Transcript
Okay good morning Boker Tov welcome back to Parsha Perspectives for today thank you for your flexibility I assume nobody was coming tomorrow morning to learn the parsha a lot of mitzvos to do tomorrow a lot of preparation a lot of Megillah to hear so thank you for coming today Parshas Ki Sisa should not be neglected just because it's the week in which Purim occurs I want to thank our series sponsors our generous series sponsors Becky and Avi Katz and family our learning is in memory of David Grossman le'ilui nishmas דוד בן מנחם מנדל the shiur is also sponsored by Jared Schar thanks to Parsha Perspectives for giving strength to complete his race to the Beis Half Marathon okay and by Hava Neiditch for all the wonderful Torah appreciate the insights thank you and dedicated anonymously to peace on earth and compassion for the children of all nations all should be safe and secure and in honor of Steven El-Asis שבת בן שלמה לב on his first yahrtzeit with love from the El-Asis family okay we're on page 484 in the ArtScroll Stone Chumash before we begin with the parsha just a word I know many are going to listen to this after Purim so just one word about Purim we're on the eve the cusp of Purim and of course this Purim is so different so unlike so many of the Purims that we've observed and celebrated before our brothers and sisters in Israel are targets are in and out of bomb shelters are being chased by ballistic missiles we daven certainly for their safety their security for the success of the American military the Israeli military to wipe out our enemies even before Purim begins but I want to share with you I saw the email newsletter my sister who lives in Modi'in her Rav Rav Sobol and he wrote the following this story of Purim is extraordinary it begins with sorrow divine concealment with an existential threat to the Jewish people and it ends with a reality of joy divine illumination and a great victory for Am Yisrael Arba Memim one of the allusions to the mitzvos of Purim is known as the four mems all the mitzvos of Purim begin with the letter mem Mikra Megilla we have an obligation to read the Megilla Mishloach Manos we give a gift one to the other I mentioned that Shabbos an insight of Rav Avrohom Tzvi Kluger Ish L're'ehu the day is all about achdus unity it's about overcoming whatever divisions or divide it's about recognizing that Haman tried to leverage the differences between us and Esther understood לך כנוס את כל היהודים it's only when we all join together Mishloach Manos when we give a gift to another ish we turn the stranger the other l're'ehu into our friend that's the second mem the third Matanos L'evyonim of course we have to give a gift to the poor and Mishte v'Simcha we celebrate with we celebrate with wine and a seuda so these four mems are reminiscent says Rav Sobol of the yom tov of Pesach there too we have the number four which are the ד' לשונות של גאולה there too we have a representation of four the four cups of wine that commemorate the four languages not just synonyms but stages of geulah והוצאתי והצלתי וגאלתי ולקחתי Pesach also includes a fifth expression והבאתי אתכם אל הארץ we learn this every year when I tell you what it says the Rav Menachem Kasher in his Hagada Shelema in first on Shemos and Hagada Shelema suggested that maybe we're living through the fulfillment of the fifth והבאתי we've been brought back into Eretz Yisrael we have a modern State of Israel sovereignty over our land maybe it's time for a fifth cup that was rejected by the Chief Rabbinate we don't have the fifth cup but this expression was not included in the Pesach Hagada which was formulated in golus in exile rather it expressed the hope for the future return to the land of Israel hope that we have merited to see fulfilled in our generation writes Rav Sobol it may be said that Purim too we have a fifth mem that awaited fulfillment and that is what's the fifth mem Mashiach not yet here what's the fifth mem Mechiyas Amalek the eradication of Amalek the miracle of Purim was great and wonderful but it took place in exile we were victorious in the war yet we did not merit to eradicate Amalek completely therefore we remain with four mitzvos of mem and a dream of the fifth Mechiyas Amalek in our generation he writes through G-d's kindness we have merited to return to our land to establish a Jewish state a strong army take responsibility for our destiny as a result ideas that were once distant and unattainable in exile such as the eradication of Amalek are becoming part of our lived reality v'Hayinu k'cholmim we are like dreamers it's an amazing email it's the Rav of a community who are going to be celebrating Purim in bomb shelters separate and apart and not in the streets not gathering as a community figuring on their own and rather than wallow in sorrow and misery and anger and resentment rather than seek pity they feel strong powerful I spoke to Rav Rimon yesterday for a little while I wanted to understand from him what he thinks our Purim here in chutz la'aretz should look like how can we be sensitive and understanding that our brothers and sisters in Israel can't and he said what do you mean you have to stand upright with pride we're not just commemorating a Purim of the past this is Purim unfolding and the miracles of today today are greater than the miracles of Purim. And we have to celebrate in full force, to celebrate with full glory. He said should pause. Say Tehillim at the beginning of the seudah. And maybe don't be as joyful, don't be as with wine as we normally are. Should be a little bit more moderate, a little bit more present. But to celebrate, to feel the power of what it means to be a Jew, that's what Rabbi Sobol's writing, that the fifth Mem this year we've merited. We have an army, we've merited the fifth Mem Mechiyat Amalek. We are the remarkable generation that with Hashem's help will merit to complete the eradication of Amalek, which began in the days of Mordechai and Esther and we read in the Megillah. As we see, this is not a mission completed all at once. Sadly, there are those who were murdered sanctifying Hashem's name and wounded individuals for whom we daven for a complete recovery. Precisely because of this, our responsibility is even greater, strengthen ourselves in prayer, Tehillim and Torah, in the observance of Mitzvot and unity and mutual responsibility, and strict adherence to the instructions of the Home Front Command. Each of us is a partner on the home front, in spirit and in action, in the struggle for the existence of Am Yisrael and Mechiyat Amalek. That's the email he wrote to his community today. With blessings for a joyful and meaningful Purim and for good news, salvations, and victories of Am Yisrael. ליהודים היתה אורה ושמחה וששון ויקר כן תהיה לנו. Mi keamcha Yisrael. That is the Jewish people. That's the Jewish people, the Mi keamcha Yisrael. As we're beginning, my daughter in Yerushalayim is sending pictures of all the Mishloach Manos she made. I don't know, the entire night she sends pictures of being in and out of a bomb shelter, of her daughters who can't stay asleep, who know, but in the routine by now, they hear the siren, they walk on their own, little babies to the bomb shelter, and yet she's making all the Mishloach Manos. She's faith, she'll have the chance, the opportunity to deliver, to celebrate. Mi keamcha Yisrael. The strength of Klal Yisrael, it's just extraordinary. So not just the four Mems, the fifth Mem, we're being zocheh the fifth Mem of Mechiyat Amalek, it should be complete before even Purim begins. Page 44 Parshat Ki Tisa. Ki Tisa. וידבר השם אל משה לאמר. And I think we in Chutz La'aretz, I'm gonna send an email out today, I think that we should celebrate like Rav Rimon told us, but we should be careful, maybe this year we don't need to post pictures and videos, maybe this year we don't have to share so publicly and online, maybe this year those who are unable to be in the streets and their driveways and gathered together don't need to see the way we are. We should celebrate, it's Yom Tov, we should be grateful to Hashem, but maybe in a very sensitive way. וידבר השם אל משה לאמר כי תשא את ראש בני ישראל לפקדיהם. This parsha should be very familiar to us, not