Parsha Perspectives (Behar, 5782) - They Belong to Me

That is followed by David Grossman. Our learning should be in memory of David ben Menachem Monash. This morning she was also dedicated by dear friends Jeremy and Merrill Strauss in collaboration with the yard site of Mr. Michael Strauss Oliver Shalom, Jeremy's father, and by Faye and Murray Eisenberg. In honor of the publication of their son-in-law's new safer on Tehillim. There's a copy. Everyone should purchase it. Well worth it. Tehillim Songs of the Heart. Dov Letterstain. She'll have a lot of nachas. Mazel tov on the publication of the safer. This week we have the privilege of reading and studying parshas Behar. Page 696. Often Behar and the Kookos I go together and then we can't fully appreciate either. This year we're reading this separate and apart with the opportunity to delve into it a little bit further. By the Beshalach Moshe Sinai more the parsha begins, "Hashem spoke to Moshe." And here the Torah sort of deviates from its norm and tells us the topography, the area in which Hashem spoke to Moshe. He spoke to him where? The Har Sinai. Spoke to Har Sinai. Now again we know that all of Torah come from Har Sinai. Everything comes from Har Sinai. Rashi of course famously asked this question, "Ma inyan Shmita etzel Har Sinai?" We're about to be introduced to the laws of Shmita. This is a Shmita year. We find ourselves right now in a Shmita year. What in the world does Shmita have to do with Har Sinai? And Rashi answers, "And then Rashi baal baal kol hamitzvos namru miSinai." Shmita's not the only mitzvah that was given at Har Sinai. Every mitzvah. Moshe kibbel Torah miSinai. Moshe received the totality of Torah, our entire framework of mitzvos, all of the written Torah at Sinai. So why Shmita? "Ela ma Shmita namru kol ha'mitzvot u'fratoteha v'dikdukeha miSinai. Af kol namru kol ha'mitzvot u'fratoteha miSinai." So Rashi answers, "Just like Shmita has general broad principles and has specific details and all of it comes from Sinai. So too all mitzvos, the broad general principles and the fine details, all of it comes from Sinai." The Orach Chaim points out that Rashi kind of pulls a fast one on us. Did Rashi answer his original question? Rashi wants to know all mitzvos are given at Sinai. If all mitzvos are given at Sinai, what's special about Shmita? And he answers, "Well, Shmita's a paradigm. Shmita's a model. It's an archetype. Just like Shmita, the general principles and the details were given, so too all mitzvos." Okay, but all mitzvos, the general principles and the details were given. We still have an answer on why is Shmita chosen as the archetype? Why is Shmita the paradigm? Why is Shmita the example from which we learn and apply to everything else? That's the question of the Orach Chaim. We've discussed in the past. I'm not going to answer it now, but it is the way our parsha begins and therefore I wanted to raise it again for you. So we're introduced to the laws of Shmita. "Daber el Bnei Yisrael v'amarta aleihem, ki sat ha'aretz shabbat la'Hashem." When you enter the land that I'm going to give you, "v'shamta ha'aretz shabbat la'Hashem." You should observe the land should observe a shabbat. "v'shamta ha'aretz shabbat la'Hashem." "Sheshet shanim tizra s'decha v'sheshet shanim tizmor karmcha." Six years you plant your field, six years you prune your vineyard. "v'asafta et t'vu'ata." And you gather the crop. "uvashana hashvi'it shabbat shabbaton yihyeh la'aretz." "shabbat shabbaton yihyeh la'aretz shabbat la'Hashem." Your land is tired. Your land has worked hard. You've worked hard. You deserve a sabbatical. You deserve a break. You deserve time to yourself. "Sadehcha lo tizra v'charemcha lo tizmor." Some of the commentaries point out that the Torah here is out of order. When presenting Shmita, how should it have been presented? First, six years you work, six years you prune, six years you harvest, and then the seventh year, now Shmita, now you have the sabbatical year. The Torah sort of tells it out of order. First the Torah tells us, "v'shamta ha'aretz." You're going to rest and then we begin the cycle of six years of work. Why does the Torah tell it to us out of order? This too. I'm just giving you questions right now. Have to give you some homework. To give you for your own shabbat table some things to consider. So here too the commentators point out it's out of order. Why is it out of order? What does it tell us? We know in fact that when they came into the land of Israel they did not start by observing Shmita. They didn't in fact start till the 21st year. There was seven years of conquest and seven years of division and only then seven years of Shmita. So the first Shmita was the 21st year after they entered the land. Which makes the question more compelling. We don't begin with "shavta ha'aretz shabbat la'Hashem" and then six years you work the land. It began with first you conquer, then you divide, then you work the land, and then the 21st year, the seventh year, the end of the first Shmita cycle, that's when you observe Shmita. So why does the Torah give it to us seemingly what sounds like somewhat out of out of order? "uvashana hashvi'it shabbat shabbaton yihyeh la'aretz shabbat la'Hashem." So then we get into some of the details of Shmita is observed. "v'shamta ha'aretz shabbat la'Hashem." So we said the Torah describes "shavta ha'aretz." The land has to rest. And why? Why does the land rest? It's a lot to talk about here. We've spoken about much of it in the past. Is Shmita about the farmer? Is Shmita about the land? The answer is both. On the one hand, we're not environmentalists in the sense that we serve the land, the land serves us. But for the land to best serve us, it needs to rest. You cannot overwork something. You cannot overwork it. Sometimes it needs to shut down. It needs to rest. It needs to rest in order to return, in order to recover, in order to be at its optimal production, efficiency, productivity, and so on. You know, 90% of the time if you have a problem with your computer or your phone, just turn it off and let it sit for a couple minutes and it will resolve itself. Sometimes it's so clogged with noise, with information, with apps, it's running too much memory, it just needs to rest. When you disconnect it and let it rest, then it's going to work again. Must have told you the story in the past of the time that I was on a plane and we were about to take off. We actually went down the runway, picked up speed, and the nose of the plane was about to lift off, and suddenly at the last minute the pilots slammed on the brakes. And he came on the loudspeaker and he explained a light came on on the panel saying there was a problem and he didn't want to take off with the light on, which I thought was a very wise decision. Was grateful for it. So he said, "We're just going to fix it and then we'll take off. No problem." So we sat on the plane and time began to pass and then the engineers came on the plane and time began to pass and they couldn't figure out why this light was on and what needed to be corrected in order for the light to go off. So they announced, "You know, we're going back to the gate while we fix this. If you like, feel free to get off the plane, come back on the plane. You can go shop, get something to eat. It's going to take a little while." So as we got off the plane, I whispered to the pilot as I was passing the cockpit, somewhat of a smart aleck, I said, "Why don't you just try try what I do with my computer and phone? Just turn it off and turn it back on again." They didn't appreciate that. Anyway, got off the plane, got something to eat, came back on. Still took a little bit while. Pilot came on the plane and he said, "We haven't figured it out, but we shut down the plane, we turned it back on. The light did not come back on, so we're going to take off." And we took off and here and here we are. So the point is that the land that needs to be shut down, sometimes it needs to disconnect and you need to let the land rest and then the land can be productive. It's about the land, but it's also equally or even more about the farmer. The farmer too needs to rest. The farmer needs to be rooted and the farmer