Transcript
Good morning *boker tov* welcome back to *parsha* perspectives for today. So grateful that you've joined us as we explore *Parshas Emor* together and extract the lessons, the messages, and the inspiration for today. As always we begin with our gratitude to our series sponsors Becky and Avi Katz and family in memory of David Grossman דוד בן מנחם מנש. We learn in his memory with great gratitude to the Katz family and our series is co-sponsored by the Deichman family in memory of their daughter and sister דניאלה רחל בת שלום עזרא, a remarkable young woman who left us tragically. Our learning should be in her memory. Today's *shiur* is sponsored anonymously in the merit of אבנר בן אברהם הכהן, *Sheindel bas Dovid*, *Meshulam ben Dovid*, *Dovid ben Meshulam*, *Nissim ben Shimon*, רפאל חיים בן דוד, אשר בן ברכה בת יוסף הלוי, by Pama and Paspora Bitbull commemorating the *yahrtzeit* of Pama's father Lester Greenberg. Thank you so much to the Bitbulls and thank you to all of our sponsors. *Parshas Emor* page 672 in the Artscroll Stone *Chumash*. ויאמר ה' אל משה אמר אל הכהנים בני אהרן ואמרת אלהם לנפש לא יטמא בעמיו. The beginning of the opening of our *parsha* we've shared so many beautiful insights and ideas about it. *Hashem* turns to Moshe and he tells him *emor el hakohanim* speak to the *kohanim* and in case you're confused who that is who they are *bnei Aharon* they're children of Aharon and don't just *emor* but *ve'amarta aleihem* tell them לנפש לא יטמא בעמיו they may not contaminate themselves. We have the laws of purity and impurity *tumah* and *tahara* as we've spoken about and explained in the past they all correlate with the idea of the loss of potential the loss of life the loss of connection to *Hashem*. *Tumah* is the result of a failure a unfulfilled potential therefore a corpse is the *avi avot hatumah* the greatest source and contaminant of *tumah* is a lifeless body the end of life the end of the loss of that potential. But all *tumah* stems from that. *Kohanim* in particular are warned and cautioned that they must not may not expose themselves or draw contamination and this is *emor ve'amarta* this was given to the *kohanim* the adults *ve'amarta* to communicate and transmit to inspire the children. We begin with a *Rav Druck* classic. We're going back to *Aish Tamid*. Going back to his *Aish Tamid*. And he says the following: אור החיים הקדוש הקשה לשון הפסוק. The *Or HaChaim HaKadosh* is bothered by the language of this *pasuk* *pasuk belashon rabbim* *hasim belashon yachid*. The *pasuk* begins in the plural ויאמר ה' אל משה אמר אל הכהנים and it ends in the singular בתחילת פסוק אמר אל הכהנים בני אהרן ואמרת אלהם speak to them in the plural. הסיום בלשון לא יטמא בעמיו and then it concludes in the singular that a *kohen* may not contaminate himself not themselves himself. So which is it? לכאורה היה לומר לנפש לא יטמאו they shouldn't contaminate. Why the shift? Why is it incongruous? Why do we go from plural to singular? Says *Rav Druck* the following principle and idea: מתרץ האור החיים הקדוש כי חשש הכתוב לומר לא יטמאו לשון רבים שאילו היה הכתוב כן היה מקום לטעות בסברא שהקפיד הכתוב אלא על טומאת כללות הכהנים כי דבר זה אינו אלא חוקה ואין לנו אלא מה שבא בפירוש אבל כהן יחיד לא יקפיד עליו אם יטמא או לא תלמוד לומר יטמא לשון יחיד. *Or HaChaim HaKadosh* says you might have thought it's only a conglomerate it's a group of *kohanim* it's a category of *kohanim* but the individual himself is not warned or cautioned maybe it doesn't apply to the individual therefore the Torah comes along and tells us: begins *lashon rabbim* the category the unit called *kohanim* but it also applies to the individual. ויתר מזו לא מצינו חיזוק לסברא הנעם מה שציוה לכהנים על איסור שתיית יין ושכר ושם גילה הכתוב בפירוש טעם איסור לכל דבר יעבדו עבודת הקודש שתוי יין. Because we don't want the *kohanim* entering their *avoda* their work coming into the holy place intoxicated inebriated. אם כן שלא בזמן משמרתם או שלא בזמן עבודה אין עליהם איסור של שתיית יין ושכר. But let's say after a difficult day in the *Beis HaMikdash* *kohanim* have a tough day at work and afterwards they want to meet a friend for a drink. Can they throw back a beer after work? After *Beis HaMikdash*? Yes. Where was the prohibition when was the prohibition? In a way which would compromise the *avoda*. ממילא היה מקום לומר שילמוד סתום מן המפורש לדון בטעם איסור טומאה שמאותו הטעם עצמו שנסרה שתייה נסרה כמו כן טומאה. You might have erroneously concluded when is a *kohen* warned and cautioned he can't become *tamei* he can't become contaminated when he's serving in the *Beis HaMikdash* when he's in service but maybe after work, maybe in his private life, maybe outside the Beis Hamikdash, it's not a problem? לזה נתחכם הכתוב והוציא האיסור לשון יחיד לא יטמא loma she'afilu אחד מן הכהנים הוא עומד באיסור זה. Every individual, in every circumstance, it's their identity, it's their category, it's their status that precludes them. So it's nothing to do with the fact that they'll become disqualified from the avoda per se, it has to do with their stature and status of who they are and therefore there's a shift. These are the Orach Chayim Hakadosh from a plural to the singular. But Rav Druck wants to offer his own interpretation. Says Rav Druck: באופן נוסף יש לומר הדרך שדיברנו במצוות תוכחה כיצד צריך להוכיח את חברו. We can extrapolate and extract another lesson. Sometimes we want to give feedback, rebuke, to another person. What's the best way to do that? How do you motivate, how do you inspire? How do you inspire? Just finishing up my article for this week about this question. You want to motivate somebody? What's the best way to motivate somebody? You want to motivate somebody to be healthier, to sleep more, to exercise? You want to motivate somebody to become shomer Shabbos, keep Shabbos, keep kosher? You want to motivate somebody to stop talking lashon hara? You want to motivate somebody to begin taking an ice bath, an ice plunge? It'll change their life. You want to motivate somebody to start eating kale? Nothing will work. Give it up, don't bother. You want to motivate somebody to make aliyah? That's the real topic of my article. Aliyah snob, what I mean by that by that phrase. So, what's the best method? What's the best, most effective methodology? What's going to work to persuade someone to adopt the choice, the behavior that's meaningful to you? שלא יבוא וידבר אליו באופן ישיר. When you come and you attack, when you come and you criticize, when you come and you condemn, when you come aggressively, nobody listens. They resist, they shut down, they shut off, they withdraw. כי אז טבע האדם שמתנגד לדברי התוכחה אינו מסכים להחשיב עצמו לבעל החטא הזקוק לתוכחת חברו. Nobody wants to be the recipient, the target. Nobody wants to be the subject of aggressive attack. אמנם אם רוצה אדם שתוכחתו תתקבל על ליבו של חברו. You really want to be successful in persuading someone? You want to speak to their heart? יוכיחנו כמו שהוכיח נתן הנביא את דוד המלך. תחילה סיפר לו על כבשת הרש ושהיה דוד לדעתו, ורק אחר שאמר לו דוד המלך לנתן הנביא חי ה' כי בן מוות האיש העושה זאת אמר לו נתן הנביא אתה האיש. What's Nasan Hanavi's methodology? He has criticism for Dovid. Dovid's choices, Dovid's behavior regarding Bas Sheva and Uriah. But Nasan Hanavi doesn't come on strong. Nasan Hanavi doesn't come in guns blazing. He doesn't come in attack