Transcript
Okay, welcome back to Parsha Perspectives for today. Thank you for your flexibility. ברוך השם Baruch Hashem for שמחות simchas will be traveling, so I need to move the שיעור shiur to this afternoon and grateful that you are here for it. I want to thank our generous פרשה Parsha series sponsor, Becky and Avi Katz and family in memory of David Grossman, sponsored the פרשה שיעור Parsha shiur in memory of דוד בן מנחם מנוש David ben Menachem Manush. This afternoon שיעור shiur is also sponsored by Golda Sadowski in memory of her dear uncle, רב יהודה לייב קורצר Reb Yehuda Leib Kurtzer, and in honor of her dear aunt, יבדל לחיים טובים וארוכים Yibadel l'chaim tovim v'aruchim, Doris Kurtzer. Of course, we miss Rabbi Kurtzer, an incredibly special man. And sponsored by Judy Rosen in memory of her beloved husband Marvin, אלימלך ברוך בן בנציון Elimelech Baruch ben Bentzion. His יארצייט yahrzeit was the 19th of שבט Shvat. Certainly remember Marvin from my youth. And by the Wolk family in commemoration of the fifth יארצייט yahrzeit of רביצן Rebbetzin Annette Wolk. And by Debbie Moskowitz and and I also dedicated in loving memory of her granddaughter, the precious נשמה neshama Esti Moskowitz, אסתר טובה לאה בת רב גבריאל פנחס Esther T. Leba bat Reb Gavriel Pinchas, on her second יארצייט yahrzeit. And everyone's invited back this evening at 8:00 for a סיום ושיעור siyum and shiur in her memory.Also, before we begin, I just want to mention, I'm incredibly excited to share with you that our שול shul is moving forward to the future, as we're preparing to launch our six-million-dollar campaign to complete our campus, our expansion, our impact, to double the difference we're able to make, the amount of activity and all that goes on here on a regular basis. And we invite, we're going to invite everyone to be builders with us in building the Jewish people. We're building the campus, when we finish building the campus, we can really build, which is building our future, building the Jewish people. And that's not only for our local community, it's for our global community. You're going to hear a lot more about it. We're not doing our regular global campaign this year, but we're inviting the greater global community who read, listen, watch, enjoy, and feel connected to who we are and what we are about to be involved as well. So you'll hear a lot more about that. We're looking for ambassadors and people to give and contribute and help and raise and help us make this difference. We just want to build. We just want to be מרבה כבוד שמים marbeh k'vod Shamayim, and I can't overstate how important it is for everybody to help us spread and share this campaign and create excitement and generate a buzz about it. We can't do it without everybody, and we're really looking forward to it.פרשת משפטים Parshas Mishpatim page 416 in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash. ואלה המשפטים אשר תשים לפניהם V'eileh hamishpatim asher tasim lifneihem. ואלה המשפטים Ve'eileh hamishpatim. The ו' החיבור vav hachibur, the vav that connects this פרשה parsha to the one that came before. We start every year with this insight because it is so fundamental, it is so foundational to Judaism, to יידישקייט Yiddishkeit, to our lives and our lifestyles, to תורה Torah and what it's all about. And this time I want to share it, all the מפרשים meforshim say the same thing. It's just a question of who I quote that year for the same insight. So I was fortunate and blessed to get, ברוך השם Baruch Hashem, delivered to me a new חומש Chumash by Koren, and this is the Rabbi Sacks חומש Chumash. Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, זכרונו לברכה Zichrono livracha, who had such an impact on all of us and on Jews around the world. They compiled his insights and organized it around the חומש Chumash. And it's really a wonderful, wonderful work. Not only the beautiful translation, and it has רש\"י Rashi and אונקלוס Unkelus and also Rabbi Sacks's insights. So I want to share with you what Rabbi Sacks writes on this opening of our פרשה parsha, ואלה המשפטים v'eileh hamishpatim. And he writes the following. He writes, רש\"י Rashi comments on this פסוק pasuk, and these are the laws. כל מקום שנאמר אלה, פסל את הראשונים Kol makom she'ne'emar eileh, posel et harishonim. Whenever it says אלה eileh, it seems to nullify what came before. But ואלה מוסיף על הראשונים v'eileh mosif al harishonim. ואלה V'eileh is not discontinuity with what has been stated, but ואלה v'eileh signals a continuity. מה הראשונים מסיני, אף אלו מסיני Mah harishonim mi'Sinai, af eilu mi'Sinai. Just as the former comes from Sinai, so too, af eilu mi'Sinai. It's all from הר סיני Har Sinai. ולמה נסמכה פרשת דינים לפרשת מזבח V'lama nismecha parshas dinim l'parshas mizbeach? So, why do we have civil law placed as a juxtaposition with the laws concerning the מזבח mizbeach? לומר לך שתשים סנהדרין אצל המזבח Lomar l'cha shetasim sanhedrin etzel hamizbeach, to tell us, place the Sanhedrin near the מזבח mizbeach. אשר תשים לפניהם Asher tasim lifneihem, רש\"י Rashi says, place them before you. אמר לו הקדוש ברוך הוא למשה Amar lo Hakadosh Baruch Hu l'Moshe. The Almighty said to Moshe, לא תעלה על דעתך לומר אשנה להם הפרק וההלכה שניים או שלושה פעמים עד שתהא סדורה בפיהם, ואיני מטריח עצמי להבינם טעמי הדבר ופירושו. לכך נאמר אשר תשים לפניהם כשולחן ערוך ומוכן לאכול לפני אדם Lo ta'aleh al da'atcha lomar eshne lahem haperek v'halacha shnaim o shlosha pe'amim ad she'tisdor b'fihem, v'eini matriach atzmi l'havinam ta'amei hadavar u'feirusho. L'chach ne'emar asher tasim lifneihem k'shulchan aruch umuchan le'echol lifnei adam. I will teach that section of law two, three times till they know it, but I will not take the trouble to make them understand the reason. Therefore the Torah states, that you shall set before them, like a fully laid table with everything ready for eating. This is the source of the code of Jewish law we call the שולחן ערוך Shulchan Aruch, the table that is set. And I've mentioned before that the רמ\"א Rama, רב משה איסרליש Rav Moshe Isserles, takes the רב יוסף קארו Rav Yosef Karo's table, and what does he do? His commentary, the רמ\"א Rama's commentary is called מפה mapa. He puts a tablecloth on the table. And then you have the commentary of the בית יוסף Beis Yosef, the ב\"ח Bach, we have all the, the ט\"ז Taz, the ש\"ך Shach, all of the rabbinic one-upmanship about their commentary, really elucidating. But it's all predicated in our פסוק pasuk, אשר תשים לפניהם כשולחן ערוך asher tasim lifneihem k'shulchan aruch. It's like a set table. Come, eat, and enjoy. And writes Rabbi Sacks the following: Three remarkable propositions are being set out here. The first is that just as the general principle of Judaism, עשרת הדיברות Aseres Hadibros, means not 10 commandments but 10 utterances or overarching principles, they're divine, so are the details. These are there are those who believe that what is holy in Judaism is its broad vision. Never so compellingly expressed as in the Decalogue at Sinai. The truth, however, is that just as the former were given at Sinai, so these were given at Sinai. The greatness of יידישקייט Yiddishkeit is not simply in its noble vision, but in the way it brings this vision down to earth in detailed legislation. The second principle, no less fundamental, is that civil law is not secular law. We do not believe in the idea that render to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what belongs to God. We believe in the separation of powers, but not in the secularization of law or the spiritualization of faith. The סנהדרין Sanhedrin, Supreme Court, must be placed near the מזבח mizbeach to teach that law itself must be driven by religious vision. The third principle is the idea that law does not belong to lawyers. It is the heritage of every Jew. Legal knowledge is not the closely guarded property of an elite. It is, in the famous phrase, מורשה morasha, it is the heritage of יעקב Yaakov's assembly, קהילת יעקב kehilas Yaakov. Judaism expected everyone to know and understand the law. You know, just this past Shabbos afternoon I was in a בית מדרש beis medrash and I saw little groupings of people learning, and I saw individual studying on their own, and I