Parsha Perspective For Today - Naso 5783/2023 - Don't Steal From Hashem

Good morning, Boca welcome back to partial perspectives for today. As always, we are enormously grateful to our incredibly generous series sponsors Becky and Avi Katz and family in memory of David Grossman. Our learning is always is nishmas David Ben Menachem Manis. Tremendous gratitude to the Katz family. Today is also sponsored in memory of David Avraham and the nishmas of Aliyah anonymously for the of Yehuda Leib Ben Malka by Mendelbaum in memory of Gary and Yosef and Menachem Levi friends who is truly missed but never forgotten and that is for sure. I agree. So thank you so much to our generous sponsors. We have the privilege this week of learning partial nasso the longest partial in the Torah page 748 in the art scroll stone homage. Before we dive in it's not a coincidence that we read partial nasso on the shabbos after shavuos the arim the great arim pointed out the most medrish that we have the most insight of all on any partial is on the partial nasso. If you open the medrish the rabbis have the most to say on partial nasso and that is not a coincidence. That is because the shabbos after shavuos after we stood at the base of that mountain after kabbalah Torah that we re-received the Torah we reinvest ourselves in the learning and study of Torah and therefore there is the most Torah on partial nasso because that is the way that we commemorate we celebrate the holiday of shavuos is continuing to learn. Indeed many of the many of the called the shabbos after shavuos shabbos shavuos which means the shabbos after shavuos. It means that shavuos didn't end with shavuos. You don't put Torah Torah in the rear view mirror. You don't put Talmud Torah in the rear view mirror. It's not the end of something it's only the beginning. This is our reinvigorated commitment to Talmud Torah to the learning of Torah to study of to the study of of Torah. Life is not slowing down. Life is speeding up. And indeed, you know this is a halakha, we're not saying tachanun in these days for 6 days following at least the second day of Yom Tov, 7 days in Israel following the first day of Yom Tov. For 1 week we don't say tachanun because these are days of tashlumin. Shavuot has no chol hamoed, the makeup days to bring the korban. If you missed it, one has a week after Shavuot. So it maintains the sanctiness, the holiness, the oros, the light of Shavuot. It means that we're still b'vchina Shavuot. We're still receiving the Torah. We're still learning Torah, loving Torah, growing from Torah. The Mishnah Pirkei Avot tells us "Halomei Torah lishmah, zocheh l'dvarim harbeh." A person who learns Torah lishmah, with the gishmak, with the bren, with an excitement, with a fire. If you learn Torah not to superimpose on Torah your preconceived notions, but to listen and hear what Torah has to say, to engrave on your heart Torah lishmah, you're zocheh l'dvarim harbeh, which is a very peculiar promise. We find a lot of things in the Torah, a lot of meritorious, virtuous deeds, whose reward is spelled out as "Zocheh l'olam haba." You merit Gan Eden. You merit all kinds of bracha. Here the bracha "Zocheh l'dvarim harbeh." "L'dvarim harbeh" is the most generic bracha. Imagine you go to a godol, you go get a bracha, and they say "Sheyibaneh tzam any things." Shkoyach. You can't specify any? Good health, parnassah, nachas, something specific? "Dvarim harbeh." So Rav Yirmiyahu Morgenstern in his Mayim Rabim Chochmah, the new sefer that came out this year on Shavuot, he says "Dvarim harbeh" maybe is an allusion. "Dvarim" and "dibbur." "Aseres Hadibros," "Aseres Hadvarim." "Asarah Ma'amaros" "M'ever Olam." Hashem created the world with sayings, with speech, with words. Hashem created the world world with the letters of Torah, with the alphabet of Torah. And a person who learns Torah lishmah, you are creating and recreating, you are sustaining the world, you are continuing the conversation of the Aseres Hadibros, Yizkor Ledvarim, Yizkor to many dvarim, diburim, Yizkor to many of the Aseres Hadvarim, the conversation continues. So, Shavuos is not the end of the conversation, Shavuos is just the very beginning. And a person learns Torah Lishma, Yizkor Ledvarim Harbeh, Yizkor to continuing this conversation that began with the Aseres Hadvarim, Aseres Hadibros, and continues every time we open Torah. So, our learning of Torah is the continuation of Har Sinai. It is the continuation of the experience of Har Sinai. With that we begin. Perek Daled, Pasuk Chaf Alef. Parshas Naso begins, Vayedaber Hashem el Moshe Lemor, Naso esh Rosh Bnei Gershon gam umerari al pi mishpachotam. The census continues. With the census of the tribe of Levi, who were counted separately than the rest of Klal Yisrael. And we showed the inside of Rebbe Nachman Shlita, why that is. Because if they were counted among Klal Yisrael, they would bear the burden of the mistake of Klal Yisrael with the cheit ha'egel. I Hashem can't count them together, but not hold them accountable. He can. We spoke last time about the idea that our value, our worth, is intertwined with the sector that we identify with. That's the significance of the community, the minyan that we choose to identify with. The significance of the friends that we choose. Our stock, so to say, rises independent of our own individual value, but who we identify with. So, Levi needed to be counted separately. We go through some of the responsibilities of Levi. And of course, again here, even though we have many words, limnos, lispor, we have many Hebrew words we could have used to count, instead we used the word naso esh rosh, to lift the head. As we also said previously, when you count and you make someone feel counted, you lift them. You lift their spirits. You make them feel valued. We're living in a world where too many people feel invisible and inconsequential and unimportant. And we need to count them and make them feel counted. We need them need to make them feel heard. They mean something. They matter. When we lift a person's head, we lift their spirit, we count them, and we make them feel and we make them feel counted. But, moving over to Parshat Kedoshim, the bottom of page 750. The purification of the camp, maintaining a pure and a holy and a sacred space, a sacred and safe camp. Command the people and they shall expel from the camp anyone who has tzaraat, anyone who is the whole time in the nefesh, anyone who is contaminated by exposure to a to a corpse. All of these people need to be outside the camp. Anyone who is They belong outside the camp. The Jewish people followed. And this is of course, I think in our time, a very powerful reminder or message, a difficult balance to strike. How do we on the one hand make our camp, our community, warm and welcoming and have a place for everybody, but how do we also protect and preserve and secure it from being contaminated and corrupted in its ideas and values and practices? How do we strike that balance of the environment? And that world has changed with the internet and