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Parshat Mishpatim: Content & Context | Rabbi Ari Kahn
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so there's two different ways of doing
what we're going to do today one way is
to look at the first couple of words in
the first p and the other way is to look
at everything else so I will
explain it starts off when it
says so so right and you want the rest
of it sh a similar plan that doesn't
concern
me so what do you do with this
and the V there does take us to
something which was
Prior and I just want to say it in a
couple different
ways and these are the
additional and these are the
Mish and then we need to understand what
exactly the Mish are so the first
problem which really presents itself
over here is one of context so now
that's what I said that there's two ways
of doing this it's you know what it's
more than that it's context and then
content so there's two ways of doing it
one way would be essentially the first
thing I did when I started to prepare
this week and that was to read through
the entire par right I tell you that
that's that's the first thing I always
do is I read through the
par and as I'm reading and as I'm
learning I'm keeping track and the next
thing that I did is I went back again
immediately
afterwards and I started charting each
one of the mitzvot now there's two
things to do as you're charting what's
there what's that one is to try to
understand the pattern to understand the
similarity to understand why things are
there what's the other thing which is
more difficult which is much more
annoying which is of course one of the
things I'm going to focus on is going to
be what's not there because when you
have a list of things that are there
then you also want to say hold it what's
what what's not over here so we can call
this the the
paranoid par paranoid parut right why is
that not there and then what's going on
so that's also something to think about
and then the other thing is
how Orthodox you want I I mean with a
small o how Orthodox you want to be in
terms of trying to make things fit and
say that there is this larger system
over here in a certain sense and we'll
see some of the commentaries do this in
a certain sense that is a very 19th
century intellectual process which goes
into big theories they're very much into
big especially Germany big theory of
things so what's the what's the good
thing about big theories how you see wow
look how everything fits into it what's
the bad thing the bad thing is you
sometimes by force make things fit into
it even though they don't necessarily
fit in easily so keep all of that in
mind as we start reading but what we're
going to say over here is that regarding
these fundamental questions
what exactly is the what exactly did the
mean so let's let's begin izra in Source
number two now note there's two
different commentaries of izra source
number two is the parish Source number
three is the parisher of course if you
go open up and look inside by both of
them you'll find the parish which is the
long commentary is short on this verse
and the short commentary you'll notice
is long in this particular thing so so
much for big theories right the the more
important thing about the two
commentaries is when he wrote them and
it's not it's not
necessarily agreed upon by all Scholars
of Ian Ezra but essentially one is and I
believe the kater is the first one which
is most likely before he came in contact
with various batos vot most importantly
the Raj bom but every word I'm saying
right now is subject to scholarly debate
so let them
debate Source number
to now
notice right away what do you realize
what he's
doing so what does it come after so he's
going to tell you what it comes after
now realize something that whenever
someone's going to say oh this comes
after you now have every single thing
prior to this in the Torah as a
possibility of what it follows right I'm
just saying as far as your possibilities
are but he goes for the easiest one
so let's get the context on this we're
going to come back at this we're going
to look at this inside but right now
after the incredible display of the
Asser de brro ends right then the people
then say to mosha this is this is too
much it's overwhelming if you speak to
us then we'll be capable of uh of
hearing but if God speaks to us then we
could die so right there the ezzar is
saying the
so the alone goes up to the cloud and
says this is what you should tell
them and then he starts to give certain
warnings about Gods plural small G out
of
gold and of forming a covenant when he
comes
down which means reject all other pagan
gods and there's only one
God and then he gives instructions
regarding the and the now again we could
decide how literal we want to be with
each one of those words and what they
mean which means that's really the
question will you accept them because by
the way he I don't know if he said this
strong enough
but over here I'm isra may have just now
rejected something by saying God don't
speak to us so now comes will you accept
what is said then this and this is
what's going to
happen by the way what he just now did
is he essentially said this section our
Mish section begins
with by the way may because I can also
claim maybe it begins see see this is
what's a little awkward we have at the
end of last week's paraa and yes we we
know all the time we keep in mind the
division of the parota is artificial and
the division of the chapters is
artificial so therefore mosha comes
Sorry God stops speaking the people say
stop now that could be the beginning of
the
section but the chapter and the para end
with God saying a couple of things we'll
go back and look what those things are
because we're starting in his par is on
the
which means there something new now
where does that end so he just gave you
