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A G-d of Vengeance or Compassion? - By Rabbi YY Jacobson
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Why Does Hashem Inspire Moshe Via Anger? This class to women was presented on Tuesday, 26 Teves 5777, January 24, 2017, at Ohr Chaim, Monsey, NY
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Torah
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Auto-generated transcript. Not time-synced to the video.
The Yeshiva.net
Good morning to one and all and welcome.
So, imagine for a moment
this scene.
You're
preparing your child for his bar
mitzvah.
And
he says to you
or to your husband, to his mother, or to
his father,
"I'm really incapable.
I'm incapable for the job. I can't have
a bar mitzvah.
I can't get an aliyah. I can't make a
brachah. I can't speak.
I can't greet guests. Nothing. I just
can't do it.
Who am I? I'm I'm I'm worthless. I'm
Nobody likes me. I'm insignificant."
And you reassure him. You reassure him
that he has the
prowess, the power, the power, the
ability, the potential.
So, he comes and he says
that uh
nobody is going to listen to him. He
can't communicate.
And you reassure him that he will be
able to communicate.
And then the next thing he tells you is
uh
that he has terrible fear. He's
paralyzed.
And you reassure him that he can
overcome the fear.
And finally
he'll tell you just
just forget about it. I'm not doing it.
You'll have it with another child.
And at this point you lose it.
You get furious and you get angry.
and you scream at the child
and he says, "Okay, I'll do it."
Or
you have a company, you have a business,
and you want to bring in a child into
the business, an older child.
And the story repeats itself again.
First he says, "I'm just incompetent."
And you assure him that he's competent
or she's competent.
And then the person, the child, says,
"All the other employees despise me.
They will hate me. They don't want young
blood.
They will be jealous of me. They'll
throw me out. They'll be unsuccessful."
And you say, "No,
they want young blood. They want young
blood. They want somebody like you." And
then he'll tell you, "But I can't talk.
I can't communicate."
And I need to for the job. When you
assure him that he can. And finally he
just says, "Just go hire somebody else."
So papa or mama just gets angry and gets
furious and starts screaming at him.
And he says, "Okay."
The problem in both of these stories is
that
what persuaded what what persuaded the
young man or woman
to embrace their position was your fury,
your anger,
not logic,
not warmth,
not
persuasion,
but rather anger.
And whenever anybody does something
because somebody else is angry,
how much heart can they put into it?
If the only reason I accept the position
is
because I am terrified of your anger,
so how much enthusiasm
can I bring to the work?
How much gusto?
How much oomph,
how much creativity
can I bring to the task at hand
if the only
factor that motivated me to get into it
was
avoiding your fury,
your anger.
So, if it comes to washing dishes or
your daughter cleaning up her room,
so maybe it will work.
She'll do the job and clean up her room
because mama lost it.
And when mama loses it, it ain't fun.
So, just to
get the house a little more silent, I'll
clean up the room. Okay.
But if I want somebody to accept a
long-term job,
I don't think I will be successful in
having them doing a good job, a
effective job, if the only
thing that can get them to do it is my
fury. Would you agree with me?
Yes.
Which, if this is true and you agree
with me,
it becomes profoundly perplexing
to dissect and analyze what convinced
Moshe Rabbeinu,
the great hero
of parshas Shmois, Va'eira, Bo,
Beshalach, and really the rest of Torah,
from the beginning of Shmois,
the primary character becomes Moshe
Rabbeinu. There's not a parsha
in which his name is not mentioned, and
not once, but numerous times, besides
one, parshas Tetzaveh, and even there
the whole parsha is about him, Va'ata
Tetzaveh. It's just his name is not
mentioned.
But really, from parshas Shmois,
Moshe, so to speak, becomes the central
figure
who liberates the Jewish people from
slavery, from bondage, molds them into a
nation, takes them out of Egypt, crosses
a sea with them, brings them to Sinai,
leads them 40 years through the desert,
at the banks at the Arvot Mo'av, at the
bank at the at the bank of the Jordan,
where he will ultimately pass on
and allow his successor to continue the
journey,
but not anymore in the Chumash, in the
Tanakh, in Sefer Yehoshua.
And when we analyze and dissect how this
man got the job,
how he assumed the position,
how did it come about?
It becomes not only perplexing,
but deeply disturbing
and deeply enigmatic.
The story is already recorded in Shemot,
and it continues in Va'eira, and it
continues in Bo.
Moshe is really minding his own
business.
He's shepherding the flock of his
father-in-law in the desert, in the
wilderness,
but he sees the famous vision in the
burning bush.
And at that vision, Hashem summons him
and says,
"I have heard the cry of my children,
and I want to send you to the Pharaoh to
liberate them from bondage."
And Moshe's response is immediately, "No
way.
This is not for me."
And he explains to the Ribono shel Olam
why it's not for him.
He says,
"Mi ani anochi?
Who am I?
Who am I? Where did I suddenly become
the human being
who is designated for this job?
I am
incompetent. This is completely
not me."
So, Hashem reassures him. He says, "I
will be there with you.
I will accompany you. I will go with
you."
So, Mosha is not convinced. He says, "I
don't have what to tell them."
"They're going to ask me, who's this
God? What's his name? I don't have what
to say."
"I'm ignorant as to what to say." He
says, "I'll tell you what to say." He
tells him what to say.
After this, Mosha comes up with a new
situation. And what does he say?
"They ain't going to believe
me."
"They'll mock me. They'll make fun of
me. They won't accept me. My my mission
will be futile. The nation will not be
mobilized by me."
And Hashem gives him a whole series of
miracles and wonders and assures him
that they will believe him.
So he comes up with a new one. Number
four.
And that is
"You
forgot? I don't even know how to talk.
I'm not a man of words."
"I have a heavy mouth. I have a heavy
tongue. I can't communicate." This is
already rationale number four. I'm not
the man. First he said, "Who am I?"
"I'm not capable." Hashem said, "I'll be
there with you." Then he said, "I don't
have what to say. They'll ask me for
your name." He answers.
Then he says, "Nobody's going to accept
me."
"They'll accept you." "BUT I CAN'T
TALK."
SO HASHEM answers him in his famous
answer. He says, "Who makes anybody
talk? I make people talk. I can make you
talk, too."
You would think he ran out of excuses.
So after everything, he comes up with
number five and he says, "Just send
somebody else."
"Just
take somebody else for the job."
What happens at this point? I quote.
I hear
a day no emotion. I don't remember.
God becomes furious at Mosha.
And he says, your brother Aaron the
Levite,
I know that he will speak, he will
present to you. He's going to come greet
you and he's going to rejoice in his
heart
that you have been given this position.
Don't be afraid of older brother
jealousy.
After all, Mosha is the baby in the
family.
And Aaron is going to look at the baby
in the family who has risen to such
power. It's not easy for every older
brother
to digest
that type of phenomenon, that type of
experience, but not your brother Aaron.
And the conversation is over. Mosha
comes back to his father-in-law and he
says, I want to go back to Egypt and his
mission begins.
So, how did the Rebbe convince
Mosha?
He got angry at him.
All the conversations were futile.
