Parshat Behaalotcha | Rabbi Baruch Taub | June 12th 2025

that the shar is sponsored for the academic year by the um Jewish legac the legacy heritage foundation. Okay. But you still have to pay I guess doesn't doesn't help. Okay. Okay. So, um I have two pieces here. They're a little bit long. Um but as uh my my dear friend uh Rabbi Isaac Bernstein Zatal used to say in Shirum it's long but not long- winded. The first is two pages but it's big print so it's not that not that bad. um anime of Jakob Kaminski who we very often learn from and um it's really uh an explanation of our misora uh how does the miso misora work how does our tradition we're here because we have uh a misuro um in other words the Torah says that the obligation for Torah is little mud lish, right? So, we understand to learn Torah. Lame to teach Torah. To fulfill, but what's the what's the shmeir? So, Raudner writes uh that is the the transmission passing it on to the next generation. Lismo, not that I'm I'm keeping it to myself. I'm being I'm a shower. I'm No, no, no. But I'm holding it on for the next generation and I'm passing it on and that's really why we're here because misor is at the at the heart of Israel. Okay. So in this is the season of learning pavot and at the beginning of pkavot we have uh we have the misora right at the beginning of p there's a whole list of the moheel to he received the hari he passed it to Yeshua to the prophetimdah and then listing all the individual rabbis who led the generations uh throughout the early part of Jewish history. Um why by the way is that there there's 60 trackctates to the Talmud. So why is is the misor this traditional the link of the misura listed in pabot why isn't it in other kaducin all the other of the the tal so the other of the talmet essentially are right so what's pavot are the ethical teachings of the rabbis right dealing with excuse me derk eritz how we deal with one another, how our our midot our character traits. So we might think, well, that's kind of a PS to Torah. So the the kazal established that the misura dka necessarily in pyabot, it's not by accident. It's it's to tell us that no this is equal play level playing field between halaka and how we deal with each other and we our our mid our character traits. Okay. So now Rabak is going to home in on something very specific. So the pik says um this is not in our para by the way. Oh he is this is in our para right. It is in our parha. Now, what this what stand here and I'll get right back to you. All right. So, this is also a portion in the Torah that we're not going to deal with the actual port the portion what was going on here. This was um the pesak sheni the introduction was there were uh when it came to pesak there were Jews that could not offer the corban pes corban pes is the essence of pes we don't have it right we don't have it yet right we'll have it again but we don't have the corban pes pes off oper offering but there were Jews who were tame if your tame came in contact with dead body you're not allowed to give a corban so they came to motion they said lmon Why? Why are we left out of you? Right. Zello, right? So, what can you do for us? So, Moshe said, "Stay here. I'll get I'll get right back to you. I'm going to speak to Boru." Right? So, what he what he came back with was the the Pesak Sheni. There is a thing on the calendar called Pesak Sheni. You're familiar with it, right? What what what for those people who were tame they brought a pesak on pesi a month later right what how do we celebrate pes sheni today well we don't say tnon in the morning if you go to shul in the morning we don't say which if it's on a Monday or a Thursday I guess you could say it's a bonus it's a long it's a long right somebody once said tongue and cheek that a a non-Jew a doesn't know what sim is. Doesn't know what sim is. Sim is coming to shul on a Monday or a Thursday and it's pesi and you don't have to say the long right okay tongue and cheek right I'm we'll have to take this out of the video okay so that that's the story that's what I'm so now what he's going to focus on is that Moshe had a unique ability that nobody ever had after Mosher Rabenu just to speak directly to the raon without any preparation right so pirish rashi Rashi explains on this puk in our Torah. Stay here and listen like a student who knows that he's going to get the answer from his his rebous teacher. Rashi says happy is the this human being born of a woman right that he has this guarantee anytime he wanted to he could speak directly through the that's not the way it was with other prophets they had to get into a prophetic trance they had to be basima there were all kinds of qualifications for a Na'vi to receive a transmission and it was usually in the nighttime. It was a vision but Moshe had it directly right near Moshe. It is clear that the Torah here is drawing a line between the prophecy of Moshe