Transcript
Good morning, בוקר טוב Boker Tov and חודש טוב Chodesh Tov, and welcome back to Parsha Perspectives for today. As always we begin with our attitude of gratitude to those who sponsor and enable the שיעור shiur. The series sponsors for the year are dear friends Becky and Avi Katz and family in memory of Becky's father David Grossman, לעילוי נשמת le'ilui nishmas דוד בן מנחם מנוש David ben Menachem Manush. This morning's שיעור shiur is also dedicated by the Agus and Fox families to commemorate the seventh יארצייט yahrtzeit of Dr. Saul Agus, שאול גרשון בן חיים שמואל Shaul Gershon ben Chaim Shmuel, ותהי תחיה v'tehi techiya, very special man, very special families. The נשמה neshama should have an עליה aliyah. Also sponsored by Dr. Prosper and Debbie Abittbol, our good friends in commemoration of the יארצייט yahrtzeit of Prosper's father, Lester Greenberg, אליעזר בן מאיר Eliezer ben Meir on the twelfth of אייר Iyar. Big thank you to the Abittbols for this and so much more. And sponsored anonymously in commemoration of the יארצייט yahrtzeit of טברע בת אהרן Tevras bas Aaron on the third of אייר Iyar. May all those נשמות neshamos have an עליה aliyah and thank you to our generous sponsors.We have the privilege, at least here in חוץ לארץ chutz la'aretz, we're now on a different schedule than our brothers and sisters in Israel for now until we catch up. We have the privilege of learning פרשת קדושים Parshas Kedoshim, page 656 in the ArtScroll Stone חומש Chumash. פרשת קדושים Parshas Kedoshim is chock full of מצוות mitzvos. It is a rich פרשה parsha. It has an incredible list and litany of מצוות mitzvos, בין אדם למקום bein adam l'Makom, between us and God, and בין אדם לחברו bein adam l'chaveiro, and between man and man as well. And trying to make sense of the order and the organization and the chronology of these מצוות mitzvos is a big exercise in its own right. But we begin with the opening words upon which we could spend not one hour of a פרשה parsha class, we could spend the rest of the day, the rest of the week, the rest of our lives. וידבר ה' אל משה לאמר Vaydaber Hashem el Moshe leimor, God spoke to Moshe. דבר אל כל עדת בני ישראל Daber el kol adas Bnei Yisrael, speak to the entire gathering of the Jewish people. An unusual description. We see it elsewhere, עדת בני ישראל adas Bnei Yisrael, not just בני ישראל Bnei Yisrael, but עדת בני ישראל adas Bnei Yisrael. Which רש\"י Rashi tells us, מלמד שנאמרה פרשה זו בהקהל melamed she'ne'emra parsha zu b'hakhel, שרוב גופי תורה תלויין בה she'rov gufei Torah teluyin ba. These instructions were given in front of everybody, collectively. This was a message that was important to impart not second or third hand and not individually, but collectively, to communicate and to get across on a communal level. Why? Because רוב גופי תורה תלויין בה rov gufei Torah teluyin ba. The principles, the values, the core of Torah is dependent on understanding this mission and this mandate. That is quite an introduction.So everybody was brought together, big town hall meeting, a community event. Why? So that Moshe could tell them, קדושים תהיו kedoshim tihiyu. You need to be holy. What does that mean? ואמרת אליהם V'amarta aleihem, tell them, קדושים תהיו kedoshim tihiyu. Be holy. כי קדוש אני ה' אלקיכם Ki kadosh Ani Hashem Elokeichem. Why should you be holy? Because I'm... there's nothing sweeter than the sounds of children. So there's children on the playground. I don't know if it's being picked up for those listening online, but it's sweet sounds. Sweet sounds of children. So we should be happy. So what is that message that גופי התורה תלויין בה gufei haTorah teluyin ba, that everything depends on? The message of קדושים תהיו Kedoshim tihiyu. Be holy. Good. What is holy? This permeates our entire religious experience. People recite קדיש Kaddish when they lose a loved one. We respond to the חזן chazzan, we say קדושה Kedusha. We say on Friday night, יום טוב Yom Tov, we say קידוש Kiddush. Some form of this verb. פסח Pesach night the סדר seder began not with קידוש Kiddush, but קדש Kadesh. Which some commentators point out, I know you're not in the mood for a פסח Pesach דבר תורה dvar Torah right now, but some commentators point out that it's קדש Kadesh not קידוש Kiddush because it's not just something we recite, it's not just something that we say, it's not just a text or liturgy, it's not a script, it's קדש Kadesh. Go sanctify yourself. Be holy. The problem is, how do we define holiness? What does it mean, be holy? קדושים תהיו Kedoshim tihiyu. And why? Why should we be holy? It's not a mystery, it's not a secret. Torah tells us. Be holy, why? כי קדוש אני ה' אלקיכם Ki kadosh Ani Hashem Elokeichem. God says, I'm holy. I root for the Yankees, you should root for the Yankees. That's by the way one of the definitions of holiness. First place, 10 in a row. Just getting your hopes up for no reason at all. But in other words, להבדיל, להבדיל, אלף אלפי הבדלות l'havdil, l'havdil, elef alfei havdalos, of course. But is that what the Torah means? God says, this is who I root for, this is the song I like, this is the fashion I wear. So this is what I do, you should do it too. כי קדוש Ki kadosh... is there something more fundamental? Is there something much, much deeper going on here?So we'll see a few interpretations, as I said, we could spend the rest of our time together on this, we won't, because there's so much more in the פרשה parsha to see, but we'll see a few. Some that may be familiar to you, and some that are new. And some that are new. So we'll start with רב שקופ Rav Shkop, רב שמעון שקופ Rav Shimon Shkop, the great ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva, רב שמעון Rav Shimon, the שערי ישר Shaarei Yosher, who for a short time was a רבי rebbe in ישיבת רבנו יצחק אלחנן Yeshivas Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan in Yeshiva University. So he works off of the מדרש Midrash. The מדרש Midrash tells us, קדושים תהיו כי קדוש אני Kedoshim tihiyu ki kadosh ani. יכול כמוני yachol kamoni? You might think you should be holy like I'm holy. תלמוד לומר כי קדוש אני Talmud lomar ki kadosh ani. קדושתי למעלה מקדושתכם Kedushasi l'maalah mikedushaschem. My holiness is greater, is more elevated, goes above and beyond your holiness. So you might think, be holy, and be like God, he's holy. No, no, no, no, no. God's holiness is categorically different. What was the הוה אמינא hava amina? What did you think originally? And how did we correct that thought? What was the concern? And how did we repair it? So he says the following. The יסוד yesod of this מצוה mitzvah of קדושה kedusha, רש\"י Rashi writes, is פרושים תהיו prushim tihiyu. What is holy? Holy doesn't mean anything to us. Holy is a Christian word, a Catholic word. As Jews, we don't know what the word holy means. קדוש קדוש קדוש Kadosh kadosh kadosh. Holy, holy, holy. What does that mean? What are we trying to do and be? What is our mission and mandate to our children? As one contemporary writer writes, we don't live for happiness, we live for holiness. קדושים תהיו Kedoshim tihiyu. We don't live for happiness. Our lives are not driven by the ambition for happiness. It's a modern invention. Whoever said you're entitled to be happy, whoever said you could find happiness, whoever knows what happiness is. We don't live for happiness, we live for holiness. So what is holiness? So רש\"י Rashi says פרושים תהיו prushim tihiyu. Be distinguished. Be separate, be apart, be different, be elevated. פרושים Prushim, withdraw. Doesn't only mean ascetic, it means you live with temptation and desire. Every one of us, every human being is made up of two dimensions. We live in two dimensions, we're made up of two instincts. We have an animal instinct, we have a נפש בהמי nefesh bahami, we have an animal inside us. And that animal says, do what you want, when you want, how you want, give into that temptation, give into that urge, give into that instinct, act and live compulsively. But then we have a חלק אלוקה ממעל ממש chelek Eloka mima'al mamash. We also have a godly soul and a godly spirit and it says, no. Be disciplined, be dignified, be in control. Separate yourself. Be apart and different and distinguished and elevated. Says רש\"י Rashi, קדושה kedusha, holiness, what is holy? By being different, by being elevated. That's very interesting. The רמב\"ם Rambam, of his 14 books, his יד החזקה Yad HaChazakah, the רמב\"ם Rambam has a book called קדושה Kedusha. And what laws do you find in the רמב\"ם's Rambam's book called קדושה Kedusha? I would have thought you'd find, what's in קדושה kedusha? What's in קדושה kedusha? יום כיפור Yom Kippur, שבת Shabbos, or the holiest days or the holiest activities. That's not what you find there. You know what you find there? The laws of food and the laws of intimacy. הלכות מאכלות אסורות Hilchos Ma'achalos Asuros, and you have the laws of relations between a husband and wife. That's in קדושה kedusha and holiness? And the answer is yes.Judaism doesn't expect or demand or want us to live an ascetic life. What