Transcript
Good Erev Shabbos everyone. Today is Non-Fact Friday, today is in fact Erev Shabbos and we are turning our Friday into Erev Shabbos. I want to thank our generous sponsor of our series, my dear friends Mendy and Tzipora Fishman, lichus for Chaya Rivka bas Tzipora Freidel, in memory of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks. This morning's shiur is sponsored anonymously in honor of the great Rafi Motechkin, and as well as sponsored by the Kaminetzky family in memory of our beloved Jerry Kaminetzky, Yudel Leib ben Moshe Chaim, on his first yahrtzeit. We miss Jerry terribly each and every day. We love Jerry's neshama should have an aliyah.So as we always say, today is not Friday, today is Erev Shabbos. And we're here to turn our Friday into Erev Shabbos. And one of the ways that we can do it is by focusing and leaning into the fact that when Shabbos comes, we have everything that we need. All week long, we feel what's missing. All week long, we work, and we conquer, and we try to control the world. All week long, we try to acquire more and more. But come Shabbos, b'Shabbos b'menucha, we're at rest, we're at peace, there's serenity. Come Shabbos, whatever we have is what we need. When Shabbos comes, we're able to feel that we have everything.And that's our task, that's our mission on Erev Shabbos, is to begin to transition from that weekday place of work, ambition, acquisition, to the Erev Shabbos, Shabbos's place of being at peace. Certainly when it comes to chatzos, not everybody has the luxury of stopping or going home from work at chatzos on Erev Shabbos, but those who can, disconnect. Don't look at the stock market. Don't look at your net worth, your portfolio. Don't look at your email and inbox. Again, not everybody has the luxury, but to the degree that we can, we can try to extract ourselves from the week and try to immerse ourselves in Shabbos.And this is the midda, this is a character trait and quality that we have from none other than Avraham Avinu, he implanted it inside us. Our parsha tells us והשם ברך את אברהם בכל. After Avram acquires a new piece of real estate, known as Ma'aras HaMachpela, Chevron, after Avram buries Sarah, Torah testifies השם ברך את אברהם בכל, that God blessed Avram with everything. The word es seems extra or extraneous. The Midrash says the es is talking about Eliezer, about whom the pasuk says המושל בכל אשר לו. המושל בכל אשר לו. Rav Avraham Schorr, the great Rav Avraham Schorr explains, he says the following. The quality, the midda, what made Avram special was the midda of histapkus. Histapkus means maspik. It's enough. What I have is enough. I'm good to go. What I have is what Hashem has determined for me. Hashem berach es Avraham, Hashem blessed Avram with a sense of bakol. Other people say I have a lot, but I want more. Avram said, I have everything. I have everything. I have my health, I have my family, I have a Shabbos table, I have Shabbos food. I have everything. Even when a person is working to conquer and acquire more, can still feel like as I take that initiative, but I also simultaneously can recognize and feel that whatever I have, I have everything I need. Avram had this yesh li kol, Avram had this bracha, השם ברך את אברהם בכל, and he gave it to Yaakov. And Yaakov says, yesh li kol. When Yaakov reunites with his brother Eisav in Parshas Vayishlach, and Eisav says, yesh li rav, I have a lot. I have a lot. Look at what I have, I have a lot. But even as much as I have a lot, I could always have more. And Yaakov responded and he says, yesh li rav, you have a lot? Yesh li kol. I have it all. I have everything. Avram gave it to Yitzchak, kol asher lo. Yitzchak gave it to Yaakov. We say this in our bentching, bakol, mikol, kol. Kein titen lanu, we say Hakadosh Baruch Hu, give us that sense of kol. Give us that quality, give us that midda, give us that capacity to on Shabbos feel I have everything I need. The moment we go into Shabbos, Shabbos we shut down. Shabbos we disconnect. Shabbos we can't acquire, Shabbos we can't work, Shabbos we can't elevate our net worth. So Shabbos we have everything. We look around what's right under our nose. We don't see what's missing, we don't see what we yet want to go get and get and have. We see that midda of histapkus. That's what the Kli Yakar writes that Eliezer was מושל בכל אשר לו. Many people, kol asher lo is moshel them. For many people, their property, their net worth, their things own them. I need, I have to have the upgrade, the latest. It owns us instead of us owning it. Eliezer had this quality, he was מושל בכל אשר לו. He owned the things, the things didn't own him, because Eliezer was an extension of Avram, and he really was reflecting that quality of Avram, that capacity. So Rav Schorr points out, es Avraham bakol, gematria Shabbos. The numerical value value of the words that God blessed es Avram bakol is the numerical value of the word Shabbos. Hi birchas haShabbos, בשבת זוכים לברכת אברהם. Shabbos we live this blessing of Avram. בזכותנו לכלי מחזיק ברכה, we can become that vessel that holds bracha. הוא הכח של מדת הסתפקות, שהוא כח השבת להשפיע על האדם מדה זו. Shabbos comes and we have that ability to feel, I have everything I need. Don't look at what others have. Don't be jealous, don't be envious, don't work hard, don't try to acquire more. All week long we can work, all week long we try to acquire, all week long we try to improve and conquer. Shabbos comes, we're at rest, we're at peace. So chevra, that's our homework for today. Today we turn our Friday into Erev Shabbos by working on our midas histapkus. To look at what we have and say, genug. It's enough. Shin daled yud, one of the names of Hashem, she'amar l'olamo dai, who said to the word, dai. Dayenu. It's enough. What we have is enough. And we don't normally live that way. All week long, we live in the bechina, we live in the space of more, acquiring, growing, conquering, manipulating. But comes Shabbos, histapkus. But you can't just punkt. The sun doesn't set and all of a sudden you find yourself in the mida of histapkus, satisfaction, having it all. That's what turning Friday into Erev Shabbos is all about, working on that and transitioning in that way, going and entering. So, let's all, let's all enter the space of midas histapkus. Let's all receive the bracha of Avram Avinu. Let's all be that kli, that vessel that can receive that bracha of the Avram Avinu to get to the place of השם ברך את אברהם בכל, and he blesses all of us bakol too when we turn our Friday into Erev Shabbos and come into Shabbos with the sense that we have everything that we need. Wishing everyone a healthy Shabbos, a holy Shabbos, and a happy Shabbos.Yai ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya nai. Yai ya ya nai nai nai. Ya ba bam. Yai da dai dai dai, yai da dai dai dai, yai da dai dai. לא תבושי ולא תכלמי. מה תשתוחחי ומה תהמי. בך יחסו עניי עמי. ונבנתה עיר על תלה. Heiv psach lo avadei avadim, lo yamim. Melech ha'olam, elokeinu. B'chol nikra yom Shabbos.
