Parsha Perspectives for Today (Behar-Bechukosai, 5781) - Rededicating After Devastation

Good morning Boca Tel, welcome back to Parsha Perspectives for today. I want to thank our generous sponsors of the Parsha series for the year, Becky and Avi Katzen family, our dear friends in loving memory of Becky's father of David Grossman, L'ilui Nishmas Dovid ben Menachem Manish. Thank you Katzes for your friendship, for your support, and for all that you do. This week we have the privilege of reading a double Parsha, the privilege, the responsibility, and the challenge of preparing for a double Parsha. We have been on the fast pass through safer Vayikra. This is our third double Parsha in safer Vayikra, which makes it challenging to keep up with Shnayim Mikra v'Echad Targum. It makes it challenging to be able to try to offer insights on both Parshas each time in the Parsha class. As always, our examination of these Parshios are with a perspective on today, not simply Parsha news, not that there's anything wrong with that, but trying to glean from them the messages, the lessons that are timely, that are contemporary, and that are for us today. We begin on page 696 in the Artscroll Chumash, Vayidaber Hashem el Moshe b'Har Sinai lemor. God spoke to Moshe at Har Sinai saying, Daber el Bnei Yisrael v'amarta aleihem, ki savou el ha'aretz asher ani nosen lachem, v'shavta ha'aretz shabbat la'Hashem. When you go into the land, when you conquer, when you realize the dream of why I took you out of Egypt, not simply to be some secular political entity, but to enter a land of Israel and to forge a righteous and religious destiny, a covenantal community, what I want you to know and remember is v'shavta ha'aretz, the land has to rest. So, even before I tell you to work it, I'm already telling you that it will need to rest. Want to begin with a few of Druks, three of Druks on this opening. We're going to see a lot of other insights as well, but this year we've been focusing on the beautiful insights of Rabbi Yisrael Meir Druk in his magnificent work Eish Tamid. So, Rashi tells us b'Har Sinai, says Rashi, mah inyan Shmita Etzel Har Sinai? What has become a famous euphemism or comment when we want to say what does one thing have to do with the other? We say Ma Inyan Shmita Etzel Har Sinai? What in the world does Shmita, the laws of Shmita, a sabbatical year, what does that have to do with Har Sinai? Why is that specifically introduced with the notion of that you got these laws, God spoke to you at Har Sinai? Va'alo Kol Mitzvos Nemru MiSinai. As Rashi, all of Mitzvos are given. So perhaps every Mitzvah in the Torah should be preceded by a reminder that God gave it to you at Sinai. Why is Shmita different? Why is it unique? Why is Shmita singled out? Ela Ma Shmita Nemru Kol Lo Sa'aseh U'V'Pratoteha U'V'Dikdukeha MiSinai. Says Rashi, quoting Chazal, because just like when it comes to Shmita, the principles and the rules and the details, all of it was transmitted already at Sinai, Af Kulam Nemru Kol Lo Sa'aseh U'V'Pratoteha U'V'Dikdukeha MiSinai. So too we should know that just like the Torah here delineates in fine detail every aspect, every expectation of Shmita, the same is true of every Mitzvah. Just like Shmita can be traced to Sinai, so too every Mitzvah. Ka'asher Nemru B'Toras Kohanim, V'Nireh Lishana Kach Perush Lo Yafish Lo Ba'Chumashim U'V'Mishneh Torah. L'Madanu She'Klalosav U'V'Pratoteha U'V'Dikdukeha Nemru MiSinai. Says Rashi, I'll add my own expansion of this interpretation, that later in Devarim, Mishneh Torah, the repetition of the Torah where many Mitzvos are expanded upon, we do not find an expansion of the Mitzvah of Shmita. Why? Because all the details were already given at Sinai. So the problem is the Or HaChaim HaKadosh asks this. He says, Rashi never really answered this question, right? The question was what in the world does Shmita have to do with Har Sinai? Ma Inyan Shmita Etzel Har Sinai? What does one thing have to do with the other? And the answer was just like the details that are of Shmita are from Sinai, so so too all mitzvahs. We've spoken about this in the past. If you're listening to more than just the sheer this year, if you go back to old parshios, I know we spoke about this in the past, but I want to look at a fresh pair of eyes and offer some new interpretations. So, the Chaim asks on Rashi, and Rav Druck doesn't quote the Chaim, but asks the exact same question. Rashi didn't answer. The question is, if you're going to single out one mitzvah as the paradigm, one mitzvah as the archetype, one mitzvah as the model, that just like its details came from Sinai, so too the details of all mitzvahs are from Sinai, why specifically Shmita? Why is Shmita chosen above all other mitzvahs? So, he says, in order to be able to answer this, to be able to answer this question, in order to be able to understand what is the connection between Shmita and Har Sinai, why is Shmita singled out as the model, we have to understand some features and factors about Har Sinai. Why was the Torah given given on Har Sinai? Why wasn't the Torah transmitted and gifted to us on some other mountain? Why wasn't it given to us on a greater, a higher, a more impressive mountain? Maybe in Israel, Har Tavor, Har Carmel. The Midrash Chazal, the Gemara Megillah tell us that all the mountains came and competed before the Almighty, and each one said, "I submit my application. I am submitting my resume." I don't know if it included a picture or didn't include a picture of itself of the mountain, but said to God, "Let the Torah be given on me. Ze lefi gofo, I am the tallest. U ze lefi of yo, and I am the most magnificent." Yot se bas kol v'omer, a heavenly voice went out and said, "L'ma tirtzu din im Sinai? Why are you starting? Why are you creating conflict with Sinai? Kulchem ba'alei mumim atem etzel Sinai, you know, you're all deficient compared to Sinai. Why? K'she v'acha gavnu nimuk she vasem o given o dak." So, you see gavnu nim is lashon mum. All you other mountains, maybe you're taller, and maybe you're more magnificent, maybe you're more beautiful, maybe you're more impressive, maybe the landscape, maybe the flora, maybe the rocky, whatever about, maybe you're more impressive, but you are deficient. You have a mum at the same time. Why? What is the mum? Says the Gemara, "K'mi zeh mashma she mishumis ya'ir nachshav l'va'al mum." You see from here that someone who's arrogant on the outside, they could be good-looking and handsome, gorgeous, pretty, attractive, wealthy, stylish, popular. Outside, externally, superficially, they could look perfect. But the person who acts with arrogance, the arrogant individual, that in itself is a ba'al mum. If you learn the daf, today's daf in Yoma, just in today's daf, we learn the difference of Shaul and David. The Gemara concludes how important it is for a leader to look back at the yichus and find a deficiency. Because the person who has a perfect yichus, the individual who says, "I descend from perfection, I'm perfect, my ancestors were perfect, my descendants will be perfect." Such an attitude and arrogance will breed corruption within their leadership. But the person who says, "There's nothing There's nothing perfect in my background. I have imperfection, I have struggle, I have challenge in my background, in my life, and undoubtedly in my kids, and therefore I'm humbled by the opportunity." Such an individual is who one should choose as a leader, concludes the Gamara in today's daf. So, the mountain Har Sinai said, "Who am I? Not me, I'm lowly. I'm not impressive. Not me." And the other mountains, who of course metaphorically in order to communicate this lesson, but the other mountains who boasted their perfection, God says, "You have a mum." Mum, what was the mum? The mum was the arrogance. The Gamara Taanis daf zayin tells us, Why is Torah compared to water? Anyone thirsty, you go to water. When you those listening outside of Florida who still have basements know this well, that if you have a leak, that water will find its way down where? To the basement. Water always flows to the lowest point. Water is humble and modest and flows to the lowest point. So, too, Torah flows to the lowest point. When you view yourself as all high and mighty, when you view yourself as holy and now, when you view yourself as arrogant and perfect, the Torah flows down and away from you. But, the more humble, the more modest you are, the Torah flows flows towards you. And therefore, the lesson