Rav Aaron Dovid Poston: You Desire the Work of Your Hands

[music] [singing] [music] [singing] [music] [singing] [music] [singing] >> Shalom aleichem everybody. Welcome back to the even a bit midrash. Welcome home to Torah. We wish everyone a warm welcome home to Torah. Now, we are using the clear car. However, specifically the book called ear giborim, >> [snorts and clears throat] >> which the clear car had written. And we're in parshas ki tetzaveh. I'm sorry. I taught tetzaveh. And you shall command. And those are going to be the keywords. The atah tetzaveh. And you shall command. Moses is directed by God to command the children of Israel to take for himself, to take for you, for Moses the shemen zayit zach. This pure oil for lighting the menorah. Okay. We're going to be all over the place. So, I'm going to try my best to make it as um you know, as clear as possible. The idea that the menorah is discussed in the book of shemot is here. However, it's also discussed in Leviticus. And it's discussed again in Numbers, which is going to have significance to the first part. The midrash that he brings down is from vayikra. So, it's referring to the verse in vayikra. Okay? And that verse I think I wrote it down. Yeah. It's in vayikra 24:2. So, the midrash is taking our verse in Exodus. That's how it begins. And the midrash says on the Hebrew sheets, "V'zo sh'amar katuv." There is a verse in Job. Right? If you look in either source number two or source number three. Source number three brings down Job chapter 4 verse 15. "Call and I will answer you." Now, that those words sound very familiar, like in Isaiah 58:9. "Then you shall call and the Lord shall answer." But Job is not using it like that. Job wants to contend with God. We all know the story of Job. He had a very difficult time. And he wanted to argue with God. He wanted to confront God. "Why do bad things happen to me, a good person?" So, those words in Job, "Call and I will answer you." The Rashi says this is supplication. "Call to me and I will answer you to prove my case." Meaning Job has he's he's irritated. However, if we look at the latter part of Job, it says, "You desire the work of your hands." It doesn't make sense. Something about this idea, so we have to just put like a a semicolon, which I think that's what it has, a semicolon. Right? You desire the work of your hands as a disconnect to the previous part. So, I just want to focus on those words, "L'ma'aseh yadecha tiksof." What is the word tiksof? What we're saying is there's a disconnect between the first part and the second part, and we're only going to concentrate on the second part. "You desire the work of your hands. L'ma'aseh yadecha tiksof." What does tiksof mean? It's amazing. Kasef. Kasef means money. We all know that tiksof means desire. Look at Rashi in number three. What does tiksof mean? You desire. Okay? Why is the word tiksof for desire the same word, the same root as money? And this is fundamental in Judaism. The goal is not the money. The goal of the money is to get what you desire. So, there's another there's two ways to look at it. So, in other words, in order to get what you desire, money will be helpful. Kisof also means like at the end. In other words, what's the real end? Not the money, but what the money will buy. What the money will be used for. In other words, we want to do Torah, we want to do mitzvahs. We need to relax and recharge our batteries, so we'll go on a vacation or whatever it is. Um so, you use this money to make your life more free to do Torah mitzvahs, to to serve Hashem. So, that's why there is a connecting a connection between the word tiksof, which is your desire, and the root of money. But again, the point here is the desire you desire the work of your hands. What is the work of God's hands? Well, it's it's us, it's human beings. We're like the ultimate of creation. The whole point of creation was for man. But what is man? Man has a job. Man to serve Hashem, to do Torah mitzvahs. Okay. So, the clear car is using this verse. Actually, the midrash is using this verse. For what purpose? I mentioned the beginning, "Atah tetzaveh." "V'atah tetzaveh." You are you shall command them to do what? "Atah me'ir l'chol ha'olam." We just read that God desires the work of his hands. But one second. You, God, you are the light of the world. You illuminate the entire world. In fact, if you ever heard about the walls and the the windows that are in the Beit Hamikdash, not the tabernacle, but the Beit Hamikdash. They were like think about the walls, the rampart walls around the old city. You have where it on the inside it it expands. Right? Why? Okay, simple reason. People are going to be go and shoot arrows. So, they need to be protected, so it's narrow on the outside and it's wide on the inside. But in the home where do you need light? So, basically what the by the walls expanding on the inside, it helps the light dissipate on the inside. And that's how someone with a one one meter wall, like people living in the old city, they know. We had a one meter wall, and it the only way to get light in was to shave down the wall so the light would expand into the room. In the Beit Hamikdash, it was the opposite. The light sh- it was not for the light. God doesn't need the light. He is the light. But the whole concept is the light should go out into the world. Okay? So, God doesn't need the light. The Beit Hamikdash windows were the opposite. They