Transcript
Good morning, בוקר טוב Boker Tov, welcome back to פרשה Parsha Perspectives for today. As always, huge gratitude to our generous sponsors. Big thank you to Becky and Avi Katz and family who sponsor in loving memory of David Grossman, לילוי נשמת דוד בן מנחם מנש le'ilui nishmas Dovid ben Menachem Manash. We're so grateful to the Katz family and the Grossmans, and our learning is in his memory. I think his granddaughter is here this morning. Ruchi Rus is here, Grossman? Welcome. So happy you're here. Sponsored as well by Harriett Goldman in commemoration of the yahrzeit of her husband, הלל בן גרשון Hilal ben Gershon, Hilton Goldman, his נשמה neshama should have an עלייה aliyah, and Ayala and Dov Braun in memory of Irving Braun, יצחק אהרן בן משה אליעזר Yitzchak Aharon ben Moshe Eliezer, Dov's beloved father, grandfather of Eliana, Ariella, and Isaac. His נשמה neshama should have an עלייה aliyah as well. And we are very grateful to all of our sponsors. Before we dive back into the פרשה parsha, פרשה יתרו Parsha Yisro, page 394 in the ArtScroll Stone חומש Chumash, a reminder that we have some special opportunities. First of all tonight, הגאון רב אשר וייס Hagaon Rav Asher Weiss, one of the greatest rabbis of our generation, the גדולי ישראל gedolei Yisrael will be speaking here, men and women, 8 o'clock tonight. Be here, be here early, we expect a nice crowd. He'll be speaking about insights into the war in Israel. He's been at the forefront of answering שאלות shailos for the army, the Mossad, שערי צדק Shaarei Tzedek Hospital and more, and has been visiting שבעה shiva homes and soldiers, and he'll be speaking tonight 8:00 p.m. Men and women are invited. רב אשר וייס Rav Asher Weiss. And we will be recording it and sharing the recording, please God. Also, this Sunday night, this שבת Shabbos he'll be here and then a concert Sunday night, the great עקיבא Akiva, Akiva Turjeman, not only a great singer in Israel and a great person, he too has been serving in מילואים miluim, fighting in Gaza the better part of a year. And מי כעמך ישראל Mi k'amcha Yisrael, only the Jewish people, our celebrity singers, when necessary, put on a uniform, grab a gun, go to the front lines and fight for our people. We're excited he'll be here for שבת Shabbos and the concert on Sunday night. There are a few tickets available, but they're almost sold out.פרשת יתרו Parshas Yisro, page 394. וישמע יתרו חותן משה את כל אשר עשה אלקים למשה ולישראל עמו כי הוציא ה׳ את ישראל ממצרים Vayishma Yisro chosain Moshe es kol asher asah Elokim l'Moshe ul'Yisrael amo ki hotzi Hashem es Yisrael miMitzrayim. יתרו Yisro, Yisro had heard, Yisro the כהן kohain, the priest of Midian had heard all that Moshe, all that God had done for Moshe and for the Jewish people, that he took the Jewish people out of מצרים Mitzrayim. And as tempted as I am every week to share my favorite דברי תורה divrei Torah on any פרשה parsha, I will refer you to previous years, and I will not get into what exactly did יתרו Yisro hear. Why does רש\"י Rashi quote the גמרא בזבחים Gemara in Zvachim that entertains three possibilities of what Yisro heard? After all, the pasuk itself tells us, he heard כי הוציא ה׳ את ישראל ממצרים ki hotzi Hashem es Yisrael miMitzrayim. So what do you mean, maybe he heard of the splitting of the sea, maybe he heard the war with עמלק Amalek, maybe he heard what are the three possibilities? The Torah itself tells us, why do we have three possibilities? And what's so special about hearing a war with עמלק Amalek? Didn't we win in the war with עמלק Amalek? At the end of last week's פרשה parsha, how did we leave off? It was a draw. עמלק Amalek survived, we survived, we didn't defeat them, they certainly didn't defeat us. It was a draw. That's so impressive? That's what Yisro heard? Is that we fought to a draw? We survived to fight another day? That's what excited him so much that he came? Question number two. Number three, the whole world heard. So what do you mean וישמע יתרו vayishma Yisro, Yisro heard everything that happened? Everyone, שמעו עמים ירגזון shamu amim yirgazun, we say every day in אז ישיר az yashir, the whole world heard. So those are three questions on the opening פסוק pasuk that I will not get into because we've gotten into it previously and as tempted as I am, I'm not going there. But the רב Rav, Rav Soloveitchik, in the רב Rav חומש Chumash deals differently. And he says the following. We'll begin with an insight of Rav Soloveitchik. Yisro's arrival, his reception by Moshe, the advice he gave in his departure, are related in this chapter which immediately precedes the giving of the Torah. The war with עמלק Amalek is also recounted immediately prior to מתן תורה Matan Torah. Why are these incidents a prologue to מתן תורה Matan Torah? Rav Soloveitchik is getting into, we know there's a famous debate, מחלוקת machlokes, מוקדם ומאוחר בתורה mukdam u'meuchar baTorah, אין מוקדם ומאוחר בתורה ain mukdam u'meuchar baTorah. Is the Torah written chronologically? Is the Torah written thematically? Does the Torah mean to follow historical order? Or is the Torah not trying to recount history and stay accurate to history? It's not precise in historical order, but rather it's trying to communicate a message and it does so by rearranging. So according to many, יתרו Yisro came, when did יתרו Yisro come? After מתן תורה Matan Torah. It's one of the three possibilities about what he heard that motivated and inspired him to come. If that's the case, why does the Torah place Yisro's arrival before מתן תורה Matan Torah? If historically accurately he came after, why does the Torah cut and paste, take it out of order, put it beforehand, what message, what theme is the Torah trying to transmit or communicate? Says Rabbi Soloveitchik, Yisro was a gentile. Essentially he was the archbishop of Midian. He came to the Jewish camp with an open mind. He wanted to observe for himself what the Jews had accomplished and were about to engage in. He was so overwhelmed by their conduct that he renounced paganism. He embraced Judaism. חז\"ל Chazal did not describe Yisro as a saintly gentile. He's portrayed as a decent person whose positive reaction should have been emulated by other gentiles who witnessed the exhibition of מתן תורה Matan Torah. This incident illustrates one possible reaction of a non-Jew to Jews and מתן תורה Matan Torah. One possibility is that the non-Jewish spectators of the world who see the events of October 7th, who watch the footage of how heinous, how egregious, how inhumane those crimes against humanity against the Jewish people, who see how the Jewish people united and rose together, and מי כעמך ישראל Mi k'amcha Yisrael and עם הנצח Am HaNetzach, one reaction is the reaction of יתרו Yisro. And I will tell you something astounding. In fact, when we're done today, just this morning, I have two and a half hours scheduled of בתי דין batei din meetings, of meetings of our בית דין beis din. We have a בית דין beis din of גרות geirus, a בית דין beis din for conversion. It's made up of rabbis from South Florida. We are pure volunteers, we're not paid a penny. We do so simply of service to help those who want to join the Jewish people. We do so under the umbrella of the בית דין Beis Din of America. I don't know if I can sell myself, but acknowledged and accepted in Israel and around the world. Do you think since October 7th, we have fewer meetings? Because nobody wants to become Jewish, nobody's interested, why would you want? Campus protests, the rise of anti-Semitism, heinous anti-Semites in the halls of Congress, you have Kanye tweeting the most horrific, we shouldn't even talk about him or give oxygen to him, clearly a mentally depraved, mentally ill, deeply disturbed person, not even worth our attention. But with the rise of anti-Semitism, do you think that we have fewer, do we have less people knocking down our door? We can't, we can't have enough meetings. They're knocking down the door. People want to become Jewish more than ever in my lifetime. And we can't schedule enough meetings because we're volunteers and we have other things we have to do, and people have to wait, and they're knocking down the doors. Reminiscent of the story of Purim at the end of the מגילה Megillah, that people were מתיהדים misyahadim after the Jews were targeted and were threatened, and the response of their prayer and their perseverance, that the people of Shushan, the non-Jews saw what happened and wanted to convert, it's happening again now. And that's the reaction, the one option of יתרו Yisro, where non-Jews see that the most evil, barbaric, inhumane animals of the world are obsessed with targeting one people, I want to find out more about that people. I want to learn about that people. I want to possibly become part of that people. That's the יתרו Yisro reaction. עמלק Amalek, says Rav Soloveitchik, were also impressed with the Jews, but their reaction differed from that of Yisro. They believed that a nation which could defy Egypt and Pharaoh, gain freedom from Pharaoh, and defeat the Egyptian regime, while having different laws from those which prevailed all over the world, they should be exterminated. עמלק Amalek came and attacked the Jews. The