Rashi says the conversations went on for
a week.
This wasn't in one day. For 7 days, back
and forth, back and forth. Hashem says,
yes. Mosha says, who am I? Hashem says,
I'll be there with you. He says, I don't
have what to say. I don't know your
name. I'll tell you your name. Mosha
says, nobody believes me. They'll
believe you, he says. I don't know how
to talk. YOU'LL KNOW HOW TO TALK AND
THEN HE SAYS, JUST HIRE SOMEBODY ELSE.
SO, God gets angry.
He gets angry. So, Mosha is like, okay.
Granted.
Hashem's anger caused him to take the
job.
But,
it seems a little strange because what
type of passion
do you bring again to a mission or to a
task that you really don't want?
You really don't feel you're equipped
for. You really don't feel is right for
you. You don't feel you're competent,
you're capable.
And the only reason you finally accepted
it was because of in this case Hashem's
ire.
Ire as in
ire, anger, fury.
Or in Yiddish, sodden.
In the Chumash in Yiddish, how do they
translate "af Hashem b'Moshe"?
That Abersht is
sodden hot gebrent in Moshe, right?
You remember?
You weren't listening. That's why you
were thrown out. Okay.
In Yiddish, sodden, right? It's wrath,
wrath.
God's wrath.
But this is the question.
Can you really motivate somebody
and have them redefine their life's
mission
based on your anger?
This is not asking Moshe to clean up his
room
or do his homework or get into bed.
And even then, you know how much anger
helps and for how long.
I think some of us have experience.
There was once a teacher who asked all
the students to write down on a piece of
paper
what they would like to be when they get
older.
So each child wrote something else, you
know, one writes a fireman,
a policeman,
an architect, an engineer,
an astronaut.
One little girl wrote
when she gets older, she wants to be
possible.
So the teacher said, "What does this
mean?"
She said, "My mother tells me every
night that I'm impossible.
So when I get older, I hope one day I'll
be able to be possible."
So if I tell somebody, "You're
impossible. You're getting really,
really angry."
So, maybe short-term
it could be effective on some level.
Again, this you'll speak to great
pedagogues
who teach you how to run serene
and tranquil homes.
But, for a long-term task for something
that is going to define you for the rest
of your life something that you have to
put your soul into
it will turn you into a new human being
and it will require endless
self-sacrifice
unlimited commitment, unwavering
determination
almost infinite selflessness.
You can't inspire such a task through
anger. Doesn't work.
Never happened.
And yet
a simple reading of the story seems that
was the only thing that got Moshe
ultimately to say, "Yes."
And Hashem would not force him to do it.
He needed Moshe to agree.
He needed Moshe to agree, but how?
No logic in the world can persuade him.
Interesting, God, the creator of logic,
the creator of emotion, could not
persuade Moshe. The only way he could do
it was
through fury. I We get angry because we
basically have no other alternatives.
You patience plost.
You have a migraine headache. You
thought the day was done
and you could crawl into bed with your
teddy bear, whatever that looks like.
And suddenly
your teenage
sophisticated child is really getting on
your nerves. Or your 8-years-old, which
is today also a teenager. Or your
4-year-old, which I think today is also
a teenager.
So, we lose it. And at some point,
arguments, persuasions, conversations,
love, empathy, caring, reading books,
listening to books, sitting on the
couch, smiling, nurturing, nurturing,
nurturing, so plost. It plosts, you lose
it, and you scream and you holler and
you get angry. And sometimes if you do
it often enough, they don't even
respond.
It's just what Tati or Mommy does. It
just becomes music to people's ears. And
the more you scream, the more
interesting the music becomes. And if
you don't do it that often, okay, you
may get a response. But you would think
from God's perspective
there should be
he should have more
tricks up his sleeve or more resources
within himself to be able to really
persuade Moishe to do this.
So, I want to share with you an insight
by the Kotsker Rebbe
which is quoted in a famous book known
as Siach Sarfei Kodesh.
Which is a Polish Hasidic work
that uh compiles many of the sayings,
insights
of Reb Simcha Bunim of Pshiskha
of the Kotsker Rebbe, of the Yid
Hakodesh, of the Chidushei Harim, of
some of the great uh
masters, spiritual masters who lived in
Poland
in the 19th century.
The Kotsker Rebbe's name was Reb
Menachem Mendel Morgenstern.
Morgenstern. Reb Menachem Mendel
Morgenstern
lived in Kotsk
in Poland
and he passed away
on the 22nd day of Shvat, Chof Beis
Shvat
approximately Taf Resh Yud Tes, I think
1859 or so.
And uh
already in his time he was a legend
due to his penetrating and very sharp
and truthful insights.
And certainly in this insight he does
not fail us or disappoint us.
And he has a fascinating insight on the
story
of how Moshe was chosen.
And he suggests
that the problem is translation once
again.
As I mentioned to you more than once,
all translations fail.
Not because the translator has ill
intent.
He or she may have the best of
intentions, but by the nature of
translation,
you lose a lot of the original impact
and sometimes the very meaning. And here
is a classic example. How do we
translate
Hashem and Moshe? Probably any English
translation, I don't have one open
before me, but probably any English
translation, although I'm sure they
vary, more or less will convey the same
message.
The Lord or God got angry at Moses, at
Moshe.
Or Hashem's wrath burned against Moshe.
His anger burned on Moshe, against
Moshe.
That's how it's translated. And I think
probably in most schools, that's how the
is explained.
Hashem and Moshe, Hashem got upset at
Moshe.
He got angry at Moshe.
His wrath burned against Moshe. How can
you refuse me again and again?
But the Kotzker Rebbe points out that
it's really a very inaccurate
translation.
He says, read the words very carefully
and you'll see a completely different
translation.
Now, I'm going to change the subject now
in order to give context to what he's
saying and go to another pasuk
which we're all very familiar with, I
believe, because we say it every day.
Some of us say it twice a day. Some of
us say it three times a day.
And this is in Krias Shema.
The second parsha of Krias Shema
V'haya im shamoa tishmeu
also speaks about Hashem's wrath.
And it reads, V'haya im shamoa tishmeu
el mitzvosai
asher anochi metzaveh eschem hayom
l'ahavah es Hashem elokeichem
Meaning, if you will listen to the
commandments of God and love him and
serve him with all your heart, then I
will give you rain,
you will collect your grain, your oil,
your wine.
I will give grass to your animals, you
will eat, you will be satiated, etc.
Be careful.
If your heart will go astray and you
will serve other gods and you will
prostrate yourselves to them,
then
what will happen?
The wrath of God will burn against you.
And the results will be catastrophic.
He'll block the heavens,
there won't be any rain. Thank God today
is not such a day.
He's obviously not upset.
The earth won't produce its yield.
You will perish swiftly from the good
land that he's giving you. And now he
shifts back as though nothing happened.
Very positive, put these words on your
heart and on your soul.
Now usually the shift from wrath to love
is a complicated one.
