Tehilim Chapter 19: Shavuot | Rabbi Dr. Aaron Adler | May 20 2026

This week's learning is should be autumul. And the week's learning here in this Khabia center is Leu Nishmat Dil Ben Davidid and Limudbat Abraham Strauss and Morai ben Mosha and Raelbat Ysef Mayor Marcus and um our as usual is um in memory of that is Okay. Um, I bring you uh the warmest regards from Benola. They're they're just hanging in there. But many of them actually do know that the time is running out for them, whether it's in the United States or in England. >> Yeah, that's a speech in itself. >> Where were you in? >> I was in Detroit. Detroit is the capital of Islamic activity in the United States and a bastion of anti-Semitic activity. Um I was in the suburbs. One of them is called Southfield. >> Oh yeah. >> Very lovely young Israel community. Um nice r there Mars was able to give ton of dash and sharim there both in the shul and at the school. There's a nice yeshiva high school there. elementary and high school. So there there's, you know, room to work with. That's all. That's Hashem. >> 12th Road, >> whatever. >> Well, we got home. That's we got out on time. Anyway, um today we're going to actually explore what is considered in some SHs here in the Shiron foragot. So, we've been doing before the things about the Sunday and Monday and Tuesday and I'm not even sure if we even got to Wednesday yet, the sher shaom and I promised that after we'd get finished with the yumpt we'd get back to Shir Shaom, but we did a few other things on the way. The um there is a custom of the villagy that he believed that there was a tradition of different praim different chapters that the levim sang in the beta mikdash on the yamim toim. Now most people in most parts of the world including most parts of Israel on this coming Friday which is the is just going to be the Friday and that's why it's printed in most of the and you just say the same which would be said on any old Friday. We know that on rashes in all shs throughout the world there's an add-on and that's perafal and that's but here in there are many shs that substitute the bini for the shyom which means the idea was that in bet mikdash bini was the shaom and it replaced the the daily whatever that day may have been can come out on any day of the Last week it came out on Sunday. So instead of was the forkesh. Now what does it mean here in Shallay? How did that happen? Well, it has to do with the students of the VNOY. The VNO is Rabel from VNA who dies in 1798 in VNA. But um he gives um a push to some of his prime students to come to Israel. So we're talking about a type of aliyah of small group of great who come here a little over 200 years ago and very much settled in this part of your ultimately because down the block is a neighborhood called Shahed and Shared you had what was known as the Pushim. Brushim were the called them the litakidum. I mean they weren't at all although some of them were wearing strimals. So that's I want to get into the culture here maybe because it was a tough winter in Shalahim and a striml was a very nice warm hat. But um the fact is there's nothing particularly holy about except for the fact that wear it because the rebas wore it and whatever the rebba wore the do. That's the rules of the game. But uh we're talking about diehard misnagim the anti-assidic movement and they were known here as the pushim push literally means the separatists because they were living by their own rules here if you have um you have a few names from the uh from the pushim zonenfeld ysef zenfeld probably the biggest name from the contemporary of Ravk was the leader of the movement of the prin There was leisov right down the block. So the these were the pushim here in the neighborhood. Uh and they brought to Israel to Israel. There was no Israel yet in the 18th 19th century. They brought to Israel the customs of the VNO and we'll say a word about this because this is important. The VNO had unique ideas in terms of um various customs. He said he was in VNA. VNA is in Russia, you know, and sometimes Poland, Russia, you know, the border fluctuated every Monday and Thursday, but today VNA is in Lithuania. So that area, he um obviously was well aware of the common accepted Ashkanazi customs based on Mosha is the Ramo and so on. But having said that, there were certain things that the villagy did on his own and he felt it was more correct and he would would go uh move deviate somewhat from the accepted Ashkanazi custom. The question is what happened in the city of VNA? See the bill Nagoyne was neither a RV in town nor was he a rashiva. Vgoyne did not had any yeshiva. The vil ngoyne sat in his house and some students came to his house to study by him. So they became his students. What the most famous was the um the founder of the yeshiva. His name was Raphaim from Nisha was founded in 19 in 1802 1803. So he was the prime student of the but there were others and the others some of them were earmarked to come to Israel and they brought along in their baggage the min the custom of the vagon. Now if you took a look at the map of Israel 200 years ago, you didn't really have any Ashkanazi communities here. You had Sparadi communities, some remnants from those who came from Spain 1492, the beginning of the 15th century, 16th century. So that developed invat and then later develops in. And then was known as the Yak the city of Yaticimat and that's this is just a custom and so on. You also have some Yemenites coming but Yemenites is not certainly not Ashkanazi. I remember when the when the Ethiopian Jewish community came in the in the 80s. So there was a little bit of a wrangling at the chief rabbinet. Which chief rabbi is going to be