Transcript
Good morning, בוקר טוב boker tov, welcome back to Parsha Perspectives for today. We have the privilege this morning of studying פרשת במדבר Parshas Bamidbar opening up the fourth book of the Torah, returning back to our narrative and our storyline, the development and evolution from a family to a people and becoming a nation. Rabbi Sacks writes in his חומש Chumash, if ספר שמות Sefer Shmos is the story of our journey from, then במדבר Bamidbar we transition to the story of our journey to. Where we came from and where we're going, what it means to be a Jew is to be on this journey. Our Parsha series is generously sponsored by Becky and Avi Katz and family in memory of David Grossman. לעילוי נשמת Leilui nishmas Becky's father דוד בן מנחם מנש Dovid ben Menachem Manush. This morning's שיעור shiur is sponsored by Judy and Mitch Taragan in commemoration of the third יארצייט yahrtzeit of Jerry Taragan, ישוע דוב בן אריאל Yeshua Dov ben Aryeh. His נשמה neshama should have an עליה aliyah. Thank you so much for your generosity. We're on page 726 in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash, and we begin. וידבר השם אל משה במדבר סיני באהל מועד באחד לחדש השני בשנה השנית לצאתם מארץ מצרים לאמר Vaydaber Hashem el Moshe bemidbar Sinai be'ohel moed be'echad lachodesh hasheini bashanah hasheinis l'tzeisam me'eretz Mitzrayim leimor. Hashem spoke to Moshe and he spoke to him where? במדבר סיני Bemidbar Sinai. We've spoken about this many times in the past. Why do we need to be told the topography, the geography, the climate, the environment? Torah was given, it was transmitted. This is the word of the divine. Hashem, the source of all existence, the creator said, here's my blueprint for creation. Here's what to do and not to do. What do we care what's happening outside? It was such a Jewish thing to talk about the weather. What's the weather like? It's so humid, you can't believe the humidity. It was nice longer than usual. We had the nicest פסח Pesach. It was too cold, it was too hot. It was a desert, or what do we care? What's the relevance of במדבר סיני Bemidbar Sinai? We've spoken about this many, many, many times. If you listen to all the previous Parsha shiurim on במדבר Bamidbar, we open up with exactly this and many insights in it. But this year we'll try to bring, as we always do, new insights and new ideas. So the תפארת שמואל Tiferes Shmuel, Shmuel Berenbaum begins by talking not about the climate, the environment, but what the point and what we're doing there is, the census. מתוך חיבתן לפניו מונה אותם כל שעה Mitoch chibasan lefanav moneh osam kol sha'ah. Hashem, the Almighty loves us. He has a deep and profound affection for us and because of that he counts us constantly. כשיצאו ממצרים מנאן K'sheyatzu miMitzrayim menan. When we left Egypt, he counted us. כשנפלו בעגל K'shenoflu ba'eigel, and when we fell, when we made the mistake, when we had the poor judgment, worshiped the עגל eigel, מנאן menan he counted us, לדעת מנין הנותרים ladaas minyan hanosarim, to know how many were left, how many survived. כשבא להשרות שכינתו עליהם K'sheba lehashros shechinaso aleihem, and when he wants to rest his divine countenance, his intense presence among us, מנאן menan he counts us. באחד בניסן הוקם המשכן ובאחד באייר מנאן Be'echad b'Nisan hukam haMishkan uve'echad b'Iyar menan. And so on the first of ניסן Nisan, the משכן Mishkan began to operate, and a month later on the first of אייר Iyar, Hashem once again counts us. He can't stop counting us. A person who counts their children, their grandchildren. Some people count their cars or their watches or their money. Whatever a person values and loves and appreciates, whatever a person can't believe they have, they just keep counting. Some people open the app, they look at their bank account. Hopefully, it's full, not miserable what's missing, but they can't believe, they can't help but keep counting what's there. So what does Hashem cherish? What does he love? What is he obsessed with? What does he have affection for? What does he keep counting? Us. We are the apple of his eye. We are the target of his count. That's what he can't get over. That's what he can't believe, כביכול kivyachol, that he has. He has us. Says the תפארת שמואל Tiferes Shmuel, האינשא כהשם ברוך הוא מונה אותם כל שעה להראות החשיבות של כל יחיד ויחיד מישראל Ha'insha kaHashem Baruch Hu moneh osam kol sha'ah lehar'os hachashivus shel kol yachid v'yachid miYisrael. Hashem wants each and every individual to know we are cherished. We matter. We count. כמו שכתוב בספר דברים בנים אתם להשם אלקיכם K'mo shekasuv b'Sefer Devarim, banim atem l'Hashem Elokeichem. As Hashem will say later in the book of דברים Devarim, we are his children. We are his children. שכולנו נחשבים בנים להקדוש ברוך הוא Shekulanu nechshavim banim laKadosh Baruch Hu. Just like when it comes to a parent, each child is precious, is a universe. Each child makes them into a parent, each child is their continuity, כך אנו כלפי הקדוש ברוך הוא כל אחד ואחד נחשב כבנו יחידו ממש kach anu klapei haKadosh Baruch Hu kol echad v'echad nechshav k'bno yechido mamash. Each one of us should know and feel like we are Hashem's only child. We had earlier this year Akiva Turgeman, the great Israeli singer, who was here for שבת Shabbos and performed the most beautiful, incredible concert. Akiva's father is a רב rav, a ספרדיק Sefardic רב rav, leader in דמונה Dimona, and he is one of I think 13 children. He's one of many, many, many children. We interviewed him, we had him on Behind the Bima, and I asked him one of the questions was, wow, what was it like to grow up in such a large family? What's it like to grow up with so many siblings? And he said his parents, who I know are extraordinarily special because his sister married my cousin, his parents raised each of those siblings with an attitude that each is their only child. They have 13 only children. Some people have one, two, three children, and they don't know how to show each child love as if they're the only one. And another could have 13 or 15 children and everyone grows up feeling, I'm my parents' only child. They raised their children 13, not 13 children, all the same, all generic, all fit into a box, all the same rules, all the same expectations. They raised 13 only children. And that's what Hashem has, billions of people. כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael, many, much fewer, but each one we are his only child. בנים אתם להשם אלקיכם Banim atem l'Hashem Elokeichem. על כן נברא אדם יחידי V'al kein nivra Adam yechidi. As the גמרא Gemara in סנהדרין דף ל״ז Sanhedrin daf lamed zayin tells us, why did Hashem create one man, one purpose, one person, and divide Adam into two, Adam and Chava, and from there propagate and proliferate and fill the world? Because לפיכך נברא אדם יחידי ללמד שכל המאבד נפש אחת מישראל מעלה עליו הכתוב כאילו איבד עולם מלא וכל המקיים נפש אחת מישראל מעלה עליו הכתוב כאילו קיים עולם מלא lefichach nivra Adam yechidi lelamed shekol hame'abed nefesh achas miYisrael ma'aleh alav hakatuv k'ilu ibed olam malei, v'chol hamekayem nefesh achas miYisrael ma'aleh alav hakatuv k'ilu kiyem olam malei. The גמרא Gemara, חז״ל Chazal tell us, because Hashem created the whole world from one to know that the entire universe, the entire world is worth it just for one. And if you destroy a life, if you ruin a life, if you eliminate a person from this world, you've destroyed the entire world. And if you save a life, if you continue a life, if you create a life, you created an entire world, an entire universe because each of us are Hashem's only children. אדם יחידי נברא Adam yechidi nivra, חייב אדם לומר בשבילי נברא העולם chayav adam lomar bishvili nivra ha'olam. That just like Adam was created alone in this entire world, the entire universe, the entire cosmos was all for him, that's how we are to feel that it's all for me. Not to get to our head, not to be too arrogant, not to be too egotistical. Then we have to remember עפר ואפר afar v'efer, I'm future worm food, I'm future going to return to the dust, the earth from which we came. But when a person feels what's the point of my life, I'm invisible, I'm inconsequential, I don't matter, what's the point? We should remember the whole world בשבילי נברא עולם bishvili nivra olam. This whole world and everything in it was created just for me. I am a universe. Hashem loves me. I'm his only child. כל אחד מישראל נחשב אצל הקדוש ברוך הוא כבנו יחידו Kol echad miYisrael nechshav eitzel haKadosh Baruch Hu k'vno