Mr. Harry Rothenberg Esq. | CHAZAQ Tisha B'Av Marathon

Thank you, Robbie. Thank you, Hasidic Torah anytime those who are here and those who are watching from afar. I want to take you on a journey. We're going to blast off from here in Queens or from wherever it is that you're watching and hopefully we will end up in Eretz Yisrael. Right before Moshe's death, he gives brochos to the shvatim. And he says about Reuven, "Y'chi Reuven v'al yamos." Reuven should live and not die. It's a little strange. If you're living, you're not dead. If you're dead, you're living, right? So, Rashi has to tell us what's going on. What Moshe means is that he should live in this world and he shouldn't die in the world to come. What's the worry? The worry that Moshe has is that the incident involving Bilhah should not be remembered for him. Remember what the incident was? He moved his father's bed. So, that's a little strange. First of all, was Reuven the only person that ever did an aveira? I mean, his brothers were involved in the sale of Yosef and later in the midbar there were all sorts of problems. So, why is Moshe singling out this one for this special brocha, this special protection? And second, Yaakov had mentioned this on his deathbed. He criticized Reuven. He said, "Pachaz kamayim, you're too impetuous. You're too headstrong." You think the original Reuven, the OG Reuven, hadn't done teshuvah for this incident, the incident of Bilhah, such that now, years and years and years later, Moshe still has to worry about it and give this special brocha, this special protection? Something to think about. Moshe then gives a brocha to the shevet of Gad. And he says, "And to Gad," this is what he says, "V'yareish Hashem chelkas, k'shalem chelkas mechokek safun." Rashi says, "What does that mean?" He saw the first part for himself, that shevet Gad, means that he saw good to take for himself territory in the land of Sihon and Og, which was the reishit, the beginning of the conquest. Before they went into Eretz Yisrael, ki sham chelkat, because there was the portion, he knew that there in that territory that he asked for in the Transjordan, just outside Eretz Yisrael, there was the portion of the field where the grave of the mechokek, the lawgiver, was tzafun, was hidden. So, Moshe sang about God that he saw was good to take for himself from the beginning, the beginning of the conquest, to specifically ask for that land where there was going to be the grave of the lawgiver, the mechokek, hidden. Who's the mechokek? Who's the lawgiver? We know who that is. It's Moshe Rabbeinu. Now, think about this for a second. Moshe Rabbeinu is the anav mikol adam, the most humble person who ever lived, ever in human history, before and after. When he was sitting with Miriam and Aaron, they were talking about him, "Why did Moshe separate from his wife? We're also prophets." Hashem had to come down from shamayim because Moshe was too humble to say, "Guys, I'm different. I I have a relationship with Hashem that's on demand. I could just say, when somebody asks me a question, wait here, I'll go to the tent and I'll ask Hashem. You don't have that relationship." He was too humble to say that. And now, all of a sudden, Moshe's praising God saying, "God, you know what they did? They picked the land where they knew the plot of the lawgiver, that's right, that's me, was going to be hidden." It sounds like Moshe's boasting. It sounds like he's showing off. You know what's great about God? They wanted the land where I was going to be buried. Moshe, the most humble person ever, is bragging about himself? What in the world's going on? So, why am I talking about Reuben and Gad? Well, Reuben and Gad we know have something in common. Reuben and Gad are the only two of the shvatim that asked for land outside of Eretz Yisrael. So, maybe we can connect these up. Let's look at their story. When they made their request for the land, they approached Mosha, they asked for this wonderful land, beautiful pasture for our animals, great place for our children. Mosha absolutely berates them and he goes on for a long time and they don't say a word even though they know that what he's saying is not right. But out of respect, kavod, it's Mosha speaking. They wait until he finishes and boy does he go after them. He says, "Your brothers to go to war while you stay here?" He thinks they're not going to fight. "Why will you turn the minds of the Jews from crossing into the land that Hashem has given them?" "That's what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to survey the land. Remember the meraglim?" He says, "You're doing what the meraglim did. You're trying to dissuade people from going in Eretz Yisrael by asking for land outside Eretz Yisrael. And now you, a breed of sinful fellows, have replaced your fathers to add still further to Hashem's wrath against the Yidden? What are you doing?" They wait till he finishes and they say, "No, no, no, no, no. Of course we will go in with our brethren to fight." And