said, ah, the beautiful sounds of קול תורה kol Torah. Of Jews of all ages and all backgrounds and all stages of life. Not professional rabbis and teachers, lawyers and doctors and retirees who are sitting and studying Torah. And where else do you see this? Can you point in America to places where people get together and say, bring your copy of the Constitution, bring your civil law or your tort law or your criminal law books, let's read them, let's analyze them, let's study them. Maybe that happens. And we probably wouldn't have you know, the nicest things to say about the kind of people who do that. It's wonderful. It's beautiful. I'm sure it's a hobby of some. But it's not far-reaching, and for us, it's meant to be normal, universal. Torah is everyone's birthright and heritage, accessible to all. Classes printed in every language, accessible to all. It's a beautiful, beautiful thing. So Rabbi Sacks is here at the beginning of Mishpatim, ואלה המשפטים v'eileh hamishpatim with the vav, the vav hachibur connecting it to last week's parsha Yisro to tell us that there is no secularization of law. It's religious. ואלה המשפטים V'eileh hamishpatim, civil law, tort law, criminal law, it is just as significant as Sinai. It's not just a religion of spiritual highs. Let's have a kumzits and a tish, let's have a farbrengen, let's have a spiritual high. But I'm not interested in when I go to business, when I go to work, when I go to law. But we take the spiritual high from Har Sinai, and we carry it with us wherever we go. As I like to say, in the boardroom, in the operating room, we take it into every room that we that we go into, the courtroom. Wherever we perform, wherever we fulfill our mission, our duty, our mandate, the תורה Torah is the guide, it informs, it inspires. So the vav, that vav hachibur. It's as if that vav hachibur, it means that we connect the vav hachibur, that vav that connects, we connect our experiences of coming to שול shul in the morning with then going to work right afterwards. The תורה Torah comes with us to our office, to our place of business, to our gym, to the supermarket. It comes with us wherever we go. We don't leave it last week at the top of Har Sinai. Oh yeah, that Akiva concert. Oh, what a spiritual high. The energy was electric. It was amazing. That was great. But that was in שול shul. That's the spiritual high. And then I go to work. It's secular, it's mundane, it's profane. No, ואלה המשפטים v'eileh hamishpatim. We take that all with us wherever we go and that sacred תורה Torah, it belongs to all.Let's continue פרק כ\"א, פסוק כ\"ט perek kaf aleph, pasuk chaf tet. So we begin these laws and we jump into them. The first law, of course, the law of slavery, עבד עברי eved ivri, the slave, and the slave who says I want to remain a slave. And we're not going to get into this right now. But the different forms of slavery and what does it mean? Do we still have slavery? And was it our understanding of a slavery that was abolished? Does Judaism embrace the slavery that was abolished? How could we subscribe to the notion that a person could be property, could be owned? We'll leave that for another time. Then we get into murder and manslaughter. פסוק כ\"ט pasuk chaf tet. Turn to page 422. Penalty for bodily injury. Two people get in a fight. What do we have to pay? How do we compensate? How do we make whole? What's meant to be taken literally? Where does the Torah, the oral tradition come in? We get to פסוק כ\"ט pasuk chaf tet. פסוק כ\"ט Pasuk chaf tet says, ואם שור נגח הוא מתמול שלשום, והועד בבעליו ולא ישמרנו, והמית איש או אשה, השור יסקל וגם בעליו יומת v'im shor nagach hu mitmol shilshom, v'hu'ad b'va'alav v'lo yishmerenu, v'hemis ish o isha, hashor yisakel v'gam ba'alo yumas. Death caused by an animal. If it was an ox that gores habitually from yesterday and the day before yesterday. So an animal gores. And how do we establish a pattern? It's מחלוקת machlokes, two times or three times, תרי זימני, תלת זימני tre zemnei, telat zemnei. How do you establish a pattern two times or three times? But now we have a pattern. And does the pattern predict, or does the pattern show a precedent? I'm giving you למדנות lumdus, ר' חיים Reb Chaim, ר' שמעון Reb Shimon. We're not getting into it right now how a חזקה chazaka works, תרי זימני, תלת זימני tre zemnei, telat zemnei. Is a pattern telling me what happened or does it predict what's going to happen? Leave the למדנות lumdus for now. But the Torah tells us, if a person owns such an animal who should know, I need to bring a שמירה מעולה shmira me'ula, I have to have a higher level of guarding it because it has a pattern of goring. And its owner was negligent. The owner was warned that this animal is an extreme danger. This animal has harmed, has injured, has killed, and the person didn't guard it a higher level and now it kills again. The ox is stoned and the owner shall die. The ox is stoned and the owner shall die. Now, אם כופר יושת עליו im kofer yushas alav, ונתן פדיון נפשו ככל אשר יושת עליו v'nasan pidyon nafsho k'chol asher yushas alav. Torah goes on to say, an atonement payment shall be assessed, he pays a redemption for his life. We don't actually put the owner to death. It's not a capital punishment for the owner. The owner can actually pay a penalty and not have to be put to and is not put to death. But the Torah tells us at first that the owner is. Why? והועד בבעליו v'hu'ad b'va'alav. What is והועד בבעליו v'hu'ad b'va'alav? Its owner was warned. So says Rabbi Sacks in this new Koren חומש Chumash. The פרשה parsha entitled משפטים Mishpatim begins as we might expect with משפטים mishpatim, retributive justice or the rule of law. And specifically with cases delineating a person's responsibility to compensate for harm he or she causes. A free society must be governed by law, impartially administered, through which the guilty are punished, the innocent acquitted, the injured compensated, and human rights secured. צדקה Tzedakah by contrast, because the parsha now is going to get into tzedakah, we're going to go from law, compensation, responsibility. צדקה Tzedakah refers to distributive justice to less procedural and more substantive idea, which becomes the focus from this pasuk. Hashem for the Israelites is actively concerned with the economic and political order, especially with those who because they lack power or even a voice, become the victims of injustice and inequity. The society that כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael are to construct, we are told, will stand as a living contrast to what they experienced in Egypt. What was it like in Egypt? Poverty, persecution, enslavement. Their release from bondage was only the first stage on their journey to freedom. The second, their covenant with Hashem, involves collective responsibility to ensure that no one will be excluded from the shared graciousness of the community and its life. This required both משפט mishpat, the rule of law, and what word do we always find in that expression? משפט וצדקה Mishpat v'tzedakah. A just distribution of resources, a fair chance at a dignified livelihood. This view is close affinities with and he the concept of freedom, and Rabbi Sacks develops. Now I want to just carefully point out that Rabbi Sacks is not describing a an extremely progressive or liberal or woke sense of distributing wealth and some everyone's entitled to, this is an apolitical 501c3 parsha perspective, everyone's entitled to their viewpoint. But neither Rabbi Sacks nor the Torah are endorsing an extreme version. צדקה Tzedakah is 10%. And the Torah goes out of its way in our פרשה parsha to דוקא davka say that you only help someone who's trying to help themselves. And we kick in and compensate to try to help the person who's helping himself. But what Rabbi Sacks is pointing out here so brilliantly, so importantly, so critically, so fundamentally, is that the very פרשה parsha that's called משפטים Mishpatim is dealing not only with what we would call justice, משפט mishpat. What happens if I ding the bumper of your car when I'm pulling out of my parking spot? What happens, what's the הלכה halacha if someone comes to shul with the flu and three people