in our mouth and what comes out of our mouth, because that is the recipe and formula for achieving real holiness.רש\"י Rashi here quotes, אשה כי תזריע isha ki sazria, when a woman conceives. זכר רש\"י אמר רבי שמלאי Zachar Rashi, amar Rabbi Shimlai. In the name of רבי שמלאי Rabbi Shimlai: כשם שיצירתו של אדם אחר כל בהמה חיה ועוף K'shem she'yetziraso shel adam achar kol behema, chaya ve'of, just like the creation of human beings in the process, in the story of the Genesis of the world, when is man created? Man, I mean, humanity, created at the very end, on Friday afternoon, on the sixth day, after בהמה חיה ועוף behema, chaya ve'of. After the animals, domesticated, non-domesticated, fowl and fish. כך תורתו נספרה אחר כל בהמה חיה ועוף, הדא הוא דכתיב: זאת תורת הבהמה, ואחר כך: אשה כי תזריע Kach toraso nispara achar kol behema, chaya v'of, hada hu d'chsiv: zos toras ha'behema, v'achar kach: isha ki sazria. That's why we had in previous פרשיות parshios, זאת תורת הבהמה zos toras ha'behema, here are the laws of animals, kosher and non-kosher, creepy, crawly, flying, swimming, these are the laws of the animals, and now our פרשה parsha, אשה כי תזריע isha ki sazria. Just like in Genesis, it's animals then humans, so too in the laws, first animals then humans. The מדרש Midrash adds, ויקרא רבה Vayikra Rabba. זכה אדם אומרים לו אתה קדמת לכל מעשה בראשית, אם לאו אומרים לו יתוש קדמך Zacha adam, omrim lo atah kadamta l'chol maaseh bereishis. Im lav, omrim lo yitush kadamcha. If a person merits, we say you preceded everything in creation. And if a person doesn't live up to their humanity, if a person acts like an animal, we use that in our very vernacular. You live in a pigsty, you're stuffing your face, you eat like an animal. You're acting like an animal, immorally, unethically, you're indulging compulsive instinct behavior. It's an animal impulse, it's an animal instinct. You're not engaging your uniquely Godly sense of discipline, you're indulging your animal impulse and compulsion. So such a person we say, the little worm, the little flea, the little fly precedes you in creation. So, I don't understand. Depending on the person's behavior is the chronology of when they were created? What are you talking about? Open the חומש Chumash, read the beginning of פרשת בראשית Parshas Bereishis, and there you have the timeline of creation. No matter how a person behaves, the reality is that we were the culmination, we were the climax of creation, we came last. We were the ultimate creation. There's a hierarchy, if you look at the timeline of creation, you see an increased progression and sophistication of creation as we go. That's why women like to say, who is really the final creation, which is the peak and pinnacle of creation? They like to say, woman is created last. She is extracted from man's rib. ויבן את הצלע Vayiven es hatzela. So if it follows that hierarchy and there is progress, then truly the peak and pinnacle of creation. They like to say. So we have this hierarchy and we have this timeline. So what do you mean based on a person's behavior? If you live in a clean room and if you eat with a sense of discipline and if you are able to be sovereign over your own instinct and יצר הרע yetzer hara, then we say you preceded creation, you were first. And if not, you come after the bug, the flea, the fly, the worm, you're last. It's not a function, it's not subjective based on your behavior, it's a timeline. What does the birth certificate of the worm say, what time? And what does the birth certificate of the human being say? It's an objective measure. That is the question of ר' זאב וולף עפשטיין Rav Ze'ev Wolf Epstein. מה כוונת חז\"ל, אומרים לו, וכי אומרים לו דבר שאינו אמיתי? הוי משנה את המציאות אם האדם יזכה Ma kavanas Chazal, omrim lo? Vechi omrim lo davar she'eino amiti? Hoi meshaneh es hametzius im ha'adam yizkeh? Can you change the reality based on your behavior? If you live a virtuous life, you came first. If you live a non-virtuous life, then the flea came first, the fly came first. So says ר' זאב וולף עפשטיין Rav Ze'ev Wolf Epstein, the משגיח mashgiach of תורה ואור Torah V'Or. תכלית כל הבריאה הוא אדם, שהוא נזר הבריאה Tachlis kol ha'bria hu adam, she'hu nezer ha'bria. In his ספר הרעיונות Sefer Ha'arayonos, he writes that the תכלית tachlis, the ultimate purpose of the whole world is the human being. The world is here for us. We don't worship the environment, we don't worship the animal kingdom, we don't worship the plant kingdom. They and it are all here for us. לכן הוא נברא אחרון Lachein hu nivra acharon, that's why we were created last. First we set the stage. First Hashem put everything in place. First he stocked the cabinets, and then he invited us into the room. Then he invited us into the world, onto that stage which was entirely set, כדי שיבוא לעולם כשהכל מוכן עבורו kedei sheyavo la'olam k'shehakol muchan avuro. So everything would be ready. כשם שקדושתו של אדם שכשמגיע לסעודה הכל כבר מוכן K'shem she'kedushaso shel adam she'kashe'magia la'seuda hakol kvar muchan. In other words, someone doesn't invite a guest to their house and then say, you sit here like a dufus, I'll be in the kitchen first starting to prepare. You invite the guest and when they arrive, everything is ready to go. Table is set, everything's prepared, the courses are ready to be served. So Hashem, we are his guest in this world, and he first set the stage. He prepared, everything was ready. כשאדם זוכה וממלא תפקידו ועובד את הקב\"ה כראוי, אם כן הוא קודם לכל בריאה K'she'adam zocheh u'memaleh tafkido v'oved es haKadosh Baruch Hu k'rauy, im kein hu kodem l'chol bria. So that's what the מדרש Midrash means, says ר' זאב וולף עפשטיין Rav Ze'ev Wolf Epstein. When we fulfill the purpose of creation, we are here on a mission. We are here to recognize that the world is our stage, it serves us and now we are the actors on that stage. We are meant to fulfill a mission. We are meant to live God's script, so to say, to fulfill his mission and why we're here. And when we do, we precede creation, meaning, God created with us in mind. But when we don't, when we give into impulse and compulsive behavior, when we act like an animal, then we are violating and failing the very reason and purpose that we are here, then we are not fulfilling that God had us in mind and created all of it for us. Then, everything else came first. We are the lowliest and we are the last. And that's maybe also what we mean, סוף מעשה במחשבה תחילה sof ma'aseh b'machshava tchila. עיקר הסוף שהשלמות מגיעים על ידי הכוונה, רק כדי להוציא לפועל את הכוונה צריך הכנות עד שמגיעים לשלמות Ikar hasof she'hashleimus magi'im al yedei ha'kavana, rak kedei l'hotzi el hapoel es ha'kavana tzrich hachanos ad shemagi'im la'shleimus. So הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu had in mind, yes, we were created last chronologically in the timeline, but he had us in mind first. All of it is here for us. So we give our life meaning and we give our life purpose in how we live it. Do we think carpe diem, seize the day, capture and accumulate as much pleasure and happiness as we can? It's selfishly all about us and our ego? Then we're lower than an animal. We act like an animal, that's all that matters. Or are we here for a mission? Are we here for a purpose? Are we here to make the difference? Are we here to make the world a better place? Then we are engaging and elevating and are we are empowered by everything in the world and it's why Hashem created it.There's so much packed into this insight of רב זאדל Rav Zaidel, which we're not going to unpack right now, but one of the implicit messages which I think is important to remind ourselves, given the times we live in and the different currents that flow, is that הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu put us in a world לעבדה ולשמרה l'ovda u'leshomra. Hashem said I set the stage, it's a beautiful world, and now serve it and protect it. Don't ruin it. But the reason that we care for it, the reason we care about the environment, or we should, the reason we should have an awareness about the water levels and the oceans and whatever climate that objectively all agree is being impacted and what we can do, without getting into politics. I think the politics surround what we're supposed to do about it, not around what the reality is of it, and לעבדה ולשמרה l'ovda u'leshomra is not worshipping something else, it's about protecting that which is supposed to be there for us. Similarly with animals. צער בעלי חיים Tza'ar ba'alei chaim. We are protective and we're sensitive and we care to avoid the pain of the animal. Why? Because we worship animals, we're there for animals? We have to care about the animals? No, the animals are there for us. And from your leather shoes and leather belts and the leather seats that you drove in to get here, and from the פליישיק fleishig dinner you'll have tonight, I know you agree with me. But we have to know that we are caring about animals because the animals are there for us, not because we cede or serve or are subservient to the animals. So we were created last and we have a responsibility to all that comes before, not because we serve it, but because we protect it so it can best serve us and our mission here in this world. So that's what רש\"י Rashi's telling us, that first we had זאת תורת הבהמה Zos Toras HaBehema. We need to have perspective and context. Yes, we care about the animals, and yes we don't cause animal suffering, and you feed your animal before you even feed yourself, because we have a responsibility. But the reason that we do that is not because we serve the animal. We don't subscribe to PETA, but rather, we eat pita in hummus. It's delicious. But rather because we care, because we are to be sympathetic, kind, sensitive beings, and we need to protect animals who can better be there to serve us. That's why they're here, that's why they're all about.