yechido, who could die a קדוש השם kiddush Hashem... He could be לברא את כל העולם ומלואו רק בשבילו livro es kol ha'olam umlo'o rak bishvilo. And what I will do, the mission I will serve, the purpose and the reason I am here, that was worth creating the entire world. The קדוש השם kiddush Hashem I can create. I can move and shake the whole world. My next choice, my next thought, what I'll say next, what I'll do next, the impression I'll next leave, I can shape, I can mold, I can shake the whole world, just me, just me. בשבילי נברא עולם Bishvili nivra olam. ובזה אנו צריכים לחזק עצמנו Uv'zeh anu tzrichim l'chazek atzmeinu, says Rav Shmuel Berenbaum, we have to strengthen ourselves בעמילות התורה וקיום מצוות b'ameilus haTorah v'kiyum mitzvos. When it's time to do the next מצוה mitzvah, when the opportunity to learn the next piece of Torah, we should not dismiss, well what's the point, there's so many others. So many more. Enough people are going to come to the פרשה שיעור parsha shiur, what do I have to go? Enough will come to the אמונה שיעור emunah shiur, why do I have to listen? Enough will make מנין minyan, there's so many מניינים minyanim now at BRS. Slushies, פישקע pishka on the corner, pastries, coffee, מניינים minyanim all morning, all afternoon, all night. Why do I have to show up? A person needs to know, no. Our difference, our participation, our contribution, our uniqueness, our distinctiveness. We are one of a kind. We're one of a kind. We're not one of a million. Not one of a million. There's a Jewish singer, there's a Jewish song, one of a million. I'm not nitpicking, it's a beautiful song, he has a beautiful voice, but the song is not what we believe. We're not each one of a million, we're each one of a kind. We're each one of a kind. It's not one of a million. It's not one of a million. We once took a group to DC, we were lobbying for something for Israel, and we went on a private tour of the Library of Congress. And we saw there, there was something on display, and the person who took us on the tour said, he was describing how rare it was. So one of the people commented, wow, it's so rare. He said, no, no, it's not rare, it's unique. There is no other of it. I thought to myself, wow, we're not rare. Each of us is unique. With all the billions who came before and will come after, there is no one like us. And if we're here, there's a mission, there's a purpose, there's a reason. And Hashem who loves us like we're his only child, and what we can accomplish and achieve, what we can contribute, what we will do for him, the נחת רוח nachas ruach we can give him, how what will do and how we'll live will matter to him and to this world, no one can take that place. No one. When we wake up every day, רבה אמונתך raba emunasecha is, faith in us is great, and we have to know that, and we have to believe that, and that's why he counts and that's why he keeps counting us. That is the beginning of ספר במדבר Sefer Bamidbar. That's why he counts, and that's why he keeps counting us. That's why this book in English is known as the Book of Numbers. It should be called the Book of Desert. But then we might have gotten confused and thought it was dessert, not desert. Which one has two s's? You know what the, you know what the way to remember that? You want more dessert and less desert. So dessert has two s's. That's how I remember. But it's not the Book of Desert. It's not ספר במדבר Sefer Bamidbar, the Book of Desert. That's what it should be called. What's it called? The Book of Numbers. Because God is counting us. We count. We're not just a number, we have a name. We're unique and distinct. We are both, we should know how beloved we are to Hashem. We should know the difference that we make in this world. כל יהודי הראה כבנו יחידו של הקדוש ברוך הוא שרוצה דוקא בעבודתו Kol Yehudi harei hu k'bno yechido shel haKadosh Baruch Hu she'rotzeh davka ba'avodaso. Our עבודת השם avodas Hashem, our coming to the Parsha shiur, our attending that minyan, our dvar Torah, our calling that person, our role in the community, in our family, in our work, in our life, it is unique. Our עבודת השם avodas Hashem, what we contribute is different than what anyone else does and Hashem loves us. He's got millions of only children, millions of only children. And that's why the גמרא Gemara in קידושין Kiddushin tells us that a Jew should live life saying יראה אדם את עצמו כאילו חציו חייב וחציו זכאי yir'eh adam es atzmo k'ilu chetzyo chayav v'chetzyo zakai. We should see ourselves as half meritorious and half liable. And therefore, מצוה אחת שעשה הרי זה מכריע עצמו לכף זכות mitzvah achas she'asah harei zeh machria atzmo l'chaf zechus. One more positive thing, take advantage of the next moment and tip the scale in the right direction and maybe the hostages come home, maybe the soldiers are safe, maybe the outcome is different. You'll say it depends on me, what are you talking about? There are so many factors and variables at play, as if it makes a difference what I do. You're telling me that if I don't talk during davening, you're telling me if I show up on time till the end, you're telling me if I'd make time to learn, you're telling me if I display a little more patience, a little more humility, you're telling me my character, my relationship with my children, my spouse, my שלום בית shalom bayis will bring שלום shalom to Israel and the world? It really matters? There's so many things that play that matters? Yeah, that matters. That's our tradition. That's what the Gemara in Kiddushin, the Rambam tells us, it matters. One thing we do can make the difference that tips the scales that changes the entire outcome. This is not just a motivational pep talk. It's the truth. It is a deep, deep belief that we have, and that's what Hashem is trying to communicate here at the beginning of the Parsha. This is why he counts us. This is why he counts us because each and every one of us count. And I would like to suggest humbly to you this morning that maybe this is one of the reasons why we דוקא davka choreograph the ליין laining of when we read what so that פרשת במדבר Parshas Bamidbar falls right before שבועות Shavuos. If you didn't get the memo, שבועות Shavuos is Sunday night. Now you don't really care because it's not פסח Pesach. And it's only two days, not eight, and you don't have to work hard, but I care because I did get the memo, because the רבנים rabbanim have to work as hard or harder than ever. A lot of שיעורים shiurim, a lot of דרשות drashos, a lot of דברי תורה divrei Torah. So it's Sunday night, it's on my calendar, even if it's not on yours. And ספר במדבר Sefer Bamidbar, we read פרשת במדבר Parshas Bamidbar always before שבועות Shavuos. The גמרא מגילה דף ל״א Gemara Megillah daf lamed aleph tells us that חז״ל Chazal choreographed our ליין laining and the calendar when we double up. Why do we double up so many double פרשיות parshiyos recently? To make sure במדבר Bamidbar right before שבועות Shavuos. The תוספות Tosfos there in the גמרא מגילה דף ל״א Gemara Megillah daf lamed aleph tells me טעם זה קוראים במדבר סיני קודם עצרת כדי שלא להסמיך קללות של בחוקותי לעצרת taam zeh korim Bamidbar Sinai kodem Atzeres, kedei shelo lehasmich klalos shel Bechukosai l'Atzeres. You know why? Because it'd be a miserable, terrible way to go into שבועות Shavuos having just come off the תוכחה tochacha. We read last week the תוכחה tochacha, the harsh rebuke, the graphic descriptions of what happens if we're non-compliant, disobedient to Hashem. And that's a tough way to go into a יום טוב Yom Tov. So in order to create a disruption, in order to create an interruption, ah, we read the פרשת במדבר Parshas Bamidbar and then we bring it in. But I think perhaps a different reason. Maybe, maybe, because we come to שבועות Shavuos, and what does שבועות Shavuos celebrate? קבלת התורה Kabbalas HaTorah. We all stood at that mountain, במדבר סיני bemidbar Sinai. In that mountain, in that desert, at that mountain, and we received the Torah. Two to three million men, women, and children at the base of that mountain. An enormous gathering. And you know what happens in an enormous gathering? You can feel entirely and utterly invisible. True, it was very special, everybody was healed, everybody was present, everybody was united כאיש אחד בלב אחד k'ish echad b'lev echad. But maybe, maybe that sense of unity has a downside. Maybe the downside of the sense of unity is we blend together. We were so united, one community, one people, one nation, one