Modern Masters - Shabbat Rest or Redemption? Rabbi Sam Shor |July 1

I'm gonna start. Uh, first of all, it's great to have everybody back. It's good to be back to be back in person and not on Zoom. Can everyone hear me without me holding the mic to my face? Yeah. Okay. So, if that becomes an issue, let me know and I'll pick up the mic. Okay. So, I wanted to share this morning a a very powerful short quote from Manakiman's a blessed memory. I want to start with this quote. Been of course we are all familiar with and have an affinity for as not only a courageous leader of the Jewish people but probably of all all those who s served as prime minister with maybe the exclusion of Naftali Bennett I would say the the the Jew with the largest level religious commitment to ever lead Medina Israel as prime minister and Manakim Bean is also famous among his many accomplishments for being the prime minister who halted the operation of LL flights on Shabbat in Yanov and a famous debate in the Knesset which led to that decision. Manakim beacon gave one of his most impassioned speeches that he and he gave a lot of impassioned speeches that we're all very familiar with and I just want to share with you one very powerful snippet from that speech that manaken gave in terms of arguing for the sanctity of Shabas and these are his words in translation. It is not necessary to be an observant Jew to appreciate the full full historic and sacred aura that enshrines this perfect gift called Shabbat. Its prohibitions are not arbitrary. They provide insulation against corrosive everydayness. They build fences against invasions by the profane and they enrich the soul by creating a space for sacred time. In a word, one not need not be pious to accept the cherish cherished principle of Shabbat. One merely needs to be a proud Jew. Well, this is our introduction. I want to explore together this morning this sacred value of the Jewish people, the value that is Shabaskish. what are some of the philosophical underpinnings and foundations of the entire concept of Shabbat kesh? So with with that introduction, we would now jump right into our short our source sheets. If you take a look at source number one, we're all familiar from the first the first set of the remember the Sabbath day and sanctify it. Six days shall you work and complete all your productive activity. And on the seventh day shall be a Sabbath unto Hashem. You should do no productive activity on those days of the Sabbath. On on the Sabbath day, you and your children, your servants, anyone in your household should refrain from doing any productive activity on Shabbat. That's the verse that we're all familiar with in the Okay. Just fast forward a few parios though and we have Mosh Raen who is still has not returned from receiving those tablets and what goes on what what's going on back in the encampments the Jewish people kind of lose patience and they decide they're going to build an ago and after the whole experience of where Mosher Rabu comes back and Mosher sees that the people were clearly troubled by his absence and clearly did something tremendously problematic. Mosherenu of course advocates on behalf of the Jewish people and asks Hashem to give them another chance and Hashem gives them that another chance and sends Mosher Rabenu back to the Jewish community with these instructions. This is this is the second text on our sheet. Moshe called and Moshe gathered together the entire community of the children of Israel. And he said to them, "These are the things that Hashem has instructed us that we need to do." Okay? Again, six days you shall work. On the seventh day should be a a sacred day, a Sabbath unto Hashem. No one should do any any ma. Anyone who does ma on the Sabbath day should be put to death. And then you should kindle no flames in any of your dwelling places on the Sabbath day. So there was a book written in the 1980s by Rabbi Arya Kaplan. Many of you probably know that name. Yes. says okay. No, but it says what's the it also includes Hashem there also. Okay. So there was a book that was written in the 1980s by Rabbi Arya blessing memory. Okay. Not not Shabbat David. The book was called if you were God. Okay. And if you were God in if you were God Kaplan lays out some fundamental questions about creation of the world and the continuation of humanity and says if you were God what would you do in scenario a y a a a b and c right so I'm gonna I'm gonna ask that same question if you were god and the Jewish people had just transgressed by building a a golden calf okay immediately after they heard you your proverbial voice expressed the words, "You shall have no other god before me." Okay, which of And then Moshe convinces God to give you convinces you as God to give the Jewish people another chance. Okay? And to and to and to bring them close once again and you if you were God, if you were to give Moshe instruction in terms of what what law he should do with them, what law he should review with them, what law would you have said? I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other gods before me. But that's