Hashem is our Sword to Defeat our Enemies with Rabbi Aaron Dovid Poston

Shalom aleichem everybody. Welcome back to the Yibaneh Beis Medrash. Welcome home to Torah. A warm welcome. One of the things we do is we really try to learn Hebrew, right? And I mention every time in on our website, in yibaneh.com, there's a link below, you can find for tonight's shiur, not so easily, but you'll at least find the pages. Then you have to choose which book and which year for this different shiur, and then the source sheets are uploaded, so you could follow. We're in Parshas Balak. Now, before we start, we heard recently there was an unbelievable tragedy in Surfside, that's just north of Miami Beach. We are praying for those who are unaccounted for, and hopefully that they will be found very soon, and we don't know in good health or not, but that Hashem should heal them. Uh basically, if you want to find the names of who and updated, you know, what's going on, Yeshiva World News, go into Google, Yeshiva World News, and it'll give you the updates. Okay. So, um I just happened to Besides the fact that it's a a city, a very small city of 6,000 people, and there are 2,500 of those people are Orthodox Jews, and I can only imagine that uh there's many more Jews there besides the Orthodox Jews, but it doesn't matter. All human beings should be uh thought of in good health. So, they're in our prayers especially, and I uh lived in Miami Beach for many years, and I visited actually Bal Harbour. Bal Harbour is just two blocks, three blocks north of Surfside. So, um spent a lot of time there. Okay, we're in Parshas Balak. We're in chapter 22 of Numbers, and before we go into the Kli Yakar, I want you to become familiar with the first four verses, because that's what we're going to deal with. So, at least in English, we will have we will be dealing with the Hebrew part. But, I want you to be familiar. Balak, who was the son of Tzippor, he saw, keep in mind, it means he saw all that Israel had done to the Amorite. That's verse one. What in the world did he see? So, all you have to do is go back one page, right? To the end of last week's parsha. He saw the conquering, the war, and the victory of the Jewish people of Israel over Sichon and Og, the the Amorites. They took over their cities. First of all, all we did was want to pass through. And they attacked us. We just wanted to pass through, and they attacked us. And guess what? We won the war. We took over their cities. And we killed Sichon and Og. Okay, perhaps. Perhaps that's what he saw. We will see absolutely fantastic new view of what Balak actually saw. Next verse. It says Moab became angry. First of all, we will see at the end of um uh in verse four, that Balak is the king of Moab. But, now we're talking about the people. The people actually what? Became very frightened of the people. So, why were they frightened right now, this moment? Well, because it was numerous. Not only that, now you have a comment that says that Moab was disgusted. So, it's a different emotion, or a different emotional response in the face of the children of Israel. I'm about to tell you one of the main questions the Kli Yakar is going to ask. How come Israel is mentioned by so many different names? You don't have that anywhere in the Torah. Already we call them the they were called Israel in verse one. They were called Ha'am in verse two, and at the end of verse two, they're called Bnei Yisrael. And wait to see verse four. Then Moab said to the elders of Midian, why get the Midianites involved? Now, the the the scared masses are going to go and tell Midian, why? What are they telling them? Now, the congregation. Now, Israel is called the congregation. Will lick up the entire surroundings as an ox licks up the greenery of the field. Why is Israel, or here it's called the congregation, similar to an ox that's licking up the field? And it ends with that Balak Tzippor was the king of Moab at that time. Okay, now that we're familiar, believe it or not, I want to actually read the Hebrew. We should be familiar with the Hebrew. Vayar Balak ben Tzippor es kol asher asah Yisrael la'Emori. All that Israel did to the Amorites. Vayagar Moab, Moab was very frightened midnei ha'am, because of the people. Moab very frightened, ki rav hu, because they were many. They were so many. How many were there? How many were there? 3 million, 600,000 Jews between the age of 20 and 60. That's what scared them? Vayakatz Moab. What's that word vayakatz? And they were disgusted because of Bnei Yisrael. That's how that verse ends. Again, the word vayakatz, disgusted, we're going to discuss. And again, another pronoun used for the children of Israel, for Israel, for the Jews. And then Moab goes and talks to the ziknei Midian. Vayomer Moab el ziknei Midian, to the elders of Midian. All to Now they're going to yelachaku hakahal, that this kahal, this congregation is going to lick up es kol sevivotenu, all of the surroundings, kilchok hashur, like an ox would lick up es yerach sadeh, like the greenery of the field. Uvalak ben Tzippor melech leMoab ba'eis hi. And he was the king at that time. Okay, now the Kli Yakar will begin by asking two very important questions. This is a little unusual. What I usually do is go word for word through the Kli Yakar. Actually, what I want to do is sum it all up. I mean, I'm going to read it without going through word for word. I mean, I'm going to translate. I'm going to tell you what I think he's saying. I'll read the Hebrew, and then what I want to do is go deep down the rabbit hole uh relating to a very particular subject. So, if you saw this shiur before, great, but I'm going to to develop new ideas. Also, I will put below in the description box the link to the shiur that discusses in detail, word for word, what we're talking about tonight. Although, I'm going to run through it, like I said, and get into some very interesting ideas. Um so, what did Balak actually see? What did he actually see? Right? I already kind of proposed that's a very important question. As if he just saw something in recent history, such as the conquest of the Amorites. All you have to go do is go back to Numbers chapter 21, verses 23 through 35. When Israel defeated Sichon and Og, right? All we wanted to do was pass through on the way to Eretz Yisrael. They came and attacked us, and we won. Now, I have to admit, when you read the text, there does seem to be some miracles. But, what is