just because we read it last year, it should be very familiar to us, why? Because we also read it last week, Parshat Shekalim, we just read it, Parshat Shekalim, the obligation of the census, the Jewish people are taking account, and the way we take account is how? Not the most efficient way, it should be one, two, three, four, but every person gave a half shekel, they fulfilled their obligation of Machatzit Hashekel. We today, Ta'anit Esther, we have outside in the basket half dollars, there's the minhag to lift and you don't say I'm fulfilling Machatzit Hashekel because it's not Machatzit Hashekel, unfortunately we don't have a Beit Hamikdash, we're not contributing our half shekel, we're not supplying the obligation, the resources for the Korbanot, it's Zecher Lemachatzit Hashekel and we do it for ourselves, if a person's married they should do it for their wife, if one's pregnant should do it for their unborn baby, all the different minhagim when it comes to Machatzit Hashekel. And it comes from our parsha. The census was completed through Machatzit Hashekel. And the Torah here tells us when it comes to Machatzit Hashekel, pasuk tet vav, העשיר לא ירבה והדל לא ימעיט ממחצית השקל לתת את תרומת השם לכפר על נפשותיכם. The wealthy don't give more and the poor don't give less, everybody gives exactly a half a shekel, they give their portion to atone, lechaper al nafshoteichem. It is a kapparah, it atones, it repairs for ourselves. It's unlike the rest. In the Shulchan Aruch records, it's very interesting, if we would reinstitute this, we'd solve whatever financial problems the Jewish people have, but the Shulchan Aruch records that shul membership and Yeshiva tuition should not be a flat fee, it shouldn't just be this is membership, of course with dues adjustment and of course at school scholarships, but we have a flat fee. According to the Shulchan based on the Gemara, it was proportional, it was a ratio, it was a percentage of a person's income, which makes a lot of sense, why should the person who's earning $60,000 a year pay the same membership or tuition as the person who's earning $6 million a year? For that person making less, their giving is a lot more, it's a lot more. So ordinarily the Shulchan based on the Gemara says really the way it was and maybe the way it still should be is that a person gives a proportion, a percentage, and yet when it comes to Machatzit Hashekel unusually it's not a percentage, it's not pro-rated based on. on a person's income, everyone gives exactly the same. No more and no less. Everyone gives exactly the same. And unlike any other campaign in history, not only if you were a poor man could you not give less than half shekel, but if you were a rich man, you couldn't give more than half shekel either. Why not let the wealthy person contribute more? Why not? There's bills to pay, there's expansions that you gotta cover. Says Rabbi Nachman the following: At first glance, a half shekel, if you think about it, is a negligible amount of money. It's nothing. Based on the current value of silver, what's a half shekel? I don't know exactly, less than five dollars. And with this mitzvah the Torah's communicating a very powerful message. This is nothing small or shameful when it comes to what we do or give to Hashem or the Jewish people. See, sometimes a person feels I'm in a position in life, I'm insignificant, I'm inconsequential, I don't make a difference. I'm embarrassed, I'm ashamed. What am I? What difference do I make? I'm not a big knacker, I'm not a big gvir, I'm not among the wealthy, I can't write a big check, my name can't go on the wall. Who am I? I'm not such a talmid chacham, I'm a very simple person. My mitzvos, what do they mean? My Torah, what does it contribute or add? I can't even remember anything I learned. So a person feels negligible, they feel insignificant, they feel inconsequential, they feel they're not adding anything. Says Rabbi Nachman, comes along the Torah and says העשיר לא ירבה והדל לא ימעיט. Everybody gives the same because that little amount it matters, that difference they do, it's precious to Hashem, it has inestimable value. It moves and transforms the cosmos. Hashem doesn't just welcome and value the davening of the righteous. He doesn't just welcome the learning of the brilliant. He doesn't just accept the tzedaka of the wealthy. Every person when they give what they can, when they dig deep and they give, such a person, every tefillah you utter, every gift you give, every moment or resource you share, every Torah you learn, they matter, they mean something, they're precious to Hashem. He'ashir lo yarbeh writes Rabbi Nachman, whoever is wealthy in Torah mitzvos, whoever is accomplished, ashir doesn't just mean wealthy in money. It means a person who is wealthy in Torah u'mitzvos lo yarbeh. They're not greater, don't get too high on yourself. You're not bigger, you're not greater, you're not superior. Don't thumb your nose at others. Hadal, somebody who is still learning, somebody's a beginner, somebody's just starting, somebody who maybe this is their first Megilla or this is their first Purim. Hadal, they're yearning, they're growing, still all they can give is a modest amount. Lo yam'it. Don't dismiss it, don't minmize it, don't think it's nothing. Ashir or dal, wealthy or poor, everyone gives the exact same half shekel because everyone's contribution counts, everyone's contribution matters, it all complements one another in order to become whole. This is one of the themes of Purim and that's why we understand that the minhag of Zecher Lemachatzit Hashekel is the precursor, it is the introduction to Purim. Because Purim's all about achdus. Haman was hatzorer hayehudim, he bound us together. Tzorrer means enemy, adversary. As we've been sharing the Iturei Torah says tzorrer also means to bind, to unite. By making every Jew in Israel ten million flee to bomb shelters, run from ballistic missiles, it doesn't matter, you served in the army, you didn't serve in the army, right-wing, left-wing, religious, not religious, judicial reform, anti-judicial reform, protested, it doesn't matter. Hatzorer, Haman tzorrer hayehudim. Our enemies find a way to bind us together. We shouldn't need them. לך כנוס את כל היהודים. We should have the capacity to unite, to be together. That's what Taanit Esther is all about. Other fast days are zecher letzaroos, they commemorate the misery, the destruction, the days of introspection and teshuva. Taanit Esther is zecher lata'anit. We're commemorating that Esther brought us all together to fast. We found the capacity to unite, to combine, to integrate, to not only see the differences even though they're important, the issues that we debate, but to feel together, to feel together. We have to unite and that's the mitzvah of Machatzit Hashekel. It's very inefficient. It would make much more sense for everyone to give what? A whole shekel. It'd be much more simple math. Everyone gives one, one plus one plus one plus one, you'd know exactly how many we are. Instead everybody gives a half a shekel and now you gotta do some math to figure out the census, the number of the people. It's a very inefficient way to count. So why was it mandated that way? To tell us: each of us on our own are only a half. You're only a half. It's only when we combine with another Jew, it's only when we collaborate, it's only when we partner, it's only when we see and care about and connect with the other, it's only then we become whole. You see in Yiddishkeit, and why do we do a census with the giving of money? It's so Jewish, right? It's like another appeal. We need a census, I have an idea, why don't we do it through an appeal? It's such a Jewish thing. Always have to involve money? We can't just count, walk around with a clipboard? Can't just make a... link, a QR code, can't just count the people? We gotta do it with a gift. So listen to what Rebbi Nachman says. We don't count people, we count the Machatzit Hashekel was given. It's clear that what's counted is not a person as they are, but what counts is if a person gives their contribution. You're not counted just because you exist. You're not counted just because you are. You're not counted just because you're alive. You know what makes you count? What you contribute. What you contribute is what makes you count. So we do a census different than everybody else. Everybody else, they knock on the door, oh you're alive, how many people in the house? That's how many people, we'll mark you down, now we've done the census. Now you've contributed your part in the census. That's not a Yiddishe census. That's not a Jewish census. Because a Jewish census, you're not counted just because you're alive, just because you exist, just because you are. We're counted by what we give, by what we give. If you count the number of Jews in the world, do you know how many Jews, what percentage of the world population are Jewish? 