When you get very, very angry at your
children and you lose it for a few
minutes and you scream,
it's very difficult within the same
sentence almost like, "And now you
should serve me with all your heart and
with all your soul and bind me on your
heart and between your eyes and you'll
be blessed." Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Let's first detox a little bit. But in
Krias Shema there's almost no break. Not
almost, there's no break. I mean, it's
from pasuk to pasuk. You'll
perish, you'll be thrown out, and then
away, with some tenderness and
put it on your hearts and on your souls,
bind it on your hands, between your
eyes, teach it to your children, when
you're laying down, when you're getting
up, write it on your doorposts, so that
your life and your children's life will
increase on the land that Hashem has
sworn to give in you as the days of
heaven and earth on earth. That's the
end of the second part of Krias Shma.
Here again, v'charah af Hashem bachem.
God will be upset, angry, furious at
you.
Many of you say Krias Shma you assume,
right?
Do you think about these words v'charah
af Hashem bachem when you say them? Or
it's just
It's like when your mother starts
screaming.
You used to it a little bit, right? You
used to it.
When you think about it, what type of
feeling does it leave you with?
It's hard to love people who are always
furious at you, you know?
What do you think?
No?
If you grew up in a home where your
parents were often very, very angry,
what did it do? What do you think it
does to children who grew up in a home
where it's so hard to find mommy happy
or father happy. There's a lot of anger,
whether pent up
or expressive,
whether implosive or explosive. It's a
difficult environment to be in.
What about if you work in an environment
and your boss is just furious,
angry?
It's difficult. It's hard. Even if
there's justifications for the anger,
there's always reasons, justifications.
But it's hard to build a relationship
based on anger.
Would you tell your child, "You better
do this cuz if not,
I'm going to be very angry"?
What does that do? What does that
accomplish? Is it a way of building a
relationship? I mean, we get angry.
We're human. We get angry. What does it
even mean that God gets angry?
What is it about anger? I mean, if you
would ask your therapist about anger,
what would he or she tell you?
Is it about you or is it about the other
person?
What will they tell you? Anybody ever
asked their therapist about their anger?
They'll always talk about you. It's
about your response. It's about how
you're processing it. If you'll get
wholesome, if you'll be more wholesome,
you'll be able to deal with it, right?
So, my question is,
what did God's therapist say?
He's the most wholesome. Why is he
getting upset? Why is he getting angry?
Why is Hashem getting so angry?
Why is he getting so upset?
I want to ask a third question today.
Those who daven, remember in the morning
there is a melody that the Leviim would
sing every day of the week in the Beis
Hamikdash. I don't know if you know, but
in the Beis Hamikdash there was a
concerto
every single day. Morning, not once. Who
goes to a symphony once a day? You go to
a symphony twice a day. In the morning
and in the afternoon.
Right? I mean, like
as is your custom.
In the morning, there was a symphony,
and the symphony was a very impressive
symphony. You can have up to 120
vocalists.
120 vocalists in the Beis Hamikdash
besides those playing the instruments.
And it was absolutely beautiful,
exquisite music in the morning and in
the afternoon every day.
And uh
the vocalists would sing what we call
the Shir Shel Yom.
Now, I know the Shir Shel Yom, the song
of the we say in davening, doesn't sound
so exciting. But in the original Shir
Shel Yom, it was absolutely
uh
saturated with ecstasy.
On the fourth day,
Wednesday, the Shir Shel Yom is
basically a chapter of Tehillim.
Like every day.
The chapter of Tehillim of Shir Shel Yom
Revi'i BaShabbos is, you remember how it
begins?
Eil Nekamos Ado-nai, Eil Nekamos Hofi'a.
Hinosei'i Sheifet Aretz, Hashiv Gemul Al
Gey'im.
Translated, God
is
a lord of revenge.
If you didn't hear it the first time,
Dovid HaMelech makes sure to repeat
himself.
The God of revenge has appeared.
Okay?
So, he gives a definition.
God came, Hashem Nekamos Hashem.
Kail Nekamos Ado-nai, Eil Nekamos Eil
Nekamos Ado-nai, Eil Nekamos Hofi'a.
Kail Hashem is a God of Nekamos, of
revenge,
of vengeance.
And again, Kail Nekamos, the God of
revenge, appeared, Hofi'a. Hofi'a is
like in Hebrew, Hofa'a, he emerged.
He revealed himself. He's here, he's
present.
You go down that Mizmor, do you remember
the last verse of that chapter of
Tehillim?
What?
L'chu Neranena L'Ado-nai, Nari'a L'Tzur
Yisheinu. Nekadma Fanav Besoda, Bizmiros
Nari'a Lo Ki Keil Gadol Ado-nai U'Melech
Gadol Al Kol Elohim.
Now come and let's dance to God.
Let's celebrate for the rack of our
salvation. Let's greet his face with
gratitude.
With melodies we shall sing and
celebrate to him.
Isn't there something off here?
I mean, imagine you tell your daughter,
"Let me tell you something about Mommy.
Mommy is a mommy of revenge.
That's what she does.
And if you didn't hear it once, I'll say
it again.
And one day the revenge will appear, the
vengeance will be there. And now, come
dance with me."
Come, let's dance, let's celebrate. Now,
Okay, you're a god of revenge.
You pay back. Nothing goes unaccounted
for. I got that.
You take revenge. We have in Humash, Kel
Kanah,
v'notein.
We say in the Gemara Shalach, v'nakeh lo
yenakeh.
Kel nekamos Hashem. I got it.
But, it's very hard to tell me right
afterwards, "Now, come dance with me."
You have to admit, it triggers somewhat
of a distance. Maybe an important one,
maybe a necessary one,
but it triggers distance, it triggers a
negative feeling.
And yet, in the same capital, David
Hamelach has no qualms. SAYS, "L'CHU
NERANENA. YOU HEARD? NOW, LET'S GO
DANCE."
A bisl modern, no?
Now, many of us as kids had these
questions.
But,
when we ask these questions,
those of us who asked these questions,
the response was usually not very kind.
We got a message very fast that if we
don't want revenge
taken against us,
we better be quiet.
So, we learned to stop asking. Some of
us never stop asking, but we don't hope
for an answer. And others who wanted to
fit in a little more learned how to stop
asking.
Which is a wonderful, wonderful way of
uh
dying.
Because living people ask questions.
Living people tell stories. Living
people are curious. They challenge
themselves. They could challenge others
as well.
So, these are very basic questions, are
very primal questions.
Why is God getting angry? Why is God
taking revenge? Don't we always talk
about revenge as a bad thing? Isn't
there a mitzvah lo yishkon, don't take
revenge?
So, why is Hashem taking revenge?
It's his mitzvah. So, I'm not allowed to
take revenge, and he is allowed to take
revenge? And generally, what type of
people take revenge?
Where do you think revenge comes from?
Why do we take revenge? Those of us who
take revenge, we hold grudges and we
take revenge.
What you did to me 12 years ago will
never be forgotten, and I will pay back.
I will remember it and I will pay back.
The Torah says Excuse me, the Torah says
lo yishkon u'lo yisitor.
But the Torah of the Tanakh makes sure
to know that Hashem to tell us that kein
nikamah Hashem, kein nikamah if you
On this, there's an interpretation of
the Baal Shem Tov.
