Transcript
Okay, good morning, בוקר טוב Boker tov. Should be a good day. We should have בשורות טובות besoros tovos, please God we should have good news. Our hostages should be returned home, our soldiers should return to their families. May we have a sweeping victory over our enemies.Parsha series is generously sponsored by Becky and Avi Katz and family in memory of David Grossman. We remain very indebted to the Katzes for their generosity in memory of Becky's father. Our learning should be לעילוי נשמת le'iluy nishmas דוד בן מנחם מנש David ben Menachem Manush. This morning also, a family member of ours is having surgery, significant surgery. שמעון בן יצחק Shimon ben Yitzchak. Please have in mind Shimi, שמעון בן יצחק Shimon ben Yitzchak. Surgery should go well, he should have a complete, speedy, and painless רפואה שלמה refuah shleima.This is our last פרשה parsha שיעור shiur for a little while, as a reminder. So I'm off until the week of תשעה באב Tisha B'Av. Rabbi Moscowitz will be giving the פרשה שיעור parsha shiur. Same slot, Tuesday mornings 9:30, very excited about that. It will not be streamed, but if you're in South Florida, you don't want to miss it, you want to make sure to come and to enjoy it. And we will resume, I'm back before תשעה באב Tisha B'Av and we'll resume then. Lastly, I want to dedicate our שיעור shiur this morning, פרשת חקת Parshas Chukas, page 838 in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash. I want to dedicate our פרשה שיעור parsha shiur to the memory of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, זכר צדיק וקדוש לברכה zecher tzadik v'kadosh livracha. Today is ג' תמוז Gimmel Tammuz. Today is the 30th יארצייט yahrzeit of the Rebbe, and I still remember when he was נפתר niftar when he left this world. As I'm sure do many of you, we're all beneficiaries of the Rebbe. Whether you identify technically as חב\"ד Chabad, whether you're signed up in צבאות השם Tzivos Hashem, I happen to be a general, I don't want to show off right now. I happen to be a general in צבאות השם Tzivos Hashem. Rabbi Kad Larsen, זכרונו לברכה zichrono livracha, gave me a major, a major, what's it called? Promotion. Thank you. He gave me, I was a private for most of my life. It's amazing when you have someone behind the בימה bima what you can get out of it. I became a general overnight in צבאות השם Tzivos Hashem. But the truth is, we're all enormous beneficiaries of the Rebbe's vision, the light that he brought into this world, the army that he released onto the world. And if you've ever minimally, this is such a minimal, superficial expression of our appreciation, but if you've ever traveled and needed a מנין minyan, if you've ever traveled and needed kosher food and you found a חב\"ד Chabad in the most obscure place, that's the Rebbe's vision. That if there's one Jew anywhere, when the Rebbe was asked, what do you send a שליח shliach for? How many need to live there in order to send a שליח shliach? I have friends who are שלוחים shluchim in obscure, far-flung places, enormous personal sacrifice, מסירות נפש mesiras nefesh for them and their families. They buy a one-way ticket because they don't plan to return. They're there. How many Jews need to be there in order to send a שליח shliach? So the Rebbe would say, if one of your children lived somewhere, would you not go to help them, to be there for them? These are Hashem's children. If there's one Jew somewhere, they need support, they need that love. So we're all beneficiaries. And this significant milestone יארצייט yahrzeit, the 30th יארצייט yahrzeit, I want to relate it to actually our פרשה parsha. So we're not going to begin from the beginning. It's unusual. We'll come back to the beginning, don't worry. But I want to go in our פרשה parsha to the tragic death of אהרן Aharon, of אהרן הכהן Aharon HaKohen. It seems to, it feels like it comes so prematurely. פרק כ', פסוק כ\"ד Perek Chaf, Pasuk Chaf-Daled. Chapter 20, verse 24. And the Torah tells us, what happens, ויסעו מקדש ויבואו בני ישראל כל העדה הר ההר Vayisu miKadesh vayavou vnei Yisrael kol ha'eida Hor haHar. The Jewish people journey from קדש Kadesh, they come to the mountain, הר חור Har Chor. ויאמר השם אל משה ואל אהרן בהר ההר על גבול ארץ אדום לאמר Vayomer Hashem el Moshe v'el Aharon b'Hor haHar al gvul Eretz Edom leimor, יאסף אהרן אל עמיו yei'asef Aharon el amav. Hashem said to Moshe and Aharon, he said, Aharon's going to be gathered to his people, כי לא יבא אל הארץ אשר נתתי לבני ישראל ki lo yavo el ha'aretz asher nasati l'vnei Yisrael. You're not entering the land. We think of, and we'll get to, the punishment for hitting the rock instead of speaking to the rock, we tend to think about it as Moshe was punished, that Moshe didn't enter the land, but it wasn't only Moshe. Moshe and Aharon were both instructed, ודיברתם אל הסלע v'dibartem el hasela, speak to the rock. It was a failure of both, and therefore neither entered the land. And the Torah here tells us that Aharon will expire, Aharon will die before entering the land. קח את אהרן ואת אלעזר בנו Kach es Aharon v'es Elazar bno, take Aharon and his son, go up on top of the mountain, take Aharon's clothing, his uniform, his the reflection of his position of distinction, and undress him. והלבשתם את אלעזר בנו V'hilbashtam es Elazar bno. It's time to pass the baton, pass the torch. His son Elazar will succeed him. ואהרן יאסף ומת שם V'Aharon yei'asef u'meis sham. Aharon will die, will be gathered there. ויעש משה כאשר צוה השם Vaya'as Moshe ka'asher tziva Hashem. Moshe did as Hashem told him. ויפשט משה את אהרן Vayafshet Moshe es Aharon. He took the clothing off of Aharon. וימת אהרן שם בראש ההר Vayamas Aharon sham b'rosh hahar, and Aharon died there. There is so much to unpack. You know, we read thousands of years later, we read the story, detached, unemotionally. But if we actually enter into the scene, and if we feel the feelings of the personalities, if we live and experience what the narrative is telling us in real time, can you imagine the instruction Moshe gets? Your older brother, the brother who saved you, he put you in the float in the Nile and watched over you, refused to walk away, cried till he saw that you were rescued. Your brother who when you demurred and hesitated and said, I can't be the spokesperson of the Jewish people. Hashem said, don't worry, your older brother's coming with you. He's an orator, he will articulate, he'll speak on your behalf. Your brother who's been with you through thick and thin all along, it's time to say goodbye. Take him up on the mountain, take off his clothing, his uniform, and give, give it to his son. It's time to transition, and then you're going to say goodbye because I'm going to take him. And Moshe doesn't say, no, don't do it, give me more time, how could you? Moshe follows the will, the word of Hashem, takes his brother Aharon. And how about Aharon? When Aharon is being undressed, does he not know why? Does he think he's passing the baton and will live 25 more years in retirement and watch as a spectator? Aharon knows what this means. He's hit the final step of this journey. And they climbed this mountain. And if you had to paint this scene, if you had to watch this scene, we should all be emotional and break down. And the Jewish people did. ויראו כל העדה כי גוע אהרן Vayiru kol ha'eida ki gava Aharon. The people all saw Aharon died. ויבכו את אהרן שלושים יום כל בית ישראל Vayivku es Aharon shloshim yom kol beis Yisrael. And they cried for 30 days, all בית ישראל beis Yisrael, the whole Jewish people. They cried for 30 days. They cried, they mourned. This was their Aharon, the peacemaker, the lover, the people person, the Aharon who believed in them when they didn't believe in themselves. This was the Aharon, cheerful and positive. And they lost Aharon. For 30 days they were inconsolable, they didn't stop crying. And at the very end of the פרשה שיעור parsha shiur, last year we were away חקת Chukas, we didn't give. Two years ago, תשפ\"ב Taf Shin Pey Beis, 2022 we gave on חקת Chukas and the last וורט vort we said at the end of the פרשה שיעור parsha shiur, which I almost thought bears repeating because by then I was checked out, for sure you were checked out. It was over an hour, the last