destiny, that we just blended together. We erased any differences all together, and maybe with that, we erased any individuality. So we just blended together, one big mush, one big טשאלנט cholent. How did the average individual feel on that day? How did the average individual feel in that moment with such an enormous gathering, so united, so blended, so integrated? How do you feel significant? How do you feel you matter? How do you feel the Torah is speaking to you? How do you feel that it's waiting for you? And maybe that's why we read פרשת במדבר Parshas Bamidbar right before שבועות Shavuos. Because how does the book of numbers begin? With a census, with a counting. And רש״י Rashi wonders, why does it matter to Hashem? He can know in an instant, he could tell you exactly the number at any time. He's infinite, omnipotent. He has to go through the act of counting? So it was the act of counting, the חיבה chibah, the love, the affection as if we're his only child. Even though you're part of two to three million, united and integrated and cohesive, but every individual counts. When your family is all together, כאינהרה ברך השם kein ayin hara, baruch Hashem, blessed to have a big family, and you're all together, at the same time you can be all together and united, and yet you're focused on each and every individual. Each and every individual, their uniqueness, their distinctiveness, and the love that you have for the gift that they are. And that's how Hashem loves us. בשבילי נברא עולם Bishvili nivra olam. And חייב אדם chayav adam person should say the whole world was created just for me and the next thing I do will tip the scale in one direction or another, and it will matter. So if you are ready for the שבועות Shavuos, if you stay up all night learning or not, you'll say, well, this campus is going to be alive, hundreds, over a thousand people will be there. What difference does it make? It matters. It matters to Hashem. It matters to the conductor. He knows whether you're playing your instrument in that symphony, whether you show up. He can hear it. He has an ear, he can discern, he knows, did you come to the learning, the shiur, the program? Did you participate in the davening, in the groups, in the chesed opportunity? And maybe that's why, maybe that's why we read פרשת במדבר Parshas Bamidbar before שבועות Shavuos, to remember that we matter before we go into קבלת התורה Kabbalas HaTorah that might erase that sense of of making a difference. Back to the desert. So the מדרש Midrash tells us, וידבר השם אל משה במדבר סיני. למה במדבר סיני? Vaydaber Hashem el Moshe bemidbar Sinai. Lama bemidbar Sinai? Why do we have to identify where Hashem transmitted the Torah? It was דוקא במדבר סיני davka bemidbar Sinai. מכאן שנו חכמים Mikan shanu chachamim, from here our rabbis taught, בשלושה דברים ניתנה תורה באש במים ובמדבר bishlosha devarim nitnah Torah b'eish b'mayim u'vemidbar. The Torah was given with three things: fire, water, and in the desert. ולמה ניתנה בשלושה דברים הללו אלא מה אלו בחינם V'lama nitnah bishlosha devarim halalu, ela ma elu b'chinam لכל באי עולם lechol ba'ei olam. Fire, anyone could strike a match. Don't have to buy it in the store. If you're really impressive, you could rub two rocks together. Anybody could create a fire. It's free. It's accessible. It's available. Water, accessible. Go to the lake, go to the stream, go to the river. Take a vessel to collect the rain and you can get water. And the מדבר midbar. מה אלו חינם לכל באי עולם כך דברי תורה חינם הם Ma elu chinam l'chol ba'ei olam, kach divrei Torah chinam hem. Similarly, Torah is accessible, available, it's free. שנאמר הוי כל צמא לכו למים Shenemar hoy kol tzamei l'chu l'mayim. Just like anybody who's thirsty, come to the water, turn on the tap, you have access to water, so too anyone who is thirsty spiritually, open the tap and let the flow of Torah let it go. So what does it mean that Torah is בחינם b'chinam? First of all, we פסק׳ן pasken in שולחן ערוך Shulchan Aruch, we learn from here, מה הוא בחינם אף אתה בחינם mah hu b'chinam af ata b'chinam. Technically speaking, rabbis and educators are not allowed to get paid for teaching Torah. This class happens to be free, there is no charge. You're welcome. You can come. But all classes have to be free, rabbis aren't allowed to get paid for teaching Torah. So how do we get a salary? Not only rabbis, by the way, doctors too. מה הוא בחינם אף אתה בחינם Mah hu b'chinam af ata b'chinam. Just like Hashem healed everyone at Sinai, so too doctors have to heal for free. So, one second. How do doctors get paid and how do rabbis get paid? Not that they get paid equally, but how do doctors get paid and how do rabbis get paid? So there's an interesting הלכה halachic literature about this question, not for now, but essentially we're paid שכר בטלה schar batala. In order to be a rabbi or a doctor, we still have to provide for our family. So we don't get paid for the job that we have, we get paid not to take another job. We don't get paid for the work we do because that you're not allowed to get paid for. We get paid, it's שכר בטלה schar batala. We're paid, don't take another, don't take another job. מה הוא בחינם אף אתה בחינם Mah hu b'chinam af ata b'chinam. Torah has to be accessible. It shouldn't be behind a paywall, you shouldn't have to subscribe, you shouldn't have to pay. It should be available, accessible, מורשה morasha, it's our inheritance, we should have access to it. It's free like the fire, like the water, like the מדבר midbar. But what is this comparison and what is this idea? So back to the אש תמיד Eish Tamid. We have some unfinished work from Rav Druk, אש תמיד Eish Tamid that we went through several years ago. And he offers three interpretations. יש לומר Yesh lomar. The גמרא קידושין Gemara Kiddushin, דף ס״ו daf samech vov tells us, תורה כרוכה ומונחת בקרן זוית כל הרוצה ללמוד יבוא וילמוד Torah kruchah umunachas b'keren zavis kol harotzeh lilmod yavo v'yilmod. Torah is sitting in a bookcase in the corner, whoever wants, free lending library, come and take. הרמב״ם HaRambam כתב בשלושה כתרים נכתרו ישראל kasav bishlosha k'sarim nichtaru Yisrael. And the Rambam writes in הלכות תלמוד תורה פרק ג׳ Hilchos Talmud Torah, Perek Gimmel, that there are three crowns that the Jewish people were given we wear. כתר תורה, כתר כהונה, וכתר מלכות Keser Torah, keser kehunah, keser malchus. כתר כהונה זכה בו אהרון Keser kehunah zacha bo Aharon. The crown of priesthood, only priests can wear. כתר מלכות זכה בו דוד Keser malchus zacha bo David. And the crown of מלוכה melucha, monarchy, royalty, only the Davidic dynasty can wear. כתר תורה Keser Torah. What about the crown of Torah? מונח ועומד ומוכן לכל ישראל Munach v'omed u'muchan l'chol Yisrael. I'm looking out at you right now and this is an audience, this is a group, a ציבור tzibur, a קהילה kehilla, you're all wearing the crown of Torah right now and you look fantastic, I might add. You're wearing the crown of Torah on your head. You may not feel it, but I see it. You're wearing the crown of Torah. שנאמר תורה צוה לנו משה מורשה קהילת יעקב Shenemar Torah tziva lanu Moshe morasha kehilas Yaakov. כל מי שירצה יבוא ויטול Kol mi sheyirtzeh yavo v'yitol. Whoever wants, come and put on that crown. כהונה Kehunah, you have to be a כהן kohen. מלכות Malchus, you have to be from the Davidic dynasty. תורה Torah, doesn't matter how rich or poor, young or old, whatever your background, your education, your knowledge, doesn't matter your socioeconomic status, come and take. דברי תורה חינם הם לכל באי עולם אין אחד יכול לומר שהוא מוחזק בתורה Divrei Torah chinam hem l'chol ba'ei olam, ein echad yachol lomar shehu muchzak baTorah. No one can come and say I have a monopoly on Torah. It's mine. You can't have it. I have the truth. התורה אינה שייכת לא לעשירים ולא לעניים היא בחינם לכל באי עולם כל הרוצה ליטול יבוא ויטול HaTorah einah shayachas lo la'ashirim v'lo la'aniim, hi b'chinam l'chol ba'ei olam, kol harotzeh litol yavo v'yitol. No one has a monopoly, no one has a claim, no one can say it's theirs. Anyone who wants, it's free for the taking. Come, every Jew, it's our birthright, it's our inheritance. And we should feel that awesome responsibility as a community to make Torah accessible and available, to make it resonate, to make it real, to make it relatable, because if sadly, the majority of the Jewish people today don't know Hebrew, don't have a Jewish education and background, and it won't speak to them, then it's not accessible and available. To