Transcript
Good morning, Boker Tov, welcome 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 Megilla 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 Gros, לעילוי נשמת דוד בן מנחם מנדל. The Shiur is also sponsored by Jared Scharf, thanks to the Parsha Perspectives for giving strength to complete his race to the Base Half marathon. Okay, and by Hava Nitich 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 Stephen Ellis, זישא בן שלמה לב, on his first Yahrzeit with love from the Ellis 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 Sobel, 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 רב בן ציון קלוגר, Ish L'reeihu. 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'reeihu, 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 Mishteh V'simcha, we celebrate with, we celebrate with wine and a Seuda. So these four mems are reminiscent, says Rav Sobel, of the Yom Tov of Pesach. There too we have the number four, which are the ארבע 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 Geula: הוצאתי 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 Remenachman Mendel Kasher in his Haggadah Shleima, in first on Shemos and his Haggadah Shleima, suggested that maybe we're living through the fulfillment of the fifth, the V'heveisi, 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 Haggadah which was formulated in Galus, in exile. Rather it expressed a hope for the future return to the land of Israel, a hope that we have merited to see fulfilled in our generation, writes Rav Sobel. 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? Machiyas Amalek, the eradication of Amalek. The miracle of Purim was great and wonderful, but it took place in Galus. We were victorious in the war, yet we did not merit to eradicate Amalek completely. Therefore we remained with four Mitzvos of mem and a dream of the fifth, Machiyas Amalek. In our generation, he writes, through God'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 Galus, 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 rabbi 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 L'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 M this year we've merited we've an army we've merited the fifth M machiyas 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 and the observance of mitzvos 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 and the struggle for the existence of Am Israel and machiyas 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 Israel ליהודים היתה אורה ושמחה וששון ויקר ken tihyeh lanu. Mi ke'amcha Yisrael that is the Jewish people that's the Jewish people the Mi ke'amcha Yisrael. As we're beginning my daughter in Jerusalem 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 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 ke'amcha Yisrael the strength of Klal Yisrael it's just extraordinary. So not just the four M's the fifth M we're being zoche the fifth M of machiyas Amalek it should be complete before even Purim begins. Page forty-four parshas 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 gather 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 should be very familiar to us why? Because we also read it last week parshas Shekalim we just read it parshas 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 machatzis hashekel. We today Taanis Esther we have outside in the basket half dollars there's the minhag to lift and you don't say I'm fulfilling machatzis hashekel because it's not machatzis hashekel. Unfortunately we don't have a Beis Hamikdash we're not contributing our half shekel we're not supplying the obligation the resources for the korbanos. It's zeicher lemachatzis hashekel and we do it for ourselves if a person's married they should do it for their wife for if one's pregnant should do it for their unborn baby all the different minhagim when it comes to machatzis hashekel. And it comes from our parsha the census was completed through machatzis hashekel. And the Torah here tells us when it comes to the machatzis hashekel העשיר לא ירבה והדל לא ימעיט ממחצית השקל לתת 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 it's lechaper al nafshoteichem it is a kappara it atones it repairs for ourselves. It's unlike the rest in the Shulchan Aruch records it's very interesting if we would reinstate 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 Aruch 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 sixty thousand dollars a year pay the same membership or tuition as the person who's earning six million dollars a year? For that person making less their giving is a lot more it's a lot more. So ordinarily the Shulchan Aruch 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 the machatzis 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 is 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 mitzvot, 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 it 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 tzedakah 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 and mitzvot, whoever is accomplished, he'ashir doesn't just mean wealthy in money. It means a person who is wealthy in Torah and mitzvot. 