a global community and technology where you cannot keep out the world. You cannot protect and turn entirely insular. So, here the Torah is telling us that there is a value and a notion to maintaining the purity of a camp. We don't just in the name of making it welcoming and warm for anyone say anything goes. There is a balance between the two and how do we find and strike that balance is a very, very important and a very difficult conversation. But, the next section by Daber el Moshe is really where I want to begin. Torah tells us Hashem tells Moshe, "Speak to Bnei Yisrael and tell them a man or a woman who commits any hate me call hot dosa Adam. What is a hate? A hate is a miss. The proper definition of hate is not sin. Sin is a Christian and Catholic word. It's not a Jewish word. I don't know what the word sin means. A hate is a miss. It's a missed opportunity. The Torah is 613 invitations from Hashem. Connect. It's 613 opportunities to live our best selves. And when we don't take advantage of that invitation or that opportunity, when we violate that invitation or opportunity, we have violated a hate. A hate means a miss. In Tanakh, the word hate is to miss, to miss the mark, to miss the target. It's a miss. So, a man or a woman who misses the mark lim o mal. And when a person misses the mark, then they've become guilty. They've performed me'ilah, treachery against Hashem. We'll have to see what that means. Va'asham nefesh she such a person is guilty. This vadua's hatasam. So, what does one do when they miss the mark? Person has to confess. Person has to make an admission. You can't grow and improve if you don't make an admission. You have to be willing to say, "I failed." In order to be able to say, "I got better." So, for example, I hope the entire Celtics franchise last night was saying, "We failed miserably. The number two seed. We were supposed to win. We won three games and came back and we lost in game seven. We didn't even show up. We gave in." Boston. The best two words in the entire English language. Beat Boston. The best two words in the whole English language. So, Boston lost failed. I read an article that I It's amazing how much Amazing how much feedback this article got uh about uh Giannis after the Bucks were all but swept in the first round when they were the favorite to win it all. And his press conference. A person has to vehi's vadua's hatasam. You You to say, "I missed. I came up short. You know what? That doesn't define me. I'm not a failure. My life is not a failure, but in this particular goal or ambition, this particular test, I failed. I came up short, and I'm going to learn from it, and I'm going to improve from it, and I'm going to get better from it." But if a person just wants to give a TED Talk instead of a press conference and say, "You know, life is one big and it's fun, and there's ups and downs, and that's just the way it goes, and everybody enjoy the off-season." Then you're not going to improve. You're not going to grow. You're not going to get better. You're not taking responsibility. You're not taking ownership. You're not taking accountability. So, Torah says, "Vehisvaddu as chata'am." It shouldn't define us, and it doesn't limit us. We shouldn't beat ourselves up, and we shouldn't be riddled with shame, but we cannot improve and grow. We cannot bounce back. We cannot get better if we don't identify where we went wrong, how we came up short, and if most importantly, we don't take responsibility and ownership. Vehisvaddu. There has to be an admission. There has to be a concession. As chata'am, that I missed. Missed is another word for I failed. Ish asher yashiv es hashinnah asher barasho vachamishi yosif yosif alav. You have to pay the principal amount and add a fifth and give it to the person you're indebted to. Veim ein ish lig'ol lo hashivah, asher ye'asham lo hashivah es hamishpat asher lo kohein. We're talking here about gezel lagger. Someone stole from a convert, and the convert's no longer here, and whom do you return it to because he has no offspring or progeny? You give it to the kohein. Levad elokei Yisrael asher lo alav hashivah kochaishay benay Yisrael asher yakrivu l'kohein lo yihyeh. Veish asher lo yihyeh ish asher yitein l'kohein lo yihyeh. So, here on this column, this on this possuk the Sifri has a comment. "Ish o ish ki ya'akol chata'o." And what the Rambam says the concept of ownership as it applies and differs fundamentally from how it applies to Hashem. If an object belongs to someone, he can grant permission for others to use it. In the case of items that belong to Hashem, however, another factor comes into play. The object is considered hekdesh. The use of the dative case in the phrase "Lashem ha'aretz u'melo'ah" "To Hashem is the whole earth and everything in its fullness." Till this day, I learned this when I was young, every safer I buy or I'm gifted, every safer I write inside not only not only my name, but on top I write "Lashem ha'aretz u'melo'ah." There is such a minhag to suggest it's even though I'm writing my name, if it gets lost or I left it somewhere, please return it, but it's not mine. And why is it not mine? Because "Lashem ha'aretz u'melo'ah" really everything belongs to Hashem, the whole earth and everything in it. "Instead of the possessor of the earth and its fullness are God's" signifies that God not only owns the world in the juridic sense, but that the world is consecrated to him as well. He doesn't just own the world, but the world is dedicated, devoted, consecrated, its purpose, its mission is to serve him. Note the grammatical construction "Lashem ha'aretz u'melo'ah" is similar to the standard formula for consecrating an animal "Lashem chatas." "When one sins" says the rav, "he violates the prohibition of me'ilah" of illicit use of consecrated items. Hashem is not only the creator of the universe, he's the master of everything including man. Thus, we say and plead in the selichos "The soul is yours Hashem Elokah, v'haguf shelach." The neshama is yours "Hashem Elokah" and "v'haguf shelach." Everything in this world belongs to Hashem. Man's powers are to speak on loan, temporarily leased to him by Hashem. Hashem endows man with life for a certain period of time. He allows man ownership over himself for the allotted period. The ownership over man by him is utilized by the individual in a number of ways, through free will, through the exercise of intellectual powers, through his potential ability to create and so on. By sinning, man loses the rights and privileges that were given to him. In other words, the rav is bothered. Why in the context of stealing are we invoking the term me'ilah? Me'ilah is a term for hekdesh. Me'ilah is a specific term used when it comes to the Beit Hamikdash, the Mishkan. You dedicate, you gift a chair. The Great Synagogue, you say, "This chair I hereby dedicate, I donate to the Beit Hamikdash." You can't sit on that chair. You can't get personal benefit from the chair. It's a holy chair. It's a sacred chair. It's a consecrated seat. You can't get a personal