Chanukah - Inside Or Outside? The Great Debate in Jewish History -- Rabbi YY Jacobson

[Music] the entire moon is sometimes reflected in a single cup of water one genim of the human body contains the code for the entire body sometimes in the smallest PR in the smallest detail and Nuance you have reflected the full picture there is one M kazal there's one statement in medish that describes the tragedy and then the Triumph of and commentators over the generations have struggled to understand the expression that are the rabbis used when they wanted to describe what was going on during the time of Kaneka it's found a few places in medish the first time is right in the beginning Med on the when it says Earth was engulfed in chaos and darkness over the abyss and kazal the sages see that verse as referring to the various Empires that will dominate the world till Messiah comes and often plunge the world into darkness refers to Mal the Greek Empire why your First Source says the Greece which was sharp and Swift with its decrees upon the Jewish people the Greek Empire the Greek leaders would tell the Jewish people write on the Horn of the ox that you have no Shear in the god of Israel is right on the Horn of the ax why on the Horn of the ax it's not the most comfortable place to write a message I can understand write it on papirus on the paper they had then the clay or other material used to inscribe to engrave to write write it on the Horn of the ax I once saw ma a commentator say that the Horn of an ox was us was often used like we use today a baby bottle to feed babies meaning meaning this is what you should feed your children it's still strange that the rabis chose this expression as representing from everything they did right on the Horn of the ax let's learn a piece of gor the of we all know that there's no track date in mishna for it's the one holiday that doesn't have its own track date but many of its laws are recorded in in the second chapter your second Source shabas 21 the rabbis learned the candle the Mitzvah is to place it by the door of your home Outdoors outside what if a person lived on the second floor so they don't have their door doesn't go outside they have to go down the steps but they their door opens up to the hallway going downstairs there Dar on the second floor then you place them in by the window which is open to the public domain so even the people on the outside can appreciate it not the window that's opened to the alley in the back Etc in the time of danger when when it's dangerous to put the Mana outside and it's dangerous to put the Mana by the window for example Jews are prohibited from lighting the Mana so it's a time of danger then place the Mana on your table like we do with the shabas candles and VI it is sufficient so there's three options the Mitzvah is to place it by the door of your home Outdoors what does Outdoors mean so there's the Rashi there's the T does it mean out doors if you live by a courtyard so you put it outside of your home by the courtyard in the courtyard or does it mean even by the door of the courtyard outside of outside of the courtyard actually in the public thorough far but outside obviously if the weather doesn't allow it it would have to be placed it would have to be protected by glass Etc so it shouldn't go out which practically speaking over the generations as we know Jews have tended to take them from outside back to inside which the and the authorities discuss it at length and many others what happened but that's the Mitzvah outside option number two is by the window option number three is on your table few lines later the gamar says in middle of the discussion of khaka and this is very strange the gar is discussing khaka before the garah will continue discussing KH in a moment and smack in the middle the says son of said in the name of if you place candles above 20 approximately 30 or 40 feet so then you do not fulfill the Mitzvah it's like a just like by we all know the first is above 20 is 30 or 40t depends how you define is the she of the of different sizes but let's assume between 30 and 40 feet approximately so the is a disqualified Su the G gives three reasons the basic first reason is usually people don't look up so high and therefore they will not be aware of the as much the same is true with a when you have to make a beam in order to allow to allow yourself to carry on shabas it can't be higher than 20 says in the name has the same it can't be too high here is a strange insertion says another they throw into the pit and the pit is empty without any water you already said it's an empty pit obviously there's no water if it's empty it's empty when the T says it's a pit that's empty with no water it means it's not just empty it's empty with no water there's no water in the pit but there's something else in the pit there was snakes and scorpions in the pit that they placed into says when you put your outside make sure it's still close to the door within the very close a cubit close to the door of your home don't just put it outside far away where should you put it so says put it on the right side put it on the right side of the door put it on the left you put the on the left side of the door why the m is on the right side of the door when you enter into your home the mza of course is on the right as you're entering so the should be on the left side of the door of course outside close to the home but on the left side of the door that's those who put the by the door even inside like today is the custom among most who don't put the outside literally Outdoors also put it on the left side parallel to the smack and then the gamar continues with Kan smack in the middle we have a about y's pit not having water and just snakes and scorpions on one level you could say as Rashi points out it's the same person rahana says it reahana reahana quotes rebos the son of minum in the name of so because he made one statement about about not being higher than 20 so we already quote a second statement even though it's completely irrelevant yet it's still somewhat strange that in smack in the middle of the whole discussion of khah this comes in besides the fact that this statement is brought in other places it didn't have to be brought only in Kaneka it's not like it would be forgotten from Jewish tradition which now brings us to another question I understand the view of RA that the should be on the right side you follow the mza the mza is a Biblical commandment it's a is obviously not aah it's a institution of the rabis during the time of the second it's one of the MIT of the sages right the famous as much as possible the rabbis instituted their mitz similar toz the m is clearly on the right side so should also be on the right side why not you have a m on the same side you're coming into the door the M on the on the right or from your perspective on this side so the is also on this side gal the says no it has to be on the left now why is M on the right side so the tells us it says you have to write the of on the door Post in of your home and your your Gates your portals in other words wherever you have an entrance coming into your home your office Etc so the gor says it doesn't only say it says also which can also be read as you're coming meaning you put a mza only on one side as Kaz learn out not M on both sides mza on one side the question is which side so we say m the way the side that you're coming in which side do you come in first from so usually when a person most people which leg when you're walking if I'm standing in front of that my door and I'm going into the house which leg do I lift up first to come in so the ordinary person lifts up first the right leg so who comes in first into the house so to speak I mean it's not a big difference but first the right not the left in other words I first enter the right side so you put it the way you come in on the side that has precedence when you enter the house and that is the right side so it's clear mza is on the right side so