פרק י\"ב פסוק ג' Perek Yud Beis, Pasuk Gimmel. Moving along. וביום השמיני ימול בשר ערלתו U'vayom hashmini yimol besar orlaso. On the eighth day, on the eighth day, the baby boy is born, there is a ברית bris. ימול בשר ערלתו Yimol besar orlaso. On the eighth day, we know the ברית bris is the eighth day, as per Shabbos we spoke about. The מהר\"ל Maharal and others explain why the number eight. The number eight, I quoted the חלבן Chalban, ר' חיים כהן Rav Chaim Kahan, why ביום השמיני bayom hashmini. If the הקמת המשכן hakamas hamishkan was really the first of ניסן Nisan, why is it described as the eighth day? Because the number eight. Seven is the natural world, seven are the days of the week, seven are the rules of nature, seven is what we can predict and anticipate, and eight is one above. Eight is supernatural. Eight is transcendent. Eight is what you can't predict. It is miraculous. It is unexpected. חנוכה's Chanukah's eight, ברית bris is eight, and we see the number eight. Here a ברית bris is on the eighth day. Says רב נחמן מברסלב Rav Nachman of Breslov. Again, he doesn't say this explicitly, this beautiful sefer, שולחן השבת של רב נחמן Shulchan HaShabbos shel Rav Nachman, collects teachings of רב נחמן Rav Nachman based on and applied to the פרשה parsha. And says the following: לפני שעושים לתינוק ברית מילה, עוברים עליו שבעה ימים של ערלה Lifnei she'osim la'tinok bris mila, ovrim alav shiv'a yamim shel orlah. Why does a baby enter the ברית bris? With the ברית bris, the baby enters the, not a trick question, the covenant of אברהם אבינו Avraham Avinu. Until then the baby is an ערל arel, ineligible for קרבן פסח Korban Pesach, not complete yet a human being. It's like the suit that the tailor left the tag on and it's up to the consumer to cut the pockets or cut off the tag and finish the suit, the outfit. הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu engaged and invited us to be his partner in creation and the last act of creation to complete and perfect creation, he left the tag on and he said cut it off and press go. But he didn't say to do it on day one. You know, when when the baby's born and the nurse says would you like to cut the umbilical cord, which is a הלכתית halachic question whether a father can. The nurse doesn't say would you like to cut off the foreskin. Why not? If in fact the foreskin is a source of impurity and we are elevating the child and completing the act of creation of the child and inviting and escorting the child into the covenant of none other than אברהם אבינו Avraham Avinu with a ברית bris, why do we wait a week? Why are we delaying? Why are we pushing it off? Why don't we do it immediately? Call the מוהל mohel to the hospital room or bring the baby to the שול shul for a couple hours, sneak him out so that you could have lox and bagels and a whole station and get the ברית bris done on day one. Why do we wait until the eighth day? We we make the baby live with an ערלה orlah for seven days, for a week? אין זה אלא שאי אפשר להפוך ליהודי שלם כבר מהרגע הראשון Ein zeh ela she'i efshar l'hafuch l'Yehudi shalem kvar me'harega ha'rishon. Because of רב נתן Rav Noson, so רב נתן Rav Noson, the great student of רב נחמן מברסלב Rav Nachman of Breslov, writes in לקוטי הלכות Likutei Halachos, שתהליך דומה מופיע בכל מקום שיש בו קדושה she'tahalich domeh mofia b'chol makom she'yesh bo kedusha. This question we're asking, which is if there is an elevated state of קדושה kedusha of holiness, of sanctity, of consciousness, and that's what we're striving for, why do we delay? Why do we wait? Why don't we do it right away? Is not only true with the ברית מילה bris mila. We find it in every area of holiness. For example, תמיד הקליפה קודמת לפרי tamid ha'klipah kodemes la'pri. The peel, the shell, always comes before the fruit. הקדושה מופיעה רק לאחר תקופה ארוכה של הסתר והעלם Ha'kedusha mofia rak l'achar tkufa aruka shel hester v'he'elem. What happens is there's there's a seed, there's a planting of holiness that germinates, that grows, and it only blossoms and becomes exposed, we only access it later. First it's hidden, הסתר והעלם hester v'he'elem. כך למשל הייתה ארץ ישראל בתחילה במשך שנים רבות תחת שלטון כנען Kach l'mashal hayta Eretz Yisrael b'tchila b'meshech shanim rabos tachas shilton K'naan. The holiest place on earth, the holiest land on earth, our beautiful precious homeland, the land of Israel, was not ours from the start. Even though yes, אברהם Avraham walked it, with its width and its breadth, and it was promised to his progeny, it wasn't smooth sailing from there. אברהם Avraham goes down to Egypt and he comes back, and יצחק Yitzchak doesn't go down but יעקב Yaakov does and his children disappear 210 years, and we wander in a desert 40 years, and then we have to first conquer it and liberate it from the hands of the כנענים K'naanim, שהיא שיא הטומאה ועבודה זרה she'hu si ha'tumah v'avodah zarah. The Canaanite nations. We don't have to purge Israel of non-Jews. Torah tells us those who subscribe to the seven נוחייד Noachide laws, who are willing to live as נוחיידס Noachides, they're welcome to remain in the land and to sit by our side. They can be fellow citizens of Israel. It's only those who are filled with idolatry and paganism and foreign values and influence that we have to get rid of. ורק אחר כך עברה לידי ישראל V'rak achar kach avra l'yedei Yisrael. So why? Why didn't we get smooth sailing right into the land of Israel? Why first was it in the hands of idolaters and pagans and we had to go through a process of purging it from them before we could acquire it? גם העולם כולו הסתכן כ\"ו דורות בלי תורה Gam ha'olam kulo histakein chaf-vav doros bli Torah. How about the fact that this entire world existed for 26 generations without the instruction manual? Before we had the blueprint, before we had the תורה הקדושה Torah HaKedosha, before we had the Torah's אמת emes of Hashem, the world had to navigate for 26 years without ways. Can you imagine? I don't know how we lived without it. I do remember, mom and dad would be driving, one had the map open, the other was driving. Say, quick, turn on 1010 WINS, it's about to be the traffic update. Should we take the West Side Highway? Should we take the FDR? Never in my family, but in others, a fight would ensue. I told you to take the FDR, there's always traffic this time of day. I know because I take it all the time. Why didn't we go the other way? I I I always tell people and I don't understand that people don't do this. If I pull out of my driveway, I go on ways. I want to know from my house to Thornhill Estates which way on the circle I should go. You have an eye in the sky telling you where there's traffic, where there are police, where there are accidents or broken down cars. Why wouldn't you use that? I I don't know, it boggles my mind. It's the same people who never get the E-ZPass and continue to pay in cash or who doesn't have TSA PreCheck. I just, there's a whole group of people that I just don't, I can't believe that we inhabit the same Earth. I just don't understand it. I just don't understand it. How did we get on this? Because ways allows us to navigate the world. You have an eye in the sky and it teaches us how to go, teaches us how to go. And I don't understand how you could be a responsible human being today and not want to know. And if it's a religious reason, you know how much ביטול תורה bitul Torah there is sitting in traffic? If you want to learn more Torah, know how to get places faster. With all the time you'll save, you could finish ש\"ס Shas several times. So הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu gave us להבדיל l'havdil spiritual ways, it's called the Torah. Here's a complicated world, I have an eye in the sky and I'm going to tell you how to navigate it. I'll tell you how to navigate relationships and food and pleasure and time. Follow my ways called the Torah and it will teach you how to navigate. You know what else it does? It's really cool that Waze does? When you make that wrong turn with Waze, sometimes by accident and often because you still think you're smarter than Waze. It tells you to go that way and you say, \"Ach, that's ridiculous, that way.