make it חינם chinam, to make it accessible, available, makes you have to make it relevant. You have to make it real, you have to make it relatable. You have to make it a Parsha perspective for today that it speaks to our lives. That's number one. Number two, he quotes from the חובות הלבבות Chovos Halevavos, that the more, it's a fascinating insight. He says, the more you need something to live, the more free and available it is. And the less you need it to live, the harder it is to come by. So air, oxygen is everywhere, because you need it to live, you can't live without it. So Hashem created a world in which oxygen is all around us and it's free and it is available. And then water, you need to be hydrated to live. So Hashem made a world in which there are streams and rivers and oceans and lakes and rain and water is available to live. And then you have food. But what about Rolexes? What about Lamborghinis? Are they so readily available? Does everyone have them? Rav Moskowitz and I flew, we ברוך השם baruch Hashem, we had two weddings on Sunday. We landed, I went to Avis, and we made the usual joke, you know, you have an upgrade, you have any new Lamborghinis. To which the guy looked at us and said, \"Avis at LaGuardia? You think there's a long line of people waiting to rent Lamborghinis?\" No Lamborghinis on their property. So we did not have a Lamborghini, which would have been awkward to pull up to the weddings in, even if they would have given it to us for free. So Rolexes, Lamborghinis, diamonds, gems, jewels. This is a very fascinating חובות הלבבות Chovos Halevavos in שער הבחינה פרק ה׳ Shaar Habechina Perek Hei. The more, the harder it is to come by something, the less intrinsically, the less you need it, which should tell you something. It should tell you something. The more you need something, the more Hashem made it available. And the harder it is to come by it, then the more you should ask yourself, do I really need it? Should it define me? Is it my identity? Is it who I am? So Torah is חינם chinam because if Torah is available like air, what does it tell you about Torah? You need it to breathe. כי הם חיינו ואורך ימינו Ki hem chayeinu v'orech yameinu. You need it to be alive and you need it to live. And thirdly, he quotes from the גמרא מגילה Gemara Megillah, אם יאמר לך אדם יגעתי ולא מצאתי אל תאמין, לא יגעתי ומצאתי אל תאמין, יגעתי ומצאתי תאמין Im yomar lecha adam yagati v'lo matzasi al ta'amin, lo yagati umatzasi al ta'amin, yagati umatzasi ta'amin. The Torah takes effort, but it's a מציאה metziah. On the other hand, הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu has to make it available to us. You have to stumble upon it, find it, you have to break through in it. And so on, he elaborates but very beautifully, but let's move on. פרק א׳ פסוק ב׳ Perek aleph, pasuk beis. שאו את ראש כל עדת בני ישראל Se'u es rosh kol adas Bnei Yisrael. We're back to this census. So Hashem says, how do you do the census? You lift the head of all the Jewish people. It's a funny word to use, שאו se'u. So many other words he could have used to count. פקוד pkod, מספר mispar, there's so many other words. Why to lift? Because again, the whole act of counting is to feel I count. It lifts our head. When you make someone feel they count, they matter, they mean something, it makes a difference. You count. You count. So שאו se'u means, don't just take a census, make the person count, which is why everyone passed, the רמב״ן Ramban writes, in front of Moshe and Aaron. Even if there were an app, even if Hashem could have just declared a בת קול bas kol what the number was, what the result was, it was the process of counting that made a person feel counted by Moshe and by Aaron. Their head was lifted by being counted. How do we count? למשפחתם L'mishpechosam, according to our family, לבית אבותם l'veis avosam. And what does it mean to count according to our family, לבית אבותם l'veis avosam? Means according to our father's household. Our Jewishness is determined by our mother, matrilineal descent. But our status, namely, are you a כהן kohen, לוי levi, ישראל yisrael, which tribe you come from, that is determined by patrilineal descent. למשפחתם לבית אבותם L'mishpechosam l'veis avosam. Why? Writes Rabbi Soloveitchik, enlightened Jews have criticized this law as a slight to women's dignity. They do not understand that the ideal of modesty is manifest in the patriarchally defined family. For families in primitive societies whose members engaged in promiscuity, children could not identify their fathers. The sanctity of the Jewish family is demonstrated by the fact that lineage is identified through the patriarch. As the מדרש Midrash says במדבר רבה Bamidbar Rabbah, who can harm such a people who recognize their fathers? One of the ways that we distinguished ourselves with dignity and with sanctity is that a Jew knows who their father is. In a promiscuous society, in an absentee society, in a society where their father abandons, in a society where mother's pregnant but she has no idea from whom, someone doesn't know who their father is. So the Torah comes along, says Rabbi Soloveitchik, and says, our status is bestowed upon us, determined by the father because that's the confidence, that's what Hashem knows that we have a society where we will never forget, we'll never fail to know who the father is, because that is a demonstration, a reflection of the modesty, the lack of promiscuity, the intact family unit of a mother, of a father, of a family to know who the father, who the father is. פרק א׳ פסוק מ״ו Perek aleph pasuk mem vov. So we have the census, all the leaders of each of the tribes are mentioned. Levi is singled out and excluded, which we'll come back to. פרק א׳ פסוק מ״ו Perek aleph pasuk mem vov. ויהיו כל הפקודים שש מאות אלף ושלושת אלפים וחמש מאות וחמשים Vayihyu kol hapkudim sheish me'os elef u'shloshes alafim vachameish me'os vachamishim. And the countings were 603,550, which is going to be a number that's consistent later. Remarkably, it doesn't dwindle and it's not increased. Says the מגיד דובנא Maggid of Dubna, Yosef Serotskin, מכאן נלמד שששים רבוא יצאו ממצרים ועמדו על הר סיני mikan nilmad sheshishim ribo yatzu miMitzrayim v'amdu al Har Sinai. 600,000 left Egypt, 600,000 stood at the base of that mountain, Har Sinai. And the גמרא כתובות דף י״ז Gemara Kesubos daf yud zayin says, from here we learn מבטלין תלמוד תורה להוצאת המת mevatlin Talmud Torah l'hotzaas hameis. If you're sitting and studying, you're sitting and learning in the Bais Medrash and there's a לוויה levaya, a funeral, you should close the book, leave the שיעור shiur and attend the funeral. רבי יוחנן אמר Rebbe Yochanan amar, נתעסקו בהספדו nisasku b'hespeddo. אף נתעסק בששים ריבוא af nisasek b'shishim ribo. Just like when the Torah was given, there was 600,000, so too when the Torah is taken, i.e. a תלמיד חכם talmid chacham, a בן תורה ben Torah, a person leaves this world, 600,000 should be in attendance. 600,000 were in attendance when the Torah was given. 600,000 in attendance when the Torah, the life of that בן תורה ben Torah, a תלמיד חכם talmid chacham, הני מילי למאן דקרי ותני hani mili l'man d'kari v'sani. That's true for somebody who sits and studies. אבל למאן דמתני aval l'man d'masnei, as רש״י Rashi says לאחרים l'acheirim, but somebody who doesn't just sit and study for themselves, somebody who teaches Torah to others, לית ליה שיעורא leis lei shiura. So, if you're learning Torah and there's a funeral of a תלמיד חכם talmid chacham, you should attend up to 600,000. After 600,000, you can sit and learn, enough people are there. But if they're a תלמיד חכם talmid chacham who didn't just sit and study, but they also taught, then there is no upper limit. You attend the funeral no matter how many. Why is there a difference between the one who studies and learns for themselves and the one who studies and learns and also teaches and shares with others? בנירא דתלמיד חכם שרק למד ולא לימד בפטרתו נסתם הגולל על תלמודו B'neira d'talmid chacham sherak lamad v'lo limed bif'tiraso nistam hagolel al talmudo. If you sit and study only for yourself and then you're done, when you die, so does your Torah. When you die, so does your contribution in Torah. המידה של התורה שבו ניתנה למדידה והגדרה ממילא ניתן גם להגדיר המידת הכבוד Hamidah shel haTorah shebo nitnah l'mididah v'hagdarah, mimeila nitan gam lehagdir midas hakavod. So since there was a cap, an upper limit to your Torah, when you died, so did your Torah with it, so too there's an upper limit and a cap to how many attend. But a תלמיד חכם talmid chacham who doesn't just learn, שלמד ולימד והעמיד תלמידים אין שיעור shelamad v'limed v'he'emid talmidim, ein shiur. וכולם חייבים ללוותו v'chulam chayavim lelavoso, the whole world has to escort them. Why this difference? Says the מגיד דובנא Maggid of Dubna, שיעור בטל התורה תלמוד תורה לויית המת סתם תלמיד חכם הוא ששים רבוא shiur bitul Torah...The measure of how much bitul Torah nullifying Torah for a תלמיד חכם talmid chacham who studies for themselves is 600,000. That we learn from our pasuk. But a תלמיד חכם talmid chacham who doesn't just learn שלמד ולימד והעמיד תלמידים אין שיעור וכולם חייבים ללוותו shelamad v'limed v'he'emid talmidim, ein shiur, v'chulam chayavim lelavoso. The whole world has to escort them. attend your funeral.