not what the Torah tells us happened. What happened? Hashem tells Moshe, "Gather the Jewish people and what do you what do you need to review with them?" Shabas first Shabas and then specifically exactly the added wrinkle. Don't kindle any flames in any of your drawing places on the Sabbath day. So obviously we have to ask the question why why at that important moment that important juncture in Jewish history hashem is giving the Jewish people the proverbial second chance after an incredible communal transgression of basically came out the entire community being involved in a voter. Why not reiterate the laws of what the prohibition of a voter? Why specifically Shabas? What is so important about Shabbat Kesh to the Jewish psyche to the Jewish way of life that at that seinal moment chooses not to review the laws of idolatry but the laws of Shabas kesh. Okay, we're going to come back to that question. The second question I'm going to ask which which is what Rifka brought our attention to and that is why specifically kindle no flames on there's so many so many different activities that are prohibited on shabas why specifically you shall no flames on what's the significance of that specific detail okay we're going to come back to those questions this is not the first time that we've learned together I think come out everybody in this room. So we know that we start with the questions and hopefully we weave a tapestry that will help us answer all those questions as we go. Okay. So now the last text on the first side of Rashid. Okay. This is the Garra famous Garabis. If only the Jewish people would keep two fully keep two Shabbat, they would immediately be redeemed. So there's so many questions that have been asked on the on this Gamarra. What does it mean that they would only keep two shabat? We talking about two specific Shabbat? We talk about any two random Shabbat. Are we talking about majority rules like we have a we have this? Okay. Does it mean if the majority of the Jewish people keep Shabas does it mean that every single Jew? Okay. So what does it mean that if only the Jewish people would fully keep two Shabbats they will experience they will immediately experience redemption. So to begin to answer some of these questions again this course that I give is called modern masters where we typically learn from uh 20th and 21st century uh masters of Jewish thought. We're going to learn from two modern masters today as well as a number of earlier masters. The two modern ma the first of the two modern masters we're going to learn from is Rabbi Clonus Kam Shapiro Hashek Yakamov, the Rebi of Petta, the Rebi of the Warsaw. Many of us have learned from his teachings um together in the past. We're going to learn from two works of the pietets the Rebi. His most famous work um since his passing is the work called Hodesesh. That's he's often referred to as the Hodesh. And the ash is kesh kesh are actually notes of many of the clandestine talks that the rebi gave during the three years that he was incarcerated in the wars ghetto come out the last three years of his life until he's taken to the tricki war camp where he is is finally executed four months after getting to the tricki war camp in 1943. But basically during from 1939, the end of 1939 to the beginning of 1943, the Rebi spends a little over three years in the Warsa ghetto. And he continues to minister to the Jews living through so many painful moments and difficulties and and just the depths of hell of the Warsa ghetto. And when it became clear to the rebi that he was going that the machinations were being made to liquidate the ghetto, he gathered together the notes. You see how every time I give a talk I have my notes, right? So he gathers together the notes of his various sharim andot and and druss that he gave throughout those three years in the war. So ghetto burries them in a milk can together with the the rest of an archive known as the on shabas archive. They're buried underneath a wall in the area that was the Warso ghetto and eight years later they're miraculously found. That's a story for another time. And so he that work was published postumously and called a cotish which means a sacred flame a sacred fire. So we're he's most famous for that work although in his lifetime the one work that was published in his lifetime which we're also going to learn from together today he was famed for a work known as Even though he was of course an Adorei, a a very very renowned and sought sought-after umic master and a master of of of wonders and and and miracle worker. He was also a renowned educator and he had a an educational system of khadarim within Warsa known as the yeshivas das Mosha. And literally young men would come from all over Poland to study in his khadarim. And he wrote a safer called which is basically meant for the bar mitzvah age talmud in who was you know progressing in his educational system. And it's a spiritual handbook a spiritual guide for growth in in rrook in spirituality and inidut in relation to kabala. And many of the concepts that the Rebi introduces in that book um for us as