Parsha Perspectives for Today (Emor, 5784/2024) - Know Your Greatness

Good morning, Boca tove to all. May we hear besoros tovos as we celebrate a very happy Yom Ha'atzmaut. Tremendous gratitude to the Ribono shel Olam for the gift of the miracle of the modern Israel. I think since October 7th, we have a very stark realization of what the Jewish world would look like without an IDF, without an Israel. Remember Hamas's charter is not to wipe Israel off the map. It's to kill every Jew everywhere. And without a strong IDF and without a strong Israel, the knowledge of a home and a homeland and a place to go and a place we defend ourselves, October 7th is a stark reminder of what our world would look like. So, what an absolute miracle. And I always say to those who wonder whether indeed 76 years later Israel is a miracle, I ask you, would the UN today vote to award the Jewish people a homeland, the State of Israel? And to even think about that, one can't help but realize what an absolute and incredible tremendous miracle it is. The Torah learning that's taking place, the Torah life, and the vibrancy today different than any other in the past. I heard last night, I don't know if this is true, that this is the first Yom Ha'atzmaut that Israel's been in the middle of a war. Israel's other wars did wars did not overlap with this time of year. It's a day to express gratitude in whatever halachic way we choose to, which no one's in judgment of anybody else. Everyone needs to figure out what's right and works for them. But whatever meaningful way to say to Hashem, thank you. Thank you for this gift. Thank you for this incredible gift. Because everybody knows that when you're grateful for a gift, then the giver wants to give you more. And when you're ungrateful for a gift, the giver says, "Give it back. I want to take it away. You don't even appreciate what I gave you." So, it's a day to be incredibly grateful for this gift. Want to thank others who've given us gifts, the series sponsor of the parsha series, Becky and Avi Katz and family in memory of Becky's father, l'ilui nishmas David Grossman, Dovid ben Menachem Manash. Today is also a very a day, a happy birthday to Chana Russ Grossman, David Grossman's granddaughter, wishing her a very happy birthday. Should be a year filled with simcha and simchas, a year filled with good health, she should give nachas and get nachas and wonderful things. Today she is also sponsored by our beloved friends Pam and Prosper, a bitball commemoration of Pam's father's yahrzeit, Lester Greenberg, Eliezer ben Mayer, neshama should have an aliya. And thank you to the the Abitbols for all that they do. We have the privilege of reading and learning parshas Emor, page 672 in the ArtScroll Stone Chumash. Vayomer Hashem el Moshe emor el hakohanim bnei Aharon viamarta aleihem lenefesh lo yitama be'amav. Hopefully we're going to get past this first pasuk. We've already previous years I was looking back to see what we were up to, what we left out, where we could pick up. And we already shared many many interpretations of this opening pasuk and yet there's still every year there are new. That's why it's so hard to get past the first pasuk and I know now you're going to tell me start from the end, work your way backwards. I got it. We're working on it. We're a work in progress. Be patient. Be patient with me. So Hashem speaks to Moshe and he says emor el hakohanim bnei Aharon, speak to the kohanim, the children of Aharon, viamarta aleihem and tell them lenefesh lo yitama be'amav, a specific law that pertains to the kohanim, to the priests, namely they cannot defile themselves, they cannot become contaminated to a corpse, to a dead body, to a dead person among the people. And of course all the commentators jump out, all of them are equally bothered. And this is what we investigated in the past, why emor viamarta, the redundancy, the repetition. Emor, if you're speaking to them, viamarta, then you're saying to them. Speak to them and say. It's a redundancy. Why do we have this repetition? Why do we have this redundancy? Let's start with Rav Druck. In his new sefer Lahavos Eish, he quotes Rashi, emor el hakohanim emor viamarta lahazhir gedolim al hakatanim. We're going to come back to this, but this is to create an obligation, a mandate on the adults to inspire the children. If an adult cohen, any cohen in here today? If an adult cohen, Rabbi Brand, adult cohenim have to take their minor children cohenim, a boy not a girl, a bas cohen is not obligated to protect herself from defilement, she can go into a hospital or to a cemetery, but it means an 8 9 10 11-year-old boy cohen also can't. So, cohenim have to model and explicitly teach and communicate to their children. But, why the double language? Yishlam kefeilas halashon. Why do we have the double language? Emor el hakohanim bnei Aharon. And cohenim and bnei Aharon. Everyone focuses on the double language of emor ve'amarta. Speak to them saying. But, there's a different double language of Druk points out, and that is emor el hakohanim. Speak to the cohenim. What qualifies one as a cohen? What determines if someone's a cohen? They are the children of Aharon. So, say either cohenim or bnei Aharon. Why the repetition, the redundancy? Why the kefeilas of bnei Aharon hakohanim, hakohanim bnei Aharon? So, both Yishlavarsha and Torah Balak say cohenim should not become ritually impure by a dead person. The Torah here comes to enjoin the cohenim, to warn them, be careful, be vigilant, be scrupulous, protect yourself from contamination. It's a very high level. It's a very awesome level of mindfulness, of consciousness, of of awareness, to always know your surroundings and your circumstance and your environment, and protect yourself. Be careful. Don't become contaminated. But, not so much today because of dead people. Today, when we all are walking around in a state of defilement to a corpse, because it's something we're not careful about careful about, non-cohenim, we don't know what's in a hospital, and we go to cemeteries, we don't know who and what is being transported underneath the airplane and in regular regular everyday life we are in contact with this tumah. We don't appreciate the kosher, the challenge, the difficulty of this mitzvah. The level of awareness you had to live with I don't want to even compare it to this, you know, but and we want to forget about this. But during Corona, right? Somebody got Corona, are you a rishon or a sheni? What exposure did you have? What day are you up in the count? What did the CDC say? Did you quarantine? Did you all kinds of rules that you had to learn. Turns out in retrospect most of them made up and ineffective, but all kinds of rules that at the time we did the best that we could with what we knew. I'm not criticizing. We did the best at the time with what we knew. Turns out most of it ineffective and unhelpful. Some suggested that even even then, a topic for another time, but but similarly when it comes to tumah, spiritual contamination, a person had to know, are you a primary source of tumah, a secondary source of tumah? What's your quarantine? What's your exposure? Where are we? How is it transferred? So a person who was living a life of vigilance, of care not to become contaminated had to know, you know, this tumah, this contamination is transferred only by contact. This, even if I lift something, if I don't contact, I'm lifting a mattress, someone's lying on top of it, I'm lifting something, someone's on top of it, or the tumah is on top of