Parsha Perspectives for Today (Kedoshim, 5784/2024) - Making Space for Every Jew

Good morning, boker tov to all. With the wish and a tfila for besuros tovos that should be a day we hear good news, please God. Our hostages should be brought home. Our soldiers should have a sweeping victory and return to their families and klal Yisrael should hear only besuros tovos. It's great to be back together again to continue to explore the parsha. I hope everyone had a beautiful, wonderful, uplifting, and meaningful Pesach. Want to begin as we always do with our attitude of gratitude and thank our incredibly generous parsha series sponsors for the year, our dear friends Becky and Avi Katz and family in memory of Becky's father. Our learning is l'iluy nishmas David Grossman, Dovid ben Menachem ben Monish. This morning's shiur is also sponsored by Myrna Hershorin in commemoration of the fourth yahrtzeit of her beloved husband Marvin. We remember him very, very well. He was an incredibly active member and exemplary member of our community. And by Ellie and Amy Buzaglo in memory of his dear mother, Masuda bat whose neshama should have an aliyah as well. This week we have the privilege of learning and reading parshas Kedoshim together. We are in the ArtScroll Chumash, page 656. Vayidaber Hashem el Moshe lemor, God spoke to Moshe saying, so we already did the first pasuk. We're moving right along. That's the easiest pasuk. The second pasuk of the parsha we could spend not an hour, and not 10 hours, or 100 hours, we could spend 100 days straight just exploring the opening pasuk of our parsha. Dabber el kol adas bnei Yisrael ve'amarta aleihem, speak to the adas, the eidah, the collective, the congregation, the gathering, the assembly of the Jewish people. Ve'amarta aleihem, and this is what you should tell them. Kedoshim tihiyu, be holy. Why? Why should you be holy? Ki kedosh ani Hashem Elokeichem, because I'm holy. You should be holy, I'm holy. V'eiter, let's move on. There's only one problem. What is holy? Holy is not a Jewish word. I don't want to say the ArtScroll or any of the translations are wrong, but they're wrong. It's It's not a Jewish word. Holy is really a Catholic or Christian word. What does it mean to be holy? What does it mean to be holy? We've explored this many, many times in the past, but I want to share with you new many new interpretations today, this year. You could listen to the previous year sheer room. Rashi and the Ramban push him to you be separate, be apart, be distinct, be different, to separate and to elevate. Kedoshim, holiness, a Jew lives for holiness, a Jew does not live for happiness. We live in a world where everyone's living for happiness. And you know what they are? Unhappy and unholy. We Jews live not for happiness, but we live for holiness. And you know what happens when you live for holiness? You're both holy and you're happy. You find meaning and you find purpose and you tap into the essence of existence and of creation. So, we live for holiness. We need to define therefore what is holiness and what is it that we are what is it that we are living for. So, we have many interpretations. The Amora's Taharos, the Hilchos Arach Mishrif God's holy name and the living who passed away last year, he quotes from many. Begins with the Moreh Nevuchim, the Chernobyl Rebbe. In the Moreh Nevuchim, the Chernobyl Rebbe says, "Ha Torah be vasara's one of the Alicia's also Kadosh." The Torah here in formulating this mandate, this obligation of be holy does so in an interesting way. Kedoshim tihiyu. What is the word tihiyu? What tense is tihiyu? Past, present, or future? It's future. Now, we read it. I've always read it. Kedoshim tihiyu is an obligation. It is a responsibility. It's a mission statement. Be holy. Be holy in what you look at and how you speak and how you conduct your business, in your interpersonal, in how you relate to God, and how you relate to yourself, in your own self-worth and self-dignity. Strive for, be disciplined and sovereign, live for holiness. It is a prescription for life. But, that's not how the Moreh Nevuchim and many others, many other tzaddikim read it. They read it that kol ish Yisrael as Leah Kadosh, know that every Yid, every Jew in the future will be holy. Velo ta'avid shum nefesh Yisrael chas v'shalom. Don't give up on Jew. Inside every year there's a spark of holiness and sanctity. Inside every Jew is a piece of the Almighty himself. Kadoshim to you, every one of you will be holy. I right now maybe somebody's living a very unholy existence and life. Maybe right now they're not observing, they're not living, they're not practicing. Maybe they're caught up and maybe they're pursuing, maybe they're distracted by maybe they're indulging an animal impulse and instinct, immoral and unethical behavior. How can you say with confidence, how can you declare with such clarity Kadoshim to you, that every Jew has within them the ability and they will be able to express and realize and manifest their holiness? How can you say that? From where do you get that confidence? Says the Moreh Nevukhim, keep reading. God says, "I'm holy. I'm the essence, I'm the source of all holiness. And there's a piece of me in every one of you." There's a piece of Hashem inside every one of us, and where there's that piece of Hashem inside every one of us, it means every one of us is that tzelem Elokim. We have a chelek Elokah mima'al mamash. We are a unique and distinct, a singular manifestation, expression of Hashem in this world. And therefore, when we tap into that, when we realize that, when we express that, that is holiness because Hashem is holy. So every year is a big tzaddik Every Jew is a real tzaddik. Every Jew is a Every Jew has within them and maybe right now they're not living like such a tzaddik or tzadekes. Maybe right now they're not observing or practicing or living up to that aspiration. Not living up to that capability or capacity. That's okay. That's because there's a ruach shtus. Somehow there's a distraction, somehow they've been swayed, somehow they've been tempted, somehow there's stress, but inside there's that possibility. Hashem here is not giving a command. This is an entirely new reading of the opening of our parashah. Different than anything I had heard before. Kedoshim tiyu is not a command. Kedoshim tiyu is a promise. It's a promise. No, there's nobody who will lost. Don't give up on any Jew. What an important message. No matter how far someone has strayed, no matter how distant they are, no matter their life or the lifestyle they're leading, no matter how confused or how they think they're not confused, and how much clarity they have about why Judaism is not for them, don't give up on any Jew. Oh, mamesh, Kedoshim tiyu, believe in the promise of Hashem that every Jew is a big tzaddik, that there's a spark of holiness in every Jew, that they are redeemable, that there is a brighter future, that our best is yet to come. Ki Kedoshim Yesh Elokeichem. This is not a commandment or a commandment alone, it's a haftarah. It is a promise. It is a promise. Fascinating conversations happening online now of a whole segment of the Jewish world. And that's not the purpose of the parashah class, I won't get into it, but a whole segment of the Jewish world whose ideologies and his whole Jewish identity and religious expression were intertwined with movements that today are the biggest threat, most vocal and vociferous, disgusting opposition to Jewish existence. So, one wakes up and looks in the mirror and says, "So, who am I and what am I? If this is what I worshipped and what I was taught and who I aligned with and who I marched with arm in arm, and they're now marching against me and my existence of my people, so what's left? Who am I?" One such young lady wrote on Twitter the other day, she described herself as "hashkafically homeless." That she grew up in a certain denomination, which she now feels is is is had malpractice against her what it taught her and the direction