mode. He gives him a mashal and he says, Dovid, the King, what would you think in the following scenario? What do you advise? How do you understand? And then Dovid Hamelech on his own comes to realize that that's him. That Nasan is speaking to him. He tugged on Dovid's heartstrings. He put Dovid into the scenario. He made Dovid realize this was about him. כאשר מגיעה תוכחה באופן זה כבר אי אפשר להתחמק ממנה והתוכחה של אדם מתקבלת על הלב. If you want to persuade someone, speak to their emotion, connect them, put them in the story, make them want and yearn, make them see themselves enjoying and finding the fulfillment that you have. כי בתחילה כאשר הדיבור באופן כללי הוא סוגר תשומת לבו ואחר שכבר נעשה קשוב וליבו פתוח מעבירים את הדיבור ישירות אל הלב ואין לו עוד ברירה כי אם לשמוע את הדברים ולהפנימם אל תוכו. You don't want to externally try to beat somebody over the head. You want to open up an IV and pump it into their veins. How do you get right into someone's veins? You tug on their heartstring, put it right into their heart. Open up the heart. How do you open up the heart? Not by beating them over the head. Nobody ever started to keep Shabbos because rocks were thrown at their car. And nobody ever made aliyah because rocks were thrown proverbially at their head. And nobody ever started to exercise or sleep more because somebody said to them, 'What's the matter with you?' A person has to be inspired, motivated, emotionally drawn, connected. Open up that heart and inject, pump it right in. ובאמת שרעיון זה עומד מאחורי כל משל ונמשל. כאשר באים להסביר דבר מסוים אם רומזים אותו מיד ספק גדול אם ייכנס הדבר ויחדור אל הלב אולם כאשר שומעים משל וסיפור שאינו נוגע לאדם אפשר להתחבר לסיפור יותר. When you're not in attack mode, when you're giving some theoretical mashal, and now the person on their own realizes, 'Ooh, that's me, you're speaking to me. Wow.' I'm able to now step outside myself and see myself in that story, in that mashal you just gave. על פי זה נבין. Now says Rav Druck, we can understand. מה שהתורה פתחה בלשון רבים דברו אל הכהנים בני אהרן ואמרת אליהם. כי כאשר. First Hashem tells Moshe, speak to the whole group, the whole conglomerate of Kohanim and tell them. Because when... כי כאשר באים להזהיר אל הכהנים באזהרות מיוחדות הנהוגות אך ורק עליהם אין לומר להם את האזהרה בצורה ישירה אלא לדבר אל כללות הכהנים ולא למישהו דווקא. You don't point to that kohen and go \"what's the matter with you? You can't contaminate yourself. Protect yourself. What are you doing? How are you exposing yourself?\" That kohen says \"whoa, relax. Whoa.\" They shut down. They retreat. They put up a wall. But rather you begin el hakohanim, theoretical, speaking to the whole group, the entire unit, speaking to all kohanim. אולם אחר שפתח בדיבור על כללות הכהנים שוב כבר ניתן לומר בלשון יחיד לנפש לא יטמא בעמיו. But now that you've made the person realize \"I'm not calling you out. I'm not challenging you directly. I'm not making this a personal attack about you.\" There's a category called kohanim and they have a certain stature and status and therefore they need to protect themselves and carry themselves in a certain way. And you, privileged part, you as one of the kohanim, whoa, you too need to be careful. אז כבר אין הכהן הפרטי נפגע מן הציווי. Now you're not insulting, now you're not injuring, now you're not personally attacking that particular kohen. So Rav Druck learns a lesson from the shift from the plural to the singular. The two answers we saw from the אור החיים הקדוש, but also the insight that Rav Druck says about the way that we communicate, the way that we persuade, the way that we inspire. Maybe you want to move someone to your political orientation. You want them to vote for your candidate. You want them to adopt that lifestyle choice. You want them to make that shift. It doesn't matter what it is in any area of life. It's not going to be effective if you beat someone over the head, if it's a personal attack, if you criticize and if you condemn, if you throw rocks, literally or figuratively at them. Open their heart, draw them in, create the emotional connection, paint a picture, let them see what you have and make them want it. And make them want it too. Says the Menachem Tzion, we're learning the new edition, רב מנחם בן ציון זקס, the Heilige Menachem Tzion, says the Menachem Tzion, אמור ואמרת להזהיר גדולים על הקטנים. Gemara Yevamos דף קיד Rashi quotes why the double language emor ve'amarta, speak and say over, speak and say over. It seems entirely redundant. So the Gemara Yevamos tells us להזהיר גדולים על הקטנים. Gedolim means the older, the adults, the more mature should warn and caution and model and motivate and inspire the youth, the ktanim. I can't help it. I just have to share what we've shared previously. Others say lehazhir, lehazhir is milashon Zohar. What's Zohar? To radiate light. להזהיר גדולים על הקטנים. If you want young children to do something, don't talk about it. Lehazhir, shine a light, lead by example. Similar to the last insight we just shared. You want to motivate and inspire others, show why it's beautiful, why it's amazing. This is really for tomorrow, the emunah shiur, but somebody emailed me a question this week. They're not entirely aligned with their spouse when it comes to issues of emunah. They listen to the Living with Emunah shiur. Their life has been changed and transformed. They say they feel they're in constant conversation with Hashem. They're feeling His hug and His kiss and His wink. And their spouse, let's just say, is not. What's the best way to get their spouse to also understand and interpret their struggles in parnassah and other areas through emunah? So I wrote back and I said, it ain't gonna be by talking about it. It's not gonna be by criticizing and condemning and telling them why they're wrong and trying to persuade and beating them up. But if they see that emunah has brought you calm and serenity and peace and joy, it's empowered you to handle whatever challenge has come your way. If someone sees what emunah is doing for you, then they want a piece of it too. If it's made you a better spouse, a better parent, a happier person, a better friend, a person who's able to be happy for others, if it's helped you navigate anxiety, then that person says, \"I want that. Where can I get that shot? Where can I take that pill? Where can I get that prescription filled? How do I get that? Look how good you look. Look what it's done for you. I want it too.