Transcript
Okay, good morning. בוקר טוב Boker tov. It should be a good morning. It's a very, very difficult day yesterday, a difficult day already today for כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael. We should hear בשורות טובות besoros tovos. We should hear only good news. Our soldiers should be home, our hostages should be brought back. We should have only sweeping victory and strength and comfort. I want to thank our Parsha series sponsors for the year, Becky and Avi Katz. It was wonderful to see Avi the other night at a wedding. Sponsored the series in memory of Becky's father, David Grossman, לעילוי נשמת דוד בן מנחם מעניש le'iluy nishmas Dovid ben Menachem Manish. We remain very, very grateful to the Katz family. This morning, also has several sponsors. Shane DN, Tali Lasson in commemoration of the 11th yahrzeit of Shane's beloved father, Avraham Efraim ben Gershon David, his נשמה neshama should have an עליה aliyah. By the Shrier family לעילוי נשמת דב בער בן אהרן הלוי le'iluy nishmas Dov Ber ben Aharon HaLevi, Bernard Sullivan, his yahrzeit is today, and לעילוי נשמת גיטל מינדא בת אברהם אליעזר צבי בן אברהם, ונעכע צביה בת רפאל פינחס le'iluy nishmas Gittel Minda bas Avraham, Eliezer Tzvi ben Avraham v'Necha Tzivya bas Refael Pinchas. Thank you so much for your generosity. By Elliot and Edith Rosenfeld, Risa and Mordechai Pollack, and Merrill and Jeremy Strauss, in honor of their parents, Susan and Robert Rosenfeld, on today, where are they? I believe is their 60th wedding anniversary. A very happy anniversary, many more in good health and happiness. They're clapping because he made it to 60 years and that's not so common today. So, six years is not so common today. 60 years, 60 years is borderline a miracle. So מזל טוב mazal tov. מזל טוב Mazal tov to you and many, many more with your beautiful family in good health and happiness. Have tremendous נחת nachas from them. By Sari Newman and family from Montreal, commemoration of the fourth yahrzeit of her father, Luser Stern, Eliezer Gedaliah. And by Alan and Sara Gordon, לזכר נשמת ברוך בן חיים וברוך יהודה בן שמואל lezecher nishmas Baruch ben Chaim u'Baruch Yehuda ben Shmuel, his father, Bernard Gordon, and Uncle Bernard Rosencrantz, who have the same yahrzeit. And for a רפואה שלימה refuah shleima for משה אהרן בן רחלה לאה Moshe Aharon ben Rachla Leah. Should have a speedy, painless and complete רפואה שלימה refuah shleima. Thank you to all of the generous sponsors. As you see, construction on our campus has finally begun. That's why we need so many sponsors for every class, so that we'll be able to continue to learn and grow together. Very briefly before we begin, פרשת וארא Parshas Vaeira, page 318 in the ArtScroll Stone חומש Chumash. Just to remind you, bring to your attention quickly, incredible upcoming opportunities here at Boca Raton Synagogue. This Thursday night, we're continuing our series on mental health. Dr. Andrew Shatte, who is a worldwide expert on resilience, will be speaking on navigating challenges, building resilience in ourselves and our children. It's open to everybody, 8:00 on Thursday night. You can find it in the weekly on your way out. And he is an expert on resilience. Which of us do not need to grow and build our resilience during this difficult time? This מוצאי שבת Motzei Shabbos we are hosting the President of Israel, former President Reuven Rivlin, at 8:15 p.m. There are many, many, many who've already registered. If you're coming, and we hope you are, please make sure to register. And lastly, next week, our annual incredible evening with Rav Moshe Weinberger, music, an incredible פארברענגען farbrengen and טיש tisch with Rav Weinberger, 7:30 on Monday night. Take a weekly, details are all in there. Page 318, the ArtScroll Stone חומש Chumash. וידבר אלוקים אל משה ויאמר אליו אני השם Vayedaber Elokim el Moshe vayomer eilav Ani Hashem. Our פרשה Parsha continues last week, we were introduced as we transition from the formation of our family into the birth of our people, how we began to come together as a nation. And that storyline continues to unfold this week. Hashem speaks to Moshe ויאמר אליו אני השם vayomer eilav Ani Hashem. And what's his message? אני השם Ani Hashem, I am Hashem. וארא אל אברהם Vaeira el Avraham, I appeared to Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, ושמי השם לא נודעתי להם u'shmi Hashem lo nodati lahem. But with my name, Hashem, I did not make myself known to them. וגם הקימותי את בריתי אתם Ve'gam hakimosi es brisi itam and so on and so forth. So he reintroduces himself to Moshe, as if they haven't had a conversation, as if Hashem did not recruit or solicit Moshe to be a leader in last week's פרשה Parsha. So what's going on over here? So the נועם אלימלך Noam Elimelech, ר' אלימלך מליז'נסק Reb Elimelech of Lizhensk says the following. This is brought down in the מאור ושמש Ma'or Vashemesh. וידבר אלוקים אל משה Vayedaber Elokim el Moshe, ויאמר אליו אני השם vayomer eilav Ani Hashem. God spoke to Moshe and he said to him. But we're using two different words, synonyms for God speaking to Moshe. First we began, וידבר אלוקים Vayedaber Elokim. And then quickly we switch from וידבר Vayedaber to ויאמר אליו Vayomer eilav. What's the difference between דיבור dibur and אמירה amira, between וידבר Vayedaber and ויאמר Vayomer? Clearly there's a difference. If they meant the same thing, we would have used the same word. The fact that we use two different words means that there are two different meanings, and we're trying to communicate two different things. What is it that we are trying to communicate? יש לדקדק, למה פתח בשם אלוקים וסיים אני השם Yeish l'dadek, lama pasach b'shem Elokim u'siyem Ani Hashem? And moreover, there's another difference. First of all, we switch from וידבר Vayedaber to ויאמר Vayomer, and secondly, we switch from אלוקים Elokim, the name of Hashem, which is justice, judgment, אלוקים Elokim, to אני השם Ani Hashem, to the name of Hashem which reflects and represents compassion. So Rashi writes, שדיבר איתו משפט, על שהקשה לדבר ולאמר למה הריעות לעם הזה she'diber ito mishpat, al she'hiksha l'daber v'lomar lama harei'osa la'am hazeh. God began to speak to Moshe harshly, strongly. First וידבר Vayedaber, דיבור זה לשון קשה dibur zeh lashon kasha, and then he switches to לשון רכה lashon raka. He begins harshly, strongly, aggressively, and then he switches to softly and gently. He begins with אלוקים Elokim, justice, and then he switches to אני השם Ani Hashem, a loving, compassionate, affectionate parent. What was he addressing? So Rashi tells us, Hashem is responding to Moshe challenging, למה הריעות לעם הזה Lama harei'osa la'am hazeh? Why? Why are you bringing such difficulty, such pain? הריעות, רע Harei'osa, ra, such wickedness, such evil, such suffering, such loss. עם ישראל Am Yisrael yesterday, we lost nine more precious soldiers, beautiful young men in the prime of their lives. Incredible, incredible בני תורה bnei Torah. Tragic, horrific. חברותא Chavrusa. Two who learned in Gush together, they were חברותא'ס chavrusas in the ישיבה yeshiva, and they went off to war as חברותא'ס chavrusas, and they fought for the Jewish people as חברותא'ס chavrusas, and they're חברותא'ס chavrusas in שמים Shamayim together. למה הריעות Lama harei'osa? How could it be? והקשה כי הלא תכף לאחר מכן נאמר ויאמר אליו Ve'kasha ki halo teichef l'achar mikein ne'emar vayomer eilav, דיבר אליו הקדוש ברוך הוא במידת הרחמים diber eilav HaKadosh Baruch Hu b'midas harachamim. So if it's in fact true that Moshe was challenging Hashem, where are you? How could you? Why would you? How much more suffering can we take? How many more לויות levayos can we watch or attend? How many more שבעה shiva calls? How many more headlines and news and alerts? How much more? למה הריעות Lama harei'osa, why? So why does Hashem then show compassion? Why does he switch from וידבר Vayedaber to ויאמר Vayomer, from אלוקים Elokim to השם Hashem? ובמדרש איכה, הלשון שהטיח משה דברים כלפי מעלה U'v'Midrash Eicha, ha'lashon she'hitiach Moshe devarim klapei ma'alah. ולכאורה קשה איך שייך לומר כדבר הזה על משה רבנו V'lichora kasha eich shayach lomar k'davar hazeh al Moshe Rabbeinu, שהטיח דברים כלפי מעלה חס ושלום she'hitiach devarim klapei ma'alah chas v'shalom. Moshe as if litigated, Moshe as if challenged. He threw it at Hashem, where are you and how could you? אך העניין הוא, כי הטעם שאמר משה למה הריעות Ach ha'inyan hu, ki ha'ta'am she'amar Moshe lama harei'osa... So, who and how could Moshe have challenged God? And if indeed Moshe challenged God, seemingly he crossed a line in challenging God, in holding God accountable, putting God on trial, then why did God change to start showing him compassion? Why didn't he continue to react and respond strictly and harshly? What's going on over here? So listen to the נועם אלימלך Noam Elimelech. When you talk about a פרשה parsha perspective for today, everything, the פרשה parsha is screaming at us, speaking to us each and every week. It is relevant each and every week to what's going on in our lives and the lives of כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael. הטעם שאמר משה למה הריעות, היה אך ורק מצד גודל אהבת ישראל שבו Ha'ta'am she'amar Moshe lama harei'osa, haya ach v'rak mitzad godel ahavas Yisrael shebo. Moshe crying out and screaming out was simply a reflection of his אהבת ישראל ahavas Yisrael. Moshe was the greatest מאמין ma'amin in Hashem. Moshe's belief in Hashem was unwavering, unconditional. He was the most loyal servant, בכל ביתי נאמן הוא bechol beisi ne'eman hu. He was faithful, reliable, dependent. Moshe wasn't challenging Hashem. Moshe was in pain. Moshe was looking at his brothers and sisters, he was seeing their suffering. He was seeing that loss, he was seeing families sitting שבעה shiva. He was seeing widows and orphans, he was seeing parents bury