Rabenu and the prophecy of every other prophet. By the way, this is something that we say every day at the end of shakr. So we can't get out of away from dvening yet. A lot of people don't say this, right? It's a min after dvening, right? To say the the 13 principles of faith of the Rambam and also the six things that we're obligated to remember, right? The Exodus from Egypt. One of them, by the way, is in this week's para, remember what happened to Miriam, right? which we're going to get to. We're going to eventually get to Miriam later with Rahutner, but right now um this is the Torah draws a line. There's something unique. This is where he tells it to us, right? Um the Rambam in fact says this in Mosherenu only Mosher Rabenu was was privileged to have this level, right? He could speak to the line was never busy for Mosherenu. He could speak to Mosherenu whenever he wanted of the other prophets. They had to wait for the Hashem that they should be enveloped with. It had nothing to do with what they wanted to do, right? They would work on it. they had to speak to him or maybe the remot wanted to speak to them. Right? Okay. Now let's go to Yeshua and let's let's he's going to ask a question here about the departing moment of Mosher Rabenu said Gomorrah in the Talmud is the Gora says Moshe Rabenuaden when Mosher Rabenu was leaving this world for Ganaden for the garden of Eden Leoshua he said to Yeshua okay I'm leaving I'm leaving this world. Shall be many call. Ask me any question you have, any doubts that you have. Right? Yeshua says to him, and this is going to be viewed by Yakov as a mistake, Rebi, did I ever leave you for one minute? to go out of the bait midrash. Didn't you write about me in the Torah and his servant Yeshua lo the tent of Torah, right? Mosha, he never left Moshe, right? Yesua. So now Moshe is leaving this world. And after he says this, something happens to Yeshua. He becomes weak, right? Intellectually and emotionally. Moshe dies. He immediately forgets 300 and has 700 doubts about what the hal is. Right. Israel Hargo and the Jewish people wanted to kill him. Now what does that mean? They wanted to kill him. It's not literally but to a certain extent there is a certain literation here because the the the Mishna Pava says by the way that a person you're not supposed to forget your learning. If someone forgets his learning then he doesn't deserve to be alive right because our Torah is our essence. So if you forget what you learn, you don't review, you forget it, right? With what's you can't what it's like not having food in your body, right? So you you're you're you're punished with death kind of, right? In a certain sense, right? So that's what they meant, right? We're going to forget all our learning. We're not going to have this. You're putting us in mortal danger. We're not going to have the Torah, right? So, so he went to the home and he asked the he please tell me, give me the answers. Right? He called up the give me, you gave it to Moshe. give me these right couldn't did not answer him. So, we have to understand a couple of things here. What did Yeshua do wrong? Right? Um he asked him, you know, he said to him, listen, I I learned everything from you. I don't need to know anything else. Right? Let's say would have said to Moshe, I'm your student. I all my life I have drank the water of your Torah. You tell me what I am missing. Right. What would Moshe tell Yeshua if he would have said that? He gave him the whole Torah. So what's the problem here? What did Yeshua do that was wrong? Right? I have no problem. I got the Torah from you. I'm going to go with it. I'm running with it. It's going to be good. So here's what was wrong with Yeshua. What Yeshua did not understand. There was a a dramatic change from Moshe to Yoshua. Just like we see a dramatic change from our parents, from our grandparents going back further, how rich the Torah spirituality of the Jewish people was. And the farther away we removed from har we moved from arsenai, there was a weakening of Torah, right? There's a weakening of Torah, right? But what Yeshua didn't understand that that's going to happen immediately now. It's going to start now. These this what we call um matut a lessening of the um the generations, right? There was a rabinuis who wrote a purish on um and he coined this phrase um It's true. Yeshua learned the whole Torah from Moshe. But that notwithstanding there was one rule in the process that he did not learn from him. It's the following rule. In other words, the the lessons of the generations. If our for those who came before us were like angels, we're human. If the ones who came before us like human were animals, right? Uh imu. So that's that's what he was missing, right? Um meaning as we said he taught him that there's an end to every generation. The the misora is a is a chain the chain of tradition. But a chain has links in it. Right? It's not