it sent her in. And she's not comfortable either in Orthodoxy. She's hashkafically homeless. It breaks your heart, but there's a search, there's a yearning that's taking place. There's an awakening in the Jewish people. Much of it tragic and sad, but also filled with opportunity. What will it be filled with? And that's what the Torah is telling us Kedoshim to you. Nobody's lost. No one's irredeemable. Don't give up hope. Don't give up hope. Kedoshim to you, know that every Jew has within them the possibility and that promise of Kedusha, of holiness, of sanctity. Why? Ki Kedoshim Hashem Elokeichem. Because as long as they maintain the godliness in them, there's hope and there's possibility. There's hope, there's possibility. We gave a shiur, we spoke on the eighth day of Pesach about whether a person is irredeemable. Can one forfeit and lose their tzelem Elokim? Sinwar, Yimach Shmo V'Zichro, Hamas, and Hamas supporters and sympathizers and on campuses and in Congress and all over the world, can a person perpetrate such evil and support such evil in such a way that they lose their tzelem Elokim? And I brought many, many, many sources that say yes, that a person there's such an evil, such a line that one crosses. I'm not talking about the average person. Gossip, they said lashon hara, now they have no tzelem Elokim. But there is such evil which a person all they're left with is their animal soul. They're an animal, a savage animal. They used their free will to make such a choice that forfeited and lost their tzelem Elokim. Could lose your tzelem Elokim. If Rav Soloveitchik, for example, describes Hitler, Yimach Shmo, the Nazis, they were taken over by a satanic, demonic they lost their godliness. They were animals in the guise of men. And that's what these Hamas horrific the images which we shouldn't look away from which the world should watch and see and understand our moral responsibility to rid the world and purge the world in Rafa and everywhere Hamas are found. Should see that these are animals in the guise of men. That's not to insult animals which it is an insult to animals to compare them to animals. But it is to recognize our responsibility to not tolerate the presence or the influence or impact of people who've lost their element of human altogether. They made a choice. They expressed their free will in such a way to lose. But that's not Am Yisrael. Am Yisrael kedoshim to you. Not a tzivui but a haftacha, a promise. Kedoshim to you. Am Yisrael she kol Yisrael b'shom sham in a b'chlal kedusha every Jew wherever they are however they're living whatever their lifestyle, however they present themselves they're b'chlal hakadusha. Af ze she nimtza l'eis ata b'shafel hamadrega even the one who right now seems so low, so far so a adayin nishama kiyara b'shayaichus l'akadusha they still have inside them a connection, an identity with sanctity. Because there is still the innate and natural faith in Hashem. There is this inner knowledge that we have that there is someone and something bigger and higher that we don't come from nowhere. That there's someone who loves us. And as long as one is connected and intertwined with the Jewish people and the Jewish community there will be something, some awakening, something will happen that will introduce, reintroduce that person to the possibility inside them. To to spark, to that seed to that sanctity, to that yearning for that holiness, to that promise of Kedoshim to you. How does it come about? Daber el Kol Adat Bnei Yisrael. Where is this not tzivui haftacha, where is this not obligation but promise? How was it communicated? Where was it offered? Among Kol Adat Bnei Yisrael, Hashem said through Moshe, "Quick, gather. Be a community. Be unified. Have unity. I want to give you a mitzvah." So, the song say, "When do we have confidence that in every Jew there's that spark of holiness? How will the seemingly lost be found? How will the irredeemable be redeemed? How will those who are so far come closer?" K'she'eincham echad b'chol Adat Bnei Yisrael, muchadim b'chol Yisrael. When we are Adat Bnei Yisrael, when we're unified, when we're connected, when we create community that has space and invitation for them, too. When a person feels, "If my life or my lifestyle or my choices or my appearance or where I'm at is not tolerated or welcomed within the observant Torah community, then they'll never come back. They'll never realize that Kedoshim Tihiyu promise inside them." But when we are Kol Adat Bnei Yisrael, warm and open and welcoming, principled and unapologetic for who we are and for our values and for halachic principles and halachic practices, unapologetic, but still sensitive and warm and welcoming, "Ba'asher Hu Sham, where people are at, there is place for you. And we welcome you and we want you and we need you cuz we're incomplete without you. Ki Kedoshim Tihiyu L'Hashem Elokeichem. Mach Mach She'eish Lachem Emunah B'Kodesh Baruch Hu, Al Kein Tizku L'Chaim Aruchim. You want to be part of our community? You want to connect and focus on what we have in common? You want to be part of loving Hashem and trying to draw close to him? You want to reach in and reach out and reach up together? There's space, come, join." Kol Adat Bnei Yisrael, we have to make such a community. all of us, not our community, the greater omni soul community has to be such a community that makes such speech, such space that doesn't drive people further away, but invites them to come even closer by where they are at and how they are holding and where and how they are living. That's why that's the Israel. That's why you this half talk this not see what not command, but this half talk this promise is offered when we are called the Israel. All that is number one. Number two the total rock shifting out total rock. Tell us this the word has three translations. As I've said we've referenced some of these in the past, but we will invoke them again because of a new interpretation. The first is holiness. Holiness be sacred, be holy, be higher. They precious. Come push into the second is push. Be separate, be distinct, be apart. Don't dive into food. Don't dive into drink. Don't dive into physical materialism. Don't dive into intimacy. Enjoy it, experience it, but with sanctity, separate, different, apart. So we enjoy wonderful delicacy and delicious food. Just came off of we can enjoy a little less food. But we do it kosher. We make a before and after. We separate meat and milk. We do so with dignity and with separateness. We enjoy in the obligation, in the marital obligation of a husband and wife is the obligation and commitment to provide physical intimacy and pleasure. So we don't say look you want to get married, I'm striving for holiness, which means we'll only be intimate when we have to have children and other than that want to be holy. Judaism says nice try. That's not what's in the you're obligated. You have a commitment. You have an obligation. You can bring down different professions, different vocations, different frequencies, different complicated, but there's an obligation. The The act is not only one that leads to procreation, there's a pleasure component to it and an obligation to provide pleasure as part of it. But how do we do it? In the context of marriage with a commitment and a bond in the right time of the month after Tahara Samuch Bacha with a sense of Kedusha and Tahara, holiness and sanctity. So Porushim, separate and apart. The Rambam, the Rambam's Mishneh Torah, the Rambam's codification of Jewish law, his encyclopedia of Jewish law, which he did before word processors and computers and search engines while he was a full-time physician for the Sultan. What the Rambam compiled just in his Mishneh Torah is mind-boggling and the circumstances in which he did it, off of off having to flee for his life at one point from persecution, mind-boggling, maybe even undergoing a forced conversion, mind-boggling, mind-boggling. The Rambam's Mishneh Torah, in his encyclopedia, he