Crushed Olives - Parshat Tetzaveh - Rabbi Dovid Kaplan

64. I got to guess I got to do this right, Michael? Parshat Tetzaveh is 464. Now, the Torah begins Atah Tetzaveh et B'nei Israel, you should command the B'nei Israel. Last week's parsha, remember, was talking about the Mishkan. Gentlemen, could I ask you to sit over here instead of on the side? It's just easier for me if you're in front of me as opposed to the side. Ve'atah Tetzaveh et B'nei Israel, you should command the B'nei Israel. V'yikchu shemen zayit zach, pure oil, katit l'maor, crushed, for light, l'ha'alot ner tamid, to bring up the constant flame. Now, anything striking is strange about the Atah Tetzaveh? About that that that that turn of phrase? Anything striking or strange about that? >> [snorts] >> Nothing striking or strange about that? Ve'atah Tetzaveh, you should command. How does the Torah usually begin? How does any command generally begin? What? Look at page 444 for a second. This is where I'm 464. Turn back to 444. Vayedaber Hashem el Moshe lemor, Hashem spoke to Moshe. Daber el B'nei Israel, speak to the B'nei Israel. What does it say over here? Ve'atah Tetzaveh, right? It's just you command them. What's missing over here? Hashem speaking to Moshe. Okay, number one. Number two, by the way, the Gemara says that it is proper, derech eretz, derech eretz means like Torah etiquette. When you address somebody, you should call them by name. You don't just start talking. You say, "Uh listen, what you say? Alicia, we're on page 463." You don't just say, it's proper derech eretz to mention a person's name. Even a woman? Huh? >> Even to a woman? If the woman is somebody you should be calling by name, like your wife. Uh all other women, no. No, you can say Mrs. So-and-so. Rebbetzin So-and-so. You don't call women by their first name. You don't call women by their first name. Your daughters, you know, you could go by your mother. You don't call by your first name. Your grandma, you know, you say Bubby. You don't just start talking to her. Mom, you don't just start talking to her. You address a person. If it's a Rebbetzin, you say Rebbetzin So-and-so. You don't just start talking to them without a That's proper derech eretz. That's proper derech eretz. That's the That's what the Gemara says. So, Hashem said, "Va'ata tetzaveh od." So, you should command the Jewish people. The equal lecha. So, what we're going to find is that this is the one parsha in the Torah where Moshe Rabbeinu's name does not appear. From the time Moshe Rabbeinu was born in parsha Shmot until the end of the Torah, his name appears in every parsha. This is the only parsha where Moshe Rabbeinu's name does not appear. Why not? Is it a continuation from the last parsha? That's what No. No, because the good There There are other parshas where every command is Va'yidaber Moshe Va'yidaber Va'yidaber Moshe over and over. Is it a punishment? Oh. It is a punishment of sorts. Punishment? A punishment of sorts because at the end of the golden calf, which remember we said that ein mukdam u'me'uchar, the parshas are out of order, so at the end of the golden calf, when Moshe is pleading on behalf of the Jewish people, Moshe says at one point, "Erase me from your Torah if you don't forgive them." So, the Moshe's punishment, the punishment is one parsha, his name is not appearing in the Torah. Now, why this parsha? You remember the you know this is the beauty of it. You know, sometimes in life you can have a you can have a punishment which actually sometimes I the way Hashem works the plan in certain ways there's this plan in certain ways. Let's say for for example I Hashem can do two things at one time. Let's say Hashem decides this person needs the punishment for whatever reason but I also want him to become a Torah scholar. He has earned the privilege of becoming a Torah scholar. See what Hashem does? I'm going to kill two birds with one stone. I'm going to make him poor. Because on the one hand it's a punishment and on the other hand not having a distraction he's going to study more Torah and he'll become a Torah scholar. So actually doing him a favor. I'm going to do you a favor. I'm going to actually do you a favor. Imagine a guy Imagine a guy who's who's on a football team. And the guy is a bit overweight. So on the one hand we're going to punish you cuz you were supposed to show up at training camp in shape. And the other hand I'm going to do you the biggest favor I could possibly do for you. Your punishment is you're going to have to run extra laps. Now, what do I have in mind with that? A, it's a punishment. B, it's the best thing for you cuz it'll get you in shape. It could be two you two two things at one time. So Hashem in his infinite wisdom on the one hand Moshe Rabbeinu is going to suffer the uh call it a punishment or the consequence of saying, "Please erase me from your Torah." Okay, I'm going to do it. I'm going to erase you. Well, what else do we see over here? Hashem says to Moshe Rabbeinu, "You know what? What's about to be assigned over here? The Kohanim, all the garments. Who is supposed to be the Kohen Gadol?" Moshe. So, you know, to go and then start presenting all these things by mentioning them they be considered Moshe Rabbeinu be hurt by that. Oh, boy. That's why Dabra said to Moshe, "Okay, this is what the Kohanim get." Right? So, he