Parsha Perspectives for Today - Mishpatim

okay welcome back to Pasha perspectives for today thank you for your flexibility for Sim we be traveling so I need to move the she to this afternoon and grateful that you are here for it want to thank our generous paraa series sponsors Becky Nai cats and family and memory of David Gman sponsored the par she in memory of this afternoon Shear is also sponsored by gold Sadowski in memory of her dear uncle kurzer and in honor of her dear Aunt of course we miss her curzer an incredibly special man and sponsored by Judy Rosen in memory of her beloved husband Marvin Al his yite was the 19th of schat certainly remember Marvin from my youth and by the wol family commemoration of the fifth yite of rebit Anette wol and by Debbie MTZ and uh and I also dedicated in loving memory of her granddaughter the precious Nish EST MTZ eser T laas of Gabriel Pinas on her second year at site and everyone's invited back this evening at 8:00 for see him and Shear in her memory also before we begin I just want to mention I'm incredibly excited to share with you that our Sho is moving forward to the future as we're preparing to launch our $6 million campaign to complete our campus our expansion our impact to double the difference we're able to make the amount of activity and all that goes on here on a regular basis and we invite we're going to invite everyone to be Builders with us in building the Jewish people we're building the campus when we finish building the campus we can really build which is building our future building the Jewish people and that's not only for our local community it's for our Global Community you're going to hear a lot more about it we're not doing our regular Global campaign this year but we're inviting the greater Global Community who read listen watch enjoy and feel connected to who we are and what we are about to be involved as well so you'll hear a lot more about that we're looking for ambassadors and people to give and contribute and help and raise and uh help us make this difference we just want to build we just want to be and I can't overstate how important it is for everybody to help us spread and share this campaign and create excitement and generate a buzz about it we can't do it without everybody and we're really looking forward to it page 416 in the art scr Stone the the that connects this para to the one that came before we start every year with this Insight because it is so found fundamental it is so foundational to Judaism to yish to our lives and our lifestyles to Torah and what it's all about and this time I want to share it all the say the same thing it's just a question who I quote that year for the same Insight so I was fortunate and blessed to get delivered to me a new by Ken and this is the rabbi saak Rabbi Lord Jonathan saak Z who had such an impact on all of us and on Jews around the world they compiled his insights and Oran organized it around thees and it's really a wonderful wonderful work not only the beautiful translation and it has Rashi andas and also RAB Sak's insights so I want to share with you what Rabbi Sak writes on this opening of our para he writes the following he writes rash comments on this and these are the laws whenever it says it seems to nullify what came before but is not continuity with what has been stated but signals a continuity just as the former comes from so to it's all from so why do we have civil law placed as a ju position with the laws concerning the to tell us place the near says place them before you the almighty said to I will teach that section of two three times till they know it but I will not take the trouble to make them understand the reason therefore the Torah says that you shall set before them like a fully laid table with everything ready for eating this is the source of the code of Jewish law we called the the table that is set and I've mentioned before the takes R's table and what does he do his commentary the Rama's commentary is called mappa he puts a tablecloth on the table and then you have the commentary of the we have all the the T the all of the Rabin one upmanship about their commentary really elucidating but it's all predicated on our it's like a set table come eat and enjoy and writes RAB saaks the following three remarkable propositions are being set out here the first is that just as the general principle of Judaism means not 10 Commandments but 10 utterances or overarching principles they're Divine so are the details these are there are those who believe that what is Holy in Judaism is its broad Vision never so compellingly expressed as in the decalogue at the truth however is that just as the former were given at SII so these were given at SII the greatness of yish kite is not simply in its Noble Vision but in the way it brings this Vision down to earth in detailed legislation the second principle no less F fundamental is that civil law is not secular law we do not believe in the idea that rendered a Caesar what is Caesars and to God what belongs to God we believe in the separation of powers but not in the secular ation of law or the spiritualization of Faith the Sanhedrin Supreme Court must be placed near the m to teach that law itself must be driven by religious Vision the third principle is the idea that law does not belong to lawyers it is the heritage of every Jew legal knowledge is not the closely guarded property of an elite it is in the famous phrase morasha it is the heritage of yakov's assembly kilas yov Judaism expected everyone to know and understand the law just this past shabas afternoon I was in a Bas medish and I saw little groupings of people learning and I saw individuals studying on their own and I said ah the beautiful sounds of C Torah of Jews of all ages and all backgrounds in all stages of life not professional rabbis and teachers lawyers and doctors and retirees who are sitting and studying Torah and where else do you see this can you point in America to places