0.2 percent of the world population. 8 billion worldwide, 0.2. Maybe the numbers are a little off. If you count the contributions of the Jewish people to the world, it's a whole lot bigger than 0.2 percent. And you all know the math. How many Nobel Peace Prizes, how many Nobel Prizes, in math, and science, and medicine. Israel's contributions to technology, in every realm, in every study, in every discipline, in every discovery. 0.2 percent of the population and much, much higher than that in our contribution. You don't count just by existing, we count by what we contribute. And we all contribute differently. אחד המרבה ואחד הממעיט ובלבד שיכוון לבו לשמים. So therefore, העשיר לא ירבה והדל לא ימעיט. If you're rich you can't give more. If you're poor you don't give less. All of us we contribute what we have. This one's artistic and this one is athletic. This one is a leader and this one gets things done quietly. We all are designed differently, but if we take who we are and what we have and we use it to contribute, that's how we are counted. We see this elsewhere in our Parsha. ראה קראתי בשם בצלאל בן אורי בן חור למטה יהודה. Torah tells us Hashem says, see, I called out to Betzalel, son of Uri, son of Chur, Mateh Yehuda. ואמלא אותו רוח אלוקים בחכמה ובתבונה ובדעת ובכל מלאכה. The first Chabadskere was Betzalel. Chochma Binah v'Daat. He was the first member of Chabad. Be'chochma u'vi'tvuna u'vi'da'at. I've endowed him with the divine skill, skill, ability, knowledge in every kind. So Hashem says, Re'eh, see, Karati, I called out to Betzalel. Asks Rav Moshe Feinstein, fragt Reb Moshe, where do we see that Hashem called Betzalel? Re'eh, look, give a kick, see, previously I called Betzalel. Where do you see in the Torah he called Betzalel? Says Reb Moshe, the Pasuk continues by telling us that Betzalel was filled with wisdom, skill, and ability. And that was his calling. When we look into our own lives and we see our talents and our blessings and our skills, that's Hashem calling us. That's revealing our calling. He called us. You can't say he never tapped me on the shoulder, he never sent me an email, I never got a WhatsApp from God. He never revealed himself and spoke to me and told me what I should do. We don't sit and wait. We look in the mirror and we figure out what are our talents, what are our skills, what are our blessings, what are our resources, what are our gifts? What do I have? And that's Hashem calling us. That's our calling, that's our mission, that's our purpose. Explains Reb Moshe, that's what Hashem was telling Avram when he said, v'heyei bracha. Don't just receive blessing. When Hashem told Avram, לך לך מארצך וממולדתך ומבית אביך, and he says, v'agadla shmecha, I'm going to make your name great, and I'm going to give you Bracha, v'avarechecha, I'm going to give you a Bracha, v'heyei bracha. Isn't it repetitive, redundant? v'avarechecha means I'm going to bless you, I'm going to give you a lot of blessing. Avram indeed went viral. Avram was a great influencer. He had a lot of followers. He transformed the world. Everyone knew his name. Everyone still knows his name. The President even recently learned how to pronounce his name, the Abraham Accords. Everyone knows Avram's name. v'avarechecha, Hashem indeed fulfilled his Bracha, his promise of making him blessed. So what did the word v'heyei bracha add? v'avarechecha, v'heyei bracha. Isn't it redundant? Said Reb Moshe, no. v'avarechecha is Avram, I'll bless you. v'heyei bracha means use what I've given you to be a blessing to others. I'll make your name great, you're going to go viral, you're going to be a big influencer, people are going to know you. I'm going to give you a lot of resources. I'm going to give you wisdom, I'm going to give you oratorical skills, I'm going to give you... now, v'heyei bracha, take it, use it, be a blessing to others. Everyone sitting in this room, everybody watching online, everyone everywhere, has something in their life that is a blessing, has a talent and a skill. Some have great resources, some are artistic, some are great speakers, some are great leaders, some have great patience, some have great care and concern and empathy. We're all different and we all have different talents and skills and what Hashem says is, \"I'm giving you these blessings now, veheyeh bracha.\" Take it and use it and channel it and apply it and be a blessing to others. Such a beautiful insight. ראה קראתי בשם בצלאל. See, I called Bezalel. Where do you call him? Says Rav Moshe, by giving Bezalel רוח אלקים חכמה ותבונה ודעת, by endowing him with all those skills and talents and blessings, that was Bezalel's calling. That was his calling. He called him, and that was Bezalel's calling and He has that for all of us as well. Okay, turn the page. Then we have the gift of the kiyor, ועשית כיור נחשת וכנו נחשת לרחצה. Why wasn't this included earlier? We've discussed this in the past. We went through all the utensils of the mishkan. We went through the shulchan, the menorah, the mizbe'ach. At the end of last week's parsha, seemingly out of place, we had the other mizbe'ach. And now we have yet another vessel, yet again out of place, the kiyor. The kiyor was the laver that the kohanim would come and wash. They would come and wash their hands and feet, one on top of the other. They had to balance, it's complicated. Rashi tells us exactly how it was done, where it was in the mishkan. And why is it here? Why wasn't it back in Parshat Terumah where we had all the utensils? It should have been included earlier. The answer, we've discussed that in the past. This kiyor, what was the basis? The mirrors. Which mirrors? The women who in Mitzrayim, when those lousy men gave up hope and gave up faith, when those lousy men said, \"It's enough,\" the women said there's going to be a brighter future. Optimism and faith and hope. Bizchut nashim tzidkaniyot, in the merit of those righteous women. So it was Miriam who convinced her mother, \"Beautify yourself, attract the attention of your husband, of my father, and have more children. There's a brighter future. This is going to turn around. There's going to be a redemption and a geulah. Things are going to be okay.\" And we preserved those mirrors and we've studied this too. Moshe said to Hashem, \"It's a davar maguneh. These mirrors, these are instruments of vanity. We're going to put them in Your holy mishkan, Your place of spirituality? You're going to put these instruments of vanity?\" And Hashem said, \"Whoa, whoa, whoa, these mirrors, these are precious to me. Because these mirrors are what the women used in order to affect or demonstrate their faith in me.\" And that, when the kohanim would wash their feet and their hands, when they would prepare for the avoda to serve Hashem, how would they prepare? By looking into those mirrors as the base of those laver, of that basin. Incredibly, incredibly holy. Rav Soloveitchik has another insight we've quoted it countless times, I'll just say it briefly. He says also the placement of this kiyor was right next to the mizbe'ach. Mizbe'ach is the place of kappara, it's the place of atonement, it's the place of forgiveness, it's the place of confession, it's the place of admission, it's the place of repair, it's the place of teshuva, of repentance. What do you have to see on the way to the mizbe'ach? You have to look in the mirror. You have to look in the mirror. We have to be honest with ourselves. We can't achieve repentance, we can't achieve forgiveness if we're not honest with ourselves and that's why that's where it was. Then we have the anointment oil, קח לך בשמים ראש מר דרור. We have all the oil for the anointment where the kelim and the kohanim were anointed with the special oil. Then we have page 488, the incense, the ketoret, ויאמר ה' אל משה קח לך סמים נטף ושחלת וחלבנה סמים ולבנה זכה בד בבד יהיה. Va'asita otah ketoret. We have this ketoret. It was finely ground. Hadek hadek hetav. It was finely ground. We learn about the encouragement, the kohanim had to be encouraged, \"Grind it finely, grind it so that it's fine.