Transcript
Good morning and בוקר טוב boker tov, and welcome back to Parsha perspectives for today. So good to be together as always, studying the Parsha בהעלותך Behaaloscha, and to extract the lessons, the perspectives for today. I want to begin with our attitude of gratitude as always. A big thank you to our generous sponsors, Becky and Avi Katz and family, who sponsored the Parsha perspective series for the year in memory of Becky's father, David Grossman, דוד בן מנחם מנוש Dovid ben Menachem Manush. Also a reminder, if you've not yet signed up for our One and One campaign, please do so. One dollar a day if stuck on one minute a day of Torah learning, all in the merit of אסתר בתיה בת שרה יוטא ציפורה Esther Tila bas Sarah Yuta Tzipora, all those who are ill should have a speedy and a painless רפואה שלמה refuah shleimah, a full and speedy recovery. Also a reminder, our Parsha perspectives for today are now being written up. You could print them out and read them at your שבת Shabbos table. Three beautiful דברי תורה divrei Torah, one for each meal. Subscribe to our newsletter, details are right here on the screen. Okay, פרשת בהעלותך Parshas Behaaloscha. Let's begin. וידבר ה' אל משה לאמור Vayedaber Hashem el Moshe leimor. God speaks to Moshe saying, דבר אל אהרן daber el Aharon, speak to your brother, ואמרת אליהם ve'amarta aleihem and tell him, בהעלותך את הנרות אל מול פני המנורה יאירו שבעת הנרות behaaloscha es ha'neiros el mul pnei ha'menorah ya'iru shivas ha'neiros. When you light the lamps, when you kindle the candelabra, towards the face of the מנורה menorah, the seven candles should face, they should illuminate, they should light. Says רש\"י Rashi here on our פסוק pasuk. בהעלותך Behaaloscha. למה נסמכה פרשת Lama nismicha parshas, to פרשת סוטה parshas sotah. למה נסמכה פרשת המנורה לפרשת הנשיאים Lama nismicha parshas ha'menorah le'parshas ha'nesi'im? Why is the story, why is the lesson or the obligation of the מנורה menorah adjacent to, juxtaposed to the story of the נשיאים nesi'im? Last week's parsha, we had the seemingly repetitive and redundant sacrifices that were offered by the princes, the נשיאים nesi'im. So why do we end last week's parsha, all twelve נשיאים nesi'im seem to bring the exact same קרבן korban? But we know that two chefs, two cooks could put in the same spices, they could follow the same recipe, it's going to turn out entirely different. And the same is true for our great sages, our great leaders, our great נשיאים nesi'im. Says רש\"י Rashi, לפי שראה אהרן חנוכת הנשיאים חלשה דעתו שלא היה עמהם בחנוכה לא הוא ולא שבטו lefi she'ra'ah Aharon chanukas ha'nesi'im, chalsha da'ato shelo hayah imahem ba'chanukah, lo hu v'lo shivto. When Aaron saw the נשיאים nesi'im got to bring these great gifts, when you witnessed each of the leaders, the heads of the tribes, brought their own sacrifice, he felt very demoralized. He was saddened. שלא היה עמהם בחנוכה Shelo hayah imahem ba'chanukah, he wasn't part of this inauguration. Not him and not his tribe. אמר לו הקדוש ברוך הוא חייך שלך גדולה משלהם שאתה מדליק ומטיב את הנרות Amar lo HaKadosh Baruch Hu, chayecha, shelcha gedolah mishelahem, she'ata madlik u'meitiv es ha'neiros. Don't worry, God says to Aaron, your lot is greater than theirs. They bring the sacrifice, but you, you're going to kindle, you're going to light the מנורה menorah each and every day. You're going to light the מנורה menorah each and every week. You're going to light the מנורה menorah each and every year. We've spoken about this many times before. Aaron seems to be like an impetuous child, God forbid, crying and complaining and קווטשינג kvetching, it's not fair to me, how come I don't get to bring the sacrifices? Aaron? This is אהרן הכהן Aharon HaKohen? Why is he קווטשינג kvetching, why is he קרעכצט krechtsing? פלא פלאים pele pla'im. הלא מעלת אהרן הכהן ושבט לוי עצומה Halo ma'alas Aharon HaKohen v'shevet Levi atzumah. Aaron HaKohen and the whole tribe of Levi have an incredibly distinguished and noble position. הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu says about them himself, והיו לי הלוים ve'hayu li ha'Leviim. The לוים Leviim are for Hashem. They are the chosen ones. They have positions of distinction. They have a leadership role. היא מעלה מיוחדת שכל שבט לוי זכו מכל השבטים Hi ma'alah meyuchades shekol shevet Levi zachu mikol ha'shvatim. ובפרט אהרן הכהן עצמו u'vifrat Aharon HaKohen atzmo. And among שבט לוי shevet Levi, among the כהנים kohanim, there's no one greater than Aaron. Aaron is the כהן גדול kohen gadol, he's the high priest. He's the גדול שבגדולים gadol she'ba'gedolim. He has שזכה למעלה מכל כלל ישראל she'zachah le'ma'alah mikol klal Yisrael. He has the highest level of sanctity, the highest level of holiness, the highest status, the highest identity, greater even than משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu. Moshe is not the כהן גדול kohen gadol. So how could Aaron, who touches and attains the pinnacle, Aaron who climbs to the very top, this is the Aaron who's jealous? I would understand someone who doesn't have a role. I would understand somebody who feels they're on the outs. But Aaron, he's the holiest. Aaron, he's the most distinguished. חלשה דעתו chalsha da'ato? He becomes despondent, he has despair, he becomes demoralized. הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu has to mollify him, Hashem has to appease him. How could it be? What's going on here? Says רבי יחזקאל לווינשטיין Rav Yechazkel Levenstein, שדרכם של אנשי מעלה שאינם תאבים ותאוותם של דרגה רוחניות ותאוותם של עולם אינו מסתפקים ואינם סבי רצון ממדריגה אליו הגיעו ותמיד ישאפו להשיג עוד ועוד מעלות ומדריגות she'darkam shel anshei ma'alah she'einam ta'avim, v'ta'avatam shel dargah ruchanis, v'ta'avatam shel olam einam mistapkim, v'einam svei ratzon mimadreigah eilav higi'u, v'tamid yish'afu lehasig od v'od ma'alos u'madreigos. You see that what a person is competitive for says everything about them. A person who has drive, who has ambition, what is our drive and how is our ambition directed? Bigger house, nicer car, more money, finer things, upgrade the latest, the newest, the biggest, the best? For the holy, for the spiritual, for the person who's at a high level, their שאיפה she'ifah, their goal, their aim, their ambition, their drive is in רוחניות ruchnius, is in תורה Torah. Aaron is not envious or jealous that he says, take it away from them and give it to me. Envy is forbidden, is אסור asur, when you say I deserve, not the other. When you say, take it from them and give it to me. I deserve much more. But when you say, I want also, I want in addition, why not me? Why not me? Says רבי יחזקאל לווינשטיין Rav Yechazkel Levenstein, the משגיח Mashgiach, the Rav Yechazkel, this is the greatness of Aaron. When the princes bring sacrifices to dedicate the altar, and the tribe of Levi has no part in the matter, חלשה דעתו chalsha da'ato, he was sad. There's an opportunity to come close to you, Hashem. There's an opportunity for spirituality. There's an opportunity to experience a closeness and a connection with you. I want it. And חברה chevra, this is the theme of our פרשה parsha. We'll have in our parsha later, פסח שני Pesach Sheini, this group will get to it and will see, למה נגרע lama nigara, why are we left out? Why are we deprived of the opportunity, of the chance? Who in the right mind, who today, if given a year off from פסח Pesach, don't clean, don't offer the קרבן korban, don't make your way to ירושלים Yerushalayim, don't worry about the cost. Don't worry, you get a year off. Everyone would say, okay, not asking any questions, taking my year off. But not, not that demographic, not that group, not those who were ineligible for the first פסח Pesach. They said, למה נגרע lama nigara, why should we miss out? You see, when you're spiritually demoralized, when you're spiritually disconnected, when you're spiritually dry, then when you have a chance to be off the hook, you're grateful, you're glad, you're excited. No תחנון Tachanun, great, less דאווענען davening, no תחנון Tachanun. But when you're an אהרן הכהן Aharon HaKohen, when you are the generation who pushed and pressured Moshe, what about פסח שני Pesach Sheini? Then you don't say great, I'm off, a break, a vacation. You say, למה נגרע lama nigara. You say, it's not fair to me. חלשה דעתו chalsha da'ato, Aaron says, everyone else has the chance, I want in. I want that opportunity. I want that chance. I want to be able to come close. The זכור לדוד Zechor LeDovid, a ספר sefer by רב דוד מילנובסקי Rav Dovid Milanovsky, who's the ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva of אור תורה Or Torah, he says, צריך להבין מה הביאור בפיצוי מדליק ומטיב יותר ממעלת קרבנות tzarich lehavin mah ha'biur be'pitzui madlik u'meitiv yoter mi'ma'alas korbanos. Hashem appeases Aaron, and how does he appease Aaron? He appeases him by telling him, don't worry, yours is greater than theirs. How does that make him better? In what way is lighting the מנורה menorah greater than the קרבנות korbanos? These קרבנות korbanos were many animals, multi-animals. These קרבנות korbanos were in high profile. And Aaron, he's cleaning out and lighting the candelabra. In what way is it greater? So says the זכור לדוד Zechor LeDovid, שכשכל קרבנות הנשיאים היו פועל גדולה ונשגבה בכל זאת הפעולה חד פעמית she'kechol korbanos ha'nesi'im hayu po'al gedolah v'nisgavah, bechol zos ha'peulah chad pa'amis. These קרבנות korbanos were offered one time. It was a one-time event, one-time experience. It was lofty, it was noble, it was beautiful, it was high profile, but