Yom Yerushalayim: Tears and Laughter | Rabbi Ari Kahn | May 14 2026

if you were to look at source 11 that's in this week's parashah perek aleph pasuk nun aleph u'vin so'am mishkan yiredu et ha'levi'im u'vachonotam mishkan yakimu et ha'levi'im v'azar hakarev yumat. Now that pasuk v'azar hakarev yumat is also found another time in this week's parashah in source 12 that's perek yud pasuk yud v'eidotam u'vinotam tishmeru kehunatam v'azar hakarev yumat. And then again in pasuk lamed chet v'achonim lifnei hamishkan kedma lifnei ohel mo'ed mizracha moshav aharon and so on and there it says again v'azar hakarev yumat. So you have that three different times over here. There there's actually a fourth time that it's used and that's not in this week's parashah that's in source 13 which is way down in perek yud chet in bamidbar and there is v'at ohel mo'ed tishmeru kehunatchem l'chol davar mizbe'ach u'l'mi bet u'l'mi bet l'farochet v'avadetem v'odam atenatem et kehunatchem v'azar hakarev yumat. So now you see that that little phrase is used multiple times over here. So that that's the only pasuk and I guess it's a great pasuk you have the same pasuk at least three times in the parashah although let's hold off on that for a second and now let's start all over again. But part of what that pasuk teaches us is that there is this formation that we have that's part of this week's parashah we have the census we have the formation and the formation has in its center you have the makom kadosh and then around it you have the machaneh levi'im and around that you have the machaneh yisrael. As the gemara tells us and the rambam is very clear about that same formation is the formation that we have in yerushalayim. So in yerushalayim you have the makom kadosh around it you have what would be a machaneh levi'im and around that you have a Israel. You have the places surrounding it where you can eat different different kinds of rules and so on and so forth which means essentially this law that we're learning in this week's parsha has an application in terms of a more permanence in terms of usual line. So let's be extremely clear. Tonight and tomorrow are you sure line? Jerusalem was actually liberated over two days. Which means today and tomorrow were the I heard your the most important I heard the most important thing that Jews contend with and that is saying today or not. So if somebody would have said well, what are you talking about? You know, this is again, this is all part of the Six-Day War and both days was the the battles for took place. Although let's also be honest about something else. It was not very simple militarily, politically strategically whether it was worthwhile to pursue trying to unite you sure line. Now for all of us of course we should like what's the question? I think as in a total the amount of soldiers that were killed during during the Six-Day War the percentage that were killed in those two days in terms of liberating was completely disproportionate. I mean if you uh what was the exact I believe the number they give is I believe it's 182. We're killed in the liberation of Jerusalem and there was a total again all these things depend how you count between 700 to 900 during the Six-Day War which just means that in this particular area which you understand was it was was hand-to-hand street-to-street people shooting and so on and it was far more precarious and it wasn't so simple that that was something which was which was going to be done but again anybody who needs to read the wants to read for me the most the most moving account of it and I'm sure there are others I just said for me the most moving account was the account by what is it Yossi Klein Halevi is that who who wrote it um Hayinu KeHalomim like Dreamers it was I I just found to be an incredibly interesting and and moving book and it tells the story but it tells the story in a very interesting way and I I I certainly recommend it I mean I I I generally I read books it's like I watch movies when I fly it's it's like I don't have a life other than I I haven't flown in a very long time so I I haven't done any of those things but uh but again I remember being on a plane whatever how many thousand feet I'm sitting there and there are tears coming down my just just reading this book it was just incredibly incredibly moving so if you don't cry I take no responsibility and it means that you're heartless so just could be so let let let's try again now I I just want to start all over again there is this idea of building the Mishkan in the desert and there is this idea of building the Beit HaMikdash and I'm going to say now for lack of other place I'll I'll call it in Jerusalem ironically or I'll put it this way there is a linguistic irony involved in this if you were to look at the two verses which the Rambam quotes for those two obligations, so the obligation to build the Mishkan was basuli mikdash not Mishkan basuli mikdash vishachanti betocham. So that was the temporary Mishkan in the desert which then we know temporary sometimes lasts a very long time and we had that Mishkan for a long time. On the other hand, the obligation of the Beit Hamikdash is ulshichno tidroshu uvata shama. Very specific place and of course there the if you call it the irony that's Mishkan ulshichno tidroshu it's it's seeking the the shchina. There is this mitzvah to seek the shchina uvata shama and then to locate the place and to find that particular place. So one is to build the Mishkan in your camp and the other is to build the Beit Hamikdash in this specific place. So yes, this week's parsha does have this absolute connection with Yerushalayim. It's the formation the holiness the but on the other hand, there are differences. If you needed a gematria of uh the 182 that were killed it's the gematria of Yaakov. Oh. So now you will do with that as uh as you please. And that would be what you said last week? I'll just I'm just I'm I'm just the normal spelling of Yaakov. Yaakov Avinu lo met. But on the other hand, there was there's a and that that is actually the point of what we're going to talk about today. Because we we very much you know those of us who live here specifically if we live here then the celebration of Yom Yerushalayim is not like this abstract idea it's something which is very real, and on the other hand, we are completely cognizant that there is a price that was paid for and a very and a very steep price. And you can't think about the celebration without thinking about the price, and these things absolutely work together. But let's go back to this idea that I, you know, expressed the pasuk in Lishmo Tidreshoo V'Atah Shamah, you need to seek out this holy place. In source number one, there is a description in the Navi, V'David Barach, and David runs away. David He was on the run a lot. V'Yimalet V'Yavo El Shmuel HaRamatah, and he comes to Shmuel. Now, Shmuel's described