Rabbi Aaron Dovid Poston: Mystical insights for the Custom to eat Dairy on Shavuot

Okay, welcome everyone. We are in Jerusalem in the Abane Beit Midrash. And um we're going to cover a topic that we we just mentioned in passing a few weeks back about um about Shavuot. And Shavuot is coming up. So I I felt this was a good time to cover that one one moment when the Kli Yakar mentions he's going to talk about uh and he goes at length to talk about Shavuot in a safer in a book that he wrote called Ololos Efraim. In fact, the Kli Yakar's name was Efraim. And when he was sick, they added a name. That's what happens sometimes when uh you change your name, you change your mazal. Now I know this sounds very weird. Mazal usually means constellations, right? If you change your name, you change your location, you're you could change your stars, your lucky stars. Of course, we don't believe in lucky stars, so that cannot be what it means, right? It means you can change even if there is some aspect of fate that is in the universe, right? The the Jewish people are above the stars. We are beyond fate. But nevertheless, there is some aspect of fate, meaning the day you were born, you or the moment you were born, you will have certain characteristics that you'll have to battle and overcome because you were born at that moment. Um and the Gemara goes a great length to discuss different types of character traits that have shlita, that have some kind of control or influence at certain times. And throughout the Jewish calendar, we also are aware. Interestingly, I think we'll talk about Yissachar, Yissachar, it says they know the times. That particular tribe knows the times. So, the truth is there they are our teachers within the Jewish religion, within the Israelite people, right? Within the Am Yisrael, we do have certain people that know certain things that are obligated to share them. And calculating the times and knowing the times well is attributed to the tribe of Yissachar. And they have an obligation to teach the rest of the Jewish people and therefore the rest of humanity a certain secrets. Okay. So, if you change he was sick and his name was Ephraim, and so his parents added another name, So, we now know the clear car as Ephraim. That's how I got onto that. He wrote a book called Olot Ephraim. And in this chapter, it's called 141, Maimar, the statement of 141, and it's going to deal with that verse which we had discussed a few weeks back. Mincha Chadasha la Hashem bishvotechem. You could find that in Bamidbar, Numbers chapter 28, verse 27. So, if you go to this um it's Olot Ephraim. You'll find it on the sheet here, okay? What did we say then? On that day of the first fruits, it doesn't say this is Matan Torah. It doesn't say this is the great revelation. Shavuot, we know as Matan Torah, the day the Torah was given. Was it received that day? No, we didn't get it because I mean, we received it in a spiritual sense, but in the physical sense, we only received it at Rosh Hashanah at Yom Kippur when we received the tablets. But, the acceptance of the Torah, we should say. There was a given and there was an acceptance. But, it doesn't mention it all in the when you read the Five Books of Moses and it talks about the the holidays, one of the holidays is called Shavuot, the Festival of Weeks. And it's the first fruits are brought. But, it doesn't say, just like also Rosh Hashanah, it's the day blowing shofar, but it doesn't say this is the day of judgment in the Torah. And we discussed then, a few weeks back, the the common the the connection the common denominator was God doesn't want you to look at it as the day of giving the Torah or as the day of judgment alone because if you look at it, and he made a big deal out of it, then you would think it was only on that day you received the Torah. But, the lesson is every single day you're supposed to feel anew as if you just received it then. And if you waited until the day of judgment to do your repentance, that's what people would do. They would wait. But, every single day you're supposed to do repentance. And that is the lesson why he didn't tell you in the Torah this was the day of either one. It's the day of judgment or it's the day of of the receiving of the Torah. Okay, we saw that back then. Are you all aware that on on Shavuot there's a custom? It seems like there's a custom to eat dairy, milk, milk cakes, cheesecake. So, where did this custom come from if it is a custom at all? And we're going to discuss that a little bit. But, through discussing it, we will find that we will come to I think a deeper understanding of what Shavuot is all about and how we're supposed to relate to the Torah being new cuz that was the theme. It should have a new taste. So in Numbers 28:26 If you noticed I capitalized in the Hebrew Chadasha the Chet LaHashem the Lamed and Bish Bishavuotechem in your weeks, in your festival of weeks. It spells out the word Chalav. So let's go into the Kli Yakar and see how he expresses it. He right away brings our verse. A Mincha Chadasha you're supposed to bring this new meal offering to Hashem in that festival of weeks. The Dorshei Reshumos Amru If you notice the there's an impression made on the first letters we call Roshei Teivos Chadasha LaHashem Bishavuotechem. What are the Roshei Teivos? Chet Lamed Bet. Chalav. And from here we find there is a custom to eat what? Chalav on this festival. Now you think this is very superficial, right? You can find anything you want. Wait till you hear what he has to say. He is going to attempt to explain to us where and how what's behind this custom. The taste, remember the word Ta'am is taste but also means reason. There's reason, there sounds reason behind this custom. As I will tell you, you will expect to find in any custom amongst the Jewish people sound reason. There's nothing that we do that wasn't well thought out. So, in in number two on the source sheet, I spelled it out in English. It's well known that with with milk, when it comes to milk, there are three things that are maybe unique or particular aspects that we find examples in the Torah about milk. Milk appears in the Torah. No question. Question is in respect to what? So, the first thing he will explain, I just wrote it out here for us, we'll go through them, is it's the word hadash implies new. So, we said, if you remember, when a baby sucks its mother's milk, it's develop it's tasting a new taste every single time that it sucks. Okay, did we ever interview a baby to find that out? No, but he keeps coming back for more and he's never really complained, I guess, unless she ate something, right? Cuz there is this process in the digestive system that if she does eat certain things, it will cause uh perhaps a bad taste. But a new taste every time. The second thing we're going to talk about that milk, at least back in the day we didn't have refrigeration, right? So, you it would only preserve well in very small vessels. If you had a lot of milk, a guy that's going to how long, you know, how long it's going to last, so the best thing is you put it already into a small vessel, that means you're going to consume it quite quickly. That's my idea here. And the third one is that it causes sleepiness, meaning drowsiness or and we'll see with Yael and what she did to Sisera. Okay, but we'll get to that. But we all know these are these are actually common themes that are expressed in the Torah. So, he says the gimbal table say low that these three ideas that I just expressed are actually hinted at in the um these these letters. And not just the letters, but the words that each one comes with. We said Hadash or Hadasha La Hashem and the word for weeks Bishvotecha, which is really the number seven by the way. In other words, the week the word week in English you couldn't tell. But in Hebrew Shavua is from the word Shiva Sheva. Okay. So, let's