it, I'm not touching it directly, but I'm lifting it. This, if I lie down on it. This, there's all kinds of very complicated rules. So a person's entire life revolved around that whole awareness. Where are you holding? What were you exposed to? Did you Were you contaminated? What's your status? What can you touch? What can you touch? What can you touch? What can you touch? What can you transport? What can't you transport? Where can you lie down? Where can't you lie down? What's chulin and what's trumah? What's consecrated food and what's just mundane regular food? K'ilu as if it's not tamay and it shouldn't be a dayim because you're not allowed to contaminate trumah. V'lo l'grom l'tumah. In kein k'she ba Torah l'tzavos mitzva zu l'chol yafeh yafeh me'acharei when the Torah comes to command every one of the priests to be aware and careful and vigilant harei zu mitzva unkoshi godol, this is very hard, very hard. She'tzrichin l'hizhar l'shomrei k'hol k'dusha b'prat v'klal k'she hu rashi af al pi she hu gadol umaktonim to train a child from a very young age inkein tzrichin l'tzavos l'leida k'she hu gadol l'tzavos zu o k'zeh. So, what's the most effective way to get children to be motivated and inspired to live with this level of mindfulness? How are you going to get children to buy in? To care? To be careful? Be'eis hatzura l'tzavosam kein zeh davar she'kol ha'am halo chaveirim she'einam kohanim Cuz what's going to happen? This little kohein goes to yeshiva and now something happens at the playground in the building, there's a creepy crawly sheretz, there's food which may transfer tumah. So, their friends, the Yisraelim and Leviim have no they can eat what they want, go where they want, touch what they want, lift what they want, lie down where they want, do what they want. But the kohein, the teacher's always after the kohein, be careful. You can't go there in recess. You can't attend that class. You can't come to this assembly. You can't lie down, sit there, touch that, lift this. So, that child kohein is living a very different life than his peers and contemporaries. And you know who kids don't like? They don't like that double standard, those dual rules. They don't want that. They don't like that. So, how are you going to get the child to buy in? L'kach tzarech l'daas tov eech l'hizhar gedolim u'ktonim. How are you going to do it? So, says Rav Druck m'lamed es ha'Torah omeret keitzad yesh l'tzavos mitzva zu she'kol ha'am mitzavin al kol ha'mitzva tzrichin yomar al ha'kohanim b'nei Aharon. The first thing you do is remind them, I'm about to give you rules. And they're inconvenient and they're uncomfortable and it feels like not everybody has to do them cuz they don't. And you may not want to, and you may not want to always. It's inconvenient. But you know why you should? Cuz here's the thing. You are bene Aaron. Wow. You're Jewish royalty. You're Jewish dignity. You're dignitaries. You are distinguished. You are special. She your roaming most of the year as the year do came kiddo show me more fresh show me more dull than ain't no more no show me shoot him. You're not ordinary. You're not regular. You're special. And because you're special, there's special expectations, and special rules, and a special life, and a special lifestyle. And if a child, an adult for that matter, feels that you know you're royalty, you're special, you have a mission, you have a role, and that comes with inconveniences, and it comes with discomforts, but it's worth it cuz of who you are and what you're representing in the life you can live. Be called the show me my gear my gear on my roaming my son from the strength that you elevate and that you enrich and that you empower. Come on deal them Kelly and let's not be too rough Harris. Yeah, you have to live differently. Royalty dresses differently. Royalty has a different set of rules. Royalty have different rules of etiquette. And Jewish people are bene malachim. We are the children of Hashem. We are royalty. And the cohanim among us are special designation of royalty. And when a person feel you're royalty, do you know who you are? Do you know what you represent? Do you know how you live? Do you know who you have access to? Do you know where you come from? Wow. So now you'll rise to the occasion. If it's punitive, you can't know, don't, unlike everybody else, suffer, too bad, then nobody wants to. But if you elevate, and empower, and enrich, and charge with a mission, then a person is more likely to embrace. So bene Aaron of him or Aaron the coin by here Hashem, do you know who zaida was? Do you know who great Zayde was? Let me tell you a little bit about him. Do you know from whom you descend? Do you know whose genes you carry? Do you know what he did and what he represented? It's possible. It's beneath you. It's below you. You're royalty. You don't dress like that. You don't act like that. You don't speak like that. You don't go there. You don't do this. Not because you're less than, because you're greater than. Because you're royalty. The rise to the occasion. That's why Moshe turns to the Kohanim and he says, "You are benei Aharon." Let me tell you a little bit about where you come from. Let me tell you about the legacy that you carry. Let me tell you about your family narrative and family story. So, even before you get to the instruction, you have rules. There's a rishon and an acharon. You have Adam and Kayin and Moshe. You have all kinds of rules of Torah. Even before we get to the rules, the first thing I want to tell you is benei Aharon. So, it's not a redundancy. And more than Kohanim, the first thing you should tell the Kohanim is benei Aharon. You're the children of Aharon. We asked, "Why are we repeating Kohanim and benei Aharon? If they're Kohanim, we know they're benei Aharon. If they're benei Aharon, we know they're Kohanim. Why are we repeating it? It's redundant." The Duke is answering, "We're not repeating at all." Now, reread the pasuk. Vayomer Hashem el Moshe, Hashem spoke to Moshe. And more than Kohanim, speak to the Kohanim. And the first thing to say to them is benei Aharon. You are the benei Aharon. V'amarta aleihem, and because you are the benei Aharon, I've got some rules to tell you. Because you're children of royalty, you're princes and princesses. Because I'm empowering and enriching and charging you with this mission. And now that you know and embrace that you're benei Aharon, V'amarta aleihem, let me tell you something. L'nefesh lo yitama b'amav. This is the reason the author of Slobodka should have got lost the whole philosophy of Slobodka. And it was successful. It doesn't mean Nevada can tell them weren't. We have great traditions of Nevada and those who came from Kelm. But if you look at who is the who's who who planted, replanted, seeded the Yiddish kite we have today in America in the in the 20th century they were tell me them graduates of Slobodka Can you think of any? Who were they? Ruff Hutner of Ruderman, Rabbi Teitz Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetzky The who's who of the Gedolim of the last generation not coincidentally were graduates of Slobodka. Because the author of Slobodka built a philosophy and an energy in Slobodka of Godless Adam. Others other schools of muscle were shiftless Adam. You're garnished. You're nothing. You think you're someone and you're something, your future worm food. You're pathetic. You can't even say no to the Cape Cod potato chips. You can't even control how much matzah you eat on Pesach. You can't stop saying lashon hara. You're