children. And because of his אהבת ישראל ahavas Yisrael, he couldn't take it. He just couldn't take it. So he challenges Hashem, למה הריעות לעם הזה lama harei'osa la'am hazeh. לא היה יכול לסבול צרותם של ישראל Lo haya yachol lisbol tzarosam shel Yisrael. Because he couldn't take the pain and the suffering of כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael. Hashem as a loving parent understood Moshe's not rebelling, and Moshe's not reflecting heresy, and Moshe's not challenging Hashem's existence or his providence or his sense of justice. He was simply screaming out in pain. וזה הביאו להיות מטיח דברים כלפי מעלה ואהבת ישראל, הלא נובע מגודל אהבת השם יתברך V'zeh hevi'o l'hiyos matiach devarim klapei ma'alah v'ahavas Yisrael, halo nove'a mi'godel ahavas Hashem yisbarach. And where does that אהבת ישראל ahavas Yisrael come from? It comes from an אהבת השם ahavas Hashem. Why did Moshe love Hashem's children? Because Moshe loved Hashem. He loved Hashem and he loved his children. And his crying out and screaming out and yelling and protesting and objecting to Hashem was in fact an expression of loving Hashem. It's a bizarre expression. It's a bizarre expression. But sometimes when you scream, when you yell, when you say, where are you, you're actually communicating incredible faith, profound faith. I know you're in charge. I know you're responsible. I know you run the world. I know this is your world. I know these are your children. I am among them. These are my siblings. We are your children. Where are you? And what can come across as a harsh indictment is actually a communication, an expression of profound, profound אמונה emunah and faith. And that's how Hashem took it and understood it. So at first he begins, וידבר Vayedaber, אלוקים Elokim. He has to. Moshe's objecting, protesting, challenging the Almighty, the רבונו של עולם Ribbono Shel Olam, the אייבישטער Eibishter. He begins וידבר Vayedaber harshly, אלוקים Elokim justice. But Hashem then quickly pivots in recognition that where it's coming from is Moshe's אהבת ישראל ahavas Yisrael. He simply loves his fellow Jew and he can't bear, he can't bear to watch and to experience the headlines and the news and the alerts and what's happening. לכן פתח הכתוב, וידבר אלוקים אל משה בלשון קשה Lachein pasach ha'kasuv, Vayedaber Elokim el Moshe b'lashon kasha, רצונו לומר אילו הייתי צריך לדבר איתך קשה, אז שאמרת למה הריעות retzono lomar ilu hayisi tzarich l'daber itcha kasha, az she'amarta lama harei'osa. It's as if Hashem is saying, Moshe, I really need to put you in timeout. Moshe, you really need to be in trouble. Moshe, I really have to hold you accountable. Who are you? How dare you speak to me in that way? אך כיוון שכל זה לא אמרת אלא בשביל אהבת ישראל ach keivan she'kol zeh lo amarta ela bishvil ahavas Yisrael, לכך ויאמר אליו אני השם l'chach vayomer eilav Ani Hashem, שנתעורר אהבה ממידת הרחמים לדבר אליו באמירה רכה she'nisorer ahavah mi'midas harachamim l'daber eilav b'amira rakah. Instead of Hashem therefore yelling at him, punishing him, throwing consequences at him, Hashem says, come here. Come here, Moshe. Let me hold you. Come here. Cry, fall in my arms. Let me hold you. So he switches from וידבר Vayedaber to ויאמר Vayomer, from אלוקים Elokim to השם Hashem. Because when it comes from אהבת ישראל ahavas Yisrael, we can say almost anything to Hashem. When it comes to אהבת ישראל ahavas Yisrael. So where are we? And what are we saying to Hashem? Have we told him גנוג שוין genug shoin? Have we told him it's enough? It's enough. It's not getting old. We're not fatigued. We're not distracted. We're not turning away. We're not failing to look. Are we like Moshe? למה הריעות לעם הזה Lama harei'osa la'am hazeh? רבונו של עולם Ribbono Shel Olam, it's enough. It's enough days like yesterday. למה הריעות Lama harei'osa, it's enough. We're done. We're finished. It's enough. למה הריעות Lama harei'osa, we're done. We're done. If it comes from אהבת ישראל ahavas Yisrael, we can turn to Hashem and say almost anything, and we need to. הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu invites us to. He wants us to. Avraham protests when it comes to סדום Sdom. And Moshe says למה הריעות lama harei'osa, and Moshe says why do you do bad things to good people? Explain to me, הראני נא את כבודך hareini na es kevodecha, show me your way. We have a rich tradition, we have precedent of great people who turn to Hashem, they object and they protest and they say, where are you and how could you? And Hashem says, I understand. When it comes from an אהבת ישראל ahavas Yisrael and an אהבת השם ahavas Hashem, when it comes from a loyal love and a loyalty to our brothers and sisters, and it comes from a desire to go closer to him, then he says, I understand. Not only do I understand, I welcome, I want. When our children, when our children appeal to us on behalf of their sibling, even if they speak in a little bit of a חצפה'דיג chutzpadik manner, do you not get a little bit of נחת nachas? You're fighting for your sibling, your brother or sister. You're coming at me because you're standing up for your brother or sister, you don't want them to suffer? Okay, you know what? We'll turn away, and we'll overlook some of the way it's said, some of the חצפה chutzpah that's exhibited, because we appreciate the loyalty, the love siblings have for one another, that they're willing to react with a שטיקל עזות דקדושה shtikl azus d'kdusha, a little bit of חצפה chutzpah. למה הריעות Lama harei'osa. Says the אלימלך מליז'נסק Elimelech of Lizhensk... says the ר' אלימלך מליז'נסק Reb Elimelech of Lizhensk, הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu is inviting and waiting for us to scream, למה הריעות Lama harei'osa with an אהבת ישראל ahavas Yisrael, with an אהבת השם ahavas Hashem. Hashem, it's enough. It's enough. It's enough. We don't want any more. We can't take any more. It's enough. It's enough. פרק ו Perek Vav moving along. So Hashem reintroduces your forefathers, you wonder who I am, ask around. Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, they know who I am. I introduced, though I didn't tell them my name, and I have a ברית bris. We made a covenant, a contract, וגם אני שמעתי את נאקת בני ישראל אשר מצרים מעבידים אותם ve'gam ani shamati es na'akas Bnei Yisrael asher Mitzrayim ma'avidim osam, and I've heard the cries, I've heard the call of the Jewish people that the מצרים Mitzrim are persecuting, ואזכור את בריתי va'ezkor es brisi, and it caused me to remember, it caused me to remember my covenant. We've spoken about this in the past, we won't review it now. But the notion of Hashem invoking memory. Hashem, the רבונו של עולם Ribbono Shel Olam is omnipotent, omniscient, he's all-perfect, he's all-knowing. He doesn't forget. You need to remember when you could forget. Right before we started, Talia said, don't forget to announce the different programs we have. I said there's two minutes to go, there's an excellent chance I'm going to forget. ברוך השם Baruch Hashem I remembered. But when you are vulnerable to forgetting, you need to be reminded and you need to remember. But if you're Hashem, what does it mean ואזכור את בריתי va'ezkor es brisi? What does it mean to remember? And you see this, whenever the Jewish people are in a very vulnerable position and a תפילה tefillah is offered on our behalf, Hashem invokes, he remembers. You know where else you see this? Whenever יזכור Yizkor is recited. What are the opening two words? We know the opening word of יזכור Yizkor. יזכור Yizkor. יזכור Yizkor is being said, it's time for יזכור Yizkor. Shul's packed, put out extra chairs, it's יזכור Yizkor. יזכור Yizkor, don't forget to put out the appeal cards, it's יזכור Yizkor. What's the second word? How does יזכור Yizkor begin? יזכור Yizkor... יזכור Yizkor is not 'let us remember,' 'we should remember.' יזכור אלוקים Yizkor Elokim. It begins, Hashem remember, as if he could forget. We have to remind him, remember. Whenever you find the word זכירה zechira with Hashem, so Hashem here turns to Moshe and he says, I heard the cries, and I have a covenant with these people, ואזכור את בריתי va'ezkor es brisi, and I remember. And now I am choosing to remember. What's that all about? We've spoken about it in the past, but I call your attention to it again. פסוק ו Pasuk Vav. לכן אמור לבני ישראל אני השם Lachein emor l'Vnei Yisrael Ani Hashem. So, he tells Moshe, tell the Jewish people, I am Hashem, והוצאתי אתכם מתחת סבלות מצרים והצלתי אתכם מעבודתם וגאלתי אתכם בזרוע נטויה ובשפטים גדולים v'hotzeisi eschem mitachas sivlos Mitzrayim v'hitzalti eschem mei'avodasam v'ga'alti eschem bizroa netuya u'vishfatim gedolim. ולקחתי אתכם לי לעם והייתי לכם לאלוקים וידעתם כי אני השם אלוקיכם המוציא אתכם מתחת סבלות מצרים V'lakachti eschem li l'am v'hayisi lachem le'Elokim vi'da'atem ki Ani Hashem Elokeichem ha'motzi eschem mitachas sivlos Mitzrayim. And now Hashem delivers what we all know, what is well known, the ד' לשונות של גאולה daled leshonos shel geulah, the four languages, not four synonyms, but four languages of גאולה geulah. והוצאתי והצלתי וגאלתי ולקחתי v'hotzeisi v'hitzalti v'ga'alti v'lakachti, four steps, four stages, the נצי\"ב Netziv we've shared before, the נצי\"ב Netziv says they're not synonyms, they're not four descriptions of the same thing, they are four stages, four steps, four incremental advances in that process. גאולה Geulah, as much as we wish and want and dream and hope that redemption is all or nothing, that it's binary, that it's linear, we want to go from exile to redemption, but that's not the way it works. It happens in stages. It happens incrementally. We're living in a time of אתחלתא דגאולה aschalta d'geulah. It's a glorious time of the Jewish people. For 2,000 years, they tried to kill us and we had nowhere to go, and nowhere to hide, and no sovereignty, and no