the what bothers the Kli Yakar? What kind of miracles were they? That nothing in comparison to what happened 39 years previously. We're talking about we left Egypt. There were 10 unbelievable plagues that I guess the whole world knew about and transformed. Like, as if there was a recreation, right? Every one of the 10 plagues somehow corresponds to the 10 sayings that God used to create the world to show his mastery. We're talking about all that Hashem did to Egypt, the 10 plagues that the whole world knew about, the splitting of the sea, the decimation of the Egyptian army. The whole world knew about it, as the verses described during the splitting of the sea, that the whole world was quaking and shaking and terrified because of what happened. This just turned back a few sentences. This is what Balak saw that all of a sudden got his goat, so to speak. It wasn't what happened 39 years earlier. Why not? Well, we don't know, because it's the Torah doesn't even say what he saw. Okay, it says he saw what Israel did to the Amorites, and we automatically assume it's what just happened. The second major question that he will ask is why is Am Yisrael, the Jewish people, referred to by four distinct pronouns? What are What are pronouns? They're names or descriptions of of who they are, which is absolutely unusual. And what are those four names? We said them already. Yisrael, Ha'am, Bnei Yisrael, and Hakahal. Okay, so Yisrael is in verse one. Verse two was Ha'am and Bnei Yisrael. And verse three or four was Hak- Oh, yeah, Hakahal, right? The congregation. Now, I'm going to read for you the Kli Yakar. We already know what he's saying, but we hear the words. Vayar Balak ben Tzippor es kol asher asah Yisrael la'Emori. Halo nisi Mitzrayim hayu gedolim me'ilu? Were not the miracles that happened in Egypt greater than these? Solama lo hisbonen ba'otot gedolos venora'os asher asah Why wouldn't he contemplate about what actually happened when we left Egypt? That's the first question. The old guy and there's something else to contemplate. He saw her condition by our mission most there's four names that is always mentioned by Israel and Israel and the car. And he goes through the verses and at the end he says hello da var who this is extremely unusual never happens. So if it never happens, why is it happening here? Okay, that's the four that's the two questions. Now, what I want to do is sum up his answers and I'm really only deal in depth with the first of his four answers, but I think it's important for you to hear the four answers. Okay, so the first answer is like this. You have to have drum roll, right? If I don't tell you what this answer will be, you're not going to sleep tonight. I just know it. And then you're going to blame me. So I I'm I'm obligated to tell you the answer. Okay, drum roll, please. Ready? It's referring to who to Israel. Who's Israel? Jacob Jacob. Did Jacob do anything to the Amorites? It says Balaak saw what Israel did to the Amorites. Does anybody remember what Jacob did to the Amorites? What? His sons. His sons his sons Shimon and Levi, what did they do? This is the city of Dinah. Dinah was raped. We wanted a court case. We wanted justice. They didn't give it to us. They wanted to marry our daughters. We said yes, sure, right? Blink blink. Sure and what you have to be circumcised first on the third day when it's the most difficult day of circumcision, we killed all the males. Okay. Nice, right? So did Jacob take responsibility? Was he upset with his sons? Or was he pleased with his sons' behaviors? You don't remember. So look what it says in Genesis 34:30. Thereupon Jacob said to Shimon and Levi, you have troubled me to discredit me. Does it make any sense? Among the inhabitants of the land among the Canaanites among the Perizzites and I am few in number. They will gather against me and I and my household will be destroyed. Right? Now I want to go through the Hebrew a little bit. Actually I really want to go deep into this, but I wanted to tell you answers two, three and four. So what I'm going to do right now superficially speak about answer number one just so you understand how difficult it actually is. So Jacob says to Shimon and Levi a heart him right? E car a car iron cuff rash you muddied me. Like there's different translations in English. One is you disturb my composure or over here, I'm not sure who's this. You troubled me. Right? So the word iron cuff rash actually could mean polluted, dirtied, muddied basically confused. You troubled me. I'm now disturbed by this action and you're making me odious. So the Hebrew was la have e shaney la have e shaney the root would be bet iron shin or bet I'm sorry bet aleph shin or bet aleph yud shin which basically means a stench. There's this concept of being extremely upset repulsive, repugnant or even abhorrent. So based on this idea that he is saying I'm in trouble. I mean they're going to come is going to be anti-semitism. There's going to be a lot of mistrust and whatnot. You put me in a very bad position. So I am pointing towards the idea that he was not at all happy. And of course he didn't have anything to do with it. seemingly, allegedly from this verse. But I want you to go to Genesis 48:22 because we're going to deal with that in the clear car. He's not he's absolutely taking responsibility. Now this is this is towards the end of his life. He's giving the blessings and he's giving a blessing to Joseph. Now he's giving to Joseph a double portion. He bought the city of Shechem or he bought a burial place for Joseph in the city of Shechem, but ultimately this Gamorah which we will deal with in if I'm not mistaken it's Baba Basra 123A, we will deal with it shortly is discussing the idea of giving a double portion. So he says like this, "Behold, I'm going to die and God will be with you and he will return you to the land of your forefathers and I have given you one portion over your brothers." Meaning a double portion. Your Joseph will be divided into Manasseh and Ephraim. We're going to discuss this later. Which but this is the important part which I took from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow. I shall to me odd Amorite the car be or the cashti. What is he saying here? I'm the one who took it. I I conquered that city. I took all the possessions with my sword and my bow. Do we see a seeming contradiction? Yep. Seeming, allegedly. Okay. Now, what I want to do at this point is just sum up