\" Lehazhir. So the answer is not with words. The answer is with example. להזהיר גדולים על הקטנים. We also saw previously, and I know this goes against everything I believe, but I can't help it. We also saw previously להזהיר גדולים על הקטנים doesn't only mean the adults and the children. Gedolim can mean the mochin de'gadlus and the mochin de'katnus. We have moments, we have times, we have experiences of gadlus, flying high, seeing clearly, highly inspired, incredibly driven, tremendously motivated. For some people that's Seder night, Pesach. For other people different points of the year, coming off a simcha or having a moment of clarity. And that's a moment of gadlus, mochin de'gadlus. I can see clearly and I have an expansive mind and I'm riding high and I'm flying. Feeling connected and then we have other moments of Katnus, Mochin de-Katnus. I don't feel like going to Shul, I don't feel like Davening, I don't feel like doing Mitzvos, I'm not looking forward to Shabbos, Yom Tov, I'm not connected. We have moments, all of us, we ride that roller coaster ups and downs. Yemei ahava, yemei sina, yemei ya'ush, Rav Volbe calls it. We all have it. So what we need to do is להזהיר גדולים על הקטנים. When we're on a spiritual high, when we're feeling incredibly connected, we have to bank it, we have to capture it and then Lehazir, we have to reflect it al ha-ketanim. So that when we're in that dip, we're in that downturn, we're in that moment where we're not too excited, we're not so connected, we remember we can draw from, we still experience the shine, Lehazir of the moments of Gadlus. להזהיר גדולים על הקטנים. So when you're on that high, when you're in that good place, first of all know you likely will not be there forever. And number two, capture it, bottle it, so that you could later remind yourself of it and how you'll get back to it. Okay, that's all from the past. But back to the Menachem Tzion, Rav Menachem Bentzion Saks. Worth repeating, that was worth repeating, no? Such beautiful insights. Okay, make me feel good at least. Remez yesh kan ma she-ne'emar להזהיר גדולים על הקטנים היינו החוב המוטל על הדור ההולך לחנך ולהדריך את הדור הבא, אין להסתפק באמור פעם אחת לבד. Why? How do we learn this lesson from Emor? Emor ve-amarta. God spoke to Moshe Emor, speak to the Kohanim ve-amarta aleihem and tell them. So how did we learn להזהיר גדולים על הקטנים from Emor ve-amarta? Says the Menachem Tzion, you know why? Because if you want to communicate to the next generation, it's not enough to say it once. אלא עלינו הגדולים לקיים אמור ואמרת. All of us can remember the most influential people in our lives, hopefully our parents, sometimes a teacher, a Rebbe, a neighbor. We remember what they used to say. We remember the thing they said over and over again. We remember their refrain, we remember what they repeated. That's what embedded itself in us. That's what we took, that's what lasted, that's what we remember, that's what we draw from. Every Pesach they used to say. You know, it was they used to love to quote that from Pirkei Avos. That was the most important thing, that's what they used to say. That's what they used to. So we think as parents sometimes or educators, Emor, I said it once. I was clear once. Don't lie, be honest. I was clear once. Don't cut lines. Be respectful. I was clear once. Why do I have to repeat it? Why do I have to say it again? The answer is we remember, we're influenced by the things that people repeated. About work ethic, about honesty, about erlichkeit, about whatever area of life. What we remember and what we're transformed by are the things that people repeated. And that's why the limud davka is from here, says Rav Menachem Tzion Bentzion Saks. Emor ve-amarta. מחויבים אנו להשלים השכם והערב every morning and every night, לאמור ולאמר להזהיר ולהזהיר מבלי הרף, עד שהאמירות והאזהרות תהיינה התוצאות הרצויות, till the thing that we say is what's repeated, it's how we're known. He doesn't quote this. Pirkei Avos, we're learning that, it's summertime. Pirkei Avos will often say about a great Rabbi, Hu haya omer. He used to say. What are you adding from that? Just tell us what he said. Shammai omer, Hillel omer. Tell us what they said. Hu haya omer. He used to say. He used to say. Just tell us what he said. Maybe that's the... Hu haya omer. The way that he got it across is he didn't say it once. Hu haya omer, every year on that Parsha, every Yom Tov, every year on that Yom Tov, every... Hu haya omer, Hu haya omer. The other vort they say is, Hu haya omer. His whole being said. He didn't say with words. Let's go back to the first pshat, Lehazir. Hu haya omer. You know what said that message? Not his mouth and his words, who he was and how he lived. Who she was and how she lived. Hu, their being, their life, their lifestyle. Hu, he, haya omer. That's what said it. So we have to repeat it with our words but also back it up and demonstrate it with our actions. And then he quotes pasuk later, כי דור תהפוכות המה בנים לא אמון בם. Pasuk later describes a dor tahpuchos, ha-ketanim, dor ha-ba, הינם מהפכנים נגד הגדולים. It's an upside down, backwards generation. They've been saying that for all time about the next generation. But we can really say it now about this generation. We're accurate, we're right, we're precise when we say it that it's a dor tahpuchos, upside down, inside out, and backwards. Ha-dor ha-holech, madua, why? The pasuk continues because בנים לא אמון בם because... because they lacked. What is the word א מ ו נ? It means chinuch, but it also means emuna, because the fathers didn't fulfill אמור ואמרת להזהיר גדולים על הקטנים. If we didn't say it and say it often, then no one heard it, no one lived it, no one sees it, no one follows it. He also doesn't quote this, but we say sefarim hakedoshim. They say, how do we grow emuna? He'emanti ki adaber. He'emanti ki adaber. How do you get people to grow in their emuna? Ki adaber, you talk about it. Hashem is amazing, look Hashem found us a park, please don't forget to thank Hashem before you eat the cereal, the candy. He'emarti, he'emanti ki adaber. We grow our emuna when we emor ve'amarta, over and over and over again. And that's why the limud להזהיר גדולים על הקטנים is telling us how. What's the method? How are you מזהיר גדולים על הקטנים? Through emor ve'amarta. Say it, and say it over again. Hu haya omer. And therefore to avoid a dor tapuchos, to not get a backwards, upside down, inside out generation, then we have to repeat our message, what we stand for, what we believe, live it, demonstrate it, over and over and over again. Okay. Perek chaf-alef, pasuk tet. Moving right along. The laws of kohanim, how they protect themselves, how they're different, to whom they can come contaminated, a regular kohen versus the kohen gadol. What funeral can they attend? Loved ones, family, a meis mitzvah, a abandoned corpse that no one else is taking care of. Whom can they marry? A kohen is not allowed to marry, kohen is ineligible to marry certain people. Is that biased? Is that discriminatory? It's because of their stature, it's because of their status, it's because of their place. It's privileged, it's privileged. The kohen gadol even more and even greater. And here the Torah outlines and delineates these laws. Pasuk tet tells us: ובת איש כהן כי תחל לזנות את אביה היא מחללת באש תשרף. One of the distinguishing laws about the kohanim and their families. Because the man technically is the kohen. But there is a status and a benefit, a privilege of being an eishess kohen or a bas kohen. For example, terumah is the food that's separated, the tithe that's taken, that's given to the kohanim. Kohanim are supported, they're provided through terumah, not because they get a handout, but because they're serving the people. They are the community kollel, they're the rabbis, they're the educators. Their job is not to take another profession, but to dedicate themselves and their lives entirely into inspiring the people. Well how are they meant to get paid? How do you support yourself? How do you eat? If you're volunteering to be a teacher to the people? Terumah. They receive terumah. Kohanim get terumah, the Levi'im get ma'aser. So, can a kohen's wife eat terumah? A Yisrael, a