full-g grown adults are concepts that we struggle with and wrestle and grapple with. And when we when we realize and take a step back that he wrote this as his guide book for the young bar mitzvah age student, it kind of reminds us just how far our generations have fallen. But at any rate, we're going to learn from both of these works today. We're going to start with a short quote from the safer kadesh. Again, these are the words that the Reb some of the words that the Rebi shared on Shabasak 1940 in the war. And again, he's going to point to our garbat shabatim. And how do we understand our gamarra that if only the Jewish people would fully keep two shabbat they would immediately experience redemption? He says we're talking about two what are the two shabot we're talking about. The first shabas that we're talking about is what shabas itself. If every Jew in the world would just appreciate shabas we'll keep shabas. That's the first of the two shabat. And what's the second shabas? Listen to this idea. And the second is the aspect of shabas that we bring into the rest of the week. Yes, it's true. We have six days where we're allowed to do. Okay. But we also have the idea of a Shabbat Shabaton, a Sabbath of Sabbaths bet Shabbat. What are the two shabot that also during the six days of the week we have to bring some of the kaduca that we experience on shabas into the rest of the week. By the way, this is the sorcerer that we have in our family. There's a minute every when shabas ends all of us experience this at havdala. We light a candle, right? So what is that candle about? is about symbolically bringing the light of Shabas into the week. And we take it a step further in our family. Our min is we actually light candles from Malava Mala where we light from the from the Havdala candle. We light two candles to bring to to so that light stays with us a little bit as we start start our week that the light of Shabas stays with us so to speak for at least part of at least the opening of our week for those opening moments of our week. But the idea that the Rebi shares here is that whatever kaduca we're meant to feel on Shabas, we have to somehow allow that to trickle in and penetrate and transform our weak. And this says the rebets in the safer kadesh is the key to understanding. What does it mean that if only the Jewish people would keep fully keep two shabat immediately they experience redemption? It means that we have to keep Shabas and just as on Shabas we feel a loftier spirit. Our spirits are lifted. We feel a deeper connection to Shaolam. Somehow we have to take some of that same enthusiasm enrichment okay enlightened consciousness that we feel on Shabas and bring that into our week as well. And if we can do that says the PSI then what? We are redeeming our weak. We ex We are experiencing so to speak. We're transforming our reality. Okay, that's what he says in ishes. So a few years before this, again he wrote the in the 1920s. So a few years before this, is that better? Okay. I I started and asked, do I need this? Everyone said they could hear me, but okay. That was before the drilling. Okay. So now, now we're going to learn from the Rebi a few years earlier. Okay. This is what the Rebi says in the his handbook for students. Okay. Listen to the Reb's words. He says it's a Hashem gives us a recipe as Jews in terms of how we bring kadusha into the week. How we bring kadusha into every day. What's what does Hashem give us? He gives us shabas. Okay, which precedes the following week. And every Shabas we get that spiritual shot in the arm. Okay, we get an injection of kaduca hopefully if we do shabas right. Okay, if shabas is not just 25 hours of har of of hibernation and and shutting out the rest of the world but if we experience shabas as an opportunity of spiritual upliftment and fulfillment of feeling close to feeling close to one another which we're going to get to in a few moments. Okay. If we experience shas like it's meant to be experienced then that enthusiasm that that spiritual up that shot in the arm that we receive should really continue to stay with us says the rebi should be natural that it stays with us throughout the the the subsequent days of the week but the rebi asks you know what happens if it if for some reason I don't feel that during the rest of the week I have a good chabas okay we have a Shabas, we singos, we have controllants and and then comes Monday and and all that all that spiritual energy excitement that I felt is out is is out the is out the window. So the Rebi says, "No, the fact that Shabas repeats itself week after week after week gives us the opportunity what if at first you don't succeed, try again." Hashem gives us the gift of Shabas Kesh. Shabas kesh is the Mayan is the is the is the um the well wellspring there's a well emotional spiritual wellspring okay to bring that closeness to Hashem into our lives and if if and we get that we get an we get that infusion every single week with shabas kesh so if one week we'll take questions at the end if one week say even say that y is okay we'll take comments and questions