\" You're driving your whole life, that's the wrong way, this is... and then you turn the corner and now you're stuck in traffic that doesn't move. And you say, \"Oh Waze, I'm so sorry, מחל לי mechal li, I should have listened to you again.\" So the Torah also tells us, you know the beauty of Waze doesn't raise its voice. It doesn't yell at you. It very calmly says you've made a wrong turn, we're rerouting. And it sets you on a new path towards your destination. And Hashem loves us, he doesn't raise his voice, he doesn't get exasperated, same thing. He just says rerouting. תשובה Teshuvah, let's get you back on the path, back on the דרך derech of where you need to go. So we have this gift called ways. So why didn't Hashem give it to us right away from day one? You could ask that about both ways, physical ways and spiritual ways. Remember how excited we were with MapQuest? We thought that was incredible. It was as good as following the directions. If you made one wrong turn, your MapQuest printout was worthless. So we waited 26 generations to have the Torah. It's such an incredible co-pilot. Why didn't Hashem give it to us from day one? Why didn't he deposit man and woman in this world and from day one say, here you are, here's your Torah, it's your instruction manual, don't leave home without it. So we waited, first we had to purge the Canaanite idolaters before we could get the holiness of ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael. It's 26 generations we waited before we got our תורה הקדושה Torah HaKedosha. And this little boy has to wait seven days before he could get his ברית bris and enter the covenant of... תורה ניתנה רק בהר סיני ויהי ערב ויהי בוקר, האור מגיע תמיד אחר החושך Torah nitna rak b'Har Sinai. Vayehi erev vayehi voker. Ha'or magia tamid achar ha'choshech. This is the way of the world, says רב נחמן Rav Nachman. First there's ערב erev and then בוקר boker. This is the way of the Jewish world. The rest of the world defines a day by morning and then night. But the Jewish people define our world by night and then day. First we go through a period of night, of darkness, and then we blossom, and then the light, the sun rises, and then the light shines, and then there's illumination. לכאורה נשאלת שאלה איך יכול העולם להתקיים בהסתר כזה L'chora nish'eles she'ela, eich yachol ha'olam le'hitkayem b'hester kazeh? So how do we live that way though? Why do we first go through that process? Why do we have to first spend our time navigating that darkness? And where's the holiness? If we are empowered and driven and energized by the קדושה kedusha, by the holiness of Hashem, then why is the fruit hidden in the peel, in the shell? Then why is it we wait seven days, the ברית bris is the eighth day? Then why did we have to wait to get ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael? Then why 26 generations towards Torah? Then why do we have to go through an ערב erev before a בוקר boker? So he says the following: אמרו חז\"ל שברית התורה היא זו שמקיימת את חוקי הטבע, כמו שנאמר אם לא בריתי יומם ולילה, חוקות שמים וארץ לא שמתי Omru Chazal she'bris ha'Torah hi zu she'mekayemes es chukei ha'teva. K'mo shene'emar, im lo brisi yomam va'layla, chukos shamayim va'aretz lo samti. A pasuk in ירמיהו הנביא Yirmiyahu HaNavi that the world only spins on the axis of Torah. הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu created the world for Torah. אם כן מה מקיים את העולם בתקופת החושך Im kein, mah mekayem es ha'olam b'tkufas ha'choshech? So what keeps the world spinning? What sustains our world when we're going through darkness, when we're in a period of ערב erev, struggling, challenged, confronting hardship, spiritually, emotionally, physically? How does that little boy go through the first seven days? How did we get through till we got ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael? How did we live 26 generations? And how do we get through our periods of dark before we encounter and break through to the light? The answer is: שגם בתוך חיי החושך והקליפה מסתתרת חיות אלוקות שמקיימת את העולם shegam b'toch chayei ha'choshech v'haklipa mistateres chiyus Elokus she'mekayemes es ha'olam. Within that shell and within that peel, within that darkness, there is a hidden light. הקדוש ברוך הוא נותן חיות גם לעולם שלא נגאל עדיין HaKadosh Baruch Hu nosein chiyus gam la'olam shelo nigal adayin. It needs to be redeemed and it needs to be revealed, it needs to be exposed and it needs to be accessed, but inside it is incredible light, is incredible redemption, is incredible hope, is incredible faith. בשביל הגאולה שתבוא Bishvil ha'geulah she'tavo. כמו חבל הטבור שמספק מזון לעובר בתוך רחם אמו כשהוא נסתר מעיני כל ואין מי שרואה אותו k'mo chevel hatabur she'mesapek mazon la'ubar b'toch rechem imo, k'shehu nistar mei'einei kol v'ein mi she'ro'eh oso. כך השם מחיה את העולם בהסתר כהכנה לקדושה שתגלה לעתיד לבוא Kach Hashem mechayeh es ha'olam b'hester k'hachana la'kedusha she'tisgaleh l'asid lavo. The umbilical cord is nourishing the baby. You could ask the baby is in the womb, it's dark and it's cold, and the baby is swimming in that amniotic fluid, it's all shriveled up and wrinkled and nine months we can't see it. The whole period of gestation, the baby is hidden in a period of ערב erev, it's dark. So how does the baby exist? Can't feed that baby. Can't feed that baby. Can't take the little baby food in the spoon and here comes the airplane. Can't hold the bottle and put it in the baby's mouth, can't nurse the baby. So how does the baby eat in the mother's womb? The answer is the umbilical cord that can't be seen but is nourishing all along. So too הקדוש ברוך הוא is מחיה את העולם בהסתר כהכנה לקדושה HaKadosh Baruch Hu is mechayeh es ha'olam b'hester k'hachana la'kedusha. He is even in the hiddenness nourishing, even in the darkness there's a source of light, even under the ground there is a seed which is planted and it's already beginning to sprout and it's already beginning to blossom. He doesn't mention this רב נחמן Rav Nachman, but we're about to enter חודש ניסן Chodesh Nisan. In the month of ניסן Nisan, we have a מצוה mitzvah, we make a ברכה bracha called ברכת האילנות Birkas Ha'ilanos, to go find a tree that is about to blossom and to make a ברכה bracha. When do you make the ברכה bracha and when do you fulfill ברכת האילנות Birkas Ha'ilanos? When the fruit emerges? When you can see the fruit? When you could smell the orange, the tangerine, the mango? No. When do you do it? When you see the flower, the bud, that comes before the fruit. That's the הלכה halacha. You find a tree that is flowering, that's budding before the fruit emerges. Why is that when we make the ברכה bracha? Because it is our statement, our affirmation, that there is a fruit inside and it will come and it will be sweet and it will be delicious. Even if all right now is a flower. We are emerging from the dark winter. Not here in בוקה Boca. We are holding on to the winter. Every day you come out and you're like, 'Ah, ברוך השם Baruch Hashem, thank God, it's still...' I could breathe. Amazing. ברוך השם Baruch Hashem. Hope it should continue through יום טוב Yom Tov. We should just continue through יום טוב Yom Tov. But elsewhere, they're emerging from the dark and cold and frigid winter where the sky is gray 24 hours a day and the night falls at 3:00 in the afternoon, and you have to defrost your windshield to see anything, and you find that little blossom, that little bud and you say, 'Ah, there is a fruit that's coming.' And all winter long underneath the ground, it has been taking its nutrients and preparing to come forth. And that's what הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu, the way he set up the world physically, and we make a ברכה bracha, שלום עליכם Shalom aleichem, welcome, fruit, we've been waiting for you. We can't wait to hold you and to smell you and to taste you. And even though you're not here yet, we believe and we're confident you're coming. So we make a ברכת האילנות Birkas Ha'ilanos. We make this