in the name of RA says you do the same thing comes and says no that's not the case smile why the mza is on the right so this should be on the left why is that an explanation the mza is on the right so I should put this also on the right because the M on the right there should be on the left there is a famous shal the shal is an acronym of that was authored by Renu yes Hartz known as the Shah Rabbi of Prague Frankfurt and then Yus buried in Taria the shal writes in that even though many of the holidays were instituted in later generations and the reading of the tah dates back to earlier times to the time of mhu nonetheless you can always find a very deep connection between the parus of the week and the that coincide with those par as he goes on to explain the Thematic connection between mik and with a great even though mik the fact that they're read now at this time of the year might have been before Kaneka khek only happens in the beginning of bayen 21 2200 years ago the ti was written and was instituted far earlier nonetheless since is a Divine edict so it includes by Providence the history of Cl so it coincides with the holidays not by coincidence but there is a thematic relationship now there's no question that all the parus from v through are dominated by one central theme it's hard to say what is the central theme from vas till V but from through there's no question that there's one Central drama if I could say or narrative that pervades the second half of saes and that is the conflict between YF and his brothers and its and its ramifications its results and the whole Evolution everything that occurs as a result of that conflict his descent into Egypt his becoming a Viceroy the hunger their descent into Egypt their ultimate meeting the ultimate reconciliation the relocation of the Jewish Family into MIT and ultimately the passing of and of Y which concludes and a new bookan puts it opens up the story of ysep and his brothers we addressed one aspect last week but as much as you address it it's still always perturbing what really happened what really happened at the surface when you're just reading Kish without anything it seems like ysf is the pet ysf is beloved by his father he loves him he spoils him he buys him this makes him this wonderful multicolorful tunic and the boys the brothers are jealous and they despise him and then when he starts Dreaming Dreams where he's not only getting special preferential treatment from his father but he's dreaming that they are bowing down to him their sheep are bowing down to his sheep and the Sun and the Moon and the 11 stars are bowing down to him now they hate him even more now they're jealous even more when he speaks to their father about them that only triggers the animosity that only hasten it only deepens the the the difficult relationship the negative relationship and then at a moment when they have an opportunity they decide to kill him instead they throw him into a pit and ultimately sell him into slavery and the rest as they say is history and in this case it really it really it really is history and yet and yet we're always perturbed what really really happened how did such a behavior take place under the clock of Yu and by whom by people who we don't consider to be lowly human beings by the founding fathers of Cl by sh how do we wrap our brain around it but there's one particular P I want to address today and that is y approaches YF approaches the his brothers let's remember the story they don't like YF they're jealous of Y they despise the Torah says they hate however you want to explain it yov one day turns to YF and says your brothers are in they're shepherding the flock let me send you to them to see what's going on and YF says he and he goes to now take a look in your Source a little down they see him from far and focus on these words they see him from far before he comes close they they uh they plot to kill him one man tells his brother the master of the dream dreams is coming the dreamer is coming let's kill him we'll throw him into one of the pits and we'll say he was devoured by a wild beast and we shall see what happens how his dreams materialized the dreams that promised and predicted that we would we would all be subservient to him we will all be prostrating ourselves to him we and our mothers and our father our mother and our father Etc what happens in reality is ruu intervenes as we all know and he prot tests it as the oldest boy he says no let us not directly kill our brother instead he He suggests let's throw him into a pit let's throw him in not throw him into a pit after he's dead as they suggested let's throw them into a pit initially let us not be the ones who directly kill our brother that's ruven suggest he has in mind to save him but this is what he tells them he thinks this will be accepted and indeed it's accepted they take y they strip him from his tunic from his multicolorful coat that yov made for him and they throw him into the pit when you read it every year as we read it yesterday it's hard not to emote again not to emote again as that scene unfolds before our eyes what do they do they sit down to eat bread they sit down to eat bread another strange phenomenon in the story now what happens is is isim are going by isim Arabs are traveling they're on the way from Gil to M they're on the way to Egypt so Yehuda speaks up in middle of the meal let's listen to his words Yehuda considered the King of the and would say so at his deathbed that he is the king and royalty will come from him he is the king then already Yehuda is the leader we see throughout baras he is the one who ultimately uh takes initiative at every moment of Crisis including this one it will happen again and again and again including at the faithful moment when he will deay he will become a slave instead of bamin later in Vash so we already see we can understand yehuda's personality and power so let's take a look at y's words it's right after the gor The Source after said to his brothers blue bet what prophet is there if we kill our brother and cover his blood the M didn't do the next POS I just want to read the next what does m bet mean you know what Rashi says on BET right from the tum bet means what prophet what money is there so yud says what prophet is there that we kill our brother in other words we let him die in the pit and we cover his blood in simple English you would say if I could be a little uh brute at least let's make some money off the deal let's sell him to the let's not kill him for our brother his brothers listen to him and that's what they do the midam come by they take YF out of the pit who takes YF out of the pit whether it's the M or the is a big argument between most and but whatever the case is they take YF out of the pit and they sell him to the is and we know exactly for how much for estam KF for 20 silver coins it's not the greatest amount of money but says bet what benefit what profit is there in killing our brother sell him to the yes now even if we would not have any perspective on who Yehuda is if somebody would tell you such a line coming from a brother about another brother even if you really despise him and you're really jealous of him and ideologically have very serious differences it's hard to digest these words from yud in another context we would say they're very callous and callous in a very radical form morally callous words that's the that's that's the here ma bet there's no profit in this there's really no benefit in this he'll just be in the pit at least let's sell him then he adds and we can't we then we could say we didn't kill him we didn't leave him in a pit we also sold him that's the second calculation now there's no question that this par these par have triggered over thousands of years enormous amounts of Comm all the way from the med down to to to understand the no question has 70 faces and all faces are true goes ahead and says that each PK has 600,000 interpretations paralleling each soul 600,000 Souls each has its own