Parsha Perspectives for Today - Vayikra 5785 (Hashem Wants Your Heart)

Okay, good afternoon. Welcome back to Parsha Perspectives for today. As always, I appreciate everyone's flexibility. Baruch Hashem, just returned from Israel this morning. So glad that we're able to squeeze in the Parsha Shiur this afternoon. Every time we move the time, I'm pretty confident I'm going to be sitting here by myself with the camera. So the fact that you're here in person brings an energy to our learning and I'm very grateful to you for that. Our Parsha series is generously sponsored by Becky and Avi Katz and family in memory of Becky's father L'ilui Nishmas David Grossman ben Menachem Manish. Our Shiur is also sponsored in memory of my wife's grandfather. His Yahrtzeit was yesterday, Yisrael Nosson ben Tzvi. Our Zaide was an incredibly special, tremendous Talmid Chacham, survivor, amazing, amazing man. And in memory of Tzvi Meir ben Nechemia Halevi. His Yahrtzeit was this past Shabbos. His Nishama should have an Aliya as well. Thank you to all of our sponsors. We are beginning the third book of the Torah, Sefer Vayikra, page 544 in the Artscroll Stone Chumash. And this Shabbos is not just Vayikra, this Shabbos is not Shabbos Hagadol, that's next Shabbos, but this Shabbos is the Shabbos Hagadol Drasha. So it is the feeling of Pesach. Pesach is in the air and we'll see it a little bit in Vayikra, some of the ideas and themes that will emerge as well. Vayikra El Moshe Moed Lemor on page 544. Hashem called to Moshe and he spoke to him from the Ohel Moed and he said. And there's so many questions. We've discussed this Pasuk countless times in the past. We'll try not to repeat the previous insights and Divrei Torah but offer new ones this week. But why does God first call Moshe and then speak to him? It seems redundant. Vayikra El Moshe, he called Moshe. Vayidaber Hashem, and he spoke to him. Just tell us Hashem communicated, God transmitted a message, God commanded, God spoke to Moshe. What's this image of first calling him and then speaking to him? And where did he speak to him from? Me'Ohel Moed. He spoke, his voice emanated forth from the Tent of Meeting, from the Mishkan, from the Tabernacle, even though no one else heard it but Moshe. So, why not just say he spoke to Moshe where Moshe was? There are many questions we can ask, but let's begin with a Tiferes Shmuel, Shmuel Berenbaum. Rashi says on the words Vayikra Moshe Dibros Amiros before all of the sayings, before all of the speaking, before all of the commandments, it is preceded with Keriah. There is a calling. And this is a term of endearment, of affection. Because, you know, you want to say something to your child, you say, "Bubbala, come here. Ketzala, come here. Sweetie, dear, sweetheart, come here." Hopefully, if things are well between a husband and wife, "Sweetheart, come here. I want to tell you something." And then, before you say what you have to say, first there is a call, first there is a greeting, first there is an expression of love, of affection. And Rashi says, "This is the language that our angels use." We say in Kedusha, our angels turn one towards the other. They call one to the other. To call someone, particularly to call them by name, is a term of affection. Is a term of affection. So, my goal, my mission is not just to communicate or transmit a message, a commandment, an idea. It's not only functional. Our relationship is not only transactional, but there's a Keriah. I'm calling you. I'm calling you by name because there's love, there's affection. There's an underlying first connection. However, however, says Rashi, when it comes to the prophets of the gentile world, the non-Jewish prophets, rather than arrive at Tumah, rather than first greet them and call them with affection, with a connection, with a bond, and then transmit a message, when it comes to the prophets of the non-Jewish world, it's purely transactional. It's entirely about the message. It's entirely about the prophecy. Therefore, the language of a rise, something temporary, the tumor, something impure as you shall name our because the positive says when it comes to Balaam, Balaam a Russia, Balaam the wicked prophet who was trying to curse the Jewish people. Of course, Hashem intervened and transformed and every attempt to curse turned into a blessing. We'll read about that later in safer by Midbar. Those learning the daf yomi recently learned about Balaam a Russia. The wickedness, the bestiality, the corruption of of Balaam, the wicked prophet of the non-Jews. And unlike the word Vayikra, Vavyud Kofresh Aleph, God called Moshe with love and affection, it says Vayakar, which is Lashon Mikra, happenstance. So, when it comes to Moshe, Hashem wants to communicate, this isn't a chance meeting. This isn't a happenstance rendezvous. This is by design. This is intentional. I love you. It's affection. I'm calling you. When it comes to Balaam, the wicked prophet of the nations, Vayakar, God happened on Balaam. Yes, he communicated, but it was purely transactional. He happened on Balaam. Wonders are small. All that so far is just Rashi. All he said so far is Rashi. Comes along Tiferes Shmuel Saki in the Chazal Amra Pasuk. Chazal say in the Pasuk later in V'Zos Habracha, the end of Devarim, Lo Kam Navi Od B'Yisrael K'Moshe, Asher Yada Hashem Panim El Panim. There is no prophet that rose as great as Moshe who knew God face to face. Chazal Darshanu, our Rabbis extrapolate from here, it's true, among the Jews there is no one as great as Moshe. However, B'Umos Ha'Olam Kam, there is a non-Jewish prophet who was as great as Moshe. And who is that? I knew, Balaam. So, which is it? On the one hand, our parsha tries to distinguish Moshe's great Vayikra, God called him. Balaam, ah, he tree happened upon him. He ran into he bumped into him transactional. On the other end, later on the we're told, "No, no, no. There's no prophet as great as Moshe among the Jewish people, but there is a prophet as great as Moshe among the non-Jewish people. And who's that?" Bil'am. So, was Bil'am as great as Moshe or not? And does God call out to them in the same way in a parallel way? Or does he call out to Moshe in one way in a lashon kedusha and tahara, in a holy sacred way? And he calls out to Bil'am in a happenstance, in a aray, temporary, tumah, in an impure way. Moreover, Kodesh Baruch Hu is kadosh. Says the Shulchan Aruch u'Mekor Baruch, "Hashem, the Almighty Himself, is the source of all purity. He is pure. Shemo kadosh, His name is holy." Hayitochen sheyidaber bilshon tumah im adam? To Moshe, He speaks with purity, with tahara. To Bil'am, He speaks with tumah, impurity. Can God speak with impurity? God is the source of all pure. God is everything. What does that even mean to describe that He spoke to Bil'am in a way that's tamei? So, he Listen to what he says. He says the following. Divrei Hakadosh Baruch Hu diber bilshon kedusha el kol echad v'echad. This is a very important message and you sewed a foundation for today. Certainly, the Almighty, any message He shares, proclaims, publicizes, communicates, by definition, it's pure, holy, and sacred. El kol echad v'echad. What He puts into the airwaves is pure. Aval Bil'am shehaya rasha v'shafal, But Bil'am, who was wicked and lowly, v'yamani shel Bnei Dorach b'madregah shel Bil'am, and he would