where people get together and say bring your copy of the Constitution bring your civil law or your tort law or your criminal law books let's read them let's analyze them let's study them maybe that happens and we probably wouldn't have you know the nicest things to say about the kind of people who do that it's wonderful it's beautiful I'm sure it's a hobby of some but it's not far-reaching and for us it's meant to be normal Universal Torah is everyone's Birthright and Heritage accessible to all classes printed in every language accessible to all it's a beautiful beautiful thing so ACC say here at the beginning of with the the connecting it to last week's para you start to tell us that there is no secularization of law it's religious civil law Tor law criminal law it is just as significant as siai it's not just a religion of spiritual highs let's have a kumit and a Tish let's have a faan let's have a spiritual high but I'm not interested in when I go to business when I go to work when I go to law but we take the spiritual high from har and we carry it with us wherever we go as I like to say in the boardroom in the operating room we take it into every room that we that we go into the courtroom wherever we perform wherever we fulfill our mission our duty our mandate the Torah is the guide it informs it inspires so the V that V it's as if that V it means that we connect the that V that connects we connect our experience of coming to the morning we're then going to work right afterwards the Torah comes with us to our office to our place of business to our gym to the supermarket it comes with us wherever we go we don't leave it last week at the top of Hari oh yeah that AKA concert oh what a spiritual High the energy it was electric it was amazing that was great but that was in sh that's the spiritual high and then I go to work it's secular it's mundane it's profane we take that all with us wherever we go and that sacred Torah it belongs to all let's continue so we begin these laws and we jump into them the first law of course the law of slavery evid iy the slave and the slave who says I want to remain a slave and we're not going to get into this right now but the different forms of slavery and what does it mean do we still have slavery and was it our understanding of a slavery that was abolished does Judaism embraced a slavery that was abolished how could we subscribe to the notion that a person could be property could be owned we'll leave that for another time then we get into murder and manslaughter turn to page 422 penalty for bodily injury two people get in a fight what do we have to pay how do we compensate how do we make whole what's meant to be taken literally where does the Torah of the oral tradition come in we get to says death caused by an animal if it was an ox that Gores habitually from yesterday and the day before yesterday so an and how do we establish a pattern two times or three times how do you establish a pattern two times or three times but now we have a pattern and does the pattern predict or does the pattern show a precedent I'm giving a lumus we're not getting into it right now how Works tra possim is a pattern tell me what happened or does it predict what's going to happen leave the lumus for now but the Torah tells us if a person owns such an animal who should know I need to bring a sh I have to have a higher level of guarding it because it has a pattern of Goring and its owner was negligent the owner was warned that this animal is in extreme danger this animal has harmed has injured has killed and the person didn't guard at a higher level and now it kills again the ox is stoned and the owner shall die the ox is stoned and the owner shall die now Torah goes on to say in a to payment shall be assessed he pays a Redemption for his life we don't actually put the owner to death it's not a capital punishment for the owner the owner can actually pay a penalty and not have to be put to and is not put to death but the Torah tells us at first that the owner is why what is its owner was warned said by in this new the par entitled M begins as we might expect with M retribute of Justice or the rule of law and specifically with cases delineating a person's responsibility to compensate for harm he or she causes a free Society must be governed by law impartially administered through which the guilty are punished the innocent acquitted the injured compensated and human rights secured stucka by contrast because the par now is going to get into takaka we're going to go from law compensation responsibility takaka refers to distributive justice to less procedural and more substantive idea which becomes the focus from this P Hashem for the Israelites is actively concerned with the economic and political order especially with those who because they lack power or even a voice become the victims of Injustice and inequity the society that clly to construct we are told will stand as a living contrast to what they experienced in Egypt what was it like in Egypt poverty persecution enslavement they released from bondage was only the first stage on their journey to Freedom the second their Covenant with Hashem involves Collective responsibility to ensure that no one will be excluded from the shared graciousness of the community and its life this required both mishpat the rule of law and what word do we always find in that expression Mish and staka a just distribution of resources a fair at a dignified livelihood this you has close affinities with the concept of freedom and Rabbi saak develops now I want to just carefully point out that R saak is not describing a extremely Progressive or liberal or woke sense of Distributing wealth and some and Everyone's entitled this as an apolitical 501c3 partial perspective Everyone's entitled to their viewpoint but neither Rabbi Saks nor the Torah are endorsing an extreme version sta is 10% and the Torah goes out of its way in our para to D say that you only help someone who's