perish and that's why Jews argue so much every mitvah every every every story has 600,000 interpretations I'm not sure that it was a Shear that covered 600,000 interpretations I'm not sure there's a Shear that covered 70 interpretations unique was the malalas the malalas the rabbi of Kos Shapiro who passed away in t 1640 on his mat it says says that it was known that he he spoke to him face to face that's engraved in the mat of the Malala means he reveals the depth so he has a safer explaining the word in 252 ways and 252 different ways one word and each way I kid you not each one of those ways explain you could spend a few weeks on 252 ways of and today we're going to learn actually his last way number 252 he wrote another sa unfortunately it was lost I think a thousand ways to the word VRA on the word VRA he writes about it that's how we know but it was lost and you could trust himal says he made such a saf I think that was the number he was unique but generally we take one face we take one interpretation and that's usually enough to challenge us stimulate us and make us think so today I want to discuss one Mahal last week par we discussed one perspective about Y and his brothers the debate between two mahim two MIM Yehuda surrender versus self-expression self-actualization versus self Transcendence two paths in Judaism today we're going to discuss another perspective and then we will be able to see the connection to now this is going to be part one although self-contained part two going to do because this theme has a sequence in order to understand this perspective let's remember one introduction and this is really introduced the first by R in the Kari and later in the sa by the famous Spanish commentator and he says there was a difference between yakob and his fathers AB had two sons but yal was expelled from the home and the legacy of the abrahamic monotheistic tradition the tradition of yish so to speak came through one as the says has two sons and one two carries the flag of and decides to go his own way and ends up with a different tradition a different lifestyle and a different Destiny with Yak the question is will that happen again D believes that the were so suspicious of YF because they saw this pattern happening again they were convinced that the love of Yakov to YF is simply indicative of a similar pattern to what occurred by abam and what occurred by which means they're all going to be ultimately sent away if not geographically but spiritually existentially and yet they knew that this is not true and they were right as the says his bed his family is wholesome in other words schma means all of them all of them carry the flag of of yides kite of Judaism of Cl of T but it's not simple because there's not one child when you have and eight and and and and yov you have one child here you have 12 sons plus a daughter or many daughters that depends on different interpretations and different mothers Mar SAR marries Rifka hugger's child goes in a different direction but yob marries ra Le B Zila and they have different children and ra and Leia are two very different sisters we see it throughout and that which we don't see is even more than that which we see and as a result of that there are legitimate and profound differences between the mahim of clist between the trends and the patterns that are set up in the first generation of the Jewish people between the siblings which didn't exist in previous generations and although in the father you have encompassed all the patterns and all the themes because he is the father and the father by definition is the progenitor the The Source like the seed which contains the tree in all of its branches but as the tree grows there are different branches and the different branches can then morph in to many different uh many other branches which all spring from the same Source But ultimately Branch off especially as a result of the influence of the mothers of RA and Le So within yides we are privy to two paths that developed and they were represented primarily by ysf and Yehuda of course not only Yehuda Yehuda and his brothers but Yehuda who represents in many ways the brothers he is considered the melik the king and he is the one who will stand up to ysf again and again especially at a faithful moment as mentioned earlier he represents the other pattern what was the debate between them it was a great debate how do I know it was such a great debate because it still rages in the Jewish World 3500 years later the debate between Yuda and YF still exists within the Jewish World in a powerful way maybe at this Shia we could make peace but I don't want to be so audacious but with your help perhaps you never know small people could sometimes accomplish great things last year we discussed one debate today we discuss another debate the two are not disconnected they're quite connected but at least they present it somewhat differently and the big question is what is really the aim of Judaism you know these types of questions we have we many of us learn and go to Shum and listen to shur so many shum discuss details right you're learning a BL gari you're learning a per MN you're learning a par you're learning a Mitzvah you're learning a you're learning a certain idea so we discuss a certain details but it's important also to be able to trace the details back to the CLA to be able to see in details the claw the bigger picture Yuda and YF are arguing about something very fundamental about the very mission statement of Judaism the very ra the very objective goal and aim what is yish what is to what is the question the their vocation is RO their Shepherds the T says so clearly y says so clearly the say y was not the the others were all Shepherds AB was a Shepherd was a Shepherd yob was a Shepherd yob was a Shepherd for enormous amounts of years and the brothers were all Shepherds y helped them so say he helped his brothers in shepherding the Sheep but the brothers their vocation was Shepherds so this is a vocation a work that the others and the shatam Embraced there was a reason for it it wasn't the only available parosa in the world but there was a reason they embraced this vocation and the reason is because the shepherd has a unique opportunity the shepherd lives in seclusion from the hustle from the vanities from the noise from the tumultuous reality of urban Society the shepherd communes with nature all day and night the the shepherd is surrounded by Nature by natural fields and farms and Orchards by the natural world that created in close proximity to Natural streams Rivers lakes and oceans Etc and the shepherd has an opportunity really to be in a state of communion with nature and with the author of nature a life of hisus a life of isolation a life of intimacy with God intimacy with spirituality Yuda believes as the pkim says it very clearly as we say in Yuda believes that demands from those who really want to carry its flag to be segregated from the world after all the says the word means World it also means concealment in other words by definition the world is a place of concealment what does it conceal it conceals truth it conceals the it conceals the divine vibrating life force the inner Consciousness the inner godliness that is really at the core of all of reality but the world conceals it the nation that is to be the hasem must be Shepherds they must have an element of B they must have an element of isolation for them to be able to be open and sensitive to spiritual consciousness to Godly Consciousness to a a Godly sense of Consciousness can only come in the outside world especially the urban World especially the world of business is filled with so much pressure with so much secularism ISM with so many different Trends even in those days of the maybe worse maybe different whatever it is and the therefore like the chose a vocation in which they can sing to God they can be with him they can meditate they can reflect they can pray they can learn they can study they lived in that spiritual