went out so the light would dissipate into the world. So, "Atah me'ir l'chol ha'olam." "V'atah mitzaveh l'haalot ner tamid." As the midrash says. So, you don't need the light. You are the light. And yet, what did you do? You commanded us to light, right? The the cohen to light this this menorah, the ner tamid. And he brings the verse, "Had yomer." That's what it means. "L'ma'aseh yadecha tiksof." So, there's like this great advantage to us, as you will s- now see, in lighting the lamps. What did Hakadosh Baruch Hu say? "V'yomer Hakadosh Baruch Hu, lo l'or ani tzorech." You're right. I don't need the light. "Ela kedei l'haalot etchem." But rather to bring you up, to raise you up. "L'zchut etchem." And to benefit you. What is the command itself? Maybe specifically we're talking about the candelabra, the menorah. The light. But just the concept alone, the concept of doing mitzvahs alone is to elevate us and to bring us up, and it's for our benefit. As it says, "L'haalot ner tamid." That's the pasuk that we're dealing with. I just want to talk just a short very brief about the word mitzvah in atbash. You all heard what atbash is. It's another way of doing gematria. So, you have the aleph at, which is equivalent or let's say in exchange for the tav, the last letter. So, if you see the letter aleph, it's a gematria 400. And you see the the the letter tav, it's the gematria of one. In other words, there's an exchange. And then same thing with the next letter, bet with shin. Okay? And that's how it works. That's called atbash. If you just want to look up on Google, Wikipedia, atbash, a t a space b a s h, it'll tell you this is an ancient Israeli Hebrew way of doing gematria that the Americans used, I think it was World War I and World War II. And at least by the Japanese. And this is something that the army used to overcome the enemy in in a code. In other words, they were it's like pig Latin, you know, in certain sense. I don't you know, um it's a code. So, atbash is very So, what is the the word mitzvah? So, we all talk about this idea that we're going to connect the yud and the hey and the vav and the hey. We're going to unify God's name and first of all, the word mitzvah literally means l'chaber, to connect, to join together. We're familiar with the word "sevet" in Hebrew, a group of people working for common goal. That's what a staff, right? You ever see the people they have on the back of their shirt it says "sevet", staff. Because they're all employed for one goal. I don't know what it's to make money, to make the customer happy, or both. Right? To produce something. They're all doing they're working in unison. There's an absolute unity within this concept called sevet. That's what the root is. So, when we do a mitzvah, what are we doing? We're unifying with Hashem. And wait till you hear this. So, the mem tsadik separate from the vav and the hey. The vav and the hey is the last two letters of the word mitzvah. So, that is the two letters, the last two letters of God's name. The mem and the tsadik in the atbash is yud and hey. When we do mitzvahs, we're unifying somehow on some supernal level, the yud and the hey connecting with the vav and the hey. We're somehow unifying God's name on some level. Okay? Now, that's going to be important later on we're going to see. The interesting idea that I brought up that there are three times that this mitzvah of ner tamid or the mitzvah of lighting the menorah, we said one is in in Exodus, which is in our parsha, which is our verse. It's in Exodus chapter 27, verse 20 and 21. In Vayikra, I already mentioned chapter 24 verse two. And in and in Numbers, it's also and I'll tell you where it is shortly. Let's just read real quick um the top part, the Mishnah. Right? I gave you the um the ArtScroll Mishnah. Uh it pretty much says what we already read. Okay? So, on the left side near the bottom, right? We speak about this idea. Then you will call out and Hashem will answer as it says in Isaiah 59:9, 58:9, which implies almost the same thing. But then they say, "No, it can't really. It has to mean something else." There's a proof text that the word "niksof" means desire and that you can see in Genesis 31:30. But what was Job really saying to Hashem? He said, "Hashem, the holy one, blessed be he, master of the universe, the heavenly realms and the earthly realms are all at your disposal. I mean, it's your reshutcha. It's right, the elyonim, the tachtonim are all within your power. You have absolute control. And yet, the words "ma'aseh yadecha tiksof", you still desire your handiwork?" So, God doesn't have any needs, he doesn't have any wants. But it says that he desires. And again, who's the handiwork? The Jewish people. People even the non-Jews to keep the seven laws. As long as you're doing the commandments, for a non-Jew keeping the seven laws, that's what God wants. For the Jew to keep an additional 606. That's what God wants. As it says here, "Yet you desire the service performed by your handiwork. Certainly, you do not need their service. God has no needs as everything is really your handiwork. So, rather, what is it that you wish to oversee? This is like mashgiach, hashgacha. Hashem wants a relationship. The word "tola hashgacha pratit" is God's not only observance, but involvement. Okay? That's what hashgacha is. You want to oversee the betterment of your handiwork by giving the opportunity to attain merit. By giving us tsav, by