Thought for the Week Parshas Emor Holiness in Time, Rabbi Yaakov Winner - 5786

Hello. How how are you? I hope everyone's I started a video and then I got interrupted and I hope it doesn't happen again and for some reason the machine stopped so it's very very late. Excuse me. I hope everyone is we're giving the day now. Today is the thought of the week is going to be about time and the con concept of time in Judaism and what's our relation to time and we're going to start with a prayer which is connected with that and that is a prayer which we say Friday night by Davening and that prayer was written by the cababalist 500 years ago 400 years ago etc. And the prayer starts off And then it finishes off and it's translated, reveal yourself, my beloved, and spread over me the shelter of your peace. Let the earth be illuminated by your glory. We will rejoice and exalt in you. Hasten beloved for the time has come and be gracious unto us as in days of your. So the we're saying hast beloved for the time has come. We're going to focus on the word. When we say and we say the time has come, it means a designated time. It means an appointed an appointed moment in time. It's it's a it's like it's like like we say with the where we have a time it's a private audience and we become united and over here we're talking about us loving Hashem and this prayer is one of the greatest expressions of love and yearning and longing and pining for Hashem and it represents the deepest level of intimacy and preceding the words of which that's from a verse in the Torah And this brings down the word means in your essence. So we're talking about soul to soul, essence to essence us in relation to hashem. And it's connected to the word moed which means time but a designated time and the the the meaning over here the designated time they designated time for the two parties to unite and become as one in the deepest possible way. And that's going to be the Jewish idea of holidays when we give this hur my my intention is to is to speak about concepts that are representing like the foundational essence concepts of Judaism and to show and we can appreciate it in the light of so this week's para we have two that talk about the holidays even though the para talks about the holidays in general there are three places in the Torah where the Torah talks about the holidays this is one of the places and other places in and other places in but this is I think the only place where it talks about all of the holidays and over here we have the we say we make on the one is in base where it says to speak to them the holidays from which you shall designate as callings of holiness. These are my appointed festivals. And then in verse four, it says, "These are the appointed festivals of Hashem. The callings of holiness we shall designate in their appointed time, in their appropriate time." So what we have going on over here is a very interesting thing. We talk about the holidays and we call them mikes. What does it mean? So there's two interpretations and it's brought down by many commentaries. I'm not going to elaborate and say which is the source of what some people call it kesh that it's a call from Hashem to the people that they should gather, they should come together, go to the synagogue. It's a calling to say hello. Now's the time to attach yourself. Cleave to these days. Cleave to these holidays. This is a time we should focus on spirituality. This is the sign to the time we become elevated. And that's what it means. It's a call to us. It's calling uses. It's calling us to holiness. But then there's also the meaning. We are the ones who call the holiness. On a simple level, we'll see as Rashi explains as I'll say in a second. But on a deeper level, as we're going to elaborate, the Jew has the power to draw out. He is the one who triggers the emergence and the release and the elicitation of all the godly forces and energies and powers that illuminate all of the existence, the cosmic order, the whole sus etc. So let's talk about this for a second. on a simple level doesn't mean that we call it because over here we have a wonderful call it a paradox or an irony or the Judaism always has the both sides on one hand we talk about Hashem's part the whole Yiddish kite is like completely out of this world straight from divinity Hashem came down on Sinai he gave us the Torah these are all infinity outside of creation but then and this is the one of the most fundamental beauties of Judaism. Then there's our part. What role do we play in it as partners in creation as partners of causing the unification of the spiritual and physical and in a way you could say some one rabbi once said I mentioned this before what is Judaism? Judaism is God's call and man's response. It's a very good sentence because that encapsulates truly the whole idea of Judaism in a way because everywhere you see these both of these sides of the coin, both of these two aspects, there's the aspect of it which is completely something which is otherworldly and out of this world and infinite. But at the same time our role and our part in it is absolutely essential for the mission to be accomplished for the relationship to be a full relationship for the whole idea of Judaism everything whatever Judaism is about contains these two