always late to shul. You hit snooze 14 times on the alarm. You're a garnished pathetic ice farf worm food nothing. And for some that worked. Talk I'm a nothing. I'm humbled and I'm modest and now I can make myself a something. The author of Slobodka came from the entire opposite approach. Do you know who you are? Do you know what you're capable of? Do you know the potential? Do you know? Do you know the possibility? You're royalty. The Godless Adam. You are but David says in Tehillim you're just below God. Do you know you are? Do you know the genetics you carry? Do you know the every Jew is? Do you know you're capable of Godless Adam? I've shared before the author of Slobodka had a tailor on staff of the Yeshiva. You know why? Then they didn't have a closet, no wardrobe full. You didn't just go on Amazon and order another. People didn't have a lot of suits, shirts. The altar had a tailor on staff because if a button fell off a suit, you weren't allowed in the base medrish. They didn't walk around with dandruff on their on their shoulder. They didn't walk around missing a button. They didn't walk around all creased and all wrinkled. They didn't walk around dirty and ring around the collar. If you didn't look dignified, You know, my my mother grew up in Elizabeth, New Jersey was dear friends with her by Titus' children and describes grew up in his home. She never saw him without his frock. She never. Maybe I think a bathrobe once in Miami on vacation over his suit uh you know. But the godless are them. Godless are the dignity, the dignity of men, the being regal. I remember as a child visiting by Titus carried himself. He walked into a room, royalty entered the room. That was Slobodka. So if you want to elevate and you want to charge the next generation of cohanim and you want to get them to be vigilant and careful and scrupulous about laws that their peers don't have to. How are you going to do it? By telling them, "I'm sorry, it's shvartz is ein a year. It's too bad, but you have to and you're going to give up and it's miserable." No, you say, "Do you know who you are? Do you know what you represent? Do you know the privilege of being bene Aaron?" By Yom HaShoah Moshe and more on the cohanim, the first thing you say is, "Bene Aaron." We have to be teaching our children, "Do you know how gishmak it is to be a yid? Do you know the privilege? Look around this world." I just told the story of the Klausenberger at Yom HaShoah. I wrote it in the weekly last week. The Klausenberger who when being beaten and on the ground and was challenged, "You still think you're the chosen people?" Said, "Yes, as long as we're not the ones doing the beating. As long as we're not shooting the rockets. As long as we're not decapitating children. As long as we're not lying about civilian casualties. As long as we're not holding hostages underground, then yes, we are still the chosen people. Do you know what a privilege it is to be the Hashem we have to turn to our children and when they see what's happening on college campuses, that may make them want to be less of a Jew and hide their Judaism and assimilate to the opposite. You know what a privilege it is, how proud you should be. Do you know that you're royalty? You have to display what you have to project, how you have to carry yourself. The Aaron and they of goes on here and there's many more pages on this particular topic. Based on the mission of us, but we're going to move on. But this is the first idea of Druc. And more and more, he focuses not on the redundancy of more of a matter, he focuses on the redundancy redundancy of why we're repeating and the answer is we're not. Speak to the and the first thing to say is the Aaron. To tell our children every day. I think it was Kamenetzky at conference stood up and said, the critical thing to teach all of today to teach our children is a matter of the matter. You need to know we were chosen from among all the people. We are the chosen, we are the choosing people, we are privileged, what an honor, what a privilege, what a that we have. Let's live up to it. Let's carry ourselves with that with that designation. We are royalty. We are royalty that we need to know, what we need to know, what we need to know. Turn out to the matter of the matter. He has six bear with me interpretations on the opening of this matter. I told you no matter how many we've offered in the past every year there are new ones. What can we He begins by calling the matter of the matter of Chernobyl. Call you cream and this message you'll say, "Rabbi, like move past the first pasuk." I asked if there are any Kohanim in here and one person raised their hand. So, new should I move on? It's enough. Okay, the Kohanim got his vote. How about the rest of us? Is the Torah only speaking to the Kohanim with these opening psukim? What's the message for the rest of us? So, the Chernobyl Maggid said, "Call Israel Korean Kohanim. All Jewish people are called Kohanim." We are a mamleches Kohanim, a kadosh. Kim over the Hashem is barked at you masa Kohanim. What the Kohanim are to us, the priests, the teachers, the role models, we as a people are to the world. That's why collectively we are called a kadosh and a mamleches Kohanim. Vayomer Hashem el Moshe emor el Kohanim sheyomar l'Yisrael sheyiyu bnei Aharon. So, the Chernobyl Maggid said, "Read the pasuk that Hashem is speaking to ganz Klal Yisrael." He's speaking to everyone and he's saying, "Yiyu bnei Be like the Kohanim. She is nagua anava v'shiflus ruach. Be humble and modest like Kohanim. Carry yourself like priests. K'darko u'midosav shel Aharon." Aharon, what was Aharon's character trait? How was Aharon known? He was What does the Mishnah tell us? Ohev shalom v'rodef shalom. He was a He was a peaceful person. He loved peace. Like Klal Yisrael, we don't spew hate and rhetoric and celebrate death. We are the descendants of Aharon. Some literally and others metaphorically, but collectively we are the the heirs of his legacy to be ohev shalom v'rodef shalom. K'chish es atzmo b'anava u'v'shiflus u'v'fakhos l'gabei Klal Yisrael. With his humility and modesty, he thought that he was less than the rest of the Jewish people m'meila yei'akhil es atzmo m'nei'eim. You know what the biggest obstacle to peace is? You know what the biggest reason and catalyst for machlokes is? Ego. Ego. People's ego gets in the way. I'm not talking to this one. I had a fight with that one. I can't sit next to this one. Don't seat me with that one. I won't invite this one. I'm not talking to that one. Why? Ego. So, you know how you make peace? Get rid of the ego. Ego stands for edging God out. Get rid of the ego. The ego is this big interference with everything. The Anochi stands between us and God and the Anochi stands between us and others. That Anochi, that ego gets in the way. Get rid of the Anochi, the ego. Aaron HaKohen didn't have an ego. So, he was the Ohev Shalom, Rodef Shalom. You can make peace between people. You know why there's no peace? You say, "I'm going to him. I'm going to her. Let her come to me." People stand on principle, on honor. Ego. Say, "Yeah, go to them. I should apologize? Let them apologize." Apologize. Apologize. I have a saying. My kids know I have a saying. Take the high road, you never run into traffic there. Always take the high road. There's never traffic on the high road. Not a lot of people taking that route. Take the high road. You have to apologize. Go to them. Don't stand on ceremony. Get rid of the ego and make peace. That's Aaron. That we learn