Jews had not threatened עמלק Amalek in any manner, yet עמלק Amalek attacked them anyway. This was their reaction to מתן תורה Matan Torah. What did we do to עמלק Amalek? We didn't start up with עמלק Amalek. We weren't involved in עמלק Amalek. We didn't occupy עמלק's Amalek's lands. We weren't taking over עמלק's Amalek's culture, appropriating Amaleki culture. What did we do to עמלק Amalek? We didn't occupy their land, we didn't take their culture, we didn't use their language, we had nothing. Live and let be happy, עמלק Amalek. What did we do to עמלק Amalek? עמלק Amalek were threatened by who we were and the life that we're living and the mission that we accepted for ourselves and מתן תורה Matan Torah. And that's the second possibility. The world can watch the Jew and they could react like a יתרו Yisro, knocking down the door, I want to see more, learn more, become more. The world can knock down the door. Heroes like a Douglas Murray, non-Jews who stand up, who learn, who are stronger advocates for our people than many of our people. And you can have the opposite. The Kanyes and other troubling, deeply troubling, I don't even want to mention their names. I don't want to give them oxygen, certain media personalities who see the rise of the Jew, who see our backbone, who see we won't disappear to the dustbin of history, who see us unite and fight on seven fronts and win, and miracles like a page or operation. And you know what it does? Instead of being impressed, instead of their wanting to learn more, instead of their wanting to come and explore, they become anti-Semites, they become like עמלק Amalek. What did we ever do to them, some of these media personalities? In the biblical account writes the רב Rav, the presentation of the first set of לוחות Luchos given to ישראל Yisrael at הר סיני Har Sinai were accompanied by tremendous fanfare. In the words of the שופר shofar section of ראש השנה Rosh Hashana, with voices and thunder you revealed yourself to them, and through the sound of a שופר shofar did you appear. Hashem wanted the world to know that the Jews had received the לוחות Luchos, and the לוחות Luchos contained a new moral code, a new outlook, a new set of laws. It was not necessary for the other nations to accept the code. It was, however, crucial they be aware of it. Why was this awareness among the non-Jews necessary? The purpose of this public spectacle on מתן תורה Matan Torah was so Hashem could eventually convert the entire universe to become the residence of Hashem. All will accept the reign of God. The time will come when the whole world must realize that the לוחות Luchos given to Jews contain the truth, and it's worthwhile to accept them, just as the Jews accepted them so many years ago. The purpose of מתן תורה Matan Torah was not for the individuals, but to convert the entire cosmos, the whole universe into a divine residence. The Torah was offered to everybody, and must eventually be accepted by everybody. The non-Jewish nations of the world, they don't have to keep 613, just the seven. But they have to get rid of their idolatry and their paganism and their foreign worship, and recognize כי לה׳ המלוכה Hi laHashem hamelucha, that one day, והיה ה' למלך על כל הארץ v'haya Hashem l'melech al kol ha'aretz, as we daven every day for a time when the whole, all the nations of the world will realize. So מתן תורה Matan Torah had to become that historical precedent that we could point to, that they'd look and see that we are a light unto the nations, that we're trying to mold and shape this world, repair it in Hashem's image. This offer was extended to every human being, yet the Jews were the only nation who took advantage of the offer. The Jews were sensitive, understanding the exaltedness and beauty of a life which is lived in compliance with the laws of the Torah. No other nation understood this concept. Still, Hashem exposed all humankind to this event to allow them the opportunity to accept it. Will humankind eventually accept this reality and ultimately realize the greatness of a Torah lifestyle? The Torah answers in the affirmative and offers the story of Yisro as proof. In the eschatological era, which is a fancy way of saying ימות המשיח yemos haMashiach, the same event will occur on a universal scale. As if we need even more evidence that we are in the beginning of those times, I'm telling you, as somebody who is involved with a בית דין beis din for conversion, we have more people knocking on our door, more people who are interested, more people who are gravitating to us, more people who are answering that question I've been asking for 20 years and it hasn't been a real question. You know the Jews are targets of hate, there's anti-Semitism, do you accept that? And for the last 15 years, it was a theoretical question that was on our checklist of questions, but to the average person in Boca Raton, it meant nothing. But over the last couple of years, to say, are you ready to put that target on your back? Are you ready? Are you ready to be the focus with our people of that hate? It means something, and they're still knocking down the door. The Torah wants us to know there are certain people who will never be converted. They understand the Jew represents something unique, but their response to that realization is one of malice, vicious hate, desire to destroy. עמלק Amalek was the incarnation of evil and regarded מתן תורה Matan Torah in a completely different manner. He attacked us without provocation, for no reason other than that we were a unique and separate entity. עמלק Amalek and their descendants will continue to react this way through history. The non-Jews will react to us, says the רב Rav in conclusion, in one of two ways, a Yisro or an Amalek. And we have to be prepared for both. And the רב Rav is writing this a long time ago, and here we are תשפ\"ד Taf Shin Pey Daled and we're seeing it again. Not another מתן תורה Matan Torah, but another יציאת מצרים Yetziat Mitzrayim, another miracle of a splitting of a sea, another miracle of what's happened since October 7th, and again, this precedent Rav Soloveitchik is writing, that what happened to מתן תורה Matan Torah, there were two reactions, diametrically opposed. There's the Yisro reaction, and the עמלק Amalek reaction. The non-Jews of the world will react to monumental milestone events in Jewish history in one of two ways, like a Yisro or like an Amalek. Be prepared for both, and yet again, once again, we are seeing both.פרק י\"ח, פסוק ה Perek Yud Ches, Pasuk Hey. So Hashem took us out. Yisro, Moshe comes with Moshe's wife, Yisro comes rather with Moshe's wife and children, שני בניו, שם האחד גרשם, כי אמרתי גר הייתי בארץ נכריה, ושם האחד אליעזר, כי אלקי אבי בעזרי shnei vanav, shem ha'echad Gershom, ki amarti geir hayisi b'eretz nochriya, v'shem ha'echad Eliezer, ki Elokei avi b'ezri. So much to say, so much we've said on this, I'm not giving you my my highlights. ויבוא יתרו חותן משה ובניו ואשתו אל משה אל המדבר Vayavo Yisro chosain Moshe v'banav v'ishto el Moshe el hamidbar. יתרו Yisro, Moshe's שווער shver, his father-in-law, and Moshe's sons and his wife come אשר הוא חונה שם הר האלקים asher hu choneh sham Har ha'Elokim. He is, he is residing there, he is camping there. ויבוא יתרו vayavo Yisro, Yisro comes. Says the תפארת שמואל Tiferes Shmuel, Shmuel Bornbaum. This pasuk describes where did Yisro come? אל המדבר El hamidbar, where Moshe's hanging out in the desert. אף אנן ידעין Af anan yodin says Rashi. This is a gratuitous fact. We already know it. Rashi is not adding anything new. Where did Yisro come in order to meet up with Moshe and the people? In the, well where else do we think they are? They're not in Disney. Where else are they? They're in the desert. So what's Rashi adding? אלא בשבחו של יתרו דיבר הכתוב Ela b'shevacho shel Yisro diber ha'kasuv. What's the Torah adding? Says Rashi, בשבחו של יתרו דיבר הכתוב B'shevacho shel Yisro diber ha'kasuv. שהיה יושב בכבודו של עולם ונדב לבו לצאת אל המדבר מקום תהו לשמוע דברי תורה Shehaya yoshev bichvodo shel olam v'nidav libo latzeis el hamidbar makom tohu lishmoa divrei Torah. Yisro was sitting in the comfort of the palace. He had, he had central air conditioning. And he had a delicious seltzer dispenser from his kitchen sink. And he had an unlimited supply of Diet Peach Snapple. He had it all. He was sitting in comfort. He had a recliner. And he got up and he left and he gave it all up in order to go where? To the מדבר midbar. He went to the hot and dry desert to join a Jewish people. And why did he do it? לשמוע דברי תורה Lishmoa divrei Torah. I was in Israel last week for two and a half days recruiting for our ישיבה yeshiva. ברוך השם Baruch Hashem, a wonderful trip and a fantastic opportunity. I went back to the ישיבה yeshiva I learned in, כרם ביבנה Kerem B'Yavneh. I happened to speak to them in the last slot of the night, started at 7:00 a.m. and that slot was 10:00 p.m. So they were not nearly as entertained or humored as I was humoring myself by recounting and recalling to them my time in Kerem B'Yavneh, which happens to have felt like it was yesterday, but it was more than a few years ago. And I said to them, I remember when I got here, that the dorm that I