trying to help themselves and we kick in and compensate to try to help the person who's helping himself butak is pointing out here so brilliantly so importantly so critically so fundamentally is that the very para that's called Mish is dealing not only with what we would call Justice Mish what happens if I ding the bumper of your car when I'm pulling out of my parking spot what happens what's the if someone comes to sh with the flu and three people get the flu and can't go to work and aren't paid for the days they miss is that person accountable for coming to Shu with the flu and making other people sick these are questions of mishbah what happens if someone takes a loan and doesn't repay it what happens if somebody if somebody defaults these are all questions of Misha but our paraa quickly pivots to deal not only with Misha but Mish always goes hand in hand with because under the Torah it's not just a strict criminal T civil law but the notion of righteousness and the notion of taking care of the underprivileged and the notion of making all feel visible even those who are positioned to feel to feel invisible and we'll give one last rak's Insight with this new where he says skipping along we've got the for damage guarding there so much every you could elaborate and elucidate and analyze and delve into there's so much every particularly law of the four types of of Guardians of page 430 chapter 22: 20 don't taunt or aggravate or oppress a gar a stranger why because you were strangers you know what it means to be an outsider you were foreigners and here writes Rabbi Sak M contains many laws of social justice against taking advantage of a widow or orphan by the way just because segments of Judaism have made their entire Judaism social justice doesn't mean that there's no place for social justice in everyone's Judaism we tend to make a mistake of thinking that if one segment takes something to the extreme we can't all want mhia that's just for the minion no no we all want mashiah whatever minion you social justice is fundamental to all of Judaism even if some segments have made it their entire Judaism s writes misham contains many laws of social justice against taking advantage of a widow or orphan for example we're taking interest on a loan to a fellow member of the covenantal community the first and last of these laws however is the much repeated command against harming a gar a stranger or a migrant clearly something fundamental fundamental is at stake here according to the Torah warns against the wrongdoing of a in 36 places others say places whatever the precise number the repetition throughout KES is remarkable sometimes the stranger is mentioned along with the poor other times with the widow or orphan on several occasions the Torah specifies there shall be one law for you for the G and for the native born alike not only must The Stranger not be wronged he or she must be included in the positive welfare provisions of Jewish Society the Torah asks why should you not hate the stranger because he once stood where he stands now you know the heart of the stranger because you were once a stranger in the land of Egypt if you are human so is he if he is less than human so are you you must fight the hatred in your heart says Hashem as I once fought the greater ruler and the strongest Empire in the ancient world on your behalf I made you into the world's archetyp of strangers so that you would fight for the rights of strangers there is only one reply strong enough to answer the question why should I not hate the stranger because the stranger is me now there's nothing wrong with wanting secure borders there's nothing wrong with wanting legal immigration Torah here is not endorsing extreme positions it is saying within strong borders in Israel or whatever country we live within emphasizing and focusing on legal immigration it's talking about literally and metaphorically The Strangers Among Us The Foreigner someone comes to SCH for a first time someone's never been in an orthodox SCH before they're a gay they're a stranger they're an outsider to that to that experience somebody comes to a Kish somebody comes to an a event a men's club event somebody comes to the sheir the DFI they've never been there before they're a gar they're an outsider they're a stranger to that experience they're an outlier and our repeated 36 or 46 times is love them be sensitive to them be inclusive of them be sensitive to them and that's something that applies literally and metaphorically and is indicative of certainly RAB Sak's sensitivity of and commentary to beautiful and I'm so glad to have it and add it to our insights moving along when you lend money to my people to the poor person who's with you don't treat him like you're a creditor you're not a bank you're not cold-hearted now Sunday mornings cover for many months we've been studying the laws what of Gordon ribus we have been going through the detailed laws of Interest fascinating how do you define interest how does the heter Isco work if someone borrows a car and they want to return it by filling the gas tank can they give back more gas than they used up in the car when you gave it is that ribus have they now paid you back with interest can you can you buy now pay later or have you essentially allowed a cash advance can you buy one get one free can you charge a late fee on a service or on a tenant on a on a rental property these are some of the things that we are examining together is a limited Li liability Corporation LLC different when it comes to laws of Interest how does it work with a trust just this past Sunday we followed the fascinating case that happened in the 80s and the 90s in Israel when Israeli Banks Jewish owned Banks make loans and employ a hat Isa is their actual liability for the borrower and what happens if they default but here the Torah tells us while you're allowed to charge interest to a non-jew you are forbidden from charging interest to a to a Jew why are you