\" And this ketoret, very peculiar mixture. It had something very putrid. One of the ingredients didn't smell very good. And from here we learn that we מתיר להתפלל עם העבריינים, that the community is incomplete unless those who are imperfect are included. Even those who are malodorous, even those who are putrid in their smell, so to say, who are absent and missing in Torah and mitzvot, who seem compromised and corrupt in their avodat Hashem, they too have a place. The community has to be warm and welcoming and inviting them. The ketoret is incomplete without them. A very powerful message of the ketoret. And then at the bottom of page 488, Perek Lamed Aleph. Hashem speaks, re'eh, this is the pasuk we spoke before, ראה קראתי בשם בצלאל בן אורי בן חור. He calls them, He fills them with His divine wisdom and He tells them, \"Time to get to work. You are the architect, you are the designer of the mishkan. את אהל מועד ואת הארן לעדת ואת הכפרת אשר עליו ואת כל כלי האהל.\" שלחן ואת כל כליו מנרה הטהרה ואת כל כליה mizbeach haktoret mizbeach ha'olah kiyor v'et kano bigdei haserad bigdei hakodesh Betzalel you and your team you're hired. You are the design firm. You are the architect. You are to put together this Mishkan all the utensils all the vessels. You even designed the uniforms the begadim of the Kehuna. And then all of a sudden out of nowhere we're on a roll we're on a streak. We are learning all about the Mishkan Terumah Tetzaveh the beginning of Ki Tisa now we're interrupted with Shabbos. ויאמר השם אל משה perek yud bet pasuk yud bet perek lamed aleph chapter thirty-one verse twelve ואתה דבר אל בני ישראל לאמר אך את שבתתי תשמרו כי אות היא ביני וביניכם לדרתיכם לדעת כי אני השם מקדשכם. Hashem says to Moshe in the middle of all these instructions in identifying and elevating the architect the designer of the Mishkan all of a sudden we have the introduction of Shabbos the reminder of Shabbos. Ach however et shabtotae observe my translate the word Shabbos shabtotae is observe my observe my Shabboses. Not observe my Shabbos in the singular that would be shabti shabtotae is observe my my Shabboses in the plural. Why do we have a plural? Observe my Shabboses. Ki ot because it's a sign beini uveineichem between God and us ledoroteichem for generations ladaat to know that I am Hashem who sanctifies you. ushmartem et haShabbos observe Shabbos כי קדש היא לכם it's holy and sacred to you. mechalaleha mot yumat those who desecrate it are to be put to death כי כל העשה בה מלאכה ונכרתה הנפש ההוא מקרב עמיה because its desecrators will be spiritually excised from among my people. ששת ימים יעשה מלאכה six days do work וביום השביעי שבת שבתון קדש להשם seventh day rest it's Shabbos it's sacred. כל העשה מלאכה ביום השבת מות יומת and then the paragraph so familiar to us from davening from kiddush ושמרו בני ישראל את השבת and the children of the Jewish people shall observe Shabbos la'asot et haShabbos. What is the word la'asot to make? How do you make Shabbos? Shabbos is all about being passive. Don't do the thirty-nine categories of creative labor. Shabbos is a long list of don'ts. So what's the do? la'asot is do. Do Shabbos. What do you mean do Shabbos? ביני ובין בני ישראל אות היא לעלם we just had this between me and you it's a sign ki sheshet yamim that six days I created heaven and earth and the seventh day rest. And now back to your regular story. Shabbos here is an interruption. Why is Shabbos here bringing us this interruption? So even though Chazal our rabbis did not connect the placement of this short parsha regarding Shabbos in the middle of the melachot haMishkan to teach us that melachot haMishkan may not take place on Shabbos that's a lesson later in parshat Vayakhel. Rashi here nevertheless sees this connection in this context and Rashi says אף על פי שפקדתיך לצוות על מלאכת המשכן אל יקל בעיניך לדחות את השבת. Here we've just glorified and elevated we've just described a dira betachtonim Hashem is going to dwell among us we're building a house of connection and intimate rendezvous of Hashem. Who's in charge? Betzalel has been endowed with everything he needs. He has this calling I've called him he's going to design it it's a place of miracles. But lest you think it supersedes Shabbos lest you think you're allowed to build a Mishkan on Shabbos no Hashem introduces Shabbos in the middle of this parsha to tell us that you're not allowed to. You're not allowed to. And indeed we learn how do you learn what are the melachot of Shabbos? Here the Torah just said six days work and the seventh day rest. You're not allowed to do melacha on Shabbos. What's melacha? How do I know what's melacha? What's work? So Chazal taught us whatever qualifies whatever is defined as creative labor that went into the building of the Mishkan is the creative labor that you need to abstain and refrain from. In the same way that you're harnessing and channeling creative labor in its most positive sense with its greatest merit using it to build a house for God is the same way that by refraining and abstaining by resting from that same creative labor you're honoring Hashem. And therefore the juxtaposition of Shabbos to Mishkan is to teach us that Mishkan does not supersede Shabbos. Even this pursuit of the spiritual does not supersede does not override the obligation of observing observing Shabbos. So rather than seeing this as redundancy it seems that a more careful reading of Rashi can reveal that maybe maybe Hashem was not speaking to the Jewish people. Who was Hashem speaking to here? Moshe. Moshe the leader. As you lead them in the binyan hamishkan, as you lead them in the beginning of the building of the mishkan, be careful. This is a holy endeavor. You might think, Goldberg, you could raise money, you could build, you could be a contractor, you're building a shul. It's holy. You might think you could even do it on Shabbos. No. Even the most holy noble pursuit, everything comes to a stop, a standstill, everything rests for Shabbos, for Shabbos. The Sforno takes this idea even further. Not just a matter of al yakal be'einecha like Rashi wrote, it shouldn't be light, don't take it lightly. Shabbos supersedes, Shabbos is number one, Shabbos everything stops. But to point out that violating this and building the mishkan on Shabbos will not even achieve the desired result, writes the Sforno. It won't make it a makom kadosh. אם תקלקל זה האות אין שם מקום לעשות משכן לשכני בתוככם. You think you'll build a house for me and you'll do it even on Shabbos? Know that Shabbos comes first. Shabbos, resting, being at peace, being in harmony, spending time with me, even supersedes and overrides the building of the mishkan. So much so that if you continue to try to build the mishkan, I won't dwell in it. Not just that you shouldn't do it, but it'll work? If you try to do it, it won't work. I won't dwell in it. Kedusha, sanctity, can't come through unholy behavior. It's a very powerful Sforno when you think about it and it's very appropriate for the rest of the parsha. Because the theme of the rest of the parsha is going to be the story of the cheit ha'eigel. Spoiler alert: Moshe doesn't come back in time, the people panic, they build a golden calf, Aharon maybe leads them in that effort to buy some time, and God, Moshe comes down from the mountain, discovers them dancing around that golden calf, smashes the luchos. Then he has to go up for forty days, forty nights to beg for forgiveness for the people from this horrific mistake, catastrophic mistake, that God was about to wipe them out for. And then we have Parshas Vayakhel Pekudei. Why do I have Vayakhel Pekudei? I just had Terumah Tetzaveh. Chevreh, the next two weeks we're going to have two more parshios that we already