needs to recalibrate his and her compass. They need to dedicate themselves to not only the service of the land, of the physical world, but of Hashem, of emunah. It's an exercise in bitachon and in emunah. So the pasuk says "v'shamta ha'aretz." The land should rest. Why? "shabbat la'Hashem." And Rashi here writes, "What does it mean shabbat la'Hashem?" Everything is for Hashem, isn't it? Every mitzvah we do is for Hashem. Sunday through Friday are for Hashem and shabbat is for Hashem. The six years we work the land is for Hashem and the seventh year of the sabbatical, Shmita, is for Hashem. So what does it mean shabbat la'Hashem? "Zocher Rashi, l'shem Hashem." "l'shem Hashem l'shma." Let the land rest not because you belong to some environmental club. Let the land rest not because it makes sense to you. But "l'shma l'shem Hashem." Do it for God. So the Ramban is bothered. The Ramban asks on Rashi, "Every shabbat and every moed is l'shem Hashem. So why does Rashi specifically tell us or why does the Torah specifically tell us that Shmita is shabbat la'Hashem?" Every holiday, every shabbat, every mitzvah that we do, we do in order to draw close to Hashem. We do because he tells us, not because we thought of it on our own. So in his Das Torah, Rabbi Yerucham, the Mashgiach of the Mir, explains based on a comment of the Raavad. The Raavad in his introduction to his sefer Baal Hanefesh says, "Kavanas hamitzvos kedei she'yeida ha'adam she'yesh lo borei she'borei u'moshel alav." The purpose of all of mitzvos is that God says jump, we say how high. Purpose of all of mitzvos is for us to admit and to concede and to submit and to surrender that we don't navigate the world based on the way we want or what makes sense to us, but all mitzvos are an exercise in our submitting to Hashem. Hashem says, "I created I designed this world. You're a guest in it and here is how to operate. Here is the best way to live. Here's how to get the most out of it. Here's how you'll find the greatest happiness. Here's how you can be of the highest service. Here's how you can fulfill your mission in it." All of mitzvos are to know that we have a borei. That's why we make a bracha on a mitzvah. We say a bracha before we do a mitzvah because we return and remind ourselves of the fact that there is a creator and he charges us to do this mitzvah and that we don't have the luxury or the freedom to simply live the way we want. We don't make sense of the world in a way that is convenient or comfortable for us, but we're here to serve. We are here to serve him, he doesn't serve us. We are here to fulfill a mission. We're here to give not to take. We're here for a reason and every mitzvah is a reminder. The root of the word mitzvah is let's have those means to connect. The mitzvah is the means through which we connect to Hashem. It is a connection. We bind ourselves to Hashem. We surrender to Hashem. We listen and we have an interest in fulfilling his will and his word. So according to this, shabbos laHashem Is he right? Fill in and sit this and cashes every mitzvah is supposed to be laShem Hashem. They're all supposed to be done and designated in the service of Hashem lishma. Why then does it specifically say shabbos laHashem for shmita and the same language is used for shabbos that comes at the end of each and every week? What are the two things have in common says Rabbi Yerucham? At the end of a long week, at the end of a long six years, a person can mistakenly think shh, this is my world, my success, my ingenuity, my creativity, my entrepreneurship, my hard work. This success is mine. I've broken through. I've made progress. I've mastered the world. I've manipulated the world. Kochi votes and Yadi, it's my strength. It's my wisdom. It's my hard work. It's my diligence. Shabbos laHashem. Hey buddy, relax, disconnect. You can't so much as turn on a light switch. You think this is your world? You think you control and manipulate? You think everything is your success? You think you can micromanage and power and be in control? You can't even flip on a light switch. You can't even take the jelly bean you like from the ones you don't like or the ones you don't like from the ones you like. You can't even the malachas of shabbos. 39 categories of creative labor, sit tight. Be passive to nature and to the world. Make peace. Hashem says, a little stickle reminder, it's my world, you're just a guest in it. I am in charge. Yes, six days of the week work keep shua, conquer, control, manipulate, learn, master the world. But then one day a week, instead of being active, we're passive. One day a week instead of being in control, we relinquish control and we sit back and we say, Hashem, you're in charge. So therefore laShem Hashem, there is no anochi, there is no I, there is no ego, there is no power struggle. One day a week we stop and we let go and we let God. One day a week we stop trying to control his world. That's how Hashem shabbos says Rabbi Yerucham, this is the connection, the common denominator between shabbos and shmita. The common denominator of shabbos, which is the seventh day of the week, and shmita, the seventh year of the seven year cycle, notice everything is in similar units and parallel in time, but the common theme is work, conquer. You're not holy and righteous by the way if you say, you know what? God loves shmita so much. God wants to respect the earth and let it rest. God wants me to be about bitachon and emunah. He wants me to not work. I'll tell you what, I'm going to keep every year shmita year. I'm not going to work. I'll collect from the community. I'll walk around and rely on the kupas tzedakah. I'll let Karen Hashvi'is operate not only in the seventh year, but support me all seven years. Rabbi Moshe Feinstein points out, notice that the Torah says sheishem tishra sadeh. It doesn't just tell us the mitzvah of shmita, it tells us there's also a mitzvah to work the six years. And the same is true when it comes to shabbos. See, unlike other religions where work is a concession, really in the ideal we don't work. But we have to work because how else will we live? How else will we survive? So it's a concession to a reality. Judaism sees work not as a concession. Judaism sees work as a value. How many mishnayos pirkei avos and elsewhere to tell us the Torah learning that doesn't have malacha with it is sofuli but it's not real. Person has to be diligent and work. We were born to derive an enormous satisfaction, self-worth by the work that we do, by the difference that we make, by a sense of accomplishment that we gain and that we have. We're meant to make a difference in this world, to master his world, to work in this world. The same is true with shabbos. We're told six days work and then the seventh year rest. And how do we know that's noble? How do we know it's meaningful? How do we know that in itself is a mitzvah? We're emulating the Ribono shel olam, Hashem did it. Doesn't just say that Hashem created the world. He could have created the world in one moment and then had seven days of shabbos. It says six days he was occupied with creation. Now, for Hakadosh Baruch Hu, creation was just speech. He spoke and the world came to be. For Hashem, there was no work involved, but kiveyachol, as if he worked six days to model for us and create the precedent precedent for us of the idea of working for six days and then being able to rest in the seventh. So Rabbi Yerucham says, why does Rashi comment to the shem Hashem? Shmita is laShem Hashem, unlike other mitzvahs, every mitzvah is laShem Hashem. So Rabbi Yerucham, the Ramban asked that question. So Rabbi Yerucham explains, no. Shabbos and shmita have in common is I might swell with pride. I might grow arrogant and egotistical and think these are my accomplishments. I'm in control. Every seventh day and every seventh year, we stop and we say, Hashem, you're in control. You are in charge, not me, not me. The shana shlishis Hashem the pasuk said the seventh year is a shabbos a shabbaton. Shmita, we have a year-long shabbaton for Hashem. We just said v'shavta aretz shabbos laHashem. So why are we repeating it? Pasuk beis it says v'shavta aretz shabbos laHashem. Pasuk gimmel, Sorry, in pasuk daled