Transcript
Good morning, בוקר טוב Boker Tov. May it be a בוקר טוב Boker Tov, it should be a good morning. We should hear בשורות טובות besoros tovos, please God, good news and good tidings for כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael. Our hostages should be home, our soldiers return to their families, and we should have a sweeping victory over our enemies. Thank you very much for your accommodating me, the conflict I have tomorrow, moving פרשה שיעור Parsha shiur to today. I always wonder whether anyone will show when we do that. So it means a lot to me that you're here and I really appreciate it. The פרשה שיעור Parsha shiur is generously sponsored by Becky and Avi Katz and family in memory of David Grossman, in memory of Becky's father. Our learning should be לעילוי נשמת דוד בן מנחם מניס le'ilui nishmas Dovid ben Menachem Manis. This morning's שיעור shiur is sponsored in memory of Sam and Ruth Shenker. Despite having little means, they provided a great education for their children, a כשר kosher and happy home. May the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren continue to receive the merit of their integrity and guidance. And by Avi Miller, in appreciation of bringing great דברי תורה Dvrei Torah to the שבת Shabbos table. I don't know if you know, but we write up the פרשה Parsha perspective each week, the three most, hopefully, salient, compelling, inspiring points, one for each meal. There are three meals over שבת Shabbos, so three for three. You could print them out, bring them to your שבת Shabbos table. Thank you, Avi, for sponsoring for that. And also a רפואה שלמה refuah shleima for אברם אבא בן שיינדל Avram Abba ben Sheindel, should have good news today, please God, and should have a רפואה שלמה refuah shleima, a speedy, painless and complete רפואה שלמה refuah shleima.We have the privilege of beginning the third book of the Torah, ספר ויקרא Sefer Vayikra. ויקרא Vayikra, with a small אלף aleph. ויקרא אל משה וידבר השם אליו מאהל מועד לאמר Vayikra el Moshe vayidaber Hashem eilav mei'ohel mo'ed leimor. השם Hashem called out to Moshe, and he's calling out to each and every one of us. I think last year, previous years, we've discussed the notion of our calling. One should hear the voice of השם Hashem calling us, and that part of our mission, our mandate, part of our, our goal is to identify what is our calling, why are we here? It's not to have the most things, it's not to have the most wealth, but we have a calling. There's a mission, there's a purpose. It's unique and distinct for each and every one of us. It's why we are here, it's what our life is about, it is the legacy that we will leave. And in that sense, this book, the very name of the book, ויקרא Vayikra, that השם Hashem is calling, he's calling out to each and every one of us. The question is, is our antenna extended? Are we listening? Do we hear our calling? Do we pick up that signal to know who we are, who we're meant to be, what we're supposed to be? So we'll get back to that in a moment, but before we get and dive into the third book of the Torah, ספר ויקרא Sefer Vayikra, I want to spend a moment talking about תענית אסתר Taanis Esther. This week, Thursday, we will observe the Fast of Esther. And it's very unusual, because ordinarily when a fast occurs on שבת Shabbos, when do we observe it? We push it off, we delay it. And yet, תענית אסתר Taanis Esther is the exception when the fast falls on שבת Shabbos, as it does. The 14th of אדר Adar, פורים Purim is מוצאי שבת Motzei Shabbos Sunday. If you don't know, go get your משלוח מנות Mishloach Manos ready. It's coming. פורים Purim is מוצאי שבת Motzei Shabbos and Sunday, and yet, we don't delay or push off the fast of Esther, we, in fact, we bring it even earlier, closer, sooner. We observe it when? This Thursday. This Thursday. There's a big distinction between תענית אסתר Taanis Esther and the other four fast days, the other minor fast days. When it comes to, comes to צום גדליה Tzom Gedaliah, עשרה בטבת Asara B'Teves, שבעה עשר בתמוז Shivah Asar B'Tammuz and of course תשעה באב Tisha B'Av, we are continuing to suffer from the malady, from what's missing, it makes sense to observe it even today. There's no בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash. So the original siege and the destruction and the cause and the symptom, of course we observe it still today. We take a day and we abstain, we refrain from eating, and hopefully we elevate our soul over our body. We focus on what matters, we recalibrate our priorities, and we spend that day in reflection and fasting, really in a day of תשובה teshuva, trying to earn back not only what we lost, but what's still missing. There is no בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash. So those fast days make sense. But why do we fast תענית אסתר Taanis Esther? Because the Jewish people were endangered, we were threatened, because המן Haman and אחשוורוש Achashverosh had a plot and a plan, a ploy to destroy, to eliminate, to exterminate the Jewish people. But they tried to kill us, we won, let's eat. Here we are. So what do you mean, let's not eat? They tried to kill us, we won, let's eat. פורים Purim. Why do we have תענית אסתר Taanis Esther? If the whole reason and the cause for why we fasted to begin with was overturned, we were saved. We had salvation from our enemies. So the Jewish people fasted in anticipation of Esther's courage, of her plea for safety, but it worked. It worked, and here we are. So why are we still fasting? The רמב\"ם Rambam answers. When the רמב\"ם Rambam codifies the laws of fast days in his משנה תורה Mishneh Torah, he speaks of תענית אסתר Taanis Esther independent of the other fast days. And listen carefully, because if you want to understand what this Thursday is all about, if you want to observe it properly, if you want to really experience and be transformed by תענית אסתר Taanis Esther, where our fast days are not just about fasting. They're not some diet day, right? It never works because you eat twice as much the day before, twice as much the day after, twice as much for two weeks in anticipation of that one 12-hour lousy fast. So if you think it's all about losing weight, it ain't going to work. It's not about losing weight, it's supposed to be something more. And it's not about being dizzy and miserable and malnourished and lying in bed and not able to concentrate and can't daven. There's a meaning to the day, there's a depth to the day. We're trying to accomplish something to the day. And what is it we're trying to accomplish? So the רמב\"ם Rambam says, יש שם ימים שכל ישראל מתענים בהם מפני הצרות שאירעו בהם כדי לעורר הלבבות ולפתוח דרכי התשובה Yesh sham yamim shekol Yisrael mis'anim bahem mipnei ha'tzaros she'iru bahem kedei l'orer ha'levavos v'liftoach darchei ha'teshuva. There are days that we fast, and the רמב\"ם Rambam uses two words here, מפני הצרות mipnei ha'tzaros, as a result of the calamities, the crises, in order to awaken us, to arouse us, to open our hearts. לפתוח דרכי התשובה liftoach darchei ha'teshuva, and to repent, to return to the path that we're meant to be on. We fast. Some have argued over the last six months that we should have had a fast day. There's war, there's crisis in Israel. מפני הצרות Mipnei ha'tzaros, this is a צרה tzarah. A צרה tzarah, and we're trying to awaken ourselves, change ourselves, transform ourselves, be worthy. ויהא זה זכרון למעשינו הרעים ומעשה אבותינו שהיה כמעשינו עתה v'yehe zeh zikaron l'ma'aseinu ha'ra'im u'ma'aseh avoseinu she'hayah k'ma'aseinu atah. And we should reflect on our mistakes, our poor judgment, where we went wrong, and pledge and promise to improve, to be different, to be better. And then the רמב\"ם Rambam lists what are those days. יום שלישי בתשרי Yom shlishi b'Tishrei, which is צום גדליה Tzom Gedaliah, when גדליה Gedaliah was killed. עשרה בטבת Asara B'Teves, when the king, נבוכדנצר Nevuchadnetzar of בבל Bavel, came and put a siege around ירושלים Yerushalayim. 