get the flu and can't go to work and are unpaid for the days they miss? Is that person accountable for coming to shul with the flu and making other people sick? These are questions of משפט mishpat. What happens if someone takes a loan and doesn't repay it? What happens if somebody, if somebody defaults? These are all questions of משפט mishpat. But our פרשה parsha quickly pivots to deal not only with משפט mishpat, but משפט mishpat always goes hand in hand with צדק, צדקה tzedek, tzedakah. Because under the תורה Torah, it's not just a strict criminal tort civil law, but the notion of righteousness and the notion of taking care of the underprivileged and the notion of making all feel visible, even those who are positioned to feel to feel invisible. And we'll give one last Rabbi Sacks insight with this new חומש Chumash, פרק כ\"ב, פסוק כ perek chof beis, pasuk chof, where he says skipping along, we've got the four שומרים shomrim, damage, guarding. So much, משפטים mishpatim, every פסוק pasuk you could elaborate and elucidate and analyze and delve into. There's so much every פרשה parsha, particularly פרשת משפטים parshas mishpatim. But פרק כ\"ב, פסוק כ perek chof beis, pasuk chof, theft laws of שומרים shomrim, the four types of guardians of שומרים shomrim. וגר לא תונה ולא תלחצנו v'ger lo soneh v'lo tilchachenu. Page 430, Chapter 22, verse 20. Don't taunt or aggravate or oppress a גר ger, a stranger. כי גרים הייתם בארץ מצרים ki gerim hayisem b'eretz Mitzrayim. Why? Because you were strangers. You know what it means to be an outsider. You were foreigners. And here writes Rabbi Sacks פרק כ\"ב, פסוק כ perek chof beis, pasuk chof. משפטים Mishpatim contains many laws of social justice against taking advantage of a widow or orphan. By the way, just because segments of Judaism have made their entire Judaism social justice, doesn't mean that there's no place for social justice in everyone's Judaism. We tend to make a mistake of thinking that if one segment takes something to the extreme, we can't all want Mashiach, that's just for the shtiebel minyan. No, no, we all want Mashiach, whatever minyan you daven at. Social justice is fundamental to all of Judaism, even if some segments have made it their entire Judaism. So Rabbi Sacks writes, Mishpatim contains many laws of social justice against taking advantage of a widow or orphan, for example, or taking interest on a loan to a fellow member of the covenantal community. The first and last of these laws, however, is the much-repeated command against harming a גר ger, a stranger or a migrant. Clearly, something fundamental is at stake here. According to Rabbi Eliezer, the Torah warns against the wrongdoing of a גר ger in 36 places. Others say 46 places. גמרא בבא מציעא נ\"ט Gemara Bava Metzia nun tet. Whatever the precise number, the repetition throughout חומש Chumash is remarkable. Sometimes the stranger is mentioned along with the poor, other times with the widow or orphan. On several occasions, the Torah specifies there shall be one law for you, for the גר ger and for the native born alike. Not only must a stranger not be wronged, he or she must be included in the positive welfare provisions of Jewish society. The Torah asks, why should you not hate the stranger? Because you once stood where he stands now. You know the heart of the stranger because you were once a stranger in the land of Egypt. If you are human, so is he. If he is less than human, so are you. You must fight the hatred in your heart, says Hashem, as I once fought the greater ruler and the strongest empire in the ancient world on your behalf. I made you into the world's archetypal strangers so that you would fight for the rights of strangers. There is only one reply strong enough to answer the question, why should I not hate the stranger? Because the stranger is me. Now, there's nothing wrong with wanting secure borders, there's nothing wrong with wanting legal immigration. Torah here is not endorsing extreme positions. It is saying within strong borders, in Israel or whatever country we live, within emphasizing and focusing on legal immigration. It's talking about literally and metaphorically the strangers among us, the foreigner. Someone comes to shul for a first time, someone's never been in an orthodox shul before, they're a גר ger, they're a stranger, they're an outsider to that to that experience. Somebody comes to a kiddush, somebody comes to a an Eshes event, a men's club event, somebody comes to the shiur, the daf yomi, they've never been there before. They are a גר ger, they're an outsider, they're a stranger to that experience. They're an outlier. And our repeated 36 or 46 times is, love them, be sensitive to them, be inclusive of them, be sensitive to them. And that's something that applies literally and metaphorically and is indicative of certainly Rabbi Sacks's sensitivity and commentary. It's a beautiful חומש chumash and I'm so glad to have it and add it to our insights.פרק כ\"ב, פסוק כ\"ד Perek chof beis pasuk chof daled, moving along. אם כסף תלוה את עמי, את העני עמך Im kesef talveh es ami, es ha'ani imach. When you lend money to my people, to the poor person who's with you, לא תהיה לו כנושה Lo siyeh lo k'nosheh. Don't treat him like you're a creditor. You're not a bank, you're not cold-hearted. לא תשימון עליו נשך lo sisimun alav neshech. Now, Sunday mornings at our סמיכת חבר smichas chaver, for many months we've been studying the laws what of Gordon? ריבית Ribbis. We have been going through the detailed laws of interest. Fascinating. How do you define interest? How does the היתר עסקה heter iska work? If someone borrows a car and they want to return it by filling the gas tank, can they give back more gas than they used up in the car when you gave it? Is that ריבית ribbis? Have they now paid you back with interest? Can you can you buy now pay later or have you essentially allowed a cash advance? Can you buy one get one free? Can you charge a late fee on a service or on a tenant on a on a rental property? These are some of the things that we are examining together. Is a limited liability corporation, an LLC, different when it comes to the laws of interest? How does it work with a trust? Just this past Sunday, we followed the fascinating case that happened in the 80s and the 90s in Israel when Israeli banks, Jewish-owned banks make loans and employ a היתר עסקה heter iska, is there actual liability for the borrower and what happens if they default? But here the Torah tells us, while you're allowed to charge interest to a non-Jew, you are forbidden from charging interest to a to a Jew. Why are you forbidden from charging interest to a Jew? Where do the laws of ריבית ribbis appear? In that code of law, the שולחן ערוך Shulchan Aruch, they do not appear in חושן משפט Choshen Mishpat. They do not appear in economic, financial, interpersonal law. Where do they appear? In the laws of יורה דעה Yoreh De'ah, religious law. Why? Because charging interest is not unethical. It's not amoral. It's not a financial crime. It's not theft. What is it? The תורה Torah wants to condition and cultivate us to see a fellow Jew, every fellow Jew, as a member of our family. There's a time value to money. When I have my money, I can spend my money, I can use my money. When I have my money, I can make money on my money. So the present value of my money might be $100, but if I invest my money, it's going to give a return or the liquidity allows me to use it. And if I lend my money to you and I don't have access to it, there's a an opportunity cost. I lost the ability to make money on my money. So when I ask you to cover the opportunity cost, I'm not doing something unethical or amoral. I'm actually just recovering what I could have or would have or should have had if I held on to my own money and invested it. So when a stranger comes to me, a neighbor and an acquaintance says, can I borrow money? And I say, sure, but you got to cover my opportunity cost. That money in the bank would have been making this percent. If I'm going to give it to you instead, you've got to pay the interest. That's a nothing wrong. There's no law in Choshen Mishpat that says it's unethical or immoral. But what happens if my