self-control, no autonomy, and no ability to fight for ourselves. And as horrific as these days are, they are אתחלתא דגאולה aschalta d'geulah. And yet, we're very far from being there at the גאולה שלימה geulah shleima. We're not done. We're very far, too far from the finish line, which is why we call out. There are ד' לשונות daled leshonos, there are four steps. So, והוצאתי והצלתי וגאלתי ולקחתי v'hotzeisi v'hitzalti v'ga'alti v'lakachti. It's not just four synonyms for the same thing, it's not four words that mean the same thing, they represent four steps, stages, four progress towards that redemption. We have to understand what each one is offering, what each one in fact means. And there's a fifth. What is the fifth לשון lashon of גאולה geulah? It's פסוק ח' pasuk ches. והבאתי אתכם אל הארץ אשר נשאתי את ידי V'heiveisi eschem el ha'aretz asher nasasi es yadi. And I will bring you to the land. We've spoken about this too. The fifth, do we invoke the fifth language of גאולה geulah? So the fourth, the four ד' לשונות daled leshonos of גאולה geulah, the גמרא Gemara, פסחים Pesachim, תוספות Tosfos there brings down, this corresponds with the ד' כוסות daled kosos, the four cups of wine. We'll get to in one moment, why do we commemorate and memorialize or celebrate the four stages of redemption through wine specifically? Why not with four pieces of מצה matzah? Four pieces of גפילטע פיש gefilte fish? Four charcuterie boards? Four colors of the גפילטע gefilte? I don't know today what the, four vintages of wine? Why, why wine? Why wine? We'll get to in a moment. So we correspond the ד' כוסות daled kosos, the four cups, Rabbinic obligation at the סדר seder, was instituted corresponding with the ד' לשונות daled leshonos of גאולה geulah. There's a fifth cup. And the fifth cup we pour but don't drink, and that fifth cup is called the כוס של אליהו Kos shel Eliyahu. The Rambam says, the כוס של אליהו Kos shel Eliyahu, the fifth cup of Eliyahu corresponds with this fifth one. And Rav Menachem Kasher in his הגדה שלימה Haggadah Shleima, after surviving the Nazis and describing in his introduction to the תורה שלימה Torah Shleima in שמות Shmos, that they were living in times that were worse than the genocide of מצרים Mitzrayim, then in his הגדה שלימה Haggadah Shleima he says, we shouldn't just pour, we should drink the fifth cup because we've merited to live it. We were taken to the land and we are living in the land and we should drink it. And his suggestion, his proposal was rejected, we know, but the fifth cup also makes its way to our סדר seder. We pour it but we don't drink it through the כוס של אליהו kos shel Eliyahu. The Ramban writes, והוצאתי אתכם מתחת סבלות מצרים v'hotzeisi eschem mitachas sivlos Mitzrayim, the first step is והוצאתי v'hotzeisi. Hashem says, I will take you out from under סבלות מצרים sivlos Mitzrayim. סבלות Sivlos means the suffering, the sufferage, the bondage, the pain of מצרים Mitzrayim. Says the Ramban, יבטיחם שיוציא אותם מארצם ולא יסבלו עוד כובד מסעם yavtichem she'yotzi osam mei'artzam v'lo yisbelu od koved mas'am. He will take them out from the burden, from the weight of the persecution, of the oppression, of the suffering. He's promising them, שיוציא she'yotzi, to emancipate, to liberate, to free them from that sovereignty, that persecution of others. Says Rav Druck, ברוך השם Baruch Hashem, if you ask, and they will send with tremendous הכרת הטוב hakaras hatov, Rav Druck sent me a ספר sefer, שמות Shmos of his new ספר sefer, לאהוב ולירא L'ehov V'yareh. We've been through the איש תמים Ish Tamim, now לאהוב ולירא L'ehov V'yareh. He's coming in February, בעזרת השם b'ezras Hashem to our community. He's going to give a שיעור shiur. We'll give you the update. We keep you very busy at BRS. You can't go a day, let alone a week, without, in addition to our normal שיעורים shiurim, but ברוך השם Baruch Hashem, the people that we're זוכה zocheh to host, of Kluger tonight my backyard for men, those who want to be. Last night a program, there wasn't a seat in the house. בשלושת הפסוקים הללו אומר הקדוש ברוך הוא לישראל שהוא עתיד להושיע אותם מעבדו Bishloshes ha'psukim ha'lalu omer HaKadosh Baruch Hu l'Yisrael she'hu asid l'hoshi'a osam mei'avdo. אומר להוציא מתחת סבלות מצרים Omer l'hotzi mitachas sivlos Mitzrayim. What is this expression, wonders Rav Druck? סבלות מצרים Sivlos Mitzrayim. The Ramban says מלשון סבל, שלא יסבלו עוד את כובד מסעם mi'lashon sevel, she'lo yisbelu od es koved mas'am. לסבול Lisbol means to bear the suffering, to bear the weight. ונירצה להוסיף עוד בסיעתא דשמיא, זה עומק בדברים V'nirtze l'hosif od b'siyata d'Shmaya, zeh omek ba'dvarim. Says Rav Druck, let me expand and let me further elucidate. בשמע B'Shma at night we say, המכה בבכורותיהם, המכה בבכוריהם מצרים ha'makeh b'vchoroseihem, ha'makeh b'vchoreihem Mitzrayim, הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu smote all the firstborn of Egypt. I just like using that word. ויוצא את עמו ישראל מתוכם לחירות עולם V'yotzei es amo Yisrael mi'tocham l'cheirus olam. And he took us out to the freedom and emancipation of the world. מגישים בזה כי אחר שיצאנו במצרים, אין אחר זמן נסע לגאולה הבאה אלא היא חירות עולם Magishim b'zeh ki achar she'yatzanu b'Mitzrayim, ein achar zman nisa la'geulah haba'ah ela hi cheirus olam. We דאווען daven in מעריב Maariv, if you ever pay attention. המכה בבכוריו Ha'makeh b'vchorov so you didn't do מכות בכורות makkas bechoros. You took us out מתוכם mi'tocham, from them, לחירות l'cheirus, and where did you bring us out into? A חירות cheirus עולם olam, an eternal and permanent freedom. ולכאורה הדבר פלא, וכי זוהי יקרא חירות V'lichora ha'davar peleh, v'chi zo hi yikarei cheirus? אכתי עבדי אחשוורוש אנן Akati avdei Achashverosh anan to quote the paraphrase and expression from the גמרא מגילה Gemara Megillah. How can you call what we have a חירות עולם cheirus olam? Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria, Iran, still the president of MIT. We've got enemies everywhere. We've got enemies everywhere. So how can you say it's a חירות עולם cheirus olam? Are we truly liberated and free? Do we not have persecution and enemies and antisemitism? ומה צועק אונן בן עומוס, בית מקדשנו חרב וארצנו שוממה U'mah tzo'ek unan ben Amos, Beis Mikdasheinu chorev v'artzeinu shomeimah. Our בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash has not been rebuilt. We still live under growing antisemitism. So how could you say that this is a חירות עולם cheirus olam, it's a permanent? So אבי מורי avi mori, says Rav Druck, he's quoting his father the דרש מרדכי Drash Mordechai, Rav Mordechai Druck. כי הנה הרי מצרים לא שלטו רק בגופם של עם ישראל אלא שלטו גם בנפשם Ki hinei harei Mitzrayim lo shaltu rak b'gufam shel Am Yisrael ela shaltu gam b'nafsham. The servitude, the suffering that we experienced in Egypt, the מצרים Mitzrim, was not just backbreaking physical labor. We weren't just in bondage and enslaved physically, but also spiritually, metaphysically, emotionally. Our very identity, who we were, how we saw ourselves. עם ישראל במצרים בבחינת עבדים אמיתיים Am Yisrael b'Mitzrayim b'bchinas avadim amitiyim. עבד הוא מי שאין לו רצון עצמי משלו כלל Eved hu mi she'ein lo ratzon atzmi mish'lo klal. A real slave is not just somebody who is imprisoned, who is shackled, who doesn't have the freedom of mobility or the freedom of choice. That's not the only definition of a prisoner. A prisoner is the one who has a slave mentality. A prisoner is one who's slaved in their mind. People are familiar with Victor Frankl's great work and how Victor Frankl survived was by describing that he might have been physically imprisoned, but mentally and emotionally he was free because he wouldn't let anyone decide or determine how he saw himself, how he saw himself. Man's Search for Meaning. כל ישותו הפנימית וחירות נפשו נשלל ממנו, במשך כל שעות היום כמחשבותיו נתונים לדבר אחד ויחיד בלבד, מה לעשות כרצון אדוניו Kol yeshuso ha'pnimi v'cheirus nafsho nishlal mimenu, b'meshech kol sh'os hayom ki machshevosav nesunim l'davar echad v'yachid bilvad, mah la'asos k'ratzon adonav. Someone who's a real slave doesn't know how to think, what to choose, how to identify, how to see themselves, what to dream about, what ambition they should have, right from wrong. The slave who's lost not only their physical freedom, but their emotional and mental freedom, thinks only one thing, whatever their master tells them. What to think, where to be, what to do, how to be. They're an extension of their master with no independent identity. אנו לא מכירים היום סוג כזה של עבדות Anu lo makirim hayom sug kazeh shel avdus. אין לנו מושג באמת כיצד נראה עבד כזה Ein lanu musag be'emes keitzad nir'eh eved kazeh. We don't understand, we don't see this type of slavery. כל העבדים ששמענו עליהם הם רק עבדים בגופם Kol ha'avadim she'shamanu aleihem heim rak avadim b'gufam. He says today, the people who are incarcerated or people who are enslaved are physically enslaved. לא כן עם ישראל במצרים Lo chein Am Yisrael b'Mitzrayim. שם היו עבדים אמיתיים, היו להם רק רצון אחד ויחיד בלבד, לקיים את רצון המצרים Sham hayu avadim amitiyim, hayu lahem rak ratzon echad v'yachid bilvad, l'kayem es ratzon ha'Mitzrim. לא רק שלא היה להם רצון לברוח, אלא אפילו כשדיבר איתם על אפשרות לצאת ממצרים לא היו מסוגלים להכיר את הרעיון Lo rak she'lo haya lahem ratzon livro'ach, ela afilu k'she'diber itam al efsharus latzeis mi'Mitzrayim lo hayu mesugalim l'hakir es ha'ra'ayon. לא שמעו משה מקוצר רוח ומעבודה קשה Lo sham'u Moshe mikotzer ruach u'mei'avodah kasha. We had so lost our own autonomy, our own identity, our own ambition and drive, so much so that when Moshe comes and he says, great news, I'm here to take you out, I'm here to set you free, I'm here to carve and chart a brighter future. You know what we said? Get lost. Who are you? We don't believe it. It's not possible. This is our destiny. This is our lives. This