17th of תמוז Tammuz, the five things that happened. תשעה באב Tisha B'Av, the five things that happened. And then the רמב\"ם Rambam now separately, independently, now he addresses תענית אסתר Taanis Esther, our fast this week. ונהגו כל ישראל בזמנים אלו להתענות בשלושה עשר באדר, זכר לתענית V'nahagu kol Yisrael b'zmanim eilu l'his'anos bishlosha asar b'adar, zecher l'taanis. We also fast on the 13th of Adar to commemorate, not זכר לצרות zecher l'tzaros, not מפני הצרות mipnei ha'tzaros, not because of the calamities and crises which continue in our day, but rather זכר לתענית zecher l'taanis, to commemorate the fast. שנתענו בימי המן she'his'anu b'yemei Haman, that we fasted in those days. So the רמב\"ם Rambam in his inimitable fashion categorizes and he gives us definitions by categorizing distinct categories. There are the four fasts that are mourning of the בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash. Those are called מפני הצרות mipnei ha'tzaros, because of the crisis, the calamity. And the purpose, the goal of that day is תשובה teshuva. Don't eat, don't indulge, think and reflect how we could better be better and improve, what we could do more. Those are days of תשובה teshuva and what stimulates, what provokes them, what motivates them is מפני הצרות mipnei ha'tzaros, because of the calamity. תענית אסתר Taanis Esther, this Thursday, is not because of crisis and calamity. And the goal, every day is תשובה teshuva, but the goal of fasting is not תשובה teshuva. So what is it for? The רמב\"ם Rambam uses a different language. And what is the רמב\"ם Rambam's language? The רמב\"ם Rambam says, not מפני הצרות mipnei ha'tzaros, the רמב\"ם Rambam says, זכר לתענית zecher l'taanis. We are commemorating a fast. Why are we commemorating a fast? The רמב\"ם Rambam is essentially describing that part of observing פורים Purim is observing the totality of פורים Purim, not only the miracle and salvation when השם Hashem came through, but what brought it about? What was the catalyst of the miracle was the תענית taanis. What brought about the תענית taanis? After all, the מגילה Megillah tells us, דברי צומות וזעקתם divrei tzomos v'zaakasam. Mordechai and Esther not only record the miracles and wonders, but they recorded the fast and prayers as well. Why? Why did they record them? What was our weakness? What was the danger? Why did המן Haman perceive this is a moment to strike? The same thing that makes all of our enemies choose when to strike. Why did חמאס, ימח שמם וזכרם, Hamas, yimach shmam v'zichram on October 7th choose to strike? Supposedly without coordinating with Hezbollah and without the green light from Iran, but they struck. Why? What did they see? What made us seem vulnerable and fragile? Why? הן עם מפוזר ומפורד Hein am mefuzar u'meforad. They're divided, they're broken. There's on the brink of a civil war. They're ready to kill each other. Headlines, every Jewish newspaper, every Israeli newspaper, because of judicial reform, because of, of the army, because religious and secular, Jews in Israel and the diaspora, divided, broken, on the brink of civil war. And that's when our enemies say, this is not new. המן Haman did it then, חמאס Hamas does it now. הן עם מפוזר ומפורד Hein am mefuzar u'meforad. They're scattered, they're broken, they're divided, they're fighting with each other. They could never withstand our blow. They'll never withstand if we strike them. They'll never be able to come together in response. But they were wrong, they were wrong then, המן Haman was wrong then, and חמאס Hamas were wrong now. Because what did Esther teach us and what do we relive and commemorate? And this Thursday we need it as much as ever. What did Esther say? לך כנוס את כל היהודים Lech knos es kol haYehudim. Go gather all the Jews of Shushan and beyond. Go come together, go be united, go be one. You have one history and one destiny. And while there are divisions and differences, and many of them are important and legitimate and reasonable, and debates, but be united. לך כנוס את כל היהודים Lech knos es kol haYehudim. Go and gather all of the Jews. Go be a nation, go be a people, go show loyalty, go show love, go see what you have in common, not the differences that you have. That was the antidote and the answer then, it is the antidote and the answer now. And Thursday, the fast day, in a very unusual fashion, will not lead us right into פורים Purim. There's a break Friday and שבת Shabbos, and then we'll hear the מגילה Megillah on a full stomach and a good שלוף shluff. It's a great way for פורים Purim to fall. But Thursday, this fast day is not just about מפני הצרות mipnei ha'tzaros. It's not because of a past calamity in history. It's not because of an absence of a בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash today. It's not because of תשובה teshuva. It is a display of unity. Shuls everywhere should be packed this Thursday. Jews should take to the streets. We should have a rally. דאקע daka, maybe. We should have a rally on Thursday. It's a day of a כנוס kenes, of לך כנוס lech knos, of coming together, of showing and demonstrating the world that whatever difference and every divide, we are as and more united than ever. This is our Esther moment. This is our פורים Purim moment. This is our לך כנוס את כל היהודים lech knos es kol ha'yehudim moment to be together. And the רא\"ש, רבינו אשר, Rosh, Rabeinu Asher, in the back of the Talmud explains based on this another anomaly. Ordinarily, ordinarily before a Jewish holiday, the day before is אסור בהספד ובתענית assur b'hesped u'v'taanis. We already can anticipate the energy of that upcoming holiday, and on the ערב erev, the eve of that holiday, you're already, if you ever went to a funeral on ערב יום טוב erev yom tov, ערב שבת erev Shabbos, ערב חנוכה erev Chanukah, ערב ראש חודש erev Rosh Chodesh, the rabbi says, we can't give a eulogy, but we would be remiss if we didn't reflect and remember. They teach us that in rabbinical school. But we don't give a mournful and a tearful eulogy. We omit the קל מלא Kel Malei because on ערב erev, the eve of something, there's no fasting and there's no eulogy. And yet, תענית אסתר Taanis Esther is when? ערב פורים Erev Purim. So how do we violate our rule? Why are we fasting on an ערב erev when you're not allowed to fast on an ערב erev? So listen to what the רא\"ש Rosh says. He gives a remarkable answer. רבינו אשר Rabeinu Asher, זמן קהילה לכל היא, שנקלו ואמרו על נפשם למלחמה, ובקשו רחמים, וגם זה הוא מעיקר הנס Zman kehilla l'kol hi, shenik'halu v'amru al nafsham l'milchama, u'vikshu rachamim, v'gam zeh hu me'ikar ha'nes. It was a time of national gathering and connection in which they assembled and in which we came together and davened. We stood ready for war. And says the רא\"ש Rosh, that too is part of the miracle. The fact that we can come together on תענית אסתר Taanis Esther, set aside those differences and unite, that is as much of the miracle as the miracle of being saved from המן Haman. That too is part of the miracle. So ordinarily a fast is sad, and we don't do something sad on the eve of something happy. But this fast is not sad. And here's the punchline. תענית אסתר Taanis Esther is not a sad day. Don't walk around somber and sad. Again, this year it's a little unusual. Ordinarily people come to מנחה Mincha at the end of תענית אסתר Taanis Esther, they're already in their costume, their children are already in their costume. It feels really peculiar and paradoxical. What are we doing? It's it's a סתירה stira. It's still a fast day, but you're dressed up and festive. The answer is it's not a סתירה stira. It's not a contradiction. This fast is not a sad fast. It is a happy fast. We are reliving, we are commemorating, we are re-experiencing, we are reinvoking the זכר לתענית zecher l'taanis, לך כנוס את כל היהודים lech knos es kol ha'yehudim. We are coming together again. We are coming together again. The ראב\"ד Raavad writes, other fasts are sad. תענית אסתר Taanis Esther has an element of שמחה simcha. Be joyous and festive and happy. Not only because of the victory over our enemies, but what led to it, what caused it, the catalyst of it, which is coming together. Coming together. We have to come together.And with this, the שפת אמת Sefas Emes of the גערער רבי Gerrer Rebbe, the chance to meet with him again last week in ירושלים Yerushalayim, ברוך השם Baruch Hashem, in his ספר sefer, עבודת הסדור Avodas HaSiddur, answers the following. The גמרא בחזקת הבתים Gemara in Chazkes HaBateem, the גמרא בבא בתרא Gemara in Baba Basra on דף מ\"ו עמוד ב' Daf Mem-Vav Amud Beis, gives us several laws when it comes to עדות eidus, when it comes to the laws of testimony. In business relationships between individuals that might affect the acceptability of their testimony for one another. So the גמרא Gemara gives us some details of different laws. ערב Arev. ערב Arev is a guarantor. מלוה Malveh. מלוה Malveh is a lender. לוקח Lokeach. The לוקח Lokeach is the purchaser. And the קבלן Kablan is, not the contractor, a קבלן Kablan in תלמודיק Talmudic terminology is the full guarantor, the one who takes a full guarantee. So the גמרא Gemara there in בבא בתרא Baba Basra gives these דינים נוגע בעדות dinim noge'a b'eidus. And the גמרא Gemara offers a סימן nemanic as it often does and says if you want to remember these laws, the גמרא Gemara is filled with fantastic pedagogic tools, what they would call today hacks. So a סימן nemanic for how to remember these laws, these four laws that govern interpersonal business relationships, what are the four laws? ערב Arev, second one מלוה Malveh, לוקח Lokeach, קבלן Kablan. What's the סימן nemanic, the acronym of those four terms? עמלק Amalek. The גמרא Gemara says the סימן nemanic to