perspective that spiritual world that spiritual Universe ysf had a very different perspec persective y came along and quoting alenu who composed the lenu you know who composed the lenu Yeshua B who was he a descendant from who was a son of YF so it fits well YF quoting alainu says the objective of Judaism is far more of course the foundation of Judaism is that a person has a very serious and deep and intimate relationship with Hashem a certain perspective on what life is and the purpose of life but ultimately the aim of to is to repair the whole world under the rulership of let the entire world recognize its spiritual root in organic Oneness or as we say in r let every created being not only human ultimately recognize his or her or its relationship with you recognize that the world is one there's an organic inherent Oneness that characterizes the world in the entire universe that's y's Vision y believes as the says I created this nation to to express my ultimately to the whole world or as the samei says I made you a light onto the Nations you shall be a kingdom of princes and a holy nation and so many interpreted kades means aloof unique he says that ultimately you should become the ones who teach and Inspire the whole world with the ideas the basic of the ra very interesting r r writes it's not a knowing r that mosha told the Jewish people from Hari from Hashem that every Jew is that the Jewish people are responsible to influence the entire world every human being to observe the the seven Mitzvah that were given to the children of is the responsibility of Jews to teach it to the whole world to compel to influence to force the world that's what the ra says now of course for of Jewish history this rambam was not a very practical issue cuz we had a hard time enough we had a hard time letting them just be us just let me Live and Let Live just let me be a Jew imagine if the Jew would say you know part of my mission statement is I'm going to influen the world was was hard enough for Jews to be Jews in y's days and really many ways today in which there's we live in a different world in so many ways the world of what we call modernity the world of the 20th and 21st century which in many ways is a very very dangerous world if you haven't realized yet but also a world with unprecedented opportunity for the Jewish people we come back to yehud and YF so y says I don't agree I don't agree of course but I believe that Judaism and the Jew has the power to ultimately infil fate and influence and become the moral teacher and source of inspiration for the entire world y says that the whole world is really Divine and his great dream is how am I going to impact it how will I change it Yu declares you don't have to run into isolation because really deep down despite the challenges the whole world and all of humanity craves to place its mouth on the mouth of the Jew and the clear together yep has a dream he has a dream and his dream is very different than his brother's dream he also argues something else he says you know my it's very nice to develop your Mahal your here your Shepherds you're in you're in and and was not what and are today I assume although they always action filled places that we can clearly see some places action has never ceased the news never left kin the news never left the news never left Iraq B for a single day the question is if it's going to be talud bav or it's going to be other news coming from Iraq but the new the some centers of the world where ganaden came from some centers remain uh I hope M stays off the radar for a while y says it's very nice that this this stage of History we're together with remember what it means to be together with we could afford this but one day Jewish history may take a very dramatic turn one day we may be living among other people one day we may be forced out of our own cocoon out of our own place and we will be subjected to the forces of assimilation and what are we going to do then if our yish is going to be based and founded only on the fact that we can be isolated we can be living in a ghetto behind walls and that's why we can't carry on that tradition the moment we're exposed and our children are exposed whether we like it or we don't like it we may lose it we may assimilate and therefore Yad has a dream and he says you have to learn how to be able to reveal Mal within the real it of the world you have to be able to look at the world in all of its intense concealment and yet not only not get affected by it not only not get turned off by it not only not be overwhelmed by it and surrender to it but rather you will be able to have the perspective the confidence and the firmness that not only do you not become a victim you become a leader you become a source of influence you become a source of inspiration that's are these are his dreams take a look at his Dreams they're listening what are his dreams his dreams is we're all then you have to understand agriculture was today's real estate agriculture that was the source of the economy or one of the most important sources of the economy and in agriculture we're all making sheaves in the field we all have bundles but my she will stand up and ultimately your will bow down to Mah so YF wants to become a great leader in the world of Economics which is the ultimate of gash this is the center of the physical vain society that theim are so suspicious of and what's a second dream the Sun the moon the 11 stars are all bowing down to me not only a leader in terms of economy and agriculture even in terms of astronomy science physics even more the Sun the moon are directed by him he wants to become the Visionary light like the light of the planets that illuminate the world the source of light for the world has a whole other dream he wants to become will all be guided by me so you have agriculture you have science you have astronomy and he wants to become the spiritual Compass of the world Now understand this the are listening to this especially Yuda they can understand somebody has such a such a philosophy such a perspective integrate go out become a leader in their mind this constitutes the ultimate danger there will not remain a Sid and a poit of Bas isn't that the story of history people integrate and the next step is assimilation and they're lost forever no every family has the black sheep in the family there's always the one kid right who gets thrown out of Yeshiva at age 11 because either he was lighting smoke bombs or because he opened the company already right every one of you has a sibling or a c at age 11 he opened the company the principal finds out and sends him away no it's fine they have such a brother but suddenly they see he's the preferred brother he's the king they're all bowing down to him in his dreams he is the future and Yakov believes it Yakov is in love with him he makes him ex as pass in their mind this is not just a questionable Behavior this guarantees the destruction of Y the destruction of to the demise of everything and and sacrificed their life for and went into fire for and now it's all going to end this is the ultimate cause of assimilation in Judaism I'm a Universalist I want to be part of the world says there's no way that Jew Will Survive there's no way monotheism Will Survive there's no way Toto Will Survive and the see something else we're not wrong let's look into the future and here there's a fascinating medish I mentioned this before ysf had a descendant yushua came from ysf but ysf had another descendant from eph and this is the man whom we all know the says he is the quential Paradigm of the man who brought idolatry back to Judaism he made a Renaissance of a [Applause] s the son of n came from the tribe of Ephraim from the descendants of Y and he is the one who split away from the malus of David and SCH David was the first king of the Jewish people after sha the first Eternal King his family is the family of Ro his son is schl schl passes away takes over he is the third King and as I mentioned there's a split