ברכה bracha on this tree. וזה נכון לא רק לעולם אלא גם לכל אדם בפני עצמו, יוסי V'zeh nachon lo rak la'olam, ela gam l'chol adam bifnei atzmo, yosi. You'll see in the weekly this week, Zagi's always invites the entire community to their backyard, they have fruit trees, come make the ברכה bracha in the month of ניסן Nisan. If you have a fruit tree, if it meets the criteria, make it yourself. If not, come to their house. גם לאדם יש לפעמים זמנים של חושך והסתר פנים Gam l'adam yesh lifamim zmanim shel choshech v'hester panim. Says רב נחמן Rav Nachman, we too go through times of darkness, of hiddenness of Hashem, of concealment, שבהם שקוע בחומריות ובטומאה ובחטא she'bahem shakua b'chomrius u'v'tumah u'v'chet, where we are weighed down by physicality, by materialism, by sin. אבל במקום להניח לו למות, מיד אחר החטא ממשיך הקדוש ברוך הוא לקיים אותו ולהזין לו חיות Aval b'makom l'haniach lo l'mus, miyad achar ha'chet mamshich HaKadosh Baruch Hu l'kayem oso u'lehazin lo chiyus. Even in that period of darkness there's a spiritual umbilical cord, it's nourishing us, it's feeding us. יודע שסוף כל סוף הקדושה תבוא Yodea she'sof kol sof ha'kedusha tavo. הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu knows there's a pure נשמה neshama inside us, there's a פנטליד pintele Yid, that even though right now there's a hard shell, even right now there's a קליפה klipah, there's a peel, even though right now it's covered and cloaked in darkness, there's a פנטליד pintele Yid, there's a beautiful נשמה neshama, there's a beautiful Jew inside. There's a spark that's going to burst forth, it's going to blossom, it's going to be sweet and succulent and delicious and beautiful. גם אם האדם יתייאש מעצמו, הוא יודע שבסופו של דבר אין נשמה הולכת לאיבוד, וכל אחד יבוא על תיקונו Gam im ha'adam yitya'esh mei'atzmo, hu yodea she'b'sofo shel davar ein neshama holeches l'ibud, v'chol echad yavo al tikuno. Rav Nachman, אין יאוש בעולם כלל *ein ye'ush b'olam klal*. Don't give up and don't despair and don't be hopeless. No matter how dark, no matter how bleak, no. That's how Hashem created the world, that it's ערב *erev* and then בוקר *boker*. לכן צריך האדם לדעת ולהרגיש היטב, גם בתוך החושך, ולהאמין בעצמו שעוד יזכה לראות את הזריחה בסוף הלילה *Lachein tzarich ha'adam lada'at v'lahargish heitev, gam b'toch hachoshech, v'leha'amin b'atzmo she'od yizkeh lirot et hazricha b'sof halailah*. We will see that light at the end of the dark. So why does the baby wait a week? Do the ברית *bris* on day one. The answer is a ייד *Yid*, a Jew has to go through seven days of darkness before the light. We wait till that fruit blossoms. That is the way of the world physically and spiritually. That is the design of creation. And it teaches patience. It teaches us that we have to be patient. It teaches us toil, that we have to work, that you don't just access holiness without effort. It takes time and it takes work and it takes sacrifice. These aren't very popular words today. We live in an on-demand generation and world. What do you mean work? What do you mean time? I watch and I listen and I eat and I do on demand. My Uber Eats delivers on demand. And my entertainment is on demand. And my playlist is on demand. And then we turn to our spouse and children and we say, nu, act on demand. But that's not how marriage works. That's not how children behave. And on demand, I want to download ש״ס *Shas* into my head. But it takes seven and a half years to get through the דף יומי *Daf Yomi*. And on demand, I want דאווענען *davening* to be over in two minutes. But it takes time to talk to your creator. The world is not designed on demand. It's ערב *erev* and then בוקר *boker*. It takes time and effort and toil and patience to break through and burst through to the light, to get through the peel and the shell to the fruit. And that's why Hashem created that world in all of the examples that Rav Nachman gave, it takes that time. Okay, let's keep going.וביום השמיני, פרק י״ב פסוק י״ג *Uv'yom hashmini, perek yud-beis, pasuk yud-gimmel*. אדם כי יהיה בעור בשרו שאת או ספחת *Adam ki yihyeh b'or b'saro se'eis o sapachas*. Person has these negative, uh, qualities we're talking about. I'm sorry, let's go back, not yet. I made a mistake. וביום השמיני *V'yom hashmini*. פרק י״ג פסוק י״ג *Perek yud-gimmel pasuk yud-gimmel*. Sorry. An insight from Rav Dessler. The מדרש *Medrash* says, it's a great insight from Rav Dessler. Still the eighth day, the ברית *bris*. Eighth day is on the ברית *bris*. The eighth day is the ברית *bris*. The מדרש *Medrash* says the ילקוט on ירמיהו, למד גימל *Yalkut on Yirmiyahu, lamed-gimmel*, says the following: שבאו שבת ומצות מילה, היו דנין זו עם זו *She'ba'u Shabbos u'mitzvas milah, hayu danin zu im zu*. I love these kind of מדרשים *Midrashim*. They're not meant to be taken literally, but they're communicating a message. שבת וברית מילה *Shabbos u'bris milah* got into an argument. שבת וברית מילה *Shabbos u'bris milah* got into a fight. שבת אומרת אני גדולה ממך *Shabbos omrah, ani gedolah mimcha*. Shabbos said, \"I'm greater than you. I'm the holy שבת *Shabbos*. The הייליגע שבת *heilige Shabbos*.\" המילה טוענת אני גדולה ממך *Ha'milah toenet ani gedolah mimcha*. And the ברית *bris* came to שבת *Shabbos* and said, \"You think you're, I'm bigger than you. I'm greater than you.\" So which one is it? Who's greater than whom? Is שבת *Shabbos* greater or is מילה *milah* greater? What's the answer? You should all know. If you've ever attended a ברית on שבת *bris on Shabbos*, you know that שבת *Shabbos*, you're not allowed to do the things that are involved in a ברית *bris*. You're cutting, you're bleeding, you're bandaging. רבי אליעזר דמילה, ה... די... אפילו מכשירי מילה דוחה שבת *Rabbi Eliezer d'milah, the... the... afilu machshirei milah docheh Shabbos*. You're allowed to cut down the branch to start the fire to forge a knife to cut the baby. We don't פסק'ן *pasken* that. We say anything that can be done before שבת *Shabbos* must be done before שבת *Shabbos*, only the things that can't be done are done on שבת *Shabbos*. But which one supersedes the other? שבת *Shabbos*, ברית דוחה שבת *bris docheh Shabbos*. So who won the argument? ברית *Bris*. Okay, that's the מדרש *Medrash*. We know the הלכה *halacha* that ברית דוחה שבת *bris is docheh Shabbos*. A ברית *bris* that falls on the eighth day. Not every ברית *bris* that falls on the eighth day, by the way. If the baby is born through a C-section, the ברית *bris* is not דוחה שבת *docheh Shabbos*. Why? Because the פסוק *pasuk* says, what does the פסוק *pasuk* say? אשה כי תזריע וילדה זכר *Isha ki sazria v'yaldah zachar*. She had to have given birth naturally, וילדה *v'yaldah*. But it's a C-section, cesarean section. If the baby did not come out naturally, but, you know, crawled out through the window, did not exit the door, then it's not דוחה שבת *docheh Shabbos*. It has to be וילדה *v'yaldah*. Is the opposite also true? What if the baby was not conceived naturally? It has to be וילדה *v'yaldah* to be דוחה שבת *docheh Shabbos*. Does it also have to be תזריע *tazria* to be דוחה שבת *docheh Shabbos*? This is a discussion in הלכה *halachic* literature. If a baby is conceived with IVF and then born, when the ברית *bris* falls on the eighth day is שבת *Shabbos*, is that ברית דוחה שבת *bris docheh Shabbos*? It's a big מחלוקת הפוסקים *machlokes ha'poskim*. Just like וילדה *v'yaldah* has to be naturally, does תזריע *tazria* have to be naturally too? Interesting questions. So the baby, so that's the הלכה *halacha*. A ברית *bris* is דוחה שבת *docheh Shabbos*. Why is the מדרש *Medrash*... What is the מדרש *Medrash* adding in this depiction of this debate? Why were they arguing about, what are they fighting about? שבת *Shabbos* says I'm bigger than you, נה נה קיש קיש *na na kish kish*. And ברית *bris* says, no, I'm bigger than you and they're wrestling it out and ברית *bris* wins. Says Rav Dessler, you can find this in מכתב מאליהו חלק א' *Michtav Me'Eliyahu chelek aleph* page 226, says Rav Dessler the following. What is שבת *Shabbos*? שבת *Shabbos* is putting רוחניות into the גשמיות *ruchniyus into the gashmiyus*. ביום השביעי שבת וינפש *V'yom hashvi'i shavas vayinafash*. All week long we are chasing after this world. We're conquering, we're manipulating, we're working, we're changing, we're repairing, we're controlling this world. And then what do we do on שבת *Shabbos*? We make peace with nature. We make peace with this world. We're done controlling, we're done manipulating, we're done being in charge of it. So שבת *Shabbos* is הכנסת הרוחניות לתוך הגשמיות *hachnasas ha'ruchniyus l'soch ha'gashmiyus*. We're putting the רוחניות into the גשמיות *ruchniyus into the gashmiyus*. I lift my spoon of chicken