at the end please If if one week I we don't feel that enthusiasm for whatever reason, the Rebi says don't be discouraged. Don't give up because why? Because in just a few days you can have Shabas again and you have the opportunity to to to get that to get that you know it's the booster shot right to get your spiritual booster. Okay. So says the says the kodes the two shabat that our gar is talking about is what the idea of shabas itself and the infusion of kadusha that we feel on shabas itself and the idea of bringing some of that infusion to penetrate to influence our entire week and redeem our entire week. That's how the petti learns zamar. Okay. So now we're going to take a step back a few generations. We're going to go back in time. We're going to learn from a a few earlier masters and masters of Jewish thought. And then we'll close with one last modern master to bring this all together. And that last modern master is not on your sheets, but I'll read it. Don't worry. Okay. So first we're going to go back in time to the bat. Okay. the the the the the made aliat to Israel in 1825 from Poland. He's settled in. He's buried there inat. He spent his last 10 years of his life invat. And uh he becomes a very very important personality in the religious life in the religious community invat in the 1800 in the 1900s 19th century 1800s. His big kanessa, by the way, you can still visit invat, the old city invadat, it's still in use. His banessa, there's a very powerful story connected to the famous earthquake in the 19th century that uh the day the earthquake was about to happen, the rebi of the rich got up in front of his and told everyone to gather around the iron kesh because something is going to happen. And they got gathered around the Rebby lean literally leaning against the iron kesh and the rest of the walls of the shul tumbled in the earthquake and the wall with the iron kesh still stands today is still standing and the that sh's now been restored but there's a plaque which anytime you visit it in fat tells that story of the ban having that prophetic vision and saving the Jewish community those that were domining together with him from the walls falling. during the earthquake invat. Okay. So the bad has a different interpretation of our gamarra. This is this is the third text on the second side of our sheets. This is what our ouruding. [Music] If only the Jewish people would fully observe two shabatas were meant to we would immediately be redeemed. What does it mean? What are the two Shabbat? This what is it? What does that mean? That expression. Okay, that is the idea of Shabbat in thought and the idea of Shabbat in our speech. Okay. And that is that just as Shabas is a day of kaduca and tahara. Okay. What are the two aspects of Shabas that we're meant to bring forth from the experience of Shabas Kesh and bring into every day of our lives, every moment of our lives? What are the aspects of kaduca that we should feel on Shabas that are meant to carry over, okay, and trickle down into every aspect of our life. It's that our thoughts should be holy and pure and that our speech should be holy and pure. on Shabas. Okay. When we shut out the rest of the world, I think all of us do a much better job in terms of focusing on Torah and on file and on and on um singing together as a family and as a community. All those things happen on Shabas in a much more profound and powerful way and vivid way than they do during the rest of the week. Okay? And certainly when we're sitting around the Shabas table and we're conversing, we're sharing Torah with one another. We're being kind to one another. Okay. The way we use the or our speech on Shabas, okay, I imagine for probably come out all of us is considerably different than how we might use theore during the rest of the week. So says the Rebi of what does it mean if only the Jewish people would keep to Shabbat, they would experience redemption? says the rebi of the rich, "If only the Jewish people would take from Shabas this idea of having holy and pure thoughts at all times of reading our minds of all impure and inappropriate thoughts and also elevating our speech of take for Shabas the idea of appropriate speech of using the get the speech to say kind things to share Torah to inspire one another. If only we could do that, then we'd be worthy to be redeemed and to experience complete and may be will says the reb. What a beautiful, beautiful short teaching for the bay. The idea that shabas Similar to what the Rebi of PSA said, the idea that Shabas becomes the wellspring from which we can transform every moment of our lives. The spiritual in injection that we get on Shabas should transform and elevate everything that we do. Okay. So now we're gonna go back another century, a century and a half to the end of the 17th century to the bre the shalah kesh. The kadesh of course was the ra was born in Prague. At one point he becomes the chief rabbi of Prague. He was a great makubal. He made aliyah in his later years. um first at then in Tavaria and of course he's buried in Tavaria not far from the Rambam where the Ram's