of Sinai is a lesson of humility, a prerequisite to Torah. We still haven't answered, what does that have to do with Shmita? Moshe kibel Torah mi Sinai. We know the opening Mishna of Pirkei Avot, summertime. It's Pirkei Avot season. And the opening Mishna is Moshe kibel Torah mi Sinai. Moshe received the Torah from Sinai. Moshe learned from Har Sinai. It doesn't say Moshe kibel Torah bi Sinai. It doesn't say a geographic description. It does not give us the coordinates of where Moshe Moshe received the Torah. It doesn't say Moshe kibel Torah bi Sinai. It says Moshe Kibel Torah, Misnai. He received the Torah from the lesson of Har Sinai that the prerequisite the eligibility what makes you appropriate to be the transmitter of Torah is humility. It's humility. So, the Druc continues that that was the message. That's what that's Moshe Kibel Torah Misnai. Moshe Kibel Torah as Baruchu. the Torah. We learn from Israel believe this believe this believe this. From where did he learn that the way to receive Torah and the way to transmit it to pay it forward is without conflict, without fighting, without tension? Where did he learn that lesson? From Sinai. Misnai, not Bisnai, Misnai. So, what does that have to do with Shmita? The question on Rashi, what do you mean meaning Shmita is Sinai? Just like Shmita is from Sinai, so too all Mitzvahs. But, why was Shmita chosen to communicate this lesson? So, now talks says You know what will bring you to humility and modesty? You know what makes a person feel vulnerable and fragile? Do you know what makes a person confront their mortality which breeds humility? When a person is exiled, when they're on the run, when they feel dislocated. A forced sabbatical. You're not allowed to work. You have no certainty. You have no confidence. You don't know where your next paycheck, your income, where the next meal will come from. Your certainty, your confidence, your income, your livelihood, your your faith in the future has been swept from right under your feet. Basically, this past year Corona pandemic when we live this uncertainty when we can't predict or understand or control anything happening that breeds a humility and a modesty at least it's supposed meant to transform us. We should emerge from this forced year of a sabbatical. We worked from home. We lived at home. Many weren't able to work in this year. Small businesses were shuttered and struggled a forced sabbatical. And what did we find humility and faith? Larsina and that's why shmita is chosen as the archetype the model for the Torah being given at Sinai because our Sinai is all about receiving the Torah the prerequisite is humility and what mitzvah in the entire Torah breeds that humility? What mitzvah breeds that amuna that faith? It is the mitzvah of shmita. How could you be proud and arrogant when you can't even draw an income? When you're passive? When you're submissive? When you're not able to work that land and you're not able to know where your next paycheck will come from? How can you come out of a pandemic with an arrogance and with an ego? Person should be humbled. Person should be modest. Person should recognize that with all that we know and with all that we aren't in control of there's so much more that we cannot control and that we don't know and we should reenter life and hopefully normalcy with a sense of humility. All that is of drug number one. My name is shmita it's a harsina. Rashi answers just like all of the laws come from Sinai so too every mitzvah all of its laws or a higham wonders. What does that have to do with shmita? Still why not teach all the details of tfillin? All the details of shabbos? All the details of kashrus? Why choose shmita to express that just like all of its rules and details are from Sinai so to all mitzvahs. So the drug answered because the notion of Sinai is the notion of the prerequisite the Torah is humility. Let Torah leave its imprint. Let Torah project onto us a clean blank slate and not the opposite. All that's number one. Number two. Number two. I don't know how far we're going to get double parsha, so much to say. Oy. Oy. But anyway, we'll try. So, number two says Rav Druck. What's the shot? Why is shmita chosen? The Jewish people receive the Torah at Har Sinai and furthermore tell us that the Torah was only given to those who eat and rely on the man. There's a direct connection between the miracle that the man fell for the people all 40 years to the fact that we merited to be able to receive the Torah. What does one have to do with the other? What does one have to do with the other? She's got the after I eat the food after I eat the food after I eat the food. Why is the fact that he ate the man? Let's say you don't have an appetite. I have a son that you can't get him to eat. You can't bribe him. You can't beg him. You can't pay him. You got to spoon-feed him. He, I'm not sure where he comes from, but he hates food. So, let's say he was in the midbar and he wasn't in the mood for man. He didn't eat. Why would he not be eligible? Why would he not be a candidate to receive the Torah? Why was the Torah reserved for those who ate the man? So, the answer is the Torah is a gift from God. It's a gift from God. It's a gift from God. It's a gift from God. What it means man means to the people not necessarily who literally ate the man. If you didn't have an appetite for the man or you don't have an appetite at all, you could still receive the Torah. Those who ate the man is a symbol is a signal. Those who ate the man were the ones who through the desert lived with emunah. They knew that everything is from ain od milvado. We are in this world we serve him. He is in control. He is in charge. He choreographs. He curates everything in our lives. He owns and he operates everything in this world and whatever gifts, whatever blessings we have, they are on loan. They are not part of our permanent collection. And who knew that? The O clay a man. Because when you work the field and then it grows, it produces and you harvest and you eat, you also are relying on the goodness, the graciousness of God. You're also relying on his rain. But you could easily mistakenly fall prey to Kohi Oti Yadi. You can mistakenly think it is my ingenuity, my creativity, my hard work. But when the man descends from heaven, you know clearly as day that you are relying exclusively on the kindness, the graciousness of the Ribono Shel Olam, of the Almighty. So what it means Torah Okhlei Aman means the Torah is only given to those who live daily with emunah. Who recognize every single day where their next meal is really coming from. Whom they rely upon. Who is the source of all they have. And therefore the same is true over here. The same is true over here. Shehein Okhlei Aman Nitnu Torah Okhlei Aman Shein Prushin Leegamrei Kol Inyanei Haolam Hazeh VeLo Ason Digas Parnasa Klaw VeKlaw. They weren't in the pursuit of more. They weren't trying to accumulate more material things. They weren't trying to earn and would get more money. They weren't staying at work even later in order to have more and more and more. Their focus was exclusively dedicated to coming close to Hashem and their parnasa was taken care of from above and they saw it and they recognized and they appreciated his gift in their life. Ukshe Yagiya Adam Lakara Mucheledes Kazeh, and when a person comes to this definitive knowledge, Vameila Yasiag Madregas Okhlei Aman. We can get to that level of Okhlei Aman. Yes, we earn a paycheck. Yes, we work in order to draw our income, but we can see the income as falling from heaven like the man. Kiyodesh Ishtadlus Baam LaParnasa Uvetzrachim Achyunim Shel Olam Hazeh Because all that I work and all that I accumulate and all that I have is not the essence of my life. It doesn't define me. Torah Zeh Etzem HaCheilek Mima'uso Shel Mitzvas Shmita. So think about what Shmita was. You took the farmer, and this farmer was buying more and more fields and creating the technology in order to be able to plow and plant and harvest, and this farmer was killing it and raking it in and doing phenomenally well. And then every seventh year, the farmer is commanded and told, "Stop. Interrupt your life. The business you're growing, this industry you're conquering, this corporation, you're ready for your IPO, you're going to go public, you're going to get kill it, you're going to cash in, stop. Take the year off. Freeze, suspend all activity. Uh, do you lose all momentum? What will it look like afterwards? What's