lead his generation according to his lowly, corrupt, compromised, contaminated way, k'Moshe Mashiach et Yisrael b'nos Midyan lashos kol Yisrael b'nos, just like he guided and he tried to advise the women of Midian. His attempted curse didn't work. So, what did he do instead? He said, "I know the vulnerability of the Jewish people. We're going to send women to seduce and tempt them, and they're going to compromise them, and that's how we're going to get them." He himself bought my apart of Arva. And how did Balaam know that that was a vulnerability? How did he know that would be a tactic? Because Balaam himself was vulnerable to it. Balaam himself, though he was a great prophet, Balaam himself gave into the temptation and the seduction of women. He himself became corrupt and compromised. So, when we talk about that, the contrast Moshe and Balaam, and that God spoke to Balaam in a Russian tumor, it's not because God ever speaks in a language of impurity. Allah have done Balaam and Balaam the mayor. It's a reflection of the way we receive, of the way that we accept the message. Put into contemporary terms, we have a filter. And the way that we filter the information, the way we filter the messages that come at us, are a reflection not only of where the message is sourced, but how we filter, how we receive, how we absorb. We're biased. The way that we look, the way that we perceive, the way that we pick up the signal of the world around us, is influenced and is biased by the filter of our own background, of our personality, of our life experience, of our ideology, of our philosophy. Two people can pick up the same signal, and one is inspired and motivated and there's positivity, and the other is negativity and cynicism and turned off. Ah, it's the same message. Whether it's the same event, it's seeing and observing the same extraordinary natural event or beautiful feature of nature, two people can see, observe, pick up the same signal, but they interpret in entirely different ways. And that's what our rabbis are telling us. Moshe and Bilam, it's not because God, who's sending the signal, sends different signals, but they receive it differently based on the filter that we have. Person goes through the garbage wearing a white garment. But I have the love of dollars motion manage a niche. But Moshe picked it up. He remained pure. He wasn't contaminated. He wasn't influenced or affected from it. We're not supposed to. We have a filter. And that's why the burden is on us. We have to be so careful what antenna we extend and what filter we use. You know, if you you probably never done this. Maybe you have. You're trying to connect your children or grandchildren. But on your cell phone, if you're zooming or FaceTiming or using WhatsApp video, there's a filter. And the filter can distort your face. And the filter can make you look funny. And the filter can have all kinds of images around you. And the filter has the person see you differently than the way you appear. So, the camera's picking you up exactly as you are. But when you press filter, the other person sees you now through a filter. We have to be extraordinarily and exceedingly careful with what filter we interpret the world. Because it can distort and it can manipulate the message that's coming. Kodesh Baruch Hu's message is pure. It's inspiring. It's lofty. It's enriching. But if we have a filter that's going to be cynical or sarcastic or negative or pessimistic, then it's going to bring down that message. And that's the sort of chaim. Torah tells us that it's mesukah midvash Or Chaim HaKadosh says she might be a lot of addition because I was to a Torah in Michigan after my career. For a person understood tasted the sweetness, how delicious Torah is, you'd run after you'd pursue it. We have a filter that says money makes the world go round. So we're drawn to money, we want more money, we work hard for money, we admire people with a lot of money. Money is power, but if we understood that Torah is so much more valuable, Torah is inestimable. And money's temporary, you can't take it with you. We'd run after Torah, we'd chase Torah, we'd admire those who have more and more Torah. Elemi, however, we have a filter. We see a world in which commodity of money, in fact, is power, brings honor, has influence. So we think money and Torah, spirituality is invisible, it's not tangible. So we don't admire, that's the filter through which we're perceiving and seeing this world. Says the college, change your filter. Get your glasses fixed. Look at the world more accurately and correctly and you will see. So that's the distinction, the contrast Moshe Vayikra with an aleph, Bilam without an aleph. Happens stance, chance, transactional. Whereas Moshe it is deliberate, it's intentional, it's affectionate, it's much more than just transactional. I, how could they each be hearing the signal differently? Not because Hashem sent out a different signal, but they had different antennas and therefore a person has to be extremely careful with our antenna. That's number one. Number two, I have another idea. Again, Rashi. Vayikra Moshe the whole Israel show him The message, the voice of Hashem went out and it came to Moshe's ears and the rest of the people didn't pick up the signal. So Hashem said it out loud, but no one else heard except Mosha. A love Yahoosha was called a lot of call low. Call a love. Mosha only Mosha picked up the signal. Wonders of if God is speaking directly to Mosha and no one else hears it, go to his tent, send them an email, leave them a voice note, pick up the phone, call him. Why does he proclaim it from the old Moed and it goes across all the it goes across the entire camp there if Mosha is the only one who's going to hear it, he's the only one who's going to pick it up. Says Hashem put it out into the atmosphere. He sent the signal out into the world and he said everyone can be a Mosha. If you tune in, if you connect, if you eliminate the noise, if you get rid of the static, it's there for anyone to pick up. But you have to be a Mosha. Anyone can strive, anyone can have the drive to be a Mosha. And if you can get to the level of Mosha, you could pick up the signal. So it wasn't that only Mosha can hear. He proclaimed it for everyone, but you have to have the ambition, you have to have the drive, you have to want to be a Mosha in order to be able to pick up the signal. So reminds me of an inside of the of Yakov Kamenesky back at the beginning of the Rama and Shulchan Aruch Magen Avraham tells us that one should not hire a non-Jewish nurse to nurse a Jewish child. A Jewish child should not drink the milk of a non-Jewish woman, of a woman who's a pagan idolater, who worships something else. Why? Where do you you that from? Mosha Rabbeinu. Because even though Moshe was given up, put in the basket, nevertheless, Yocheved, Miriam were careful, were vigilant to ensure that Moshe would not drink from Bas Paro, that Moshe would not drink from some Egyptian nursemaiden, but it would only be a Jewish source, a holy source, a holy source of milk. And the Rama says that in fact is the halacha, that is the practice we have till today. We don't today hire others to nurse our children. We have formula, but in the time of people did, the Rama says one should be strict and careful to only hire a Jewish