giving us mitzvahs. He's allowing us ultimately to cling to him, to have uh the ultimate I I I don't even know how to say it. The Rav Noach Weinberg zatzal always said there's five levels of pleasure. Right? From the lowest level of just physical pleasure to the meaning and family and ultimately to serve God, to have devekus Hashem, to have a relationship with God is like the ultimate level of pleasure. So, God wants us to have that. He wants us to have that and that's why he gives us the commandments. And that's what it says, that's why it says to command the children of Israel. Just uh before we I want to continue on the sheet, but I did bring down an idea and it's a Mishnah in Makot, number seven on the source sheet. We're probably all familiar with this. Rabbi Chananya ben Akashya omer, Ratzah Kadosh Baruch Hu le zakkot et Yisrael. God wanted to give us more sachar, more merit, more aliyah, more like a pleasure. Lefikach, therefore he hirbeh lahem Torah u'mitzvot. Therefore, he gave us more Torah u'mitzvot. So, the non-Jew, they have seven, but God wanted to give anybody who chooses. Anybody can choose to be a Jew. Okay? More And it says in Isaiah 42, Hashem chafetz lemaan tzidko yagdil Torah u'ya'adir. Okay? Which the verse means, "It did please the Lord." See, I I don't know chafetz. We looked it up. Chafetz definitely means to please, but it also means desire. Right? Chofetz Chaim, he who desires life. Chofetz. God desires what? "It pleases the Lord for the sake of his righteousness to make the Torah great and glorious." In other words, he wants to give us more and more and more. I believe so, right? Until there's no end. There's no there's no measure how much God wants to give, how much he wants to give. Question is, what are we ready to receive? So, now in the bottom on the insights, it's very interesting because as I mentioned, there are three places. You have in Shemot, you have in Vayikra, and you have in Bamidbar. So, on the left side halfway down, it says there are three successive higher ways to fulfill mitzvah. The lowest level is shelo lishmah. Shelo lishmah, not for the sake of God, for some personal benefit. Guess what? That's not so bad. It's not ideal, but it's the lowest level, but at least it makes the charts. And what do we say in Gemara Pesachim? That if you at least do it, you're encouraged to do it even if you're not doing it for the right reasons because what? Eventually, b'ezrat Hashem, you'll do it for the right reasons. You come to do it lishmah. The next level, he says, is the performance that one who indeed had fulfilled the mitzvah for the sake of heaven. But, you know, there's like a side thing. You know what? I also want to be seen doing it. I want to somehow get some credit in this world. Okay, so that's the next level. And the third level, the highest level is one who fulfills the mitzvahs exclusively for the sake of heaven, where God alone is aware of his good deeds. Now, interesting because it's going to match up with the three um paragraphs like I mentioned in in Shemot, in Vayikra, and in Bamidbar. So, on the very bottom on the left side, the first parage passage, meaning in our verse, which we already read several times, "Now you shall command the children of Israel, they should take for you your olive oil pressed for illumination to kindle a lamp continually in the tent of meeting outside of the partition that is near the testimonial tablets. Aaron and his sons shall arrange it from evening until morning before Hashem", like in front of Hashem, "an eternal decree for their generations from the children of Israel." Notice, there's nothing in this passage. It doesn't mention the actual lamps are sitting on the menorah. It talks about lighting the lamps, but it doesn't mention the menorah in our verse. It refers to the kindling of the lamps. This is according to the explanation of the Midrash, this refers to the most basic level of performance, even if done for ulterior motives. The second parage passage, which is in Leviticus, uh 24:2, it does say where. It says on top of the menorah, on the menorah hatohorah. This refers to where the bearer of the lamp. Who is the bearer of the lamp? The soul of man is a lamp of God. That's the man with pure intentions. He performs the mitzvah for its own sake. Nevertheless, he he may also harbor thoughts of public acclaim. He's more purified than the first person, but there's still impurities that still remain. The third passage, which is in Numbers chapter 8 verse two, it adds how exactly how the lamps shall burn atop the menorah. It says, "Toward the face of the menorah shall the seven lamps cast light." Now, the there is a machlokes whether the candelabra was facing east and west or north and south. But assuming that it was north and south, east and west is a little bit more complicated, that the six candles, there were three candles on each side, the wicks were facing towards the middle um middle wick. And the middle wick was facing west, meaning towards the Holy of Holies. So, the whole intent is shamash leshem shamayim. It's all for the sake of God. And what he says here is, "The light shall be cast inward, away from public view." Now, his last statement is there are progressive refinements. We're all we're all on a journey. We're all right, every day we wake up and we say modeh ani we start, we think, "How can my prayers be different than yesterday? How can my day, how can my avodat Hashem