a hint where it ends it goes all of
chapter 21 all of chapter 22 and now we
can argue how far into chapter 23 but he
says take a look till per so we but that
is perhaps very much part of what he's
calling a Brit right
now and the main focus of this section
is and the main issue over here is the
eradication of idolatry when you enter
into the
land that's what MOS says at the end
notice he just now went at the end he
just now went
to now this is great I didn't translate
everything but this is great what he
just now did he said what is this all
about and I'm very sympathetic right now
it's all about Israel and what is it
about Israel we need to be deserving to
be in Israel and how are we deserving to
be in Israel we need to get rid of all
of the
Pagan all the idols all the Pagan
influences we have to eradicate and then
we can be in the land of Israel now this
is great and I want to start off now we
can look in a second at the
Ezra's other interpretation which is so
radically different from this and if I
had to give points I I'm I'm a little
stuck but I'll expl expl in a second
what did he just now do he did what I
guess all of you my fellow zionists
conspiration right the Elders of Zion
who are sitting here with
me we we're we're very sympathetic to
say okay so what's the Torah about the
Torah is about the land of Israel and
what's the Covenant about we deserve to
be the land of Israel and there's
something which bothers me about this
and maybe it bothers you maybe it
doesn't bother you last week we had the
Asser de bro should we now play the game
what was missing answer land of Israel
no
referen you go through and and per and
per gim now I I am
exaggerating so I'm going to couch it in
a certain way for the most part this has
nothing to do with
Israel let's do everything all over
again we can start all over again and
this is something I've done before which
therefore is completely not interesting
to me now that would be to take the
various M again
in and compare them with either so now
there's
two now I can compare with one of two
things one is I can compare it to
the and the reason why I would do that
maybe the rest of
the these are the ones he Place front of
the Jew as opposed to the MIT just keep
that in mind because we want to see some
interesting
mides the other thing I could do is I
can compare everything in par MIM to the
and very frankly as I read through it
that's really what's in my mind to what
extent are the things described in these
various chapters expansions sometimes
moving a little bit laterally compared
to
theer I'll say it again that to me is
almost like it's the easy it's the low
hanging fruit is to take a s put them on
one side and take all the par Mish and
then just say which one or ones because
sometimes there's some overlap which
things over here or in what to what
extent is this the extension of what we
saw in the AER bro and by the way that
will be real easy work again it'll it'll
bear fruit it'll it'll be easy work and
on top of everything else it may
probably most likely it's true I mean
that that's what's really going on over
here but I'm going to say it again now
but what about the absence of the land
of Israel again if had to be a little
bit more dramatic about that we can go
back to the point which and I think is
the crucial point where we finally
realize that there are two different
paths maybe we realize that as a people
when we got to
par right it doesn't take us Karu but
that's in a certain sense is absurd we
can't go derush why because of what
happened all the way back in parag
gimmel when mosha was standing by the
snap where God says to mosha you're
going to take the people out and you're
going to take them to the land the land
that flows with milk and honey and so on
and then he said oh yeah by the way when
you come out you'll serve God on this
mountain which by the way means you
can't go der because we have to come to
this mountain and what happens on this
mountain well something's going to
happen on this mountain we find out what
happens on this mountain we end up
getting lots and lots of law which and
now now I go back to the law that we get
that's part of the problem that's part
of last week's parisha which means it's
not just that I have two different paths
One path is to go directly right don't
pass go directly go to the land of
Israel and live happily ever after
that's the one possibility and the other
possibility is to go and take this
little bit of a detour and you're going
to stand by Hari and you're going to get
something but what do we get we get
Torah now again it's really interesting
that the Torah is something which is
given outside the land of Israel because
again we've done this because it could
have been given we could have taken us
Jim and then we could have had this loud
voice
saying nobody here would have claim
right just like later on we have hakel
to remember to commemorate that we were
given the Torah at SII why didn't I just
give the Torah at har at haroria and
then hakel every time could be a
repetition of what exactly did take
place so now again if you think about
this it's not just it wasn't given in
Israel it's that it was given in the
desert and doesn't discuss Israel and
now I go back to the mishpatim and I
love the Ezra over here because he
complete see this is the big Theory this
is what it's all about what's it Torah
what's it all about it's about living in
the lands of Israel great and what about
it how do you live in Israel got rid of
all the idolatry which is great except
for every single detail and peric ofal
and peric ofet at least it just it
doesn't talk about that it talks about
these general laws again interesting how
much to compare and contrast with now
you could take your pick s mitzvot you
want sahro you even want to go to the
Cod of hamurabi go to the code of