The interpretation of the Baal Shem Tov
is quoted by his student
whose name was Rabbi Yaakov Yosef, the
Rav of Polonne.
Polonne is a city in the Ukraine. The
Rabbi of Polonne was a man named Rabbi
Yaakov Yosef. He has a safer called
Toldos Yaakov Yosef. He was one of the
great students of the Baal Shem Tov.
And in Toldos Yaakov Yosef in Parshas
Bo, he says shamati mi moirei,
I heard from my teacher, from the Baal
Shem Tov,
an explanation on this possuk.
And actually, uh, on Thursday,
I had the privilege of being in the Baal
Shem Tov's shul,
the actual place where the Baal Shem Tov
davened for maybe 20 years, and learned,
and taught,
in the city of Mezhibozh, in the
Ukraine.
So, we davened Mincha over there.
So, after Mincha, I said, "Let's sit and
we'll learn a little bit."
So, I copied some teachings of the Baal
Shem Tov scattered in different works of
his students,
and I said, "You know, I don't know
where these Torahs were said, but many
of them could have been said right here
in this shul, by the Baal Shem Tov to
his students, because his students say,
'We heard this from our from our
teacher.'" And the primary place where
he would teach was in that shul.
So, one of the Torahs I taught was this
Torah from Toldos Yaakov Yosef
in Parshas Boi.
And it was a very, uh,
a profound, emotional, and moving
experience to be able to teach it,
or think about it, internalize it, share
it,
in the very place where the master
presented it.
And this is his teaching. It's It's
I love the teaching, not only because
it's a beautiful teaching, but also it
teaches you
how one Jew could look at the same thing
that everybody else looks at,
but just see a whole different
experience.
And for this, I'm going to employ
another metaphor of the Baal Shem Tov,
who once shared the following story, the
anecdotal story. He said there was a
musician standing in the square of the
city playing music.
And he was an extraordinary musician.
When you heard his music, you could not
remain apathetic.
You could not remain unmoved.
Again, if you have an ear for music.
Some people are tone deaf,
and no music could move them. Fine.
So, they do other things, you know,
chocolate mousse, whatever. But uh
But if you have a a soul for music, you
know, music is very very deep.
Right? The
There's a famous safe from Megillas
Esther by Reb Alkabetz. He is the
composer of Lecha Dodi, Friday night. He
has a beautiful beautiful commentary on
Megillas Esther. And he says that in the
party, the feast that Achashverosh made,
he did everything. He provided the
guests with everything.
The scribes, right? V'hashkos bichlei
zahav, ukhelim mikhelim shonim viyein
malchus rav k'yad hamelech. V'hasiya
khados einoynis. It was beautifully
designed. There was endless design,
endless food, endless drinks.
Everybody He wanted everybody to have
the time of their life. He was a
paranoid king and he wanted everybody to
have a good time. It's like people who
throw parties simply because they need
it for validation. That is what
Achashverosh was all about. And Reb
Alkabetz asks, why was there no
music?
Why does there no music in the Megillah?
And he says something very interesting.
He says that children love music and
they love singing. Children will start
dancing when there's music. And he says
the reason is because neshamos sing all
day. That's what they do. They don't do
other things. Souls sing. Once you're
born, you learn to kvetch. But souls
sing. That's what they do.
So, he says children who are closer to
the time when they were just souls,
music is very natural for them.
And that's why he says music is a very
spiritual experience. And Achashverosh,
his attempt was to distance Jews from
their soul. And therefore, he no music,
any type of music is not not what he
wants at the party. That's what he says.
So, the Balshem Tov says this person was
playing music
and everybody was stopping
and listening. And at some point, they
you know, you you even unconsciously you
start swaying, you know, you start
swaying to the to the sound and you
start singing even if you're not the
fully aware. And he says, "Before they
know it, they were all dancing and
leaping, swaying and dancing from this
music."
And he says, "One man walks by
and he looks at everybody and he says,
'You all went crazy. This is a
meshuggener place. I thought I was
living among civilized, responsible
people. Imagine, in the middle of the
city, in the middle of the square,
people are just dancing.'"
He says, "You all went off your rocker.
You all need emergency help. I'm the
only normal man who remains in the
city."
The Balshe Tov says there was only one
detail missing and that is nebach this
person was deaf.
He was deaf.
Very innocent, but he couldn't hear. So,
all he saw was crazy people dancing.
From his perspective, crazy they were.
When you don't hear the music, crazy you
are. But for somebody who hears the
music, it's a different reality. So,
sometimes in life there are two people.
They're both in the same reality, but
one has antennas that hear the music.
So, it's a whole different life. The
other person doesn't have that.
So, therefore, their response is based
on that state of consciousness.
So, sometimes you could see or hear a
person who hears music.
And when they hear music, everything
changes.
That's what I like very much about all
of the Balshe Tov's teachings, but also
this one especially. You'll hear in a
moment what he does with it.
So, this is what he teaches. This is
what our holy master teaches.
He says, "The clue is that the names of
Hashem don't seem to fit the message of
the pasuk because we know Hashem has
different names.
What is the name that represents midas
of war, the attribute of discipline, of
strength? Which name? Elokim.
Kel
is associated with chesed. It says in
Tehillim, chesed Kel kol hayom.
Kel is associated with grace, with
kindness, with love. Yud Kay Vav Kay is
associated with midas harachamim. Rashi
says it in the beginning of parshas
Va'eira.
Elokim is midas hadin.
Judgement, discipline, harshness. Yud
Kay Vav Kay is the attribute of
compassion, of empathy. He says, "You
have all the wrong names here. Kel
nakamos Hashem. Kel nakamos sefiya. You
start off with Kel, then you get to Yud
Kay Vav Kay. The wrong names. Speak
about nakama. But give me the right
name."
Kel nakamos Elokim. Elokim nakamos.
However you you'll phrase the pasuk,
both names associated with chesed and
rachamim are introduced here. Baal Shem
Tov says, "This is the clue to
understand the pasuk."
In fact, David Hamelech is almost
questioning himself and challenging
himself before he gives the answer.
That's number one. There's another
problem, and that is the redundancy. Why
the need to be repetitive? Kel nakamos
Hashem hofi'a.
You don't even need Hashem. Kel nakamos
sefiya. The God of revenge appeared.
And when he appears,
it spells trouble.
Things are going to change.
Not Kel nakamos Hashem. Kel nakamos
sefiya. Wrong names and repetitiveness,
both in the names and in the word
nakamos.
So after hearing the Baal Shem Tov,
that the meaning of the pasuk has to be
understood very differently.
David Hamelech says, "Let me tell you
something how it works. Kel nakamos.
God is a God of revenge.
But the nakamos Kel, it's chesed.
And not only it's Khasid, it's Yud Kay
Vav Kay, it's Rakhamim.
So now you're going to ask me, this
doesn't make sense. The juxtaposition is
off. If it's Kel and Hashem, it's not
Nikamas.
So David Hamelech says, let me explain
to you what Nikama means, what revenge
means. Kel Nikamois. What do I mean that
God is a God of revenge? Ho Ifia, he
appears.
