Parsha Perspectives for Today (Beha'alosecha, 5781)

good morning boca tov welcome back to parsha perspectives for today last week we missed because of celebration of shibuyas but we are back for parches baalos and as always we thank our generous sponsors for the partial series for the year our dear friends becky navi cats and family in loving memory of becky's father and their grandfather lila nishmas david in memory of david grossman today's sheer is also sponsored by jennifer and dr ronnie herman in memory of sarat syrilla bass yiddle price a courageous woman who never lost her amunda despite the hardships of the holocaust their oma who lived to a hundred was privileged to see many generations nishamashrev and aliyah also co-sponsored by the lowenstein family in honor of their mother tammy a big listener to the parties here in celebration of her let me get in trouble it says her 60th birthday i'm sure it's really her 30th birthday a very very happy birthday thank you for listening and learning with us and lastly by constantine haley ostrovsky ruth said with some family in memory of fega basmosha mayher nisheva her very special evis is very special in the shama having aliyah thank you to all of our sponsors if you'd like to sponsor a future episode a future sheer please email lee at brsonline.org l-e-e b s online.org this week we have the privilege of reading of learning of studying of being transformed by pasha's balos page 774 in the art scroll stone hamish if you are following and by definition you are doing it at home by diversion hashem speaks to moshe saying speak to aaron and tell them when you kindle when you light the lights of the menorah towards the face of the nora should you light all seven lights there's a lot to talk about in this opening of the power shot in our many years of partial classes you can find online we have spoken about it we have a lot of other things to get to in the parish i'll just say very briefly uh one thought from the we said it before the seven branches of the menorah represent the six branches of wisdom all leading towards the seventh branch which is torah all the other wisdoms all the other disciplines out there in the world we believe and we believe there is value and virtue to those wisdoms but they have to serve torah they have to complement torah they have to be subservient to torah torah is primary torah is central torah is the authoritative understanding of the universe of the world and that's why the six branches lean in towards that central branch which is torah then has a different interpretation he says the six branches represent sunday monday tuesday wednesday thursday friday and the middle branch rome is the shabbos kodesh the middle branch is the heilig of the holy shabbos bialosa if we succeed in directing all the six week days of the whole world kodesh if all six weekdays yo is at the forefront of our mind of all week we're looking forward we're long and shabbos is shabbos is the goal and the ambition of our life then all seven candles the middle candle the candle of shabbos illuminates energizes the entire week yeah we can make the entire week in the status of shabbos when all the six uh arms all lean towards all lean towards the middle arm which is the heiliga shabbas the ash tamid ravdruk and we have a special treat in store for you today rodrik is in boca so earlier this morning he gave a little torah on the parsha which we are going to incorporate into our shira this morning we've been learning rav druk's wonderful savory thomas inside we have the privilege of hearing directly from rob druk this morning but first let's look inside is a why is this parsha of the menorah this mandate the charge to our ninja's children after him to light to ignite the candelabra why is it adjacent why is it juxtaposed to what we have read at the end of last week the story of the nisseum how each of the princes each of the heads of the tribes brought the exact same carbanos leficia daito when aron saw the inauguration when arun saw each of them the gifts the car bonus the sacrifices they were able to bring hosha taito he was so saddened he became impacted negatively shaloha imam he was so sad said aron it's not fair to me why don't i get to give why don't i get a chance why am i not included why am i not participating lohu neither him velocity of toe nor his tribe um so the almighty responds what are you crazy what are you upset about aaron don't be sad your portion your lot your opportunity is greater sha tamatelli gomez neros you are lighting and you are igniting the candelabra the menorah you're doing solidus for generations to come nothing to be sad about we've spoken about this too in the past a seemingly bizarre exchange arun sounds like an impetuous child it's not fair to me how can my brother and my sister how come they get the lolli how come they get to go how come they get to sleep how come their bedtime is later says are not fair to me how come the rest of the naseem get to give and i don't to which hashem doesn't say arun you get what you get and you don't get upset hashem doesn't say arun come on you're better than that which is what we would have expected him to say instead he tells him yours is greater what are you upset about you have a greater portion don't tell your siblings don't tell the others but yours is in fact bigger yours is in fact greater what kind of a conversation we've raised this question before and we've spoken about it in the context of kinesthetic i am not competitive whatsoever but for competitive people it's good to know that here the torah endorses spiritual competitiveness spiritual to be competitive for material things to be competitive for attention glory or honor to be competitive for your car or your clothing or your house that is an unhealthy competitiveness unless it gives you a drive to be the best you can but competitiveness in the arena of ruchnis in the pursuit of the spiritual and the holy when a person says i want a dolphin like that i want to learn like that i want to do herself like that i want that opportunity i want that skill set i wish i could sit like that that that ambition that competitiveness for ruchnius it breeds greater learning it greets great breeds greater behavior a rabbi said kena sophrim that competitiveness among scholars it creates and it promotes greater wisdom in the world so here you see the source that hashem doesn't say to aaron