woman. Asks Rav Yaakov Kamenetzky, why by the way, why would why were they so careful for Moshe? Because the peh shows otzel hadaber, panim al panim, the mouth that was destined to speak face to face with God, that same mouth that would be present face to face with God, communicate with God, should not have the experience of nursing from a contaminated or ideologically corrupt source. So asks Rav Yaakov Kamenetzky, that was true for Moshe. What does that have to do with our kids? That was a standard for Moshe because Moshe, the av hanvi'im, Moshe, the paradigm, the father of all prophets, was destined to that level of prophecy. He couldn't and shouldn't drink from that source. What does that have to do with our sons, our children? Why do we have to be so careful? Says Rav Yaakov Kamenetzky, you know why? Because the message to every Jewish child that's born is, you could be the next Moshe Rabbeinu. We have to be as careful to protect and preserve and safeguard your holiness, your sanctity because every child has that potential. They have the potential to be the best version of themselves, not measured necessarily against Moshe, but we have that standard because everyone could be the best version of them. Everybody could reach their own level the same way Moshe was able to reach his level as well. There's something interesting in the beginning. Look at Look inside. Page 544. What do you notice of the word Vayikra? Vav, yud, kuf, resh. What do you see about the letter aleph? It's an aleph ze'ira. It's a tiny little aleph. Not only in the Orach Chaim Chumash, if you open the sefer Torah, you'll see the letters and aleph ze'ira. It is a small letter aleph in our sefer Torah. Why? The Baal HaTurim says, why? Cuz Moshe Moshe was humble. He said to God, I know you called me. I have a calling. We're on a first name basis. You have my side, your cell phone number. We're close. I got it. But unlike today, by the way, where everyone posts a picture, they think somehow their worth goes up if they could post a picture with someone famous that they met. It's a phenomenon. You could see it every time. Someone famous dies in the Jewish world or non-Jewish world, and on social media, everybody posts if they have a picture with that person. What does that add? Who cares? Cuz the person feels more special. I have a connection. My friend, do you know who I met? Do you know who I saw? Do you know who I know? Enjoy it. Enjoy that connection for yourself. Why do you need the world? If there's a value, there's a lesson to be learned, if there's meaning to extract, fine. But stam, just to drop, just to flex? Why? So, Moshe was exactly the opposite. Moshe has access to the God Almighty, the King of Kings, the source of everything. And Hashem calls him on speed dial. You know what Moshe says? Don't put that in the book. He's so humble. Nobody needs to know that. I don't want to stand out. I don't need to be special. So, when you include that I was called, drop the aleph. Leave it off and write like it it says with Bil'am, vav, yud, kuf, resh. Chance happens. Chance We happen to know each other, but I'm nothing special. And Hashem Hashem had an argument with Moshe over this. And how did they compromise, says the Baal HaTurim? Small aleph. Hashem refused. He insisted that the aleph be included. This was not coincidental or accidental or chance, this was intentional by design, but he honored Moshe's request by making it a small aleph. The Kli Yakar says it's a small aleph. What do we learn from the small aleph? You can't learn unless you minimize yourself. A person who has to monopolize the conversation, person with hubris and arrogance, about ga'avah, has nothing to learn from anyone else or from Hashem himself. So, a person has to be like an aleph ze'ira, minimize ourselves, see ourselves as smaller. I'm small, I have so much to learn, so much to gain, so much to gather. And therefore, the aleph is ze'ira to communicate Vayikra. When one wants to hear the message of Hashem, if you want to learn what Hashem has to say, you have to minimize yourself, be an aleph ze'ira, be a small a small aleph. The Kli Yakar has a second interpretation. The aleph is small to teach that just like aleph is the rosh osiyos, aleph is the first letter in the Hebrew alphabet, so so too this is the source of the tradition to begin teaching children from Sefer Vayikra. We don't do it as often today. Some still do. Old school yeshivas, hadarim do. In Europe, it was much more popular and commonplace to begin when you give a child the Chumash, what's the first Chumash you give? Vayikra. And where do you begin learning? Vayikra. And I couldn't think of a worse place to begin. Vayikra, laws of sacrifices, complex, detailed minutiae, measurements, which animal, how much flour, where was it offered, sprinkling of blood, archaic, barbaric, outdated, unrelatable, and that's where we start with kids? That's where we begin. And hinted to says the Kli Yakar, aleph ze'ira, this little aleph is an allusion is hinted. That's where we begin? So, this I shared previously. What's the first message to a Jewish child who's engaging in their Jewish learning? You know what the first message is? carbonos sacrifices Judaism is not all about kumbaya, amazing, uplifted, on fire, so sweet. Religion is sacrifice, religion is compromise, religion is effort. Is effort. It's not easy. Give up non-kosher, give up your Shabbos, give up what you want to look at, give up what you want to say, give up what you want to wear. It takes sacrifice. Now the reward is well worth it. And after all, Hashem asks it of us, and it is the formula for life. But the truth is, it's a message for all of life. No pain, no gain. You want to live a healthy life and lifestyle, you want longevity to the best of our ability, then there's sacrifice, there's compromise. You have to work hard. You want to succeed and break through in your parnossa, in your livelihood? No one's handing it to you on a silver platter. You got to work hard, work ethic. You want a happy marriage in life? Takes work, ongoing for all the years. So everything that's worth it in life takes sacrifice. And that's why the first message, the first thing we teach a Jewish child is sacrifice, carbonos, safer Vayikra. No pain, no gain. Lafitsu lafi sara agra. According to the effort is the reward. You got to work for it. So the small aleph is an allusion to the little kid that is beginning their life journey of learning with Vayikra, cuz the underlying message of all learning is you got to work for it, sacrifice. And that's true for learning. Takes effort, takes a lot of effort to learn the language, to learn the vocabulary of our rabbis, to learn a gemara, to break your teeth on it. You can't come just download it, doesn't work that way. You can't just come and have it be served on a silver spoon. You got Got be willing to work for it. Anything valuable, meaningful, worthwhile in life, you got to be willing to work for and that's why we start children from Vayikra with a small aleph. Another illusion of the small aleph, who was calling Moshe? Hashem. Aleph is the alufo shel shel olam, the source of all. We're going to get into this. Here's a little preview. Gratuitous endorsement. Shabbos Hagadol Drasha, the Shabbos. We're speaking about the windy road of redemption, from galus to