remember these four is עמלק Amalek. ראשי תיבות ערב מלוה לוקח קבלן Rashei Teivos Arev Malveh Lokeach Kablan. ארבע דינים שנוגע בעדות Arba dinim she'noge'a b'eidus. So what, what does, why would we invoke עמלק Amalek interpersonal business relationships, a סימן nemanic? We're supposed to wipe out עמלק Amalek, and here we're invoking them and using them, utilizing them as a סימן nemanic. So the יעב\"ץ Yaavetz, ר' יעקב עמדין Rav Yaakov Emden was bothered by this question. ר' יעקב עמדין Rav Yaakov Emden and his יעב\"ץ Yaavetz writes the following. דכל מה דעשה רחמנא, לטב עביד, להכניס מנוול לבית המדרש לשבר כחו ולהוציא ממנו ניצוץ קדושה שבו D'kol mah d'avid Rachmana, l'tav avid. L'hachnis menuval l'beis ha'medrash l'shaber kocho u'l'hotzi mimenu nitzotz kedusha shebo. The יעב\"ץ, ר' יעקב עמדין Yaavetz, Rav Yaakov Emden says, this is an example of there is no absolute holy and absolute evil in the world. Even with the evil, we can break it apart and find the spark of holiness in it. So by dragging עמלק Amalek into the בית המדרש Beis Midrash and using the name, the word עמלק Amalek as a סימן nemanic, you're dragging עמלק Amalek into the בית המדרש Beis Midrash and extracting the spark, the ניצוץ של קדושה nitzotz shel kedusha in it. As the זוהר Zohar says on פרשת יתרו Parshas Yisro, במניות ואזהרות שבעשרת הדברות b'minios v'azharos sheb'aseres ha'dibros. And the יעב\"ץ Yaavetz goes on and explaining. So why is עמלק Amalek a סימן nemanic? Because this is an example, you can even find the קדושה kedusha within the טומאה tumah and you drag it into the בית המדרש Beis Midrash and עמלק Amalek and you could find it. But, however, the גערער רבי Gerrer Rebbe, ר' שאול אלתר Rav Shaul Alter, has a different explanation. And he spells it out in a long essay here in this wonderful ספר sefer. One out of time because I want to get to פרשת ויקרא Parshas Vayikra. But I'll tell you very quickly just the ראשי פרקים rashei prakim of what he says. He says a great lesson for our self-improvement lies in this סימן nemanic, because the גמרא Gemara is going to explain. He says, עבודת הסידור יש המפרש דינים נוגע בעדות. אנחנו כולנו עדים על אחדותו וייחודו של הקדוש ברוך הוא. Avodas ha'siddur, yesh ha'mefareish dinim noge'a b'eidus. Anachnu kulanu eidim al achduso v'yichudo shel HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Our mission, our purpose, the reason for our presence in this world is to testify that God is the creator. We are here as his agents, ambassadors, we are here as spokespeople and representatives, and we are here to live our life on the mission of being מרבה כבוד שמים marbeh kvod Shamayim. נקדש את שמך בעולם nekadesh es shimcha ba'olam. We are here to sanctify השם's Hashem's name everywhere. That's why we're here. So the way we carry ourselves, how we dress, how we interact, our honesty, our integrity, our making a hundred ברכות brachos each day, our turning and davening to him, our surrendering to him, the faith with which we live and cling to him. All of our life, all of this world are a platform to give עדות eidus, to testify that this is השם's Hashem's world. ואתם עדי נאום השם V'atem eidai ne'um Hashem, as the נביא ישעיהו Navi Yeshayahu says, ויש להיזהר ביותר שהעדות תהא ברורה בלא נגיעה v'yesh l'hizaher b'yoser she'ha'eidus tehe brura b'lo negiah. But you know, the witness has to give testimony which is objective and true and not laced or contaminated with any נגיעה negiah. Can't have any bias, can't have any ulterior motive. והגורם לכל הנגיעות הוא V'hagorem l'chol ha'negios hu, and when it comes to נגיעה negiah, when it comes to having a bias, when it comes to corrupting and distorting our testimony about השם Hashem, at the core of it all is the voice of עמלק Amalek. עמלק Amalek, שנמצא בתוך אדם she'nimtza b'soch adam. Because as much as we're obliterating and wiping out the עמלק Amalek, the enemy outside, of which we have many candidates today, חמאס Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, נבך nebach, Jews. Rabbi Wein, זאל זיין געזונט און שטארק zol zayn gezunt un shtark, who is strong as ever. Last week in his פרשה Parsha class said, you know where המן Haman went wrong? He didn't hire a Jew. He didn't have a Jewish senator or a Jewish congressman. He didn't have a Jewish, uh, woke progressive advocate for the poor civilians in Gaza. If המן Haman would have gotten a Jew, he could have taken down the Jews. But he made a mistake. He thought that only the non-Jews, as a non-Jew he would attack. נבך Nebach, our biggest danger. That was Rabbi Wein's insight of where המן Haman and our enemies went wrong. Because נבך nebach, we are our own worst, our own worst enemies. We'll stop short, of course, of calling our own עמלק Amalek. But there's the עמלק Amalek outside us, and there's the עמלק Amalek inside, the עמלק Amalek within that we're trying to defeat. So when we're trying to testify about השם Hashem, our whole purpose and mission in this world, sometimes there are נגיעות negios, sometimes we can be biased, sometimes other motivations can creep in. And that's where this acronym comes in, and that's what he elaborates on. What was the acronym? The ע ayin is for ערב Arev. An ערב Arev is a guarantor. כל ישראל ערבים זה בזה Kol Yisrael arevim zeh ba'zeh. עמלק נלחם Amalek nilcham, עמלק Amalek fights with us when we're weak, when we're divided. What's the answer? כל ישראל ערבים זה בזה Kol Yisrael arevim zeh ba'zeh, to be guarantors for one another, to be united, לך כנוס את כל היהודים lech knos es kol ha'yehudim. תענית אסתר Taanis Esther, to have an Esther day. This Thursday is כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael day, Esther day. לך כנוס Lech knos, we should go back to Washington a million strong. Jews should take to the streets תענית אסתר Taanis Esther. We should be reliving what we did then when enemies threatened us. To unite, to be together, to be an ערב Arev. כל ישראל ערבים זה בזה Kol Yisrael arevim zeh ba'zeh. And then he goes on. The מ mem is the מלוה Malveh, is the lender. הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu says to each of us, we have a שיבוד shibud. משועבדים לבורא יתברך שמו m'shubadim l'borei yisborach shmo. We have a debt to השם Hashem. We are each indebted to השם Hashem. And if we remember that we are indebted to השם Hashem, then we have to pay back the debt of the life that we have, the health, the ברכה bracha, the skills, the gifts that he's given us. We are indebted to him. The ל lamed is לוקח lokeach. What's לוקח lokeach? כי לקח טוב נתתי לכם Ki lekach tov nasati lachem. What is the לקח טוב lekach tov that we have, that we've been gifted? The Torah, of course. And of course, the ק kuf, the קבלן Kablan. The difference between a קבלן Kablan and an ערב Arev is an ערב Arev is a ספק safek. If the borrower doesn't pay back, you go to the ערב Arev. The קבלן Kablan, the guarantor, is an absolute guarantor. The the lender can go either to the borrower or the guarantor, the קבלן Kablan. So we have that level of being an ערב Arev of even being a קבלן Kablan, that interaction that we have with one another. ר' שאול אלתר Rav Shaul Alter in his wonderful ספר sefer goes through this and explains that's why there's the סימן nemanic. The גמרא בבא בתרא Gemara in Baba Basra seeming to be random laws having to do with interpersonal business relationships and we invoke an סימן nemanic עמלק Amalek. The answer is because we too are עדים eidim, we're witnesses. Our testimony about השם's Hashem's dominion, providence in this world shouldn't be tainted by any נגיעה negiah. How do we overcome the נגיעה negiah of עמלק Amalek, the voice of עמלק Amalek in our mind? ערב Arev, כל ישראל ערבים זה בזה Kol Yisrael arevim zeh ba'zeh, to be united. מלוה Malveh, we have a שיבוד shibud, we are indebted to השם Hashem. לוקח כי לקח טוב Lokeach, ki lekach tov, Torah, and קבלן Kablan, to be absolute guarantors of one another.פרשת ויקרא Parshas Vayikra, page 544 in the Artscroll חומש Chumash. So much more to say about פורים Purim, about תענית אסתר Taanis Esther. But this year תענית אסתר Taanis Esther can't just go by, right? Miserable caffeine pills, waking up early doesn't even help, having coffee, a bowl of cereal, now you're nauseous, going back to bed. This year תענית אסתר Taanis Esther can't just be about that. It has to be לך כנוס את כל היהודים lech knos es kol ha'yehudim. This year, the same way it brought salvation then, it has to bring salvation now. We have to put an end to this war, bring our hostages home, and the answer will be אחדות achdus. לך כנוס את כל היהודים Lech knos es kol ha'yehudim. When we are sick and tired of being מפוזר ומפורד בין העמים mefuzar u'meforad bein ha'amim, when we take to the streets all together united. ויקרא אל משה Vayikra el Moshe. Going back to some old friends today, starting with ר' דרוק Rav Druk. In his אש תמיד Eish Tamid. My new לבאו שעור ויקרא Lavo'o She'or Vayikra is coming today. I didn't have it in time. We're going back to the אש תמיד Eish Tamid. עשרה שמות נקראו למשה Asara sheimos nikru l'Moshe. Moshe had how many names? 