Understanding Selichot - Rabbi Yossi Goldin

um what I wanted to do today as as we've mentioned the last couple of weeks is that this class of thers and opportunities at times of the year to focus on uh parts of the year and aspects um of specifically connected to the time of year so last week we talked a little bit about read the that we say during L and what I wanted to do today was talk about was to talk about the of as many of us know s is the that is specific to or mostly associated with the time of the year before leading up to rash and Yip those of us who are have begun to say already ones as will be will will be beginning on Shabbat and continuing them through through um are also said it should be noted are not just said during this time of day they're also said on Fast days throughout the year but that's often because again the fast days take on take on a certain type of uh theme that is really connected to what talking about now which is the theme of chuva that is that is unique to this time of the year so what I wanted to do today was just to try to um understand and do a little bit of a deep dive into s themselves the first thing I want to do is try to understand um where the minhag came from the idea of saying during all of where did the come from to start where did the develop that we start on the Shabbat before rashash and less rashash is less than four days before and Le less than four days after Shan we start the week before where did all of that where does all of that come from to understand um the Minh of and perhaps some meaning behind that Minh and then I want hope as as well depending how much time we have is to highlight a number of themes um that come up in this Le understanding a little bit of the structure of this and then developing a couple of themes that we that we find in this um so and I again I apologize I'm still a little bit under the weather but uh definitely better than last week so I hope you can hear me a little bit better okay so um in order to understand the history or understand the where the minhag developed we have to really we'll start with the rambam now the rambam um quotes here in sources one and two quotes he one of many Reed him who quote that the truth is that the Min to say the the initial to say was to begin saying rash and from rash to yur that was initially the time when were generally said which makes a lot of sense that's a specific time period you made CH as you see here in Source number one the r this is a well-known Ram Source number one even though and shouting to hasem are things that are always appropriate the time period there is a special concept of and what he calls shouting to and it will be much more accept accepted as the says that you should search out for hasem when he can be found and as we've mentioned that's according to Kaz that's a reference to a certain time period where you should search atasham at a time when he is closer which as we mentioned last week is generally considered to be a time of el or specifically a time between Rashana and and yum kipur and therefore U at least the ram is hinting to excuse me the uniqueness of the time period between rashash and yum kipur the ram in the next per uh in Source number two elaborates upon this idea of the unique opportunity between rashash and yum kipur and again this is some of this is a well-known Ram you may be familiar with says the ra even though the idea of blowing chaar on rash is a meaning we don't necessarily know the reason it is a decree by the Torah there is a hint that we can try to understand to understand why would have us blow the what could be that hint the idea perhaps says the ra one of the main ideas of thear is that it's like an alarm clock it's like that alarm clock where we're we're deep in Slumber all of a sudden out of nowhere boo you hear that alarm clock go off and you're looking and you're like I can't believe it's morning already okay right so the same thing is here we're sleeping sing We are proverbially sleeping and the chauffeur comes to tell us wake up everybody wake up wake up from your Slumber recognize that you you've been living life as if you're in a days and wake up from your sleep and do chuva so says the rabam that's one of the main ideas behind the chaar is that it is meant to you know to jolt us a little bit like that alarm clock to wake up from just the regular day of uh regular dayto day continues the ra these are the people who forget about the reality that they waste their time and they spend all of their years dealing or working on things that are not as as meaningful I apologize those who are coming in I The Source sheets are at the edge there so I I'm sorry maybe we should just have her if you can bring them out and she can just have them so when people come in uh she can give them at the it's probably best for her to just give them at the at the desk there so that way people don't come in and but the they're over here sorry these These are the Sheets if you don't mind just bringing the rest to her so that she can thank you that way I don't have to keep stopping um theau tells us look at yourselves look at your souls look at where you're going and you should leave your bad path and you should move away from anything that is not considered good again I'm reading this even though this is lot is relevant for this we'll see why it's relevant for this but I think it's also a powerful reminder for all of us continues the therefore this is a very very important line a little bit of a scary line says the ra every person should see himself as if he is in a situation where right now he has 5050 50% 50% merits and 50% 50% where he is guilty and wrote not only should you see yourself as that but you should see the your situation as if the entire world is hanging in the balance right now where the entire world is 5050 versus a okay and if you do one this is how we should see ourselves we should have we should see it a personal responsibility that we have the ability to tip the scale for the entire world and if we do one sin we might tip that scale in a negative way if you do one Mitzvah instead of doing one a then you have the opportunity to TI the scale in a positive way says the r we each need to see ourselves as we approach