Judaism wants us to do is not find holiness by escaping or transcending the physical world. Judaism wants us to experience the physical world, but differently, in a more distinguished way. Eat. Just not what you want, where you want, how you want, when you want, why you want. Eat when it's כשר kosher. Be sensitive, is it meat, is it dairy? Don't go near dairy, only eat meat. No. That's my law, it's not the Torah's law. But Judaism says, be conscious and conscientious of what you're eating, and how do you do that? קדושה Kedusha, holiness. By not like the rest of the world just eating compulsively, make a ברכה bracha before, make a ברכה bracha after, make sure it's כשר kosher, and so on and so forth. Same is true when it comes to intimacy. We don't believe, and we see the other systems that do believe what a failure it is, because that's not the way the human mind and psyche were designed, that you don't become holy through a life of celibacy. We see the terrible things that result when people are told, be celibate your entire life. We believe holiness is get married. The holier you are in Judaism, you're not less married or less obligated in intimacy and the pleasure that comes from marriage. Not less. Greatest גדולי ישראל gedolei Yisrael, the greatest ראשי ישיבה roshei yeshiva, the greatest רבנים rabbonim, the holiest women, men, צדיקים tzaddikim, צדקניות tzidkaniyos, have lots of children and lots of love and lots of affection and lots of intimacy. Because holiness is not living transcendent or apart or or without celibacy or vow of abstinence or asceticism. Holiness is engaging the world, but in a separate, different, distinguished way.So רש\"י Rashi writes, קדושים תהיו kedoshim tihiyu is פרושים תהיו prushim tihiyu. And the רמב\"ן Ramban also expands on that with עריות arayos and so on and so forth. So רב שמעון שקופ Rav Shimon Shkop says the following. He says, how do you understand this מדרש midrash? Why would I think that through פרישות prishus, through not eating whatever I want, and not acting like an animal in my interpersonal relationships and relations, that I'd be like God? The Torah says, whoa, whoa, careful. You think you could be like God? No. כי קדוש אני Ki kadosh ani. קדושתי למעלה מקדושתכם Kedushasi l'maalah mikedushaschem. Strive and aspire for holiness, but be careful. Don't think you could be as holy as God. Your holiness is different than... why would I think I could be? And what's the conclusion I can't be? What's going on? So he says the following. ניתנה להבין ממה שיש איזה דמיון בקדושה שהשם יתברך דורש מאיתנו ולקדושתו Nitan l'havin m'mah she'yesh eizeh dimyon b'kedusha she'Hashem yisborach doresh meitanu v'l'kedushaso, אלא שקדושתו יותר כוללת ומקיפה ela she'kedushaso yoter koleles u'mekifa. You might think that really we have the same brand or the same type of קדושה kedusha, he just has more of it, and we have less of it. So רב שמעון Rav Shimon says that's not it. במצוה זו היא מצוה בה כלול כל יסוד ושורש ומגמת תכלית חיי האדם בעולמו B'mitzvah zu hi mitzvah ba kalul kol yesod v'shoresh u'magamas tachlis chayei ha'adam b'olamo. This מצוה mitzvah of קדושים תהיו Kedoshim tihiyu defines for us, it is our mission statement, it is our bumper sticker, it is our mandate. It is who we are as a people, it's what we're to communicate to our children and our progeny and those who come afterwards. שכל עבודתנו ועמלנו יהיה תמיד מוקדש לטובת הכלל She'kol avodaseinu v'amaleinu yihiyeh tamid mukdash l'tovas haklal. קדושים תהיו Kedoshim tihiyu means be benevolent, be a giver, do for others, be selfless not selfish. You know what is unholy? Ego, selfishness, narcissism. When you think the world revolves around you, when you care only about your happiness and your success, when you micromanage and you force everyone around you to bend and submit to you, that's entirely unholy. And you know what holiness is? Holiness is be a giver, be a doer, live for others. Not to the point of self-neglect, not to the point of self-harm, but the way you should nourish your own soul and find fulfillment is by being selfless, not selfish. It's overcoming the ego and the impulse and the desire that the world needs to conform to me, but to give and to do and to care about the כלל klal, about others. To derive pleasure and enjoyment and happiness through holiness. Which is by the way, רב שמעון Rav Shimon has this magnificent insight in his הקדמה hakdama to his שערי ישר Shaarei Yosher, but modern psychology and research is only catching up to what our Torah already knew thousands of years ago. Because it finds, in fact, you know how you're happy? You're not happy when you take, you're not happy when you invest in yourself, you're not happy when you feed your own ego. It finds that you actually become happier the more you give, the more you do, the more you care about others. Modern psychology, one of the mechanisms and methods of treating depression is not to go to the mall and buy new shoes, it's not to go on Amazon and put in a big order, but rather to treat depression by volunteering. Go volunteer, go get outside yourself, go give to others. It's not the only answer, it needs to be support and therapy and help, and of course we're all for that. May is Mental Health Month. But one of the treatments for depression is to volunteer, to give, to do. That's קדושה kedusha. So it's not just that we don't live for happiness, we live for holiness, it's that when you live for holiness, you know what happens? You find happiness. So יכול כמוני yachol kamoni, says רב שמעון Rav Shimon, if you understand that that's what holiness is, that קדושה kedusha is holiness is a life where you see others and care about others. Now you understand the whole rest of our פרשה parsha. Because קדושים תהיו kedoshim tihiyu is all about צדקה tzedaka and giving and not taking revenge and loving everyone as yourself, and all the מצוות mitzvos of קדושים Kedoshim are an extension of קדושים תהיו kedoshim tihiyu. All the מצוות mitzvos in our פרשה parsha are, okay, here's how to live not an egocentric life, here's how to live an other-centric life. Here's how to live for the thou, not the I. Here's how to be a giver, not a taker. Here's how to live for holiness and thereby to find happiness. So יכול כמוני yachol kamoni, now we also understand, you might have had the הוה אמינא hava amina, you might have thought that we could be altruistic and benevolent and giving and caring like God. תלמוד לומר כי קדוש אני קדושתי למעלה מקדושתכם Talmud lomar ki kadosh ani kedushasi l'maalah mikedushaschem says God, no. You know why? Because God built into us in our psyche that we get something out of even when we give. We feel really good. We do not and we are not capable of having an absolute altruism, a pure benevolence. Why did God create the world? Why did God create us? Beyond the scope of our time this morning. But why did God create us? It was the ultimate act of giving. Had we not been created, we never would have missed being here. And God didn't create us because he needs us, because God has no needs, he's infinite, omnipotent, and perfect. So why did he create us? To give us the greatest good and the greatest pleasure that exists in the world. And what is that? A relationship with Him. Access and contact to the divine. So that is the ultimate act of giving in which God gets nothing back. We, human beings, are built and designed to get the satisfaction, the fulfillment, the joy of giving. Even the greatest giving which is the חסד של אמת chesed shel emes. The members of the holy חברה קדישא chevra kadisha. קדישא kadisha, קדושה kedusha, קדושים kedoshim. Even the members of the holy חברה קדישא chevra kadisha, a very sacred society that we don't share what we do and when we do it and to whom we did it, and the recipient of that can never repay, but still, we go home and we're proud and there's a little happiness and a little satisfaction that I'm a member of the חברה קדישא chevra kadisha. I did a חסד של אמת chesed shel emes. There's a little kickback built in just because that's the way human beings are. So that's if you understand what קדושה kedusha is, then you understand what רב שמעון Rav Shimon says what the הוה אמינא hava amina was that we could be holy like God. But while we should be holy in the sense that we should be focused out not in, but we could never be as purely altruistic as God is because that's not the way the human being is. Okay, that's רב שמעון Rav Shimon. I think we've shared that in previous years, that's רב שמעון Rav Shimon. I want to share some new perspectives on קדושים תהיו kedoshim tihiyu. And we'll start with רב יצחק שר Rav Yitzchak Sher, the great ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva of סלבודקה Slabodka. The great רב יצחק שר Rav Yitzchak Sher. Off of רש\"י Rashi, קדושים תהיו kedoshim tihiyu and the רמב\"ן Ramban. The רמב\"ן Ramban באריכות b'arichus, the רמב\"ן Ramban at length unpacks that רש\"י Rashi and what that means that holiness is not celibacy and abstinence and asceticism, that's another