forbidden for charging interest to a Jew where do the laws of ribus appear in that code of law the they do not appear in they do not appear in economic Financial interpersonal law where do they appear in the laws of Y religious law why because charging interest is not unethical it's not immoral it's not a financial crime it's not theft what is it the Torah wants to condition and cultivate us to see a fellow Jew every fellow Jew as a member of our family there's a Time Value to money when I have my money I could spend my money I could use my money when I have my money I can make money on my money so the present value of my money might be $100 but if I invest my money it's going to give a return or the liquidity allows me to use it and if I lend my money to you and I don't have access to it there's a opportunity cost I lost the ability to make money on my money so when I ask you to cover the opportunity cost I'm not doing something unethical or immoral I'm actually just recovering what I could have or would have or should have had if I held on to my own money and invested it so when a stranger comes to me a neighbor an acquaintance says can I borrow money and I say sure but you got to cover my opportunity cost that money in the bank would have been making this percent if I'm going to give it to you instead you've got to pay the interest that's a nothing wrong there's no law that says unethical or immoral but what happens if my brother comes my son comes my daughter comes my sister comes and says hey I've hit some hard times can I borrow some money and I say sure but you're gonna have to sign this contract and pay this interest rate I say oh you're not such a good sibling family when family needs help then you don't start charging interest so the Torah wants us to view every Jew as member of our immediate family nothing immoral nothing unethical just don't charge interest to to a friend and here the Torah tells us so don't charge interest and that is the reason why and as I said some of those details about about uh how to practice that there's even a discussion I don't want to turn anyone off by raising this question we might get into it there's even a question when you borrow money from someone and you return the loan you repay the loan can you say thank you can you be effusive in your gratitude can you sponsor KES at the Sho to thank the person who lent you the money and bailed you out or maybe that's giving them a benefit that is considered to be a an interest an interest so here the Torah says don't charge interest comes along now the we just read said if you lend you lend to your people a poor person with you a poor person with you what does that mean a poor person with you says look at yourself like you the poor person why do we position why do we describe the poor person with you see the poor person as if you the poor person just like kak said why should you not hate a stranger because you are the stranger why should you not why should you help the poor person see yourself as a poor person sort of Dr is bothered how does that work I don't understand I check my account I open my phone I open the app and it says I got money in the bank I own my home maybe more than one home I own a car maybe more than one car I own stocks and bonds and CDs and I've got a net worth so how am I supposed to to see myself as a poor person I can't alter my reality my self-perception I know the reality is that really possible that are saying the other poor person with you you're a poor person he's a poor person so help him help one another what do I'm not a poor person I know I could pay my bills I have food on my table I have a few shekele in the bank so says Dr you know I have a great great great opportunity one of the great privileges of being the rabbi is the rabbi's discretionary fund I am a steward not alone with others of incredible funds to help distribute them to change lives to impact lives to uplift lives it's an amazing amazing feeling to be able to take those funds and make a difference PMS coming up we're going to help people with purum PES our Market you know the difference that we make last year we gave away a thousand pounds of matah and endless eggs and you know the price of eggs this year even more people are going to need help with them and it's an amazing feeling amazing feeling one of the great jobs out there if anyone here is looking apply for it if you can be the director of a foundation fantastic you take Foundation money and you have the ability to give it away so Torah comes along and it says we should all look at our own money as if we are stewards of God's money it's not our own donor advise funds are essentially that person has the tax advantage of taking the money and putting it in a donor advice fund and now it's just fun to give it away and now you're not thinking well if I give it away I have less for my vacation less for the extension of my home less for a new car for myself it's already not mine it's already in a fund it's already been allocated set aside I've already got the tax benefit and now I just get the fun and the joy of giving it out and helping people with it and says the live your whole life as if all your money is a donor advise fund it's not your money the bank account may say your name but it's it's not yours to whom does it belong KES the almighty and we have the privilege and pleasure of being the stewards of being the directors of getting to choose how to distribute it and why did he give it to us why did he give it to us you meet with your financial adviser you meet with your broker and they give you a report and an update and they show you the return they tell you how it was invested and they make some suggestions about what you should do it the following year now in their Investment Bank that account shows under under their name but is it their money they know it's not their money they are investing your money and what determines whether you give them more money to invest