וורט vort. Go back and listen, but it was a מגיד יוסף Maggid Yosef on they cried more for the loss of Aharon than of Moshe. Why? Why did they cry more for the loss of Aharon than of Moshe? Moshe provided their פרנסה parnasa. Moshe was the source of their freedom and their sustenance. Aharon was the source of their happiness and their peace of mind, their שלום בית shalom bayis. And as much as we value financial stability, harmony and peace of mind and שלום בית shalom bayis, the loss of Aharon, it's a beautiful insight of the מגיד יוסף Maggid Yosef. Go back and listen to it. But they cried for 30 days. So Moshe knows what he's about to do. Aharon knows what's about to happen. And here the Torah spells it all out. And we're not ready. I don't know why, because I'm not a young man anymore, even though I look like I am. I don't know why, פרשת חקת Parshas Chukas every year, I'm stunned and I'm startled and I'm shocked and I, what do you mean we're in the middle of ספר במדבר Sefer Bamidbar? We're not up to דברים Devarim. Why are we saying goodbye to Aharon? It's as if we forget. We're still in the desert. It's not the end of the 40 years. We're not even done, we're halfway through the fourth book, we haven't even started the fifth. We're not near שמחת תורה Simchas Torah, we're completing חומש Chumash. Why are we saying goodbye to Aharon? We forget how early in, how so far from the end, we already say goodbye to Aharon. Why am I bringing this up and why am I starting with this? Because the תפארת שלמה Tiferes Shlomo, of שלמה מרדומסק Shlomo miRadomsk, is bothered by the language the Torah uses. יאסף אהרן אל עמיו Yei'asef Aharon el amav. יאסף Yei'asef, what does that word mean? לאסוף Le'asof means to gather. יש להבין למה נכתב פטירת אהרן בלשון אסיפה Yesh l'havin lama nichtav ptiras Aharon b'lashon asifa. Why is Aharon's departure from this world, why is it communicated or articulated in the language of אסיפה asifa, of a gathering? And where else do we find this? אברהם Avraham. אברהם אבינו Avraham Avinu, the Torah tells us, בראשית כ\"ה Bereishis Chaf Hey, that ויאסף אל עמיו vayei'asef el amav, he was gathered to his people. And חז\"ל Chazal there tell us, ואתה תבוא אל אבותיך בשלום שתירח עשה תשובה v'ata tavo el avosecha b'shalom she'Terach asa teshuva. ומכל מקום תיקשי איך שייך לומר על צדיק כאברהם שיאסף אל תרח u'mikol makom tikshei eich shayach lomar al tzadik k'Avraham she'yei'asef el Terach. מי נטפל למי Mi nitfal l'mi? Aharon, Avraham was gathered together with Terach, Terach did תשובה teshuva. What's this language of being gathered? Say expire, you don't want to say died, it's harsh to say died. So we have nicer ways of saying died. We say expired, we say passed away, we say departed, we say demise. We have a whole list of synonyms to use because died is pretty cold and pretty harsh. So the Torah doesn't want to say that Aharon died. He dropped dead. So find a nicer word. But we would never use, we don't ever use in the English, we don't say, we don't send out a שבעה shiva notice and say, we regret to inform you of the gathering to the people of so-and-so. יאסף Yei'asef, it's not a word we use. So what does it mean here? Wonders the תפארת שלמה מרדומסק Tiferes Shlomo miRadomsk. ומבאר, כי בשעה שנפטר הצדיק מהעולם הזה לחיי עולם הבא, היה אפשר לחשוב שאחר שנסתלק הצדיק מן העולם שוב אינו עוד בעולם Umva'er, ki b'sha'ah she'niftar hatzadik mei'ha'olam hazeh l'chayei olam haba, haya efshar lachshov she'achar shenistalek hatzadik min ha'olam shuv eino od ba'olam. Because you might think that after a צדיק tzadik leaves this world, after they're no longer physically here, you can't attend their שיעור shiur, their farbrengen, their טיש tish, you can't hear their lecture, you can't go get a ברכה bracha, you can't go get advice, you can't shake their hand, you can't daven with them in a מנין minyan. You might think that when they're, once they're physically no longer here, they're done, they're finished, they're gone. אין לו עוד שייכות לעולם הזה Ein lo od shaychus la'olam hazeh. Now I have their books, and now I can listen to them on tape, not tape, I know we don't have tapes, but I could listen to them, but a physical connection, their presence, their presence in this world is over. אמנם האמת אינו כן, אלא אף לאחר פטירתם עדיין נשאר מן הצדיקים עם כלל ישראל Omnam ha'emes eino kein, ela af l'achar ptirasam adayin nishar min hatzadikim im klal Yisrael. It's not true. Someone less than a צדיק tzadik, life is fleeting, we're here for a while we're here, hopefully we leave a positive image and influence and legacy, and when we're gone, we're gone. But the צדיק tzadik is never gone. צדיקים במיתתם קרויים חיים Tzadikim b'misasam kruyim chayim. The righteous, even in their death, are called alive. They remain alive. Their influence, their light, their energy, their presence is still felt. ומה שאנו רואים שהצדיק נסתלק מן העולם U'mah she'anu ro'im she'hatzadik nistalek min ha'olam, and that which it seems, what do you mean? But I went to his funeral. I was two weeks ago, I was at the אוהל ohel of the Rebbe. I try as often as I can when I'm in New York to stop at the אוהל ohel of the Rebbe. I'll tell you why I stop at the אוהל ohel of the Rebbe. I mentioned this recently in a different שיעור shiur, I don't remember which. When I'm in Israel, who doesn't when they get to Israel go daven at the כותל Kosel? And why do people go daven at the כותל Kosel? הר הבית Har Habayis, it's the holiest place on earth where the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash was. And it's only second fiddle that we're at the bottom of the mountain, we should be on top of the mountain. And please God soon we'll be on top of the mountain where we belong. But for now we're on the bottom of the mountain. But I'll tell you, for me, davening at the כותל Kosel is one of the most distracting davening in the world. Yes, it's the holiest place and yes, we're supposed to connect there, but it's so hard. It's so distracting, there's so much going on. But you know why I go? Not just to feel close to Hashem, I go to feel close to his children. Because nowhere else on earth do you see that cross-section of the Jewish people like you do at the כותל Kosel. Religious and not religious, not yet religious, and אשכנזים and ספרדים Ashkenazim and Sfardim, old and young, and soldiers and חסידים chasidim and every the whole cross-section of the Jewish people and plenty of tours of non-Jewish people. כי ביתי בית תפילה יקרא לכל העמים Ki beisi beis tefillah yikarei l'chol ha'amim because it's called a place of prayer for all the nations of the world. So you want to just be with people, and I, I know there have been conflicts and challenges, but I've never gotten into a debate at the כותל Kosel about should we this, and who should you vote for, and shut down that, and let's enlist these, and let's, at the כותל Kosel, everyone's just there to connect, אבינו שבשמים Avinu Shebashamayim, to pour out their hearts and to daven, and I've never seen anyone in a מנין minyan say, no, this minyan's only for כיפה סרוגה kippa sruga. This minyan's only for חסידים chasidim. This minyan's only for black hat. Whoever, they yell, מנחה Mincha! מנחה Mincha! You're a Jew? You count. We need you for מנחה Mincha. That's it. מעריב Maariv, מעריב Maariv. It's a beautiful thing. So if you want to go outside of Israel, where can you go outside of Israel? Nothing could compare with the כותל Kosel, but you want to see the whole cross-section of the Jewish people outside of Israel? Go to the אוהל ohel. The אוהל ohel of the Rebbe, that's where you'll find it. Everyone, everyone, in every state of dress, every background, every identification, every affiliation, Jews, non-Jews, non-Jewish politicians who think it will it will help. After to remember that they went, it would help, but anyway, it would help. So everybody, the אוהל ohel, you want to see a cross-section of the Jewish people, you go, it's a very special place. And when you're there, the צדיק tzadik is not נסתלק מן העולם nistalek min ha'olam. You can feel he's still there. זה אינו כי אם לעיני בשר, אבל באמת אין שום חילוק Zeh eino ki im l'einei vasar, aval be'emes ein shum chiluk. The צדיק tzadik, the righteous, the holy, they're still here, their