again, v'shana shlishis shabbos laaretz. Why are we repeating ourselves? So Rabbi Eliezer Lopiansky, Rosh Yeshiva of Torahs Emes, he said, don't think shish shanos shmita nuchah gufnis v'chol malachos shetachlis kocha, shabbos laHashem. Kol haShana haShvi'is, shana shel avodas Hashem, shana shel avodas Hashem, shana shleima shetuchal l'haktish kol yamacha l'Torah v'yiras Shamayim u'midos tovos. Do you begin to know the schedule of a farmer? We had a farmer speak in our shul early this year and then we interviewed her on Behind the Bima. It's well worth listening, you can find it online in the archives of Behind the Bima. Alana Twig, she and her husband Doron have a farm for many years, intergenerational, and she described the life and the schedule of farmer who rises before dawn, who is exhausted and works the land all day, who doesn't have time for other important pursuits like the study of Torah or his ability to be in conversation with Hashem. Farmer is working that field diligently, toiling tirelessly. It's the seventh year. When I asked her in the interview, "Nu, what are you doing with your time off?" It is an unpaid sabbatical. It's one thing to have a paid sabbatical. The farmer in shmita has an unpaid sabbatical. So she said, "We're learning." We picked up sefarim and we're learning. We're learning, that's what we're doing. And that's shabbos shabbason, shabbos laHashem. Yes, the land is rejuvenating. Yes, the farmer is resting and recuperating. But ultimately, what's the reason for shmita? The reason ultimately is shabbos laHashem. It's about finding Hashem back in our life, returning and restoring our sense of feeling his presence each and every day in everything that we do, knowing that he's with us wherever we go, always at all times. Okay, let's keep going. Perek chaf aleph. We go through some of these laws of shmita and then we move over to yovel. After the 49th year comes after seven shmita cycles is yovel. Is yovel. The pasuk here says, perek chaf aleph pasuk yud zayin. Turn the page 698. In this context, we're talking about uh yovel and in yovel the slaves go free, the land returns to its ancestral ownership. Al tonu ish es achiv, you're not allowed to aggravate or aggrieve your friend. Pasuk yud zayin, v'lo sonu ish es amiso, v'yerisa es haaretz ki ani Hashem Elokeichem. Each of you shall not aggravate or aggrieve. Basically, loosely translates as don't be a jerk. Don't be obnoxious. Don't be mean. Be kind, be sensitive, be compassionate. Have midos tovos and basic derech eretz against other people. This is the prohibition of ona'as dvarim. We have two prohibitions of ona'ah in the Torah. We have a prohibition of ona'ah in the Torah which is financial, economical. You're not allowed to charge extreme interest, exorbitant interest. What's defined as exorbitant interest? So the Gemara distinguishes between a sixth, more than a sixth, and less than a sixth. A sixth over the market rate or the market price. If you're charging less than a sixth, it's forgiven. If you're charging a sixth, you got to return it, but the sale stands. More than a sixth, the sale is nullified because you are charging an exorbitant markup. You can't charge such a markup. So we have a prohibition of ona'as mamon. When it comes to the world of money, you cannot just overcharge. There's an enormous shortage right now of formula. So, let's say you happen to have a six-pack of formula, and you know somebody who needs. So, you decide, you know what? My time has come. This is how I'm going to finally get rich. I have formula, nobody else does. I'm going to charge a thousand dollars a bottle of formula. What mother won't pay whatever it takes in order to help her baby survive? It's hard to believe that in 2022 we're like a third a fourth world country that we can't produce basic necessity for formula. So, that's a prohibition of ona'ah. So, there's something called ona'as mamon that has a specific measure. And here you have the prohibition of ona'as dvarim. Ona'as dvarim is when you mislead. So, an example of ona'as dvarim. Let's say you go to the hospital to visit your friend. And on the way in, you learn someone else is in the hospital. You visit them, and they say, "Wow, you came to the hospital just to see me? I'm so honored and touched. It means so much that you came to see me." It's a little ona'as dvarim. On the one hand, you let them down to know that actually I was coming anyway. Could be ona'as dvarim. Could be a prohibition of ona'as dvarim. My daughter, baruch Hashem, got engaged recently. Everyone's invited to the vort on motzei Shabbos, 9:30 here at the shul. Love to have you. The l'chaim was in New York. So, one of my rebbeim, Rav Willie, came to the l'chaim. So, my rebbe and the new mechutanim, Rav So, Rav Willie, because it's Shabbos, he came in and must have said five times, "I didn't come all the way from Riverdale to Woodmere for the l'chaim. I needed to be here anyway. I just scheduled why I needed to be here so that I could be here for the l'chaim as well." He went out of his way to make sure he wasn't violating ona'as dvarim, lest he mislead us to think that he schlepped and came all the way, and we would be honored by something that wasn't true. And then we find out later that really he was also to pay a shiva call. Really he was also giving a shiur. Really he also had a meeting. So, there's also a prohibition of ona'as dvarim. The Gemara Bava Metzia says, "Which is worse? Which is more severe? The prohibition of ona'as dvarim or ona'as mamon? Overcharging someone or misleading, aggravating them emotionally?" Zagt die Gemara, "Gedola ona'as dvarim me'ona'as mamon, she'zeh begufo, v'zeh bemamono." Ona'as dvarim is worse. Because what you do to a person's psyche, what you do to manipulate a person's emotions or mislead them, is much more damaging. It's much more injurious than what you do to them financially. It's just money. Can recover money. I don't mean to minimize people struggling with money. We're going to talk about it in our parsha momentarily. "Chaimucha achicha." When someone is struggling financially, it is very, very significant. It's not just money. But money can be recovered. But when you mislead someone, when you steal their trust, when you violate their trust, when you aggravate and manipulate them emotionally, "Lo sa'anu ish sa miso, k'ani Hashem." And that's why the Gemara Bava Metzia says the pasuk says, "K'ani Hashem." So, the ba'alei mussar explain, say the ba'alei mussar, "Ona'as mamon has a set measure. Less than a sixth, a sixth, more than a sixth. But when you're pogea b'chavero b'dvarim, when you say something hurtful or mean, when you call a nickname they don't want to use, when you distort or lie, when you violate the trust, so only Hakadosh Baruch Hu knows the shiur. Only Hakadosh Baruch Hu knows the depth of how much you hurt them. And that's why "K'ani Hashem." Pasuk ends, "Lo sa'anu ish sa miso." Why? "V'yaresam me'Elokim." When you go to that hospital room, when you go to that l'chaim, and you mislead the person to believe that you made this great effort for them, nobody will ever know. What's the problem? Why not be thought of as such a tzaddik? Why not make a deposit in the bank account of that relationship? They think that you went so far for them. Who's going to know? So, the pasuk says, "V'yaresam me'Elokim." You know who's going to know? God always knows. Hashem knows why you're there. Hashem knows what you're thinking. Hashem knows the truth. "K'ani Hashem." Because I am Hashem, and I am everywhere, don't think that you can mislead. You can fool yourself, and you can even fool others, but you cannot fool Hashem. And therefore, it's more severe, says the Gemara. Ona'as mamon has a set measure. A sixth. That's the halacha. But ona'as dvarim, you may think that nobody knows, and you'll get away with it. You have to be very, very careful. It's a story. Rav Dessler on Shabbos would make kiddush from a cup, a kiddush cup that he got as a gift from his uncle, Rav Chaim Ozer Grodzinski. He got a special kiddush cup from his uncle, Rav Chaim Ozer. And this kiddush cup Rav Chaim Ozer himself got from the grandfather of his first wife, Rav Yisrael Salanter, the great founder of the