as somebody who lives in Ramah, HaRamatah. He lives in a very high place. The identification of that high place as many other places is not as simple as, you know, sometimes we think. But Shmuel is HaRamati, Shmuel lives by the Ramah. There is this At Shmuel, Shmuel's connected to this high place. Today, there is a place which is called Kever Shmuel HaNavi. And the Kever Shmuel HaNavi is right outside of Ramot, on a very, very high hill. And you can decide, ironically or not ironically, or you can decide that mystically that this is very significant. But what we do know historically is that Jews used to make a pilgrimage, and they still do, to Kever Shmuel HaNavi, on Yom Yerushalayim, long before it was Yom Yerushalayim, because the kuf chet iyar also happens to be the yahrtzeit of Shmuel HaNavi. Also happens to be Rabbi Carlebach's And also Rabbi Carlebach's. Yes. So, so historically, Jews would make a pilgrimage on this day, which then gets revealed as Yom Yerushalayim. But again, I'm I'm exaggerating, but I'm not. I'm sure when they came and then the outskirts of Jerusalem and the political intrigue did not always allow them to get any further closer to Jerusalem from there. And for that matter, political intrigue didn't allow them even to keep that custom. We have a chuva from the Radvaz that someone said I made a vow that And by the way, when I say this, then certain things hopefully will connect. I made a vow to go to the Kever Shmuel Hanavi and cut my child's hair over there. Now, Shmuel was an Nazir. So, if a kid never had their hair cut, the first time they would cut it was by Kever Shmuel Hanavi. And there's this very strong suspicion that the idea of going to Meron on Lag Baomer was actually because that's where they could get to when they could no longer get to Kever Shmuel Hanavi. It was a replacement custom as opposed to the original custom. But, I'll say it again, when Jews got to Kever Shmuel Hanavi and this really high place, you can look out and see towards Har Habayit, I can imagine there were many prayers that were said and sincere prayers that, you know, when the will they come that we can actually go over to the next mountain and get closer and be there and serve God on this mountain. And for that matter, Jews have been looking towards Jerusalem. Sometimes you can see it, sometimes you you can't. We've been turning in that direction to pray for millennium. We've been turning in that direction three times a day. And maybe we can look at it a little differently. In between 1948 and 1967, you can ask any of the old-timers exactly where they would go and where they had access and where you could see, you know, the walls of Jerusalem from. And there were people who still It is a fulfillment of that same thing. Well, the Shechinah Tishrei, it's the drisha. And that's what Chazal said. If it says the Shechinah Tishrei, that means that yesh dvarim shetzrichim drisha. There are things that we need to seek out. And the seeking out is what's important. So, it continues and it says, again, from this high place, Shmuel Haramatayim, "Vayigdeluhu et kol asher lo." show all the left who show well they show been a yacht. And David comes and they sit in a yacht. Where you got to show all the more he need a bit been a yacht Burma. Now he's in we know there's a neighbor in Jerusalem today called Naot. We also know there's a place which is called Ramah. So the Gamara asks source two Darash Raba my dictation left David with more of issue been a yacht Burma but he might need Naot Naot it's a Ramah those are two different places. Eleazar you used to be in Burma they stood in a very high place but was scheme in your been no yacht show all the lamb. And they were dealing with the beauty of the world. You go and back and look at the Gamara cuz I took a little snippet of it. They were looking with a prophetic eye of small and a V with David's prophetic eye and the two of them the the core of David and small L together they were looking to try to find the place that will one day become the place of the beta midrash which will become your show line. That that's the origin. It's interesting because that's where David's throne is going to be. Right? We actually have it in one direction and small and a three. You show line near me to show small and all the battle of the car of me and me and all of them we say David may relate to the king. Which means Jerusalem David's throne are together. By the way they may not always have been two separate record. You need to learn the history of the Amida to appreciate that point but we have them together as one. That is one topic. David and and small and a V together are trying to find that place and that is looking from afar finding Jerusalem. Okay from Kever Shmuel Hanavi over the years from really much further places from this place Ramah Naiot, as it were. They're seeking out Jerusalem. In source number three, and again, this is one of these sources which is extremely famous, but just because it's famous doesn't mean that we necessarily easily understand it or every element of it. So, we recognize those names. You know, the the famous story when Rabbi Rabban Gamliel was deposed, you have Eleazar ben Azariah taking his place, the real Nasi, the replacement Nasi, Rabbi Yeshua, who was involved in that whole discussion, Rabbi Akiva, who was in that story as well. All of them on the way. They hear the sound of this celebration of the Romans. They all start to cry. And Rabbi Akiva laughed. Now, this is a theme that you're familiar with cuz it repeats itself numerous times. We're going to see a snapshot of a couple of them. Why are you crying? These pagans who serve pagan things are living in peace and harmony, maybe not harmony, in peace and tranquility. And we who serve God, the house of God is burnt. [clears throat] So, how can we not cry about these two different types of realities? Rabbi Akiva says, "That's the reason why I'm full of laughter. U'mala over retzono kach, those who go against God's will, this is what happens to them. L'oseh retzono al acham al achas kama v'chama, those who follow God's will, certainly there should be reward." And if anything, we should take solace in the fact that those who rebel against God are treated so well cuz by us there is this kal v'chomer. Rebbe Akiva, by the way, very often uses kal v'chomer as a basic logic. Shuv pa'am achas, another time, hayu olin Yerushalayim. Keivan she'gi'u l'Har HaTzofim, now what is Har HaTzofim in English? You all know, it's called Mount Scopus. Now, why is it called Har HaTzofim and why is it called Mount Scopus? Cuz that's another place that you can look from there and you can see the Temple Mount. And again, Yerushalayim harim saviv lah, Yerushalayim is surrounded by mountains. So, therefore, these various mountains and and again, understand this not just in terms of topography, it's also a spiritual statement. You