benefit. You violate me'ilah. You pay back the principal and a fifth with me'ilah. So, why are we utilizing the term me'ilah, a specific term that has to do with that which is consecrated in the context of stealing in general from this world? And the Rabb so brilliantly and beautifully says, "Because the world and everything in it should and must be consecrated to Hashem. We and our lives, what we own, everything in it, it is all devoted in the service of Hashem. It is all there and it's granted to us. We are stewards of it to help us pursue our mission to serve him. And when we use it not for its intended purpose, when we violate its consecrated responsibility, we steal from it. So, when we waste time and we squander time and we spend time on narishkeit, we've stolen that time from Hashem. Time is a gift from Hashem. Just ask someone who's running out of it. Time is the greatest gift, the greatest commodity. You can't slow it down and you can't get it back. And you can't replace it if you've killed it. It's an act of murder. And if you waste it and you squander it, we've stolen and worse, more than stolen it from Hashem, it's an act of me'ilah. We have violated the consecrated nature of time to be used for a holy purpose, to be used well, to be used purposefully. And the same is true for our property and our assets, for all the material gifts we've been given, if we use them for personal benefit, if we use them not to advance the agenda of Hashem, which includes our pleasure, doesn't mean you can't enjoy your house and your car and your clothing and a good meal. Hashem wants us to enjoy those things but under his rules and under his regulations and the context of enhancing our lives so we can best represent and be his ambassadors and serve him. And when we don't, when we use it in the service of ourselves, when we use it for our own ego, it's an act of me'ilah. And the Rav brilliantly, insightfully says, "That's why the Torah is invoking the term me'ilah, even though we're just talking about stealing." At the conclusion of Yom Kippur in the Ne'ilah we say, "You extend your right hand your hand to the transgressors and your right arm to the outstretched to receive repentance." "You taught us, Hashem, to confess our transgressions before you." One may well wonder, "Why thievery, right?" The The end of that Ne'ilah we say, "So that we might cease from the thievery of our hands." So we might cease from stealing. One may well wonder, says the Rav, "Why thievery is the one and only sin for which the Jew brings himself before Hashem and knocks on the gates of mercy and pardon at the conclusion of Yom Kippur?" Yom Kippur is ending. Seder Slichot, Rosh Hashanah, Elul. And here we are, the pinnacle, the peak, the climax, the very end, Ne'ilah. We say, "Hashem, forgive us. Grant forgiveness for our hands that steal." That's the thing? I didn't I didn't break into anyone's bank account. I didn't put my hand in anyone's wallet or pocket or pocketbook. That's what I have to confess in this great moment, in the last moment of Ne'ilah? That's what we're admitting to? Aside from theft theft, another 44 transgressions are enumerated in the Al Chet. Why is stealing singled out with a special emphasis in the Ne'ilah? Says the Rav, "Theft actually encompasses all types of chet. With every sin then commits the Jew forgoes his right of possession over his own life. A Jew studies for intellectual enjoyment is utilizing his power of wisdom, which belongs to Hashem and is only temporarily placed at his disposal. The moment intelligence is contaminated by impure intent, Hashem's right to this God-given attribute expire. Any further exercise of it is a form of theft. The same applies to all the other transgressions which can deprive men of ownership and the right to use his own physical and spiritual faculties. Through sin, man destroys his right to live to life with his own hands. Through sin, man foregoes his right to control the physical forces which vitalize the body. When he goes on living a life of sin, it is outright theft. When a When a man repents and regrets, it is as if a new transaction has taken place and the contract of ownership has been renewed between him and his creator. And that's why we mentioned theft because the hate of stealing is the overarching all of the hate is underneath it. We stole time. We stole possessions. We stole the breath in our life in our lungs. We stole our life by misusing and misapplying it. So, theft is the overarching theme. Everything else is included under it. A very beautiful insight. Perek pasuk tes vav, moving along. The sotah. Those who just learn maseches sotah in the daf yomi are holding by the story of the sotah. The wayward woman. The woman who is acting somewhat loosely, promiscuously, flirtatiously. Her husband warns her. Says, "I see you talking to that man. Don't seclude yourself with him. Don't seclude yourself." She goes and secludes herself and there are witnesses who testify she was alone with him. And now he challenges. He brings her to the court to the Beis Hamikdash. She drinks from the mayim marim. They test her whether in fact she was guilty behind closed doors of infidelity, of violating their sacred vow of their marriage. In which case she dies a horrible death as does he, the man with whom she had the affair. Or if she's innocent, she merits the bracha of Hashem. She is incredibly fertile. She conceives and she has a beautiful little tsaddikah, a beautiful little baby. Behavia, pasuk tells us perek tes vav pasuk tes vav What happens? Behavia ish as ishto el ha kohen, the man brings his wife to the kohen. He brings his wife to the kohen, he brings her offering for ten day of barley does not pour oil over it, doesn't pour frankincense. It's a meal offering of jealousness, a meal offering of remembrance, a reminder of the iniquity of her egregious error and of her mistake. Says the Oteh Plos ha Torah Why is she bringing a korban of se'orim? Most of the korban is flour, flour of wheat. This is flour not of wheat, but flour of barley. Why of barley not of wheat? He quotes the sefer Toldos Yitzchak. Shmona ta'amim leflam madura korban shel zonim kemach se'orim. Why? Eight reasons why this promiscuous woman her korban is of barley not of wheat. Number one, achlu bishnei nasnu leba'alei madanim viyam achlam se'orim sheu korbana She attracted this uh man, her husband, with sweets. Her meal is ma'achal beheima, se'orim. Man eats wheat. Why? Why do we eat bread, flour of wheat? Cuz you have to plant it and harvest it and grind it and knead it and it has to rise. Bread is uniquely manipulated and baked by man. Animals can eat barley, barley ground into flour. So, barley is the food that we give an animal. Ma'achal beheima. She acted like an animal. She gave in to her animal impulse, animal instinct. She acted like an animal, we give her a korban like an animal. Number two, se'orim yesh lahem azus panim. She achla mekusas kevalas anavah se'orim mebulaka azus panim. Number two, se'orim is brazen, azus panim. There is no shell, there's