10 names. ירד, חבר, יקותיאל, אביגדור, אבי סוכו, אבי זנוח, טוביה, שמעיה בן נתנאל ומשה *Yered, Chever, Yekusiel, Avigdor, Avi Socho, Avi Zanoach, Tuvia, Shmaya ben Nesanael, u'Moshe*. הרי עשרה Harei asara. Ten names. Ten names. In the מדרש ויקרא רבה Midrash Vayikra Rabbah elaborates and spells out what those ten names were. Whoever did his כתובה kesubah, good luck to them figuring out which name to use. אמר לו הקדוש ברוך הוא למשה *Amar lo HaKadosh Baruch Hu l'Moshe*, הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu tells Moshe, חייך, מכל שמות שנקראו לך, איני קורא לך אלא בשם שקראתה לך בתיה בת פרעה *Chayecha, mikol sheimos she'nikru l'cha, eini korei l'cha ela b'shem she'karasa l'cha Bitya bas Paroh*. I'm going to call you the name that you were given, that was bestowed upon you by the daughter of Pharaoh. ותקרא שמו משה. ויקרא אל משה *Vatikra shmo Moshe. Vayikra el Moshe*. And that's the beginning of ספר ויקרא Sefer Vayikra. God calls Moshe, he summons Moshe, God invites Moshe into the אוהל מועד ohel moed, and how does he do so? He doesn't use some name of affection. He doesn't even use the name that he gave. He doesn't use the name that Moshe's parents gave. Which name does he use? The name of the daughter of Pharaoh. And the question is why? Of all the names to give, to go over the name that Moshe's parents, to ignore the name that Moshe himself, the divine name he gave, divinely inspired name, and to skip right to the name of בתיה Basya, of בתיה בת פרעה Bitya bas Paroh, why? Why?So you see from this, says ר' דרוק Rav Druk, something incredibly important. Why did בתיה Bitya give him that name? ותקרא שמו משה כי מן המים משיתהו Vatikra shmo Moshe ki min ha'mayim mishisihu. רומז בזה לגודל עניין הכרת הטוב Romez b'zeh l'godel inyan hakaras hatov. מאחר בתיה בת פרעה שהצילתו מן היאור, היא זו שהעניקה לו את השם משה. לכן קרא הקדוש ברוך הוא למשה דוקא בשם זה. *Mei'achar Bitya bas Paroh she'hitzilaso min ha'yeor, hi zu she'he'enika lo es ha'shem Moshe. Lachen kara HaKadosh Baruch Hu l'Moshe davka b'shem zeh.* Because the nine other names are lovely, use them in other contexts, parents and השם Hashem and other names that he had, but the name that בתיה Bitya gave is the name that the woman who saved his life came. And every time that we use the name Moshe, we are reminded מן המים משיתהו min ha'mayim mishisihu. We only have a Moshe. Yesterday was ז' אדר Zayin Adar. Last night was our beautiful ז' אדר Zayin Adar dinner. Yesterday was Moshe's יארצייט yahrzeit and Moshe's birthday. And we mentioned the beautiful teaching at the ז' אדר Zayin Adar dinner of the אמרי פנחס Imrei Pinchas. The פנחס מקורץ Pinchas of Koritz. המן Haman miscalculated. He knew it was the day of Moshe's death. He forgot it was the day or didn't know it was the day of Moshe's birth. So he didn't realize that it was actually an auspicious day, he thought it was an inauspicious day. What's the difference? So the אמרי פנחס Imrei Pinchas says, one era ended when Moshe died. We lost Moshe, the physical Moshe. But the next era, the era of a כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael post Moshe was born, where we lived with Moshe's teachings even though we didn't have him. He continues to shape and mold us even in his absence. There is not a day, not a day has gone by since משה רבנו Moshe Rabbeinu left this world where the name Moshe is not used. Just think about how extraordinary. Can any other people's, can any other, can they say that? Not a name has gone by, Moshe. Every child, every baby knows the name, the word Moshe. and his other name, רבנו Rabeinu, in perpetuity. He is our master, he is our teacher forever. And what would the world look like if we didn't have him? A תורת משה Toras Moshe. משה אמת ותורתו אמת Moshe emes v'Toraso emes. The Moshe who took us out of מצרים Mitzrayim. The Moshe who went to bat for us over and over and time and time again, a miserable, incorrigible people. And yet, he came to our defense. What would the world, what would we look like? Would we be here? So every time we say the name Moshe, and we don't call him ירד חבר יקותיאל אביגדור אבי סוכו אבי זנוח טוביה שמעיה בן נתנאל *Yered, Chever, Yekusiel, Avigdor, Avi Socho, Avi Zanoach, Tuvia, Shmaya ben Netanael*. We don't call him any other name. Every time we say Moshe, we are remembering, oh yeah, and thank you, by the way, Pharaoh's daughter, so that we had a Moshe. הכרת הטוב Hakaros hatov. Says ר' דרוק Rav Druk, you know why השם Hashem says ויקרא אל משה vayikra el Moshe, we use the name Moshe? We're modeling הכרת הטוב hakaros hatov, gratitude, appreciation. It doesn't get old. We didn't pay off the debt. We don't just say once to בתיה בת פרעה Bitya bas Paroh, שכויח shkoyach, thank you, you saved Moshe. Now we're good, now we're done, now we're finished, we paid you back. Every time we use the name, we use the name Moshe to remember over and over and over again. This מידה midah of הכרת הטוב hakaros hatov we find in the מדרש Midrash. בזכות ג' דברים נברא העולם. חלה, מעשרות, ובכורים *B'zchus gimmel devarim nivra ha'olam: challah, ma'asros, u'vikurim*. בראשית ברא אלוקים. אין ראשית אלא חלה, ראשית עריסותיכם. אין ראשית אלא מעשרות, ראשית דגנך. ראשית בכורי אדמתך. ראשית is בכורים. *B'reishis bara Elokim. Ein reishis ela challah, reishis arisoseichem. Ein reishis ela ma'asros, reishis d'ganecha. Reishis bikurei admascha. Reishis* is *bikurim*. The first, the very first thing is gratitude. Wake up with an attitude of gratitude. That's why the three things that include the word ראשית reishis, beginning and first, those are the three most important things. It's in the merit of those firsts that the world is created. It means that our world, the equilibrium of our world, when we wake up, our emotional and our spiritual sanity, our equilibrium, our balance, our mental fitness, you know where it all begins with? Gratitude. Gratitude. And that's why what's the first word that comes out of our mouth every morning when we wake up? We open our eyes and we say, מודה אני modeh ani. Not אני מודה ani modeh, we don't say I. I can't be the first word. מודה Modeh. Gratitude, grateful am I. ראשית Reishis, the ראשית reishis, the first thing we say, the first word on our lips is not, oh, that hurts. First word on our lips is not, oh, what I have to deal with today. Oh, the bills that are coming in. Oh, this person who snored and kept me up the whole night next to me. The first word is not, oy, the first word is, grateful am I. Gratitude. We wake up with an attitude of gratitude. ראשית Reishis, that is the first. משה Moshe, we call him משה Moshe because we never stop being grateful. That is the role and that is the power and that is the place of gratitude in our lives. He elaborates much further, but I want to go over to Rav Wolbe. Rav Wolbe says the following. Rav Wolbe points to Rashi here on the opening פסוק pasuk, ויקרא Vayikra. And Rav Wolbe says the following. יאכל אף על הפסקות הייתה קריאה. הקדוש ברוך הוא calls Moshe. Each time he's going to speak to him, he calls him to the אוהל מועד *ohel moed* and he dictates. The תורה הקדושה *Torah HaKedosha* that we have came from השם Hashem. השם Hashem dictated it, but Moshe was the scribe, Moshe recorded it. And in between dictation, there would be a break, there was a הפסק *hefsek*. Not because Moshe couldn't. keep up. He was a great stenographer. Is that what it's called? Yeah? He would write, he was a scribe. He could keep up. Why did he have to take a break in between? יכל לעשות הפסקות היס קריאה תמיד לא, אבל ידבר לדיבור היס קריאה ולא להפסקות Yachol la'asot hafsakos hayis kria tamid lo, aval yedaber l'dibur hayis kria v'lo lahafsakos. There was a break before each time God spoke to Moshe, after each time. There was no break in between, in between when he summoned him. ומה היו הפסקות משמשות Umah hayu hafsakos m'shamshos? What was the purpose of a break? לתן רווח למשה להתבונן בין פרשה לפרשה litein revach l'Moshe l'hisbonein bein parsha l'parsha. Because Moshe did something which today is increasingly a lost art. You know what he did? He thought. He thought. He heard something. He said, huh. Let me think about that. We have so much noise and our life is moving so fast with such speed that the next thing, the next podcast, the next שיעור shiur, the next conversation, the next episode, the next place, the next purpose, and the next, we're just in motion all the time. These הפסקות hafsakos were a break, a pause. One presses pause. Why? להתבונן L'hisbonein, to contemplate, to think. To think. When do we ever do that? Great people do that. We have our בית מדרש Beis Medrash fly-in coming up. Last year or two years ago on our fly-in, one of the people we met with was Rav Meir Twersky