was in, because I was a no-name and didn't have any siblings who went before me and made no large donation, and that dorm, you had to walk outdoors to get to the bathroom, and there was no air conditioning. The only place on the whole campus that had air conditioning was the בית מדרש Beis Midrash. It was a brilliant move. How do you get guys out of high school, you're trying to encourage and teach to learn? You put them near יבנה Yavneh, near אשדוד Ashdod in the heat of the summer, the beginning of אלול Elul. I think it might have been the hottest day of my life, the day that we arrived in Kerem B'Yavneh in 1992. It might have been the hottest. And the only place on the campus with air conditioning, the בית מדרש Beis Midrash. Everywhere else smelled terrible, the chicken coops, the cows, the farms, the בית מדרש Beis Midrash smelled good, had air conditioning, it drove us, it got us all there. The guys in Kerem B'Yavneh were about as interested as you are right now. So I'll go vital, I'll come back. So Yisro gave it all up. He left the air conditioning and where did he go? He went to the desert, לשמוע דברי תורה lishmoa divrei Torah. He went to the desert. ויספר משה לחתנו Vayisaper Moshe l'chosno, and now Moshe begins to tell his father-in-law את כל אשר עשה ה' לפרעה ולמצרים על אודות ישראל, את כל התלאה אשר מצאתם בדרך ויצילם ה' es kol asher asah Hashem l'Pharaoh ul'Mitzrayim al odos Yisrael, es kol ha'tla'ah asher metzasam baderech, vayatzileim Hashem. Yisro arrives and Moshe says, שווער shver, father-in-law, you got to hear what happened. What's been going on? It's unbelievable, unreal, next level. Listen to what God did for us. So wonders Rav Shmuel Bornbaum, מהי אחרי שהיסר נהיה כבודו של עולם למדבר לשמוע דברי תורה, למה הוצרך משה למשוך את לבו לקרבו לתורה Me'achar she'Yisro heeneach kvodo shel olam l'avoh la'midbar lishmoa divrei Torah, lama hotzrach Moshe limshoch es libo l'karvo laTorah? ויספר משה לחתנו Vayisaper Moshe l'chosno. When Moshe, Moshe's busy, in fact, that's going to be Yisro's observation in a moment. And, true to all fathers-in-law since, he gives some unsolicited advice. Different than all sons-in-law since, Moshe embraces it. I'm a father-in-law too now, by the way, so I'm on both sides. I'm allowed to talk like this. ויספר משה לחתנו Vayisaper Moshe l'chosno, when Moshe tells his father-in-law everything that happened, זאג רש\"י zogt Rashi, why? Why was Moshe interrupting his incredibly busy schedule to tell Yisro everything that happened, considering Yisro already knew? Why? Says Rashi, למשוך את לבו לקרבו לתורה limshoch es libo l'karvo laTorah, in order to inspire him and motivate him and drag him and draw him to more Torah. Learn more Torah, be further engrossed in Torah, immersed in Torah. Wonders Rav Shmuel Bornbaum, why does Moshe have to be מושך moshech, למשוך את לבו לקרבו לתורה limshoch es libo l'karvo laTorah? Why is he trying to inspire Yisro who's taking him out a shabbaton, cholent and kugel, learn more Torah. He's uh, he's given him some impressive הבדלה havdalah, Shabbos is waning away, ebbing. Why is he doing all this to Yisro? Yisro already gets it, he believes in it, he showed up, he's here, he buys in. He came לשמוע דברי תורה lishmoa divrei Torah. Says Rav Shmuel Bornbaum, because the way Yisro came was in the category of a volunteer. He was a non-Jew who was interested. He came to explore, to listen, to learn. He came as a volunteer to learn. So says Rav Shmuel Bornbaum, you know what happens with the spirit of volunteering? It lasts as long as you're inspired, you're motivated, you're excited, and the moment that wears off, you're done, you're out. Because you don't feel bound, and you don't feel obligated. You feel I'm a volunteer. So as long as I'm inspired, I'll do it. The moment I'm stop, I'm no longer inspired and motivated, I drop out, I give it up. A person who feels that they were sitting in the honor of the world and their heart moved them to go out to the desert, a place of desolation, because they feel they have a passion to learn Torah, generally a person can't rise from that level of self-sacrifice. To go out to the desert for a seminar, a Shabbaton, a week, you can do. To stay and to last, even if it'll mean to be there forever, that's a lot harder. That you have to go from the spirit of a volunteer to being למשוך את לבו לקרבו לתורה limshoch es libo l'karvo laTorah, to join the crowd, to become part of this people, to take it to the next level. And that says Rav Shmuel Bornbaum is why, that's why Moshe felt the need, למשוך את לבו לקרבו לתורה limshoch es libo l'karvo laTorah. Because the first stage was Yisro came, curious, I want to explore, I'll sit on the periphery, I'll stay here as long as I'm inspired. But Moshe wanted to secure, Moshe wanted to, he wanted to make sure that it would last and it would be forever. Says the Tiferes Shmuel, עוד יש לומר od yesh lomar, another interpretation. When Yisro left the honor of the world for Torah, it was in the category of מי יעלה בהר ה' mi yaaleh b'har Hashem. The first level was מי יעלה בהר ה' mi yaaleh b'har Hashem. Who can climb to the top of the mountain? Just as it requires work to climb a mountain, so too Yisro worked hard to climb God's mountain, to come to the desert. So the first stage is being motivated enough to climb the mountain. Climb it's hard. It's hard, takes effort. What you have to give up, the effort that you have to express, to exert, climb the mountain. But there's an even greater avodah, it's even harder. And what is that avodah? ומי יקום במקום קדשו U'mi yakum b'imkom kodsho, who can stay on top of the mountain? Climb the mountain with a burst of energy, a burst of inspiration, climb the mountain, that's hard. But who has what it takes to stay on top of the mountain? That's even harder. Meaning, to continue to learn Torah all one's days, as it is in the Rambam in הלכות תלמוד תורה Hilchos Talmud Torah, עד יום מותו מחויב אדם בתלמוד תורה ad yom moso mechuyav adam b'Talmud Torah. For this, a person needs to constantly strengthen themselves. And that's why the גמרא בברכות דף ל\"ב Gemara in Brachos daf lamed beis tells us, ארבעה צריכין חיזוק Arba'ah tzrichin chizuk. There are four things that need constant reinforcement in our lives. What are the four things that need constant reinforcement? You can never say I'm done, I've arrived, I'm inspired, I'm motivated, I'm on the plan, I'm good to go. What are the four things that need constant reinforcement, chizuk? Torah, maasim tovim, tfila, and derech eretz. Learning Torah, doing good deeds, davening, so easy to get distracted, and derech eretz. Rashi says, what does it mean צריכין חיזוק tzrichin chizuk, from the Gemara in Brachos lamed beis? שיתחזק אדם בהם תמיד בכל כוחו She'yischazek adam bahem tamid b'chol kocho. If you take your foot off the gas, you're finished. If you ever stop pushing on the gas, you're going to screech to a complete halt, without even pushing on the brake. But you have to keep your foot on the gas, צריכין חיזוק tzrichin chizuk, בכל כוחו b'chol kocho. Even one who is already immersed in Torah, needs to strengthen themselves always with all their strength. It's not enough to climb the mountain, what are you going to do to stay on top of the mountain? Stay on top of the mountain. He doesn't quote this, but the Ramchal writes in מסילת ישרים Mesilas Yesharim. The Ramchal writes when he talks about the מידה mida of זריזות zrizus, alacrity, zeal, enthusiasm, we think of when do you need זריזות zrizus? To start something. Want to start learning the דף יומי Daf Yomi, I want to start a project to finish ש\"ס Shas, I want to start a project to expand a campus, I want to start a project to convert my garage with permits. I want to start a project, when do we need זריזות zrizus, alacrity and zeal and energy? When? At the beginning. Writes the Ramchal, but that's only the first step of זריזות zrizus. You know when you need זריזות zrizus for real? Because in every project, whatever you undertake, diet and exercise, lifestyle change, you're going to start to take the plunge on the ice bath, join the movement, it's life-changing, game-changing. You're going to start to go to שיעור shiur, you're going to start the כולל בוקר Kollel Boker, you're going to start the תהלים Tehillim, you're going to start the whatever you want to start, you need זריזות zrizus just to get started. But inevitably and invariably, you know what happens to everybody? You hit the proverbial wall. And it's not fun, and it wears off, and you stop talking about the ice bath, and now it's cold, and you're not in the mood, now you're tired, now it got old. And now you're halfway through the project, or now you missed a few days of the Daf Yomi, or now you took a break because you went to Israel and the baked products are so good there that nobody can keep their diet when they go to Israel, impossible. So now you hit that wall, are you gonna get, are you gonna run through it? Now you had that break, are you gonna get back on the wagon, back on the horse, back on the bicycle, back on whatever metaphor you want to use? The second burst of זריזות zrizus, writes the Ramchal, is when you're halfway through that project, when you hit that wall, what are you going to do? Is the wall going to knock you down? Or are you going to find a way to climb over it or around it or dig a tunnel under it, or if necessary, run right through it? Will you get that second burst of זריזות zrizus to finish what you start? It's not easy. So Yisro came, who wasn't curious, who didn't see those headlines, who wasn't blown away by what happened? He came, that's step one, he climbed the mountain. But ומי יקום במקום קדשו u'mi yakum b'imkom kodsho, who can stay on top? And that's why Moshe, it wasn't enough that Yisro heard and came, now Moshe interrupts and stops what he's doing to be למשוך את לבו לקרבו לתורה limshoch es libo l'karvo laTorah. How am I going to make sure that you didn't just stop by here, but you stay? You didn't just climb the mountain, you stay on top of the mountain. How do we make sure it wasn't just the initial זריזות zrizus, but there is the second זריזות zrizus to run through whatever will get in your way. As we learn that the four things need chizuk, they need that chizuk which is, in order שיתחזק אדם בהם תמיד בכל כוחו she'yischazek adam bahem tamid b'chol kocho says Rashi, to constantly come back and continue to reinforce.