it was one time. But Aaron, הדלקת הנרות היא פעולה קבועה יום יומית hadlakas ha'neiros hi peulah k'vuah yom yomis, ובעיקבות לכן זה הוא פיצוי גדול מחנוכת הנשיאים u've'ikvos lachen zehu pitzui gadol mei'chanukas ha'nesi'im. Aaron, you have consistent, it is constant, it is ongoing, and therefore it is greater. Sometimes we think that that which gains or garners the greatest attention, the biggest stage, the highest profile, that's what's big, that's what's significant, that's what's important. And the small, little, seemingly insignificant things, the everyday mundane, that's unimportant. But here, הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu, the Almighty, tells Aaron what you have is גדולה משלכם gedolah mishelahem, yours is greater, because in fact, the capacity to maintain the consistency, the ability to have the continuity, the ability to be reliable and dependable in the seemingly small, but to show up and to do what's needed and to do so without fanfare, that's in fact greater. That is in fact loftier. That is in fact a higher level. So you see from Aaron's reaction and Hashem not telling Aaron, grow up. What are you complaining about? How could you be kvetching, it's not fair to me? Instead, Hashem says, wow, that's fantastic. Hashem validates Aaron's feeling, and then tells him, don't worry, you get to light the candles and that's greater. You see that a healthy competitiveness in spirituality, a competitive nature can sometimes be good. Competitiveness is not good if it's a win-lose, if you're trying to defeat the other. But in Stephen Covey's model of a win-win, if you say you succeed, you grow, you climb that spiritual mountain, I don't want it instead of you, I don't want it in lieu of you, I want it in addition to you. To see someone who's an amazing davener, someone who's a great learner, see someone who's an incredible instinct for חסד chesed, for צדקה tzedakah, and you say, not that I want that honor or glory or I want that skill or capacity instead, I want it in addition. I too have the drive, have the ambition, I want to be like them. Hashem rewarded, he appeased, he acknowledged, and he said, don't worry when you see someone who's getting the fanfare, who's got the feature, that's one time, that's not great. Greatness is reliability, dependability, greatness is found in the small, seemingly insignificant. Greatness is showing up each and every day. ברוך אתה ה' אלוהינו מלך העולם שהכל נהיה בדברו Baruch Atah Hashem Elokeinu Melech Ha'olam shehakol nihiyeh bidvaro. That is greatness. There's a beautiful רמב\"ן Ramban here, I don't think we have time to get into it, we've discussed it in the past, where the רמב\"ן Ramban says that Aaron, don't worry, your descendants, the חשמונאים Chashmonaim, they're going to light the מנורה menorah forever. But the Chanukah hadn't yet happened. The story, the miracle of lighting the מנורה menorah hadn't yet happened. The story of חנוכה Chanukah hadn't yet happened. How does the רמב\"ן Ramban make sense? How does the רמב\"ן Ramban understand that's what possibly is the conversation happening here in the Torah that precedes by a long time the story of חנוכה Chanukah? What does that mean? What does that mean? Is for another time we can dive deep into it. But let's keep going. פרק ח' פסוק גימל Perek Ches Pasuk Gimmel. Let's keep going. Oh, one more idea. One more before we keep going. What was the, on this רמב\"ן Ramban, there's a lot to unpack about the רמב\"ן Ramban, we'll just do a little bit. What was the מעלה גדולה ma'alah gedolah of בית חשמונאי Beis Chashmonai that was גדולה מעבודת קרבנות בבית המקדש gedolah mei'avodas korbanos be'Beis Hamikdash? What the חשמונאים Chashmonaim, according to the way the רמב\"ן Ramban understands this conversation, Aaron says it's not fair to me, I didn't get to bring the sacrifices. Hashem says, relax. They did was only when the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash existed. But your descendants, the חשמונאים Chashmonaim, they're going to step up, they're going to light the candles and that will transcend even when there is the גולת יון golas Yavan, even when there is that exile of יון Yavan. Says רב שטיינמן זצ\"ל Rav Shteinman zatzal in his אילת השחר Ayeles HaShachar, he says the נשיאים nesi'im, they brought the חנוכת המזבח chanukas ha'mizbeach with the קרבנות korbanos, which are at a very lofty, is very great. It's one of the עבודות avodos, the three things the world rests on, תורה עבודה וגמילות חסדים Torah, avodah, u'gemilus chasadim. It gives Hashem a great נחת רוח nachas ruach. Hashem has a great joy and a great satisfaction. However, נדבתם הייתה מוגבלת במדה מסוימת nedivasam hayta mugbeles b'midah mesuyemes. פר אחד איל אחד כבש כסף מזרק כסף כף מלאה קטורת par echad, ayil echad, keves kesef, mizrak kesef, kaf meleiah ketores. It was defined. They had a specific קרבן korban they were each meant to bring. It was overlapping, it was the same, but it wasn't redundant, as we said. Each chef brings the recipe, but adds their own קנייחו kineichu, their own flavor, their own spice, it comes out different, the individuality, but it was defined. There were boundaries, there were parameters. אבל עבודת הקרבנות שלתלויים בזמן שהם במקום Aval avodas ha'korbanos she'teluyim b'zman she'hem b'makom. However, the עבודת החשמונאים avodas ha'Chashmonaim was בלי שום תנאים b'li shum t'naim. There were no boundaries. There was nothing that held them back. They overcame ניסיונות קשים nisyonos kashim. It was an exile, was a גולת יון golas Yavan. They sacrificed themselves with a מסירות נפש mesirus nefesh. The נשיאים nesi'im also gave of themselves, dedicated and devoted and contributed their very selves, but they did so under pleasant, comfortable circumstances. The חשמונאים Chashmonaim, חשמונאים Chashmonaim showed מסירות נפש mesirus nefesh. שלך גדולה משלהם shelcha gedolah mishelahem. That which we have to give with מסירות נפש mesirus nefesh, that which we have to give with extra effort and sacrifice and compromise and difficulty, that's לדור דורות le'dor doros. That is everlasting. That is the most transformational and that's why what you have is greater in fact even than theirs. Okay, let's keep going. Pasuk tells us after Aaron receives this instruction, בהעלותך את הנרות behaaloscha es ha'neiros, so fascinating question, the מגיד ישרים Maggid Yesharim of Slutzk wonders, when it comes to the מזבח mizbeach, there's a ramp. You're not allowed to climb on steps. You can't expose or reveal your nakedness. You can't stand still in the approach to the מזבח mizbeach. So there's a ramp. You have to run up. And yet, when it comes to the מנורה menorah, there's a step. There's a platform. Aaron ascends בהעלותך behaaloscha when you ascend the platform to light the מנורה menorah. In what way are the מנורה menorah and the מזבח mizbeach different that it's okay for the מנורה menorah to have a platform where the מזבח mizbeach has a ramp, not a platform? He asks a great question. Curious if you have a good answer, let me know. But next pasuk. פרק ח' פסוק גימל Perek Ches Pasuk Gimmel. ויעש כן אהרן Vaya'as kein Aharon. Aaron gets the instructions to light the מנורה menorah and he does so. אל מול פני המנורה El mul pnei ha'menorah, he lights facing the מנורה menorah. העלה נרותיה כאשר ציווה ה' את משה He'elah neroseha ka'asher tzivah Hashem es Moshe, just as he is commanded. And רש\"י Rashi tells us on this פסוק pasuk, ויעש כן אהרן vaya'as kein Aharon, that Aaron did exactly as he was commanded, להגיד שבחו של אהרן שלא שינה lehagid shivcho shel Aharon shelo shinah. To tell us this is the greatness of Aaron. Aaron did not deviate, he did not change, he followed the instruction verbatim. He followed what he was asked to do exactly. He was very exacting and scrupulous and vigilant. Now, that's a beautiful comment, endorsement of Aaron, but we have thought for a moment? Would we have hesitated or considered? Would we have contemplated that Aaron was going to inject his own creativity, distort, manipulate, change? What does that mean that Aaron didn't change? That's a compliment for an Aaron? So in a letter of the אלתר מקלם Alter mi'Kelm to one of the ועד המושר Vaad HaMussar of his תלמידים talmidim, he said, האדם אינו נבחן דוקא במעשים גדולים ועצומים ha'adam eino nivchan davka be'ma'asim gedolim v'atzumim. A person is not judged by the the large and the great things. אדרבה Ad'raba, לפעמים קל לאדם לעשות מפעלים גדולים lifamim kal le'adam la'asos mif'alim gedolim. Sometimes we can rise to the occasion. We're asked to do something monumental, something extraordinary, we can rise to the occasion of something enormous. לעסוק בהצלת נפשות La'asok be'hatzalas nefashos, to get involved in saving lives, to dig deep into our pocket, to write a big check, to sacrifice our time, our resources to show up. But המבחן האמיתי hamivchan ha'amiti, the real test of a person is not when the lights and the camera are on, when the stage is set. They're not in the big and the large monumental moments. They're in the small moments. הימה אדם עושה אותם כפי שצריך Ha'im ha'adam oseh osam k'fi she'tzarich? Do we do the way we're meant to do? Do we act and do we respond and do we do when no one's watching? I had a Rebbe who used to say, you know, sometimes you see someone, they get an עלייה aliyah to the Torah. They're called up to the Torah, and the way they recite that ברכת התורה Birchas HaTorah, אשר בחר בנו מכל העמים asher bachar banu mikol ha'amim, such כוונה kavanah, they קרעכצט krechts it out, they scream it out, they cry it out with such intense כוונה