שליט\"א shlita. Rav Twersky is one of those very unusual people. You ask him a question, and when you're done with the question, you know what happens? There's a pregnant pause. Which is a really awkward silence. What can feel like an eternity, but it's just a few moments, where he's doing something that none of us do. He's thinking about it before he answers. Most of us are formulating the thought while the other person's still speaking. We have the answer before they finish the question. We never really heard or absorbed, integrated the question. We didn't then take the time to stop and to think and to formulate an answer. It's all in one motion. It's so awkward because it's so unfamiliar that it feels so strange. But great people do that. Great people, when they're listening, they're listening. And then they stop and when they're thinking, they're thinking. And there are things that are so important that they're worth התבוננות hisbonenus. They're worth stopping and thinking. To turn off the noise. You're allowed to put your phone on airplane mode even while you're on the ground. Even while you're on the ground. To disconnect and to connect the thoughts and to say, huh. I want to think about that. I want to think about that. What does that mean? So what was the purpose? Hashem would dictate a passage to Moshe, and Moshe would write it and record it. And then there was a little break, a margin, where Moshe would think about it. And he would absorb it and integrate it and review it in his mind and have it become part of himself. ובין עניין לעניין קל וחומר הדיוט מהדיוט Uvein inyan l'inyan kal vachomer hedyot meihedyot. And Rashi says if that was true for משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu, the greatest mind, the greatest human of all time, one of the 13 principles of faith from the Rambam is to believe that Moshe is categorically different than all others, human, but categorically superior. And if that was true for Moshe that he needed to make space and margin and think, then all the more so it's true for us. All the more so it's true for us. And says Rashi, that space was between each time God spoke. The margin, the space was not between ויקרא Vayikra. ויקרא אל משה Vayikra el Moshe, when God called Moshe, there wasn't a break. But רואין שהיה כאן הוה אמינא ro'in shehaya kan hava amina, writes Rav Volbe in his שיעורי חומש Shiurei Chumash, writes the great משגיח Mashgiach Rav Volbe, רואים מכאן ro'im mikan we can see from here שהיה כאן הוה אמינא shehaya kan hava amina, שצריך קריאה להפסקות shetzarich kria lahafsakos, משה משה Moshe Moshe, למה lama. You see that there's a הוה אמינא hava amina. In the end there is no break even when God called Moshe, but we're considering at least that maybe even that was worthy. That God would call Moshe, and Moshe would say, huh. I hear God calling me, let me think for a moment. How does that feel? What does that mean? What is that all about? What does it mean to be called? Who is the one calling? How does it feel? What is a calling? That space, that margin, that capacity to be contemplative, to be thoughtful, to think is so significant. הוה אמינא Hava amina I might have even thought it applied to the קריאה kria. שזה כדי להתבונן בין פרשה לפרשה. למעשה לא היה שקריאה Shezeh kedei l'hisbonen bein parsha l'parsha. L'maaseh lo haya sh'kria. ואם משה שלמד מפי הגבורה היה צריך רווח להתבונן, אף פי שהוא למד הכל לגמרי V'im Moshe shelamad mipi hagvurah haya tzarich revach l'hisbonen, af pi shehu lamad hakol legamrei, and if Moshe needed that space, אנו על אחת כמה וכמה anu al achas kama v'kama, we all the more so. אם היינו מתבוננים במעשי מצווה הרבה יותר תורה im hayinu misbonenim b'maasei mitzvah harbei yoser Torah. If we would simply after we heard a שיעור shiur, not jump up and run out, stop and think. Huh, what did I hear? Which message hit me the most, the hardest? How did it change me, transform me? What do I want to take away from it? How do I think about it differently now than I thought about it before when I came in? We would be such different people if when we read, it didn't go in one ear and out the other. How many books are you in the middle of reading that you're not even sure what paragraph you're up to because you've read the same paragraph so many times because you fell asleep and the book ended up on your nose?I was in Israel last week. On the way there, the woman next to me watched the movie Golda three times because each time she fell asleep like three minutes into the movie. So she watched it three. By the end, I think she just gave up. By the end, she gave up. But imagine if we would read and every now and then between paragraphs or chapters we'd stop and close the book and say, I just want to think about this. I want to have insight. I want to contemplate, I want to think, I want to absorb, I want to ingest and digest what I just read. If Moshe needed it, all the more so we do. יכולים ללמוד הרבה ולהבין הרבה, אבל בלי התבוננות, זה חסר Yecholim lilmod harbeh u'lehavin harbeh, aval bli hisbonenus, zeh chaser. But without contemplativeness, it is missing something. זהו כל הצורך של בין הזמנים zehu kol hatzorech shel bein hazmanim, said the משגיח Mashgiach, that is the entire origin of why in ישיבות yeshivos there is a break בין הזמנים bein hazmanim between semesters. Why? Just learn straight. It's ביטול תורה bitul Torah. What's going on? You should know this year it's very hard. I was talking to my sons-in-law, talking to the בחורים bachurim in our yeshiva South Florida, because of אדר שני Adar Sheini, it's a leap year, there's a whole other month. If you think about the fact that we are now deep into אדר שני Adar Sheini, it means we would be past ראש חודש ניסן Rosh Chodesh Nissan, they'd be on בין הזמנים bein hazmanim. They'd all be home, helping, helping their parents. They'd all be home because that break is important to absorb and integrate and have insight and contemplate everything that was learned that זמן zman. It's so critically important to have that break and to have that space and to be able to be contemplative and to be able to be thoughtful. We call that, we call that margin. We call that margin. And it has a הלכה halacha. The גמרא מנחות דף כ\"ט עמוד א' Gemara Menachos daf kaf tes amud aleph, Rav Volbe doesn't say this, but I'm adding it in. כל אות שאין גויל מוקף מארבע רוחותיה פסולה Kol os she'ein gvil mukaf mei'arba ruchoseha, psulah. Open a ספר תורה sefer Torah and any letter that is not surrounded by קלף klaf. גויל זה קלף Gvil zeh klaf. All around it is a פסול תורה pasul Torah. It's not kosher, you can't read from such a Torah. What does that mean? If two letters are touching, the Torah is not כשר kasher. The Torah is not valid. The Torah is invalidated, the Torah is פסול pasul. If two letters are touching. It has to be מוקף גויל mukaf gvil, it has to have parchment all around it. If letters run into another with no break, the Torah is not kosher. There need to be boundaries and borders around each and every letter. And there's a lot of lessons we've spoken about some of them in the past. One of them is ישראל יש ששים ריבוא אותיות לתורה Yisrael yeish shishim ribo osiyos laTorah. Every Jew has their letter in the Torah. During הגבהה hagbah we should find the letter that is the beginning of your name. We bow to it, we bend to it, we point to it and we say that's my place in Torah. And so the letters can't be touching because each of us are unique and distinct, each of us are a חלק אלוקה ממעל ממש chelek Eloka mima'al mamash, each of us is a צלם אלוקים tzelem Elokim. Our purpose, our mission is not to compete or compare or contrast to others. Our letters shouldn't be touching others. Each stands alone. That's one idea, that's one lesson. But it goes even deeper. Why do the letters' borders matter? Why are they important? If you have a חומש Chumash in front of you, notice something about your חומש Chumash. You'd be much more efficient and save money if the ink on the page of your חומש Chumash went all the way to the edge of the page. Start at the top and the bottom, start on the right and the left edge, fill the page with ink, let the writing go the entire page, and the book would be much shorter, would be less expensive to produce. And yet, every book of every subject, of every nature, of all time, has something that publishers call margin. Why? Why is margin important? Because if there weren't margin, if there weren't the proper spacing between the lines and between the borders and margin, books would simply be unreadable. That white space in the columns and in between the paragraphs, the white space not only makes it prettier and makes it a more readable layout, but it gives the room to absorb and contemplate and assimilate. Even without intention, that's what our brain, what our eyes are doing. The margin is allowing us to read