פרק י\"ט, פסוק א Perek Yud Tes, Pasuk Aleph. One of the most famous פסוקים psukim. Yisro gives his advice, Moshe takes the advice, delegation, you got to delegate. Again, we've discussed all of this in the past. Page 400. פרק י\"ט, פסוק א Perek Yud Tes, Pasuk Aleph. בחודש השלישי לצאת בני ישראל מארץ מצרים ביום הזה באו מדבר סיני Bachodesh hashlishi l'tzeis bnei Yisrael mei'eretz Mitzrayim, bayom hazeh bau midbar Sinai. It's now the third month. ביום הזה באו מדבר סיני Bayom hazeh bau midbar Sinai, on this day they came. ויסעו מרפידים ויבאו מדבר סיני ויחנו במדבר Vayisu mei'Rephidim vayavo'u midbar Sinai vayachanu bamdiar. They left Rephidim, they came to the desert. ויחנו במדבר Vayachanu bamdiar, they encamped there. ויחן שם ישראל נגד ההר Vayichan sham Yisrael neged hahar. One of the most famous פסוקים psukim in the Torah, famous of course because it's on the BRS logo and all the BRS literature. ויחן שם ישראל נגד ההר Vayichan sham Yisrael neged hahar. And why is it famous? Rashi quotes Chazal and make it famous. Why did we switch tense? Why grammatically did we shift? We are inconsistent, incongruous. On the one hand, it should say not ויחן vayichan, it should say ויחנו vayachanu. ויחנו במדבר Vayachanu bamdiar and ויחן vayichan. Why did we shift? ויחנו Vayachanu is in the plural, ויחן vayichan is in the singular. זאג רש\"י Zogt Rashi to teach us כאיש אחד בלב אחד k'ish echad b'lev echad, like one person with one heart. And of course that is our motto, diversity, unity. Look around this room, look around every שבת Shabbos, look around our evening on Shabbos morning. We're proud of it, we'll keep talking about it. It's why we're building it, to expand it, to continue to inspire with it, to make room for each and every single Jew and to continue to recognize the individuality of the Jew and to be united. Not to be divided. Diversity, not divisiveness, unity, not uniformity. You have to have both. I think I've told you before when Rav Steinsaltz was in our community, זצ\"ל zatzal, and he was preparing to speak, and he was making himself a cup of coffee. And he said to me, Rabbi, what's special about your community? So I had my pitch. I was ready to go. Unity, diversity, כאיש אחד בלב אחד k'ish echad b'lev echad, I was ready to go. And he's stirring his coffee and he looks up at me and he says, if you have unity, of course you have diversity. Because if you didn't have diversity, you wouldn't have unity, you'd have uniformity. So your logo is redundant. Then he went back to stirring his coffee and took a sip. Okay. That was Rav Steinsaltz's genius on the spot. If you have unity, of course you have diversity. If you didn't have diversity, you wouldn't have unity, you'd have uniformity. Brilliant. It's brilliant. We talk about Jewish unity all the time. So the question is unity with whom? כאיש אחד בלב אחד K'ish echad b'lev echad. So far I didn't tell you anything you don't know. One of the most famous Rashis on the Torah. כאיש אחד בלב אחד K'ish echad b'lev echad. Good. Now I'll ask you, with whom? It happens to be in these, in the pledge of allegiance of the United States, which I will not ask you to rise and recite with me. See how many of you know it. What does it include? We are one nation, under God, indivisible. What does it mean to be indivisible? Anyone know when that was added, by the way? Pledge of Allegiance was originally written in 1892. In 1954, as a result of communism spreading, President Eisenhower wanted to emphasize the difference, so they added the words 'under God' to the pledge of allegiance. Undivided, one nation under God, indivisible was added. And it is a miracle no one's taken it out since then. If you think about it. God, united, I don't know what country that's talking about, but it's a miracle it's still in there. So when America, when we pledge to be undivided, what do we mean? Undivided. What do we mean? Well, as Jews, להבדיל l'havdil, what do we mean? כאיש אחד בלב אחד K'ish echad b'lev echad, with whom? So one, one sense of it means that when we stood at the base of that mountain, when we came to our Sinai our פרשה parsha, no מחלוקת machlokes, no fighting, no dismissing, no judging, no marginalizing, no hypercriticism, כאיש אחד בלב אחד k'ish echad b'lev echad. Find your נוסח nusach, find your שבט shevet, find your מנין minyan, find your יארמולקע yamaka, find your head cover, but be united, be together, be together. That's the simple understanding. Rav Tzaddok HaKohen of Lublin, Rav Tzaddok writes that what it meant is כאיש אחד בלב אחד k'ish echad b'lev echad means united in our relationship with Hashem. Not only vis-a-vis each other, but united meant we were united in our allegiance, loyalty, we were united how? One nation under God. That's what made us united. Our unity was that we were under God. Rav Tzaddok was ahead of his time. He added the words to the declaration, to the pledge. In שמע Shema, we say that we worship, we serve Hashem how? בכל לבבך b'chol levavcha, which means, to direct, it doesn't say בכל לבך b'chol libecha, the משנה Mishna points out. To serve Hashem with our one heart, grammatically it would say בכל לבך b'chol libecha, one heart. What does בכל לבבך b'chol levavcha mean? בשני יצריך B'shnei yetzarecha, with our two hearts, our יצר הטוב yetzer hatov and our יצר הרע yetzer hara. At הר סיני Har Sinai in the moment before we received the Torah, we didn't have two hearts, a יצר הטוב yetzer hatov and a יצר הרע yetzer hara. In that moment, in that high, in that place, at that time, we were לב אחד lev echad. כאיש אחד K'ish echad, we were one people, not בכל לבבך b'chol levavcha, not with two hearts, יצר טוב yetzer tov and יצר הרע yetzer hara, positive inclination, negative inclination. In that moment we were כאיש אחד k'ish echad. בלב אחד b'lev echad. We only had one heart, we had one heart. But I want to share with you one other interpretation. and it's from the שם משמואל Shem MiShmuel, the סוכטשוב רבה Sochatchover Rebbe, שמואל בורנשטיין Shmuel Bornstein, the second סוכטשוב רבה Sochatchover Rebbe, who quotes his father, the הייליגע אבני נזר heilige Avnei Nezer. The אבני נזר Avnei Nezer. You see there are two ways that we can see ourselves. We can live our lives and our very identity is intertwined with our being individuals. Individuals, separate, distinct, distinguished, unique individuals. We each have our own needs and our own wants, we each have our own drives and desires, we each have our own ambitions and our own goals, we each have our own agendas. Sometimes they overlap, sometimes they intersect, sometimes we collaborate and coordinate, but essentially we're individuals. We're distinct and we're different, and we're individuals. Or, or, says the שם משמואל Shem MiShmuel, one can see themselves as part of something so much bigger. As part of a family, part of a community, part of a people, part of a relationship with השם Hashem, part of a greater mission.Says the שם משמואל Shem MiShmuel, quoting his father the אבני נזר Avnei Nezer, כאיש אחד בלב אחד k'ish echad b'lev echad means, in the moment before we received the Torah at הר סיני Har Sinai, in that moment before, we were united. We were united. The prerequisite to becoming a people was the capacity to practice what he calls תשובה ביטול מהותו teshuva bitul mahuso. To nullify and cancel any sense of self. There is no me that's not connected to my wife and children. There's not me, and then there's my wife, and then there's my children. We happen to live under the same roof, we happen to have the same last name, we happen to have a history together, we happen to have a destiny together. Really we're a group of individuals bound by the same last name and a WhatsApp group that posts way too often, but we're there, we're the same. חס ושלום Chas v'shalom, it should post more and more and more. We're we're just that's all that unites us. No. If you wake me in the middle of the night, if you stop me any time of the day, my whole identity, there's a ביטול מהותו bitul mahuso, תשובה ביטול מהותו teshuva bitul