calls the Yad HaChazaka. It's made up of 14 books. It's an encyclopedia divided into volumes, categories of Jewish law. And one of the volumes, one of the books is called Kedusha. And what appears in the volume called Kedusha? What do you think would appear in the volume of Jewish law called Kedusha? What laws? Certainly Yom Kippur. What other laws would you put in there? Maybe Shabbos. You know what laws appear in there? Eating, the laws of intimacy, sexuality, interpersonal intimate relationships. That's in Kedusha, that's in holiness, that's in sanctity. Yeah, cuz that's holiness and that's sanctity, to engage those physical experiences but in a way that's separate and apart and elevated and that's holy. Kedoshim to you. That's why what do we call marriage? Kiddushin. Harei at Mekudeshet li b'taba'at zu. The chassan turns to the kallah, he puts a ring on her finger and he says, "With this ring, you are mekudeshet li." What does that mean, mikudeshesly? You are holy to me. You are holy to me. What is he holy to me? You are holy you're hereby holy to me. What is he's making her holy, she's making him holy. Believe me, she's making him holier. I don't know how much holier he's making her. She's going to make him holier. So, what does it mean, mikudeshesly? You know what it means? You are separate and apart. Till now, the shulchan could go to town. You were eligible on the market for anyone. But now that we're married, you're mikudeshesly, pushing, separate and apart to me. You're also you're forbidden to anyone else. That's the second interpretation. Gimel lashon hachana v'hazmana. The third definition of the word kedusha, for example, in Shmos, anticipation and getting ready for Har Sinai for Matan Torah, Torah says, "V'kidashtem mayom machar." Prepare, get ready, sanctify yourselves today and tomorrow. V'kidashtem also means to prepare, to get ready. So, are these three separate definitions, or are they all somehow one? K'v'tchila tzrichin l'hafrish kol hamidos, so they're really all one. Says the Toldos Yitzchak, because kol haperushim mekusharim u'tluim zeh bazeh. All of them are intertwined. K'v'tchila tzrichin l'hafrish kol hamidos raos umdabrim dibur ra. First, you have to separate yourself from all bad middos. Don't speak lashon hara, gossip, and rechilus, slander, u'dvarim b'teilim chashash v'shalom. V'al deken asher lo asah hachana, v'liyas machamas zman hakabalah sh'bas hakadusha meiseh kadosh baruch hu. So, separate yourself. Through that, you'll be prepared to then live holy. All three definitions are really one and the same. Some of them will point out, Parshas Acharei Mos u'Kedoshim as we mentioned, the eitzah l'hagdil kedusha. How can you become holy? Al y'dei achdus v'reius. You might have thought, why is the mitzvah of kedoshim tihiyu davka given davka given how? Al kol adas Yisrael. Only when you're all united together and as one. I would have thought you want to be holy. If I want to be holy, I'm going to separate. I'm going to be apart. I'm going to go to the corner of the room. I'm going to go live in some secluded space. I don't want to see anything unholy. I don't want anyone to speak to me and I'm going to end up gossiping or slandering. I don't want to waste my time. I don't want to sit I don't want to engage in anything that's going to compromise my holiness. I would think that the path the path to holiness is by isolation. Living alone, that's how I'll be holy. In other religions, that's what they do. They retreat. Celibacy, vows of abstinence, vows of silence, living in communes, living apart and separate. Hashem says, "I want you to be holy. You know how you can be holy? You can't be holy if you're apart. You can only be holy when you're part of the community, connected to community, when you're congregating with community, when you're united with community. I don't care how you're living. You're never seeing the image, you're never wasting time, you're never speaking negatively cuz you're not speaking to anyone at all. If you're doing that, you may check a lot of boxes, but that's not holy. The sum total, it all doesn't add up to holy. You can't be holy if you're not part of a Das called Bnei Israel. If you're not part of a community, unity, unified, then you're not then you're not part of of holiness. You're not living with holiness. Okay? That is to begin. Now we move over to the Lamo says of Druke. The Halacha of Druke also talks about Kedoshim Ti'yu. It begins with the Medrash play of Devar Acharei Kedoshim Ti'yu. The Medrash says, Medrash Rabba, "Hodu Lashem Ki Yishlach Ezracha Mikodesh." We say a possuk from Tehillim perek chof. "Ya'ancha Hashem Beyom Tsara." We've been saying it with a lot of extra kavana these days. Hashem answer us in our time of crisis. Perek chof, say it every morning. And in there we have the possuk, "Yishlach Ezracha Mikodesh." Send your help from your holiness, from your sanctity. So, the Medrash is mufleh. Masha Yish Yesh Bein Kedoshim Ti'yu L'Yishlach Ezracha Mikodesh. The Medrash connects the two and says, "Kadoshim to you be holy. You shall Ezra send your help from your holiness." What does one thing have to do with the other? Just cuz both use the word holy? Two of them use the word holy, somehow we connect them? What's the connection between the two? Near so says the following. You may All of them believe that God is God but I don't have a question because the pressure measures could you person could say to themselves, be holy? How? Have you driven down I-95? Have you looked at the billboards today? Have you stepped outside and seen the way people dress? Have you engaged technology in any way with its temptations? Even with filters, the challenges. Are you living a life today of the financial pressure that we have and the invitation to cut corners, to cheat, to be dishonest? Do you know how difficult it is to get through a day and not share the juiciest that you have? The greatest commodity socially. It's hard to live our lives with holiness. It's very hard to guard your eyes and guard your tongue and guard your breasts. So much guarding. So much guard duty. It's hard to be on guard all day. It's exhausting. Just want to live free, indulge every impulse, every instinct. To not indulge every impulse and instinct, to be on guard of every component of who you are, to be ever mindful and present in everything you say and listen to and look at and do and every choice. It's incredibly, incredibly difficult, incredibly, incredibly hard. And moreover, the measure says, "You have to come on in. You might think you could be holy like I am." Says God. You could be holy similar but not You could be holy similar but not like me cuz my holiness is greater than yours. Need to get to a higher level of holiness. I have to get to such a high level of holiness. I might have gotten confused. I can be holy like God. That's how holy I have to be. Such holiness is even attainable, is possible? How? It's beyond me. How? Okay, I'm going to send you help in your quest and your yearning, in your ambition and aspiration for holiness. You know where you will draw help from? You know what will be the engine that will power you towards that holiness? Yishlach ezracha mikodesh, from my holiness, says God. Hashem says, you take a little step and I will meet you far away. You do a little bit, show a little gesture. Look away. There was the image you could have gazed at, you could have looked at. The thing you could have said, but you held your tongue. There was the act you could have done, but you didn't do it. You do a little bit, a little bit and I'm going to help you so much in the ocean. Yishlach ezracha mikodesh. But, the first step is you have to live for holiness, not happiness. There are a lot of a lot of observant Jews who are living for happiness, not holiness. They check a lot of boxes. Made it to minyan, went to daf yomi, I give my stock, I say my tehillim. I do I my shabbos, I did my yom tov, I spent my billion dollars on hand shmura