only after the conquest, which took 14 years, only then will we return to our wives and to our children. And then and only then, Mosha says, "Okay." He switches the order. He says, "You'll first build for your families and then the enclosures for your flocks." They had flipped it around. Priorities, everyone. But he says, "Okay." And then later, after the conquest, Reuben and Gad are outside Eretz Yisrael, obviously, and half of Menashe because Mosha took half of the tribe and put them there in the hope that they go back and forth to their tribesmen and keep up a connection there in Eretz Yisrael. And Yehoshua, who's now the leader of the Jewish people, gets word that the Bnei Reuben and Gad have built an altar. You cannot, after we go into Eretz Yisrael, build an altar outside Eretz Yisrael. It's a very, very big problem. So, he sends Pinchas, who I'm sure is nothing short of terrifying. When Pinchas shows up with a spear, you better hide. And Pinchas brings representatives from the other tribes, and he goes after them. He berates them. And again, they sit and they wait and they listen even though they know he's wrong. Respect, kavod. He says to them, "What's this treachery that you've committed this day against the God of Israel, turning away from Hashem, building yourselves an altar, and rebelling this day against Hashem? Is the sin of Peor, which brought a plague upon God's community, such a small thing to us? We have not purified ourselves from it to this very day. And now you would turn away from Hashem? You can't do this. You can't BUILD AN ALTAR OUTSIDE ERETZ YISRAEL." HE THINKS. The other representatives of the shvatim think. Yehoshua thought, "They built an altar because they're going to bring korbanos on it. That's what you can't do." They answer after listening to him. "We did this only out of our concern that in time to come, your children, the ones who live in Eretz Yisrael, might say to our children, the galus children, the children like us who are sitting here not in Eretz Yisrael, 'What have you to do with the eternal the God of Israel? Hashem has made the Jordan a boundary between you and us. Oh, Reubenites and Gadites, you from Reuben and Gad, you have no share in Hashem.' So, therefore, your children might prevent our children from worshipping Hashem. So, here's what we did. We decided to provide this altar as a witness for ourselves. Not for offerings, not for sacrifices. We reasoned, 'If they're going to speak that way to us and to our children in time to come, we're going to say, "Do you see the replica of Hashem's mizbe'ach? It's not an actual mizbe'ach, it's a replica, which our fathers made, not for sacrifices, but as a witness between you and us." In other words, we built it to send a message to our children, libi bamizrach. The real altar is over there in Eretz Yisrael, and that's where our hearts have to be. And don't consider yourself second-class citizens. Don't ever let the people in Eretz Yisrael tell you that you're not Yidden. You are Yidden, and we're all connected. So, what was going on with God? What was going on is that by choosing the area where the new Moshes body was going to be buried, where it was going to be hidden, they were establishing the primacy of Torah. They were saying, "We are now going to be this light for all the future Yidden who are going to be in galus." By establishing that the only way to survive is the Torah, as you just heard from Rabbi Reheimi, Torah has to be paramount. So, that's what Moshe was saying. They chose the spot where I'm going to be buried. I brought the Torah down. So, at the risk of sounding boastful, the most humble man in history had to make this point. Do you see what God did? God who's living outside Eretz Yisrael planted a flag and said, "Torah has to be primary." You're going to live in outside Eretz Yisrael and you want to bring up children, you want to bring up grandchildren, generations, the only way to do it is attach yourself to the mechokek, attach yourself to the lawgiver, attach yourself to the law that he brought down, attach yourself to the Torah. So, at the risk of his own ego, Moshe makes this point when he gives the brocha to God. Now, let's talk about Reuven. Let's go back to the incident involving Bilhah. What happened was, we're told of a Hebrew shchuni Yisrael b'Eretz hey. When Yaakov settled there, vayelech Reuven, Reuven went, vayishkav es Bilhah, pilegesh Aviv. The literal translation is something far worse than moving the bed, but we're told to translate it as he moved the bed. Vayishma Yisrael, and Yaakov, Yisrael heard. So, notice that and then the next pasuk says, "Vayehi b'nei Yaakov shneim asar." And the children of Yaakov were 12. Notice that after Yaakov hears about this, we're told that Yaakov heard. We don't need to be told that. At the end of his life, he's going to criticize Reuven. Like I said before, he's going to say, "Pachaz kamayim." You were impetuous." So the Torah doesn't need to tell us if we were wondering did Yakov