geulah, from exile to redemption, then and now. Why? Why are we so fixated on leaving Egypt? We have to remember it every day. We have to reenact it two nights a year. What's this fixation on leaving Egypt? And why can't we leave Egypt in a direct way? Why was it so incremental? Why was it so roundabout? And why the last 2,000 years, we take two steps forward and a step back? The last 80 years, two steps forward and a step back. The last year and a half, two steps forward and a step back. Can't we just click press a switch and have redemption? Why in our own lives and our own dreams does it happen so incrementally? In our livelihood, in our quest to find our shidduch, in our attempt to have children, in every area of life, our health and wellness, we progress and we regress. Why? Why is the world set up that way, that there's exile? Why do we have to go through an exile before we can experience a redemption? That's the subject of our Shabbos Hagadol Drasha this Shabbos. And I'll just tell you one amazing idea. The difference between golah and geulah, exile and redemption is one letter. Which letter? Aleph. Why is it the letter aleph? Come to Shabbos Shabbos Hagadol Drasha. Okay. Rav Chaim Shmulevitz, we're still on this opening pasuk. We're going to get past it. Rav Chaim Shmulevitz has another idea on Vayikra. The Medrash Rabbah at the beginning of this book, the beginning of our parsha, tells us eser shemos nikru l'Moshe. Moshe has no less than 10 names. Yada the fish is told me what I'm going to do. One of his names is Yared because he brought down Torah from above to down below. Avi soho is called Avi soho and so and so and so. It's another one of his names. I'm like a lot of motion and I have a lot of heart. Because shame of you should have all your 10 names any other name that you have had. No the name I'm using is the one that you were given by the daughter of Pharaoh. The daughter of Pharaoh when she withdrew you from the water she gave you the name motion because I grabbed you from the water I drew you forth from the water says I shall I take my motion. Have a shame L motion. The opening of our book the opening of our parsha begins God called to motion of all of his 10 names that's the one I shall uses. I shall endorse is that name. It's pretty mind-boggling. It's really startling. He has 10 names. His parents gave him a name. Nope, not the one I shall uses. I shall give him a new name. Nope, not the one I shall uses. Which one does he use and embrace? Which one does he endorse? The one this non-Jewish princess the daughter of their tormentor and oppressor and persecutor that's the one I shall uses. This Pharaoh called him motion. I shall say that's the name. What's going on over here? Says I shall have it. You know why? You know why? How did the daughter of Pharaoh retrieve motion? With great effort, with great sacrifice, with great work. She shouldn't have been able to reach but she stretched out her arm and it went nonetheless. Mysterious nefish. Mysterious nefish. Effort, sacrifice, compromise. Mysterious nefish that motion had a lot of work to do for motion. This effort this sacrifice, this work she had to do to save him in fact was planted in him when she gave him that name. And therefore Hashem says of all the names we use, it's Moshe. You know why? Cuz Moshe will most be characterized, identified by a willingness to work, to sacrifice, to make that effort. That's what this parsha, that's really what this book of the Torah is all about. Effort, work, sacrifice. If you want to draw close to Hashem, you want to draw close to your spouse, to your children, to your friends, you have to work on it. You willing to sacrifice? Are you willing to compromise? Are all of your relationships driven by your ego? Is everyone there to serve you? Does everyone have to fall into place to make you happy? Or are you ready to sacrifice and compromise? Are you willing to even eat milchigs when you want fleishigs? That's the cornerstone of a good marriage. Sacrifice, compromise, giving, not only getting. That's the what relationships are really all about beginning with our relationship with Hashem. A korban, the sacrifice. You want to be karov, you want to be close to Hashem. Lastly, Amora's Torah is the Rav Meishik K'Reb. He points out, based on the Orach Chaim, that our pasuk, this opening pasuk of this book of our parsha, it shifts grammatically. Adam ki yakriv mikem korban la Hashem, if a person offers a sacrifice min hab'heima from an animal, takrivu, you in the plural, es korbanchem, your plural sacrifices. So, which is it? Singular or plural? Adam ki yakriv or takrivu korbanchem? What happened over here? Single singular to plural. Why did we shift? Listen to what he says. Listen to what he says. Mitzvos, when you do a mitzvah, you can't do it in isolation. You don't do it all alone. You don't do it independent and apart. All the mitzvos that we do, all the effort that we make, all of our mission and service to Hashem is to be part of a community. To be part of a people, to be part of a nation. And therefore, a person who desires to draw close to the Almighty, and I want to Hashem is and you want to daven. Because we don't have the temple today. We don't have sacrifices today. What do we have in their place? We have prayer. So when you step up and you want to draw close to Hashem through prayer, what is the way, the advice? She is in Israel. You have to connect with the Jewish people. The Arizal, the great Kabbalist, Isaac Luria, the Arizal, instituted that before a person davens, they say, I hereby accept upon myself the mitzvah God, before I ask you for anything, I accept upon myself to love all Jews like myself, to love my neighbor as myself. How can I ask you for anything if I don't love your children? If I don't show favor to your children. How? So the the precursor to turning to Hashem to davening is to accept upon ourselves not only verbally and theoretically, but in practice, the Hashem, I accept upon myself to love your neighbor, love my neighbor, love your children as myself. Now I'm ready to daven. Now I'm ready to talk to you. And that's alluded to in this says the says the the Torah. I want to daven. First I have to care about the way of first I have to connect to everyone around me. It is so core. It is so lost today in the lization of the Jewish people, where every other house, every block, every basement, everyone's just making Shabbos for themselves, making a minyan for themselves, doing what's best for themselves. What about community? What about being part of community? Something that transcends the individuals, that's bigger than just us. Community, the value of community, of people, of nationhood. There's something so much bigger even when we come together, even when we come together to daven. More than that, the pun of the office quotes from the Alshich. When a person makes a mistake and they have to bring a carbon in order to repair and to atone, why do we sit shift from the singular to the plural? Because every time a individual makes a mistake, it is a reflection and the responsibility of the plural, of the community. If we would have done more, educate, safeguard, uplift, intervene, intercede, inspire, then that individual wouldn't have made that mistake. Call Israel are even zealous of all responsible, all