Rav Aaron Dovid Poston: One whose fear of sin takes precedence to his wisdom, his wisdom endures

[music] [singing] [music] [singing] [music] [singing] [music] [singing] >> Shalom aleichem everybody. Welcome back to the Yemena Beit Midrash. Welcome home to Torah. For those who are not aware of what we do here, we use the Kli Yakar as the basis for our discussion. It's text heavy, but it's very spiritually enlightening. And he always deals with the fundamentals. So, we do encourage you to use the original Hebrew sheets, which you can find using the link below in the description box. We are in Parshas Tazria. It's actually double parsha, and it's also Rosh Chodesh Iyar. So, it's a double It's a double Rosh Chodesh, double parsha. And um the Kli Yakar uh we're not using the standard Kli Yakar. This is actually a book written by Freiman Milunchetz ben Aaron. It's called the Eer Giborim. Okay? So, it's a little bit different than your standard Kli Yakar, but it's the same author. And he usually starts off with a midrash. Now, the midrash we don't we don't always see the relevance because number one, we're only dealing with maybe two pages out of like an eight to 10-page essay. So, we're just starting at this book this year. So, next year we'll continue. So, if we leave off in the middle of a thought, so to speak, uh come back next year. But also, you can go into the previous shiur. Also, there's a link below for um particular um Tazria. Uh Metsora. Okay, so it starts off like this. We have our famous verse. This is Leviticus chapter 2. Sorry, chapter 12 verse 2 and 3. So just keep in mind that yes, what if a woman conceives and gives birth to a male and it then it's going to discuss the different time periods, different types of tuma. We're not going to deal with that per se. You should read it on your own, but basically the woman, if she conceives and gives birth to a male, the male is always going to be half of the amount of impurity than a female. The female is going to be twice the amount. So maybe I'll just talk about the numbers real quick because at the very end we will discuss it. So when she gives birth to a male, there's a 7-day period that she is going to she cannot be with her husband. She cannot be intimate with her husband, which anyway you know, nowadays it's even much longer than a week. And then there's another 33 days for her until she's able to go to the Mikdash, to the temple. So that's a total of 40 days. By a girl, when she gives birth to a female so then it's 14 days of impurity, cannot be intimate with her husband, and then there's an additional 33 days. That I should say no, 66 days, which is a total of 80 days. So it's double when she gives birth to a female. Now this is the Torah. We're not misogynistic here. This is just the way it is. And I want you to know we're going to be dealing [clears throat] with a certain model, right? Male-female model. It doesn't mean that if you're a male, you always fit this category, and if you're female, you always fit that category. We are made up of a little bit of both. And of course, when you are married and you have your other half, your spouse, that will accentuate, that will help uh uh complement uh your other half, your other side. If you're female, so you're getting in touch with your masculine self through your husband, and you're getting in touch with your feminine self as a as a man when you get married to a woman. So, there's a a mile, there's a great advantage to being married because we are mostly either male or mostly female, right? That's >> [laughter] >> Okay. So, we're dealing with a model. There's going to be like this idea of the male is the mashpia, the one who gives. The female is the nekeva, she's the one who receives. It doesn't right that obviously you have to have a give and take in the relationship. And if the male, if he doesn't learn how to receive, he's doing a great injustice to his relationship. Okay? So, with that said, the idea is brought out that if a woman conceives and good birth gives birth to a male, and then it lists the the amount of uh time she's not going to be with her husband, then it says, "On the eighth day, the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised." So, just keep in mind in Hebrew, when we say isha ki tazria v'yolda zachar, it's the woman who's giving birth, she's begetting who? A male. Okay, if you read the rest of the parsha, then it says, "When she gives birth to a female, then there's a different issues." But, right now, the first thing is she's giving birth to a male, and right away the next verse says there has to be a circumcision on the child. Now, first of all, this is not the source for circumcision. Circumcision is mentioned other places. It's just like it's like a it's like a by What do you call like uh by the way? It's um I forget the the English word, but it's like it just happens to be also mentioning it here. Obviously, it's necessary and it's meaningful, but this is not the source for the bris milah. But it is mentioning that on the eighth day that the bris takes place. Of course, if everyone's healthy and she didn't have a a C-section and wasn't born on Shabbos. Okay, there's some details we don't have to go through, but just keep in mind these two points. Number one, the woman is the one who conceives. Now, I should say like this. We're going to learn when the woman gives forth seed first then a male will be born. As opposed to when the male gives forth seed first then a female will be born. Now, the truth is in in nature uh there are some practical tips one could use. There's a timing method and it's called the Shettles method. Um but from what I understand, this is actually talking about orgasm. Okay? I hope we don't get an X on YouTube, but this idea that a man has to give pleasure to his wife. He has to cause her to have pleasure. And if he has I don't know what they call it. Um you know, erectile dysfunction of some sort, it could be a problem. But if he can hold himself back as long as possible to give his wife pleasure that's going to be the best cuz that's what God wants you to give your wife pleasure. And the likelihood of a male being born. Now, let me just give you some natural background information that when a woman does experience an orgasm, there are secretions of certain you know, I'm not sure exactly what they're called, but the pH the balance and everything like that. There is certain chemical that is released, that allows Now, keep in mind that the when I say the male sperm, I'm talking about the man who gives off the sperm, he has an X and a Y. One is going to be a going to give birth to a female, conceive a female, the other one will conceive a male. >> [clears throat] >> The sperm within the man that is going to create a female has a longer shelf life, if I can use that term, but it doesn't swim as fast. Whereas the sperm that's going to create a male, right? In the in conception, swims faster, but has a shorter shelf life. Therefore, if she has the orgasm first, the secretions actually help propel the male sperm, the sperm that's going to create a male, uh