That's what I mean by revenge. And he
gives a metaphor. I'll use my own words
for the metaphor, but the
the core of the metaphor belongs to the
Baal Shem Tov. The Toldos Yaakov Yosef
says he heard it from his mouth. He
heard it from his teacher.
So imagine
in life you're in the dumps. I don't
mean you, but imagine somebody is
literally in the dumps. The dumps shabbi
dumps shabbi dumps. Physically,
emotionally, psychologically, depressed,
hope helpless, without a way out.
And a person comes into your life
and you don't even know
how that person literally saves you.
What they do, perhaps behind your back
without you knowing,
an angel, a guardian angel that comes
into your life, steps in and changes
your life from darkness to light. Shleps
you out from the abyss and brings you to
paradise. It could be physically, it
could be spiritually, it could be
psychologically, be emotionally.
And some of you sitting in this room
know that you have had one person or two
people or three in your life who have
had a tremendous positive impact. Just
like you may have had one, two, or three
have had tremendous negative impact.
Which is maybe why you come to this
sheer.
You also have perhaps one or two or
three people or more.
I don't know, more, that would be pretty
big. But some of us you could point and
say, this person changed my life. I
would have never
been where I am without for this
person." They may know that they changed
my life. They may not know that they
changed my life.
And I'll tell you an interesting thing.
It is most likely that the person who
changed your life does not know what
they did for you. They don't know how
deep
they they impacted you in a positive
way. And the reason is cuz most of us
don't give genuine feedback to the
people who matter to us most.
You think right now about one or two or
three people who transformed your life
in a significant way, in the very
positive. Did you ever share it with
them?
Did you ever go over to them and tell
them specifically what they did for you
at this particular point or what they
continue to do for you? A relative or
not a relative? A relative, a friend, or
somebody maybe out of the blue.
Maybe something that was a small thing
they did, but it changed something for
you. Or something large that they did.
Or something large that they continue to
do. Sometimes you even sit somewhere and
you may hear something or you may read
something. That person may not even know
that they wrote it or said it.
But for you, it triggered an awakening,
an arousal of consciousness that nothing
is the same again. But how would they
know?
They would never know.
Which is, by the way, why in Parshas
Balak it's called Balak.
Moshe
it's the only time, I don't know I don't
know I don't feel so comfortable using
the word, but we you see what we would
call today symptoms of depression.
It's the only time Moshe asks God to
kill him.
Right? In Balak, he says, "Hargeni not
harog."
Kill me. Murder me. Only once. He went
through hard times, Moshe.
But he only asked once to be to be dead.
And what does Hashem do? How does Hashem
respond to that? Very interestingly, the
way he responds to it is he basically
says, "Bring in 70 of your students.
And what is what's going to happen is
I'm going to allow your spirit
to be shared with them
and they will begin prophesizing.
And after that, everything changes. What
happened?
What happened was suddenly Moshe
Rabbeinu saw
70 people
who prophesized because of him
who became prophets. He suddenly saw 70
souls whom he transformed forever.
He suddenly saw the impact he had and he
couldn't say anymore to God
kill me.
My life is worthless. My life is futile.
And you'll know great people suffer from
these crises more than other people
because they invest more and they're
more sensitive.
But most people don't get feedback. Most
people don't give feedback.
They give feedback, you know, whatever
when they they shout they say it's good,
which is important.
It's important. But you'll see, look at
your own life. The biggest events that
shaped you, have you given feedback to
the people responsible for them?
And if not, you should consider doing
it.
Because you don't know what they're
going through. And even if you do know,
it's irrelevant.
This is an important representation of
of human reaction.
How did I get into feedback?
No, I need I need a scientist here who
follows
not with your emotions. Huh?
That I know, but before that.
Ah. Ah, very good. You take notes, very
good. Thank you for taking notes.
Nothing like a notebook.
So, you were in those dumps or somebody
you know, and this person, man or woman,
steps in
and did everything. But, it sometimes
you know about it, sometimes you don't
know about it.
You don't know. Sometimes people change
that we can't give feedback cuz we don't
know.
We don't know what they did behind the
back. Sometimes you discover something a
husband or a wife did for a spouse that
they'll never know.
Sometimes for a child, they'll never
know.
Sometimes a child for a parent, they
will never know. And sometimes a friend.
Yes, we do live in a culture where
we often make sure to tell the people
what we did for them.
Or as Oscar Wilde says, the best feeling
in the world is to do something
anonymously
and then have everybody find out.
Right? There's nothing like that
feeling.
So, I'M BOTH A MARTYR, BUT also a hero.
I'm both
the greatest ba'al chesed in the world
in this century. I'm sorry, in this
century. I'm sorry, in the millennium.
But, everybody of course knows.
So, I can go to sleep telling myself
I'm the greatest, but I'm also so, so
humble.
Cuz I didn't do it for name recognition.
Okay, so that works. Oscar Wilde
understood it well, at least he was
honest about it. Not all of us are
honest about it.
But, sometimes I don't know.
And what do they say in English? It's
actually a midrash. The midrash says,
when you do somebody a big favor,
it's an old Yiddish saying, give them
little stones.
Why?
Cuz when they start throwing stones on
you,
it should be
small stones so they don't hurt. No good
deed goes unpunished.
And sometimes
subconsciously
when I save somebody's life, they can't
forgive me for it.
Because it's too vulnerable.
And therefore they end up hating me.
That's one of the sad realities of life.
Sometimes the people you love most
end up hating you most.
Not because you are the problem.
Sometimes that's also part of the
problem.
The love is very convoluted and then
abusive, but I'm not talking about that.
I'm talking about somebody who is really
there for somebody else, but
psychologically
it's very hard to be vulnerable.
So therefore I have to turn you into a
crook
and a snake. And I have to say the
reason you helped me was for your own
ulterior motives or because you had
other agendas or really you had a whole
other bias. So that way I don't owe you
anything.
Subconsciously we do this all the time.
It makes us feel better about ourselves
when we don't have to attribute profound
transformation to another person.
Which of course Leah names her son
Yehuda
Hashem. Yehuda means gratitude. And
somehow that became the name of our
people. A Jew is Yehudi.
In fact, the word Jew comes from Judah
which is Yehuda which comes from the
word Hodah gratitude. Why is the name of
the Jew associated with gratitude?
Yes, Judaism believes in gratitude, no
question, but that is our name.
But the answer is because gratitude is a
very profound experience. It's that
ability to be able to display a
vulnerability that is very very profound
and many people subconsciously will hate
you for saving them even if they don't
know it. As somebody once said to me,
"Rabbi Jacobs, I don't know why this guy
hates me. I never did him any favors."
May live I would have helped him. I
understand he hates me. I never did
anything for him. Vos I helping him a
friend? I said, "You probably thought of
doing him a favor."
Some people are so sensitive.
For the thought of trying to save his
life, he already hates you. Don't worry.
Don't take it so It's fine. It's not
about you. May over the hack money.
Sometimes when you tell me who your
enemy is,
I'll tell you it's a compliment.
Depends who. Depends who. You know what
I mean? Always say, as a Jew, you want
to know what Jews are? Look who hates
them.