the clear car and then we're going to go on to the other answers and we're going to come back to this. So basically the clear car is telling us the way of kings is always if if they're literate great cuz they grew up in a palace and they had tutors or good teachers the best of money could ever buy and so they were they could read. So but they had their disposal divrei hayomim chronicles history books especially kings were privy privy to this information. The masses were not. So having that idea he was able to know what happened 250 years prior to this occurrence that Israel we call him Jacob, right? Israel Saba Israel remember there are four names Israel's called I mean in the our verses Israel and Israel and Kahal. So there it says he saw what Israel did to the Amorite. He's talking about he saw with his own eyes the books cuz when you read you're reading with your eyes, right? He saw himself what previously happened with Jacob did to the Amorites that a single man and his small little family small in number took over a Uma Shlema an entire I mean at least I don't know if they killed them all, but you know I'm talking about like they didn't kill them all. They killed the men of that town. But they took over the city. They basically were victorious over a people. Okay. So basically that's what that's the that's explaining the first verse, but we have so much richness to go into. So I want to describe the other three answers the other three names what they all mean and I want to go back into this particular idea. So the word um ha am is always referring to the Arab rab or the protein. Yeah? The Arab rab guys you're listening, right? Arab rab how much was the Arab rab? I already said we were like between 600,000 to 3 million, right? Guess what? According to the may have the esrim ribboy which means it was 1,200,000 meaning double the amount of Jews and if we consider that we had 3 million, that means there were 6 million of the Arab rab meaning there were 9 billion 9 million people in the desert, but according to what he saw we're not saying he anymore. We're talking about the Moab grew very frightened because of it as act looks to look at the verse again. It says because they were frightened because of the people cuz it was numerous. So the am was numerous. Who are the am? The Arab rab. They saw 6 million of them. And then they saw 3 million of us, but why were they afraid of us? They were disgusted from us. So the word the akats is similar to the word that was used when Egyptians were disgusted and they wanted to kill us. Right? So they enslaved us so we wouldn't have children, right? Cuz we were growing and growing. The word of the akats is from the word coats. It doesn't literally mean only disgusted although that it can and does mean that, but we were like a not literally a thorn in their eye, right? As you might have thought that's what it means. But no we were like how do I describe it? It's a very interesting psychological term. They were projecting their own value in a certain way. They knew that we were compared to a grape and we were growing very fruitful in Egypt. And they themselves felt inferior and therefore they felt they were like weeds. A thorn is like a weed. And that's what it means here when it says they were disgusted in the face of the children of Israel Hebrew the akats they felt just like the Egyptians felt inferior, like weeds. And what do you do when you plant a garden, when you plant when you farm? You first have to get rid of all the weeds before you plant the good stuff. And this is what they were afraid of because they understood the Jews were compared to being like grapes, very fruitful, Karen. And we were being uprooted. There's lots of verses we use here. We'll talk about them shortly, hopefully, quickly. But basically, this is what they were afraid of. We were going to come into the land of Israel, but before we came in, or as we were settling, we were going to get rid of them all. And this is what frightened them the most. And the last is why are they compared to Kahal and using the ox as an example, Joseph himself is compared to an ox many places in the Torah. What were the Moabites trying to get Midianites involved with? Think about like this. Who sold Joseph? Yes, it's true, the brothers sold Joseph into slavery, basically, to Egypt. But who did they sell them to? The Midianites. The Midianites, yeah. Look at the verses. Midianites, then Ishmaelites, then Midianites. The Midianites were were ultimately responsible for the sale of Joseph to Egypt, meaning that particular place. And therefore, they were a Moab was trying to get an ally, trying to say, "Listen, we have what to fear from them. They're not even coming into Midian. But they're going to take revenge one day on you because of what you did to Joseph, you might as well come on board with us now. In other words, it's manipulation using the other people's fears in order to make them an ally. Okay? And that's why the the idea here is that now the they this is what they said to the elders of Midian, "Now the congregation will look up our entire surroundings, not just us, but you too, who are just outside the land of Israel as an ox licks up the greenery of the field, a symbolic of an ox because Joseph is compared to the ox, that you were responsible for um for selling to Egypt." Okay, with that all done and said, what I want to do now, we'll go to the Kli Yakar, we'll see the words I expressed are clearly in his words. So, I translated it correctly, gave it over correctly, and then we're going to go deeper into the Gemara in Bava Basra, uh 123A. So, here we are, on the first page, halfway down, right? It's halfway down where the answers. Uv Biura D'Avu Kahu, in order to explain this, the answers are as follows. Shinmei Derech HaOlam, the way the world works, Sha HaMelachim Yesh Lahem Sefer Divrei HaYamim, that that kings have what? What is Sefer HaYamim? Chronicles, history books. Asher Lo Katuvim Kol HaKoros MiYamim Rabim, all that has all that happened through history. Av HaHammon Am, but the masses Einam Yodim Ki Im HaOveh, the only thing they know about is what's happening today. How much are strawberries selling in the shuk? How much is watermelon? Shekel VaHetzi, Ad HaTiya, Shekel VaHetzi, right? That's all they know. Mash Ro'im BeEinei, what they see with their own eyes, or Mash SheShamu MiPi HaShmu'ah, or what they hear from rumors, Min HaMa'arich BiMayam, whatever occurred in their day. Lefi Kach, Balak, that's why Balak Sh'Hayah Melech, he was the king, Heimei Yamim Rabim Yifakeid Etzlo, right? Cuz he knew the history, it was made known to him. Ma'aseh Yaakov, Ma'aseh Yaakov, what Yaakov did. Who's Yisrael? Yisrael Saba, that's who that's who that's what happened. El Ha'Amori, what Jacob, or let's call him Yisrael Saba, did to the Amorites. Ki Hayah Raki Echad, right? He was just one guy, one single man, Uvnei Beiso Ma'aseh Mispar, and his what? His little household? 