and read on a pace in which we're absorbing that which comes in. Rav Kook. Rav Kook שמואות הראי\"ה ד' Shmuos HaRe'iyah daled. When the Midrash describes the Torah was given on black fire on white fire. The ink of Torah is black fire on white fire. It means the words have meaning, but the blank space, the white parchment, the margin is also fire, is no less significant than the writing. Listen to what Rav Kook writes. I'll read it to you in the English. We can deepen our understanding of the white and black fires by considering another example of white space in the Torah. Extra space is left blank to separate sections of the Torah. חז\"ל Chazal explained these separations allowed Moshe to reflect upon and absorb the previous lesson. In other words, the white fire corresponds to the loftier realm of thought and contemplation. The black fire, the letters, is the revelation of intellect into the realm of language, a contraction of and limitation of abstract thought into the more concrete level and space. We need margin. Margin in life. And that's what the Torah is telling us here. ויקרא Vayikra, הוה אמינא hava amina was even margin before the ויקרא Vayikra. It was only when Hashem spoke. But says Rav Volbe, you see from here such an important idea and an important lesson, and that is to be contemplative, to be thoughtful, to not just run one into the other, to not always be surrounded and filled with noise, but to make space and to be contemplative. פסוק ב' Pasuk beis. Moving right along, we're flying now. פסוק ב' Pasuk beis. דבר אל בני ישראל ואמרת אליהם Daber el Bnei Yisrael v'amarta aleihem, speak to the people and tell them, אדם כי יקריב מכם קרבן להשם Adam ki yakriv mikem korban l'Hashem, when a person brings a קרבן korban, this is תורת כהנים Toras Kohanim in the book of ויקרא Vayikra, now that we've built a משכן Mishkan, we went from a family to a people, and a people who need a central gathering place, a place of religious observance, a משכן Mishkan. And now we need to know how do you operate the משכן Mishkan? What's done in the משכן Mishkan? Who serves in the משכן Mishkan? What are the sacrifices of the משכן Mishkan? So we begin with this introduction, אדם כי יקריב מכם קרבן להשם Adam ki yakriv mikem korban l'Hashem, when a person offers a קרבן korban to God, מן הבהמה מן הבקר ומן הצאן תקריבו את קרבנכם min habeheima min habakar umin hatzon takrivu es korbancem, from the animal do you offer this sacrifice. And I don't want to repeat the דברי תורה divrei Torah we've shared in the past, even though they're so גישמאק geshmak and געוואלדיק gevaldik and they're so great. Which is why you could listen to previous years or read the write-up from previous years. Every time we try to share, we try to share new. So Rav Druk says here, in this פסוק pasuk, you have several questions. אדם כי יקריב מכם Adam ki yakriv mikem. מדוע לא מספיק לומר דבר אל בני ישראל ואמרת אליהם כי תקריבו Madua lo maspik lomar daber el Bnei Yisrael v'amarta aleihem ki sakrivu. Why do we need the introduction אדם כי יקריב מכם Adam ki yakriv mikem? When a person brings from themselves a קרבן korban, just say תקריבו את קרבנכם takrivu es korbancem, bring your קרבן korban. Skip right to the action item. תקריבו Takrivu, bring the קרבן korban. Why do I need to make an emphasis אדם כי יקריב Adam ki yakriv if תקריבו takrivu, if you're offering, it's obvious you're offering מכם mikem. So it seems redundant, an entirely superfluous. Moreover, what is the word מכם mikem? What is the word מכם mikem mean? From you. Should be אדם כי יקריב Adam ki yakriv, when you bring a sacrifice from the animal, from the flock, from the... what do you mean מכם mikem? Who else are you bringing it from? Why does it have to use the word מכם mikem? And also why does it say מן הבהמה, מן הבקר ומן הצאן min habeheima min habakar umin hatzon? מן הבהמה Min habeheima includes בקר וצאן bakar v'tzon. בקר וצאן Bakar v'tzon are spelling out flock, different types of animals, but בהמה beheima is a generic term all inclusive and it includes בקר וצאן bakar v'tzon. So why do I bring the general term, the generic term, and then spell out the specific terms? What's going on? Three questions just on this פסוק pasuk alone. And with it Rav Druk says the following. We're all made up of two parts. The של\"ה הקדוש Shlah Hakadosh told us this אדם פסיכוס חכמה גימל Adam Psichos Chav Gimmel points out that a human being is made up of two parts. There's the animal part, the animal soul, the נפש nefesh. We have an animal impulse, an animal desire, animal, animal inclinations. It's a piece of us which has an animal appetite. We eat like an animal, and we keep our room like a pigsty, and we act like animals, and animal house, and animal, and animal, and animal. That's the animal, the lowest part of who we are is when we indulge that instinct, that urge, without any discipline, without any sovereignty. There's the animal in us, the animal in us. But then we have on top of that a חלק אלוקה ממעל ממש chelek Eloka mima'al mamash. We have a godly soul. God breathed his self into us. That gives us discipline, the capacity to regulate ourselves, to not indulge every impulse and every appetite and every instinct, but to say, I'm going to have judgment. I'm going to regulate, I'm going to be disciplined in all that I do. And that's what's going on in this פסוק pasuk. אדם כי יקריב מכם Adam ki yakriv mikem. אדם Adam is אדמה לעליון adameh l'elyon. עיקר התכלית Ikar hatachlis is to take the lowly part of who we are and dedicate it to the highest part of who we are. To dedicate it to the highest part of who we are. When a person makes a mistake, a חטא cheit, why do we bring a קרבן korban to repair and to atone for the חטא cheit, for the mistake that we do. What is the mistake that we did? We indulged the animal impulse. That was the mistake. So instead of the godly soul being the boss, being supreme, being in charge, we indulged that animal instinct. We indulged that animal soul. So how do we repair? We sacrifice that animal. And we sacrifice that animal, not the external animal that we went to the שוק shuk and we bought the little sheep or we bought the, we bought the cow, we bought the ram, we brought the doves, we brought the birds. It's not the animal that we bought at the שוק shuk that we're sacrificing. It's אדם כי יקריב מכם Adam ki yakriv mikem. It's the animal inside us. Because at the root and the core of all failure, of all poor judgment, of all mistake, of all חטא cheit is the בהמה beheima, the animal inside us that went wrong. So in order to repair and atone, in order to improve, it's אדם כי יקריב מכם Adam ki yakriv mikem. So not just do we תקריבו takrivu, do you bring it, it's not just bringing the animal that you brought at the marketplace, but it's אדם כי יקריב מכם Adam ki yakriv mikem, that the person has to go in with the mindfulness and the attitude that what you're really bringing is the sacrifice of מכם mikem that comes from inside us. The נגיד יוסף Negid Yosef, Rav Yosef Sorotzkin. Rashi here says, אדם Adam, למה נאמר lama ne'emar? Why does it say אדם כי יקריב Adam ki yakriv? What could it have said? איש Ish, אנוש enosh, גבר gever, we have many other words for man. But we invoke the word for man, which is a throwback to, whenever you hear the name אדם Adam, what does it remind you of? אדם הראשון Adam Harishon. We asked this last year or two years ago, we quoted a חתם סופר Chasam Sofer I believe. But רבי יוסף סורוצקין the נגיד יוסף Negid Yosef says the following. Rashi tells us אדם למה נאמר Adam lama ne'emar. Why do we invoke אדם הראשון Adam Harishon? מה אדם הראשון לא הקריב מן הגזל שהכל היה שלו mah Adam Harishon lo hikriv min hagazel shehakol haya shelo, just like אדם הראשון Adam Harishon didn't sacrifice when he brought sacrifices, it didn't come from stolen property, it all belonged to him, אף אתם לא תקריבו מן הגזל af atem lo sakrivu min hagazel. It's a message and a mandate to all of us, when you sacrifice, don't sacrifice from stolen, it has to belong to you. And wonders the נגיד יוסף Negid Yosef, what's the comparison? Anyone realize the failure, the breakdown of the logic? אדם Adam. Why does the Torah use the word אדם Adam to remember אדם הראשון Adam Harishon? And what's the law or the rule that we are deriving? Just like אדם הראשון Adam Harishon only offered and gave from that which legitimately belonged to him, didn't steal, so too, you don't offer or bring from anything that doesn't belong to you, don't steal. Where's the breakdown of the comparison? מה שאדם הראשון לא הקריב מן הגזל שלא יכול להקריב מן הגזל mah she'Adam Harishon lo hikriv min hagazel, shelo yachol l'hakriv min hagazel. The מושג של גזל musag shel gezel, a possibility of שייכות לאדם הראשון shayachus l'Adam Harishon, שלא היה לו ממי לגזול shelo haya lo mimi ligzol. The whole notion of stealing didn't apply to Adam. Everything