no outside peel. It's exposed and she's exposed. Her brazenness, her chutzpah, her temerity. But basically she can write her Similarly, the wheat, the barley rather, is only underground for a very short time until it grows on top of the ground. And she, where she could have been, should have been living modestly within her home, she was out about on the street flirting. She was a woman of the street. Number four, the heat and the cold and the passion and the lust. Number five, lashon nofel lashon, she summer the to us the she or she didn't give her taiva, her lust had no measure. Saorim sounds like she or a measure, just like her brazenness, her lust, her promiscuousness, her licentiousness had no measure, similarly the saorim has no measure. Shishi, number six, Saras chamiyo sa rush harishiyo and shiviyo said at the mid-time. He has eight reasons why you got the just the majority of them. She's brought to the cohen where she is tested. Perach of pasach of dalid. Continuing in the story of the sotah. The ish sa ish mayim marim, hamayim marim, she's given to drink from this bitter water. And the apostate says perach pasach of dalid, turn the page 756. Uh he calls them drink the bitter waters that cause curse and the waters that cause curse shall come into her for bitterness. The Zohar Kadosh tells us something amazing. What's the reason she's drinking this bitter water? Torah wants to punish her and him? If she's guilty, she's also the ba'al and the ba'al. A woman who practices infidelity is forbidden to return to her husband. She's also forbidden to be with the man with whom she had the affair. She's forbidden to both. She should not think she'll divorce her husband, but she'll begin a new life the man with whom she cheated. She's forbidden to both also the ba'al also the ba'al. And there are all kinds of halachic very complicated questions. Unfortunately, I've had to deal with of if a man knows accepts that her his wife cheated also the ba'al they can't be together. How can they restore? How can they save their marriage? There has to be some doubt, some question of in fact how far his wife went with another. So much so that perhaps she's even coached not to be entirely transparent in a way which will preclude the ability of the future of this marriage to heal. But how unhealthy is that? To not be transparent after there's been an act of unfaithfulness. It's a very, very complicated, very complicated question. So why does the Torah why does Hashem insert the Mayim Hamarim? So unlike what we think it's to catch her, it's to get her, it's to prove her wrong, it's exactly the opposite. It's brought down by many, the reason is to exonerate her. Hashem allows his name to be erased because in the ingredients in this mixture that she's going to drink is Hashem's name. It's written on the cloth that's placed in the water and Hashem's name is erased. Because even though there's a tremendous prohibition to erase Hashem's name, mechikas Hashem, Hashem says I'd rather my name be erased for the sake of shalom bayit. To preserve the unity and harmony in this home, to keep this couple together, I'd rather my name be erased. Hashem is willing to allow his name to be erased. Why? So that this husband can finally overcome his suspicion. You see, it's only natural to be suspicious. And the man here has reason to be suspicious. She has secluded herself. And you have two witnesses, kinas stira. You have two witnesses who testify she in fact secluded herself with a man. So when he's suspicious of what happened behind those closed doors, it's for very good reason. How will he ever overcome it? How will he ever trust her? How can they ever rebuild and restore? How can she ever earn his trust again? Hashem says, "I'll let my name get erased." Let her drink the mayim marim. And the intent and the purpose, the goal of it, is not to find her guilty, to catch her, to hold her accountable, though it serves that purpose, but the intent is in fact the opposite. Hashem needed to go to great measure to restore faith and remove suspicion. So that's a plus. I'll tell you a quote from an amazing Zohar. The Zohar in our parsha says a davar peleh. Hayu hamitzrim motzim la'az al bnei Yisrael umim badlei isha shelo lahem. U'vneihem ze l'nu u'vneihem ze l'nu u'vneihem ze l'nu she'tisha shchinah aleihem. Among the way the Egyptians tortured, if you want to torture someone, tell them that you cheated with their wife. That their children are not theirs. That in fact you are the father. I'm not actually making a suggestion how to torture someone. But you want to torture someone, all you need to do is sow the seed of suspicion. All you need to do is plant the saw smallest suspicion. By the way, your wife cheated and your children aren't your own. You might want to do a paternity test. Have a great day. So the Mitzrim as part of the way they oppressed and tortured the Jewish people in Egypt was to regularly taunt the Jewish men and said, "We cheated with your wives and those children aren't yours and there were no paternity tests in Egypt." And there were many men who couldn't overcome such suspicion. Once it's planted, it's hard to overcome. What did Hashem do to silence these instigators? To silence these prosecutors? Says the Zohar, an entirely new reading on the story, when the Jewish people came to the place that was ultimately called Mara, because the Mayim was Maram, there was bitter water and they claimed complained of its bitterness. Why did Hashem give them bitter water? And why did he name the place bitterness? Says the Zohar, because this was a big May Sota. All the bitter water was so that all the women would drink it and the men could now say, "They didn't mean it. They were taunting me. They were torturing me. I have no suspicion. We can move on." And Hashem told Moshe to write his name in the May Mara at the place called Mara. This was an early enactment of the May Sota so that the men could be freed of their suspicion. Me'yad. May are righteous. And all the women were proven innocent. None of the men cheated. None of the women cheated. And all of them were worthy. And this wasn't cuz Hashem needed to prove it. Hashem knows what happens behind closed doors. It was all so that with harmony and peace and shalom bayit, they could go into the desert and march to Sinai and marched to Eretz Yisrael suspicion free. Isn't that amazing? It's a whole new reading of May Marah. That the Mayim Kimarim Heim was really not something negative that they should have complained about, was a gift from Hashem to prove the innocence and exonerate all of the all of the women. Amazing. Amazing. Hashem did it again after the Maaseh Egel. There's evidence. Was there ever a Sotah in history? Otzar HaPlosah Torah has pages and pages. Everything you could want to know about this and more. But here are some interesting ones. Pasuk Vav. You got to love the Otzar HaPlosah Torah. I do. She brings the carbon. You have the whole process. And then the Kohen gives her the water to drink. Now, when you and I drink water, Gordon's sipping