Yisro - 6th Portion

Join me as we learnish for Friday paras the sixth Torah reading. Yesterday we learned in the fifth Torah reading we heard the Torah tells us about the preparations that the Jewish people made for the giving of the Torah and how God descends on Mount Si. the loud noises, the thunder, the lightning, the sound of the chauffeur, all in preparation for the giving of the Torah. Verse 20, chapter 19. And God came down, descended on Mount Si on the top of the mountain. And God called to Mosha to come up to the mountain and Moshe ascended. You would think that he literally came down on the mountain. Therefore, later on in verse chapter 20, it says, "I spoke to you from heaven." This means that God lowered himself. He bent down that he moved the lower heavens with the upper heavens and he put them on top of the mountain like a sheet or something that spread out on the bed and he put the god's throne on top of them. This way you have both come true. The fact that God spoke from heaven and that God came down from heaven, meaning that he put the heaven and earth together, if you want to call it heaven and the mountain all came together and this is the way God came down on the mountain. Over here we also see that Moshe ascended the mountain which teaches us as we know from here theus explains the concept of the fusion of the physical and spiritual or God. The spiritual comes then on the mountain which is physical. Mosha the physical ascends the mountain which is spiritual. This began, this began the era of of making this world a dwelling place for God. That we have now the ability to take something physical and make it spiritual. This all began with God's descent on Mount Si. Verse 21. God said to Moshe, "Go down and warn the people that the people not to break towards not gazing alashem that they should not break the ranks to move towards the ga to gaze at God to try to see because lest many of them will perish." That means if they try to break the ranks to be able to come towards the mountain to see what God is. Let's see in how he explains warn them not to go up on the mountain. Why would they want to go up on the mountain? They should not break the ranks from where they are. What would be their desire leaders to see and they'll try to come closer to the mountain? Why does he say this in a in a terminology that many will fall? Even if it's only a few that may break the ranks because even if one person falls that is considered as many. What does the word mean to break ranks? The word means to destroy to eradicate. So like for example when you want to destroy a building it's called so like disconnecting disar dislodging one stones from another. So too when people are together and one breaks ranks from them it's also using this terminology they're destroying the situation. Verse 22, even the priests who come near to God, they also should be sanctified, lest God cause a breach among them. What this means at this point, at this point, the are they were the firstborns that at this point they were the ones that were going to be serving in the holy temple. It was only later when they sinned with the golden calf that that was taken away from them that privilege to bring the sacrifices. They should not think, "Oh, well, we're important. We're going to be bringing sacrifices. So therefore, we can go up." Tell them they're not allowed to go either. They should be prepared. Stay where they are and not come close. That means not to break forward what they were doing because God forbid something they should be killed and because of that that will break a uh cause a breach amongst them. Verse 23 and God's Moshe replied to God. The people cannot ascend Mount Si because you have already warned us saying make a boundary around the mountain and sanctify it. Verse 23, Moshe was responding to God. I don't have to warn them any longer. I don't have to warn them anymore. already warned from previously for the past three days to have any permission to go on. God said, "Yet God said to him, go descend and warn them again, but this time you shall ascend an aram with you and the priests and the firstborn who we're talking about before will be on a lower level. But the people should not break, should not come to ascend to God, lest he cause a breach amongst them. Yes, you already warned them, but now go warn them a second time because you warn a person before the event happens and then you warn them again at the actual event again. So to make sure that right now when the prohibition goes into action, warn them that this is when you're not allowed to go up. even those that are going with you. Now that he's telling you come up then he says again and then he says the and then he says the each one because each one had a separate partition of where they were allowed to go up. So there was Moshe was one partition was another partition. The was another partition. Moshe came closer than was closer than the and the were closer than the people. And the people should not come close at all to get up to the mountain even though there is doesn't change from its uh interpretation of explanation. So to any word that has a in it and right next to it it has a many times it can change the terminology you would change it like me or but in this case would stay to its original interpretation Moshe went verse 25 Moshe went down to the people alam and he warned gave them the warning of them not coming close to the to the mountain rash And he said to them that morning chapter 20 verse one we now begin the ten commandments and God spoke to Mo Moshe all these words and God spoke all these words saying when the words elohim are used when the god's name is used as elohim it's a terminology of of severity as a judge also is a curse which is referring to the judges because there are mitzvah that are mentioned in the Torah in many different ways that if a person would do them he receives reward for it but when he causes himself not to