Avot 1:1 The Face of Moshe was Like the Sun; the Face of Yehoshua Like the Moon By Rabbi Moshe Snow

I've been asked to announce the following um today Tuesday April 2nd RAB MOS is sponsored by Manny rman in memory of his mother yakas yob David Manny ruckles is a former student of mine uh who lives now in Nat I believe and uh he heard I was here giving a Shear so he wanted to sponsor it uh one of my uh one of the gentlemen who sits next to me in sh was a friend of his and he said oh you know Rabbi snow and Manny rman said sure he was my first basketball coach all there we go now Rabbi snow Rabbi snow she is generous generously sponsored for the 2024 2025 Academic Year sponsoring a whole year of murin and it's being sponsored by Scott and Linda Hanford who uh were who were congregants of mine in the young is Beth Alara Park currently living in Pennsylvania and uh we wishu to Scott and Linda it's AEM okay uh this is uh the fifth sheer that I'm giving onas and we already we already spoke about the introduction to every time we learn all of Israel has a share in the world as the says your my nation your nation is all right all of them are righteous together we can fulfill 613 Commandments my planting the work of my hand that I may be glorified very positive opening to every sheer that we have because the opening statement tells us that we ought to be positive we started with the first m Mosel Torah we we discussed the opening statement that Mosel Torah and the rest of the Mna which we haven't discussed in any detail at all but we're going to get to him today we we discussed M we said he he received the Torah from seni because seni was not the tallest mountain and it implied a certain level of humility and Moshe Renu was the Paragon of humility was the most humble of men but we are now going to continue on with the Mna we're going to try to explain a little bit of the entire Mna and then we're going to go and crunch out starting from the next words it says yosua and he gave it over to yosua there a difference between a cabala accepting receiving directly from Hashem the tradition the Torah and giving it over and and having it come to you through a m through being given over what's the difference between a cabala and a we'll discuss in a few minutes the M continues then Zim yua gave it over to the elders now these are not the typical zakim that we speak about later on in the history of the Jewish people but we're going to see who these zum were particularly as we go through the Mna see gave it to the then theakim who preceded the N we'll see who they were gave it over to the Nan and the Nan the Nan replied Shu Hari Andi and so on all the way down all the list of the entire nvan prophets by the way if anybody wants a list of them there is a fascinating addendum to the art scroll tanak which has lists of all of the names of allak all and all the if you can Avail yourself of taking a look at that you'll see names that you're very very familiar with I'm not going to go through them all now but the N gave it over to the people of the great assembly the an were a body of like you'd say uh the San hedin in a sense they were the ones who promulgated the sitter and put it together and so many of the other important Minh and MIT that they put together and when it comes to says said three things now by this time over the history of the Jewish people a thousand and more years have gone by since the giving of the Torah and there was one Central Authority that got the Torah that was Moshe he was the only one about whom it says ke Torah but the truth of the matter is that the word keale in this mishna is like you you remember algebra you know it's two times and then you have parentheses x + y so it's not just two and then 2 x + y it's 2 * x 2 * Y and so on here also Moshe Torah parentheses and he gave it over and so on and so forth and Moshe is also the key not only refers to Moshe but in a sense not exactly the same way as we're going to see but the keyel is times all the others meaning they also had a certain Cabas sator and that's what we do we also have Cabas sator every time we learn Torah every time we get some Torah there is a Torah and when the who were now 72 elders and they were the the the the givers of so many M they recognize something they recognize that from the original source of the Torah being Mel being having a Torah from Moshe down to yesu to there was a certain leveling out of the ability of any of the Ana and maybe even their students to promulgate and to teach everything they they couldn't absorb it all Moshe was able to absorb it all yosua was able to almost absorb it all As we're going to discuss soon but by the time it got down to Ana it was impossible for any one individual to be able to have all the Torah at their fingertips at every moment now we're we're used to hearing about G Torah people who were brilliant of mind and Powerful of heart that were able to absorb the whole Torah if you have ever met any of these people and there are a lot of them around including some of the gim who lecture here in the OU Center and here in AR Isel there are people who know Kula they know everything no matter what you want to know you you just scratch them and all the Torah will come out I've had the occasion of course of meeting such people most recently the one who is most recently nter David Feinstein he was he knew no matter what you asked him anywhere he he didn't go around showing it off you could almost not know that he was like this there's a book about DAV Feinstein by the way and if you want to really get an insight into what true humility and greatness is it's worthwhile reading I don't know if you ever read it but it's really worthwhile he knew everything instantly the whole Torah was was in front of his eyes and of course his father of Moshe Z the same way the whole Torah was in front of their eyes these are people who are Unique Individuals but the an recognize that even though there are many many great people who do have a handle on the whole Torah nevertheless it's not the same as it was by the time of Moshe and yua and the zakim and the n and because it had you might say leveled out a little bit because of that they said the following three statements and the M continues and tells us he they the because it was now somewhat defused they said three things that were necessary for the future of the Jewish people in every way that anyone would ever discuss a topic of T and what were those three things that were so vital