mussar movement. So, Rav Chaim Ozer used the kiddush cup, and he gave it as a wedding gift to Rav Dessler. He used it as a kiddush cup. When Rav Dessler went to live in Bnei Brak, he became aware that the Chazon Ish had his own shiur, had his own measure for the minimum amount of a kiddush cup to yotzei kiddush and havdalah and the like. And this kiddush cup that he had through his wife, this kiddush cup that he got as a gift from Rav Chaim Ozer, which his wife very much cherished, this kiddush cup was less than that minimum measure of the Chazon Ish. So, the question was, what should he do? He's in Bnei Brak, the city of the Chazon Ish. Do you adopt the measure of the kiddush cup of the Chazon Ish, or do you continue to use the kiddush cup that is the family heirloom that's meaningful to his wife? So, Rav Dessler continued to use the kiddush cup that meant so much to his wife. And the first Shabbos after his wife passed away, he set that kiddush cup, put it in the breakfront, used the new kiddush cup that would be that minimum shiur. You see that he prioritized ona'as dvarim. It would have aggravated his wife. It would have caused her pain to not use or to suggest that the earlier generations hadn't fulfilled kiddush. And so, though he himself wanted to adopt a stricter position, he waited till it would not be a violation of ona'as dvarim. Ona'as dvarim is worse than ona'as mamon. Perek chofei, pasuk chof. And I love this next Torah I'm about to tell you. So, I hope you've been listening carefully, but if you haven't, listen up now. Perek chofei, pasuk chof. Torah tells us the following. "V'chi somru." You know what's going to happen? Shmita. The farmer is charged. Again, we don't live in an agrarian agricultural society, other than our new friends Alana and Doron, we don't really relate. But can you imagine the farmer is told every seventh year, "Unpaid sabbatical." Sitting here and watching live or later, our people, lawyers and accountants and doctors and entrepreneurs and business people. Imagine every seventh year you're told, "Sit and learn. Don't work. No work this year. And by the way, it's not like a rabbi or a professor at a university that you've earned your paid sabbatical. Be nice. It's not earned your paid sabbatical. It's an unpaid sabbatical. So, you can't help but ask, "V'chi somru." You're going to say, "Manocha bashana shvi'is?" I've got it. God, I've got it. Land should rest. Like the airplane, you got to just shut it down so it can rejuvenate. It can reset itself. I've got it. Land's going to rest. I'm going to rest. I'm going to be in a kollel the whole year. I'm going to shali ghost. I'm going to learn with you. But I've got one little question. What am I supposed to eat that year? How am I supposed to pay the mortgage that year? How do I pay the bills? "V'chi somru." You'll ask, "Manocha bashana shvi'is?" "Ein lanu zera v'ein lanu asif to us." Say to him, "We're not planting, and we're not harvesting. We're not taking in or drawing in an income. What are we supposed to eat?" "V'tzivisi es birchasi lachem bashana hashishis." Says the Torah, "A promise." Ah. The sixth year will grow so much, you'll have enough for the sixth, the seventh, and the eighth year. "V'asasa t'vu'ah l'shalosh shanim." Some point out, they want to suggest, "You see from here, this is one of the pieces of evidence of the divine authorship of the Torah. We have in several places in Torah where a promise is made that only a divine person, a divine individual, could fulfill that promise. No man or group of people who would have authored a document would make a promise they couldn't fulfill. If If a group of people wrote the Torah, how long would this religion last? Seven years. In the sixth year, when you didn't grow enough for the sixth, seventh, and eighth year, in the seventh year, when you had an unpaid sabbatical and nothing to eat, you starved to death, that would be the end of the religion. The fact that the Torah promises, "Relax. Don't worry. You're going to grow enough in the sixth, seventh, and eighth years. You will be good to go. You have nothing to worry about." Is in itself, some say, evidence for the divine authorship of the Torah. That, and the fact that the Torah tells us exactly the species of which are the exceptions to fins and scales and split hooves and chewing cud and laws of kashrus, the Torah doesn't just tell us generically. It makes a promise, and it names the exceptions of the species. Again, how long would a religion last? Until you find that there's more exceptions. You say the Torah was wrong. It was off. A group of people would never make that promise that they couldn't fulfill. They could never know all the species across the globe. Only Hashem could. So, some suggest that is evidence of the divine authorship. But I want to share with you a different insight. A famous kasha of the Noam Elimelech, the Heilige Noam Elimelech, Rav Elimelech of Lizhensk. And he asks the following. Why does the Torah present this in a roundabout way? Why does the Torah present us Hashem says, "Don't worry. I got your back. You're going to grow enough in the sixth year for the sixth, seventh, and eighth year." Why doesn't Hashem just tell us that? "Keep shmita. Six years work your field. Six years prune your vineyard. The seventh year rest, and don't worry. There'll be enough in the sixth, seventh, and eighth year." Why does the Torah not just tell it to us as a reality? Why does it couch it? Why does it communicate it in an indirect roundabout way by saying, "V'chi somru." When you'll ask, when you'll be bothered, when you'll worry. Why does it tell us that when you'll worry? Why not just tell us the din that what? In the sixth year you'll grow enough for the sixth, seventh, and eighth year? It's the kasha of the normal many answers are given, but Rabbi Bender Rabbi Yaakov Bender in this beautiful safer on Chumash I'm a big Rabbi Bender fan. In the safer he says the following answer. Such a beautiful answer. Listen carefully. It's fantastic. He says shmita is a nisayon it's a test of faith. The Gemara praises the strength of the farmers who after six years of toil and single-minded focus turn their back on their field and let them lie forsaken in the hands of Hashem. By the way, just think about that also. You build a business. It's your baby. You love it. It's yours. And now the Torah says turn your back on it, neglect it, let it go for a year. Again, we don't relate to it necessarily in the form of the farm, but you can think of it as a business. You're an entrepreneur. You've worked hard. You've built up a website, an e-commerce business, a business offline. You've worked tirelessly to build up a business in the seventh year we say start all over again. You're going to lose all the reviews. You're going to lose all the momentum. You're going to lose all the customer base. You're going to lose all your clients. Turn your back on your business. That's what the farmer's being asked to do. Turn your back on your business after working hard to build it up for six years. Every seventh shmita in the cycle is another year, yovel. Farm has to wait a second year. The field into which you invested such energy and heart lying fallow, overgrown, and overrun. It's not easy. It's a nisayon. Nisayonot are not meant to be easy. Nisayon means a test. The Torah's saying it's okay to ask, to express the worry and fear. What will we eat? What will be? How will we manage? Will we be okay? How will we pay the bills? You hear what Rabbi Bender of Yeshiva Darchei his answer to Normal question. Why didn't the Torah just tell it to us there'll be enough in the sixth year for the sixth, seventh, and eighth? Why does it tell it to us in the roundabout way "V'chi samru and when you'll ask" says Rabbi Bender, you know why? The Torah here is giving license to worry. The Torah's saying it's okay to ask what's going to be. It's okay to worry. It's okay to have this question in the first place. He writes in many homes children are protected from the harsher realities of life, assured that everything's going to be okay. Over the months of COVID-19 pandemic this became impossible. Children very much part of every conversation and deliberation. They