zar, can't eat terumah. And in fact if they do, the parsha tells us, they not only have to repay the kohen if a non-kohen ate terumah, they shouldn't have, they not only have to make the kohen whole because they took what really belonged to them, they have to add on a fifth. They have to increase and return, repay twenty percent more, a fifth, a fifth. What about the wife of a kohen? She's allowed to eat terumah. What if they get divorced? No more. What about the daughter of a kohen? So long as she's in her father's house, she can. If she gets married and graduates his home, if she didn't marry a kohen, she can't. What if she gets divorced and moves back in with her father? It depends. Depends on what? Did she have a baby with the non-kohen? That created a continuity and a legacy. Complex laws in these, in these areas. So here the Torah in this context tells us bas ish kohen. You have the daughter of a kohen. Ki techel liznos. What happened? She had an adulterous affair. את אביה היא מחללת. Not only did she bring shame and disgrace to herself, but the family, her father. Her father was in this position of distinction, he's a kohen. Ba'esh tizaref. And therefore she gets a very harsh punishment, she is consumed by fire, death by fire. It needs witnesses, it needs a warning. Gemara tells us it was hardly ever if ever actually carried out, but the Torah's communicating a very severe punishment because it's a very severe sin. Because not only did she bring shame and disgrace to herself, but she did to all of her, all of her category of people, namely kohanim. Says Rav Druck in his Eish Tomid. דרוש נאה יש לדרוש פסוק זה. גמרא נדה דף ל\"א מובא. Shelosha shutfin be'adam. Sorry, I'm reading the wrong teaching. Reading the wrong one. Here it is. Rashi. Rashi, ki techel liznos. That word. This daughter of a kohen who made a mistake, an indiscretion, the daughter of the kohen who had an adulterous affair, the language the Torah uses to describe her adulterous affair is ki techel. Ki seichal liznos. So Rashi says כשתתחלל על ידי זנות. What's that word techel, seichal, comes from chulin? Chulin, what's chulin? Profane, mundane. כשתתחלל על ידי זנות. A Cohen who violates their kehunah. So a Cohen, for example, marries one of the people they weren't supposed to marry. A Cohen marries a divorcee, a Cohen marries a convert, a Cohen marries a previously promiscuous woman—all complicated categories, not getting into the halacha now. He marries someone who is ineligible to him. That child, that offspring, that son is not a Cohen, he's a chalal. And as a chalal, he can't eat terumah. He has lost his status. What's the word we use to describe him? He's profaned the sacred status, he's a chalal. She, by having this adulterous affair, is v'techel, says Rashi. Where's the word techel, seichal liznos, tis-chalel? שעשתה בזיקת בעל וזנתה אומן האירוסין ואומן הנישואין, whether it was from only engagement, betrothal, or from marriage, the adulterous affair could have happened in either stage. Raboseinu necheliku badavar, הכל מודים שלא דיבר הכתוב בפנויה. We're not talking about a single woman. So Rashi says כי תחל לשון חילול, she-mechaleis es aviha. She has profaned her father. Rabbim min hamefarshim explain ki seichal, but Rav Druck says others explain that ki seichal doesn't come from the lashon chalal, she profaned. Ki seichal comes from another word. How do you say to begin in Hebrew? Le-hatchil, has-chala. The Ibn Ezra אינו מסכים לפירוש זה אלא מצדיק את פירוש רש\"י. So how do you understand the interpretations, the commentaries who say ki seichal comes from the language of to begin? What does to begin have to do with here? Here you have the daughter of a Cohen who is promiscuous, she has an adulterous affair. What does ki seichal have to do with has-chala, hatchala, have to do with a beginning? Says Rav Druck, ונראה שכתב כאן יסוד גדול. There is an important principle. התורה באה לומר כיצד הגיעה אותה נערה לידי איסור זנות, hachamor kol kach. What happened to this young lady? What happened? How'd she get to a place that she had an adulterous affair, that she brought shame and disgrace, that she profaned her father's sacred status? היא לא נפלה ישר לזנות. She didn't wake up one day and go straight to that behavior, אלא היא רק התחילה קצת. She started a little bit, she flirted a little bit with it and with others. Yarda masheu, yatza hachutza. ברגע שמתחילים פותחים פתח ליצר. It started somewhere. She had the wrong friends. She had technology without any boundaries or borders. She went to the wrong places. She started acting out in the wrong way. She was exposed. She was put on a trajectory. It all began somewhere. It began somewhere. A negative influence. It began because someone failed her or hurt her. It began because there was something inside her that wasn't nurtured or loved or answered. It began somewhere. Ein derech emtza'is, אם מתחילים נופלים עד הסוף. If we begin and we go down that slippery slope and we follow that trajectory, that's where it goes. That's how it ends. Zeh peirush hakasuv and bas Cohen, ki seichal. This daughter of the Cohen, when she begins, this is how it ends. If she begins, this is how it goes, this is how it ends. סופו של דבר שבא לזנות, ואז את אביה היא מחללת. Ki seichal, the has-chala, the beginning, that's where it all began. But the end is aviha hi mechaleis. That's how it all ends. And that's what we need to be aware of is to look at the beginning. You know sometimes we make a choice for our children. We put them in that environment—that school, that camp, those friends. We allow that thing because we don't want to fight, so it's fine they can have that device, they can have it in that way, they could use it any hour of the day, they can have it in their room. I don't have the energy to fight. That's where those friends are going, that's where... but we don't look. איזה חכם הרואה את הנולד. You've got to look to the future and you've got to see the trajectory you're putting them on. What you just began, the friends you just put them with, what you just gave access to, the influence you just invited in—that's how it began, where does it end? What's the trajectory? Now nothing is guaranteed of course. There are people who pivot and shift whatever trajectory they were on, but a person needs to know that how it begins is often, usually the trajectory that will lead to where it ends. And that's what the Torah is telling us, says Rav Druck, ki seichal. lashon hatchala. If that's where it begins, then את אביה היא מחללת, that's how it's going to end. I'm proud of myself that we're going to now go to the end of the parsha, because every year I have all my notes of what we didn't get to for the end of the parsha, and I want to focus on that this year to do a little teshuva from the past. So Perek Chaf Gimmel. Perek Chaf Gimmel takes us to Parshas HaMoados. We have here Parshas Emor, later Parshas Re'eh, go through all the holidays that we're used to, the cycle of the holidays. וידבר ה' אל משה לאמר, page 682 in the ArtScroll Stone Chumash. דבר אל בני ישראל ואמרת אליהם מועדי ה' אשר תקראו אתם מקראי קדש אלה הם מועדי. God says to Moshe, tell the people, moadei Hashem. What's a moed? A moed means an appointed time, a rendezvous point. A moed, va'ad, Vav Ayin Dalet, is an appointed time, it's an appointment. It's an appointment. Moed is an appointed