responsible for them? And Rabad said, "I don't know what they are, but they're certainly not Ashkanazim." That was pretty clear. So when the Ammonites came, they're certainly not Ashkanazim. That's for sure. But they believe that they're not Spartum either. And the Yemenite is really a a different min that was based almost exclusively on the Rambam as opposed to Rabio Caro avari who's impacted also by others including some Ashkanazi and cababalistic learned teachings. So Rabio Caro is a little bit of a fusion and most of the spari world adopted Rabio Caro we know know him by his book the bet. So that that's that was the mach here in Erit is you had the spari min you don't have any ashkanazi minik then comes along the students of the vagago from one side and then comes along from another side a group of kasidim from the balshtov and the leader of that was actually my great great great great great great great great great grandfather I'm nine generations from the brother-in-law of the balshtov father son father son no grandmothers to upset the pedigree is pure of benarban. His name was Rabi Abraham Gein from KV and known popularly as Garshin from the town of Kov. He was brother-in-law Bam as I said and he comes here with the instructions of the BMT to spread. So now you have another wave of Ashkanazm coming in. Now this wave of Ashkanazm are all Nus people based on Kabola as well. So it's not pure Ashkanaz. We're not talking about now Jews who are in Poland but yet uh following the Ramo certainly not Jews from uh Germany and so that that's what you have here. Um and because of that there are certain minhagim that actually became a type of coalition of forces the most famous and popular is not wearing fillin on so not wearing fill is a dispute in between cowardi and and the ramod ashkanazi and yet here in nobody wears fill the reason is because there was this sparity block here 16th 17th century nobody was wearing film and then you have these two ash Ashkenazi forces coming in the also don't wear fillin on kmoid because they adopted the capitalistic idea the kmoid is yumpt and the vagoiny separated himself from the view of the ram on this and he also didn't wearin on kalmoid so you have now the students of the vagoiny on one side the kiddum coming in the other side falling into the common minarch init of not wearing fillin it became now cross the border coalition that nobody wears fill in here on. Now the vilgoy view became dominant here in because of the influence and impact of the pushim. Some communities in Petraikva also have this because one of those talid from the vagoy his name was the Solomons moved out to Petikva. So some of that vnagoy min made it you know all the way to Petikva but um most of it is located here in Shaline. You have the Rivlin family president of Israel was a great great great great grandson from the students of the vil ngoyin the rivllins who were here. Um so so this is why we have the concept of vinegar growth. Let me just finish. So the vilgoy was of the opinion that on yum every day there was a different shiry we in we have a booklet that we hand out to the people on yum. Now some of those shir shyoms are actually printed in a standard is somewhere in the book in the it could be a shy of of a Thursday which is said also on some of the or which is in which right it's the of the first day of pes to the so you don't have to have a booklet for that all you have to do is an announcement where to you know mish you know to to push the pages to get to it. But there are some that the chapter of tillum that the vagin has is not there. In this case of it is there because it's perk ut. It's the it's the of and this per is found in every sther because we say it every shambas morning as part of zimra. after you finish and if you and right afterwards is we're familiar with this bar. It's a it's a you know somebody says it religiously every Shabbat and probably can say most of it by heart. So if you look at source number two on the page, it comes from a book called Ma Maser in parenthesis it says the gr is from. So there is a sther that actually encompasses these minimes from the common or standard acceptable min and in PES there he talks about the don't ask me why this is but he talks about the shyom of and he glosses over to and it says day one is and yet second day of shod is now I looked at I I would have to struggle to figure out why he thought that this was related to you'll see why the first paret does is related to and so on so it makes a lot of sense but the was a little bit problematic we're not doing that now but I don't think there's anywhere in the world that actually has that why Because minagra only kicks in here in Shallaya and here there's no Yamasheni unless you know you're a tourist here. But if you're a tourist here that's a whether you should be keeping Yamashi but let's assume you do keep Yamashi as a tourist here in all likelihood um you're not going to say this particular peric. No, nobody really has that on the agenda. So we're going to limit ourselves to pericut as the vigoy suggested being the shimon that is going to be the sh this coming Friday. So let's look at it number one on top. The heavens speak radiate the story of the glory of God and the heaven the the sky the the raia speaks of the work of his hands. This is a story of creation. What does that have to do with shabot? We don't know yet. We'll see. And it continues on the theme of creation. Every single day it means to articulate. Something about the glory of God is articulated daily, day and night. In English, you would say day and night, never ending. Yum yum and lila means it's just never ending. So in the daytime, it's yabia. It's expressed. In