is all there is. לא שמעו Lo sham'u, they didn't hear him. מקוצר רוח ומעבודה קשה mikotzer ruach u'mei'avodah kasha. נסקל במעט כי מסוג עבדות שהיה במצרים, עבדות כזו, יצאנו לחירות עולם Naskel b'me'at ki mi'sug avdus she'haya b'Mitzrayim, avdus kazu, yatzanu l'cheirus olam. And we went from there, a slavery which was not just physical slavery, but spiritual and emotional and mental slavery, and from there הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu gave us, he gifted us חירות עולם cheirus olam. What's a חירות עולם cheirus olam in contrast? If the slavery was not just physical slavery, but was a complete and utter slavery, then what's the inverse, what's the opposite? What is an utter and complete freedom? Now we understand חירות עולם cheirus olam, says Rav Druck. עומק הביאור בשטור מדגיש גם כן ב' פעמים Omek ha'biur ba'Torah madgish gam kein beis pa'amim... והוצאתי אתכם מתחת סבלות מצרים והצלתי אתכם מעבודתם וגאלתי אתכם V'hotzeisi eschem mitachas sivlos Mitzrayim v'hitzalti eschem mei'avodasam v'ga'alti eschem. וידעתם כי אני השם אלוקיכם המוציא אתכם מתחת סבלות מצרים Vi'da'atem ki Ani Hashem Elokeichem ha'motzi eschem mitachas sivlos Mitzrayim. בא הקדוש ברוך הוא להורות לעם ישראל להרגיש בפנימיותם את המסר הזה Ba HaKadosh Baruch Hu l'horos l'Am Yisrael l'hargish b'pnimiyusam es ha'meser hazeh. Twice in these פסוקים psukim, two פסוקים psukim apart, the Torah tells us that Hashem took us out from סבלות מצרים sivlos Mitzrayim. First והוצאתי מתחת סבלות מצרים v'hotzeisi mitachas sivlos Mitzrayim, and then וידעתם vi'da'atem and you will know, I'm taking you מתחת סבלות מצרים mitachas sivlos Mitzrayim. Why twice? ששעבוד הנפש במצרים כן לא היה כלל בדרש המחשבה רצון לעשות שינוי מעבד עבדות She'shibud ha'nefesh b'Mitzrayim kein lo haya klal b'da'as ha'machshava ratzon la'asos shinuy mei'eved avdus. כך עומדים איתם להגל לעצמם מתחתם כדי שיהיה באופן הזה ממש עבדים אמיתיים שהקדוש ברוך הוא רוצה לנו ולא לחשוב כלל Kach omdim itam l'higael l'atzmam mitachtam k'dei she'yihyeh b'ofen hazeh mamash avadim amitiyim she'HaKadosh Baruch Hu rotzeh lanu v'lo lachshov klal. Because there were two stages to our freedom and emancipation. First he freed us physically, and then he liberated us from a slave mentality, from the mentality of fatalism, of believing it's just the way it is, it's who we are, it's what's programmed, it's what's designed, it's the destiny that we're destined to live, to realize we have free will, we have choice, we have autonomy, we can mold and shape our future. דוגמה מוחשית יש להראות לסוג הסבל הזה שהיה לבני ישראל במצרים Dugma muchashis yeish l'haros l'sug ha'sevel hazeh she'haya l'vnei Yisrael b'Mitzrayim. ויהי בימים ההם ויגדל משה ויצא אל אחיו וירא בסבלותם Vayehi ba'yamim ha'heim va'yigdal Moshe va'yeitzei el echav va'yar b'sivlosam. To understand this סבלות sivlos, to סבלות sivlos, the greatest burden that you could be under that Hashem had to take us out from was to forfeit our very identity, to forfeit our very ability to be able to have a better and a brighter future. How many people think this is just who I am. It's my DNA, it's my background, it's my socioeconomic status, it's my circumstance or condition in life. It is what it is, I can't change it, it just is what it is. This is my lot in life. This is my spouse, these are my children, this is my career, this my job, this is my health, this is my condition. That's סבלות sivlos. That's סבלות sivlos. To feel stuck, to feel stuck in that circumstance, to feel subject to that condition, that's סבלות sivlos. Moshe grows up and he goes out, and the Torah in last week's Parsha tells us, וירא בסבלותם va'yar b'sivlosam. He saw this סבלות sivlos. He saw איש מצרי מכה איש עברי ish Mitzri makeh ish Ivri, וייפן כה וכה וירא כי אין איש ויך את המצרי va'yifen ko vacho va'yar ki ein ish va'yach es ha'Mitzri. כי ראה משה בסבלותם, ומהו הסבל Ki ra'ah Moshe b'sivlosam, u'mahu ha'sevel? ראה משה כי איש מצרי מכה איש עברי, וירא כי אין איש Ra'ah Moshe ki ish Mitzri makeh ish Ivri, va'yar ki ein ish. He saw אין איש ein ish. וירא Va'yar... You know what the סבלות sivlos that we suffer from is? וירא כי אין איש Va'yar ki ein ish. It was worth coming today just for this, Rav Druck. It's a new טייטש taytsh, a new definition of סבלות sivlos. Do you know when you're living under סבלות sivlos, the greatest suffering you can have? וירא כי אין איש Va'yar ki ein ish. When you're not even a person, when you don't choose, when you don't have freedom to even elect, autonomy, free will, when you're not choosing your own path, when you think you have no choice. וירא Va'yar, when you look at your life and you say, אין איש ein ish, there's no one home. There's no one there. There are no options. There are no choices. I have no ability to choose. משה רבנו ראה כי לאחר שהוציא איש מצרי מכה איש עברי מאחיו, אין שם איש באזור שמוחה ומנסה לעזור Moshe Rabbeinu ra'ah ki l'achar she'hotzi ish Mitzri makeh ish Ivri mei'achiv, ein sham ish ba'ezor she'mocheh u'menaseh la'azor. He saw there's nobody there who protests. אין זה אלא משום שהישראלים תחת סבלות מצרים Ein zeh ela mishum she'ha'Yisraelim tachas sivlos Mitzrayim. Do you know why? They just accepted it. They accepted everything for what it is. We refuse to accept. When הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu gave us was a חירות עולם cheirus olam. And the חירות עולם cheirus olam he gave us was to go from being slaves to Pharaoh to his slaves. And when you are subject, when you surrender to Hashem, now you are sort of paradoxically but empowered, now you have freedom. אין בן חורין אלא מי שעוסק בתורה Ein ben chorin ela mi she'osek ba'Torah. The ability to choose, to express that free will, to chart our course, to choose our destiny, to be a people not of fate, but a people of destiny in the rav's words. הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu, this is הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu's promise to Avraham as well. He continues in the next piece. The Torah tells us וידעתם כי אני השם אלוקיכם vi'da'atem ki Ani Hashem Elokeichem. רק לאחר הלשון האחרון של ולקחתי Rak l'achar ha'lashon ha'acharon shel v'lakachti. When do we come to know that it's Hashem? Not after the first language of גאולה geulah. We said that there are four, והוצאתי והצלתי וגאלתי ולקחתי v'hotzeisi v'hitzalti v'ga'alti v'lakachti. And only after ולקחתי v'lakachti, now וידעתם vi'da'atem, now you'll know כי אני השם אלוקיכם ki Ani Hashem Elokeichem. Why does it take 'til now? After the first three, we don't come to know? After the plagues, after we see what happens to the Egyptians, after we get our first taste of some freedom, after the first experiences of והוצאתי והצלתי וגאלתי v'hotzeisi v'hitzalti v'ga'alti, we don't know he's God? We only come to know he's God after ולקחתי v'lakachti? Why? What does it take ולקחתי v'lakachti to know he's God? And he says the following. What does ולקחתי v'lakachti correspond with? Go back to the פסוק pasuk. ולקחתי אתכם לי לעם V'lakachti eschem li l'am. Where was ולקחתי v'lakachti fulfilled? Only when we got where? הר סיני Har Sinai. ולקחתי V'lakachti is, I will bring you to הר סיני Har Sinai, קבלת התורה Kabbalas HaTorah. You know when וידעתם כי אני השם vi'da'atem ki Ani Hashem? Only through Torah. You can know Hashem through nature. and you can know Hashem through history. But when do you know Hashem most authentically, most sincerely? When do you know Hashem most intensely? When we know Hashem most and best, most intimately is only וידעתי viyadati is only when after ולקחתי velakachti. It's only after we stood at הר סיני Har Sinai and we were given his diet, we were given his Torah. And it's only when we immerse ourselves in it. And that's why the חירות עולם cherus olam that we want, that freedom that we desperately long for is only when our lives are informed and inspired by Torah. You can't just live a casual Jewish life. You can't just check, I went to דאווענען davening, check, I keep שבת Shabbos, check, I put on תפילין tefillin, check, I lit candles. Are you engaged in Torah learning? I'm preaching to the choir who are here today and learn regularly. But it's only when we immerse ourselves in Torah, when we open ourselves up to Torah, when we are informed and guided by Torah, when we interpret everything happening in our lives through Torah, when ולקחתי velakachti. It's when we have our הר סיני Har Sinai, which is every time we open a ספר sefer, we're back at הר סיני Har Sinai with Hashem נקרא קבלת התורה nekra kabbalas haTorah, only then וידעתם viyidatem can we really know Hashem. That is the most intimate, that is the most authentic way. And then Rav Druk in the third piece explains, וידעתם Viyidatem. Why וידעתם viyidatem? What does the word ידיעה yediah mean? We translate the word ידיעה yediah to mean, what does it mean? Knowledge. ידיעות כלליות yedios klaliyos. Our kids have tests in school. Those are miserable nights in every Jewish home. The night before the test on ידיעות כלליות yedios klaliyos. ידיעות כלליות yedios klaliyos, which is basically memorize, memorize, memorize. Memorize every book of תנ״ך Tanach, memorize every date of every person, memorize every מסכתא masechta, memorize, memorize, memorize, memorize. We could talk about, I'm not challenging it. I'm not an educator, the virtue of it. I just suffer from the persecution. מתחת סבלות ידיעות כלליות Mitachas sivlos yedios klaliyos. So we talk about ידיעה yediah. ידיעה yediah we translate as knowledge, but that's not what ידיעה yediah means. What does ידיעה yediah mean? מלשון חיבור milashon chibur. A ידיעה yediah means a connection. How do you know ידיעה yediah means a connection? Not any connection. ידיעה yediah means an intimate connection. בראשית פרק ד׳ פסוק א׳ Bereishis Perek Dalet Pasuk Aleph. והאדם ידע את חוה אשתו V'ha'adam yada es Chava ishto. When the Torah wants to describe a moment of intimacy