be better than it was yesterday?" I'm sure that we all do that. He must pro He must become a progressively pure bearer of God's light until reaching the highest and most refined level. Of what? Toward the face of the menorah shall the seven lamps cast light, illuminating within his own heart with the lamp of God, which is your soul, by the way, in which he walks humbly and privately before Hashem. Okay. So, that is how the clear card begins. He's not really going to, at this point, uh let's say connect this medrish to what he's about to say. What he's about to say is absolutely fascinating. Kvar is carbonos parshas truma. We discussed last week shikol mas and mishkan aya that the entire, let's say, illustration, formation, pattern, blueprint of the mishkan was to teach us lits- litsayer bo inyan pnimy to teach us about really internal stuff. Laha vi adam lidei ma'aseh and to bring a person to what we say, tzedakah, kindness. Right? We spoke about this. To to action, to mitzvahs, which is the tachlis, which is really the true purpose. Right? We have a whole machlokes, what's greater, learning or mitzvahs? Ultimately, the mitzvahs are The The learning is to bring you to mitzvahs, so ultimately the mitzvahs are even greater on some level. But, how can you do any mitzvahs if you don't learn? Right? How can you know what to do? What even the intentions are? Kmo kein, kol inyanim nishkarim beparsha zu, so too, all of these ideas that we're going to mention in this parsha hayu kol tziur mode mehem musar van hagah it's all there. The descriptions are there in order to teach us What's musar? Let's say it is ethical teachings. It could be rebuke, but we're just talking about ethical teachings and proper behavior. Okay? We're really we we should learn there are boundaries for [snorts] our behavior. Ulahagid liyisrael mereshis acharis This is interesting idea. What do we know? What do we know? We know the end. Right? We know the end. So, it's going to teach Israel from the beginning what the purpose is, what the end is, the whole the whole of history. We know what history. Right? Be eizeh avon yigaleh berosh galus, which sin is going to cause us to be exiled. Right? Causes hatred, idol worship, murder. Right? All these things. We know what the sins are that cause exile. Be eizeh zech zechus yigalu, and with which merit, which mitzvah, what will we merit to be redeemed? I mean, Rabbi Goldshmider spoke about it. I think that's key. In fact, that's the motto. That's the what Yibaneh is all about, creating unity in the community. It's about unity. But, we also know what mitzvahs, what merits will redeem us. Kasheir yidbareir lifnei lifanim beinyan ma'aseh menorah vishmana, like what's going to be discussed later on regarding the construction of the menorah and the oil. Okay, we're not into it yet. Now, the rule of derech shamru chazal, chazal tell us, this is amazing in Zevachim chapter 80, I'm sorry, page 88b. I'm going to read just the Hebrew, but if you want to follow the English, it's fine. The choshen, I'm sorry, kasheim shekorbanos mechaprin, kach bigdei kehunah mechaprin. Jus- Right? The The The The Christians, they say, only through blood sacrifices can we find atonement. I mean, well, they First of all, they got it wrong. We discussed this already, that when someone sins inadvertently, that's the only time they bring a blood sacrifice. When you sin intentionally, you do not bring a blood sacrifice. It's If you're looking for the source, number eight on page two. I'm going to read the Hebrew, though. So, we just read the idea that just as the korbanos, the offerings, the sacrifices atone, so too do the different garments of the of the kohen gadol atone. And it goes through each one. The choshen, the choshen, which is the breastplate. It's mechaper al dinim. It's going to atone for when the judgments are wrong by the beis din. It could happen. And how do we know? First of all, the very thing it's called a choshen mishpat. It's called a breastplate of judgment. Look in Exodus 28: 15. Va'asisah choshen mishpat. Okay, you shall make a choshen of judgment. And what about the ephod? The ephod is the apron, and we're going to talk about both of these, the ephod and the choshen, a lot. That atones for avodah zarah. It atones for idol worship. How do we know? If you look in Hosea chapter 3 verse 4, you can look all these sources are there. I don't want to stop, but you can look at it. So, there is this idea, ein ephod uterafim. Actually, I do want to refer to them. Um look in source number 10. Very important. For the children of Israel shall remain for many days having neither king nor prince nor sacrifice nor pillar nor ephod nor terafim. So, those last two words, ein ephod uterafim, there is this idea, look at Rashi. Actually, it makes a better point. If you go into the into the medrish of number eight. The ephod of the high priest atones for idol worship, as it says in Hosea 3:4, meaning that when there is no ephod, meaning there's no sin of terafim, idol worship is found. Therefore, it may be inferred that if there is an ephod, then there is no sin of idol worship. In other words, you need one and the other comes along with it. Okay? Cuz like by the negative and by the positive. So, the ephod atones for idol worship. That was that point. The me'il is the robe. And what do we know about the robe? At the bottom, we have these bells, these golden bells and pomegranates. And the me'il, this