10, 12 people? Af Al Pi Kein, and nevertheless, this small clan, this small family was Nitzach U'Mishleimah, they were victorious over a complete people. And where do we know this from? From Ex from Genesis 48:22, he says, unbelievable, Asher Lakachti MiYad Ha'Amori, he's taking responsibility and he's saying, "I took which I took from the hand of the Amori." He's giving over to Joseph the double portion. I took it with what? My sword and my bow. Now, here we're going to go into the Gemara and discover some gems. And this hopefully will change our life and what we think about the power of prayer. Because what exactly is my sword and my bow? So, I will tell you right away, in Psalms 44:7, it says, "For I do not trust in my bow, nor does my sword save me." Now, what are we talking about? King David does not make up anything new. This has to be known to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is known to our forefathers. So, what's going on here? On one hand, he's taking responsibility, "It was my sword and my bow." On the other hand, we shouldn't rely on my sword and my bow. We have another problem we have to deal with. See why I want to put a lot more attention and time into this idea. Because we are going to refer to now Bava Basra. Okay, now you guys have a different format than I have, but look on your far right on the top. So, it says like this. This, by the way, Gemara was discussing double portions to the Bechor, the firstborn, and many of the ideas behind it. And as a additional proof to what it was discussing about the firstborn getting a double portion, it refers us to uh Genesis chapter 48:22, which is our verse. Ani Natati L'cha Sh'chem, I'm giving to you Sh'chem. What's Sh'chem? Sh'chem is a Chelek, is a portion. So, there's going to be opinions it's talking about the double portion, and simultaneously, it's talking about the city of Sh'chem. Okay? Sh'chem Echad, one portion, Al Achicha, a over and above your brothers, Asher Lakachti MiYad Ha'Amori. In other words, what is he giving them? He's giving them something that he took from the Amorites. What did he take from the Amorites? There's some very mystical ideas here, right? What did he take from the Amorites through his sword, through my sword, and through my bow? Now, right away, the Gemara asked, V'Chi BaHarbo U'V'Kashto Lakach? Is it through his sword and his bow that he took it? What was Yaakov saying? We already know, we saw in Psalms, King David says, "No, I don't trust in that." The Gemara tells us, Halo K'Var Ne'emar, doesn't it already say in Psalms 44:6, Lo V'Kashti Eftach, "Not in my bow do I trust," V'V'Harbi Lo Tosheni, "And my sword does not save me." Ella, so what does the Gemara answer? Rather, Harbi, the very fact the Jewish people have a sword, Yaakov had a sword, himself he had his sword, what is that? Tefillah, prayer. Kashti, what is a bow? It's called Bakasha. Bakasha means petitioning, it means request. Okay? Now, just to go down on Vav, you see right below that paragraph, there's little Vav. Yeah. So, too, in the Targum Onkelos, he explains the verse, Ani Natati L'cha Sh'chem, that I gave to you Sh'chem, meaning in Aramaic, Ani Yahavit L'cha Chelek Echad Yateir Al Achicha, I gave you one more portion than your brothers, which is consistent with the Gemara of the the firstborn getting a double portion because the word Sh'chem means Chelek, a portion. However, Rashi on the Torah explains the word Sh'chem differently. He says it's the Ir Mamash, he actually gave him the city of Sh'chem, and we have Kever Yosef, we have the the the section of Menashe, Ephraim, okay? And here he gave them the city of Sh'chem which he bought Kever Yosef. Sha'ot To Natan Yaakov L'Yosef, that which Yaakov gave to Yosef was one more portion above what his brothers received. Okay, now, in the back of the Gemara, there in Metifta, there's these amazing comments, and I want to focus on them. So, what and then we're going to read the Ben Yehoyada, the Ben Ish Chai, okay? So, let's start with the first comment on the right side of the page I gave you, where it says, "What does it mean MiYad Ha'Amori?" What does it mean that he took it from the hands of the Amorites? You see that you see it? As the Gemara mentioned, which I had I gave to you Sh'chem, which I'm the one that took away from them. Yaakov is taking responsibility, he was involved, he took it. Katav Maharsha, the Maharsha wrote, He was a very old uh He died at the age of 104 in 1930. Baruch Hashem. The FEMA should the Rashi Sugamore, according to what the Gemara explained connect the pasuk as a way in and before, right? We're talking about the firstborns gifts. There is to explain the continuation of the verse, however. What does it say? That which I took away from the Amorite. What is he taking away? Did he take the firstborn ship? I don't know how to the status of the firstborn from the Amorites? Wait till you hear what the Maharsha has to say. He says that this is what he took away from Esau. Esau was called an Amorite. How? We have to find out. Does that make sense that he's an Amorite? No. Yet, this is how the Maharsha is explaining it. So, we have to go into it. So, he took, right? Isn't that true? Jacob took the firstborn status from Esau. And this is what he's referring to and he's giving it over to Joseph. Joseph's going to now receive that which he took away from the Amorite, the first the status of the firstborn. We still have to discover how does the Maharsha understand Esau is an Amorite. So, the The intent of the verse is that firstborn status that Jacob took away from Esau. As it's mentioned in Midrash, the Midrash says I share the Esau. The Midrash says it. Now, the how can that be? He was not an Amorite. What did he do? He acted like an Amorite. Now, what does that mean? Who's Who did he marry? Right? Remember, Isaac was um did not want Isaac did not want Jacob to marry the Canaanites. He went all you know, sent all the