אבל תלמיד חכם שמלמד לאחרים Aval talmid chacham shemelamed l'acheirim, but a תלמיד חכם talmid chacham who teaches others, גם אחר שנסטלק מן העולם עדיין תלמודו נמשך והולך עד סוף כל הדורות gam achar she'nistaleik min ha'olam adayin talmudo nimshach v'holech ad sof kol ha'doros. They left students who will leave students, who will leave students. Their Torah continues to stream, to flow. So therefore, לא ניתנה משאש פטירתו להגדיר מידות תלמידיו lo nitnah m'sha'ash p'tiras lo l'hagdir midos talmidav, there is no upper limit. Therefore it's endless and infinite, how many attend their funeral. You see, Torah's meant not just to be learned and studied on our own. It's designed and meant ללמוד וללמד lilmod u'lelamed. It's meant to learn and to be able to teach and to share with others as well. פרק א׳ פסוק מ״ט Perek aleph, pasuk mem tes.וידבר השם אל משה לאמר, אך את מטה לוי לא תפקוד ואת ראשם לא תשא בתוך בני ישראל Vayedaber Hashem el Moshe leimor, ach es mateh Levi lo tifkod v'es rosham lo sisa b'soch Bnei Yisrael. Levi, the tribe of Levi, were not counted with everyone else. They were counted separately. Why were they counted separately? Rashi. כדאי הוא לגיונו של מלך להיות נמנה לבדו Kedai hu l'giono shel melech l'hiyos nimneh l'vado, because this, this legion of the king should be counted separately. This is the honor guard. This is the king's cabinet, inner circle. They're not peasants. They're not paupers. They're not counted with everybody else. They deserve to have their own separate count. דבר אחר Davar acher, or a second interpretation, דבר אחר davar acher, צפה הקדוש ברוך הוא tzfah HaKadosh Baruch Hu, הקדוש ברוך הוא צפה שעתידה לצאת גזירה על כל מנין מבן עשרים שנה ומעלה שימותו במדבר HaKadosh Baruch Hu tzofeh she'atida latzeis gzeirah al kol minyan m'ben esrim shanah u'ma'alah she'yemusu ba'midbar. All those twenty and up were destined to die in the desert. אמר, אלו לא יהיו בכלל Amar, eilu lo yihyu b'chlal, אין אלו ראויים להיות בכלל, שהם שלי שלא טעו בעגל ein eilu re'uim l'hiyos b'chlal, she'heim sheli she'lo ta'u ba'eigel. The tribe of Levi will not die with them because they did not make that monumental mistake when it came to the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel, Levi did not worship with them. Says the שם משמואל Shem MiShmuel, I am צורך עיון טובא tzorech iyun tuva, הגזירה שכל הנמנים מבן עשרים שנה ומעלה ימותו במדבר ha'gzeirah she'kol ha'nimnim m'ben esrim shanah u'ma'alah yemusu ba'midbar, that גזירה gzeirah that all those who were twenty and up died in the desert was because of which sin?No. The חטא המרגלים cheit ha'meraglim. Those who subscribed, those who cried that night for no reason, at the sin of the spies. When the spies came back from investigated the land and gave a negative report and those who believed and accepted their negativity, they died in the desert.So why does Rashi, why do חז״ל Chazal say Hashem didn't count Levi because Levi didn't make the mistake with the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel? Wrong חטא cheit. Unfortunately there were many to choose from. Wrong חטא cheit. The חטא cheit that Levi didn't participate in was the חטא המרגלים cheit ha'meraglim, not the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel. I'm sorry, it was the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel Levi didn't participate, but the reason twenty and up died was the חטא המרגלים cheit ha'meraglim, not the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel. אם כן מה הביאור בדברי רש״י שהם שלי שלא טעו בעגל? הלא הגזירה היא מדיבת המרגלים, לא מחטא העגל. אדרבה, הרי מצד חטא העגל נסלח להם עונם. Im kein mah ha'biur b'divrei Rashi she'heim sheli she'lo ta'u ba'eigel? Halo ha'gzeirah hi midibas ha'meraglim, lo mei'cheit ha'eigel. Adraba, harei mi'tzad cheit ha'eigel nislach lahem avonam. When it came to the mistake of the Eigel, God forgave us. God forgave us. Moshe did a good job, סלחתי כדברך s'lachti k'd'varecha. Moshe advocated on our behalf and he earned our forgiveness and atonement. סלחתי כדברך S'lachti k'd'varecha. Hashem said he forgave us. So what's going on over here? Hashem says I can't count Levi with the Jewish people because the Jewish people are going to die from twenty and up, and Levi didn't make the mistake with the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel. Yeah, but the reason they'll die from twenty and up was the חטא המרגלים cheit ha'meraglim, not the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel. So how does it help that Levi didn't participate in the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel? Problem is the חטא המרגלים cheit ha'meraglim, the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel, Hashem forgave all four. So what's going on in this Rashi? We learn this Rashi a million times and maybe never stopped and asked this question. Says the שם משמואל Shem MiShmuel, יש לומר דבמעשה העגל, חוץ מעצם עשיית העגל, הרי כתיב אחר כך ויקומו לצחק yesh lomar d'v'ma'aseh ha'eigel, chutz mei'etzem asiyas ha'eigel, harei ksiv achar kach v'yakumu l'tzachek. After the actual episode and incident of the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel that God forgave us for, but there was a secondary mistake. It says ויקומו לצחק v'yakumu l'tzachek, and Rashi says כולל שלוש עבירות חמורות kolel shalosh aveiros chamuros. In that moment, the Jewish people indulged their lowest self, and they began to, to act with the three cardinal sins: promiscuity and not valuing life, and idolatry. אז הזכיר משה רבינו Az hizkir Moshe Rabbeinu, and Moshe Rabbeinu screamed out those immortal three words, iconic three words, what did he say? מי להשם אלי Mi l'Hashem eilay. Whoever is for God, come with me. Are you with him or against him? Which side are you on? Step up, stand out, man up, מי להשם אלי mi l'Hashem eilay. שבתוך כל מהומה צריך שיהיה אנשים שיקומו להחזיר כבוד שמים כנגד המורדים והחוטאים She'b'soch kol mehumah tzarich she'yiyeh anashim she'yakumu l'hachzir kvod shamayim k'neged ha'mordim v'hachotim. Someone was going to have to stand up. Someone was going to have to speak out. Someone was going to have to distinguish themselves. Who's going to be on the right side of history? And who answered that call מי להשם אלי mi l'Hashem eilay? The tribe of Levi. ויאספו אליו כל בני לוי V'ye'asfu eilav kol bnei Levi. כל שבט לוי נענו לצד משה רבינו ומסרו נפשם לקדש שם שמים. Kol shevet Levi na'anu l'tzad Moshe Rabbeinu, u'masru nafsham l'kadesh shem Shamayim. Levi, all stood up as one. Levi as a tribe manned up, stood up, were willing to stand out. They answered that call of מי להשם אלי mi l'Hashem eilay.