just one straight ribbon. It's links. And every link there from one link you have to go to the next link. Right? came time for Moshe to leave this world. We end with the period of Moshe which was what Moshe to receiving it directly from the that's gone. And now there's a new link in the chain. He gave it to Yoshua. He passed the Torah on to Yeshua. Haru. This is a new chain, a new generation. And something is not going to be the same as it was. And here you already have the general rule, right? There's already the change. something is less in Yeshua than in Moshe, right? Yeshua is going to have more of a challenge to to keep the Torah and to transmit it to the next generation. Moshe, in order for him to understand this, Moshe had to teach him this. This is what he was teaching him. This is what you did not learn from me. This is how he learned it that he immediately forgot 300 and had doubts about seven another 700 thousand right because something was now missing that he didn't have fromu and when he asked God to give it back to him I can't tell it to you in other words. Now that the generation of Moshe is gone, there's no more direct direct contact to me. Right? The Torah is no longer in heaven. It's now all in your hands. Right? I cannot give you overs anytime you ask you could say stand here you want to know about the I'll be right back right what is God going to command me Yeshua can't do that he's not on Mosha's level over the page if you have the sheets this rule this the lessening of the generations right etc. It's not just poetry. It's not just poetic. Right? Every is built on this, right? We see today, let's fast forward to our time. There's a whole thing now AI, right? This has to be dealt with in Hak, right? There's nothing in the Kumish on AI. There's nothing in the Gmorra on AI. But we we have to use all the principles of this of learning Torah that the rabbis gave us originally from Mosha Rabenu and Hari how to develop a sakala for something that is new right medical ethics the whole area of medical ethics it's not written in the Torah it's not written in the Gor necessarily right we have to develop these things oursel even shabbat right electricity right these things have to be developed by us or by theim in our generation. Right? So that's what he's saying. This is the basis of all that it moves to the next generation. Right? You've got to figure it out. Whenever a rabbi in the Talmud asked a question on a rabbi in the Mishna, Mishna's earlier than the rabbi in the Talmud because he doesn't understand, right? The rabbi in the Gomorra is asking about something in a Mishna that means he already doesn't understand something from the Mishna the previous generation like like from Moshu right when one generation one link was closed. So you can't disagree with what they said, right? The next generation, the previous generation is holier than me. I have to figure out what they meant. What did they want? But the next generation is on a lower level. It's on a lower level. In fact, if you you know, if you when you if you just share with you in in look at the Torah, the Torah is very succinct, right? But um then you go to the Torah and the Nvim, it's very succinct. But if you go then you go to the um the Mishna straightforward the Gomorrah a little bit more wordy. You go to the rishonim, the early rabbis like rashi. Rashi can be very tur right. You go to the later rabbis, let's say for the last two, three, 400 years ago and they discuss something in Russia that they takes them 20 pages to explain what Russi meant in six words, right? We have to work harder, right? I mean, they say that, you know, there's not an extra word in Russia or the the Rambam. Not an extra word in Russia or the Rambam. I'll give you an example in the Rambam. The Rambam says in the laws of Torah study, it's an obligation on every and every wise person and wise person to teach the students. Now you say, wait a minute, there's a mistake here. The Rambam repeated the word. So no remember there's not an extra word in the Rambam. So what is he saying? Rambam is even if you know all you know is alf that's all that's the entire Torah that you have so far have you have an obligation to give that over to someone who doesn't have al you are a every Jew if he has a little bit of Torah is a that's what the Ram saying don't say that it's only the the big rabbis they the ones who teach no everybody has an obligation to share the wealth to share the Torah. That's just another example. There are many times, by the way, where Rashi says, "I don't know what this what I don't know what this is. I don't know what's going on here." Now, so what does that mean? Right? So, you can bet your bottom dollar that if Russia is saying that, there's a minefield there. There's a minefield there, right? There's something either he doesn't want to talk about it, maybe it's Cabala, right? or he hasn't figured