as if we every action we do impacts our own reality and also impacts the rest the rest of the world because we're all part of this entire this entire world what does it mean that is the foundation of the world it means what does it mean he's the foundation of the world that through his actions he was able to tip the scale tip the scales of the world into positive favor and now this is the important part for us we're three lines from the bottom halfway in the halfway in because of the severity and the seriousness of these days of the is that we have a special Focus from we have a special Focus where we add more we try to do better Deeds we we're involved in Li T and in mitv because of how serious of a time this is therefore the has become for us to continue to do more to build more continues the ra and there's to get up in the middle of the night and then there is a as part of this theme of continuing to build our for ourselves in the world the was that during people would get up in the middle of the night and they would say extra and D all the way until sunrise okay so this is the this is really the initial concept of saying and as we see from the ram it really was meant to be between because these are the most serious days and that's where began however as many of us are familiar as we get now move on to Source number three by the time we get to the our practically we see that the Min has expanded the has expanded not just between but rather earlier either from or from the before R look at source number three says we have the says to get up very early in the morning refers to the last right right before right before his Sunrise to from so that's the and is obviously the source for the who generally follow they get up from from fromes continues the in the the smaller print in Source number three but those of us who are we don't start from we do begin by blowing theau that we do begin after even in although I've never seen that before but we generally AR get to blow far after not at night and we begin not but rather the the Sunday R begins on Monday or Tuesday which means we don't have the four days to say before R then we begin a week before okay so we have here this is the and that's the source for the ashaz now there's a joke that is very commonly said imagine many of you have heard that the reason why the have to say so much longer is because they need to get forgiveness for eating kitney on P I'll let us decide whether or not and whether or not it's worth it I'll let you all decide whether it's worth it to be able to eat K on PES and then have to get up in that but but either way that is that is the Minh now the question is again where did this come from where did it come from what's the idea behind D behind saying or the Asim starting right before so look at the Mish and the Mish already begins to explain this the first thing the Mish outlines is why the Min is to do it at night why is the Minag specifically at night whether it's either in the middle of the night by or the man have is very very early in the morning meaning towards the end of the night why is that the time that we try to say so the M Source number four Begins by explaining that he says why specifically the end of the night or the night time okay calistic level it's understood I don't I think that's just an internal thing in the sh I don't think that's a would it would be much louder if we had anything to worry about okay that the end of the night is when is shot literally means I think it means hovers in this world from a cabalistic perspective and it's considered to be an eight ratone a time a very special time for us to be able to do in and that's why generally either midnight or sometime from Midnight until the morning it's considered to be the best time to do and the truth is that back as I understood it the communities used to really do it only at midnight or very early in the morning I think now what we would call we generally have find it much harder to be able to do that uh there are still many communities nowadays that will only D at or very early in the morning and the idea being to push themselves and to and to use this time to really even if it means you're going to be a little bit more tired to push yourself however there are many people who just simply can't keep to that schedule uh they're they're unable to and therefore the mug has become to DAV in even a little bit a little bit a little bit later in the morning or some some have the mug to have it earlier in the evening every sh U Can should follow whatever uh whatever the rav of their Community decides but it's definitely clear that the better time for those who are able to which is why I think also many communities specifically the first night of Mo Shabbat they try to do it is that is midnight or or very early in the morning is definitely the most ideal time for those who are able to to do that as long as it doesn't disrupt their their their main schedule continues the the why why a whole month before says the okay so says the miss says a relatively common idea I'm sorry exactly oh thank you you're right there is another meaning after another okay so says thank you so says Mish the reason is because of the history when was the first the first was the time whenu after went back up to it ordered what sh atonement okay as many of us may be familiar we had the Torah was given on V okay according to the tradition on the 17th of the T was when Moshe came down with the and when committed and therefore from there were 40 days from when was still as we would call it angry at there was no opportunity to achieve atonement says to MOS come back up and Moshe goes back up and during these 40 days fromes until Yip are considered to be or really the initial atone this is the first time in a serious way the Jewish nation has sinned and is able to achieve a certain level of forgiveness now it's important to know and to understand that during those 40 days it wasn't clear were we going to attain it forgiveness or not me these 40 days were 40 that from the perspective of am Israel there was a lot of pressure there was a lot of stress mosha is going up he's saying I'm going to try to achieve atonement I'm going to do my best to speak to on your behalf and for 40 