Asking the Right Questions: The Final Moments at Sinai | Rabbi Shmuel Goldin

A number of years ago I one of the hats I wore in Potomac, Maryland, where I was rough, I had the opportunity to teach a girls class high school class at the local academy, the Hebrew Academy. And I was teaching Chumash. I was teaching Chumash. Okay, can you hear me? And we arrived at a particular passage, and I said to the girls, "Please take a look. To the young women, please take a look. And I want to know what questions you have about this passage." And immediately a look of consternation broke out in the class. No, first thing we have to do is look at Rashi. I said, "No. First thing you have to do is look at the text. Determine what the text is saying and what problems you might have with that text. Then you can go to Rashi and see if he has the same problems and how he addresses them." That underscored for me one of the most important aspects of what I consider to be the way we should teach Torah text. And that is we we automatically go to Meforshim, we automatically go even further to Medrashim, and never really take the time to look at the text and see what it's saying and to raise the problems that might exist that, when answered, will help us understand the Meforshim and perhaps even the Medrashim. So, we're going to take a look at three particular passages today. Um and I'm going to put you to work. We're going to We're going to try to raise I some of the questions that I think are critical. Now, let me tell you that these passages each emerge at a very critical time in the text. We are at the end of Matan Torah. We've finished our stay at Har Sinai and we are now about to embark on our national journey. And these are the first footfalls of our first steps of our national journey. In other words, we we were forged as a nation through the process of yetziat Mitzrayim and Matan Torah. And now we're beginning the journey. Now we're starting. And these are the three paragraphs that immediately precede our departure. So these should be very important because I would think that Kodesh Baruch Hu would spend time on important issues before we were about to go. So let's take a look at the first. Uh titled second chance, this deals with the development or the birth of Pesach Sheni. All right, if you take a quick look at the text before you, it's on the it's in the second year since the Exodus we're about to leave. The Bnei Yisrael are commanded to observe the Pesach korban Pesach as they did in Mitzrayim. And a number of people come to Moshe and they say, "Moshe Rabbeinu, we're tamei. We we have an for want of a better term, because tamei does not mean impurity. It means it's actually indicative of a of a limited position, not a negative position. We are tamei l'nefesh. We've We've come into contact with a dead body. We are tamei based on that that encounter and we can't participate in the korban Pesach. Lammah nigara? Why should we lose out? We want to participate." Moshe Rabbeinu says, "Well, I don't have an answer for you right away. Let me see what the Kodesh Baruch Hu has to say. We don't have that option anymore. Kodesh Baruch Hu tells says to Moshe, "Okay, they're right. They got a problem. And we're going to solve their problem. We're going to create a day known as Pesach Sheni, or will become known as Pesach Sheni. And these individuals who were unable to participate in the first Pesach will participate in the second." All right. Moshe comes back, tells Bnei Israel, and Pesach Sheni is more than a day that passes our calendar pretty much without much notice. Uh Of course, for celebration in Minyanim because you don't say Tachanun again. All right. I'm going to talk about that. And and Pesach Sheni becomes part of our tradition. What questions do you have? Start Don't look at the questions that I might put down. What questions do you have concerning that's that that event and its development? What happens to the first year there's no one to make a Pesach? Good question. Okay, excellent question. It would seem maybe not. Or there were and they didn't bother to ask. Okay? In other words, these were people who bothered to ask, and we'll see why that's important in a little while. What else? What other questions might you have? So, there's no other time where you have a second chance. This is the only time Okay. Okay, that is a very important question. In other words, there's no Yom Kippur Sheni. If you can't fast on Yom Kippur, there's no Sukkah Sheni. If you can't participate and sit in the Sukkah, Mitzta'er is patur min ha Sukkah. Someone who's in pain or or uncomfortable is is patur, is not is able not to eat in the Sukkah. But there's no Sukkah Sheni. I don't make it up in a in a later day. Why is there specifically a Pesach Sheni for this particular holiday? And and how does it impact on us if we don't have time for cleaning Right. How does it impact on our good question for the for the for for the audience