said, "You know what? I'm going to do you a favor. I'm going to mention your name in connection with this." So, on the one hand, your name is left out. And it's left out specifically in the part said connection with this. And that's the you do two things. And and and the lesson the lesson there is obviously a lesson in sensitivity. It's a lesson in sensitivity. It that that one of the things that we one of the things we're trying to do as Torah Jews is develop a heightened sensitivity. Remember the famous story of the Feinstein and his feet and his fingers in the door. They you know, so each person according to his Moshe Feinstein got his fingers caught in the car door, but didn't didn't yell because he didn't want to hurt the feelings of the of the guy of the guy who was what do you call the who closed the car door on his fingers. Right? Okay, we're not talking about that. You know, you know, that's that's not a that's a that's a pretty high level. But I I heard about a family where there were some guests in the house. And I don't remember what the what the setting was. But at a certain point, they they said does that would anybody like a cup of tea? You know, they were going to serve a few people they want a cup of tea. So, the father told the daughter, "When you bring out tea, bring out half cups of tea. Fill them halfway. Bring out half cups of tea." And he said, "If anybody wants more, please ask me." A couple of people asked for more. So, he brought another or half cup So, finally the daughter when the guest the guest left, the daughter said, "Why did you Why did you bring out half cups of tea? We've never done that." So, he said, "Well, then you notice?" So, then I notice what? So, "Didn't you notice there was an old man sitting at our table? Didn't you notice that his hands were shaking? If I would put out whole full cups of tea if I would put out full cups of tea, so he'd spill the tea. He'd feel bad. So, that's why everybody got In fact, only give him a half a cup. But he everybody noticed they were calling attention to it. So I So I just give everybody half cups of tea and that way the guy would You want more, you'll get more. What mitzvah is that? What mitzvah is that? It's the mitzvah that starts over here and it ends over here. That's the mitzvah. That's what the whole Torah is. And they Not only that, the Gemara says The Gemara says that the Torah begins with chesed that Hashem covers up Adam and Chava when they're naked, and it ends with chesed of Hashem burying Moshe Rabbeinu. And if there are certain things that it's the whole Torah. That's what Torah is. There are other things we got We also got to put on tefillin. And we also We also got to, you know, buy kosher meat and pay twice the four four times the price. That's also part of Torah. But the underlying principle of Torah is is is understand what does Hashem want from us? Does Hashem want from us? That's the Torah. That's That's That's what the Torah is teaching you over here. The Torah is teaching you a lesson in that Hashem You think What would have happened to Moshe Rabbeinu if his name would have been I don't know. But it's the lesson is for us. I thought that we're going to leave his name out because he might be hurt over here. That's what the Torah is teaching us. Sensitivity to other people. That's what the Torah is teaching. There was another incident of a uh a uh my mother alav hashalom was on a trip with a bunch of women. I think they went to Africa. I think they went to Africa. I Maybe it was Africa or Europe. I don't know what it was. So they came back and um my father, alav hashalom, he didn't go to the airport to pick up my mother. Which was strange because you know, my parents were married over 60 years, and it was uh they had a very very good marriage. They had They had a They had a model marriage. I mean, as good as it could be. And any time my mother was very out completely out of character for my father not to go to the airport. I said to him, "Why weren't you going?" He said, "Because the other lady that she was coming back with, one of the ladies coming back with, her husband is home in a wheelchair and he can't go to the airport. So, he felt that the other lady would feel bad if his if he if he if he does say he didn't go to the airport. So, there was a which which which which he understood that that's what my mother would have wanted that that he shouldn't have come to the airport under the circumstances. That was a So, so the the Torah is teaching you a lesson here cuz there's no end to sensitivity. You know, there's a Gamara that says Rebbi Yehuda Nesi was giving a shiur. Gamara in Sanhedrin on daf Yud alef. Rebbi Yehuda Nesi was giving a shiur and somebody smelled like garlic. I mean serious hardcore garlic. Apparently, somebody had like a like a whopper warm warmer before they came into shiur and they smelled like they smelled like garlic. So, at a certain point Rebbi Yehuda Nesi said, "Whoever ate the garlic, please leave." So, Rebbi Chiya, who had not eaten the garlic, he realized that the whoever the garlic eater that would be pretty embarrassing. You know, it's one of the more embarrassing things in life to say, "By the way, could you leave? You smell bad." That that that's a pretty embarrassing thing. So, Rebbi Chiya got up and walked out. When everybody