soup and I say, לכבוד שבת קודש *l'kavod Shabbos kodesh*. On Tuesday night it's just soup. But on Friday night, it's לכבוד שבת קודש *l'kavod Shabbos kodesh*. I'm putting the spirituality in the physical. That is שבת *Shabbos*. What is ברית *bris*? הסתלקות הגשמיות *Histalkus ha'gashmiyus*. וביום השמיני ימול בשר ערלתו *Uv'yom hashmini yimol b'sar orlaso*. The idea of the עורלה *orlah* of the, of the מילה *milah* is you are removing the physical. There was a physical עורלה *orlah*, there was a physical foreskin, there was a cover, there was a barrier, and you are removing the physical. So the מדרש *Medrash* can be understood as follows, says Rav Dessler. What was מילה *milah* saying? Putting רוחניות into the גשמיות *ruchniyus into the gashmiyus*, that's nice. But you know what's even better? Transcending the גשמיות *gashmiyus*. It's dangerous to put רוחניות into the גשמיות *ruchniyus into the gashmiyus* because you're still engaging the גשמיות *gashmiyus*. So you know what's even holier, what's even higher? Is transcending the גשמיות *gashmiyus*. שכן יש לו יצר בענייני מצוות עמה. גדולה החטאת האדם שנשאר אך ורק בענייני העולם הזה, ולכסות ראשו בעטרת של מצווה, כביכול הופך את הקדושה לטומאה. המלחמה החזקה ביותר כנגד היצר היא להסיר ממנו לגמרי את השאיפה של הגשמיות ולגבור על התאוות *Shekein yesh lo yetzer b'inyanei mitzvos amah. Gedolah chata'as ha'adam she'nish'ar ach v'rak b'inyanei ha'olam hazeh, u'lechaso rosho b'ateres shel mitzvah, k'viyachol hofech et ha'kdusha l'tumah. Ha'milchama hachazakah yoser keneged ha'yeitzer hi l'hasir mimeno l'gamrei et ha'she'ifa shel ha'gashmiyus v'ligbor al ha'ta'avos*, ואז נוכל להכניס את הרוחניות אל הגשמיות *v'az nuchal l'hachnis et ha'ruchniyus el ha'gashmiyus*. אבל בלי זה ענין קדושת הגשמיות מסוכן מאוד, שהטומאה לבדה תישאר, והוא תשמש מצוותיו לצורך עצמו *Aval b'li zeh inyan kedushas ha'gashmiyus mesukan me'od, she'ha'tumah l'vadah tisha'er, v'hu t'shamesh mitzvosav l'tzorech atzmo*. Says Rav Dessler, that's what the debate was. Which is a better methodology? To try to add spiritual to the physical, or to transcend the physical and become spiritual. And that's when שבת *Shabbos* says, \"I'm greater,\" and ברית *bris* says, \"No, no, no, your method is dangerous because you may confuse yourself. You may convince yourself that you're adding spiritual to the physical, but all you're really doing is indulging the physical. So you need to elevate with spiritual.\" And ברית *bris* won out. ברית *bris* won out in that debate. So Rav Dessler very beautifully, I think, elucidates what was that debate, what were they arguing about. Okay, now we move to פרק י״ג, פסוק ב' *perek yud-gimmel, pasuk beis*. We move on to the issue of, the issue of צרעת *tzara'as*. An individual who gossips or slanders is struck with a spiritual leprosy. It's not a physical leprosy, צרעת *tzara'as* is not leprosy. It is a spiritual disease and ailment, a spiritual leprosy. פרק י״ג, פסוק ב' *Perek yud-gimmel, pasuk beis*. אדם כי יהיה בעור בשרו שאת או ספחת או בהרת, והיה בעור בשרו לנגע צרעת... אדם *Adam ki yihyeh b'or b'saro se'eis o sapachas o beheres, v'hayah b'or b'saro l'nega tzara'as... Adam*. Doesn't say איש *ish*, doesn't say גבר *gever*, says אדם *Adam*. Why does it say אדם *Adam*? We have many words for man. Torah has a glossary. Why do we employ אדם *Adam*? We'll get to it in a moment. If a person has on their skin, שאת, ספחת, בהרת *se'eis, sapachas, beheres* and it becomes צרעת *tzara'as*, and והובא אל אהרון הכהן או אל אחד מבניו הכהנים *v'huva el Aharon ha'kohen o el echad m'banav ha'kohanim*, or to one of the כהנים's *kohanim's* children. It says והיה *v'hayah*. והיה בעור בשרו *V'hayah b'or b'saro*. What does the word והיה *v'hayah* always tell us? It's a מדרש *Medrash*, בראשית רבה, מ\"ב *Bereishis Rabbah, mem-beis*. כל מקום שנאמר והיה הוא לשון שמחה *Kol makom she'ne'emar v'hayah hu lashon simcha*. והיה is לשון שמחה *V'hayah is lashon simcha*. ויהי is צער, והיה is לשון שמחה *Vayehi is tza'ar, v'hayah is lashon simcha*. So where's the שמחה *simcha*? The person comes to the כהן *kohen*. You gotta make a doctor's appointment. You're going to the spiritual dermatologist. You've got a significant problem. You've got a breakout. You've got a bad rash. You've got boils. Where's the שמחה *simcha*? Nobody skips and whistles to the dermatologist to hear that they need to put a little cortisone cream on it. So why would somebody והיה *v'hayah*? Where's the שמחה *simcha*, where's the joy? Says the אלשיך הקדוש *Alshich HaKadosh*. זה לשון האלשיך הקדוש *Zeh lashon ha'Alshich HaKadosh*. כל מראות הנגעים הנראים בעור האדם הם כלים לטומאה שמתגלה בחיצונו *Kol mar'os ha'nega'im ha'nir'im b'or ha'adam hem kelim l'tumah she'misgalah b'chitzono*. Do you know why you have צרעת *tzara'as*? צרעת *Tzara'as* are the physical manifestation that there's something wrong. There's טומאה *tumah*. This poor behavior, this poor judgment, this poor choices, and that manifests, that expresses itself on the skin with צרעת *tzara'as*. And that's why it says אדם כי יהיה בעור בשרו *adam ki yihyeh b'or b'saro*. שם אדם מורה על מעלה גבוהה יותר מאיש וגבר *Shem Adam moreh al ma'alah g'voha yoser m'ish v'gever*. אדם, אדמה *Adam, adama*, we're in a growth mentality. אדם *Adam* is higher than איש *ish* and גבר *gever*. אצל אלו שאינם מאמינים בטומאת עוון לעשות בהם כל רושם, כי ממין במינו אינו חוצץ. אם כן דווקא מראות הנגעים מוכיחים על מעלת האדם מישראל *Eitzel eilu she'einam ma'aminim b'tumas avon la'asot bahem kol roshem, ki min b'mino eino chotzetz. Im kein davka mar'os ha'nega'im mochi'chim al ma'alas ha'adam mi'Yisrael*. Having נגעים *nega'im* is actually a healthy thing. You know why? Because it means your body is working and it's alerting you, your spiritual antenna is alerting you that something's wrong. And that's a source of שמחה *simcha*. Pain is a good thing. You say pain is a good thing? We have an entire industry of pain management. Billions and billions and billions of dollars of pain management. How could pain be a good thing? The answer is nobody seeks pain or wants pain. There are unhealthy people who get pleasure from pain, but normal people and healthy people don't get pleasure from pain, don't seek pain. So why is pain a good thing? Why is it a שמחה *simcha*? The answer is רחמנא ליצלן *Rachmana litzlan*, there are terrible illnesses and ailments where a person's nerve endings don't work, forms of neuropathy, that you can't feel pain. A person can scratch or injure their leg or themselves. A person could have internal bleeding or organ failure and not feel pain and never know anything's wrong. And do you know how dangerous that is? You can Google it, look it up later, but you'll see that this rare but present disease is dangerous, particularly in children who run and play and don't know something's wrong. Could break a bone, could have a cut, you could have a really dangerous problem and not know it because you don't feel the pain. So is pain good or bad? It's an asset or a liability? The answer is pain is a gift. Pain is a great gift because it's an alarm system, it's an alert that something's wrong. Says the אלשיך *Alshich*, when you break out in צרעת *tzara'as*, boy, you're in good shape. You know why? Because the person is on such a low level that their body has not told them that something's wrong. The person is on such a low level with such low expectations and such a low bar and living such a low life that gossiping or slandering doesn't bring with it an alert or an alarm. If there's an alert and alarm, it means you're capable of more and you are better, and you could do more. And that's why it's והיה לשון שמחה *v'hayah lashon simcha*. והיה בעור בשרו *V'hayah b'or b'saro*. That's why it's והיה *v'hayah*, which is a לשון *lashon* of שמחה *simcha*. And that should be our attitude. That should be our attitude, says the אלשיך *Alshich*, towards pain. Spiritual pain means, you know what? I can do more. I can be better. I can be better. So that's why shame is a very good thing. בושה *Bushah*. We've written a lot about in the past. It's actually a book on modesty coming out that I have an article in that talks about this. מלבוש is מלשון בושה *Malbush is milashon busha*. And בוש *bosh*. חיים שיש בהם, שאין בהם בושה, אוכלים *Chayim she'yesh bahem, she'ein bahem busha, ochlim* on the one hand, but on the other hand, בושה *busha* is a prerequisite to תשובה *teshuva*. The notion of shame. Is shame good or bad? Shame, being shamed by others is bad, but feeling ashamed is very good. The person who never feels ashamed, it's a very, very dangerous thing. Just like a person who doesn't feel pain can engage in dangerous, lethal behavior and never knows where the boundaries are, the person who never feels ashamed, they dress around, they walk around immodest, naked, and there's no shame. Rabbi Manis Friedman wrote a book, \"Does Anyone Blush Anymore?