to reach the egg quicker. This This is basic science. Um keeping that in mind that if the man is able to hold himself back and give pleasure to his wife, the likelihood in in nature of of um having a male baby is greater, okay? It's not a guarantee. It just becomes greater. So, keeping that in mind, one other idea in Parshat Shmini, we discussed different animals that are kosher and not kosher, things animals that are tame. Okay, great. Guess what? If you look on source number three, this is the law regarding animals, birds, and all living creatures. This is just a few verses before our parsha. So, we're dealing with the animals first. Look at Rashi says on our verse. It's source number one. When a woman conceives, Rabbi Simlai said, just as in creation, man was created after after the dem- the domesticated animals, the wild beasts and the birds, so too, just like in Genesis, where you have a order, so too here, the the order is that we just discussed in parsha shmini about the animals, and now in our parsha, we're going to discuss the laws of man and things that have to do with laws of cleanliness. Okay, so that's pretty simple shot Rashi. Rashi might say just as in creation, man was created after all the domesticated animals, wild beasts and birds, so too the law concerning the cleanliness of man is stated after the law concerning the cleanliness of the domesticated animals, wild beasts and birds. It's going to be important in this measure because as we're going to see, it says I'm Rabbi Simlai, just as the creation, the formation of man was, right? In Genesis, after all of the animals, because what did God do? He set up like a shulchan, a a set table, so that when man was created, everything was there for him. It's like you come home Friday night and the table's set. Okay, so when man was created, the whole the whole world was ready for him. Kamo kamo came dino nitparesh after all the domesticated animals so too the Torah is now going to describe all the laws of right right after the laws of the the animals and right and and the birds, the laws of man. >> [snorts] >> Just like it's In other words, it's symmetrical. It it matches up. Just like in Genesis, so so too over here in Vayikra. Now, interestingly enough, the measure brings a verse. The verse is in Psalms 139 verse 5. See this number four. We don't always get it from the English translation because it says from the rear and the front you encompassed me. So in Hebrew it says Achor ve kedem sartani. Achor from the past ve kedem and the future. So that's from the rear and the front. Sartani. Sartani is like encompassed me. It's What's the word I'm looking for? Surrounds? Uh Surrounds? Uh I'm looking for the word like um like from the like a mitzvah. A mitzvah is a limitation. Okay? When God gives you laws and commandments we're limited. So from the front and the back, from before and after you basically placed limitations. Yeah, it's a very nice because the whole concept of mitzvah anyway is basically like God it's it's an intimate relationship with God. So encompassing me with mitzvahs. So I have mitzvahs before and mitzvahs after. Wait till you see what the Midrash says. So what are these mitzvahs that come before and after? Achar she bara kol ha behemos bara oto. After you created all the animals, then you created man. Kach hatino. Hatino chazeh, this child, this eight-day-old baby, right? Ad shelo yotzei mi me'av imo prior to its coming out from the stomach, from the womb of its mother Hakadosh Baruch Hu is metzaveh lo et zeh to chelo ve ve et zeh lo chelo. The God is commanding this child what he can eat and what he cannot eat. Now, that matches up with Shmini, last week's parshah, very nice. Remember, he's a child. He's not even born yet. What kind of mitzvahs? What is it talking about? The ach she no lad mus lo miyad mitzvahs amila. But, immediately after this child is born, what's given to him? The mitzvah of milah. And the proof text is the same text we just had. Achur ve kedem tsartani. Before, I'm sorry, like prior. Achur and kedem tsartani. I'm I'm basically encompassed, enveloped with mitzvahs. Before I'm born, um commanded. Well, really, I'm eating whatever my mother eats. So, she's commanded what's kosher, what's not kosher. But, we're going to see that I'm sure you've all heard this idea, that while we're in our mother's womb, we're taught Torah. We're taught the entire Torah. And if we're taught the entire Torah, that means there we we know that about the command of what you can eat and what you can't eat while we're still as an embryo. It's all going to come we're going to understand it as we go along. Kvar yudua, it's well known. She poel et adam heim al shnei drachim letova o lera. As I mentioned, the Kli Yakar is going through very fundamental ideas. What is the greatest gift God gave us? Free will. You know why? Because that's the only way we're going to earn the bliss of olam haba. Okay? In other words, it's something we work towards and that we earn. And if it was just given to us on a silver platter, it wouldn't have any value. And we're going to see that this is free will. That what he says it's already well known that the actions of man ha she poel et adam. There're going to be two things. You have choices between doing good or doing bad. That's called free will. Now, how do we know? It's actually written in the Torah in Genesis chapter 2, verse 7. Do you see it on the sheet? Number five on the on the source sheet. It said, "The Lord God formed man of dust from the ground." Now, what does it mean in Hebrew? The Yitzhar Hashem Elohim et ha-adam. There's two yuds in that word. Look at the word. Vav, yud, yud. Tzadik, resh. The That's not how it's spelled. Well, God doesn't make mistakes. So, he wrote it with He had it written with two yuds. Look at Rashi. The Yitzhar with two yuds hints at the two creations. So, there's two creations. A creation for this world. Okay? We're going to talk about that because in the past few sharing, we mentioned that the female is more in touch with this world. That's why the letter heh of the word isha has two feet on the ground. Right? And she can transform this world into holiness. Whereas the man with isha ish aleph yud shin the yud is not on the ground. It's kind of like in the air. It's a little bit in the clouds. It doesn't have a firm grip on reality in this world. And has a really hard time dealing with the physical world. Whereas women deal with the physical world much much better. So, the Rashi mentions right away that it has two yuds. And it hints at the two creations. A creation for this world and a creation for the time to come. The resurrection of the dead. Notice when it talks about the creation of of animals or the formation of animals, it doesn't have two yuds, it's just one yud, v'yitzer. And that describes their creation. So, man is different. Man has free will. Let's go back into the clear car. We're only two lines in, three lines in. And he mentions right away about the word v'yitzer with two yuds, bishnei yudin. With two yuds, l'yarmuz al shnei yotzros habo. Yitz- yitzro habo. It hints to