days am Isel I guess again if I had to paint the picture are a little bit as we would call they're under stress they're under pressure is Moshe going to be successful in achieving that atonement and for those 40 days Moshe DAV to a and as we know on Yip finally says I forgive them and mosu comes down and that's why Yip is known as the that's why Y is our day of atonement our day of forgiveness because the the the F the first time that that was achieved after and in order to commemorate this 40-day period says the miss this is what many of the say that's why many people have the Min hug to start fromes because these 40 days commemorate that time when mosha achieved achieved forgiveness if we want to take it a step further I think we can even add that the number 40 in the world of kazal and in the world of is also very significant and very often signifies a sense of rebirth or Recreation where do we know the number 40 in Al a baby exactly a baby is considered Hally to be considered a a creation or they considered to be Hally valid after day 40 where else did we see day where else did we see 40 Mal malot excellent I never thought about that one that's an interesting one that's an interesting one although it's it's 39 it's not 40 but but but where else supposed to be it's 40 but we we do 39 where where else do we see 40 in in Jewish history 40 days of what 40 days of SPH excellent well 49 days of SPH but 40 days of what rain good when for the exactly Noah when God recreated the world it rained for 40 days okay very good any connection to 40 4 night the MOs I'm sorry the again the same idea the 40 days of Moshe going up to Hari was again to recreate our relationship with a okay so the concept of 40 in the world of and in the world of is a concept of recreation and therefore I think patterned after that is this idea of s for 40 days the idea of s for 40 days on an individual level is representing indiv a Recreation on an individual level of the person and trying to again achieve that level that level of excuse me um oh just one more that I just forgot to mention another one another one with 40 is a Mika okay 40 is the am of water is the amount of water you need to create a mikah and a Mikvah of course is also a symbol of recreation is also a symbol of renewal so all of these are within the same theme of chuva being a process of renewal and 40 days making making a lot of sense and that's the source for 40 days before um just just the Misha even adds on it's just interesting to see we we did a little bit of some play on words last week as well if we continue in the Misha The Source we were just reading the second line the last word there's even a hint to this as many of us know that the phrase the first letter of each one spells out what excellent that I knew most of us didn't know and this I only saw when I saw this m soot if you take the last letter of each of those words well if you want to try to spell it out it'll be but if you actually take the gatria of it o it actually is 40 it represents the 40 days from because this is the time when we can now come closer to and achieve this this level of chuva okay so that is the is to begin on because of the concept of excuse me of when MOS went up what about the Asik that many of us start on on Shabbat where do that come from so look at source number five here the Mish again gives a couple of explanations Source number five says the says the okay so this is an interesting explanation says says M it's a practical idea why four days because the truth is says the M according to this according to this explanation really it's only supposed to be from rash Kipper we're not supposed to have it earlier however and many people by the way he quotes he notes have the minhag to fast during all of a there are some people who have that Minh it's an old old ancient minhag however there are four days during a that even if you have the to fast you're not allowed to fast which are two days of rash one day of Y all fasting one day of Shabbat and Y there a you're not allowed to fast because of those four days that a person is not able to fast if he wanted to so therefore says the Misha we have to have those four days before R where we add and we add we add those who want to fast can fast and we also begin to say okay a very practical answer interesting and then he says well then why do we start always on Sunday why is always so says the in order to make it easy to remember otherwise you can get very confusing miss when whenever Russ to in order to just make it easy we always know we start on on Sunday okay so the Miss Bru starts with a very practical answer it's really just to make up for and in order to make it easier for us to keep track of things but then he gives another suggestion and he says the following we're in the third line in the middle of the line why four days there is a that when a person is going to bring a Corban to the he was supposed to check it over the course of four days Okay this may be familiar to us actually from the time the first the P when a person had to separate it earlier on and then on the 10 the 10th he would separate and then and then between the 10th and the 14th of Nissan was when the 14th was when he brought the Corban but you had to set it aside for 4 days in order to separate in order to check it to make sure that there is no blemish because it is assur to bring a a corbon with a blemish on to the to the B mikash have to set aside more than one in there was aish it's an interesting question you mean you mean you mean for for you mean for a Oh you mean for a COR for a corbon that had to be run on a specific time that's an interesting question I wonder I don't know or it could just be that you you set aside that because then you could also say which we say by in of ourself meaning meaning you have to separate so I guess what I guess I would I would suggest I don't know which would be that you separated one and you do the proper and if you get stuff then you have to do a quicker Bika uh if you have to bring it by a certain time that's a good question I don't know I don't know and then you're supposed to bring in you're supposed to bring them as says the there's a way there's a difference in the way that the Torah describes the