\" This is a generation, we're living in a world where nobody blushes. The billboards up and down 95, the state of dress or undress that people operate and live in, the language that people use, the way they behave at awards shows. There's no shame anymore. No one's ashamed of anything. What happens? When you have no shame, you have no boundaries. Because that shame is what protects and preserves those boundaries for us. A person doesn't want to feel ashamed. That sense of shame is an alert, it's an alarm. It says, \"Whoa, you've fallen. You've hit, you've hit rock bottom. Don't behave like that. You don't want to feel this way again.\" And when you don't feel ashamed by your behavior, by your speech, by your conduct, by your dress, then you don't know where those boundaries are. So shame is good, just like pain is good. So the individual who breaks out in צרעת *tzara'as*, \"Ah, והיה זה לשון שמחה *v'hayah zeh lashon simcha*. ברוך השם *Baruch Hashem*.\" The systems are all working. Systems are go. It's a good thing. Do we have צרעת *tzara'as* today? That is a bad sign. We don't have צרעת *tzara'as* today. When exactly did it stop in history? What was the last generation of Jews that had צרעת *tzara'as* and went through the process of these two פרשיות *parshiyos* of rehabilitation and of coming back from it? It's a great question to trace in history. But we don't have it today. You know why we don't have it today? We're on low levels. We don't live with the קדושה *kedusha*, the consciousness, the sanctity, the holiness that they once did. We're on relatively low levels and on that low level, our alarm and our alert is broken. It's not working. So צרעת *tzara'as* is an alarm and an alert. Is pain a good thing or a bad thing? It's good. It tells you something's wrong, go fix it. Is shame a good thing or a bad thing? It's good. It says you've crossed the line. Now, protect it, operate and stay within it. And is צרעת *tzara'as* good or bad? That's the אלשיך's *Alshich's* beautiful insight, that צרעת *tzara'as* is good. It means systems go. It means everything's working. It means the alert and the alarm are intact. Now change and become better and be the way you're supposed to. Let's take a look at the Rav. So Rav Soloveitchik has a couple of comments on this word ספחת *sapachas* here. Says the Rav, אדם *Adam*. אדם *Adam*. In the pasuk that introduces the topic of sacrifices back in ויקרא *Vayikra*, we read also the same word, not איש *ish* and not גבר *gever*, but אדם כי יקריב מכם קרבן להשם *Adam ki yakriv mikem korban l'Hashem*. אדם *Adam*, it said, כי יקריב מכם *ki yakriv mikem*, which literally means when a man brings a sacrifice, what's the next word? אדם כי יקריב מכם *Adam ki yakriv mikem*. What does מכם *mikem* mean? From yourself to God. In contrast, what does it say here? אדם כי יהיה בעור בשרו *Adam ki yihyeh b'or b'saro*. What's the word that's missing? מכם *Mikem*. Doesn't say מכם *mikem*. The inclusion of the word מכם *mikem* in the context of sacrifices and its absence, absence when discussing צרעת *tzara'as* indicates that when a Jew sins, he does so due to an external influence. His true internal and spiritual makeup is inconsistent with sinning. The Rambam uses the concept of מכם *mikem* to explain the הלכה *halacha* that in the case of an individual who's obligated to grant his wife a divorce but refuses to do so, בית דין *bezdin* has the authority מכין אותו *makin oso*. You can administer lashes until he acquiesces. מכין אותו עד שיאמר רוצה אני *Makin oso ad she'yomar rotzeh ani*. The הלכה *halacha* is we do not follow this today. Let me say this a million times to you, both to you and to the authorities. We do not do this today. We do not physically assault a person until they're willing to give the גט *get*. We have many who volunteered to do this today, but we do not do this today. But the Rambam says and פסק'ס *paskens*, מכין אותו עד שיאמר רוצה אני *makin oso ad she'yomar rotzeh ani*. A man is recalcitrant, he's withholding a גט *get* from his wife. It's a form of abuse and torture. It's cruel, it's intolerable, it's unacceptable. So the Rambam says, you take him out back and you beat him until he says, \"Oh, you know what? I forgot. I do want to give the גט *get*. With my broken bones and my black eye and my bleeding internal organs, I forgot. Thank you, you've reminded me that I really do want to give the גט *get*.\" So the Rav wonders as all do, I don't understand. How can בית דין *bezdin* compel someone to divorce his wife? A גט מעושה is פסול *get me'useh is pasul*. If a person gives a גט *get* out of coercion, it's invalid. If you give a גט *get* out of coercion, it's invalid. Is there a greater coercion than taking a beating? So the Rambam says, you know why? Because the individual, עד שיאמר רוצה אני *ad she'yomar rotzeh ani*. The פנטעלע איד *pintele Yid*, the holy spark, the holy נשמה *neshama* inside that Jew really wants to do the right thing. But it's buried deep inside the person. It's buried deep inside the person and they need some help bringing it up to the surface. You're breaking the יצר הרע *yetzer hara* so the יצר הטוב *yetzer hatov* can shine through. You're allowing the מכם *mikem*, the individual person, to come out. So when it comes to the קרבן *korban*, it's אדם כי יקריב מכם *Adam ki yakriv mikem*. That's who we really are. It's coming from inside us. But when it comes to the gossip and slander, it's אדם כי יהיה בעור בשרו *Adam ki yihyeh b'or b'saro*. There is no מכם *mikem*. When you gossip and you slander, it's not your best self. You know, that's an expression. It's not mine. All motivational speakers use it. I've noticed other rabbis have also jumped onto that language. But I often give דרשות *drashos* and I talk about being our best selves, being a better version of ourselves, being our best selves, moving towards a better version of ourselves. Again, it's not mine. I can't take credit for it. It's a great expression. It's how we're meant to live our lives. Don't be complacent, don't be apathetic, don't be satisfied with who you are, no matter what age you are, but be growing and changing and improving, become a better and better and better version of yourself. Again, let's go back to technology. Anyone here have the iPhone 1? No. Anyone here have Microsoft Windows operating version 1? No. Every one of us when it comes to every other area of life, we download the latest version. Did you upgrade? Did you download the latest version? Did you turn in your device for the newest version? But then when it comes to our דאווענען *davening* and our חומש *Chumash* understanding, we're still on version 1.0 in first grade. Have you upgraded your version of your דאווענען *davening*? Have you upgraded your patience? Have you upgraded your philanthropy and your generosity and your kindness? Or you're still operating in version 1.0? Every other area of life, we upgrade and we're not satisfied. And here, that's what the Rav is saying, מכם *mikem*. You got to be a better and better version of yourself. So כי יקריב, a קרבן *ki yakriv, a korban*, what comes from within, that's the true us. Gossip and slander, that's not the best you. That's the worst version of you. And therefore it's not מכם *mikem*, it doesn't come inside us. I want to tell you something extraordinary. There was a person who didn't get a גט *get* for a long time, and we worked and fought very hard for her. Took to court several times and we had demonstrations and we, it was a very arduous process, painstaking process, personally painful process. And the גט *get* was given to the credit of the person. And an individual who I had gone to court to testify against, after the גט *get* was given, needed help, and I went then to testify for to keep out of jail, to advocate on his behalf, particularly now that he had given the גט *get* and done the right thing, I thought had turned a corner and was being a much better version of himself and deserved that support and encouragement to keep doing it. And after testifying and the judge ruled in his favor, and she had anticipated not doing so, she shared, but did because she believed his change. Outside the courtroom, I was a little nervous to see him. I hadn't really spoken to him. And he gave me a big hug. We hugged each other, and he apologized. And he said, \"I want you to know that this divorce brought out the worst part of me. But I really wanted to do the right thing all along and I'm so happy I gave the גט *get*.