influence is still felt. כאן עדיין נשאר הצדיק בעבודתו Kaan adayin nishar hatzadik b'avodaso, they remain, כי כשבא לעולם העליון ממשיך שם בעבודתו ki k'sheba l'olam ha'elyon mamshich sham b'avodaso. Because when they get upstairs, they're still a מליץ יושר meilitz yosher, they're not done. The Rebbe famously did not believe in retirement. A Jew never retires, a Jew never takes a vacation. And even when they leave this world, they're not retired, they're still doing their work, just from above. They're still doing their work, being a loyal advocate. They're still doing their work, watching over. So they're still here. They're still here. ועל כן נאמר בפטירת הצדיקים לשון אסיפה V'al kein ne'emar b'ptiras hatzadikim lashon asifa. And that's why when the righteous pass away, expire, experience their demise, transition to the next world, it's called אסיפה asifa. כי הצדיקים עדיין מתאספים עם בני ישראל Ki hatzadikim adayin mis'asfim im bnei Yisrael. Because they're still gathered with the Jewish people. They're still with us. מתאספים Mis'asfim, they're gathered. So when a person dies, it's called they're gathered, they're gathered with us. All over the Jewish world last night, today, there were farbrengens. ג' תמוז Gimmel Tammuz, not just the Rebbe's יארצייט yahrzeit. Some Lithuanian ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva on another date and some ספרדי Sefardic leader on another date. I'm not just talking about the Rebbe now. I'm talking about צדיקים tzadikim. When we continue to gather, we're gathering not about them, we're gathering with them, with them. ועומדים עם מהם ומשפיעים לעולם הזה V'omdim im meihem u'mashpi'im la'olam hazeh. They're continuing to shed their light, bear their light in this world. I posted this morning, one of the outstanding things to me about the Rebbe's legacy is the Rebbe died, he didn't have children. He and the Rebbetzin did not have children, did not have children. And the Torah describes, חז\"ל Chazal understood that a person who lives without children is כחשוב כמת k'chashuv k'meis. A piece of them is not even fully alive because that dream is squashed, that dream is lost. And there's a negativity and a pain to a lost dream, an unrealized dream, but you'd never know it, the Rebbe was the most positive and upbeat and optimistic and focused. And here's the thing. In all of human history, I don't know if there's anyone more who didn't have biological children but had more children than anyone else in the world. Look around the world today how many hundreds of thousands view the Rebbe as their parent. He left so many children. He left so many children. How many שלוחים shluchim were born after the Rebbe died, never met him, never overlapped with him in this world and think of him not as some distant great-grandparent, think of him as their father, as their father. So one of the enduring legacies of the Rebbe, to me, on this ג' תמוז Gimmel Tammuz, one of the enduring legacies of the Rebbe is that we don't have to be defined by what's missing in our life. We don't have to be defined by unrealized dreams. We can be defined by the difference that we make, and by the reality that we create, and by the dreams that we make come true. And that's I think a big part. ויאסף אל עמיו Vayei'asef el amav, he's, so that's all צדיקים tzadikim. And that's why אהרן הכהן Aharon HaKohen, the פרשה Parsha describes, we're not ready. We're never ready for פרשת חקת Parshas Chukas. Never ready. But we're part Torah when it wants to describe the loss of Aharon, the Torah describes him as this word אסיפה asifa, ויאסף vayei'asef, we gather, we gather. We're going out to the beginning of the פרשה parsha, but I'll just tell you one story, because it's a great story. I was at the אוהל ohel once, and I heard this story and I was I was telling the story and something extraordinary happened. That there was a person once who had a heart condition and went to doctors and there was a debate, should they undergo surgery, not undergo surgery? One doctor said, you have to undergo surgery, you're going to die. And the other doctor said, if you undergo the surgery, surely you're going to die. So the person didn't know what to do and went to the Rebbe for a ברכה bracha. They got advice from someone, they weren't a Lubavitcher and they said, go speak to the Rebbe. They went to the Rebbe and the Rebbe spoke to him and he said, don't get the surgery, you're going to be just fine. You're going to be just fine. He didn't get the surgery and he was just fine. And he lived for many, many decades. And the Rebbe passed away. And a heart condition came back. He had the problem again and again he went to doctors and again the doctors debated. And one said, you have to get the surgery, you'll surely die if you don't. And the other said, don't get the surgery, if you do, it will kill you. And again he was left with this dilemma, this conundrum, surgery or no surgery, and didn't know what to do. And he cried. The Rebbe's not here to go to for a ברכה bracha, for advice and guidance. I don't know what to do. So someone said, the Rebbe's not here, but he is still here. Go to the אוהל ohel. He's not physically here, but צדיקים Tzadikim, ויאסף אל עמיו vayei'asef el amav, they're gathered to their people. צדיקים Tzadikim still are here. So he went and he davened at the grave of the Rebbe at the אוהל ohel, and he still didn't know what to do. But if you've ever been to the אוהל ohel, aside from the delicious cookies and the great coffee station, they also have a TV screen playing of the Rebbe given out dollars, of the Rebbe talking about, of the Rebbe meeting people and brachos. Actually, now thanks to facial recognition and AI, Lubavitch has a website. You could put in a name, and it will find in all the years of giving out dollar, it'll, it'll pull up immediately. Someone was excited about this and sent me this morning a picture of Rav Schechter and Rebbetzin Schechter getting a dollar from the Rebbe. You could put in any name and you'll find when they came to the Rebbe and got their dollar. So this man is at the אוהל ohel, depressed, not knowing what to do, should he have the surgery, not have the surgery? And on the screen playing the Rebbe, he suddenly sees himself when he went to go get the dollar and asked the Rebbe for advice the first time. And the Rebbe is there telling him, don't have the surgery, everything is going to be okay. And he understands that the Rebbe is still here, and the Rebbe is still answering his question. And he doesn't have the surgery and he was fine. And I was telling the story at the אוהל ohel to someone, and a person eavesdropping and listening came over to me and said, that was my father, and the story is 100% true. Happened to be standing next to me at that time. Unbelievable. ויאסף אל עמיו Vayei'asef el amav, we believe about צדיקים tzadikim that this world is not all there is. People don't die and leave it, but the righteous, and the righteousness in us when it comes to our children and grandchildren, we live on forever. So we don't describe death because death sounds like something permanent. Death sounds like something closed. So we don't describe death. צדיקים Tzadikim are, are חיים chaim, they're alive. There are people who are alive and they're dead. I'm going to behave myself right now, not make any editorial political comments. But there are people who have a pulse, but they they're even while they're alive, they're like they're dead. And there are people who technically have a death certificate, technically on the books, they're physically no longer here, but they are so alive. Ask if the Rebbe is alive today, 30 years after his body left this world. 