from Aaron. Because of the word "Omer" by Benai Aaron and not by Benai Moshe. So, why why? If this is really a message says the Chernobyl to God's holy people, to everybody, not just the Kohanim, why does it say Benai Aaron? Say Benai Moshe. Moshe also was an Anav. There was no Anav, no humble person as great. So, said the Moreh Nevuchim, his father of the Chernobyl Maggid, Moreh Nevuchim of Menachem Nochum of Chernobyl, "Ki yesh lifamim odesh noyi ba'anavah. Ach k'sheyavo me yagiya ba'am venisu'o, yakbir alav, ish kaze eino nikra Anav." There are people who are humble unless somebody attacks their humility. They're humble. They're they're well-known for being humble. They get a lot of honor for being so humble. And now somebody's going to challenge their humility? Now all of a sudden, out the door goes the humility. That's not called humility. He wasn't he wasn't arrogant with how humble he was. He was humble because he thought how less than he was, which is what positioned him to be able to make peace, and it's a message therefore for all of us, number one. Number two, the Noam Megadim says the following. The Hazak Gedolim and Ketanim like the Bedichiver says, The Kohanim are particularly vulnerable because they have a position of distinction and prominence. They can easily become arrogant. They're in charge, they have the spotlight, they have the platform, they're the influencers of Klal Yisrael. It can easily go to their head. The Kohanim state Tshuvas Bedavah. Kaitza Yuchal Yisnatza Machshavah Sagius? How can they avoid avoid arrogance? Number one, put in their heart You think you're so arrogant because you have this position? Guess what? You didn't earn it. You know why you have this platform, this prominence? You know why you have the spotlight? Because Bnei Aharon, you happened to be born into the family of Aharon. There's nothing about you that makes you any better. Don't be proud, don't be arrogant. You didn't earn it, you didn't achieve it, there's nothing special about you. You won the genetic lottery that you were born into Bnei Aharon. So, this pasuk is all a strategy how to keep the Kohanim humble, and what's the strategy how to keep the Kohen humble? By reminding him there's nothing special about you. A moral Kohen, the first thing you tell him is Bnei Aharon. This is the exact opposite of the first interpretation. Rav Druck's interpretation, ooh, like the Alter Rebbe. You're Bnei Aharon. Do you know who you are second interpretation is nothing special about you you happen to be been a on don't let it go to your head you were born with the right last name you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth you were born you won the genetic lottery you just been a on don't let it go to your head the exact which is true both it depends what you need to hear today both both are true that's number one and then he goes on cable show number three the bus iron look at the bus iron the hill of the bus iron quotes he did a lot of stuff to me the second actually he's going to be my last summer martial arts martial arts martial arts martial arts she's going to tell me that martial arts martial arts martial arts martial arts another way to keep them humble remind them been a on Aaron had four sons you see only two sons what happened to the other sons not of an audio they overstepped they overstepped they tried to get creative they tried to express individuality and it cost them their lives so I'm more like on and tell the coin in been a on what happened with been a on see how beautiful the Torah is we could sit here and offer 50 interpretations just on the words been a on been a on who you're great been a on who knows just an attic been a on focus on what happened to the story of the been a is it it's the Torah is so beautiful it's this which tapestry it's possibility it's incredible the different interpretations shall I follow you or no we're also very elevated and exalted and call that but it didn't help them when they overstepped the boundary when they got too creative and independent cost them their lives so when you review and remember the story of the been a on and more tell them been a on the story of Nadav and Avihu. And that will keep them humble, it'll keep them modest, and it'll keep them compliant. Don't get too creative. Be compliant, be obedient, follow the will and the word of Hashem, of Hashem. That was number three in the Rachamim Shifka. We're not done yet. Let's keep going. The Noam Elimelech, Rebbe Elimelech of Leżajsk, the holy Gaon Elimelech quoted by David Israel and others, and more the Amarkha. So Rashi says, we saw la hazir gedolim al hakatanim, that the mature adults have to model and emulate and teach and communicate what it means, this responsibility, to the younger Kohanim. So there's a lot of implications I've shared previously. A pregnant isha kohen, a woman married to a kohen is pregnant, can she go to the cemetery? How do you know what she's carrying? If she's carrying a little a little male uber, a little male fetus, maybe she can't go to the cemetery. So must she take a pregnancy test? Is a pregnancy test today reliable? Uh uh let's say a test that can tell you the gender. Does she have to have a sonogram? Does she have to have a gender reveal party? Does she have to have uh These are interesting halachic questions, not the gender reveal party part, but these are She has to have a gender reveal party for her to know where she can go and can't go. Different people have different minhagim, depends where. So la hazir gedolim al hakatanim has halachic implications. But says the Noam Elimelech, Rebbe Elimelech of Leżajsk, Kivimeshach Hashana Yesh Lanu Zmanim Tovim, he reinterprets this Rashi. Listen to this, it's so beautiful. The notion of la hazir gedolim al hakatanim is not just talking about adult Kohanim to young Kohanim. La hazir, la hazir is from the lashon of Zohar, la hasir means to radiate, to illuminate, to brighten, to inspire, gedolim al hakatanim. Kivimeshach Hashana Yesh Lanu Zmanim Tovim, Every year has highs and lows. There are the highs. Who can forget the incredible farbrengen we had with the Geder Russia Shiva when he was here. The Mosha Weinberg was here and other the rallies for Israel and we had incredible highs and moments this year. Collectively as a community and individually just had a beautiful Pesach and surrounded hopefully by the family with highs, highs. And then you have lows. You feel all alone. You're spiritually disconnected. You're tired and worn out and exhausted. When you have a high, bottle it, bank it, file it, feel it and be able to draw from it and remember it when you're in a low. When you get to the low, don't say that's it, I'm done, I'm done going to the gym, I'm not working out, I'm not being careful on this diet, I'm done, I'm turning in this husband, I'm turning in these children, I'm turning in this car, I'm turning in this career, I'm turning in the Daff Yomi, I'm done with the parsha class, and when I he just says the same thing every week, I'm done, I'm done, I'm feeling done, I'm finished. No, la hasaga dolam al hakatanam means be able to reach back from the high. Experience the high in such a way that it's not fleeting, that it's not gone, that it doesn't disappear. Be able to return to it. Be able to enjoy it. Yishai Ribow concert. For me it was like a memory of a lifetime. What an amazing day. It was just it was unbelievable. I was telling you how it was the other day. If Yishai Ribow would call and say I want to come back to Boca, I'll do it for