caught his drift, no pun intended, when everybody caught Rebbi when I understood what Rebbi Chiya was doing, so they all got up and walked out. So, the next day Rebbi Yehuda Nesi Rebbi Rebbi Yehuda Nesi's son, Rebbi Shimon saw Rebbi Chiya. He said, "Hey, you ruined my father's shiur yesterday." And he said, "Chas v'shalom lo ta'aseh chazazit b'Yisrael." I I couldn't let such a thing go. Now, what did Rebbi Chiya when Rebbi Chiya got up and walked out that was pretty embarrassing. That'd have been pretty embarrassing when Rebbi Chiya got up and walked out cuz nobody knew he wasn't the guy who smelled. And he got up at that moment then everybody realized what he's doing, so they all got up and walked out. That saved the embarrassment. Okay. So, the Gamara mentions a few stories like that. Gamara mentions a few stories like that. One of the stories was with lady who came to Rebbi Meir and she said, "One of the talmidim in the yeshiva betrothed me with cohabitation." Which by the letter of law is prohib- is permissible. To to hurry up and make kiddush as they each kiss a star and beer. And he he was the kind of street with cohabitation. But it was considered an inappropriate way to do it. Rav said that it shouldn't be done and it would certainly be embarrassing. Hey, Shmuly, can we talk to you? Yeah, I heard heard this lady says she's your wife. You know, it'd be embarrassing. So we What did Rebbe Meir do? Rebbe Meir wrote her a get. He wrote a get, a divorce document. And all the Then when the talmidim saw Rebbe Meir did it as if he was the husband. So now all the talmidim wrote him the divorce document. So she left so that the one guy who did it shouldn't be embarrassed. Okay, what about her? That's a different question. But that that was that was that was That's what the Gemara says. Okay. So the question becomes Rebbe Hiyya didn't want the guy to be embarrassed. Aren't you bothered by anything? Yeah, what about the get? She has to Leave the get case for a second. I'm just giving you an example. >> that himself. That what? He shouldn't embarrass anybody. Who do Who knows that? Rebbe Hiyya Rebbe Hiyya Rebbe Hiyya Hanassi. Why did Rebbe Hiyya Hanassi say, "Okay, get up. Whoever Whoever ate the garlic, get up and walk out." Cuz he's he's bothering the people in the classroom to say Oh, very good. That means that there's a machlokes between Rebbe Hiyya and Rebbe Hiyya Hanassi. Where is that line? In other words, if a guy would walk in here in a bathing suit, and I'd say to him, "You know, you can't be in this room with a bathing suit." Did I embarrass him or he embarrassed himself? He embarrassed himself. You understand? That was exactly the machlokes between You know, sometimes if you've been in shul, the guy's reading the Torah and he makes a mistake. Do people correct him? Yeah. I you're embarrassing him. You're embarrassing the ba'al korei, right? The answer is that the ba'al korei does, his job is to read the Torah correctly so everybody can fulfill their obligation. You don't have to like, you know, correct him and then go, "Yeah!" I always felt there should be teams in shul. They should I divide the shul into two sides and keep teams who could correct them, which team could correct Then everybody would follow the lady. And nobody would talk during the Everybody would be like this, you know, "Ha! Got him! One up him!" And then the rabbi The rabbi just kind of kind of stands there, you know. You know, you know. Total up. And what Losing team has to make the kiddush that week. That would get everybody listening. So, Rebbi Yehuda Rebbi Yehuda and Nassi, not a good idea? I think it'd be an excellent idea. I got a few ideas for shul. Rebbi Yehuda and Nassi Rebbi Yehuda and Nassi and and and what do you call Rebbi Yehuda and Nassi Rebbi Hiyya have a machlokes. The machlokes is, where is that line Rebbi Hiyya felt even so. I was once giving a talk, by the way, in a certain yeshiva. I was once giving a talk and uh a guy walked in in the Beis Medrash. The Beis Medrash wasn't a big Beis Medrash. The guy walked in the middle of talk and he just sat down on the floor against the back wall of the Beis Medrash. It wasn't much further than the wall over here, maybe even closer. So, I said uh we don't sit on the floor in general because we don't sit on the floor on sad occasions and we certainly don't sit on the floor in the Beis Medrash. So, after I left so a guy came up to me, another student, you know, his defense attorney. And he came over to me, said, "Why did you embarrass that guy in public?" I said, "How do I Which guy are you talking about?" I said, "The guy that you told to stand up in the Beis Medrash." So, I said, "Well, you know, it's disrespectful for the Beis Medrash." He said, "Yeah, but you embarrassed him." So, I said to the guy, "What if he would have come in with a bathing suit?" Would I then have a a right to say you shouldn't be in a bathing suit in the base madrash? He goes, "That's different." So what does it really boil down to? It boils down to you think that's different and somebody else is telling you that it's not different. There's a certain sensitivity to a what's done and what isn't done in a base madrash. So you think that that's where we draw the line. Other people think that this is where we draw the line. I didn't say it aggressively. I didn't say it