it tells you instructs you that you have two creations within you. The yetzer hatov, that's the inclination to do good, and the yetzer hatara, which is the inclination to do not good. But you have the potential for both within you. That's called free will. Hein po'alot hanefesh hasichlit, become familiar with these words. So, this is the activity or the action that is the nefesh hasichlit. That I'm going to translate as the intellectual soul. It's a soul, but it's intellectual, nefesh hasichlit. And you also have the po'alot hanefesh habahamit. The action or the activities of the material soul. We'll call it the animal soul, the lower soul. So, you have the higher soul, which is the seichel, and the lower soul, which is the bahamit. Now, the inyan kefel hayudin, we did see that the word v'yitzer, man was created, and when God created him, it says here he was created with these two yuds in the word v'yitzer. Specifically, hein l'fisha shlitem b'ir ketana. A human being is called a small city. That's what we are. We're a universe in love ourselves and we're self-contained to a certain extent. We're a small city. But he says that there are 10 governors, rulers, within man. Okay? Now, I'm not sure if he's going to cuz I didn't read the whole essay if that's referring to the Sefirot or it's referring to perhaps that's why we have 10 fingers because there really are 10 Sefirot. In other words, God looked into the Torah and created the world. So, it's not an accident that we have 10 fingers. But anyway, each human being has these 10 um rulers, but he says they're really 20 because they're 10 for good and 10 for bad. Again, back to free will. He says, "Ve'ein kolalin kol hapu'alot hein letovah hein lara." And all of these, at the moment he's talking about 10, you can either use them for good actions or for bad actions. And then he says, "Harei ki ilu hayu aserim shelitim." And therefore, it's like you have 20 governors. It could be that each governor has, you know, two aspects or there really are 20. We're not going to get focused on that. That's something to meditate on for the future. So, he says, "V'hu sochnayim yudin." This is actually the fundamental or maybe secret the fundamental principle or the secret behind the two yuds in the word that you God used when he said he created man with these two yuds because as we well know in the Shema, it says, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart." That's usually how they translate it, but it should say with all your hearts. Luvavcha with two bets. The two bets, we all know this means that with your good inclination and your negative inclination, you should even serve Hashem with your negative inclination. And you're going to see why very shortly. Bishnei levavcha, in other words, serve God with both your hearts. And he he ends this particular point by saying the hamaskil yavin, the one who is, let's say, intellectually mature, right, will understand these points. Now, af al pi she poalim zura, hi mekom mikom hayes etzar gadol bibrias Adam. Even though we say about certain actions of man, they could be considered evil, nevertheless, this is etzar gadol bibria. This is a absolute necessity. This is a great necessity within the creation of man, bibrias Adam. How do we know? Gemara the the Actually, the pasuk in Genesis 1:31, take a look at It's number nine on the source sheet, but we're going to get back to number eight. The pasuk says in Genesis 1:31, "And God saw all that he had made, and behold, it was very good." And it was And now, he created man with both, a yetzer hara and a yetzer tov. And that was good. So, look at source number eight. So, Rabbi Nachman, this is in Bereishit Rabbah 9:7. Rabbi Nachman bar Shmuel bar Nachman said in the name of Shmuel bar Nachman. So, it says, it actually says vihinei tov mode, but skip the vav for a second. Just the word hinei tov mode, that's God created man, and it was very good. Forget the word and. It was very good. Behold, it was good. That is referring to God's creating him with the good inclination, the the inclination to do good. But it says, "V' hinei tov me'od." And there's a vov there. What do you need the vov for? That's going to include the evil inclination. Really, the evil inclination's good? That's what the Gemara asks. That's what the Breishit Rabbah asks in the Midrash. This is the evil inclination. Is the evil inclination then very good? Great question, right? I mean, surely you lost sleep over this. How can it be called good? Well, that's really a rhetorical question. Rather, were it not for the evil inclination, man would never build a house, would never marry a wife, would never beget children, and would never engage in commerce. You know, I mean, just think about the amount of scientists who trying to cure cancer, or, you know, to make discoveries that are going to advance mankind. Listen, it's true. People can be altruistic and want the best for everyone else around them. But I'm sure they want to have a bonus at the end of the year. I'm sure they want to have their name I want to You know what I'm saying? They want to get the Nobel Peace Prize or whatever prize you can get. This motivates. This may be ulterior motives. Lo lishma, doesn't matter. The very fact that it's lo lishma, it could be used for good. I hope I'm getting my point across. Maybe I can give better examples. Right? With marrying a wife. Okay, we have some desires. And the proper way to fulfill them is to get married. But that means you're going to be a giver. You're going to be taking responsibility for a family. Otherwise, you know, you would just be with a woman, she'd have children, and they'd be fatherless, like certain communities in America. I'm not going to mention. Right? Certain communities in America where unfortunately the fathers are no longer present. Right? Here we have a mitzvah to get married and to raise the family. Okay? So, there are sometimes ulterior motives, but that's okay. You're going to use your your your your yetzer hara. You're going to use it to serve Hashem. I think that is clear. Um yeah, so let's move forward where we left off. He says, "Zei yetzer hara." Just like it says "Hinei tov mode." This God said is very good when he created man. Hinei tov mode. This is the yetzer hara. The Chiyutov, rhetorically, is it really good? How low Kodesh Baruchu korah? How can it be good? It's even called evil. So, the Gemara in Sukkah said, "Ela she imalei yetzer hara lo nasa adam isha." If it had not been for the yetzer hara, a man would never get married. "Velo bana bayisa." He wouldn't build a house. "Vahaya manhig olam batel." That's referring they wouldn't have sex anymore. Right? If men didn't have the yetzer hara, he wouldn't cohabitate. "Velo sohu nivra keyim leshavash yitzarto." Yitz Yitz hara. So, this is a pasuk in Isaiah 45. I think it's 18. Yeah, number 10 on the source sheet. By the way, it One of my students asked me recently, "Do non-Jews, do Bnei Noach, they have seven laws, do they have the mitzvah to procreate like we do?" So, the answer is yes and no. They don't actually have the positive mitzvah of