\" It was ממש the words of the Rambam coming alive for me. *Mamash*, it was the words of the Rambam coming true. כופין אותו עד שיאמר רוצה אני *Kofin oso ad she'yomar rotzeh ani*. כופין אותו *Kofin oso*. We have to give encouragement. Today we don't do it with whips and chains and fists and weapons. Today we do it with social media and demonstrations and social pressure. But we're not doing it because we don't love the person. We do it because we love them. You need to know, and anyone listening needs to know, that when a בית דין *bezdin*, because not every woman who decides she wants her גט *get* is an עגונה *agunah*. A בית דין *bezdin* has to פסק'ן *pasken* that the circumstances are such that the time is that the woman should have received her גט *get*. Not everybody who wakes up and says, \"I want a divorce, and if you don't give me the גט *get* by this afternoon at 3:00, I'm an עגונה *agunah* and we're going to demonstrate.\" There's a process. There are men who are recalcitrant and abusive, and there are women who are manipulative and who do parental alienation and do things wrong. And the community has to look objectively and fight for justice and defend the party that is the victim. And it's not always one gender and it's not always one side, and we need to be fair. But when it's been determined, only when it's been determined by a competent, reputable בית דין *bezdin* that the גט *get* should be given, you need to know that when we demonstrate or apply that social pressure, it's not because we don't love the man. It's because we love him more than he loves himself. And we want him to do the right thing. So they כופין אותו is עד שיאמר רוצה אני *kofin oso is ad she'yomar rotzeh ani*. And that's why the word מכם *mikem*. That's why the מכם *mikem*. אדם כי יקריב מכם when it comes to the קרבן *Adam ki yakriv mikem when it comes to the korban*. And the word מכם *mikem* is omitted here in the gossip and slander because it's not the best version of us. It's אדם *Adam* instead. אדם *Adam* who sees these conditions. And then the Rav adds another beautiful insight, but we're running out of time. So we'll come to that to the second insight of the Rav another time. Moving right along. פרק י״ג, פסוק י״ד *Perek yud-gimmel, pasuk yud-daled*. פרק י״ג, פסוק י״ד *Perek yud-gimmel, pasuk yud-daled*. Page 612. וביום הראות בו בשר חי יטמא *Uv'yom heira'os bo basar chai yitma*. We have an obligation to take the individual to the כהן *kohen*. It's a very unusual disease. You don't actually, you're not diagnosed with the disease because of the disease. When are you diagnosed with the disease? Only when the כהן *kohen* diagnosis it. חלילה *Chalilah* a billion times over. A person broke a bone, and they go to the, they go to the orthopedist. The radiologist looks at the X-ray. When are they, when do they have the broken bone? When they broke the bone or only when the doctor says, \"You have a broken bone\"? Which is it? I had a child once who broke a finger, arm? It's a long time ago. We got the X-ray, we were waiting at the doctor, and doctors are very busy, they're wonderful, but you can wait. As a comedian says, it's called a waiting room for a reason. Don't expect to do anything other than wait there. And the X-ray was put up on that light box, and the doctor came in and looked at it and said, \"Yeah, it's sprained, it's not broken.\" Now, while we were waiting, we were bored. So I went on Google and was comparing her X-ray to the X-rays I could find on Google Images to see whether there was something wrong. So I pointed to the doctor, \"But wait, isn't that like a little hairline fracture?\" He said, \"Oh, yeah, it is actually.\" And we found the broken bone. Anyway, but doctors find the broken bone. So when do you have the broken bone? When it's broken or only when the doctor declares it broken? God forbid a bazillion, gazillion times over. When is a person diagnosed חלילה *chalilah* with cancer? When only when the oncologist says there's cancer or when there's cancer? Yet here is a very funny הלכה *halacha*. It's only when the כהן *kohen* examines and declares צרעת *tzara'as* that the diagnosis takes effect and the recovery process begins. מחוץ למחנה *Michutz l'machaneh*, the person has to live outside the camp and so on. Why? It's an objective diagnosis. Who cares whether the כהן *kohen* declared it or not? What difference does that make? So the משנה בנגעים *Mishnah b'Nega'im*, Rashi here quotes the משנה בנגעים *Mishnah b'Nega'im*. פסוק *Pasuk* says, וביום הראות בו *uv'yom heira'os bo*, on the day healthy flesh appears, it shall be contaminated. So the משנה בנגעים *Mishnah b'Nega'im* explains the word וביום *uv'yom*, which seems redundant. וביום *Uv'yom*. We just said you bring the person to the כהן *kohen*, the כהן *kohen* examines it. So why does it say, \"and on that day\"? So the משנה בנגעים *Mishnah b'Nega'im* teaches us וביום *uv'yom* excludes certain days the כהן *kohen* does not examine a נגע *nega*. When the Rambam פוסק'ן *paskens* this way, להלכה *l'halacha*. So the Rambam פוסק'ן *paskens* based on the משנה בנגעים *Mishnah b'Nega'im*, that a חתן *chasan*. Let's say, right after the wedding. Let's say right after the wedding, the חתן *chasan* says, \"Huh, something on my arm. I don't know what this is. I'm worried. What if it's נגעים *nega'im*? What if I have צרעת *tzara'as*?\" Does he go to the כהן *kohen*? The הלכה *halacha* is a חתן *chasan* is given respite for all שבע ברכות *sheva brachos*. The כהן *kohen* does not examine, does not declare, and therefore the person doesn't have it. What about יום טוב *Yom Tov*? The Rambam פוסק'ן *paskens* הלכה *halacha*, יום טוב *Yom Tov*, the כהן *kohen* does not examine, the כהן *kohen* does not declare, and therefore... Now, we can understand this, right? Leprosy is contagious. We know that. ברוך השם *Baruch Hashem*, we for the most part solved it, but there was a time there were leper colonies, that people were isolated, that they had to be in, in fact, until two years ago, no one ever used the word quarantine other than in the context of, context of leprosy. No kid ever... Now little two year olds, \"Quarantine.\" They never heard the word. Whoever heard the word quarantine before two years ago other than talking about lepers and leprosy? Why? Because the leper needs to be quarantined, because it was highly contagious. So imagine, imagine... you don't have to imagine, because this has been the case in many times. But imagine the חתן *chasan* right after the wedding says, \"I don't smell anything. I don't taste anything.\" Do we say, \"שא שטיל *Sha, shtil*, there's been a lot of שבע ברכות *sheva brachos* prepared. A lot of work went into this. Don't talk about it. Just go to שבע ברכות *sheva brachos*, we'll deal with it afterwards.\" I think there might be people who've done that. It's irresponsible and wrong. But that's wrong. Does it not, is it not contagious because we told the חתן *chasan* don't talk about it? It's absurd. Of course it's contagious. So why is this okay? We say, we don't, the כהן *kohen* will not see you today. Enjoy your שבע ברכות *sheva brachos*, we'll deal with it afterwards. Leprosy is contagious. How does that work? So הקדוש ברוך הוא *Hakadosh Baruch Hu* made that the הלכה *halacha*. It's not contagious unless it's פסק'ן *paskened* by the כהן *kohen*. And why did he do that? So Rav Bender, who was here this year, Rav Bender, Rav Yaakov Bender, the ראש ישיבה of דרכי *Rosh Yeshiva of Darchei*, who's a great educator and a great person. They came out with a beautiful, I bought his, I bought his at the YU Seforim sale. Rav Bender on חומש *Chumash*. Beautiful insights on חומש *Chumash* he has. And he says it's remarkable. The נגע *nega* would seem to be a מציאות *metzius*. Here we see from the מציאות *metzius*, the reality is in self-subject to the laws of רחמנות *rachmanus*. השם's *Hashem's* compassion shines through. In fact, it is not an objective diagnosis. And unlike a broken bone or cancer or COVID, you do not objectively have it whether the doctor has diagnosed it or not. This whole מסכת משניות *maseches mishnayos* is teaching us the הלכות הנגעים *halachos of ha'nega'im*. But the Torah is teaching us about sensitivity. And that's the lesson. The importance of sensitivity towards the simple joy of יום טוב *Yom Tov*, the right of every Jew, is taught in the פרשה of נגעים *parsha of nega'im* for a reason. The בעל לשון הרע *ba'al lashon hara* is missing the sensitivity. He disparages and belittles, unable to perceive the reality of others. But the Torah says to him, \"Feel with another. Think of another. See their reality and perhaps you'll be kinder, gentler, and more sympathetic.