Transcript
Good morning, welcome back to Parsha Perspectives for today. So glad and grateful that you are here. We learn פרשת נצבים *Parshas Nitzavim* together, page 1086 in the Artscroll Stone חומש *Chumash*. As always, we begin with gratitude. We remain indebted to our dear friends Becky and Avi Katz and family who sponsored our פרשה *Parsha* series in memory of Becky's father. Our learning is לעילוי נשמת דוד בן מנחם מנש *l'iluy nishmas David ben Menachem Manish*, David Grossman. Also, this morning שיעור *shiur* is dedicated in honor of Ben Isaac's birthday by his family. To the most amazing husband, father and human being, a living walking heartbeating אמונה *emunah* story. Fills the lives of all you touch with your energy and שמחת החיים *simchas hachaim*. I add to that, Ben has touched my life, his energy, you can't compare. It's contagious and amazing. Should have a happy birthday and a lot of success. It should be your best year yet. Also, this morning שיעור *shiur* is sponsored anonymously. May the learning be in the merit of אבנר בן אברהם הכהן *Avnere ben Avraham HaCohen*, שיין דל בת דוד *Shane Dal Bas David*, מישלין בן דוד *Michelin ben David*, אברהם בן מנחם מענדל הכהן *Avraham ben Menachem Mendel HaCohen*, ניצן בן שמעון *Nitzan ben Shimon*, and רחל בת יוסף הלוי *Rachil Bas Yosef HaLevi*. The נשמה *neshama* should have an עליה *aliyah*. And anonymously, מזל טוב *mazal tov* to Justin and Megan on their recent marriage. They should build a בית נאמן בישראל *bayis ne'eman b'Yisrael*. מזל טוב *Mazal tov*, מזל טוב *mazal tov*. We should always share only in שמחות *simchas*. Thank you all to our generous sponsors. Page 1086, פרשת נצבים *Parshas Nitzavim*. Often נצבים *Nitzavim* is read together with וילך *Vayelech*, not this year. So we have a chance to delve right into it. It's a very short פרשה *parsha*. And yet, though short maybe in length, it is packed in substance and messages. אתם נצבים היום כלכם לפני ה' אלקיכם *Atem nitzavim hayom kulchem lifnei Hashem Elokeichem*. This is משה רבינו *Moshe Rabbeinu* still on the cusp of entering the land, but at the end of his life he will not be going with the Jewish people, and he continues to communicate to them a powerful message, his monologue, his message. What did we do wrong? What did we learn from our experience until now? And what should you keep in mind? Where do you want to go and how are you going to get there? So he says you're all standing here, היום *hayom* today, כלכם *kulchem*, all of you before Hashem. And he now elaborates who's the all of you. I would have left it. All of you is very inclusive. It includes all of you. But he goes on to spell it out. ראשיכם שבטיכם *Rosheichem shivteichem*, the heads of your tribes, זקניכם *zikneichem*, your elders, שוטריכם *shotreichem*, your officers, טפכם נשיכם *tapchem nsheichem*, your small children, the women, גרך אשר בקרב מחניך *gercha asher b'kerev machanecha*, and the converts or the strangers among you, מחטב עציך עד שואב מימיך *meichoteiv eitzecha ad sho'eiv meimecha*, from those who chop down wood to those who draw the water. Every socioeconomic class, every age, every background, every role, all are included. You're all standing here today, today. Says רש\"י *Rashi*, מדרש הגדה *Medrash HaGada*. למה נסמכה פרשה זו אצל הקללות *lama nismecha parsha zu etzel haklalos*? Last week we left off, the end of פרשת כי תבוא *Parshas Ki Savo* was the תוכחה *tochacha*, the harsh rebuke. Hashem's description, through Moshe, of what will happen if we're disobedient, non-compliant. What happens when we don't fulfill and pursue our mission in this world, then Hashem, there's a punishment, there's a consequence, there's accountability. So why did we end off last week with the תוכחה *tochacha* and we begin this week with, you're all standing here. What's the connection? Our commentators are always looking for and understanding what's the connection, what's the continuity, what's the juxtaposition? Not only what message can we get that is explicit in the words, but what can we extract that even comes from the comparison or the contrast of the themes of where they're laid out. So Rashi tells us, when the Jewish people heard the 98 curses in last week's פרשה *parsha*, not to mention the 49 that we read earlier in ספר ויקרא *Sefer Vayikra*, הוריקו פניהם *horiku pneihem*. When the Jewish people heard, when משה רבינו *Moshe Rabbeinu* stood up and he said, listen carefully, here's what's going to happen. You go wrong, you deviate from the path, here's what happens. And when he described it, and it's horrific and graphic and painful and suffering, their faces dropped. Their faces turned color. ואמרו מי יוכל לעמוד באלו *V'amru, mi yuchal la'amod b'eilu*? Whoa, we didn't sign up for this. Who can, who can possibly overcome this? Who can persevere through this? Who will survive after all these warnings? התחיל משה לפייסם *Hischil Moshe l'faisam*. So Moshe saw what happened. Their faces dropped, they become hopeless and helpless, they were giving up. So Moshe appeases them. אתם נצבים היום *Atem nitzavim hayom*. And that's why this week's פרשה *parsha* follows last week, after their reaction to the תוכחה *tochacha*, to the harsh rebuke, Moshe lifts them, and he says, whoa, relax, don't worry. אתם נצבים היום *Atem nitzavim hayom*. You're still here. You're standing here. You know, you've disappointed Hashem several times. We've been through a lot in the desert. You've messed up many times and here you are to tell about it. You survived, you're still here. So don't worry. You're still here. Asks the תפארת שמואל *Tiferes Shmuel* of שמואל בירנבוים *Shmuel Borenbaum*. And we've seen this before, the כלי יקר *Kli Yakar*, the נתיבות שלום *Nesivos Shalom*, we've seen many and quoted many commentators who asked the same question. הרי משה רבינו היה בכל ביתי נאמן הוא Harei Moshe Rabbeinu haya b'chol beisi ne'eman hu. Moshe is trustworthy, reliable. The Almighty himself describes Moshe as his most loyal servant, that he gets it, that he's his mouthpiece, his advocate, his ambassador. He's reliable, he's trustworthy. נצטווה על ידי הקדוש ברוך הוא לתן כלל ישראל לשורש של תוכחה כדי שייראון מלחטוא Nistava al yedei HaKadosh Baruch Hu l'tein Klal Yisrael l'shoresh shel tochecha kedei she'yir'un milachto. So last week Moshe was charged with the important mission of communicate, transmit the תוכחה tochecha, the rebuke, in a way that טאקע taka you're going to light a fire. You're going to wake up the people. You gotta tell them the way it is. No more of this soft, sweet, kind. We had a discussion a couple weeks ago at our off the record about a video which I'm not going to refer to explicitly, that went viral. About a Rabbi who gave some harsh rebuke. You know, maybe it was too strong, too cynical, too sarcastic. You have to know him, he's filled with love, he's the most amazing person. It wasn't meant to be videoed, it wasn't meant to be distributed. He's a tremendous person. הלוואי Halevai that we should do the חסד chesed, come close to what he does on a daily basis. But it generated a conversation, forget that specific announcement. Are we such a soft generation, our children or we? Everyone has to put on gloves, talk nicely, sweetly. It's gonna be okay, doesn't really matter, do your best. Or no, sometimes you need to be smacked around a little bit, metaphorically, figuratively. But sometimes we need someone who's going to tell us the way it is. Grow up. Put on your big boy pants. It's time to grow up. Here's the way you need to behave. Here's the consequence if you don't. Here's the reality of the world. So הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu told Moshe, tell them the way it is. Tell to them that yes I love you, and yes I put you in this world for you to derive the greatest pleasure, the greatest benefit from it. But you know, there's consequences, there's accountability, there's expectations. Tell them the way it is. And what does Moshe do instead? He says relax, you've already messed up so many times and here you are, everything's okay. You'll survive this too. משל למה הדבר דומה Mashal l'mah hadavar domeh, says Rav Shimon Berenbaum, ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva of the Mir Brooklyn. Imagine, it's a new זמן zman, it's a new semester in the ישיבה yeshiva. And students come. The ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva gets up and he gives a fire and brimstone speech. And he says here's the deal. You gotta be on time to morning סדר seder. We begin learning, be in the בית מדרש Beis Medrash, whatever time. You gotta be on time. If you're late, if you're late this many times, if you missed this much מנין minyan, if I find you doing this in the room, if I find this, if I find that, here are the consequences, how many strikes you get before you're out. The ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva lays down the law. After all, it's the beginning of the new semester, the new זמן zman, you want the students to understand, to have expectations, to hold themselves accountable. Then what happens? ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva finishes, he walks out. And now one of the older students gets up and he says, he gives that same speech every year. And don't worry about it. Plenty of people, they come late, they sleep in, they play, they fool around in the dorm, and they weren't thrown out. They they nevertheless, they remained in the ישיבה yeshiva, they graduated the ישיבה yeshiva. So don't worry about it so much. I know the ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva, relax, they all worked it out. Even if you mess up, you're still going to be here. What's going on? What kind of loyal תלמיד talmid, what kind of loyal student is that? The ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva is trying to communicate a message. The ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva is trying to communicate expectations. The ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva is trying to stimulate a response. And now you're going to go against him by undermining him? משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu here is not undermining God? השם Hashem says the תוכחה tochecha. Here it is. 98 things. Listen carefully, here are the consequences. Here are the expectation, here are the rules. This is the reality. And then Moshe says, eh, do your best, but don't worry about it. He's not gonna really punish you. ויש לומר V'yeish lomar, says Rav Shimon Berenbaum, דודאי לא היתה כוונת התוכחה להפיל את רוחם חס ושלום d'vadai lo haysa kavanas ha'tochecha l'hapil es rucham chas v'shalom. הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu was not trying to break the spirits of the Jewish people. He wasn't trying to scare them into submission. ויגבה לבו בדרכי השם עד שיפניהם מוריקות, אלא כדי שייראון מליפול לחטאים V'yigbah libo b'darchei Hashem ad she'pneihem morikos, ela kedei she'yir'un milipol l'chatoim. וזהו שאמר להם משה רבינו שתכלית התוכחה אינו שיבואו למצב של הריקו פניהם V'zehu she'amar lahem Moshe Rabbeinu she'tachlis ha'tochecha eino she'yavo'u l'matzav shel heriku pneihem, should be desperate. אלא צריכים להיות תמיד במצב של חזוק Ela tzrichim l'hiyos tamid b'matzav shel chizuk. Moshe said the reason הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu created these expectations is to tell you the reality of his world. But it wasn't to make you despondent and depressed. It wasn't to make you hopeless and helpless. It wasn't to break your spirit. וממילא משה רבינו היה מחזק אותם U'memayla Moshe Rabbeinu haya mechazek osam. So Moshe was complimenting, he wasn't undermining, he was supporting the message and the mission. He was giving חזוק chizuk, because he saw where it brought them to a place. And when a Jew is depressed and despondent, when a Jew is down and out, when a Jew thinks, forget it, I'm helpless and I'm hopeless, I have no chance, I have no future, then טאקע taka they have no future. The first step to change is to believe we can change, to believe it's possible, to believe in ourselves, to see the path forward, to have the חזוק chizuk, the strength and the knowledge to know, we've got this, we can do it. And that was what Moshe Rabbeinu was doing, says the ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva. Yeshiva. He wasn't undermining Hashem, he was complementing the message of Hashem by reminding the people, you've got this. You've got this. So don't break your spirits because then from sadness, you can't do anything. The sforim bring down, עצבות atzvus, sadness is antithetical to change. A person who is in a depressed state who's sad, who's down and out, who has no energy, will never realize their potential and become their best self. And that's why תשובה teshuva, growth, so much of what our parsha is about, what this time of year is about, has to be done with שמחה simcha. We make a terrible mistake. We think that when we announce ראש חודש אלול Rosh Chodesh Elul, when we hear that first shofar of the first day of אלול Elul, when סליחות slichos begin, ooh, it's time to get all serious. It's time to go like this, and sad and serious and somber and straight and direct. Can't laugh, and you can't smile, you can't be happy, because that seems frivolous. That seems not serious. That seems like you're not sober and you're not taking אלול Elul the way you should. So we think, we make the mistake of thinking, that you have to be all negative and serious and depressed and miserable. I'm unworthy, I'm lowly, I'm gonna be struck down, I have no chance, I'm hopeless, I'm terrible, I have to change. Nobody ever changed from that. That's not what ever evoked, elicited change, belief in somebody. It has to be with שמחה simcha. There's a joy. גילו ברעדה Gilu birada. There's a ברעדה birada, a trembling, but גילו gilu, with a joy, with a joy, גילה gila, with a joy, with a happiness, with a fire, with an energy, with an enthusiasm. We've got this, we believe. I don't care what the scoreboard shows. I don't care where you think I'm down and out. I'm coming back. I've got this. I'm still going to win. Not win competing with other people, but I'm going to win the best version of myself. I shared a חכמת שלמה Chachmas Shlomo. רב שלמה קלוגר Rav Shlomo Kluger in his commentary in שולחן ערוך Shulchan Aruch says, we just read in the דף daf, מזל טוב mazal tov to those who finish סדר נזיקין Seder Nezikin with הוריות Horayos. But the דף יומי Daf Yomi had, the גמרא Gemara says, סימנא מילתא simana milsa. Many people begin their ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah סעודה seudah, their meal, with a סדר seder. And you eat all these, you dip the apple in the honey, and you have pomegranate, and you have a fish head, maybe you have the head of a of a sheep, the eyeball, to have the carrot, you have the pea, you have the gourd, you have this a whole list of things and each has a יהי רצון yehi ratzon, tells you everything about the Jewish people and our history, that every יהי רצון yehi ratzon is about eliminate our enemies, defeat our enemies, obliterate our enemies, remove our enemies. It tells you everything about what the last 2,000 years have been like, that when we sit down on ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah, we say, what's on our mind? Get rid of the enemies. Certainly it's on our mind as we've begun the ground offensive into Gaza City, our soldiers should be safe and secure and successful, and liberating the hostages and defeating every one of our enemies. So סימנא מילתא simana milsa, even though we're not a superstitious people, we don't believe in silly superstition, it's from the גמרא Gemara, סימנא מילתא simana milsa, that when a person says that יהי רצון yehi ratzon, and you say השם Hashem, you know, it's not in the גמרא Gemara or in the שולחן ערוך Shulchan Aruch, but they say that you should have at your table raisin and celery. And what's the יהי רצון yehi ratzon? May I have a raisin salary. Okay. Anyway. Okay, thank you very much. You've been a great audience. Thank you for coming today. So it's not that is not among the סימנים simanim. But there are among the סימנים simanim and each one why we eat it, should be the head, not the tail, we should be this, not that. Each of the סימנים simanim should make us have a certain mindfulness and thought, of course directed to and in a תפילה tefillah to השם Hashem. Writes the חכמת שלמה Chachmas Shlomo, רב שלמה קלוגר Rav Shlomo Kluger. The biggest סימן siman at the ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah table is not the pomegranate, not the apple, not the honey, not the carrot, not the gourd. The biggest סימן siman at the ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah table that will sign and secure you for a good year is a smile on your face. The energy you bring, the atmosphere you create, the joy that permeates the home, the smile on your face. The smile on your face. So don't make the mistake of thinking you have to come to the ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah table and you have to come to shul on ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah, ooh, I'm serious and I'm somber and I'm sober and I'm miserable and depressed and unworthy and incapable. Those are antithetical to ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah. ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah is all about joy. We're coronating the king. We're worthy. We're fighting for our worthiness to be in his kingdom, to serve him for another year, to fulfill and realize our potential and our mission. Nothing brings greater happiness and joy. And that is the ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah table, a smile and a joy. So משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu sees that their face dropped. They heard the תוכחה tochacha and they said, we're out. We're out for the count, we've got no chance. So he has to come in with חיזוק chizuk and he has to come in and supplement. And that's why we always read this פרשה parsha before ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah. We read נצבים Nitzavim before ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah. The לשון נצבים הוא לשון lishon Nitzavim hu lishon. לשון של עמידה חזקה lashon shel amida chazaka. Stand firm. Stand up. You got this. Stand straight. We've got this. As רש״י Rashi says on פרשת ויצא parshas Vayeitzei, והשם נצב עליו v'Hashem nitzav alav, לשומרו l'shomro, שאינו סתם עמידה אלא עמידה בחוזק she'eino stam amida ela amida b'chozek. Stand guard, stand firm, stand straight. Stand up. We've got this. שאין אנו צריכים לכנס לראש השנה נצבים בחוזק וביטחון שידעו שהקדוש ברוך הוא פוסח לקבל שבים she'ein anu tzrichim l'hikanes l'Rosh Hashanah nitzavim b'chozek u'bitachon she'yeidu she'Hakadosh Baruch Hu poseiach l'kabel shavim. Stand up with the knowledge, stand firm with the confidence and the faith that השם Hashem loves us, and he's waiting for us with open arms. And as we'll talk about, all we have to do is make the gesture, the first step, indicate that we want, and he's waiting there. He wants to welcome, to pull us up with open arms. He's waiting there entirely, entirely for us. That's what is necessary. Okay, that's number one. Then he offers a second פשט pshat, maybe a little bit the opposite. עוד יש לומר Od yesh lomar, משל לאדם חולה, לרופא שנתן לאדם תרופה מסוימת mashal l'adam choleh, l'rofeh shenatan l'adam trufah mesuyemes. The doctor gives the patient a certain medicine. And the medicine is very bitter, and the medicine has a horrific odor. Smells like rotten fish. והחולה, כשהוא רק מריח את ריח התרופה V'hacholeh, k'she'hu rak mereiach es reiach ha'trufah, takes the pill, sees how big it is, smells how terrible it smells, can knows how bitter it tastes, and just from the smell, הוא התחיל לגנוח ולהקיא hu hischil l'gnoach u'lehaki. Just from the smell he begins to cough and to vomit. ובתוך כך הקיא את כל מאכלו מתוכו U'b'toch kach heki es kol ma'achalo mitocho. And by vomiting, he cures himself. He gets rid of the whole illness. Sometimes a person has a stomach bug and they desperately don't want to vomit, but once they do, they feel better. So this medicine, even before you take it, the medicine was effective because of the horrific smell, and because of the anticipation of the bitter taste, the person vomits the illness out of them. והוא הדין כאן V'hu hadin kan, שפניהם הוריקו she'pneihem horiku. משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu sees that when the Jewish people take what השם Hashem said seriously, so much so that their face drops, that was everything that was necessary. Now he can step in and give them חזוק chizuk. Why? How many people, including us, read the תוכחה tochecha last week and said, \"Eh, turn the page.\" \"Eh, can't hear the בעל קורא baal koreh, why is he mumbling?\" \"Eh, let me read the handout they had in the lobby.\" \"Eh, I wonder what they have at the קידוש kiddush this week.\" Did we really shake? Did we hear and read the תוכחה tochecha and say, \"Whoa. Whoa. Those are the expectations, have I met them? That's the accountability, am I in trouble?\" רב שלמה וולבה Rav Shlomo Wolbe, the great משגיח mashgiach, in his ימי רצון Yemei Ratzon, in his ספר sefer, a collection of his talks this time of year, ראש השנה יום כיפור Rosh Hashanah Yom Kippur, has a whole פרק perek, a whole chapter that's called יראת yiras, it's called, I'm sorry, אמונה בחטא emunah b'chet. אמונה בחטא Emunah b'chet. Faith in sin. What kind of a chapter is faith in sin? Faith is in God. Sin is what we avoid. What do you mean faith in sin? And רב וולבה Rav Wolbe develops the idea there that until you understand the significance and the magnitude and the impact of what השם Hashem tells us not to do, then you'll never avoid doing it, you'll never feel bad that you did it, you'll never make a promise and pledge not to do it again. A person has to know and understand, you have to have faith that these things matter. They mean something, they make a difference. They're not 613 suggestions. It's not 613 wishes. It's not 613 nice ideas. השם Hashem created a world. And the same way that if a person has an allergy and if they eat that food, they can go into anaphylactic shock, it can cost them their life. A Jew should have that attitude, that non-kosher food, a person who's on that level, not to holding someone accountable who didn't have the education or background, but a person who could and should know better, was raised a certain way, should look at non-kosher food and say, \"That's poison.\" And the same way that I wouldn't experiment, in the same way that I wouldn't eat even just a little, just a taste of the poison, and I wouldn't eat a food that even might have the ingredient of the poison because I understand. I don't need faith in cyanide. I know if I eat it, it will kill me. So similarly, is the attitude that's the attitude we have to have to חטא chet. So רב וולבה Rav Wolbe writes a whole essay, אמונה בחטא emunah b'chet. אמונה בחטא Emunah b'chet. And that's, says the ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva, that's what משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu, he sees he's communicating the תוכחה tochecha, and he sees the people, their face drops. They believe it, they buy into it, they understand it, they get it. And the whole reason they recoiled, is so worried about it, is because they realize he means business, he's serious. These things matter, they mean something. I want to work on it, I've got to be better. And משה Moshe says, okay, they're good to go. They're good to go. If they have their אמונה בחטא emunah b'chet, if הוריקו פניהם horiku pneihem, their faces dropped, then I understand that they get it, they believe it, and that's enough. to be able to move on. I don't need to scare them further. Now I can give them the חיזוק chizuk that everything is going to be okay. אזוי זאגט די תפארת שמואל Azoy zogt di Tiferes Shmuel. Moving along to Rabbi Sacks. Rabbi Sacks in his introduction, אתם כולכם Atem kulchem. אתם Atem, let's go to the opening word. אתם Atem is the plural. אתם Atem means you, but you, in English, that same word you can mean you the individual. Hey you, or you, all of you. You can refer to a group and you can refer to an individual. But in Hebrew, we have different words. So we have the word אתם atem. אתם atem means you in what tense? The plural. Right? So Rabbi Sacks. Judaism is of its essence a collective endeavor. The liturgy, other than occasional meditations, is written in the first person plural, not the singular. When we pray for an individual, we include him or her amongst all בתוך שאר חולי ישראל, בני ישראל b'soch shaar cholei Yisrael, b'nei Yisrael, among all of others in Israel who need healing or consolation. Right? We pay shiva call, you visit someone who's mourning, המקום ינחם אתכם בתוך שאר אבלי ציון Hamakom yenachem eschem b'soch shaar aveilei Tzion. בתוך שאר B'soch shaar. Somebody's sick, we daven in a מי שברך Mi Shebeirach, they should be healed בתוך שאר b'soch shaar, among all others. We never highlight or focus only on the individual. Yes, we identify the individual, we express concern about them in the context of the whole. We confess our sins together. When a couple stand under the חופה chuppah, the blessing said, the שבע ברכות Sheva Brachos is ציון Tzion rejoicing בבניה b'vaneha in her children, as if the whole Jewish people past and present joined in the celebration. Jewish mourning customs draw the bereaved gently back into the ambit of community at the very time when they feel most alone. Even the Jewish home is not a closed institution. Jewish teachings emphasize the open house, the extended family, and welcoming the stranger. Hospitality, הכנסת אורחים hachnasas orchim, גדול הכנסת אורחים gadol hachnasas orchim מקבלת פני השכינה m'kabbalas pnei haShechinah. גמרא שבת דף קכ\"ז Gemara Shabbos daf kuf chaf zayin. When אברהם אבינו Avraham Avinu is in the middle of a conversation with the Almighty, and these three angels in the guise of men come, Avram interrupts his conversation with השם Hashem to greet these guests, from which the rabbis conclude, you see, גדול הכנסת אורחים gadol hachnasas orchim, greater is welcoming guests than a conversation with the divine. We discover God in our togetherness, not our isolation. And that's why the apex, the culmination of משה Moshe's speech, his monologue begins with the word אתם atem. All of you, all of us, we. Martin Buber misdescribed the faith of Judaism when he spoke of I and thou. The primary relationship of Judaism is we and thou. The Jewish people standing collecting, collectively before God. There isn't an I. We're tempted again this time of year, ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah, יום כיפור Yom Kippur, to put our mind into the me, I. I need to have a good year. I need to be signed and sealed. I need a positive judgment. I need good health. I need wealth. I need נחת nachas. I need a spouse. I need children. It's all about me, hunkering down. Person who is coming before the judge doesn't walk around the courthouse saying, \"Oh, nice to meet you. What are you here for? What do you hear? How could I help you? Maybe I could help pay for your lawyer. Maybe I can testify in your behalf.