parts. So over here too if you look at this P what what are the holidays on the one we're saying it's may we didn't invent this idea that there should be or there should be a rash or a sukis or a pes or a these are all holidays call it tools nuclear spiritual energies that Hashem decided to give to us where we could accomplish great things in the world and in ourselves that if they weren't given to us from Hashem himself, there's no way we could reach such heights of transcendence. It's impossible because we're limited. But after we say that it's we also say we will call them and here comes a simple meaning as Rashi says in B and Rashi. He says tells us how the Jewish courts have control over the calendar because they make leap years and then tells us how the Jewish courts designate. So that also is connected with the holidays. I'm not going to elaborate about this technical detail but from this we come to another whole discussion another whole mitzvah and that is the mitzvah we have to sanctify the moon and everyone knows the famous discussion in the beginning of the Torah says that the should have started with why does it start with and it gives an answer over there see there the first rashi of the but the truth is there's a profound awesome discussion why should the started with so the simple reason why the should have started with because this was the first commandment that God gave us as a nation all the previous commandments whether milan was not as we were a nation but was see if you look at the Torah as a book of commandments a book of rules a guide for man so therefore the book The holy book, the good book should start with the rules that we received as a nation and what's the first rule commandment that we received as a nation. But we don't we start with we're not going to get into that explanation. But the deeper explanation is and each one of these subjects could take a very long time to explain. We've spoken about it times before. The world is made up of time, space and people shamm represents space. Sha represents time. Nephes represents people. The story of Judaism is we said already a thousand times. What does it mean that God designed the dwelling place down below? That means the mission is to take elements, particles, matter and infuse that with spirituality. The triumph of spirit over matter where the matter becomes spirit and the spirit becomes matter and they become totally one. And that's only possible through and through Hashem investing himself in the Tyra and through the Jew acting in the way of Tyra in the world with our given abilities from Hashem. So now what does it mean if we talk about time, space and people? We are the people the Jews. And we say this concept of making the world a dwelling place for Hashem is not only in space but in a certain sense in time it's even a greater accomplishment. It's more I don't want to get it's more connected to the limitations of the world. I don't want to get into a whole lecture now about why time represents more world more limitations than space. But this is all the talks about it. Basically the idea is that in space the limitation is it only goes from here to there and not further in space. But in time we say even where it is it's nothing. It's divisible. Anything that could be broken is created. Anything that could be divided is created. That's one of the characteristics of creation. So therefore time is constantly being broken. A second, a half a second, the mill millisecond. There's no other thing matter element of creation that's as divisible as time. The definition of time is so therefore if we say that wanted making a dwelling place down here below this idea of time that Hashem created time is created it's part of creation Hashem is above time before time however you understand that concept so there's something he created time just like he created a table he created time and this Time is another one of the aspects of creation that a Jew has to sanctify and bring holiness into time and it's a major aspect of more than almost every other aspect of and that's why the should have started with because this concept of sanctifying time is an integral substantial essential fundamental aspect of making this world for a dwelling place for Hashem. So now comes another point and that is the Jewish power. Who's the one that triggers this holiness in time? The Jewish nation. And in this sense, there's two aspects to holiness in time. The Shabas and the Yontiff. I want to bring out the awesomeness of the Jews. So we'll talk about it in Yantiff. But just for a second and I mentioned this I'm sure before that when it comes to Shabas we say when it comes to and this is what we're talking about over here we are the ones who drew out the holiness of the holidays as Rashi says over here twice through the leap the leap year and through the idea of sanctifying the that's why we on we say But first, Hashem sanctified the Jews and then we sanctified because when Bon decides when the first of the day of the month is for example, then we know what date there's going to be the sixth day of the month or whether the 15th of the month sukus or pes. In other words, the day 15th of the month could be let's say on a Monday and a Tuesday and a Wednesday as the whole law of sanctifying the new