People Of The Earth

I want to say over a a hidush, something new. But I think it's a big hisuk for us. In parshas >> [snorts] >> Kedoshim there's there's a there's a few psukim that describe a practice, a horrific practice that people had. It's documented such a thing. That people would be ma'avir b'noi l'a Molech. Heard of that? People would burn their children alive for an avodah zarah. There's different discussions of the rishonim exactly what the mahalach was of the avodah zarah. And what what the avodah zarah was. But there was this avodah that the Torah looks at as in a very very very degrading way in addition to the obvious that the person is a murderer and he killed his child. In addition to that is an additional layer of horror that the Torah has from somebody who in an act of service to Hashem to to his god burns his child alive. And the Torah says that someone who does that, then osati panai bo ish hu Hashem says I will put my face in this person. So Rashi explains that that means panah anemi kol asukai I turn away from everything that I'm involved in and I just focus on punishing this person. That's how horrible what this person did and I want to explain a little bit what this means that Hashem is pining from everything to punish this person. Our punishment to this person is skilah. And the lashon of the possuk, fascinating, is am ha'aretz, the nation of the land, yirgemuhu ba'avanim. The nation of the land should stone him. Says Rashi, what's am ha'aretz? Says Rashi, am shebeginoi nivra ha'aretz. The nation for whom the the earth was created. And rebbeim, I think that you've been here long enough to know that that to know our mahalach, which is I think the the the obvious mahalach, that if the Torah describes us in a certain way regarding a certain mitzvah, there's a connection between that description and that mitzvah. >> [snorts] >> The Torah doesn't randomly um poetically throw out names. If the Torah calls us when we're giving skilah to the person that's ma'avir beno l'Molech, and that's when the Torah calls us the nation for whom the aretz was created, there's something meaningful about that ben gaya to what's happening. That's obvious, right? I want to explain what that is. So in Yevamos, in the sugiya of asei doicheh lo s'asei, we learned that there's a halacha that if your father or mother tells you to be mechallel Shabbos, you shouldn't listen to him or her. And the Gemara learns that from this week's parsha because it says, ish imi va'avi tirau, v'es Shabbosai tishmoru, ani Hashem. And as the Rishonim explain, a person should have yirah from his parents and be shomer Shabbos, ani Hashem means ultimately everyone has to listen to Hashem. And the Baal Haturim brings this uh [snorts] the Gemara in Kiddushin that he works into this pasuk that says "Hukash kvoidam l'kavod Hamakom." Kavod for parents is connected to kavod for Hashem. And the truth is you see that even from the hava amina here that the Torah tells you if your parents tell you to violate the Torah, then you shouldn't listen to them. But I want to go a little deeper here. This is not a shiur in Halacha l'maaseh. I want to go a little deeper. The Torah says the beginning of parshas Kedoshim, right? "Kedoshim tihiyu ki kadosh Ani Hashem Elokeichem." Okay? "Ish imo v'aviv tiro." That means the Torah says the introduction to the parsha, "Be kadosh." And what is the first mitzvah >> [snorts] >> that it says when it tells you to be kadosh? Is kibud av v'em. Halo davar hu? And I didn't see any of the m'forshim discuss that. The first instructions, "Be kadosh, respect your parents." Isn't that something? What is the meaning of that? "Be kadosh, respect your parents as long as they're telling you, as long as they're not contradicting me." Right? That's the psukim. What's the mahalach here? So this is a very very very important yesod. And I think you see something incredible from this "Kedoshim tihiyu ki kadosh Ani" and "Ish imo v'aviv tiro." Parents, the Torah says very, very, very, very much that we should respect our parents. You know, I'm going to go off a little bit on a tangent here because many people have gone through conflicts with their parents. Those who know what I mean, know what I mean. And there's sometimes like a person will have a feeling, I'm sure all of our parents are amazing, but sometimes a person will have a feeling, how could the Torah command that I respect my parents? What if my parents are not respectable? What if a person has parents that are like there's nothing to respect? Is this still a mitzvah of kibbud av v'eim? What's the answer? There is. Why? Why is that Torah telling me to respect a man who maybe is a ganef? Or a rasha, right? Such things do happen. Why is the Torah mitzaveh kibbud av v'eim? Maybe the person's not respectable. Is this too scandalous of a question? No, I think it's a reasonable question, no? >> [snorts] >> What's the answer? The answer is that I think I once saw this in a my bit. The