know that Reuven moved the bed? You'll find out, just be patient. When you get to Vayechi, you'll find out that of course he heard. So why does the Torah need to tell us that Yakov heard? Perhaps to tell us that Yakov did an unbelievable act of parenting, a lesson for us. He heard, he knew he's going to have to say something to Reuven, but he wants to wait. Because if he says something too early as Yakov says, he might push him away. He's going to wait until his death, but he's going to wait years. Which means not a word. He only heard. He didn't make a face, he didn't raise an eyebrow, he didn't shake his head, he didn't give that look like wait till later when I get you privately and I give it to you. He waited. Tremendous lesson for us. Sometimes you have to say something to somebody, it always has to be for their benefit, not for yours, not so that you need to get it off your chest. If you're going to critique, it's got to be for them. Now Rashi tells us, and this is what we all know, what was the reason why he moved the bed? Why did he move the bed? Because when Rachel died, Yakov took his bed. Which was always in the tent of Rachel up till that point in time. It wasn't in the other tents. Some say he actually had multiple beds, but he used to spend most of his time with Rachel. But regardless, according to Rashi, his bed was always in the tent of Rachel. Rachel dies, he moves it to Bilhah's tent. Reuven Reuven shows up. He carries the dishonor of his mother. He says, "Leah, my mother's sister had It was bad enough Leah, my mother's sister had to be her rival. Now the Shifra my my mother's rival's maidservant is going to be her rival? That's an outrage." And so that's why that's why he moved the bed. The Ramban disagrees. Now remember, Rashi's told us, "My job is to give you p'shat." The Ramban says, "Val derech ha p'shat." Rashi's p'shat is not what happened. Here's what happened. This is the one you probably haven't heard. This is why he moved the bed. Shilo teyled I'm sorry. Mipachto, because of his fear, shilo teyled le Yaakov od, he didn't want Yaakov to have any more children. So, he didn't just move the bed, he took away the bed. He doesn't want Yaakov to be with Bilhah cuz he's worried he might have more children. So, why did he figure Bilhah? So, he explains. Valu pachmei milkis ignaisa, he wasn't worried about having him another child with Leah because she was already older. Valu imaisis yo pon, maybe Zilpah had died. Ochashash or bavur haiso. Ayosha shacha, so maybe he just felt it would be a dishonor to his mother to go and take the bed out of Zilpah's tent, assuming he had one in each tent. So, therefore, he took it out of Bilhah's tent cuz she's the one he was most worried about that he might have another child with her. And sure enough, the Zohar as Rabbi Nachman said, everybody loves the Zohar. The Zohar says, this is astonishing, Reuven's worry was that Yaakov might father another set of shvatim and replace the original shvatim. Why? His worry was dilma anan pagiman, maybe we have a pagam. Maybe there's something wrong with us. How would the shvatim How would the shvatim have a blemish? What would be wrong with them? You know why? Because but for Binyamin, they were born in Chutz La'aretz. They were born when he was working for Lavan. They weren't born in Eretz Yisrael. So, now that he's moved to Eretz Yisrael after Rachel's death, Reuven's petrified he might try to have new shvatim replace us and we'll become second-class citizens. So, what did he do? He acted to prevent Chutz La'aretz Yidden, Yidden living in Galus, Yidden living outside Eretz Yisrael from ever feeling like second class citizens. And so maybe that's why Moshe gives him that extra bracha. It's so important what you did. You're going to live in this world, not die in the next world, because this lesson is so unbelievably important because Moshe knows that the Yidden are going to be in exile time and again and persecuted and find themselves outside Eretz Yisrael. They can't feel, we can't feel like second class citizens. And maybe, just maybe, Vayishma means something else. In addition to Yaakov hearing, sometimes somebody will say something to you, they're trying to convince you something and you'll say, "I hear you." You don't just mean I heard the words. You mean, "I agree. I got it." So maybe Vayishma Yisrael is that Reuven moves the bed. Now, he presumably should have done it in a different way. His critique, that's a problem. You don't move your father's bed. Sit down, have a conversation. But at the end of the day, the message he was sending, "Dad, don't do this. Don't try to have NEW SET OF SHVATIM and replace us. So that we'll feel like we have a blemish, we'll feel we have a pegam. And all the Yidden forever that are going to live in Eretz Yisrael will feel like second class citizens. Don't do this." And so maybe Vayishma Yisrael is, "I hear you. I'm not going to do it." And he agreed in the end. And so, I'm going to say that we, I think, have