brother comes, my son comes, my daughter comes, my sister comes and says, hey, I've hit some hard times, can I borrow some money? And I say, sure, but you're going to have to sign this contract and pay this interest rate. I say, oh, you're not such a good sibling. Family, when family needs help, then you don't start charging interest. So the Torah wants us to view every Jew as a member of our immediate family. Nothing amoral, nothing unethical. Just don't charge interest to to a friend. And here the Torah tells us, אם כסף תלוה את עמי im kesef talveh es ami, so don't charge interest. And that is the reason why. And as I said, some of those details about about how to practice that. There's even a discussion. I don't want to turn anyone off by raising this question. We might get into it. There's even a question when you borrow money from someone and you return the loan, you repay the loan, can you say thank you? Can you be effusive in your gratitude? Can you sponsor kiddush at the shul to thank the person who lent you the money and bailed you out? Or maybe that's giving them a benefit that is considered to be a an interest, an interest. So here the Torah says, don't charge interest. Comes along לבוש האש Lavush Ha'eish, רב דרוק Rav Druk. Now, אם כסף תלוה את עמי im kesef talveh es ami, the פסוק pasuk we just read said, if you lend כסף תלוה את עמי kesef talveh es ami, you lend to your people, את העני עמך es ha'ani imach, a poor person with you. a poor person with you. What does that mean? A poor person with you. את העני עמך es ha'ani imach. Says רש\"י Rashi, את העני עמך, הוי מסתכל בעצמך כאילו אתה העני es ha'ani imach, hevei mistakel b'atzmecha ke'ilu ata ha'ani. Look at yourself like you are the poor person. Why do we position, why do we describe the poor person with you? See the poor person as if you're the poor person. Just like כי גרים Ki gerim, Rabbi Sacks said, why should you not hate a stranger? Because you're the stranger. Why should you not, why should you help the poor person? See yourself as a poor person. So רב דרוק Rav Druk is bothered. צריך להבין איך דבר זה יכול לעבוד למעשה Tzorech l'varech eich davar zeh yachol la'avod l'ma'aseh. How does that work? כיצד זה יכול העשיר להסתכל בעצמו כאילו הוא עני Keitzad zeh yachul ha'ashir l'mistakel b'atzmo ke'ilu hu ani? I don't understand. I check my account, I open my phone, I open the app, and it says I got money in the bank. I own my home, maybe more than one home. I own a car, maybe more than one car. I own stocks and bonds and CDs, and I've got a net worth. So how am I supposed to see myself as a poor person? I can't alter my reality, my self-perception. הרי יודע את האמת והמציאות שאינו כך. הוא עשיר ולא עני Arei yode'a es ha'emes v'hametzius she'eino kach. Who ashir v'lo ani. I know the reality. הוא עשיר ולא עני Who ashir v'lo ani. האם העשיר מסוגל לראות עצמו כעני Haym ha'ashir misugal l'ros atzmo ka'ani? Is that really possible that רש\"י Rashi, חז\"ל Chazal are saying, העני עמך Ha'ani imach, the other poor person with you, you're a poor person, he's a poor person, so help him. Help one another. I'm not a poor person. I know I can pay my bills. I have food on my table. I have a few shekel in the bank. So says רב דרוק Rav Druk, יש שפירשו בזה, אם העשיר ידע ויפנים וישב על ליבו שכל עושרו אינו שלו, אלא הכל ניתן לו במתנה מאת הקדוש ברוך הוא. כמו שכתוב בפסוק בחגי, לי הכסף ולי הזהב נאום ה' צבאות. ויבין עוד כי הקדוש ברוך הוא הפקיד בידו את ממונו בשביל לנסותו בניסיון העושר yesh sh'peirshu b'zeh, im ha'ashir yada v'yafnim v'yashev al libo shekol oshro eina shelo, ela hakol nitan lo b'matana me'eis Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Kmo she'kasuv b'pasuk b'Chagai, li hakesef v'li hazahav no'am Hashem Tzvakos. V'yavin od ki Hakadosh Baruch Hu hifkid b'yado es mamono bishvil l'nasoso b'nisayon ha'osher. You know, I have a great, great, great, great opportunity. One of the great privileges of being the rabbi is the rabbi's discretionary fund. I am a steward, not alone, with others of incredible חסד chesed funds to help distribute them, to change lives, to impact lives, to uplift lives. It's an amazing, amazing feeling to be able to take those funds and make a difference. פורים Purim's coming up, we're going to help people with Purim. פסח Pesach, our market, you know the difference that we make. Last year we gave away a thousand pounds of מצה matzah and endless eggs. And you know the price of eggs this year, even more people are going to need help with them. And it's an amazing feeling. Amazing feeling. One of the great jobs out there, if anyone here is looking, apply for it. If you can be the director of a foundation, it's fantastic. You take foundation money and you have the ability to give it away. So the Torah comes along and it says, we should all look at our own money as if we are stewards of God's money. It's not our own. Donor advised funds are essentially that. A person has a tax advantage of taking the money and putting it in a donor advised fund, and now it's just fun to give it away. And now you're not thinking, well, if I give it away, I have less for my vacation, less for the extension on my home, less for a new car for myself. It's already not mine. It's already in a fund, it's already been allocated, set aside, I've already got the tax benefit, and now I just get the fun and the joy of giving it out and helping people with it. And says the פסוק pasuk in חגי Chagai, לי הכסף ולי הזהב li hakesef v'li hazahav. Live your whole life as if all your money is a donor advised fund, it's not your money. The bank account may say your name, but it's not yours. To whom does it belong? הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu, the Almighty. And we have the privilege and pleasure of being the stewards, of being the directors, of getting to choose how to distribute it. And why did he give it to us? Why did he give it to us? You meet with your financial advisor, you meet with your broker, and they give you a report and an update and they show you the return, they tell you how it's invested and they make some suggestions about what you should do with the following year. Now, in their investment bank, that account shows under their name. But is it their money? They know it's not their money. They are investing your money. And what determines whether you give them more money to invest? What will determine it? In that money, in that meeting rather, what kind of return they can show. If they have a good meeting, if they beat the market, if they do well, or in a downturn, they do less poorly, then you give them more money. And if they don't, you say, we're going to try somewhere else. And the Almighty is no different. He invests in us, and when we give him a good return, he gives us more. And when we show him a poor return, he says, I'm probably better off giving it elsewhere. And that's what this pasuk means to say. אם כסף תלוה את עמי את העני עמך Im kesef talveh es ami, es ha'ani imach, we are all poor. On our own, we are bankrupt. On our own, we are impoverished. On our own, we are indigent. Any success we have and anything we have is the graciousness and the goodness of God. That doesn't mean that we can't be proud of our hard work in life and what we've earned. We can be proud. But let's also be honest. There are people who are equally smart, who worked equally as hard, and they did not have the success. To whatever degree we had success, it is a function of our hard work for which we should be proud, but the senior partner in all of our success is Hashem, and if he didn't want it and will it, we wouldn't have it. So, fundamentally, if you peel away the surface, we are all equally poor. את העני עמך Es ha'ani imach. שהרי שניהם קיבלו תפקיד בניסיון מהקדוש ברוך הוא, אחד בניסיון העוני ואחד בניסיון העושר Sheharei shneihem kiblu tafkid b'nisayon meiHakadosh Baruch Hu, echad b'nisayon ha'oni v'echad b'nisayon ha'osher. The poor person has his challenge, how to navigate life in poverty, and the wealthy person has his or her challenge, how to navigate life being a proper, faithful steward of the money. ממילא הכסף הנמצא תחת ידו אינו שלו, אלא רק נמצא אצלו בפיקדון Memeila hakesef hanimtzah tachat yado eino shelo, ela rak nimtzah