Corban that was brought on rash and was brought generally and that's to show says the mishna to show that really on R the Corban isn't to bring the Corban it's to bring yourself that on R sh we're meant to be bringing ourselves to a as a show of dedication and therefore just like a Corban needs to get checked for four days before it is brought we on r as we bring ourselves we come to and say we want to Ren our relationship with you we want to develop our relationship with you we want to have we want to have this time with you we need to spend four days checking ourselves doing a proper we would call aik to make sure to go through our Mido to go through who we are in order to do a proper search and that's why says the miss the Min is four days before you need a minimum of four you can always do more you want to spend more time developing yourself you want to spend more time checking yourself you certainly can I'm sure if somebody wanted to spend more time checking the the corbon they could although I'm sure that it wouldn't be you know you shouldn't go crazy okay but at the same time the idea being we have to have at least four days where we are checking ourselves before we bring ourselves to Ros to Ros so that is that is the opinion of the miss the reason why we have why we have these four days is e why we always start at least four days before rash is either because he said because to make up for the four days during a when a person is not allowed to fast or because we are similar to a Corban who's coming in front of and in order to show that we are doing that we need to have four days where we check ourselves we begin with with but there's another explanation that is given by some of Mion that I'd like to explore with you and this begins uh in Source number seven with a fascinating and very important question that the Ron one of the Reon asks regarding rosashana okay this is Source number seven a little bit of a long one we're going to see it we'll go through it together but um he asks a lot of he asks a very important question and gives two very important answers both of which will help he then uses to discuss the the question the ran begins with is why r why Al right we have a mishna the mishna says that on R sh everybody on Al everybody all men are judged all men and women are judged says the Miss says thean why then of all the days of the year why specifically does it make sense that R sh Al that's the day that decides to judge us why not a different day of the year where where does this come from and he goes on to explain how the other parts of the when when God judges for rain or when God judges the trees he says we can judge justify the dates that are given they seem to fit in with the overall theme of the seasons R why where does it come from where why Al that's the question the Ron asks in Source number seven why is he a man judged why are men judged on rash more than other days of the year means it makes sense excuse me he says it makes sense the other sins when it comes to grain when it comes to payro to fruit when it comes to water the seasons fit in with when judges us they all fit in with their Seasons That's the time that's appropriate for them but why is it that for man what's the relevance what's what's the connection answers the a beautiful answer we're on the third line about five words in right after the question mark he we have this we have a mish that tells us that what day of when when was the World created the world was created on the 25th of el according to the opinion of rebbi elzar okay now just to go back with there's the famous M between Reb elzar and Reb Yeshua when was the World created was the World created in the month of Tish or was the World created in the month of Nissan says thean the answer is it wasn't created on either of them we have to re understand this m because the truth is according to Reb elzar the world wasn't created under the one the first of of Tish it was actually created on the 25th of el wait a second if it was created on the 25th of el so why does the mishna say that according to rezar was created on the first of Tish exactly so continues the the the r here when when we have this mishna where razar claims the first of TSH what it meant was not that the world was created on the first of Tish the purpose of the world was created on the first of Tish who and what is the purpose of the world Mankind and so according to this understanding according to this midashim the world was created on the 25th of Tish at least within the opinion of rabie elazar the world was created on the 25th of Tish Man was created on the sorry 25th of el excuse me 25th of el and Man was created on day six which is the first of tishri now says Iran now we can understand why God judges us on the first of Tish and he quotes a medis we're not going to see it inside where he B the medis says that that man was created on the 1 of Tish and was judged on that day ad Marisha was judged where God basically said I want to see how you're going to do and a following that initial judgment ofar on the first Al every single year who now looks at man and says this is the anniversary of your creation this is the anniversary of when you were created and therefore God judges us judges mankind every single day every single year yes excellent so you're saying what does judgment actually mean on that day that's a very good question no no it's a very good question again again we don't we don't know 100% what the midash means judgment in that sense might simply mean God was basically giving him his command it's it's it's a medish which basically talks about how every single hour different than happen so it's it's a funny midash meaning it's hard to understand the the literal point of the V I don't know if it means he was judged in terms of his past actions it could be that what God was basically when we say judge at that point it just it was more like giv his command given given his mission but in commemoration of that God then judges us every single every single year it's a good it's a good question uh please like search about the way is looking for us the other way excellent well one of the things we've talked we talked a little bit about this last week specifically when it comes