hamurabi which by the way I read an
article it's not that long ago which
means around five years ago and uh was
from by Josh Burman who's a wonderful
wonderful professor in Baran he's a
friend and uh he noted and brought
evidence that the kod of rarabi was
aspirational and was not law which it's
kind of like saying you imagine this an
anthropologist will say we know what
life was in America because we read the
Liberty
Bell and therefore in America free and
Liberty rank throughout the land because
that's what it says on the Liberty Bell
right would everybody agree that that is
uh that we can use that as evidence you
don't want the Liberty Bell you want the
statute of Liber whatever you want but
to say no no that's aspirational that
that's what we would like things to be
but it's not oh for you in England I
don't know what to tell
you
anyway so again when we start comparing
these things one of the things troubles
us is the lack of of Israel there and by
the way it's this is just a small part
of the problem if other part of the
problem is yes the mishna is from ER
Israel but the Babylonian talmud is not
talmud bav guess where that's from okay
good so but it's not just the T it's not
and again some you can say yeah well we
have a talwood we have a talmood from
marage Israel and all this is a little
bit more Awkward because the both
townwoods are full of Scholars from both
but the T B is where the most serious
discussions and and the law emerges from
B and that has again this direct impact
on Jewish communities all over the world
can we also be honest all of our great
rishonim again don't don't pick on the
ones who ended up moving to Israel all
of our great Ronin lived in other places
so it's Rashi and then F following all
the balat too the it's Germany and it's
France and it's England
and then the all
thead from Spain and the generations and
so on which means the vast majority of
Torah that was taught and learned and
experienced was outside of the land of
Israel and and I know that there were
those who right now could pause and say
and it's true they can say well the
Torah can be practiced anywhere the
Torah has to be made in such a way that
it can take place any place even though
we could then say yes but not
necessarily in its perfect sense
so I think now we understand some of the
tension and and what and now we realize
what we're doing is much more complex
because we're noting on the one hand
what is here and then trying to figure
out what's the content and figuring out
what's the context and on the other you
want that for the title content and
context it's yours there you go
what don't listen to
them just write it down
I have to listen the watch the 90c movie
that say it anyway it's not even 90
seconds right it's like 18
seconds okay that's all that's all that
we
need content and
context now you know now you know what's
good
okay let's keep going and we'll have to
try to figure out some let's keep let's
keep going let's keep
going let's keep going so
we no I'm saying the ianz is fascinating
because the ianz is saying oh this is
what it's all about but in order to say
what it's all about he actually had to
completely ignore two things just two
things content and context right but but
but but aside aside from that it's
perfect and then you look at the other
isar commentary Parish the long Parish
AAR right
in Source number
three which by the way is preparations
preparation
for this is to we giveing we give it
over it could be in writing it could be
Audible and before I explain this I'm
going to give you a generality that you
need to know
principle each one of of these things is
independently and stands to be
understood by
itself even though sometimes you're
going to find that there is a connection
which each one and maybe even both both
stands by itself and also there's some
kind of a connection
with the
context here he just now told you what
is about out somebody who has power not
to use
violence and not to hurt the weaker or
the disenfranchised her that's the whole
partion that's what MIM
are That Was Easy by the way we can stop
now because now we know what par MIM is
about by the way you notice the
difference between the two different
commentaries the M between the Ezra and
the Ezra there's two different
commentaries one actually deals with
what it says over here and then then
actually goes into details and he says
well let's look at details if you
want when it comes to abuse of somebody
like like the servant the
slave and then the
maid and then and what does he then do
if you want we can read through all of
it he goes through all of the details
over here and it's all about abuse it's
all about by the way this is the history
of the world the powerful abusing the
weak that's the history of the world and
he says what's the Mish here to break a
vicious cycle in order to say might does
not make right it's not just because I
have the ability of hurting somebody
else I need to control that ability of
hurting others we need to put principles
in mind we need to protect the weak
that's what the Mish are MIM is about
protectingly now if you had to compare
the two commentaries of Ezra again it's
a little unfair because I didn't read
the whole thing but if you compare the
two so which one do you like more well
there's no question that the second one
is actually commentary to what it says
over here well those of us who are uh
fenta maybe we like the first one
because everything's about Israel at the
end of the day so he does move a little
bit forward and does touch the other
things that don't as easily fit into it
and I just want to move
over the SK of
Elohim he talks
about seduction who's also weak geros no
zlo which is interesting that the geros
has no one else to again it's it's the
weak the AL
the poor so again he he has the big