kavanah. Said, but, you know, when they're not getting that עלייה aliyah, every one of us recite the ברכת התורה Birchas HaTorah every morning. It's part of our morning routine, part of our ברכות השחר birchos ha'shachar. When no one's around and you're at home and you're getting your day started, when you're just launching into your ברכות השחר birchos ha'shachar, you're not standing on the בימה bimah and everybody's not watching and listening, and nobody hears, do you say the ברכת התורה Birchas HaTorah the same way? Do you do when you're getting an עלייה aliyah to the Torah? It's the small, seemingly insignificant, it's the daily consistent routine, that's what speaks about a person. That's what testifies to the person. That's what the משנה Mishnah in פרקי אבות Pirkei Avos tells us, הוו זהיר במצוה קלה כבחמורה hevu zahir be'mitzvah kalah ke'va'chamurah, that a person should treat what seems like a small, insignificant thing like a great thing. הצדיקים האמיתיים עושים עיסק במצווה קלה שבקלות כאילו הייתה חמורה שבחמורות Ha'tzadikim ha'amiti'im osim eisek be'mitzvah kalah she'ba'kalos k'ilu hayta chamurah she'ba'chamuros. The great and the righteous would pay attention and be vigilant with that which seems small like it was great. אברהם אבינו Avraham Avinu, הכנסת אורחים hachnasas orchim, the extent that he went, the distance that he went, the sacrifice that he went, and he had his family involved. He got his wife, he got his son, run, don't move slowly, run, go above and beyond, go above. Says, שבחו של אהרן shivcho shel Aharon. You know, this was a, this was custodial, janitorial, cleaning out the candelabra, setting up the wicks to light it again. You know, this doesn't seem significant. The שמש shamash would do it, not the רב rebbe. You know, this would be the תלמיד talmid, not the ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva, to stand and to toil, to remove the old wicks, to clean it out, to fill it up, to add the new wicks, and yet, for Aaron, it never got old. It never grew rote, it never grew stale, it never lost its excitement. Why? Why? So this is the author of Kelm's insight. Why ויעש כן אהרן vaya'as kein Aharon? Why was Aaron להגיד שבחו שלא שינה lehagid shivcho shelo shinah, he never changed, never deviated, it never got old. What didn't change was not the performance and the way he did the מצוה mitzvah. What didn't change was his attitude towards the מצוה mitzvah. He didn't change. He didn't become too arrogant or too egotistical. He didn't become too elevated, too much above being able to do this מצוה mitzvah. For Aaron, what a gift, what an opportunity, what an invitation. Why? How was he able to preserve that level of excitement, enthusiasm, alacrity? How did Aaron get us equally excited? It's Shabbos again. It's davening again. It's an opportunity for צדקה tzedakah, a מצוה mitzvah again. It's a חסד chesed, a ביקור חולים bikur cholim, a ניחום אבלים nichum aveilim again. How was it שלא שינה shelo shinah, that he never changed? It never got old, it never grew stale? He never felt above it. The answer is found in the pasuk itself, says the author of Kelm. You know what the answer is? כאשר ציווה ה' את משה ka'asher tzivah Hashem es Moshe. When you feel that this is your, this is what Hashem commanded. This is our mission. This is what he expects. This is what he wants. This is how we come close. מצוה mitzvah כאשר ציווה ka'asher tzivah. ציווה, צוותא Tzivah, tzavsa is to create a connection, a bond. Says the Alter, בזה תבינו מה שאני אומר לכם תמיד שעשרה מספלים אפילו בחורים צעירים אם רק יכינו ויזככו עצמם לתפילתם שווים הם לכמה מאות מנינים בווילנא העיר גדולה לאלוקים be'zeh tavinu mah she'ani omer lachem tamid, she'asarah mispalelim afilu bachurim tzeirim, im rak yachinu v'yizakchu atzmam l'tfilasam, shavim hem l'kamah me'os minyanim be'Vilna ha'ir gedolah le'Elokim. At the time Vilna, the great city, this is what he writes in the חכמה ומוסר chachmah u'mussar, part two, the Alter of Kelm, this letter. He says, a minyan of ten who are excited to be there, who are davening and giving their all, who are fully mindful and present as they pray, they might as well be in the great shul of Vilna with thousands of people. It's not a matter of how size, small, big, large. It's not a matter of how ornate, it's a matter of our attitude. So a story of רב חיים עוזר גראדזינסקי Rav Chaim Ozer Grodzinski once went to קראקא Krakow in גאליציה Galitzia, and he had a certain meeting. The problem is that he had a coat, his רבנות rabbinic garb got torn. He had a tear, and he went to a tailor. He found the name of a tailor. He was in a great meeting in קראקא Krakow and רב חיים עוזר Rav Chaim Ozer, the great posek, arguably the greatest posek of his generation, the great רב חיים עוזר Rav Chaim Ozer, in Krakow, he had this tear. He couldn't appear that way. So he found the tailor, and he went to tell the Solomon, he has to tell if he could repair the tear. The tailor said, absolutely. I just need a moment, because it was חנוכה Chanukah. I just need to light the חנוכה ליכט Chanukah licht. I need to light the חנוכה Chanukah candles, and then I can repair your tear. So רב חיים עוזר Rav Chaim Ozer said, the simple tailor, how long will it take him to light the חנוכה Chanukah candles? A minute, two? But he watched. And רב חיים עוזר Rav Chaim Ozer watched, and he couldn't believe what he saw. What happened? What happened? He was, he watched as this tailor went and first he washed his hands. And then he took off his weekday שמאטע shmatteh, his clothing, his his tailor garb, and instead he put on his בגדי שבת bigdei Shabbos. He went and he transformed himself into his Shabbos clothing. He washed his hands, and then he lit the חנוכה Chanukah candles with all of his heart and all of his soul and all of his kavana and all of his mindfulness. And then he sang slowly and with feeling, מעוז צור Ma'oz Tzur. And it took half an hour, 45 minutes, until finally he turned to רב חיים עוזר Rav Chaim Ozer, and he was ready to repair his garment. רב חיים עוזר Rav Chaim Ozer would tell this story over and over and he would say, you see, this is why גאליציה Galitzia, קראקא Krakow, are such great cities of Torah, because even the simple tailor approaches a מצוה mitzvah with excitement, with joy, with enthusiasm, with alacrity. Never grows old, it never grows stale, it never becomes rote. Put on your Shabbos clothing. You wash your hands. You slowly, mindfully, pay attention and insert your entire self. להגיד שבחו Lehagid shivcho, this was the שבח shevach of an Aaron, that he never changed. It never grew old, it never grew stale. The in the ספר אמת ואמונה sefer Emes Ve'emunah that we've been learning from the קאצקער Kotsker, from קאצק Kotsk. So it says the following, the קאצקער Kotsker would quote the יהודי הקדוש Yid HaKadosh, בשעה שבירך כל יום הברכה שלא עשני גוי הרגיש בנפשו שנשתנה בכל יום כמעין יהודי ליהודי bish'ah she'beirech kol yom ha'bracha 'shelo asani goy', hirgish be'nafsho she'nishtaneh be'chol yom ke'me'ayin Yehudi l'Yehudi. That the יהודי הקדוש Yid HaKadosh would describe that when he would make the bracha every morning in his ברכות השחר birchos ha'shachar, he'd say the bracha שלא עשני גוי shelo asani goy, thank you, Hashem, that I was not born a non-Jew. Not discriminating and not biased and not disparaging non-Jews, but it means non-Jews only have seven mitzvos and we have 613, so he was so grateful for the opportunity and invitation to do more mitzvos. And the יהודי הקדוש Yid HaKadosh would feel when he made that bracha every day when he said that bracha שלא עשני גוי shelo asani goy, he felt like he converted, like he transformed from a non-Jew to a Jew. ורבינו הוסיף ואמר זה פירוש דברי רש\"י ויעש כן אהרן שלא שינה V'Rabbeinu hosif v'amar, zeh peirush divrei Rashi, vaya'as kein Aharon, shelo shinah. That's what Rashi meant here. ויעש כן אהרן שלא שינה Vaya'as kein Aharon shelo shinah. Aaron did similarly, he didn't change. What does that mean? שלא השתנה אצלו וכל יום היה עובד מחדש ולא ברגילות כדבר ישן shelo hishtaneh etzlo, u'vechol yom hayah oved me'chadash v'lo be'regilus k'davar yashan. Something old, ישן yashan, is old, outdated, archaic, stale, old. You know, we live in a time, we live in a generation that old, outdated, we're constantly upgrading. We need the latest model. We need the upgrade. We turn it in and we upgrade, upgrade our phone and upgrade our operating system and upgrade our car and unfortunately and tragically, people try to upgrade members of their family, upgrade their marriage. We're living with the mentality of a disposable society where we're constantly seeking to upgrade. So says the the קאצקער Kotsker, applying the insight of the יהודי הקדוש Yid HaKadosh, the יהודי הקדוש Yid HaKadosh said every day שלא עשני גוי shelo asani goy was like he became new again, he was born again, born Jewish again, as if he just became Jewish again, just became בר מצווה bar mitzvah again, just became בת מצווה bas mitzvah again, just became obligated in מצוות mitzvos again. ויעש כן אהרן Vaya'as kein Aharon, that's what Aaron did. שלא שינה Shelo shinah doesn't mean he didn't change. שלא שינה shelo shinah, it didn't become ישן yashan. It never got old. It never grew stale, it never grew old, it never became outdated. It was fresh and it was new and it was מחדש me'chadash. It wasn't ישן yashan, it wasn't old. You can add similarly maybe not only ישן yashan, old, יָשֵׁן yashen means to sleep. שלא שינה Shelo shinah, he never sleepwalked through it. How many of us sleepwalk through life? People finish davening, they don't