night time, it's the knowledge is is given off. It's it's it's it's all about the creation. Something about the creation. uh and and and knowing God through creation is a daily venture. But you know, don't don't try to hear the words. Don't struggle to listen because you're going to hear nothing. The the sun, the moon, the the creation, they don't speak a language that's audible. So it's while there's and don't get the wrong idea says there are no words there are no sentences nothing its voice is not audible nevertheless what does that mean that throughout the whole world there is a certain direction and we'll see what he's going to be referring to. And even at the end of the world, at the end of the world, there's something about the sun that's sitting in a tent. This is all >> weird. >> Weird, right? Okay. sitting in a tent like a leaving his doesn't mean the it means his room his bridal room but for the katan the groom room if there is such a thing he's in joyful just running like a a hero in in in sim in joy mika shay from the edge of heaven is where it's it begins which here means its rotation means doesn't mean the sun here means it's heat its heat is not hidden anywhere this is completely ambiguous kamato here means the the home it's home it means from what's not what's not hidden. Something is not hidden. It's heat is not hidden. There's something about the sunshine here and something about the glory of God through creation, but specifically the sunshine and then I specifically created a new paragraph here as it continues with the The Torah is complete. It relaxes people. It gives people in proper frame of mind. It it the the the testimony of God is is true to and and and it's um it's authentic. It it makes this the the foolish people wise the orders the instruction the are straight and and they and they cause joy the the commandments are clear and elucidated one's eyes fearing God of having awe from God not fearing having awe from God is pure It stands forever. The laws of God are the justice is true. It's very very righteous. Okay. So it's an ode o about to now I get it why this is the for but what does have in mind? What is going on here in this chapter? And he's still on the theme of Torah. It's val more valuable than gold and very expensive jewelry. Sweeter than honeyim than than fruits that give off, you know, very sweet juices. Your servant speaking about himself. Your servant very very careful. I'm very very careful to you know make sure I don't trample on on anything even small you know everybody makes mistakes should protect me it's should protect me from mistakes and protect me from falling into hidden traps like to be clean from people who are deviants should should guard should should make sure that I'm not in their uh you know from the word shall fall fall into their det any deterioration from I shouldn't be deteriorate deteriorated from from from people who are off the trackim they should not rule me I should be clean from all types of sins and here comes a beautiful that we're familiar at the end of and my words should be accepted by the be and that which is uh the the thoughts of my heart before you hashem the goali my strength and my redeemer okay so we have a handle on some of the but what's the message what is this number one indeed it's a two parts but it's an integrated message. Part one is creation, something about the sunshine. We're going to elaborate this in a moment. And part two is it's about Torah. It's a song about Torah. So the song about Torah, I get it. I understand why we're reading this on Shabot according to the But we'll see that the first part is no less significant. Once again, is not creation day. The Gomorrah has two possibilities between it's found was the world created in Nissan was the world created in tish. So obviously our basic uh tradition is that it was created in tish and in that we have rashashana and okay b so does it mean that rahua who said that the world was created on nissan is actually challenging rashashana I mean everybody knows that rashashana is in tish the question is what's the motif what's the motif of rashashana uh where does it say in the kish that rashash shana is day of creation so you can struggle the entire you're not going to find it. Rashan is there. It's a Yam and it begins the culminating with Yamipa and that can be understood without the creation theme. But nevertheless, we have gone along with the fact that it's the creation theme. One can say okay so they're two traditions and we don't know if the world was created in Tish world was created in Nissan. Many have written including the roof on the difference between tish and Nissan on a hashkafan a Jewish philosophical level. One can say that tish is universal and Nissan is am and even though the world was created in tish but the purpose of the creation of the world was for Israel and the genesis of Israel is clearly Nissan is clearly Nissan. that there's no question about it. And when we talk about the um the the difference between Rabudal Levy and the Rambam on how we view the Jewish people as part of the created world. So according to Rabud Levy the um there were the four levels or four strata of creation and this everybody agrees to it. There's the inanadimate, the doame, the world of ground and stones and so on. Inanadimate. Then there's the level of the to the vegetative, everything that grows from the ground. And then the level of the that which is alive and that's the animal kingdom and then you have the highest is Adam mankind. So mankind is not just as you know those who study anthropology and evolution man is just the after the uh the monkeys you know came came man whatever you know I always