guarantors one for the other. So, the mistake of the individual is a reflection on the group. And that's why it begins Adam ki yakriv mikem carbon, when an individual has to bring a carbon, takrivu as carbon chem, you in the plural offer your sacrifice, because it's a reflection on the plural. Okay, I promised we'd get to the second possible. Page 544. Possible base. The better than it's over you might have another yakriv mikem carbon speak to the Jewish people and tell them as shem says to Moshe, Adam, a man, ki yakriv mikem carbon ashem, when they offer from themselves a sacrifice to God, from cattle, from flock, from animals, offer offer that sacrifice. Says the Ramban on this possible, here the Torah is about to delineate to us the purpose of bringing these sacrifices. Says the Ramban, Nachmanides, A person is defined through their thoughts, speech, and action. So, we put our hands on the sacrifice that corresponds with the mistakes and the shortcomings we make in the world of action. That corresponds with our mistakes in speech. And you have to consume in fire the animal. And that is the machshavah of a teivah. The fire represents the drive, the temptation, the thoughts, the fantasies inside men. The Ramban goes on to explain that everything we do to the animal is a symbol to really offering the animal in ourselves. We're trying to repair, we're trying to atone. Why do we come up short? Where do we do go wrong? When we indulge the animal in us. The animal just wants to eat anything, anytime, and any amount. The animal in us just wants to look at, say, react, respond, give in to anger, envy, arrogance. That's the animal impulse, the animal instinct. That's the animal in us. We're all made up of animals. When one brings a carbon, they're trying to channel that animal. In the world of speech, thought, and action. And in action. And says Rav Shmuel Baruch Berenbaum to Rav Shmuel, you see from the Ramban that ultimately the carbon, the root of a carbon, carbon means sacrifice. The root, the shoresh of the word carbon is karov. We're trying to draw close to Hashem. You don't just externally, superficially go through motions. We talk often about checklist Yiddishkeit. Daven check, Daf Yomi check, give some tzedakah check, check, check, check. Now I can go out and live my life. That's such a superficial We want a p'nimiyus Yiddishkeit. A Yiddishkeit with depth, profundity, passion, purpose, energy, enthusiasm. Rachmana liba boy, Hashem wants what's in our heart to be present, to be mindful, to be conscious with everything that we're doing. Indeed, the navi, Yeshayahu, bemoans when the Jewish people offer a korban as a checklist. We read this in haftarah in the three weeks. Yeshayahu, navi Isaiah, perek aleph, pasuk yud vov says, "Lama li rove zivcheichem yomar Hashem." I don't want your empty sacrifices. I don't want your davening if you're in shul and you're talking, you come late, you leave early. You're in shul and you're not really having a conversation, you're not present, you mumble a bunch of words, you didn't pay attention to one of them. What are you coming to shul if you're busy scrolling on your phone during the week? You're not engaged, you're not present, you're not mindful. So, "Lama li rove zivcheichem yomar Hashem." What do I need it for? Your checklist Yiddishkeit. What I want is "L'avdo b'chol levavchem." I want your heart. I want your heart. I want what's in your heart. A spouse, a husband, a wife turn to the other and say, "What do you want from me? I took out the garbage, made dinner, brought home the paycheck. What else do you want from me?" How about your heart? Your love, your affection, your connection, conversation, communication, time. Hashem wants the same thing in our relationship with him. And the Ramban says, "That's at the core of these korbanos is fostering and nurturing a relationship, which is not just empty acts." And this is such a critical introduction to this book. Because Vayikra is going to be a long list and litany our parsha. How do you bring korban olah, korban shlamim, korban chatas, korban todah, korban mincha, all the details of all the korbanos. Lots of details. Lots and lots of details. But don't get lost in the details at the expense of being present, of the pnimius, of the depth, of the deeper meaning of what it's really all about, of what we're trying to do. Rachmana litzlan, he wants what's in our heart. So, what's going on is it's not barbaric and archaic, the idea of animal sacrifice. We have animal inside us. We began the Tanya. So far, we gave the introduction. So grateful to our amazing sponsors, and we're working on getting it on the podcast players. Apple, anyone connected to Apple or Spotify, please help. It's on YouTube, and it will be up, please God, as soon as they approve. But, we began the introduction to Tanya, and tomorrow we'll continue with the opening perek of Tanya. And in the introduction, we spoke about But, Tanya's kodesh is that though we have an animal inside us, and the godly soul, the chelek Eloka mimaal mamash, we're not trying to obliterate and purge and destroy and sacrifice the animal, we're trying to train the animal. The animal in us is neutral. Question is, how can we elevate and transform? How can we train it? We're not trying to get rid of it. The Ramban here talks about we're getting rid of an animal in us, in the sacrifice of the animal, we're sacrificing the animal in me. Sprinkling the blood, the blood is the passion. Burning the fats are the indulgences. And all the components of the sacrifices we're reading are to get rid of the animal in me, whereas the Alter Rebbe Tanya sees we're trying to train the animal in me towards my advantage. If I sacrifice an animal, who's going to plow my field? If I sacrifice the animal, what am I going to have when I need the animal to transport me from point A to point B? In a time we relied on animals. An animal is not inherently bad. An animal can be dangerous or bad, but if I train the animal to work for me, then the animal is good. And that's the effort in giving a preview of Tanya, that we're trying to train the animal in us to our advantage to live the holy lives that we strive that we strive to live. Says Reb Leib Chasman, Adam key acre When it comes to the sacrifices says Adam Adam key acre And then it says nefish key sector If a soul makes a mistake So the one bringing the sacrifices the Adam And who's the one who is made the mistake after a pair of the nefish. I would have thought it would be the opposite. Shouldn't be exactly the opposite? The nefish this the mission Shama this the soul is the one bringing a carbon sacrifice. Adam Adam is the name we use for men that's lowly. Adam in a Adam Man who came from the ground who's lowly. So it should be the lowly name is the one we use when you make a mistake. And nefish soul our name for when we're lofty should be when we bring a sacrifice. Don't we have it backwards? So that was so casual a cocos I'm going to go to Adam home of a Russian ship of a Rubia. Nishma's after a minute Adam become a worship in the market of coders of the market of the Yosa. How come cocos with the cocos of the Yosa? We have two parts to us like we were just describing. We're a godly soul we're an animal instinct a body and I have a soul. So when a person goes to sin no key nefish key