to is that that's the beauty of what this month is about meaning when are we supposed to search for Hashem when he's closest to us there's there there's a there's a there's a there's a Synergy going on here meaning very often the most powerful types of reconciliations and and and and relationships can be can be can be recreated reconciled is when both is when both parties are looking for that and so we discussed last week the the concept of God's in the field so he's closer to us than he has been before and then this is the most opportune time for us to then search him out uh as opposed to when he's sitting on his throne that's also an important time but it's a lot harder and therefore it's it's the POS ofua as I understand it is meant to be this is your opportunity this is when it's easiest to be able to connect to and therefore take advantage of that opportunity look for Hashem when he can be found as opposed to when he can't be found but that's doesn't mean you can you can't you can't search him when when it's harder it's easier now and that's why the Torah the p is is encouraging us it's kind of what we talked about how we sayem says we say bring us back and then we'll come back andm says to us you come to me and I'll come to you there's there's this there's this there needs to be this this Mutual Synergy of the two of them coming together and meeting and meeting as as it were as it were halfway okay so so what we see here so according so says the ran this is why we're judged on the first on the first of Tish we're judged on the first of Tish because this is when Man was created and just like every year I used to have I used to have a good friend of mine and I don't know if he still does this who told me that every year he and his wife and then they they were Newly Weds when they did this I don't know if they still do it every year on their anniversary they would sit down besides having time to go out they would talk about their goals and their aspirations and whether they were continuing to live both P individually and together in what they had been trying to achieve right when you when you celebrate something or when you celebrate the creation of something or the beginning of something that's an opportune time to assess where am I how am I doing in that in that relationship in that so the same thing is here kesu basically says I am coming and judging you now I created you on rash and every single year I'm now sitting and looking and looking at this creation and judging the creation okay and but again recognizing that now according to this the first of Tish is obviously the day when AES created man but when dides actually create the world the 25th of so look at the underlined part in Source number seven um okay this is just repeating what we just said just like God judged the first day that he was created he also said to them I'm now going to continue to judge you every single year when is this on the seventh day on day seven sorry on the seventh month the first day that's why it makes sense that that is the day of judgment Contin the next underlined part says the and that's where the now came that we don't just look at Al as an important date there's another important date the day that God created the world and the Min became the 25th of Elo and that is a Min that some places had to start saying six days before rash not four days before rash six before to commemorate the fact that God created the world on on on on on K thean then continues and says this is all nice and good but this only fits in according to the opinion of Rabbi elzar we generally pass in like reab Yeshua that the world was created on in Nissan not an El so then according to that why do why do you have to say s earlier and he actually points out that's on the bottom here that many because of that many Kil don't say before before cha so the ran gives a couple of different opinions here but what the ran has added for us is why do we another another suggestion to why do we start a few days before rashash it's not just about having four days to check the Corban it's not just to make up for a Chua it's to connect us more to this time the six days of creation God created the world on the 25th of el and therefore we begin s close to the date the date doesn't work out perfectly in Barcelona they started on the 25th but that's part again to why we begin a few days before Ros and not just start the on on Ros World correct according to this understanding firstar January okay okay middle ah so what did we say meaning I think I think I think what you're saying is I think if if I understand what you're asking you're saying why why is it why why don't we why isn't why didn't God create on rashash Shana basically or why don't we celebrate so what what did we what did we explain because the world was created on the 25th but what's the most important creation 25th of el correct so what what yes when when when the one when the world was cre again so again let's let's take a step back what the dates were when the world was actually created I can't tell you but when now in our calendar if we had to pick on our we're using our calendar to identify certain things correct I don't I don't I don't have an answer to what the date was back then back then what was it was it called I don't know what it was called but we've identified as the time when the world was created because we're not our calendar isn't based on the creation of the world our calendar is based on whatever whatever whatever's been established okay and so right now we're just was when was when the world was created Al Tish is when is when is when is when rash is and that's why we have we have rashash so that so that's we've explained why we have why we have a few days before rash the other question we have to that that hasn't been addressed is okay that's nice that explains a few days but there's another aspect to it it's not only a few days before it's also always has to be on a Sunday Shabbat where does that come from where does that come from so we saw the Mur Road practical reason that that's because it makes it easier for us to calculate okay but you know what in case you haven't noticed there's a lot of things in Jewish in Judaism that aren't necessarily meant to be