going to happen? Too bad. Show your emunah. Spend a year not trying to build and grow and pursue and and uh derive income. Spend a year focused on your faith, nourishing not your body, but your neshama. And the result, the conclusion, the impact of that sabbatical, that year of shmita, not a paid sabbatical, mind you, a sabbatical of faith, is growing in emunah like the ochlei hamon. And therefore, you can explain shmita l'Har Sinai. Torah min Hashemayim nitnah. Just like the Torah is only given to the ochlei hamon, who comes closest to reenacting and reproducing the faith of the ochlei hamon? The farmer who rests in shmita. And I must tell you that we're not reading about ancient history. There is a mass movement, and we should have amazing admiration for farmers in Israel in our time who continue to obey. Next year is a shmita year in the cycle. We are coming upon a shmita year, and our farmers, our holy brothers and sisters, farmers in Israel, increasingly so, because there are um more organizations raising money to help support the farmers in order to enable them, in order to stop and rest for a year, to put their business on hold, to take that sabbatical year. And their emunah, their faith, is tremendous. Their commitment to keep this mitzvah alive, a mitzvah that we're told is the source of our merit to inhabit the land and please God to experience it in peace, comes from the faith of these farmers, not ancient history, but yet still today. So, p'shat number two in Rav Druck's is, what do you mean by in shmita it's al Har Sinai? You know what the connection of shmita and Har Sinai is? Shmita is an exercise in emunah, and Har Sinai was only the Torah was only given to those who received it with emunah. Lastly, very quickly, because I want to move on, is a p'shat from Rav Moshe Feinstein. Rav Druck quotes Rav Moshe, what does it mean smichas mitzvas shmita al Har Sinai? Why is shmita chosen as the model of its details, its rules, its principles are all given from Sinai? So too, every mitzvah. So, said Rav Moshe the following. Said Rav Moshe the opposite of the last interpretation. Said Rav Moshe, maybe the farmer is running for shmita. You know why? Because we're going to read in a moment, we're going to look at this pasuk in a moment, but if the farmer comes and asks God, what will I eat in the seventh year? If I'm not plowing and planting and harvesting, if I'm not working my field, if I'm not drawing a paycheck, what will I eat in that seventh year? My family will go hungry, says the Torah diganist. Don't worry, in the sixth year, you're going to grow enough for the sixth, seventh, and eighth year. The sixth year will produce enough for three years, so you have nothing to worry about. So, says Rav Moshe, what does the farmer say? Unpaid sabbatical? Paid sabbatical. Not only do I have a paid sabbatical for my seventh year, my eighth year will produce double, because in the sixth year I grew enough for six, seven, and eight, and I'm allowed to work the eighth year. So, the farmer says, this is fantastic. Paid sabbatical. So, therefore, this mitzvah I'm not doing it for God, doing it for me. Take off a year, psh. Finally, I'll learn guitar, I'll work on my golf golf game, maybe I'll take up the Daf Yomi. Says the farmer, "Fantastic for me." The farmer will be tempted to fulfill shmita not as an expression of loyalty and devotion to God, but for his own interests. Therefore the Torah says, "No." Shmita nitna b'Har Sinai. This is not man-made. The farmer didn't produce this for himself because it's for his or her benefit, but it's from Hashem. It comes from Har Sinai. This is what Hashem wants from us and it should be the farmer's mentality. The farmer should not say paid sabbatical, "Good for me." The farmer should say paid sabbatical because I'm fulfilling the will of Hashem. This is what Hashem wants from me. And says Rav Moshe based on this, that's why that's why let's move over to the next pasuk. That's why the Torah says, "Sheis shanim timsa gimmel sheis shanim tizra sadcha. Six years plant your field. Sheis shanim tizmor karmcha. Six years you should collect from your vine. Vi'asafta es t'vuasa. Prune your vineyard and then gather its crop." And says Rav Moshe something very very powerful here. Notice the Torah does not simply say take a sabbatical year. The Torah precedes it by saying, "Six years work the land and then take the sabbatical." So the earth needs the rejuvenation and the renewal, but a full year, 12 months of complete inactivity, that's a long time. What's going on over here? And why does the Torah introduce it with non-shmita years? Just tell me shmita years. And what if you want to take shmita year every year? Let's say you say, you know, "If God likes shmita, if one year of passiveness and submissiveness is good, then I'll live it for a lifetime. I'll collect stocka, let people take care of me, put me on tomchei shabbos, and if not working is such a mile if not working is such a noble goal, I'll not work ever. So says Reb Moshe, very important lesson. And I'm going to read to you Reb Moshe, here's the translation of Reb Moshe Feinstein's words. He says, quote, "A person must know that even when he works the land during the six years, this also constitutes the divine will because the mitzvah of settling the land. Don't think that shmita when you're passive, that's when you're fulfilling the will of Hashem only. That too is the will of Hashem. Working is not a concession. Working is a value. Hard work is a Jewish and a Torah value. Six years of work is a Torah value. Now Reb Moshe says it particularly in the land of Israel cuz that's yishuv ha'aretz. The farmer who works the land is yishuv ha'aretz. That farmer is settling the land. That work is exactly what Hashem wills from us. But even outside the land of Israel, the six years of work, that too is a religious principle. It is a religious value. Similarly, we see this in the aseres hadibros with shabbos. What if I want to keep shabbos all week long? I say, you know, shabbos is so great. Shabbos made olam haba. I'll tell you what, I'll keep shabbos all week long. Says Reb Moshe, that's a violation of what the will of Hashem. The ratzon Hashem. Hashem told us no. Sheishes yamim ta'avod va'asisa kol melachtecha. When do you deserve a shabbos? After you worked. Six years work, you get shmita. Six days work, you get shabbos. The work is not a concession. So the fact that we need to have food to eat, the work is a value. Other religions, Christians saw work as a punishment. They saw it as a necessary evil, as a concession to our mortality and our frailty, but not our sacred Torah. Our Torah taught us that work is a value. How do you know that by the way? How do you know that? Who did not need to work? Who's infinite and omnipotent and never needs to work for a moment and yet is described as having worked for 6 days before he rested? The Ribono shel olam. And if work were not a value, why would the Torah describe Hashem as creating, ki ilu working? So, the Mishnah tells us ahavas amal olam, love work, not tolerate work, but love work because work is a value. Work is a value and we grow and we enhance ourselves from the work. So, don't only embrace the shmita of our parsha, but the message and the value to lean into that work and to realize the work we do to conquer Hashem's world, to understand it, to serve it, to serve the people in it. That work, that hard work, it too is a religious activity that we're doing. It is not a concession and we should be proud of it. Pasuk perek chaf alef, pasuk gimel. Moving right along. Torah tells us Torah tells us bishnas tashuvu ish el achuzaso. What am I looking for? I lost the pasuk I'm looking for. Next pasuk, I'm sorry. According to the This is a law that the um land goes back. Tashuvu ish el achuzaso. In the 50th year, in the yovel year, everything goes back, which is a funny way to drive an economy. Imagine if so all sales were all real estate transactions implicitly had a condition, a limit that in the 50th year it goes back. The exception is in a walled city. Why in a walled city? I have a lot to say, but we're going to save it for another time, not for now. Why in a walled city after 1 year do you have no right to take it back? Is a walled city different than other cities? What is the symbolism, the significance of a walled city? Not for now. But Mishnah tells us Sorry, the Torah told us in pasuk when you make a sale to the your fellow, you make a purchase from the