Parsha Perspectives for Today - Tzav

Good morning bat. Welcome back to para perspectives for today. Thank you so much for being here on err of pes. Wasn't sure we were going to have a shar but I'm glad you turned up. Be a little awkward if I were sitting by myself. Para's series is generously sponsored by Becky and a cat and family in memory of Becky's father David Gman. Our learning is this morning is our last shar until after PES. We'll resume God willing on April 29th towards the end of April. Wishing everyone this morning we have the privilege of learning page 568 in the art scroll stone speaks to Moshe saying command and his sons saying we're continuing the carbonos continuing the direction towards the safer is this is The safer really directed to the priests to the kanim. It is their guide book how to offer the sacrifices in the ba make their sacrifices that at first seem archaic and arcane and outdated and barbaric but one understands the deep symbolism the deep meaning of each of the carbonos. They remain highly and incredibly relevant still today. They're not outdated. They're not archaic or barbaric. They weren't just a concession for their time. But there's deep meaning in the idea of taking the animal in us. Each of us is composed of an animal and a godly soul. We're speaking about this now Wednesday mornings in our new Tanya Shir. We have the godly element, a piece of God literally endowed embedded inside each and every one of us. We are an expression, an extension, a manifestation of godliness. But we also, he created us with an animal instinct, an animal soul, that animal indulgence, animal desire, animal impulse. And it's that battle, that war that happens between the two. When we bring a carb on, the way we draw close, the way we become to Hashem is to slaughter that animal inside us and to give expression to hopefully fulfill the potential of that of that godly soul. And as we've spoken about many times, that is each of the laws, each of the details, the minutiae from burning the fats to sprinkling the blood to the flower, they're all related to different components of who we are and that message, what we're trying to get across and what we're trying to communicate therein. Where did I put my Oh, here. So, let's start with start with Rashi famously says we've seen this many times before command. Command. Hashem tells Moshe command Aron and his sons saying normally we have to say and here we have is a very strong language. Command says that harsh and strong language that very very powerful language to command means zeros. Zeros means elacrity zeal enthusiasm immediately. Don't delay don't procrastinate and in perpetuity. Do it intergenerationally. Do it forever. So why do we need that here specifically? Why do we need to be reminded Aaron and his sons here as opposed to what? All of last week's para as opposed to everything else instructed incumbent upon them this specifically what we're about to read and learn. This has to be the extra the extra support. Do it with elacrity and zeal. Do it immediately. Don't delay. Don't wait. And do it for generations. You know why? Because here the kohanim are asked to put out to spend money and to get nothing in return. There's a loss. There's a loss. What's that loss? So the simple understanding of this rashi is that the carbanola which this is referring to the carbanola is offered and what happens to it? It's entirely consumed. All of it burns on the fire on the altar. The kan don't walk away with anything. There's no barbecue. There's no steak. There's no dinner. There's nothing. this from kiss. They're taking time off from work. They're showing up. They're doing the service. They're breaking their back. And what do they get for it? Not even a free meal, not even dinner. They get nothing. So since there's a kiss, since it costs them something, their time, their energy, and they get nothing in return. So people generally when you know you're getting something out of it, you show up, you're excited about it. But if you feel I have to extend or sacrifice or compromise or pay and I get nothing in exchange nothing in return it needs a little bit enthusiasm. It needs a and that's why it's the language of to command says you see from here the powerful influence of the drive and the desire for money. Who are we talking about here? Who are we talking about? talking about Aaron Hakoen, the great Aaron, the original OG Coen. Talking about Aron, the brother of Moshe. We're talking about is on such a incredibly high level, such a holy holy and one might think that somebody who's immersed all day in the service of Hashem. You're running, you're operating, you're serving in the B mikdash. Certainly, you'll be protected from that drive, that desire. You know who's has greed? People who work on Wall Street, people who work in finance, brokers, that's who's greedy. People who are regulating tariffs, people who are trying to save themselves from the plummet of the stock market. There's there people are worried about and are driven by a desire for money. But he's a holy and he works in and serves in the holiest place on earth. Surely and certainly he'll be protected from Right. Wrong. This is his mission. This is his purpose. Certainly, he won't be filled with greed or drive for money. And nevertheless, even the great and even in the great BT and even in the great service of Hashem, nobody is not vulnerable to the power and the influence and the drive and the desire and the temptation for money. There have been scandals tragically, terribly, not in our community or our sh but there scandals. people who work in shoos and they were stealing, they were cheating, they were taking from the coffers, from the discretionary fund, from the sh budget. They were pocketing, they were lying, they were manipulating, they were cooking the books, they were skimming off the top, they were taking. You say, "How could it be?" Holy organizations, holy people, you come to shul every day and you're working in the holy shik. And the answer is such is the power of the drive for money. No one is immune. No one is not vulnerable. No one is protected and that's what the Torah is communicating even in our own and even the because there's because there's a potential loss therefore no one's immune. This is why in the world of we have such strict standards because once you introduce money blinds us, money distorts us. Money clouds our judgment and money compromises and corrupts otherwise incredibly good people of holiness and integrity. You know there's a a there was a big push many months ago. A lot of Poskin Gdollum great rabbis of our time co-signed a letter saying this proliferation what's become very popular. Again thank God not in our community I would say yet but hopefully not ever which is people