30 years after he was buried, and the Rebbe is as alive as ever. His army is as vast and dynamic and active as ever. I'm sharing it not just because it's ג' תמוז Gimmel Tammuz, it's the 30th יארצייט yahrzeit, but it's a message and a lesson for all of us on how we live our lives and the legacy that we want to leave and whether we want to be timeless and to achieve immortality. We can achieve immortality, not by like Walt Disney, you know, freezing our body, whatever. You achieve immortality by our actions and our choices and our influence and the light and the difference we make. And if we do, if we succeed, ויאסף אל עמיו vayei'asef el amav, we'll be gathered to our people that will continue. Every time a family gets together to observe the יארצייט yahrzeit of a parent or a grandparent, and they remember and they talk and they tell stories and they quote and they eat the food that was the recipe and they, ויאסף vayei'asef, they are gathering. They are gathering, but they're not just gathering about the person, they're gathering with the person. That's the notion that we have of a יארצייט yahrzeit of צדיקים tzadikim. And that's why the word we have is not death. ויאסף Vayei'asef, we gather, not about, we're gathering with, because they and their influence are still felt. Page 838, let's go back to the beginning of the פרשה parsha. Okay, back to normal times. וידבר השם אל משה ואל אהרן לאמר, זאת חקת התורה Vayedaber Hashem el Moshe v'el Aharon leimor, Zos chukas haTorah. Hashem speaks to Moshe and Aharon. אשר צוה השם לאמר, דבר אל בני ישראל ויקחו אליך Asher tziva Hashem leimor, daber el Bnei Yisrael v'yikchu eilecha, speak to the Jewish people and take a פרה אדומה תמימה para aduma temima. Go take a completely red heifer, אשר אין בה מום asher ein ba mum, that has no blemish, אשר לא עלה עליה עול asher lo ala aleha ol, and upon which a yoke has not come. You have to take a completely red heifer that never worked, that never labored, that is not of any blemish, and that's what's qualified to be burnt and take the ash and mix it to create a recipe, a concoction. It gets sprinkled on the impure and it makes them pure. And the pure person who's sprinkled it becomes impure. And this is so incomprehensible, it makes no sense, it's so illogical and irrational that we call it a חוק chok. It is the quintessential, paradigmatic חוק chok. חוק Chok means a law that we are given that we don't understand, a law that is irrational, a law that doesn't make sense. And we've spent, listen to previous פרשה שיעור parsha shiurim, and we spent countless times interpreting, offering several interpretations of this פסוק pasuk of a חוק chok. But now we're learning new ספארם sfarim, so we'll bring in theirs as well. The Levush of Rav Druk, we start with the Rav Druk. So, זאת חקת התורה zos chukas haTorah, says רש\"י Rashi, לפי שהשטן ואומות העולם מונים את ישראל לומר מה המצוה הזאת ומה טעם יש בה, לפיכך כתב בה חוקה, גזירה היא מלפני ואין לך רשות להרהר אחריה l'fi shehasatan v'umos ha'olam monim es Yisrael lomar ma hamitzvah hazos u'mah taam yesh ba, l'fichach kasav ba chukah, gzeira hi milfanai v'ein lecha reshus l'harher achareha. Others will scoff, cynics will look and mock, it makes no sense, why do you do things that make no sense? So we acknowledge that, we recognize that to begin with, and we cut it off by saying it is actually the greatest testament to who we are that we don't only do what makes sense for us and to us, we observe not only if, but especially when it doesn't make sense. And then that reflects positively on even what we do when it does make sense. His kindness of Rav Druk says, many have asked, זאת חקת התורה Zos chukas haTorah, why is this introduced with זאת חקת התורה Zos chukas haTorah? What should it say? זאת חקת הפרה האדומה Zos chukas haPara Aduma, it's a law of the פרה אדומה Para Aduma. It's the law of טומאה וטהרה tumah v'tahara. This is the law, specific law of this red heifer. Why is the introduction זאת חקת התורה Zos chukas haTorah? This is the חוק chok of the whole Torah. And now we get into one detailed law. Introduce it accurately, precisely that this is a law of פרה אדומה Para Aduma, not of the total Torah. So the אור החיים הקדוש Ohr HaChaim Hakadosh gives an answer. Again we've spoken on in the past. He says, I'll just briefly summarize. He says, because, I think we gave this metaphor every year. If my wife asks me to do something and it makes sense to me, it's logical, it's rational, I understand it, it's to my benefit, it's our family's benefit, and I go to do it, does it prove my love, my devotion, my loyalty to her? No, it makes sense to me too. I understand it's to our benefit, so I do it. But when she says, go do something, I say that makes no sense whatsoever. I couldn't disagree more. It's totally illogical and irrational. It's totally based on anxiety and fear and what, this is totally hypothetical. And it's totally based on all these other things. So if I refuse to do it because I don't understand it, so even the things that I did that she asked, I never did for her and I never did for us, for our relationship. I did, why? For me. I was worshipping myself. I was being loyal to myself. It makes sense to me, so I do it. But I've refused to do anything that doesn't make sense to me. I'm not really invested in you, I'm invested in me, and I'll do you when it makes sense for me. But when you ask me something that makes no sense to me, and I jump and I do it because I care about you, now everything I do I'm showing I do about you, not just about me. So זאת חקת התורה Zos chukas haTorah says the אור החיים הקדוש Ohr HaChaim Hakadosh. You keep שבת Shabbos because שבת Shabbos is a beautiful thing, a weekly technology time off, weekly disconnect to connect, beautiful, makes sense, logical, love it, great. But now Hashem comes and he says פרה אדומה Para Aduma. Now Hashem comes and he says שעטנז shaatnez, don't mix wool and linen. Now Hashem comes and he says something we find arbitrary, difficult, irrational. It's our attitude to what we don't understand that actually will reflect on everything we observe that we do understand. And that's why it's called זאת חקת התורה Zos chukas haTorah, the whole Torah. That's the answer of the אור החיים הקדוש Ohr HaChaim Hakadosh. Rav Druk then quotes the בית הלוי Beis HaLevi. The בית הלוי Beis HaLevi gives a different answer. פרה Para is only one מצוה mitzvah. Why do we call it זאת חקת התורה Zos chukas haTorah? Says the בית הלוי Beis HaLevi, מפרה אדומה יתבאר לאדם שאינו יודע מאומה מכל מצוות שבתורה, וממילא כל התורה חוקה היא Mi'Para Aduma yisba'er la'adam she'eino yodea me'uma mikol mitzvos she'baTorah, u'memayla kol haTorah chukah hi. Because the truth is, just like there are borders and boundaries to our understanding of the פרה אדומה Para Aduma, even the מצוות mitzvos you think you understand, you don't begin to understand. Is there a layer or a level of understanding? Yes, you can scratch the surface of understanding, but the depth and the profundity of understanding, you don't begin to understand. You don't begin to understand. So זאת חקת התורה Zos chukas haTorah. A חוק chok, our attitude, our loyalty, our fidelity to חוקים chukim, to the laws we don't understand, that's all of Torah. That's what Torah is all about. That's what Torah is really all about. נמצא לפי זה ממשיך הבית הלוי, כי פרה אדומה סייג וגדר גדול לאדם, המתבונן בשכלו לחקור בטעמי המצוות Nimtza l'fi zeh mamshich ha'Beis HaLevi, ki Para Aduma sayag v'geder gadol la'adam, hamisbonen b'sichlo lachkor b'ta'amei hamitzvos. So a person who is consumed by understanding the מצוות mitzvos, and we believe in understanding, it's a wonderful exercise to ask, what is this מצוה mitzvah all about? What's the פנימיות pnimiyus? What's the depth? What's the deeper meaning? What's the כוונה kavanah? What's the mindfulness? What's this going on? It's a beautiful thing. No, the symbolism of the לולב ואתרוג lulav v'esrog and of the שופר shofar and of the מנורה menorah and why do we light candles and why do we make קידוש kiddush and why am I wearing ציצית tzitzis and what what are the תפילין tefillin? All that, it's beautiful, beautiful. But know that there's a גבול gvul, there's a boundary, there's a border to what we can understand. And we don't do it because it enhance our doing it when we understand, but that's not why we do it. And when we're loyal to a חוק chok, we're demonstrating our greater loyalty to the entire to the entire Torah. He brings a משל mashal. He brings a משל mashal. What is the third meal on Shabbos called? שלוש סעודות Shalosh Seudos. שלוש סעודות Shaloshudos is a funny word, it's not really a word. It's שלוש סעודות Shalosh Seudos, three meals. But it's not three meals. The third meal is the third meal. So that's why some call it סעודה