heard the doubt, felt the worry, and the uncertainty. And they wondered if it is okay to complain, to express their own frustration and anxiety. And the answer is a resounding yes. The Torah here is saying yes. It's okay to say what will be. When will this pandemic end? When will I be off Zoom and back in school? Will we be okay? Will everyone I know and love survive? Can you imagine what it's like for our young people in school, out of school, shuttled here and there, in lockdown or quarantine? We cannot always make the situation perfect, but we can reassure them within the challenge and letting them share what they are feeling is part of reassurance. And we all know it's not just children. Adults also need to unburden themselves sometimes to crack and to deprive someone of that chance is cheating them. To tell someone "No, you should just live with perfect faith and everything is amazing." It's not realistic to tell someone is waiting for lab results to return or for a medical test which got grave consequence to come back "Don't think about it. It's all good. It's all from Hashem." Yes, every Wednesday morning we work on living with emunah. Yes, when you live with emunah we gain the strength and the resilience and the fortitude to face whatever comes our way. But it's only natural and it's only normal to crack and to worry. And to express a little concern about what will be. And says Rabbi Bender, here the Torah is giving license. The Torah communicates it in this way. Don't perseverate. Don't become totally debilitated by your thoughts, anxiety, and worry, and fear. At some point one has to lean into their faith. But the fact that there is concerns, of course there are concerns. You're normal. How do you know? The Gemara in Sukkah daf nun Rav Nachman taught the next world is not like this world. In this world when you hear good news you say a bracha. What bracha? You win the lottery. What bracha do you say? Not just win the lottery. You buy a new home. You buy a car, something others will benefit from. You make a bracha Hatov U'meitiv. In this world if you hear bad news, what do you say? A person loses a loved one or you lost your fortune. Stock market's been down. A lot of people have lost a lot of money. So far they've lost it on paper, but if in reality a person loses a lot of money, a fortune, they recite this bracha Hashem says Baruch Baruch Ata Hashem Melech Haolam Dayan Ha'emes. Whereas in the next world the Gemara says in this world good news you say Hatov U'meitiv. In this world bad news you say Dayan Ha'emes God you're the judge of truth. But in the next world on all news good or what seems bad you'll make the bracha Hatov U'meitiv because in the next world we'll understand how all is for the good. Says Rabbi Bender, the Gemara's telling us that in the world to come even tidings that seem better perceived in the truest sense we'll see them as innately good. Rabbi Yitzchak Kurtzer the great Pachad Yitzchak in his pithy way would remark Shteig du, what we see here is that in this world of a person who hears bad news. Let's say you hear bad news in this world. You hear that your loved one died. You hear that you lost a fortune. You hear that your house burned to the ground. And you're such a tzaddik you say "Olam." You're such a ma'amin ba'al bitachon. And you want to prove to the world how much faith you have that when you hear that your house burned to the ground, when you hear that you lost your loved one, you say "Baruch Ata Hashem Melech Haolam Hatov U'meitiv." Hashem you're the best. Said Rabbi Kurtzer, you know what that is? A bracha l'vatala. The Gemara says that's a bracha l'vatala. You're not supposed to make that bracha on bad news in this world. You're not supposed to be such a great tzaddik. Don't pretend to be something you're not. We have aveilus. You grieve. You mourn. There's a sense of loss. You lose your home. Well, the more so you lose a loved one. It's natural. It's normal to grieve. You don't make Hatov U'meitiv chat that's called a bracha l'vatala, faker. That's a bracha l'vatala. In the next world we'll make Hatov U'meitiv even on bad news, but we're living in this world. And in this world we're governed by our nature and our natural instinct that in this world Hatov U'meitiv on bad news would be a bracha l'vatala. It's okay. It's okay to say "V'chi samru manoach Hashem ashvis." It's okay to say what's going to be and when will this end and what will it look like on when we come out of it? It's okay to ask those questions. The Torah's telling us and the Torah's telling us to tell our children that we shouldn't have anxiety. That we shouldn't be overly fearful. That we shouldn't have a crisis of faith. We have to work on ourselves to realize that Hashem is in charge. Hashem is in control. Whatever will be is what's meant to be. And that should give us the calm that we need. But to first face the fear to feel the "V'chi samru manoach" to ask the question is only normal. Jews don't grumble or express grievance of course. But to share the pain, to speak it out is not just all right, it's healthy. Pasuk in Mishlei says "Daiga b'lev ish yashchena." If you have worry in the heart of man "yashchena." The Gemara in Yoma daf ayin hey teaches what does it mean "yashchena"? "Yisichena l'acherim." "Yashchena" the word comes from sicha. Have a conversation with others. When you're worried express it to others. Articulate the worry. Speak. Speak to parents. Speak to friends. Speak to the ba'alei batim and teachers. And speak to the Ribono shel Olam. Tell him about your worries. We don't have a religion that Hashem says "I want you to lean in with such faith in me that there's no room for you to ever express worry." No, "V'chi samru manoach." Turn to Hashem and say "Hashem, frankly I'm worried about my kids." I'm worried about myself. I'm worried about my marriage. I'm worried about my parnassah. It's okay. It's like a shmak vort, no? What an insight. What an answer to the Heilige Normal question. Why didn't the Torah just tell us the halacha? Why didn't the Torah just tell us the reality that in the sixth year Hashem will give enough for the sixth, seventh, and eighth? Why did it couch it first "V'chi samru when you'll ask"? What if we don't ask? Why does it tell us "when you'll ask"? Strange. Says Rabbi Bender, to tell us it's okay to ask. It's okay to worry. Oh, what a shmak vort. Perek kaf alef pasuk chaf gimmel. Moving right along. Lo simachair l'tzmisus ki li ha'aretz ki gerim v'toshavim atem imadi. The land shall not be sold in perpetuity. The land is mine. You are simply sojourners and residents with me. You're guests. You're simply guests. You don't have an attitude at the hotel as if it's your room. You know you checked in. You know you're checking out and you're there temporarily. You are a guest. The famous story of the Chofetz Chaim who lived in simplicity. When asked why, he said "How come you don't bring all your things to the hotel room? Your furniture, your furnishings, hanging the paintings and the pictures on the wall. Why don't you set it up as your own?" The answer is cuz the hotel you're only there temporarily. You're only passing through. For the for the Chofetz Chaim this world was like a hotel room only passing through. So the Torah here says that the laws of yovel in which the land reverts to its previous owner is a reminder to us that we never have a true ownership over the land. It's never really fully ours. We don't have a true ownership over that land. Ha'aretz lo simachair. The the pasuk says Ha'aretz lo simachair l'tzmisus ki li ha'aretz. It's mine. Rabbi Yerucham writes on this pasuk again this is Rabbi Yerucham in his Da'at Torah mashgiach of the Mir. "Yisod mitzvas ha'shvi'is munach b'milim eilu." The whole source, the whole core. We are in a shmita year. This is relevant to all of us outside the land of Israel when it comes to shmitas kesafim. When it comes to the end of this year, the forgiveness of loans unless you sign a pruzbul. But it's relevant. I was in Israel last week for three days and observing shmita in Israel today is complicated. Do you hold it heter mechira, bitul nachri? What food do you hold? Which kashrus? How do you observe shmita? A shmita