robe, atones for lashon hara. And why is that? Shema Yisrael, it says in Exodus 28:35, and its sound will be heard. Meaning when the kohen gadol walked, it it rang, the bells rang. Yavo davar shebbekol, something with a sound is coming, yechaper al kol, and that's coming to atone for kol, a voice, a sound, which is lashon hara. What about the ksones? That's the tunic. That's going to mechaper al shfichas damim. Why? What's the relationship between a ksones and shfichas damim? We saw by the sale of Yosef that the brothers took his ksones and dipped it in blood. Look in Genesis 37:31. And they dipped the coat in blood. And what about the avnet? The avnet is the belt. And that's going to mechaper al hirhur leiv. That's going to atone for the thoughts of the heart. Right? We're talking about the dirty thoughts, the the the illicit thoughts. What about the tzeetz? The tzeetz You know, I mean, just go back to the That's why we wear a gartel belt um when we daven. We wear a belt when we daven to separate between the heart and the ervah, the nakedness. What about the tzeetz? The tzeetz is the golden plate that says kadosh laHashem. It goes across the kohen gadol's forehead. And that's going to mechaper al azus metzach. That's going to atone for haughtiness. And um he brings down a pasuk in Jeremiah chapter 3 verse 3, right? The accusation of Am Yisrael was that you had a harlot's forehead. In other words, there was certain arrogance. Um can't imagine exactly what exactly that is, but perhaps um the way she walks with a certain arrogance um with her head or nose held up high. Nireh defarish beinyan ha'ephod v'hachoshen. Remember, this is like a 15-page treatise. We're only dealing with a page and a half. He wants to explain the idea behind the apron and the breastplate. The The choshen mishpat and the ephod. Ki ephod shechogrin bo uh chogeir is like a belt. You even have a chogeiret on the uh the car. When you get in a car, the seat belt. Right? It's a belt up. So, that's what happens, that you belt up with this apron. Um siman hadveikus Yisrael laHashem Yisbarach. It's amazing what you're going to hear this. This sign This is a sign that the Jews have dveikus. There's this clinging, there's this cleavage, there is this intimacy in the relationship between Jews and with between Israel, I should say, and Hashem. Look in Jeremiah chapter 13 verse 11. It's a beautiful verse. For just as the girdle clings to a man's loins, so I have caused the entire house of Israel and the entire house of Yehuda to cling to me. It's a beautiful concept. So, there is this apron which actually works in the opposite of of idol worship, but this is the good side. Now, if you notice, it has these two straps. Like most aprons, you just have a hole and you put your head through it, but these has these two straps that are going to strap onto the back. So, basically it's sitting on the shoulders. Okay? That's very important. We said that this atones for idol worship. What do the shoulders the shoulder straps have to do regarding idol worship? So, that's what he says. It's going to be raised above the shoulders or carried by the shoulders. For some reason, we may not be aware of this, but idol worship is something that people carry on their shoulders, literally. Look what it says in Now, this in Isaiah chapter 40 46. He actually brings like this. He brings the the the beginning of 47 of Isaiah verse 7, and then he goes back and he brings the last few words from verse 6. And it says like this in verse 7. It's all talking about idol worship. They bear it on their shoulder and they carry it. Here, should we read the whole verse cuz it is quite interesting. It says in number source number 15. They bear it on the shoulder they carry it. And they put it in its place and it stands, and from its place it does not move. Yea, he cries to it and it does not answer. From his distress it does not save him. Idol worship, right? It's You're not talking to God, you're talking to some deity that doesn't exist. And then he goes back to the last few words of verse 6. I mean, I can read the whole verse, but they they kneel. Yea, they prostrate themselves. Obviously, this is dealing with idol worship. Go back to the beginning of verse 6, number 16. Those who let gold run from the person weigh silver with the balance. They hire a goldsmith and he makes it a god, and they bow, they kneel, and they prostrate themselves. So, this idea, clearly, they're placing it on the shoulders as it says in the beginning of verse 7. Now, the idea that those two uh straps are connecting. They're going to connect the apron. He says This hints Remember, this is the time of the Bible, the five the five books of Moses. We're not talking about later on the prophets. So, at that time, there was going to be two temples in the future. So, it's referring to the two future temples then that are compared to a Kataph. What do we know about that? So, in Deuteronomy chapter 33 verse 12, Benjamin is being blessed by Moses and um his area It's In other words, Yehuda the the the border is by the Temple Mount. Benjamin by the by the altar itself. Part of his um what do you call it? Um property. Part of his the distributed property goes into the Temple Mount on the on the altar itself. So, over there in number source number 17, that's Deuteronomy 33:12. And the Benjamin, he said Moses said, "The Lord's beloved one shall dwell securely besides him. He protects him