what's the matter with you he says to our own i like it bring it on i like the competitiveness but don't worry your opportunity is greater than them that's what we've spoken about in the past but here have dru quotes it seems from rashi like hashem giving around the opportunity to light the menorah was given as a comfort a consolation prize he was saddened that he couldn't bring the gifts the karbanos with the niciem and what was the consolation prize don't worry you get to light the menorah and the ramban nachmanidis asks a series of questions on rashi writes to ramban and our pasha values of why in the world is our unsatisfied he is appeased when god says to him don't worry what you have is greater you get to light the menorah why is he appeased by that why wasn't he already appeased by the privileged by the unique opportunities that he had that others didn't i.e namely bringing the kitauros he got to bring the incense he played that special role uh there's a whole list of karbanos that only kohanim got to bring and even among the quran only our on the coin godu got to bring the nicholas leflight of him he's the only one who got to enter the code of shakardashim those learning already had a unique position that came with unique privileges and opportunities even more than the menorah so why is hashem answering our own i'm giving you the menorah he was already answered by the other opportunities that the kohanim and certainly the koin god of the high priest got what is the menorah add and moreover why was aaron said to begin with his carbon his carbon as the cohen is the kangaroo was greater than the the carbonus the sacrifices of the naseem so why would he be saddened by seeing what they're bringing which is less than what he ordinarily brings let alone all the other unique opportunities that he has and the ramban offers a incredible incredible interpretation here the ramban says you see in this conversation between hashem and aron a hint an allusion to the base khashoggi we're talking about second temple times the khashong who established the lighting of the menorah leduros and he says here is an allusion to the story of chanukah to the story of they were not part of the lineage of malchus david they broke from the rule that loya shaved mihuda really the monarchy was supposed to always emerge from yehuda and here the hashmonae broke with that as kohanim gadolum the rambam deals with that did they make a mistake was it a special time and so on but here the hashmonaem who were able to light those candles established the holiday of chanukah and that's what the pasik is really referring to says the ramban however ravdruk wants to answer the ramban's question on rashi differently and the answer is based on the following i'll talk to you outside because we have an enormous amount we want to cover today he basically says the following and moreover he asks another question he says what is this doing here really doesn't this belong the menorah the whole story of the menorah belongs back when we had parshiots uh truma tetsava when we had vayaka pakude we had the introduction of the calum earlier what is it doing here so he suggests that really there are two denims denim there are two aspects so there are two laws two the lighting of the menorah one is like every other behavior performance avodah in the mikdash the lighting of the menorah was part of the service of the mikdash but there was a second role the menorah had yeshbagam biniya sabayas you could have a home and the home can be fully furnished but if the lights not on and you can't enjoy and you can't navigate and you can't make your way around the furnished home then you not really have an established full home when is the home inhabitable when the electric company turns the lights on when the electricity is flowing when you've got the certificate of occupancy when you can turn the light on and inhabit the home that's when it's really inaugurated that's when it's really established and therefore suggester of druk what hashem was telling our own aaron wasn't upset in an ongoing fashion he knew that he had a greater and a more special opportunity but rather what bothered aaron was in the hakama samishkan this special special designated day this distinguished unique opportunity to celebrate the inauguration of the mishkan aaron felt sidelined he felt like he wasn't participating he felt like he didn't have a role to which hashem responds you think that the entire inauguration is complete with the gifts of the neseum it's waiting for you to turn the light on it's waiting for you to turn the light on when you turn the light on that's when there's a real certificate of occupancy that's when you've really entered and therefore you suggest the following charcoal available is the other sacrifices all the other unique distinct roles of the cohen don't include something that's part of inaugurating or building the special home for god willowness alabama but turning on that light was the maki baptist it was the final act it was the completion of this building it brought the glory it brought the functionality it made it inhabitable it really made it complete the nimsa so by turning the light on around did have that role bizarre icker didn't kahuna and when the kohanam turn that light on each and every day when they light that menorah nitin allah it's as if the binion it's as if the building to a certain degree was deconstructed was destroyed and each time you turn the light on you build it anew so everyone else only got to inaugurate once and once only our own through the daily lighting got to inaugurate daily and that's what hashem meant what you have is greater so you have to understand what troubled iron was not impetuousness it was not an unhealthy competitiveness what troubled aaron was a desire to participate in the glorious day of the inauguration of the mishkan he didn't want to be sidelined he didn't want to be a spectator to which hashem said don't worry not only are you not a spectator today but every day when you light that menorah each and every time you are in fact re-inaugurating re-establishing rebuilding you are making it inhabitable once again you're turning the lights on and you are therefore illuminating not only the miktus but from the mishkan and mikdash you are illuminating more broadly and you are learning illuminating out much more further okay parakas which is beginning of balosuka