Parsha Perspectives for Today (Acharei Mos - Kedoshim, 5781) - Also Being Sensitive to Hashem

Good morning, and welcome back to Partial Perspectives for today, our weekly analysis of the parsha with contemporary lessons relevant specifically for that year and for this time. I want to thank our generous parsha sponsors series for the year, Becky and Avi Katz, our dear friends and family in loving memory of Becky's father David Grossman, Lee L'ilnishma's David ben Menachem Manish. Also this morning, class is sponsored by our dear members and friends Pam and Prosper Abidbol in commemoration of Pam's father Lester Greenberg as his yahrzeit Eliezer ben Meir on the 12th of Iyar. May his neshama have an aliyah. If you'd like to sponsor a future shiur, please email Lee l e e at brsonline.org. l e e at brsonline.org. This week we have the privilege of reading and learning two parshas Acharei Mos and Kedoshim. An enormous amount of material. We're not going to get through it all, but we'll see how far we will get. And as always, I encourage you to listen to previous years' shiurim. You can find them on our website rabbiyefremgoldberg.org or on yutorah.org or YouTube, our YouTube channel. Page 636 in the Artscroll Stone Chumash Vayikra. Sh'ma Moshe. Acharei Mos shnei bnei Aharon b'korvam lifnei Hashem vayamosu. Our parsha, which teaches the detailed laws of Yom Kippur, the unique and distinct role of the Kohen Gadol in leading the Yom Kippur service. In our time, Yom Kippur is equally experienced by everyone. But in the time of the Beit Hamikdash, the overwhelming majority of the Jewish people were spectators to the Kohen Gadol who led the service on Yom Kippur and achieved atonement for us all. But it's introduced with a context, with a reference. Pasuk tells us when are these laws given? Acharei Mos shnei bnei Aharon. A reminder, as if throwing in Aaron's face, when is it given? After the death of Aaron's two sons. Now by the way, why doesn't the pasuk tell us their names? Nadav and Avihu. Tell us their names. Say their name. Why does the pasuk leave it ambiguous? Shnei bnei Aharon. After the death of Aaron's two sons without mentioning their names. I'll leave that to you as a question to explore. B'korvam someone they tried to draw close to Hashem inappropriately without having been commanded to do so. It was a capital crime. Vayamosu and they died. One thing the Torah teaches us, the pasuk is teaching us is Acharei Mos. There is an Acharei Mos. There is an after death. There is the notion that we're able to continue. We're able to rebuild. We're able to not only survive, but we're able to thrive. It's very interesting to note the way that a mourner comes out of mourning, the custom that we have. It's not halacha, but the custom, the minhag that we have, is we take the mourner for a walk. Why do we take the avel? Why do we take the mourner for a walk as the way in which they emerge from shiva? So many answers or explanations are given, but one is just like when you go for a walk, you put one foot in front of the other, so too in life, as you emerge from the deep grief and mourning, particularly of a tragic loss, you put one foot in front of the other. There is no magic wand. There is no easy solution to be able to re-engage, to be able to re-enter life and society. But just like when you go for a walk, you put one foot in front of the other, so too in life, one has no choice but to one foot in front of the other. And perhaps that's part of what the Torah is telling us here when it comes to Aaron is Acharei Mos. There is an Acharei Mos. There's an afterlife. First of all, we don't grieve excessively because we believe there is a world to come. And the largest pain of loss is our lack of access, our inability to feel, touch, hear, connect with the person who's no longer here. But from that person's perspective, Acharei Mos. There is an Acharei Mos. Bodies die, people don't die, and rather they ascend to heaven. Vayomer Hashem el Moshe, daber el Aharon achicha, Hashem tells Moshe speak to your brother Aaron, v'al yavo b'chol eis el hakodesh lifnei Aharon v'lo yamus. Why? Ki b'anan era'eh al hakaporas. Aaron tells Moshe speak to your brother Hashem tells Moshe, speak to your brother Aaron and tell him he can't just come in whenever he wants within the paroches in front of the cover of the Aaron that's on the Aaron, because if he does, he'll surely die. For in a cloud I appear I will appear to him above the Aaron. We spent a lot of time on this last year. If you want to listen to last year's parsha shiur, what does it mean b'zo lo yavo b'chol eis? You cannot come whenever you want, but rather the next pasuk, b'zo si yavo Aharon. This is how he has to come. He can't come however he wants, whenever he wants, but b'zo, only in this way. Chaim Shmulevitz, we spoke last year. V'lo yavo b'chol eis. You know what the killer to holiness is? Familiarity. When a person is too comfortable, too casual, too familiar, it's hard to feel a sense of holiness or a sense of sanctity. And that's what the Torah is telling us. V'al yavo b'chol eis el hakodesh. Don't become too familiar. Don't become too casual. Don't take it too lightly or too easily. Why? Because then it won't remain kodesh. It won't remain holy or sacred or sanctified. And I think the same is true in our marriages. The same is true in our lives. We have an expression that familiarity breeds contempt. I don't know that it breeds contempt, but it definitely loses the edge, the romance, the fireworks, the excitement, the energy. Don't be too familiar with your siddur. Go buy a new siddur every few years and mix up what siddur you daven from. Don't be too familiar or casual. Al yavo b'chol eis el hakodesh. Take seriously, prepare, and uh and have a mentality and an attitude which will lead to a sense of sanct- of sanctity. Ksones pasim kodesh y'ilbash. And then we have the specific parameters of how Aaron has to dress and what he needs to do when he comes in. Perek Zayin, pasuk vav. What happens? Vayikrav Aharon es par hachatas asher lo v'chiper ba'ado u'va'ad beiso. We reference this in the Yom Kippur davening in Mussaf that the Kohen Gadol earns atonement. The Kohen Gadol through this service earns forgiveness, a fresh start, a new beginning. For on whose behalf? First of all, on his own behalf. He needs atonement. He's made mistakes. He needs to come close. Then ba'ad beiso. He does so on behalf of his entire family. And then the pasuk, if we skip to pasuk Zayin, we've now progressed from earning atonement for himself to his family. V'chol adam lo yihiyeh b'Ohel Moed b'vo'o l'chaper bakodesh ad tzeiso. We'll get to this in a moment. No one else can be in the Ohel Moed when he is there doing his thing. Why? Because that is the way in which v'chiper ba'ado, he'll earn atonement for himself, ba'ad beiso, for his family, u'va'ad kol Yisrael, and for the entire Jewish people. And my question to you is very simple. Aren't he and his family full members, participants in kol Yisrael? Wouldn't it be more efficient to say that he earns atonement for the entire Jewish people? And obviously included among them is he and his family. Why so inefficiently does the Torah list out