done a fantastic job following Reuven and following God. We understand how important Torah is. Look at the You could look up at the charts Torah anytime, the amount of hours of of Torah learning that's being done and disseminated is it's it's unbelievable. Maybe more than than ever in history, probably more than ever in history. And we've done a great job of not feeling like second class citizens. We're here whether we're in Queens or whether we're in Brooklyn or whether we're in Passaic, where I'm from, Lakewood, Miami, LA, Chicago, the Australia, South Africa, London, Paris, go across the world. We've done a really good job not feeling like second class citizens maybe too good. Maybe we're too comfortable. A friend told me a story. I hope this didn't happen, but the fact that he could tell it to me is something that he heard had happened is a little bit scary in the Jewish world. So, there's a firm couple and they're on airplane. And a little girl, 6-year-old girl, like starts pulling on her father's pants to get his attention. He looks at her and says, "Shifale, like what what what's going on?" And she says to him, while looking around the plane, "Tati, who are these other people on our plane?" You know, because they're used to flying on the private jet, okay? So, I'm just wondering, are we too comfortable? Are we raising a generation where the most important thing, the highest level that we can possibly aspire to is not Eretz Yisrael, it's PJ, private jet. I'm scared about that. And we have to ask ourselves that. Rav Zevel Eff points out that if you look at what the Meraglim brought back, when the spies did their surveying of the land, they came back with figs, pomegranates, dates, and grapes. They did not bring back wheat or barley or olives. Now, that could [clears throat] just be random, I suppose. Rav Zevel Eff says it was not and was not random. It was part of a sinister plan. Why? Because figs and grapes and dates and pomegranates are all desserts. Delicious, sweet, wonderful. You eat them at the end of a meal. But if you have wheat and you have barley and you have olives and you turn those olives into olive oil, well, now you can start cooking. You can cook a meal. So, you know what their message was by only bringing back dessert foods and not bringing back a full meal? Israel, great place to visit. You could never live there. Great desserts, but no food. You can't live there. And we have to be super careful about this when we go to visit and we should go to visit and visit and visit and visit until we can live there. Don't ever stop thinking about the possibility. But when we come back and we complain about anything, ever since I heard this from my left, I don't know, 35 years ago, I'm so careful about this. Somebody at the table, I can hear it coming from a mile away. Oh, when I was in Israel and and and my spidey sense starts tingling, they're about to say something negative. No, no, no, no, no, I don't want to hear that. I don't want to hear about that. What do you mean? No, I was just going to talk about I don't want to hear about it. Don't complain about anything. I'm not going to even describe the topics that people might complain about. Okay? Sometimes people will say, don't ever, I'm begging you, don't ever do this. Oh, Israel. Or what do you expect? Israel. How can we possibly say that? That's the Miraglim. We That's Divas Aretz. We can't critique Israel. We're asked at the end of our lives to Pisu Yeshua, did you anticipate the redemption? Were you waiting every day? I'm going to go, I'm going to go, I'm going to go. I heard recently that Rav Yisrael Kalishker, one of the first time he met with the Baal Shem, he moved to Eretz Yisrael and a friend visits him. And before leaving, the friend says to him, "What do you miss most now that you live in Eretz Yisrael?" And he says, "Missing the feeling I used to have every day of if only I could move to Eretz Yisrael." And that's the feeling that we have to cultivate. We're not there, but at least feel every day if only I can move there. Number of years ago, we were living in Passaic, we bought a new house that was up the block. So, we're renovating the new house. So, I had this wonderful idea. While we were renovating, I figured, "Hey, you know what? We're building a deck in the backyard. Instead of building the deck and then going to the Sukkah Outlet and having them build a Sukkah that fits the deck, why don't I pick the Sukkah size and then build a deck that will fit that Sukkah? MAKE THE SUKKAH THE PRIMARY THING." GREAT. I was very proud of that thought. So, I was saying goodnight to my daughters who at the time were probably, I don't know, nine and seven. This is going back a number of years. And I said, "You know, girls, Sukkah's is coming soon. This year we're going to be in the Sukkah in our driveway, but next year where are we going to be?" And they both without any hesitation said, "In Yerushalayim." And I was the answer I was looking for was we're going to be in