tell people I don't I don't know if uh you know man came from animals but I can tell you for sure some of them remained some haven't progressed to become human beings and by the way that's not even a joke it's the idea that human beings beings can sublimate to being animals. We know we know in history it is absolutely true. Some haven't grown up to become human. So human beings according to everybody is the fourth strata and rabbi and the raam agreed to this except that the rabbi says there's a fifth strata beyond mankind and that's amil. So the rabbi believes that just as there's a gap between human mankind and the animal world the animal world and the vegetative of state there's a gap between amrael and human mankind and he believes that's why only amra can receive prophecy he coined the phrase inyan eloki a Jew as part of his DNA has something attached to it that makes him special which Convert never ever receives. Convert can certainly is obligated to hold the mitzvot and everything. But according to Rabi could never achieve prophecy never achieve that highest level of connecting to okay said that's seeing is according to the world was created for Israel and the nations of the world dance around Israel. They're there to be supporting actors for AmI who's on the stage. This is Rabbud Alvi and Rude Alvi morphs in the 20th century to Rafuk. If you want to know what the difference between Rafuk and and salvation the RV it's on this level because Rafuk is very much an ami is which is and that's what it is and everybody else you know is on the sidelines whereas the Rambam is a universalist. The Rambam believes that the fourth strata is human mankind and Amish is part of that. We're part of the human race and so on. Indeed, we have a mission. Indeed, we were given the Torah. Indeed, we might be the nation that should set the tone for others. But from a point of view of creation of the world, there's nothing particularly different about AmIrael. And in the Rambam's view, the world was created in Tish and Amra is part of that created world and so on. Whereas going to Levy, he would favor the concept that Nissan was the creation of the world because the creation of the world is for am started even though it doesn't happen on day one. It happens quite a few generations later um like 26 generations later but that's okay that that's when we have Israel getting on the stage and that's really where everything happened before is just uh you know getting the set warm. You know, sometimes you have at a concert, you have the main the main feature, but you have a few people singing before just to warm up the crowd. That's all. It's called we use that word even in Hebrew. So, you know, everything is just a warmer. Um the batting practice if you're into baseball and then and then the main the main uh production begins with that's where really the world was, you know, get takes off and so on. And Dav is more in the line of the Rambam very much a universalist. I'm just going to throw out a phrase that's going to show up in a quoted medish. When Khazal used the phrase that means the nations of the world, it's a universal idea. And I have a chapter in my book on the Rambam, the universal side of the Rambam and Mishna. How many times he uses that phrase where he's talking about the universal side of Yahad. It's not just Israel, but it it's to differentiate between Israel and the world. The Rambam will use the phrase, which is from the Medish, by the way. He didn't make it up. It's a it's actually from the Mishna. Also, do you remember the from that we all say very the Mishna says it's in the first parag says there were four types of it says and from that line The python the poet took it out from the tan of and it means rash is universal. It's universal. It's not just a Jewish thing. Well, I I don't see the going to shul inhering. No, they don't know about it. We know about it. But it's our job to consider the the the the position of the world on rashash shana, right? We are responsible for the world on rashashana and it's very important. That's a rashana theme. So you have um you have this idea of the universalization of of the world or it's an amusol thing. Well, if you look at Rashi in source number three, I mean it's one of the first Rashies kids are going to learn if they learn Kish and Rashi from BCas. I I I may have seen this in second grade. Okay. I'm not sure in first grade they opened up to Rashi yet, but uh in second grade for sure we had already rashi. So there are few that rash give gives for and he says this demands that it has to be explained he's trying to tell us that from a point of view there are some issues here now all the par like raan will tell us that it's doesn't mean in the beginning as king James translated it in the beginning God created the heaven and earth. That's not the the you know trans I've said it many times translation means you're a commentator because when you translate you're integrating into your translation the understanding of the p and raan says it's not in that you might put before in the house but the word is that's the word and it means the the the beginnings of the beginnings like the first beginning there's no beginning before besid nothing comes And he calls it it is the beginning of the beginnings and that's what is so the translation of is the beginning was created by God. That's how you should translate the beginning not in the beginning the beginning was created by God. And because of the possible error in understanding this poke in the septtoint which was the tarum shim they trans and this gar says it gives us a slew of changes. The very first one that the 70im did when they translated they wrote elimit God