mahuso, there is no me not intrinsically, inherently connected, intertwined with my identity to my family. I don't have any other agenda or identity or drive or mission that is not intrinsically, inherently connected with my family. Now being part of a collective doesn't mean denying individualism. It doesn't mean you conform to some uniformity. It doesn't mean you can't have personal שאיפות she'ifos, aims and goals. It means that we're dedicating all of our individuality to our role and our place within the greater whole, within that which is bigger than ourselves, bigger than ourselves. A soldier in the army has those dog tags, wears that. This past שבת Shabbos, Dovid Fish spoke at the end of דאווענען davening about his son Eitan, השם יקום דמו Hashem yikom damo, who was killed fighting in Gaza. He spoke about his son. And then he reached into his shirt and he took out his son's dog tags and he says, I wear them, he's with me 24/7, every second on my heart. Every soldier has their name, their number, their role, their place. On the one hand, they're an individual, but on the other hand, their individuality, their role is directly intertwined with being part of that army, part of that greater whole. They're not on their own. They're not acting on their own. Their agenda or their drive or their ambition is not different than the army as a whole. Says the סוכטשובער Sochatchover, that's what it means to reach the level of כאיש אחד בלב אחד k'ish echad b'lev echad is that each had an אחדות achdus within our own sense of selves and our identity. It wasn't that you and I were getting along. There's no fighting, there's no name calling. כאיש אחד בלב אחד K'ish echad b'lev echad, we got it together for a few minutes. You know, you say to the kids, we're on vacation, just don't ruin it. You fought until now, you'll go back to fighting when we leave, but on this vacation, just don't spoil it. That's a very low level of understanding of כאיש אחד בלב אחד k'ish echad b'lev echad. Like just don't fight at הר סיני Har Sinai. Just let us have some good pictures, good videos, good memories. Let us walk away from הר סיני Har Sinai feeling good about this. You can go back to fighting, calling each other names, dismissing, disregarding. You'll get back. Just for these few minutes, הר סיני Har Sinai, just get along. That's a very low level understanding of כאיש אחד בלב אחד k'ish echad b'lev echad. Says the סוכטשובער Sochatchover, no, כאיש אחד בלב אחד k'ish echad b'lev echad is תשובה ביטול מהותו teshuva bitul mahuso. He says הגיד אבי אדמו\"ר זכר צדיק וקדוש לברכה, משום דכתיב ויחן שם ישראל נגד ההר, ואמרו חז\"ל כאיש אחד בלב אחד, וזה אי אפשר כי אם על ידי תשובה. היינו, התאחדות ישראל עד שנחשבים כאיש אחד בלב אחד, אי אפשר אלא בשכל אחד, הוא שפל בעיניו ואינו רואה מציאותו אלא מפעולת התחברו לכלל ישראל, וזהו תשובה ביטול מהותו higid avi admor zecher tzadik v'kadosh l'vracha, mishum d'ksiv vayichan sham Yisrael neged hahar, v'amru chazal k'ish echad b'lev echad, v'zeh ee efshar ki im al yidei teshuva. Hainu, hisachdus Yisrael ad shenechshavim k'ish echad b'lev echad, ee efshar ela b'sechel echad, hu shafel b'einav v'eino ro'eh metziuso ela m'pe'ulas hischabro l'klal Yisrael, v'zehu teshuva bitul mahuso. There is no me separate and apart from עם ישראל Am Yisrael. That's who I am and that's what I am about. That's my life. He said Dovid Fish, that his next son is going into the army next month. He's dreamt his whole life of being in combat. If you've lost a child in combat, then automatically no sibling goes into combat unless the parents are able, willing to sign something. And the son came to him and said, you have to sign it, this has been my dream, I want to go into combat. How do parents make that decision? But how does a child have that dream? He lost a brother fighting, and he says I'm not going to take advantage of this out with no guilt. The opposite, you must sign, I want to go fight. That is ביטול, תשובה ביטול מהותו bitul, teshuva bitul mahuso. How does a young man, picture the teenagers in America versus these teenagers. A teenager in Israel, תשובה ביטול מהותו teshuva bitul mahuso, says there is no me who's not in a combat unit. תשובה ביטול מהותו teshuva bitul mahuso. I have a niece who בשעה טובה b'sha'ah tovah is due any moment and her husband is in his whatever number round of מילואים miluim, and he's in Gaza and who knows what's happening this moment in Gaza, but he's still been there. and he's entitled to be out because his wife is due any moment. And he's been alternating nights going in and out of Gaza to be with her. Why? Because he says, my precious nephew Avi Noam, how could my guys be in and I'm not with them? תשובה ביטול מהותו Teshuva bitul mahuso. There is no me. There's no my wife is expecting. There's no my brother was killed so I'm out. There is no me separate than my עם am. עם Am, Rav Soloveitchik says the word עם am comes from עם im, with, together, united. That's, that's what the אבני נזר Avnei Nezer is writing. That's what was born at הר סיני Har Sinai. Yes, we got a Torah, we're going to come to this in a moment. Rav Soloveitchik has this insight. Yes, we got the Torah. Yes, yes, receiving the Torah was the seminal moment of הר סיני Har Sinai. He gave us the Torah, השם Hashem, a תורת חיים Toras Chaim, our תורה הקדושה Torah Hakdosha, a תורת חסד Toras Chesed. He gave us this blueprint, this instruction manual for life. Yes, הר סיני Har Sinai was all about do's and don'ts, and they're not negotiable. And we have to be strict and vigilant and absolutely. הר סיני Har Sinai was about שבת Shabbos and כשרות kashrus and טהרת המשפחה taharas hamishpacha. הר סיני Har Sinai was about לשון הרע lashon hara and honesty in business. הר סיני Har Sinai was about the do's and don'ts and the details and ריבית ribbis and and everything else. Yes, absolutely. But you know what else הר סיני Har Sinai was about? You know what was the prerequisite at הר סיני Har Sinai? תשובה ביטול מהותו Teshuva bitul mahuso. There is no me without you. There is no me without my guys. There is no me without my people. There's no drive, there's no ambition, there's no life mission I have that doesn't include at the forefront what's my role in this people called עם ישראל Am Yisrael? כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael? This is the גבורה gevurah that we've seen this last year and a half. This is the גבורה gevurah of כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael, of עם ישראל Am Yisrael. כאיש אחד בלב אחד K'ish echad b'lev echad is not just we didn't fight, we wouldn't call names, we got along, we got it together for a few minutes called הר סיני Har Sinai. Says the סוכטשובער Sochatchover, says the שם משמואל Shem MiShmuel, the אבני נזר Avnei Nezer in his father's name, the אבני נזר Avnei Nezer. תשובה ביטול מהותו Teshuva bitul mahuso. There is no individuality, individual identity, there's no drive that is separate, apart, distinct. Yes, I'm an individual. Yes, I have my dog tags, my number. Yes, I have my unit, but it's all what's my role in the bigger, what's my role in the greater part? That's, that's the miracle of הר סיני Har Sinai. That's the prerequisite to the do's and don'ts of קבלת התורה Kabbalas HaTorah. That's what happened in that moment. פרק י\"ט פסוק ט Perek yud tes pasuk tes. פרק י\"ט Perek yud tes. Sorry. י\"ט פסוק ה' Yud tes pasuk hey. Let's keep going. ועתה, אתם ראיתם אשר עשיתי למצרים V'ata, atem re'isem asher asisi l'Mitzrayim. השם Hashem says you saw what I did in מצרים Mitzrayim, ואשא אתכם על כנפי נשרים ואביא אתכם אלי v'esa eschem al kanfei nesharim v'avi eschem elai. And I borne you on the wings of eagles, I brought you to me. It's a great פסוק pasuk, we've talked about it in the past. What it means the wings of eagles, again, we're seeing these miracles in our time. Ethiopian Jewry, Soviet Jewry, the wings of eagles. השם Hashem says, I'm bringing you to me, even while we were in מצרים Mitzrayim, השם Hashem took us to הר סיני Har Sinai, while yet in מצרים Mitzrayim on that fateful night. ועתה V'ata, פסוק ה' pasuk hey, אם שמוע תשמעו בקולי ושמרתם את בריתי im shamoa tishme'u b'koli ushmartem es brisi you observe my ברית bris. והייתם לי סגולה מכל העמים כי לי כל הארץ Vihyisem li segula mikol ha'amim ki li kol ha'aretz. And you will be for me a... translate the word? סגולה Segula. What does it mean to be a סגולה segula? How are you a סגולה segula? What does it mean to be a סגולה segula? Fun superstition? We think of סגולות segulos. I was at the כותל Kotel last week, I did not buy a red string. A red string is not a סגולה segula, a red string is, תוספתא Tosefta writes, מדרכי האמורי midarkei ha'Emori. It is paganism and idolatry and superstition and forbidden. It is a wonderful, wonderful thing for פרנסה parnassah of the woman on the steps of the כותל Kotel selling you the red string. It's a fantastic סגולה segula for her פרנסה parnassah, but meaningless for yours. It does nothing, and in fact it is idolatry. It's not me, it's a תוספתא Tosefta. So what's a סגולה segula? We're a people of סגולה segula. והייתם לי סגולה Vihyisem li segula, be for me a סגולה segula. What does that mean? Silly superstitions? That's what it means? Says Rav Soloveitchik. The word סגולה segula