religion, that's not our religion. That's another religion. The only true religion, our religion, understands that holiness is not rooted in escaping or avoiding or neglecting or trying to transcend. Holiness is indulge, enjoy. השם Hashem wants us to have pleasure, that's why he created us. מסילת ישרים Mesilas Yesharim, the רמח\"ל Ramchal writes based on a פסוק pasuk in תהלים Tehillim of דוד המלך David HaMelech. You know why we're here? להתענג על ה' l'his'aneg al Hashem. What's the root of the word להתענג l'his'aneg? עונג Oneg. What's עונג Oneg? Not just a Friday night get together with cookies and wafers. What's an עונג oneg? להתענג l'his'aneg? Pleasure. So why did God create the world and why did God create you and me? You know why? He wants us to have pleasure. They didn't teach us that necessarily as children. Judaism's about sacrifice and submission and giving and... No, Judaism is about השם Hashem wants you to be happy. So you know how you find happiness with שבת Shabbos? What do you mean? All the things I can't do? Right. But you know what the freedom and the liberty that comes from שבת Shabbos? כשרות kashrus. The tyranny of choice. I recently described in another context. You know what torture it is to go to the supermarket to the salad dressing aisle? Do you know how many choices of salad dressing are in the salad dressing aisle right now? You could spend the rest of your day, the rest of your life there. And if you're a person who has FOMO, what if I bought the wrong one? What if that one's better? How do I know? So Judaism says כשרות kashrus, let me limit your choices enormously, and that's going to liberate you. That's not going to constrict you, it's going to liberate you. And it's going to refocus you and pivot you to what matters. So השם Hashem says I want you to be happy. And I'm creating an entire system to preserve and protect and to expand your sense of happiness. That's what it's all about. That's what it's all about.So says רב יצחק שר Rav Yitzchak Sher, the following. There's another idea to קדושה kedusha, and that is חשיבות chashivus. חשיבות chashivus. We'll see later in ספר ויקרא Sefer Vayikra, in פרק כ\"א פסוק ח' perek kaf alef pasuk ches, וקדשתו כי v'kidashto ki... and we דרשן darshan in תורת כהנים Toras Kohanim לפתוח ראשון, לברך ראשון, ליטול מנה יפה liftoach rishon, l'varech rishon, l'tol manah yafah. Who is the one who's described as holy and we have to treat him or them with greater holiness? What group are we talking about? The כהנים Kohanim. The כהנים Kohanim are treated with great honor and respect. They get the first עליה aliyah, they lead the בנצ'ינג bentching. They can wash their hands first. We don't ask them to do things for us. How do we treat them? With חשיבות chashivus. It's חשוב chashuv. It's חשוב chashuv. Significant. It's meaningful. They matter. It's weighty. There's a חשיבות chashivus, a חשיבות chashivus. וצריך לדעת ששתי המשמעויות אחוזות זו בזו v'tzarich lada'as she'shtei hamashma'uyos achuzos zu b'zu. קדושת הפרישות נגזרת ויוצאת מתוך הרגשת חשיבות Kedushas haprishus nigzeres v'yotzeis mitoch hargashas chashivus. You know, the more חשוב chashuv you are, the more apart you live. You're not casual and you're not accessible and you're not mixed in with the, with the masses and the עם הארץ am ha'aretz. You're חשוב chashuv. You carry yourself in a חשוב chashuv way. And you live socially in a חשוב chashuv way. And you behave in a חשוב chashuv way. So says רב יצחק שר Rav Yitzchak Sher, you see in that context that the כהנים Kohanim as a group and as individuals are treated, the word that's used is קדוש kadosh. Why? Because another definition or translation of the word קדוש kadosh is חשוב chashuv. חשיבות chashivus. Significant, important, matters. Distinguished, elevated. So why do we live elevated lives? Because we are elevated people. Why do we seek to elevate the act of eating? You know, the בעלי מוסר baalei mussar, the בעלי מוסר baalei mussar would never lean in when they ate. A spoonful of soup they wouldn't, you know why? You don't go to the food, food comes to you. What, are you so arrogant, the food comes to you? No, you're so elevated. I have to eat because I need to eat to live, but I don't live to eat. I'm not bowing down to the food. I don't go to the food, the food comes to me. They would lift the spoon to them and sit with great posture, חשוב chashuv, חשוב chashuv. סלבודקה Slabodka, there was a tailor on staff. A בחור bachur, a boy, couldn't enter the בית מדרש beis medrash if he was missing a button. And סלבודקה Slabodka produced רב טייץ Rav Teitz, רב יעקב קמנצקי Rav Yaakov Kaminetsky, and רב רודרמן Rav Ruderman, people of distinction. I had the זכות zechus to know רב טייץ Rav Teitz, you were in his presence, you were in a חשוב chashuv person. The way he carried himself, who he was, his demeanor, not גאווה gaiva, not arrogance, but he projected an aura that this, this is חשוב chashuv. What we're doing, what we're learning, how we're living, what our mission and our mandate are in the world. So says רב יצחק שר Rav Yitzchak Sher, the great בעל מוסר baal mussar, he says that's what קדושים תהיו kedoshim tihiyu means, חשובימ תהיו chashuvim tihiyu. Be חשוב chashuv. Take yourself seriously. Take what you do seriously. Take your lifestyle seriously. It's not a joke. It's meaningful and it matters, and we have a mandate to make a difference. And he goes on and on and he has many examples, but I can't believe the time it is already. But he quotes from the גמרא Gemara in ברכות דף נ\"ג Brachos daf nun gimmel based on a פסוק pasuk והתקדשתם והייתם קדושים v'hiskadishtem v'hiyisem kedoshim. והתקדשתם זה מים ראשונים V'hiskadishtem zeh mayim rishonim. והייתם קדושים זה מים אחרונים V'hiyisem kedoshim zeh mayim achronim. The גמרא Gemara there דרשנ'ס darshans that we wash our hands before the meal, we wash our hands after the meal, and that is how you understand the פסוק pasuk. והתקדשתם V'hiskadishtem, make yourself holy. והייתם קדושים V'hiyisem kedoshim, and you'll be holy. One is talking about washing your hands before the meal, one... what are you talking about? Holiness, washing your hands? It's hygiene. What are you talking about holiness? It's basic hygiene, not holiness. And the answer is, hygiene is holiness. When everyone else is digging in and plowing and shoveling it in their face, because the animal impulse and the animal instinct says I'm hungry, the חשוב chashuv person says, let me go wash up, let me go wash my hands, let me make a ברכה bracha on נטילת ידים netilas yadayim. What does the word נטילת netilas mean? Does not mean to wash. How do you know the word נטילת netilas does not mean to wash? Because you also make another ברכה bracha that includes the word נטילת netilas. What are the ברכה bracha? על נטילת לולב Al netilas lulav. Do you wash your לולב lulav? על נטילת לולב Al netilas lulav is not a ברכה bracha on I'm about to wash my לולב lulav. What does it mean? I'm about to elevate my לולב lulav. This לולב והדס ואתרוג lulav v'hadas v'esrog, they grow from the ground. Before סוכות Sukkos they're worthless and after סוכות Sukkos they're worthless, but right now they cost a lot of money because I'm elevating them from the ground in which they grow. When I wash my hands on נטילת ידים netilas yadayim, the ברכה bracha is not to wash my hands. On נטילת netilas, these hands, they're not just to pursue human temptation, desire, on נטילת netilas, I'm elevating myself. I'm חשוב chashuv. ברכה אחרונה, מים אחרונים Bracha Achrona, mayim achronim after the meal. It's a מחלוקת machlokes. תוספות Tosfos, מלך סדומית melech Sedomis, the רמ\"א Rama, whether you wash מים אחרונים mayim achronim today or not. רב שכטר Rav Schechter doesn't, I follow my רבי rebbe, based on the רמ\"א Rama. רמ\"א Rama says we don't wash today, we don't have that salt. Others still hold the מנהג minhag to wash מים אחרונים mayim achronim. Forget the הלכה halacha. But the notion that the meal ends and you don't just run to your next activity, you don't loosen your belt and belch and pass out on the couch. You'll do that after בנצ'ינג bentching. But first, first you go to the sink or they bring the beautiful silver vessel to you, מים אחרונים mayim achronim. It's a חשוב chashuv way to begin a meal, and it's a חשוב chashuv way to end the meal. So says רב יצחק שר Rav Yitzchak Sher, every time you see that word קדוש kadosh, קדושה kedusha, והתקדשתם והייתם קדושים v'hiskadishtem v'hiyisem kedoshim, translate as חשוב chashuv. It's a חשוב chashuv activity, it's a חשוב chashuv demeanor, it's a חשוב chashuv disposition, it's a חשוב chashuv of a mandate and mission. It's a חשוב chashuv of a role in this world. And I wish I could again read to you, he has many מקורות mekoros and many examples of seeing that word קדושה kedusha and being able to translate as חשוב chashuv, and that's what it really, that's what it really means.Okay, but a few more. The חיד\"א Chida. The חיד\"א Chida writes that he saw a כתב יד ksav yad from one of the ראשונים Rishonim. The חיד\"א Chida, רב חיים יוסף דוד