have to work, you have to climb, you have to you know, as opposed to avodah zarah, which is easily accessible under every leafy tree, just turn over a stone and serve it. Yerushalayim harim saviv lah. But on one of those high mountains at a distance >> [snorts] >> they can take a look. What better place to look than Har HaTzofim, Mount Scopus? That's the place that you can see the Temple Mount as laying out in front of you. Kar'u bigdeihem, they tore their clothes. Can I point out the first thing that we may not have noticed about this story? Apparently, all four of them tear their clothes. Doesn't say some of them. Which [snorts] means whatever we're going to proceed now Rebbe Akiva also has torn clothes. And why you do you tear your clothes? For a very simple reason that the Temple is destroyed. Har HaBayit was raised with a Z. It's It's It's destroyed. And you're watching this destruction, there's a halacha that you tear keriah. K'ivan she'ilu Har Habayit when they then made their way and they come up to Har Habayit, so apparently they went up to Har Habayit. Well, I don't want to say anything political. I guess I said enough last week, right? So when they got l'ilu Har Habayit, ra'u and they saw shu'alim yotzim mibeit kodshei hakodashim, they saw a fox scamper about from the Holy of Holies. Hitchilu hein bochim and they started to cry. Rebbi Akiva metzachek and Rebbi Akiva laughed. Amru lo, "Umei'am atah metzachek?" "Why are you laughing?" Amru lo, "Umei'am atah bochim?" Amru lo, "Makom shekatuv bo v'azar hakarev yumat." So by the way, in parenthesis, not parenthesis, in little letters here, if you look up you open up the Gemara in Makkot, it'll tell you to look in Bamidbar perek alef pasuk nun alef. I don't know and I'm completely not convinced and I strongly suspect that of our four choices, I think this is not the correct one. If it is, at least it's in this week's parsha. If it's the next one, right? Perek gimmel or So you can go and look up now those four p'sukim and you can decide which one it is. I suspect it's from perek kuf chet. I I suspect it's not this one, but then again, that's not in the Gemara, it's somebody said, "Oh, I found the pasuk." Okay? Yeah, they actually found those words. It doesn't mean that that's really the one that they had in mind. There's a little more intrigue with this as we continue. Which I'll point out soon. V'achshav shu'alim holchim bo, now there are foxes again scampering about. V'lo nitzcheik, we're not going to cry. Amar lahem, "L'kachani metzachek." Because that's why I'm laughing. D'chtiv, "I edah li edim ne'emanim." Etz Uriah Kohen, I'm going to take I'm going to take another tip. That's a verse in Yeshayahu. I'm going to take two witnesses. It's Uriah Cohen with Zechariah ben Iddo and Berechiah. So, here we have more intrigue. Who are these two? Rabbi Akiva interprets the himanin Uriah to Zechariah. Uriah ben Mikhtash Rishon and Zechariah ben Mikhtash Sheni. Now, there were various prophets called Zechariah, including one who was murdered on that very place. This Zechariah Rabbi Akiva is telling you is one of the final prophets. Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. That's that Zechariah. And right now we have Sefer Zechariah. And that Zechariah is the beginning of Bayit Sheni. So, what do these two prophets have to do with one another? Ela tal katuv v'lo tal Zechariah ben Iddo Uriah that the scripture, the navi, Yeshayahu, links them together. For Uriah katuv, "Lachen lachem Tzion sadeh techaresh." That the day will come that Zion will be plowed as a field. So, let's keep that in mind. That's going to be very important. And that's a pasuk from Micah. V'Zechariah katuv, "Od yeshvu zekenim u'zekenot birhovot Yerushalayim." The day will come that elders one day again sit in Jerusalem. Ad shelo nitkayem nevu'ato shel Uriah, till the first prophecy took place, hayiti mit'yare I was fearful shelo titkayem nevu'ato shel Zechariah that the second prophecy, one of Zechariah, won't happen. V'achshav she'nitkayem nevu'ato shel Uriah, b'yadu'a, now it's known she'nevu'ato shel Zechariah mitkayemet is taking place. By the way, he speaks in present tense. Mitkayemet. Which is interesting. B'lashon zeh amru lo, "Akiva Nachamu, Akiva Nachamu." Akiva, you've brought us comfort. Akiva, you've brought us comfort. But, let's keep in mind a couple of things. One is we had the looking at Jerusalem from afar. The story actually begins with the hearing of the celebrations of the Romans. We get up to the Temple Mount, and we have this crying and laughter. To me, it's interesting because this is after the Second Temple is destroyed. If we go back to the description in Ezra in source number four, we find the Second Temple is built. This is the very beginning of the Second Temple. And they say hallel. Why do you say hallel? Because the Second Temple was built. And what do they say? They wanted to thank God ki tov ki olam chesedo, because God's chesed is eternal. And the chesed he performs for Israel is eternal. Now, we have a second element that we hallel and shofar. So, let's keep the shofar in mind as well. Now, we have another thing we need to work in. It was said because of the establishment, the foundation, the building of the house of God. And those who remembered the First Temple cried with a great voice. And then you also have the blowing of the shofar, but you also had great joy being expressed. Tears and laughter. And people listening were unable to distinguish Miracles. So, when you look at the very beginning of the building of the second temple, and you look at all these elements, then you look at the Gamara that we just now learned about these various elements, about the sounds from afar, and then you have this cacophony, and you have this confusion of laughter and of crying, and it all comes together, and you realize it's almost like bookends, is that this is how it was established, and now afterwards as well, and it's as if Rabbi Akiva is saying to them, [clears throat] if you had tears when it was built with the laughter, now that it's destroyed, we need some laughter to go together with the tears, and we're still listening to this, and we're not completely convinced that we understand what's happening, but I'm going to say it again, that today when we face Yom Yerushalayim, we know that there are those both of those elements, and then maybe that's not as big of a surprise, you know, as it sounds, that we on the one hand there is this price that was paid, and this other hand there is this result, and how do you not say, "Hodu LaShem Ki Tov, Ki Ki LeOlam Chasdo." I'm going to point out that all of these elements and more are at a much earlier place, which may become as another surprise, but over here I will admit that I have to work a little bit harder, but once I finish working, I believe that you're going to say, "Oh, yeah, now I see it. That that's right