all day long, and ready, he dwells between his shoulders." Meaning the altar. This is happens to be Benjamin, but the point here is that the Temple itself Look down on Rashi, four lines up from the bottom. Actually, the whole Rashi is very important. But four lines up where it says "and dwell and dwells between his shoulders", the Holy Temple was built on the highest point of Benjamin's land. That's what I wanted to show you. It's like a shoulder, right? It's like a shoulder. And that's what it means. Ben Ben Kataph Shochen. And what does Chazal say about this in the Gemara? Shoo Base Hamikdash. This is referring to the Base Hamikdash. You Govo Shel Yerushalayim. It was the high point of Yerushalayim. On a hill in Jerusalem like a Kataph, like a shoulder. And that's what Rashi explains over there in the Gemara. And what about we say these two There were two Mikdashim that were prophesized going to be destroyed? And he says Shnei Mikdashim Eilu Nitcharvu Ba'avon Shtei Katiphoth. They were actually destroyed, each one, because of these two sins, the two shoulders. What did we say one of them was? Idol worship. Ba'avur Avodas Alilim Shenasu Al Kataph Keniscar. On account of idol worship like we said, it gets raised up on the shoulder. We already mentioned that. And wait till you hear this. You've met Israeli children. I don't know what children in America, the I don't know what they do. I imagine Jewish children in America might do the same thing. When you tell them something, you need them there to help you or to do something. Sometimes, they put up a shoulder and they say, "I don't want." Or they say, "In the cock." Uh basically What is that? It's rebelliousness. Wait till you hear this. It says in Zechariah chapter 7 verse 11, "They turned a rebellious shoulder." It's literally what it says. Nashnu Kataph Soreth. It So, apparently this is talking about a more severe case, but the shoulder represents rebelliousness. >> [snorts] >> Zeh Shnei Katiphoth Chovroth. And this is the hint, this is the secret behind these two shoulder straps that are connecting. Yulo El Shnei Katothav. That basically they are the two extremities. Vechibar and you're connecting them, that's hints to Shnei Chuitai Ephod. This actually on the good side, that it hints to the merit of the apron, which we already said is going to atone for idol worship and rebelliousness. Hanose Al Shtei Katothav. It's basically um being carried on the two shoulders. Yiskai Shnei Mikdashim Nikru Kataph. And that's why we're able to fulfill or keep in existence, maintain the Temple. We have to make sure we're not doing idol worship and we're not being rebellious. Then there's sustainability of the Temples. Okay, we're on the home stretch here. Turn the page. Vekashe Chilulu Hamikdash. We know when the Temple were destroyed. Velachu Lehem Shtei Katiphoth Acherim. And it's because we took these two other shoulders, right? The one of idol worship and one of rebelliousness. Dahainu Kataph Soreth. This idea of a rebellious shoulder Shenishnu that we placed upon ourselves. The An Odes Avodas Alilim Shenasu El Kataph. And the idol worship we placed on our shoulders. Az Ba'avon Zeh. Because of this sin Nichravu Shnei Mikdashim Asher Bein Kataph Shochen. Then, as a result of the sin, the two Temples are destroyed um because of this this idea that the Temple sat on the shoulders. That's where the presence of God dwelt. Kedushas Simanim Lemsor L'Yisrael. Now, this is all in order that we should get the message. This is a Siman for us. Lezicharon Ledoros. That we should remember our generation as well, for all generations to remember this. Al Ken Amar Al Shtei Kataph Lezicharon. Therefore, the Ephod is placed and we're learning about it about the Ephod on the two shoulders. We shouldn't forget it. Yeah, you might think it needs to be for Hashem. Dekei Kedosh Baruch Hu Tzarich Ledaber U'Lehazkiru. Well, you think that God needs a remembrance? No, it's for us. Ela Sheli L'Yisrael Lezicharon Ledoros Haboim Achareihem. It's all for us, for the generations, not just for the past, the present, but the future also. Veyishnei Avnei Shoham. Now, regarding the two stones that were on the shoulder straps of the Ephod. Gam Keim Remez Leshnei Mikdashim. They also hint to the two uh Temples. Hanikru Even Shteiyah. Because the Temple itself is called You've heard that word? Even Shteiyah. The Hashteet. The foundation stone. The infrastructure. From where the world developed from. I don't know if I gave this an analogy last week, but I think I did recently, like, you know, the conception. And you see, maybe it's just two cells and then four cells and then eight cells, however it multiplies. That that point is just over here. That's where the world started from, like connected to the to board, to the uh to the uh the belly button, to the umbilical cord that where Hashem flows everything into the world. It's from that point. Okay. So, that's why there are uh these two uh stones on the shoulders to remember the temple. Which is called an even, even a sheer. And it's from there who start to all on. That's where the world developed from. And we have an Isaiah chapter 28:16. Um I think it's 17. No, it's Isaiah 28:16. You see it anybody? Yeah, number 20. Therefore, so has the Lord God said, behold, I have laid as a foundation stone in Zion, a fortress stone, a costly cornerstone. That's really the point here. He may you so be Zion even, even be a king. Peanut