Look who hates Jews, and you'll see if
it's good to be a Jew or bad to be a
Jew.
When you see that the greatest enemies
of the Who the greatest enemies of the
Jewish people were and are, you
understand that there's something very
holy about Jews.
Even if we don't see it, but there's
something very holy about Jews. Just
look who hates Jews, and you'll see it
right away.
Okay.
So, now what happens? You saved
somebody's life, and they don't know it.
And they are unhealthy. So, they
manipulate, they backstab,
they do everything wrong
to this person who did so much for them.
But, your love is
endless, and you're wholesome. Because
you're wholesome, you don't become a
martyr.
And even if you're not getting the
recognition you need, you'll continue to
give.
You'll continue to give because
you do not get abused through giving
because your sense of confidence does
not come from another person telling you
how great you are.
Which is a good way to live. Your sense
of confidence not coming from other
people giving you accolades. Even though
we love accolades,
but if that can happen, you capable of
giving much more.
Because the expectation is not so
profound, and the void is not so
profound. So, it doesn't doesn't get
pursued with anger. You're wholesome
with yourself. And when you do goodness,
you're very wholesome with it. It's
fine. It's almost like you do it in your
relation part of your relationship with
God and without becoming this selfless
delusional martyr.
But this person doesn't know.
They backstab. They cheat you. They
manipulate you. They deceive you.
And then one day the Bashe Tov says,
they open their eyes
and they find out what you did for them.
And he says, "Do you understand the
shame
that they experience
that day?
They look at themselves and they say, 'I
cannot believe
that this is the person
I despised. This is the person I
loathed. This is the person I abused.
This is the person I hated.'"
He said, "It's very, very shameful. It's
very, very painful.
Why?
Because you suddenly discover
the distortion.
Sometimes we build
up fantasies about people
and it allows us to perpetuate negative
feelings towards them. People do it
towards their siblings,
towards their brothers-in-law,
sisters-in-law,
grandchildren, the biggest in-laws.
And it's all very often family or
friends or people in our community. You
have these
grand images that you build up about
them.
You already convinced yourself 29 years
ago
that this person is a helpless
narcissist. And now everything just fits
into your image. Every Sheva Brachas
reaffirms
how narcissistic this relative is. Every
bar mitzvah, every chasan, every simcha,
every Shabbos, every Here she goes
again, the yachna.
You already expect
a certain response and it goes right
into your box.
But one day, one day, some sometimes,
maybe you're right.
But sometimes you wake up one day and
you change. You open your eyes. You're
in a different place. And you look at
the person and you say, "You know,
I really knew nothing about them."
I was simply viewing them from a very,
very confined box. I knew nothing about
them.
And they may have actually done
tremendous amount for me, and not only
did I not appreciate it, I did the exact
opposite. It's very deeply hurtful.
So, like the Baal Shem Tov, this is what
David Hamelech says.
Kel Mekam Hashem.
Let me tell you how God takes revenge.
Kel Mekam, you know how he takes
revenge?
Hofeia.
He shows up in your life. That's it.
He shows up. One day you discover how
much he loves you.
One day you discover how deep his bond
with you is. One day you discover how
profound the relationship is. One day
you discover that your biggest fan, your
best friend,
is God, even more
that is the essence of your soul, of
everything that you love about yourself.
The Baal Shem Tov says that Nekama is
Kel. That Nekama is Hashem. It's a
different type of revenge. It's the
revenge that doesn't come because I'll
show you who's boss.
It's a different type of Nekama. We call
it revenge. David Hamelech says the best
name I can have for it is Hofeia.
Hashem shows up. One day you open your
your eyes are opened and you understand
and you experience the intimacy of the
relationship.
The love of the relationship. The
infinite energy in the relationship. But
I never felt it.
There was so much toxicity in me. There
was so much self-hate
that I projected back on God that he
became the greatest enemy of mine.
But one day I fear he reveals himself.
And then when I realize that,
I'm like, "Wow,
where was I all these years?" And then
every he says every avera, every sin,
everything that I did to betray my soul,
to betray Hashem, there's an element of
deep shame.
That's the nakama. Kale nakama is
Hashem. It's a nakama that comes from
shame chasad, from shame rachamim. How
is that? Because it's a fear. He
appears.
The appearance makes all the difference.
Suddenly,
I feel you. Suddenly, I'm aware of your
presence. It's like, "How could have I
done this?" Sometimes they'll be in a
marriage.
A woman or a husband develops a certain
image of their spouse.
And emotionally they become estranged
for many years.
And then one day, they open their eyes
and they discover that it was nothing
about the other person.
The feeling then is one of profound pain
and shame.
And necessary pain and shame. Not a bad
pain and shame. It's a necessary pain to
be able to spit it out, to be able to
say, "I'm embarrassed."
To be able to say, "I'm agonized
over the distortion, the blinders I was
living behind, the cocoon I was stuck in
and I couldn't get out of."
Often, our entire relationship with God
is based on that.
Our relationship with Hashem remains the
same like it was when we were seven or
two or 14. And sometimes it was
distorted from our own projections or
insecurities, from certain religious
experiences that we had, from certain
perceptions, from certain teachings that
were given to us, and we make an image
of Hashem and And stays with us, and the
rest of our life we're busy treating him
like the greatest enemy and trying to
appease him. Or as Churchill said,
appeasement is we feed the shark with
the hope that he will eat us last.
And we're always looking for ways to get
God a little better in a better mood.
Before Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur,
we'll go to shiurim that will tell us
midda k'neged midda. If for the next 30
DAYS YOU DON'T TALK LASHON HARA, YOU
MIGHT GET GOD IN a good mood.
And if you get him in a good mood, midda
k'neged midda, then the moment of
judgment maybe maybe maybe ulay yerachem
maybe maybe you'll catch him in a
positive moment. But the definition is
the natural state of mind is there is
such a negative relationship. He's
really out to get everybody. But there's
certain rules we could manipulate, and
if you do this for 40 days, and then you
do that for 40 days, and if you call
this person and you do that, and then
you say this nine and a half kapitlach
tillim between 9:00 and 9:30 a.m. when
we know based on some ma'amar Chazal
that somehow he's not in such a bad mood
because it's after the gym before
stress. And then maybe maybe maybe
all the horrible decrees upon you will
be wiped away. Now, you're supposed to
be married to such a person, to such an
entity? You can have a normal
relationship with this? Imagine if your
husband and yourself had this
relationship. Status quo is he's out to
kill you.
But if 7:00 you prepare the right
dinner, and it should be a nine-course
dinner, and right when he COMES IN YOU
CATCH him in that moment before he loses
it, then midda k'neged midda, he will
smile back, and maybe tonight you'll be
safe.
And you won't have to run to a shelter.
Some for some people the whole Judaism
works this way.
And it's a horrible experience.
It's a horrible experience.
And what happens? No one even can
imagine that there's another type of
relationship because it's like becomes
indoctrinated.
I don't know of any other gods.
So, David Hamelech says, "Let me talk
about revenge for a moment." You know
what his revenge is? His revenge is he's
not going to pay back. He doesn't have
to pay you back.
Wholesome people don't even take
revenge.