outside? The question came up. We We Do we have a Pesach Sheini if you didn't have time to prepare properly for Pesach Sheini? Yes. Okay, we'll talk about it. We'll talk about it. Could it be because of Zecher? What Yes. That's correct. We're talking about Yes and no. It says right. In other words, it it it is the carbon Pesach, but if you take a look, "Am matzo sumrorim yochluhu." All right? So, in other words, there is an element of eating that carbon Pesach in a Pesach environment, even on the second day, even on that second chance. Yes. Okay, not bringing the carbon Pesach is unique cuz there's a few of kareis, but there is for fasting on Yom Kippur similarly major punishment, right? If you can't fast. So, these people were excused, and if you're excused on Yom Kippur, you're excused, but why don't Why isn't there a Yom Kippur Sheini? Well, but Okay, so that brings us to the second question, which you haven't asked, which is Why isn't it included from the outset? Why does Hakadosh Baruchu, if there's going to be a Pesach Sheini, he's giving us all 613 commandments, why doesn't he say, "So, people who are tamei, etc. etc., they can't participate, there's a Pesach Sheini." Why does he wait until people who are tamei come to Moshe and ask and complain, and as a result of that complaint, Hakadosh Baruchu then says, "Okay, shine Pesach Sheini." Should have been in the in the in the contract from the outset. The only other time that I recall the language being used like this is when the daughters of Tzelafchad Very good. Very, very good. They say also, "Why should we be deprived of this?" Very good. We will talk about that in a minute. Excellent. The she comments that the only other time that this language is used is with the daughters of Tzelafchad. I'll come back to that. Almost exclusively. Yes. Like the Mekoshesh. The Mekoshesh, it seems where we don't know what to do. Like That is right. There are other occasions where we don't know what to do. Like the Mekoshesh, correct, where the cutter of trees on Shabbat. But the only time where a new law or new laws are created on the basis of someone coming and complaining is here and B'not Tzelafchad. And we will see the text draws We'll see how the text draws the similarity in just a moment. So let's let's deal with the first question. Let And again, this once we embark on on answers, the questions are are objective. The answers are subjective. I'm going to tell you what I think, but not necessarily is it real. Could be other answers and some of the answers you've given already. Korach, etc. What does Pesach represent? Well, let's Okay, let's go back. It is the first stage in our national journey, right? And what does it represent as the first stage? Well, I'll I'll ask you another question that we've answered before in other classes, which is if someone comes to convert, what's the first thing you say to them? You don't They You try to discourage, right? Even though we Well, by the way, we welcome conversions if they're real and and true. What But how do you try to discourage the individual? You try to discourage the individual, I've told you before, not by saying you can't eat at McDonald's anymore, or you can't you can't or you can't you have to observe the laws of Shabbat. What you're supposed to say is, "Are you sure that you want to be part of this people?" Right? Are you And what? Right? Are you sure that you want to be part It's in the Gemara. "Are you sure you want to be part of this people that has been pushed and persecuted across history? Why would you want to do that?" And only if the person then says, "I I understand. I'm doing it with open eyes, but I consider it a privilege to be part of this community and I'm In spite of the difficulties, I want to become part I want to affiliate." Only then do you begin to teach them mitzvot. Only then do you begin to start telling them about mitzvot. Yes. But wouldn't you also have to say, "It's very hard and there's so many things that you have to follow that think about That's when you start to teach them mitzvot. When you start to teach them mitzvot, you can say, I mean, before that No, that's all That's part That is part of what we call teaching the mitzvot. In other words, part of teaching the mitzvot is, "Okay, now that you've said you want to affiliate, X, Y, and Z. Now, this is very hard and and understand the difficult Understand what you're doing." I've often said to converts who are coming into the community, they say, "Well, you're asking us to observe things that even people in your congregation don't observe." Right? And I'll say to them, or I said to them, "The bar is higher for you because you want to join. You're asking to join. I Maybe unfair, but the bar is harder for you. You have to say that you're are to participate and mean it in all of these mitzvot, and if you tell me that you can't observe uh some of the mitzvot or even one of the mitzvot, then the conversion can't go can't go forward. Which is a very, very high bar. What? No. What? What? All right. You're saying that they have to lie. Let me Let me tell you the following. All right. I will tell you the following. I've been involved in a number of conversions. 