separately that the Kohen Gadol earns atonement ba'ado for himself, ba'ad beiso for his family, and then ba'ad kol Yisrael? And I'd like to suggest to you this morning, there's a very powerful lesson for each and every one of us. You know, management schools and professionals and researchers and gurus have studied the process of how you can change others. How do we affect change in others? How do we inspire and motivate and transform and change the people around us? I once saw an article published in the Journal of Management Inquiry and the title of the article was Changing Others Through Changing Ourselves, The Transformation of Human Systems. And the thesis, the argument of the article was that the number one mechanism to change others is to change yourself. You want to influence, you want to impact the people around you? Don't lecture. Don't give feedback. Don't give frontal direction. But rather the number one way is to change ourselves. And by changing ourselves and modeling for others, then we will be what we seek in others. And what the management gurus only concluded through their research now is what the Torah knew all along. And perhaps that's why the Torah suggests it in this inefficient way. You want to earn atonement for your family? Don't go lecture your family. Don't give feedback and criticism to your family. Where does it begin? Ba'ado. On Yom Kippur, a day that's characterized by growth and development, we have to first commit to change ourselves, ba'ado, and only then can we change and impact others. G'mara Bava Metzia, Amud Kuf Zayin tells us, K'shod atzmecha v'achar kach k'shod acherim. First examine yourself, and then examine others. Look in the mirror. Evaluate your own life. Are you the change that you seek in others? Are you living the principles, the values, the ideals, the life, the lifestyle that you are expecting and that you're asking in others? K'shod atzmecha. K'shod means to examine. It also means to be truthful. Like Oraisa k'shote in Brich Shmei. Because describe Hashem is true and his Torah is true and so on. So k'shod means be true. Be honest with yourself before you lecture others. The G'mara Shabbos daf kuf or the G'mara Shabbos daf kuf gimmel tells us, Harugel b'neir havyan l'banim talmidei chachamim. A person who customs themselves to be near the candle will merit children who will be righteous, who will be Torah scholars. Many point to this G'mara as the source for a custom that we have that women daven for their children when they're lighting Shabbos candles. They daven to have children. They daven for the success and the merit of their children when they're lighting candles. From harugel b'neir. Which candles are we talking about? They're showing them discuss. Are we talking about Shabbos candles? Talking about Chanukah candles? However, I saw a beautiful beautiful insight. What it means is Harugel Benair. You want bonim talmidei chachamim? You want children who care about and value and dedicate time to study Torah? Harugel Benair. Then make yourself time to sit at the candle and study Torah. You can't just lecture. You can't just tell them, "Did you learn Torah today? Did you daven? Did you make a bracha? Are you being kind? Are you a mensch? Do you have derech eretz? Do you not speak lashon hara?" You can't just tell others what to say what to do, but rather you have to model it. Ba'ado, ba'ad beiso, ba'ad kol Yisrael. It begins the change you seek among the entire Jewish people. The change you want among your entire community. The change you want within your family begins with ourselves. There's a quote that's often attributed to Rabbi Yisrael Salanter and others attribute it to the Chofetz Chaim and others attribute it to different Chassidic Rebbes, but if we're being intellectually honest, it traces itself back to the tomb, to an inscription on a tomb of an Anglican bishop in Westminster Abbey who lived about a thousand years ago. It doesn't mean that there's not truth to the quote, but we have to give credit where it is due. And listen to the quote. "When I was young and free and my imagination had no limits, I dreamed of changing the world. As I grew older and wiser, I discovered the world would not change. So I shortened my sight somewhat and decided to change only my country, but it too seemed immovable. As I grew into my twilight years and one last desperate attempt, I settled for changing only my family, those closest to me, but alas, they had they would have none of it. And now, as I lie on my deathbed, I suddenly realize if I had only changed myself first, then by example, I would have changed my family. And from their inspiration and encouragement, I would have been able to better my country. And who knows, I may have even changed the world." You want to change the world? It begins ba'ado, ba'ad beiso, ba'ad kol Yisrael. The change has to begin must begin with ourselves. Let's take another look at the possuk we just read. V'chol adam lo yihiye b'Ohel Moed, no person can be in the Ohel Moed, in the holy place, b'vo'o l'chaper b'kodesh ad tzeiso, when the Kohen Gadol enters in order to achieve holiness l'chaper, when the Kohen Gadol enters the kodesh, ad tzeiso, until he leaves. Ki per ba'ado, ba'ad beiso, ba'ad kol Yisrael. And that is where he seeks and searches for that atonement. Why is that? So Rabbi Soloveitchik writes in the article in the OU Rav Chumash, says the Rav, "A person cannot be in the Tent of Meeting when the Kohen Gadol comes in. According to halacha, the revelation at Sinai symbolizes erusin, the betrothal with Knesset Yisrael to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. We have two stages of marriage. Erusin is the first part. It's where the groom puts the ring on the kallah's finger, and then nisu'in. Nisu'in is It's a debate among the Rishonim what exactly is the fulfillment of the second part of the marriage. According to some, it's being under the chuppah together. According to others, Ashkenazim, it is the experience of yichud, the fact that they seclude themselves, which is something only a husband and wife can do. They act, they demonstrate marriage. They are alone in yichud room. That is the completion. That is the nisu'in. So says the Rav, says Rabbi Soloveitchik, that according to halacha, the revelation at Har Sinai symbolizes the erusin, the betrothal. The entire Knesset Yisrael stood at the foot of the mountain ready to enter into this relationship. When they built the Mishkan, the marriage, the nisu'in was completed. In this view, erusin was translated into nisu'in with the building of the Mishkan. The Mishkan and Beit Hamikdash then are the symbols of marriage of Knesset Yisrael to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. I will arrange my meetings with you from there. And that is the yichud. That is the chuppah. The verse says the possuk says, "No man shall be in the Tent of Meeting when he comes to effect atonement." Why? Because the service of the Mikdash is an act of marriage. And since chuppah is yichud, no one else can be present. The presence of a stranger destroys the yichud. So the image that we're meant to have when we read this possuk, that no one else can be there, is