matzah. Check, check, check, check, check. Can send my kids to Jewish school, send my kids to Jewish camp. Check, check, check, check, check. But, now when it comes to how do I speak and what do I look at and whether b'chlal is part of my goal every day, is part of the metric in which I measure my success for a day, did I strive for holiness today? Between myself and myself, between myself and others, between myself and God. And there are many people who say, "No." I check all the other boxes, I did all the other things, but that overarching, that striving for holiness, no. So, Hashem says, "I need you to just have the ambition. I need you to have the ratzon, the will. And if you have the will and the desire, if you want, then at least we'll start. You know, what's true spiritually is true physically. It's true physically. There are people who are not living the healthiest lifestyles. But some who at least acknowledge that and want to do better. So, they cut out a little bit. So, maybe they first didn't stuff their face all day, but that last opportunity for that last bite of the last piece of the last helping of the last dessert, they said, "You know what? I'm going to leave that on my plate." So, I tell them, "Okay, at least you're demonstrating that it's it's on your radar. It's on your radar that living a healthier life is something you should do. So, demonstrate something. Show it's on your radar in the least bit." By the way, there was such a thing the Tanas arrived at. The great Ravid, the intellectual adversary of the Rambam. He wrote his Hasagos commenting on the Rambam. He introduced what's called Tanas arrived at. Tanas arrived at is to leave over the last bite of everything you eat. Why? It sounds wasteful to me. Sounds like uh total bal tashchis. You know, you throw out the last bite. So, bal tashchis is not only when you put food in the garbage, your mouth is also a garbage disposal. And if you don't need to eat that, then your mouth acting as a garbage disposal is no less bal tashchis than putting it in the actual garbage. That's number one. There are many people who grew up with survivors and others in the mentality you can't throw any food out. And we understand where that came from, but it created generations with diabetes and heart disease and many other problems. And I I don't mean to assign them blame. It's understandable where it came from, a survivor mentality. You can't throw out any food, so you have to eat absolutely everything. But I want to tell you, and I'm not making this up, it appears in Sefarim that putting something in your mouth when you shouldn't be eating it is as much throwing it in the garbage as putting it in the garbage. It is no less bal tashchis. So, the Ravid used to leave over the last bite to demonstrate that I'm not eating in a gluttonous way, that I eat to live, I don't live to eat. And how does one demonstrate that? By leaving something over on the plate. Now, Ozempic makes that easy. But before that, there was a tiny mitzvah even to leave over that last bite and to not and to not eat it and to not eat it. So, why is that meaningful? Why is that meaningful? You know, the person who ate all Pesach, this was me, ate 10 meals a day Pesach, endless amounts of matzah, gluttonous and disgusting, but was such a great kanocker cuz they walked around the lake once each afternoon. Trust me, that did nothing to offset the quantity of matzah that's still sitting there, the quantity in the stomach. That's still Trust me, it did nothing. But you know what it did do? It demonstrated, I know right now that I'm unhealthy and I want to be healthier. I have an aspiration. I have a vision. I have a hope. I have a wish. I want to want. Hashem says, when it comes to ruchnius, kedusha, when it comes to holiness and sanctity, show me the want. Demonstrate a little bit, a little bit. So, you looked at something you shouldn't have looked at all the way, and at the last moment you turned away. Show a little bit. And yishlach ezro mikodesh, I will send you help. I will send you help. I will send you help. That's the yachol kamoni. You might think you could be you could be like me mikadesh you know the mishna says kadosh bo hu yachol af kamoni. You think Hashem could make us holy even like him? Yachol kamoni. Yachol. Hashem is going to help us so much you could become like me. It says similarly in Daf Nun Gimmel. Pischu li pesach kchudsha shel machat vaani eftach lachem pesach kpischam shel olam. Hashem says, you create an opening the size of the eye of a needle and I will make an opening the size of the entrance to Marlin's stadium. To an olam. To a huge hall. So, Rav Druck quotes his father, the Drash Mordechai, Rav Mordechai Druck that sound. The Gemara, notice it says pischu pesach k'chudsho shel machat." Hashem invites us and asks us, "Make me an opening as small as the hole of a of a needle." "V'ani archive lachem." It should said "I will expand it to be the size of the entrance to Giant Stadium." But it doesn't say that. It says you make an opening the size of the eye of a needle. "V'ani eftach." And I'll make an opening for you the size of the entrance to Grand Central Station. "Mashma she pischu she Hashem Kadosh Baruch Hu einenu means that Hashem is not just expanding what we started. Hashem is not just saying you get started in any measure and I'll make it larger, I'll expand it. Elu poseach chadash, pesach chadash l'gamrei mimakom acher." He's making something new entirely from a new place. "Nish Hashem Kadosh Baruch Hu doresh me'adam rak ishtadlus rishonus she'asa kol shebicholo b'dei l'hatzliach. Aval hatzlacha b'sofo shel davar yavo Hashem Kadosh Baruch Hu b'ein sof drachim acherim. V'itachen she'af drachim rishonim she'gam hem b'nisayon v'asa ishtadlus." Hashem Kadosh Baruch Hu is going to help in ways that don't correspond with your effort. We shared this in the Emunah Shiur many, many times, our Wednesday morning Emunah Shiur. We know that we have to do effort, take initiative, and then there's divine providence, intervention, hashgacha. But they don't always correlate. We have to do both, but they don't always overlap. I've referenced many times, I have a brother-in-law who's a lawyer in Israel. And he says part of a necessary evil of life of work is you have to network, you have to drum up business, you have to sell, you have to bring in clients, you have to be a rainmaker, you have to make it rain. So, every now and then he has to make a little more effort to do that, to make sure that if you're not going up, you're you're going down. He says inevitably and invariably every time he does, which in his case from Israel could mean trips to America, phone email connections, re- relationships, almost always business comes in afterwards that has nothing to do with the networking he did. A past client reaches out again, someone else referred him through somebody else. He shows the initiative and all the ways in which he showed the initiative didn't yield anything, but the results come in from somewhere else. So, you might think, well, what's the point of the initiative? Next time I'll just sit back and those results will come from elsewhere. The answer is they absolutely correlate cuz the one above is putting it all together. And the same thing is true in ruchniyus, in our ambition for kedusha. So, a person says, I'm going to demonstrate in this small way that I'm working on myself, that I want to be healthier, that I live for. Then Hakadosh Baruchu altogether is going to make an opening somewhere else, somewhere else cuz he says, you that's your ratzon, that's your will, you're demonstrating this dream, this hope, this aspiration, it's on your radar, you care about this and think about this? Good. Now, I'm going to open up the world for you. Not only expand what you've started, I'm going to create it differently for you as well. And that's why it's not any arichah, I'll expand the opening and the eftach, I'm going to open up worlds for you. I'm going to open up worlds. Rav Tzuker