free, another concert, I think I would say no because it can't live up to what we had. It could only disappoint. And I don't want to ruin that memory which is unbelievable. So then you're in a rut, la hasaga go back to to Go back to that. Listen to that music. Literally or figuratively in your head it go. Remember that Remember that Pesach seder table. Remember that trip or vacation. Remember that experience with your spouse. Remember that davening that you had. Remember that learning that sheer that transport transformed you. L'Hachzer Gedolim L'Ktanim said the normal malach is a strategy for life. It's a strategy for life. Live the great moments in such a way that they're not fleeting. That they don't disappear. You know, like on your phone there's disappearing messages? So, turn off the disappearing messages. Don't have the great moments of life be disappearing messages. Bottle them. Make the memory book. Create the little video star. Write down a diary or journal. Do something that captures them so you could come back to them. So, you could still draw from them. That's how you have to live life. I do I do a fair amount of marriage counseling. Not professionally. I always refer out to a competent trained professional. But, as a rabbi, whatever I offer, and I often say to the couple, "Let's start with this. Before you tell me how miserable, how terrible, how everything's wrong today, let's go back to a time that things were right. Why did you fall in love with her? Why did you fall in love with him? What did you admire? What were you drawn to? What were his virtues? What were his character traits? Have you had any good time recently? Were you on a vacation? Was there a Yom Tov? Did you go out on a date night? Was there a conversation? Was there a connection? L'Hachzer Gedolim L'Ktanim. There are highs and lows in relationships, professionally, religiously, and in all aspects and areas of life. This is the strategy, says Rav Eliyahu Melech, L'Hachzer Gedolim L'Ktanim. Don't disconnect the two. And don't let Don't live this life just now and forward. Bottle and capture an experience in such a way that you can continue to draw. In the good times, no, you're going to crash. It's not going to last forever. You're going to come down from it. That's life. It's hard to be on a high forever. It's hard to stay on top of the mountain. You come back from the vacation, and you come back from the villa comes to an end, and the Yom Tov comes to a close, and the highs have a low. And you goes back home with his band. There's a low. The highs end with a Be ready. Be prepared. Manage your expectations. Invest in how you're going to navigate. Furthermore, says the normal man. I knew how to take him. The greatest in Yidden Allah Katanum. And that's I'm not going to read the English. It's to spare you. But he says that the great people and the great people and the great people. Turn to the great people, the great people, the great people to not diminish or dismiss or feel you can violate the great people, the small things that are insignificant and unimportant. Okay, so let me say for sure more. The last one in the in the great people. He says the great people and the great people and the great people and the great people and the great people. The great people and the great people and the great people and the great people and the great people and the great people and the great people and the great people and the great people. We need the great people among us to radiate and to shine a light on the others. The great people I shared this in the great people recently cuz we're up to the great people and the great people. The great people. We started with the great people. Closing in on 600. We're up to We're up to the great people. So the great people and the great people and the great people and the great people and the great people. Who are they? What are we doing for them for? Why are we including them? So we shared there because the righteous any the the great people and the great people and the great people and the great people any that happens in any generation is only because of the tzaddikim." We're only riding the coattails. It is in the merit of the righteous among us. And when we struggle to connect Hashem, when we're buffering, we have a very low-speed connection, we have no connection, we have half a bar out of the five bars, I can't connect. How do you connect Hashem in those moments and at those times? Hotspot. You find somebody who has a high connection and you create a hotspot. Tzaddikim are the hotspot. Hashem, I'm struggling. I don't see you, I don't feel you, I'm struggling, I'm uninspired. But that tzaddik, I saw the way he lives, I see the way she davens. I'm connecting through them. We turn the tzaddikim into a hotspot. Lahazeir gedolim al hakatanim. Gedolim, be willing to be a hotspot for the katanim. A person something comes easy, they're living more righteous, they're living a higher level, they're living an example, lahazeir gedolim al hakatanim, be a hotspot for others to connect with. Last on this pasuk and then I promise we move on. Machatzke Winefeld, shlita. Tremendous talmid chacham in Yerushalayim. Ramat Eshkol, I love his Torah. So I want to share two quick two things from him. Number one, parsha begins with many mitzvot that apply to kohanim. The Gemara in Yevamot says, "Shiny kohanim, hol over ribui beheima kasher mitzvot ze zeirus." Kohanim are different. Gemara in in Yevamot stuff, chei mem aleph. Shiny kohanim, kohanim are different. Why? "Hol over ribui beheima kasher mitzvot ze zeirus." Kohanim have many more mitzvot. They have a different life and lifestyle, they have many more obligations. They're unique, they have more mitzvot that apply to them. So you could ask, "Why? Why do the kohanim need more mitzvot? Why are they specifically the people who have more mitzvot?" Kohanim are typically on a higher level of kedusha. Where do they hang out? In the Beit Hamikdash, in the Mishkan, doing korbanot, bringing korbanot. So you'd think, if you hang out in the base of migdash, if you're bringing carbonos, if you are the teachers and leaders of claw Israel, if you live on a higher level, should you need more mitzvahs or less mitzvahs? I would have thought you need less mitzvahs. So why dafka they're the ones all the ribat bahem hakasav mitzvahs he said, why do they have more mitzvahs? So says Rav Weinfeld shlita, perhaps the answer could be, listen to this insight. Dafka because they're on a higher level, they need more mitzvahs to help protect them and guard them as a shmira. Going in Sukkah and daf nun beis amud alef tells us, kol hagadol mechavero yitzro gadol heimenu. This is a very brilliant Torah insight the rest of the world doesn't understand. The secular world thinks the more brilliant, the more charismatic, the more artistic, the more accomplished you are, so the less vulnerable you are. The less vulnerable you are. Yiddishkeit Torah says no, kol hagadol heimenu. The more brilliant, the more charismatic, the more creative, the more accomplished that you are, the greater you are, the greater your yetzer hara. The yetzer hatov and the yetzer hara they work together at the same level. For a person to have free will, for a person to have free will, if your yetzer hatov, if your capacity for good were up here and your yetzer hara were down here, so you didn't really make any choices. You didn't really have any free will. Says the yetzer hara, it ain't a fair fight. So Hashem says they always go in tandem. If you're if you're, you