on his coffee. Before he drank his coffee, what did he do? Now that our cups have been sponsored, the next batch, please God, you have on your cup "Caffeinate with Kavana." Shako Niya Bidvaro. Each cup will remind us to live with Emunah, to caffeinate with Kavana, to remember to make that Bracha with Kavana. So, strike the Otzar HaPlosah Torah. Va'achar Yashke Ishah Samayim, you give the woman the water to drink, does she make a Bracha? Does the May Sotah get a Bracha? Yesh Lach Or. Basotah Keshe Mashkos HaKohen B'mayim HaMarim, HaMayim HaMarim Hashe Sh'tiyas Brachas Hanenin. Does she make a Shako? Or maybe not a Shako. Maybe what should she make? Asher Kidshanu B'mitzvosav V'tzivanu Al Mitzvas Sh'tiyas May Sotah. Maybe a Brachas HaMitzvah. Assuming it's a Mitzvah to drink the May Sotah in this circumstance, does she make a Bracha? I never would have thought to ask that question, but the author of Otzar HaPlosah Torah did. And then he says, "When I went out Yisrael in the month of Iyar Taf Shin Ayin Hey, I went around asking the God on this question. The and all of them answered the same. The woman does not make a why cuz the tells us You know, what if you're not thirsty? But before you go to bed you have to take medicine. So you take a sip of water to take your medicine. Do you make a on that sip of water? No. Shalom. Shows the and You're not thirsty or it doesn't have a good taste. You don't enjoy it. It doesn't matter that you're putting it in your mouth and swallowing it. That is not the definition of eating and drinking. The definition of eating and drinking is enjoyment, pleasure. And what precipitates a on is the pleasure and is the enjoyment. At 2:00 on night it's we gave a share on this topic. On the Rambam Rash Yona it's a big big cuz do you make a on also food? Person is eating non-kosher food do they make a on? If you're eating on a fast day not because you need to to live but because you don't care that it's a fast day, do you make a on? Do you make a when you're violating something in eating? It's is it you should make the anyway cuz you're getting pleasure? Is that not called pleasure? We spoke about Let's say you have a home where three people who need to eat on Yom Kippur not they need to eat out right? And they ate bread. Do they on Yom Kippur? Do they make do they say do they on Yom Kippur? On Yom Kippur? Big discussion 2:00 3:00 in the morning night. It was a lot of fun. It was a lot of fun. So the here says that if you're drinking because you want to sip of of uh water for medicine you don't make a you don't make a on. So because of that similarly here last as she is I'm wrong. Mayim Marim, they were bitter. They weren't pleasurable. She didn't enjoy drinking them at all. And therefore, there's no Birkas Hananin. She wasn't drinking cuz she was thirsty. She wasn't drinking because she craved a nice diet peach schnapps. She was drinking because she was forced to. What about a Birkas Hamitzvah? So, Rav Chaim Kanievsky Zatzal, she would not make a Birkas Hamitzvah. Why? Because the Gemara Berachos says "Eima Bracha Al Kos Shel Poranus." Sota she did so, Meisa Mikach. Poshets Lo Yosim Birkas Al Kos Poranus. You don't make a Bracha on a Kos Poranus. Of sadness or tragedy, she would suffer a horrible death if in fact she was guilty. And therefore, she does not make a Bracha. Now, what about a Sota who knows she's innocent? So, maybe now it's a Kosher Bracha. Why? It's not a Kosher Poranus. If she says I don't remember, or I'm guilty but I hope they won't figure it out, or it was borderline, why that is, I'll tell you when the camera's off. But, if she knows she's innocent, she says we played chess, we played checkers. He helped me figure out Wordle. We didn't do anything. There was no physical contact. There was no affection. There certainly wasn't a violation of the fidelity of our marriage. She knows she's innocent. So, now she gets all excited. Why? Because now when she drinks the Mayim Marim, what's going to happen? She's going to get pregnant. In fact, who threatened God with this? Chana. Chana with her Ozzes Dikedusha, Chazal say she had a holy Chutzpah. What was her holy Chutzpah? It's also Yiddishe Kup. A holy Chutzpah with a Yiddishe Kup. She said, "Hashem, give me a baby. Cuz if not, you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to seclude myself with a man, and I'll be taken to the Mishkan, and I'll be forced to drink the water, and you'll have no choice but to make me pregnant. So, let's skip all that and just make me pregnant to begin with. A holy khutbah and the Yiddish cup. So, so this woman is innocent, and she knows it's not a cos of paranos, it's a cos of bracha. She's going to have a baby. So, maybe she should make a bracha She wants to drink this water. It's going to yield a baby. The Gamara says, if she was barren, she'll get pregnant. She has only girls, she'll have a boy. If she If they're short, her children will be tall. If they have a bad complexion, they'll have a beautiful complexion. Okay, whatever it is, so everybody wants to upgrade some love. It's a kosher bracha. So, he says he heard from Chaim Kanievsky the following. And then he found it in the safer time of the crowd of Chaim safer. I'm so excited that she has my name. Because I know she doesn't make a bracha. Because I know it's a mitzvah. I don't need a bracha. I'm working on the onus. Like, you won't make a bracha if you're being If you're being taken out to be executed, Chive a basin. Mrs. basin. You don't make a bracha She doesn't have to know Allah Skila. Then start throwing stones. Push me off the off the off the off the building. You don't make a bracha on death. Mrs. basin. You don't make a bracha here. But what about if she's Tahora? Kvon Skilas and Yala Vera and the Baba Vera. Said of Chaim Kanievsky, but remember, true in the end she's innocent, she's exonerated, she gets a bracha. How did she get into this circumstance? It wasn't the husband noticed the wife at the kiddish, at the shmorg at the wedding. And he says, I don't like the way you were talking to that guy over the sushi. He said to her, don't seclude yourself. And she secluded herself. And witnesses saw and testified. That's the woman who drinks the water. So, it's true in the end she gets a bracha, but how did she get into that circumstance? Because she did an avera. She violated the prohibition of Yichud. Even Mike Pence knows he can't be alone. And she was alone. Let's say you stole and you return what you stole. Do you make a bracha? Let's say you charged ribbits ribbits or you paid ribbits and you refund it. Interest, you make a bracha? No. Says the Rashba, why not? There's a mitzvah Hashavas Gezela. Why not? Because you don't make a bracha on an aveira. The only way that you got into that circumstance for the mitzvah was through an aveira. Since you had to do the aveira to get to the mitzvah, you don't make a bracha. Said Rav Chaim Kanievsky, the same thing was true over here. The same thing was true over here. Fascinating. Do you make this bracha not make this bracha? By the