resting places in Tavaria and the Kadesh is going to speak about our verse this which was Rifka's question why specifically [Music] and listen to what he says here because it's very interesting you shall kindle no flames in any of your drawing places on the day of Shabbat. Listen to this beautiful idea. What is the fling that the Torah is reiterating at this moment again? Mosha's gathered together the entire community and then he instructs them to keep chabas and the example of keeping chabas is so says the why specifically kindle no flames not just physically kindle no flames but specifically you shall refrain from kindling any flame of controversy lack of unity and anger on shabas Shabas is the day of kadusha. Okay. The Jewish people are spared from the flames of ganam on the day of Shabas. Shabas is a 160th of the world to come. On Shabas we theoretically if we go into Shabas, understand Shabas and experience Shabas as we're meant to. We're spared from the flames of Gahanu. And therefore, we don't want to do anything that messes up that reality. And how can we mess up that reality? God forbid by what? Getting angry at one another, causing controversy, having a lack of unity, split, rupture in the community. All these things, these tragic things that can divide us and bring us down. And therefore, says the shalah, He says, "And if if someone does get angry and God forbid cause a a split in the community, a controversy, an argument on Shabis, then they could make themselves and us collectively susceptible to the flames of heaven of of of God forbid." So says, What are the two thing? What is what what is this idea of not kindling a flame on chabas? It's the same idea of appreciating the the elevation of spiritual consciousness that we can experience in Shabas Kesh and allow that not only to penetrate our existence on Shabas but to what to bring that into the rest of the week and transform ourselves to being more what I'll call heightened and more aware spiritually aware human beings and of the ash. Okay, we're now going to jump ahead back to the back to the end of the 18th century. Okay, the early 19th century to the Rebi of Chernobyl of Chernobyl. And he is going to once again bring this back to this idea of if only we kept two Shabbat, we'd immediately be redeemed. This is the last text on your sheets, but and then we have one more text that's not on your sheets that I'll share with you to bring this all together. Okay, there's two Shabbat two concepts of Shabas that we have to experience and bring into our week. The first is the idea related to Shabas is that what six days you're meant to work. Okay. What does that mean? That six days we're meant to toil at the proverbial mishkan. Okay, which means six days of the week we're not exempt from spirituality ris during six days of the week. What? Six days of the week we're meant to do everything we're meant to be doing physically to build the structure of the Mishkan. Okay. In order to sustain Jewish life. So during the six days of the week, we uplift Jewish life. We lift our consciousness so to speak by doing physical acts. Anything we need to do physically. So that's the first of the bet. And the second of the beta is shabas itself. Why? Because what does shabas bring? is Shabas itself. Okay, that island in time that that sacred transformational experience that we call Shabas kesh, okay, that the late man began as we began the classman says was so fundamental to our identity as a people. He says that's something we can never let go of. If we can combine these two factors, the physical sustenance of the world that we do during the six days of the week and understand that whatever physical activity we do during the six days of the week are meant to be a vehicle for us to improving the world and sustaining the world and being a partner with okay to you know to quote the quote of Kahhati Kahhati in his commentary on the Mishna Pyavos. We know all know the Mishna made on three things three pillars the world stands through Torah through a and through acts of loving kindness. So most of the Mishna translate the word aod as meaning what the aod and the mikdash okay without without means. So Rkahhati says no. Ravkhati says what's the avo actual physical labor like harvesting and pruning trees. He says when we do that we are a partner with a bar in the ongoing process of ma of sustaining and improving and creating the world. And therefore during the six days of the week, says the Moray, says the Rebi Chernobyl, okay, we the work that we do physically during those six days, which is why the Torah tells us, okay, and reiterate six days you shall work and then if the Torah told us, you know, you have a Sabbath and that's where you stop working. Why does the Torah tell us six days you shall do work? So says the Morin, the Chernobyl Rebi, he says, because it's what do we do with those six days? Okay. How do we understand this idea that we're allowed to do physical activity in Ma? Okay. That physical activity is meant to be viewed as our opportunity to partner with the rebon in sustaining and maintaining everything