you greet. Now, the idea is that it's an even be a king, but it's an even. So, we're going to see, believe it or not there are four rows and there are three Okay, there's four horizontal rows and there are three uh vertical rows. And he's going to make some really interesting comparisons. This idea that the even it's called even a sheer. But here you have the the but it says it's be a king. Pure sugar may be a higher. Pure sugar may be a higher explains that the show on stone is really an even a nice and clean. It's a stone that gives grace. Isn't that a beautiful idea? Where do we see this? In uh number 21, Zechariah. And I will This is future, it hasn't happened yet. I will pour out upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. So, that's uh right. Um The chef of the old bait the weed the old you the you shall line rule of cane. The tuck and you knew name. Okay. Now, that's what's going to happen. So, the the clear car says it's a remnant position of burning so you found the shoe the card mark the card mark the tar last seed. It's like a little twist of words. What is this hint in Zechariah? This hints that nevertheless the end will be the end will be that we're going to return to what it was originally again in the future though. This didn't happen yet, but that's what's going to happen. Though we'll have the base on miktash rebuilt. Is that the sham? And that's what it means in Isaiah chapter 54, which is again Messianic, verse 12, and I will make you windows of windows of jasper and your gates of carbuncle stones and all your border with precious stones. Okay. So, that's that paragraph. I just want to kind of sum up the next paragraph and probably skip a little bit. So, the next paragraph begins, I'm not being in a question. Now, what we did, we discussed the apron. What about the question? This breastplate of judgment. Near Mars Indian zebra hate tape. This actually could be quite clear. He's going to discuss in a clear way. There are these are be touring even. So, there are these four rows of stones. The Indian arbiter we even show you both. Okay, so I'm sorry. Just read that. It says in Exodus chapter 28:17 and you shall fill into it. It's number 23 in the source sheet. You felt you shall fill fill into it stone fillings, four rows of stone. Okay. Well, they tell me a lot even dollar Tory. Who are the warring shin negro even? There are four things that are called stone. What are those four things? The Torah, the eight Sahara, Israel and the temple. Okay. So, he's going to compare the four rows to these four things. And then he's going to divide it up into threes. Okay. Well, let's hear the first. A Tory negro even. So, the Torah is called even as we know Lucas of a name. Right? The tablets which represent the Torah. By the way, in the first set of commandments the first set, how many letters are there on those tablets? The 613. It's a good guess. But it's off by seven. 620. 620 and the message we get the the the transmission is that that represents the 613 commandments plus the seven Noahide laws. Kesser Torah, the crown of Torah. 620 The second set has more more letters. But um the first set of 620. Kesser. Okay. So, the Torah is called even. What about the eight Sahara? It's also called even. It has seven names and this is just one of their names. Israel is called even as we see in Psalms. Actually, it's Zechariah 9:16. Uh Zechariah 9:16. It's number 25 on the source sheet. It's a beautiful. And the Lord their God shall save them on that day like the flocks of his people for crown stones are exalted on his hand on his land. So, this talking about that ammo could zone ammo. Key of the nature. The Jewish people are called stones, precious [snorts] stones. Like a crown. Okay. And the miktash is called even. We already discussed that. It's even a sheer. Okay. And he brings the verse which we already saw. He may you so be Zion even even be a king. Okay. Last three lines. Indian hay old arbiter we even Michelle machine the cold tour. So, not only are there four horizontal rows, but there are each row is made up of three stones. Okay. And the cold tour Michelle of a name rem is the dollar a low. It's going to hit the four things we mentioned, the Tory it's all right, you shall on the temple. So, let's start with the Torah. Key of even a Tory name Michelle lash. That the Torah itself is is divided into three. The stone of of the Torah is divided into three. As it says, look at this verse in Proverbs 22:20. And look at number 30. I'm I mean I think that's where it is. 22:20. No, it's number 26. God says, right? This is uh Proverbs, King Solomon writing with Kodesh. Have I not written to you thirds with counsels and knowledge? Look at after the question Michelle machine Michelle machine be more uh be more at more eight sold with that. It's amazing. The Torah is divided into thirds. And there's a good morning Shabbos 88A. All right, so it's Lucia. Right? That the Torah the right side is Torah. It's Lucia is I make for thirds. You have Torah and the Suvim. The Torah is divided into threes. And he says, oh give me a king missus. Which he explained somewhere else which I couldn't find. My educated guess, how do you have divisions of three in the missus? Probably missus been out of the mark on between me and God. Been out of the the cover between me and other people. Don't forget been out of the last smell. That's my guess, but it's only a guess. Um but at least we