90% of them I'm very proud of. 10% didn't work out. Maybe less. Maybe less. Maybe 5%. Now, you're right. Those people at that time maybe they meant it, maybe they didn't mean it, but it would became clear after time that they couldn't do it, and they didn't and and they didn't they they they fell away. So, 5%. But, 95% were people who really meant it. And And the way you determine that is by by teaching them and talking to them and getting a sense A lot of it is your sense, whether you feel they're being honest or not. But, you put it to them very clearly. All right. So, now, why do we begin though with that Why do you want to become part of the nation? So, my answer to that is because that's the way we began as a people. Our journey began with affiliation before we knew the mitzvot. Right? Our journey began when a group of slaves were willing to go into an unknown destination in the desert leave the known, even though it's a horrible known, right? But, it had a certain degree of comfort. It's like I told you about the people who left the USS the Soviet Union before the fall of the Iron Curtain and freedom for them was very frightening because they I think I told you my one of the guys one of the people that came out that I was close to was paralyzed when he saw the cereal aisle at ShopRite because it never occurred how could you I have to choose in Russia they gave me whatever it was and that's what it was freedom carries with it responsibility that's how we began we began by going out of Egypt and following that motion and remember that I'll say that the great majority of the Jews Israelites did not go because it was a tough thing to do it was not easy to say I'm affiliating with this people I don't know where we're going but we're going that's why I think all right Pesach has to have a second chance because I feel and just my suggestion that what Hashem was saying is we want to give everybody the opportunity as best we can we want to give everybody the opportunity to affiliate and therefore Pesach Sheni is created to allow for that affiliation when you couldn't affiliate in the first case and everyone has to have the opportunity yes You said a minute ago that well if someone is converting if you see that they're not sincere Mhm. you what didn't they want to go back to the Israelites All right that's I very good very good question we said that if someone converts and it's not sincere you know we there's not much there's not much we can do but the answer is we also weren't sincere we were sincere at our Sinai we and we'll see that later we were unsincere insincere later perhaps yes If he comes here and he says All right. Okay. We don't We don't know if it happened. It certainly wasn't recorded. All right, good. Very good. Very good. You're saying that this occurred because they asked and I'll get to that in a moment. I'll get to that in a moment. And maybe this was the only place where they place where they asked concerning a ritual and that's why it developed. Perhaps. What you're suggesting is that Kadosh Baruch Hu said it's not in in the original contract, but I'm creating it when you speak. Perhaps. Could be. Could be. Could be. All right, so we'll get to that. All right, good. But I'm suggesting that that that this is an overarching second chance. In other words, this is saying to the people you to the nation you have to have every opportunity to affiliate. And if you couldn't do it the first time, we're going to let you do it the second time. If I'm correct, by the way, that explains something very very puzzling about the laws of Pesach Sheni. Now, this is a little complicated and I don't have it on your sheets, but I'm going to try to do it orally. The Torah only says that someone who is tame or distant can't do the Pesach when they are in that state. Correct? But the Torah the halakha says that if you for other reasons can't do it. Let's say you're sick. Let's say you're um whatever it might be. A valid reason. Valid reason other than tumah and distance. You're supposed to observe Pesach Sheini. The difference is, and this is where it gets puzzling, emerges from the Mishnah and from from the Rambam, etc. If you were unable to do it because of tumah or distance, and you failed to do Pesach Sheini, you're patur. It's okay. Let me We're giving If you were not able to do it for any other reason, and you failed to observe Pesach Sheini, you're chayav. You get punished. Now, that's counterintuitive, isn't it? The The ones that are mentioned in the Torah are patur if they don't do it, and those who are not mentioned in the Torah are chayav if they don't do it. Why? So, my suggestion to you is the following. Someone who was tamei or distant is not