start with the first aleph. Halav Shaha Halav kol zaman shatinuk yonuk humotzei tam hadash. Every single time that a baby suckles, he's drawing out a new taste. Just like we saw in Chazal. Now, this you'll find by the way not just in Chazal in the Gemara in Eruvin, but in a possuk. Okay, in the Torah itself. And I think you'll find it in Proverbs 5:19. Yeah. And what does it say over there? It's talking about a particular type of animal, which is like a deer. We'll call in English a hind. And um a graceful mountain goat, her breast will satisfy you at all times. What does it mean her breast will satisfy you at all times? In Hebrew, dodeha yeraucha bakhol eit. So, we're already it sounds, you know, a little let's say uh ex- ex-rated, right? I mean, what are we talking about? Breast, which carry the milk. And then we So, therefore, this is King Solomon is referring to the the Torah, which is compared to milk, will satisfy you at all times. The reason this hind, this particular animal, that they are extremely loyal to their husbands, and they don't go around with any other males, and the relationships I think are monogamous monogamous the word? And there's a relationship that is not abandoned or given up for others. So, that's why the example of a lovely hind is used. But, this is what we're going to focus in on, on the fact that the milk is going to satisfy at you at all times. So, not llama nimshala divrei Torah l'dad. It's not even the milk. Why is Torah compared to the breast? So, every time that the child, we're talking about an infant here, is handling or using the breast, but mostly b'tam chadash. As we mentioned, there's this new taste. Kach haTorah. Wait to hear this. So, too the Torah. B'chol pa'am she'lameid adam motzei b'tam chadash. Every single time a person learns scripture, you have to come up with something new. Obviously, the Torah is not new. We don't believe in the New Testament. We don't believe that the Torah is new. We believe that your insight it can go deeper, right? We believe that you can have a certain foundation, and you could connect the dots in a way that have never been seen by even another human being on the planet Earth in all of history. That there's something unique that God's giving you, we call it insight, we can call it ruach hakodesh, a certain amount of spirit to be able to open your eyes and see something brand new that nobody else in the planet even saw. Now, it doesn't mean it's new. It means that you're it in a certain way that had not been seen. You see what I'm saying? That you're able to connect the dots. And that's actually an obligation on every human being. Every Jew must find something not just to read it and, you know, okay, we all have to start somewhere, right? Just learn the letters, learn the words, learn the meaning, then learn the context, and then you can go deeper and deeper and deeper, okay? And God wants you to find a certain nikuda, a certain thing that nobody else sees. But let's just say on an average basis, most of us see things that someone else saw, but for us it's new, right? That's the idea here. So this idea of hadasha being new is kipshuto, right? Fine. It's very simple. The near issue is in the amar. Now we're going to go to if you go to uh Proverbs 28:9. What does it say here? This is going to This is actually really fantastic, this lesson we're about to learn. Most people think, "Oh, I'm so spiritual. I just pray all day." Right? And that's Nothing's wrong with that idea. But it says here in 28:9 in Proverbs, "He who turns his ear away from hearing the Torah, even his prayer is an abomination." May sir ozno mish mish mish mish moa Torah gam tfilato toeva. You hear Torah and it does does not exciting you. You think, "Oh, I'll just go pray." If you don't have an excitement for this new thing you're hearing in the Torah, even your prayers are ripped up and not regarded by Hashem. Not interested in your prayers. It's really That's a hard pill to swallow. I'm spiritual. Why can't I just pray? Listen to the Listen to what it says. This is King Solomon. He who turns his ear means a little literal turning your your ear away, meaning we'll see how he expresses it. Listen to what he says. Call me Shalibo katz bitora anyone's whose heart is disgusted with Torah the old to Yishana be enough that it actually appears very old in his eyes. I don't mean to say old. Maybe maybe means stale. Old not as in ancient wisdom and good stuff, but as in stale. A staleness to it. They know harsh latamim hadashim and he's not at all concerned to draw out new exciting stuff Shul Motziboh tamid which he has an opportunity to constantly draw forth. As gam to feel to to Eva also his prayers are considered an abomination. What does it mean about? It means you're you're you're praying to a foreign God? Perhaps. What does toeva mean? Toeva means an abomination. It is ripped up. Hashem's not interested in your prayer. I'll take Shavuot chazzal. Now this is actually found in the Shulchan Aruch and Gemara Brachot. So you have Adam who is pull out feels you have to has come upon me beyond. Right, you do find it. We do daven three times a day. But you know, you can also daven Halleluyah. The rather you if you just prayed your whole day is prayer, right? I need to feel out to you. Your whole day is prayer. Why not? Why not pray all day long? You can. But you shouldn't just repeat in wrote all the words. You have to develop something new in your prayers and something new. Bivachi chadeish b'chol bracha minyana provided that you develop a new thought in your prayers. It's not just the words. Think what you're saying. Feel what you're saying. Feel like you're saying it for the very first time. Im came me Now, this is where he concludes this paragraph. If that's the case, someone who doesn't or is not involved or is not careful in trying his best to hear something new, if you're going to the same shearim year after year after year, you hear the same thing. It's not going deeper and deeper. You're not growing. Change classes. All right? Anybody who's not interested who's not careful in chiddush of Torah, developing his Torah in a new style, even his prayers, I guess as if it's an extension, even his prayers are considered a an abomination. Even if your prayers you make new, that's not that's not what God wants. He wants you to be involved in the chiddush of Torah, which then will develop and perfu- you know, fully fill your life with newness, and your prayers will be meaningful. Your If you're not interested in newness of Torah, then even your prayers, if there's something new in it, it's still considered a to'eivah. It's a very strong rebuke, if you ask me. Okay, so we talked about chadash, right? Chalav, chet. What about the lamed? Lamed l'Hashem. Who shamru b'Bava Kamma? You can find this in the Gemara in the Gemara Bava Kamma in the first chapter. Lama nimshala Torah l'chalav? It even asks the question. Of course, it answers it. Why is Torah or how is Torah con- Why do we Why does the Torah compare it to milk? Ruach U'Cholam. So, I tried to understand what this means. I'll try to translate it. But, I think the meaning behind the translation is better. This particular These particular liquids, different liquids are could be held and stored in different types of containers. But, when you have a small container and you have a little bit of milk, let's say uh let's say like this. I think that when you have a lot of air, it doesn't matter. If it's a small container and you have a little bit of milk in there, the milk is like going to spoil. When it's like vacuum packed and sealed, I think it has a better chance. So, and it's better to have a smaller container to hold your milk and it will last longer. So, the idea of the smaller container is going to teach us about humility. That cuz what are we? Like, okay, we're learning Kli Kli Kli Kli is talking about a