procreation like we do. What they have is a negative and it says here in Isaiah 45:18, "For so said the Lord, creator of heaven, who is God who formed the earth and made it established it. Now, this is the He did not create it for a waste. He formed it to be inhabited. I am the Lord, there is no other." Velo sohu bora leshavet yitzara. The guy did not create the world to remain empty, barren. Okay? So, there you have it. The the non-Jew, the Bnei Noah, has this negative commandment that they have to follow, which is procreate only because if you don't, the world would remain empty and fallow. >> [snorts] >> So, the last two lines on the right side, "V'hu ezer shek'negdo." That this yetzer hara, I know this sounds very much like your wife, right? Your Your wife is your ezer k'negdo. Right? That's what it says. She in the in the Bible, she is your helpmate against you. Well, we're talking here about the yetzer hara. That the yetzer hara is your ezer shek'negdo. It's going to be a helpmate against you. So, what does that mean? In Gemara Yevamot 63a, "Zacha, if you merit and I will find what that means. How do you merit that it's your helpmate? Lo zacha, but if you don't merit, it's k'negdo. It's going to work against you." Okay? She'im zacha, if you do merit, nasalo hayetzer hara ezer b'mishne panim el takhlit amiti. Then, what your yetzer hara is going to actually do is going to assist you. It's going to help you, especially at the time where it says both. Now, the both I imagine is both your yetzer hara and your yetzer hatov, but it could be you and your yetzer hara. Let's I don't know if there's much of a difference, that both are turned towards the ultimate truth, to the ultimate purpose, the true purpose. Okay, when when both inclinations are aligned, that could be the easiest way to understand it, right? In other words, your yetzer hara ultimately is aligned with the yetzer hatov. Now, the idea of meriting, we're going to see that God will lead you in the direction you want to go into. Okay? So, that's part of meriting. Could be other things that will help you with your yetzer hara. The next paragraph, "Mera l'hoisef biur b'sashar hu derech amara." It seems like we can add some explanation to this by way of what it says in Gemara Shabbos. This is discussing the different letters and how they're facing and how they're turned and what they mean, but basically it says, "Haba l'taher misay'in lo." If you want to be pure, you want to do the right thing, you want your yetzer hatov to take control, then you will get assistance from heaven. There will be a heavenly heaven Could be the angels, could be God, but there will be assistance from heaven to take you in that direction. "L'fi kach, im zachah." Therefore, if you do merit, "noyslin lo ezer v'siya min hashamaim." So, then what's granted to you? Heavenly assistance. That you "shelo yipol b'yad yitzro." You will not fall, you won't succumb to your evil inclination. "V'sheyochal l'shaber ta'avas yitzro." And you be able to break the desires of your inclination. Now, people who experience recovery for example, right? This is a good that We're we're going to discuss this. Let's just go a few more lines and we'll come back to that. And this is what it means what we saw already Zaha Azar that if you married it, then you will receive heavenly assistance. And we go back to the statement. That if Hashem didn't help you, if you didn't get that assistance from heaven, you couldn't overcome. The yetzer hara is very powerful. So powerful that if you did not ask God for help, you're not going to you're not going to overcome. That's how powerful it is. You have to ask for help and you have to rely on the help that you're getting from Hashem. And that's where the recovery programs come into this idea of powerlessness. Only through admitting that you're actually powerless over the addiction itself that you could actually then turn to a Kadish Baruchu and get the help that you need. But if you think and Carl Young wrote a book for AA, I mean it was written it was written probably before that but they used it in AA. Um the title of the book is called Not God. And you wonder if a a spiritual program that's relying on God for recovery, why would they be so into this book of Carl Young called Not God? And the answer is, drum roll please, because the book is trying to explain how you're not God. And once you realize you're not God, then you're open to having that relationship with God, with the real true God that's outside of yourself. Or as we could say, there is an aspect of God within yourself which is connected deeply to yourself. But okay, you're talking about relying on what they call a higher power. And only through that higher power, which is outside of yourself, can you find recovery. And Rabbi Twerski wrote a book, if I'm not mistaken, it was called um Teshuvah through recov- recovery through Teshuvah, or Teshuvah through recovery. And I think that's what the title was, and it basically explains how the 12 steps are from the the Bible itself, and from our Torah, and how the those steps are clearly Jewish uh sourced, and um it's in our own Bible. The Bible is the instruction manual for life. So, of course, it has the um the instructions or directions how to find recovery. And it says in Tehillim, he brings down that if it wasn't for Kadosh Baruchu, you wouldn't be able to overcome the Yetzer Hara. It says in Psalms 37:33, which is number 14 on the source sheet, it says, "The Lord shall not leave him in his hands." Hashem lo yazvenu biado. That Hashem Let's see Rashi. No Rashi on that. Um that Hashem will not abandon you >> [snorts] >> to the Yetzer Hara. He will help you. He will be there. Um think I I said this story many times, but there's a story in in recovery programs where they talk about this guy. He says, "You know, I was having a conversation with God. God, I know you were there like really, you know, some really, you know, tough times. I felt you. I knew you were there. But when they really experienced the worst of times, I didn't feel you. You know, it was like two two like when I was walking hand-in-hand with you, I saw two foot two footprints two sets of footprints in the sand. And then when I was really experienced the most traumatic times, I only saw one footprint one set of footprints in the sand. And God says, "You fool. Don't you realize that you that those times were the most troubling and traumatic times, I was carrying you. That's why there's only one set of footprints in the sand." But you get the idea. We really cannot uh even imagine our lives having even meaning or or any success in our lives without having an intimate relationship with God. So he goes back to this idea of lo zakha she lo taher. So I'm not sure if it means that's the result, but if you don't merit, so you're not going to come to this state of purity, which I think the very fact if you want the state of purity, you'll get it. So it's kind of like maybe I'm not sure that's that order, but in other words, if you're not zakha, because you're not coming to purify yourself. So if you're not going in