אזולאי Rav Chaim Yosef David Azulai, he saw a manuscript from one of the ראשונים Rishonim, רבנו אפרים Rabbeinu Ephraim, שקדושה מובנה להיות מזומן she'kedusha muvana lihiyos mezuman. A third definition. The first definition was רב שמעון שקופ Rav Shimon Shkop. What is קדושה kedusha? Selflessness, caring about others, invested in the כלל klal. Second definition, רב יצחק שר Rav Yitzchak Sher, חשיבות chashivus. Third definition comes from the חיד\"א Chida קדוש Kadosh, the חיד\"א Chida writes, quoting one of the ראשונים Rishonim, he saw the כתב יד ksav yad, that the word means מזומן mezuman. What is מזומן mezuman? It means ready, designated, reserved. התקדשו למחר ואכלתם בשר His'kadshu l'machar v'achaltem basar. What does that mean? במדבר י\"א י\"ח Bamidbar yud-alef yud-ches. התקדשו למחר ואכלתם בשר His'kadshu l'machar v'achaltem basar. What does that mean? Be holy tomorrow and eat meat? Not be holy tomorrow. What does it mean? Be prepared, make a reservation, be ready, be mindful. So according to that, what does קדושים תהיו Kedoshim tihiyu mean? תהיו אתם מזומנים לעשות דברי השם יתברך ומצוותיו Tihiyu atem mezumanim la'asos divrei Hashem yisborach u'mitzvosav. Be ready. Be ready. We have our volunteer security, you train them and what do you say to them? Be ready. When I was in Little League, shortstop, second baseman, the outfielder, how do you train them? In Little League in particular, you got the kids, in the middle of a game you could see one in the outfield daydreaming, the shortstop in the middle his mind wanders to what his mother's making for supper that night. You say no no no, the whole you teach crouch down, hold your mitt open, glove, be ready. Be ready, the ball might come to you. Be ready. Be ready. So that's קדושה kedusha, the third definition for today, again there are countless understandings, interpretations. They're multiple levels and layers, they're all right. It's the beauty of אלו ואלו דברי אלוקים חיים Eilu v'eilu divrei Elokim chaim. Our תורה הקדושה Torah hakdosha, our sacred Torah is not one right definition. Well, if that's right then the other's wrong. No, they're different, different understanding, explanation. If somebody, two people are standing on opposite sides of an elephant, one describes the trunk, the other describes the tail. So who's right? Both. They're looking at it from a different angle. And our Torah is, who's right? Is קדושה kedusha חשיבות chashivus? Is it מזומנים mezumanim? Is it... they're looking from different angles and different perspectives and they're all right and giving us great, great insight into what it means. So קדושים תהיו Kedoshim tihiyu means מזומנים mezumanim. Crouch down, open your mitt, be ready. There's a מצוה mitzvah that's going to come your way. There's a choice to see השם Hashem and feel His presence in your life, it's going to come your way. Live life with your antenna extended. Be ready, be prepared, pick up the signal. You're here for a mission and a purpose. Be ready. You don't know who's going to bagel you online at Publix. You don't know, be ready. Be ready when you're going to discover a lost object at an airport and make the decision you're going to take it because you're going to find the rightful owner. Be ready. קדושים תהיו Kedoshim tihiyu. מזומנים תהיו Mezumanim tihiyu, be ready. Don't sleepwalk through life. Don't be half asleep. Keep your eyes open, keep your antenna extended. Pick up the signal of the מצוות mitzvos and the opportunities around you. קדושים תהיו Kedoshim tihiyu, מזומנים תהיו mezumanim tihiyu says says the חיד\"א Chida based on this ראשון Rishon. Be ready. Be ready. A third definition, such a beautiful, beautiful definition.רב צבי פסח פרנק Rav Tzvi Pesach Frank, fourth definition for today. He says the following. Quotes from the אמרי בינה Imrei Binah. Why did I think I could be like השם Hashem? השם Hashem, I'm holy, you're holy. We're the same holy. השם Hashem says, whoa, we're both holy, but יכול כמוני yachol kamoni? קדושתי למעלה מקדושתכם Kedushasi l'maalah mikedushaschem. What does that mean? השם's Hashem's holiness, we read previously, last week, השם's Hashem's holiness is different than ours. Why? השוכן אתם בתוך טומאתם Ha'shochen itam b'soch tumasam. We read last week, we spoke about on last week's Parsha Perspective. הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu has the ability to dwell among us even when we are impure, unworthy. בתוך טומאתם b'soch tumasam. Even when we're in our טומאה tumah, even when we're contaminated and unholy and distanced, still השוכן אתם ha'shochen itam, he lives with us. So maybe I'll think, this is our רב שמעון שקופ Rav Shimon Shkop understands. So maybe if קדושה kedusha means caring about others, thinking outside of yourself, being selfless, being a giver, so I have to give in the greatest way. You know how? Let me go find the most טמא'דיקע tameidike people. Let me go find the lowest segment of society. Let me go live among the community that is on the lowest level, and just like השם Hashem is שוכן אתם בתוך טומאתם shochen itam b'soch tumasam, I could also live among those with טומאה tumah. Whoa, says השם Hashem says, be careful. קדושתי למעלה מקדושתכם Kedushasi l'maalah mikedushaschem. My קדושה kedusha is immunable, it's impenetrable, it's, it cannot be corrupted or compromised. I can do that. You need to surround yourself with positive reinforcements and role models. We have to be careful, the friends we choose and the environment we choose. And in that way our קדושה kedusha is different, says רב צבי פסח פרנק Rav Tzvi Pesach Frank. And the last, although there are so many more, I'll share. the הייליגע קאצקער Heilige Kotzker. The הייליגע קאצקער Heilige Kotzker in his beautiful ספר אמת ואמונה sefer Emes v'Emunah, a collection of the Kotzker's teachings and those from the בית מדרש של קאצק Beis Medrash of Kotzk, he says the following. קדושים תהיו Kedoshim tihiyu, איך נוכל לומר לבשר ודם שיהא קדוש Eich nuchal lomar l'basar v'dam she'yehe kadosh? How you going to tell a human being you could be holy? Holy? You know, every human being needs a bathroom. You need a bathroom. I'm going to be holy? It's humbling. Pharaoh wanted to think he was so arrogant, he was such a god, such a deity that he tried to present, he would go to the Nile before everyone woke up, he snuck out. But you know, it's the great equalizer of all of humanity. You could be a multi-gazillionaire, billionaire, trillionaire, you could be on טומכי שבת Tomchei Shabbos, everybody's got to go to the bathroom. You're a human being, you're בשר ודם basar v'dam. We're בשר ודם basar v'dam. And as a human being, we have a physicality and it distracts us. And it distorts and clouds our judgment. We've seen, people of great accomplishment, brilliant, charismatic, successful, and they throw it all away. Throw it all away. Why? בשר ודם Basar v'dam, because they're human beings and the temptations of the flesh. They throw it all away. So wonders the Kotzker, איך נוכל לומר לבשר ודם יהא קדוש Eich nuchal lomar l'basar v'dam yehe kadosh? How do you say to a simple בשר ודם basar v'dam, be holy? Be holy. How can you be holy? We're flesh and blood. We are mere mortals. We are future worm food. I'm sorry to be depressing and to be so blunt. But we're pathetic. And we fall apart and we get old and we decay and we rot and things stop working and we can't control it. And we have temptation and we have desire and we struggle and we fail. And ultimately when it's all over, even if we merit to live a ripe old age and a long life, we go in the ground, where we disintegrate and disappear, and maggots eat our flesh. And that's who God's saying, קדושים תהיו Kedoshim tihiyu, be holy? Be holy? Tell the angels to be holy. Says the Kotzker you're telling us, how could we be holy? Says the הייליגע קאצקער Heilige Kotzker, you know how? מן הצד כי קדוש אני ה' אלוקיכם Mi'tzad ki kadosh Ani Hashem Elokeichem. That's how the פסוק pasuk continues. קדושים תהיו Kedoshim tihiyu, be holy. But me be holy? You know how how much I struggle on the internet? You know how much I struggle with my eating? You know how much I struggle with לשון הרע lashon hara we'll get to in the פרשה parsha? I should be holy? I'm a pathetic lowly נבך nebach reject אויסווארף oysvarf, worm food. I should be holy? I could be holy? What are you talking about? Do you know what I do when no one's looking? Do you know what I do when people are looking? I should be holy? כי קדוש אני ה' אלוקיכם Ki kadosh Ani Hashem Elokeichem. You know why? Because I am holy says God. What does that have to do with my holiness? How does that make me holy? So the שם משמואל Shem MiShmuel, the סוכטשובר Sochatchover, from the בית מדרש של קאצק Beis Medrash shel Kotzk, says, מן הצד שיש בכל ישראל חלק אלוקה ממעל ממש, על ידי כך מגיעים לקדושה Mi'tzad she'yesh b'chol Yisrael chelek Eloka mi'maal mamash, al yedei kach magi'im l'kedusha. Hashem says, buddy, lady, you know why I'm confident you could be holy? Even though you're a human being, cause you're right. On the one hand, you have