between a husband and wife, a moment of conception, what word does the Torah use to describe intimacy, an intimate knowledge, an intimate knowledge, to be exposed not only physically, that is the very definition of intimacy. And that's why emotional intimacy, physical intimacy go together and we're living in a world suffering from both. Intimacy means access, exposure, connection, trust. Physical intimacy, what it's supposed to be in marriage is an act that is reserved for one person in one context, in one relationship, in a singular relationship, in a modest setting, and it's something that's not shared widely, it's not shared with anyone else other than that person. And because it is exclusive and singular and shared only with that one person, in that one context called marriage, it yields and it creates a sense of intimacy. You let someone know you in a way that no one else in the world knows you. You know them in a way nobody else knows them. And when people walk around where there's nothing left to the imagination and there's nothing that the whole world doesn't have access to see, and there are behaviors and actions that are performed in public so that there's nothing that's singular, exclusive, modest, there's nothing reserved, so then it's no surprise that relationships suffer from an inability to have intimacy. Emotional intimacy is the parallel of that physical intimacy. Emotional intimacy means I trust you and feel close enough to you and connected with you. I am letting you in in a way that nobody else has access. My thoughts, my dreams, my fears, my hopes, my failures. I am letting you in. I am giving you access. I am talking about things. I am sharing with you emotionally in a way I don't with anyone else in the world. But when you go and you spend time with your friends and you tell them everything, and your own spouse, in fact, you're reserved and there's a wall up and you don't talk about those things and you don't let them in, then there's a failure of emotional intimacy. Because our understanding, our very definition, you thought you were coming to the פרשה parsha class, welcome to שלום בית shalom bayis. We'll go back to the פרשה parsha right now. But ידיעה yediah does not mean knowledge. ידיעה yediah means חיבור chibur. Because a knowledge that carries intimacy, a knowledge that carries access, exposure, trust, to be in, to be available, to confide, that's ידיעה yediah. אדם ידע את חוה אשתו Adam yada es Chava ishto. We don't have another word to describe a physical intimacy and a physical connection. The word that we have is ידיעה yediah. ידיעה yediah. And Adam knew his wife Chava, knew her in the biblical sense as we say. So what does ולקחתי velakachti mean? לקחתי Lakachti is the Torah. How do you come to know Hashem intimately? וידעתם כי אני השם אלקיכם Viyidatem ki ani Hashem Elokeichem. You only get to the level of intimacy with Hashem after ולקחתי velakachti, says Rav Druk. First, you have to know him. You have to know him. If you don't know Hashem, how could you have intimacy with him? How could you be an intimate confidant of his? How could you be intimately connected to him? How can you intimately confide in him? You have to know him. You have to know him as a prerequisite, a precursor to an intimate connection. So first is ולקחתי velakachti, הר סיני Har Sinai, קבלת התורה kabbalas haTorah, and only then, the אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra says ולקחתי כשתקבלו את התורה על הר סיני velakachti k'shetikablu es haTorah al Har Sinai. So says the אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra, that's ולקחתי velakachti. It's only after ולקחתי velakachti. The גמרא כתובות Gemara Kesubos says on the פסוק pasuk ואהבת את השם אלקיך ולדבקה בו v'ahavta es Hashem Elokecha u'ledavka bo, וכי אפשר לאדם לדבק בשכינה v'chi efshar l'adam l'davak b'Shechina? Can you really have דבקות dveikus? Can you really cling to הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu? Where else do we see that word? ודבק v'davak. ודבק באשתו v'davak b'ishto. יעזוב איש את אביו ואת אמו ya'azov ish es aviv v'es imo, at some point stop confiding in mommy and daddy, stop leaning on and relying on mommy and daddy. יעזוב איש את אביו ואת אמו Ya'azov ish es aviv v'es imo, ודבק v'davak and have דבקות dveikus באשתו b'ishto. ודבק v'davak doesn't just mean physically והיו לבשר אחד v'hayu l'vasar echad, it doesn't mean physically only come together. ודבק v'davak means like דבק devek, glue, attach yourself, connect with, connect with. So there's a parallel. The מצוה mitzvah of דבקות dveikus, אתם הדבקים בהשם אלקיכם atem hadveikim b'Hashem Elokeichem, the מצוה mitzvah of דבקות dveikus, and the same word is used to describe the relationship we're supposed to have with Hashem and the relationship that we have with our spouse. ודבק באשתו v'davak b'ishto and ולדבקה בו u'ledavka vo. Cling to your spouse and cling to Hashem. What's the connection between the two? It means come to know them, be intimately connected with them. Let there be romance and electricity with, let it be an electric relationship with both, with both. So how do you come to fulfill this פסוק pasuk, ואהבת את השם אלקיך ולדבקה בו v'ahavta es Hashem Elokecha u'ledavka bo. How do you love Hashem and cling to him? Says the גמרא כתובות Gemara Kesubos, you know how? Cling to Torah and those who know Torah and learn Torah. ולקחתי Velakachti, first you have to stand at הר סיני Har Sinai, you have to be invested in learning Torah, only then can you be intimately connected with Torah. Fourth piece of Rav Druk on this פסוק pasuk, and then I promise you we will move on. The fourth piece. Why wine? I alluded to it, I told you we'll come back to wine. ארבע כוסות של יין arba kosos shel yayin on a Seder night, say to the four cups of wine that we drink at the Seder table. Now we're giving you פסח דברי תורה Pesach divrei Torah, we're giving you some שבע ברכות דברי תורה sheva brachos divrei Torah and עופר דברי תורה offer divrei Torah, and now a פסח דבר תורה Pesach dvar Torah. One stop shop. נתקנו כנגד ארבע לשונות של גאולה Niskanu k'neged arba leshonos shel geulah, שבהן נגאלו ישראל ממצרים shebahen nigalu Yisrael miMitzrayim, שנאמר והוצאתי והצלתי וגאלתי ולקחתי she'ne'emar v'hotzeisi v'hitzalti v'gaalti v'lakachti. ויש לאס בנים wondered Rav Druk, why are the ד' לשונות של גאולה dalet leshonos shel geulah specifically connected to drinking of wine? And he quotes here the משך חכמה Meshech Chochmah. כי כל זכותם של עם ישראל שנגאלו ממצרים Ki kol zchusam shel am Yisrael she'nigalu miMitzrayim, the whole merit that we had to be redeemed from Egypt was מחמת שהבדילו את עצמם מן המצרים ומן האומות machmas she'hivdilu es atzmam min haMitzrim u'min ha'umos. We all know, what are the three reasons? What did we hold on to? Why were we redeemed? We said it one last week. ויוסף היה במצרים v'Yosef haya b'Mitzrayim. Remember, he didn't become צפנת פענח Tzafnas Paneach. He didn't go by Joe. He didn't change his name, use his English name, Julie. He went with his Hebrew name. Why? יוסף היה במצרים Yosef haya b'Mitzrayim. He remained יוסף Yosef in מצרים Mitzrayim. What did we cling to? What did we hold on to? Name, dress, יוסף ורבקה Yosef wore a bekishe? Avada, so not a pet. And number three, language. Spoke Hebrew, אפס epes maybe Yiddish, we spoke our own language. So the משך חכמה Meshech Chochmah says, we know בזכות b'zchus, it's in the merit of those things we were redeemed. And what did those things have in common? We did not assimilate. We didn't disappear. We didn't integrate socially. We remained separate and apart. We had a הבדלה havdalah. We remained apart. That's the mission of the challenge of a Jew in every exile. It's the mission of the challenge of a Jew even in our own homeland. How do we participate in and take the best from society, but also see ourselves as different? How can we take part in and yet be apart from simultaneously? And in different parts of our history, we have failed in one direction or the other. Sometimes we've been maybe too far apart from. Sometimes we take too much part in. But we have to find that balance. It's the balance that began all the way with אברהם אבינו Avraham Avinu, says Rav Soloveitchik. When אברהם Avraham is negotiating with בני חת bnei ches, when אברהם Avraham is buying מערת המכפלה Me'aras Hamachpela, how is he introduced? גר ותושב אנכי עמכם Ger v'toshav anochi imachem. I am a resident and a stranger together with you. I am a resident and a stranger, both. I live among you, I'm a citizen, I'm a resident, but lest you think I am just like you, simultaneously I'm also a stranger. So the משך חכמה Meshech Chochmah comes back and he says, in what merit were we redeemed? What did we stubbornly cling to and hold on to? That we were willing to take part in to some degree, but we also stubbornly remained apart from. We practiced הבדלה havdalah. We dressed differently, we spoke differently, and we had different names. מבד מה שקם לשון רש\"י שגם הן לא נשאו למצרים חלילה Mevad mah shekam l'shon Rashi shegam hein lo nisu l'Mitzrim chalila, כשהביא רש\"י פרשת פנחס k'shehevi Rashi parshas Pinchas. Just like the Jewish women did not integrate, did not give in, did not mix with the Egyptian men, מבד בחינה זו של יוחסין mevad bchina zu shel yuchasin, it wasn't just that technically our genetics didn't mix. It's not that we didn't intermarry or cross-breed with our host nation physically. It's more than just physically our genetics didn't get intertwined and mixed up with non-Jewish children or non-עברי Ivri children being born. Much more than that, הנה הבדלנו מן המצרים ולבלתי התערב בהם hinei hivdalnu min haMitzrim u'l'vilti hisarvev bahem. It's much more than that, spiritually. מבני חן מתאים את ארבע לשונות של גאולה דוקא בארבע כוסות יין Mivnei chein mat'im es arba leshonos shel geulah davka b'arba