etzlo b'pikadon. Whatever I'm holding is not mine. I'm just a steward of. דהיינו, יסתכל על עצמו כעני D'haydey, yistakel al atzmo ka'ani. Look at oneself as an unnie. וממילא ינהג בדרך כבוד לעני U'memeyla yinhag b'derech kavod la'ani. And therefore you treat the poor person with honor, with dignity, with respect, because you know who else is poor, we are fundamentally, and we could be tomorrow. And even if you've invested so wisely that nobody could touch it or take it, it's secure, you know what Hashem could take that's more valuable than money and that no money can buy, is our health. Our health. So whatever we have, be so grateful for it. ואז יוצא דיבור נחומן ועדין לליבו של עני, ולא להיכנס בדרך ביזיון וח\"ו V'az yotzeh davar nechuman v'eidel l'libo shel ani, v'lo l'hikanes b'derech bizayon v'chas v'chalila. So that's the את העני עמך es ha'ani imach. רש\"י Rashi says מסתכל בעצמך mistakel b'atzmecha, look at yourself like you're an עני ani. But I'm not poor. But my bank account shows a net worth. How can I see myself as poor? Because recognize that net worth is fragile and vulnerable and fleeting, is not fundamentally mine, could disappear at any moment, and while the bank account may say my name, just like the broker shows that he has my account, but it's not his money. It's not our money, and Hashem could take it any any moment. He then quotes the who has a different interpretation, a different beautiful insight but I want to skip. לא תהיה לו כנושה Lo tihiyeh lo k'nosheh. Don't, don't be a creditor. Rashi says, לא תתבענו בחזקה lo titba'enu b'chazakah, אם אתה יודע שאין לו im atah yodea she'ein lo, אל תידמה לו כאילו הלויתו al tidomeh lo k'ilu hilveiso, אלא כאילו לא הלויתו כלומר ela k'ilu lo hilveiso klomar, לא תכלימהו lo tachlimeihu. Let's say you know he has no way of paying it back, don't pressure, don't aggravate, don't squeeze him, don't be a creditor. Wait until you know he has a way to pay. Again, we're treating the members of our family different than we would a stranger, and that's our responsibility and our obligation here.The מדרש תנחומא Midrash Tanchuma says on this פסוק pasuk, את מוצא כל עבירה ועבירה שאדם עושה הקדוש ברוך הוא יושב לו במשפט At motza kol aveira v'aveira she'adam oseh haKadosh Baruch Hu yoshev lo b'mishpat, לומר היאך יוצא משפטו l'omar heich yotzei mishpato. למי שהוא גונב ולמי שהוא נואף ולמי שהוא עובר עבירה l'mi shehu gonev, ul'mi shehu no'ef, ul'mi shehu over aveira, הקדוש ברוך הוא יושב עליו במשפט haKadosh Baruch Hu yoshev alav b'mishpat. Everyone who makes a mistake, everyone who does something wrong, Hashem sits in judgment and justice over us. וכן אתה מוצא בימי אחאב V'chein atah motza b'mei Achav. We see this in the days of אחאב Achav with מיכה Micha. And הקדוש ברוך הוא haKadosh Baruch Hu says, אלו שמלמדים זכות נקראו מימינו Eilu she'melamdim zechut nikra'u mi'mino, אלו שמלמדים חוב נקראו משמאלו eilu she'melamdim chov nikra'u mi'smolo. Hashem is surrounded on his right and on his left by judges who evaluate the person before him. אבל המלוה בריבית aval hamalveh b'ribbis, אין הקדוש ברוך הוא נוסע ונושא בדינו eino haKadosh Baruch Hu nosea v'nosen b'dino. But if somebody lends with interest, then הקדוש ברוך הוא haKadosh Baruch Hu does not enter the judgment himself, but rather there's no judgment. He doesn't, he doesn't confer with other justices. Immediately just judgment and justice is carried out. הא למדת מדברי המדרש Ha lamadeta midivrei haMidrash, we see from this מדרש Midrash that there's a הנהגה מדה כנגד מדה hanhaga midah k'neged midah. מדה כנגד מדה Midah k'neged midah. There is no flexibility, no favor when it comes to somebody who lends with interest. It's harsh, it's cruel, it squeezes the other party, it takes advantage of the person in a vulnerable position. There are businesses that today are associated as Jewish businesses that charge exorbitant interest rates that are the opposite of Jewish businesses. We don't take advantage of people in difficult positions and squeeze them, even if they need that money and they're and they're desperate. The Torah has very little tolerance for a person who charges who charges ריבית ribbis. The Torah is very unforgiving of of such a person. So therefore את העני עמך es ha'ani imach, if you're gonna charge ריבית ribbis, you're going to be an עני ani because הקדוש ברוך הוא haKadosh Baruch Hu is gonna carry out an exact, strict justice and judgment on on such a person.Let's keep going. First we have here interest. And then the Torah goes on and says אם חבול תחבול שלמת רעך im chavol tachbol salmas rei'echa. You take your fellow's garment as a security. Now you're not allowed to charge interest, but you are allowed to secure your loan. So if somebody comes to you and borrows money, you are allowed to say, give me, provide for me collateral. How can I secure my loan? How can I protect myself? How do I know you're not going to default? Give me your watch, give me your, give me that dress, give me that outfit, give me that suit. So Torah says if you take your fellow's garment as a security, עד בוא השמש תשיבנו לו ad bo ha'shemesh teshivenu lo. You get it till sunset, and you got to give it back. כי כסותה לבדה היא שמלה לעורו במה ישכב והיה כי יצעק אלי ושמעתי כי חנון אני Ki chsusa l'vada hi simla l'oro, bameh yishkav v'haya ki yitzak eilai v'shamati ki chanun ani. For it alone is his clothing, it's his garment. And what should he sleep? and what should he lie down? So if he will cry out, I shall listen for I am compassionate. So Hashem says, even if you're holding collateral, you gotta give the collateral back to the poor person who needs it at night so they have it, because if they would be denied, deprived of it at night, and they would cry out and scream out, Hashem says, I will hear their cries. You know why? You may not be compassionate, but I am. Says רב שמואל בערנבוים Rav Shmuel Berenbaum, קשה, למה לגבי חובת החזרת משכון בלילה אם לא יחזיר המשכון Kasha, lamah l'gabai chovas hachzaras mashkon balailah im lo yachzir ha'mashkon. How does the Torah here end? Hashem says, give him back the collateral when he needs it at night. Why? Because if he screams out ושמעתי v'shamati, I'm going to hear him, כי חנון אני ki chanun ani. I am compassionate. Now the Torah gives a reason why Hashem's gonna hear, because I'm compassionate. Yet in the previous פרשה parsha with the prohibition to mistreat the גר יתום ואלמנה ger, yosom v'almanah, the stranger and the widow and orphan, Torah says, שמוע אשמע צעקתו shamo'a eshma tza'akaso. I will surely hear their scream. Torah doesn't say כי חנון אני ki chanun ani. So why here? In both places Hashem says, I'm gonna hear the cries of the vulnerable. I'm gonna hear the cries of the fragile. I'll hear the cry of the widow and the orphan, but it doesn't give us a reason I'll hear their cry. And yet here, the poor person who relies on that collateral and needs to get it back, Torah says if you don't give it back and they cry, Hashem says surely I will hear why? כי חנון אני Ki chanun ani, because I'm compassionate. What's the difference? יש לומר Yeish lomar, says רב שמואל בערנבוים Rav Shmuel Berenbaum, דאמהנה גר ויתום ואלמנה הרי מובן מאליו חומר איסור לענותם D'amana ger v'yasom v'almana harei muvan me'eilav chomer isur l'anosam. Because when it comes to the the widow or the orphan or the stranger, the reason is obvious. אין התורה צריכה לפרש טעם של כי חנון אני Ein haTorah tzricha l'fareish ta'am shel ki chanun ani. Torah doesn't have to give you a reason. These people are in a position in life that they need support and love. And if you take advantage of them, it doesn't have to do with Hashem's kindness and compassion he's going to hear. But when it comes to the משכון mashkon, when it comes to the collateral, שמעיקר הדין יש לבעל חוב קנין בה shemeikar hadin yesh l'baal chov kinyan bah. I'm entitled to take the collateral and I don't have to return it to you. I deserve to hold on to it. I made a קנין kinyan on it. And there's a טרחה tircha. I have to go get it each time. Every night I gotta go bother and get the collateral and give it to you and the next day go collect it again. Why should I have to go through that pain? ובפרט שעשה חסד עם הלוה וכלל לא היה חייב להלוות לו מן העיקר U'vifrat she'asah