everything in common with an animal. You eat, you eliminate what you ate, you procreate. You live in a world of temptation, you have an animal instinct, an animal impulse, you're an animal, you're right. But that's not all you are. You know what else you are? You have a piece of me in you. You have my DNA in you, says ה' Hashem. You have a חלק אלוקה ממעל ממש chelek Eloka mi'maal mamash. It's not that you're like me or similar to me or you want to be like me. You are me. You carry my DNA. You carry my strength and my skill and my courage and my sense of discipline and my dignity. You have it in you. You have that capability and you have that capacity. Just tap into it, discover it, realize it, express it, promote it, live it. Be confident that you have it. כי קדוש אני Ki kadosh ani. You can be holy. I how could I be holy? I'm an animal. I'm tempted to act like an animal. But you're also a piece of me. קדושה Kedusha see, you have כי קדוש אני ki kadosh ani, because you have me in you. That's what the שם משמואל Shem MiShmuel writes elsewhere. He says, יש לפרש כוונת התורה, בלאתי מובן, שבשר ודם שטבעו מושך לדברים החומרים והטבעיים, איך ישתנה ויחליף טבעו, שלא שייכת כלל לדברים האלה Yesh l'faresh kavanas haTorah, bilti muvan, she'basar v'dam she'tiv'o moshech l'dvarim ha'chomriyim v'ha'tiviyim, eich yishtaneh v'yachlif tiv'o, she'lo shayeches klal l'dvarim ha'eileh. Do you know what it's like, it's midnight, it's 1:00 AM, you're just finishing work, you just come home. You really have no reason to eat, you're still full. It's the dumbest time in the world to eat, but those Cape Cod potato chips are calling out to you. They're screaming your name. And they're saying, you ווילדע חיה vilde chaya animal, stuff your face with me. The salt, the crunch. Ah. It's worth it. It's worth it, you deserve it. You had a stressful day, you worked hard today. There's some fast day coming up sometime in the future. Just just indulge, jump in, eat. You'll just have one. That's how the יצר הרע yetzer hara works. Just a little shtickel salt, a little crunch, just one, a good one. You'll find there with 17 folds, just a good one, kettle, kettle cooked, you know, not the half of one. You'll find a good one. You know what I'm talking about, folded over 17 times, like a געוואלדיגע gevaldike crunch. You'll just take the one. You'll just take the one. The next thing you know, you're on the bottom of a jumbo bag from Costco. And you hate yourself. That's it. I'm talking about my neighbor, theoretically. I have no knowledge of such an experience. So you say, do you know what I am? I'm a pathetic lowly, I shouldn't have, I didn't want to, and I swore I wouldn't. And I feel gross after. I'm just I'm a nothing. Hashem says you're an everything. It's okay, you failed this time, you'll win next time. These are battles. You lost a battle, you'll win the next battle. How are you going to win the what next battle? Because in that moment that you confront that cabinet, there's a lot of strategies to how to win the battle. I'm told. There's a lot of strategies. But one of them is, is there's a piece of Hashem in you. You have the strength. You have that strength in you. Not where is that strength and how can I discover that strength and where will I find that strength? We have that strength. Say איך ישתנה eich yishtaneh, writes the שם משמואל Shem MiShmuel, the סוכטשובר Sochatchover. How, איך ישתנה eich yishtaneh, how can I transform and how can I convert myself? How can I overcome my nature? Do you know my natural pull? Do you know my nature? Somebody flies off the handle, somebody gets filled with rage, somebody screams at their spouse, their children, they ruin their relationships. And when they're confronted, they say, what can I do? This is my nature. You hear people all the time. I'm a Sefardi, I'm a this, I'm a that. I'm a Kohen, I'm a, you know, people, I'm a red head, whatever they want to come up with. This is my fiery nature. What can I do? This is my טבע teva. This is my nature. What can I do? It's my nature. What can I do? You're right, it is your nature. You know what else is your nature? You have a natural inclination to be godly because that's also part of your nature. Yes, there's the animal nature in us that we contend with, but there's also the חלק אלוקה ממעל ממש chelek Eloka mi'maal mamash. קודשא בריך הוא Kudsha Brich Hu's ממש mamash inside us. That strength is in our DNA. We have it. We have all kinds of אשכנזי Ashkenazi diseases in our DNA. And if you believe you got that from your parents, then believe you got godliness from our great אבינו שבשמים Avinu she'bashamayim, our greatest parent. So says the Kotzker, and continues the שם משמואל Shem MiShmuel, the סוכטשובר Sochatchover, קדושים תהיו Kedoshim tihiyu and you know how and why you should be confident and believe and strong and resilient? כי קדוש אני Ki kadosh ani. says God, because I am holy and I am in you and you are me. And that's why. It's beautiful, you should read the the rest of the שם משמואל Shem MiShmuel, but we want to get past the first pasuk today. פרק י\"ט, פסוק ג Perek Yud Tes, pasuk gimmel. Let's make some time here. איש אמו ואביו תיראו ואת שבתותי תשמורו, אני ה' אלוקיכם Ish imo v'aviv tira'u v'es shabsosai tishmoru, ani Hashem elokeichem. So have that sense of awe, of fear, of your father and your mother, of your mother and your father, and observe my Shabbos. Why are these two both here in succession? Why are they here together? Why are they in the same pasuk? Have awe, fear, יראה yirah. When it comes to our parents, we have two מצוות mitzvos, love your parents, have awe and fear of your parents. As parents, we don't want our children to have fear of us. It's a poor translation of יראה yirah. I don't think יראה yirah is fear. When they're young, there's יראה yirah, there's fear. I'm going to take away your device, I'm going to put you in timeout. There's יראה yirah. But what's our ultimate hope as a parent, is not that your child has fear. What do you want them to have? Awe, respect, honor. So כבוד kavod is honor. And they manifest itself in הלכה halacha in different ways. כבוד Kavod you have to bring him a drink or a newspaper or slippers. יראה Yirah is don't sit in the seat or contradict them in public. It manifests in different ways. But ultimately the emotions that go with it, we want love, אהבה ahava. We want love. We want our children to feel attached and connected and love us. And we want them to have a sense of awe. We want them to respect us, we want them to want to continue in our way, to feel a sense of awe. That they would never disappoint, and that they would never want to violate our trust or our dreams for them. So what is that doing and of course, the famous גמרא Gemara, why is the mother first when it comes to awe, the father first when it comes to respect? Because it goes against our nature, so it has to put in the opposite order. But why is it connected with Shabbos? What does that have to do with Shabbos? And why does it end? Honor your have awe of your mother and father and observe Shabbos. And again, in case you forgot since the last pasuk, קודשא בריך הוא Kudsha Brich Hu keeps flexing. Do this, do this, do this, אני ה' Ani Hashem. Do the next thing, next thing, the next thing, if you hesitate, אני ה' Ani Hashem. We got it. We know. You took us out of Egypt, we stood at your mountain, you split the sea, and you've reminded us every three seconds. Why does it keep reminding us אני ה' אלוקיכם ani Hashem elokeichem all over this parsha, over and over and over again? The ערוך השולחן Aruch HaShulchan, רבי יחיאל מיכל עפשטיין Rav Yechiel Michel Epstein our dayan of Navardok. ערוך השולחן Aruch HaShulchan in the דרשות drashos, כל בן לוי Kol ben Levi writes the following. In the second set of Dibros it says שמור את יום השבת לקדשו כאשר ציוך ה' אלוקיך Shmor es yom haShabbos l'kadsho, ka'asher tzivcha Hashem elokecha. It says observe Shabbos, honor Shabbos, sanctify Shabbos, just as God commanded you. כבד את אביך ואת אמך כאשר ציוך ה' אלוקיך Kabeid es avicha v'es imecha ka'asher tzivcha Hashem elokecha. Both of those are omitted from the first decalogue, the first time the Torah is given in פרשת יתרו Parshas Yisro, it does not mention as God commanded you, but the second set, second time it's given in פרשת ואתחנן Parshas Va'eschanan, it mentions כאשר ציוך ה' אלוקיך ka'asher tzivcha Hashem elokecha as God commanded you, when it comes to two of the ten mitzvos, namely honoring Shabbos, observing Shabbos and honoring parents. Why? Why? says the ערוך השולחן Aruch HaShulchan for the following reason. Because you know what these two mitzvos have in common? Are the Jewish people the only people who honor their parents? No, it's a rational mitzvah, it makes sense. In fact, we have a tradition that non-Jews honor their parents even better than we do. We learn from עשיו הרשע Eisav ha'rasha who had a tremendous sense of honor for his father. And the גמרא Gemara tells the story of דמא בן נתינה Dama ben Nesina, we have examples from whom