time, usually for the good but not necessarily. The Megillas Eichah calls Tisha B'Av a moed, not only because one day it will be transformed to a holiday, but any point in time which is designated with a particular energy and something we're meant to extract from it, a way we're meant to be transformed from it and by it, is called a moed. So therefore moadei Hashem. Hashem looked at a calendar and all days are not created equal. We mistakenly think they are. We mistakenly buy into a secular linear version of time. We think we're born, we're that point on the timeline, there's a timeline that just moves forward and every day just repeats itself. Maybe the weather changes, the calendar date changes, but all of time is just repeating itself over and over again or just moving forward. The Jewish notion of time is very different, it's not linear. The Jewish notion of time is cyclical. It's not a circle, because if the Jewish notion of time were a circle, we would all meet ourselves on Lag BaOmer from Lag BaOmer last year if it were a circle. It's not a circle, but it's a spiral, because a spiral repeats the same cycle but advances and progresses. When the Almighty, when the Ribono Shel Olam created the world, He placed in time certain powers, certain energy, certain possibility, certain potential that we can tap into, that we can be transformed by, elevated by, changed by, connected with. How do we know what is the energy of any given day? How do we know what we're meant to extract and experience from that point in time of that cycle, a spiral that's moving forward? How do we know? So most often because the Ribono Shel Olam had a historical event unfold that revealed what was that power in time. So for example, Pesach. It's not that Pesach happened, we left Mitzrayim on the 15th of Nisan, therefore we observe Pesach on the 15th of Nisan. It's that the 15th of Nisan carried the power, the possibility of freedom and liberation and emancipation ever since God created the world and therefore we left on that day. So when we observe Pesach on that day, we're not commemorating something from the past, this isn't the Renaissance Faire, but rather we're tapping into that same power of freedom, emancipation, liberation that our ancestors did. That explains how Avraham Avinu observed Pesach. The three angels, the malachim visited Avraham on Pesach. How did Avraham observe Pesach? We had not yet gone to Egypt, we had not yet come out of Egypt. What does it mean that he observed Pesach? The answer is we need the historical event to reveal that power in time. Our Avos and Imahos didn't. They knew it. They had a much greater spiritual instinct, antenna. They knew it without needing the historical event. But every point in time is filled with that power and possibility. We have and use our historical events. Shavuos, we're counting up to Shavuos, 26th day of the Omer, we're counting up. Shavuos, we're not commemorating that we got the Torah thousands of years ago. Let's get together, we'll decorate the shul, we'll stay up all night and we'll commemorate that thousands of years ago our ancestors got the... no. We're getting the Torah. We're going to the mountain. That day is a day that Hashem is revealing Himself again. Only question is, are we going to be at the mountain? Will we be there for the moment? Are we experiencing and accepting it again? Every point in time, that's why it's called a moed. It's a point in time. It's true for the days of Sefirah especially. People mistakenly dismiss it, they think it's only Kabbalistic. But each week of the seven weeks of Sefirah has an energy and each day within each week of the seven weeks has an energy. And every day if you say those parts of Sefirah, you don't just count and say the number and then HaRachaman... yachazir lanu, but if you say the other paragraphs that follow, you'll invoke the energy of that day. It's important to learn the Sefiros and therefore what that energy is. But we're meant to be transformed, changed, experience the energy of that day. So it's true nationally, collectively through the holidays that reveal the point in time or Sefiras Haomer that every day has its energy. It's also true individually. Chaf Iyar, the twentieth of Iyar is a very important day. Is it on your calendars? It should be. It's my anniversary. I don't even know my secular anniversary, the Gregorian, because who cares and what does it matter? It doesn't matter. But the twentieth of Iyar, two halves became a whole, the beginning of a family was created. I found my better half. I can only talk about it because she's not here today. I found my better half. It happens to be that a year later on the twentieth of Iyar, another amazing event happened. The Ribono Shel Olam decided that Racheli Goldberg-Prawer needed to be in this world. Her neshama, my oldest daughter was born then. The twentieth of Iyar, so how am I celebrating it? Let's give each other an anniversary card and talk about many years ago, many years ago, we stood under a chupa, we got married, wasn't it great, we should watch the video, look at the pictures, make our parents feel better about what they spent on the photographer, and we'll commemorate that we got married. No. No. The twentieth of Iyar we're under the chupa again, renewing our vows again, reestablishing that connection, that commitment again, we're becoming whole again. My daughter for her birthday, all of us on our birthday, the energy of that day for each of us individually is that Hashem decided the world was incomplete without us and that what we would uniquely and distinctly bring into the world, it was time now and right now. And our birthday is the day that we ask ourselves are we fulfilling our mission and our mandate? Are we answering the why of why Hashem brought us into this world? It's not just a birthday, I need attention, I need gifts, I need cards, nobody noticed. No, who cares about any of that? It's a conversation with ourselves. All of this is in the word moed. All of this is in the word moed. Hopefully you'll all mark down Chaf Iyar now. A special day, or at least on Yud Tes Iyar you'll remind me that tomorrow's Chaf Iyar and I need to do something about it. Okay. So all that's called moed. מועדי ה' אשר תקראו אותם מקראי קודש אלה הם מועדי. Hashem says these are my moadim, elei heim moadai. These are the appointed times. You're going to meet me? A moed is a rendezvous point. Could you imagine you made up to meet somebody? We'll meet at Starbucks at this time. We're going to catch up, it's been forever. Sometimes you put something on the calendar. You ever have this? With a friend, someone you haven't spoken to in a long time. You say don't let so much time pass again. So I'll tell you what, look now in six months we'll meet. Six months we'll meet for breakfast, for lunch, put it in your calendar, mark it, we're going to get together. Can you imagine the other person shows up, they're sitting there waiting, you're nowhere to be found. What happened to our appointed time? What happened to our rendezvous point? You left me hanging. I'm sitting here by myself. So the Almighty says the calendar is filled with dates between me and you. We have date night, date week, date month, date year. The calendar is filled with opportunities we're going on dates because you got to date even