Theory over here so it's interesting
it's two different big theories that the
ibenz was working with and again all the
people interested in uh pseudo
psychology want to analyze how the iban
Ezra may have changed when he moved from
his hometown to uh other places and saw
other things involved again you could
and I even tell you which one he wrote
first
so let's continue a little bit
more there are some things towards the
end which are probably more important
but I'm I'm I'm skipping them now
because I want to go back in Source
number four we have what I alluded to
before the people they they see the
sounds and so
and the mountains full of
smoke and the people see
this the people start to shake and they
stand at a
distance they say
to if you speak then we can
hear don't let God speak to us because
we're GNA
die and here's what I skipped
before and I I want you to register and
to pay attention to this and then have
to figure out what to do with it
says to the people do not be afraid we
noted this P last week as
well God came to uplift
you the fear of God should be upon
you that you won't
sing that plea for MOS didn't
work they stayed far
away now you remember this was the verse
that been stated and Mos then goes into
the M the Mist I sh
where God was
waiting God says to
Moshe is this is what you should tell
the
people you witnessed you saw you
experience that God spoke to you from
the
heavens don't make any kind of Idols
don't make any kinds of imagy or false
gods now if you just pause there for a
second do you realize what happened and
if you don't realize what happened we
can read the ran in a second in Source
number five and what happened is that
there is an expansion of the first two
de
brro you saw with your eyes you saw
something which is impossible to see
which is why they freaked out what's the
second thing don't have any other gods
don't make graven images and what's the
next thing which is said don't make any
gra any Gra images but there's a
difference over here what's the
difference is that here it's MOS one
second just to
continue El Moshe the people said don't
speak to us so God says it to
Moshe Isel this is what you should tell
them now if you want to you
could salvat was very fond of this type
of an approach you could say that this
is the first example of T shalan you can
say that
is a Ser he wrote and T is the
explanation of it which actually opens
up in our minds this incredible
possibility that what would have
happened had the people not been afraid
and God spoken directly to them then
maybe the mishna would have come
directly from God maybe any other
content that we eventually get out of
the gamorra and from other places could
have come directly to God rather sorry
from God to the people rather than have
it communicated in other ways whereby
the people missed that direct
opportunity then it continues and it
says and that's where you're going to
offer and that's also really quite
interesting and important and we'll
decide how much next week to come back
to
this you're gonna make it out
of don't use
metal because the use of metal which is
used to kill
on is something which
is in
sense and don't climb up on
the which is understood as saying is
that the need to have here you have the
first example of mentioned toim and how
they work when they're walking wearing
their dresses or their gabas then make
sure that just realize that as you're
climbing upstairs somebody could be
looking from below and nobody's even
looking what is it saying the m is going
to look and it's not right for so here
you have here you have touching era
touching arot and so the first two
things in terms of you right
really yeah is clear what this other
what these other elements are doing
right over here are not as clear and
then we go straight into
this that's the next words
now compared
to Let's accept the Ezra Mish all about
taking care of the downtrod Mish all
about not using our power in order to
dominate others over here it talked
about things which are not M but maybe
we'd be more comfortable to call them
things having to do with service of God
correct that that's what what you build
that's not about the downtrod although
there's something which is really
interesting don't use a sword don't use
something which you can use to dominate
others as you're Building this's B
that's just a really
interesting crossover between the laws
which are about to come up with this law
which is presented here if I'm also now
going to move over to other
sensibilities again perhaps in terms of
arot by the way that's also going to be
the question to what extent are any arot
really over here perhaps we'll say and
saying oh be very careful about modesty
and so on and in the context of the M
again that's really interesting it's
doubly interesting if you come to the
realization to what extent in Antiquity
maybe not just Antiquity where idolatry
involved all kinds of cultic sexual
misbehavior so over here saying not only
is that not going to be part of the
our service it's going to be even have
sensitivity on a much much more uh say
on a much higher level be careful about
any kind of impropriety so again these
are but those are Crossovers and they're
interesting if I had to put
it I could say we just now enter into
the world of Kim but it didn't let go of
all the laws of the AR which is which
has been really an interesting
comment Source
five so therefore what's the ran doing
and or I told you he was going to do
this he is looking how this directly
follows
the how far back did we just now go we
just went back to SRO and you saw and
you already understand what it is he's
going to explain and I already told you
outside this uh this teaching of the
ramban so essentially the Ser wrot here
and I told you that's the easiest thing
to do not just in those couple verses
after the aser wrot when the people say