goes on more about this, but I want to move on to parsha, but what a incredible, incredible push and and motivation. Kedoshim tiyu is not a tzivui, it's not a command. It is a promise. There is the possibility for living with holiness. And no matter how much this world is assaulting us with images and opportunities and temptations, it is harder to be holy than it's ever been. Harder to be holy. I think it's harder to be holy today than it was in the middle of Greece. In in the in the worst time of the Olympians and and and the worship of the body and nudity, cuz we basically have that again today. It it's harder to be holy today, harder to be holy. A lot of women are looking at me like I don't know what you're talking about. A lot of men are like, absolutely, tell them, they have no idea. It is harder to be holier today than it's ever been. Don't give up on yourself or on others. That possibility, that promise is inside us. We have to make the gesture. We have to demonstrate the will. We have to want it, we have to want to want it a little bit. And then Kodesh Borchu will open up worlds to change things around, to introduce us to a new learning, a new Havrusa, to take away a temptation that might have been right in front of us, confronting us. Kodesh Borchu will open worlds for us. All we have to do is to begin to want it, to begin to dream it, have it be on our radar as something that we care about at all. Okay, one more. One more and then we'll get past this opening possuk. One more from the Lab of Ish. This comes from the Kotsker. Ah. So, in Megillas Esther it says this says the Noach and the end of the Megillah, the ninth perek in the penultimate perek, Megillah tells us that the rest of the Jews in the rest of the kingdoms of the king Nikalu, let them gather the Amona Nafsham and stand for their lives. And then they'll be able to rest from their enemies and kill their enemies. The Kotsker Rebbe says, What is it that they gathered not only physically, but they gathered their Ratzonus. What they do is they collaborated together. When the Jewish people collaborate, Amona Nafsham, there is nothing that can stop us. Nothing that can stop us. You know when we defeat our enemies? When we collaborate and when we combine our efforts and when we unite our strengths. When we are competing, when we are conflicting, when we are criticizing one another, we're done. Our enemies our enemies defeat us. The Kotsker Rebbe redefined Nikalu is the Lashon Nif'al. Nikalu doesn't just mean to gather physically. Nikalu means to collaborate. It means to work together with our strengths. Then, nobody can stop us. And the Kotsker Rebbe explained our parsha similarly. This parsha was given when we are united. We shall Israel actually come and learn. How can we defeat our enemies? Be they physically or be they spiritually. When we unite and collaborate, when we combine our skills and our talents and our focus and our will to want to create a certain community. The army can only work together. The paratroopers and the tanks and the engineers and the combat and the intelligence when they're all united. If they're competing, they're criticizing one another, forget it. It's over. Our enemy will pounce. And the same is true in the army called Am Yisrael. Am Yisrael, we have to recognize and collaborate and stop criticizing and understand the different units that we're made up of and take all of our skills and all of our talents and all of our strengths and use them together and only that way will we win. Love. Told you we turn the page. Page 660. In the stone partial is one of our favorite partials. It is chock-full of It is incredible. What is the common theme? Why does it come in this order? Why do the juxtaposition of the all worth studying? All worth studying. We take so much time. Partial is fantastic and how to decide which to focus on. Again, listen to previous years. We focused on previous ideas. This year we are introducing new ones. Partial partial partial love. Most of all we shall not be tempted to be bad. Do not commit a provision of justice. Do not favor the poor and do not harm the great. With righteousness shall you judge your fellow. Here is an instruction of how to judge. So you might be inclined if you have too much sympathy, you might be inclined to You might be inclined to I the poor. You know, the poor person maybe did the wrong thing, but never they're poor. So, I'll find in their in their favor. Or maybe the rich, well, they're rich and I'm so impressed and I want to get in. So, I'll find in their favor. You know what that's called? A perversion of justice. It's very hard for judges. Very hard. I've been to court several times on behalf of others for different reasons and in a different context, including sentences. And every time I realize I can never be a judge because I would never be able to sentence anybody. Because you read the letters and you hear the testimony, you look at the people and you see how contrite they are and their regret and their remorse and the promise of how different it will be. It's hard. It's hard to be a judge and say this is the law and this is the rule and this is justice and justice has to be served and even with compassion and even with compromise, but there has to be justice. It's hard. I'll tell you something a little controversial that you may not want to hear. From the Torah law, women can't serve as judges. A law of women aren't witnesses or judges and one of the interpretations offered of why is it's absolutely not biased or sexist. The reason is because women What's the word in Hebrew for mercy? Rachmanus. It's the same word as rechem, which is a womb. A woman who carries and gives birth and nurtures a baby has a more innate inclination, intuition towards mercy, towards mercy. To be a judge, you have to suppress your inclination towards mercy. To a degree, you have to suppress that inclination towards mercy. So, there's a feminine there's a feminine natural intuition towards mercy, which a woman is capable of shutting off and expressing a more masculine objective, cruel, harsh justice. She's capable, but we don't want her to because we want her to be an amazing mother and grandmother and compassionate leader in a community who is expressing and motivating the mercy. I said it may make someone happy. But the reality is that we have different gender strengths and we want to promote those and support those and protect those, not confuse those. So, that's why there are different roles. So, the one with the who practices the doesn't serve in the position that needs to dial down to be able to have more din. So, all complicated. So, this here is reminding us of this complication that a person Don't do an injustice. Don't think that you're such a with such a mess that you're going to show mercy cuz mercy against one is cruelty to another. So, you have to practice justice. Don't show favor to the poor, don't show favor to the rich. But says the then kicks in and it's true not only in the courtroom, it's true in life with everyone with whom we interact, friend and family member. Judge people favorably. There's a mitzvah. Carry out justice. Carry out justice. Carry out justice not only in the courtroom, carry out justice in life means judge others favorably, give the benefit of the doubt. So, I want to tell you an amazing Diskin. It's an incredible Diskin. We shared this Diskin at the woman sheer last Torah. We gave a sheer on self-care. Is self-care a Jewish concept? Self-care. So, Diskin we shared this as a form of self-care. Listen to this Diskin. The why does the Torah juxtapose the story of the the takes a vow of absence not to drink wine, not to become contaminated, not to cut their hair. Why does that appear right after the story of the the wayward woman who was disloyal to her husband? Teaches us because whoever sees a wayward woman, you see result, the consequence, what happened to this woman who cheated on her husband, you need to react by striving for greater