person, al tonu ish es achiv." What do the words "al tonu" mean? Al tonu means, do not aggravate, do not aggrieve, do not take advantage. We have this in the laws of business conduct. Ona'a, the prohibition of ona'a is, you're not allowed to extort, you can't exploit, you cannot charge more than a sixth. The laws of ona'a tell us that if it's less than a sixth more than the relative value, then it's a good binding sale. If it is exactly a sixth, then it's a binding sale, but you give back what the overcharge. If it's more than a sixth, the whole sale is null and void. The prohibition of ona'a, you're not allowed to share you charge more. We also have the notion of ona'as dvarim. You're not allowed to bully, you cannot aggravate, you cannot extort with your words. The notion of ona'as dvarim. What does ona'a mean here in this context? And moreover, why is ona'a specifically given when it comes to when it comes to these laws of shmita and yovel? So, Rashi says, "Al tonu, don't aggravate, don't aggrieve." Zu ona'as mamon. This is the prohibition of extortion with money. Don't overcharge, don't overcharge. Betkhilas aparsha kasha nisga bar Sinai and back in Rav Druck, nisga sharashi mai inyan shmita l'arsina. Rashi already said, "What's the connection?" V'af al inyan, so we're going to now ask the same thing here. Mai inyan ona'a it's a yovel. Why are we using yovel as the backdrop, as the platform to remind ourselves of the prohibition of ona'a, of overcharging financially? So, says Rav Druck the following. Mikayvan kasha adam mokher sadeh l'chavero, ein zumchira olamis. Because the laws of yovel teach me that when the person sells their land to another, they need to know that this is not in perpetuity, it's not indefinitely. Ela l'fi mispar shnei yovel kakh hu atashlum avara karka. So, when a realtor was helping a transaction, the realtor would have to know what year are we in shmita? So, if this were year one, this property is worth a million dollars, but we're we're in year we're in year 30 of Yovel. And therefore, there's only 20 years left that you can use the house before it's returned to its original owner. So, you're only going to pay the value of the use of the home for 20 years. So, what that means, this is a challenging economy to follow. What that means is there is a relative value to real estate that fluctuates depending on what year of Yovel it is. If you know that all property returns in the 50th year, then when you purchase a home, you only have however many years are left until the next Yovel to use it, and that creates a relative value to that property. And therefore, it's very easy to come to overcharge. So, therefore, suggests Rav Druk, that's why specifically here, in the laws of Yovel, in the laws of the home returning, the Torah says you need to be vigilant. You need to be scrupulous. You need to be honest and have integrity in business. When you sell, calculate and include how many years are left, get the price accurate, get the price proper, and do not overcharge because that would be ona'ah. That would be ona'ah. However, we have a problem. Because the Gemara in Kiddushin daf mem bet tells us a principle about ona'ah, that ein ona'ah l'karka'os. When we talk about overcharging, sixth, exactly a sixth, more than a sixth, when we talk about overcharging, we're talking about mitatlin, movable objects. We're talking about I overcharged for the watch, the piece of jewelry, I overcharged for the piece of furniture. We're talking about movable property. But property by definition has a relative value. So how do you determine what's for example all of New York and California are moving to South Florida. So the the home prices have skyrocketed. They've gone through the roof. If I would have told you what price the homes are going for today. If I would have told that to you a year and a half ago, you would have said that's insane. That's impossible. Will never happen because you didn't predict a pandemic. You didn't predict some challenging political leadership in those other states. You didn't predict what would be taxes and so on. So you didn't imagine the price is relative. So ain't no carcos. So why specifically in the laws of shmita would Rashi say when it says that is Mamon doesn't apply to land. Why teach its law specifically with Yovel which is all about land. Great question. If we were in person I'd say do you follow? But I'm just looking at myself. I'd much rather be looking at you. Okay near the void. Says let's go back to the theme. The theme that permeates the theme that is pervasive throughout our entire parsha is the theme of and the notion that everything comes from above. It's not ours. It's on loan. The farmer takes a sabbatical to remember he's not in control. She's not in control. All that we have is on loan is from God. The homes exchange. They go back to their original owner cuz all that we have goes back to the original owner the almighty. The entire parsha and all of its laws Bahar is an exercise in and a reminder that we are stewards over what belongs to but it's not truly ours. And if a person truly believes that all that they have comes from above and it's not ours. That it's just and if you and if you say I need to put in my effort, I have to take my initiative, but you know what? I can do that in the extreme. It's not going to bring more money. If God is determined I'm supposed to make X this year, I need to work hard enough to justify God giving me X. But if I work 16, 18, 20 hours a day, if God wanted me to make 2 X, could he have made me be able to earn it within the reasonable 8 or 10 hours of working a day? Why 16 or 18 hours? So a person who puts in too much initiative, too much hishtadlus is lacking faith in God. Equally an opposite a person who puts in too little hishtadlus. Someone says, "God, if you've determined I'm supposed to make X a year, I'll work an hour a day. Let me get my X." That's not reasonable. That's not normative. You need to work the normative amount of time it would take to earn X. And therefore, you have to find the sweet spot of hishtadlus, of initiative. Mamila is that you're social with someone else. So at the core of the prohibition of Ona'ah, also our parsha includes the prohibition of ribbis, of charging to a fellow Jew, is that you have to have emunah. If you know that your income comes from God, you would never exploit others. You would never charge interest to others. You would never overcharge others. You would act with integrity and honesty, and you would understand that I need to do what I need to do, but my parnassah really comes from Hashem. I need to take my initiative. I need to be creative. I have to make my efforts, but in the end of the day it's all Hashem. So therefore, I'll never make more by violating his will. I'll never make more by cutting corners. I'll never make more by taking advantage of his other children. Says Rav the reason these mitzvahs are all intertwined and they're given here is because they are all to reinforce the same theme. The theme of our parsha is emunah and bitachon. The theme of our parsha is not just lip service to God. We talk about this all the time in our emunah shiur on Wednesdays. We talk all the time. There are people lip service. They shuckle back and forth and they say baruch Hashem, thank you God and God's help of God's will. But you know, it's easy to talk with on the lips. It's much harder to put it in practice. Are you ruthlessly competitive? Do you take unfair advantage? Are you a ruthless business person negotiating? What happened to all the be talking? The place in which our and be talking manifest and expresses itself, the litmus the metrics in which to measure how we're doing in our faith in God is our attitude towards money towards money. We have to take our initiative. You cannot be passive. We have to take However, if we recognize that it's all from we'd never cut corners, we'd never cheat, we'd never steal, we'd never charge interest, and we would never overcharge another. The is not for nothing says truck. The very first question we will be asked when we ascend on high tomorrow tells us after 120 years when we come before the we come before the heavenly court, we will be asked a series of questions. Nobody can escape it. And the first question will be asked is did you do your business faithfully? Were you honest? Did you have integrity? Not did you learn or how long was your or did you shuckle? Did you finish the to him? Those questions will be