the direction of that relationship with Hashem, which is pure, then what happens? As poiskim lo petach niftach lo chatas lo lenada. Then there's only other the only other direction you're going to go in is there's going to be an opening for sin and for rejection. That's like your two choices. Lefikha hu kenegdo, therefore we said you're either either the yetzer is going to be an ezer an an assistance and help, or it's going to be kenegdo. It's going to work against you. It's going to lefikha hu kenegdo chatato al derech she nemar or it's going to cause you to sin. Right? His sin will always be against him. What does it mean? Look in I think it is Yeah, it's Psalms 51:5. Look in source number 15. King David says, "For I know my transgressions and my sin is always before me." The Hatosi negdi tamid. Think about it. One of the very first halachas in the Shulchan Aruch is Shviti Hashem l'negdi tamid. The way of tzadikim, the way of the righteous, is to place God before my me always. Well, you have a choice, right? You want to have God before you always? Right? When you close your eyelids, you just imagine the Yud-Keh-Vav-Keh with all the vowels and how it's it's permeated. Here, says King David says, "I know my transgressions and Hatosi negdi tamid." My sin is against me or parallel to me, in front of me always. So, the Kli Yakar says, "She tamid hamachateh konegdo." What's a machateh? The thing that causes you to sin, that it's constantly in front of you, v'tzoifet l'hamiso, and it seeks out your death. Why? B'chet hamam- hamam- hamamit. It's the sin that causes you to die. So, it causes you to sin and it's the sin that causes you to die. V'az lo yuchal l'himaleit min hachet. And therefore, what happens? You're not able to be rescued or to be uh to escape from sin im ein lo ezer min hashamayim l'ma'ala, if you're not going to receive that heavenly assistance. It's only That's why the 12 steps is so so fascinating that it became so popular. I'm going to say but 100 years ago, right? In the in 1930s, 1940s, when it started out. It They were walking around with the Bible. That's what they had. They knew that the only They knew from experience that the only way to get out of an addiction at to break a habit. And we're going to talk about habits and how to break the habits very soon. So, that's one of the reasons that these 12-step programs are and were so successful. Let me just read that again. That Remember, we have free will. [snorts] We have the desire to do good and we have the desire to to bad. Even the yetzer hara has good and bad in it. If it had not been for it, for the yetzer hara, then man would not have any choice in his in his actions. He would be forced, basically left to fate. He wouldn't have any free will. So, we don't have any free will, you wouldn't be able to receive this ultimate bliss. You wouldn't be able to receive the reward that's waiting for you in the world to come for your actions. Why? Because you all you would be would be like a spiritual angel that doesn't even Remember, angels don't have free will. That's another thing Christians get wrong again. The Satan is not a fallen angel that warred with God. There's no such thing as an angel with free will. They're doing God's will. Uh doesn't have any So, we would be like angels. If we didn't have free will, we would just be like angels, and we wouldn't um be able to receive reward. The tikoch are called on the table of the heart, mean Allah given a zoo. Therefore, what does a person need to do? He needs to constantly, through his actions, write with certain intent. The intent should be that he should always try to overcome, to squash, likbosh yetzro, to capture and overcome his evil evil inclination. The life in she acted pool out a nefish a sichlit the pool out a This statement I'm going to put into modern terms. I'm not sure if people are familiar with this idea. I heard it many decades ago then in psychology that it should be intellect over emotion. You need to use your higher level soul to to control your emotion. It your intellect should control your emotion. Of course, we know it works the other way around, too, but you have to try to have your nefish a sichlit, your intellectual soul, in a way that it's yak team, that it's comes first, that it the prioritize your spiritual growth or your spiritual life, your spiritual soul, before your yetz hara, which we're going to call your your natural inclinations. Okay? Key do a shokol hamu har the pool out of There's a statement that says it's well known that any type of action that comes later. Okay? You have different actions. I I know if you know about these first impressions. You know, let's say in business, you have a meeting. You want to make a good impression. They say you only get one chance to make a first impression. The first impression is going to give hopefully, I mean, you integrated, it's part of you. Otherwise, it looks fake, right? There's a lot of people that put on what they call first impressions, and you can tell how fake and phony it is. But when it's real, then it's going to get you far. So, whatever comes first is going to defeat that which comes later in terms of, let's say, character traits. But let's say in general. Then we have the whole idea of Shabbos comes before the Mikdash. So, Shabbos overrides the Mikdash. That's why you have to stop working on Shabbat. You can't do the melachot, the actions that go into building the Mikdash because Shabbos was mentioned first. So, there's a strength to that which is mentioned first over, meaning it actually defeats that which comes later. Listen to the words. Keduah. Hineh hu menutzach. Menutzach means defeated from whatever came first. Why? Because whatever came first is already your second nature. Second nature means that it's like ingrained. It's not just taught, right? But it's it becomes nature. There's nurture and there's nature. So, it became your nature, teva sheini, because of habit, good habits. Because whatever habits you do, whatever came first. And that's why Chazal say in Pirkei Avot, keep in mind what it says. It's chapter three, Mishnah Tet, Mishnah nine. Look in number 16. Rebbi Chanina ben Dosa would say, Kol sheurat cheto kol Right in English, one whose fear of sin takes precedence to his wisdom. Now, we're going to say the fear of sin is going to be the feminine aspect, and wisdom is going to be the masculine aspect. Remember we said if the woman comes first, if she seeds first, then she'll give birth to a male. So, one whose fear takes precedence, so that's the woman aspect, then if the fear of sin takes precedence to the wisdom, the wisdom will endure. But one whose wisdom takes precedence over his fear of sin, which means the masculine thing is taking precedence over the feminine thing, so the wisdom will not endure. I know it sounds very cryptic, but we're going to we're going to flesh it out right here. We're going to flesh it out right here when Khaz tell us in Pirkei Avot, "Kol shiyurat khato kodemet l'khokhmato, khokhmah mitkayemet." What does that mean? Kiyuras a khet hu p'ulot ha yetzer tov. That the fear of