valuable vessel. But, we're vessels. We are also We even though it's referred to the Torah as the valuable vessel, but we are also a valuable vessel. We're a vessel. So, let me ask you a question. It's a little bit of physics, right? You have the same Here, look at this container you have. Do you mind passing it to me? I bet, because it's a thermos, it has thick walls. Right? The thicker the wall, I don't know what's in it, but if it's a very thin wall, whatever's in here will either cool off much faster or will maybe if it was hot or if it was cold, it will get warmer quicker, right? It'll lose the the temperature that you put it in. So, this is like it's guarding it. So, the thicker you Let's say you had another container that's exactly the same on the outside, but on the inside, it's missing all that thermal uh guard, right? So, it's basically could be paper thin even. Well, let's just say it's very thin. Which one could you put more liquid in? It's obvious. The one with the thinner walls. So, this is the idea. Like, we have a lot of ego. Okay? I'm going to pass this show and tell back. Um so in order for us to be a a full vessel, a vessel that can contain more, then we have to have thinner walls. And if you just think about it, I mean, a lot of us built up our own psychological walls, too. And that really holds people back from knowing us, right? I'm just talking about on the pure psychological level. But if on a pure physical level, you're talking about a vessel that has a thinner wall, obviously it can contain more. So I think the same thing here, too. So just humility, that really builds up these uh the opposite um ga'avah, haughtiness. Certainly, anybody who's haughty, nobody really gets to know he's not interested in anybody really getting to know who the real person is. So humility requires a thinner, more vulnerable vessel. And I think that's what it's referring to here. Okay. So we have a verse. Oh, we're not finished. So he says, "Ze nirmol amru la Hashem." The fact it says "to Hashem," everything is to Hashem. "Ki nemuchei ruach im krovei el Hashem." Who's going to be close to Hashem? The lowly and despondent in spirit. And if you think I'm making it up, uh look at Isaiah 57: 15. It's kind of mentioned more than once, but let's become familiar with this verse. "For so said the high and exalted one, who dwells to eternity and his name is holy, with the lofty and the holy ones I dwell, and with the crushed and humble in spirit, to receive the spirit of the humble and to receive the the heart of the crushed." So the basically the words he wants us to see, I highlighted "eshkon." Where am I going to dwell? I actually dwell. So even though in English, there's a verb there's a comma after the words "with the holy ones I dwell," That's not how to read it. You read Well, that is how you read it in one way, but read it again. "With the lofty and the holy ones, comma." No. "I dwell with the crushed and the humble in spirit." That's how to read it. Okay, so that's where Hashem, in order to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the crushed. Okay. These are all basic, you know, anybody wants to be spiritual knows this simple, right? Ego and haughtiness is There's not enough place for the almighty. I've obviously there he can be wherever he wants, but you're not allowing him in. Who is the great Hasidic rebbe? They asked, "Where is God?" And what was his answer? Where you let him in. You know, you're so full of yourself. So So not you, but sometimes people are so full of themselves, there's no room for Hashem. Of course, Hashem can go anywhere he wants, but the person is not interested and he's showing he's not interested. Okay. So that was number two. What about the third aspect? Um that it says Oh, no, I'm I'm not I didn't finish. So what does it mean? Right? What does it mean that I will dwell with the with the lowly and the despondent? It's exactly the opposite. It It pushes off. It comes to exclude what we can find in Psalms 101 verse 5. Where it says, "One whose eyes are raised up high and his heart is expansive, I cannot tolerate him." This is Hashem speaking. Okay. "Him I am not able to tolerate." Okay? Cannot tolerate it. So this is about Do you want a relationship with Hashem? You're really interested in a relationship with the Almighty? You have to get rid of that ego. Not entirely, obviously Hashem created it and he wants us to have an ego. He wants us to have a self to a certain extent, uh self-knowledge and self-worth, but it it has to be reduced to a certain extent. So, that's where we ended that one. Okay. Now, the third one is that halav halav betav gorem sheina, that by nature, I don't know exactly the makeup. I know that there's sugar in you know, milk turns into sugar. It could be you get a little bit of a sugar high and you come down. But, there are enzymes, there are things within the milk that obviously cause, let's say, drowsiness. Why else would your mother give you a nice warm cup of milk when you can't get to sleep? It obviously works. Question is why? I don't know the mechanism. Maybe someone wants to write in the comments below. Um so, he brings down that the halav actually brings the cause that by nature it causes sleepiness. Like we learn now in the song of Devorah, this would be found in Shoftim, that would be Judges, chapter 5, verse 25, where you know, uh Yael kills Sisera with a peg, but uh in order to kill him, he had to be sleeping first. And it says, "Water he requested, but milk she gave him." Okay. How does it say it? Mayim sha'al, halav natana. So, that's what she did. So, it the Torah is referring to those who bring all these ideas, the Torah itself refers to these character traits. The last character trait on our list is that it causes sleepiness. Okay. The whole idea she said the whole idea of her bringing the milk was in order to put them to sleep. The more came Torah so to ready this is what the Torah does. The Torah is go remit laham tik shnato. That the Torah causes one to have a sweetened sleep. You know I'm not a psychologist but I know that we're talking about faith in general. You have faith in the Torah and you're learning the Torah and you have less I'm going to assume this is basically true. I know that that's not true in all cases. That you will sleep better at night. Right? There's no reason to be up with nightmares. I know I know people they have nightmares because they're thinking about Armageddon but that's because they're not reading the right book, right? Okay. So here we have a proof text. You'll find this in Mishlei it's Proverbs 3 verse 24. Now you got to remember the way the clear car brings one verse after another verse he sets up a whole scenario. So our verse in Proverbs 3:24 If you lie down, you shall not fear and when you lie down your sleep shall be sweet. The sha the the How does it say vashav? Oh sorry. Vashakhavta when you lie down the orva and it will be pleasant shnatakha your sleep. Now Did I read the right verse? Yeah. Now that's referring to what? You know I mean you you you you can read these things in context. So now we go Okay. There's also 34 in Ecclesiastes which is Ecclesiastes Koheles 5 verse 11. So we just talked about when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. What kind, what type of person has this sweet sleep? It says the sleep of the laborer is sweet. Now, who's the laborer? Obviously, you would think anybody works 10, 14 hours a day in the hot sun. Uh, maybe working on the Jerusalem to Eilat highway. It's got to be burning 130°. Who would have, you know, he when he finally puts his head down, he's out like, you know, a light. You know what I mean? Well, we're going to find out that laborer is whom? He's called an eved Hashem, a true servant of God. That's who we're talking about. Someone who the sleep of the laborer is sweet. And listen to what else it says, "Whether