stop speaking but also going into the
Mish that you're going to hear certain
things striking somebody down and so on
ah don't don't murder something about
parents oh that fits in not to steal
okay I see and and by the way not even
to kidnap you you could just it's going
to be too easy as you go through and say
oh I see how this is this is the shear
that somebody's giving that's why I want
to go back and say Tor shab this is the
lecture that somebody's giving about how
to use these Asser brro in real
life one of the things the ran points
out is that's what's going on again
let's just skip a little
bit which is great where do I fit in all
these by mode essentially how do you say
low mode in a positive way if you don't
want to say negative you want to be
positive what do you say you
say right isn't that easy enough love
your neighbor as yourself instead of
saying
don't don't I mean desire and don't
covet and and so on so again that that
becomes really interesting and then look
the last couple
lines can't telling you where to look
it's all there and I told you all this
is a little funny says
looking we'll see in a
second so if you're going to pay
attention care carefully you're going to
find most of this are the grow right
over here anyway the thing about by the
way Source number
six which is really an unfortunate of
all the things to say you're talking
about beastiality yeah that's how
teaches you about all the other arot I I
I okay let me just say one thing about
that I think in the world that uh at
least some people live in today a world
which is very Progressive where
essentially any kind of limitations on
sexual behavior would be would be
considered to be biased and hate filled
and so on and so forth I think the last
thing right which hasn't fallen yet the
last thing is beastiality but not
because they think it's inappropriate
it's because the animal didn't consent
which means it's essentially the animal
rights people would still have much more
of a of a problem so it's interesting in
order to use the most extreme example
and rather than something which would be
a minor example in number 7 theil tell
now again I love this I'll have to
explain this what did he just now do he
went from the end of last week's par
what was the last thing there was about
climbing the and what's the first thing
over here the first thing is and what
did he just now tell us something which
you already know and what's
that which means when you have the the
Temple Mount and what's on the Temple
Mount this is not a trick question the
temple and what else is on the Temple
mount the and what else is on the Temple
mount the
Sanhedrin so what he says over here oh
if you really just now paid attention
what will you notice you'll notice that
this is teaching you that the Sanhedrin
needs to be right next to the betam
mdash which is great except for two
problems one is that there's no mention
of a sanr the other there's no mention
of the beta mcdash unless there was
right so so what did he just now do what
did the Mikila just now do it gave us
again more energy for that izra saying
no it's all about Isel I mean don't lose
focus over here it's all about which
means the Torah is practiced in its
highest possible form and I'm gonna say
this in every single way in the land of
Israel including that's where you have a
proper legal system and you have a body
which is able to legislate and able to
interpret and able to give rulings and
part of the problem of living in a world
like we do today where we don't have
proper legal abilities and therefore
responsibilities we live in a world
where things are somewhat limited so
continue in
theil and we're going to go back now
because that
was now we're going back to the
in sorry sorry sorry sorry that was in
and now we're going to in Source number
eight
now just try to pay attention here along
the way because what you're going to
find is that there are multiple opinions
which are being shared first one
is which means he's dealing with a
question of authority so what we had was
the and now there's more things that
these things both come from the same
source and by the way as we've been
reading that's obvious God said these to
those and maybe even it's a little
stronger maybe even we would have had
this thought that theer de BR are more
important more basic more an expression
of Judaism and say no these are from CI
and these are from CI this is the
continuation and again if you keep in
mind the context that we've already seen
what was that context that was a context
of the people saying stop we're going to
keep on paying attention to that stop
you realize this is what should have
been the continuation so let's continue
that's now remember I said before that
once you say that something it's
question of context then I have an
ability of going as far back as I want
so what did he do he went a little
further back what was the interesting
linguistic hook there it also said
mishpat so there it says Mish here it
says M so what is the conclusion the
conclusion is
where should we be looking it's not just
a bro this already comes earlier and it
comes
from
Omar now right here he's going even
broader dealing with non-jewish law so
where did we just now get to mitzvot I
told you before we we we did all I got
you prepared for all of this Chev
mitzvot but but then he says something
which is really interesting and he says
that this the the legal system of the
non je does not apply to US unless their
legal system is applying our laws I
don't know if that worked for you he
actually gave an example which is really
important today as well he says for
example let's
last what is a get like that it's a get
which has being forced by the court the
court says You must give a
get but if the non-jews say do what the
Jewish law says and they use force that