kosos yayin. So these four languages of גאולה geulah, and the whole גאולה geulah only happened because we refused to assimilate. We stubbornly stayed apart. And what symbolizes staying apart more than wine. Why? Why wine? The גמרא מגילה Gemara in Megillah tells us, אפילו המן הרשע כששונא ישראל afilu Haman harasha k'shesona Yisrael... now you'll have your פורים דבר תורה Purim dvar Torah. Just starting שבט Shvat. We'll get to טו בשבט Tu B'Shvat too. המן הרשע Haman harasha when he wanted to slander the Jewish people to אחשוורוש Achashverosh, what did he tell אחשוורוש Achashverosh? How did he get on the אחשוורוש's Achashverosh's good side in his nefarious plan to exterminate the Jewish people? He said, אחשוורוש Achashverosh, what's going on over here? You know, that if a fly falls into a cup of wine of these Jews, you know what they do? They throw out the fly and they drink the wine. But אחשוורוש Achashverosh, you know what happens if you touch their wine? They have to spill the whole thing out. Because you lowly, contaminated, impure, idolatrous, non-Jew, if you touch the wine, they spill it out. So a fly goes into their wine, they'll sift out the fly and still drink the wine. It's a פוגם pogem, you just can't eat the fly, but if you remove it, you can still drink the wine. They'll drink the wine. But a non-Jew touches our wine, what do we call that? יין נסך yayin nesech or סתם יינם stam yeinam. יין נסך yayin nesech means if wine is used in a libation, an idolatrous practice. You say, where is that happened today? I'll tell you where. Washington Heights, New York. I went to yeshiva there, they do all kinds of pagan rituals. There's chickens walking down the street, there's wine being poured, so it's pagan, it's still going on there. So if wine is used in pagan worship, it's biblically prohibited. The rabbis came along and they said, if there's a non-Jew pouring wine, how do we know what they're thinking about while they pour that wine? Maybe they're pouring it towards their idol. How do we know? The wine and the wafer and the practice and the... how do you know what they have in mind? So the rabbis prohibited סתם יינם stam yeinam. Non-Jew touches wine, according to some ראשונים rishonim, if a non-Jew even just looks at wine... Do you know that? Do you know that... קדם Kedem. קדם Kedem follows that strict opinion among the ראשונים rishonim, it's not brought down להלכה l'halacha, but it's a חומרא chumra. So if there's a non-Jew in the factory when they're ready, before their grape juice is pasteurized and bottled, non-Jews leave the factory. That has to be, there's some opinions a non-Jew even looks at wine before it's pasteurized or brought to a boil, מבושל mevushal. Why does מבושל mevushal help? Because wine that's boiled is now is now disqualified for idolatrous practice. Turns out we learn from the idolaters, they only do idolatry with wine that was never boiled or pasteurized. So if we pasteurize or boil the wine, now we can be confident it's no longer subject to idolatry. And that's why יין מבושל yayin mevushal, if the non-Jew pours or lifts or uncorks the the יין מבושל yayin mevushal, you're okay. But before it's מבושל mevushal, or if it's not מבושל mevushal, if a non-Jew touches it, and according to some, if a non-Jew even just looks at it, now you got to pour it out. So Haman tells Achashverosh, this people, you know what they think of you? You know what they think of you? If an iguana crawls into their vat of wine, if a lizard crawls into their glass of wine, they'll just remove the lizard and sip the wine. But if you touch it, if you so much as look at their wine, they're going to pour it out. Achashverosh says, 'That's what they think of me?' Off with their heads. That's how Haman goes about it. אפילו המן הרשע הבין שיין מבטא את ההבדל בין ישראל לעמים Afilu Haman harasha hevin she'yayin m'vate es ha'hevdel bein Yisrael l'amim. Even Haman understood that wine is the symbol of differentiation, wine is the symbol of distinction between the Jew and the non-Jew. Why? Why are the rabbis so concerned, why is the Torah so concerned with wine? Because wine, wine is what you get together socially. Let's meet for a glass of wine. Let's have dinner with wine. Let's drink to it. לחיים L'chaim, to our relationship, to our friendship, to our merger, to our business, to our connection, to our assimilation, to our integration. הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu and חז\"ל Chazal came and said no no no no no. When it comes to wine, that's where you draw the line. We don't drink together. We don't toast together. And there's הלכות halachos by the way. There are הלכות halachos about a bar, Jews in an establishment where they pour alcohol. There's there's הלכות halachos that people are not as familiar with as they should be. But the משך חכמה Meshech Chochmah says, it is specifically in the הלכות halachos that surround wine that we are reminded of our obligation to make הבדלה havdalah. To make הבדלה havdalah. What does it mean to make הבדלה havdalah? What do we say in הבדלה havdalah every מוצאי שבת motzei Shabbos? בין ישראל לעמים bein Yisrael l'amim. בין קודש לחול, בין ישראל לעמים Bein kodesh l'chol, bein Yisrael l'amim. Between שבת Shabbos and the other six days of the week. חכמים גזרו על יינם משום בנותיהם Chachamim gazru al yeinam mishum bnoseihem. And why did our rabbis prohibit drinking wine, drinking לחיים l'chaim, going to a place where alcohol is poured with a non-Jew? Because lest we socialize and integrate and intermarry. היין הוא הדבר המסמל את הריחוק בין ישראל לעולם Ha'yayin hu ha'davar ha'mesamel es ha'richuk bein Yisrael l'olam, שאסור לשתות עמהם יין she'asur lishtos imam yayin. Says Rav Druk based on this משך חכמה Meshech Chochmah, maybe now we know why ד' כוסות dalet kosos were established, why? Because the ד' לשונות של גאולה dalet leshonos shel geulah. There are four descriptions of redemption, and in what merit were we redeemed? We stayed apart, we stayed separate. And therefore, and what is the greatest symbol of our staying apart and staying separate? It is, it is wine. He goes on Rav Druk and he explains, this is also the paragraph of והיא שעמדה לאבותינו ולנו v'hi she'amda l'avoseinu v'lanu. We lift the cup of wine when we say והיא שעמדה v'hi she'amda. Why? Sometimes we lift the matzah, we uncover the matzah, we cover the matzah, all the calisthenics that we're doing throughout the Seder, so the children will ask and we'll stay awake to work off the matzah we're about to eat. Why are we lifting the cup when we sing והיא שעמדה לאבותינו v'hi she'amda l'avoseinu? Says Rav Druk, he doesn't quote but this is based on an ערוך השולחן Aruch Hashulchan. The ערוך השולחן Aruch Hashulchan had a הגדה haggadah, and he says this as well. What's the והיא v'hi in והיא שעמדה v'hi she'amda? This thing is what stood the test of time, that even though שלא אחד בלבד עמד עלינו לכלותינו shelo echad bilvad amad aleinu l'chaloseinu, we know that well right now. In every generation, including ours, including today while we're learning, they rise against us trying to destroy us. But הקדוש ברוך הוא מצילנו מידם HaKadosh Baruch Hu matzileinu miyadam. הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu, you save us. והיא v'hi, this thing, עמדה לאבותינו amda l'avoseinu. It has stood the test of time, it stood for our forefathers and it stands for us. What's והיא v'hi? Some say it's the ברית בין הבתרים bris bein habesarim, our אמונה וביטחון emunah u'vitachon. What's the והיא v'hi? So says the ערוך השולחן Aruch Hashulchan and says Rav Druk here in his new לאבע שיין פרשת וארא laba shayn parshas Va'eira, you know what the והיא v'hi is in והיא שעמדה v'hi she'amda? That what kept us is that every generation they rise up against us to kill us. Had they not rose against us to kill us in every generation, we would disappear. We'd assimilate, we'd integrate, we'd disappear. We'd disappear. You know when anti-semitism is on the rise? When we forget we're Jewish, they remind us. It has been said, when a Jew forgets to make קידוש kiddush, the non-Jews make הבדלה havdalah. When we don't say קידוש kiddush, they say הבדלה havdalah, they make הבדלה havdalah. If we're not מקדש mekadesh ourselves with קדושת ישראל kedushas Yisrael, if we're not living as Jews with Torah, Torah lives, Torah priorities, Torah worldviews, if we're not living with the קדושה kedusha of a Jew, the non-Jew comes along and makes הבדלה havdalah with their anti-semitism. The והיא v'hi of והיא שעמדה v'hi she'amda, it was said in Europe they killed us with hate, in America they're killing us with love. The והיא v'hi of והיא שעמדה v'hi she'amda. We see this in פרשת וישלח parshas Vayishlach. When יעקב Yaakov is reunited with his brother עשו Esav, he says הצילני נא מיד אחי מיד עשו hatzileini na miyad achi miyad Esav. The זוהר הקדוש Zohar Hakadosh says, why does he say both מיד אחי מיד עשו miyad achi miyad Esav? Because there are two ways a non-Jew could try to kill us and have genocide against us. One, October 7th, that's מיד עשו miyad Esav. On October 7th, they rise up against us, they try to kill us, pogroms, persecution, hostage taking, murder. You know how else they can kill us? מיד אחי miyad achi. When they say, you're my brother, come, live among us, marry into us, be just like us, disappear, assimilate. You're invited, you're welcome. That also is an incredible threat, a threat that looms large over us. And, if I may be so bold to tell you, as much as anti-semitism is on the rise, and as great a threat as it poses, and as much work as there is to do, and as hard as we have to fight against it, statistically, the danger of anti-semitism right now in America is nothing, is negligible, pales in comparison to the impact of assimilation. 