ממילא, כיוון שבשעה שהקדוש ברוך הוא הוא צריך לאנשים Me'meila, keivan she'b'sha'ah she'HaKadosh Baruch Hu hu tzarich la'anashim, since Hashem needed them in this moment, מידה כנגד מידה, עשה הקדוש ברוך הוא שיהיו נמנים בפני עצמם נפרד עכשיו midah k'neged midah, asah HaKadosh Baruch Hu she'yihyu nimnim b'ifnei atzmam nifrad achshav. He counted, he'll never forget that. In your time of need, if you've ever been in a time of need, you say, who's with me? Who's with me? There are times in my life, my rabbinic career, where I've been attacked unfairly, unjustly. I've been attacked also fairly and justly. I've been criticized and I learned from it. It could have come differently, the message, the messaging, the messenger, but you can learn from it. You could look back and say that was fair. I made a mistake, I learned from it. But I've also been attacked unfairly, unjustly, inaccurately, terribly, terribly. And I remember who stood with me. I remember who showed up to the event. I remember, and I'll never forget, who reached out. הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu, when it's time to count כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael, he says to Levi, I'm not going to count you with everybody else. I want you to know I never forgot how you answered מי להשם אלי mi l'Hashem eilay. I, that has nothing to do with the חטא המרגלים cheit ha'meraglim and twenty and older and who will die in the desert. I forgave everyone for the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel. I forgive everyone who didn't stand with me when I was attacked. I forgive everyone who was a no-show, who was invisible, who bailed, who were cowardly, who chickened out. I forgive everybody. But I'll also never forget who showed up. And Hashem says, I forgive everyone for the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel, but I'll never forget who answered the call of מי להשם אלי mi l'Hashem eilay. And in our time, we have that call all the time, all the time. You have to extend your antenna, you have to be perceptive to hear it. מי להשם אלי Mi l'Hashem eilay. Hashem is looking down at us in this confused and chaotic world, in a time of increased anti-semitism, Israel, our brothers and sisters, our soldiers and hostages, in a time in which there's such moral blurring of boundaries and confusion and corruption, and Hashem is calling out מי להשם אלי mi l'Hashem eilay, and he will never forget who answers the call. מי להשם אלי Mi l'Hashem eilay. And that's why Rashi wasn't confused, חז״ל Chazal weren't confused. חטא עגל, חטא מרגלים Cheit eigel, cheit meraglim. Yes, he forgave the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel, but he also simultaneously never forgot who answered the call of מי להשם אלי mi l'Hashem eilay. And it was שבט לוי shevet Levi, and therefore he counted them, he counted them separately. פרק א׳ פסוק נ״ג Perek aleph, pasuk nun gimmel. Turn to page 732. והלוים יחנו סביב למשכן העדות V'ha'Leviim yachanu saviv l'mishkan ha'eidus, and the tribe of Levi who are counted separately, they encamped around the משכן העדות ולא יהיה קצף על עדת בני ישראל, ושמרו הלוים את משמרת משכן העדות Mishkan Ha'Eidus, v'lo yihyeh ketzef al adas Bnei Yisrael, v'shamru ha'Leviim es mishmeres Mishkan Ha'Eidus. They encamp around the Tabernacle of testimony, there's no wrath upon the assembly, and Leviim shall safeguard the watch of the Tabernacle of testimony. I don't think you can get it yet still, but the Rabbi Sacks חומש Chumash when it comes out, you should, a collection of all of Rabbi Sacks's teachings organized by פרשה parsha. It's fantastic. And he writes the following on this pasuk, יחנו סביב למשכן העדות yachanu saviv l'mishkan ha'eidus. Encamp around the Tabernacle. The book of Numbers is about a people with the divine presence is in its midst. Hashem is no longer simply the distant, majestic creator of the universe and intervener in history. He is also close, the שכינה Shechinah. God is immanent as well as transcendent. God as neighbor. שכינה Shechinah is from the word שכן shachen, which means a neighbor. Jewish spirituality conceives of Hashem in abstract and awe-inspiring ways. God is more distant than the furthest star and more eternal than time itself. Yet, no religion has ever felt God to be closer. In תנ״ך Tanach, the prophets argue with Hashem. In the book of תהלים Tehillim, דוד המלך David HaMelech speaks to Hashem in terms of utmost intimacy. In the תלמוד Talmud, Hashem listens to the debates between the sages and accepts their rulings even when they go against a heavenly voice. God's relationship with Jewish people, say the prophets, is like that between a parent and a child or between a husband and a wife. In שיר השירים Shir HaShirim, it is like that between two infatuated lovers. The זוהר Zohar, key text of Jewish mysticism, uses the most daring language of passion, as does ידיד נפש Yedid Nefesh, the poem attributed to the 16th-century Tzfas Kabbalist, רבי אלעזר אזכרי Rav Elazar Azikri. That is one of the most striking differences between the synagogues and cathedrals of the Middle Ages. In a cathedral, you sense the vastness of God and the smallness of humankind. In the אלטנוישול Alteneu Shul in Prague, אלטנוישול Alteneu Shul in Prague or the synagogues of the ארי Ari and רבי יוסף קארו Rav Yosef Karo in צפת Tzfas, you sense the closeness of a God and the greatness of humankind.He's so great, Rabbi Sacks. יחנו סביב למשכן העדות Yachanu saviv l'mishkan ha'eidus. That's what ספר במדבר Sefer Bamidbar is all about. Not the God who is majestic and distant, but the God who's שכינה Shechinah, who's a שכן shachen, who's available, who's accessible. He's immanent and transcendent. He is apart, inaccessible, and accessible. He's both at the same time, and that's what Torah is trying to communicate in that sentence, in that line. פרק ג׳ Perek Gimmel. We're skipping פרק ב׳ Perek Beis. The formations, we've discussed it in the past. All of the insignias and logos, every tribe, excuse me, tribe had their own. Every three tribes had their own banner, north, south, east and west. רבי יעקב קמנצקי Rav Yaakov Kaminetsky, אמת ליעקב Emes L'Yaakov, why weren't we divisive, divided? Why weren't we competing? It sounds like a big color war in the מדבר midbar. Everyone had their own banner, their own logo, their own song, their own uniform. It sounds like a big color war in the מדבר midbar. Color war has war in its name. Color war. So how did it not lead to war and infighting and tension and מחלוקת machlokes? Writes רבי יעקב Rav Yaakov so brilliantly, you know why? What was at the center of the encampment? The משכן Mishkan, the ארון aron, the לוחות luchos, Hashem. You can have diversity when it's centered on community. That's our shul. How do you have שמונה מנינים shmoneh minyanim on a שבת Shabbos morning and there's no conflict and tension and divisiveness? Because if the משכן Mishkan is at the center, if Hashem is in the middle, if Hashem in Judaism and community are the brand, then you can have all the room for all the diversity, all the שבטים shvatim in the world. But when your ego, when you're the brand, then you have no room, no space, no tolerance for any other. So that was the model. This encampment of the מדבר midbar, each line, each tribe, each banner, each grouping, all with the, all with the משכן Mishkan in the middle. פרק ג׳ פסוק י״ד Perek gimmel, pasuk yud daled.ואלה תולדות אהרן ומשה V'eileh toldos Aharon u'Moshe, the offspring of Aharon and Moshe. We discussed this also, I think as recently as last year. We list the progeny of Aharon even though we just said the offspring of Moshe. Why? Because anyone who teaches someone else Torah is as if they gave them life. We talk about that הלכה למעשה halacha l'maaseh. Those who don't have biological children still can have children. Can still have children. I just paid a שבעה shivah call to a member of my family sitting שבעה shivah by marriage. His brother died very suddenly, very sadly at a young age, who didn't have children of his own. But an extraordinary thing about him was, and at the funeral, one of his friends described, he said, you know, somebody dies young, 42 years old, didn't have children, they can go one of two ways. They can withdraw and not care about anyone or their children because they don't have their own, or they can see and feel and shower tremendous love on other people's children. And this individual, בנימין זאב Binyamin Zev, shared his friends' children, he brought them gifts, showered them with presents. His nieces and nephews, he was an incredible, incredible uncle. And you see that even when a person doesn't have biological children, doesn't mean they don't have children. Is there a bigger or greater example in history than the Lubavitcher רבי Rebbe and רבנית Rebbetzin, who had no biological children of their own, but are a greater father and mother today? How many שלוחים shluchim never met the רבי Rebbe and yet consider him their father? Not just their spiritual father, literally their father. They'll die for him today. They know everything he wrote and said. He is their father. So a person could have no biological children and have countless children. And a person can have biological children if they don't nurture them and mold them and shape them in a continuity and with Torah and a future, then biologically they are connected, but they're lacking a spiritual parenthood. So you see the notion, the very definition of parenthood is not only biological. It's so much more. There's a lot more to say on this Rashi, but I said we're not saying it this