is a
Kosh um I don't have to tell you that
this is a point which even though it's
black and white over here among certain
people this is something which is
debated but I hope you appreciate the
significance or
essentially
saying we need peace we need to be able
to get along and he's saying oh what we
have over here is essentially really at
least conceptually considered it is a
continuation of the mosha and why we
need there to be a system whereby people
can get rid of all of their complaints
and we can work together as one people
now let's try again so what's missing so
I told you what's missing in Zer but
something else is missing more or less
so we'll find it what's missing is
kadosa
because torts are not necessarily holy
now you can argue with me if you want
for the very reason that just now argued
creating peace is something which is
very holy on the other hand somebody
could be involved all day in studying
Tor or for that matter studying augia
you can decide now B bastra any what you
want and not have any kind of sense of
Holiness the first reference to Holiness
in MIM where it uses the word and maybe
I'm guilty of being a little too literal
Source number nine
anes first time didn't say anes and
therefore it did say how to treat the
slaves because you were slaves in Egypt
the amount of times that it says because
you were slaves and you should remember
the Egyptian experience and therefore
you should know decency and decency
should be a part of your inner world all
of that's clear but it didn't use the
phrase of Holiness and I accept your
argument that you're going to say to me
but doing these things is Holiness
nonetheless the word Holiness wasn't
used over here it says by the way for
that matter Holiness is only used One
Time by only one of the s give me a
second we're back to the Animals by the
way what does it say over here be holy
and what does it mean to be holy here
here the descripted Holiness is don't
eat meat which is trfe don't eat TR food
because that's what Holiness is which is
actually really interesting now because
are you going to call this a mish this
is not a question of mish this is a
question of ritual this is ritually
inappropriate for me it's not a question
that this is something which is by
definition good or bad no it's a
question of Rich of and by the way
Holiness is therefore really interesting
to use over here
um in last week's para we had Holiness
in Source number
10 you should be a holy people and of
course my question is how to become a
holy people and your answer is going to
be well keep all the Commandments but
what about the specific use of the word
Holiness in Source 11 it's the only one
of the Ten Commandments and I hope you
figured out which one it
was and at the
endat again we can go into a longer
discussion about Shabbat we won't saying
we could but it's interesting that if I
compare the
Ser with the
no I would be able to have a pretty
interesting correlation other than
Shabbat I know that you can argue okay
what about honoring parents but that's
exactly the point honoring parents the
gar he's telling us we didn't need it
mean think about it the whole tanak and
the entire Gara the world view that they
Embrace is one of the enemy is idolatry
for the gamor come and say well what is
the greatest example that we know of of
somebody who kept the Mitzvah Ving their
parents when it says
aod to use before ASA to usea an
idolator and say oh he knew how to honor
his father by the way the Yami also his
mother he knew how to honor both of them
use ASA and other which means when the
gar is telling you that these people
excelled in this I don't want to use the
word mitzvah I want to say they excelled
within this this ethic perhaps Mida this
they they they recognize listen I grew
up in bensen Hurst a lot of Italians
great way to start a fight is to say
your mother doesn't have to say doesn't
make a difference with the end of the
sentences right you you you you just
start with that and that's uh you you'll
hear all kinds of things in
Italian and and by the way there's
something very respectful about somebody
who's going to properly honor their
parents again I'm I'm not saying that at
all in a cic way quite the opposite I'm
questioning why the Torah has to make it
one of the Ten Commandments and why it
needs to be continued in this R par
because things that you're going to do
on yourself you don't necessarily need
to be legislated the writes in uh laws
of honoring parents is this is the most
logical of all commandments which which
by the way just I have to tell you
something about it so just one more
thing you know when they say that the
Ten Commandments the right side is
between man and God left side is between
man and man so you realize there's a
problem there right means it couldn't it
could mean whoever said that couldn't
count to five so apparently this natural
inclination that we have to honor our
parents why because they brought us into
this world why because they give us
usance why because they gave us place to
live why they give us clothing they give
us food they give us everything and then
if I stop and I think well ultimately
who brought me into this world
ultimately who gives me a place to stay
ultimately who gives me something to eat
it all comes down to God which means the
natural ination to honor parents should
be utilized in terms of the service of
God and that's why it's on the right
side because it's the utility of the
first five in order to work on the
relationship of a person and the Creator
and the second one is completely not
just the actions actions or are with
people but again with the fifth one but
it is
the motivation of the second five is in
terms of uh interpersonal so I hope that
made a little bit of sense rash ins
number 12 on this verse that you're a
holy
people now remember rash in parados says