who are cooking at home and selling running businesses out of their home without any kosher supervision. In many communities that's becoming very popular but it's wrong. Even in people whose home I would eat if they invite me for a shabas meal as a guest, I would never buy. Because once you introduce money, the temptation, the desire, the ability to cut corners, the ability to replace ingredients, the ability to justify and rationalize. Once you introduce money and profit margins and expenses, it clouds judgment. No one is immune. We don't trust anybody. Look at Aaron and his vulnerability in the B mikdash itself and communities should take a stand. Shools themselves certainly but organizations and also individuals don't buy from home businesses don't have ashka aside from the fact that it's not fair. Why should other caterers and businesses and stores have to pay forka have to meet health regulations and standards and someone's just going to cook out of their kitchen? It doesn't matter how holy and how righteous how many times they say to stay dress. It doesn't matter. I would eat in their home if invited as a guest, but I would never buy or eat food that was purchased from such a person that doesn't have supervision. How often and how many times do we have to have scandals in communities across the country and the world where even very righteous and very holy looking people were replacing ingredients and every community has had even under the greatest and tightest supervisions. So certainly when there's no supervision, people cannot assume to be trusted. And you see that that's what our pastor is trying to tell us. The great in the in the mdash certainly in our lives says you see in the Torah just how just how pervasive the desire for money is. And the two sons of Adam were fighting over the division of the land. The med tells us one took all the land and one took all the assets, all the movable. One said, "The land you're standing on, it's mine. I get all the property." And the other said, "The clothing you're wearing and all that you have, it's mine. I get all the assets." What led to the very first murder? a fight and a battle over things, over property, over money, over assets. These two brothers were the total population of the world. They could divide the entire world between the two of them. They had everything. And yet, it wasn't enough. When people fight when they want, when money is in the picture, when one taps into greed, We have the very first murder. Who would be on top? Who would be the wealthiest? Who would control the other? Who would have more? In that race to the finish, race to the top. In that desire and drive for more, insatiable appetite, we have murder. Why? Why tell us to sterilize his father Noah? Because he said if our father has more children, it's more people to divide the inheritance. I don't want to divide it further. That means less for me. Again, we're talking about a tiny population. You have the entire world is yours. You're so worried about dividing it. But you see when you introduce greed you remove logic. When you introduce greed you remove judgment. You see this also with stone had tremendous wealth and yet they were cruel to guests. One was not it was illegal in stone to offer hospitality because what ruled the day in stone was greed. was greed. And he has a long essay here and goes on and on about this idea about greed and the pernitious influence of greed and that no one is immune from it. And you see that even by and that's what the Torah is telling us here in the beginning of why the language of an unusual language command strong. Why? Because because once you introduce once someone stands to lose something all of a sudden now I see this all the time people build they knock down they build a new homem more power to them they should use it in good health and in happiness and to knock down and build a home is a very very expensive endeavor and enterprise and as a rabbi I'm one of the first to see it you know why not because they called me over to have which is very nice and I would come but because they want to know where do I put the mazuzas? How many mazuza do I need? And we walk around and we count all the bedrooms and all the doorposts and all the doorways. And you know, the designer put 17 archways in the front and in the back. They didn't realize that every archway would need its own mazuza. And they didn't realize that all the pillars throughout the entire house create doorposts and door frames that need muzzas. And by the time you're done with the walkthrough of the house and you've calculated 67 muzzas, 72 muzzas, all of a sudden they say, "Whoa, one second. That wasn't a line item in my budget. So, Rabbi, it's okay if I buy the cheap muzas, right? I can get away with the $75, $100 muzas. I don't need the $250, $300 muzas, right? Right. So, I always say to them, let's look at the car in your driveway. Let's look at the quality of the appliances in your kitchen. Let's look at the craftsmanship around this new house. If you got away with the most inexpensive, if you on yourself spend the least, then when it comes to your religious ritual life, then get away with the least. But let's open up your closet. Let's look at the brand of the shoes sitting in your your or your wife's closet. Let's see what are you buying and where do you buy it? And if there you're not getting away with the least, the generic, the lowest level, then when it comes to mizuzi, you can't either. But what happens? I didn't budget it. It wasn't a line item. I wasn't expecting to spend it. Do I really have to? Do I really have to? Because the Muslim is all wrapped up and it's rolled up and it's covered and it's in a case and no one gets to see which version you bought and there's a kiss or attempted what's the least expensive one. Give me that one. But that's the area of our life we should say give me the most mud. Give me the most expensive. Give me the most beautiful and the nicest. Give me the one that will offer the greatest protection to my family. I want the nicest muza on the doorpost of my home. But Elm, what do you see? Once you introduce Once you introduce the idea that there's a loss, greed, money, all of a sudden our judgment is clouded. We see things upside down. We make mistakes. And it's not only because us, we're lowly. We shouldn't feel inadequate. And we shouldn't sit in judgment of ourselves. Who himself was vulnerable to this? none other than Aron AoE as Aron Vonov. Now alter the Gashiva in his uh in his um wonderful cafer and wonderful that I love in kadusha he says the following the reference to financial loss in our pock seems to refer to the that's what we're talking about why because it's all consumed it's all burnt on the misb on the altar and the Quran don't get