there." Yes, sir. You know, I only answer questions so I can take a drink. I just want you to know The result of the of this cycle that people laughed is Yakov. People Let's continue. People who were Let's Let's continue. In source number five, we have In source number five, we have the Akedat Yitzchak. Akedat Yitzchak, of course, is uh I mean, it's horrific in so many ways, but then again, we know how it ends up, but Yitzchak survives. Vayach Yirmiyahu Vayilchu So, the first thing I want to note, which we can't forget, which is so easy to forget, is that the sacrifice of Yitzchak, the offering of Yitzchak, the death of Yitzchak, the death of Yitzchak in the hands of Avraham would have been the end of laughter in Avraham's life. And of course Yitzchak's name is Yitzchak, Tshoq, which means sacrificing Tshoq is the sacrifice of Tshoq. There's no more laughter. How does Avraham ever laugh again if if he has to give in to this instruction from God? So, just realize part of what's at stake over here. Will there be laughter any longer? I I know what you're thinking. Will there be a Jewish people any longer? Yeah, but that that's of course That's of course is a part of it. But what I'm trying to stress is don't ignore what Yitzchak's name is. Okay. God says, "Go So, even though Yerushalayim is never mentioned by name in the Torah itself, certainly hundreds of times in the Navi, but the area, the mountain, Har Hamoriah, is mentioned. You'll go to the place that I will tell you. Avraham gets up. He takes the things. He takes Yitzchak. He sees the place from afar. about the shamah. Just like David and Melech in Shmuel like Rebbe Akiva and the others from Har HaZofim, he sees the place from afar. It's It's the same movement. It's the same gesture. It's the same experience. It is the same fulfillment of lishichno tidrishu. Of course at this moment, there's no bayit. There's no house. But it's the place. They come up to the place and we have the whole dialogue taking place and Yitzchak questioning what's going to be offered and God's going to provide. And Yitzchak is taken and ve'yakod et Yitzchak and he is bound top of the mizbe'ach and so on. So, mizbe'ach is built on Har HaMoriah. That is the original, you know, foundation of the Beit HaMikdash is the mizbe'ach is first. And then pasuk yud alef, vayikra elav mal'ach Hashem min haShamayim. You'll note in the very beginning of the story, it was Elohim nisah et Avraham midat haDin. And now it's mal'ach Hashem, which is midat haRachamim. Comes and says, vayomer Avraham Avraham yomeneni vayomer al tishlach yadcha el hana'ar ve'al ta'as lo me'umah. Don't Don't reach out your hand. Don't touch him. Don't do Don't do anything to him. Ki ata yadati ki yire Elohim ata. And so on and so forth. So, let's pause for a moment. I mean, part of the drama ideologically here is that the midat haDin somehow got transformed into midat haRachamim. That's That's quite significant. There There's a technical problem which has been expressed by various mostly later, really much later authorities. And they ask a very simple thing. Let me go into the Gemara in a completely different discussion. There's a concept that's called ein shliach le'dvar aveirah. There can't be a shliach, an emissary, for a sin. And why not? The Gemara says, "Divrei Harav u'divrei hatalmid mishalmin." Which means in a vera, God said, "Don't do this." And this person says, "Can you do this?" So, now who has responsibility? If I'm a shliach, I can say, "I've no responsibility. I He told me to do it." So, what's the response to that? But God told you not to do it. So, who do you listen to? You listen to God? You listen to some guy who told you to do it? So, what's the answer? The answer is you listen to God. You didn't listen to God, you have full responsibility. Don't say, "But I'm I'm a shliach for him." No, doesn't work that way. God said not to do it. So, divrei Harav u'divrei hatalmid mishalmin. So, now I can take that same kind of logic and I can apply it again. It's not a case of shlichut, but I can apply it over here in this case and say Elokim spoke to Avraham, "Take your son and offer him." And now comes a malach min hashamaim and says, "Don't do it." So, what what should Avraham's response be? Divrei Harav u'divrei hatalmid mishalmin. Do I listen to a malach or listen to a God? So, there there This, by the way, it is a serious question. I mean, one of the answers which is given for this is that to kill someone, you need the word of God. Not to kill somebody, it's enough if someone else I mean, it's a stay of execution, right? The In order to execute somebody, it has to be a formal legal thing, and some guy shows up and says, "No, no, the governor just now signed." You don't need the governor to show up to stop an execution. You can have a a shliach is enough to stop it. And that may actually be a very serious answer, but nonetheless over here, I think that there's another element which is being presented, and we need to unpack it. Can we think now again about the Beit Hamikdash? And And again, this concept of "Lo tishkach no tidreshu avanta shamah." What is the Beit Hamikdash for? So, on the one hand, the Beit Hamikdash is the place of that korbanot are brought. Korbanot of the tzibur, korbanot of the yachid. It's a place of korbanot. On another hand, you get to all the holidays, there's a mitzvah of aliyah laregel. There's a mitzvah l- l- ro't pnei Hashem, l- kabbel pnei Hashem. By the way, mitzvah i- is called the mitzvah of re'iyah. L- ro't pnei Hashem. It's a mitzvah us to come up and to make a pilgrimage. So, do you realize what happened over here in this case regarding Yitzchak? Yitzchak was supposed to be the carbon. You can decide a carbon yachid, a carbon tzibur, you can decide what a horrific question for me to ask, but Yitzchak was supposed to be the carbon. So, what happens at the end when he's not the carbon? In the end, he fulfilled the mitzvah of aliyah laregel. He ended up performing the mitzvah of pilgrimage. So, he came up to the place. So, there's a shift in terms of which element of the Beit Hamikdash he was experiencing. On the other hand, there's a third element of the Beit Hamikdash. And what's that? It happens to be the place, the Temple Mount, is the place that the Sanhedrin sat. And what's the Sanhedrin? Ki mitzion tetzei Torah, d'var Hashem Yerushalayim. But how does the d'var Hashem flow? So, in the Mishkan, the d'var Hashem came down and spoke to Moshe between the shnei kruvim. But what happened in the Temple Mount? The authority of the Sanhedrin was there. They sat there. And as the Rambam writes, bimkom Moshe Rabbeinu, in the place of Moshe. And apparently, they must have had some kind of divine inspiration, because d'var Hashem mi Yerushalayim, but that's the Sanhedrin. And the Sanhedrin therefore become, as it were, shlichim of Hakadosh Baruchu, for the word of God to come down to this