do we learn how to honor parents, in fact are non-Jews. Shabbos, are we the only ones who have a day off a week? No. We may have introduced the world to it, but others also discovered on their own or copied us and concluded that's a good idea. Because if you overwork, you'll burn out, you need a day off a week. So says the ערוך השולחן Aruch HaShulchan, specifically these two mitzvos, you could be driven to do them, why? Because rationally they make sense. So the Torah has to tell us כאשר ציוך ה' אלוקיך ka'asher tzivcha Hashem elokecha. Don't do it because it makes sense. You know why you should do it? Because God commanded you. You could honor your parents as a rational experience or you could honor your parents as a religious experience. They're two separate things. You could take a day off a week as a rational experience, it makes sense, don't burn out, you deserve it a day off a week. Or you could take a day off a week as a religious experience. And that's why these two go together says the ערוך השולחן Aruch HaShulchan because both of these you could have concluded on your own rationally. Therefore the Torah has to tell us, don't do it because you concluded it, do it why? Because because I am Hashem. Do it because it's a religious experience, not just a rational experience. What is the difference between the two? for another time. Keep going. פרק י\"ט פסוק ט\"ז Perek Yud Tes, pasuk Tes Vav. י\"ט, ט\"ז Yud Tes, Tes Vav, we are turning two pages. Don't get whiplash. Page 660. And this long litany of מצוות mitzvos, and that's why it ends אני ה' Ani Hashem. That's how the ערוך השולחן Aruch HaShulchan explains. Awe of your mother and father, keep Shabbos. I'm Hashem. Does he have to keep flexing and telling us? No, why is he telling us? He's telling us, I want you to do it for this reason, not because it also makes sense to you. Great. I want to tell you a beautiful דבר תורה dvartorah now. You ready? A fascinating, beautiful דבר תורה dvartorah. לא תעשו עול במשפט Lo sa'asu avel b'mishpat. Don't commit perversion of justice. לא תשא פני דל ולא תהדר פני גדול Lo sisa pnei dal, v'lo sehdar pnei gadol. Don't favor the poor and don't honor the great. בצדק תשפוט עמיתך B'tzedek tishpot amisecha. Don't leak a draft of the court's conclusion. That's unjust. Whatever you feel about its conclusion, but leaking it is unjust. בצדק תשפוט עמיתך B'tzedek tishpot amisecha. What does that mean? Judge your fellow righteously. Judge them righteously. So it's addressed to judges, to the system, the court system, and it's addressed to all of us. זאת אומר רש\"י Zot omer Rashi. What does רש\"י Rashi say here on this pasuk? What does רש\"י Rashi say? He quotes from חז\"ל Chazal, הוי דן את חברך לכף זכות Havei dan es chavercha l'kaf zchus. Which means this מצוה mitzvah is addressed not only to courts and judges, but every one of us judge. The moment we wake up in the morning, we judge. We judge what kind of day it'll be, we judge how good we look in our outfit, we judge how good the other person we may live with looks in their outfit, we judge the people and what they said, and what time they got to shul, and how well the חזן chazan דאווענט davened. We are judges and we are judgmental and we are judging from the moment we wake up to the moment we fall asleep. You're judging whether this shiur was worth coming to right now. Everyone's judging. So the Torah tells us, judge favorably. It's interesting, it doesn't say don't judge because we can't really turn off that switch. Because thinking is judging. We're making judgments. We're making judgments, should I have this that for lunch or that for lunch? We're making judgments about ספרים sefarim, רש\"י Rashi, תוספות Tosfos in the דבר תורה dvartorah. Judgments are good. Being judgmental is bad. So if you're going to judge because we have this inclination to judge, make ourselves, condition ourselves at least to judge favorably. Okay, good. So far so good? Good. Not just addressing the judges, we're addressing the judges in each and every one of us that when we judge, judge favorably. Good. The גמרא שבת קכ\"ז עמוד ב Gemara Shabbos Kuf Chaf Zayin Amud Beis. The גמרא Gemara says the following. תנו רבנן Tanna Rabbanan, הדן חבירו לכף זכות, דנין אותו לזכות Ha'dan chavero l'kaf zchus, danin oso l'zchus. If you judge others favorably, Hashem's going to judge you favorably. You like that teaching? אמר רבי יהושע בן פרחיה ברך את תלמידיו Amar Rabbi Yehoshua ben Perachia, beirach es talmidav, כשם שדנתוני לזכות, המקום ידון אתכם לזכות ki'shem she'dantuni l'zchus, HaMakom yadin eschem l'zchus. Just like you judged me favorably, Hashem should judge you favorably. Nice teaching. If you judge favorably, Hashem will judge you favorably. Huh? What are you talking about? דן לכף זכות Dan l'kaf zchus. What does דן לכף זכות dan l'kaf zchus mean? It means I'm missing some facts. And I could draw one of two conclusions. So the Torah says, you know what, be a nice guy, be a nice woman, judge the other person favorably. So you see somebody coming out of McDonald's. So judge them favorably. They needed the bathroom. They bought a diet Coke. Don't judge them that they were eating non-kosher. Someone came late to shul, judge them favorably. That on their way to shul, there was a חסד chesed they needed to do to help somebody across the street, and they weren't late because they don't care about davening, judge them favorably. So when are we told to judge favorably? When we're missing information or facts, and we could arrive at different conclusions, arrive at a positive one because that's a nice thing to do. That's what a nice person does. And then and if you do that, Hashem's going to judge you. What do you mean Hashem's going to judge you favorably? Hashem's not missing any facts. He knows what you did in McDonald's. He knows why you're late to shul. He knows everything. כיון שיודע הכל ואף בוחן לבבות, והעדר ספיקות אין מקום לדין Keivan she'yodea hakol v'af bochen levavos, v'ha'eider sefeikos ein makom l'din. He knows everything and he knows and tests what's in our heart, what's in our kishkes, what's in our kidneys. והעדר ספיקות אין מקום לדין V'ha'eider sefeikos ein makom l'din. So, when there's no ספק safek, when there's no doubt, when there's no missing information, you're not judging. Then the information, the facts are the facts. The facts speak for themselves. You don't need judges when facts speak for themselves. So what in the world does it mean if you judge favorably, Hashem will judge you favorably? Good question? I think it's a good question and I judge that it was worth your coming today for that question. So the מגיד יוסף Megged Yosef of סלוצק Slutzk, the מגיד יוסף Megged Yosef, such beautiful Torah. I'm so happy he gave me his ספר sefer. He quotes the משנה Mishnah in אבות Avos. We began אבות Avos this past Shabbos. In the first פרק perek of אבות Avos that we read this past Shabbos, ברוך אתה ה' אלוקינו מלך העולם שהכל נהיה בדברו Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu melech ha'olam shehakol nihiyeh bidvaro. Amen. It says the following. הוי דן את כל האדם לכף זכות, הכל שתשמע עליו אמור שנתכוון לטובה עד שתדע בבירור שאינו כן Havei dan es kol ha'adam l'kaf zchus, hakol she'tishma alav emor she'niskaven l'tovah ad she'teida b'veirur she'eino kein. Whatever you hear about someone, assume favorably, judge them favorably until you hear that you can't anymore. Until you know, until you become aware of the facts, in such a way that they present themselves in such a way that you simply can't judge them favorably. הנה לב אנשים מורכב, מחרה כל מכלול מטענים שונים, מחשבות רבות, כוונות שונות Hinei lev anashim murkav, michlal kol michlul mit'anim shonim, machshavos rabos, kavanos shonos. People are complex and life is complex. And there is so much that goes into a person. Do we know a person's background? Do we know what they're contending with? Do we know their baggage? Do we know their predispositions? Do we know their genetics? Do we know their hang-ups, their mother, their father? Do we know their רביים rebbeyim when they were young? There is so much in a person's background, we know so little about them. We know so little about their motivation and their intent and what drives them and what led them to become who they are. How many times in your life did you know someone and you came to a conclusion about them. You have an opinion about them. And it's only after you know them a long time, did you learn the father died when they were six months old, or their mother had seven jobs, they basically raised themselves. They went through this, they went through that, they went through the other thing. I'm making this up. Whatever their story is, and now you say, you know what? I feel so bad about the conclusions I reached about them. Had I known their life story, the narrative of their life, I I never would have seen them the way I saw them. I never would have thought about them the way I think about them. I see them in an entirely new light. Wow, how they've persevered, how