created the beginning. And the reason they did that because the suggestion might be there was a deity prior to God whose name was Brit who created God. Right? Elohim. You might fall into that trap. So in order to prevent that kind of an error they translated it. God created the beginning. But Ramban doesn't need that. He says the word means it's the beginning. The beginning it's the prime principal beginning and so on. So Rashi says here this is a problematic puk. We have to say halletic idea. So here Rashi at the very very outset is giving us uh some of his uh he's opening up the his laboratory. You know Rashi wrote so much on the Kish the entireish and you know that 90% of the words are not Rashi they're quotes he's quoting medish and there's only about 10% that's Rashi himself speaking the greatness of Rashi is the editorial of the medish there are so many mitrashim why does he bring this particular medish as opposed to some other medish so this I heard directly from Shalom who said that Rashi selects the medish that will bring the puk as close to possible tohat to the understanding of the puk. It's not just a an isolated add-on thought which is all important but you know it's not exactly the of the puk okay that we have all the time in the world of medish but there are some midrashim that somehow zero in on what the puk really in has its original and intention for and it's doctorred up in a in a language of a medish and rashi will do that he will use medish he will he will bring the medish into the picture for the purpose purposes of understanding the basic idea of what the pok is teaching us and it's not like a secondary idea but the rashi believes it's a primary idea you know labba wrote a whole safer just on rashi to show that rashi is thehat that because there's a concept called and drash andhat means what the intention of the puk is and drash is molyical ideas where you can take off it's wonderful for shabas dasha and shul rabbi wants to make a comment about some idea and he uses a nice medish that that reflects the idea. Okay. But that's not what theish was all about. I'm just an exaggerated example. The no which is the the cafer that the students of from um from put together of his teachings. Uh it's on parab not in a million years would you think that even thought that this was told. So he makes no into a reb you know and basically he uses it as a platform to teach the fundamentals of now did he think that no was that kind of a adoreb no but he's using it to teach this and and that's fair game so if you understand that that's the ground rules of the book so you can read it and and understand it as such when you look at Ramban he's telling you I'm going to explain to you the you look at Abenezra I'm going to teach you So that's what sometimes you're using the not exactly for but to explicate philosophical ideas. Okay. So that's all fair game. It's called part is dash and sod. So some people once said people said you know difference between and is if I say it it's if you say it it's you know like you know I'm telling you what the real meaning of the so here is telling us a but he means it's he says what does mean is an is a it's an illusion to is referred to init as and not only to But is also called init the first of the crop. So you have now two that seem to indicate that the word refers to Israel and Torah. And that's what the Torah opens up with elim. The world was created for Israel and to have the Torah with it. That's the purpose of the world. You anything else is secondary. Not that secondary is not important. But if you want to know about the primary purpose of the creation of the world, it's which means that Rashi and Reudi are on the same frequency by the way. And that's there's a lot of truth to what I just said. on the road that stands at the central pivotal point of what creation was all about. Now this is going to help us understand till that half the per is creation of the world and something about the sunshine which we'll see in a moment and words of Torah. Is it two different topics? No, it's an integrated topic. the topic of the creation of the world and the topic of Torah is the identical topic. So it's not only from that would have led the to suggest this per as being the perom but even of everything that has to do with creation in this chapter because it's linked one to the other. And you might think, okay, this is very nice concept and it's raud levy. Well, guess what? It's also the Rambam on this level. In source number four, the Rambam teaches us that there is a mitzvah to get to know a kadosh. Have you seen the uh you know from the the the song getting to know you? Getting to know all about you. My fair lady, right? Getting to know you. Getting to know all about you. Well, you're supposed to get to know from the king and I. >> King and I. King and I. I'm sorry. King and I. King and I. King. No, no, no, no. Rift is right. King and I. King and I. I stand corrected. King and I. The uh getting to know you, getting to know all about you. and the idea of which we read on first of the ten commandments. So it seems to be a declaration and even in those who counted the mitzvot, you know, the Torah never comes with a little add-on, an appendage. Here are the 613 mitzvot. The first attempt to put the mitzvot together in a listing of 613 was in about the 7th century. That's after the so in the Mishna and the we have no list. What we do have is arguments. Is this a mitzvah? Is that a mitzvah? But a a comp a comp compilation the author of the halot takes a try. He's the pioneer and 500 years later the Rambam is out to bury him because he includes rabbitic add-ons as part of the 613. How can you have lighting khan candles and reading the migill purim as part of the 613? Ram says the 613 are from they're part of the giving of the Torah. But nevertheless, you have to always remember the pioneer. And that's why when I went to the museum of aviation in Lutern in in Switzerland. So there's a wonderful museum there. It's called the Fare House, which means the house of transportation. So there are three pavilions, one for cars, one for actually four. One for cars, one for boats, one for trains, and one for airplanes. So I spent five minutes in the first three. and I spent five hours in the one on aviation. And there you have Orville Wright standing next to Kitty Hawk, the the plane, the first flight. And I stood there and I saluted. How long was the flight? 