שלישית Seudah Shlishis, the third meal. But that's not what it's called in הלכה halacha. In הלכה halacha it's called שלוש סעודות Shalosh Seudos. Why is it called three meals? So it's famously explained. And why is it the most important meal and you should all come on Shabbos? It's the holiest time of the week, most auspicious time of the week. We have a very holy experience. So why is it called שלוש סעודות Shalosh Seudos? When I eat the Friday night meal, is it obvious and evident that I'm eating it to honor Shabbos? No. Why? It's dinner Friday night. Yes, I introduce it with קידוש kiddush, but I'm eating. Every bite, every morsel that I'm eating, it's not obvious I'm doing it to honor Shabbos. I'm doing it to honor my בויך boych. I'm doing it because I'm hungry, it's dinner time. And I also ate dinner Sunday night through Thursday night. When I eat lunch on Shabbos, is it obvious and evident? Am I demonstrating I'm doing so to honor Shabbos? No, I eat lunch every day. I need to eat lunch. But you come to שלוש סעודות Shalosh Seudos, not during the summer, but during the winter. שלוש סעודות Shalosh Seudos in the winter can be 20 minutes after you finish lunch. You can have to bench from lunch to make it to מנחה Mincha and have שלוש סעודות Shalosh Seudos. Are you hungry? Absolutely not. Do you have an appetite? None at all. Do you eat שלוש סעודות Shalosh Seudos anyway? Yes, because it's a beautiful and a big מצוה mitzvah, not for now, why, but it's a beautiful מצוה mitzvah. When you eat שלוש סעודות Shalosh Seudos, what you're doing is demonstrating that Friday night and Shabbos lunch were also to honor Shabbos. So it's called three meals. It's not called the third meal, it's called three meals because the attitude to that third meal demonstrates all three meals are to honor Shabbos. And now you know why it's called שלוש סעודות Shalosh Seudos. It's called שלוש סעודות Shalosh Seudos, three meals, not the third meal, it's called three meals because our attitude to the third meal demonstrates all three meals, we fulfill three meals through that one meal of שלוש סעודות Shalosh Seudos that you don't even want to eat but you eat anyway to honor Shabbos. So similarly, when you observe a חוק chok, זאת חקת התורה Zos chukas haTorah, the attitude to the חוק chok is reflecting on the feeling about the totality of Torah, not only about the one that one מצוה mitzvah, not only about that one מצוה mitzvah. Rav Druk has another suggestion. But for the sake of time, we'll go on. Here's another suggestion about why it's called so we'll see it another time. Okay, אשר אין בה מום asher ein ba mum. פרק יט פסוק ב Perek yud tes pasuk beis, we said, to qualify as the פרה אדומה parah adumah, it has to be a completely red heifer, אין בה מום ein ba mum, it has no מום mum, and ולא עלה עליה עול v'lo alah aleha ol. That's a tongue twister. And there was no עול ol, it never worked. It never, what's an עול ol technically? A yoke. Meaning, it never wore it on its back to plow, it never did work. It's a pure red heifer that never worked. But the טהרת הקודש Taharas HaKodesh, the רחמי שפירקער Rachmei Shifker brings down from the עבודת ישראל Avodas Yisrael a חסידישע ווארט Chasidishe vort on this פסוק pasuk. אשר אין בה מום אשר לא עלה עליה עול Asher ein ba mum, asher lo alah aleha ol. מי שמחזיק עצמו שאין בו כל מום, סימן שלא עלה עליו עול מלכות שמים Mi shemachzik atzmo she'ein bo kol mum, siman she'lo alah alav ol malchus shamayim. A person who says, אין בה מום ein ba mum, I'm perfect. I have no מום mum. I'm perfect. I have no blemish. I have no shortcoming. I'm perfect. אין בה מום Ein ba mum. I have no מום mum. Such a person who acts and walks around אשר אין בה מום asher ein ba mum, I have no מום mum, לא עלה עליה עול lo alah aleha ol, they have no עול מלכות שמים ol malchus shamayim. They have no עול מלכות שמים ol malchus shamayim. If you think you're perfect, you have no fear of God. So it's a cute חסידישע ווארט Chasidishe vort on this פסוק pasuk. אשר אין בה מום Asher ein ba mum, you think you have no מום mum. We all have a מום mum. In fact, in fact חז\"ל Chazal tell us that a person who sees a מום mum in someone else is really seeing the מום mum in themselves. It's really כל הפוסל במומו פוסל kol haposel b'mumo posel. When you judge and reject someone else, כל הפוסל kol haposel, when you disqualify someone, במומו פוסל b'mumo posel. What you're really doing is projecting about yourself. What you're really doing is revealing about yourself. We all have מומים mumim. We all have blemishes. None of us are perfect. We should remember, particularly in שידוכים shidduchim, we should remember. We should remember. We should look in the mirror. Some forget to look in the mirror, what they bring to the table when they're looking at what the other person needs to be. So everybody has a מום mum. We all have shortcomings and a person who thinks they're perfect, so arrogant to think אין בו מום ein bo mum, a person is so arrogant to think that they have no short comes, shortcomings, all they're revealing in fact is, לא עלה עליה עול lo alah aleha ol, that they in fact have no עול מלכות שמים ol malchus shamayim. פסוק ה Pasuk hei, continuing down. ושרף את הפרה לעיניו את עורה ואת בשרה ואת דמה על פרשה ישרוף V'saraf es haparah l'einav es orah v'es besarah v'es damah al pirshah yisrof. So the process of preparing this פרה אדומה parah adumah, burn the cow before his eyes, its hide, its flesh, its blood with its dung shall it be, shall it be burnt. And then the Torah continues to give us the, continues to give us the prescription. פסוק ו Pasuk vav. ולקח הכהן עץ ארז ואזוב ושני תולעת והשליך אל תוך שריפת הפרה V'lakach hakohen eitz erez v'eizov ushni tola'as v'hishlich el toch sreifas haparah. The kohen takes cedarwood, hyssop, crimson thread, and he shall throw them into the burning of the cow. So he's creating ash from the cow, he takes these other ingredients, puts it into the concoction into the recipe. What are the other ingredients again? Cedar wood, hyssop, crimson thread. And why are those the ingredients? Pinch of this and a dose of that. Why are those the ingredients? Nothing is random, nothing is chanced in the Torah. Just like any medicine, any ingredient in the formula of that medicine is there by design, it's contributing something. So to in Hashem's formula and recipe, every ingredient is there for a reason. There's a symbolism and there is a message. So what is the message of the עץ ארז אזוב ושני תולעת eitz erez, eizov v'shni tola'as of the cedar wood, the hyssop, and the crimson thread? What are they doing here? So the רחמי שפירקער Rachmei Shifker, the אמרות טהורות Amaros Tehoros says the following. רש\"י Rashi tells us, סימן למי שגבה עצמו כארז, שישפיל עצמו כאזוב ויתהר siman l'mi she'gavah atzmo k'erez, she'yashpil atzmo k'eizov v'yithar. A person who thinks that they're cedar, a cedar tree, cedar wood, it's tall, firm, strong, steady. So a person who's such an inflated ego, so arrogant that they see themselves as a tall cedar, should lower themselves to realize they're lowly hyssop. Hyssop is a branch, hyssop is a bush. You think you're such a big cedar tree? You're a little hyssop branch. If that came out to you, why do you need to throw in the cedar at all? So if the whole idea of this concoction for the person who became impure, who was contaminated because they exposed themselves and they were arrogant to think that they're all that, and they need to be humbled and brought back down to earth, such a person, so just use the hyssop ingredient, which is the symbol of humility. Why do we include cedar, which was the symbol of arrogance? הלא עיקר הוא שישפיל עצמו, אם כן, יביא רק אזוב Halo ikar hu she'yashpil atzmo. Im kein yavi rak eizov. So there's many questions. The talmid of the Ba'al Shem, the Hillel of the Tosfos asks on this parsha. So says the רחמי שפירקער Rachmei Shifker, tells us. We learn in a that there are three things we should look at and that will prevent us from עבירה aveira. דע מאין באת Da me'ayin basa, know where you come from, ולאן אתה הולך u'l'an ata holeich, and where you're going, ולפני מי אתה עתיד ליתן דין וחשבון v'lifnei mi ata asid litein din v'cheshbon, and before whom will you have to give an accounting, דין וחשבון din