because the Kohen Gadol is having yichud with Hakadosh Baruch Hu. The Kohen Gadol is secluding himself. There's not a casual relationship. There's a marriage. There's an intimacy. There's an affection. There's a privacy. Uh Rabbi Carlebach says, "Normally, we think about ne'ilah, we're talking about Yom Kippur, the learning the laws of Yom Kippur. So normally, we think about ne'ilah in a very punitive sense. The gates are closing. They're going to be locked. Quickly, sneak in. Daven. Pray. Work hard. Earn merits. Ask Hashem. Why? Ne'ilah. The gates are closing and the gates are going to be locked." Says Rabbi "Don't think of it as the gates are going to be locked, but think of ne'ilah as the whole Yom Kippur, it's the tzibur. The whole Yom Kippur, it's all of us davening together. I look to the people near me and around me. I feel connected with all those others in the room. But says Rabbi comes ne'ilah, when the when the everything's on the line, comes ne'ilah, the culmination of the day, ne'ilah, I go into a room alone with Hashem and I lock the door. The image is not the gates are locking and I'm outside of it. The image is I'm going to a private room with Hashem and I'm locking the door behind me. It's time to be alone. It's time to be earnest. It's time to remove any inhibition. It's time to pour out my heart. Ne'ilah. I go into yichud with Hashem and I lock the door behind me." That is the opinion of Rabbi Soloveitchik, that the reference in our possuk on Yom Kippur to the fact that the Kohen Gadol needs to be alone, that reference is a reference to the fact of that there needs to be a sense of yichud, of privacy, of affection, of intimacy, of closeness. But Rav Druck has a different interpretation. Take a look at our first Rav Druck of the day, of course, in his wonderful work Eish Tamid. Mi possuk zeh yeish l'hotzi hora'ah gedolah. From this possuk, we can extract a very powerful lesson, namely, Hatorah madgisha shekol adam lo yihiye b'Ohel Moed k'she nichnas HaKohen Gadol. The Torah emphasizes, the Torah demands and requires that no other person can be in the Tent of Meeting when the Kohen Gadol enters to do his work on Yom Kippur. In eiv zman zeh, zochah Kohen Gadol l'salos l'darga gavoha beyoser. In that moment, at that time, the Kohen Gadol elevates. The Kohen Gadol rises to a level that no other person can achieve. Madua part zeh chashuv kol part zeh chashuv kokach? So why is this detail so important? Shouldn't the Kohen Gadol be oblivious to who else is around him? Shouldn't the Kohen Gadol be so lost in his righteous service that nothing else matters in that moment? Why does the Torah demand that no one else can be there? Says Rav Druck, Eish Tamid, "D'arba inyanim hu sheh ba Torah l'lamed, ki im y'vakesh adam l'salos l'hagila dargas gavoha b'avodas Hashem, l'lo shum p'niyos zaros, bilti l'Hashem l'vado, yachol l'hagila zeh rak k'she avodaso na'ases b'seiser, harcheik mei'einam shel b'nei adam." If you want to do a gut check, if you want to really look in the mirror and evaluate yourself, if you want to know how sincere is your religious growth spurt, what is motivating it, what is driving it, how real, how sincere, how authentic, then do it when no one else is around. Then ask yourself, are you doing it for others to see? Are you doing it to impress? Are you doing it to be praised? Are you doing it for honor? Are you doing it to be considered among the righteous? Or are you doing it authentically to draw close to Hashem? Such a powerful lesson of religious growth. Such a powerful lesson when we aspire for righteousness. Shem k'she af echad ein ro'eh, yachol l'avodas Hashem l'shem shamayim, l'lo p'niyos acherim, v'al yedei zeh l'hagila dargas gavoha. Because only when there's no one else there, and that's what the possuk demands. That's the language of the possuk. "Kol adam lo yihiye b'Ohel Moed." No one else can be there. B'vo'o, when you come in order to atone. It means physically nobody else can be there. It also means mentally, in your head, no one else should be in your head when you are deciding who you want to be and how you want to atone. You're not living more righteously or religiously. Is your Shemoneh Esrei a fraction of the time when you're all alone than when you're in shul? Who are you when no one else is around? Do you learn when there's no one else there to see and applaud? I remember when I was in Rabbi Yitzchak Elchanan, when I was in YU learning, one night late at night, I went to There was a shul in the basement of the dormitory where I lived in Morg, fourth floor Morg, best floor, great roommates, great floor. So in the in the basement of Morg, there was a shul. And I remember being down there late one night for whatever reason, and I saw a friend of mine. And he was sitting in the corner, he was learning. And I always knew him to learn late in the main Beit Midrash at YU. Baruch Hashem, the main Beit Midrash at YU was, probably is still, packed way past midnight. So I asked my friend, "Why are you here? What are you doing here? Why not in the main Beit Midrash?" So after a little pushing and prodding, he finally said to me, he said, "You know, late at night, I like to come to learn here because I want to make sure that I'm learning late at night. I want to make sure that I'm staying up, not because I want to be known as the guy who's the latest in the Beit Midrash. Not because I want people to be impressed or praise me for burning the midnight oil. I want to make sure I'm learning for the right reasons, that I am driven to learn." And that's exactly what Rav Druck is saying the p'shat is here. V'chol adam lo yihiye b'Ohel Moed. Nobody else can be there. Physically, nobody else can be there in your head when you are seeking righteousness. The Rambam writes in Even though we have a mitzvah of Torah to learn both day and night, ain't Adam wrote a letter to Aliyah. When is the most ideal when is the most propitious time when is the most um the best time to be able to learn is at night, not during the day. Holy lost of Therefore, a person wants to merit to wear the crown of Torah should make sure to learn at night. But lawyer I feel like a man don't waste them. Don't binge watch nourish guide. Don't waste them on absurd activities. I love it night seder at your home in the base medrish. Open up a safer, listen to a sheer, read a book at night. So the Rambam significantly encourages learning at night and the benefits of learning at night. So notes you see that the greatest benefit of learning is coming at night, not during the day. Now the simple understanding the simple explanation is because at night you have the least distractions. During the day we have a whole to-do list. During the day you got to earn your livelihood. During the day there are people around. During the day there's so much going on. So therefore your learning will be with distractions and it's hard to acquire, it's hard to absorb and embed what you're learning if it's competing against the background of all kinds of distractions. So the simple understanding of the Rambam is that the Rambam is encouraging us the best time to learn strategically is at night. However, I drove offers another explanation