moon with you. The court would wait till witnesses would come and then the court best and decides what day is that's when we establish what day is going to be the 15th of the month and so on. So in other words over here we see the awesomeness of a Jew, the gal of a Jew. First it was mad and Hashem handed over to us the power. What is the awesomeness of a Jew? The awesomeness of a Jew is that he is in control of the entire soul is he is in control of he has the keys to the whole spiritual energies of divinity that he could elicit and only he could elicit and when he delicer of the worlds etc. And this is very interesting concept because there's a general discussion where do things starts do they start from above and then they come down below which many many times we have such a discussion I don't want to elaborate now but then we say there are certain instances where the whole point is it actually actually starts from below and from below it permeates all of all of the when decides that it's then Because of that it becomes a which is also a special day and then we get the sukus and then we get the pes which is also so it depends on us we are in control we have the key that causes all the divine infusions and throughout all of wow wow wow so in this this concept of the we see the awesomeness of a Jew so we also know I'll just connect it I don't think we're going to have time say of the of the so I just want to say just one thing a fact in page 144 the previous rebi says that the set of Torah on this verse may and with that he grasped he took the much who was successor and he made him for his like disciple and then not only that the much mag said that same Torah to the alterb and with that he took the alterb and he made him his disciple and then but wait there's more it says that the alterb said repeated this very same Torah to his son the when he took him into the when he really made him a sort of a leader etc so that means that this is essential to Judaism it's essential to the whole revelation of and etc so without repeating what the Torah is and what the Reb says about it in one thing I'm going to emphasize straight away is that one of the main revolutions of was the power of man the power of in relation to divinity even though of course this idea is in Judaism before when a Jew says he affects It's the idea how we make a contribution to Hashem because he decided to be vulnerable so to speak and get enjoyment from us. So that is part of the relationship. We have he gave us something which is totally reflective of his infinity on the highest level. But at the same time he gave us and put into our hands that we are the ones that control this when it should happen and how it should infuse the world and that's up to us given to us that we should do this and that's the relationship there's what Hashem gave us infinite powers and then we have to access those powers but only by us accessing those powers does it happen. In other words, God is God himself in his essence. But then there's elus godliness. Hashem wants us through our prayers and through our whatever it is we then infuse all of existence through our including himself so to speak. That's the and that's also connected with the famous sometimes it said in the name of the sometimes it said in the name of the mid sometimes it said the name of we just had it this weekend I think and what was yesterday the simple meaning of say a person has to know what is above him somebody's watching you there's an authority god what did come along and say die You should know mala what is above me comes from you. Wow. In other words, what the divine reality what is going on above wrap your head around that whether the entire soulless whether the god sits on a throne where he's happy and smiling or whether he's not. Yes. And I'll soon quote another garra that brings out this point that's in our hands. Dalah, you want to I want to I don't like to speak in such a like coarse way. You want to make Hashem in a good mood, in a happy mood, be like this. And if you do the other way, you cause the opposite. That's what it means. No, what goes on is from you. We're saying you you you make a change a difference in LA and above. So that's that's more of an emphasis of not talking about what God's instruction is. There's a God and he instructs you to do this and do that. We're saying over here a different emphasis. We're saying what we give God so to speak. Now there's another story connected which is such an unbelievable gam. And it could be that most of you already heard this garra before but it's gum the most one of the most famous gumaras of all it's g it's a famous story of rebel and the sages talking about the that it's called the snake oven you'll see the gmor over there why it's called snake but the bottom line is there was a there was an argument between he felt that this oven is pure no problem and the sages felt that it's impure it's tummy so they got into a whole argument and says they wanted to prove that he's right and first he said you know I'm going to prove that I'm right and he said if I'm right the carob tree should prove that I'm right and the carob tree moved he made a miracle just said no the carob tree is not going to determine what the law is then he said if I'm right the stream of water