read, essentially. All the details, all the material, all the dimensions, everything in them we already heard. Terumah Tetzaveh is almost verbatim repeated in Vayakhel Pekudei with Ki Sisa stuck in between. Why? Why do I need Vayakhel Pekudei? And what's really happening with the cheit ha'eigel? I tell you this every year: the Kuzari and others explain that the cheit ha'eigel was not idolatry. A very superficial, simplistic understanding is we gave up on God, we needed another deity, so we built an idol and like the rest of the world we started to bow down. That's impossible to believe. How could it be? We just walked away from Har Sinai. We just walked away from the greatest revelation in history. We just walked away from the ten plagues and splitting the sea. We just walked away from miracles. It can't be we'd begin to worship an idol immediately, right away. It can't be, it can't be. Says the Kuzari, Rabbi Yehuda Halevi, so what happened here? What is the story? The story is that the Jewish people until now we had something tangible, something palpable, because we are physical beings, we live and operate in a physical world, and it's very hard to connect to some spiritual God with nothing physical, nothing to connect with. We had something physical and his name was Moshe Rabbeinu. Moshe was the intermediary. Moshe would go to the ohel moed, hear God, come back and report and teach us. And when Moshe climbed that mountain and didn't come back, in the panic and fear ensued that he isn't coming back, the people began to say, we need to touch, we need to see, we need to feel, we need to hear, we live and operate in a physical world and now we have no physical medium with which to connect to Hashem, we'll build an eigel. It will replace Moshe. Not as an alternative to God, but as an alternative to Moshe. And the Ribbono Shel Olam says, you know, I hear you. I hear you. That's reasonable. That's a legitimate need. That's a legitimate need. But you can't make it up on your own. You can't try to be individual spiritual entrepreneur. You can't be creative. You've got to follow my word, my prescription, my recipe, my formula. You've got to do it my way. You can't just do it on your own. And so Ki Sisa is right in between Terumah Tetzaveh, Vayakhel Pekudei. Really the mishkan came after the cheit ha'eigel. The mishkan was the response and antidote to the cheit ha'eigel. God says, you have this craving, this need for something physical, material, palpable? That's understandable. That's reasonable. I'm going to give you a mishkan. I'm going to give you a mishkan. You want to continue Har Sinai? The Ramban says that the mishkan was the continuation of Har Sinai. You wanted to stay at that mountain? You can't. You have to move on in life. But we could take the mountain with us. And how do we take the mountain with us? A mishkan, a Beis HaMikdash, a Mikdash Ma'at, a shul. Whenever we want to go back to Har Sinai, come to shul. The bimah is Har Sinai. The Baal Korei is Moshe. pronouncing and announcing the Torah once again. You long, you want to go back to the mountain, you have some doubt and uncertainty, you're looking for the clarity and confidence, the conviction that there's Hashem in this world, go to the shul. Go to the mikdash. Go to the mishkan. You can't stay at the mountain, but you can take the mountain with us. That's what the mishkan was, writes the Ramban. But the mishkan also was God acknowledging and validating—this generation, it's very important, you have to validate everybody—Hashem was validating. We said we have a need. You have to hear my need. You have to hear where I'm coming from. You have to hear my story. What was our inner need? We need something physical, we need something tangible. Hashem says, I'm validating you. That's reasonable, that's understandable. I'll give you a mishkan. But you can't do it your way. And therefore come Parshios Vayakhel Pekudei, and they're not verbatim Terumah Tetzaveh. There's one major difference about them. Says the Beis HaLevi, look and you'll see, כאשר צוה ה' את ככה, כאשר צוה ה' אלקיך over and over and over. As God your Lord commanded you, as God commanded you, as God commanded you. We can't do it our way. You can't do it our way. Any more than the doctor sends you home with a prescription for medicine and you say, you know, the doctor thinks I should take this medicine, I'm going to swallow the whole bottle. You got to follow the formula. You got to do what you're being told or it's not going to work. It doesn't work. Hashem put us in this world, He created us and He designed us, and He knows what works to make us feel close to Him. You can't say, Shabbos is a beautiful thought, a beautiful idea, the idea that we rest on the seventh day. You know how I rest? I drive to the beach, and I lounge and I read, and I go for a swim. That's my idea of Shabbos. You're not entitled. We're not entitled to come up with our own idea of Shabbos. Hashem gave us the formula, the prescription for Shabbos, for Kashrus, and for life. And we have to do it His way. And if we mess with it, if we try to get too creative with it, if we try to be too individual with it, it doesn't work. We're not close to Him. Any more than your spouse asks you—your spouse communicates a need that they have, a want that they have—and you say, oh, you want jewelry? And you asked for that? No, no, I'm going to get you this. If you want that, you're going to love... That's not what they wanted. And therefore, if you don't get what they wanted, not only do you not yield the result of feeling close, now you feel further distant, now you feel further away. Hashem says, follow, follow My prescription. And according to the Sforno, that's all a long way of coming back to the Sforno. Sforno doesn't just say if you build the mishkan on Shabbos, not only have you not fulfilled the mitzvah of building the mishkan, not only did you violate Shabbos, because that's not the way it should go, I'm not moving in, says God. I'm not dwelling there. It's not a makom kadosh. Because when you try to do holy things in an unholy way, you don't result in holiness. It's not the way it works. Going even further, the Netziv, Rav Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin, the Netziv writes that the words לדעת כי אני ה' מקדשכם are a big part of the picture. These refer to things which will cause us to have a spiritual awakening, an encounter with the mikdash. Ani Hashem mekaddishchem, I am the God who sanctifies you. I gave you spirituality. You're going to go pursue, you're going to go creatively try to introduce, you're going to go think you can come up with it on your own? I'm the one who created you. I'm your designer, I'm your programmer, I'm the one who introduced the entire idea and concept of spirituality, of kedusha. And therefore, even when a nochri enters a Beis Knesses, a Sefer Torah, can be spiritually uplifted. A non-Jew walks into a shul, a non-Jew encounters even Jewish holiness, they feel there's something here, they can be uplifted, uplifted. For the Jewish people, writes the Netziv, it's automatic. When a Jew has encounter with Shabbos, they feel something. It awakens, it arouses something in the pintele Yid, the neshamah inside them. That's the os beini uveineichem. The sign, the symbol is even when it's unspoken, you can feel something. There's an energy in the room. There's an energy in the day on the calendar, the day of the week. There's an energy on Shabbos. Osi beini uveineichem. Hashem says, because ani Hashem mekaddishchem, because I am God who sanctifies you and sanctifies time, therefore when you, the sanctified people, are in that sanctified time called Shabbos, you're going to feel something special. That's the os. That's something special we share that no one else does. Goy she-shavas, a non-Jew who tries to observe Shabbos, chayav misa. It's not meant, it's not designed for them. It's special and it's unique for us. Osi beini uveineichem. On those words, osi, the Chizkuni, the great Chizkuni writes: לא ביני ובין אומות פשיטא בו כמוני יודעו כל כי אתם עמי, atem ami, atem ami. When you go to that hotel and you say, I can't open my door because they only have electric keys, when you need concessions because