based on what we just saw in our puzzle. The answer is at night people won't see you. Like my friends in YU People are not going to observe or see one another and therefore that will be your best learning. Your best learning is when it's not to impress. Your best learning is when it's not to compete, but your best learning is when it's authentic and genuine, when it's internally driven and it's not in order to keep up with anybody else. Moving right along. Character design puzzle it's a puzzle we're all familiar with. On Yom Kippur last year we spoke all about the saving of Azazel. What is this bizarre ritual of pushing the one goat off a cliff? The other goat is offered. We spoke all about that notion how we see ourselves in that goat and what it represents and that voice of Azazel in our own head. You can listen last year if you want to understand more about a puzzle element. We all know this from Yom Kippur. The key by Yom Kippur by the tire as him the flame of Hashem to tar all. On this day Hashem provides atonement to purify from all of our mistakes before Hashem we should be purified. What a beautiful beautiful puzzle. What is it? What is this puzzle getting at? So the I'm a kind first vision of the sort of the day the I'm a kind says what does it mean the flame of Hashem to tar all? The flame of Hashem says the means to tar all of the double shoe go Iraq with me Hashem Hamakshava. It's a continuation of the last idea from the joke. The flame of Hashem to tar all. Where is it that you really become pure? Where is it that you really grow? Where is it that is most important to do a gut check? The flame of Hashem. Namely, to tar all of the double shoe go Iraq with me Hashem which is Hamakshava. Ask yourself in your thoughts. Ask yourself when your mind wanders. In your motivation. In your intent. Are you sincere? We're living in a time where people are trying to religiously one up, holier than thou, compete with others. But that's not right. That's not the right way. True It's true that a competition among scholars improves or benefits wisdom. If a person is motivated to publish a book a safer because of because of scholarly competitiveness, then there's increased in the world. However, that's true when it comes to when it comes to when it comes to the discipline of But when it comes to our righteousness, when it comes to who we are in our core, we should not be driven by competing with others. We should not be driven by pursuing honor or glory, but it should rather be pure, should be authentic, it should be an honest and sincere yearning and longing to come close to Hashem, to be what's right and righteous, to do what's true. So the flame of Hashem to tar all says the says the vision of Where is to tar all? Where is the most important place to tar all to become pure? The flame of Hashem. In the aspect of our life that only Hashem knows. In the deepest recesses of our hearts. In our thoughts that no one else has access to. That's to tar all. That's where it's most important in order to come close to Hashem. The has a different interpretation. The flame of Hashem to tar all says of says of the flame of Hashem to tar all key key tells us that Yom Kippur works to atone only for those who make the effort who seek atonement. Before you can appear before God and ask him for a pardon. Before you appear before God and ask him to wipe your record clean. You ask him to forgive. Ask him to forego any punishment. Person has to put the effort in. The tire at small. Says the The word is telling us chronologically if you appear before Hashem and you say Hashem, I'm genuine, I'm real. I feel such remorse, regret. I've made a commitment not to repeat this again. I'm confessing to you I've made a mistake. Let it go. I'm asking you to let it go. Says the There's work that has to be done beforehand and that's the And here he's encouraging us take advantage of Elul before you pour appear before Hashem on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur first take advantage of the month of Elul before Hashem before you appear before Hashem to tar all. Put in the hard work in Elul. Put in the hard work to repair before you first appear before Hashem. But I want to tell you a beautiful thought about Tanya the that I saw from but Hashem in our wonderful program. Says the the following. Take another look at that puzzle. Because on this day God gives atonement in order for us to be able to be pure from any of our mistakes. What word in the puzzle is extraneous? What word in the puzzle is extra? Doesn't seem to add anything. The word is I like him. The puzzle could have easily just have said key by Yom Kippur by the tire On this day you atone the tire as him so that you're pure because from all your mistakes and so on. What does the word add? So listen to what the the said. Said you're punctuating the puzzle all wrong. You're going to have to pivot and adjust in the way that you sing this puzzle on Yom Kippur. Don't read it by the tire as him comma on this day. Just try to translate the words. It's difficult to translate. The I like him. I like him means on you. On this day atonement on you. What is it like? Atonement blessings on your head. What is atonement atonement on you? What does the word mean here? Says the don't read it I like him. Read it I like him. The tells us that teaches it's Yom Kippur. The essence of the day itself provides atonement. It is a national forgiveness, national amnesty day. Imagine it's not so hard to imagine that our elected leaders legislate that there's a day of amnesty. You owe money to your college. You have college debt? Hereby forgiven. Wipe the slate clean. Start again. Imagine you owe money in taxes. Amnesty day. We're forgiving any back taxes. Just do better going forward. Amnesty day. Turn in your illegal firearm. Just drop it off. Amnesty day. We're not holding anyone accountable. So says he says it's Yom Kippur. On Yom Kippur we have an amnesty day. God says whether you work for it whether you deserve it, whether you've earned it, amnesty. It's Yom Kippur. When you wake up on Yom Kippur whether you find yourself in shul or not, whether you're even fasting or not, it's Yom Kippur. You've entered the day on the calendar called Yom Kippur. You have been forgiven. You're granted amnesty. Fresh start. New new beginning. So technically in our chart upstairs that Hashem has chosen to purge. He pressed control all delete. Amnesty. That doesn't mean that we have a life of merit or of meaning. That doesn't mean that we have a life of purpose. That doesn't mean that we're in the right trajectory of life. So says the read the puzzle the following. Key by Yom Kippur by the tire On Yom Kippur you're forgiven. It's Yom Kippur amnesty day. I like him the tire as him, but it's on you to purify. The difference talks about the difference between Kapara and Tahara, two separate things. There is on the one hand, when I do something wrong, when I make a mistake, there's the consequence, there's the punishment, but then there's also the impact. There's also the impact. You know, the the Rambam the Shulchan Aruch codified based on a Gemara that a person who's a degenerate gambler, that a person who