it out yet. But it doesn't mean it's a you know that's okay. Let's go on on here. The difference between the diff distinction between the generations is based upon the greatness of the the of the each generation. Whoever lived at the end of the generation that's the that's the termination. So the one the rabbis who lived at the end of that link they have now everything from that particular link and everything from before. And this is what the Tana the beginning of this is what the the Tana teaches us. Each one has their own unique link. Yeshua Zakanim Abdullah etc. Then you have the authors of the Mishna, the authors of the Talmud, Goonim, the period of Gonim, right? The 8 800s, right? The Gonim and the Rishonim which starts around 1000 in 1100, right? Theim that came later around 1400, right? and the later in which up until today until the closing of the once the was closed every in there that's the right we have to go by what's in there that's there's a problem there's a lot of things we don't understand there that's where we have excuse me contemporary postk maybe a little things contemporary postk uh like the Mishna right elucidates for us what the is saying it might because maybe for us it's like clear as mud but the Mishna Bur has to clarify for us right but that's the end of each generation therefore the conclusion of Mosha's link That was the end of the Thank you very much. Thank you. Okay. Um so the that's the Yeshua the link of Yeshua was with the say for Yeshua say for Yeshua when Yeshua theim for at the end of Okay, the end of the prophets, etc., etc. Yeshua. This is what Yeshua went what went over Yeshua's head. I've learned everything from you. I don't Rebi, you you don't have to worry about it. I've got it all. I've got it. Right. He thought because he was with his Mosha all his time and he learned the whole Torah from him. Therefore, there's no difference between him and Moshe. I got it. I got it. You can pass it on to me and I'll be just like you. There's nothing else to hear from you. Therefore he forgot immediately and when he wanted to remember them I can't tell you in other words that that generation is gone what Moshe could do you cannot do right you what do you have to You have to get involved in what we call poetically the of Torah of arguing over what the Torah said that the scholars get together and they discuss using for example again we're back to Shakris we say in Shakrit beginning of Shakr the gimid of Rabi Ishmael the 13 principles of learning Torah of Rabi Ishmael Well, so they use those principles and other principles, right? So in other words, if they had a Shiloh, Bezdon would have a Shiloh. They'd have they'd convened Bezdon would sit the original Bezdon. Does anybody remember what Mosha Rabenu said? If somebody raised his hand, that was it. If nobody raised his hand, then they had to they had to go use these principles and come up through their own approach learning with the rules of Torah of the oral Torah and come up with what Mosher Rabenu meant. Okay, so here's what goes on here. Uh so now now we understand what what happened to Yeshua, right? Yeshua, but don't this is not a a critique of Yeshua. You can't be critical of Yeshua for this. How is he supposed to know this? There was only him and Moshe, right? He's learning everything from Moshe. How is he supposed to know this? What was wrong with his answer to Moshe? You've taught me everything, right? Based on another story about two rabbis. They went to visit their Yeshua in a certain place. Tell me from the what was discussed today. Tell me something newsworthy from the what was discussed what was developed today in the base manui where your were your students we drink from your water from your Torah said to them that notwithstanding midash even your midash which is going to be the next generation you have to have a kesh you have to come up with something creative based on not something new, not a reformation, but something based on the principles and carrying it in to the next generation. We see there's such a thing as honor to the Rebi Marlo. We're your students. You know what we're missing, right? What are what are you asking us? What was the same thing here? Should have answered him. You know what I'm lacking? And he would teach him this rule. Yeshua didn't put it that way. God was forced. He forced the hand. So that was the that's the idea of what went what went on here. Very dramatic moment in the beginning of the process of transmitting Moshe to Yeshua and the rest of the Jewish people. Okay. Now I mentioned be wait after because it's on recording. So if you Okay. Is that okay? So um remember what you want to ask though. Okay. So um we we mentioned earlier that one of the six zap that we're supposed to remember every day. Uh one is what happened in Harai what destroy a malik what a malik wanted to do to us right um worshiping the golden calf. There are