connotes singularity, separateness. יעקב Yaakov loved יוסף Yosef and בנימין Binyamin differently than he loved his other sons. יהודה Yehuda described this relationship succinctly. יעקב's Yaakov's soul is attached to בנימין's Binyamin's. There was a סגולה segula dimension to these special loves. It involved an intertwining of souls, a union beyond verbal description. A סגולה segula love is an ontological merger. The people of ישראל Yisrael are a סגולה segula people, a nation which God has exclusively designated to preserve and disseminate his teachings. Every day we recite two ברכות brachos regarding the בחירה bechira of כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael. We bless השם Hashem, שלא עשני גוי shelo asani goy. We also bless השם Hashem, אשר בחר בנו מכל העמים asher bachar banu mikol ha'amim. One of these ברכות brachos seems superfluous. If we bless God who made us Jews, why do we repeat the assertion in another ברכה bracha that he chose us from among all the nations? If we make a ברכה bracha שלא עשני גוי shelo asani goy, you didn't make me a gentile, then why do we have to have to say you chose me from all the nations, which is another way of saying you didn't make me a gentile? Seems redundant, repetitive. Why do we have two ברכות brachos? That's, this is his question. Says Rav Soloveitchik, we are chosen in two distinct ways. One aspect of our chosenness relates to being the progeny of אברהם Avraham. And it is this aspect for which we bless השם Hashem for not having made us Gentiles. There is however an additional בחירה bechira, as suggested in this פסוק pasuk. This בחירה bechira comes through the study of Torah. This chosenness involves a higher sanctification than is afforded through simple lineage. By understanding the duality of our קדושה kedusha, we can explain a puzzling area of Jewish law. So essentially, there are two parts to our chosenness. One is, we are a people. The second is, we have a holiness because of Torah. By understanding the duality of our קדושה kedusha, we can explain a puzzling area of Jewish law. The הלכה halachic status of a Jew who renounced his religion is complex. Although his status as a Jew is compromised, it does not entirely disappear. With regard to הלכה halachos, an apostate Jew is considered no different than a non-Jew. So let's say a Jew converts out of Judaism. They can't, but they try to. They deny their Judaism. So in some areas of הלכה halacha, we now treat them as a non-Jew. For example, if they שחט shecht an animal, we don't accept the שחיטה shechita. If they write a ספר תורה sefer Torah, it's פסול passul. The meat's non-kosher, the Torah's no good. On the other hand, if he betroths a woman, הרי את מקודשת לי harei at mekudeshes li, are they married? Yes. How do we understand the hybrid nature of these הלכות halachos? Wonders the רב Rav, how do you understand these two דינים dinim? If they're like a גוי goy, if ישראל מומר Yisrael mumar, if somebody an apostate tries to convert out of Judaism, we treat them as a non-Jew, if they שחט shecht, if they write a ספר תורה sefer Torah. So why do we recognize their Jewish status if they get married? Says Rav Soloveitchik, because the apostate Jew retains the sanctity afforded through his lineage. A heritage that cannot be renounced no matter what he does. The קדושה kedusha of who has made me a gentile applies equally to the apostate as it does to the greatest of rabbis. However, the second קדושה kedusha, the one suggested by who has chosen me from among the nations, is dependent on the sanctity of the individual, attainable only through לימוד התורה limud haTorah. The apostate has renounced the second קדושה kedusha. A Jew has two levels of קדושה kedusha. He writes elsewhere Rav Soloveitchik, this idea that a Jew is part of two covenants. There's ברית אבות bris avos and ברית סיני bris Sinai. ברית אבות Bris avos means the covenant of the patriarchs. We have a shared history and a shared destiny. We're part of one family, we're part of one people. And even the members of our family and people who don't observe, who don't learn Torah, who don't live Torah, are we bound by them and with them? Absolutely. Because they're family. They're part of one family. This ברית אבות bris avos, the covenant of being a family. And then there's ברית סיני bris Sinai. We stood at that mountain together and we're bound and obligated by the תורה הקדושה Torah Hakdosha together. This ברית אבות bris avos and this ברית סיני bris Sinai. And they're both reflected in that ברכה bracha. אשר בחר בנו מכל העמים Asher bachar banu mikol ha'amim. השם Hashem you chose us from all of your people, ברית אבות bris avos, we are a people, we are a family. ונתן לנו את תורתו V'nasan lanu es Toraso, and you gave us your Torah. Which comes first? The prerequisite to ונתן לנו את תורתו v'nasan lanu es Toraso, to your giving us your Torah is אשר בחר בנו מכל העמים asher bachar banu mikol ha'amim. We have to feel we're part of this people. We have something extra special with, a greater unity, a greater connection, a greater togetherness with those who have both covenants. But we still are a family and a people. We're still united with those who have the first covenant. So a Jew can be an apostate from the second covenant. A Jew who renegs, relinquishes the קדושה kedusha of ברית סיני bris Sinai, who tries to convert out, who doesn't believe in or live by the principles of Torah, so their שחיטה shechita is no good and their ספר תורה sefer Torah is פסול passul. But they are still a Jew. ישראל אף על פי שחטא ישראל הוא Yisrael af al pi shechata Yisrael hu. Because ברית אבות bris avos binds us and binds us, we are forever part of one people. פרק י\"ט פסוק ח Perek yud tes pasuk ches. ויבא משה Vayavo Moshe, Moshe comes and he says, here's the Torah, and what do the Jewish people say? ויענו כל העם יחדיו ויאמרו כל אשר דבר השם Vaya'anu kol ha'am yachdav vayomru kol asher diber Hashem, whatever God says, נעשה na'aseh, we're in, we will do. וישב משה את דברי העם אל השם Vayashev Moshe es divrei ha'am el Hashem, and Moshe brought back the message to God. He came back and reported on it to God, to God. Wonders the תפארת שמואל Tiferes Shmuel. Once the Jewish people accepted the Torah, we know the גמרא Gemara in שבת Shabbos tells us, standing there at הר סיני Har Sinai that day, כפה עליהם הר כגיגית kafa aleihem har k'gigis. God held the mountain over their head. He turned it over like a barrel. And he said, if you accept the Torah, מוטב mutav, wonderful. But if not, שם תהא קבורתכם sham tehei kvuraschem, there is going to be your burial place. We've dealt with in the past, we're not going to right now, what should it say? If God wanted to threaten us, coerce us, accept the Torah, he put a gun to our head. Accept my Torah, fantastic. And if not, פה תהא קבורתכם po tehei kvuraschem. Here you're going to die. This will be your burial place. That's not what God says. What does he say? שם Sham. Over there. Why שם sham, not פה po? We've dealt with it in the past. But much more fundamentally, why did he have to threaten us? Why did he have to coerce us? Why did he have to invoke that image of the threat? Didn't we just read a moment ago, כל אשר דבר השם נעשה kol asher diber Hashem na'aseh? They said we're all in. We're ready to do. We're ready to obey. We're ready to observe. This is not our question. Whose question is this? תוספות Tosfos. תוספות שבת פח עמוד א Tosfos Shabbos peh ches amud alef. תוספות Tosfos wonders, why do I need כפה עליהם הר כגיגית kafa aleihem har k'gigis? That God held the mountain overhead and threatened them you have to accept the Torah. And that's what the גמרא Gemara in מגילה Megillah learns, that פורים Purim, קיימו וקבלו היהודים kimu v'kiblu haYehudim, קיימו מה שקיבלו כבר kimu ma shekiblu k'var. That on פורים Purim we accepted what previously we were coerced. Now it was of our own volition, but first at הר סיני Har Sinai, God threatened us. What do you have to get to פורים Purim we accepted of our own volition? At הר סיני Har Sinai we accepted of our own volition. We said נעשה, נעשה ונשמע na'aseh, na'aseh v'nishma. What do I need הר כגיגית har k'gigis, that God held the mountain over our head? So תוספות Tosfos answers, you know why? How was the Torah given? With an אש גדולה esh gedola, with a great fire. Pomp and circumstance, sound and light show, there was incredible fire. Says תוספות Tosfos, God was worried. We said we're all in, in principle. But then the moment came and God gave us the Torah, and the way he gave it to us was with this enormous fire, enormous fire. And השם Hashem was concerned that we'd be afraid and we'd say, never mind, keep it, return to sender, never mind. In order to ensure that we wouldn't say never mind, that we wouldn't be frightened from the fire, what did he do? כפה עליהם הר כגיגית Kafa aleihem har k'gigis, he put the mountain over our head. That's how he explains it, it's a famous תוספות Tosfos. Comes along ר' שמואל בירנבוים Reb Shmuel Birnbaum, and he says, I have a much simpler solution, God. God, you gave the Torah. The people said we're all in, נעשה ונשמע na'aseh v'nishma. You turn the mountain over their head and you threaten them to accept it anyway, why? Even though they said we're