and who becomes the king in L or on the side of and the Jewish people are split between 10 tribes versus two tribes and is the one who leads this split away from Mal yud into now this was a decree from from but what does he do with his position he doesn't create one golden calf he creates two golden calvs in D and betel and 10 tribes are now completely defined by a new Pagan idolatry he prohibits anybody going to to the B mikdash he changes Jewish life and in fact the southern the northern kingdom as it's called Mal versus Mal for its most part is very affected by assimilationist Trends you can't compare it to Mal idolatry Steeps it who is it because of says the med this is what the brothers told each other take a look in the source you see this man he is going to cause the Jewish people to go over to the idolatry ball that's what it means they saw him from far it doesn't only mean they saw him from far from a distance today is a 17y olding away in the bosom of but his philosophy has what they say inish his philosophy is dangerous his theology is going to cause is going to create assimilation among the Jewish people let's let's let's let's nip it in the butt when you kill it when it's small we won't have problems this is the danger for the Jewish people let's kill him you know the they say there was a from so he decided to go to V to go to wara the big city so he goes to V he goes to warsa and it's a very muddy path there's no paved roads there's still barely paved roads so he's walking in the grass and the marsh and the mud and swamps and then suddenly he sees what we would call railway tracks but he didn't know what railway tracks is but he saw some metal some metal tracks some metal bars on the ground you could walk on them so he starts walking on the tracks suddenly he hears a little squeak so he turns around he doesn't know if he see somebody Hears A little squeak he continues walking am unperturbed unbothered and the squeak gets louder and louder and he's walking and walking and then suddenly he turns around and he sees this monster this monster train coming right at him and now the squeak is already what does it do it throws him off the ground he goes flying he was almost killed and decimated immediately he was thrown off NE into a ditch he's bleeding and maed and wounded sees him so he takes him to his house he gives him some clothes he says me warm up for you a cup of tea so he takes the Chic the man takes the Chic the kettle the old Chic that your Bubba had puts it on the fire puts in water puts on the fire a few minutes later starts squeaking so this y from takes a stick goes over to the chin he starts cling clapping he shatters it into pieces it's all over the kitchen his host says what are you doing what are you doing what are you doing he says you have to get them when they're small because once the they get big they will destroy you you got to get them when they're small this is what they saw in y now take a look take a look who says this who says this so we all know what sayashi brings shim and Ley why shim and Ley how' they know it's shim and Ley it's very simple who stood up for a similar perspective earlier in history goes out to she goes out she goes out you know why she went out interesting she went out to be the people of she went to open a kab house she's violated she's kidnapped she's contaminated she's abducted shim and Ley stand up for this and they go they kill Shem they kill the city they take out Dina people don't realize they didn't just kill Shem Dina was kidnapped when Shem came to negotiate with Yakov he didn't bring Dena Dina was kidnapped in the palace she was a kidnapped girl they went to get their sister sister I think it's who says that the city came to defend it's a very interesting they came to defend because they were going to get Dina and it became a war they killed him and it says after that they get Dina y screams at them you made me ugly we will all be annihilated and what do shim and Le tell Yakov four words are we going to allow our sister to be violated and contaminated and abducted in such a way doesn't answer the t is so ambiguous what was yob was who does who does God agree with and we know that in par will bring it up again right before he passes away but that's a separate subject shim and Ley were the ones who stood up for will not be a they are the ones who say y if y prevails there will be no there will be no memory to Judaism in fact in fact it's not a KN like most of T but it's almost a clear the the prophet speaks about the son of Y the and says will mix among the nations in fact today what's the modern Hebrew word for assimilation where did they get the word from very good you knew that before Oh okay this is what shim said I know what i is going to say who is ba let's nip it in the B now come back to Y so the king come back to the what benefit is there in killing our brother yud is saying something very profound and in a way not callous at all bet when somebody opposes you there's another sh here in CL there's another sh when somebody opposes your by killing the person do you really kill the no you didn't allow it to happen bet will we be proven right if we kill our brother we'll kill y we won't be proven right you know what let's feed him the Kasha he wants let's sell him to MIT almost we're getting there we're getting there let's send them away he he wants to he wants to be the leader of Economics he wants to be the great scientist he wants to be the great Visionary we're going to kill him killing somebody helps you win an argument what do they tell what do the lawyers say when your argument is weak yell when you don't have what to say scream you ever see when people start screaming you know why because they have what to say if you don't have what to say you have to scream when you have what to say you don't have to scream I guess I should scream less if I believe I have what to say right right one guy was once giving a sh he says that's called really internalizing what you're saying murdering YF will do the job so we'll get rid of YF that will prove us right and him wrong it won't prove him wrong we killed him when he was 17 let's do something much deeper let's educate YF and let's see what God wants let YF go go down to the is to the to the let him see what's going on in the real world the grass is so green there this great opportunity go there you know what he'll come to appreciate what yov has he'll come to appreciate his brothers that's what y says what there's no Yuda says ma bet there's no benefit there's no real profit there's no real gain by destroying something by force you didn't show anybody what's right and wrong you didn't educate it's like when we coor somebody when we kill somebody I don't only mean physically there's no education here you didn't Enlighten you didn't explain you destroyed you screamed you shouted but the question is still there who's right this is what Yuda says now somebody once asked me is there humor in k somebody once asked me is there humor in davening I said of course but somebody asked me is thereor the truth is really if there humor in Kish the whole Kish is based on humor because the name name of the first Jew is what what does meaning humor a joke it's funny that you would name your child a joke who names their child that we have to understand that but humor is an essential part of Judaism which is why Jews Like humor it also helped us survive a little we we end with humor and we begin with which isor but here I want to show you that in one of the most numerous ironies and saurous you have the contrast between yud and as always the t is subtle it's not explicit it's not so blunt although here it's close to blunt but it shows you something very fascinating and I have to give a little intro we're talking here about Yehuda we're talking about YF and we have to remember that we're dealing with people whose greatness is beyond our comprehension and yet I want to use the stories at least as they apply to our lives is