holiness, by taking a vow to become a Nazir. You see from your gold to ash bar also shall I hear. Well, why you saw the woman? What was the consequence? What happens to this woman? What's her punishment? She dies a horrific death. Isn't that enough to motivate you not to follow her footsteps? Why do you also have to go overboard now and take a vow, don't drink wine, don't cut your hair, don't become impure? Isn't it enough that you saw that she died a horrific, graphic, violent death? Isn't that enough? The answer is it's not enough. When you see that a person is capable of something, until now you said, "Yeah, the Torah has a law nobody should cheat on their spouse." But nobody would ever do that. Oh, so-and-so did that? That's like a possibility? People do that? That happens? Just seeing that, knowing that, that entering your realm of possibility, now you have to do something to offset that. That which you've now seen, that which now enters your realm of possibility, you need to do something to offset that. You need to take something upon yourself to be different than that. Lashon Ha Gemara ro'ah sotah b'kikulah. The language of the Gemara was, "If you see a sotah b'kikulah." Einah b'eir she'ro'ah sotah b'nisah, b'eis aveirah. It doesn't mean that you see her in the moment she did the sin. She rinista Rav Ada bar She'ilah. She did so privately, modestly. I mean, she did her immodesty in a modest way. It was behind a closed door. You didn't actually see it. What does it mean you saw it? What means you saw it is that you were exposed to it, you became aware of it. You read about it online. Somebody told you about it at the Shabbos table. Someone whispered it to you at the kiddush. That is what it means how I ro'ah. When you become aware, just becoming aware of indecent behavior makes you vulnerable to do the indecent behavior when it becomes the realm of possibility. So, listen to the matter of diskin says Until now I thought listen to this matter of diskin. Until now I thought why should you judge someone else favorably? Because never come there maybe you saw them in their worst moment not their best. Maybe you don't really understand what they're going through. Maybe you're not judging them correctly. You're not judging them favorably. It's how you would have wanted to be judged. So, when you see someone doing the wrong thing, judge them favorably. They're coming out of McDonald's. They were using the bathroom. They look like they're talking during davening. They had an emergency something they had to say. They did they came late to shul. They were helping a widow. They were helping a single woman who happens to be their wife. They were judge them favorably. Judge them favorably. So, until now I thought why should you judge favorably? Because it's a nice thing you're doing for Yanam for the other person. Says the matter of diskin, you know why judging them favorably is good for you? You're doing it for you. Because when they did something wrong you were just judging them favorably, now you saw someone doing something wrong and you're capable of doing it. But, when you judge them favorably, now you didn't see someone doing something wrong. It doesn't make you more likely to do it yourself. Is that amazing matter of diskin? So, be done is judge others favorably not for them. Judge others favorably for you. Because when you live a life that you're judging others favorably, then you'll never see anyone doing anything wrong and you'll be I can't do anything wrong. I never see anyone else doing anything wrong. Because all I see are people who are doing things right. So, this is a form of self-care. One of the way that you could take care of yourself is to not be exposed to and to not be tempted by and to not think it's in the realm of possibility because you never see anyone doing anything wrong. And how is it you never see anything anyone doing anything wrong? Because you're always down in the house. Anytime someone no, you benefit of the doubt. You know, everyone else is defense attorney. You know who lived that way? The Heiliger of Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev. The Berditchever always gave the Jewish people the benefit of the doubt. Always. We shared at the Suedes Mashiach. You know, Motzei Pesach, it's borderline embarrassing Motzei Pesach. The Klal Yisrael just stressed for 8 days, run out the door and line up around the block cuz they haven't had chametz to get pizza, to get a bagel, to get a donut. Like they haven't been fed in forever. It's borderline embarrassing. Embarrassing. They should be as excited We spoke about the Rosh Yeshiva of Shaul Alter Shlita said, you should be able to not sleep at night after Motzei Pesach with excitement to put your tefillin on for the first time the next morning after a week of not wearing tefillin, more than you are to eat your first bite of pizza of chametz. What do we do? We line up around the block to get chametz on Motzei Pesach and ah, tefillin, put on, don't put on, whatever. So, the Berditchever would have said, Rosh Alter quotes, the Berditchever would have said, "Hashem, look, isn't Am Yisrael amazing? They love pizza and chametz and donuts and bagels so much, they're lining up around the block, and even though they love it so much, for 8 days they didn't eat it for you." That's how the Berditchever would have said. Cuz that's how the Berditchever lived, Don Kol Hamitzrachos. He didn't see, "What a group group of ice farce that can't live without chametz till the next morning? They haven't stopped eating for 8 days and they got to go eat?" The Berditchever would have said, "Look at it, Am Yisrael's amazing. They love chametz so much and yet, they went 8 days without it just for you." So, if you're Don Kol Hamitzrachos, if you judge everyone favorably, you never see anyone doing anything wrong. If you never see anyone doing anything wrong, you'll never be tempted to do anything wrong either, cuz I can't do anything wrong when no one does anything wrong. You'll never be driven or tempted by it either. So, it's not a nice thing you're doing for the other, it is a nice thing we're doing for ourselves. Torah then goes on one of the laws in our parsha, Pasuk Zayin, Lo Sinas Achicha Bilvavecha, do not hit your brother in your heart. Hocheach Tochiyach Es Amitecha Velo Sisa Alav Chet. Rebuke him. Don't hate your brother in your heart. Confront him. Put it on the table. Have a conversation. Give feedback. Offer constructive criticism. For those who see it all of hate, and don't bear a sin because of him. Because of him. Because you know who's wrong? You might be right, but you're wrong if you don't resolve it. If you don't share it. If you don't communicate about it. If you don't have a conversation. If you don't have a conversation. Back to the holy shifka. And he quotes the following here. He quotes the following here. I don't care to hear. He quotes from the first of the zeal. I don't care to hear. Why do we have a double language? I'm going to have to warm up and leave the house in the rain. The things that leave our heart are received by the other heart the way that it left our heart. When you give rebuke or criticism, it only lands the way it was offered, the way it was given. If it's given harshly, if it's given deceitfully, if it's given hypocritically, if it's given judgmentally, if it's given with a holier than thou attitude, then it's not going to be received genuinely. But if it's given with love and with connection, in earnest, with care and with concern, and from the heart, then it'll be received that way. So, how do you ensure that that happens? Why is there a double language to hear? So, I don't have to hear it as I have to go. Leo's asthma yesterday as you have a diamond in your hand and you have a leaf. Should you have to go to the hospital and have a checkup with the doctor and get massive machine can deliver more heat and you have to leave or go to the hospital to have a checkup. I don't care to hear. Whatever