that exists in creation. And then comes Shabas and Shabas. Okay. If if the six days of the week are all about about gosh is physicality, Shabas is all about what? Spirituality. Okay. recharging our nishas, feeling close to feeling invigorated in the sacred tasks ahead. And this says the are the two aspects of shabas related to shabas, okay, that the can talk about and that the garamar talks about that we if we could only get it right, we would immediately experience redemption. So just to bring this all together, just to bring this all together, we're now going to learn from one last modern master who's not on our sheets and that is the niv the rebi of the rebi. He is a shawah bazowski was his name. He was a shawah who died in the year 2000. So he's a pretty contemporary master. He makes aliyah in the 1940s together with his father, his family and his father-in-law. The birkas of the birkram is the previous and the wasat decimated in Poland. They came together with a few dozen remaining and together they rebuild the here first and then also branching out to Ben. And when the Liot when Shalom first comes in Ali, he comes to serve as the Roshish Shiva of the Slimer Yeshiva which today has thousands of students and he was the Rashish Shiva who built up that institution. And in 1981 upon the passing of his father-in-law the birram he becomes the the rebloum he is perhaps of the contemporary modernic masters one of the most well-known and beloved his farm shalom are can be found came out in every b midrash every synagogue we have them here in this synagogue both here and downstairs as well um largely because he wrote and spoke in very very easy to understand Hebrew and therefore they're very accessible and he makes lofty concepts accessible to the hamon. So we're just going to read I'm just going to read a few lines and translate as we go from a larger a longer mammar a longer teaching from the parake and these are his words. This is how we can understand our opening that we began with that that Moshe gathered together the entire Jewish people to instruct them about the laws of Shabas. Okay. Again following why Shabas that they should specifically gather together on Shabas. Okay. It's a mandate for us for all generations something we're meant to fulfill to gather together as a community on Shabas. The advice that Hashem gives to Moshe to enter the Jewish people after the after the terrible transgression of the golden calf is what is the instruction of Moshe to gather together the entire community as one that they should gather together on Shabas as one heart one person with one heart. And this is the what will sustain the Jewish people in all circumstances. And this is just to explain this is the this is the unique important idea that brings and shares with the Jewish people when he comes down from the mountain. Okay. He gathers them all together as one that Hashem will always have compassion and forgive and sustain the Jewish people when we are united as one. Shabas is what reminds us of the fundamental of a what sustains the Jewish people, what protects the Jewish people? The idea of being united together of share of a shared destiny, of a shared sense of purpose, of a shared concern for one another, coming together as one. And therefore therefore just to bring this all together. Okay, Shabas is indeed a day of a spiritual recharge and and it's an opportunity for us to get that that that that booster shot and bring that energy and that closeness that we feel with Hashem to the rest of the week. But perhaps more importantly says the son of and this last few lines that we just learned together now in addition to that that closest we feel with the reon shalom that we're meant to feel on shabas that has to carry over to the rest of the week. What's more important or or equally important the closest we're meant to feel with one another and towards one another that we can sometimes feel on shabas when we're sitting and having you know that you shall cook with a nice pickle at the kdish after den. But it's not enough to just experience that octas while we're having our us and that pickle after dening. We have to bring that value into every single moment of the week. And if we can do that, says the son of not only is that the greatest shamir, the greatest protection that we as the Jewish people have, it will be the opportunity for us to experience gula as we learn from our kazal here at some. May we take to heart, may we merit to take to heart all these beautiful ideas, to understand the gift that is Shabas Kodesh, to understand the opportunity that Shabas Kesh gives us every single week to remind ourselves to not only refresh and reinvigorate our relationship with Hashem, but to refresh and reinvigorate our relationship with one another, our concern for one another. And we indeed to experience the protection that comes from the sacred aus that we experience on Shabas and that we be zoka to carry that over into the rest of our week and to experience the gula that is just around the corner. If indeed we can lift our consciousness to this heightened level of unity