to walk away with anything no dinner no meat no leftovers no barbecue and so there's a special need for reasons but to say for the grandson of the so the questions this understanding why because if you're looking if you're reading carefully fast forward and there the Torah says the coin who offers a person's the hide of the he offered shall belong to that coin. It shall be his. So you see the Duke call him do get something. You're right. They don't walk away with meat with flesh. They can't make a barbecue. But what do they walk away with? New leather jacket, new leather shoes, new leather belt, new leather couch. They walk away with the hide that's theirs that they get to keep. That's how derives. So why would a be considered a financial loss to the is a financial loss? They need extra. They need extra. There is no financial loss. They do get to walk away with something. What do they walk away with? Ask the walk away with the hide, the leather that has value. So the therefore suggests were not referring to the what were they referring to? What's coming up next? These are the laws of the Allah. And the sits It sits on the altar burning and being consumed by fire the entire night until the morning is to and the light the fire of the misbehum to take out the garbage says the that's what we're referring to the aod of removing ashes from the which is discussed and it comes up in the following Impossible. So since this provided no material benefit at all to the Cohen, he needed a special proddding of elacrity. You see, when you're asked in your home, could you go out and do the shopping? You say, okay, I'll go buy the ingredients. At least I'm getting dinner out of this. I'm getting a Shabas meal out of it. But when you're told, could you take the garbage out? All you get are smelly hands. What do you get out of it? You get nothing. So the con are given this task. They're given this job. Don't forget to take out the garbage. And there's no there's no benefit. They get nothing. It's effort. They smell. They're sweaty. Other addum would actually cause the co loss because the gar says would not wear the regular big day kuna. We'll see in a moment. Rashi when they would do the trumas. Why? If they wore their regular big day kuna, when you take out the garbage, what happens if you surround yourself like garbage? You smell like garbage. The garbage drips on you and then you get covered in the garbage. So they would change out of the regular big day kahuna and the wear and tear on their clothing was the loss that they would have to incur. So we're not talking about the Toras the says the we're talking about the trumas we're talking about the trumas talking about the trumas and says of alter expanding on this you see from the perspective of what is hashem that when we incur a loss in a context that can be likened to trumasession when we rid ourselves of our surroundings of negative influences do we need a reminder we reminder ofus it's not always finances at stake We seek to illuminate the world with Hashem's glory, we need to willingly give of ourselves of our comforts and routines and we do it with Jesus. When we take out the garbage of our lives, delete the apps on our phone that are wasting our time, distracting us, causing us to look at things we shouldn't. When we take out the garbage, the true masses of our lives, then we have to do it with that's the message of the not only the we're referring here to the true and when we take out the des when we take out the garbage of our lives. We eliminate and remove the excess the garbage the things that are bringing us down in our lives. Don't wait. Don't procrastinate. Don't delay because we don't want to take out the garbage of our lives. We enjoy the garbage of our lives. It's enjoyable. But when we want to take out, delete, eliminate, purge the garbage of our lives, we got to do it with elacrity, with zeal, with enthusiasm. Do it immediately and send that message to inter generations. Moving right along. Tors that Sorry, pastor gimmel. Pa gimmel. The coen should put on his linen garment and he puts on the linen breaches on his flesh and he should separate the ash with the fire consumed of the elevation offering in the altar and put it next to the altar. So he changes his clothing and he removes what had been burning on the altar all night. What's left is a pile of ash. And he takes that ash and he places it next to the misbayak. And then he removes his garments and he puts on other garments. And then he takes it outside the camp to a pure place, which is a very inefficient way to take out the garbage. First, you put the garbage down next to the altar and then you take it out and you finish taking it out all the way at the dump, all the way at the street where it'll be picked up. Why not just take it immediately? Why is there a stop, an intermission? Why on the way do you put it down, then change, then finish taking it out? We've shared before, but I'll repeat. I can't help but repeat because it's one of my favorites because my buddy Ben tells me it's okay to repeat. So why do you take it out and why do you stop and why do you put it next to the altar? Is a very powerful message P's coming up. I used this one year for the Yizkar Dasha and the message is this. I believe it's the who says you know why because the sacrifice you'll bring today you should not ever feel or think that today and you are the first to ever make a sacrifice. The sacrifice of today is built on and rests on the sacrifice of yesterday. So you take out the dash and the ash, the sacrifice of yesterday, and you put it next to the altar before you bring your sacrifice of today. Before we work, before we live our hashem, before we think about our expense of matzah and wine and grape juice and yeshiva and day school, before we think about the days off we have to take from work, before we think about the sacrifices we have to make to be a yid, first we look at the sacrifice of yesterday and recognize and realize the sacrifice of today is built on the sacrifice of yesterday. Of yesterday, midvad. Now on these words says the following. Says the following that his clothing the coin's clothing should fit him properly. Now the coin might be tempted borrow some other coins uh garment or maybe he wants to save money on the tailoring of his garment. So he's not going to tailor his garment. So Rashi tells us that mid it should fit him. This long shirt mid should fit him. It should be measured. Mido is from the language of madad to measure that the shirt has to be fitted to the size of the individual coing. Now I think it's a very powerful message in this. You know the Rambam writes that and really everyone who aspires to be someone who wants to be a righteous person live a righteous life can't and shouldn't look like a