certain very big points in history, right? Remember the exodus from Egypt. One of them is remember the mice of Miriam. Remember what happened to what happened to Miriam, right? Miriam was punished with leprosy. Why? Because Miriam spoke about her brother Mosher Rabenu. What was the Lshinhor that he spoke? He spoke he heard overheard from Tipara in a conversation with his sister-in-law that tip was saying something about oi if we all have to go up the mountain people are not going to have to live with be able to live with their if God's going to speak to all of the Jewish people they won't be able to live with their wives and husbands what does that mean what do you mean he said no but Mosha Raben from the day that he was speaking to the we don't live together as husband and wife right so Miriam thought this was a horrible thing right this This is a horrible thing and she told it over to her what what's going to work. That'll be the end of Claw Israel. There'll be no children. This is what you have to be on such a level and there'll be no children. So this was this was her lush horror comes back at him at Miriam and Aaron and uh he he he yells at them and he gives them he gives them a he says like how could you speak about how could you speak about Moshe this way? Moshe who I spoke to ponyim ponim face to face doesn't mean literally but right he always and and he saw me he he saw the back of the rash says and he's my my neoo there's no one ever in this world like moheenu he was mikadam he was the humblest person in the world he was the most ne the most truthful the person that existed in this world, how could you speak of him? Right? So, what what Hutner is going to deal with here and we're not going to get there till the end is what I don't what what he saying to Miriam. Is that the only reason you shouldn't have spoken lot because he was a great person? You mean if someone's not a great person and you spoke lotion horror, it's lesser of a crime? Doesn't What? What's the big deal that he was such a great person? How could you speak lon how could you say this right and if you was a lesser person you could speak loan that's the question that refutner is going to deal with okay so try to remember the question because we got to we got to go through a little bit here to get there so first he starts off by saying quot according you have to judge every Jew with righteousness right now this This is of course an exhortation to bait right because really in a certain sense um we are not allowed to judge anybody right the only license that a Jew has to another Jew is to love him right says again we're in the season do not judge a person until you are in his shoes right so What? How? So what is I mean I can judge him if I'm in his shoes. No. What do we say? It's impossible to be in his shoes. You know I often tell the story about um a lady who called me once that she met someone from the shul in the supermarket and one of the w one of the very important family in the shul and she walked by her with my she said good morning to her and she just ignored her completely. What kind of business is this? Right. So, I said to the woman, "Uh, you're right to be hurt, but you have to understand, you have no idea what this woman is carrying with her." And I'm not talking about her shopping cart. You have no idea what tragedies this woman is living with. So, you can't judge a person and you it's impossible for you to be, of course, this woman reached out to her and so whatever. It was a happy ending in that sense. But you can't judge a person until you're in this place because you can never be you. You never know what's going on by another person. So we don't judge. We love right can't judge a person. But in terms of making a decision about whether something is loor or not is dealing with it. You know how do you judge for something? It has to do with righteousness. Now what does that mean? The key word here is he sayskim the rabbi say there's a concept what is this called another judge every person to the side of merit right you can judge him to be a Russia you can judge him to be sadic always judge him to be a sadic right now what does that mean okay So what is that based on? It says you have to judge your nation, your people, every Jew. So it depends on the Jew that is coming before Bet. Let's say the Jew that has to be judged. If this is a Jew who is a 50/50 kind of a guy, right? He's a Beni middle of the road guy. the school to look over sometimes he does things 50% he does things the right way 50% he does right he's a middle of the road guy done you have to give him the benefit of the doubt merit right but if he's an evil person so you have to judge him the other way even if all the proof that is brought to you is that it's his benefit his favor But there's things that you know that are that are coming out of this case. You cannot you cannot you cannot acquit him. But here's