you're about to offer rebuke about, first check yourself. First look in the mirror. You know when you point a finger, there are three pointing back at you. You point a finger at someone. You are always late. You are so obsessed with your technology. You always gossip. You always yell at me. You have no patience. You overspend. You're always late for the You always talk during davening, you you you you you. Whatever you're about to give rebuke to about, and you point that finger, there's three pointing back at you. So therefore says the verse is here there's the double language. Ho che ach to che ach es ami secha. Ho che ach kama, rebuke yourself, check yourself. You're good? Now to che ach es ami secha. Also check yourself, why am I sharing this? Why am I giving this feedback and this rebuke? Because I caught him? Cuz it's a dig at him? Cuz it makes me feel superior to him? Ho che ach, first check yourself, rebuke yourself about why you're giving rebuke. And then ho che ach then to che ach es ami secha. First check yourself why you're giving a rebuke, and only then can you give rebuke. Cuz if you're giving the feedback and the criticism cuz you care, cuz you love, cuz you want to uplift, you want to support, you want to strengthen, then you should give it. But if you're giving it cuz it makes you feel better about yourself, superior to the other, then keep your mouth closed. Then you're not in a position to be giving rebuke to anyone else. So first ho che ach, first check yourself, first of all. Are you good at whatever you're about to give rebuke about? Number one. And number two, why? What's motivating you to give this rebuke? Ho che ach, first check yourself, and only when it checks out, then are you in a position to to che ach es ami secha. Es ami secha. And then lo sisa al av chet. Then lo sisa al av chet. Why? Why does it say achicha? Reb Druck wonders, we haven't gotten to this yet, the Amarus Taharus and Halachus Ish. We got to expand our repertoire over here today. Why does it say achicha? So Reb Druck says, you know why it says achicha for this very reason. If you're coming to rebuke him because he's your enemy, then keep your mouth closed. It has to be your brother. Lo sisa es achicha bilvavacha. How do you not hate the person in your heart by making him into your brother? Make him into your brother. Make him into your brother. When the person is your brother, then it's genuine. He doesn't quote this, but we've shared before that when Yaakov Avinu comes up to the the shepherds at the well, and they're sitting around wasting their employer's money, cuz the day is not over, and they're just sitting there. He walks up and he says, "Hey achai. Hey brothers, what's going on? It's not calling time. It's not quitting time. Why are you just sitting here?" And they say, "Oh, you know, you're right. We should get to work." And they respond positively and favorably. And the commentaries wonder, why they're responding favorably, why they're responding positively. This absolute stranger, holier-than-thou, no one asked him, walks up and gives them rebuke and criticism from nowhere. Who is he? Why don't they punch him in the nose? What are you doing? You know why? Cuz first he says, "Achai. Hey brothers, what's going on? What's your name? Where are you from? What's happening? Did you see the Knicks game last night? Did you hear about the Yankee season so far? You're following what's going on with this, that or the You know, guys, I'm not sure it's quitting time yet. Maybe we should get back to work." When a person feels it's coming from a position of achai, achicha, when someone's your brother, I care about you, I love you, I want the best for you. This is about raising all of us. Tell me what I could work on. I'm sharing something you could work on. Then they respond well, positively and favorably. But when it's coming from position of an enemy, of the other, of touching me, of feeling superior, then everyone shuts down. Nobody's interested in hearing it. Prague your test, pasuk pasuk yirchas. One of the most famous mitzvahs are lo sikum lo sitor b'nei amecha. Don't take revenge against your members of your nation. V'ahavta l'reacha kamocha, ani Hashem. Love your neighbor as yourself. Again, this we spoke about a million times. So, don't lo sikum lo sitor. Sefer Hachinuch writes the following. Safer Hachinuch Mitzvah Resh Mem Aleph. Resh Mem Aleph. 241. Writes the following. Mishpat Shamayim. It's a Why is the Torah against revenge? It's a separate topic. Because in our davening we describe God as a vengeful God. God's allowed to take revenge. We ask God, "Kamma Kamma Hashem?" Right now, God go take revenge against Sinwar, against Hamas, against all those enemies, against everyone on campus, again who's protesting against Go, take revenge. Go show them who's boss. Go do your thing. But we are forbidden to take revenge. So, it's a separate topic. What is the Jewish approach to revenge? How do we understand that? Where do we fit that in? Why for God, yes, for us, no? But the Torah here tells us "Lo Sikom Lo Sitor." Don't take revenge. Now, there are two Torah forms of revenge. Lo Sikom Lo Sitor. One form of revenge is I went to my neighbor and I said, "Can I borrow your lawn mower?" Then he said, "No." Then he came to me and he said, "Can I borrow your chainsaw?" So, "You didn't let me borrow your lawn mower." Now, taking revenge. Torah says you can't do that. Lo Sitor is I say, "Unlike you who didn't lend me the lawn mower, absolutely use my chainsaw because I'm much better than you." That's Lo Sitor. Don't not do the act out of revenge, and don't do the act but remind the person and evoke what they did to you. So, the Safer Hachinuch wonders, why? What is the reason? What is the nature behind this prohibition of Lo Sikom Lo Sitor? Why is revenge forbidden? Listen to what he says. This is amazing. And this for me is amazingly strengthened. This helped get me through some difficult, challenging times in my career, in my life. Sheyeda ha'adam v'yiten el libo ki kol asher yakrehuhu mitov ad ra hu sibah shetabo alav me'et Hashem baruch hu. Whatever happens to you in life comes from above, comes from the Almighty for good or for bad. Umiyad ha'adam miyad ish achiv lo yedaber bil'ti retzon Hashem baruch hu. Another person couldn't do anything unless Hashem willed it and wanted it, unless Hashem allowed it. Al kein keshe yitzei areyu o yachi veyu adam yeda benafsho ki avonotav garmo. So when something bad happens, somebody hit your car, somebody stole money, somebody punched you in the face, somebody wrote something nasty about you online, somebody hung posters about you outside their house, somebody somebody did something harsh, hurtful, someone injured you materially or emotionally, and you're tempted to lash out, and you want to take revenge, and you want to show them your fury. Says that I say for take a deep breath and pause and recognize whatever happened came from Hashem. For whatever reason you needed to experience Hashem determined this is what's right for you. Now, should you hold the other person accountable? Yes. It doesn't say don't hold them accountable. He damaged your car, go to base then and recover. Have them compensate the damages. He embarrassed you, according to the Torah there are damages. If there are damages, you could recover the damages, but you can never take revenge. Why can't you take revenge? Because revenge would imply that he alone, she alone, the other party alone caused this. So you're going to get even. You're going to take revenge. But realize this is from Hashem. Now Hashem Hashem could have brought it about through many means. It came about through that party. Be compensated. Hold the other party accountable. But ultimately it comes from Hashem. We learn this from David and tell Shimei ben Gera was cursing out David he said don't take his head. This is from Hashem that I have to undergo this and hear this and absorb this and don't therefore don't therefore hold them responsible. David is our role model in this. So therefore revenge is really a lesson in an exercise in emunah. If you live within and feel the presence of Hashem in your life and you know that everything happens is from him, then you'll realize, "I'm not going to channel my anger against the person. Instead, I'm going to reflect, what is this meant to teach me? What am I meant to take away from this? Am I going to, you know, go on vacation with that person? No. Will they be my best friend? Absolutely not. If they injured me materially, should I be compensated? 