that without these three things the future of the Jewish people could not be strong and here were the three things number one be deliberate in judgment think before you speak because if you're not exactly sure you can cause that the will be distorted now that's the simple explanation but when we say be deliberate in judgment it also means don't jump to conclusions about how to judge another person don't think of oh I I I I I I got this guy pegged I got him pegged yeah he's got long hair and he's wearing cut up jeans and he got a little pepsicola siiz bottle cap yamaka so I got imp packed I know exactly this person don't jump to conclusions you don't know you just don't know so heav be very deliberate in judgment and this goes a step further we're going to have more time to discuss each and every one of these things as we crunch it later on in discussing in depth this particular concept but it also means you have to be careful in judgment don't be so sure about thinking you know exactly who is right and who is wrong until you really get into the situation and try to find what's at the core of the two protagonists who are in front of you so you have to be very careful and why because all of society is dependent on how you promote Justice if Justice is skewered by a political view or by a desire to favor something over another you're going to make some terrible terrible errors in judgment and people when communism came out that they were all a Gog oh what a wonderful idea equality of the masses oh what a wonderful until it started impacting on every individual and taking away the freedoms that every individual desires and democracy can do the exact same thing if it's not tempered with an understanding and consequently you have to be very deliberate in judgment that's the first thing secondly establish and set up many students because when you taught something there are so many nuances in the teaching that you gave over not every student is going to pick up on every single one of the exact same Nuance or point that you're trying to make sometimes you'll have a a group at a sheer and they'll have a discussion about the she a day or two later and one will say you know what his main point was and the other one will say that wasn't the main point that was a side point you know I know what the main point was and so you have to have who are going to be Miss so that they can be deliberately discussing the entire she and get the major points down where there's agreement on them so the two things that were necessary in order for the Torah to be established with a strong sense of unity among is number one you got to be deliberate in judgment and careful about how you speak and how you think and secondly even if you do that make sure you have a lot of students so that maybe one got a point that the other did not get and the third thing make fences around the Torah build a fence around the Torah I'm going to give you one example I came up just recently in my Sho where I D every day so you know there's a Min now in many of the that we D in that after because of the mat in the war they say okay it's the ra came out with an idea that this is proper at this point to do and any SCH that does it has to follow through and if you're D let's say let's say you you don't agree let's say I don't agree that we should say a for on chabas there's a discussion amongst the poim whether a should be said on certain days should it be set on the shabas should it be set ones and so on so what happens if the that you go to let's say you go to such a but you feel it's not right to say in these days since poim over the centuries has said you don't say on those days what should you do you feel it's not right because the post can hold like that and but they say what should you do you should say if the says you should say if that's what everyone in the is doing that's what you have to do I spoke about a few moments ago had a case there was discussion among some of the in the yes one of the in the Yesa said if you take a look at the in the it says that you're supposed to put youring on before you come into the B Med so that when you walk into the B Med you're fully dressed with the with all the accs of the filling so on and so forth now 99% of people do not do this 99% of the men they come and they put the on where they sit which is the most common thing that is done amongst so these students were having Aus a discussion amongst themselves ah Mr Brewer says you're supposed to do it like this and one guy one particular fellow would stand outside the B medes every morning and he would put on his Fillin and all the other B would walk in and put that fill on inside he started giving them arguments and say oh the M Brewer said this the M bre says that how can you do this so they came to they asked what should we do so he went over to the fellow who asked him the question who was the guy who said that the says you have to put it on outside and he came to Ravid Z and he said to him doesn't it say in the midst of r that you have to put on your thring outside said yeah that's what it says in the midst of R so shouldn't all theam do that he said absolutely not he said they said why not he said because that's not the normal way and despite the fact that the M says it but you're going to stand out as being abnormal it's worse it's not that going to stand out as being abnormal you're going to make it that you are a big shot I know better you are I I'm I'm the guy you got to follow and he said that's dangerous because the says make a fence around the Torah if you're going to start with this business of doing your own thing when everybody else does the other thing that's going to lead to people doing their own thing instead of doing the right thing and you can't do that that's not normal CLA will become fragmented and it won't last so there's a fell in our who says when he he says it like everybody else says it but he every time he do when it comes to the Yeshua when it comes to P he not say he comes and he says he wants a good I don't blame him I think it's very nice and and if if I could join his bandwagon I'll take 20% it'll be fine no problem I don't mind but he added the word TOA and it drives me nuts every time he he adds the word TOA so I I didn't want to insult him so I went over to him last night I went over to him I said you know I'm curious it sounds like such a nice thing to say what's your M for this do do you have a source for this maybe one of your rebies did this