in the obligation of affiliation. He's outside the group. For whatever reason, he's not part of the group. And affiliating will bring him back into the group. Someone who's sick is part of the group, and was chayav to the first Pesach. Was chayav to the See, the tamei person and the distant person, they weren't even chayav to the first Pesach. And they have the opportunity to make it up. Those who for other reasons didn't do the first Pesach were chayav when that Pesach were responsible when that Pesach was offered. And therefore, if they failed to do Pesach Sheini, then they're chayav. That's my suggestion to you. That tumah and taharah takes takes you out of the core. Takes you out of the group. And now, what what then does that that become? And this is going to be important for us as we continue the discussion. That means that to those who are tamay or tahor, Pesach Sheni becomes an obligatory opportunity. It's a very interesting phrase, but I think it it it describes it well. This For them, Pesach Sheni is an opportunity to make it up. They If they don't, they're not high of, they're not punished. But it's an obligatory. They're supposed to do it. And an obligatory opportunity is very interesting. We'll talk about our obligatory opportunities. Now, let's go to the second question. Why did Hashem wait until this question came to create Pesach Sheni? So, as you noted, if you turn to the next page, the only other case, right? Where it is similar is page three, B'noach flood. And the Torah draws the parallel, right? But you have to see it. How does the Torah draw the parallel? Those who came and said, "We want to observe Pesach Sheni." What was their language? Lama nigara. What does that mean? Why should we lose out, right? Why should we lose out? Along And B'noach flood, what's the language they use? If you look on page three, the bold Lama yigara. Only places in the Torah where those terms are used to my knowledge. So, the Torah is drawing a a Something is similar there. And the rabbis will say that Hashem did not give these laws, Pesach Sheni, the laws of inheritance that that come out out through because of the Benot Tzelafchad because he wanted to honor the people who asked for it. He knew that they would ask for it. And he wanted that portion of the Torah to be created in their merit. Wow. Now, that's a pretty pretty important honor, right? What What is so important about this these these two cases? So, I'm going to suggest to you that the Torah is saying is that the highest level is when you see a mitzvah, you see it it is an opportunity and not as a responsibility. It's both. But you view it as something that is an opportunity for you, something that you want to do. Imagine, right? The Benot Tzelafchad I'm the Pesach The Benot Tzelafchad is a little more complicated, but let's take Pesach Sheni. Those people who came to Moshe had the opportunity to go shh. I don't have to do Pesach. I'm excused. Right? I'm going to tell you some examples in our lives, right? The celebrate said before the celebrations that occur in the daily minyanim when you don't have to say Tachanun. All right? Everybody's whoa, we don't have to say Tachanun today. How long does it take to say Tachanun? Right? A little longer on Mondays and Thursdays. On On every other day it takes 2 minutes. Well, the truth is the way people daven it takes half a minute and I never keep up. But the point is that it takes hardly anything. Correct? I'll give you another example. This this This this is an interesting riddle. What daily minyan, morning minyan is the best attended of the year? The fastest one. Not the fast Not Not Not Not Not Not Not quite. What I We're all That's You're in the shul where you're davening fast every morning. All right, that That's Probably Thomas Jefferson right before Exactly. It is. The one where the bachurim can get out of fasting. 90% of 8 No, not 58% of them wouldn't have fasted anyway. But it's an opportunity for me to get out of doing something, so I'm going to come and be part of the seudah and I won't fast. So often we see mitzvot as obligations and don't recognize their dimension as opportunities. And that's what the Torah's telling us, I think. What the Torah is telling us is these two sets of people saw felt the loss. As you said, felt the loss. Why should we lose out? Felt the loss because they couldn't do those mitzvot. Or they couldn't in Bnot Tzelofchad's case, couldn't participate in being part of the inheritance of the land. You know, but every day we decide not to wash so that we don't have to bench. Very good. Okay, very good. All right, she said we Good example. We decide We do it every day, we decide not to wash cuz we don't want to bother benching. Very good. All right, that's correct. I It happens in so many different ways. All right? Shalach Manos, for example, has become an Don't misunderstand me. I think it's wonderful that charitable organizations are raising money through