screaming is the closest thing to Judaism but ultimately this can cause assimilation the path to Y the path to fear of God remains in shepherding the flock isolation comes par Yuda says let's sell Y into assimilation and we we see who's right is he right are we right what will happen to him what will happen to us will he realize his mistake WIll we so will we finally realize that we're truly right not just based on insecurity but we're really right what's the next scene the next scene changes the subject Yehuda leaves his brothers why he leaves his brothers is a mystery Rashi says they sent him away from the family they couldn't look at him unbelievable extraordinary interpretation there may be other like always there's other interpretations but Yehuda leaves he leaves the family he's shaken up Yehuda is shaken up obviously he's shaken up according to everybody he's shaken up he meets a woman he gets married he has three children a and Sh we all know the story a dies dies T wants to marry Shay Yuda refuses T is in a desperate sit situation she can is not free to marry somebody else Yehuda is not allowing her to marry Shayla he accuses her of killing his sons and what happens next is we all know that Tamar hears that Yehuda is going to share his flock yehuda's wife passed away what does she do she covers her face with a cloak yud travels he thinks she's a harlot and he offers her relationships and they story continues she becomes pregnant he thinks his daughter is pregnant from somebody else he finds out it's from her however you explain the story The Med struggled with the story it wasn't easy says himself P this is an embarrassing situation he tells his friend this is an embarrassing situation let's just leave the collateral with her and then we go give him Eternal credit that he confessed and said me many I did it so Yehuda is traveling and he goes off to Tamar he doesn't know who she is that's Yehuda what's the next scene YF is in a slave in the house of ptif and the wife of P says and what does y do he refuses and the says some of you just learned it a few days ago [Applause] right in in the most depraved Society in of the world in the world as a slave not owning himself sold as a slave in the house of his master refuses to surrender his morality to surrender his spirituality to succumb to temptation in the depth of a spiritual Abyss he can still see his father's image in a window is this not one of the most humorous ironies as the story of sa barus develops because really theim the brothers although their intention was noble and godly made a mistake they looked at what was I want to ask you a question the Begins the next why a change from to in one verse loved him and what does it mean he loved him love in bares doesn't mean I love you and I hate you I love you and I don't love you love throughout saus means I invest my resources in you I see that my most important task is to help you achieve your goal whenever it says it's referring to the individual whenever it says it's referring toov as a represent ative of the Jewish Nation as a whole is represents the Father the future the history of the Jewish people why because is sees that the Jewish people one day will go into Exile they will be mixed among all the nations they will be minorities and he understands that if we don't learn how to embrace the confidence the depth the sophistication the deep relationship of Y of YF to be able to be in Egypt and sometimes to be involved in aars connected to MIT and nonetheless remain an absolute merova absolutely connected to Hashem under all circumstances to be able to be in Egypt and yet to be able to see the Jews won't be able to survive like every other nation in the world as long as they were in their own Commonwealth they survived the moment they were exiled never mind if do was persecution immediately within a few Generations they assimilated they surrendered it's too hard the pressure is too overwhelming he understood this as the destiny of the the Jewish people what did he do for him he did one thing he made him ausum what's ausum a multicolorful tunic what does that mean this is a very deep gift they weren't upset about a shirt that he gave them let them go to Century 21 there's good sales and buy yourself a colorful shirt you have to kill your brother because of sweater because of cashmir sweater because of mink coats felt mink coats in New York felt mink coats in kin maybe in K go to the store and buy now is sales season Black Friday you can get a nice one colorful Friday the exitus pum was much deeper you see Yuda we know was saying something very real what happens when you expose somebody to endless diversity most people or many people can't hand it they get confused they get overwhelmed you'll take a Jew you'll take a Jewish child and you expose them to the Big World in which there's so much going on there's good and there's evil and there's darkness and there's light and there's a mixture of so many things and so many ideas philosophies theologies perspectives behaviors that are not conducive for one's physical and spiritual and emotional health it becomes overwhelming practically never mind philosophically black and white in many ways is a much easier path colorful Diversified creates many challenges let's understand this many Jews have believed good intentioned Jews that the future of Judaism is for Jews to become completely integrated completely aware of the outside world on many levels including philosophically and of one will encounter by these Jews terrible tension even those who don't assimilate but terrible tension a few years ago I read an article in the New York Times magazine by a man named Noak Feldman Noak Feldman learned in my Mani school in Boston rambam was founded by R JB Sal he's a graduate of myones today he's a professor of economics in Harvard University he wrote a long article titled Orthodox paradox what's the thesis of his article he was growing he grew up in the world and they taught him you can have both worlds meaning as he put it St Paul and Slot William Shakespeare Both Worlds secular culture and philosophy and music and Jewish and he says he says from his perspective it's a sham and the whole article goes on to describe his struggle and he ultimately uh married out and he brought her to a reunion in the Yeshiva and they cut out her picture from the from the whatever I got some in the article it's not for now but he's touching on this don't confuse me either take me here or take me there in fact I would say sometimes you see people who really taste it from the atadas and they may be religious but one will often see it's hard for them to dance when they do a Mitzvah it's hard for some people to be enthusiastic with Y because even if I am still committed to Judaism on some level but often my exposure tremendously to secular culture makes an impact on me in the sense that I can't be that excited about yish with pure innocence with pure wholesomeness it's more intellectual it's more cold it's hard for them to sing by daving to dance by a mitzvah to really celebrate emotionally holistically soulfully at least externally for YF had a special gift from Yakov he made him a colorful tunic what's the unique of colorful tunics diversity can overwhelm and Destroy people you're confused you don't know who you are anymore ver ver in your attempt to reconcile with mity with a piece of secular literature Jewish philosophy with secular philosophy the inner world and the outer world you sometimes don't even know who you are like had a gift what was the gift the gift was to be able to find the unity and diversity to be able to turn the colorfulness into a mosaic into a tapestry because there are two approaches one is the diversity destroys you but if you have the gift of the then you know how to reveal the unity in the diversity you can discover the within the diversity you could see in the colorfulness of the world ultimately a mosaic a tapestry that reflect Oneness in various colors but for that you have