belonged to him, he was in the Gan. From whom was he stealing? There was no one to steal from. He was the only person. He was the only creature. So the fact that he didn't steal is not a precedent and doesn't teach a law for us. It was just a technicality, there was no one to steal from. So how do you learn from there that we too should not offer or sacrifice from that which is stolen? No? It's a good question on Rashi. Says Rav Sorotzkin, איפכא מסתברא צריך לומר שרש\"י לא מוסבר לומר שמאדם הראשון למדנו איסור גזל ifcha mistabra tzrich lomar sheRashi lo musbar lomar shemeiAdam Harishon lamadnu issur gezel. We're not learning from Adam Harishon that you shouldn't steal and that you shouldn't sacrifice from that which you stole. What are we learning? Listen to this insight. לומר עד כמה אנו צריכים להתרחק מן הגזל עד שאין הדבר כלל אפשרי כמו שלא היה שייך גזל אצל אדם הראשון Lomar ad kama anu tzrichim l'hisrachek min hagazel ad she'ein hadavar klal efshari k'mo shelo haya shayach gezel etzel Adam Harishon. That's exactly the lesson that we're learning. Just like Adam Harishon couldn't steal, it was beyond him, it was not possible in his case because there was no one to steal from, so too for us, stealing should not be within the realm of possibility. Just like for Adam Harishon it was impossible, so too for you, for us, it should be impossible. Like the Torah says, לא תאכל בשערך lo suchal bisharecha. שתכף מאכלות אסורות צריך להיות חמור בעיניו עד שיגיש שאינו יכול shetakef ma'achalos asuros tzrich l'hiyos chamur b'einav ad sheyargish she'eino yachol. When the Torah gives us the laws of כשרות kashrus, it says לא תאכל lo suchal, you're incapable of eating it בשערך bisharecha. Why does the Torah say, it should say don't eat, not you're incapable of eating. Why does the Torah instruct us not to eat non-kosher, formulating it in a way, incapable of eating? אלא מאי Ela mai, what's the answer? Our attitude to Torah and מצוות mitzvos should be such. If we have effectively communicated to our children and grandchildren an allegiance, a loyalty, a fidelity to observe Torah and מצוות mitzvos, it means that we are incapable of violating some red lines. Red lines. Not red lines like other human beings put out and then walk back. But for us a red line is a red line. And for us, non-kosher is poison. Poison. Non-kosher is poison. When you have an I first moved to Boca, we were in the Kollel. And my assignment, I was involved in a lot of outreach, we started the explanatory service. And there was a family we had over several times who wanted to reciprocate and have us back. They ordered kosher food, but they didn't realize when you heat it in your own non-kosher oven and serve it on your non-kosher utensils, that also makes it non-kosher. And that was one of my early moments of truth professionally, because it's really awkward and difficult to explain and could be hurtful and embarrassing and humiliating. So what will come first? Which loyalty? Will you in your mind rationalize and explain and rely on leniencies, or will you communicate and demonstrate, you love you, but there are red lines. So I remember the son who was a teenager at the time said, \"Rabbi, can't you just like bless the food or something and make that problem go away? Just bless the food and make it kosher. Just bless it and make it good and make it kosher.\" And I remember I explained to him that for us kosher, if your child had an allergy and could go into anaphylactic shock and die from that allergy, from exposure, would you say just bless the food? Would you say, I'm not really sure if that ingredient is in there, but I think it's not, so just try it, just go for it. It's a red line. If it's life or death, if it's physical poison, for us non-kosher is physical poison. It's a red line. It's life or death spiritually. We know that a person who imbibes, who eats non-kosher, they absorb the qualities of that which they ate, and there's a negative energy that they that they assume. It's a spiritual poison, which is no less significant and dangerous than a physical poison, and that's why it's an absolute and a strict red line. So the Torah doesn't say don't eat non-kosher. It says get to a place of לא תאכל lo suchal where you can't eat, where you're incapable of eating. Later too, I think it's פרשת בלק Parshas Balak, חוקת Chukas, Torah tells us כי אז גבול בני אמון ki az gvul Bnei Amon. Don't go into the land of אמון Amon. כי אז גבול בני אמון Ki az gvul Bnei Amon. The boundary of אמון Amon was very strong. He doesn't bring this down, Rav Sorotzkin. But Rashi there says, what made it so strong, the boundary? They had a big fence? Going to build a fence? They built a fence? Going to make Amon pay for it? We're going to put up a fence and we're going to make Amon pay for it. Is that why the כי אז גבול ki az gvul, the boundary was so strong? So Rashi says, you know why כי אז גבול בני אמון ki az gvul Bnei Amon? Because Hashem said don't go there. That's why that boundary was so strong. Whenever I share that Rashi, I always tell the story which is true and it's true for all of us. You have your kid at the supermarket. And because they hate parents, they put a wall of candy and chocolate right opposite the cash register. So that while you're in line is a perfect time for a child to have throw an absolute tantrum. I've told you this before. And a child begins to negotiate, because they know they will wear you down. We should send the children to Qatar to negotiate the hostage release. They will wear you down. The louder, the bigger the tantrum, the more they cry, the more they scream, they just need to outlast you. They just need to wear you down. So you give every argument under the sun. You just had three cavities, you haven't eaten dinner yet. You can't, that candy is so expensive. It's about to be Purim and you're going to eat candies all day and all night. No, no, no. Still tantrum. The kid is now on the floor, crying and screaming, security's there, the whole supermarket's come to a standstill and a stop, the recorded the video is on, it's going to go viral for the whole world to see. But if you turn to the kid and you say, the candy's not kosher. What does every Jewish child who's brought up on kosher do? They say, okay. And they put it back. Why? Why don't they negotiate? Why don't they cry? Why don't they scream? Why don't they throw a tantrum? Why don't they garner attention? Why is it the moment you say the words, \"it's not kosher,\" it is the end of conversation? You know why? Because they know that for Mommy and Daddy, candy, negotiable. But for Mommy and Daddy, non-kosher, that's a red line. כי אז גבול Ki az gvul, that is a strong boundary. That's impenetrable. That's non-negotiable. I'm not going to waste my time and energy because I'm not going to get anywhere. They don't even know to think that through or they couldn't communicate that out loud, but internally, that's what's going on. That's what's going on. So that's what Rav Sorotzkin suggests. אדם כי יקריב מכם Adam ki yakriv mikem. Why אדם Adam? Just like אדם Adam wasn't מן הגזל min hagazel, so too we it shouldn't be מן הגזל min hagazel. What's the comparison? אדם Adam couldn't be מן הגזל min hagazel. The answer is, yeah, you too, it shouldn't be capable of being מן הגזל min hagazel. We should live lives where honesty and integrity is so true and core to who we are, we're incapable of telling a lie. We're incapable of bending the truth. We're incapable of being dishonest. We're incapable of stealing. We're incapable of stealing. It has to be honest and it has to be true and it has to be to such an extent that we are incapable of of stealing.Okay, we'll do an עוצר פלוס התורה Ozer Plus HaTorah. וסמך ידו V'samach yado פרק א' פסוק ד' perek aleph pasuk daled. Turning the page, at least you could say we turned the page. וסמך ידו על ראש העולה V'samach yado al rosh ha'olah, the כהן kohen puts the hands on top of the sacrifice, ונרצה לו לכפר עליו v'nirtzah lo l'chaper alav. He puts the hands on top of the sacrifice, leans on the sacrifice, he's סומך somech, סמיכה smicha. The origin, the source of סמיכה smicha is to lean, is to lean. At the big dinner at Huna and Tinak, עליו השלום alav hashalom, on Cedar Lane in Teaneck, after my סמיכה smicha, my parents took us all out to eat. This was my little דבר תורה dvar Torah. סמיכה Smicha, when one gets סמיכה smicha, is סומך somech, it's because the community is leaning on the people with סמיכה smicha, leaning and putting their weight and unburdening themselves to carry the burden. That's וסמך ידו v'samach yado, to lean on. So the עוצר פלוס התורה Ozer Plus HaTorah mentions here the מחלוקת הראשונים שנחלקו חכמי ישראל בהלכה machlokes harishonim shenechleku chachmei Yisrael b'halacha. The very first מחלוקת machlokes, did this ever occur to you historically? We have a