he eats a little or eats a lot." We're going to talk about the type of person who learns Torah is called the he's satisfied. It's his top good. One of the main um, traits of someone who learns Torah is to eat bread and salt, sleep on the floor. Right? Not to expect, even if you have a lot of money, it doesn't mean you have to flaunt it. Doesn't mean you have to waste it. Right? Of course, you can live comfortably. But, if you're not comfortable inside with your faith and the Torah, it doesn't matter how nice your bed is. How many pillows, what they call her the beauty and the beast. I mean, some kind of little itsy-bitsy little baby or pit a pea could bother somebody to no end, even with, you know, these are jokes. These are, you know, myths, but um, it doesn't matter how many pillows and how many uh, satin sheets you have. If you have in issues going on inside, you you're just not going to sleep. So, he says, "What does it mean that the metukah sheinato odeh?" That the sleep of the laborer will be sweet. That's oived Hashem. That's the servant of God, and this is also dealing with this world. However, in the world to come, neimar v'shachavta u'shmarta, your bed, your sleeping, will be guard for you. So, here, that's only the time you're going to Sorry, have real issues with sleeping. What about the sheina? We said sheina hainu. Now, what is sheina? Sheina is sleeping. Hashveita u'menucha. What we call sleeping is basically ceasing and resting. You're not doing anything. You're That's why it's referring to olam haba. In the olam haba, it gets finished. There's no more work to be done. Asher Asher d'zeh nifkaru kol hashvi'ot k'Shabbat, shmita, v'yovel. Which is already after the fact. You've already chosen the right way, the right path. Meaning, you've chosen the path of sevens. Okay, you've you've kept Shabbat, you've kept shmita, you kept the Jubilee. And that's what it means. Remember, go back to the first The verse we're actually talking about. It says, you had you bring this mincha chadasha, you're bringing this new meal offering when? Bishvu'oteichem. In your weeks. In We translate it "festival of weeks" cuz we know the context. But it means in your sevens. You kept the sevens. Right? Even a non-Jew, if he only knew that he can keep the seven and go to heaven. Right? You heard that before. Okay, if you didn't, you can quote me. But, truth is, I heard it from so many people, so it's not my quote. But, you can tell them you heard it anyway from me. But, I didn't invent it. That's the point. That kol hashvi'ot, all sevens are nifkaru l'menucha. They are designated and chosen towards this ultimate rest. Amasha Amma, ready for this? The word Shabbat it's shin bet tough. It's a It's an acronym for Shayna Bashabas Tanug. How many of you take a a half hour nap on Shabbat afternoon? That half hour on Shabbat Shabbat afternoon is nothing like a half hour any other day of the week. It is a real enjoyment. And if you haven't done it, I recommend it highly. The Remez Nifla Ela Minucha Veela Nachala Asher Yizku Ela No Clear Torah. Because Shabbat is really for ourselves, it re I just just review. It reminds us and keeps us conscious of the fact that there was a creator of the universe that we're obligated to, that there's also a history, that we have 6,000 years towards towards a 7,000th year which is totally Shabbat, which reminds us of what? Of Olam Haba, that there's a goal, that there's reward and punishment. Hopefully in this case it's all reward. Um so and if you have 6 days you have to work, meaning the work on ourselves, the work on our character, the work on our doing mitzvahs, of being in Evan Hashem, serving Hashem. This is the time. There ain't nothing to do later, right? If you don't cook before Shabbat you have nothing to eat. Okay, you can always get bagel and lox and you can get cold cuts, but we're not talking about it. We're talking about juicy hot meat, nice chicken soup, right? Um so it's this idea of Shabbat is a Shayna Bashabas Tanug. This hints to the great and wonderful rest that awaits those who are the inheritors of the Torah itself. Okay, now the last paragraph of this part, we're not finished, we're about halfway through. He says perhaps we're actually talking sleep itself." In other words, it's not that the milk causes one to be drowsy, but we're talking about the sleep itself. He has already said in Pirkei Avot. So, you can find this uh mission in Pirkei Avot in chapter 6, Mishnah 4. It says, "Kach hi darka shel Torah." This is the way of the Torah. "Pat b'melach tochal." Bread in salt you shall eat. "Umayim m'surah tishteh." Measured water you shall drink. "V'al ha'aretz tishan." And on the ground you shall sleep. What is this telling you? It's telling you that you don't need luxuries. Luxuries can be a distraction. It's not asking you, God forbid, to take a vow of of poverty. That's not our religion. Anybody knows the Jewish people knows that. But, uh it's called histapkut, which he's going to explain now. So, we just read the Mishnah. That's the And now it's talking about on the earth, on the ground you shall sleep. Remember, we're talking about sleep. So, "L'fi she'darka shel Torah lalechet b'midat histapkut." The way to really achieve and excel in Torah is through And again, it's not poverty. It's being satisfied with what you have. Right? Not They say the millionaires, right, the anybody most people most people The Gemara says this. Die When they die, they only have half of their riches accomplished because whatever you have, you want more. You want double. So, the idea is to be happy with your lot. What does that mean? You know, if you really are really satisfied with what you have. It could be millions, but you're not interested in in doubling it. You're interested in using it to serve Hashem with. And if you'll have just a few pennies, you'll serve Hashem with it, and you'll be totally satisfied with what you have. As he says, that you're not looking and searching and worrying about luxuries. That's what we mean when we read in Kohelet in Ecclesiastes 5 chapter chapter 5 verse 11. How sweet is the How sweet is the sleep of the laborer? And now he changes the words around cuz he said before he said over Hashem YKVK. He says over Elokim. Same idea. You're serving Hashem. What did the rest of the verse say? That he doesn't care if he eats a lot or a little bit. Exactly the same thing. He's not so concerned about his food. He's not worried if he eats a lot or a little. Right? We're talking about just having enough bread to dip in salt. However, rest Remember, the rest of the verse also says So they are sheer money machine. Um which was talking about the rich person. Let's go to 5:11. What does it say? I'll read the whole the whole verse, right? Sweet is the sleep of the laborer, whether he eats a little or much. The satiety of the rich does not let him sleep, right? What did they say also? The more riches, the more worries. Right? The more property you have, the more worries you have. Just ask anybody who has a lot of properties. Can't ask me. He had the because what do these worries do? They cause you to be sleepless. That's what they do. They take away your sleep. How can we measure his stop goods? That's why they're talking about this idea of his stop goods of having just the necessities and being satisfied with them. We talk about the mission of Perkey of vote and sleeping on the ground. Meaning to say She ain't talk about the measure of his stop goods. If you grab a hold of this character trait of being satisfied with the minimum amount as a feeling in Tishkovala Ardishtishan. That means that even if you had to sleep on the ground, you would be satisfied. Doesn't mean you have to sleep on the ground. It's the attitude. If I had to, I would. Okay, I have a nice bed. Masha ain't came but doga. What if this is the opposite people who worry? That even