way, it's left with the question we mentioned previously. But I won't make you listen to a previous year for this. You got to wonder based on that calculation, she violated something to get in that circumstance, that position that she got the bracha. Why'd she get a bracha? Should say, okay, you know what? The water tested her. You're innocent. You were right. You were correct. You were honest. You didn't do anything. Now, quickly, go while you can, get back to life, get back with your husband, go out on a date night, get away for a little bit, but just escape while you can. Instead, she gets a bracha. By what does she get a bracha when she had to do something bad to get there to begin with? So, there are beautiful insights that say, we need to know even if we've done something wrong, but if we could have continued that which we did, which was wrong, Hashem holds precious every moment we choose to do something right. Every moment matters. So, someone spent 3 hours looking at the wrong images online, but after 3 hours and a minute, they say, you know what? I'm bigger I'm better than this. I'm bigger than this. Enough. I'm turning it off. Hashem says, give me a hug. You're precious. You're dear. Uh we have to have a talk about the three hours. Some consequences to the three hours, but we don't ignore the minute that you found the courage and conviction to now stop. You said all this juicy lashon hara, and the last little tidbit you held back cuz you felt a little guilty. Sham says, "No, give me a big hug. It matters. It means something. Even when we find the will, even for that little bit, it means something. It matters. We need to know that even if you're not on the highest level, no matter how far you've fallen, no matter how distant you are, no matter the mistakes that we've made, every little bit matters. Hashem needs it. He cares about it. It means something to him. It makes a difference to him." Pasha chof chos, moving along in our story of the sota. "V'lo nitma'ah ish tahorah hee, v'nikas avon zarah, if she's innocent, then she's blessed." Now, what happens if she's pregnant? The promise and the bracha for being innocent is what? She gets pregnant. But what if she's already pregnant? Can she bank it? Does it roll over the bracha? So Rashi and Tosafos have a machlokes. A pregnant woman, do you give her to drink or not? Why? According to Rashi, mashkinan b'shishah yamim u'v'shishah me'os. If she's pregnant, but she's guilty, she's a particularly bad woman if she was pregnant and promiscuous. But if she's pregnant and she's guilty, and she drinks this water, what will happen? Rashi says the baby will die with her. V'chein pasuk Rambam hilchos b'nei Yisrael v'zayin, "M'vu'eres minikah, m'chanalo mashkin k'moshehu." Even if she's nursing and the baby relies exclusively on her, but she mistakenly secluded herself and is accused, and if she's guilty of infidelity, too bad. The baby goes with her. Tosafos disagrees. Tosafos says, ain't mashkina savoda meva'eres? Why? Lama lana lav avisa uber? What did this fetus, what did this baby do wrong? You're going to kill this fetus, this baby? Because the mother acted promiscuously? Wait until she gives birth, and then give her to drink, says Tosafos. Then says Tosafos, and Tosafos bases it on a on a Sifri Zuta, on our parsha. The nixa v'nixra zara, prapt l'zroa, l'mar ein uber shosa. That he derives from the pasuk, only if she is not pregnant does she drink. If she's pregnant, first she gives birth, and then we give her to drink afterwards. So, based on this pasuk, and based on this machlokes Rashi Tosafos, I don't want to take the time because there was a lot more I wanted to get into, but he quotes here the halachic literature, the Bnei Yissachar, and the sefer Rav Pe'alim, the Chavas Yair, the Ya'avetz, ultimately the Maharit, Rav Moshe, has Kasav HaSofer, and then he invokes this machlokes Rashi Tosafos when it comes to which question? Abortion. If you hold this fetus is not a baby, has no identity, has no value of a human life, then why is Tosafos trying to preserve the uber? Why can't she drink? Just like her heart, her lungs, her kidney, and her liver, her organs all go down with her if she's guilty, so her uterus and the uterine blob inside can go down with her. It's just a organ of hers. Right? Is it her body, her choice, her organ? Or no, it happens to be gestating inside her, but it's not her choice. It's not her organ. It has a value of a life, or at least of a potential life. And having the value of a potential life, says Tosafos, how could you end or extinguish this potential life that will grow into a life when it, he or she didn't do anything wrong? So, the poskim, in discussing and addressing the question of abortion invoke this Mahlke's Rashi Tosfos in trying to identify what prohibition do you violate. R' Moshe was the strictest. Chazon Ish said abortion is just a prohibition of sh- shech v'azhara l'vatala. That was the Chazon Ish. Others say it's a prohibition of chabala. R' Moshe held it's retzicha. It's murder. It's murder of life or potential life. This Tosfos is part of the evidence. And R' Moshe writes, "Kasavti chazak dina fratz gedola b'olam. And I write what I write as intensely as I write," said R' Moshe, "because in our world she'amar chi is t'chaye medinos hichiu l'arubrum v'zog um b'arasha medina medinas Yisrael. Because now abortion is so popular. Not only in the diaspora, but even in Israel. U'chvar nargu ubrum lein mispar. And so many thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions of babies have been murdered. She'b'zman hazeh od yesh tzarich la'asos syag la'Torah. We have to go above and beyond to make a fence. Of course, there are circumstances. We don't believe abortion is ever permissible. We believe termination is not only at times permissible, but it's halachically required. It's not a shiur on abortion. We don't have time. But we should use our language carefully and distinguish between abortion, which is prohibited, and terminating a pregnancy, which halacha not only allows, but requires at times. The mother's life is threatened. If you have need to do fetal reduction. It's a multiple pregnancy where one threatens the other. There are circumstances even some poskim will allow resulting from rape or incest or certain terminal illnesses that that fetus might have. There are circumstances that halacha might allow termination, but not abortion. So R' Moshe is railing against not termination, but abortion. Because abortion abortion wantonly is is an act of murder. It's not elective. It's not a woman's choice. It's not her body. Termination at time specific circumstances permissible. And he writes, also it is a prohibition. So, from this possuk, from this zara, her reward is where the post can invoke this this question. Okay, moving right along. I think we're moving on from the issue of sota. Perek vov possuk bais. 758. What comes after sota? Sota sota parshas nazir comes after it in in the Torah. Page 758. Perek vov possuk aleph. If a man or woman yaflie, wondrously, makes a vow