Wholesome people don't take revenge.
They do what they have to do sometimes
to protect themselves.
They have to protect society, but that's
different than revenge.
You know what his revenge is? His
revenge is basically one day he's going
to let you see who he really is.
And that could be very, very deeply
embarrassing in a very good way. It's
like real cosmic divine therapy where
you see reality for what it is.
Ah.
So, now come back with me to Vayichar Af
Hashem B'Moshe.
You remember?
Translate the words and you'll see.
Vayichar
Af Hashem B'Moshe.
Vayichar means "Es hat gebrandt."
There was burning.
There was a fire.
Af is the fury, the anger, the wrath,
the ire, the upsetness. Hashem of
Hashem.
The wrath of God burnt
B'Moshe.
Says the Kotsker translate, "What's
B'Moshe?"
Inside of Moshe.
The wrath of Hashem began burning
B'Moshe. Not at Moshe. Not against
Moshe. In Moshe.
What does this mean?
It means as follows.
At this point of the game, at this point
I shouldn't say game, at this point of
history,
the Ribbono Shel Olam could not tolerate
any more the Egyptian exile.
It ate up on him K'Vayochol.
He says, "V'gam Ani Shomati, I cannot be
deaf to it anymore." Now, you'll ask a
question, why till this point he could?
These are the big questions of history,
it's not for this class, nor do I have a
real answer for it anyhow, even with 100
classes.
But at this point, Hashem's wrath is
burning against the situation in Egypt,
the torture, the oppression, the savage
suffering, the blood, the violence, the
abuse of human rights, the slaughter of
Jewish children, etc., etc.
He summons Moshe and he says, Moshe,
go
and
create the revolt.
Moshe says, me?
I'm a shepherd. I'm just a nice guy.
I'm a meditator.
I'm a meditator. I love nature. I love
sheep. Sheep don't lie.
You know that.
I love water.
I love grass. They're not corrupt.
They're not the same Moshe was a very
innocent person. He was very pure.
Hashem says, I'll go with you. He says,
I don't have a message for them. I don't
know your name. I'll tell you the name.
Moshe says, I can't talk. I'M NOT A
COMMUNICATOR. I'm not a projector.
I don't do that.
My antennas are always facing up.
Always up. And people whose antennas are
always up have a hard time talking.
Because all verbal communication is a
compromise of intense energy. Because to
take deep ideas and put them into words
always requires what the Kabbalists call
it tzimtzum, restrictive energy.
Nafshi yotzei bedaber says Reb Tzaddok
Hakohen, words always manage to kill the
soul of the message.
You all know you have an idea and it's
burning in you and then when you say it,
you just say
I don't have the words. Yeah, I don't
have the words. Why don't have the
words? Because words are limited
containers. And to be able to take
intense light and to put it in through
limited containers is a great art and a
very difficult art and often, more often
than not, unsuccessful.
For words to convey the depth of an
emotion is very difficult. Moshe says,
"I'm not that man. I am not Mr.
Projector."
I don't I'm not a man of words. Better
not lose
It's not only because his tongue was
burnt by the coal. There was a reason
his tongue was burnt by the coal. The
biological and the physical phenomenon
is always a symptom of the spiritual.
Moshe, by definition,
his ears are always in tune to the music
that flows from the infinite presence of
the Ain Sof and therefore he's never in
the mode of restrictiveness, which is
necessary to communicate a message.
So, Hashem says, "I create the mouth for
people. I will give you your
communication. It'll be a different type
of communication."
Moshe says, "They won't believe me."
"They'll believe you." FINALLY, HE SAYS,
"SEND SOMEBODY ELSE." WHAT DOES God do
at this point? He can't convince Moshe.
He can't convince him. What do you do?
What do you do?
You need Moshe for the job. He is the
man.
He is the Jew who is to do it. Why is he
the man? The Ben Ezra says, "Because he
grew up among non-Jews."
Why did the first Jewish leader grow up
among non-Jews? Do you know what they
used to say in shul about Moshe when he
became a leader? He doesn't even know
what a shalom zachar looks like.
He never ate chickpeas at a shalom
zachar. Can you imagine?
He doesn't know what jalapeno herring
is. He doesn't know what sponge cake
looks like. How can you be a Jew and not
know what sponge cake looks like?
He doesn't know what a bris is, what a
bar mitzvah is, what an upsherinish is,
what a chasanah is. Er ist heimish.
Heimish, yeah, did I say it right?
Okay, as nicht heimisch.
He's a complete complete zuggekommener.
He's a complete alien. He comes into the
culture, he doesn't wear the same
garment, doesn't speak the same
language. How does this man become a
leader? People, some of us in this room
work so hard to fit in.
For 20, 30, 40 years we do everything to
fit in. And the moment somebody finds
out about our background, we want to
kill ourselves.
Cuz God forbid
for people to know truth. It may destroy
all religion.
Because what does religion have to do
with truth? Religion is all about
perception
of what we are comfortable with.
Here, the worst example was MOSHE
RABBENU. THE WORST.
MAMISH AN OUTSIDER.
HIS FIRST SPEECH, THEY ASKED HIM, "WHICH
yeshiva did you learn in?"
You were in the Mir?
Where were you? In Slabodka? In
Ponevezh? And you were in Brisk? You
weren't even in Brisk, really?
Wow, that's not for my daughter. Sorry.
But he was the first rabbi. He was the
first leader.
Trust me, he wouldn't be accepted today
in any yeshiva
with his background.
Who's your father? Pharaoh. Who's your
mother? Pharaoh's daughter. It's great.
Which yeshiva did you go to? I never
went to yeshiva. ASK DAVID EZER, "WHY?"
SO DAVID EZER SAYS, "Soyd Hashem
l'eirev." It's a secret. Then he says,
"I'll tell you two reasons."
Reason number one, listen to David Ezer.
Reason number one is
he said, "Jews don't know how to respect
people who grow up among them."
Every Yachna Yenta would look at MOSHE
AND SAY, "I REMEMBER when you ran around
in a pamper. You used to make your
mother crazy. I still remember your
bris."
You ever do that to anybody? "I remember
your bris."
That's it. Moshe finishes his drasha and
somebody says, "I remember you were a
little baby. I remember I babysat for
you." Everyone said, "I loved to babysit
for you when you were a terror."
So, how could he do his job every Yachna
telling him she remembers him walking
around without clothes?
That's the one reason the Even Ezra
says, "It's an expression, ain't no
Viera. You can't be a prophet in your
own city. Doesn't work.
Too many people have stories on you."
The Even Ezra said, "They have files,
you know, a filing cabinet. Oh, we
remember. Today he became Moshe. We know
the real thing. We remember when he was
8 years old he was a brat."
Then the Even Ezra says a second reason.
Second reason he says is if he would
have grown up among Jews, he would have
had a slave mentality. And slaves cannot
create revolutions. He had to grow up in
aristocracy. He had to grow up in
royalty. People who grow up in royalty
have beretta hasogas. They think big.
If he would have grown up among the
Jews, sadly they were subjugated slaves.
He would have thought like a slave. His
mentality would have been a slave
mentality. So, Moshe had to grow up
among the king, the superpower monarch.