75% of non-Orthodox Jews are intermarrying. We are disappearing at a faster clip than anti-semites ever could accomplish. We're bringing about our own disappearance. The much greater threat than anti-semitism is assimilation. And sometimes maybe הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu sends a rise of anti-semitism to stop that assimilation. The והיא שעמדה לאבותינו ולנו v'hi she'amda l'avoseinu v'lanu, what will stop our making ourselves disappear is when they say, nope, you can no longer marry in, you can no longer join, you can no longer be part. That doesn't mean you should welcome it or want it or celebrate it or be okay with it. We have to fight it, but it does give a perspective to it. And it goes all the way back to יעקב Yaakov. יעקב Yaakov who was worried, מיד אחי, מיד עשו miyad achi, miyad Esav. How is עשו Esav going to come, how is he going to appear? As an אחי achi or as an עשו Esav? And Rav Druk goes on and on, he extends this further. This is the theme of the הבדלה havdalah that we say on מוצאי שבת motzei Shabbos. But anyway, this is why ד' כוסות dalet kosos, the ארבע כוסות arba kosos. This is the ארבע המבדיל בין קודש לחול, בין אור לחשך, בין ישראל לעמים, בין יום השביעי לששת ימי המעשה arba ha'mavdil bein kodesh l'chol, bein or l'choshech, bein Yisrael l'amim, bein yom ha'shvii l'sheshes yemei ha'maaseh. The ד' לשונות dalet leshonos of גאולה geulah, and the ד' כוסות dalet kosos, and the ד' הבדלות dalet havdalos that we make in הבדלה havdalah all connect. I'll leave you that as homework. The four parts of הבדלה havdalah on מוצאי שבת motzei Shabbos, how do they connect to the four languages of גאולה geulah and to the four cups of wine? Because they all revolve around the same thing, says Rav Druk, so beautifully. But let's move along. Who, Moshe and Aaron? Let's go. פרק ו' פסוק כ\"ו Perek Vav Pasuk Chaf Vov. Turn the page. Turn two pages in fact. Page 322. Torah here interrupts the whole story of יציאת מצרים Yetziyas Mitzrayim, the mission, because once Moshe and Aaron are sent to begin the mission, the Torah interrupts to remind us where they came from. How do we know them? פסוק כ\"ז Pasuk Chaf Zayin. הם המדברים אל פרעה מלך מצרים להוציא את בני ישראל ממצרים, הוא משה ואהרן Heim hamedabrim el Paroh melech Mitzrayim l'hotzi es bnei Yisrael miMitzrayim, hu Moshe v'Aharon. It was on this day I sent them, Hashem spoke to Moshe and he said I am Hashem, go speak to them, and this is the, these are the ones, these were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt to take the children out of the land. This was Moshe and Aaron. I don't understand, wonders Rav Wolbe, הוא משה ואהרן hu Moshe v'Aharon. Now you're telling me הוא משה ואהרן hu Moshe v'Aharon. Don't I know that? מתחלת הגאולה m'tchilas ha'geulah לצאת, we you just said that. ספר שמות Sefer Shmos, we had the whole lineage given to us, it concluded with Moshe and Aaron. So we know where they come from, we know their background. So why does it need to be repeated right now? Why is it repeated again? הוא משה ואהרן Hu Moshe v'Aharon. That's Moshe and that's Aaron. That's Moshe and that's Aaron. We were already told this in the end of the last parsha. Listen to what Rav Wolbe writes in the שיעורי חומש Shiurei Chumash. מצאנו אצל יוסף Matzanu etzel Yosef... He says the following. Rashi. הוא משה ואהרן, הם בשליחותם ובצדקתם מתחלה ועד סוף Hu Moshe v'Aharon, heim b'shlichusam u'v'tzidkasam m'tchila v'ad sof. The Torah wants to tell us who Moshe and Aaron are as they're about to begin this prestigious prominent role, to tell us that the anonymous Moshe and Aaron, the private citizens Moshe and Aaron, and the prominent and the popular and the influencer Moshe and Aaron were exactly the same people. No difference. No difference between the Moshe and Aaron who were world famous and the Moshe and Aaron who no one ever heard of. The righteousness was exactly the same, was exactly the same, says Rashi. Says Rav Wolbe, you see this also with יוסף Yosef. הוא יוסף הרעה את צאן אביו, הוא יוסף שהיה במצרים ונעשה מלך ועמד בצדקו hu Yosef ha'roeh es tzon aviv, hu Yosef she'haya b'Mitzrayim v'naaseh melech v'amad b'tzidko. וכן ביעקב שהתפלל שישמר עליו מתחלה ועד סוף V'chein b'Yaakov she'hispalel she'yishmor alav m'tchila v'ad sof. וכאן זה אומר אצל משה ואהרן הם בשליחותם ובצדקתם מתחלה ועד סוף V'chan zeh omer etzel Moshe v'Aharon heim b'shlichusam u'v'tzidkasam m'tchila v'ad sof. לגמור חיים מתחילה ועד סוף, שלא נשברים באמצע, זוהי עבודה וזה לא קל Ligmor chaim m'tchila v'ad sof, shelo nishbarim ba'emtza, zohi avodah v'zeh lo kal. Says Rav Wolbe, to have the same reputation, to be righteous from beginning to end, no matter how popular, no matter how prominent, no matter how many followers, no matter how many friends, no matter how much influence, to be the same person in public and in private, to never let anything go to your head, to never waver, to never slow down, to never compromise, to never become corrupt. הוא משה ואהרן Hu Moshe v'Aharon to stay that same person, wow, what an accomplishment. Yosef also the Torah testifies. הוא יוסף Hu Yosef, what's true about Yosef? Yaakov too davened for it, let me be the same person. And it's not simple, it's not simple. יוחנן כהן גדול, הרי הוא כהן גדול שמונים שנה Yochanan Kohen Gadol, harei hu Kohen Gadol shmonim shana. Do you know the Gemara tells us in ברכות דף כט Brachos daf chaf tes? יוחנן כהן גדול Yochanan Kohen Gadol, do you know how long he served as the כהן גדול Kohen Gadol? A long time, 80 years. That must have been some dinner when he retired. 80 years, שמונים שנה shmonim shana. But you know how he retired? What happened with him in the end? לבסוף נעשה צדוקי L'vasof naaseh Tzaduki. He became a צדוקי Tzaduki, he became an apostate. Do you know that about יוחנן כהן גדול Yochanan Kohen Gadol? לא החזיק עד סוף Lo hechzik ad sof. He made it 80 years in his career and when he retired, he gave it up. When he retired, he turned it in. Not only the Rabbinate professionally, but Yiddishkeit altogether. Yiddishkeit altogether. ויש מיוחנן כהן גדול הלכות ותקנות, אבל הוא לא זכה להחזיק מעמד עד סוף V'yesh miYochanan Kohen Gadol halachos v'takanos, aval hu lo zacha l'hachzik maamad ad sof. We learn from him and he played a role but he didn't make it all the way to the end. He didn't make it all the way to the end. No one knows where life will take us. Yosef set out to inquire about his brothers and the next thing you know he's in a pit and he's a slave, the next thing you know he's on his own living as the second most powerful man in Egypt, but he never gave up who he was. He never forgot where he came from. He never forgot to whom he reported. He never let any of it get to his head. And that's what the Torah is telling us, and this message says Rav Wolbe, is so important it was worth repeating the whole lineage just to remind us who Moshe and Aaron, מתחילה ועד סוף m'tchila v'ad sof. They were unchanged. Of course they grew and they improved, but they never gave up. And Rav Wolbe himself, this was the biography of his life. He was learning in the Mir Yeshiva in Poland before World War II. The Polish government forced him to leave the yeshiva because he had a German citizenship. And where did Rav Wolbe end up in Switzerland? And while he was there for the next eight years, I'm sorry in Sweden, there wasn't even a מנין minyan of שומרי שבת shomrei Shabbos in Sweden with him. So did Rav Wolbe take a step backwards? Take off his yarmulke? Stop going to shul? Stop keeping Shabbos? חס ושלום חלילה Chas v'shalom chalila. He became Rav Wolbe, מתחילה ועד סוף m'tchila v'ad sof. It doesn't matter where you are, it doesn't matter what's happening, doesn't matter where life puts us. הוא משה ואהרן Hu Moshe v'Aharon, unlike יוחנן כהן גדול Yochanan Kohen Gadol who didn't make it to the end, who 80 years, but in the end turned it all in. And how? How? So he quotes, he quotes his rebbe, but Rav Wolbe quotes his rebbe, Rav Yerucham. He says the following, המשגיח אמר פעם HaMashgiach amar pa'am, just as a משגיח ז\"ל Mashgiach z\"l, when Rav Wolbe quotes the משגיח ז\"ל Mashgiach z\"l, he's referring to Rav Yerucham of the Mir. פעם שאדם משתנה עם החליפה שהוא לובש Pa'am she'adam mishtane im ha'chalifa she'hu lovesh. Rav Yerucham would say a person changes in accordance with his clothing. In other words, one's behavior is very much dependent on his surroundings. You can maintain a serious demeanor when you're alone, when you're in company, then you become lightheaded, you make fun, you are cynical. Just moving from one room to the other, just changing your clothing. You take off your tie and you put on a t-shirt. Are you like a chameleon? Your personality and your righteousness changes with your outfit? Or no matter where you are, no matter what you're wearing, מתחילה ועד סוף, הוא משה ואהרן m'tchila v'ad sof, hu Moshe v'Aharon. That is the message of the Torah here delineating it in this way, says Rav Wolbe. Okay, we didn't get anywhere. פרק ז' פסוק י\"ז Perek Zayin Pasuk Tes Vov. Top of page 326. We got to get one more because a beautiful Rav Matisyahu. Rav Matisyahu who's just niftar. A beautiful teaching from Rav Matisyahu Solomon. Where did I say it is? פרק ז' פסוק ט\"ו Perek Zayin Pasuk Tes Vov, page 326. ויאמר השם אל משה כבד לב פרעה מאן לשלח העם Vayomer Hashem el Moshe kaved lev Paroh me'ein l'shale'ach ha'am. Hashem said to Moshe, Pharaoh's heart is stubborn, he's refusing to send the people. לך אל פרעה בבוקר הנה יוצא המימה וניצבת לקראתו על שפת היאור, והמטה אשר נהפך לנחש תקח בידך Lech el Paroh ba'boker hinei yotzei ha'mayma v'nitzavta likraso al sfas ha'ye'or, v'hamateh asher nehpach l'nachash tikach b'yadecha. Go to Pharaoh in the morning, he goes out to the water, that's where you'll find him, at the river, at the river, at the water. Stand opposite him at the river's bank and the staff that was turned into a snake, take it in your hand and you'll say Hashem sent you. Aaron does