sector Know that you've compromised your nefish. And that's also the way to get out. You don't have to indulge or give in to the hate because know that you're a soul. And Adam key acre Know that you can elevate your Adam. When you're bringing a sacrifice you can elevate that lowly Adam in a Adam. You can elevate like the outer rib like the Bala Tanya. Train the animal in you train the Adam in you. So it's not backwards at all. Nefish is the way to avoid key sector. And Adam you can elevate when key acre. So it's not backwards and in fact is a formula for living most meaningfully. The um Rashi Rashi says Adam ki yakriv. Why do we invoke the word Adam? So why do we invoke the word Adam? Adam ki yakriv become korban lashem. Adam So Rashi says Hazal understood It's getting harder and harder to read this print. I don't know it's somehow shrinking in my Hamish. Getting harder and harder to read. Adam lama nemar why does it say Adam? We have a lot of names for man. Ish Enosh, gever Adam What nefesh? Why does it say Adam when we're talking about the sacrifices? Ma Adam Harishon lo hikriv min hagazel hakol hayash lo. Af ata lo sakriv min hagazel. Hazal they got a rabba rabba is learning the midrash. Just like Adam Harishon just like original man who sacrificed to God but didn't steal to do so. And why is it he didn't steal to do so? He couldn't steal. How is it that he couldn't steal? There was no one to steal from. It all belonged to him. The whole world was literally his. So just like the whole world was his, there was no one to steal from, what he sacrificed he did honestly without stealing. So too you, Adam ki yakriv, when you bring your sacrifice similarly don't bring it from anything stolen. God says I don't want your tzedakah if you stole to give it. Don't give what you gained through unethical means. Ask Rav Shaul Alter, the Gerer Rosh Yeshiva shlita. More of a rabbi. Is that a good place to learn it from? It's backwards. Just like Adam didn't steal to give his sacrifice, you shouldn't steal to give yours. Adam couldn't steal, but I can. So why don't we bring a different person who didn't steal to bring their sacrifice? Be like Noah. Be like Avram. Be like Yakov. They offered sacrifices and didn't steal. You too offer a sacrifice and don't steal. Wouldn't a greater precedent and model be someone who could have stolen and didn't? Not Adam who couldn't steal and therefore we shouldn't steal. Doesn't make any sense. Doesn't make any sense. If it was literally impossible for him to steal, so maybe it was because everything was his that he didn't steal. So why should I learn it from him? Why should I learn it from him? So it seems there's a deeper message here. In the Ela says of Shaul Alter, in the Ela of Yom Kippur, we request forgiveness from Hashem "L'man nechton mirasha yadeinu." So our hands will be absolved of theft. This is the climax of Yom Kippur. The peak. The holiest moment of the year. And after 24, 25 hours of prayer, the culmination of 40 days of prayer, and how do we come to Hashem to close it? We plead Hashem, "Absolve me of theft." Theft? I didn't steal anything. I didn't put my hand in anyone's pocket. I'm honest with my taxes. So in that climax, that culmination, 25 hours of davening, after 40 days of davening, after 24 hours of fasting, and I come before Hashem and my last thought, my last message is "Hashem, absolve me from stealing, from theft." What's going on over here? Some of the Gemara in Berachot daf lamed aleph tells us, "A person who indulges in this world without first making a bracha, k'ilu gazal." It's as if they stole from Hashem. If you eat and you didn't make a blessing before you ate, it's like you stole from God. Why isn't neglecting a bracha likened to theft specifically? You could have compared it to many other violations. Says of Shaul Alter, says the Gerer Rosh Yeshiva, the answer is, a person has to live life and live in this world knowing nothing belongs to me. I'm not entitled to anything. A talmid chacham says, "Chazal tell us, maseches derech eretz, talmid chacham says, 'Everything I own in this world, I have no personal interest in. The world is not mine. I'm only here to serve him. Whatever I have, whatever he's generously given to me, lent to me, whatever he's put in my name, is really his, and I only have it like an expense account, because I work for him. How can I accomplish my mission? How can I make my difference? How can I meet my goals if I don't have the resources to do it?" But underlying it all is the foundation, "I'm here to do Hashem's bidding, and I've been given the tools to accomplish it, and none of it's mine." So when a person lives life selfishly, egotistically, when a person indulges in what they have for themselves, not to advance Hashem's mission and purpose and why we're here, it's as if they stole from God. God granted and he gave it all to us. Why? To use it to advance his vision, our mission, our purpose. If we're using it to indulge just in ourselves, it's as if we've stolen from God. A Yid has to know that even what Hashem has given him is not his own. We're here in Hashem's expense account, to carry out his assigned task. And that's the opposite of our inclination. So one who neglects brachos is guilty of theft, cuz he thinks his possessions are his. Why do I eat the apple and make a bracha beforehand? Hashem, I'm eating the apple to give me the energy to serve you. So I'm making a bracha to have it. But if I eat food without making a bracha, just cuz I'm feeling my boych, I'm feeling my my taste buds, cuz I'm crave animal, I want to eat like a pig, it's as if I stole from God. The whole reason he gave me that food was to eat it. You could live to eat or you could eat to live. bracha, you're eating to live and to live with a mission for Hashem. And if you neglect or omit a bracha, then you're living to eat. It's all about you, and it's as if you stole that apple. He didn't give it to you for you. He gave it to you so you'd be nourished. Now, once you're being nourished, he wants you to enjoy it. Sweet, delicious, fantastic. A honeycrisp apple dipped in peanut butter? It's schmuck. It's fantastic. It's fantastic. But you got to make a bracha. Once you're eating it to have the energy to serve him, it should be sweet and delicious. But the bracha is the evidence that I'm eating it to serve him, that I'm living to eat. I'm eating to live rather, not living to eat. When we daven on Yom Kippur, when we get to that culmination this is what we mean. We arrive at that moment and we say, "Hashem, Hashem, I'm here. Any sins that have resulted from forgetting my mission, my purpose, forgetting that I have everything I have to serve you, to repair and redeem the world, to make it a better place, to fulfill my mission, help me." And that's the deeper of meaning of this statement. Adam did not bring a carbon from gezel. He was so in tune with his mission, so aware that he was formed by Hashem for this specific purpose, that he could never forget it. He could never bring a carbon with a feeling it was his. In the same way Adam brought a sacrifice knowing, "This is why I'm here. This is what my life is all about." The same is true for us as well. Lav Aish, we drawing We got two of We got Aish Tamid and Lav Aish. We got Rav Druck all over the place here. So, he also is bothered by