paslik yod test turn the page the consecration of the livium making the livium have their role their uniqueness we've talked about in the past a contradiction that levine 25 30 when did they serve how many years of apprenticeship to a person can identify whether they're cut out and if they're not they should move on to another job we talked about that in the past parakas passage chapter eight verse nineteen page seven seventy six in the arts crosstalk vietnamese describes that i assigned levi to be presented to aaron and his sons from among mitochondrial and what was their mission they were here to serve the jewish people from the omoid israel and to achieve atonement for the jewish people velo yihiyab nay israel negev israel al-aqsh so the consecration of the livium you have a job you have responsibility you have a mission the rambam writes today anybody can be part of shiva levy if you want to study torah you want to be a communal leader you want to be a role model and an influencer not a social media influencer a torah communal influencer an example of how to live the most virtuous meritorious life of torah of chasser of sensitivity of kindness of medos of derek's then we can all electively join that symbolic mission or role of shavit levy so here the torah tells us they are consecrated they are designated from among the jewish people to serve from the omoid why so that there will not be a negative why value ye ben israel negative so there will not be a negative bhagashwash when the jewish people approach holiness holy activity holy service of god let there not be a negev let there not be a plague what does that mean so rashi here says the following rashes where is rashid 8 19 and you'll see benay cyril are mentioned five times five times vedna slovenia uh seems a little excessive no a little redundant five times i have to mention bene so but when you see the number five like sesame street the number five should remind you what is the symbolism of the number five lodi torah when you see something five times the number five is an illusion it's a signal five means a torah so binay sorel are mentioned five times in the passage as a reference or allusion to the five books of the five books of the torah what does one thing have to do with another what does this passage the idea that negev a plague should not be brought to the people what does negev have to do with hamish so before we get to that i want to share with you an insight over of mayor premishlan says the following he says you know normally i'll read it to you normally when a person endures when a person undergoes a challenging time a crisis god forbid azayo mishkazek um what happens in a crisis you dig deep dig deep in your moon and be talking in your faith and trust in god you dig deep concentrating on your prayers on your daughtering in your tehillim you dig deep being on your best behavior and trying to earn the merits in order to endure to persevere the crisis in order to persevere the challenging time um you transform yourself on best behavior all kinds of promises and pledges doing everything at the top level and what happens is to live on that level on that plane to live with that concentration with that faith with that trust with that virtuous activity one should strive one should aspire to live that way all the time it shouldn't take 15 months of a corona pandemic it shouldn't take 11 days of 4 000 rockets it shouldn't take the growth of anti-semitism the fear the threat the danger the concern that we all have to say ooh i better be on my best behavior i'm going to dive in heart i'm going to say to him we're going to have to help gatherings we're going to have rallies we're going to have torah sessions we're going to have we're going to pledge learning of torah it should be something that we're striving for all the time and instead of mary primes that's what it means we shouldn't need a plague in order to draw close to hashem it shouldn't take a crisis it shouldn't take a plague it shouldn't take a pandemic it shouldn't take rockets it shouldn't take a rise of anti-semitism in order to draw close to hashem it shouldn't be negative it should be at all times when chef abraham which should be there's an overflow of blessing into our lives good health safety security happiness prosperity in the best of times and that is a partial perspective for today a beautiful insider of mere promise it shouldn't be beneficial it shouldn't take a plague or a crisis to drive us to holiness to the kodesh even in the happy times the best of times the successful times the non-crisis times we should also be driven and we should also aspire but back to our question rashi says binay sorrows mentioned five times in the puzzle when you see the number five five means torah what does that have to do with this says rook and his age tamid he quotes from the seven priets in the holy of sadducen the whole section is telling us about the consecration of the livium the distinction the elevation of the livium so islam israel like me a gornish nothing just a israel like me will say to ourselves i guess i'm nothing the almighty doesn't value me the levium they're consecrated the levium are charged with a mission the laveem are elevated levium had this whole special role i'm just a stroll what am i so therefore actually also not very conducive to specifically in the portion that is talking about the consecration and the elevation of the lavium we mentioned beneath all five times to say the leviam only have their distinction it emanates from benay israel and benazir has it the five times from the we are who we are because the torah the mandate the mission the charge the responsibility and obligation of torah that is what informs and inspires who we are claudius will have caduceus israel the jewish people have a sanctity of the jewish people because we're charged with the torah's israel were charged with the torah of the jewish people and lavium emanate from there says specifically in the portion where we might have erroneously concluded that the levine are categorically better we are reminded that levine come from binay israel five times five times that is of silica coin's answer to the connection however of druk not surprisingly offers one of his own the nero the foreign each time that we approach god when we come close to god when we appeal to god protest to god express gratitude to god but each time that we are