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's still learning, somebody's a beginner, somebody's just starting, somebody who maybe this is their first Megillah 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 minimize 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 L'Machatzit Hashekel is the precursor, it is the introduction to Purim. Because Purim's all about achdut. Haman was the Tzorer HaYehudim, he bound us together. Tzorer means enemy, adversary, as we've been sharing, the Iturei Torah says tzorer 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, protest, it doesn't matter. Hatzorer, Haman tzorer 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 letzaraos, they commemorate the misery, the destruction, the days of introspection and teshuvah. Taanit Esther is zecher lataanit. We're commemorating that Esther brought us all together to fast. We found the capacity to unite, to combine, to integrate, to not 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'd 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 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 list? link, a QR code, can't just count the people, we gotta do it with a gift? So listen to what Rebbe 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 are there, 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? Point two percent of the world population. Eight billion worldwide, point two. 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 point two percent. And you all know the math. How many Nobel Peace Prize, how many Nobel Prizes in math, in science, in medicine? Israel's contributions to technology in every realm, in every study, in every discipline, in every discovery. Point two 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're all contributed 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 Bezalel, בן אורי בן חור למטה יהודה. ואמלא אתו רוח אלהים בחכמה ובתבונה ובדעת ובכל מלאכה. The first Chabadsker was Bezalel. Chokhmah, Binah, v'Da'at. He was the first member of Chabad. Bechokhmah, uvitvunah, uvada'at. I've endowed him with the divine skill, skill, ability, knowledge in every kind. So Hashem says re'eh, see, karati to Bezalel. ר' משה פיינשטיין פרעגט, Rebbe Moshe, where do we see that Hashem called Bezalel? Re'eh, look, give a kick, see, previously I called Bezalel. Where do you see that he called Bezalel? Where do you see in the Torah he called Bezalel? Says Rebbe Moshe, the pasuk continues by telling us that Bezalel 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 Rebbe Moshe, that's what Hashem was telling Avraham when he said vehaye berakhah. Don't just receive blessing. When Hashem told Avraham, לך לך מארצך וממולדתך ומבית אביך. And he says va'agadlah shemekha, I'm gonna make your name great, and I'm gonna give you berakhah, avarekhekha, I'm gonna give you berakhah, vehaye berakhah. Isn't it repetitive redundant? Avarekhekha means I'm gonna bless you. I'm gonna give you a lot of berakhah. Avraham indeed went viral. Avraham 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 Avraham's name. Va'avarekhekha, God indeed fulfilled his berakhah, his promise of making him blessed. So what did the word vehaye berakhah add? Va'avarekhekha, vehaye berakhah, isn't it redundant? Said Rebbe Moshe, no. Va'avarekhekha is Avraham, I'll bless you. Vehaye berakhah means use what I've given you to be a blessing to others. I'll make your name great, you're gonna go viral, you're gonna be a big influencer, people are gonna know you, I'm gonna give you a lot of resources, I'm gonna give you wisdom, I'm gonna give you oratory skills, I'm gonna give, now vehaye berakhah, 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 vehayay 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 Betzalel. Where do you call him? Says Rav Moshe, by giving Betzalel רוח אלקים חכמה ותבונה ודעת, by endowing him with all those skills and talents and blessings, that was Betzalel's calling. That was his calling. He called him and that was Betzalel'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 discussed this in the past. We went through all the utensils of the mishkan. We went through the shulchan, the menorah, the mizbeiach. At the end of last week's parsha, seemingly out of place, we had the other mizbeiach. 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 was 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 Parshas Trumah 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 meguneh. 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 effect or demonstrate their faith in me. And that when the kohanim would wash their feet and their hands when they would prepare for the avodah to serve Hashem, how would they prepare? By looking into those mirrors as the base of those laver of that basin. Incredibly, incredibly holy. 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 mizbeiach. Mizbeiach is the place of kaparah. 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 teshuvah, of repentance. What do you have to see on the way to the mizbeiach? 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 keilim 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. Ve'asita otah ketoret. We have this ketoret. It was finely ground, haddek haddek heytev. 