the last category. If the person is a genuine Torah scholar, if you saw that he did a sin at night because by the time of the dawning of the morning light, he's already done chuva. He's human. Made a mistake. He did leave it alone, right? Especially if you didn't see him doing anything. You have to give him the benefit of the doubt. Even if everything looks bad in his, right? You have to give him the right. So what you see from this is there is a middle road here. There's a way to judge a person to determine a person's guilt or innocence if he's in the middle. Right? There is a way. And if that's the case, you have to go. Y mean you have to go. Right? Now then he says something else. This also happens in heaven because something happens in heaven. When a bet sits and judges here in this world, God lives through that judgment in heaven. There's also such a thing that God is judge gives the benefit of the doubt. Right? If in if the court here, if the bet here gives the guy the benefit of the doubt, then God also gives him the benefit of the doubt, right? So what's going on here? What does that mean? He says, "What do you mean?" God has a a doubt. He's not sure. So therefore, he gives him the benefit of the doubt, right? Giving him the benefit of the doubt is when you have doubts. God doesn't have any doubts. So there has to be some other equation that we're talking about as far as the Rabon is concerned. for our court system for us we have a doubt we talk about doubts a situation of doubt so we give him the benefit of the doubt in shimay it's a different equation it's about the confusion the the theot the the mixture of the human nishama that and the human being it's complicated. We are we're all complicated. We have in our nama and we have and every minute of the day we're dealing with that or right and how are we going to deal with it because after the sin of eating from the became was it was an external thing and it became part of us and that became that became our challenge that we have this taruot this mixture this confus confusion the confusion of and within us right man lives his life in this confusion this tension this tension better or between good and bad right sometimes you can do something good and it's also that right um guy comes and asks me for stuck really I don't want to give him but there's people looking what am I going to do so I take out my checkbook I give but I'm giving but maybe I'm doing it for the wrong reason right he gives another example this is interesting thing you know that if someone has a bad dream someone has a bad dream you have to fast now The the says the Mishna others today we are much weaker than they were in the time of kazal fasting for us is much harder. So therefore, you can go to a betthin. Doesn't have to be a real bet. You can get three of your friends together and there's a whole if you look in the art scroll, the big thick art scroll sitter, you'll find this at the end of there. The the seder of of hatal of turning around a bad dream, a nightmare into a into a a good dream, right? There's a process, excuse me. Um but the basic is that you have to have a terrible dream. uh you know I remember this story I might have told you this story I had a friend years and years and years ago I told I told you you might some of you will remember the story and he he was in yeshiva and he went to his rebi actually I put it it's one of my forum in the para I don't know what para it's in but he went to Fryfeld the great rifle fryfeld and he said rebby I had a bad dream I dreamt that I killed soand so he was like devastated devastated what should I do so What did Ron Fryfield do? He leaned over the table and he says to him, "You've been watching too much television." Right? Right? So everything is relative. And the Gmorrah says a person generally does not dream of things that he did not experience during the day. Right? Times have changed. Right? So just go to do hatal if you want. You'll feel you'll feel better. Right? Now, by the way, that also relates to the fact that I said um that the the is sort of the meaning has changed because we were weaker. We're harder for us to fast today. So, I once asked my rebi, what does it mean? We're we're we're um we're weaker today. Why are we weaker today in in time is up? Oh boy. So he said uh have another minute I'll I'll close up. Okay. Um so he said it's true because I asked him because people all they had was a little piece of herring and a piece of dry raw rye bread during the week. He said yeah but that's why they could fast. We are a generation of of overconumption, right? We're constantly eating too much. So it's much harder for us to fast. Okay. Now, if time is up, we're going to have to leave this in the middle and finish it next week. So, I'm leaving you in suspense. Remember, this is all about Miriam. Okay, you got it. Okay, so we'll continue next week. We'll end on time.