even remember coming to shul. They don't remember opening the siddur. They don't remember taking three steps forward by the time they take the three steps back. We sleepwalk through mitzvos, we sleepwalk through learning, we finish listening to the daf, learning the daf. We don't even know what daf, we don't even know what it was about. We're sleeping with our eyes open, we're sleepwalking through life. שלא שינה shelo shinah, יָשָׁן yashan, it wasn't old, יָשֵׁן yashen, he wasn't sleepwalking, and it never lost his enthusiasm for it. Okay, פרק ח' perek ches, rather פסוק ו' pasuk vav, moving right along. וידבר ה' אל משה לאמור Vayedaber Hashem el Moshe leimor, is the next section, קח את הלוים מתוך בני ישראל ותיהרת אותם kach es ha'Leviim mitoch Bnei Yisrael v'tiharta osam, the consecration, the sanctification of the Leviim, their great place of distinction, take the Leviim from the Jewish people, ותיהרת אותם v'tiharta osam and purify them. ככה את הלוים Kach es ha'Leviim, says Rashi, what does it mean Moshe is instructed, קח את הלוים kach es ha'Leviim, take the Leviim. How is he meant to take them? In handcuffs? With a rope? With a straight jacket? Throw them in the back of a truck? What does it mean, קח kach, take them, take them and purify them? Because they're the closest. You see that those who are meant to be role models, those who are meant to be teaching and leading and modeling, they need to demand more of themselves. More is expected of them. They have to live a higher level, ותיהרת אותם v'tiharta osam, you have to live a higher level of purity. But says Rashi, קח kach, what does that mean? קחם בדברים אשריכם שזכיתם להיות שמשים למקום Kachem bid'varim, ashreichem she'zichisem lihiyos shamashim la'Makom. קח בדברים Kach bid'varim. Rashi says, קח kach, how do you take them? בדברים Bid'varim, with words, with persuasion. Use your words. Don't overpower and don't weaponize and don't abuse and don't bully and don't use force. We have to learn the power of persuasion, to speak. And if you can't persuade successfully, then you make space and room for other people to have different opinions, to allow other people to have different opinions. What a beautiful insight. You see this throughout our Torah often, when we talk about דברים d'varim, קח kach, how does קח kach, קיחה kechicha is described not to take forcefully, not to take physically, but בדברים bid'varim, with our words, with our words are the way that we're meant to to capture. Okay, פרק ח' פסוק י\"ט perek ches pasuk yud-tes, still here on on a פרק ח' perek ches and the consecration of the לוים Leviim. פסוק י\"ט Pasuk yud-tes, ואתנה את הלוים נתונים לאהרן ולבניו מתוך בני ישראל V'etnah es ha'Leviim nesunim le'Aharon u'le'vanav mitoch Bnei Yisrael. Assign the לוים Leviim to be presented to Aaron and his sons from among כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael. לעבוד את עבודת בני ישראל La'avod es avodas Bnei Yisrael, they're meant to serve and to work for the Jewish people, ולכפר על בני ישראל u'lechaper al Bnei Yisrael, ולא יהיה בבני ישראל נגף בגשת בני ישראל אל הקודש v'lo yihyeh bivnei Yisrael negef b'geshes Bnei Yisrael el ha'kodesh. And the children of Israel attend a meeting to provide atonement for them so there won't be a plague among כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael when they approach the הקודש kodesh, when they approach the sanctuary and the holy, and the holy place. ואתנה את הלוים V'etnah es ha'Leviim. Rashi says, Rashi here on this, ואתנה את הלוים v'etnah es ha'Leviim. You notice in this pasuk, how many times does it say בני ישראל Bnei Yisrael? We got it. The children of Israel, Hashem, your people, your nation, your children, I got it. ואתנה את הלוים נתונים לאהרן ולבניו מתוך בני ישראל V'etnah es ha'Leviim nesunim le'Aharon u'le'vanav mitoch Bnei Yisrael, לעבוד את עבודת בני ישראל la'avod es avodas Bnei Yisrael, ולכפר על בני ישראל u'lechaper al Bnei Yisrael, ולא יהיה בבני ישראל v'lo yihyeh bivnei Yisrael, נגף בגשת בני ישראל אל הקודש negef b'geshes Bnei Yisrael el ha'kodesh. Five times, no less than five times. Why five times? When you hear the number five, it should elicit an association. What is the number five reminiscent of? חמשה פעמים נמר השם ישראל להודיע חיבתם של ישראל שהם כנגד חמישה חומשי תורה Chameisha pe'amim ne'emar ha'shem Yisrael, le'hodia chibasam shel Yisrael she'hem k'neged Chamisha Chumshei Torah. Five times it says בני ישראל Bnei Yisrael, why? To reference just like the חומש Chumash, it is the love and the affection that Hashem has for the Jewish people, says our name five times, just like the חומש Chumash, just like the חומש Chumash. What does one thing have to do with the other? What does the חומש Chumash have to do with Hashem's love for us? Is it just a cute number? Five times we're mentioned, חומש Chumash, חמישה chameisha, five books of Moshe, what does it mean? So the author of Kelm, according to several authors of Kelm here, says חכמה ומוסר chachmah u'mussar, part two, he says the following, השתוממתי מאוד מאוד על רוב החביבות שיש להקדוש ברוך הוא hishtomamti me'od me'od al rov ha'chavivos she'yesh la'Kadosh Baruch Hu. He says I was moved, I was shocked, I was uplifted, wow, I was wowed by the love and the affection that Hashem has for the Jewish people. חמשה פעמים בפסוק אחד חוזר השם יתברך על המילה בני ישראל Chameisha pe'amim be'pasuk echad chozer Hashem Yisborach al ha'milah Bnei Yisrael. Hashem says the same name, the same words over and over again. מה שבחשבון פשוט יראו ברושם מבלי כן פעם אחת Ma she'be'cheshbon pashut yiru beroshem mibli kein pa'am achas. If you look at the pasuk grammatically, it would have worked out well to simply say our name once. Why five? אלא שאב מזכיר שם בנו אהובו אינו עייף ויגע להזכיר שוב ושוב את שם בנו חביבו בתור חיבתו ela she'av mazkir shem b'no ahuvo, eino ayef v'yagea lehazkir shuv vashuv es shem b'no chavivo b'tor chibaso. You say, my טייערע קינד tayereh kind, my beautiful son, my beautiful daughter, my child, you say their name, you love that child over and over and over again, you say their name. A name is an expression of affection. A name elevates. A name creates a bond and a connection, a closeness. So says the author of Kelm, אילו לא נכתב בתורה לא יאומן אהבת אב לבנו במידה כזו ilu lo nichtav baTorah lo ye'uman ahavas av l'vno b'midah kazoo, had it not been written in the Torah, you wouldn't believe it. The love a father could have for a child. The love Hashem has for us. כל שכן שהקדוש ברוך הוא לבנו בשר ודם kol shekein she'HaKadosh Baruch Hu l'bno basar va'dam. הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu loves us. That level of affection, of connection, that level of elevating us by using our name. והקדוש ברוך הוא מטיב כל כך עול וטוב משפיע עלינו את הטוב ויותר כמה אנחנו חייבים להשיב לו אהבה ve'HaKadosh Baruch Hu meitiv kol kach ol v'tov, mashpia aleinu es ha'tov v'yoser, kamah anachnu chayavim lehashiv lo ahavah. If he shows this love to us, we have to reciprocate. And we should love him back that devotion, that dedication, that love back to him. You see from here this expression of affection, this incredible love, this connection, this closeness. But it goes further, it goes further. It's a beautiful insight here from רב גדליה אייזמן Rav Gedaliah Eiseman who was the משגיח Mashgiach of כל תורה Kol Torah on this Rashi. What did חז\"ל Chazal meant? Five times the words בני ישראל Bnei Yisrael and חמישה חומשי תורה Chamisha Chumshei Torah, the five books of Moshe. What's the connection? What's the connection? What's the connection? באו חז\"ל ללמדנו בזה שכל מעלת לוים נובע מכח הכלל ישראל ba'u Chazal le'lamdeinu be'zeh shekol ma'alas Leviim nove'a mikoach ha'klal Yisrael, כפי שמצינו בדברי רש\"י על הפסוק הוא עשך ויכוננך k'fi she'matzinu b'divrei Rashi al ha'pasuk hu ascha va'yichonenecha, מכם כהנים מכם מלכים mikem kohanim, mikem melachim, הקרושא הכל תלוי בם ha'krusha hakol talui bam. הרי זה ידיעה חשובה Harei zeh yediah chashuvah. It's a critical, critical notion, the idea that a תלמיד חכם talmid chacham, a צדיק tzaddik, a ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva, a רבי rebbe, a רב rav, derives their power, derives their leadership, derives their strength, derives their creativity, derives their חידושים chiddushim. from the כוח koach of the ציבור tzibbur, from the strength and the merit of the community, of the community. That's where it comes from, and that's what the פסוק pasuk means to tell us here. That אדם מבקש לקבל גם הוא נענה תחילה מעלות אלו. כן שם מצינו בשאר עבירות דוחה את השבת, כי משום שבת... מהלל שמאי הזקן. אומה נצורה... כל אומה כולה עושה כך. רק דרך צדיקים יחידים עושה כן. לא. כשם שכל מעלה שלו רק מכוח הכלל ישראל, גם מעלה זו מעלה קיימת מכוח הכלל. וניתן פה רק עצה ליחידים. Adam mevakesh lekabel gam hu na'aneh techilah maalos eilu. Kein sham matzinu b'she'ar aveiros docheh es haShabbos, ki mishum Shabbos... mehalel Shammai haZaken. Umah netzurah... kol umah kulah osah kach. Rak derech tzaddikim yechidim osah kein. Lo. K'sheim shekol ma'alah shelo rak mikoach haKlal Yisrael, gam ma'alah zu ma'alah kayemes mikoach ha'klal. V'nitan poh rak eitzah l'yechidim. So we derive our strength. second Bein HaBima reference when we had Rabbi Mansour, שליט\"א shlita. He spoke about the fact that when he goes in scholar in residence and he speaks elsewhere, takes him longer to prepare, and it's much harder to give a successful דרשה drasha. When you're home, your קהילה kehila, your ציבור tzibbur, it's the כוח koach, that's what gives the rabbi, the רב rav, the speaker, the רבצן rebbetzin strength. That's what gives them their