know, down here, so your yetzer hara is, you know, temperature's down on it, it's down here. But if you're up here, it's up here. And without invoking any names, I'll just tell you, if you look at our world just over the last couple decades, my lifetime, there were great people, brilliant, charismatic, politicians, athletes, celebrities, leaders in their industry, business people, scholars. They were great. And so was their yetzer hara. And they did foolish, stupid things. And you say, "I don't understand. You're so smart, you're so accomplished. Look at where you are and where you did those things. What were you thinking?" You weren't thinking. What were you thinking? If you could freeze that frame and say, "You understand what's at what's at stake, what you could lose, your legacy, your reputation, your family, your position, your everything?" No one in their right mind would give all that up for that moment of pleasure. Elemi, what? Kosher godol emenu, yetzer godol emenu. The same ingredients that go in to making greatness also go in to having a great yetzer hara. A great yetzer hara. L'havdil, you see it. And I say this with great caution and incredible respect. I say it only Hazal Hazal are willing to, and he said it among about himself. Dovid Hamelech Dovid Hamelech was the most passionate poet, our greatest warrior, a king. Dovid Hamelech most accomplished. Dovid Hamelech is Dovid Hamelech. It's Dovid Hamelech. Open Tehillim, it's dripping with his passion. He was a warrior, went to battle and fight. He was a leader who led. He planted the seeds in the foundation of a Beis Hamikdash. It's Dovid Hamelech. It's Dovid Hamelech, the progenitor of monarchy. It's Dovid Hamelech. And it's Dovid Hamelech the Hazal tell us the stories about Avigail and with Batsheva and with And that's not a steer, that's not a contradiction. That goes together. That's the package. That's what the great person needs to navigate. Needs to navigate. So says Rav Weinfeld, Kosher godol emenu, yetzer godol emenu. With greatness comes not only awesome responsibility, but awesome temptation that needs to be navigated and enormous challenges. So therefore, that's why the opening of our parsha. the Kohanim will hang out in the mikdash, the Kohanim will bring the carbonos, they need more mitzvahs? They should need less. The answer is they need more. Their greatness, their distinction, their prominence positions them for a big downfall. The higher you are, the harder you fall. So therefore you need more barriers and fences and protections. If the higher you are, the greater you the greater you are, the harder you fall, so the greater you are, the more shmira you need, and that's why the Kohanim have more. To illustrate this point, the Mishnah tells us, There were 10 miracles that happened in the Beis Hamikdash. One of them is the Kohain Gadol in Yom Kippurim, that the Kohain Gadol never became impure on Yom Kippur, making him ineligible to serve. Tosafos Yom Tov on that Mishnah writes the following, Why is that a miracle? We separated, we sequestered the Kohain Gadol for 7 days. No wife, no images, no internet, no billboards on 95, nothing that might stimulate him. We don't want him to have an emission that could render him impure. So 7 days we sequester him, and he learns through the night, and he's surrounded by these old men. It's not an environment of temptation. So it's such a miracle that he didn't have carry? Says the Tosafos Yom Tov, "A chuva ki yetzer Because again, they're always commensurate, they're always competing. Because even in that situation and environment, the moment that he's about to engage the high level of kedusha of Yom Kippur, the yetzer hara is working overtime. The Yetzer hara is working overtime. We're going to see this we're going to come back to this in a moment cuz we're going to see this in a moment in one of the warnings of the of the Cohen Gadol. But first, parsha Vayikra turn the page. Wow. Turn the page. The Cohen doesn't only have great responsibility in his lifestyle and how he has to live. He also therefore earns and merits greater greater prominence, greater respect. He has the kidash to means that he gets the first aliyah. The kidash to means that we honor the Cohen with leading the benching. The kidash to means there's a prohibition. You can't ask a Cohen, "Could you get me a a cup of water? Could you go get me that thing, fetch that thing for me?" The kidash to person has to honor the Cohen. Rashi quotes, "No one should do anything before the Cohen." The Cohen goes first. Every kibbutz, you're going axe throwing in a motzei Shabbos. One of your friends is a Cohen. Bechavon, you get to go first. The kidash to the kidash to levarech, first aliyah, leads the benching, gets to go first for for everything. The hilchos oitzer plus a Torah, we haven't been with the oitzer plus a Torah in a while. He has a an everything. He has an arichus, a whole essay on the kidash to honoring the Cohen. He discusses what happens if you have two chasanim on the same Shabbos. One's a Cohen and one's not. Who gets the maftir aliyah? Who gets the Does it matter who got engaged first? Does it matter whose wedding is coming in the week first? If one's a Cohen, does he automatically go first? What about the kidash to when a Cohen is a katan? We said a Cohen is a katan also has to be careful, can't be exposed to tumah, can't go to the cemetery. But do we also have Does the Does the 10-year-old Cohen get to tell his 30-year-old cousin, you get me a drink, I don't get you a drink, I'm a Cohen. The kid has to. Does it apply even to the cotton? To the cotton? Cotton not by the Voda. Cotton's not yet eligible to do the Voda. What earns you the covered of being a Cohen? Your genetics, you're a Cohen but not a Voda or that you qualify for the Voda. So, the one who does the Voda doesn't do for others. Then he has the following, huge finish. In the Machzeh Shekel. Can a Cohen ask another Cohen to do something for him? Can a Cohen Can Rabbi Brand ask Rabbi Shocket could you get me a drink? Is it only a Levi Israel that can't ask a Cohen? But another Cohen can? A Cohen doesn't have to give the other Cohen the first portion or the other Cohen to lead the benching because they're equal. But in in Shemush, in asking him to get you a cup or bring you your slippers, so then maybe he can't be Mocha. Interesting. Shiva of the Machzeh Shekel Sofer, Yeshua Yankev disagrees. Shema Cohen shares the Voda. The kid has to is only an instruction to the Israel, not to a fellow Cohen. He has a whole interesting here about about how this applies to Cohen. If the daughter of a Cohen would be desecrated through adultery a Cohen's daughter had an affair. A Cohen's daughter acted promiscuously. She desecrates not only her own dignity but her father's name and legacy. After all, she's a best Cohen. Now, you'll say, is that fair? Because she's a best Cohen, is that fair? The worst words in the English language you can say to my children because you're a rabbi's child. So, because she's the cohen's daughter, she has a different, more severe punishment? Is that fair? The answer is that's what comes with being a bas cohen. She also gets to eat trumah. So, she's married. She has certain she has certain benefits of being a bas cohen. So, that's what it means to be a bas cohen. Benay, ooh, you're a bas cohen, you're a princess. You have to be extra careful, extra vigilant. You can't behave or act in this way. Rashi says Why? She gets this but ishti, sorry, she gets s'reifa. Why is the punishment