v'cheshbon. שהזה ישפיל דעת האדם Shezeh yashpil daas ha'adam. If a person thinks about that, where do we come from? A טיפה סרוחה tipah serucha. You come from a rotten seed. And where are you going? To be future worm food, to push up daisies. We're all going to be go to the same place, going to be buried underground. And before whom ultimately will we be held accountable? The Almighty. And when we realize, no matter how many followers and fans, how much power and money and fame, no matter how much we've achieved or accomplished in our lives and we think we're all that, just remember where you come from, remember where you're going, remember before you have to appear, and that should humble you. On the other hand, the tells us, that same tells us, know that you're precious, know that you're inestimable value, know that you are incredible, you're one of a kind because you're נברא בצלם nivra b'tzelem, you're made in the image of God. You're a חלק אלוקה ממעל ממש cheilek Eloka mima'al mamash. You're a piece of God in this world. You're all that and more, and the whole world was created just for you. So which is it? Are you a גארנישט gornisht? Are you a nothing? Are you future worm food? Are you pathetic? Or are you great and magnificent? The answer is to be balanced in life, you need both. You need a healthy balance of both. I would argue, to have proper mental hygiene, we've tried to place an emphasis in our community on working on mental health, not focusing on mental illness, which is what the world talks about, of course, supporting and loving and helping mental illness, but focusing on mental health. How can we practice and live with mental health and proper mental hygiene? And so much mental illness and the lack of mental health and mental hygiene is the lack of balance and equilibrium between these two qualities. Some people think too much of themselves, and many others think too little of themselves. Some have no self-esteem, and some have too great esteem in their own eyes. Some love themselves too much, and some don't even know how to love themselves at all. And the source of so much illness and struggle is the imbalance in these two areas. And the Torah tells us to have an equilibrium and a health, to live a balanced life, is to find exactly the proper measure. To know when I need a little bit more of this, a little less of that, and when a little less of this and a little more of that. Sometimes we want to do a and the comes and it says, who are you? Who do you think you are? You're going to close your eyes and sing with, you're going to, you're going to have a long, you're going to take upon yourself a new practice, you're going to increase your observance of Torah and. What do you think you are, you clown, you reject, you? You know you'll never finish, you know you're nothing. The is trying to belittle us and diminish us. and it says, who do you think you are? It's a joke. You're filled with, I know what you were watching last night. I have the search history on your phone, and now you're with such a long, and now you're giving such big? Don't bother, you're a clown, you're ridiculous. I know what you're made of. And it brings us down to, we become hopeless and we despair. And the answer is to remember, in those moments, you have to pull out the cedar in you. Say, what are you talking about? I'm a cedar tree. I'm צלם אלוקים tzelem Elokim. Do you know who I am and what I'm about? Do you know what is the real me? use a little holy arrogance. You know who I am? Do you know who my parents were? אברהם, יצחק ויעקב, שרה, רבקה, רחל ולאה Avraham, Yitzchak, v'Yaakov, Sarah, Rivkah, Rachel, v'Leah. Do you know inside me is this holy Jew? I am not defined by what I watched last night. I'm defined by what I want to do right now. That's who I am and what I'm about. So we need that little kick, that little push, that little of, that little bit of a holy arrogance. But on the other hand, sometimes we get so arrogant and so taken by ourselves and we think I'm all that. You know how much stuck I give? You know how much learning I do? You know how hard I dovin? You know how much I volunteer for? You know how smart I am, how good-looking I am? Do you know what I'm all about? The could kick in and say, you were the cover picture of the big Chabad video of the sichos. Everybody had to text you. They saw you the spokesperson of Chabad. I don't know if you saw that video. You know who you are? Trust me that doesn't grow arrogance. So then you have to pull out the other and you have to remember you're a hyssop. You're an, you're, your future worm food, you're nothing. So the, which represents our process of purification, our journey towards self-actualization, we need both ingredients because life needs both ingredients. A little bit of, and a little bit of. We need both, we need both. And that's why sometimes we need a little in us. Who's? He's only the humblest of all men. And sometimes we need a little Aaron. Who's Aaron? Why does Aaron wear the big day? Aaron where sometimes we need a little bit, a little more, a little more humility. And other times we need a little bit more honor and glory. We need to find that balance between the two. It's famously brought down in the name of many different that a Jew has to walk around with a little note in each pocket. On one it says, the whole world was created just for me. And on the other note it says, I'm just dust and ash. I'm nothing. And the key in life is to know when to pull which note out of the pocket. Sometimes you have to remember, I'm a, I'm a nothing. And sometimes when you're really feeling low and like a nothing, you have to remember to pull out of the pocket. These were two schools of thought in. We don't have time, we're not going to get into now, but had many. had many students and, this effort that did not invent but expanded upon and really introduced as a formal curriculum and focus of self-development, took on different forms. What's the best way to develop ourselves? Which part, focus on which part? So, the different schools had different focuses, different foci. So one was. was, the greatness of man. the greatness of man. says, we're just a little bit less than God. We're really, God's here, we're his children, we're just right here. God, do you know who you are and where you come from? You're prince and princess, you're royalty, you come from God. You're great. Now, see the greatness in you and walk around like you're great and carry yourself with greatness and know your greatness. was. And I won't start to list last time I did it, I left people off, but the great students of who were the who's who ofc leadership of the 20th century in America, among them some here knew by Tight, my mother will tell you by Tight. will tell you never saw by Tight without being dressed in royal garb and walking around. had a tailor on staff. You weren't allowed in the base if you were missing a button because a is going to be missing a button? There was no dandruff on the shoulders, there was no crease, there was no stain, there was no missing button. the greatness of man, greatness of man. had a button under his desk. was also a. When you left his office, you had to walk out backwards, otherwise he didn't unlock the door. For him to unlock the door, you walked out backwards. No, he was a graduate of, he was a, the Torah he represented, there's a greatness, a greatness. And other schools of focus not on the greatness of man, but on. If you really want to develop and grow great, don't focus on how great you are, focus on how pathetic you are, how lowly you are, be filled with the humility of knowing you're a nothing. You're nothing. They would focus on. So therefore they drew straws, who was the lucky student in who got to clean the toilets? Because that was considered reserved for the greatest student. the privilege. And they would do silly things to make themselves feel foolish, go into a hardware store and offer for ask for a loaf of bread, go in the bakery and ask for a hammer and nails so that you'd be laughed at to feel, I'm pathetic, I'm nothing, I'm a fool, I'm nothing great about me. So these two perspectives and approaches says the. That's why the, the process