what will determine it in that money what kind in that meeting rather what kind of return they can show if they have a good meeting if they beat the market if they do well or in a downturn they do less poorly then you give them more money and if they don't you say we're going to try somewhere else and the is no different he invests in us and when we give him a good return he gives us more and we show him a poor return He says I'm probably better off giving it elsewhere and that's what this p means to say we are all poor on our own we are bankrupt on our own we are impoverished on our own we are Indigent any success we have and anything we have is the graciousness and the goodness of God that doesn't mean that we can't be proud of our hard work in life and what we've earned we can be proud but let's also be honest there are people who are equally smart who worked equally as hard and they did not have the success to whatever degree we had success it is a function of our hard work for which we should be proud but the senior partner in all of our success is Hashem and if he didn't want it and will it we wouldn't have it so fundamentally if you peel away the surface we are all equally poor the poor person is his challenge how to navigate life in poverty and the wealthy person has his or her challenge how to navigate life being a proper faithful Steward of the money whatever I'm holding is not mine I'm just a steward of look at oneself as an and therefore you treat the poor person with honor with dignity with respect because you know who else is poor we are fundamentally and we could be tomorrow and even if you've invested so wisely that nobody could touch it or take it it's secure you know what Hashem could take that's more valuable than money and that no money can buy is our health our health so whatever we have be so grateful for it so that's the says look at yourself like you're an but I'm not poor but my bank account shows a net worth how can I see myself as poor because recognize that net worth is fragile and vulnerable and fleeting he's not fundamentally mine could disappear at any moment and while the bank account may say my name just like the broker shows that he has my account but it's not his money it's not our money and Hashem could take it any any moment he then quotes the who has a different interpretation different beautiful Insight but I want to skip don't don't be a creditor rash says let's say you know he has no way of paying it back don't pressure don't aggravate don't squeeze him don't be a creditor wait until you know he has a way to pay again we're treating the m of our family different than we would a stranger and that's our responsibility and Our obligation here the says in this everyone who makes a mistake everyone who does something wrong Hashem sits in judgment and Justice over us we said see this in the days of with M and says is surrounded on his right and on his left by judges who evaluate the person before him but if somebody lends with interest does not enter the Judgment himself but rather there's no judgment he doesn't he doesn't confer with other justices immediately just judgment and Justice is carried out we see from this medish that there's a mided mid mided mid there is no flexibility no favor when it comes to somebody who lends with interest it's harsh it's cruel it squeezes the other party it takes advantage of the person in a vulnerable position there are businesses that today are associated as Jewish businesses that charge exorbitant interest rates that are the opposite of Jewish businesses we don't take advantage of people in difficult positions and squeeze them even even if they need that money and they're and they're desperate Torah has very little tolerance for a person who charges who charges ribbits Tor is very unforgiving of of such a person so therefore if you're going to charge Ribbit you're G to be an because K is going to carry out an exact strict Justice and judgment on on such a person let's keep going first we have here interest and then the goes on it says you take your fellow's garment as a security now you're not allowed to charge interest but you are allowed to secure your loan so if somebody comes to you and borrows money you are allowed to say give me provide for me collateral how can I secure my loan how can I protect myself how do I know you're not going to default give me your watch give me your give me that dress give me that outfit give me that suit so Torah says if you take your fellow's garment as a security you get it till Sunset you got to give it back for it alone is his clothing it's His Garment and what should he sleep what should he lie down so if he will cry out I shall listen for I am compassionate so Hashem says even if you're holding collateral you got to give the collateral back to the poor person who needs it at night so they have it because if they would be denied deprived it at night and they would cry out and scream out Hashem says I will hear their cries you know why you may not be compassionate but I am how does the Torah here end Hashem says give him back the collateral when he needs it at night why because if he screams out the I'm going to hear him I am compassionate now the Torah gives a reason why Hashem is gonna hear because I'm compassionate yet in the previous paraa with the prohibition to mistreat the The Stranger and the Widow and orphan Torah says I will surely hear their Scream Torah doesn't say so why here both places hasem says I'm going to hear the cries of the vulnerable I'm going to hear the cries of the fragile I'll hear the Cry of the Widow and the orphan but it doesn't give us a reason I'll hear their cry and yet here the poor person who relies on that collateral and needs to get it back Torah says if you don't give it back and they cry Hashem says surely I will hear why because I'm compassionate what's the difference because when it comes to the the widow or the orphan or the stranger the reason is obvious