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 invite 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 mitzvos, who seem compromised and corrupt in their avodas 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 bottom of page 488, perek lamed alef. Hashem speaks, Re'eh, this is the pasuk we spoke before. ראה קראתי בשם בצלאל בן אורי בן חור. He calls him, he fills him with this divine wisdom and he tells him 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. shulchan ve'et kelav, מנורה הטהורה ואת כל כליה, mizbach haktoret, mizbach ha'olah, kiyor ve'et kano, bigdei hasrad, 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 design the uniforms, the bgadim 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. Truma, Tetzaveh, the beginning of Ki Sisa. Now we're interrupted with Shabbos. ויאמר ה' אל משה לאמר, pasuk yud beis, perek lamed alef, chapter 31 verse 12. ואתה דבר אל בני ישראל לאמר אך את שבתותי תשמרו כי אות היא ביני וביניכם לדורותיכם לדעת כי אני ה' מקדשכם. Hashem says to Moshe, in the middle of all these instructions and 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 shabsosai observe my... translate the word Shabbos, shabsosai is observe my... observe my Shabboses. Not observe my Shabbos in the singular, that would be shabsai. Shabsosai is observe my... my Shabboses in the plural. Why do we have a plural \"observe my Shabboses\"? Ki os hi, because it's a sign, beini uveineichem between God and us, ledorosaychem for generations, lada'at to know that I am Hashem who sanctifies you. ושמרתם את השבת כי קדש היא לכם מחלליה מות יומת כי כל העשה בה מלאכה ונכרתה הנפש ההיא מקרב עמיה. Observe Shabbos, it's holy and sacred to you. Its desecrators are to be put to death, because its desecrators will be spiritually excised from among my people. ששת ימים יעשה מלאכה וביום השביעי שבת שבתון קדש לה' כל העשה מלאכה ביום השבת מות יומת. Six days do work, seventh day rest, it's Shabbos, it's sacred. And then the paragraph so familiar to us from davening, from Kiddush: ושמרו בני ישראל את השבת לעשות את השבת. And the children of the Jewish people shall observe Shabbos, la'asos es hashabbos. What is the word la'asos? To make. How do you make Shabbos? Shabbos is all about being passive. Don't do the 39 categories of creative labor. Shabbos is a long list of don'ts. So what's the do? La'asos is do. Do Shabbos? What do you mean do Shabbos? Shabbos is a long list of don'ts. So what's the Torah telling us do? ביני ובין בני ישראל אות היא לעולם. Between me and the Jewish people it's a sign forever, because six days I created heaven and earth, on 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 melachos Mishkan to teach us that melachos Mishkan may not take place on Shabbos. That's a lesson later in Parshas 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 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 the 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 melachos 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 it'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 is 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 can raise money, you can build, you can be a contractor, building a shul. It's holy. You might think you can 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 yakel beinecha, 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 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'egel. Spoiler alert. Moshe doesn't come back in time, the people panic, they build a golden calf, Aaron 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 and 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. Chevre, the next two weeks we're going to have two more parshios that we already read essentially. All the details, all the materials, 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'egel? I tell you this every year. The Kuzari and others explain that the Cheit Ha'egel 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, and 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 egel. 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 gotta 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 and Vayakhel Pekudei. Really the mishkan came after the Cheit Ha'egel. The mishkan was the response and antidote to the Cheit Ha'egel. 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 me'at, a shul. Whenever we want to go back to Har Sinai, come to shul. The bima 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 could 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 ציווה ה' אותך, כאשר ציווה ה' אלהיך 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 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 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 this. 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, רב נפתלי צבי יהודה ברלין 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 mekadeshchem, 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 could 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 neshama 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 in Shabbos. Os beini uveineichem. Hashem says because Ani Hashem mekadeshchem, 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 something special we share that no one else does. Goy sheshavas, 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. Os beini uveineichem. On those words os, the Chizkuni, the great Chizkuni writes לא ביני ובין אומות שתשבו בו כמונו ידעו כל כי אתם עמי. 