\" That person is just sitting, thinking about the judge, themselves, their trial, the judgment that they're about to get. But that's the opposite of the attitude we should have. For a Jew, ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah is all about we. It's us. Yes, we're concerned about ourselves, but ourselves in the context of the כלל klal. So we say, השם Hashem, here's what I do for the Jewish people. Here's what I'm doing for my community. Here's the role I play in my family. So if you're thinking about taking me out, know, the impact won't be on me alone. Who's going to take care of that committee? Who's going to visit and call that person? Who's going to collect the סידורים siddurim at the end of דאווענען davening? Who's going to give out the candy to the children? Who's going to do the, make that donation? Who's going to the, I position myself to be an איש הכלל ish haklal, to be a person that's indispensable to the community, so that השם Hashem now is not only judging based on the individual merit or demerit, but their role in the greater community. That by the way is how the סלונים רבה Slonimer Rebbe answers the question that we read from the תפארת שמואל Tiferes Shmuel. Why would משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu undermine השם Hashem? Last week, השם Hashem said the תוכחה tochacha, השם Hashem's going to get you if you're not behaving, you're going to be out. Here's the rebuke, here's the harsh consequence, the harsh judgment. And then Moshe gets up and he says, is he out of the room? Let me tell you, you're still here, you'll be fine. Don't worry about it. And we ask, why would he undermine השם Hashem? So the סלונים רבה Slonimer Rebbe gave a different answer. In his נתיבות שלום Nesivos Shalom he says, משה Moshe's not undermining השם Hashem, משה Moshe's clarifying. See, השם Hashem was speaking to the individual. You want to live isolated and alone? You want to see yourself independent and apart? You're dis- disconnected from the community and the Jewish nation. You don't care what's going on in Israel. And you lead or go to some breakaway, you דאווענען davening in your house, you don't care about community. Community is not a value for you, so watch out because the תוכחה tochacha is coming for you. You want to not worry? אתם נצבים היום כלכם Atem nitzavim hayom kulchem. When you stand כלכם kulchem, when you stand אתם atem, then לפני השם lifnei Hashem, when you're all together, the rich and the poor, the advanced background and the beginner background, the young and the old, the men, women and children, there's a section for everyone where you דאווען daven. It's not just the guys and the חברא chevra and the קידוש kiddush. There's a section for the women, there's a program for the children, there's a דרשה drasha from a rabbi. When there's community, when אתם נצבים היום כלכם atem nitzavim hayom kulchem, when there's a community, so then don't worry about the תוכחה tochacha. משה Moshe wasn't contradicting or undermining השם Hashem, he was clarifying. The תוכחה tochacha is written to the individual. But the moment you connect and you see your identity intertwined, your destiny intertwined with community and with the covenantal people, that's how you persevere. So it's not I thou, it's we thou. And then he continues. The covenant is forged anew with all the people present, and all those who are not with us here today. Because that's how the פסוק pasuk continues. If you read, פסוק ג Pasuk Gimmel. ולא אתכם לבדכם אנכי כרת את הברית הזאת ואת האלה הזאת Velo yitchem l'vadchem anochi koreit et habrit hazot v'et ha'alah hazot. משה Moshe on behalf of God says, not just with you, as we're renewing our vows, the covenant from הר סיני Har Sinai. Last chance. We're going into the land. We're going to fulfill the promise. A holy people in a holy land living a holy holy תורה Torah lifestyle. So let's agree, let's renew our vows, let's recommit. So משה Moshe on behalf of God says, not just with you who are standing here, assembled here, gathered here. את אשר ישנו פה עמנו עומד היום Et asher yeshno po imanu omed hayom. Those who are here physically, ואת אשר איננו פה עמנו היום v'et asher einenu po imanu hayom. And those who are not here. כי אתם ידעתם את אשר ישבנו בארץ מצרים Ki atem yidatem et asher yashavnu b'eretz mitzrayim, you know what we came out of, you know what we went through. We were liberated from Egypt and we had to pass through the nations we encountered. You saw the testable things, their abominations, wood, stone, silver and gold. Let there be among you no man or woman, family or tribe whose heart turns away, but rather we stay true to the covenant and the promise.You know, people say, why am I bound by תורה Torah 613 laws? Where's the paperwork? Where can you show that I signed up for that? I didn't sign up for that. Why, I just want to keep the seven. I'll be a Noachide. Why do I have to keep 613? Where's the paperwork? Where's the contract? Where's my signature? Where does it show that I signed up for that? Where does it show I signed up for that? The answer is we're not a contractual people, we're a constitutional people. Where does it show as an American that you signed up for it? But if you're a citizen of this people, of this country, you're bound by its constitution. When you're born to being a Jew, we're bound by the covenant and the constitution of what it means to be a Jew. It's not a contract. Rabbi Sacks writes, the commentators point out this cannot refer to Israelites alive at the time who happened to be somewhere else, as the entire nation was assembled. It can only mean generations not yet born. The covenant is to bind all Jews from that day to this. As the גמרא יומא נדרים Gemara Yuma, Nedarim, each of us is מושבע ועומד מהר סיני mushba v'omed m'Har Sinai. It's a term the גמרא Gemara uses, חז\"ל Chazal use, our rabbis use. We're מושבע ועומד mushba v'omed. We are forsworn from סיני Sinai. We took an oath. But how can this be? How could we be subject to a covenant on the basis of a decision taken long ago by our distant ancestors? Okay, very lovely. My great great great great great great great זיידע Zeide and באבע Bubbe stood at הר סיני Har Sinai and they swore. What's that have to do with me? Why am I bound by that? חז\"ל Chazal answer the question mystically. מדרש שמות רבה Midrash Shmos Rabbah, even the souls of Jews not yet born were present at סיני Sinai and ratified the covenant. Every Jew in other words, did give his or her consent in the days of משה Moshe, even though he or she had not yet been born. The 15th century Spanish scholar רב יצחק עראמה Rav Yitzchak Arama, the author of the עקידת יצחק Akeidas Yitzchak on our פרשה parsha, reopened the question. השם's Hashem's covenant is not with souls only, but with embodied human beings. We can understand that the soul which desires closeness to God would agree to the covenant. But the assent that counts is surely that of living, breathing human beings with bodies. We cannot assume that they would agree to the תורה Torah with its many physical restrictions, only when we understand what is being asked of us can we give our binding consent. So why then be Jewish? This is not a question. This is I would argue the question of the 21st century. When I interact with young people, not only those unaffiliated, not only those who didn't have a Jewish education or