sch slump. Don't look like a schlump. be put together. Who has a stain on their garment is you have to be put together. I was raised happens to be one of my father's pet peeves, one of my father's hang-ups. I was raised that if you're wearing a tie, button your top button and put the tie to the top. If you come home, shabas lunch, you open it, you're enjoying a little bit, fine. But when you go into a business meeting, when you go into when you're giving a shir or a lecture, when you're interacting and engaged with others, why do many people not? It's yeshivish. You leave the tie all the way open. the button all the way open. Why most people they enjoyed a little too much akish and the top button doesn't necessarily close anymore. So you see Rashi says midoid if you aspire to be a you want to be a kishem get clothing that fits you. It's time for a new shirt or lose a few pounds. But have a shirt that you can close the top button. Should be fitted. Shouldn't be baggy. Shouldn't look like a sch slump. Shouldn't be falling apart. Shouldn't be a mess. You shouldn't be a mess. Should look put together. should look put together and be put together. So, you'll say, "Ah, since when does the Torah care about vanity? Since when does the Torah care about beauty and aesthetics? Why should it be a red flag if the boy picks you up for a shik date and he's a schlump and he's a mess and his clothing is too baggy and it doesn't even fit? And if he's wearing a tie, he can't close it to the top or close the top button. Why should that bother you? Doesn't what's inside is what matters. What we care about is the holiness. Who cares about the vanity?" You see the cohen the the whole big day kahuna are about bringing dignity and elevating the experience in our lives. We are the kanim. We're meant to be a kanim. We're meant to be a nation of kohanim. So particularly those who sit in who learn Torah and live Torah. We are the coim. We are the priests. We are the teachers. We are the role models of the world. You can't be stained. Your shoulder shouldn't be covered with dandruff. Your jacket shouldn't be wrinkled and crumpled in a ball. Your button on the top should be able to close and your tie should be closed to the top. These are basic basics that we've lost today. We've lost today dignity slabka. You know what I'm talking about. Rabbi tights. My mother says growing up in Rabbi Tits's home, she never ever saw him without his frock. She never just saw him wearing a shirt. If you learned in Slabadka, godless, the godless, theodka, the alter of Slabadka had a tailor on staff in the yeshiva. The boys didn't have 15 suits in the closet. You had one suit. It lasted you the whole till the next pes. If there was enough money, it bought you another. And often a button would pop off. So there was a tailor on staff. You know why? Because the altar wouldn't let a boy in the bush if he was missing a button. If you're missing a button, how could you come in the bish? It's got to fit you. It's got to be proper. It's got to be fitted. It's got to be dignified. It's got to be elevated. You got to look put together. You're baggy. You're wrinkled. You're covered in dandruff. If your top button doesn't button, your tie doesn't tie. What are you doing? Says that's to make a keshm. So, it's not vanity. It's part of the way we make an impression in this world. of the reality is that we have a goof, we have a body and the way others perceive us will elevate our this is an avod. We're doing the avod of a so rash here says it's not vanity at all. My father's right his pet peeve in his hangup which is get a shirt that fits you so the top button can close and close the tie all the way all the way to the top should look like a mench when you're giving a shear when you're coming to a meeting when you're coming into davin and you shouldn't be covered in dandruff and stains and baggy and unfitted this is a rashi it's not my father it's a rashi my father surely knows the rashi but I want to share with you avka the maros says what's true physically is also true spiritually Your pants shouldn't be too p short and your and your and your pants shouldn't be too long. They should fit you just right. They should fit. And how do you define what's fitting? The younger generation are wearing pants so tight. You need a crowbar in order to get in, in order to get out. Nebach, I try to go shopping for suits these days. I I'm not trying to compete with the teenagers to wear so tight that the circulation in your legs is cut off. You can't even breathe anymore. So, how do you decide what fits you? What fits you? What a what a 17-year-old will say is fitting, you know, 65year-old will say is is not, and so on and so forth. So, it means what's normal, what's reasonable, what makes a person look put together. Shouldn't be too long, shouldn't be too short, shouldn't be too tight, shouldn't be too loose, should be just right. So what's true physically says the holy what's true physically that your clothing has to fit your kite has to fit your yiddish kite has to fit don't aspire and don't reach and don't be acting and conducting stringencies and kumras and a life and a lifestyle that doesn't fit you. You're not up to that. You're not there yet. You don't have the knowledge. You don't have the learning. That's not who you are. Yes, we're all bound by halak. It doesn't mean within Jewish law, pick and choose, but it means in conduct, in dress, in where we're at. You know, there was a point last year, two years ago. Get in trouble for this, but I was thinking about I was considering putting on a gartel, maybe just on Chavis, maybe during the week, enhancing, elevating the davining feeling. Rabbi Wa Jacobson describes that when you put on a gart, it's like buckling the seat belt. Just like pull out of the driveway before you start driving, you buckle in the seat belt. Now you know I'm about to drive. So the you buckle up. We're about to drive. We're about to din. So I asked I asked Gary Rashiva. I said Rebi, I'm thinking about it. What does the Rev think? What does Rashiva think? So he said to me, "Why don't you wear a garmius for a month? Put on a gartle inside." The whole idea of the gart is it separates your upper half and your lower half, your heart from your erva. And a person should strive for kaduca and your godly soul from your animal soul. So do it internally before you dive in. Put on the virtual gart. Think about it. Remember to put it on virtually. Remember to put it on remember to put on metaphorically. And if you can remember to do that for a month and you're moved and transformed by it for a month, then come back to me. Then you could talk about putting it on. I haven't succeeded yet for a month straight. So I'm not wearing it. What was he telling me? It's got to fit. It's