drawing close to god it is worthwhile to remind god of his affection for us and we see this in several places in chakras in davaning in the morning what is the barakah what is the blessing we recite right before we step up to the amida before god surya israel if and how many times does it mention you stroll there five kennegr so every time we stand up in the morning to say chakras every time we stand up for the amidah the most important part of prayer the part of prayer we're talking to hashem the rest of it is preparing to talk to hashem the rest of it is meditating and reflecting on hashem so we're better positioned to talk to hashem but the only part we're actually communicating the only part that we are actually having a rendezvous with hashem is the amidah and right before the amidah we say this formula says why do we mention israel five times before the amidah it corresponds with the five times ministrial i mentioned in our parsha in our passage here in baalosh which is a reference to humish and the rocket also brings this mayor so maybe negotiations that before we approach hashem literally before we take those three steps forward and begin this conversation with hashem who was man we remind hashem his love his affection hashem you love us so much you mentioned our name five times in one passage five times talking to your child you're talking to i was okay to have a new granddaughter i'm still trying to learn her name shoshana esther shanna so every time i say i come i give you a kiss shana who loves you isaidah loves you shana shana you're the best shana you're amazing shana you keep saying a name because the more you use a name the closer you draw the use of a name expresses affection that expresses love it expresses a desire for connection so hashem used our name five times in this one pasuk to say how much he loves us how much affection he has for us and we want to draw on that we want to tap into that affection so that he sees us and listens to us and answers us most favorably so before we begin our meet the morning says we mention israel five times before we step up and begin our shimon ashrae we also see this at night between us from right after shema and moon we mentioned israel so you see in the morning we say yesterday five times at night we say israel five times both in the morning and at night are modeled after our parsha baaloshra and the five uses of bina israel the reflection of hashem's love and affection for us so now we know why here is complete the inauguration has been celebrated it is time to step up and come close to god specifically um step up right before they step out in order to begin their avodah each time we draw close to god we remind him how much he loves us we invoke the five-fold formula we have a formula of five god mentioned us five times to express his love for us and his love is expressed by his giving us the torah yisrael five times in our passage you throw five times in israel you throw five times in marv after shema tosh mona sray the five israels right before we talk to hashem we remind him how much he loves us and we ask for that to be to our benefit moving right along parrot test consecration of the livium the representation ship and responsibility and then we get to the pesach right the bear hashem mushroom bashing we are in the second month they've left egypt in the first month of the second year rather first month of the second year they have left egypt park test this is the pesach cheney we're not going to spend time on pesach we've spent a lot of time on it in the past i encourage you to listen i've written about sakshini in buchenwald after liberation rabbi hershel shakhtar by j.j shakti's father who led the pesach seder in buchenwald after it was liberated what a story the story of pesachini of loma nigara of this group of people who said why should we lose out what a powerful message by the way this is perfectly consistent with the way the parsha began arun said why should i lose out and now the people who were tamaela nefesh the people who were impure and therefore the people who were who were uh ineligible to participate in the first pesach they step up to motion they say it's not fair to us we want pesach we long for pesach something that no man or woman has ever said since not fair if we got an exemption didn't have to cook or clean nobody would be complaining today and yet this group of righteous people said lama nigara it is not fair to us we want it we want an opportunity there's a question we're not going to study it now i'll leave you with this one for your homework what do you mean la nigara why did you liza because you were tame people lose out all the time on things because they are not eligible i'm not eligible to duchen i'm not a kawaii and we've already established that i'm not bitter about that at all i'm not a cohen i can't duchen i don't get the first aliyah i can't do the avodah in the baysha magdash men women kohanim livium israelam those in heir to stroll i can't go to my garden in my backyard and do mitsubishi's bharats it has to be that which grows in israel there are circumstances that enable and allow and invite different mitzvos so what do you mean lama nigara you were ineligible because you were tame how is that a legitimate argument lama nigara if i step up and if a woman steps up and she says lama nigara why am i exempt from time bound mitzvos i want to be obligated if i step up and i say lama nigara why don't i get to durkhen i'd like to get up on the bhima and it's a good taina how come he can't of course not so why was this a legitimate argument and why not only is it a legitimate argument but once moshe confers with god god comes back and says that was a good argument giving you second the holiday of second chances the holiday of pesach shami it's a good question we're not going to study it right now why would they tell me they were carrying according to the opinion that we follow their three opinions but we follow the opinion they were carrying the bones of yosef yosef the master of second chances he gave his brothers a second chance and now these individuals will tell me because they were carrying the bones of yosef they want a second chance and god gives them that second chance we're not studying this right now we move on to the design the signs when it was time for the mishkan to pack up and head out we're traveling we're journeying when god determined