Torah, the Torah gives us הלכה halacha. We have an oral Torah, we have the תורה שבעל פה Torah sheb'al peh, we have ש\"ס Shas. ש\"ס Shas is filled with מחלוקתם machloksim left and right and center. When did we go from all knowing the correct thing to a big debate about what's correct? How did that work historically? What was the very first מחלוקת machlokes? The very first debate in הלכה halacha? And the answer is this. שלמי חגיגה שמקריבין ביום טוב Shalmei chagigah shemakrivin b'Yom Tov. The קרבן שלמים korban shlamim of a חגיגה chagigah that's offered on יום טוב Yom Tov, does the one who brings them need to do סמיכה smicha like you do סמיכה smicha on other קרבנות karbanos? או שם הבקר ושלמי חגיגה אסור לסמוך כיון שצריך לסמוך בכל כחו O shema habakar v'shalmei chagigah assur lismoch, keivan shetzarich lismoch b'chol kocho. Or maybe no, because when one does סמיכה smicha, they have to put all their weight, and you're not allowed to lean on an animal on יום טוב Yom Tov. It's מוקצה muktzeh, you can't lean on the animal for whatever reason. נחלקו בזה חכמי המשנה דור אחר דור Nechleku b'zeh chachmei haMishnah dor achar dor, the generations of the Mishnah generation after generation debated this. The משנה בחגיגה פרק ב' Mishnah b'Chagigah perek beis, יוסי בן יועזר Yosi ben Yoezer, יוסי בן יוחנן Yosi ben Yochanan, יהושע בן פרחיה Yehoshua ben Prachia, נתאי הארבלי Nitai HaArbeli, יהודה בן טבאי Yehuda ben Tabbai, שמעון בן שטח Shimon ben Shetach, שמעיה Shmaya, אבטליון Avtalyon, and Rashi there writes in חגיגה דף טז Chagigah daf tes zayin, זוהי מחלוקת ראשונה שהיה בחכמי ישראל zoi machlokes rishonah shehay'sah b'chachmei Yisrael. This was the very first מחלוקת machlokes. Torah says הלכה halacha וסמך ידו v'samach yado, does that apply to the שלמי חגיגה shalmei chagigah on יום טוב Yom Tov? First מחלוקת machlokes. Very first מחלוקת machlokes. And the Yerushalmi continues, בראשונה לא היה מחלוקת אלא על סמיכה בלבד B'rishonah lo hay'sa machlokes ela al smicha bilvad. ועמדו שמאי והלל ועשו אותן ארבע V'amdu Shammai v'Hillel v'asu osan arba. Then Shammai and Hillel got up and said, no, no, that's not the only debate. They added four more things to fight about. Then the students of בית שמאי ובית הלל Beis Shammai and Beis Hillel got up and now they had a מחלוקת machlokes on issues of טומאה וטהרה tumah v'taharah. And from there, we were off to the races that you can't turn a page of Talmud without a debate about everything. A debate about everything. Which is part of the beauty and the development of תורה שבעל פה Torah sheb'al peh and אלו ואלו דברי אלוקים חיים eilu v'eilu divrei Elokim chayim that there can be and are multiple truths to our תורה הקדושה Torah Hakdosha. There's only one פרק perek of משניות mishnayos that has no מחלוקת machlokes. Actually, there's one more than one פרק perek, but there's one famous פרק perek of משניות mishnayos. And what is it? The first מחלוקת machlokes was in the context of קרבנות karbanos, סמיכה smicha. However, there's a פרק perek that has no מחלוקת machlokes. What פרק perek is that? איזהו מקומן של זבחים Eizehu mekoman shel zvachim. Some of you are looking at me knowing that's a very familiar פרק perek. Some of you don't get to shul on time, have no idea what I'm talking about. The fifth פרק perek of מסכת זבחים Maseches Zvachim, the משניות mishnayos of the fifth פרק perek are איזהו מקומן של זבחים eizehu mekoman shel zvachim and if you say it every day, you notice there is no מחלוקת machlokes. So the first מחלוקת machlokes had to do with קרבנות karbanos and the פרק perek that has no מחלוקת machlokes has to do with קרבנות karbanos. And the גמרא מסכת ברכות Gemara Maseches Brachos teaches, אין עומדים להתפלל לא מתוך דין ולא מתוך דבר הלכה אלא מתוך הלכה פסוקה ein omdim l'hispallel lo mitoch din v'lo mitoch dvar halacha ela mitoch halacha psukah. That one should stand up to daven from a position of a correct absolute הלכה halacha. And that's the בית יוסף Beis Yosef says, so that's why we read איזהו מקומן eizehu mekoman because we're reading a פרק perek that has no מחלוקת machlokes, which is a הלכה פסוקה halacha psukah, and the best way to get up and to daven from. It's brought down, it's brought down, the שולחן הטהור Shulchan HaTahor, הלכות ברכת השחר Hilchos Birkas HaShachar says, he quotes Rav Yitzchak Isaac of Komarna, quote: פרק איזהו מקומן שהוא על הקרבנות Perek Eizehu Mekoman shehu al hakorbanos, ויש בו תמניא מסבא ויש בו ח' משניות שהם הלכה פסוקה ואין בו מחלוקת, אף על פי שיש ששה פרקים שאין בהם מחלוקת v'yeish bo tmanya misba v'yeish bo ches mishnayos shehem halacha psukah, v'ein bo machlokes, af al pi sheyeish shisha prakim she'ein bahem machlokes, even though there are six other פרקים prakim in ש\"ס Shas. People mistakenly say that איזהו מקומן eizehu mekoman is the only פרק perek with no מחלוקת machlokes, not true. First פרק perek of מעשר שני Maaser Sheini, ninth פרק perek of יבמות Yevamos, eighth פרק perek of שבועות Shavuos, fifth פרק perek of זבחים Zvachim, second פרק perek of נעילה Ne'ilah, third פרק perek of נגעים Nega'im. Why was איזהו מקומן eizehu mekoman chosen? אף על פי כן בחרו בזה שהוא סדר הקרבנות כולם בכלל, וכשיש על אדם מחלוקת מריש וחציפי הדור, יאמר בכל יום לשמוע אותן שיש פרקים וימשיך שלום Af al pi kein bachru b'zeh shehu seder hakorbanos kulam bichlal, v'k'sheyeish al adam machlokes m'rish v'chatzifei hador, yomar b'chol yom lishmoa osan sheyeish prakim v'yamshich shalom. A סגולה sgulah for not having מחלוקת machlokes. Someone's coming after you online, on social media, someone's attacking you unfairly, someone is starting and stirring a מחלוקת machlokes, a debate with you, have extra כוונה kavanah when you say איזהו מקומן eizehu mekoman. When you say the פרק perek of קרבנות karbanos that has no מחלוקת machlokes, that is a סגולה sgulah for שלום shalom, for שלום בית shalom bayis, to not have מחלוקת machlokes. To not have מחלוקת machlokes. Why קרבנות karbanos? Because קרבן korban is sacrifice. Sacrificing מכם mikem. A person should think maybe what they did wrong, what they could do better. So even though there are other פרקים prakim. that don't have that don't have מחלוקס machlokes, we invoke איזהו מקומן eizehu mekomon, and when a person says it every day and says it with כוונה kavanah, that is a סגולה segulah against, to combat against, to combat against מחלוקס machlokes in our lives. Let's just do one of Rav Soloveitchik and we'll end at this, because we have to get a Rav Soloveitchik in.Rav Soloveitchik says the following. Pasuk tells us כל חלב וכל דם לא תאכלו kol cheilev ve'chol dam lo socheilu. In the קרבנות karbanos, you're not allowed to eat any fat or any blood. It's in פרק ד perek daled. כל חלב kol cheilev, כל חלב וכל דם לא תאכלו kol cheilev ve'chol dam lo socheilu. writes the Rav. While detailing the laws of the קרבן שלמים korban shlamim, we are instructed about the prohibition of eating fat and blood. Torah is very concerned about our eating habits. Torah says next to nothing about the essentials of prayer. If you look in the Torah, you see next to nothing about prayer. It's not spelled out. How to daven, why to daven, where to daven, when to daven, what to daven, what to ask for in davening. But over and over and over again, we have the הלכות halachos of how to eat. הלכות halachos of כשרות kashrus. In several פרשיות parshios. We have it in, in שמיני Shmini, in ראה Re'eh. We have references here in קרבנות karbanos. Apparently, it's easier for a man to pray than to abstain from certain foods. Even today in modern times, writes the Rav, man finds it easy to apply himself spiritually, but much more difficult to regulate what he eats. He does not object to singing hymns or visiting a sanctuary of prayer. He's ready for cultic performance, but he hates to be told that there are laws governing his body. In the Torah's opinion, it's impossible to hallow and inspire the spirit without including the body. ספר ויקרא Sefer Vayikra, known as the book of קדושה kedusha, is the book that deals with eating habits, as well as sexual morality. Physical holiness must precede spiritual ascension. So, it's not about sitting at a קומזיץ kumzits. It's not about sitting at some farbrengen or tish. So you're going to be unregulated when it comes to your body, indulging all kinds of appetites, kosher and non-kosher. But then, oh, it's a גשמק geshmak because spiritually I'm so moved that the it begins with our capacity to regulate the body. כל חלב וכל דם לא תאכלו kol cheilev ve'chol dam lo socheilu. The Torah spells out so much more about eating habits than spiritual habits, because spiritual habits begin with the capacity to regulate and to live those eating habits. a lot more, but hopefully תענית אסתר Taanis Esther, בעזרת השם b'ezras Hashem, we'll all be in ירושלים Yerushalayim by this Thursday, welcoming משיח Mashiach and the salvation. Should have בשורות טובות besoros tovos, ישועות yeshuos, ונחמות v'nechamos.