15 seconds. I said, "That's where it all started. If you didn't have the Pioneer, you couldn't get to a Boeing 737 Dreamliner. You couldn't get to that. You have to have a Pioneer. If not for the deote 20 years later wouldn't have written his poem that despired him till this very day read on shabot zashkinazim have the poem that they don't last year we studied it. So I asked my wife actually if maybe we can do it again this year I'm sure a review wouldn't hurt. She says no the people there are going to remember everything. My wife's not here so I can and say she went to Matan to hear some other shiron today. the um the the the uh the tu's long poem that encompasses all the 613 mvot according to and by the way he also has reading the migill and he also has kaneka candles the ram took them all to task because apparently the author of the do and believed that 613 encompasses mitzvot that are rabbitic and the 613 is not from sai but the ram challenges this and he says no the number 613 13 is from Sai and the mitzvot can only be biblical. The Ramban accepts this notion but challenges the Rambam on 26 mitzvot whether they're biblical part of the 613 or not come from >> where it comes from the first source that we have is actually in a makdal and it's based on the famous what's the gatria the numerical equivalent of it's 611 okayhe But there's a tradition from the ten commandments. Mosher Raenu did not give us the first two. We heard them directly. So if you take out your computer, 611 plus two is 613. And the says so Rama says you see the kazal say that the 613 were given to Moshe. And it's not just a haphazard, you know, summation after you have it all in the shisel. you know, all the biblical and rabbitic and put it all together, you come up with 613. No, he says it has to be biblical. And not only that, the Ram derives from that that is a biblical mitzvah because it's the two that we're adding to the 611. It's and there were those who challenged this who said is a preamble. It's a headline. I mean, can you imagine you have all the you keep everything very scrupulously except you don't believe in God, you know, but you put on and you eat matzah and you had and everything you're terrific. Okay, that's not going to work. That's what one of the authors of the mitzvot katan it's called. He says it's not the same. It's can't be on the same level as eating matzah. You believe in God, you know, God has got to be before everything else. Okay. But the ra doesn't accept this. Rama believes that there's a mitzvah which is intellectual. It's an intellectual struggle throughout one's lifetime. It's not like a mitzvah mitzvah. Do you believe in God? Yeah. Okay. You know, check check this mitzvah. Let's move on in life. You said you believe in God. No, no, no, no, no, no. It's a mitzvah that's ongoing till the last moment. You have to struggle to be convinced that exists. And that's what the Rama begins his with. It is the fundamental idea to believe that there was an original there was a god and a first being a primal being and the mitzvah is to seek him out and the mitzvah is and how do you do it? So how do you do it? You know if I can figure out tells me how to do it all the mitzvah tells me the mechanics of how to do it. So what are the mechanics of how to do it? So Rahu says you have to begin by studying nature. Studying nature and you study nature, you get to know a kadosh, right? You go on a date. So you get to know the young lady. The young lady gets to know the young man a little bit. You go on a second date, right? Third date, you got to be engaged already or else something's wrong. Right. >> Right. Well, not exactly. Not exactly. Some you know they say it at some uh some weddings what does the Hassan mention say to the kala by the vatkin you know when he puts the says nice nice to meet you right you know as funny as it sounds it's not good it's not good the not only not good but the garra says should not marry a girl until you've seen her so some people think it's like kazat matzah you have okay I saw her fine that's it. Let's move on. They some people say that's the reason of the you know that he has to take a peek just to be but there's a letter of the Rambam where he adds one word. He's got to get to know her a little bit getting to know you getting to know all about you. That doesn't mean they have to live together for five years in order to get to know her. It means there has to be some level of some they have to get to know each other and feel for each other before they stand under the it's a very very important and theor gives a to support this if this doesn't go on there's not going to be in this marriage. So it it has to there has to be this level for sure. So um the Ram tells us we have to get to know a kadosh through his created world. This is like going on a date with a idea of this is this is it. You want to see a sense a little bit start learning science start learning biology. >> Only God can make