year in Israel is very, very significant. Zman biur, you have to know the specific time for each food, when is the last time it's available, then it's subject to biur. You have to do um you have to be mafkir it, you have to relinquish ownership over it. It's complicated. So, what's at the core of these complicated laws of shmita of shvi'is? Says Rebbi Yeruchem, in these three words. It's all captured these three words. We are in a shmita year, chavra. If you want to feel shmita, think about and work on these three words. What are they? Ki li ha'aretz. God says, the land is mine. So, in mitzvas shmita sheyargil adam es atzmo l'achiya es ha'pni'mius, ki li kol ha'aretz, she'ein lo ba'al habayis. You have a beautiful home you've worked hard to buy and to build. You have a beautiful home you've decorated it. You have a beautiful home that you've renovated. You're so proud it's yours, it's mine. Homestead. Nobody can take it from me. It's homestead. No. You're not the ba'al habayis. I don't care what it says who has title. I don't care what it says in the official offices. I don't care if you have it homesteaded. It's not yours. We're not the ba'al habayis. It's temporarily it's temporarily ours. Ki li kol ha'aretz. Everything belongs to Hashem. Everything belongs to Hashem. It's a story they tell. Two Jews were fighting over a piece of real estate and they came to Rav Chaim Volozhin. They came to the Eliyahu Nevech Chaim. They were fighting over a piece of real estate. Each one said, "It's mine." And the other one said, "It's mine." And they're fighting, fighting, fighting, and they're bickering, and they're fighting over the piece of land. Each one said it's theirs. So, Rav Chaim Volozhin got up and he said, "Come with me." And they went to the piece of land. And they were waiting to see what would the great Rav Chaim Volozhin, the great Rosh Yeshiva, great talmid agra, what was he going to do? He's going to measure the land, survey the land, ask other people who owns the land. Why did he want to go to the land? It's the great Rav Chaim Volozhin, you can almost picture it. He laid down on the ground. And he put his ear to the soil, to the earth, to the ground. And they looked at their great Rebbi, Rav Chaim Volozhin. Dressed undoubtedly as a Rosh Yeshiva. He's lying on the ground that they're fighting over, the real estate that they're fighting over. And he puts his ear to the ground. And he gets up, and they say, "Rebbi, what was that?" And he says, "You know, you say it's yours, and you say it's yours. So, I wanted to find out from the ground who does he think it belongs to?" So, I put my ear to the ground, and you know what the ground said? "Soon they'll both be mine." So, he turned to the two and he said, "We're going to we're going to be buried, we're going to be worm food, we're going to return to the ground from which we came. We have very finite, mere mortal lives. This is not worth fighting over." He was giving them a message. You're fighting and you're bickering vociferously over this piece of land. Okay, so there are legitimate disagreements, go to a beis din and determine who owns it. But this is the fight that you're having, your family's aren't talking. I listened, and you know what the land said? "Soon enough, I'll own both of them. Neither owns me. Soon enough they'll both be mine. I'll own both of them." Ki li kol ha'aretz. Kadosh Baruch Hu says, ki li ha'aretz, it's all mine. Lest you think it's yours, lest you think you have title, lest you think it belongs to you, ki li ha'aretz, it all belongs to Hashem. So, Rav Soloveitchik has a comment here as well. Says Rav Soloveitchik on this on this pasuk. Ki li kol ha'aretz. Ki gerim v'toshavim atem imadi. You're just passing through. It's like a hotel. You are just guests. You're going to check out. Writes the Rav, Judaism relativizes all human finite values and aptitudes, denying them unconditional commitment. Judaism maintains that creation as such has no ontanic autonomy. God is not only the creator and governor of the world in a in a physico-dynamic sense. You need a dictionary just to read three sentences. You know the Rav, you know when he learned English? Rav was in Berlin. Rav came from Kuslovich. Rav didn't learn English in Europe. He first learned English when he came to America. And his English was better than everyone in this room combined. You need a dictionary to read what he says. I'll try to translate. God is not only the creator and governor of the world in a physico-dynamic sense, whose will determines the mathematical regularity of the cosmic process in all phases, but also the master of everything on a juridic plane. God owns his creations. The endless stretches of the universe from our small earth to the outer fringes of the cosmos. In other words, one can think of Kadosh Baruch Hu as in the heavens. He's far off and distant. He's that Kadosh Baruch Hu of the cosmos. Mathematical, enormous, huge, inaccessible, distant, and far off. No. He is all that. But he's also our Kadosh Baruch Hu owns and is involved in and is aware of and intervenes with everything in the here and now. Everything in the here and now. Everything. The land and its fullness are Hashem's, the world and those who dwell therein. T'hilim chaldala. The status of man is that of a tenant, a sharecropper. This is the idea of Shabbos. The Torah demands temporary withdrawal from one's daily routine so we can shake off the hypnotic influence which material possessions exert over us, and face the truth that we are managing someone's estate, not our own. It's not a beautiful description? This is what we said earlier, Rebbi Yeruchem. Shabbos la'Shem. Why is it la'Shem Hashem? What do Shabbos and shmita have in common? The way the Rav says, the hypnotic influence the material possessions exert over us. It's absolutely intoxicating to make money, to look at your bank account rise, to see your revenue, to see your profit, to cash your paycheck, to collect your things. It's intoxicating to think, "I'm conquering the world. I'm building a business. I'm killing it." In gashmius, it's hypnotic, it's intoxicating. Seventh year we stop, and we remind ourselves we're managing someone else's estate, not our own. We're just a manager. You know, the person who owns the magnificent estate versus the person who's hired to manage it. The one who's hired to manage it never makes the mistake and never confuses and never thinks they own it. In Hebrew, Shabbos means discontinuation, withdrawal. A man retreats from something which never belonged to him, from a delusion and a mirage that the world is his. The status of man in this world is that of a guardian, in whose care the works of Hashem have been placed as a precious charge. He governs the world on behalf of his master, representing him. Yet he must not try to usurp privileges and prerogatives which are not his. Whatever man has at his disposal was entrusted to his care by Hashem, the legitimate owner of being. Whatever man earns and enjoys, to whatever he holds fast, is not his, but Hashem's. When we beseech Hashem as the King of the universe, emanating by majestic splendor and magnificence, we ex facto acknowledge his absolute mastery of the world. When we rest on Shabbos, when we withdraw on Shabbos, when we make the statement, "Hashem, I'm just the manager. You're in charge, it's your world, it's your property." Ki li ha'aretz. Ki li ha'aretz. We are just, as the pasuk says, where is the pasuk? As the pasuk says, ki gerim v'toshavim atem imadi. We're just gerim v'toshavim. It's never fully ours, we're not fully the owners. We are simply the stewards, we're simply the managers of it. That is the mentality the Torah here is talking of course about in Israel. Torah is talking specifically in Eretz Yisrael, where um the mitzvah of shmita is primarily observed. But really the philosophy of it applies wherever we are, ki li ha'aretz. It all belongs to it all belongs to Hashem. We're simply the stewards over it. Which takes us to the next pasuk. Perek chof alef, pasuk lamed alef. The next pasuk at least that we're going to look at. After shmita and after yovel are the Levi cities, the Levi'im, who do not get their own land, but rather get