of purity and of growth has to include the and the. There's the, the. You know who was missing this balance? we'll read about next week because was blind in one eye. The two eyes that we have are to see ourselves, the greatness in us and the lowliness in us. And only in combination do we have a periphery vision that we can live a balanced life. And when a person is missing one, a person thinks they're all that or a person thinks they're nothing at all, they're not balanced, they can't achieve, they won't be mentally healthy. We need to be able to see with both eyes. is described as being, he was blind in one eye. Why was he blind in one eye meant? that he thought he was only arrogant. He had no humility. He had no humility. was blind in an eye. when we see a reference to being blind in one eye, it was lacking this peripheral vision of seeing both aspects of our lives, this balance and this equilibrium of who we are, of who we are. and in the beginning of, in the beginning of, the says that we know three times a year we have an obligation to go up to to the. we have to go and be seen by God. go and be seen by God. So the list, those who are exempt, somebody who's lame, somebody who has a broken or missing limb, who can't walk up to, obviously is exempt. And then the list, somebody who's of your blind even in one eye, then you're exempt from. You don't have to go up on to the to the temple. Why not? Maybe blind in both eyes I understand. It's hard for you to journey and travel. It's hard for you to get there. but blind in one eye, why not you can still see? Why is there an exemption? So the, the learns, you have to be seen the same way you see. And you have to be seen with both eyes. And just has two eyes. Just like you have two eyes, has two eyes. He sees with his two eyes, to be obligated to be seen, you have to see with your two eyes. What are these two eyes of, what are our two eyes? I once heard by from Rabbi Riman. Hashem's two eyes are that he sees us and. He sees the and the. He sees the greatness of man and the lowliness of man. and that balance between the two. felt to see it, felt to see it. We have to live and see it. And sometimes a person feels too little of themselves, they have to remember you're you're this far away from God. And if a person thinks I'm God, I'm practically God, you have to remember you're, your future worm food, you're from the dust of the earth, you're a nothing. And the balance between the two and knowing how to balance them is the secret to a meaningful and a positive and a successful life. also has a comment here on this and he says the following. He says the following. These three ingredients of the cedar wood, the hyssop and the crimson thread represent the 3,000 people who died with the, with the mistake of the Golden Calf. is the tallest of all the. The is the lowest of all the bushes, the trees. and lower ourselves, to lower ourselves. So these three things that's how we will achieveonement when we don't live arrogantly but when we come down from our our perch and we uh and we live with humility. also you can add these ingredients. When it comes to our relationship with other people, we should be like a hyssop, low and humble and modest and not needing the spotlight and not needing all of the credit. but when it comes to our spiritual relationship with ourselves, we should say, I'm as tall as a cedar. I'm as high as a cedar tree. I'm as great as a cedar tree. So similar to the says, why do I need both of these ingredients? Because they're speaking not to two parts of me, but two relationships I have. the others, humble, modest, a lowly. myself, my potential, my capacity, my mission, my purpose, I'm like a tall cedar. I'm like a tall cedar. and that's what the mission of says, If not for myself, who will be for me? and is the same said, if I'm here, everybody's here. We have to find that balance, the difference between versus others and versus ourselves. Turning the page. Wow. Turning the page. This is the teaching. This is the Torah. If a person dies in a tent, We have a concept that contamination happens not only through contact. In the laws of among the most complicated areas of, impurity can be transmitted through contact, impurity can be transmitted even not through contact but through lifting. So for example, someone's lying on a on a bench or sitting on a chair and I lift them, even though the chair or a pillow or a cushion is interfering, I didn't technically touch them, I can still be contaminated. even through lying down on something under many layers. There are all kinds of forms of of. And one of the forms of we have is what's called is if you are in the same air space, the same under the same cover or roof as a source of, you will be contaminated by that. That's why a can't go to the hospital because if the hospital has a morgue in the in the hospital and there are those who've been gathered to their people in the morgue in the hospital, and the being under the same ceiling, the same roof, will become contaminated. So it's not only that the can't touch a dead corpse, can't do a. It's not only that the can't stand within four of a grave, it means a can't even be under the same roof, which is why a can go to the cemetery if they're six feet away from any grave, but they still have to be careful about the overhang from a tree because it's an that will serve as an if there's an overhang. There was a big. Lenny's Pizza on Lion's Road is in the same shopping plaza, several stores down as a Jewish funeral home that can have bodies, that can have cremated bodies. And the question if it has a cremated body, is that also a source of? did a lot of research, turns out that our modern day cremation doesn't actually burn, it obliterates and often there are several pieces of bone that are left and bone the size of an, a lentil still contaminates. So a bone the size of a lentil mixed into the ash could still contaminate. So can a go to Lenny's pizza? So and we forward it to several around the world who wrote about Lenny's pizza. And for those who are strict, Lenny's pizza has a service, if a is driving, they'll bring the pizza out to the curb. Pick up the Lenny's will bring the pizza out to the curb so you can pick it up. So this is the law. What about a woman? A pregnant woman is a fetus, if she has a an or a is not obligated in these laws. So a wife of a or a daughter of a is allowed to go to a cemetery. They're not bound by this needing to be protected from the purification. If anything it's a bias against men, not women, that's to their advantage, but that is and their reasons that is the law. So if a woman is pregnant, an, the wife of a's pregnant, at what point, we know from we spoke about this, that not only do over the age of are they not allowed to become contaminated, but even under the age of. How far under the age of? Even a fetus? Must a woman undergo a pregnancy a an ultrasound or genetic testing to know if it's a boy, so she won't go to the hospital or cemetery if she's pregnant with a boy? Interesting question in, believe it or not, this is all, this is all discussed. But not our question for right now. The on this says the following. The this says the following. The this how do we know that you can only really retain Torah if you're willing to kill yourself over it? you only really learn Torah and retain Torah when you don't approach Torah casually, you have to be willing to kill yourself over Torah. The simple understanding is people use this language in other disciplines. You'll only really grow in that discipline and master that discipline if you're willing to kill yourself over it. are you willing to kill yourself over the discipline of learning Torah and discipline in the we described was he was a disciplined student, diligent student, and an is an of, the study hall is called the of Torah. you'll only grow in Torah if you kill yourself in the. So says if that's the case, if really only a person who's can grow in the, so why when you're in the, do you become if you're in the, you should become. So what it means is the following. So if you are if you are just if you're, if you're, if you kill yourself over it, you'll grow in Torah. But