and he said no no I have no Source I said so what are you doing he says it's I want a I said said I want a too but the C says the p and not to just said P you know doesn't the word to he said you don't think I should say it I said no I don't think you should say it and I'll tell you why because if you're going to a the word TOA here why don't you a the word TOA on every other ofu and before long you're gonna have 45 different guys saying ofu in 45 different ways and then the is going to have 760 and you're never going to get through withing and people are going to start in do you see what can happen with any one word when it's not supposed to be done you hear all this and this is what the Mna meant when it said Torah make a fence around the Torah because if you don't protect what's in place there's a good chance you're going to the floodgates are going to burst open and H what happens when the floodgates burst open you have a water down or no all you have compromised ideals you know it's like the fell who went over to his Rabbi and he said uh is it okay I know you're not allowed to you know go on a plane on shabas you know but if I'm wearing the seat belt it's like I'm wearing the plane so it's okay right you with the with the with the gar cup if I'm wearing the plane it's okay this is what can happen when you start playing games with what the Torah tradition is all about and that's why in the first mishna in we have the words Tor you got to make a fence around the Torah and keep those fences because good fences make good neighbors question that time was it it the M was talking in killing about not coming in to the king without the Royal garments and that was the idea behind it but over time that became impossible for one reason or another uh some people used to walk and you'll see it in y today also they'll walk through the streets wearing Talis and filling and the the danger with this is number one you may be walking P or right in the midst of things that are not allowed to be walked past or through and it the streets are not the same as the streets of like yish they would say the you know the streets of the old days where there was kadha and Holiness at every step of the way so because of the vicissitudes of life that the Jewish people have gone through this has been the norm for many many many years and has been accepted as being nor and I should add was and it's if you read the book you'll see and I I know him personally so I can tell you this is true the most important thing was you got to be normal you got to be normal don't make stick because that's what that's what causes a problem okay okay my second question say the other off for the end if you don't up until yes then there are people today who can do that yes all right let's go back to the Miss so now we want to get to the next statement that we didn't fully flesh out and that is beginning with the words and he gave it over to yosua I'm going to ask you a question people what was yahushua's name sounds like a funny question I'm calling you yua but I'm asking you what was yahushua's name what what do you say anybody have an idea what yoshua's name was what yua HOSA right his name was HOSA take a look at the beginning when it talks about the spies that were going out to see what AR Isel is going to be for them and the P says that Shem said to Moshe he said right go send out people and they shall the word vuru by the way comes from the word t which means tourist theur they should go as tourists throughout the land right that's we we we've we've translated you know to mean they should spy out the land but really a tourist is also doing the same thing he's spying out a land Never So before I'm touring the land so send them out they should tour Canan and now you have to pay attention to the next line because it's so perfectly worded by a to give us an insight into what we're going to be speaking about in this case what does that mean which I am giving present tense the word no doesn't say doesn't sayain doesn't say that I will give doesn't say that I have given it said I'm giving I'm giving to the is once that sentence is said that means that are they going out to spy the land out to figure out how to conquer it or to figure out which traveling and which way to go but that's ridiculous Hashem said I'm giving it to the Ben I'm giving it right now and it doesn't matter whether and the PK says later on that when they went out it says and he said to them go go up to the and go up the mountain now you should know they were coming from Egypt so because they were coming from Egypt and the negative of course is south and is low we would think what what's the here in the go up to because they're coming up from Egypt so therefore go up into the south of Israel them at and then go up to the mountain I want you to see the land what it is and and the people that live on it are they strong or weak now wait a minute would it matter whether they're strong or they're weak give me a proof that it wouldn't make a difference because of that sentence I said you should keep in mind from the beginning of that par I'm giving it to the Jewish people I don't care says hem how strong they are or how weak they are it's irrelevant why would I want you to know whether it's strong or weak if it's irrelevant makes the miracle greater because it impacts on us today it's telling us nothing to be afraid of when you go to war for War doesn't matter as long as we have together doesn't matter anyway it goes on on and speaks about this let's go back to the beginning of the s for one minute where the can tell us which spies went out and the P says here are their names of the people who went out to spy watch L Ru shamua Zur so who was the the the spy for ruin sh I'm not testing you on this it's okay you don't got shur let's go keep the names in mind this name you can remember the reason you should remember it is because we're going to see his name come up when it says um Yeshua gave it over to it includes which we're going to come to to the tribe of epim listen to the name doesn't say Yeshua it says HOSA bin n that was his name his name was HOSA bin nun then it says and so on and so on and so on and so forth okay at the end of that paragraph it says these are the names of the people which MOS sent out to spy out the land M here it isos called yosua and Moshe called by the name yua Moshe changed his name his original name was hos Moshe came along and changed his name now why did he change his name why did he