background, but some of our own who go off to universities, which we always knew were spiritually dangerous, now we've learned is physically dangerous for them as Jews too. Shocking and mind boggling they're still going off. We all saw the news of the last two years and thought, finally, Jews will give up on the Ivy Leagues and some of these institutions of so to say higher learning. And we'd saw, we'd see a migration. You remember Brett Stevens stood right here in this spot and he turned to our שול shul two years ago and he said, they don't want to stop going. You would think that he would have advocated that we have to fight for our right to still be there. He said we got to go to Jewish universities and create Jewish institutions and let people come to us on our turf and not fight for the opposite. And people are still going to these places. And many of our young people are losing their way. And they meet someone, they fall in love, they didn't intend to, but their lab partner or study group or or someone they were in class next to, and it turns out they're not Jewish. And they come and they say, why should I be Jewish? Why? Doesn't do anything for me. And I don't feel bound or obligated in it, and I never signed up for it. So why? And you know, the Holocaust no longer is a compelling reason. Breaking that link in that chain. I've even had a young person say to me when I told them, you know, do you understand the pain you're causing? How selfish you're being? What it will do to your parents, your grandparents? How sacrifices they made, the price they paid, the chain that was created for you to be here, and now you're going to marry a non-Jew? And the young person turned to me and said, my parents are selfish. They're asking me to give up on a person I love. How selfish of them for something that I don't care about and doesn't speak to me. Don't accuse me of being selfish. They're the selfish one.So what's the answer? Have we formulated? What's the answer? Why be Jewish? Why be Jewish? It's not a question, it is the question. And here we are, room full of people dedicated and devoted to learning חומש Chumash and תורה Torah every week. And here we are, room full of people דאווענען davening, learning, שבת Shabbos, כשר kosher, growing. תורה ומצוות Torah u'mitzvos. Can we articulate an answer? Is it persuasive? Is it compelling? Does it resonate? Will it win the day? Why be Jewish?Writes Rabbi Sacks, when Jews ask this question we know we are in the presence of a major crisis. And most times in history, Jewish identity was a fact of birth, a destiny. It was not something you chose any more you choose to be born. In the in Rabbi Yitzchak Arama's day, for the first time Jews converted to another faith in significant numbers. Those that did so seemed to prosper. Those who remained loyal to their faith suffered ever increasing persecution. In times such as those, what answer could Rabbi Arama give? Why should I remain a Jew? The following was his reply.After thousands of years Jewish identity was so deeply engraved in the minds of Jews as the instinct of life is in all living creatures. It was no more possible for Jews collectively to desert the covenant than it was for a species to commit suicide. Within all that lives, there's a desire for life, an instinct for survival. And for Jews, that instinct is for Jewish survival. I'd like to suggest another answer, says Rabbi Sacks, that lies in what Moshe himself said at the end of his address. I call heaven and earth העידותי בכם שמים וארץ ha'idosei bachem shamayim va'aretz. Maybe, maybe we'll get to it. I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today. I have set before you life and death, the blessing and curse. ובחרת בחיים uvacharta bachaim. Choose life. The ancients, the ancients with their belief in fate, the influence of the stars, or the arbitrariness of nature, did not fully believe in human freedom. Nor do most scientific atheists believe in it today. We are determined, they say, by our genes. Choice is an illusion of the conscious mind. Judaism says, no. Choice is like a muscle. Use it or lose it. Jewish law is an ongoing training regimen in willpower. Can you eat this or not? Can you exercise spiritually three times a day? Can you rest one day in seven? Can you defer the gratification of instinct? What Freud took to be the mark of civilization, Judaism gives us 613 exercises in the power of will to shape our choices. Choosing life, choosing Judaism, is how we, with God, become co-authors of our lives.It's beautiful. It's magnificent. It's deep. I don't know what will win the day for that young person who's considering going off. So what's the answer? Who's going to write the booklet, the website, produce the app? Who's going to release the video that answers the question, why be Jewish? Why? Why does it matter? How do we show it to all 12th graders before they go off, before they might meet someone? How can we ensure that all young people, and don't assume that if they're in a certain trajectory or path, they went to a ישיבה yeshiva, they grow up in this world, they wore that clothing on their head, that they're immune. Because I promise you they're not. And this is a plague and a pandemic across the Jewish world and community. What's the answer to that question? Why be Jewish? Why marry Jewish? Why live Jewishly? Why does it matter? Why does it matter? Why does it matter? So the עקידת יצחק Akeidas Yitzchak gave his answer, Rabbi Sacks offers his suggestion, but I'm not sure that we've landed yet on what the total and correct answer is. פרק ל פסוק ב Perek lamed, pasuk beis. Turn the page. Turn two pages. 1090. והיה כי יבואו עליך כל הדברים האלה הברכה והקללה אשר נתתי לפניך Vehaya ki yavo'u alecha kol hadvarim ha'eileh habracha v'haklala asher nasati l'fanecha, and it will be when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse that I have presented. והשבות אל לבבך בכל הגוים אשר הדיחך השם אלוקיך שמה V'hasheivosa el l'vavecha b'chol hagoyim asher hidichacha Hashem Elokecha shama. Take it to your heart among all the nations where Hashem your God has dispersed you. And what will happen? ושבת עד השם אלוקיך V'shafta ad Hashem Elokecha, ושמעת בקולו v'shamata b'kolo, you'll return to God and you'll hear His voice, ככל אשר אנוכי מצוך היום אתה ובניך בכל לבבך ובכל נפשך k'chol asher anochi m'tzavcha hayom ata u'vanecha b'chol l'vavcha u'v'chol nafshecha. You and your children, you'll return to God and you'll hear everything that I'm telling you, with all of your heart and with all of your soul. ושב השם אלוקיך את שבותך V'shav Hashem Elokecha es sh'vus'cha. And Hashem your God will bring you back, bring back your captivity and have mercy upon you, will return and gather you in from all the peoples to which He has scattered you. ושבת השם אלוקיך V'shafta Hashem Elokecha. Hashem is going to bring you, He's going to bring you back.It's noteworthy that Moshe here does not say if, if you stray, if you fail, if you're disobedient, then hopefully, maybe, Hashem will bring you back. When all these things befall you, it's noteworthy Moshe speaks about when this will happen, not if this will happen. It seems this process is inevitable. And בני ישראל Bnei Yisrael, they're going to sin. But here's the good news. ושבת עד השם אלוקיך V'shafta ad Hashem Elokecha. They're going to make mistakes. They're going to fail, they're going to fall, but the good news is they're also going to get up. And Hashem's going to lift them up.And this is such a powerful message and one we need to read and hear specifically that week before ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah. Religious life is not linear. It doesn't proceed in a straight line. There are going ups and downs. And we have to know that if we fail, if we slip, if we fall, if we make a mistake, it's okay. That's built in. That's part of Hashem's expectation that we're human. And our response is ושבת עד השם אלוקיך v'shafta ad Hashem Elokecha, get up and try again. Ups and downs are inevitable, they're part of life. שלמה המלך Shlomo Hamelech said, שבע יפול צדיק וקם sheva yipol tzaddik v'kam, which means if you haven't failed, you haven't tried. You're not taking risks, you're not pushing yourself. If you haven't failed, you haven't tried. You're coasting, you're taking it easy. If you haven't failed, you haven't tried. The key is not to fail backward, the key of what it means to be a Jew is to learn to fail forward, to lean in, and to learn from it, and to grow from it. And it's true in every area of life, in our marriage, in our career, in our profession, with our hobbies, עבודת השם Avodas Hashem. If you find yourself