sin, this is action of the good inclination, right? That's great. And the khokhmah, where do we find khokhmah in the beginning? By the Garden of Eden, by the the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. That's where khokhmah comes in comes in, and that's not such a good thing, is it? Khokhmah is oisa khokhmah shehaisa b'olam harishon, makhilus eitz hada'as. V'al le amar so the khokhmah we're referring to is the khokhmah that came to man, the first man, Adam harishon, when he ate from the Tree of Knowledge good and evil, and King Solomon actually says in Ecclesiastes 7:16, look at number 17 on the source sheet. Be not overly righteous, and be not overly wise. Right? It's better to have this years years What do we also say? Um Reishit Chochmah, yirat Hashem. The beginning of wisdom is yirat Hashem. You have to have yirat Hashem. That's like a catalyst. Without that, you got nothing. So, King Solomon said, "Don't be overly wise." But, he didn't just end there. In chapter 1:18 of Ecclesiastes, he says, and this is crazy, right? But, he knows better. For in much wisdom is much much much vexation. What is vexation? It's not a good thing. Anger. In Hebrew, ki-rov chachma rov ka'as. Vexation, right? With much wisdom is much vexation. Wow. Those are pretty strong words. Doesn't sound very good. So, he says, "Look. Remember we said the power is to that which came first." Guess what? A human being doesn't receive their yetzer hatov until they're 12 or 13. It's 12 for a girl, and 13 for a boy. So, who's the older brother in the relationship? The yetzer hara. It's 12 or 13 years older. It's been in your goof. It's been in your body. It's been in your system. It's been in your habits. Okay? It's it it takes precedence, so to speak. It's stronger. He says, "Zeh yedush yetzer hara kodem yud gimel shanim leyetzer hatov." That the yetzer hara is 13 years older than your yetzer hatov. >> [snorts] >> And that's shelo kach nikra hayetzer hatov yeled misken. So, we have We talked about this before that the yates are us called the impoverished child. Okay? It's called a child. It's the younger younger brother. Lou mad zek de la hak to me yates or tove, but there's a trick here. What did Hashem do? He doesn't want that 13-year-old older brother to have precedence. Cuz we said whatever has precedence rules. So what did he do? He taught us the entire Torah while we were in the womb. And that means that the yates or tove was there. So that really takes precedence. Listen to the words. Lou mad zek de la hak to me yates or tove cuz all tell us the gemara needa in order to place the yates or tove first, we learn shatino ba oido ba ma i mo that the infant or let's say the the the uber and the uh the fetus while it's still in its mother's womb mal am deem auto call hot to era cool ah that that embryo is learning the entire Torah. Should yates or tove kadima yates or ah so now wow this is like fantastic. We already knew the yates or ah was the older brother, but do we realize you know we've heard this before that we learn the whole Torah while we're in the womb. The yates or tove really is earlier. It really becomes the nature. Right? The Torah is our nature. That the Torah is our nature. That's a very strong statement. Uh are we living with that reality? So he said the sorry Adam she yates or tove the hak in the soul and this is the very reason the person it's necessary for him to first place yates or tove fear of sin before his wisdom. Meaning, she should that a person We're talking about even a child. You teach him the Shema. You teach him, you know, to say amen. You teach him Marasha Skews Yaakov. You teach him certain Sukin, certain verses. You You teach him to put on a kippah and to have Yirat HaShamayim. There's a lot of things to At some point where tzitzis to make a big deal out of getting a haircut at the age of three. All this Yiddishkeit, you want to make it real and and fascinating. The inyana hanefesh, that one should involve themselves in spiritual matters at an early age. The acher kach betzarchei haguf, and only later do you really need to worry about your physical stuff, right? Especially your parents are taking care of you. Zeh sod. He says this is the fundamental secret. This is the foundation for what we're discussing here. As it's said in the Gemara, Isha mazria techila, when the woman gives forth seed first, yoledet zachar will be born, likely born a male child. Ish mazria techila yoledet nekeva. Whereas when a male comes first, seeds first, it's likely to give birth to a female. Kavar biur chazal, the rabbis already explained davar zeh eish udar hateva. I think we explained that a little bit in the beginning with the shuttles method and the timing method and the different pH balances and the enzymes that happen when the woman secretes certain [clears throat] liquids or fluids or chemicals when she has an orgasm. The fi midrasheinu nirlehaisif oid biur bizzeh ashnei derachim. He says according to our midrash, it's worthwhile to clarify and to add two ideas. I'm only going to bring the first. We're almost towards the end. We're only going to talk about the first. Next year with God's help, we'll talk about the second. I re-shown Derek Arishon who? Shiramozu bikan as Harala Adam Shiyavtim years head la Hachnasah. The first idea here is to hint to what we already said that man is warned that he should always place his fear of God, fear of sin before his own wisdom. Shiyu Ulat Nefesh Sikhlit. This way he's activating there's an action happening with his intellectual soul, his higher soul, nef and neshama. Code me, first. Could they Could they she you Hamul car minutzak min a code mo in order that whatever comes later will be defeated by that which comes earlier. So already on at an earlier age, it's Kadai, it's worthwhile dibbling and dabbling in spiritual matters. Not to wait till it's too late as we're going to see. Lachora Zu Amru the Midrash at tinuk ashlo nivra vahu metzavalo et zeh to ochelu? So remember we saw in the Midrash, what is the intent of the Midrash when it speaks about this embryo? That even before it's born, it's already commanded. Meaning learning learning the Torah, right? It's already commanded what he can eat and what he can eat. The Hekem at Tzinut Tziwi la Adam kodem she nivra Zula b'direction is Kaylo? Shibba Oida b'mayimo malambi mosu kiniscar? Where do we ever find that an embryo before a person is even born he's going to be commanded while he's still in his mother's stomach? yet he's already learning the Torah like we mentioned. Yes, this is exactly the hint that a man places first his years his fears or Hashem before his own wisdom. Man was created after all the animals. He was created after all the animals. So the truth is the very fact that man was created after the animals, there's a mile meaning there's an advantage. And there's also a disadvantage. The word like a disadvantage like inferior, something inferior. So let's use the word either there's something superior and something inferior or there's an advantage or a disadvantage. Let's see how he describes it. So regarding the disadvantage