if they have the most polished, pure, fresh bed as we talked about before. Low you knew blow you shine. They'll find no rest, no respite, no sleep. Low you knew it low alarm. Nothing's going to help them fall asleep. That's why it says by you say Issachar. We mentioned that earlier. Issachar is the tribe that actually they made a deal with with Zebulun. Zebulun made a deal with them. The different tribes can can make deals. Good business deal. We do it even today. There are people who do this same contract. Zebulun recognized in their brother Issachar that you can excel at Torah. If only I could support you cuz we have a great business with the chalice and the shipping and the merchants merchant marines, whatever it is that dealing with the high seas. We're doing great. We want you to learn on our behalf. Not that they didn't learn at all, but they supported that we'll support you full-time learning while we do business full-time. And many people even today make these things these contracts. A guy who's wealthy and he feels he can do more good for Am Israel, the Jewish people, by making contracts with many even more than one person. You sit and learn and I get the reward as well. Now, I said as well because the truth is Yissachar gets more reward than the guy paying. Even the word the word Yissachar, the word Issachar, that's how we know and remember the one learning is actually getting more reward. But uh this is a deal that can be made even till this day. The two people have mutual, right? That's any contract. Two people mutual needs. I want reward for learning but I don't have the time. You have the time but you don't have the means. I'll supply you the means and you sit and learn and that's called the famous throughout all of Jewish history without throughout of the Jewish um writings is this relationship called it's called Zevulun and Yissachar. If you ever hear those two words together, you know what the person's referring to. So, what does it say? In Genesis 3 49 15. I have to find cuz I closed I hope I hope I brought that. It says, this is about this is about Yissachar. He saw a resting place that it was good and the land that it was pleasant. Remember we talked about the land sleeping on the sleeping on the ground. He bent his shoulders to bear burdens and he became an in- dentured labor. What do we say about the labor? The labor is the one who serves Hashem. And he's the one who's resting. Yissachar was able to rest. Look at Rashi. He saw his territory was a blessed and good land producing fruits. He bent his shoulder to bear burdens. What is it talking about? In in the in the ancient Jewish writings it's talking about he bent his shoulders for the yoke of Torah to carry upon his shoulder, shichmo lisbol. I'm just if you turn the page and became what? For all his brothers and indentured laborer. He became the laborer for his brothers to decide for them instructions of Torah law and the sequence of leap years. Remember we spoke about Issachar was the one who was able to calculate all the astronomical configurations. As it's said and you can find this in first Chronicles chapter 12 verse 33. And the sons of Issachar, those who had an understanding of the times to know what Israel should do. Meaning when to plant whether it would be good or not, whether it would be too early or too late. And it says they had 200 heads of the Sanhedrin and all their children, all their brethren obeyed their words. And it says he bent his shoulder. Okay. So, let's go on. Okay. Meaning the Azil Had Hashem. Why we talk about the land in specifically this verse that we just saw that um 36 what did I say was? Here it is. Right, he saw tranquility that it was good and the land that was pleasant. What what are we talking about? We're talking about the wisdom of the Torah is in the air of Eretz Israel. Eretz meaning the land of Israel. Breathe it in, you breathe in wisdom. He saw that the land was pleasant. Therefore, because he saw the land was pleasant and the air was delicious with wisdom, therefore he was able to bend his shoulder to take what we call the yoke of Torah. That's why. Okay, now we're going for the end. We were we were almost 3/4 through. Going back to the idea that we said, "Her breasts will satisfy you at all times." Where did we see that verse? That's when we first started talking about milk. We're talking about Shavuot. For those who came on late, we're talking about Shavuot. There's a mitzvah and I should I just threw it out as a mitzvah. It seems like it's more than just a custom and it's an ancient custom to eat milk cakes and dairy products on Shavuot. And we accept we took that and the word halav and broke it down into several different things so far. Um and the verse we read was in Mishlei, Proverbs 5:19. It says, "Her breasts will sate you at all times." We're talking about the Torah will satisfy you at all times. So, rest in the question. Uh statement. K'mo she'amar, as it says in Gemara Berachot, she'asah Kodesh Baruch Hu dadi b'makom binah v'lo yanuk makom tzo'ah. Now, this is going to be a little bit graphic, okay? I'm going to do my best to be clean. Animals, think about the way that the sheep and the way especially cows, they have udders and there's a lot of milk, you know, their tits, their breasts, their udders are in the back. When I say the back, I don't mean I say the bottom of their body, meaning closer to their hips. Down here. You can't see my hands, but those those who can see you can see. So, we're talking about down below. And where is that place? That place is not far from the arse. It's not far from a disgusting dirty place where the feces come out of. But what did Hashem do for us? He put the breast here in the upper body, not just up here, but the place of bina, of understanding, right here, across from the heart. So, the baby is going to suckle next to the heart, not next to a dirty place. You know that? The Hesed and King David King David recognizes and sings about it. Uh we'll talk about it another time. Um that God did this, he placed the breast in a place of bina. Bina means understanding, and I mentioned that's the heart. It says women have have bina yetera, women have a lot of hearts. Um this is the place that the child will um suckle from, and it's not a disgusting place, the opposite. She leaves takah ba'erva, he he prevented, he helped us, but we don't have to look at what we call nakedness in in the in the grossest sense, right? Okay. This is the most amazing hint in the idea. It's like God created the universe this way with the human beings, that the breasts are standing in the place of bina, the meaning where the milk. And what do we talk about milk the whole time? We're talking milk is the Torah. The Torah is sitting in a place of understanding, the bina, right? She mikhan yuka um meaning bam akam tar. So, if here yuka kamaskil limud, anybody who's intelligent, anybody who's bright, anybody who's spiritually sensitive will understand. She lo yeloya nuk bam akam tanufos, that uh they'll learn that they shouldn't be uh nourishing from something that is polluted or that is disgusting. We have to be very careful what we read, what we see. We're talking about the televisions in the home. I remember when I first first first came to Yeshiva, and I was 21, 22, and I wasn't religious, and we had a great rabbi. It was Rabbi Palm, I believe. And he spoke, and he talked about, "Would you bring a cross into your house? Would you bring an idol worship? Would you bring anything like that? How could you bring your TV into your house?" Like he compared it to the some of the worst things you could ever think of bringing to your house. And I thought, I mean, I had respect. But as I thought, "Wow, I think I think I'm with the It's kind of extreme, isn't it?" But when you really think about it, and maybe 40 years ago, well, it wasn't so extreme. I mean, that