chesed im ha'loveh v'klal lo haya chayav l'halvos lo min ha'ikar. Moreover, I did something incredibly kind I didn't have to do. Who said I had to give you a loan to begin with? אם כן, מה לו ולטרחה הזאת? Im kein, mah lo v'la'tircha ha'zos? יעכבנו עד שישלם לו את חובו Y'akvenu ad sheyeshalem lo es chovo. If I hold your collateral, I hold it until you pay the loan. Why should I have to return it and go through that pain? So therefore the Torah goes out of its way says כי חנון אני ki chanun ani, because I'm compassionate. שאנו חייב, מחויבים, והלכת בדרכיו Sha'anu chayav, mechuyavim, v'halachta b'drachav. We, ואימצת ידי v'imatzta yadei, we have to walk in Hashem's footsteps. We have to follow his way. שאדם צריך להתנהג במידותיו של הקדוש ברוך הוא She'adam tzarich l'hitnaheg b'midosav shel haKadosh Baruch Hu. We have to follow in his footsteps, we have to walk in his way, we have to be just like Hashem. Not only when it comes to the this person כי חנון אני ki chanun ani, not only in the case of collateral, when it doesn't sound instinctive or intuitive. Maybe I'd say I'm kind enough to lend money, what do I have to go collect, give back the collateral? No, כי חנון אני ki chanun ani. When it comes to דין din, we go לפנים משורת הדין lifnim mishuras hadin. We're not satisfied with only following the strict letter of the law, we go above and beyond with the law because עולם חסד יבנה olam chesed yibaneh, the world is built on kindness and we look for these opportunities to go above and beyond in this kindness. פרק כ\"ג Perek Kaf Gimmel, chapter 23, verse ה' hei. Torah goes on, integrity of the judicial process, how the justice system works. If you encounter an ox of your enemy or his donkey wandering, return it to him repeatedly. You might say this is my enemy. Why do I have to give it back? Maybe I'll even have some joy and pleasure in the enemy losing his property. No. Torah says you have to. פסוק ג Pasuk Gimmel, sorry, פסוק ה pasuk hei. Turn the page, 434. כי תראה חמור שונאך רובץ תחת משאו Ki sir'eh chamor sonacha rovetz tachas masa'o. If you see the donkey of someone you hate crouching under its burden, וחדלת מעזוב לו v'chadalta mei'azov lo. Would you refrain from helping him? עזוב תעזוב עמו Azov ta'azov imo. You shall surely help him. You have to help him, step up and help him. So I want to read to you רבי נחמן Rebbe Nachman on this פסוק pasuk. A beautiful insight of the holy רבי נחמן Rebbe Nachman. התורה מלמדת אותנו שאנחנו צריכים לעזור לזולת, גם אם מדובר בשונא שלנו HaTorah melamdes osanu she'anachnu tzrichim la'azor l'zulas, gam im medubar b'sonei shelanu. When you see someone suffering or struggling, someone is is has a flat tire, right? The Torah's view or description, the donkey is walking, it's carrying a heavy load, it's collapsing under its load, it needs to be unloaded, needs to be unpacked. Donkey's gonna collapse. Donkey's gonna fall apart. So step up, step in, get involved, help out. You gotta help out. And whom does the Torah say you have to help? Not you see your friend with a flat tire, you see your friend run out of gas. Torah says specifically you see your enemy. You see the person that you hate, you got to step up, you got to help them. Says רבי נחמן Rebbe Nachman, אם יהודי רואה את חמור של יהודי אחר רובץ תחת משאו, ואינו מסוגל להתקדם בגלל כובד המשא im Yehudi ro'eh es chamor shel Yehudi acher rovetz tachas masa'o v'eino mesugal l'hitkadem biglal koved ha'masa. This friend, this enemy can't progress, they can't keep on the road, they're not going to get to their destination. The animal is collapsing under the load, you have to step up, step in and help out. וכשמדובר בחמור של השונא, המצווה גדולה אף יותר U'k'shemedubar b'chamor shel ha'sonei, ha'mitzvah gedolah af yoser. Not only do you have to help your friend, which is natural, you have to stop to help your enemy. You have to stop to tend your enemy. So says רבי נחמן Rebbe Nachman, he quotes רבי נתן Rebbe Nosson, רבי נחמן's Rebbe Nachman's student in ליקוטי הלכות Likutei Halachos quotes. הדברים אמורים לא רק בעזרה גשמית Ha'dvarim amurim lo rak b'ezra gashmis. We're not just talking here about physical helping, changing the tire, filling the gas, helping the donkey, אלא גם בעזרה רוחנית Ela gam b'ezra ruchanis. We're talking about spiritual help. אם רואה אדם יהודי שעבר עבירות, כשהוא רובץ תחת משאו Im ro'eh adam Yehudi she'avar aveiros k'shehu rovetz tachas masa'o. You see a Jew who's made mistakes. You Jew who see a Jew who's failed, who's come up short. קשה לו להרים את עצמו. הם סובלים. Kasheh lo l'harim es atzmo, hem sovlim. They're collapsing under their weight, collapsing under the burden of the mistakes they've made, collapsing under the choices. So what do you do? You have to lift them up. עלול לחשוב לעזוב אותו כך Alul lachshov l'azov oso kach. You want to leave them that way. They made those choices. They made their bed, let them sleep in it. They made these mistakes, they had these failures, they had these shortcomings, they had this poor judgment. No. וחדלת מעזוב לו V'chadalta me'azov lo. You can't leave them. עזוב תעזוב עמו, אפילו אדם כזה צריך לעזור ולרומם אותו Azov ta'azov imo, afilu adam kazeh tzarich la'azor ul'romem oso. So not only is it true physically, says רבי נחמן Rebbe Nachman, it's true spiritually. You have to lift and assist and support and help and step in not only your friend, but your enemy, every Jew, every Jew, the Aleph Institute, Rabbi Lipsker, even Jews in prison. They've made mistakes. They're accountable for the mistakes. Doesn't mean they don't deserve kosher food and a pair of tefillin and a seifer and a visit from a fellow Jew. You have to step up and step in not only the Jew that you love, but even the one who's harder to love, even the one who maybe has made mistakes. Rav Druk in his ליבבות אש Levavos Eish says on this פסוק pasuk, that if you see him, עזוב תעזוב עמו azov ta'azov imo. Why is it in the double language? עזוב תעזוב Azov ta'azov? Help him if he's helping himself, the כלי יקר Kli Yakar says. If he's not, people knock on the door, they want to collect money. If you have a job or two or three and you still can't make ends meet, by all means we should help you. But if this is the way that you're making ends meet by knocking on doors, we're not obligated to help you. When you change that tire, your friend can't sit on the side and sip a nice cold peach Snapple and watch you break your back and שוויץ shvitz trying to change the tire. So when they're helping, when they're trying to change their tire, surely you have to help them. עזוב תעזוב עמו azov ta'azov imo. Help the person who's trying to help themselves. If someone's not trying to help themselves, you're not obligated to bail them out and to help them. Rashi says help the person. אונקלוס Onkelos understands a little bit differently. אונקלוס Onkelos on this פסוק pasuk writes, אונקלוס Onkelos says, משבק תשבוק מה דבלבך עליו ותפרק עמיה mishbak tishbok ma d'blibach aloi u'sifrok imei. Stop yourself from abandoning him. Make every effort to help him. Abandon what's in your heart against him and unload with him. חידוש גדול כותב כאן בתרגום אונקלוס Chiddush gadol kosav kan b'Targum Onkelos. עזוב תעזוב עמו, אין הוא רק ציווי מעשי Azov ta'azov imo, eino rak tzivui ma'asi. Torah's not only telling us in the world of action, change the tire, filled the gas, help the donkey. התורה מצווה את האדם HaTorah metzaveh es ha'adam, שכאשר נקרא לפתע מקרה כזה, מקרה של חמור שונאו, עליו לעזוב ולשכוח את השנאה she'ka'asher nikra l'feta mikreh kazeh, mikreh shel chamor sono, alav la'azov v'lishkoach es hasin'ah. In that moment, drop and forget the hatred. You see someone who's hurt you, injured you, harmed you, you see them going through a difficult time, you see them down and out, drop the hatred. רק אז ללכת ולפרוק עמו Rak az laleches v'lifrok imo. Don't just help them, but the way אונקלוס Onkelos understands means עזוב תעזוב azov ta'azov, abandon the hatred to help them, abandon the hatred in your heart. It doesn't just mean help physically the one you hate but continue to hate, it means find a way to work out and move on past the person that was your enemy, שונא sonei, the person that you hated. Unburden them. But it works even more brilliantly than