that you can remind the person even the animals are created before you. Who do you think you are? You're like one of the last things that were created. Right? That even your evil inclination, your your your lower soul, that was already part of you. That was the original part of you for 13 years. That came before the so on one hand the very fact that we're created after the animals it's like saying you know, you're disadvantaged. What about the advantage that we're created after the animals? Like the Chazal tell tell us and we sing it on Friday night, sof ma'aseh tachilas machshava. That whatever comes at the end, that was what Hashem had in mind from the very beginning. The very fact that man is the pinnacle, the last thing created, means that it's from the very beginning God had that in mind. He set the whole table. He He created the whole world for man. Man is the ultimate of creation. That's why he's last. Hu haya tachilas machshava. He was the first thing God thought of. Hu marbiz l'kadima. This hints to you what happened originally. She'eish l'nefesh hasiklis b'may'mo. That the That heavenly soul, that higher-level soul, the intellectual spirit that you have, that's while it's in your mother's stomach, hakol hu d'reishis achdus sichlo d'teva. That your intellectual soul comes before your your inclinations, before your natural uh you know, bodily functions, so to speak. Your bodily desires. V'hu v'zehu she'amar ish mazria tachila yoledes nekeiva. He's claiming again, this goes back to that statement in the Gemara, where if a man seeds first, he'll give birth She'll give birth to a female. D'fi sheyedu'a sheyeitzer hanikra ish. Now, that the yeitzer hara itself has many names, and one of them is called a man. As it says in Bereishis Rabbah 22:11, it's number 22 in the source sheet. Rava said initially, the verse called the evil evil inclination a traveler coming from afar. Then it calls it a guest, an ore'ach. As one welcomes it. Ultimately, the verse calls it a man, indicating significance as it becomes what we call ba'al habayit. It's like the owner of the house. That's not say it's not necessarily a good thing. But the yetzer ra self has like a kinui, a nickname, called ish. Okay? And the yetzer tov is called isha. I'm just reading again mit'chila nikra orel, v'acharkach ish, v'yetzer tov nikra isha. For some reason, the good inclination is called feminine. Right? Remember, if the man is going to be with the woman, and he's going to hold himself back, so when it says a woman seeds first cuz he's arousing her, will give forth birth to a male. So, in other words, the word ish and isha are not the same as zachar and nekeva. Like two different categories. I know they can get confusing. But it says here, chachmas nashim banta beisa. It says in Proverbs chapter 14 verse 1, number 23 on the source sheet, the wisest of women, each one built her house. Very important to know this. Without a good wife, very difficult to build proper house. The chein kol hasipur she mesaper haMelech. You know, you think of the whole book of Koheles, right? Futilities of futilities, nothings of nothings, right? But guess what? To to to fear Hashem and to do God's will, that's the ultimate, right? So, it says, the entire storyline or theme of King Solomon, besof sipuro meinyana isha maskelet. The ultimate goal seems to be that woman with the intellectual soul. Ruach kol. This is everything. That's rem is the Isha maskelet. Somehow or another that is hinting to the word Isha, the female who is or the wife that has this intellectual soul. And then he goes on he says a poel lo nikra zeria. The idea of action. The word action is related to the word to seeding. Now it could be seeding for good or seeding for bad. But the idea of seeding and then what comes out as a result toldos. Toldos are the results of the actions. So when we get into the whole idea if the woman seeds first, she'll give birth to a male, right? So the poel lo nikra zeria, actions are called seeding. Hein hatoyvin hein royim, doesn't matter. They're still called seeding whether they're for good or for bad. Maasim toyvim, it comes to good acts, we say we see in Hoshea chapter 10 verse 12. Number 24 on the source sheet. It says, "Sow righteousness for yourselves." So you see the word sowing, zaru lachem litzdakah. So the zeroa is still with good actions and you also see zeroim with maasim royim. As it says in Job chapter 4 verse 8, right? And so mischief will reap it. Zeroa amal yiktzruhu. So there's also a negative. So the actions themselves are called seeding. The toldos, that's the children that result from the seeding or the produce that results from the seeding. Vetoldos shel maasim toyvim, so the resultant of the good acts is nimshal l'holid Zacha. Somehow it's analogous to giving birth to a male. We're going to see why. My Sim Roim, whereas negative actions, bad actions, Nimsha L'Hoidi Nekeiva. Somehow or another that is analogous to giving birth to a female. V'hu Ramaz B'Dark Mashal, K'Idusha Zacha. Chiyav B'Harbei Mitzvos. So, just keep in mind that we know that a male has so many more mitzvahs than females. Right? The women are Patour, they're exempt from positive mitzvahs that are time bound. Right? That's going to be the general rule. So, that's going to exclude them from a whole lot of mitzvahs. So, the idea that men are more obligated in many more mitzvahs, Masha Ein K'Ein B'Nekeivos, which is not the case by feminine females, She'Paturah M'Rov Mitzvos, because they're exempt from majority of the mitzvahs. And this is what it means in the verse. He's going back to the idea that Ish M'Zria T'Chila, if the male comes first, which is not a good thing, right? B'Zman She'Maktim Poel Se Yetzer Ha'Ra. At the time that he's putting forth first the action of the Yetzer Ha'Ra, then he's Nikra Ish. Then he's going to be called Ish, which we said is a code name for the Yetzer Ha'Ra, for male, men, L'Pulo Ta'Isha, it comes before the action of the woman, which is a Maskeles, which the woman is the intellectual soul. V'Hu Maktim Chachma Soul, so he's putting forth earlier than his wisdom. I'm sorry. V'Hu Maktim Chachma Soul L'Yiras Chet, he's putting his wisdom before his fear of God. And then he will give birth to a female. Vukino lepos herois, which is a kinois. It's a nickname. It's an associated name. It's a replacement name for the negative actions. So in isha, when the female's mizria tachila, that's the good thing, right? That's what we want, that the female should have the orgasm first. Vumis masha in years heth lekhakhma so that's when the person is putting fear [snorts] of God first before his wisdom. The hainu pulsin nefesh umas keleth. He's putting forth his soul, the spiritual, the higher soul first. Shimark dimi, that's coming first. Vaz kol tol tav, then as a result, all of the produce, the outcome will be male. Zacharim shukino lepos toivos, which is the the associated name associated with good actions. Now the clear heart is going to describe what we talked about earlier, that the male, when the when a male child is born, the female can come to the base of mikdash after the 40th day, meaning the 41st day. And if she gave birth to a female, only on the 81st day. So there's 80 days that she's impure. So what do these numbers represent? Zesur orboum yom lezachor ush monin lenekeiva. This is like one of the secrets to the idea of the 40-day impurity when she gives birth to a male, and the 80 days of impurity when she gives birth to a female. By way chazal, it says in perky avos, chapter 5, mishna 21, I highlighted two points. I'll read the whole thing. Anyway, we know there's five years, when a child's five years old, they start teaching him Humash. When he's 10, starts Mishna. When he's 13, he starts observing the mitzvahs. When he's 15, he starts learning Talmud. 