Bereishis 5786: The Word Bereishis & Rabbi Hauer zt"l

Welcome back on all para for paras the learning that we share tonight and throughout the year of our great leader the leader of the orthodox union which is the of our of so many amazing things all of is pained by his loss because of the example that he set about which we'll speak a little bit tonight the begins with the the word boracious and that word requires explanation because grammatically it doesn't make any sense and so the rabbi brings the tikun and others that say that the word bius means batious two at the beginning but what does that phrase mean to at the beginning the says that creation itself is always in pairs we know that indeed all of creation is driven by zaha by two coming together to become to be creative. All of what we see on in our lives is in forms of pairs. Our eyes, our ears, our even our nostrils, legs and arms. The totality of creation is in pairs. And so the first pair besa and this is a topic that the Reb speaks about in many many places other places parasi and He repeatedly shares with us the idea that is so central to Jewish life. Indeed, as we explain it, we'll see why it belongs right at the very beginning of the Torah. Because ava and ya come together to create the full service of Hashem. Ava love brings two things close to one another. Yera, fear and reverence bring two things away from one another. And so in a sense we might think that they are they come in contradiction. Is the relationship with Hashem? Is the relationship with how we're supposed to live one of love and emotionality? Or is it one of being careful and one of fear? And so the Reb says that it's very much like a pot and its cover. They're absolutely come together. And that is because the hashem we see repeatedly throughout the Torah is through Ava and Yura together. The first of the There was an comes together with it's the paradigm of I am hashem together with the paradigm of do not have ascribed divinity to anything else. That means that there's a concept called mitsay and mitas positive commands and prohibitions that they form the reality of the service of hashem as one thing. By the way this is true about every relationship and the reb explained this in about that this is true about every relationship. Every relationship is one of do the right things and don't do the wrong things. This is expressed in surah. This is expressed in the mitzvah of shabas. Perform the positive commands of shabas. Celebrate the shabas and be careful not to do that which is prohibited on chabas. So we see this time and time and time again. Love and fear. So here the rebadesh based on the tikun that's the very beginning of the Torah itself ba raious let's right from the beginning explain there's two elements here there's the proper service of hashem and the connection to who we could be is only possible through living with emotionality and intensity and love and affection and doing what we should do properly and making sure we don't do what we should not do. Indeed, actually when we do what we're supposed to do, we should do it with love and affection, with intensity and with vigor and also with care. And so right from the beginning is and that's why there's often the phrase in the uh that someone says before performing which means this same notion of with fear and with compassion that is the proper service of Hashem. And so we're not asking a big kasha and offering a big terror tonight. We're just explaining that those first the very first word of the kish is to inspire us to serve Hashem properly with love with compassion and with discipline and that makes the life of a sadic it's not my place to properly bring about Rab but I can offer a few words as I was privileged to interact with him many times especially in the context first of all in my years in Baltimore more and in the example that he set for every RV across the globe of what it means to be a Schul rabbi but also in our wonderful interactions in the OU where he brought us together rather around the country to be connected to him to think together about how we could impact Khal Israel properly it's not very well known but he invested a tremendous amount in rabbis much younger than he in rabbis from the New York area from other major centers and in rabbis in communities like ours that's much smaller. He was an example to every one of us of real love with a sense of love and affection that permeated the way that he carried himself and the way that he davened and the way that he learned and the way that he shared Tyra and everything about him and the way he treated others and with a sense of discipline and dignity. The magnificent humility that was an awareness that we stand in the presence of Hashem and no person should be thought of think of himself as so much as greater than others or as an example of of of hottiness or raised voices. It was a great privilege to learn from him and his legacy continues for all of us. right there in the first words of the kish bay raius. Thank you for the opportunity to share from the rebba of the through this v venue that reaches so many people. This venue was an example of the great advancements of the U and through it all of Kalisrael over the years of his leadership. Blessed with tremendous as possible knowing the impact that Rabbi Hower had on all of us and in these first words this first word of the every one of us to dedicate ourselves to a life of a and service of Hashem. We're looking forward to another year of great learning together.