creativity, that's what gives them their leadership. And that's חמש פעמים chamesh pa'amim, להודיע חביבתן... חמישה חומשי תורה l'hodi'a chibasan... Chamisha Chumshei Torah. That's where this power comes from. That's where that merit comes from. It comes, the power of Torah comes from the community. כלל ישראל חמישה חומשי תורה Klal Yisrael Chamisha Chumshei Torah. The five times בני ישראל Bnei Yisrael, the five times of חומש Chumash, the power of Torah comes from the unity and the connection of כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael, of כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael. I saw another insight of where it may come from. I don't remember where I saw this. Was this the קאצק Kotsk? Maybe it was from the קאצקער Kotsker. But I might have thought there's a distinction, that there is a difference. Oh, maybe the קאצקער Kotsker. חמשה פעמים נמנו בני ישראל במקרא זה. להודיע חביבתן שנכפלו אזכרותם במקרא אחר כנגד חמשה חומשי תורה. Chamisha pa'amim nimnu Bnei Yisrael b'mikra zeh. L'hodi'a chibasan shenichpelu azkarosam b'mikra acher k'neged Chamisha Chumshei Torah. We're mentioned so many times just like the חומש Chumash. Oh, this is a קאצקער Kotsker. על ידי שנבדלו הלווים מדעת ישראל להכיר ולהודיעם עבודת השם. הלווים Al yedei shenivdelu haL'viim m'daas Yisrael l'hakir u'l'hodiam avodas Hashem. HaL'viim are separated out. הלווים HaL'viim are not included in the census, in the count of כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael. הלווים HaL'viim have a position of distinction. חששו דעתם של ישראל. Chasheshu da'atam shel Yisrael. The rest of the Jewish people might have gotten sad. שנתלה קדושה מהכלל ונתנה לפרט. She'nitlah kedushah mei'haklal v'nitnah l'prat, that we lost our power, we lost our sanctity, we lost our holiness. Who are we and what are we? We are failures, we flopped, we came up short. The לוים L'viim who didn't participate in the עגל Eigel, they're counted separately, and they're charged with a mission and a mandate with a greater level of holiness. All the holiness went to them and who and what are we? לכך חיבב יצירם בדעתם להם. L'chach chibev y'tziram b'da'atam lahem. Says the קאצקער Kotsker, Hashem showed a special affection. You're not ice farvs, you're not rejects, you're not failures. שנמשלו ישראל לחמשה חומשי תורה. She'nimshlu Yisrael l'Chamisha Chumshei Torah. And that's where the metaphor, the parallel to חומש Chumash comes in, says the קאצקער Kotsker. ואף על פי שכל אחד ספר בפני עצמו, מכל מקום הם ספר תורה אחד. V'af al pi shekol echad sefer bifnei atzmo, mikol makom heim sefer Torah echad. בראשית שמות ויקרא במדבר דברים Bereishis Shemos Vayikra Bamidbar Devarim each is its own book. In fact we get into that in our פרשה parsha. Really there were seven books, not five. ויהי בנסוע הארן Vayehi binsoa ha'aron is bracketed by those נונין nunin. How many books of Torah are there? Each is a distinct unit. Each ספר sefer of חומש Chumash is its own unit. It's its own ספר sefer. And yet, they combine to create Torah. חמישה חומשי תורה Chamisha Chumshei Torah, it's the five books of משה Moshe, but known as the five books, simultaneously it is the one Torah. כן אומת חלוי אף על פי שמדרגותם נחלקו לשלש קדושות. Kein umas chalui af al pi shemadreigosam nechleku l'shalosh kedushos. The Gemara in Shabbos Perek Chezkas calls us a threefold people. We're made up of כהנים לויים וישראלים Kohanim, L'viim v'Yisraelim. מכל מקום העדה כולם קדושים בשם השם, והם ישראל גוי אחד קדוש הוא לאלוקיו. Mikol makom ha'eidah kulam kedoshim b'shem Hashem, v'hem Yisrael goy echad kadosh hu l'Elokav. Here the קאצקער Kotsker uses Korach's words but in a positive sense, that כולם קדושים kulam kedoshim, all of us are holy. We are a threefold people, the כהנים, לוים וישראלים Kohanim, L'viim v'Yisraelim, ישראלים Yisraelim, three identities, three demographics, three separate units, but just like there are five separate books, but they comprise the one Torah, each of us is our own book, each of us is our own chapter, each of us is in our own tribe, each of us is made up of different כהנים, לוים וישראלים Kohanim, L'viim v'Yisraelim, and yet, we are one people. כל העדה כולם קדושים ובתוכם השם kol ha'eidah kulam kedoshim u'b'socham Hashem. עם ישראל הוא גוי אחד קדוש Am Yisrael hu goy echad kadosh. So therefore says the קאצקער Kotsker, that's what the פסוק pasuk was telling us. הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu, the חיבה chibah, the love that he has, don't feel you're rejected. Don't feel you're a failure. Don't feel that Hashem gave up hope on you and he turned only to the לוים L'viim. Just like חומש Chumash are five separate books but they make up one ספר sefer, כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael are each separate people, but we make up one, we make up or separate tribes, we're separate groups, כהנים, לוים, ישראלים Kohanim, L'viim, Yisraelim, but we make up one כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael. Okay. That was the Alter of Kelm, and that is the the... Rav Gedaliah Eiseman. Okay, moving along. פרק ט פסוק ז Perek tes pasuk zayin. פרק ט Perek tes. Moving along. Apparent different responsibility, the different ages. פרק ט Perek tes, פסוק pasuk, זין zayin. Oh, now we come to the פסח שני Pesach Sheini. We alluded to it earlier, that just like Aaron had aspiration and ambition, he didn't only want to kill it in גשמיות gashmiyus, he wanted to kill it in רוחניות ruchniyus. You know, we have this notion of being מסתפק במועט mistapek b'muat, a person being able to be satisfied with little. We have a notion, שמח בחלקו same'ach b'chelko. Do we apply שמח בחלקו same'ach b'chelko to רוחניות ruchniyus? Do we say be satisfied with your lot in spirituality? Or do we say no, break through barriers, push further, be ambitious, be driven, be competitiveness, be competitive when it comes to רוחניות ruchniyus, when it comes to the pursuit of the spiritual, maybe we shouldn't be שמח בחלקו same'ach b'chelko. We don't say my lot is to come late, leave early, have no כוונה kavanah. We don't say my lot is to barely learn, not learn, or learn superficially. We don't say my lot, we say no, I'm capable, I'm driven, I want more. That certainly is the tradition that we have from אהרן Aharon at the beginning of the פרשה parsha, and now that we have from those who were impure because they participated in the פסח שני Pesach Sheini. We've spoken about this in the past. They were carrying the bones of יוסף Yosef. יוסף Yosef is the king of second chances. He gives his brother a second chance, he gives Hashem a second chance, and therefore they were given, כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael were given a second chance. That's the holiday of second chances. But it's also the holiday of למה נגרע lamah nigara. Why Hashem don't you trust me? So פרק ט פסוק ז Perek tes pasuk zayin, why should I lose out? Why should I be deprived? וידבר ה' אל משה לאמר דבר אל בני ישראל ואמור איש איש כי יהיה טמא לנפש או בדרך רחוקה Vayedaber Hashem el Moshe leimor, daber el Bnei Yisrael v'amor, ish ish ki yiheyeh tamei l'nefesh o b'derech rechokah. So the people say, sorry, אנחנו טמאים anachnu t'meim. פרק ט פסוק ז Perek tes pasuk zayin, I read the wrong פסוק pasuk. ויאמרו האנשים ההמה אליו Vayomru ha'anashim haheimah eilav. So these people tell Moshe, they confront him and they say, אנחנו טמאים לנפש אדם, למה נגרע anachnu t'meim l'nefesh adam, lamah nigara. We're impure, we're contaminated. Why should we lose out? Why don't we get to participate? Why don't we get to offer this sacrifice? Why? Why? So רש\"י Rashi here says, ראויה היתה פרשת טמאים להאמר על ידי משה רבנו R'uyah haysah parshas t'meim l'he'amer al yedei Moshe Rabbeinu. This story of פסח שני Pesach Sheini, the notion of those who were contaminated, ineligible to participate in the first Pesach, and they were given the second Pesach, this law should have been introduced and taught by Moshe. אלא שזכו אלו ונכתבה על ידם. ללמדך שמגלגלין זכות על ידי זכאי. Ela shezachu eilu v'nichtevah al yadam. L'lamedcha shemgalgelin zechus al yedei zakai. However, instead of Moshe being the one to initiate and to capture and to communicate this law, it was done through this group of people. What was their merit? These people who couldn't bring the פסח Pesach and they came to Moshe with this טענה tainah, and Moshe asked Hashem, and Hashem taught Moshe, and a new הלכה halachah was introduced called פסח שני Pesach Sheini, and Rashi says, ראויה היתה פרשה זו להאמר על ידי משה R'uyah haysah parsha zu l'he'amer al yedei Moshe. It could have been done, there was another way out, it could have been taught through Moshe. בעקבות פרשה זו מצווים כלל ישראל בכל שנה את פסח שני B'ikvos parsha zu metzuvim Klal Yisrael b'chol shanah es Pesach Sheini. It's because of this parsha, it's because of this conversation, because of this challenge and complaint that we every year have פסח שני Pesach Sheini. But what is פסח שני Pesach Sheini? הלא כל הדבר קרה לאנשים יחידים שנצטוו ונטמאו Halo kol hadavar karah l'anashim yechidim she'nitztavu v'nitme'u. Something came about because of a few people. These were fringe. These were outliers. They were impure, they were contaminated, they couldn't participate. So they were a fringe group of individuals, a fringe group of outliers. מה מקום יש לכלל ישראל Mah makom yesh l'Klal Yisrael? So what, why are we commemorating it? Each and every year we honor, we commemorate. We don't say תחנון Tachanun, many have the מנהג minhag to eat מצה matzah on פסח שני Pesach Sheini, all because of a group of individuals, all because of a group