to be a nazir to Hashem. If the individual wondrously makes this vow to Hashem. So, first of all, you know, when you take the bechina to get into the kollel at Rabbi Yitzchak Elchanan Yeshiva University, and if Shachter, I don't know if he's still giving the bechinas to get into his kollel if he's specifically, one of the questions that he would ask is can a woman be a nazir? Can a woman be a nazir? Why did he ask that question? Cuz a lot of yeshiva guys will say stam nazir shlosha yamim, olam is a mitzvas zman grama, a woman involved, not involved it. It's a possuk in the Torah. Ish o isha ki yaflie lindor neder. Reb Shachter I'm sure all the time would emphasize, you got to know the psukim. Then you get to know the mishna, the gemara, the halacha. You got to go back to the basics. You got to know the psukim. Ish o isha, it begins with the psukim. Ish o isha, a man or a woman who vows to not drink, who vows to become a Nazir. Meiyayin v'sheichar yazir. Can't drink wine or grape product. Can't cut their hair and can't be exposed to contaminated to a corpse. Why does Nazir appear right after Sota? So, Hazal tell us because color raw Sota Nazir whoever sees a Sota you see what happened what promiscuity leads to what living with no boundaries leads to what following your urge and your impulse leads to then you better you better vow not to drink wine. So, let's sit here and say for appreciate wine. Okay, so you won't drink wine. Still going to go to the party and club? Still going to flirt? You're still going to be licentious? You're still going to be lewd? Not drinking wine is only part of the solution. Why don't we give a more wholesale approach to how to live a more modest and virtuous life? We specifically only say lay off the alcohol. Not all alcohol, lay off the wine, the grape product. And the answer is When you want to make a change in life, don't try to take on too much. Take on one thing. Make a kabbalah and let the kabbalah that you make become the reminder that you need to do things differently. So, every time you grab the wine, every time someone invites you to make a wine, every time you feel like throwing back a nice ice cold beer, beer you could have just the wine. Every time you feel like a nice glass of wine you remind yourself, you know what? I'm a changed person. I'm working on myself. I'm a different person. So, you're right. The wine alone is not enough, but you can't take on too much. Message to the Nazir is take on one thing and through the one thing you will grow and you will change and you will become and you will become better. Refutner made the following comment. What do we call inyanim inyanei hadibur? Torah calls them hafla'ah. The Rambam in his Mishneh Torah Yad Hazakah, all the halachas that have to do with speaking, taking vows and the like, appear in the volume that the Rambam called Sefer Hafla'ah. And where do you get that from? Our parsha. Our parsha. So Refutner, based on the Rama, the Rama in Orach Chaim Siman Vav, says the following. The bracha Asher Yatzar, person relieves themselves, the world's greatest factory called the human body, executed properly, held back the nutrients and and um eliminated the waste, incredible factory. You come out, you make a bracha, Asher Yatzar. And what do we end the bracha? U'mafli la'asos. What does that mean U'mafli la'asos? O yesh lefarresh she'mafli la'asos ma'asheh she'omer ruach hakodesh ba'koach divrei ruchni midavar gashmi. The mafli, pele, is a wonder. Pele is a wonder. You know what a wonder it is that Hashem is able to house our spirit, our soul, in this body? The soul and the body are opposites. They're in conflict. How do they integrate? How do we have this hybrid? How do they live together and cooperate and collaborate? How do they work together? It's a pele. It's a pele. And that's U'mafli la'asos, that's the pele. The Mishnah Berurah says the kavana of the Rama is, haneshama nenis meruchniyus, hamacho, baguf nenis migashmiyus, hamacho. Um mikoch zeh, kishur zeh bezei zeh hamacho. The food, food can be a physical hedonistic act of indulgence, that's the animal part of us eating. But eating can also be a very spiritual thing. Eating is what sustains us, gives us life. Every time we eat, we're connecting to Hashem, who is the sustainer of life through eating. And eating can be a very holy activity. And the fact that we can achieve both a holy activity and a mundane hedonistic activity through the same thing called food connects them. That's why speech is called haflah, cuz speech is the bridge that unites the spiritual world and the physical world. When we speak, we bring ideas and thoughts and emotions and feelings and dreams into the physical world and the physical reality. So that's why haflah and a nazir yaflah. This nazir used the power of speech to take upon himself this new identity of a nazir. Torah doesn't demand someone be a nazir. How does one get that identity of a nazir? Because they vow through a vow, through words, we change reality. It's the bridge between the spiritual and the physical. We transform reality, and that's the meaning of the bracha and where did the Rambam get that from? The dibur is haflah and haflah is the bridge of speech, physical and the spiritual. From this pasuk, ki yaflah, ki yaflah. Otzar haTorah has something to say about this. And about everything else. It says the following. He says nazirus is an inyanei pele. The Ibn Ezra yaflah lashon pele. Most of the world say, that looks good. I want to drink that, I want to eat that, I want to would that. I want to enjoy that. Torah doesn't give us enough restrictions? Torah doesn't eliminate enough options for us? And yet this Nazir went ahead and made it even more narrow. Made it even more restrictive. That's a Pella. What a wonder. That a person could transcend their taiva, their their impulse and eliminate options and have even more narrow choices. That's nothing short of a Pella. And that's why it's what a Pella, what a wonder. Someone could be on that on that high level, on that high level. Why is that called a Pella? He goes on and he has so much to talk about here. I but there's so much more I want to get to. So let's move on. The Nazir A Nazir can't take a term of less than 30 days. Stam Nazir is 30 days. He could take on a term for the rest of his life. But when he concludes his term, you have your soul a passover maid. Bring him to the entrance of the old maid. That's a funny way to describe it. Who's bringing whom? Bring him to the entrance of the old maid. Who's bringing whom? You have your soul soul. Sorry. Rashi says you have your soul who's bringing him? He is. He's bringing him. Brings himself. Meaning he should be so changed, so grown so different, so elevated from this experience that he's internally self-motivated Yevias Atzmo, he brings himself. The Sforno says Kiam Mish Atzmo. When you are moved and inspired to do something new, we describe it as you brought yourself. In the other cases it's someone else who brings that deficient person, but here in the case of the person who's grown