100%. But my emotional energy won't be directed towards them because really what happened came from Hashem. They were just the shliach. They were just the shliach. Says the safer Hashem, that is what's going on behind this mitzvah. The Mashpia of Don Segal, shlita, points out from the sicha that all these psukim al lo chala chashbonos ma'aseh lacha v'at kamarei lacha. Lama ki ani Hashem. This series of psukim all end ani Hashem. Why? Lo sisna don't hate him tochiach lo sisna lo sisa v'ahavta ani Hashem. Why does this series of psukim all end ani Hashem? Because what Hashem is telling you is, if you want to have the most harmony in your life, if you want to have the best interpersonal, social experience in this world, ani live with emuna. Emuna, it's a message for tomorrow morning for the emuna shiur. Emuna will make you the most popular, most social, most harmonious, most peaceful, most happy person. Why? Because you're not filled with anger, resentment, fabissen, and misery. I don't talk to this one, I'm angry at that one, I can't be seated next to this one, don't invite me to same Shabbos as that one, don't put me at the simcha the table with this one, don't Why? Because ani Hashem. Everything's Hashem and you say, "Yes, I don't have to be best friends with that. Yes, that person injured me. I'm going to be compensated and made whole, but it's all from Hashem. So, I'm happy and I have harmony and there's peace because ani Hashem. If you live with emuna, you have harmony with all. And that's why these people end with a knee Hashem, a knee Hashem. We have to love Kamoka. The author of Slobodka says, Kamoka. Which again, through the years we've shared many interpretations. It's so many interpretations. This is a new one. The author of Slobodka said, new for me. The author of Slobodka says, what does it mean love your neighbor as yourself Kamoka? Kamoka means we do things for one of two reasons. Sometimes we do something cuz it's a mitzvah. Really, I don't want to be doing it, but it's a mitzvah so I have to. And other times it's a mitzvah, but I really want to do it. So I'm doing it, it happens to be it's also a mitzvah. Why do we love ourselves? We love ourselves. We take good care of ourselves. We give ourselves the benefit of the doubt. We pamper ourselves. We love ourselves. Why do we love ourselves? Cuz it's a mitzvah, cuz the Torah says to do it? No. Cuz we naturally love ourselves. So the after love when you have to love your neighbor, Kamoka. Don't just love them cuz it's a mitzvah. Love them the same way you so easily loved yourself, whether it's a mitzvah or not. That's how the author of Slobodka understands Kamoka. Kamoka means don't do it just because it's a mitzvah. Just like you don't love yourself only because it's a mitzvah. Love them the way you love you that comes so easily, not just because it is a a mitzvah. It's a beautiful love of station this also. But we are running out of time to call God the Torah. Why is it a call God the? Why is this the core principle in the Torah? What should we end with? We'll end with may save a token. I had some old ultra plastic toy I wanted to get into Orla. Can't eat fruit the first 3 years. This is the marker for those who have the minag of an up sharing. You don't cut the boy's hair the first 3 years. Just like the fruit of the tree, you don't cut the first 3 years. That's when we first put a yamaka. That's when we first teach the olive base. And and and that's when we first teach uh No? Uncle Mushy. What do we teach? We put the tzitzis on them and we teach them to say ma to What do we teach them to say? No? You all haven't met up shuls in a long time. A lot of help you are. Anyway, but we don't have time to go through this. Very interesting. But when they say the talk of let's just end with when they say the talk of Parshas Balak Bamidbar Daze. Torah Tzeva Lana Moshe Moshe Akiva L'Yakov. What's the matter with you people? Parshas Balak Bamidbar Daze. Page 664. Lifnei Seiva Takum Mi'Pnei Adam Zaken U'Faratzta Yamah V'Kedmah V'Tzfonah V'Negbah Ki Ani In the presence of an old person you should rise. Show them the presence of a sage and you should reveal your God Ani Hashem. Lifnei Seiva Takum. Lo Itzlichu HaTorah. Wonderful sefer that we spent a lot of time on last year last couple of years. But we didn't get to some of this. Lifnei Seiva Takum. Here's the whole idea. How do you define this Seiva? Lifnei Seiva Takum. Standing up for the Seiva. So this Lifnei Seiva Takum is um What if you have a young person whose hair prematurely turned white? Someone young like me. You haven't reached the age of Zikna of Seiva. You're 49 years old but the job made you white at a young age. So do you qualify for Lifnei Seiva Takum? Is the Seiva defined by age or by appearance? One interesting thing. Gershon is K'Iyer B'Ziknuso. So we know the Halacha is Gershon is K'Iyer K'Katan She'Nolad Dami. A convert is as if they're born again. So an 85-year-old converts. Do you not have to get up for him because he's only one day old? He's one year old? Or do you count in determining his age that you have to stand for him even the years that preceded the conversion? How do you calculate? Believe it or not the Mishnah L'Melech in the Yad Shaul had a Safek about the shaila. Gershon is got to come show the dummy. When does the clock start and calculating with nice of a token for them. Fascinating different insights into nice of a token. You have to stand. Only time I ever see this followed is When do you ever see this followed? Ever? A wedding, the chuppah. When the grandparents walk down the aisle, this new minic started a couple years ago. Everybody stands for the grandparents when they walk down the aisle. And I say, it's a beautiful thing that we're doing that. You probably shouldn't elbow that same grandparent at the sushi station at the schmorg trying to get ahead of them. At the schmorg you almost killed that grandparent trying to get to the stuffed cabbage. Trying to get to the carving. Trying to get the charcuterie. Now all of a sudden the chuppah everybody stand. It's like calisthenics. Used to just stand for the chosson kallah. Now the whole standing is sitting, is standing, is sitting, is standing, is sitting. Baruch Hashem can I know the grandparents and great-grandparents. They say it's a beautiful thing that we've adopted observing it there. We should keep it in other contexts, too. On the bus in Israel you stand up and they say the token. Anyway, at the schmorg please go ahead with nice of a token by the token. But we'll end with this. The Torah says the shifka quotes nice of a When you're young, in your youth before you get to the older age, token. In your youth, with your strength, be committed to live a life of following Hashem. The token the way that you're honoring your future self, your older self. I wish I knew this last shuva when our drasha was about your future self. This is about your nice of a token. The nice of a token. Live for your future self. The nice of a token. Which Zakain? Your future self. Don't live with regrets. How can you honor your future self? How can you not look back with regret if you live your fullest now while you're young? And they say "Vatacum, rise. Rise to the occasion in your youth and therefore you'll honor your future self when you'll be older, when you are a Zakain." Thank you for coming. Please stay for Tehillim. And then we'll have Besoros Tovos, Yeshuos, Venachamos.