lies or cheats in business is ineligible to be a witness, is possible to aid us. So, why don't you say the day after Yom Kippur, it's Yom HaShoah Yom HaKippur, amnesty day. They were forgiven for whatever they did wrong. So, can they be a witness now? Are they a kosher aid now? The answer is no. Why not? So, the Rav says, because the impact of mistakes we make, the impact of what we call sin is dual. On the one hand, there's a punishment, there's a consequence, and on the other hand, it's metame. On the other hand, it contaminates our soul. It absolutely leaves a residual impact Excuse me, on who we are. So, there are two levels of chuva we have to undertake in order to remove it. Number one, we have to get rid of the punishment. So, that it's Yom HaShoah Yom HaKippur, amnesty takes away the punishment. That's Kapara. But, we also want Tahara. I also want to get rid of the contamination. I want to get rid of the residual impact. I want to get rid of the way it transformed my soul. I want to earn to be able to be a kosher witness again. That's Tahara. See how the chuva the Rav writes describes very, very beautifully there. So, says the Alter Rebbe, that's what's going on over here. Ki v'yom hazeh y'chaper, it's Yom HaShoah Yom. You want to get rid of the punishment, you want to be off the hook for the punishment, for the consequence, it's Yom HaShoah Yom. The day itself earns that. But, aleichem l'taher eschem, if you want to achieve Tahara, you want to elevate, you want to enrich, you need to want a life of meaning and of purpose, don't wait for the calendar day. Don't wait for passively to happen to you. Aleichem, it's on us. It's on us. And this is a theme that you see elsewhere in our parsha when it talks about Shabbos. Parshas Kedoshim, we're going to talk about Shabbos. Shabbos oso saito tishmoru, there are two Shabboses that we have to observe. There's an aspect of Shabbos that happens automatically. It happens to us. When the sun sets on Friday, ready or not, says Shabbos, here I come. Shabbos happens to us. But, then there's the aleichem. There's the part of Shabbos that we make. Do we prepare? Did we cook? Do we set the table? Do we come with divrei Torah, with zmiros, with a great story, with a great question? Are we going to play board games? Are we going to laugh? Are we going to enjoy? There's the aleichem. Each of our encounters with religion, there's what is provided automatically, there's what the day brings, but then there's the aleichem. There's what is on us in order to create, there's what is on us in order to produce. Okay. Perek yud ches, pasuk gimmel. Moving right along, we continue with the different service of the avodah, of the dam, the halacha, the place of the laws of blood, and where the blood and covering the blood, and then we move over to the world of forbidden relationships. Arayos, the world of arayos. Now, this is a very complicated area. In our times, in contemporary times, the line has been blurred. There are no boundaries. We are living in a time of Sodom and Amora. We're living in a time that the world is saying, be who you want, see yourself how you want, declare what you want, do what you want, as long as it doesn't harm others, if it makes you happy. And the Torah here telling us that's not the barometer through which we look at life. We're not We don't live for happiness. We don't live for happiness. The next parsha what Acharei Mos goes right into is that we don't live for happiness. What do we live for? Holiness. It's a very, very different standard. It's a very different goal. We don't live for happiness, we live for holiness. And one, if not the primary of living a holy life, is the area of interpersonal relationships, of sexuality, of identity, of who we are and how we see ourselves. Now, I don't share these thoughts with you in a insensitive way. I recognize that I and I respect that we're living in complicated times. As a community Rav, I have and do engage regularly with people who are struggling with orientation and identity. People who are struggling in these areas enormously. And anyone who's flippant, anyone who is cynical, anyone who is insensitive about such people and the struggles they endure has a special place for them. Because there's it's absolutely intolerable and unacceptable to act in a way, to speak in a way, which is derogatory, to act in a way which is insensitive. These are very, very complicated areas that when you speak in the abstract, and when you speak academically, and you simply read psukim in a Torah, you can dismiss. But, when you meet real people, with real neshamos, with real struggles, it absolutely changes your perspective. And so, through as we read these psukim and we recognize the significance of forbidden relationships, of orientation, of identity, of this area, I just saw an article this week that said there was a movement to legalize incest with consent. Why shouldn't, within a family, if there's love, why shouldn't they, with consent, be able to marry? Why shouldn't they be able to have incest? And the answer is, because there are moral boundaries. There are moral standards. There are right and wrong which transcend a person's desire for their own happiness. There is an aspiration for holiness. There is the word and the dictate and the blueprint and the vision of the Almighty for us in this world. And if we have inclinations, I have an inclination, let's say, to get angry. I have an inclination or I have a drive, others for ego, for their id, towards they're drawn towards their own sexuality, even if it is not forbidden explicitly here. And yet, we are challenged to confront, to struggle, to overcome. And so, I think what is the driving message or balance that we have to strike as we read the psukim of arayos and Acharei Mos, be it in the area of mishkav zachar, be it in the area of homosexuality, of orientation, of identity, of practice, what what drives us is to recognize that we have to be sensitive and warm and welcoming and make a place for those who don't fit or don't feel like they fit. We have to recognize and respect they too want to remain part of our community and part of our life and part of a Torah lifestyle, but among those to whom we must be sensitive is the Ribono shel Olam himself. Sometimes in our pursuit of being so sensitive that we warm and welcome anything and everything in a way in which we don't ever want to seem that we have principles or values or boundaries, we are in fact violating the sensitivity towards the Ribono shel Olam. We have to love him, too, and we have to be sensitive to him, too, and to his Torah, and to preserving it and to representing it and to standing for it and to having boundaries. So, our mission, our job, our responsibility as we relate to these topics and as we relate to people in our own lives, I have in my life and many of you in yours, is to do so with respect, with dignity, with love, with dialogue, but also with an awareness, I think, an acute awareness of not compromising our principles in a way in which it's ultimately a chillul Hashem, and in the effort to respect one, we're disrespecting or being insensitive to the others. Rav Soloveitchik writes