way to uh to Laban's house. It's very important. Even back, Aram did not want Isaac to marry the Amorites the Canaanites. Canaanites. Who was the most strongest of the Canaanites? The Amorites. The Amorites, okay? So, we're going to see also the actions. So, he says like this, first of all, Esau married Amorites. They were amongst the Canaanites. And their actions were um meaning whoever he married from Canaan, didn't matter. They had the actions of the Amorites. Therefore, all of them are called basically after their name because the character is what defines them. And now, therefore, it was the the prime of who they were. However, the Ramban, he explains the the intent of the pasuk that they were actually Amorites, not just the the Masaihem, but actual Amorites. When the Jewish people when came in and conquered the land, who was the first Who was the first war with in and I'm going to say even we're talking about Manasseh on the other side. Manasseh is a son of Joseph, right? And who was the first war as is described in the Torah itself? It says the children of Machir, the son of Manasseh, went to Gilead and conquered it, driving out the Amorites who were there. So, we're talking about to a certain extent this idea of Jacob saying past tense, what I took away from the Amorites is like what I did in the past will also occur again in the future. Right? Just like I took it away from them them then, so too Joseph, you will take it away um from the Amorites in the very beginning of the conquest of Israel. Beautiful, right? And therefore, from the very hands of the Amorites came into the possession of the children of Joseph as we just read. Okay, that's the first interesting explanation. The next idea is what is the connection between the firstborn of Joseph to the to the firstborn of Jacob? Meaning like this, those Joseph Jacob. So, this is what happened. The Torah explains that Jacob said to Joseph, he's giving him the firstborn status. And that's a double that's something that he took away from the hand of Esau. He actually took it from Esau. Maharsha that it was the very firstborn status that I Jacob took away from Esau, I'm giving to you, Joseph. And the explanation is like this. During the actual 10th plague, when the firstborn were being wiped out, Exodus chapter 4 verse 22, and you shall say to Pharaoh, say to the Lord, my firstborn son is Israel. okay? So, say this to Pharaoh, we're about to get into the 10th plague. show Esau Jacob that this idea of the Jewish people becoming the firstborn is because the sale the sale from Esau was to Jacob. And the during the actual 10th plague, hooked before Israel the Jewish people became they became into the status of firstborn to serve Hashem. Okay? Let's assume for now within the Jewish people who are the firstborn, you had firstborn and the status of firstborn the of the Jewish people were going to do the service in the temple, but you know that was taken away from them and given to Levi. So, let's see what happens. Until the Jewish people sinned with the golden calf, and Levi was chosen in their place. I you they should love over the water. So, it was through their chosen status to serve in the temple that they would get what we call minus Kahuna. Now, I don't know exactly what it means cuz not all of minus Kahuna can be eaten and used by Levi, but let's say the general idea of no in the land and therefore they have to survive on We'll call it tithing, right? There's certain monsters and tides that go to the Levi. And therefore, because of this, they were going to not have a portion in the They were going to be supported by what we call minus Kahuna. They're going to not have a portion in the land. So, what comes out from this? It comes out that the very fact that Jacob took that status of firstbornship away from Esau. So, what extends from this? That one of the 12 tribes, one tribe is going to be removed from the status of the regular 12 tribes. Um They're no longer part of the 12. Remember, there's 12 portions, 12 let's say mini states within Israel, right? So, Levi is no longer part of that. But this proves that the very fact you need 12 tribes, that's why Jacob broke into two. The two tribes, well, let's say the two families of Joseph into Manasseh and Ephraim as themselves cuz you need 12 tribes that they are connected the 12 constellations. Okay, I'm not going to go into it. We we talked about this in another place, but the idea is that the world is run basically through the Jewish people's actions. They have an effect on all the all the and all the different borders of the 70 nations are highly influenced by what the Jewish people do. So, let's leave it at that. We'll we'll give another share just on that. He continues. Therefore, you needed one of the 12 tribes to be divided because once you removed Levi, right? From the the portion, you needed 12. Now, we understand when Jacob said to Joseph our words here, who at the Esau that he was saying I took it away from the Amorites. That's what I took away from the Amorites. The meaning Esau, meaning the firstborn, that's what I'm giving to you. Okay? Okay, his tribe into two, fine. Now we're going to get into the really juicy stuff because this is what the highlight of the class is about. The kesher between cherev and keshet, in other words, what are we talking about? The connection. The relationship between what we call a sword and a bow to what we call tefillah and a bakasha. Tefillah is prayer and a bakasha is a request or a petition. The Maharsha begins by answering the question. He says, "Himshil hapasuk et tefillah leherev." The pasuk is actually making a connection between what we call sword and prayer. Why? Because the tefillah is in the hand of Yaakov, the prayer is in Yaakov's hand. Parallel, and it goes against who? The cherev, the sword that's in Esau's hand. Okay? You're with me? You're all with me? It's clear as mud. You shall live by your sword. This is the bracha that Yitzhak gave Esau. Who lives by the sword? Our enemy, Esau, right? And the only thing, right, that will, let's say, go up against his sword is prayer. How do we know that? Genesis 27:22. Yaakov drew near to Isaac, his father, when he got his prayer, his blessing, and he felt him, and he said, "This is the voice of Yaakov, but the hands are the hands of Esau." So what does it mean kol kol Yaakov? This is the You have to hear the beauty of the Hebrew. It's on page seven, number 25 at the top. It