it was time for the mishkan to go so page 780 780 in the article stone according to the word of hashem they would head out they would journey and according to the word of hashem they would stop and they would encamp all the days that the cloud would rest on the mishkan they wouldn't camp so when the cloud was on top of them it was time to stop when the cloud lifted it meant go time so each time they stopped or they went was not simple there was an enormous enormous amount of work to disassemble and to reassemble to pack up to head out anyone who's traveled with their family children you know passports tsa packing packing the hand luggage arguing you know how difficult how challenging it is and yet here ah hashem when hashem said it's time to go and when hashem said it's time to encamp and how did he communicate those two messages he did it how he did it based on api hashem he did it by the cloud of glory lifting so says rav says first of all the first let's look at the we have three successive we have three sukkam in a row that all twice in each possibly say ap hashem three sukkam in a row that each one of them twice in the passage say alpi hashem based on hashem david by saying that hashem this cougar should come out go to mit hashem this surgery should come out good amir hashem the russia should come out good hashem the drive should go well amid hashem the flight should be smooth the mirza sham the court case should be favorable in mirza shamba ezra's hashem you see it from here hashem meaning when a person mentions hashem you head out when the person mentions hashem you rest it means that all that we do big or small we should invoke this little tifila a tiny little prayer we think of hashem whether it's the kogo the court case the surgery the jerusha whatever it is we're about to do the drive the flight whatever we're about to do big or small we do it up hashem we do it by invoking in mirzash and ezra hashem with hashem's help the passage says hashem we mention it in the advice of hashem is there's a lot there's a beautiful gray on this there's a dvar torah i don't suggest you try at home i mentioned it last week at our shabbos table my daughter came up from the hospital with a new baby i said rabbis marshall avish people have many thoughts baby cries in the middle of the night who should get up should it be the man should it be the woman who should get up to take care of the baby atsa mashem says hisakum she should be the one who gets up it didn't go over well on shabbos and i'm sure it's not going over well right now either but in any case the shallots says the word he should have quit while i was behind or srila khalid says the word he is rasheed reverse it is an acronym in a verse for hashem you know we say hashem we say it really quickly we say it in the yiddish version but really it's hashem if god wills hashem if god wills so the reverse acronym for emir hashem is he hashem to mention that whatever we're doing it should be done with hashem's help it should be done with hashem's up the gamer says halawa shay spalakolayam kulo wouldn't it be amazing if a person dalvin the entire day which we know is impossible what do you mean diving the whole day you got to go to work you got to shop you got to sleep you got to cook you got to eat you got to do a lot of other things legitimately do other things so what do you mean halawa wouldn't it be amazing if we diamond the entire day so some of the commentaries explain it doesn't mean that you'd be in sure with a sitter opening david in the whole day it doesn't mean to be sitting at your table with a tahilam open it means halawa halawa that whatever you were doing the whole day shispalakola yamculo halawa you davind when you got in the car let it be a smooth drive halavi when you have the conversation let it go well halawai the cooking let it be successful the court case this or whatever one does in life halawai that we introduce kalavai that we preface whatever we're doing katana gadolin bigger small with a little tefila a millisecond fila a new session to hashem that it that it'd go well but back to ravjroku if rook says the following ap hashem says raise a big question the sukkam that described hakima mishkan the day that the mishkan was inaugurated hashem covered it with the cloud and he said when i lift a cloud go and when i lower the cloud stop there are a lot of questions here why is it so repetitive first of all in this section why is it that i mentioned three sukkam in a row that each say ah hashem twice why is it so repetitive so the ramban writes the time of marquis let's say the cloud is on top of the mishkan it means it's time to stop get off the highway this is where you're staying it's time to stop unload unpack but you say but i don't like these accommodations i'm not happy in this neighborhood i'm not happy with the amenities i'm not happy here i want to go the answer was you can't go till god says you got to go shamanic from a sense of fear all respect of hashem don't go he says this is where you belong at this time in this place this is where you belong we don't argue it means that's where we belong and if we're there for only two or three days and you know what we say it's pretty comfortable it's got a pool they've got a jacuzzi a workout room they've got a wonderful cafe they've got a golf course they've got all the amenities i could stay here for a long time and all of a sudden the cloud lifts quick pack up time to head out i don't want to go i want to stay i love it here it's perfect it's amazing it's comfortable the cloud lifts it's time to go it's time to go so the ramban says that the mysterious nephesh of cloud israel here the tremendous love and loyalty they showed hashem is that even when they didn't want to stay if hashem said stay they stayed and even if they didn't want to go but hashem said it's time to go then they went and therefore it's an enormous enormous mysterious nephesh it's an enormous praise it's an enormous affirmation of the loyalty of the jewish people and it's also a partial perspective for today because the message for us has drooked from here and he quotes a story about arun pasek said we read earlier by asking aaron menorah earlier in the parasha when aaron was instructed how to light the menorah the parsha testifies that arun did all that was asked for him kashir sivashyamas moshe just as god commanded him and rashi says vyayas king aaron aaron