have Torah and the Suvim. And then he says, be a wreck rock mana the even a right side Lucia. That the Torah was given to a threefold people. Israel. Israel's threefold. Come came Michelle machine. Like it says there the arm to Lucia. Who is that? The colony of the VM Israel in. We have three we call them divisions. Then he says, okay negative give me a key to achieve Israel like he explained also and I don't know where that is. I couldn't even take an educated guess. The miktash is divided into three which we discussed at length last week. You had the holy of holies, the Kodesh Kodeshim. Then you have the Kodesh which is the middle room. And then you have the outside the hot air. So, it's divided into three areas. The the miktash itself. What about the even a yacht saw a horror? The the the the eight Sahara is also called even. And that's also divided into three actions. Are you the Michelle machine? There are three intermediaries. Sir sir machine let's use the word intermediary intermediaries. Then what are those? They have you have two eyes and one heart. Two eyes and a heart cuz the Torah says over again, don't follow after your eyes or your heart. So, these are the intermediaries between uh us and the yetzer hara. Shnei ayin v'lev. Like it says in Midrash Tanchuma that the eyes ro'eh, the eye see, and the lev is chomeh, the eye see and the heart desires. U'chleim asu gonrim, whereas the limbs or the extremity extremities, whatever it is, you end up doing them with the body. V'al derech she'ne'emar, actually this is quite deep. We're just going to go 10 more lines. In Prophet Amos, it's number 29 on the source sheet. Al shloshah pish'ei Yisrael. There are three transgressions of Israel. Interesting. I mean, the pasuk actually mentions a fourth. Um yay, for four I will not return them. For selling an innocent man for money and a poor man in order to lock the fields. I just want to focus on the three. For three the transgressions the Jewish people have. And he mentions them in Proverbs chapter 30 verse 21. Now, the truth is it's he's going to quote 21, 22, and 23. So, I wrote them all out. So, [snorts] knowing that Amos is saying that for three sins the Jewish people are basically going to be punished, so it says tachas shlosh ragzei aretz. That means under three things the earth quakes. We may We may see an earthquake come as a result of sin. That's what it seems to be saying. Under three things the earth quakes. And under four cannot endure. What are they? According to the Kli Yakar in the Hebrew, it says tachas sone'ah ki sevu'ah. We're talking about a hated woman who's married. So, sone'ah, who's hated? That's the yetzer hara, believe it or not. Okay, it's the yetzer hara that's called the hated one. Make sense? And also tachas eved, under a slave who rules. Ki yimloch hainu she'bidin hayah lo lihiyot meshubad, that really it's logical that the the yetzer should be subjugated, but he subjugates. Uh tachas l'yetzer tov, ultimately it should be subjugated under the yetzer tov. She'u rotzeh limloch she'kein karu Melech zaken v'kesil. But why does the yetzer hara have such a hard time? Because the yetzer hara is 13 years older. The pasuk in Ecclesiastes 4:13 calls this idea that there's a melech who's an old melech who's a fool. Who is the older brother? Who's the older king? The yetzer hara. Im ra'ev sone'acha, so if your enemy is hungry, feed him bread. Right? And what is bread? Bread is Torah. We discussed this idea for how are you going to overcome the yetzer hara? Well, you have to scheme. He's a schemer. You also have to scheme. Um sometimes you have to give it what it wants. Meaning, uh Rabbi Goldstein says the yetzer says, you don't say no. Don't say no. Say tomorrow. Right? You have to scheme. It's not easy. When Once you say no, it's even harder to fight. But if you say tomorrow, it's already like you're appeasing it, and uh hopefully that you know, it won't come along. But anyway, there are many ways to fight the yetzer hara, and that is just one of them. So, basically what I'm going to ask is that um listen, we only went through superficially the first part. We're going to go through it every year a little bit more. It's a very, you know, it's an interesting concept this Ir Giborim. I don't believe it's in print. Certainly not on on on the line. Maybe it's in the Hebrew seforim in the Hebrew books department. Um it's not yet translated, but the Kli Yakar is. Number one, ArtScroll is working on it and they have a few volumes. Also, Sefaria came out recently using AI. Again, uh somebody did look it over and edited it. I wouldn't rely on AI alone, but there's someone went over it. And um the Kli Yakar, as I mentioned, is very yesod dik. He deals with the fundamentals, and he's the student of the Maharal and the Shlah haKadosh. And these people are like basically the greats of modern Jewry. So, it's worthwhile taking a look at Ir Giborim as well as the Kli Yakar. And I wish everyone a Shabbat Shalom, a great life. Everyone should be protected. Stay safe. Don't rely on miracles, but have emunah. So, we have We have We have We're tossing around a lot of ideas here. And b'ezrat Hashem, we'll see you next week. Purim sameach. >> [music] >> Yibaneh, yibaneh, yibaneh Hamikdash. >> [singing] >> Yitzion, [music] Yitzion, Yitzion tzemach. >> [singing] >> Yibaneh, [music] yibaneh, yibaneh Yitzion, Yitzion, [singing] Yitzion Yeshama >> [music and singing] >> shesh yachdav.