to have a knew he empowered him he gave him the tools he gave him the resources spiritually practically philosophically concretely the ability to be able to face a world of endless diversity of contrasts of paradoxes and instead of losing himself in the paradoxes instead of just surrendering what can he do he can ultimately reveal the unity the unity in it in fact take a look at one PK yep sees his brothers he reveals himself to his brothers what does he say go up to my father and tell him YF said Hashem made me a master on the whole Egypt come down don't wait tell my father all my glory in he thought this will be a settle this will give Nas Father tell your father that you didn't stop putting on RAB villain tell your father that you would tell your father who you are in fact it says he saw the roof of the famous rash he came to life tell my father you know who I am I'm the big boss in you don't understand the tell my father I made into a master of that's what I did here it's easy to make a master in in the I turned allowed me to enter into the lion's den and not only not to fool and not to Forfeit my identity not only to remain firm and etched and connected to my source to my Essence to Hashem but furthermore so deeply I made a master in all my glory in MIT belongs to AI it belongs to my father my father my physical father and my Father in Heaven it belongs to my father I never got lost in it and that's why that's why the says take a look told again suddenly remember this CL your brothers are in let me send you to them he said he name me I'm here I ask you two questions when told why doesn't it say obviously I'm talking to you you're talking to me that's whenever it says who do you think he's talking to his father's talking to him he's answering it's not like today your father's talking to you you're texting so you have to say a he's not talking to the text he's talking to his father but then nobody was texting somebody had a conversation with you you weren't texting him in the face what's also says your brothers AR in let me send you and if they weren't in if they were in another city a student of student of says that later went it's in blessed is the name of the glory of his kingdom what's missing in b means two things forever and in the world again this is is the father of Jewish history the one who looks further distance your brothers they're shepherding with it's time for me to send you to them Jewish history is going to need your fortitude your confidence what's here and therefore the P says M the next recognizes his brothers they don't recognize him so kazal sayashi says the beard he left him when he was 177 he didn't have a beard the B says there's a much deeper interpretation is not just the face it's the whole story of the brothers he recognized them they never recognized him they didn't recognize him you know why they're looking at a man D dressed in Egyptian clothing he's dressed in Egyptian clothing he's running the superpower of the time they didn't have the depth and the sensitivity to be able to see that godliness could be by y in the midst of running the whole country no one lifts a finger and he is the man running it you can't sit in your home and run a superpower with a joystick maybe our president thinks so you can destroy Isis with a joystick we know it doesn't work that way unfortunately it would be nice y had to be there didn't even know he knows Hebrew they didn't have a they were great people but they didn't have the soul that allowed them to be able to see this Madre this state that a person could be inched but he's really he's still absolutely one with Hashem and to the contrary he sees godliness in every moment this is the story of YF in the house of ptif in prison at the helm of Egypt he hasem y shame they never understood him certainly now they couldn't recognize him even says ra y said bad things about them so Theus writes what's something something very fascinating he says relative to him their Holiness was seen on a very low level because relative to who he was as the expression in one of the is that's an expression of the balat what for some people is an Al is for other person you know when you who have realize this timna goes down what does Rashi say it's on a slope one person is going down and the other person is going up so where you going depends if you're up there you're going down if you're down here you're going up so what for one person is an Ali is for another person that's a discovery cuz sometimes you're so trapped in your mat you don't even realize that you're con you're you're absolutely certain that you are the represent resentation of God's Will and YF is the worst of the worst and sometimes it's the other way around youha don't have the to understand the Revolutionary gift that through gave to transform the whole world into a in a concert you ever take a horse to a concert to an opera you ever did it take a horse to an opera doesn't have to be m a horse it could be something similar the symphony finishes not a symphony I should say Symphony finishes and you turn to the fed and you say no and he goes he gives a grunt it's not his place he doesn't have the for it he sees everything in his Paradigm he doesn't understand what for him is the Sea of spirituality is for YF Kinder spill this is a given it's an obvious he goes much deeper you have to have the perspective you have to have the eyes you have to have the him and we'll soon see in the next year we'll see where y's philosophy comes into play in Jewish history because this is this is not a small thing I would add say y accused his brothers in one special crime what a what's a you tear off a limb of a living animal what does this really mean they didn't know the Dina Dina was violated they kill out a whole city basic these are y's children so the that it wasn't an animal it was an animal they created through says head and you create an animal through so there was a there's a everyone struggles with this there's also a deeper interpretation the whole world for y is an a the whole world is a limb of the and he was accusing his brothers that they want to separate the A and they don't have the ability to see that in every limb flows the soul the very good says this is a gift you give your child let me give you a gift you want to give me a gift this is a gift he was giving him a gift you're going to be by you're going to be by the you're going to be by is you're going to be by but you will always be cradled in the arms of Hashem you will always be in a place of Oneness you'll be in the world and yet you'll remain above not because you're not in you're in you're really in you're not detached you're not aloof Sublime you're in but you're Transcendent now let's go to Kaneka and this is all indicated in the sources in the source we discussed right in the beginning of the class the kazal said this whole she in two words the said on the Horn of the axe I want you to deny your relationship with Hashem but here is the whole story in par M Kates YF tells his brothers he tells the people in his home my brothers are here slaughter a meal and prepare say so the last letter of is what do you have is also 44 if you count the candles with the shamash you have 44 why is y referring to Kan what's the point but essentially this is exactly what happened at Kan the Greeks weren't outraged by Judaism completely they were the ones who translated the T theor says Inus translated the T into y we still have it it's called subagent tumim subagent is the tarum he took 70 skum 70 elders and he put them away in private rooms and he had them translate the whole to into the Greek language because the Greek celebrated culture diversity wisdom tremendously they introduced tremendous contributions to civilization drama history architecture art athleticism many that still impact the world not only the Olympics that too not only Sports competitions that too and their contributions were incredibly powerful and that's why they had such an appeal to the Jewish