Shalach Manos, but it's a way of getting out of doing Shalach Manos, isn't it? I mean, I'll just pick a list of people and I'll just say, so you should do that. That's what you should do. But, remember what it was like when in many homes where the parents were involved in the creation of Shalach Manos. I mean, I'm thrilled because my daughter in the States sends us every year a huge poem that she writes, that she puts in with her husband in the Shalach Manos. My wife says, my wife says I don't have a She doesn't have a creative bone in her body, her my wife, but my daughter does. My daughter is and loves doing it and loves So, that's that's the point. The point is, do we see the mitzvot as an opportunity? And that's why these individuals received a tremendous honor. And that honor was to have a section of the Torah written in their merit. Amazing. Amazing. Okay. That's correct. I You Very good point. The The names are not mentioned and I don't know why. That's a They should be, right? If we're honoring them with writing the portion of the Torah. But, nonetheless, the rabbis say that they did it in their honor that that portion of the Torah is included. Well, it's it's it's a negative honoring, I guess, if they were tamei or whatever. At least with the daughters of Zelophehad, their only mistake was that they were women. All right. Tamei All right. Wait. No. Well, that's that's one suggest Wait. Look, let's I'm going to say make two comments, all right? You said that in the case of the daughters of Zelophehad, it's not negative. In the case of the people who are tamei, it's negative. I'm going to make two comments. Number one, there's a midrash that says they were doing mitzvot. They were carrying the Aron. But, even if you don't say that midrash, tumah is not a negative state. Tumah is not negative. Tumah is a a word perhaps we'll talk about this when we get to Bar Adumah. It's not a a negative state. It's a limited state. It's a state where you enter because let's understand something. Contact with death includes some of the highest mitzvot within Torah. Right? In other words, taking the people who are part of the Chevra Kadisha up there, way up there, right? So, why should the Torah create a Hashem create a negative state? No. What what Hashem is doing, I think, is he's saying, "You come into contact with death, you should be changed." And you will enter a limited state for a period of time where you can't do certain things. And and etc. etc. Now, and and I'll tell you why this is so important and I'm getting on my soapbox again. When we teach young couples about Taharat Hamishpacha and we translate the terms of tumah and taharah as purity and impurity or worse, cleanness and uncleanness, a lot of people get turned off. Right? And that's and there's much to be said about how it should be taught. All right. So, all I'm saying is that tumah it's not negative. It it it's a limited state. All right. Let's go on. Okay. So, that was the first of three sections we're going to deal with. Okay. Let's Alternative state. Correct. Okay. Limited may carry connotations as well, but it does create limitations. In other words, it does All right. And I think, by the way, I again, this is just my my suggestion, that what Hashem is saying is you shouldn't come into contact with these things and not be changed and not become limited somehow, right? And it's like I I often say that that when I was growing up unfortunately, we were involved in America in the war in Vietnam. And in the morning when you did your breakfast, they would say over the over the radio, "X number of people were killed in Vietnam." The first time you heard it, you went like that. By the time you got to 10 times hearing it or you paid no attention. That shouldn't be. That's the point. That Well, it's not that way here. It is not that way here. Correct. That is It is not that way here. Every every every loss is felt by everyone. Correct. Well, we're not a country, we're a family. And for good and for bad. All right. Now, let's go to follow the cloud. All right? Want you to take a look. Now, this is the next event or the next series of of commandments or whatever that proceed leaving Mount And Torah, leaving Har Sinai. All right? So, take a look at the English or the Hebrew in section number two. And then I want you to tell me what overarching question emerges from that section. All right? All right, you see it? Everybody got it? It's on page four leading into page five if you're looking at the English. The Hebrew is all on page four. Okay. So, let's let's talk about what this sent this passage basically is talking about how they traveled in the midbar, correct? And they traveled by following the cloud. Let me ask you a question. Do you have a question? I do. What? How many sentences would you need to say that in the text? Right? What what is going on here? The Torah Hashem is dedicating all this text and repeating over and over again the same