our new house, and I would have said, "Yes, it's a sham in Yerushalayim." I had almost committed parenting malpractice. That's what I'm getting them excited about. Where are we GOING TO BE NEXT YEAR? During Makas Choshech, it got really, really dark. And Rashi explains why. The first 3 days were just dark, you couldn't see, but you could still move around. The last 3 days was an immobilizing darkness. You could not If you were sitting, you couldn't stand. Standing, you couldn't sit. You couldn't move. They were rigid. The Egyptians could not see or move those last 3 days. And he explains why. Because fully 4/5 It's as horrifying a thing as you'll ever see. 80% of the Yidden died during Makas Choshech. And Hashem didn't want the Egyptians to see that. And so that's why he made it not just dark, but immobilizingly dark. And Rashi explains, who were these people who died? Who were these 80% of the Yidden who died? He says, "Shahu Yisrael b'Oso Adam, there were among the Jews in that generation Rishaim, people who were wicked, v'lo hayu rotzim latzeis, and they did not want to leave." There's an easy inference to make from that. If somebody was a rasha marusha, but he was a Yid, and he wanted to leave, he got out. So if you're ever wondering how in the world did Hashem let Dassan and Aviram out of Mitzrayim, those terrible never-do-wells who were constantly pestering and torturing and starting up with Moshe, how in the world did they get out if they were Rishaim? Rashi tells us the answer. They said we'd like to leave. In fact, the Medrash says they didn't leave initially. They didn't die as part of the 80% probably because they were shotrim who had taken beatings on behalf of their fellow Yidden. And then they changed their mind and said, "You know what? Actually, we do want to leave." And so Hashem split the sea a second time so that they could leave. And so I wonder, someday, b'ezras Hashem, Mashiach's going to come, and we're going to get a postcard, every single one of us. I don't know if it's going to be a letter or a postcard with a return envelope, and it's going to be very, very strange-looking, very, very fancy, weighty, and like there'll be something very strange about it because it's going to be celestial, it's going to be extraterrestrial, it's going to come from Shamayim, and it's going to be engraved with your name, "Dear your name, this is Hashem writing. I'm about to bring Moshiach, or maybe it's after I just brought Moshiach, and I am now offering every single Jew across the world the opportunity to head to Eretz Yisrael to join me on this historic mission on the wings of an eagle, whatever that means. Check one box below. Box A, yes, Hashem, I want to join you on this historic mission. Please make me a reservation on the wings of an eagle. Box B, Hashem, thank you so much for the personal invite, but I respectfully decline. Now, you'll say to yourselves, well, obviously, you know, I know who's going to check box B, all the people who aren't from. You couldn't be more wrong. I could tell you names and names of people with whom I'm close who are They're not from, but they're proudly Jewish. They got that postcard in the mail. God's taking all the Jews to Israel. Sign me up. I'm checking box A. But you're not religious, you don't do a lot of the mitzvot. I don't care, I'm Jewish. God's taking all the Jews to Israel, I am coming along. And you'll say, okay, wow, that's great, that's wonderful, that's heartwarming. But of course, all of the from people will check box A, right? And I wonder, and I worry. Because of course, there won't be any line to write anything in, but you know, we're Jews, we'll, you know, we'll figure out a way to write in the margins, right? So, I wonder, will there be people who will check box B with an explanation? I just might I'm about to finish my kitchen, okay? You know, the dining room is a table is coming soon. The swimming pool is is almost in. We we just bought a new house, we haven't moved in yet. I'm about to get a promotion. I'm about to get a bonus. You know, I Can you just can can we be back in touch soon? And that's what worries me. And that's what every one of us has to ask ourselves. We have to make sure, like God, living outside of Israel, the Torah is primary, and like Ruvein, we can't feel like second-class citizens, but simultaneously, we have to always be looking to see peace with Yeshua. When can I get there? I told this over once recently, and a woman from the crowd came running up to me afterwards, and she said, and I told her I was going to repeat this the next time I told this over, she said, I already bought a tambourine. Because I'm going to be like Miriam. The second I get that announcement, you know, I haven't been able to get there yet, but I'm running for that plane, and I'm bringing along the women, and I'm going to lead them singing and dancing. And that's what we all have to be pre- be prepared to do. Thank you for listening, and have an continued easy and meaningful fast.