T doesn't have to give you a reason these people are in a position in life that they need support and love and if you take advantage of them doesn't have to do with hashem's kindness and compassion he's going to hear but when it comes to the maska when it comes to the collateral I'm entitled to take the collateral and I don't have to return it to you I deserve to hold on to it I made a kenion on it and there's a t I have to go get it each time every night I gotta go bother and get the collateral and give it to you and the next day go collect it again why should I have to go through that pain with prop moreover I did something incredibly kind I didn't have to do who said I had to give you a loan to begin with if I hold your collateral I hold it until you pay the loan why should I have to return it and go through that pain so therefore the Torah goes out of it way it says because I'm compassionate we we have to walk in hashem's footsteps we have to follow his way way we have to follow in his footsteps we have to walk in his way we have to be just like hasem not only when it comes to the this person not only in the case of collateral when it doesn't sound ins instinctive or intuitive maybe I'd say I'm kind enough to lend money what do I have to go collect give back the collateral no when it comes to we go we're not satisfied with only following the strict letter of the law we go above and beyond with the law because the world is built on kindness and we look for these opportunities to go above and beyond in this kindness per of giml chapter 23 verse he Torah goes on Integrity of the judicial process how the justice system works if you encounter an ox of your enemy or his donkey wandering return it to him repeatedly you might say this is my enemy why do I have to give it back maybe I'll even have some joy and pleasure in the enemy losing his property no Torah says you have toim uh sorry Turn the page 434 if you see the donkey if someone you hate crouching under its burden would you refrain from helping him you shall surely help him you have to help him step up and help him so I want to read to you in this a beautiful Insight the holy when you see someone suffering or struggling someone is is has a flat tire right the torah's view or description the donkey is walking it's carrying a heavy load it's collapsing under its load it needs to be unloaded it needs to be unpacked donkey going to collapse donkey is gonna fall apart so Step Up step in get involved help out you got to help out and whom does the Torah say you have to help not you see your friend with a flat tire you see your friend ran out of gas Torah says specifically you see your enemy you see the person that you hate you got to step up you got to help them says this friend this enemy can't progress they can't keep on the road they're not gonna get to their destination the animals collapsing onto the load you have to step up step in and help out not only do you have to help your friend which is natural you have to stop to help your enemy you have to stop T your enemy so it says student we're not just talking here about physical helping changing the tire filling the gas helping the donkey we're talking about about spiritual help you see a Jew who's made mistakes you Jew who see a Jew who's failed who's come up short they're collapsing under their weight collapsing under the burden of the mistakes they've made collapsing under the choices so what do you do you have to lift them up you want to leave them that way they made those choices they made their bed let them sleep in it they made these mist Stakes they had these failures they had these shortcomings they had this poor judgment no you can't leave them so not only is it true physically says it's true spiritually you have to lift and assist and support and help and step in not only your friend but your enemy every Jew every Jew the alive Institute by lipsker even Jews in prison they've made mistakes they're accountable for the mistakes doesn't mean they don't deserve kosher food and a pair of and the safer and a visit from a fellow Jew you have to step up and step in not only the the Jew that you love but even the one whose hard of Love even the one who maybe has made mistakes in his says on this that if you see him why is it in the double language a help him if he's helping himself the kaker says if he's not people knock on the door they want to collect money if you have a job or two or three and you still can't make ends mean by all means we should help you but if this is the way that you're making ends meat by knocking on doors we're not obligated to help you when you change that tire your friend can't sit on the side and sip a nice cold Peach Snapple and watch you break your back and schitz trying to change their tire so when they're helping when they're trying to change their Tire surely you have to help them AO help the person who's trying to help themselves if someone's not trying to help themselves you're not obligated to bail them out and to help them Rashi says help the personas understands a little bit differently on this P writes says stop yourself from abandoning him make every effort to help him abandon what's in your heart against him and unload with him Tor is not only telling us in the world of action change the tire fill the gas help the donkey in that moment drop and forget the hatred you see someone who's hurt you injured you harmed you you see them going through a difficult time you see them down and out drop the hatred don't just help them but the wayas understands means to abandon the hatred to help them abandon the hatred in your heart it doesn't just mean help physically the one you hate but continue to hate it means find a way to work out and move on past the person that was your enemy son o the person that you hated unburden them but it works even more brilliantly than that the ramban writes the ran says and it works so beautifully so brilliantly what happened here fast forward