that. The רמב\"ן Ramban writes, the רמב\"ן Ramban says and it works so beautifully, so brilliantly. What happened here? Fast forward to ספר דברים, פרשת כי תצא Sefer Devarim, Parshas Ki Seitzei. Here the Torah says help who? שונאך sonacha, the one that you hate. But in פרשת כי תצא Parshas Ki Seitzei, the Torah repeats this הלכה halacha, לא תראה את חמור אחיך או שורו נופלים בדרך lo sir'eh es chamor achicha o shoro noflim baderech. Don't see your fellow's donkey or ox falling and ignore them. הקם תקים עמו hakeim takim imo. You have to help them. And there, the Torah formulates it not the donkey, the flat tire, the empty gas tank of your enemy, שונאך sonacha. By ספר דברים Sefer Devarim, by the time we get to דברים Devarim, he's אחיך achicha. He's your brother. How did this enemy become your friend? I thought the Torah was trying to make a point. I mean think about how powerful this point is for a moment. You're driving on Palmetto Park Road. Two cars are stopped on the side of the road, both with flat tires. One is your best friend in the world, your BFF. And the other is your arch enemy. The one who shmears you and writes horrific social media posts about you and says terrible things about you in the neighborhood, hangs posters about you, which flat tire do you help? Torah says גמרא בבא מציעא דף ל\"ב Gemara Bava Metzia Daf Lamed Beis derives from the fact that the Torah specifically instructs us to help someone we hate, didn't just leave it ambiguous about help the person, שונאך sonacha, that if there's a conflict between your best friend and the one you hate, help the enemy. Help the one you hate. Conquer the inclination. עזוב תעזוב Azov ta'azov, abandon the hate. So understand what happened. Torah was specifically trying to teach us this law when it comes to somebody that you're inclined to hate, and fast forward to דברים Devarim, and now שונאך sonacha became אחיך achicha. How? The רמב\"ן Ramban says something amazing. You know what happens? When you help someone that you hate, you find yourself no longer hating them. When you see the meal train email, someone's sitting שבעה shiva or in a time of need and you don't like that person. That person hurt you. That person neglected you, that person wasn't kind to you, that person wasn't loyal or a good friend to you. But you say, you know what? I'm gonna overcome that. I'm gonna make them a meal. I'm gonna pay that shiva call. It turns out that not only did you help someone you hate, by helping, you stop hating. Because when you help, you create an extension from yourself, you build a bridge, you invest a part of yourself. What allows generally kind and good people sometimes to be cruel and harsh? Where does אכזריות achzarius... אכזריות achzarius is the Hebrew word for cruelty, where does it come from? The great משגיח רב וולבה Mashgiach Rav Wolbe, I've shared this before. He said the word אכזר achzar, cruel, comes from אח זר ach zar. A זר zar is a stranger. So when someone is the other, they're a stranger, they're different, they're a foreigner. When they're זר zar, they're a stranger, they're the other. I have no connection to them. I have nothing in common with them. I have no relationship with them. Then they could be my enemy. But the moment I build a bridge, the moment I invest a piece of myself, the moment I show up and I help, then this אח זר ach zar, someone who is just a stranger, becomes אחיך achicha. We turn שונאך sonacha, the one we hate, into אחיך achicha, how? Because עזוב תעזוב עמו azov ta'azov imo. When we share that person's burden, when we help them, they become our best friend. We then end up loving them. We then end up becoming אחיך achicha, your brother. One of the biggest things I've tried to work on, I'm very far from perfect, since October 7th, is עזוב תעזוב azov ta'azov. There's no room and no patience, no time for hatred. Today's day 500 of hostages still being held. 500 of hostages still being held. There may be a ceasefire, but there are still wars that are being fought on multiple fronts. Who has time for שונאך sonacha? How could one carry hatred in their heart? Because of petty things, insignificant things, inconsequential things, or even real things. Let it go. עזוב תעזוב Azov ta'azov. Turn שונאך sonacha into אחיך achicha and recognize that עם ישראל Am Yisrael need to be there to lift and support and help and love one another. עזוב תעזוב Azov ta'azov, walk away, abandon it. Who cares? Who cares? And I can tell you from personal experience since October 7th, even the people that have hurt you and hurt you publicly, if you put your arm around them and they put their arm around you, and even if you don't reconcile, and even if you don't talk through, and even if they don't take accountability for what they did, just putting your arms around each other, עזוב תעזוב azov ta'azov, let it go, that שונאך sonacha becomes אחיך achicha. The magic, it works. It works. Make that meal, pay that שבעה shiva call, do that חסד chesed, or just embrace so the person is not זר zar. And therefore you're not an אח זר achzar, you're not treating them as just a stranger because they're not a foreigner and they're not a stranger to you. To says here on this פסוק pasuk, somewhere. Where is this? Oh. עזיבה לשון עזרה Aziva lashon ezra, to help. He quotes אונקלוס Onkelos. זרעי יונה, הפסוק מיירי במי שמצווה לשנאותו Zore'a v'yona, ha'pasuk mairi b'mi she'mitzvah l'sonoso. When we talk about it someone you hate, you know there are people that you're allowed to hate. Why would you be helping your enemy? When the Torah says there's someone you hate, it doesn't mean someone you hate because they cheer for the Red Sox and you like the Yankees. Doesn't mean someone you hate because you vote this way and they vote that way. Doesn't mean someone you hate because you texted them and they didn't text you back, because you came to shul and they were sitting in your seat. If the Torah says שונאך sonacha, it means someone whose values and whose life and whose lifestyle is you're entitled to hate. Some people there may even be a מצווה mitzvah to hate. So why are you דוקא dafka helping him now? If it's someone that might be even a מצווה mitzvah to hate, so why is the Torah telling you now to love that person that you're allowed to or maybe even have a מצווה mitzvah to hate? So says, I just told you outside because it's already so late. It's always so late by minute two of the פרשה שיעור parsha shiur it's already so late. He says the following. He says when someone is in crisis, when they're in trouble, when they're about to collapse under the load of life, we set aside the differences and disagreements and disappointments and we jump. And we learned this from אברהם Avraham. אברהם Avraham saw his nephew לוט Lot whom he loved and he invested in. He saw his nephew לוט Lot make decisions and choices that forced him to separate. There are times and moments in life that you have to go a different way. לוט Lot made decisions and לוט Lot put his lot, pun intended, in life, in bad people, with bad people. So אברהם Avraham said you want to go right, I go left, you go left, I go right, we've got to go separate ways. I can't be associated with you. We have to go a different direction. But what happened when לוט Lot went to go live in סדום Sedom and סדום Sedom was in trouble and לוט Lot was in trouble. Did אברהם Avraham say, his problem, not my problem. He made the choice, he made the bed, let him lie in it. He put his lot with סדום Sedom, לוט Lot is on his own. No. Even though there was a point and a juncture they had to go separate ways, when לוט Lot was in crisis, when לוט Lot was in trouble, when לוט Lot was collapsing under his burden, אברהם Avraham jumps to rescue him, to bail him out, to lighten his load. And that's our mission and our mandate. It was true for אברהם Avraham and לוט Lot and it's true for every one of us. It's true for the people we know. Do you care? Anyone following the stories, ברוך השם Baruch Hashem, three more hostages home. Please God, the rest should all come home immediately today. Did you check what kind of ימקה yarmulke they wear? Do you love them, do you hate them? What kind of life, what kind of lifestyle they lead? Jewish people