and and I just said, You don't sit on the on the floor in the base madrash. It's not a tavern. You know, it's not on a boat. You know, you're in a base madrash. It's not respectful for the base madrash. So Rebbi Yehuda ben Nussi sent them out. That was the machlokes. Where exactly Where exactly is that line? That's what the Torah is teaching. By the way, did you ever hear of the I'm sorry, you're going to ask a question. Yeah, my question was regarding telling the person, you know, stand up. You're being disrespectful. The same thing if people are talking in shul or interrupting and all that. It it it it could Not so much here, but back home it's Right, but that that is always He always asking, "Well, what do what do we do about What do we do about people talking in shul?" See, that's a little different because there it's First of all, it's endless. And secondly, the question is who should be doing the telling? I told you I know of a shul in America where the rabbi has a rule nobody could shush anybody except the rabbi. I guess that's one of the perks of the job, you know. I'm the rabbi. Shh, [snorts] got you. Zap. Yeah, you know. He's He's not He does cuz he knows when people shush people it leads to it leads to to to to to to to not good things. My In my own shul, I miss this. I would say I missed it. Of all the of all things that I miss, I My my parents I'd come to Israel and I and and my parents told me they were in shul one Shabbos and two guys were talking and the guy in front turned around and went, "Shh." And they ignored him like a fly on the wall. So, he just turned around and he clocked the guy behind him right in shul. And I missed it. I doubt we got missed it. Now, I I what what I assume what I assume here and the joke was cuz my brother and I would go to shul on Shabbos. We went there. And my mother would say like what happened in shul this morning? We'd say, "There was a fight, okay?" I mean, what happened in shul? People diving. What were that We'd always say, "There was a fight, okay?" That was a joke. And I missed it when there actually was. Hey, hey, in the wrong place at the wrong time. What did I go to your yeshiva for? Could have been in shul. Now, I assume I assume that there was some history there anyway. But people don't turn around and clock people. I assume it you know, later we'll find out you know, yeah, those two guys had a big court get in Torah 2 weeks ago. And the guy like you know, you don't generally clock somebody for talking in shul. It got the shul quiet, that's for sure. When you clock someone, that gets the shul quiet. So, so I yeah, I assume that there was a what do you call I actually saw a counselor counselor in youth group slug the guy the counselor. All right, he turned around and slug the guy right behind right right right next to me. Where was I sitting there, you know, and this guy was talking and the counselor went and he just he also clocked them. You know, so I that time I was in the right place at the right time. So, the the the the the uh that you have to be very careful about the shushing people in shul. People take it very personal like who are you to tell me not to talk sort of thing. But it is it is extremely disrespectful and extremely But there with with the reading of the Torah, yeah. Yeah, it's a very Yeah. Correcting them are the same ones that are later talking. Well, the guy yeah, right. That's what you do between talking is you correct them, you know, I stay that's how you stay busy. But you have to be very careful cuz it could be very uh it could cause a lot of cause a lot of animosity. >> there a halakha to to you know, like stop the person from talking? There is a halakha, but what what you know, there's also a halakha that you have to give tzedakah. Somehow we don't do that as aggressively as we do when we guests at people talking. That's why you know you know sometimes all the people who are out in the streets protesting vigorously, you know, I hope they're as vigorous as bringing guests into their home. You know, somehow somehow that became their favorite mitzvah. You know, what's your favorite mitzvah? All right. Oh, I heard tell about that terrible story. You'll love it. There was a There was a a school There was like this school um a a like a graduation or something. Big school assembly. So the principal calls up uh he calls up the first kid and he says uh Chaim, "What's the favorite mitzvah in your house?" So Chaim goes um "Making tzitzis." Yeah, we love may and everybody goes, "Yeah, why therefore yeah, terrific of making tzitzis." And he goes, "Shmueli, what's the favorite mitzvah in your house?" He says, "Oh, giving tzedakah. We have tzedakah boxes at every in the audience starts clapping." He goes, "Refael, what's your favorite mitzvah in your house?" He says, "Eating cholent." >> [laughter] >> And his father is in the audience and he says, "We And finally the principal says, "Why did Why did you say that?" He goes, "I don't know. You asked what my father you know, favorite mitzvah every Shabbos. We're sitting at the Shabbos table and my father's talking about the you know, first we have to say talks about the parsha a little bit. He has some questions. And then my mother brings out the cholent and like that's it. He's gone. >> [laughter] >> And you know, so you asked me so I answered