to here the Torah says help who the one that you hate but in the Torah repeats this don't see your fellow's donke your Ox falling and ignore them you have to help them and there the Torah formulat said not the donkey the flat tire the empty gas tank of your enemy by say by the time we get to he's he's your brother how did this enemy become your friend I thought the Torah was trying to make a point I mean think about how powerful this point is for a moment you're driving up P Park Road two cars are stopped on the side of the road both with flat tires one is your best friend in the world your BFF and the other is your arch enemy the one who shmears you and writes horrific social media posts about you and says terrible things about you in the neighborhood hangs posters about you which flat tire do you help Torah says deres from the fact that Torah specifically instructs us to help someone we hate didn't just leave it ambiguous about help the person so that if there's a conflict between your best friend and the one you hate help the enemy help the one you hate conquer the inclination aov to aov abandon the hate so I understand what happened Torah was specifically trying to teach us this law when it comes to somebody that you're inclined to hate and fast forward to and now became how the ramban says something amazing you know what happens when you help someone that you hate you find yourself no longer hating them when you see the meal Train email someone sitting shiva or in a time of need and you don't like that person that person hurt you that person neglected you that person wasn't kind to you that person wasn't loyal a good friend to you but you say you know what I'm gonna overcome that I'm gonna make them a meal I'm gonna pay that Shiva call it turns out that not only did you help someone you hate by helping you stop hating because when you help you create an extension from yourself you build a bridge you invest a part of yourself what allows generally kind and good people to sometimes be cruel and harsh where does aarius aarius is the Hebrew word for cruelty where does it come from the great Mash I shared this before he said the word cruel comes from Zar a zar is a stranger so when someone is the other they're a stranger they're different they're a foreigner when they're Zar they're a stranger they're the other I have no connection to them I have nothing in common with them I have no relationship with them then they could be My Enemy but the moment I build a bridge the moment I invest a piece of myself the moment I show up and I help then this someone who is just a stranger becomes we turn so the one we hate into because when we share that person's burden when we help them they become our best friend we then end up loving them we then end up becoming your brother one of the biggest things I've tried to work on I'm very far from perfect since October 7th is aov toov there's no room and no patience no time for hatred today's day 500 of hostages still being held 500 of hostages still being held there may be a ceasefire but there's still Wars that are being fought on multiple fronts who has time for son how could one carry hatred in their heart because of petty thing insignificant things inconsequential things or even real things Let It Go a to turn and recognize that need to be there to lift and support and help and love one another walk away abandon it who cares who cares and I can tell you from personal experience since October 7th even the people that have hurt you and hurt you publicly if you put your arm around them and they put their arm around you and even if you don't reconcile if you don't talk through and if even if they don't take accountability for what they did just putting your arms around each other aov to Let It Go That's So becomes the magic it works it works make that meal pay that CH do that or just Embrace so the person is not Z and therefore you're not an you're not treating them as just a stranger because they're not a foreigner and they're not a stranger to you says here on the somewhere where is this to help he quotes when we talk about it someone you hate you know there are people that you're allowed to hate why would you be helping your enemy when the Torah says there's someone you hate it doesn't mean someone you hate because they cheer for the Red Sox and you like the Yankees doesn't mean someone you hate because you you vote this way and they vote that way doesn't mean someone you hate because you texted them and they didn't text you back because you came to sh they were sitting in your seat if the Torah says so it means someone whose values and whose life and whose lifestyle is you're entitled to hate some people there may even be a Mitzvah to hate so why are you da helping him now if it's someone that might be even a Mitzvah to hate so why is the Torah telling you now to love that person that you're allowed to or maybe even have a Mitzvah to hate so it says just you outside because it's already so late it's always so late by minute two of the par it's already so late he says the following he says when someone is in crisis when they're in trouble when they're about to collapse collapse under the load of life we set aside the differences and disagreements and disappointments and we jump and we learn this from aam aam Saw his nephew Lo whom he loved and he invested in he saw his nephew Lo make decisions and choices that forced him to separate there are times and moments in life they have to go a different way L made decisions and L put his lot pun intended in life in bad people with bad people so abam said you want to go right I go left you go left I go right we've got to go separate ways I can't be associated with you we have to go a different direction but what happened when L went to go live in sedom and sadom was in trouble and L was in trouble did aam say his problem not my problem he made the choice he made the bed let him lie in it he put his lot with sedom Lo is on his own