from the experience, he brings himself. So said Rebbe Yosef Leib Bloch, the Rosh Yeshiva tells, a person who wants to take on a new practice and wants to grow to a new Madrega, grow to a new level in their life, if you want to grow and you want to improve, you cannot do it on your own. It's a mistake. No matter how proud, no matter how independent you think you are, until you're on the level of doing it, you can't be Yevias Atzmo. It's only the Nazir at the end of his term who can bring himself. All the other, according to the Sforno, all the other people, the Metzora, the Sota, the Eved, when a person wants to transform and grow, when you want to take a major step, you need help. You need assistance. You need support. You need someone to bring you. It's only the Nazir at the end of his term, it's all term, it's only when he's already experienced the inspiration, only now can he bring can he bring himself. Paragraph We went from the Nazir to the Birkas Kohanim. I don't even know if we're going to get to the Nesi'im. All the repetitive Nesi'im that we read on Chanukah. Ah, so much to say. Parshas Naso, the longest parsha in the Torah. So much to say. So we should have double parsha class. Should have been. But alas, Baruch Hashem the simcha, I got to get to the airport. Parsha Parsha Gimel. Vayidaber Hashem el Moshe lemor el Bnei Yisrael lemor, Koh Sovarchu es Bnei Yisrael amor lahem. Speak to Aaron to his sons saying, "Thus shall you bless my children. Speak, say to them. Koh Sovarchu amor lahem." Amor lahem. Where did they get this bracha from? So it was a Torah quote from a Medrash. Kodesh Baruchu gave Avraham a bracha. He said, "V'heyei bracha." The brachas are in your hand. You, Avraham, are the steward of of brachas, of blessings. You have the key, you have the power to bless. Avraham gave it to Yitzchak. Yitzchak gave it to Yaakov. Yaakov gave it to the 12 shvatim. And then it was given to the Kohanim. Mikahn v'eilach habrachos mesuros lachem. Hakohanim y'varachu es Bnei Yisrael. K'shem she'amarti l'Avraham Avinu, "V'heyei bracha." Koh Sovarchu es Bnei Yisrael. Where did the Kohanim inherit the power to give the bracha? From Avraham who got the original power, "V'heyei bracha." Who gave it to Yitzchak, who gave it to Yaakov, who gave it to Yaakov. This may be a quote from Rav Moshe Chagiz. This may be the makor why some Ashkenaz have the minhag of mumbling a pasuk after each of the Birkas Kohanim. "Kein yehi ratzon bizchus Avraham Avinu. Kein yehi ratzon bizchus Yitzchak Avinu. Kein yehi ratzon bizchus Yaakov Avinu." The origin might be this Medrash. Because where did the Kohanim get this power? The bracha that we are receiving comes originally from Avraham who gave it to Yitzchak, who gave it to Yaakov, who gave it to the Shvatim who handed that key exclusively to the Kohanim who give it to us, and that's why we say Yira b's chos b's chos Yitzchak b's chos Avram b's chos Yisrael b's chos Yaakov because that was the chain through which it came to us. This might be alluded to in the pasuk itself. Why Kohanim b'nei Yisrael b's chos Avraham Avinu shehayah b'dei Avraham Yitzchak v'Yisrael Kohanim d'Avraham b'rachah d'Avraham m'suyeret b'yedei Kohanim. U'ch'shem Avraham v'Yisrael Avraham b's chos Avraham Yitzchak v'Yisrael. So, Kohanim b's chos take this power. Where did they come from? Came from Avraham. Where did Avraham get it from? He doesn't mention this, but maybe when Hashem told Avraham go outside, Kohanim Y'varechucha. So, the Kohanim Kohanim Y'varechucha and v'ani v'anachnu Kohanim at the Akeidah is the Kohanim Avraham b'nei Yisrael that the power of the Kohanim came from Avraham, Yitzchak, and came from Yaakov. It's a beautiful Let's get in a few more. Where does it come? The Kohanim have to give the brachah b'ahavah. Why do Kohanim davka have to give this brachah b'ahavah? I don't have to shake the lulav b'ahavah with love. I don't have to blow the shofar with love, light the Chanukah candles with love, keep Shabbos with love. Here it has to be l'varech es Yisrael b'ahavah. And this is pasuk in the Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim kuf kuf ches. The Magen Avraham says b'ahavah Kohanim d'vei rachamim l'am o am l'rachamim l'ei l'yifros yad d'vrachah ameh. The Magen Avraham quotes from the Zohar the Kohanim in a bad mood, Kohanim angry, negative, miserable, for b'sinah. The Kohanim doesn't get along with somebody who's in the tzibur, then the Kohanim can't duchan. Can't Kohanim can't do a b'ahavah? They can't duchan. They can't duchan. Where did they get this b'ahavah? Why davka this brachah has to be a brocha? So the Ben Ish Hai says Why? The Ahavah is not just Ahavas Yisrael, it's Ahavas Hashem. The Kohen has to be in a good place with the relationship with Hashem to be his ambassador, his steward, to be his transfer agent, to take the brocha from Hashem and to give it to to give it to Klal Yisrael. It's to come from a place of love. A brocha can't come from a negative place. It has to come from a place of love, be'ahavah. And humility. And the person who's giving it is also representing Hashem. "B'kol Ram", the Yerushalmi says, "B'kolo shel Ram", with the voice of the most exalted. Hakadosh Baruchu Mishtameya, Kolo Imem, Hashem mixes his voice in with the Kohanim when they give their brocha, Hashem is blessing with them. And maybe that's the reason they're going to call the Kohanim "Birkas HaTzibur" "K'sheim Omdim L'yad Aron Kodesh". L'ramez Al Inyan Zeh, Shehakadosh Baruchu Shochein Itam, Hashem is dwelling with them and giving the brocha with them from that platform. I really wanted to get to maybe we'll end with this, a beautiful I We spoke on Shavuos. It's been a big talk lately in our shul and elsewhere. Does Hashem need us? Does he need our mitzvos? Does Hashem need us? If omnipotent, infinite, perfect, all-knowing, he has no needs. To need is to mean you lack. If you lack, you're not perfect and omnipotent and omniscient. So, we spoke about Hashem chooses to need us. He's not like AI or a robot, he's not an algorithm or programmed or coded. Hashem chooses to need us. He gets a nachas ruach from us. And we went through many, many, many sources. So here, the Gemara Sota says, "Minayin Shehakadosh Baruchu Mis'aveil B'birkas Kohanim?" How do you know that kodash baruch hu wants needs the birkas kohanim? For shalom asher bnei Yisrael v'ani evarechem. Rashi tell us that this bracha is shalom amo v'lo asah tzorech Yisrael ela tzorech makom. Rashi Rashi on the gemara shabbat lamed chet on our parsha. It's not tzorech Yisrael the birkas kohanim is not satisfying a need that we have though we need it desperately want those brachas. Rather it's a tzorech makom. I, how could you talk about tzorech makom? Hashem has needs? There's so much to say but we're out of time. What need does Hashem have? He needs that. How does it help him? Birkas kohanim helps him. It's a need that he has. How does it help him? What is it his need? Next year, parshas naso we'll pick up over here im yirtzeh Hashem. So next time stay happy, stay healthy stay holy.