different for a bas cohen she'zinsa who has infidelity? Because she desecrates her father. Why, says Rashi? Because people will come and say about him oh yeah, he's that's that's the guy whose daughter had an affair. That's the cohen whose daughter cheated. Lashon aposuk omer darsheini, says Rav Zuk, this posuk is very peculiar. Ubas ish kohen ki sechel liznos Translate the words sechel liznos. Esavia him chalos ba'ishti s'reifa. Translate the words ki sechel liznos. Somebody translate for me. What? The word techel, sechel comes from the word chilah which means to begin. She began liznos. Al haTorah balakun mikra shebas kohen's zinsa ba'on shebas s'reifa. Ba'ishti s'areif. In kein it s'ruch lomar bemiluk tzaros. Ubas ish kohen ki tizneh kitizaneh If the daughter of a kohen was promiscuous, had an affair What do we Ubas ish kohen, the daughter of a man who's a coin, "Ki sechel is nos." "Es avia hi mechalele's." "Tzarkh beer ma'amar ki sechel is nos." "Haschala zum upirsha pishra." "Maper Harei eina niona kamarak biznos atzma." What she did is having an affair. She didn't begin to have an affair. "Ki sechel." She launched her affair. She ignited her affair. No, she had an affair, that's what's punishable. So, the language of the possuk is peculiar, says Rav Druck. "Achin yesh lomar." "Habir bizasha Torah ba lomar ki here. How did this lovely bas kohen, how did this great, beautiful, wonderful, God-fearing bas kohen get to a place where she was mezana? She was promiscuous. "Eikh histada derakh kokhakh al avera kazos she'onshin bisreifa?" How did she lower herself so much to behave and perform something that is punishable with death, with with burning? "Ba'tshuva sreifa. Ba'tshuva shebe'emes iskhila rak midvarim ketanim ki sechel." "Erakhi skhila ketzas miderekh letze sachutza. Bakasher maskhilin poskim pesak be'yetzer, ein gvul is da derakh misof magi'a ikdei liznos." The answer is it began "Ki sechel." She started dressing like this, watching this, speaking like this, hanging out with those people, experimenting with this. It all began somewhere. Was it Was it confronted? Was it dealt with at the very beginning? Or did it not get acknowledged or recognized, was it swept under the carpet until it became full-blown, a point of no return, of infidelity, of promiscuity that leads to sreifa? "Ki sechel liznos." It's a reminder that it all begins somewhere. A parent has to be vigilant. We brought in experts substance abuse and addiction in our children. What are the signs? What can you look for? I don't mean, you know, their eyes are red, they're high, they're drunk. They're I don't mean the obvious signs. What is peculiar? What is a different change in habit or pattern of behavior? What what is someone very protective of their room, of their things, of their There are all kinds of patterns. And a parent is responsible not to be so distracted by their own life that they don't even notice Kise Chel is no nose. Kise Chel, there's a beginning. It starts. It all begins and it all starts with someone. We have the same story about Dina. Pasuk says, "Vateitzei Dina, the daughter of Leah, went out." We know Leah was the first has to hashtag me, too. Leah was assaulted and abused and attacked by Shechem. But where did that Dina, I'm sorry, Dina. But where did that begin? How did that story start about Dina? The answer is Vateitzei Dina. Cuz she went out. Just going out with friends. Just going out to check the party. I'm just going out to that place to hang out. I just want to experiment and try this once. I just want to see what it's like to wear this. I just Vateitzei to be some to somebody who goes out. Because it's a very, very sharp decline. It's a slippery slope. When you start to go out, you could end up on the bottom of that slippery slope. Don't just try. Don't just be curious. Not just a little. Not just this once. Not just because Kise Chel is no scissor of drug. It all goes after the beginning. Keep your eyes open. Look for the signs. For ourselves, be careful, be vigilant not to even try once. And that's why this possuk begins with this sort of peculiar language, "Ki seichel lisnos." Back to the coin, perek aleph, possuk yud gimmel. Aleph yud gimmel. "V'hu ishah b'sulah yikach." The Cohen Gadol, we move over to the Cohen Gadol now. The Cohen Gadol, the high priest, has to marry a b'sulah. What's a b'sulah? A virgin woman. "Almanah, grushah, v'chalalah, zonah, es eileh lo yikach." He cannot marry a widow, a divorcee, a chalalah, a zonah. "Kim sulam me'amav yikach ishah." It has to be a p'sulah, never previously married. "V'lo yichalel zar b'amav k'eni asher mikadesh." We're talking about the Cohen Gadol. Correct, we're talking about the Cohen Gadol. There was a family of Kohanim, the Chida, the Chaim Yosef David Azulai. Azulai, a family of Kohanim. Azulai stands for "Almanah, grushah, v'chalalah, ishah zonah v'chalalah lo yikachu. Ishah zonah v'chalalah lo yikachu." Azulai, a family of Kohanim. That's how the Chida got his name. "Almanah, grushah, v'chalalah." Why can't he marry a grushah? Why can't he marry an almanah? A regular Cohen can't marry a grushah. A Cohen can't marry a divorcee. A Cohen Gadol is at the level he can't even marry an almanah, a widow. He can only marry a woman who wasn't previously married. Why? Why? So, this is wild. Are you ready? Listen to this. Listen to this. Unbelievable. Tell you an incredible Moshav Z'keinim. An incredible Moshav Z'keinim. Moshav Z'keinim, the Ba'alei Tosafos say, "Tam niflash nistaveh Cohen Gadol l'isah b'sulah davka." "Shiv nish'ah Cohen Gadol b'ias El Kodshei Kodashim, he amaskar es Hashem b'meforash b'Yom Kippur." The Cohen Gadol is the sole unique one individual who goes into the Holy of Holies on the holiest day of the year, Yom Kippur. By the Hashem before he recites the ineffable name, he recites the explicit and holy name of Hashem. So, when you invoke the holy name of Hashem, you know what power you have? You have the power of life itself. So, the coin Godol goes into the Kodesh Kadashim on Yom Kippur and invokes the holy name of God and says, "I doubt that person should die." The motion of the Kodesh Kadashim of the Baal Shem Tov says So, we're talking a thousand years ago. The motion of the Kodesh Kadashim of the Baal Shem Tov says, "You know why the coin Godol can't marry the a widow? Because we're worried that at the kiddush the coin Godol met a woman, he saw her across the room and he said, "Ooh, she'd make a good wife." And while he's in the Kodesh Kadashim on Yom Kippur, he's going to invoke the holy name of God and say, "God, let her husband have a premature death so that she's eligible for a shidduch with me." And because we're worried that that's what's going to be on the mind of the coin Godol on Yom Kippur in the Kodesh Kadashim. He's going to be thinking about some woman whom he wants to marry, but he needs to get her husband out of the way first and he's going to use the divine name to kill him. For that reason, Kohanim Gedolim, you can't marry widows. So, you can take that off the table. Now the coin Godol knows that the shidduch when he speaks to the shidduch, only a besulah. He's got a very narrow short list. I can only look at the file of besulahs and therefore he's not going to be thinking that that terrible plan. Wow. So, when the Otzar HaPoskim quotes this and is bothered by it, he says here, "The Admor Munkatch, the Munkatcher Rebbe, showed him Shakhshash Shel Moshe Rabbeinu Zakenim Hayah LaKohanim Gedolim Sheb'Zman Beit HaMikdash HaSheni. Chalilah, chalilah, the