of outliers couldn't participate in the קרבן korban. Says Rav Zaidel Epstein, one of our fan favorites, Rav Zaidel Epstein, the משגיח mashgiach of תורה אור Torah Or, based on something Rav Tzadok HaKohen writes in פרי צדיק Pri Tzaddik, that there's a big difference between פסח ראשון Pesach Rishon and פסח שני Pesach Sheini. פסח ראשון, ההתעוררות והסיוע באו מן השמיים Pesach Rishon, ha'hisorerus v'hasiyua ba'u min hashamayim. פסח ראשון Pesach Rishon is top-down. פסח ראשון Pesach Rishon we are overwhelmed. פסח ראשון Pesach Rishon we get this burst, this breakthrough of illumination, of enlightenment, of incredible, incredible insight. ולכן גם ההקרבה והשחיטה על פי המבואר בתרגום יונתן, כשהיו ישראל נתונים במצרים... באו עננים והרכיבו הפסח. וישב וסע על כנפי נשרים V'lachen gam ha'akravah v'hashchitah al pi hamvo'ar b'Targum Yonasan, K'shehayu Yisrael n'sunim b'Mitzrayim... ba'u ananim v'hirkivu haPesach. Vayesav v'asa al kanfei nesharim. Torah tells us that even when we were in Egypt, God carried us on on on eagle's wings. And the תרגום יונתן Targum Yonasan on that פסוק pasuk says he took us from Mitzrayim on the wings of eagles to ירושלים Yerushalayim to offer the first קרבן korban. What a night. התעוררות דלעילא Isarusa d'le'eila. What a night of overwhelming light and breakthrough and redemption from above. פסח שני Pesach Sheini is not top-down. פסח שני Pesach Sheini is bottom-up. It's bottom-up. Moshe says to הקדוש ברוך הוא אין הקרבן נעשה בטומאה. ודחום בשם ההלכה Moshe says to HaKadosh Baruch Hu ein ha'korban na'aseh b'tumah. V'dichum b'shem ha'halachah. Moshe at first pushed them away. Moshe resisted them. Moshe was reluctant. Moshe said they're wrong, but they didn't agree. They refused to take no for an answer. They persevered, they pushed through, they were tenacious. למה נגרע Lamah nigara like Aaron in the beginning of the פרשה parsha. They refused to lose out, to miss out. We insist on saying תחנון Tachanun. What do you mean we're exempt? What do you mean we're out? What do you mean we're not entitled? And it's in their merit that we repeat it. This is the holiday of למה נגרע lamah nigara. It's the יום טוב Yom Tov of למה נגרע lamah nigara, of never being satisfied, of not saying it's good enough, of not having good but striving for great. Striving for great. Such a love, such a passion, such a commitment for Torah and Mitzvos we need to live and model and instill in our families and those around us that we have an attitude of למה נגרע lamah nigara. למה נגרע Lamah nigara. What do you mean? I can't miss מעריב Maariv with a מנין minyan. I can't miss the צדקה tzedakah opportunity everybody else gave, I want to give to it too. What do you mean the חסד chesed chance? What do you mean the learning? The שיעור shiur? I want to be invited. I want to go. I want a chance. Every one of us. למה נגרע Lamah nigara, it's the יום טוב Yom Tov of למה נגרע lamah nigara. פרק ט פסוק י\"ז Perek tes pasuk yud zayin. פרק ט פסוק י\"ז Perek tes pasuk yud zayin. Turn the page, 78 yards called stone in חומש Chumash. פרק ט פסוק י\"ז Perek tes pasuk yud zayin. Oh, I love this section. וביום הקים את המשכן כסה הענן את המשכן U'v'yom hakim es haMishkan, kisah ha'anan es haMishkan, the cloud of glory covered the Mishkan, and that's how they knew to go. There are all kinds of flight delays and cancellations and challenges. It's so hard to travel today. How did כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael know? You know, all the people who wait by the gate, and then they crowd the gate area, and then they have mosaic, because everybody spent the money on the credit card, they didn't do it the old-fashioned way by flying enough flight segments, and you have all the people who go on their wheelchairs, who claim to not be able to walk on the way, and the miracle in the sky 30,000 feet up, they're healed, as soon as the plane lands, they don't need a wheelchair, they're able to run. Transportation is complicated and frustrating today. How did Klal Yisrael move around? How'd they know? How'd they know when it was their section? How did they know when they were called to board, to travel, to journey, to take off? How did they know? So the pasuk tells us, פרק ט פסוק י\"ז Perek tes pasuk yud zayin, the פסוק pasuk itself tells us. ועל פי העלות הענן מעל האהל U'l'fi ha'alos ha'anan mei'al ha'ohel, that when the cloud was lifted from on top of the tent, ואחרי כן יסעו בני ישראל v'acharei chein yis'u Bnei Yisrael. That's when the Jewish people knew it was time to go. ובמקום אשר ישכן שם הענן, שם יחנו בני ישראל U'v'makom asher yishkon sham ha'anan, sham yachanu Bnei Yisrael. And where the cloud would rest, that's when they were meant to encamp. So did they know, was it time to go or was it time to stay? על פי ה' יסעו בני ישראל ועל פי ה' יחנו Al pi Hashem yis'u Bnei Yisrael v'al pi Hashem yachanu. When Hashem said it was time to go, it's time to go. And when Hashem said it's time to stop and to rest, it's time to stop and rest. כל ימי אשר ישכון הענן על המשכן יחנו Kol y'mei asher yishkon ha'anan al haMishkan yachanu. All the days that the cloud would be on the Mishkan, that's when they would encamp. The של\"ה הקדוש Shelah HaKadosh says in this פסוק pasuk, we spoke about this on שבועות Shavuos. Our theme this past שבועות Shavuos was the הר סיני קבלת התורה Har Sinai, Kabbalas HaTorah to get us ready for summer. All kinds of הלכות halachos of summer, and travel, and תפילת הדרך t'filas haderech, and הגומל Hagomel, and kashering barbecues, and all kinds of things. I gave a sheer on the Torah perspective on vacation and leisure and recreation and time out. And we quoted the של\"ה הקדוש Shelah HaKadosh. The של\"ה הקדוש Shelah HaKadosh writes so beautifully that this pasuk was talking not only to the generation of the desert, that they would know to go and to stay based on the word of Hashem, but it's talking to us. Our life is filled with the same journeys as the Jewish people. We go and we come, we're at home and we're on the road. We are in the middle of our routine and we take a break and we go on vacation. And the key, says the של\"ה הקדוש Shelah HaKadosh, the core is על פי ה' יסעו ועל פי ה' יחנו al pi Hashem yis'u v'al pi Hashem yachanu. We don't leave religion in the שול shul, the בית מדרש beis medrash. Religion doesn't stay at home and not come with us on the road. But rather, wherever we are, whenever we are, על פי ה' al pi Hashem. על פי ה' Al pi Hashem. There's nothing wrong with taking time, there's nothing wrong with taking a vacation, there's nothing wrong with needing a break, there's nothing wrong with recreation. We had big, big lots and lots of מראי מקומות mareh mekomos, lots of sources to show, not only is there nothing wrong, but it's our responsibility to have a healthy mind and a healthy body and a healthy soul. And one needs to find that space. But you can do it in excess. A person could play golf and tennis and mahjong too much. A person can take too many vacations, a person can sleep too much. How do we know that right balance? How do we know how much? Says the של\"ה הקדוש Shelah HaKadosh, על פי ה' יסעו ועל פי ה' יחנו al pi Hashem yis'u v'al pi Hashem yachanu. Hashem comes with us. Is our vacation a Torahdik vacation? מלא כל הארץ קנינך M'lo chol ha'aretz kinyanecha. The whole world is filled. The simple understanding of the פסוק pasuk מלא כל הארץ קנינך m'lo chol ha'aretz kinyanecha means that Hashem, you own the entire world. You've made a קנין kinyan, you have acquired the entire world as yours. But the alternative understanding is מלא כל הארץ קנינך m'lo chol ha'aretz kinyanecha. It means the whole world is filled with opportunities to come close to you. מלא כל הארץ M'lo chol ha'aretz, the entire world is filled with קנינך kinyanecha, ways that we can make a קנין kinyan, we can acquire you. הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu we could find you on the plane and on the cruise, we could find you in the beach or hike, הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu we can find you in the recreational activity that we're doing, if we're meant for it to be a spiritual activity, על פי ה' יסעו ועל פי ה' יחנו al pi Hashem yis'u v'al pi Hashem yachanu. When we're home and when we're on the road, we can find you if it's על פי ה' al pi Hashem. The גמרא Gemara in שבת Shabbos tells us the following. אמר עולא Amar Ulla, כסבר רבי יוסי k'savar Rabbi Yosi, this is a beautiful Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz, I don't remember if I said it before, but it bears repeating and saying again, it's so beautiful, along the same lines as the של\"ה הקדוש Shelah HaKadosh, the גמרא Gemara in שבת Shabbos tells us that one of the ל\"ט מלאכות lamed tes melachos, one of the 39 acts of creative labor is סותר soseir. You're not allowed to demolish or destroy, you can't deconstruct, סותר soseir. When do you violate the biblical prohibition of סותר soseir? When is it a biblical prohibition of demolishing? When it is סותר על מנת לבנות soseir al menas livnos. When you destroy on condition to build. Just like you're only liable for erasing if you plan to write on that spot, you're only liable for destroying when you plan to build on that spot. And the Gemara concludes that you're only סותר על מנת לבנות באותו מקום soseir al menas livnos b'oso makom. If you destroy as a precondition to be able to rebuild and renovate in the same spot, that's the biblical prohibition. If you destroy and you abandon, you don't plan on rebuilding there, it's rabbinically prohibited but not biblically prohibited. פרעגט רב חיים