a tree. Only God can make a tree. Okay. Correct. Yeah. That's right. Start learning physics. Start learning astronomy. Start learning all of these sciences. So I'll tell you a little anecdote is I one of my great great teachers at YU was Rabbi Professor Mosha Tendler. I called him my biology rebby. So I wasn't in a sheer in Yu but I was in a biology course and it was my biology rebby because what he was doing in class wasn't exactly the syllabus what was on Rosha Fshi's desk that day that may have been related to medical ethics. So we learned about the question of transplants. Remember in the early 70s we taught transplants and the question is the issue of the donor and everything. We did all kinds of things and this was bio for non-science majors. So he knew this was not guys who were going on to medical school. And he taught us what he called the art of constructive bullah. The art of constructive bullah which means you know you're de deviating from the syllabus but who cares you know he's going to teach us things that are more important. And they really were. They really really were. But I remember once we had a lab uh in this course and we had to uh under microscopic examination take pencil and paper and draw a human cell. You take a toothpick, you stick it in your cheek, you rub out some cheek cells, you put it on the slide, you can see it in the on the microscopic investigation and you have Rabbi Tender wanted to see us draw it out. You know Grace artists we weren't. So this was what we called in Hebrew kishkish kushaya just a little you know smudgings and he would walk around and he said you miss something okay you miss something you look in the microscope again you you write another line of something I'm think this is really horrible and we didn't understand what he was doing here and he goes third time and fourth time and at the end he yells out and he said and the rainish lm you didn't see you're looking now at the chromosomes at the DNA the beginnings of human life and you didn't see the he started yelling at us, you guys are blind and everything. Oh you want to know something? I took that lesson to heart. I was one of the most powerful lessons I had in Mo to to to know that we're doing and and I took it to my own career in education because we started the Shiva in Kashman I said at the outset you know every school has kesh fine you know kesh and then the question is how you call the general education you call it a lot of places call it and some people call it general studies okay so we did something else we said lmude kesh is math, sciences, literature, languages, history. That's the mud kesh. And then we'll have lum kesh keshim and the mud kesh keshim is going to be Mishna and gammor and Israel Jewish thought that's the mud kesh keshim. So there'll be a difference between kesh and kesh keshim. There is no limud in the school. Everything is kesh because everything can be a vehicle to understanding a kadosh whether it's seeing in history as tells us that's why the de begins with history not you can see as we as he takes us through history. So you study history and you have to know that as well and you can see through the sciences and so on and every single year in the seventh grade of our yeshiva went to 12th grade in seventh grade I would give them this little story of Rabbi Tendler and I said whatever sciences you're going to learn in this yeshiva and there going to be eventually biology and chemistry and physics and so on. You should say that's what we're doing here. It's not just to get a nice grade so your grandmother can say my my grandson is such a genius next Einstein the next Einstein on the and and and and it impacted on you know they really really understood and this is what this peric is all about. So the Rab tells us in source number four and what in the previous take a look this is chapter four which means there's a he talked about cosmology about the way the satellites work and the way the constellations work. is that when you think about all this and you get to know all the created objects including the spiritual realm and the constellations and man you're going to see God's wisdom in everything that was created according to the means not you fall in love with him emotionally to the means You have connected intellectually. You've got to know him a little bit better and a little bit better. And he says, "And and then you have offer him. You have you you will be longing for him. You're going to be wanting you more and more. You're never going to have enough of this." If you look at source number five from the end of the love of God. You're constantly engaged with with with sensing him. Nothing else is important except this. You don't really love God. It's proportional to how much you know God. directly proportional how much you you try to understand the created world and then you'll get to know a little bit about some people's a little bit some people more and therefore he says you should engage in the studies that will allow you to be expanded knowledge of the created world you'll get to know a little bit more about and by the way when the Ram talks about the study of Tory he incorporates all this into what he calls Talmud said Talmud doesn't just mean open and learning with it's this also the Rama believed that this was all part and parcel of the mud kesh so now if you turn the page we have time just for one or two midrashim here on and it says Omaru Ley. This is Medishim on Pericut who did made did something very righteous with the nations of the world. He did not place the sun in the primary sky. Apparently there's a notion that the different levels of sky and if the sun would have been on the first strata