no even though there was a point in a juncture they had to go separate ways when L was in crisis when L was in trouble when L was collapsing under his burden aam jumps to rescue him to bail him out to lighten his load and that's our mission and our mandated is true for a and L and it's true for every one of us it's true for the people we know do you care anyone following the stories three more hostages home please God the rest should all come home immediately today did you check what kind of yamaka they wear do you love them do you hate them what kind of Life what kind of Lifestyle they lead Jewish people are of a burden and we could be collapsing under it aov to aov Let It Go in crisis there is no enemy there is no adversary there is no other there's just us there is no there is only how when there's a burden when we're collapsing let go and move on 232 everything I taught you be careful sorry a good six days do your activities in the seventh day rest so that you may be content your donkey and your ox and your maid servant and the stranger among you wonders what a funny way to describe shabas let's read that P again six days accomplish your activities on the seventh day rest so that your ox and Donkey can be content and your maid servant's Son and The Stranger can be refreshed so why should you keep shabas in your house so that your vacuum can rest so that your car can have a day off so that your housekeeper can doesn't have to show up that's why you should keep shabas kind of bizarre PK is this says that's why we should keep shabas it could be a side benefit of keeping shabas but that's the reason it's not that the reason to keep chabas is so that your animal gets some rest is that you should keep such a shabus that the entire atmosphere and environment changes that even your animals keeping shabas even the animal says oh I love chabas give me some to the dog and the cat pull up for Ren they want the leftover chelant and kishka even your dog and your cat and your hamster and even the iguanas and the lizards say oh shabas say shabas how do they know what chabas is because those are uas and lizards all week long nobody walks in the park come shabas hundred thousands of people walk through the park and the iguanas and the litters and lizards and the butterflies they say oh shabus he shabus they all speak yish he shabus Jews would only have dogs and cats that speak yish Hal shabas leftover chant rest scor of Dr such a beautiful Insight it's not that the reason we're keeping chabas is so that animals get chabas it's that the metric the measure of how sincere and real our chabas is do we keep a letter of the law chabas that's a legal chabas but the atmosphere the environment the climate in our home is the same or no the shabus atmosphere the shabus condition in our home the entire environment changes Montoya Circle is different on chabas the whole circle is different that even the birds are chirping and the lizards are slurping I don't know whatever lizards do and the frogs are hopping and jumping and the dogs and cats are schling because shabus they can feel it it's in the air should be such a shabus that the animals can feel it in the air such a shabus such a shab I wanted to get to days chapter 24 eat and drink serve Hashem so many things we didn't get do but chapter 24 verse2 M God says to Moshe now the Torah is depicting it's not chronologically in order but the whole experience of a Moshe climbing har and it says climb on the mountain I'm gonna give you there the Torah and the I'm gonna give it to all there why does God say climb the mountain and be there if you climb the mountain where else are you so Rashi says climb the mountain and be there where mean climb the mountain and be there says Rashi for 40 days you might have thought be there be there means come up and go down same day in and out no be there means climb up they and stay there for how long 40 days 40 days that's how Rashi understands R says climb the mountain and be there you know you have the people who come to sh DAV you have the Pacers they're wearing out the carpet and Sh they're pacing back and forth in this corner that corner in this Row in the front in the back whoa whoa buddy relax sh climb the mountain and be there be there you're supposed to be spending time with a child with a grandchild but you know you're all over you're all over the park you're all over the house you're all over the living room don't be absent present don't be disted Ed don't be pacing and running be where you are don't be absent present when it comes to the idea of and have a set Place have a set place doesn't mean draw a six foot circle around your set place that don't kick anyone out move over because six feet around your set place is still called your set place but the idea of a set place is that will concentrate and we'll Elevate and we'll be enriched when we what have a set Place Have A Kava so Al climb the mountain Hashem essentially told mosha leave your phone at the base of the mountain I know that two three million people texting you whatsapping you calling you I know that they need you but you know what when I'm with you I want to be with you and when you're out to dinner and you're scrolling and you're answering and you're watching you're not out to dinner when you're with your children and grandchildren pushing them on a swing but you're looking at your phone you're not with your grandchildren or your children you may think you are your calendar May show you were but you weren't don't be absent present Al climb the mountain sh and be there be where you are don't just climb a mountain but then be somewhere else the B said you are wherever your thoughts are you're not wherever you are physically you are wherever your thoughts are and that's what the Torah is telling us he sham be there I have to be at in 3 minutes 8:00 we have the and she in memory of Shalom please join us tonight thank you again for your flexibility with the timing may we hear yes