a a at the beginning yahushua instead ofosa rash says he want to protect from the C from the what protect him from the Council of right exactly right it says Rashi wanted to protect him to to guard him May from the suggestion of the Council of the spies what about all the other guys only Yu has to be protected what about K he was a good so so what why why why did he only change yoshua's name if K what he meant to say should protect you from the advice of the spies but only yahushua needed that protection K didn't and all the other all the others they didn't need that protection they needed it more maybe because they succumbed and gave in so what's this business only Yeshua only him and there's a difference between and yosua tremendous difference okay is hosha which is saving in the past tense yosua when you add a y at the beginning of that verb it becomes he will say so he changed HOSA past tense into yosua he should be saved only Yeshua not everybody else I have another question if is mentioned back here when it says Why didn't it say right there m Why didn't it say there why did he wait until after all the spies I mentioned and then change his name why didn't he say it when his name is first mentioned instead he goes to all the names of all the spies and then he calls the name y why you do that so beautifully Mish On Target explains because when he changed hosa's name to Yeshua he wasn't talking just to hos he was talking to all the spies Moshe called to all those who felt that the salvation of Hashem was in the past tense I want you to know each and every one of you is yua each and every one of you needs protection from the advice of the spies it's not just in the past it's in the future so yoshua's name was actually H but when I when mosu changed his name he did it in order that yosua be the leader he was his tal that he would be the leader of everyone else in that that which he was ultimately with his best friend K Ben Yuna and Hashem and Moshe Ru meant to save not just yua from theasin but all of the spies that's why it's mentioned at the end now we said that m t and he gave it over to Yu theas makes mention of the following it says P Moshe P yua you hear this the face of Moshe was like the sun the face of yosua was like the moon what's the difference between them okay so the sun is the source the sun is the original source of the light the Moon is a reflection of that like by the way we say kidish Lana okay we say also one 27 years 28 years depending on how you count it that's because supposedly the world in its axis and its constellations is at the exact same point at the time of creation according to the gumar so but the moon every single month waxes and wains it goes away you don't even see it it disappears we do Kish Lana not only that but just this week we're going to be reading in the ma here how would you translate that sentence anybody want to offer a translation this this this moon is the beginning of all moons right for this new this new month for you is the first of all months and sure enough we count all the months from Nissan but if you take a look at The wordes KES doesn't mean monthes means new means again we go to I recommend to read whenever you can this renewal this renewal is for you the beginning of all renewals the month of Nissan is a renewal it's the beginning of all renewals because Ines we got out of MIT and it was a renewal of the existence of the Jewish people in power and this renewal should be a sign for you of all renewals at every time the moon catches the reflection of the sun it should remind you us CL that we too can renew and reflect the light of Hashem just like the sun is the source of the light of the moon and the moon when it catches that reflection it's a renewal of the month and is a Ral of a newness so too when you reflect the light of Hashem you are doing the exact same thing as the moon you're reflecting the light of Hashem the Jewish people reflect the light of Hashem and even though at times we may not reflect the light of Hashem because we're humans and we don't always get it perfectly right but that doesn't mean you give up that doesn't mean it's all over this renewal should be for you the beginning of all renewals and remember if I don't reflect the light of the Sun at this moment is because maybe maybe I didn't catch that light well enough but there's no question that in a few days when the moon once again reflects the light of the sun I too can think to myself bless the it gives me the ability to renew myself to catch the light of that son so yesu B nun was the one who had to lead the Jewish people and reflect the light of that son Moshe the face of Moshe was like the son it had its original sword the face of Yeshua was like the face of the Moon he reflected Moshe renu's light he reflected it and because he reflected it he became the next leader like I go to what time 10 10 five have five minutes okay what sevenes okay good I don't think we get to it today but I'm going to mention it anyway so that we can have a leg up on the next she do you know the name of the woman that yua married ra okay per gimlin say for Yoshua what name What description is attached to okay you gave me a nice interpretation but the in the is and the word Zona Rashi and Rak and others explain and it's based on the G which not going to be today but where Zona means MOS an inkeeper that she gave MOS to others but the gamar doesn't interpret it that way it uses a much much not nice term and keeps it at the original interpretation I'm mentioning this because what are you telling me that yua b n married the chief Harlot that existed in all of the land of Canan that she was known as the quote unquote Zona and she married yosua by the way they had children no Sons only daughters but their daughters those daughters gave birth to seven different Nim here's the point I don't care how far away you've been I I don't care what mistakes we've made in our lives but if you're like yosua and you pick up the reflection of AES you could become yahushua's wife and the mother of Nan a human being a Jew has the opportunity of Chua and that chuva is a return to the reflection of catching the light of the Sun and when you catch that light it's it's the beginning of all renewals in which your life takes on a bright shine and a new meaning I want to end with that point we'll have more about that next week now I'll take if there's a question or two [Music] okay next week yeah my pleasure next week we'll meet again in m s