got to fit. If that's not your upbringing, that's not your family's min. It's not where you come from. That's not what you're up to. It's not where you're at. That's not what you're doing. So, it's got to fit. It's got to fit. And that's what Rashi is saying. Just like the co to wear. So, it's got to fit you. It's got to fit properly. So, what's true physically in terms of the clothing we wear, it's got to fit physically is also true spiritually. Our the Torah, our practices, our garb, it's got to fit. It's got to fit. It shouldn't be too high. It shouldn't be too high. love and it also shouldn't be too short. You can't wear pants that are too short. You shouldn't wear that doesn't fit you because it's too small. So also don't underachieve. Don't underell yourself. Don't not do things that are becoming that you should be doing. Don't do too much. Don't do too little. Just like the three bears, you got to get it just right. With that except should be your hashem. We're flying today. Everyone buckled in. Speaking of seat belts, and the coin puts on other clothing and he brings the garbage outside the mour to a proper place. And this is a holy aod. The coin taking out the garbage is part of the avod. Don't think that you're so big and you're so great and so superior and so exalted and so prominent and so prestigious. Don't forget, I I've told the story before. I'd love to tell this story. I was invited previously, not because of me, but because we live in a swing district and we decide presidents. I was invited to a series of meetings at the at the White House. And I remember the first time I went and I was so excited and I was so geared up and I thought about exactly what I would say in the counter with the president. I won't even say which administration or when this was. And uh when it was over, you know, second I walked out, I called my wife and I was telling her all about it and the conversation, how I spoke up, what we accomplished, what we achieved. and she said, "That's amazing. That's lovely. I'm so proud of you. That's great. Don't forget tomorrow's garbage day. When you get home at midnight, don't forget. Don't forget when you get in at 2:00 in the morning from that flight, from your big fancy trip to Washington in your fancy suit with your fancy briefcase, don't forget to bring the garbage to the edge of the driveway because tomorrow's garbage day. Don't forget. Don't forget. That's the avod of the Truma. Don't forget taking out the garbage is also is is avoda. It's a holy. Your wife asks, it's a responsibility to the family. It's living with dignity." So your house doesn't smell and stink. It's also an avoda. It's also part of the avoda. And one shouldn't look down or be resentful or regret or think it's not for me. There's a story of a of a rashiva. The story I don't think I've told this one before, but there was a story of a kola yungan. There was a young man learning in kyo and uh there was some sha problems happening. So they met with the rebi met with the rebi with the rashiva. Shiva said what's the problem? What's going on? Why is the tension? What's happening in the marriage? She said I need help at home. I got my hands full. There's a lot going on. He won't take out the garbage. He says, "I should take out the garbage. I sit. I learn Torah day and night. I'm an aspiring budding. I'm a young man. It's I'm going to take garbage out. I'm going to be seen schleing both hands carrying garbage bags, leaking and dripping and walking to the garbage and it's not for me. It's not for me." Listened. He heard. He counseledled them. He advised them. He gave them fine. The next morning, early in the morning before heading out to shul young man, this young man comes out of his house and he finds his rebi rashiva shleing the garbage out. So rebi reb what are you doing? What are you doing with my garbage? He said I heard you. You were right. It's beneath you. You learn Torah all day. So I came to help your wife because she needs help. So I came to take out the garbage for her. And the message was received. The more Torah you learn should not mean that you're less. You should be taking out the garbage. To all the colo guys who are home for pes if you're watching or listening to all the bakim who've been learning who are home for pes sitting in doesn't mean you don't take out the garbage I don't care if you're sitting at the dining room table and you're watching your mother or mother-in-law or for that matter your father or father-in-law less likely but schleing the garbage get up from the safer jump up take it from their hand and take it out a is the true what's the Torah if if you could be learning Torah that makes you ignore and neglect and not even see your mother-in-law shleing garbage or bringing in the groceries for the next round of meals she's making for you. Then what's the value of that Torah that you're learning? Get up, close the safer for a moment and go take out the garbage and go bring in the groceries. That's what the Torah is really all that's what the Torah is really all about. So an avod of Trumas. There was special clothing of the Truma. This isn't low or inferior or beneath or past of the coin. This is the aod of the cohen and this is what it's about and this is what it's about for this time of year says the says the holy rash of why did the coin take off his clothing the coin has certain big he wears it for dignity and he elevates the whole and yet he takes off the big day to take out the garbage says there's no obligation to remove it because he has his normal uniform he wears for the ink and if you're going to take the garbage out in it it's going to get dirty and that's disrespectful the clothing you use the gives a mushel then gives a parable the chef wears an apron but when he goes to now serve he takes off the apron so you wear an apron because you don't want to get dirty and soiled but you take awful got dirty and sold when it's time to serve because that's disrespectful says the key here is don't serve Hashem just like the person serving the meal with dirty soiled clothing in so why did Rashi describe in the opposite ction not to use the fancy clothing that you use for Rash's focus was don't use your nice clothing to take out the garbage. The focus should have been don't use the clothing you use take out the garbage to then come back and do the avod. What's more important here? The focus should be don't serve Hashem. Don't do your avoda in dirty clothing. Don't walk into shul with stains on your clothing. Instead, Rashi says, "Don't wear your nice clothing for taking out the garbage. We don't want it to get dirty." No, no, no. Don't wear dirty clothing to do the aod. So, Rashi seems to have the focus, the emphasis, the priority backwards. It seems like there's no problem if you wear