cities within our land. The original model of the community kollel. The Levi'im are supported by the community, so they could sit and learn and study and teach and preach, and be role models to the community. So, they're not given their own land, but rather the designated cities within the lands of others. Perek lamed, pasuk lamed alef. Page 702. V'chi yamuch achicha umatecha imach v'hechezakto bo ger v'toshav bachai imach. If your brother becomes impoverished and his means falter in your proximity, strengthen him so that he can live with you. V'chi yamuch achicha. V'chi yamuch achicha. Listen to this. Listen to this. The Vayikra Rabbah, the Medrash says the following on v'chi yamuch achicha. V'chi yamuch achicha ach yitacheiv. Gomel nefesh ish chassid. Zeh Hillel ha'Zaken. Who was the person who designated his life to doing chessed, doing loving kindness to others? Was Hillel ha'Zaken. Shebe'shasha iniftera mitalmidei, hayah mahalech v'holech imum. When he was done interacting with his students, he would walk and escort them. Amru lo talmidei, "Rabbi, l'heichan atah holech?" Rebbi, where are you going? Amar lahem, "L'asos mitzvah." I'm going to do a mitzvah. Amru lo, "V'heichan mitzvah zu?" What mitzvah are you going to do? Shelo achakein? You're building a makah? Pinyan ketzei chamor? What are you doing? Amar lahem, "Lirchotz b'veis hamarchatz." I'm going to take a bath. Amru lo, "V'heichan mitzvah zu?" Bathing is a mitzvah? It's good for our children when we're trying to get them to take their bath or shower at night. V'chi mitzvah? Is that a mitzvah? Amar lahem, "Mah im yikun sham al achim shema'ami imadi umusmam b'dei tzarcheihem karkasi'os mishum she'ein lanu le'emun margan v'shochat umvein malum umason es v'lo alum es gadol im gadol hamalchus. Anashim v'reishim b'tzelem mustach seiv. Ki b'tzelem Elokim asah adam achas kamah v'kamah. Al achas kamah v'kamah, person who's designated to take care of and support royalty would look their best, would take care of their best. I, who are created as royalty, b'tzelem Elokim, is not a mitzvah to take care of our best. So the author of Slabodka or Muslim Finkel, he would explain this as follows. He would say hidden within here is a idea which can elevate a person. What is the message of this possible to you? We make the mistake of thinking, this is one of my wife's pet peeves. We make the mistake of thinking that when it's time to volunteer to do a deed, we have to leave our home. When it's time to do a deed, you go volunteer for a mission. You go volunteer for whatever worthwhile mission, whatever worthwhile organization, you run to go and do and volunteer for a mission for others. But the Torah is telling us here, says the author of Slabodka, that it begins at home. It begins at home. It begins at home. That when you do an act of kindness for your spouse or for your children, you're doing it too. What's our pet peeve? You know, children in all the schools have hours. They have an obligation of hours they have to volunteer for. So what happens? A mother says, "Could you wash the kids? Could you help me cook for Could you help me clean for They say, "No, no, no. I have to go get my hours. So I have to go to the neighbor's house to clean for The neighbor's house to babysit the kids. The neighbor's house to be able to to cook for them." The mother's left. It begins at home. You should get hours for the you do at home, too. You don't run out of the house to do leaving the home wanting, leaving the home needing. It begins at home. And you see this is the author of Slabodka from Abraham On the possible that Abraham buried his wife Sarah. It's talking about it. The Midrash says, "Road to Road to Abraham." It should have been Sarah. This was talking about it. He buried his wife. Kind of stuck on it. It's his wife. He wasn't going to bury his wife to buy a burial plot for his wife. That's called by the Midrash stuck on it. What's the answer? Yes. It begins at home. When we show kindness, when we are selfless, when we inconvenience ourselves, when we care about the people closest to us, that too is called stuck on it. The mission with you. With you. The mission stuck on yourself as a but we're significantly even for the people around us and with us. It begins. It begins at home. It's a beautiful insight in this possible. We've been learning this beautiful mission which is teachings of not directly on this but teachings of that connect to this mission. The possible said when your brother falters, when your brother fails, when he loses his livelihood, when he needs help, when he's struggling, what is the word help? What is the word aid? With you. What do you mean with you? needs Before we had an unprecedented people because of the unprecedented price of chicken and meat and so on. So we got up in and we said, "We have more people than ever that need help to make Please cough it up. Give it over. We need more and you responded." The community raised almost triple what we asked for in almost 1/7 of the time we gave to raise it. It was incredible. We brought in three truckloads of food and we gave money to people who needed it. So we did all of that while we have a mission here. Because your brother, our brother, our family needed Why do we mean with you? What does that word mean? With you. So I'll share two interpretations. First from him. He says the following. He says the way that created the world that if you have a lot of money, whatever you have in life, you always want more. You're never satisfied. You're never complacent. It's never good enough. But you always want more. The latest edition, the newest upgrade, the latest model. You don't buy a set of clothing 30 years ago and you wear it for the next 30 years. Fashion changes and you want the latest. You don't have the first edition of the iPhone that ever came out. They're up to whatever they're up to 13. So you always want the latest edition. People for themselves, if you have 100, you want 200. We always want to upgrade. We always want to turn it in. We always want the latest model. So in the mission, it is written He says the mission of the moment The moment a person falls prey to this desire and temptation to the ambition for money, you show the mission of yourself. So you're always trying to climb the ladder. You always want to raise your net worth. You always want more and nicer and bigger and better. That's simply the psyche of a person. That once we fall prey to money, once we find ourselves in the world of wanting material, physical, financial things, then we always want more. So now that you want some money, you want more. He says that's what the Torah is telling us. You know when it comes to the poor person, you know what we say? You don't need the latest. You don't need more. This is good enough. This should be enough for you. This should cover you. This should be enough for the mission. This should be enough for you for your technology needs. This should be enough. When it comes to us ourselves, we always want more. The latest, the next level, the newest edition, the latest model. And when it comes to the poor and impoverished person, we say, "Ah, good enough. Bare minimum. They should be happy to be able to subside on the bare minimum." Says the mission. That's what the Torah is telling us. The mission with you. Your attitude to the struggles of your brother should be with you. The same standard you have for yourself is the standard you should have for your brother. If you're never satisfied with enough, then you shouldn't be satisfied with enough when it comes to your brother. The same standards you have for yourself are the standards that you should have for others as well. I'll tell you one other interpretation on this quickly. It's from the mission of him. The mission of him brings down the following. The mission brings down the following. The mission with you. What do you mean he falters with you? With you. What does that have to do with with you? You hear about somebody who needs, whether you know them or not, whether you're have a relationship with them or not, we should respond that we should step up and step in and help them. So what does the word aid? Listen to this inside of the mission of him. Of course