year. We've talked about it in the past. The appointment of the לויים Leviim and their special role. They take the place of the firstborn of the בכור bechor, which brings us to pasuk י״ד. וידבר השם אל משה במדבר סיני לאמר Vayedaber Hashem el Moshe b'midbar Sinai leimor. Here we repeat again that Moshe is transmitting and teaching the Torah where? In the wilderness, in the wilderness. And back to Rabbi Sacks, our second Rabbi Sacks for the day. Why in the wilderness? פרשת במדבר Parshas Bamidbar is usually read on the שבת Shabbos before שבועות Shavuos. It's the time of the giving of the Torah, במדבר Bamidbar means in the desert. Why in the fixing of the Torah reading cycle was a link forged between the giving of the Torah and the particular fact of its emergence from the wilderness? We began with this. I don't know if you remember because it was already 43 minutes ago, so you might have forgotten. But we started with this. תוספות Tosfos gave one reason. Why do we read פרשת במדבר parshas Bamidbar before שבועות Shavuos? תוספות Tosfos gave one reason, namely, to interrupt to break from the תוכחה tochacha. I suggested a second reason to count every individual. We don't just blend and blur together. And now Rabbi Sacks is going to give a third. חז״ל Chazal gave several interpretations, or he'll give more than just a third. According to the מכילתא Mechilta, the Torah was given publicly, openly, in a place where no one owns. Had it been given in the land of Israel, Jews would have said to the nations of the world, you have no share in it. Instead of God seemed to say whoever wants to come and accept it, let them come and accept it. It was not given in on the Jewish home turf, because then we would have said it's ours and ours only. Instead, we tell the whole world, put it in the drawer of every hotel room, sell it in Costco. We want you to read it and study it and learn it. It's for the whole world. Not תורה שבעל פה Torah sheba'al peh, that's ours and ours alone, but תורה שבכתב Torah shebichtav, the written Torah is meant for the entire world, for the entire world. שבועות Shavuos, our theme is why the Jews. I don't even know what the shiurim topics other than mine are. Maybe somebody's speaking about this. We have a Torah prohibition of teaching Torah to non-Jews. That means teaching our Torah, תורה שבעל פה Torah sheba'al peh, but teaching שבע מצוות בני נח Sheva Mitzvos Bnei Noach, teaching Torah in the bigger, broader sense, we have a responsibility to teach and share to the non-Jewish world. In fact, חז״ל Chazal say, we'll get to this. My opening shiur is on are we the chosen or choosing people? Is the Jewish soul superior or greater than the non-Jewish soul? Are we better? We'll see it's a fascinating discussion. חז״ל Chazal say that a non-Jew who studies Torah is as great as a כהן גדול kohen gadol. Greater than a כהן גדול kohen gadol. So you see that the non-Jew is also meant to study Torah. And that's why it wasn't given in ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael. Says the מכילתא Mechilta was given in the מדבר midbar in order to proclaim to the non-Jewish, the nations of the world, come and study. Another explanation. Had the Torah been given in Israel, the nation, the national homeland, the nations of the world would have had an excuse for not accepting it. This follows the rabbinic tradition that before God gave the Torah, he offered it to all the other nations, and each found a reason to decline. Yet another, just as the wilderness is free, it costs nothing to enter, so the Torah is free. It's Hashem's gift to us. That we saw in the רב דרוק Rav Druk. But there's another, more spiritual reason. And this is Rabbi Sacks's reason I want to share with you. The desert is a place of silence. There's nothing visual to distract you. There's no ambient noise to muffle sound. To be sure, when Klal Yisrael received the Torah, there was thunder and lightning and the sound of a shofar. The earth felt as if it were shaking at its foundations. But in a later age, when the נביא אליהו Navi Eliyahu stood at the same mountain after his confrontation with the prophets of בעל Baal, he encountered God not in the whirlwind or in the fire or in the earthquake. Where did he find God? In קול דממה דקה kol demama daka. The still small voice, literally the sound of silence. I define this as the sound you can hear only if you are listening. In the silence of the מדבר midbar, the desert, you can hear the מדבר medaber, the speaker, and the מדובר medubar, that which is being spoken. I'll say that again. Suggests Rabbi Sacks, why was the Torah Dafka given in the מדבר midbar? In the silence of the מדבר midbar, you can hear the מדבר medaber and the מדובר medubar. In the silence of the desert, you can hear the מדבר medaber, the speaker, and the מדובר medubar, that which is being spoken. To hear the voice of God, you need a listening silence in the soul. You've got to turn off everything else. I was just listening earlier this morning to a podcast, Andrew Huberman, the Stanford professor, scientist, who has some fantastic insight into life. He talks about how your brain is working even while you're asleep. And there's data that shows when you sleep with the phone in your room, it interrupts your sleep. Even if it never goes off, because you're waiting for it and you're curious about what's coming into it. And the quality of sleep changes just by leaving it out of the room. And he said, and I reserve the right to use this in a drasha or article, but I can't help it because I just heard it today. So listen and then forget it. But he says, there's research. Students perform better on exams if their phone is not in the room than even if it's in the room and it's in their bag. Students obviously can't have a phone on their desk or out or on while they're taking a test. But if the phone is even in their bag next to them, their brain is preoccupied and distracted by it, just knowing it's there, then they perform better if it's out of the room. And I heard that this morning, I got to thinking, imagine the difference in our davening if the phone is not in the room that we're davening. Even if it's off, even if you don't take it out, even if you're not looking at it, its presence, its mere presence in the room can be a distraction. If it can disrupt the quality of your sleep, and if it can disrupt the outcome of your test, then what does it do for your relationships when the phone is next to you while you're talking to your spouse or your child, while you're talking to Hashem, or while you're learning Hashem's Torah? The power of putting it in a different room. That's what Rabbi Sacks is describing. The sound of silence, the silence of the soul, the מדבר midbar. That means every בית מדרש beis medrash, when you walk into the בית מדרש beis medrash, just like וידבר השם אל משה במדבר סיני vayedaber Hashem el Moshe b'midbar Sinai, if you want to hear God speaking to you, then you need to create and recreate an environment of a מדבר midbar. That doesn't mean it has to be unbearably hot, the sun beating down and no water. It doesn't have to be a מדבר midbar in its climate, but it has to be a מדבר midbar in the silence, no sound, no distractions, no other activity, because if you want to hear the מדבר medaber and the מדובר medubar, then you need to put yourself in a מדבר midbar. Another incredible, beautiful Rabbi Sacks.