world. So, how appropriate is it that that a malach now speaks, which means we've just now uncovered another element of the Beit Hamikdash, in potential, of the malach speaking and speaking the word of God, and coming down telling us what ratzon Hashem is, what is the will of God. So, I'm going to say now, in this I mean, somebody could have said to me, "What does that have to do with Beit Hamikdash? Why are you carrying on about this?" Well, what am I going to say first? Location. It's Har Hamoriah. What else am I going to say? He built him mizbe'ach. What else am I going to say? He brought a korban. So, what else am I going to say? I'm going to say an Yitzchak did the mitzvah. So, this was the more clever part. Yitzchak did the mitzvah of Aliyah L'Regel, right? Ultimately, that's what it was real. But not only that, the word of God comes down through a shaliach, through a malach, and that already becomes the starting point of of the Sanhedrin. By the way, you want you want me to go a little bit further? So, give me a second. But look, what's the blessing over here? Laughter. Yitzchak was about to be sacrificed, but there is this uh switch. And the switch is, if we'll just read the next passuk or so, it says right, don't do anything to him. Passuk Yud Gimel, which is the same passuk we saw before. When he Avram sees the place from afar, what were the words? Vayisa Avram et einav vayyar. And there it was, vayyar et hamakom meraḥok. Hamakom mishelo tidreshu. And now, vayisa Avram et einav vayyar vinei ayil aḥar ne'eḥaz bisvaḥ beqarnav. Its horns got caught up in the brush. Got entrapped. And what happens is, he takes that, vayelech Avram vayiqqaḥ et ha'ayil vayalehu l'olah taḥat beno. And that's the dynamic of the korban. I mean, I I've said this before, this should really be the source of the Ramban when he speaks about korbanot, where it should be on certain level that we have done things and need to be sacrificed, and God's chesed is that he takes an animal in our place, and there should be this whole experience, a cathartic experience. The Akedah is a much better example of this. Take Yitzchak, put him on the on the mizbeach. Okay, take him down from the mizbeach, and a ram takes his place. I'm going to say it again. But in 1967, there's 182 uh soldiers who don't have a ram to end up taking their place. And you'll again something else happens over here but I I do want to note one more thing in the Hashem that's that's the pilgrimage that's the road which means that other element that I identified oh this will be the place to do a pilgrimage because ultimately was saved and now it's going to be an and it's not going to be a so that's really interesting all of that is staring at us and if we'll admit I don't think we would have noted any of those things other than the the much more dramatic is God said this and in the end saved but I'm going to say it again the the beta dash is being created in front of our eyes with one thing missing and that's the beta dash which means everything the do shot my home the seeking the place seeing the place from afar this transference taking place a place which will be the place of pilgrimage the Sanhedrin the word of God coming down to a it's all staring at us and let's continue in source number six we have in and that is the that is the preparation for Sinai of course is also a time where the word of God will come down from the heavens and more than that it's accompanied with the sound of the shofar it's described in source six in that sign is the and that's when the sound comes out and then the I did this out of sequence and the more but he be no is that correct over a king the call shofar is that my old so we all know that that that these elements there tells us how you well who show for that is the shofar of the ram. By the way, it's land enough. He writes at the end the chauffeur show a low show you Kaya. That's That's That's the same one. Theory of conservation of chauffeur wrote. This is the shofar, which means that there's a linkage between the word of God coming down at Har Sinai and the shofar. But But now just think about it. It is the malach. You know You know what? If I'm going to say all this sharper, it's troublesome theologically. How could it be that the rabbis tell us that if Rosh Hashanah comes on Shabbat not to blow the shofar? Right? One day a year told to blow the shofar and the shofar does all kinds of things, and we don't do it. So, what do we read on Rosh Hashanah? We read on Rosh Hashanah, we read about the Akedah. What happens at the Akedah? God said do it, but we don't do it. Why don't we do it? Because the malach said not to do it. So, who's the malach? The malach of the rabbis. The rabbis said don't do it. By not doing it, we're listening to ultimately the word of God by extension. Therefore, not blowing the shofar on Rosh Hashanah is perfectly analogous to not doing the Akedah, even though we're prepared to do it cuz we have Yirat Shamayim, and we heard the Divrei Chachamim, and therefore Mekabel Ol Malchut Shamayim, even Divrei Chachamim. When we don't blow the shofar, which means blowing the shofar is about you know, again, to coronate God and to accept in ourselves Ol Malchut Shamayim. That's what we're doing by not blowing it, but I'm just pointing out that element of no, don't do it is already staring at us within the Akedah itself. And how much [clears throat] nicer it is for those who claim the Akedah took place on Rosh Hashanah itself, and that's why the shofar is being revealed. And all that I'll say at this point is, and so on and so forth. But the shofar does another thing for us. Especially Rosh Hashanah, and this is spelled out in source number eight, but we don't need to read all of it. The sound of the shofar, the Gemara in Rosh Hashanah tells us, is the sound of crying. It's tears. Which kind of crying is the whole argument whether you do it whether you do shvarim exactly what it's crying. The Gemara here spells out the different types of crying, different types of weeping which takes place. Now you realize the shofar is revealed there as well cuz it was the horn that was caught in the brush and now you realize you have who lives in school lives on and you have laughter and on the other hand you have crying. Which means the same elements that I've been looking for that the same elements that were there by the story of Ezra by the beginning of building of the second temple. The same elements that we find in the story with and if I would have just started today oh where else do we find laughter and crying then you probably would have had a little bit harder time and yes I told you I had to work harder for this but once you see it yes is there staring at you the shofar is right there in the story. The shofar represents crying. You can you can claim to me that the shofar represents other things as well I'll I'll agree with everything