do it he still does not get a punishment because of it. So for example, he may not give himself the ability if he does the mitzvah, he'll get reward from it. But then there are ways that he can cause himself to be exempt from doing the mitzvah. So you would think so too are the ten commandments that they are not commandments. They're just suggestions if you want to call it. Therefore, God tells us strict terminology is a judge that you may you have to keep these things. They're not merely suggestions. They are commandments that you have to keep and they have to keep in all ways and therefore there's a reward for keeping them and there's a punishment from refraining of keeping them. All these words mean that God said he said all the ten commandments with one saying at one shot impossible for the human being to do this. If so then why does it say afterwards I am the god? The expression the simple individual that means first God said them all at one shot and then he separated and said them as individual commandments. The human condition cannot even fathom what it means to say them all at once. But therefore God said them all in separate and separate commandments explaining the detail of each of these commandments. Lamer saying what does it mean saying generally saying is that he should repeat them to future generations. Alav. This is telling us that God that the Jewish people would respond on yes. Yes. Then what if it was a positive commandment, they would say yes. If it was a negative commandment, they would say no. Meaning that they will not do it. They responded responsibly to each of the commandments. The first one of the commandments is commandment number one. I am God that has taken you who has brought you from Egypt from a house of slavery. What does it mean? I have taken you out of Egypt. So first of all we should know theidic interpretation for the word as we know the word is the as an acronym of the word am within an encrypted that means that God is telling every single Jew that when you study Torah the ten commandment which was symbolic of the 613 commandments 620 words of all the commandments that are in it that when a Jew studies he thereby takes the essence of God because the essence of God is in the study of Torah. When we study of Torah, we intellectually and connect with the essence essentially connect with God. But over here explains what does this mean? Why does God begin by saying I have taken you out of Egypt? It is worthy that I have taken you out of Egypt and it is important enough that therefore you should be subservient to me. Another explanation is because in the when God was when they God when the Jewish people were saw God and it was revealed to them as they were crossing the sea he looked like as is a man as a warrior but over here he looked like an elderly nice merciful grandpa it says that when the Jewish people saw that God under like under his feet was like the sapphire that was the that was the brick that God reminded them that he knew their suffering that they went through like the opening of the heaven once the Jewish people were redeemed meaning that God is telling the Jewish people that God's relationship the way the revelation of God is you see it in different ways so because of that one can say well you might say well there's two energies there's two factor faculties. There's multiple gods because I saw God of many different ways. One that was God in a severe strict a warrior and then one that was a nice elderly king. Therefore, God comes along and says, "I am that same God. The same one that took you out of Egypt." And the same one that was on the mountain, the same one that was on here, the same one you see there, it's all the same entity. Now the thing is because they had so many sounds that they were hearing at the time as it says in the verse they were seeing the sounds the sounds were coming from all four sides of the world but it's from the heaven and the earth I see so many sounds there must be multiple gods god forbid therefore he says I am one so why does he say your god not meaning multiple gods This is to give the Moshe an ability to say defense on the Jewish people and define the merit for the Jewish people that when it comes with the sin of the golden camp, you didn't tell it to them. You didn't say to the Jewish people, you should not have. You said to you, maybe you were only talking to me. And the very fact that they had another god, maybe they felt they were exempt. So this gave Moshe defense when he was defending the Jewish people, this gave him some type of opening to be able to defend the Jewish people from the house of slaves. meaning it doesn't mean from a house that belonged to slaves from the house of Pharaoh that you were enslaved in or you want can explain that you were the house of slaves that the Jewish people were slaves to other slaves meaning that you were considered so low and um and you were made to feel as if you were the slave of slaves. Therefore, what God is telling us that he took us out of the house of slaves from Pharaoh the king of Egypt. Meaning that who was the house of slaves? That was the hand of Pharaoh. Teaching us that they were not just slaves to just ordinary slaves. They were slaves to Pharaoh. And God got rid of Pharaoh and took the Jewish people out of Egypt. Verse three, you should not possess any other idols, any other people's gods as long as I exist, wherever I may be. What does this mean? Why does it say many different types of right afterwards it's going to tell us again the different types of prohibitions? Because later on it says you should not make for yourself. How do I know that he only is not allowed to make it for himself? What about somebody else that made for him? How do I know he's not allowed to own it? Therefore, the verse says shouldn't have it. Not only shouldn't have it even if somebody else made it. What does it mean? Others that truthfully that not even a god. That means