פרק ד׳ פסוק ו׳ Perek daled, pasuk vav. That's right, we're making our way through the whole parsha. It's the all new me. פרק ד׳, page 744. The כהנים kohanim are organ, the, sorry, the קהת Kehas, the tribe of קהת Kehas are organized. וידבר השם אל משה ואל אהרן לאמר, נשא את ראש בני קהת Vayedaber Hashem el Moshe v'el Aharon leimor, naso es rosh bnei Kehas. Now the Torah tells us take a census of קהת Kehas from among the tribe of Levi, and gives us their numbers. And tells us pasuk vav, ונתנו עליו כסוי עור תחש ופרשו בגד כליל תכלת מלמעלה ושמו בדיו v'nasnu alav k'sui or tachash u'farsu beged klil tcheiles milma'alah v'samu badav.This is the work of בנה קהת bnei Kehas in the tent of meeting, the most holy, when the camp is journeying, Aharon and his sons, they come, they take down the partition curtain and the cover, they place upon it a תחש tachash skin covering and spread a cloth entirely of תכלת tcheiles wool over it and adjust its straps, its staves. Says Rabbi Soloveitchik. The תחש tachash skin, say חז״ל Chazal, consists of a mosaic of colors. The תכלת tcheiles, which is similar to the hue of a clear sky, must be permanent, not fade. Genuine תכלת tcheiles does not fade when it is exposed to the sun or when the garment is washed. The protection of the ark consisted of a תחש tachash skin, a colorful covering, followed by a תכלת tcheiles cloth. In other words, when you take it apart and you're protecting it in transport, you cover the ארון aron with תחש tachash skin coloring, colorful, and תכלת tcheiles that doesn't fade. Why? I mean, the image I have is like Yeshivish. You should cover the aron with black and white. This is the exact opposite of Yeshivish. The aron was covered with תחש tachash ופרשו בגד כליל תכלת מלמעלה u'farsu beged klil tcheiles milma'alah. This is the most colorful aron, colorful like the rainbow over the aron. What's the significance? wonders the Rav. A Jew must guard his spiritual possessions like the apple of his eye. He must yearn for them to remain with his children forever. The many colors in the תחש tachash skin represent the many הלכתיות halachic details in the תורה Torah. If we're not careful with every detail within every מצוה mitzvah, Judaism cannot last. Judaism is a תחש tachash covering, a garment with patterns of various colors. If one is careful with every detail in this wonderful tapestry, Judaism will last. If one eliminates certain colors in the תחש tachash, it loses its integrity and beauty. When one strives to preserve Shabbos for future generations, one must observe it in the manner stipulated by the הלכה halacha in שולחן ערוך Shulchan Aruch. If a Jew permits carrying, burning, extinguishing, he cannot expect that his children will observe Shabbos. I know well that being careful with such details is associated with many difficulties and sacrifices. Nevertheless, the details are integral. The תכלת tcheiles cloth symbolizes steadfastness, our self-sacrifice, our love for our sanctity. Just as one cannot separate the blue color from the garment, no power on earth can separate the Jewish people from the רבונו של עולם Ribbono shel Olam. It's a beautiful symbolism and significance in that תחש tachash skin. פרק ד׳ פסוק ט״ז Perek daled, pasuk tes zayin.746. ופקדת אלעזר בן אהרן הכהן את שמן המאור וקטרת הסמים ומנחת התמיד ושמן המשחה, פקדת כל המשכן וכל אשר בו בקדש ובכליו U'fkudas Elazar ben Aharon ha'kohen es shemen ha'maor v'ktores ha'samim u'minchas ha'tamid v'shemen ha'mishcha, p'kudas kol ha'mishkan v'chol asher bo ba'kodesh u'v'keilav. Listen to this insight. It's amazing. אלעזר בן אהרן הכהן Elazar, the son of Aharon HaKohen was tasked with carrying what? The incense. He had an enormous amount he had to carry. What did he have to carry? He had to carry.Rashi quotes the ירושלמי Yerushalmi. Elazar was not merely charged with overseeing the transfer of these items from place to place, the oil, the spices of the קטורת ketores, the daily flour offering, but he himself, Elazar, Aharon's son carried them. And the רמב״ן Ramban has a calculation. How much was that? He had to carry all these things, what'd that weigh? What'd that weigh? So the oil for a year was 183 לוג lug. A לוג lug is half a liter. Spices for the incense, the קטורת ketores, was 365 מנה maneh. A מנה maneh is approximately a pound. So altogether, he probably carried more than 2,000 pounds. In addition to the other tasks that were relegated to him. So the question is, how? 2,000 pounds? He's like a weightlifter, heavy lifter? Steroids? Get him tested? How'd he do it? It's an enormous responsibility. An enormous weight. Not a weight of responsibility, literally, an enormous weight. So the Ramban concludes with a pasuk from ישעיהו Yishayahu. וקוי השם יחליפו כח V'kovei Hashem yachalifu koach. קוי השם Kovei Hashem, if your hope and your faith are in השם Hashem, יחליפו כח yachalifu koach, you have more and more and more strength. The Ramban's principle is that a person's burden of responsibility could be incredibly, incredibly heavy, but if you feel that השם Hashem is the one who gave it to me, then he gives me the כח koach to carry it. So much to carry. So much to carry. Community leaders, עסקנים askanim, רבנים rabbanim, feel I have so much to carry. Parents, children, businesses, business owners, גבאים gabbaim, מגידי שיעור maggidei shiur, so many realms of life a person feels I have so much to carry, carrying so much on my shoulders, multiple institutions and budgets and people and problems. How can I do it? I'm gonna collapse under the burden. It's too much. It's so much to carry. Says רב וולבה Rav Wolbe in שיעורי חומש Shiurei Chumash based on this רמב״ן Ramban, you see from here that if you feel that Hashem has specifically and individually told you, this is your תפקיד tafkid. This is what you're meant to carry, then יחליפו כח yachalifu koach, he gives you the כח koach to carry it. Just like Elazar, the son of Aharon HaKohen was told, here is what you have, here's your task. Here's your mission. Here's what you have to carry. You personally. How could he do it? It's too much, it's too heavy. Because if you're told directly from God, if you feel it's your mission and purpose, then you find the wherewithal to carry it. So so too all of us, whatever we have to carry, our family, our responsibility, if we feel it's from Hashem, then we also have with it the wherewithal to be able to carry it. I wanted to end with the pasuk, the last pasuk of the parsha. ולא יבואו לראות כבלע את הקדש ומתו V'lo yavo'u liros k'vala es ha'kodesh v'meisu. You cannot come, only the כהנים kohanim could be there, even לויים Leviim, ישראלם Yisraelim cannot be there when they're packing up in the Holy of Holies, in order to transport it, you cannot be there. What was so dangerous? The אוצר פלאות התורה Otzar Plos HaTorah on the, just saw last week, we had the to meet with the שליט״א shlita and to thank him for his incredible Torah, his incredible ספר sefer, אוצר פלאות התורה Otzar Plos HaTorah. He quotes here the tradition based on the תרגום Targum, anybody who looks at the ark who's not meant to be looking at it will drop dead and they'll die and be consumed by fire. Sound familiar? You know about it, not for the right reasons, which I won't even reference. But it comes from a Medrash. נס גדול היה בארון, ואם היה מביט בו היה מת מיד Neis gadol hayah ba'aron, v'im hayah mabit bo hayah meis miyad. There was a miracle. If a person who wasn't meant to look at it looked at it, they would die immediately. That's what this last pasuk is telling us. And how did they die? So the תרגום יונתן בן עוזיאל Targum Yonasan ben Uziel says, בשרפתא אשא, דלא ימותון באישא מצלהבא b'sreifta esha, d'lo y'musun b'isha mitzlahava, they would die from a special fire. רב משה שטרנבוך Rav Moshe Sternbuch says he doesn't know exactly where it ever says that, but there's a tradition that somebody who sees the aron who wasn't meant to look at it will die from a fire. And the משנה mishnah in סנהדרין Sanhedrin tells us, if you steal כלי שרת klei shareis, person who steals a vessel from the בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash, there's a death penalty. Based on this pasuk, ולא יבואו לראות כבלע את הקדש ומתו v'lo yavo'u liros k'vala es ha'kodesh v'meisu. בליעה Bli'ah means גניבה gneiva. If you acquire, if you steal, if you absorb, if you take that which doesn't belong to you, you'll die. And from here, some have a tradition to put up a sign in the בית מדרש beis medrash. He quotes the אוצר פלאות התורה Otzar Plos HaTorah. He has a lot more on this, that anyone who takes a safer from the library, out of the library, there's a חרם cheirem against them. Just like this pasuk, ולא יבואו לראות כבלע את הקדש v'lo yavo'u liros k'vala es ha'kodesh. Don't be בולע את הקודש bole'ah es ha'kodesh. Don't swallow, don't absorb, don't take, don't remove a book, a ספר sefer from the בית מדרש beis medrash, from the library. It's a special חרם cheirem against such a person that also traces back to this pasuk and to our parsha. We are not meeting next Tuesday. You know why? You're not available. It's the חג השבועות Chag HaShavuos. We're going to be doing a lot of learning, just not in the partial perspectives for today. So we'll resume the week after. I'm wishing everyone a good יום טוב yom tov and a חג שמח chag sameach. Should be בשורות טובות, ישועות ונחמות besoros tovos, yeshuos v'nechamos. בעזרת השם B'ezras Hashem we'll be standing at that mount to receive the Torah together with the hostages, with all of our soldiers, with all of כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael safely and together.