totally user friendly if there's got to be something more than just like oh we wanted to organize this okay there a lot of things that we don't organize there's something more there's something more happening so so the source number seven I just quote very briefly the the vitri which is the a student of Rashi one of the famous students of Rashi he just mentions that there was a Minh the very end of his of his of his statement the idea was somehow to connect have Mo Shabbat go into these into this it's not about Sunday per se even though it ends up being Sunday it's much more about M Shabbat now what could it be I don't know but what I've heard suggested is that what we're doing is we're trying to tap into the the the the the spirituality of M Shabbat okay many of us are familiar M Shabbat is a time where Shabbat has ended and what we're trying to do through havah through through the time the time of Mo Shabbat is to take the Holiness take the meaningfulness that we've we've achieved on M through from Shabbat and bring that into the week it's a very opportune time to begin the process of checking ourselves before rashash thinking about things before it's to take the take the spirituality of Shabbat and channel that into the preparation for Ros and so we have the idea of four days we have the idea of M Shabbat and they all are different reasons but the the the sum total is it's all about trying to set up a certain mindset and a certain mentality as we approach R if you look at source number eight in the in the art school they connect both of these ideas in a beautiful way and I'm want to read this to you and with this we'll we'll end our first section trying to just explore the the history of this says uh Source number eight according to this comment it would seem that the purpose of s is nothing less than to remind us within our hearts and and Minds that we must recreate the pristine state of the beginning of creation meaning why is this idea we all talked about how it's because we want to recreate the day of creation the 25th of el why is it important to recreate so we could talk about that that's the beginning of the world and we're recreating ourselves but there's something more here that they point to which I think is very meaningful when God created the world it was clear CLE that there was only one power in the universe and that everything from the mightiest galaxy to the tiniest Gat owed its existence to him alone the song of the day of Sunday which was sung in the temple by the Levites which we recite in our Sunday morning prayers is Hashem is the world and it and and its fullness because as the talud explains on that day God created heaven and earth and manifested his sole sovereignty over the universe when one recognizes that reality there is no place for sin sin is caused by self-deception as the tal puts it no one sins unless the spirit of foolishness enters him if someone recognize without a doubt that there is no power or Master but the one God that only he gives the breath of life and the strength to exist and that no deed goes unrecorded and unrequitted by him it would be impossible for one to sin unless one were struck by an attack attack excuse me of lunacy meaning if we really understood that everything we do we would never sin so where does sin come from we lose that awareness we lose that sensitivity we don't think about it we're l aware of it on the first day of creation when God's omnipotence was indisputable sin was inconceivable and by beginning to recite s on that day the Jew attempts to reopt that Primal conviction and then he continues a little bit later connecting it to M Shabbat as the Torah and the stages stress the Shabbat the culmination of the six days of creation Bears witness that God is the creator so the Shabbat like the 25th of el focuses our attention on the beginning of time and reinforces our responsibility and it is hoped our resolve to do our share in making the world what it was intended to be for the Jew is called upon to make the world a better place and the primary way for him to begin is by making himself a better person Judaism teaches that an individual being is a microcosm of the universe one's primary duty is to perfect that Universe his personal one before moving on to the change and to change the rest of society the Confluence of the shabas and the first day of creation shed night on what the SOS are meant to and can accomplish they are to create a new world to provide a new rest in place for God's presence to prepare us for the day that we pray will bring the Fulfillment of the prophecies for the coming of Messiah and the end and the end of days and so the the the author here I forget I apologize I don't remember who it was I I'll try to uh make sure to add it next time points out beautifully how it's not just a connection of oh God created the world and mo shabas there are deep there's a deep idea here of what we're trying to accomplish by beginning our on a Shabbat tapping into the and the knowledge of Oneness from Shabbat also the four days preparing ourselves like a Corban connected to the 25th of el the day that God created the world we're trying to remind ourselves of what this is all about of what everything is all about and how is the creator which is the main thing we're talking about on R has is the m is the king we'll talk about that next week and the way we do that is by tapping into all the different themes that we've discussed and that is why we as ashim begin this excuse me on uh on Mo Shabbat four days or at least four days before before rash okay so that that was part one what we're going to do today was to try to understand the history of this Le where it comes from and why we do it the way the way that we do it now what I if we had more time what I would have loved to do and we're not going to do it now but I encourage you to try to do this is to is to is to help try to go through the structure of this Leo I find that at least for myself until I started to study this s are very hard some are a little bit hard to connect to on the one hand and we know that there are certain F love that we say all we say often and we're familiar many of us are familiar with those words but the rest of it is hard to understand