people because they were not brute barbarians they had some very barbaric elements to them they believe that every disabled child or any child that is not fully healthy should be immediately killed people who are older should be placed on a mountain and let I mean many other things they believed Aristotle believed in pedophilia as a of Life Spartan lifestyle is unique in its barbaric components but there was an element of culture that was very rich that was very powerful yon is the same letters like no Beauty in fact y comes from in which means Beauty the says the Hashem makes ye beautiful let it dwell shame and that's why the Mish says the language of yan had a special prominence among the rabbis because there was something unique and prominent about their language about their right writing and yet the time of Kaneka they came and they wanted the Jewish people to assimilate what was their argument the Horn of the axe was this a sophisticated argument who is the Horn of the axe who is the Horn of the ax take a looku his last blessings to the Jewish [Applause] people the oldest of Ra's children his beauty is the beauty of a and his horns are the horns of of the Wild Bull the wild CH too on his death bet speaks about y when he says to shim and they we're not your enemies where continue we continue the tradition of Y look at y YF is the entrepreneur of Judaism YF is not secluded YF is beautiful you y hangs out by he runs the show he runs the country he's the superpower of the Egypt he's dressed he knows the language YF knows 70 languages the gor says we're y's people Kar we just want you should have the beauty Rashi says there's no no horns that are more beautiful but what do they really want they want to use as a justification that you don't need to have a part in isn't this what shim and Le said to each other they said this is going to be the golden Cales this is this is what the come along and say and you want to hear something the says what's the of what's the gatri of Y you could make a count this is what said this is the danger of Y the truth is that they distorted they completely misunderstood YF because y's determination to reach out and change the world was not born out out of inferiority complex because of a desire to assimilate because he lacked an unyielding commitment to the faith of his fathers cuz he was insecure cuz he needed the world to make him feel good about himself to make him feel like a mench that wasn't y it was the opposite he was determined to transform the world not to let the world trans transform him to bring the light of t to the world to introduce the Oneness of Hashem into the world because he was so deeply confident in his faith because he was so connected to his faith he was not afraid to enter into the Mansions of Egypt speak its language run its economy and maintain his dedication to T in fact he calls himself I throughout and the med says he was taken into not why hasem said he calls himself a everywhere in prison by by and mha when he runs away to Mion what do they say he says y was in Egypt but he called himself an he comes back there imagine even relative to however you understand it and when his brothers come into what are his first words to them you are the spies says in Caba that 10 spies that mosha sent besides Yeshua and K were reincarnations of the your spies what was the mistake of the spies why didn't the spies want to go into not for the same reason they wanted to remain in the desert why in the desert that's a place of vus you're goingon to go into you're gonna have to build a government an army politics become far you're going to have to run a show it's going to be a looked at his you have the sh of the I'm ready to go into not because I'm not confident because I am confident so in Egypt he calls himself is you want him distort that's he does not he doesn't need who stands up to the Greeks the same person who stood up for Dina the same person who stood up to Y who which tribe Ley says [Music] about the same tribe who stood up when they made the first golden calf M said and who came to him stands up Ley fought against the agel fought against yam and now is ready to fight against Yan and they declare war against this philosophy that wants to destroy the Integrity the sacredness of what we say in the N of Kaneka tonight P from all the things they did they breached the wall they wanted to remove the wall eliminate the say they made 13 breaches you gim pieres they made in the entering theik they made a statue of Zeus in the temple in theik what was the miracle of they found that jug of oil that was self-contained isolated sealed wasn't affected by the openness of the Greeks by the contamination of the Greeks that's what they found Ley was Victorious Ley reclaimed he saved he extracted YF from the claws of the says why oil what's the quality of oil what's the quality of oil you take a cup put in orange juice and grape juice and celery juice and fruit juice put even mango juice and if you want add some ginger and celery juice the juicers and then put in a little oil just to give you a little Cal a little fat fart needs oil and everything but what's going to happen with the oil always stays above Ley says y was always Shan don't confuse him he never got mixed he never assimilated it he's not wants to change the world not be changed by the world is you're one even your name is one your reflection but then there's the ability to reveal that was the gift of to to be able to that's the that's one side of but now take the other side of what's the other side of we learned the on the outside how many candles why are they outside you got to light up the outside comes the says that's why so we asked the question mza is on the right khek should also be on the right the answer is khek is on the right Kaneka is not on the left you look at me say it's on the right it is on the right just depends on perspective by m what are you focusing in going in when you're going in what's your right your right leg goes in it's on the right by what's your objective you want to go out you want to reveal the yah to reveal the outside you do it of course you do it on the right which leg goes out first the right when you're going out it's on the right it's on the left of mza that's why the gamarra comes in there that's why YF comes into khah they throw him into a pit with snakes and scorpions they're telling YF you want to go to the snakes and scorpions go to the snakes and scorpions ma go to the snakes and scorpions but what happened y emerges from the snakes he emerges from the Scorpions and he's the king he is the one who feeds he gives them the food he becomes the king at that stage in history he teaches them what it means to be a Jew in the world how many candles the light on kanah without the shamish 36 you remember that's that's why the says it's to put it outside and even if you live by what does it mean if you live byah there's a benah there's a person who says I'm a high man I'm lofty I'm spiritual I can't go outside don't think you're exempt put it by the window even you a responsibility to illuminate the world if it's a danger then go to the table said it's this whole world is in the Min stays on the table don't go to the window but Kan is the victory of Oneness Ley himself says he put the candle outside and that's why the gamorra says if it's higher than 20 amus it's not good why what's the next piece of gar they threw YF into a pit of scorpions what's the connection y said take the down from they said you're going to the snakes that's the gamorra what's the next piece in gamorra you have to light it outside but one condition always remain connected to your house don't run outside and not remain connected to your house he always remained connected to his home we shall see in the next she not next Sunday but the Sunday after next Sunday I'm not here how these two Trends follow the Jewish people in in Theus theik and where the two come together in Jewish history have a wonderful week [Music] n [Music]