says, "You're all familiar with this verse, right? This is the voice of Yaakov, although the hands are the hands of Esau." He was confused. So what is it about the kol kol Yaakov? The hakol kol Yaakov is tefillah, is prayer. Now I lost my place, I have to go back. So we just mentioned about the blessing that Esau got, that was in chapter 27:40. By your sword you will live. But it also also says in chapter 27:22, "The voice is" This is the voice of Yaakov, but it's the hands of Esau. What is it telling us? Sha ayin de kol sho Yaakov betfillato. That it's through the prayer of Yaakov, right? It's through the voice through the voice of Yaakov in his prayer, mitgaber, you will be victorious. Ayin de Esau, but over Esau. So too, okay, now that was prayer. What about the keshet? Keshet, interestingly, we said it's bakasha. There's also relationship in letters of the words. The kamokein bakashato. Now that could mean in his prayers or his bow. So let's use it as his prayers, his petition. Is me'ilah zo, it's going to actually help him keneged Yishmael. It's actually going to go against the power of Yishmael. What's the power of Yishmael? I want you to look in Genesis chapter 21:20, which is number 26 on page seven. And Hashem was speaking, right? God was with the lad, this is the narration, and he grew, this is talking about Yishmael, and dwelt in the desert, and he became a what? An archer. Look what Rashi says. Oh, on the words vihi roveh hakeshet. What's a roveh hakeshet? One who shoots arrows with a bow. Clear as mud so far? Un- believable, right? In this little piece here, we have so much to uncover, and we're just getting started. Okay, hang in there. The Maharal. The Maharal explains that tefillah of a tzaddik, the prayer of a righteous person, is nimshal leherev. His prayers are compared to a sword. Why? Bifnei she kore'at keherev, because he's able to rip up and tear evil decrees, whether above or below. Et haelyonim o vehatachtonim. Vehatachinah, what about bakashot, right? The The idea of keshet bakashot, that's nimshal lekeshet, that's going to be comparable to a bow. Why? Bifnei she mitkashet tefillato, because it gives more strength, it hardens the prayer. Why? It's a po- po'elet yoter, it has more action to it. Harei hi kehetz haholech maher be- re- su- be- nir'atzuto. The hetz is an arrow. An arrow goes so quick. Like a sword, I don't know how far how fast you can, you know, it's heavy, and you're aiming, and whatever you're doing with it, I'm sure there's way, you know, take a pitcher. A pitcher throws a a ball, right? And that's really fast. He's not swinging a a sword, but he it's going fast. Now if you take pressure on the bow and you let go, that's like I'm not saying it's like a bullet. I mean, the the way that a pitcher can certainly throw much faster than you can hit with a sword. The arrow is even faster than the ball, right? Whatever it is. So this is what he's saying, that there is a um that the arrow the the the sword is like prayer, and that can destroy uh evil uh decrees. At the same time, the keshet is more pinpointed and goes much quicker. And that's true. Now the Yalkut he explains something like this. He says that the cherev, this sword, we explained in Midrash meaning tefillah, because of what it says in Psalms 149:6. Look in ver- Look at number 27. It says in Psalms 149:6, "Lofty praises of God in their throats." Meaning, what is prayer? It's coming from here. Look at me. It's coming from here, right? "And a double-edged sword in their hands." In the same verse. You have to hear the Hebrew though, because it says rom'mus el um bigronam, it's being raised up in their throats. Cherev pifiyot biyadom. What is the word pifiyot? Double-edged. That's very nice, but pi pi. Pe pe. It's through the the what's coming out of the mouth. That's the prayer, that's the sword, that's the Jew's sword. I just want to point out, maybe I I don't know when we'll do it, but I just want to point out um if you go on page three, number 10 and 11, it mentions the sword of God at least twice in Tanakh. Here's two two sources. So in Judges 7, chapter 7:20, "And the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers, and they held the torches in their left hands and in their right hands the trumpets to blow, and they cried" in Hebrew, cherev laHashem uleGideon. So what does it mean cherev laHashem? A sword to the Yud Kay Vav Kay. Keep this in mind. It's God's sword. And also in Jeremiah chapter 47:6, "The sword of the Lord, how long will you not be silent?" Hoy cherev Hashem. Okay? We'll have to talk about these verses as well. So hopefully we will. Um I'm sorry. So we were in the middle of the Yalkut, and I stopped short. So I got excited. Okay. He mentioned this verse in Psalms 149:6, cherev pifiyot. And there's a hint in this that the prayer is through the pe, right? Because of the pifiyot. And the keshet, the bow, we darshaned out that the that's relating to request, bakasha. Mipnei she lepasuk lektov, remember what it says. It says, "Vekashti." Remember in um he and he says, "I conquered the Amorites with my bow." But it doesn't See, look at the word. It doesn't say "vekashti," which it should have said. I I I conquered it with my sword and bow and my bow." It doesn't say that. It says, look at the Hebrew, with a bet. And with my bow. And with my bow. But in Hebrew it's bakashti. It actually means petition. The actual word means to make a request. It's in the word itself. And it doesn't have to be written with that bet. In fact, it shouldn't have been written with that bet, but it was written with that bet. And that's what the Yalkut wants to explain, that the bet in Midrash kimlu niktav kan bakashti. In the actual word, "with my bow," meaning "and with my request." I mean, and my request. Okay, now we're on dalet, and that is the Tzemach Tzedek. Now I just want you to know, after we do this one, we're going to go into the Ben Yehoyada, the Ben Ish Chai. The unbelievable kabbalist from Iraq, Baghdad. The real Baghdadi, right? Here we go. So let's go Before we get that, take it there, we're in the Terumat HaSadeh. He explains what we mentioned in the Gemara according to what's explained in the Gemara, a different Gemara in Gemara Brachot Lamed Aleph Amud Aleph on a verse. This is in First Kings chapter 8 verse 28, but may you Hashem turn to the prayer of your servant us and to his supplication, oh Hashem my God, to hear the cry and the prayer. This describes