you. Now, okay. I'll tell you incredible incredible story. This one is this is a slightly this is a much better story. There was a um Do you remember the hijacking in 1970? There were were of Hutner Oh, right. You weren't born yet. Yeah. Be hard to remember there. Yeah, that's true. In 19 Yeah, you guys weren't born in 1970. Babies. The Rav Hutner zatzal was the uh the the Yeshiva of of um um what do you call Chaim Berlin Yeshiva. And there were three planes were hijacked to the Jordanian desert. And there were Jews on it. They they they they famous hijacking 1970. There's actually a kid from Chicago who at the time was was was on the that plane. His parents were sending to Israel. So his I remember hearing his father talking on the radio. I think they were there for 3 weeks. Eventually eventually they were hijacked. They were in the Jordanian That's what Black September. They they were King Hussein was mowing down was was was doing some lawn mowing there. And there were they and they were they were there these They they all all the hostages got out eventually. They had take them off the plane. They blew up the planes. And eventually they they were all rescued. Okay. So the Rav Hutner was one of the Gedolei Hador. He was there. There was tremendous concern but he wasn't healthy and he was there. There was also a girl who was about 18 17 18 years old. And she was on she was one of the victims She was one of the victims. Her page 444. She was one of the 464. She was one of the people on the plane. And the next day she came home. And the day after she came home one of her friends was getting married. So her mother said to her, "You're not going to the wedding." So she said to her, "Mom I I I can go to the wedding. I'm a big girl. I'm tired emotionally drained physically drained. I can go to the wedding. I'll manage. I'm a big girl. I'll come home and then I'll crash out. I'll be okay." Mother said, "You're not going to the wedding." She said, "Mom I can go to the wedding." She says, "You're not going to the wedding because you're physically drained. You're not going to the wedding because if you go to the wedding the day after you came home from being hijacked, you're going to become the center of attention. Everybody's going to be coming to you. And the center of attention at the wedding is supposed to be the bride. And if you go to the wedding you're going to be taking away from the bride what belongs to her. Therefore you're not going to go to the wedding." That's the sensitivity. She didn't go to the wedding. Which by the way is the biggest miracle of all. Yeah there were the time girls actually listen to their mothers. Yeah, that that that used to happen. There was no you know, she actually she actually obeyed. That that which is which is even more impressive. Okay. That is the second lesson. Now, lesson number three over here is like this. Again, look at the first possible. I thought that all of Israel the equal shamans eyes off Kashi Slama pure oil for the light. Now, the light of the menorah we said was the light of the Torah. And therefore the olive oil has to be pure. How much of the olive was used for the menorah? 100%. No. One drop. One drop. Can you imagine I and that's it? That goes in. Everything else that it gets crushed, they use it for the sacrifices. But for the light of the menorah, which is the light of the Torah, pure I don't know if there's a word dragless. Right, no drags in the oil. Pure the pure first drop that goes in and that's the light of the Torah. That's going to be for the menorah. The What's that? >> take forever. Like how many olives can you like squeeze? Yeah, they probably was a probably was a job that took a while. Yeah, I imagine, you know, maybe we'll bring in some olives and we'll try it, you know. And what what would happen if you and all of a sudden you're doing it and then the second drop comes like, oh no, I hate when that happens. Yeah, bring bring a new bucket. So I mean some of them had a way of doing [clears throat] it so that that you know to avoid they probably did it in a separate thing if before it's like it's like cracking eggs. You know, women have to crack eggs. You check check eggs for blood spots. So you know the way when you're making a cake, you crack the egg and you check it. Then you dump it in the cake. You don't crack all you crack crack it into the cake because and then you're in trouble. So first you check it to see if there's a blood spot. So the the the oil it's only the first drop the pure first drop. Why? Because Torah has to be pure without any foreign ideas or concepts they mixed into Torah. Torah has to be pure. Torah has to be where we have Masorah, we have a tradition, we know what is appropriate. We're not looking for any foreign philosophies. You know, the definition of philosophy is is that what is a what is philosophy? Philosophy is a way of being being unhappy but more [snorts] intellectually, right? But that's that's what philosophy tells you exactly explains to you why you're unhappy. That's what philosophy is. The Torah is not interested. Thanks Alicia. The I owe you one. The The Torah The Torah is The Torah is not interested in foreign foreign influences coming into the Torah. It's got to be pure. Number one. Number two, if you take a look at the word Kusi's, it's an interesting word. Kusi's means crushed. Kusi's Lamor the Halos near Tamid. Now, look at the word Kusi's very carefully, gentlemen. Second line. How much is a Kuf? First letter? 