phrase. Al Pi Hashem Yisu, Al Pi Hashem Yachanu, Al Pi Hashem Yachanu, Al Pi Hashem Yisu. What? Why does it Why does it have to say that? Why doesn't it simply say when they left when they left Har Sinai, the cloud rose up, they followed the cloud, when the cloud stopped when they went when the cloud went. Period. Finished. Two one sentence, two sentences. So some within What? Say? It's Al Pi Hashem. It's Al Pi Hashem, but but we know that you can say Al Pi Hashem. That's another way of saying it two sentences. Hashem made the cloud go up and made the cloud go down and they traveled when the cloud went up and the cloud went down. Hashem was telling them to set I don't need all of this text. So one answer some of them will say is that the text is underscoring the difficulties involved in this kind of travel. In other words, there were times when they stopped and immediately went. Right? There were times when they stopped and sat there for a long period of time. Every time they went, they did not know where they were going. And they did not know when they would go. In other words, everything was basically controlled by Hakadosh Baruch Hu. And therefore the Torah is underscoring that to tell us this this wasn't so simple. It's not such not such a simple thing. Yes. Especially that they had so many complaints about the nation of Israel. And then later on you read in the Nevi'im that Well, very good. Okay, you're saying that they become the Right, the difficulties of the midbar become un un- uncovered when we see the complaints of Klal Yisrael. And some By the way, this is important. I'll say this later if we have time. Not all Not all revolts in the midbar are equal. All right? And some of them are more understandable than others, and Hashem treats them in different ways, okay? So, that's one, but I'm going to Yeah, I'm sorry. No, I just wanted to say that. Just for instance, why isn't it a mitzvah, an obligation even, to ask for water, for instance? Because we have we have we have to take care of Okay, you're you're talking about the the the revolts where there wasn't water, and and we'll see when we learn that, we'll see that Hakadosh Baruchu understood them. It also says in the camping, they only camped for that put up the Mishkan. Right, they had to take down the Very very good. Very good. Every time they went, they had to take out take down the Mishkan and put up the Mishkan. That's very good. Very good. Correct. All right, having said that, I'm going to take it one step further. And just a suggestion, what the Torah is telling us is that the characteristic of their journey applies to us. We don't have a cloud, but Hakadosh Baruchu dictates our movements. And there are times when we And we should be looking I'm not I'm preaching to the converted most of us are converted here. We should be looking where Hashem wants us to go. In other words, our our traveling should be Al Pi Hashem Yahanu and Al Pi Hashem Yisau, even today where there is no cloud to tell us where to go. And that's why this is this sec- this section is embedded here right before we leave Har Sinai, right before we're taking our first steps, to say over time this will be the way you should travel. That's it. Okay, let's go to the last. All right, this one is is I I'm hoping we have time to do it. Turn to page number seven. Actually, uh no no, I'm sorry. Turn to page five at the bottom and leading to page six and take a look at that section. This is the last section. The the the last thing that Hakadosh Baruchu commands to us before we leave Har Sinai. Last thing, one you would expect it to be very very important. All right, so what's your question? Why did they need two? Why did they need two? Excellent. Why did they need two chatzotzros? What else? A similar question to the one that we just asked. Why is so much text or any I'll go further. Why is any text? Because the truth is, if you look superficially at the chatzotzrot, they are utilitarian in nature, right? In other words, this is a the signal to go, this is a signal to stop. I would assume that there were lots of things that were made for the traveling in the midbar that were utilitarian in nature and not included. Why is this a mitzvah? Why is this so important? It Yes, it makes sense. It's going to tell me to go, it's going to tell me not to go, but nonetheless, that's that's you Again, the only word I can come up with is utilitarian. It's not spiritual, it's not holy, it's at least it doesn't seem so at face value. So, take a look carefully at that section and tell me where the khatsotsrot leave their utilitarian character and enter into another dimension. All right, if you take a look on page six. Hisavu milkhama biarts'khem v'hare'ota bakhatsotsrot, v'nizkartem lifnei Hashem Eloheikhem. What? Page six, top of the page. When you have war, then what are you supposed to do? You're supposed to blow the khatsotsrot. And Hashem ask ask Hashem will remember you. You will