\" You know, חתן *chasan*, or you know, a person going into יום טוב *Yom Tov*, you've gossiped, you've slandered. You made a person feel all alone and invisible in this world. You hurt someone else. Really, maybe you deserve to feel that way, but the Torah is going to be sensitive to you. The Torah is going to show you what you did not show someone else. So enjoy your שבע ברכות *sheva brachos* or enjoy the יום טוב *Yom Tov*. Because the Torah is going to show the very sensitivity that you need to learn. So הקדוש ברוך הוא *Hakadosh Baruch Hu* says, \"Yes, objectively you should have it, be diagnosed with it, it should be able to contaminate others.\" But השם *Hashem* says, \"I'm going to practice the very sensitivity that you failed to show.\" And that's why this is a very unusual diagnosis, that it's not objective and it doesn't take effect. That is a law that הקדוש ברוך הוא *Hakadosh Baruch Hu* embedded in it in a very unusual, maybe unique fashion, to demonstrate the very sensitivity that this person failed to have and that we should have had. What's also interesting, Rav Bender points out, quotes Rav Pinkus, is that... what's also interesting is that you see, what are the exemptions? When is it that we don't examine a צרעת *tzara'as* and therefore we sensitively spare the person from being isolated in a period they should be with others? What are the two times? A חתן with שבע ברכות *chasan with sheva brachos* and יום טוב *Yom Tov*. What do you see from here? You're supposed to be as happy going into יום טוב *Yom Tov* as you were walking down your aisle. You know the חתן *chasan*, the build-up, the lead-up, the wedding day. We just had a beautiful wedding in Ofraf. The שמחה *simcha* was palpable, it's tangible, it's electric. It's incredible. Everybody's excited going into their wedding day. And every יום טוב yom tov is supposed to be that same level of שמחה simcha. Because you'd say, spare the חתן chosson, maybe someone would say פסח Pesach, חוץ למחנה chutz la'machaneh, all alone, they have to clean and cook. Okay, give me צרעת tzaraas. Bring it on. Don't be so sensitive. Don't spare me. But now you see the שמחת יום טוב simchas yom tov is supposed to be such that we'd never want to miss it, that we'd never want to lose out on it. That's the attitude that we're supposed to have.Oy, there were so many more ideas, but I'm going to tell you one more, only because I want to quote the מגד יוסף Meged Yosef because he's going to be here this שבת Shabbos. The מגד יוסף Meged Yosef, Rav Sarotzkin, will be here this שבת Shabbos. Yosef Yehuda Leib Sarotzkin. And he's going to be giving the חבורה chaburah after the 8:15 מנין minyan. So, you can go up to him and tell him that you hear the מגד יוסף Meged Yosef quoted often in the פרשה שיעור parsha shiur. He's staying at his son who lives on my block. So the מגד יוסף Meged Yosef says the following. The פסוק pasuk tells us וטמא טמא יקרא v'tamei tamei yikra. We're going to end with this פרק יג פסוק מה Perek Yud Gimmel, Pasuk Mem Hey. פרק יג Perek Yud Gimmel, פסוק pasuk מ\"ה mem hey. Page 616.The צרוע tzarua, the person with צרעת tzaraas in whom there's an affliction, his garments shall be rent, his hair shall be unshorn, he shall cloak himself up to his lips, and he is to call out, I am טמא טמא tamei tamei. So the person with צרעת tzaraas has to call out that they are טמא tamei. Why do they call out that they are טמא tamei? We're humiliating them, we're bringing that shame, which is healthy for boundaries? Maybe, according to some. But that's not what חז\"ל Chazal said. The גמרא במועד קטן דף ה' Gemara b'Moed Katan daf hei says, מלמד שצריך להודיע צערו לרבים והרבים מבקשים עליו רחמים melamed she'tzarich l'hodia tzaaro l'rabbim, v'harabbim mevakshim alav rachamim. When a person's going through a hard time, they should not hide it. They should not be embarrassed of it. They should not be private. Let the people around you know, you know why? Because then others will דאווענען daven for you. אסתר תהילה בת אריה צפורה Esther Tehila bas Aryeh Tzipora. It wasn't easy to ask everyone, but they decided, her parents, that the benefit of everybody דאווענען davening and doing מצוות mitzvos and doing everything they could in her merit was more important and far outweighed their privacy and their reluctance and their hesitancy. Not an easy decision, I promise you. But that was this גמרא Gemara. That is this גמרא Gemara.So the חפץ חיים Chofetz Chaim wonders, why is the מצורע metzora different than anyone else going through a hard time? Why couldn't this גמרא Gemara teach this about anyone else? חלילה Chalila, a person is diagnosed with an illness, tell everybody so they'll דאווענען daven for you. A person is looking for a שידוך shidduch, tell everyone, they'll דאווענען daven for you. A person is infertile, tell everyone, they'll דאווענען daven you have a child. Why did the תורה Torah specifically choose the case of the מצורע metzora to teach this lesson? That when you're going through a hard time, don't keep it private, don't bury it, let people know so they can דאווענען daven for you. The חפץ חיים Chofetz Chaim says שצרעת בא על עון לשון הרע she'tzaraas ba al avon lashon hara. ואין תפילתו של בעל לשון הרע נשמעת, לכך אחרים צריכין להתפלל עבורו V'ein tefilaso shel baal lashon hara nishmaas, l'kach acheirim tzrichin l'hispalel avuro. Because the person who gossips and slanders, God's not interested in what they have to say. Why? That person has violated and abused the power of speech. They've used it to harm, not to build. So God says, the same you, you just spent that time gossiping and slandering others. You just spent that time talking about my other children. And now you're going to come דאווענען daven to me? I'm not interested in your prayers. So specifically, this person needs the prayers of others. So everybody needs others to pray for them, but they can also pray for themself. But the בעל לשון הרע baal lashon hara, the person with צרעת tzaraas can't דאווענען daven for themselves because they've abused their power of speech. They need to ask others to דאווענען daven for them.אבל עדיין צריך ביאור שהרי כל בעל צער ומצוקה אחרים צריכים להתפלל. אין חבוש מתיר עצמו מבית האסורים. Aval adayin tzarich biur sheharei kol baal tzaar u'mtzuka acheirim tzrichim l'hispallel. Ein chavush matir atzmo m'beis ha'asurim. So why specifically here? לכן נראה שחז\"ל כיוונו בזה מה שמיוחד במצורע יותר מבזה שאחרים צריכים להתפלל עבורו. שהרי אחרים צריכים להתפלל עבור כל צרה, אלא חז\"ל קבעו שהמיוחד במצורע שבעצמו הוא צריך להודיע צערו. מה שאין כן בשאר בעלי צער יכולים גם אחרים לפרסם. וטעם הדבר נראה משום שצרעת היא צער יחידי שהתורה עצמה גילתה שהיא בא על עון לשון הרע. ואם מילא מאחרים יפרסמו על אדם מסוים שלקה בצרעת, הרי דיברו עליו לשון הרע, הוא נכשל בלשון הרע. Lachein nir'eh she'Chazal kivnu b'zeh mah she'meyuchad ba'metzora yoser m'b'zeh she'acheirim tzrichim l'hispallel avuro, sheharei acheirim tzrichim l'hispallel avur kol tzarah, ela Chazal kav'u she'hameuchad b'metzora she'b'atzmo hu tzarich l'hodia tzaaro. Mah she'ein kein b'shaar baalei tzaar yecholim gam acheirim l'farsem. V'taam ha'davar nir'eh mishum she'tzaraas hi tzaar yechidi she'haTorah atzmah gilah she'hi ba al avon lashon hara. V'im meila mei'acheirim yefarsmu al adam mesuyam she'laka b'tzaraas, harei dibru alav lashon hara, hu nichshal b'lashon hara. Says רב סרוצקין Rav Sarotzkin, the מגד יוסף Meged Yosef, listen to this. When it comes to somebody who wants to get married, somebody who wants to have a baby, somebody who's looking for a job, someone who wants to buy a house, anyone could say, look, could you דאווענען daven for? We do it left and right when someone needs תפילות tefillos. We ask on their behalf. But what would happen if we did that for the מצורע metzora? We say, hey, we're going to put in the bulletin. So and so is a מצורע metzora. Could everybody please say תהלים Tehillim on their behalf? Everyone's going to say, oh, of course they're a מצורע metzora. They speak לשון הרע lashon hara all the time. What are we going to do by announcing that? We're going to be speaking לשון הרע lashon hara about them. So we can't say it for them, they can say it for themselves, and that's why the Rabbis chose this specific crisis to teach the lesson, tell others so they'll דאווענען daven for you. Because this specific case, others can't announce for you, you need to announce for yourself. That's why the Rabbis chose this case. It's a great insight. To hear more, you can come hear him this שבת Shabbos, the מגד יוסף Meged Yosef. Stay happy, stay healthy, stay holy. Have a fantastic day. If anyone needs to sell חמץ chametz, I'm available for the next hour to arrange the sale of חמץ chametz. It is that time of year again. So we put out a lot of times, but you can begin right now.