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. There's something special between the Jewish people and Hashem. That's, we are God's people. We are testifying that He created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. We are proclaiming and affirming our faith, our belief in Hashem, in the Ribbono Shel Olam. It feels awkward, it feels awkward at the hotel, in other contexts, chas v'shalom 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 allowed, this is my Sabbath. Person comes to the door, they're fixing your AC, the electric light, 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 os beini u'veineichem 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, 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, 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 Shabbosai in the plural? Why does it say Shabbosai in the plural? So the Ksav VeHaKabbalah, Rabbi Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenburg says, you know why? בו לשון יחיד או רבים, ki ta'am Shabbosai בעבור כי שבתות ה' 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 it to us, says the Ramban, in the plural. But the Ksav VeHaKabbalah, Rabbi Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenburg, he has a different interpretation. He says you know why it's, you know why it's Shabbos 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 אלוקיים. Every Shabbos you're keeping two Shabboses. One is the passive, refraining and abstaining from creative labor, not doing the thirty-nine 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 וישוב דעת הנפש. The physical resting of Shabbos is not the goal and the essence. Rather, it's the yishuv hadaas, it's something emotional and something spiritual. So every Shabbos is made of two Shabboses and that's why it's, and therefore he says when Chazal say, אילו שמרו ישראל שתי שבתות מיד נגאלים, if the Jewish people only observed 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 a 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 game, 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, 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 the 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. פרק ל\"ב פסוק ט\"ז, moving right along. After Shabbos, Moshe received the luchos. ויתן אל משה ככלתו 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 492. 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. *V'ma hayah lo?* We don't, Moshe the man, our intermediary, our physical tangible connection to the Almighty, Moshe the man who took us out of Egypt, לא ידענו מה היה לו. 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 gotta 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 *Eigel*, 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. 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 *zchus* of flying to Israel, 25 *chevra* we went to Israel, met with *Rebbeim*, *Rebbes*, *Roshei Yeshiva*, 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, \"Ah, that gave me more *kavanah*. Now when I say *Modeh Ani* in the morning,\" he said \"I'm 76 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 *Rav Gamliel*, everything is a lesson. Instead of being bitter and miserable and resentful and in pain, he says \"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. סרו מהר מן הדרך. Hashem tells Moshe go down quickly, the people have strayed quickly from the path. They made an *Eigel maseichah*. They're bowing down to it. *Vayomru*, and they say, *Eileh 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. *Pasuk tes vav*. ויפן וירד משה מן ההר. Moshe turns and he goes down the mountain. ושני לחת העדת בידו. He's holding the two tablets. לחת 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. והלחת מעשה אלהים המה. And these tablets are the work of God. והמכתב מכתב אלהים הוא חרות על הלחת. 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 tablet, *charus al haluchos*, 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 battleground of warring instincts and desires. This freedom, this idea of freedom depends for its success not on power but on moral obligation. 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 accoutrement 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 on to 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. Mecholos, when Moshe comes down pasuk yud tes, turn the page. And when Moshe comes down ויהי כאשר קרב אל המחנה וירא את העגל ומחולות he sees the eigel and what does he see with the eigel? Mecholos. What are mecholos? Circles, dances, dancing in circles. ויחר אף משה וישלך מידיו את הלחות וישber אותם תחת ההר. Moshe cast down the luchos, 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. What did I just do? These luchos that God can a person imagine a Sefer Torah you throw it on the floor? Chalila. Moshe takes these luchos, 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 Maggid 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 בפרק 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 