Kad to you you should be holy what does
holy mean to be separate over here as
well he just made a little bit broader
not just as
well which means be a holy people by the
way this also tells us that Judaism is
not just about morality and the sense of
right and wrong but it's also about
Holiness and this other element of
Holiness but I'm going to again point
out for the most part of the Ten
Commandments who didn't see it even
though you can argue with me regarding
all of the ones which are between man
and uh or person and their creator um
let's see how much we're going to skip
over here along the
way in Source number 13 it's just from
divver it's you know what we're going to
skip those two let's go to 15
we now move to chapter
23 you notice something that just now
changed from all the other ones yes the
land of Israel just now made an
appearance it wasn't there it wasn't
there at all at all till this point and
suddenly very quietly unassumingly oh
yeah by the way work for six years and
collect all of your
wheat and so on
now it's interesting because there's
also a social point over here it also
involves the weak the and so
on again you can say oh look how we're
protecting the weak all that's there but
again something has changed what has
changed again we we made the leap on the
one hand to the land of Israel and now
we've made to this other thing that has
to do with Holiness by the way started
with food but the shift over here now is
one which I hope that you notice as you
keep on reading the section there's
something else that hopefully will jump
out so one is we have the
shalal and it also says that you're
going to make a
pilgrimage if you look
at Adon Hashem what does that mean how
do you make a pilgrimage because we
don't know anything about a certain
structure that will one day stand in
Jerusalem if you continue a little bit
it says this is the one that you have to
contend with maybe we'll come back to it
next
week so now you have to take a deep
breath what exactly and by the way how
many times have you been told no no no
the whole idea of the of of the of the
mishun is only there after toel so we we
have a challenge over here because it
just now said and and we didn't make a
mistake when I said be couple verses
before that on these holidays you're GNA
make a pilgrimage to wear it says to
wear so now we're in the land of Israel
that's the context we just now enter the
land and it also threw in on top of
everything
else which is also a law of
kosher we we've entered into a realm of
holiness
again you want to tell me that there's a
mish element beneath the surface there's
something about kindness and I'm willing
to accept anything you want to say I I I
can do it also if you want I can build
up that argument the only thing is is
that a shift took
place MIM for the most part could have
been applied any place in the world and
we just now changed we just now changed
to things that are have to do with the
land of Israel so e see I would have
loved if the ezzar actually defended his
position and actually you know told us
this he didn't so it makes it a little
bit more interesting and then Pak
comes I'm gonna send my what do you want
to call it my my angel my Emissary My
Messenger to guide you along the
way to bring you to the place now now
now what can you no longer avoid what
just now somehow made it in here yeah s
is here I mean again it wasn't
there we got through all kinds of nice M
taking care of the downtrodden but
suddenly we're told there is something
else over
here and then it
ends rather stop
all which means everything changes get
to land of Israel don't worship idols
what we were told by the you know that's
what it's all about it's all about the
and it's interesting how he did that
skipping all the details along the way
but now at least you can understand why
that is a
defensible
position the rashbam in sour 17 tells us
who's this Mal look and sa for Yeshua
you'll find you Mal you want to see sa
for Yeshua look at source 18 which is
really interesting but this is about the
passage into the land of Israel it tells
us over
here and they enter into the land yua
does a Britney law for them the M stops
falling they celebrate pesak and then
this Mal appears in front and this Mal
is there to help them with the conquest
whole new again now is time Rashi says
something and this is where we have to
get to rash Source
19 here they were told that they were
destined to sin now this is completely
frightening this is the point you now no
longer know what to do and you going to
start bothering me with issues of
predeterminism and so on and so forth
but right here it says yeah they already
told it's not going to work out now
where in the world did he get this from
he tells
you and God says I will not be in your
midst and he of course he's
referring to the source which is written
there in parenthesis which is number 20
peric lamad gimmel which is where it's
right after the
and what does God God says I'll destroy
the people and mosha prays and then God
says you go and take your people right
that you understood that
correctly God said I made a v so I'm
gonna keep my word go
takeen and I'll send for you an angel
whatever that
means god again I'll keep my
word I won't be in your
midst good
luck now now
that what did Rashi just now do for us
our favorite theory of conservation of
angels and says oh it's the same Angel
being referenced over here as referenced
over there there's only one thing which
is really frightening and what's that
that's after the sin and this is before
the sin the Rond in one which we're not
going to have time to go into is going
to tell us
that if we continue the story got mosha
prays and says to God we need you in our
midst what do you mean we won't be in
our midst and God says okay I'll be in
your midst so he claims that that only