there's puim that are hard to understand what when do we jump from we say Pim and then we say puim and then we do this and then we do that and it's it and and very often especially if the are a little bit quick so the t is jumping from one thing to the next relatively quickly and it's important to understand that there is a structure to to the U that the are a combination of from the Torah um the primary aspect of this is of course the which which we're going to discuss in a little bit detail um now because that's the most authentic that was created and written and commanded by in in aside from that there's a number of over that are meant to encourage us to to do to do chuva and of course there's the Pim what are known as the the were not not from the Torah they're not Pim they were written over the course of Jewish history Capt caping similar to the keynote onab that are meant to capture our emotions and encourage and to put us in the right framework of excuse me of doing chuva and so I the the the ability to gain something from the will only work if we really understand what we're saying and so showing up to this s and just opening up the book and expecting ourselves to fully connect to it without really understanding what we're saying is very so I would definitely encourage those of us who can to get an English if you can remember that certainly during the part where they're reading the peim or they're reading this if you don't understand what you're saying you can even read it in English or read it a little bit slower okay because the goal of these peim is is to create a certain emotion is to is to is to is to evoke a certain sense of chuva and if we're just reading it without understanding what we're saying then it makes it harder to do so and so I I would have loved to have time to just go through and say and really explain what we're doing we don't have time for that I want to highlight one or two of the main parts of this Le that I think are important of course the most authentic part of this which many of us are familiar with is what's known as the 13 attributes of mercy and and these are the words now where do these words come from so if you look at source number nine we see where this comes from these words are from the Torah themselves and in fact these are these are the only words the only that is actually authored and commanded by a k himself okay getting back to set the tone we talked about M Moshe do that should forgive is and then mosha does something very very interesting almost I would say challenging mosha then says toh again we're not going to do the whole conversation back and forth but mosha realizes that he's beginning to achieve a certain level of atonement for the nation and mosha gets a little mosha says to God show me your ways he starts he realizes he's getting he's making inroads and God is listening to him and then he starts say I want to understand this I want to understand your ways I want to understand how you work I want to understand how the world Works tell me more Andes responds by basically saying no one can really understand my ways and live no human being can ever fully understand my ways and we have this whole idea where where where Moshe where God as it were places Moshe at the at the Clift of The Rock and God passes by and Moshe can see only the back but he can't see the front again I'm I'm summarizing just for for time but if you look here in source number nine we have the moment of of the greatest source of Revelation that does give in response to moshe's request the Torah says in Source number in Source number nine we're in the second we'll do that for now God comes down in a cloud he stands with him there and he calls out in the name of hmem passes by in front of him we're not going to go through every single word here but these are 13 attributes of Mercy that are meant to describe now just to understand this okay there's a fascinating and beautiful G that again I can't say we fully understand but yet does give an amazing imagery to these to these to these Pim skip now please to Source number oh I see that the word the numbers are off and I apologize Source number 12 Source number 12 is rash the rash says the following had the not told not said it we would not have been able to say it ourselves God wrapped himself seemingly in a Talis like a like a and he showed Moshe this he said to Moshe whenever sin they should do like this word like these words and I will and I will forgive them okay again remember we're talking about a part of the K that is is very very hard to really understand in this gar as well but what's clear from this gar and from theim is that these this most most authentic is a unique power and says to Moshe here that if is say these words or we'll see soon it's actually not really just to say these words but the simple understanding is that whenever we say these words promises not to leave us empty-handed and so they have become the key to our Pro chuva process I another way of saying it is almost as if Moshe had said Hashem I want to see your ways show me how I can understand you and it's almost as if basically said the best way to understand me the best way to connect to me is through the process of is through this process of and and because again it's almost it's what's fascinating here is Hashem didn't just teach him the 13 midot what is the P say he showed him or the gar says he showed him what does it mean he showed him it's almost himself was praying what does mean is praying we don't really understand what that means okay but what it seems to be is what is basically saying if you want to understand how to develop a relationship with me and understand me in the greatest way the way to do that is through is through is through these 13 and therefore we have to remember that these These Are A Unique power and the reason why they are the main part of this that everything revolves and no matter what you're up to in this if you fall behind and theor gets to the 13 you should stop what you're doing and say it with them because of the unique power of what these can accomplish according to our tradition and by the way these can only be said as well with a minion the rest of the can be said as an individual you can say the at