the same question. He also quotes this Rashi. And he comes at it from a different perspective. He says the following. He says, "Adam, ki yakrov mikem korban." Adam, the first thing is being Adam. Be a mensch. And then you can bring your carbon. Before you walk into shul, you shuckle. Before you come with your religious fervor and public demonstration, which is important. We're on the team of being observant, practicing, being unapologetic, being strict in keeping Jewish law. But before you become so righteous in bringing a carbon, where you walk into shul and have the longest mon astre, Adam, be a mensch, be an Adam, be an Adam, be a mensch, be a mensch. Don't smack someone in the face when you put on your tallis. Don't kick someone out of your seat if they're sitting in what you think is your makom kavua. Adam, Adam, ki yakor mikem korban. First be an Adam, and then ki yakor mikem korban, then ki yakor mikem korban after that, korban after that. So, uh first be an Adam, and that's what the baalei mussar say. We daven every morning. L'olam yehei Adam b'seiser uv'galui. Always be a person both in public and private. Some people publicly are righteous. They want their kids to get shidduchim. What are they going to say about me? I want to be thought well of. But privately, privately they're corrupt. So, we say l'olam yehei Adam b'galui uv'seiser, privately and publicly. But the baalei mussar say, read it l'olam yehei Adam. Be a mensch before you get to b'galui uv'seiser. L'olam yehei Adam, be a mensch. Be a mensch is the way to the way to begin. And we'll end this pasuk. We're still going. With the Amora'ei Shtaros. The Amora'ei Shtaros, Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak says on this pasuk, ah, so much good stuff. Adam ki yakor mikem korban. Quotes from Tiferes Yisrael. Al korbanacha, al korban chatas takriv melach. Sorry. I skipped forward. Perek Beis. No, perfect. Perek Beis, pasuk yud gimmel. Perfect, sorry. Chapter two, verse first 11 and 13. Bottom of page 550. Now we're dealing with the carbon mincha, the flower offering. And we're told mincha takiyu lasas chametz. The carbon mincha, the meal offering that was offered, can't have leaven, can't have chametz. Don't use honey, fruit honey. We're not talking about bee honey, we're talking about date honey. Don't use honey and don't use chametz as a fire offering to Hashem. And so on. And then pasuk gimmel. What are you and what must you put on? Don't use honey, date honey. And don't allow it to leaven. What must you put? Salt. Don't discontinue the salt of God's covenant from upon your meal offering. All of your carbon takriv melach. On all of your sacrifices, you must use salt. No honey, yes salt. Why? To avoid diabetes? Salt also is a problem. What does the salt give you? High blood pressure? So why yes to salt and no to honey? Says the Tiferes Yisrael. You got to put salt. You got to add salt to give it flavor. Flavor. The Yiddishkeit has to be lived with a flavor. The same way when you add salt, you're giving a spice, you're adding a flavor. You have to use spice. You have to live a Yiddishkeit. Yiddishkeit can't be bland. Davening's bland, learning's bland, Pesach's bland, everything's bland. You got to make it alive and fun and lebedik and have a bren takif melach to lahtimus on the time Arab avodas Hashem person has to make it come alive. It's got to be with a sense of with a sense of spice, a sense of flavor, a sense of salt. It's got to be something which is on fire. The Tiferes Shmuel has a different interpretation. Listen to what he says. Listen to what he points out. Yish laven, why sour and vash are no good? Honey and laven are no good, but but uh salt is good. Misharos lahadar carbon, so actually hadar mitzvah atzma. This is a fascinating insight. When you add yeast or you add honey, you're adding something external that gives it the flavor. When you add salt, you're bringing out the taste and the flavor from within it itself. That's at least how he understands the two work. So when you do a mitzvah, when you do a mitzvah, Eina Kodesh Baruch Hu rotzeh she nosif a mitzvos. U meilah sour and vash heim dvarim nosafim eina l'ratzon lifnei Hashem. Hashem doesn't need your help. He doesn't want you to add to the mitzvah. The mitzvah itself is flavorful. You just need to bring it out. Salt brings out flavor as opposed to adding flavor. So you'll say, I have an even better way of doing the dalet minim. I have a better way of blowing the shofar. I have a better way of davening. I have a better way of keeping Shabbos. I have a better way. Hashem doesn't want your better way. The whole and the book of Shmos Kasha Tzevaos was, he has the formula. He has the divine formula. There's not There's room for creativity and entrepreneurship in spirituality, but within the rules, within the boundaries. So salt brings out the flavor of the mitzvah. Yes, it's a Yiddishkeit with a flavor. It's a Yiddishkeit with a bren. It's a Yiddishkeit that's on fire. It's a Yiddishkeit that's fun. It's a Yiddishkeit that's alive. It's a Yiddishkeit But flavorful. But it should come internally from the mitzvah, not by adding or supplementing, ultimately distorting. Kodesh Baruch Hu doesn't need our help. That's when we get into trouble. The cheit ha'egel was getting into trouble. They used their own ingenuity, creativity to be able to build an ego. Oh, we'll serve Hashem, but we'll just do it that way. Wrong. That's the sons of Aaron who offered an eish zarah. They offered a foreign fire, a sacrifice that wasn't given in the formula. Wrong. You don't come back from the doctor and say, "Well, if he prescribed this medicine, it'll be even better if I just swallow the whole bottle." Or that medicine, but you know what? That medicine might be good, but I also Googled and I think I'm going to add these other medicines, too. Come back to the doctor and he says, "Well, what are you doing?" That other thing you added took away from the medicine I gave you. Or you left out the medicine I gave you to do the other medicine. Or you took too much or you took too little. I'm the doctor. I went to medical school. I'm the pharmacist. I know exactly the formula that you need, the dosage that you need. What are you doing? What are you doing? Hashem says, "More than I'm the doctor or the pharmacist, I'm the creator. I know exactly the prescription you need. I know the dosage you need. Follow the formula. When you start to add, you're taking away. If you take away, you're going to compromise and destroy." So, yes, there is room for creativity in Yiddishkeit. But it is to be from within, not from without. Adding honey, adding yeast is trying to supplement the mitzvah from without. That's not the way we do it. The way we do it is to beautify and bring out the flavor that is from that is from within. That is what the Tiferes Shmuel says. Let's get the Eishet Chayil. I said we'd get to an Eishet Chayil. Perek Gimmel, pasuk alef. Page 552. V'im zavach shlamim karbanam melech bakur makriv. And now the korban shlamim, the peace offering. If you're bringing it from cattle, whether male or female, unblemished, you have to offer it. And so on. Says Rav Druck, Rashi. Where are we here? Rashi. Shmatilam Bolam. What's the purpose of a carbon The peace offering. the root of the word is shalom. What does the word shalom