idea was extreme, but maybe what they put on TV today is like a thousand times worse worse than what it was then. I don't know. But uh you kind of has to have kind of a lot of sympathy for those and understanding and empathy for the their art Orthodox groups that don't allow smartphones. Okay? So, we're kind of spoiled. We think we can't even live without them. They don't need them. They don't live with them. And what kind of trouble can people get in and do get in with with these things? So, listen to the sages. Listen to the wisdom. So, over here it says, "I knew Minha Pulosa Ra'ois Shimu Shulika So a Bli Blimako." This is just going on about the idea of not suckling, not taking the bina or this wisdom from a disgusting dirty place, meaning don't learn from evil. Of course, we can take evil people and know what not to do. But unfortunately, a lot of the especially in today's world, you know, icons and superstars, whether it's sports or you know, Hollywood, these people, unfortunately, they're they're they're they're they got to be the biggest hypocrites. And I'll say it right now. I mean, the the the you know, to say, "Well, you shouldn't have a gun." And they And it's true. There are horrible, horrible murders and the mass killings. Uh but that's not the root. The root The gun never kills anybody. It's the people behind the gun. Um but they're the ones that do the all the promotion and then they turn around, you know, they're making all their money on violence and and and guns on TV and they're the ones that are going to turn around and then tell you uh you shouldn't have a gun. It's like So, here it's like watch where you learn from. These pulot the roice, it's considered it's like it's it's like um it's like vomit. Shulish takabe erva. No, don't look at the nakedness. Meaning shlo you mat you mat about erva davar avera. So, be very careful what you look at, okay? As my friend over here, Daniel, at the end of the table tells me when he goes through certain neighborhoods, he sees all the guys being very careful. It looks like they're looking at the wall when they're walking down the street, all right? Certain streets in Jerusalem are okay. You can keep your head up high. Some of them you have to walk with a little bit of a blinder on. Okay, so now when it says in in we have to go back to Exodus 23 verse 19. Did I put this on here? The choicest of the first fruits of your soil, you shall bring to the house of the Lord your God. You shall not cook a kid in its mother's milk. This is amazing, right? We we're talking about drinking or eating chalavi milk eggs on Shavuos. I want to know, Yakov Israel, did you ever hear this before, this last piece? It's most amazing thing, okay? We're all familiar with this verse, do not cook a kid in its mother's milk. It's written three different places in the Torah. Two of them are so clear, it's talking about Shavuos. The third one is not as clear. We'll have to look at it. The choices of the first fruits, right? We're talking about the festival of your first fruits you're going to bring up to Hashem. But then the same verse which sounds weird because what is this have to do with that? You you have to ask yourself. I get it. Don't hold a grudge in your heart and do rebuke your neighbor. I got it. Or rebuke your neighbor and love your neighbor as yourself. I get it. The same context in the same verse. But what does bringing your first fruits on Shavuot have to do with not cooking a kid in its mother's milk? Did anybody ever ask that question? Obviously somebody did. So, listen to what um it's really also dealing with the sevens. Listen what the Rashi says. Even in the seventh year, the authoring offering of Bikurim is obligatory. You still have a mitzvah bringing Bikurim Shavuot even on the Shmita year. The first fruits of your soil. Okay? He goes and tells you how are they chosen. Just think about a second. It's only one fruit. You know, if you wait too long your whole tree's full of fruits you don't know which one the first one was. So, you would you watch and when they begin to to ripen you put some kind of a red marker with some kind of a ribbon on your tree on the on the particular branch on the particular fruit. And then you're going to bring it. Now, this is only from the seven species. Okay? Um that are grown in the land of Israel by the way. Okay. Now, what about cooking a kid in its mother's milk? Let me explain while we're on the subject. A lot of people don't know this. It says do not cook a kid in its mother's milk. Does it mean that kid in its mother's milk? Very difficult. That means we're basically all all Jewish customs of not eating milk and meat together. And I say customs, it's a lot of it's rabbinic. Okay, rabbinic Judaism. A lot of it. That's not what it means. It doesn't mean that particular kid in that particular mother's milk. It's telling you both milk and meat have to be kosher to be a problematic. Kosher meat, in other words, if you took pork and you cooked it in uh kosher milk, you wouldn't be violating cooking a kid in its mother's milk. So, they both have to be kosher to start with. Number one, you're not allowed to cook it. You're not allowed to cook. Cook means not boiling, I'm sorry, not broiling, not roasting but in in water, like in milk. That's called cooking. So, you have a solid meat in a in a pot of milk. According to the Torah, cooking. So, you're not allowed to do that. And that which was cooked together, you're not allowed to eat, meaning that kosher milk with the kosher meat that was actually cooked, not roasted and all that other stuff, was actually That you're not allowed to actually consume in you inside your body. And the third time it's mentioned is telling you that you're not even allowed to benefit. You can't give it away uh to a uh to someone you owe a favor to. Right? You can't sell it. Right? You can't benefit from it. So, all these other customs we have, and I say customs, I'm using that lightly. They're the rabbinic commandments as a guard. So, we don't eat let's say a hoagie. Anybody know what a hoagie is? A Subway? You basically you're talking about a nice baguette with slices of cold cuts and slices of cheese. According to the Torah, no problem. Because they were processed, they were heated up separately. Now they're cold, they're sitting on your plate. According to the Torah, you can eat it. But baruch Hashem, we have the rabbis who are so concerned. You know what's going to happen? You're going to throw it in the microwave. Well, they didn't have a microwave back then, but they said, "Of course, what would prevent you from heating it up in a second? So don't don't even eat them together." Right? All these the fact we have two separate plates. Plates for the milk cakes and plates for the fleishigs. Well, you might take it very lightly. You are It's just a plate. I can't eat a plate. No, but the plate becomes hot. Let's say you had a nice uh piece of pizza hot pizza on it. And then the next 5 minutes later, 10 minutes later, whatever, within the same day, someone throws a nice steak on that same plate. So believe it or not, there's there's taste that is absorbed in the plate that can become absorbed then in the the meat that you you're going to have a a cheese pizza meat. It's You You think we're ridiculous, right? This is the Torah This is the Jewish people. Okay, we're not ridiculous. This is And then what about chicken? Chicken's not meat. Can't have milk, right? Do you ever see a chicken giving off milk to its kids? I I don't think so. So why is chicken considered meat? So you know what I don't know if you ever had uh spiced meats, but you can have some spiced chicken. Even certain parts of the chicken dark meat. But also certain meats are quite light. It's very easy to mix them up. It's one That's one of the reasons. There's There's deep There's deeper uh cabalistic reasons. But on