did what he was asked what a praise of our own that he did not deviate that he didn't abandon he didn't distort what god had told them to do he did it exactly the way it was written up and many many many have asked and redruck joins the group and says what i would have been suspicious that aaron would have done it differently than the way god commanded god said do it this way but i think for a moment that aaron would have tried to do it a different way so the answer is it's not what it means means that our own never it never got old for our remain new and fresh means it didn't get old it didn't get old and tired it didn't get stale it remained fresh and exciting as the first day that he was asked to do it and so for the jewish people it doesn't matter shloshina is a matzah nimsa or kamakasha whatever circumstance we find ourselves however challenging it is to do what god wants in that moment shiloh just like arun didn't deviate didn't change didn't alter just like he didn't stay a little bit longer when god said go or he didn't go and god said stay same two with us to cling to god means to believe that if god put you there in this time at this place it's where you're meant to be ap hashem it's only when we feel that god wants us to move it's only when we feel that god says it's time to go that's when it's time to go but otherwise we belong in that place and in that time ap hashem all that we do halawa is paula kolyan says all that we do big or small we should introduce with with god's help and wherever we find ourselves in life we should recognize that that's where we're meant to be lean in embrace it make the best of it because for right now for whatever reason that is where hashem determined we were meant to be paraguay test moving along skipping a couple pages we had the chatsotros the order of breaking camp how the camp journeyed how the camp went to battle went to war a lot to learn from here but not for now page 784 hussein moshe now all of a sudden moshe has a conversation with his father-in-law yisro yisro is ready to head back home and moshe does something another unusual departure he begs his father-in-law to say i can make father-in-law jokes because i'm a father-in-law now he makes father-in-law he says can you stay don't go we need you please come with us come with us come with us it will be good for you as well hashem has spoken well to the jewish people moshe pleads with his father-in-law with a share you have to stay don't go now does yisro stay or go we don't know i spoken about this in the past we're not going to elaborate now the torah never fills in it's a blank does israel listen does israel acquiesce does he stay or does he go we don't know it is debate among the biblical commentators what does israel do in the end why wouldn't the torah tell us why does it leave it a mystery obviously it's not as important to know whether he stayed as knowing first that he came to begin with and second that moshe wanted him to stay why did moshe want him to stay so let me read to you from everybody celebrate the rav salvatrik said the following with this conversation between moshe and his father-in-law we get a glimpse into moshe's mood during the day after the second pesach as the people begin to march he speaks in a cl climate of serenity of peace of mind of unqualified assurance he expects great things as he speaks of the final journey to the promised land no delays no procrastination it's going to happen right now not tomorrow said rabbi sullivan listen to this sometimes i want to cry when i read this parsha look first of all we think of the rav as this intellectual brisker emotionless and the rav describes that when he reads parshas baaloska sometimes he wants to cry you know we live backwards so we all know how it ends we know the jewish people wander 40 years in the desert we know that generation doesn't make it and we know moshe doesn't make it in so we know already when we're reading these parasitos now as we do every year we already know how this story ends but said of solaveichik he says imagine imagine living it moshe is serene and peaceful he's excited they've got their ticket their flight benefits they're on their way no delay no procrastination it's about to happen the journey the flight's tomorrow sometimes i want to cry when i read this passion said thereof look at the simplicity with which the great moshe the master of all wise men the father of all prophets speaks he uses the grammatical first person we are traveling come with us we will be good to you join our triumphal march toward destiny moshe says to you so it may become your destiny as well this was not simply an invitation extended by an individual to his father-in-law moshe spoke as a representative of canesis israel inviting every generation of converts to join in the march provided they subject himself to the same divine discipline required of the jewish people the symbolism here says the rav is so powerful that moshe is not only talking to israel it's not moshe the individual talking to israel the individual it is moshe on behalf of the jewish people speaking to israel on behalf of every future convert you want to join our people you want to join our destiny you want to join our march to the promised land you're welcome come we're not a discriminatory biased people we are not a peripheral who feel superior anyone can join us and a gershwin is gayer when a convert joins our people they have just as much a part of the jewish people in fact the most often repeated myths from the torah is to love the convert is to not remind them of their conversion moshe was certain there wasn't even a shadow of a doubt in his mind that he was going to enter the promised land he and the entire congregation would be classified not as yodzi mitzvah and those who departed from egypt but his ba ha harets those who had come into the land he was convinced that he would see the beautiful land the hills of yehuda the prairie land of the sharon valley the mountain of of lebanon later he would fervently pray let me cross over and see the good land on the other side of the jordan the good mountain in lebanon his prayer did not come true at this time however he had no doubt about his destiny the whole operation had successfully brought to a close would have lasted several days there was no need for spies and scouts to explore the land to see whether the land was good or bad whether the cities