struggling, don't despair, don't be disheartened. Know the struggles and the ups and downs, they're part of the process. If you had a cheat day or week or month on your diet, if you failed to do that regimen of the pushups and the situps and track what you promised you were going to do, if you skipped a day or more of your ice bath, yeah, there it is. Then you're not a failure. It means that you're trying and you're working. רצוא ושוב Ratzo v'shov, פנים ואחור panim v'achor, מוחין דגדלות mochin d'gadlus and מוחין דקטנות mochin d'katnus. We have many terminologies, they all describe the same thing, the ebb and flow, the up and down, the running towards and the falling away. That's what it means, that's what's part of life. I've quoted before רב אברהם ישעיה שאר שליט\"א Rav Avraham Yishaya Schorr, shlita. He says when a patient is hooked up to an EKG machine, the line, if the line is straight, it means they're no longer alive. As long as he still lives, he has a heartbeat, that line is going up and down. So the going up and down is a sign of life. You want a straight line, it means you're dead. Only people whose existence are linear are dead. If you're alive, you're going to experience ups and downs. So when you're struggling, when you have a down, don't despair, don't be despondent. Know that Moshe didn't say if, he said when. But he said as much as the when you'll fall, when you'll get up. שבע יפול צדיק וקם Sheva yipol tzaddik v'kam. And that's why we read this when we read it. Right now before ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah, the gift of תשובה chuva, not if, but when we'll need it. It's built into the system. Knowing that it's going to happen shouldn't make you discouraged or throw you off balance. It should inspire and motivate us, get back up, get right up because know things are going to be okay. So I'll tell you a little preview of next week because we're not having פרשה parsha next week, because next Tuesday you're not available. Next Tuesday morning hopefully you'll be in shul, it's ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah. So the end of פרשת וילך Parshas Vayelech, next week's פרשה parsha, a little preview for next week. כי אנכי ידעתי את מריך ואת ערפך הקשה Ki anochi yadati es meryecha v'es orpecha hakashe. The פסוק pasuk at the end of next week's פרשה parsha says, I know how defiant and stiff-necked you are, even now while I'm still alive in your midst, you've been defiant, how much more so when I'm gone. Thanks for the pep talk, Moshe.Moshe says you're impossible, you're miserable when I'm here, forget about it. When I'm gone and I'm not here to rescue you and save you and coach you, you have no chance. כי ידעתי אחרי מותי כי השחת תשחיתון Ki yadati acharei mosi ki hashches tashchisun. I know when I'm dead, you're going to act wickedly. וסרתם מן הדרך V'sartem min haderech, and you're going to go off the course, you're going to be off the דרך derech. וקראת אתכם הרעה באחרית הימים כי תעשו את הרע בעיני ה' להכעיסו במעשה ידיכם V'karas eschem ha'ra'ah b'acharis hayamim ki sa'asu es ha'ra b'einei Hashem l'hach'iso b'ma'asei yedeichem. And I enjoined you that in time come misfortune will befall you and and you're going to make these terrible mistakes. It seems like משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu is summing up his tenure as a total failure. It was bad, it is bad, it's going to be bad. Wow. What a pessimistic message. And that's the last שבת Shabbos of... it's not the last שבת Shabbos of the year, next שבת Shabbos will be the first שבת Shabbos of the new year. That's the first שבת Shabbos of the new year? It is bad, it was bad, it will be bad. I'm a failure, sayonara. Signing off, Dasvidaniya, משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu. That's his last message? You stink and you're going to stink worse when I'm gone.So רב Rav Weinfeld, timely and timeless, by רבה Rabba Bukapolsky, you got that? Timely and timeless. You could buy it, local bookstore, you got to get it. Beautiful new ספר sefer, collection of רב Rav Weinfeld. רב Rav Weinfeld שליט\"א shlita suggests that really the message משה Moshe is trying to convey is, it was terrible, but I never gave up. And you made mistakes, but we always bounce back. And so it's not pessimism and despondency, it's realism and optimism to know that you did make mistakes, you do make mistakes, and you will make mistakes, and that's okay. You have bounced back, and we're going to bounce back. And so don't be knocked down.Couples who don't fight don't have a good marriage. I'm not the one saying that. All marriage experts will say that. I just made people panic. They're like, we haven't had a good fight in a while, we better start up something today. It's not a goal to fight. It's a goal to have harmony. But we're different. By definition, we're different. All people are different. We're two becoming one. And in that union of the two trying to become one and align, opinions, behaviors, priorities, there's going to be friction. That's okay, that's built in. How we resolve it, as Gottman says, in every fight there was a conversation that had to happen, but the fight happened instead. So how much we learn to pivot from fights into the conversations that we need to have instead, but it's what it means to be alive. Again, your your marriage has flatlined if there aren't up and downs. And if it's flatlined, it's not alive. To be alive and vibrant and amazing and energized, we navigate and we learn how to navigate those ups and downs, but we have them. And that's what משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu was saying at the end of פרשת וילך Parshas Vayelech. The same thing that's being said here. Is there ups and there downs? You could fail, but you could fail backwards or you could fail forwards. I'm not going to give you the long list of people, you know, from the Beatles to Michael Jordan to all the examples that all the motivational speakers bring of the people who failed and they failed miserably in their life, but they didn't fail backward, they failed forward. I'll tell you the one quote. Winston Churchill who once said, success is the consists of going from failure to failure without the loss of enthusiasm. Without the loss of enthusiasm. Again, the great Winston Churchill once said that success is going from failure to failure without the loss of enthusiasm. He was an excellent example of this. The Nobel laureate, twice elected prime minister, didn't do well in school. He failed one year entirely. He lost an election in his seat in Parliament, and he first became prime minister at the age of, the young age, relax, the young age of 62. He went from failure to failure but without the loss of enthusiasm, to fail forward, not backward. So משה Moshe is giving a very real and sober look. He's not giving some fake pep talk. He doesn't say we're going to go undefeated this season, everything's going to go great, we're going to march to the championship. Your life's going to be perfect. It's going to be linear. It's going to be climbing on the rise. Nothing will ever go wrong. Everything is going to be great. He says, look, things are going to come up, we're going to encounter challenges, we're going to find problems, we may fail, we may fall, we may get knocked down. But we have always gotten up, we do always get up, and we will always get up. And that is the message of this week's פרשה parsha, next week's פרשה parsha, and certainly the message of ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah. רב שאול אלתר Rav Shaul Alter, the great גערער ראש ישיבה Gerer Rosh Yeshiva in his עבודת איש Avodas Ish also has an insight. רש\"י Rashi notes חז\"ל Chazal, רש\"י Rashi quotes חז\"ל Chazal. חז\"ל Chazal. Instead of ושב veshav, what word should have been used? והשיב veheishiv. ושבת עד ה' אלקיך Veshavta ad Hashem Elokecha, ושמעת בקולו veshamata bekolo, ושב veshav, what, why does it say the word והשיב veheishiv? Why? ושב veshav implies Hashem himself will return. So Rashi explains that Hashem will indeed return together with the captivity of the Jewish people because he comes with us to exile. Hashem is right now in the tunnels or, apparently the report is the hostages were moved above ground. Hashem is above ground with them. Rashi adds another explanation. The ingathering of the exiles will be so astonishing, so complex, as if Hashem himself will need to take each person by the hand and lead them home. This doesn't mean only the physical קיבוץ גלויות kibbutz galuyot. It doesn't just mean physically the ingathering of the exiles, because that for Hashem is not so difficult. The planes have to run, the