your regular clothing and it got dirty. Just you can't do the avod in it. You got to send it to the dry cleaner. You got to clean it before your next round of avod. So the real focus here is don't wear dirty clothing to do avod clothing to take out the garbage. So got it backwards. It seems seems Rashu is teaching us a secondary law, a second idea. Idea number one. Idea number one. Don't wear dirty clothing to serve Hashem. So if you took out the garbage and you got a little garbage on that clothing, don't go to Mah in that. Change change. We don't wear dirty clothing to davin to serve Hashem. But there's a second idea which is if you have clothing that's designated for davening. Don't wear it in a way that it's going to get dirty. Don't wear your ding jacket while you're taking out the garbage. Don't don't wear your shabas clothing during a weekday because a person has to person has to honor and elevate even their clothing because the clothing is the person. It is a layer of identity of expression of the person and if it has a certain purpose honor it and elevate it and don't compromise it and don't lower it by being. Even if you're going to launder it and wash it and clean it later. So you'll say, "Well, let me just wear my Shabas clothing even though I'm taking out the garbage." No. And if it gets stained, I'll send it to the dry cleaner. No. Protect it from even getting stained. That's a way to honor Shabas is by honoring your Shabas clothing. And that's what he continues. He's a long essay here. We won't read it, but he continues big day. We have a special idea that we honor the big day kahuna. But he goes on to say that the altar of we invoke the author of big day shabas. I've had this question. You have a suit that's designated for Shabas. One of the ways we honor Shabas is Shabas clothing. Clothing for Shabas. I have my weekday suits and I have my Shabas suits and I don't wear my Shabas suits ever during the weekday. What happens when your Shabas suit gets worn out? Can you now designate it a weekday suit? So the more expensive and the nicer suit should be designated for shabas, the shabas suit, but once it wears out, can you now use it for the week? So the author of Slabadka would throw it out before he would use it for the weekday. Because he said, if it was originally designated as a Shabas suit, you're lowering your attitude towards Shabas if you now use it during the weekday. Better to give it away. Better to throw it out. Shabas because even though it may seem like a waste, it's inefficient. But nevertheless, nevertheless, it is not honoring Shabas. And our goal and our mission is to honor Shabas. And therefore, you see that from here. You see that from here? But there's an idea that don't take out the garbage in your AOD suit because if it's if it gets dirty, that is dishonoring. That's dishonoring it. All right. We're even turning the page. The fire on the to remain lit. The coin would light the fire, the wood every morning. A permanent fire has to remain on the altar. It should never go out. A permanent fire has to remain on the altar. says the holy of breast the holy fire has to be on the altar all the time all the time. The fire can never go out. The fire of the nishama the is the fire can never go out. The fire of a to be on fire exuberant, enthusiastic, energized, excited. A yishkite that's on fire. Now sometimes the flame gets lowered. Sometimes the flame gets raised. The month of the destruction oft we lower the flame. The month of we elevate the flame. Flame is like a pilot light. Gets lower gets gets raised. But there has to always be a fire. A Jew has to always be on fire. Says on the altar that was in the courtyard of the mikash. There was a perpetual fire that was always lit. But what do we do today? We don't have a misb. We don't have an alter. We don't have a mik. We don't have a mishkan. What do we do? Where do we maintain that fire? So, first of all, we have what we call the nt in shul. You have a nt, a bulb, a fire that's always lit. And it doesn't matter. It's minion, not minion time. Shabas, shabashuva, jasha, doesn't matter. Middle of the night, day 365, 24 hours a day. A rabbi said, "Our home is a mikdash." Hashem wants each of us to build our home should be a miniature temple and the fixtures and furnishings the utensils of our home should be modeled after the furnishings and the furniture of the mishkan. So what in our home takes the place of the of the altar the our dining room table is our ms. If we eat, if our attitude and our philosophy of eating at our table is appropriate and correct and elevating, then it's like a sob writes every Jew is destined to have some tension, some friction, some challenge every day. And the greater a person is, the greater their mind, the more struggle they'll have. As the Pik says in Cohelis, the smarter, the brighter, the more sophisticated, the more advanced, the more thoughtful, the broader you are, the more worry, anxiety, challenge writes, how do we overcome, how do we lessen that anxiousness, that worry, that struggle, that friction by the correct attitude towards eating food. Food. said uh I set the table before you in front of my adversaries. So what does that mean? What are my adversaries in in Psalm 23? I set the table before you in full view of my adversaries. Who are my enemies? You know who my enemies are? the kala, the dips, the the sides, the mains, the desserts. These are each my enemies. Am I gonna eat and eat and eat and overindulge and doubles and triples? And after I'm full, do I bring the right attitude, the right thoughtfulness, the right mindfulness to the food I'm eating? Am I eating the right food in the right time, in the right measure, in the right way, with the right before and after? To eat holy to eat in a holy way is first of all to make sure what you're eating is proper. You should be eating it. And it means to eat with your and to also recognize and realize why am I eating? Eating gives me the energy to live. So I'm eating to live. I'm not living to eat. I'm eating to live. I'm not living to eat. And a person can't live, can't survive if they don't eat. So I'm actually making contact with life itself when I eat. And who provides life? Who's the source of all life and living? Hashem. So when I put food in my mouth, my mouth, Hashem designed me to be a factory to be able to extract the nutrients and nourishments and to purge the rest. I'm embibing. I'm swallowing. I'm eating Hashem. He's the life force. He's giving me the life that's going to extend and give me life. That's the mindfulness. When a person eats and a person should at the table I'm having a meal with I'm never alone. You know animals also eat. Does your eating resemble and look like and parallel an animal? Are you digging your face into the