other people make them as a god. Other people consider them made them as a god upon them. You can't explain it. That means other gods besides me. That's uh disgusting. It's embarrassing to God to start compare God to say, "Oh, the idols are compared at the same level of God. Other gods like me." What do you mean? There's no other gods like God. Other people look at them as God. Another explanation. That means that they become different. They become foreign to the people who serve them meaning that they yell to them. They cry to them but they don't answer them. It's like somebody else and somebody doesn't recognize him. They consider them as gods but those gods don't answer them. Don't listen to them. Don't pay any attention to them. What does it mean on my face? As long as I'm around being that goddess for eternity. So therefore means forever. One may say well the ten commands were only told to the people of that generation. Therefore, God says, "As long as I'm around, for you should not make for yourself a sculpture or any image that's in the or likeness of anything that's in the heaven that's in the heaven above or earth below or in the water beneath the earth. Even if you don't intend to worship it, you still can't make it because it's chiseled out. Anything that's in the heaven like the sun, the moon, the stars, the galaxies, and things of that nature. Five, you should not bow down to them of them. You should not serve them because I am God your God. A zealous God. For those For those who hate me, I remember a premeditated sins of their fathers and of their descendants up to the third and fourth generation. What does this mean? He's zealous God. That means that he gets ready that he's willing. He's zealous to be able to punish those people who does something wrong. And God does not is not a pacifist and will not allow it to go by for people and he does not forgive those that sin with idolatry. Anytime the terminology is used and pyramid means that he's gets angered. He's zealously he pays attention to be able to make sure that these people get their right judgment to those that hate him. When the children continue what their fathers did, then God remembers already what their father's sins and then the children add on to what their fathers, then the children get paid back the punishment based on what their father sins as well. However, at the same time, verse six, but in contrast, God also shows kindness for at least 2,000 200 2,000 generations to those that love me and those that observe my commandments. Six that you see that God gives reward and reward double the amount even for 2,000 generations. So we see from here that God's reward over punishment is one over 500 when it comes to doing paying punishment. It's only one for four generations and this is for 2,000 generations even later. So that means uh 500 times more the good over the bad. Verse seven, you shall not swear by God's name in vain. For God will not absolve anyone who smears by his name in vain. What does it mean? for no reason and for in vain. What is considered a oath in vain? If somebody swears by God's name to change something which is known for example if he sees a pillar of stone and he everybody sees that it's stone and he makes an oath and he says and swears and he swears that it's gold Evan or the same idea if something which is wellknown he says that this is wood and that is wood that this is stone and stone like what are you making the oath was worthless everybody sees it's wood everybody sees it's a stone so what's your oath about but you're saying by god's name that this is a wood and this is a stone. That's saying making an oath in God's name in vain because there's no reason for it because it's self understood and self uh self and obvious. Verse eight, the fourth commandment, remember the shabas day and keep it holy. Later on we find that it also says the word in the book of Deuteronomy remember and to keep were said at once. So too we have many other different verses. One who desecrates a world is while liable of capital punishment to bring different animals. So how is it possible to do the both the same thing? The question is that how do we find that in certain places where the Torah tells us to do certain things but in other places it tells us to do an opposite. For example, it says one who desecrates the shabas is liable capital of punishment. But at the same time, it's also said that on chabas you have to bring those two animals. It is not a contradiction because they were both given at the same time because sacrifices are not part of the prohibition. So too when the Torah says do not we areas and then at the same time it says you should have and those situs are made of wool even of a garment to the prohibition of marrying one's wife's brother. At the same time there is a liver right marriage. This is what it means that within the word that God says I hear two commandments that while God tells me a prohibition I also hear that there are exceptions to that prohibition as well. What does the mean it's an activity like eat drink was crying. What it means is that a person always has to have in his mind consciously to think about Shabas always even throughout the rest of the week. Meaning that if you find some good item during the week, make sure and put it aside to shabas and say, "Look, I found something today. On Monday, I'm going to make sure to put it aside and keep it for Shabas." This way, you constantly have Shabas on your mind. Verse N, six days a week you shall labor and you'll do your work. Does that mean on the six days a person's able to finish all his work? When Shabas comes, it should be as if everything you had to do is all done and you don't think about it any longer. You're not thinking about, oh, I have to finish this, I have to get to that, I have to get to this. On Shabas, it's as if everything has been complete. Verse 10. And on the seventh day, and you'll observe Shabas unto God