you're keeping Shabbos, the whole world knows proclaiming and affirming our faith, our belief in Hashem in the Ribono Shel Olam. It feels awkward, it feels awkward at the hotel, in other contexts chas v’sholom someone’s in a hospital. I can't do this, I can do this, I need you to do this, this is what’s allowed for me, this is what’s not, this is my Sabbath. A person comes to the door, they're fixing your AC, the electric, I can't sign, they deliver the package, I'm sorry, it's my Sabbath. Every time a Jew says, I am, it's my Sabbath, I can't, they are testifying to God as creator of the universe. They are promoting ethical monotheism in this world. Every time, every time, that’s the אות היא ביני וביניכם. Because that non-Jew says, I don't have that, I never heard of that, I'm not bound by that, I'm allowed to do that. Oh, there's something special you have, there's something different in your relationship. There's something different that you are testifying to. It goes way beyond shmiras Shabbos. This is our responsibility, this is our role, this is our mission in the world, in the world. V’shamru, now let's go back. אך את שבתתי תשמרו, אך את שבתתי תשמרו. We asked, why does it say Shabtsosai in the plural? Why does it say Shabtsosai in the plural? So the Ksav V’haKabbalah, Rabbi Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenburg says, you know why? בא לשון יחיד על רבים כי טעם שבתותי בעבור כי שבתות השם הם רבים. First he quotes the Ramban and he says observe my Sabbaths, you know why? Because there’s one Purim a year, but Shabbos comes every week, there are many. So since Shabbos is every week, Torah communicates to us, says the Ramban, in the plural. But the Ksav V’haKabbalah, Rabbi Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenburg, he has a different interpretation. He says, you know why it's, you know why it's Shabtsos in the plural? Listen to what he says. He says בשם שבת יש פי שנים בהוראתו. Every Shabbos you're keeping two Shabboses. האחד ענין ביטול והפסק ממלאכה והשני ענין ישוב הדעת לעניינים אלוהיים. Every Shabbos you're keeping two Shabboses. One is the passive, refraining and abstaining from creative labor, not doing the 39 melachos. One is being at peace and harmony with nature and the universe, passive Shabbos. But then there's a second component of Shabbos which is the active Shabbos. Making kiddush, singing zemiros, telling divrei Torah, learning Torah. It means providing and giving the energy of Shabbos, the energy of Shabbos. אין שביתת הגוף לבדו עיקר ותכלית קיום השבת אינה רק סיבה גורמת לשביתה ויישוב דעת הנפש. The physical resting of Shabbos is not the goal and the essence. Rather it's the yishuv hadas, it's something emotional and something spiritual. So every Shabbos is made of two Shabboses and that's why it's Shabtsos and therefore he says when Chazal say, אילו שמרו ישראל שתי שבתות מיד נגאלים. If the Jewish people only observe two Shabboses we would immediately be redeemed, what are the two Shabboses? On one Shabbos. It means if we'd ever observe both components of the one Shabbos, we'd immediately be redeemed. Shamor and Zachor, the passive and the active, the list of don't, but also the list of do. Shabbos doesn't just come on its own and that's the meaning in the posuk, לעשות את השבת לדורותיכם. If you want Shabbos to be something that for generations they will embrace and keep, it can't just be about the list of don'ts. Don't do this, don't touch your phone, you can't do this, you can't do that, you can't go there, you can't. If Shabbos is a list of can't and don't and don't, then generations are not going to want to embrace and live and love Shabbos. You know when they're going to live and love Shabbos? When Shabbos is la’asos es haShabbos. Then it's l’dorosam. When la’asos, when you make Shabbos, when you make Shabbos, Shabbos atmosphere, Shabbos fun, Shabbos love, Shabbos energy, Shabbos enthusiasm, Shabbos song, Shabbos zemiros, Shabbos games, Shabbos laughter, Shabbos life. That's when l’dorosam, that's when it'll be, says Rabbi Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenburg. There's a lot more to say on this. Ksav Sofer has an idea on this, I was going to tell you another Chizkuni and Ibn Ezra on this, but there's a lot more to get to. But this section of Shabbos, oh, the Heilige Shabbos. As Yidden we live for Shabbos. We make the mistake of thinking that we rest on Shabbos so we have energy to work the next six days. No, we work all six days why? So that we can get to Shabbos. Shabbos is tachlis ma’aseh bereishis. It's the goal, it's the essence, it's the purpose. Shabbos is the mekor bracha, Shabbos is why and what we're doing it all for, Shabbos is what it is all, Shabbos is what it's all about. Perek Lamed Beis, Posuk Tes Zayin, moving right along. After Shabbos, Moshe received the Luchos. ויתן אל משה ככלותו לדבר אתו בהר סיני שני לחת העדת לחת אבן כתבים באצבע אלהים. The first set of Luchos were engraved and carved by the the Almighty himself וירא העם כי בשש משה לרדת מן ההר and now begins our downfall. Here we go. Sad story. Bottom of page four ninety two, the people saw that Moshe delayed in descending the mountain. They saw that he slowed in coming back. ויקהל העם על אהרן and they gathered around Aaron. They ganged up on Aaron. And they said, קום עשה לנו אלהים go make us a god that we can... כי זה משה האיש אשר העלנו מארץ מצרים לא ידענו מה היה לו. Moshe the man, our intermediary, our physical tangible connection to the Almighty, Moshe the man who took us out of Egypt. No one... no one's heard from him. No one got a message from him. He's not back on our calculation in our timetable. Vayomer Aleihem Aharon, so Aaron said, 'I've got to buy time. I know what to do.' פרקו נזמי הזהב אשר באזני נשיכם בניכם ובנתיכם והביאו אלי. Go gather and collect or remove the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, your daughters. Go bring them all to me. And the people did that. And they brought it and they built the egel and we know the rest is sadly, sadly history. What happens here? God speaks to Moshe. לך רד כי שחת עמך אשר העלית מארץ מצרים. Go down. Hurry. Go down because the people that you brought out of the land of Egypt they've become corrupt. They lost their way. סרו מהר מן הדרך אשר צויתם. They've strayed quickly from the way that I've commanded them. We said previously, סרו מהר מן הדרך and when we leave the derech, it happens quickly. It happens quickly. That goes quickly. Coming back takes a long time. That happens quickly. Last week I had the bevakshem flying to Israel. Twenty-five chevra we went to Israel, met with rabbeim, rebbes, roshei yeshivas, media personalities we met. It was an incredible, incredible four days in Israel. One of the people we met with was Rav Gamliel Rabinowitz, the great mekubal in Yerushalayim, Rav Gamliel. So Rav Gamliel has a sling on his arm. He's full of so much energy and he's flailing his arms. I'm not even sure what the sling is doing, but he's got a sling on his arm. So he told us, why does he have a sling on his arm? Because he fell out of bed and he broke his shoulder. And with great gratitude he said, 'Oh, that gave me more kavanah. Now when I say modeh ani in the morning,' he said 'I'm seventy-six years old. Till now I didn't know that one of the things I'm saying modeh ani for is that I didn't fall out of bed. Now I say modeh ani that I woke up this morning, modeh ani, thank you Hashem, I didn't fall out of bed.' And then he said to us, 'How long do you think it took me to fall out of bed? Took seconds. And how long do you think I need to keep my arm in a sling? It's going to take weeks and then I need rehab for months.' He said there's a lesson. This is Rav Gamliel. Everything is a lesson. Instead of being bitter and miserable and resentful and in pain, he said, 'Oh, I have a new kavanah for modeh ani. Now I know I have to say thank you I didn't fall out of bed.' And he said, 'You see from here that falling takes a moment, happens quickly, but fixing, repairing, takes a long time. It doesn't happen overnight. It doesn't happen overnight. It's a lesson for all of us.' סרו מהר מן הדרך. Hashem tells Moshe go down quickly, the people have strayed quickly from the path. They made an egel maseicha. They're bowing down to it. And