So, he should be able to think big. His
imagination was fertile for revolution.
He was not mediocre.
This is the interpretation of the Even
Ezra. What a commentary. What a
psychological insight about people who
are not ready to be redeemed. Not
because they're not ready, because they
can't think big. Their entire
weltanschauung
is one of abuse and slavery. Battered
situations are the status QUO. THEY
DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT IT MEANS TO think
with an infinite broadness and expansive
consciousness. They can't even imagine a
life devoid of oppression. How many
people
could liberate themselves, but they
can't even imagine liberation. Not that
they can't do it, they could. They can't
even imagine such a life. Think about
your own life. Some of us are stuck in
situations not because you have to be
stuck, cuz you can't even entertain the
thought that your life can be better.
That life can be happy. That life can be
stress-free. That life can be liberated.
Some of us feel in the deepest recesses
of our soul
that destiny of my life equals misery.
Agony. Especially Shabbos and Yom Tov
must be the two most miserable days,
especially Erev Shabbos and Erev Yom
Tov.
And soon Purim is coming.
The happiest day of the year with the
beautiful luxury of preparing Shalach
Manos for 299 friends in order to be
able to have a Shalach Manos like
everybody else. So, the happiest day of
the year turns into the miserable day
for hundreds of people. Why? They suck
nash.
But, that's how you have to do it. Purim
has to be miserable.
Okay? People can't even think
differently. Think differently.
So, now what happens here is Moshe is a
royal aristocrat.
So, God needs HIM, BUT HOW DO I GET HIM?
THE MAN says he can't talk. Nobody's
going to BELIEVE HIM. SEND SOMEBODY
ELSE. HE HAS NOTHING TO SAY AND HE'S
INCOMPETENT. There was one answer.
The answer is va'yichar af Hashem
b'Moshe.
What Hashem has to do at this point is
he needs Moshe to start experiencing
his own wrath.
Hashem's wrath about golus needs to be
transplanted, inculcated, infused into
Moshe's heart. The moment MOSHE FEELS
GOD'S PASSION ABOUT GOLUS MITZRAYIM,
then
all excuses,
all rationality, as legitimate as they
are,
fade into oblivion, because we all know,
if you're passionate about something,
you won't say, "I don't know how to
talk.
I'm embarrassed. Nobody likes me. Last
time I opened my mouth, they made fun of
me.
I really have nothing to say."
That's all true.
You might have nothing to say.
You might not be a good communicator,
and people may make fun, but that's all
because you don't have passion.
If you have real passion,
you transcend all of these calculations,
not because they don't exist, because
they don't matter. And suddenly, timid,
shy people
become giants. Why?
Because
something summoned them.
A passion, a calling, a destiny summoned
them.
And then, no calculation stand in your
way.
So, the Chofetz Chaim once sends a
delegation
to
the leader of Poland. There was a decree
against schechita. They were planning a
decree against slaughter, kosher
slaughter. And he sends a delegation to
speak to the prime minister.
And they come back, and he says, "Nu?"
And they say that the interpreter
didn't show up.
So, they speak Yiddish, and he speaks
Polish, and the one that translate
didn't show up. So, they couldn't really
communicate.
So, the Chofetz Chaim said, "Hot
emitzegichalisht?"
"Did anybody faint?" They said, "No, why
would we faint?" He said, "Has
emitzegichalisht vult verstanden?"
"If somebody would have fainted,
he would have understood."
He didn't need a translator.
A translator you need when you're
communicating with words, not when
you're communicating with your soul.
The soul transcends language.
"Vayechar
The moment Moishe heart
became ablaze
with God's passion
that it's time to liberate an abused,
oppressed, broken, shattered people
from savage cruelty, BARBARITY, and
sadistic suffering.
Now, suddenly, the great mystic
the spiritual transcendental soul
the higher sublime spirit called Moshe
Rabbeinu shepherding the flock in the
isolation of the desert in commune with
Hashem himself, suddenly this person
becomes
a warrior
a revolutionary
molds up slave and enslaved people into
a nation and overthrows
the empire of his own grandfather.
Appreciate what that means. Somebody
raises you. Paroh raised him. Paroh's
daughter was his mother for all
practical purposes. He grew up by Paroh.
Paroh paid for everything he had. Paid
for his tuition. Paid for his expenses.
He learned royalty from the palace.
What guts does that take?
He wasn't overthrowing a stranger. When
he came to people don't realize when
Moshe came to Paroh, you know he was
coming to visit? He's coming to visit
HIS ADA.
SHALOM ALEICHEM.
THIS MAN KNEW MOSHE AS A BABY. HE RAISED
THIS KID. He sat on his lap. He fed him
Cheerios when Batya was away.
It was fine. It was raised dream milk.
Don't worry.
HE KNEW THIS KID. SUDDENLY, YOU DON'T
UNDERSTAND HOW SHOCKED PAROH WAS? MY
BABY.
My baby suddenly
is going TO OVERTHROW THE EMPIRE. BUT
UNDERSTAND FROM MOSHE what that meant.
Moshe didn't want to strike the water.
Why? Hakaras Hatov, because the water
protected him. And here he goes, his own
father, his own grandfather, he destroys
everything. What happened to Hakaras
Hatov?
The answer is when you're facing a
Stalin and a Hitler
who are taking Jewish children and
throwing them into a Nile river,
the greatest responsibility is to
overthrow such evil and to say this is
my Zayde, this is my father, you become
an accomplice to the evil.
Because this grandfather or this
stepfather IS A CRIMINAL PAR EXCELLENCE,
A TYRANT, A MURDERER, A DICTATOR.
And if you have moral sensitivity and
moral passion, YOU FIGHT. SO, what
happens at this moment is Hashem lights
a fire, I if I could say this way in
what we would say in English in Moshe's,
so to speak, Moshe inwards, in Moshe's
in internally. And once your kishkes are
on fire, once the belly is on fire, then
nothing stops you. So, now come back to
Kerishma.
It's the same thing. We mistranslate it.
You create new gods for yourself.
Translate. Hashem's wrath will burn in
you. The challenge here is that you're
not seeing the world from his
perspective. You don't see the world
from your soul's perspective. You don't
realize how MUCH IS AT STAKE in your
life. You don't realize how much meaning
there is in your thoughts, words,
gestures, actions. You don't realize
that you are the interlacing link
between heaven and earth.
That every move you make, every breath
you take, ADVANCES THE COSMOS TOWARDS
REDEMPTION or the other direction.
To see yourself the way God sees you. To
be able to see your significance, your
value, your dignity, YOUR SENSUALITY IN
THE DRAMA OF EXISTENCE and history, the
way Hashem sees you.
And whenever Torah speaks about these
punishments, they're essentially
instructive mechanisms
to be able to alert a person to a deeper
perspective on the self. BECAUSE "KEIL
NEKAMOS HASHEM."
WHAT TYPE OF NEKAMA DOES HASHEM TAKE?
"Keil Nekamos Eifia."
When he appears in your life, that you
should be able to see yourself the way
he sees you. Have a wonderful week.
Anyone who
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