in? Because you're worried the way you gave it with the fire, they might have said return to sender, we're out. Says ר' שמואל בירנבוים Reb Shmuel Birnbaum, I've got a much better solution. What? Just don't give it with the fire. Don't give it in such a frightful, fearful way. Don't make them afraid, don't give it with fire, they won't, you don't have to be concerned they'll back out, you don't have to threaten with the הר כגיגית har k'gigis holding the mountain over their head, you're good to go. Why hold the mountain over their head? Because maybe they're going to back out even though they already said we're all in. Just don't worry they're going to back out because don't give it with fire. It's a great question, no? Says ר' שמואל בירנבוים Reb Shmuel Birnbaum, a beautiful idea, a critical principle. מציאות התורה צריך להיות באש, בקולות וברקים, אש מתלקחת Metzius haTorah tzarich l'hiyos b'eish, b'kolos u'vrakim, eish mislakachas. ואז יבינו את חכמת התורה. התורה תוכל להשפיע עליו ויסקאין בידו V'az yavinu es chachmas haTorah. HaTorah tuchal l'hashpia alav v'yiskaiem b'yado. There is no Torah without fire. You've got to be on fire learning Torah. You've got to have energy and enthusiasm, a ברען bren, a fire. You got to be on fire to learn Torah. There is no learning Torah casually. You don't kick back in your recliner. You don't lie back on your couch and hold the ספר sefer, the book over your face. In fact, the גמרא Gemara, חז\"ל Chazal learn from our פרשה parsha that the same way the Torah was given באימה, ברתת, ביראה b'eimah, b'reses, b'yirah. A Jew has to sit up properly. You don't sit with your legs crossed, you don't recline, you don't sit with your shirt untucked, you don't wear shorts, you're never shirtless while you learn. You got to be, show a certain level of dignity and awe. You got to be on fire when you're learning Torah. Because if you're not on fire, then the Torah is just academic. If you want the Torah to seep in, you want a Torah that's a living Torah, a תורת חיים Toras Chaim, it has to be fire. So it's not that השם Hashem could have not have to hold the mountain, just don't give it with the fire. Giving it with the fire was necessary, was an absolute. A Jew has to be on fire when we receive the Torah. The מדרש Midrash by the way, has a different understanding of כפה עליהם הר כגיגית kafa aleihem har k'gigis. God didn't hold the mountain over our head because he wanted, he wanted to threaten us. There's a beautiful מדרש Midrash that says, you know why he held the mountain over our head? Do you have any idea how hot it gets in the desert? He held the mountain over our head to give us shade. השם Hashem loved us, and he was expressing affection to us, and he was taking care of us, and he held the mountain over our head not to threaten us. He held the mountain over our head to show that love and to provide that shade, and that's the image, the everlasting image that we should have of הר סיני Har Sinai. Not one of threat and coercion, but one of love and affection and embrace that השם Hashem says, come here, come here, בובעלע bubbeleh, it's so hot. Let me give you some shade. Come here. Let me cool you off. Let me give you my Torah. Let it lighten up your, let it light up your life. Let it change your life. פרק י\"ט פסוק ט Perek yud tes pasuk tes. Now, ויאמר השם אל משה Vayomer Hashem el Moshe, God says to Moshe, הנה אנכי בא אליך בעב הענן hineni anochi ba eilecha b'av he'anan, I'm going to appear in the thickness of the cloud, בעבור ישמע העם בדברי עמך וגם בך יאמינו לעולם ba'avur yishma ha'am b'dabri imach v'gam b'cha ya'aminu l'olam. And they will also believe in you forever. They'll believe in you לעולם l'olam, forever and ever. ויגד משה את דברי העם אל השם Vayaged Moshe es divrei ha'am el Hashem. And wonders ר' שמואל בירנבוים Reb Shmuel Birnbaum, what does it feel a fairly obvious question. Did this promise come true? השם Hashem says to Moshe, בובעלע bubbeleh, come here. We're going to appear to the Jewish people. I'm going to appear through the cloud, you're going to talk to them, transmit my Torah. They're going to believe in me, they're going to believe in you לעולם l'olam, forever and ever and ever. Asks the תפארת שמואל Tiferes Shmuel, what are you talking about? היו מגלים פנים בתורה שלא כהלכה Hayu megalim panim baTorah shelo k'halacha. We've lived through generations of צדוקים Tzdukim and בייתוסים Baysusim. We've had people who've rejected Torah. We have the communists and we have the secular Zionists, he writes, and we have whole movements of Jews who've been fighting back against the, against God and against the Torah of Moshe. וגם בך יאמינו לעולם V'gam b'cha ya'aminu l'olam. Where's the promise? What happened? What happened? Says ר' שמואל בירנבוים Reb Shmuel Birnbaum, השורש של אינם מאמינים, הם מה שהם אינם רוצים לקיים רצון השם ורק רוצים ללכת אחר שרירות לבם ושיטתם המקולקלת. אבל באמת בשורש לבם הם מכירים שמשה אמת ותורתו אמת Hashoresh shel einam ma'aminim, heim mah sheheim einam rotzim l'kayem retzon Hashem v'rak rotzim laleches achar shrirus libam v'shitasam hamekulkelet. Aval b'emes b'shoresh libam heim makirim sheMoshe emes v'Soraso emes. Says ר' שמואל בירנבוים Reb Shmuel Birnbaum, you know what the Torah's promise was? In every Jew, there's a פינטעלע ייד pintele Yid. There is a Jew who for the majority of his or her life could walk around saying, I don't believe, the Torah is not written by God, and I'm not bound by its laws, and I'm not to observe its lifestyle. But even that Jew inside her heart, just waiting for it to be cracked and broken open, there's a פינטעלע ייד pintele Yid. There's the one who believes, the מאמין במשה אמת ותורתו אמת ma'amin b'Moshe emes v'Toraso emes. There is the one who וגם בך יאמינו לעולם v'gam b'cha ya'aminu l'olam. The only question is, who's going to crack open that heart? Who's going to pull back the ערלת הלב orlas halev, that foreskin covering the heart? How are you going to get in? But in every Jew is a פינטעלע ייד pintele Yid. Don't see, don't see how many Jews don't live a Torah life and don't and claim to not believe in Torah as being a קשיא kasha, a question on this פסוק pasuk וגם בך יאמינו לעולם v'gam b'cha ya'aminu l'olam, they do believe. It's deep inside. Only question is who and how are you going to get it out? How are we going to get it out? There's a famous קאצקער Kotsker. We say in שמע Shma that ודברת בם v'dibarta bam, we learn and we live Torah, and where do we place it? על לבבך Al levavecha. It should say בלבבך b'levavecha, in your heart. Why does it say to place it on the heart? The קאצקער Kotsker says so beautifully, famously, קאצקער Kotsker says, our job as parents, our job as educators is to take all the inspiration, put it on top of the heart. Sometimes the heart is hardened. The heart has all kinds of layers of hurt. Sometimes the heart has a covering, a ערלה orlah. Place it there, because one day there's going to be a crack. Something is going to break it open and when it does, all that was placed על לבבך al levavecha on top of the heart, it's going to seep in. It's going to fall into place. Our job as parents, as grandparents, as educators is place all that inspiration, all that Torah על לבבך al levavecha, and when there's that crack, when it breaks open, it will seep in. So says ר' שמואל בירנבוים Reb Shmuel Birnbaum, what does it mean? Even though there are these Jews who look like they're אינם מאמינים einam ma'aminim, they don't believe, they do believe. משה אמת תורתו אמת Moshe emes, Toraso emes, in their hearts, they are fulfilling the וגם בך יאמינו לעולם v'gam b'cha ya'aminu l'olam. It's up to us to crack open and break open their hearts so that their belief will set in. ר' אלחנן וסרמן השם יקום דמו Rav Elchonon Wasserman, Hashem yikom damo writes this. We learned it in the אמונה שיעור emunah shiur several years ago. He says, what happens, I'll tell it to you very quickly. What happens? A girl turns 12, a boy turns 13, and they're obligated and bound by מצוות mitzvos. And what's the מצוה mitzva they have to observe? This week's פרשה parsha, עשרת הדברות Aseres Hadibros. אנכי השם אלוקיך Anochi Hashem Elokecha. They have to believe, one of the מצוות mitzvos is, now they have to believe in God. Writes ר' אלחנן Rav Elchonon, אריסטו Aristo, the great philosopher, he seeks evidence and proof for God's existence. He had doubts. But this 12, 13-year-old little פישר pisher, this little kid, they're supposed to know and live with certainty that there's a God? How could that be? How could they be bound by that מצוה mitzva at that young age, when many adults haven't figured it out yet? Says ר' אלחנן Rav Elchonon, says ר' אלחנן Rav Elchonon, an incredible insight. He says, when we're babies, we know that there is a God. Every baby, every toddler, every infant, as we grow older, no kid from the back seat from their car seat was listening to Uncle Moishy and saying, Hashem is not here, Hashem is not there, Hashem is not anywhere. No little kid ever, ever rejected Uncle Moishy from the car seat. Say absolutely, they sing along, Hashem is here, of course he's here. I have a mother and father, they have a mother and father, they have a mother and father, so that there's a mother and father of, of course there's a