they say, Eleh elohecha Yisrael, this is the Lord your God who took you out of Egypt. This is what's going on. This is what's going on. Moshe goes down and he sees. Posuk tes vav. ויפן וירד משה מן ההר. Moshe turns and he goes down the mountain. ושני לוחת העדת בידו. He's holding the two tablets. לוחת כתבים משני עבריהם מזה ומזה הם כתבים. These are miraculous luchos. God himself carved them. They had the same thing on both sides. The mem, the final mem, which is circular, the piece of stone in the middle was suspended miraculously, it stayed in between even though that made no sense. והלוחת מעשה אלהים המה. And these tablets are the work of God. והמכתב מכתב אלהים הוא חרות על הלוחת. This is what is engraved on the luchos. Moshe descends and in his descent the Torah is telling us, reminding us about how these luchos were designed. On those words that the luchos were engraved, Rabbi Sacks has a comment. Says Rabbi Sacks, in Pirkei Avos, the sages saw this verse with a brilliant play on words. Note in the similarity between the word cheirus, freedom, and charus, engraved. They read: engraved on the tablets, Charus al ha-luchos. The rabbi said, don't read charus, read cheirus. אין לך בן חורין אלא מי שעוסק בתורה because you only are free. Don't read charus engraved on the luchos, read cheirus free because who is truly free? Only one who occupies himself with Torah study. What they meant was that if the law is engraved on the hearts of its citizens, it does not need to be enforced by police. True freedom is the ability to control oneself without having to be controlled by others, accepting voluntarily the moral restraints without which liberty becomes license and society itself a background of warring instincts and desires. This freedom, this idea of freedom depends for its success, not on power, but on moral obligation. It places a great burden on the educated conscience, requires unique institutions and needs constant education. The people must know the law, they must hand it on to their children, they must speak of it constantly until it becomes part of their innermost being. But the gain is immense. It means that Israel, if it is loyal to the covenant, will keep the law not because of fear of arrest, trial or punishment, but because of their love of Hashem, their concern for their neighbors and their shared sense of past and future. With this we can appreciate the strangest fact of all Jewish history, that without sovereignty in a land, without police or an army, without any normal accoutrements of nationhood, the Jewish people kept Jewish law voluntarily in exile for two thousand years. Writes Rabbi Sacks, this is the strangest fact of Jewish history. There was no police, there was no court, there was nobody holding us accountable. In exile for two thousand years, we could have given it up, we could have walked away, and some did. But here we are. We held onto it. Why? Because אין לך בן חורין אלא מי שעוסק בתורה. What makes us free is that we learn Torah not out of being forced, not because there are police or lawmakers or trials or punishments, but because we want to, and that is the ultimate expression, that is true and real freedom. Mecholot. When Moshe comes down pasuk yud-tet, turn the page, when Moshe comes down, ויהי כאשר קרב אל המחנה וירא את העגל ומחולת, he sees the egel, and what does he see with the egel? Mecholot. What are mecholot? Circles, dances, dancing in circles. ויחר אף משה וישלך מידו את הלחות וישבר אתם תחת ההר. Moshe cast down the luchot, he smashes them under the mountain. Now we know the story and so we take it for granted, but you can only imagine Moshe's look on his face when he did it, like, what did I just do? These luchot that got, can a person imagine a Sefer Torah you throw it on the floor? Chalila. Moshe takes these luchot, smashes them on the floor, smashes them on the floor. What's going on over here? So I noticed last year we spoke about this too and we quoted three opinions last year. Three opinions last year. But I want to tell you a different this year. Different this year. In the Maged Yosef, Rabbi Yosef Sorotzkin brings down eight different explanations. It said earlier, וידבר השם אל משה לך רד כי שחת עמך, go down and see because your people have become corrupt. עשו להם עגל מסכה. שבו ברקיע נמסר למשה פי הגבורה כל פרשת חטא העגל. Moshe didn't learn anything new now. Why does he act with such surprise? Why does he act like he smashes the luchot? He can't believe what he sees. What do you mean? While he was already on top of the mountain, Hashem already told him, you're not going to believe what's going on down there. Hashem already gave him a preview. So how come he acts with such shock when he comes down? אם משום כך אינם ראויים כבר ללחות, היה משה לשברם שם בפסגת הר סיני. He should have handed them back on the top of the mountain. If they're unworthy, if this is what they're doing, Moshe should have taken them and handed them back. מדוע נתעכב לשבור את הלחות עד שירד מההר? Why does he wait until he comes down? This is the question. For this question, Sorotzkin provides eight answers. You ready? Buckle up. Number one, כשרעשו ושמחו בקלקול שעשו בזה הוקצף בנוסף שלא יוכל להזיקן למחול לכם באופן שיחזרו בתשובה. He was of course bothered, of course bothered by the building of the cheit ha'egel. But you know what really bothered Moshe? Mecholot. Their singing and dancing and celebrating around it. They're not sitting next to the egel saying, woe was us, Moshe didn't come back, what could we do, we have no choice. Here they are singing and dancing and celebrating their mistake. Mistakes, mistakes are acceptable because we're human beings. To err is human. To celebrate and dance about it, that's what Moshe was shocked, that he didn't know while he was on top of the mountain. And that's what moves Moshe to break and smash the luchot. That's the insight of the Sforno, similar to the Or HaChaim. Number two, לפי הילקוט שמחמת שהאותיות פורחות היו האבנים כבדות ונפלו מידו של משה. We have a tradition that the letters that Hashem had miraculously engraved on the luchot, the otiot were porchot, they began to fly in the air, they lifted themselves off. And now all that Moshe had and held, what was left? What was he holding? Stones. And the stones became so heavy, he dropped them. In this image, the Kli Yakar is that Moshe didn't smash the luchot, he didn't cast them down and break them, they became so heavy he could no longer hold them. On this. Second explanation I want to tell you, on this the second explanation I want to tell you, that's this Medrash, the writing was flying off, they became too heavy, he dropped them. The Rav read that figuratively, Moshe couldn't find a way to deliver the holy words of the Torah to a group so undeserving. His spirit broken, the burden became too heavy to bear, his strength gave out and he unburdened himself. It doesn't mean that the stone became too heavy so he dropped it, it meant a people who were no longer worthy of receiving it so much so that the letters were no longer engraved on it. Moshe gave up, he was burdened, he didn't know how am I going to transmit it to this incorrigible, miserable, rebellious people? And because he was so burdened, his spirit broken, it became too heavy to bear, he had to unburden himself, how? By dropping it, by letting it go, by letting it go, by letting it go. That's how the Rav understood that image of the Medrash that it became too heavy. Okay, so that's number two. Number three, כשאחד טועה בהשקפה עדיין אפשר לגלות לו אמת אבל כשרואה הוללות וקלות ראש הבין שכבר לא יועילו דברי תורה חזרה ומוסר. Again, a person makes a mistake, they're redeemable, can be repaired. But if they're celebrating, if they institutionalize their mistake, if their mistake becomes not something they admit is a mistake, but now becomes as if they're lechatchila, then they're irredeemable. Number four, משה רצה לקבוע בזה הלכות רב בדיינים אסור לחתוך דין על פי שמועה חייב לבדוק את העניין היטב. If he would have smashed the luchos on top of the mountain, then Moshe would have been relying on hearsay. He was trying to demonstrate for the future judges of the Jewish people that you've got to go see it for yourself. You can't react and you can't respond until you've seen it for yourself. The