this first one and so on and so forth. Rashi tells us, why is Pharaoh to be found at the water? Why? לנקביו שהיה יוצא לעשות עצמו אלוה l'nekavav she'haya yotze la'asos atzmo eloha. Pharaoh's at the water because he is going to the bathroom, he's using the river to eliminate. And why did he go out to the river to eliminate? There were no closer bathrooms? Because he made himself out into a god. And what do you know what reveals our humanity? You know what is the great equalizer for all? The Ashkenazi intestines. Our Ashkenazi genetics and gastrointestinal diseases. Doesn't matter who you are, doesn't matter how much fame or fortune, but as the saying goes, when you got to go, you got to go. So Pharaoh didn't want to show his humanity, his fallibility, that he wasn't a god. So he was never, no one ever heard, he never excused himself, he was never, no one ever knocked on the door and it was occupied because Pharaoh was in there. So how did he take care of business? He went to the river. ואומר שאינו צריך לנקביו ומשכים ויוצא לנילוס ועושה שם צרכיו v'omer she'eino tzarich l'nekavav u'mashkim v'yotze l'Nilus v'oseh sham tzrachav. He would wake up before anyone else woke up and he would go down to the Nile river and he would do what he needed to do. Says Rav Matisyahu Solomon, זכר צדיק לברכה zecher tzadik livracha in the midst of his shiva. הדגשת יציאת פרעה המימה אינה רק כדי להראות לו היכן למצוא אותו Hadgashas yetzias Paroh hamayma eina rak kedei l'har'os lo heichan limtzo oso. Pharaoh going to the water was not just where you could find him. Why was the first plague carried out against Pharaoh at the river? Not just because that's where you could find him. We got a tracker on him, got an Apple little thing we put on him and you could track him, he's at the river. That's not the only reason he was found there. אלא זוהי הקדמה למכת דם Ela zohi ha'hakdama l'makas dam. This is the introduction to the מכה makkah, the plague of דם dam. כשהנהפך היאור לדם והדגה אשר ביאור מתה K'shenehepach ha'ye'or l'dam v'hadagah asher b'ye'or meisa ויבאש היאור vayivash ha'ye'or because when the river turned to blood and the fish there died, ופנה פרעה ויבוא אל ביתו ולא שת לבו גם לזאת vayifen Paroh vayavo el beiso v'lo shas libo gam l'zos. Pharaoh went home and he didn't pay attention to it. And the תרגום יונתן בן עוזיאל Targum Yonasan ben Uziel translates, ובעד פרעה צרכיה ועל לביתא u'va'ad Paroh tzrachei v'al l'veisa. Pharaoh did his business and then he went back into his house. שמכה זו עשה מכאוב עצום גם אל פרעה עצמו She'maka zo asah mach'ov atzum gam el Paroh atzmo. כשהכה משה והכניס לסוך היאור עד שהבאש מחמת שהפך דם, לא היה פרעה יכול להכנס בו ועצר את עצמו כל הזמן מלעשות צרכיו K'shehaka Moshe v'hichnis l'soch ha'ye'or ad she'hivish machmas she'hephach dam, lo hayah Paroh yachol l'hikanes bo v'atzar atzmo kol ha'zman mile'asos tzrachav. Pharaoh also suffered from the מכה maka. You know how? Because once the river turned red, and something outstanding, extraordinary was happening with the river, Pharaoh couldn't do at the river what he needed to do. And you know what he had to do instead? He had to hold it in. So he was suffering from this plague, too. היה עוצר את עצמו כל הזמן Haya otzer es atzmo kol ha'zman. אז נתגלתה רמותו וכו', לא רע משום רק בשר ודם חלש כמו כולם, שגם עליו נאמר שם, אם יפתח אדם אחד מהם או יסתם אחד מהם, אי אפשר להתקיים ולעמוד לפניך Az nisgalsa ramuso v'chulei, lo ra mishum rak basar v'dam chalash k'mo kulam, she'gam alav ne'emar sham, im yipato'ach adam echad meihem o yisasem echad meihem, i efshar l'hiskayem v'la'amod l'fanecha. וגם הוא צריך לעזרת רופא כל בשר ומפליא לעשות V'gam hu tzarich l'ezras rofei chol basar u'mafli la'asos. So ויפן פרעה ויבוא אל ביתו vayifen Paroh vayavo el beiso. So why is it that after מכת דם makas dam, Pharaoh turns, he pivots, and he goes home? Why was he running home? He wasn't running home, he was running funny home. Why? Why? Because he had to go. He had to go. And why did he have to go? Because it wasn't available at the יאור ye'or. Why wasn't it available at the יאור ye'or? Because of the דם dam. הרי שכבר במכה ראשונה הראה לו הקדוש ברוך הוא שהוא רשאי בכוחו לעשות בבריאה כפי רצונו Harei she'kvar b'maka rishona her'ah lo HaKadosh Baruch Hu she'hu rashai b'chocho la'asos ba'briah k'fi r'tzono. So הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu right away says to Pharaoh, שלום עליכם shalom aleichem. Nice to meet you. You think I'm fooled that you're in charge, you're in control? You think I'm competing with you who's the God? I'm gonna make it that you got to go. You're gonna have to go do that run, that funny run. You're gonna have to go beg me and make all kinds of deals with me. Those who have that gastrointestinal Ashkenazi gene know exactly what I'm talking about. All the negotiating, all the vows, השם Hashem, I'll never speak לשון הרע lashon hara again, I'll never, I'll be so patient and kind again, I'll never make fun of anyone again. Just open the traffic, let me get off the exit, let the bathroom be available, let me. Everybody knows what I'm talking about. Let's be honest for a moment. So Pharaoh's doing that dance, Pharaoh's having that conversation, Pharaoh's doing that negotiation, and השם Hashem says, ישר כח shkoyach, שלום עליכם shalom aleichem, nice to meet you. Now we all know who's in charge. Now we know who's in control. This is the introduction to the מכות makos. The introduction to the Ten Plagues. הוא בזה להיות תחת השגחתו יתברך, והכל גלוי וידוע לפני כסא כבודו Hu bazeh l'hiyos tachas hashgachaso yisbarach, v'hakol galui v'yadua lifnei kisei kvodo. הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu knows it all. יסוד זה שהושרש ביציאת מצרים קבעו חז\"ל Yesod zeh she'hushrash bi'Yetzias Mitzrayim kav'u Chazal. And this is exactly the feeling, the mentality, this is what חז\"ל Chazal established and ordained. I can't believe we're ending with this because I had אוצר החכמה, אוצר פלאות התורה Otzar HaChachmah, Otzar P'laos HaTorah, rather, has a whole essay. Remember last week? I shocked you when I told you how long was Moshe floating in the river. Not for months or weeks or days. 15 minutes. How long did the river stay red? How long did דם dam last? And did it really turn into blood or just look like blood? You know, a couple of years ago, there was a winery that the vat broke and the wine, like, gazillions of gallons of wine flooded a river and the whole river turned red. Cabernet Sauvignon, by the way, in case you're curious. That river. So he says here, He says, רבינו יוסף בכור שור והחזקוני, ראשונים Rabeinu Yosef Bechor Shor v'haChizkuni, Rishonim, say it only lasted an hour. Enough that all the fish inside died. And then it turned back to water. He has a whole discussion here, but we don't have time. If I had time, I would tell you about all this great stuff. Was it only in a… ראשונים נחלקו מהו מכת דם אם נהפכו המים לדם ממש או נהפכו רק למראה דם, אבל בטעמם נשארו מים רגילים Rishonim nachleku mahu makas dam, im nehpechu hamayim l'dam mamash o nehpechu rak l'mar'eh dam, aval b'ta'amam nish'aru mayim regilim. And did it happen once, did it happen on and on? Any any water that was in a metal container didn't turn. Why being in a metal container, why did that protect it from turning to דם dam? He has a whole discussion. Absolutely fantastic. But we'll end with this. Says ר' בצלאל זלמן זצ\"ל Reb Betzalel Zalman zatzal, he said, you know the feeling that Pharaoh had in the introduction to מכות makos, we all are meant to have it, too. To humble, the humility, to humble ourselves to השם Hashem, the humility to realize that כבשוע kivshua, I'm going out and I'm trying to kill this, I'm conquering the world, I'm trying to kill the day, taking my initiative, but in the end of the day, השם Hashem, you're in charge, you're in control. I surrender to you. And how do we imitate Pharaoh in realizing, coming to that realization? Because every time we make the ברכה אשר יצר bracha Asher Yatzar, כסא כבודך kisei kvodecha. Every, גלוי וידוע לפני כסא כבודך galui v'yadua lifnei kisei kvodecha. It is revealed and known before כסא כבודך kisei kvodecha, או אם יפתח אחד מהם o im yipato'ach echad meihem, because if anything, any of our orifices are sealed or closed, if our digestive system is not working, if we're unable to eliminate properly, אי אפשר להתקיים ולעמוד לפניך i efshar l'hiskayem v'la'amod l'fanecha. We can't exist here. Not down by the river, not in the bathroom, not anywhere in between. So every time we come out of the bathroom and we make this ברכה bracha, a ברכה bracha that we're supposed to say while standing still. It's not תפילת הדרך Tefilas Haderech. You're not supposed to be walking away from the bathroom while you say it. Say it while standing still with a little כוונה kavanah. It'll take just a few seconds. And that exercise of saying that ברכה bracha is an exercise of humility. It's an exercise of surrender. It's an exercise of submission. It's an exercise that says, השם Hashem, I'm not competing with you. I know you're in charge, I know you're in control. Don't visit any מכות makos upon me as a curriculum to educate me. I don't need it. I got it. It's גלוי וידוע לפני כסא כבודך galui v'yadua lifnei kisei kvodecha. I know you're in charge. I know you're in control. I believe it. I got it. And I got all of פרשת וארא, פרשת שני Parshas Va'eira, Parshas Sheini next year prepared already now. Okay? Join us tonight, men are invited tonight for Rav Kluger. Thursday night, mental health. מוצאי שבת Motzei Shabbos, President Rivlin. Monday night, Rav Moshe Weinberger. We got a lot going on. And may it be, השם Hashem, we should hear בשורות טובות besoros tovos. Please remain. תהילים Tehillim, we're going to complete all of ספר תהילים Sefer Tehillim. If you're not staying, please leave quietly. Everyone is urged and encouraged to please stay.