after you're married. We're married to Hashem, but we got to continue to date him. So the calendar is filled with elei heim moadai. These are our date nights. This is it, this is our date night. And when you don't show up, when you don't arrive, when you don't come to the meeting rendezvous point, you left Hashem hanging. All that is what a moed is. Let's look forward, get pumped, get excited, learn, get ready, be open, tap into that energy, find it, and connect and connect to it. Elei heim moadai. So פרק כג פסוק טו. We're going to go through all... we're not going to go through it in the parsha class, but our parsha is going to go through all of these moadim. Let's start with Sefiras Haomer, the one we're in right now. Top of page 686, chapter 23, verse 15. Sorry, 684. וספרתם לכם ממחרת השבת מיום הביאכם את עומר התנופה שבע שבתות תמימות תהיינה. And count for yourself from after Shabbos, from the day that you brought the Korban Haomer, the Omer sacrifice, seven complete whole weeks. Until when do you count? Interestingly, the Torah does not give us a date for Shavuos. All of the holidays we have a date. Shavuos is not given a date. It's told... we're told when to count and at the completion of that counting, boom, that's Shavuos. So count seven complete weeks, 49 days, עד ממחרת השבת השביעית תספרו חמשים יום. So the fiftieth day והקרבתם מנחה חדשה לה'. Now you're going to bring a second sacrifice and that is the holiday of Shavuos and the sacrifices of that day. Says Rabbi Soloveitchik in the Rabbi Soloveitchik Chumash. Says Rabbi Soloveitchik here: וספרתם לכם ממחרת השבת. He writes: the heretical sect known as the Tzedukim, the Sadducees maintained that this mitzvah begins on the first Sunday after Pesach. Why would they have mistakenly concluded that? Because what does the pasuk say? וספרתם לכם ממחרת השבת. When do you begin to count? Motza'ei Shabbos. Motza'ei Shabbos you start the count. So when did they start their count? On the first Motza'ei Shabbos on the Sunday after Pesach rather than on the second day of Pesach. We're the ones, the burden is on us to prove, which we do, the Perushim, those who believe in the authority of the Oral Torah understood, don't take it literally. Mimacharas ha-shabbos doesn't mean after Shabbos. Mimacharas ha-shabbos means after Pesach. Why would you call Pesach Shabbos? There's a lot to say about that. You should've been here last Pesach. There's a lot to say about that. The Perushim understood that, those who understood the Oral Torah were reinterpreting or revealing additional layers of interpretation, but Tzedukim the Sadducees took the Torah literally. In addition to the technical exegetical dispute between the Tzedukim and the Perushim, there is a profound philosophical dimension to their debate, says Rabbi Soloveitchik. According to the Tzedukim, there's no connection between Pesach and Shavuos. The former holiday celebrates our release from slavery, the latter is an agricultural festival. If you want to read the Torah simply, which is how the Tzedukim did it, they saw Pesach and Shavuos as two totally independent separate Yamim Tovim. Pesach, we left the slavery and subjugation of Egypt, of Mitzrayim. Shavuos, an agrarian, agricultural holiday. What does one have to do with the other? They happen to fall on a calendar forty-nine days apart, totally and utterly not connected. However, according to the holy Perushim, our release from slavery on Pesach was only the first stage of redemption. The Ribbono shel Olam's plan was to intervene in our political situation to implement his goal of presenting the Torah to us. The so-called ארבע לשונות של גאולה, the four verbs associated with the redemption reflect this idea. והוצאתי והצלתי וגאלתי ולקחתי. The first three refer to political redemption, release from bondage. They do not, however, express the ultimate goal. The goal of ve-lakachti was realized at Har Sinai not in Egypt. The Exodus was consummated with the giving of the Torah and that's why the Perushim insist that Shavuos is not a separate holiday. In their view, the ultimate objective of the redemption was finally realized seven weeks later. Perushim therefore refer to the holiday of Shavuos as Atzeres. The rabbinic name for the Yom Tov of Shavuos is Atzeres. What does Atzeres mean? I'll give you a hint: Shemini Atzeres. What is Shemini Atzeres? When does it come? It is the last day of Sukkos. So you have Sukkos and on the one hand Shemini Atzeres is a Regel bifnei atzmo. Pshar kshav. It's a Regel bifnei atzmo, it's its own Yom Tov, but it's shemini, it's the eighth day which is Atzeres, the end of Sukkos. Shavuos the rabbis called Atzeres. It is the end of Pesach. You thought Pesach was long at eight days? Pesach's not eight days. How long is Pesach? Fifty days. Fifty-one days if you include Shavuos in chutz la-aretz. In fact, the Ramban, he doesn't quote this, but the Ramban writes on our parshah: that's how you're meant to see Sefiras ha-Omer. Just like Sukkos has first days and last days and what's in between Chol ha-Moed, Pesach, the entire Pesach are the first days of this fifty-day Yom Tov, Shavuos is the last day, and Sefiras ha-Omer is Chol ha-Moed. We're on our march. We're walking across that bridge right now between Pesach and Shavuos. They're entirely connected and why are they connected? Because Pesach without Shavuos is not Pesach. I've remarked in the past that it's tragic that so many of our brothers and sisters who are aware of and in their way observe Pesach have never heard of Shavuos. How do you say Shavuos in English? Pentecost, I think. No? Holiday of Pentecost, weeks. Ask the average unfortunately non-observant unaffiliated Jew, what are you doing for Shavuos? They haven't heard of cheesecake, they haven't heard of staying up all night, they haven't heard of Tikkun Leil Shavuos. They never heard of Shavuos, they never heard of Pentecost, they never heard of weeks. Sadly, but if you don't come to the mountain on Shavuos then you miss the point of leaving Egypt on Pesach. This wasn't a secular freedom, this wasn't in the words of a philosopher, this wasn't freedom from, it's a freedom to. Freedom from versus freedom to and that's what our parshah is telling us, the purpose of the... The purpose, the goal of Sefirat Ha'omer is freedom to. שבע שבתות תמימות תהיינה writes Rav Soloveitchik, the basic criterion which distinguishes free man from slave is the relationship each has with time and its experience. Bondage is identical with passive intuition and reception of an empty formal time stream. When the Jews were delivered from Egyptian oppression and Moshe rose to undertake the almost impossible task of metamorphosizing a tribe of slaves into a nation of priests, he was told by Hashem that the path leading from the holiday of Pesach to Shavuot, from initial liberation to consummate freedom, is through the medium of time. It's not a coincidence that the way that we transform, the way we go from being slaves to free people is by counting time. We leave Pesach and what do we have to do? Count. Count 49 days. The commandment of Sefirat Ha'omer was entrusted to the Jew. The wondrous test of counting 49 successive days was to put to him: these 49 days must be whole. If one day is missed, the act of numeration is invalidated. A slave is capable of appreciating each day, of