it would have been so hot that nobody would have survived. Okay, did it wasn't just for Israel nations of the world by here's the phrase nobody would enjoy any shade which means they would burn they would burn from it. So okay as it says in the per in this per there's no hiding from its heat but that's if would have placed the sun in its first level of but he didn't however but anybody who's engaged in Torah study what does it say immediately afterwards and all the other phrases there a person is going to be protected from that heat. So what heat is he talking about? So here the medish actually moves to a that is going to give the ultimate punishment to by removing the shaded parts of the sun and the rishaim are going to perish by burning. But sadikim are going to be spared. So you have an idea of people who are engaged in Torah study will be spared. They'll be mat those who are engaged in Torah. That's message number one of Medish number six. Let's look at medish number seven. Here says this whole perk is one big and as a you know there's a concept in that um you should always organize the praises of God before you get to the point of what you're asking for. That's why we have a concept of we say of before we even get to beginning. That's why the third first three are Abraham and and the proof that the brings is a from at the opening of the beta mdash it says first there should be song and then there should be prayer. So you have to first have some song and that's what the first part of this peric is. It's a song about creation and and that's what we're doing in the zimra. It's a type of zra in this one perim the first seven are the song the says wow they're really great it's it's a word that may be a little bit out of context there means to um to >> to tempt right here we're tempting a kadu uh by I'll use the colloquial buttering him up. We're going to say some nice things about him, right? Means to praise to with great himself. He knew it. He got it. First he started talking about supreme right said what the we we we are needed by everybody the sky said we right you think that I need I I I'm good for everybody continues He started praising with the giving of thee. You see the medish is already connect connecting the first part with the second part. All right. What's on your agenda? What do you want? What do you want from me? And the answer was I don't want to make mistakes. Melik realized that life is a sad mukshim. It's a field of uh of of all kinds of traps of obstacle course. It's an obstacle course and you can fall into traps and make mistakes and he's asking protect me from making mistakes. That's his and he enters into that by praising about perfection of the world. The creat world was perfect and the Torah is perfect. You know who's not perfect? >> Human beings. We're not perfect. So I know you make things that are perfect and we're not there yet. We acknowledge the fact we're not there yet. Help me and help us live a more perfect life. And it's it's really it's it's just an unbelievable unbelievable idea. And in the third midrash here, we have a moment. So you remember the push begins in this last ode to Israel. Why does he begin with he he brings the shamay as witness? Now Shmays are going to be here for a long time. Not only in the days of Mosher Rabenu, but they're still around today. As far as I saw this morning, there was a sunrise and u and there'll be a sunset and the med says look let them look up to the son that I created to serve you that time. You think the ch the you think the sun ever changed its character or do you think once the ball of sun said you know what I'm not rising from the east not going to do it this morning I'm onesh I'm on vacation this morning you think the sun ever said that the sun rises the sun sets the sun is very very happy as it says the idea that the the the the the creation is very very acceptance of its mission and the medish goes on to say so too we have a mission and sometimes we go off course. We should look at the sun as a as a measure that the sun keeps keeps the in line with what it has to do. So we too and one last word about the katan. There's a idea that we use for kushian a ring under the mish doesn't talk about a ring. You can use kf is money or monetary value. There's a if it's a pr or a dinar two different coins. Our view is betel. It's a pray was a little larger. He wanted a dinner. Take her out to eat at least, you know. But dinar is actually a coin. They still use it in Aman Jordan. It's the dinar. So, so it's a minimal amount. So, we use a ring and the rabbi msakaducian can ask to look at the witness and say, "Is it worth at least a pran most probably?" But it has to be owned by the katan. That's very important. He can't say, "I got it buouch of my grandmother." Okay, then it might be yours. But maybe somebody gave him a gift, but it has to be a full gift. It has to be the katans under the fine. And then he puts it on a finger of the kala. Do you remember which finger? >> The right hand and this finger. >> Why did anybody explain that to you? Nobody explained that to you. So why don't you ask me to be your messiah? >> Because it says, take a lookatim. I'm sorry. Start from here. Got the job. This is and then it says the gold falls out on. And that's why we want to get a kadosh under the in this little interesting way, a gimmick that we do because a kadu is if he's not there in your home then it's going to be bad news. We wish that's a phrase that comes out of Mosher Rabeno's book that his he was in my in in his house God says I was trusted that I was welcomed we ask that that is that in your househ should feel welcome as well and that's why we bring a kadoshu there as well.