were walled or opened whether the population that was strong or weak healthy or sickly intelligent work is necessary only if one is doubts this was the pre-doubt period in jewish history but a powerful description of salvation who says he cries when he reads parties baaloska when he hears the confidence the excitement in moshe's voice when he invites and he talks to his father-in-law israel unfortunately his dreams are shattered his dreams are smashed because ultimately israel does uh moshe doesn't enter yes doesn't enter it's so uh it's so sad to be able to see it in this in this way in this direction okay for the next insight we move over to per per gear possibly get lamin gimmel we have the upside down nuns the two nuns that bracket off hahib and sawaharon and why do we have these two nuns that bracket them off we have the complainers and here the torah wants to distinguish wants to break between the perennials and perennials we want to not have two negative things in a row two negative experiences build upon no negative momentum so the noon the backwards upside down nuns are brackets sectioning this off to break it up what are the two negatives they left the mountain of god they left the experience of our sinai they left harsinai for the journey that should have taken them directly in terez israel but there were three things that got in their way it should have been three-day journey and they would have been in the land but they didn't and one of the things they did wrong rashi tells us they ran away from harsinai it says being piranhas there's a simmon before and after tell us this is not really where it belongs but why is it here to break between the perennials and what were those perennials they were like a tina kabarea besa safar they were like children who ran away from school so this morning radrick was here in my office and he shared the following thought with you foreign says that when they when they journeyed when they went on it was like children who leave at the end of the school day they ran away and the ravjoke asks but every time they traveled they journeyed it was only based on the instruction of hashem so how can we hold them accountable so the answer is yeah maybe i should have said it was time to go but inside they were relieved they were grateful they were excited to run but yet where do you see it in the past itself this russia that they were running like children at the end of the school day when the bell rings where do you see in the plastic itself they were collecting all the gold and all the silver they were collecting all the money they wanted to stay moshe had to drag them away here moshe didn't have to drag them away they were happy to go on their own understood from the fact that they were happy to go on their own they weren't as excited to stay for the experience of torah as they were for the experience of collecting uh material things and therefore they understood they were running they were running like children who are running from school [Music] foreign [Music] foreign second possibility is that just like the nazi we read last week when they finish when another finishes his vow has to bring the karma katas and ramban explains he was on such a high level he was so ascetic and and living uh transcendent he has to bring the carbonication for the fact that he came down a level that he came back to earth that he went back to the way it was so you see that when a person even when they're finished even when it's understandable even when it's based on the instruction of hashem but when they come down a level it's something which we see as piranhas it's a negative a person has to acknowledge and see so here too they were on such a high level it was such a lofty experience and when they were leaving even when a child leaves school even when the school day is over but in the end of the day they were immersed in learning and growing and now the school day is over and that's the piranhas is the transition from the high level to now this low level okay we think of drugs so much for the toro that we learn each and every week that we share the magnificent farm the ishtarmid we thank rodruk for for all the divoray torah and the inspiration he provides wow what an opportunity to hear uh ravdruk in person this morning for those who are listening online and not watching it's worth going on youtube to watch for a moment that insight because first of all as i said previously we learned of jokes tomorrow each week and we have the the privilege of learning it um it's learning a text and you don't know the person alive did they live 100 200 500 years ago when you see and you meet the person whose insights were sharing it makes the insights themselves come more alive but more we recorded that at seven o'clock this morning after our earliest minion and when he gives over advartora his face lights up there's such energy there's such excitement there's such vigor it's contagious it's worth seeing it's worth watching it and not just uh hearing it so go online on youtube if you're only listening and you will find it there so beautiful inside he had the two explanations of how the rabbis knew that the perennials what was the negative activity that they were trying to break up and not have momentum around was the children as if barack as if running me base safer moving right along the next parasha parakeet bottom page 786 the next narrative the next part of our story in balloons the people took to seeking complaints hashem we have the complainers misonanim is hitpa else the reflexive verb it's not just that they had complaints it's legitimate to have complaints people are things that they complain about but you cannot be a complainer you cannot transform yourself into a person defined and characterized by complaining is the difference between a person with a legitimate feedback constructive criticism and being a complainer there's no room to be a complainant or misowning him to be a complainer what were they complaining the assaf suf pasak dalit hasa you had the rabble rousers among them they gave in to this enormous appetite this temptation also wept and they cried and they said no where's the beef where's the meat who's going to feed us where's the barbecue where's the fleisch sounds like me and shabbos we remember the fish that we ate in egypt is they mention all these ingredients cucumbers melons leeks onions garlics we add it all