mean? Peace. When you bring the peace offering, it increases peace in the world. Peace in the world. Yesh says Rav in his why are the carbonas, the sacrifices, why are they given in this order? In this order. First we have the carbon ola. Carbon ola is the elevation offering. And that's unusual. Why? It's all burnt on the altar. No one eats it. You don't get the meat. No barbecue. Whole thing is burnt. Then the Torah tells us the carbon Then we have the carbon Why are we in this order? The says Rav the word carbon means to draw close. The carbon The carbon is the means, the mechanism, the vehicle through which we draw close to Hashem. I just maybe carbon. Show the By bringing a carbon, we draw close to Hashem. And that's why we introduced it. Adam lesson Adam The real carbon that we're giving is from ourselves. Hashem wants us. He doesn't want us. I've counseled couples where it's usually in the direction of the husband to the wife. He thinks he can make everything up with jewelry and gifts and vacations. And the wife says, "I don't want your jewelry. I don't want your gifts. I want your heart. I want to be treated with respect. I want you to let me in." says Adam What do I want you to sacrifice? I I your heart. I want you. I want you. I want your presence. Please Checklist here is guide. Don't go through the checklist. Don't do external. Don't go through motions. How do we demonstrate that? The first carbon that we're taught is the carbon ola. Why? It's entirely consumed on the altar. We get nothing out of it. It's not that we make a great barbecue. We get great rib steak. We get a great skirt steak, and some of it we give to God. We get nothing. All of it is consumed cuz that's the ultimate demonstration that we're in it. We're giving Hashem ourselves. Well, maybe it's carbon ola in the middle of it. I don't want anything for myself. I just want to be close to you. The next level, shlamim. He says, "I want to sacrifice. I want to be close to you, but I also want to get something." The carbon shlamim, the balim, the owner of the sacrifice gets to eat the meat. And the carbon mukrah it's not all burnt. That's the second. And then the third is the hatas, which is a lower level. When a person makes a mistake, and they want atonement, they want to get out of it, it comes from fear of being punished. How can you avoid a consequence, an accountability, and being punished? Bring a carbon hatas, and that will atone. And that is yet a lower level. So, we start at the highest level, the ola, where it's entirely consumed on the altar. The intermediate level is the shlamim. I get something out of it. And the lower level is the hatas. I'm doing it almost entirely for me as atonement to get out of it and to be and to be forgiven and to be forgiven. We'll close with one Rabbi Soloveitchik. Just sneak in Rabbi Soloveitchik. The very end. Got five chapters in this opening parsha, long parsha. Chapter 5 verse 21, page 566. Last page of the parsha. Nefesh ki se achta umala ma va'ashem, Hashem spoke to Moshe saying, "If a person will sin and commit treachery against Hashem by lying regarding a pledge or a loan or a robbery, by defrauding his comrade, or he found a lost item and denied it, and he swore falsely about it, so shall it be that he will sin and become guilty, shall return the robbed item that he robbed, or the proceeds of his fraud, or the pledge that he was left with, or the lost item that he found, or anything about which he had sworn falsely, repay its principal and add a fifth to it, and give it to its owner on the day he admits his guilt, and he shall bring his guilt offering to Hashem an unblemished ram, and so on and so forth. If a person sins betraying Hashem by falsely denying to his fellow, the Tosefta in Maseches Shevuos states, "Rebbi Chananya ben Chakhinai said, 'It's written that one sins against Hashem when he falsely falsely denies having stolen from his neighbor. This is so since one does not steal from his neighbor unless he also denies the existence of Hashem.'" The rabbis apparently did not understand why the Torah had employed the word betraying Hashem in reference to embezzling funds from a neighbor. If somebody steals from someone else, finds something and doesn't return it, outright steals, promises or swears swears falsely, embezzles, why is that called treachery against God? That's stealing from a neighbor, it's ben adam l'chavero. You've heard you damaged the relationship. You've injured another party. Why is that called treachery against God, betrayal against God? So, the rabbis answered that where there is real faith in Hashem, there can be no social immorality, no embezzlement, no perjury. Stealing, embezzling, and perjury are the result of a secular ethic, of a man who wants to build his own moral world, to be a legislator of a moral law which he himself has created. The Tosefta continues with a strange story. Rebbi Ruvein once spent a Shabbos in Tiveria. He met a philosopher who asked him a question. "Who is to be held in contempt and hated? Who should society consider contemptible creature?" Rebbi Ruvein answered, "Society should hate the atheist, the agnostic, the skeptic, one who denies the existence existence of his maker." The philosopher didn't understand. He asked, "How is this so? Why should non-believer be held in contempt and hate? Isn't faith the private affair of the individual? The skepticism is not harmful to society?" So, the rabbi answered, "Kabeid es avicha v'es imecha." "And lo sirtzach, honor your father and mother, don't kill, don't commit adultery, don't steal. There is no man who can violate these precepts unless he denied the existence of his maker." The philosopher had expected Rebbi Ruvein to answer had expected Rebbi Ruvein to answer that only the fiends of society, the arch criminals who inflict harm on others deserve to be hated, but not the innocent agnostic or atheist. The answer to the philosopher's question came swiftly and unequivocally. The absence of faith in God will eventually lead to the breakdown of social morality. Do we not see that? Are we not living through that? The absence of faith in God, the absence of surrendering and submitting to an absolute truth of God will lead to the breakdown of social morality. Corruption of man is ushered in by lack of faith in Hashem. The crux of social ethics is faith in the transcendental personal Hashem who expects man to imitate him. At the beginning the skeptics say that the commandments, "Anochi Hashem Elokecha, I'm the Lord your God, and you shouldn't have any other gods" are socially irrelevant. It's possible to organize a society on the foundations of a man-made morality. They finally realized that without "I am the Lord your God", man forfeits his ethical sensitivity and becomes oblivious to the most elementary principles of morality. So, our parsha ends that if you steal, embezzle, lie, then you are, in fact, betraying God. Betraying God, being disloyal to God ultimately leads to the breakdown of social morality and code as well. We are on next Shabbos, next Wednesday and next Tuesday rather, regular time because we do read Parshas Tzav next Shabbos. So, I will be there to see you then. As always, we ask you to remain behind to recite all of Sefer Tehillim. Please God, the hostages should come home and our soldiers should be safe.