they've overcome, how they've broken through. So you know what those hang-ups that that's all I ever saw about them? That's nothing compared to who they could be with the background they have. Have you had that experience? A person doesn't wear it on their sleeve, you don't know it about them. You met them later in life, and only when you learn about their experiences or what they went through earlier in life, can you really begin to appreciate even just the surface of who they are. People are complicated, complex. And we say in our תפילת זכה Tefilas Zaka. It's a beautiful תפילה tefila before כל נדרי Kol Nidre, כל נדרי Kol Nidre night. We say, גלוי וידוע לפניך שלא נתכוונתי להכעיסך Galuy v'yadua l'fanecha she'lo niskavanti l'hachis'cha. Hashem only you know that the things that I did, I didn't do them to angry you. אף הלכתי בעצת יצרי הרע Af halachti b'atzas yetzri ha'ra. I went after my inclination. You know Hashem, nobody else knows. But you know because you know what's in my heart and my קישקעס kishkes, in my kidneys. You know what I struggle with, the temptation, the desire, the opportunity. You know the hang-ups I have. You know what my parents have passed on to me and I'm struggling to not pass on to the next generation. You know my neuroses and my anxieties and my worries. ועמל הפרנסה וטרדות הזמן V'amal ha'parnasa v'tirdei ha'zman. You know what it takes for me to earn a buck and provide for my family. You know how there's so little time in the day when I'm trying to do to get it all done. That's what we say in תפילת זכה Tefilas Zaka. Say Hashem, I'm going into Yom Kippur. I'm coming to appear before you on judgment day. I will be in your court. So I'm just telling you that you know me better than anyone else. So whatever the lawyer will say on my behalf, whatever conclusion you'll come to today, you know what's inside me and nobody else can or will. That's what we say. So they ask about תפילת זכה Tefilas Zaka. What why are you saying it to Hashem? It's no חידוש chidush for Hashem. Hashem by the way, I just want to remind you that you know everything about me. I can't hide anything from you. You not only know the external manifestations of how I live, you know everything that makes me tick inside. Yeah, Hashem is like, yeah, I do, I got it. I know it, so you don't have to tell me. ובהכרח כי יש כאן תפילה ובקשה מהקדוש ברוך הוא, שישים את הדגש על הסיבות שהביאו לחטא יותר מהחטא עצמו U'vehechrach ki yesh kan tefila u'vakasha mei'haKadosh Baruch Hu, she'yasim es hadagesh al ha'sibos she'heviu l'cheit yoser mei'ha'cheit atzmo. So why are we saying that? We're advocating on our own behalf and how is that an expression of advocacy? What we're saying to Hashem is look Hashem, externally I did it. Guilty as charged. But internally, you know what drives me. So please don't focus on the external act. Have some compassion and flexibility because you know the internal drive. So based on that insight in תפילת זכה Tefilas Zaka says Rav Slutzk, the מגיד יוסף Megged Yosef, now we know. לכל מי שדן את חבירו לכף זכות, כשמוצא בגרם מסעו ומשאו, נתכוון לטובה. הקדוש ברוך הוא יתנהג עמו כך L'chol mi she'dan es chavero l'kaf zchus, k'shemotza b'gram ma'asav u'masa'av, niskaven l'tovah. HaKadosh Baruch Hu yitnaheg imo kach. Now we understand what we're appealing to from Hashem. When I see somebody act around me, I could either look and judge and conclude only based on the external act or I could say, you know what, I'm not focused on the act. I'm sure there are things that they're going through internally that I don't even know. They're fighting battles I know nothing about. So just like where we put our focus and attention when it comes to others, then Hashem will put focus that when it comes to us. So you're right, how could you compare? When it comes to others, we don't have information, that's why we're judging favorably. When it comes to us, he knows everything. So what do you mean judging? So even though you know everything, don't focus on the external act, have compassion and flexibility because you also know the internal struggle. You know who we are and what we've gone through and what our lives are about and we're begging and appealing to you to be flexible and to be compassionate. Others, we quoted Rav Tzvi Pesach Frank, his son-in-law, his son-in-law, Rav Menachem Bentzion Sacks, notice the משנה Mishnah in אבות Avos doesn't say הוי דן את האדם לכף זכות Havei dan es ha'adam l'kaf zchus, what does it say? הוי דן את כל האדם לכף זכות Havei dan es kol ha'adam l'kaf zchus. What do you mean כל האדם kol ha'adam? It's an extra word. Why does it say judge the entire person favorably? You know what the answer is? If I zoom in the lens on this moment in time, I say, eh, this רשע מרושע rasha merusha. Ah. But if I zoom out the lens, כל האדם kol ha'adam, have you done this כל האדם kol ha'adam? I say, you know what, the total picture of that person's pretty good. So I caught them in a bad moment. And that's also true in terms of how to be a good friend, because it's the same mishnah. The same mishnah in Avos says be a good friend and judge the whole person around you favorably. Meaning, you know what a good friend is? The good friend says, you know, I sent the text and you never wrote back. So either I could decide, I'm in a fight, and I'm not doing it, and I'm not reaching out again, and I always initiate and they didn't even get back to me. Or you could zoom out the lens and have you done this כל האדם kol ha'adam? You say, you know what, this is a good friend. We've been through a lot together, thick and thin. We've cried and we've mourned, and we've celebrated, and we've danced. I'm going to be judge כל האדם kol ha'adam. I'm going to judge the whole person and the whole relationship, not just this moment in time. And when we do that, we say Hashem, look at the big picture of my life. You caught me at a bad moment, guilty as charged. I did the wrong thing. But if we see the totality of the other person instead of only that little act, then Hashem will see the totality of us instead of only that little act that he caught us in. פרק י\"ט פסוק י\"ז Perek Yud Tes, pasuk Yud Zayin. Next pasuk. לא תלך רכיל בעמך, לא תעמוד על דם רעך, אני ה' Lo seilech rachil b'amecha, lo sa'amod al dam re'echa, Ani Hashem. Notice again how the pasuk ends with? אני ה' Ani Hashem. Hashem keeps flexing. אני ה' Ani Hashem. אני ה' Ani Hashem. I'm Hashem. Each time is not flexing. He doesn't need us to remember. Why is he saying it? Because there's something about that mitzvah where it's important to remember he is us, he is in us. So what is this mitzvah? Do not לא תלך רכיל בעמך lo seilech rachil b'amecha, don't be a gossip monger. Don't share lashon hara. I told you, I don't remember when I was growing up, there was a guy in my shul who used to say, I don't repeat lashon hara, so listen carefully the first time. לא תלך רכיל בעמך Lo seilech rachil b'amecha. Don't be a gossip among your people. לא תעמוד על דם רעך Lo sa'amod al dam re'echa and don't stand idly by. What do these two things have to do with each other? לא תעמוד על דם רעך Lo sa'amod al dam re'echa and sorry, לא תלך רכיל בעמך, לא תעמוד על דם רעך lo seilech rachil b'amecha, lo sa'amod al dam re'echa. So the חפץ חיים Chofetz Chaim quotes the של\"ה הקדוש Shlah HaKadosh. חפץ חיים Chofetz Chaim says the following. The Torah's telling us לא תלך רכיל, הוא לא שייך רק על הדיבור אלא גם על ההליכה lo seilech rachil, hu lo shayach rak al ha'dibbur, eleh gama al ha'halicha. What what's the question? It should say לא תדבר רכיל lo sidaber rachil, don't speak gossip. It doesn't say don't speak gossip. What does it say? Lo seilech. What does lo seilech mean? Gossip monger. Nobody ever heard that word before other than on the pasuk לא תלך רכיל lo seilech rachil. We have certain biblical English words that we never use in any other context. Gossip monger is one of them. I wouldn't recommend trying that casually with your non-Jewish friend at work, the word gossip monger. Not a very popular word. So where does it come from? רכיל Rachil is gossip. It doesn't say don't speak gossip, it says לא תלך lo seilech. Don't transport gossip. Don't travel for gossip. לא תלך Lo seilech, don't go to gossip. Don't go to So why does it say don't go to gossip? It should say don't speak gossip. says the הייליגע חפץ חיים Heilige Chofetz Chaim, quoting the של\"ה הקדוש Shlah HaKadosh because it's telling us that not only is speaking gossip what's prohibited and what's wrong. גם ההליכה Gam ha'halicha, even just going. Aside from the content of what's spoken, is the willingness to be to travel, to go, to be in the circles of those who are speaking gossip. And based on this, Rav Chaim of Volozhin explains when it came to the when it came to the מרגלים meraglim, the pasuk says במספר הימים אשר תרתם את הארץ, ארבעים יום, יום לשנה יום לשנה b'mispar ha'yamim asher tartem es ha'aretz, arba'im yom, yom la'shanah yom la'shanah. You went for 40 days, so therefore for 40 years you wander in the desert. A year for each day, a