specifically on the pasuk yud ches, pasuk gimmel. Torah here is telling us, "K'ma'aseh Eretz Mitzrayim asher y'shavtem bo bo lo sa'asu." God says, "I took you out of Egypt. Egypt was a morally corrupt, decadent, licentious, lewd, morally depraved country. Egypt was a place of billboards and magazines, of pop culture. Egypt was a place of dress and activity in public. Egypt was a place that was so upside down in its immorality. I took you out. I emancipated, I liberated, I took you out, I rescued you. Don't recreate. Don't go back there. Don't embrace "U'k'ma'aseh Eretz Kena'an asher y'shavtem sham lo sa'asu." So, I want you to be distinct and different. Just because in contemporary times the moral mores dictate that such a thing is a civil right or such a thing is a value or such a thing is a something doesn't mean that that's the Torah perspective. We have to educate ourselves what does Hashem want me to believe and think? How does he want me to execute on that belief in a way which is warm and welcoming, which is loving and sensitive, which is dignified and respectful? How does he want me to execute on the belief? But, it has to begin with not how do I impose on Hashem what's my belief, but how do I listen to Hashem, what does he want me to believe? Not "K'vatah item l'Torah," but "K'vatah Torah not K'vatah Torah l'item." It's not that I make Torah conform to the times, but "K'vatah item l'Torah." Do I make the times conform to Torah? So, it's challenging not to get swept up in what is the culture. It's challenging not to get swept up in what we're told that we are disrespectful or that we are violating other core principles. But, how do we find and strike that balance? How do we live in that perhaps very narrow space that on the one hand respects Hashem and respects people, that is dignified in both directions, that is principled, but principled with a sense of perspective, with a sense of respect. Don't be like where I took you from. Don't be like Mitzrayim. And don't be like where I'm taking you to. Don't be like Kena'an. The Jewish people, we are likened "V'yigdal ha'rov b'kerev ha'aretz." We're likened to the fish because the fish are willing to swim upstream. We have to be willing to swim upstream. We have to be willing to go against that which is popular. We have to be willing to It's unpopular in two directions. In some communities, it's unpopular to have a belief and a principle that sees these things as moral issues, as issues of sanctity and holiness, as boundaries that Hashem has placed for us. It's unpopular to swim upstream. And in other segments of the community, it's unpopular we're swimming upstream if we say we have to be respectful and we have to make a place for everyone in our community to be able to still live rich Torah lives even if in one particular area they're choosing not to. You know, the Torah uses the word to'eivah when it comes to these areas, when it comes to living against us. Person who's violating these moral boundaries of the Torah arayos included among them is zachar lo tishkav mishkavei ishah to'eivah hi. That a person who lies with a man the way one is meant to lie with a woman, Torah calls it a to'eivah. So, some some use that word to'eivah as a weapon in order to beat others, in order to degrade and knock down others. But do you know the word to'eivah is used many times in the Torah? Person who eats non-kosher, it's also a to'eivah. Person who has dishonest weights and measures, you cheat in business, you misreport your business expenses or your tax returns, it's also a to'eivah. You wear shatnez, it's also a to'eivah. And so, a person needs to know and you need to have perspective that the word to'eivah the word to'eivah, why does the Torah specifically call these things? Once heard from Rabbi Dr. Lamb, z'l, beautiful explanation of why specifically kashrus, business dealings, shatnez, interpersonal relationships, mishkav zachar, why to'eivah, why abomination? Why are these specific things labeled an abomination? But if you're going to use the word abomination in order to marginalize people from the Jewish community, then you better marginalize equally. You better marginalize those who aren't entirely honest on their tax returns. You better marginalize those who aren't entirely consistent in their eating of kashrus. You better marginalize those who aren't getting their clothing inspected for shatnez. You better marginalize others. You can't use that word to'eivah as a weapon. Again, we have to strike that balance and live in that narrow place, principled, respectful to Hashem and to others. So, Rabbi Soloveitchik writes, "What does it mean k'ma'aseh Eretz Mitzrayim? Don't go back to Egypt. Don't be Don't walk like an Egyptian. Don't be the way the Egyptians are, but also don't be like the people in Canaan where I'm taking you." So, says Rabbi Soloveitchik, "The contrast between Israel and the rest of mankind is emphasized to an extreme in this section. The key message of this particular passage in the Torah is in this introductory verse. The Jewish people are separate and distinct from the nations surrounding her. We must uphold this unique identity. Under no conditions are we to consider assimilation. Egypt and Canaan are mentioned specifically. These are nations representing the two polar the two poles of secular civilization in biblical times. Egypt was the most urbanized and technologically advanced civilization of the time, while Canaan was pastoral and primitive. The Torah emphasizes here that as different as they were from each other, neither of these fundamentally immoral societies should serve as role models. Don't assimilate. Don't become integrated into the morals and values of those around us. It's a very very big challenge for us. You know, you can be observant of Torah and mitzvos. You could be entirely observant but assimilated in our thoughts, in our perspective, in our attitude, in our values, and our principles. We're struggling with that. Not only those who are assimilated in their lifestyle, not only those who are assimilated and chos v'shalom among those 75% who are intermarrying, but even among those who are observant, we are at risk of being assimilated in the way we think, in our attitude, and the perspectives that we have. And that's why the Torah says the Rav is telling us k'ma'aseh Eretz Mitzrayim, don't be assimilated in your values and your principles. Don't be assimilated. Our values are not formed and molded by the contemporary world around us, by the mores around us. They are molded by the Ribono Shel Olam, by the creator of the universe, by the infinite omnipotent being who created all of us and among them with challenges and with hardship and people who are in positions that we should have tremendous sympathy for, that we don't envy, who are born feeling or struggling with certain predispositions, with certain identities, certain challenges, certain ways in which it's difficult to figure out how one fits in and how to fulfill certain drives and desires in ways that are not inconsistent with Torah. Very very very difficult. And we have to be sensitive, our heart has to go out, we have to care. But ultimately we cannot become