answer is that you don't respect your parents because you think they're respectable. It's not your business whether or not they're respectable. That's Hashem's business. You respect your parents because you respect yourself and you came from there. And the way you show respect for yourself that I am chashuv, I am valuable, I am grateful to be here is to show respect to those who brought me here. Right? That's the word of kibbud av v'eim. Now, think about it. The MS, it really all depends on how we relate to our bodies. Cuz our neshamah came from Hakadosh Baruchu. And our guf came from our parents. So, I think there are many people, some people even been a tyra, who have this very, very false, degrading, difficult approach to their bodies. They look at their bodies as the unfortunate attachment to their neshama. Really, my neshama is the good part of me. The body just causes me aggravation. It wants to do averas, and sometimes it does. It confuses me. It pulls me. It likes to sleep through shacharis. My body is not my favorite part of me. It's the It's always the culprit. You know, and unfortunately, I wake up in the morning, I have to drag my body to shacharis, then I have to drag my body to seder. My neshama wants to serve Hashem, but my body, not so much. And now you tell me I should respect the ones that gave me my body? That's where all my issues came from there. That shouldn't compare to Hashem, right? Right? It shouldn't be There is any quality between the honor of Hashem and the honor of your parents? My parents gave me that disgusting body, and Hashem gave me my majestic neshama. Is that a reasonable tyra? The tyra says no. The tyra says that is absolutely 100,000% wrong. The tyra tells me that my greatness is that I have a body. Because the kedusha that Hashem wants us to bring into this world is to infuse the physical with kedusha. If I just had a neshama, I could not do the mission that Hashem gave me in this world. I would be a malach. Just neshama, that's a malach. I would be a malach. I would be the holiest of the holy, but I will have accomplished nothing. But when I have a body, I spend my entire life taking this physical thing, and I described it in a very disgusting way before, but that is a thousand percent wrong, and that I am sanctifying and uplifting and perfecting and bringing up every time I do a mitzvah, every time I learn Torah, every time I hold myself back from an aveira, I'm uplifting and being mekadesh and filling this body with ruchniyus. Isn't that the kedusha wants in this world? Doesn't want the kedusha of the app of nishmas chayim that he blew a neshama into our guf, and we do the same thing by trying to live to fill our guf with kedusha, to use our neshama to animate and fill and and and and dominate over our guf in a way that it brings it to kedusha? And you don't schlep your body to shacharis, you inspire your body to be there for shacharis, and it participates in shacharis. And then you wrap the holy straps of tefillin on that body. That's not a lowly body, that's unbelievable that you could take the name of Hashem. Do you realize that you do that every day? You take the name of Hashem, Yud-Keh-Vav-Keh, and you wrap it around your body. Only a holy body deserves that. Okay? So, that's the kedusha of the guf. Now, let me learn the beginning of parshas kedoshim with you. Kedoshim tiyu, you should be holy. Ki kadosh ani Hashem Elokeichem. What's the first mitzvah? Respect your parents. That defines kedusha. Kedusha means the chelek ha'guf is chashuv, the chelek ha'guf is attached to kedusha. That's the uh but, only respect your parents if they're team players in this shidduch within the neshama and the guf. So, kedoshim tiyu, ish immo v'aviv tira'u v'es shabsosai tishmoru, ani Hashem. So, in that way, Hashem teaches us what we mean when we say kedusha. Shimon, I don't know if you remember, but um a few months ago we learned a chazal together. The chazal say on this pasuk of kedoshim tiyu ki hazal say Kadoshim tiyu You should be holy. You might think you should be like me Hashem says Talmud ki kadosh my kadosh is more than yours. It's a very very mysterious hazal like the way it reads the pasuk. Hashem says be holy you might think like me don't know you can't be like me I'm holier than you. That interesting hazal? But according to what we're saying isn't it beautiful? Hashem says be holy not like me. My kadosh is just a removed kadosh is just [clears throat] kadosh is just ruchniyus. I want you to bring my kadosh into the world. Kadosh no good job. Kadosh no that's not the no that's not the avodah. The avodah is not come on the avodah is not pure ruchniyus. Hashem we can't even imagine the level of Hashem's kadosh. That's not the no we take Hashem's kadosh we bring it into this. Into this guf. So kadosh unbelievably gorgeous it is. Kadosh tiyu Ki kadosh not like me. Ish imacha av u tiro respect your parents that's the type of kadosh. Amazing? Incredible? This guy that burns