grasping its meaning and worth, of weaving every thread of time into a glorious fabric, quantitatively stretching over the period of seven weeks but qualitatively forming the warp and woof of centuries of change is eligible for Torah. He has achieved freedom. That's why we're doing the technology challenge now. We didn't wait to do it in Elul, didn't do it over the summer when people are off. The technology challenge, we're up to 2,600 people in it. We're doing it every day. It's unbelievable. Today is day nine, day nine of our 30-day challenge. Not too late to join, people are still joining. rabbieframgoldberg.org/challenge, rabbieframgoldberg.org/challenge, day nine. Join 2,600 people, we didn't market or advertise, who are part of this challenge. It's changing their lives. You have to read and see the testimonials I'm getting about how it is transformed their life. Because if we can disconnect from the device that we compulsively are so drawn to, we can connect to the people and to ourselves. We can take back our ownership of time. Yesterday's challenge, yesterday's challenge, I don't know how many people here, we have a poll at the end of every day where people answer. I can't believe they answer. How many people completed? How many people are still trying? They answer the poll. Yesterday's challenge was: look at your average screen time previously and yesterday reduce it by 15%. Be on your phone 15% less than you were the day before. You know how many people completed? It's amazing. But they didn't just complete it, they then wrote to me or voice-noted me, do you know what it did that I was on my phone 15% less? Do you know what I was doing instead? Who I was with instead? What I was occupied with instead? Do you know what it changed instead? Amazing. When you spend less screen time, you spend more quality time doing other things. That's what Sefirat Ha'omer is, we're counting time. Because freedom is to be in control of our own time. The slave is told where to go, when to go. The slave has no control over time. Freedom is time awareness. Counting is awareness of time. So freedom is time awareness and freedom is time counting and that's why these days, these 49 days, we're counting this time. That's why Sefirat Ha'omer falls right now when it does. Rav Druck also has an interpretation of Sefirat Ha'omer, but we're not going to look at it right now. He has two that we were going to look at. Should we look at them? So much more I want to get to. You know what? I can't because it's way too long. I'm going to come back to it next year. It's way too long and way too amazing. I want to do it a disservice. Moving along. Perek Chaf Gimmel Pasuk Chaf Aleph. Top of page 686. וקראתם בעצם היום הזה מקרא קדש יהיה לכם כל מלאכת עבדה לא תעשו חקת עולם בכל מושבתיכם לדרתיכם ובקצרכם את קציר ארצכם לא תכלה פאת שדך בקצרך ולקט קצירך לא תלקט לעני ולגר תעזב אתם אני ה' אלהיכם. The Omer count leads to Shavuot. Shavuot, I told you, the Torah depicts as an agricultural holiday and what do we do? We reap our harvest. It's the holiday of the harvest. You shall not remove completely the corners of your field as you reap. Don't gather gleanings of your harvest for the poor and the proselyte. You leave them. Ani Hashem Elokeichem. Says Rav Shmuel Berenbaum, you knew we were going to get to a Tiferet Shmuel. Says Rav Shmuel Berenbaum on these words, Uvekotzrechem. Amar Rabbi- Rashi- he quotes Rashi. אמר רבי אבדימי ברבי יוסף מה ראה הכתוב ליתנם באמצע הרגלים פסח ועצרת מכאן וסוכות מכאן ללמדך שכל המוציא לקט שכחה ופאה לעני כראוי מעלה עליו הכתוב כאילו בנה בית המקדש והקריב עליו קרבנותיו. These mitzvot, what are these mitzvot here? Torah all of a sudden injects uvekotzrechem. Torah tells us you have to leave gifts for the poor which we'd seen previously, pe'ah and leket, leave over the corner of your field, pe'ah, leket. Incredible organization, my lifetime friend Joe Gittler created called Leket, food rescue in Israel, it's feeding countless in Israel, that's where it gets its name, Leket, Pe'ah, Leket. So מה ראה כתוב ליתנן באמצע רגלים? What's going on over here? We're in the middle of the calendar. We're going through the holidays. Why do we insert in the middle of the calendar, don't forget to leave over your corner, don't forget Leket for the poor? פסח עצרת מכאן ראש השנה יום הכפורים והחג מכאן lelamedcha says Rashi שכל הנותן לקט שכחה ופאה לעני כראוי מעלין עליו כאילו בנה בית המקדש והקריב עליו קרבנותיו בתוכו. Anyone who gives gifts to the poor, Hashem will treat it like they rebuilt the Beit HaMikdash and offered all the sacrifices upon them. Okay. Says Rav Shmuel Berenbaum tzarich iyun, למה הנותן מתנות עניים נחשב כאילו בנה בית המקדש והקריב קרבנות. What is it about giving gifts to the poor that makes it like you built the Beit HaMikdash and offered sacrifices? I understand it's virtuous, I understand it's meritorious, I'm understanding of its deserving of reward, but what makes it like building a Beit HaMikdash? V'yesh lomar, אמרו חז\"ל בשלשה דברים אדם ניכר. Chazal, our Rabbis, told us very insightfully that a person can be best understood or summed up in three ways. You want to get to know someone? Here's how you get to know him. By the way, this should be very instructive. What should you look for in shidduch resumes and references? These are the three questions to ask: kiso, kaso, u'bekoso. What are the kiso, kaso, koso? Kiso means your pocket. Your kiss? What do you mean your pocket? Does it have a hole in it? What's the question of kiso? It means your wallet. Are you generous or are you stingy? Kaso, are you quick to anger, are you patient? Koso, what happens if you have a lechayim? What comes out? ואחד מהדברים שעצמיות האדם ניכרו בכיסו. One of the ways that we're known is our pocket. כיצד הוא מתנהג עם ענייני ממונו. How do we act when it comes to money? You know the person who every time you go out says, \"My treat, I got it\"? And you know the person who every time you go out says, \"Oh my gosh, I can't believe it, I left my wallet at home\"? Everyone fits into one of two categories: the \"I left, I can't believe I forgot my wallet at home\" or the \"Let me treat you, it's my pleasure, you get me next time, I insist, I insist.\" You know there's two types of people. There's the person who says, \"Let's each cover what we ordered,\" and the person who ordered 17 appetizers, 15 side dishes, and 3 desserts when all you got was a soup and says, \"Let's split it evenly.\" The whole world can be divided into these categories of people. ממילא מאחר שהאדם טורח בכל המלאכות עד שיצליח השדה להוציא תבואה פירות ואדם רוצה בקב שלו מתשעה קבין של חברו. Think about who this individual is. They've just worked their field. They harvested it, sorry, they plowed it, they planted it, they irrigated it, they weeded it, and now they harvest it. They broke their back. They baked in the sun. They worked with all their being. And now it's time to harvest, now it's time to collect. And the Torah tells him, \"Not so fast. Don't forget to leave over the corner. Don't forget to leave over what you dropped.\" And a person says, \"Whoa, wait, that's mine, but I worked for it, I broke my back for it, I labored for it. It's mine.\" U'peirush Rashi pnei she-torach bah. עכשיו העני ליקח חלקו. Now the poor person appears in your field and says, \"It's not yours, it's mine. I'm entitled to it. Hashem designated that for me.