20. How much is a Tuf? 400. 400. So, the first two letters make 420. Any known significance of that number? >> Yes, that's marijuana. What's that? What's what? >> Marijuana. It's 420? What? Ketoret? >> [laughter] >> We'll scratch that from the record. Yeah. What is What is 420? Significance of 420? The amount of years that the second Beis Hamikdash stood. Look at the next two letters. Yud, Tuf. How much is Yud? 410. Which is What's the significance? >> First Beis Hamikdash. First Beis Hamikdash. Kusi's means what? Two destructions. It means crushed. Correct. It alludes that the first two Beis Hamikdash's are going to be destroyed. But look at the next words. Kassis lamour lahalos nair tamid. The third one is going to be a nair tamid permanent. Okay, so the first two kassis are going to be crushed, but the last one lamour, the one that's going to shine lahalos nair tamid is going to be the third one that's going to be eternal. That's what's it what what alluded to. Now, more than that it's on a personal level. Let's say a person wants to take on a little more in Yiddishkeit. He wants to so to speak press himself. Want to push ourselves to achieve more. It could be taking on certain halachic stringencies. It could be a person decides I want to be more stringent, I don't want to carry even if there's an airuv, or I don't want to do certain things on Shabbos even if it's halachically or could be an airuv, or it could be a person who decides I'm going to add an hour to my learning every day. I'm going to add an hour, I'm learning a lot, but I'm going to add another hour and really push myself to the limit. How do you know if it's healthy or not? How do you know if what you're adding on or trying to take on in religious devotion, how do you know if it's a healthy thing or not? If you're happy with it. If it's kassis if you crush yourself a little bit lamour it causes you to shine. That means if you feel energized, if you feel upbeat when you're doing it, and by the way often the acid test is how your interpersonal relationships work out. If you're trying to take on stringencies and you're being kind of short with other people or impatient, then what you're doing isn't a good idea. You're pushing yourself too hard. You're not it's not it's not for you. There's a difference between challenge and frustration. Challenge is good, frustration is not. Everybody has to know what's Where's that Where's that point? If it's making you tense and nervous what you're trying to do, which often happens with stringencies, that a person adapts a stringency, and then all it does is it puts them into a further uh uh uh straightjacket, and then he needs to break out or takes it out on other people, and it's not a good thing. We're not talking about what We're not talking about halachic requirements. There's somebody who says, "Listen, you know, the requirement that food has to be kosher is making me tense." Well, that's just too bad. Well, that's just too bad. You can't You can't eat non-kosher food, you know, but I love I love swordfish, you know. Well, I'll have it, you know, but you can't. So, that That's That We're not There are no dispensations. But should a person go and adapt adapt adapt a stringency, which is going to then make him tense and nervous and maybe take it out on other people? They have to They They They You know, they have to make sure that it's kussies. You want to pressure yourself? Love more. Make sure it causes you to shine. Make sure that it brings it Make sure that it helps to to to to to to to to achieve to achieve more in a positive manner. If you're going to be tense, then there's no reason in Yiddishkeit that a person should ever be feeling tense and nervous about Yiddishkeit. We shouldn't be tense and nervous. There's a lot to do, and there's We have to take on There's a lot. But we shouldn't be Look, there are certain It's not like, "Oh, good, Tisha B'Av, we get to fast, you know, my favorite. I'm a You know, I'm a" And I don't mean that. Sometimes there's certain things that It's a difficult situation. It's Shabbos, and I want to get to something, and I can't open the door cuz it's books. I'm not talking about that. I'm not talking about where it's objectively a a challenging situation. But what in our day-to-day living, we shouldn't be going through the day like like that. Does that apply for tzitzit, like let's say the cotton tzitzit and wool tzitzit? If wool tzitzit are going to make you hot and sweaty, and you're all you're going to do is be stamping at people all day because is uncomfortable, so wear the cotton sits us. But it it I'm not talking about there's certain situations which are rough. You know, you're on an airplane and they haven't got your kosher meal and now you got to spend 12 hours eating bananas, you know, you know, so it's not that's not fun. I'm not talking about it. I'm talking about the day-to-day the day-to-day living as a Torah Jew, we should be living in it doesn't mean that there aren't frustrations. Doesn't mean that the the train pulls away just as you get there. I'm not saying, "Oh, good, I missed the train." But I have my tzitzit. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about that day-to-day living we should be living it should be something that is we're upbeat about. You know, that sort of thing. I don't say every shacharit Listen, getting up in the morning go shacharit it's not like, "Oh, good, my favorite." I'd rather give up an hour of sleep so I can put on some leather on my hair. I you know, it's not like I'm a I'm not a boy scout. On the other hand, the whole day, the whole process shouldn't be something that we're tense and nervous about. I better put on my tzitzit or else I'm going to burn in gehenna for eternity. That's that's not the that's not that's not a healthy approach. Do it with joy. But joy also doesn't mean joy doesn't mean jumping up and down on a trampoline on a on a car in public. Joy just means that we're energized and upbeat. The first thing the first sign of depression is what? Lack of iron lack of lack of energy. Lack of energy. We're lacking energy. That's that's the first sign. A person who is moving through the day with energy is an upbeat but that's a demonstration. We're doing it energetically. Doing it energetically. Not again, I told you, not at other people's expense. I had a guy saw a student of mine from a couple years ago. He just got married recently. So, he told me that he still remembers the lesson that I taught him. Once I I know in shul, you know, they bring the Sefer Torah and people want to kiss the Sefer Torah. Often it's at the expense of other people's lives to kiss the Sefer Torah. So, this guy they had brought out the Sefer Torah. They had brought out the safer Torah one day and I I'm and I was the rabbi in the in the Yeshiva and and he actually kind of kind of he gave me a a little bit he he bumped me getting to the safer Torah. He's a good athlete too. Guys are guys are guys are very good athlete. He bumped me getting to the safer Torah. So I waited I think that was on a Monday. Thursday they were bringing out the safer Torah again. And as they brought out the safer Torah he was trying as he came through I kind of just stepped to the side and he was behind me and I could see he I could feel that he's like, you know, trying to figure out what to do and I'm not budging. He's trying to figure out what to do. And right after davening I just turned to him. He sat next to me. I turned and I said, "I boxed you out on purpose." >> [laughter] >> And he goes, "Oh, that was good." And so I just saw him recently. He came over he said, "I still remember that last I said and the only reason I did it was to teach him don't be so aggressive. It's okay if you didn't kiss the safer Torah. It's okay. You don't have to elbow anybody in the head getting to the safer Torah. It's okay. You'll You're You're You're You're you know, it's okay. Safer Torah will be okay." Right? You know, it'll be fine. And I And I boxed him out. They listen, I never boxed out in high school, you know, coach was always yeah coach was you know, let the big guys rebound. But I but this is a good box out. This was a solid. I blocked out he couldn't get through. This And I could see he's behind me just kind of trying to figure out what do I do here. And I purposely did it teach him the lesson. He appreciated it. So yes. You know the story where Moshe knew that Aaron was coming to greet home and he didn't like have enthusiasm to like he didn't go greet home with like the most the most upbeat, you know, uh I'm not sure that story cuz the Torah says that Aaron was going to greet the Torah says the opposite. The Torah says that Aaron greeted him. The rocha of his samach belibo. Moshe Rabbeinu was not upbeat not because he had to greet Aaron. He he upbeat because he didn't want to take Aaron's position. He didn't want to take Aaron's position. Aaron was very upbeat. It says he'll see when he'll rejoice in his heart. Okay, so Moshe didn't want to take Aaron's position. But like we learn from this like Moshe should have had a certain um What's it called? certain eagerness Yeah, eagerness. So To do what? To greet his brother, right? Yeah. So if we apply that to our lives like sometimes like let's have we should say like you know let's have a certain eagerness to go kiss the Torah. In this guy's in your in your example We should you're right. You're right. You're right. No, you're you're >> [laughter] >> I block No, I I boxed him out for being over eager. There's a difference between being eager and being over eager. So like someone learn when we're learning the Torah is like when you first learn something I know what you're saying you don't have to be over Right. But when you're learning it and you're just hearing it for the first time and you block this person out what is he going to think about? All right, he wasn't it wasn't the first time. It wasn't the first time. It was the and it wasn't the first time he learned it. And obviously you have to use that don't before anything don't block anybody out and show. Okay, don't [clears throat] say Kaplan said we should block each other out. I'm only giving a one extreme example for one person who had to be taught a lesson. Okay. Take a look at Rashi. We're making progress. We already got to the Rashi on the first pulse. I got you like that. Um the it says it's the on the right column fourth line of Rashi. The hollows near to me madly you light it. Everybody see that right column of Rashi fourth line from