asked too and the one should be engaged in all of those virtuous activities. They're wonderful. We support them. We teach them. We encourage them. But the first question, the very first question, did you have honesty? Did you have integrity? Or did you cut corners? Did you overcharge? Did you extort? Did you Did you act faithfully in business? The in a minute. That is our mission. And that is what the mission in all those teaches us as well. Rebbe Rebbe said, is it what is the proper path that a person should pursue for themselves? What is the way to live life? What should your bumper sticker or motto be? And answer Rebbe Rebbe Koshie is the whatever will bring you glory, whatever is reflect properly, whatever will reflect well on you. And Reb Druck explains that to mean business-wise. If others will testify, if others want to take you as your word, if others will say that you are honest and have integrity, that is the ultimate statement of who you are. So again, so beautiful. Really, we've said many, many interpretations, but they're all If you condense them, they're all to the same emunah and bitachon. This is the test. The farmer in shmita and the business person when they set the price, when the business person when they're tempted to charge ribbis to a fellow Jew, this is all the litmus test of where is our faith, how strong it is. Now, in this law, we're back in perek kaf alef, pasuk kaf. Now, continue top of page 700. So, the farmer will say, I told you this before. V'chi somru, if the farmer will say, "Ma nachal bashana shvi'is? What am I going to eat in the seventh year?" Ein lonu z'rav lonu asov u'voseinu. "What am I going to eat? We're not going to sow, we're not going to gather. You told me to be passive. You told me to be submissive. You told me not to work my land. So, what will I eat?" So, the Torah says, "V'tzivisi es birkasi lachem bashana hashishis." Don't worry. In the sixth year, you'll produce for 3 years, for the sixth, seventh, and eighth year. This is one of the pieces of evidence that the Torah is not written by man, but the Torah was written by God. Because if you were a man, a woman, a committee of people, and you sat down to write a Torah that you were going to pass off as if it came from God, would you include within it promises you couldn't keep? Never. If you were going to write a book and pretend that you were God, you would not make predictions you couldn't keep, which the Torah does. The Torah, in the laws of kashrus, the Torah told us The Torah told us all of the animals that only have split hooves and chew its cud, fin scales. The Torah specifically delineated. Well, what happens if you find the Torah was wrong? Species beyond what the Torah told us. Then you got to throw out the whole book. And yet, the Torah took that risk. Why? Cuz Cuz comes from God, not man. And here, too, the Torah makes a promise. In the sixth year, it'll grow enough for the sixth, seventh, and eighth year. Why would the Torah make that promise? Why in the world would the Torah tell us if it could not back it up? It must be the Torah is written by Hashem, not by man. But what a peculiar question. Man no how. What are we going to eat? What do you mean v'chi samru man no how? If you will say, what will we eat? If you will say, what will we eat? So, I'll share with you another from Rav Druck, and then we're going to see many, many other interpretations. It's not only Rav Druck, don't worry. So, Rav Druck says the following. What do you mean man no how? B'derech klali, the idea is that you shouldn't waste a chos. Torah doesn't waste one letter, one space, one vowel. And why is the Torah putting in the hypothetical conversation? A hypothetical conversation that if you will say, what will I eat? Don't worry, the sixth year will produce enough for three years. Since when does the Torah include hypothetical conversations? Ilu kacha, the Torah kol kach ma'arich b'she'elah zu, she'yechol b'nei adam lishol. If you'll say, this will be the answer, what are you taking up real estate with that? So, he quotes the Sefer Noam Elimelech. I saw many s'farim quote this Noam Elimelech, the Heiliger And he says the following. K'she'Hashem baruch hu tzo olam, when Hakadosh Baruch Hu created the world, hishpi'a meituv she'nora shamush v'shefa l'tzorchei b'nei adam. Hakadosh Baruch Hu created a world Hakadosh Baruch Hu created a world in which he created sparks and pipes for the blessings of Hashem to descend. B'derech hashefa she'lo yafsik klal, ela k'she'adam nofel mi'madreigaso. Only, in other words, the default is that Hashem's bracha descends upon us. And if we're unworthy, it clogs up the pipeline. If we're unworthy, it slows down the connection. V'ein lo bitachon b'goyei ha'aretz k'she'yakum mitzei ha'azonah u'mifnei briyos b'li hefsek klal, az osa adam b'machshavah she'lo yishalem t'hu ar, p'gisha Our improper thoughts, our lack of faith, our arrogance and ego, it creates a barrier. A blockage between the blessings that are meant to descend from heaven and our ability. And that's what it means to say "Man no howl." A person should never say what will I eat. You have to walk through life working hard to have what to eat. But also with the assumption and the confidence that Hashem will always provide for you what to eat. The reason the Torah includes this type of hypothetical conversation is to teach us that never fall prey, never ask this question. It should never arise, it should never come to your mind. And this is the chapter therefore. Why does Hashem have to say this to us? Why does he say This is how they This is how the normal reads this. The normal reads the following. Normally the flow just comes directly. Hashem doesn't need to renew it. He doesn't need to replenish the supply. It just flows naturally. That is the default. Like a parent to a child, Hashem wants us to be happy and he supplies us with brocha. But if you're going to ask "Man no howl?" If you're going to stop and wonder, if you're going to doubt, if you're going to ask, then Hashem says I need to work. You created a blockage, a stoppage, you created a barrier. So now Hashem says I need to overcome it. I need to unblock it. That's the interpretation of the normal reading. That's the normal reading of the text. of the N'Ohr HaChaim Melech, that's the Rebbe Melech of Lizhensk. But I'll share with you a second interpretation. Another interpretation of how to understand it. Based on the following. A totally different way of understanding it. That when the Torah includes this hypothetical, "V'chi samru mah nochal?" It's not reflecting a weakness. This is not something to avoid. This is not a hypothetical of a people who are deficient in any way. Avada raba, the opposite. Moreh he al choshek emunah. This very question is a reflection of the strength of their emunah. How is "mah nochal?" A strength of emunah? How is "mah nochal?" Show that they actually had great emunah? So listen. Because "al kein einsha ilasam, ha'im nochal?" "Ela mah nochal?" They didn't say, "Will we have what to eat?" Okay, listen God, these laws of shmita. I know we said "na'aseh v'nishma." I know we said we're in. I know we said tell us and we'll do. But this one's a little iffy. "Ha'im nochal?" Will we have what to eat? That's not what happened. This hypothetical conversation is not "ha'im will we have?" It's "mah nochal?" What's the difference between "ha'im" and "mah?" "Ha'im" is, I'm worried. "Ha'im" is, I doubt you. "Ha'im" is, will we have? "Mah nochal" means, Hashem. I have no doubt. You have my full confidence. It's kind of like me, late in the day when my stomach growls and I text home and I say, "What's for dinner?" I don't say, "Do we have dinner? Will there be dinner tonight?" I say, "What's for dinner?" Now again, maybe I should be making dinner, should be picking up dinner. Let's not get into that. I text and I say, "What's for dinner?" So that's the question that they were asking. They weren't asking, "Ha'im nochal?" Will we eat? They were asking, "Mah nochal?" What will we eat? This isn't a reflection of weakness or deficiency, it's a reflection of emunah and strength. They never had a doubt, not for a heartbeat, not for a moment. They never doubted that God would provide food even in observance of shmita. All they wanted to know was "Man who how?" Of course you're going to provide. We're just curious. What? We're just curious how? We don't have a doubt about if. We're just curious how? And that's the question of ma. And Hashem says "Ah, kish