Rashbam says, כשראה עגל תשש כוחו לא היה בו כוח ולפי זה נראה לשייך לכאן קביעתם של חז\"ל אין דומה שמיעה לראייה. כאשר הקדוש ברוך הוא בישר למשה על חטא העגל עדיין לא תש כוחו עד שלא ראה זאת בעצמו. Moshe, who lost his strength, it only happened when he saw it for himself. From here we learn אין דומה שמיעה לראייה, you can't compare seeing and hearing. The fact that he heard what happened on top of the mountain doesn't compare to seeing it for himself. Number six, the luchos had to come down because lo bashamayim hi. God didn't engrave them for the heavens, for the angels. They needed to come down to earth. Even their breaking is part of Torah. Lo bashamayim hi. It's a beautiful insight. You know, in the aron, in the ark, buried right now somewhere underneath the Temple Mount, is not only the whole complete luchos, the second set, but in the aron are the shivrei luchos. The Gemara says in Bava Basra and elsewhere, לוחות ושברי לוחות מונחים בארון. The tablets and the broken tablets are side by side in the aron why? Because the broken tablets are also part of Torah. The idea that something can break, the idea that something breaks. Some suggest the broken glass at the end of the chuppah is commemorative of the broken tablets, since we learn so many of the laws of a chuppah from Har Sinai, even the broken tablets. What do we tell the chosson and kallah before they leave? Right now everything is idyllic, right now everything is amazing, right now everything is perfect. You have your party planner, your dresser, your makeup person, your hair person, you've got an entire team who work on you and it's all perfect. Perfect. You've got an orchestra, you've got the adult choir and you've got the kid choir and it's all perfect. Right now it's perfect. But dear chosson and kallah, before you even leave the chuppah, we want to tell you something. Guess what? In life, things are going to break. And how are you going to react? How are you going to respond? How are you going to repair? So chosson, even before you walk out from this chuppah, step on this glass, break something, because things are going to inevitably and invariably break and how will you respond? There's a Torah of breaking. It's the Torah of breaking. It's already Erev Pesach, I don't know if you know. It's Taanis Esther. You're thinking you're holding by Purim, I'm already holding by what am I going to talk about Shabbos Hagadol? I'm holding by Pesach. Pesach, in the Middle Ages, there was a fourth matzah introduced in the Seder, it was called the matzah sofek. This minhag is brought down in the Middle Ages that there was a fourth matzah, the matzah sofek. Why was there a matzah sofek, a fourth matzah? Because there's an excellent chance that one of the three matzos is going to break. You come to the Seder table prepared that one of the matzos is probably going to break. They say in the name of the Chofetz Chaim, Rav Yisrael Salanter, it's in countless people's names, that he was such a tzaddik he would intentionally spill the wine so that when a guest would later spill, they wouldn't be ashamed or embarrassed, the baal habayis, the host, already spilled. Such an act of tzidkus. I try to be mekayem that myself. An act of tzidkus to spill, to set the way so others won't be embarrassed. Things are going to spill, a matzah's going to break. Dear chosson and kallah, things in your life, in your relationship, in your home They might break. And if you think life is going to be utopian, life's going to be perfect, life's going to be whole, life's going to be complete, it's going to be smooth sailing, then you are in big trouble. You're in big trouble. There's a Torah to things breaking. And that says, that says the Magid Yosef is the sixth explanation, that he didn't just return to sender. He didn't just give back the luchos. Oh, that's what they're doing down there? Hashem take your luchos back. Moshe came down with the luchos and he broke them. And those broken pieces they sit in the Aron because we need to know there's a Torah of breakage. There's a Torah of brokenness. There's a Torah. There's a Torah. You gotta build it. You gotta calculate it. I know people in business, and in their business they have to calculate there's going to be a fair amount of returns. Build that into your business. You have to know customers are going to have a bunch of returns. You're going to have items that break. You gotta build that in. Certain businesses you have to know that a certain amount of customers or clients are going to leave you. A lawsuit's going to come. It's built in. Anticipate it. Be ready for it. Know it's coming. Number six. Number seven. Ha'Iben Ezra: כשבירת הלוחות היא לעיני כל ישראל, שמכוון משה עשה כן כדי לזעזע את העם. If he would have returned the luchos to Hashem in Shamayim, it wouldn't have aroused, it wouldn't have jarred, it wouldn't have startled the people. The Torah tells us how and where did Moshe break the luchos? L'einei kol Yisrael. He did it in a way that all the people can see and say. And it's only because he did that that he woke them up to say Mi l'Hashem eilay? Mi l'Hashem eilay? Nu, who's with me? Number eight. משבירת הלוחות לעיני כל ישראל, מן הסתם בני ישראל ראו את משה בא לקראתם, ואף על פי כן לא התביישו ולא חדלו. Moshe comes down the mountain and he's holding the luchos and he's so excited and he wants to show them what he has, what he's going to give them. If he sees them, says the Magid Yosef, what does that mean? They see him and they weren't embarrassed and they weren't ashamed, and that's why he broke the luchos. He didn't break them because of the eigel. He broke them because even when they saw him, they didn't stop what they were doing. Eight explanations. Amazing, no? You might not have even ever wondered that question. Why didn't Moshe just give them back? Why couldn't he return them in Shamayim to Hashem? Hashem tells him already when he's on top of the mountain this is what's going on down there. Why didn't he just give them back? Eight reasons why he came down and had to break them there in front of all the people. I wanted to tell you many more, I'll just tell you one last one. Lamed gimmel vav. Lamed gimmel vav, the Torah describes: ומשה יקח את האהל ונטה לו מחוץ למחנה הרחק מן המחנה וקרא לו אהל מועד והיה כל מבקש ה' יצא אל אהל מועד אשר מחוץ למחנה. Moshe's tent, where Moshe's tent was and who came to see him, the entire people would stand up remaining standing. Pasuk vav I said. Pasuk vav. והיה כל מבקש ה'. Anyone who is a mevakesh Hashem, יצא אל אהל מועד would go out to Ohel Moed. Anyone who is a mevakesh Hashem. What does it mean anyone who is a mevakesh Hashem? Rav Yerucham said you see from here, this was the name of our trip, on our swag, on our fleeces that we wore, was cold. It says mevakshim, Beiras Mevakshim 5786. This is a Jewish title, to be a mevakesh Hashem. To be a mevakesh is to be hungry, is to be thirsty, is to be a searcher, is to be a seeker, is to be looking for Hashem. To be a mevakesh. Mevakshei Hashem. Rav Yerucham said you see this is a very high level, to be a mevakesh Hashem. Yonasan ben Uziel, the Targum Onkelos writes, mevakesh Hashem: d'tava ulpan. ידיעה עצומה למד רב ירוחם מדברי יונתן בן עוזיאל. אדם שרוצה להקרא מבקש ה', יבחן עצמו. Are you searching? Are you seeking? Are you looking? Are you listening? Is your antenna extended? Are you living with searching for Hashem? Nikra mevakesh Hashem. Tava, to be a tovei'a is to claim, to search, to yearn, to call, to follow. Ulpan. L'Alufo shel Olam, Hashem. היינו שכל מבוקשו למלא לרצון ה'. To be a mevakesh Hashem is that our whole essence, our whole pursuit, our whole search is to want to fulfill the word of Hashem. We should all be zoicheh to be mevakshei Hashem, to qualify for that level, mevakshei Hashem. And I end with what we shared at the beginning, the beautiful letter of Rav Sobel to his community in Modi'in, that we should be zoicheh not only for the four mems, the four mitzvos that are true every Purim, we should be zoicheh this Purim to the fifth mitzvah of m'chiyas Amalek, the complete destruction of Iran and all Amalek, so there's safety and security for our brothers and sisters in Israel and around the world. A freilichen Purim, im yirtzeh Hashem we'll pick up next week.