seats have to be affordable, but physically the ability to go, to travel, to get to Israel today for Hashem is not a miracle. It means primarily the return of the spiritual state of כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael. People who have become deeply sunk in the physicality of this world will need to be extricated by Hashem one by one. He'll infuse them with the spirit of purity that will enable them to do תשובה teshuva and accept Hashem's kingship.So, it doesn't say והשיב veheishiv, ושבת veshavta, ושב veshav means Hashem will return us. He's going to create a world in such circumstance, he's going to stimulate in us to have an awakening. The October 8th awakening. Even this summer when I was in Israel, you still see Jews wearing ציצית tzitzit but no יארמולקע yamaka, covered in tattoos who are beginning to learn, observe, keep. And all the Jewish people are on some spectrum of faith. You can't measure it all externally, on the outside, but the connection that so many have, and the bigger observance that so many have begun, and the returning to faith in the aftermath, and the current situation of what we're going through, is all because Hashem has awakened the world. This concept is laid out clearly, says the Gerer Rosh Yeshiva, by Rabbeinu Yonah at the beginning of שערי תשובה Shaarei Teshuva. There Rabbeinu Yonah writes, it is clear from the Torah that Hashem will help those seeking to do תשובה teshuva when by nature they are unable. He'll place within them a new spirit of purity to reach the great level of אהבת השם Ahavas Hashem. That even when we have our own limitations, even when we have things that are holding us back, Hashem enables us to break through, to run over or under or around or right through them. Rabbeinu Yonah is not discussing a scenario where a person lacks the strength to do תשובה teshuva, but where by his nature he's unable, when drowning in גשמיות gashmiyus, drowning in physicality, when one repeats עבירות aveiros out of sheer habit, Hashem will take us out of the muck. He'll extract us when we're sunken in the mire, pulled out. Sometimes a person's in quicksand, they can't get out. So you got to throw them a life preserver. You got to extend your hand, you got to pull them out. Hashem does that to us, says Rabbeinu Yonah. But when does he do it?Here's the key. Here's the qualification. Rabbeinu Yonah writes, the Gerer Rosh Yeshiva expands, that if a person is sinking but they say, ooh, this is warm and it feels good and it's cozy, and I'm happy here, then Hashem doesn't extend his hand. He doesn't throw a rope. He doesn't throw a life preserver. When does he extend the rope? When does he throw the life preserver? When you say, I want to get out of here. I don't want to be here. Part of it may feel good and that's why I got in, but now I realize this is killing me. And I have no hope and future and I want to get out, can you help me? It has to be preceded by can you help me? It has to be you want to get out. And that's why we read, הפותח שער לדופקי בתשובה HaPoseach Shaar leDofkei biTeshuva. Hashem, we describe Hashem, he opens the gate for those who knock. He'll open the gate, he'll throw the rope, but you've got to knock. How do we knock? With תשובה teshuva. If we knock, he'll open the gate, but we have to first knock. We have to knock. And that's why the word is ושבת עד ה' אלקיך veshavta ad Hashem Elokecha, ושמעת בקולו veshamata bekolo. ושב ה' את שבותך veshav Hashem es shvuscha, ושב veshav. That's why the פסוק pasuk is formulated in this way, not והשיב veheishiv, but ושב veshav, because Hashem, we can't do it without him.AA, 12-step program, is all about surrendering to a higher power. Higher power is another name for Hashem. And the brilliant creator of the program that's helped so many people, a program, it's not entire, it's not perfect, but it is so highly aligned with our Torah, because it begins the person who says, I've tried so many times to give up on fill in the X. Just so you realize, we have addictions that we call. and label addictions: alcoholism, drug, gambling, and so on. But there are a lot of addictions that are equally addictions and unhealthy, but not only do we not label them and have a stigma to them, sometimes we even admire them. The person who works 20 hours a day, ooh, they're so driven and ambitious. No, they're addicted to work. The person who's so stylish and fashionable, they're addicted to shopping. The person, it's dangerous. The person could be addicted to food. There are all kinds of addictions we have, even the ones without the label or the stigma are still addictions that we should confront and work on and try to grow. And what's the first step? Realizing, I've tried so many times, I've been unsuccessful. Why? Because it starts with surrendering to a higher power. In the very language and lingo of the program is a template, is actually the recitation of saying that I've tried and I can't without surrendering to the higher power, asking him for help. And then there are steps that you take along the way, and you have to take them. That's the free will that we'll get to, that we'll talk about. But you have to surrender. ושב V'shav. השם Hashem will bring you back, but דוקא davka, you have to knock on the door. You gotta knock on the door. When we knock on the door, he opens it. When we call out for help, he throws a rope. But if you're comfortable and happy where you are, if you don't see a problem, if you don't believe you can get out, then that's where you're gonna stay. It begins with calling and asking, it begins with the knock, asking השם Hashem for help. פרק ל' פסוק ו' Perek lamed pasuk vav. ומל השם אלקיך את לבבך U'mal Hashem Elokecha es l'vavcha, and then השם Hashem will circumcise our heart, ואת לבב זרעך v'es l'vav zarecha, לאהבה את השם אלקיך בכל לבבך ובכל נפשך למען חייך l'ahava es Hashem Elokecha b'chol l'vavcha u'v'chol nafshecha l'maan chayecha. השם Hashem will circumcise our heart to love השם Hashem your God with all your heart, with all your soul, so that you may live, למען חייך l'maan chayecha. Beautiful insight we've been quoting from the אך פרי תבואה Ach Pri Tvuah, the great ליסקא רב Liska Rov, the רב Rebbe of רב ישעיהל'ה מקרעסטיר Rav Shayaleh m'Kerestir. Did I mention that I was at his קבר kever this summer? ומל השם אלקיך את לבבך לאהבה את השם אלקיך בכל לבבך U'mal Hashem Elokecha es l'vavcha l'ahava es Hashem Elokecha b'chol l'vavcha. היינו Heinu, why does it end with למען חייך l'maan chayecha, so that you live? He'll circumcise our heart. What does it mean to circumcise a heart? Does the מוהל mohel do that procedure too? Does it come with bagels and lox afterwards? Omelet stations? What is the circumcision of the heart? It means that there's a covering. Circumcision is the removing of a covering. There's a covering over our heart that's trying to prevent us from feeling. Often it's trying to protect us. We wear armor. Last מוצאי שבת Motzaei Shabbos we had the off-the-record program for men. We talked about being vulnerable, taking off that armor, being real. Because the only way to truly overcome masculinity, temptation, is the willingness to be vulnerable and to take off that armor. We wear an armor over our heart. We don't want to take the risk of being hurt or of feeling or of being inspired or having to make change. So השם Hashem says הוא מל hu mal, he's the big מוהל mohel. He's the מוהל mohel. He's מל mal. He circumcises the heart. And only then will we love him with all of our heart and all of our soul, למען חייך l'maan chayecha, so that you live. What does it mean so that you live? If you have an uncircumcised heart, you're not alive? Says the ליסקא רב Liska Rov, שתגיע למדרגה זו שתדע שכל חיותו מאיתו יתברך she'tagia l'madrega zu she'teida she'kol chiyuso me'ito yisbarach. We have to know that all חיות chiyus, all of life, all of life force, all of life meaning, all of life purpose, all of feeling alive, it comes from him. Yes, you might register a heartbeat. But to really be alive, to have a vigor, a dynamism, a purpose, a mission, is only when we're connected and attached to him. ואם תפרוש מאיתו יתברך אתה פורש מן החיים חס ושלום V'im tifrosh me'ito yisbarach, ata poresh min hachaim chas v'shalom. And the moment that you're offline from God is the moment you are not alive. That's למען חייך l'maan chayecha. So the reason we are circumcising the heart, so it can get plugged in to God and pick up the connection. Because as long as it's covered and it can't get connectivity, then you're not alive. You have no signal, you're not alive. If you want to pick up his signal, you've got to circumcise the heart. That's the