assimilated in our thinking. Neither, says the Rav, k'ma'aseh Eretz Mitzrayim, nor k'ma'aseh Eretz Canaan. Neither. We have to be respectful. Perek Yud Ches, pasuk dalet and hei. We'll finish acharei mos with this and then we'll go over to Kedoshim for a little bit. It says es mishpatai ta'asu v'es chukosai tishmoru lalechet bahem. Carry out my laws and safeguard my decrees to follow them. Ani Hashem Elokeichem. I'm Hashem. Ushmartem es chukosai v'es mishpatai. Observe my decrees and my laws. Asher ya'aseh osam adam that a person does v'chai bahem. I think last year or two years ago in the parsha class we elaborated, we spoke more at length on the words of v'chai bahem. This is the source that other than the big three cardinal sins, better to violate Torah to preserve our life. V'chai bahem. The whole purpose of Torah and mitzvos is to enrich and enhance our lives, to live with them. If it's going to cost you your life, then what's the point? So, v'chai bahem. Other than the three cardinal sins, v'chai. They give us life, they give us chiyus. If you're going to die in order to observe them, then what's the point of observing them? So, better to violate in order to preserve life and to go back to living them. V'chai bahem. But what I want to draw your attention to this morning is what seems to be a total and absolute redundancy. These two psukim, if you read them in succession, you realize how repetitive they are. Es mishpatai ta'asu v'es chukosai tishmoru. Ushmartem es chukosai v'es mishpatai asher ya'aseh osam. Both we have chukim and mishpatim. Both we have shmirah and asiyah. So, why the repetition? It's as if you're just reading the same thing over and over. The Torah doesn't do that. Torah doesn't waste space. We have to be sensitized to ask such a question, to read such psukim and wonder what in the world is it doing. So, I want to move over to parshas Kedoshim, but I bring this question to your attention and I refer you to Rashi who addresses it and I refer you to the Or HaChaim HaKadosh who addresses it beautifully and I refer you to the Meshech Chochmah, Rav Meir Simcha of Dvinsk, who addresses it. So, why the repetition in these two psukim in a way that doesn't seem to add anything? Uh Rashi, the Or HaChaim, and the Meshech Chochmah, all who elucidate, all who point out that in fact the Torah is adding even if it's difficult to see. Okay, parshas Kedoshim, page 656. Kedoshim tihiyu. Vayidaber Hashem el Moshe leimor. God spoke to Moshe daber el kol adas Bnei Yisrael v'amarta aleihem. We'll see in a moment why this needed to be given. In adas Bnei Yisrael, gather the Jewish people. Don't do this in isolation. Don't do it separately. Don't send out private emails or voice notes, but adas Bnei Yisrael, gather the Jewish people. And what's the message to them when they are gathered? Kedoshim tihiyu. Be holy. And why should you be holy? Ki kedosh ani Hashem Elokeichem. Says God, "Because I am holy." Our mission, our mandate. We don't live for happiness, we live for holiness. We are meant to strive and to aspire to be a holy people. Now, what does it mean to be holy? What does it mean to be holy? It's a challenge. What does it mean to be holy? So, the Medrash in Vayikra Rabbah chov dalid wonders if the mandate to be holy means is our holy supposed to holiness supposed to be as great as God? After all, the pasuk tells us, "Be holy. Strive to be holy." Why? Ki kedosh ani Hashem Elokeichem. Hashem says, "I'm holy and the greatest form of flattery is imitation. So, therefore, if you want to flatter me, imitate me. I am holy, you should strive to be holy." So, the Medrash concludes, "No." The pasuk ends ki kedosh ani Hashem, kedushasi l'ma'alah mikedushaschem. "My holiness," says God, "is categorically different. It's on a higher level than yours." What does that mean? What would we have thought? What was the hava mina? What is the initial thought that maybe our holiness can be as great as God's? And what is the conclusion? No. Kedushasi l'ma'alah mikedushaschem. "My holiness is greater than yours." Rav Shimon Shkop z'l, who was for a very short time a rosh yeshiva at YU, much more better known as the rosh yeshiva of Grodna, in his introduction to Sha'arei Yosher has a famous comment, a very beautiful comment. He says kedushah, holiness, is about What is holiness? How do you define holiness? So, I'll mention momentarily Rashi, the Ramban, prishus. It is the ability to be disciplined, to be sovereign over our own desires, to live without our wants and needs and temptations. We just concluded Tuesday Wednesday mornings, we learned Mesillas Yesharim 10 minutes a week. For 10 minutes a week, we can be on a path towards a better you. 10 minutes a week. So, we just finished the middah, the chapter of prishus, of living with discipline, of how to say no, of how to practice essentialism in our lives. So, what is What is kedushah, holiness? So, according to Rashi, the Ramban, it's prishus. It's living with a certain not asceticism, but it's living with the discipline to be able to say no. But Rav Shimon Shkop understands kedushah a little bit differently. He says kedushah is about how we speak and what we look at and how we present ourselves, how we conduct ourselves, how pious and how righteous we are. But says Rav Shimon, "At its core, you know what kedushah is about? How much we care about and how much we do for others." A life of self-centeredness, a life of pursuit of personal happiness is mundane. It's profane. It is secular. It's chol. It's chulin. You know what is kedushah, holiness? Holiness is about caring about others. Holiness is about being useful. Holiness is about being of service. Holiness is about making a difference. Holiness is living a life that matters. So says I might have thought that I can be giving and caring like Hashem. So the answer is no. Hashem is absolutely altruistic. Hashem is the ultimate of benevolence. Could you the almighty is able to give in a way in which he gets absolutely nothing in return. Pure goodness is given and perhaps we aspire for that. That is our ambition. But we're not capable of it. No, says my holiness is categorically different than yours says God because Hashem says my giving is purely benevolent, purely altruistic. But we the human being are designed to get from giving. It's the way that we're made up. It's our psyche. Every time we give, we get. Even if nobody knows about our giving, so we get from the fact the pride, the joy, the satisfaction that nobody knows that we gave. That's what we're getting. But in every act of giving, there's some getting that we get. So it turns out that holiness and happiness are not contradictory and they're not competing. But when you act holy by giving, when you act holy by being of service, when you act holy by doing for others, that is in fact the source of happiness. There's countless research the hour is late. There's countless research that giving and caring and doing and volunteering hardwires our brain to generate pleasure. The benefits of volunteering and you know, there's a study that shows that people were given a certain sum of money. One group spent it on themselves, others spent it on others and then they