your God, no work shall be done, your son, and your daughter, your servant, and you may serve and your animals and the convert and the alien who is living within your gates. Even your children who you're responsible for is also referring to the ones that are over you said the older ones already were told by their own commandment because they're part of this is to tell us that the older ones should make sure that the younger ones follow as well. That you cannot have the younger ones do things for the older ones as well. And this is what we learned in the track of Shabas that if a child wants to come and put out a fire which is not a danger we don't listen and we have to stop him from doing that work. You have a responsibility to educate the young child and the young child is not allowed to do any work for you or for the older ones on chabas as well. Verse 11. Why are we observing the Shabas? Why does it become part of the ten commandments? And the Torah continues verse 11. For six days, God made the heavens and the earth. This earth, the sea, and everything that's in it. And he rested on the seventh day. Therefore, God blessed the Shabas day and he sanctified it. verse 11. This is what seemingly as if God wrote it himself using the terminology that God says that God is talking about himself that God rested. What does it mean that God rested? This is that a person should learn for himself how to do it. that if God who is not a human being that doesn't need a vacation doesn't need a rest but decided to rest and writes about himself that he rested how much more so an individual a person of flesh and blood who gets tired out by working that how much more so he should rest on chabas does it mean that he blessed and sanctified it he put a holiness a special sanctification until this day. And two of the things we find, number one, he blessed it with the we get a double portion that we get the double portion on the Friday. He blessed it with the that there was no mud that came down on Shabas. Meaning that we see that the whole entire Shabas God put an extra sanctity in it that one should not deal with weekday items or deal with things that have not shabistic on on on those days on that day of Shabas. Interesting thing you'll note as the Balurum points out that the fourth commandment of Shabas is the seventh verse of the ten commandments and also begins with a Zion which for the seventh day for observing of the Shabas. So you see over here again as the well as well as you also find seven people mentioned when the Torah says the seven people that the Torah mentions you, your son, your daughter, your servant, your maidervant, and the alien amongst you. So the seven people, seventh verse and the letter seven zer begins the verse telling us the seven points of rest and how on the seventh day one should rest. Also an interesting thing as the balutm points out there are five words in the verse telling us that a person who observes the shabas it's as if he observed all the five books of the Torah. Now we're into the fifth commandment as we know the fifth commandment is the hybrid between the five commandments that are between man and God and the five commandments between man and his fellow because the fifth commandment is the commandment of observing of honoring your parents honoring your parents and God as a partner in your creation. So by honoring your parents, you're honoring God, which creates the hybrid between man and God, man and his fellow of the commandments on both sides. Honor your father or mother so that your days will be lengthened on the earth that God is giving to you. If you're going to respect them, they'll have long life. If not, God forbid, they'll be shortened. that the words of the Torah are written in short and therefore you have to learn from the positive that the opposite applies as well from the positive you know that if you don't listen the negative and from the negative you learn the positive verse 13 you should not murder you should not commit adultery you should not I'm sorry you should not steal or kidnap You should not bear false witness against your fellow man. 13. When we talk about adultery, adultery is talking about specifically a married woman. As it says, as we see it brought down in the book of Leviticus when we talk about the word is committing adultery is specifically talking about by a married woman. So too in the book of Ezekiel talks about when a person commits adultery under her husband, meaning that she is a married woman and she's then taken somebody else and she goes with a strange man. When it talks about stealing here, it's not talking about regular stealing, but it's talking about kidnapping as well as it says later on in the book of Leviticus when it tells us about don't steal. That's talking about is that talking about money or maybe this one's talking about financial loss of stealing and later on in Leviticus, it's talking about with kidnapping. How can you say this? We have to learn out from the actual item of the concept that's talking about being that they're all in the same verse and the one before it and the one after it is talking about things that one is liable of capital punishment which is murder and adultery. Just like murder and adultery are one's laws that if one who abregates them is liable of capital punishment, so to the middle one which talks about stealings because stealing money, one is not liable of capital punishment. But kidnapping one is. So therefore, when it says stealing here, it's referring to kidnapping. Just like murder refers to a capital punishment. The stealing in this case, which is kidnapping, is also something which is liable to capital punishment. Verse 14, you shall not You shall not desire your fellow man's house. You shall not desire your fellow man's wife the nor his bondsman or his maid servant his ax and his donkey or anything that belongs to your fellow man. This concludes the sixth Torah reading of parasra.