should move backwards the water flow this way then all of a sudden he said that and the water flew backwards another miracle the savior said No, the stream of water is not going to determine the law. And then he said, "If I'm right, the walls of the study hall should prove it." And then the wall started shaking and moved and it leaned. They said, "The walls and the sages said the walls are not going to prove it." And finally, and here comes the the climax. It is so profound and something we have to think about. Says, "If I am right, let heaven prove it." And then the Gmorra continues. I'm going to for you now hear these words because this is like told the sages of the laws like me. Heaven should prove it. And a heavenly voice came out from heaven. The law is like him in every single place. Wherever he says an opinion, we go according to his opinion. Yeshua stood up on his feet. The law is not determined by heaven because there's a verse in the says and added to that we don't pay attention to the heavenly voice. We don't regard it. And then that's the end of that story. And then it says afterwards found what was Hashem doing at that time when this argument was going on and they didn't listen to rebel and they ignored the basel from heaven. You could think he proved it and he brought even a sign that heaven agrees with him i.e. Hashem himself agrees with him. And answered the most famous line everyone knows this. Hashem was smiling. Hashem was laughing with joy and he said, "My children triumph over me. My children have triumphed over me. My friends, we could all live with these words for the rest of our lives and be constantly inspired and moved by these words. He gave us the completely out of this world, completely divine, completely infinite, completely supernatural, completely like nuclear energy itself. The essence of nuclear energy in the spiritual terms, we have no access to such a thing at all. But what then he says decides and when you decide I gave you that power over this divine concept this divine energy when you decide that it's triggered that it's works then it works and that's what I want and that means you're playing your role. So listen to these words again. And he was laughing. Hashem was laughing and he said, "My children triumph over me. My children triumph over me." So obviously in Kabala terms terms we have to say was right on a certain level. You know there's layers upon layers upon layers and levels upon levels upon levels was right at a certain level. But on the higher level, the ultimate level, right? Because that's what decided that that is what he wants. What does he want? The essence of Hashem wants and how does he want this to be accomplished through me and through you and through you and through me. It is in our hands the key. how the whole divine energies work. So similar to this story where he's saying and it's a story about and the sages, let's talk about it over here. The holidays were all given to our powers and this is a lesson and this teaches us on so many levels what we spoke today. First of all, it's a lesson about holiness and time. We're not going to elaborate what the concept of holiday means in the secular sense. partying, recklessness, no rules, becoming more as we say, coarse, honistic, materialistic, whatever it is. The Jewish holiday is just the opposite. It's spiritual rays, beams, lights, energies that are being brought into the world. That is a calling for us to get involved in that totally and take advantage of it and maximize it because it's an opportunity. Wow. This is the ultimate treasure. Go, go, go for it. Rise and fill up your tank, your storage place. Cuz with this you live for the rest of the year and you take spiritual energies for through the rest of the year. and was pockets and windows of infinity itself that gives you the ability to rise above above the mundane world and instead of the world having an impact in you and influence in you, you could have an influence and an impact on the world. So that's one lesson. The other lesson is the awesomeness of the Jew that the whole whole inst the whole intention of God himself of existence of time and space it's all in the hands of the Jew and he gave it over to the Jew and he told us he wants us to do that and then when you think about what we accomplish through our and what kind of contribution we make to Hashem that he's laughing and he says I take so much pleasure in how you're exhibiting your better self and using it and channeling it for the right thing. It's similar to what it says. A man could be jealous of any other man except for his children. That's what this gamorra reminds me. God takes joy in seeing the success of his children even if there's a heavenly voice that would say the opposite. But God himself already said that the real interpretation the real understanding is comes when you work it out with human logic with human understanding based upon the principles that I gave you before. So with this we should be inspired to do our having aish and deal with having is and elevating time having is and elevating space and thinking about all these things. And this is what the days of is to meditate upon it to causes us to be more infused and we prepare ourselves for for for posting from my home your man in Melbourne.