that you want and I'm just going to point out they're both here. And more and more. Rashi when he talks to the shofar Adam it's like somebody who's crying right it's a woman who's crying it is all about the tears. >> [snorts] >> So now let's go back cuz we missed some things. In source number 10 we have the same story from the Gemara in Makkot. Except with little differences. And the difference is I don't think it's contradictions. I think it's just a little bit more information. In this is the Sifrei again ancient rabbinic source me. Remember the first story they hear the celebration? It's in Rome. A number of times we know that these rabbis had to take trips, they travel to Rome, try to make some kind of intercession, and it's in Rome that they hear, "Look how Rome, you know, celebrates, and look how Jerusalem is destroyed." Just an element to my mind which is interesting. We'll skip a little bit. They get to Har HaBayit They get to uh They tear their clothing. They get to Har HaBayit. Rabbi Akiva, do you always do this? Why are you such a shocking person? You're such a Every time we cry, there's something sad, you you you you you start laughing. Like like Where is this coming from? So, I love I love that line in this because Yesh what's called Well, you know, this is that Rabbi Akiva laughs, and they call him out on it. And he says, "Why are you crying?" And he says, and they say, "No, over here also they identify perek aleph nun aleph, and I'll note that it is debatable. And it says, "Hareshu al yotzei mitocho alenu nitkayem." Al zeh haya So, just just pause a second now. Go over to source number 15. It is in Eicha. You have the English and the Hebrew there. And you'll realize what we missed before because whoever annotated the Gemara missed this. I don't know why. I can't explain it. Nashim b'Tzion inu v'tulot b'Yerushalayim. Women were violated in Zion, maidens the city of Judah. So, you realize things which happened in the news happened back in the day. From the English, women were violated in Zion, maidens in the city of Judah. Princes were hanged in their hands, the faces of elders were not shown honor. Young men bore the millstone, youth stumbled and under the wood. The elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from their music. The joy of our heart has ceased. Our dancing has turned to mourning. The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us for we have sinned. This was quoted in the Sifrei, was not quoted in the Gemara. It says, "For this our heart has become faint, for these things our eyes are darkened." Now Zion, which has become desolate, foxes prowl upon it. That was quoted in the Gemara in Makkot. They just forgot to put the word quoting Eicha here. What what was being said here is that look around you, every single element over here. The only thing here is the screams that are left from the women who were violated. Over anything which is left is the blood that was spilled of the people over here. There's nothing left. There's no celebration. There's nothing positive over here. And just, you know, the stamp complete this chapter, the only thing that we see and look at the foxes that are running about over here. Which means I said this so many times. It's very sad that the authors of the Talmud Bavli, those discussing things in the Talmud Bavli, make this wonderful, terrible assumption that we know Tanakh. Okay, we don't know other things. At least we know Tanakh, and when a pasuk or half a pasuk is quoted, so of course we know what they're saying. So we read through that Gemara, and by the way, my very strong suspicion is that most people read that Gemara, they say, "Oh, and foxes are running around. So what's so bad? Cuz it's said that if a stranger goes there, so so I I can get a little bit more imaginative. And and this is the way that, you know, some would understand it. We have in the back of our minds that even if the coin guard goes into the Kodesh Kedashim and he messes something up, he dies immediately, cuz there's so much kedusha. So therefore, if a fox went in Har Habayit, the fox should be killed immediately because the kedusha is still there. So apparently, what's the answer? Maybe there's not so much kedusha. What happened? Look how embarrassing it is that an animal can go around, it doesn't get roasted immediately, and we're looking at it in that kind of a technical term. I think I'm right. That's the way that we see it. And what do we completely, completely miss? That we're reading a description from Eichah with its final stamp, everything is gone, everything is destroyed, there's all of this abuse, there's all of this pain, and look in front of you, that's all that's left, there's foxes are running there, and that is the fulfillment of this terrible description that we find from Yirmiyahu in Eichah. And that only became clear to us, I'm going to say it again now, when we read the the the Sifrei, because the Sifrei is actually a little bit clearer than the description that we had had before. And and and now again, we we we can go back there now and look into see, you know, what is being played out. It says, "Anybody who goes up over there will die." and begin look again in perek I'm in the middle of 10. And I'm going to say it again, if you look at the various pasukim that quote that idea, I'm I'm even more convinced that it's talking about where we what we have in source 13 perek chet, but we'll leave that. It continues, it says again a [clears throat] fox is going there and that fulfills which means they pull out aicha and say, "Look, aicha is alive in front of us." And Rebbe Akiva says, "But there was a linkage over here." And the linkage is between the two. And again, we have Uriah and we have Zechariah. And in Uriah Tzion sadeh tichareish. Zion will be plowed like a field. So, I want to pause here for a second. There's a Gemara. It's in source number 14. It tells us that the three avot represents three different foci in terms of spirituality. Why is the Har Habayit called Beit Elokei Yaakov? Now, this goes back to Yaakov again. Elokei Yaakov velo Elokei Avraham v'Yitzchak. Elo Elokei Avraham shekatuv bo har. With Avraham, his spiritual identity is wrapped up with a mountain. Shenemar asher yomar hayom b'Har Hashem yera'eh. By the way, that was the pasuk at the end of the Akeidah. V'Elokei Yitzchak shekatuv bo sadeh. Yitzchak's spiritual ex- >> We revert back from Beit Yaakov to the sadeh of Yitzchak. And they're saying, "But look, it's terrible. You know, all the kedusha is gone. It has been plowed like a field." Do any of you want to channel your inner Rabbi Akiva? So, is the kedusha still there? It's still the field. We've just gone back one step. We've gone back to Yitzchak. And we understand Rabbi Akiva. What Rabbi Akiva is saying, and again, he spoke in mitkayemet. He spoke in present tense. By the way, in the Sifrei Rabbi Akiva says, "Lasof she