שמואלביץ Fregt Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz asks the great ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva from the Mir in his שיחות מוסר sichos mussar, one wonders Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz, I don't understand. It has to be דומה דמשכן domeh d'Mishkan. We learn out the 39 categories of creative labor, what's creative labor that we have to abstain and refrain from on Shabbos, we learn from whatever was deemed, whatever was determined to be creative labor to build the Mishkan, a house for Hashem. It has to be דומה דמשכן domeh d'Mishkan, for the מלאכה melachah to be biblically prohibited, the אב מלאכה av melachah is similar to the way it was done in the Mishkan. The משכן Mishkan wasn't סותר על מנת לבנות soseir al menas livnos in the same place. In the Mishkan, we took apart the Mishkan in order to rebuild, but not to rebuild in the same place, to rebuild in the next place. So how could it be? How could you learn, how could you possibly learn סותר על מנת לבנות soseir al menas livnos as a מלאכה melachah from the משכן Mishkan when it's not similar to the Mishkan? So Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz gives a משל mashal. He gives a beautiful metaphor. He says, you know, imagine a mother with a baby travels, whether it's for family שמחות simchos, personal vacation, business, this mother with this tiny little baby, this tiny little infant, travels all over the world. Australia, South Africa, the Far East, United States, West Coast, East Coast, of course ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael, travels all over. When the mother returns, her passport will be stamped each of those locations, each of those countries, each of those continents. But if you ask the baby, where were you, the baby will answer, in my mother's arms. This mother literally or figuratively wore a baby bjorn or carried the baby in her arms, a stroller, but the baby from the baby's perspective, while the baby may be geographically was all over the world, the baby feels I was in my mother's arms all along. Says Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz, when we were in the משכן Mishkan, wherever the Mishkan was, we were in Hashem's arms. על פי ה' יסעו ועל פי ה' יחנו Al pi Hashem yis'u v'al pi Hashem yachanu. We're in Hashem's embrace, we're in Hashem's vicinity, we are in place that Hashem was embracing and loving and affectionately holding us wherever we are. So therefore the Mishkan is the exception that even though geographically it may have moved, that was סותר על מנת לבנות soseir al menas livnos in the same place because we were in Hashem's arms. We were בחיק אמי b'cheik imi. We were in Hashem's arms all the time, all the time. And that, says Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz, that's the פסוק pasuk in ירמיהו Yirmiyahu that we say on the ימים נוראים Yamim Nora'im. כה אמר ה', זכרתי לך חסד נעוריך Koh amar Hashem, zacharti lach chesed n'urayich, Hashem, we remember the חסד chesed, Hashem says I remember the חסד chesed, אהבת כלולותיך לכתך אחרי במדבר בארץ לא זרועה ahavas k'lulosayich, lechtech acharai ba'midbar b'eretz lo z'ru'ah. כלל ישראל חסו בצל של הקדוש ברוך הוא Klal Yisrael chasu b'tzel shel HaKadosh Baruch Hu. We were in the shade, the shadow, in the embrace of Hashem, we were invested entirely in our relationship with him. We felt entirely protected from his shade, from his shadow. We were under his wings. ולפיכך גם אם נסעו כל הזמן ממקום למקום, נחשב הדבר שהם נמצאים באותו מקום U'l'ficha gam im nas'u kol hazman mimakom l'makom, nechshav hadavar shehem nimtza'im b'oso makom. It's as if we were in the same place. על פי ה' יחנו ועל פי ה' יסעו Al pi Hashem yachanu v'al pi Hashem yis'u. כי הכל התנהל על פי יתברך Ki hakol hisnahel al pi Yisbarach. When a person every step they take, every decision they make, every behavior, every pivot, every turn, am I moving, am I taking this job, should I marry this girl, am I taking which school, every decision, על פי ה' יסעו ועל פי ה' יחנו al pi Hashem yis'u v'al pi Hashem yachanu. When is it time to move on? When is it time to settle down? What is the right decision? It has to be על פי ה' al pi Hashem. I'm in his embrace. I am reporting and I am accountable to him. And therefore no matter where, no matter what, we're always in his arms, and that's why it was legitimate and acceptable and understandable to learn that הלכה halachah from there. פרק י\"א פסוק ב' Perek yud alef pasuk beis. Moving right along, we're still talking about the traveling. How did we know to travel? עשה לך שתי חצוצרות Aseh l'cha shtei chatzotzros. When they would summon, when they would call the entire people, to Moshe, or that it was time to break up the camp, we're about to hit the road, everybody to the gate. Stop buying overpriced water bottles and hummus containers that don't have enough pretzels proportional to the hummus in them in the airport store. They're boarding, it's time to go. How would they alert everyone it was time to go? They would blow the חצוצרות chatzotzros, they would blow the silver trumpets. They would blow the silver trumpets. The Torah says, עשה לך שתי חצוצרות כסף aseh l'cha shtei chatzotzros kesef, make two silver חצוצרות chatzotzros. עשה לך Aseh l'cha. The word עשה aseh is understandable, you have to make. But why does it say לך l'cha? Make what? For yourself. Says רש\"י Rashi, עשה לך aseh l'cha, make for yourself, אתה עושה ומשתמש בהם ולא אחר Atah oseh u'mishtamesh bahem v'lo acher. You make these חצוצרות chatzotzros, they're good for you, they're not good for anyone else. These were for Moshe's exclusive use. He had the status of a king. These trumpets were his. They were hidden right before Moshe's death, and even יהושע Yehoshua, even Moshe's most loyal servant, Moshe's most loyal successor, most loyal student, even Yehoshua did not know where they were. Why? Why did the חצוצרות chatzotzros need to be individually to Moshe? Why was it עשה לך aseh l'cha? Not עשה aseh, not just make or fashion them, but עשה לך aseh l'cha, make for you. Why did Moshe need his own? Why did they need to be different than everybody else? Why did they need to be different than everybody else? So many say this vort, Reb Yechezkel Abramsky says that among others, that the reason is every generation needs their own חצוצרות chatzotzros. When you want to call the עדה eidah, when you gather the people, when you want to move people, when you want to inspire people, when you want to transform people, when you want to move people, when it's time to move, when you want to pivot, when you want to change, when you want to grow, when you want to break out, every generation has its own language. Every generation has its own vocabulary. Every generation has its own address. Some people live online, some people live offline. The חצוצרות chatzotzros to reach the people online, how do we bring Torah and how do we challenge people to grow spiritually, religiously, to be better and best versions of themselves? You have to go באשר הוא שם ba'asher hu sham. And so the means, the tools, the vehicle, the instrument, the language, the vocabulary to reach people in every generation will change. And that's why it was חצוצרות עשה לך chatzotzros, aseh l'cha. Moshe, these חצוצרות chatzotzros, they work for you. But you know, תשפ\"ב Taf Shin Pey Beis, in 2022, when there'll be something called the internet, maybe social media, every community has different means and people live in different places, but we have different vocabulary and different ways we connect, different styles of מנינים minyanim, and different approaches, and different creative ways that we are going to reach people who respond differently. Every generation, says Rav Yechezkel Abramsky, needs their own חצוצרות chatzotzros. Even the very next generation of Yehoshua couldn't use the חצוצרות chatzotzros of Moshe. The vocabulary, the language has to change. The way that we reach people, the programming, the activity, it changes. So when it comes to Torah, we don't say, well, that's not the way we used to do it. It's not the way it was done before. Every generation, within reason, under the guidance, supervision, under the approval of our גדולי ישראל gedolei Yisrael of every generation, we have to explore what are our חצוצרות chatzotzros. What language, what tools, what vehicle, what works for us, and what should we be using? How can we get the message across for our generation? ויהי בנסוע הארון Vayehi binsoa ha'aron. Yeah, we have time, quickly, maybe. כתינוק הבורח מבית ספרו k'tinok ha'bore'ach mi'beis sifro. We know ויהי בנסוע הארון vayehi binsoa ha'aron was a separate פרשה parsha, and תוספות Tosfos says they were like young children. The bell goes off, we're reading פרשת בהעלותך Parshas Beha'aloscha, school's over in Florida, almost over in New York. School's over, kids are counting down and when that last bell rings, they will not walk, they will run, excited that school's over, they'll run away. And that's the way we were. That's what תוספות Tosfos says, that we ran away from הר סיני Har Sinai three days, three days. The רמב\"ן Ramban writes אמרו שמא ירבה לנו מצוות amru shema yarbeh lanu mitzvos. Let's get out. Get out with 613 before he gives us more. Let's get out, let's break out, let's get away. Wonders Rav Zaidel Epstein, a second Rav Zaidel of the day, in his beautiful sefer הארות sefer Ha'aros, I'm grateful to his grandson for giving it to me. Rav Zaidel Epstein wonders, I don't understand. This is the same כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael that על פי ה' יחנו ועל פי ה' יסעו al pi Hashem yachanu v'al pi Hashem yis'u? I thought they board and they and they get off the plane all based on the instruction of Hashem. So if they traveled and they journeyed those three days, it's because Hashem told them to. So now we're going to hold them accountable. Now we're going to disparage them. Now we're going to talk about them like they were children running away from school. I thought they only traveled based on the guidance and approval and direction of Hashem. Number one. Number two, חז\"ל Chazal calls this generation that מדד הקדוש ברוך הוא בכל הדורות ולא מצא דור שראוי לקבל את התורה אלא דור המדבר. הקדוש ברוך הוא Madad HaKadosh Baruch Hu b'chol hadoros v'lo matza dor shera'uy l'kabel es haTorah ela dor hamidbar. HaKadosh Baruch Hu measured and evaluated all the generations, says the ילקוט שמעוני Yalkut Shimoni in חבקוק Chabakuk, and he found the only generation worthy of receiving his Torah was this generation in the desert. So these are such a lofty generation that they deserve receiving the Torah. Such a lofty generation they get the Torah, and yet we are disparaging them now by saying they ran away? How could it be? So Rav Zaidel Epstein has a beautiful insight, and he says, they left because Hashem said to leave. על פי ה' יסעו ועל פי ה' יחנו Al pi Hashem yis'u v'al pi Hashem yachanu. If they left, it's only because Hashem said to go, because otherwise they wouldn't go, they couldn't go. They followed the direction of Hashem, and they were in such a high level. Where'd they go wrong here? Hashem said to leave. Now, when shul is over, when shul is over, it's legitimately over. You don't have to stay in shul longer than it's over. When the shiur is over, the parsha shiur finally ends, you don't have to listen, you don't have to watch, you don't have to stay longer than it is going on or taking place. The question is not whether it's legitimate to leave. The question is how do you feel about leaving? Do you say, \"Ah, I wish it were still going. I wish it never ended. I was enjoying that so much. I felt so elevated and enriched. I feel so empowered. I feel so connected. I wish it never end.\" Or do we say, \"Thank God. I'm so happy it's over, it couldn't be over soon enough.\" The issue is not that they left, because Hashem told them to leave. The issue is what is the attitude that we have? What is the attitude? Again, this is a theme of our פרשה parsha. We saw it at the beginning with Aaron שֶׁלֹּא שִׁנָּה shelo shinah, we saw it with the פסח שני Pesach Sheini, למה נגרע lamah nigara. And now we see that כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael held accountable not for leaving and not for the journey, but for the attitude they had on it. They exhaled, they were relieved, they were grateful it was over, rather than being disappointed and wanting it to continue to go. Okay, last. פרק י\"א פסוק כ' Perek yud alef pasuk kaf. Okay, last insight, and we saved maybe the best for last. This is a געוואלדיג, געשמאק, טייערע gevaldig, g'shmak, teire Torah. פרק י\"א Perek yud alef, the next פרק perek and פסוק pasuk ה' hey. ויהי העם כמתאוננים רע Vayehi ha'am k'mis'on'nim ra. Ah, so much to say about this. מתאוננים mis'on'nim, היטפעל hispa'el, they were not complaining, they were a nation, a group of complainers. Hashem heard, he got really angry. Moshe דאווענ'ס davens, you know the routine, been there done that before. זכרנו Zacharnu, what do they complain? זכרנו את הדגה אשר נאכל במצרים חינם Zacharnu es hadagah asher nochal b'Mitzrayim chinam. We remember the fish that we ate for free in Egypt, and we remember the קישואים kishu'im, אבטיחים avatichim, we remember these vegetables that we had, and the onions that we had, and the garlic that we had, and we remember, and we remember. רש\"י Rashi here says, we remember the fish we got in מצרים Mitzrayim, חינם chinam, for free. What is חינם chinam? חינם Chinam means not the fish were free, but חינם מן המצוות chinam min hamitzvos. Oh, we remember before הר סיני Har Sinai, we could eat, we could do, we could, we could enjoy, we could experience, we could have intimacy with whoever we wanted, whenever we wanted. And then we got the Torah and it limited us. It put such boundaries and borders. They weren't complaining that the fish was free, they were remembering nostalgically when they were free, free from מצוות mitzvos, חינם מן המצוות chinam min hamitzvos. Wonders the מגיד ישרים Maggid Yesharim, Rav Yosef Sarotzkin, wonders the מגיד ישרים Maggid Yesharim, even if they longed for being free, but still, what is this connected to the מן mun? Here they're complaining about the מן mun. No taste, it's bored, it's texture, they're complaining about the מן mun. What does the מן mun have to do with complaining or remembering nostalgically when they didn't have mitzvos? Good. And why fish? That's what they're longing for. Meat. No offense, Rabbi Moskowitz, who loves salmon. No offense to people who love fish. It's all about the meat. It's all about a good piece of פלייש fleish. So why are they recalling nostalgically the fish that it was free? רבינו בחיי Rabbeinu Bachya has a long discussion of this. But listen to what he says, the מגיד ישרים Maggid Yesharim. A fascinating insight. He says, where do you see the difference of a holy and an unholy person? Where does our Jewish identity really shine and show? In the way that we eat. We eat with holiness. We gave a whole shiur, you could find it on our YouTube channel. We gave a whole shiur about the Jewish perspective or attitude towards eating. Eating is one of the holiest activities we do because we need to eat to live, which means that all that we eat is Hashem's way of entering us to give us חיות chiyus, to give us life. So do we have a mindfulness? Are we present? Do we eat what's כשר kosher? Do we make a ברכה bracha before and after? Do we eat healthy amounts? כמה שרוצה, מה שרוצה, אכילתו אינה נחשבת כחלק מעבודת השם Kamah she'rotzeh, mah she'rotzeh, achilaso einah nechsheves k'chelek mei'avodas Hashem. Eating is part of our worship and service of Hashem. Eating is a holy activity. That's what we say, we're challenged, we're tempted to not eat in a holy way. תערוך לפני שולחן נגד צוררי Ta'aroch l'fanai shulchan neged tzor'rai. When we sit before our set table, we're before our enemies. The enemy is saying indulge, eat instinctively, impulsively, overeat, unhealthily. Don't be grateful, don't make a bracha, don't be kosher, don't be present, don't be mindful. We're נגד צוררי neged tzor'rai when תערוך לפני שולחן ta'aroch l'fanai shulchan. That's why it's called לחם, מלחמה lechem, milchamah, bread comes from war. We're at war when we're eating. We're struggling to elevate. When בני ישראל Bnei Yisrael left מצרים Mitzrayim, they were pursuing a spiritual life. לא יכלו להסתגל זה שהתורה תצריך בצד הגשמי Lo yachlu l'histagel zeh she'haTorah titzrach b'tzad ha'gashmi. But they thought Torah would only address their spirituality. They didn't realize that Torah would have something to say for their physical being. What does Torah have to say with my food? What does Torah have to say about how I eat? Torah's for shul, the way I daven. Torah's for the way I learn. How I eat, that's personal, that's secular, it's mundane, it's profane. They didn't accept that. They didn't accept that. Eating is a place of great תאווה ta'avah. Eating is a place, one of the places that we can confront our greatest appetite. The word appetite is applied most in the world of eating. We have an appetite, we have a drive, we have a temptation. That's what they longed for. That's what they longed for. Why do they long for fish? Why was the fish free? So then it says, you know why? Because fish, there's no שחיטה shechitah and no מליחה melichah. There are very few laws of kashrus with fish. With an animal or a chicken, you have to שחט shecht, and you have to inspect, and you have to make sure it's not a טריפה treifah, and you have to salt it and remove all of its blood. But fish, if it's a species that's כשר kosher, fish, you can clobber it on its head, you can catch it with a hook in its mouth, and you're good to go. It doesn't have to be slaughtered in a certain way, and it doesn't have to be shechted in a certain way, and there's no תרומות ומעשרות trumos u'ma'asros and חלה challah. ובשר טעון שחיטה, מתנות כהונה U'basar ta'un shechita, matnos kehuna. Meat has slaughtering and their gifts from the meat that you give to the כהן kohen, and fruit have ביכורים ותרומות ומעשרות bikkurim u'trumos u'ma'asros. Only fish is free. And that's why they long for fish. The reason there's a connection between the מן mun and longing for fish and remembering when they were free of מצוות mitzvos is because free of מצוות mitzvos means they wanted to be free of the גשמיות מצוות gashmiyus mitzvos, free of the מצוות mitzvos that speak to even how we eat and having to curtail our appetite for food and our appetite for other forms of temptation in life. That's what they were complaining about. That was the source of their complaint then. That's what we need to be careful and avoid in our complaint now. It's been wonderful. Next week again, we're only online, streaming live. Join us again Parsha Perspectives, Tuesday morning 9:30. If you've not yet signed up again, one and one campaign, brsonline.org/oneandone. Dollar a day of צדקה tzedakah with daily giving, minute a day of תורה Torah learning. Esther Malka should have a רפואה שלימה refuah shleimah. Till next time, stay happy, stay healthy.