from him who understands the mission of us. Mission of us says no one is above you. I am raw and I sees. The ear hears. The whole mission of everything you do is recorded. Now every generation that preceded us couldn't really understand this. Everything I do, somebody sees? Everything I say, somebody's listening? What does that even mean? But we understand that more than any other. There are satellites in the sky. There are cameras all around. And believe me, whether you want to or not, whether you're given permission or not, everything you do is being recorded. Everything we do is being listened to. And that's what it means. The mission of him is the ultimate in the sky. He sees. He hears and he is recording everything we do. But the mission of him interpreted it differently. Said the mission of him, "Know who is above you. Know who is above you. There's a God in the world and therefore because he orchestrates everything, your life is carefully is carefully choreographed and curated. There are no coincidences. Therefore, I am raw. Whatever you see, you were meant to see. Whatever you hear, you were meant to overhear. And now what do you do with it? You saw something. Say something. Do something. You heard something. Do something. The whole mission of him." Everything will be recorded. It's in a beautiful mission. You need to know you don't live in a vacuum. You don't live in privacy. You don't live in confidential. There's a him who is watching and he's organized. And if you happen to see or if you happen to hear, if you happen to become aware of something, it's not a coincidence. It's not by chance. It's by design. It's what's meant to be. What will you do with it? How will you react to it? Says the mission of him based on this mission. Now we understand the mission with you. With you. With you. You learned about someone's trials or travails. You learned about their hardship or pain. You learned about an opportunity to make a difference. You have to step up and step in. You cannot bury your head. You cannot cover your eyes. You cannot pretend you don't see. We have an obligation, a responsibility to respond. To respond. Moving along. Finishing up. The Torah tells us the prohibition with you. You're not allowed to lend with interest. We are prohibited to lend with interest. We're allowed to lend with interest to a non-Jew. But to a Jew, you cannot lend with interest. Why do we distinguish between a non-Jew and a Jew? If lending with interest is immoral and unethical, why can you lend with interest to a non-Jew? And if lending with interest is moral and ethical, why can we not lend with interest to a Jew? And the answer is very simple. The answer is because there's nothing wrong with lending with interest. There's a time value to money. If my money were sitting in the bank, it wouldn't be earning a lot of interest, but it could earn interest. I could be making money from my money. And when I lend my money to you and I can't be earning money with my money, I've lost money. So when you pay interest, I'm not actually making a profit, you're just making me whole. There's a time value to money. There's nothing unethical or immoral of lending with interest. However, if my neighbor, if someone I don't know, if somebody's trying to make an investment comes and says, "Can I borrow money?" Then it's ethical to say, "Sure, but there's a time value to that money. You have to pay me back with interest." But, what happens if my brother or sister come? They say, "I've hit a hard times. I don't know how to pay the bills. Can I borrow a few dollars? Can I borrow a few shekel?" What are you going to say? Yeah, 8% interest? 5% interest? You're going to charge your brother interest when they're falling on hard times and they need money? The Torah is trying to condition within ourselves the sense that all Jews are our brother and our sister. Non-Jews are cousins. They're distant relatives. And if they want to borrow money, you could lend them with interest. But, Jewish people are immediate family. They are our nuclear family. And if a brother or sister comes and needs to borrow money, it's halala to lend with interest. It's unethical and it's wrong. The Medrash here quotes, "The fish that swim in the sea are drawn to the water." A person's heart is drawn to want to lend with ribbis. The moral of the matter is very easy to convince ourselves, you know, it's only right. There's a time value to money. I need to be made whole. There's nothing wrong with it. So, therefore, therefore, the Torah has to say "Your race in the world the test of if you're a man is your attitude towards money." A man with ribbis in the world has no fear of God. The Medrash says if you lend with interest, you are not God fearing. Why? Because if you lend with interest, you're concerned that you won't be able to make that money any other way. You don't believe in Hashem. If you believe in Hashem, then you'd lend a fellow Jew without interest and know that Hashem will make it up to you in another way. Our attitude towards money, our third or fourth of the day, says our attitude towards money, our attitude towards money reflects our relationship with Hashem. I'll end by telling you a very discouraging story. It's a bad way to end, but it's a very discouraging story. So much more to tell you, but a very discouraging story. I had a meeting the other day. I won't say in which community or in which state, and I won't say with whom, and I won't say with which type of Jew, but I'll just tell you it was a meeting to secure somebody's services. And they said, "Don't forget to bring cash." I said, "Why would I bring cash?" He said, "So you don't have to pay the taxes." I said, "Why wouldn't I pay the taxes? It's a halacha. Dina de malchusa dina." You have to be honest and integrity you have to pay the taxes. So, he said to me, "You know, in 30 years of doing business, you're only the second person to ever want to pay taxes. And the first worked as a tax auditor and felt he had to." You're only the second person ever to pay taxes. So, I said, "You know, you're somebody who shows Torah and mitzvahs. You're from a community that scrupulously observes Shabbos and kashrus and taharas mishpacha. You follow every chomer you can find. Maybe you should be machmir that it's stealing to not pay taxes. I'm the second client or customer you've ever had who wants to pay taxes? I didn't know that it was optional. I didn't know it was negotiable. It's geneiva. You're stealing from the other taxpayer who has to pay more when you don't pay your share. Dina de malchusa dina. We live in this country. We benefit from its services. Of course you have to pay taxes. Your race in the world, our attitude towards money is the true test of our faith. I mean, I I'll tell you, it was not a small amount of money to be saved on the taxes. But, my world to come is worth a whole lot more than that. I'm not selling my world to come for the difference of that taxes. Your race in the world, I'm not telling you to show off or I'm anything special. I think it should be hopefully obvious to us all. But, says, "Why your race in the world with the mitzvah of of interest?" Because when it comes to money and the temptation of money and wanting to save a few bucks about money, that is the test of whether you really have faith. I mean, I Not how hard you shuckle and not how many chomers you keep, but are you honest and do you have integrity? Do we keep business practices? Are we honest in business? That says everything about our about our faith. I mean, I Wishing everyone a beautiful Lag B'Omer coming up. Lag B'Omer's whole in the world. In the cabalistic calculation, the seven weeks each have a a theme for the week and the days within the week have a theme. And the theme of Lag B'Omer's whole in the world The The Sofer says the day the manna first fell is the day of being grateful, seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary. So, wishing everyone tomorrow night, Thursday, a beautiful Lag B'Omer. The fire should burn. Should elevate the memory of those we lost last year. And the fire should burn in us. We should be on fire Torah and mitzvahs and faith. Until next time, stay happy, stay healthy, and stay