fresh fruit salad meat barbecue it was a buffet it was incredible but now atta yves ain't coal but now we're so parched guilty we have nothing but man we're so sick and tired of the mon enough already this is a complaint mushroom has had it moshe bennu can't take it anymore i want to zone in on one word one word in this complaint they lose their credibility because in this complaint they say we're hungry there's nothing to eat here where's the beef where's the meat we remember zach we remember the fish in egypt we got fish for free the word means for free free what are you talking about free rashi says free khinam are you kidding me in egypt they wouldn't even give them straw for free in egypt they didn't get a glass of water for free so if in egypt they didn't even get that for free you think they got free fish free food no chance so says rashi what are they remembering inaccurately are they distorting the truth how could they possibly say we're hungry there's nothing we long for we remember the way it was in egypt in egypt we had free fish free fish no chance the ramban disagrees the ramban says takaya because in order to keep your worker have stamina for your worker to have strength for your worker to be efficient for your worker to produce for you you got to feed them so yeah they didn't give them the straw and they didn't give them any other luxuries or even necessities but food they did give them and that's why the ramban rights rash is wrong the people nostalgically remember the free fish because taco they got free fish that's rashi says no impossible impossible but moreover you call that free that was free the fish has to deal with is also you worked for 210 years of slavery call the fish your reparations call the fisher compensation we got it for free you broke your back you killed yourself you were indentured slaves and you got fish ooh we got free fish that's not cold free that's called you killed yourself to be able to get it so rashi concludes what does the word khinam here mean says i lost the place where is the rashi pasake the people did not need to do mitzvos in egypt the torah had not yet been given they weren't bound with these responsibilities these obligations these limitations and they were longing for the nam not the free fish but to be free from mitzvos bush in his wonderful book called teachings revasher bush of russia russia brander i apologize rabbi usher brander in his great book called teachings in-depth reflections on the parsha it's a wonderful savage it's a wonderful book teachings rabbi usher brander sorry usher brander asks this is a people that just stood in harshinai they said nasa vanishma they voluntarily said give us the mitzvos we want to be bound by them we accept the whole torah and everything in it and now they're complaining we long for the time when we didn't have mitzvos how could that be so he has a very very interesting insight and he suggests the people they thought when would we earn more reward when would our mitzvahs be of a higher value when we're doing it out of a sense of obligation or when we're volunteering they thought volunteering is more noble we miss the we miss the days that we did all the same things but we did them voluntarily that we performed all the same mitzvos but we did it of our own volition they missed that time what they didn't understand is that we have a rule god suv that in fact the one who is obligated has a greater reward and is greater than the one who does it voluntarily it's counterintuitive totals explains because the person who does something voluntarily is internally motivated the reward is their internal motivation but the person who does not feel like doing it at all person who has no interest in doing it and yet does it anyway that person deserves the greatest reward if you're take the garbage out in anticipation that the significant other in your life wants you to they didn't ask you to you're not responding you're not obligated you're not bound you're not doing it because they asked you initiate you volunteer you do it because you're excited to show them took care of the thing you care about so the reward is the internal motivation and drive but if you don't want to take it out and they ask you to and you get up and you stop and you interrupt you get out of bed and you take that garbage out because it's being picked up the next morning that is a greater expression of commitment of loyalty it doesn't have the internal reward or satisfaction of doing what you internally want to do anyway and therefore god allah said greater is the one who's obligated than the one who volunteers they didn't understand that and therefore they longed for a time of they longed for the time when they were free free from mitzvos free from mitzvos and many other insights i wanted to share with you this morning um i'll ask you these questions for you to think about as we end miriam gets in trouble for speaking le shanahara miriam and aren't speaking last night about their brother moshe moshe the torah testifies hashem says about him od moshe is the most humble of all people if he's so humble how could he have written that down in the hamish if he's so humble how did he actually record in the book about him about his humility isn't that a contradiction to humility that moshe who moshe only took dictation from god god actually authored the torah moshe took dictation why didn't moshe object why didn't moshe say i'm not putting that in the book that's not me god you know that i don't like the spotlight the limelight i don't want the accolades i'm not putting in the book that i am more humble than anyone else isn't the very fact that moshe included it in his own book or not his own book in the book of torah that he took dictation for isn't that a contradiction to his humility number one question number two after that la shanhara is spoken the positive describes that god appears to mo to miriam and aaron suddenly paraguay-based pasik dalit hashem the three of you out the three of you need to leave right now but he appears to him pit om suddenly we don't see the word suddenly in the torah only in two places this is one of them why does it have to say that god spoke to them suddenly as opposed to suggesting he took his time and spoke to them later why suddenly please god will will address both of those questions next year pasha's bahaloshka until next time stay happy stay healthy and stay holy