And uv'yom simkhatkhem uv'mo'adeikhem uv'rashei khodsheikhem, usikatem bakhatsotsrot. And when you celebrate, the very same khatsotsrot that are used at times of difficulty are to be part of your celebrations. So, now the khatsotsrot are not just utilitarian. All right, somehow they become more. And what? Part Well, part or let Well, let's see. Now, let's Once we Once we recognize that, there's a very fascinating pattern that emerges concerning the sounds. There are two sounds biblically for the Katso throat. They are a Tekiah or a Teruah. Right? The We'll talk about how we get to Shvarim later, but Tekiah and Teruah. A Tekiah is unbroken sound and a Teruah is a broken sound. If you take a look, every time the Torah here talks about a moment of uncertainty or uh perhaps concern or or in the case of war real real real worry, what do you sound? A Teruah. Every time you are at a moment of certainty or joy, what do you sound? A Tekiah. So, what is What is emerging here is that the Katso throats are mirrors of your own experience. In other words, they are to mirror the way you feel at those very moments. But, it's even further. Not only are they meant to mirror the way you feel, but they are meant to arouse in you what you should be feeling. In other words, blow on the Shof blow on the Katso throat and I will remember you. What does that mean? You're you're davening. You're praying. You're The Katso throat become an implicit prayer. Right? In the time of celebration, the Katso throat become part of the mirror your joy, mirror your your excitement and are supposed to raise in you that excitement you should feel on Yom Tov. So, the Katso throats are not just uh utilitarian and not just mirrors of how the people should feel, but they are meant to arouse within the nation those particular sentiments. Once we know that, it stands to reason that these hatzotzrot actually set the stage for another mitzvah that we do every year. The sound or the shofar, right? And what is the shofar? It's wordless prayer. The shofar is wordless prayer. And we we And what is the elemental sound of Rosh Hashanah? Tru'ah. Right? Tru'ah is the elemental sound because the broken sound of the shofar symbolizes the way we feel on and it's meant to make us feel unsure, uncertain, praying to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, not knowing. So, therefore, the tekiah and the tru'ah end up being part of our experience as well, but they emerge here. They first emerge here. The moment where And I'm going to take you a couple of steps further. On when it On Rosh Hashanah, there are three sounds, right? There's tru'ah, tekiah, and shevarim. Does anybody know why we have the shevarim? Okay, because there was a doubt or or either there was a doubt or it could have been either as to whether or not the broken sound referred to in the Torah as the tru'ah was someone sighing or someone crying. And therefore, you were to sound a tru'ah at da I mean shevarim da da da that's someone cry sighing. And da da da da da da da da is someone crying. And why you si- do shevarim tru'ah? Because it's possible that it's both. That's what the Torah meant you to do. Because the Torah only says Yom Teruah Yemalah, right? So therefore, you have this this concept that the sounds themselves are mirroring and take moving past utilitarian, becoming something spiritual, becoming something very important. Now, yes, let me just finish. But when we sound the shofar, every broken sound is encompassed by what? A tekiah before and a tekiah after. Where does that come from? So one of the sources is this text. Take a look on page five, uh four lines up from the bottom. Well, start with right? Start with the taku bahen, so you do a tekiah when you're bringing everybody to the Olam Haba, right? So that's a point of certainty, etc. In bahat and bahat yitko, if you only sound one of those two, and that's why maybe there were two, right? Okay, good. I didn't even think of that. Um the and therefore only the elders come, right? That's that's limited. Usikantem teruah, venasu bamakanot. Now, what what's interesting about that? The verb that is used is uskaten. If you turn the page to number six, during the during the war, it uses a different verb. Vahareosen. What's That hareosen emerges from teruah. Tekantem emerges from tekiah. Why did it say tekiah tem tru'ah? It should say the Hari'osem tru'ah. So, the rabbis say that shows that you have to have a tekiah before every broken sound. And it repeats it again. That shows you have to have a tekiah after every broken sound. So, in other words, this is one of the sources. There are other sources for the way in which we blow shofar on on on on Yom Kippur. Yes. How does this apply in this day and age? A little louder, please. How does this apply in this day and age with the issue of the tekiah for for war? Oh, how does this apply in in this day and age when the issue of tekiah for war? That's right. That's a very good