mach! You have such confident faith in me that you say ma instead of im? Tell you what, in the 60th year it's going to grow enough for the 6th 7th and 8th year. And therefore, you will be taken care of and that is the answer to your question." Then the Torah tells us Parshat Behar Perek 25 The Torah tells us "Lo tismacheru ki li ha'aretz. The land cannot be sold in perpetuity. Ki li ha'aretz." God says why? Cuz the land is mine. Ki gerim vetoshavim atem imadi. You are gerim and toshavim. You are strangers and residents with me. This is reminiscent or it should be. Who said ger vetoshav anochi imachem? Avraham Avinu. Our great father, our great patriarch Avraham Avinu said "Ger vetoshav anochi imachem" when the benei Ephraim when the benei Cheis were selling the land. He says to Ephraim haChiti, he says to them "I am a resident and a stranger" and we've said many times before Rabbi Soloveitchik sees within here the mission statement of the Jew. We are a ger vetoshav. On the one hand we are residents. On the one hand we participate in, we contribute to the society in which we live, but we remain strangers and apart. We remain different. We remain different. Through our history too sometimes we placed an overemphasis on the ger, sometimes an overemphasis on the toshav, sometimes we were too estranged, and sometimes we were too assimilated. And we need to find that balance. But how to participate in, contribute towards, draw from society, but without ever forgetting that we're different, that we're strangers, that we're apart. And that's how Avraham Avinu set out on his journey and we as progeny carry that mission. That's what the Torah is telling us here. Ki ger We are to be the ger vetoshav. Ki gerim vetoshavim atem imadi. The land never goes, it's never yours. You're all coming into the land, you're all mine, you and the land. That when the Jewish people settle in the holy land, when we settle the land, Hashem is with us in the land. And God forbid when we're exiled from the land and we live in the diaspora, Hashem is with us in galus. And that's therefore what it means. Whether you are gerim because you're settled comfortably in the land of Israel, or whether you are toshavim, sorry, whether you are toshavim because you're settled in the land of Israel, or you're gerim because you are in exile, imadi. You need to know, Jew, wherever you are, you're with me. That's how the Heilek Benei Yissachar understands it. When the Jew is eligible to be in our land, when we are toshavim living comfortably in our land, God says, "I'm with you." When you are gerim, if you are in exile and living dispersed among the other nations, either way, gerim and toshavim, imadi. Says Hashem, "I'm with you either way." The Heilek Benei Yissachar, imadi. Hashem is with us. Hashem goes into galus, Shechinah begalus, Hashem goes into galus together with us. But another interpretation, a third. First was Avraham Avinu of Slonim Rebbe, third Second is the Heilek Benei Yissachar. I want to tell you a third. The Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin, of Meshbesh. He says the following. He says, "If the Benei Yisrael machzikim etzmo ba'olam hazeh kegerim, if we see ourselves in this world as only temporarily, we're only here temporarily, we are strangers in this world. Our body, we're strangers. The true, the authentic, the real us is the neshamah. The neshamah wants to dwell in perpetuity, indefinitely, in the world to come, basking in the glow of the Shechinah. We are here in this world temporarily, we are here in this world as gerim. umelukarem ba'olam When we see ourselves as game with the show them in this world on the one hand in this world with the show them were residents and she put the show them in the goof on the one hand for however many years we married to be in this world then however many years it is we're to show them were residents in this world for however many years he puts us here but we remain game and simultaneously only here temporarily so when are you in my day when we are game with the show them at him then we are in my day then we are with a sham. This will be our last insight on behalf. Because we have the not that we're ending early. Says the Torah if your brother becomes impoverished and falls falters in your proximity strengthen him whether they're game or to show them so that you can live together with him. You have to strengthen him so you can live together with him. I think last year or two years ago we went in depth in this I'm not going to repeat everything we saw show me the tool an incredible why it happened in your proximity you're supposed to respond to it. We saw many many interpretations of a mark. I don't think we said the one I'm going to tell you right now and therefore it's an addition to the previous year. Tell us this law that if they falter that you need to step up and the magic comments on this the magic of and tells us that that's what said actually masculine doll fortunate is the thoughtful person thoughtful is the one whose thought sorry fortunate is the one ashrae masculine doll doll is the poor person masculine is the enlightened person fortunate is the enlightened one the thoughtful one towards the one who's wretched towards the one who's dull, the one impoverished. The safer called Shevet Sofer, Shaarei Simcha Shevet Sofer Parshas Behar. It's on page ain vav in the safer Shaarei Simcha Shevet Sofer. It's written by Reb Simcha Bunim Sofer. And he explains the medrish here is the following. Why does the Torah say umata yado imach? What does it mean umata they falter with you? So according to the straightforward interpretation it means and the way the medrish understands it is that you have to look at him as unstable with you. You have to commiserate with their suffering. You have to realize that you don't just simply have sympathy as an outsider, you have empathy. What's the difference between sympathy and empathy? Sympathy is to watch you suffer and say boy I feel bad for you. Empathy is to say I'm suffering with you. I am feeling, I am suffering, I am together with you. I'm not an outsider. And that's why the Torah tells us vehizakta bo. You need to strengthen yourself with him. So says the Shevet Sofer, let me read to you inside. Ashrei maskil el dal. Nearly The proper way to give tzedaka is not just to say I'll send you a check, let me Venmo, let me Zelle, get out of my face, leave me alone, don't harass me. It's to say I want to feel your pain. I want to know what you're going through. I don't just want to feel sympathy for you, I want to experience empathy with you. Now that takes thoughtfulness. It takes effort. It takes calculation. And that's what David Hamelech meant ashrei maskil el dal. Maskil. Ashrei, fortunate is the one who's maskil, who's calculating strategic thoughtful el dal. And says this person, how can I feel their pain? How can I feel empathy not just sympathy? Omrim Chazal our Rabbis say the Gemara Brachos tells us the above says Reb Shimon Reb Simcha Bunim Sofer Tzitzis Kassa. The Gemara says the reward for a fast day is that you gave stuck on the fast day. We have a minhag, the minhag is to give stuck on the fast day and the minhag is to give specifically what you didn't spend on the meals of that fast day because it's a fast day, you should give to stucka. What does the Gemara mean? What does the Gemara mean? The reward for a fast day is that you gave stucka. And moreover, I we're out of time, we didn't get to Kosa. And moreover, the Shulchan Aruch paskins that you should give stucka the calculation of the meals that you gave up. Why? So says the Shavei Tzion so beautifully, because when will you feel the plight and the pain of the poor person who has nothing to eat? Which day will you feel that? A fast day. So when your stomach growls on that fast day, and when you say, "Boy, I wish I could eat. I'm starving. I'm so hungry. I want to eat. My energy is so low. All I need is a cup of coffee." Say to yourself, you know, "I only feel that on the fast day, but the poor person feels that every day. So the experience of going through that pain should drive you to therefore want to relieve that suffering and pain for the other. Ashrei maskil el dal. Ashrei, fortune is the one who's thoughtful and calculating and wants to feel with empathy the pain. When your stomach growls, when you have low energy, when you're exhausted and have that massive migraine cuz you haven't eaten on that fast day, don't think, "Woe is me." Say to