happens during Mosa's Lifetime and
therefore it's correct that by Yeshua is
where the angel appears the angel
appearing and saying well that's a good
thing but that's God kind of backing out
of the story and uh and the Malak being
put there which by the way for us you
want to put this a little differently it
the we were just out told the month
stopped which means our life in the
desert was the supernatural existence
and now we're going to have to move into
a natural existence and now there's
going to be this this Mal whatever that
means as as opposed to God micromanaging
with in our midst so we need some kind
of a conclusion for today don't we um
part of what I'm not going to get to is
going to be Source 22 and I suspect 23
and 24 and 25 but what I will note about
that
is that all of this is the end of aik
section which absolutely parallels what
we've done today and that's we'll have
to save this for another Shear to see
how this is all connected but you do
have you do have cursing you do
have you do have the holidays you do
have shita you do have the Brit all the
elements are there and now you and and
even maybe the is the very conclusion of
source
25 which means this is the conclusion of
it so you now you realize the conclusion
actually Bears similarity to the start
of the entire thing but first I want to
go back now this is as far we're going
to get today I'm going to try to
understand that Rashi which is
absolutely
frightening where Rashi says that that
this point it was ready they were going
to
now what troubles us with that is that
how could the Torah tell us well you're
going to sin and therefore the Malik is
going to go instead of me when they
haven't sinned yet could we go back now
to context again I told you the whole
thing's about context what was the
context what had they just said to Moshe
they said we don't want God to speak to
us and what does Moshe say that well if
God speaks to you you're not going to
sin what happens when God doesn't speak
to them they sin by the way you want to
be more literal than than that be more
literal Moses is going to go up for 40
days and 40 nights and what's going to
happen they're going to say well if God
speaks to us we're going to die and
what's in their mind if God speaks
you're going to die what happens when
mosha doesn't come down what do they
conclude well he must be dead because if
God speaks to you you're going to die
what else what else do we now realize
that mosha never would have gone up for
40 days and 40 nights if God would have
spoken directly to the people so what
happens when when mosha is away for 40
days and 40 nights they get frightened
and what happens when they get
frightened then they say well we need
something and they build their golden
calf and what happens to to build a
golden calf God says okay I'm not going
to go with you I'm going to send an
angel instead which means this verse
that Rashi is saying oh look how ominous
this is this means they're going to sin
it's not that we're predicting the
future who actually explaining the past
that the implications of not being
willing to accept the Torah directly
from God is what directly
leads to Theo that's what Ro is pointing
out over here and by the way if Rashi
had to defend the position what are we
talking about the B of mikdash why do we
need a made of mikdash RA again I'm not
even saying that this is really rashi's
position but let's just say some people
claim that Rashi never there wouldn't
been a to mdash so what's AEM doing over
here the answer is because they're going
to sin they're going to sin they're
going to need the BET mikdash which
means the fact that the bet mdash is
mentioned in this week's para is not
evidence that it's there before theel
because theel is already we're already
going down that track it's I don't want
to even say the word inevitable but I'll
say the word inevitable it's it's
something which now we're on that
trajectory the implication of not
accepting the word of God is the fear of
God would have been upon you and you
won't sin so now the fear of God is Not
upon you and now they're going to sin so
now they're going to sin and now a whole
another world is going to emerge I am
not saying that what I just now
explained is simple there were
references to the BET mdash again par
truma next to it when you really talk
about bet mdash was already there in the
in the Shir aash if you read carefully
even not carefully there are references
of course by yob who going to build Bim
but for us we're we're back to this you
know what if kind of a question and when
I look back at har Mish and I say oh is
about the content and the context and
over here what exactly is the content is
interesting because how broad do you
want to go what exactly is the context
so now we realize what may very well be
the guest it's it's F this the bro but
that's exactly the point there wasn't
supposed to be an after the Ser the bro
as a separate thing there was supposed
to be God still speaking to them which
would have changed everything so
ultimately what we're hearing then is
not being willing to listen to the word
of God is something which is actually
spiritually debilitating certainly not
following the word of God is
debilitating but not listening directly
to the word of God when God is willing
to speak to us is something which
obviously has an impact and that's what
Moshe says and everything that
happens is following that point until we
finally get to that Mal and R says of
course that Mal is here why because of
course they're going to sin where does
he get it from this in it's not just
looking forward after the it's going
back and looking beforehand when they
say you know go let God speak to you
because this is too intense for us so
maybe sometimes we have to be willing to
embrace intens situations Shabbat sh