trough? Are you shoveling that food into your mouth? Or is your eating elevated and dignified and in the presence of Hashem and mindful and connecting to the source of all life? When a person eats with holiness and with the proper mindfulness and intent. So now the flesh that's eaten now the delicious roast and brisket and pulled beef and uh sliced steak that you're having you're eating a carbon on the misb you've just transformed your dining room table your kitchen table into an altar and the meat and the food that you're eating off of it you've elevated to be like a we don't have today so how can we tap into this idea that the fire has to always burn it can never go says, "We do have an altar." And the altar is our dining room table. It's our kitchen table. It's the restaurant table, wherever we find ourselves, whatever table. And we turn it into an altar. When we eat properly, and we eat with fire, with a mindfulness and a care and a what am I eating? How much am I eating? Am I full? Did I make a bra? Is it the right intent? Am I connecting to Hashem? Am I seeing Hashem and the beauty in the food that I'm eating? Then we elevate it with a fire. We have a carbon. we have or get closer to Hashemto because when a person eats with mindfulness and presence when they eat to live they don't live to eat they're creating the union of body and soul they're creating a union of heaven and earth they're creating a union of man and God so a person should always remember and think while they're eating I am embibing I'm eating the source of life the life source which is God because after all everything we're eating is coming from hem it's all coming from hem. So that's all hinted to says all that a person eats with holiness and sanctity and has in mind that they're doing it for the purpose of God. You've turned that table into misb and you turned what looked like just a piece of meat. You've turned that into a that's yielding and bringing you closer to Hashem. Raoba also has a comment. Ravula writes writes the following. If a person wants to merit divine providence, divine connection, you want to feel Hashem's presence in your life. You want to feel him interacting with you daily. Then a person has to live the prerequisite to that. Who has that feeling? To whom does Hashem reveal himself in that way? People who are modest. Providence of Hashem is not explicit. It's not out in the open. It's not revealed for all to see. It's subtle. It's nuanced. It's and where do you see this says writes our says a fire has to burn on the altar all day continuously and they say writes on that where does the fire come from that consumes the carbon is writes it's a fire that descends from heaven and burns them up. So if the fire descends from heaven in a miraculous, supernatural, extraordinary way, why do you have to put a fire on the misb who we fooling? Who are we faking? Why light the fire on the mak if in fact there's a fire descending from heaven? So writes there he writes an incredible I'll tell to you outside. It's a beautiful piece by based on the Alik page and he says the following writes that even also miracles performed by Hashem are always somewhat concealed and they can be explained in manifestation of nature. Even the splitting of the sea, you could describe and you could define that splitting of the sea happened. What does the Pik say? Hashem moved the sea with a strong east wind all night. Why? Because even though it's unusual and unlikely statistically, it has to at least be conceivable, plausible that if the earth were rotating on its axis in a certain way and the stars aligned and the constellations in a certain way and the wind blew from a certain direction, a certain velocity, the sea could split. Why is it necessary to be able to explain it naturally? Because doesn't do revealed miracles. They always have to be able to be understood and described in a way in which his hand could be concealed. In a similar vein, despite the fact that a fire descended from heaven onto the misbehil humbly and modestly with God, he's not merely uh instructing us to conceal our good deeds. He's informing us that when a person conceals his actions, he's actually following in Hashem's footsteps. Hashem doesn't flex. Hashem doesn't flaunt. Hashem is not showing off for the world. It's always hidden and modest and it's always able to be explained through some other means. And for us too, we shouldn't flex. We shouldn't show off. It should we should do our actions and even our virtues in a way which is modest and humble. Many people understand the concept that sneas writes or vulba very superficially. The modesty discussed by the refers not to your two sleeve lengths and skirt lengths and collar bone and men and what they look at but rather to one's internal spiritual makeup says is not talking about only certainly not limited to superficially rules of modesty. The navi is talking about internally internally says with modest one comes wisdom explains the is a virtue attributed to the wise because they hear and listen they do not desire to reveal what lies in their hearts the capacity to hold back. You don't have to post and share and overshare everything in your life. You don't have to share and overshare. There's something called modesty. There's something that stays inside. There's something that you're able to hold back. There's something that's yet unrevealed. So the writes on this, you have to keep the fire burning. It's a fire that comes from the heavens that consumes the carbon. So what's the point? Why bother lighting our own fire? Because even though he's doing a miracle that the fire is coming from heaven, doesn't want it to be a revealed miracle. It has to be explained. He wants it to be concealed. It should be plausible that it really was our fire even though our fire is doing nothing. And that is a model for each and every one of us to live such a life that we're not we're not showing off. We're not flaunting. We're not revealing. Not every moment has to be shared online. Not every thought, every feeling has to be written for the world to see. There's such a thing as that which is inside. Salvetic writes very similarly when it comes to the paras, the keshakadashim, the holy of holies of our lives. The paras separated the holy of holies from the holy. He talks about growing up in a brisker home his father and this is a very extreme version but if Salvich describes and writes that his father never never hugged him or kissed him I don't know if his father said I love you it's a very extreme version he said he never doubted for a moment his father's love but emotions were not something that you express so readily so openly it was a different time and that's for a different family and we're not judging it or criticizing it and we're also