Moshe Rabbeinu Zakenim Ba'alei Tosafot was not talking about the ordinary Kohen Gadol. No, what Jew that's on his mind, that's what he's going to think about, that's what he's going to conspire to do. The holiest place in the holiest day in the holiest moment with the holy name of Hashem? God forbid. But we know that we went through a period during the Second Beit HaMikdash, She'Hayu Mitkhalfim B'Chol Shanah U'V'Chol Yom HaKippurim She'Hayah Kohen Gadol She'Lo Hayah Shanim. Didn't even live out a whole year. Every few months there was a new Kohen Gadol. Why? Because they were so such lowlifes, such they used their money to buy the position. They weren't worthy. They weren't worthy. It was a totally corrupt position in the time of the Beit HaMikdash HaSheni. So, that's who we're talking about. That's who we're talking about. That's who the Munkatcher told the author of the Otzar HaPoskim HaTorah, that's who we're talking about, that's who the Moshe Rabbeinu Zakenim was talking about. That's what he says. But it's not what everybody says. It's not what everybody says. L'Havdil Bein Kodesh L'Chol, what does the Rav Chok say about the same Moshe Rabbeinu Zakenim Ba'alei Tosafot? The same Rav Chok, he says the following. Quotes the Moshe Rabbeinu Zakenim who gives the reason, Nimtza'enu L'Meide'ah Mide'ah Moshe Rabbeinu Zakenim She'Hu Gadol B'Koach HaNefesh Shel HaAdam. He says the opposite. It's not only the lowlife corrupt miserable Ba'alei HaSheni Kohanim Gedolim who did this, what you see from here is just how vulnerable every human being is. Hareini Kohen Gadol Adam Mukdash Beyoter Al Yad Adamas. U'K'Fi She'Amar Medrash Rabbah Parshat Acharei Mot, "B'Chol Adam Yei'Aber O Ma'al B'Chol Ha'Olam." Because of that I'd say so. Amar Rebbi Abahu, "MiYom She'Adam Hayah LaKohen Gadol U'V'Chol Yom HaKippurim Hayah Mitkhalfim." Amar Rebbi Abahu, "Kohen Gadol Lo Adam Hayah." K'Fi She'Amar Rebbi Pinchas Ben Yair, "Kohen Gadol Lo Adam Hayah." The coin got all his face radiated like a like a angel. And yet, he was still a human being. He was like holier than an angel. And yet, and yet, this is how vulnerable and how fragile every human being is. This is not just a bias shaney issue. There are great people. There were great people. We have great rabbis who fell prey to the Yitzhara. Lost it all. Because of the Yitzhara. When a person thinks, "I'm not vulnerable. I'm not at risk. I'm a certain age. I studied a certain amount of musser. I have certain gidarim and filters, and therefore I'm not at risk." That's when you're the most at risk. When you think you're so great, you're not at risk, that's when you're the most at risk. You know who was at risk? The coin got all on Yom Kippur in the Kodesh Hakodashim expressing the divine name. Even he was at risk. Oh, but that woman at the kiddush. Maybe she's good for me. Got to get that guy out of the way. Even he was at risk of thinking about that woman in that moment in that moment. That's why, says Rav Druck, "What's the lining at Mincha on Yom Kippur?" What do we read? Parshas Arayos Acharei Mos. We read about the Arayos, forbidden, illicit, promiscuous relationships. Why? It's the holiest day of the year. Hashem, like, what are you doing? That's what you're putting in our mind? Mincha on Yom Kippur. Our stomachs are grumbling. We're our breath is miserable. It's Mincha on Yom Kippur. We're like angels. We're aspiring. Holy day. And you're going to make us can't sleep with this one. Don't marry that one. Don't cheat with this one. Don't think about that one. That's what we're reading on this holiest day. Yeah, cuz even on this holiest day your mind is wandering. It's a big long master. Your head can go all kinds of places. Don't think about that. Be vigilant. Be guarded. Be careful because everybody is vulnerable. Pessach says "Es asher achas tira." Live with awe and reverence and fear of Hashem. And we know we dash in every S in the Torah. S is an extra word. It could just say "Hashem achas tira." Why does it say "Es achas achas achas"? Also honor your your older brother. Why does it say "Es asher achas tira"? Should just say "Asher achas tira." Es achas achas achas achas achas meaning don't just live with awe and reverence for Hashem. Live with awe and reverence for achas achas achas. Said the Kotsker "Es asher achas achas achas achas achas achas achas achas achas achas achas achas achas need achas achas achas." Kotsker "Es achas achas achas achas achas is not that you should have achas achas achas achas achas. The Es achas achas achas achas achas achas achas achas achas also need some achas achas achas." I need achas achas then you'll call it achas achas achas. They finish achas. They know achas achas achas achas. Yeah, said the Kotsker "Es achas achas achas achas achas. Achas achas achas achas also need achas. They also need achas achas achas." Back to achas achas so achas achas says "Call achas achas achas achas achas achas achas achas achas achas achas quotes this achas achas achas." And he says you see from this achas achas achas you see from this achas achas achas that the achas achas is vulnerable. Achas achas is vulnerable. You see this also the achas says something amazing. I'll end with this. You shall be missing the beginning of achas says the achas will be separated from his family and remain achas achas for achas for seven days. A backup achas achas what's that called? Understudy. The backup coin god of the understudy. What's that called in theater? Understudy? The backup the understudy coin god was also set aside as a replacement for the current coin god though in case he couldn't do the avodah. The Yerushalmi Yoma asked if the backup coin god would be placed in the Lishkas Panim with the coin god. So the 7 days the coin god was sequestered alone. Do you put the understudy with him or do you keep him apart? And the Yerushalmi says Mishum d'eima yachad imei, why? You don't put them together. You set them because katlei oso. We're worried the coin god is going to kill him. Coin god might take out the competition. What if the understudy is better? Better? What if they want him instead of me? We don't put them together because this is a Yerushalmi. The coin god is going to murder? He's going to kill him? We see from these examples. The greater a person, the greater a time, the greater a place the greater the yetzer hara to stumble. Therefore, specifically the coin and the coin god need extra mitzvahs, need extra shmira, need extra shmira. And then Rav Weinfeld goes on here, gives more examples. He quotes from the Tanya perek chof ches. Tanya Tishacha misgaber, asheinim is amitz l'hisgaber. The notion of being misgaber. Regarding the Yerushalmi mentioned above, the coin god might kill his replacement. The Gemara Yoma says, one coin god, you know the story of the coin running up the ramp of the mizbeach. And what happened? In the effort of the privilege to go do that avodah, what happened? One of them stabbed another. Stabbed another coin in the mikdash on the ramp of the mizbeach. Yeah. That's the power of the yetzer hara. Holy people in holy places at holy times and holy activity still have a yetzer hara. Have a greater yetzer hara. We need to be aware. The greater you are, the greater your feeling, the greater the moment then the greater the yetzer hara is going to work overtime in order to bring it all down, in order to be able to take it away. As always, we have a lot more to share, but we leave it here. Wishing everyone a day of the sort of tovos. May it be a great day for Am Yisrael and klal Yisrael.