18, he should get married. 20, he should pursue a livelihood. 30 is for strength. Now, already, 40 for understanding. Ben Arbaim Labina. When he's 50, it's for counsel. For 60, it's for sagacity. 70 for elderly-ness. And I highlighted 80 for power. So, remember, a woman, when she gives birth to a female, it's 80 days. When it's to a male, it's only 40 days. So, look at this. 40 years old, you start to develop understanding. And when you're 80, it's for power. Now, is that really true? Is that What does it mean when you're 80, you're going to be powerful? Can't mean that. Right? We're all getting a little older. Every day we get older. I'm assuming we're getting a little less powerful. Except for Hanukkah, of course. He says like this, "The he Ben Shmonim Legvora, and the love is mana who kavar Tash Kokho." It doesn't make any sense. When you're 80 years old, that's when you're strong? Is it not at that time that you're already weakening? Of course. Ele Gvora Maz Labina. He's trying to say that the word Gvora is like a code name for Bina. Strength. So, imagine this. If you start learning spiritual things when you're young, by the time you're 40, you'll reach understanding. And then, by the time you're 80, your understanding will be your strength. That will be your strength. Not physical strength. But if you, let's say, missed the boat, for some reason you're a Tinoq Shenishba, you grow up in America, you grow up in a non-religious household. Whatever it is, for some reason you you missed the you missed the boat. And you didn't start learning until later age. Take advantage. It's never too late. Listen to what he says. So Gevurah Remez Binah, we have this understanding that strength is actually a code word for for for for understanding. It says in Proverbs chapter 8 verse 14, the Torah is speaking, I am understanding. I have might. Ani Binah Li Gevurah. So you see the Binah and Gevurah are intertwined. And how does that work? How can I How does it work? I want you to listen. You made it this far. Elo She Misham Tim Sekhlo Le Tivo. If somebody places first their Sekhel, their intellectual spiritual growth before their inclinations, their natural drives, Minora while they're still young, Harei Ha Teva Meshubad Elo Sekhel, then your natural desires will be subjugated under your spiritual being, Az Ha Binah She Sekhel Penimi, then this Binah which is the this um internal right, this internal understanding, this internal wisdom, you know, intellect, spiritual intellect, Mimahar Lavok She Ben Arbayim, it will bring you quickly to a greater understanding by the time you're 40. Aval Mi She Tim Teva Le Sekhel, but someone who places their base desires before their intellectual and spiritual growth, Az Ha Sekhel Meshubad Elo Teva, then his spiritual, you know, the higher soul will actually be subjugated under his his desires, the nature. And guess what's going to happen? I'm almost afraid to read these words. Who moot by call you mouth be so whom hemet a chimer. He will be drowning all of his life in the pollution of the physical world. The ain't no bull the claw been a and he'll never reach that level of been a should bow name L a burrito that you really need to contemplate towards the end of your life. I had to hire Ben Shmoney Corona motto. But guess what? Before you reach the age of 80, when you approaching death, you're coming close. Shout to fair have Yona. Now toy for a Yona I'm trying to understand what this phrase means. It could mean as a function of necessity. Right? Toy fair without the verb is a function. Have Yona could mean needy or impoverished. So when you reach this level of 80 or close to 80, you know you're approaching your death and I think it means out of necessity. You just finally get it. And you wrote Shakotan ego all of my saying built a chocolate. You finally realize you finally see that all the pleasures of this world have no purpose. Those nice and a liberal then you finally place on your heart lead God bear a year throw. Finally you conquer your evil inclination. The same Ben Shmoney the guava and that's what it means when it says when you're 80, it's with strength, with power. It's the power of a the the clarity that what is really meaningful by the time you reach this point in your life, you have a lot of life experience. You know what's really meaningful. You're not going to get involved in petty arguments. Right? You're going to see your children, your grandchildren, your great-grandchildren. You're going to You're going to take life a little bit more seriously intellectually and meaningful. Let's say meaningful. You're going to take it with a lot more meaning. Anyway, that is where we're going to end tonight. Uh I just want to remind you that next year with God's help we'll get to the next part and every year we're just inching forward a little bit and you know, I told you it's very text-oriented. I really hope that you'll follow in the Hebrew. It's good to learn at least walk away every time with another Hebrew word under your belt. Uh of course we're learning the fundamentals of Judaism. Free will is the ultimate. So, it It says in Pirkei Avot, Rabbi Akiva says that God loved mankind so much that he that he created us in his image. What does that mean? What is his image? God is the ultimate in free will. Can't deny it. How do you describe God? It's really impossible cuz you can never fully describe God. But that's one thing you could probably you know what I mean say for sure. The ultimate in free will. I mean, we're limited and he's got unlimited free will. But we're at least created in his image. So, we have some level of free will. But then Pirkei Avot says God loved man so kind mankind so much that he gave an extra gesture of love and he told us he informed us right? That we have free will. Most people are walking around this planet not even thinking about it. So, at least we know we have it. We should take advantage of it. And it sounds like the earlier the better. Right? At least by 40 you should wake up. And then you're approaching 80. It's never too late. You can still enjoy the true purpose of life. And with that, I wish everyone a good shabbos. This is a special month of shabbos for all those people we know who are ill. We have in mind that God should give them a shlema. Give them strength. And we'll see you next week. Good shabbos. >> [music] [singing] [music] [singing] [music] [singing]