way, that's what's necessary for it to pick up his signal, and only with his signal, למען חייך l'maan chayecha, only with his signal are we really alive. כי המצוה הזאת Ki ha'mitzvah ha'zos. Always a dilemma, where do we go now? כי המצוה הזאת Ki ha'mitzvah ha'zos? No, we'll go to ובחרת בחיים u'vacharta b'chaim. פרק ל' פסוק י\"ט Perek lamed pasuk yud tes. Very end of the פרשה parsha. The penultimate פסוק pasuk. העידתי בכם היום את השמים ואת הארץ החיים והמות Ha'idosee vachem hayom es hashamayim v'es ha'aretz hachaim v'hamaves. God, we alluded to this earlier, I call heaven and earth today to bear witness, I've placed. נתתי לפניך הברכה והקללה Nasati l'fanecha habracha v'haklala, I put before you blessing and curse. ובחרת בחיים U'vacharta b'chaim, choose life, למען תחיה אתה וזרעך l'maan tichyeh ata v'zarecha, so that you will live, you and your children. and your offspring. I've put before you blessing and curse, choose life so that you will so that you will live. רב משה פיינשטיין זצ''ל Reb Moshe Feinstein zatzal, רב משה Reb Moshe asked a very basic and obvious question. The pasuk tells us choose life, ובחרת בחיים u'vacharta bachaim, and then tells us why. Do you know why you should choose life? So that you'll be alive. Wow. It's a good thing it told us that. Isn't it obvious if I choose life, I'll be alive? If Torah is going to motivate me to give me a reason, give me a reason. Don't repeat what I just already did. What does it mean to choose life? What does it mean to choose life? The ספורנו Sforno suggests life means eternal life in the world to come. In other words, make the proper and correct choices in this world so that you can achieve immortality and eternity, you can live forever in the world to come. That's the ספורנו's Sforno's answer. Choose life so you you live means choose life in this world so you can have immortality, you'll live forever in the next. אזוי זאגט Azoi zogt, that is the answer of the ספורנו Sforno. רב משה Reb Moshe comes with a different suggestion. He says there's two ways to choose to do מצוות mitzvos. You can do מצוות mitzvos out of a sense of burden and obligation or out of love and out of privilege. When we fulfill תורה ומצוות Torah u'mitzvos, you could do it like a checklist. I have to, what choice, like a dry, empty act. Then our children and those around us won't be inspired. They're not going to be moved or motivated to want to walk in our footsteps. They won't want to emulate our ways. They are going to because now they can, leave it all behind. But if you're ובחרת בחיים u'vacharta bachaim, if you choose a vibrant, living, energized Torah life, then not only physically will you be alive, then you'll spiritually be alive. אתה וזרעך Atah v'zar'echa. You and your children, you and your children will be alive.So, the pasuk is not repeating, says רב משה Reb Moshe. He says, look, I put before you, ובחרת בחיים u'vacharta bachaim, choose life. למען תחיה אתה וזרעך L'maan tichyeh atah v'zara. If you choose life, then you and your children will live. If you love שבת Shabbos, they're going to want שבת Shabbos. If you can't wait for ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah, they're going to look forward to ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah. But if you're miserable, I can't believe what they charge for the seats and this חזן'ס chazzan's terrible and the rabbi speaks too long and I hate ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah, and I have so much cooking I have to do and I can't believe the way it falls out this year and it's miserable and I wish I could just go to sleep and wake up after the ימים נוראים yamim noraim, then guess what your children and your grandchildren are going to say when they're not in front of you, I'm skipping ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah. I'm not signing up. I'm coming late and leaving early, maybe I'll stop by for the kiddush. But if we're ובחרת בחיים u'vacharta bachaim, if we choose life, and there are no guarantees, because there are people who are making good choices and still, we cannot control. So there's no judgment. There are people who are living such beautiful, admirable lives and still, unfortunately, there are challenges with children and grandchildren. So there are no guarantees. But says רב משה Reb Moshe, ובחרת בחיים u'vacharta bachaim, you have the best chance, you've increased your odds, ובחרת בחיים u'vacharta bachaim.So I want to tell you another suggestion. We saw the ספורנו Sforno, that's רב משה Reb Moshe, I'll tell you a third suggestion. A few years ago, we interviewed Judge Dan Butler, Danny Butler, whose son Mikey Butler passed away at the age of 24. His fourth bout with lymphoma, which followed lung transplants because he had cystic fibrosis. Mikey was an extraordinary young man who radiated joy and positivity, he cared deeply about others. In fact, the day that he died from the ICU bed, he was sending emails checking in on and caring about and helping other people, on the day that his soul left this world. So on that interview, you could watch the whole Bima, it's a few years ago. He told us that two weeks before he died, two weeks before he died, Mikey said to his father, אבא Abba, I'm not afraid to die, it's just that I love life. I'm not afraid to die, it's just that I love life. After months on a respirator, rounds of horrific chemo, scalding radiation, zillions of needles, in that pain and with that prognosis, he said, I love life. ובחרת בחיים U'vacharta bachaim. למען תחיה אתה וזרעך L'maan tichyeh atah v'zar'echa. Maybe a third answer we can say is that Mikey Butler was saying ובחרת בחיים u'vacharta bachaim, even in that condition and at that place, he was still choosing life so that למען תחיה l'maan tichyeh, his legacy of choosing life will continue and outlive him. ובחרת בחיים למען תחיה אתה וזרעך U'vacharta bachaim l'maan tichyeh atah v'zar'echa. If you live a life in which you choose life, then למען תחיה l'maan tichyeh, it will outlive you. That will be your legacy. That will be what people talk about, the story they tell, the impact and the influence you will have for years and years to come. You can live life drained and tired and centered on yourself. or you could live a life where you're choosing life. How we live in this world is creating the legacy we will leave that people will continue to talk about us when we're gone. So ובחרת בחיים uvacharta bachayim, choose a life that will result in למען תחיה l'maan tichyeh, that you'll have a legacy that people continue to talk about long after. ובחרת בחיים uvacharta bachayim. Rav Pam had a granddaughter who was an incredible engine of חסד chesed, always helping others. She was diagnosed with a terrible illness, over time became very sick. In her final ride in the ambulance to the hospital before she died, she was on the phone helping arranging meals for someone who needed help. And when she hung up, she turned to her husband and she said the following. The גמרא Gemara tells us in ברכות דף י Brachos Daf Yud, אפילו חרב afilu cherev חדה מונחת על צוארו של אדם chada munachas al tzavaro shel adam, even if there is a sharp sword on the neck of a person, אל ימנע עצמו מן הרחמים al yimna atzmo min harachamim. Don't hold back from רחמים rachamim. Now the classic explanation is, even if you feel the situation is hopeless. חרב חדה cherev chada, מונחת על צוארו munachas al tzavaro, there's a sharp sword on the neck, the situation is hopeless. Don't despair, don't give up on השם'ס רחמים Hashem's rachamim, His compassion. That's the classic understanding. But in the back of the ambulance on that day, she suggested, no, you know what it means? No matter how dire the circumstances, אל ימנע מן הרחמים al yimna men harachamim, don't stop choosing life, don't stop caring about other people. In the ambulance on the last ride of her life, she was sending texts to arrange meals to help others. ובחרת בחיים uvacharta bachayim. Choose life, choose to live a vibrant, energized, dynamic יידישקייט Yiddishkeit. למען תחיה l'maan tichyeh, because if our children see that, that's what they will want. Because that will be the legacy that we leave. And because למען תחיה l'maan tichyeh says the ספורנו Sforno, that will be the immortality and the eternal life that we'll earn ourselves in that world to come. A lot more to talk about, but wishing everyone a כתיבה וחתימה טובה ksiva v'chasima tova. No שיעור shiur until next year. The next year isn't until next year. Wishing everyone a כתיבה וחתימה טובה ksiva v'chasima tova. גוט געבענטשט יאר Good gebentched yor, a year of peace and serenity and harmony for Jews everywhere, hostages home, soldiers safe, and all