luchos? He can't believe what he sees. What do you mean? While he was already on top of the mountain God 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 למשה 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 מן ההר? This is the question. For this question Rabbi Sorotzkin provides eight answers. You ready? Buckle up. Number one. כשראה אותם סמוכים בקלקול שעשו בזה הקצף בזה קצף בנוח שיוכל לסכנם באופן שיחזרו למצבותם. He was of course bothered, of course bothered by the building of the cheit ha'eigel. But you know what really bothered Moshe? Mecholos. They're singing and dancing and celebrating around it. They're not sitting next to the eigel saying what 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 luchos. That's the insight of the Sforno, similar to the Or HaChayim. Number two. לפי הילקוט שמחמת שהאותיות פורחות האבנים כבדות ונפלו מידו של משה נוכל לומר שהאותיות פרחו תחת ההר כשראה את העגל. We have a tradition that the letters that God had miraculously engraved on the luchos, the osiyos were porchos. 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 luchos, 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 Rov 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 Rov understood that image of the medrash that it became too heavy. Okay, so that's number two. Number three: כשאחד טועה בהשקפה עדיין אפשר יורה אמת אבל כשראש הוללות והקלות ראש הבין שכבר לא יהיו דברי תורה חוזק מוסר. Again, a person makes a mistake, the 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 הרבסא דדיאנים אסור לחתוך דין על פי שמועה חייב לבדוק את העניין היטב. If he would've smashed the luchos on top of the mountain, then Moshe would've 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 העגל תשש כוחו לא היה בו כוח ולפי זה נראה לשייך לכאן קביעתו של חזל אינו דומה שמיעה לראיה כאשר הקדוש ברוך הוא בישר למשה על חטא העגל עדיין לא תשש כוחו עד שלא ראה זאת בעצמו. Moshe, who lost his strength, it only happened when he saw it for yourself. From here we learn, אינו 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, but 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 chupa is commemorative of the broken tablets. Since we learn so many of the laws of a chupa from Har Sinai, even the broken tablets. What do we tell the choson 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 choson and kallah before you even leave the chupa 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 choson, even before you walk out from this chupa, 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 matzahs is going to break. You come to the Seder table prepared that one of the matzahs is probably going to break. They say in the name of the Chofetz Chaim, Reb 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 balabos, 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 choson 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 Megged 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 gonna be a fair amount of returns. Build that into your business. You have to know customers are gonna have a bunch of returns. You're gonna have items that break. You gotta build that in. Certain businesses you have to know that a certain amount of customers or clients a lawsuit's gonna come. It's built in, anticipate it, be ready for it, know it's coming. Number six. Number seven, the Ibn Ezra: ושברת את הלוחות 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? Le'inei 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 Lashem Elai? Mi Lashem Elai? Nu, who's with me? Number eight. משבירת הלוחות לעיני כל ישראל מן הסתם בני ישראל ראו את משה בא לקראתם ואעפ\"כ 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 Megged 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 want to tell you many more. I'll just tell you one last one. Lamed Gimmel Vov. Lamed Gimmel Vov, 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, remain standing. Pasuk Vov I said? Pasuk Vov. והיה כל מבקש ה'. Anyone who's a Mevakesh Hashem, יצא אל אהל מועד, would go out to Ohel Moed. Anyone who's a Mevakesh Hashem. What does it mean anyone who's a Mevakesh Hashem? Reb Yeruchem said: You see from here, this was the name of our trip on our swag, on our fleeces that we wore. It was cold. It says: Mevakshim. Be'ers 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. Reb Yeruchem said: You see this is a very high level to be a Mevakesh Hashem. Reb Yonasan ben Uziel, the Targum Yonasan writes: Mevakesh Hashem, de'tava ulfan. Yedia Atzmo L'lamed Reb Yeruchem מדברי יונתן בן עוזיאל: אדם שרוצה להקרא מבקש ה' יבחן עצמו האם אכן כל מגמתו רצונו חפצו מרצו. 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 Toveia is to claim, to search, to yearn, to call, to follow. Ulfan, L'Alupho Shel Olam, Hashem. היינו שכל מבוקשו הוא למלאות 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 zocheh 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 Sobol to his community in Modi'in that we should be zocheh not only for the four mems, the four mitzvos that are true every Purim, we should be zocheh this Purim to the fifth mitzvah of Machyas 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. world. A freilichen Purim, b'ezrat Hashem we'll pick up next week.