his son he says I want to make his body into ruchniyus. That's the idea of burning something. I want to make my son's body into ruchniyus. I want to reject his physicality. I don't want his avodah to be to take the gift of a body that I've given him and to fill it with kadosh. I want to just turn the whole thing into this is blow it up. I'm going to turn away from everything and punish this person. What does that mean I'm going to turn away from everything? I'm [clears throat] going to turn away from everything means nothing has a tachlis if if someone's doing that. This is against the entire creation of the world. The entire purpose of the creation of the world is to fill the physical with kedusha. You're going to just burn up the physical? This is against everything. So, the nosati ponai I'm I'm have to be ponai from everything cuz this is something that rejects the entire premise of the world. And then Oh, it's so sweet. Amhaaretz Yergamu and who should stone him? Am Shebegeino Nivra what? Haaretz. Hakadosh Baruch Hu created physicality. Hakadosh Baruch Hu created the aretz for this nation. And that nation stands up and it's moicheh and says, "Don't you reject physicality? Don't think the way to raise your child is to burn him alive on the stake. That's not the way you raise You raise him is that you teach him to lift up his gashmius. Amhaaretz Yergamu and half flavor fella. Rebbe say, we live in a time that's very very very very decadent physical time in history. And it it rivals some of the legendary times of history like the Dor Hamabul or Sdom v'Amorah sometimes. And it's hard for us. And the koiches of that try to pull us away from Hashem have figured out ways to enter our our homes, our rooms, our it they they it it's it's everywhere. And and the the the culture and the the the sense of trying to just of pleasure and decadence and enjoyment and and wealth and extravagance has become like a value and it creeps its way into our lives. It creeps its way into our psyche and even if we can somehow um live our lives without a vera which is an accomplishment in itself but even just our minds and our heart sometimes get affected by the world around us and this week's parsha parsha skadashim reminds us that this is our strength not our weakness. Our body is not our handicap. It's our opportunity. When a person feels when a ben torah feels pulled to the physical when he feels like the physical desires are pulling at him he should stop and he should say wow, what an opportunity I have. Kidashim to you ki kodesh ani ashem elokeichem. I don't want to give up this guf. I'm going to sanctify this guf. I'm going to use this guf in the way that told me to. I'm going to stay focused on torah in a way that inspires my guf to absorb kedusha. You know, there's a very similar lashon. You're not going to believe this. It's such a so unbelievable. You the only other place in the torah you find I actually even asked if there's another place, okay? This is the only place in the torah that you other place that you find this. I I think I I could be I missed it but I think is that it says there's one place also that it says says I'm going to turn away from everything. Does anyone know where it is? Where it is? It's in parshas bechukotai. Right? In the chukotai talechu, it says upanisi aleichem and I will turn to you and rashi says panina ani mikol asukai leshalem s'charchem. Because someone who toils in torah like we have this chus to do He's just like the person who's bothered Hashem turns away from everything because he is the the pure heart everything that Hashem brought into this world. The the Ben Torah that comes with his body and his soul to the Gemara and he toils to bring the Kedusha of the Torah into this world. He's exactly everything that wanted from this world and turns away from everything to give you your so every one of you needs to know just how big my heart is. Just keep fighting the good fight. We have ups and downs sometimes. Keep fighting the good fight. We are the heroes. We are the soldiers. We are the special forces that bring Hashem's Kedusha into this world that we struggle to bring our to to fill to take to take Kedusha and Ruchniyus to take this this holy world that we're exposed to in the base magic to attach it to our to the physical world that we have. And that's a not an easy job as man as that. Every single one of you is fortunate to be living in a time that we can make this Kedusha Hashem and we could fight this fight and struggle this struggle and should give us the to be able to win those struggles and to be [clears throat] able to lift ourselves higher and higher until it will just become such a level of that it will just be ridiculous that we're in and will just of course we just won't belong in anymore and by by by just by necessity will find ourselves back home where we belong by the base where is the which is the ultimate combination of and God should be based on Hashem. Yes, you can have.