divrei Zechariah atidim lavo." Will take place. So, I want to reconcile this cuz the Gemara sounds like it's present tense. And the Sifrei, which by the way, every element of the Sifrei, by the way, has been superior. It it it explained what was going on in in in a much more successful way. And maybe even this point of that the future is important. But I but I will note if you're going to build a new building, the first thing you need to do is destroy the old building. Right? You you you buy a property and you want to put up a new house. What do you need to do? You need to knock down the house, turn it from a house into a ruin, into a field, and now you can start building again. Rabbi Akiva sees the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash as the first step to building the third Beit Hamikdash. That's Rabbi Akiva. But there's but there's another element over here which also is is is really easy to miss. And all that I'm doing now is I'm kind of putting like two and two together, and you know both of those twos. You just didn't realize, you didn't think about it. And that is in source 16. This is when Rabbi Akiva's the Romans make a decree no one can study Torah. Rabbi Akiva's response is not that he stops, that was never an option. Not that he goes into hiding. Rabbi Akiva gathers the masses and teaches publicly. And Pappus ben Yehudah comes and says, "Akiva, you know, what are you doing? Aren't you afraid of these people?" And what Rabbi Akiva's been doing, by the way, he's been going from place to place to place and teaching people. Can't stay in any place too long cuz the Romans will catch them. And we'll just pick it up from source 16. You ever notice there's a fox in this story as well? So now all that we're going to do is we're going to have our have our fear of conservation of foxes cuz cuz because because this just now got interesting. And again, in our minds I don't think we ever you know, think about connecting them. He says, "No, this is like the fox." The shual shoya The fox is on the side and sees the fish running about place to place and says, "Why you know, what are you doing?" "We're afraid of the nets and so on, we're going to get caught." "Well, why don't you come to the dry land?" Rabbi Akiva's response is, "If our lives are threatened in the water, how much more so if we come to the side?" I want to identify the logic of the fox. The logic of the fox is actually very tempting logic, and some of us fall for this kind of logic occasionally. It is the logic of the immediate response, short-term thinking. Short-term, you're afraid of the net, so you jump onto the dry land. There's only one problem with that. Long-term, it's a really bad plan. But there is a logic short-term. Because if there was no logic short-term, then then why would anybody even suggest it or say it? Rabbi Akiva, now if you put the two fox stories together, is actually saying that the foxes here right now are temporary. It's short-term. It's right now. And essentially what Rabbi Akiva is saying is history is much much broader than just right now. The other rabbis, by the way, are using fox logic according to Rabbi Akiva. They're overwhelmed by the present. And they're overwhelmed by the present, then they're looking look Eicha. Eicha is happening. And Rabbi Akiva is saying, "There are other prophecies in the book." Keep in mind, if God keeps his word, the other ones will happen as well. Don't get stuck in the logic of the fox. Don't get stuck in the present tense. There is also a future. And if you don't understand that there's a future, you're missing what the divine message is. If we continue in the Rabbi Akiva story, we're told he was arrested. Time to execute him. And over here [clears throat] is also the irony. Rabbi Akiva himself ends up and I'm Don't take this too He becomes the korban. He ends up being sacrificed. And there's no ram that takes his place. And And the angels, by the way, are in the story as well. And the angels are completely confounded. And the students are confounded. And the students are crying, "Rebbi, ad kan?" And Rabbi Akiva, the Gemara, by the way, especially the Yerushalmi in 17, it says the gochak and he laughs. It means laugh. Rabbi Akiva is laugh Which means by Rabbi Akiva's death, do you realize what we're back to again? We have the same elements. We have the laughter and we have the crying. And what is Rabbi Akiva's ultimate response to the students looking and saying, again, the present tense is horrific. So, what does Rabbi Akiva say? All of my life I've been saying these words even to the point of death. And what is Rabbi Akiva saying? Rabbi Akiva is saying the Shema. When he dies, it says Keep in mind, he dies saying a Shema Israel it says a voice comes out The focus is a hard. The angels will be here question, you know, what's going on? So, you have the confused angels. And I'll say it again, the response is a bad call Rabbi Akiva was one of them. Right, there is this other stage. Can we just contemplate the Shema for a second and then we'll wrap up. When we say the Shema We don't realize the whole of the Shema. Shema is the unity actually of two things. Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad. Hashem is Elokeinu Sorry, Hashem is Elokeinu is Shema Israel Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad. So, the first What's the Shema Israel? If I want to say that there's one God, so what do I need to say? Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad. Why do I say those first two words? So, that's the first thing. When we say Shema, who are we speaking to? We're speaking to Israel, all of Israel. So, who's all of Israel? All of Israel is the entirety of every Jew who's ever living lived. It is our great great great great grandparents in the past and it is our great great great grandchildren in the future. Shema Israel, which means that itself is the opposite of temporal. It is this most transcendent aspect of all of Israel going back from the beginning all the way to the end of time. Shema Israel, Jewish people listen. And by the way have Jewish people listen to Rabbi Akiva Shma? The Throughout the generations, they hear that Shma. People in all kinds of situations, including unfortunately soldiers who have left, and people in the Holocaust, and people in dramatic cases, and in non-dramatic cases, know that when the end comes, one says Shma. And in this moment you say Shma, you connect to all of those generation of Jews. That's what the Shma is. So, Shma Yisrael is actually fascinating, cuz Rabbi Akiva's speaking to all of Klal Yisrael. But again, Rabbi Akiva is not somebody who's temporal. He's not somebody who focuses only on the present. Rabbi Akiva is somebody who focuses, again, on on this past, on this present, and the future. And it worked. That's all I can say, it worked. Rabbi Akiva's speech works. Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad is saying, God who is middat harachamim, he's God who's middat hadin, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad. Rabbi Akiva is saying, don't get get confused when you see, right now, something which is negative, don't get stuck in the thinking of the fox. So, don't get stuck and focus only on the crying. Notice that there's also something to celebrate, and that there's something which is so much bigger. I I just want to finish up by looking at these last couple of verses, which were really being referred to over here. In source 21 is what we noted is that Zion will become a field. So, I can look at that and say, there, that's it. It's lost all holiness. Which sounds to be what the rabbis are saying. Look, it's Eichah, it's lost its holiness. It's now it's a field. A fox is running about. So, what's a field? A field, we go back to Yitzchak. Okay? It's a place of holiness, as well. And source 22, Zechariah. Ko amar Hashem, shavti et Tzion v'shachanti b'toch Yerushalayim. I'm going to come back to Tzion. V'nikra'ah Yerushalayim Ir Ha'Emet. V'har Hashem Tzva'ot, Har HaKodesh. Again, >> A Marsha old the mirror yummy. So I don't I don't know what else to say. Ruby Akiva is using this as saying no the prophecy of Zechariah is going to take place one day. Ruby Akiva can see the future because Ruby Akiva is not stuck in the present and he believes in the future if you know how sham Ruby Akiva is able to merge the different time periods and therefore this took place that's taking place. Ruby Akiva it's a God it's a it's a sham a God and he sees he sees this unity. So I'm just going to say if Ruby Akiva is telling us please believe in a future because the future is part of the present because God said both in the past so therefore you need to believe in it and we can walk out actually in the room we have some people who are using things to walk. So thank you for coming to class and and and and fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah. We can walk outside in a moment and we can see children playing in the streets and it it it is Ruby Akiva's imagination took him to this place which is our reality. The possible in Yirmiyahu which we sing by every wedding with sweat shift this is actually the possible. What we sing is not the possible. The brocha is not the possible. Call my Hashem this is Yirmiyahu. This is the one who writes Aicha. This is the one who sees all the negative. This is the one who cries. Before we had any children we were talking which names yeah. My wife said not Yirmiyahu he's too sad. No Yirmiyahu. >> [snorts] >> Call my Hashem old Yishama we start old Yishama he said no the day is going to come." But again, this is Yirmiyahu. Oud yeshama bamakom hazeh asher atem omrim "Charev", this place which is destroyed, "ume'ein adam, ume'ein behema, ba'arei Yehuda uvachutzot Yerushalayim." Do you love the way that we cut that verse up and create something positive? Hanishamot "me'ein adam." It is desolate with no people. "Me'ein yoshiv ume'ein behema." There's nothing there. But what are we going to hear again? "Kol sason vekol simcha, kol chatan vekol kala, kol omrim "Hodu et Hashem Tzva'ot ki tov Hashem ki le'olam chasdo." "Umevi'im toda beit Hashem." Do you see now what happened in Ezra? And the place it's starting, again, Yirmiyahu. This is being said with tears, but it's also being said in happiness. Which means it's got Yes, God predicted this, but this as well. "Ki ashiv et shvut artz kemishona amar Hashem." The day is going to come all this is going to be worked out. The The Gemara in source 24 says that, you know, if you serenade a chatan and kala and you make them happy, so it says there's various opinions what it's like. Rav Nachman Yitzchak Amar, "Ke'ilu bana achad michurbot Yerushalayim." It's as if you've rebuilt one of the destroyed places of Jerusalem. I'll put it this way even though I never quote him, but it would bother him if I did. It's like another brick in the wall. That's what Wow, you've even got that one. Okay. It's like another brick in the wall because that's what happens when we That's what hap- The happiness is the antidote. Rebbi Akiva's happiness is the antidote. The laughter is the antidote to the tears. And therefore, "Be misameach chatan vekala" is this other side. And as I said, through so much of history, the two of these really came together. I'll just tell you that if you want to, you can look in source 26 at some point. It's the Hidah. He quotes another book called the Mass Er O Keah. Some of the more complicated cabalistic things which I didn't do, he identifies, including, again, we talk about Yaakov. Yaakov's love of his life was Rachel. And Rachel has lots of tears as well, right? Rachel Mevaka Al Baneha. So, the Hidah, of course, points out Rebbe Akiva Metzahek, Metzahek Ba Gematria Rachel. Rachel Mevaka Al Baneha. The crying of of Rachel as they go off into Galut, and the laughter of Rebbe Akiva are two sides of the same coin. The laughter and the tears go together, and he goes on also to explain this point about going back to Aseda. I mean, it's it's over here as well, cuz you can look at something, again, in the present tense. Building is gone. It's a field. It's over. No. Learn how to look properly. Learn how to look at the present through the prophecies of the past and the fulfillment of the future, and then you see things a little bit differently. And our reality today is we do celebrate Yom Yerushalayim, but we, as I said, it is together with laughter and tears. And that's appropriate because that's what I've been trying to show you at at every single stop along the way. That's what we've seen. It was the way that it was when the Bet Hamikdash was destroyed. It's the way it is when Rebbe Akiva and his colleagues are there. It's the And that's where Rebbe Akiva has to laugh. You can't only have one side. It's Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad. It's the way it was in the time of Ezra when the building was built, and it's the way it was in that very, very first step when Yitzchak is there together with the shofar, and the two of them work together somehow, and Yitzchak is saved in the shofar. And the shofar somehow takes its place, and the shofar does represent the tears and the crying. But, we know we're not necessarily at that final stage, the final scene yet. And that's 25, the other candidate that the religious Zionists actually wanted instead of the Hatikvah. And that was the Shir Hamalot. At that point there's complete happiness. >> [snorts] >> Which means that whole Psalm, that gesture of David, you know, the same David who searched out for Jerusalem, looks for the place from afar, that David also sees the day that will come when all the tears get erased and all the tears are dried up. And at that point all that's left is laughter, is happiness. But Ezrat Hashem, we'll get to that stage as well.