measured happiness and there was more happiness from those who spent on others than on themselves. And further explains the mission in this way. Mission says in Avos who I am Omar in my only me me me The mission says in Avos, if I'm not for myself, who will be for me? When I'm only for myself money, what am I? If not now then when? So says in the following. A person has to care about themselves, not only others. We have to care about ourselves. We have to preserve ourselves. We have to pursue our own life, our own health, our own happiness, our own holiness. We have to care about ourselves. But if we exclusively care about ourselves, then what are we? We have to broaden our sense of who is myself. Who am I? Who I am, my sense of self begins with me. But then extends itself to my spouse, my children, my grandchildren, my neighbors, community, to people and even to an extent the whole world. So when doing for others, then we see ourselves as really doing for ourselves. If others are an extension of us, when I do for you, I'm really doing for me. Davenning with intent is important. Being careful and vigilant with mitzvahs matters. But holiness is not measured by how hard you shuckle or how much you give. It's not defined by what you do for yourself, but rather by how much you care and what we do for others. That is the purpose, that is the mission of our lives. In fact, in our davenning, we reference Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov. We invoke their character traits. We begin the Amidah, we take those three steps forward and we begin the dialogue, the conversation with Hashem by invoking However, we conclude the bracha Magen Avraham. Why do we single out Avraham? Why not Magen Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov? Hashem, preserve and protect the sense, the spirit, the DNA of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov inside me. So I once heard from Yudin Yudin, the great rabbi of Ferelon, that the Torah is the our davenning rather is reminding us every day three times a day. Magen Avraham. Yeah, be like Yitzchak and be like Yaakov. Follow in the footsteps and absolutely try to go in the character traits of Yitzchak and Yaakov. But you know where holiness begins? Magen Avraham. With the meter of chesed, with chesed. Holiness is in all the other arenas. It's not to suggest as too many falsely believe. What matters is I'm a good person, so I'm not so careful with what I eat and I'm not so careful with Torah and mitzvahs and I'm not so careful with Shabbos. But you know, I'm a good person, I'm a kind person, I'm an honest person. That's all that matters. No. Those other things matter and they matter enormously. It's not to suggest that all that matters is are you a good and kind person. But in the definition of kedusha, in the definition of holiness for Shkop it's about how we treat and interact and who we are to others. Winston Churchill once said that we make a living by what we get but we make a life by what we give. We make a living by what we get but we make a life by what we by what we give. So that is an alternative understanding to what is what is kedusha, how do we aspire to it, how do we achieve it. Rov Druk has a different interpretation. Let's take a look at Rov Druk on kedusha. So Rashi said the called us in the Israel This parsha was given while we were all assembled. It was given while we were a community. Why says Rashi? They should turn to him but If you look at parshas kedoshim, there are enormous amount, a long litany of mitzvahs. And why was it given while we were together? Because such important mitzvahs were given, they were communicated, it needed to be done, it demanded to be done in an assembly. So then says Rov Druk one needs to understand What is it specifically about this parsha? Which laws specifically? What is it about this parsha that it needed to be given together? So the explained based on the Avos. The miles of precious and Titus You see, our parsha says how do you achieve holiness? Push him to you. You have to be able to be separate and apart. In fact, before we see the Rov Druk, let's go to the Imrei Chaim says the parsha of Avos Rome is the greatest of Avos being a nation the parsha of Russia This parsha of Russia being a nation It's a beautiful Imrei Chaim. The Vision says we know that there's a very big value to his Avos. The ability to be alone. On the one hand, we believe that we are connected with others. Cover Avos Friends, connection, Avos, community, these are core values. But we also know that people, we are built alone. We know that human beings were built alone. Adam Avos. We were built all alone. So his Avos. We have to sometimes be alone to recover, to return, to recalibrate, to talk to Hashem, his Avos. So says the Imrei Chaim, do you have to physically be alone in order to experience his Avos, to experience aloneness? No, that's what it means. Parsha Avos. Parsha. Parsha means Avos. apart Avos Avos You could be alone in a crowded room. Now sometimes we say that you could be alone in a crowded room in a negative way. You could be alone in a crowded room means a person can feel all alone, can feel the pain of loneliness even when there are others in the room. But here the Vision means it in the positive sense. You can experience his Avos even with other people around. You don't have to be absolutely alone. So back to the Avos Shame on the Avos for being Avos Avos God does not want us to go live on a secluded island all by ourselves, to withdraw from people. No, he wants us to be among people, to live among people. The Torah of Hashem He wants us to connect. So much of Torah is interpersonal relationships. So much of Torah is how to relate to others. We should love people. We should want to be connected with people. We should want to bring Hashem's name and to be and to make in the world and among people. Should be precious. A person might mistakenly think that what is precious it means physically living apart. Being a recluse, being isolated, being alone. The Avos Israel I knew parsha Avos Avos She Avos Avos So says the parsha of precious was given where? Avos The parsha of precious was given where? Among Avos Israel to know that the mission and the goal is to experience to find the balance, to strike the balance between the two. To not be alone physically, to be able to be alone mentally but among all the people around us. Who I am Avos In fact, whether Hashem has a positive relationship and a favorable view of us depends on the way we're thought of by other people. We have to be means integrated with like a Avos but means sweet. Do people consider us sweet? Is our presence among the community adding sweetness? Are we sweetening the world around us? So it's given among Avos Israel We have to strike that balance of precious among Avos Israel. I wanted to get into the laws of sharpness and so much more in in parshas kedoshim, a million mitzvahs. We spent too much time in but we'll have to pick it up next week parshas kedoshim. Thank you for joining us. Tomorrow morning 8:15, 10 minutes of meaning and then 8:40 followed by living with Tomorrow night a very special guest on behind the beam at 9:00 p.m. Until