are have a burden and we could be collapsing under it. עזוב תעזוב Azov ta'azov, let it go. In crisis, there is no enemy, there is no adversary, there is no other, there's just us. There is no שונאך sonacha, there is only אחיך achicha. How? עזוב תעזוב Azov ta'azov. When there's a burden, when we're collapsing, let go and move on. פרק כ\"ג פסוק י\"ב Perek Kaf Gimmel, Pasuk Yud Beis. ובכל אשר אמרתי לכם תשמרו U'v'chol asher amarti aleichem tishameru. Everything I taught you, be careful. ושם אלהים אחרים לא תזכירו לא ישמע על פיך V'shem elohim acherim lo sazkiru, lo yishama al picha. Sorry, פסוק י\"ב pasuk yud beis. ששת ימים תעשה מעשיך וביום השביעי תשבות למען ינוח שורך וחמורך וינפש בן אמתך והגר Sheishes yamim ta'aseh ma'asecha, u'vayom ha'shvi'i tishbos l'maan yanuach shorcha v'chamorcha v'yinafesh ben amoscha v'hager. So that you may be content, your donkey and your ox and your maidservant and the stranger among you. לב אש של רב דרוק Lev Eish shel Rav Druk wonders, what a funny way to describe שבת Shabbos. וכי כל ענינו ותכליתו של שמירת שבת אך ורק בשביל שינוח שורך וחמורך V'chi kol inyano v'tachliso shel shmiras Shabbos ach v'rak bishvil sheyanuach shorcha v'chamorcha? Let's read that pasuk again. Six days accomplish your activities, on the seventh day rest so that your ox and donkey can be content, and your maidservant's son and the stranger can be refreshed. So why should you keep Shabbos in your house? So that your vacuum can rest, so that your car can have a day off, so that your housekeeper can doesn't have to show up. That's why you should keep שבת Shabbos. Kind of a bizarre pasuk is this. Says Rav Druk, that's why we should keep Shabbos? טעם מצוה זו למען ינוח שורך וחמורך Ta'am mitzvah zo l'maan yanuach shorcha v'chamorcha? It could be a side benefit of keeping Shabbos, but that's the reason? כיצד ניתנה להיכתב זאת? Keitzad nitnah l'hikasvei zos? אין לנו אלא לפרש Ein lanu ela l'fareish, so says Rav Druk, כי רצתה התורה ששמירת שבת של יהודי תהיה על זה האופן שישפיע מהשבת אף על הבהמות ki ratzta haTorah she'shmiras Shabbos shel Yehudi tihiyeh al zeh ha'ofen she'yashpia me'haShabbos af al ha'behemos. וכך יש לקרות הפסוק, ביום השביעי תשבות, ואיזה שביתה תהיה? שביתה כזו שתשפיע אף מנוחה לשורך וחמורך V'chach yesh likros ha'pasuk, ba'yom ha'shvi'i tishbos, v'eizeh shvisa tihiyeh? Shvisa kazu she'tashpia af menucha l'shorcha v'chamorcha. It's not that the reason to keep Shabbos is so that your animal gets some rest. It's that you should keep such a Shabbos that the entire atmosphere and environment changes that even your animals keeping Shabbos. Even the animal says, 'oh, I love Shabbos.' Give me some טועמיה to'ameha. The dog and the cat pull up for ריבה דריבן raiva d'raivin, they want the leftover טשאלנט cholent and קישקע kishka. Even your dog and your cat and your hamster and even the iguanas and the lizards say, 'oh, Shabbos.' So Shabbos. How do they know what Shabbos is? Because those iguanas and lizards all week long, nobody walks in the park. Come Shabbos, hundreds, thousands of people walk through the park and the iguanas and the lizards and the butterflies they say, 'oh, Shabbos.' הייליגע שבת Heilige Shabbos. They all speak Yiddish. הייליגע שבת Heilige Shabbos. Jews would only have dogs and cats that speak Yiddish. הייליגע שבת Heilige Shabbos. Leftover טשאלנט cholent, rest. So says Rav Druk, such a beautiful insight. It's not that the reason we're keeping Shabbos is so that animals get Shabbos. It's that the metric and the measure of how sincere and real our Shabbos is, do we keep a letter of the law Shabbos that's a legal Shabbos, but the atmosphere, the environment, the climate in our home is the same? Or no, the Shabbos atmosphere, the Shabbos condition in our home, the entire environment changes. Montoya Circle is different on Shabbos. The whole circle is different that even the birds are chirping and the lizards are slurping, I don't know whatever lizards do, and the frogs are hopping and jumping and the dogs and the cats are שלופן shluffen because שבת Shabbos. They can feel it, it's in the air. Should be such a שבת Shabbos that the animals can feel it in the air. עד כדי כך Ad k'dei kach, such a שבת Shabbos, such a שבת Shabbos. Oh. עלה אלי ההרה והיה שם Aleh eilai ha'harah v'heyeh sham. I wanted to get to פרק כ\"ד פסוק י\"ב Perek Kaf Dalet Pasuk Yud Beis. Chapter 24. נַעֲשֶׂה וְנִשְׁמָע Na'aseh v'nishma. Eat and drink, serve Hashem. So many things we didn't get to, but chapter 24 verse 12. ויאמר השם אל משה Vayomer Hashem el Moshe. God says to Moshe, Now the Torah is depicting, it's not chronologically in order, but the whole experience of Moshe climbing הר סיני Har Sinai, and it says עלה אלי ההרה aleh eilai ha'harah, climb on the mountain והיה שם v'heyeh sham. ואתנה לך את לחות האבן V'etna l'cha es luchos ha'even, I'm going to give you there the Torah and the לוחות luchos, I'm going to give it to all there. Why does God say climb the mountain and be there? If you climb the mountain, where else are you? So Rashi says, climb the mountain and be there. What does והיה שם v'heyeh sham mean? Climb the mountain and be there, היה שם heyeh sham. Says Rashi for 40 days. You might have thought be there, be there means come up and go down same day, in and out. No, be there means climb up והיה שם v'heyeh sham and stay there for how long? 40 days, 40 days. That's how Rashi understands. Rav Druk says, היה שם, שבכל הרשות כדי לקנות תורה צריך אדם לקביעות מקום heyeh sham, sheb'kol ha'rishus k'dei liknos Torah, tzarich adam l'kvius makom. היה שם Heiyeh sham. Climb the mountain and be there. You know when you have people who come to shul to daven, you have the pacers, they're wearing out the carpet in shul. They're pacing back and forth in this corner and that corner and this row, in the front and the back. Whoa, whoa, buddy, relax. היה שם Heiyeh sham. עלה אלי ההרה Aleh eilai ha'harah, climb the mountain, היה heiyeh and be there. Be there. You're supposed to be spending time with a child, with a grandchild. But you know, you're all over, you're all over the park, you're all over the house, you're all over the living room, you're all over. היה שם Heiyeh sham. Don't be absent present. Don't be distracted. Don't be pacing and running. היה שם Heiyeh sham. Be where you are. Don't be absent present. When it comes to יעקב אבינו Yaakov Avinu, שלא כתבה עליו התורה רק שהוא תם, התורה כתבה יושב אוהלים shelo kasva alav haTorah rak shehu tam, haTorah kosva yoshev ohalim. קבע עצמו בישיבה Kava atzmo b'yeshiva. The idea of a מקום קבוע makom kavua in shul, have a set place. Have a set place doesn't mean ד' אמות daled amos, draw a six-foot circle around your set place that don't kick anyone out. Move over because six feet around your set place is still called your set place. But the idea of a set place is that we'll concentrate and we'll elevate and we'll be enriched when we what? Have a set place. Have a קבוע kavua. So עלה אלי ההרה aleh eilai ha'harah, climb the mountain, היה שם heyeh sham. Hashem essentially told Moshe, leave your phone at the base of the mountain. I know the two, three million people texting you, what's-apping you, calling you. I know that they need you. But you know what? When I'm with you, I want to be with you. And when you're out to dinner and you're scrolling and you're answering and you're watching, you're not out to dinner. When you're with your children and grandchildren pushing them on a swing, but you're looking at your phone, you're not with your grandchildren or your children, you may think you are. Your calendar may show you were, but you weren't. Don't be absent present. עלה אלי ההרה Aleh eilai ha'harah, climb the mountain, והיה שם v'heyeh sham and be there. Be where you are. Don't just climb a mountain but then be somewhere else. The Baal Shem Tov said you are wherever your thoughts are. You're not wherever you are physically, you are wherever your thoughts are. And that's what the Torah is telling us, היה שם heyeh sham, be there. I have to be in מנחה Mincha in three minutes, 8 o'clock. We have the סיום ושיעור siyum v'shiur in memory of Esti, עליה השלום aleha hashalom. Please join us tonight. Thank you again for your flexibility with the timing. May we hear בשורות טובות besoros tovos.