you're just. You're a casual spectator, you're a casual onlooker, you're just checking it out. You're just giving a a look. or you're in the but you're just. You're sleeping in the, you're sipping coffee in the, you're about the sports course in the. You're but I'm just. So then. That's how the. You understand? If you're willing to kill yourself over Torah, you over Torah, you work and you break your teeth over Torah, you're working hard over Torah. You're gonna grow in Torah. But if you're just by, I'm giving a peek, I look into the, I just give a look. I give a look. Or I'm here but I hang out in the, that's where I read the newspaper. I'm but I'm just. Then. So it's not only about learning Torah, it's about the attitude and the posture we bring to the learning of Torah. Do we sit and learn Torah in a recliner? Do we learn Torah waiting for it to be spoon fed? Are we learning Torah casually? Are we a spectator to Torah or are we in it? Are we breaking our teeth over it? Are we and reviewing? Are we working on it? Are we on it? That is the. The also addresses the and he says the following, What do you mean? Why are we being encouraged to kill ourselves over it? After all, doesn't the Torah join us, doesn't the Torah instruct us Torah is supposed to not kill us, and we shouldn't kill ourselves over it. It's the opposite. We're supposed to live through Torah and live by Torah. Life is precious, life is invaluable, life is incredible and we should appreciate every opportunity, every gift we have to learn Torah. Not only the comfort of learning Torah in a base, but the images of those who are learning Torah in a tank, learning Torah in Gaza with no electricity and plumbing. learning Torah. You talk about, you talk about for Torah, you talk about being for Torah. It's one thing to be in the comfortable air condition with the coffee station and the padded chair. How about the images and how about the people we know who are killing themselves over learning Torah where they're risking their lives to protect us. I don't know that there are holier images in the world. It's a beautiful video I saw last night of talking about he went to visit someone, soldier I know who lost both legs and one arm. boy. He went to visit him, he should have a continued. And the boy had four questions for. Can I put on my other arm? He had four questions, questions. One of them was, when will come, I'll have my prosthetic, where do I hold the? And he wanted to know about making a on a prosthetic. When I get my prosthetic, do I make a when they give it to me or when I first wear it? You have to see in this video say, who who ever heard of such angels, such holy people? That's their question. He says, I was never asked such a question in my life, on a prosthetic. So this young man looked and he said, I understand on a new suit you make a, the thing that will help me walk or hold something. I wouldn't make a? talks about the admiration and the love and the appreciation we should have for such a. for Torah. I'll post it in the WhatsApp group. The first one is closed out. We had to open a second group. If you got closed out of the first WhatsApp group, it hit over a thousand WhatsApp closes us out. We opened up a second group. So what do you mean? Torah we have to be. And you want to know? Look at soldiers in a home in Rafa that they took over that has no plumbing or air conditioning and they're still learning. Look at soldiers in a tank who are learning, Look at Torah, look at soldiers who in their moments in between fighting, are not sleeping. sleeping or reading, but learning. Look at who produced last week we quoted from one of the little little מנחת אשר Minchas Ashers that was produced by סל\"ש, לשם שמיים, רב דוד גטליב Salash, l'shem shamayim, Rav Dovid Gottlieb, to thousands were distributed to soldiers in the field who asked for it so they could learn and keep it inside their ceramic vest for the few moments in between. That's ממית עצמו memis atzmo for Torah. That's the ממית עצמו memis atzmo for Torah. It doesn't only mean working your way through a תוספות Tosfos in a comfortable בית מדרש Beis Medrash. ממית עצמו Memis atzmo means you're killing yourself to be able to learn Torah. So what happened to וחי בהם v'chai bahem? I thought we live וחי בהם v'chai bahem. What happened to וחי בהם v'chai bahem? So he says, כי יחשוב שכבר מת, ומבקש שיתנו לו לשוב לזה העולם יום אחד Ki yachshov shekvar met, u'mevakesh sheyitnu lo lashuv l'zeh ha'olam yom echad. It means, you should look at the opportunity to learn Torah as so precious that when we leave this world, we will look back and say, if you just let me go back for one more פרשה שיעור parsha shiur. Just let me go back for one more siddur snippet. Just let me go back for one more דף יומי daf yomi. Just let me go back for one more chance to learn with my son or daughter, with my grandson or my granddaughter. Just let me go back for one more רש\"י על חומש Rashi al Chumash. Just let me go back for. The Torah is so precious, so valuable, such a game changer, that שוב יום אחד לפני מיתתך shuv yom echad lifnei misascha, that's ממית עצמו memis atzmo means, when you don't feel like learning, and when you want to diminish the value of every moment of learning, ממית עצמו עליה memis atzmo aleha, picture yourself when you're gone and how much you would give to come back for one more chance to learn.So וחי בהם v'chai bahem. טאקע Takeh learning should give us life. Learning is all about giving us life. אין התורה מתקיימת אלא במי שממית עצמו עליה Ein haTorah miskayemes ela b'mi she'memis atzmo aleha. If you want Torah to be מתקיים miskayem, ממית עצמו memis atzmo, picture when we're no longer here, what we'd give to come back to have one more פסח סדר Pesach seder with דברי תורה divrei Torah from our אייניקלעך eineklach. What would you give for one more פרשה parsha questions with your child or grandchild at the שבת Shabbos table? So when we have the chance now, grab onto it. Love it, lean into it, appreciate it, be grateful for it, take advantage of it. That's what Torah is מתקיים miskayem. You want Torah to be מתקיים miskayem for generations to come, we want Torah to be מתקיים miskayem, it'll only be מתקיים miskayem when we're ממית עצמו memis atzmo, if we picture when we're gone, how precious it is and how much we would give to come back and have a little more. And the last פשט pshat on ממית עצמו עליה memis atzmo aleha is Torah is only successfully learned when, when we're ממית the עצמו memis the atzmo. You have to kill your עצמו atzmo, your ego. If you learn Torah with an ego, and you're trying to tell Torah what to say, and you're projecting onto Torah and you're making Torah conform to your ideology, your policy, your perspective, your personality, your belief, you're not learning Torah. You're not worshiping השם Hashem, you're worshiping yourself. If you want to learn Torah, ממית עצמו עליה memis atzmo aleha. While I'm learning, there's no more me, my bias, no more my filter, no more my preconceived notions. I'm ממית the עצמו memis the atzmo. We have to get rid of our ego so we can absorb and download and hear what Torah is telling us, instead of trying to mold or make Torah conform to what we believe. That's another idea of being ממית עצמו memis atzmo.We got about halfway through. Not bad. Halfway through. But that's it. So wishing everyone a good summer, a healthy summer, a happy summer. By the time I come back and resume פרשה שיעור parsha shiur, please God we'll be we'll be learning together in ירושלים Yerushalayim, having won the war, with משיח Moshiach coming and the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash. Please stay for תהלים Tehillim. We're gonna divide and recite all of תהלים Tehillim tonight, 7:30 p.m. Very powerful, very important program for Israel, connecting to Israel, to incredible speakers who are coming. One who lost her father to an act of terror, her brother working in the מוסד Mossad, another brother fighting in Gaza, and a cousin in בארי Be'eri. She's going to come and speak about those experiences, and a media personality, a political analyst from Israel coming 7:30 tonight, don't miss it. A healthy summer, when we hear בשורות טובות ישועות besoros tovos yeshuos.