\" ליקח חלקו חינם מפרי עמל שבעל השדה. The poor person sat under a tree watching you work, and when you're done and you harvest, now shows up and says, \"That part belongs to me.\" ואף על פי כן לא רק שנותן מתנות לעני אלא נותן כראוי be-sever panim yafot and says to the poor person, \"Yeah, absolutely, come along,\" with a smile, \"You're right, I had you in mind all along, that part is yours.\" העני מרגיש נוח ומכובד לבוא לתוך שדהו. So the ani doesn't have to come in the darkness of night. The poor person doesn't have to sneak into the field to take what's his. The poor person doesn't have to hang his head in shame and beg and grovel and feel less than. הרי לקט שכחה ופאה הם ממון עניים. God gave him that. It belongs to him. This poor person doesn't want to be poor, didn't choose to be poor, would give anything not to be poor. But Hashem said to him, \"For whatever reason, this is your lot in life and I'm taking care of you by giving you the corner of that farmer's field and you don't have to hang your head.\" אינה כמתנת צדקה שבעל הבית. הנהגה זו אי אפשר להסביר בשם טעם וסברא למה נותן פרי עמלו למי שלא טרח בו. הסיבה היחידה יכול להיות שרוצה לקיים מצוות השם יתברך. The only reason is because this farmer wants to do the will of Hashem. Because logically, the farmer's right, why should he have to give what's his to someone else? Farmer's right. What's the only reason he's doing... To fulfill the will of Hashem. To fulfill the will of Hashem. בעל הבית נותן מתנות עניים כראוי בלא הנחה ונותן הרגשה לעני. The farmer's not just giving food to the poor person. The other question is what else do you give to the poor person? A smile, self-worth, self-esteem, make them feel valued. Do you make the poor person feel you've done them a favor, that he owes you, that he now has a debt to you? Or do you give him a yasher koach and say thank you for enabling me to fulfill this mitzvah. This was yours all along, Hashem is my partner and I'm happy to share it with you. וזה נקרא הקריב את קרבנותיו. So you rebuilt Hashem's Beis Hamikdash not in how much you gave, but in how you gave. In how you gave. כי ענין הקרבנות הוא אדם כי יקריב מכם. The idea of the korban was are you willing to give from you, not just write a check, not just shell the money, but was it a piece of you? And this farmer's giving a piece of himself, his hard work, but he's giving it in a way of sensitivity. And therefore it's as if he rebuilt the Beis Hamikdash, and it's as if he offered korbanos because he gave a piece and a part of himself. Shem MiShmuel has another interpretation because he quotes a Gemara in Bava Basra. The Gemara in Bava Basra tells us Turnusrufus had a debate with Rabbi Akiva. He said if God loves poor people so much, why does he make them poor? We tell the poor God loves you. So you know what, love me less and put money in my account. If Hashem loves them why do you make them poor, that was the question Turnusrufus asked Rabbi Akiva. Rabbi Akiva said the answer is כדי שניצול אנו בהם מדינה של גיהנום. He loves the poor person. Why does he make them poor? Because he wants to give us an opportunity. He does it for us. Will we respond, will we show up, will we take care, will we do it with sensitivity and compassion and love and giving them self-esteem and self-worth? המצווה של מתנת עניים אינה כדי שיהיה לעניים כסף. הרבה דרכים למקום לפרנס עניים. A person has to know that the reason that we give poor people money is not because the poor people need money. Because when you give in that way, you feel I'm the generous, great philanthropist and benefactor, the poor person is the pathetic recipient, but we're getting that wrong. The reason Hashem made poor people is to give us the opportunity to take what we have and use it right and use it well and share it with others. And when we do that, we're the recipient and the poor person who gave us that opportunity is the benefactor. כמו שהקדוש ברוך הוא נותן פרנסה לבעל השדה הוא יכול לפרנס עניים גם כן. You think that you're so much smarter or you work so much harder and that's why you have success? I gotta tell you something. I know people who struggle and they're as smart as some of the wealthiest people. I know people who struggle and they work just as hard if not harder than some of the people who have the greatest success. What's the difference between them? For whatever reason this is what Hashem has chosen. So when you are in a position to share what you have with others, don't be so high and mighty and think it's all you. It's not your ego. Recognize it, realize you could have easily been the person on the other side on the other end. So when that person comes and asks you for help, or when some organization asks you to help them help the poor people who need, don't act like you're the great generous benefactor, realize that you are the recipient, that you are the one who is getting the opportunity to use what you have to help and to impact others. That's what Rabbi Akiva was answering. And that's why one has to give kerauy. כראוי שמכיר שאינו נותן משלו אלא משל הקדוש ברוך הוא. To give to aniyim kerauy, kerauy doesn't mean according to what the aniyim deserve, it means according to the instructions that you just have. I was just dealing with someone with my bank I needed to wire money somewhere. So the person who helps me from the bank, wonderful people, when I ask them to wire money, what am I like so grateful to them? They're doing what they're supposed to do. That's their job. They get paid so that when I ask them wire money they send it where they're supposed to. So Hashem pays us in our salary or what we have and he says take some of what you have and here's who I need you to wire it to. And when we wire it, when we give la-aniyim kerauy, we're just following the wiring instructions. You think you're some great tzadik? You think you're some great big benefactor? You're the recipient of the salary of Hashem for agreeing to wire the money where he asks you. It's entirely viewing tzedakah differently and it's the way we're meant to see it. Don't look at the people on Tomchei Shabbos in need of chesed who collect from Shefa or Shop at the Cla- don't look at the people, they're pathetic and I'm amazing. They're takers and I'm a giver. and I'm a giver. They're a recipient and I'm a benefactor. No, Hashem put them in that position sadly, unfortunately. They could easily have been, they work just as hard, they're just as smart. You know why Hashem did that? So you can get, not give, you can get the opportunity to prove and use what you have the right way. And therefore follow Hashem's wiring instructions. This is what He said to do with what He gave you, karaui, use it and do it and send it the right way. I did decently but I still have a lot left over. It's been about 10 years in a row that we were supposed to get to the Megadef, Mekallel, the end of the parsha. For about 10 years in a row I wanted to explore with you the case of the blasphemer, this Ben Isha Yisraelis and the Ben Ish Mitzri who curses God. Maybe next year. Im yirtzeh Hashem, it'll be our year. Please stay and remain and complete Sefer Tehillim. We're davening hard, there's so much to daven for. The more who stay, the more booklets we give out, the quicker we can finish Sefer Tehillim. Don't forget tomorrow Chaf Iyar in your calendar. Have a great day!