the bottom. Third line from the bottom. The hollows They're like when they lit the candles of the menorah, the oil, the wicks. Madly ad the hay shall have us all of my halo. He would light it until the flame rose on its own. Number one. Then it says tamid call Layla the Layla core weight on me. Each night is called tamid. And then Rashi says in the next page may air Oh, that's the next possible. Okay. So Rabbi Moshe Feinstein says over here, what does it mean to light it until the flame is rising on its own? Rabbi Moshe Feinstein says the Torah here is describing the responsibility of one who teaches Torah. One who teaches Torah and he has a disciple, has students, he has to light them. He has to set them on fire. Now, we want it to be not over eager here cuz we're not talking about literal fire, but don't tempt me. But Rabbi Moshe Feinstein says the rebbe has to set the student on fire. He has to teach him the Torah until the flame is rising on its own. Until the teacher, the student is capable of standing on his own and being able to He's he he is self-sufficient in his learning. That's the a responsibility of a rebbe. What we're going to see in the next possible is that Rashi is going to say they put in the same amount of oil on the long nights, the long winter nights, as they did on the short summer nights and they burnt. Same amount of oil. They didn't change the amount of oil. It was the same amount of oil and which itself is a miracle. How I mean, why if you need you should need more or less depending on the situation. And again, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein says it's the same theme that sometimes in a classroom you have certain students who are quicker and certain students are a little slower. Now, which one do you gravitate to? Which student should the Rebbe address? Says Rebbe Moshe Feinstein, you have to divide up your time evenly. The quicker students need a certain amount of time. Don't assume that since they're a little bit more talented, they'll do it on their own. They need your attention. And the slower students need your attention. Don't assume nothing will ever amount to them just because they're slower. You have to give them attention, too, and allow everybody to fulfill their potential. That's what he says. Okay. Now, take a look at the next puzzle. Be'ol ba'id be'chutzei ha'paroches asher al adanei ha'kerashim me'erev ad boker lifnei Hashem. Chukas olam l'dorosam me'eis benei Yisrael. It is a eternal statute. Pasuk aleph, five lines from the top. Ve'atah hakrev et Aharon achicha. Draw near Aharon, your brother. Ve'et banav. Then again, ve'atah, you. Doesn't say Moshe Rabbeinu's name. Now, you want to see something amazing? Mike Michael, put the put the the the what do you call it up. No, no. Don't turn off the light. Don't turn off the light. It's not a movie just yet. It's all in the wrist, boys. Okay. Now, Moshe Rabbeinu's name does not appear in the parsha. Look at the end of the parsha for a second. Look at the very last word of the parsha. You'll notice on page um page 482. And you notice that at the end of the parsha, it says how many pesukim there are in the parsha. Page 482. You see where it says on 482 in in very small print, right after the last word, it says la'Hashem. Yeah. And then it says kuf aleph pesukim, 101 pesukim. Yeah. Michael Simon. There's always a tradition has a certain word which is the kind of a mnemonic cuz the numerical value of Michael is 101. So, if somebody wants to ask you how many are parts of the Sabbath and you'll see that at the end of every partial there's a there's a mnemonic the amount of of of of words and and the the amount of him and there's a mnemonic. Now, how many are there in this parsha? 101. >> 101. Now, Moshe Rabbeinu Moshe's name does not appear in the parsha. Right? >> That's Moshe? Mem, shin, hey. That's him. I'm David. That's Moshe. Moshe Rabbeinu's name does not appear in the parsha. Now, how do you spell the letter mem? Mem, mem, yud, mem. Mem in in Hebrew. >> Mem, yud, mem. Mem, mem. Mem, mem, mem. Mem, mem. How do we spell shin? Shin? Yud. Nun. And how would you spell hey? Hey. Hey, aleph. Hey. Now, Moshe Rabbeinu's name does not appear in the parsha. But if you spell out his name, how much is a mem? How much is a nun? How much is a yud? How much is an aleph? One. 50 and 40 is how much? Oh, you guys are good. And 10? And one? Phew. So, you got 100 and what? That means even though Moshe Rabbeinu's name doesn't appear in the parsha, the essence of Moshe Rabbeinu is contained in the parsha because how many are there? 101 him. So, the Torah an accident, right? So, the Torah, even though Moshe Rabbeinu's name isn't there, but the hidden aspect of Moshe Rabbeinu is contained in the parsha. There are 101 him in the parsha. I happen to notice that last week during the Torah reading. Just kidding. >> [laughter] >> Oh, sure. Okay, I got to stop. You got to got to go to David Miller. What's that? Because mem again add it up. Mem and yud is 50, and kuf is 20, lamed is 30, is 100, and aleph is 1, is 101. We're starting guys remember we're starting at 12:05. We're starting at 12:05 every day. Right. It's 100 It's 101 so Yeah, yeah, that's what I said. Michael adds up to 101. What's that? Uh possibly. Possibly cuz either way you get after you're married you're going to feel tense.