the most simplistic level, it's very easy to mix up certain meats with with fowl, let's say. Well, it could be duck, right? Oh, you can only eat this kind of chicken cuz it's white, but not that kind of fowl because it's dark. No, it's across the board. And there are oils, the oils in the meat, the the shamen, also uh are acting in similar way to to meat. So, they look alike, they have similar taste, and therefore rabbinically uh there's there's a strictness. Now, the truth be told that the rabbis, when they said chicken is going to be the same as meat, and usually when you're in doubts when it comes to rabbinic law, we go lenient, they said this is an exception. Even when it come when it comes to chicken being like meat, we're going to hold it's like meat in all of its categories. So, when there are doubts that you normally in a rabbinic case you'd be lenient, not when it comes to this particular area. Okay, I hope I cleared some of that up. In case it was on your mind. So, all we saw so far was this verse in Exodus 23:19 that talks about bringing up your first fruits. And it's say he says the same way become a column every time it says in the Torah, if you want to write this down, we have Exodus 23:19, we have Exodus 34:26, and Deuteronomy 14:21. The 14:21 we'll examine together, but the other one is almost exactly uh 23 in Exodus and 34 in Exodus almost word for word the same ideas. But he says that there's a proximity to this idea of the first fruits always in relationship to do not cook a kid in its mother's milk. You know what, let's do Deuteronomy 14, let's do 34:26 just so you see that it's the same language. Uh 34: 26. The the the first of your land's early produce, you shall bring to the the of Hashem your God. Do not cook a kid in its mother's milk. Clear as mud? Great. However, when we get to Deuteronomy 14:21, we'll have to examine the compare, you know, it could be that if you can't see it, at least a majority of the times it's clearly talking about the first fruits being brought up to Yerushalayim. In Deuteronomy 14:21, it says like this. It's talking about this whole paragraph before the forbidden different forbidden foods. So, out of the all the forbidden different forbidden foods, at the very end it says you shall not cook a kid in its mother's milk. So, we don't see the relationship that he says would be there with going up to Yerushalayim with your first fruits. But then if you read on, the second tithe, right? You shall tithe the entire crop that you're planting. This tithe, believe it or not, is going to be brought up to Yerushalayim. But it's not necessarily your first fruits. But nevertheless, he does talk about going up to Yerushalayim for the holidays to rejoice, right? For example, um I mean, this is what you should be doing with it. Back in verse 27, 26, right? You're going to spend money for whatever your soul desires. Basically, or let's say 25, you're going to exchange this money, whatever your tithes are for. Okay, this is what I would call it, time-sharing in Jerusalem. Right? You you want to you don't think you can really afford to go to Jerusalem, so it's not on your mind? No, make it on your mind. Make it a priority. Get some time-sharing going. So, during the um the first, the second, the fourth, and the fifth year, these particular tithes, you're going to basically it's all about doing it through agriculture, produce. Well, the produce doesn't last forever. By the time you go to Yerushalayim, and it could be Pesach, Shavuot, so when you hear that, or Sukkot, you're going to go up. You don't have to go up at a different time of the year. You're going to go up then. So we already see the tie in here. I'm just trying to bring it out. So what you do is you take your fruits that aren't going to last till you get to Jerusalem because it's another 3 months. So you redeem through coins. You take the holiness and now goes on the coins. You can eat the fruits. And those coins are what you're going to spend on your vacation in Jerusalem for three times a year. So it doesn't mention specifically um Shavuot, but you can see at least two out of two out of the three verses are clearly talking about Shavuot. The third time is in general going up to Jerusalem, and most likely the time you go up into Jerusalem is for the three festivals. One of them, which is um Shavuot. So okay, so let's get back on track. He says, "What is this idea? What does one idea have to do with another? Shavuot, to don't cook a kid in its mother's milk? Ah, because we're talking about Yom HaBikurim. Okay? The first day, the first fruits is this Shavuot. The fish be Yom HaBikurim mitzvah la'akhol halav. He uses the word mitzvah. While all along we're talking about this custom that somehow developed, and we're tying it in in a very deep way, right? In a very interesting way. He says, "Therefore, in this day, it's actually a mitzvah." Okay, it could still mean a very strong custom, okay? To eat halav to what? To remember the Torah. We're talking about Torah the whole night. Al kol panim, shurei la'akhol gam basar. Whoa, wait a second. Did you know that on Shabbat and on Yom Tov you're supposed to eat meat, too? So now we got a mixture. So he's going to tell you, since it's like not a contradiction in terms, if on this holiday called Shavuot you're supposed to eat milk, and we all know that you're supposed to eat meat, too. So, this Torah this this verse is coming to you, don't mix them up. Bashamayim at Torah, maybe you're going to make a mistake and think that it's permissible to eat on this day milk and meat. Because you know you have a mitzvah to eat meat, and you know you have a mitzvah to eat milk. You might think you can eat them together. Comes the Torah to tell you, "Lo sevashal gedi b'chalav imo." Do not cook a kid in its mother's milk. Do not eat them together. Interesting. Beautiful. All right, we're coming down to the wire here. In a book called the Akedah, he explains, "What do we bring? We bring the shtei halechem, two loaves, two loaves of bread that are actually chametz. K'neged haTorah she bichtav v'she b'al peh. Okay, there's two loaves. Why two loaves? They parallel the two Torahs. You know we received two Torahs in Mount Sinai? The Torah even says, "The Torahs Mhm? Okay. So, there was a Torah she b'al peh, there's a Torah she b'ichtav, a written Torah, and an oral Torah. The Leininger the the Kli Yakar says, "It appears to me she Torah yesh ba beit minei lechem. There in with within the Torah, you have two types of bread. There's two types of sustenance, perhaps. Ha mazon ha gufani v'ha nafshi, mazon ha guf. You have sustenance of the physical body and the soul, which is mazon ha guf. You have um the soul is really what's keeping your body alive. It says in Pirkei Avot, that's the ethics of our father, "Im ein Torah, ein kemach." If you have no Torah, you have no sustenance. It's the spiritual force we call the Torah is giving off life force to the physical world. I hope you get that. It's a very important point. If you have no Torah, you have no sustenance, physical sustenance. Now, where do we see this? Go to Ruth. In fact, cuz the Shavuot is coming up, so at the time of Ruth, you see this would be in chapter 1 verse 1. Viy'imei Sh'fot Hashoftim, Vay'hi Ra'av Ba'aretz. Right? It was in the day It It happened in the days when the judges judged that there was a famine in the land. What do we know about this time period? Right? Everyone was doing what they thought was right in their own eyes. Right? There was a lack of Torah. Al Derech Shvi'i Arno, Shvi'i Shvi'i He'ir wrote another book called Ir Giborim. I have that Baruch Hashem at home as well, and it's not collecting too much dust. I will have to pull off my shelf and look this up. In Parshas Mikeitz, it says over there, uh actually quotes the Gemara. The Gemara can be found in Gemara Ta'anis. We We heard this before. Rains