both the bakashot and the t'filah. That your servant prays before you today. So, just hear the Hebrew real quick. We said this was verse 28. Upanita el t'filah. Turn towards the prayer of d'cha. V'el t'chinato and also towards his beckoning, his request. Hashem Elokeinu lishmoa, to listen el harina. Now, this is confusing cuz rina is rina and then you have el t'filah. Towards the t'filah. So, here you have turn to hear the cry and the prayer. That's how they translated it ArtScroll world. So, now we know that there's the t'filah and the t'chinah and then we have the rina and the t'filah again. So, he explains it like this in a very, let's say, counterintuitive, anti-logical, counter-logical, counterintuitive. He says like this, when it says lishmoa, to hear to the rina, which is the cry, and to the t'filah, that we're actually darshaning out the word rina as prayer and the word t'filah as bakashah. They definitely have to have different meanings, no question about it. Anyway, that's the Trumatex Sodah, but Rashi explains something else. Parish Rashi, that the rina is t'filah, but it's a kind we call shvach. That's called praising Hashem. That's what That's what rina is. It's a type of t'filah that's shvach. Whereas the bakashah, the word for request, is asking for your needs. You see, we have different types of prayers. Some fit in the category as personal request and some fit in the category of shvach, praises. Hinei hat'filah hi haskarat hashvach. So, when you make a prayer that mentions praise ein umoeal moeal ela limshoach chesed al ha'adam. When you're praising Hashem, you're drawing down chesed from Hashem. Okay? It's just general chesed from Hashem towards the person. K'mo Gavi Torah, like the Torah itself is called rina. The Torah itself is called rina. I have a comment here. I will skip that for now. V'amar b'Gemara, it says in the Gemara, anyone who's involved in Torah learning at night, like us. Kol osei b'Torah b'lailah Hakadosh Baruchu moshech alav chesed b'yom. So, if you learn Torah at night, Hashem will draw forth his chesed for you during the day. He will be kind to you. You hear that? I won't mention any names, but you hear me, all you guys? Okay. Just want to make sure you're listening and I don't want to embarrass anybody. Okay. Harei, listen to this. Who k'cherev, it's like a cherev. Just want to make sure I didn't skip anything. Hamoela laharog rak et ha'adam hakrov. What is a sword? It can only kill or injure those who are close to you, right? It's in your hand. D'lo et ha'adam harachok, but not necessarily damage person far away. Masha ein k'ma keshet, which is the opposite, not really the opposite, it's just not true. It's not true by an arrow because we said the bakashah tzarich moeal l'gamrei. Let's say bakashot not in the arrow sense, but in terms of requests, they help entirely, meaning near and far. Harei hu m'shulah, it's actually compared the keshet, which we call now a arrow, the bow, hayachol lahorog gam et harachok. So, apparently the arrow, the bow and arrow can kill both close and far, whereas the sword can only kill that which is close. Now, basically the idea is that it's more effective or it's stronger, whatever. It helps with your needs. And now we're going to go into the Bnei Yehoyada and you'll find this on your English sheets. I think it's on page three. It is. Okay? And this is like the the the cream on the sundae. This is the the the cherry on top of the whipped cream on your sundae ice cream. Okay? So, basically it's like this. He begins also with this idea. He wants to understand what's the difference between prayer and petition, between t'filah and bakashot, and why does prayer compare to a sword and why does petition compare to a bow? With me? Daf Kuf Kuf Kuf Kaf Gimel Amud Aleph, as the Gemara said, the charbi, my sword, that's prayer. Kashti, my bow, that is request. Yesh lomar, there is to say hefresh yesh ma yesh lomar ma hefresh bein t'filah l'vakashah. What exactly is the difference between the two? And not only that, lama t'filah m'chalin b'shem cherev, why is prayer similar to a or compared to and use the name of a cherev for prayer and a bow in relationship to request? So, here is his answer and he always begins nearly b'siyata d'Shmaya, it seems to me with the help of Hashem, that t'filah is going on words that we pray or things that we pray about and adam l'tzorech gavoha, things that have to do with su- transcendental ideas. When I say transcendental ideas, I mean spirituality, higher needs. You know what he wants to tell us? Towards fixing the world. It's not about us, our personal needs, it's something higher than us. That is what prayer is. We're okay? And it's Tikun Olamot. Now, this is going to be very Kabbalistic, but these are actually very familiar terms to most people and I'm going to put in the description box below, Rabbi Joshua Golding gave a shiur, I don't remember, several years ago at the YU Beit Midrash on a book that he wrote called The Name and how to incorporate the Yud Kay Vav Kay properly in your prayers and he describes Shacharit being broken up into, and it's based on the Zohar, that the brachot and the korbanot are what we call, I'm going to say, the lower hay, meaning the last of the four letters of the God's name, and it's referred to as the, um, shall we say, um, there are four levels, right? We talked about Atzilut, Beriah, Yetzirah, and Asiyah. So, Asiyah is the lowest level, so the last hay is related to the first part of davening, the korbanot, and that's related to the world of Asiyah. The next part, we call P'sukei D'zimra, is going to be related to the vav, right? Yud Kay Vav Hay, so this lower vav is what we call it, the second to the last letter, and that's going to be related to Yetzirah and that's going to be related to P'sukei D'zimra. And then the next part of davening is, of course, Sh'ma and the Brachot K'riat Sh'ma, and that's going to be related to Beriah. And, um, the the second hay, the That's called the first hay, meaning it's the second letter, but the first hay God's name. And then you have the highest level, which would be the Yud, and, um, that's related to Atzilut, which is the highest level of the four worlds, which is closest to Hashem's, uh, we'll call emanation. With that background, now we're going to go into this idea. Bear with me cuz this is like just beautiful stuff. Uh, it says like this, this is the prayer all t'filah, kol t'filah is l'tzorech