yourself, "Wow, there are people out there who feel this every day." Be driven to give stucka on that fast day because that fast day is giving you a window and insight into how they lived. There's a story about a rav Rosh Yeshiva went to go collect stucka from a wealthy person in freezing cold weather and he knocked on the door and the butler answered and he said, "I'm here to see Mr. So-and-so." And they said, "Come inside." Said, "No, I want to see Mr. So-and-so right here at the front door." So the butler said, "No, come in." And he refused and back and forth and back and forth and finally the wealthy man came and he said, "Why don't you come inside? I have a hot fire burning. We can be comfortable. We'll sip a hot beverage and I'm happy to hear what you need. I'm happy to give generously." And the man said, "No, I insist on speaking to you out here." And the wealthy individual didn't understand why until finally the rabbit of Shiva explained. He said because if I come ask you in the comfort next to a fire snuggled under a blanket while sipping a hot chocolate, it's one thing. But if I come to collect for poor people who are struggling and suffering in the cold, I want to have the conversation out here in the cold. I want to shake and shiver. I want to know what it's like to be cold. I want you to know what it's like to be cold when we are considering how much to give in order to relieve the suffering the cold of other people. Let's move to Parshas Bechukosai. If you follow my decrees and you observe all my commandments and you fulfill them, I will make it rain in the right time and I'll give you the land and the trees will grow fruit. Says the Visonitzer Rebbe, you know, we weren't going to go double partial without the says the Rebbe Whenever you see the word tishmoru like shmiras Shabbos, the the says this but the truth is many say the word shamar to be shomer doesn't just mean to safeguard, to protect, it means to anticipate, it means to look forward to, it means to long for. So therefore says the the he says if you care about what I want says God. If you want to walk in my way, you care about my values, my system, my laws. It doesn't mean you safeguard my mitzvahs. He's answering a question that he doesn't explicitly ask. Why does it say what is what is doing them adding to observing my mitzvahs? What does one thing have to do with the other? So says the Visionitzer, you know what? Tishmoru is not talking about doing them. Tishmoru is not talking about observing them. Tishmoru is talking about looking forward to them. Do you long for the opportunity to do mitzvahs? Do you count down with anticipation, with excitement? Or uh the mitzvah's coming. I can't believe I have to do it. I hate it. Costs me money, costs me time, costs me effort, interrupts my life. What is your attitude? So, listen to the words of the Visionitzer. When Tishmoru, when you long for it, Va'asitem, it's as if you've already begun to do it. When you're looking forward, when you're excited, when you're counting down, it's as if you've already begun to perform it. It's already as if you're doing it. And that's how he understands why Tishmoru on the one hand and Va'asitem, isn't that redundant? Why is it repeated? Rav Druck asks the same question and also deals with the same issue. First of all, why because I thought we're not supposed to experience reward for doing mitzvahs in this world. So, why does Rashi say because I thought we're not supposed to experience reward for doing mitzvahs in this world? So, why does Rashi say because I thought we're not supposed to experience reward for doing mitzvahs in this world? So, why does Rashi say because I thought we're not supposed to experience reward for doing mitzvahs in this world? So, why does Rashi say because I thought we're not supposed to experience reward for doing mitzvahs in this world? So, why does Rashi say because I thought we're not supposed to experience reward for doing mitzvahs in this world? So, why does Rashi say because I thought we're not supposed to experience reward for doing mitzvahs in this world? So, why does Rashi say because I thought we're not supposed to experience reward for doing mitzvahs in this world? So, why does Rashi say because I thought we're not supposed to experience reward for doing mitzvahs in this world? So, why does Rashi say because I thought we're not supposed to experience reward for doing mitzvahs in this world? So, why does Rashi say because I thought we're not supposed to experience reward for doing mitzvahs in this world? So, why does Rashi say because I thought we're not supposed to experience reward for doing mitzvahs in this world? So, why does Rashi say because I thought we're not supposed to experience reward for doing mitzvahs in this world? So, why does Rashi say because There are some mitzvahs that we don't receive reward in this world for the mitzvah. Learning of Torah, we don't receive reward in this in this world. All the mitzvahs in this world and learning Torah we we get in the world to come. So, what is the part that we get rewarded in this world? Says Rav Druck, the attitude, the longing. This is just like the Imrei Chaim, they go together beautifully, this insight of Rav Druck and the Imrei Chaim we just saw. Shita Amelim baTorah means do I learn Torah superficially, do I get away with the bare minimum, do I not give it my all, am I not really investing myself, am I willing to toil, am I willing to suffer, am I willing to put my heart and soul into it? It's not just the learning of Torah, it's the yegia and the ameilus. It's the attitude of Torah for which I get the reward. The learning of Torah, the reward is in the next world, but the attitude towards Torah learning, do I long, do I look forward, am I invested, am I willing to toil, do I exert an effort, that is what I get my reward for in this world. And that's why it specifically says "Shita Amelim baTorah". I'm trying to decide what to finish with with the little time that we have. Pa pa da pa pam, so much we didn't get to. We'll get to one last idea. One last idea in the time we have left cuz it connects to Behind the Bima tomorrow night. Behind the Bima tomorrow night, what connection could there possibly be? Look towards the end of our parsha. Perek of Zayin pasuk aleph. Perek of Zayin pasuk aleph, we have the whole tochacha. We discussed a lot of Good news is we didn't cover a lot of But go on whileyutorah.org, go on from goldring.org and you can find previous years where we discussed Perek of Zayin pasuk aleph, we'll end with this. The laws of erchin. If a person articulates a vow to Hashem regarding a value of their living being. In other words, you're allowed to say I'm making a donation. Rabbi, I want to make a donation to the shul, Beit Hamikdash, I want to make a donation to the base on miktash. How much of a donation do you want to make? You couch how much of a donation you want to make based on erchin, based on erach, based on a value. Just like you can offer sacrifices of animals, there are financial gifts that are legislated by Rav Sheko. Torah your teaches a voluntary monetary pledge based on not a random amount, but based on a person's value. How do you determine someone's value? How do you determine someone's erach? So, does it depend on how smart they are? IQ test? How athletic they are? How good looking they are? What kind of memory they have? Are they tall? Are they short? Are they strong? Are they weak? Do they have their hair? How do you decide a person's value? So, the Torah says, "No, we look at two factors, age and gender." The Torah tells us the amount you'd be obligated if you give your pledge based on those two factors, age and gender. The question is the following, and we end with this. I know we're at an hour. Give me 2 more minutes. Indulge with me. I'll make it worth your while. The question is this. Why is this here? Parshat Bechukotai overwhelmingly is about the tochacha, the harsh rebuke, the graphic description of what happens to the Jewish people, the consequences if we don't listen to God. It really belongs earlier in Vayikra. We talked about sacrifices, and we talked about donations, and we talked about the gifts in the Mishkan. Why is erchin specifically here? Why is it here? Why is it here? So, when I gave this drasha I'm going to share with you right now, I told the story which I want to tell you because it relates to our guest behind the beam in our night. The uh there's a shul in the heart of Yerushalayim