father, Hashem. טאקע השם איז דא, השם איז דארט, השם איז איבעראל Takeh Hashem is du, Hashem is dort, Hashem is iberal, they gladly sing along. What's our job as parents? Don't ruin it. Every child knows and believes that there's a God. And what happens? They overhear their parents, the שבת Shabbos table, at carpool, they hear the doubt, the uncertainty, the cynicism, the sarcasm of the adults around them and we ruin it. And the whole idea of חינוך chinuch is get out of the way. Don't ruin it, reinforce it. Because every Jew in their heart and their soul, the פינטעלע ייד pintele Yid knows, משה אמת ותורתו אמת Moshe emes v'Toraso emes. That there's a השם Hashem and that Moshe is the truth. And now, our job as parents and educators and our מצוה mitzva for ourselves is not to go explore and investigate and come to the evidence and believe. It's to remove all the things that are blocking, all the impediments and obstacles that are stopping us from believing. You don't have to proactively believe, eliminate the things that are stopping you from believing. You don't have to teach a child to believe, you have to not, not expose the child to disbelief, and really therefore we can fulfill this promise, this פסוק pasuk, וגם בך יאמינו לעולם v'gam b'cha ya'aminu l'olam, just get out of the way. וידבר אלוקים Vayidaber Elokim, God speaks to us, and we answer נעשה ונשמע na'aseh v'nishma. Rav Asher Weiss has a beautiful insight here on נעשה ונשמע na'aseh v'nishma. What was so great about נעשה ונשמע na'aseh v'nishma? Receiving the Torah at סיני Sinai he writes was greater than all the miracles of the Exodus, even greater than the splitting of the sea. Even though we had the greatest prophecy there and we said זה קלי ואנוהו zeh keli v'anveihu, yet, the receiving of the Torah far surpassed any of these experiences. בני ישראל Bnei Yisrael attained the level of the מלאכים malachim. ברכו השם מלאכיו גיבורי כח עושי דברו Borchu Hashem malachav giborei koach osei d'varo. Bless השם Hashem our angels, we were the level of angels at מתן תורה Matan Torah. חז\"ל Chazal say that when we stood at הר סיני Har Sinai, the impurity which the primal serpent cast upon חוה Chava, which she then passed on to future generations was removed. We returned to our original, uncontaminated state. At that moment, כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael completely negated themselves before השם Hashem and dedicated their essence to him, proclaiming with pride and might, נעשה ונשמע na'aseh v'nishma. And we got two crowns, the גמרא Gemara says in שבת Shabbos, every Jew got. 600,000 angels came down and gave two crowns to the Jewish people, one for נעשה Naaseh, one for נשמע Nishma. Asks רב אשר וייס Rav Asher Weiss, tonight, 8:00 he'll be here live in person. I hope he doesn't plan on giving this to our Torah. What is the connection?What is the connection between meriting royal crowns and saying נעשה Naaseh before נשמע Nishma? It seems the significance of prefacing נעשה Naaseh to נשמע Nishma is that by doing so בני ישראל Bnei Yisrael demonstrated they accepted upon themselves the yoke of God's sovereignty with joy and love. This is indeed a high level of serving השם Hashem. For ordinarily, the nature of man is such he does not accept any obligation upon himself unless he knows what he's getting himself into, what the obligation entails. Here בני ישראל Bnei Yisrael did not wish to be free, their sole desire was to be servants of השם Hashem, to accept the yoke of his kingship, and therefore they prefaced נעשה Naaseh to נשמע Nishma.תוספות Tosfos asks our question, כפה עליהם הר כגיגית Kafah aleihem har k'gigis, what do you mean? They said נעשה ונשמע Naaseh v'Nishma. תוספות Tosfos answers, the initially בני ישראל Bnei Yisrael said נעשה ונשמע Naaseh v'Nishma, but God was afraid lest בני ישראל Bnei Yisrael become frightened seeing the great fire, he placed the mountain over their head to accept. But רב אשר Rav Asher wants to give another answer. By the way, several people asked me what language he's going to speak. He grew up in Union, New Jersey. He moved to Israel the week before his בר מצוה Bar Mitzvah. His English is as good or better than yours and mine. He'll be speaking in English. His שיעורים shiurim in Israel he gives in English, Hebrew, and Yiddish, but he'll be speaking tonight in English. So תוספות Tosfos asked that question, תוספות Tosfos gave his answer, and רב אשר Rav Asher gives another. We can offer another solution. What really is so great about בני ישראל Bnei Yisrael uttering נעשה Naaseh before נשמע Nishma, considering that the generation had witnessed God's God's miracles like no other generation had, it isn't all that surprising they were willing to accept the Torah. The people of that generation were termed דור דעה Dor De'ah, the generation of knowledge. They had witnessed God alter the laws of nature in Egypt and the Red Sea. They witnessed השם's Hashem's promise to אברם Avram, ואחרי כן יצאו ברכוש גדול v'acharei chen yetzu b'rchush gadol. They left with great wealth. So it's not so surprising that they agreed. Why are they praised so much? And why did God have to uproot a mountain and put it over their head after everything they'd seen they had seen and they lived? Of course they accepted.Because השם Hashem wanted them to realize that it wasn't dominion which was being given to them, rather servitude. The גמרא Gemara teaches, he raised his head up from the water, they placed a pail of cement on his head. When a Canaanite slave immersed in a מקוה mikvah to assume his status, as soon as he emerged from the water, a vessel was put on his head. By doing this, his status as slave was established. So too בני ישראל Bnei Yisrael received the Torah. השם Hashem placed the mountain over our head to show that they were not receiving dominion, but servitude. And בני ישראל Bnei Yisrael still said נעשה Naaseh before נשמע Nishma. Their sole desire was to be servants to השם Hashem. We just wanted to serve השם Hashem. We traded in servitude to פרעה Paro to servants of השם Hashem.The גמרא Gemara tells us that a slave who after six years wants to stay with his master has his ear pierced. Why? Next week's פרשה Parsha, because the ear that heard at הר סיני Har Sinai that we should always forever be slaves to השם Hashem and not to a human being, and disregards it and wants to stay a slave to a human being has to have their ear pierced. Why do we wait till the end of six years? Why not immediately when this when this person sells himself into slavery to a person? A person who sells himself into slavery is doing so out of financial constraints, כי ימוך אחיך ki yamuch achicha. The kind of slavery is legitimate, does not conflict with servitude to God. But once the six years are up, and the slave does not receive payment for his work and nevertheless, he receives, and nevertheless, he says he wishes to stay with his master and wants to remain a slave forever, it's clear his ear is pierced because לי בני ישראל עבדים ולא עבדים לעבדים li Bnei Yisrael avadim v'lo avadim l'avadim. When בני ישראל Bnei Yisrael crowned God as king, when we put נעשה Naaseh before נשמע Nishma out of love and joy, we merited royal crowns measure for measure. The ministering angels crowned each of us with two crowns because our willingness to be עבדים avadim to השם Hashem. And not only to השם Hashem, but לא כן עבדי משה lo chen avdi Moshe. משה Moshe is an עבד השם eved Hashem. The greatest, he goes on and on, but we're very out of time. The greatest compliment that you could offer משה Moshe is משה עבד השם Moshe eved Hashem, to be an עבד השם eved Hashem. I'll end, he says, I once heard the גער רבי Ger Rebbe, the author of לב שמחה Lev Simcha, tell over from his father the אמרי אמת Imrei Emes, the following story which happened in the בית מדרש Beis Medrash of his grandfather, the שפת אמת Sfas Emes.On one of the days of סוכות Sukkos, שפת אמת Sfas Emes told his חסידים chasidim, when they say הלל Hallel, they can stir the heavens when they say אנא השם Ana Hashem. He didn't explain what he meant. The חסידים chasidim were divided as to what the רבי rebbe meant. Some concentrated extra hard when they said אנא השם הושיעה נא Ana Hashem Hoshiana. Others concentrated extra hard when they said the words אנא השם הצליחה נא Ana Hashem Hatzlicha Na. But the אמרי אמת Imrei Emes said he didn't join them in prayer. He understood that his father meant not אנא השם הושיעה נא Ana Hashem Hoshiana, or the אנא השם הצליחה נא Ana Hashem Hatzlicha Na, but he meant what will bring great results when you concentrate on אנא השם Ana Hashem, כי אני עבדך ki ani avdecha. אנא השם כי אני עבדך Ana Hashem ki ani avdecha. Our greatest ambition and the greatest compliment, the greatest praise a Jew can get is to be a loyal עבד השם eved Hashem. Not dominion, but servitude. The crowns for נעשה Naaseh before נשמע Nishma. Why הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu wanted was our willingness to be קדוש ברוך הוא Kadosh Baruch Hu you say jump, we say how high. We are all in it with you to serve. That's why we are here. As usual, we had so much more we did not get to. See you at 8:00 tonight. A few Akiva tickets left for Sunday night. Should be a day of בשורות טובות besoros tovos.