Tikun Olamot. It's there to fix the world. Tzarich she yehei b'siddurim k'neged Atzilut, as we just said, it needs to be organized, meaning prayer, in the fashion we just described, Atzilut, Beriah, Yetzirah, and Asiyah. Which what? Who did this? The Anshei K'nesset Hagdolah. They were made up of prophets and some of the greatest sages that ever lived. They are the ones who developed our prayers, Shacharit, she tiknu korbanot, z'mirot, v'yotzer, v'amidah. Those four parts k'neged dalet olamot, compared to or parallel to the four levels of these worlds in which we're trying to fix. Which are what? Ready? Shem k'neged dalet osiyot, Shem Havayah. They are parallel to the four letters of God's name. Baruchu haramez b'cherev. Ready for this? That God's Yud Kay Vav Kay is hinted at in the sword itself. The sword itself, I'll just describe it, the Yud is the tip of the sword. The Hay well, let's say the two Hays, let's say the Vav is the sword, the body of the sword, and the two Hays are the two blades on each side, the double-edged sword. Okay? He says that, um, she ain't k'neged dalet osiyot, Shem Havayah Baruchu ramez b'cherev. K'mo she katuv b'Zohar HaKodesh, it's actually written in the Zohar. The Yud Now this is Aramaic, but it's easy to read. Yud Reisha DeCharba, the Yud is the tip of the sword. Os Vav Gufa DeCharba, the letter Vav is the body of the sword. Shnei Hein Trein Panim Sh'Charut K'Mikan U'Mikan. And the two Heis are the two faces of the sword, this side and that side. And it's also written Charva L'Hashem. We spoke about those other verses in Judges 7:10 and Jeremiah 47:6. This is a well-known idea. When it says Charva L'Hashem, it's God's sword with Yud Kei Vav Kei. It's actually His name is the sword. That's our That's our weapon. Therefore, this all fits together, right? All these different opinions, they're all saying the same thing from different angles. Therefore, Tefillah Shehi L'Tzorech Tikun Dalet Olamot. Therefore, Tefillah is for the needs of fixing the world. So then we discuss the four worlds of Atzilut, Briah, Yetzirah, and Asiyah. And they're parallel the four letters of God's name, Yud Kei Vav Kei, that's symbolized by the Cherev. And therefore, we understand why Tefillah has the nickname of Cherev. However, what about the Bakasha? What about the other idea of the the bow being uh related to requesting your needs, your personal needs? He says, "Af Bakasha Hi Shehi L'Tzorech Shel Adam Sheheim Tzorech L'Olam HaZeh." When we make these petitions, we personal requests, it's about what we need in this world. Dima Oisa L'Keshet She Chetzi Egel. Now without any I want you to go I don't want to in hurt anybody, God forbid. We have to understand this on a Kabbalistic level. On the page that you're looking at So in Isaiah chapter 26:4, it says, "Trust in the Lord forever, for in Yud Kei the Lord is rock of eternity." We're not going to read it in English this way at all. We're going to read it like this. Bitchu B'Hashem, trust in the Yud Kei Vav Kei. Trust in the essence of who Hashem is, the name of him. Adei Ad, forever. You know why? Because it was through the Yud and the Kei of God's name who was Tzur Olamim, who created the world. He created the world, the rock, the very rock that's over here called the foundation stone. That's where the world came from, the rock. Right? But the word Tzur means formation, right? Yetzur. It's God created the world through the Yud and the Kei. He created it male and female, okay? The Yud is the male, the Kei is the female. I gave a shiur on this in the past. I don't want to go too much into it. But Kei has a value that's half of Yud. Right? As I said I don't want to right? insult anybody. It's nothing to be insulted about, okay? Because God created the world male and female with Yud and Kei. But Kei is half the value of Yud. What am I trying to say? We'll see right now. He says like this. So wait, the Yud Have a good Shabbos. The Yud by the way was created created Olam HaBa. That's the world to come. And the Kei created this world. That's the feminine. So the Kei has created this world, the Yud created the world to come. Keep that in mind when we just read this verse. Um I'm just going back. Dima Oisa, there's this comparison of the Keshet to a half What What you bow you bend the bow back, it looks like a half circle. That's what a Kei looks like. A Kei looks like a half circle. So with the bow So Ki Olam HaZeh Nivra B'Os Kei, because the this world was created with the letter Kei, which is Chetzi Os Yud, meaning in value. It's a half the value of Yud. She Nivra B'Olam HaBa. Olam HaBa was created with the with And just keep in mind, a man needs to get married in order to really be a man. I'm sorry to tell you guys, but for those men who are not married you're not even half a man. I mean this is I I you know, get married. Unless you were recently divorced, you need some time. I get it. But you cannot fulfill your potential in this world unless you're married, because she will help you. Okay, let's go on. As he says, Kamasha Amru Chazal on this verse we just read, Isaiah 26:4, "B'Yud Kei, with the Yud and the Kei Hashem created the world." You need You need both. V'Zeh Parashati, and this is Uh you know what? I'm going to actually end there. Should I end there? I'm going to end there. I think this was uh You can read it on your own. I think this was very enlightening, okay? I hope we end on a good note, right? That we can all use um if we have some insight into the real power of power of prayer. It's not in my power that I that I win, right? It's my trust in the in the Lord, right? It's my prayer and my Tefillah, right? This is what God wants us to use. And this is what Yaakov actually used. Even though he was not perhaps even privy to even know that Shimon and Levi were going to do this, cuz I think he would have stopped them. But let's assume for a second that he didn't know. But his prayer for the welfare of the Jewish people, for the future of the Jewish people has real power even now when you don't know what's going on in detail. That's why you don't have to watch the news either to know what's going on. Oh, I have to watch the news to know what I have to pray for. No. Pray always for the goodness of others. Pray for the goodness of the future. And that will have an effect right now in your life. So gezintaheit, stay strong, and we'll see you next week, and have a good life, and a great Shabbos. Kol tuv. Ovim