question. This only applied when we had these social become clay hamikdash. They become part of the base hamikdash. They end up being among those things or among those mitzvot which fall into disuse because of the tragic destruction of the base hamikdash. Right? Now, the only vestige we have of them is the sounding of the shofar. So, we should should we sound the shofar in times of war? Very good question. Very good question. Perhaps I've never heard of any We did. Before they went to to Gaza, the chief rabbi sounded it. Did he? Really? Oh, there you go. There you go. Okay, excellent. I Very good. Very good. The sirens are the opposite. Uh-huh. They want you to go watch the you know, into The the ma- ma- warning, yeah. Steady sound. Uh-huh. Come out, it's a it's a broken sound. Interesting. Did the opposite. Okay, interesting. But thank you for commenting on that. That's that's important. Yes, and raising and thank you for raising the question. Yes. Okay, so you're this is this is midrashic, yes? Okay, very nice. Very nice. That's another answer perhaps why there are two and that's the midrash that says that that they are reflective of the horns of the ram that that Mosha that Avraham offers up on Har Moriah after the Akedah. All right, very good. But I also want to say something else about this. Why is this the last piece? Sorry, why is this the last piece right before we leave? Because Hakadosh Baruch Hu is telling us, I think, there's only one thing missing. You're ready to go. You have the mitzvot. You have your affiliation. You have your history. What's the one thing that's missing? You. Your spirit. You have to bring your own spirit into the into the fray. And that is symbolized by the See the chatzotzot symbolize our spirit. Because the very same it's it's a sort of strange, isn't it? Very same chatzotzot are used for joy and the very same chatzotzot are used for for war. I mean, because that's that's the human spirit. The human spirit has to respond to war, God forbid, and we're doing it again. Uh, if you follow the news. And and the human spirit has to respond to points of joy. And therefore, Hakadosh Baruchu is saying that's the only thing missing now. Is your spark. And that's symbolized by the hatsotzeros. That's And that's why the rabbis will say that the sounding of the shofar is wordless prayer. It's basically a a symbol of it's it's our own spirit crying out for Hakadosh Baruchu when words are not sufficient. All right. Yes. If I could title this section, I would say it's about the fact that Hashem is looking for a relationship with us. It's all about our responding to Hakadosh Baruchu, our asking. And our asking and this whole connection is just makes us part of the Okay. Very good. Very good. Very good. What you're saying is, and I think it's really building on what I was saying, is that it's the human spirit which is meant to connect with Hakadosh Baruchu, and it's talking about that connection going both ways. I'll tell you one last halakha which which I think really says states that we are on the right track with the hatsotzeros. If you look at the first pasuk, first pasuk, Vayikra Hashem el Moshe lemor, page five, the bottom of the page, aseh lekha shtei hatsotzeros kesef. All right? Make for yourself two silver trumpets. What word is seemingly superfluous? Lekha. Right? Why doesn't it just say "aseh shtei hatsotzeros kesef"? So, along come the Hazal, and they say the hatsotzeros were different than every other clay mikdash. The uh the chatzotsrot were different than every any other clay mikdash, any other utensil of the that was built for for the purpose of the mikdash. What was the difference? Moshe's chatzotsrot could only be used by him or by the people in his era, the Kohanim in his time. Yehoshua had to fashion his own. It was not handed down. Of all the of all Aaron's was handed down, right? The menorah was handed down. The chatzotsrot had to be fashioned anew in each generation. If the chatzotsrot are symbolic of our own spirit and our response to the world and our response to Hakadosh Baruchu, that is very individual. And certainly one era's challenges are different than the other. And that's why the chatzotsrot had couldn't be handed down. Throughout the midrash. What? I'm sorry. Throughout the midrash. Which which Oh, no, that it was the aisle. All right. Interesting. Okay. So so therefore I'm saying that this last piece, right before we leave our Sinai, is really very powerful. It's talking about our spirit, our connection, our reaching out, and Hakadosh Baruchu reaching out to us, symbolized by sound that's meant to arise the arouse these feelings within us. So we'll stop there. Um that that is So think of what I'd like you to think about is those These are the three sections, as I said, that that lead us to our national journey. And the other thing I want you to think about is how the first step in understanding the text is asking the right questions. Oh, no.