certainly not encouraging it or endorsing it but the point he's making is that there's a keshakadashim. It's okay for us to have our own internal feelings, feelings and thoughts of the heart that don't go and aren't shared with anyone. It's okay and I would argue it's necessary. You know what emotional intimacy is? If you tell everyone everything, what's left to share with your spouse? But if your spouse is that confidant in whom you invest and share things you don't tell anyone else in the world, that's what yields a sense of closeness, emotional intimacy. So the ability to share but not overshare. The ability to hold back. The ability to put up a curtain, the ability to the ability to throw people off and not flex and to be able to explain in a way that's not obvious to all. That's something that Hashem is modeling and we follow and we emulate after. Now we go to this is the sacrifice of the what does the word mean literally? A min is a is a gift. A min is a gift, right? So by Sax or by Lord Jonathan Saxs in his I don't know if it's available yet to the public. Min the grain offering brought alongside all the other sacrifices literally means gift or tribute. Sacrifice is not the same act across cultures. One must seek to understand the practice in terms of the distinctive beliefs of the culture in which it takes place. What then could sacrifice possibly mean in a religion in which God is the creator and owner of all? Why are we giving God gifts? He's the source of all existence. He owns everything in this world. Why are we giving him a gift? The simplest answer is this. We love what we are willing to make sacrifices for. Says by sachs. We love what we're willing to make sacrifices for. The verb to live is related to the verb have. All of which yah have the same have the sense of giving, bringing or offering. That is why when they were a nation of farmers and shepherds, the Israelites demonstrated their love of Hashem by bringing him a symbolic gift of their flock and herds, their grain and fruit, their livelihood. To love is to want to bring an offering to the beloved. To love is to give. This is true in many aspects of life. A happily married couple is constantly making sacrifices for one another. Parents make huge sacrifices for their children. People drawn to a calling often sacrifice remun remunerative careers for the sake of their ideals. In an age of patriotism, people make sacrifices for their country. In strong communities, people make sacrifices for one another when someone is in distress or needs help. Sacrifice is the superglue of relationship. It bonds us to one another. Sacrifice is the choreography of love. Rabbi Sachs amazing. What a tragedy and loss that we don't have him. But listen to his language. The way he describes it, every is a in some ways in particular. Why is a carbon called a a gift, a sacrifice? Because it bonds us to one another. Sacrifice is the supergu of relationships. Sacrifice is the choreography of love. To love is to give. To love is to give. The answer is we love what we're willing to make sacrifices for. If someone's not willing to sacrifice for you when you need them, question whether they really love you. What does love mean? Love is not an adjective. Love is not an adjective. Love is a verb. Again, it's prep. It's the home stretch. This is it. This is it. So, you know, kids come home. I love you. I love you. Thank you for pes. Okay. You love me. Help me. Come to the kitchen. Take out the garbage. Step up. Sacrifice. And don't wait to be asked. Volunteer. volunteer in marriage and in life. Love is sacrifice. We love what we sacrifice what we sacrifice for. Uh let's do one salv to end. You're not allowed to eat blood. The sacrifices we disposed of the blood in a particular way. We don't eat blood. Says that don't eat any blood in all of your dwelling places. Not only human life but life in general is divine and helped by God. Absolutely. He's the only master who exercises unlimited dominion over life. Each life must be surrendered to Hashem. This is the only way of life shall be terminated. Destroying life becomes because of selfish motivations is forbidden. This applies to man and animal alike. With respect to human sacrifice, the religious ethos experience interfered with the cult experience and converted the actual sacrifice to a mental one expressed in submission and surrender. Animal sacrifice, however, was retained by the Torah. The sacral act of offering a life to Hashem is the only legitimate shedding of animal blood. Killing an animal for the sake of satisfying carnal desire, Baser Tya, was classified as bloodshed and was therefore forbidden. Only after the people entered the land of Israel, the Torah make a concession and begin to tolerate the slaughtering of animals for non-sacral purposes. To this compromise, however, many conditions were attached that make the slaughtering of the animal and its consumption a most complicated process. By committing the slightest error, man may forfeit his privilege. In other words, the original design of the world was to be vegetarian or vegan. Animal sacrifice is a concession because we love flesh, we love barbecues, we love meat. Originally, the only meat that was permitted were the meat of sacrifice. The Torah recognizing man craved and wanted more made the concession to allow when we slaughter properly which is filled with incredible intricate minutic delicious barbecue. But the one prohibition the Torah maintained to still remind us that life belongs to God. We shouldn't end human life or animal life is the prohibition to drink blood. Even as the Torah came to terms with the lusty sensual human being concerned with meat, it retained full possession and dominion over the blood. Blood is life and as such it can never become the object of man's desire or lust. Hence the many prohibitions against blood consumption. Blood shall be s sacrificed to God on his altar, never misused by man for satisfying his carnal drives. So the fact that we have to salt meat, the fact that we have to roast liver, the fact that we have to go to lengths to remove the blood from the meat, we're not allowed to eat blood is a reminder that even as we benefit from the concession of allowing eating meat today, blood, which is life source, always forever remains to Hashem and a person therefore cannot eat it. To remember life is precious. Not only human life, even animal life, all life. Hashem is the source of all life and we rely on him. I'm wishing everyone a kasher should be happy and a beautiful pes a pes of miracles pes of freedom the hostages should come home our soldiers should be safe please remain to complete all of safer tillum if everyone stays and we give out the booklets it'll take just a few minutes in honor of our soldiers and the hostages