that was started by Rav Aryeh Levin, the great tzaddik of Yerushalayim. His grandson, Rav Benji Levin, is our guest behind the beam in our night, an amazing individual. He is the rabbi today of that special shul. The shul is called Achdut Yisrael, Achdut Yisrael. It's in the heart of Yerushalayim, right near the central bus station. It is uh a very special shul. And it is a shul that has an unusual yahrzeit plaque. Uh it has 498 names. This shul was started by the Etzel and Lechi fighters, by the underground, even before the founding of the state of Israel, by those fighters, the Etzel the Lechi fighters. And there's a Yahrzeit plaque that includes 498 names of those who gave their lives in the British occupied Israel and the Arabs were so hostile, and before the Haganah was formed, and they gave their lives trying to trying to fight trying to fight. During World War II, the Etzel chose to suspend their fight against the British so they could help the British fight their common enemy, the German Germans. You know the history that the Lechi continued, the Lochmei Herut Israel, the freedom fighters Lechi, did not interrupt, they continued that fight. The Etzel and Lechi united again after, and in this special shul, I've been there, if you haven't, you should check it out. You can get a tour from Rabbi Nachman Levine. You'll hear him tomorrow night, please God. We'll ask him all talk all about special shul, these Lechi Etzel fighters, the ones his grandfather, the Tzadik of Jerusalem, Rabbi Aryeh Levine, used to go visit in the prisons. Amazing stories. In that shul, there's something very very unusual. In that shul, there's a small door underneath the bimah. And it doesn't hold the gabbai's handbook, and it doesn't hold some breakaway kiddush club ingredients. In the shul, in the Achdut Israel shul, there's a small door underneath the bimah, trapdoor, that looks like it has shamos. They lift the door and there's shamos, but underneath the shamos there's a trapdoor. And underneath the trapdoor is where the underground fighters, the Lechi and the Etzel fighters kept their guns and their ammunition. And it's not the guns and ammunition that's still there, but you can see that trapdoor, and you can appreciate their sacrifice, their effort, and so on and so forth. So there's an amazing plaque there, as I told you, and it has all these names. And it lists not only the person's name, the place of death. And many times it says the Altalena, those who were on the boat of the Irgun members that was blown up by Yitzhak Rabin at the Haganah at Ben Gurion's command. It's own other story, and Menachem Begin didn't respond, he refused to start a civil war. Some of them say not Altalena, some of them say Bak'ela, that they died in prison, Yerushalayim and Akko. Many were hung by the British. And they're all in alphabetical order by the first name. It's very unusual Yahrzeit plaque. Why would it be alphabetical order by the first name? Yahrzeit plaques are normally alphabetical order by the last name. So, it was explained that many of the Etzel Lechi fighters made up false last names. They didn't want the British to have access to their real last name because they didn't want to put their family members at risk or in jeopardy. So, they did not use their real last name. So, it's in first only accurate part of their identity was their first name and therefore it's in first name. Now, there's one name, 400 What did I say? names on the Yahrzeit plaque, but there's one that only has one name, Aaron. There's no last name. Why? This Aaron survived the concentration camp in the Nazis and somehow made his way on the boat to Palestine. The British blockade, but somehow his boat made it through. He came off the boat and he met with young Jewish men. And he told them that he had been involved in the Betar movement in Europe and they introduced themselves as members of the Etzel movement. Uh Etzel members of Etzel who shared the same philosophy. They apologized they couldn't spend more time. They said they had a mission they had to go carry out. So, Aaron, fresh off the boat, a skeleton who survived systematic attempt to kill him, fresh off the boat, doesn't say, "Good luck on your mission. I would like to start a new life. I'm going to be a farmer. I'm going to sit under a tree and read a book." He says, fresh off the boat, this Aaron, he says, "I want to help." They said, "Can you shoot a gun?" He says, "Shoot a gun? Look at me. I can't even lift a gun. Skeleton is a survivor right off the boat from Europe. But he says, "I can drive a car." So, they said, "You'll drive." Now, the mission went bad and tragically this Aaron, driving the car, driving the mission, was killed. He was killed. So, why is first name only there? So, come back to our question. Why place Erchin after the Tochacha and not earlier in Sefer Vayikra? It really belonged much earlier. So, the Kli Yakar explains, a beautiful Kli Yakar on our parsha, we end with this. That after going through suffering and tragedy and loss, the response is to donate and to give and to sacrifice. It would be so easy to conclude the exact opposite. You could say what's it all worth? 6 million people were murdered and killed. I'm not going to sacrifice and I'm not going to take risks and I'm not going to make an effort because what does it even matter? 45 can be trampled to death supposedly or there to celebrate the Yahrtzeit of Shimon bar Yochai in Meron. The response could be I'm giving up on life. The response could be there's no value to life. The response could be there's no meaning to anything. Says Rav Chaim Dov Keller that's how the Yeshiva tells of Chicago he says no. The Torah every time you might be tempted to give up on life reminds us the value of life. In Parshas Noach we're told about the flood and right afterwards the Torah tells us Shofech dam hadam ba'adam damo yishafekh. Right after the flood where all of humanity is wiped out and I might have thought there's no value to life, Torah says there's a prohibition of murder. In Parshas Shoftim, Torah says when you go out to war fight the enemies and what law comes right afterwards? Eglah Arufah. The Torah in Shoftim is telling us the laws of war and you might think I go fight war, what value is there to life? So the Torah reminds us there's a law of Eglah Arufah. When you find somebody who was killed and you don't know the murderer, that value of life is inestimable. And so too in our Parsha after the unspeakable and unthinkable description of human suffering and loss, what do we read after the tochacha? Specifically by design, we read the laws of Erchin, the value that we each have and our capacity to pledge ourselves to the community and to our people. To not turn inward but to be continue to be concerned for others. Erchin, take and make a vow, a pledge to give our whole selves to the Jewish people. That's our answer. It's our answer to Noach and it's our answer to um to Parshas Shoftim to go to war and it's our answer to the tochacha. It was this Aaron's answer. They didn't even know his last name. He came off the boat, he had given it all but he dedicated his erech, his whole essence, his whole being, his whole value right away he dedicated again to the Jewish people and paid the ultimate price. They He even know his last name and that's why it's not on the memorial board. All they could say is Aaron. That's how the only the little that we knew about him. Erchin appears here just like every time in the Torah we encounter death, there is a reminder about life, and I think this is very timely. Not only because 9:00 tomorrow night Reb Benji Levine, the current rabbi of the Achud Yisrael shul where this plaque hangs, but coming off of the Meron tragedy, our answer is Erchin, to devote and dedicate ourselves and our value. Our answer is not to say life is meaningless and purposeless, and there is no value to life. Our answer is there is the greatest value, and we have to devote and dedicate our value to making the world a better place. Thank you for staying with me a little bit late today. Wishing everyone, we'll see you First of all, if you don't yet subscribe, please subscribe to our YouTube channel. When you subscribe, you'll be notified in real time every time we go live. If you're listening to the podcast, please like and rate. If you'd like to sponsor a future shiur, email [email protected], [email protected]. Thank you to our sponsors. Until next time, stay happy, stay healthy, and stay holy.