any point in time on your own in order to help get you into the these 13 have a unique power and they can only be said together with a minion because of who they are and because of what they can accomplish but but there's another there F blur as well correct but there's another aspect to this that I wanted to highlight because the truth is we generally understood it to me that if we say these things Hashem will always answer us but the truth is if you look carefully in the language of the gar Hashem didn't say say these words and I will always listen to you what did hasem say what is behave like these words do like these words act like these words so what some point out is what wants from us is not necessarily just to say these words what are all these words about he's a compassionate he's slow to anger what what is asking of us is not just to say these words but to act like them to to imitate if you look at the next source source number 13 What is the when it says it says we are meant to imitate our job during the days of is not simply to D daving is the one way that we see here that will that we can connect him in a very unique way but it's not just about that what is it also about how we act these are days the beginning of what we're learning now from these is not that we're just supposed to say these magical words and all of a sudden God gives us what we want when I was younger I used to think that I used to think I could ask for like a you know a candy and if I say it during will give me whatever I want no it's much deeper than that we're supposed to say these words and we're supposed to grow in our daving and we're supposed to continue to to continue to connect through but it's much deeper we're also supposed to emulate in accomplishing these these we are meant to act we're meant to be calmer people we're meant to be more compassionate people we're meant to people who don't get angry as easily meant to be people who don't hold a grudge all of them beot that we're asking of a says if you act in that way then I promise you won't go you won't go you won't go empty-handed one one final thought that I want to mention because this was just one of the that is actually has its source in in the Torah but there's another that we say as part of this Le we say it less we don't say it as often we say it usually only one time it also has its hint in the Torah and that is when says to now where does that come from I want to share with you a beautiful idea that I heard from my father that I think very much connects to this to this time of year what is where where where do we see those words after which after which sin if this one the other one is the other big sin okay after God turns MOS says I'm going to hem says I'm going to destroy the world mosha I'm going to save you I'll start a new nation with you and mosha turns to and says how could you do that how could you destroy if if you kill the people now what's everyone else going to say they're all going to say oh Hashem couldn't beat out the the nations of Canan and even though he took them out of Egypt he couldn't beat the ones who were in AR and therefore he destroyed the nation in the desert because he couldn't he couldn't beat he couldn't he couldn't take them into Israel and therefore turns to Moshe and says okay Moshe I have forgiven them as you suggested but this generation isn't going to get to go into Earth Israel now wait a second if I was Moshe and God says oh yeah I'm going to forgive them like you told me to but this nation isn't going to go in I would have turned to God been like God thank you for your forgiveness but go forgive somebody else that's not the forgiveness I was looking for the forgiveness I I was looking for wasn't that this generation is going to die out in the desert I wanted you to forgive them however the suggestion that my father pointed out is what does it mean is unnecessary of course MOS was asking for forgiveness but think about said my father said look at what mosha what was the argument that that mosha made to God Moshe could have made the argument to God this generation deserves to go into ER Israel they're a good people that wasn't the argument that Moshe made what argument did Moshe make to God what's everyone else going to think what's everyone else going to think if you destroy the people then everyone else is going to think that you couldn't do it and and and therefore God says okay if that's the only argument you have I will forgive them fundamentally but you didn't defend these people you didn't defend this generation if this generation dies out and bring the J generation that's going to solve the same issue it's almost as if go God turns to Moshe and says Moshe I'm going to forgive but don't forget that sometimes my forgiveness the level of my forgiveness the nature of my forgiveness might depend on what you ask for and the arguments that you make if your argument only was what's everyone else going to think okay so then I could still kill out this generation and bring in the Next Generation had you argued this generation deserves to go in had you argued something more then maybe I would have forgiven differently and I think the message for us is very very important when we're asking for and we asking for forgiveness remember that might turn to us and say depending on what you're asking for depending on your approach depending on the things that you're coming and approaching we're coming approaching with his response his may be very much connected to that and we need to be mindful about the arguments and the things that we're turning to and saying and what we're asking for we talked a little bit about this last week as well what are we asking for why are we asking for those things things and remembering that part of that is will turn to us and say the nature of that forgiveness may very much depend on on the arguments that you give and what you're asking for and how and how you ask for it and so those are just some themes to think about as we approach U as we approach the season next week hopefully I believe there's supposed to be class we'll we'll we'll we'll talk a little bit about the themes of R and and try to get some more meaning out of uh the for R sh have a great week everybody [Music]