year for each day. So what's the question everyone asks? What do you mean a year for a day? The חטא המרגלים cheit ha'meraglim, the sin of them spies. How long and when was the sin of the spies? How long did it last? Did it last 40 days? It lasted one day. They came back from the trip. You know, when they were in Israel, they didn't go to the underground. They weren't they weren't doing wrong things in Eretz Yisrael. They weren't eating treif. It's when they came back and they were meant to report, and they reported negatively instead of positively, they failed to be דן את כל ארץ ישראל לכף זכות dan es kol Eretz Yisrael l'kaf zchus, right? They highlighted the things that would reflect or portray in a poor light rather than see the big picture. They spoke לשון הרע lashon hara about Eretz Yisrael. So how long was their mistake? One day, not 40 days. So why did they have to wander for 40 years? Says the חפץ חיים Chofetz Chaim, the של\"ה הקדוש Shlah HaKadosh, it was 40 days. You know why it was 40 days? Because לא תלך רכיל lo seilech rachil. They walked all Eretz Yisrael, all organizing their gossip and ready to share the gossip and traveling to the gossip. That's all part of the experience of the gossip. So that's why it says לא תלך lo seilech, not לא תדבר lo sidaber. Not just the formal speech which is prohibiting, but it's being part of that community, and it's going towards that effort, and it's going towards that purpose that is a problem. Rav Chaim Volozhiner, a different Rav Chaim, Rav Chaim Volozhiner, חכמה ומוסר Chochmah u'Mussar, Rav Chaim Volozhiner is quoted as saying the following. Why do these two things go together? לא תלך רכיל Lo seilech rachil, don't be a gossip monger, don't gossip, and לא תעמוד על דם רעך lo sa'amod al dam re'echa, don't stand by while your brother's blood is being spilled. What do the two things have to do together? So he says the following. He says, you might think, I can't speak lashon hara. So someone's about to do business with another person. They say, you know, I've taken my life savings and I've mortgaged my home and I'm investing with so and so. And you know so and so is a thief. You know so and so is a fraud. You know so and so has embezzled countless money. But you say, but it says לא תלך רכיל lo seilech rachil, I can't gossip. So the Torah tells us, לא תעמוד על דם רעך lo sa'amod al dam re'echa. Don't hide behind לא תלך רכיל lo seilech rachil when there's לא תעמוד על דם רעך lo sa'amod al dam re'echa. כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael saw a tragedy earlier this year of a very prominent children's author who had turned out was abusive and horrifically abusive. And you know there was a segment of the community, ברוך ה' Baruch Hashem, it was a negligible tiny and very quickly silenced segment of the community who said, it's לשון הרע lashon hara. Don't use his name, don't talk about him. You can't speak about him. But the real גדולי ישראל gedolei Yisrael came out and said, לא תלך רכיל בעמך lo seilech rachil b'amecha, but also לא תעמוד על דם רעך lo sa'amod al dam re'echa. When it's לא תעמוד על דם רעך lo sa'amod al dam re'echa, when your brother's blood is going to be spilled. if your silence and you're going to hide behind לשון הרע lashon hara? How many rabbis, how many community leaders, how many men and women have failed to report dangerous people, have failed to confront dangerous people? And they hid behind the excuse of its לשון הרע lashon hara.So the Torah says with ר' חיים וולוז'ין Rav Chaim Volozhin, the Torah puts it in the same פסוק pasuk to say, true, we have a prohibition against לשון הרע lashon hara, but not at the expense of hurting another person. לא תעמוד על דם רעך lo sa'amod al dam re'echa supersedes, it trumps לא תלך רכיל בעמך lo seilech rachil b'amecha. What an important teaching of ר' חיים וולוז'ין Rav Chaim Volozhin. What an important teaching. Don't ever use the excuse or hide behind the prohibition of לשון הרע lashon hara to protect somebody who's a danger, a threat, or has harmed or injured, particularly children, but for that matter, anyone.Next, פרק י\"ט פסוק י\"ז perek yud tes pasuk yud zayin. A couple more here. Give me two more minutes. Next פסוק pasuk, we're going right now in order. לא תשנא את אחיך בלבבך lo sisna es achicha bilvavecha. Don't hate your brother in your heart. הוכח תוכיח את עמיתך hochei'ach tochiach es amisecha, rebuke him. ולא תשא עליו חטא v'lo sisa alav cheit, and don't bear his חטא cheit by not confronting and by not rebuking.What's going on? So רבינו יונה Rabbeinu Yonah writes something in שערי תשובה Shaarei Teshuvah. The great רבינו יונה Rabbeinu Yonah, the great ראשון Rishon writes, הוזהרנו בזה להסיר מנפשנו מידת השנאה huzharnu b'zeh l'hasir minafsheinu midas hasinah. With this פסוק pasuk, לא תשנא את אחיך בלבבך lo sisna es achicha bilvavecha. Don't hate your brother in your heart. רבינו יונה Rabbeinu Yonah comes along and says, we're warned here, we're cautioned here to remove hatred. Now, that's not what it says. It says, don't hate your brother in your heart. To which רבינו יונה Rabbeinu Yonah understands, condition yourself to never have hatred. Remove and eliminate hatred.So what happened? So רבי יחזקאל לוינשטיין Rav Yechaskel Levenstein, the משגיח mashgiach of פוניבז' Ponevezh explains that רבינו יונה Rabbeinu Yonah is not defining the prohibition differently, he's giving us the methodology and the strategy how to fulfill it. And what he's saying is the following. If you're a person who's capable of hatred, then you're going to find people that you hate. But if you eliminate hatred such that you never feel it, hatred is an anathema to you, hatred is intolerable to you, hatred is something you're incapable of, then you're never going to hate the other. You'll never hate the other.Last week we had יום השואה Yom HaShoah. We had a יום השואה Yom HaShoah, very powerful יום השואה Yom HaShoah program. Sam Ron, a survivor, 98 years old, he's hid by a Polish family, and then he was in the concentration camp, slave labor camp, survived the death march, moved to Palestine, was shot at by Arabs, fought in the Israeli army and the founding of the state. His life story is just incredible. He said something, he said something that I've heard from another prominent survivor in our community. It was interesting, not coordinated. When I said, what is the message you want to leave on יום השואה Yom HaShoah? What do you want to tell us and the next generations of what is the takeaway of יום השואה Yom HaShoah? He said, never hate. Hate is what began it all. Confront, oppose, challenge, but never allow yourself to hate. That word, that feeling, that emotion, hate, eliminate it.Now yes, לאוהבי השם שנאו רע l'ohavei Hashem sin'u ra. There is this notion of holy hatred in a sense, but it doesn't mean hate there either as an emotion. It's dictating an action, a verb. What we need to do to confront that which is inconsistent with השם's Hashem's vision for this world.Norman Frajman, another great survivor, who was in the Warsaw ghetto and survived Majdanek and told us the same message, eliminate hatred. And that's how רבי יחזקאל לוינשטיין Rav Yechaskel Levenstein explains this רבינו יונה Rabbeinu Yonah. What רבינו יונה Rabbeinu Yonah is saying is, להסיר מנפשנו מידת השנאה l'hasir minafsheinu midas hasinah. Be incapable of hate. Just be incapable of hate. Don't be capable of hating. And then even when someone has done something which may be deserving of your hatred, you won't hate. You know why? You're incapable of hating. You may withdraw, you may want nothing to do with, you may hold accountable, but you're not going to hate. And how is it you won't hate? Because you've eliminated, you've simply have become incapable of hating. When we become incapable of hating, then we'll never hate. Oh, there was such a beautiful רב נחמן Reb Nachman I want to tell you on ואהבת לרעך כמוך v'ahavta l'rei'acha kamocha. Such a beautiful רב נחמן Reb Nachman. ואהבת לרעך v'ahavta l'rei'acha. There's a hundred interpretations, how do you love your neighbor as yourself? רב נחמן Reb Nachman says that's not what it's talking about. He says, ואהבת לרעך v'ahavta l'rei'acha, לרע בך l'ra b'cha. But I just gave you a little hint, but we'll have to share it next year, please G-d. ואהבת לרעך v'ahavta l'rei'acha. That's what this time is all about. רבי עקיבא's Rabbi Akiva's students, ספירה sefirah, that's why we're all scruffy and itchy and we're all missing our music. We, how do we answer? רבי עקיבא Rabbi Akiva who watched and buried 24,000 students, said זה כלל גדול בתורה zeh klal gadol baTorah. He says I saw so much Torah, but it was לא נהגו כבוד זה בזה lo nahagu kavod zeh b'zeh. I taught and I saw and I was so proud to build yeshivas with so much Torah, but they didn't respect one another. So you know what the כלל גדול בתורה klal gadol baTorah with all the learning is? ואהבת לרעך כמוך v'ahavta l'rei'acha kamocha. So what does that mean? We'll have to do next time. Until next time. Stay happy, healthy, stay healthy.