do not stop, they're not held back except on the count of Bitul Torah. If you're not learning Torah, you will not receive, right? We did this last week's Parsha, Bechukotai. The rains come and it's time because of the Amaleus B'Torah. Hamazon Hanefshi Hu Mevuar. So, the the the the spiritual sustenance is very clear. Now, I want you to open up to Psalms 19:8. It says Toras Hashem Temimah Meshivas Nefesh, which means the Torah of Hashem is perfect. You know that? The Torah Hashem is perfect and it restores the soul. That's what it does. It's restoring the soul. But wait till you hear when he writes this like this, that the Torah Hashem is perfect that it it restores the soul of man to enroot him, to embed the person to the very place from where he was shown from. Which we all know the word Yerushalayim is double. Sunday is Jerusalem day. So you have a Jerusalem down on this sphere, Earth, and you have a heavenly Jerusalem. The word Yerushalayim is how it should be pronounced. Where do you live? I I live in Yerushalayim. Right? People say, "Where the heck is that?" "Oh, Yerushalayim, I heard of that." Well, that's nice. So you know about the heavenly Jerusalem. No, they don't know about the heavenly Jerusalem. So there's two to the So it brings you What does the Torah do? It's perfect and it restores the soul. Restores Restores the soul of the person to his root, to where he was shown from. Because the heavenly Jerusalem is that's where the soul came from. The body came from the physical Jerusalem, meaning the Har HaBayit. On the Temple Mount is where man's body was created, but the soul came down from from heaven, from God, from the Torah, so to speak. That's why we say, that's why it's mentioned that the two loaves we don't we don't bake them on Shabbat or Yom Tov. They're baked before. Um Okay, the what did we say earlier? If you don't bake, if you don't if you don't cook, you don't do anything on the six days, you have nothing to eat? This is This is the lesson here, that this world is when you do things. After you're dead, it's finished. I want you to This world is when you do things. After you're dead, it's finished. I want you to know in Hebrew when someone is passes away, that it's called niftar. Like that's the slang people use. They used to say they're dead, they're mate. But religious people say they're niftar. They were niftar. What does that mean? It literally means they are exempt from mitzvahs. During this lifetime, we're obligated in mitzvahs. But once the person stops breathing, can't walk around, can't do any mitzvahs. No, he's he's now exempt. That's That means the the the the soul life goes on, but in different way. You're no longer obligated. So what is it about this world? That's when you bake. That's when you cook. That's when you take care of everything. And that's compared to erev Shabbos. That's compared to the the the end of that 6-day period. It ends on erev Shabbos, which is interesting. We learned a little bit about that um the the guy who was trying to kill Hillel the mad. He comes to Hillel to get him mad. When did he come? On erev Shabbos. Deep stuff. You have to learn with us this stuff. So ki hayom la'asotam, you know when the time? Now. During the day is today is when you do work. Lo l'machar la'asotam, but there's no work to be done in the future world. So the word hamachar, this statement, by the way, it so mentions machar that has referring to olam haba. And that's like in our benching we call Shabbos this We're looking forward to the day where it's all Shabbos. Shenikra yom shekulo Shabbos, the yom shekulo tov. Where the day is that 6,000th that 7,000th year, 1,000 year of just peace and harmony, right? And now we go to a statement in Pirkei Avot. It's number 15 on the source sheet, Ethics of Our Fathers, chapter five, Mishnah seven. Now, it's a long list of 10 different things that happened as constant miracles in the Temple period. Um you can read them at your own leisure, but there was never a defect, number seven, no defect was ever found in the Omer or in the two loaves or in the show breads. Okay? Now, he's going to refer to this as there was never a pasul, there was never a pasul in the Omer, the lechem or the lechem ha panim. What are these three things? These three items are parallel to the Torah, the Torah which is perfect. Toras Hashem temimah. B'chol mum, never was there a blemish, b'chol pasul or any type of blemish in the two loaves of bread, so that, he says, we spoke about. The Omer, the Omer is We're We're going to go into that now. We're counting the Omer. Did you know that it was sifted 13 times? And why 13 times? That's parallel to the 13 hermeneutical principles, right? Rabbi Yishmael omer, shloshah asar middos she haTorah nidrashos bahem. We say every morning there are the hermeneutical principles you darshan out and explain the Torah. So, it's like you're It's like sifting through the Torah to get through to its explanation and its deepest meaning. Just like he explains in the reason for the counting of the Omer. And what about the lechem ha panim? The lechem ha panim were the show breads on the table in the Holy of Holy, in the holies. Na'aroch lifnei Hashem tamid. They were arranged before Hashem consist- continuously. Gam hu k'neged ha'lechem Torateinu. They also parallel this holy Torah bread of ours. She'eish lo panim l'chan ul'chan. It's called Lekha Panim. Panim means faces. We say to the Torah there are 70 faces. This bread was parallel to the Torah, too, in the fact that um Oh, so I just want to go back a second. When he says uh about the the Lekha, the stay Lekha, so that's the Torah Shebeal Peh, the written Torah, and the Torah Shebichtav, the oral Torah. And then the um the Omer which just sit the 13 times, that's also connected, parallel to the Torah because of the 13 hermeneutical principles. And over here, Lekha Panim, the Panim, because Torah has 70 faces, it has faces this way and that way. We talk always about, let me give you an example, we put a bottle here in front of us, which writing them on all the sides. We need all of us collectively to be able to read every letter on that bottle because you only have your angle, you only have your angle. We want to get to the truth, we need this dialogue. We need the We need every Jew to tell us his perspective so we can have the full perspective. Oh, someone says, "I see it. I know it's the truth." Well, what do you know? You only know your perspective. But if we all get together and now we can all share, then we have the true, perfect perspective. So, that's what it means here. You have some face a little bit that way, some face a little bit that way. And um it's just like the Luchot, the tablets. No matter which side you were on, you could actually see it written correctly. Even though it was drilled through it, and therefore it should be if you're looking from the backside, it should be backwards. Like the way they're written on an ambulance. When you're in your rear view rear view mirror, it's actually, if you ever notice on the hood of an ambulance on the front, it's written ambulance backwards so that you, the driver, can see in your own rear view mirror who's behind you. It says ambulance clearly. You don't have to take any guesses. So, here you would have expected, if you're on the other side of the tablets, that it should be backwards, but no. No matter what angle you were at, you were able to read it clearly. Um so too, those who learn Torah, they need to have what they call tocham kibaram. Their insides need to be like their outsides. They need to be transparent. If they are learning Torah, their their outside certainly should reflect it. But here we're doing the other way. If they dress all nice and have a nice beard, hey, your insides better reflect that. Okay? So, this is a also a hint to this idea. And with that, we conclude our first part.